Easter Hols Travel log

Day 1: 26 March 2004

Planned to meet at 3:45pm in the foyer. Surprisingly Amar is the first and only one there on time. I'm still trying to tidy my room, Lionel still trying to stuff things into his oversized backpack, Alex... no one even knows if Alex is back after disappearing into the abyss of frustration with his Arab and Hong Kong project partners! Left Linstead half an hour later than planned. True to Murphy's law the tube completely fucked up. Reached Heathrow just as our flight was gating. Heathrow highly inefficient with security check due to incredibly paranoid Ang Mohs. Lionel's bag had to be rechecked in case of stowaway screwdriver (WTF?). British Airways stewards very sarcastic, thanking us for arriving on time and calling the obvioulsy old and tattered plane a new airbus. Still think BA air stewardesses look like mother-in-laws. Got conned at Vienna into paying 9 euros for the train into the city centre. Train was the first sign that London is seriously backward! Was like travelling in something out of Star Trek (well we did pay 9 euros). Looking out the window of the train you immediately get the feeling that you've warped through time and landed some 10 years into the future - or else London is just 'ketinggalan zaman' (erm... behind the times). Walked through the sleet to Wombat Hostel. Nice 6 person dorm. Dinner at 1am in Mozart Cafe then nearly threw my pillow at Amar for bouncing around like an Energizer Bunny and refusing to sleep till 4am!

Day 2: 27 March 2004

Woke up later than initially planned - which was only an indication of our waking up times in the days to come. Went straight to Stephensplatz to see where Stephen got splatzed. Sorry, Lionel will account all cheesiness to the amount of kasekrainers (cheese filled sausages) and cheese I was eating! Let me start again. Went to Stephensplatz to see Stephensdom, where Stephen got... okay I won't continue. Then walked towards the Ringroad which seemed to be the main shopping area. Surprised to find H&M, Mango, etc. Must really think Vienna is damn ulu. Lionel and I tried looking for all the sight-seeing spots while the rest looked for food (sausages in particular). Viennese architecture really pretty and very intricate. Did the round of museums (so many!!! but couldn't enter any of them because a. they were expensive, b. we wanted to see everything and c. the group of four wanted to eat!). Our day was spent alternating between sight-seeing and eating: Art Museum - sausages - Kunstmuseum - tea and pastries - Rathaus - goulash - Churches - more sausages. Found Vienna to be full of dog lovers - much to the delight of Lionel and myself! Went back to Wombat Hostel after dark and unexpectedly all 6 of us fell asleep. I woke up at 9 something surprised to find the room in darkness. Lionel woke up too (or maybe I woke him up out of boredom) and we went down to write postcards and explore the bar. The rest soon woke up and as expected they were hungry - so went back to the same cafe for another midnight meal. Came back to hear Amar 'tell stories'. Not very pleasant ones...

Day 3: 28 March 2004

Woke up really early to see the Vienna boys choir. Everyone who seemed really enthusiastic the night before were quite reluctant to wake up at 7am, so only Lionel and myself braved the cold journey to the Hofburghalle in the crisp early morning. Could barely see anything of the Vienna boys for 8 euros (although the Japanese girls seated next to me were excitedly exclaiming "Kawaii!!!", they're barely 12 year old boys for heavens sakes!). Trying to stay awake while listening to mass in German was also really difficult but was wide awake during the singing. After mass, the choir boys were treated like celebrities - swarmed by hoards of japanese school girl tourists (nothing like the anime ones, dissapointing!) who were eagerly taking photos with them. Walked around Hofburg. Lots of unseen parts with beautiful architecture that we'd missed the day before. Then returned to Stephensplatz where we'd arranged to meet up with the rest. Figured the rest wouldn't be on time anyway so went inside Stephensdom (incredibly ornate!) and walked 1 round around the church and then stepped into Chocolates United to buy chocolates and stay out of the cold. Was very accurate about the rest arriving after 12 (they were having breakfast at a cafe of course - while Lionel and I were starving!). Walked around again in search of more food and souvenirs. Then went back to Wombat and then off in search of Schoenbrunne Palace. The nice people at Wombat had told us it'd be a 15 minute walk. My foot! Found it after much searching almost an hour later. The mass of land that belonged to Kaiser Franz Josef is crazily expansive! He probably never needed to leave his royal grounds. There is enough space there to fit in his own personal landing strip, ski slope, swimming pool and forest. There was a fair going on on the palace grounds. Lionel and I bought 5 painted eggs. A very expensive affair - and this was just the beginning of the egg-protection paranoia that would ensue in the days to come. The rest as usual went on a food tasting and buying round. Couldn't enter the palace as it was too late, but managed to walk around the gardens where we had a taste of Bollywood style filming - with the guys doing crazy stunts in the Bollywood worthy gardens. Took a tram back to Wombat, grabbed our bags and headed back to Westbanhof to catch the overnight train to Zurich. 6 people in a rather small compartment (about the size of my bathroom back home) was a very interesting experience. Especially with all the food making us look like refugees. Amar and his bedtime stories didn't make it any better!

Day 4: 29 March 2004

Woke up late. Last to leave the train. Wandered around Hauptbahnof (Zurich's main station) in search of anything that was open at 7am. Eventually got cleaned up in the incredibly sanitary and pampering toilets. Soha and I spent a good deal of time inside. Eventually decided to explore Zurich after stuffing our backpacks into the lockers. Lots and lots of mostly and clearly Protestant churches, many of them revering Zwingli as some great redeemer. Churches were very plain as should be expected as a result of the reformation. Walked along the river banks. Water so clear! Amazing! Then walked to the park. Discovered that when the group of four were not eating, they were then obsessed with taking paparazzi photos. So annoying! Sat by the lake and took more funny photos. Then headed back to the train station but got sidetracked by a chocolatier (Swiss chocs! They tell me they're divine... I wouldn't really know, would I?). Train to Bern and then to Interlaken very scenic. Interlaken quite different from what I recall when I was 13. Town is incredibly dead at night. Ate a McDonald's meal instead of the fondue we were so looking forward to. Fondue isn't cheap... really isn't cheap. Backpacker's Villa was really quite cosy and full of cute signs and a very well equiped kitchen where we had milo and maggi. Very satisfying!

Day 5: 30 March 2004

Skiing is not cheap and quite painful. Especially when you have no sense of balance - ala moi - coupled with a tragic fear of speed and heights (damn it... I have a phobia for all the joys in life!). Went skiing halfway up Jungfraujoch for the first time. Squashed my poor feet into very heavy and hard ski boots. Couldn't get pink skis. They're only for kids. *pout* Lionel and Darren tried teaching us to ski. Amar is a natural. Whizzing up and down while the rest of us skidded and collapsed in crumpled heaps. Lionel was very right about our legs being able to bend in amazing positions and angles. Spent alot of time on my butt, half giggling and half crying out in pain until someone rescued me from which ever new awkward position I had fallen in. Decided against rational judgement to try one of the beginner ski routes. That was just the beginning of our adventure. I fell down every slope, once crash landing into a pile of powdery snow. Soha fell down a ravine and had to be rescued by Darren and Lionel from the soft new snow which offered no footing at all. Darren twisted his ankle in his final crash test dummy landing on his snowboard. And when we finally reached the ski lifts we realised we had missed the last one. So it was either ski all the way to Grindelwald which was probably many many slopes away or climbing back up to the top with our heavy skis and constricting ski boots. Luckily some rangers found us and called for a rescue snowmobile. Ride was really fun, although I was clinging on for dear life sitting in the back basket meant for holding skis and stuff. Amar had dissapeared as he was far ahead of us when we started on the ski route. Much to our surprise he had the common sense to take the train back to the ski shop and collect our jackets and shoes and then returning to the Interlaken Ost station to meet the exhausted and battered group of us. Darren had to be pushed back on a trolley together with our skis. We had dinner at Hooters. Was obviously the guys' decision. Girls not really that great looking, but who am I to say? Returned back to Backpackers Villa, so shagged, so dead, so asleep...

Day 6: 31 March 2004

Alot of close calls today due to very high inertia. Left Backpackers Villa 15 minutes before the train was to leave. Amar pushing Darren, our casualty, in a trolley while the rest of us ran to the station as fast as we could with backpacks. Reached the train with 4 minutes left to spare. Changed trains at Bern and finally arrived at Zurich with an hour to our next train. Obviously didn't learn anything from our last dash - taking our time to buy Swiss army knives and eventually had to rush to buy some lunch and Lionel and I found a post office 5 minutes before our train for Munich was to leave and of course we had to post our postcards then. We began our 5 hour journey to Munich with a feast of Caesar rolls, chicken curry and tuna salad, bread and cheese and jam. Was incredibly annoying to sleep on the train as Mao Mao whose seat was facing mine was playing peekaboo. Darren, whose walking stick (a branch picked up from Backpackers) was now decorated with rope and a friendship band of some sorts, started snoring halfway. Scenary outside the train became alot more plain upon reaching Germany. Just expanses of flat land - very different from the Swiss Alps. Nothing exceptionally pretty except for some big lake we couldn't name and couldn't see the end of either. Arrived in Munich, cold and hungry and worse of all - without accomodation. Tried desperately to find a hostel but everywhere was fully booked due to the trade fair. After 20 minutes of searching online at a cyber cafe we found a B&B in Fussen. 2 hours later we found ourselves in the cosy, 183cm high attic of Suzanne's. Everything was picteresque and story bookish - except for the fact that the four of them kicked Lionel and me out of the main attic room so we had to sleep in the beds next to the landing. Hmmph!

Day 7: 1st April 2004

Refused to wake up because bed was so cosy and warm. Was finally forced to get out of bed when everyone else was packed and ready. Breakfast in Suzanne's was very traditional. The kitchen where we had breakfast used to be the barn and Suzanne, dressed in traditional German house maid clothes, lent to the authenticity of the atmosphere. Yummy hot chocolate! Then left our backpacks behind and walked back to the train station to catch a bus to Neuchwanstein (Lionel's dream castle which he's been obsessed about since we first started on our holiday plans). Sat in a horse drawn carriage halfway up to the castle and walked the rest of the way. Neuchwanstein (which inspired Disney's Sleeping Beauty castle) is just eccentric! But at the same time romantic and fairytale like. The tale of the reclusive King Ludvig who lived within it was so tragic. I just love a castle with a good story behind it. Beautiful! Is definitely a must see! Ate an extravagent lunch of pork knuckles and sausages (our meals are getting more and more extravagent by the day!). We're back to our sausage cravings after Switzerland. It's becoming a 5 hour supplement. Walked around Fussen for abit then took a train back to Munich. Walked for like eternity past lots of adult shops and dodgy places to find our hostel only to discover that we didn't get the 6 person dorm we had been promised but the guys and girls had to split. Couldn't find a laundry so had to start recycling clothes. Gonna be so stinky till Berlin. Wished Mel Huang was here, but she's back in Singapore for Easter. Dreamt about her!

Day 8: 2nd April 2004

Today was tour Munich day. Woke up late as usual and missed the eggs for breakfast - although in retrospect that was probably a good thing so that Amar wouldn't have to tell so many stories. But lack of eggs was an insentive to wake up earlier tomorrow. Stole more than 15 packs of Nutella spread! Then bummed around till 12 when we finally decided to go to Mariensplatz to see the Glockenspiel at the Rathaus (town hall). Then passed the toy museum (100 teddy bears!!! But no one wanted to let me go see!!!) to St. Peter's church. Very pretty inside. Had to exhaust my limited Bible knowledge explaining to the rest about the statues and pictures etc. Amar fell asleep, possibly in fear that he might burn (especially after all the 'chicken' and 'turkey' he had eaten). Then went in search of the English Gardens. Dissapointing for the guys as there were no nude babes sunbathing. Just some ghastly old nude men. Had a 1 litre keg of beer and sausages in the BierGartens (beer gardens). Huge lunch made us sleep, thus the 3 guys took a sunbathing nap for half and hour. Then back to Mariensplatz to see Amar buy a big ass cooking knife which he tried to convince us is worth all of the 30 over euros he paid for it. Then concussed in the hostel eating McDs and strawberries (gargantuous ones!).

Day 9: 3rd April 2004

Darren is sick. Mysterious illness causing him to throw up. Probably redemption for the highly immoral statements he made the previous day. Got him walking to the train station where he concussed in the train and couldn't eat anything but Nutella. 7 hour train ride to Berlin. Must remember never to take ICE trains on Interrail passes. Painful lesson of 35.20 euros each for Soha and Darren. After Munich, Berlin seems so much nicer! Fell in love with it just because it had Dunkin Donuts! Left Darren in the Club House Hostel with a hot and heavy party going on below (no, Darren was not at the party - instead trying to recuperate) and went back to Friedrichstrasse station and had a Thai dinner! Spent the night just talking and playing bridge till late. Night life here actually exists. Or perhaps it was just because of the club we were staying above.

Day 10: 4th April 2004

Could barely wake up once again. Alarms were a-ringing but no one wanted to get up. Finally managed to get our butts out of the hostel at noon. Made a beeline for Dunkin Donuts. A box of a dozen doughnuts later and we were on our way, this time with Amar navigating instead of Darren (our official navigator). Was probably a temporary lapse in judgement to give Amar a map as we were lead to Treptower Park in search of the non-existent Soviet war memorial, which was off the map anyway. Decided to give Amar another chance by following him in search of the flea market. Found the flea market, but there was nothing to see save for second hand remote controls, drill bits and pipes! We finally took over from Amar and made our way to Alexandersplatz which is the main city centre. Ate more sausages, then walked around a Kaufhof buying chocolates and coke. By that time Alex had already managed to plot some sort of sight seeing route, so off we went to see another Rathaus and more churches. Going into churches and just lepaking there seems to be a new habit of ours. Then walked over to Museum Island, and down Friedrichstrasse where all the buildings to see were. Found a Charlottenstrasse! The continuous drizzle of rain slightly dampened our spirits, but that was easily rectified by dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant, where as usual the waitress seemed to pay special attention to Alex (similar to the waitress at Hooters too!). Back in the hostel we continued playing tai tee and bridge to see who would take turns to bathe. Alex, Darren, Lionel and I got a sudden craving for Maggi Mee after midnight so we went down to the reception where we met Pablo, an Italian architecture student who was manning the reception. Introduced Pablo to ramen. Perhaps should not have taken him for real when he said he liked spicy food as he seemed to be downing lots of cold water with his ramen. Stayed till 3am chatting with Pablo and finding out abit more about Berlin and the hostel. Nothing is as good as instant noodles early in the morning!

Day 11: 5 April 2004

Woke up in time for breakfast as we intended to go on the walking tour. However it started to rain as we were eating. So went back up to our room to think up a back up plan. Oh alright, I lie. The group of four went back up to play tai tee. Lionel and I decided to go sight seeing on our own, despite the rain. Walked to the Brandenburg Gate. The intriguing thing about the gate isn't the gate itself but this little room next to it called the Room of Silence. It's a non denominational room where anyone can just go in to find some peace and quiet and reflect or pray. Next to Brandenburg Gate is the historic Reichstag. There was a long queue just waiting to see the dome. Cannot understand it, since dome is very recent and there's nothing historical about it! Then tried to find Potsdam Palace which is NOT in Portsdammerplatz as we discovered but outside Berlin, so instead decided to go to Charlottenburg to see Charlotten Schloss in honour of my name! Charlotte's Castle is astonishingly huge! Queen Sophie-Charlotte was the resident queen, which I found quite amusing considering my confirmation name. The gardens weren't as huge as Schoenbrunne, but a romantic's kind of garden with flower arrangements and statues of little children and a pond with a bridge. We spent about half an hour scrutinising the ducks in the pond and their spring mating rituals. Ecology seems most interesting when you're not reading it from a text book. Walked to the end of the gardens then managed to find an S-bahn back to Friedrichstrasse to meet the rest. Wanted to try out the restaurant recommended by Pablo but we were curtly turned out without reservations. So walked back to Alexandersplatz to eat at Alex's restaurant - Alex! Then proceeded to see the Brandenburg gate which is quite a lovely sight to see at night. Back in the hostel I completely passed out while the rest went back to their usual card games.

Day 12: 6 April 2004

Lionel and I woke up earlier than the rest to go see Checkpoint Charlie. Interesting memorial of the Berlin war and a divided country. There's so much to Berlin's history that I still want to see. Will probably have to make a second trip back. Arrived at the station early for the train by an hour, a vast improvement by our standards. That gave Soha, Lionel and me enough time to run out to see the long stretch of the Berlin wall that was just outside the station. The colours and vibrance of the art on the Berlin wall makes you wonder about the painful parting and suffering the wall caused. 2 hours later we arrived in Hamburg. Pampered ourselves by staying in a 4 star hotel for the last day. Amar, Darren and Alex got an extra bonus in their room when they discovered free porn. Need not elaborate more. Later at night went to a fun fair - the typical American kind with glitzy rides and lots of games and food. Darren and the rest of the NS guys were of course gian to try the shooting games which they didn't win anything except 2 roses for the girls which were probably given to us for trying so many times. Back in the hotel, Soha dumped Lionel and me for the other room. Presumably they didn't sleep till 3 or 4am. No prizes for guessing why.

Day 13: 7 April 2004

Last day of our trip. Took our time to have breakfast, pack, and of course... watch porn! *glare* Then dumped our bags in the station lockers and took a walk around the city centre. Spent an hour inside a Lego shop reliving our childhood. Almost everyone came out of the shop with a Lego toy. Flight back was uneventful, save for trying to check in Darren's walking stick and Amar and Darren's knives. Made sure we were at the airport really early. Didn't want to risk making the same mistake as before. Arrived back in London, back to cold, gloomy weather. Back to Lu and Choon Sern and the rest of the Linsteadians. Back to work and self cooking. Perhaps only with the addition of the guy's new Lego toys to add new spice to our hall lives!