Simply Su: June 2006

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Backpacking Paris II - romantic?

My 2nd and final post about Paris. This shows how much (little?) I liked Paris. :p

It had always been a dream, visiting Paris. The well-knowned-to-be romantic city. Photos, movies, magazines, novels. Romantic stuff happened only in Paris. Even the air is filled with romance. Or at least that was how I've been brainwashed since young.

Visiting it has only proved that it was all only a myth. Yes, a myth.

No doubt, the architectures were beautiful. The art galleries had been amusing in all ways. Met Da Vincci's Monalisa too. Smaller than expected. And I guess the staffs were so sick of people asking where Monalisa was, arrows showing the way to her was ALL AROUND the Louvre. haha. The pastries were fantastic. Of course, never forgetting to promote my daily servings of toasted (grilled? waffled?) paninis, too. *yummy!* hehe.

oh. Moulin Rouge and the sex shops were fun too (if you don't compare it to Amsterdam, of course). BUT.... (There's always a but)

It might have stayed a beautiful fairy tale for most of the tourists who were there on tour. Staying in lavish 5 star hotels, chauffeured around, dining at the high end resarurants, they would never find out the ugly facts of Paris. Never knowing how muddy the road was when walking to Chateau de Versaille. Or how dirty the neighbourhood was at Mont Matre. Or how strange-smellng the undergrounds were. Or how unfriendly and rude the ticketing lady was at the bus stations. Oh and how scary the 'hand tying' people were at Sacre Coeur, too. I assume they know more languages than anyone else in the world, changing from Japanese to Korean to Chinese when seeing aseans like us.

And so, there goes my 'romantic' Paris. Down into the drain. BUT, of course, if you haven't been there before, by all means, GO! Just have your eye sticked to all the beautiful and tasty stuff, and Paris can still be beautiful afterall. In a way, romantic too. Maybe. :)

For me? I still want to go there again. To seek out the romantic bits of Paris.

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Backpacking Paris

Eiffel tower, of course

Sacre Coeur

Behind the cross, Notre Dame

Candles and stained glass in Notre Dame

at the very main river, where all the tourist spots gather

Chateau de Versailles' garden

Arc de Triomphe

The Pyramid, at night

Les Invalides, from Louvre

Happy Birthday CY!!

Happy Birthday to CY!!! :) *HUGS*

Hope you are spending the best day of the year today dear! (why on earth did alms go back so early?! (0 0)) Anyway, sending you all the sunshine and love you need :) Know you still have to bake your buns and breads today, but don't work too hard ya! It's suppose to be your day! :)

love, sue

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Cheesy Lasagne

in the oven u go

baking..baking..baking

Ready!

I was on sick leave today. Thanks to the extra time, I made lasagne! Unbelievably, I've only ate lasagne twice since I was born. Once in Pizza hut, once in Netherlands. But, I really really lurrrvvee the dish. With cheese and cheese and cheese.. it's a cheese lover's dish!

Thanks to A Self-Proclaimed Foodaholic's recipe, it was quite a success for a beginner like me! (even though I forgot about the top layer of pasta :p) Burnt my finger a little while excitingly tasting the white sauce, but it was certainly worth the while! :D

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

time flies

It's been almost 3 months now since my trip to Europe. And I've just copied the 'Paris' folder from the dvd into my comp to reorganise the pictures! I suddenly realised that, time does fly, doesn't it?

It took me 1 second to decide going to Europe, 1 minute to persuade my friend, 1 hour to book the ticket, 1 day to finish with the ticketing procedure, 1 week to plan it, 1 month to travel. Wonder whether it's going to take me 1 year to finish blogging on it? *grin*

Hope not.

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Backpacking London IV

I miss Bird!!

It's been almost 3 months now since my stay at Flat 9, Holborn, London. But no doubt, memories are still fresh in mind.

Still remember borough market, which I still recommend the most in London!! foooooodd! Loved the scones, chorizzos, apple juice...... Which by the way, someone just told me I'm too indulged in food yesterday... (_ _ ;)

And the museums and galleries, it feels so typically London. But I can't deny it is nice, as long as you have the time to spend a day strolling though halls after halls. And also, unless you are in a clear state of mind. Or else, it's going to be just another boring day at the museum. I was mentally exhausted after finishing only half of the National museum. Will finish the next half when I'm there again. :)

One of my little discoveries during my journey - the cool education systems adapted in Europe. All the museums and art galleries I visited, I always bumped up with kids from school trips. Some of them had papers to do sketches of things that attracted them, some ran around finding answers to their quiz books. So different from the education system most asian kids grew up in, with only boring fact-based history textbooks, and exams after exams, I grew up hating history!

Another thing about London is of course the places listed in Monopoly, places that you haven't been to before but have heard of it hundreds of times. :) Trafalgar squares is one of them. Take note of the 4 very handsome lions. Be a kid, and climb climb climb! Everyone climbs up there just for a photo shot with it
:)

oooohhh.. and theaters! musicals! I was in luck to be able to catch up with the classical phantom of the opera. It was -- FASCINATING! I'm so in love with theathers.

All in all, London can be a great place to visit, if you have the time to go to the musem one day, the gallery another, and the theathers another. And if you can't live without Chinese food, go to London. Never visit Japan. *grin*

*special thanks to flat 9 roomies for letting me be parasite for a week. Really great getting to know u guys. Caryn and No. 1, the crazy ones, and yet sooo sweet.. :) And bird, just like before. Just like before. *hugzzz*