Carnival Cologne

hey!

just came back from Carnival Cologne today in Germany, the journey there took us about 3 hours there and another 3 hours back, but it was pretty fast. haha so we had to meet at 07h30, and you know how things dragged.. so we reached koln at about 11h-ish? not very sure though, heh. hmm, on the bus, they played an obscene show with naked people and was really an eye-opener for me, having lived in a censored world..

So when we reached Cologne, I was surprised at the lengths people did to dress up (partly because I didn't research prior to the trip)! Interesting would be an understatement. So when we reached, we were each given a piece of map and a bottle of white wine to share between 2 people - the alcohol level was 10.5%, toxic! haha. What was it called again - Mai-tranc? I'm not very sure , but all i can say is that even shared amongst us 6 people, we only drank 3/4 of the bottle heh :p but the wine was surprisingly good and it tasted light so we took our time to savor it throughout the day.

Yeah, the route of the carnival began from the cathedral (seen from the pictures below), one of the biggest churches in the world. It was really magnificent, the gothic architecture, everything! j'adore cathedrals. hehe :D Especially those with gothic architecture, and i could recognize it from afar. However, I didn't get a chance to enter the cathedral, boohoo, but i got quite a few pictures of it. Even with my wide lens camera, i couldn't get the full shot of the cathedral, furthermore some parts of the church were undergoing restoration so there were construction going on.

Funny people dressed in spotted costumes - they were hip old ladies!

Ok i'd indulged myself in some 自拍 moments, heh. 

just being random

hey dee, you left for hk alr? pls be safe ok! AND i'm so jealous that you get to feast on dim sum and my dearest 干炒牛河 at mido's cafe. Ultimate UNFAIR. :( poo. AND yes i did try calling back many times.

it's nearly 4 am now and i'm still awake, just skyped dad since it was about 9am back at home but i think i woke him up since he fetched dee to the airport to hk. hee. hmm fb is being a ne and rejecting all the photos that i've been trying to upload of ghent. sigh i'm currently sipping my green tea and pondering if i should upload pics on my blog & further stump my internet connection since i'm simultaneously streaming a drama right now. 

Oh, i have to mention about the fantabulous supermarket called ALDI which are at the suburbs of LLN which sell cheap groceries that put del-haize to shame! i didnt have any money so couldn't buy anything BUT going there tmr since we wont be going anywhere this weekend. Instead, we'll have a lonely celebration at Le Piano to celebrate our one month anniversary in LLN. haha it's been ONE MONTH alr can you believe it? 

let me see if i can still upload pics here cuz i gave up long ago due to my slow internet connection.. :( if you dont see any photos, i failed.

我想要杀他们!!!!!

WAH BIANG 我这样子真的不能睡觉! 他们吵的要命, 还有明天又有九点的课程, 真是要我的命啊!! SIAN...

已经快要十二点了, 我想还是去冲凉吧, 今天我想不用睡了啦, 我不如学法语.

对了, 还有功课还没做! 惨了.

一生懸命！(:

KENG WOON

My first successful keng woon, relatively that is. I stayed in my apartment to cook keng woon and guess what it WAS tasty, hence successful :D thumbs up, here's what i added: some chop suey mix (msg, but who cares, it added to the taste), leeks (really sweet, i shall buy more), and ham which was originally for sandwiches but sacrifices had to be made. Maybe it was delicious only because my stomach had started growling since two hours before? But that can't be right 'cuz i ate 3 sandwiches for lunch + 2 slices of buttered bread in lecture. 

Hmm...

i love keng woon. if only they had cheap prawns..

brugge ♥

Wah, now i'm more awake - just now in xingyan's room i was like "zzzzzzzzz" but now i'm totally awake so i guess i shall upload the rest of the pretty photos heehee. had lasagne for dinner today - only 1.29€, cheap ah! but bought it from del-haize at special price. it was pretty good, gonna go stock another one up after french (if it's still there!) :p

SIAN ah, while (again) waiting for the photos to upload i shall upload you about my life. 08h30 french class tomorrow. it's past ONE, my hair is wet as i'd just bathed and i have to wake up at 07h00. hmm, but a plus side is that i'm gonna save money by making my own sandwich, stocked up on concombre (really sweet), jambon and raisin bread!!! haha and these are the things which i usually dont eat back at home! since i'm really craving for my keng woon (cries), i shall attempt to cook it with leek (oignons jeunes) and some chop suey mix which i bought at del-haize earlier in the evening. which reminds me, my butter is still in the fridge!

WHAT AN ERROR?? what's wrong with google?

The Old St John's Hospital. Behind is the cathedral which is currently undergoing restoration. Didn't listen to the guide 'cuz i was too busy snapping pictures, heh :p

Nice. 

The swans were really cute. Took many shots here. Since the scenery was gorgeous, xingyan & i were always trailing behind snapping shots of the sun, clouds, trees and historical buildings. haha, so in the end, we didn't listen to most of what the guide said. *sheepish grin*

Ok i give up, the rest of the photos just wont load as my internet always times out :X

brugge <3:普通话

Brugge - 在 14/2 的那一天:

我们把东西放在房间里后, 就开始走到 brugge 的 city centre 里.

在路上，我们拍了很多照片－风景真是美丽及了！风和日丽～

Ok, so i give up on writing my blog in chinese, it's gonna take FOREVER if i do that, hee. Below is like the "grand place" where the tall building is the tower which we wanted to climb up. BUT since we had to rush to over to the meeting point for the city tour, we could only walk pass it. In the movie 'In Brugge', this was where Ken jumped off to save Colin Ferrell. Man. Next time, i'm gonna climb it, if there is a next time.

Below is a photo of us trying to find the FRIES place. We were supposed to meet within this vicinity for the city tour with the rest of the group, so we decided to find for fries as we had no time for lunch. In the end, it was closed - missed it by half an hour. Whoever heard of a FRIES shop ONLY opening for one-half hours? 

As the tour got delayed by nearly one-half hours, we decided to entertain ourselves in the "naked women square", as we termed it, since the weather was great. An added plus, the clouds and the sun were really beautiful. Couldn't resist the many shots.

So we waited and waited from 14h30 until 15h45, and it finally came! Next up: city tour by foor.

Brugge + Gent

Just came back from Bruge & Ghent today. Wow it was an eventful weekend, and overall, the trip was enjoyable. Just a little regretful that I didn't manage to explore the 2 places entirely 'cuz we followed the erasmus schedule. 

BUT BRUGGE IS SOOOOO PRETTY! :D

Here are some sneakpeeks of what went through our itinerary: 

1) Dump bags @ hostel - basically us 6 girls shared a room haha. Below is the view from our room (:

2) Walked towards the city centre (took about 20 minutes + extra time for snapping of beautiful pictures. The weather was just super good, really. Photos that turned out were fantabulous!

3) Went on a walking tour around Brugge

4) FREE TIME: had a v-day dinner with Lonely Hearts Club, mwahah.

5) While searching for a pub to chill, chanced upon the restaurant which appeared in the movie "In Bruges" by Colin Ferrell (don't watch - lotsa swearing!) & met 2 brazilian guys who had nowhere to stay.

6) Found a pub, Joey's to chill

7) Went to the 'party street' but xiuli & i pretty much didn't dance (haha i'm so 乖!); but the guys were like drunk & crazy

8) In the end we got kicked out by some irritating blonde who said matter-of-factly that if you don't buy any drinks, you'll have to leave. BUT she only said it to us, asians. Pretty much didn't like her because she went around complaining about how we were still 'staying' (even though we were packing to leave). Pretty much immature in every way, her actions and words. But overall, we had a good time. Mum, don't freak even though we went back to our hostel at about 4 plus, there were lotsa people! (:

Yup, and then we slept for 3 hours 'cuz we had to wake up at 9am (WAH BIANG!) as we were heading to Gent. 

Haha it's nearly 4 now. i'll upload the rest of the photos soon, probably tomorrow? Till then!

l'hiver: il fait ensoleillé et neige

Salut! Aujourd'hui à Louvain-la-Neuve, il fait 5 degrees et il fait beau.

AND it was snowing heavily last night, here's a shot of the snowflakes pelting down on my window ledge. We were walking back from the sports centre (10 minutes walk) after our step-up dance class, and the wind BLEW, causing rain to form into snow. So, acting like retards, we started playing in the snow! Wheeeee (:

Fast forward to today, morning/afternoon - bon weather as the sun was SHINING its glorious rays (:

Haha actually i took more photos, 30 to be exact + more in the camera phone 'cuz the sun was really gorgeous and it complemented with the blue sky and white clouds. So pretty! :D

Gonna head to beckett's later for a drink. Till then!

stuck at home

just finished french class in the early morning and HAD to post 'cuz the weather is really creepy. it's been raining since last night, the sun is not out, had to wake up super early for french only to find out there's a french test this friday + lesson on thurs starts at 0830 instead of usual 1030, a black cat crossed our paths while trudging back home, and NOW the wind is howling like crazy outside my room. talk about a setting for a bad day. but surprisingly, i'm in a good mood (:

handtwerp part 2

Audjourd'hui, c'est lundi. Il pleut (Heavily).

It's really raining a storm outside tonight, so i think it's gonna be a cold night, brrr. And, tomorrow it's an early day for french lesson - 0830!!! i better pack some cereal for lunch. ohnoohnoohno. i seriously need to buck up in my french! 

the cathedral in antwerp - bought postcards about the death of Jesus from there - cost me 2.80 euros but well worth it (:

still at the cathedral - xingyan so unglam. we were all putting eyeliner that day.

自拍 in front of the statue-man who threw the giant's hand away and saved antwerp. three cheers for the photo (:

there was a pigeon on top of the man and i couldn't resist a photo. it was at this exact spot where we met a fellow singaporean who recognized our accent! her name was fawn. cool huh?

onwards to the medieval castle..

watch where you're pointing!

And after that, we had moules for lunch! (:

our new singaporean friend we met on the way. we had moule-y lunch with her (:

snow + 'hand'twerp

YAY! i shall upload photos of snow in LLN + antwerp, where we just came back from today, this evening. i had a short sleep while watching csi new york (les experts: manhatten) in xiuli's kitchen just now, so i'm fully awake now while waiting for gossip girl s02e01 to load. 빨리!!

haha can you see the snow cascading down onto the ledge? haha i opened the window and saw xiuli trying to take 豆腐 with the snow on the window ledge. below is the photo of the view from my window at night where the snow had fallen. too bad the weather is relatively hotter now - 6 degrees the last i checked. PLEASE GET WARMER!!

And now - photos from antwerp. lalala we spent the weekend there & many things happened! haha & that includes meeting a fellow singaporean near the 'handtwerp' statue. coincidental? haha she recognized our singaporean accent. SINGLISH ROCKS :D

the train station (:

the train station again - above the tracks. it's super lovely, the architecture of the whole building. pity the outside was under construction though - if not i would have taken a photo of it. 

haha the hand is super cute la. we saw it while traipsing down meir street on the 1st day & three of us couldn't resist a photo each. and dont get me started on meir, haha did quite abit of shopping there! at bershka, especially. haha i bought two great buys! one white 3 quarts for 3.99€ and one blackish brown formal wear 3 quarts for only 2.99€. super worth it! haha so worth it was it that we made a second trip later in the evening before it closed. saw a nice purple dress that i'd always wanted (same style) but was coerced not to buy it by xy 'cuz it cost a bomb - €24.95. lalala. i hope i find something like it in the near future! (: of course, at a cheaper price.

haha groensplaat(?) at first we thought this was the grand place but we thought wrong. da giovanni's just around the corner. thanks neese for telling us about the place. student's get 20% off. and guess what we had lunch & dinner there 'cuz prices were within our budget. hehe. cant blame us 'cuz all the other restaurants were pricey (urgh.)

pasta + pizza *CHOMPS*

walking along meir street (only 9 minutes walk, according to google map) from our hotel. i think the walk should have been faster but the strong wind kept blowing us bad. at least it wasn't as bad as liege. hee :p

couldn't resist a photo. the sky + clouds + blueness was just so gorgeous! i'm a sucker for nice scenery. so i just HAD to take a photo. haha the weather in belgium is really sporadic. one minute it was cloudy, the next sunny, and then cloudy again. weird huh. haha this was en-route to one o f the diamond museum to check out antwerp's famous diamond trades. wait till you see the price of the jewellery. OUCH.

we went to the triangular playground after that. haha they had a mini youth park for skateboarders but as you can see hehe we were more interested in the swings. the base was big enough for three of our butts la. amazing!

playing the swing

haha there was a half frozen lake in the park too with lotsa duckies - quack. with the sun setting, the photos turned out nice! (: it's past 0230 already & i think my brain needs a break. gossip girl still hasnt loaded so i'm in a grumpy mood. i gotta sleep soon, me reckons! hmm, shall skype the family tmr (hehe) 'cuz i havent talked to them for long so dee pls leave yr skype on hor! what time's good? 

my left arm hurts - why? is it 'cuz i tried to open the hard to open thai chili sauce bottle? 

PHOTOS, pls hurry up upload yourself! 

nice hor? i love the colors in the sky.

i love the effect of the cathedral with the full moon. too bad my camera optic zoom wasn't that good. haha but it had somewhat the hogwarts effect. whee. ok i think i'm done for the day. shall upload day 2 photos tmr since there's no sch but we have to settle more admin stuff + print notes! (crap how could i forget?) hmm ok i shall head to bed really soon..