Trees and surroundings

Autumn is here since October and the temperature is getting colder, as if preparing me for winter! Im quite excited to go through the different seasons of the year, but at the same time having fear for the cold. Hopefully get to see snow! By now.. all the tress are closed to bald! It is quite nice cycling through streets covered with red and green leaves! It feels like a dream! But now, all these leave have turned brown and they pile up unsightly beside the road! Saw kids playing with the HUGE hill of leave litter! They are probably unaware of the creepy and crawlies that are in the leave litter! The weather now in Frankfurt is wet and cold.. The 'Ski jacket' fron Nicolas is definitely handy especially when i cycle to work in the morning! Danke!

Decided to cycle to work directly instead of taking the shuttle bus halfway when the weather is good! Cycle passed the Main River (I think) and could help but to stop for a photo... Taking pleasure in simple stuff in life........

Winter is here! It was snowing in Tübingen a few days back... Quite excited about the change in seasons!

Cosmopolitan Paris

I went to Paris over a long weekend from 2-6 Oct. It was great seeing Darrel and Zhenyi again! Thanks Zhen for putting me up! Jiayou for ya Marathon at Venice! Will be there to support you physically and in spirit of course! hugz! I am really looking forward to travelling more with you! Hopefully you manage to get an internship and can stay longer in Europe! Zhenyi stays just opposite Moulin Rouge at the Red Light district! Very happening! Erotic shops every 20 steps!Thanks Darrel for watching over us and making sure that everything goes right! It is always great to have you around! Thanks for sending me off too=)


I felt like an exchange student when i was in Paris! All of them were studying in Sciences Po, an elit school in Paris. Sciences Po - Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris (Paris Institute of Political Studies), officially referred to as Sciences Po (pronounced see-ahns po), is a Grand Établissement in Paris, France. An elite institution of academic excellence and great renown, Sciences Po has traditionally educated the French political and diplomatic elite, but its academic focus spans not only the political and economic sciences, but also law, communications, finance, business, urban policy, management, and journalism. Apaarently, it is quite difficult to gain admission into this uni especially if you are a full time student!




Met many NUS ppl as well as students from all over-HK, China, Japan, Singapore, USA, Peru etc.. amazing.. They cooked and invited people over etc! I also managed to catch a huge event in Paris, Nuit Blanche. First launched in 2002, Paris Nuit Blanche (White Night) has become a hotly-anticipated annual celebration of all things art and culture in the city of light. Attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, Nuit Blanche sees countless Paris galleries, museums, city halls, and even swimming pools open their doors all night to visitors-- with free entry. Elaborate light installations, edgy performances, concerts, and unclassifiable happenings of all sorts await. I was also in Paris at the right time-they had free entry to all museums on the Sunday i was there... but it was too crowded. Who said that Singaporeans were the only one who go for free stuff=)


AND AND AND.... French gals are prettier than german gals... The average looking gals in Paris are like the PRETTy gals in Germany.. French have softer and nicer features while the german gals are generally bigger and have harder features... French ppl are very dressy also..
Somehow, to me, Paris is not as romantic as ppl claim it to be! Maybe coz i dun know all the history at every corner of the city.. Diana says that know all the history of Paris will allow me to appreciate the place better-all the love stories behind the place=) French Architecture is very different and it doesnt appeal to me as much as i tot it would... was a little "disappointed" not that i expected alot from it.. chia(Oh well)... But i muz say that there are many nice parts to paris!


French food! Baguette in France rocks! Quite ex though.. 0.85 to 1.15 euros.. spent heaps on bread there.. Bread is germany is totally different! I am glad to have found nice Baguette at the supermarket for 59 euros cents! Cheers...

Croissant-typical french too!

Macarons by Laudree are damn ex! A macaron is a traditional French pastry. Macaron is made of egg whites, almond powder, icing sugar and sugar. This sweet pastry came out of the French courts' baker's oven as round meringue-like domes with a flat base. Macarons are sandwich-like pastries made with two thin cookies and a cream or ganache between the cookies. My favourite is Pistachio... other flavours include coffee, chocolate, raspberry etc... A huge Macoron (size of plam) can cost up to 4 euros! I love it!

Fancy fancy...

Some other French pastry.. it is alright.. taste totally sugary though=(

Paris is charming by night!

Arc de Triomphe-The triumphal arch honors those who fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. On the inside and the top of the arc there are all of the names of generals and wars fought. Underneath is the tomb of the unknown soldier from World War I.

Buttes Chaumont- Here is actually a big park which i visited on my own when Darrel and Zhen were busy at school. The pavillion was the nicest part of the park=)

Gare du Nord- The architecture of this train station is suppose to be quite well-known. The Gare du Nord served as decor in numerous French films, for instance in Les Poupées Russes.
In US movies, both the exterior and the interior of the Gare du Nord are seen in 2002 the film The Bourne Identity with Matt Damon and again in the trilogy's finale, The Bourne Ultimatum, released in August 2007. It was also seen in Ocean's Twelve in 2004.
It is also mentioned in "Polaris" by Jimmy Eat World off their album Futures. In addition, the station was featured in the video for the song Home by Blake Shelton.
The station is also mentioned in The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.


La Madeleine-The Madeleine is built in the Neo-Classical style and was inspired by the Maison Carrée at Nîmes, one of the best-preserved of all Roman temples. It was designed in its present form as a temple to the glory of Napoleon's army.

French architecture. It did not move me.

The river that flows through Paris, dividing the city into 2 banks.

Centre Pompidou- This structure sends goose-bumps down my spine! I havnt seen anything worse than this before. I am sure this building can appear artistic and abstract if we try hard enough.

The Centre was designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, the British architect couple Richard Rogers and Sue Rogers, Gianfranco Franchini, the British structural engineer Edmund Happold (who would later found Buro Happold) and Irish structural engineer Peter Rice. The project was awarded to this team in an architectural design competition, whose results were announced in 1971. Reporting on Rogers' winning the Pritzker Prize in 2007, the New York Times noted that the design of the Centre "turned the architecture world upside down" and that "Mr. Rogers earned a reputation as a high-tech iconoclast with the completion of the 1977 Pompidou Center, with its exposed skeleton of brightly colored tubes for mechanical systems. The Pritzker jury said the Pompidou “revolutionized museums, transforming what had once been elite monuments into popular places of social and cultural exchange, woven into the heart of the city.

An exchnage student from Peru invited alot of exchange friends over and I was being extra=) haha.. quite nice people! Met Germans there too=) They are also doing exchange in Paris. Thanks to Darrel and Zhen, i was able to get arnd feeling "not so lost". I felt a little tough tied in Paris coz i dun speak French... And when i wanna say something to people, i cannot speak English coz not all people speak English (vvvvv few of them do speak, most students spoke English). At the same time, being in Europe signals my brain to speak German! This got confusing sometimes! I tried asking for directions twice while I was on my own without my pro-French speaking friends ;) and the common language was Hand, leg and body language! It is quite amazing.. I still got stuck in such a situation despite speaking 3 languages and a dialect(cantonese) ;) It hasnt happened for a long time~ Next language on my list~Spanish!! Going to Central America in Dez 2009 with Diana! Will see what i can do...

Street performance due to Paris Nuit Blanche .

Random church with seahorses!

ONe of the nice shots that i am proud of! It was during Paris Nuit Blanche.

Camilo and his GF outside the Lourve! Camilo did an SEP in Singapore and stayed in TH also! We got to know each other by chance through Simon i think. Nic, Camilo, another friend of Camilo and I went for Chingay tght in Singapore and it was great fun! I will always remember him for all the invitations to Walawala!

Thomas and Darrel! Thomas is a nice person=) He did 1 year exchnage in Singapore last year but i nv knew him den.. only got to know him in Paris! Thank you for the invitation to ya place for drinks and Paris Nuit Blanche. Met his French housemate and she could speak fluent Chinese! OMG! Even the accent is there! 2nd Angmo that i met with SUper Talents!! Met some of Thomas friends, including a gal from china and maritius! Very nice conversations and it was great company!

Zhen yi stays opposite Moulin Rouge! How cool is that! This being the Red Light District somehow doesnt make it very safe. It is not THAT bad actually.. But Darrel was v nice to walk us home most of the time!

Some fruit stall along the way..

Stairways to Heaven...





One of my favourite sights in Paris- Sacré-Cœur! The Sacré-Cœur Basilica which means Basilica of the Sacred Heart is a Roman Catholic basilica and popular landmark in Paris, France, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is located at the summit of Montmartre, the highest point in the city. Montmarte is my favourite area in Paris. It gives me a very unique feel that I did not get from the rest of Paris.

Another train for tourists! The trains for tourists in Europe has a certain pattern. (If you remember the pict of trains that I took from Ulm and Switzerland as well =p). It looks so fairy-taley....


Montmartre is a hill (the butte Montmartre) which is 130 metres high. Montmartre is primarily known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on its summit. It is amazing to see how artist gather on the weekends at this square! Look at how pretty the paintings are! Jaw drop...

This is the painting that i bought! This picture doesnt do the painting justice! It looks way better in real... It is really tiny and i paid 20 euros for it.. I like the gloomy feel of this painting as well as its texture, which plays a significant role in giving the painting a 3D effect, bringing it to life and allowing me to relive the experience! I will try to collect paintings or art works from places that i visit. Hope to get one in Italy and Barcelona as well=)

Notre Dame de Paris is widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. The name Notre Dame means "Our Lady" in French. Notre Dame de Paris was one of the first Gothic cathedrals, and its construction spanned the Gothic period. Its sculptures and stained glass show the heavy influence of naturalism, giving them a more secular look that was lacking from earlier Romanesque architecture. The cathedral suffered desecration during the radical phase of the French Revolution in the 1790s, when much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. During the 19th century, an extensive restoration project was completed, returning the cathedral to its previous state.

Notre Dame looks mesmerising at night. I went with Zhen and darrel for a evening service in this church! The atmosphere in churches here are so different! It really feels like i am in lah lah land coz it is so different from Singapore. Despite having beautiful churches in Europe, it is a rare sight to see youth at service, most attended by elderly people! Professor Hugl, who is a German visiting professor at NUS last semester and my guardian angel, told me that he was surprised to see so many youths at Singapore's churches!

From a different angle.


This is very cute... A man gave the gal bread and it attracted all the birds to her hands. Another bigger teenager tried it on her own beside this little pinky gal but failed terribly! I bet the birds are male-attracted to cute little gals ;)





The Eiffel Tower is an iron tower built on the Champ de Mars beside the Seine River in Paris. The tower has become a global icon of France and is one of the most recognizable structures in the world.

The Eiffel Tower is grossly overrated! It looks like a steel structure in the day, no difference from a bridge. It looks quite ugly actually. It is nicer at night but it was freaking windy when i was there. Only saw it from ground level. It was nice but it did not take my breadth away...

Nice pict=)

Eiffel from the bottom.

The Lourve is a HUGE museum. You could spends DAYS in it and not finish looking at all the art works! I find the architecture most spectacular. Some of the paintings in the museum look quite repetitive after a while. The museum had free entry on the Sunday i was there and I was quite thrilled initially! But but but.... Free entry.. means loads of people!!!!!! I could hardly walk, especially in front of the Mona Lisa painting. It is really not that great to me... I stood in awe as I tried to capture the massiveness of the Palace. My camera failed to do so too! The glass pyrimid in front of the Palace is the entrance to the museum=)

The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace (Palais du Louvre) which began as a fortress built in the 12th century under Philip II. Remnants of the fortress are still visible. The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace. In 1674, Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection. During the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum, to display the nation's masterpieces.

Priscilla sent me this photo after my trip to Paris and for a while, I tot my picture was on display at the Lourve!! Thanks Pris! She is gonna do her exchnage at Paris in Jan 09! The whole world is coming to Europe for exchange! I must say that it is definitely an eye opening experience which opens doors of opportunities. I am living my dreams now.. and i dun wanna wake up from this dream... The irony of wanting to be far away from home, but at the same time, keeping home close to my heart........

Père Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris and it is so popular because many actors and famous people are buried here. According to Darrel, people even come here to kiss the tombs of famous people.

I havnt seen a classier cemetery than this before.Totally different from Singapore! Zhen warned me about how massive this cemetrey is and how all the tombs look alike. I was there alone and hence made a conscious effort to make sure I remember the route i took. Despite all the efforts, I still got lost and couldnt find the entrace which I came in from. Managed to ask for directions and got out from another exit.All the tombs look alike after a while! It is actually quite a nice place for a stroll! Very relaxing and calm... It feels so surreal...I havnt gotten such a feeling at a cemetrey before. Highly recommended place=)

All in all, Paris is nice in that it has indeed some really nice sights but when it comes to the city, I prefer older cities and hence Paris did not top my "Favourite cities" List. The architecture in Paris did not appeal to me greatly.