Friday, June 12, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Hackney, London
Let's start over. Travel's over, and im not about to recap every single moment in details, in a nut shell - flew out of bremen - survived a faulty aircraft - got back to gloomy (and much colder) London - Edinburgh - London - ready to head home
not that im suffering from writer's block, just that sometimes things happen so quickly and when you do find time to write about it, the thrill's gone, vanished into thin air, no more excitement whatsoever...
what im still excited about tho, it's that im gonna become a student again! the blog will then be renamed Marcus' back-to-school journal, and u know what, i should have more time to do more updates then, if the swedish weather is as bitter as advertised.
Receiving the notification few days back that i've been accepted into this world ranked #71 University was delightful, and that's an understatement! and the fact that ive made the selection despite presenting such a bleak CV totally made my day.
I graduated in year 2005 and have since done nothing even remotely productive (when it comes to career advancement). When i made the decision to go backpacking in NZ, i knew i was putting my career on the chopping block. Everyone was busy getting employed and climbing up the corporate ladder while i was soaking up the sun in a serene vineyard in Marlborough.
and after a one-year stint, i came over to europe to embark on my european experience and further reducing my bachelor's to digital papers. Have i once regretted doing what i did? No. This experience is invaluable, if anything, ive learned more than i ever will simply just jump into the ratrace upon graduation.
this is an experience of a lifetime, the surrogate gap-year i never had when i finished high school, and dont i wish for the millionth time that ive had a gapyear, things would be so much different then, i would never have gone for engineering, and instead pursued something my heart desires. Talk about mainstream career choice...
thankfully, i am able to make use of my bachelor's to pursue a Master's! and in this time of global economy crisis, pray tell if there is ever a better time to study such as now!
Im grateful of God's blessing that my dissertation struck a chord with the examiner, and God I AM ready to study again.
the countdown to fall 2009 has officially begun...
Let's start over. Travel's over, and im not about to recap every single moment in details, in a nut shell - flew out of bremen - survived a faulty aircraft - got back to gloomy (and much colder) London - Edinburgh - London - ready to head home
not that im suffering from writer's block, just that sometimes things happen so quickly and when you do find time to write about it, the thrill's gone, vanished into thin air, no more excitement whatsoever...
what im still excited about tho, it's that im gonna become a student again! the blog will then be renamed Marcus' back-to-school journal, and u know what, i should have more time to do more updates then, if the swedish weather is as bitter as advertised.
Receiving the notification few days back that i've been accepted into this world ranked #71 University was delightful, and that's an understatement! and the fact that ive made the selection despite presenting such a bleak CV totally made my day.
I graduated in year 2005 and have since done nothing even remotely productive (when it comes to career advancement). When i made the decision to go backpacking in NZ, i knew i was putting my career on the chopping block. Everyone was busy getting employed and climbing up the corporate ladder while i was soaking up the sun in a serene vineyard in Marlborough.
and after a one-year stint, i came over to europe to embark on my european experience and further reducing my bachelor's to digital papers. Have i once regretted doing what i did? No. This experience is invaluable, if anything, ive learned more than i ever will simply just jump into the ratrace upon graduation.
this is an experience of a lifetime, the surrogate gap-year i never had when i finished high school, and dont i wish for the millionth time that ive had a gapyear, things would be so much different then, i would never have gone for engineering, and instead pursued something my heart desires. Talk about mainstream career choice...
thankfully, i am able to make use of my bachelor's to pursue a Master's! and in this time of global economy crisis, pray tell if there is ever a better time to study such as now!
Im grateful of God's blessing that my dissertation struck a chord with the examiner, and God I AM ready to study again.
the countdown to fall 2009 has officially begun...
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Stuttgart, Germany
So where was i? Right, i spent some quality days in offenburg in which time i've played farmer in Dominik's farm, played an enthusiastic soccer fan in three matches, and pretty much just partied hard for the benefit of my host.
time flies when you're having a fab time, and as much as i hate it, i gotta carry on my journey and Dom has gotta go back to the military, i know i'll always be welcomed back here as gran and grandpa love me to bits! he couldnt stop telling me bout the war stories of yesteryear...
Dom gave me a ride to Speyer where his camp is based, and i spent the day visiting Unesco heritage sites of the famous Dom and the surrounding churches and cathedrals, well what's new?
Got in to Heidelberg and that's when the weather took a bad turn on me, rain, snow, hail and whathaveyou started falling on me and despite the city being a popular tourist destination with a backdrop of a charming castle and mountains and valleys and the beautiful river Neckar, i was pretty much inbound for most of the time.
went to a good bday party and some hippie gathering and some wine and dine and that is pretty much it.
arrived in stuttgart yesterday and came here to Esslingen to see Ben. We met in a church in Hasting, NZ and have been friends since, traveled together for a while and were involved in lotsa church activities back then. Reunion is always good fun.
Will head to Fulda tomorrow and see what happens.
So where was i? Right, i spent some quality days in offenburg in which time i've played farmer in Dominik's farm, played an enthusiastic soccer fan in three matches, and pretty much just partied hard for the benefit of my host.
time flies when you're having a fab time, and as much as i hate it, i gotta carry on my journey and Dom has gotta go back to the military, i know i'll always be welcomed back here as gran and grandpa love me to bits! he couldnt stop telling me bout the war stories of yesteryear...
Dom gave me a ride to Speyer where his camp is based, and i spent the day visiting Unesco heritage sites of the famous Dom and the surrounding churches and cathedrals, well what's new?
Got in to Heidelberg and that's when the weather took a bad turn on me, rain, snow, hail and whathaveyou started falling on me and despite the city being a popular tourist destination with a backdrop of a charming castle and mountains and valleys and the beautiful river Neckar, i was pretty much inbound for most of the time.
went to a good bday party and some hippie gathering and some wine and dine and that is pretty much it.
arrived in stuttgart yesterday and came here to Esslingen to see Ben. We met in a church in Hasting, NZ and have been friends since, traveled together for a while and were involved in lotsa church activities back then. Reunion is always good fun.
Will head to Fulda tomorrow and see what happens.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Spring09 travel
one interesting fact about Basel Airport, it has three different checkpoints for access to three different countries, namely Switzerland, France and Germany, and i quickly took advantage and checked them off my list one by one.
first stop was obviously Basel, followed by Mulhouse, and Freiburg - the infamous tri-city of tri-countries. En route to the blackforest, which was clearly the highlight of my trip, i spent some time in the town of Colmar.
Now that might remind you of this replica town we have in bukit tinggi back home, and may i commend that the developer did indeed do not such a bad job in the imitation, well at least the facade of it.
entering blackforest from Freiburg, met up with Sebastian and he wasted no time in introducing me the beers of the region, and we had a great nightout with his friends on an all-night bender. Woke up next afternoon and took a hike around the world-renowned blackforest for some fresh air, i really needed it!
and we know the blackforest is responsible for its cake and the cuccoo clock, so i did the obligatory task of savoring them as well.
Moving on, i proceeded deeper into the forest and spent some nights in the village of Waldkirch, Elzach, Haslach and Gengenbach, enjoying german hospitality to the fullest, the people here in the forest are just too nice! and that's an understatement.
Well, it's not just the german hospitality im enjoying, but the asians too! Stayed in the household of two families where the wifes are south-korean and Indonesian respectively. So yeah, fusion food is definitely on the table! and gosh, it's nice to taste real chilli again! and to practise my bahasa too, in the case of the german-indonesian household. Sascha is just too lucky to have an asian wife!
will be meeting dominik here in Offenburg later, it's definitely been a while! last saw him about a year and a half ago, and he's promised a party tomorrow, so we'll see!
maybe i should consider moving to germany eh?
View Larger Map
first stop was obviously Basel, followed by Mulhouse, and Freiburg - the infamous tri-city of tri-countries. En route to the blackforest, which was clearly the highlight of my trip, i spent some time in the town of Colmar.
Now that might remind you of this replica town we have in bukit tinggi back home, and may i commend that the developer did indeed do not such a bad job in the imitation, well at least the facade of it.
entering blackforest from Freiburg, met up with Sebastian and he wasted no time in introducing me the beers of the region, and we had a great nightout with his friends on an all-night bender. Woke up next afternoon and took a hike around the world-renowned blackforest for some fresh air, i really needed it!
and we know the blackforest is responsible for its cake and the cuccoo clock, so i did the obligatory task of savoring them as well.
Moving on, i proceeded deeper into the forest and spent some nights in the village of Waldkirch, Elzach, Haslach and Gengenbach, enjoying german hospitality to the fullest, the people here in the forest are just too nice! and that's an understatement.
Well, it's not just the german hospitality im enjoying, but the asians too! Stayed in the household of two families where the wifes are south-korean and Indonesian respectively. So yeah, fusion food is definitely on the table! and gosh, it's nice to taste real chilli again! and to practise my bahasa too, in the case of the german-indonesian household. Sascha is just too lucky to have an asian wife!
will be meeting dominik here in Offenburg later, it's definitely been a while! last saw him about a year and a half ago, and he's promised a party tomorrow, so we'll see!
maybe i should consider moving to germany eh?
View Larger Map
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Pete and I
chinatownwow, it's definitely been a while since my last post, it's not that nothing much has happened, it's just that im spending more time on facebook and updating my status there that i felt not so incline to do it here all over again.
it was a low-key celebration on my birthday, had a few to drink with my housemates and we talked till the wee hours. Pete came visiting and crashed in my room before flying back to Halifax, Nova Scotia and we had a good night out.
CNY was/is more of a somber affair, there wasn't any reunion dinner or any sorta celebration to begin with (lack of chinese friends is the key), and i truly missed the festivities happening all over town back home. Went to chinatown to get some of that spirit but somehow it's just not the same, it's way too cold to hangout too long in the open air...
and then it snowed. And the worst thing is, London was totally unprepared for it. The city has not seen a blizzard in over two decades and when it happened, it crippled the whole place in a blink of an eye. All transportation came to a halt and we became the laughing stock all over europe and the world. Things like that dont happen in Moscow or NY or Vancouver.
but how joyful everyone became! the snow was much welcomed in the midst of global economy breakdown, people took the day off to go sledging and to build frosty in the park with their kids, and i had my first snowball fight in london!
my spanish trip has been canceled, i am supposed to leave for santiago like TODAY, but the airline let me down and they refunded my money. and guess what, it's actually a blessing in disguise! most airports are grounded because of the icy runways and some poor people are still stranded in heathrow as we speak.
im scheduled to fly to Switzerland next month and i will just cross the border to france and thereon germany and make my way back to london from there.
till you hear from me again...
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Phew, time certainly waits for nobody, the festive seasons came and went in a thrice, but not without some fun elements in the process.
the days running up to Christmas see a celebration of two of my roomates' birthday, and on Christmas eve the folks threw a house party at our place and we had a ball of a time. On boxing day we went shopping because of the post-christmas price slashed of everything, and followed by more parties, everyone's on hols so there simply any reasons why not to.
on new year eve, we went on the boat at the Victoria Embankment, at subzero temperature, hand clutching a flute of champagne, and witnessed the firework display at the Eye and also at Canary Wharf.
and dont ask me bout my new year resolution, what is it about people that they only resolves to do something good for themselves once a year? i dont buy into that concept at all...
Looking forward to travel next month and then i guess it's time to go back home. What with the pounds plummeting to parity with the euros, traveling in europe isnt that economical anymore, i think i shall stick back to exploring asia for now...
it's all good.
the days running up to Christmas see a celebration of two of my roomates' birthday, and on Christmas eve the folks threw a house party at our place and we had a ball of a time. On boxing day we went shopping because of the post-christmas price slashed of everything, and followed by more parties, everyone's on hols so there simply any reasons why not to.
on new year eve, we went on the boat at the Victoria Embankment, at subzero temperature, hand clutching a flute of champagne, and witnessed the firework display at the Eye and also at Canary Wharf.
and dont ask me bout my new year resolution, what is it about people that they only resolves to do something good for themselves once a year? i dont buy into that concept at all...
Looking forward to travel next month and then i guess it's time to go back home. What with the pounds plummeting to parity with the euros, traveling in europe isnt that economical anymore, i think i shall stick back to exploring asia for now...
it's all good.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
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