Officially counting now!

Before I know, i am left with 7 days in this beloved continent of mine! :( wherever I am, I think of europe and feel nostalgic. This place simply left me with too many awesome memories that make me find it hard to detach myself from it!

Anyway, I finally got to experience a white Christmas! :) the visit to Rovaniemi was one that had been planned 3 years ago but I only got to fulfill it 2 days ago! :) seeing Santa Claus in person, walking in the snow, riding a reindeer sleigh, etc. the only missing thing was northern lights! Ah, how sad....

I guess because of the existence of Santa Claus in rovaniemi, and that parents from all over the world, especially the Europeans, bring their children to visit this place, it makes Christmas more meaningful. Rather, it makes people love Christmas more and also learn the joy of giving and sharing! :)

Merry Christmas everyone!

The journey thus far

Unknowingly, I have been in Europe for a week and honestly, it has been a challenging yet fulfilling journey thus far. 6 months ago, I was extremely stunned when a friend of mine told me that she gave up a place in Stanford in exchange for a business opportunity. All along, I had deep admiration for her because she was leading a life that I sought. She graduated with a first class honours, toured the world, entered a top consulting firm, was given the chance to be posted to Toronto to work, and eventually saved a huge sum of money to go for graduate school in yet another top university. :) life just couldn't be better than that. However, prior to going to Stanford, she took a break from work and had some time to spend on her own. It was then that she decided that she did not want to be an employee all her life. For the past 7 years, she had been too engrossed in delivering results, academically and in her workplace. She was too caught up with all the expectations and work that she had no idea what is it that she truly wants in life until she got that break!

I guess this holiday, I feel the same way she did 6 months ago. Previously, I had mentioned that I am embarking on a travel with mixed feelings this time round. First, one of my best friends in poly had just gotten married and was embarking on a new phase in life. I truly realised that we are indeed no longer young, no longer had the youth to idle and waste our life away. Second, I will be missing Christmas with my sec sch friends! FYI, I have been spending Christmas's eve or new year's eve with them almost every single year since I was 16! Sometimes, we end up walking around and doing nothing but it was during these moments that we forged a strong bond or relationship that I sincerely and strongly believe will last till the end of our lives. Third, I'll be missing New Year's Eve with my family members! For the past 6 years, we have been holding a gift exchange party, though for the first few years we held it on Christmas's eve. In my opinion, that is the perfect way to end a year and also to start a brand new one. We have fun, we have joy, we have laughter in the house! Sometimes, we talk about our new year resolutions, we gossip, we complain, but we are TRULY happy at the end of the party! Everyone gets really tired but I am pretty sure we all go to bed with a smile plastered on our faces. Fourth, because wai needs to work on her projects, we will not be visiting switzerland together during the Xmas period. And she has limited time available for travelling so I will be spending the first half of the journey on my own!

There were simply too many of these push factors that made me ponder about my decision to go to Europe. However, the pull factors had a stronger effect on me I guess.

First, I have been wishing for a white Xmas for quite a few years. This was an opportunity and I really do not want to miss it. Furthermore, wai's studies will come to an end next June and i seriously doubt I will have time to visit her in June next year. Second, it has been 3.5 years since I last stepped foot on Europe. I really miss the place and have been reminiscing about all that has happened back then. Be it the architecture, the people, the weather, the snow, the memories. So I took the plunge and booked my tickets to Europe!

Now as I am reflecting, I am 80% sure I made the right decision. When I spend time on my own, I think a lot more. I suppose it is because i have no one to talk to and so i ask myself questions and then try to find the answers to it. However, I am absolutely sane and am not suffering from bipolar disorder or whatsoever. As I am on a holiday, I do not feel as tired as compared to when I am in Singapore whereby I literally fall asleep minutes after I lie on bed or fall asleep while I am watching the television. Thus, it was during the nights I spent in Switzerland and Poland that I realise what new dreams I have in life and what my life cycle should be like for the next 5 years. And because of me acquiring these new dreams, I feel afresh as a person and my outlook of life is more optimistic than ever. When a person has dreams, he or she finds motivation and drive to work hard.

By stepping out of my comfort zone, I mature as a person as well. I become more independent and I stretch my physical and mental limits. For e.g., my luggage tore apart and I had to make do with a duffer bag. The bag is at least 12 kg and I had to carry it together with a backpack and walked 20 minutes to the railway station. Upon arriving at Warsaw, I had to carry that same two bags and walked another 10 minutes to my hotel. Money was definitely not the reason why I had not taken a taxi instead. I just wanted myself to become stronger mentally as a person. Thus, so far my Europe trip has been a challenging but definitely fulfilling one! :)

I have 14 more days left and yes, this time round like all other trips, I dislike returning to reality but because I found a new dream that I want to fulfil, I am convinced that having reality knocking is the way for me to enter into my dreams once again! :) feels like inception suddenly! Ciaozzz.....

Warsaw experience

I had a wonderful 2-day stay in Warsaw I must say. The city is must safer than I thought it would be. Perhaps it is the religion that the Poles adopt which explains their behaviour and attitude. About 90% of the Poles are Catholic and the guide in Krakow was right about Poland being a traditional catholic country which devote their Sundays faithfully to church and god. In Warsaw, I see for myself what it means to have a faith.

I remembered that when I went to Shanghai 2 weeks ago, the professor who gave us a lecture on Shanghai mentioned about how the lack of a religion or faith makes one greedy, unscrupulous, or even immoral. That explains why the PRCs are known to be profit- oriented businessmen who lack sympathy for the poor or the health of others. In Poland, I see the other side of human beings.

While in Wilanow and the other parts of Warsaw, I see people walking, rushing to churches. Mother and son walking together to church, students flocking to church in hordes, and the most amazing one was seeing a tall, cute, handsome and promising young man with his messenger bag hurrying to church after hearing the church bells! I think I am someone who fears commitment which explains why I adopt no religion. I cannot foresee myself diligently going to a place of worship on a regular basis and not questioning whatever faith that I might adopt. But I see the majority of the Poles doing that, young and old alike. For that, I truly admire them for who they are.

It is often in these cities that we see peace and stability and security. :)

The visit to the Warsaw uprising museum caught myself at a surprise because I know I am not a museum person and even if I were to go to one, I am unlikely to stay there for more than 2 hours. However, I spent close to 5 hours in that museum. The whole exhibition was awesome because of the way they presented the entire WWII situation where Poland is concerned. We had read in secondary school textbooks about how WWII started as a result of Germany's invasion of Poland and how the Jews were exterminated in concentration camps in Poland. But we never truly learnt anything in depth in my personal opinion despite the 1 year spent on it. A visit to Berlin, Munich, Krakow, and Warsaw in 2 weeks would suffice and be deemed more beneficial. All the insights of the war, from invasion to capitulation to uprising and eventually surrender are simply awe-inspiring!

The visit to Warsaw's stare mistro was a little of a disappointment. The square was a small one and there were not that many shops or fanciful items that can be bought. It reminds me of Stockholm's old town but I guess the latter was so much more beautiful! :)

But anyway, I was lucky to have gone to a really nice Polish restaurant which served delicious cuisine! The warming winter tea was one of a kind and after drinking it, I really find the cold less overwhelming.

I guess I am pretty sick of castles and cathedrals after the Europe tour in 2008. Every other castle pales in comparison compared to the ones in Austria, Sweden, and Buckingham Palace. The only twos that I have heard are of equivalence are Versailles in Paris and the one in Munich which I did not visit the last time round. As a result, I no longer pay to enter castles. As for cathedrals, I have seen at least 20-30 of them in Europe and my favourite 3 has got to be saint peter's in Rome, notre dame and sacred coure in Paris. So no more cathedrals for me when on tour. As a result of such a mentality, I see myself needing lesser time when I visit. I guess I have to say so for waterfalls. I don't think I will pay much attention to falls again after having seen Niagara, with the only exception the Iguazu falls in Brazil! Hope that some day I get to visit it and that day would not be too far away.....

Krakow day 2

The Krakow stare mistro is probably one of the best town squares I have ever been to in Europe! The square is bustling with people, beautiful monuments adorn the town square and it is humongous! :) there is also a Christmas market and it was really lively. ;) I love pâté (if I interpret it correctly)! It is a pastry, hot and filled with cheese with cranberry sauce on it! Singaporeans will use the word SHIOK when they taste it during winter! So I spent the night at the Krakow old town square after returning from Auschwitz and the Salt mine.

I guess the salt mine is really a major highlight of my visit to Poland! I learnt a lot of general knowledge when I was there. Owing to Singapore being a tropical country and consequently we do not experience snow. As such, our understanding of the use of salt is limited to only cooking. So when the guide told us that salt is an extremely important commodity in Poland, especially during winter, my mind was filled with question marks! Apparently, salt is used to break the snow or build snow (either one, I did not really understand her explanation). So I told myself that when I get back to Singapore, I should google and find out about this. Another interesting fact: salt is used as a form of money i.e. wages and the word salary is derived from the word salt.

The visit is the first time I enter a mine and there were a lot of things that I did not understand. I ended up like a student on a field trip and kept posing the guide questions. She did the job duly and explained to me the complicated processes to her best knowledge. One of the issues was how salt is being derived. Being a mountain tortoise who lives in a country with no natural resources, I had always thought that salt comes from the sea. We heat up the seawater and through some chemical processes like evaporation, crystallisation and filtration, we end up with pure WHITE salt. But actually, salt is not always dissolved in seawater! Salt can come in solid blocks and can be grey in colour. That is because they are mixed with impurities therefore they do not appear to be white. However, if they come into contact with water, water vapour in the air inclusive, they will then dissolve in it and form white salt. The Polish guide call it cauliflower! :) while in the mine, the guide allowed us to touch the walls or even lick them to convince ourself that we are actually surrounded by salt! Even the floors are made of salt!! I had no reservations when it comes to pursuing the truth. So I rubbed my fingers against the wall then smell and taste it! OMG, it's really salty! I have indeed learnt a lot in the salt mine!

The one who does not remember history is bound to repeat it again

What a tag line I've as the title of the post. Simply put it, Auschwitz and birkenau really impressed me.

I think history has a lot of lessons for us but as humans, when we live in peace and harmony for too long, we take it for granted and forget what it takes for us to perpetuate this stability. Look at how Iran is on their way to develop nuclear weapons, the death of Kim Jong Il and hopefully not another bloody succession, unrest in the Syria, and hopefully not another war by Israel man! :(

I've always wanted to visit Poland for the history is too enticing for anyone else to miss it. When I stepped foot onto the camps and listened to the stories shared by the guide, I was overwhelmed with lessons to share with my students in school!

Yeah the Nazis were really the kings of propaganda! They painted such a rosy picture of a life in Auschwitz and convinced more European Jews to voluntarily pay for a one-way ticket to the death camp. Imagine trucks filled with people who were full of hopes of a place where they can lead better lives. When they finally arrive at their supposed 'paradise,' they are separated from their families and still, they think that this moment of anguish is worth the paradise that awaits them. Life or death laid in the hands of one man, one crazy experimenter, and if he points you in the right direction, you get a second life. For all that they did not know, these Jews were walked to the end of the platform and only till their very last gasp of air will they finally find out that getting to paradise is indeed true, only that paradise is in another dimension and no longer on our beautiful Mother Earth!

A lesson that I brought home with me today from Auschwitz is, no one should be seen as being superior to another, for that creates divide, anger, hatred, extremism and eventually extermination.

We should all be really glad that the Polish government is doing their very best to maintain these historical sites as they serve as warnings to our future generation about the atrocities of war crimes. I am full of praises for Germany's efficiency and this impression has not changed after the visit to the camp. Instead, I have new found admiration for their courage to step out and up to face their past. The Germans could be subjected to mockery and reprimanding by the rest of the world. However, we all have our own judgment about war crimes. A series of atrocious acts by a group of self-proclaimed actors of justice i.e. Nazis is not representative of how German civilians in general are. And for that, we will not judge the future generations of Germans that we face today. If only the Japanese could understand this argument, I am sure we will be exposed to more life's lessons from history.

And after the visit, I think about the true purpose of education yet again. Sometimes, we hear kids complaining about the various theorists or academia for e.g. Why did pythagoras invent the stupid Pythagoras theorem? or why did Adam Smith read so much into human's behaviour? If they had not existed, we would not have to study so hard!

Now, I think I will have an ideal explanation for that - Education is the avenue to remember the legacies of great people from the past and also have your own legacies being written down in history.

Are you game to create your own legacy?

Indeed, the world is the biggest classroom one can ever afford. There is Chinese saying: 读万卷书不如行万里路. I understand the world so much better with all the travels that I've embarked on.

Singapore VS Poland

I arrived in Krakow late on Sunday night and was expecting a ghost town. But to my biggest surprise, the town was the exact opposite of what I had imagined it to be! There was an ice-skating ring just at the doorstep of the railway station. That really reminded me of the time when I was in Stockholm and Kim and I went ice skating in winter. It was the first time I had my feet on the ice skating ring and having snow hitting my face as I skate was simply awesome! :)

I had to collect my rail tickets at the post office which was opened 24 hours and trust me, the queue is lonnnggg! Perhaps we Singaporeans take things for granted. Singapore is truly an efficient city, from the airport to the city centre, with the exception of our transport system I guess! :) I have never seen any unusual long queues at the immigration checkpoint in Changi Airport, instead I see numerous spacious toilets placed at strategic locations in the terminals and multiple water points and Internet access points. Recently, I even see the OSIM massage chair at T3! :) our malls are open for long hours and we always get have clear directions or signage for tourists who attract our various places of interest. But I can't say so for other countries. It is when I leave Singapore that I start to appreciate all these little things in our everyday life! But there are pros and cons. No doubt we as citizens are proud of our nation and this makes our standard of living better - quality lifestyle, however we lack patience and tolerance (some not all) become over reliant on our government to make things right. We blame our government for the Orchard Road floods and make a joke out of it (if you watched the hitler one). C'mon people, the extent of that flood was not even 1% of the recent one that hit Bangkok and Cambodia. The SMRT train relays were seen as a life and death issue to some but compared to UK or Europe, such delays are common.!

I guess enough of my rants and praises after my first experience with Poland!

Interlaken day 2 and Zurich!

I was complaining about how I missed seeing the French and Italian alps due to the foggy weather. Come to think of it now, I am absolutely fortunate because the very next day, Jungfraujoch was closed to visitors due to a snow storm! :)

Nevertheless, I explored Munnen and lauterbrunnen. Both are villages or stopover points for people to get to Jungfraujoch and schitlorn. I went all the way to Munnen, saw the Jungfrau, Eider, etc from Munnen. Yeah, it was snowing up there and the scenery was awesome! :) I guess Switzerland did impress me and made me wanna go back again some day.

I went to lauterbrunnen as well, green with valleys etc but there wasn't much for me to explore as it was raining. There wasn't much shopping to be done anyway. So I returned to interlaken after taking some photos. And since i started the day early, I finished the two places by 12 noon.

Initially, my plan was to get to a inn for their wings but I missed grocery shopping when I was in Stockholm.! So I went to coop and grab some pizza and prepared my own dinner! :) I guess that's one thing I miss a lot about Europe! :)

I went around the town centre and interlaken west for some shopping but bought nothing! I guess the best way to cure the shopping impulse in me is to have myself face the situation of not being able to bring it back to Singapore! As I'll be flying on Ryanair and they have this absolutely dumb rule of only 1 hand carry including your handbag, I would have to squeeze 4 bags into 2.! Come on!

While on my way to Zurich, I pass by super pretty scenery! :) mountains covered with snow, lakes, cottages covered in snow, etc. I guess the name of the area is Thun! Some day, I should be there! :)

As for Zurich, it's a small city. Or rather the downtown is small! Finished the whole area within 5 hours. Did the shopping, went to a Christmas market, absolutely love the atmosphere of Christmas! Perhaps it's a Saturday, that's why everyone is out! ;) kids running around, lovers strolling along the rivers, etc etc!

The one thing I'm sure about the Swiss is - they adore Louis Vuitton! I see the LV bags everywhere I go.! Love this feel of walking around, doing nothing.! Absolutely relaxing.... And yet i know soon my dream will end and I'll have to be back to reality once again....

Interlaken

Embarked on my journey to Jungfraujoch this morning. For those who are unaware, Jungfraujoch is at the highest point of Europe, 3000 plus metres above sea level! :)

I guess the planning should have been done better because I had forgotten to check the weather! It was too foggy up at the top thus I was not able to see the French, Italian and German alps! ;( Nevertheless, it was a wonderful experience. The train ride up there exposed me to the beautiful landscapes or the famous mountains of Switzerland, the greenery, countless pine trees that stood tall and was covered in snow, etc! It was also the first time I experienced a "snow storm."

Some day, I'll be back during summer at Jungfraujoch I believe! The one thing I love about Switzerland is that it is really safe. The streets are extremely quiet at night and the weather is freezing cold. However, the people are absolutely warm and always willing to help!

My first Swiss hospitality experience was on the very night that I arrived. I had a hard time getting to the hostel and ended up flagging for a cab. The driver drove me to the place for free! My second experience was with regards to my gloves. I left one of my gloves on the train unknowingly. When I boarded another train, the conductor on the previous train found my gloves and immediately got the station master to bring it on board my train for the owner to claim it back. They did it with a smile, and with a true sense of responsibility. Kudos to the Swiss! They impress people! :)

Fly away, stop the reminiscience

It's been ages since I last blog and I do hope I will pen more during this period when I'm away.

Read the title of the blog, reminiscence of memoirs from 6000 miles.. And yes, today I'm embarking on another 6000miles flight to the place hat I've been reminiscing for the past 3.5 years.

I indeed have very mixed emotions. One, I'm really excited that I'm finally going back to Europe, the continent that I've been dreaming of revisiting. Yet at the same time, I am a little upset that I'll be missing Christmas and New Year and precious time with my family and friends!

There's this saying, the pastures on the other side are always greener. I guess it's true! While I'm in Singapore, I miss Europe. Now that I'm on my way to Europe, I'm starting to miss Singapore! Perhaps it's the reality that I will have to face come January when my trip ends that is hard to swallow for me!

It's been 3.5 years since I last step foot on Europe. After 3.5 years, I guess I'm finally ready to see this beautiful continent once again. Whatever that lies ahead in these 3 weeks, I'm sure it will be a fruitful experience yet again! :)

Time to recharge, time to acquire a new outlook in life, time to be independent and definitely time for new adventures!

My dear family and friends, be patient and we will see each other next year! :)

Merry Xmas and a happy new year in advance! ;)