Hi,
After returning to Singapore for some time, I realised that I've been neglecting the blog for a long time. Been too busy and all.
Furthermore, with an incident that painfully reminded the perils of owning online material, I am finally closing down my blog.
Its been a long run, but thanks for stopping by!
love,
jiehui
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Tour of Capitals: Vienna
Ah, Vienna. Vienna was interesting. Definitely more so than Bratislava. The fact that the Hofburg castle is actually open for public should give a hint. I did so many note worthy things in Vienna that it was definitely very memorable. One thing that I recommend when visiting Vienna is that to make sure that it is the weekends when you visit. I was so glad that, by pure blind scheduling, we wound up in Vienna over the weekends. There is SO much going on during weekends.
For example, the open air Market is the biggest during saturdays. There was so much variety there at the market. It is different from all the other open air markets that I had visited, be it in France or Switzerland. The range of goods available for sale is pretty mind boggling. They had a side for food and another side for a flea market and the items sold in both areas run from the high-quality wine down to the cheapest fake trinkets one could find. The range of things that one could find there is just mind boggling. Its like having a hyper department store out in the sun!
There at the market, we encountered a stall selling wine, Honey Wine. The stall owner let us have a taste of the wine and I must say, it is one of the best alcohol I had ever tasted.
Well, granted, I don't particularly drink much. Beer, red and white wine and the occasional mixed liquor that my sis happened to concoct at home are all about sum up my drinking experiences so I wouldn't really know how good alcohol tastes like. But that honey wine is really something. One thing nice about it is that it is sweet. Really sweet. Not really honey mixed with wine, but tasted more like honey flavoured wine. Afterall, it IS wine that was brewed from honey. I loved it so much that I started wondering if I could bring it back to Switzerland. Ah, but no such luck, I didn't get check in luggage for my flight back to Switzerland (cheapo flights lah...).
Even so, that didn't stop us from buying a bottle of that stuff to share back at the hostel. We even got so well along with the stall owner that he gave us a bottle, FREE OF CHARGE!! What a nice man he is!
Anyway, the best way to show you the coolness of the market is through the pictures that I have taken!
Look how crowded the market is!
The strange species of vegetables are pretty curious. So these are the types of vegetables that they eat...
Turkish snacks. Oh, one thing. In Europe, one can find turkish food like kebabs and that big column of meat on a vertical rotisserrie thing almost everywhere. Its like the cheap fast food here.
Random stall selling second hand stuff.
As you can tell, they sell mainly german books but occasionally, you can see some english books. Evidently, this stall owner is anxious to make this fact known...
Besides food, we also went to do some cultural stuff! Mainly, WE WENT TO AN OPERA!! :-D
Thats right folks, we went for an opera in Vienna! Isn't that really expensive, one may ask, and the answer is Yes, but....
So yes, the tickets into the opera are typically expensive. It could cost anywhere from 40 euros to 100 plus euros. However, the Vienna State Opera also allows people to enter and watch the opera at a much reduced rate - 3.50 euros. YEP! ITS less than 5 euros!! Since it can't be that perfect, there are drawbacks. You have to wait in queue for about 2 hours and after that, you have to stand through the entire opera. The ushers there are very anal about patrons not leaving the queue once they are in and the number of tickets each person are allowed to buy. One ticket per person. No more, no less, all for the same price. Strict, but made sense since there are loads of people trying to get in and there are very limited standing space at the back of the auditorium.
The best picture I have of the interior. The rest are too blur... Sorry about that...
The opera that I went for turned out NOT to be My Fair Lady, as I thought it was, but another REAL opera titled "The Gold Ring" based on a mythology that I had forgottened. It was sung entirely in German, but there were english subtitles available at the stands. However, because there was limited space, and I wasn't lucky enough to "chope" a space that was infront of the subtitle machine, I had to spend the opera alternating between staring down the chest of the japanese lady in front of me to get a look of what the hell they were singing, or trying to peek at the machine nearest to me. For the former method, I think the japanese lady had a notion that I might have been a pervert and so she completely blocked my view of the machine by putting her back to me. As for the latter method, my eyes couldn't squint out the words and I could only vaguely make out lines and squiggles, hard as I've tried though. In the end, I just chose to listen and watch. It is sufficient to say that I was so glad when the second act ended and we made a dash for the exit.
Oh, but though I didn't appreciate the opera, the interior of the State Opera and just the experience of attending one of these events is well worth the money, especially if you have an evening free. The interior is smaller than I thought, with less decorations, more boxes. The people dress up to go to the opera. Even the people who came for the standing area, several of them were wearing gowns, shirt and ties. Some even had those binoculars thing that looked like an artifact from the 16th century. (No idea why they needed it though. Maybe to catch sight of a piece of dinner from the singers' teeth. Who knows? ;-P )
The other cultural thing (or maybe religious...) that we did was to attend Mass at the Burgkapelle, the imperial chapel that is located within the Hofburg Palace, which meant waking up really early to get there. It was more cultural than religious for me because I was really only there for the chapel and their main attraction: The Vienna Boys Choir.
For the uninitiated, the Vienna Boys Choir is one of the oldest choir in the world. Formed in 1498 by Maximilian I of Habsburg, it is now one of the most famous boy choirs in the world (from wiki). Their concerts are pretty always really expensive to go but if you wake up really early to start queueing at the chapel, you can listen to them for free, but, as usual, at the standing area which is along the main aisle. On our way to the Palace, we met this young man in a suit and tie on the metro who got off at the same stop as us. Using our impressive abilities of induction, we deduced that this guy had somethong to do with our destination and so we asked him for directions. Indeed, he was heading to the palace for work as one of the helpers and he kindly offered to lead us to the chapel. During the short walk, he told us a little about the choir, him being one of them several years back. He said that the boys stay in the choir for only four years and that the whole choir was actually mde up of 4 (I think) smaller choirs. One of them is the Schubert choir, from which he belonged. So today's (or that day's) choir was sung by one of those four choirs, not the entire troop of them. Still, it was pretty cool, I think.
It was an hour and a hlf worth of waiting again for the entry to the chapel. Oh, one could get seats in the chapel instead of standing, for 9 euros, if I'm correct. I find the whole "you must pay to enter the church" thing ridiculous but I'm not saying anything more on it...
The interior of the chapel is every bit as grand as the exterior of it. Sadly, I don't have any pictures on it, I used my friend's camera because Olympus gives blurry results in low battery and dim conditions. Bottom line: Come back in about a week's time...
In the chapel, the cameras flashed. When the mass started, the cameras flashed a little more for a while. At the end of the mass, when the Boys came out, it was mayhem... There was this slight sally of people forward to take the pictures of them that I got even more squeezed than I already am. They didn't even care about the commotion they were causing. Its a mass and it haven't ended yet, for god's sake. To top the whole absurdity of it all, when the Boys finished the ending piece, everyone clapped. Gee, talk about sacred rituals... It was like attending the opera yesterday all over again. I don't know what to feel or how to react. I felt a little ashamed for those who clapped actually... Ah well, I rather not talk about this furthur here else it might run on several pages (and I REALLY need toget back studying again). Anyway, it appeared that it is a common occurance since neither the Boys nor the priests batted an eye. That's that.
Moving on, after the mass, since we were at the Palace already, we decided to tour around the Palace, visiting the museums they have there. The stuff on display at the museum was not so much on the Austrian history but more on the decadent lifestyle of the royals of that time. Yes, we went to visit their Imperial appartments and an exhibition of the imperial silver collection. Silver as in the cutlery collection. Don't ask me why, but yea, we spent an hour looking at plates, forks, spoons and knives used by the imperial family. Interesting stuff though. Some were so expensive that one could probably buy a car from a set of these stuff...
The more interesting exhibitions were the tour of the Imperial Apartments and the SiSi Museum.
While not as over-the-top decadent and did not scream as loudly "Look at me! I'm Bloody Rich" as the Chateau de Versailles, the palace gave a good idea of how the royal family, especially that of the second last, but one of their most respected ruler, Franz Josef I of Austria, lived.
Yes, picture time. Unfortunately, again, the pictures are with my friends. Sorry about that.
I would love to describe it all to you, but this is one of the times where words would not do much good except for your optometrist's business. I will, however, put in pictures from the net. Hopefully, thats better than nothing.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2374/2293280257_094948dd06.jpg?v=0
Dining room. Oh, note the napkins on the plates. Evidently, the way the napkins are folded is a state kept secret that only 2 person know. There are holes in the napkins to allow bread rolls to be placed in them.
http://www.rumormillnews.com/images/Kaiser%20Franz%20Josef.jpg
The Emperor Franz Josef I... He seemed like a decent emperor. Really hardworking, loved his subjects who in turn loved him.
http://www.jci.cc/images/33/30/Empress%20Sisi.jpg
Empress Elisabeth (known also as Sisi) of Austria, the neurotic wife of Emperor Franz Josef I.
She's a real beauty, this lady. From the Sisi Museum (yes, named after her, with displays about her life) it seemed that she really liked the Emperor. Too bad that he IS the emperor, because that meant that she had to be queen. She hated the attention it came with being a queen and it made her a little weird. It could be inferred from the exhibits that the Emperor loved her that he overlooked her oddity.
How odd is she? Well, she was obsessive about maintaining her figure, exercises a whole lot that she even has gymnastic hoops in her room, traveled a lot to escape from the courts and was really adament on not showing her face in public in her later years (so much so that she always carried an umbrella or wore a veil in public). Can't blame her though. No one said that it was easy being a queen.
Ah shit, look at the time. I've been writing this for 2 plus hours... Need to study...
Next up (when I have the time) - Tour of capitals: Prague.
À plus!
For example, the open air Market is the biggest during saturdays. There was so much variety there at the market. It is different from all the other open air markets that I had visited, be it in France or Switzerland. The range of goods available for sale is pretty mind boggling. They had a side for food and another side for a flea market and the items sold in both areas run from the high-quality wine down to the cheapest fake trinkets one could find. The range of things that one could find there is just mind boggling. Its like having a hyper department store out in the sun!
There at the market, we encountered a stall selling wine, Honey Wine. The stall owner let us have a taste of the wine and I must say, it is one of the best alcohol I had ever tasted.
Well, granted, I don't particularly drink much. Beer, red and white wine and the occasional mixed liquor that my sis happened to concoct at home are all about sum up my drinking experiences so I wouldn't really know how good alcohol tastes like. But that honey wine is really something. One thing nice about it is that it is sweet. Really sweet. Not really honey mixed with wine, but tasted more like honey flavoured wine. Afterall, it IS wine that was brewed from honey. I loved it so much that I started wondering if I could bring it back to Switzerland. Ah, but no such luck, I didn't get check in luggage for my flight back to Switzerland (cheapo flights lah...).
Even so, that didn't stop us from buying a bottle of that stuff to share back at the hostel. We even got so well along with the stall owner that he gave us a bottle, FREE OF CHARGE!! What a nice man he is!
Anyway, the best way to show you the coolness of the market is through the pictures that I have taken!
Look how crowded the market is!
The strange species of vegetables are pretty curious. So these are the types of vegetables that they eat...
Turkish snacks. Oh, one thing. In Europe, one can find turkish food like kebabs and that big column of meat on a vertical rotisserrie thing almost everywhere. Its like the cheap fast food here.
Random stall selling second hand stuff.
As you can tell, they sell mainly german books but occasionally, you can see some english books. Evidently, this stall owner is anxious to make this fact known...Besides food, we also went to do some cultural stuff! Mainly, WE WENT TO AN OPERA!! :-D
Thats right folks, we went for an opera in Vienna! Isn't that really expensive, one may ask, and the answer is Yes, but....
So yes, the tickets into the opera are typically expensive. It could cost anywhere from 40 euros to 100 plus euros. However, the Vienna State Opera also allows people to enter and watch the opera at a much reduced rate - 3.50 euros. YEP! ITS less than 5 euros!! Since it can't be that perfect, there are drawbacks. You have to wait in queue for about 2 hours and after that, you have to stand through the entire opera. The ushers there are very anal about patrons not leaving the queue once they are in and the number of tickets each person are allowed to buy. One ticket per person. No more, no less, all for the same price. Strict, but made sense since there are loads of people trying to get in and there are very limited standing space at the back of the auditorium.
The best picture I have of the interior. The rest are too blur... Sorry about that...
The opera that I went for turned out NOT to be My Fair Lady, as I thought it was, but another REAL opera titled "The Gold Ring" based on a mythology that I had forgottened. It was sung entirely in German, but there were english subtitles available at the stands. However, because there was limited space, and I wasn't lucky enough to "chope" a space that was infront of the subtitle machine, I had to spend the opera alternating between staring down the chest of the japanese lady in front of me to get a look of what the hell they were singing, or trying to peek at the machine nearest to me. For the former method, I think the japanese lady had a notion that I might have been a pervert and so she completely blocked my view of the machine by putting her back to me. As for the latter method, my eyes couldn't squint out the words and I could only vaguely make out lines and squiggles, hard as I've tried though. In the end, I just chose to listen and watch. It is sufficient to say that I was so glad when the second act ended and we made a dash for the exit.
Oh, but though I didn't appreciate the opera, the interior of the State Opera and just the experience of attending one of these events is well worth the money, especially if you have an evening free. The interior is smaller than I thought, with less decorations, more boxes. The people dress up to go to the opera. Even the people who came for the standing area, several of them were wearing gowns, shirt and ties. Some even had those binoculars thing that looked like an artifact from the 16th century. (No idea why they needed it though. Maybe to catch sight of a piece of dinner from the singers' teeth. Who knows? ;-P )
The other cultural thing (or maybe religious...) that we did was to attend Mass at the Burgkapelle, the imperial chapel that is located within the Hofburg Palace, which meant waking up really early to get there. It was more cultural than religious for me because I was really only there for the chapel and their main attraction: The Vienna Boys Choir.
For the uninitiated, the Vienna Boys Choir is one of the oldest choir in the world. Formed in 1498 by Maximilian I of Habsburg, it is now one of the most famous boy choirs in the world (from wiki). Their concerts are pretty always really expensive to go but if you wake up really early to start queueing at the chapel, you can listen to them for free, but, as usual, at the standing area which is along the main aisle. On our way to the Palace, we met this young man in a suit and tie on the metro who got off at the same stop as us. Using our impressive abilities of induction, we deduced that this guy had somethong to do with our destination and so we asked him for directions. Indeed, he was heading to the palace for work as one of the helpers and he kindly offered to lead us to the chapel. During the short walk, he told us a little about the choir, him being one of them several years back. He said that the boys stay in the choir for only four years and that the whole choir was actually mde up of 4 (I think) smaller choirs. One of them is the Schubert choir, from which he belonged. So today's (or that day's) choir was sung by one of those four choirs, not the entire troop of them. Still, it was pretty cool, I think.
It was an hour and a hlf worth of waiting again for the entry to the chapel. Oh, one could get seats in the chapel instead of standing, for 9 euros, if I'm correct. I find the whole "you must pay to enter the church" thing ridiculous but I'm not saying anything more on it...
The interior of the chapel is every bit as grand as the exterior of it. Sadly, I don't have any pictures on it, I used my friend's camera because Olympus gives blurry results in low battery and dim conditions. Bottom line: Come back in about a week's time...
In the chapel, the cameras flashed. When the mass started, the cameras flashed a little more for a while. At the end of the mass, when the Boys came out, it was mayhem... There was this slight sally of people forward to take the pictures of them that I got even more squeezed than I already am. They didn't even care about the commotion they were causing. Its a mass and it haven't ended yet, for god's sake. To top the whole absurdity of it all, when the Boys finished the ending piece, everyone clapped. Gee, talk about sacred rituals... It was like attending the opera yesterday all over again. I don't know what to feel or how to react. I felt a little ashamed for those who clapped actually... Ah well, I rather not talk about this furthur here else it might run on several pages (and I REALLY need toget back studying again). Anyway, it appeared that it is a common occurance since neither the Boys nor the priests batted an eye. That's that.
Moving on, after the mass, since we were at the Palace already, we decided to tour around the Palace, visiting the museums they have there. The stuff on display at the museum was not so much on the Austrian history but more on the decadent lifestyle of the royals of that time. Yes, we went to visit their Imperial appartments and an exhibition of the imperial silver collection. Silver as in the cutlery collection. Don't ask me why, but yea, we spent an hour looking at plates, forks, spoons and knives used by the imperial family. Interesting stuff though. Some were so expensive that one could probably buy a car from a set of these stuff...
The more interesting exhibitions were the tour of the Imperial Apartments and the SiSi Museum.
While not as over-the-top decadent and did not scream as loudly "Look at me! I'm Bloody Rich" as the Chateau de Versailles, the palace gave a good idea of how the royal family, especially that of the second last, but one of their most respected ruler, Franz Josef I of Austria, lived.
Yes, picture time. Unfortunately, again, the pictures are with my friends. Sorry about that.
I would love to describe it all to you, but this is one of the times where words would not do much good except for your optometrist's business. I will, however, put in pictures from the net. Hopefully, thats better than nothing.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2374/2293280257_094948dd06.jpg?v=0Dining room. Oh, note the napkins on the plates. Evidently, the way the napkins are folded is a state kept secret that only 2 person know. There are holes in the napkins to allow bread rolls to be placed in them.
http://www.rumormillnews.com/images/Kaiser%20Franz%20Josef.jpgThe Emperor Franz Josef I... He seemed like a decent emperor. Really hardworking, loved his subjects who in turn loved him.
http://www.jci.cc/images/33/30/Empress%20Sisi.jpgEmpress Elisabeth (known also as Sisi) of Austria, the neurotic wife of Emperor Franz Josef I.
She's a real beauty, this lady. From the Sisi Museum (yes, named after her, with displays about her life) it seemed that she really liked the Emperor. Too bad that he IS the emperor, because that meant that she had to be queen. She hated the attention it came with being a queen and it made her a little weird. It could be inferred from the exhibits that the Emperor loved her that he overlooked her oddity.
How odd is she? Well, she was obsessive about maintaining her figure, exercises a whole lot that she even has gymnastic hoops in her room, traveled a lot to escape from the courts and was really adament on not showing her face in public in her later years (so much so that she always carried an umbrella or wore a veil in public). Can't blame her though. No one said that it was easy being a queen.
Ah shit, look at the time. I've been writing this for 2 plus hours... Need to study...
Next up (when I have the time) - Tour of capitals: Prague.
À plus!
Monday, June 15, 2009
A quick insert
Haha, never thought I would say this, but I missed those raging thunderstorms back home.
The storms are pretty mild here. Usually in the form of a mild drizzle.
Right now, there is a storm going on outside but its magnitude is nowhere near the magnificent ones back in Singapore.
Ah, I miss the storms... But only when I'm safe and warm at home and not out there in the rain.
The storms are pretty mild here. Usually in the form of a mild drizzle.
Right now, there is a storm going on outside but its magnitude is nowhere near the magnificent ones back in Singapore.
Ah, I miss the storms... But only when I'm safe and warm at home and not out there in the rain.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Tour of Capitals: Bratislava
Bratislava is the little known capital of Slovakia, a country nestled in the middle of Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ukraine and Poland. After its seperation from Czechoslovakia in 1989, the Slovak Republic was established with Bratislava being the capital.
Bratislava seemed to be the poorer brother of its former sibling, Prague. It reminded me, in many parts, of Malaysia. More of those less developed parts of Malaysia, like Ipoh. There are little skyscrapers or modern buildings. The streets are dustier, buildings look older and the general feeling of the place is a little dilapited.
There wasn't a free tour of Bratislava. In fact, we did not intend to go to Bratislava at all. I just happened to see it on google maps and saw that it was a capital and so slotted it into the itinery. A one day tour of the place to see how it looked like.
I didn't remember much about Bratislava. On the first day that we arrived, we heard that there was this food festival going on. Thus, we set out to search for it. We asked this man in the park where the festival was supposed to be held and he kindly offered to show us the way. Well, turns out that the expo that he brought us to didn't exactly sell food. It was an exhibition for coins and there was a 2 euro entrance fee that we got duped into paying. To cut the story short, we ended up looking at coins instead of food.
However, there is a silver lining.
In the expo, they have a food stall thingy going on that sold lunch. Being famished from all that walking, we decided to settle ourselves and make full use of our 2 euro entrance fee.
Although Slovakia is using euros, their prices are still far from the price in France or Vienna so that meant that we could still have a decent meal. I ordered a sausage and a soup. The sausage had traces of lard in them again, but it was better than the one in Budapest. It had more flavour... But what I liked from that meal was the soup. It was the sour cabbage soup that I had mentioned earlier. Ahh... I don't have the pictures cos its with my friends. Have to get it from them. But anyway, it looks like shredded vegetable soup, and it IS shredded vegetable soup. Its just that it is sour. Like tom yam soup, but not spicy at all. Yea, that is a pretty close description.
After lunch, we just walked around the old town. It was a bummer that the Bratislava castle was closed due to reparations and the other castle, Devin castle, was a pretty long bus ride from town. In the end, we didn't go to the important destinations and had to be content with just the old town.
There wasn't anything much that we hadn't already seen in our tours. But, I have to point out a very curious church that we visited - the Blue Church.
Just like what the name suggests, the Blue church IS blue. From the roof down to the doors.
The architecture is curiously like the one in Budapest and I could have sworn that there were turkish influences on the design of the building.
When we arrived, it was in time for a session of mass. There was this kind elderly lady who beckoned us to enter the church, saying (more like gesturing though, cos we didn't understand slovakian). Inside was also a curious study of design. Yes, even the interior was blue. Blue in the candy sort of way... So this must be how Oz looked like from Dorothy's point of view, except that its all baby blue instead of green. Hmm. Interesting.
All pictures from the Blue church was taken off the big WWW. I don't think it was polite of me to be snapping my camera when a mass is ongoing. But evidently, many people don't think the same way, as seen in Vienna when I DID attend a session of mass. Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself. That is another story to tell. Stick around a little while I finish up Bratislava.
Anyway, the main highlight of Bratislava had to be the food. Really, I'm such a pig. First thing when we arrived is always to check out the local food market. Haha. Its a nice place, a good place to find out more about the local people and their ways. And besides, they often sell great cheap food!
But no more filet mignon for me in Bratislava. However, I did stock up on plenty of junk food to bring back to Switzerland. I had bought 3 giant Snickers, an Ice cream (my first Ice cream since Singapore!! Gelato doesn't really count...) and 2 bagfuls of nuts and dried fruits. Honestly, I think I'm so healthy in Switzerland because I am too broke to spend money on junk food... A pack of chips for 2 Fr (about SGD2.70)? No thanks, man!
Also, evidently, the beer here is pretty good too, so we bought a can of local beer to try. Not too bad, a little better than Tiger, I think, but I still prefer the german beer that I can get here in Switzerland.
What else is there to say about Bratislava? Hmm... Not much, I think.
Perhaps it would have been much better if we went to the outskirts of the city to the Devin Castle. After all, I heard that the view there is nice. Too bad we had so little time.
Bratislava seemed to be the poorer brother of its former sibling, Prague. It reminded me, in many parts, of Malaysia. More of those less developed parts of Malaysia, like Ipoh. There are little skyscrapers or modern buildings. The streets are dustier, buildings look older and the general feeling of the place is a little dilapited.
There wasn't a free tour of Bratislava. In fact, we did not intend to go to Bratislava at all. I just happened to see it on google maps and saw that it was a capital and so slotted it into the itinery. A one day tour of the place to see how it looked like.
I didn't remember much about Bratislava. On the first day that we arrived, we heard that there was this food festival going on. Thus, we set out to search for it. We asked this man in the park where the festival was supposed to be held and he kindly offered to show us the way. Well, turns out that the expo that he brought us to didn't exactly sell food. It was an exhibition for coins and there was a 2 euro entrance fee that we got duped into paying. To cut the story short, we ended up looking at coins instead of food.
However, there is a silver lining.
In the expo, they have a food stall thingy going on that sold lunch. Being famished from all that walking, we decided to settle ourselves and make full use of our 2 euro entrance fee.
Although Slovakia is using euros, their prices are still far from the price in France or Vienna so that meant that we could still have a decent meal. I ordered a sausage and a soup. The sausage had traces of lard in them again, but it was better than the one in Budapest. It had more flavour... But what I liked from that meal was the soup. It was the sour cabbage soup that I had mentioned earlier. Ahh... I don't have the pictures cos its with my friends. Have to get it from them. But anyway, it looks like shredded vegetable soup, and it IS shredded vegetable soup. Its just that it is sour. Like tom yam soup, but not spicy at all. Yea, that is a pretty close description.
After lunch, we just walked around the old town. It was a bummer that the Bratislava castle was closed due to reparations and the other castle, Devin castle, was a pretty long bus ride from town. In the end, we didn't go to the important destinations and had to be content with just the old town.
There wasn't anything much that we hadn't already seen in our tours. But, I have to point out a very curious church that we visited - the Blue Church.
Just like what the name suggests, the Blue church IS blue. From the roof down to the doors.
The architecture is curiously like the one in Budapest and I could have sworn that there were turkish influences on the design of the building.
When we arrived, it was in time for a session of mass. There was this kind elderly lady who beckoned us to enter the church, saying (more like gesturing though, cos we didn't understand slovakian). Inside was also a curious study of design. Yes, even the interior was blue. Blue in the candy sort of way... So this must be how Oz looked like from Dorothy's point of view, except that its all baby blue instead of green. Hmm. Interesting.All pictures from the Blue church was taken off the big WWW. I don't think it was polite of me to be snapping my camera when a mass is ongoing. But evidently, many people don't think the same way, as seen in Vienna when I DID attend a session of mass. Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself. That is another story to tell. Stick around a little while I finish up Bratislava.Anyway, the main highlight of Bratislava had to be the food. Really, I'm such a pig. First thing when we arrived is always to check out the local food market. Haha. Its a nice place, a good place to find out more about the local people and their ways. And besides, they often sell great cheap food!
But no more filet mignon for me in Bratislava. However, I did stock up on plenty of junk food to bring back to Switzerland. I had bought 3 giant Snickers, an Ice cream (my first Ice cream since Singapore!! Gelato doesn't really count...) and 2 bagfuls of nuts and dried fruits. Honestly, I think I'm so healthy in Switzerland because I am too broke to spend money on junk food... A pack of chips for 2 Fr (about SGD2.70)? No thanks, man!
Also, evidently, the beer here is pretty good too, so we bought a can of local beer to try. Not too bad, a little better than Tiger, I think, but I still prefer the german beer that I can get here in Switzerland.
What else is there to say about Bratislava? Hmm... Not much, I think.
Perhaps it would have been much better if we went to the outskirts of the city to the Devin Castle. After all, I heard that the view there is nice. Too bad we had so little time.
Tour of Capitals: Budapest
Budapest, the capital of present day Hungary, has a long and colourful history from its humble origins of a Celtic settlement from eons ago to one of the most beautiful capital cities of Europe. It is not a joke that Budapest is made up of two cities, Buda and Pest. Honest.
Anyway, we attended this free tour that was held by this really cool guide. A great tip for those travelling on a budget like us students: Look for free tours and attend them! Its a really cool way of getting to know a city well. One thing that I pretty much dislike about travelling is the fact that I can look at a building and not know its significance. For all I know, I could be standing on some historical noteworthy place and wouldn't know! Its like finding gold but thinking it was lead and throw it away!
But I digress. The free tour was really VERY informative. The tour guide was very helpful and very knowledgeable about the subject. Being a history graduate and had studied english at a local university, she should be! She spent like 30 minutes explaining the origins of Budapest, the language and the many dynasties that came to rule. For brevity, I shall omit much of the history here, but it makes the tour of the place more significant when one realises the history behind major monuments and appreciate the city more. For example, when we first arrived, we found the people here to be pretty gloomy, as in general sales people and those on the streets.
There wasn't any buskers around and the people seemed to be unwilling to help strangers (e.g. us) and sometimes they are just outright unfriendly. Even the service quality left much to be desired. But the tour guide explained that after the second world war, things were generally very bad for the hungarian economy. Hungary had amassed huge national debts and the economy is not faring well, and the people are shouldering the brunt of the damage. Many people are working 2 to 3 jobs just to make ends meet. The tour guide herself is also holding multiple jobs, this tour job being one of them (we give tips...). From the fall of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire to the economy crisis, the Hungarians were just hit with wave after wave of bad news. No wonder they have such dour dispositions. Made me glad that Singapore has such a stable government that has means to adapt to most financial crisis.
Anyway, on to more happy thought, the views of Budapest is not too bad. The architecture is european but has a disticnt flavour from Switzerland or France. Instead, if I have to describe, I would say it is mainly european, but with a hungarian twist. It has its fair share of Gothic and Baroque styled magnificent buildings, just like France and the other european capitals. But there is a kind of touch that reminded me of Turkey.
For example, there are buildings there that have roofs of coloured tiles and rounded domes, not those onion domes of Islamic structures, but more like those absurd old french style parasols that are streched length-wards, like a mushroom. This was probably a reflection of the Turks' rule during their period of conquests and expansion.
Buildings like the Musuem of Applied Arts shows one of the many buildings that were built in this style.
From Wikipedia.
I won't bother you with the details on what I did step by step like I did in the France Chronicles, so I'll highlight the notable ones.
Lets see... We went to the Great Market Hall that was much featured in many books and guides. Pretty interesting, especially on the upper level where the cooked food stalls and the touristy trinkets could be found. I had my first taste of Hungarian cuisine there, where I tried their Hungarian sausage and a cabbage roll. Totally did not know that Hungarians eat lard like meat till a friend mentioned. The sausage had chunks of lard that were visible. If I don't think about the lard, the sausage actually tastes pretty bland. The sausage that my friend had was better. Slightly spiced with much lesser lard. I loved the way the people here do their cabbages. They have it sour here. I tried some cabbage that were stewed in vinegar, sour cabbage soup that my friend said bore a resemblance to kimchi and the aforementioned cabbage roll was just delectable. It was just noodles wrapped in cabbage but the whole combination was really good. Made me wonder how they did it. I could have asked the lady behind the counters, but I had this feeling that she might bite my head off...
The round thing on the top left is the cabbage roll, beside it is the sausage. Check out those pieces of fat in them (blow them up)!
It was in Hungary that I became a Thousandaire. The exchange rates were like 1 euro to 242 HUF. I had changed 100 euros, so that made me an instant thousandaire. I could finally say that I had thousands to spare!
The prices in Hungary are great for meat deprived people like me. I ate a very nice Filet Mignon in a cafe like place for 2790 HUF. For the uninitiated, filet mignon is probably one of the most expensive cuts you can find in a cow because it is the tenderest part and each cow only has a small portion of it. It could easily cost above SGD 50 at a restaurant but if you don't let the 4-figure sum deceive you, it set me back at about SGD 20 or 10 Euros. Not too bad a deal at all!! It was great and I felt so satisfied after that that I probably went to sleep with a smile. :-D Jealous? Too bad! Haha. In short, it was a splurge well spent although that meant I had to be prudent for the remaining leg of Budapest.
Besides the meat, I had also tried the pastries there. We went to a place called Retesvar that was near the castle and tried a hungarian pastry named Rete. Its a studel with sweet or savory. It wasn't too bad, but the prices were probably a rip off due to its touristy location. But I read from another blog that the Great Market Hall has a stall that has great Rete. Should have tried it there. But anyway, I also bought several other types of hungarian pastries from a bakery near our hostel. Not too bad. Nothing fancy, just normal stuff that is good for tea.
Budapest is also known for its many thermal baths and spas. Baths and spas were brought in from the Romans, who had found and built many of the baths that are present today.So, being set to try anything Hungarian, we went to a bath! Just nice, our guided tour led us to one of the biggest thermal baths in Budapest, the Széchenyi Spa. (I won't even bother trying to pronounce the name. We just called it the S bath...)
The bath was... an experience. The main outdoor pool is really just a heated pool with jets of water around and a cool whirlpool place in the middle of it. Great to just sit at a fet and let the pulse massage your body. The pools in the interior of the building are just heated swimming pools. Like a huge pot of water where people come in to stew in. The place would have been paradise if it were private and I could stay in it all day long. Unfortunately, it wasn't private and we had to get out sooner or later. When we got out, the sun had set and so it was ass-bitingly cold. We had to scurry into the toilets like a bunch of soaked mices to get warm because they don't provide towels beside the pool, but near the toilets down below. It was a great experience, getting to soak in the warmth of the pool while admiring the moon behind the domed roof ot the bath. Where is that glass of champagne when you need one?! ;-D
Well, that was the more interesting aspect of the tour. For other interesting aspects, lets look at the pictures to jog my memory...
During our tour, the tour guide pionted out that this statue of a king (can't remember his name) is really famous locally due to a legend that a bunch of university kids started. That bunch of university kids had a tradition that was passed down from seniors to juniors that if one touches the horse's balls, one would have a great love life. We met this american guy in the tour. Being american AND a guy, he dared my friends to touch the balls just for fun. So, much to our amusement, and to a group of german tourists, these crazy kids (not boring ol' me though) went ahead to touch the horse's balls. Of course the crowed cheered. One of them even filmed the entire process! Haha, it was really crazy fun. The horse's testicles are all golden from the many such escapades in the past. The horse had literal golden balls!
Oh, before I forgot, I had a new companion on this travel. Joining me, Jessica and Esther, we have another person from NTU, Nicole! She provides much wacky antics and lame jokes to fill the gaps of our travels. :-D
Left to right: Nicole, Jessica and Esther.
I've left out some historical stuff and instead focused on the fun aspects. Of course I visited many historical sites and places, like the many churches and cathedrales, the famous Hero's square, the ironically named Freedom monument (statue of Liberty) and many others. However, as I didn't take many pictures on this trip (I was a little lazy...) I would have to wait till my friends upload their photos on facebook before I can post them here.
Overview of the Pest side of the Danube.
Anyway, we attended this free tour that was held by this really cool guide. A great tip for those travelling on a budget like us students: Look for free tours and attend them! Its a really cool way of getting to know a city well. One thing that I pretty much dislike about travelling is the fact that I can look at a building and not know its significance. For all I know, I could be standing on some historical noteworthy place and wouldn't know! Its like finding gold but thinking it was lead and throw it away!
But I digress. The free tour was really VERY informative. The tour guide was very helpful and very knowledgeable about the subject. Being a history graduate and had studied english at a local university, she should be! She spent like 30 minutes explaining the origins of Budapest, the language and the many dynasties that came to rule. For brevity, I shall omit much of the history here, but it makes the tour of the place more significant when one realises the history behind major monuments and appreciate the city more. For example, when we first arrived, we found the people here to be pretty gloomy, as in general sales people and those on the streets.
There wasn't any buskers around and the people seemed to be unwilling to help strangers (e.g. us) and sometimes they are just outright unfriendly. Even the service quality left much to be desired. But the tour guide explained that after the second world war, things were generally very bad for the hungarian economy. Hungary had amassed huge national debts and the economy is not faring well, and the people are shouldering the brunt of the damage. Many people are working 2 to 3 jobs just to make ends meet. The tour guide herself is also holding multiple jobs, this tour job being one of them (we give tips...). From the fall of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire to the economy crisis, the Hungarians were just hit with wave after wave of bad news. No wonder they have such dour dispositions. Made me glad that Singapore has such a stable government that has means to adapt to most financial crisis.
Anyway, on to more happy thought, the views of Budapest is not too bad. The architecture is european but has a disticnt flavour from Switzerland or France. Instead, if I have to describe, I would say it is mainly european, but with a hungarian twist. It has its fair share of Gothic and Baroque styled magnificent buildings, just like France and the other european capitals. But there is a kind of touch that reminded me of Turkey.
For example, there are buildings there that have roofs of coloured tiles and rounded domes, not those onion domes of Islamic structures, but more like those absurd old french style parasols that are streched length-wards, like a mushroom. This was probably a reflection of the Turks' rule during their period of conquests and expansion.
Buildings like the Musuem of Applied Arts shows one of the many buildings that were built in this style.
From Wikipedia.I won't bother you with the details on what I did step by step like I did in the France Chronicles, so I'll highlight the notable ones.
Lets see... We went to the Great Market Hall that was much featured in many books and guides. Pretty interesting, especially on the upper level where the cooked food stalls and the touristy trinkets could be found. I had my first taste of Hungarian cuisine there, where I tried their Hungarian sausage and a cabbage roll. Totally did not know that Hungarians eat lard like meat till a friend mentioned. The sausage had chunks of lard that were visible. If I don't think about the lard, the sausage actually tastes pretty bland. The sausage that my friend had was better. Slightly spiced with much lesser lard. I loved the way the people here do their cabbages. They have it sour here. I tried some cabbage that were stewed in vinegar, sour cabbage soup that my friend said bore a resemblance to kimchi and the aforementioned cabbage roll was just delectable. It was just noodles wrapped in cabbage but the whole combination was really good. Made me wonder how they did it. I could have asked the lady behind the counters, but I had this feeling that she might bite my head off...
The round thing on the top left is the cabbage roll, beside it is the sausage. Check out those pieces of fat in them (blow them up)!It was in Hungary that I became a Thousandaire. The exchange rates were like 1 euro to 242 HUF. I had changed 100 euros, so that made me an instant thousandaire. I could finally say that I had thousands to spare!
The prices in Hungary are great for meat deprived people like me. I ate a very nice Filet Mignon in a cafe like place for 2790 HUF. For the uninitiated, filet mignon is probably one of the most expensive cuts you can find in a cow because it is the tenderest part and each cow only has a small portion of it. It could easily cost above SGD 50 at a restaurant but if you don't let the 4-figure sum deceive you, it set me back at about SGD 20 or 10 Euros. Not too bad a deal at all!! It was great and I felt so satisfied after that that I probably went to sleep with a smile. :-D Jealous? Too bad! Haha. In short, it was a splurge well spent although that meant I had to be prudent for the remaining leg of Budapest.
Besides the meat, I had also tried the pastries there. We went to a place called Retesvar that was near the castle and tried a hungarian pastry named Rete. Its a studel with sweet or savory. It wasn't too bad, but the prices were probably a rip off due to its touristy location. But I read from another blog that the Great Market Hall has a stall that has great Rete. Should have tried it there. But anyway, I also bought several other types of hungarian pastries from a bakery near our hostel. Not too bad. Nothing fancy, just normal stuff that is good for tea.
Budapest is also known for its many thermal baths and spas. Baths and spas were brought in from the Romans, who had found and built many of the baths that are present today.So, being set to try anything Hungarian, we went to a bath! Just nice, our guided tour led us to one of the biggest thermal baths in Budapest, the Széchenyi Spa. (I won't even bother trying to pronounce the name. We just called it the S bath...)
The bath was... an experience. The main outdoor pool is really just a heated pool with jets of water around and a cool whirlpool place in the middle of it. Great to just sit at a fet and let the pulse massage your body. The pools in the interior of the building are just heated swimming pools. Like a huge pot of water where people come in to stew in. The place would have been paradise if it were private and I could stay in it all day long. Unfortunately, it wasn't private and we had to get out sooner or later. When we got out, the sun had set and so it was ass-bitingly cold. We had to scurry into the toilets like a bunch of soaked mices to get warm because they don't provide towels beside the pool, but near the toilets down below. It was a great experience, getting to soak in the warmth of the pool while admiring the moon behind the domed roof ot the bath. Where is that glass of champagne when you need one?! ;-D
Well, that was the more interesting aspect of the tour. For other interesting aspects, lets look at the pictures to jog my memory...
During our tour, the tour guide pionted out that this statue of a king (can't remember his name) is really famous locally due to a legend that a bunch of university kids started. That bunch of university kids had a tradition that was passed down from seniors to juniors that if one touches the horse's balls, one would have a great love life. We met this american guy in the tour. Being american AND a guy, he dared my friends to touch the balls just for fun. So, much to our amusement, and to a group of german tourists, these crazy kids (not boring ol' me though) went ahead to touch the horse's balls. Of course the crowed cheered. One of them even filmed the entire process! Haha, it was really crazy fun. The horse's testicles are all golden from the many such escapades in the past. The horse had literal golden balls!Oh, before I forgot, I had a new companion on this travel. Joining me, Jessica and Esther, we have another person from NTU, Nicole! She provides much wacky antics and lame jokes to fill the gaps of our travels. :-D
Left to right: Nicole, Jessica and Esther.I've left out some historical stuff and instead focused on the fun aspects. Of course I visited many historical sites and places, like the many churches and cathedrales, the famous Hero's square, the ironically named Freedom monument (statue of Liberty) and many others. However, as I didn't take many pictures on this trip (I was a little lazy...) I would have to wait till my friends upload their photos on facebook before I can post them here.
Overview of the Pest side of the Danube.
I'm Back (again)!!
Hello! I'm back from my trip with some stuff to share!! Unfortunately, the internet at my place is pretty much down. Something wrong with the server that had been going on for some time already, it seems. Thus, I would be typing it out when I have the time back at my dorm, then uploading it on blogger when I'm in school.
Right now, I'm supposed to study in school. Study study.... So much to do, so little time...
Right now, I'm supposed to study in school. Study study.... So much to do, so little time...
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Slacking Sunday (or saturday...)
It's really bad, I know.
I should be studying in preparation for my exams, which is in a month's time, but yet I am on the computer for all of yesterday and a few hours today. Can't help it. Will definitely put in a little quality time with my books within the next 2 days before I head to Budapest.
But before that, let me show you a find that I had just found!
I was pottering around youtube when I stumbled across accapella groups. So, by a stroke of curiousity, I decided to youtude The King's Singers. Well, for those who don't know who they are, they are a bunch of guys who sing together but on a smaller scale than a choir. They are pretty fabulous, as fabulous as singing accapella goes, and their songs make a good lullaby. But here, the one I found, is really funny and interesting.
Check it out!! Especially the guy who can sing a soprano!
"Deconstructing Johann"
Lyrics:
J. S. Bach had a little problem.
J. S. Bach was in a fix.
J. S. Bach couldn't find an answer.
What to do?
I've written most of a rather fabulous work!
Toccata, it's in D minor, but now I'm feeling a bit of a jerk.
I can't think of what should come after it.
Now, said his wife, who was resting up after her 33rd child.
Johann, my dear, you should just go to bed.
Something always comes up.
Don't be a twit!
It's a real crisis and I'm working to a deadline.
What can I fit?
What to fit after the great toccata
Maybe it needs to be something faster
I haven't got a clue
and in a week the piece is due
I'm in a panic.
I'm stuck like glue.
Don't get your knickers in a twist, Johann,
'Those are only notes,' you've always said.
There's only twelve so use your head
How many arrangements of twelve notes can there possibly be?
That's a problem I don't want to deal with
How many permutations on C and D and E and F and G, A, B is a thing that I never heard of.
You can leave that to Arnold Schönberg
He is the person to do that twelve-tone thing
No! No!
It isn't the answer, I haven't the foggiest.
What am I gonna do?
I'm all in a panic
Aaah, no.
What can I do?
I've finished my toccata but I have no fugue
(Phone ringing)
Ah... and now I've got the fugue!
From Wiki:
Toccata (from Italian toccare, "to touch") is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virtuosic passages or sections, with or without imitative or fugal interludes, generally emphasizing the dexterity of the performer's fingers.
In music, a fugue (pronounced /ˈfjuːɡ/) is a type of contrapuntal composition or technique of composition for a fixed number of parts, normally referred to as "voices".
I should be studying in preparation for my exams, which is in a month's time, but yet I am on the computer for all of yesterday and a few hours today. Can't help it. Will definitely put in a little quality time with my books within the next 2 days before I head to Budapest.
But before that, let me show you a find that I had just found!
I was pottering around youtube when I stumbled across accapella groups. So, by a stroke of curiousity, I decided to youtude The King's Singers. Well, for those who don't know who they are, they are a bunch of guys who sing together but on a smaller scale than a choir. They are pretty fabulous, as fabulous as singing accapella goes, and their songs make a good lullaby. But here, the one I found, is really funny and interesting.
Check it out!! Especially the guy who can sing a soprano!
"Deconstructing Johann"
Lyrics:
J. S. Bach had a little problem.
J. S. Bach was in a fix.
J. S. Bach couldn't find an answer.
What to do?
I've written most of a rather fabulous work!
Toccata, it's in D minor, but now I'm feeling a bit of a jerk.
I can't think of what should come after it.
Now, said his wife, who was resting up after her 33rd child.
Johann, my dear, you should just go to bed.
Something always comes up.
Don't be a twit!
It's a real crisis and I'm working to a deadline.
What can I fit?
What to fit after the great toccata
Maybe it needs to be something faster
I haven't got a clue
and in a week the piece is due
I'm in a panic.
I'm stuck like glue.
Don't get your knickers in a twist, Johann,
'Those are only notes,' you've always said.
There's only twelve so use your head
How many arrangements of twelve notes can there possibly be?
That's a problem I don't want to deal with
How many permutations on C and D and E and F and G, A, B is a thing that I never heard of.
You can leave that to Arnold Schönberg
He is the person to do that twelve-tone thing
No! No!
It isn't the answer, I haven't the foggiest.
What am I gonna do?
I'm all in a panic
Aaah, no.
What can I do?
I've finished my toccata but I have no fugue
(Phone ringing)
Ah... and now I've got the fugue!
From Wiki:
Toccata (from Italian toccare, "to touch") is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virtuosic passages or sections, with or without imitative or fugal interludes, generally emphasizing the dexterity of the performer's fingers.
In music, a fugue (pronounced /ˈfjuːɡ/) is a type of contrapuntal composition or technique of composition for a fixed number of parts, normally referred to as "voices".
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