The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog

Day 198: Pub Crawl

2009-11-15T12:10:00.001+08:00

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

2009-11-08T17:42:00.004+08:00

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

2009-10-25T18:35:00.003+08:00

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

2009-10-08T18:30:00.005+08:00

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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Day 194: Treasure Hunt

2009-09-21T20:08:00.005+08:00

Date: 14 MARCH 2009

Woke up in the morning feel fresh and good. "Today is definitely going to be a very eventful day".

Oh, forgot to mentioned that I have already got to my new host place. I am now staying in the FEMALE DORM in a university. Wahaha.. Getting in and out of the building was kinda exciting. Got to sneak in and out. Heehee...

Using a jar as a glass for drinking. Interesting.

Empty beer bottles as candle holders.

Well, will tell you more about my host again. Back onto the streets of dublin city.

I find this kind of cute. Dog in training. Nice!

Well, why did i say that today will be an eventful day? Because I am going to join the treasure hunt around dublin city with my fellow couchsurfers!! We gathered in a pub.

While waiting for everyone to arrived, I went to the loo. Saw a glass of yellow liquid on top of the condom selling machine. Haha.. IS it beer or is it? Urine? Heehee....

Once everyone have arrived, we made our way to the registration point. Hell lots of people here. Hey look!! They are giving away free hotdogs!!! We all ended up queuing for the free food first.

And just as I thought giving out free hotfdogs was a very beautiful thing to do, I realised that the lady who was giving out the hotdogs is even more beautiful!! The one in the middle. Chio right??

Now that we had filled out stomach, its time to get down to business. Let get registered.

The lady at the registration counter. Once she saw that I had a name tag on, she asked me if I am from couchsurfing. ofcourse I said yes. Seems like the couchsurfing community here in Dublin is really very well establish.

After forming into teams of four, our time starts now!!!

But just as got out of the building, we saw some face painting in progress and we decided to get our face painted as well. haha.. Since we are in Dublin Ireland, we decided to get a shamrock, A HUGE SHAMROCK!! Wahahaha..... Forget about the timing, we just wanna have fun.

Do I look good?

This is the lady who painted my face for me. She's pretty ya? And oh, she reminds me of a singapore actress but I cant recall her name.

Presenting my team with our shamrocks and our face painters, from left to right, Australian, Czech Republician, Singaporean and Americian.

Thank you Q102 for the free face painting.

The following are some photos taken during our treasure hunt!! Visited lots of places of interest for free. One word, SHIOK!!

As I was doing the treasure hunt, I also did not forget to make some good pictures. Here I am trying to create 2 different effects with at the same location. Nice?

I think this is not bad as well.

More random photos.

Getting stamps at each of the check point.

After walking around for the whole day, we realised that we will not be able to finish this treasure hunt in time and so we decided to give up. Wahaha.. So we went back to the city center.

I saw this lady carrying a blow up doll walking down the street. I quickly went up to her and asked for a photo. Wahaha.. The hen's party here is definitely more fun and fierce than back home. This is what I call a real hens' party!! Wahahaha look at the huge eraction of that blow up doll. By the way, she is so shy..... And her friends were laughing at her. I guessed they just wanna embarrass her.

We first went to a bar to get some drinks. Saw some couchsurfers there as well. haha.. They have also given up. So after a couple of drinks, we went down to temple's bar. The buskers here are so good and entertaining. We ended up listening to them for quite a long time.

After that, we made our way down to another bar to meet up with the rest of the couchsurfers. The Dublin couchsurfers community had booked a different bar for us every night throughout the whole of this St. Patricks week. Couchsurfers from 6 different continents shown up. I got to know lots of people. It was a hell of a party. I can forsee myself partying every night!!

Well, walking down the streets with the shamrock on our faces drew lots of attentions. Some people shouted out to us that we are too early as paddy's day is still 3 days away and they laughed. But we enjoyed it. we just wanna have fun. I have also got an old man who just came up to me, held my head and kissed my forehead. Wahaha.. He ended up having green lips.

When we passed by a gay pub, some guys talked to me as well.

But not all comments are negative. In fact, with this shamrock on my face, a bunch of girls came flocking towards me on the streets and asked to take photographs with me. They also asked me where Am I from and said that I am cute. HeeheE. :P For the first time in my life this kind of thing happened to me. :)

Back in the pub, the party goes on!! And it was more Guinness for me!!! :)

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Day 193: Guinness

2009-09-15T18:15:00.003+08:00

Date: 13 MARCH 2009
Day ????

ITS FRIDAY THE 13TH!!

An interesting fact about the euros. We all know that many countries in Europe uses the Euro. Money changes hand day in day out. But how many of us actually take a closer look at the bills or coins we have in our pocket? Definitely not me. It was not until someone told me something interesting about the euro coin which than drew my attention.

On one side of the coin, it has a universal print stating its value.

On the other side, it differs from coin to coin depending on which country it was made in. From left to right, a euro coin from Spain, followed by Dublin. I dont know which country was the last coin from.

Another interesting art piece of Maggie's.

Leaving Maggie's place, I went back to the nature by going to Howth. Howth, originally just a small fishing village and surrounding rural district, is now a busy suburb of Dublin, with a mix of dense residential development and wild hillside. Ofcourse I am more interested in the wild side. I came here for a cliff walk.

Seeing this bike at the beginning of the cliff walk trail makes me miss my bike.

Seeing the sea makes me feel relax.

Some pictures taken during the walk.

I wonder what happened to the driver of this vehicle. Dashing down the cliff was no fun at all.

This walk took me a few hours to complete but it was really refreshing. I felt so good to be close to nature once again.

The island of Ireland's Eye.

The end of the trail led me to the town of Howth.

Took a train back to Dublin. Back on the streets, BONG PARTY PILLS anyone? hmmm.... BONG Party? Whats that?

This busker has a very unique and interesting skill. He juggles the football using his clutches and he is good at it!!! I am impressed!! God is fair.

I then went for a weird but interesting performance with fellow CS'ers.

And after the show, we all made our way to the pub. On the way, a few of us tried to do a replay of the show. Haha..

How can I not try Guinness when I am in Ireland??!! Not sure if I will like it though, but I am still going to try it.

Do I like it?

Well, I do!! Never knew that I will like it. I always have an impression that Guinness is very bitter. But surprisingly, the Guinness here in Dublin taste so much different as those I had tried back at home. No wondering they always say that the best Guinness is in Dublin. Its true!.

And with good drinks, I have made some new friends.

And we all ended up going to a club. The CS gang I mean. and I am one of them. See my name on the wall of crime? Heehee.

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Day 191 & 192: Sightsee Dublin

2009-09-10T21:40:00.005+08:00

Day 191
Date: 11 MARCH 2009

Today is a day filled with lots of sightseeing. First stop, the Trinity College

The Trinity College is one of the seven ancient universities in the English speaking world and the only one outside the present United Kingdom, and is one of Ireland's principal third-level institutions. The institution is ranked highest in Ireland in some international surveys.

And the reason for coming to this college is to visit its library to see the famous BOOK OF KELLS. The Book of Kells is by far the Library's most famous book and is located in the Old Library, along with the Book of Durrow, the Book of Howth and other ancient texts. Also incorporating the Long Room, the Old Library is one of Ireland's biggest tourist attractions, and holds thousands of rare, and in many cases very early, volumes.

Three million books are held in the book depository in Santry, from which requests are retrieved twice daily. Why are there so many books here? Because for every book published in the Uk, Trinity College is entitled to a free copy! Thats why!

Pictures of the longroom found on the net.(No photo taking allowed)

So what exactly is this Book of Kells? The Book of Kells (Irish: Leabhar Cheanannais), sometimes known as the Book of Columba) is an illuminated manuscript in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was transcribed by Celtic monks ca. 800. The text of the Gospels is largely drawn from the Vulgate, although it also includes several passages drawn from the earlier versions of the Bible known as the Vetus Latina. It is a masterwork of Western calligraphy and represents the pinnacle of Insular illumination. It is also widely regarded as Ireland's finest national treasure.

To know more about this treasure, google it!! I am glad that I have seen it.

Leaving the College, I passed by a park before arriving at other places of interests(Saint Stephen's green, National Art Gallery, Marion Square, history Museum etc). All seems fine in this peaceful and quiet park.

Except for this sculpture which does not seems to fit in.

More museums and libraries.

As in Manchester, you seldom get bright and sunny days here in Dublin and so when the sun is shinning bright, everyone comes out to enjoy it. So did I. I went to a huge park, sat on the grass and had my lunch while I people watch.

There are lots of activities going on. For example, Family outing,

Having a break in between work,

Kissing passionately,

relaxing on the grass,

enjoying a slience moment,

or even laughing loud with your friends. You name it, you have it.

Then it was back on the streets in the shopping area.

Saw a church and sO I went in to take a look.

Back on the streets again. Bank of Ireland.

Saw a motorised wheelchair which is quite a common sight in europe. But the funny thing is that not all those not these motorised wheelchairs are handicap. Some people just used it as they do not want to walk.

A woman play a harp, a national symbol and musical instrument of Ireland.

Lets see how temple street looks like in the day time.

And thats me with the camera which clayton lent me for this dublin trip. I am gaining interest in photography now.

And as nightfalls, I went back to Maggie's place.

Had a chat with her, her son and her boyfriend till late.

And thats the first time I heard of the term Fruitarion. A what? He who eats ONLY fruits that drops naturally is known as a fruitarion. You cant even pluck it. It had to be the act of nature then a fruitarion will eat it. OMG. How to survive? Maggie had met a fruitarion before. Thats why she is telling me this.

Day 192
Date: 12 MARCH 2009

Did I mentioned that Maggie is now doing her degree in photography? Here are some of her previous work.

And as she is now doing a project on couchsurfing, I help her out and became her subject. Here are some photos which I took during the whole process of she shooting me. Haha.

This is the camera she used.

And this is the negative.

And after a long shoot, she accidently exposed the film!!! OH NO!!! We got to redo!!! But still, it was fun.

I went out after the shoot and guessed what? I bumped into the Maritus girl on the DART again!

A night shot of the Spire

Its all about night shoot tonight. Trying to self-learn something about photography. Heehee. Tell me if you like these photos.

Christ Church Catherdral.

Saint Patrick's Cathedral at night. These photos were taken without a tripod. I am so proud of myself. As a beginner, I think I did great for these 2 shots!!

Saw this menu in one of the restaurants when I made my way back to the city center. I always find it funny that in europe, you can always find this food known as Singapore fired noodle and singapore fried rice in chinese restaurants. However you can never find it in Singapore. Just what is Singapore fried noodle and Singapore fried rice? hmmm.....

Walked pass the lively temple street again,

before I finally got to the Long Stone Pub, a place where couchsurfers gathered for tonight. It was the first couchsurfers event for this years St Patrick's Day in dublin. It was the reason why I came to Dublin.

This is Andrew. I just got to know him tonight but you be seeing more of him so remember him!!

And I was so amazed by how organised CS'ers in Dublin are. Just look at the number of events lined up!!

I left the gathering quite early as I had to catch the last Dart back to Maggie's place. Then It was more chatting...

Followed by writing her something for her project

and then off to bed. I will be having another long day tomorrow. This is her son's old room, which is also where I will be sleeping for the night. Needless to mention, he loves football!

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Day 190: Introduction to Dublin

2009-09-01T13:59:00.003+08:00

Date: 10 MARCH 2009

The flight from Manchester to Dublin was not too long and I managed to get my feet onto the streets of Dublin by noon. Gave my new host a call to see find out what time can I go over to her place. Ring... Ring ring.... Ring ring ring.... Hmm.... She never pick up.. Oh well.. Its ok. Maybe she is busy. I shall call her again later. Meanwhile I took a walk around the city center.

The first thing I saw which I recognised was the SPIRE. The Spire of Dublin, officially titled the Monument of Light(Irish: An Túr Solais) is a large, stainless steel, pin-like monument 120 metres (390 ft) in height, located on the site of the former Nelson's Pillar on O'Connell Street in Dublin. The spire is an elongated cone of diameter 3 m (9.8 ft) at the base, narrowing to 15 cm (5.9 in) at the top. It is the world's tallest sculpture.

According to what the locals told me, the Spire was suppose to be built to welcome the millenium but did not completed on time. What a joke yeah? And guess what the local call this Spire? "The stiffy at the Liffey" and "The great erection at the intersection". Tourist often refers to it as the huge Needle. Indeed, it does looks like a great needle. And the locals even joke abotu it saying, "Oh, this was built for the drug addicts." Haha.. The chinese living in Dublin call it Jing1 Gu1 Bang4 (The weapon of Sun WuKong). :)

I saw a long of buskers along the street but this one caught my attention. From far he seems like a real statue.

It was only when he moves then I realised that he was not!

Some other pictures taken.

Irish cream. Baileys!! This signboard has been up here for tens of years.

Alot of the stores here have already gotten ready for St Patrick's Day. Also known as Paddy's Day. It is the biggest festival of the year. It was what brought me to Dublin. Cant wait for it to happen.

I ended up by the Liffey River by evening time.

Guess its time to call my host again. After a few tires, she finally picked up. She told me that she will be in school till late and that I should call her back again later in the night. Oh ok. So its time for me to wonder around again.

I went to Temple's Street to take a look. This place is famous for its tons of bars.

Heineken Building.

Oh well, after walking around for the whole day, I was kind of tired already. Can't think of anywhere else to take a rest, I went back to Liffey River. Sat there, tried calling my host again. Hmm.. not picking up again. Suddenly I have the same feeling which I had for my Southern Taiwan Motorcycle Trip I also had some trouble contacting my host at that time and I also ended up sitting along the river (known as the love river) alone at night.
A few hour passed, still no reply from her. Hmm... So tired already!! Nevermind. To wake myself up, I went to take some night shoot around liffey river. If by the time I finish my shoot and she haven call me back, than I shall go and find a hostel for the night.

Liffey River at night.

The Ha'penny bridge, Officially known as the Liffey Bridge, is a pedestrian bridge built in 1816.

Before the Ha'penny Bridge was built there were seven ferries, operated by a William Walsh, across the Liffey. The ferries were in a bad condition and Walsh was informed that he had to either fix them or build a bridge. Walsh chose the latter option and was granted the right to extract a ha'penny toll from anyone crossing it for 100 years. Thus the name was born.

In 2001 the number of pedestrians using the bridge on a daily basis was 27,000

Ok. Till now she haven call me yet. I shall give her one last call. Hmm.. Still no answer. Okok. One more last call.. (Trying my luck). Ring.. ring ring... Ringringring... Hello?.... YES!!!!

She told me that she just got home after her classes and gave me directions to her place. :)

I took the metro (known as DART in dublin) over and at the station, I met a mauritius girl who helped me with getting my tickets.

Everything worked out well in the end.

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Day 183 - 189: I Am Not Selected

2009-08-28T12:02:00.003+08:00

Date: 3 MARCH - 9 MARCH 2009

On the 3 March I got to know that I did not even got through the first round of the selection for the Best Job in The World. Was a little disappointed but oh well, what to do? Life still goes on. Not selected means that I can travel longer!!! YEAH!!! Although if selected, I get paid to travel but who cares? Life still goes on. Everything happens for a reason!!

On the 5 MARCH, I encountered the first hail of my life!!! Check it out.

Here's a photo of the hailstones.

You seldom get a clear blue sky in Manchester. It is usually very gloomy. However, that was the case on the 6 March and so we went out for some fun in the sun at a park nearby.

Who says a normal digital camera cant take great shots? If you know your camera well enough, yes you can!!

I even managed to capture a bee hovering just above the flower. Nice shot, I thought.

More closed up on the bee.

Here's a shot of the hovering bee taken by Clayton.

Spring's coming and all the flowers are blooming. These flowers are so beautiful that after making pictures of them, we lazed in between them.

until....

Until I saw a shit infront of me!!!!

Not close enough? ZOOMING IN!!!!

Wahahahaha... I know, its shitty!!!!

Okok.. enough of lazing around. Its Boomerang time!!!!

Here's a video of me VS Clayton in the game of Boomerang. Lets see who managed to throw a returning boomerang and than catch it.

For the rest of the days till Day 189, 9 March 2009, I spent it just on updating my blog. Yes, I have been staying in Manchester for too long! Thats why I am moving my ass. Finally. I am going to DUBLIN, IRELAND tomorrow!!! I am going there for St. Patrick's Day!! WOOOOH!!!! Stay tune!!

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Day 182: Sightsee Manchester

2009-08-19T11:16:00.003+08:00

Date: 2 MARCH 2009

Clayton has to go for classes today and so I went sightseeing Manchester with Jimmy. Although I have been in Manchester for quite awhile, I havent seen much of it yet. Manchester is an industrial revolution town and so most of the buildings you see here are made of red bricks.

Looking at all these colourful rainbow flags, we know that the first street which we passby in town is Canal Street aka Gay street aka Anal Street.

Chinatown of Manchester

Photos taken outside the tourist information center.

If I remember correctly, this is the city hall but I might be wrong.

The Famous John Rylands Library.

Since we are inthe town of industry revolution, how can we not take a look at the museum of science and industry? But as I am more interested in motorcycle, I took mostly photos of vintage motorcycles. HeehEe.

Leaving the museum, we reached a nice river with brigdes over bridges. Lovely, I thought.

The Hilton hotel. A very unique building which the top of the building is bigger, wider and heavier than the lower half.

Went back to the shopping area.

Walked passed a bra shop and was surprise to see 2 cute little birds in its window. What has these 2 birds have to do with bras?!?!

And than right next to the 2 birds lies a sign which reads, CUP SIZE AVAILABLE, A-H. WTH!!! CUP H?!?!? Would that be bigger than my face?!?!?!?

Leaving the bra shop but not forgetting the humongous CUP H, we went to meet up with clayton and went for some round and soft stuffs. Heeheehee.

What were you thinking? Krispy Kream LAH!! Dont be ditry minded ok.

Afterwhich, we meet up with Leonard, Sharon and Daniel and we went to the usual restaurant for dinner.

And after that we sent jimmy back to his hotel. But Wait whats that? A motorcycle shop!!

At Jimmy's hotel, Clayton trying to be an air steward.

Kinky Clay.

Big nice room.

Even the toilet is huge.

Me taking all the shots.

Lastly, someone passed this to me on the streets today. Guess I am sexy, thats why. WAHAHAHA....

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Day 175 - 181: Manchester United

2009-08-13T00:19:00.003+08:00

Day 175 - 180
Date: 23 FEB 2009 - 28 FEB 2009

Did nothing much for a week except blogging while waiting for the result of the Queensland Job to be out. One day, Leonard got an infection on his finger.

And Clayton took some of those disgusting yellow liquid from Leonard's finger and went back to his lab for some experiment. It turned out that Clayton was able to determine what kind of bacterial was growing on Leonard's finger. Interesting!

Here are some photos taken during one of these days in the back garden of the house. Clayton was doing some gardening while I was trying to practise some shooting.

Unwanted stuff.

Just as we were both concentrating on what we were doing, We heard a loud BANG!! Whats that?

A fallen pot.

Day 181
Date: 1 MARCH 2009

Clayton's friend, Jimmy came over for the weekend and so we decided to visit the Manchester United Stadium. I haven been there myself as well. Stepped out of the house and I saw flowers blooming. Spring's coming!

Waiting for the Tram. Saw this cute little dog.

We first went to Salford Quays and its surroundings.

We saw a bridge along the way and we decided to do some magnum stuffs. HAHA. Or should I say we tried to do.

More pictures taken around this area.

This little girl is very cute!!

MANCHESTER UNITED STADIUM!! I am not a fan of football but still I feel that i have to come here for a shot.

PEEPING TOM!!

Clayton and his stunts again. Old liao la. Stop doing all these!! Wahaha..

Inside the Man United shop.

Clayton bought something.

We than went back home to make dinner. Everyone makes one dish.

They say that a hungry man is an angry man. I think its true.

And hunger will certainly drives you nuts!

Food is finally served!!

What did clayton make? What else? Apple crumble again.

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Day 166 - 174: Best Job In The World.

2009-08-04T03:28:00.002+08:00

Day 166
Date: 14 FEB 2009

Got back to Manchester in the morning feeling very tired. Gave Clayton his present which I bought for him from Switzerland.

Today is Valentine's day. Since the 3 of us here do not have a Valentine, it was just another day for us. We made dinner for ourselves and then spent the rest of the night as per normal. Sad right? Sob sob. Where is my love?

I made lemon chicken for dinner. It was my first attempt. I added too much corn flour which resulted in a very thick sauce. It was so thick that it will never drip. Clayton took a video of it. It was hilirous.

Day 167
Date: 15 FEB 2009

Took a walk to town and I bumped into a friend of mine (Fabian from 36) along the way. What a small world. I haven seen him for a long time and never would I know that I will bump into him in England instead of Singapore.

In the evening, Clayton, Leo and me went out to do some gorcery shopping.

Day 168 - 171
Date: 16 FEB 2009 - 19 FEB 2009

I got to know that the Great Barrier Reef in Queenlands, Australia had an unbelievable job offer. They were looking for someone to work in Hamilton's Island. Work, they said. But the job scope was actually to enjoy as much as you can and then blog your daily activities for the world to see. The pay was incredibly high and accomadation including flights were inclusive. It was indeed the best job in the world. I decided to give a shot at it. All interested applicants have to submit a 60 secs or less video and this was what I did.

Tens of thousands of people applied for this job but only 1 will get it. Results will only be made known a few weeks later. Wish me luck.

Anyway, something extraordinary happened on the night of 18 FEB 2009. A GUNFIGHT broke out 2 doors from where we stayed. It happened in the middle of the night. However, for some reasons, that did not wake me up. I slept through a gunfight without realising it. 2 of our housemate heard it and woke up. (Damn!! Why did't they wake me up. I want to see it for myself). According to them, they heard shots followed by a few moments of slience and then the authorities shouted "POLICE!!" followed by another few BANG BANG BANG!! Dramatic!!! But I did not get to witness it myself. But when I woke up on the next day, I saw edviences of the gun fight. It did happen.

Shots were fired through this window. Notice the glass fragments on the ground.

Closed up on the fragments.

The police breached through this door to get into the house.

Day 172
Date: 20 FEB 2009

A silly photo taken right after I woke up.

Grey, a friend of Clayton's, came over to Manchester for the weekend to celebrate his brithday. We all went out to a Chinese Restaurant for dinner.

This was interesting to me. I never knew that you can learn how to use a chopstick from a chopstick cover.

The food!!

The eaters!!

This is me demotrasting how to eat a banana and dig your nose at the same time. Why? It was a long story, a joke.

The birthday boy and his cake. For you information, we did not buy this cake. It was baked by Clayton.

After a long night at the restaurant, we settled the bill and went home.

Day 173
Date: 21 FEB 2009

The birthday celebration continues for a second day. It started off with an evening of home cooked food. Each of us made a dish.

Followed by some beers, wines and baileys with some drinking games. CLAYTON GOT REAL DRUNK!!! For those who have never seen CLAYTON HIGH & DRUNK before, you have got to see the following pictures!! He simply goes around hugging and kissing people before he finally concuss. HAHA. And when he wakes up, the cycle repeats itself!! HAHA.

Day 174
Date: 22 FEB 2009

After 2 days of celebrations, the party has to go on for a third day! Haha.. I am just kidding. It was a relax day today, We went out to Heaton Park for a walk and some fresh air.

Grey withdarwing some money from the ATM before making our way to Heaton Park. Of all places, why did they place an ATM in an alleyway? Wouldn't this increase the crime rate? Who would dare to take cash from here at night? I still cant figure out the reason for settling on this location.

Photos taken in Heaton Park.

This lama is so prevertic. It went smelling the urine of another lama and than he raised his head high up like this as if he was damn high and shiok!! Not only once but many many times!!

Its a Magnum Thing!!

A cute and funny bird. Black everywhere but has a white face. Look as if it was wearing a white mask.

Than back in Manchester, we saw some interesting portable male toilets. A whole row of urinals at the main road of manchester city. We could see everyone peeing!! And if you are wondering what are those liquid flowing from the urinals onto the road, yes, it is URINE!!

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Day 165: Geneva

2009-07-12T16:13:00.002+08:00

Date: 13 FEB 2009

Took a photo with my host Edmee in the morning before I went out.

This is where I was hosted. A nice neighbourhood in the city.

First stop of the day, the post office.

After which I made my way to the lake. Along the way...

The lights turned red, the cars stopped and its time for me to cross the road. Well, its also time for some people to earn some money. At this moment, I saw a few youngsters dashing towards the cars with a bottle of cleaning solution in one hand and a wiper in the other. Racing against time, they sprayed the cleaning solution on the windows of the cars and than put the wiper into use. After which, they knocked on the drivers' window to see if the drivers want to pay them. Some gave, some did not and I do understand why. Because even if the drivers insisted that they do not want the cleaning right from the beginning, these guys will still go ahead. Yeah, some people may think that they are quite a nuisance but still, they were making a decent living.

Here's a video taken at Lake Geneva.

And here are the photos.

I waited very long for this moment. I was waiting for any of the 2 swans to form a heart shape with their necks. But still, I was too slow in capturing the moment.

Geneva is home to many international organisations.

The most famous being the United Nations(UN).

Police setting up barriers outside the UN. Guess a protest is coming.

Across the main gate of the UN stands a giant chair with a broken leg.

It was built for the Handicap International. To find out more about this chair, check out the website as stated below.

I also paid a visit to the museum of the famous Red Cross.

At the museum entrance, I suddenly had the inspiration and began taking reflections.

Some photos taken in the museum.

Whats this?

Took a closer look. Oh... HAHA.. I love freedom. I must leave my definition.

To go wherever I want to go, To do whatever I want to do, without any hindrance.

Leaving the museum, I went back to the UN for a "meeting". Haha..

I cant remember what is this but it is a very significant place and today was the first day which it was being open for the public. Lucky me.

View from the UN.

I left the UN after the "meeting". Saw a huge protest going on. Being a noisy body and being very KPO, I approached a reporter and asked her what happen. And guess what? A man burned himself alive here right in front of the UN yesterday in protest of something and today a larger crowd returned.

Took a walk with Geneva city. Some random photos.

WOH~ This is the longest bench that I had ever seen in my life.

Interesting piece of art.

Never thought I would see this outside Southeast Asia!!

Mont Blanc

My cosy bed for the night.

As usual, before I left a country, I will show you how its currency looks like. This is the Swiss Franc.

And this is my summary for swiss.

Number of days: 6 Days.
Total amount spent: SGD$778.73.
Conclusion: Swiss is expensive but its worth it!!

Going to UK tomorrow.

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Day 164: Glacier Express

2009-07-02T19:29:00.007+08:00

Date: 12 FEB 2009

Well, as I had mentioned in my previous post, I encountered the WORST and most TORTURING 5 hours that I had ever been through on this trip today. Reason being, it was freezing cold and I had no place to spent the night. This was what happened.

Forgetting the fact that I was in the mountains of Switzerland during winter, I had decided to spent a night at the train station while waiting for my next train. Upon reaching the train station, I realised that this train station was the open concept type, which means to say that I no place to shield myself from the wind, not forgetting to mention to even keep myself warm. This is bad.

It was 12 midnight. I went walking around the vicinity trying to look for the "best" place to hide myself. After a quick look, I found this flight of stairs leading towards the basement.

I followed it and it got me to the carpark. And there, I found the "best" spot to keep myself warm. You see, after going down the stair, there was this fire fighting compartment where you open a door which leads to an empty space, and than u have to open another door before you get to the carpark. The should be the best place to be.

And so I sat at one corner and tried to get to sleep.

However, the warmness did not last for long. Soon, the chill took over and I started shivering again. Never mind, I thought. I was only at Basement 1, I can still move down to basement 2. It should be warmer. And so I did. However, the chill seems to be following me wherever I went and before I knew it, I was already at the lowest level. So I had no choice but to stay there.

Thus, cold and shivering, yes I was, still trying to find means to keep myself warm. But it all fails to help. Soon, I gave up. I just sat at that corner, hugging my bag, hoping that time will fly faster. Yeah, I wish, ofcourse. But as the night got later, it got colder as well. Temperature check. I got a shock. It was around MINUS 20 CENTIGRADE. Can you imagine how cold it was? But still the only thing I can do was just WAIT. Man, it was a long and cold night.

Minutes felt like hours...... Tick.... Dock.... Tick.... Dock....

Then it was finally 4 plus. People started driving into the carpark, thus walking pass me as they got to the stairs. I was very surprise that everyone greeted me good morning as they walked pass!! This will never happen in Singapore. If someone see a person sitting pathetically down in one corner, they will definitely give him the stare and stay away from him instead.

Hey, these people must be the station workers. So the first place I went to was to the toilet to take a look. And yes, I was right. the train toilet is now open and the cleaners were doing up the toilet. Finally, a place for me to stay away from the cold.

I stood beside this radiator for ages. So warm!!!

Took the chance to charge my camera batteries as well.

The toilet staffs were still cleaning up the toilet, but they were kind enough to let me stay in.

So much for the coldness. It was finally time for me to board my train and after a short ride, I arrived at St Moritz. I was initially very tired and sleepy. I have not slept a wink for the whole night (too cold!!) but as soon as I saw St Moritz, it took my breath away. It was so awesome here. Amazingly beautiful. I took a walk in the park. People were walking their dogs and everyone greeted everyone good morning, including me. It made me felt very welcome.

Check out this video and you will know what I mean.

Enough said. Its time to flood you with the beauty of Switzerland. These are photos taken in the initial part.

Frozen lake.

More photos.

The snow level is now higher than this rubbish bin.

More photos.

Nice house.

Saint Moritz.

This squirrel got up early as well. So cute.

Sun rising over the Swiss Alps!!

The main reason for me in coming to St Moritz is to take the famous GLACIER EXPRESS!!! Excited!!

The Glacier express is probably Switzerland's most scenic train journey and could be the most scenic train ride in Europe. Billed as Europe's slowest express, its a narrow-gauge train which takes 7½ hours to cover just over 290 km, at an average of around 24 mph, across 291 bridges, through 91 tunnels and across the Oberalp Pass on the highest point at 2,033 m in altitude. Spectacular Swiss mountain scenery unfolds outside the train's massive panoramic sightseeing windows while lunch accompanied by crisp Swiss white wine is being served.

Sounds great ya??

The train.

Huge windows to ensure a panaromic view.

Seats with automatic audio information guide as the train travel through the mountains.

Place to hang clothes.

Here we go. WOOOOOOOOHHHHH~~~~~~

Come.. Lets hop on the Glacier Express together.

Couple enjoying each other company.

Views along the way.

Enjoying my Swiss Chocolate in the Swiss Mountains.

More views.

Writing my dairy.

Whenever you see number appearing on the LCD screen, it means that there is an audio guide going on.

Waiter in the train.

More views.

Everything was so bright and white. Now I know what is called snowblind. Must wear shades.

No wonder they keep up to the standard.

More spectacular views.

In my opnion, the Glacier Express is one kind of an experience and it is best to be enjoyed with your the other half. Dining, wine, Great View in the Swiss mountains. What more can you ask for? Everyone here are in pairs. This made me felt lonely. (When will my the other half appear in my life?!) Thought started running though my mind again. I began to have mix feeling. Oh well, I want to come back on this ride with my her in future!

The Glacier Express terminates at Zermatt, a very nice skiing area but I only have about an hour here before my next train comes (I am going to Geneva) and so I took this chance to walk around. Very nice place. Definitely will come back here again one day.

Pictures taken in Zermatt. Everyone's skiing!!

Kids at Ice Hockey.

OMG!! Is this what I think it is?

Remeber this place, Zermatt. I dont wish to leave but my train's leaving. So sad.

Leaving Zermatt, I took the train to Geneva. Met up with my host, she cooked dinner for me (so nice of her) and than we went out for some drinks.

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Day 163: Smaller than Singapore.

2009-06-24T14:44:00.003+08:00

Date: 11 FEB 2009

Having the company of Clayton in Manchester for almost a week and then Xiaohui for the past 2 days, I really dont feel like leaving today. After traveling alone for such a long period of time, I somehow treasure the company of my friends even more. Though I felt sad leaving, I still got to leave. And so Xiaohui send me off to the tram station.

This time round, our roles swapped. It was me who sent her off in Stockholm and now its her turn. The tram came and I boarded it. Looking through the windows, I saw my friend standing there and as the tram moves, she became further and further, and smaller and smaller, and eventually she disappeared into the crowd. Man, I really have the "cant bare to leave" feeling. I thought of all my friends all of a sudden. I wish I could see them now. But I know thats not possible. In the processing of gaining something, you will also lose some. I cant have the best of both world. So, I shall live my dreams for now, for I chose to be free. Thus wait for me my friends, wait for my return.

Where am I heading next? I am going to a country where not many people know of - Liechtenstein. How many of you have heard of this country, please raise up your hands. Not many, I suppose.

Measuring just 25km in length and 6km in width, and with a land area of only 160km square, Liechtenstein is even smaller than Singapore!! Just for your information, Singapore has a land area of 707km square and is the second smallest country in Asia (The smallest being Maldives). Being the smallest German speaking country in the world, Liechtenstein is also one of the only two doubly landlocked countries in the world - being a landlocked country wholly surrounded by other landlocked countries (the other is Uzbekistan).

Alittle more information. Liechtenstein has no military service and its minuscule army (80 men!) was disbanded in 1868. It is best known for wine production, postage stamps, dentures (an important export) and its status as a tax haven. Though tiny, the Prince of Liechtenstein is the world's sixth wealthiest leader with an estimated wealth of USD $5 billion and the country's population enjoys one of the world's highest standards of living. Each year, on its Independence's Day, the king will hold a huge banquet and invites all his citizens to his castle for a blasting celebration.

Well, enough said. Its time to flood you with pictures. To get to Liechtenstein, I have to first take a train to the border of Switzerland. Views along the way.

Then at the border, I transferred to a Liechtenstein bus.

And then.... TATA!!! I am in Liechtenstein!!

Well, since Liechtenstein is famous for its stamps and post ink mark, how can I missed the chance to get it? (Many people came here just for it!) so I went to the post office and sent home a postcard. I sent one on behalf of Xiaohui as well.

Then I went to the tourist information center for some information, ofcourse.

After which I went to see an exhibition. A rather empty one. Well, thats the concept.

Took a walk around Vaduz city (the capital).

The flag of Liechtenstein.

More pictures.

Then I went up a nearby hill, to see the castle where the royal family lives and also to get an overview of the place.

Along the way up, you see many signs like this feeding you with information about the country. I think this is a very good idea as it also helps to make this steep walk up the hill less tiring.

The view of the top.

The castle and its surroundings. This castle can only be viewed from the outside.

After lingering around here for awhile, I went back mid hill, sat there and admired the scenery.

However, that was a bad move. Not long after I sat down, thought came flying through my mind and I suddenly miss all my friends again. I had been feeling a little bit down for the whole day and this quietness sort of amplifies it. So much so that I cant take it anymore. And so I made my way down,

and went looking for a church to seek for peace. I am not a believer but I did not know why that was the first place that struck my mind. And guess what? I sat in the church staring at the cross for more than an hour. Partly because I wanted to and partly also because it was very cold outside.

After spending some personal time with him, I took the bus and went back to Zurich, Switzerland. No, god did not tell me to go back. Liechtenstein was meant to be a day trip. Now, since I have some time to spare (my train to my next destination is still about 4 hours away), I decided to make a trip to the airport to see if I can still get to see my friend. I guess talking to a friend will make me feel better. But too bad, I did not. I guess she had already went in.

And so I sat there alone waiting for time to pass. While doing so, I saw many people looking happy with their friends and family. Oh man, that made me felt worse. Is this what they call home sick?

Anyway, that aside, I saw this article at the airport. Interesting. I dont know if you can read it.

Well, after spending some miserable long hours in the airport alone, its time for me to catch my train. It was only a short ride and I reached my transit train station at about midnight. Now the thing is, my next train will only pull in at about 5am. And so I have another 5 hours on hand. 12am-5am. 5 hours indeed. But never did I know that this was the WORST and most TORTURING 5 hours that I had ever been through on this trip. It was really no joke. Want to know what happened? Stay tune for my next post.

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Day 162: Largest Waterfall in Europe

2009-06-23T00:43:00.002+08:00

Date: 10 FEB 2009

Ready to go again. A picture in the hotel room before we left.

Cam whoring while waiting for the tram.

This is my shy look. :P Cute right? wahahaha...

ROAR!! (MEOW!!)

We are going out of Zurich today and so we have to take the train.

So where did we go? We went to see the largest waterfall in Europe. And the name of this place is....

Its about a 20 minutes walk to the waterfall from the train station. This way please.

We followed the river to get to the waterfall. And ofcourse we took some pictures along the way.

First sight of the waterfall.

Still following the river, we soon arrived at the front of the waterfall.

Ok, its time for more photos. BUt wait, LOOK!!

A swan!!

Its head is going down the water.

Erm... Hey Miss Swan, why are you showing me your ass?!?!

Well, never mind the swan. Lets take more pictures.

Leaving the waterfall, we hop on the train again, heading towards our next destination. This train was colourful.

There were beautiful scenery along the way. The train ride was quite long and so we took this chance to catch up. We talked about everything under the sun, from relationship to matters of hearts.

The train also traveled along the border of Switzerland and Germany, and so I caught a glimpse of Germany. Its on the other side of the river.

We are now in St Gallen.

On the streets of St Gallen.

I find the buildings here very unique. Each of them has its own character.

Our main purpose of coming to St Gallen is to visit the St Gallen Abbey Precinct, which was for many centuries one of the chief Benedictine abbeys in Europe. The Abbey has existed since 719 and became an independent principality during the 13th Century. It was founded by Saint Othmar on the spot where Saint Gall had erected his Hermitage.

The library at the Abbey is the oldest library in Switzerland and one of the richest medieval libraries in the world. It is also one of earliest and most important monastic libraries in the world. It holds 2,100 manuscripts dating back to the 8th through the 15th centuries, 1,650 incunabula (printed before 1500), and old printed books. The library holds almost 160,000 volumes. The manuscript B of the Nibelungenlied is kept here.

The library hall in a baroque style is considered the most beautiful non-sacred room of this style in Switzerland and one of the most perfect library halls around the world. In 1983 the library together with the Abbey of St. Gall were made a World Heritage Site, as "a perfect example of a great Carolingian monastery".

A virtual library was created to provide access to the manuscripts — Codices Electronici Sangallenses. Currently 174 manuscripts are preserved in digital format.

However, we got here too late and it was already closed. So we can only have a look on the outside.

Here's a picture I got from the internet of interior of the library.

There is another very interesting place to see in St Gallen. They built a living room in the middle of the city. This is a mocked up car. Its Xiaohui's.

Hahaha. This is my car. NOT.

Look at the cute parking lot. Pictures of cars means its a car parking lot.

This means its for motorcycle. Xiaohui decided to park herself here.

Moving pass the cute carpark, we got to the "living room".

This is us in the "living room".

Here we have a series of photographs of Xiaohui acting cute.

Everything here is so expensive and so we looked high and low for a cheap place to dine. Eventually we managed to find a relatively cheap (still not very cheap though) restaurant for dinner.

It started snowing very heavily after we had our dinner.

But that did not stopped us from taking photos in the snow. Wahaha.. We are stupid tourists.

Back at the train station, waiting for our train to arrival.

Its time to Cam Whore again. wahaha. Favourite past time.

Hmm.. Still have come yet.

So, lets carry on Cam Whoring. SOS!!! HELP!!!

Act cute. wahahaha.. 恶心吗？

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Day 160 & 161: Back to Snow

2009-06-18T18:17:00.005+08:00

DAY 160
Date: 8 FEB 2009

After resting for about a week in Manchester, I have decided to make my first trip out from my travel base. And so I took a flight to .........

SWITZERLAND!!!!! YEAH!!! But why? First of all, I miss the snow and secondly, I came here to meet a friend.

I heard that the rail system in Switzerland is world class and after seeing it myself, I cant agree further. It was really very comfortable.

I hopped onto a train immediately after I touched down in Geneva, Switzerland and made my way towards Zurich.

Looking out from the train's window, I saw layers of thick snow everywhere and I told myself that this will definitely be a great trip. The snow reminds me of when I was in Finland. Man I miss those times. Though Switzerland is a very expensive country to travel, I strongly believe that it will be worth the money.

After a few hours on the train, I arrived at Zurich and I made my way to Crowne Plaza Hotel to meet my friend, Xiaohui.

DAY 161
Date: 9 FEB 2009

The next morning, we took out our map and came out with a rough itinerary for the day.

And so after a light and budget breakfast (bought from the supermarket) in the hotel room, we headed out.

We first took a walk in the city center.

And saw the largest clock face in europe.

Then, we went to a nearby church to take a look. This church has got no cross at all. I am sorry but I cant remember what is the name for this particular type of christianity. Anyone?

Well anyway, we went back onto the streets, Xiaohui drank(pretended to) some water from a public fountain and we made our way up to the lookout point in town.

We spent many hours there taking photographs,

chatting while playing swings, and

And how about a game of HUGE chess? haha...

We then went back down and made our way to one of the church towers.

Going up the tower, Xiaohui was counting the number of steps she took to reach the top.

The view of the city from the top.

Coming down from the tower, we met a Virgin. But hey, I am a virgin too.

So is she.

And so the 3 Virgins took a photo together.

Who does not love a virgin? HAHA...

Then its was time to fill our stomach,

before we made our way up a nearby mountain.

Along the way we saw many people taking part in their winter activities.

How can one miss out the nature when one is in Switzerland? Its so beautiful.

Kids playing with snow.

This tree reminds me of cotton or maybe mashmallow (YumYUM).

And they reminds me of Sherlock Homes.

Ok, its time to explore this place.

Xiaohui pretending to ski.

And so we went strolling in the park.

Then I taught Xiaohui how to make a snow angel. It was her first.

And this is my snow angel. Which one looks better?

As we walked further into the park, we saw a snowman. Xiaohui got so excited that we started taking photos with it.

We then decided to build our own snowman and we decided to make it into a competition. Its me vs her. Minutes passed and this was the end result. Xiaohui and her snowman.

And thats me and my snowman. Dont bother to tell me who won. I know.... sobsob....

Later, Xiaohui became so obsess with her snowman that she did not want to leave.

It took me quite a while to get her moving. Following the trail, we soon found ourselves walking in thick snow under snowflakes umbrella.

Took a closer look at the snow flakes, it really look that those fake snow flakes which people draws and like those on cardboards.

Tell you a secret. Xiaohui had been eating and eating the whole day!!

And when I asked her if I can have a bite, She gave me this look. Wahahaha...

As we moved further and further down the trail, the road begin to descend and thats when the problem started. The surface became so slippery that we can no longer walked on our feet without any support anymore.

Well, here's an interesting video of what we did this afternoon in the mountain. It includes the building of snowman and other stuffs. Want to know how we overcome the slippery surface? Check this out.

Ya... We decided to slide our way down....

Look at this, these are actually steps but because of the snow, it bacame a slope. So after sliding down these steps, our butt starts to hurt.

Some pictures taken at the bottom of the "slide".

Nevertheless, we still made it down. And that calls for a victory shot.

And how can we forget my signature shot?

Doing it individually was so much easier than jumping and taking a shot together with a self timer. We either ended up standing there looking blur,

or ended up looking as if we were doing some weird dance.

However, after a few tries, we did it.

Soon, night falls and the city lights looks beautiful from here.

However, we were still on the forest trail in the mountain with no lights. Shit. We got to find our way out fast. While looking for our way out, we saw this sign, and soon as after we saw the exact same animal.

Then we saw this sign. hmmm... dont tell me there are wolfs in this area!?!?!?!?!? Shit. (KEEN ZAO!!)Quick run...

okok. It not as scary as it sounds. We still see people jogging with head lamps in the dark. So its not that bad. But jogging with headlamps? HARDCORE sia...

After a long walk in the dark, we finally made it back to the train station.

Back in the city, Xiaohui went gaga over Chocolates!!!

She was so happy after getting some but hey, take a look at the salesgirl's face. Hahaha.

We went to Mcdonalds for dinner and look they SERVE BEER here!!!

Look at how much a meal cost. 13.50Euros x 2.2 = almost SGD$30!!!! :(

But there is nothing much to complain. Here you have got music and playstation 3. So... maybe its worth the money. But I did not use either.

Haha.. seems like I am the only one who is thinking about the cost. My dear friend has already dig in.

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Day 154 - 159: Manchester Travel Base

2009-06-16T21:33:00.007+08:00

Date: 2-7 FEB 2009

Leaving Liverpool, I made my way to Manchester to meet my friend Clayton. He studies there and he was kind enough to take me in. So that's it. Manchester will be my travel base for now. And it will also be my resting point. haHA.

I arrived at Manchester and Clayton came to pick me up at the coach station. According to him, it rarely snow that heavily in Manchester and so he got excited and made a video while we were walking back to his place.

Knowing that I had been traveling for quite sometime and that its chinese new year, Clayton brought me some chinese new year goodies from singapore. He just came back from his school break. OMG!!! You do not have the slightest idea how delicious it taste. Especially to have them overseas. YUMYUM!!!

Other than that, he brought me BREAD TALK as well!!! OMG!!! I miss Singapore food.

And I saw these Upon stepping into his kitchen. Man I love it.

It means that its about time to whop up some Singapore dishes. Man, I miss having rice. I have been surviving on potatoes and breads most of the time. Its time for some rice.

So for the next few days, Clayton went for his classes as normal and I just relax at his place. This is his university.

And it was more cooking everyday. heehee...

And when he was free, he showed me around town. This was one of the places he showed me. It is canal street. However, it is better known as gay street. Looking at all these rainbow flag, you should know what I mean.

This is a very hilarious photo. What's Canal without the letter "c"?? So the name of this street became Anal street (Gay street = Anal street). Hahaha.. It really suits the place. I wonder who did it? So funny that they took away the C and the government did nothing to replace it.

Chinatown Manchester.

Do you know what are all these spots on the ground? It is not bird shit. It is chewing gum. I suddenly am happy that Singapore bans chewing gum.

More pictures taken in Manchester City Center.

Seeing these raising bollards only reminds me of one video.

More pictures taken in Manchester City Center

Krispy Kream!!

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