♥ Germany ♥

Day 2 (30th Dec' 08)

Well after a good nights rest and after struggling to get out of bed to make it in time for breakfast.. we made a mad rush down to where the walking tour would start.. just made it in the knick of time.. (:

Brewer's Best of Berlin Walking Tour was what we went for and I must say it was one of the best tours Ive ever taken... we had to walk everywhere like but everything was on the way so it was good.. Our tour guide Brad who ironically wasnt German but from America was amazing though.. the way he explained and took the tour actually made history interesting...

This is the first iconic place we saw.. it had a long story to it haha but bottom of the story is that it might not be there any more in a few months time..

Berlin Jewish Synagogue that survived WWII

Bullet holes from the war that were still on buildings..

Lunch - sausages .. whats new.. hahah anyone keeping a sausage count?

The Trabant : A typical East Berlin Car in the past..

Brandenburg Tor

The interior of DZ bank in Berlin.. yes a bank~!!! imagine coming to work every morning to this..

Hotel Adlon.. does this hotel look familiar to anyone at all??? something happened here a couple of years ago...

In November 2002, Michael Jackson caused widespread criticism when he dangled his baby son, Prince Michael Jackson II, from a balcony at this hotel.. wacko jacko indeed...

Reichstag, the first parliament of the German Empire

Soviet WWII Memorial

Holocaust Memorial

this place is just amazing.. architecturally intriguing... the blocks of concrete are planted at different heights at different angles. When you walk through it you are suppose to experience something. Its kinda hard to explain cos when you are in, its like you've walked into a concrete jungle literally.. its blocks after blocks of concrete.. you get disoriented, you hear noises but dont know where they are coming from.. the guy that designed it wanted ppl to form their own opinion when they walk through it, try to allow us to feel how someone who went through the holocaust would feel...

Whats left of the infamous Berlin Wall

Well I was literally standing on what used to be West Germany and Angel on what use to be East Germany haha and ironically I live in the west and Angel lives in the east...

Topography of Horror

Checkpoint Charlie

Berliner Dome Cathedral

The Old Museum

Dinner at some italian place near our hotel.. nothing fantastic.. had to catch a bus to Hamburgh soon after so couldn be fussy with what we were gonna eat for dinner that night..

The tour covered most of the important sights to see in Germany but it didn allow us to stay at any place long.. we took the tour as a opportunity to mark it on the map and at least know where it is so that we can go back and check it out in detail.. it was a good informed tour that started at 10am and last till abt 5pm.. imagine how tired we all were by the end of it..

That night we got a bus to Hamburgh.. long 3 hour bus ride and only managed to get into Hamburgh at abt 12.30am.. another long tiring day...

Read more...

♥ Germany ♥

Day 1 (29th Deb' 08)

Well getting to Germany in the first place wasnt an easy feat.. Flight was from Edinburgh airport @ 6am.. so here's what we had to do...

28th Dec 11.30pm - Train from Queenstreet station to Edinburgh train station...

29th Dec 12.45am - Bus from Edinburgh train station to airport...

Arrived at Edinburgh airport at abt 1.15am... studied, slept, waited till gates opened at 4am.. Flight left at 6am, arrived in Berlin at 9.15am.. Phew.. to think getting to Germany is only a 2 hr flight...

We managed to find our way to the hotel easily.. train system was kinda the same as Paris. checked-in, msged the brother to meet us which was the hard part... haha cos it was sooo cold, hard to msg with gloves on and too cold to take gloves off (Alistair's excuse).. but anyho managed to meet him and Amy...

View from the hotel room

Our first lunch in Berlin from the German Christmas Market nearby

Alistair looking kinda lost...

Delicatessen along the street... looked really yummy so we went in to have a look..

Walked along the main street and saw this beautifully decorated shopping mall.. Kadewee 'aka' Paragon of Berlin haha... all the posh brands u can think of under one roof...

First Chocolaterie we saw we had to go in, I mean, who can resist that!!! bought ourselves some chocolate.. Alistair and I shared 500g, he taking most of them naturally...

Another chocolaterie just a few meters from the one we were just at haha.. and we were worried we wouldn see another for ages....

Didn know what to do on the first day so decided to just head over to "The Story of Berlin" museum... tour didn start till abt 3pm so we had a cup of cocoa while Damus had his first beer of the trip, one of many.. in a really old dodgy bar haha.. we survived... (:

Trying to figure out where to go... maps are a life saver... cant go anywhere without them

Underground bunkers used during the war...

Museum upstairs

Hotel we stayed at.

Memorial church a night... see how there is the old church on the left.. well its empty now and the new church is that funny looking building on the right, just next to it..

We didn know where to go for dinner, Alistair and Amy said the place they went the night before was quite good so we decided to just head back there.. it was much further than expected, Alistair and Amy had a bus to catch as well. unfortunately cos we lost track of time they couldn join us for dinner and had to rush for their bus to Paris.. thank god they managed to get on it on time...

First dinner in Berlin wasnt a fantastic one.. everything was just so so SO salty.. I like salty food, but this was just over the top salty... and thats all we did on the first day.. think we were just too tired to do anything else from the lack of sleep and all that travelling... so it was back to the hotel for a good nights rest.....

Read more...

Back in halls, back to my cosy (when the heater starts to work again) little matchbox room, back to student halls... Germany was definitely an eye-opening experience... so much history, didn wow me like how Italy and Paris certainly did... Germany was different... lets just say, Ive had enough of wearing 5 layers of clothes everyday, enough of cold weather, snow in my eyes, enough of sausages (including currywurst!)... pictures will come when I get them from D&A..

Friends have been telling me to check my mail box.. so I was really looking forward to checking my pigeon hole to see if the postman had brought me anything.. but to my dismay.. it was empty when I got back from the airport this afternoon.. so I thought one of my flatmates had already brought all the mail back to the flat.. so I went straight to the kitchen to check... no mail.. slightly disappointed... then I thought.. maybe they have slipped all my mail under my door into my room.. so went straight to my room to check.. no mail... oh well thought I had to wait a couple more days before they arrive...

So unpacked my bag, did the usual tidying up, checked my e-mails, time just flew.. next thing it's dinner time... no food in flat, only instant noodles.. went to kitchen to make some noodles and alas~!!!! mail on the kitchen table and they were all for me~!!! u can just imgaine the biggest smile on my face (: I just dropped everything, took all my mail and went straight back to my room to open my mail... still beaming mind you.. (:

Thank you so so much for taking the time to buy me a card and going to the post office to send it... no idea how much I appreciate it... (: really did put a huge smile on my face... (:

Mom and Dad's christmas card finally arrived....

Thank you Kelly for both your cards, Auntie Liz and Uncle Tony for sending one, Fannie, loved the card u sent haha... I dont mind late cards haha thank you Princess and *marc, yes it finally arrived~! (:

♥ Fannie - loved ur card haha.. my 2nd birthday cake~!! hee...

♥ Kelly - thank you for both the cards and the little tiny card... small little things like this make it all that extra special... (:

haha and Princess... never fail to find a peacock sticker... hee.... ♥


Ooooo when I was back in Singapore, *marc and I spent many hours one night in Mustafa searching for my cars haha...couldn find them then but I've found them~!! hahah.. Just go to Hamburgh, Germany... Minature Wonderland.. they have loads... stood there for a good hour digging through heaps of cars to find the ones I was looking for and I manage to find all 4 of them.. wheee... ♥ one's still in its box which I cant open so I guess it's gonna stay there... but the other 3 have found their new home.. hee...

Im definitely a very lucky girl... and I will be going to bed with a huge smile on my face tonight knowing that I have incredible friends and family who I hope they know are important to me.. every single one of them and I will be there for them whenever they need me.. cos if they didin know that, now they do (:

♥

Read more...