Pauze

I met Ying and Yoshi for movie and coffee last night. The cinema here actually has a 10 minutes break in the middle of movies. The screen goes blank and the word "pauze" appears. Well, I'll be heading back to Singapore in a few hours time...a retardation...

Brussels, Belgium

Yes - I'm updating this blog at the same pace as the rushed city spree before I finally leave this place for good. Oh god. So today I went to Brussels in the morning, and from Brussels to Antwerp to see the Fashion Museum (once again, it didn't let me down), and back to Utrecht.

Brussels was a really beautiful city! I'm surprised that so many call it boring. And of course, in Brussels, I had to visit the Comic Strip Museum! How can anyone not love Tintin? However, I'm ashamed to say that I succumbed to buying a copy of Tintin, even though I can get it cheaper in Singapore, and even though I have read all the Tintin comics before.


Grand Place






















Galerie St-Hubert (reminds me of Milan)










Manneken Pis. Oh, he's pissing, alright.










Cathedrale











Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinee (Comic strip museum)

Maastricht

Day trip to Maastricht with Chiara and Valeria was really nice. Maastricht is distinctly different from other Dutch cities. For one thing, it's near the borders of Netherlands, hemmed in between Belgium and Germany. In addition, there is some Roman history to this city as represented by the Roman cathedrales. What I truly like about European countries is the fact that they have such a rich history and culture, and that within each country, cities vary. It's a pity that when people visit the Netherlands, they usually only go to Amsterdam. There is so much more to the country than its capital, and it's really interesting to learn about the differences between cities.


Crossing the River Maas




Staduis (Town Hall).







Helpoort, the oldest surviving town gate in the Netherlands










Saint Servaasbasiliek















No time for rest! Gotta make my last few days here useful!

Marseille & Cassis

After Paris, I took a train to Cassis to stay with Zab. It was good to see her again and to have some company! Marseille was alright, Cassis was paradise epitomized and nature at its best.

Marseille is the capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur région, and also the second largest city in France. It's a multi-cultural city dominated by several ethnic groups, and in fact ethnic French are a minority here.


We took a boat to Chateau d'If and admired the view of Marseille and its surroundings. The chateau is also famous for being one of the settings of Alexander Dumas' adventure novel "The Count of Monte Cristo".



Cassis on the other hand, is a small fishing port with nice old shops and sandy beaches. The atmosphere is a lot more relaxing, than in Paris for example, and there is a warm and cosy feel to the town.




From Cap Canaille, you can see the town, the clear blue sea, mountains and a sky to match the land.







Zab's sister and her sister's friends joined us over the weekend. We went canoeing in the calanques and it was so much fun! The scenery (including the nudist beaches we passed by) was picturesque indeed.





We reached the third of the calanques, En Vau.






Zab n I. I love swimming in the sea - the sense of freedom and rejuvenation is beyond comparable; I protest against coming out to shore where gravity pulls me back to the ground.



Zab's boyfriend and his friend came on Monday. We hiked up the calanques this time.






At Zab's place, blocked water pipes led to waste water and shit flowing out of the shower and the toilet bowl, and flow it did, to the entrance of the kitchen. We were (literally) cleaning shit! But we couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Since we were unable to shower nor use the toilet for the day, we had to do our minor business, mark our territories, behind bushes.

Bastille Day was not one of those national parades of unfortunate gimmicks and free souvenirs, but a lovely night of fireworks celebrating "liberte egalite fraternite". We stayed in the centre, danced with the crowd to some lame gay star and his crew, and ended the night with candy floss.



Oh! And Tour de France came to Cassis and so we trudged a steep slope to a road near La Gineste to watch the cyclists. The 1 1/2 hour wait under the hot sun was unbearable and killed our excitement. We saw about less than 30 seconds of cyclists zooming past. Still...we were at Tour de France!

Airs de Paris

Paris was insanely beautiful not just because of its romantic (and touristique) appeal but because every corner of it was simply flawless. I stayed in a hostel in the Montmartre area, where artists gather, and which is generally left untouched by mass consumerism. Traveling in Paris was really cool and easy - ubiquitious metropolitan signs marked my next destination, I could go anywhere I wanted and do anything that came to mind.


Musee du Louvre was awesome. The symmetry of it in relation to its surroundings was so perfect! Although I personally did not really like its galleries simply because there were just too much to see. Too much for the already fizzled brain.



Centre Pompidou was the museum I really enjoyed. The architecture was amazing and the exhibition "Airs de Paris" was brilliant. Walk through the the idea of Paris as the centre of convergence, explore the technological, economical and social changes in the city through the eyes of various artists. Why would I love Paris? Because art dominates the culture, or perhaps vice versa.

Tour Eiffel. From the Louvre, I could see the tower and so thought to myself: since I can see the tower, it can't be that far and therefore I can walk to it. Right. I walked for an hour with a constant view of the tower and still I didn't seem to get anywhere near it. When I finally arrived, I was so tired I collapsed at Champ de Mars, with a 5 euros baguette and 3 euros coke (because clever snack bars understand that ambitious travelers like me desperately need food and drinks).


The walk to Tour Eiffel was rewarding though. This is what I meant when I said every corner of it was flawless. I didn't even have to imagine a city of attractions. It came naturally.







Arc du triomphe stands tall and triumphant at the cross roads after Les Champs Elysees. This is the only full picture of me in Paris. :)






Chateau de Versailles is a huge and impressive place of memorable significance, depiction and gold. I laid in the garden watching the sky, the panorama. But the queue was a nightmare! 45minutes to buy a ticket, 45 minutes to actually enter the palace. I was quite bored out of my mind by the time I was inside.



Moulin Rouge! It's famous enough and its charm needs no explanation. Paris is the city of lights. Night comforts.




I spent the last morning in the catacombs. The catacombs of Paris are underground tunnels used as the ossuary of the cemetery of the Innocents in 1785. (basically a burial place) It was so quiet and claustrophic, I practically fled my way past the skulls and bones piled against the walls. It didn't help that at the corner of the eye, I could see words like "malice" and "demon". Nonetheless. The thrill of it!

We live in a crazy world

Last night to Stairways to Heaven. This is Dorit's favorite club, which plays rock / metal music. 90s rockers who wear Black Sabbath tshirts swing their long hair a-full-360degrees clockwise and anti-clockwise, neon lights in all colors. Ah but they moved too quickly for the camera!
(And I got stopped at the door trying to explain to the bouncer that I'm of legal age. Age? 21. What? 21. What? 21. In the end, Marcel had to tell him in Dutch that I was 21. PFFT. )

We're down from 10 to 4!

Some gangsta-lovin yo

Counterfeit bill

Today I went to exchange some US dollars for euros. Turns out that one 50USD was a counterfeit! Excitingly enough, the woman gave me a suspicious glance as I widened my eyes in pure innocence and confusion. (Small Asian Girl no try to cheat noone) Actually I would like to have my bill back so that maybe I can use it on a fake Gucci. Of course I didn't get it back, although she did give me a photocopy of it.

Role reversal

Stupid university offering the exact same literature modules as semester 1 last year.
I don't want to go back to Singapore and resume old unbeknown life of ennui. It's here that I feel truly inspired and motivated; that I learn to appreciate nature and art and see beauty beyond the blank walls of a city; that I am free to be. I don't want this to end. Saying goodbye has never felt worse. The past week has been nothing short of fantastic. We've been making dinners for one another - North Indian curry, Italian pasta and tiramisu, Austrian goulash, Singapore bak kut teh, French quiche, Chilean chakikan...followed by games and parties and living each day like it was the last day we would be spending with one another...It has been the best of times.

We had a very good night of potent Polish vodka.

Me: "We're like happy people."

Vale: "We are..?"

Me: "Stem cells. We can be anything we want."

Vale: "Anything?"

Me: "Anything."

Rock on!!!