Le Goût de la Vie

13 May 08 - Queenstown to Wanaka

2008-07-16T18:22:00.025+08:00

On Day 4 of our trip, we left Queenstown without having spent much time sightseeing. Oh well.

above: The part of Queenstown near our apartment, with Lake Wakatipu (shaped like a lightning bolt) in the backdrop.

First things first, we reluctantly drove to the Queenstown Council to pay our parking fine. (directions courtesy of the printer and internet at Pounamu!) Then we left for Wanaka via Crown's Pass - another one of those challenging mountain passes. Before long, we encountered road works and were forced to manoeuvre gingerly past a tractor on the extremely narrow road. It was terrifying cos the car was but a few inches from the precipice and there were no metal barriers bordering the roads. One wrong move and we'd be hurtling off the cliff. Could see that my mum was breaking out in cold sweat but thankfully we scraped past. From then on, there was minimal roadworks and the view got increasingly magnificent as we ascended!

The following are snapshots along Crown's Pass:

left: the road that almost made our hearts stop.

above: a particular spot along Crown's Pass which I have to say is one of the most spectacular landscapes I'd ever witnessed.

The 2-hour drive from Queenstown culminated in the peaceful, laidback town of Wanaka. I immediately fell in love with it for its slow pace of live, à la Interlaken in Switzerland. Autumn brought along orange, brown and green at the foots of mountains and alongside roads such that everywhere resembled an oil painting.

We checked into Wanaka Edge Suites which had a family room which was well-equiped but paled in comparison to Pounamu. Lesson learnt: always save the best for last!

left: town of Wanaka
right: Wanaka Edge Suites

left: the living area
right: view from the balcony

Puzzle World was first on our list of attractions - an intriguing visit I must say. It was much like our Science centre, except that its principal focus was on optical illusions. If I recall correctly, the entrance fee to Puzzling World and the man-made maze was 12 NZD.

left: doing some stretching?

left and above: the human-sized maze which left us totally befuddled. No choice: had to resort to using the emergency exit. Haha.
right: Dad egging on his counterpart from Roman times.

left: =D
right: bizarre toilet bowl

After attempting the maze for about 45 minutes, we started our tour of Puzzling World proper, the main focus of which, is optical illusions! The holograms were pretty intriguing. Pity that cameras, unlike our eyes, aren't able to process such images as 3D.

The most facinating exhibit for me was the Ames Room, which alters the viewer's perception of height. Will not spoil the surprise by describing it, go visit it yourself :) For the really curious ones, here's a link to a vid of this exhibit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PDyMOspPWY

Another rivetting room was the Tilted House, which throws visitors completely off balance, literally. This is home to gravity-defying illusions. Hold on tight!

left: Dad attempting one of the many puzzles in the puzzle corner.
right: even the ceiling resembles a kaleidoscope.

left: she's just an illusion, bro!
right: the Hall of Following Faces, pretty neat stuff!

above: the Ames Room, quite a genius of a concept!

left: the Matrix Reloaded yet again (in the Tilted House)
right: time to prove our physics teachers wrong - water flows uphill!

After the mind-boggling experience, we headed down to the lake front for a few photos before adjourning for a late lunch (1545h!!) at Speights Ale House. Dad and Mum ordered a Sirloin Steak (26 NZD) expecting tender, juicy steak but were sorely disappointed. Bro had pork chop (26.50 NZD) which was more like pork belly meat with bone. Only I was satisfied (extremely, in fact) with my order of a pot of mussels (21 NZD). These mussels from Stewart Island were the largest I'd ever seen! We learnt after that that this place was actually more renowned for its beers, which according to the bro was top stuff.

left: row of restaurants and shops in the town centre.
right: at Speights Ale House, overlooking mountains.

left: the pride and joy of the restau
right: the mussels I still crave for till this day!

above: Lake Wanaka by day

above: Lake Wanaka at dusk.

above: supermarket where we got our huge bag of fresh, lovely button mushrooms and lettuce over which we drizzled balsamic vinegar (yumm). Oh yeah, and definitely a whole lotta golden kiwi! This stuff is really cheap and so oozing with sweetness so please eat your fill in NZ.

above: one of the quiet streets come night-time.

On a side note, this was the day where we found out that Dad had thrown away our bag of slippers thinking it was a bag of rubbish. The look on his face when he realized his rare mistake was unforgettably hilarious. =D

12 May 08 - Milford Sound

2008-07-12T17:20:00.019+08:00

Milford Sound has always been touted as a must-see for visitors to NZ as it is known to be one of the world's most accessible fiords.

There were two options to get to Milford from Queenstown and back: take a tour or drive there on your own. The tour would appear the simpler choice as driving to and fro would take a good 10 hours! But the cost would set us back more than 200 NZD per person! So after some weighing of economies and because my bro's friend claimed it was quite an easy drive, we decided on the latter.

Our day started at 6 am, when it was still pitch black and the roads covered with a film of ice. Eacck scary road conditions to drive in. Expectedly, we got lost for about 15 minutes (we factored time in for this) before we approached someone at a petrol kiosk who set us on our way.

When we eventually hit the highway, we realized that the drive would be anything but easy. The roads made sharp turns around the mountains and were not lit at all. Had to rely on only the headlights of the car. Before long, we noticed that there were 3 cars tailgating us but the road didn't have an overtaking lane, just one lane for traffic in each direction. We felt very bad holding up the others so my bro increased his speed to the highest he could deal with but it was still too slow for them and they continued pressuring us (although they graciously didn't horn). Finally, my bro just drifted the car slightly to the left to allow them to pass and all three did, by cutting into the lane for oncoming traffic despite the yellow line drawn on the road.

3 seconds later, a siren erupted out of no where and a police car with its lights flashing chased after the three cars at breakneck speed. We were shell-shocked! I mean it was so sudden and at 6 plus in the morning, who'd expect this!

Little did we foresee that the policecar would be waiting for us a few km from where the incident happened. The burly policeman flagged us down and asked for our IDs and car rental papers. We didn't realize we had gotten into trouble until he started reprimanding us in a very curt and snide manner about our 'inconsiderate driving that caused others to do silly things that could've resulted in an accident'. Of course, we tried to explain that we didn't dare go fast cos of the road conditions and cos we were unfamiliar with the roads, which he then rebutted with '90% of these people have never been to Milford either but they weren't as inconsiderate'. Gosh, what a slap in the face man! He said he'd been observing us for awhile and noted that we didn't turn into any of the rest stops along the way so the others could pass but those rest stops weren't clearly demarcated, as in there wasn't any path leading into them and they looked like bushes at the edge of the cliffs so we didn't dare turn in lest we plunge down. Argh, and we got ourselves another fine, this time 150 NZD and a lot of distress. The day had barely started!

Even the policeman said that the drive to Milford is one of the most treacherous routes in NZ. But the one thing we learnt from him was that for one lane roads, to let others overtake, you should signal left and move as much as you can to the side but only on straight roads (so you can see oncoming traffic).

After that, my bro wanted to turn back cos he felt we'd be compromising on safety if we were to continue our 4h journey at such a high speed on these mountain roads. But in the end, we decided to just complete what we started. The stress eased considerably as the sun rose and provided us with more light and heat that thawed the ice on the roads.

Now for some of the gorgeous landscape that helped evaporate the morning's tension!

left: sunrise in the horizons
right: one of the many sheep-dotting-hill scenes we saw

left: a public toilet in the wilderness, which was basically a hole in the ground. It's not a pretty sight if you do catch a glimpse of what's below but interestingly, there wasn't any odour! Speaking of the toilets in NZ, they've got to be the best upkept ones I've seen probably due to low population density.
right: plants covered in a layer of frost cos the temperatures dipped quite drastically as we descended the South Island.

above: fields of plants coated in white and low-lying clouds encircling the mountains

above: one of the many abrupt turns along the way.

Other than that, we passed by countless creeks and rivers, a few rushed, others trickled and some were all but dried up. Yet each was given a name which was displayed on a small yellow sign beside it. Monkey Creek was a crystal clear creek with rounded pebbles on its sides and bed. No sign of monkeys anywhere near though =D.

left: Mitre Peak Cruises, the company we selected for the Milford Sound Cruise. A ticket with them costs 68 NZD per person for a 2h cruise. There're about 5 cruise companies at the terminal so take your pick!

left: this lake not far from the cruise centre was so still it was literally a mirror.
right: cruising through the Sound.

right: enjoying the tomato soup (with added ingredients haha!) on board

left: Gohs with grins
right: All drenched as the captain of the boat sailed it really close to one of the waterfalls hoho.

left: Jack and Rose? Haha

left: lovely rainbow formed from the waterfall's droplets.
right: The Homer Tunnel, a one way tunnel leading to and from Milford. If you're really down on your luck, you could be left waiting for 15 minutes for the lights to change in your favour.

right: the long journey took a toll on us, especially our stomachs, which we promptly fed with dabao-ed fish and chips and burgers from the town centre.

Undeniably, the fiords were a sight to behold but after awhile, the scenery seemed to repeat itself. According to the captain, rainy days would be the best time to visit the Sound cos there'd be many more streams of water rushing down holes in the cliffs. The day we went however, the sun was out in full force and we were at times blinded by the glare. I think we didn't even get to see Mitre Peak, the highlight of the tour because of that or because we couldn't decipher the captain's very thick accent. Haha.

Anyway I've gotta say kudos to the bro man, it must have been incredibly challenging and trying driving on those roads and maintaining a constant concentration level especially cos in Singapore journeys rarely exceed an hour.

To sum it up, Milford Sound didn't quite live up to my expectations, which probably isn't fair cos I would have been more impressed if the guidebooks didn't make it out to be some sort of paradise on earth. Still, I thought it wasn't worth the travel time and a better idea would be to stay at one of the B&Bs near Milford for a night so there won't be a need to rush to avoid driving in the dark, especially when the days are short!

11 May 08 - Tekapo to Queenstown passing by Cromwell, Kawarau Bridge and Arrowtown

2008-07-11T23:04:00.002+08:00

Bro and I awoke at about 6 to a beautiful sunrise that put a glowing blue backdrop behind the mountains. He was so mesmerized that he grabbed his camera and went out into the freezing cold in shorts and a long sleeved shirt. But before long, he dashed back into the house in looking more like he was in spasms than shivers. Quite a funny sight. Hahaha.

left: Bro is the (shivering) figure beside the bench.

The temperature was so low that morning that glaze formed on car windows. From our apartment, we watched other travellers trying various methods of gettting rid of it and concluded that shovelling off the ice with a slipper was really a lot less effective than pouring hot water down the windscreen. =p

Incidentally, it was Mother's Day that day and amazingly, it was Dad who reminded us. Haha usually dates like these conveniently slip his mind. So we tried to fashion an impromptu surprise for Mum - carving out the words 'Happy Mother's Day' on the windscreen of our car and preparing a very stuffed sandwich for her breakfast. Unfortunately, it took many less than subtle gestures for her to see the message as she initially thought we merely wanted show her the layer of ice. Haha.

left: a nice, hearty breakfast without distractions like the papers or the TV.
right: to Mother, with love.

After breakfast, we took a short walk to the Church of the Good Shepherd, housed in a small brick cottage of sorts and then departed on our 4h drive to Queenstown - NZ's adventure capital.

Lindis Pass and Crossing led us past fields of cows and sheep and emerald blue rivers and glacial lakes. Many a time, we couldn't resist stopping for photo opportunities. Lake Pukaki was especially spectacular due to its vastness. What made the experience all the more pleasant was that there was never a need to jostle with fellow tourists for viewing spots - there were none. Just Us and Mother Nature. :)

The next town we passed was Twizel, where we paused for to answer nature's call =D and where we bought a much-too-sweet fruit and cider cake and a pretty good boysenberry smoothie to sustain us till the much awaited lunch time.

At the midpoint of our drive was Cromwell, a.k.a. the town of fruits! Vineyards provided ample opportunities for winetasting (almost one every few hundred metres).

left: Bro gnawing on the pride and joy of Cromwell
right: rows and rows of fruit trees in countless orchards - bare at this time though. The summer months of Dec - Jan is a good time to visit.

above: one of the many fruit stores selling fruit at low prices.

Next up, Kawarau Bridge, site of the world's first commercial bungee jump! It's possible to enter and from a viewing deck, you can catch all the action up close. A tour group of backpacking youths lined the viewing platform, screaming encouragement to their friends who were getting ready to take the plunge. Being the scaredy cat that I am, even watching those daredevils putting on their harness at the edge of the bridge threatened to reduce my legs to jelly. For the less faint-hearted, a jump will cost slightly over 100 NZD.

above: the Roaring Meg hydroelectric power station.

Before hitting Queenstown proper, we decided to follow the advice of the guidebook and make a slight detour to Arrowtown, which it describes as one of the prettiest towns in NZ. It was hard to disagree, especially with the colours of autumn standing out against the azure sky.

We had lunch on the go as we explored the small town, which had much more activity than the previous ones we'd so far visited. Chinese tourists for one came in coachloads! The locals too, were out but the pace of life was still quite leisurely. Oh, take careful note where you park as we were slapped with a 40 NZD fine for parking in the lot meant for coaches. Haha. And it was only the second day!

Macetown, just a few km from Arrowtown, was another place I wanted to visit but after circling Arrowtown several times in vain, we gave up the search and continued on to Queenstown, where there were actually enough cars on the road to constitute traffic!

Our accomodation, Pounamu Apartments looked pretty classy from the outside but when we opened the door, our mouths literally dropped! From the narrow doorway, we saw full length glass windows that enframed Lake Wakatipu with their white metal edges. The view was gorgeous! In the hallway, we spotted a computer with internet access, a printer, a washing machine and a dryer! The bedrooms came with ensuite bathrooms and plasma TVs and there was another one in the living room and an electric fireplace beside it! Whoa, it totally took my breath away! There was a distinct designer feel to the whole apartment which was barely a year old. And to think it cost only 240 NZD per night considering that a minimalist bunk in a backpackers in Europe would already set you back 40 SGD. Here, I've a website to recommend for last minute accomodation options: www.wotif.com. It knocks off a substantial amount off the original price.

Presenting, the best place I've ever stayed in:

At night, we went to the city centre to do a bit of sightseeing but didn't find anything particularly interesting. Most of the shops catered to the booking of adventure sports and were already closed anyway.

Another point I wanna add: the city centres NZ have a very different parking system to ours. Theirs do not require drivers to pay for parking spots but each group of parking lots have a specified duration for which drivers are allowed to park (5 min, 10 min etc), which gave us quite a headache as all of the longer duration parking lots were already taken. We asked this local how the parking was regulated and he said that there was a sensor under the lot which the parking attendant can use, with a device to track the amount of time the car has been there.

Dinner was a home made meal of some NZ staples like potatoes, button mushrooms and my favourite beef (it's delicious) in the comfort of the nice apartment. I revere this life! Haha.

9 to 10 May 08 - Singapore, Christchurch, Tekapo

2008-07-08T21:06:00.001+08:00

Just one day after my last paper of the third academic year (whoo hoo!), the family was to embark on a hard-to-come-by getaway together to one of our common dream destinations, New Zealand! So as you can imagine, my concentration level was at rock bottom, with images of cows and sheep (no thanks to a certain milk advert) creeping into my mind with increasing frequency.

But of course, the time had to arrive! Our flight to Christchurch was to depart from the new state of the art terminal, which was quiet peaceful as passenger traffic was still minimal. Dad didn't really appreciate the abstract carpet design though cos he found it too dazzling haha. On a side note, after much research, the airline that offers the cheapest flight to NZ at this time is... SIA! Haha surprising isn't it?

left: really glad that the family could travel together again cos we hadn't done that in quite a while!
right: dawn breaking

After the 10h-long flight, we were a bit fatigued but thanks to the meals onboard, we had very full stomachs =p. At the Christchurch Airport, we collected our rental car, a Ford Falcon (3 lit. i think) which looked quite seh so loved it! It cost about 110 NZD per day including insurance.

left: the drivers who couldn't wait to get behind the wheel.

It was autumn at that time so the temperature in the day was about 10+ degrees. Upon exiting the airport, the crisp air in our faces provided immediate rejuvenation. A sweet release from the sweltering heat in our sunny island.

Following one of the many good maps provided at the airport, we took the 1 down towards Timaru. Enroute, we stopped at a biweekly farmer's market where vendors hawked their ware from the boots of their vans and trucks! Most sold fresh produce like potatoes, honey, pumpkins and others barbecued steak patties that tantalized even our very full bellies. This was the first time I'd travelled around via driving and I was already loving the freedom that came with it. Spot something interesting. Stop for as long/as short as you wish. Back on the road. :)

right: this man sells manure too!

left: photo-taking break on a very silent expressway.
right: filling their lungs with fresh countryside air!

The next town we came across was Fairlie, a quiet little place where the only hint of human existence was a small restaurant and souvenir shop. From a vantage point near the restaurant, we looked down upon a flock of sheep grazing on green pastures. Bordering the green were the blues, browns and whites of the sky, clouds and nearby mountains half-draping on their cloak of white. The pungent smell from the sheep was too much for Dad to bear so he took cover back in the car. Haha.

above: postcard-perfect Fairlie

To get to Tekapo, we had to cross Burke's Pass, which cuts through the Southern Alps, known as the backbone of the South Island as it literally runs through the middle of the island. For most of the 42 km or so that was Burke's Pass, my eyes hardly took a break from feasting on the splendid mountain range.

Before we knew it, we reached Tekapo - a small town that houses the spectacular gem of Lake Tekapo. Its allure was obvious from the numerous B&Bs and lodges that line the lake. We stayed at Lake Tekapo Scenic Resort, which cost 210 NZD per night for a family unit that afforded a resplendent view of the lake from the living room. After depositing our car and belongings, we took a short walk to the town centre, which was basically just a row of small cafés and a supermarket. In one of the bakeries, we found piping hot ham and egg pies and buttered scones which we gobbled down as we strolled to the edge of the lake and engaged in manic photo-taking. Haha. Unfortunately, none of the photos managed to translate the beauty as we saw it.

left: Mum and her mismatched socks haha!
right: Bro - an apprentice at Shaolin Si.

right: one of the bedrooms in the apartment.

We initially planned to visit Mt John's Observatory from where we would be able to see Mt Cook, NZ's tallest peak and the training ground of Sir Edmund Hillary before he scaled Everest! Alas, by the time we reached the gates of the observatory, it was 2 minutes before closure (5 pm). Quel Dommage!

So we decided to check out a hot spring spa in the vicinity instead. It didn't look very appealing cos the pool of the outdoor hot springs seemed to have sides made of a blue plastic-like material. At least if they'd lined it with artificial rocks, it would've seemed more authentic.

The sun set by 5:30pm. It was one of the prettiest coucher de soleils I'd ever seen. After admiring nature's work for a good moment, there was little to do but to head to the supermarket to get groceries for dinner and breakfast the next day. :)

18 Jan 08 - Des réflexions

2008-02-28T23:36:00.000+08:00

I'm seriously gonna miss the place I've called home for the past 5 months beaucoup.
Vraiment beaucoup.

The beautiful melody of the french language,
the picture-perfect surroundings,
having a base to explore the ever-intriguing continent of Europe,
grocery-shopping at Géant (yep, it's our therapeutic weekly or bi-weekly activity hehe),
speaking with the neighbours in the kitchen every evening,
criticising the food at the RUs (restaurants universitaires) and rejoicing when it's the day for mussels and fries or salmon,
taking the tram from les taillées to l'hôpital where you get lost in the beauty of the river Isère and the mountains before you,
watching a fashion show when I go to school everyday,
seeing squirrels and birds in the bare-branched trees outside my window...

I'll miss all these and so much more, of the little day-to-day activities, too trivial to describe.

As I have told many of my friends, enrolling in this SEP is one of the best decisions I've made in my life and one of which I'll be speaking about to my kids and grandkids (if I ever have any) =)

Cela est exactement Le Goût de La Vie.

12 Jan 08 - Le ski à Chamrousse

2008-02-27T00:38:00.001+08:00

The sky was still dark when I awoke. I peered out of my window bleary-eyed as I always did in the morning. At 6 am, no one appeared to be up yet so it was peacefully quiet. I just had to open my window and let the icy cold air sweep into my room and take a moment to appreciate one of the last few mornings I'd have in Grenoble. It had obviously snowed the night before, the heaviest I'd seen during the time I was there as evident from the snow covered cars and bushes outside my window. Ahh. I hate to say goodbye.

above: view from my Condillac window before the crack of dawn.

Heard Kev's familiar cough and whistling in the corridors (wa really wanna make so much noise when everyone's sleeping HAHA) so I hurriedly got dressed i.e. piled on the long johns, woollen sweater, scarf, 2 gloves and my astronaut jacket.

As Kev and I walked towards the tram stop we saw that everywhere was covered in a thin coat of white. Condillac never snowed this much! What an awesome start to the day! :):)

We took the tram to Gières where take the Transière bus to the slopes of Chamrousse (shorhng-whose)! Whoot! Anyway it was snowing heavily when we reached Gières. Call me easily amused but it was the first time I'd seen snow pouring down at such a rate and to say I was ecstatic wouldn't be too strong a word. Haha.

The bus was almost full of passengers, all armed with their skis and snowboards and there we met up with Guillaume who too was dressed the part. En route, the snow appeared to increase in intensity and as we moved along, the fir trees in the woods that we passed seemed to get even more saddled with the weight of the snow. Fields, houses and cars were almost concealed in the thick cloak of snow. That whole expanse of white was just breathtaking.

The good news didn't last though. Before long, the snow-laden roads halted traffic and our bus stalled several times. Snow-shovelling vehicles had to come to the rescue and snow-chains had to be attached to the bus' wheels. It was a task getting those chains on and a few passengers, Guillaume included, graciously volunteered to brave the weather to help the driver. After umpteen tries, the snow chains finally managed to do their job and we were back on our way! Eventually we reached Chamrousse an hour late but it was quite an experience.

Upon stepping out of the bus and feeling the lashing of the snow and wind on our faces, we knew we were in for a rough ride. The heavy snowing had evolved into a full-fledged tempest that resulted in us having to half-close our eyes to prevent the snow from gaining entry. Just unzipping my haversack to retrieve my wallet caused snow to collect inside! To make things worse, the snow was so thick it was shin deep so even walking was tough. But even then, the place was beautiful to look at.

Guillaume quickly ushered us into the central building to seek respite and to rent our ski equipment. There were about 8 ski rental shops which rented skis from about 19€ which was really reasonable. We chose one and proceeded to try on our ski boots. Wow those things were a nightmare to put on - think rollerblades but much heavier and harder with less room to manoeveur. Merci Guillaume for helping me with them! Anw as a safety precaution, the skis have to be tailored to match your body weight so that when you fall, they'll detach from your boots and you won't risk breaking your legs from an awkward fall.

After getting our batons and skis, we made our way out into the ski grounds. Walking in those boots felt like walking on very heavy stilts and I didn't realized I was that equilibrium-challenged till that day especially when I was walking on the then knee-deep snow. Kept falling down which was really embarrassing. Haha and it didn't help that the skis weighed a ton.

Then it was up to coach Guillaume to teach us the basics of skis - how to put on the skis, the posture to adopt, how to brake and how to climb a gentle slope with the skis on. He makes an excellent teacher la! Very patient.

We then took the ski lift cos Guillaume thought there would be gentle slopes for beginners when we got off, like in the other ski stations he's been to. The ride up was unforgettable. The icy wind was blowing at over a 100kph. With the ski lift in motion, this was amplified. The wind and heavy snow lashing mercilessly against our bare faces caused us to writhe in agony. I must have teared from the pain and both Kevin and I couldn't even speak in response to Guillaume's concerned 'are you ok's. We were totally ill-prepared for skiing! No beanie and no ski masks. Had to try my best to wrap my scarf around my face but my fingers were so numb that i couldn't hold the scarf in place. Finally about 10 min on the lift we reached the top. Visibility was nearly null cos of the storm and the worst thing was I didn't know how to get off the ski lift (ski down a gentle slope away from the lifts). I tried to walk to the sides but was too slow so got hit by the next ski lift. It didn't really hurt cos I fell on snow but it was quite embarrassing cos they had to stop the lifts to pull me up.

Kevin also looked to be in bad shape. He kept telling us he was gonna faint and that he was very cold. He's always struck me as Mr Toughguy and seeing him admit that he couldn't take it was very scary. We couldn't see past 2 metres cos everywhere beyond that was white - couldn't even differentiate the sky from the ground. Poor Kevin's head was also covered in snow. Looking back, it was freaking hilarious cos so much snow collected on his spiked up hair that his head ressembled a christmas tree. Guillaume skiied away to seek help from the ranger and moments later, we were led to his warm hut to thaw. We felt a whole load better there but Guillaume got reprimanded for taking us up here in these conditions. He felt really bad but it wasn't his fault la cos he didn't know too. Slowly, Kevin's hair began to drip with a messy substance (hairgel and water) Haha.

We headed down via the skilift (they made an exception cos usually u have to ski down) while Guillaume skied down and according to him, the storm was so bad he had a couple of bad falls on slopes he usually eased down. At the foot of the station, Kevin decided he'd had enough and went to have coffee in one of the cafés. I really wanted to learn to ski and I probably wouldn't have another chance again so Guillaume and I went out again but this time we confined ourselves to the beginner's area. He taught me the two methods of braking - the first being the chasse-neige, where u turn yr knees slightly towards each other such that your skis make an inverted V-shape and the second was by swerving to the side abruptly. The latter stops you when you're going at a fast speed as if you were to do the former, your knees might break.

Wow manually walking up a slope with the heavy skis is intense! It's scary going down a slope albeit a gentle one when u can't stop yourself! So after much screaming and knocking straight into Guillaume (luckily I didn't injure him. Merci!!), I managed to learn a bit of the basics.

Next we tried the tire-fesses (literally: pulling yr bottom haha). This is a pulley system that transports you to higher ground. You grab onto a rope with a knot at the end which you place between your legs. You then travel up the slope in a standing position with your skis still on the ground. It sure looked easy cos many kids were using it effortlessly. But it wasn't! The klutzy me sat on the knot so lost balance when the ski lift started to pick up speed. Fell flat after moving barely a few metres. Haha super throw face. So many kids somemore. Guillaume convinced me to try it a second time. This time I managed to reach the halfway point but my skis started twisting to one side n I fell again. Haha quite funny la.

above: snow-covered trees en route to Chamrousse

left: the ranger's hut and the dreaded ski lift haha
right: pro skier

left: my feeble attempt (look super unpro haha)
right: a car totally covered in snow

By that time I was quite tired of falling so I watched Guillaume ski. He's super pro la... Swooshing here and there. Haiya wonder how long I'll need to be able to ski properly. After about 2h after we left Kev, we returned to the café for coffee and crepes.

right: tryin to do the sophisticated-European-drinking coffee thing.

I have to admit, the storm was quite terrifying and we shouldn't have attempted to ski at all, but it was quite an experience wasn't it? At least it's fodder for talk and the learning the basics from Guillaume was thoroughly enjoyable! Absolumment pas de regrets! :)

11 Jan 08 - Les examens ont terminé!

2008-02-26T15:59:00.000+08:00

Had the last of my 4 exams yesterday. It had to end with a bang I suppose, except that this was more like a shot that nearly killed Lynn and I.

This particular one was on geology, so for the two soon-to-be chemists, who recognize carbon in the form of chains rather than as one of the types of deposits in deltas, even studying it was a nightmare. It didn't help that the lecturer's voice, in his soothing french accent, lulled us to slumberland more often than not.

Anyway, the exam questions were completely different from what we had anticipated! They really test your understanding of the subject by having all questions application-based. I daresay without exaggerating that there was 90 percent of which I had no clue about even though I had studied the material. The technical terms in french were an even bigger obstacle to comprehending the questions - was perhaps barking up the wrong tree for many of the questions. There weren't any questions on memorizing definitions, explaining the formation of a certain geological entity, unlike how NUS likes it, but more of interpretation and explanation of real-life scenarios.

The good news is that the exam counts for only 50% of the grade and the lecturer, during the exam, very kindly walked over to me to ask if there was anything I didn't understand. I said yes, quite a bit. And then he said something like: we'll see about the grades, don't worry too much.

Of course, I'd rather pass the exam based on my own merit and not due to the kindness of the prof but without the latter's help, things look bleak.

On a much more positive note, it's skiing at Chamrousse tomorrow and home on the 19th!

10 Jan 08 (Fête de Lynn et Guillaume), 13 Jan 08 (Fête de Michelle)

2008-02-25T23:11:00.000+08:00

Joyeux Anniversaire aux bébés nés en Janvier!! There're seriously MANY people in our Grenoble group born just days apart in the month of January of 1986. First it was Letch's (on the 5th), then Lynn's (the 9th), Guillaume's (the 10th) and lastly Michelle's (the 13th!)

10th January @ Résidence Rabot
On the 10th, we held a party to celebrate Lynn and Guillaume's birthdays at Rabot, Lynn's residence. Thanks to Kevin, the non-Singaporeans got a chance to taste Bak Kut Teh!

left: we wish for...world peace? =D
right: hmm i think he likes the Bak Kut Teh!

left: Teaching the guys how we 'Yam Seng'! Hohoho
right: Yoanna and I (it was the last time I saw her sighh...)

This is a video of us the international students learning a popular French ditty (merci Guillaume!) which requires two groups of people to compete to see who can sing the loudest.

Team Tribord goes: C'est à Tribord, qu'on chante, qu'on chante. C'est à Tribord, qu'on chante le plus fort! (It's at Tribord, that we sing, that we sing. It's the Tribordians that sing the loudest!)

Team Babord goes: C'est à Babord, qu'on chante, qu'on chante. C'est à Babord, qu'on chante le plus fort! (singing louder than Team Tribord)

and it's back to Tribord who'll sing even louder and so on... until the singing becomes more like shouting. Haha.

13th January @ Résidence Condillac
The birthday surprise for Mich as predicted, met with some glitches (haha! we never seem to be able to pull off a proper surprise!). We initially wanted to hide in her room before she returned from church but she got to the Condillac tram stop at the exact same moment as did the non-Condillacians. As much as Mark tried to convince her that they were there to visit Shaowei, Mich didn't fall for it. (ahyo gourmande can you be more gullible!! =D)

left: The absolutely delicious cake Mark bought
right: Zhouxiang and Tanzi, who just arrived in Grenoble for the next sem joined us! As did Mich's neighbour.

left: Letch, Qinghan and birthday girl!
right: the two newest additions to Madame Tussaud's =D

left: Mich was trying very hard to cut the cake instead of eating it!
right: Mich and the Grenoble Universités shirt we got her!

Mich had another celebration at night because her good friend Shaoqing (a very warm and sincere masters' student from China) wanted to celebrate her birthday with her. So she brought a whole bag of food to our kitchen to cook Mich a dinner. So sweet right!

left: rejection without hesitation (haha sorry Kev!)

above: Condillacians and a Rabotian!

3 Jan 08 - Cap d'Ail

2008-02-07T00:02:00.000+08:00

Situated between Monaco and Nice, Cap d'Ail is an enchanting coastal town, void of the 2 neighbouring cities' plethora of activity.

The serene haven we found ourselves in seemed to be relatively unspoilt by tourist activity. I loved taking in the fresh sea breeze, the bluish-green expanse of the sea stretching for miles beyond, the imposing cliffs with houses gingerly perched at their edges and just hearing the crunching of the pebbles as we strolled along Plage Mala (Mala beach).

right: an audition for heroes? =D

left: Lynn and I loving this tranquil little paradise.

left: Plage Mala, a pebble beach

Along the coastal path, where the huge sea waves came crashing against the unyielding rocks:

above: a tiny island of some sort, a little distance away from the 'mainland'. kinda spells romance.

Hunger called so we headed back to one of a Niçois restaurant for lunch. Since it was gonna be the our last meal in Nice, I told myself that I had to try the renowned Salade Niçoise even though I had a craving for something more savoury. But what a disappointment the salad was! It was a pretty much tasteless haphazard combination of random vegetables. Think it wasn't the authentic Salade Niçoise as the restaurant didn't really seem established. They even served Lynn a Carbonara that tasted really bitter! Poor Lynn was forcing the pasta down as she thought it was probably supposed to be like that until she tasted some of Guillaume's (who had ordered the same thing) and found it nothing like hers! The chef insisted that he made them exactly the same (how could that be?) but reluctantly replaced both hers and Guillaume's with a new batch.

left: La Salade Niçoise
right: the mystery of the Carbonara

As we were making our way back to our hostel to get our luggage, we were lured into this shop which sold a large range of freshly baked cookies and candies. Living in France with all its good food taught us never to reject another meal even after a heavy one. So we each bought a few cookies (rather pricey at about 2 SGD for one) with giant smiles on our faces until we realised that we were running late.

When we reached the tram stop near our hostel, we started panicking like crazy as we had only half an hour till our train would leave for Grenoble (the last train of the day)! But thankfully the hostel staff said it would be possible for them to send us to the train station at a charge of 36€ in total. Also, we had to thank our lucky stars that the staff that was at the wheel was this daredevil English lady who sped us all the way, cursing at the peak-hour traffic that threatened to force us to extend our stay in Nice for another day. It was a nail-biting experience for Lynn and I as the clock ticked cause the experience of missing a train and having to wait 6h for the next one was in the back of our minds.

We reached the train station with 10 minutes to spare and sprinted to locate our platform and validate our train tickets. When we finally sank into our seats on the train with relief, I swore to myself to never let this situation happen again. (fellow travellers please be warned!)

During the 5 hour-long train ride to Valence (where we had to alight to take a 2h bus ride to Grenoble), we shared our cookies, experiences, thoughts, jokes and attempted to act as pro photographers and models with Yunzhi's SLR :) The 5 hours didn't seem that long after all. After that, it was au revoir YZ, who continued on the train back to Lyon.

That marked the end of the last long vacation of my SEP.

The glamour and football :) of Milan, the natural beauty of Lugano, the cultural richesse of Rome and the Vatican, the rustic allure of Napoli, the historical Pompeii, the imposing Mount Vesuvius, the opulence of Monaco and the tranquility of Cap d'Ail. It's true that one cannot truly appreciate the essence of several cities in a span of just two weeks. I'd merely scratched the surface but already I'm in love! Given the chance, I'd return in a jiffy!

Exams in 3 days! Time to hit the books. Zut!

2 Jan 08 - Monaco

2008-02-06T12:10:00.000+08:00

Monaco is the second smallest country after the Vatican but is the most densely populated one in the world. It is also home to one of the world's most renowned and challenging Grand Prix circuits! Conveniently located just a 40 minute bus ride or 15 minute train ride away from Nice, we decided to pay this country of unimaginable wealth a visit.

left: a sign prohibiting underdressed (literally) tourists
right: le Palais de Monaco (the Palace), Prince Albert II's official residence.

left: the path leading up to the palais
right: 'hold on, I think I see a hot chick!'

above: Port Hercule (Port of Hercules)

left: one of the many rows of souvenir shops selling almost the same items!
right: Formula 1 memorabilia, expectedly, was one of the staple articles on sale.

left: Fontveille, one of the 4 main districts in Monaco, reclaimed from the Mediterranean Sea in the 70s.
right: The Monaco flag, which curiously, is the same as the Indonesian flag!

above and left: la Cathédrale de Monaco
right: they probably really adore the Beatles =D

left: a friendly seagull
right: It's HIS paradise!

above: Xmas market

left: THE Monte Carlo casino!
right: fast cars, big money, that's Monaco! (thanks Kev for the photo!)

The Casino was the grandest I'd ever seen. The guests decked out in designer wear, chauffeured in Ferraris and Lambourghinis just added that extra tinge of prestige.

left: The Monaco train station
right: Dinner at Flunch, a restaurant chain, the closest I'd experienced to a buffet here. You pay for a main course of fish or meat and get a free flow of the side dishes like fries, pasta, salad, mashed potatoes etc.

1 Jan 08 - Nice Day 1

2008-02-06T11:25:00.000+08:00

So, it was arrivederci Italia and Re-bonjour La France as we left Milan for Nice. It was to be a 5-hour journey which I spent mostly sleeping, chit-chatting and experimenting with Yunzhi's camera. Ahh when I save up enough, I resolve to get one of those and learn some real photography skills.

left: la gare de Nice!
right: some pavillion in the vicinity of our hostel.

Locating the hostel was a challenging task to say the least. We asked many locals who had no clue when finally we struck gold with this kindly gentleman who offered to run the address of the hotel in his car's GPS. Eventually, after close to an hour and a half since we left the train station, we found the hostel, a 10-minute uphill walk.

Other than its poor location, Villa Saint-Exupery was every bit the dream hostel. It had beautiful landscaping and a huge common room cum pub which had about 10 computer terminals equipped with internet access which guests can use for free. On top of that, the drinks were very reasonably priced. The dorms housed a tad too many people but what could we expect for the 16€ we paid per night?

above: us satisfied with our room :)

above: the common room-pub

left: the hostel's landscaping
right: a quiet street in the town area, which had scarcely a soul as most shops and restaurants close for the New Year. That's one think that is really different between the European and Asian culture. While us Asians with businesses would seize every money-making opportunity by working through the holiday period, the Europeans view holidays as they are supposed to be - a time to take a break!

left: one of the unique Nicois signs marking the names of the tramstops.
right: I await the impossible - one of the inspiring quotes that can be seen at each tram stop.

right: when hunger strikes, friends turn to foe hehe.

above: Our dinner of moules et frites (mussels and fries)! One of my all time favourite dishes :) There was at least one kilogram worth of mussels in that pot. Sinful but had to eat my fill before going back to Singapore!

To aid our digestion after the heavy meal, we took a short walk to the seaside, near the Promenade des Anglais (Walk of the English) and La Baie des Anges (The Bay of Angels). Since it was already nightfall, we could only make out the street lamps lining the parabolic sidewalk at la prom.

And that was the first day in Nice.

31 Dec 07 - Napoli Day 3 (Monte Vesuvio)

2008-02-05T23:52:00.000+08:00

We had only one thing on our to-do list that day: Visit Monte Vesuvio, the volcano that was responsible for the complete devastation of the two cities, Pompeii and Herculaneum in AD 79. Now with a population of 3 million living in its vicinity and its penchant for violent eruptions, it is considered the world's most threatening volcano.

left: a tiny shop selling all sorts of mouth-watering Neapolitan delights near our hostel :)
right: Donut breakfast!

left: The Neapolitan metros were the incredibly foul-smelling. They smelt like a brewing potion of pee and sweat. A very deadly one indeed. Oh, the metros used were Trenitalia (the nation train company) trains! Interesting aint it?
right: The densely populated town of Ercolano, where Vesuvio is located.

The original plan was to catch the public bus that would bring us up to the crater, however, the bus stop seemed to be situated in some parallel dimension and no one seemed to be able to tell us where the bus stop was, not even the staff at the metro station! So us three lost souls wandered around the neighbourhood, trying our luck with random strangers but to no avail. Finally, we met this Italian girl, about 16 years of age, who assuaged our frustration with her sincerity in offering us help. She had been waiting for a bus to go to work but that didn't deter her from helping us bargain with a rude cab driver for an appropriate fee to take us up. The deal didn't fall through as he quoted quite an exorbitant price. She then walked us back to the metro station to try to help us find out where we could board the bus, only to be told that the bus had left and the only solution was to take a private mini-bus from a company located just beside the metro station. The price for the return trip and the entrance fee to the crater was 16.50€.

The minivan had a capacity of 7 passengers, 3 of which were Australians and one of which was a nice French lady, with whom Guillaume immediately clicked with. Lynn and I couldn't join in the conversation due to our motion sickness - the ride was extremely bumpy and the roads wound drastically along the way. The driver drove as if he aspired to participate in the Formula 1, even at sharp bends! So I'd say that if you're able to drive in Napoli, you'll survive anywhere. Evading pedestrians that spring out from the road side without warning and cars in front that slam the brakes abruptly came effortlessly to the Napolitans.

The bus dropped us off at the entrance to the crater. At such high altitudes, it was freezing cold and the winds were brutal! We had to walk with our bodies bent over in order to decrease the surface area exposed to the chill. It took about 20 minutes for us to reach the crater on foot. The unrivalled view from the top was just breathtaking! The Amalfi coast, the Bay of Naples, Herculaneum and chains of surrounding mountains were scattered across the seemingly painted backdrop.

above: The dark brown path of volcanic rock and soil that was lightly veiled in old snow.

left: the smokin' hot Vesuvio
right: view of the Bay of Naples

right: feelin on top of the world!

After only about half an hour of exploring the volcano's peak, we had to head back down where the bus was waiting to send us back. Back in the town centre, we searched for a pizza place and settled on this one that looked the least like a tourist trap:

left: the traditional wood-burning oven used in la vera pizza
right: the chef made our pizzas from scratch, in front of us, and then slid them into the oven.

right: dessert of some gingerbread cookie that tasted absolutely delicious

After lunch, we rushed back to Giovanni's to prepare to leave for the airport. He called a taxi for us (16€) to take us to the airport which was just a 20 minute drive away. It was quite worth the cost since taking the public transport would cost approximately the same.

left: Lyrics to 'Vado a Singapore' (Go to Singapore!), an Italian song! Has quite a jingly tune to it!

left: another speciality of Napoli, the Babà, which is a cake like pastry soaked in rum. It literally melts in your mouth. I'd eat a whole tray of them if I could!
right: if looks could kill (on the Easyjet flight to Milan)

Couldn't believe that this was my third time stopping at Milan in a span of 9 days. But it's really one of the central interchanges be it for trains or flights in Italy. There, we met Yunzhi who led us to our very elusive budget hotel as he had already checked-in earlier that day.

I thought Hotel Catalani and Madrid was good value for money as the room was speckless and breakfast was included. As everyone was worn out from the long trip, we settled dinner at a restaurant just a street away. We stayed there for the countdown and when the clock struck midnight, the huge Italian family that had booked the whole restaurant started dancing, toasting each other, singing and just having a ball! The waiters in the restaurant went out to set off fireworks and crackers of all varieties. There were those that made an ear-piercing whizzing noise as the cracker soared through the air, those that burst into balls of sparks with a loud bang etc. Unfortunately, the high spirits were marred as one of the fireworks hit one of the waitresses in the eye. All of us were shell-shocked but luckily she proved to be fine even though she was wailing in pain.

left: Yunzhi with his SLR and his willing model =D
right: Decked in Black - Guillaume, Yunzhi, Lynn.

We headed back to the hotel and spent a long time talking and laughing into the night. What a good start to the new year! Buon anno everyone!

30 Dec 07 - Napoli Day 2 (Pompeii)

2008-01-26T00:57:00.001+08:00

With hearts filled with anticipation of being in the face of something unbelievably magnificent, the 3 of us awoke raring to go! To get to Pompei Scavi station, the location of the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, we had to take a train from Garibaldi, which took a journey of about 40 minutes.

The city of Pompeii was founded around the 7th century BC but in 79 AD, the neighbouring volcano Mount Vesuvius decided to empty its wrath onto the ill-fated city, thoroughly burying it in thick layers of ash, leaving no trace of its former existance. Almost 1700 years later, came workmen seeking an ideal location to build a summer palace for the then-king. It was then that Pompeii was rediscovered and escavation works began, to uncover the lost ancient civilisation.

right: makan places outside the Pompei Scavi station, trying to pull in the tourist dollar.

The entrance fee to Pompeii was 11€ for Lynn and I but only 5.50€ for EU students (lucky Guillaume!!) Upon purchasing our tickets, we were given a map and a small booklet explaining what each site was used for. Without the former, one is bound to get lost in this 163 acres worth of surprisingly well-preserved buildings and monuments.

left: ruins near the Temple of Venus
right: can't recall the name of this place hmm...

left: in the olden times, walls were built with stones arranged in such a diagonal fashion to better withstand the effects of earthquakes.
right: Lynn and Guilaume simulating a chef and a customer. Haha though it probably didn't work that way in those times.

right: a building called the Basilica which was used for business negotiations and as a courthouse.

right: The culpable Vesuvius in the background!

left: The Temple of Jupiter

left: Ciao Bello! =D
right: the act of seduction hohoho

left: the twelve bases arranged in a circle were once used to hold a conical roof, which housed the city's main market within.

As we ventured on, we chanced upon huge glass cases containing the plaster casts of victims of the Vesuvio eruption. It was a heart-wrenching sight looking at the agony-stricken faces of these unfortunate souls. We could scarcely imagine the terror and torment they went through before the lava swallowed them alive in a split second.

But it's thanks to a certain Giuseppe Fiorelli that these plaster figures exist. The actual bodies of the doomed inhabitants had already been long decomposed when Fiorelli and his team started excavation work in the mid 19th-century. However, he came up with the ingenious idea of injecting liquid plaster into the holes left in the ashes after the gradual decomposition of the luckless. Upon solidification, the team obtained disturbingly realistic depictions of the victims' last moments.

above: the public baths. It is said that using the public baths was a very common practice for the people of that era as it was inexpensive.

above: the Lupanare, or brothel which still bears surprisingly well-maintained (very) explicit paintings of the different erm...positions one can adopt...haha. The last picture shows a stone block against the wall which acted as the 'bed'. The women who worked there were slaves who were mostly Greek or Oriental.

right: The Great Theatre, which made use of the natural gradient of the ground to create tiers. Plays, mimes and music were played there.

right: More plaster casts. This particular one really left an indelible impression for it portrays the pain of a father who, on the verge of death, tries to locate his wife and kid but finds them one foot away, already dead.

left: The Amphitheatre, of a capacity of 20 000, is one of the most well-preserved in the world today. It was used as a battlefield for gladiators, as was the Colosseum. Two gates led to the centre of the arena. The first was where the gladiators entered and the other was used to carry away the killed or injured.
right: my lunch - pizza again! But when you're in Naples or its neighbouring cities, you'd be a fool not to indulge in pizza all day long! =D

Sadly, we covered only less than half the 69 sites in Pompeii as we wanted to visit Mount Vesuvius before sunset. But as luck should have it, we missed the last bus for Vesuvius and had to contend with the absolute discourtesy of the men running the private bus company. Argh.

On the bright side, this gave us the opportunity to start exploring the city of Naples itself. I wasn't really blown away by the architecture, piazzas, or churches as they weren't in my opinion, particularly outstanding. I was however, enthralled by the everyday life in this city! The countless number of street vendors hawking imitation goods, chestnuts, cotton candy, popcorn, pretty Murano glass bottles, pirated DVDs, the most appetizing pastries and desserts, the throng of locals creating a near human traffic jam in the streets... It was such a breath of fresh air from the typically modern and developed European cities that I'd been to.

left: Piazza Garibaldi and its surrounding buildings where Guillaume found Ms Intimissimi perched on a rooftop =p
right: Castel Nuovo (New Castle)

left: Teatro San Carlo, the oldest theatre still in use in Europe.

above: Piazza del Plebiscito, the largest piazza in Naples. It was named after the plebiscite that gave Naples entry into unified Italy.

left: Caffè del Professore, a supposedly renowned café, where I tried a Napolitan speciality - the Sfogliatella (sfoh-lyah-tel-la), meaning many leaves. It's a triangular piece of crispy pastry, which true to its name, is made up of many layers. Within, it is filled with orange-flavoured ricotta cheese. Simply finger-smackingly good!

left: Guillaume and I with our sfogliatelle
right: Lynn and gelato! Who'd have thought that we'd have gelato in winter =)

Just one word to sum up this perfect day: Bellisimo! =D

29 Dec 07 - Napoli Day 1

2008-01-20T19:52:00.000+08:00

The only good thing about leaving Rome was that we got to say adieu to our hostel, Alessandro Downtown. The location was excellent but its service was rather incompetent and the sheets didn't seem to be washed. The air circulation was poor as well, so a stale stench hovered constantly in our room. The hostel we stayed at the last time, Hostel Des Artistes would have been a much better choice.

The two-and-a-half hour train ride to Napoli transported us into a totally different world. The first thing that struck us when we stepped out of the train station was the air, saturated with exhaust from the numerous number of vehicles on the roads. Before long, we found ourselves gasping for air!

As we turned into the narrowest of alleys, I got reminded of documentaries which showed Singapore in the 1960s. Situated along these streets were small stalls, similar to the mama-shops we have, which sold anything from traditional Neapolitan pastries to haircuts! Laundry hanging from windows and litter lining the cobble stoned streets were a common sight. What surprised me was that I even saw children as young as 7, without any kind of supervision, hanging out in the streets dressed like little punks and others on scooters! Thundering booms of firecrackers being set off can be heard at any time of the day. People with heart problems should be wary as I distinctly remember jumping out of my skin more than a couple of times. The difference in culture and way of life was so vastly different from Singapore's that I was intrigued right away.

Soon after, we located our hostel, which wasn't like any hostel I'd ever stayed in! 'Giovanni's Home', as the name suggests, is the residence of Giovanni, its owner. He made us feel welcome the moment we stepped into his house, a traditional Neapolitan apartment over 300 years old. He spent an hour giving us insights into Napoli's attractions and its history and culture. Napoli was founded by the Greeks and the name Napoli originated from Neapolis (Greek for New City). Thus, Naples has much Greek AND Roman influences, making it one of the most unique Italian cities. After the lengthy introduction, Giovanni offered to cook lunch for us. We were more than pleasantly surprised at this atypical hospitality.

left: at the subway called the Napolitana (haha)
right: Giovanni's pasta, done al dente, with red wine on the side. Buon apetito! :)

left: Giovanni in his most vulnerable state hoho
right: Giovanni's terrace

Giovanni's lunchtime singalong =D

left: a typical Neapolitan street (with the flag of Napoli in the middle)
right: Guillaume pretending to argue with the neighbours in the Italian fashion haha

After lunch, we headed out to visit the Napoli Sotteranea, which were aqueducts in the ancient times but which were used as bomb shelters for thousands to take refuge in during WWII. The 8€ we paid included a guided tour of an hour and a half. Some passageways we had to go through were so narrow that my shoulders could hardly fit and which were so dark that even with candlelight, you couldn't see beyond one foot.

By the time we got out of the catacombs, it was already dark. So we decided to just visit the Duomo before going for dinner.

Napoli has a bustling nightlife. The streets are always filled with people even till late so shops stay opened longer than those in France too. We noticed too, that most souvenir shops sold small religious figurines that weren't found in the other Italian cities we'd been to.

left: one of the many stalls selling Neapolitan pastry
right: a Xmas tree made of green plastic bottles, the crowning glory of a rubbish chute.

For dinner, we decided to heed Giovanni's recommendation, a restaurant called Gino Sorbillo. It was about 8pm and the queue was horrendously long! You had to register with the head waitress, who would call you when your turn was up, similar to Crystal Jade's peak hour system. Believing in the Singaporean mantra of: if there's a queue, it has to be something good, we agreed to wait. =D After only about an hour, did our names get called, but boy, was it worth the wait! The 14-inch pizzas that came were unmistakenly la vera pizza (the real pizza) that is, made using a wood-burning oven. By the by, Naples is where pizza was born!

Lynn teaching Guillaume the our favourite childhood game of Chee Koh Pah =D

above: a pizza called the 4 Stagioni and the traditional Marinara pizza, made using oregano, basil, tomato and garlic (right). They cost a total of only 9 €! In Grenoble, one slice of pizza could easily set you back 3€ or more.

We headed back immediately after dinner at about 1030pm, as Giovanni had warned us that Napoli was a dangerous place, especially at night.

28 Dec 07 - Rome

2008-01-20T18:49:00.001+08:00

They say that when u toss a coin into the Trevi fountain and make a wish, you will return to the eternal city one day. Little did I know that I would return a year and a half later to rediscover one of my favourite cities in the world, this time with Lynn and Guillaume.

above: Il Colosseo, ever-imposing, ever magnificent

Lynn and I agreed that walking in the Foro Romano this time, was a much more enjoyable experience than in summer when we last went. The scorching heat at that time was so unbearable that we could hardly appreciate the years of history this jewel entailed.

left: photo taken in 'winter'
right: a similar shot taken in summer

The Vatican City was swarming with tourists, not unexpectedly, given that it was the Xmas season. The two columned arches surrounding Piazza San Pietro, the papal apartments and of course the Basilica never ceased to impress.

As night fell, we ventured towards Piazza del Popolo, with its fountains, two churches and an obelisk. Before railways were built, this piazza would be the entry point for visitors travelling to Rome. It was also where public executions were carried out in the past.

above: Piazza del Popolo

left: typical Italian souvenirs of boxers with the image of David's nether regions. =p
right: Lynn directing an artistic shot of Guillaume and I on the Spanish Steps. Hoho

Obviously, we had to stop at the Trevi Fountain for that classic coin-toss which would (fingers crossed) bring us back to Rome.

26 Dec 07 - Lugano Day 3 (Monte Brè)

2008-01-20T18:11:00.000+08:00

Monte Brè is known to be one of Switzerland's sunniest points and was the only mountain in the Ticino (Southern Switzerland) region opened for visiting. It's a pity as according to travel guides, Monte San Salvatore and Monte Lema would be well-worth visiting.

To get to the top of the 925m peak took 30 minutes, using a combination of 3 funiculars. En route, we feasted our eyes on the panoramic view of the city down below, the neighbouring mountains and of course the lake. We even spotted a fox which ducked right back into the bushes as the funicular passed. There were homes built directly next to the tracks of the funicular so we could peer right into them. Speaking about no privacy!

left: one of the funiculars which was restored to its ancient design
right: the largely-inclined tracks

Once we arrived at the top, I just shut my eyes to better soak in the serene haven before me, where the chirping of birds filled the air. The surface of the lake was virtually still, save for the occasional boat that left trails of white in its wake.

left: the town of Brè

25 Dec 07 - Lugano Day 2 (Morcote)

2008-01-20T10:23:00.001+08:00

I awoke the next morning feeling really lousy, with the nauseating feeling still haunting me but I didn't wanna spend my time in Lugano in the hostel, so I dragged myself out nonetheless.

The itinerary for today was a visit to Morcote (more-coat-ay), a tiny village 10km from Lugano, known as 'The Pearl of the Ceresio'. There was hardly a soul in sight for it was Xmas day.

The village was full of charm, with ancient monuments and houses built high up on the hill, overlooking Lake Lugano. It was a real pity that the nausea kept increasing in intensity, such that I had to stop every few metres.

Bienvenuto a Morcote:

Finally after less than 2 hours in the village, I couldn't take it anymore so I returned to the hostel to rest. Climbing up the steep street to get to our hostel was a hellish experience, in the bad shape that I was in and upon reaching the top of the street, out came the barf.

Bad, bad day. But if I had the chance to return, I'd visit Morcote during summer, when Parco Sherrer will be opened and then walk to Vico Morcote, a smaller village 20 minutes from Morcote.

24 Dec 07 - Lugano Day 1

2008-01-19T21:18:00.000+08:00

On Xmas Eve, Andi and I went separate ways (trip-wise haha), he towards the North, in particular, the UK and Amsterdam, and I towards the South.

Lugano, a tiny scenic city, in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, was the next destination. It was merely an hour's train ride from Milan. My first impression of the locals was excellent as many of them graciously tried their best to help me locate my hostel despite not being able to speak English.

The hostel, Montarina, was in fact but a 5 minute walk from the train station! I actually walked right past it before turning to the locals for help as it looked too much like a hotel to be a backpackers'. The place was great: well upkept, very accessible and priced only at 25 CHF per night. Stayed there and relaxed until Cheuk Feng, my next travelling buddy, arrived an hour later.

above: Montarina

We headed out to grab lunch at the city centre, a 10-minute walk from our hostel. To reach the centre, one had to descend the steepest street I'd ever seen in my life. It was so steep that steps are cut out by the side to facilitate climbing and there is even a funiculore, a 'cable-car' that transports people from the city centre, to the top of the steep street, near the train station, where the residential area is.

above: A delightful Xmas market at the city centre

After a kebap lunch (one of the few eateries opened then), Cheuk and I went to check out Lago di Lugano (Lake Lugano), which was sparkling splendidly in the sun's rays. With mountains too forming the picturesque backdrop, it was impossible not to go trigger-happy. (NB: Lugano is so small that everything is close to everything else!)

Walking along the lake, towards Parco Civico (the Civic Park), we saw 2 retired old men playing chess on a life-size chessboard, parents pushing toddlers in prams, the occasional ripples in the lake when the many ducks and swans play their chasing games, I found myself unconsciously smiling.

Inside Parco Civico:

Parco Civico at dusk:

left: a small family enjoying the sunset
right: a lone fisherman still trying his luck

At that time, I was feeling pretty nauseous and cold so we went back to the hostel, where I rushed to the toilet to puke. It probably due to food-poisoning from the kebap in the afternoon. I felt much better after getting it all out and joined Cheuk eating some snacks the hostel kindly provided as part of its Xmas Eve celebration.

Cheuk drinking to Xmas! Tchin tchin!

23 Dec 07 - Milan Day 2 (A Dream Come True)

2007-12-23T23:12:00.000+08:00

We rose bright and early hoping to cover the last of the Milan attractions before we had to head to the San Siro for the Milan derby!!!

Castello Sforzesco was our first stop for the day. The castle had a very unique flavour, it was almost exactly how I imagined fairy-tale castles to be like, surrounded by what was left of an ancient moat, imposing towers and peaceful courtyards. It was first constructed in the 14th century, rebuilt after World War II after suffering from a bombing by the Allies. Now, it houses Milan's museums and art galleries.

left: the tranquil courtyard of Castello Sforzesco
right: With the typically retro Milan trams which looked like they'd break down anytime.

As we were pressed for time, we took a quick tour around the vast grounds of the castle then headed out by it's other entrance, where we saw what they called a 'Snow Park', which consisted of 3 artificial ski slopes made of some synthetic material akin to plastic carpet grass, which produces a scratchy sound as the skiers glided down. Andi was soo tempted to try. Haha.

Just opposite the castle was the Parco Sempione, an immense park that covered twice the land area occupied by the castle. Unfortunately, again we had to commit the tourist crime of touch-and-go although I would have much enjoyed lingering longer in this peaceful santuary.

left: one of the ski slopes of Snow Park '07
right: view of Parco Sempione from the castle

left: the exquisite il ponte delle sirenette (the bridge of the little mermaids), transported to this park when the canal it was built over was closed in 1930.
right: lovers attach locks (there had to be hundreds of them!) on this bridge, hoping to secure a relationship that would last for eternity.

above: one of the streams in the park

The clock struck at noon, which signalled that it was time to head for the San Siro =D. The match was scheduled at 3 but we decided to go early to soak up the pre-match atmosphere and to visit the souvenir shop. Thank goodness for that as the metro started filling up with scores of Inter fans in their blue and black scarfs and beanies, who squeezed their way into the metro. 4 stops after the stop we got on, I could hardly breathe or move. And that was just the introduction to the pretty lawless Italy. =p

Along the 20 minute walk towards the stadium, we passed by countless of souvenir stalls by the roadside hoping to profit from this biennial event, where the majority of the Milanese are split by different allegiances to the two city rivals.

left: THE San Siro, covered in thin fog but majestic nonetheless.
right: forza rossoneri!!!

To be able to go to the San Siro to watch Milan play was already my dream realised, but to be watching the Milan derby was something beyond my wildest imaginations.

left: Merci pour m'accompagner chéri! =)
right: the teeny official merchandise store. It was at most 20 sq metres in size, with only 2 display racks of merchandise for each team. Tons of fans were waiting to enter so the security guards had to allow fans in batch by batch. Once they removed the barrier, the fans from the back would shove those in front hoping to barge their way in, which was horrifying. The risk of a stampede was incredibly real.

When we managed to locate our gate of entry, my worst fears were realised: The tickets that we bought were seats in the Inter sector. I couldn't imagine having to suppress my desire to support my team (especially after paying such a princely sum for the ticket) as blatantly showing support for the opponent in calcio-crazy Italy would be like courting death.

So I decided to try my luck entering the only gate out of about 50, allocated for the Milan fans (the away team). My heart was pounding like crazy as I was queuing up with the other fans to go across the security check as I saw a couple of fans being turned away by one of the burly security personnel. The other guy looked a little 'blur' so I approached him with our tickets and IDs at the ready, trying to look the least suspicious possible. As luck would have it, he didn't notice that we didn't belong there and waved us in!

The relief was somewhat shortlived as alas, there was yet another check-point at the stands. The same tactic didn't work with the old man at the gate and he pointed us in the direction of the gate stated on our tickets. Not wanting to allow the nightmare to come true, I pleaded with him, saying that Andi and I were huge Milan fans. I suppose I must have looked rather desperate so he smiled and waved us in. Couldn't believe our luck! :) Moreover, since no one really follows the seating allocation, you could just take any seat as long as you were early. The seats we chose we much closer to the pitch than the ones we were assigned!

Before the match started, the Inter junior footballers (at most 10 years old) were playing a game on the pitch. Their gift was evident from the effortless manner they passed and tackled. They were very very impressive.

The atmosphere was fantastic, especially when the AC and Inter fans started jeering at one another. The Milan fans, being the minority (about 5%) of the 85 000-strong sold-out crowd, seemed more united in their loathe of their arch-enemy. They started throwing rolled up pieces of the matchday newspaper and throwing the balls down to the Inter fans seated below. Middle-finger pointing and spewing of vulgarities were the orders of the day.

Milan's perennial cheer: Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole, Inter, Merda (shit)!

Middle-fingers flying everywhere!

The passion of the supporters for their clubs was so deep-rooted that I felt a huge rush of emotion just being a part of it.

Half an hour before kick off, the Milan players came running out from the tunnel to warm up on the pitch. I was ecstatic to see the players I root for in front of my TV before my eyes, especially Maldini, the player I have been admiring the most since the '94 World Cup! :)

right: Dida warming up

left: Milan kicks off the first half
right: 18' Pirlo scored one of his signature curlers and the Milan stand erupted! Everyone was jumping up and down, shouting themselves hoarse, and in their exhilaration, a group of 4 guys got too carried away and one of them fell onto me, knocking me to the ground. Got a bruised knee from being pinned under his weight cos he couldn't get up right away in the wild celebrations, and a very bad shock.

Throughout the game, Inter played with much fluidity unlike Milan, which suffered from a lack of communication among players, resulting in the majority of passes going astray. So it wasn't a surprise that Inter managed to fight back with 2 wonder goals. The first by Cruz, the second from Cambiasso. You could see the whole stadium of black and blue hopping up and down in unison when their team scored, while the Milan fans were silenced in dejection.

right: the move that led to Cruz's equalizer for Inter..sigh. Have to admit though, it took a genius of a footballer to weave past 3 world-class defenders and to slot the ball through such a tight angle.

At the final whistle, the score was 2-1 to Inter, which was, I concede a good reflection of the game. If only I could've seen more magic from the rossoneri, I'd be contented even if they'd lost.
But well... it's a dream come true in any case :)

At the end of the match, 2 Inter fans taunt the Milan fans, infuriating them

above: the aftermath of the derby

After that adrenaline-inducing experience, we went to do more souvenir shopping at the duomo area and had dinner at 'Ciao' again, for want of an alternative idea. Haha. We were just too beat!

22 Dec 07 - Milan Day 1

2007-12-23T00:27:00.000+08:00

Excitement and a tinge of dread were in the air as I embarked on my 13-day trip during the Xmas break. Excitement obviously because I'd be getting another opportunity to uncover more of Europe's gargantuan treasure trove but dread due to the fact that it was to be my last proper vacation before returning to Singapore.

The 5-hour train ride from Grenoble to Milan was made less painful by my wonderful travelling companion Andi :) and the wintry landscape that we passed by as our train weaved through the French-Italian countryside. I thought autumn with it's reds, oranges and browns would by far be my favourite season but winter, with it's snow-covered cottages and fir trees awed me just as much, or maybe even more. I must have looked like a country bumpkin to the other passengers, with my constant exclamations of wonder and with my eyes and camera perpetually glued to the window.

Our train was late by about an hour, so we reached Milan at about 3pm. Although I had seen the Milano Centrale station before, it I was amazed all the same, by its large arches with glass and mosaics that let in natural light. Grandiose.

The skyscrapers that greeted us upon exiting the train station, affirming Milan's status as Italy's financial capital.

left: Xmas decor!
right: taking a photo with a banner proudly proclaiming the fact that AC Milan had been crowned world champions after their win over Boca Jnrs at Yokohama the previous week =)

Night fell by 5pm, when all the whole city came to life, with its lights and glamour. It was an experience walking along the Milan shopping streets with all the reputable labels like D&G and Prada. It's unlike walking along similar high fashion districts in say, London, since this was MILAN! We couldn't help noticing that the Milanese were dressed to kill (believe me, even the old ladies and men take pains to dress up!)

left: more Xmas lights
right: Andi and I outside La Scala (the famous opera house), which had with 'Merry Xmas' in Italian, English, French and Spanish, projected on its façade.

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, one of Milan's landmarks, was something to behold. Its arched roof made of cast iron and glass, leads to a huge glass dome in the centre, which was brilliantly illuminated with small blue bulbs for Xmas. Andi and I couldn't stop marvelling at its splendor and intricate 19th-century architecture.

The Galleria, which is said to have inspired the creation of enclosed shopping malls.

On exiting the Galleria from it's other entrance, we found ourselves facing Milan's Duomo, the world's second largest Roman Catholic cathedral. Although I had already seen numerous other awe-inspiring basilicas and cathedrals, the Duomo still took my breath away. Its delicately sculptured spires and pinnacles that roughly outline a triangle on its façade were typical of classic gothic architecture. What made the Duomo unique, at least to me, was that it's the first I'd seen to be made of marble and brick, giving it a very textured appearance.

right: in the duomo. We weren't allowed to take photos but I sneaked one to remind myself of the paintings, praising God of course, lining the two sides. Again, this was the first cathedral I'd encountered, with this feature.

After approximately completing the typical tourist trail, we settled down for dinner at this restaurant called 'Ciao Restaurant' (haha quite lame huh) where we found relatively inexpensive food going by Milan's standards.

right: Andi, contented

It was a great first day, especially since I came primarily to watch football and expecting to be bored by anything else Milan had to offer (due to many negative anecdotes about the city's sights I've heard). To be wowed like I was was an incredibly pleasant surprise!

21 Dec 07 - Une Fête au Rabot

2007-12-22T00:07:00.000+08:00

It was again a fête des sushis but this time, it was at Lynn's residence, Rabot. And this time, Guillaume, Pia and Letitia tried their hands at slicing the salmon, making makis and handrolls. Bien joué, mes amis! =)

the chem people: Guillaume, William, Estelle, Leti, Lynn

left: Guillaume trying wasabi (Je sais que c'est bon mais ne parle pas la bouche pleine =p)
right: Leti filming the maki making process =D

left: Pia and her masterpiece
right: Mark dipping his sushi into the egg-carton saucers =D

left: Pia and I
right: the guys Andi, Guillaume, Mark, Francisco

Francisco, being Peruvian, tried to inject some spanish flavour into the party by putting on salsa music and getting everyone on their feet! It was a lot of fun and seeing the guys enjoying it was pure entertainment!

20 Dec 07 - L'anniversaire de Lucille

2007-12-20T22:38:00.000+08:00

It was after the first half of my exams and 2 days before the holidays, so I organised a small party to celebrate Lucille's birthday and as a mini get-together.

After Eugene's success at the last sushi party, I decided that you couldn't really go wrong with sushi. Merci for the materials, Eugene! =)

left: before
right: after (voilà!)

the Singaporeans (Qinghan, Pei Ling, Kev, Andi and I) hard at work

As always, it was hilarious watching the non-Asians taste wasabi for the first time! At first, they'd be like, hmm it's no challenge, I can take it! Then in a matter of seconds, you see the scrunched up noses and teary eyes. Eg. Lucille below =)

Instead of the traditional birthday cake, we got Lucille une galette des rois (a puff-cake usually eaten during Epiphany). A fève, a small object, is buried within the galette and in modern-day France, whoever eats the slice containing the fève would be king for the day. He or she would wear a paper crown and get to pick his queen or her king by placing the small object into the wine glass of the chosen one. Traditionally, the one who finds the fève had to buy drinks for the others at the table. Hence the fève (at that time, it was a bean) was swallowed by some too stingy to treat their friends. Interessant huh.

left: although Lucille didn't locate the fève, (no one did! It was in the last piece of cake that no one took-what are the chances) she had the honour of being queen of the day.
right: Julia showing us the act of seduction hahaha

left: les filles de l'étage

we were trying to look sophisticated. haha we gotta try harder.

left: Lucille et moi
right: China man with paper crown presenting a packet of seaweed.

left: la fève, found!

Our late night activity was suggested by monsieur Andi. I must say it was a pretty ingenious idea which called for courage, thick skin and dance music. Initially, it was supposed to be a sabo for Lucille, who's really camera-shy but it gradually, everyone (even the guys) was pulled into it.

Lucille and Peiling strutting their stuff along the narrow corridors of Condillac.

The following is a video that I can't get enough off =D
Do not try this at home:

9 Dec 07 - Lyon Day 2 (Parc de la Tête D'or)

2007-12-09T21:58:00.000+08:00

We got up really early that day as Letitia had wanted to visit the zoo at Le Parc de la Tête d'Or (the park of the golden head) - What a name! =D

This time round, the park looked quite different from when I last saw it during the immersion programme last year. It's much calmer during winter, the only people we saw were joggers making the most of the fresh early morning air.

We enjoyed soaking in the serenity of the still lake, the beauty of the azure sky, the chirping of the birds...

silly photos will always have their place with us =D

We headed back to Perrache, where we did a tour of the Christmas market there. The very upmarket pasar malam consisted of little make-shift stalls demarcated by little tents, which the merchants decorate in the most christmas-y fashion they could come up with. Jars of very pricey foie gras (easily 100SGD for a small jar-it's like eating gold), candies, wine and chocolate were the mainstays.

right: foie gras paste that PT and Nina bought for us to try. Contrary to what I imagined, I liked it!

With that, it was au revoir Lyon, mais à bientôt, j'espère!

8 Dec 07 - Lyon Day 1 (Fête des Lumières)

2007-12-08T23:47:00.000+08:00

It was back to Lyon for the last time for La Fête des Lumières (the festival of lights), which we heard would be spectacular since tourists flock to Lyon just for this.

upbeat Guillaume, Andi, me, Letitia and Lynn on the train

Guillaume's best friend, Pierre-Thomas, studies in Lyon. He offered to give up his room for the four of us (Andi was to be staying with Marie-France, our lovable french prof from last year), while he stayed over at his girlfriend, Nina's place. That was just the beginning of this couple's hospitality.

When we arrived at PT's appartment, he settled us in like a professional host (so much so that it was hard to believe that he's just a student of our age) and both he and Nina cooked lunch for us! Talk about going the extra mile. It's always great getting to know new people like that :)

left: Guillaume trying to serenade an invisible girl =p
right: one of the dishes Nina and PT prepared

After lunch, I rushed over to Marie-France's place to spend some time with her before we had to leave to watch Lyon lit up at night while the others headed to Fourvière. As usual, she received Andi and I in the warm fashion she always does, preparing her signature cake and offering us papillotes, something typically Lyonnais, telling us stories and asking to hear ours.

left: Mme Marie-France and I with the photo collages I made as a parting gift.
right: coffee with a papillote, a chocolate in shiny wrapper with a message of wisdom (eg. quotes from well-respected poets or writers) around it, eaten during Xmas

After our brief reunion, MF sent us to the bus stop from which we were to take a bus to town. As I hugged her goodbye, I was filled with more than just a tinge of sadness, knowing that I would not be seeing her again in the time to come but well, tian wu bu san zhi yan xi. :/

left: the river Saõne, cathédrale de St Jean and Fourvière
right: many small shops were selling vin chaud (hot red wine with spices within) - typically drunk by French and Germans during the wintry Xmas period to keep warm.

Keeping in line with tradition, it was raining on the night of La Fête des Lumières. We were famished but moving around was a near impossible task, with throngs and throngs of people on the streets in a human jam (think Wisma-Taka underpass at peak hours and multiply the crowd by 5). To move a distance of 100m, we'd take 5 minutes. The food stalls in the area were doing a roaring business! Subway the fastfood chain ran out of baguettes! We decided to get kebaps from this stall which marked up its price by 2€ and told its customers they were selling only one type of kebap. Yet, customers were crowding the tiny stall, waving euro bills in their hands.

above: At l'hôtel de ville (the square where the mayor's building is situated)

left: one of the many illuminated bridges in Lyon
right: moving stars projected on buildings

right: the statue of Louis XIV in the middle of Bellecour enclosed in a giant globe. Below the statue were the words in neon-light - 'Only Lyon' which was quite a lame attempt at making this an international festival with the use of ill fitting english words.

We agreed that the light displays at the fête weren't incredibly fantastic, though they were pretty nice to look at but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. Headed back after midnight, worn out but happy =)

2 Dec 07 - Singlais

2007-12-03T17:50:00.001+08:00

Many thanks to Guillaume, who found this site - an explanation of Singlish terms in french.

He was quite bewildered but Lynn and I were unable to stop laughing. We're proud Singaporeans!

Eg. Ya Ya (adj)
Expression signifiant vantard ou arrogant.
Exemple : Wah, he's so ya ya (Wah, il est tellement ya ya).

http://www.visitsingapore.com/publish/stbportal/fr/home/about_singapore/fun_stuff/singlish_dictionary.html

29 Nov 07 - Drama Rama

2007-12-02T19:04:00.001+08:00

With a pretty heavy heart, I dragged my feet to school, as it was to be the day where schools reopened (read: become unblocked). As I approached, I saw once again, the now familiar sight of a huge crowd gathering at the entrance. My heart did a little leap - perhaps they would extend the blockage?

This time however, frustration was in the air. A few members of the staff took up positions along the length of a cord wound around the pile of trolleys blocking the entrance and in a tug-of-war fashion, succeeded in removing one trolley.

That sparked off this student who rushed out of the crowd and violently prised the cord out of the hands of the principle of the university. Immediately, 2 other students stepped out to try to restrain him but he was like a charging bull that just saw red. He managed to wriggle free and hit rather forcefully, the hand of the director (still holding the cord) a couple of times. Was shell-shocked at the audacity of this student in the face of someone much more superior. This would never happen in Singapore (we wouldn't dare).

In the end, the two guys managed to calm the crazed fella down but in the end, the staff didn't manage to remove all the trolleys lining the entrance due to more opposition from some students. So, teachers led their students to another entrance at the back which surprisingly wasn't blocked and we had our first lesson in about 2 weeks!

The situation at my school wasn't that bad. I heard from some friends from the arts fac that they had to call in the Gendarme (the military police) had to come in numbers to keep the order. The situation was more chaotic as numerous students turned violent and the Gendarme had to employ their batons and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Scary. Heard from my neighbour that the principal of the school of political science (IEP) even battered one of the students with his own hands. Really shocking.

Anyway, this video from YouTube captures the pandemonium that broke out at IEP, a few metres from the central tramstop in the university domain.

After all that drama, we relaxed a little during dinnertime, where Qinghan cooked curry! All hail Qinghan! Haha. Spicy, local food on cold wintry nights... Can't think of much that can top that!

left: chef Qinghan and the bomberman
right: Camera-shy Lucille haha

left: shiokkk
right: with Julia my next-door neighbour

24 Nov 07 - Saint Martin D'Uriage

2007-11-26T20:41:00.000+08:00

The decision to go to Saint Martin D'Uriage was made only because the initial plan of making a trip to Nîmes didn't work out.

The most hilarious thing was that we had left our residence to the Gare Routière (about 30 minutes tram ride away) to take the bus for Uriage but we soon realised that the route the bus took took us past our residence, stopping at the familiar bus stop and that Uriage was at most a 15 minute drive away. Haha.

Andi relishing his pipping hot duck noodles on a cold morning in a Vietnamese restaurant near the Gare Routière.

The serene little village on a Saturday morning:

right: the wooden bridge that is the supposed landmark of the village. Bridges over running water bodies are really my kinda thing. For rivers or streams to be considered beautiful to Andi, they have to have rocks lining their banks (what??) hahaha.

We chanced upon two apple trees bearing the tiniest fruits ever! My first sighting of apples on trees! Delightful.

Amusing signs in the public park:

left: Here, I have to be leashed
right: Here, I can do as I please (I almost stepped on a piece doing that! haha)

Speaking of which, for such a small village, Uriage has 3 public toilets, which does come in handy sometimes. Haha.

Possibly the most eye-catching aspect of Uriage was a castle on top of a hill that looked like the stuff that fairytales are made off, although it was perpetually shrouded in mist.

The hike up was a challenging task, necessitating a good sense of balance (when u need to recover after slipping on wet leaves and algae). The winding path up to the top was probably constructed to deter possible trespassers and nosy tourists for the inclination of the slopes were meant to kill.

left: a golf course
right: the starting point of the hike

left: the treacherous trek
right: Le Château d'Uriage, which we were about to enter until we saw people exiting it with shopping bags and children in hand. On the entrance, instead of seeing the visiting hours and entrance fees, we saw the words 'propriété privée'. People were living there! My god! Totally turned green with envy!

The hike down was even more terrifying! I was literally taking it one step at a time. It wasn't easy doing it with wobbly knees but we made it down in the end without any embarrassing incidents to tell about. =D

Went back at about 15h30, taking away with us yet another haven in this beautiful country we call France.

20 Nov 07 - L'Assemblée Générale

2007-11-23T23:42:00.000+08:00

The 20th Nov 2007 was by far the most important day in the university calendar thus far, for the Assemblée Générale (General Assembly of the Student's Union) was to be held to decide whether or not to continue with the blockage of the schools.

Perhaps a thousand or two students gathered outside the Amphi Weil although it was drizzling to listen to what the student leaders had to say and to make their opinions heard.

However, it seemed that the crowd was operating on herd mentality, waving their hands in the air and whistling in approval when others did. After the meeting that lasted about 4 hours (what??), an eruption of cheers and whistles signaled that the schools would continue to be blocked for another week, when the next AG would take place. It seemed to me that the decision wasn't very representative of the general opinion of the student population. Of all those I've spoken to, none were for the blockage of the schools!

Student leaders speaking passionately as if in an election rally before their approving audience

18 Nov 07 - Chez Mama Jem-a!

2007-11-23T00:07:00.000+08:00

Some pics from the Rendang party at Jem's:

left: the chef hard at work
right: oh my gosh damn shiok!!

Presenting, our after-dinner activities:

left: trying to suppress the guffaws that were threatening to erupt
right: oohh là là!!

Yep, that's what the wu liao Singaporeans do hehe. Sorry Jem!

16 to 17 Nov 07 - Valence (chez Guillaume)

2007-11-23T00:03:00.000+08:00

Guillaume and his family had very kindly invited Lynn and I to spend the weekend at their house in Valence (an hour's train ride from Grenoble)! =D

The SNCF (the French train company) had gone on strike since the day before so our only alternative was to take a bus to Valence. We went to the Gare Routière an hour early just to ensure that we'd have tickets.

10 minutes before the bus was due to leave, we headed to the bus bay and horror of horrors, we saw the bus bay empty and a whole group of perplexed and frustrated passengers crowding around it. This lady who looked evidently pissed off informed us that the bus had left half an hour before the stipulated departure time cos the bus was already full. Many were infuriated that the bus company had not only oversold the tickets but also neglected to inform the other passengers that the bus had left. Incroyable!

The next bus for Valence was a good 4 hours later, so Lynn, Guillaume and I decided to take a walk to the nearby Chinatown to purchase some typically Asian food for his family and yes, we introduced Guillaume to our very own Durian! Nope, he wasn't up for it. Too stinky. Hoho. Anyway, since we had so much time to kill, we toured Grenoble a little, wandering on to this river called Le Drague.

We returned an hour earlier to queue at the bus bay (just to be kiasu =p) and I was thankful that we did for a while later, when the driver came to open the door, about 40 or more people started pushing and shoving to get onto the bus. The bus driver had to raise his voice more than a couple of times to calm the crowd and he even got himself into a quarrel with one of the over-eager passengers.

left: the struggle to get onboard

7pm, and we finally reached Valence. The sky was pitch black when we walked to the carpark to meet Guillaume's dad, who was already waiting. He had the knack of making Lynn and I feel very welcomed and at ease instantaneously with his pleasant disposition and his ready sense of humour!

As we stepped into the front door, Guillaume's mum and sis (Caroline) came down the stairs, equipped with warm smiles and renowned french hospitality. =)

Dinner was splendid, with excellent french cuisine (Guillaume's mum had prepared a home-made quiche and a pie which were so good that I had to ask for a second helping) and lots laughs. What I found very thoughtful was how the family constantly 'chided' each other for speaking too fast in case we had difficulty following the conversation.

left: bon apetit!
right: with cheese of course!

left: my first BDs (comic strips)!! - Guillaume's mum, who's had them since she was little, gave them to us as a souvenir. What a gesture!
right: with the wonderful family and their beautiful house! Wonder how they manage to keep it so spick and span. I should really learn. *sheepish*

After breakfast the next morning, Lynn and I headed out to the town centre with Guillaume and Caro as our guides (pretty good too, I must add). Valence may be a little known city but it's definitely no less fascinating than the bigger ones. I loved the tranquility and the familial atmosphere that makes Valence.

left: the Cathédrale
right: a pavillion under which lovers kiss - after which the relationship is said to be blessed.

the bustling market place

right: what was left of a building after a bombing during the second world war. Serves as a war memorial (if i'm not mistaken).

left: a gorgeous park
right: look at the frosty smiles - it was zero degrees out there!

We returned for another sumptuous meal of chicken, potatoes, salad and this interesting cake-cookie, a specialty of Valence, in the shape of a man called 'Le Suisse' (the Swiss). The irony is that it isn't found in Switzerland!

When we headed out again, we went to Le Chateâu de Crussol, ruins of an ancient castle situated at the top of a hill. I believe it's not that accessible by public transport so it was a good thing that Caroline drove us there.

left: Le Chateâu de Crussol
right: Guillaume really immersed in his role as a guide haha!

left: Yeemian and her chio winterwear!
right: resplendent

left: Mother Mary blesses the whole of Valence
right: backed up by Caro and Guillaume (haha)

left: les filles and the panoramic view!

right: Santé! - Us drinking the hot tea thoughtfully prepared in a thermoflask by Caro. She's one cool 19-year-old. From the way she speaks, it's obvious that she's sensible and mature beyond her years.

It was queer that there were donkeys grazing near the carpark without anyone watching over them.

With that, our stay in Valence ended with valued memories and new friendships bridged. Hope they'll visit Singapore too, in time to come, so that I may return the hospitality and maybe even let them try some durians =D

15 Nov 07 - Il neige!

2007-11-22T18:40:00.000+08:00

When I awoke in the morning and looked out the window, I saw dust-like particles floating about outside. Raindrops don't stay suspended that long, I thought. I stuck my hand out and the dust particle melted.

I was exhilarated! Even though it was just a little, it was still snowing! And although I've seen snow on the mountains, this was the first time I'd seen it fall from the sky! =)=)

No photos to tell of it though, the snow at Condillac was too light but I heard it snowed a hell lot in the city centre.

Attended my computer lab session as usual but about an hour before the lesson was supposed to end, a member of the staff entered to tell us we had to evacuate cos some students outside demanded the blockage of the school and they had to respect that. I looked out the window and sure enough, dustbins and trolleys were piled high at the entrance. It was quite funny to a Singaporean who's never had classes disrupted except for fire drills.

right: a notice outside the entrance from the school's president (member of the staff) informing students that the blockage of the school will continue until early afternoon and that there will be make-up classes. When I went there for my afternoon classes, it was still blocked. Not that I minded of course. =p Apparently, most universities in Grenoble were blocked, except for the engineering school.

right: even the main library wasn't spared from the vandalism. You see 'Vive la Grève' (Long live the strike!) on the wall near the entrance.

left: more vandalism on school buildings (they don't mince their words) - it's not too late to abandon the life of a student, burn your faculty, join the delinquency!
right: extracts from a flier given out by the Student's Union explaining the reasons for which they blocked the schools. (the blockage inconveniences, it isn't democratic but what other means do we have to make ourselves heard?... Yes, we have dialogues between the people and the government. They listen, but that's all!... We have no intention to shut our mouths. The blockage is a pressure tactic.)

Walked around the school compound since I had nothing to do hehe.

12 Nov 07 - Amoureuse

2007-11-22T18:26:00.000+08:00

Just photos this time!

The street outside my residence (Condillac)

En route to the Condillac tramstop

School compound

I've lost count of how many times I've gushed about how beautiful Grenoble is at this time. Every morning when I wake up, I just fall in love all over again.