Journey Around the World: Switzerland in 3 days

Switzerland is indeed a pretty pretty country, specializing in Swiss army knives, Choclolates and CHEESE! Thanks Xinhui for ya swiss army knife! It was very nice and tot of you when i was in Switzerland and ya romantic love story=) River flowing through the cities with nice architectures makes Switzerland attractive=) Nice landscape. I was only in Switzerland for the weekend (Fri-Sun, 5-7 sept'08) and there was not enough time to travel to the Alps or further south. But I admit that I saw quite a fair bit of Switzerland in 3 days-Basel, Bern, Luzern, Zofingen and Vor dem Wald! Thanks to my guide, Nicolas Hunkeler! I met Nicolas Hunkeler together with Nicolas Welzl in New Zealand in May'08 and we travelled together for about 10days and it was an awesome and unforgettable experience! The times spent will always be remembered. It was very nice for me to see Nicolas.H again in Switzerland! It was a nice continuation to our friendship and thank you for being such a great host, doing so much for me-planning meet-ups with friends and making decisions when I did not want to=) I met Nicolas's 2 brothers and went to Luzern with Marc, his 2nd bro. He is a nice and funny guy=) Met Marc's and Nicholas' friends during the weekend and it was interesting...

It was very heart-warming to see how Nicholas, his dad and his brothers communicate! They are like friends, fooling around with each other and at the same time, showing and being very explicit in their actions and words that they care and love one another! That is how a family should be like and it was very nice just sitting there, immersing in the atmosphere of love! Nic's mum is super cute! I like her=) She is also a teacher like Simon's mom! heaps of teachers around eh! It was amazing how i felt like i was part of their family in such a short period of time! Bidding them good-bye was quite sad! I suck at saying goodbyes btw.. hate it also.. Would be nice to hide all my friends and love ones all in my pocket after compressing them into 1cm figures=) BUt at the same time, I know that they need space to develop and do things that they want to, hence shaping them into who they are or who i know them for.

In Germany, people greet with one/two kisses, but in Switzerland, they do 3! Unique eh! Also, Swiss speak a dialect in the German speaking region called Swiss German and it is super difficult to understand. I understand about 10 percent if I concentrate hard enough SOMETIMES! But more often than not, I dont understand anything! Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof!

Thank you meimei for sending da erasable pen to Germany! The train conductor did not check my ticket(German Rail Pass) on my way to Switzerland and that saved me 20 euros=) Shiok eh! With this extra ticket, I travelled to Hamburg to watch a Badminton Match! Hope all goes well for ya in Australia! Miss you! Will visit you definitely! =)

The trip was very nice on the whole except for the fact that i missed my train on the way to Switzerland and had to wait an hour for the next. I could not be unluckier. I missed my train back from Basel to Germany because I took the wrong train from Nicholas' place to the Basel train station and ended up in Bern! Unbelievable! This resulted in me taking a midnight train back home, reaching Frankfurt at only 3 plus am! And guess wad, there is no transport to get home.... Walking along the dark, isolated streets for 30 minutes added more excitement to my adventure home! Would definitely not repeat this mistake again=) It was a little too exciting for me...

Having stayed at so many people's place- Nic, Renate, Simon... I learn alot from them of how a GOOD host should be like. Their hospitability is crazy and amazing. I fail in comparison! Determined to a better host to all of them when they come to Singapore!

The Matterhorn (or Cervino) near the Swiss village of Zermatt in the canton of Valais. Did not manage to see this! Wish to though! next time ba.....

Swiss Alps! Did not manage to see this also! Only from afar=) Better than nothing!

Nicholas stays near Zofingen, in a village called Vor dem Wald which means in front of the forest literally!! His house is on a hill, with nice scenery! It is a nice and quite place! His dad is an architect and builds houses! Somehow the interior of his house is nicer than the exterior! haha.. it is suppose to be the other way round when his dad is an architect!His house is really modern, luxurious and fancy!! Nicholas is also studying architecture in Zurich now too! Cool eh! School is gonna get busy for him! Du schaffst es!

Tv area! They also have a projector for their WIDE collection of movies! Watched quite a fair bit of movies when I was there.

The guest room=) Fancy toilet!

Open concept Kitchen! Stylish! My house will have a similar concept kitchen!

Dining room=)

Where we had breakfast... Nice sheltered balcony with nice view outside this opening!

Us at nice breakfast with nice bread, crossoinants(duno how to spell) and tuna bread(picture below)! The tuna bread was very cool and nice! Looks very good too!!It would be a pity if you do not like Tuna! You are missing out on ALOT=)

We are indeed missing out on quite a fair bit in Singapore! The lack of nature... but Singapore is still a nice place to live in=) One people, one nation eh! Singapore may fail in comparison in this area, but it has excelled in many other areas which makes me proud as a Singaporean! I felt quite proud to be a Singaporean when reading the latest news about the night F1 city race in Singapore!

View from a different perspective!

Every morning i get awoken not by the kukuing of the roaster but by the calls of the sheeps! DOLLY! Less den 1 meter away from Nicholas' house stands his neighbour's garden with two sheeps! They just eat and eat non-stop! Very cute! Even witnessed them shitting and peeing during my 10 min with them!

Upon arrival with DB at Basel on Friday afternoon, we did a tour of Basel. Cute, non-halal mode of transportation ;)

Marktplatz, Basel's market square.

Basel Munster-look at the amount of restoration works! The red sandstone Münster, one of the foremost late-Romanesque/early Gothic buildings in the Upper Rhine, was badly damaged in the great earthquake of 1356, rebuilt in the fourteenth and fifteenth century, extensively reconstructed in the mid-nineteenth century and further restored in the late twentieth century.

The shopping street like our Orchard Road, but the atmosphere here is alot better coz of the cooling weather and the nice architecture! Shopping complexes like those in Spore are RARE in Germany or Switzerland! Shops are usually located along the streets.

Watched Whale rider on Friday Evening. In a small New Zealand coastal village, Maori claim descent from Paikea, the Whale Rider. In every generation for more than 1000 years, a male heir born to the Chief succeeds to the title.The time is now. The Chief's eldest son, Porourangi, fathers twins - a boy and a girl. But the boy and his mother die in childbirth. The surviving girl is named Pai.Grief-stricken, her father leaves her to be raised by her grandparents. Koro, her grandfather who is the Chief, refuses to acknowledge Pai as the inheritor of the tradition and claims she is of no use to him. But her grandmother, Flowers, sees more than a broken line, she sees a child in desperate need of love.And Koro learns to love the child. When Pai's father, Porourangi, now a feted international artist, returns home after twelve years, Koro hopes everything is resolved and Porourangi will to accept destiny and become his successor.But Porourangi has no intention of becoming Chief. He has moved away from his people both physically and emotionally. After a bitter argument with Koro he leaves, suggesting to Pai that she come with him. She starts the journey but quickly returns, claiming her grandfather needs her.Koro is blinded by prejudice and even Flowers cannot convince him that Pai is the natural heir. The old Chief is convinced that the tribe's misfortunes began at Pai's birth and calls for his people to bring their 12-year-old boys to him for training. He is certain that through a gruelling process of teaching the ancient chants, tribal lore and warrior techniques, the future leader of their tribe will be revealed to him.Meanwhile, deep within the ocean, a massive herd of whales is responding, drawn towards Pai and their twin destinies.When the whales become stranded on the beach, Koro is sure this signals an apocalyptic end to his tribe. Until one person prepares to make the ultimate sacrifice to save the people...the Whale Rider.

Having been to NZ allowed me to better relate to the movie. Through the movie, i saw a different side of NZ-their tradition and history. Very touching movie... Highly recommended!

On Saturday, we made our way to Bern with the Motocycle to the train station before taking the EXPENSIVE swiss inter-cities train! It was really cold and the jackets that we wore were barely sufficient. I initially wondered if it was really necessary for the exaggerated outfit which deserved a photo!

It was drizzling!!! Lousy weather. But it did not stop us from sightseeing! Singapore has indeed good weather. We take good weather for granted in Singapore! The SUN is highly sought after in Europe due to the rainy and cold weather.

The Zytglogge clock tower is one of the city's best-known symbols.

2nd time watching this cute movie=) One of my favourite "animation cartoon" movies! Fell aslp towards the end coz very tired... I dun usually watch movies or read books more than once..... Watched a bit of Das Leben des Andere also... That was alot of movie for 2 nights! The projection at Nic.H 's house is power....

On Sunday, we went to check out Zofingen, which was a 10 min drive from where Nic stays. Apart from that, we also dropped by a dirt park, where Nic and his pals built heaps of stuff for mountain-biking! Darn cool!! Luzern was the highlight!

Zofingen. Small. Quiet.

Raclette! VEry cheesy speciality in Switzerland! Slices of a wide array of cheese of ya choice are available-traditional, peppered etc... Melt the cheese in the special "tray", spice and garnish it which ever way you want! Heaps of freedom and creativity invovled! I ate like 3 slices of cheese while Nic ate close to 10! Too much cheese=indigestion + heaps of FATS! Danger ALERT to all the cheese lovers!

Ratatouille filmed the mouse eating cheese and grapes together, giving the optimal taste and satisfaction and this is true! Din realise this until Nic mentioned it! The grapes in Switzerland taste different! Nicer, more fragrant and taste a little like wine!

Nic's mum is very cute! I will never forget how she stood at the door of the house and waved goodbye until NIc and I drove out of sight in the car to the train station on Sunday when i left!

Nic's dad's office which he built himself=) Cool eh being an architect!

Unbelievable that all these are hand made without any machines! Imagine the amount of effort that went in! Nic showed me heaps of stunns on this mountain bike-cycling on one wheel, jumping arnd and all.... very cool and good balance there!

Nic playing jazz music!!!!! Damn power and nice! I like Jazz!Guys who can play musical instruments and sports always get plus points, raising their market value and appear more appealing to gals =) haha... Nic helped me alot with german when i was in Switzerland! He is able to explain the German Grammer eg: why akkusative or dative is needed and which prapositions are required etc.. Not everyone who speaks German can do that because it just comes naturally to native speakers. Also, Nic's English is really good!REnate's and Simon's as well(if you know them). Not all Ang-Mohs(except those frm UK and US) can speak English fluently. Most still struggle to speak it because they dont use it at home.. Most Singaporeans can speak way better English. Some Interns at Bayer from France, Spain etc are not fluent in English/German and communication with them needs alot of patience! Quite painful sometimes. We are quite privileged to be able to speak both Chinese and English really... It gives us an edge above the rest.

Swiss chocolate from Nic's mum! So sweet... unexpected=)

Vor dem Wald village! Different from villages in Cambodia etc=)

The Alps =)

On sunday, Nic, Marc and I set of for Luzern with the car! I like Luzern(Lucerne) the most!Due to its location on the shore of Lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstättersee) within sight of Mount Pilatus and Rigi in the Swiss Alps, Lucerne is traditionally considered first and foremost as a tourist destination. One of the city's famous landmarks is Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke), a wooden bridge first built in the 14th century.

The Kapellbrücke is a 204 m long bridge crossing the Reuss River. It is the oldest wooden bridge in Europe, and one of Switzerland's main tourist attractions.The covered bridge, constructed in 1333, was designed to help protect the city of Lucerne from attacks. Inside the bridge are a series of paintings from the 17th century depicting events from Luzerne's history. Much of the bridge, and the majority of these paintings, were destroyed in a 1993 fire, though it was quickly rebuilt.

Wasserturm and Kapellbrücke - the town's two most famous landmarks.