Switzerland

Top of Zurich - n i dun feel like gg down after climbing a long way up

I like tis station name. but fuck de summer heat

sunflower blooming

Schaffhausen Falls - largest waterfall in whole of europe. but when i got there i was totalli disappointed cos i compared it to de niagara falls dat mum n i went in 2005. niagara falls was so much more spectacular. having paid a bomb to visit tis miniature falls seriously isn't worth it. everithing is bullshit. tat's y i dun enjoi europe. ma grievance at tat point of time was: "if onli i'm in japan."

Tis self-prepared dinner oredi costs over 30 sgd

Luzern

Tis pair of zara has realli walked de world wif mi. Thank you shoes

Outside of de window looks scary to mi

swiss chocolates doesn't realli touch ma heart neither. it's de tokyo banana tat whet ma appetite!

tokyo tokyo, hope i save enuf $$$ by mid-2010 to pae u a visit.

Tee off in Batam

KTV

juz did a count n holiday's over soon. 10 more daes to go. so sad now. finalli caught some gud sleep tis afternoon from 2.30 to 5pm.

met alex n mel at bugis. went ktv opposite bugis junction. 23.50 bucks per person, inclusive of a bowl of noodles n free flow of drinks. sang till ma throat got sore.

am happi tat i can finalli upload pics on ma blog.

Back from batam

=====Day 01 28 Jul 09 Tuesday=====

Ma 1st time to batam. was a nice destination to rejuvenate. a mere 40-minute ferry transported mi back into de 1960s era. dilapidated housing n roads full of potholes. 4 pax on a motorbike. 1 child in front, followed by father, 2nd child, and mother.

reached sekupang n off we went for lunch at KTM resort. it's a nice villa chalet facing de sea though overlooking de singapore city skyline. ate fried rice with egg n chinese tea.

checked into harris resort. our 62 bucks crazy deal promo included
- 1/2 hour spa though we extended for an additional hour;
- 1 pizza which we did not collect;
-late check-out until 4pm though we checked out at 12nn.

went sport massage in nagoya town for foot reflexology. onli 18 sgd for 1 hour.

drank at teras cafe with veri nice english ambience, a club seemingly like having onli de 2 of us as patrons cos we reached too earli, margarita at novotel hotel before karaoke at dynasty ktv.

=====Day 02 29 Jul 09 Wednesday=====

went indra puri golf course for lunch of curry chicken with rice before taking 1440 hrs ferry back to sg.

had dinner with mum, sis-es n bro-in-law downstairs.

2 more weeks to school

3 months juz whizzed past like tat. soon school will be reopening. On de bright side is dat I feel a sense of achievement when I am occupied wif stuff to do. On de down side is understress n lack of a good rest.

Anihow, got ma week started by visiting de temple in bugis. later had lunch with sis at subway in raffles city. decided dat i should eat healthy n more vegetables. so i should avoid all other fast food chains at all cost for de time being.

Went ION again with tadashi. Bought an avocado juice which tasted damn awful. Felt like puking. Crowd was heavy too, despite being mondae.

walked to orchard central, many shops are yet to open. But on overall I think de mall sucks. Too claustrophobic. too full of restaurants which aren't of anything special or appeal to passers-by.

Had a rest at starbucks in plaza sing. Ordered hot vanilla as usual. Ma 'bright' eyes saw a strand of hair in ma drink. So i gotta reject it n got a new one prepared. Service totalli sucks big time. When a customer rejects something, the service provider should say: "Sorry sir, I will get it changed immediately." Instead of grabbing my cup back without a word.

Somehow I realised those that could provide good service are those with a good grasp of language n outspoken, n consider how F&B outlets hire multi-racial staff (who don't speak good english but all sorts of nonsense) these days to drive down operating cost.

of course one wouldn't expect such a service from a hawker stall, but a more up-market cafe like starbucks should be wary. Why would one pay over 5 bucks to get a coffee when you can get it for 80 cents in a coffeeshop?

Went ikea n bought 2 frames for ma portraits i bought in paris n rome. similarly, i observed the service delivery at ikea. being a sort of self-service store to drive cost down (so savings could be passed on to consumers), a stupid lady checking out at de cashier demanded for all sorts of service there are on earth, seemingly a first-time shopper at ikea. When requested by de cashier to DIY, all she could give was a black n long face n asked tis n tat. She should shop at barang barang instead.

reached home n took some pictures of ma nice portraits. but i can't upload here. ma blog is faced with some technical problems.

Going batam with kn tomorrow n back on wed! got tis crazy deal on wotif.com at onli 65 bucks for 1 night at Harris Resort. Resist no more.

ION Orchard

Went ION orchard tdy with cal. Initialli see quite small. But turned out to have few interesting basements. Think i like de toilet best.

had subway's teriyaki chicken for lunch. returned to ION again. full of branded boutiques. tink i'll nid to earn at least 10k a month to enjoi such stuff.

walked to esplanade n saw ppl rehearsing for national day at de floating platform. went marina square n had yong tau foo for dinner before returning home.

Certified service professional - Most promising learner!

Finalli csp course is over. so many role plays. veri last minute was told to be de mcee for graduation ceremony held in class with a special invited guest. but it was ok. no stage fright. ntu-trained.

1 uncle who has been in de travel trade for a long time complimented tat he enjoyed my speech when i made a presentation talking about myself. i shall take tis as a form of encouragement?

now i kinda miss de class. made nice frens who lunch-ed wif mi, and jokers in de class. wat's most important is: we're all like-minded individuals with a passion for the tourism & hospitality industry.

veri happi to be voted de "Most Promising Learner" award. but wat did i get? A cap wif "TMIS" logo which i die die oso wun dare to wear out. And oso a business card holder.

falling sick since yesterday, so i quickly went to c chinese physician tis afternoon. now neckache.

hate to fall sick.

Relac-King sundae

woke up at midday. yesterday's sleep wasn't easy due to ma ear. blue-black feeling each time i rest on ma left ear cos of piercing.

ate duck rice, watched japanese drama online before going to nap from 3.30pm to 5pm till i headache. i wondered y i could sleep so well n woke up juz to discover it was raining.

rain stopped so i jogged to east coast park at 6pm. had wantan mee at blk 18 before walking home.

class again tomolo. so tiring!

Amsterdam 29 Jun - 01 Jul 09

Molen van Sloten windmill museum

Tulips

Sexmuseum

Harry Potter

Ytd was a super tiring day. Got some stupid skid to do in class. i hate role play as well. but i dun mind presentation anitime. After class watched harry potter, which wasn't nice. No wonder mel asked mi not to watch. Plus we were sitting in de 1st row. So it's like looking at heaven for almost 3 hrs?

tdy i went temple in bugis, n later pierced ma upper ear in bugis village. borrowed 2 books on borneo. dunno wat to do n where to go when i visit kuching next month.

juz prepared a short speech for ma presentation on self-introduction for de coming mon in class. hosei!

Certified service professional course

Today's de 1st dae of the above-mentioned course. lazi to retype de full name. so drained of ma holy energy. de old woman trainer spent 1 full fuck dae instilling positive thinking into us. seriously, to think positively requires more energy than thinking negatively.

classmates were mostly working adults? though i'm not de youngest. still got 4 full more fuck daes to go. but i muz endure cos i paid 65 bucks for it which could buy mi a fcuk shirt at promo?

after class returned home n jogged to east coast park, around de cable ski lake before taking bus 31 home. it's been a long time since i last ran. stamina dropped by more than half. still it's better to be late than never to start running.

had mee pok near ma house. totalli no energi to eat n swallow. so tiredddDead.

Paris 27-29 Jun 09

Paris subway - confusing enough?

Sun basking at Jardin du Luxembourg

Arc de Triomphe

Tour Eiffel

Notre Dame Cathedrale

Grande Pyramide & Musee du Louvre (Louvre Museum)

European Tales 27 Jun - 8 Jul 09

From Paris to Amsterdam, Zurich, Rome and Milan...

Europe totally sucks. The weather sucked mi big time, save for amsterdam with cool summer.

Some discoveries...
- Train without aircon despite hot summer
- Train without auto door; have to push a button or lever to open the door
- Room without aircon; day time super hot; night time I felt as though I was in aircon room
- Coke and mineral water that costs Euro 2.00 (SGD4.10); drinking wine is cheaper
- Cherry flavour coke
- Pee smell on the streets
- Loud noise
- Fart smell on trains
- Paris subway network is ultra confusing, worse than Tokyo. You'll need pan and paper (So yea! I am a qualified backpacker)
- Vandalism (graffiti) is seen as an art
- Europeans sit in 1 straight line in outdoor cafe to people-watch, instead of sitting in circles around a table
- To use toilet (urinal) costs Euro 1.00; to shit costs Euro 2.00 (Zurich main train station)
- "Toilets only for patrons; non-customer please pay at the counter before use."
- Even a Japanese finds Switzerland expensive
- Sunset at 10pm during summer
- Europeans have footlong subway sandwich by themselves; I could not almost finish even a 6-inch
- French kiss indeed originated from france; french people enjoy kissing, nonstop; at the airport, in the park, at the subway, everywhere.
- Pinocchio comes from an Italian village, carved out of wood
- Snow all year round on Mount Titlis, Zurich, Switzerland
- MacDonald's set meal in Europe could buy you a set meal in a restaurant in SG

Some Dubai Tales 27 Jun 09

Peering out of the plane window upon descending into Dubai, I could see blurry air. Was that fog? Or otherwise sand from the desert? It doesn't take me long to confirm that was sand.

Gazing into the sky from the Dubai ground, I could see no clouds, but that of a harsh sunlight beaming onto ground and suffocating any human beings. I was all fried up!

My thought of finding work here in the land of opportunity was soon diminished. "Never return to Dubai," at least during summer, was my thought at that point of time.

Anyhow, Dubai's amazing skyscrapers/tower design, especially the Burj Dubai - slated to be the world's tallest tower (38m/110 floors), confirmed my notion on how rich those arab men must be. So much so that their wives - covered in black from head to toe - were seen patronising LV shops while their men waited quietly at one side.

Dubai is amazingly a multi-cultural nation, not much different from Singapore. You see the arabs, indians in plentiful, chinese, caucasians, nepalese etc. All calling Dubai their home. Tax free and abundant job opportunities might be the pull factors.

Still, I couldn't wait to be pushed out of this hot desert, and I was none the more happy than getting myself on the flight bound for Paris. My jeans was all wet and oh, my disposable undies - are you still there?

Burj Dubai - the sharpest & tallest structure seen in this picture

Aircon bus stop

World's largest ski field in Mall of the Emirates - Dubai's largest shopping mall

Holes in shelter? What a stupid design idea

Umm Suqueim Beach Park

Burj Al Arab

Ice age 3

watched ice age 3 with kt at great world city. lame movie lah. dunno when to laugh or when not to laugh.

staying home is better.

Pay fine, supper, stephanie sun's concert

Lost ma rome guide book in rome. was awed by de jaw-dropping night view of de colosseum. Placed ma book on a bench and wandered off taking pictures. Returned to find it later but gone!

paid 30 bucks for it at nlb on fri nite. had supper with brian at xin wang cafe in siglap after midnite. ate dao huay. de next day (which was yesterday dated 11 july 2009 saturday), i had de same stuff at ps' xin wang cafe branch. ate guo tie and har gao with cal oso.

went to see orchard central but nothing much to mi. building's narrow.

had caramel frappucino at starbucks in marina square, before we made our way to singapore indoor stadium.

watched stephanie sun's concert which was veri nice. omg. she's ma idol. home grown some more. so mani years haf passed, n i'm still listening to her songs over and over again. juz like a broken down radio.

concert ended late at 2330. had our supposedly dinner at midnite. so is supper? or i'm still following paris' time which was 6pm? ate hokkien mee n fried oysters before it's home sweet home.

About Emirates

Long flights killed mi tis time. Flew Singapore via Colombo and Dubai, before finally reaching Paris. But we don't have to change plane in Colombo, juz remained on board. Still remember how i enjoyed flying all de way to new york, and the further de better. but tis time round flight was draggy. sat till ma butt veri pain. good for those with big ass which will serve as a cushion. dun wanna take sleeping pill cos later emergency evacuation i oso blur-blur. at tat point of time, i onli hoped i had a swimming float with mi.

Negative comments

Emirates' service was realli lousy. Cabin crew mostly pulled a black and long face. SIA crew is full of "Thank you sir, thank you mdm." Emirates' crew said nothing, not even a thank you. When passengers got off the plane, de crew just leaned against de door, with eyes staring into space and looked horrible! Even though it was just a short 7-hour flight from Dubai to Paris.

there was a situation where one indian lady in her late 40s who could not reach for the overhead compartment due to height and sought the help of a fat and round indian stewardess (a singaporean) upon touching down in colombo. The stewardess glanced at her and said: "Please get it yourself, I need to look after some stuff." No sorry, but just a fierce look. As though Emirates did not pay her.

Upon hearing it I got a shock and felt sorry for the indian lady. Before i could assist (even though I am short but thankfully i could still reach for the B777's compartment after some tip-toeing), a man seated behind her immediately came to help.

Saying of weights, many have such big ass and weight NOT in proportion to height, such that they kept bumping against my shoulder or arm as well as others who were seated along the aisle. My And they walked along the passageway as though a herd of cattle is passing through, such that it just disturb a night flight. Unlike SIA crew, who had to tip-toe in de middle of the night when walking along the passageway to avoid disturbing pax. But in de first place SIA adopts a BMI test, so that their heavy crew gets grounded until they are back in shape?

Saw 1 crew taking out her red hat while walking loudly halfway along the passageway. Such uniform stuff I still feel it's better to be done behind, in de galley or lavatory.

I wouldn't have had so much complains had Emirates not proclaim themselves as having the best inflight service with de best crew, such that many people (mostly those who had not fly with emirates before) were induced into this believing this fallacy through word-of-mouth.

Positive

Emirates has got a multi-cultural crews. Whites, yellow, black-skinned. Before take off they'll announce what languages are spoken by the crew on board. Over 10 languages. English, italian, french, spanish, chinese, indian, arabic, korean, japanese etc.

But back to my complain, they announced everything so loudly. Till ma ear is going to burst.

But one thing I found interesting - tat is listening to the announcement in arabic language. it's just cool! I felt exhausted for the announcer though, without little pauses and veri fast. Just like nonstop blabber.

Conclusion

SIA is still better than Emirates.