Paris - Day 2

21st DEC: here's bit on paris' moz famous monument. got its name from the designer Gustave Eiffel, built for the International Exhibition of Paris 1889 n initially parisians juz hated it. wat's wrong wif u ppl?! how can u hate sth so spectacular?! anyway the antenna on top saved it from demolition. imagine paris w/o eiffel tower....

then our paris trip wil take up MUCH lesser memory space. the nite view wasn't enuf to whet our appetite for photos so in the morning v went to champs de mars.

the sight of eiffel tower juz put me in AWE!


a rock chick for world peace. wo peng yu ngoi. beyond jing san bat sei!
this is for ga kui.


wif dear.. 1 of our many many attempts, by tripod/ helpful tourists.


unlike the usual me, i tak habis-habis POSING.. like a model in a photoshoot session except i ain't model quality haha.

ta-dah!


me touching eiffy!


me leaning on eiffy!


ENUF!! not gonna show all here. but hey it's Oh so FUN!


nx..opera garnier. it's a super grand opera house but sayang din get the whole picture, cos it has this MAJESTIC GREEN DOME that can only b seen if u walk further down the street.




Montmartre. i luv this place.

the cafes n studios make this area feel very very PARIS-ey to me. it's the place to tan sai gai, free ur mind, get a taste of foie gras, buy a sketch or get urself sketched...


...that wil all make u feel so spirited!

anyway a baguette n pain du chocolat r all i can afford.



at the peak of this area stands the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur.


true as it sound, the basilica is very much a SACRED place in ppl's HEART owing to the ivory white facade.

a magnificent white structure wif domes n towers.

n u'll get a great view of paris at that pt.



then off v went in search for hunchback of notre dame. instead of quasimodo n esmeralda, v were welcomed by an AMAZING gothic building-Cathédrale Notre Dame.


the architecture of the cathedral is quite dif from those that i've visited. i din pay to go up but a walk AROUND the cathedral is a MUZ cos the BACKview of Cathédrale Notre Dame is no less amazing! (sry short of adjectives. yes! everything is simply amazing in paris haha..)

flying buttress giving support n uniqueness to the structure.

as for the sideview, u'll c scary-looking GARGOYLES.

but i don quite understand y a sacred cathedral is decorated wif ugly gargoyles.

in the evening, FREE entry to musee du louvre. TIP!-access from subway station to beat the q. u know.. looking at all these artsy stuff.. fan fu zhok zi like me juz can't interpret the underlying msg or appreciate the beauty in it so it's alwiz recommended to get an audio guide.

1st n foremost, presenting the moz valuable piece in musee du lovre n a Leonardo Da Vinci's masterpiece... La Joconde! ..behind a bullet proof glass.

ahhh i was enlightened... CRAP! anyway it looks natural n that's STH wif the eyes w/o eyebrows. her GAZE juz FOLLOWS me no matter which direction i walk to! again the advantage of visiting in winter.. no shoo-ing by guards. u have all the time to scrutinise the portrait.

my fav piece.. note the X shape n the tension btw the lips of CUPID n PSYCHE.. can u feel their luv? tragic.

hoho do u know cupid has a gf n his mom is act venus! dunno leh~

from buku sejarah.. hammurabi code. tamadun awal. mesopotamia. familiar? it's rite in front of me!

there's a gazillion of collection in this freaking huge musuem, bfor v can cover much, the musuem was closed. get a taste of grand exit from the glass pyramid designed by I.M.Pei.
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tired legs n fond memories...
it's been a great day n alas, kiss paris gudnite...




=happyHalle=

Paris - Day 1

20th DEC: yoohoo i'm in PARIS!!

rushed to a free tour. based on our experience in berlin, the tour is worth it cos the tour guide byk cerita, very informative n si kui ppl like me only need to tip 2 euros. the tour started at st. michael's sq.

every corner in paris juz OOzes wif BEAUTY effortlessly. can't stop clicking my camera until my fingers was numbed by the cold. only get to know that it's sub-zero degrees in paris after seeing the fountains switched off due to thick ice, like 4 inches thick wow.

it's a scenic walk along la seine... i reli wished i have more time to walk slowly along this river, let sum parisians n luxurious cruises pass me by, juz wanna b a part of this picturesque scene.



funnily, moz trees in paris r evenly shaved haha. dahla botak in the winter..



the majestic palais royal musee du louvre, nth is more famous here than ms mona lisa n her smile i guess.


the pyramid u c in da vinci code, it's the entrance to musee du louvre, striking a strong presence.


jardin du tuileries (jardin=garden). when i look around, it's all white, clean, peaceful n stil lively in the winter. cut out the life, it feels so much like the place to film a tragic beautiful luv story.



every city muz have an eye 1 izzit?!

grand palais, i luv the glass dome.


petit palais


luckily i read tru this again, ter-typed grand mal n petit mal.. wahaha! no lectures on epilepsy intended.

our long tour ends here. dear said he don have small change, i said i have so v can share the tip. then i rummaged tru my bag for 2 euro coins. ahhh don have! fine. 5 euros. ahh don have! FINE. i PAINFULLY part wif my 10 euro notes to tip the guide.. aikks! sim tiah. so rmb si kui budget tourist like me out there, make sure u prepare small change bfor the trip haha.

nx v walk on to champs de elysee. from designer labels like louis vuitton (well the french way, alwiz pronounced w/o the s sound.. lu-ee) to zara n gap. according to the guide, the st claimed to b so high end that H&M was not allowed to open a concept store there but hey, ronald mcdonald wil b waving to u when u r there. hmm..



at the other end of champs de elysee stands the arc de triomphe to honour the brave soldiers n so that mr Napoléon can celebrate his military success. wat's amazing is the Arch de Triomphe roundabout bercabang into 12 streets!!! omg it's 3x that of normal roundabout!!! btw, car insurance not covered here.




woohoo... eiffel tower sparkling! wat a dazzling sight!!


it's gud to visit eiffel tower during winter cos it's less than 5 mins q! part wif another 11 euros to get a LIFT to the highest platform. wan to save money then go to the lower platform, or walk ur way up muahaha. i think taking the lift up was the best part of all. unlike kl tower where u r enclosed inside n u have no idea how high up u r going, u can totally c for urself how HIGH have u left the ground plus the structure of eiffel tower is kinda.. NAKED, u know juz strong cold steels. my legs weakened for a sec when i look downwards.

n then i reached the highest platform. 1 round nth impressive reli.. c'mon i'm oredi standing IN the moz impressive sight in paris! then climb to an outdoor platform. it's not enclosed so u have ICY stong wind blowing on ur face n it's freezing!! i became jumpy n fidgety, that's my way of generating heat haha. i've nvr felt THAT COLD in my life bfor. anyway stil had to bare the cold to take a couple of pics to justify the ticket price haha. the same scenery looked nicer at the outdoor platform.


champs de mars

it's alwiz amazing to c eiffel tower from any direction. n it's simply spectacular from BELOW.

u know wat... i had the moz forgettable n UNforgettable BDAY in life that day. dear n i totally FORGOT it's my bday that day n this only occured in his mind like 9pm wahaha. at the moment he wished me, i was like.. omg it's reli my bday today!! v were soo carried away by the beauty of paris! that's the moz wonderful 20th dec i had in my life so far, hence it qualified as an UNFORGETTABLE bday=)

=excitedElisa=

the end n the beginning

ytrday was last day of glasgow winterfest at george sq so decided to go for a skate. yeh yeh! it's been more than half a yr since the last time i had fun at pyrimid rink. went for the 8.00-8.45pm slot, as usual bcos of me moh moh soh soh get outta house late, by the time v put on our skates, almoz 8.15pm.
my feet kinda hurt n can't quite skate pass the uneven surface of the ice (it's the last day they don bother to resurface anyway). wth this is so not me.. then i realised i got the wrong size of skates n change to 1 size bigger. WEEeee~ i'm skating FREEly on ice now. it's so fun plus the fact that it's outdoor in a cold winter nite. how i wish it wud SNOW. imagine snowflakes falling from the sky while u r skating. wat a magical moment...
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mayb bcos i din wish upon a star, raindrops keep falling on my head instead. deng!

got to skate extra time yehyeh, last day adi so they chin chai. ppl went off 1 by 1 n alas, i was the last person in the rink. woohoo it's so great to own the whole rink n skate in watever direction. juz luv the sense of freedom n speed when the breeze pat my cheeks=) so honoured to b the last customer of glasgow winterfest 07/08 keke.

took sum photos wif my phone but i dunno where the hell did i chuck my cabel n i fail to find it in my pig sty so no photos for this post.

this is last day to the greatest ever skool holiday in my life. gotta wrap up this wonderful feeling in a box n hide it sumwhere in my pig sty so that i can concentrate on my research project labwork.

it started today. my gudness!! i'm quite a comp illiterate (don even know how to use excel), dah la blur dunno wat i shud do, summore had a hard time playing wif those softwares. after an hr i juz cudn't take it, working wif comp is so damn DAMAGING to my eyes, i got sooo tired n giddy half way tru. wth this is like only the 1st day n i'm complaining.. dsshh! mommy says eat more 'gei ji', i'm reli resorting to this no joke haha.


=tiredTammy=

Happy New Year!!

happy new yr to siu mao liong sam jek readers of my blog. live 2008 to the fullest yo!

anyway i did had the moz amazing countdown to new yr EVER in london. but then again... how many countdown to new yr did i have in my life so far? haha.. nvm.

i'm back from london which puts a fullstop to my TRAVEL-thon. paris-scottish highlands-london. syok gau gau. it may take me a whole month to blog abt it so STAY TUNE=)

well the old-fashioned way.. new yr resolution.

Ci'm clumsy n totally inorganised in my everyday life. i alwiz forgot where i left my stuff cos i leave them ANYwhere, EVERYwhere. as long as it's not disgusting, i can stand living in a PIG STY (that's how mom called my room). n then i have to waste sum time in my life juz to clear up the mess that i've created. erm.. i seldom clear up.. so to b exact... to search my stuff in the mess that i've created. eg. my wardrobe.


haha god knows how long i din fold my clothes

take away the =messyMeredith= in me!! even dear can't tahan my messi-ness n selamba-ness. he sounded like mom n he said that he COMPLETELY understands y my mom nags me all the time. omg.. i'm so screwed 1 ah.

i've alwiz luv to do things last min, on doing homework, studying for exams, catching lrt/bus, meeting frens. enjoy that kinda adrenaline rush. (dear said it's excuse!!! O~kay~)

juz when i tot i can b sumwat a reliable person... well nobody reli think of me so. my parents can't even trust me wif our housekeys all these yrs, dear won treat me as a reliable source of info sumtimes even if i got the RITE INFO n i recently forgot an important thing my fren reminded me to do.. aikss! how am i gonna b a convincing pharmacist in the future.. haih..

so pls, dump ur bad habits gal bfor u screw up ur life! b ORGANISED=)


=ordinaryolivia=

Touched by many Angels

19th Dec: got offline msn msg from hou n yan.

"WHEN u c tis messeage....pls go to check ur mail....thanx=>"

huh only forwarded mails in my inbox wor. then i look carefully, o~kay~ i know y haha.

from hou, subject: ??????????muz read immediately...important one leh....do nt delete o...pls....=>

juz by the subject itself, i tot it's sum nonsence chain letter saying "if u forward this mail u can save the life of this poor soul. for every mail the XXX sponsor wil donate 3p. if u don forward this mail, u don have a heart."
DUH, i usually delete bfor reading the contents. luckily u guys send me the offline msg lol.

when i open i saw this...

1 simple bday card which speaks a thousand words

n many heartwarming msg from home. aww... for that few minutes i was =emoEmily= yes all it takes is juz.. simple gestures.

pandaila mr hou. hugz n muakks for the effort BUT not for pasting in those 3 nerdy pics. grrr! anyway teach me how to create this kinda stuff nx time. alas thanx to every1 who wrote the msg for me!

awww... so sweet=)

woke up in the morning, head's stil dizzy. not quite a gud day.

flu virus not thoroughly destroyed by body's immune system. had been crashing lotsa drug delivery system into my head for mon's test. dreaded to go to glasgow uni, have to fork out 1.90 for subway juz for 3 hrs of stupid time-wasting IPL session.

then.. hk told me i've got a parcel. wat?! huh?! parcel?! me?!

n yes i've got a parcel! from wching. omg! my heart juz melt rite away.. (tho u did told me abt this, i totally din expect it to arrive at this time!)

scarf in sweet red n pink, 100% hand-knitted wif heart n soul!

wan luen pai scarf in a cold glasgow weather... awww!



i spotted this.. tak cukup pink benang!! wahaha...

my earliest bday present this yr.
THANK YOU!!! x 1,000,000,000


=delightedDanielle=

Manchester: glorious foodball

Dec 3rd: after enduring a dizzy 5 hr bus journey (the seat.. 87 degrees, wth!) , FINALLY arrived in MANCHESTER!

destination-TAI WU restaurant. once entering, i was welcomed wif the sight of all-chinese diners n a waiter yelling a table number in cantonese! ahhh the smell of chinese restaurant=) everything effortlessly oozes wif familiarity, awww juz like msia.


7 of us. kim hoe super outcast haha.

n boy they reli serve yummy dim sum over here!

every bite of those dim sum n chiong fun sprinkle wif bit of lat zhiu yau (chili oil), thats heavenly!!

ya i took a 5 hr bus ride juz to satisfy my dim sum craving,
JUZ FOR THIS!!

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ok obviously i'm kidding.

when the time comes, here v r in OLD TRAFFORD. can u blif it... OLD TRAFFORD!!! it's so great to c it rite in front of u... even if i'm so not an ardent MU fan. ya those mu fan like dear DAH NAIK GILA!

took off our jacket juz to flank our jersey when it's sooo damn cold. don care la!!

inside megastore, the 1 where ppl feeding money into tabung man u by buying sum made-in-china merchandises.

liverpool traitor


eh ni betul2 ambik dgn players punya, bukan wallpaper.

entered the stadium n got our seat, behind the goal post. i'm rite inside the darn stadium that ppl at mamak stall watch it tru a big projector screen. woohoo! to b in the theatre of dreams is reli like a dream!

surrounded by sea of chili red chairs.

MAN U vs FULHAM
the match started n wee~hee~ i'm watching LIVE!!!

juz to irritate u, LIVE, not tv/ projector screen ok.

the crowd response was not as crazy as a scottish match. no deafening cheers. they did have funny sing-alongs n clap-alongs tho keke.

".. Take me Home, United Road. To the place, where I belong. To Old Trafford.."
"United, stand up!" (juz stand up when u hear this haha.)
UNITED! *clap clap clap

the BEST part was that when the players come attacking almoz near the penalty box, every1.. mine u EVERYONE wil bounce from their seat generating a big wave. it took me no effort at all to blend in. the nx thing i know i'd bounced from my chair automatically at the rite timing, peppering the situation wif many OOHS n AHHS, oh so FUN!


can't c their face la.

erm had a hard time differentiating who's who since i only follow up epl tru star paper back then. it's kinda weird watching w/o commentary n u can't afford to blink cos u ought to miss out a GOAL!, no slow-mo playback watsoever haha. but u get the whole picture of players running about, easier to c who's attacking n who's defending which i can barely tell tru tv. ok i stil know no strategies.

the leng chai RONALDO scored twice, almoz got a hattrick but he's performance kinda lacklustre. c, i blinked. for the 2nd goal i dunno how the ball was passed to ronaldo. it happened so fast n the nx thing i know.. he headed the ball in! eesshh!!

bet it's a normal match on tv, marred by many offsides but watching LIVE.. every attack wil reli send u to a heart attack. wat seems like half an hr was act 2 hrs n u juz can't have enuf of it. the match ended wif 2-0.
MAN U WON!!

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went taiwu restaurant, ya again, for supper since they have 30% discount after 12am. omg.. this is wat i call hou sek geh CHINESE FOOD!!


ham yu zheng zhue yok beng (steam pork wif salted fish).. 5 thumbs up!!


gong bou gai ding (chicken).. 5 thumbs up!!


gailan.. OMG my fav GAILAN.. after 6 months

ham dan dau fu (salted egg n tofu).. 5 thumbs up!!

TRULY SATISFIED.

5am, boarded a train back to glasgow. wait a min, the seat.. 89 degrees!!! deng! %#~$@

=happyHalle=

Red Hot Devil

Once Beckham (ee not a fan of him) said, " when i think abt red, i think abt....



muahaha... my brand new jersey.

23 pounds.. thanx yijie for the staff discount.

take a closer look.

i'm all geared up for tomolo, dec the 3rd, man u vs fulham. n no, i'm not going to campus bar or any mamak stall. i'm so gonna make many of u j-e-a-l-o-u-s! MUAHAHA!


=excitedElisa=

anyway, when i think abt red, i think abt bono. africa needs us! i hope i can afford that GAP desi(red) shirt. mayb i'll juz make my own line of t shirt to show my support- expi(red), perspi(red).

Wat a Crazy Week!

sun. chopping capsicum for lunch. suddenly there's BLOOD (OMG!) oooo-zing from my 4th finger. the fact that part of my fingernail was trimmed off by the knife n the pain impulses
sumhow travelled s-l-o-w-l-y to my brain haha. i tried to pull off my nail but ah.. ah.. ouch.. then only i felt the PAIN cos it's stil wee bit attached to my flesh.. ill. well the thing is.. i juz sharpen the knife in the morning... n as usual no diff la.. that damn knife was stil BLUNT, n that same BLUNT knife cut off my fingernail.. huh! BAD omen... *alanis's ironic playing in the background.
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mon. research project presentation..it juz hit me again how strict is my supervisor while on the contrary, i c a GOLD band on the head of my partner's supervisor. so helpful, so understanding.. oo jealous-nya!
stress was building up.

deadline for introduction-fri.

but i juz don understand those damn journals that i read. how to put it in my own words?? how to escape from the plagiarism detection software? all those molecular, genetical n even computational software jargons juz drive me MAD MAD MAD! i'm not a software engineer ok, how u mr expect me to know all these stuff!

stress level elevating.. then can't access tudou.. my only source of tvb dramas.. even MAD!

tues. rushing for deadline. progess--6 pages (unedited version). yoohoo that's wat i call progress. BUT THEN..
my CLUMSY hand hit my cup (half filled with water). then *pong.. the cup went horizontal n water spilled on the rite side of my keyboard. NOOOOOO! then i heard sum strange *gili gulu sound from my laptop. PANIC! my reflex was..
SAVE my draft!
SHUT the laptop!
get a HAIRDRYER!

as i was frantically blowing my laptop dry, sum of my hair was sucked into the hairdryer (i dunno how) n got entangled inside! waa... panic again. so i had to sacrifice few strands of hair bfor the hairdryer n more of my hair damaged haha. when i tot it's dry enuf, i switch on my laptop again. oh phew leganya! it loaded swiftly into my desktop.


the saviour, sum noble ones who sacrified, n the culprit!

then suddenly.. the screen turned blue. within secs.. *pap my laptop totally black out! n after that.. all attempts to switch on the comp FAILED. my laptop not working! then i tot of my introduction. 6 pages!! all my effort, late nites, heart n soul.. GONE!!! how am i gonna meet the deadline? SHIIIT! i was so PANIC that i juz burst into tears. wu wu wu...

then ask dear for help. called dell. went to comp lab. thanx to shan for lending me her laptop. stil harbor hope that my laptop wil soon b fine. struggling whether shud start redo the whole thing anot. hou mm dai ah! but finally i faced the music n decided to redo the whole thing. stress level- at the MAX!

2am my eyes can tahan no more so i went to sleep. bfor i sleep, last attempt to switch on my laptop n
MIRACULOUSLY, it responded. after bouts of startup repair, it started to load my desktop. i was praying so so hard that it'll move on.. juz move on don black out. yeh! i quickly saved my super important materials bfor it blacked out again. n this time.. it didn't. ahhh tears of joy! n i had a gud nite's sleep that nite but selamba again in doing my intro the nx day.

that's reli helluva lesson! CUPS SHUD STAY AT LEAST 1m AWAY FROM LAPTOP!


=clumsyChloe=