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So after a brief hiatus (i was enjoying my travel too much ), here is the next instalment. I was writing this partly on a train from St Moritz to Zurich (beautiful Swiss Alps, tunnels and bridges are beyond compare), partly from Zurich to Frankfurt and from Frankfurt to Berlin – its hard to travel and blog! once you are behind in your writing, you have to keep up really fast before new cities present you with new excitements and stories. and guess what, i’m one week behind! Berlin and Prague would have to wait.

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I’ve nearly done it all – from nearly not having a place to sleep in Amsterdam, smoking my first joint, to the James Bond’s 007 bungy jump, water rafting, paragliding, and skydiving 12000 feet from a helicopter.

Copenhagen

I took the 10:21 X2000 from Stockholm to Copenhagen. 5 hours later, i was in Copenhagen and it was wet, wet and wet.

After dropping my bags at Martin’s place (my 3rd couchsurfing’s host), i went straight to the national library. It was a huge library by the river side, combining an old and new sections. Marvellous. Here are some pic of the beauty:

At night, Martin took me to a local pub by bike (i haven’t sat at the back of a bike since i was 9!), we met his friends and finished the night rather sober.

The next day i went to the city:

Local library

A church

By the river side

and to the Royal Palace. You cant really take pictures inside the palace (you even have to cover your shoes with a plastic cover to avoid damaging the expensive wooden floors), but when i saw the Queen’s Reading Room, i couldn’t help but take out my D90. Goose bumps!!!!!!!!

A bit later in the arvo, Martin texted me – football party at his place. I couldn’t refuse!

One of Martin’s friend’s girlfriend is arriving from Austria, so we decided to send a battalion of half-drunk on a train to the airport to pick her up. I must say that i was nervous at first, bringing plastic guns (temporarily displaced from a kindergarten) and enough beer supplies on a train ‘defending’ the first carriage from ‘infiltrators’ and then ‘invading’ the airport.

I was so sure that security guards will spot us and prevent us doing silly things, but to my surprise, not a single police or guard was present. There was an old man who came (whom i thought was an undercover policeman), and i thought to myself, this is it! Only to find him uttering ‘You guys are cool’ and started doing a dance with us!! Hahaha

We then went to the infamous Christiania (the hippie town!). Martin took us to his bar – a really cool bar. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take pictures inside (out of respect to the squatters).

For more pictures in Copenhagen, click here

Amsterdam

The next day, i had to bid farewell and continue my journey to Amsterdam. It was an overnight sleeper train on a City Night Line. I was in the same cabin as a British psychologist who was coming back from a conference. The sleeping cabin was smaller than what i expected but i was glad it was clean and rather impressed by the small washer attached to our cabin.

Amsterdam oh Amsterdam – one of the most happening cities. You could see that people are happy to be there.

First thing first, the Openbare Bibliotheek. It was a modern building with many cool zones to chill out, such as places to watch DVDs or listening to musics.

After i hit my must-visit destination, i then went on a city tour.

Oh and in the centre of the town, Dam, there was a beach soccer tournament.

I also saw a protest by the LGBT community near the homo monument,

Then i went back to the train station, where i met Rudd (my 4th CS host).

The next day, Rudd took me to watch Team Oranje played. We were bar hopping and was lucky enough to find this nice bar with HD screen (it was an old theatre and get converted to a place for people to play gigs and concerts).

even Obama was ecstatic

After the game, we went to the World Press Photography Exhibition, but on the way we stumbled into a small local library

The exhibition was held in this old church in the middle of the red light district,

Rudd and I

Rudd admiring the Obama’s Inauguration pictures:

Dinner and pool were our next activities and i’m proud to still hold the unbeaten winning record in my travel thus far (against Frank – the Polish in Beijing, Tuyet – the British in Mongolia, and now Rudd – the Dutch in Amsterdam).

Next day was Den Haag where i wanted to visit the Parliament library in the Parliament complex .Unfortunately, it was closed to the Public, even the Parliament – it was a busy time after the closest election in history. The government was trying to build a coalition and it has been a week with no definitive outcome.

I managed to go on a tour of the Hall where the Queen delivers her annual speech.

and then i went to see the International Court of Justice – again i have no booking so couldn’t enter the place:

My disappointment was soon erased when i managed to make my way to the National Library – Koninklijke Bibliotheek. Another beauty!

After library visit, i headed back to Amsterdam. Rudd and I cooked that night and after that, he took me on a bike tour:

The next day, i thank Rudd for his hospitality and make my way to the central station to deposit my luggage. I’m meant to meet up with my second host later in the arvo (after previous contacts though emails and sms). I decided to have a hair cut because i can see a lot of white hairs growing on the sides, and after my haircut, i went to a local coffee shop to get stoned. It was a funny experience, because i didn’t get a happy or sad kick, but instead i felt a little bit dizzy. I could feel that it was quite hard to keep my eye lids opened wide, but most of the times i was just dizzy.

i was curious that my host hasn’t replied to the sms i sent earlier but given that another football game was about to start I decided to go to a local bar to watch it. When it was finished around 6pm, i browsed internet on my BB (free wifi, wooo hoo), and this was when i discovered through an email, that my host has bailed out of me at the last minute. His excuse, he couldn’t really kick out the other surfers who have been staying at his place. I was stunned because he didn’t even have the courtesy to call or text me. Email would be the last thing thing that you used when you need to relay urgent message.

So here i was, at 6pm and the prospect of no place to sleep for the night. I decided to go to the red light district where a lot of hostels are located – its also close to central station so less moving required. My priority was to find a place to sleep for the night and lucky i found a space at St Christopher. pheww…. what an experience. I kept wondering what happened if i never checked my email in the bar – i knew i would have tried to contact him again, but it would be rather quite late in the night. anyway…..

After settling down around 9pm, another American dude (i forgot his name) asked me if i wanted to go to another coffee shop – and there i was again. We decided to buy a happy kick – but yet again, i was just feeling dizzy. Oh well….

On my last full day in Amsterdam, i went to Rotterdam. I hired a bike to tour the city.

My first stop was to the Rotterdam Library

And i cycled by the river bank and through the bridge

Also went to the Tower:

and i had indonesian food for lunch:

I then returned to Amsterdam to have italian dinner with Rudd and his mate.

When i went back to the hostel, i touched my first ipad! Another backpacker was carrying ipad from the US and he let me played with it. I was surprised that it was rather heavy. I haven’t been sold on buying it the first time, and this now kinda confirms it. – maybe iphone 4 is a better bet (a cross to the dark side?)

For more pictures in Amsterdam, click here

For more pictures in Den Haag, click here

For more pictures in Rotterdam, click here

Paris

11.16 Thalyn Express took me from Amsterdam to Paris’ Gare du Nord.

After depositing my backpack at the station, i went to hit my destinations. First on the list was Bibliotheque National de France – Francois Mitterand!

It’s another modern library with many buildings. I had to pay 3 euros to enter and wasn’t really happy about that – isn’t libraries supposed to be free?

I was hunting for the main reading room, but realised i couldn’t imagine it will be located in this library. there must another one.

After this, i went to Sorbonne where i wanted to visit the libraries in the University of Paris. Unfortunately, unless you have prior appointments, you wouldn’t be able to (ugh!!!!).

It happened with another library located close to the Pantheon

My disappointment was quickly taken over by excitement when i found the infamous Shakespeare & Co bookstore… ohhhhhh… georgeousssss…. my knees were weak and ive got goose bumps all over when i saw the shelvings and the smells of the books……

It also happened to be the literary festival – Festival and Co, and i attended briefly one of the book readings:

Strolling along the river banks of Paris, in front of the Notre Dame, you see a lot of summer activities, such as:

Fishing, if you were alone

or if you were with another person, Kissing

The Notre Dame is a beautiful church

I then went back to the train station to pick up my backpack and head my way to the Witold’s place (my 4th CS experience), when i saw a group of Algerian football fans dashing through the metro gates. Algeria was playing England that night.

Witold and i had Italian dinner that night while watching the disappointing performance of England – in fact, the game was terrible with balls passed without clear purpose.

The next day is the Louvre – pics said it all:

After surviving nearly the whole day at the Louvre, i strolled along the beautiful Paris parks making my way to Arc de Triomp

Taking a break, i watched Australia drew against Ghana….

Then i made my way to the Eiffel and climbed to the very top!

and yes, i saw a guy proposing to his gf:

Sacre Cour is beautiful and thats where Witold and I had our brunch the following morning.

Then i ventured to the Erotic Museum – WARNING !!!, pictures below might offend some people!

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The obligatory Moulin Rouge,

And then i head to the George Centre Pompidue,

Rothko, oh Rothko!!!!!!

others that caught my eyes include

Also visited the most visited cemeteries on the planet to see

James Morrison,

Oscar Wilde – check out all the lipstick marks and graffiti….

After the cemeteries visit, i thought i should climb up the Notre Dame to feel a bit closer to the heaven:

and the Pantheon, where French revolution heroes and important people like Marie Currie and Louise Braille were buried.

Funny things happened to me while i was trying to get Long Champ bags from Gallery Lafayette for Jelita and Joey. While i was lining up for service, i heard someone called my name. And when i turned around, i saw Elizabeth (we studied in uni together) whom i haven’t seen since 2005 – she moved to Singapore for the job. We chatted briefly and promised to catch up a bit later – but unfortunately this didn’t really eventuate, because stupid me, i texted her on her old spore number than the one she gave me – and i didn’t realise this until too late. oh well, end of year, i will try to catch up in Spore.

I went to Saint Chapelle to see the beautiful stained glasses.

In the arvo, i met Erik Ilkehan and transferred to his chateau closed to Sacre Cour.

The next day is dedicated to Versailles Palace – originally i was about to give it a miss, but Erik insisted that i couldn’t leave Paris without visiting – and he was right. The pics again speak for itself:

From the palace, i went back to Paris to locate the other site of national library with a beautiful reading room. While i wasn’t allowed to enter, i managed to take a couple of shots from the outside – very very very very beautiful!:

Julie and I met up for brunch the next day near the Opera. She was on summer holiday back to France and heading to London and New York.

After catching up with her, i made my way to Museum D’orsay – unfortunately i couldn’t take any pictures inside,

and on the way back, i was caught in a big protest and strike – you wouldn’t be in France if you didn’t see the strike! They were protesting about the govt attempt to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62, even though the EU has raised it to 65.

Erik and I had curry for dinner that nite and we were scrambling to find a pub that plays Australia vs Serbia – you know what the outcome was My only hope at this time was England.

For more pictures in Paris, click here

Basel

After a week in a beautiful Paris, i made my way to Switzerland – Basel was my first stop and it was a 2.5 hour train ride away.

I went to visit Bank of International Settlement (only from the outside, couldn’t really enter the building)

Following that, i visited the university library:

and walk around the old town where i stumbled across this beautiful old bookshop:

I also went to the bridge across the Rhine where a lot of people are soaking in the warm summer:

Corinne (my 6th CS host) met me at the train station. She took me to her cozy place and after cooling down for a bit, we went to a local Thai restaurant to have dinner with Nicole, her sister:

It was nice food but slow service, really really slow. Probably because we were on a mission – there was a Switzerland vs Honduras game at 8.30pm.

Lucky we made it in time to see the game, even though the beers were flat and the final outcome, oh well, you know it.

We met Corrine’s friends – Sophie and Alex for the game, and when it finished, we headed to the Rhine with our beers – beautiful night and view from the Rhine:

For more pictures in Basel, click here

Bellinzona

The next day, it was less than 24 hours before i had to make my way to the train station again, to head to Bellinzona – a small beautiful city closed to Italy. I’m basing myself at a youth hostel so i can do the 007 Bungy Jump the following day. One thing that i realised is the clash between the jump time (i.e. 3pm) and the England vs Germany game (at 4pm). So i had to forfeit the game to complete my mission.

In the following morning, i made my way to Locarno (the town closest to the dam), toured the city for a bit,

before heading to Verzasca dam by bus

it was a huge dam!

and man, i was pumped!

and here is the video of my jump:

With adrenaline still high, i head back to town to see the last few minutes of the game, only to be disappointed with the total annihilation of the English team by the Germans. I couldn’t bear to watch it especially the surrender they displayed in the dying minutes – they could have at least fought back, the effort would at least make the fans feel a bit better. But no, they raised their white flags very early. it was very very disappointing.

For more pictures in Bellinzona, click here

For more pictures in Locarno, click here

Interlaken

The next day, i got up very early to catch a 6am train to Interlaken Ost – the city you should be in for all the adrenalin adventures. Interlaken to Switzerland is like Queenstown to New Zealand. After dropping my luggage at Villa’s Backpacker i went straight to my first adventure:

Water Rafting! fun fun fun

After 3 hours of being completely wet, i went straight to my second – Paragliding. Absolutely amazing! The scariest moment for me was when i saw the cliff and we had to run off it! But once you were airborne it was like having an afternoon tea (times 10,000 for the views).

My third adventure was in the following morning, where i travelled to a heliport in Lauternburn. I was to do skydiving from a helicopter – 12,000 feet with 40s of freefall. I couldn’t describe the feeling – it was exhilarating. An interesting note on this little excursion – we saw few skydivers getting ready for the Transformer 3 stunts with their costumes at the heliport.

Here is the video:

I went to Jungfrauch – Top of Europe in the afternoon. Very beautiful place.

Did a 2 hour hike

Saw a beaver

and took the train to the very top

I was tired when i got back to the hostel. Japan was ousted in a penalty shoot out and Spain kicked out Portugal. Oh, and it was laundry day too. Took me two hours to be in the queue. Absolute nightmare!

For more pictures in Interlaken, click here

Glacier Express to St Moritz

My alarm didn’t buzz the next morning and i was rushing like a madmen to catch a 7am morning train to Zermatt. It was the first time i nearly missed a train in my entire travel. And it was an important train because in Zermatt i had to board the Glacier Express (mine was the last train for the day). Lucky i was on it.

Glacier Express is famously dubbed the slowest express train but boasting beautiful sceneries. And it was worth every single minute (although in some sections – i succumbed to my eyes wanting to get some rest).

The train journey ends 7 hours later in St Moritz where i stayed overnight at another backpacker hostel. I didn’t manage to go around in this town because the place where i stayed was quite far from the city centre. But i did have a great dinner at a local restaurant. A table next to me was a Swiss family who speak Italian and wanting to know about my travel – very nice and friendly.

For more pictures in Glacier Express, click here

Zurich

The following morning, i took another morning train to Zurich. Like in previous cities, libraries were the top spots:

Pestalozzi Bibliothek

Zentralbibliothek

Kunthaus Bibliothek

saw a number of people jumping off the bridge

and met Paul Peyrot (a friend from Berkeley) whom i haven’t seen in 8 years! He’s married now and expecting his first child. We met up a famous cafe – Sprungli, which by the way, has the finest selection of extremely nice chocolates, cakes and desserts.

Paul then took me to his law practice:

where he printed a direction to a really nice modern library – i made my way there from his office, only to find that its closed for renovation for the week! (grrrr).

I went back to the main train station where Manuel (my 7th CS host) picked me up.

The next day i travelled to St Gallen to see the famous Abbey Monastery and the library. It was about 1 hour train ride away from Zurich Airport.

The main church at the Monastery

When i found out that no camera was allowed in the library – i knew that i have to figure something out. Lucky enough my pass was valid for the day, so i told them that im taking a lunch break, i headed to a camera shop and bought myself a point-to-shoot camera which i can hide in the pocket. But obviously with any new camera, the battery isn’t charged. So i asked the shop attendant to charge it, while i wondered around the small city for the next 2.5 hours. I kept circling and ending up at the same place despite many turns i took.

But the shots were worth it:

and St Galen is quite an artsy town –

After a full day in St Gallen, i went back to Zurich where i caught the first half of the Netherlands vs Brazil game. It was 1-0 for Brazil at half time. I quickly made my way to Zurich Airport (where i was supposed to be picked up later by Manuel), to see the second half and it was a fantastic atmosphere at the airport – The Oranje beat the Brazilian (and has officially been my selected team since Australia and England lost).

We went back to have a home cooked italian pasta, with wine and an orange chocolate cake from Sprungli and i was stuffed.

Its time to say goodbye the next day, we had a coffee at Starbucks and soon enough i was on my way to see Big Guy in Frankfurt.

For more pictures in Zurich, click here

For more pictures in St Gallen, click here

Frankfurt

I was on ICE train for an approximately 4 hours. Florian Fischer (aka Big Guy) met me at the platform. He lost so much weight. He was my roomie while we were studying in Berkeley and has since visited me twice both in Melbourne (him alone) and in Sydney (with Daniela). He now works in BCG.

He took me around town (it was a hot day and everybody was out in force ready for the game in two hours).

and to a local market to buy supplies for the barbie

When we reached their place, the game just started and the street was deserted. 90 minutes later, Argentina was humiliated and Germany advanced to the next round.

Meet No 1 (Froodol?), Florian and Daniela’s master! Flo and I took him for an afternoon stroll after the game,

and we had our dinner soon after that:

The next morning, we had our breaky (with coffee served in a Berkeley mug – nice)

and following breakfast, Flo ran while i cycled to Daniela’s vet clinic. She opened her first clinic in September last year and been very busy ever since.

Then we went to the stable, where i met their second pet, Arthur – a white stallion from Portugal:

I rode Arthur

and so did Big Guy

We then went outside to take Arthur and Floodol in an open space

And Big Guy, Floodol and I headed back home while Daniela brought Arthur back to the stable.

Once we reached home, Big Guy took me for another exciting activity, a first for me – flying on a light aircraft. I was over the moon:

The local airport

The plane – Katana

Plane check

The cockpit

Preflight check

Ready for takeoff

and off we went

Airborne

We circled the area 3 times (ok 4 actually – we couldn’t land the last round because Big Guy couldn’t bring the plane down – apparently a common problem during summer with hot air rising). It was a fantastic experience. Now i want to be a pilot too!

Following the full day adventures, Big Guy and Daniela took me to a nice restaurant for dinner. There i tried Frankfurt’s infamous apple cider. Despite repeated warnings on the effect it might have on my bowels and taste buds, i actually quite like it. The dinner and company were amazing – we talked about everything under the sun!

The next morning was the time to say goodbye – always the hardest. I bid farewell to Daniela at home while Big Guy was on a local train where he stopped one station before me.

Thanks Big Guy and Daniela – i have had an absolute ball, felt really at home and it was great to see you again! Appreciate especially the small details you put into making my stay extremely comfortable – especially the new shower and bathroom

And following this, i will be in Berlin and Prague where i will spend 4 days each.

For more pictures in Frankfurt, click here

Till the next update, take care.

p/s if you were wondering, yes Obama has gone MIA. I lost him in Zurich. if you found him, please write.

I’m writing this post on board of the Mariella of the Viking Line, cruising the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea with Stockholm as the destination.

Since my last travel update, i have endured a four days three nights continuous train journey, roamed the street of Moscow, completely drenched in St. Petersburg and flew over to Helsinki visiting the continent i’ve always dreamt of visiting. I’m living my dream and it’s great to be alive.

Irkutsk – Moscow

I left you all in Lake Baikal.

The morning after my last update, an usual scene appeared at the lake – the ice was melting. It was getting warmer. I decided to take a quick stroll and soon were joined by other guests around the area.

Following breakfast, we were transferred to Irkutsk where we spent the afternoon wandering around the local market and the city centre.

At around 4pm, train no 9 took us to Moscow. This was the longest continuous train travel in the transiberian adventure – we spent a total of 4 days and 3 nights. Thank goodness for Choh Dai Di (Big Two) card game, otherwise, we would be bored to death.

When people say its a Vodka train – they are not kidding. I’ve skulled at least 14 shots in a space of 2 hours by fellow travellers. You couldn’t really refuse especially when they insisted – its impolite. They ‘dragged’ you to their cabins and when you seek refuge in your own, they will come over and bring the Vodka and some food to ’share’ with you. Very generous!

Mischa and Alex were the two main culprits.

This is Mischa in front of our cabin

This is Alex and I, playing hide and seek at the back of the train after Vodka shots

How do we kill the time apart from Choh Dai Di?

Choosing what meal to have is an important routine. As you can see, we have loads of selections:

Watching movies. I re-watched the Red Cliff (yes I and II) and The Transiberian movies

Day-dreaming

Play around with kids on the train

And of course, to at least have one meal in the dining car

After 3 nights, i was glad to finally get off the train. Funny enough, Tuyet and I got picked up separately as we got different hotels booked.

I took a quick shower and embarked on a metro roundabout trip – i have only a couple of days in Moscow and wouldnt want to miss the infamous metro stations and a night shot across the Christ the Saviour Cathedral.

It was a beautiful night.

The following day i went on a city tour:

A wedlock – when Russians get married, they hand their wedlock in this tree!

A view of the Kremlin

Moscow cities are littered with arts! I was particularly moved by the sculptural composition by Mikhail Chemkakin – Children are the victims of adults’ vices. There were 15 sculptures in total representing various Evils such as Child labour, Alcoholism, and Ignorance. The most prominent one is the at the centre – Indifference. It was a powerful message.

I stumbled across a photo exhibition in the middle of a park and look what i saw:

Sydney!

Here are the pictures from the most luxurious grocery stores:

The Kremlin:

The Red Square:

St Basil’s Cathedral:

GUM – the ‘best’ mall:

This area (consisted of a bare 10 shops) is in the world’s top 3 most expensive commercial rent.

The KGB building

Russian Duma (parliament>

I went back to the Red Square to see the buildings at night:

The next day, i started the day with a mission to see Stalin’s bunker but i failed miserably. It was closed – despite the city guide saying it’s open. The guard wouldn’t let me in. I have a feeling you might have to be part of a private tour but i couldn’t speak Russian to the guard to understand why he was yelling at me. In the end, i relented and left the place. Bah, what a way to waste 2 hours!

Disappointed, i spent the rest of the morning and a big chunk of the arvo in the Gallery.

I also made my way to tour the metro station again and also to the White House. The Kremlin is where the president works, whereas the Prime Minister, Putin, works in the White House:

At 22:20, train no 52 took me on an overnight journey to St. Peterburg, the final leg of my Transiberian adventure.

For more Moscow pic, click here

St Petersburg

St Petersburg is the most European-looking city in Russia. It’s opulent and very well planned. The day i arrived, it was pouring heavily. I was completely drenched as we toured the city.

Some pictures from St Pete:

The Library – unfortunately too much paperworks required to enter.

White chairs on a park outside Karzan Cathedral

Karzan Cathedral

THE bookstore – beautiful building

A sculpture dedicated to Pushkin

Hermitage – one of the largest museum in the world

I also visited the Museum of Political History and saw the balcony where Lenin made the speech to his comrades

Stalin’s study

Peter and Paul’s Fortress

Around midnight (when the sun about to set), i took a boat tour along Nevska River to see the infamous bridge openings. Yup, St Petersburg is well-known for many rivers and bridges and the city is separated into two for 5 hours every night when the bridges are opened. Apparently, if you were on the wrong side of town, you just stay in the pub until the bridge was brought down again.

The next day is the first Thursday of the month which also means that a visit to the Hermitage is FREE! I was lucky the queue wasn’t that long when i first arrived in the morning

Went to see all the famous paintings:

and a library setup in olden days:

Five hours later, i emerged culturally enriched and head my way to climb the St Isaac.

The White Nights Art Festival is also on, so prior to me going to my first every ballet performance, i decided to load up on carbs (didn’t realise i haven’t had a proper lunch) so this has to be a lunch-dinner combo.

Following dinner, i headed to the Mariinsky Theatre to see the Leonid Sarafanov Gala Performance

That performance capped my St. Petersburg’s excursion.

For more pic on St Pete, click here

The following morning, i made my way to the airport to start the European leg of my travel. Everything was pretty much smooth sailing until you guess what, the immigration at the Povolko airport. At first the ladies at the counter took a long time to process my exit from Russia. They kept glancing up. Then i was asked to move back 5 metres and waited for another 15 minutes. Suddenly, i was asked by another official to follow him. He spoke something in Russian and after realising i cant speak any, he just said ‘Sit’ while pointing to a row of chairs in front of us. It will be another 45 minutes before he emerged out with another official who approached me and said:

Official: Do you speak English?
Me: Yes
Official: My name is Sergei . I am an official with the Russian Federation. Do you understand me?
Me: Yes
Official: Good. Why are you in Russia?
Me: Travelling
Official: Why are you in Russia?
Me: Travelling – holiday.
Official: Why are you on holiday?
Me: …… its nice to be on holiday and see other cultures

And the interrogation continued for another 10 minutes with a successive of at least 20 questions including where i worked, what i do on a daily basis, where did i stay in Russia, what did i do in Russia, where else i’m going, why i’m going there, why do i leave for 8 months, etc etc.

After a while, i got tired and asked:

Me: Sir, i’m very happy to answer all your questions. But you need to let me know at the very least whether my paper is in order?
Official: hmmm… ok… its just interesting. That you have American visa expiring much latter than your passport.

At this time i knew what the problem was – normally embassies don’t issue visa longer than the expiry of your passport except America (and Australia too). So they must have thought that my passport is a fraud.

Me: I understand where you are coming from. It is actually a standard procedure for America to issue a 5-year visa regardless of your passport expiry. In fact, i don’t think you can get a shorter visa. You paid one price and you get issued with a year visa.
Official: I KNOW THAT
Me: (scratching head)

Then he started speaking in Russian to another official who was looking me up and down as if i were the biggest spy they could find. Then he said

Official: You can go now.

phew………

Helsinki

It was nice to see a familiar face when you just arrived at a new continent. Fon, whom i haven’t seen for nearly five years was strolling Monn when i saw her at the arrival hall. I met Fon during our university days through student union. we both represented Victoria at the national level. i used to be (and still am very much) intrigued by her sense of belonging. She grew up all over the world and i found out through her mum that she’s the only person i’ve known to date who used to hold an alien passport i.e. did not belong to a particular country. how’s that come about is another story – i will leave that to her autobiography.

We took a stroll to the city through beautiful park and a monument made of musical pipes (i forgot what its called)

We brought bread crumbs with us to the pond so Monn can see his favourite friends – meet “Kaap kapps”:

Mikko, Fon’s fiance, soon joined us to officially kick off the architectural tour of Helsinki. He is an architect and used to work as a tour guide. You cant ask for more! He took us to the famous church…

As i was getting out, i saw various greeting cards in various languages that you could take. I was surprised to find an Indonesian. There were lots of ‘prayers and words of wisdom’ and mine read:

‘Sekalipun kita kehilangan segala sesuatu, ada satu yang tetap kita miliki: Yesus Kristus! Bila kamu memilikiNya, berarti kamu memiliki segala sesuatu yang kamu butuhkan di tengah-tengah kesukaran dan kecemasan.”
Ibu Basilea Schlink

translated to be:

‘Even if we were to lose everything, there is one thing that we will always have: Jesus Christ! If you have Him, you have everything you need in the midst of any difficulty and worry’
Basilea Schlink

How apt and i hope it wasn’t the sign that i will lose all my belongings on my travel. Although for those who are keeping count, i have lost my water bottle in between my travel from St Petersburg to Helsinki.

From the church we went to Kiasma – a gallery where we relaxed at the cafe. Fon has always wanted Monn in this very artsy child seat:

We strolled along the city and on the way home saw many Finnish architectures.

My first home-cooked dinner in my travel courtesy of our legendary chef – Fon was perfect. There were: vegetable soup, ‘the lazy man’ bruschetta and for main, the vegetarian bolognese. Fon is a vegan and has been experimenting with various ingredients – you should really check out the newly launched blog on her cooking:

I have always admired parenthood especially young family. I don’t know how people can manage to bring up kids when they are working, studying etc. They always have special place in my Respect Spectrum. Fon described it as ‘you don’t have the time to think – you just do it’. I guess the concept of an entire person completely dependent on you in every single thing is mind-blowing (and admirable). Something very foreign to me.

I also learnt first hand that you require a lot of patience – lots of them. No wonder parents are the most wonderful people on this planet and why young people, are relatively, impatient. Because really, patience is a virtue and i don’t think you can ever compare the patience required in daily life to those required in bringing up a child. It’s a full time job – 24 hours and no break. Your sleep pattern is also altered depending on when the baby decides to get up or sleep. RESPECT.

On the other side of the coin, apart from learning more about yourself, you have the opportunity to observe how a new human being learns everything from zero. I’m naturally a curious person so observing Monn finding our or learning new things are in itself a privilege.

Back to my travel, the next day they took me to Kansalliskirjasto Nationalbiblioteket – The National Library of Finland.

Oh and i forgot to mention, Fon and Mikko took me to this little shop where they sell Obama mints – how could i resist not to buy. But they also have Obama’s finger puppet and soon enough Obama decided to rejoin me again.

Old section of the library

New section of the library

Monn loves stairs, so he climbed to the very top on his own.

Some pictures from Mikko’s city tour:

I was privileged enough to have been invited into Mikko’s niece graduation party – it was a family affair held at a beautiful house. I couldn’t resist with my camera. The house was opened for this very special occasion. Even Monn was dressed as a sailor.

and for the bonus, the house has a library!

There was one section of the house that i really like. Its at the corner next to the staircase to the top floor, by the window overlooking the front garden. I saw an old gentlemen in a nice white suit with perfect grey hair sitting down sipping his cup of tea. I didn’t take out my camera then, but managed to eventually make my way round that corner and spent a great part of our time at the party in this corner.

From the party, Fon drove us (Mikko was intoxicated) to her parent’s place in Kiita (spelling could be incorrect). It’s beautiful estate by the water. You can see a lot of works have been put into making the place cozy and beautiful. Fon’s parents just got back from Adjerbaizan and i was in charge of dinner that night. I cooked an improvised Sambal Tahu dan Tempe (with potato, long bean, bean sprouts) while Fon made a clear soup.

After dinner, we all went to have the traditional Finnish sauna in the house. It was my first time! I remembered the temperature was like 72 degrees inside – i took about 3 breaks in total for a 45 minute sauna. Felt relaxed afterwards and sleep was given.

The next day we took a stroll along the forest and when we got back, Fon’s mum made special hotpot for us. We have a lazy afternoon (stuffed with chocolates!) and headed back to Helsinki in the early evening.

Fon made a dish out of Tempe for dinner.

On my last day, i went to the bookstore in the city and checked out the local shopping scene. Didn’t really buy anything.

Oh, there is an Aussie bar too!

Fon then took me to the Torin (a tower with a cafe/bar at the top) where you can see Helsinki.

We also went to the park (i forgot the name) where there were graves around. spooky!

Soon enough, its time to bid farewell as my ferry to Stockholm is due to depart.

Fon, Mikko and Monn – Kiitos!

I got a nice surprise – i have the whole cabin for myself!

and nice buffet – i stuffed myself silly!

For more picture on Helsinki, click here

Stockholm

Well this post is a two part post as i’m writing this on board of X2000 train no 529 from Stockholm to Copenhagen. I spent the last three days and two nights in Stockholm.

The ferry arrived at Stockholm around 10am and soon i was transferred to the City Terminal. I put my backpack in the locker before venturing out in the city. I got myself the Stockholm Card (i swear its good value – you get free public transport, free boat travels and free entrances to museums!).

First stop was the Stockholms Stadsbibliotek with Gunnar Asplund as the architect. It has a beautiful Rotunda in the centre.

My second stop was the Riksdagen Library – the Swedish Parliament Library.

I was rather disappointed that i couldn’t visit the Bernadotte Library. Its closed when there isn’t any events/official events – so there goes my chance.

Along the way, i stumbled across a public high school celebration in the centre of the city. These young people were so happening with beer and alcohol everywhere. The roads smell of alcohol and people stood by the roadside cheering them on. It was electrifying to see them!

I also visited the Nobel Museum (a must, given Obama won the Peace Prize in 2009!)

After the museum, i visited the Cathedal,

and the Ericsson Globe to take the SkyView – the largest spherical building in the world

At around 6pm, i went back to T-Centralen to meet up with Dessy – my second couchsurfing’s host. She is a fellow Indonesian who is currently doing an internship exchange from National University of Singapore.

Dessy took me back to her place so i can put down my luggage and we headed back to the city for dinner and night stroll.

It is also the Love Festival week in Stockholm. The festival is held one week prior to the Crown Princess’ wedding. Her groom is apparently her personal trainer. so free concerts are everywhere!

The next day was spent in a Museum, Skansen and Fotografika. I was taking an easy day because i had to do my laundry in the morning (after 5 days worth of dirty clothes! – finally they are clean). Didn’t really take a lot of pictures on this day as i spent most of my time inside.

At night, we went to this nice organic restaurant – Nyagatan, to have our dinner. I have a gnocchi and Dessy had grilled salmon.

The next day, Dessy took the metro with me to T-Centralen before we bid farewell. (Dessy – Thank you so much for your hospitality and please tell me about Croatia!)

For more pics on Stockholm, click here

And here i am now sitting on seat no 22, second carriage of Train 529. My lunch was old potato chips and peanuts that Fon’s mum gave to me. Sceneries are lakes and forests. There’s a bit of a drizzle outside. The travel will take approx 5 hours and i will spend the next 3 days in Copenhagen before heading to Amsterdam.

Very excited especially the World Cup is kicking off soon. Go England and Go Socceroos!!

Thats the full lid!

The night before CX504 left Hong Kong for Narita was my first experience of ‘Lost in Translation’ – HK version. I saw the hostel lady who was still working at such a late hour obliging me to strike a casual conversation. It went like this:

Me: You work really hard
Hostel Lady: Pardon me?
Me: You work really hard
Hostel Lady: I’m hot??? Oh…. Thank You!

I just smiled – couldn’t bring myself to correct the misunderstanding that just took place. That was the first time i’ve seen her smile ever since she handed me the key to the room. I didn’t want to spoil it for her

Tokyo

Day 1

The next morning i flew to Tokyo. I got lost as soon as i tried to look for the hostel in Asakusa. After carrying 30odd kilos front and bag for about 1 hour circling the area, i decided what tourist does best when they get lost – hold the map really high, look a bit lost, and approach a group of individuals. My target was a pack of school girls in front of the station. Some of them have musical instruments with them, so i thought they must be friendly.

Soon enough – (and this would be a constant experience that I and many other backpackers experienced in Japan) they brought me to the front of the hostel (which took us about 15 minutes walking and asking a local police station). I couldn’t believe it. They went out of their way to help me. It must be my new haircut (or so i thought!).

I took a picture of the hostel lounge with Obama…

After all the paperworks, my plan was immediately in disarray. I was 3 hours behind my schedule and couldn’t make it in time to Hirajuku to see the weekend dress-ups people have been snapping about. URGH.

Instead, i decided to follow Panthep’s recommendation and head to search for the best Tonkasu in town. Made my way to Omitesa-don and soon enough i got lost again. So i tried my new hair trick on an older girl (she’s probably my age). While she didn’t understand what i was harping about, she knew where i wanted to go – coz the magic words work: “Tonkatsu, tonkatsu, tonkatsu. Maisen, Maisen, Maisen”. Maisen is the name of the restaurant.

This was the second time a complete stranger in the same day brought me to the front door (after about 10 minutes walking which was clearly out of her way coz we went to alley ways). I was amazed. Wanted to offer her to join me for dinner but was afraid it could be taken the wrong way so decided to just part our ways.

When Panthep told me that the Tonkatsu will melt in your mouth, i did not believe it. That melting in the mouth concept works for chocolate, tim tam, and similar substances. Tonkatsu? This is fried crumbled pork. How could it melt in your mouth???

And.. how wrong was I. It literally melted in my mouth. I couldn’t describe the feeling. It was the BEST tonkatsu i have ever had in my life! Here are some pics to make you drool… yum!!!!

After dinner, i proceeded to see the infamous Shibuya’s crossing. We (Obama and I) also got our centre place in Starbucks overlooking the crossing.

After my little outing, i went back to the hostel to catch some sleep.

Day 2

The next morning i made my way to National Diet Building (Japanese parliament). To my surprise, they only allow people who can speak japanese to tour the buildings. I tried to sneak in but was stopped when i’ve had to fill in the form and they are in japanese. i thought i could wink it – soon of course, i realise that there are too many columns and i couldnt even figure out which column was for first name. I was bitterly disappointed for not being able to visit this very important place.

As i exited the compound, located at the other corner was the PM’s office. There were protesters surrounded by TV camera, print journalists and the police. My curiosity gravitated me towards the crowd. They were demanding Obama to close down the Fukuama’s military base. I was tempted to bring Obama out.. but my gut’s instinct said no especially with heavy police presence.

From here i ventured out to the Imperial Palace compound. Couldn’t even go to the East Garden because they closed on Monday. I took pictures outside anyway.

In the late morning, i headed to the famous Ginza shopping district. I specifically made my way to the Sony building. It was disappointing – there weren’t any new gadgets that excite me. It used to be very innovative.

After Ginzad-out (and realising that a poor man like me couldn’t afford even a 1/4 of the stuffs that i want), i headed to Ryogoku for some Sumo actions – the tournament is held twice yearly (May and November). My timing was purely coincidental and i’m not complaining.

Obama and I tasted our first Chankonabe – a stew for the sumo wrestlers. I didn’t even want to ask what they consist of. I just gulped it.

For lunch, i bought a bento (nicely presented in a Sumo-themed paper box):

Here are some action shots and my picture with one of the wrestler. You will notice in that picture, Obama was hiding his face. He was too scared!

I headed to Akihabara for the famous electronic town. Saw a lot of crazy manga stores and decided to try out the legendary Maid Cafe. For the uninitiated, the maid cafe is targeted towards the geek (intake) of anime, manga and video games. I was none – i didn’t like anime, manga or video games (ok i lied – i like Doraemon and Sinchan ). The waitresses of the cafe dressed up as maids and become servants of the patrons who are the masters.

It was the weirdest experience. I couldn’t help myself but laughing all the time. Not at them despite all the silly games they played with each other and tried to encourage me to be part of it. But laughing at how i found myself in this place. I couldn’t take pictures officially but managed to sneak in two shots :

If that wasn’t enough, i went to Christon Cafe in Shinjuku. Like its name, its the catholic cafe. Amongst all the drinks, i have chosen Gabriel’s Stiletto direct from the Ecuperian Bible (which was the menu). Selections include Princess of Peach Pitch, Hells Maria, Midnight Mess and Angel’s Smile.

While Cheese with the Bible Toast is a chef’s recommendation, I’ve decided to jump straight to desert where Blessing the Holy Cross Brand Baked Cheese Cake stole my heart. Fancy Angel and the Garden of Eden were in the shortlist.

I’ve had an epiphany after such a religious experience – i wanted to see Tokyo full lights from the top. And there is no other building than the Met building. OK i lied, there was a New York bar grill (close by to the Met) which Lonely Planet raved about. I decided to try that out too. So here i was, accompanied by Obama having my splendid dinner. I had grilled lamb, chicken and pork (if you were wondering), a plate of duck-fat covered french fries and a glass of red. Oh, by the way, this restaurant was also made famous by that movie – Lost in Translation.

i signed out for the night after such a luxurious dinner.

Day 3

I’m a rather clumsy person. I forget things easily – simple things such as house key, mobile phone, or wallet. It is just a matter of time before something goes wrong. Sure enough, i lost my JR pass. There are two things that make a JR pass a valuable commodity: (1) you can only get it outside Japan, and (2) you cant get it replaced if stolen/lost.

I don’t know how exactly i lost it – It must have slipped out from the back of my Tokyo’s travel guide. Absolutely inconvenient – especially with my plan to go to Hiroshima, Okayama and Kyoto the next day. But i must admit that it made the travel a little bit exciting.

I had to make a police report for insurance claim. So instead of my original travel plan to East Garden of the Imperial Palace, which would have opened on a Tuesday, i spent my Tue morning explaining myself in a local Koban (police box found in street corner). Funny thing they don’t provide you with a hardcopy report, only with a reference number. I tried to push my luck (didn’t want to get on the wrong side with the insurance company) but given that its standard practice, i did the best that i could have done.

Oh there are no proper pictures from my adventures to Museum of Tokyo and the National Diet Library in the arvo. Because i bloody forgot to bring the battery for my camera (it was left on the charger)! I thought my camera was acting up when it displayed an error message: Please insert battery. You see how clumsy I am.

I went back home – jaded and tired. I needed to do my laundry. As i was waiting for my laundry, Holly – a fellow Aussie came to the dorm and introduced herself. We decided to visit a local Bar Six at Asakusa overlooking the nice temple. While it was raining, we were so glad we did it. It was a great view as evidenced by these pictures.

We also decided to stop some Japanese on the street to ask for directions to a local sake bar – our (including Obama’s) first sake in Japan! With that, we closed our beautiful night in Tokyo.

For more pictures of Tokyo, click here

Hiroshima and Okayama

The following morning, i took my first Shinkasen (bullet train). It was fast and i was tired – i slept nearly all the way through.

Goh Kimoto finally met me at Hotel Granvia’s lobby. We haven’t seen each other for nearly 6 years. Its amazing to finally be able to see him in Japan. He was kind enough to take a day off from his practical (he’s doing 5th year of Medicine) to show me around Hiroshima and Okayama.

First in the agenda was the Peace Memorial, but we were too busy catching up that we missed the tram stop. So we quickly rearranged our plan to go the the second site first – Itsukushima-jina Shrine at the Miyajima island.

But first thing first – our stomach needed to be filled and since we are in Hiroshima, you have to try its famous Okonomiyaki… Oh my my… they were great!

We were quite lucky that day because it’s low tide, so we can walk around the gate – otherwise they would be submerged in the ocean water.

It was claimed to be among the top three great views of Japan:

After the shrine, we went to the Peace Memorial where the site of the A-bomb Dome was preserved to the state on the day of the bombing. It was rather eerie. Despite any best intention, nuclear bomb should never ever be used again!

So Obama, please come to Hiroshima! (Ban Ki-Moon already made his commitment to come in August this year). They said that Obama’s visit to Hiroshima would equate to Japanese PM’s visit to Pearl Harbour. Beyond politics though, this site served as a reminder to any future generation of how lives can easily be decimated.

After Hiroshima, we made our way to Goh’s place in Okayama. He served me a fruit pudding, a cake roll and Suntory premium malt! This was just a quick stop before we have dinner proper (he had to dash off for a bit to finish up his presentation for the following day).

When he got back, he took me to a nice restaurant for a good ramen. Sorry, it was the best ramen i’ve ever tasted. I love it absolutely! Ramen was sooo yummy!! (Unfortunately, there was no pictures with my camera – it was in Goh’s and in my facebook). I told Goh – if i were to die now, i would be happy. Thats how satisfying the ramen was! Of special note was the thick soup. I think its made of pig’s bone. Loving it!

Okayama

Goh took me around his hospital the next day. It was an amazing experience, especially when i got the chance to meet with his patients and do a dress-up as a doctor!

After the hospital tour, he took me to the top 3 garden in Japan. Beautiful!

For more pictures of Hiroshima and Okayama, please click here

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[Apologies the updates after this is a bit rough, i have been constantly on the run and lacking of sleep. as im writing this, im mindful of my 5am train trip to Ulaanbatar, Mongolia tomorrow and the lack of fast internet access has hampered my ability to arrange my pictures and do a proper writing update. In any case, i will always prioritise my pictures first to be uploaded online. This will hopefully serve as my permanent backup. In the mean time, we have to make do with the following bullet points descriptions]

Kyoto
-Had my first sleep capsule experience
-Temple, temple, temple, temple, temple, temple, temple
-Love traditional Kyoto!

Tokyo
-Back to Tokyo after 36 hours in Kyoto.
-Immediately went to Roppongi to catch up with Holly for drinks.
-We partied whole night (including an hour nap at crazy internet cafe) until 5am!
-We headed home, i packed for 1 hour and head straight to the airport for my beijing flight.

Kyoto and Tokyo pictures

Beijing
-Finally met Frank – my first couchsurfer host. There were 6 others couchsurfers surfing his place that day. Apparently a record for himself
-We played pool on the first night and got ourself drunk silly on 4 litres Tsing-Tsao and i don’t know shots of what.
-Let just say i don’t remember how i got back including how i lost Obama.
-Yes, you heard it right, i lost Obama that night. RIP. I was still upset. But at least he came back to his root in China
-Did all the touristy stuff – climbed Great Wall, Ming’s tomb, Summer Palace, Temple of Heavenly Park, Forbidden City.

Beijing picture #1

Beijing picture #2

and now im rushing to update this because i know i wont have proper internet for the next 19 days because i will be embarking on my transiberian travel tom morning. I have the alarm set at 5am. Ulanbaatar, Mongolia is my first stop and i think i will be staying at the Ger camp.

Till the next update!

p/s you can bookmark the following URL for my photostream in flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/30353357@N00/

Complacency is fear’s best friend. When you are avoiding fear, you tend to seek comfort, stability and routine. In the end, you become complacent. Maybe its a good thing. You need to anchor to something. But at what cost?