Travel - Preparation For D Europe Trip

Going Europe is one of my goal for 2012 and it is my dream to go as well. I started planning since last year and it was really a headache because I don't know where to go besides Munich (for the concentration camp) & Rome (Vatican City of course!) >.<

I thought of many places but they were all over Europe, I literally had to look at Europe map and think of which route should I take! So places like UK, Nethelands (Amsterdam), Begium, Switzerland all came across my mind and itinerary.

 I have never studied a map so hard, think my Geography becomes better after this whole lot of planning.

Almost wanted to give up this free & easy trip and just take a Europe tour because I was so tired of planning and reading! lol. Then an idea struck as I look through the route again.

Munich (3 days) - Switzerland (4 days) - Italy (7 days) were originally on my "confirmed" itinerary BUT it was pretty expensive because of Switzerland. The budget came up to almost S$8,000. If I really do it this way, I really need to come back and eat grass...

After some advises from some friends, I decided to take Switzerland out from the itinerary and the revised budget is halved.. Reasonable for a 14 days trip. =))

So bye bye Switzerland, I will definitely visit you. Wait for Mama!

I decided to stay in Munich for 7 days 6 nights, focusing on the Bavaria region, but included a 1 day trip to Salzburg (Austria)! Why Salzburg? Because it is only 2 hours away from Munich, it is where the Sound of Music was filmed and it is the birthplace of Mozart!

I hope it will be this beautiful! =)

So yeah! I am still going to THREE countries afterall! hahahaha. Then I will be heading to Italy (Venice, Florence then Rome)

Once the places were decided, I was ready to go in depth into planning and booking. 

Air Ticket

Fly Qatar Airways! 

A recommendation from a friend. It is also a 5 star airways okay - I did research hor. I got my ticket to Munich and back from Rome for $1178! =D I thought it was quite a reasonable price! hehe.

Accommodation

Stay Hostel! 

This is a photo of the hostel I will be staying in Munich. (Come back then tell you whether it is really what the photo show, lol) So the whole trip's accommodation will cost me about Euro 400 (with whatever tourist taxes added) which is about S$660 for 12 nights (1 night will be travelling on train - another way to save money) This meant on average it is $55/night Reasonable as well. hee.

Train Tickets

For long distance regional travel which in my case is Munich to Venice (9hrs~), book the ticket early. Don't be like me, procrastinate like don't know what. Ticket price from S$93 rose to S$162 then want to buy. >.<

As for short distance travel within a country, my friend told me to buy there. So I shall heed his advice, if advise no good I will hit him when I come back. LOL.

Hence the train tickets will be about S$350~

Tours

In Munich, I will be booking with this tour agency - Radius Tours. Hope it will be good. (Did hell lot of read up in tripadvisor)

In Venice, free and easy.

In Florence, I will be doing 1 day F&E and another day tour to Pisa, Siena & Chianti as recommended by my dear friend.

In Rome, I will be doing Vatican City tours with Maximus, recommended by my friend as well, another tour with When In Rome and one Eating Tour in Italy! Muahahaha! GELATO!!

And so.. I really work out how each single EURO will be spent.

Did a excel spreadsheet to tabulate the costs!

I don't have 1 million dollars in my bank so I have to be very prudent! And so.... the whole trip will cost me about $4000.

Also, I thought it is very important to read up, so on and off when I am free, I will read this website in particular for more information http://europeforvisitors.com/ 

Personally I thought they provide quite handy information.=)

Planning this trip is really a good learning, it made me read up more, think hard and plan carefully as well.

Purposeful Traveller - Making my dream come true

Travel - A postcard for my future (Chai Diam Ma)

My friend asked me do you know what Chai Diam Ma means? Me: Duh~ obviously I DON'T! 

Then she explained to me that Chai Diam Ma meant Chap Her Diam (Grocery Shop) in Singapore's hokkien. But in Penang they call it Chai Diam Ma. Me: ohhhhh~

And so we went to Chai Diam Ma because besides being a cafe, they sell loads of interesting crafts work. =)

The shop face literally caught my attention!

Besides old old furniture decorations, I love those little little crafts work they sell too. 

We didn't had time to sit down for coffee though.

And there is handsome angmoh there too! hahahaha.

What really caught my attention was actually these postcards. Personally I love the pictures that were taken and the wordings to the pictures. So I wanted to buy, the owner said it is RM6 for 1 postcard. I got a shock for a moment, RM6 for 1 postcard is a bit too expensive?? Then she explained to me this postcard project by the guy who took these photos.

She said this is writing a postcard to your future. Write a note or message to your future and state the date you want to receive it. This guy will help you post this card out when it is time. WOW. In my heart I thought such things only happen in movie or books - writing messages for your future. 

In the end I didn't buy it still because we were rushing for time and for that moment I don't know exactly what to write, I have a rough idea but I have no time to compose it. Don't want to waste the effort and money. 

However, I still bought for myself other postcards because I love the designs. =) Given sometime, I know what I want to write to the future me.

Dear Me,

It's been a year since I wrote this letter, I want to ask you... Are you living your dream? We both believed that dreams can be achieved as long as we believed and act on it. And so, are we living our dream?

I hope even if we might not be there yet, we are working towards our dream. And I want to say to you, don't give up if you face challenges because you are stronger than you think you are! 

记得人因梦想而伟大。

Sincerely,
You.

Dear 2 years ago-Me,

I want to tell you we are working towards one of our craziest dream ever - quitting our job to travel! At the same time learning new things in life too! Thank you for believing that dreams can be achieved as long as we believed and act on it. 

And YES, we are living our dream and still in the midst of living!

Recently I faced some discouraging moments BUT I want to say thank you for your words of encouragement - I know I am stronger than who I think I am!!

Purposeful Traveller - Living with a purpose. 

Adore - Make my own gelato!

Attended Gelato Making class last Saturday and I love it!!

Attending Harry's class is like attending Chemistry lesson because he will explain the art of making with science! Words like "molecules", "structure", "sugar is a anti freezing agent" will pop out. Hahaha. Very enriching, through understanding the science behind making, I will be able to understand the reason behind making better. =D

He demonstrated one round then we had our chance to hands on! Brought our own ingredients so as to create our own gelato!

He did Peanut butter gelato!

Use all natural is the best!

Almighty machine!!! Water goes in, GELATO comes out! haha!

Yummy Peanut Butter Gelato! Added Caramel sauce and chocolate chips to go with it! Best!

Pistachio Flavor by 1 team.

Solid Mango Gelato! Uses fresh mango only! =D

And our team???? 

RED BEAN ATAP GEE flavor!! MUAHAHAHAHA!

The class cost $38 but participants get to bring back 1 LITRE of gelato!! WHEEE!!!

Purposeful Traveller - I love gelato!

Travel & Food - 42 La Boheme

If I don't know the exact address and purposefully search for it , I guess I would pass by it thinking that it is another residential house. 

When I entered in, I was surrounded by a mini garden. hahaha. The moment I stepped into the cafe, WOW.  It was so spacious and how I wish I could have a house like this. Staying on the second floor, with a big backyard as kitchen and level one as a cafe. 

Anyway, there was no one and it was about 10 then. So I happily chose a seat and ordered some french pastries! Actually I just had my breakfast before that but the pastries were irresistible la!

Like mini garden right? haha

Look like any other residential house? lol

Love how the sunlight shines into the cafe.

Simple decoration

Books and magazines to read.

Told you it's irresistible!

And so, the three of us stayed close to 2 hours there. As I was busy studying, my two dear friends actually SLEPT in the cafe! OMG!! LOL!! 

What we like most?

My friend loved the mosaic flooring

As for me, I love this lonely looking red chair! =D

I just found out that they do serve dinner upon reservation! Minimum 4 person (Next time I shall bring whole gang there, lol)

Check out their website for even more yummy-looking pastries! http://42-laboheme-penang.blogspot.com/

Next time I must bring more people with me, so that I can order many many food! “每样来一个!"

This cafe is located @ 42 Jalan Sri Bahari. Open from Tue - Sun, 10am - 6pm

Purposeful Traveller - I will be back with more people!

Travel - To the Peak of Mt Kinabalu

I have forgotten why I wanted to climb Mount Kinabalu but the sunrise I saw on the mountain top was a view I would never forget. =)

Wanna know how much it takes to see this sunrise? Read on.....

We call this "Killer Steps" and there were many out there. Endless. :$

Just when you were dying from the endless climb, you see locals carrying this bulk of things (and I wasn't even carrying my own bag) walking up and down in their fake crocs shoes/slippers (and I wore mountain climbing shoes), you have no idea how it feels. >.< Don't know should I feel shy or motivated~ LOL!

Told you its endless.

Finally after hours of climb, I saw glimpse of HOPE! Hope of reaching our Resthouse soon and so I climbed and climbed and climbed.

Indeed we reached our guesthouse where we will rest for the night! But before that, ANOTHER FLIGHT OF STAIRS! >.<|||

Yeah! Our dormitory! After placing our bags, we headed for dinner (stairs again!) then went to the toilet wanting to wash up, only to find out.....

NO WATER!!! NO WATER!!! NO WATER TO SHOWER!!! T.T Anyway the water temperature was like 10 Degrees Celsius. 不是臭死，就是冷死咯。(Either stink to death or freeze to death) hahaha. 

And so we wiped ourselves and went back to our dormitory. Watching sunset from my bed was another memorable experience for me. =))

And before I  could fall asleep, it was time to wake up for the summit climb =.= And it was cold, my nose leaked like nobody's business and my body ached because of the coldness. :$

Wondering what is this picture?

My friend tried to take a picture of the moon in the near dark environment and she slipped (didn't fall la) and ta-dah! this picture! Thought it was pretty cool. haha. 

After that, no more photo taking because we were all concentrating on the climb. All I had in my mind was - 5 steps at a time and I said it in my mind for 321789123704320975 times before I saw a glimpse of the sun.

Quick!

Another magnificent view. The shadow of the mountain cast on the clouds!

And so, we finally reached the peak of Mount Kinabalu (almost die-d) and I saw that sunrise that was worth it all. My friend once described the experience in very simple words - It was the moment when you are surrounded by the Sun, the Moon and the Stars. =))

When we begin our walk down, I was shock by what I saw. Did I really come up by this way?!!!! OH MEN!!! It would be MUCH faster if I could just ROLL down.... *faint*

The highest toilet. =.=

Walking down the face of the mountain.

Then we reached our resthouse, had our breakfast, packed our bags and begun our journey down. On our way down, I didn't really THINK alot. It was body over mind, I just let my feet take the lead. (On the way up, it was the other way round.) hee.

Oh, I think I did mention something on my way down. That is to take MOUNTAIN CLIMBING out of my HOBBIES!! hahahaha. (Say only la)

I learned a lot about perseverance during this trip and I also experienced something for myself - I may not be fast but I am STILL a finisher of this race/climb. =))

Purposeful Traveller - Be a finisher!