just your average handsome boy next door

Europe 2011

June 19, 2011 at 6:02 pm | Posted in General | 6 Comments

Okay I finally decided that if I don’t get down to writing this I’ll never do it lol.

On an entirely separate note, I just gave away a few of my old toys to my 6 yo cousin and it feels… weird. Like I’m giving a part of myself away. I remember I played with those toys till I was quite old. The Power Rangers figurines, Pokemon / Digimon figurines, Batman, Superman, animal models and an assortment of wicked-looking figurines that I always used as the bad guys. Even the fake Pokemon cards that I pretended were figurines that I didn’t own. Maybe it’s the Toy Story that I watched awhile ago (how long ago? I can’t rmb) that’s making me so nostalgic and sentimental. Sigh. But then again all the toys and cards are still rotting in some corner of my room. I’m just keeping them for old times’ sake. The Pokemon stuff are my favourite though, haha. I won’t give them away.

Okay I’ll do this in chronological order, since I was disciplined enough to keep a journal over there. (Actually it’s just because there were lots of free time, mostly during travelling inter-city). Pardon me if the grammar is really inconsistent, because some things were being written as they happened, some were done with, and some I modified as I’m typing it out now, accidentally or not. The tone of the log will also not be very consistent cos I chose to edit and moderate some and not others. Haha. Public platform ma, some things aren’t very appropriate.

15 May, Sunday

1) Realised at the airport that I forgot to bring my specs. Fuck! Could totally foresee lots of inconvenience the coming nights.

2) Realised before boarding the plane that Huiping’s place wasn’t at ‘Warwick’ station (which I had conveniently assumed). Double fuck!

3) Can’t fall asleep at all on the plane to Doha. (We’d be arriving in the morning in Europe so I was planning to get some sleep on the flight) Triple fuck! Cicakman 2 and Xmen (the one Magneto became human again) were good though, the former being hilariously slapstick and stupid.

4) Sneezed like mad during the transit. Like for 2 hours straight? Used up like 5 packs of tissue. Quadruple fuck.

16 May, Monday – Rome, Italy

1) Our bunkmates (it was a 6-men bunk) slept really early so there were no lights for us to unpack. Quite sian.

2) Walked a lot a lot. Felt extremely shagged by midday but lunch and coffee rejuvenated me. Covered Colosseum, Pantheon and a whole lot of other places I don’t know.

17 May, Tuesday – Rome & Vatican City

1) Quite a bit of rushing, hope it doesn’t continue like this. (it did)

2) Woke up very early, very tired by midday. Again.

3) Rome cost us a bit with the meals and drinks. Hope we don’t burst our budget. (we did)

18 May, Wednesday – Rome – Florence, Italy

1) Woke up so early again, hope I don’t get knocked out by midday.

2) Love the hostel. And the city! So chillax and friendly.

3) Pisa was not bad, but after many of the museums and art galleries, felt really physically and mentally exhausted.

4) Just sad that we didn’t get to talk more to the bunkmates, 2 American girls who kept perving at Yuxuan’s topless body LOL

5) Drinking and chilling at night at the hostel canteen is really fun.

19 May, Thursday – Florence, Italy

1) Cycling was really fun!!! And exciting. Finally some activity which departs from the usual walking around looking at galleries.

2) But the constant non-stop travelling and walking around looking at galleries was really tiring too, mentally and physically, just like yesterday.

3) Italian girls (or rather, the girls in Italy) are really pretty!!!

20 May, Friday – Venice, Italy

1) Thankfully, not much of musuems / galleries. Quite sick of them.

2) Lido Beach was sad, because we took so long (like a few hours?!) to find it but spent so little time there (the longest part was our taking a dump in their toilets). Also, no beachwear so… SIGH

3) A bit too much chillax at uncomfortable places. The walking at the market was not bad, though I got really excited at the clothes shops; I must really be a shopaholic / clothes-aholic

4) Bell Tower = waste of 8 euros. Come to think of it, Venice is a waste of money. Everything’s so freaking expensive.

5) Private room was <3, so convenient and private. But my dream interaction with pretty bunkmates still hasn’t materialised, sigh.

21 May, Saturday – Lucerne, Switzerland

1) Travelling overnight on rail was better and smoother than expected. Quite an experience I must say. Caught enough sleep to feel decently refreshed as of now. Can’t wait to check in to our proper lodging though. Contacts (and the lack of specs) problem was a hassle (ie. I can only take off my contacts just before I sleep because I can’t see shit with the myopia) but thankfully all was fine.

22 May, Sunday – Lucerne, Switzerland

1) Quite chillax. Cycling was fun. Meals were crazy expensive.

2) Rain and wetness and bits of hail was NOT fun. Got stuck at the top of some hill with our bikes. Sped down in what we thought was lighter rain but it picked up and started hailing. It was rather epic.

3) Pretty girls are everywhere.

4) Hotel (not hostel) room was wonderful.

23 – 26 May, Monday – Thursday – Paris, France

1) First two days of Paris probably rank as two of the worst days of Eurotrip so far because…

2) The French were generally colder, more aloof, prouder, ruder.

3) Public toilets were almost non-existent. Free ones, even fewer.

4) I think, really, that I came with the wrong company. Paris schedule was really hectic and packed, and there are so many MUSEUMS & GALLERIES, and as I don’t really enjoy these, you can imagine the torture of tagging along constantly for days at a go, early morning to late night every day.

4a) Kept arguing with the two of them about walking so much, going to so many places, waking up so early. But I admit, it’s my own fault that I didn’t foresee how much of a problem this could be, because after all this is a backpacking trip to so many places (and not a relaxing holiday kinda trip), and also because of the disciplined and chiongsua nature of these two buddies.

b) So I spent a lot of time moping and regretting coming along the trip, but I’m trying to gather myself and inject some much-needed optimism in myself.

5) And I must always remember, friendship > myself. So I must not keep PMSing and losing my temper at the little things.

6) Paris streets are really confusing.

7) French chicks are pretty, but they’re more posh / polished / have sharper features / fairer / daintier compared to the Italian tanned, sporty kind of pretty.

8) Private rooms for 6 nights in a row is cool, but now I’m ready for some interaction with pretty bunkmates!!!

26 – 27 May, Thursday – Friday – Brussels, Belgium

1) The pace was good for both days – maybe because there wasn’t really much to do here… Army museum, cartoon museum, beer museum, Mannekin Pis… all interesting enough.

2) Hostel was lovely. Great atmosphere, great bunkmates

- a couple from Blackpool – the guy works as a physiotherapist at Blackpool FC! but he supports Stoke. His cute gf is a teacher

- a guy from Berlin recee-ing Brussels for good places to stay for his studies (i think)

- and this American guy who likes Asian girls. (it’s true, he’s relocating to China or Singapore and we saw him with an Asian American in Amsterdam. Plus he kept shooting glances at Asian girls walking past as he talked to us. Perhaps he thought we had female friends with us, hahaha.) He thought I was Japanese because when he said good morning I was like ‘hi’ so he mistook it for the Jap ‘hi’. Actually throughout the trip a lot of people thought we were Japanese! I think more than the people who thought we were from China. I take it as a compliment. Haha.

3) People in Brussels are so much friendlier than those in Paris. In the hostel everybody smiled and said hi to everybody else. Very comfortable vibes. And there was this old lady in the cafe we went to who offered us her cookie and spoke to us in great detail about her life, Belgium and how fortunate we were to be travelling Europe at such a young age.

4) The girls weren’t as pretty as those in France and Italy though, though there were quite a few exceptions. But like most Caucasian girls, they generally don’t give a shit about us Asian guys.

5) Brussels was cold. Really cold! And wet.

6) Drinks at night was cool. We haven’t stopped drinking since we arrived. Every night either dinner or post-dinner it’d be drinks and more drinks.

28 – 31 May, Saturday – Tuesday – Amsterdam, the Netherlands

1) Yuxuan got hives on the second night, possibly due to the food or some insect bite.

2) Red light district was an eye-opener, quite literally, but nothing really spectacular or unexpected. The girls were really pretty though, what a waste Saw Zelei there which was quite awkward hahahaha. It started raining so we didn’t hang out for long there.

3) Hostel sucked because it was an all-guy, 16-bed bunk. It was smelly and had few power sockets, none beside our beds.

4) Cycled again but it was a nightmare, because first few hours on the bike was excruciating due to the seat being miles higher than my ass. I swear my groin nearly tore. Lost my temper and shouted at Yuxuan cos he didn’t hear me shouting and didn’t stop. It was a really bad morning. Anyway by then all of us have had at least one near-death experience on the bike already, haha. The roads are quite dangerous sometimes.

5) Amsterdam was fucking cold on the first day, and bloody warm on the second. First day I wore a very thin layer of clothes, the second, a set of super thick, insulative clothing. Bloody Murphy.

6) Dutch girls are pretty but their guys are generally not very good-looking. Weird, cos I think the Dutch footballers are not bad, ie van Nistelrooy, van Persie, van Basten

7) They speak quite a lot of English, or at least the people we met did.

8) True to (our) practice, we ate a lot; but for the first time during the trip, didn’t touch booze for one night. Haha.

31 May, Tuesday – Amsterdam – Manchester

1) Meeting Calvin finally felt so good. Finally someone else!!! Chinese dinner was superb. Drinks at Tiger-tiger was good fun too.

1 June, Wednesday – Manchester, UK

1) Old Trafford tour was interesting. Definitely felt different from the time I went 6 years ago. The shopping centre which we explored without buying anything was interesting too.

2) Ball after dinner with Qiyu and Weiming was fun too, felt good exercising after so long. Sucked as usual, got laughed at, but that’s okay.

3) Clubbing was good. Because the drinks were so cheap, we kept buying and drinking and buying and drinking. Fucking high, as a result of so many drinks. The guys said there were two times girls flashed their boobs at the camera when we/they (???) were taking photos and I didn’t notice!!! knn! not a good idea to get so intoxicated after all. Anyway once again I realised that Caucasians are really fucking friendly… everybody just talks to everybody! If you did that in SG people would think you’re weird / trying to hit on them / trying to be funny / trying to be an asshole / trying too hard.

4) Anyway the effects of all the alcohol only hit after the party. Reached the hostel at 3 plus and puked like mad, first in the sink, choking it up (thanks x489578973904 to Yuxuan who cleaned up after me) and then in the toilet bowl, making loud barfing noises the entire time. There was a girl sleeping below me on my double-decker bed and apparently I went up to her, put my face really near hers and said ‘hey so sorry about this’  in this really creepy way. The next morning at the reception while we were checking out we saw her checking out too and we overheard the receptionist go, ‘you sure you wanna check out? you booked two nights but you only stayed one’ then we realised OH SHIT and I felt REALLY guilty.

2 June, Thursday – Manchester – Warwick, UK

1) Hangover was monster. Puked the entire morning away, before and after the car ride to Cheshire Oaks Factory Outlet at Chester.

2) Thankfully it went away shortly after lunch. Shopping there was extremely fun. Spent like mad but it’s all worth it because everything is so cheap!!!

3) Anyway must thank Calvin for renting a car and spending 2.5 whole days with us in the midst of exams. THANKS BRO.

4) Damn pissed that we forgot to claim an extra 10% discount though. That represents about 60 SGD down the drain just for myself.

5) Cannot believe I didn’t check how to get from Birmingham New St. to Birmingham Moor St. (one of our transit points) when I bought the train tickets from Manchester to Warwick. Why?! I think I just assumed there will be clear and convenient directions but ugh, mistake. Qinsheng kicked up a big fuss over it and even used his iphone data plan to check… but okay la, it was on legitimate grounds so I genuinely felt quite guilty. Anyway, thankfully it was just a short and easy 10 min walk away, and we had half an hour.

6) Thanks Huiping / Keef / Rachel / Maria for letting us stay at your place for the night!!! And Huiping / Rachel for fetching us from Leamington Spa…

3 June, Friday – Warwick – London, UK

1) As with all long-table meals, was quite sian to sit at one end of the table. Was quite nice to catch up with Keef though. Don’t remember talking to him much in Sec 1/2. But frankly speaking I don’t remember much of Sec 1/2. Anyway thanks for walking us back to the station Keef!!!

2) Yuxuan made last-minute plans to stay back for awhile with the Warwick / C-Africa peeps, leaving Qinsheng and me to meet up with Shimin and Kelly. Quite happy to meet other friends for a change. Nice short chat at cafe, nice trip to Shimin’s apartment which was er, slightly untidy. Hahaha.

3 – 7 June, Friday – Tuesday – London, UK

1) Generally very relaxed pace, and very flexible schedule, because I planned everything. And as mentioned earlier, I’m for having good ol’ relaxed fun on holidays.

2) The few museums we covered were okay. I thought Natural History Museum was damn interesting (loved the animal exhibitions because I was really interested in zoology when I was young thanks to the Animorphs series), British Museum was dead boring and Imperial War Museum was decent. Even though I’ve gone to Natural and Imperial 6 years ago, just like Old Trafford they felt very different. So no regrets for opting to visit them again.

3) Meeting Ying and Seng was nice, though the rain dampened spirits (and more importantly, my shoes) Didn’t manage to catch Xiu though ):

4) Greenwich was okay, decently interesting.

5) The various markets (Borough, Brick Lane etc) were slightly disappointing, but still pretty cool. Ate like madmen.

6) Wicked, being a bit of a chick flick in Shimin’s words, didn’t live up to my expectations, though the cast and stage effects were superb. Regret not choosing to catch Les Miz again… it was so good 6 years ago hahahaha.

7) St. Christopher’s Village, our hostel, was cool, lots of hip and good-looking young people from all over the world, mostly very friendly. Bunkmates in the 12-men room were affable and nice, with the exception of the person(s) who stole Qinsheng’s iphone while it was charging overnight by my feet. There was a bar on the ground floor and it was really crowded and people just partied every night. The drinks were cheap, the atmosphere was great. I think if we were Caucasians as attractive as our Asian selves we would have gotten laid 201 times over. (i’m just kidding, don’t quote me) Talked to a lot of the people there, including two of our bunkmates from Brazil and spoke perfect English and whom we now have on FB ^^

8) London has so many Asians. Anyway I decided the girls there don’t really lose out to the Italians / French. They’re generally pretty faces.

9) Didn’t get to visit Tower Bridge cos we woke up late / I took too long to shit / pack / Whatsapp Ben to congratulate him on ORDing. Rushed to the airport to claim our Tax Refunds and was just on time for check-in. Still very sore about the 10% Cheshire Oaks discount.

8 May, Wed – Flight back

1) Really really looking forward to reaching home. Sick of the two of them already… no offence, but 3.5 weeks is too much hahaha. Miss family, my room, my computer, communicating with the other friends. Also, I wanna get down to settling all the orientation, matriculation stuff. As well as get back to running and weights.

2) Must think about photos and blogging details too… there’s so much!!!

3) Cute Qatar Airways air stewardess who talked to us! She said she lives in Bukit Batok, comes from AES and played softball under Ken Toh. I think she’s Malay but her features look rather Chinese. Her colleague was cuter though. Hahahaha.

4) How time fries!!!

Conclusion / Reflection

1) I realise that I don’t like to do anything on flights and long train journeys except to plug in the earphones, play some nice emo songs and zone out. Sometimes I drift into dreamland, others I spend thinking about something, or nothing.

2) People usually say that we speak good English. Most times they can understand us… but I suck at interpreting theirs because I can’t seem to wade through their thick accents. Especially the Brits when they speak really fast. Thankfully I have the two of them when I’m like HUH? for the fifth time or so. When non-native English speakers talk to us they tell us they thought we were from the US, but I doubt the English thought we were.

3) Hmm, unfortunately there are not a lot of deep thoughts like Benpoh’s Africa entries. The issues which bother Qinsheng, about buskers and beggars, foreign immigrants, income inequality etc. just strike me as meaningless thoughts which do not interest me unless I’m actually a stakeholder in big decisions that could change their lives. Call me elitist, uncaring, selfish. But in this current climate it isn’t very practical. Yes, I feel sorry for them. But it won’t help. So I try not to think about it. You guys can try to change my mind about this, I’m open to opinions.

4) What really got me pensive was again, sex. The promiscuity and openness to sexuality of the West versus us conservative Asians. In Europe it was so normal to see couples making out and getting all touchy-feely in every place imaginable. Friends of different gender sitting on one another. How they dress. I can go on and on. Should we aspire to be like that? On one hand I dislike how Singaporeans (I don’t want to generalise Asians; I’ll just stick with Singaporeans) are so uptight about everything, like how a couple smooching on the MRT can end up on Stomp or TNP. And friends who know me will testify that I wholeheartedly embrace individuality, freedom of expression and free media (in terms of censorship on sex and violence, not so much the political portion). But I’m also opposed to frivolity in sexuality, because I’m fiercely possessive and staunchly romantic. Haha as much as my libido wishes life were unfair and I can be the player while my partner stay everlastingly faithful, my character and personality will not allow it because once I’m into someone my world revolves around her. Fo sho. In fact I’ll be the clingy one who thinks about her 24/7. So… go to hell libido haha.

5) There’s also another question which kept me pondering. Why does White superiority exist??? Most likely due to Hollywood and the proliferation of American / European culture and mass media. We are exposed to them constantly. I mean, we Asians think they’re attractive, but the converse does not apply. In most cases, anyway. I hate the feeling of inferiority but that’s exactly how I felt in many instances in Europe. I know it’s superficial and stupid to an extent, but I can’t help it. What do the West know of Asians and the Chinese? Kungfu??? Food??? I mean, there were people who still asked us whether Singapore was in China. Seriously?!? There’s also the complex of coming from a place many have not even heard of, compared to say, the US or Germany, Japan, Australia… you get the drift. Back in Singapore, I soon realise that it doesn’t really make a difference to my life. But it’s worth a thought, especially if I end up dabbling in the global market in future.

6) The main lesson gleaned from the trip is that I should always go on trips with people who share similar interests and intentions for the trip. I mean, I really felt damn depressed at the start of the trip cos we were covering museum after museum, gallery after gallery. The many towers we climbed were not bad, but bombard me with 4 museums / galleries in one day, waking up early and going to bed late at night just to cram enough artistic / cultural / educational value for money… it’s too much. Third time I’m stating it but, for me the whole point of a holiday is to have fun and relax. Visiting historical and cultural sites is perfectly fine with me, but it should not be taking the fun out of the trip.

7) Self-evaluation… It’s not like I’m finding out anything new about myself. But I need better self-control. Need to stop PMSing, stop picking on people’s flaws, stop being petty, stop being oversensitive. And stop being so self-centred. And emotional. And pessimistic. Also, I need to think about how to be more cultured and learn how to stimulate interest in works of art / history / culture and see them as a form of entertainment. So much for being an Arts / Literature / History student.