Still on Belgium - Brugge

T'was a last minute decision to do a day trip to Brugge =) cuz practically everyone who's been to Brussels was shouting "Skip Brussels. Do Brugge! It's soooo pretty!"


Here we are... greeted by murals painted on the walls of the Brugge Railway Station. Wasn't too hard to get there =)


Whatever we were expecting... it certainly wasn't green sludge...


Fortunately, not the entire city's like that. =) Look! Clean(-er) waters!
Canals weave through the city.


Our tour really began with this Irenee Durez exhibition of sculptures. I like the four poses above. I guess it's a depiction of common feelings..? hmm
Well anyway, I didn't post the incriminating shots I have of Herm. =P Feeling nice today. Hopefully karma exists!


Sights and monuments in Brugge - No, Not intending to inject any more information wrt the architecture etc...


Belgium is also famous for lace...


And older sisters who bully younger siblings are everywhere. You can run, but you cannot hide. Bwahahaha (This one is making her sister rub her hands across all the surfaces they pass by.)


A single rose.


Lunch.


The focus here isnt us, really... It's the changing faces behind us while we snap away at the same place. Tells you roughly how long we spent playing with the camera there yeah? =P


I think this was of the 4 riding apostles fused together. =) Just thought the effect was quite interesting.


Getting to know Mr Bear...


Shadow play.


Gummies! =)

Chocolates Galore - Brussels

Let's begin with this. =)


A highly impressive sculpture that greeted our eyes as we made our way towards our hostel in Brussels. Actually, it's nothing special... but somehow, it being shaped as such and mount on water made it slightly more impressive than I would have thought it is under normal circumstances. =P


Okies. Now that we're done admiring sculptures... ONWARDS!


This is our hostel - Sleep Well. It's more like a hotel than a hostel. And of course... the rates are like a hotel's as well. Heh at least we're comfortable. :) And Look, there's a miniature mannekin pis - the famous 'symbol' of Brussels. All tourists flock there to see it... We aren't exceptions of course...


It really is very very small. See? About the size of our heads. Grin but the two of us decided to practise taking photos of ourselves with it. Heh we stood there and snapped so many shots that a shop owner from opposite actually came and offered to snap a picture for us. =P hee It was fun trying to capture a nice shot though. In some of the shots, you don't even see the little pee-ing boy!


I did say every European city had an old town sort of this. This is the Brussels version: Grand Place. Frankly, it was breathtaking. It felt removed from reality...


That's us, photo-whoring at Grand Place. =P


Btw, Brussels has its fair share of talent as well. =P I love that staircase motif on the wall and these two men who were posing and amusing the passers-by. =)


And this one who sits at the same spot night after night producing beautiful pieces like the one you see above.


Of course... no European city is complete without churches. Here's Notre Dame of Brussels for you.


And this.. Uh. Heh I happened to see it and found it highly amusing. It isn't everyday you see a pair of boots hanging from cables high up above. =P


I kinda forgot what this is though... the name that is. Herm - do refresh my memory if you see this k? Anw, we were sorta stalked around here when it was quieter. There are weird characters around no matter where you are, it seems... Oh well, Herm will protect me. =)


This... is a tribute to Wendy. grin Hope you like it! =)

Well... I did say Chocolates Galore, didn't I? =) Sweet, bitter, dark, milk, white, nuts, liquor... you name it, they have it. =)

And Waffles... =) Brussels waffle is the rectangular one... Liege waffle is the oval one coated with honey. =) Both are good. I prefer liege waffles though. Yums

Dinners were always good. Heh I suppose we haven't tightened our belts. It was too early into the trip. =P But the whole tub of mussels sure was satisfying... no wonder Herm misses it. =)

Hm nearing the time for Elayne's birthday party. Gotta wash up a little. So that's all for now!

Though I know you want more photos~ =P Hehs I'll try not to be lazy and post the rest soon.

All right. Leaving you guys with a last photo. Heh, this - in a very warped manner - reminds me of KM. hahhaa Lin, you agree?

Conquering the West - Amsterdam!

Our stay in Amsterdam was very much shortened due to unforeseen circumstances.. Nonetheless, we're all set for a great beginning to our 1/2 month holiday! =)

This series should be more pictures than words - you guys are more interested in photos anyway.


Flight to Amsterdam! We took the Polish National Airlines - LOT. They actually serve liquor for free! We tried whisky+coke while Herm indulged in his fav sok pomarancja. =) I think I gotta drink more to train up...


RijksMuseum @ Schiphol Airport. It features peasantry in the Golden Ages. Small exhibition but quite a nice one. =)
Hehs the apple wasn't part of it. Neither was the huge statue I was sitting on. =)


Taking the train from Schiphol Airport to Amsterdam Centraal. =) Btw, we arrived in Amsterdam a day before Queen's Day - Orange Carnival! Yep, the railway station was giving away orange 'crowns' - Ga mee actually means Follow me!


Sights of Amsterdam at night while waiting for our elusive shuttle to our hostel some 44km away from main Amsterdam. =)


Our beach hostel that we barely experienced.. in this weather, it's truly difficult to enjoy beaches. =P In any case, breakfast was good.


Snapshots of the ongoing carnival just before we boarded our bus to head for our next destination - Brussels~

Last instalment of Romania - Braşov

Yeah... I know I kept you guys waiting... But you know, being on exchange isn't all play. It's also about reports, exams... and anime. Grin Feels so good to be done with the 2000word plague. Not my best effort... but whatever! I hope he won't be evil and fail me. :(

Braşov. We took a train there. And walked to the hostel. 7km. 1.5hr after going the wrong way as the sky darkened. Grin I know... we're crazy. But who cares! =P



On the way... we saw this "Hollywood" lookalike. See the lit Braşov sign in the hill? It must be the sign on some ski resort uphill.. According to the guide, it was there before Hollywood put theirs up. Grin. Who should we believe?



Like many European cities, Braşov too has a market square. This one had a fountain in the middle. On busy days, there are actually many people sitting around waiting for their dates etc. =)


This is Piata Dominii. We didn't really know where our hostel was... and we were wandering about when it was darker than when this photo was taken. Luckily, we met a few young people who could speak English and directed us with more than slight amusement on their faces - to this place. =) No picture of the hostel~ But if ever any of you decide to visit Romania... please don't be cheated by unfavourable exchange rates charged by hostels who lie about laws against payment in Euros. Bahs... I shall not name this hostel that's facing the church with a mass cemetry - 1 of the 2 hostels in Piata Dominii. =P


Anyway, there are 2 churches within the town square and Piata Dominii, and one more we chance to see along the way as we took a wrong turn. We attended service on Easter Sunday! But it was in German... and with my headache getting to me... twin and I both ended up dozing off a great deal - but waking at the right moments to rise with the rest and try to follow some hymns.

Well... it was an experience =) And it was in the Black Church... which was nearly destroyed in the great fire in 1689. The restoration took about 100 years. It was then that the Black Church received his appearance with his characteristic blackened roof of 20 m height. Cool yeah?

Easter Sunday was a public holiday of sorts.. which means nothing much was open..
But of course, it was within our expectations and clever us had already planned for it. =P After church service, (and slacking in the hostel after failing to steal more bread from the breakfast table for lunch...) we set off in search of Solomon's rocks.

We seriously have no idea what that was... but the guide from Bran & Rasnov recommended the place... no harm finding out. =) We asked the hostel staff... and got this: "well it's up hill... so just follow every path that goes upwards. You can't go wrong."

Yeah right... we ended up at some weird dead end place. But it wasn't all that bad... cuz of the prettiness of the countryside. =) Further enquiries along the way put us on the right track..

We weren't very bothered by the upward climb... cuz there's:

Pretty flowers along the way...


and people to keep us entertained...


Heh the photo of the uniformed guys dancing in a circle was taken at Piata Dominii.. They are having some celebration of sorts. =) Pity we couldn't join in - cuz we weren't sure if there's some gender thing involved (only guys in that circle...) but it sure looked fun!

The other 3 were taken on the way to and at Solomon's rock. Kids playing together... guys fetching firewood for their delicious smelling barbecue.. (Two of us truly felt terrible despite the scenery cuz we were hungry. Smelling all sorts of wonderful aromas does not help.) Oh... and the picture with the man in a white cap? He completely overwhelmed us with his hospitality as he met us on our way up and excitedly gave us each a hug and a kiss to say hello. Then, he got his friend to take a picture of us with him. Hehs... what can I say... Asians are exotic in that region...


So we found out... at the end of our 1 hr trek - that Solomon's Rocks is actually a picnic ground. It's a holiday after all. Many Romanian families were just taking the chance to relax and spend quality time with their loved ones in the wilds.

Sitting on the grass amidst the merry-making families, blue skies and sprouting greens... a sense of peace washed over us..


2 more pictures and a collage to finish off this series on Romania. =) On the left, you have the narrowest street in Europe - Rope Street. We almost missed it - if not for our guide's specific directions to it. And on the right... heh I don't know.. I just found this view pretty nice. =)


lastly... it'd almost be a sin if we don't show you what sustained us on the trip. First was the donut thing that left twin with a mouthful of icing sugar. =P And then two mouth-watering crepes! In Romanian, they are called "clatite". =) Whatever... they tasted good anyway! Heh to make it a 2x2 collage, I included the last one - twin making a purchase of our favourite Romanian pastry - Fornetti!

And then... we found out some weeks ago that we have that in Warsaw too... just 10 min from home. Oh well... =)


Flight home's from Bucharest. We had to go back there. Plans to take a P-train were altered upon meeting the guide from Bran-Rasnov at the station. Seriously, that guy was everywhere! Anyway, thanks to him, we found out about mini-buses to Bucharest. =)

This trip was the second last with twin. Last one would be the upcoming one to Gdansk, Poland. =) Next entry would be on Western Europe with Herm! =) Twin went to Paris.. but I doubt she'll post. hehs Yeps that's that for Romania!

Ola's 20th Birthday @ Hybrdry

Tequilla shots, anyone?

These photos were also from more than a month ago - celebration of Ola's 20th birthday. =) A bunch of Ola's friends @ a rather nice club.


Sweet birthday girl in white =) Ola's one of the best things that happened to us on this exchange. Thanks, dear - for always looking out for us =)

Hope you enjoyed your lil party that night!

Remnants of Romania I - Bran & Rasnov

I realise it's bad to procrastinate.

Cuz I can't really remember what I want to blog about for these 2 places now.

Also... I'm feeling itchy all over after a failed attempt to kill a mini cockroach. I managed to concuss him and I think he's fallen into the dark depths of 'behind-the-cupboard' which is bad cuz I like to keep an eye on my enemies... and this makes it tricky. Now I keep thinking it's out to take revenge so I'm itching. Herm is way up high, and hence is unable to kill my cockroach for me. :(

To quit whining and get on with long-overdue photos...

Yep yep! Now I use COLLAGE - Picasa. This means that some of my photos get cut. Ah well... for convenience... some sacrifices are inevitable.

Photos of Rasnov as above. We took a bus here from Brasov. The driver had to tell us to alight cuz the surroundings of that stop... is like the private housing area @ Bukit Timah. (Not as posh). Anyhow... you just can't imagine that you drop there to get to some ruins of a fortress. So we alighted... and there was nothing we can do but to follow the road and some obscure signs to Cetatea Rasnov. =)

Using alpha for rows and numerals for columns. You see twin following the wide trail in D1. The climb is really worth it - as you can see from A3, B4, C2 and C3. You can see miles away from the top of the fortress.

"In the morning light, during their trip through Transylvania, the future knights will see the profile of the Rasnov fortress. Its mysterious quietness draws them to it, as if hiding in its thick, eroded walls, terrible secrets are waiting to be discovered"
- Quoted from http://www.spirit.ro/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=42&Itemid

Supposedly, a well in the fortress' courtyard - dug by 2 Turkish prisoners in exchange for their liberty (Not sure if they got it or not) made the fortress inconquerable since the inhabitants are able to survive on the water supply from within.

It's pretty... full of brickish ruins - but frankly, I'm not so impressed.. After roaming around and checking out an ancient female skeleton remains beneath the ground in one of the cave-ish exhibition areas, we went into 1 of the few stores within the fortress. I picked up a dracula postcard and because of that, got into a conversation with a Romanian about the tale of Dracula.

I suppose this is a good time for the tale of Vlad Tepes. =)

Vlad Tepes was born in Sighisoara, Romania - one place we wanted to visit but didn't manage to. Tepes really means - impaler. That's what he does; he impales his enemies and prisoners. This exceedingly cruel form of punishment was what gave him his fame. To judge him solely on that would probably to unjust to the prince with one deep sense of justice. It is said that he dislikes sloth and greed. During his short reign, he left a golden cup by the drinking fountain so that his people can use it to drink - and nobody dared to steal the cup even though it's left unattended - till the day he died.

According to the guide, there are two rather famous stories. One was of how he was traveling around and he saw a man with an unpatched shirt. So he went over to enquire about the shoddiness of his attire. The man told him that his wife didn't want to darn it. When Vlad Tepes found out that the man's wife was a lazy woman who doesn't work or mend her husband's clothes, he ordered for her to be impaled.

The other was about his victory over the Turks during one of the numerous battles. He imprisoned some Turkish soldiers overnight and ordered his men to pick up all the corpses (dead in battle) - even those from his own army, dress them in Turkish uniform and have them impaled and stuck to the ground all around the prison so that he can release the prisoners of war and scare them silly. They will then go back to their Turkish Sultan and tell him to cut the crap and stop bothering Vlad's reign.

However short his reign, I guess he was quite cruelly cool.

So I was saying... we heard all these from a tour guide we met in the shop. He invited us to join his mini tour to Bran where he'll tell us more stories. In need of a transport and wanting to hear more about what we're seeing... we bargained a great deal more... and D4 sees us happily in the vehicle on our way to Bran! =)


Bran Castle. This is nicknamed Dracula's Castle. In truth? Vlad Tepes only stayed here for (I can't rem) 1 or 2 nights - as a prisoner (A2) en route to - I don't remember where either. Yeah... Queen Maria and King Ferdinand were the ones who actually got to live here. See B1? The fur skin rug on the floor is real - killed by King Ferdinand on one of his trips.

Queen Maria's heart is kept near one little cottage around the castle. The guide said sth about her exclaiming how her heart will always be here - and hence when she died, they had her heart brought here and her body buried next to her husband's some place else. mm..

B2 is worth mentioning. We got to try cheese and whiskey! The cheese's really good stuff - so we bought some back. =) The whiskey's really strong though. Just 1 teeny weeny sip and my stomach felt warm for ages and ages...

Hehs many apologies about the extremely brief write up and slip shodish appearance of the entry... Sher is seriously a lil tired after being sad about Herm's departure from Warsaw. Will continue with Brasov and finally to the 1500 photos from the 2-week Western European escape w Herm in between writing up the reports... =) Take care all...

Btw, I'm interested in visiting Slovakia. Anyone has any tips for me?

Sinaia - Pearl of the Carpathians

Sher:

Sher has been lazy busy nowadays... (Twin is watching anime now - so... I think what ever my misdeeds are in delaying this entry should be pardoned. hohoho)

However, some things shouldn't be delayed for too long... especially the blog entry for my fav place in Romania (okay... I know I have only visited some 4 places in the huge Romania...). Bustling little 'town/village' at the top of a flight of stairs - Sinaia!

The town of Sinaia (elevation: 2,500 ft.), home to the Peles and Pelisor castles, is nestled at the foot of the Bucegi Mountains, in the Prahova Valley. (Quote: Romania - Official Travel and Tourism Information site)



The train journey to this place was something to remember... I saw a Romanian home by the rail way, with the mom (I assume) raking in the rubbish in a bonfire... and a dear little desk and chair in the 'yard' for the kids to study. The kids were running around the front of the little cottage. These are stuff... I only read about in storybooks. heh I can't imagine such things when I live, eat and breathe HDB flats...

Anyway, it was quite a jolt to me when we arrived at this station... and then there's no crowd, no directions, no map, no nothing.

So I thought... okay... the guidebook said sth about it being quite accessible to its town... something about stairs. But I can't rem if that's for Bran or Sinaia...

Fortunately, we kinda mastered the art of making enquiries despite speaking different languages. hahaha Twin's version of Romanian English is a drawlish kind of "Sinaia Town. Ya. Up? Where?" in a sing-song sort of tone. hee It gets through... no complaints there.



This is what we found at the top of a flight of stairs on an otherwise ulu stretch of road in front of the station.

There's actually a town atop the stairs! How can anyone ever guess!

Hm... we got the help of this nice guy from the Tourist Information - he's very efficient; just shooting info after info after twitching the key words out of us. =) Sinaia is actually quite small it seems... Tourist Info was at one end... and the key attractions on the other end. We happily walked back after he gave us a cursory glance and passed the verdict that neither of us are dressed for ski-ing so we should skip the Bucegi mountains. (Privately, twin & I agreed cuz we have this impression that all snow-top mountains are the same if we aren't intending to ski and we saw some at Innsbruck already) =P


Peles, Pelisor and the Sinaia Monastry are still atop yet another hill though... thus begins our climb... Twin is taking her time as you can see... hee while remarking that we're truly backpacking... (I think she means: sigh.. why are we climbing stairs with our backpacks...)


Sinaia Monastery!

According to my readings... (Wiki rox), the Sinaia Monastery is founded by Prince Mihai Cantacuzino in 1695 and named after the great Sinai Monastery on Mount Sinai. As of 2005 it is inhabited by 13 Christian Orthodox monks lead by hegumen Macarie Bogus. It belongs to the archdiocese of Bucharest.

There are a couple of significant paintings in the Monastery which I took pictures of.. but those came out too dark. Didn't really want to use flash in the place... so I didn't include the pictures in the collage. What comes through though, is the elaborate paintworks and architecture of even the columns.

We didn't stay there for too long... cuz the place is really still in operation... so we see people going about their rituals like bending over to kiss the bible on the altar and crawling under to emerge through the other side thrice. At another corner, people are being blessed by the 'monks' - Frankly it confuses me... cuz it's very catholic yet it's called a monastery... hm

And then, wandering into the garden, we came across an old woman confessing her sins to a 'monk'/Father/Reverend? Anyway, she looked our way as we passed. Despite self knowledge that we totally don't understand her anyway, we decided she'd be more at ease if we left... so yeah, we didn't stay long.


This... is what kept me perplexed for the entire Peles-Pelisor experience. Clock... in the model of the Peles castle at a road side stall along our way to Peles. Sighs... It's some 10Euros I think... And it's really really... literally just persuading me to buy it. Luckily we were carrying our backpacks... cuz it reminds me of the impracticality of bringing it around and then back to Warsaw and to Singapore...

Sighz. I did so hate to leave it behind. I'm sure it wanted me. :(


Peles! =) We needed to wait for 15 people to demand the English tour before they provided it. Luckily... it's Easter... there were just enough of us around to have this tour.

This time according to the Romania - Official Travel and Tourist Information site again:

Considered by many one of the most beautiful castles in all Europe, Peles Castle is a masterpiece of German new-Renaissance architecture. Commissioned by King Carol I in 1873 and completed in 1883, Peles' interiors are an opulent display of elegant design and historical artifact. Its 160 rooms are adorned with the finest examples of European art, Murano crystal chandeliers, German stained-glass windows, walls covered with Cordoba leather, Meissen and Sevres porcelains, ebony and ivory sculptures.

Opulent is right. It's a very tasteful display of wealth. The essence of each place the King admired. No wonder he's a king... or rather - thank goodness he's a king - else it'd be an impossibility to implement this project.

I wish I had pictures from every room to show you - Read somewhere that some ministers from various countries had a conference there and they occupied a room each during their stay!

Anyway, those pictures gotta wait - cuz there was a photo tax... and I didn't think there was much I'd want to take photos of (I didn't know how wrong I was!) but... I met a nice Spanish guy who's doing his exchange in Romania... He promised to send me pictures he took if I email him to remind him in summer =)



Decided to leave you with more information from Romania's Official Tourist Info site:

Almost adjacent to Peles Castle is Pelisor ("Little Peles"). King Ferdinand, who succeeded Carol I, intended to use Peles Castle as a summer residence. Supposedly he found Peles too big and overwhelming, so he commissioned the smaller, art-nouveau style, Pelisor Castle. Pelisor's 70 rooms feature a unique collection of turn-of-the century Viennese furniture and Tiffany and Lalique glassware. Peles and Pelisor are located 3 miles northeast of the center of Sinaia.

This... in twin's words - is a very grand home. But it is, a home - not really a castle. Guess King Ferdinand wasn't that much into lavish richness. Much of his home is designed or had the design influenced by his Queen though. =) She had an eye for the arts and exceled in painting, poetry, arts and all...


To end off... we had a great meal before heading for Brasov for the evening. =)

We did after all swear to try Romanian food. That we did =) Thanks again to the efficient man at the Information office - he directed us to this restaurant - the name of which I forgot =P

Pork Ciorba (Soup) with bread, Tochitura, Papanasi!

Actually they have more elaborate names than that.. and you can guess what a great, stomach-stuffing meal we had. hehe The bread was huge - and as forewarned by the guide - it's provided for at an extra cost (so if you don't want those fringe stuff - you have to let the waitress know!). Twin however, enjoyed herself stuffing the pork into her bread and creating her own "kung ba pao" for those who know what I'm talking about.. =) The Tochitura was served with lots of potato/corn/ starch like substance... which is extremely filling. Papanasi is cheese donut served with sour cream/yoghurt. grin Due to a misunderstanding, we had 1 papanasi each. Oh well... figuring that we can't get much fatter since we've already eaten so much... twin & I dutifully finished it.

I think twin was miserable after that. She hates being overly stuffed. hehe

Last parting shot at the railway at sunset. =) Waiting for our P-train (read: Personal - acc to Kismet Dao's guide: P trains should be avoided... unless you want to feel like cattle... and don't mind the weird smells... it is dirty and is nicknamed gypsy train). We would like to clarify though... that though the weird smell is indeed invasive on the train... our P-train experience wasn't bad. The train was quite empty... and dirty or not... it got us to our destination. =)

Love, love, love Romania!