Fantasy in Winter Wonderland

Perfect for a white Christmas, too bad it doesn't snow much at all in Zurich.

Neuschwanstein Schloss literally meaning New Swan Stone palace is a 19th century Bavarian palace located in near Hohenschwangau in southweat Bavaria. The palace was built by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and as a homage to Richard Wagner, the King's inspiring muse.

The view from Marien 's bridge provides the most fascinating view of the castle.

Munich

Many people are surprised that Munich was bombed extensively, because it certainly doesn't seem so in this beautiful city. The city center is rather small, but there is this special feel to it. Maybe it's the way the streets lead to one another, and how each sights interconnect with each other. The photo in the middle is pork knuckle and 2 potato dumplings.



The famous clock tower in Marienplatz



The most identifiable structure in a typical Munich postcard is this church with 2 round fresh fig like looking dominating the skyline.





The christmas night market in Munich was really nice too. It was so cold in Munich we had to drink lots of Gluhwein, a kind of hot wine with herbs to warm ourselves up.

Polyball - Mit Sabel und Sextant @ ETHZ

Polyball - The biggest Ball in Europe. True to its word, it was a fantastic experience as the whole university was transformed into a ball room magically within a night.



Everyone in the group did not know how to ballroom dance except for M, who obnoxiously compelled G to dance with him. It was slightly amusing in a photo where one can spot G using only 3 fingers to touch M's shoulders! I didn't know there was such a thing as "Ball Opening" where the best dancers and only them waltz for about a minute before the rest are allowed to dance. It was a pity as I didn't know how to ballroom dance. Those who knew swept their feet across the dance floor the whole night. I'm slightly envious!



All genres of ballroom dancing was located at different rooms. It was quite amazing to leave one and enter the adjacent one pulsing in another rhythm.





Certainly a good evening to remember for a long time

Luzern, Mount Titlis

Happy Holidays

Yesterday marked the end of the semester, signalling the end of 13 weeks of semester and in any case, if anyone thinks the semester was about weekend road trips, skipping classes, it's a half truth half lie. On the contrary, the picture wasn't too rosy with weekly lab reports (oh the horror with a Turkish nitwit) and also bi-weekly assignments that was close to re-defining the n-u-s experience. Still, the amount of work is far less without tutorials, but it's somewhat destabilizing as I wonder how in the world am i suppose to prepare myself for the impending oral exam doom in 2 weeks time. One was over in half an hour on Thursday and thankfully I passed though it never felt so claustrophobic with 2 other people in a room 15 x15 feet. And to think it was only a Business Module. I totally can't imagine the modules where I have to hold a piece of chalk in hand, talk like I know it, and think faster than I can speak.

so now let's start with the long over-due photos:

The scenery was simply awe-inspiring and the pastoral symphony kept playing in loops at the back of my head.

At the "Top of Europe" - too bad there was nothing much to do there, we went at a season where there was neither summer nor winter activities, so everything was closed.

PARIS

The weather was gloomy, grey albeit warmer than Zurich for 3 out of the 4 days, and I had the right mind to turn all my photos into black & white, in order to give it an old world charm. Needless to say it was a food and shopping paradise, and I like the way the city is structured with so much open space. The walk from the Lourve to Champs Elysees was exceptionally beautifully, and so was the walk along the Seine River as well. It was a good stay except for 2 nasty incidents which marred the trip. St. Paul's station, I don't know whether to call it a cursed point or a blessed point for I had to use that station 3 times as a S.O.S point. The 2nd incident was when I missed the train back to Zurich and had the honour of sleeping in the Les Marais district. haha

1,2 - In the TGV.. it was plushy, comfortable and super high-speed. J spent the last of his francs on Sprungli .. haha so expected.
3- I think it was some palace, but that day was meant to be cover all the uncovered shops on the shopping list.
4- Italian gelato which is so so so GOOD, J said I was totally dazed on my first bite.
5- For the first meal, I had some canard (duck fried in its own oil) in a really authentic french restaurant that served in exceptionally big portions.

The exhibits in Lourve are extensive, spanning several eras, several civilizations and several artistic styles. Though I can't decide whether it is moral for any lootings to take place, nevertheless it convenient to house everything in one big museum.

The most famous must-see exhibits that took me some time to find, but you know you're close when the density of people in the room starts increasing.

Other impressions of Paris. The photo of Eiffel is my favourite.

1. Raw beef. The first 10 mouthfuls tasted really good, after that the taste became so overwhelming.
2. Escargots. Nice.
3. House at Les Marais
4. Street at St. Germaine - St. Germaine, if I remember correctly, J said it is the Bohemian quarters and I said it was like the Geylang part of Sg.

There's about summing theenjoyable mid-term holidays!

Macarons from Ladurée

I can't find the time to blog - on Paris, Luzern, Mt Titlis, and probably Polyball this coming weekend. School work took a toll after I skipped it for one week which was well worth it. I had o redo an assignment and it totally destroyed my week. I hope the posts will keep coming in..haha

Vallobre

Visit to the Vallobre Caves with the Temasek Club Switzerland.


I wish it was summer, would be so great to dip my feet in the waters, but it's too cold now.


1000 metres above sea level, the winds were cold and chilly. Though, the autumn leaves were really beautiful.


Photos of the Cave



Broadly speaking, the participants belonged to the following categories
1) Singaporean females with their swiss husbands; relocation to Switzerland
2) Singapore males posted to Switzerland for work; brought their family along
3) Young single working adults, consisting of mostly Investment bankers (kaching!)
4) Young children aged 0-9 belonging to (1) and (2).

Stranded between 2 extremes, the Survive Switzerland Duo belonged to none of the above mentioned categories. Nevertheless, I had fun playing with the kids. It's so weird for them i feel, especially those who are going to here for good, like the girl in the middle who has a rather Singaporean accent but counts herself Swiss. I hope her self-proposed identity will be accepted by the Swiss, or else she would just be out of place. The rest of the kids there are already sounding and looking like ABCs or in this case SBCs.



It was also interesting to engage in the conversations of the adults and eavesdropping as well. And at the same time strange watching and listening to them talk about their children, rent, car, work, healthcare, insurance, expat contract, because in a few years time I 'd have to step into the job industry.



Later in the evening, we paid a visit to the JuraParc





Then half-expectedly, the Survive Switzerland Duo followed their cars back to Geneva and took a "Spot the Mistake" Photo at Lake Geneva. Can you tell what it is?

Around the House

In my apartment lives 4 tenants. Let's call them T1, T2, T3, T4.

NAMES





Mis-spelling of my name has happened not once, twice but thrice! Wenig means "Few". I can't imagine the twisted look on their amused face when someone has the first name "Few".

ROOMS

Take a peek into their room.

T1 is so loud literally. Even with my door close, I can hear his voice and his music across the walls, I can feel the vibration of his footsteps that threaten to shake the foundation of the house.

T2 is your truly, whose room is spanking clean and neat. With bare feet you can step into T2's room without feeling any slime.

T3 is secretive. I have to wait outside his room before he switches off his Hentai porn.

T4 snatched most of the household accessories from the storeroom and has the most comfortable room. Thus, his motto is "The earliest bird catches the worm".

KITCHEN

Facilities good enough to whip up a feast

T4's on a tighter budget and this is his attempt to bake bread the last week Bread is so freaking expensive. S$3-4 for one loaf that can last for 2 days before it hardens into a concrete like material.

while T2 is enjoying bread with caviar. haha

Click! Guess the area of storage belonging to T2.


I'm so freaked out by cheese. This one smelled so bad like fart.. gross.

DINING ROOM



Where we have meals



and make Gnocchi

TOILET



Click! Guess the toilet belonging to T2!



Shall end it with a high note and I hope you are not eating in front of your computer at the moment. Who left a trail of skid marks on my toilet bowl? Analysis of the biomaterial revealed constituents to be 50% potatoes and 50% meat balls. Obviously it's T1 and half a roll of toilet paper disappeared in the process. T2 had the dirty job of scrubbing the dirt out!