After school city exploration!

Finally done!! My permit is finally done! After 5 trips to the permit office and being sent back each time because I haven't had the necessary items (seriously, these people cannot tell me all the info in one shot...) I finally completed the permit application! Ok lah, to be fair, I was forgetful once or twice during the 5 times so I had to turn back. So not completely the office's fault.

Anyway, I actually planned to go today morning so that I could swing by the morning market to take a look at it. However, my teammate wanted to work on the project since he would not be free in the afternoon so the morning market trip had to be postponed. I thought I would have to do my permit some other day but then I got tired of putting it off. Hence, after class, I hurried down to Lausanne Flon to catch the office before it closed. And thus, after 3 weeks, I finally applied for the permit successfully. Now its just a matter of waiting for the permit to arrive, which would take a month or more.

After settling the permit, I decided to pop by Riponne, another part of the city center, to fix my watch too, and that would take a month or more too. The lady at the watch place was really funny. She explained that it was most probably the battery's fault but they would still send it to the factory for a look, with an expression that said, I know! The factory takes a long time right!!
And then, some musicians started playing outside at the main square. The lady started laughing and explained that musicians often play there but that group of people playing were of "really bad style" or something along these lines. It doesn't sound so funny now that I put it into words... Hmm... just take it that I find it amusing lah...

Anyway, I think Riponne is a more exciting place to visit than Lausanne Flon. The shops there are mainly clothes or shops that sell something that I might actually be able to afford. The Flon has mainly banks and adminstative buildings I guess. I'm sure to have a more thorough exploration of Riponne when I have the chance.

I think I spent a lot of money today... 125 Chf for the permit, 38 Chf on books and 34 Chf on groceries... It actually is a pretty resonable expenditure if we were to not count the cost of the permit but my internal money pinching self is crying "too much!! must stop spending!!" haha...

I bought 2 books on french grammar and conjugaisions that a friend recommended. Oh yes, I think I mentioned a lack of bookstores in Lausanne before, I might have to take it back. Turns out that there ARE bookstores in the city, they are just at Riponne. :-D There is a pretty big bookstore at the Flon, but I think I never managed to see it till today.

I went into a bookstore in Riponne. It was rather big and grand looking. But what interests me was the extensive collection of comics (or BDs in french). They had one whole section that looked like more than half the collection in Kino at Taka(comics, not manga). The titles looked pretty interesting too! Sadly, they were so expensive!! About 22 Chf for one thin one. They sold a decent amount of mangas too, but again, they were really expensive, at 12 Chf a book. Seriously, I think people who could afford to keep such a collection would have to be filthy rich or just plain obsessed about them to buy them...

On another note, my food cupboard had never been so full before!! Mother sent a whole bunch of stuff from Singapore, with about 80 percent, I think, containing food. She also included curry and rendang paste!! WOOTS!! I was just dreaming of them today morning! :-D Excellent thing! Yea, I know, I'm a spoiled brat hunkering for some good ol' Singaporean food... haha. So, with the stuff from Singapore and my groceries from today, my cupboard and fridge are filled to the brim! YAY!! That means no need for groceries for the next week!!


Let me mention again that meat is really expensive here (or is it just me??)... I hardly eat any red meat to the extent that I actually think of steaks before I sleep. Really!! Whole chunks of beef or mutton (strangely though, it wasn't of chicken or pork...). Makes me feel like a weirdo... I don't dare to skip buying the meat now. I buy frozen meat!! HAHA, cheaper and more economical since I don't need fresh meat and its as good as them anyway. Yea, I've only bought chicken so far, although I splurged a little and bought some salmon. :-D

Never will I complain that the cost of living is high in Singapore again... You people back home, don't keep complaining that school food is expensive. S$3 for a lunch is really cheap compared to 5 Chf for a ham sandwich (although the sandwich is huge...)


Rows of chocolate rabbits...
One can always tell that Easter is coming up. The rabbits will never let you forget it...