Anecdotes of RJ & LQ

Holm Holm Stockholm!

2011-06-15T16:25:00.011+02:00

Prelude to the 7th Jan 2012.......:) Special thanks to One Eye Click - Terry and Gabriel, you guys are the best! ( http://oneeyeclick.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/rj-samantha/)
And of course not forgetting Xiaohui & my mummy - for braving the frigid morning chill (2 deg celsius in a gown) with us and constantly keeping a lookout for my makeup and hairdo! It even snowed in Spring-time and we had to shelve our forest picnic shoot - talk about the unpredictability of weather.

Once-in-a-lifetime photoshoot experience -

Priceless!

Thanks boss!!!

2010-09-14T14:55:00.003+02:00

A great reason to CELEBRATE!!! Thanks boss for that bottle of champagne!!!

NYX gloss & lipsticks to the rescue!

2010-09-04T05:29:00.012+02:00

Thanks to tata who recommended me to Smoochiezz (awesome, fast & reliable seller) sometime ago and I bought these pretty girly NYX cosmetics! To be honest, I think NYX is comparable to MAC cosmetics, the eyeshadows ( runway collection) applies smoothly to your lids and more importantly, they stay on throughout the day and these come in arrays of unique colours. Additionally, they are cheappp! What I exceptionally LUVVV are their lipgloss and lipsticks! Simply heart the opaque, glossy French kiss and Brave heart lipgloss! In fact I bought 2 tubes of French Kiss!...Hee...... Retail therapy undoubtedly aids in stress relief!

Mummy made this cosmetic pouch for me to put my girly barang barang. Mummy is awesome!

Qiu is a happy girl!

Black Black......:)

2010-09-03T16:06:00.003+02:00

Black black teeth?

Hmm, black lips too?
Why?
?
?
?

Because of the amazingly delish squid ink spaghetti at Saizeriya at Liang Court - A Japanese chain of Italian style bristro which serves yum-yum pizza and pasta at economical prices! We are definitely going back for more!

New Post

2010-09-02T17:41:00.001+02:00

Dear I Put Put liao.

Mail for Christian in Paris!

2010-09-02T16:37:00.007+02:00

We bought Christian this lovely tank postcard while we were in Edinburgh last year and yes, I am ashamed that we are only sending it to him only now...:(.... but better late than never, right? Christian is obsessed about EVERYTHING that is related to army tanks. His Paris apartment which we have the privilege to bunk in is a spectacular tanks model museum! See it for yourself, I am not lying!

Tanks everywhere!

Miss ya Christian!

Posted photos and postcards under registered mail, so he should have received them by now. Anyway, I made a personalised card using Mac's iPhoto and got it printed by Apple. Pretty neat! And it costs me only SGD$ 3.90!

Touched ♥ ♥ ♥

2010-08-31T17:05:00.009+02:00

His facebook status on 30th August 3:36am -

"The school PROM - wasteful graduation event for most, potential life-changing moment for the lucky few. And I'm even luckier than that lucky few ('!')"

Yep, that light tap on my left shoulder, that "keepsake" photograph taken, that magical moment bound us together 8 years 8 months ago...
♥ ♥ ♥

Skansen, Stockholm 2009

7th May 2010 - Phuket

2010-08-22T16:59:00.006+02:00

After 99 months, He finally asked that very important question! Very touched by his sincerity and for the effort that he had put into planning all these specially for me despite the stress from his work. Numerous things ahead for us to plan, organise, discuss or even argue about, but I am not afraid because I am doing these together with him! LOVE YA DEAR!

Yes, it can beautiful if you keep it clean and simple.

Superstar Virgooo with RJ & family

2010-04-14T12:23:00.003+02:00

I was pretty tired and drained with recent experiments, but glad that RJ planned a cruise getaway to Redang island. We happily soaked up the sun in the pristine, crystal clear water at the beach which was once a setting for the Xia Ri Mo Mo Tea movie... wished we have more time to spare though...:) lots of binging on board the cruise...haha, never mind, we only get to live life once right?

Home! Lots of photo update!

2009-12-24T09:07:00.018+01:00

26th OAC gathering at the Carlton hotel....and the 3rd Yankee swap! Hee...

RJ got Jinfu's storybook - The Gift because his gift was stolen by Qijia..:P

I received handcream.. something which I will utilize very quickly.....

Lots of prezzie!

And Soweto Gospel choir live African music at the Esplanade! Simply awesome!

The Esplanade theatre is pretty!

Ichiban christmas set satisfied my palate for Japanese food!....this is seafood in CREAMY MISO soup base....Hmmmmmmm.........Yumzzz!

With my fav Chawamushi (steam egg), Unagi don, fried chicken with mushroom and some raspberry dessert.....

Happy!

RJ posing with the stylish cufflinks from H&M.....

In his skinny tie from H&M too...

Sashimi! wow, I have not eaten tuna for 1.5 years already!!!

Tang Yuan, home-made and I get to eat it this year! Must have 2 bowls!

Nicole and me!

Adrea and me! she is not looking at the camera..:( kids really have short attention span...

They have lots of toys! A live-size lego house and an airblown house filled with colourful balls for them to play in! So xin fu leh!

Me, Jiaxuan, Guojing and Renjie...

RJ the "professional" photographer No. 2 for their wedding...

Getting ready for JX and GJ's wedding (pardon me for the messy background, was still unpacking my baggage from Sweden...haha...)

A real Christmas pine tree in the Lappis garden in front of my studio...:)

Ice glasses at the IceBar in Stockholm...

Mum is super excited about the wall - made up by ice blocks that never melt!

Vodka on a conveyor belt instead of sushi....

The very "cool" bartender...

We are dressed in cozy poncho with nice fur caps!

This poncho really kept us warm! hee....and it looks great on camera...haha...maybe should have bought one home...haha

Dinner at Far and Yusuf's place, still find it amazing that I can have a reunion with my NUS seniors in Stockholm.... the world is soooo small!

Singaporean chicken rice by Kian Chye and Huizhen... DeLIcious!

Far and Yusuf's roasted chicken...Tasty!!!

Mum bought her LV bag FInally after much contemplation....Yeah!

Mum with the outdoor skating ring at Kungsgatan....

Saw this in a shop in Gamla Stan.... so cute!

Mum at the candy store - Chirstmas market in Gamla Stan...

Tasting the glogg - warm mulled wine....

Mum seems to like it!

I L.O.V.E this shot!

Lobster at the Patricia boat.... for only 129 SEK!....

Mum is satisfied with her oyster too!

X'mas decor outside NK...

Lappis walk to the T-banna....

Ice? Snow?

Everything is frozen overnight.....everything is white!

Very sad...

2009-12-01T18:58:00.000+01:00

爱已不能动

还有什么值得我心痛

想你的天空下起雨来

没人心疼的黑夜

脸颊两行硷硷的泪水

是你哦是你

让我望穿泪水肝肠寸断

你怎么舍得让我的泪流向海

付出的感情永远找不回来

你怎么舍得让我的爱流向海

伤心的往事一幕幕

就像潮水将我掩埋

闭上了双眼还看见和你的缠绵

眼角的泪水喜不去心中

一遍一遍的誓言

你怎么舍得让我的泪流向海

付出的感情永远找不回来

你怎么舍得让我的爱流向海

伤心的往事一幕幕

就像潮水将我掩埋

泪海-许茹芸

Too many things happening...

2009-12-01T18:03:00.003+01:00

too many things happening, kind of depressing...wonder how sometimes ppl can give up just like that...nonetheless...谢谢你比我先放弃让我有心痛的权利...泳儿 - 天使的决定... let's move on gal!

Mummy is here!

2009-11-27T13:51:00.021+01:00

Mummy is here and guess what she has brought together with her! Tonnes of goodies and more food! Also, she bought me some cosmetics which I have been longing for a million years but never had the time to buy! The best eye-liner I have used so far - MAC black gel eyeliner with the brush that tata brought for me from Sasa. And RJ found the Xmini-II for me! I used it for teaching during a lecture! Fantastic sound amplifier!

Brought her for brunch at Thelins along Flemingsgatan..:) Blueberry pie and open bread with salad prawns on top... :)

I was back from work late one night and guess what was waiting for me?!?!? Claypot rice!

The famous fish souppa! Always ever so crowded..
Mine with tonnes of cheese in it...sinful..Hee

Seafood along Hotorgshallen...

Shopping along Drottninggatan..:)

Lovely couple outside my window... among the red autumn leaves, autumn is my season!
It was mee pork for one night...

And fish and chip for the next!

My fav Guo tie! Mum made them for me!

Char siew and wanton mee!

Tepanyaki - Salmon and pork! The salmon is super fresh and cheap here!

And one weekend, we were off to Burkarby factory outlet to buy boots!

And ending off with lunch cum dinner at IKEA...:) Meatballs for me and salmon for mum...

Bought these pair of woolly warm slippers from the factory outlet store!

Prawn noodles in Holm Holm! slurp!

Prawn noodles (dried version) My mum is the BEST cook in the world!

Brought her to a Lappis forest stroll...:) and she is so happy already...:)

A toddler caught me stalking her...:)..hahaha

Kantarell mushroom that is picked fresh from the forest!

It was getting dark so early at 2-3pm and we had to light the candles to get some "sunshine". Darkness can be so depressing, I finally understood what they meant by seasonal depression...:(

Nonetheless, X'mas is round the corner and we have chips and Julmust to celebrate. Julmust is a special soft drink which the Swedes have for christmas and it tastes like coca cola with a tinge of spice in it, taste kind of weird but must let mummy try once since she is here!

And I had Kong Ba Bao too!!! Shiokness!
Chicken curry and fried bee hoon!

More shopping this time, but off to Hamsgatan to NK and Gallerian...:)
Me with my new vagabond boots and Accesorize furry ear muffs!

And Famous Montis ice-cream for mum! The lemon sorbet is a must-try!

And off to Kimama ramen - very tasty authentic Japanese food in Stockholm near KTH! expensive as usual but the ramen comes in huge huge portions! definitely worth every cent spent and successfully sate my craving for Japanese food!

Musslan Singapore gathering

2009-11-01T00:10:00.004+01:00

Musslan Singapore gathering

Cute illustration

2009-10-31T09:53:00.002+01:00

Saw this and thought it is really cute!

PNAS manuscript got accepted!

2009-09-26T13:50:00.003+02:00

Finally after 1 year plus of hardwork! My manuscript is accepted for publication in PNAS and this is my very first FIRST AUTHOR paper!!! Yipeee!!!!!!!

Gonna thank RJ, my family and of course dear friends who have given me so much support!

It's too quiet & I can hardly bear the silence!

2009-09-14T22:46:00.004+02:00

Reached home today and the reality of me being alone in Stockholm dawned on me so hard that I can hardly breathe. The whole studio is pitch quiet and I hate this silence! Where is my dear dear?!?! I miss him so much, so glad that he finally pick up my call at Heathrow airport and I can hear his voice! Wish I can touch his face now!...Not sure if I can fall asleep tonight ALONE without him... It's going to be tough but I know I can get though it... LOVE YOU SO MUCH DEAR!

Into the "gadgety mood" this morning...

2009-08-23T10:43:00.007+02:00

I am pretty impressed with Mr Brown's blog ( http://www.mrbrown.com ) these days, maybe because I miss Singapore too much, simply watching his unpretentious, funny Singlish videos kind of brings me closer to home... strangely, viewing his blog allow me to relax and yet at the same time, abrogate almost completely the overwhelming sense of homesickness within me.

Anyway, woke up this morning and is in the "gadgety" mood, so I went online surfing for these cute X-mini II capsule speakers (nice review from Mr Brown's blog again). Think that it is a pretty neat design for travel speakers, proudly designed by a Singapore company - XMI ( www.x-mini.com ). I guess they will only be available in Singapore around September, hopefully I can lay my hands on them then!

Round round, aren't they cute?

You can chain lots of them together to generate explosive sound..hahahaSaw these elegant sleek cases on http://www.more-thing.com/ and love their design cases for ipod touch! Unfortunately, the metallic series, engraved edition which I like will only be out in September :(

PS. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TATA! Congrats for turning a quarter of a century old!

Looking at babies makes me happy...

2009-08-22T09:00:00.003+02:00

I love to look at babies! Innocent eyes, cherubic cheeks and tiny hand and cutey feet... I ponder what happens to those people who totally loss this kind of innate innocence... will they have bad karma? Maybe we should look at babies more often and appreciate the fact that we were all once like that before...

Babies clothes advert from H&M

90th month aka 7th year & 6 month anniversary gift from RJ

2009-08-16T16:29:00.016+02:00

Yep, my 90th month gift from RJ was a surprise cruise to Helsinki over the weekend!

I woke up one morning as usual, was checking my email and saw this surprise email which RJ sent me, it is our penultimate trip to Helsinki - capital of Finland!

Thanks to the weather, it was sunny and hot that weekend! Woooh!

Our own private cabin on the Viking Line cruise ship - Mariella

Fantastic and awesome view of the archipelago on the top deck

Max burger for the night, yummy yummy! And chilli cheese fries too, ok only, still prefer KFC's cheese fries!

We had some vodka in the pub. since we reckoned that no one will recognise us, we did one dance after mastering enough courage to walk to the dancefloor, I think we are one of the stiffest pair of dancers among them..haha...

Some duty-free spanish red wine for the night...

Finally Helsinki is in sight! Aye Aye Aye!

The Senate Square and Cathedral in the background

Rise and shine for a day in Helsinki

Perhaps due to the influence from Russia, they are selling Russian dolls as Finland's souvenirs, RJ simply enjoys dissectin' these dolls and he is in awe when he discovers that there is another smaller doll inside each doll...haha, just like a kid!

Open air market at the Helsinki port

Love this pair of woolen socks but they are wayyyy too expensive..:(

Our preciously found 2 Euro bicycles, kind of scary to cycle around with these 2 broken bics.

And guess what we found at Kamppi shopping mall, Singapore wok and guess what they sell?!?!
Char Kway Tiao!
Despite costing a whooping 10 EURO per dish, we still settled down for it, we simply just cannot resist the temptation!

Me adding loads of small red chilli!

Yes, the spicer the merrier!

RJ's artistic shot of Kamppi shopping mall

Temppeliaukio Church, a church that is carved out from the rocks, pretty amazing!

The weather was so hot, we sat down for an ice cafe latte and raspberry ice-cream at the oldest cafe in Helsinki - Cafe Ekberg to coool down...

Treated RJ to Food Garden the a-la-carte restaurant on-deck..

He had duck breast in blackcurrant sauce

Fried lemon sole fish with potatoes for me!

And a final stop to the duty-free shop for some cidar, vodka chocolate and RJ's long sought-after CK men's perfume - In2U

Dim sum, Pride parade & Cray fish party - all in one day

2009-08-16T12:51:00.035+02:00

I was craving so much for cantonese dim sum and since I haven't had it for one year, RJ found some decent dim sum restaurants in Stockholm for me! We narrowed down our choices down to Aryodee, a small little thai-cantonese restaurant nested right in the heart of Gamla Stan.

These traditional dishes of har kow, chee cheong fan and fried carrot cake totally satiated my craving for dim sum, yep, at a fairly high price. But everything in Stockholm is expensive, so RJ and I have decided to treat ourselves "once in a while".

And here come the photo for the Pride parade, beware: these photos are Not Safe For Work:

Pride parade is meant to celebrate the equality of gay rights and it is held in Stockholm every year at the beginning of August. It is always interesting to experience the crowded streets of Stockholm city, bustling with paraders proudly swaying the prominent rainbow flags - such is a rare sight in Stockholm - which is usually far too cold and quiet.

Can you spot the winnie the pooh and piglet?

It is time for the crayfish party this season and we are invited to Jens' family! Thanks to Sharon for the invitation! It's great to visit a traditional swedish family for a small quiet gathering. Jens' family is very friendly and hospitable, making me and RJ feeling totally at home, plus they provided us with loads of food, wine and snaps!

Rose wine, setting up the grill in the backyard, Jens' father BBqing the pork and serving us the snapps...

Chatting with Sharon, Jens and Annie, BBQ pork and berries and ice-cream for dessert!

Snaps is a traditional scandinavian tipsy alcoholic drink essential in most crayfish parties. And we have to sing a little swedish song before we imbibe the entire shot!

Happy belated birthday to Jens and Annie!

We lit the lanterns as darkness falls...

Anders entertaining us for the night with his songs and guitar...

Picture with Sharon and Annie!

Gamla Stan & Shopping.. It's Rea time!

2009-07-19T17:48:00.006+02:00

That is all for the Stockholm part for now, please refer to RJ's facebook for the Prague and Barcelona part...Hee.... He is working hard typing every little detail meticulously into the caption... :)

Slussen fried stromming, Skansen & Pelican dinner

2009-07-19T14:14:00.002+02:00

The City Hall

2009-07-19T11:44:00.002+02:00

Papa & Mummy!

2009-07-18T19:50:00.003+02:00

The unexpected happened...

2009-07-18T11:18:00.008+02:00

After a long long wait, mummy and papa have finally arrived in Stockholm. Unfortunately, before they arrived, I had high fever for a few days and started vomiting. Feeling bilious, I asked RJ to bring me to a doctor. But in Stockholm, you have to arrange an appointment before you can go to a doctor and every clinic he called said that there is no more slots and they do not take in any emergency cases. Then, I realised how fortunate I was when I was in Singapore with 2 clinics just opposite my house and appreciate how great Singapore’s healthcare system is. One nurse even said that the next available slot is in August! This is preposterous! I told her blatantly that I will be dead by then but nonetheless thanks her for her help.

Luckily RJ is resourceful enough and found City Akuten from his school’s website which is the only clinic that do not require any appointment and he immediately send me down to hoterget to see the doctor. The wait was long and I drifted in and out of darkness, when the swedish doctor saw me, she was shocked at the state that I was in and since she was diagonised that I was down with a kidney infection or may have appendicitis. Appendicitis! What luck is this, I will need surgery if it is so! She would need to have more detailed tests in the hospital to confirm what I had been infected with. Kindly, they arranged a taxi to bring me to the nearest hospital - Danderdys Sjukhus and from here, the swedish doctors and nurses acted very fast and took great care of me. They were appalled that my body was so weak and immediately started poking catheters into my veins and administering antibiotics intravenously. Blood was drawn (many times) for blood culture to check for infection as well. Fluid was also given iv to replace the large amount of blood lost.

Afterwhich, I was wheeled around for different scans - CT scan in the abdominal area to check for appendicitis and Lung X-ray scan to check for pneumonia. This is all I can remember as I drifted in and out of sleep then, I only know that RJ was always beside me, checking on me to make sure that I am OK. I guess I must have sacred the hell out of him! The doctors insisted that I have to be hospitalised in the renal department so that they have constant supervision on my condition. I was wheeled into ward 71 and the days spent there seems forever. Everyday, I count down to 12 noon which was the official visiting time and listened intently for RJ’s footsteps thumping along the corridor.

Fortunately, I had kidney infection and not appendicitis, so no surgery was required. I was anxious that the fever will not subside and worried that I will not recover in time before my parents' and sis’s arrival. There are so many beautiful things in Sweden that I wanted to show them! Until the last few days, I felt so lonely and depressed in the hospital and I kept pestering the nurses and doctors that I wanted to go home. Luckily, my fever has gone down a bit and he let me go home for one night but wanted me to go back for more blood tests subsequently.

THANKS to the kind nurses of ward 71 for taking such good care of me and of course RJ, sorry for making you worry and I will promise to take care of myself when you return to Singapore. And sorry to family (especially mummy, papa and sis) and friends back in Singapore for making you all worried too, I am fine now so do not worry! Thanks to RJ's mum and dad for the bird nest concentrate and ginseng tea! I will drink them and "bu" my body!

This catheter was attached to my arms constantly so that they can administer the antibiotics intravenously. Not very comfortable!

Summer '09 End of Day 4 Copenhagen to Stockholm

2009-06-19T01:59:00.002+02:00

We have reached Stockholm! But the freaking budget airline (from Norway) was delayed by 1hr 50mins, but i'm not sure if it's entirely due it being 'budget', sometimes technical faults (their explanation) do happen, don't they?

So after checking-in at the hotel in Stockholm, can only bring them to eat Mac at 1115pm, open till 4am. All of us very very tired liao..and many have pain in the feet already. seems like the pace was too fast for them at Copenhagen. Actually I also 'injured' already. leg pain everywhere lah after ambitiously squeezing in Malmo (walk with LQ) in the morning of Wed, before meeting them. The only antidote for them is to eat good bfasts in the hotel every morning and sleep very comfy-ly at night - but how to when the sun rises at 330am (and sets at 1030pm).

Copenhagen truly expensive - a small Starbucks (at the airport) costs SGD 10. And it is still too sweet.

Stockholm now - Days 5-7, 19-21 June 09 - concide with the midsummer weekend, when the sun is there for the longest time of the year (it almosts never sets here). Bring you more updates soon!

Summer '09 Days 2-4 Anncey & Copenhagen

2009-06-16T19:58:00.006+02:00

Day 2, 16th June 09 - Anncey

All times are local times, add 6 hrs to get Singapore time. Eg. 0815 here is 1415 in Singapore.

Updates
They went to this quaint little French lakeside town just south of Geneva!

Location of Anncey:

What They Can Expect to See and Experience:

No updated pictures yet from them because the latest I heard is that they are having so much fun and are so tired and snoring away once they hit the beds at the apartment suite in Geneva!

Days 3-4 - Copenhagen

We are meeting them at Copenhagen at 17 June 1400! Then we will tour the capital of Denmark for 1.5 days before flying back to Stockholm together on 18 June evening. See you till then!

Summer '09 Day 1 Geneva

2009-06-15T12:57:00.018+02:00

Day 1 15th June 09 - Geneva

All times are local times, add 6 hrs to get Singapore time. Eg. 0815 here is 1415 in Singapore.

Updates

They have arrived safely in Geneva at 0815 and 'checked in' at the apartment suite of Jacky & Jamie at Carouge, Geneva! The long flight was tiring and they had a little rest in the apartment before embarking for lunch and a little tour of the city centre at 12noon.

Background of Geneva:

Geneva is one of the major cities of Switzerland (capital: Bern). Competing amongst Zurich, Lausanne, Basel, St. Gallen, Lugano and Lucerne, Geneva is the 2nd-most populous city and the seat of international affairs with numerous governmental as well as non-governmental institutions and headquarters. UN, WHO (who decides the pandemic of swine flu recently), Red Cross, u name it, all have or had important HQs in Geneva. It also hosted the 2008 European Football Championships last June along with other cities in Switzerland and Austria. The one where Spain won Germany, remember?

Geographically, check out the part of the Swiss Alps in the east of Geneva that almost seem like engulfing the regions around. Geneva also lies at the South-western tip of Lake Geneva, which serves many picturesque lakeside towns including Lausanne (place of IOC HQ (Olympics Committe), Vevey (HQ of food and beverage giant Nestlé), Montreux (the jewel of the area with casinos, gives a Monaco feel) among others. Conclusion: this lake is a very important lake in Switzerland.

Let's zoom in somemore and you can see Jacky & Jamie's place at Carouge, about 2.5km away from the city centre of Geneva, and accessible by trams.

The most famous attraction is Geneva is arguably a very simple fountain that shoots water up 140m situated at the lake side of Lake Geneva. It's called Jet d'Eau, remember it!

What They Can Expect to See and Experience:

(based on our previous visit, in winter though)

Comfortable train rides from the airport to the city

Outside the apartment block of their apartment suite

See alot of these kind of trees, and trams carrying people around.

Touring the Lake Geneva on a mini-cruise boat

and seeing numerous offices of watch-makers.

Join in the coffee craze and marketing success in Europe: Nespresso.

Jacky & Jamie are huge fans of drinking coffee via a coffee capsule housed in aluminium, and buying these capsules from exclusive boutiques in the city! (Advertising campaign fronted by George Clooney.)

Scream: What happend to good old coffee prepared through stockings by our grandparents and parents!!??

A church lit up in the night.

Sitting on one of the longest benches in Europe and having fun like kids again in this turnstile (we all need to rewind many many years, I know)

See this huge statue of the founding fathers of Geneva at the Parc de Bastions, just below the old town.

Go along the cobbled streets of the old town and enjoy their own quiet moments in the church there.

That is most likely how they will be having fun in Geneva, hope to bring you some photos of their Day 1 experiences via direct feed later in the day. Stay tuned.

Summer '09 GENEVA-COPENHAGEN-STOCKHOLM-BERLIN-GENEVA Introductory Post

2009-06-13T16:37:00.013+02:00

My relatives are going to be here any moment!

大姑，三姑，四姑，小姑 & Uncle Johnny, together with my sister and brother-in-law, Jamie and Jacky are visiting Stockholm as part of their Summer '09 plans across Europe!
Kids of the above persons, meaning my beloved cousins who are unable to make the trip here, are invited to visit this blog daily over the next two weeks! I will try my utmost to keep you updated with the happenings around here since for once, I will be nearer to 'them' than U. (It's a coincidence that 'them' here could refer to the 1st blocks of letters A-H) And I mean the following people Grace, Bingquan, Bingwei (if Tekong has evolved so much that it provides free internet for its recruits), Jojo, Shuwen, Yiling, Chok Leong, Alexander and Victoria. Dun worry, your parent(s) is/are safe with us. Of course, the rest including Emily, Zhiyang, Zhiheng, Leon, Renyih & all the other spouses of the above people, feel free to drop by this page too!

This is a brief outline of their 12 days in Europe:

Day 1 to 3 (15-17 June 09) -- Geneva (Switzerland); Hosts: Jacky and Jamie

____________________

Day 3 to 4 (17-18 June 09) -- Copenhagen (Denmark); Hosts: Jacky, Jamie, Renjie and Linqiu

____________________

Day 4 to 7 (18-21 June 09) -- Stockholm (Sweden); Hosts: Renjie and Linqiu

____________________

Day 7 to 10 (21-24 June 09) -- Berlin (Germany); Hosts: Jacky and Jamie

____________________

Day 10 to 12 (24-26 June 09) -- Geneva (Switzerland); Hosts: Jamie (Jacky will be away representing France in a soccer tournament)

____________________

Day 13 (27 June 09) -- Reach Singapore 1550 via Frankfurt (for u fellows to pick up your parent(s))

Return them to ALL OF U again.

____________________

I hope to bring you the latest daily scoops and updates from Europe.

I might fail, but I will give it a try.

(I have a feeling I will learn alot about kyrka (swedish) at the end of this.)

Summer '09 GENEVA-COPENHAGEN-STOCKHOLM-BERLIN-GENEVA

Flags kindly from www.flags.net

Our Neighbour, Oslo, Day 1

2009-06-04T14:35:00.002+02:00

Even though it was a couple of days before my written Swedish (elementary) exam, I couldn't resist the opportunity to tag along with LQ when she went for a conference in Oslo - capital and largest city of Norway - in early May.

Around Oslo Sentralstasjon (Central Train Station)

Hotel Room, Thon Hotel Astoria (Chain in Norway)
Having breakfast every morning in a hotel is a joy.

Opera House

really reminded me of our Esplanade - highly controversial, out-of-place but slowly winning local hearts (i hope). This newly-built opera house has a beautiful interior as well as a futuristically designed whitish exterior!

On the Way to Akershus Fortress

saw the Børsen, beautiful walls, nice parks but with people peddling drugs - the city shows its shady side.

Akershus Fortress

wonderfully situated castle/fortress on a hill beside the sea leading to the Oslo fjords. The Police (Politi in norwegian) had to patrol on horseback just like I saw in Stockholm (sometimes)!

Stairs to Heaven (or Somewhere...)

The Aker Brygge in the distance as well as the Olso Rådhus (Town Hall).

Back to City Centre

Walked through Øvre Slottsgata, Grønsen, Torrgata, Youngstorget looking for a nice place to have dinner!

Vietnamese Dinner

Really expensive to eat in Oslo - think it was about SGD$20 over (each person) for simple but reminiscient dishes like Pho bo (beef noodles) and stir-fried chicken with rice. But the iced coffee was memorably refreshing!!

For the record, the hours spent inside the hotel room cramming the grammer -nouns, verbs, sentence structure, etc into a brain non-accustomed to learning scandinavian languages was worth it! (while waiting for LQ to finish her conference) I had to constantly remind myself of the 'reward' of seeing another capital city and going out to walk-walk. And this being distracted by the similar norwegian language on the TV and hotel room signages at the same time. I did well for the Swedish exam after all and guess the strategy worked out fine in the end.. HENG AH!

Things to look forward to!

2009-05-23T22:51:00.008+02:00

Our Neighbour, Oslo, Day 2

2009-05-18T17:48:00.015+02:00

It is the 2nd day of Oslo and we had time to walk around the city centre amid the rainy weather.

The sights above include Karl Johans Gate - the principal shopping street in Oslo, Stortinget (with a round facade) - the building housing the Norwegian Parliament and University of Oslo (with the columns)..

Next up is the National Theatre and the Royal Palace of the Norwegian Royal Family at the end of Karl Johans Gate.

We just walked up abt a kilometre plus up Karl Johans Gate in the rain, and here I'm trying to give it a goodbye kiss! This is where they will have their annual celebrations for National Day on 17 May! This year is sort of a double joy for Norway as their representative had just won the Eurovision singing contest on 16 may in Moscow! In May 2010, the Eurovision final will be held in Oslo due to this victory...

More sights of the city: pretty roadside flowers

but the song says "路边的野花不要踩"!

A yellow-brown building at a corner of the street, and an art-piece seemingly made out of aluminium foil in the centre of a roundabout. Plus some simply-designed chairs on the street which I simply had to press my butt on to give it a try!

Saw this juxtaposition of a modern building fronted by a old chimney - there's also one inside my school KTH.. And then we stopped by this cafe for some cafe mocha - a big bowl, before & after shots..

Saw a cafe selling pretty macarons french style along the way. And then it was time for lunch before our train back to Stockholm. We had Thai food at Rice Bowl near Youngstorget (kinda recommended) and we are so happy to have tom yam soup with kway teow and pad-thai! It had been such a long time since we had fish-balls and beansprouts! Really took them for granted when we were in S'pore!

Finally, we were at the Byporten Shopping Centre to grab some snacks for the 6hr-plus train ride. A view of the relatively small central station of Oslo - Oslo Sentralstasjon.
That's all for Oslo, folks! Nothing much at all in the city centre, not so worth a trip in itself. Perhaps you need to visit the Fjords in the west coast to make a detour to the Norway worth it!

Bagpipes, Haggis, Checkered Scarves - The Scottish Adventure - Edinburgh, Part 1/3

2009-04-26T01:24:00.002+02:00

This is our Scotland (Edinburgh + Glasgow) trip for Easter weekend 09!
Right after checking-in at our Granville Guesthouse – very hard to find accoms for that weekend and we are not disappointed with this! (Although it is just a 2-star accoms as accredited by the Scottish Tourism Board). Just outside city centre which is fine to us…

See the Moroccan flair in the furniture as it is owned by a Moroccan couple!

We had ‘fish supper’ (fish & chips in Scottish terms) for supper…
The next morning, we are having a brilliant continental breakfast that just starts the day off on such a good note (poached egg, baked beans, hash brown, sausages, tomato, champinjons, cereals and coffee – the usual stuff)!

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Going a night walk and chancing upon a church and a huge Cineplex..
The Edinburgh Castle pictures start here….. Edinburgh’s most popular pay-to-enter attraction! Royal residence/military stronghold in the past; tourist attraction now..
At the esplanade of the castle where the entrance is, with great views of the city already, and monuments of some British soldier posted to India..

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[Inside Edinburgh Castle]
Entering the castle and collecting our tix bought online to avoid the crowds!
Superb views of Princes St (shopping st) and Waverly Train Station.
Visiting the National War Museum of Scotland inside the castle..

which showcases Scotland’s military history.

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[Inside Edinburgh Castle]
Traditional military gear, coins donated by the public, military badges, very realistic war paintings, 2 eager and siao-ding-dong gals posing with head-gear, photo exhibition on British troops stationed at Afghanistan.

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[Inside Edinburgh Castle]
A cannon’s perspective at one of the batteries.
XH outside one of the museums around, on the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.
Model replica of war scene with tanks and soldiers!
A medieval executioner threatening to behead XH, and she can still laugh about it!
A very smart uniform of a military officer.
The sun was indeed good on Easter weekend!
The Scottish National War Memorial can also be found at the summit of the castle.

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[Inside Edinburgh Castle]
Inside a museum on the “Honours of the Kingdom”, with the Scottish Crown Jewels and Stone of Destiny kept here – no photography allowed of the “precious” so nothing to show you!
Inside there are many depictions of ceremonial processions,

Queen giving birth and Coronation ceremonies.
The colours and style of painting on the walls all looked very nice!

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[Inside Edinburgh Castle]
There happen to have actors putting on costumes and interacting with the crowd because of Easter, how lucky!
The prisoners of war exhibit and the prison cells showed the kind of prisoners’ life in those times. Imagine me squatting inside the cell!
The door latch of a prison cell and another tourist lying to mimic ancient times.
We arrived at Argyle Battery just in time to herald the One O’clock Gun!

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Bagpipes, Haggis, Checkered Scarves - The Scottish Adventure - Edinburgh, Part 2/3

2009-04-26T00:51:00.004+02:00

[Inside Edinburgh Castle]
The views from Argyle Battery of nearby Princes St, Waverly Train Station and Calton Hill. Outside, a sign tells the people queuing they have another hour to wait!

Luckily LQ purchased the tix early online!
The One O’clock Gun is a (almost) daily event where a WWII 25-pounder fires at 1pm, so loud we were are given a shock. But I was still able to press the shutter and capture the smoke just micro-seconds after the BOOM!

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Finishing the tour of the castle, we went out and got ourselves ice-cream stationed so smartly at the entrance!

Just below/beside the castle, the flowers were already in bloom and what a sight!
At the start of the Royal Mile, these buskers/performers with a cause attract many a crowd… the one on the left seems to be Rob Roy from Braveheart??

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The Royal Mile starts now! Consisting of Castlehill, Lawnmarket, High St and Canongate,

it is a one-mile street where the King used to travel from Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
There is the Highland Tolbooth Kirk (church) with the tallest spire in Edinburgh.

But we went in and the interior has been refurbished to become the a café and ticket office for the Edinburgh Festival!
There is also the Scotch Whisky Experience

- which shows the transformation from barley to the finished whisky!
Colourful Scottish-themed souvenirs like scarves, t-shirts, boxers, whatever on sale at the shop “Heritage of Scotland”.
Live bagpipe performance on the streets..

The Deacon Brodie’s

– a highly recommended restaurant but long queue so we didn’t get to try!
A statue of 18th century philosopher, economist and historian from Scotland, David Hume.

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At a square with St. Giles Cathedral.
The City Chambers is also here.
Another statue of a prominent Scottish, Adam Smith,

a moral philosopher and the father of modern economics!
For lunch, we settled for three huge baked potatoes for us each,

curry-, cheese- and haggis-flavoured! Very full and also had Starbucks coffee..
Then walked down Cockburn St which is interesting due to it being curved and downward sloping and filled with trendy shops!
Next up is Market St, where we saw the North Bridge being flanked by the Balmoral Hotel on one end and the Scotsman Hotel on the other.

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Went back to the Royal Mile from Jeffrey St and from here the Canongate stretch starts..
Chanced upon the Fudge House of Edinburgh where we bought some for Sharon (LQ’s colleague) and for ourselves, but really so sweet, dun understand why it’s so popular honestly! But right beside the shop are these two kids sitting inside the window as if they are for sale. Guess a photo with them wouldn’t cost me too much!
Then the Canongate Kirk (Church) came along which contains the grave of Adam Smith…
The Scottish Parliament Building, can see the controversy amongst it all? As usual, it was over-budget, opened in 2003 and 3 years late and very out-of-place among the sights just seen along the Royal Mile! Very interesting window panels though..
Then suddenly, we found outside near the foot of Arthur’s Seat (which we will hike later) with the white tent-like structure housing the multimedia attraction of ‘Our Dynamic Earth’ which shows the magic of our planet Earth!

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So we find ourselves in the midst of Holyrood, with the Queen’s Gallery (art from the Royal Collections), Palace of Holyroodhouse (royal family’s residence in Scotland!).
From here on, I asked the gals if they are ready for our hike up to Arthur’s Seat – remnant of an extinct volcano. The foot of the ‘volcano’ is so beautiful, like a very clean and modern park (Holyrood Park) which we liked so much, really reminded me of the type of scenery in Australia somehow.

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Less than halfway up Arthur’s Seat, there was this pretty lake on the other side filled with swans and birds.. and the St. Anthony’s Chapel (or rather the ruins now).

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Bagpipes, Haggis, Checkered Scarves - The Scottish Adventure - Edinburgh, Part 3/3

2009-04-26T00:04:00.011+02:00

Now halfway up Arthur’s Seat and already the views are fantastic!

We also spotted some hares at the foot of hill..

Towards the summit, the last stretch consisted of a steep, rocky climb but of course we persevered in the hope of seeing even better things at the top!
At the summit, the wind was so strong and we were almost blown away,

remember us being light-weight people??
We also met a nice tourist/student like us from Poland called Damian and of course there was a group shot for remembrance’s sake..
I was also shocked to see the directional signage there indicating Arthur’s Seat was only 250.5 metres high.. how can it be so low after we ‘scaled the skies and mountains’ to reach it??

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And then going downhill, the sun began to set and hide behind the clouds, which prompted me to try some silhouette shots! Shots of other hikers, of the National Monument (the columns like Parthenon in Greece), of the “Our Dynamic Earth” museum and the city skyline.

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At the foot of Arthur’s Seat is the St. Margaret’s Well, and we were soon back at Holyrood and the area of the Scottish Parliament Building.
Sitting at a bus-stop and deciding where to go for a very well-deserved dinner!
See the L-shaped panels on the parliament building?

The architect’s widow says it's to mimic curtains being drawn aside!
So we took a bus and reached the Princes St area to change buses. The beautiful lighting from sunset gave us nice views of the city skyline as well as the Scott Monument,

built in memory of novelist Sir Walter Scott.

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So we went to the Leith Walk area and settled for Indian dinner at Shezan Tandoori!
We had chicken tandoori starter, lamb curry, beef, chapati and basmati rice for dinner!

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The next day, we went to deposit our bags at the lockers of Buchanan Bus Station after checking out of Granville Guesthouse. Right across the street was St. Andrew Square and it happened to hold an exhibition on Scottish astronomy.. There was the kind of a very nice morning feel to it – and the Melville monument (column) certainly added to it. It commemorates 18th century Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville,

the most powerful Scottish politician of his time. _____________________________________________________________

Moving further was Jenners, which used to be the oldest independent department store in the U.K until it was bought. It has been standing here since 1838, can you believe it?

XH and LQ posing in front of St. John’s Church after buying some cashmere scarves..
Behind the barricades is the Royal Scottish Academy which houses a collection of paintings, sculptures and architectural drawings.
We also saw a wedding couple on a horse carriage going towards Princes St!
The Edinburgh Castle is in our sights again, as we proceed on with the shopping!

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Buying food at Marks and Spencer and then having lunch,

the much missed KFC, at Princes Mall (we really miss KFC!).
And then back to St. Andrew Square to pick up our bags

where we saw such nice flowers again at the Dundas House,

which houses the head office of the Royal Bank of Scotland since 1825.
And walking towards Waverly Train Station to catch our train to Glasgow, we were left with the sights of the Balmoral Hotel with its clock tower and a statue of the Duke of Wellington on horseback, in front of the Register House which houses the National Archives of Scotland.
And finally, that’s all for Edinburgh, very beautiful city in the U.K. and definitely worth a few day’s visit, especially so if the popular Edinburgh Fringe Festival is in town in August!

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Bagpipes, Haggis, Checkered Scarves - The Scottish Adventure - Glasgow

2009-04-24T00:18:00.006+02:00

Taking the 1hr train from Waverly Train Station, Edinburgh to Central Station, Glasgow.
Taking a peek at LQ from another seat.
Can you spot lambs/sheep in the landscape, so darn cute..
Snacks and treats to share onboard, thx for getting the table seat by chance, XH!
Enjoying Costa coffee all over again!
Notice XH's hand-pose - sure YZ must be so used to it liao (and missing it!)
Arrived at Glasgow's Central Station.

The sunset from our (very 90s) EuroHostel. The big building on the left that looks like a factory/warehouse is St. Enoch Shopping Centre, currently undergoing renovation, so we didn't go.
Primark - the low-cost apparel shop that made my gf so crazy and anticipating the shopping that will come tomorrow morning, or as early as the shops open - 10am to be exact.
Marks & Spencer - so everywhere in U.K.!
The scenes from our night walk in Glasgow, after checking-in.

The impressive City Chambers, facing George Square, very near Queen St. train station.
There's one shot I used my own head as a tripod! (the smallest picture)
LQ at Goose - a restaurant/bar that looked nice but stopped serving food after 9pm,

so we had to settle for Macs!
RJ outside the Osmosis pub at the ground floor of our EuroHostel, and holding as many ketchup from Macs as he can hold with the spaces btw his fingers!

Taking the very simple breakfast at the EuroHostel - dun we just miss the continental one at Granville Guesthouse in Edinburgh, urrrgggh!
Walking down Buchanan St - the main shopping drag of Glasgow that cuts through the heart of the city, catch the peacock sculpture around!
Why LQ so happy when see Apple?
A very interesting shop facade of a candy shop.

Visiting the so-called-famous Glasgow School of Art, up on a slope which supposedly had a 20 milesperhour (i suppose it's miles) speed limit.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh designed this building in 1896

and he is to Glasgow what Gaudi is to Barcelona.
The deluxe tea-rooms nearby are the Willow Tea Rooms, also designed by Mackintosh. See the high-backed chairs! and LQ's fave shot which she took - the one on the right with the pastries inside the glass cover - at last she is getting 'some positive influences' from me

(after 7yrs)!

Lunch at the Willow Tea Rooms, after a time-limited shopping spree at Primark! (I bought a few t-shirts, berms and a belt! Imagine what the gals could have managed!)
Eats - XH's salmon platter, my chilli beef and LQ's Haggis (the brown layer below the orange yellow top) - Scotland's national dish, which contains lungs/hearts/livers of a sheep, mixed with oatmeal and onion and stuffed into a sheep's stomach bag and finely chopped!

Tell me how brave is this woman I chose?
Another of LQ's fave shot which she took - the rock sugar/white sugar contrast?
We had strawberry milkshake, hot chocolate with marshmallows, special green tea and the Willow blend (of tea). Nice tea - very relaxing and can pao4 many times with hot water!

Walking/shopping along the Z-shaped shopping streets of Argyle St, Buchanan St and Sauchiehall St - said to be the best shopping in UK after London's Oxford/Regent Streets!
And finally, after such a shopping spree (cue LQ bottom left), its home sweet home via 1hr train to Prestwick International Airport to take Ryanair again!
That's how you spend 24hrs in Glasgow!

Lappis jog...

2009-04-10T09:14:00.006+02:00

Finally the winter is officially over and we went for a jog in the Lappis forest.

I have never treasured sunlight so much when I am in Singapore and used to be puzzled why most people here are envious that "Singapore's weather is summer all year round". Now I totally understand why sunlight is so very precious in Sweden. Just one day - sun rays radiating on your skin and snow flower burgeoning from the grass - certainly pumps up your mood! This explains why we both enjoyed this simple jog very much!

This pic reminded me of LOTR.

Spring is so good! Feel like basking in the sun the whole day!

We are both awed by the crispness of the air and the tranquility in the forest!

The Last Remnants of Winter! 18th Mar 09, Wed

2009-04-04T21:11:00.032+02:00

There was this skiing event (World Cup series) outside the Royal Palace at Gamla Stan, called the Royal Palace Sprint. Literally, the participants had to sprint around the palace, with qualifying, quarters, semis, and final rounds all in a day!

Some sights in the city
Frozen lake, Dumped bicycle on frozen lake, Last feel of winter

The Event

Skiing competitors, beautiful weather, streamlined skis, athletic people, flying snow, every second counts...

Other sights at the event

Swedish people, cheeky policemen, woolly dog, Swedish flag, Norwegian flag, Swedish King

Spring?

2009-03-23T23:16:00.005+01:00

What My Eyes and Camera Saw in 2008 Vol 1

2009-03-19T17:57:00.009+01:00

In case you missed this on my Facebook account. here it is again..

the collection of 134 images which I really like, after taking around 7000plus in 2008.

Hope you can enjoy them as much as I did!

What My Eyes and Cameras Saw in 2008 Vol 2

2009-03-19T17:39:00.009+01:00

What My Eyes and Cameras Saw in 2008 Vol 3

2009-03-19T17:20:00.008+01:00

What my Eyes and Cameras Saw in 2008 Vol 4

2009-03-19T16:01:00.015+01:00

Many many random stuff...

2009-02-08T13:20:00.003+01:00

The 7-Year-Itch?

2009-01-21T04:05:00.006+01:00

Come Feb 10, 2009... It will be our 7 years together..

An amazing time since Feb 10, 2002... since that Jay Chou concert - Thanks Jay for getting us started! too bad his music is not the same as before...

Seven years... not too long yet not that short..

Been thinking how true that seven-year-itch thing is? If so, whether there is a perfect gift around to shut it out so it will be smooth-sailing for our 8th year...

Guess our being together here in Stockholm together is a good enough gift for the both of us!

Sch Starts Again!

2009-01-21T03:48:00.002+01:00

Learning Swedish - Elementary this time.. not sure if it will be helpful at all but at least I can understand the Swedes and their culture better I hope.. Also, learning a new language is a refreshing experience, something I have not tried in 15 years? The interaction and practice with others is also fun & really a more motivating experience, provided the interest is ther of course. plus when LQ gets home, I can practice with her so she can learn a bit too! plus it's funnie to hear her pronounce in her kiddish tone....! those who know her, you can imagine la...

Also having another module this period, plus waiting for thesis to be confirmed.. applied already but when to start and schedule details - not known yet as of now... hate thesis, rather study something else.. prayin' for the best!

so this period = 1 thesis, 1 swedish language, 1 other module

Some preview pics specially for you, Emily!!!

2009-01-16T22:21:00.002+01:00

Sights of Hamburg, Germany!! Day 3/3 Part II

2009-01-08T16:38:00.016+01:00

SPEICHERSTADT, HARBOUR AREA, HAMBURG

Besides being the media capital of Germany and being a major location of the world's aircraft assembly industry (after Seattle and Toulouse), Hamburg is also a leading port city and has the harbour as the heart of the city.

The Speicherstadt is a whole area of red-brick warehouses which stored exotic goods around the world last time but houses many museums and apartments now..

HAFENCITY, HARBOUR AREA, HAMBURG

The HafenCity is a project that develops a new district from the harbour.. besides having nice spaces to house a small building showcasing the city's philharmonic orchestra..

..it also has newly designed living pods for residents right beside the water!

All of them look so cool and are unique with their own flavour..

The city is served by the S- and U-Bahn just like Berlin

and we also didn't buy tickets! ssshhhh...

HAUPTBAHNHOF, CITY CENTRE, HAMBURG

The main train station looks very spacious but is older of course compared to Berlin's. But it has many reasonably-priced food stalls too for us to buy something to eat on the airport shuttle as well as on the budget flight back to Stockholm..

After 3 days and 3 nights, it's time for our German adventure to come to an end.

Back to Stockholm, with fond memories of Berlin, the capital that's constantly evolving, and Hamburg, with much less sights but still Germany's 2nd largest city...

~End of Berlin & Hamburg Trip!~

Sights of Hamburg, Germany!! Day 3/3 Part I

2009-01-08T16:29:00.016+01:00

Finger-lickin good eh? Enjoying breakfast at the hotel!

The egg-holder convinced me to start loving soft-boiled eggs again!

Also, can spot the funnily-shaped TV in the background?

CITY HALL AREA, HAMBURG

The city's medieval and impressive city hall (Rathaus) was built in 1897

and houses the senate and the Hamburg Parliament.

It is in neo-Renaissance style and has a 112m tower,

so we were there enjoying the nice morning weather..

The main city centre is quite walkable, and we chanced upon a

nice but deserted shopping centre, I like the curvature inside the building..

and a church...

MESSBURG, HAMBURG

to the main sight of this post: the Chilehaus. Can see that LQ is actually panting in the 1st pic? haha maybe I make her walk too much..

The Chilehaus is so named because it was commissioned by a shipping magnate from Chile; this office building is special as it is shaped like a ship,

with curved walls which meet at a sharp angle at the front..

Another similar brown-brick building beside it is the Sprinkenhof,

it has special windows and diamond-pattern bricks..