[ Wed Jun 25, 07:52:45 AM | serial dreamer | edit ]
seeing as i've still got an hour plus plus before my flight home i'll tell ya another story.

when you're still young (make sure it's comfortably below 25) go to paris in the summer. especially make sure you're there on the 21st of June
the official first day of summer... don't ask me how they calculate it, it just is.
it was last saturday, and every single available space that could accomodate a band had one... ranging from people acapella to full-scale bands with 10-drum sets and electric guitars. it was incroyable mais vrai.... imagine 10 million people milling about on the streets....battle of the bands!
the silliest thing was, there were NO BARRICADES on any of the streets. if you were lucky it'd be a solitary traffic warden or a few gendarmes jazzily swayin
so there'd be circles of youths sitting smack in the middle of the road (like those groups in taka square, just put them in orchard road and you'll get the idea), and cars driving around them! and in the crowded small alleyways i nearly got me toes run over by 3 cars.... it was THAT close.

the highlight of the night was the Eiffel.... they'd lit it up with 20,000 strobe lights... glittering bleu and blanc, the prettiest sight imaginable.
i only had the LCA with me at the time... i really hope it managed to capture that annual sight
unfortunately i only got a 5 minute glimpse of it before joining the latest sport that night.... catching the last metro back home
it was horrible. you know how singaporeans love the mrt cos' there's aircon? well most of the time anyway. in paris it's different, there's absolutely NO aircon in the subway AND in all stores... so you walk in from a refreshing breezy street into a crowded sweaty store.... uh-uh aint gonna shop for more than 10 minutes.
so there we were.... squashed into the last car of the metro... when suddenly the train stops at this station
and no one can get on, see? duh cos it's so crowded.
in the middle of the station there was this huge chaos and some rioting gang screamed and shouted... heard glass breaking
people outside looked real scared and some people in my carriage raised the windows... it was an OVEN.
i couldn't see what was happening but apparently that gang threw tear gas or something? whatever it was, after what seemed like eternity the gang went away
and the train could pull outta the station. man.

oh well. made it back by 3 that night at least. and now i'm off to run to my gate. have an hour left but better be safe. see ya'll soon!

  posted by juice.susceptible @ 10:41 AM

 
[ Wed Jun 25, 07:38:21 AM | serial dreamer | edit ]
well. i'm nearly hoooome! yeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAaaaa

stuck here waiting it out at KLIA airport, having paid an outrageous 7.50 SGD for 75 min of net time.
unlike in europe where i only paid 2 sing for an hour.... heh the comparisons have started.
realised during my travels that singaporeans have the 3Cs with them wherever they go... Compare Complain and Comment.
Mustn't have these three Cs, oh no.

Anyway. my hands are utterly blistered from lugging my 28 kg (i peeked at the meter when i checked it in) Samsonite suitcase
through the urine-scattered subways of Paris. my arms are aching too. how i long for my bed!
really hope the wine i packed in that suitcase didn't shatter... but oh well. after such a long trip i've learnt not to dwell on the minor details in life.
and the normandy camembert i stowed in my backpack's starting to smell..... peeyeww =) hope no official stops me gettin on me flight home

anyone interested as to what happened the day after the last entry? well i'll tell ya what happened.
i needed to head back to paris the very next day right. well that day happened to be the day that the french people went on a massive strike
and my train back got cancelled. as a result i spent the entire day in a heated debate with my friends and with the train and bus people
as well as good old NTUC insurance back home.... must get re-imbursed for waiting time in smokers' paradise you know. that blasted no-smoking sign has about as much effect as an elastic band trying to stop the mad rush for the first day of the GSS....
so anyway. the first bus back to anywhere remotely near paris (bordeaux) was at 1.30 am.
anyone who knows me knows that my brain sort of backfires and turns mushy and i go slightly (well ok alot) bonkers when i'm reaaally tired.
so i went quite nuts waiting for that bus which turned out to be the 4th bus that came to the SAME platform at 1.30 am onwards. no matter. i wasn't pissed yet

it culminated when i nearly got left behind on the bus... 'abandoned' at toulouse! dear people. whenever in this situation try to keep awake.
there's no knowing if some irate busdriver decides to drive off leaving you solo on the bus.. as in your friends are still at the station and your luggage is still on board...
well long story. what matters is that i survived yeah? and currently experiencing seasickness from that 11 hour long plane ride back here. give thanks....


[ Wed Jun 18, 04:48:56 AM | serial dreamer | edit ]
back again.... surprisingly! it´s 11.44 pm here at night and i´ve just finished strolling the docks at barcelona... 12 min left on this super crowded place
legs hurting like crazy... shoulders utterly burnt to a crisp. only the shoulders mind you although i was wearing a spag. hrm.
yup don´t worry i´m taking care of myself (just not enough water and sunblock is all).... =)

went shopping like nuts today cos´i´m heading back to paris again tmr....
headed all the way up to parc guell today so that´s why my body´s aching so bad.... stinking too hahahaa
barcelona is pretty dusty and weird. like eccentric weird... think most of the people on the street are either in the tourist business or are tourists. like moi.
but it´s a romantic rambling place.... staying right smack in the middle of the action. heh.

ok think i´´ll head off for sangria and tapas now. gonna try fried octopus in lots of oil for the first time ever. wish my stomach luck. nights!
[ Tue Jun 17, 01:19:04 PM | serial dreamer | edit ]
i´m in barcelona.... now only for two nights though. took this overnight train (three,actually) from paris all the way here.
go look at the map and you´ll see how far i´ve travelled... well the overnight train was pretty uncomfortable but all right i guess. 6 couchettes in one small compartment...
bumped my head really badly twice... .still reeling from the side effects. (seasick feeling etc etc...)

well here in spain thank goodness the keyboard´s back to normal... so i don´t have to figure out how to use the keys which would waste alot of time..
right now it´s about 8.12 am... having just woken up specially early to report to my lovely public. s´posed to head back to hotel for a buffet breakfast that costs €5 or somethin. don´t know if it tastes that great but i´ll tell ya. hahaa
i think i have the topmost room that´s the last room to be built.... it´s the last number in the whole block hotel... facing the city skyline so it´s pretty nice. 501!

ok i have 20 more minutes left. sincerely speaking i think that dali is an extremely twisted person.... lucas his paintings are nuts and i think i´m beginnin to be able to recognise his paintings anywhere.... plus gaudi´s famous here in spain so today i´ll be doing the touristy thang and searching for all his monuments. and no, i WILL NOT go to see the white gorilla on his measly patch of sand.

spanish tv is sad. there was Angel on last night and some movie with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolf Lundgren but i can´t remember the movie title... EVERYTHING was dubbed in espanol.... it´s absurd to hear spanish coming out of everyone´s mouth haha... and they have super cheesy car commercials all the time. oh well.

ok gonna check my email now. tata.

  posted by juice.susceptible @ 10:41 AM

 
[ Sat Jun 14, 07:34:04 PM | serial dreamer | edit ]
hi all my darlings! i'm currently sitting in a parisian easyinternet cafe... pretty cheap to use. only 1,30 EUR for an hour, and i've got 35 min left so i better make this snappy.
this keyboard is so hard to use! you need to press shift for numbers and fullstops and all the letters are in the wrong places.
and the wwwkey isn't working too wwwwell. gotta press hard.

did ya people know that you can sms me anytime?
yeah. i prolly don't know when the next time is that i'll be able to go online so sms is the fastest way.
the parisian streets are superbly dirty and there's dog doo and excreta everywhere... really makes ya miss singapore innit.
oh yeah... yanny happy birthday!!! i know it's somewhere around this date heh. too bad all i see here are girly stuff, so i prob can't find anything here that will suit you.
how is my dg and everyone? hope you gals don't give christine any headaches; the bandanna on my head is giving me one. heh out of point.

yeah i'm getting used to the dirt and filth here. just sanitise everything i bring home!
and in case anyone wants to know, i'm eating just fine here. the boulangeries are heavenly and i drink red wine everyday... oops better not tell my parents haha
the only problem is that everything is soooo expensive. my norvegienne icecream cost 5 SGD but it was tres fantastique.. vanilla icecream with cake and marshmallow.

ok going off now to check emails. au revoir!
but seriously bottles of wine go for as cheap as 2 or 3 euros! =) goodness just realised there are 2 different shift buttons...

[ Wed Jun 04, 07:49:24 AM | serial dreamer | edit ]
i'm SO pissed.

this morning on my daily bus ride to work i encountered one of the most irritating Singaporean men ever.
i sat on the inside seat against the bus window so as to let others use the seat nearer the aisle.
bad mistake.

this huge guy came to sit next to me, squashing me into a third of the seat.
i was like, oooookaaay, then i thought since he's a big guy i'll forgive him.
then i realised he was sitting with his legs spread wide and his shoulder/arm was pressing into my side...
i used my arm to block him from doing so but i had no choice but to squirm further nearer the window.
so the entire trip i had to endure this guy's thigh and shoulder pressing against my side

there was a point i couldn't take it so i said "could you give me a BIT more space sorry?"
he looked at me with that blur-goldfish-duh look that just GOT to me.... didn't even say sorry!!!
and I'M wondering now why I said sorry. It wasn't my fault was it????'

oooookay. am i being too touchy? i know we ought not to discriminate against others but when this sort of thing happens it's difficult to remain calm.
now i wish i had more confidence to start blasting him or to shove him so i could get out of the seat and change to another one.
there goes my morning nap.

grrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGRrrrrrrrrrgrRRRRRRRRRRGrRRRRRRr.rrr............

  posted by juice.susceptible @ 10:40 AM