{Genemics' Nation}

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Europe - Part 1 : Germany, Switzerland

Right so, I'm back from the amazing Europe! Hence, I'll be talking much about the trip in this post and of course, if in any case you feel uninterested or whateverso, always feel free to close this window and move away to the next. Anyways, I'm thinking of keeping this post short with less words and more peektures... but who knows what, cause' im feeling alil bit cranky now thus I might be writing much more than I think I'm supposed to and if so, please bear with me for I'd just spit out what comes through my mind. But no worries, I'm gonna divide whatever I'd have to say into a few portions.
So there goes, almost 2 weeks of fun and this one good thing has come to an end with simply a *snap*. Really, many times you'll never realise how fast the world goes by when you're enjoying and your senses will only come back to you at the end of everything and once again, back to reality.

May 10th was considered the 1st day and it was a 12-hour flight to Frankfurt, Germany. Initially, (unsurprising to many as well) 12 hours of direct flight is quite murderous especially you're locked in economy class. However, I was amazed that 12 hours seemed nothing. Technology no doubt makes the world a smaller place. It felt as though Europe is just a neighbouring country, or rather, continent. I won't be surprised if 50 years down the road, one can make it to Europe in just less than 6 hours.

So yes, first up was Frankfurt, which we only spent a day over there, visiting the Black Forest (which isn't a forest with black trees or whatsoever, but rather, its a small town surrounded by a forest perched on the hills overseeing Lake Titisee. Over there, it's famous for its cuckoo clocks and Pork Knuckles.

Oh yes, we had Pork Knuckles for lunch that day. Just look at that! Looks like a whole chicken right?? It's really quite tough and no one at our table finished it. But the fries were good! And those green stuff at the side tasted like GIAM CHAI. Well, I really have no idea what it is. A German food perhaps?

Next up, it's the Rhine Falls or in other words, Rheinfall located en-route Switzerland round the German border. It is said to be the largest waterfall in Europe. However, it'd be a big contrast if you were to put it on the list next to the Niagara Falls in North America. But well, at least it's part of nature, which our country lacks of, sadly.

Not far away, we made our way to the heart of Zurich. I'd say the city's quite nice, albeit alil quiet, but some of the buildings look rather contemporary in the mix.

And not too far away from the city of Zurich comes the city of Lucerne, one of the less popular city by name but houses one of the most talked-about mountains in the world, Mt Titlis, which stands at 10,000 feet above sea level and is approximately 45 minutes away off the city area.

I won't have to tell you how awfully sweet those strawberries to the right were. Just look for yourselves and you can tell how fresh they are! No? YES! They're the BEST, I repeat, THE BEST strawberries I've ever crushed in my trap thus far. They tasted OMGISHLY AWESOME! Smooth and crunchy and juicy and whaaalalalafully GREAT alright!

It's a cheese galore! I know you can also see as many cheese in leading supermarkets like MarketPlace or such, but these are Swiss Cheese! And I've laid my fingers on quite a number of them. Unfortunately, none went into my mouth.

My mommy and the smiley cookie that she's clutching! I find this picture really cute! I love my cute momma!

Please look again and tell me how big a contrast these strawberries are as compared to those imports we have here. They're just WOW! No doubt gave me the URGH-ness.

Alright. You must be wondering what the heck I'm wearing and what the more heck would I post such a fugly pic of myself right here. Yes! I'm wearing tights! Long Johns to be exact! Well, obviously those need to be tight in order to keep oneself warm. But I think I look good in it. HAHA!

That's Bertel Thorvaldsen's famous carving of a dying lion namely the Lion Monument, which is found in a small park just off Lowenplatz. The lion sits in the middle of the rock wall which stands quite tall. The carving commemorates the hundreds of Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when the mob stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris.

So this is Lucerne. And that's the famous Chapel's Bridge left behind from the 14th century. I personally like Lucerne very much because I think it's a really charming city kudos to the beautiful mountains and lakes it has. If there's a chance, be there at Lucerne. It's a breathtaking city.

My greatest friend and love of all!

Look at the pair of swans! They were absolutely LOVELY! If I'm not wrong, I thought I caught a glimpse of them smooching before I could even snap a shot of that romantic action. Sweet birds!

Also not forgetting, Switzerland is the one and only place to secure yourself the best timepieces in the world and not to mention, the bestest place to get those masterpieces is from Lucerne. The building above is one of the more-known-about places in Lucerne for the Rolex watches.

And after exploring the city centre of Lucerne and with ample time left before our next meeting time with the tour group, we landed ourselves in one of the cafes, that's Movenpick. Sounds familiar, no? Yeah, its a franchise of Movenpick Marche and I'd say the Cappucinno tasted good and it comes with this cutey little love letter that you can see my mum's holding below.

Hello Mom, whatchudointhere'!

The greatest man, husband and father one could ever ask for!

Just opposite at the other side of the road lies Lake Lucerne, a lake located in central Switzerland and is considered the fourth largest one in the country.

Could you not agree with me that the scenery is just so beautiful? It was (I think) a Saturday that day and there were quite a number of people picnicking along the shore of the lake.

Right after the city tours in Lucerne, we headed straight up for the most-talked about mountains in Switzerland, namely, Mt. Titlis!

Up Next: Mt. Titlis, Interlaken, Jungfraujoch, Zermatt and more!

freed his mind P.Y.R.A - U.G.I.N.E at 11:56 PM [comment]

Life is beautiful, so are you.

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Thursday, May 10, 2007

Take me to Heaven

HAW-LAR! Man, I didn't notice till now that I've abandoned my blog for about a week already but TAH-DAH, I'm here again!
Something occured last week and kept me occupied thinking much about life and all (but i'm never going to talk about it.) All I've always wanted is a simple life. One which I'd be living as far away from the blusterous city of urbanised life. I want to be a rural being. I want to be free. From so many things. Which hopefully, everything will turn out fine not just for myself, but for everybody else as well.

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Its 2.09 AM now and my whole family's still packing! Yes! We're burning midnight oil for luggauge-packing. LOL! There's really alot to bring, which I'm not surprised because the down jackets have taken up the space of an entire luggauge (it's quite a big one). Something really silly is the fact that shampoos, face-creams, cleansers and sorts need to be packed into Ziploc bags, which is just plain redundant. But I'd say Ziplocs are deff better than any other plastic bags. It's neater and keeps the luggauge grease-free.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!! I'm really wondering what to expect, but I'm ready for the adventure!
Oh gosh, I think I may have left out something that I need to bring. There's still alot to pack. Like OMG!!!!!!! Okay, there goes blogging for now. Needa double-check the stuff. Till then, Auf Widersehen!

freed his mind P.Y.R.A - U.G.I.N.E at 1:53 AM [comment]

Life is beautiful, so are you.

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Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Hotdog?

This afternoon, I was out on a date with the love of my life (my mum) and we were stocking up stuff for the trip next week. I'm not going to dive into details on the shopping spree but rather, my visit to the restroom at Tangs (Orchard). I've to admit I was really urgent that moment and I must say I always have this habit of choosing which cubicle I'd wanna spray my wee-wee in but I gave up that chore today and went straight for the one in the middle. Shortly, someone stepped up to the one beside mine (to my left). Then there was this sound that gave me the impression that that someone just undid his fly. But it was something else that made me felt uneasy. As though I was being eyed. Incidentally, I looked over and all I noticed was that guy was frigging trying to stare at my YOU-KNOW-WHAT! He had his head tilted and his eyes fixed at the angle to the direction of lil' Peter (mine)! I guess he sensed I sorta knew be'cos he actually looked up, flashed a mild grin and then faced straight. WTF!!! If you were to ask, he's more of 30-ish - 40, looks human, seemed stout and the rest was who-knows-what as it was a mere glance, but it was so OBVIOUS! After which, all I knew was finishing my pee-wee AFAP and walking straight out. I even forgot to wash my hands!! Ghawddham. Already, this isn't the first time. Really what's got into these men?? SI BEI BIAN TAI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And WTF again.

freed his mind P.Y.R.A - U.G.I.N.E at 11:58 PM [comment]

Life is beautiful, so are you.

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Do You See What I See?

This is why I'd always say I LOVE kids. I'm sure this lil' boy will grow up only to laugh his butts far off till who knows where when he sees this.

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There was this day while I was at Great World taking a break at McDonald's for a meal when across my table sat this boy of say 2 years who was all worked up when his granny landed her bums next to him while she brandished a vanilla cone right in front of his eyes. He was so happy that he grabbed the whole thing and started licking here, there, everywhere! I really couldn't help but drop my McChicken and all my attention was on him. SO CUTEEEEE!!! Then he started chewing on the waffle cone and in no time, everything was gone and he was licking his fingers already. Frankly, I almost melted. (it was quite hot that day, but you know it's not the weather I'm talking about.) DHAM! I could've taken a picture but I didn't! But OH MY GHORT. Can I please say this one more time, I LOVEEEEEEEEEE KIDSSSSSSSSSS LARRRRRRRRRR!!!

freed his mind P.Y.R.A - U.G.I.N.E at 1:20 AM [comment]

Life is beautiful, so are you.

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Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Earth the 2nd?
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So just a few days ago, I read on the front page of the ST about the mystic discovery of a new planet called "Super Earth" (the name sounds really dumb, don't you think?) outside the Solar System. Astronomers claimed that it's an Earth-like planet orbiting a star, Gliese 581 (which is believed to be the planet's Sun), about 20.5 light years away with the mean temperature that lies between 0 and 40 Degrees Celsius, which lies in the so-called "Goldilocks Zone" where conditions are 'just right' to allow the existence of liquid water and ingredients for life. The exact length of the light-year is based on a reference year of exactly 365.25 days (each of exactly 24 standard hours). And one light-year is roughly 63,240AU (One AU is the distance between the Earth and Sun, which is approx. 149 598 000km). So imagine making your way to this planet covering a boundless distance of (20.5 X 63,240 X 149,598,000 km)! Thus, if I were to be an astronaut and fly to that planet, I'd be 40 YO by the time I land on its soil (given that the journey's incident-free) and thinking of that, I might as well dig myself and my colleagues our graves be'cos it won't be another 20 years before we return to Earth again, or NEVER!

You know, this kind of stuff excites me, but at the same time, seems intriguing as well. In the past, our ancestors came to this place they knew so little about, (or did they even know they're living on something in existence called "Earth"?), and not to mention, as time went by, humans didn't really look as far beyond as to what they can see. These days, space seems like a real place, although of course we can only really think about it, look with the aid of scientific means but not touch. I understand the eagerness of those Astronomers comes from the idea of being able to go somewhere new and create something from scratch. But, have you thought of going somewhere new only to discover there isn't any need to create something from scratch already.

"Is there life anywhere else?' is a fundamental question we all ask." - Alison Boyle, the curator of astronomy at London's Science Museum

It may be strange to learn that if lives exist in the planet we're living in, why not the others? Come to think of it, I don't believe Earth would be the only place lives could be found, given that the galaxy out there seems endless and there may be so many other planets of such like Earth itself. On a stranger note, if humans, animals, plants, dinosaurs or living things of such could be created, I don't see how other species of life couldn't. (but to the exception that they don't exist on Earth.)

However, given the pro-advancement in technology, presumably the astronomers are going to run all sorts of tests and experiments and sciency-stuff to try and find out more about how likely it is that life exists on this planet.

freed his mind P.Y.R.A - U.G.I.N.E at 11:39 AM [comment]

Life is beautiful, so are you.

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