Day 207: Bruges

Date: 27 MARCH 2009

Woke up, made breakfast



and then went out to the balcony to take pictures. Can you spot us?



Sent a postcard home



And then made our way to BRUGES.



Along the way we saw an interesting way of moving house. They sent in the stuffs through the windows. And according to Sabrina, you first have to apply to block up the road, then u can start shifting in your things. It is not possible to carry them up through the stairs as it is too narrow.



Bruges (Dutch: Brugge) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country.

The historic city centre is a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO. It is egg-shaped and about 430 hectares in size. The area of the whole city amounts to more than 13,840 hectares, including 193.7 hectares off the coast, at Zeebrugge ("Seabruges" in literal translation). The city's total population is 117,073 (1 January 2008), of which around 20,000 live in the historic centre. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of 616 km² and has a total of 255,844 inhabitants as of 1 January 2008.

Along with a few other canal-based northern cities, such as Amsterdam, it is sometimes referred to as "The Venice of the North".

Bruges has a significant economic importance thanks to its port. At one time it was the "chief commercial city" of the world. Bruges is also home to the College of Europe.











Me with a halo!!



Pictures of Bruges.























































































Interesting things for sales. Never thought that I would see the word Singapore as a design on a bag for sales.



How about some chocolates in the shape of penis, tits and virgina.











Getting Horny? DONT!

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Day 206: Brussels

Date: 26 MARCH 2009

Since I am already in Europe, I have decided to go around visiting a few of my friends who are in Europe. So Clayton and I decided to make a trip to Brussels, Belgium to visit Sabrina. Leonard was suspose to come with us but he back up last minute due to school work.



In the bus, on the way to Manchester Airport.



The bus ride to the airport was quite long and since I have got nothing to do, I was browsing through my SMSes. Then I saw this funny sms which Clayton sent me a couple of weeks ago when I left for Switzerland. Its hilarious. He is very BO LIAO!!



Touched down in Belgium.



Since Sabrina was still at work when we reached Brussels, we went roaming about the city. The first thing we saw was a wall full of posters which was outside the train station. And since now we are two travelling, we can do some camwhore!! Wahahaa... Lots of people were looking at us but we dont care.

Me kissing the girl.



Licking her butt.



Clayton pretending to be her.



Tried to take some "artistic" shot.





A huge loudhailer at the junction of the streets. Not knowing what it was, I went ahead and made a loud "announcement". Hahaha... Later we figured out that it might be for the traffic police to use for controlling the traffic... Opps...



Not long after we were approached by a "tourist" who asked me to help him take photo. Why "tourist"? Cause he is pretending to be one. First he dont even have a proper camera, then he asked me to photograph him with a bus stop. Isnt it lame? I was already on my guards. Then just as i finish taking the photo for him, another guy came up saying he is a policeman, very quickly showed his pass and kept it and then asked to see my passport. IT MUST BE A SCAM!!!

Haahahah.. wanna trick me? Not so easy. I simply just turned over to Clayton and asked him to walk off with me, leaving both of them looking lost. Hahaha.... I have already encountered a few scams along the way for the pass few months. This is not going to get me!!!

Brussels was wet and gloomy. We spent most of the time seeking for shelter but still managed to capture a few shots of the grand square (or was it grand palace?).















Whats Belgium famous for? BEER!!



And also chocolates!!! and waffles!! YUMMY!!! Clayton simply just indulge himself in all the sweet stuffs.









Then it got dark and even colder and wetter. We went hiding in the subway station for warm while waiting for Sabrina to knock off.



Finally, she finish work and gave us directions to her place. While waiting for the bus. It was damn freaking windy cold.



She has got a really cosy house!!



Whats next? Its dinner time.





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Day 199 - 205: Rest and Relax

Date: 19 MARCH - 25 MARCH 2009

Got back to Manchester and did nothing much for a week. Rest and Relax.



I shaved my head clean a day before I left for this trip and I realised that it has been 206 days since I had a hair cut. That's a record for me and I will not cut till I get back to Singapore. I wanna See how nomad I can look. Haha...

Anyway, I realised that my hair does not grow evenly. While the back and the side are growing, my fringe does not seems to grow that fast.



So now I look like at some Japanese cartoon character. XIAO WAN ZI!!! Wahahahaha







Anyway here is a secret photo of Clayton. Ever wonder how does he look at when he is fat? Well, in Manchester, with all the exam preparations and cold winter, he gets really FAT!!



OH NO!! He is so going to kill me... wahahahaha....


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Day 198: Pub Crawl

Date: 18 MARCH 2009

Today is my last day in Dublin. Feeling sad and dont wish to leave. Even though I have only been here for a week or so, I felt as if I have already been here for months. The people that I got to know, the great company I had, the superb fun, priceless. It was an international gathering from all continents. Nevertheless, there is an end to every story. At least it was an happy ending.

Did nothing much. When I woke up, people were already leaving. These mexican guys were leaving.







And so were these germans.





My host already left the place even before we wake up. But it was so nice of her to leave us some "couchsurfing food" :)



This was where I sneaked in and out for the last couple of nights.



Joined a couple of CS'ers for a museum tour but we all ended up enjoying the sun as it is quite rare for Dublin to be sunny.











She is a military police and she is based in Iraq!!!



Then when it was about after office hours, I made my way over to Andrew's house as he was going to host me for tonight. Along the way I bumped into another CS'er. See, thats why I feel that I have been here for long and I dont wish to leave. I feel connected to Dublin.

Andrew has a huge balcony with an awesome view which left me saying nothing but WOH!!







Andrew's cat.



The last event for this CS Paddy's Day week was a Pub Crawl. It means going from pub to pub, staying at each pub for a time of about half an hour or so. Go in, order a drink, finished it and moved on. Since this was the last event, everyone enjoyed themselves and we all started exchanging contacts. I asked them to write their emails on my arm.































Whats a picture of a toilet bowl doing here?



Cause it was unique......??????


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Day 197: St Patrick's Day

Date: 17 MARCH 2009

FINALLY!!! The day I have been waiting for... The reason why I come to Dublin.... Its PADDY'S DAY!!!! WOOT!!!! There will be a huge street parade/party going on in town later and so armed with my camera, I marched towards O'Connell Street, the main thoroughfare of Dublin and one of Europe's widest Street.

It was already packed with people by the time I got there and I could not clearly see the parade when it started. Instead, every time when the parade/float passes by, I saw hundreds and hundreds of hands stretching high up, snapping away. It was quite a funny sight. Haha....



Few moments of the parade.





After trying to capture shots of the parade, I decided that it will come to no avail. There were too many people and the shots will not turn out nice. So I decided to do street photography instead. Capturing the moments, the expressions, the fun and laughter might be a better choice. And it was indeed.

You see, there were too many people viewing the parade and so if you want to be able to see it, you have to be on higher ground than others. So some people stood on the rubbish bins, trying to catch a glimpse.



Some climbed up trees.



How about clinging on bus stop sign posts.





Clinging onto street lamp posts.



Some made their way up monuments.





Others brought their own ladder.



However, the best of all are those who climb up the traffic lights.



Even better, wearing skirt up on a traffic light.





While these people were going all out just to have a view of the parade, the police seems to be alright with them. No one seems to have concern for the safety of these people. Well, I LIKE IT!!! Thats the way a parade should be. Its freedom!!! Haha....

Anyway, liked I said, I was going to do street photography and street photography I did. I went wild and crazy shooting at random people. It was fun. Presenting to you, the colourful St Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland 2009!!!









































The police, smart and ready for the parade.











Then it was time to go to a bar to catch a cold Guinness, have a break, before heading back out again. Saw a couple of CS'ers in the pub.





Back on the streets!!!





































Since there was a huge crowd from all over the world here in Dublin, how can the attention seeking drags not make use of this good chance to have their own mini parade?







Even though the parade has ended, there were still thousands and thousands of people roaming around the streets. Everyone were in very high spirit. Singing loudly, holding hands, dancing in group, It was pure fun. How I wish my friends were here as well, it would be more fun!!

Noone was camera shy that day. Everyone wants to be captured and was so willing to pose in front of the lens! Some saw me shooting them and they even stop for me, others approached me and asked me to take photos of them. It was awesome.

















Even the police were friendly. Hey, did that police wear a make up while on duty? Beautiful ya?



Well, only one guy was not very friendly. One random guy on the streets. Just as I was talking photos of some cute little kids, he walked passed me and shouted " BEWARE OF THIS MAN!! DONT LET HIM TAKE PHOTOS OF CHILDREN!! HE IS A PEDOPHILE!!!"

What is wrong with him?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Anyway, the fun did not stop with the parade. People were singing songs, drinking, smoking, chilling, playing guitar all over the streets and also, on the ledge of windows!! :)









The most interesting of all was this group of youngsters. I stood by the street for a very long time trying to capture these moments. They were on the 2nd or 3rd floor window and were waiting for victims to walk pass along the streets on the ground floor. Then, once they decided on their victim, they would lower down a sock using a string. Most of the time the sock would hit the head of the victims, and sometime, it just appears inches away from the victims faces.

The shock and surprise look on the victims faces were priceless. Many of them gave a "huh?" look at first but ended up laughing. It was like gotcha or gigs in the making.

Check out this pictures.















The cool thing was noone got angry. :) It was Paddy's Day!!!







I met up with Joey for the later half of the day, visiting some places around Dublin.















and then I headed back to my host's place for a rest.



Wassup for the night? Another round of huge party ofcourse!!! Sad to say, it was the last party. Everyone will be heading off towards their own direction from tomorrow onwards. But no worries, we live to enjoy the moment.

Haha.. Check out Emma's name tag.







More asian!! Japanese.









Asian spotted again! Its me?? No No... Its Andrew....













More Asian spotted! Korean.









P/S: Saw another drag on the streets wearing only a small piece of cloth which was just enough to cover up his "little brother". Along with that, 2 tiny strings run up along his body covering only his 2 nipples and then down his back connecting to his G-string. I was quite amazed!! He was as good as naked. How can he not feel cold at all? Impressive!!



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Day 196: Paddy's Day's Eve

Date: 16 MARCH 2009

Joined a free walking tour around Dublin in the morning.











Got to know some interesting fact through this tour. For example, this guitar was used by dont know which famous singer. haha.



However, the most interesting of all is this little plague mounted on one of the bridges over Liffey River. Initially, someone place a sign here saying that some person died from a mysterious accident, fell into the river but the body was never found. Then lots of people started offering flowers to the dead. The people in Dublin somehow got so emotionally involved in this case that a plague was placed here permanent in memory of him. It was till many many years later that someone confessed that it was a prank done by them when they were drunk. They started this whole thing but never thought that it would become so big an issue. However even after this clarification, the authorities decided to leave the plague as it is and it soon became a tourist sight. Haha..



After the walking tour, I went for a visit at the Guinness Brewery together with the rest of the CS'ers. It is so good to be a CS'er in Dublin. we even got discount prices for this visit.



The CS gang!!



How can one miss Guinness when one is in dublin right? Furthermore they are celebrating their 250 years!!!!







The original contract lease signed by the forefather of Guinness, 999 years of lease!!



The water from the river flows straight into this brewery to be used.



More pictures taken.













Why is there an Aerial Bomb here in the Guinness Brewery?



Read this to find out.



We were also taught how to pour a pint of nice Guinness. It looks simple but it requires some skills. Thats me and Joey giving it a shot.



And yes, we passed!!







Doing the Guinness mustache shot!





The whole Guinness building was built in the shape of a pint glass and at the top of it is a bar with nice view.





I then went over to Joey's host (from FIJI!!!) place for dinner. After that we all dressed up for the huge CS's private Paddy's Day's countdown party!!









But before we go over to the party, we went to try some deep fried chocolate Mars bar in batter!! It was damn sweet!!







Dont know if you can see it but there is a Shamrock sign on the Guinness!!



Well, its TIME TO PARTY!!







From USA.



Rory, the guy whom brought us all this wonderful events!



From Australia,



She is the girl whom painted my face!



And its her birthday!





From Australia, my "long lost brother", Andrew. Well, from Not Loh to Still Not LOh. It haS yet again evloved into him wearing name tag saying Not Singaporean, Not Loh and me wearing Not Andrew , Not Australian. Haha...





From Germany and France





Australian...



Canadian....





The girl in black, the first female SINGAPOREAN I met so far!! She lives and work in London. Finally some mate from Singapore!!! And we indeed let the Singapore Spirit fly!!!! Finally can speak singlish, finally someone to understand my lame jokes, my singaporean jargon. :) The feeling of meeting a fellow mate overseas, priceless. You will see more of her in my later post!!





My host, from USA! I am currently staying with her in a female dorm in the university. Sneaking in and out everyday was exciting enough.



More pics!!







It was one hell of a night. Love dancing to all the Irish folk songs!!


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Day 195: Big Carnival

Date: 15 MARCH 2009

Woke up today feeling very sad. Why? Because I am already more than half way through my stay in Dublin and soon we will all go our own way. Although today is only my 6th day in Dublin, I had already made lots of friends. Believe it or not, I felt as though I had stayed here for ages. While walking alone on the streets, I bumped into many people whom I had met throughout the past few nights and I was saying Hi to all of them. That feeling is great!! It was as though I was walking along Orchard and bumping into friends. But soon, all these will come to an end....

Well, that aside, there is a huge carnival opening today at Merion Square prior to St Patrick's Day. How can I missed it? I am so going there.

The atmosphere for the festival was already building up. Lots of people were already performing on the streets. The moment I got into the city center, I saw a band playing.









Then people were dancing along to the music as well. The old man just anyhow pulled a young girl out from the crowd and they started dancing!!







People were also dressed up even though Paddy's Day still 2 days away.





A large and beautiful painting done by a street painter.







I was just strolling along the streets, soaking in the atmosphere. Then not far away, there is another band playing. A different kind of band though. Kind of interesting.













People were also dancing to the beat.



By this time of the day I realised that I love doing street photography, capturing the moment!





So I decided to try out my novice skills. First time handling a DSLR camera, I hope I still frame my shots well till now.

A very green way to see the Dublin city.







Arriving at Merion Square Carnival. Lots of people were already here.









Alright, its time to capture the moments!! My targets, children. I think they are all very cute and should be good subjects. I saw some children happily drawing away on the floor. I quickly walked towards them.







Some were drawing alone, while some had the company of their parents.



I wonder if this girl was drawing or eating the paint?



She must be the supervisor!!!



This kid must have gotten tired after painting.



And so he decided to take a break.



Oops... He caught me shooting him!



The guys behind the scene.



There were lots of other activities going on.



How about sweating it all out by cycling to move the fan so that it will cool you down? So.... whats the point? heehee...



One of my favourite activities was this show put up by this guy. He was so damn good. Everyone, both young and old, were laughing their teeth off. Trust me. He is either as good as or even better than Jim Carrey.









It was interesting to see that lots of people were already dressed up for the event.













Even the dogs were dolled up for Paddy's Day.



You can give a go at the hip hop dance,



or the traditional Irish dance.











Or if you have the guts, go for this!







If not, just sit back, relax and watch a game of fools balls by these kids.







But the sound from this Brazilian band, Mu lek Etu, who was playing Samba music caught my attention!! And I ended up making an photo album for them. I tried my best to capture their individual expression!







































Their music was really very good. I love it alot. However, as I am on a budget, I could not afford to buy one CD from them.



The name of this band. Then I got to know that it was not the first time they performed in the St Patrick's Day in Dublin. They performed in many other countries as well. Quite famous eh!!



She is very dynamic!!





I am so going to go to Brazil!! HAha...

Want a change of music? How about a DJ spinning in a van?







Robots never fails to get the attentions of children.







This carnival was filled aith so many activities that I spent the whole day there. Soon nightfell and I went around Dublin city taking some night shots.



















Then it was back to the usual meeting place to meet some of my new found friends whom I had been meeting up with for the past few days,



before heading off to another pub to catch some traditional Irish tap dance.





















Then we went off to the nightly CS meet up for yet another night of fun!!



























It was kind of interesting that even though all of us have been meeting up every night, people still get confused between me and Andrew. You see, we are the only 2 Asian Guys around and I dont think I look the least like him and vice versa. However, he has got lots of people going up to him calling him LOH (I am known as Loh) even though he has his name Andrew written on his tshirt. So, in order not to be mistaken as me, he wrote NOT LOH on his name tag instead. Wahahaha..



Somehow, that became a trend and people started writing NOT LOH on their name tags as well!!



And by the end of the night, it evloved into STILL NOT LOH. haha...



Rory, the guy who made all these wonderful CS events happen. He is the man of CS dublin!!



Have you ever wonder why people still drink beer even if it taste bitter and even it gives them an awful spinning headache if overconsume? Cause it has been helping ugly people have sex since 1862!!! hahahaha...



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