Genn – Page 5 – Wayfaring: Still

Day Trip to Crystal Mountain

November 7, 2005July 29, 2021 Genn2 Comments

Courtesy of our parent company in the US, the four of us from Singapore were assigned a vehicle for our exclusive usage. With the exception of Y who didn’t drive, S, D and I took turns driving to and from the office daily. I didn’t want to, and they didn’t dare to ask initially since they thought I couldn’t handle a large car (Toyota Sienna). That was till they found out I drive a CRV back home. Boo… I really hated driving as it got progressively colder in Everett; the steering wheel got so cold in the mornings I drove with my gloves.

But they were nice enough not to ask me to drive during our long trips out of Everett come weekend. We were all rather easygoing about where to go, so P was usually the one planning the activities. We just gamely went along with whatever he had in mind.

ToD-Crystal006 — *The route to Crystal Mountain was very scenic.*

So, P planned for us to visit Crystal Mountain one Saturday morning since it wasn’t located too far away from Everett. The thing about Washington State is, it is full of mountain ranges all over the state. They have no lack of ski resorts receiving lots of snow each winter due to their geographical location so we were really spoilt for choices.

Alas, I was not packed for skiing on this work trip. And ski resorts in the States (I’m not sure about the other countries) don’t really rent out ski suits or equipment; you are supposed to get that all sorted out before driving up to the resorts. P must have researched all that and wanted to check out one of the closest ski resorts. I wasn’t complaining; the drive was scenic and I had the prime spot of sitting beside the driver. Heh.

We checked the temperature and weather conditions up on the resort before leaving and were all excited to learn that it was snowing! It was a long drive and P volunteered to be at the wheels the whole time. He seemed to enjoy driving.. I forgot how long the ride took, but it was long enough for us to make a few picture stops along the way in order to stretch ourselves.

The drive got progressively more interesting as we drove up to the resort. Somewhere along the way we also had to stop to put the snow chains on the tyres. I’d seen snow but to see the alpine trees get covered in more and more snow as the altitude increased was such a novel experience. At some point, I even wound down the window to feel snow drifting onto my face, much to the chagrin of my companions (they didn’t appreciate the cold).

ToD-Crystal013 — *Snow several inches deep.*

It was still early November but oh my, the snow was falling fast and furious. P and Y were the ones who wanted to recce a ski resort so they went ahead while D and I lingered everywhere to take pictures. D accidentally stepped on a spot full of fresh snow and we were quite surprised to see that it went so deep.

ToD-Crystal020 — *Poor Y was struggling so hard behind.*

This picture I captured of my three colleagues + a stranger was quite hilarious. You see, Y was wearing very insensible leather shoes to the ski resort and he was slipping and falling ever so oft. I really pitied him but I simply couldn’t comprehend what he was thinking when he wore those shoes. So, as we walked towards the resort, I was lagging behind and saw that it was a good spot for a shot. Asked D & P to stand and pose… and while I was fiddling with my camera, a stranger in full ski garb decided to join them for the photograph. That was so spotting of him. Without waiting for poor Y to join us (that’s the poor guy on the left struggling to walk in the snow), I took the shot. Makes for a very interesting picture, doesn’t it?

We walked into the resort and took in every sight and sound. None of us decided to ski since 1] none of us was really dressed for the sport (they don’t do attire rental here, unlike in Korea) and 2] the lift ticket is really expensive! The guys starting discussing about skiing and snowboarding at Steven’s Pass next weekend but I’m two-minded about joining them.

I was without a beanie…

And then I was wearing a beanie.

I’d brought along very limited winter wear to the States, and was most certainly not expecting ski resort visits. After nursing a headache from the cold, I finally succumbed and decided to get a beanie on the spot. Instantly felt much better after wearing it.

The snowfall was getting a little too heavy for comfort and we were all quite prepared to leave soon after our pizza lunch. By this time, we had started getting worried about our drive down the mountains. We decided to head to the information counter in hope of retrieving some useful information for the drive down. They had limited information but advised us not to step on the accelerator nor the brake and drive really slowly, ignoring any honking from cars behind us.

ToD-Crystal039 — *I was so taken by this sight I misstepped and slipped.*

At around the same time, the ski resort made an announcement stating that all access up and down the mountain would be closed in about an hour’s time, when the snow was predicted to get extremely heavy. We didn’t count on getting trapped up in the ski resort hence decided to head down immediately.

I would have loved to walk down the same direct route we walked up, but that wasn’t quite possible with Y’s leather footwear so we had to make a detour round the main road (more photo-taking opportunities yay!). I found the carpark with so many cars covered in snow a really pretty sight and was so preoccupied with taking pictures I slipped and fell. Got my jeans all wet as a result. Fortunately it was already nearing the end of the trip.

I wondered how our car would look like by now (with the heavy snowfall). Boy was it a long and cold walk before my question was answered.

ToD-Crystal042 — *Our Toyota Siena after a couple of hours out in the open.*

The car didn’t look too bad at all. After snapping some shots, I quickly darted into the car while the guys attempted to clear some of the snow on the windscreen to try increase visibility for the driver.

On our slow drive down the ski resort later on, we came by a vehicle that got into quite a bit of trouble and couldn’t get out of the snow heap. Being foreigners new to snowy conditions, we were in no position to help. Hopefully they managed to get the vehicle moving again, or they run the real risk of getting snowed in.

Thankfully, we got off the mountain before they closed all road access.

Museum of Flight: A Photo Gallery

November 1, 2005July 29, 2021 GennLeave a comment

In more ways than one, this was a trip that kept giving. Being in the aviation industry for both my first and now, second job meant that a planned trip to the private non-profit Museum of Flight in Seattle was such a treat. The fact that I had nothing to do with the decision-making process indicated that I was in the company of like-minded colleagues. Being employees of an aviation-related company meant that we also scored discounted entrance tickets. What a treat!

I really enjoyed strolling through the museum at my own pace, not being hurried at all. Guess it helped that my companions were also fellow aviation enthusiasts. On top of that, they were much more shutter-happy than I was, so that made up for the extra time I took to read the exhibits in detail.

We finally made it to the outdoor exhibit area, where we got to see retired aircraft/prototypes. The first B747-400 was just standing right there, in front of me. We also saw the very first Air Force One and the feeling was decidedly different from seeing the radar blip of its current incarnation flying in my airspace but that’s an entirely different story to tell.

When we were finally done with the museum, we drove down to Seattle for dinner. In specific, a Taiwanese cuisine restaurant. Having been away from home for almost half a month, I was starting to miss authentic Asian food and the guys decided to bring me to their favourite haunt.

Visit to The Farm

October 17, 2005July 29, 2021 Genn4 Comments

It was my first weekend in Everett but I soon learned that amongst three of my male colleagues – D, P and Y – P was usually the one researching and suggesting places we visited during our weekends. Since the rest of us were easygoing and had no inkling where to go, we gladly relinquished the right to him.

For my inaugural sightseeing trip, P decided on visiting a farm called ‘The Farm‘! That’s really the name, I kid you not! I was told we were going to take a look at the pumpkins available for sale, and the main attraction, the corn maze. I went along without any expectations since I wasn’t involved in the planning and decision process.

These were some of the pictures I captured while on the road when P was behind wheels. Loved how wide their highways are. Take a closer look at the 2nd picture if you will – those black dots on the grass… cows! Alright, I have seen cows in the wild but that was in Malaysia years ago as a child. I had to capture that shot fast since P literally stopped in the middle of the road to oblige me. Pays to be the only female in the group. 😆

We arrived at The Farm rather early, around 11am and the carpark was already quite packed! The picture above only captured half the width of the carpark so you could imagine the impressive size in its entirety.

The first place we stopped by was the Petting Station, where they had all types of farm animals from pigs, sheep, kittens to donkeys for the children to have close contact with. I wasn’t too keen to go look for a washroom to wash my hands after that, hence refrained from the activity. Immediately following, we walked over to the nearby hay maze meant for children and were all wondering why the maze was free for adults. It wasn’t until we walked in that we found out why.

As it turned out, even petite me was taller than the hay stack. It was still nice of the farm not to charge adults knowing it would not pose as any kind of challenge to anyone above 5 ft tall.

Next, we unanimously decided to pay the small fee of USD5 for entry into the corn maze. The adult version this round. After receiving an ink stamp (in the form of a picture of a cow) on our hands and a map each, we got up the wagons that would transport us to the entrance of the maze.

Admittedly P and Y aka ‘Mr Pumpkin’ (who was wearing an orange shirt resembling the colour of pumpkins) seemed much less enthusiastic about the corn maze than I was. Or perhaps it was the glare annoying them.

Soon enough, we arrived at the entrance of the corn maze where we were dropped off and left on our own, equipped with a map provided to navigate our way.

ToD-TheFarm-014 — *Such a huge pumpkin!*

ToD-TheFarm-015 — *Standing at the entrance of the corn maze and completely dwarfed by them.*

The corn maze reminded me so much of the movie ‘The Signs’. Was it by Bruce Willis or Mel Gibson? While I don’t remember the actors, I sure recall vividly the freaky crop signs and aliens running about in the tall crop fields. My imagination was running wild as we cautiously began our walk through the maze.

More pictures were taken within the crop maze, and I realised that my male colleagues were taking more pictures of themselves than I was of myself haha. There were 3 ‘bridges’ within the maze where we could take in views of the whole maze at a vantage point. It was on one of these bridges that Y took a picture for me. I reckoned I could have enjoyed the maze better if not for the muddy ground. Eeks! Of all days, I chose that day to wear my Hush Puppies and not my boots.

When we finally found our way out of the corn maze, the sight that greeted us was pumpkins in all shapes and sizes. Some of them were really quite huge, nothing like what we’ve ever seen in Singapore. Pumpkins, pumpkins and more pumpkins! We just kind of went crazy and starting shooting off (our cameras, i mean) like madmen at the pumpkin fields.

Shortly after, I learnt that they have an exceedingly interesting way of deciding how much each customer were to pay for the pumpkin they were buying. Arranged neatly in a row were about 10 pumpkins of various sizes. What you probably can’t see from the picture above were the prices written with a marker pen on every pumpkin. The little boy carrying the pumpkin in the picture just finished comparing his ‘treasure’ against the standard and came to the conclusion that his little pumpkin cost USD2.00. Seeing how cheap it really was, we decided to select a small pumpkin to bring back to our hotel totry cooking it. In the end we selected a very nice one for USD1.00.

ToD-TheFarm-030 — *Delicious pumpkin pie.*

We ended out trip with a pumpkin pie we bought at the bakery within the compounds of The Farm. Cost us USD10.00 for the whole pie of 6 slices. It was really yummy! Truth is, I didn’t used to be a fan of pumpkin, thinking it’s too sweet for my palate, but my opinion changed after tasting the fresh pumpkin pie. I need this pie recipe!

10 Things About Switzerland

April 28, 2005July 29, 2021 GennLeave a comment

Switzerland’s official name is Swiss Confederation (Confoederatio Helvetica in Latin) hence explaining its official abbreviation CH.
Switzerland is a land-locked country in Western Europe bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to the south, and Austria & Liechtenstein to the east.
The capital of Switzerland is Bern, not Zurich. Bern is the seat of the federal government, which makes it the de facto capital. The largest city is Zurich.
The President of Switzerland is elected once every year.
Switzerland is not part of the EU, and they use their own currency and legal tender – the Swiss Franc.
There are four official languages in Switzerland, namely German, French, Italian and Romansh.
Switzerland has no official state religion. Most of the Swiss are either Roman Catholics or Protestants.
Brietling, Cartier, Chopard, Franck Muller, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Omega, Patek Philippe, Rolex and TAG Heuer are some of the renowned Swiss watches.
Headquarters of the International Red Cross is situated in Geneva while the Headquarters of International Olympic Committee in Lausanne.
The Swiss has the 2nd highest life expectancy, after Sweden.

Luggage Choice for Long Trips

April 25, 2005July 29, 2021 GennLeave a comment

*Rimowa Salsa comes in a plethora of colours.*

The Europe Honeymoon was our first trip taken together that lasted beyond a week. In more ways than one, it was a special vacation. Logistically, especially. We thought hard over how we should pack so that moving around would be easiest. The mister, being the doting husband that he is, didn’t want to tax me over lugging heavy luggage. Eventually, we bought a large hard shell Samsonite luggage (could have been the largest available in the retail shop) and packed our clothes and stuff together. We also each carried a duffle bag to serve as our carry-on.

While our other group mates were struggling with their two to-be checked-in luggage (the husbands had to help their wives) at the airport we were flying out of, I watched on and marvelled at the pure genius of the mister. I will go as far as to admit that I even sniggered a little.

It was their turn to snigger when it was time for us to return from London Heathrow, after a long 16-day of holidaying, amassing many souvenirs while on the go. Our luggage was about 1-2 kg over 32 kg, which is the legal limit for luggage weight. Be careful not to mix this up with the baggage allowance (which differs from airline to airline). If one’s luggage exceeds the baggage allowance, one might be requested to repack and transfer some of the items into another bag, or to pay for extra baggage allowance. 32 kg (or 70 lbs) is the limit. The airline counter staff will not allow it even if one is willing to pay through the nose for extra baggage allowance. And there is a very good reason for this – anything weighing beyond 32 kg is deemed too heavy for the baggage handlers to lift.

We had to, on the spot at the counter, open up our luggage, and transfer some items into our carry-on (which were already bursting at the seams). It was very, and needlessly, embarrassing for us because it being London Heathrow, the queue was long behind us. With nothing else to do while queueing, most people just looked at what we were doing while scrutinising our luggage contents. I’ve had many embarrassing moments my entire life (including walking up a bus with my pants’ zip undone as a teenager) but this experience easily topped it all. Nobody should be made to go through this harrowing experience, and we needn’t have, if we had read up (or had someone advise us accordingly).

After we emptied the contents in the luggage when we got home, we weighed the luggage empty. It weighed a freaking 13 kg on empty! Naturally it was banished to a dark corner in our storage room. All these years, the luggage has been left there and never used again. We know it is a white elephant but we just can’t bear to throw it out.

I daren’t say we are very seasoned travellers, but we have left home often enough to know what works for us. In essence, I have summarised some useful tips:

Black and Navy Blue are passé, at least for luggage, they are. Opt for brighter, unique colours if you could, to easily identify your luggage on the belt. It also cuts down on the risks of someone mistakenly taking your luggage for their own (it has happened to my family twice, both times with the same generic Samsonite Black cabin luggage). That is unless you are making business trips and cannot afford being seen in the company of luggage in a ‘zany’ colour.
A luggage on empty should not weigh anything more than 8 kg, and most definitely should not weight 13 kg! One of the lightest luggage available commercially must be Rimowa. We bought a 31-inch Salsa Air in Germany and it weighed merely 4 kg. Cost an arm and a leg too. But with that weight cut, we are not complaining!
Invest in a portable luggage scale; they are generally inexpensive. Unless you are a light traveller and is very certain you will never have a problem with the weight of your luggage, investing in one such scale will save you a lot of guesswork and headache. This item is a necessity for us because we tend to take long trips (almost 3 weeks) in winter, complete with our very weighty electronic gadgets.

Baggage Scale — *A very trusty scale we bought in Tokyo’s Tokyu Hands.*

Epilogue – Europe Honeymoon

April 23, 2005July 29, 2021 GennLeave a comment

Expectations were feverishly high because it was after all (pricey!) Europe and well… our honeymoon. The honeymoon. One may travel to many places in his entire lifetime and promptly forget about some of these places several moons later, but nobody forgets the honeymoon.

As luck would have it, our honeymoon turned out to be nothing short of perfect. The itinerary was unsurpassed, the tour leader unrivalled, and the company unparalleled. Our group was manageably small with only 19 adults including 3 other pairs of honeymoon-ers like us, and everyone was pleasant, jovial and considerate.

If anything, I only have two minor grouses – we didn’t get to see much of Rome and totally missed out on Vatican City because of late Pope John Paul II’s funeral. I also didn’t particularly enjoy the incessant rain, in which we were told was not in congruence with Europe’s usual climate in April. I didn’t remember this, but the mister recalled that the rain started shortly after we landed in Rome, and only stopped after our day trip to Volendam in The Netherlands. He knew it for a fact that it wasn’t raining prior to 8 Apr 2005 because of a colleague who left Rome the day we arrived – apparently it was the only day which rained in the week she was there.

We were in Volendam on 19 Apr 2005 having our dinner of fish & chips when our Italian coach driver (who is a Roman Catholic) announced that the new Pope had been elected. It was raining bucketfuls of cats and dogs prior to dinner, but reduced to a drizzle when we were done with our scrumptious dinner. By the time we arrived at our hotel, the rain had completely stopped.

Was it a coincidence, or was there divine ‘intervention’? The oddity of the rainy season occurring within the period of sede vacante (Latin for ‘the seat being vacant’) of the Holy See, which promptly ended with the cessation of sede vacante – seemed to suggest that it was more than mere coincidence. We are not deeply pious people, but… it was some food for thought.

Our honeymoon coincided with the funerals of late Pope John Paul II and Prince Rainier III of Monaco, and the wedding of Prince Charles & Camilla Bowles. As you could see, we visited Europe during a very, for lack of a better word, interesting time. The trip was quite the eye-opener – we learnt how and why a papal conclave is convened, the difference between white smoke versus black smoke, Grace Kelly (not the bag!) and the House of Grimaldi from the Principality of Monaco. Speculations on the identity of the next Pope and expostulations on the sovereignty of Monaco considering Prince Albert II’s lack of a lawful heir totally preponderated the European, if not the world’s, prime time news. The media were having a series of field days.

We thought that Jeffrey Hoh, our tour leader, is the very epitome of an exceptional tour leader. He totally blew our minds with his experience, general knowledge, even temper and high level of service orientation. Following Jeffrey’s tradition of bestowing every tour group with a specific name (to distinguish all the groups he’d ever led), our group was aptly titled ’2 Funerals & a Wedding’. He professed that it would be difficult to forget our group given the unusual events facing Europe during our travel. He held true to his words, because several years later, he found and added the both of us as his friends on Facebook.

Regrettably, we’d lost contact with almost everyone in the group, with the exception of Kenneth and Sharon. If you are, or know any of our group-mates from the picture above, please email us at tenodddays[at]gmail[dot]com. We’d love to re-connect!

‘Of all the countries you visited, which is your favourite?’

We got asked this question umpteen times, by friends and family alike, following our return to reality. Not trying to play favourites here… but we have to concede that we enjoyed Italy the most. Something about the Italians’ honest charm, warmth and gregariousness tugged at my heartstrings – possibly because being reticent and bashful by nature, I couldn’t be more different than they are. The mister readily agreed with me, for an entirely different reason, I suspect – he had been raving incessantly about the unlimited potently flavoursome shots of espresso he got to enjoy at breakfasts in Italy.

Check out CTC Travel if you would like to trace our footsteps. While we do not sanction a package tour for seasoned travellers, we highly recommend it for virgin travellers (to Europe) who have no inkling of their travel likes and peeves, as a starting point.

The ‘Motleys’

April 21, 2005July 29, 2021 GennLeave a comment

Not that Lake Maggiore in Italy, Brussels in Belgium and London in England are any less important, but they have been lumped together simply for convenience’s sake since we spent very little time in these cities and it seemed appropriate to put them together in a post (rather than completely omitting them).

At Isola Bella — *Took a couple pic at the dock of Isola Bella.*

While on the way from the French Riviera to Lucerne, our coach made a stop at Lake Maggiore (Italian: Lago Maggiore). For this detour, we have our experienced tour leader to thank. I’d been to England’s Lake District years back, and I loved it there. Italy’s Lago Maggiore and its vicinity was equally charming.

A boat hire was necessary to bring us across the lake to Isola Bella, one of the Borromean islands of Lago Maggiore. We both liked Isola Bella a lot. For starters, this quiet little island was not swarmed with tourists. It was also a good break for us all, to be amidst Mother Nature instead of built-up cities. We didn’t have a lot of time to fully explore the island, but I do remember that a small trattoria on the island served about the best fare we had on the whole trip. We had nothing fancy for lunch, just simple pasta (the mister had aglio e olio). It was mind-blowingly delicious!

Before we knew it, it was time to leave the island. We did after all have quite a distance more to travel. Here is a parting shot of the friendly boat captain who traversed us across the lake to and from Isola Bella.

Brussels in Belgium was another day tour we made while travelling via coach from Paris to Amsterdam. We were supposed to come by many sites including the Atomium, the Chinese and Japanese pavilions etc. but it was raining incessantly. Rain… a definite mood dampener for me. Because of it, we never got off the coach till we arrived at Grote Markt (the central square of Brussels). We saw Manneken Pis who, unfortunately was buck-naked, and not dressed up in any costume. The 61cm tall bronze statue that we saw was of course a mere copy from 1965 and not the original. We were told that the original statue was kept locked up in at Maison du Roi on Grote Markt itself, presumably to foil any future plans of stealing it.

The Mannekin Pis — Was rather disappointed to see buck-naked Manneken Pis, not dressed in any costume.

And we came across numerous shops selling Belgium chocolates. It was where we went quite crazy shopping for chocolates to bring home to family and friends since we were only left with Amsterdam and London before headed for home. Here, on the historical square of Brussels, I first heard about the folklore of Lady Godiva and the origins of the term “Peeping Tom”. It was also here that I finally decided that I do not fancy Belgium chocolates. Too bitter for my tastebuds.

We had a good couple of hours to ourselves, and thoroughly explored the historical centre of Brussels. With it being a rainy and gloomy day, we hardly took out the DSLR to take pictures. There is really nothing I hate more than rain when travelling.

London needs no introduction. Please don’t be offended if you are a Londoner or is a fan of London, but if there is any city I’ve come across that I felt is grossly over-rated, it is London. Considering that I made up my mind about this metropolitan city at the age of 17 (and felt strongly about it) it had to count for something, because at that impressionable age, I was greatly undecided about most things.

Since we had very little time in London after flying in from Schiphol Airport Amsterdam, we broke from the group after checking into our hotel in Knightsbridge. While the group went visiting the usual touristy places like Trafalgar Square, London Bridge, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and the likes, we headed straight for Old Bond Street and Oxford Street. If these two streets reek of a shopping haven to you, you are quite right. I was however, not there to shop for the usual stuff women shop for: I was there for the old-style bookstores and bookbinders. 12 years ago, they were all over Oxford Street. Alas, 12 years later, I had serious trouble locating even one of them. Must have given way to the more commercialised and profitable shopping trade in the name of ‘progress’. 😦

We took the least amount of pictures in London since we were busy soaking in the commercialised aspect of the city. On hindsight, it was a rather self-serving decision on my part not to revisit the usual sights in London. After all it was the mister’s first visit to London. Although he was very agreeable to break from the group, he wouldn’t know what he was missing since he’d never been. My conscience has been weighing heavily on me these years because of what he missed as a result of my wilfulness. I promised to make it up to him; one day we would do an extensive fly-drive tour of England, including a visit to the mecca of every Manchester United fan – Old Trafford. It is my dream to watch a live match between the red devils and the reds but the mister fears my safety because well… football hooliganism is very real. We have not sorted this out yet, but will. Soon.

Of The Keukenhof & Canals

April 19, 2005July 29, 2021 GennLeave a comment

Contrary to popular belief, not all women are partial to flowers. I am one such exception. Apart from two white flowers – tiger lilies and white cymbidiums – no other flower, however resplendently packaged in a bouquet, catches my eyes. We were therefore expectedly not looking forward to visit The Keukenhof despite much hype amongst our group mates. Little did we expect ourselves to be in for a pleasant surprise.

The Keukenhof, the world’s largest flower garden located near Lisse in Netherlands, opens annually between the last week of March and mid-May. During its opening, stunning displays of blooming tulips and horticultural mastery greets hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world. It is sometimes also aptly called the Garden of Europe.

We started the day insanely early – at least it was so for me – hoping to be one of the earliest groups to reach The Keukenhof. Granted, we were one of the earliest, but there were already another 10 or so tour groups ahead of us, judging from the number of coaches at the parking bays. I wondered how early they woke up and set off to reach this early? Encouraged instead of being disheartened, we joined the rather long queue with much gutso.

Pink Tulips — *Some lovely tulips in hues of bright pink.*

I was barely awake when we finally got through the barricades and stepped foot onto the legendary garden park. Borrowing lyrics from one of Bryan Adam’s songs – I thought I’d died and gone to Heaven, for Keukenhof is what I would envisage Heaven to be, blasphemous as it may sound. We were blessed in many ways: the weather was rather good, with only slight manageable drizzles, if anything; the park was still not overwhelmed with crowds early in the morning; we were enchanted by the carefully preened florae; and oh, how could I forget the captivating tulip bulbs in every imaginable hue in the vast fields adjacent to the park.

Tulip Fields — *Such a beautiful sight to behold!*

I’m a convert, but only for tulip bulb fields.

The park is huge by any standard, and as we were slowly making our way back to the entrance cum exit of the park, our attention was captured by an enthralling act of a peacock courting a peahen. And a rather rare species of a white peacock, to boot!

The White Peacock — *Peacock snubbed by peahen.*

Alas, the peacock’s advances was snubbed by the arrogant peahen, which chose to ignore him throughout the courtship ritual that dated back to ancient times. Alright, I have to admit we don’t know much about peacocks and the likes. Perhaps the pair adjourned somewhere else to continue their rendezvous, away from prying eyes. We left not knowing what happened next.

If you intend to make a trip to The Keukenhof, time it earlier rather than later during the season. We were there in mid-April and it was perfetto: the flowers, while not in their full glory, were showing the first signs of blooming. Do take into account the general climate in Europe when deciding. For example, if it was a warm winter, then spring would likely be warmer too, resulting in the blooming occurring earlier than usual.

Following lunch in Amsterdam, we proceeded for our canal cruise. Barring my need to visit the restroom (but refusing to use the one on the boat!) and feeling rather motion-sick after a full lunch, it was an enjoyable and leisurely tour of Amsterdam. We sighted some really delightful self-contained houseboats along the way, and wondered what it would be like to live in one.

Amsterdam Drawbridge — *A typical drawbridge found in Amsterdam*.

Several drawbridges were also sighted during our canal tour. A pity there weren’t many tall vessels requiring the bridges to be drawn, for designing bridges was decidedly one of my favourite modules in college.

The Netherlands, also mistakenly referred to but widely accepted as Holland, is the world’s first producer and exporter of tulips although they were first imported from the Ottoman Empire (now known as Republic of Turkey). Amsterdam is the capital of the country, and the large number of canals found in the capital has led it to be called ‘Venice of the North’. With almost 25% of their land lying below sea level, it’s little wonder that the Dutch are famous for their bridge-building and technical know-how in water management. They have honed these skills to perfection for survival, more than anything else.

Soft drugs like cannabis are legal in The Netherlands, and only licensed “coffee shops” are allowed to sell these drugs. If you are a Singaporean and is thinking of trying out these drugs while visiting The Netherlands (or anywhere in the world, for that matter), I beg you to think twice. Singapore takes an unwavering firm stance where drugs are concerned – be it for trafficking or for personal consumption. But of course, the penalty for the former is much more severe than the latter. Even cannabis tested in a random urine test could get you imprisoned, and it is common knowledge that it takes a while for drugs to be totally cleared from your system.

The infamous Amsterdam Red Light District has also somewhat become a major tourist attraction. One contributing factor, I conclude, is its close proximity to Amsterdam’s Centraal Station (10 minutes walk, and no spelling error there). The later it is, the busier the area gets. If you so wish to see the prostitutes plying their trade in the famous little windows, otherwise known as ‘window-shopping’, you know to be later rather than earlier. However, we were warned that we should not attempt to reach for our cameras for it is forbidden to take photos in the district. Apparently anyone spotted to be doing so by any of the girls’ bouncers would be escorted out of the area, with the expensive toy thrown into the canal. Ouch!

After a unanimous vote of confidence from the whole group, we proceeded to Volendam for our dinner of Fish & Chips. I have little recollection of the quaint little town as it was raining so heavily we thought a flood was impending. I was also nursing an extremely bad cold. Bad weather with a cold combined: a sure-proof formula to bring on my surliness. I was the most disagreeable person to walk the surface of earth, if you had asked the mister that evening.

Needless to say, I was dreadfully grateful to have finally reached our hotel for the night. We were flying off to London the next day, but I left all the outstanding packing in the trusty hands of the mister since I was in no state to be of any help.

Paris The City of Lights

April 17, 2005July 29, 2021 GennLeave a comment

The last time I saw Paris
Her heart was warm and gay,
I heard the laughter of her heart in every street café.
– Oscar Hammerstein II

Paris, the City of Lights. Certainly every die-hard romantic’s dream honeymoon destination. And since we were on our honeymoon, we envisaged Paris to be the highlight of our tour. Of course, it ended up that almost all destinations during our honeymoon turned out to be highlights in their own right.

It was a long way to travel from Lucerne to Paris; we ended up spending better half of the day in the coach. The moment we arrived, we engaged in the most touristy activity possible – a boat tour along River Seine, the river which divides Paris into the Left Bank and Right Bank. The Left Bank (French: La Rive Gauche) is situated on the southern side of the Seine and is by far the smaller section of Paris. It is also known for its artistic and intellectual life. The Right Bank (French: La Rive Droit) to the north of the river, on the other hand, represents the aristocratic privileged class and their expensive districts. While the distinction between the two banks is less applicable nowadays, most of Paris’ big businesses, banks and tourist attractions are located on this larger section. But I digressed.

Musee dOrsay — *The Musée d’Orsay from our cruise on River Seine.*

As night fell, we froze out in the open (it was early spring after all) on the upper deck of the river boat, all for the hope of having a glimpse of the global icon of France – the Eiffel Tower. We were told we would only have a short few seconds of capturing both the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty near Pont de Grenelle together, and so I tried to warm my stiff hands and prepare for the big moment. Only to have the DSLR fail me. Or rather, to have my photo-taking skills fail me: a Point-and-Shoot, an entry-level DSLR, or a professional camera, will take photographs only as good as the photographer’s skills, to a large extent.

So we couldn’t get any decent shots of the Eiffel Tower together with the Statue of Liberty. Or any shots of the tower during the light show on the hour. Night photography and a moving river boat? Worst combination ever for most amateur photographers, myself included. My advice is, be on solid ground when you attempt to take pictures of the tower, and if shooting from afar, use a tripod or at least prop on some sort of support. It would save you a lot of heartache. In short, just relax and enjoy the river cruise without the burden of trying to take pictures because it is indeed to best way to see Paris. One of these Seine river cruises takes about an hour to complete, and costs about 13,00€ for an adult ticket.

We had a crazy schedule the following day. Somehow within the waking hours, we covered most of the famous sights in Paris and then some: we saw the Luxor Obelisk at Place de la Concorde, took pictures in front of Ritz Paris, came up close and personal with Arc de Triomphe, strolled along Avenue des Champs-Élysées and scaled The Eiffel Tower. On top of that, we somehow till found time to visit Château de Versailles, Musée du Louvre and sit through a 10-course French dinner. How we managed to achieve all that is now quite beyond my comprehension.

As a result of this whirlwind sightseeing schedule, we didn’t have the luxury of time to scale Arc de Triomphe for the awesome overview of Avenue des Champs-Élysées. More importantly, I didn’t get to explore Musée du Louvre, or visit Notre Dame Cathedral. To say that I left Paris laden with a heart heavy of regrets would be a gross understatement.

Mid-April is a wonderful time to visit Paris. Although still a magnet for multitude of tourists, it is considerably less crowded than the more popular summer months.

Throughout our tour, we were warned of gypsy ladies who would, on the surface be begging for money as a ruse while on the sly, have a partner pickpocket the valuables when the unsuspecting victim was distracted. I must say we were quite fortunate not to have met many of them along the way. That was till our stay in Paris. Along Avenue des Champs-Élysées near Arc de Triomphe, we were suddenly swarmed by unkempt, dark-skinned women dressing like gypsies while we were taking pictures. We could barely understand their speech, and tried our best to ignore them while concentrating on photographing the famous monument. Our tour leader was on an exceptionally alert mode as a result. Because there were so many of us in the group, he decided to play safe by chasing the gypsy ladies away instead of trying to watch all of them like a hawk. Strangely enough, his single Italian word ‘Via!’ was sufficient to convey his message. Seeing how they were not going to make any headway with our group, they moved on to another group of tourists. I hope none of them had fallen prey.

TRIVIA:
The Eiffel Tower, nicknamed the Iron Lady, is named after engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Standing at 320m, the tower’s design was met with widespread disdain and it was even criticised to be an eyesore that ruined the beautiful skyline of the city. Today, many recognise the romantic icon of Paris, but lesser know that it was never meant to be a permanent fixture. The emerging field of radio telegraphy saved it from dismantlement in 1909 and as the cliché goes, the rest is history.

Heart of the Alps, Switzerland

April 15, 2005July 29, 2021 GennLeave a comment

Though sharing the Alps mountain range with France, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein, land-locked Switzerland is undoubtedly regarded as heart of the Alps. The Alps occupy about 65% of Switzerland’s surface area, making it one of most alpine countries in the world. Notably, Switzerland is not a member of the European Union. Therefore, Euros are not widely accepted in the alpine country as they still use their own currency and legal tender – the Swiss Franc or CHF. So does Liechtenstein.

A few entities are synonymous with the Swiss – traditional Swiss cottages, cheese fondue, milk chocolates, banks, the Swiss army and watches. In a nutshell, anything associated with Switzerland is almost guaranteed to be of high quality.

After a half-day trip to Lake Maggiore in Italy, our coach entered Switzerland from the south. By the time we arrived in Lucerne, it was already early evening. We wasted no time in setting down our luggage in our room, for we wanted to be out and about roaming the streets of Lucerne before night fell.

The Chapel Bridge crossing the Reuss River, a short jaunt from our hotel, is the oldest wooden-covered bridge in Europe. The current bridge standing in Lucerne is however, not the original constructed in 1333 as much of the bridge was destroyed in a fire in 1993. The Swiss wasted no time in rebuilding the bridge since it is a major tourist attraction and is easily the most photographed monument in the country.

Tomorrow we would be scaling Mount Titlis, well… not in the traditional sense. Exhilarated to finally get to meet the Alps at close range.

Mount Titlis is reputed as having the world’s first revolving cable car that delivers a 360-degree panoramic view of the glaciers, valleys, rivers etc. One has to take a total of 3 cable cars to reach the summit, and the reward for the chore of changing cable cars several times – a breathtaking view of the Alps above the clouds. No photograph in the world would do justice to the spectacular sight which greeted us – you would really quite have to see it for yourself.

Mt Titlis — At the summit of Mount Titlis. I think we managed to make it
look much less colder than it actually was.

We were blessed with clear blue skies and good weather when we ‘mounted’ the summit with the assistance of the cable cars. However, we suffered the repercussions of our wilfulness. In a bid to lighten our luggage, we omitted our winter overcoats and the full works as we saw no point in packing them just for half a day’s worth of visit. Our group mates were much more prepared, and we finally understood why they needed luggage space double of ours – they were warm and snug in their bulky winter wear while we were seriously freezing our asses off. Silly us…

At a height 3,028m above mean sea level, the ambient temperature out in the open was easily in the range of minus 10°C. We couldn’t bear to stay out longer than necessary and were frequently dashing into the comforting warmth of the indoors. Even our trusty DSLR died on us intermittently, as if protesting against the biting cold.

Seeing that the tourist crowd was reaching the summit in throngs, we decided it was time to quickly settle our lunch at the cafeteria ahead of lunch hour to avoid the crowd. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Mount Titlis, you must try the delicious grape drink Grapillon. We’re quite certain this drink must also be widely available throughout Switzerland though. Look out for it if you are a grape drink lover like us.

The Lion lies in his lair in the perpendicular face of a low cliff — for he is carved from the living rock of the cliff. His size is colossal, his attitude is noble. His head is bowed, the broken spear is sticking in his shoulder, his protecting paw rests upon the lilies of France. Vines hang down the cliff and wave in the wind, and a clear stream trickles from above and empties into a pond at the base, and in the smooth surface of the pond the lion is mirrored, among the water-lilies.
Around about are green trees and grass. The place is a sheltered, reposeful woodland nook, remote from noise and stir and confusion — and all this is fitting, for lions do die in such places, and not on granite pedestals in public squares fenced with fancy iron railings. The Lion of Lucerne would be impressive anywhere, but nowhere so impressive as where he is.
– Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad, 1880

A befitting tribute to the Lion Monument in Lucerne, which commemorates the Swiss Guards who served the French King Louis XVI and were massacred during the French Revolution in 1792. That sentimental Swiss monument was our next stop after Mount Titlis.

After visiting the Lion Monument, we were sent back to the vicinity of our hotel and left to our own devices. We went shopping at Bucherer and the neighbouring shops. In particular, we were looking to buy some Swiss chocolate home but were advised against it as the climate was getting warmer and there was no telling if the chocolates would hold for another 5-6 more days before we arrived back in Singapore.

Next on, the City of Lights!