Another chance to sit down with my laptop and sort out photos again! ANOTHER LONG POST!

2^nd april

shouheng arrived in London.. brought him to walk around piccadilly circus, Leicester square, soho and these main areas. Had coffee and cakes at this really nice Italian café!

Watched soccer [arsenal vs Liverpool] in this betting place..atmosphere is amazing..experience is amazing as well.. had a really long chat with Raquel..arrrr Raquel I miss u! haha..

3^rd april

walked along river thames and visited tate modern. saw THE crack at tate modern.. blehs..

Brought shouheng to king’s guys campus as well.. then visited Westminster abbey and houses of parliament. Went into the houses of parliament, the house of lords and watched a lame debate..quite tiring..

had dinner at wagamama..western style of Japanese food..i wouldn’t go into one again, unless there’s peer pressure..

caught a movie ‘let there be blood’ in the evening with jf, yihua and jiachuan.. the movie was wow..quite like the movie..but its very strong, so I wouldn’t watch it again, though I would recommend ppl to watch it..

4^th april

went to tower bridge, and this time I went up the towers on tower bridge..liked knowing about how the engineering works in drawing the bridge up to allow for big ships to get through..

went to Greenwich for a picnic..it was wonderful..the day was so sunny and gay..makes ppl feel happy and of course! It was warm!

Finally got into the observatory as well..i love Greenwich..can ppl please come visit me in London and then I will specially plan a day to bring u all to go Greenwich..can u see sg?

Went to a pub/club that plays live music..orange yard is the street name -__- took us quite sometime to find it..

5^th april

jinfeng birthday celebration in the evening at jiachuan’s place..

hur..took a few detours, got niaoed tremendously by the two gentlemen jf and ah goh..eh but we still found our way to hare walk in the end ok!

the guys mainly did the cooking..eh I did help out with the washing up ok! Quite a happy time.. learnt starcraft from yihua, jiachuan and jinfeng..then dueled jinfeng at playstation football..haha..cuz he thought I would do badly at it and allow him to win -__-“ what an arrogant guy..and this arrogant guy went online and search for qian bian jokes..end up everyone truly felt like bian-ing him..

6^th april

woke up to see snow.. super cold! It’s a rare thing to see snow in London, and in april somemore..

Best thing I remembered about that day is scrambled eggs for breakfast.. :)

watched Manchester united vs middlesbrough at some thai pub..ate thai food in a pub atmosphere and watch soccer match..this kind of atmosphere I don’t think I will experience it in Singapore..

watched students from various acting academies acting out scenes from various plays, mostly from shakespeare’s works..they did the abridged versions, so its easier to understand as well.. and the acting is super good..i love the Shakespeare globe theatre..the interiors were really wonderful..though it was super cold since its an open air theater!

7^th april

went hyde park and oxford circus..

hyde park is pretty.. I wish I can play in the playground, but got age limit..

I wish I can learn horse riding too!

Group photo:
reached germany Mannheim.. at an obscene time..

8 – 10 april Mannheim

basically relaxed and got to know a lot of shouheng’s friends at his hostel..shopped around by myself around Mannheim, and thoroughly enjoyed it..though the pot of flowers I bought for shouheng looks alittle forlorn now..

11 – 13 april karlovy vary

the place is really nice..wide wide streets to just stroll along, pace of life is so so so slow! And the prices are ok too..the hotel room is great too.. but for various reasons, I feel very stressed..anyway let the pictures do their work for describing the place.. [its alittle like Salzburg I think]

13 – 15 april wurzburg

oh it’s a nice place! Alittle salzburgy and Prague-ish.. And xizhen is so very nice! Absolutely love my time there..back to feeling relaxed..and its really great joy to finally spend time with another woman after so long of hanging out with guys..somemore it’s a woman with great mind! U know, great minds think alike..HAHA.. more pictures..

oh and I bought a new coat..yes please shoot me, its white again..when the reason I wanted a new coat was mainly cuz my coat is super dirty [since it was WAS previously cream] HAHAHA..

15 – 17 april munich

dreary! When I reached it was raining..but I still insisted on myself to go to nymphenburg palace cuz I got the bayern ticket which allows me to take all trams etc, so cannot waste its value, must make full use..therefore I made the trip to the palace..its the first day of being totally alone..so I made full use of the time to discover myself..spent like 5hrs at the palace and its park..great experience though its lousy weather..but I felt totally at peace with myself at the end of the day..partly cuz its not the season for tourists and cuz the day is raining so badly, there’s really not many ppl in the huge palace parks..i was almost alone, and I trek through the isolated paths and thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of having the huge space to myself..

went to a beer hall alone..

ordered the white sausages with roast potatoes and felt full already..stupid waiter.. presented the bill and added the comment “very cheap! Madam!” I felt like slapping him..so rude..

went to Olympic park the next day, never see Olympic parks before anyway..not bad la..the only place I entered in the whole place is the Olympic swimming hall..really huge! Too bad I don’t have a swim suit, else I will go try my sokee swimming style..kind of miss swimming though I am really bad at that sport..but who’s to tell me not to do a sport one is bad in?

went to English gardens next, and I simply love it..its a place with good vibes..and I love the space again..got a nice waterfall, and huge green spaces which dogs ran about..of course, the weather was great too.. I took quite a lot of detours until I finally found English gardens..its supposed to be easy to find..but hur hur..supposed to take about 10min to get there from the train station, but took me more than an hr..OOPS..haha..bought a sandwich and had a small picnic in the English gardens..

then I walked around the marienplatz [lotsa shopping], virtualienmarkt [lotsa food]

etc etc..watched the glockenspiel at 5pm, and I tink its not such a big deal..HAHA..abit amusing though, probably more worth watching than the one in Prague, but still! Waited for hours for 5min of display on the glockenspiel..HAHA..

wanted to go to the teddy bear museum, but it was closed when I climbed up the stairs.. saddened..

shared a hostel room with 4 korean tourists..i thought they were all friends traveling together, then I realized, two of them were solo travelers, and two others were traveling together..and I guess I became quite socially inept since I didn’t make attempt to try to talk to them! They were all machine-gunning in rapid colloquial Korean and I totally lost them.. But one of them was especially friendly..kept talking to me..though sometimes we use sign language cuz her English isn’t very strong.. [I know, u all must be wondering why that sokee never use Korean..i don’t dare to use! I scared I pronounced like shit then they laugh at me..] but yes! I used my Korean in the end..hahaha..cuz I tried to ask her [her name is Gowoon] where she’s going that day, I asked her 5 times, but she still couldnt get me, partly cuz of different accents and all [yea Singaporean accent very hard to be understood] so I said where are u going in Korean, and she got it STRAIGHTAWAY! Hahaha..anyway we realized that we clicked..and also! realized that we were both planning to go fussen on the same day..so we decided to go together..

17 april fussen

wow. I love the place. I LOVE the place..out of ALL the places I have been, fussen tops them all..and I’m so thankful I went with Gowoon..she made a huge difference..we conversed in a mix of korean and English, and she repeatedly said my Korean is very good -__- I’m not flattering myself because she contradicts herself by correcting my pronunciation repeatedly..and I hate to say, REPEATEDLY! HAHAHA..but I simply love her company.. neuschwanstein castle is just SPECTACULAR.. i’m serious..everyone please go fussen if u got the chance..

the view out of the balcony at the hostel i stayed in:

anyway, we wanted to get a postcard perfect picture of the castle, and the best place to get it is at the marienbrucke [it’s a bridge]..but both routes to the bridge was blocked off due the heavy snowing the day before, so both me and Gowoon were lamenting about how disappointed we were etc, in Korean and English..HAHA.. when we realized that there is a third route..that route is the longest, and more dangerous one, cuz most of the path is quite steep and covered thickly in snow..

while hiking up, we slipped afew times but I assure u, the hike is super worth it..the scenery is breathtaking. Literally.

The picture is so pretty, it looks fake..HAHAHA..and yes I know, ppl are going to say sokee is senseless, doing dangerous thing like hiking through snowy and steep paths but I wouldn’t do it if I’m alone..

Our postcards:

oh and Gowoon is super good at self-taking pictures..i’m learning from her! Here’s a self taking photo by her..

After touring Europe alone, she’s going to Thailand and Laos, and Cambodia to tour alone before returning to korea..i’m wowing at her..haha..anyway we got cute conversations:

Gowoon: how do u like solo traveling?

Me: its been great! Doing things at my own pace, at my own time. And realize the importance of friends and family so much more! And therefore appreciating them..But also realizing about the potential of oneself, how far one can go and seeing different places and people makes one even more open-minded..

Gowoon: how old are u?

Me: 20

Gowoon: WOW! U are mature in your thinking

Then I was thinking what my friends would say if they overhear this.. HAHA..

Gowoon: do u have a boyfriend?

Me: no.

Gowoon: why??!!

Shrugs

Gowoon: me too! But do u have a guy u like in particular?

Me: like someone to become a boyfriend? No.

Gowoon: WHY???!! I have though!

Me: really? Does he know?

Gowoon: no. but I will tell him when I get back!

And I admire her for her feminine courage. To go after something and someone that is worth going after.

When we were parting from each other, she said, ‘I hope the next time I see you, you will be wearing a short skirt, and standing beside a boyfriend’

Me: short skirt?!

Gowoon: I tink u would look nice in a skirt!

Oh my god..

18 april heidelburg

went around the place with shouheng, qunxiang, and qunxiang’s friends Benjamin and ken..really nice..went up the tower of a church, this is the view of the heidelberg castle from the top of the tower..

walked upslope to heidelberg castle,

watched sunset on a nice grass patch,

had dinner at a pizza hut [its better than Singapore pizza hut] and drank about ¾ of a cocktail [but still end up having that “alcohol poisoning” condition, so shouheng declared I’m allergic to alcohol]

There concludes my adventures until now..still in germany..too many pictures le..will upload on facebook..

I’m getting so tired.. am I trying to convince myself or my friends? Would it be ok if I don’t smile or laugh for a period of time? In fact, I wish I have my close friends close to me right now.. so I can have the luxury to zone off, or to have a nice big cry..

I don even know how to phrase it out in words..so I dun even noe how to tell it all to people I usually tell it all to..not that I dowan to, I simply just lost the function of telling/confiding in words..

Currently planning a trip to Glasgow again.. the company of shimin would be great.. plus studying in the kibble palace in Glasgow botanic gardens, breathing in fresh air would be great too..anyone wants to go Scotland? I might be planning a trip to Inverness, or Aberdeen or Edinburgh on this trip..while studying for two papers.. but everythg is still unsettled! I just want to get out of London.. haha..no ideas why, I will still miss my cute neighbours whenever I’m not in London..

Why am I more comfortable with a girl I just met on the trip, than anyone else right now? I miss the time in fussen, not just the beautiful scenery and castle, but the company of Gowoon.. with her I found someone who understood the desire to travel alone, and the need for self realization through solo traveling..one really knows a lot more about one’s ability through solo traveling.. a lot of things I would nv dream or even think I would do, and I did it.. and I love it..i love the feeling of not having to answer to anyone for my actions, to do what I want to do at my own pace.. of course, I miss my friends etc, and I’m thankful for the invention of internet..

But.. I love to contradict myself..so I shall say, I do wish for ppl to go with me on trips..of course great travelmates make a VERY big difference!