2 Weeks After

Date : 27 January 2012


It's been almost 2 weeks since I returned back to the sunny island of Singapore. My jet lag is gone and I've adapted back to climate here.

It's funny that when I just returned, the first thing that pop in my mind when I stepped off the plane into the terminal was: Is the air-conditioning working? I was actually sweating inside the airport terminal! I was so used to the cool and dry weather in Vienna where the temperature is about 5 degree Celsius. The humidity also struck me. My sweat pores had remained dormant for so many months and at last, they are able to work again.

Being the miser, I refused to pay the taxis so much money to go home. Airport surcharge plus the new extended peak hour is no joke when I want to go to Ang Mo Kio. So, I dragged my enormous luggage to the MRT and took it all the way back home. En route, I already began to miss Vienna. Here's some comparison on the subway system:

Vienna's U-Bahn	Singapore's SMRT
Cheap (Can use semester card)	Expensive (Distance Fare)
Fast and Efficient	Breaks down in the tunnel
Runs every 4-5mins in offpeak	Runs every 7mins in offpeak
Seats always available	Never get a seat
Can eat and drink in the train	Announcement: “Eating and Drinking is not allowed in stations or on trains. X2 “

I really really really miss eating pizza and drinking beer on the U-Bahn. Lol.

I had already missed a week of lessons when I returned, so the moment I went to school, it was horrible. There's so much things to catch up, plus the weather, plus and jet lag! It's lucky I survived. Furthermore, having not really used by brain for about 8 months, it's really a struggle. There workload here is crazy compared to Vienna. Honestly, the courses in Vienna are a breeze compared to the courses here. I think the workload is only about 1/3, really. I don't really have to study at all for all the courses. It's amazing.

Now, 2 weeks on, having celebrated Chinese New Year too, I think I've settled back to my pre-exchange life. Everything is back to normal: School, projects, tutorials, presentations, (irritating) class participation etc. Looking back, the entire experience just feels like a really wonderful dream. I can't believe that it happened. I keep asking myself, did the last 5 months really just happened?

====================End of Blog=================

P.S : I can't believe I wrote 57 posts here. I've never written so much stuff voluntarily before. Anyway, for the few of you who bothered to read, thanks for reading and I apologize for my poor English. I'm not known to be good in my language :P

Last 24 hours in Vienna

Date : 12 January 2012


Time really flies like a bitch when you are enjoying it. I have spent almost 5 months in Europe and yet it still feels like I have just arrived. I really hate to leave.

Vienna is a fantastic place to live in, and she was recently recognized by Mercer (http://www.mercer.com/press-releases/quality-of-living-report-2011) as the city with the best living standard in the world. The city is very clean, and most importantly, it is a very safe city. Furthermore, the city has one of the best public transport system I've seen so far. The services run very frequently and the trains/trams/buses are very clean and punctual. Best of all it is never crowded on the public transport!

For a capital city of a country, the prices in Vienna are surprisingly cheap. Nothing is really expensive, and we can always find a cheap supermarket down any road. In fact, I always tell my friends that Vienna probably has the highest concentration of supermarkets per square km: billa, merkur, penny, dm, hofer, lindl, interspar etc...

If the opportunity presents itself again in the future, I will not hesitate to come back and live in this fabulous city.

Anyway, back to my last 24 hours in Vienna.

After waking up late at about 12 noon due to a late night drinking and movie watching session with a friend, I began to finish packing up my belongings. It's amazing how little I need to survive because I basically lived with whatever I've got inside my luggage for the past few months. Nonetheless, it is very depressing to pack everything up.

One funny thing though. because we cook a lot in Vienna, we have quite a number of food and utensils left. So I threw them all in the kitchen and put up a "FREE" sign. It was all gone within hours. Hahaha.

Finally, night came, well it's not that long since it turns dark at 5pm, and I went over to my friends place for dinner before heading over to the much talked about pub called Travel Shack. I have heard so much about this place and all the crazy shots that they have, so I was quite excited to go. The place did not disappoint.

I had so much fun playing the games there, and drinking the different shots. The picture on the left is a game where we have to hammer in a nail using the thin end of a hammer. It is really hard but I won the first game anyway, beginners luck I suppose! The shots on the right is called Hiroshima, because it looks like the atomic cloud.

There are so many funny and weird shots around, I tried the Viennese Blood (which is like listerine because you have to gargle it for 30 seconds before swallowing it) and the fire shot (where I had some liquor in my mouth and they light it on fire, video below. There's of course the super crazy shot called "Great Balls on Fire", which the name literally means what you have to do, guys only. I'm not crazy enough to do that but I know a few people who did. They all said it hurts like hell! Lol

I also took the opportunity to take photos with all my fantastic friends whom I've met during the exchange:

  

During my exchange, I have traveled over 22.000km and visited 33 magnificent European cites, some cities twice. I truly love Europe and the people whom I have had the honor to meet along the way. I am really sad that this wonderful and amazing chapter of my life has ended... I wish all of you the very best for your studies, your career, and for some of you, your relationships. Really hope to see you guys again!

Final Destination : Vienna, Austria (Christmas and New Year 2012)

Dates : 25 December 2011 & 31 December 2012


It's Christmas time again and this will be my first time celebrating Christmas outside of Singapore. I was really hoping for a white Christmas but it did not happen. In fact, many places in Europe did not experience snow on the 25th. Nonetheless, it was still a fantastic experience to spend Christmas in a country that really celebrates the festival.

Vienna is famous for her Christmas markets. There were plenty of them to go by, ranging from a few stores to the huge market in front of Rathaus. All of them sell similar items, such as Gluehwine (hot wine), caramelized nuts and Christmas decors. My favorite market would have to be the one in front of the Rathaus (which is the town hall). Although it is a tourist trap, everything costs a bomb, it looks absolutely beautiful.

 

 

I also met a very nice, and probably rich person, at this Christmas market. I was tasked by my friend to get a Gluehwine cup for him at the market. So I went up to this random guy to ask him if he is willing to sell me his cup, which is about EUR2, he said no. Instead, he brought me to the wine stand and bought me one! Talk about the spirit of giving! Well, I think he is rich because he pulled out a stack of EUR500 notes when paying for my cup. Lol

Elsewhere throughout Vienna, decorations and lights were put up throughout the city. I really got a Christmas feeling that I can't get in Singapore. I guess the weather plays a huge role because it is cold here!

 

Initially, I was hoping to make a Christmas feast on the eve, but I ended up having steamboat with my friends and their Chinese friends.

***************************************************************************

In a blink of an eye, it's New Year's Eve already. Again, it's my first time spending it outside Singapore and I  spent it with all the friends I made during the exchange. I really had an awesome time!

We had a feast for dinner as they were cooked by Julian and Cedric. I baked a brownie for dessert too. It's mostly western type of food such as olives and cheese&crackers.

As the guests streamed in, we started to play some (drinking) games. How can new year be celebrated without some alcohol?! Before long, everyone was high and we set off to Heldenplatz for the countdown.

  

 

 

To be honest, I was rather disappointed at the countdown, or rather the lack of it. I was hoping for a proper countdown to midnight and then a burst of fantastic fireworks. However, there was no countdown at all, and the only cue that it was midnight was the random firing of fireworks. All the fireworks seen were probably fired by some random person who bought it from the supermarket. Yes, fireworks can be bought freely and lighted during this period. So throughout the day, we can see and hear fireworks and firecrackers being set off all over the city. This was something I have never experience before and I think it's pretty cool to be able to do that.

Nonetheless, it was still a fantastic way to spend the new year! Happy 2012!

Destination 33: Lucern & Mt. Titlis, Switzerland

Date of Visit: 26 - 28 December 2011


After an extremely long train ride, 9 hours, Ben and I finally reached the Swiss city of Lucern. The main focus of this trip was actually to visit Mount Titlis in the town of Engelberg, about an hour away from Lucern. However, since we were staying in Lucern, we did not want to waste the opportunity to explore the town.

Lucern is not a very big town, which can be explored easily within a day. It's a charming old town built beside a river. We simply followed the recommended route printed on the tourist brochure and we sort of finished looking at all the sights in about 2 hours. Of course, we did not set foot into any museums or churches.

It was also the first time in Europe that I ice-skated. I don't remember it being so difficult, but it was! I cannot really balance and it really hurts and strain my calves. And I got laughed at by little kids when I fell :( I think they even took a video of me, damn those little devils!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, as I mentioned earlier, the main purpose of the trip was to go up Mount Titlis. And in order to get up, we had to buy a ski pass, which cost about 80Fr, but it covered all the ski lifts and cable cars on the mountain.

But the mountain range is beautiful. The view is simply stunning.

 

 

  

 

As we weren't skiing, we had to find other stuff to do. Luckily for us, there are other things to do too, like this noob slope which we can slide down with a slide. It's only about 100meters long, but it was really really very fun.

 

We also built a snowman on top of the mountain. It's not as easy as we thought it would be. Our hands were freezing so badly.

We also made snow angels on the thick snow. We literally just sank into the snow the moment we lie down.

And finally, we tried tobogganing down a very long track. The track was a little overused, so the ride was very bumpy. In any case, it was really fun going down the slope.

 

On the last day, Ben went paragliding. I was quite broke by then already, so I did not want to spend 170Fr on the flight. We had to travel by car to a mountain where Ben and the instructor went up using a private cable car. After waiting for a while, I finally saw Ben flying. The entire flight was about 15-20 minutes, but I'm sure the view and experience is awesome.

 

Mount Titlis, and the Alps in general, is really beautiful. I really love the snow mountains. Furthermore, the weather in the days we went there was perfect. Clear blue skies really make everything look so much better. I will definitely want to visit a ski mountain again in the future.