the watery traveler

moving over

2010-01-21T17:08:00.002Z

i have since moved over to a new site, easier and a lot simpler for me to post on the roads. feel free to follow by rss feeds or subscribe if my rantings are of interests to you. else you can always find me tweeting @dennistang.

all the best!

Taking the step into the unknown

2009-07-09T18:04:00.003+01:00

Such a sad yet real story about people taking the step out of their comfort zone. The last statement was especially powerful;

...It comes down to deciding what horrifies you more: the possibility of waking up one day and realizing you never took a shot at your dream or the possibility of losing your house...

Breakdown of iPhone plans in Singapore

2009-07-06T17:44:00.009+01:00

Received notification today from SingTel about its impending launch of the latest iPhone 3GS in Singapore. For someone who had been so used to the unlimited data plans from O2 in London, the local standards doesn't seem like a very good deal. Thought I will share a quick tabulation of the overall costs of ownership of the 3 different models on offer.

SingTel's subscription plans: (click on figure for full size image)

With this, you will be paying the following over the course of your 24 month contract, including price of handset if any.

This does not take into consideration of other potential discounts if you trade in, upgrade from current plan or sign up to Mio broadband. On first look it might seem that the cheapest plan is the best in terms of costs, but it is important to look at what that plan offers and whether it fits your mobile habits, including data usage before deciding.

After 4 months without one, I think I am quite desperately in need of a proper phone.

A TED for your weekend

2009-06-28T18:03:00.003+01:00

Another excellent TED talk by Capt Charles Moore, the man who discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, twice the size of Texas.

Where is the action?

2009-06-25T17:47:00.006+01:00

More reports coming from the International Whaling Commission meeting in Madeira, Portugal seem to indicate the countries at large are more keen to not upset each other rather than to solve the whaling problem on hand. This also include further studies of declining sharks and porpoises population at large where one research reveals that more than a third of the open ocean shark population are on the verge of extinction. Guardian website also has an interesting photo gallery highlighting the plight of these giants, where most of them ended up as "supposing delicacies" on Asia's dinning tables.

Iran has showed the world the immerse power welded by normal people like you and me, maybe it is about time we do the same?

Another great rail journey...oops, not quite!

2009-06-13T16:41:00.006+01:00

It's been 3 weeks since I got back and have been spending some time sorting my life back to "normal", i.e. clearing out my boxes shipped from London, buying some new furniture, sorting out Internet, etc. Missing the European lifestyle meant that I have been scouring around the island for nice cafes serving a decent cup of coffee, which sadly, besides a handful, are pretty pathetic.

I suspect I am "suffering" from travel withdrawal symptoms as my restlessness is beginning to grow in me especially in the past week. Had been planning to post another entry to summarising my trip but been in procrastinating mode at many a time.

Anyway, my last post ended with one of the more eventful journeys and I basically ended up arriving later than expected in Bangkok to miss both the train and coach down south to Malaysia. As I had a friend who was arriving the following day, as well as the outbreak of H1N1 in Penang, I decided to chill out in the capital instead for 3 days, relax under a touch of luxury in a very nice service apartment (compared to my hostel stays) and tucking into the glorious thai food. Finally arrived into Singapore via Changi Airport on 21 May, just in time for my cousin's wedding the following day. It's amazing how much time you can save by taking a flight (2 hours compared to 2 days on train from Bangkok to SG) but given a choice, I will do the latter anytime, the option to interact with the locals, experience the local culture and just seeing the world pass you by in the cabin is just too great to miss, although I have to admit to some slight hangover from train rides from the tens of thousands of miles starting from Copenhagen to the Artic Circle, through Russia, Mongolia, China and South East Asia, 25 cities/towns in all and most importantly, fulfilling my dream of getting on the Trans Siberian rail journey, even though the trip was bundled with "interesting encounters".

Got a few mails from friends and strangers asking me on advice for their travels (do continue to send me your questions and I will be more than happy to help where I can), which was really nice and it gave the opportunity for me to relive the best days of my trip whilst jotting the email reply. If I were to choose the most memorable place(s), it will have to be Norway and Mongolia. China should probably be one of them as well but due to my time constraint, I will definitely spend some time in the country to explore it proper to give it the due credit.

Note:
The map trail is extracted from my dopplr updates in the various cities/countries on Mapme.at but there are some bugs with the application as it always screws up the order if you travel to more than one city in a day, which kinda explains why I was always traveling from Oslo in Norway.

Myths about sharks and fins

2009-06-09T18:14:00.005+01:00

I attended my 2nd wedding invitation over the weekend, within 3 weeks of my arrival back home and was surprised to see that the infamous sharks fin soup was served on both occasions. Never in anywhere else in the world is the shark's fin consumed more than in our Chinese culture. As usual, I refused to eat it, and was doing my best to "educate" my friends and family sitting in my table on the reasons why I refrain from it. Since yesterday was World Ocean Day (it's actually 8 Jun), I figured it might be useful to share some of what I know with everybody who might come across this article.

Let's ask the question of taste - "why do we consume sharks fin?" Actually I should rephrase it, "why do Chinese like to eat shark's fin so much?" I posed this question to the folks sitting on my table on both occasions and they all said it tasted good. Maybe most of them do not know that it is actually the chicken stock that made the dish taste good, and not the shark's fin which are effectively cartilage, and mostly tasteless on its own, or worse, they actually taste chewy if they are of bad quality.

Pride or "face value" as what we Chinese like to call it. Shark's fin originated as an imperial dish for the Emperor hundreds of years ago, meaning that it is considered a delicacy for the upper class. This meant that people nowadays like want themselves to feel good by paying over the top prices for these endangered items. They like to think that they are equivalent to the Royal family, and that they are able to pay for shark's fin to be served to the guests who attend the wedding.

Sharks are the top of the underwater food chain. What do you think will happen when you start to take out the top predator from a food chain? The next predator down the chain will overtake the shark and become the dominant species and their numbers will no doubt flourish over time. Some may argue that this may not be a bad thing since nobody will exactly know how nature work it's magic to balance out the inequilibrium but do we have to play god and let our descendants live to see the consequences that we have caused?

Reproduction - many sharks are known to be lone creatures and spend majority of their life in solitude except for the mating season. Some species may live in schools but those are usually confined to the young pubs or if they are working together to prey on schools of fish. This meant that mating is not as straight forward as other animals, and that most sharks only give birth to a few pubs on each occasion meant that shark populations are impossible to catch up with the rate at which we are killing them for. Did you know that the Great White shark only gives birth to 1 pub on each birth? This also meant that more and more juvenile sharks are been finned as fishermen are finding it difficult to catch adult sharks these days.

Cruelty - It is very true that many fishermen literally skin the fins of the sharks that are caught and dump the bodies back into the ocean, leaving the sharks to drown if they had not died from the turmoil. But I decided to keep this as my last point because this is always a contentious argument. Homo Sapiens have always enjoyed the liberty to kill and eat any other animals because of our superior intelligence and communication over them. It is unfortunate that we live in a "Survival of the fittest" society.

We as humans have single handedly eat the world's fish stock to the brink of a complete collapse in the last hundred years. The sharks are no exception, we have hunted thousands and millions of them to the point that many of the species are close to extinction. I will very much like to see another shark on my next dive, and I hope my kids will be able to do the same likewise.

Note:
Many years back, I used to be sit in one of those weddings and enjoyed a great deal from eating the 2nd dish of the event. After I started to dive more than a decade ago, and with more information and knowledge, I have learnt about the impact that this is causing to the eco-system and have always been trying to share what I know with others, in which I have never want to offend in anyway. In Singapore, there are certainly many positive signs that the younger generation are beginning to understand this problem and help by simply removing the dish from their menu on the big day. But I strongly believe we can do more, and as a Chinese myself, I really hope we do not end up as the race which drove the sharks to extinction. Please RT or share this with your friends where possible.

From Siem Reap to Siam

2009-06-07T09:18:00.006+01:00

The journey to the Cambodia/Thailand border has been notoriously infamous. Ask any independent traveler who made this trip and 9 out of 10 will probably have a story to tell. Our bus left at 7am with almost 30 of us rounded up from various parts of Siem Reap before heading towards Poipet, the nearest and most commonly used crossing between the 2 countries. Sitting beside me was a Geordie gal who only just managed to get onto the bus after a all night party. She has been a volunteer in the city for the past 6 months and has been making this trip every month to renew her visa. In the midst of her falling asleep, we did manage to have a really lovely chat about her work, her "really wild" party as well as her scary story of how she was driven to "no man's land" and extorted hundreds of dollars for a visa to enter Cambodia from the Thai end.

By noon, everything was smooth sailing as we crossed into Thailand without further troubles and the representation of the transport company gathered the group by a roadside stall to wait for the connecting mini-vans to bring us into the Thai capital, and other parts for other travelers. An hour and an half passed before the van finally arrived before 10 of us were hurried in together with all our huge backpacks and off we go towards Bangkok. Unfortunately it wasn't long before trouble struck - the van overheated and the driver tried for the next half hour trying to get a replacement van and cool the van in the meantime. In the end, he figured that it was best for us to make our way back to the border again to wait for a coach instead as there wasn't any vans available to pick us up. So off we headed back, and again, the van overheated after driving for another 10 minutes and we stopped again to "feed the radiator with water". Just as the rest of the traveling group was starting to grumble, a lady boss speaking minimal English arrived with a car and suggested that that the group be fetched back in batches to the border in the car instead. By then, the group of Chileans + Argentinians and a Swiss couple started to raise their voices towards the lady in charge, who, to her credit, was trying her best to resolve the situation in the best possible way. This continued on even after we got back to the border and during the next hour of waiting, the poor lady was bombarded with all kinds of abuse from the few. It was a scene so ugly that I describe as bringing out the worst behaviour of a human being, until a point where an American pal and I decided to defend her from the group's demeaning abuse.

To be honest, what would you expect to get out if you were to pay $8 to get from Siem Reap to Bangkok? For me, it means no frills travel on a bus/coach and arrive at the destination in one piece. Unfortunately for some, it also meant that they assumed they have the right to put people down, even when they are only visitors to their wonderful countries. I was really disgusted by their behaviour and really hope they are just minorities of the population of their otherwise fabulous countries that I have perceived them to be in my mind.

Another delay halfway into the capital from a punctured tyre meant that we did not get into Bangkok till 9pm (a full 14 hours journey from start), but I was only too pleased that it was a retribution to the unacceptable behaviour from the group to our host of this country...

Divine inspiration from Angkor

2009-06-05T07:41:00.006+01:00

The coach left for Bavet, border between Vietnam and Cambodia half an hour late than the planned 7am departure. 3 hours after leaving the busy streets of Saigon, we arrived at the border, which was surprisingly quick and straightforward. 2 quick stops, passport checks and we are off again heading towards Phnom Penh. The bus boarded onto a barge as we crossed the mighty Mekong river, a meeting point of many hawkers as they try to sell everything from maize to lotus stalk to fried locusts, all carried on the heads of men, women and kids alike. Couple of hours later, we arrived in the capital and waited for another hour for another connecting coach to Siem Reap.

An Australian couple was the only one aboard the 5 hour journey from Phnom Penh and was dark again by the time we arrived in the town. The locals at the stop were quick to play down the guesthouses that you have in mind, and suggesting others. If you are to go on their motorbikes to the accom, make sure you are happy with the rooms before you agree to stay, or pay for the transport. I managed to negotiate a free ride to one of the nearby guesthouse and paid $8 for a non-air con room. Siem Reap is a food paradise, especially if you do not mind sitting by the road to enjoy a local dish under the sweltering heat will only set you back by a couple of dollars.

I rented a bike for the day and headed straight for Angkor, spending an amazing day visiting many of the temples. The 25km around the main Angkor area can be intimidating for many, which you can hire a tuk tuk for the day instead, although I will definitely encourage all to try out the more adventurous route. To really soak in the atmosphere of all the temples, one probably need to spend a couple of days, so if you have limited time like me, be selective on which temples to visit and never try to overdo it. For me, Ta Prohm and Bayon were probably the most interesting ones, especially when one snakes through the crumbling narrow corridors of the former which seem to be devoured by the giant trees climbing all over the walls. I struggled to cycle back into Siem Reap by sunset and even had cramps towards the end!

Spent the night feasting on more cheap and excellent local food, and stocking up again for another long journey into Bangkok the following day.

Laid back Hanoi, busy Saigon

2009-05-31T16:05:00.009+01:00

Hanoi will seem quite chaotic to many first-timers arriving into the capital but the streets in the old Quarter are surprisingly very well organised - you find a street full of shops selling all kind of shoes, from $1 slippers to the latest sneakers, street selling the latest movies in DVD for only £1, or if you are hungry, hunt down the street where it is lined with roadside stalls selling dried cuttlefish, grilled in the most delicious crispy form. Head over to Hoàn Kiếm Lake at first light or evenings and join the locals in their morning exercises as the sun glitters over the water.

I sampled some really good and cheap Vietnamese food at cosy Little Hanoi 1 (recommended by Lonely Planet), and enjoyed getting lost in the maze of streets that all looked the same in the Old Quarter. Avoid the night food market that is highlighted in guidebooks as the prices can be 2 to 3 times more expensive for foreigners than what you get elsewhere, and they are not necessarily better. Walking or motorbikes are the best form of transport as the city is relatively small and you can explore all the little sidewalks where the cars are unable to get to easily. If you are a coffee lover, make sure you try the Viet coffee, not really to my taste, but you might immediately fall in love with it. I especially like buying the different kinds of tropical fruits peddled by the hawkers on bicycles at incredible cheap prices, and eating so much till I ended up having stomachache on both days. The only disappointment was not seeing the Vietnamese women in the traditional gown called ao dai, which always seem so graceful and elegant in pictures, together with wooden hat.

Paid 1.3million Dong for a upper soft sleeper bed on the Reunification Express, the price partly inflated by the commission charged by the hostel, meaning it is definitely a better idea to get the tickets directly at the train station, or check with the hundreds of tour agencies dotted around the city. The locals mentioned that domestic flying can be as cheap as $50 one way to Saigon but have also heard about stories about the flying experience. For me, it was always only gonna be one option, by land, meaning either I take the historical rail slowly humming along the coast to the south or go cheap by taking one of the hundreds of open tour buses on offer that takes you from Hanoi to almost anywhere south. The thought of experiencing a train journey holding the world record of the slowest speed for a railway proves too much to turn it down, which I am sure some of you must have immediately rolled your eyes immediately at this point!

Settled into a compartment with an elderly couple and their grandson, as well as another bloke who joined us on one of the stations along the way. Amenities were bare minimal, so don't expect too much. The conditions for the hard sleeper (6 berth) and sitting were alot "tougher", but I am sure they are just fine after you get used to it like what the locals do. There is a restaurant cart which serves rather nice Viet food at very affordable prices, as long as you ignore the local habits of throwing bones and leftovers on the floor.

The green padi fields along the way seem like a world lost in time, with farmers still using water buffalo to plough their fields and move harvested grain. Occasionally, the train goes pretty close to the coast and smell the fresh sea breeze from the South China Sea, making one feel like jumping into the glistering waters immediately. The 30 hours journey seem like forever, not helped by a kid that was getting restless and was constantly throwing tantrums. Mr Obama's first autobiography was a big help to passing time, and was very impressed with the book.

Arrived in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) late and found a guesthouse along Pham Ngu Lao area for $8. As this area is packed with guesthouses (there are no hostels in this city), one can see travelers enjoying a beer at the many pubs and roadside stalls. The city definitely looked far busier than the capital in the north. Booked a bus into Siem Reap the next morning for $16 after checking around the many travel agents in the area, enjoyed a nice local Pho Bo and strolled around the area before turning in for the night.

Head south, from Hong Kong into Vietnam

2009-05-23T17:06:00.015+01:00

Heading to Vietnam from Hong Kong is usually a breeze but the efforts increase slightly when you limit your transport options to be only land based. First leg of the journey involves taking a China train heading in the direction of Guangzhou. You can either take to Guangzhou East station and take a cab to another station in the city for the train heading to Nanning. Instead of crashing into another mega Chinese city, I bought a ticket to Foshan, (佛山, home to the legendary gongfu master, Wong Fei Hung 黃飛鴻) instead and transfer to the next train heading to Nanning in the same station after a 3 hour wait. Do take note that you will need to re-enter China at Foshan and standard visa requirements will apply for relevant folks. Another cheapest ticket meant that I was again allocated the top bed in the 6 bed berth layout, only this time, the compartments are all open plan. Most of the locals brought their own food whereas some simply bought the meals from the push trolleys that come by every 10 minutes or so. I did the same and it was pleasantly quite edible, and at a very affordable price of 15Y (~£1.50). It was quite interesting to see the varied food brought on board, ranging from traditional dumplings to spiced chicken drumsticks conveniently vacuum wrapped in ready-sale packs.

Arrived in Nanning at six the next morning and got my next train ticket to Pingxiang for 30Y, leaving at 8am to the Chinese/Vietnam border town in 3 hours. Managed to grab some porridge with you tiao (kind of fried dough fritter) for breakfast before the clouds opened and started to pour. As the train snake through the hills and valley completely covered with lush greenery, the train attendants started to come around the cars selling strange things from toothbrushes to UV mini torchlights (they argued that it was very useful to spot fake notes) to 3-for-10Y "top range" socks. One do need to be always wary of everything that is going around you, especially keeping an eye on your belongings as the train was completely packed to the brim. At Pingxiang, bargain hard with the rows of mini vans and tuk tuks lined up outside the rail station. It is worthwhile to exchange some Vietnamese Dong from the ones carrying stacks of millions in their hands as I did not see any ATM machines at the border. Paid 5Y sharing a mini van of 5 to the "Friendship Pass", named to signify the warm relationship between the countries. Locals are not entirely surprised to see backpackers crossing into Vietnam from here but it is still quite unusual, which is good as it meant that prices are kept to the local standard. The Chinese immigration was a breeze but over at the Vietnamese end, one will need to hand over your passport together with the immigration forms to the counter and wait for your name to be called out after it has been verified and stamped. After which you will have to pay another 3Y for a "doctor" to certify you OK before you put your bags through the scanner. Outside the border, look out for buses that head directly into Hanoi, another 4 hour slow journey due to the country's speed restrictions, costing roughly 80,000 Dong for the trip. With the cheap price comes the need to share with fellow "travelers" as the mini van will attempt to pick up as many people heading into the direction of the capital as possible along the way. At one point, it was so crowded that people literally had to "stand" in the van! I was hastily dropped off along a road in Hanoi to take a xe om, or motorbike to the Hanoi Backpackers' hostel as the van was not willing to drive through the Old Quarter. Been a frugal traveler, I ended up taking a 20min stroll through the hustle and bustle of the city landscape, lined with narrow streets filled up with roadside hawkers selling tasty snacks and fruits, crossing the roads like an old pro with millions of motorbikes screaming past, always making sure that the motorists can see me, and avoid me...

Bingeing in Hong Kong

2009-05-18T17:20:00.008+01:00

The overnight train T97 from Beijing to Kowloon was almost filled to the brim with most heading to the southern part of the country in particularly, Guangzhou province. I had bought the cheapest bed on the sleeper train - top bed in a 6 bed compartment. The 24 hour journey turned out to be one of the more boring train rides of my trip so far as I barely chatted with the locals in the bunk as I ended up staying along the corridor most of the time since it was just too crowded to have 6 people squeezed in a tiny compartment. As the train steamed towards the south, the main highlight has to be the moment when the massive Yangtze River came into view and the train rolling over the fast flowing water carrying millions of tons of silt from inner China.

My dive buddy was waiting for me at Wanchai MTR station (Hong Kong's Metro) before we headed to her flat where I will be bunking in for the next 2 nights. People along the streets were mostly wearing face masks as the first H1N1 case was found in a hotel just few blocks down the road. The 300+ customers were still in quarantined which meant plenty of reporters lining up the streets with cameras prying into those trapped within.

Hong Kong is very similar to Singapore, slightly more crowded in terms of population, flats are a tad on the smaller scale too due to the rocket high property prices. Everybody are used to literally rubbing shoulders with each other, either waiting to cross the street junction, taking a lift to your office or squeezing into the public buses and metro. The traditional trolley buses still plowing many of the routes on the 2 main islands are a must for anyone visiting, very similar to London's now-extinct Routemaster buses but much narrower in size - probably due to the smaller built of Asians.

We met up with another friend for dinner headed out to the famous Lan Kwai Fong
bar area after. The area is another of those tourist checkbox to tick against, but it really lacks any serious character unless you want to see and to be seen. Caucasians hang around here alot especially with folklore saying that you can literally pick up a local everytime you head to the bar counter to buy a drink. We met more friends after a mini bar crawl and ended up in a very loud club which we stayed on till the wee hours of the morning.

After a night of unusual high alcohol mixing and intake, I woke up surprisingly unscathed, with my the loss of my voice the only minor annoyance. As the day turned out to be quite nice, we headed up to Victoria Peak for a panoramic view of the country, on top of a 7 storey new shopping complex built at the top of the hill. The tram up the incredibly steep slopes is another interesting sight, else you can either take a cheaper alternative in the bus or even take a 30min slow walk to the top. If you have more time, I will definitely recommend you to head over to the rural Cheung Chau to escape from the urban crowds.

In this country, you can find food in every corner of the street, literally. There are so many "Tea cafe" which sell anything from buns to wonton noodle soup to roast duck rice. Even the 24 hour convenience store (7-eleven) is packed with snacks that can pose a serious danger to people like me to stuff ourselves to death with food! Dim sum is the other must do in the city, especially those older restaurants that still have the steaming hot buns and dumplings coming around in push carts by elderly ladies shouting at the top of the lungs the food that they have. Shopping is also brought to another new level of meaning when you wonder over to Mong Kok in Kowloon where billboards hug every square inch of the space above your head, where thousands of stores lined up the streets, selling from the latest electronic gadgets to shoes wore by the top sports athletics. For ladies, a visit to the "Woman Street" will sound a temptation unlikely to be missed, where the latest hand bags, cosmetics, shoes and lingerie are sold at prices and varieties matched only by those in Bangkok. After dinner at another roadside store, we joined the hundreds by the harbour to watch the "not-so-spectacular" night view of the office blocks that lit up Hong Kong island. Been a weekend, most of the buildings were down to their minimal lights and thus lost a bit of its wow factor that you see in postcards. Instead of taking the metro back, we decided to take the very affordable ferry across the straits instead, becoming a part of what thousands of locals do daily to get on with their lives.

Reliving my adolescent years

2009-05-15T15:19:00.004+01:00

Today has to rank as the most enjoyable day which I had the most fun in my entire trip so far. Rented a bicycle and started cycling to Angkor Wat, along the way reliving my adolescence of my childhood. I was completed broken by the end of the day - a total of 30km covered, 80% of it on the 2-wheelies. The chirping of the birds, deafening noise from the crickets, the incredible hot sun, forests of trees, dust and dirt from passing trucks and my $2 RayBan from Vietnam made life seem so carefree all of a sudden. I am treasuring days like this even more as I close in to the island I call home.

Beijing, a metropolis with a twist

2009-05-13T18:40:00.002+01:00

Hutong - Traditional Chinese housing typically with a large communal courtyard built around the Forbidden City during the long Chinese history. Toilets are usually shared amongst a few households along an alley with hundreds of families living in each narrow street. These historical buildings are fast disappearing to make way for more roads and modern buildings.

Marie miraculously arrived 20 minutes after us at Leo Hostel located in the middle of the Hutong area south of the Tiananmen Square. She did however spent 3 times the taxi fare to get here. Paul was giving me a cheeky grin as if to thank me for been able to speak to the cab driver and get here in the shortest time. During cab journey, the lady driver laughed at me for coming to the Chinese capital only for the first time at this stage of my life (she would obviously be even more unimpressed if she had known how old I was), which was kinda of weird as if thinking that all Chinese should visit this ancient city once in their life, just like a must for the Muslims to visit Mecca.

The rest of the day was spent sorting out the travel arrangements to Hong Kong as I only found out that the Chinese Railway has changed their Beijing-HK schedules, meaning I was only able to leave 1 day later than originally planned. Decided to pay a slight commission to the hostel to help sort out the tickets rather than to spend time queuing up at the train station. Had a quick taste of the cheap and wonderful Beijing dumplings with Paul before strolling to the massive People's Square.

Next day, after another very early morning wake before seven, I headed out to the Hutong area for some rather authentic breakfast of hot soya bean milk, porridge and fried dough fritters, all for only 50 pence! The neighbourhood was incredibly charming, with the young on their electric bikes heading to work, whilst the mom and pops continue on their trusty traditional bicycles to the nearby market, with stores owners breaking the calm dusty air with their shouts for business. A walk through it seems to take you back in time, especially for one who has been so used to living in a city like environment like myself.

As the sun rose higher, raising the temperature ever higher under the smog of dust covering the city, I headed towards the Forbidden City, avoiding the People's National Assembly and Mao's Mausoleum due to the massive queues. Joined the lines of thousands past the Tiananmen where the Chinese guards maintained a level of orderly flow by shouting at the crowd to move forward and not stop to take any pictures. Few enterprising locals were already doing a brisk business by charging 20Y for a picture taken for them and printed out immediately.

Paid 50Y for the entrance fee and another 5Y for a simple guide brochure of the city with some explanations and pictures. On first entry, I was quite overawed by the grand scale of the palace - it was just the size but the immaculate details that are put into each and every corner. My memories immediately drew me back to the days when I watch this on TV, and finally here I am, seeing it with my own eyes of this magnificent city within a city. I wasn't alone, as I can just see the amazement and glitter in every single person the moment they walk through the gates. The numerous tour guides will always start off with each tour group asking if anyone know how many rooms in total are there in the city - the answer is supposed to be 9,999.5, which they will then continue to add that a new born child will be 28 years old by the time he or she finished staying in a room for each day of their lives. To really absorb the history of the city, one should really join one of the hundreds of tour groups visiting for a true learning experience. As usual, I went for the "free" option, staying close to a group whenever there is one nearby, listening intently with my rusty knowledge of the language.

A few more metro lines have since open for service since the Olympics Games last year and are excellent forms of transport to explore the city at the cost of only 2Y per single trip. Tried to find a place called "Jiu Ba Qi", literally translated to "987", where art galleries and chill out cafes are awash in the area, but ended up in the bars and nightlife area of "SiMaiTai" instead. Slightly disappointed, I decided to head towards the Olympics Park instead after tucking into some Pho Bo at a newly opened Vietnamese outlet behind a brand new shopping complex that seems to be sprawling out in every corner of the city.

If you are thinking of doing the same, you might want to consider going after dark as that is when the lights come on for both the Olympics Stadium, also known as the "Bird's Nest" to the locals, as well as the Aquatics Center. The pride and joy of their success in the Olympics last year can clearly be felt in the air as hundreds of locals congregate to take pictures beside these 2 incredible human architectures. I probably spend the same time helping others to take pictures and my own. Some of the locals were even asking how much I charge for a picture as they mistook me as a freelance with my big camera and tripod setup.

Paul and I joined 8 others from the hostel for a trip to the "Secret Wall", which was basically an unrestored section of the great wall about another 30 minutes drive from the the touristy Baidaling. It took almost 2 hours before we left the famed city morning rush, jammed packed with ever increasing number of cars. I will really exchange that for millions of bicycles instead anytime. An elderly man met up in the village at the foot of the Great Wall and been the only Mandarin speaking person of the group, I was naturally "promoted" to be the translator. The 30min climb up to the wall proved to surprise a few as some of them were huffing and puffing by the time we reach the top. But the view was well worth the efforts - an incredible crumbling wall snaking around the peaks of the mountains as far as the eye could see in the thick layer of smog, just the way it has been for thousands of years, no restoration, no touts selling you drinks and best of all, no need to jostle with thousands of other tourists. It was just the eleven of us, enjoying this amazing piece of Chinese history at our own pace. At times, the elderly man will try to spice up the journey with some stories about that section of the wall, which I will translate back to the group. Apparently it was very steep in history as the rebel Li ZhiCheng was said to have invaded the Beijing from here.

Back in the capital, I brought Paul out for another local dinner in the Hutong area which both of us enjoyed a great deal. The next morning, I brought him to try the breakfast that I had the other day and took advantage of my last day to stroll through this wonderful heritage that is in danger of disappearing as the city steams into the 21st century. In the cab to Beijing West station to catch my train to Hong Kong, I felt an unusual disappointment to leave the city. It has been the one and only place in my travels so far where I have felt so much at home, primarily due to my language advantage, but also because it has turned out to be a lot better than I expected it to be. Maybe I was falling into my comfort zone, which is unhealthy and best to leave on a bright note.

Cautionary visa requirements for travelers to Russia

2009-05-12T05:21:00.001+01:00

For travelers going into the country, do take note of a new visa requirement by the Russian authorities. When going into the country, you will retain the visa form that the immigration returned to you with a stamp. You will need to bring your passport and visa to a nearby police station to get it stamped by 72 hours into the country. For any stopover that you are staying for more than 3 days, you will also need to do the same for that location. Some hotels and hostels can also do it for you, but you will probably have to make the arrangements yourself if staying in a guesthouse. This precautionary measure was introduced to reduce illegal immigrants and people overstaying their visas. During my recent trip across Russia, I was quite lucky to leave the country into Mongolia without problems at the border even though they were questioning me about the missing stamps as I have stayed more than a week in the country. Stories from fellow travelers revealed of people getting fined from USD$50 to been brought back to Moscow to spend 3 months behind bars!

So spare yourself this hassle and remember to do what is needed!

Last leg of Trans Siberian journey

2009-05-09T08:39:00.003+01:00

Marie woke me at 0630hr for our train in an hour and half time. Had a terrible night as I had to visit the toilet on more than one occasion the moment I got back from the restaurant the night before. Also started to run a temperature and only felt slightly better after a dose of lemsip. The others were also struggling with the early hours as they were out partying till the wee hours and barely had more than 3 hours of sleep.

Bobby of UB Guesthouse had to chase us onto the waiting minibus to the train station as they had to be at the platform to pick up arriving guests as well. Dave wanted to spend more time in the country which meant only Marie and Paul travelled together with me on this journey. We all slumped into our respective berths the moment the train left the station, me with another dosage of lemsip, and slept through most of the day, not helped by the stuffy atmosphere in the compartment as the train slowly made its way south across the searing heat towards the Chinese border at Erlian.

It was quite a close shave at the border as the Chinese authorities have started to screen out any potential case that might have anything to do with the swine flu. Was lucky that my temperature has subsided when he pointed the infra red thermometer on my forehead, although Paul did get a 2nd check of his temperature using a mercury thermometer as they have assumed that he has come from USA where there have been reported cases. Won't be able to face everyone if I end up getting everyone on the train to be quarantined!

The train was held at the border for more than 5 hours as all the carriages were brought into the warehouse for bogie changing, with everyone onboard! I suspect they did not allow anyone to get off the train due to the swine flu checks and just wanted to reduce any chance of human contact. This meant that we were unable to get off to watch the entire bogie changing process as the carriages have to be put on a smaller set of bogies due to the narrower rails in China as compared to the wider ones used in Russia and Mongolia.

By morning, the train was speeding towards Beijing and I was quite disappointed to miss the section of the rail where it cuts through the Great Wall. Was even more disappointed to learn from the attendants that the Chinese have rerouted the train route to Beijing meaning that it no longer climbs up the mountains for a view of the Great Wall, but instead go through countless new holes that the Chinese have tunneled through the mountains.

As the train roll into Beijing Main train station, it also meant that we have come to the end of our Trans Siberian train adventure - all 7755 (thereabouts) kilometres in all (a little bit more for Paul and myself as we started from St Petersburg). I am just about halfway to my journey back home but was rather looking forward to my next adventures through Asia, starting from this huge capital housing 15 million people. Was immediately overwhelmed by the crowds coming off the trains heading for the exit, and Marie was immediately lost in the sea of bobbling heads...

Lost in the beauty of Mongolia

2009-05-08T09:06:00.006+01:00

Amid volcanic craters, pine-clad lava fields and the occasional herd of grazing yaks lies the Great White Lake, as it’s known in English, lies the Khorgo-Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur National Park. According to legend, the lake was formed when an elderly couple forgot to cap a well after fetching water. The valley flooded with water until a local hero shot a nearby mountain top with his arrow; the shorn top covered the well and became an island in the lake (Noriin Dund Tolgoi). In reality, the lake was formed by lava flows from a volcanic eruption from the nearby Khorgo Uul volcano many thousands years ago. When we arrived, the beauty of this place immediately mesmerise the entire group, especially as the Russian beast pull over the peak for a panoramic view of the nature park. We all agreed that it probably has the best toilet view in the world, whilst doing your morning "business". The winds turned into light snow in the night as we huddled together inside the Ger, under the cozy warmth of the burning firewood.

The following day, we jumped onto the horses waiting outside our Ger as the wind howl towards us in a relentless mood. As my jacket was left in the UB Guesthouse back in UlaanBaatar, the host deemed that I was wearing too little with my 4 layers of tops that I have brought along for the trip (for a sense of how cold it was, I had a base layer, 2 t-shirts and wool fleece) and was ill-equipped to ride to the volcano. He came back from his Ger with his traditional Mongolian coat and helped to put it on me. I was also the lucky one to get the only white horse in the group which during the 4 hour ride, kept trotting to the front of the group and refused to be overtaken by anyone else.

Amidst a vast lava field strewn with black lava rocks, we visited 2 lava caves with ice that has not melted for thousands of years before heading towards Khorgo Uul volcano. As it was my first horse riding experience, I did eventually end up with a sore back bone (the piece just at the base of your back bone) and wobbly legs at the end of it as I tried all ways to make my ride more natural and comfortable, especially when the horse went on one of his ego-charge gallops to run away from the group. Paul said his kidneys hurt more than anything (wonder if it was the Russian vodka or the ride) else after the ride although he was in much better shape after a good siesta. The 4 hour ride only costs us £6 additional each! We had more mongolian noodles for dinner and it was starting to get to all of us (was hilarious when Marie took a first bite, said it tasted "AWESOME", but spat it out after I dared her to take another mouth as I suspected she was been polite, being Irish).

I set my camera up to try to take a long exposure shot of the night sky, with the eventual result showing the stars circling around the North Star, with the streaks of white light behind each. Unfortunately the camera on my battery died after 2 tried of 30 minute exposures but it was certainly an encouraging start. Even without the camera, one can only appreciate the beauty of the stars yourself in complete darkness. That was when I understood the meaning of "putting your hands out to reach for the stars...", as it really gave me that illusion.

On day 4, we packed up, thanked our lovely hosts and hop onto the Russian beast again and sped off on the dry landscape under the careful manoeuvre by Baatra. We stopped halfway to chat to another jeep of former Peace Corp volunteers heading to the west before coming across our first herd of camels. It was another 5 hours of probably the toughest off road before we arrived in the flatlands halfway between the Great White Lake and UB. The view was however one of the best of the trip as endless of mountains lined alongside us. I was enjoying the sights of the countless herds of sheeps, yaks and cows by mimicking their sounds on every passing, with Baatra contradicting me with the sound of the other animal every time. He did miss a moment of concentration and hit a sheep as it tried to cross in front of the car but was a step too late.

Our last stop on the flat plains happened to be staying in the Ger of Baatra's mom and brother, who are still living there in the wild, although few modern amenities have supplemented their simple life in the form of solar panels, satellite dish and tv. I had my first experience of a mini sand storm while walking back from the nearby river after a washup with herds of goats and sheep around me. Ended up taking shelter in a depression on the ground for half a minute for it to pass. Was kindly invited by Baatra into his mom's Ger for tea where she proudly displayed his wedding pictures and his 3 month old daughter. As there was not a single tree around, the fire burning in the Ger was fuelled by dried cow dung instead, which burnt pretty well but gives off a smell that, let's just say, not pleasant.

Another 350km drive on the hottest day of our trip on the 5th day back to the capital ended our Mongolian wild adventure. We stopped halfway for lunch and had more Mongolian noodles, this time only Baatra, Paul and I been the only ones eating; Dave has also joined Marie and surrendered to pot noodles instead. We arrived back in UB Guesthouse just before 6pm and immediately took turns for a nice long shower to clean away all the sand and dirt from the last 5 days. Looking back, I was really glad to have done the trip, and experienced the kind and warm people of normadic Mongolians first hand, which was greatly enhanced by a bunch of like-minded and fun travellers. We celebrated our "clean" self again by heading to a Cuba restaurant for some steak and Coca Cola!

Flickr to Mongolian set

Mongolia, a vast land of surprises

2009-05-04T15:05:00.002+01:00

The Mongolian capital feels like a huge dustbowl, similar to many of the Russian cities that I passed by. Not helped by the huge Russian influence in the shaping of this city where winters can get as low as minus 50 degrees and up to 40 degrees in the scorching summer heat. Bobby from UB Guesthouse picked me up from the station at the Irkutsk/UlaanBaator train calls to a halt. I had planned to only stay for 2 nights, with most of the time spent out living in a Ger in a nearby Nature Park, and continue my journey into Beijing, only to find out that the only trains to run directly into the chinese capital only service on Thursdays and Sundays. The other alternative is a 3 day journey via a local train to the Mongolian border, followed by mini bus across to the Chinese border and another bus ride from there to the capital. Figured that I can't afford the additional day of travel even though it was half the cost of the train ride, only to be convinced by various in the hostel to take up a 5D/4N trip to the Great White Lake on the west of this vast country. That night, I withdrew 450,000 worth of Togrog, equivalent to about USD$250 to pay for the trip and train ticket ($125), felt like a millionaire at that point in time!

The hostel was almost full that weekend, with Dutch forming the majority of the numbers. A fellow Singaporean, Jo, was also staying in my dorm room, together with a Korean and Japanese. She has been making her way westwards from China into Mongolia, with Russia being her next stop. It was refreshing to find travellers from home with the keen sense of adventure and unafraid to step out of the comfort zones of their jobs and homes to see the world. A group of us headed to a Korean restaurant for a meal of very good and authentic Korean dishes before Jo left to catch her train. I headed to the State Departmental Store with Paul (American from Las Vegas) to stock up on food for the next 5 days.

Next day, our group of 4 got onto a Russian-built 4x4 van and headed west for a 350km drive to Kharakorum, the former capital of the country back in the 13th century. Behind the wheels was a very cheerful Batra, young man who recently have his first daughter of 3 months. Besides Paul, there was Dave, a Brit in his mid twenties who got fed up with the work that he has been doing and decided to go on a road trip round the world, and Marie (I can't spell her real Irish name!), an Irish nurse who has loads of energy and can't seem to stop chatting. We stopped halfway at a place known as mini-Gobi to see the sand dunes that is synonymous with the famous desert, only to find a few small sand peaks reaching barely 10m in height. Paul, been on another 7 days trip south to the Gobi desert prior to this trip, did not even bother to get down the van, or maybe he was just nursing his hangover from the deluge of vodka from the night before. We arrived at Kharakorum just before sunset, a 8 hour back breaking drive on a combination of tarmac and off road. Settled into a Ger, which is a traditional Mongolian tent used by the normadic Mongolians, easy to setup but yet strong enough to withstand the ferocity of the 100 mile winds. We spent the rest of the evening running up the nearby hills, mimicking sheep bahs and enjoying the vast emptiness of the surroundings, before settling back into the Ger to "enjoy" the local Buuz (mongolian dumplings) and burning real firewood to keep warm. We enjoyed our first traditional throat singing performance by a 54 year old local, who entertained us for almost 40 minutes of very traditional mongolian art, frequently rotating his musical instrument. Considering that his is his hobby (he said he started learning it since 17), he is not too bad!

The 300km drive to Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur National Park was another back breaking ride on some of the most off road, crossing small streams and going over numerous mountains. Some of the scenery along the way were really amazing, as the colours on the mountains start to change from brown to its bright summer glories. We stopped by a small town for lunch and had the first of our many "fried noodles with mutton" dish over the next few days. It's amazing how they can reuse this dish in various different forms - fried, soup, more fried, soup using mongolian tea - tasted great on the 1st day, after which I came to run when I smell of it. Marie did not even want to try and stuck to her beef goulash, which was a mix of rice, some carrots and fried beef/mutton (we can never seem to figure what meat it was, as long as it didn't come from the camel).

...to be continued...

Goodbye Russia, hello Mongolia

2009-04-27T16:30:00.004+01:00

The trip out of Russia was a test of anyone's patience;
- Waited 4 hours for train from Irkutsk;
- 7 hours at the Russian border of Naushki;
- Another 3 hours at the Mongolian border of Suhbaatar.

It took an incredible 32 hours to cross 1115km of track, even though parts of the rail around Lake Baikal was once the most difficult bits to build. Was completely exhausted at the end of the day from waiting for the day to pass and my 6th pot noodles on the Trans Siberian trip was getting to me as well - the first taste delicious, the 6th feels like a torture.

On the bright side, the scenery after Ulan Ude towards the border was a refreshing change as the train headed south into the once great steppes of Genghis Khan - rolling mountains, rivers and lakes combine with sparse colourful SIberian log cabins to form a very picturequse sight. There are times when a curious cow comes ever so close to the oncoming train only to stop at the very last moment by the horn.

2 ladies joined my compartment at Naushki heading for a shopping trip across the border in Mongolia. I seem to understand that they were history teacher and architect prior to taking up this current job of a border guard because there are not enough jobs in their former city. Their expressions and language tells the story of how boring this job is, and looking at how tiny the village was when I passed, I really feel sad for them. This is especially when one of them, Natasha, has 2 little kids at home in Volga (very far from here) whom she can't visit till 2 years of her contract is up.

Leaving Russia, I can definitely see and feel the change sweeping across the biggest country in the world, modernisation, westernisation, brand, class, have overtaken the basic needs of survival. It will be a long road ahead, and a tough one, especially for the majority group who are struggling with keeping up with the pace of change. I have met and befriend some of the most amazing and friendly people on my trip, be it their innocence and simple way of life that reflects the world that we hardly see much of in this 21st century of ours. I look forward to Mongolia, to a different land so sparse of human presence, where the great Genghis Khan once ruled much of Asia and Europe, where steppes, mountains, glaciers, desert and sand rules over all.

Journey to Lake Baikal

2009-04-26T07:16:00.004+01:00

Train 222 from Yekaterinburg to Irkutsk turned out to be very local and full. A couple, Ruslan and his wife-to-be Nadine, shared the compartment with me. Ruslan, with his splattering English, was doing his best to strike up a reasonable conversation with me, whilst gulping down the first of his 5 pints of Russian beer for the night. They insisted on viewing the photos I took on the trip after I traced my journey so far on a paper map, which I gladly obliged, under a constant stream of Russian rap and dance music from their mobile phones. Ruslan showed me the catalog of giant copper cables that his company produce, which he sells to customers, even though the only think I understood was the diagrams and pictures that looked incredibly familiar from my uni days of studying electrical engineering. When he tried to guess my age, it was a ridiculous 20 - maybe he was just been extremely polite.

They got off the next morning at the city of Omsk and the compartment did not welcome a another visitor until the train called into Novosibirsk, where a big woman, dressed in red from top to bottom, including her bags and shoes, came onboard and immediately pulled out a bottle of Russian beer and asked if I wanted some. She tried to say a few words of mandarin from the notebook that she pulled out from her handbag. Her interests in our conversation came and went almost as quickly after I kindly turned down on the drinks. In no time, she was fast asleep soundly without even finishing her 2nd bottle.

The train crossed another 3 time zones (I am now the same time zone as Mongolia, China and Singapore, the good news is that I will be sticking to this time zone all the way from now) by the 2nd day of the journey, 4400km from Moscow, but not even halfway to Vladivostok, and I was starting to get restless and sleeping at night was a challenge. The struggle to understand the locals to strike up any useful conversation was also building into frustrations, and there was not a single like-minded traveller on the train as well - It seemed that my ticket was uncommon for Trans-Siberian travellers like me. Having the train aligned to Moscow time whilst we were actually 5 hours ahead doesn't help with the meals. Breakfast, lunch and dinner seem to completely mixed into a convoluted mess, but I tend to just stick to my biological clock. On the hygiene aspect, the toilet seems to have a "natural" ventilator in the source of the same hole on the floor that drains away any water spilled from the tiny basin, very cooling at times - nice!

My third visitor was Roman, one who spoke with great pride of his same name as the owner of Chelsea football club, who was also eager to show me the photo in his wallet of his wife and 4 year old son. He seems to be very proud of his home town in Irkutsk and tells me of his Japanese car (part of the influx of used cars from Japan and other booming Asian economies) and own apartment, especially when I told him I had a bicycle which I use to cycle to work and most other places, is jobless and will be living with my parents when I get back home. He was also into his third bottle of Russian beer well before the sky started to turn dark and snow heavily. Seems like most locals simply drink to pass the incredible long time spent on trains although I have not met anyone on the train who drinks the legendary vodka yet.

Finally arrived in Irkutsk at 02:35 and was only glad to have a young guy speaking fluent English (Finally!) holding my name on the platform to pick me up to the village of Listvyanka, by Lake Baikal for the next 3 days. The journey took another hour and half before we finally stop at a house overseeing the frozen lake. Jarin, collected me and showed me my room which I settled in but struggled to get to bed after the multiple transits.

This UNESCO listed lake is more than 1.6km in depth, deepest and oldest lake in the world, containing roughly 1/5 of the world's fresh water supplies. Water is so clear (up to 40m visibility) and deemed drinkable as it is, literally. Locals often bring a big container a metre in height and he will have 2 small fillers down to the lake to scoop the water. The ice of the surface forms a mirage that often misled people to think that the mountains peaks bordering Siberia with Mongolia seems nearer than they should. Darwin would be so amazed if he were to know a species of fresh water seals have evolved and acclimatize to this environment so far inland. Their numbers have been recovering slowly after a hunting ban for their precious fur on these amazing mammals. I wonder if the polar bears will wander this far south if global warming is to continue melting the ice up in the North. Another native fish found only in this lake, Omul is a delicacy here too and its meat taste delicious and sweet, which I tried at the excellent Cafe ProshliyVek, where I had my dinner for the 2 nights I stayed by the lake (homestay only included breakfast). The visit to Baikal museum was fascinating, although tiny to describe the size. Paying 350R to see the pair of enclaved seals and other fish and sponges found in the lake seems a bit too much especially when the guidebook indicated only 100R. I do have mixed feelings about such exhibits but I think it is important to educate the public where necessary, and in this case, I have definitely learned more about the wildlife in and around the lake. The climb up the hill behind the museum is also well worth the effort for an excellent view of the lake and Angara, the only river that the lake flows into, where a dam has been built near the city of Irkutsk for the cheapest electricity for the residents in the whole of Russia - as per the locals.

The couple of the homestay I am living with goes on with an extremely simple lifestyle. They spend majority of the day at home watching television as their 3 children are all working in other cities, especially during this period of time when it is neither winter nor spring. Living beside a lake huge enough for the entire world's population for the next 40 years if all other freshwater were to run out today, I am pleasantly surprised by how water efficient they are as there are drums palced in almost everywhere possible in the gardens to collect runoff water from the hills behind as well as the melting snow for agriculture usage I suppose.

Winter never seem to end in this part of the world, only the temperature goes up slightly higher above freezing. After another night of heavy snow, the sun is at least showing up the following day. Unable to find more activities to do and again struggling to have any reasonable conversation, even with the local tourist office, where I was trying to find out on the availability of things to do. Ended doing more trekking up north by the lake, only to be turned back after 4km in as sections of the path has been submerged. It was a pity to see endless empty or broken beer bottles and other rubbish left behind by humans along this beautiful lake.

Spent more time watching BBC Iplayer downloads for the remaining day than I would have liked but also took the opportunity of the brilliant sunshine to sit by the lake, in front of broken iceberg, trying to come to terms with Mr Darwin's evolutionary book. The amazing sunset over a frozen lake was enough to ease all prior frustrations.

Got out of Listvyanka to Irkutsk the next morning on a local bus costing 101.50 R. Spent the afternoon wondering around the Regional museums. Again felt the entrance fee has been jacked up to 200R from the quoted 100R in the guidebook. The ticket office literally gave me 2 tickets of 100R each to explain why I was paying that amount! Stocked up more food at the supermarket before trekking another 5km to the train station, for my 32 hour journey, finally leaving Russia and heading into Mongolia.

Photos of Trans Siberia set.

26 hours on rail, from Moscow to Yekaterinburg

2009-04-19T10:34:00.004+01:00

Kupe - 4 bed compartments with doors for privacy commonly found on the trains ploughing the Russian tracks.

Began my longest train journey so far in my life - 26 hour ride from Moscow's Yaroslavsky station to Yekaterinburg, also known as Sverdlovsk on the Russian train time tables, 1816km from the capital. Shared my compartment with a senior Russian woman returning to Irkutsk on probably one of the best Trans Siberian train - Train No. 10. The fierce and unfriendly looks from the city were immediately transformed to keen and curious questions about myself as we settled into the tiny space. After much nodding, shaking of heads and hand gestures, managed to pick up a few tricks on how to best store my luggage and change into comfortable "train wear" within the comfortable 25 degrees of the cabins opposite the freezing chills sweeping the platform outside the view.

Throughout the next day, there was an keen interest about finding out more of this strange Oriental all the way from Singapore, doing in this part of the world. I showed them pictures of places I been, and showed them maps of my journey so far and the plans to arrive back home on land. The woman seems to be returning to Irkutsk with hand cream made by her mom to sell (or was she trying to say both she and her mom use the same cream). She showed me her son and grandson and I learnt a few more Russian words by writing them down as she tries to induct me into the Cyrillic world.

The little gal in the next cabin seems to be attracted to me for some reason and kept popping over to get me to "talk" and play with her. Our only communication were mainly me saying "Nyet", "Da" and a shrug of the shoulders, but she still seem to enjoy every moment. Guess she just needed someone to keep her company.

The view on the train can be immerse especially when the woman woke me up at 05:50 and raised the curtain to see the amazing sunrise - biggest sun I have seen in my life - rising from the horizon. I assumed she is on Irkutsk time zone which is 5 hours ahead of Moscow. Along the way, you could really see wooden huts, endless birch forests and bobs of industrial cities as the train slowly made its way East. Time can pass by quite easily for most folks, as I walk along corridor, at times peeping into the life of the locals who are so used to using the rail as transport across the Siberian tundra. Some read, some were eating cup noodles, some staring into the empty space and some simply just sleep the day away (which was what 2 Brits were doing most of the time during the journey). The trains hardly go faster than 80-100 kph and during most stops, most head out for a breathe of fresh air and some exercise, as well as buying some food from the hawkers peddling food along the platform. You can buy most cup noodles and small snacks from the Provodnitsa or carriage attendant or head to the food carriage if there is one. I regretted not bringing enough instant coffee sachets thinking that I wouldn't get to drink that much, but turns out that you keep looking for things to drink or munch to pass the time, along with a handy book at hand. There is a stove fired samovar which hot water can be obtained at any time. I even got a very delicately styled cup for my hot drinks from the Provodnitsa for free, but to be returned when you disembark the train.

Had a mini incident with the Russians authorities again at Perm 2 when I popped out to take some pictures, only to find 2 huge Ruski policemen grabbing me and indicating to me "no pictures". They had wanted to bring me away before I insisted that I was from the stopping train and got the attention of the carriage attendant who got me out of trouble. Learnt from locals later that this is the city where they manufacture the Sputnik rockets (or was it where they fire the rockets) and I should stay away from policemen as they are mostly crazy.

Arrived in Yekaterinburg at 03:55 with a private cab arranged by Katie of Meeting Place hostel waiting for me outside the station. Air was freezing as it had been snowing for much of the day and arrived at the doors of the hostel, with Katie waiting for me after 20 min. Struggled to sleep again after, I am now 5 hours ahead of GMT, 2 hours ahead of Moscow and have to resort to keep my watch to Moscow time, and phone to the local time, as the trains are based on Moscow time - how odd!

Took a day trip out to Ganina Yama on a public bus, 17 km outside the city, in the middle of the forest, where the last Romanov Tsars were murdered, disposed and dismembered after to remove all trace of the atrocity by the red army. The place has since been transformed into a monastery and it has a very calming effect as you walk through the woods with Russian Orthodox church music in the air. To get there, head to the bus terminal outside the railway station and look for a kiosk with the words "Ганина Яма" on top of it. The mini bus 17 plys the route every 2 hour and cost 25 R each way. You can check the schedule outside the kiosk or at the monastery when you arrive.

There isn't much else in this sprawling city with top brands and new apartments taking over the city as you walk through the main streets. On the other hand, people are alot friendlier than the ones I have encountered in the previous 2 metropolis, and you could really feel the keen interest to know you better. Another photography exhibition gave me much inspiration again to take better pictures and decided to use the remaining day to stock up on my supplies for my 49 hours rail ride to Irkutsk before making my way down to Lake Baikal to spend a few quiet days to reflect.

In and out of Moscow in 24 hours

2009-04-18T17:43:00.006+01:00

3 years ago, I set foot into Moscow and was reasonably wowed by how everything are so gigantic. 3 years later, I still get this same feeling. This time round I got a taste of the train stations after arriving from a packed overnight train from St Petersburg with 3 other blokes in my cabin - glad it was a peaceful sleep through the night. Will be a short stopover this time round as I am catching the night train out of the city, and only had few things in mind to see. The former KGB building off Lubyanskaya Pl, which was slightly disappointing since it hardly look any sinister to what the guidebook mentioned; St Basil Cathedral - still fascinated by this "funky" looking cathedral which stands out from the many others that I have seen around Europe; and a first hand experience in a public banya, or traditional Russian steam bath. It is very similar to the hammam that I had in Istanbul, with the main difference been the men (I think there are different sections for women as well) going into a ridiculous hot steam room, armed with birch branches, which they will use to hit against their bodies, legs, arms, etc to improve the blood circulation. As usual, my high tolerance to heat means that I struggle to sweat initially and had to shower myself and go in and out of the steam room few times to get the glands going. Have to admit that I underestimated how hot it can get as I almost fainted at one point after it got so hot from the constant steam generated by the caretaker who was splashing bobs of water into the heater. To make it even more exciting, you are supposed to dip yourself into freezing water outside the steam room to cool yourself off. You repeat this to the point that you think you finally have enough! I have to admit that sitting in the steam room, flanked by huge naked russian men, with the smell coming from the birch leaves, was quite a weird one, but it left me feeling so refreshed, especially after been on the roads for 2 over days and warmed me up considerably under freezing Moscow weather. I stopped short of letting the Russians do a body scrub - not without any towels!

Took a short detour to see the world's biggest Mcdonalds, which opened in 1990, to queues of crowd lining round the square in front of Pushkinskaya Metro station - there were probably 20 or more counters and seats 700 people! Elsewhere, one will only be surprised by the number of luxury cars on the roads, and the number of new luxury stores that keep popping up along the streets...I guess this is true Capitalism, especially when you see how many beggers are around the streets as well.

Had another bad encounter with Russians whilst collecting my rucksack from the luggage room, where the old man handling the bags as I misplaced the token that was given to me in exchange for the bag. He obviously knew which bag I was carrying as he was on the verge of handing it over before I struggled to return him the token, and started shouting and cursing at me, even though I offered to pay for the "loss". After 10 minutes of "begging" him to return my bag, the token finally "reappeared" in one of my zipped compartments which he then finally literally threw the bag back at me. I apologised and knew I was in the wrong but he doesn't seem to take in anything I said and continued to shout at me...he's probably had a long day, wife made him sleep on the sofa the night before, and did not have enough to drink for the day, but still, there is no reason for me to be on the receiving end of such service.

Can't wait to get on the 23:25 train to Yekaterinburg and leave 2 forgetable cities behind me...not the best start to the journey, hope the worse has ended here...

St Petersburg - corrupted, overhyped?

2009-04-16T08:50:00.006+01:00

Crossing into my 3rd time zone since leaving the English capital. My body is adapting fine but the poor bus journey was not making this any easy. The bus dropped in at some station other than the one I was expecting. Luckily there was a Metro station beside it although it took me few minutes to figure out exactly what station it was. First stop was the Intourist office several stations away, made slightly challenging with an interchange to another line. The Metro system is an unusually deep underground, taking one easily 2 minutes to get to the platform from the surface, assuming the reason behind was that it doubled up as bomb shelters during the 900 day siege by the Germans during WWII.

English is next to useless in this part of the world, and people are strangely very unfriendly. I am not sure been Oriental played a part to this but even the security guards at the reception of the building of the travel agency were refusing to allow me to get to the office, and kept speaking to me in Russian when it was obvious that I understood nothing of it. After much efforts and waiting for 30min, I finally got my tickets I came for and left for Moskovsky Vokzal station to deposit my bag. If you get a chance to use the luggage deposit, make sure you remember the following sequence to save yourself more unnecessary time and sign language with the involved.

1. Pay the amount (R72.10) at the counter; where the lady will then hand over a token to you.
2. Find an empty locker.
3. Stuff in your bag and everything else you want.
4. On the inside of the locker door, there are 4 dials; the first is a Cyrillic character and the next 3 are numbers; select the combination you want and remember them by hard.
5. Close the locker door and insert the token from earlier and you should hear a "click" of the locker successfully closed and locked. Otherwise you might have to find another locker that is working. Remember to scramble the lock combination at the front before you leave.

To take the Metro, you also need to buy tokens off the counter costing R20 each, which you can use to take to any stop. Headed to Nevsky Pr and walked towards the Neva River for the State Hermitage Museum, where at one time, I was so sleepy and struggled to stay awake even though in front of me were probably some of the most impressive art display in the world - I guess I wasn't into the cultural mood at that moment. A pair of elderly American ladies asked me for directions as they too struggled with getting any information from the locals.

The number one thing to remember in Russia that is different from rest of Europe - almost everything seems further than what they look like on the map! Everything here is SUPERSIZED - roads, buildings, rivers, etc. Unless you really prefer to walk, it would be a better option to take the Metro where possible as the roads are especially dusty and you can spent a long time to get to your destination, although most of the sights are centered around Nevsky Pr, which is a very long road linking Moskovsky station (all trains to and from Moscow ends here) to the Neva River before it joins the Gulf of Finland. At this time of the year, one will see loads of broken ice sheets following down the river, where it is famed to become a mosquito breeding ground during the summer.

I heard about winter swimming and was lucky to see one brave soul doing a 30 seconds swim from the island of Peter and Paul fortress. Really cannot imagine how cold that is but learnt from the locals that it is supposed to be very healthy activity as your blood rushes through your arteries and veins after that to continue to keep your body warm, provided you do not die of a heart seizure.

As my train was way past midnight, I spent my remaining hours at the train station where I ran into the my first encounter of the corruption in the country. As I was earlier "chased" out of the food court after sitting and reading for 3 hours, I went back this time to buy a small bowl of Stroganov soup, paid and sat down to enjoy the football match that just started. Within a few minutes, the same policeman walked over and handed me a paper with "R78" written on it, and pointed me to the cashier. As I argued to say that I have paid, he continued to point at the paper and spoke in Russian. After, he left and came back with another older policeman and both started to demand me to do the same. I realised it was a lost cause, not speaking a word of Russian and no one to help even though I tried to get the guy who paid after me to confirm that I have indeed paid for my soup. Annoyed, I went to the cashier with the 2 police and handed the money as requested and specifically asked for a receipt this time round. If you are in Russia, make sure you ask for the receipt for everything you buy, you never know who or what might come after you. I guess I made the mistake to not take the receipt and they took the opportunity to get something out of me, even though it was such a small amount. But that was enough to annoy me that I just left immediately and stood outside for the remaining 2 hours to wait for the train instead. Maybe I was one of the unlucky ones, but at that time, this was the only impression in my mind, far from good and I can't wait to take the train out immediately. Frankly I can't see the attraction that so many regard of this city. Besides the Hermitage, it's just another one them - rude, dirty, corrupted and overrated, but I will leave it to you to decide from your own experience.

Crossing from Estonia into Russia

2009-04-15T08:35:00.001+01:00

Almost missed my 23:59 bus to St. Petersburg as I was looking out for a Eurolines bus which I booked, which was no where to be seen. Instead, a dodgy looking old double deck bus came along and I literally had to run to catch the bus from leaving. As usual, it was a bus load of Russians with curious eyes on the one and only oriental, wondering if I had taken the wrong way.

At 3:15, the bus arrived at the Estonia border after an extremely bumpy ride; or was it the bus? A border guard came up to collect everybody's passports and left. It was a nervous wait especially since I knew neither Estonian or Russian, and probably no one knows the language that I speak too. 10 minutes later, the same guard came back and distributed the passports back to individuals and the bus drove on across the bridge separating the 2 countries, with a raging river below.

On the Russian side, everyone were asked to carry all their luggage, with the immigration forms filled up for the border checks. As expected, the woman behind the counter looked at me with suspicion, called out to her superior and they both started to talk in Russian for a good 10 minutes. The superior scrutinized every page of my passport to the degree that I was worried that it might fall apart anytime. I suspect they are wondering why would anyone have such thick passports? (I get this asked many times on my travels) After another minutes of scanning under the UV light, going through all the pages again and again, she finally put a stamp on my visa and handed back my passport.

It took a good hour before the entire bus got through the border, mainly waiting for me to get through to be exact. Has been a nervy experience, not helped by the fact of the language problem and not knowing exactly what they might decide to do. I guess this is the type of "unusual" encounters that attracts travellers to continue to come into this crazy country despite all the hassle and efforts to get here. Alas, all is well and we loaded back onto the bus at 04:30 and continued the journey to St Petersburg...amidst a worse road...

Closing a Baltic chapter

2009-04-14T16:53:00.006+01:00

Finally a day when I am not rushing around catching a bus or train, lazing around in bed till 9 in the morning. Chatted with the friendly Irish gal in charge of Viru Backpackers as she was telling me about her Trans-Siberian trip last February, where she then stayed on 2 months in China and made her way down to Laos, Cambodia before ending up in Thailand. Managed to pick up a few useful tips on Do's and Dont's for myself on my way back home. She even passed me her "Southeast Asia on a shoestring" book! My bag is not getting any lighter...

Tallinn is quite small, especially if you only consider the interesting old town, but very medieval. What's good about this town is that you can enjoy most of the sights as much without a handbook as there is a useful acrylic plaque on the wall of the building of interest describing it's history in Estonian and English. Many probably remember this city/country made famous by Kazaa or Skype, a city that is perpetually enveloped by free WiFi completely - which obviously is useful for travellers like myself. Cafes are also very common amongst the locals and you can always find a little cosy looking one around the corner of the streets somehow. It's probably quite a refreshing change to walk on cobbled streets again after a week of fjords, snow and mountains. To be honest, one really just need a day to cover this city and probably best to move on or head out for day trips. Will be ideal to combine it with other Baltic states as well since it is so easy to get around. For me, it's really to close out the "unfinished business"from my last trip, where I started off in Latvia before heading down south.

Whilst here, remember to try out the pancakes (serves both sweet and savoury) at Kompressor, and coffee at Kehrwieder, which will be my recommendations. Also head over to the Museum of Occupation if you are interested to learn more about the years before Independence, where it was subjected to USSR, then Germany, and again USSR's control before it finally got it's independence in 1991 together with the other Baltic states. The city seem to be pretty big on Jazz and music festivals too, and I think there are plenty coming up over Spring and Summer. Did not take many pictures, but as usual, you can find a few on my Flickr.

Heading off to the bus station to catch the overnight Eurolines coach to St Petersburg, but first I have to find a pub to catch the big match. Might be mission impossible, but never say never...

Through the length of Finland and across to Estonia

2009-04-13T23:35:00.007+01:00

Had one of my best sleep for in a week, completely knocked out on a sturdy bed in a room all by myself. No need to sneak around in the dark worried about waking others up, no need to wake up early for limited toilets, and best not having to endure painful snores. Breakfast was a refreshing change, considering that I have not have any proper meals for the last 18 hours, surviving on a tube of Pringles crisps which I finished all. The morning sun was barely visible, blocked by a thick layer of fog, as I strolled in the direction of the bus station. I was encouraged as a small group started to form for the bus that is due to arrive at 10.05am. The 30km journey to Kemi took about half an hour and the train station is just a short walk across the other side of the road.

Started to chat to a couple who took the same bus as well at the station - husband was Thai who married a Finn and are living in Helsinki after 5 years working together in Bangkok; a modern day love story of fate bringing 2 people from such extremes together. Glad to have some locals to chat to on the way down south. Had my first Finnish food - meat balls with mash potato on the train - hang on, I thought that was Swedish? Anyway, it tasted rather good as it was nicely made hot before serving although it was a pricey €9.40. Was rather embarrassed to find out that Finland has been using Euros for almost 10 years now instead of Finnish Marks.

Managed to catch a few video podcasts under the series "Magnum in Motion", highlighting the best photographers in the world and their creations. I find it interesting as it doesn't necessarily just discuss about photography but also about the society and environment in the creation of those pictures.

Due to the delay from yesterday, I was unable to stop by Tampere today. Had wanted to visit it to see how the city is like since it brands itself as the first Fairtrade city in Finland. Instead, I have been sitting on the train for the past 9 hours, staring at countless laptops in front of me as they attempt to pass time by watching movies. Arrived in very windy Helsinki and spent an hour getting to the correct ferry terminal (after I went to the wrong one the first time round and had to track across the city center). The ship is quite luxurious and even have free WiFi onboard as it crosses the Gulf of Finland, although it is so painfully slow that you give up after 10min. If you feel posh, you can choose to take a helicopter and arrive in Tallinn in 18min instead of the usual 2 hours.

Checked into Vru Backpackers, can't wait to check out this town in the morning. Sorry, no photos in today's post, need to catch up on some sleep before leaving for Russia later tonight.

A great Nordic Adventure

2009-04-12T23:07:00.006+01:00

A relatively easy overnight bus ride from Oslo to Trondheim on a clear night with the full moon shining above. No sight of the elusive Aurora Borealis. The only light coming from the guy beside me busy chatting away to his mates on his laptop, with the occasional giggle always so often. I did the same myself after a while trying unsuccessfully to get to sleep; catching up on the missed episodes of Heroes.

7am sharp, the bus whizzed into Trondheim bus station. Useful that it is directly beside the train station for me to catch my next onward journey to Fauske. (In case you are wondering why did I end up taking the bus, read my previous post). The sleepy town was just waking up to the streaks of sunrise coming through the horizon. Grab a packet of fresh buns from a very friendly man over the counter wishing me "Happy Easter" and hop onto the train. The train on this leg between Trondheim and Bode is clearly less busy as there are less carriages and the state of the interior is older than ones that I have been taking before.

As usual, I attracted a few additional glances from the locals not used to seeing an oriental in this part of the world. Just after Trondheim, the train pulled up against the station "Hell" - I wonder what and how do people live in this place! (I was just kidding, I am sure the words do mean something in Norwegian). The journey up north was nothing short of spellbinding. One moment, we were at sea level, the next we were hurtling up the mountains with deep ravines precariously beside the tracks, then through miles and miles of white flat plateau, occasionally dotted with a red hut or a skier huffing and puffing across the Arctic tundra.

Apparently there was some problems with the food delivery for the train resulting in no food available at the kiosk. The train master was kind enough to offer free coffee as apology and even ordered pizzas for the passengers which were collected along the way. Had my first cup noodle left behind by my mate from his last travel - instant noodles never tasted that good before, although on hindsight I should really have kept it for my siberian trip but I am on a vengeance to reduce as much weight on my shoulders as possible after a painful strained right shoulder that wasn't too happy carrying all these load. Although the good news is that my soles have recovered enough to walk properly after much rest from sitting on the trains/bus.

Few miles past Mo i Rana, we officially crossed into the Arctic Circle, past the Latitude N66'33.705, and very much still heading towards the pole. Few hours after, I dropped off at Fauske, an hour from the last station of Bodø on the Norwegian rail tracks and waited for a bus that will take me to the tiny town of Narvik. If Lonely Planet was to publish a "Top 100 bus rides before you die", I bet this bus journey will be one of the top few listed; no pictures of mine are able to portray the magnificence and brilliance of the Norwegian engineering feat - winding roads up and down the peaks, through miles of tunnels within mountains so huge that you wonder how can it be possible. 5 hours of pure adrenaline, with the only exception being the bus going onto a ferry crossing a fjord that the engineers probably felt that is the most sensible option for that part of the journey. One will be amazed how accessible this part of the world is even with such daunting natural wonders. The ferry ride was a refreshing change, with the snowy peaks against the blue skies that was just turning dark, and the bone-breaking winds blowing across your face.

We arrived in the small town of Narvik after the driver drove like formula one to catch up on lost time from been stuck behind several cautious cars driving in the complete darkness. The hostel "Spor 1" - which literally means "Track 1" is conveniently located 100m from the station, beside, as you guessed it, the railway track leading to the port where iron ore is still be transported out. A shower after 3 days on the roads was very welcoming and a night sleep on a proper bed feels like a long time back.

The Swedish/Norwegian (the 70 year old mom was born in this town, the son in Trondheim and the grandson in a town outside of Stockholm) in my dorm room were very friendly and gave me on some ideas to spend the day, whilst they heading up the mountain behind the town for some skiing. Also got to know later that the son did the trans-siberian rail himself too 20 years back but in the opposite direction as the one I am heading. Oh, did I mention his mom is also skiing?!?! It's amazing how people in this part of the world keep themselves so healthy and fit; can't imagine my mom going for a run with me, let alone speeding down the mountains.

The guy reminded me of Lofoten, a group of islands at the far edge of the Nordic fjords, where time literally stood still for centuries and fishermen still live there in their colourful huts, air drying herring and cod catch for centuries. Unfortunately I just miss the 5 hour bus by 10 min when I got to the station, which was quite disappointing but I guess there is only so much I can take in and maybe this is something to bring me back to this part of the world again. Instead, I took a cable car up the mountain where families were spending the Easter holiday, having picnic and just enjoying the glorious sunshine, and of course, the incredible view of the fjords as far as the eye can see.

Still no sign of the Northern Lights. Guess one really have to be extremely lucky to see one at this time of the year when it only turns dark so late and the skies are more often cloudy instead of the clear freezing weather that it needs to encounter this natural sight. At least I managed to get a bed for the night stay,even though it was a really dodgy one - my keys say "TV room", and it literally was a tiny space with 2 fold out beds which I will amaze me if it can really fit two in there. Even then, still costs me NOK200 after I tried in vain to ask for a discount based on the fact that it wasn't really a dorm! Chatted with a nice Finnish guy who is working as a polar guide in Santa Claus town of Rovaniemi who is in town to enjoy the skiing. People around here are really friendly and it's a refreshing change to find good sensible folks in hostels instead of kids whose aim to live seems to be getting themselves drunk every night and sleep in during the day.

The next morning, I bid farewell to my new-found friends as they wish me luck for my upcoming long journey as I cross from Europe to Asia. Oh, and why do they always have to remind me of the movie "Trans Siberia" all the time? It's not like I have any russian dolls in my bag! :-)

Travelling in Europe on Easter Sunday is strongly discouraged - not a single shop is open and my stomach has been growling since last night as I had my 2nd cup noodle in 2 days. Had to watch my spending as I have easily spent a quarter of my planned budget so far. Everything is just ridiculously expensive in this part of the world, and I have still Sweden and Finland to pass through! Did not help that the train kiosk refused to accept my remaining Norwegian Krone coins since it is operated by the Swedish rail although they did accept notes. Reluctantly ended up paying over the top for a small sandwich, coffee and orange juice using debit card.

It started to snow as we crossed into the swedish border of Riksgrasen station high up in the mountains. The trees seem to be grasping for air as the thick coat of snow is at least a few metres deep. Winter doesn't seem to come to an end this north, in fact, it looks like it has just started - you jump off the train, put on your skis and you're off. Cars or shoes are useless in this part of the world, it's how the Scandinavians have lived for thousands of years.

The mountains and fjords slowly transform to flat plains of arctic wilderness as a lonely moose lazily looked back at the bewildered stare from me as it trooped off across snowy land. Probably my closest encounter to this incredible animal which reminded me of my conversation with the Finnish guy that they go around hunting these animals in Lapland and their meat is especially delicious in stew, chewy if you do not cook for long enough. The train stopped for 20 minutes in the town of Kiruna, the source of the iron ore that is delivered to Narvik and Stockholm on rails twice a day. We continued south, heading towards the imaginary line of the 66 degrees, ever closer to the Finnish border.

Switched to a connecting bus at Lulea, the last stop of the journey after another 7 hours on the train, followed by another 2:20 hours to Haparanda, the Swedish border town where I had to walk pass the huge Ikea, across to Tornio, the Finnish town across the motorway to catch another bus to Kemi to get onto my train to Tampere. Alas, I completely forgot that Finland is another hour ahead and bus schedules are severely reduced from the Easter holidays. It's no fun walking around a completely unknown town close to midnight in freezing weather, disoriented and starving. Checked into the only B&B for €30 after accepting that I will not be going anywhere tonight. On the positive side, I get to have a room to myself. Have to scale back my plans tomorrow as the bus and trains are reduced service for the holiday, hopefully everything will be better; Happy Easter all!

Note: Photos from my Norway adventures

Danish to Swedish to Nordic in a day

2009-04-09T19:36:00.008+01:00

I do not sleep alot, but 4 hours is probably too little in this case. Took 35min walking unusually slow on my slightly blistered toes to Copenhagen Central train station, snaking by the canal and the tip of the red light district. Pleased with myself for spending all DKK36.50 of my remaining coins on apples, bananas and a ham croissant - not a single Danish amount left, which helps from the ever growing coin pouch that contains the little bits left of my previous trips. This city is really big on 7-11, you find one at every other corner of a main street, helps if you have to grab something at 5 in the morning.

First day into my 5 day rail pass, which I thought was really easy to use - you just fill up the date of your travel and show it to the inspector that keeps popping up to check after every station. The train sped by the airport and across the bridge connecting Denmark and Sweden - another piece of amazing human engineering feat that spans across the entire channel separating the two lands. In the distant, I could even make out a massive wind farm in the middle of the Baltic sea, trying to lift themselves from the morning fog. The 30min journey to Malmo central ended up to be twice the length as the train hit some problems and had to reverse back into another station for all the passengers to hop onto another.

The sun was coming up on the horizon as I strolled past workers on the morning rush hour. Headed to Lilla Torg, to find Pronto cafe beside a lovely old phone box recommended by Richard. Alas, I was too early, the only people up this early being the folks replenishing the beer drums of the restaurants and bars in the square. A short stroll around and my short Malmo experience has come to an end. Glad that everything in Nordic region can be paid by electronic - guess they have to if their stuff are that expensive! Caffeine fix sorted out by trusty Nationwide card that doesn't charge me for foreign usage; at least not till June if I remember correctly.

The 9.03 am train to Oslo, via Goteborg was really comfortable, considering this is equivalent to the regional trains in our context - seats wider than Ryanair, individual reading lights and radio, and even handy power sockets although the angle was a abit weird since it was hanging off the ceilings above the seats. At Helsingborg, had to run off to the first carriage before it split off to Goteborg. 3 hours in, we arrived in Goteborg, extremely modern looking connecting to the bus station that made Victoria bus terminal look like prehistoric. Grabbed a Subway sandwich and jumped onto my next train to Oslo, another 4 hour journey across the Swedish west coast. Operated by the Norwegian train company, NSB, the carriages look and feel like Eurostar's business class, except for the food and champagne, but nonetheless made me feel that I have basically got half the value back from my £240 railpass.

The journey to Oslo rekindled the reason why I am taking this trip again - tracks going through mountains (not massive though), crossing tiny towns, overlooking frozen lakes, etc - how did the rail engineers do all these? The first sight of snow sent my heart fluttering again. Been a visual person - I am always the first to choose a window seat, on flights, bus or trains, you cannot ask for anymore better than this. Listening to Eddie Vedder's "Guaranteed" from the "Into the Wild" soundtrack makes me so look forward to even more from the few weeks. Norway is definitely going to be even better. The leg to the Arctic Circle is a huge unknown, the ride across Siberia is going to be heaven or hell.

I had 5 hours to see Oslo before my overnight train to Bergen and managed to catch the main sights in town, highlight been the Vigeland Sculpture Park, with tens if not hundreds of unique sculptures of family interactions. Look carefully at every of them and you will realise that there is not one that is the same, and the unique aspect is that each portrayal is so real life. The Oslo bay wasn't as beautiful as I thought as the day has been overcast mostly, with the sun struggling behind the thick clouds. Had enough time to pop into a pub overflowing with Liverpool supporters for the Champions League match against "yet again" opponents Chelsea. Really disappointed that the Reds went 3-1 behind by the time I left to catch the train after a brilliant opener by Torres. Promise myself not to let this affect my trip - *trying my very best!!!*

Paid additional £5 for a standard seat for the overnight train, with a sleeper costing a ridiculous £160 on top of my inter-rail pass!!! Ended up on a carriage full of school kids returning from some excursion back to Bergen - my earphones cum earplug are proving to be really useful, passive blocking of at least 80% of the ambient noise without even playing anything.

Woke up on multiple occasions through the night, not the most comfortable train ride but I guess I was just getting what I paid for. Kept an eye to the full moon sky for any signs of the elusive Northern Lights but the only thing showing up was clouds, and more clouds. Arrived at Bergen 6.30am, with my next train leaving for Oslo at 7.50am. The skies were raining quite heavily, not the kind that you get in the tropics, but heavy enough to put you off most things. This is one of those annoying things that you have to get used to when travelling between winter and spring; well, at least Bergen seems to always bear the brunt of the Atlantic front blowing across UK (I noticed this during BBC's weather forecast, you will notice that the west coast of Norway always rain every other day).

The journey back is to take me to Myrdal where I will change to the well-known Flam railway. It leaves from Myrdal at 863.5 metres and goes through 20 km of tracks, and over 20 tunnels drilled directly through the mountains before reaching sea level Flam town, which is a Fjord port accessible all the way from the North Sea. I had to pay additional for the tickets as they were not covered by the Inter-rail pass but did get 30% discount off the original value. It's quite an amazing engineering feat and I definitely recommend anyone to take it if you plan to come to this area, but include some hiking in between and the journey will be definitely be better mine! Boarded the 12.25pm train back to Oslo, another 5 hours through Europe's highest plateau - the Hardangervidda, a flat plain completely covered with pristine powder even at this time of the year. Loads of people get on and off along the various stations and you can see them doing cross country skiing on the giant white sheet of snow, which was so hurting to eyes under the best sunshine I have so far on this trip.

Found out that there were no overnight trains on the eve of Easter - DARN! how can I forget that? Luckily, there was an overnight bus heading to Trondheim, but cost NOK49.50. The frustration of last minute travel suddenly hit me again with my poor planning. Because of my change in plans to improve my chances of seeing the Northern Lights, I decided to head further up north to Narvik, I decided to pay the premium and not want to regret not trying after going so far (Lesson learnt from my last trip). So it's going to be another of train and bus ride tomorrow, and let's hope I will be able to find somewhere to stay in the town, where I really need a nice shower after 2 days on the road.

First stop - Copenhagen

2009-04-07T21:42:00.004+01:00

On way boarding the SAS flight, 3 women in corporate attire were chatting in front of me. "Where did get this laptop bag?", asked the 1st woman. "You just have to fill up a form from IT dept and I got it the next day", she replied while in the middle of a furious twiddling of the tiny keyboard on her blackberry. "Oh, that's brilliant, I will do the same when we get back", she shot back and immediately started to scroll on her own blackberry. At this point, the 3rd woman immediately opened her bag and took her blackberry out and started her own "crackberry" addiction. It was really quite funny seeing this interaction and the responses from each person from behind.

Arrived at the capital of Denmark just after lunch - everything seems so organised and structured; a far cry from the Heathrow airport that I left behind 2 hours back. Checked into Sleep-in-Heaven, a 15min walk from the Forum metro station, for a 14 bed dorm, that looked more like a scene from WWII - they stack up to 3 beds in each. Can't complain much as it was the cheapest (£18/night) I could find in the city. Anyway, food and drink is basically 50% more expensive than UK, especially with the current poor rates, so beware! Headed out straight after dumping my bag, only to find out that find that the 2 museums that I wanted to head to - Gallery for Doodles and Danish Design Center - are both closed today! Even then, I managed to clock my longest distance covered in a day so far - 22km! And my feet are really hurting, not sure why though as my shoes should have been very well-conditioned by now. My last stop to the Little Mermaid statue was marred by some rowdy punks doing some disgusting poses to the naked statue and climbing onto it - the ugliest side to tourism. Oh, and not forgeting a trip to the self-governing Christiania, no pictures allowed though, unless I don't wish to get out alive...

Need to sort out my planning for my Norway rail journey, still unsure if I should make my way to Bodo from Trondheim or even as far north to Narvik, and then make my way from there to Rovaniemi in Finland, although the rail doesn't connect all the way on the north of Sweden to Finland; will probably have to find a bus to get into the Lapland - Any suggestions from anyone who are familiar? I have to admit that I have only planned 30% of this entire journey, and leaving the remaining open-ended - exciting but also quite stressful considering that my dates are so tight since my dates in Russia are fixed. Oh by the way, no guidebooks for majority of this trip as well besides Estonia and Russia! And thanks for all your lovely tweets, gonna miss you all too, make sure you come visit me in sunny S'pore :)

Stupidly early morning 6am train to catch to Malmo tomorrow for a few hours to soak in the city before moving on to Norway's capital. Glad to have my amazing shures with me for this trip, time to go to bed.

Link to pictures from Copenhagen (not many to show)

Goodbye London

2009-04-07T01:25:00.002+01:00

With much sadness and nostalgia, I am finally leaving this British capital for good (at least for now), embarking on a month and half journey through Arctic landscapes and the great Russian wilderness to my little home country call Singapore. It has been an amazing 4 years plus of my life, and nothing compares to the journeys and friends that have crossed my path during. Stay in touch and do come over to visit me if you have a chance...ciao for now.

Counting down to next adventure

2009-04-05T15:14:00.008+01:00

I attended my last Fulham home game against Liverpool at Craven Cottage yesterday. Very strange as I am a out and out Reds fan but have adopted the boys in white by River Thames as my London club since a few of us chipped in to share few season tickets. The atmosphere was electrifying, with the usual 20,000 odd West-enders trying to out-sing and out-muscle Liverpudians from Merseyside by on and off the pitch. It seemed to be one of those days of "dominating and not getting a result" again after hitting the woodwork 4 times in the first half. Even the man in black was taking pity on Pool with some of the decisions that were given. Alas, a 92nd minute winner from Yossi proved to be the decisive break although I had to tone down my wild celebrations considering that I was sitting amongst the Fulham faithfuls. Poor Whites, it was a bitter blow that's football and frankly, it can only be good for the league although our bitter rivals had lady luck on their side again to win 3-2 against Villa today, thanks to an exquisite goal from a teenager today - Football is cruel...

Did my last minute packing and planning of places to stay along my "long way home" journey after a morning trip to the Columbia Flower Market, with breakfast at Terence Conran's Albion along the way. Little arty farty shops and cafes dotted around the market makes it the interesting bit, especially if you are not at all keen to carry pots of plants back to your tiny london flat. Tomorrow is my last day in the capital, strange feelings going through my mind today, think I will miss the place, the freedom and all my friends in town. Regardless, I have spent a great deal of my last 4 and half years in this part of the world, but on the other hand, I do very much look forward to the my trip across Scandinavia, into the Artic Circle, hoping to catch a glimpse of the elusive Aurora Borealis, before hoping onto my greatest adventure dream since arriving in London - the Trans Siberian rail journey across Russia, stopping twice along the way before Mongolia, and finally ending up in Beijing. After which I will find my way down Southeast China to home, in any transport besides planes.

I will be continuing to update my adventures online where possible, although I suspect I will be offline a lot more since I will be on the train most of the time. A Ukranian mate warned me against drinking too much vodka with the locals on the train - if you do not hear from me for 10 consecutive days, you know who to call.

Looking back on an amazing trip

2009-03-31T16:24:00.010+01:00

I will be flying back to London today as there is no easy and affordable land transport back from where I am, and yes, I have considered someone's suggestion to buy a bicycle and peddle my way back from here - it is definitely the greenest way but I might not be able to make it back in one piece! John @Mapme updated my earlier legs (thanks John) and it presents a rough idea of where I was even though it is not at all very accurate in terms of the order (Dopplr tends to screw up the order when I go to more than one place in a day). Arriving in the Baltics seem so distant now and finding it difficult to remember it all at once.

Here are some stats that might be interesting:

- 26 nights;
- 11 countries;
- 31 places, including 10 capitals and 18 UNESCO listed sites;
- 1,482 photos (excluding hundreds that were deleted along the way)
- 2 flights;
- and endless trains and bus rides

Dopplr calculated that my carbon emission from transportation for this trip is 918kg from the main transports that I have taken, plus the use of my solar panels to recharge my phone, I think I am doing ok for my part.

It has been an amazing journey travelling alone, tired at times, lonely often but always encountering the least expected, with frustrations turning into life experiences. There are also plenty of lifetime memories, from the lovely hosts in Vilnius and Warsaw, to the people I meet at hostels and eateries along the way, to the once-in-a-lifetime sights in Šiauliai, Auschwitz and Birkenau, and so many more...Would I do it again? You bet I will, in fact, my next journey is to start in a week's time, 7 Apr to be exact. I will write more again in the coming days but I like to end this post and my gratitude to everyone who has been ever so nice to me during the journey, and your friendship will stay with me forever. You know where to find me, so contact me and stay in touch always! I'm getting lazy to tidy up my pictures, but a set of clean clothes and some soup noodles might get me going again...

My final leg to the end of Mediterranean

2009-03-30T21:33:00.009+01:00

British Summer time officially starts this morning at 3am, and got me completely confused of the time. Instead of moving it forward by an hour, I end up moving it backwards, meaning I slept for an hour more today than norm. Was wondering why the folks in the room suddenly woke up so early today when I checked my phone as it was only showing 7am!

By the time I was ready, most of the hostelites have already left for the activities of the day and I've also missed the 0905hrs ferry to Capri. Might as well since the weather has not be the greatest - it was raining throughout the night and the winds are especially strong, with overcast sky. The owner of the hostel said it cost €34 for the return ferry but added that it was probably not the best day out in the island. Ended up spending the morning sorting out my itinerary to get back to London instead. Was particularly annoyed by Ryanair's code logic to check for the phone number entered. If you take this crap airlines, you will know what I mean (I had to as it was the only affordable flight leaving from the last city that I was heading). Also found out that my hotmail account has been hacked, probably during the time when I used the internet cafe in Venice to check my mails - If you have received a dodgy looking email sent from my hotmail, please do not click on any of the links and delete it immediately. Please accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Another last minute decision to take the overnight train to Palermo, on Sicily island, probably the southern most tip of Italy; in a way to complete the journey that I have set out to do from the onstart, as well as one of the places where I can get back to London in an affordably way. Apologised to the hostel owner as I had indicated on staying an additional night but is checking out now instead. As usual, left my bag in the hostel and headed out to explore Naples in the day.

Unfortunately most if not all the museums were closed on Sunday, similar to most shops as well, although the main street of via Toledo was closed from traffic for pedestrians. Had a local snack called "BaBa Rum", sold in a patisserie that seem busy by locals. The lady behind the counter took one, poured some liquid over it, before handing it to me for €1.30. Not cheap for a flour desert that is very moist and sweet, and the liquid seems to give it a strange taste initially. Visiting mainland Europe at this time is really bad for UK pound owners; even the typical Big Mac index shows that the burger cost a whopping €3.50 here, literally the same price as what you can get a meal for in London. I don't think it is suddenly become more expensive, it's just that the pounds has dropped so much that mainland Europe has become very poor value destination.

Has been quite a boring day as most shops were closed and just strolled down to the promenade where the waves were smashing against the breakwater from the howling winds. Did enjoy a good game of clay court tennis competition at the local tennis club though. The streets were quite deserted as I continued to wonder into the little lanes, often filled with rubbish by the side, ever so vigilant of any unusual activities - pickpockets and thefts are really very common here, although I have been wondering in the streets alone after dark for the past 2 nights. Was back to the hostel by 1600hrs and ended up watching the movie "Into the Wild" with the others as it started to rain. Left for Sorbillo at 1900hrs only to find out that it was closed for Sundays. Really craving for pasta but figured I really have to eat pizza in this city. Ended up having another Capricciosa at a another shop on the way to the train station.

Bought an overnight train to Palermo for €36 - it is a standard seat ticket, sleepers cost double the price. Hoping that it will be empty enough for me to lie down on the 3 seats and save the difference. A friendly Romanian sat opposite me in the cabin, constantly offering me his snacks in Italian which I kindly turned down using the few italian phrases I know and sign language. He soon fell asleep as the train sped towards the southern tip of the main island of Italy, where it will then be transferred to a ferry across the straits where it will then continue its journey across Sicily; something that I am definitely looking forward to.

Half 4 in the morning, with dreamy eyes, I checked the the time on my phone; the train was still moving, definitely not on the ferry. I went back to sleep. 6am, I looked out of the window - the sign displayed Messina, not sure where, but the train has stopped. I stayed awake for 10min and the train is still not moving; not sure why but I went back to sleep again. By the time I was up again, it was already 8 in the morning; darn...I missed the crossing - really gutted as I wanted to see this unusual transfer of the train and I literally slept through it. Really annoyed with myself!

10 to 10, the train arrived in Palermo Centrale and I hiked about 1.5km to the hostel A Casa di Amici along via Volturna. Cost was €22 for a bed in a 3 room dorm, one of the cheapest ones that I could find in the city. First impression looked ok and the owner, Claudia allowed me to washup and put my bags aside whilst the bed/room is been cleaned and tidied. Just before I began this trip, I read about the a story in National Geographic about mummified corpses in a small monastery in Palermo, and this was one of the main reasons why I decided to make this last minute trip here. Entrance costs only €1.50 and I paid an additional €1.50 for a pamphlet of the exhibit - it is a non-profit setup, all profits I understand are donated to the poor after the running costs. What I saw can only really described as astonishing - you have to see it to believe it. Rows of corpses lying in open coffins but most of them are just hanging by the walls. Some of the mummies have been there for the past 300 years, which were initally meant to preserve high monks but opened up to public after numerous requests from many to have their loved ones preserved. You can still see the clothings that they wore when they were alive and some even still have their hair intact! Probably the most amazing corpse has to be that of Rosalia Lombardo, a 2 year old girl who died in 1920 but still looked like she is sleeping in the glass coffin. A word of caution, it can get quite creepy especially if you are the one and only person walking in the underground passageway.

Strange places often have strange cultures - Palermo is no exception as they practice siesta too! Ended up the most of the museums and cathedrals that I wanted to visit were all closed till 3pm. Walked to the promenade by the Gulf of Palermo instead to enjoy a great day of lovely weather and sun as this part of the world is definitely enjoying an early spring if not summer-type weather. After walking for 4 hrs covering almost 15km, decided to head back to hostel for a rest before heading out again for a nice pasta dinner on my last night in Italy.

From Vatican to Neapolitan

2009-03-29T16:47:00.007+01:00

Last day in Rome, tried to have an early start to jump the queues at the Vatican City. Woke up at 7am but only managed to leave the hostel at 8 as I had to pack my bag in the dark since the entire room was still asleep and did not want to wake the rest up.

Took the metro and switched to the other line at Termini. The morning working crowd was choking, the lack of ventilation in the carriages make you wonder how can any country be worse off than London Tube. Had my morning caffeine fix on way for my "session" with the Pope. By the time I passed strolled through the smallest country in the world, both in terms of size and population. St Peter Square immediately greets you and I become one of the thousands in the queues to get into St Peter's Basilica which I believe is the biggest basilica in the world. Entrance is free but paid €14 after for the Vatican Museum, which is fairly reasonable due to the size and the highlight has to be the Sistine Chapel, with its amazing tapestry and Michelangelo's greatest works, with the Last Judgement taking up 11 years of his last years, although I was annoyed that I missed the "Creation of Adam".

On my way back to the hostel, probably had the best gelato in Italy so far -- Il Gelato di San Crispino at Via della Panetteria 42, just 2 min walk away from Fontana di Trevi, or commonly known as the Trevi Fountain. Nothing comes any closer...

The 2.49pm regional train left on the dot with many people heading home for the weekend. Sometimes, the train will go by the mountain, sometimes it will edge along the Mediterranean, where it appears in the bluest colour in front of me as the train throttle along towards Napoli. This is the closest that I have come with the sea, and it has never felt better to be so close beside the blue ocean again. Didn't even encounter a train conductor throughout the entire 3 hour journey!

Spring definitely seem to arrive here; flowers are blooming and the whole place is basking under the lovely sunshine, or maybe this is what you expect of the Mediterranean region. Mount Vesuvius come into view as the train rolled into Napoli Centrale, with the sea on the other side. Napoli is so different from all the cities that I have come across so far, nothing pretentious - it is presented as what it is - messy, crowded, dirty and speeding scooters that do not stop for you. Sometimes it is the unstructured nature of the world that becomes natural to us. Especially living in a city for too long, we become too structured; and life loses its meaning.

After numerous turns and losing my way on multiple occasions, I finally got into Welcome Inn along Via Broggia, run by a family who is really warm and friendly - even offered me my first Napolitano caffe, sort of stronger than the others I have tasted so far, but spot on for my taste! Cost €11 a night for bed in 8pp dorm, toilets are limited but not really too much of a problem for me as I just wake up earlier than most to avoid the "crowd". Tasted one of the best pizza in Napoli if not entire Italy -- Gino Sorbillo -- you definitely have to try it if you are around this part of the world.

Next morning, bought a "Unicoverde 5" 24 hour pass for €5.30 that allows me to travel on all the transport for free till Amalfi. Caught the 8.40am Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii. The train ride takes about 40min and will be good to go early to avoid the crowds starting to build up after 10am. Entrance cost €11 and if you have a group or try to find a group, definitely worthwhile to share a guide. As I couldn't find a group to join, ended up renting an audio guide instead costing €6, which incidentally, ran out of battery halfway through my tour, crap! At the end, I think you definitely need someone to bring the historical facts to life rather than just walking through the ruins; even the audio guide doesn't give this ancient site enough credit.

Continued on the same train to Sorrento to catch the local SITA bus to Positano. The bus ride on the cliff hanging roads have to be one of the best experience in my life especially as the drivers drove like Jensen Button along the winding roads overlooking the deep blue Mediterranean sea below us. The route is comparable to the costal drive on the croatian coastline to Dubrovnik, maybe more exhilarating. Positano is such a small town, slightly touristy but still retains its charm with a small stretch of beach at the base. Just missed the bus to Amalfi by the time I was back at the bus stop on the top, ended up waiting for an hour for the next one. Make sure you check the schedules but even then, be there earlier as they can arrive earlier. The journey to Amalfi was quite funny as the first bus stopped at Praiano, and you have to get to the next bus about a kilometer away within 15min, and it will then take you to the seaside town - everyone on the bus were literally running for their lives, only to sit in the bus and wait for anther 10 min before the driver took his time to finish his cigarette!

Chanced upon a beautiful wedding in the church in Amalfi - wonder if signori Amatino will be having his there as well.

Took the bus back into Napoli and had my 2nd pizza again at Sorbillo - still as great although I had to do take away this time round as the crowds snaked around for more than 50m long! Loving the city's love for Pizza!

Rolling into the ancient Rome empire

2009-03-28T23:33:00.004Z

26 March 09 -- It is really easy to lose track of the day in the week and realise that it is exactly 3 weeks since I left London. Riga feels so distant now and I can barely remember how to say hello in Latvian.

"Buongiorno signori, una caffe americano, and this please," as I pointed to the deliciously looking Frittata. Keeping the Italian tradition, I have not tasted anything bad so far, and coffee is especially top notch, no chains, only simple classic cafes serving the best.

Bought a €15.20 ticket at the train station leaving Firenza SNM to Roma Timburtina wrongly, and paid another €0.90 for the difference to get to the central station although it is totally unnecessary since the train will pass by Timburtina and end up at Termini anyway. Was told by the locals that it might be worth to go to the smaller stations secondary stations within a city for the cheapest train tickets and hop on to any train from the main station to get there for free as there the journey is too short for any conductors to check - apparently most locals don't pay!

After 3 hrs and 45 min, I arrived at Roma Termini, the main train station in the capital. Since Rome is the most populous city in the country, it can be slightly overwhelming to the first time visitor. I chose a hostel, YELLOW, which is 10 min walk from the station. Have also decided to plan my journeys such that I arrive at a new place when there is still light so that I will not spend too long having to find my way to the destination like a headless chicken.

Yellow is quite a big hostel with multiple floors of rooms on a really old building that is literally kept upright by steel bars that are acting like supports. Paid €11 in a 6 bed dorm, which was pretty good in this city as most of them easily charge €20 and more. Chatted with a guy with a accent that is so similar to a mate of mine from Hull, which was really funny as I keep imagining that it was him whenever he said something, spookily similar! Did not waste much time after and headed out to the explore main part of Rome, such as the Pantheon, the different Forums, the Palazzis, Capitoline Hill and lastly but most important of all, the Collesuem. It is the one of the highlights that I have been eagerly looking forward to for this entire trip. The scenes of the movie Gladiator, coming back to me everytime I think about it, and imagining how magnificent it once was during its glorious days.

It did not disappoint, although I have to admit I wasn't overwhelmed in the way I thought I might be. By the time I got there for the sunset, admission has closed which means I probably have missed the chance to go in and visit. The sight was quite breathtaking, especially as the setting sun cuts a golden shadow on its facades. The floating clouds and blue sky provided an ideal backdrop for postcard taking opportunities and in my opinion, it has been well worth the trip!

After covering 14 km in the day, decided to take the metro back to the hostel for a short rest and dinner. Craving for pasta and ended up in the restaurant beside the hostel recommended by the staff, which turned out to be a terrible experience. The restaurant was taking in bulk bookings from students and were struggling to cope with their orders. On top of that, they were still trying to get customers into the restaurant. My pasta was undercooked, but compared with the pizza that some of the kids had, I was lucky enough -- the pizza was barely cooked properly, it was pale white!

Took a slow stroll down to Piazza del Colosseo, always have the postcard image of the Colosseum on my mind and wondering how best to recreate the scene. Spent a good one hour and half walking around the Colosseum to find the ideal spot, timing, vehicles and lighting. Snapped a few shots, reasonably happy with them and headed back again on the metro; too lazy to walk. Slept soon after.

Medieval Tuscany at its best

2009-03-26T23:01:00.005Z

Got down to the train station early in the morning, still trying to find out exactly where the autobus station is. Yesterday attempts to check the bus schedules only ended up going round and round the train station as the Italians seem to care less about my queries. Finally encountered a guide who was just about to set off for a Tuscany tour, who kindly pointed me to various distinctly blue buses marked with SITA turning round the corner behind the train station.

Got a ticket to Siena for €6.80 one way, same price as the trains but bus is advised as it goes all the way up to the top of the hill top city, compared to the train that stops at the foot and you either can walk up or take another bus to the top. The Rapido service is also 30 min faster than the Directta service, which stops at a few towns en-route to Siena.

The closest that I have come across Siena is probably the football team playing in Serie B? Looking up on the internet reveals a lot more about this UNESCO city famed for its medieval architecture and tiny walkways. Nestled in the middle of the Tuscany region, it is a city perched on the top of a hill, and every street is either uphill climb or downward straddle of every step. Most of the crowd head towards the square, meaning there are plenty of opportunities to explore the winding cobbled streets at your own pace.

After 3 hours of walking round in circles, I can say I really like the city, the streets are so alluring that you can go on for ages. Has been a top notch recommendation! Only complaint is probably the annoyingly messy bus terminal, where the station master seem to be interested in hiding in parked buses and chatting amongst themselves rather than helping passengers to find the right bus. There is no fixed bus bays so you will have check the schedules and wonder around, knocking on the doors of parked bus and looking up on the displays to catch the right one. Took the slower bus back to Firenza hoping for a feel of the towns and maybe stop by one of them for a stroll but decided against it as the closest indication to spring is the glorious sun, else every other living plants seem to be still hibernating away the winter. Did notice that there was a bus service from Siena to Roma (there isn't one from Florence), meaning you could do a half day trip to Siena before hoping on the bus to Roma after, all at a cheaper price, but not as comfortable journey on the bus.

My original plan of going to San Marino (3rd smallest country in the world after Monaco and Vatican City) via Rimini was hampered by the lack of cheap accommodations and the train prices were not particularly low as well. I have heard and read so much of the amazing views from that little area locked by Italian provinces but it was simply not worthwhile to make the trip if I was only going to spend up to a day max. Another twitter recommendation to see Ubino slightly south of San Marino is also shelved as a result but do let me know how they are if you do get a chance to go visit. Makes you feel that having a car will be so much more convenient to visit all these places in the country.

After having baguettes for both breakfast and lunch, decided to treat myself to a proper dinner as I was craving for pasta. The hostel staff recommended Trattori Guelfa, off Via Guelfa, just off the Palazzo del Congressi. You can have 2 mains, a glass of wine, desert and water, for €13. Had to choose the local Ribollita (which is a type of Tuscan minestrone soup, with vegetables and bread, but do not expect any soup at all -- usually it takes 3 days to make this dish as you have to re-cook the dish from day 1 and 2, which is what the word literally means I think) as my starter instead of pasta. Turned out to be excellent although the fried swordfish after reminds me more of fish and chips than anything Tuscan! Ended up with a nice Tiramisu complemented with gorgeous Italian red wine -- Life's a bliss when it comes to food..

Stayed on unexpectedly for 3 nights instead of the original 1 night but it has been well worth it. Next stop -- Roma, capital of the country, lots of expectations from various tweets, hopefully I will not be disappointed.

Florence, the centrepiece of Tuscany

2009-03-26T18:20:00.006Z

Some consider Florence to be one of the most beautiful cities in Italy, if not the world. Located in the heart of Tuscany, this is Italy at its best, with stunning views, fields of sunflowers, miles of vineyards, rolling hills, and mountain-top castles. A Renaissance capital of the world with its celebrated sons like Leonardo DaVinci and Michelangelo, the Florence skyline is the number one attraction listed in just about every travel guide today -- the world famous Duomo (2nd Duomo of my trip!) with the Brunelleschi cupola, as well as Giotto's Bell Tower and the bronze sculpted doors of the marble-clad Baptistry. The streets can get scarily crowded but there are good enough areas to explore whilst staying away from the hustle and bustle of photo-snapping-mad tourists.

The sleep has been really useful, good to the point of rejuvenating me again for the day, because I was so exhausted from the previous day of travel. The battery on my shaver finally died on me after 3 weeks, maybe I can have a beard by the time I get back to London. Took out my last packet of instant coffee from the bag and relieved my body from another 1 gram of weight. Another Malaysian gal, who is running home (she is heading for Singapore instead of Sarawak as the jobs are better) after only 2 months job hopping in London, is staying in the same room. A brief chat and we headed out separately to see the city. Strolled down Via Santa Caterina D'Alessandria towards the main train station, Stazione di Santa Maria Novella or Firenza SMN for short. Turned to the Mercato Centrale to soak in the morning grocery shopping by the locals. Tuscan is famous for the dishes with beef tribe, and there is a one store at the end of the market that seems popular from the locals munching away. Since I wasn't into anything internal, I passed.

By noon, the Piazza del Duomo is overflowing with guides carrying either a flag or umbrella, shepherding groups and groups of tourists around Duomo and the Baptistry. Been a frugal traveler, I stayed close to an English speaking group to hear a bit about the history and all, before excusing myself into the alley ways, away from the population mass. Italians have told me that they can do many things wrong, but one thing that they will get it right for sure is, food! And so it seems, every cafe seems to serve more than normal quick bites, from brioche to gelatos, to espressos, I cannot find a fault with any! Prices may not be the cheapest (a gelato starts at €2.50) but what better way to experience Tuscan culture than stand by the counter, enjoy a nice coffee and watch the people going by the cobbled walkways, in the drizzle that has started to fall.

I passed by Galleria degli Ufizi as I wasn't really keen in that, and crossed the Fiume Arno river though the very touristy Ponte Vecchio bridge, which is a really unique architecture of houses/shops built into as part of the bridge. Italians never stray away too far from using yellow and green colour combinations on the buildings and window panes, but it works really well in an old city, giving it a rustic feel. Further up is the Piazza Pitti where one can stroll in the "supposedly nice" gardens of Boboli. Going along Lungarno Torrigiani, by the river, you will come across BRITTA selling hand made children clothes and toys. Very exquisite and nice to snoop about, but items are fairly pricey as one might expect.

If you are geared for some steep climbing, head up to Piazzale Michelangelo for a panoramic view of the city or take bus 12 which brings you all the way to the top if you're lazy. A trip to the toilets will cost you €0.60 so you might want to consider if you wish to save every single cent (not sure why I am advising you this as a mate once reminded me that one can never get rich by saving, and you probably lose more from the additional time and efforts spent to find those best deals, in this case, walking further to find another cheaper toilet or ending up with a bladder problem by holding on to it for too long).

For lunch, head to PUGI, on the south side of the Piazza San Marco square(also a major bus stop) and look around carefully for the tiny shop -- there maybe a line of people waiting to buy a slice of great pizza as you have to take a queue number before ordering. It was so good that I had 2! Followed up with more bingeing, this time a lemonada and melon gelato, yummy!!! As one might expect, the streets are filled with speed demons on their Vespas and Piaggios, and tiny buses that ply the narrow streets in the city. There is even a rumour that some drivers aim to knock people down on the streets so that you can call an emergency service at a huge costs which as you might expect, are in cahoots with them! So make sure you stop at traffic lights till the cars stop even if the green man shows up, and not cross the pedestrian crossings until all the vehicles stop for you.

Florence town is really not big, and I pretty much covered all in one day as my watch told me that it has been a good 15km workout again today. Popped back into the hostel for a quick rest before the Malaysian gal joined me for dinner at Il Parata, a cheap eat along Via Ginori, featuring a buffet of all you can eat of pasta, lasagna, salad and other usual italian fare, for €7, even comes with a bottle of water. Not fantastic but you get what you pay, although do ask for your food to be heated up in the microwave as it makes a good difference to the taste.

Feeling lazy again after food and stayed back in the hostel instead of venturing out to take any pictures. Planning to visit Siena and the Tuscan countryside from excellent recommendations from mates on Twitter.

Link to all photos from Italy. (In progress)

Reaching the Adriatic Sea

2009-03-25T22:17:00.007Z

The day seems to bright up much earlier these days, partly also because I am very much south than before. Got up at 7am, washed up and headed for breakfast, which was literally bread, butter, jam and coffee! Walked back to the station only to find out that my plans were screwed again - there is an 1103hr train to Koper, with the next one only at 1723hrs; the earliest tour for Skocjan caves only start at 1000hrs!

Felt really disappointed but decided to hike 5km to the caves regardless hoping that the schedules might have changed from what the guidebook has written. If you prefer taking a bus, there is a service that runs from the train station to the caves at certain hours but check the timetables as it is very infrequent during the low season. But I really encourage you to do the hike through little pockets of small towns and forest to be rewarded with an amazing view of the waterfall at the entrance of the caves. Do keep a lookout of the signs to the caves on your right after you exit Divača town, and ensure that you are on the right track by the little sign postings on the trees and street lighting as you head into the forest.

As expected, the earliest tour starts at 1000hrs and will last for an hour and half for the 3km walk inside the caves. As the bus was also nowhere to be seen, I hiked back to Divača, feeling very disappointed that I did not get a chance admire this natural UNESCO heritage site, which some say is like a walk into Jules Verne's "A journey to the Centre of the Earth". However, I have to say I really like the feeling of been back to the nature after so many days wondering around in cities.

Back in the town, was told by the train station master that the train to Koper was not running today, and I should take the replacement bus behind the station. An hour and half later, I was quite fortunate to get on the next bus to Piran at Koper after paying €4 (€1.20 was for my backpack in the luggage compartment). The bus left Koper along the Adriatic coast and made stops along the towns of Izola and Portoroz, which tries to be like the French Rivera, with rows of hotels and casinos by the promenade. On reaching Piran (or Pirano to the Italians across the borders) at 1230hrs, the bus driver pointed me to the adjacent bus to Trieste, which was leaving at 1325hrs, leaving me with less than an hour in this town. It is no wonder that this town remains the locals' favourite seaside town along the Slovenian coast with its pretty Venetian architecture, tiny winding streets and harbour of little boats lines up in the glistering water. Ended up with a whirlwind tour of the town due to the limited time before paying €5.40 to cross the border into the Italian city of Trieste.

An hour and half later, I arrived at the Autobus station in Trieste before paying €9.20 for a train to Venice, that was leaving in 5min! There are no buses from Trieste to Venice as the trains are not expensive and this is probably why no bus companies want to do this route. Even though the travel timings today seem crazy, I find that it was quite ideal for me to cover the various towns, transiting through the various places without wasting too much waiting time. The train left on the dot of 1444hrs and sped up the hills behind the city, perched on the cliffs clinging by the Adriatic coastline, occasionally tunneling through the mountains.

The journey took about 2 hours before Venezia comes into view - has to be ranked as one of the key "oooh...ahhhhh..." feeling as I finally see Venice in getting closer with every passing second that the train inches towards the islands. However, the moment I got off the train station, I was slightly overwhelmed by the "crowds" of people, besides Prague, wasn't really expecting anywhere to be filled with so many people again. First to admit that I already made up my mind at the time to move on to my next destination, as I didn't want to stay on in the crowd. The information counter wasn't very helpful and I ended up finding a internet cafe to check for hostel at my next place, which was Bologna or Firenze. Did take the opportunity to walk through the narrow walkways and bridges connecting the islands before I finally found a toy shop cum mini supermarket cum internet cafe, with the most eloborate dressed shop keeper, who won't feel out of place in the movie "Eyes Wide Shut". Ended up paying €2 + €2 after I just exceeded the initial 20 min limit when I was keying in my card details on hostelworld. The repercusions of this resulted in me missing my train to Florence as I got slightly lost (is an understatement in the labyrith of streets in Venice) on my way back to the train station, without a map and next to zero of Italiano.

Decided to take the next train to Bologna instead as I have missed the last Florence bound train from Venice, hoping to catch another onward train from there. If you want to save money like me, go for the "Regional" trains listed on the excellent Trenitalia website. They might take longer to reach your destinations but the savings (I paid €8.20) are usually half of what you might pay for the Eurostar or Intercity trains. Of course, you need to have the time like me! :)

3 hours later, the train rolled into Bologna Central and I was quite glad to pick up a regional train heading to Firenza in an hour's time. Paid €7.50 for the ticket and just have enough time to pop by the adjacent restuarant owned by Mr Ronald for a quick bite, only to find out that the train was delayed by 40 min when I got back to the station. By the time I got into Firenza Campo de Marte, it was almost midnight and since it was not the main train station of Firenza Santa Maria Novella, my instructions to the hostel was completely useless. Called up the hostel in the end and was advised to either take a train to Firenza SMN or wait 50 min for the last bus to the hostel. Chose the latter as there was no more trains till 1am but was quite glad that the bus driver understood me and drove me all the way in front of the hostel!

Even got told off by the hostel staff that I should have called them to tell them of my delay in future when I am so tired from the day of travelling and running around missing trains. It did remind me again that I should avoid arriving in a new city late in the night as it usually spells more trouble than anything else.

Link to all photos in Slovenia and fresh album of Italy.

Lake Bled, cakes and more last minute travel changes

2009-03-24T15:42:00.007Z

Woken up by the sounds of someone opening the door to the dorm. Checked my phone - it's 3am. Turned around and saw a gal carrying a huge backpack pushing the door open. Figured she probably just got in from somewhere, I continued to go back to slumber land.

The Germans woke me up at 7am with their chatting first thing in the morning, slightly annoying me after one of the guys was snoring so loudly before I managed to get to bed. Continued to lie in bed till my alarm sounded after 30min since there was only 1 toilet shared amongst all of us. After a quick freshening up, packed everything and brought it down to the reception to check out. Tried to access the internet which prompted me for a user name and password only to remember that I only have 30min of free access. Got the connection through after I managed to find the information handed to me in a piece of paper yesterday which I crumbled inside my pocket full of paper rubbish. Connection was painfully slow - meaning I was unable to check for an available hostel in Piran, and also impossible to upload post 2 days back! :(

By this time, Nicolle has arrived with her mini day pack with everything that she would have need for a weekend trip. Breakfast was included and consisted of simple cereal, bread, some juice and coffee/tea. In the meantime, the hostel staff managed to book me to a hostel in Piran for €20 a night in a dorm which was good news. Hurried off to the station shortly after to catch the 9am bus to Lake Bled. The ticket for the 1h 20min journey cost €6.30 per person each way which I thought was quite expensive, although the ride was quite refreshing as it snaked around more hills and small towns towards the snow cap mountains. It's quite strange all of a sudden that I have a companion with me whom I can chat and joke about after more than 2 weeks, but a very welcoming change as I had to resort to talking to myself at times during the past weeks to keep my sanity in check.

Located in the center of the town is Lake Bled, a picture postcard setting of the snow capped Julian Alps in the background, a church in the middle of an islet in the lake and a medieval castle clinging dangerously off the cliff by the edge. The first sign of spring already meant that there are plenty of rowing activities in the lake and locals bringing their kids and dogs out for a walk around the 6km lake. If this wasn't magical enough, the sun and blue sky was almost trying to complete the puzzle to been a perfect day out. We took a short hike up to Bled castle for a view of the entire lake but stop short of paying €5 for entry. Nicholle thought we should definitely have a feel of the water after going all the way here and there were a few moments where either of us could have easily fell into the chilly waters! We had wanted to take the 1230hrs bus back into Ljubljana but since it was a Sunday, the next available one was an hour later. Decided to chill out in one of the cafes whilst Nicholle went into a postcard writing frenzy.

Found out later that it is a very short distance to the ski resorts from Bled, and apparently today as the finals of the world ski jump championships or something like that...

By the time we got back into the capital, I had just missed the 1500hrs bus to Piran. Got myself a 1810hr train ticket to Koper instead, whilst Nicholle decided on the 1710hr bus to the airport to catch her 2050hr Easyjet flight back to Standsted. As there was still 2 hours to spare, we went back to the hostel to collect our bags and headed into the town center to grab some food. Ended up in Kavarna Zvezda, an excellent cafe with their own cakes and pastries. Try the Rafaello cake, something of a mix between cheese cake and some almond stuff. We also had a slice of blackforest which were really excellent.

After the "refuel", we hurried back to the train station, passing by the colourful Art Nouveau Co-operative bank, just in time for Nicholle to get on the bus! I have to admit that I felt a sudden loneliness sitting at the train station after Nicholle left as she has been a terrific travel companion in the last 24hrs and a fantastic subject in my photos as well. Did make me realise how human I am even though I love to freedom and fun of a solo traveller.

Changed my plans in the last minute to go to Divaca instead as it was 5km away from the Skocjan caves that I had planned to go, rather than having to travel to and fro from Koper. Sat in a cabin with a Slovenian guy who was doing his MBA in the university in Koper - learnt that there are only 3 universities in the whole of Slovenia! We had such a good chat along the way as he was telling me about his travels around the world, his Trans-Siberian trip, the Balkans, and even gave me tips on how to get a free train ride to Koper tomorrow (I need to get to Koper, before taking a 30min bus to Piran) by telling the train station attendant that I have a Koper ticket and that I will make the remaining journey tomorrow (Divača was an hour before Koper). He also gave me tips on the best way to get into Italy through Trieste and the dos/donts when in Italy. The hour and half journey just flew by with the chat and laughter and before long, the train has arrived at Divaca. We did agree to go for a beer if we happen to bump into each other when I get into Koper tomorrow!

The town of Divača was almost pitch black when I got off the train. As I had to find somewhere to stay for the night, I asked the station attendant after she stamped and signed my train ticket to allow me to continue my journey to Koper tomorrow, and she directed me to a nearby hotel 100 metres down a road in complete darkness before I came upon Gostilna Malovec, a restaurant cum hotel, the former seem very popular with the locals. Was quoted €25 for the night for a room to myself and breakfast included. Stepping into the room, it felt like a luxury compared to the dorms that I have been staying - a room all to myself although it was fairly basic, no tv, no internet, just a bed and en-suite bathroom. I was even able catch up on the BBC iPlayer without annoying anyone! I have probably made the most impromptu travel decision in the past 2 weeks, guess that is some of the advantages of solo travelling - you just make decisions as you go along, to the best of your plans!

Link to all photos in Slovenia.

From Croatia to the biggest hideout in Europe - Slovenia

2009-03-24T01:09:00.009Z

An early start for me. Strolled down the Lower Zagreb in the direction of the train station, trying to grab some breakfast along the way, only to find out that Croatians don't tend to have breakfast outside! A quick detour to the train station and managed to get a 1pm train to Ljubljana for 90.20 KN. On my way back to Trg Jelacica Square, bought some bread from a local pastry shop and a coffee at the trusty Mcdonalds when I feel that I am in a risk-adverse mode for my caffeine fix.

Headed straight for the Dolac vegetable market in Upper Zagreb and was not disappointed by the hustle and bustle of a local market. Scores of stalls hawking their freshest produce, from apples to cauliflower to reddish. It was an explosion of colors with a infuse of bargaining everywhere, and goods exchanging hands. Very interesting to see that all the stalls were still using traditional weighing scales. I bought couple of pears and bananas before continuing my journey.

Think I am getting stale with the Old towns and cathedrals as I did not spend much time after before whisking back to the hostel, took my bag and headed towards the train station. Exchanged remaining 100 KN back to Euros (with a terrible rate) before probing a few locals if the train on platform 1 was to Ljubljana.

Got 2 other stamps at the border crossing in Dobova - Yay! I will really recommend anyone to take the train from Zagreb to the Slovenian capital - it twist and turn with the river and along with it, magnificent views of snow capped mountains and deep ravines across tiny pots of villages. Some of them are quite nice although I won't day that they are magical, but definitely a good change from the cityscape that I have been getting used to.

Hostel Celica is quite famous in Ljubljana (so much so that there is road signs directing drivers to the hostel!) as it was converted from a prison building and the rooms in the first level are constructed in such a way that they retain the prison cell feel - with the steel bar gates still intact. I booked the cheaper option of a 5 bed dorm which is on the 2nd level and has its own ensuite toilet/bathroom, although it feels quite claustrophobic as 3 single beds and 1 double deck bed was squeezed into it with a sloping roof on one end. 3 other German guys were my dorm mates and they seem happy to be just drinking around all day. Paid €15 for a night which included breakfast but I felt some of its other services could definitely been better, i.e. Wifi or internet is only free for 30 min, after which it is chargeable, the lady-in-charge at the reception refused to give me the keys to the room until I gave €10 as deposit even though I assured to pass her the amount later when I come back from tonight as I have run out of Euros. Ended up I had to walk out to the main road, withdraw more cash and come back again for the deposit!

As usual, headed to the Old Town, pass the dragon bridge where it was rumored that Jason and the Argonauts were rowing up the river trying to escape from enemies before he met and killed a dragon at that very spot! There were quite a lot of cafes lined at along the banks of the river and cafes seem to be part of the local culture. The town is quite small and the highlight has to be the climb up the castle which overlook the entire city, right across to the not-too-distant snow capped mountains. Bumped into Nicholle along the way, a Malaysian who is also working in London (we met at the reception in the hostel) and strolled around her Italian dorm buddy who has been staying in the city for 1 week, which meant he literally knew the place by the back of his head. Even chanced upon a Slovenian wedding that was taking pictures in and around the castle.

It turned out that we got along very well as she was also the same dialect group as I and was chatting about the food that we miss from home. She even related a past travel experience which turned out to be one of the one of the stories with the most wonderful ending that I have ever heard; long story short - she was in Bratislava, accidentally left her bag with money, cards, passport and everything important in the tram just before she was leaving for Wien, met a guy who offered to host her for the night, and happened to have a sister who has a policeman boyfriend, did his internal connections thing and voila, got her handbag back the next day with everything intact while the brother was showing her around in the city! Frankly I find it hard to believe but goes to show that there are really nice people in this world! :)

We went to a Slovenian restaurant, Sokol for dinner and almost ordered their specialty dish - Deep fried bull testicles with tartar sauce, but both of us chickened out in the end and ordered some other more subtle Slovenian dish. The restaurant is quite famous as they have waiters dressed in the traditional Slovenian costumes coming around to take your orders and serve the food. Nicholle's Italian mate did not join us as he wanted to have a romantic dinner with her, which she got me as an excuse to avoid! We headed back to the hostel to rest for an early morning bus ride to Bled the next morning.

Link to all photos in Zagreb and Slovenia.

A hot sulphuric bath

2009-03-21T10:48:00.005Z

Got up and Mayumi was already all set to leave for another remote Hungarian town before she got an email to meet her friend in Budapest. Jeez, I thought I was making last minute plans, she was even more last minute than I thought! :)

As there isn't much else for me to see in town, I decided to head out to Harkány which is famous for the thermal baths since the 18th century for a nice dip in the chilly but sunny morning. Walked to the nearby bus station and paid 450 Ft for a 45min ride south close to a tiny little town/village off the borders of Croatia. Accidentally walked into the spa resort through the back gates (which was opened!) without paying and ended up been escorted by the pool guards to the official entrance to pay. Apparently the waters here have the most sulphuric content in Hungary and famed to be medically good for people.

After paying 1900 Ft which I found later that I was quoted double the price since I was only using the public bath area, I soaked myself into the comfortable 33 degrees water that smells horribly bad. Reminds me of the last and only time when we enjoyed outdoor thermal pool at the Blue Lagoon in Iceland, only that this is not as good, and there is no special mud to apply on your face or body. As you might have guessed, I was basically surrounded by seniors and I think I was the youngest person in the pool until a little boy came along with his dad. A fitness instructor of some sort came along after and with the help of some very relaxing music, began to get the whole pool into some chilled exercises and stretching, which was very well received by the crowd.

By 12.30pm, I was back in Pecs bus station walking back to the hostel to pick up my bag. Stopped by a kebab place Oazis on way to the train station and had one of the best kebab wrap ever (2nd only to those that I had in Istanbul), and only costs 550 Ft - highly recommended! Bought a train ticket to Zagreb for 5180 Ft from a lady at the counter who took so much pride in her work that she was meticulously using a ruler to cancel out sections on the ticket above her extremely neat headwriting. Got onto a train full of students going back/somewhere for the weekend. Passed by large swaths of greenery as well as snow covered fields as the weather struggled to decide what it wanted to be. Stopped by a village called Gyekenyes, which was effectively the border between Hungary and Croatia. Waited for my connecting train for an hour and half before boarding the final train to Zagreb. Had my first passport stamps by the border guards as they inspected the train with the huge guns and dogs! I guess the "rotten eggs" smell from my thermal bath played a part to turn the dog away immediately!

Arrived into Zagreb half an hour later than original due to the long checks at the borders and spent another 30 min before getting to Hobo Bear Hostel which was in the intersection of the Upper and Lower Zagreb, about 800m away from the main Trg Jelacica Square. A bunch of backpackers from down under taking advantage of the 10 KN (€1 = 7.5 KN) local beer during Friday happy hours. Paid my outstanding for the 1 night stay and dropped my backpack off in the room before shooting out for a quick walk around town.

Surprisingly, it was rather quiet on a night leading up to the weekend. Unlike some of the cities that I came across, this was tame compared, which also means that there wasn't much option for dinner as well. Since it is expected to be a short stay in the capital, I did not want to draw too much kunas and ended up in a Italian place behind the hostel with a massively huge Funghi pizza, which did the job of overloading my hungry stomach, and not much else. No night shots tonight as the weather turned really chilly and felt like -5 degrees under the snow fall and lashing winds.

Following the Danube into Hungary

2009-03-21T00:03:00.003Z

Got up at 7am, washed up and got ready to catch the 8.25am train to Budapest. Ashley looked at me with dreamy eyes when I bade her farewell and trotted along to Westbahnhof train station under the increasingly heavy snow fall. Paid €50.20 for the train to Pecs via Budapest, which is the most expensive transport that I have paid so far. Bought a baguette and another bad coffee for breakfast before the train started the 3 hour journey to the Hungarian capital.

Many including myself before this trip have probably not heard of Pecs (pronounced paich), but this sleepy university town is due to take over the European Capital of Culture from Vilnus come 2010. As I have been to Budapest and my other option of going to Lake Balaton doesn't make sense during this time of the year, this town sounds like the perfect "stay-away-from-tourist" location for me on my way down south.

The train rolled into Budapest's Keleti train station at 11.30am and almost miss my connecting InterCity train operated by Hungary's MAV leaving at 11.45am. From there, it is another two and half hours over flat plains to the south of the country, beside the borders with Croatia. On arrival, you can really sense the "local-ness" of the place, I seem to be the only traveller carry 2 huge bags, let alone an oriental one that doesn't look a bit like everyone else. Booked a night stay at Nap Hostel Pecs in the middle of the Town central and it was a quick 15min walk from the train station.

Once checked in, was told that I was the only other 2 people staying in the hostel - so far, all the hostels were pretty much full, even Bratislava had more people than this! Tamas Szep (owner) gave me a map of the town and pointed out key sights that I shouldn't miss. After an hour and half, I was already walking along their "high street" looking for food to eat. I do feel that the weather is not doing any justice to the place as it should be very pretty come spring or summer. Stopped by the local supermarket to stock up on my snickers bar supply before heading back to the hostel for a rest. Tamas later recommended me to this restaurant cum bar called Traffic within a cinema called Apollo, which was just a short walk away. Had a fusion type pasta with fried vegetables and lemonade and only cost 1400 Ft (€1 = 300 Ft), so cheap!!! I didn't stay for the DJ gig that was been setup since I thought of having a quiet night after.

The Japanese gal, Mayumi, came back late in the night after going to Harkány for a thermal bath in the afternoon followed by a music concert in the university. Chatted briefly as she was struggling a bit with English but was so courteous and kept apologising when she couldn't find the right word. Found out that she is student in Tokyo living in Shinjuku and travelling around Europe for 10 days - she chanced upon Pecs as a place to get away from after she quarreled with her travelling mate in Vienna!

Some of you asked me why did I stop couchsurfing - well, I think with more time and planning, I do like to arrange for more CS but the need to find a buddy and await for their responses, the arrangements to meet up, logistics on staying in the flat, etc make it very difficult for me on a trip like mine as I kind of plan my next cities as I go along. I do miss the knowledge and warmth that a host can provide, especially after my 2 amazing experiences in Vilnius and Warsaw, but I do feel that going to a hostel might be the best option for a tight backpacking trip like mine as it allows me the flexibility of finding one that is as close to the sights as possible to save me time on travelling, as well as making last minute decisions on when to go back/leave.

Link to all photos from Hungary.

32 hours in Vienna

2009-03-19T19:58:00.005Z

Slept it briefly after too much walking the previous day. Left for Weltcafe behind the Votiv Church from a breakfast recommendation by the hostel staff. Students seem to form majority of the breakfast crowd and there was an overall relaxed atmosphere in the cafe. The cafe prides itself as fair trade and has detailed writeups about its philosophy in its menu. On offer were various types of breakfast such as Oriental (which I think is nothing close to been oriental), English, French, Continental, etc. Ended up going for a Mexican version as it seemed to be the odd one out from the menu. After 5min, I was presented with a plate of scrambled eggs with nachos and bread - pretty strange combi although I have to say the eggs were nicely done and went well with the nachos. Paid €6 + tips for the meal and coffee, seem to be the perfect fuel to start the day!

Popped onto the tourist tram 1 at the corner of the Ring road, which used to be Vienna's enormous city walls and bastions some 2 centuries back before they were replaced by wide and tree-lined roads and tram tracks. As I have bought the 24hr day pass, decided to try out the metro as well which turned out to be comfortable and efficient too. Switched back to tram 1 again heading towards the creations of eccentric Hundertwasserhaus, the architect who thinks that straight lines are wrong and everything revolves around spirals - "we always walk in circles but never end up at the same place...". His museum was dull but his other creation, a social housing project was really quite unique although I will loath to live in there with so many tourists coming round to 'visit' you everyday!

Headed back to the city centre before taking a peek into the majestic Stephans-dom, or commonly known as St. Stephen's Cathedral where it has been perpetually under construction since 1147, much like Sagrada Família in Barcelona. This is the main square for the Old Town and there are loads of horse drawn carriages parked beside the cathedral, awaiting for willing tourists. Heading southwards, I continued to the Wien Museum which was celebrating 50 years of its anniversary by having a New York Street Photography exhibition by a group of well known shooters in the 40s to the 80s. Entry - €7.

Made my way back to the hostel for internet access to check the train and bus tickets, as well as a brief rest of my tired feet. "See if there are any coffee houses in here that interests you, they are slightly more expensive but it is authentic Viennese experience", the hostel lady behind the counter kindly handed me a "Best of Vienna Konzert-Cafes" guide. One of the reason why I did a detour to Wien was to see and soak up the smoky coffee house experience that is so famous throughout the world. As the sky darkens, I hopped onto the U3 metro and headed to the northeastern end of the ring road.

Prukel sits directly out the exit of the station but moment I stepped in, the smoke was pure overwhelming and stepped right out immediately. Not good first experience, maybe I can try out the next one down the road - Ministerium, beside the nice looking art nouveau Post Office Savings Bank designed by Otto Wagner. The crowd was a lot smaller in this and I took up a seat right at the end of the cafe before ordering a coffee and chocolate cake, which ended up to be 2 slices of the cake when it arrived - it was probably the last piece and decided to give it to me anyway. I can see why it is so charming when you sit in one of them and watch businessmen go about their daily dealings and couples sharing a tender kiss under the cozy lighting. But unless smoking is banned indoors, I will probably not be one of them, and I still prefer cafes that are more unique in its atmosphere such as those in Brooklyn or the few I chanced upon while in Stockholm. Still it has been a good experience gained.

Made full use of my day pass and continued on to Spittelau, where U4 and U6 meets, to see the last work by Hundertwasserhaus. This time on a factory with oil like bunkers and a tower to match. The wind howled along as I spent the next 30min trying to capture a good shot before making my way back to hostel. Chatted with a Korean gal, Ashley, who was doing an exchange in Bonn in the room who thought I was a rude korean guy after I ignored her when she said hi (in korean obviously) yesterday. Her english was rather good and we followed with some beers in the lounge downstairs with a bunch of other aussies, kiwis, germans and surprisingly many japanese after I offer her to check the internet on my laptop. Apparently, Koreans have 2 ages when you ask them how old they are, the international age which is what we all use and the korean age, which is always 2 years older than the real age. Seems like it is counted the moment they are in the mothers' womb, but still did not quite figure out where did the additional year or so come from?

By 1am, I figured I should I should just go ahead to get to Pecs by train even though it will cost me €50. The alternative was to take a cheap bus, stay overnight in Budapest before buying the cheaper train ticket to Pecs directly from Budapest (Any train journey is expensive from Austria, but cheap in Hungary). A friend once chided me for complaining too much on my last train ride into Prague and said I am unromantic and should appreciate the joys of travelling on trains. Knowing that I have quite alot of train rides coming up in my next road trip, I decided I should prove her wrong :)

From Bratislava to Wien

2009-03-18T23:19:00.008Z

Got up at 8.30am today. Bread that bought from Brno yesterday taste cold and yucky. Did not even finish even half of it. Sky is completely overcast and looks like it is just a matter of time before the rain falls. The taste of the free coffee from the hostel taste equally bad and decided it is best to head into the Old Town to get some proper breakfast.

I read about the blue church which is very popular with couples who are getting married and will hold their weddings there. It looks fairy-like and you can understand why they want to hold their biggest day in their lives in such a special place. Walked to the National museum and paid €7 to view the exhibits - was pleasantly surprised to find out that the Slovakia has actually adopted the Euros, saves me the trouble of exchanging another country currency although the rates are really bad at the moment! I was attracted to the photography exhibition which was very similar to the John Novis one that was happening in Prague, but this was more focused on Pavel Bem who reached the summit of Mount Everest, and also the cultures and people of Tibet, India and Nepal along the way. This is the 2nd photography exhibition that I have attended for the trip but both of them are so inspiring and just makes me want to start climbing as well.

Headed to a local eating place called U Jabuku off NAM SP 24 for lunch, recommended by LP. It turned out to be just perfect for people like me who doesn't understand a single word of Slovakian words as you can just choose what you want from the food display in front of you, much like a self-service cafeteria concept. I pointed to some rice that seems to be fried with some meat and vegetables. Gesticulated at nicely fried eggs on a separate plate to add to my mixture before the lady behind the counter added gherkins and asked if I wanted the soup as well, which I just couldn't refuse. You can see why there are so many working class folks coming here when I ended up paying only €3.90 at the counter. Turned out that it was rather nice too, would definitely recommend to anyone who needs a cheap and cheerful meal.

Strolled my way back into the Old Town again (this is probably my 3rd time going round some of the sights) and popped in a few galleries along the way before stopping by the chain Coffee & Co for a kava. Convenient to find out that it has free Wifi too which I used it to confirm the timings for the train to Wien. Headed back to the hostel to collect my bags shortly after and made my way for the 4.33pm train. Gave €2 to a little gal who came up the bus with 2 other older girls playing some musical instruments even though I know that she will probably not get to have the money for herself, or worse, they might be using it to buy alcohol or drugs...

As Wien and Bratislava are only 60km apart (they are the world's closest capitals), there is a train leaving every half an hour, but alternating between 2 train stations. Was advised to head to the Petrzalka station instead of Hlava Stanica as the trains in the former are newer and they cost the same anyway. Paid €0.50 (the price is based on how long your journey is, minimum is €0.25 for 5min ride) for a bus across to the south side of Danube River. At the counter, the lady quoted me €9.20 for a single ticket to Wien and €10 for a return! They really take advantage of travellers like me with such pricing although you could try to get a return and sell it for half price to someone on arrival for the return leg!

The train seems to stop at every place where there happen to be a house standing beside the track as it slowly rolled along the flat plains. Wind farms can be seen as far out to the horizon but nothing much else. The only indication that I have passed the borders was when 2 guards strolled down the train alley, took a look at me, and continued their conversation in German as if I wasn't there. After 6 countries, I have only got a stamp on my passport, on arrival in Riga 2 weeks back to show, which is a personal disappointment. I wonder how do they manage the flow of humans with such open border policies. Anyone can just come in and stay for years and not be noticed at all.

The train was new and comfy as described and only had a few souls taking the journey to the Austrian capital at that time. After 1 hour, we rolled into Sudbahnhof station in Vienna. Got onto tram 18 and headed in the direction of Westbahnhof station to Hostel Ruthensteiner. Single trip tickets for all public transport costs €1.70 and you will be better off with a one/two/three days passes for much better value. Checked into the hostel in no time and first impressions were quite positive as the whole place seem to have just been renovated recently and it is still working on a new garden in time for the spring/summer crowd, probably to have big barbecues! The staff over the counter is especially friendly too and directed me to some places to visit in the night. Only downside - price. So far, it is still the most expensive hostel that I have stayed in so far in my trip - cost €14/night and there are additionals like €1 for the bedsheet, internet terminals, etc. Found out in the end that the whole city is expensive, so this is no difference. Was however told by the staff that the tap water was probably better than evian as it comes directly from the mountains, hmmm...I wonder if I should believe him about the quality but drinkable is all that I need to know.

Spent couple of hours taking in the night sights of the Parliament building, Rathaus (City Hall) and the Votiv Church through my camera before my stomach to 'complain' by 10pm. Stopped by Steirische Jagastub'n behind the city hall as It looked like a really nice and cosy restaurant, and was eager to try out some Austrian food. The elderly woman who was taking my orders was really nice and I ended up ordering a Gulaschsuppe as starter and Reindlfleisch as main, plus half a litre of Gossen beer, whom she said will go well with the food. Meal was really nice but I think I had too much and was struggling to walk back to the hostel in the cold night. Paid €20 for all, which is fairly expensive in my opinion.

My Garmin watch indicated that I have walked 15 km for the entire day and my body was really feeling the strain of carrying 10kg bag all the while by the time I got back to the hostel. After a nice hot power shower (it was really powerful, another plus point), had a brief chat with the Kiwi dude sleeping beneath me who was complaining about the most expensive Burger King meal he ever had in his life, €8 for a meal!!! It happened that he used to be working in London too before and is also doing some last minute travelling in Europe before heading back down under. At least his trip is nicely covered off by his redundancy package. Seems like the exodus from the capital is not only limited to the Polish...

Link to all pictures of Slovakia and Austria.

Finish with Brno, crossing into Slovakia

2009-03-17T18:22:00.005Z

Woke up at 7am and made it to catch the 8am bus to Brno. Paid 200 Kc (ouch!) for the two and half hour bus journey through small villages and stretches of beech and spruce forest. The bus stopped into front of Grand Hotel, a mini bus interchange secondary to the main bus station just south of another huge Tesco (that's how the locals recognise it by). I stopped by the train station looking to drop off my 15 kg backpack but decided to carry it around instead to avoid withdrawing more Crowns.

Brno is the 2nd most populated town after Prague, just under 400,000 in total and the town center clearly reflects it. Centered around the old town, it is a mix of cobbled walkways with brand new shops catering to the more affluent crowd. Wanted to visit the Capuchin Monastery only to find out the it is again closed for Mondays! The Pamassus Fountain has interesting figurines of Hercules restraining the 3-headed Cerberus, watchdog of the underworld, as well as 3 female figures representing the ancient Persia, Babylon and Greece with a lady standing proudly at the top representing Europe. There is a nice local fruit and veg market which I duly refilled my 5-fruits a day recommendation :) Apparently, live carps used to be sold from the fountain during the good old times!

The Cathedral of St Peter and Paul stands menacingly from the top of the nearby elevation and is worth strolling up for a view of the interior. Head towards the main square, Nam Svobody, and try to find the stone figure of a man bearing his buttocks in the direction of the Church of St James. I gave up after 10 minutes, see if you do better than me. After lunch (a McChicken meal this time round, and NO, I am not proud of it), decided to burn some extra calories by climbing up to highest point in the city center, where Spilberk Castle stands, around 150m high. After much panting and first sight of sweat beads, I was rewarded with a good view of the city, not great, but still a good workout.

Heading back into Nam Svobody, I found a sporting shop that was having a sales and got a pair of Merrell trekking shoes to replace my aging running shoes that I was doubling up for my travels. It is almost a must to get one that has Gore-Tex label on it regardless of the brand, or other equivalent technologies to keep the feel dry. A pair of merino wool socks will complement it nicely to draw the sweat away and keep the feet fresh from everyday walking. The shoes cost 1900 Kc, about £65 or thereabouts, which is reasonable since the original price was 2300 Kc. Tried to recycle my old shoes in a clothes bank but could not find anyone to understand what I was babbling about.

After another short caffeine refuel at the modern gallerie shopping complex in front of the main bus station, I again had to run to catch the bus with almost 30kg of load. Paid 150 Kc (about £6) for a local bus to Bratislava - it is worth again to check with the various bus providers for the best quotes; Student Agency is based in Brno and offers a much newer coach for an equivalent price if you are a student or under 26. The driver asked for additional 20 Kr when he saw my massive backpack and had to resort to paying him EUR1 instead as I have used up most of my Czech crowns. Reluctantly handed him the coin so that I can continue my journey.

Within 30min of leaving the station, the bus had crossed an empty border station and I am officially in Slovakia. The landscape remained pretty much the same and was generally flat and cultivated lands along the way before the capital came within sight. After an hour and half, the bus rolled into the main bus station beside a massive and unique looking glass tower that seems house BMW offices.

As night fell, I arrived at Hostel Possonium after 20 min walk which I had booked a night for €9.90 in a 8 bed dorm. "As the hostel is not full, would you mind if we upgrade you to a 6 bed dorm instead", the lady at the reception asked as she recorded the details from my passport. "I'm definitely not complaining", I replied with a smile. Dropped my bag and headed out straight to the old Town, which was just 10 minutes walk from the hostel.

If Brno was small, Bratislava is TINY! I literally covered the entire old town in an hour and half, stopping to take some pictures along the way. But I like it this way, the cobbled streets are really nice, with the dim yellow lamps covering the stone walls and the hardly any tourists! Made my way to the restaurant recommended by the receptionist, but instead of having bryndzove halusky, which was potato wrapped with sheep cheese, i went for a more traditional broccoli pasta/lasagna instead. I did order the recommended drink 'Silvovica' which turned out to be some brandy which was REALLLLLY strong and I was almost knocked out after! But you have to try what the locals do right? :) Found out later on the internet that it was actually some plum brandy.

Headed back to the hostel after and it is the first time that the hostel is so empty since I started my travel. Met my dorm mates who were from Italy studying in Berlin and chatted with them briefly. Found out that they were also going to Wien tomorrow but leaving in the morning. Maybe we might bump into each other!

Link to all photos taken in Slovakia.

Prague, and a touch of Bohemia and Moravia

2009-03-16T23:13:00.008Z

Czech Republic, a country that did not even exist before 1993 but like its other European counterparts, is rather steep in its history as reflected by the cobbled old towns and majestic castles dotted around the land. After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, the Republic took to its final shape after an agreement with Slovakia in 2003 and Czechoslovakia ceased to exist from 1 Jan that year. Since then, it has been on a adrenaline rush, Prague became its official capital, joined the EU in 2004 and is due to adopt the EUR next year.

I heard so much about Prague, its beauty, its legendary Prague Castle, Charles Bridge and the 30 statues that line up along it, the famed Old Town Square and many others. After 9 hrs of probably the worst train ride in my life so far, I made my way to HostelOne Prague, conveniently located in the Zizkov district, couple of stops on tram no. 9 to the Old Town and other nearby sights, for 2 nights. Since it was only 7am, the bed was not ready for me and I took and quick shower before leaving my backpack and headed out towards Charles Bridge.

If you want to avoid the crowds, make sure you arrive at the bridge before 9am, else you will feel more like walking along Champ-Elysee. I thought this was supposed to be the low season, but the crowds made me wonder how spring/summer will be like!?!? To be honest, Prague castle was average but it does look quite nice when it is lit up at night. I was more impressed with the Bridge considering that it used to the one and only bridge across the Vltava river from the 1300s till early 19th century.

Continued on to Old Town searching for the Astronomical clock that looks absurdly weird by comes to life (barely) at the strike of every hour. Huge crowds will gather below eagerly waiting for that moment only to disappoint most from their huge expectations! It happened that there was a photo exhibition below the clock tower showcasing some great pictures on the subject of man and mountains. The main highlight of the exhibit came from John Novis, who is the head of photography for Greenpeace, where he joined a team to Everest to document the impact of global warming on the glaciers. There is no doubt that the ice is melting away, and very fast.

Popped into an English pub (I know I should stay away!!!) to catch the big match of the week and was duly rewarded with a display from Liverpool that cap an end to a great week of performance and results. Had a humongous burger in the midst and decided to take a stroll over to the New Town (It's 'new' only because it was built after the old town!) where I came across a our familiar Tesco, massive store right in the middle of Nove Mesto (New Town). Sadly, there wasn't anything much to highlight after walking for good 30 minutes around the area. I did pop into a local store manned by a friendly Vietnamese guy and realised that there were alot of Viets around the country! Wonder if there is a Little Vietnam like Kingsland Road in London.

Stopped by a little gallery that was also a cafe for my caffeine fix before heading back towards Prague castle for some night shooting. Sadly, the hoards of tourists were still lingering around and decided to call it an end for the day after a few shots to rest for the day trip out to Plzen tomorrow.

Back in the hostel, more 'kids' seem to be checking in and some of them probably just woke up from the party the night before and getting ready to go out again. Alcohol seems to be everywhere and made me feel out of place with the crowd. Some of them have even been staying in the hostel for weeks and, to be honest, not doing much as far as I can see. Guess that is their way of chilling out I suppose?

Got up early the next day. The weather was drab again and light rain was falling down from the overcast sky. Made a quick instant coffee (which tasted really bad) and made my way to Florenc bus station. Paid 205 Kr for a return ticket to Plzen although I did find out later that it is cheaper to get one way tickets and get the return in Plzen instead. There are a few other bus companies operating in the station and it is worth to check with all of them for the best prices. Usually you do not have to book in advance, just make sure you turn up 15min before the bus departure and buy it directly from the driver.

Plzen is an hour and half to the west of Prague and is the capital of West Bohemia. It's claim to fame is probably the famous Pilsner Urquell beer brewed in this town as well as the sprawling Skoda factory directly in front of the main bus station on arrival. The town center is so small that you can go round it in less than an hour. As it is Sunday, shops that opened were hard to come by and decided to pop into Denni Bar and Pizzerie recommended by Lonely Planet.

What better way after lunch than to pop over to Pilsner Urquell for a brewery tour and a taste of their unfiltered beer directly from the casks that they still use to ferment and serve the beer to the tour groups. Apparently you can only get the unfiltered beer from the tour and is not available for sale outside the underground storage that they are held. Have to say it tasted quite good, with a bit of bitterness in the aftertaste, probably from the yeast that is still in the beer. Of all the places in the world, I bumped into a group of Singaporeans working for Shell who have driven down from Munich to do this beer tour! Apparently one of the guy in the group was here exactly 20 years ago and wanted to see the difference since then. Jeez, it will be really strange to visit this place again in another 20 years!!! Overall, I probably won't recommend Plzen unless you are keen to know the beer brewing/manufacturing process and struggle to find anything else to do. That said, it was quite nice to meet people from home town and practice speaking my Singlish again :)

Got back to the hostel after buying some bread and soup from a local supermarket. I decided to combine the 2 days in Czech into one post because I felt really disappointed with this leg of my journey - reality simply fell short of my expectations, coupled that with the tourists and high prices, just made this place poor value in my view. Frankly I can't wait to get out of the city and move on to Brno, 2nd biggest city in Czech, before crossing the border into Slovakia. That said, it's time for bed...

Note:
Link to all photos taken in Czech as I continue to upload them

A dark chapter in history

2009-03-15T21:45:00.008Z

Getting further behind in my postings - will keep this short as Booked a day trip with Cracow tours through the hostel to Oświęcim costing 90 zl. You can save by taking the public bus service arriving directly outside the museum, but you might have difficulty finding an English guide to bring you around, and trust me, a good guide is absolutely necessary to understand exactly what happened in history. Oświęcim is the nearest town to Auschwitz and Birkenau. Many would have heard about the former but it is the latter that is probably alot more frightening when you learn about the atrocities that happen behind the gates.

After an hour and half, you will arrive at the gates to Auschwitz I where the guide (if you have one) will meet you and bring you through. The first tour will take easily an hour and half and goes through a few key buildings in the camp which was formerly a Polish army camp converted to a concentration camp after the Nazis invaded the country. Hearing about how hundreds of thousands of people all over Europe were brought here, many of them killed immediately (especially the old, sickly, women and kids) is just shocking. Selection on whether you live or die alot down to luck; the lead doctor will stand in the train platform with the men and women split in 2 lines before deciding who is to live or die. Some of the exhibits in the blocks show hair that has been cut off the men and women, which filled up an entire room, which the Germans used it to make products back home in WW II. The Soviet camera man who documented the liberation mentioned that he saw 3 'hills' of items when he arrived - one of clothes, one of hair cut from the inmates, and the last dentures, where the gold were removed and smelted down to gold bars!

If Auschwitz was shocking, wait till you see Birkenau. The scale and size of the camp will is so huge that you cannot imagine how many people passed through the gates. The Germans even relaid the railway track so that it stops directly in front of the Birkenau camp instead of Auschwitz. The appalling living conditions and the facts about the extermination of the Jews makes it doubly worse. The article in Wikipedia describes it very well and shall not repeat more about further but will definitely suggest that you visit this place if you can as this is one history that we should all be aware of, even though millions will want to forget about the atrocities.

Got back to Krakow and collected my backpack from the hostel before spending a good 3 hours in the newest shopping complex in the town, which happened to be conveniently located beside the train station. Had my 4th Mcdonalds meal in 10 days (not proud of it) before purchasing a one way 2nd class ticket to Prague for 288 zl, only to find out later that the cabin seats 8 and is unheated! Was not the best way to spend the night and was only glad when it rolled into Prague city center after 9hrs.

Updated 16/3:
Link to more pictures from Auschwitz - Birkenau

24 hours in an ancient capital

2009-03-13T18:46:00.011Z

A visit to Poland is incomplete without a taste of the original and some say the best vodka in the world - Żubrówka or Bison Vodka (there is one straw of grass in every bottle) that is usually mixed with apple juice. The damage for last night - 2 Żubrówka shots (I cheated by drinking apple juice), 1 vodka orange and 2 Wsciekly Pies (also known as mad dogs - vodka with some sweet syrup and a touch of tobasco). It was a good decision to only bring enough cash cabs and some drinks, and leave everything at home, including credit cards. Managed to stumble out of the air bed at 8am to pack everything when Ola stepped out of the room all ready for work seemingly like she has slept a good 10 hours! She was still upset that I did not do justice to the city by spending more time but we bid each other farewell and I will be looking forward to her planned 2 year adventure around the world!

The snow continued to fall from the night as I took the metro to Centrum. The Warsaw Centralna station is slightly 1km walk away, passing the enormous and Soviet looking
Palace of Culture and Science, a reminder of the architecture so common during the Stalin era. Paid 105zl for a Intercity train that should arrive in Krakow in 2.45min. I sped away through the city into the countryside in no time and was quite glad to only have another passenger in the 6-person cabin although she was yakking away on her phone most of the time. I caught up on my blog and was pleasantly thrilled to find power sockets, and a refuel of coffee and snacks by the attendants.

1.45pm: The train called into Kraków Główny train station. I took a wrong exit and ended up walking 30min in circles as the locals seems clueless to a chinese man speaking English asking for directions. Finally checked into Flamingo Hostel that is directly above Mcdonald's in the north corner of the Main Market Square. Paid 35zl for a night stay in a 8-bed dorm that was voted the best hostel in the world in 2007. Thoroughly impressed with it - facilities such as bed side lamp and power point for every bed, cleanest toilets and showers I have ever come across and free breakfast - all adds up to the cookie points. If you ever visit the city, make sure you check it out!

Krakow sights are pretty manageable in 1 day if you can cover some distances. Start with Wawel Hill and work your way down the Old Market Square. There are even suggested trails such as Jewish trail, John Pope II trail, etc, on the maps around the major junctions. I decided to skip the touristy bit and stroll to the Kazimierz area where majority of the Jews stay, before crossing the Vistula river hoping to catch the real Oscar Schindler's factory where he saved the thousands of Jews in the movie Schindler's List. The Plaszow Concentration Camp which was highlighted in the movie is another 2.5km away and I decided against venturing too far out as it was getting late.

Ventured back into the market square for coffee in Cafe Manekin (which is Mannequin in Polish). The interior design was quite unique although the smoke in the cafe was slightly too much for my comfort. Followed that up with more Polish local food in a very homely looking cafe and was literally their last customer before closing.

Got back for a short rest in hostel before heading out to the Square again for some night shots, not great but I guess I should make use of my tripod since I have been carrying along. Nothing else interesting from the day; finding my posts slightly boring especially since I am catching up on past days' happenings.

Oswiecim next, stay tuned!

A day out in Warsaw, and a night to remember

2009-03-12T22:37:00.008Z

0600hrs: Arrived in Warsaw's PKS Dworzec Zachodnia bus station. My host for 1 day, Ola, has kindly sent me excellent information on how to get to her apartment in Bielany district, about 15km north of the city center. To get to the city center (called Centrum), cross the underpass to the other side of the road from the terminal and take buses 127, 158 or 517. There is a ticket machine outside the bus station which dispenses one way tickets for 2.80zl or 9zl for 24hr transport pass. Note that there are 2 cash machines at the terminal, one within which refuses to accept my Nationwide card and another Euronet machine on the right after the exit, which I managed to draw some zloty but understand that it does charge a commission for every transaction.

On reaching Centrum, and multiple annoyances where I was unable get the ticket machine to accept my notes and inability to find anyone who speaks English during the morning rush hour, I finally jumped onto the excellent metro and dropped off at Wawrzyszew station where Ola has been waiting to pick me up in her Ford Focus (which I later found out that a similar car saved her life from a dramatic road accident a year ago and she swears by Ford evar). My 'couch' sits in her showflat-like rented 1 bedroom apartment in a new built that stands out from the surrounding Soviet-era blocks. She even prepared some maps of the city for me and recommended a few spots that I shouldn't miss before leaving for work.

Was glad that I made myself useful at 'home' after a nice hot shower by been "at the right time at the right place" to receive Ola's passport from the delivering DHL. Left the flat shortly to take the metro to Ratusz where it is a short walk to the Old Town. A visit to the Warsaw Historical museum is a must if you like to know more about the country's history. Try to time your arrival by 12 noon to catch the english screening of a short documentary depicting the destruction of the city during WWII. The screening cost 6zl and another 8zl if visit the exhibits, which started off to be quite boring at the start as it is showcasing pre-2oth century history and artifacts, which you can browse through quickly and head straight to the 1900s showcasing WWI and II, as well as the days of the Soviet ruling till 1991.

Lunch was at the excellent classic 'milk bar' called "Bar Pod Barbakanem", 3 minutes walk north from the museum, managed by a group of elderly ladies. Milk bars originated during the communist regime as low-cost cafes for workers serving basic vegetarian food. These days, they are adopted by the Poles as living reminder of the past and the palette has definitely expanded to include meat dishes. Had an authentic polish dish consisting of fried pork chop and 5 small slightly sweet doughs made from potato. Do not expect to order in English, but you either know Polish written on the board or point to what other customers are having like me. As this is self-served, remember to return the plates after you finish!

A stroll down the Royal Walk is the perfect after lunch activity, taking in the sights of the Sigismund's Column , Royal Castle, St Anne's church ands Warsaw University. Stop off at the Church of the Holy Cross and look out for the 2nd pillar on the left in the main hall, where Chopin's heart was preserved. By the way, if you are planning to go to the biggest outdoor market in Warsaw Dziesiecoleca Stadion, you might have to wait a few more years as the site is currently been rebuilt for a new stadium in time for Euro 2012 - I walked 2km only to find out that the entire area has been flattened!

For coffee, I recommend Cava along Nowy Swiat that looks classy and serves up an excellent cuppa. Shame that Poland still allows smokers in restaurants, cafes and other indoor areas. Did I say that they have some hot waitresses too :P but rest assured that my judgement is purely based on the subject of critique!

I returned to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier but was unsure of photo taking as there were 2 guards at the post. Ola later mentioned that there is a change of guards everyday at noon although Lonely Planet only mentioned that it only take place on Sundays. Ola brought me to a Polish restaurant and ordered Żurek, a sour rye soup with sausage bits and eggs served in an edible bowl made of bread. Surprisingly, it tasted really nice and the best part is tearing off parts of the bowl and dip into the soup to eat it. We finished by sharing another local dish called xxx, which we couldn't finish all after having Żurek.

When I first arrived in Warsaw, Ola told me that there are 2 party nights in the city, one is Wednesday and the other Saturday. So if you happen to be in the mood of partying and is visiting the city, I can recommend Enklawa which plays 70s to 90s song (sorry folks, I grew up in that era) although Ola was more keen of Underground which plays mainly the latest hip-hop songs attracting a wide mix of people. An indian guy even came up to chat with me, speaking to me in Mandarin and said he studied 3 years in China before transferring to Warsaw Uni!?!? Oh, and did I mention it was sub-zero temperature when we left at 4.30am with snow falling, and having to deal with a strange woman who barge into our cab and insist that we take her to somewhere nearby first!

I slept like a pig the moment I took a shower and hit the air bed that has kindly set up for me...Thank you OLA!

Last day in Vilnius

2009-03-12T07:21:00.004Z

A new blanket of overnight snow has covered the pathways downstairs. Heaps of snow and ice are still melting off the tops of the cars speeding past the block. Jurgita is getting ready for work whilst I finished up packing all my stuff into my bags, ready to leave Vilnius tonight. We had bagels for breakfast, which seems to be a favourite amongst the Lithuanians. Half an hour later, we dropped off Jurgita outside her office building and I bid a fond farewell to her, thanking her for her warm hospitality and company over the past 2 days.

She has been a great host, even though it was the first CS experience for both of us, it turned out to be really positive for both of us. Her bubbly and cheerful character warms everyone up immediately in her presence. I hope to maybe see her in the Far East in the near future and be the host this time round.

Vytautos dropped me off close to VB Sleep Inn and I managed to request to keep my backpack at the hostel to collect in the evening. The day was a chilly 1 degree, with little bits of snow coming down ever so often. I strolled along Gedimino Prospektas towards Museum of Genocide, housed in a former KGB prison. It is the one museum that I wanted to visit, only to find out the it is closed on Monday & Tuesday, BAH!!! Make sure you check the schedules if you plan to visit as most of the museums are closed on Mondays & Tuesdays.

Headed back to Gediminas Hill for a bit of morning exercise. Climbed up 48m to the top of the hill, view over the city was nice but not amazing in that weather. Pissed me off further when they were charging 5Lt just to climb up to the top most tower although I did buy a postcard before I left. The 2nd hill of the 3 crosses is a tad tougher to climb as there was no clear path if you decide to go up from the side of river stream like me. Reaching the top, it does feel that the sight was well worth the efforts although it might be very different during the peak tourist period. 3 crosses that were destroyed during the war but completely rebuilt in memory of 3 crucified monks.

Next up was the cheeky side of the old town, known as Uzupis Republic. Based on lonely planet, "the resident artists, dreamers, squatters and drunks officially unofficially declared this a breakaway state" from the country. You can even find a 41 point constitution that gives its residents some of the most absurd rights, such as right to be misunderstood, a dog has a right to be a dog, etc, see some examples here. Apparently the best time to go is on April Fool's day where there is a huge celebration and you can even get an unofficial stamp in your passport. :)

The locals do seem to prefer tea to coffee although the cafes that I have visited, including Double Coffee and Cozy which serves excellent coffee.

Met up with Xiao Bin again for dinner at Mr Zhang's restaurant (this is my 2 chinese meal in 3 days although I doubt I will have another one in the coming weeks), exchanged contacts before he sent me off to the bus station, where I paid 105Lt for a 9 hr journey by Eurolines. Apparently I was assigned a seat number on the coach but did notice that the rest were just taking empty seats where possible so that they end up with 2 seats in the end if the bus is not full. Ended up sitting beside an elderly man who, guess what, snored again :(

At the Lithuanian/Polish border, there was a slight commotion as the 2 drivers scurried around and barked at passengers asking for the person with bag 10 in the luggage compartment to go down for questions. Turned out that to be merely a false alarm although the coach almost drove off without one of the ladies who had gone to the toilets until the boyfriend woke up in time to realise that she was still missing!

I dozed off with fatigue as the coach headed through vast Poland in the darkness of the night.

Kryžių kalnas, hill of the crosses

2009-03-09T23:00:00.007Z

0630hrs: Woke up with the buzz of my alarm in my pocket. Jurgita was already preparing to get to work. Made me feel slightly bad from the "not enough sleep" look on her face after the late night. I said bye to her with toothpaste still in my mouth as she left for work whilst I was still brushing my teeth in the bathtub. Got all ready at 7am to take the trolleybus to the bus station before Jurgita's friend offered to drive me there instead.

"Next bus to Siauliai?" I asked the lady behind the counter at the bus station. I squint towards the tiny numbers which she pointed on her screen. "Tie-eep, 7.50, Ta-eep, ahh-choo (this is really how thank you sounds locally)", I replied before handing over 47Lt that she has indicated to me using a calculator. "25", as she circled the number on my bus ticket indicating the platform of my coach.

3 hours into my journey, over mostly flat plains covered in white, with the occasion rolling mounds of hill, I was reaching my destination Šiauliai, northwestern part of Lithuania, close to the borders with Latvia (It is actually easier to travel to Šiauliai from Riga if you are coming from the north, before continuing your journey onwards to Vilnius). From the bus station, transfer to another bus that goes to Joniskis costing 2.70Lt each way and drop off at Domantai (tell the driver when you board so that he will remind you to stop). It was another 2km walk from the main road to the hill of the crosses; and if you are going there in winter like me, don't be surprise to find no other living soul if you are going off peak in the winter. Do remember to check the bus schedule to plan your return without having to wait too long for the bus.

The awe of the sight quickly change to a very surreal feeling when you start to walk between the crosses - there are literally hundreds of thousands of them, on 2 hill moulds. Legend says that Lithuanians started putting up symbolic crosses here during their uprising against the Soviets during the 1800s, in memory of loved ones whose bodies were never found. After the 2nd World War, the Soviets tried to bulldoze the site thrice, but each time Lithuanians continued to find a way to creep up behind the guards at night to plant the crosses again.

It is amazing that religion can play such a big part during those tough times to give any little hope which one might be able to cling on to. Even the Pope visited the site in 1993 and declared it as a place for hope, peace, love and sacrifice.

I also bought a small wooden cross for 2Lt and wrote "may there be peace to this world, dennis tang, 陈友祥, 9 mar 09, singapore" just behind the virgin mary statue. Let me know if anyone chanced upon it when you do have a chance to visit this amazing site.

Another 4hrs later, I arrived back at Vinus bus station and took the trolley bus for the first time back to Jurgita's flat. "Let's go Krakai for dinner!", suggested Jurgita when Vytatos came through the door. Krakai is 28km west of the capital and is the perfect day trip out of the city during the summer with its beautiful lakes and ancient castles. The sect that lives there are called Karaities and are so 'endangered' that there are only less than 300 left in Lithuania! We headed for the restaurant straight and was recommended to order a cumin drink (which taste funny but was nice enough to finish), kibinai - meat stuff pastries that looks exactly like Singapore's curry puffs, and cepelinai (non-fried version this time round). Took a very unromantic stroll (I was the odd one out) around the Island castle under falling snow flakes on our heads, which felt really magical!

Got back home for a nice cup of green tea with lemon, ensuring that my road trip doesn't end prematurely with illness.

Arriving in Vilnius

2009-03-08T16:54:00.006Z

Vilnius - which recently took over the title of European Capital of Culture 09 from Liverpool. One that is no stranger to cultural events, activities and monuments. Starting with the UNESCO listed old town, the world famous annual Jazz festivals in Kaunas and summer parties that attract thousands of people to stream into this lovely little country.

The coach reached Vilnius bus station at 1940hrs but it felt more like 2345hrs as the bus bays were completely deserted. My hopes of meeting my host whom agreed to put me up did not turn up and I was keen to follow some of the guys in the group who seemed to be heading for a hostel. As I head to the main road, a chinese guy came up to me，“你好, 讲华语吗？“ he asked.

We chatted after and found out that we were staying in the same hostel in Riga and were on the same coach to Vilnius. I found out later that Xiao Bin is a mechanical engineer working for a chinese firm with half his time is based in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. He has studied in Belarus and has been running around the Baltic states for a while (he has still yet to tell me why a Chinese will end up studying in Belarus)

Hearing that I was looking for a hostel, he recommended one in the old town that he used to stay before and offered to bring me there. "какая шина к старому городку?" Xiao Bin asked the lady behind the glass window in fluent Russian. The lady replied "the one in front...", and pointed to the bus behind us in a grumpy way. Xiao Bin immediately bought 2 tickets and helped with my bags aboard the bus. Just as he was saying that we could have saved buying the tickets as there are usually no bus inspectors at night, 2 burly men stood at the exits of the doors just as we were alighting at the stop!

We walked under the moonlight, snaking round several dark alleys before we arrived at the gates out VB Sleep Inn. Thanking him for his kindness, we bade each other goodbye after exchanging phone numbers. Luckily, the hostel was not filled and I ended up paying EUR10 for a night stay in a 8-bed dorm, with an additional 2Lt (£1 was about 3.7Lt at time of writing) for a towel. I quickly left my backpack and headed for some Lithuanian food for dinner. Found a Lithuanian restaurant not far from the hostel and ordered a soup and hearty Cepelinai (Lithuanian fried dumplings) - 2 huge balls of potato flour shaped like an egg with minced meat in the middle, topped with my preferred mushroom sauce. YUMMY!!!

Received a mail from Jurgita, my CS (couchsurfing) host when I got back at the hostel, informing me that I could stay at her place the following day, and arranged to meet up after dinner. Was quite excited but also slightly wary if she decides not to turn up again like my last host. I collapsed in bed not long after...

Awoken again from loud snores, checked my phone - it was only 0300hrs; the snoring was coming from a guy sleeping on the bed directly beside mine...2nd night in a roll, surely it is not going to be trend?

Next morning, I chatted with Andy in the pantry, a 24 year old Kiwi who had only arrived from Gdnask, Poland after a 12hr bus journey, and has been travelling in Europe for 5 months! He thinks he will go on for another few months before settling somewhere for a temp job before his next adventure. Half an hour later, we headed out for a bite before we chanced upon Vilnius once in a year Sunday fair, where locals in Lithuania as well as the Baltic states, Poland, Belarus and Russia come into town to flock their wares and products. The day was a freezing 0 degrees with light drizzle falling on the crowds who were trying their best to enjoy the world's women day. There were smoked fish, handmade pottery, flowers, food and "bagel necklaces"! Andy was game enough to try some 'soup' scooped from a boiling pot with a frog dipped in it. The french stall owner was struggling to get any conservative Lithuanians to try before Andy's 'seal of approval' got a queue forming to taste the delicacy.

The old town was a lot bigger than Riga's, and is full of churches and cathedrals - Lithuanians are supposed to be very religious with the majority been Roman Catholic. Such was the variety of architectural diversity that it is listed on UNESCO world heritage list. Did not manage to take into many sites due to the gray weather and ended up back in the hostel for a hot drink.

Later in the evening, I packed, said goodbye to Andy and met up with Xiao Bin for dinner at his friend, Mr Zhang's restaurant called Hongkongnas. I found out after that Mr Zhang has been in Lithuania for 11 years, worked his way up from a chef to own 2 restaurants in Vilnius. He has since married a local woman and have 2 lovely daughters although his businesses have been hit hard by the credit crisis as well in which he lost over a million (not sure what currency, don't think I should probe any further) in a hotel venture that he had to pulled out due to cash flow problems. I felt quite at home all of a sudden, sitting in a table, with 2 newly found chinese friends in the middle of a baltic state. We chatted like old friends over good alus (Lithuanian beer) and excellent chinese stir fry dishes. Mr Zhang even offered to put me up for my remaining stay but I kindly turned down his warm gesture as I left with Jurgita when she arrived with her friend to pick me up. His kind gesture reminded me again of how Chinese people take good care of each other when they are alone aboard, even though I am a distant chinese from Singapore :)

We took a short spin around the city showing me the night sights of the city although we were struggling to make out anything through the cold foggy night. Jurgita's flat seems to have been built during the former Soviet days, grey on the outside, and simple on the inside. She explained that her parents have left her the flat as they have moved out to live in a house since she started working and has been staying alone ever since. It was a typical 2 bedroom flat with wooden floorings and basic furniture across the rooms. The one thing that surprised me the most is the lack of a basin, meaning that one would have to brush their teeth and wash their face in a bathtub that was also missing shower curtains too (there were no curtain rails). One can only imagine how basic life was for most of the people during the Soviet ruling. Even though Jurgita did not have to pay rent, she added that the bills were already taking a huge chunk of the little pay that she gets. The costs of living seems quite high, coupled with low wages and high taxes. Feels a distant memory to read that Lithuania is a country of steroids, with sky high annual growth and imminent adoption of the Euro as its currency. It just made me appreciate the benefits of mingling with locals through CS who will tell you things that you might not otherwise hear.

After more desert, fruity tea and advising where I should head to the next morning, the hosts bade me goodnight before the start of a new work week whilst I continue to search for bus timings to Siauliai and Hills of the Crosses - which literally blew me away the next day...

ps: falling very far behind in my photos, will try to pick it up in the coming days...

Moving down south

2009-03-07T21:16:00.003Z

Last night was one of my worst sleep in a hostel so far; constantly woken up by constant snoring of a french guy who booked in during the day. He seemed a really friendly guy with the lights on, but turned out to be a complete nightmare when the lights went out - he perpetually snored NON-STOP throughout the night. Ended up catching few interrupted breaks and decided to wake up at 7 and pack to get out as soon as possible. I suspect he probably knows his snoring habit, which reminded me that I should definitely bring ear plugs or my in-ear earphones on my next trip!

Whole bunch of party folks checked in yesterday and thanks to the warm welcome by the hostel, everyone literally gets a free beer and didn't stop till they left for clubs at the strike of midnight. Most of them only got back around 6-7ish in the morning. Riga, been one of the stag party destination, did not seem to disappoint in that aspect, although I will avoid those crowds as far away as possible, unless you are aiming to rock till 7am as well.

Took a day trip out to Sigulda, 60km east of Riga today. Cost of the bus ticket was 1.6 Ls and took a very precise 65min to arrive from Riga bus station. Been a general flat country, Latvia does not have any ski resorts to boast, but for the Latvians who wish to put on their skis or hop onto their snowboards, this tiny town is the place to be. Besides boasting a few castles that date back to 800 years in exact, I reckon the bob sled course is probably more famous than the sights, especially during low season where the cable car that ferries travellers across the Gauja River for 1.50 Ls in winter. There was a slightly minor mishap where I almost fell down the slopes due to the slippery snow accumulated on the steps. Made me look extra stupid when you have people who were happily going up the hill on their ski lifts whilst I was literally on all 4s trying to grab hold of anything to prevent me from falling 100m down. Picking the idea from the cross-country skiers, I did realise that I can use the same technique to walk faster on my shoes by literally 'sliding' on the black ice on the road. Surprisingly, it was quite effortless, and added a little bit of fun on the long walk. The weather was fantastic too, which allowed me to bring out my solar panels to start powering my bag of gadget (photo to come soon).

Rushed back to Riga just in time to pick up my backpack from the hostel before scurrying back to the bus station to catch the coach to Vilnius. Sometimes I think I live life too much at the edge, always planning things to the very last minute to make full use of every minute, really need to buffer more time in between! By the way, I hope to only travel on bus/trains during this trip except for my return back to London at the end.

Riga has been wonderful, although I might spend more time going to other parts of the country if it wasn't winter. Probably leave that for now and leave with good memories and head to my next destination, Vilnius in Lithuania, where I am really looking forward to meet up with my host through couchsurfing!

Starting from the Baltics

2009-03-06T16:42:00.003Z

A country with a past that most would rather look to the future. Latvia's history in the last 100 years have been peppered by conquering countries who have seen the importance of this Baltic state. Since its independence in 1991, it has been trying to claw back lost time, especially with the inclusion into EU in 2004, when it recorded one of the highest growth since, although it has not been spared by the current economic crisis affecting the whole world. Since opening its doors, streams of travellers have been trickling into its capital, especially with the help of budget airlines that have started to fly to Riga in the last few years. So strange it was that there was no immigration when I landed at the airport via Warsaw, although there were only 2 luggage belts in the arrival hall of the entire airport!

Getting into town was a breeze, jumping on the local bus that goes into Old Riga, costing a very cheap 0.4 Ls (1 Ls is about £1), dropping off beside Gaugava River where I booked 2 nights with Friendly Fun Franks Backpackers Hostel. Old Riga is a real charmer, with its winding cobbled streets and historic cathedrals dating back to the 13th century. Make sure you try out the local Latvian food delights in Lido (ask for Alus Seta) or one of the local cheap eats. Vegetarians will struggle to find anything decent as Latvians are geared for meat, whether it is a simple pork chop or Russian dumplings (Pelmeni XL) wrapped with lamb or chicken.

There aren't many museums worth mentioning but a visit to the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia is highly recommended if you like to understand more about its history. Make sure you time your visit with an English guide, for free! The change of guards at the Freedom Monument is also worth a mention although the 2 guards are never going to have the same impact as what you get at Buckingham Palace.

Guidebooks highlighted the Art Nouveau district in the New Town, which showcased buildings that were built in the 19th century that embraces the decadent and expressive - which for me, wasn't something that I was able to appreciate easily. There is also a big local market beside the bus and train station, selling everything from fruits and vegetables to fresh meat and pastries which are very fresh and reasonably priced. For folks who need a caffeine fix like me, head for the coffee chain Double Coffee, which serves reasonable coffee. If your hotel/hostel does not provide breakfast, this place offers very cheap breakfast deals which serves the purpose.

During winter, head across the impressive Vansu Bridge and watch the locals sit on the river ice, drilling holes into the thick layer and fish. Make sure you have plenty of warmth as it can be a very long wait before anything comes up :)

Will be heading to Sigulda tomorrow and maybe even have a go at bob sledging! After which I cross over the borders into Lithuania for it's capital Vilnius.

Exploring Eastern Europe

2009-03-04T22:57:00.003Z

Will be heading to Riga tomorrow after giving up all hopes of continuing on the Blueventures dive expedition in Madagascar, especially since new violence has erupted on the island over the past few days. Have been trying out a new website this week and hope to get to stay with some locals during my 1 month away. Aiming to cross through Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Slovenia, Italy and Albania, mainly on bus/trains before heading back to London for my "REAL" farewell drinks with all friends. Will update the blog during the trip and share my experiences where possible.

Looking forward to the big chill! See you all in a month's time :)

Pirate fishing

2009-02-25T17:20:00.003Z

As part of the 'Earth Series' currently shown on BBC World News, the following footage from Greenpeace highlights the perspective of illegal fishing that is so prevalent in the rich waters off many developing countries in the world. Part One is currently available on YouTube and you can check for the screening details of Part Two on the TVE website for details.

Along the canals of East London

2009-02-24T00:08:00.004Z

Pretty charts that Garmin generates from the GPS tracks that it has collected on my Forerunner 405 during my run earlier today. You can also view it directly on the web.

Probably the worse 12 hours of my life...so far

2009-02-11T00:15:00.002Z

Imagine yourself on the phone with Expedia for 9 hours and still end up the losing end, coupled with the pressure from landlord to evacuate the flat by 6pm, as well as having to finish packing and move all my belongings in London to a mate's place!

Tbh, I really crumbled at that point in time - the thought of losing £850, the idea of not able to go Madagascar after months of planning, the thought of not knowing what to do next...Worse of all is the annoyance of the once great travel company (with an E) and the airlines who just refuses to understand my predicament of wanting a change in flights due to the current infighting, and bounced me from one party to the other. Needless to say, I am not planning to let this go easily but one thing for sure - Expedia has lost another customer in me...But at the end of the day, I felt much better after remembering a friend telling me "Everything happens for a reason..." and I can only imagine the millions of people who might be in a worse off position than me. I feel much better already.

ps: Make sure you find alternate numbers to call on saynoto0870.com if you plan to call any of these companies who are aiming to milk every single cent out of you.

Snow storms across London

2009-02-02T01:27:00.004Z

I am not sure why I am so excited with snow, but today is pure ecstasy with a dump of 15cm of snow!!! I doubt not many remembers seeing that in Central London, let along in Pimlico area. Everyone along the streets pretty went bonkers, with people rolling snowman in the middle of the road and engaging in snow ball fights. Simply love it, strangely my last post was also the time it snowed in London over the November freeze. This has to be one of the coldest winter in its history, and I have to say...I was loving every moment walking in the white flurry at 1am in the morning. On the contrary, I expect pure chaos tomorrow during rush hours :)

London snows again

2008-11-23T12:42:00.002Z

Another brief snow shower in two months after an Arctic snap. Does this mean winter is going to be even colder?

Images from Egypt

2008-11-18T00:50:00.004Z

After almost a month, I finally managed to sort through my photos from the Egypt trip, splitting them into 2 sets due to the number of them - to make sure that viewers do not get too bored of it. The first set is centered around the sights in Cairo and nearby, including Giza and Saqqara, which coincided with my girlfriend's birthday which we gave her a nice surprise. The other set consists mainly of the day trips we took from our 4D/3N Nile cruise from Aswan up to Luxor.

It has been an incredible journey through the vast Egyptian history in a week - minus the touting. I hope to be back in Egypt soon, but next time, it will be to explore the Sinai peninsula, legendary Petra and get underwater to finally blow some bubbles!

Bike life cycle...take 2...no actually it's 3

2008-11-12T00:38:00.008Z

The gumtree posting read like this:

Wheels Alex As-1 Rims 2008 700 C
Tyres Specialized All Condition Armadillo 28 C
Stem Specialized
Crank Sugino
Gears 27
Gear Shifters Deore Lx
Brake Levers Deore Lx
Brakes Tektro V Brakes
Front Derailer Deore Lx Back Derailer Shimano Deore M531
Saddle Specialized Patent V Groove
Seat Post Specialized Carbon
.....
PLZ NOTE; THIS BIKE IS VERY LIGHT N FAST!

Seems like I am not very good with bikes to be honest coz I couldn't really make out much of what is listed, but the 2 most important considerations on my mind have been answered...it is VERY LIGHT and it is within my budget. These are good enough, and after viewing it, and doing a test ride for few minutes, the deal was closed. Regardless, I was so excited to be riding again - farewell to the stupid tube and morning bus jams along Victoria/Trafalgar Sq.

I know have my 3rd bike in a year, 1st bike made me terribly sad for a week, 2nd one makes me laugh when I think back. Hopefully I do not have to look for the 4th one.

The innocence of attending kiddo birthdays

2008-11-03T23:21:00.003Z

Was very kindly invited to a 3 year old's birthday party over the weekend. It was just amazing how time has flew past - Euan was still in Mommy's tummy when his daddy and I were slogging away in a tiny office, trying to test/market/find funding of a web application that we were building. 3 years later, he has grown to be such a cute little blonde boy, taking on all the wonderful features of his beautiful mommy and eloquence of his lawyer dad. Never have I expected to be still in this country after almost 4 years, but I am glad to have met some amazing people and their family during this time.

By the way, Daddy informed me that Euan has proudly voted my gift of a garbage truck that he used to collect all the sweets triumphed over all others, even the excellent push bike from his proud parents! I am so proud of myself :)

How to 'lose' a bike in 1 day

2008-10-28T22:44:00.006Z

Yesterday I tweet about finally getting on the wheels again after 3 months heartache of losing my bike. Closed a quick sale for a deal from gumtree at 8pm only to find that it wasn't exactly very suitable for my size. Decided in the morning to list it back on gumtree and was quite lucky to get a few interested inquiries over the day. Eventually sold it to someone from Lewisham at 10.30pm although I did pity that he had to cycle back in a snowy night (Yes, it's SNOWING in Oct!!!), but glad that I can continue on my bike search again.

ps. the picture is probably terrible at showing the snow (I in the middle of central London, so snow doesn't accumulate). Chaitanya's picture on his FB is probably much better.

How to annoy yourself by been forgetful

2008-10-26T23:56:00.003Z

Nothing is more annoying when I come back from a trip only to find the photos I took are far from ideal. And this was what happened to me for the batch of pictures I took in Memphis, Saqqara and Giza. I forgot to change the ISO from 400 that I had used the night before back to 100 and ended up with unusually grainy pictures taken in 37 degrees sunlight...arrggggggg!

From the lands of the pharaohs to the land of the sacred cows

2008-10-22T01:06:00.005+01:00

Has been traveling a fair bit over the past 2 weeks, initially taking an holiday to Egypt with my loved ones, followed by a work trip to Gurgaon, off Delhi in India. Only managed to wash my laundry after leaving work slightly earlier to catch the laundromat before it closes, else might have to end up wearing stinky clothes to office soon.

Trip to Egypt has been really amazing in terms of getting close to the amazing history of the Egyptians and getting to comprehend the sheer scale and size of all the monuments built thousands of years back. My history of the country has never been better in my life although we did have the feeling of too much sand, tombs and temples after 1 week. The friendliness of the people in the cities of Luxor and Aswan really left a deep impression on me, and is genuinely touched by how they are living happily even though life is so tough for them (a white collar worker earns EGP250/mth, £1 is about EGP9.50!). Touting in the country probably takes the meaning of hassling to a new level, but it is just mainly because their lives rely so much on tourism. Never have I see so many donkeys, horses and cows still used as the primary transport in the little towns. It's just so surreal. Have started to upload some of the photos, but has been very slow so far...

India was pretty much a brand new experience altogether. Our office was situated slightly off the Delhi, in Gurgaon, but was close enough to visit after work. Someone told me that there are more cars in Delhi than the sum of all the cars in the rest of India! This basically translate to crazy journey times to the city even though it is barely about 70km away. As one would expect, the city is in a crazy mode of building, with roadworks, new apartments, buildings and shopping complexes sprouting up everywhere. This also meant that the pollution is probably as bad as what I experienced in Cairo. A few of us had the opportunity to visit the city of Agra during the weekend, and witness the magnificent Taj Mahal in its grandest glory. The 20hr trip really sap our energies completely and most of us were glad to be flying back the next day. Even though the city is in a rush to get itself ready for the 2010 Commonwealth games, it still amazed me to see cows in the middle of the road(I finally understood the reason and history behind the sacred cows from my guide), and hogs walking in front of our hotel!

For once, I really looked forward to having sandwiches for lunch again in a loooong time...

Starting up again

2008-09-29T23:53:00.005+01:00

My new startup company is moving tomorrow to a new building along Charlotte St. I went to take a peek today at its comms room, where we will be locating our switch rack for the ethernet connections on our floor. Never did I expect to see this!

Did not know whether to laugh or be really worried I need to make sure the phones and internet connections are up when the CS team goes in on Wednesday morning. Definitely worth a post of the state.

Weather forecast is not good for tomorrow, wish us luck!

Be a traveler, not a tourist

2008-09-25T01:19:00.005+01:00

3 days into my new job and I can't wait for the weekend to arrive. Don't get me wrong, I am really excited about my new role, new company, new colleagues, but I admit it took me few days to get used to the new environment. 512K office bandwidth shared by 10+ people, seats that are running out (I reckon I will be on the beanbag tomorrow), mini-toilets, no fancy robo-bin(a bin that opens the lid when you wave your hand over it) and no sophisticated coffee machine. But it is all fun, the people are so passionate about what they do, and they are a great bunch to be around even though I am still trying to get to know everybody. To celebrate my new found happiness, I am sharing with everyone a 10% discount voucher which you can use on all tours and activities found on the site, and there are thousands of them, literally! Lastly, if it is not too much to ask, it will be great if you can vote for us in the British Travel Awards under the "Best Holiday Experience" if you like us. (Unfortunately it is only available for UK residents)

You have to hurry, the offer ends 30 Sept! Happy traveling!!!

End to an eventful week

2008-09-21T21:32:00.007+01:00

It started with a last minute booking of a return tickets to NYC last Friday. The next day was followed with lots of footie and a rush to Heathrow to catch my flight for a surprise visit to my girlfriend in the Big Apple. The crash of the Lehman and difficulties faced by AIG definitely did not help with the face time that we have for each other (she works in the financial sector). Undeterred, I continued my foodie tour of the city on my own, focused mainly on burgers and ramen specifically. In 5 days, I tried the Five Guys Burgers and Fries, swung by Shake Shack, tasted ramens from Minca and Ipudo. In between, I sneaked in enough time to visit my old favourites at Burger Joint and Ramen Setagaya. I felt I had gain a stone from the trip but the burger & fries from Five Guys were simply amazing and the broth at Ipudo was just heavenly. I even managed to play some tennis with friends after more than a year and enjoy a few recommended coffees.

Today also spells my last day with the company that I have spent my last 2 and half years. It has been an extraordinary journey and will miss the incredible team that I have been working with. Tomorrow I embark on a new chapter and wishes the very best to the folks of my old office.

Adiós and stay in touch!

Flickr goes MORE social...

2008-09-11T01:15:00.004+01:00

My favorite photo sharing site Flickr just launched a new facelift to their homepage. If you are still seeing the old look and feel, scroll down the page and look for a link to try out their new site. Click on it and you will get the blue/pink flickr theme 'snow flakes' falling on your screen.

New features include a small graphical display of the stats above your photo stream, with the major addition of a 'explore' section near the bottom of the page that displays the most 'interesting' photos shared in the last 7 days. There are also more AJAX changes to sections for 'recent activities', resulting in a better user experience without the usual click-wait-refresh of before. There seems to be more emphasis on 'Groups' as well although it is one feature which I hardly use often previously.

Running with iphone

2008-09-09T00:11:00.009+01:00

A GPS app called Trailguru recently caught my eye as I have been searching around for a useful tool to help me to map my runs. One of the nice features of the tool is its simplicity and ease of use. On first install on the iphone, you will be requested to register a new account on trailguru.com, which will serve as the repository to hold your GPS tracks. Registration takes less than a minute and I even did it on the phone directly. Initial FAQ readings all seem very positive and I set out to do a test run today by jogging back from office to home.

To start the track, you can just press "Start" which will then ask if you want to allow the phone to use your current location, or choose to manually turn on your "Location Services" under settings before starting the trace. This seems to work better for me as I was always able to get a GPS lock on immediately after. The application is clever enough to guess if you are continuously moving or have come to a stop based on the GPS location. Uploading the results to the website is a breeze as you are displayed with a screen to select the activity that you have just completed, choose if you want to share with other users, and post your track online immediately. You will then receive an email indicating your track upload with a link to view it online on a Gmap.

As expected, I was getting mixed results even though the screen was showing me the lat/lon coordinates, which might be down to the buildings around my office as I headed down to the river. It has clearly got the first stretch quite accurately (although it missed the stretch from my office down to the river bank), but completely missed the 2nd part of the route opposite Westminster to Pimlico. It was the best demo test but it did show enough potential for me to give it another go later this week. I think the fact that it even shows you the elevation and accumulated distance simply makes this app a potential killer, and not forgeting that you can actually view traces shared by other users around your route. As you can see, it is not only for runners like me, but you can even use it for hiking, trekking, cycling etc...and best of all, the app is FREE! Give it a go yourself and let me know how it went for you.

Swiss update

2008-09-07T22:22:00.006+01:00

Have been experiencing a fair bit of swiss flavor for the month of August. First off was a trip to Bern and Lucerne with a couple of friends, one whom I have known for almost 18 years, and who is getting married in Oct. The highlight of the weekend trip has to be the golden circle day trip to Mount Pilatus from Lucerne, starting with a very lazy cruise on Lake Lucerne, followed by a journey up to the mountain on the world's steepest cogwheel rail. The views on the mountain was simply breathtaking, even though it was an overcast day. The cable car trip down was also exciting, especially for my friend who was very afraid of heights, and when I mean VERY AFRAID...You can view all the photos on my flickr.

I was out to Istanbul midweek to see my team members for the last time before starting on my new journey in life with another company later this month. As it was a last minute decision, I ended up booking an unusual flight to Istanbul via Geneva on Swiss Air as it was the appropriate in terms of the timings and overall price. Had an unexpected but pleasant surprise on my return trip from Istanbul as they upgraded me to Business and got to use the lounge between the legs. Was extremely helpful as we were out having dinner and drinks in Taksim and was directly off to the airport to catch my 5.30am flight. Couldn't have ask for more...swiss air has just gone to the top of my favorite airlines, and not just because they give out chocolates on all their flights.

Nike+ Human Race - complete shambles

2008-08-31T22:26:00.009+01:00

Got a text on my phone when I reached back from the run - "You raced the world. You beat the clock - well run. Your official time: 00:42:38. Your pace: 04:16/KM. Check out nikeplus.com tomorrow for global race results."

It looks impressive with the use of technology but I really consider this to be my worst race that I have ever run in my life! Let's try to list them down and you judge for yourself:

1. Run route was only released 2 weeks before the event; prior to that, most of the runners have no clue of the route, let alone that it will be run in the evening; we were only notified upon collection of the running T.
2. The instructions stated that all runners are required to be inside Wembley stadium by 6pm, but there was no indication that the run would only start at 7.45pm. During the hour and half, there was no notice of that actual start time, and runners were all jogging around the limited area inside the stadium and trying to warm themselves up before the start.
3. Why was there a concert performance by Pendulum (who???), Moby and other DJs for and hour and half when most of the runners just want to start running? Personally, I am a fan of Moby, but completely did not see the point of the performances especially when it was raining and cold; we just wanted to RUN!!!
4. I spoke to a few runners and we were all completely clueless about the point of the elaborate stage and the artistes performance. This was meant to raise funds for 3 global charities, wouldn't it be more fruitful to give these additional money to them?
5. The route was a the worst I have encountered; sharp turns, no lighting, few road marshals. I know the weather was out of control, but surely a better route should have been chosen for an event of such scale? I was in the first wave that started at 7.45pm and I could hardly see many sections of the road as the lighting was extremely poor as it was through a industry area. I really sympathise with the runners starting in wave 4 and hope no accidents happen along the way.
6. Again on the route: why was such a remote area of London chosen which resulted in the supporters unable to give the support like any other big races. It was that bad that I will not walk there alone at night!

My rants were not helped by the fact that I performed badly in the run, not helped by 5 diarrhea trips to the toilet in the day. Only felt better after a dosage of medicine which left my legs slightly wobbly due to the loss of water and salt. The lack of information of the start time also resulted in the runners not sure if they should go to the washroom or not especially since they have got a good place near the starting line like myself. I ended up making a pit stop to the toilet at the 5km mark and struggled to maintain the pace through the route.

In the end, all of us were cold and wet from the rain slashing down on us along the route, and the organisation definitely left a very bitter after taste to the event. The entire setup just seem to be a publicity stunt for Nike, rather than doing what they are preaching. I will not be surprise if there are no aftermath from the public tomorrow...

Nike+ Human Race

2008-08-29T23:29:00.003+01:00

Been very slack over the past month in terms of staying up-to-date with the blog due to some very active traveling (3 European cities in a month) and work related stuff. Hoping to complete my uploading of all pictures over the weekend but really looking forward to the race this weekend, which presents a chance to get inside Wembley Stadium(the race starts from the stadium), as well as an opportunity to improve my PB from my previous 10km run, although I am not looking forward to the weather forecast of rain/thunder/sleet, etc etc...

Lost in transition

2008-07-27T06:14:00.003+01:00

A weekend in Berlin turned out to be another mini nightmare, continuing my tradition of an unusual event/incident in my recent trips. A S-bahn disruption from Berlin city to the Schönefeld airport ended up me missing my flight back to London, resulting in another night out on chairs that are obviously not meant to sleep over. Having to get another ticket home was encountered with 'not very friendly' ground staff from Globeground Berlin, who insisted that I have to 'check on the internet myself' if I want to book another flight other than Ryanair even though they handle both airlines desk bookings. She was even able to look me in the eye and said that she was unable to check on her system (I thought those airport terminals were the 'know all' machines that can check every single airline that exist in this world, other than the supercomputers quietly churning away data for the preparing for the next particle collision at CERN). So much so for German technology advancement, which I think it partly what you get for flying with a crap service like Ryanair, who has just charged me another EUR75 for missing my flight and putting me on the next flight back. Thanks Mr O'Leary!

Week in review

2008-07-20T23:39:00.006+01:00

Another 10km in the bag from the BUPA Capital Run in Hyde Park this morning. Struggled a fair bit but was quite pleased that I came within a whisker of my target of under 40min - I put it down to the excuse of not able to get over my loss. Not really looking forward to the week ahead on the tube, I might try to walk to work instead.

Off on a complete tangent, read that Emirates airlines is going to ban all paper on their flights (including inflight magazines, safety instructions, etc) which is taking up 2kg per seat, and there are an average of 500 seats on a flight. 1 ton of weight saved for every flight - what a brilliant idea to combat the increasing fuel costs!

What is wrong with this city?

2008-07-19T00:58:00.003+01:00

It was meant to be an enjoyable night out celebrating John's last night with the company but ended with a terrible bad taste for me when I walked out of the Thai restaurant in Covent Garden only to discover that the lock to my Specialized bike was literally cut in half, and my bike was nowhere in sight. I am really upset as I liked my bike alot and only had it for less than 4 months. Did not even bother to report the incident when I walked past a police station on my way home since I did not have any insurance and the police will not be doing anything. Will be making a trip to Bethnal Green this weekend (won't be surprised to find it there although I am sure there is nothing I can do) but I doubt I can convince myself to get another bike in this city.

Another row entry in my life

2008-07-11T23:28:00.007+01:00

ITV4 broadcasted the 23rd Marathon des Sables earlier this evening showcasing a few of the runner pairs who were flying the British flag proud. I came to know about this event earlier this year when a colleague told me about some bloke that he knew who trained for 2 years prior to it, and 2 runners losing their lives in 2007. Frankly I am quite proud of my London marathon achievement this year, although it was easily eclipsed by another friend who is part of the elite 50 mile (80.4672km!!!) club, but Marathon des Sables is seriously crazy when you actually watch it in action - 156 miles across the Sahara desert, across flat plains, 1000m mountains and sand dunes, in 6 days. To make it even more challenging, all runners are to carry their personal belongings and food throughout the course. Some of the 800 runners from 32 countries are probably professionals, but the obviously highlighted very ordinary people like myself. Suddenly the BUPA 10km run next weekend and 10km NIKE run in Aug seems ordinary to the extreme. I feeling ashamed but I am really considering...if this is going to be my ultimate challenge to my limits and endurance...I am seriously contemplating...

On a similar note, there are still places for the 2 above, do join me if you can.

Exploring the ocean's hidden worlds

2008-05-31T12:05:00.002+01:00

Finally got to view Robert Bollard's Exploring the ocean's hidden worlds on TED. Amazing clip and continues to ask the question why are humans not spending the kind of money spent to explore space, to explore somewhere that is just next to us.

Crossing to the land below the sea

2008-04-20T18:58:00.005+01:00

Booked a last minute trip to Netherlands on the Thursday in time for the Easter weekend break. Ended up taking the Stena Line ferry option from Harwich to Hoek van Holland. Total cost including rail from Liverpool St and rail on the other side of the North Sea comes up to £135 - not too bad considering all the air tickets I found starts from £180. In additional, I only have to take care of the other night of accommodation during my stay.

At Liverpool St, the group ended up taking a National Express coach rather than rail although the ticket does not specifically state that it was rail after a second look. On arrival and checkin, was pleasantly surprised to find a double cabin all to myself, nice and comfy, together with a toilet in many ways better than some of the hotels that I have stayed in. If only there was a satellite TV or wifi onboard!

Arriving at Hoek van Holland the next morning, I took a train to Rotterdam Central and changed to another to Amsterdam Central. Journey was relatively fuss-free and smacked in the Amsterdam by 10.30am. Orienting myself, I moved on from Amsterdam to another nearby town/city called Haarlem (reminds me of Harlem in NY) to get on to another tiny town call Hillegom. I had read from the travel section of Sunday Times that from 20 Mar for 3 months every year, the tulip bulbs are in full bloom and is sight not to be missed. Although I was at the very start of the season, I was confident to see the bloom after another extremely mild winter - at least in UK. Unfortunately I missed my station and had to drop on the next before taking another one back. As this was a slow train, the turnaround meant I had lost 45min. A local was very kind to ask me to turn back as the weather started to sleet and black clouds started to move in. He suggested I had to either walk 6km minimum to see any tulip fields OR "take" a bike from the hundreds parked at the station to help with my journey. After considering my options, I decided to get back to Amsterdam instead to focus on my other task - find an accommodation for the night.

My advice to anyone going to Amsterdam is make sure you don't get knocked down by the bikes, as I noticed that the drivers are actually more afraid of the riders, and the city is seriously overrun by bikes, in true dutch form. Try to imagine a typical carpark, but filled with bikes to the extend of overflow!!! This is maniac...I had to move fast as there seems to be ever more tourists dropping off the trains every other minute. Knocking on the doors of the hostels proved fruitless, although I was slightly surprised to hear that the youth hostels are charging EUR60 a bed/night. After walking 6 hours and knocking on over 20 hotels, I came to the conclusion that all the hotels under EUR100 a night have been fully booked. It was the first time I've seen every hotel putting up a sign saying "FULL". I had to resort to the chain hotels after hour 8 and it was seriously getting dark - EUR170 for IBIS and EUR250 for Marriott - I have decided, I will spend the night at Schiphol Airport as I am definitely not going to spend this kind of money just to sleep for the night. After resting my leg and having a hot dumpling noodle soup at chinatown, it started to snow, and I mean real snow, it was such an amazing sight (sorry, but I have a real weakness when it comes to snowing). I strolled along the Red Light district and everything was already covered in a thin layer of snow, it was so incredible. I wasn't even interested in looking at the ladies in the windows as I happily started to snap pictures of the snowy sight (although I read later that it is strongly discouraged not to take pictures along this stretch to prevent your camera going into the canals,so beware).

One of the other great benefit of this trip was that the ticket issued for Netherlands literally covers all your trips you make during that day. So if you are adventurous and crazy enough, you can be in Eindhoven in the morning, Utrecht in the afternoon and Amsterdam at night by rail - all for free!!!

So I ended up at Schiphol airport at 10pm, washed up, found myself a seat beside the departure gate as it was empty, and made myself comfortable; or as less uncomfortable as possible. I did manage to finish watching the movie Closer before trying to catch a wink. After 1am, I was constantly woken up by passengers streaming in to catch the early morning flight - so another lesson for potential airport sleepers, make sure you stay away as far as possible from the departure and arrival gates. I ended up moving downstairs to the departure hall instead as the interruptions were really annoying me while trying to catch some sleep. Downstairs, even though it was slight better, it still was pretty much an ordeal - I just wanted to get through the night!

Up at 6am, washed up, had my leftover bread from yesterday to get some energy going, I took the next train back into Amsterdam. As expected, the place was quiet but it was a really good time to walk around, and everything was still covered in snow, PRETTY! One thing I noticed about the Dutch people, they are ever so friendly. Everyone who walked past me said hi and smiled or wave at me, very nice! If you like taking pictures, this is the best time as you hardly see any locals at this time, let alone tourists. The 3 main roads circling the main city would be my recommendation if you want to experience the local feel. I stopped by a cafe beside Ann Frank's house called bagel and coffee for breakfast, and the free wifi was very handy as I pulled more maps from Multimap (but what else?) to check for directions. I found Gary's muffin (although the shop had a different name) and decided to go try it out. The special for the day was choco and nut, not spectacular, but wasn't expecting anything extraordinary from the Dutch. The pancake shop was sadly not opened until 12pm. Made my way to the Stedelijk Museum, mainly modern contemporary and excellent in one of the displays showing the highlights of Magnum Photos. Then it started to snow heavily again, although this time it was not cold enough for the snow to accumulate on the ground. After lunch, I made my way back to Hillegom and this time round, decided to walk. After checking that I was on the right direction with a local, I proceeded hastily as it started to sleet again!!! After about 5km, I was finding myself walking along huge fields of tulips on both sides of the road. Unfortunately, they have yet to bloom!!! But one can only imagine the spectacle come April. I did manage to find a small patch with some bulbs that have started to bloom earlier. ;)

After walking for an hour, I ended up at the Keukenhof garden, which I wasn't keen to go in as I wanted to see the tulips in the fields, not nicely cultivated and probably forced to bloom for the hundreds of tourists arriving by the bus loads. Was ripped off by having to pay EUR10 to take a bus back to the airport where I transferred on to another train to Rotterdam Central. By the time I reached Rotterdam, my lack of sleep was seriously kicking in and I wasn't up to anymore walking, I camped out at a local MacDonalds for coffee with a deco that easily puts many restaurants to shame. By 8pm, I was back at Hoek van Holland and checked into my cabin again for a nice hot shower, especially for my aching shoulders and blistered toes that was bleeding through my socks.

All in all, it was a nice trip, other than the part of the journey in Schiphol. But I finally managed to get up and close personal with the city more famous for its grass and sleaze than its arts or waterways. The snow was definitely a bonus but the other highlight was again my "off the beaten track" journey to find tulips - in an unusual way.

The excitement, pain, euphoria and aftermath

2008-04-14T23:57:00.008+01:00

I still walk like a crab after a day and half on completion of my 4th marathon; my 1st in London. I did not sleep well again the night before and was probably too excited leading up to the big day. Weather at the start couldn't be any better, with the sun warming up the morning chills. Greenwich park was packed with runners, families and friends alike, all eager to contribute and share a bit of the amazing atmosphere that this event has stirred up the entire city on a lazy Sunday morning. Not wanting to be too far behind the starting blocks, I only did 10min of warm-ups before I parted with Jiamin and 'fought' my way to the starting point (I still ended up crossing the start line 10 min after the first runner sprinted off). The course was excellent, mostly flat roads, with a few gentle slopes breaking the norm, that loops round Greenwich/Tower Bridge/Canary Wharf/Embankment/Buckingham Palace.

It was a comfortable initial 20km and I really started to warm into the rays of the piercing sun. The graph shows that my best 5km timings was when I turned from Tower Bridge to Wapping. That was also when the weather turned for the worse and it started to pour with significant headwinds as well. That really broke my momentum and by the time I reach the 20mile point, my hands were so numbed from the cold that I couldn't feel my fingers.

The last 6 miles was probably the longest that I have run, but the cheers and encouragement from the crowd was simply fantastic and that really helped to push me on all the way to the finishing point along Green Park/St James Park(My expression in the photo tells it all - Photo courtesy of Tyom). I also said to myself that I wasn't going to fall behind 'Mr Juggler' who was literally juggling 3 balls from start to finish - as we were perpetually running side by side for a good 3 miles! Crossing the finishing line was simply amazing although seeing 'Mr Borat' with his costume after put a very bad after-taste to the entire thing (he was wearing the infamous green suspender/thongs, and his modesty was barely covered!).

All in all, I was really happy that I was only 2 min off my target time of 3.30hr (PB), and achieving my 2nd objective of not stopping at all throughout the journey. As of today, I have raised £1471 for PlantLife and £195 for WaterAid, and hopefully, can see a few more quid to come in from anyone who has missed the my initial donation drive (Click on the right to donate online). I was extremely glad to see the guys from Multimap turning up to show their support at Embankment as well even though the weather wasn't at its best. And most important of all, to thank my girlfriend who surprised me by turning up from New York the day before my run to continue her endless support of what I do; and spending the weekend with me even though she is so busy with her work across the Atlantic.

As of now, my pain continues, but my thought ponders on my next run now that I have ticked London marathon off my list...

Race day ahead

2008-04-12T19:49:00.007+01:00

Tomorrow is race day - one that I have been looking forward to since I confirmed my running place 3 months ago. Haven't been quite myself this week after a pretty tough launch of my project on Thursday in quite 'Murphy's Law' circumstances. Just glad that the team got over it and I face my 2nd "high" of the week. Stocked up on more bananas and energy gels whilst collecting my race day tag, as well as new pair of shorts and socks to make me feel falsely good about myself. Weather forecasts point to a chilly and rainy day tomorrow, which everyone in London probably had a preview this afternoon during a period of intense rain and hail.

The surprise of the day came when my girlfriend mysteriously turned up from New York at the lunch whom some friends have arranged. Apparently it was all 'planned' and she really surprised me but was definitely a very good surprise! I feel much better with her around, especially since she missed my last marathon in Singapore couple of years back.

Expecting a blistery 26 miles ahead, but will definitely enjoy every moment of the journey and looking forward to enjoying a good pint of Guinness in a nearby pub. Do look out for me if you are anywhere along the route and give me your encouragement to get me the end point at Buckingham Palace. See ya!

Adopting another charity

2008-04-01T23:37:00.003+01:00

After managing to raise the target for PlantLife, I decide to try my luck to try soliciting for additional sponsorship from friends and colleagues who might still be interested to support me for my run. Naturally I chose WaterAid as the charity as it was my first choice charity when I decided to run the marathon back at the beginning of the year, but they ran out of golden bond places then. I have set myself a target to raise £300, not a lot as I do not want to over-promise and under deliver. I still hope to grab the senior management folks in my company to help with my cause, and convince a few others who have not be too convinced with my primary charity in the first round.

12 days and counting...

2008-03-31T23:14:00.003+01:00

As the run beckons, I am suddenly feeling both nervous and excited, but very much looking forward to it at the same time. After 3 months of training, with the addition abstinence off alcohol, I think I am in relatively good shape barring any last minute injuries. Will be reducing the intensity of my runs as the big day gets nearer but probably go for my last 2 hour run this weekend.

The good news is that I have achieved my target (overachieved!) of raising £1300 for Plantlife, all thanks to my family, friends and colleagues who have been ever so supportive and encouraging throughout this period. Hopefully I can see a few of them along the route cheering me on, which to me, will be the absolute icing on the cake on top of my aim to do a PB.

Goodbye to an excellent servant

2008-03-26T00:29:00.004Z

The brakes on my old trusty bike came off last week, exactly a week after someone nicked the handle grips outside my flat. This is after multiple "violations" of her when I was out of the country in the last year since I moved out of the secure entry flat. After the latest mishap, I figured it is no longer worthwhile to repair it anymore especially after spending more than 3 times fixing her up after my girlfriend bought her for only £15 and decided to pass it on to me after.

After 4 days on the tube and bus to and from work, I figured I had enough of the public transport and went ahead to buy a Specialized Sirrus off a bloke off gumtree. Seems like a good deal as the bike was relatively new and I really amazed how light and reactive it is compared to my previous. Last night, I gave my old bike away, to a old Dutch guy who seems to appreciate her much more than I do and came down all the way from Maida Vale to collect it after I posted her on freecycle. At least she is in good hands.

Almost there but missing the social life

2008-03-13T22:45:00.004Z

Another very good day for my fund raising - £1150!!! Just £150 away from the target that I have set out at the beginning. I will be over the moon if Multimap decides to match what I have raised and promise I will push myself all the way to the 3.30hr mark that I have set myself that happens. (Although I will still be pushing myself real hard for my PB)

On a sidenote, I can't wait for the run to be over as I have been missing out some of the finer enjoyments in life. Last week, it was the blues session, and tonight, had to miss the curry and champagne session that my team are enjoying in Brick Lane. Suddenly I am very looking forward to the trip to Guinness factory in Dublin come end of May.

Bought a new pair of Mizuno from Run and Become on my walk back from office to home as my daily runs are wearing thin my current Asics. Highly recommended specialist shop if you want some expert advice and opportunity to try them on before you buy.

Another milestone to my goal

2008-03-12T23:01:00.003Z

My sponsorship amount crept past the magical £1,000 mark today, less than £300 away from the target that I have set out to raise at the beginning of this journey. All thanks to some wonderful family, friends and colleagues at work for their kind support, although quietly I will still be hoping to "stalk" a few more bigwigs to pitch in. Also hoping that my request to my company to match the amount raised will be approved by the management team in their meeting tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

As for my training, there hasn't been much progress for this week as I have been staying back in office much later than I would like over the past few days. Gave myself an off day yesterday as well to watch Liverpool play Inter Milan, at least it was worth it in the end, although at one point, I did start to doze off. Goes to show how "exciting" pool can get at times, or maybe I was just too tired...

Past 50% mark, major milestone

2008-03-07T22:25:00.002Z

The sponsorship amount quietly crept past the 50% mark that I have set myself to raise for this run, all thanks to those that have been so supportive of my goal. With less than 5 weeks to go, it is time to step up on my fund raising efforts and push myself further in the training. Will be pushing for an extra early run tomorrow before heading out to Stratford upon Avon with friends. Especially looking forward to a night at the Blues Bar on Sunday with mates.

A day of rest

2008-03-03T23:02:00.002Z

BBC said it was going to snow tonight, and as usual, there was not a single fleck of white in sight. Decided to take a break tonight from running to give my knees some rest before resuming again tomorrow. Six Sigma report came back with more edits to make, oh well...

Painful day

2008-03-02T23:34:00.003Z

My old problem played up on me this morning as I went for my usual "4 London Parks" run, having to stop several times as the pain on my right knee became unbearable at times. Eventually I cut short my run by halving the route around Hyde Park and staggered back to Victoria Nero in about 75min. Bought 30 capsules of Glucosamine + Chondroitin from Boots, hopefully it can help to repair the cartilage faster.

First attempt at half marathon

2008-03-01T12:39:00.005Z

Glorious weather today, with clear blue sky. Seems like a good day for my first training attempt at the halfway point of the full journey. Wind was slightly too strong for my liking as I moved comfortably into my first 2km point at Battersea Park, where there was a race going on at the same time (was offered liquid as I passed by the drinks station only for her to withdraw the offer at the last minute when she realised that I did not have a racing number). After a short unexpected visit to the loo in the park, I continued on across Vauxhall, by MI6 building, behind St Thomas hospital, London Eye, Oxo Tower, Tate Modern (the new outdoor exhibit is up!), Mr Livingston's office and across Tower Bridge. By this time, I was about 12km into my run and had to struggle slightly at various stages mainly due to the strong headwind + tourists who can't seem to work out where they are walking!

From the U-turn at Tower Bridge, I continued on the other side of the river passing Tower of London, Old Billingsgate Market, along Black Friars, Somerset House, Embankment towards Parliament Sq. My last stretch along St James park mimics the last 800m of the actual race although I had to improvise on doing a slight detour to Lambeth Bridge along Millbank, Tate Britain before ending back in Pimlico. Took 1.46 to complete about 20.6km, quite disappointed with the timings, but I have to admit it was tougher than I expected and my steps were becoming smaller towards the last 5km. The strong winds did not help and again, had problems sweating but I hope to improve further in the next 2 weeks. I will try to do another 18km tomorrow if my legs allow.

Thank you to those who have generously sponsored me so far! You are incredible and your donations will keep me going to the finishing line.