Europe Trip - London (Cont'd)

Day 14: Last day in London and it meat our last 2nd day of the trip.So sad.....lol.Anyway we woke up and had our breakfast in the hotel.After which,we checked our the hotel and went down to St Paul's Cathedral.

St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral on Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The present building dates from the 17th century and was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. It is generally reckoned to be London's fifth St Paul's Cathedral,all having been built on the same site since 604 A.D. The cathedral is one of London's most famous and most recognizable sights. At 365 feet (111m) high, it was the tallest building in London from 1710 to 1962, and its dome is also among the highest in the world.

Sadly,photography is not allowed inside but we did climbed up to the upper top most gallery,where you can have a nice view of London City.There was a whispering gallery,where it was at the dome of the cathedral.There are tiny holes on the walls,where you can actually speak through the holes and the people on the other side of the dome can hear wat you said.Followed up is the stone gallery and golden gallery,total up is 500 plus steps.

After that,we headed down to Victoria Station,where we originally wanted to go Buckingham Palace.But in the end,we went into a restaurant for lunch instead,hahahaa....

After lunch,we headed down to St Pancras International station.We were looking for our train back to Paris but we cannot find it on the list.Stupid me!!Bought the train tickets for the wrong date!!In the end,we had to buy another tickets back to Paris for a total of 300 plus GBP!!!So expensive,and it was not a confirmed seat tickets.It was just for a seat near the door.So angry with myself...So we ended up waiting at the station until it is time to board the train.

On the train,we didn't wanted to sit near the door,so we went to the cafe coach to stand.After the train started to move,there was a group of Australian.They had reserved seats in the train but they didn't sit on the train,they also stood in the train from London to Paris.They had bought a lot of beers up and they were making merry there.(Noisy!!They even sang loudly!!OMG)

After 4 hours plus of standing in the train,we finally reached Paris (Gare de Nord station).It was around 8 plus and we still need to take the metro back to the Airport station.So we bought the tickets and took the metro back to the Airport station.By the time we reached there,it was quite late.Then we still have to find the stupid shuttle bus back to the hotel.

In the end,it was a small bus with so many people trying to squeeze up the bus (as the shuttle bus was going for 3 hotels together).Luckily we managed to get up the bus,if not,we will have to wait another 15 mins for the next bus.Finally we reached the hotel and checked in.Then we just went to bed,super tired day.....

Hotel stayed: Campanile Hotel

Places visited in London: St Paul's Cathedral

Europe Trip - London (Cont'd)

Day 13: Woke up to prepare for our day tour to Stonehenge.But it was too early,the hotel cafe is not opened till 7.30am.So we waited until 7.30am to have our breakfast,so by then we left the hotel,it was already 8am.We reached Victoria Station by 8.30am and the meeting place was like 15mins away from the station.Sadly,by the time we reached the victoria bus station it was already 8.50am.The coach bus had already left,in the end we didn't get to go for the trip. So we decided to go for Buckingham Palace,which was just nearby the area.But again,it was a disappointment as the opening times was 11am.So we headed to Wellington Arch first,as to pass time while waiting for the palace to open.And we kept walking until we reached the Hyde Park.We also passed by the Marble Arch,it is an arch made of marble.Nothing much there.In the park,there were a lot of statues and birds flying around.Princess Diana Memorial Fountain and playground were also built inside.Then we kept walking until we reached Kensington Gardens.There,we saw King Albert's Memorial statue,it was super huge and tall.From there,you can see the Royal Albert Hall.It was across the road,it is abit kind of a round building. Then we kept walking to Kensington Palace,and still need to walk through the garden before reaching the palace's entrance.(Why the garden always so big?)

Anyway,photography is not allowed in the palace,so no photos taken inside.In the palace,we were asked to find the 7 princesses lived in the palace before.Princess Victoria and Diana were in the list. After the palace,i was too tired to walk back to the Buckingham Palace,so gave up going there.(The 2 royal parks not small).We took the metro back to Tower Hill station,it was 4 or 5 station stops away (That's mean we had already walked for 4 stations away from the palace station).At Tower of London,we went to All Hallows by the Tower.It was a small church beside the Tower of London.Anyway we just went inside to have a look.After that we went a ride on the city cruise along river thames.

Along the river,the guide gave introduction on the bridges and buildings we passed.He did mentioned that London Bridge did went down 3 times.And there was a bridge,they called it 'Lovers' Bridge',another bridge named 'Women Bridge'(Waterloo bridge),another bridge named 'Blackfriars Bridge' and there was a wavy bridge which was closed by the police after hours of its opening.Because people was falling from the bridge and it was too dangerous.Anyway the bridge did open back,now people are walking across it.There was a building shaped like an atomic bomb.Lol We passed by the famous London Eye and the House of Parliament of London in Westminster. Then we stopped at Westminster Pier and we went up to have a short walk around there.After that we took the cruise back again to Tower Hill Pier,where we took the metro to South Keingston station to have our dinner.Then we headed back to the hotel to end our day

Places visited:
1. Wellington Arch
2. Hyde Park (Royal Park)
3. Marble Arch
4. Serpentine Gallery
5. Princess Diana Memorial Fountain
6. Kensington Gardens (Royal Park)
7. Peter Pan's Statue
8. King Albert's Memorial
9. Garden Walk
10. Kensington Palace
11. All Hallows by the Tower (Church)
12. City Cruise (Bypass a lot of bridges & Buildings)

Europe Trip - London

Day 12: Woke up early again to catch our train to London.Walked down to Amsterdam Central train station and waited to board to train to Bruxelles Midi station,to change to Eurostar. When in Bruxelles Midi station,the gate for Eurostar train was already opened,we went in.Luckily we went in early,need to pass through customs and luggage scanning stuff.


And so we reached London at around 10am plus,we headed straight to the hotel 1st.But unfortunately,the room was not ready.So we only checked in the hotel,then we went down to a nearby cafe for a full english breakfast.Then we ended up staying in the cafe until it is time we can put our luggage in the hotel room.Finally we can put our luggage in the hotel room,the room was kind of hot and there was a window and we were on the 4th floor of the hotel.

London metro was always packed with people and the circle line train is every 10 mins or more.Sometimes there was no even 1 circle line train,basically you will need to take a train to some place else to transfer.Another weird thing you will notice in London is the police's siren.Every 5 minutes,you will definitely hear a police's siren on the road (like there are a lot of crooks to catch in London,the police there very busy).

After that,we headed down to London's main attractions,which we went for the Tower of London 1st.We went for the exhibits inside,which was named An Armour for a King,where they displayed all the different amour worn by different kings.In there,we also went to the different crowns & staffs for the Kings and Queens.Too bad we cannot take photos of the crowns and staffs.They are very beautiful and expensive (A lot of jewels & diamonds on it).

After that,we walked over to Tower bridge,where we went up for the exhibit.You can even walk on the link bridge on the top.We went to engine room where we got to see the machine inside the bridge on how the bridge was being pulled up when large ships are to pass through.There was a display on a motorcycle which was being used to fly over the tower bridge on 2009 by Robbie Maddison. After that,we walked from Tower Bridge to London Bridge.Then from there we walked to The Monument.

The Monument to the Great Fire of London, more commonly known as The Monument,is a 202 ft (61.57 metre) tall stone Roman Doric in the City of London near to the northern end of London Bridge.It is located at the junction of Monument Street and Fish Street Hill, 202 ft (61.57 metres) from where the Great Fire of London started in 1666.You can even go up and climb the 311 steps to the top.Anyway we reached quite late,it was already closed.After that,we went back to Bayswater station,where we had Burger King for dinner.Went to a supermarket for tibits shopping before heading back to the hotel.

Hotel stayed: Leisure Inn


Place visited:
1. Tower of London
2. Tower Bridge
3. London Bridge
4. The Monument
5. Streets in Bayswater station

Europe Trip - Romantic Road

Day 9 (Cont'd): After Augsburg town,we were brought to Donauworth town (can't remember what we encountered there).Anyway,we headed to Nordlingen town,where we had our lunch there as i was very hungry by then.We had a half-chicken meal there,which we finished the chicken in 5 minutes.The chicken is ok,just tat it was abit oily.Then we tabao our fries and left the town.Then we went to Dinkelsbuhl town,which we didn't get to tour around the town.We just passed by the town,then we headed to the last stop of the day,Rothenburg Town.

We reached Rothenburg around 3 plus,then a taxi came and picked us up.We were brought to our hotel in the town.It was a 3 floor high cottage house and we stayed on the top floor.The owner is a very good host,very helpful too,he started recommended us some good restaurants around the town.

We went up to our room,as it was on the 3rd floor and we need to carry our luggage up the stairs.Then we rested inside 1st before going to tour around the town.All the houses are cottages and there was a big square at the center.And there was a big cottage house with a clock which will ring every hour and the side windows will open with 2 figurines doing some movements.

Later we went for a city tour which started at 8pm.The sun was only starting to set.Lol,the city guide dressed up as a night watcher of the town.He introduced as himself as the Night Watcher of the town and his duty was to keep the town safe in the night by patrolling the town.He mentioned that there were 5 or 6 of them previously,now he is the only one left.And as he needed to earn a living,he took up the job as showing people around the town and getting fees/tips to keep alive.The guide is so funny.Everyone was rushing to have a picture with him together.There was 1 part which he showed us a green house which was the house of the riches of olden days.Now it was occupied by the descendants of the house.Outside the house,there were 4 ropes which were the doorbells of each houses.Because the tourists kept pulling the bells,the house owners got normal door bells as normal houses.He said that the people in olden days would threw their animals' waste out of the windows every morning.Hohoho,the way he described was soo funny.He even introduced us a restaurant which the name initials can be used to spell out 'HELL',so he told us that to tell people to go to 'Hell' (which means that place).Hahaha....Anyway we decided to pay the city guide instead of using our vouchers.

After the tour,we returned to our hotel to sleep and with this,ended our day.Hotel stayed: Hotel Spitzweg

Europe Trip - Paris (Cont'd)

Day 4: Woke up early and had own-made breakfast.Today was raining and the wind is blowing strongly,smoke is coming out of our mouth when we speak.Today we went to The Panthéon first.It was a sort of like a museum with a very big dome in the center of the place.There are alot of big paintings inside.The Panthéon is a building in the Latin Quarter in Paris.In 1744, King Louis XV suffered a very serious illness and vowed to dedicate a prestigious church in the name of Saint Genevieve if he were to recover.He did recovered and he entrusted the design to German Soufflot.Unfortunately,Soufflot died before the completion was done and was replaced by his student Rondelet who completed the work in 1790.

After the tour in The Panthéon, we made our way to the Palace of Versailles.It's a pity it was raining heavily and there were a bit of construction work doing there.
Palace of Versailles - a royal in château in Versailles.Louis XIII's successor, Louis XIV, had a great interest in Versailles. He settled on the royal hunting lodge at Versailles and over the following decades had it expanded into one of the largest palaces in the world (Félibien, 1703; Marie, 1972; Verlet, 1985). Beginning in 1661, the architect Louis Le Vau, landscape architect André Le Nôtre, and painter-decorator Charles Le Brun began a detailed renovation and expansion of the château. This was done to fulfill Louis XIV's desire to establish a new centre for the royal court. Following the Treaties of Nijmegen in 1678, he began to gradually move the court to Versailles. The court was officially established there on 6 May 1682. After the palace tour,we had Mac for dinner and went back to hotel,which ended our day.

Places visited:
1. The Panthéon
2. Palace of Versailles

Europe Trip - Paris (Cont'd)

Day 3: Woke up at 6 plus and made our way down to CitiRama Agency for our castles trip. We waited for our coach and traveled down to Loire Valley. The tour guide is a young guy.It took like 4 hours just to reach there and it was raining again. And i was wearing already 3 layers of clothing.First we went to Chenonceau castle.

Chenonceau Castle - is also called "Le château de Chenonceau"or Women's Castle because it is famous for its women. King Henri II built it for his favorite Diane de Poitiers but his widow eventually took hold of the estate after the King died in a tournament.

After that,we went to Cheverny Castle.It is currently owned by a big businessman (descendants of the royals) and he let out the place for people to visit.There are photos of the owner and family inside the castle too. Château de Cheverny - currently is a private property and its collection are from the 17th century. King Henri Hurault built the first château in 1634. Upon finding out his wife is having an affair with a page,he killed the page and let his wife to have 2 death options: Sallow poison or Get Plunged by his sword. So his wife chose the less bloody way (which is poison).Then the king torn down the château and built the present one for his 2nd wife.And there are like more than 20 plus hunting dogs being reared there.The owner and family sometimes go back to the castle for holidays and go hunting with the hunting dogs.

After this, we made our way to another château,which is the biggest of all and it is famous for its double staircases built inside the castle. Château de Chambord - built by King Francois I in collaboration with Leonardo da Vinci.It is a grandiose creation,famous for its inventor's design. It had 440 rooms and a unique roof terrace.

After this,we went back to Paris city where we had Japanese food for dinner.Then we walked to the attractions again so that we can see the buildings being lighted up with lights. And i bought a thicker jacket from a shop which i wore for my rest of my trip. Lol,after that,we went back to our hotel to rest.

BangKok Trip [2009]

Went to bangkok a few days after i returned from my japan trip. Went free and easy with my friends for 3 or 4 days.Shopping was ok, food there is oso cheap and nice.






Day 1
Arrived in Bangkok during the night, check-in the hotel. We ordered fried rice and noodles for our supper.
Ate a nice breakfast provided by the hotel, and we began our journey in bangkok.
First stop, we headed down to the Grand Palace and Temple, which we took a cruise down the river.Along the cruise, we passed by some old buildings like a old hospital and a bridge.
The grand palace is very magnificent and big. Almost everything is covered in gold and there are also nice paintings on the wall, which tells a story. Next, we headed down to the temple of Dawn, which we spent 50 baht just to go up to the top. It was scary just to come down from the top of the temple. It was so steep. After this, we went down to chinatown for shopping but it started to rain heavily which is so disappointing. With no choice, we headed back to the hotel.

Day 2
We went to the Chatuchat market where we spent the whole day walking through the market.
Then we went shopping in Platinum Fashion Mall and Central World Plaza.(Can't remember which one). But we walked through mall by mall to shop there. We even had a buffet steamboat for dinner (where i had alot of lala again,hohoho). With these, we ended our day and headed back to hotel to rest.

Day 3
Woke up and had our last breakfast in the hotel. We had checked-out and since the time was still early before our flight, we did our last shopping around the street market around the hotel. Then we headed to the airport where we took the flight back to Singapore.

Places Visited:
Grand Temple and Palace
Temple of Dawn
Chatuchat
Platinum Fashion Mall
Central World Plaza

Japan Trip [2009]

Japan trip in Sept 2009 with package tour,went toTokyo,Nagoya,Kyoto and Osaka. Got the chance to visit disneyland and universal studios. Didnt get to taste the BBQ Sotong selling up in Mount Fuji. 600 yen for 1 whole big sotong!! Have to try it the next time. The rice in japan smells nice and it taste good. Made you want to have another round.





Day 1 & 2
Arrived in Japan Tokyo, went straight to Disneyland to begin our day. Halloween atmosphere is in the air. Everyone is preparing for the arrival of Halloween in Sept to Oct. The parade are 3 times a day and the queue was super long for almost every rides there. Watched the parade 3 times, it was cool.Spent the whole day there, but sad to say didnt managed to see the fireworks cos it started to rain again. (Why everytime it rains when i visit Disneyland?hohoho). After we gathered and went for a nice chinese dinner down the streets near Disneyland. Then we went back to Sunshine City where we had stayed there overnight. (Didn't managed to go DisneyLand Sea, maybe next time i will go there) (Hotel stayed: Prince Hotel)

Day 3
Woke up early and had our breakfast in the hotel. We headed down to Asakusa Kannon Temple and had our free time to view the temple and do some shopping along the street inside the temple. Then we headed to Ramen Museum, where we had real japan ramen. Long queue inside the stall inside the museum and we had pork ramen. It was a big bowl and the soup was abit too salty and oily.LoL
After this, we headed down to Gotemba Premium Outlet Mall to do some shopping. Here gathered all the branded goods outlets. But it seems like no much diff compared to Singapore (i dont find the stuffs cheap..) After the shopping, we went up to Mount Fuji, where i got a beautiful view of the mountain and sunset. It was also super cooling up there. And there, i saw big BBQ sotong.LoL. After a nice view up on the mountain, we went down to our hotel which is located at Lake Saiko. I got a big room, which is for 3 pax for the night. (Hotel stayed: Hotel near Lake Saiko)

Day 4
Woke up early and went down to Lake Saiko for a nice morning walk. The Lake was big and the water is super clear.You can get the nice view on the opposite mountain. After everyone is ready, we headed down to Iyashi No Sato Nenba (Thatched Roof Village). It is a small village, like those old japan houses where samurai lived. From there, you can also get a very nice of Mount Fuji (Too bad, it is not snowing, so there is no snow on top). You can also dress up as samurai warrior (for guys) and try on the kimono (for ladies). Bought a nice ice-cream at the village, it was nice and cooling.
After this, we headed down to Owakudani Boiling Valley.Then we headed down for a nice lunch.
After a nice lunch, we headed to take a boat ride on a pirate ship (only went from 1 station to the next station). After that, we headed down to Nagoya, where we had some spare to walk along the street of Nagoya (Oasis 21) before we ended the day. (Hotel stayed: International Hotel Nagoya)

Day 5
Woke up and had international breakfast provided by the hotel. Then we headed down to Kyoto, where we went to Heian Shrine first. It was raining again, which is so disappointing. Walked along the 'pasar malam' opened outside of the shrine. After that, we went to Nishijin district where we had a super nice lunch. (like the lunch here, we had pork/chicken cutlet bento)
After the lunch, we walked down to watch Nishijin Kimono Show. It was like a fashion show with the models wearing different types of Kimono. After the show, we headed down to Kiyomizu Temple. It was a big temple and the one of the oldest temple in Kyoto. There are also alot of shops along the way up to the temple. (You even might get a chance to see Geisha there if you are lucky enough). After the visit, we headed down to Kintetsu Kyoto Station where we bought our ticket to take the bullet train and headed down to Osaka. Once we reached Osaka, we went to Shin Sai Bashi0Suji Market. It was like our bugis street, where there are alot of shops and restaurants. It was a shopping paradise there, the stuffs was cheap. There are discounts everywhere. But we only had 1 hour to shop, didnt manged to walk all the shops. (Bad thing with package tours). We went back to hotel, where we stayed for a night.
(Hotel stayed: Hyatt Hotel)

Day 6
We started off the day by going to Osaka Castle first. Bought tickets to go up the top of the castle. After that, we headed to Universal Studio, to spend the rest of the day there. The theme there is also Halloween. Tried the turkey leg for 780 yen, it was big. LoL. Also loves the parade there, which is only once a day. After that, we went down to have BBQ for dinner. Then we headed back to the hotel for rest.
(Hotel stayed: ANA Gate Tower Hotel Osaka)


Day 7
had my breakfast at a 62 level high hotel. You can see the expressway to the new airport. Anyway, it was time to say goodbye to Japan. Waited in the airport for the flight back to Singapore. (So sad....)

Places Visited:
Tokeyo DisneyLand
Sunshine City
Asakusa Kannon Temple
Ramen Museum
Oasis 21
Mount Fuji (5th Station)
Owakudani Boiling Valley
Iyashi No Sato Nenba – Thatched Roof Village
Gotemba Premium Outlet Mall
Lake Saiko
Nishijin district (Nishijin Kimono Show)
Bullet Train ride to Osaka
Kiyomizu Temple
Heian Shrine
Shin Sai Bashi0Suji Market
Osaka Castle
Unverisal Studio (Osaka)

Taipei Trip [2009]

1st time in Taipei for 5 days, free and easy. It was fun, the food there is nice too. Went in February and spent my birthday in Taipei






Day 1
Reached Taiwan in the evening.
We ate BBQ steamboat for dinner along the street in Xi Men Ding, after which we went to Longshan temple and walked the market along snake alley. Went to Wan Nian building for to begin our shopping spree

Day 2
Spent a day in Taiwan Zoo, after we headed to Taipei 101 Building.
Went to a big bookstore, where we had a nice,hot coffee at Starbucks before continuing our journey. After that, we went to tour around the big bookstore for 1 or 2 hours
Then we headed towards Taipei 101 to get a nice of Taipei from above
After that, we went to Wu Fen Pu wholesale market for dinner (which we had the 1st taste of Taiwan's chicken cutlet. It was very big and nice. ~ wanted to have it again)
Shopping around the wholesale market till late, headed back to Xi Men Ding which we had supper before heading back to the hotel

Day 3
Started the day with a nice breakfast in McDonald's. Then, we headed to Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. It was so cold, the wind is blowing strong on this day. HM is the only one who had the thinnest jacket and she was sneezing the whole day.We also saw a super long earthworm crawling on the ground.LoL
After that, we headed to Dan Shui Wharf, where the wind is blowing more stronger (it was freezing there). Then we headed back the MRT station, where we had a All-You-can-Eat buffet steamboat for less than $20 SGD per pax. I had a lot of lala there, PY was targeting to clear all the vegetables, ZH was targeting on the beefs and HM was targeting on the porks.LoL
Later, we headed down to Miramar Enterainment Park where i bought a new basketball. We toured around for 1 hour or so,then we headed down to Shi Lin Market. We had fried oyster, red bead soup and mango ice-cream. We headed to Taipei Main Station where i got to visit a gundam model kits shop. We walked around and headed back to our hotel to rest.

Day 4
Had a early breakfast at McDonald's again and we headed down to Xiao Ren Guo Theme Park. Inside consists the miniature on building around the world and there is also a small theme park for children. There is also an exhibit on Doramon. We had managed to grab a toy (like UFO catcher) here. Later, we had a long journey back to city (on bus, everyone was sleeping). We headed back to Taipei Main Station and shopped around. We also had our dinner in a Japanese restaurant. Then we headed back to Xi Men Ding early and walked through the streets of Xi Men Ding. We also had the onion pancake and chicken cutlet on the last night in Taipei.

Day 5
Prepared our stuffs for checking out of the hotel.Ate our breakfast in the hotel
After that, we headed down to the airport, where we waited for our flight back to Singapore.

Places Visited:
Xi Men Ding
Long Shan Temple + Snake Alley
Taipei Zoo
Taipei 101
Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall
Shi Lin Night Market
Dan Shui
Miramar Enterainment Park
Xiao Ren Guo (Miniature Museum)
Wu Fen Pu Wholesale Market
Wu Nian Building

Hong Kong Trip [2008]

My 2nd Trip to Hong Kong in 2008. Finally got to visit the disneyland, it was so fun there.Took photos with old camera when i went to Hong Kong on my 1st trip. Even went to Macau for 1 day, but didnt went to any of the casinos there. wasted!! LoL
Anyway this is the last trip with my bf before we broke off.




Day 1
Went down to the Peak, we enjoyed the view and breeze up on the peak. We also visited the Madame Tussaude there before we came down. Had our dinner in a restaurant, where there seems not many people eating there. Luckily, the food is still ok and cheap.

Day 2
Can't remember where we went during the day. During the night, we headed down to the Victoria Harbour where we caught the laser showing of the buildings.

Day 3
Ate our breakfast in McDonald's and we headed down to Disneyland by train. Unfortunately, it was raining. But we still proceeded with our plan. My first trip to Disneyland, we met alot of the disney characters, everyone is queuing to take photos with their favorite characters. We spent the whole day, ending the day with a beautiful view of the fireworks.

Day 4
We ended up in Disneyland again, this time to catch the High School Musical Parade (which we managed to catch it before it started to rain again).LoL

Day 5
Last day in hong kong and it started the day with rain.Anyway we checked out from the hotel early and we headed down to Giant Buddha Train Station for some shopping. There is a shopping mall where the wholesale shops are gathered. After which, we headed to the airport for our flight back to Singapore.


Places visited:
The Peak
Madame Tussaude
Victoria Harbour
Disneyland
Giant Buddha Train Station