Thursday, September 28, 2006

Day 1 - Paris - Madrid

Crazy day. Woke up damn early in the morning to a shivering cold breeze coming into my room. Thinking that a hot shower will do me good, I went to Ellen's bathroom. She had warned yesterday that there's something wrong with the shower and that cold water might come on for a few seconds before reverting back to the hot water. Darn, I must be the first person to experience otherwise. The hot water came on for a few seconds, and it's freezing cold water for the rest of it. Perhaps Singapore should ban water heater and we can immediately see a reduction in water usage.

Anyhow, it is another mad rush to find where Blue Marble, our luggage storage place is with Ellen's parents. Peishi had her luggage missing and frankly, I was quite worried about her. But she arrived at the Blue Marble faster than we did despite the fact that she's much further away from Blue Marble, much thanks to the efficient (they had got to be @ 40 euros for a trip like that) taxi. The 3 of us are really indebted to our hosts. They spent like nearly 1 hour driving back and forth, asking around, kenna horn by other people and kissed their bumper to a small metal sticking out from nowhere, just to get us to Blue Marble. Whoever said that French are snobbish have obviously not met them before.

Our gracious hosts before we bid farewell outside Blue Marble.

A nice flight on Easyjet (albeit costing us quite a bit for budget airlines) brought us to Madrid. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. So when we're in Spain, we followed fellow Spainards and cheated on the metro system. They are still using turnstiles and all 4 of us can pass through the turnstiles when it remains half-rotated. Bah, before you cast that disapproving look of yours, please bear in mind we're all poor asians students trying to make ends meet. Besides, we did not do it often... Not when the station controller is around anyway... ;)

Our Madrid Home

Plaza Mayor & took a candid pic of Xiaolin as she poses for the camera.

Trip to Spain won't be complete without Tapas & Tortillas

One thing I'll never get sick of is their crystal clear deep blue sky.

It was quite about 5+ pm when we finally reached our hostel and the pic above was taken @ about 8+pm. New experience for me to still be in the sun @ 8pm.



Plaza Mayor at night. Should have more of such places in Singapore. Best place to jio char boh.

As we walked the streets of Madrid, we found this shop owned by some Chinese from Zhejiang. Friendly lady who taught us a few Spanish phrases. Rather refreshing to talk to someone in Mandarin and rather surprising, to know that there're so many Chinese in Madrid. Ah well, as the saying goes, 有太阳的地方,就有中国人.



Yes, the famed alfresco dining with a musician available at the snap of your fingers, and of "cost" (pun-intended), some euros. Romance costs... :(

Afternote: damn dulan.. can't get the Youtube thingy aligned.. go to the website for the full view of the video.. if you got solution, email me yar.. thanks...

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Day 0

Thanks Adrian! Thanks Ritchie! Thanks Szemin! Thanks Herman! Thanks Suiying! Thanks Jasmin! Thanks Sijia! For coming in the most ungodly hours to send us off! And dear Geraldine who called to bid me farewell.
And of course, my most generous sponsors Mom and Dad, who made sure I had brought enough stuff to keep me comfortable during my stay in Rouen. Really appreciate all of that! :) Missing you guys right now...
Not forgetting our kind Qatar ground crew who upgraded me to my first Business Class seat (fordie>> if you're reading this, yes... Business class is SHOIK de! see below for pictorial illustration!)
It's not the number of times they serve you food, but the quality of food! Damn, so fresh is the strawberry juice that you immediately feel healthier! The frommage (French for cheese) & the smoked salmon is ooommm... bah.. the only complain i can have is that after we transit at DOHA, we will be back to normal.. squeezy economical class.

THAT toy is fun. It allows you to adjust your seat to fit all your weird bodily shape and comes complete with massage function. It also has 2 quick buttons that pops you up and be ready for the delicious food, or return you to your slumbering position for movie and sleep. And seriously, what jet-lag? Travel once in Business Class and I'm sure none will want to return to Economy Class. No wonder those business execs all want to fly Biz Class.

Landed in DOHA @ about 7+am and the sun is like so bright already. No wonder they need tudung. Most of their buildings are in light colors, mostly white. Interesting country. Watched a documentary in-flight on "Should the international community accept Hamas as a political partner?".

It is part of the DOHA Debate as Qatar as a country sincerely believes that it is in the position to do something for the peace process in Middle East. It also fulfils part of Qatar Foundation’s mission to encourage participatory education in the region, with the goal of creating well informed, engaged citizens. Small country, great ambitions. Extremly contrasting to our highly paid "professional job-finder for Singaporeans".

Another reason why Singapore can never be a developed nation and Mediacorp will always be in the red. Anyway, it's a great show. The panel speakers are all high profiled people as follows:-

For the motion, "This House believes that the international
community must accept Hamas as a political partner".


Stanley L. Cohen, a New York-based lawyer who is best
known for his defense of Mousa Abu Marzook the head of the political wing of Hamas.

Dr. Mohammad‐Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou, Associate Director of the Harvard Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research.

Opposing the motion

David Frum, former special assistant to President George W.Bush. He is also a bestselling author and resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Salim Mansur, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. He is a regular columnist in North American newspapers and contributor to international journals.

You gotta love this Stanley L. Cohen guy. If this debate is Manhunt 2006, I'll award him the most Intelligent Speaking and Charismatic trophies. And if you ever wonder why Bush sounds so stupid everytime he speaks, you gotta know who he surrounds himself with. That David guy, stutters, "ermm", used wrong examples that kick himself in the balls, and well.. basically, a bon à rien (good-for-nothing)

Needless to say, the house voted for the motion. No one feels sorry for the 2 dumbasses. I would vote for the motion too, for the love of mankind, but even more so for the price of the damn bloody petrol we're paying.

Back to being "sardined".

Toilet with a view


Our kind host and friend Ellen brought us to the Eiffel!

Replica of the flame on Statue of Liberty marks the place where Princess Diana was killed

I will never forget this fabulous meal and extremely warm family. Thanks.