Tuesday, June 20, 2006
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Okay, enough complaining, now let's go on to the tour.
Yes, where did I previously stop?
Yep, Day 2... see if I can remember.
Day 2:
After that we went to the city centre of Vienna, it's free time!
Went to see this cathedral, can't remember the name because I visited too many cathedrals and churches, practically one in every city we stopped at. Ricky said there was the mummified hand of one of the kings in Austria, but there was no sign of that thing. But it's a scary looking cathedral, as are all other Gothic cathedrals I've seen.
Tried to take pictures but kept producing fuzzy, blurry ones. Maybe my fingers are unsteady, it happens to every picture I take in dark places. There's no point in having a professional camera if you don't have professional fingers.
Then we went into the shoe boutique. The baby Converse shoes are so CUTE. And the women's section... the largest shoes are twice the length of my feet.
After all the shoemania (which ended in empty hands), my mum and my aunt went off to the cafe to look for my grandmothers and Wayne, safe in the hands of Santa Ricardo, while Dad and I went to get ice-cream. Safest option: Chocolate. Never disappoints. My dad decided to be more adventurous and chose an unknown flavour.
"Hmm. Dad, what flavour is that?"
"You know what, I have no idea."
"Try it... maybe you'll be able to tell from there."
*Dad licked.*
"So what is it?"
"Sour... a bit salty... one thing's for sure."
"Yeah?"
*pauses momentarily.*
"No idea."
Lol. And then we had CHINESE dinner. CHINESE, for god's sake, when you're in EUROPE. I'm very very pissed off by the idea. But I have no choice, there are people who don't adapt so readily to the local cuisine... so the non-conformist suffers.
And I guess smoke flew out of my nostrils, ears, eyes and mouth when I heard that we will be blessed with at least one chinese meal EVERY DAY.
Like that, I rather go China or Taiwan, man.
Not that I have something against Chinese food. I absolutely love Chinese food. It's just that when you're in a place like Austria you'll lose your appetite for Chinese cuisine. Furthermore, the Chinese food is ANGMOHNISED. You're talking about protein overload, five meat dishes, only one has some vegetable elements, and soup which is more often that not cooked with meat and served the way the angmohs are used to - BEFORE the meal.
FOR GOD'S SAKE! SOUP BEFORE MEAL. My ancestors are going to flip in their graves man.
That's just like having beef steak at every meal you presume to be Western.
After the unappetising dinner (which also consists of Kungpo chicken that isn't even spicy), my mum, my aunt, Wayne and I went to watch a musical recital at this old mansion. Entertaining... but not really what I expected. But that's not the main point.
I finished a full glass of sparkling wine by myself. For the first time.
And I began to feel hot. Yeah, like chilli padi like that ah.
Almost thought I was swimming in the Danube river when they played the Beautiful Blue Danube.
My heart was racing like mad even though I was just sitting down to listen to some 17th century tunes that are anything but exciting.
No wonder people become horny after drinking too much alcohol.
I was still feeling sibeh juah when I left the hall... but getting out of the mansion and walking to the coach was bloody murder.
So damn cold you know! Around 20 degrees celsius like that, lagi feel like -20 degrees. My teeth were chattering like mad as people took off their jackets to enjoy the cool air. I think even my brothers in Singapore can hear my teeth go, "Gak-gak-gak-gak-gak" across the street.
The moment I got on the bus, 20 degrees become 20 times 20 degrees again. Sibeh juah. But by then I was already very dizzy. I leaned on my father and tried to sleep.
I don't know how I actually managed to get my cranium off my father's arm and transport myself up to my hotel room.
But I fell asleep faster than I can say, "Ahma, wake me up when you're done!"
...
...
...
MY FIRST HANGOVER!!!
All I needed was a glass of sparkling wine.
Day 3:
The transit day from Vienna, Austria to Budapest, Hungary. It's a long way, baby, but we went on our first optional tour (places that aren't on the list but the group may visit if time permits): Santendra.
Before we head there, Attila, our Hungarian coach driver (affectionately known as Ah Di) went to pick up his wife and kids. Lovely woman with a beautiful 15-year-old daughter (you can see her picture at Shuqian's blog) and a football fan of a 12-year-old son.
So we reached Santendra and had lunch at Elisabeth Cafe (Ah Di's recommendation): It's fish soup and beef goulash on the menu. But it's such a hearty serving... so as much as I enjoyed the soup and the steak I ate too much and left with a nauseous feeling. The service was a tad too slow and inefficient. But then again, there were those irritating tai-tais who kept changing their orders and making the poor waitress so confused over who's having esspresso and who's having cappuccino.
And off we go, our Hungarian shopping spree. Well not really. Went to this Marzipan Museum full of Marzipan figures.
Marzipan. Tastes. Horrible.
No sweet on earth can compete with chocolate.
But anyway, the marzipan figures are nice. There was this life-sized marzipan Michael Jackson. Too bad they didn't give him a marzipan nose job. Thank god they bleached his skin though.
There was a huge lovely marzipan wedding cake! Of course I'll never eat it because marzipan tastes like shit with sugar and almond but it works wonders for the eyes. If the theme allows I'll want that cake for my wedding.
Ahh... checked in at Hotel Budapest just before dinner. It's this round cylindrical building... with one of the loveliest bathrooms! But it turns nasty later... see below.
Dinner was a Hungarian dinner, complete with song and dance items. The food is so salty, but the performances and the ambience was great. And there were items where people were pulled out to do stupid stuff, what with pulling guys out and making them "kiss" under a veil... well not really kiss, just a fake-kiss, and my father had to drink wine and dance around blindfolded without knocking over any glass bottles. And the girls can really shriek... YEEE-YAAH!
And now about the lovely but nasty shower.
When the tap is turned out, watter runs from the tap itself. Pulling a trigger will make water come out of the shower head.
I turned on the tap... pulled the trigger... didn't work.
So I tried again. Twist and turn, push and pull... still buay sai.
Never mind. Use full force...
PIANG!
The trigger fell off and it's raining in Budapest.
I ran out with a towel and my mother went in with an umbrella to shut the tap and fix the trigger.
I made up for this mistake by lining the whole bathroom with bath towels to prevent my grandmother from slipping and falling.
After I managed to wash up without getting caught in another Hungarian rain I slept.
Day 4:
Went to see another cathedral. I'm not joking. Another Gothic cathedral. But the view of the city was so damn good from up there (the cathedral was on a hill). Went to Gellert Hill for 15 minutes to shoot more photos of the Budapest skyline.
After that, MORE free time. Shopping time. Bought this top. Can't remember how much. Sounds like a bimbo yeah?
Then we sat at the cafe for a cuppa... and learnt that Man Tou got in for Oldies' Night. Yay!
And dinner... Chinese food again. This time decided to boycott the dinner. Ate only a slice of orange. Don't mean to be like this but I really have no mood to eat stupid rubbishy un-authentic Chinese stuff when I'm in a place so far away from the nearest Chinese wedding dinner. But yeah I suffered later.
Cruise trip along the Beautiful Blue Danube... Aaahh!!!! The weather was a bit threatening but the sunset was so awe-inspiring. All shades of orange, yellow and pink imaginable. Oh my Santa Maria.
The air was cold (but that's because I didn't feel like wearing a jacket) and was made even more colder by the glass of Coke I was holding (Took only a sip of champagne! I swear!), but the view of the city (illuminated) was so breathtaking. AAH! I'm HUNGARY for more.
And boy am I hungry. Growl.
Started to rain a few seconds before docking. Growl. Suddenly all the people in the top deck start to siam to the lower floor. Growl. I siammed a bit earlier. GROWLROWLROWL.
Supper: Instant noodles. No ter-gwa.
Day 5:
It's bye bye Budapest and hello Krakow in Poland via Slovakia. Nothing much except travelling. In Slovakia we stopped for lunch at this, well, what's supposed to be a ski resort in winter. Lots of flowers in all the unexpected places. The simplest lunch so far. Crackers (Khong Guan one some more) and tuna (Ayam brand chilli tuna siah! Thanks, Ricky!)... remnants of a super-sweet chocolate cake (first time I betrayed my love for chocolate) and what, this sibeh fat pork sausage with chilli oil.
Okay enough. Went to Wielizca Salt Mine. It's just like any other underground mine except you mine for the salt you see on your chips rather than the gold you see in Lee Hwa Jewellery. As Ricky promised, the walls indeed are SALTY. And there's graffiti on the wood colummns. They actually wrote "Ward Cup 2006". Where hospitals compete against each other how many patients they can kill in 45 minutes. Stethoscope for a foul. You get sent off the pitch with a syringe. Lame.
There was this cathedral (Yes another cathedral) within the mine itself. They actually carved out the sculptures with the rock... and they can even hang chandeliers made with salt crystals!
There was "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci (or Dee Vanchee as Ricky calls him)
carved in the wall. Impressive.
Took a group photo.
Dinner. Cheesy Chinese stuff again.
Continue next time. Will upload pictures if my father manages to move them to the PC.
QINOBE IS OUT! YAY!
[fangying] [12:53 AM]
