Shakespeare's Insults

London is a place that has something for everyone...I love this place man. As of now, Paris and London are tied for the spot of my #1 favourite city...Still on the road so i can't upload pictures but when Im back home...be prepared for a bao4 zha4 post i tell you! (reminds me of wing yee's bao4 zha4 posts haha)

For now i just want to share some of Shakespeare's insults...they are SO funny...i kept laughing to myself on the bus while reading them!

"Shakespeare's lively pen gives us a substantial collection of robust options for every insulting need...May it prove a useful tool for education and the improvement of the quality of family row or partner irritation."

The tartness of his face sours ripe grapes - Coriolanus

Thou crusty batch of nature - Troilus and Cressida

Could I come near your beauty with my nails - Henry VI, Part II

...I'd set my ten commandments in your face - Henry VI, Part II

Thou smell of mountain goat - Henry V

She is spherical, like a globe. I could find out countries in her - The Comedy of errors

Scratching could not make it worse....such a face as yours - Much ado about nothing

I was searching for a fool when i found you - As you like it

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Anyway today the guys went to Borough market (where they ate a lot) while i went over to visit Wingyee at her apartment near Russell Square. So Mac very kindly bought me a chocolate fondant since i missed the feasting with them. I just ate it though, like about 8h after the time of purchase. It still tasted heavenly! However, Im staying at Hanyan's apartment now and i was too lazy to search for a spoon, so i used my fingers to eat it.

While eating...

Me: Shit...i'm so going to get a sore throat tomorrow (fingers continuing to dig the fondant)

BK: (Looks at me and half sniggers...) Sigh...

After finishing the fondant...

Me: (To myself aloud) Hmmm...i wonder if i should wash my hands

BK: YAAAA?!

Me: Was thinking of just licking my fingers clean...

BK: (Remains silent- MAYBE he was thinking 'oh my goodness....')

So anyway i thanked Mac for the fondant and he said, "for you there's nothing chocolate can't fix, for the rest, mac can!" haha...which IS true.

BK is snoring really loudly now. He told me to throw a pillow at him when he snores loudly so that he will change his sleeping position and the snoring will cease..but i dont really dare to do that...plus after throwing the pillow at him i will have to go and retrieve it..chezzzz....forget it.

Man this is such a crappy post...save for the bit on Shakespeare's insults. Ok fine...that was kinda crappy as well.

Evil

Carol, David and Jianfeng were here the past few days and Switzerland was very bad to them. I hope she redeems herself in the form of a good ski trip for Jianfeng today. Sigh. I will miss having our hallway crowded with people talking rubbish...(oops haha) and i will miss them for them too of course...heh. Carol and david left this morning...and Jianfeng is leaving tomorrow morning...

Carol looking like a hooligan and Jianfeng admiring his cannabis tea which he got from a vending machine here!

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BERN

It had a cool fountain...

Heavy heavy snow and some bears that only eat certain fruits (apples, oranges). They don't eat bananas you know. I fed it some banana and the bears were totally above it- they didnt even give it a sniff. Maybe its because the first time i misaimed and the banana hit the bear's head...but usually the bears look up and catch the food in its mouth midair. When i threw the banana however, the bear just looked at it drop like 5 stones.

Bern is one capital that doesn't look like a capital...honestly have nothing much to say about it except that people associate Bern with bears. Not very sure why and im not really motivated to find out why either...

***

So just why am i so sian??? Its because our apartment nearly got broken into yesterday. It was a blessing in disguise that Bingkai stayed at home yesterday, if not our losses would be terrible.

Our landlord has been really irritating...wanting to change the toilet window and paint the rooms (??!?!?!). So yesterday BK had to stay at home to wait for this uncle A to fix the window while the rest of us went out. So he's relaxing after clearing up the royal mess that uncle A created in our toilet when the doorbell starts ringing like as though someone at the door needs to use the toilet really urgently. But Bk ignores it thinking its some pesky salesman....and then shortly he hears someone trying to break our door down...break meaning using brute force like destroying the lock etc. At that point of time BK doesnt know what exactly is happening except that its really noisy so he opens the peephole...the three guys get a shock and scoot. The peephole is pretty big and people can look in from outside. It was so scary- BK said they looked like Swiss guys and they were wearing black trench coats. Goodness...fortunately they didnt persevere and endanger our one and only Bingkai. So Bingkai quickly called 2 SMU guys who live down the street from us to come over..in case there was a reprisal of some sort.

So after many phonecalls to the school's housing admin person, a police report and several nonchalant replies later...its settled that someone is going to repair the lock today. We suspect strongly that it has something to do with Uncle A ...(i hope so...and not like some trio who has been observing us for some time already..that would be very freaky).

I feel so uneasy about this and I really dont like this feeling of evil entering our house.

So the plan is ...that this is not going to happen again and thus...i have to get ready to go to school soon with BK. Got to get ready for some verbal sparring with the housing lady who says that break-ins are quite common in Switzerland and that we dont need to be at home when some strangers come to paint our house...armed with my german-english dictionary and some pen and paper for some drawing. Her english is pretty bad sersiously...like when we asked her last time what the floor area of the apartment was, she replied "2nd floor" and when we asked if there was internet connection, she said "clear". so yea...wont be leaving her office until we get what we want..hopefully everything gets settled amiably...sighhhhhhhhhh.

And days of staying at home alone or coming home alone are pretty much history...for now at least...sighhhhhhhhh

Other than that...Mac gave me a crash course on self defense:
1. Use your thumb to jab their eyes. In serious cases, aim to gorge the eyes out. (Don't be wishy washy about this since they are out to harm you anyway)
2. Use your knuckle to hit their throat.
3. Kick their groin.
4. Stamp on their feet.

Monaco

Monaco is the world's most densely populated country and second-smallest independent nation; with a population of just 32,410 and an area of 1.96 square kilometres (485 acres), Monaco is the world's smallest French-speaking country.

Actually the little i know about Monaco comes from channel 16 on cabletv..where Monaco is described as the playground for the rich and famous. This place is really dripping with opulence i tell you! I'm so pathetic Im just going to give keywords here haha:

- Princess Grace Kelly & Princess Charlotte

- Monaco Grand Prix

- Monte Carlo Casino

Paris & Nice, France

PARIS

Oui...I love Paris like crazy! Definitely going back there one day! Victor Hugo, Napoleon, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, King Henry IV, King Louis XIV...the place is just brimming with so much interesting history, BEAUTIFUL people, wonderful attractions, super buttery croissants, crispy-outside-but-soft-inside baguettes & crepes-with-banana & nutella! Oh how i miss Paris so...

On a more serious note, I would really like to come back to Europe with more money in the future! I know Maccann and BK feel the same too, given that we are always talking about staying in one of our imaginery hotels...and taking one of our imaginery private jets....eating at one of our imaginery restaurants- haha. The cost of oblivious daydreaming is always the moment of return to reality, the realignment with what had been ..back in the world that made us...not the world we made...haha...SIGH. Our plans once rich in plausible details become a passing silliness....not! It will happen one day!!!

This is Luke, our guide for the free walking tour around Paris. He's really really good...as you can see from his animated expressions- he delivered nuggets of interesting history one after another, I learnt so much! Sometimes his stories seemed a bit ludicrous though...and i couldnt help but wonder if he was bullshitting us about some stuff...but even if he did, he did it damn well...so yea he still deserved our generous tips at the end! Go for a free tour in Paris!

Notre Dame de Paris ("Our Lady of Paris" in French): One of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture

This monument is actually St Michael the archangel banishing Lucifer to hell...somehow i really like these sort of statues/paintings...the violent ones with angels quashing demons are even better..heh

Palais Royal, Musee du Louvre- the most visited museum in the world

Inside...photography is not allowed but there are so many visitors who do so anyway...the curators/guards can't be bothered anymore! haha

Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa. Just look at the sheer number of people edging forward to see her! I couldn't believe i was in front of the real thing...

I regret not buying some of the replicas...argghh...Following are some of my personal favourites:

If Maccann, Bingkai and I were characters in this picture...guess which figure each of us would be? ;)

I know this ia bit off...but this sculpture reminded me of my 2 sisters and myself..haha! So i really like it...

Clockwise from top left:

2 & 4: The Champs-Élysées -- is the most prestigious and broadest avenue in Paris. Its full name is "Avenue des Champs-Élysées". With its cinemas, cafés, and luxury specialty shops, the Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets in the world, and with rents as high as $1.25 million a year for 1,000 square feet (100 m²) of space, it remains the 2nd most expensive strip of real estate in the world (the first in Europe) after New York City's Fifth Avenue.The name refers to the Elysian Fields, the place of the blessed in Greek mythology. -wikipedia.org

3: The Arc de Triomph -- is a historical treasure in Paris, France that stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle, also known as the Place de l'Étoile (Star Square). It is at the western end of the Champs-Élysées. The arch honours those who fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars, and today also includes the tomb of the unknown soldier.- wikipedia.org

The Eiffel Tower...after sunset, it glitters for 10 minutes after each full hour!

In the picture grid above, the top right photo shows 2 baguettes and a plastic bag right? Those were the stuff we brought for the trip back to Switzerland on the train...The shorter baguette is Sam and the longer one is Lucy. We finished Sam first, half of Lucy is still in our kitchen. They are really nice! I didnt intend to buy a baguette at first but after i stepped into the bakery, this very pretty lady said 'Bonjour' so chirpily that i felt obliged to get something..and the cheapo in me zoomed in on the 0.80 euro- baguette (Sam)...it turned out to be the best investment! hha. I was really happy also because i felt quite french-y...holding a baguette on the streets proudly! I didn't have an eclair during my time there though! Inside the plastic bag was 2 kebabs for the guys...

Kebabs! Jieming...stop drooling...! haha
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NICE [nis]

This place would be purrr-fect during Spring and Summer! More peek-tures...!

Prague, Czech Republic

Prague is way too touristy for its good...but but, i must say that its skyline is awesome and Charles bridge at night is a MUST SEE. We did not change much money, thinking that things would be much more affordable given that it is an Eastern european country...but we were wrong. It was a real challenge to look for cheap food!

Clockwise from top left:

1. St. Nicholas Church- Can you spot St. Peter holding the key?

2. Just one of the many lovely alleys

3. Street buskers at night- they were playing Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D minor...very touching.

4. Me having a sip of Bingkai's Black beer

Actually Prague is known for its goulash- a beef stew with bread dumplings... I tried it...nothing out of this world but nice nonetheless...didn't take a picture!

The weather was really bad on the day we went for the free Prague walking tour...raining raining raining grr. Nerudova is a street in memory of Jan Nepomuk Neruda- a Czech journalist, writer and poet, from whom Pablo Neruda derived his pen name!

Kava Kava is the most famous coffee house and according to the hostelworld guide: "Thanks to delightfully friendly staff, and mugs of tea/coffee big enough to (nearly) swim in, there is no better place to start the day than in here."

The mugs were huge indeed! I ordered a mug of hot chocolate...just look how big it is!!!

Charles Bridge. This bridge is the most famous of all the bridges which cross the River Vltava. I think its much nicer at night and I'm sure all those who have been to Prague would agree with me without hesitation. Unfortunately...I don't have a good shot of it at night...

In the middle photo...was our guide for the free tour (the girl on the left); In the 3rd photo, I was holding on to a painting which i bought of the Charles Bridge. (Just trying to explain my look...although i admit i have a knack for appearing aunty-ish haha)

Ok now i have to talk about the 14 hour bus trip back to St gallen from Prague (it was supposed to take 9h). Barely half an hour into the journey, one of the bus' tyres went flat and we stopped on the highway...We were actually stationary at the same spot for 5 full hours!!! GOODNESS!!! The driver and his assistant went down to check it out and attempted to change it i think...and when they realised they couldnt ..they sat outside and smoked while contemplating their next course of action...after which they finally decided that they should get help. Man I can't describe the shittiness sitting in the bus..those long night hours spent curled in the seat with pins and needles up our legs and butt!

Moonlighters at Langgasse 37

Seriously I'm doing this at risk of being boycotted big time...but i don't care! haha.

Just wanted to show you guys what we do at home...beginning with the toilet picture, one can see Mac (who has OCD) cleaning the toilet happily. I was watching him clean the toilet for a while..that was when i told him that in 60 years time if we both were still single we should get married. Quite sweet of me right...i mean...Mac can clean...he can also...clean......and....clean....wunderbar! To which he snorted and really nearly fell into the bathtub...cos he lost his grip on the slimy sides...ok Whatever Man Mac!!!

Our next contestant is Bingky! Cannot blame him for hunching and looking very serious and stressed. It is indeed a stressful thing booking flights...and taking charge of all the logistics. Very grateful for him...after hearing stories about other people having to stay overnight one more day somewhere else because they missed the last train or sthg. Btw, the desk he is using is the one we all have and its terribly small and irritating. You should see me at my desk. i look even worse..like my whole head is sucked into the square where the laptop is...and my peripheral vision is blocked by the wooden sides...sometimes i only realise that someone else is in my room after they make some noise!

The last picture of the kitchen (without me of course) represents what i moonlight as-Maria! haha...nice kitchen we have over here huh! ;) ok maria go sleep now...tomorrow wake up 6am to make breakfirst for sir maccann and sir bingkai, or else no off day, cannot go orchard mrt to meet my friends and picnic!

Vienna, Austria (edited)

Vienna was really enjoyable. Its like this huge lollipop with many different flavours- history, culture, food, nightlife, shopping, scenery, people- there was so much to experience! Speaking to friends who had been there before and could tell me exactly where to go was definitely helpful, and of course having the company of Phuong & Elizabeth while we were there made it nothing less than fun! Having said that, Vienna is indeed a place where one needs to sit down and bask in the atmosphere...instead of running around doing stuff.

So these are some of the things I did when I was there...

- Explored the first district (Innere stadt)

- Stephansplatz (the city square) & St. Stephan's Cathedral

- Walked the main shopping street- Mariahilferstrasse

- Visited the Schonbrunn Palace

- Hofburg (Imperial Palace)

- Ate at some of the old school cafes

- Had our hair blown all over at the Steinhof

Many of the cathedrals and famous sights were under restoration though...so I don't have many photos of those...here are some...

St. Stephan's Cathedral (above) defines the city centre and has been the heart of Vienna for centuries. It is one of the most famous Viennese sights and was built in 1147 AD. (Honestly it looks a bit shabby from the photo...but its different in reality..haha)

My top favourite is below>>>This is but one section of the Schonnbrunn Palace, which is one of the UNESCO's world cultural heritage sites. The view from the top of the hill is breathtaking- its one of those times when you feel on top of the world yet very insignificant as compared to the surroundings...you know what i mean?

Elizabeth with 3 of us...

Aha...Aida Cafe. Alvin told me to go to this cafe...I did and I took their menu as a souvenir. They serve delectable cakes and good cocoa! yum...can you spot the waitress in pink? In case you think this is just some old school cafe...read on...

Aida is a chain of 26 espresso bar and pastry shops (Café-Konditorei) in Vienna, Austria. They have a devoted clientele, for whom Aida has achieved near-cult status. Business hours are from early in the morning until the early evening; the shops are open every day of the year with the exception of Christmas Day.

Ten Aida shops had been established before the Second World War, but they were all destroyed during the air raids on Vienna. After the war, Felix Prousek (1918-2003) took over the management and started rebuilding and expanding. His innovative approach to coffeehouse culture resulted in an alternative to the sheer Gemütlichkeit of the traditional Viennese café. Prousek was also one of the first to introduce Italian-style espresso machines in Austria.

However, for decades now, Aida has been resistant to change of any kind. This is first and foremost true of their interior design, very similar for all shops and reminiscent of the 1950s-1970s. Their trademark colours are pink and dark brown. Most of the furniture is made of plastic, and there is mostly seating without upholstery.- wikipedia

Moving on to the next point of interest...Centimeter! This place rocks my socks and floats my boat! It seems like i get much more passionate when i start talking about food...i cant help it la...haha! If YOU are heading to Vienna, please please go to this place for a meal. The food is good, reasonable prices, atmosphere is cool and the portions are huge! If you order this set meal thingey for 4 or 6, they serve you the food in wheelbarrows! We went there twice- the first time we ordered 2 mains to share among the 3 of us (BK, mac and I) and we were SO stuffed. The second time, we went with Qihan, Phuong and Liz so we ordered the wheelbarrow as well as a 2m long wurst (sausage)! The beers are rather cheap as well...and you could try the spritzer too (Its white wine with mineral water or apple juice).

http://www.centimeter.at/

Austria is also the birthplace of many famous musicians such as Mozart and Johann Strauss...shops selling Mozart souvenirs are all over...Mozart chocolates, stationery, wine, books...you name it, they have it!

Vienna was relatively uneventful as compared to Prague...an update on that will be coming soon!