Second time to Paris, I have seen more but the family was missing. It could have been better. Still, you can tell from the pictures that I ate alot of yummmmmy food, and been to alot of wonderful places, seen many beautiful faces. There was half a day when I went travelling alone and it was a real good experience, however, travelling alone is not my style. Many say paris is a romantic place, but I didn’t quite feel it… This could be my last time there. So goodbye paris.

Finally, after struggling for countless of sleepless nights, another project is done and I decided to give myself a special treat- A trip out of bulle, to lausanne with my chinese friend. It was really an enjoyable trip because I had asian cuisine for both lunch and dinner. At that moment, I really didn’t care how much I was going to eat because I seldom get to eat those… Ok anyway, lausanne is a nice place because I saw many asians. I would love to go again.

Douglas, I MISS YOU ALOT! Hope you’re having a good time with parents in Macau. I wished I was there with you all.

p.s: Got to thank Ryan and 99 for the phonecall when I was in Lausanne. (:

This sister swapped her flight just for me. The meet up really happened after weeks of anticipation. Actually, now that she left, I feel as though it was a dream. The opportunity did not come easy but she has done it for me and I miss her even more right now. The train ride back to bulle was a horrible one. Why must zurich be so far away from bulle? Anyway, I am already looking forward to the next time she comes. I probably wouldn’t let her go… Thanks for coming, for being there on my birthday (singapore time) and for bringing my 10kg of winter clothings over. I will survive the cold because of you.

The journey was long, but seats were comfortable.. I love their trains and trams because you will definitely get seats!

PERFECT LUNCH.

Promise you will come again soon.

On Saturday, Tom, Bernice and myself decided to go to Montreux to meet up with lafina who is studying in Glion Main Campus. By the way, I’m at bulle campus, where students of glion will go to for their upper sems. Before the pictures, let me just share on how I got to know the 3 fellow Singaporeans. Tom, I tracked him down on facebook and he was really kind to help me with what I needed to know about glion. He was also from Shatec and a direct entry to sem 6 of Glion thus he knew what was going to happen to me and sort of guided me throughout. Without tom, I won’t have any friends, and probably will take much longer time to settle down. Then we have Bernice, 2 days ago, tom introduced her to me and we realised she is staying right on top of me. This sweet girl is from Tp, direct entry to sem 6 of glion, however, we are taking a different course here. Nevertheless, I felt so relieved knowing another Singaporean. Because Tom and the rest of our friends are graduating in December, something which I won’t be able to adapt , Bernice and I will have to stick closely to each other and make sure we pull through our remaining days together. Lafina is a friend of Tom, now a friend of mine and I am glad she is coping well in Montreux, well, if only we were in the same campus.

This is Glion main campus.

In the evening, we went back to Bulle and there were fireworks everywhere, non-stop for hours. I swear the whole of bulle sounded as though there was a war taking place. Every minute, you will see different people jumping in shock ..those expressions are amusing. Haha.

By the way, you could purchase and witness your own fireworks..

Jane, my roomie, actually called me on my phone to ask which one did I prefer. Options were children, normal, dangerous. I chose dangerous because I assumed it would be the nicest. haha. So in the end when we were at the shop, I looked around and I realised that all those stuff are far too dangerous. They all look like war tools. In the end, I asked her, “Can don’t put? Let’s just watch.” BUT she still bought one. Very small one though. And this is ours:

But if you were to get the one above, this will be the production:

I am video calling momo at the same as I blog this, so …..BYE

And if ever thy does owt fer nowt
Always do it fer th’sen.

GOOD FRIDAY, in my own terms.

99, for your view. The castle at night!

It’s a friday, and we went up to Big Ben again, not for drinks though.

It’s pretty cool because big ben is a place where alot of glion students would hangout after school for drinks and such, and tom is staying in the attic right above the pub. The view from his place is awesome and I might move there when december comes. We will see! Tonight was special because a few of us from southeast asia all met up for home cooked food. Everyone contributed something esp santi who is from thailand and kevin who is a vietnamese.

That’s santi for you!

And then it was the celebration for national day here. It is amazing because anyone can put fireworks anywhere, anytime.  How nice it is to just walk along the streets and POP in the sky every now and then. (:

We decided to end the night by having our all time fav ice-cream under the tree.

And so, I am going to montreux tomorrow, about 1.5 hours from Bulle. Happy weekends Singapore!

Salut!

I’ll now show you places around my campus.

This castle is taken right in front of the school junction.

The view from Tom’s Place.

The view from Rj rooms.

The park.

steven, xiaoting, xu chao, essen. Very nice and down to earth people from China.

I didnt see that kiss coming. Totally SWEET!

Enchante, au revoir. (:

Goodbye Harbin, Hello Shanghai.

来到了上海，我总觉得好热好热。哈尔滨-28* 而上海13*，一下下冷，一下子热，在上海的第二天，我病倒了。大家很好奇我为何用华语呢？很简单。我是华人，在中国当然要说华语啦。那里的文化与习俗非常旷阔，华人为华人争光，华人为华人骄傲。在那里使用华文来沟通，我觉得生活多了些精彩和意思。突然之间，我的华文说得比平常还要好，连那里的本地人都说我说的很accurate. Ahem, accurate 华语怎样拼？

I was saying…I fell terribly sick on my second day in shanghai. Reason being, the temperature in Shanghai was 13*, such a big difference compared to Harbin. Typed in chinese characters because Chinese in China should speak in Mandarin. The chinese culture is so rich that I did not mind being a part of them. Suddenly, my mandarin improved and even their locals gave me compliments ok…I’m back now but I really miss being so CHINESE in china.

Alright, this is the last post for my china trip. I hope all of you enjoyed all the pictures. If you haven’t been to china, I strongly advice you to go at least once especially if you’re a chinese. Take a look at their traditions and cultures and you might feel ashame being a chinese here. I have seen the many faces of china and met the many kinds of people. You may view china as a large country with many resources, but there are still lots of people struggling to have a better life, there are still many rural areas waiting for help. One thing I wouldn’t forget about the country is their PEOPLE. Honestly, they may look all the same on the outside, but in depth, they all have a story behind them to tell, mostly sad ones. All their lives are written on their faces and I could tell alot just by looking at their expressions. Most of the people I’ve met don’t lead an easy life yet they live on courageously and you can always hear them say, “快乐就好” (Being happy is enough). Of course, I met some nasty people too…But I think I should learn how to be forgiving because everyone wants to survive.

Daddy wrote this..

From Etoile,

Ye Shanghai performance at Bai Le men, also known as Paramount in the Jing An Shi area.

Built in the early 1930s, it was called “The best ballroom in the Far East”, attracting numerous celebrities, including Charlie Chaplin who dropped by in 1936.

The smell, the weather, the sight and senses put together an indescribable feeling…

From travelguide, it mentioned:

First set-up by the Harbin Municipal Government in 1999, Harbin Ice and Snow World is by far the largest ice and snow art exhibition in the world. It is commonly referred to as possessing four of the key ‘mosts’: the most art attractions, the most beautiful night views, the most recreational activities and the most forms of entertainment. Furthermore, the festival is constantly evolving and each year brings with it a new theme, providing visitors with a totally unique experience from one year to the next.

The ice carvings at the Harbin Ice and Snow World are regarded as some of the world’s finest examples of ice art, with visitors able to admire some of the largest and most majestic ice-sculpted masterpieces. Each of these ice carvings are designed in some way related to the festival’s theme, enabling travelers to sample a variety of cultural flavors.

As for me, jaw dropped when I entered the world. I told myself, “F**K, this is for real. Not a dream.” Thank goodness I witnessed that. You know, if I were writing 3 places to see before you die, this ice and snow world will be one of them. I kept chanting to myself, “I am fortnate I am fortunate I am fortunate” to be able to get there, with the weather so kind to me (Kind because I could take the cold). If you dream of a proper winter experience, make sure you pay HARBIN a visit. And you can’t tell alot from my pictures. Those were taken by a so-so camera with a so-so photography skill. I don’t know what setting to use for taking pictures when it is snowing. The “SNOW” mode isn’t that useful. Ya, but anyway, go there and feel it with your own senses…

Everything made of ice. ENJOY!

Harbin. It is often known as the oriental moscow for its architecture. Today, the city is still very much Russian influenced because of history. From the people, to the language to the cuisine…There are still many russians living in Harbin and they speak chinese fluently. I remember we were at this famous resaurant having our dinner, and from behind, I heard a very sophisticated russian lady ordering her dishes in mandarin/ speaking in mandarin to her chinese partner as though she is purely chinese. Where else will you be able to see so many Europeans living harmoniously with chinese in a Chinese country? They really don’t break their roots do they?

I respect that.

Harbin is all about ice and snow, how can we miss the Disney ice festival? Everything is made of ice, from the pathway, to the steps to the houses.

Douglas trying to be funny.

Random note. When you’re cold, you got to have this beer.. It helps!

St.Sophia Orthodox Church Square. Took 9 years to build.

And I came across this police robot. I don’t know how it works… Can’t really understand the words. Something like when u press the button, the police will arrive shortly?

And this is the way they sell their ice-cream. OPENLY. The country doesn’t need any fridge because it is -30* weather temp we’re talking about.

Heilongjiang Siberian Tiger Park also known as the first park in the world has become the biggest place in worldwide for raising and reproducing siberia tigers, first grade protected animal.

LIVE. Poor chicken. I know I am not any better because I eat chicken too.

Look at its mouth..

Sun island? Not quite. It was snowing then…

Frozen River. Ice-skate anyone?

Every year, the city plays host to a world renowned ice and snow festival… So, here is the world’s largest Santa Ice sculpture. It is really BIG. You can’t just tell from the picture.. Further more, I am lousy at taking pictures. haha.

Again, you probably cannot tell that it was snowing.. Anyway,snow makes Daniel Ng a happy dancing man.

Even the cafe is made of snow/ice.

You don’t know how I was feeling when I could see this amazing part of the world…..