December 26th

Paris Paris Paris. We made it to Paris at 2:30pm and headed straight for Musee de Lourve. Down into the basement carpark, up through the escalators, went through the security checks, bought tickets at the machines, and went into the Denon wing to hunt for the Mona Lisa.

Got into the room with Mona Lisa, and could not believe the crowd present there. The painting was so small, it was underwhelming. I then quickly moved through the Denon, then the Sully and finally the Richelieu wing. The louvre was comb by me in 2.5 hrs. Well not really, but I walked thru and tried to see as much as I could.

We went home for dinner, and then went for a night tour of the city. Paris is so amazingly pretty at night. The lights and the buildings, its just breath-taking. The Eiffel tower sparkling at night, it is so different being there.
The Champ Elysees and Arc de Triomphe was amazing. Being on a bus, we went around it twice just because.

After the tour finised at 10:30pm, we went on to join the christmas eve mass at the Notre Dame. The building had such good acoustics, the choir sounded so surreal. Christmas in Notre Dame was amazing.

The next morning we opened our secret santa presents under the Eiffel tower to real Champagne. We then went up the tower and spend the day walking the city.

That night we spent our time watching the cabaret at the Moulin Rouge in Mont Marte. It was very cool. All the ladies were topless, and I can't help but notice most of the female dancers have small boobs. And the guys weren't very hot either. But what made it great was the performance. We sat right next to the stage which made it even better.

The tour sadly ended that next morning, where I said goodbye to my roomie. Everyone went back to London, but we stayed an extra day in Paris, exploring Gallarie Lafayette and the Champ Elysees and the exclusive shopping strip which I don't know the name of.

That day we had McDonalds for lunch (I know), and then I had sausage roll with mulled wine for dinner. That pretty much ended our time in French land.

The next morning, we all took our separate ways out of Paris (paris has 3 airports). Let me say EasyJet felt like catching a bus in India.

Anyway, Jen and I then made our way to Barcelona while Hilary went back to Sydney.

December 24th

So the last time I left you at Innsbruck, Austria. Well, the next city we went to was Nice.

Nice was NICE! I enjoyed this place so much I think I might come back...maybe in summer when all the french gays come along and hang out at the beach naked...
Anyway, I like how this place is quaint and small, but its big enough to have everything I would ever want and need. I love how the beach is sandless, but full of beautiful white stones.

We went to Monaco for a super dinner and went and saw Monte Carlo. Its rather overated, and very over the top.

My first day in France, which was in Nice, we had to walk downtown to this restaurant for dinner. On our way there, I was busy talking I didn't look where I was going and hit my left knee on one of the street poles. After many days walking French street, I realised French streets have these little short concrete stubs which stick out of the street. I think they're there to separate footpath from road. Damn that stub, it left me with a bleeding knee.

So after 2 nights in Nice, we moved on to the gastronomy that is Lyon. We got in late and we had the most amazing dinner. Snails, duck, and creme caramel (my favourite dessert) for 20 euros. Hilary got sick half way thru mains and left....so Jen and I contemplated having her dessert. But when dessert came, we were so stuffed we decided to skip it.

Dinner took ages so we missed the bus home. That restaurant was so full it took ages for the courses to come out. While walking down the street with Jen to find a cab home, we stumbled upon a metro station. So I suggested, "why not take the metro home" and we can catch a cab home from the station, so its cheaper.

Anyway, we didn't quite know where we lived, but we know it was generally north-west of the city. We proceded to buy the ticket. I'd bought my ticket when Jen says she doesn't have any coins to buy the ticket. There were no shops open around, so we decided to abandon the metro thing and just catch a cab home.

While looking for a cab on the main street, we stumbled on a convenient store, where Jen then decides to buy a bottle of water. She went on to pay the cashier 20euros for a 0.60 euro water. The guy didn't really want to take our cash, so I lend Jen a 5 euro note. Still not satisfied, the Frenchman said he saw some coins in my hand. I then signalled and said it was for the train, and we need more. Anyway, this whole thing took a while because that guy didn't speak english.

We finally made it back to the metro station and got our ticket. We headed down to the platform and we realised we didn't know which direction we were going and which stop we were getting off. So we had to resurface and take another look at the metro map.

Anyway, we finally made it to our station, and got another non-english-speaking frenchman to explain the way back to our hotel. He tells us to catch a bus. And so we did. We waited and waited but no bus came. We then decide to walk over to a best western (we saw the bright neon light about 500m away). Thank god this guy spoke english. We took out a japanese map and proceeded to draw the way back to our hotel. We were to walk home because the football match on that night took all the taxis out of immediate service. So we walked and walked, and this dodgy guy started following us.

Jen tried to hide her map so as not to indicate we were tourist. I glared back at him, at which point I think he stopped following us.

We got lost once and finally made it to the intersection of our street. It was a 5 way intersection with our street name spelled wrong. We hoped it was the right street, and hoping the address on our sheet was a typo. And we started climbing the hill.
The neon sign of our hotel greeted us, and it took us 1.5hrs to get home!

The next morning, we saw the big hotel sign at the 5-way intersection which we totally missed!

Anyway, that was our Lyon adventure!

The next morning we rushed off to Paris.

December 21st

So it's day 11 of 16 of our contiki tour and I've been through Switzerland, Leichtenstein, Austria, and Italy. We're now leaving Florence for Nice.

So I thought Switzerland was so worth it! We stayed two nights on top of Mt. Pilatus (Swiss Alps) and had a day in Lucerne. Lucerne is a nice tourist town. But one day is enough. The best part was sledging through the swiss alps. Enjoying the swiss scenery.....breathtaking!

I was kinda unsure what language to use while in these countries.....Its German, but its kinda weird speaking German outside of Germany.

As we left Lucerne for Innsbruck, we passed through Liechtenstein. This little place is dead. We spend an hour there, and that was enough. Took a total of 5 pictures!

We made it to Innsbruck (the bridge of the river Inns) in Austria at 4pm(?). This place is famous for Sacre Torte (choc torte with a hard icing and jam in between two layers of cake). Also popular for Swarovski, we viewed the "Winter Wonderland exhibition. The whole place was decorated with Swarovski crystal. Just imagine....cyrstal everywhere!
Wondered through an Austrian christmas market and had mulled wine....it was the perfect european experience. Sat down late afternoon for a Vienna coffee and a torte with Hilary....and then it was time to go back to the hotel!

Italy was where we spent 4 days in. First Venice, then Rome, and finally Florence. Venice was a maze full of shops and restaurants. Extremely touristy, this was the town I least liked.
Rome to me was a big outdoors Museum. A few key words we came up for Rome: traffic, chaos, scooters, stone, marble, steps, sculptures, monuments, very large monuments. I enjoyed shopping in Rome- maybe because I bought a hot pair of Italian jeans for 60 euros!

Florence! Florence was my favourite Italian city. Set in Tuscany, this place is just the right size. Quaint and charming. A bit touristy, but that's ok! I'd love to spend summer here, maybe try out the famous char-grilled steak. Gelato here was the best I had in Italy!

My impression on Italian food? Well, unlike most....I'm not a big fan of Italian food. To me, its pizza, pasta, espresso and gelato.
Most meals do not have a lot of variety; is salty, and very oily. Olive oil.
The only thing I like in Italy is gelato, antipasti and espresso. The small stuff- but we can get these back home. Pasta and pizza are over-rated.

Am I in love with Italy....I don't think so. I'd come back to see Florence and enjoy the gelato, and espresso, but it's a place i cannot stand. The people and traffic is just too much for me.

December 7th

So where have I been you ask?


well....It's been a crazy end to the semester....thus no blogging.

I'm now flying over Greenland, suffering from sleeplessness. I've just spent 2 days in Sydney for work, 3 days in San Francisco, and now I'm off to London to meet some friends. This is my "end of university" trip, which began 5 days ago.

Right now, its 11pm in Sydney, 4am in San Francisco, and 12pm in London. I am extremely confused as to what time my body is on....I hope I get some sleep soon.

Anyway, Sydney.....I went there as part of my work's induction. The company I work for is head-quartered there. Even thought it was work related, it was fun, because 10 other of my classmates work for the same company. We all went, so it was like a class trip. After spending 12 hours of induction-related things, we finally had some fun. We all went out on the last night into town for some dessert and a walk around town.
I wish I could have stayed longer and hung out with my friends. There's something really cool about hanging out with a group of your friends in a foreign country (even though Australia isn't that much different to NZ culturally). Its like going on an extended field trip, with no teachers around....

So after that quick trip to Sydney....I flew back to Auckland, only to spend 3 boring hours in the airport, and then I hopped on another plane to San Francisco.
I arrived into a backpackers, where I told myself...."this is the last time I'm doing back-packing". I like the idea of saving money, but having had a taste of luxury in Sydney (courtesy of the company of course), I really want my own room with white towels, shampoo, and all amenities available.
Because I'm on a budget, I took the train into town. On the train, I took out my iPod touch, which never went back into my pocket. Somewhere in between, I think I left it on the train......so yea, I hope insurance will cover it. Life is so bland without music on the go.

San Francisco never disappoints. I swear that this place never rains! Apart from the fog, this place is always sunny and temperate. It is winter, and I manage to do a 6 hr bike ride across the bay. I was sore afterwards, but it was sooo worth it. My favourite thing about SF, is its food/drink. Burritos in Mission, Burgers in Sausalito, Thai in downtown, Coffee in Castro.....I've never tasted bad food since I got here.
A quick stroll through Haight/Ashbury was fun, but the time constraints means I didn't walk up buena vista park. No ocean beach, and no Golden gate park in this trip.
Castro is a place that I enjoy heaps. I feels like a small town.....with just the right sized crowd. Cool clothes, bookshops, and other shops. I had to take a break at Peet's coffee, because the smell coming out of it was so nice.....the drink itself was impressive.

So after one burrito, angus steak burger, spicy cat fish, beef panang, clam chowder,
vanilla cream puff, snapple, milanos, ghiradelli chocolate and lots of waffles, I'm ready to take on Europe.

I'll be arriving in Munich in just under 4 hours, then I'll be on my way to London.
Lufthansa has the most horrible airplane food- salty, texture-less, and some of the dullest colour. The toilets on the other hand are the largest I've seen in the sky. The interior design is distinctively european- modern, and ergonomic.

Ok.....London town, here I come.

August 7th

These are "Mission Burritos"! from a really cool place called Taqueria Pancho Villa on 16th St.

I'll be heading back to San Francisco, and these are the first things I'm gonna grab once I land!

Yes, that's right! I'm planning a trip. To San Francisco, and many many other places.....

July 2nd

I'm back (in New Zealand)!

So this will be the last time I update my "Sydney Facts" list (at least for the next few months).

Updated points are in bold italics.

(1) Scarcity of rubbish bins. (I have received intelligence that there's a lack of rubbish bins due to its potential threat to national security. Apparently, it is a perfect tool for terrorists. Do not expect Sydney to be litter free like Singapore!)
(2) Sydney is not as livable as Auckland, apparently. [10th vs. 5th, Mercer's Survey]
(3) Sydney is hopeless at making espresso coffee or hot chocolate. They can't even get the milk right! (Oh yes, I've tried many outlets- all bad!)
(4) The movies in Sydney are only $9 on Tuesdays!
(5) The movies in Sydney have a 15 minute "pre-show program" before they actually start playing. It was very boring sitting through it.
(6) Sydney trains are double glazed and air conditioned. Very comfy indeed. (NYC trains are freezers in the winter!)
(7) The "top of the pops" in Sydney right now is "No Air" by Jordin Sparks (all over radio).

(8) The Pacific Highway is just a 3 lane road (extremely narrow) with a 60 km/hr limit.

(9) The supermarket conveyor belts are shorter here.

(10) "MX" is the free subway newspaper you would read if you didn't have an iPod or a book.

(11) "Ivy" is the new hottest hang out place in Sydney at the mo. (The only young people around my age were the cleaners/waiters.)

June 29th

I drove in Australia for the first time today!

I made my own version of "Sideways" by visiting the Hunter Valleys; although I did not get too drunk.

Sydney Facts Updated:

(8) The Pacific Highway is just a 3 lane road (extremely narrow) with a 60 km/hr limit.

June 26th

June 25th

My days in Sydney are almost coming to an end..... =(

Work is boring, but I've come to the conclusion that Sydney has the best night life! So it makes up for it.

Sydney is just so versatile: It's got great cocktail lounges, great pubs/bars, and they have clubs too. Auckland is full of clubs, clubs and clubs. 

Shopping is still better in Melbourne. And coffee has improved: I now order a "double shot soy latte, no sugar", which is what Sydney seems to do best for me.

I have a "theme music" for every city I visit, and for every part of the year. I'm sure most of you will have music that sparks memory of a place or time. For Sydney, I have the following...

No Air by Jordin Sparks

Deciphering Me by Brooke Fraser

June 18th

Sydney Facts UPDATED!!!:
[A list of quirky little things about Sydney as I discover the city]

(1) Scarcity of rubbish bins. (I have received intelligence that there's a lack of rubbish bins due to its potential threat to national security. Apparently, it is a perfect tool for terrorists. Do not expect Sydney to be litter free like Singapore!)
(2) Sydney (10th) is not as livable as Auckland (5th). [Mercer's Survey]
(3) Sydney is hopeless at making espresso coffee or hot chocolate. They can't even get the milk right! (Oh yes, I've tried many outlets- all bad!)
(4) The movies in Sydney are only $9 on Tuesdays!
(5) The movies in Sydney have a 15 minute "pre-show program" before they actually start playing. It was very boring sitting through it.
(6) Sydney trains are double glazed and air conditioned. Very comfy indeed. (NYC trains are freezers in the winter!)
(7) The "top of the pops" in Sydney right now is "No Air" by Jordin Sparks (all over radio).

June 12th

Happy 12th boys and girls! I'm reporting from Sydney, Australia!


More details of this ritual can be found on Chad Darnell's blog.


-------------------------------
12 of 12, June

7:26am: Breakfast- Weetbix, muesli, milk and yoghurt. What you don't see is the cup of coffee I also had.

8:14am: Waiting for my train to work in Central Station. You see the train heading the other way, but you don't see any train heading the way I want to go.

8:43am: Arrived at work. This is the shop I'm placed in for the next 3 weeks. You see everything here, and there's nothing you didn't see.

1:04pm: Lunch- spag bolognaise while reading the free paper. What you don't see is the mandarine I ate after that.

3:39pm: My 3pm appointment didn't show up, so I'm haging around in the testing room. This is a camera that takes a picture of the retina. What you don't see is the visual field machine, which is an extremely expensive machine that flashes light.

6:28pm: Looking for a nail clipper at K-Mart. I forgot to pack this, so have to buy one. Being an optometrist means you've gotta have short nails all the time! What you don't see is my dirty nails- kidding!

6:47pm: Home time! I'm waiting for the train again. I'm also eating a cream puff which you don't see.

7:03pm: Sitting on the train home. Most people leave the city at this time, so the train into the city is empty- therefore I can stretch my feet and listen to my iPod. Notice I'm wearing a blue shirt (its new, I bought it yesterday from French Connection). What you don't also see is my skinny wool tie that goes perfectly with it!

9:37pm: Walking back from Surry Hills through the Central station. What you don't see is the cocktail and seared tuna & beef I had at Toko.

9:39pm: The clock tower in Central station. What you don't see is that I'm desparately trying to get enough pictures to post- so I'm taking this for no good reason.

9:47pm: On my way down to the Internet Cafe. What you don't see is the Subway (sandwich store) on top of it.

10:13pm: Blogging! With a bag of doritos. What you don't see is my macbook this time, because the internet at home has not been hooked up yet! Uggh, look at what windows did to my pictures! It's all f*cking skewed....

That's all folks.

June 11th

Ok, I'm starting a list of "Sydney Facts" as I discover them.....so far I've got two (I will update as I go)

Sydney Facts:

(1) Scarcity of rubbish bins.
(2) Sydney (10th) is not as livable as Auckland (5th). [Mercer's Survey]

June 9th

Good morning world, I'm reporting from Sydney.

It has only been less than 24 hours, and Sydney hasn't "wowed" me- not yet at least.

I'm living on King's Cross' main street where Sydneysiders have their parties. Ever seen the mess in a club after a night of partying? Well the street I'm living in was filled with bottles, wrappers, cans, condoms, prostitutes.... when I woke up this morning.

I went across the road to have McD's and I was sitting next to a girl who's obviously had her heart broken. She was bitching away to her gay guy friend who was wearing a bright pink shirt, nodding and "umm-ing"- poor guy.

Sydney rail is not really up to my standards. I can't believe the trains are dirtier than the NYC subway!

This is my initial experience- hopefully things brighten up.

May 21st

Ok, the past 5 days in Melbourne warped through pretty quickly. Here's a low-down on things.

I didn't do much except for conferencing and shopping/window shopping.

A few personal "amusing" memories of Melbourne:

1. Melbournians are very well dressed. I felt like a bogan from the rurals. I addressed this promptly by purchasing some decent clothes on my first hour of arrival.
   
2. Krispy Creme, Beard Papa's, and FedEx Kinkos are a few chains I didn't expect to find in Australia but did. Exciting info, don't you reckon?
   
3. I didn't expect to find Glaceau's "VitaminWater" here too. But Australia has its own version called "NutrientWater". Watch out Glaceau!
   
   
4. Australian coins are very heavy. I despise them.
   

I took very few pictures during the trip because this is my second time in Melbourne. But this time round, I had the chance to explore the city by myself (last time, was with family).

My summary of the various areas in Melbourne. You'll be forever grateful I wrote this, because it's probably the best and shortest guide to Melbourne.

1. Chapel St, Prahran- many nice shops, but not cheap.
   
2. Bridge Rd, Richmond- heaps of shops, and very cheap.
3. Smith St, Collingwood- a smaller version of Bridge Rd with greater emphasis on sports wear.
4. Brunswick St, Fitzroy- groovy cafes, and fantastic gelato, and a shoe mecca. I would hang out here every morning for breakfast if I could.
5. Acland St, St' Kilda- cakes, cakes and more cakes.
   
6. Londsale St, City- It's not really Melbourne's Greek precinct, as some would claim. However, it's famous for two large shopping malls- QV and Melbourne Central.

There. Some useless info for you.

And the few pictures I did take....

Conferencing


Cake shops on Acland


St' Paul's


Greek Pastries on Lonsdale


Flinders Station

May 17th

As you all know, I'm here in Melbourne over the weekend.

I had the pleasure of sitting in one of my WORST flight ever. I woke up at 4:45am, and didn't get to my destination until 6:00pm! (And this is suppose to be a 3.5hr flight).

Everything was well from when I woke up to when I boarded the plane.

There was a bit of fog outside, but there was still some visibility (I've seen worst fog). But before we were just about to push off, Mr. Captain said we were gonna be 20mins late. And every 20mins, we would be another 20mins late....and we were not allowed to go back out into the terminal in case it was our turn to fly next.

So...we stayed in the plane for 4-5hrs....on the tarmac.

At this point, I've not eaten since I woke up. I thought I'd get into Melbourne early and grab something to eat (and there's usually something on the plane to eat too).....so I didn't bother with McDs or BK in the terminal.
Anyway being very hungry, made me very cranky. And hunger, anger, and impatience is not a good mix (don't worry, I bottled this all up inside of me).

We were finally let off the plane to go walk around in our waiting lounge after they thought we weren't gonna fly (pretty useless), but 20 mins later we got called back.

I did not have anything proper to eat until 12:30pm (lunchtime). Everyone on the flight was still hungry after that breakfast-come-lunch, so they decided to give us ice-cream.

There was more waiting at the tarmac when we landed in Melbourne. Apparently, another plane was using our gate.

BUT, I've watched 2 movies, and 1 TV show. 27 dresses and Golden compass- PG of course.
And a travel show called "Intrepid Journeys to Malaysia", where a city girl gets to do all these outdoor-sy stuff.

So I did not hit the shops until 4pm in the afternoon. (I was suppose to start at fucking 11am!)
But once I've made it to the city, pretty boys and pretty clothes galore!

May 15th

I'm trying to sort out my old coins from my "pile of coins" and I found the queen's head on Canada, Australia and New Zealand's.

Alarm is set for 4:45am. Quick shower, then I'm off for my crazily early morning flight to Melbourne.
(Apparently, its a San Francisco flight traveling through here....so I might meet some interesting ones.....Last time I saw a fat gay guy in a tight pink shirt with his little chihuahua while I was in transit from Seattle to Oakland.....lets hope I have better luck this time.)