The reality sets in...

November 22, 2006 - I have to admit, even though I was all ready to come home towards the last leg of my Europe trip, now that I'm here, I wish I was still thousands of miles away.

This week has been pretty tough so far, mainly because I'm still pretty tired from the trip (and not getting enough sleep) and also that work has been pretty dull the past couple of days. Sure I do have stuff to do - but it just doesn't excite me. Perhaps I'm lonely at work (I've gone from a place full of friends to a place where hardly anyone talks to me) or maybe I'm still in "holiday mood". Whatever it is, I'm kinda feeling blue.

Well maybe next week will be better - I think I just need to snap out of it.

On the other hand, my Vegas trip is only a couple of months away! I can always start planning for that...

Home at last

November 19, 2006 - After an exhausting 17 days running around Europe, it was nice to be home! Towards the 14th or 15th day, I was already kinda ready to go. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy myself, it was more that I felt I have experienced and seen enough and have satisfied this "need" to go on vacation. Instead of blogging about every single place that I've visited, I thought I would just talk about some of the highlights.

Favourite City Visited: Berlin (followed very closely by Munich)
Disappointment: Frankfurt

It's hard to compare the cities, as each of them is different, but looking back, Berlin definitely stood out. It has so much history, and it has played such an important role in shaping our world today, all of which makes it so fascinating. The city also has stunning architecture (though many are replicas of historical buildings that were destroyed in WWII), meaningful memorials (the Holocaust Memorial is a great example of that), and nice friendly people (for the most part). The city also feels vibrant, young, and dynamic - streets are buzzing with activities till late at night. Definitely worth visiting again.

On the opposite end, I was a little disappointed by Frankfurt. Maybe we didn't do enough research, but we were actually bored on our 2nd day there. The museums were nice but did not stand out. Even the old town area, particularly the Rathaus/Romer area felt a bit forced and "Disney-fied" (mainly it's because again they were rebuilt as replicas after the war). The city was also very quiet - streets were deserted early in the evening, many restaurants/bars were closed on the Sunday we were there - it just didn't feel like I was in Europe at all.

Favourite Attraction: The Glass Dome at Reichstag, Berlin
Most Over-rated Attraction: The Vienna Boys Choir, Vienna

Definitely the coolest attraction that I visited, the Glass Dome (Cupola) at the German Parliament building (the Reichstag), designed by Sir Norman Foster, not only allowed for amazing views of the city, but the way it was designed was also unique. Instead of your typical observation deck elevators, the dome features a set of double ramps that allow visitors to climb up the dome gradually. Directly below is the where the German parliament sit - so you could see the politicians work. The reason why glass was chosen as the primary building material was symbolic: glass provides transparency, which translates to the fact that Germany wants to make the government transparent and open. Also, to have the parliament sit right below the glass dome reminds politicians that they are "under the people" and they work for the German public.

The Vienna Boys Choir was a bit over-rated. Granted, they sound great - but not worth the 40 Euro that you have to pay to watch them perform during Sunday mass at Hofburg (yup, they charge you to go to mass!). Even inside the chapel, it was hard to see them, since they are on a balcony way at the back (you will have to physically turn around to catch a glimpse of them). The majority of tourists just stood outside the chapel and watched the choir perform on these cheap 20" tvs.

Best meal: Dinner and beer at Hofbrahaus, Munich
Worst meal ever: Chinese food at Munich Hauptbahnhof

The best and worst meal were actually on consecutive days. Let's start with the worst: chinese food at the Munich train station. Jason ordered this fried noodle thing that looked like ramen soaked in yellow dye and sprinkled with salt. Oh did I mention the 3 tiny pieces of chicken the came with it? My meal was slightly better (I ordered fried rice) but still it was dry, oily and salty - definitely gross (and not worth the $4.50 Euro). I mean we weren't expecting Markham quality Chinese food, but still, it should be at least edible.

The best meal was our German dinner at Hofbrahaus, the largest pub in the world! We sat on these long benches with our friends from Australia (we met them on our walking tour) and had pork chops, pork knuckle and drank German beer. There was a live German band, with all members dressed in traditional lederhosen! Very cool indeed. Did I mention the barmaids that walked around selling pretzels (sorta like dim sum, except the barmaids are younger, hotter, and show way more cleavage). Germans are wild when they are drunk (singing, dancing, and jumping on to tables are actually expected)!

That's it for this update - will write more about the trip next time.

Live from Vienna, Austria

November 11, 2006 @ Vienna - I'm blogging live from Europe and that's actually kinda cool!

So I've been in Europe for about 10 days now. Overall, the trip has been amazing: the cities that I've visited are all beautiful, the scenery and architecture are stunning, our hotels and hostels are clean and bug-free, and the people that we have encountered are all generally friendly and helpful (and speak English!).

Right now, I'm writing from our hostel's computers in Vienna. It is raining yet again in this beautiful city - and because everything pretty much shuts down by 6, there really aren't that many places to go at night. Walking around town is not an option, given it's dark, cold, windy and wet. But our hostel is really cool (and did I mention clean?), so it's all good i guess.

So some thoughts about each city that I've visited so far:

Frankfurt - very modern, North American like; a little boring since there really aren't THAT much to do there.

Cologne - beautiful cathedral, nice town by the Rhine River.

Dusseldorf - hip, young, and very modern. Lots of young professionals. Great shopping.

Berlin - absolutely stunning. City oozes history - there's a story to tell at every corner. Very friendly people. Very hip, interesting, and lots of changes.

Vienna - beautiful architecture. Cold, wet, windy (it rained all 3 days we were here). Very smokey (2nd hand smoke here is worst than in Germany). Not bottle fee or bathroom fee though.

So 10 days down and another 5 more to go. Tomorrow we're flying to Munich and then it's off to Salzburg. Hopefully the weather will hold up (it's really hard to do any sightseeing when it rains all the time and it gets dark by 4 p.m.).

Till then, I guess that's it. I took tons of pictures here and I can't wait to go home and sort them all out! :S

Leaving on a Jet Plane!

November 3, 2006 - This is it! This is what I have been talking about for the past one and a half year!! In about 12 hours or so, I will be on a plane flying to Europe - the land of true culture, of amazing arts, music and architecture, of sexy accents, of neat fashion, of cute European boys with great fashion sense and sexy accents - the list goes on and on.

I'm definitely psyched about the trip - to the point where I'm more nervous now than excited. I really hope that the trip will go smoothly and that everything will go according to plan (or at least to semi-plan). I mean I don't expect things to be 100% the way I had planned out, but at least I hope we won't lose anything (including travel documents, money, tickets, etc), that we won't get mugged, that we won't get into an accident, and most importantly won't get bitten by bedbugs (I have been reading way too much about bedbugs in hotels).

Maybe I'm just being paranoid. Maybe I'm just excited. Whatever it is - I guess I will have to just take it as it comes.

Regardless, I'm sure I will have fun :) it will definitely be yet another experience that I will talk about for years to come. Hmm...I hope I didn't forget to pack anything - and most importantly, I hope my suitcase will still fit when I come back!

I have a feeling that we'll be hitting the internet cafes wherever we go - so maybe I'll even get a chance to update this blog (for the 4 people who read this)! I can't wait to share (or rant) my insights and thoughts when I return.

So this is it! I better get to bed! It will be a long day tomorrow!

So Europe here we come! =)