Paris (Day 2)

We originally planned to go up Eiffel tower in the morning. Which means we might need to go queue at 7am cuz it's a sunday. But due to the extreme tiredness from the previous day, not mentioning spending the night in the bus, we decided to postpone it to the third day.

We started our second day to Musee du Louvre. Everyone knows what it is and everyone knows what's inside. There were too many state-of-the-art sculptures and exquisite paintings it was impossible to appreciate all of them. We managed to see a lot of them though. And yes, Mona Lisa has never failed to gather the most crowd. But well, Nike of Samothrace and Michelangelo's Rebellious Slave and Dying Slave have their own fans as well.

A pic with Pyramid Inversee before we entered the museum.. Tat guy behind very 'cho teng' la..hehe..

Louvre. Very sunny day..*happie*

Our next stop was Notre Dame. It was a sunday when we went, so there were many people in the church. I wondered if the visitors were a distraction for them.

Notre Dame

A miniature of Notre Dame

Based on my map reading skills..ehem ehem..we managed to walk to the Pantheon. However we didn't enter cuz the entry was 7 euros and we thought that we would probably leave that place after 15 minutes..hehe..

We then went to Jardin du Luxermbourg. It's apparently a very famous park. I was pretty amazed actually. I mean the park has museums, palace, water fountain and sculptures everywhere. We had our moments there, and then proceeded to St-Sulpice. I imagined it to be small. But it turned out really big..hehe.. Anyway, we had the chance to see the original zero-longitude line, the Rose Line.

The Rose Line

We had dinner at Chartier. Well, the decoration was plausible. But we had a rather unpleasant experience there. N the food wasn't exactly good as recommended in the survival book we had. In short, highly not recommended..hehe..

The deco in Chartier..

We then went to Eiffel Tower to catch the night view. But we soon realise that the night view was way nicer than the day view!hehe.. N considering the queue wasn't long, partially thanks to a concert held near eiffel tower, we decided to go up eiffel tower during the night. N the view really didn't disappoint us! It was..ooo...romantic..hehe..

Taken by my digital camera from the top of eiffel tower. Not bad eh?

Thanks to some tricks using my sony camera, it looks like sunset eh?hehe..it's actually already dark.


This was the actual lighting.

N finally, to sum up our moments on Eiffel Tower.
A picture is worth a thousand words.

Paris (Day 1)

I wanted to blog yesterday after i came back from paris, but i was so freaking exhausted i decided to put things off to today..hehe..

Our trip to paris was a spectacularly splendid, event-filled, awe-inspiring, mind-boggling, astounding, beyond believe trip. Well, i have no idea what i just wrote. So in short, it was simply incredible!!

We reached paris ard 6.30am. But with all the hassle to get from the bus station to the place we stay (which was quite far), and then getting to disneyland, which is located outside paris city, we only managed to reach disneyland at 11am.

To those intending to go to paris, i suggest u take the Paris Visite. We took the three days pass. It costed us 19€ each, and we could travel to anywhere we want within zone 1-3. Paris is in zone 1, so practically all places that we went were in zone 1.

Only time we went further than zone 1 was when we took the train to zone 3, then bought an extra metro ticket to disneyland. The ticket from Neuilly Plaisance (zone 3) to and from disneyland (zone 5) was already 8.10 €, so i bet ticket from zone 1 to disneyland would be more expensive. Hence strongly advised to fully utilise your Paris Visite and take to zone 3 first.

Anyway, we encountered an angel while buying tickets! By right tickets for two of us should be 16.20€, but the ticket counter salesperson looked at us and asked us how old we were. Kenneth told him our truthful age. But that guy then continued staring at us (particularly me), and then handed us the ticket and said that our total is 8€..muahahaha..

Well, to back my suggestion of taking Paris Visite, some condemnation is probably required though i do it with an immensely reluctant heart. *yeah right* The metro line in Paris and its respective regions is indeed organised. The train comes very frequently, every 5 minutes. Hence no persistent pushing and fighting into the train like those in malaysia.

HOWEVER:

1) The ticketing counter is usually closed. Hence no assistance of whatever sort.
2) There is usually only one automachine to buy tickets. Hence the long queue at certain stations.
3) Some machines only accept card and coins. Hence...what the heck? Carry tonnes of coins around??
4) N the best part is, the machine gets jammed. (Our personal experience when we wanted to go to disneyland. The machine got stucked. Everyone didn't know what to do. No counter was open for assistance. Ken and i had to resort to taking train to another metro station to try if the machine there was working. And this is the part where you will be yelling in frustration if you don't have the Paris Visite)

Anyway, back to disneyland. We spent the whole day there till 10pm! There was so much to see, so much to play, so much fun and laughter! I shall not elaborate much on the things we did. U have to come to experience it for urself! But then again from the pictures i saw from my parents trip to japan, i think tokyo disneyland should be better, slightly at least. Anyway, here's some pics in Disneyland!





For more pics, visit my friendster photos @ http://www.friendster.com/viewalbums.php?uid=10495887

Btw, to wen yi, i think the new tiny world in Hong Kong disneyland is 'It's a small small world'
I've attached a video for a sneak preview for you..hehe.. The entry to paris disneyland is around rm250. The entrance to HK disneyland is half the price right? Hmm, no harm going again i guess..hehe..count me in!

Ulm with Wei Chung and Vincent

I went to Ulm yesterday, to meet up with Wei Chung and Vincent. N they became my tour guide of the day! I took a train from Esslingen (Neckar) to Ulm Hbf, and it costed me ken 14.60 euros. Expensive gila!

I reached there at 12.44pm as it was earlier stated. (trains here are really punctual) N wei chung was already there waiting for me. Thank you! Vincent on the other hand, was rushing up the stairs when we exited. We bumped into each other there.

First stop, we went for a stroll at the main street in ulm. They wanted to bring me to a restaurant serving schnitzel popular there, but the shop was closed. We ended up in Michelangelo Ristorante.


This beer called Radler is a common drink there. It tastes sweet somehow, unlike those beer we find in malaysia. Or malaysia has it? Ah, i don't know. I seldom drink.


My pasta! Long long german name which i've totally forgotten the name..ehe..


Me n vincent. He's so happy to see me eh?

After satisfying our appetite, we continued our explore in ulm. We took a lot of photos (with me in it) cuz according to vincent, photos without a person in it can be easily googled, that is - strictly prohibited. Anyway, some of the landmarks there include this pyramid which is actually a public library which both of them have never entered.



There was also an astronomical clock which people would stare for hours which i wonder why. I didn't want to take photos cuz i didn't particularly have any interest on it. But vincent said all visitors take photos of it. So i guess i should follow the norm?


We then went to Ulm Münster. It is the TALLEST CHURCH IN THE WORLD with a steeple containing 768 steps. And i, Lim Renly, set a record of reaching the top! Oooh, i've reached such great heights in my life!hehe..


Photos with Wei Chung n Vincent before our journey up. Upon reaching the top, we could view the city of Ulm in Baden-Württermberg and also Neu-Ulm in Bayern (another province).



Stufen means steps in German.

I can proudly announce that the whole trip going down, i wasn't afraid at all unlike the two guys with me.

Anyway, before i left Ulm, we went to Henry's Coffee World to pamper ouselves to some drinks. I ordered Caramel Macchiato.*woots*


That's my drink..hehe..

P/s: Vincent n Wei Chung paid for all my expenses there! Vincent even paid for my train ticket back to Esslingen. I cannot be more grateful considering that they spent the whole day accompanying me, n that the things there are super expensive. A simple meal can easily cost more than 10 euros @ rm50.

Wilhelma Zoo and Botanical Garden

The weather forecast showed that it's 9°C. It was freezing cold!! And yes pat, i did ask ken to buy me a jacket. Gosh, can i not admit i am petite. There wasn't a single jacket that i could fit in after going to a few shops. Alas, i found an XS jacket, which i could fit in! N it costed only 16 euro according to ken, which with no doubt i immediately converted it to ringgit malaysia, making it rm80..hehe.. Luckily it's spring now. Cuz i saw the original price tag was 40 euros..rm200!

While i was trying on the XS jacket, scrutinizing every bit of it, ken kept trying different hats on me..n insisted that i take one. So well, ahem, i did take one.. N the final result was..tada....


Anyway, as planned, we went to Wilhelma Zoo. It's located in Bad Cannstatt. It's a zoological cum botanical garden, one of the largest zoo in germany. The major attraction there currently is a baby polar bear named Wilbaer. He made his first appearance in april. N im already there seeing him in may..woohoo!!


Lots of visitors came mainly for Wilbaer. Due to the long queue, we started cam-whoring..hehe..

Besides the zoo, there was also a tropical garden, but we did't explore much. Cuz it's pretty much the same as the jungles in malaysia..

But, but, there were lots of animals which we could get really close in contact with, e.g penguins, tigers, elephants, giraffe etc. And i managed to touch penguins, donkey, cow etc for the first time of my life!hehe..



Interesting bird eh? The pelican could turn his head 180° and stuff it inside his..erm..back?


This 'i don't know the name' fish was really good at camoflaging itself! I didn't even notice it at first.

This 'thing' called Limulus Polyphemus or Pfeilschwanzkrebse in German (go ahead n pronounce it..hehe) has existed since 350 million years ago. There are only 4 species left, n the amusing thing is that 3 of them are found in south east asia. N i came alllll the way to germany to see one.*deep sigh*

N finally, this! I think it looks like Devi Davy Jones..don't u think so?

First dinner @ Esslingen

The portion here is huuuuuuge! The schnitzel (something like chicken chop), is approximately 3 times the size of those we can find in malaysia.




The upper two was what kenneth ordered. It comes in a set. The lower was mine! I could only finish half of it.-_-" Plus actually mmine was a bit tough to cut into pieces, didn't really like it. Kenneth's choice was way better!!


This is apparently a traditional german food, which i can't recall the name at this moment. Ordered by phoebe, the only girl in the dinner group besides me. I could see that she had a tough time trying to finish up her portion as well.

We spent a couple of hours there, mainly cuz we were chattering all the way. N with the immense portion, it really took us quite some time to finish up till the last bit.

We left about 9sth. N before we parted our ways..a decent group picture..*all smiles*

Destiny

Ken brought me to the place he takes driving lessons, but we couldn't find the car he drives.

Instead, on the way back, we came across a mercedes of the same model. Well, this is the car he drives for driving lessons. Compare that what we use in malaysia! a tiny winy kancil..hehe..


Well, destiny brought me to a mercedes with the car plate 1018, kenneth's birthday.

I mean, what are the chances rite?

Esslingen

The air here is soooo fresh! It's pretty sunny outside..going for a stroll now at the park would be fantastic! I know i can take a long deep breath here, n be certain tat the air is not polluted. Would have ended up coughing in malaysia.

Anyway, esslingen, the current place i stay, is a small town in germany. Nevertheless, the view is breathtaking.


I mean, where can u find swans in the river, living in wild? Certainly not in malaysia. Kenneth told me that before he went to croatia, the eggs had not hatched. N now, there r six babies already! whee!!

N most of the buildings here are of historic values.
Well, except kenneth's uni, which i haven't taken any photos.

Kenneth's room

I was in awe when i saw the view from kenneth's room. Unbelievable!
There's this really nice church and various old buildings.



Hmm, let me recall wat i have in front of my house in vista komanwel. There's erm, a building which is a condo, n erm, imu, n erm..nothing much..sigh..again...

Anyway, good thing is tat my room is neater than his..i mean WAY neater..(hope he doesn't notice this line) Cant really blame him actually, cuz we seriously have different views on cleanliness. Perfect example-i saw this empty container n wanted to put some food stuffs inside. I asked him if it's clean. He said yes. I opened the container. This was wat i saw.

I stared at him. N he said i quote 'ya la, clean wat, only got chocolate powder inside only'. I washed it n showed him wat is the meaning of a clean container. There we go.


Better? His room seriously needs some 'readjustments'. I started off with the food place. And after a woman's touch, it became like tis:

Tada! Neater than any time before i came i believe..*evil smirk*

First Day in Germany

Cant believe im writing my second blog in germany!

I had an almost sleepless night during the 13 hours flight..partly attributed to the MAS air-stewardess who wakes me up every now and then asking me what i want to drink..-_-"

Anyway, on arrival at the frankfurt airport, i couldn't help but took some photos..

This is one at the airport..i think klia looks nicer..hehe..

Kenneth was already at the airport when i walked out after collecting my luggage. He said couples who meet at the airport would kiss..so that was what we did..*blush*

Anyway, we went to mannheim after that, the place where vee lynn stays..gave her two hugs, one on behalf of chin yeong:)

We then headed off to heidelberg. Claimed to have erm, nicest castle there? not sure..hehe..a supposedly must go place..but den i find it ok only..hehe..

View from the castle.

Part of the castle.

Yeap, tat's the castle at the mountain.

We took what's known as slow train to go back to esslingen. Which is obviously faster than out lrt n monorial.