Switzerland road trip!

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took 2 days off and visited Switzerland over the wkend. been looking forward to this trip for ages!! chocolates and cheese... mountains & lakes.. sounds heavenly =)

we visited Geneva on the first day..
The Broken Chair.. the sculpture's commissioned to urge all countries to sign the Mine Ban Treaty, to honour their commitments to help mine victims & to clear mine areas.

Beautiful lake Geneva

Autumn leaves..

giant chess boards in the park

scrumptious pizza dinner @ interlaken! btw, the food's reli expensive in Switzerland..no, correction. EVERYTHING's ridiculously expensive in Switzerland. a kebab from a takeaway costs 9CHF = 6GBP = 15SGD!! haha. this pizza's 19CHF. oh well. but when u're travelling & u're hungry.. money doesnt matter!

on the 2nd day, we drove to the cheese factory in Broc, la Maison du Gruyere (The house of Cheese)
it was a self-guided factory tour.. it was awesome! learnt everything possible abt cows & the cheese making process.

rows & rows of cheese.. they're kept on the shelves for a period of between 3 to 10mths.. the longer they ferment, the "smellier" the cheese!

our cheese fondue at long last~ the authentic Swiss cheese fondue has got a reli strong wine taste.. and u have it with potatoes & bread..

and all the cows in Switzerland has got cow bells! =) it's kind of noisy actually.. imagine an entire field of cows with cow bells.... apparently the cow bells are there to give the farmer assurance that his cows are still around..

We visited the Cailler chocolate factory next!!

It was a free choc factory tour with rows & rows of free choc samples.. how incredible is that?! we ate till we thot we were gg to die of diabetes right there and then.

after the massive feast.. it was time to appreciate nature..
beautiful lakes @ interlaken.. Thun-ner-see (Thun means tuna!)


at the base of Jungfrau mountain..


we took the cable car up to the mid station and went for a lil hike!


Mount Eigen


the valley..

top of the world... =)

the impressive trummelbach falls ~ it's a series of 10 glacier waterfalls within the caves!

the photos probably dun do it justice, but the trummelbach falls's easily one of the most magnificent & mystic work of nature..





scenic view from the caves..



and last but not least, here's our spectacular sleek OPEL Insignia!! (we had a free car upgrade, which was awesome. I'll probably never earn enough to be able to drive this car otherwise)


~gone in a moment..

Dublin wkend trip

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Visited Dublin last wkend. We ended up spending more time outside Dublin instead..

went on a one day tour to Wicklow and Glendalough on Saturday. pretty scenic views enroute...

they have got pretty lil purple flowers growing on turf everywhere (which they burn during winter instead of coal)

the valley where they filmed bravehearts! (not that I watched the movie)

lovely lakes..


Monastic City (Glendalough)


yet another beautiful lake near Monastic City..


American frens - Darren & Dave!

On Sunday, we went for the Guinness Factory tour... and we actually spent 3.5hrs there!! so ridiculous.. but the tour's kinda nice.. they show u the entire beer making process..and all the ingredients that go into it!

the tour ends off at the Gravity bar.. (right at the top!) u get to exchange ur ticket stub for a free pint of Guinness..
and u get an aerial view of Dublin city centre as well.

Guinness's reli black and bitter (yeh I know.. not much of a description eh.) but I reli havent mastered the art of appreciating alcohol (apart from those in chocolates) so.. I only managed 1/4 pint!
Massive Guinness hat in the Guinness storehouse..

finally.. we ventured into Dublin city centre- Grafton Street

Christchurch cathedral..

traditional Irish food! ~ Stewed Beef Casserole

and Irish lamb Stew + wheaten bread.

they're both reli hearty and lovely =)

ooh.. lastly.. do you know that garfield's Irish?

yup.. that about sums up Dublin trip. not as exciting as the other places.. looking forward to Switzerland this wkend!! =)

~gone in a moment..

life is fleeting..

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at the beginning, there were flies,
HUGE disgusting swarms of flies..
amd overgrown grasses and shrubs..
thorns and brambles that stick out and scar u.
from all sides.
then with the passing of summer,
they disappeared and died.

and then there were moths,
moths of all sizes that threatened to overcrowd the lil room.
but with the passing of summer,
they, too disappeared and died.

and then there were the lovelier things in life..
the flowers that only bloomed in spring
the little ducklings & baby lambs growing fast in preparation for the change of season..
the migrant ducks & geeses.
the 17hrs of daylight.
but with the passing of summer,
they are all fast disappearing..

nearly got squished by a reckless driver while cycling to work yesterday,
and i nearly squished some reckless jay-walker dashing across the road today.
maybe it's just the reckless cyclist at fault eh.

with the passing of summer,
everything's fast disappearing.

gotta live each day as if it's the last..
coz life is oh-so-fleeting.

~gone in a moment..

Blackforest road trip!

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visited Blackforest last wkend with the Stevenage gals. We rented a car and drove around the Blackforest & its surrounding regions, exploring the pretty little towns, taking in the beautiful scenery (& of coz stuffing our faces with the awesome food!!)

the first town we visited was Strasbourg.. (France)
Cathedral of Notre Dame

town centre..


le petit France ~ (a region within Strasbourg)



we then visited the university town of Tubingen.. it's so pretty it actually looks fake and 2-Dimensional in photos! a pity we only reached there at night though.. everything's closed!


Sunday was explore-nature-day ~ coz all the shops everywhere are closed on Sundays in Germany.


beautiful lake Titisee



Europe's highest waterfall.. Triberg wasserfall (it's a lil trickle reli..disappointing!)

now here's the real deal.. Rhine falls! Europe's largest waterfall


view from the top

the region around the Blackforest is especially famous for their cuckoo clocks..

each is intricately crafted..


and here's the world's largest clock!

visited Freiburg (Germany) on the last day


there are lil canals that run through the town centre

apparently they're there for easy access to water in the event of fire..
also, legend has it that if a lady jumps into the canal, she'll marry a Freiburg man! i dunno about boys though..

and finally.. how can any trip be complete without the food?!
check out the odd shaped pumpkins!


special pasta dumpling = pork meat wrapped up in special pasta skin

Strasbourg speciality = flat pizza with onion & cream

meat loafs..

pretty german pastries..

and loads more pastries!


german nudle + pork, beef & turkey steaks in mushroom sauce

pancake soup! ~ PANCAKE soup! haha. we were incredulous when we first saw it. it's reli pieces of pancakes in the soup. tastes surprisingly nice =)

some house special.. spinach meatball.. tastes reli good as well. doesn't look like a meatball at all though.

super duper huge bread..looks more like a stone eh.

the famous Blackforest cake! - the supposedly authentic version is so different from the Prima Deli one. it has got REAL cherries + loads of rum & cream!

and thick creamy german cheesecake


~gone in a moment..