Tuesday, October 31

Off to rest of Central Europe

Ok im all packed and ready for my trip. For the next 12 days, i'd be heading to Slovakia, Austria, Hungary and Czech Republic. Train leaves in a little more than 2 hours. See you guys when i get back, hopefully with lots of pretty pictures ;)

4:44 PM

Sunday, October 29

Life as an Exchange Student
Being an exchange student is really no joke. You have to juggle school work, social activities and travels altogether. It's like being a student back at SMU with all my extra curricular commitments..only that the priorities are reshuffled.

Traveling, from research through internet or natives, sourcing of tickets and accomodation, coordinating with friends, planning of schedules to the actual trip itself takes up 50%, socialising 25%, classes 10%(technically, it should require more attention than that), cooking and other household chores 10%.

That pretty sums up my exchange life. Unless you do not intend to travel much, life is bound to be pretty hectic. Nevertheless, it's a very liberating and rewarding one.

1:15 PM

Friday, October 27

Serena in Poland Part II - Krakow Day 1

It felt like i didn't sleep for long. Went to bed and next thing i knew it was 6.30 and time to get up and head to the train station. After arriving in Krakow Station, we met up with Chris, a friend of Sam's who was hosting us at his place. Chris not only offered us a place to stay, he always made sure our stomach were filled everytime we got home. He'd make tea, bring out cakes, and toss out whatever Polish food he could find in his refrigerator to let us sample. Chris loves to talk, he even warned us about it. He told us we could stop him anytime if he got carried away, but it was actually interesting listening to him go on about life in Poland. Basically this young man specialising in Energy and Fuel wants to get out of Poland when he graduates to work in Germany, where the prospects as of now are significantly more promising. After a tour around Krakow with Chris, whom we felt was qualified enough to be a professional guide, we were left to venture around on our own for the night. visited the Galleria Krakowska, a brand new shopping centre outside the railway station. On the tram home, Serena realised she stepped on some poop. Little did we know that it was going to be our source of luck when the next day came along...

9:55 PM


Serena in Poland Part I - Warsaw
It was a jam packed day in Warsaw. After taking Ser to sample some Polish food, we walked down Nowy Swiat street towards Old Town. Along the way, we bumped into my buddy Agata. You see, Agata is studying at 2 universities at the same time and she was making her way from Warsaw University to SGH(Warsaw School of Econs). Since there was still time, she decided to show us the brand new library of Warsaw University. Compared to SGH, this school is so much larger and newly restored. Kinda has the old SMU feel except with more intricate colonial buildings. Anyway the library was way cool, there was a beautiful garden tucked away at the top of the library and boy the view was so pretty. It's now officially my favourite place in Warsaw. Without Agata, Ser or my roomie and i wouldn't have found our way here, it was the ultimate place to sit and read a book or just simply admire the view.

After that, Agata left us to explore Old Town on our own, which wasn't much of a problem since i have been there before. In the evening, we stopped by this place that Agata recommended for cakes. This cosy place was called "To Lubie", and the staff were so friendly. Already before we even stepped in, they were posing for us as we were trying to take pictures from the outside.

After Old Town, we walked to Warsawa Centralna to get our train tickets for the next day to Krakow. Decided to drop by Jincai and Jasmine's place since we were in the vicinity, it was a great opportunity to show Serena their nice apartment with the million-dollar view of the Palace of Culture and Science. Also met up once again with Agata and her boyfriend, who invited us to a house party at Regina's(Agata's best friend) pad in Praga.

Praga is located on the other side of the Wisla River. It was apparently known as a rather dangerous district but still we made it there and back in one piece. The party was really fun, there were about 9 of us and as we toasted to drinks, we taught them our style of toasting..YAMMMM SENG! I think they were very amused to learn how long we could actually hold our breath. Also taught them the Animal game and it was so hilarious, even Ser said she hasn't laughed so hard since she left Singapore. As a forfeit, Adam had to call his room mate and sing "I believe i can fly" to the tune of the Polish anthem and that was really funny too.

It was 2.30am when we got home and 3.30am by the time i had showered and packed for the trip. Bedtime was at Jin's room (which had a spare bed) while Serena slept on my bed.



View from the garden on top of the Warsaw University Library


Great place for dates too

Behind some alley in Old Town

Mermaid of Warsaw!



Act Cute

Act Cool (Esther, for you again)

The Barbican. "My Heart Will Go On" was playing in the background..i wondered where that came from




So all this time it was this fiddler playing all those classic songs.


12:05 PM

Tuesday, October 24

Part IV - Bye bye Gdansk

The long overdue photos from the final leg of my Gdansk trip!
Farewell Baltic Hostel, we will miss your comfy beds but not your unisex-shower-rooms-with-no-doors


The Shipyard Monument.


This set of towering steel crosses was built to commemorate the workers killed during the 1970 shipyard riot in Gdansk.


*Pant pant*




What a view!


Almost there..


This cross atop the hill that we spotted from a distance was the reason for our hike up the hill. We had no clue how to get up there...but finally we made it!







I "heart" Gdansk..


But i can never resist food




Read between the lines!

9:59 PM

Monday, October 23

Serena was here for the weekend since Friday and i showed her around Warsaw and Krakow. It was amazing because everywhere we went, we would meet new and familiar people by sheer chance, and sometimes it led us to some unplanned and spontaneous encounters..how serendipitous, makes you realise the world is truly a small one. I'll elaborate more another day, very tired now. Slept in 3 different places for the past 3 nights!

4:50 PM

Friday, October 20

Something's wrong with me. I keep falling down these days. So Paisay!
First i slipped while climbing up to my bunk in the dark. Later in the afternoon I 'skipped' a few flights of stairs cos Hae Ran was teaching me how to irritate Kim in Korean. The next day, we were late for class and running to school like idiots. We passed this baby who had a smug smile on his face. I tried to be funny by asking "what you smiling at" in hokkien. I turned around and next thing i knew, i was on the floor.

11:47 AM


Part III - Gdynia








9:07 AM


Part II - Sopot























8:29 AM

Thursday, October 19

Part I - Gdansk


Warsawa Centralna Train station


View from the train


Songwriter at work. Haha.


Our hostel. Nice room, free breakfast. But the shower rooms had no doors, only curtains. And it was for both guys and girls!



This way.

...yeahhhh


Fountain








11:44 AM

Wednesday, October 18

Gdansk Trip (Oct 13-15)

Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia are collectively known as the Trojmiasto (Tri-City). Together, they dominate the coastal vantage point of northern Poland along the Baltic Sea. Man this trip has almost everything. From cobblestone-paved towns, churches, monuments to sandy beaches and nice long boardwalks, we even had the chance to take a short hike up the hill to catch an aerial view of Gdansk.

10:05 AM

Tuesday, October 10

Brrr
The weather is slowly, but surely getting colder. Now I can't wear my flip flops out as often as i used to.

1:58 AM

Sunday, October 8

Trip to Krakow(Oct 5 - 7)

Krakow - the ancient capital of Poland, where the kings lived and the only major city here to come through World war II mostly unscathed...


1st Stop: Salt mine at Wieliczka.

Inside the mine, we entered various chambers filled with chapels and statues carved by the miners during their free time, and underground lakes as well.


Descending 380 steps down the wooden stairways into the depths of the mine felt like eternity. Heres what i see whenever i look down.


Chandelier made entirely of salt crystals


This grand "Blessed Kinga's Chapel" was carved entirely from salt. The acoustic properties here are apparently very good. Mass, concerts and even weddings are being held here.


8 people squished in a small shaky lift. "Open the f*cking door!" I heard this guy repeatedly saying as we ascended to ground level. He's more than 2 metres tall, and probably feeling claustrophobic.

Old Town



Square at old town. Bigger and better than the old town in Warsaw.




Candy floss


The Rynek Glowny looks lovely at night.


Inside lies a marketplace that houses several stalls selling accessories and souvenirs.


Kosciol Mariacki



See the window on the taller tower partially covered by the shadows?

Legend has it that the early Tartar raids, a watchman positioned there saw invaders approaching and used his trumpet to alarm the rest. His warning was, however, cut short by a Tartar arrow that pierced through his throat. This legend therefore lives on, where every hour, a lone trumpeter plays the bugle call and halts abruptly at the precise point where the watchman was supposed to have been hit


Mother and child seated at the church entrance


Church interior






Wawel Castle










View of Krakow from bell tower of the church




Hae Ran, Jesus, and me.


Fire performers



Lody time again! 2 zloty for a huge scoop!

Jewish District

Decided to explore the jewish district after we checking out of the hostel.



Fresh food stalls



True blue flea market. Selling vintage cameras, old passports and other neat stuff.


Unscramble this.


Dream car!



Auschwitz Concentration Camp
This was the place where many Jews all over Europe were transported too. Many were deceived by Nazi propaganda thinking that they were on their way to seek work in German factories or farms. After a torturous journey in sealed goods or cattle trucks, the dazed survivors were inspected and divided into two categories. The "fit" and "unfit". Those placed in the latter category (up to 75 percent of them) were told that they had to take a bath. They were then ordered to undress and then herded into the "shower room", and gassed with the deadly "Cyclon B", through the ceiling attachments. Valuables like earrings, gold tooth fillings and even hair were stripped from the dead bodies before they were thrown into the furnaces and cremated.

Yes I saw the gas chamber for myself, and the crematorium as well. It was horrible to imagine anyone put in this gruesome fate.


German saying of "Work makes one free". What a tragic irony.


Some prisoners were tied to the post and left to die


Others were shot at this wall


Death sentence was a slow painful process where most died from exhaustion and hunger.


Dinner at Mcdonalds. Check out my Big and Tasty Bekon Burger sizing up the fillet-o-fish.



Burger under siege!

I think Krakow is pretty. And after the trip I feel better exposed to and more informed on various forms of architecture like Renaissance, Gothic, and Baroque. Still, I look forward to Prague.



8:14 PM

Monday, October 2

Summer House

Hello, I was supposed to post this earlier but the internet connect in my dorm was down for the past 2 days due to heavy rain on Sunday. Anyway, the trip to the Summer House was grrreat! How often in Warsaw does a foreigner get a chance to join the locals at their house party in the countryside? It was a golden opportunity we knew we had to jump at. At about 6pm, we were picked up by Chris and Aga near our place. By Chris's F1 driving standards, it was a 40-minute drive from the city. After a roller coaster ride, including a sharp 90 degree turn from the railway tracks into the driveway, we finally arrived at the house. It was abit of a grand entrance. Chris pumped up the volume of his car stereo as he approached, and we were shortly welcomed by Rafael and the rest of the guys standing at the patio.

Candles lined the steps leading to the inside of the house, which turned out to be a small but extremely cosy place. For the rest of the night, it was food, drinks, and endless music. Drinking was a Polish culture we Singaporeans could not escape from. Our welcome drink was Polish wine, then every now and then, shot glasses would be filled with Slovakian vodka, and everybody would gather for a toast.

Rafael also took us for a walk outside the house all the way to the railway tracks. Because the outdoors were so dark, you could almost see the entire constellation in the sky. Rafael pointed out the "Big Bear" to us, which really didn't look like one to me. But it really didn't matter because the view was totally breathtaking. We would have stayed out longer if it wasn't so cold and all we had was one thin sweater on.

The next morning, we woke up to find that there was no water supply in the house because the pump was broken. Nevertheless, we managed to get by with mineral water to clean and wash. After a homemade breakfast of scrambled eggs with sausages and some time spent hanging out by the gardens outside the house to take in the fresh air, we said our goodbyes and headed back to civilisation.


Apple tree outside the house. Picked one right off the tree in the morning to try, and it was sweet and juicy.



Getting the grill ready for the barbeque. We had grilled zucchini, meat patties and sausages. Excellent stuff!

That's Aga, I think she's really pretty.


The guys with their props


The girls and one guy, no props.

Reheating sausages by the fireplace

Like the cottage?






The bedroom upstairs

And the view when you wake up in the morning.


Welcome to the garden. See the Christmas trees?




Hangover


Bad Hangover


Gangster wannabes, but actually they're really nice folks


Hope you like the pics. Im heading off to school for my International Marketing case presentation on ...Manchester United!


1:56 PM

music


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