great singaporean walk

Trill is an under-statement for my upcoming (or rather it actually started since i'm behind 'time' on the blogging). I guess its the worries and pressures that are topping up that is giving me bad nite sleep for the few nites before flying off!

First time i'm going to europe. First time i'm away for so long. First time i'm going on a backpack trip planning it MYSELF. First time i'm away from my comp and internet for a month (not to mention the all-singaporean-guys-muz-do ns). Too many first time.

Finally, the moment i'm waiting for, BOARDING the plane. Finally flying off and well, i dun seem to get to sleep well. Gotta wind the clock back 6 hours since Paris is 6 hours behind. Damn, probably spoilt for Emirates. Individual get to have their own screen and select the movies they want to watch, Thai dun. They believe in SHARING. I guess the whole damn plane share one movie. sighz. So after the transitting at the next flight, telling my 2 other travelmates, gotta convince ourselves to have a good nite sleep since we are expected to arrive at Paris at 7am and it will be the start of our tour! DAMN! I thought I have lie on the seat for eons, refusing to check my watch. When I finally have to get up to stretch myself, looking at the clock, I can't believe my eyes..... LESS THAN 3 HOURS HAVE PASSED! "£%^&"£%^*('#' And the process goes on.....

Now I know why Singapore In'tl Airport can keep winning for so many years. Their GDC Airport sure is rundown. And I wonder, seeing so many policemen running around, I was wondering... hmm... is there a bomb nearby? That will be very exciting!! Giving you ppl live commentary on it. Paris is COLD and DRY! Stepping out of the airport to ask for some directions almost got me frozen! Now, who the hell told me that summer is HOT??!?!? I still bring sleeveless tshirt, and luckily, I decided to bring one sweater along juz in case since the night before, a friend called me to warn me abt the weather there. Was still arguing with her on the point that she told me to bring my winter coat. So i say, "WINTER COAT? I'm going in SUMMER, why bring winter coat? siao ah????"

We got one morning to see 4 of our key sight. Notre Dame, Louve Museum, Arc De Truimph and Eiffel Tower. First we must make my way to the hostel, carrying 20kg of dunno-wat-i-packed-inside backpack. damn. I must say, the receiption are really helpful, and thanks to him writing a note for me in french on breaking up my 500€ into small notes, else I will have huge problem breaking it. He even tried to teach me to say it but my tongue really got tied. Speaking to the french on the street is like u try to talk to those old uncle on the street in singapore. You talk to him in mandrain and they reply to u in hokkien and nothing more. Same here, speaking to them in english, i can reply in french. -shrug- So yellowpages slogan is the best of way here. "Let your finger do the talking".

Its a really HUGE church. The celling is so damn high. I believe the durian lookalike building in singapore will also lose lor! They win hands down! Trust me, and remember that is built many centuries ago lor! I'm impressed, more than impressed. And well, lotsa saints there I dunno. The only person I recognised is Joan of Arc! Ok, nothing to do with the movie but I do know that character. really.

We decided to take climb the stairs to the tower. I called it the neverending stairs. Halfway through, I thought I heard someone mentioning abt 4xx steps. I was hoping I hear wrongly. hoping and god is not helping me! sighz. Finally reach the top and its a spendid view. Yeah, its really cool and worth the money and climb! Oh, point to note, nothing is free, nothing. Anything u need to climb, its not free.

Next on the list to hit is Louve Museum. When we got there, the place look crappy. We are still in doubt. We just wonder what is going on. How come front potion look weird. The pavement is not done up probably, just filled with sandy stones(frankly, i dunno what to call them). Its only later we realise that we are coming in by the rear. -ops- well, so we see those building surrounding it. Another awesome display. Wonderful. Incredible. Excellent. But I'm not that impressed after walking for 3 hours. Finally we hit on the pyrimad, the museum WITHIN the pyrimad. I was told its WITHIN but hey, WHERE THE HELL IS THE PYRIMAD?! I dun see it at all, then we realise its an UNDERGROUND museum and well, we dun feel like paying to see wat the hell Napolean is doing. Of coz there's painting by Picasso and Van Gough. But still, we are tired, and we are still very far from the other 2 sites. Did I mention that the rear have 4 buildings enclosure that form a square the floor size is bigger than that of Takashimaya.

Further up ahead is a park, a REAL park. That is another 15 mins of walking, straight ahead. There's ponds in it, people feeding ducks. And 2 open concept cafe within the park. And i'm most impressed by the 2 policemen riding on the horse, esp that huge meatrod danging beneath it. Finally we are out of Louve Museum. From front to rear is like...err...1km...2km... somewhere there.

TOILET!! WE NEED TOILET! AND ITS FRIGGING NOT FREE!!!!! What to do, I don't to get caught doing it in the bushes. sighz. Continue the journey, its a long long walk towards Arc De Triumphe. Half the journey is just some walking pavement and the other half of the journey to it is like window shopping in Orchard Road! Well, we are lucky, there seems to be some photo exhibitions on the pavement, so we got some entertain while walking the long journey. The other half is Champs Elysées, your answer to window shopping in Orchard Road in Paris. Do I look like a shopper, so no updates. Our eyes are trying to find some great eye candy. There are. Some very interesting ads. and when I say interesting, I mean BUILDING-SIZE ads. Human size are outdated already. Of coz, french hot babes is the other things to look out for but somehow, we dun get to see much. how sad. Maybe I'm not at the beach yet, maybe.

Going up is another climb. &^$%"£$%#&%^ But again I must stress, ITS REALLY VERY BEAUTIFUL. Well, its not sunset when we were up there, its a pity but we dowan to pay AGAIN to climb it. Half way up it, u can to see the museum and it tells u the history of it. Very interesting. The drawing of the 16th century(or was it 17th century) plan.

From it, u can see that there are 10 paths (or was it 12) leading out. Each path has its own beauty. Its really beautiful. Getting a good angle and doing paranoma is excellent. To save u the trouble, they are selling that view and again, its not CHEAP.


----- to be continue ----- (tired from the thinking back and typing and braving the cold walk from hostel to lab in 7 degree nite wearing on a shorts and sleeveles t)