but first..

and so this is how it ends..

2009-07-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

and this is how it is after 6 months..

my closet

and its lower shelf contents
my roooomm

my closet..

.. on which i stick stuff i accumulated over travels.. have one more from Budapest that is not here but is on my closet now.. it says " 'Clean Toilets'+pic of happy looking couple Kupon HUF 100.-"

sink.. my spongeholder thing fell off and the hooks are not sticky no more hence the hanging of towels on the cupboard doors, ehh if you care to know haha

there's a lot of stuff coz a friend left early and leftbehind lots food and other misc stuff

my fridge-cum-nightstand haha, and suitcase
my desk! after the Hungarian stash photoshoot

windowsill! had grand plans for my windowsill haha, okay the pot of marmalade filled with tealeaves at least

the other side of the mirror
and one last erm celebration of 365 stuff.. this ginormous tube of toothpaste cost 50cents haha

and as a bonus, what's under my ginormously-wide sink, besides my shoes, my big box of 365 washing powder, and the box behind that holds my cooking and storing-food stuff

--yep.

me and my jars

2009-07-20T09:59:00.000-07:00

a torrid 6-month affair.. resulting in:

2 jars of beans (plus many smaller cans)

4 bottles of chilli sauce

3 peanut butter

hehh and 4 jars of coffee, plus countless smaller packets of instant coffee mixes.. the small jar in front is my trusty sugar pot, and the brown sugar by the side is what they use to make Speculoos!

3 jars of marmalade.. odd coz i never used to be a marmalade person

2plus bottles of Speculoos, a Belgian/Dutch thing

2 Sangria, one red wine

3 bottles of Delhaize jam stuff, on the left is apple cinnamon, the right fig, and one more that got mouldy was orange-lime-pampelmouse (grapefruit)
chocolate liquer from Antwerp, apricot brandy from Budapest, and some coffee milk thing

this is what it comes down to

2009-07-20T09:41:00.000-07:00

my stuff accumulated over the travels.. mostly tickets

Italy was the first big one, after my Valentine's weekend trip in Feb: Milan-Florence (+Pisa)-Rome-Venice,

March 2009
then was Easter Break.. first a stop in London, with a drive thattook us to Cardiff, Wales, and then to Sweden (Uppsala and Stockholm) and Norway (Oslo and Bergen), early April
and then Amsterdam for Queen's Day, April 30.. going into early May

and then Eastern Europe: Bratislava (in Slovakia), Vienna (in Austria), Prague (in Czech Republic) and going back to Bratislava again, end May 2009

which was very quickly followed by a 3-day trip to Paris, June 2009

ending off with Budapest, Hungary, in July

.. and that's it --.

BOO-da-pesht! Budapest Thurday 16 July Morning 4

2009-07-19T16:36:00.000-07:00

My stash!

clockwise from bottom right-hand:

linzer torte, foie gras in a small 50g tub thing (!), saffron, hot paprika, sweet paprika, another sweet paprika, and Barack apricot brandy!

BOO-da-pesht! Budapest Wednesday 15 July Day 3

2009-07-19T16:02:00.000-07:00

Heroes Square

Museum of Fine Arts

Art Gallery

Vajdahunyad Castle

more of the same

walking down the Danube river again.. and that's Castle Hill

Liberty Bridge at dusk..

i think there're caves there

that's the Pest side

Buda side

crossing the Elizabeth Bridge to the Pest side
one last look at Budapest in the evening..

BOO-da-pesht! Budapest Tuesday 14 July Day 2.1

2009-07-19T15:35:00.000-07:00

Liberty Bridge

Central Market!

Full of good stuff! where the locals shop

Hungarian paprika

Langos!
aka a piece of deep-fried Hungarian dough
Jewish Synagogue! the second largest in Europe i think.. in the Jewish district

view of Buda Royal Palace in the day
and Castle Hill

hillyBuda side

BOO-da-pesht! Budapest Tuesday 14 July Day 2.2

2009-07-19T04:21:00.000-07:00

the Parliament

St. Stephen's Basilica.. was waiting to see dusk along the Danube river
at Roosevelt Terrace, this is the Gresham Palace

Castle Hill.. there's the Liberty Statue at the top
Szechenyi lanchid.. Chain Bridge

from the Pest, overlooking the Buda

BOO-da-pesht! Budapest Monday 13 July Day 1.1

2009-07-19T03:46:00.001-07:00

After lunch, on my first day in Budapest, Hungary.. this is the Elizabeth Bridge.. crossed it from the flat Pest side to the hilly Buda side, to climb up Castle Hill, which will give you this view..

ta-dah!
you're looking at Unesco world heritage stuff man

Liberty Statue at the top of the hill

up the Funicular, to the highest point, at Buda Royal Palace

Parliament

National Dance Theatre.. Mozart performed here once

i forgot what this is called but it's really nice, for lack of a better word
yeah this one

blind-friendly tourism! there are Braille markings by the side for the blind to read

Mathias Church! under works.. oops

BOO-da-pesht! Budapest Monday 13 July Day 1.2

2009-07-19T03:19:00.000-07:00

Fisherman's Bastion!

that's the Parliament on the opposite side of the river

Chain Bridge -- the oldest bridge in Budapest, Szechenyi lanchid
Parliament from it's not so glam side.. you'll see its glamour shot later on
awww maan Budapest really gave some good views.. this is the view of the castle-y Buda side on a sunny sunny afternoon

St. Stephen's Basilica..
.. continued

yep, continued

Paris 1st - 3rd June

2009-06-11T13:38:00.001-07:00

Bratislava 29th - 30th May

2009-06-11T13:34:00.000-07:00

Prague 27th - 28th May

2009-06-11T13:22:00.000-07:00

Vienna 24th to 26th May

2009-06-11T13:20:00.001-07:00

Amsterdam

2009-05-21T10:42:00.000-07:00

Okay the pics are not representative of the Amsterdam i saw

The Fjords - Norway

2009-05-11T02:18:00.000-07:00

The Bergen Railway

Norway - Frederikstad

2009-05-03T08:10:00.000-07:00

Norway - Oslo

2009-05-03T07:58:00.000-07:00

right now..

2009-04-30T13:08:00.000-07:00

.. I'm in Amsterdam! for Queen's Day.. it's madness!! major partying in the streets!

but unfortunately there was an attack 90km outside of Amsterdam today, at first thought to be an attack on the Queen, but now identified to be a terrorist attack

Anyway, Amsterdam's nice so far, and people are waering orange everywhere and EVERYONE'S in the streets.. will be back on Sunday!

and have kinda decided to adopt a roving correspondence style, coz i don't foresee myself having much time in the future to upload pictures, or do an after-that blog thing.. so yeps, to whoever's still reading this anyway

Stockholm 10 April: Skansen Open Air Museum

2009-04-25T15:34:00.000-07:00

A very big open air museum! was really cool!well kinda kitschy i guess, but cool nonetheless.. plus got to see a lotta animals! like wildlife! and got to ambush people! scroll down for more..

but anyway, first introductions: this is the hazelnut entrance..

where we picnicked for a lunch of rice, meatballs, tuna and peanut butter sandwiches.. the denmark exchangers were happy to find peanut butter in sweden
outdoor cooking! had we known there was this option we might have nixed the picnic

it was crowded

but it was Good Friday

ain't never seen so many pacifiers in me life.. the horrors

but these two displays made mostly of pacifiers were pretty cool though
it's sad to see this and just realise you had meatballs

no more meat

reindeer
more wildlife to come.. was cool to get to see so many Scandinavian animals

Samy tribe

moose!

they look exactly like they do in drawings/cartoons, which is not really the right order of things haha
red fox
bears

can't remember if these were the wolves or the wolverines.. think they're wolverines.. didn't get to see a lotta animals, think it's coz they could've still been in hibernation or smth.. wasn't spring enough maybe

and this was where we rested our very tired legs and started to ambush people.. well not so much ambush but randomly throw gravel and whoever got in our way would get hit.. not that we didn't take care not to hit anyone.. haha kiddin' lah of course we weren't aiming or hitting anyone, other than ourselves.. that's what happens when people get tired man we startbeing aggressive toward each other haha.. the animals aren't the only animals in the museum

and we drag our tired legs through more Skansen-ness

it's a big and really nice open air museum, but it's tiring to try to cover everything

Sweden, Stockholm, 9 April

2009-04-22T09:43:00.000-07:00

Stockholm on a gloomy day.. it's nice in its gloom though

first stop: dance museum.. it was free.. yeah people really revere dance

and then the guard stoppedme from taking pictures

dude fishing

that's a hostel!

as it says on the sign.. but didn't realise that that ship was a hostel till we got back to Uppsala and were informed

look closely the metal stuff are attacking the plastic ones!!
hilarious haha

ahh the life of a yatch-owning person

and on to the Vasa museum! was an entire theme-park-ey (well not theme park-ey in that there weren't rides or anything, but ya know, theme park as in novelty approach) museum for this ship that sank on its maiden voyage and that they recovered

and the flash went out on me when i was trying to get the good shot as recommended by the guide at the museum

i miss the simplicity of a camera phone (haha no irony intended)

but seriously no gadgets for me, i'm lost in all the buttons and symbols and stuff, seriously, the whole point of a camera is to get a shot
and then we left.. and that's the Nordiska museum beside the Vasa museum
ahh contradictory/confused people abound.. and the world makes more sense now, well at least i can identify with it a little bit better

more Nordiska
and the sun came out toward the end of the afternoon haha

even nature's confused.. but sun's good
yes, sun's good

Sweden: Uppsala, 8th April

2009-04-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

was very generously accomodated by friends of a friend exchanging at Uppsala University! that's it on the left

Uppsala's the fourth largest city in Sweden, and the university's the oldest

and the place we'll be staying at, Eklundshof

Galam Uppsala, the Old Town

like we were plonked there

but the Old Town's really nice

after lunch, was on the the largest/tallest (oops i don't remember) cathedral in Scandinavia

art exhibitions in the cathedral.. this is Descent from the Cross

part of the university

and then fika time in the afternoon! Fika is apparently something the Swedish do, which is some afternoon coffee-and-talking-about-life thing haha

and then to the library

view of the cathedral from..

the Pink Castle.. that's it in the background.. yeah i know it doesn't have much street cred as a castle huh.. on the plus side who'd think of attacking a pink castle

Botanical gardens

and then we left.. coz it was starting to rain. and it was getting late. and we were getting hungry. haha

Stockholm

2009-04-19T14:13:00.001-07:00

but first, Nykoping, my first stop after Skavsta airport

a cozy coffeeshop

and the Swedish countryside, on the way to Stockholm

Stockholm

Rome 21 March Saturday - Colosseum

2009-04-02T11:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday was goody-perfect sunny sunny Colosseum weather

if i didn't get the audioguide wrong that is where the grand procession for King Constantine would take place

Arch of Constantine, at that time i really got the impression from the audio guide that the faraway arch in the previous picture was the Arch of Constantine

and you have to go to that place garden thing near the Colosseum.. apologies for the non-naming of places visited

it is super big, and grand, and cool

super big, and grand, and cool

Rome 21 March Saturday - Vatican Museum, Vatican City

2009-04-02T11:10:00.001-07:00

went to Colosseum and surrounding in the morning and Vatican Museum after that, but anyway shall upload the museum photos firs

Vatican Museum's really reeeeeally huge, guide from Rome the night before said if you spent 3min (eh i don't really rmb the exact time) at each work of art in the museum, you'll need 3years (this number's right) to cover everything

you'd think he's exaggerating, until you really visit the museum

i think my friend got tired of taking pics after a while, but that's understandable, in the sense that there's too many things.. so this post is in no way representative of the museum

all en route to the..
(i think this is the Gallery of Maps or smth like that.. sorry was a long time ago.. actually not really but.. wells)

oops as i was saying all en route to..
the Sistine Chapel! i dunno why my friend didn't take a pic of the chapel itself, but anyway this is the original Michelango's Creation of Adam

Flemish art Prof saif smth about the paintings along the frescoes of the Chapel, like everyone goes to the Sistine Chapel to look at the ceiling but neglects the frescoes, but i forgot what he said.. tsk guess it's high time to start reviewing notes, but it's Easter next week

Rome 20 March Friday - St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City

2009-04-02T10:51:00.000-07:00

Vatican City

the window through which the Pope stands at.. theeeeee window

inside the St. Peter's Basilica
it was big, and it was grand

yes, big, and grand

Rome 20 March Friday

2009-03-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

the Spanish Steps
in Spagna, the Spanish area
this, is a scooter.. according to the free tour! i thought the guide Stefano was really informative.. was a one and half hour walking tour starting from the Spanish Steps, ending at the Trevi fountain, at 5.30pm everyday

the granduer of Rome!
the Trevi fountain.. I don't know what's wrong with me but i didn't make a wish :( anyway the only thing you can wish for is to come back to Rome again, but that's a pretty good wish

the wedding cake.. Stefano said not to call it the wedding cake

Florence 19 March Thursday, with Pisa in the middle: Florence

2009-03-29T09:47:00.001-07:00

under the Tuscan sun

Ponte Vecchio!!!
Florence was really really nice.. was a pity we only spent a day there, well kinda only a night coz we arrived in the afternoon and then spent the afternoon and evening travelling to Pisa and back

and had our first real Italian meal here as well, man was so good, had it somewhere near the Uffigy gallery area

bronze replica of the Statue of David, at Piazza Michelangelo

aahhh.. the Florence nightscape is really nice, and not just from the Piazza Michelangelo either

Duomo the next morning.. didn't have time to check out the museums, one of which is the Academia, where the real Statue of David is situated, which came suggested by a friend to go visit

last sights of Florence before the 10.50am train to Rome

Florence 19 March Thursday, with Pisa in the middle: Pisa

2009-03-29T09:31:00.000-07:00

the leaning tower of Pisa haha

Milan 18 March

2009-03-29T09:10:00.000-07:00

Duomo

inside the Duomo

shopping gallery.. we are in Milan

castle

so-called river

on the train on the way to Florence the next morning

i really do like taking trains

Italy pics are all taken from friend

i think i'm gonna be suffering from severe gelato withdrawal

2009-03-24T16:42:00.000-07:00

that's from the week that was just spent in italy, 18-24march

destination: Milan-Florence-Rome-Venice

unfortunately, camera phone went out on me the moment i touched down in Milan, Bergamo airport

will try to get pics from other sources

more hopefully soon

an interlude

2009-03-17T02:16:00.001-07:00

when my sister came over for the weekend, last last weekend

candyshop at the train station, where i used to pass by everyday when i was still in the youth hostel, in a not-so-distant past

school library, and the pierced beetle of an anomaly, in the square where Friday morning markets are held

exploring Leuven in a way i haven't in a long time.. i really like it

an interlude - Ghent Saturday 7 March

2009-03-16T18:38:00.001-07:00

Ghent

my camera ran outta battery right about the middle of the day

park

ginormous geese that came at us for food

botanical gardens from the outside
this is Ghent according to the attractions on the Use-It map.. and this is supposed to be the most beautiful tree

and accordingly, its glamour shot

the most beautiful building, if i didn't read wrongly
vintage shop

wanted to get a "Roomer", a drink supposedly not available elsewhere and unique to Ghent, to get "the Ghent feeling", but didn't

pancakes.. with egg, and with applesauce..
pancake house

where we overheard this elderly gentleman talking on the phone telling someone he was standing on a bridge next to two Japanese girls

people making coffee on boats

castle!
where i got in for free even though i ain't 19 no more! sometimes it pays to just shut up and let them think whatever

view from the top of the castle.. the rest of the castle was pretty cool too, though a lot of parts were restored and touristy/museumy, and learnt about how they used to torture people too
new age damsel in non-distress

and this was where my phone ran outta battery.. anyway the rest of the time in Ghent was exploring the castle, and then in a medieval neighbourhood that is really maze-like, exploring the town centre, going into a few vintage shops, and then a hearty dinner

an interlude - Brussels, Sunday 8 March

2009-03-16T18:24:00.000-07:00

on a gorgeous sunny sunny day

parking lot 58 again

manneken pis dressed up this time
Grote Markt

and in time for a costume change and some ceremony thing
and this is from the train back to Leuven, on one that went the long way and stopped at every stop, but it's okay, train travel on a sunny sunny day is even cooler than usual

long overdue.. Brussels, 1 March part one

2009-03-13T09:25:00.000-07:00

Brussels south ~ Brussel zuid ~ Bruxelle Midi

Sunday morning market.. it's a big market, you'll see..
erm.. very reminiscent of This Fashion

Sunday morning market is good for residents around the area though, they sell lotsa stuff, but to me the fresh produce there is the best.. fruit is cheap and good.. also the cheap cheese, from some posts ago

electric appliances

okay it has to end somewhere

clean away industrious street cleaners, coz Brussels is dirrrty

cool trees
Brussels is supposed to be really ugly, because of how the old buildings are right next to the new ones.. but i think it's kinda cool
another mural

haven't read a newspaper in a long time.. but recently discovered free Wall Street Journals at the faculty library.. yes have been going there, projects started.. but don't get me started :S

ah-ha parking lot 58, tip from the map/guide Use-It, available at Brussels but got ours from the youth hostel eons ago (also for other places in Belgium, and I think Holland), came here the first time in Brussels when i didn't have power in my camera.. courtesy of hardworking map-reading friend from hostel
view from the 10th floor.. watch out for a future post on a much much more photo-taking-friendly day.. yes i know i go to Brussels way too often.. due to some circumstances
but this is the first time i'm seeing this in Brussels.. it's right beside..
the theatre.. i think, if memory serves me right
on to the royal gallery.. one end says queen and the other king haha

leather in the jungle

sizeable selection of recipe/cookbooks, and the non-common ones

long overdue.. Brussels, 1 March part two

2009-03-13T09:01:00.000-07:00

taking over the world, one yellow minivan at a time

the Cathedral, and the big wooden cows by the side where we left our mark, part of a project by someone for world peace or unity or something.. seemed pretty noble at that time, kinda futile and lame in hindsight (tsk where's this cynicism coming from)

basking in the semi-imagined sun.. it would be nice though if the weather were better
this is where we had frite-lunch on my first trip to Brussels, maybe an attempt to compensate for the supposed best frites in Brussels we were looking for then but turned out to be closed on Sundays.. frites (fries) in Belgium, where fries first came from, are supposed to be different though, so come try

flea market :) a much better-looking one than the Sunday morning market.. it mostly has handicrafts and gifts

and then it's back to Grote Markt, and Manneken Pis, aka tourist area

but j'adore cote d'or.. plenty of chocolate shops, but come here for free samples!! took so many mm mmm.. truffles, chocolate, buttons.. and then again the third or fourth time i went to brussels.. you'll read about it (hopefully) soon
Grote Markt, Unesco heritage site (i think), also tourist area

what better place to get inspired to paint.. and to earn some tourist moolah.. seriously man where is this cynicism coming from..wasn't the first thing that i thought of when i first saw this though, thought it was pretty cool.. it is, but woulda been cooler if it didn't fit so nicely with the milking money thing.. but oh well we all gotta make money, and bask in tourist and other locals' attention and maybe adoration

the lady and the unicorn, if you're familiar

tapestry shop

yes when you're walking in the street leading up to Manneken Pis from Grote Markt beware not to get ripped off by the two Vincent van Gogh statues.. if they ask you to take a picture with them, DON'T

this is the place where i got my very first Belgian waffle in Belgium!

Manneken Pis
don't walk through this street either, not unless you wanna get mistaken for Japanese by a misplaced konnichiwa, then guessed at again with a ni hao, and ultimately hassled into eating at their restaurant, over and over again.. touting happens all over the world wherever there are tourists i guess

a cul-de-sac..

where we were trying to find..
Jeanneken Pis, the response to Manneken Pis.. crude ain't it haha

parting shot: Rogier van de Weyden!! major Flemish painter!!

till next time..

Of sunny days, freak snow, and egg adventures

2009-03-12T17:50:00.000-07:00

trying to get the perfect egg by using just a kettle! but this was done in a pot in the kitchen
from neighbour.. al dente mm

afternoon delight
brie and chocolate biscuit

yes this is the egg cooked using the kettle
the snow!!
yes it snowed just all of a sudden, completely out of the blue!! but i was too inertia-fied to go out in the snow

if we weren't still up at that time and actually saw the snow, we would never have known that it snowed the night before..

of course the snow melted in my hand

anyway.. yes this from Delhaize.. oh it's not 365, but it's still the Delhaize brand.. anyway, it's to be tried with the blue cheese

yes, the sunny days.. unfortunately i think they're ending :(

and don't worry i did not eat all the eggs at one shot
ahhh lunch on a sunny day, with iTunes on

and together now

Antwerp before lunch

2009-03-02T11:01:00.000-08:00

Before i begin, i have to say i'm really sad, i lost some of the pics from my phone :( coz my there wasn't enough space on my memory stick, so i saved them to my phone memory, but long story short i think i accidentally deleted all the pictures.. so some of the after lunch pictures will be missing :( anyway

sunny saturday, perfect for Antwerp-ing :) this is the statue/icon thing of Leuven (me thinks, at least that's the impression i get), and someone took the liberty of dressing him up, i suppose in response to how someone dressed up the Mannekin Pis of Brussels (maybe, maybe not; dressing a statue up is i guess quite instinctive in a not very instinctive way).. pic of Mannekin Pis coming up in post(s) about Brussels.. that person who dressed up Mannekin Pis apparently did it 300 or 700 plus times or smth.. sorry i guess this anecdote-thing's not very credible, but there's no doubting the 700plus costumes that the museum in Brussels has.. yeah i checked out the one of Singapore too, well let's just say i don't think it's very representative of Singapore.. think ancient Chinese warrior costume, yeah that's it

front seat, cockpit hospitable driver in an old train that he likens to a toy, and arrivel at Antwerp Central.. Antwerp Central station is supposed to be one of the nicest train stations in the world..

Antwerp Central station, Saturday morning, 11ish

learnt about it in Flemish Art too, Antwerp and Bruges used to be areas where the Flemish art was being traded and developed and all

Mekanik, the largest comic shop in Europe apparently.. don't judge the store by the outside..

(me hiding coz i didn't know if photography was allowed)

.. coz on the inside, it big, and it cooool

second floor

yes that's a wolf!
"but don't be scared, it tame, it belong to kind man"

oh i really wanted to go see the Antwerp zoo by the way.. or at least the free giraffes where you can see from somewhere, the zoo's expensive.. but has been there since 19th century (i think)! man
art and Antwerp go hand in hand

lunch at a place where the cooks were trainees.. was a good lunch, soup for starter, and main of fish, with potatoes on the side

Antwerp after lunch

2009-03-02T10:30:00.000-08:00

okay.. been busy.. but anyways these are photos of Antwerp last Saturday 28 Feb, after lunch, and as mentioned, some of the photos are missing

there was a one-man show outside the Cathedral, called Jac Jaxx or smth or other.. but the photos are gone

and then the pictures of the antique shop are gone too.. went to a street where there are a stretch of antique shops, and these are bonafide antiques, i think older than the stuff at Portobello Market, and the diff is Portobello was a street with stalls displaying stuff, and you can enter the shops as well, whereas here you really have to enter the shops.. which was cool, not so touristy, and even went into a real old house.. met an elderly gentleman from Ghent, who kindly gave directions to the river, and recommended a castle nearby

the castle from behind

the castle
the river Schelde

dinner before we leave

at the Kiekekot (chicken place)

a long time coming.. and then some

2009-03-02T04:57:00.000-08:00

have been in leuven for over a month now, and living at my place for the same amount of time less 6 days, realisedthis some time ago and again on Friday when i finished my first tube (albeit a small and not completely full tube when i first came) of toothpaste.. thought it should be immortalised before i threw the tube away.. and also after a month i finally found my alarm clock, when i was unpacking (yeah i took that long to figure out how i should organize my stuff).. it was in the pocket of one of the coats.. ah a snapshot celebration in order

sense the foreboding

but anyway, moving on, went to Antwerp on Saturday, and Brussels on Sunday.. have the chocolate liquor and bread roll and butter taken from lunch (which eventually became my breakfast on Sunday) to show for Antwerp..

.. and strawberries, cheese and garlic to show for Brussels! from the Sunday market.. you won't believe how cheap the produce is.. strawberries were 1euro each (packet), and they were sooo red and sweet! and the cheese..

.. that's brie and the other Danablu.. yes brie and Danish blue cheese, a total of 3.50euros.. my original hunk of brie was supposed to be 1.50 by weight but swift-fingered friend swapped it for a heavier piece supposed to cost 1.64.. heeee

but more about Antwerp and Brussels in future posts
i dunno if you know what this is/what's in it

super-freakin-size me.. when i was telling you about the housebrand from Delhaize i guess it didn't hit me that the large sizes are even cheaper.. common sense, but still..

i believe the giant loaf of bread costs less than it does in Singapore

anyway since i'm on to Delhaize's housebrand, i might as well continue with the item of the week.. let it be bread this week then.. wanted to get the fresh-baked crusty ones but since have been out the past two days i shall be a little more frugal for a while (we'll see how that goes).. anyway, as before, ginormous loaf for 69cents.. yeah i think it's cheaper than the housebrand's in sg.. finishing it's another matter though

blue cheese, speculoos.. well they pair blue cheese with figs.. and i think i really kinda like the ends of bread loaf

oh but anyway, have to say that we've been having really nice glorious sunny weather the past few days.. ahhhhhh don't let up please don't

not half as spicy as i thought it would be.. oh wells

pour carnaval, pour carnaval, pour carnaval..

2009-02-27T04:51:00.000-08:00

Binche, a French-speaking part of Belgium, to catch the carnival.. it's carnival season in Europe

French-speaking Belgium.. is a less developed part
gloomy weather.. and a sign of things to come..
three days of blowing off steam, we were there on Sunday, the first day.. there were gonna be fireworks on Monday, and a Mardi Gras parade on Tuesday..

it's not very visible in this photo, but the throng of people stretches all the way in the distance.. a lot of them carry the yellow flowers, which is i dunno tradition of sorts, according to friend

words of wisdom from drunk carnival goers: "you have to Jupile-rize yourself.."

watching from a safe distance.. friend kindly pointed out how they boarded up all the shop windows, a sign of how rowdy things are gonna get the next few days..

plenty of places selling party gear
unesco heritage

sorry

start of the parade.. march from train station onwards to the centre i think

don't be confused about your gender identity, guys don't usually dress like that..

but there are plenty of guys in drag.. all for the fun of things, and the spirit of the carnival

bye Binche, thanks for the carnival..

here and there, in-betweens..

2009-02-26T11:52:00.000-08:00

Birthday celebration :) :D :) :D

Hong Kong restaurant with a really good student price..

chicken soup with generous serve of crunchy beansprouts (and non-fatty chicken, thumbs up) and inadvertently pepper-laden, courtesy of yours truly, and GINORMOUS springroll.. the two appetizers on the student menu

egg foo yong :) tad too salty, but real good.. according to HK-ers this ain't what egg foo yong's supposed to be, but it's good, it's like a giant omelete that comes with beansprouts, carrots, and bamboo shoots (and maybe some other veggies, i don't remember) and more of the non-fatty chicken strips, topped off with loads tomato-ey ketchupy gravy
birthday cake.. chocolate frosting was fudgey good, totally eclipsing the dry and nondescript cake

of someone's house.. am not gonna post too many pics of house, but someone give me this for my birthday someday please :)

Sports centrum by night..

..when the instructor for funk and funky jazz didn't turn up and didn't inform the sports secretariat either.. that means i'll only get to try both next week.. tried jazz on tuesday after ballet though, was fun! :D anyway, this the fitness gym

gymnasium.. gymnastics was in here last week (d'oh), but upstairs and not visible from here

sports bar
frite shack (frituur) is a short ways outside the sports centrum, so no worries of burning too many calories, replenishment is just a stumble away..

aah this ain't at the sports centrum anymore, but is a cup of life-saving, soul-warming cafe au lait.. you can specify for strong and sugar at the vending machine, how cool is that.. but it still ain't strong enough for me, man i miss the cafe au lait at the youth hostel, good and strong, and from a dispenser too, who'd 've guessed

well if i'm gonna skip a lecture i might as well do something useful..

2009-02-25T10:51:00.000-08:00

don't worry this won't happen often.. at least i hope not eeks :S hee

anyway bought more groceries from Aldi, a supposed-to-be-cheaper supermarket in a v inconvenient place (well, i got a box outta that place, which is just as well coz it'd be really really useful)

and i believe we have the makings of egg and tomato dish! the carton of eggs is the other thing poking outta the box by the way.. condiments from Asian supermarket though.. spaghetti's only 39cents!

and now for the taste test.. it's really good, you can't see it from the pics but there really are specks of vanilla in it, good stuff

and i have a v well-stocked fridge no.. even have stuff spilling over to the windowsill.. oh but there's rubbish in the fridge as well

i dunno how this turned out to be portrait..

.. but yes this is the first dish i kinda cook-cooked! with generous help of course.. the tomatoes weren't great coz they didn't have enough liquid, but overall it's nice! and was what i skipped class to do, so haha

a running, sorta,-no-actually-not-really,-ode to 365..

2009-02-25T07:56:00.000-08:00

in appreciation of how much money housebrand of Delhaize is saving us poor student-folk, i think i should introduce an item from the house brand 365 each week (don't count on it though haha).. check around my room, actually even those that aren't explicitly displaying the 365 label but bears the small but undeniable lion symbol of Delhaize are around, another sign of the genius that is Delhaize, not only at keeping prices low, quality good, but also at aesthetics of its products.. but let me reassure you i'm not a feen haha

anyway! first on the list, also part of my lunch today: beans!!

mm mmm they're good too! prefer them to the Heinz ones i eat back home.. on first look they seem kinda watery though, but they taste goooood, not too sour or salty, and i just checked the label, no wonder it seems watery, coz they don't use fake-o thickeners, unless witte bonen, water, tomatenpuree, suiker, zout and aroma's, any of these sound like cornstarch or Esomething-or-other-chemical-name-of-what-can-be-simply-termed-crap-additive-thing (haricots blancs, eau, concentre de tomates, sucre, sel, aromes - French, if you will..)

and yes managed to get my hands on chili! Been adding it to everything, instant noodles, mackerel salad (mackerel’s delicious by the way, bought the one in sunflower oil without knowing it, and mixed that with veg and chili, it’s awesome yums.. think mackerel will be my new go-to canned fish, instead of sardine or tuna.. have never bought tuna here, but sardines yes, and it’s gross they don’t remove the scales! But good thing the scales aren’t that awful to eat, coz they’re quite soft and not noticeable.. either that or my scale-removing skills using a single fork and occasional index finger or thumb are excellent enough to actually remove ALL the scales).. and this, my lunch here today, that red thing on top is chili :] :] :]

Wow and this is potent stuff man, I actually had to reach for cooling liquids! Or living in Belgium, a spice-scarce country has mellowed my taste buds much much.. nahh but that ain’t possible either, have been pumping myself with loads chili since I got my hands on some some time ago, but I actually thought that this time it was too spicy, and I NEVER think that haha.. ah well increased sensitivity to spice is not a bad thing either, but think I’m just having a bad (or good? eh maybe it's neither, just heightened-sensivity) taste bud day haha

yeah this the mackeral and chili.. man it's so good just like that, no dressing nothing (the mackeral was in oil, so)

black sesame paste that friend kindly gave me a packet of.. well aided in no small part by me thick-skinnedly asking for a packet haha.. she also supplied me the aforementioned instant noodles.. before you tut it's a fair exchange k! i gave her muchos packs of milo, so there
and as a bonus, since this is the first of the sorta,-no-actually-not-really,-ode-s to 365, this is the 12pack yoghurt i bought! there you can kinda sorta see the 365 label, and yep i wiped out 7 of 'em alr haha.. and it's good too! peach (not in pic), pear, cherry, strawberry (smells good and tastes like strawberry milk when mixed with milk.. but d'oh right haha), forest fruit and exotic fruit.. i think my fave is exotic, though they're all good.. exotic's i think pineapple, passionfruit, mango.. at least that's what the picture shows, and was expecting it to taste funny but it was good! to me at least

making my way to London.. Thurs night, 12 Feb

2009-02-21T05:15:00.001-08:00

Some lessons to be learnt from taking the Eurostar..

(me frazzled after a hectic journey to the train station at Leuven, and then Brussels Midi, and another hectic check-in.. i think this deserves a shot for illustrative purposes)

always leave early so you won't end up walking the whole way at lightning speed when your bus doesn't come after i dunno 15min and you're frantically thinking about how fast you have to walk to make it to the Leuven train station in time, and hoping that the train to Brussels Midi won't come too late or take too long

always be cautious and check-in early

ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE ADDRESS OF YOUR DESTINATION!!!

always make sure your clock is set to the correct time so you don't wonder why the trains are taking off ahead of schedule and then after the second train sets off early, suddenly realise your clock is slow and how dangerously close you came to missing your train

always check that when they say there's food onboard, they mean free food and not ridiculously priced fare, so you don't end up raiding the gifts you were gonna bring coz you were so hungry coz you skipped dinner in anticipation of free food (buffet at that) and coz you walked extra fast and panicked quite a bit when you thought you weren't gonna make the train (don't ask why i'm bringing chocolate smiley face biscuits as gifts.. one of them anyway)

but i made it in the end! this is the St. Pancras Eurostar station in London!!!! it awesomess!!!!! cool station
anyway i was there for the weekend to visit sis and friend! details in subsequent posts, all ya gotta do is scroll down..

London trip (part one - men) 1.1 Friday 13 Feb

2009-02-21T04:22:00.000-08:00

and now on to London trip proper.. first stop (well techniquely the first stop was the bank, but oh well) is.. Borough Market!! sis' kind recommendation.. this place is really cool, loadsa food, and man the smells mm

whiskey

the aforementioned veggie wrap.. roasted veg, couscous etc. mm

eat your heart out

more of the categorically-same

chocolate truffles.. don't they look 'heaven-ly'

cherry tomatoes! the yellow ones are reeeeally nice and sweeeet.. and they cheap too *cheep cheep*
i'm sorry but even after a few sniffs (across the market, not at one spot) and taste (of black truffle olive oil), i still don't appreciate black truffles..

baklava.. nutty, crispy-soggy, syrupy gooodness
falafel wrap, with chilli (!!) and tahini sauce.. and other good stuff in it

ooh hot mulled apple is really good.. made it okay for me to give up coffee, the smell of which had been tempting me for sooo long there.. mm mm mulled apple, as you can read on the chalkboard if you squint a little, it's apple+orange, lemon, ginger, cloves cinnamon.. so good.. and the stall owner is the old school brit kind who says "careful, luv', it's hot"

and i have to point out other stuff we tried at the market too, like scottish honey (so good), various cheeses, wild mushroom ravioli.. and so much other stuff like fresh produce, and lots meat.. meat/sausage/burger/bratwursts stalls abound, amid organic and vegetarian ones hee

but after that i went to meet up with a friend in london, took the tube, and i dunno maybe it's the novelty thing but i kinda like the confusion of taking the tube, having to check which lines go where (the northern line has two chains by the way), and yeah it kinda caused my friend a little panick on my last day there when i was late in meeting her and uncontactable (note: i'm usually late in general heh, and this time it was kinda coz i overshot.. have no idea how i could've missed king's cross station).. yeah it's more of a challenge i guess, and kinda in a twisted, coz-i-don't-live-with-it way, how they can stop lines sometimes kinda cool.. haha.. i hope this doesn't come back to haunt me in future visits to london, if and when :D

so anyway, yes, took the tube and went to Bond Street station, and onto Regent Street (mix up in the meeting place too)

just walked along, had free tea samples at Whittard (cool cool tea place, no photography allowed.. well to me anyway, who really knows right), and then..

into the National Geographic store!!! really cool place!!! wish i had spent more time in here.. but anyway this is a horse made outta driftwood! retailing for 1000plus pounds..

reeeally cool photographs

.. and lotsa other stuff, couldn't photograph everything, but i chose this French loveseat, in honour of Valentine's Day the next day haha.. anyway, more pics in the other posts.. scroll down :D

London trip (part one - men) 1.2 Friday 13 Feb

2009-02-21T03:52:00.000-08:00

Leicester Square..
Chinatown!!

Belgian waffle sundae..

and on to St. James park.. check out the union jack in the distance

they're draining the river

revisiting Buckingham Palace.. last time i was here was more than a decade ago..

classic depiction of the advancement of technology -- car overtaking horses..

and back to London Bridge and then on to Poppy Hana, a Japanese restaurant for dinner with sis..

me and my sis always seek out Asian food overseas, explained by a combination of a random craving, turned nolstalgia turned habit turned tradition

and of course the much more straightforward reason is you always seem to crave Asian food when you don't have any.. in a long time

chicken katsu curry, and spicy tofu+veg ramen..

was real gooood

London trip (part two - twee) 2.1 Saturday 14 Feb

2009-02-20T08:30:00.001-08:00

went to Hampstead Heath wanting to check out a market, but turned out there wasn't a market.. so it was lunch at Maison Blanc instead..

mushroom soup, and two small tastings of raspberry macaron.. was good

chocolate ganache and raspberry and some other sponge.. mmm decadent and chocolately goodness

roasted veg rocks

"hey how's it going.."

ooh this is the crepe stand that my bro introduced to us the last time we were at Hampstead Heath! Look at the queue.. but it's good stuff man, the last time we tried, good crispy steamy hot crepes.. La Creperie..

parting shot, before we left for..
Portobello Market!

good things come in unexpected places..

here we are.. and in my opinion it's not just some hyped up tourist place..

her signature

they play good music

smile for the camera :)

..more pics coming up..

London trip (part two - twee) 2.2 Saturday 14 Feb

2009-02-20T08:06:00.000-08:00

strawberry sugar crepe.. mm not too sweet, and strawberries were so fragrant.. crepe coulda been crisper though..

ooh ran into a lady from Cambodia, who offered us samples (BIG samples.. half cup each).. of hot wine, and we wanted to try the Indian Chai tea too.. wanted to buy some since she was so nice to us, but she just poured us the remains of the chai tea instead.. mm.. and it's good stuff i tell you, she uses real ingredients in the drinks too..

Yo! sushi! kitschy-cool, and bubblegum fun :)

YUM

mmm..

Nut Hut!

grocery shopping at Sainsbury's, and then it's back to London Bridge..

.. for Valentine's dessert/supper! strawberries, blueberries, cherries (all half price :D), chocolates and nuts, yoghurt-covered oranges, banana chips, ginger etc. from the nut hut.. the works baby

London trip.. (part three - drie) Sunday 16 Feb

2009-02-20T07:35:00.000-08:00

Fruity valentine-spillover breakfast..

Laundry in the morn

Church.. at Holburn..

..and on to Tottenham Court, in search of Korean food, but the place was closed, so checked out the Korean cafe/eatery-cum-hair-salon-in-the-basement next door, but that was full..

..so ended up at a punk-new-age-do-goodie-cafe place instead..

she didn't realise she was posing with a buncha punks behind her.. haha

thai curry with aubergine, squash and cashew, with basmati rice and naan bread..

i think they used squash for the curry gravy, coz it was a little too sweet, but other than that this was fine..

oh and i have no idea how to change the pic to landscape.. i don't really know how to use this blog thing, hence the really weird matching of text and pics sometimes..

broccoli and tomato quiche, with three salads and another salad on the side.. one of penne pesto, another was like cucumber-y 'slaw, and another of french beans and onions..

cheesecake was sooo good..

..and then it was time to pack up for me.. and head over to another friend's place where i bunked so i could get up and walk to the St. Pancras station to catch my Eurostar in the morning..

for dinner, had Singaporean food! so if you're ever at King's Cross St. Pancras, go check out this Singaporean-Malaysian eatery, the food there's cheap too, and had large portions.. pity there was no chilli padi though.. they had another kinda chilli, but asked if they had chilli padi and the dude seemed shocked and said 'nooo.. we don't serve chilli padi'.. right like it's so unbelieveable for a Singaporean to ask for chilli padi.. oh wells i tried

after that, bummed around, and saw Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross.. took an un-uploadable picture though, pity..

back to leuven.. from london (part four--vier)

2009-02-20T07:14:00.000-08:00

Monday morning.. 16 Feb '09

5.53am London time..
breakfast on the Eurostar..

..bought by an Italian gentleman..

this is mine.. chocolate croissant, cappucino, orange juice..

..solo train travel is pretty cool

9.00am Brussels time, and it's back to Leuven..

tuesday night

2009-02-20T06:38:00.001-08:00

Gymnasium!

this shot wasn't taken by me, but this is the gymnasium! went for ballet before that, but gym made me really pukey, coz haven't done forward roll and other gym stuff in a looooong time

and they teach in dutch, think the coach doesn't speak any english at all, so it's back to gesturing and the universal body language..

they had real athletes training there as well, and they are sooooo good.. saw someone jumping about on the trampoline and then flipping multiple times before landing on his feet.. too cool

i dunno if i will continue going for gym though

and back to ballet, the first lesson i went last week she made an effort to speak english but started talking in dutch after a while, but it's not so bad coz ballet terms are in french anyway, and it's follow-able, not like gym where she'll have to tell you how to correct youself (eg. tucking your head into your chin so you don't arch your back, so that you can balance on your hands.. that's what i gathered from what she was doing anywhere, and also from the few times i went for gym in sg)

spreung, (something), spitzz.. i think that means spring, and then you land with one leg sticking out and then go into cartwheel.. the spelling of that is of course suspect

dinner..

2009-02-19T16:23:00.000-08:00

living room area..

continued

yes dinner.. but first, introductions are in order..

..egg with tomato (yum yum yum), chicken in coca cola, napa cabbage in oyster sauce, napa cabbage with garlic, and bak kut teh.. haha what did ya expect?

this ain't dinner, this brunch.. yeah yoghurt was expiring

and welcome to Taverne Amici Miei, student meal of a giant pizza/pasta at 5euros..

spinach and egg pizza says hi

v nice cozy place

and the meal ends with a nice shot of amaretto..

some random stuff

2009-02-18T19:54:00.000-08:00

First attempt in the kitchen

not much of an attempt.. just trying to melt stuff.. and the bread was really stale so was curling up

in other words, it was really bad..
but this is the final product.. :S there was a block of cheese that was on offer, seriously cheap, coz was expiring

1.5l Sangria.. for 1.99euro!! this is so unbelieveable it really deserves a post of its own.. a small glass i had the other time was about 2.50euro

but this is reeeally bad sangria though.. brought some over to london in a water bottle and told people i was visiting it was ribena.. haha

..and sangria with orange juice.. mm this was not bad.. the good sangria i had had fruit in it

what's under my sink if you're interested..the shopping bag is from Delhaize, they don't provide plastic bags for groceries here, which is excellent really, so much better for the environment.. some stuff in here is from london, coz was on sale over there.. anyway more about london in a future post.. LOTS more mmmmm :]

Second (solo) attempt in the kitchen

psyched that i bought onions.. bought chilli too i can't waaaiiiiittt

i dunno why i even bothered to, erm, try to toast the pita bread.. turned out v v mildly warm.. i seriously seriously suck at cooking.. well this isn't even really considered cooking, think this would just be basic heating

finished product.. it was awful i tell you, in a word.. in a more illustrative word, bleargh

backyard

fruit rouges tea.. mm the smell is soo goood.. and check out the steam from the cup.. from the house brand of supermarket Delhaize.. their house brand stuff's reeeally quite cheap.. they're kinda cold storage-y, there's another supermarket further further away that's more NTUC-ey, but for some reason quite a bit more expensive

as per request

and again.. compared to the shower etc facilities i've had in london, and in other rooms i've seen, i have to say we're really really pampered at our place

there's really no other way to describe this than long bread haha.. am really starting to like crusty crusty bread.. this one had sesame seeds and other (i think total 6, as far as my 'dutch', or rather understanding of dutch ingredients, go)grains, so good, nutty mm..

and once more, with speculoos.. yums stuff

Brugge!! I

2009-02-16T03:00:00.001-08:00

Pictures of Brugge, long overdue

missed the coach.. but it's okay, coz with the go pass it's actually cheaper, so took the train instead..

chug-a-chug-a-chug..

..and we're here!

welcome to Brugge, the "Venice of Belgium"

horses! love the sound, hate the smell :S

round discs in the display window (to the bottom left of the window) are giant macarons

wooden toys & gifts.. on the right is the place we had lunch, which was frites (fries).. brugge is an expensive place

boinky wooden toys boinking from the ceiling!

..aand we end part I on a sweet note :D loads of choc shops in brugge though

pics from my phone.. of Brugge! II

2009-02-16T02:40:00.000-08:00

am really scared IE's gonna close my window again, so gonna split up the brugge posts..

haha my second waffle in belgium.. unfortunately didn't get the first down on 'film', so here's the second one

place with many flavours of belgian beer.. but brugge is an expensive place

live matech..

pics from my phone..

2009-02-11T13:53:00.001-08:00

i'm just randomly taking shots i'm sorry..

anyway this is a half-eaten sandwich.. brie and pine nuts! and unidentified greenies that made the original sandwich-holder discard it.. cheese and dried fruit/fruit's good, there'll be a pic coming up soon in a future post, prob one of many of my cheese adventures in europe.. well as adventurous as a small budget can afford me anyway.. watch this space.. but anyway this is from alma 1; almas are like the school canteens, with one of the cheapest meals you can find in leuven

dryer, washing machines.. self-explanatory.. laundry's reeeally expensive here though :S

pics from my phone..

2009-02-10T14:38:00.000-08:00

..of leuven
yes the "pics from my phone" series is back.. gonna split up the posts again, this one's pics from leuven

aftermath of sangria.. nahh camw___ing again, alc has zip effect on me
following pics are of the sports centrum.. leuven has a v well equipped sports centrum!

floor here's real slippery

basketball court's huge

basketball court part deux

next few pics are of leuven

one and only macs as far as i know.. anyway, we're about to enter..

oude market.. this is where the boozing happens.. looks tame in the day don't it

weekend market.. the pic here isn't not good; the market stretches on further than it looks

hot wine's really gooood

food of an exchange student with no kitchen

2009-02-10T13:39:00.000-08:00

meet the gang

poppyseed bagel!

kitchen's supposed to be up, so far there're microwave ovens, a i think small oven and stoves, but the handlebars for the cabinets are not up, no pots and pans either.. ah well even then it's not like i can cook.. used the microwave last night though, first kitchen venture thus far.. this dinner was from some nights ago, not the microwaved one

the bloody idiots spoilt my view!! they just came in one day unannounced and installed bars across my window!! didn't even get any notice of anything, unbelieveable k this is outrageous.. they're really smth else man came in to fix my leaky sink and just grabbed whatever towel was most convenient for them to mop up their mess.. gahh.. good thing my bed is not next to the window though, coz some people's beds got climbed on.. gross

mm muesli with yoghurt

mmm tomatoes are delicious.. and having a knife around's really handy

full size of my room

2009-02-04T01:54:00.000-08:00

2009-02-03T11:09:00.000-08:00

stuff from the 2nd hand shop

this is not second hand, no
from my window at ard 5.45pm, grey weather today, kinda rain-snowed today

it really just gets more organised.. the lamp's set up this time, and the sugar bowl is added to the line of jars

pics from my phone IV.. the last of the quadrupology

2009-02-03T10:23:00.000-08:00

Pics from here and there

friday morning market

not the market anymore
second hand shop.. got a rack to hang my towels from here.. the rack is apparently for hanging suits.. only 1euro!

rain started to turn to snow though can't really see from the pic

train station

cozy workstation.. someone's work space at city hall, the place of inefficient administration..

bookshop, bus stop.. look at the right, there's a statue of a girl waiting for the bus.. gotta figure out the zoom function on my phone :S

antique bookstore!
antique bookstore from the corner where the shopkeeper couldn't see me.. didn't think he'd be very please if he saw me taking pics

pics from my phone III

2009-02-03T10:06:00.000-08:00

Youth hostel

i don't usually cam-w___e..

but this is where i was staying for the first six days here
supposedly the shop with the best chocs in Leuven

shaky pic of display window
much better

frost.. first signs that it was gonna snow..

this is the botanic garden by the way.. really nice