Author Archives: yingyinglee

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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Can you believe it? 2007 is over; it’s now time for 2008. Where has the year gone? Has it really been a year since I was packing up my apartment and my bags in preparation for my year-long trip? Wow!

So what can I say about 2007? Really, it has been a wonderful, fantastic, phenomenal, educational, eye-opening, life-changing, fabulous year that everyone should have at LEAST once in their life. For me, 2007 was everything I hoped for and more. This trip that I’ve been on has given me one heck of a ride and I wouldn’t change anything about it, the good, the bad and even the ugly. 🙂

So here we are, January 1, 2008, at the threshold of a brand new year, a place I love because it is a place full of possibilities, hopes and dreams. I am looking forward to 2008 because I know that it will be another year that contains more changes, more challenges and more chances. I am looking forward to this next chapter of my journey and I am ready.

Bring it on!

Have an awesome 2008, everyone!

Where were these when I needed them???

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So, after all the serious notes I posted in the last few days, time for something lighthearted.
I came across this and I thought it was so funny that I had to post it. 🙂
PS. I think there should be a #10) Booty Calls are DIFFERENT from Friends with Benefits!
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Booty Call Etiquette
By Ambrose Diaz
It’s time to check your ideas of morality and emotional involvement at the door because today we’re talking about a little thing called the Booty Call.
The Booty Call lives in a lovely grey area somewhere between the one-night-stand and the relationship and serves to supply consenting adults with a high-energy sexual release without the baggage and time involved in dating.
You probably won’t find the term Booty Call in the dictionary… yet. But it seems like the phrase has slowly crept into our common vernacular, so much so that there are already rules (both written and unwritten) governing how to behave.

After conducting some strenuous research on the subject, I have gone through my field-notes in an attempt to supply you with nine simple rules about the Booty Call.

1. Brunch is the Enemy of the Booty Call
This may seem a little harsh but the one and only purpose of the Booty Call is to get off. Once you’re done, get up, get dressed and go home. If you’re having a Booty Call because you don’t want to sleep alone, you’re in dangerous territory and emotional involvement is lurking somewhere around the corner. If you end up sleeping over, there’s only one place for things to go and that’s brunch. Brunch is the enemy of the Booty Call. You didn’t make the call because you wanted to chat over a cup of coffee. Your friends can supply you with that.
2. No Timetables
So… you’ve called your Booty Call Cohort (BCC) every Saturday night for the past two months? Bad move! The key to successful Booty Calling is to keep things uncomplicated, relaxed and elastic. If you make the call on a schedule, things are going to get very stale very fast. And if you wanted stale sex, you would just go ahead and get married (he kids, he kids! — Ed.)
3. No Meeting in Public
Again, this may seem a little harsh, but this rule is definitely a good one to follow. Remember this: meeting your BCC in public is called “a date.” You and your BCC should only live in an erotic fantasy world that doesn’t exist outside of the bedroom.
4. Look Good
Yes, the sex is almost guaranteed. No, it’s not a date. But you’re still going to have to make an effort to look and smell good. Make sure your Booty Calls get accepted by staying on top of your outward appearance. After all, letting things slide with the way you present yourself is for those people in long-term relationships (what a comedian…– Ed).

5. Expect Nothing
The Booty Call should only be made (and accepted) by those who want to have sex at that moment. If your BCC stops calling you or stops accepting your calls, don’t take it personally. Remember, it was never a personal relationship to begin with. It was purely sexual and had no strings attached.

6. Be Open & Honest
I know this sounds dangerously like “relationship talk” but trust me, as long as you and your BCC know where things stand right off the top, and then you won’t have to deal with any real relationship talks later on. Just be tactful and make sure that you’re both on the same page. Once you see you’re both on the same page, feel free to have sex on it.
7. Be Safe
It’s the 21st century: should I really have to go into this? Just remember to protect yourself so you can enjoy Booty Calls well into your golden years.
8. Please Please Me, Please Please You
Be a generous lover. It doesn’t cost you a thing. As much as you may just want to get off, remember there is someone else involved here. If all you’re thinking about is yourself, then yes you may have just screwed your BCC, but you’ve also probably just screwed your chances at another Booty Call down the line.
9. Timing
No calls before 9:30 pm. No calls after 1:30 am. The Booty Call is definitely not for everyone. You have to be able to draw a distinction between the emotional and the sexual. But if you do it right, the good times are guaranteed. Just remember: don’t call collect.
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Posted in Fun

The Story of Stuff

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Someone sent me this link and it was very thought provoking and eye opening. I highly recommended checking it out:The Story of Stuff
http://www.storyofstuff.com

Once you finished watching it, there is a link where you can get some information on what you can do to make a difference. I’ve posted the 10 things you can do here:

http://www.storyofstuff.com/anotherway.html

Another Way
Many people who have seen The Story of Stuff have asked what they can do to address the problems identified in the film.

Each of us can promote sustainability and justice at multiple levels: as an individual, as a teacher or parent, a community member, a national citizen, and as a global citizen. As Annie says in the film, “the good thing about such an all pervasive problem is that there are so many points of intervention.” That means that there are lots and lots of places to plug in, to get involved, and to make a difference. There is no single simple thing to do, because the set of problems we’re addressing just isn’t simple. But everyone can make a difference, but the bigger your action the bigger the difference you’ll make.

Here are some ideas:

10 Little and Big Things You Can Do

1) Power down!
A great deal of the resources we use and the waste we create is in the energy we consume. Look for opportunities in your life to significantly reduce energy use: drive less, fly less, turn off lights, buy local seasonal food (food takes energy to grow, package, store and transport), wear a sweater instead of turning up the heat, use a clothesline instead of a dryer, vacation closer to home, buy used or borrow things before buying new, recycle. All these things save energy and save you money. And, if you can switch to alternative energy by supporting a company that sells green energy to the grid or by installing solar panels on your home, bravo!

2) Waste less.
Per capita waste production in the U.S. just keeps growing. There are hundreds of opportunities each day to nurture a Zero Waste culture in your home, school, workplace, church, community. This takes developing new habits which soon become second nature. Use both sides of the paper, carry your own mugs and shopping bags, get printer cartridges refilled instead of replaced, compost food scraps, avoid bottled water and other over packaged products, upgrade computers rather than buying new ones, repair and mend rather than replace….the list is endless! The more we visibly engage in re-use over wasting, the more we cultivate a new cultural norm, or actually, reclaim an old one!

3) Talk to everyone about these issues.
At school, your neighbors, in line at the supermarket, on the bus…A student once asked Cesar Chavez how he organized. He said, “First, I talk to one person. Then I talk to another person.” “No,” said the student, “how do you organize?” Chavez answered, “First I talk to one person. Then I talk to another person.” You get the point. Talking about these issues raises awareness, builds community and can inspire others to action.

4) Make Your Voice Heard.
Write letters to the editor and submit articles to local press. In the last two years, and especially with Al Gore winning the Nobel Peace Prize, the media has been forced to write about Climate Change. As individuals, we can influence the media to better represent other important issues as well. Letters to the editor are a great way to help newspaper readers make connections they might not make without your help. Also local papers are often willing to print book and film reviews, interviews and articles by community members. Let’s get the issues we care about in the news.

5) DeTox your body, DeTox your home, and DeTox the Economy.
Many of today’s consumer products – from children’s pajamas to lipstick – contain toxic chemical additives that simply aren’t necessary. Research online (for example, http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/) before you buy to be sure you’re not inadvertently introducing toxics into your home and body. Then tell your friends about toxics in consumer products. Together, ask the businesses why they’re using toxic chemicals without any warning labels. And ask your elected officials why they are permitting this practice. The European Union has adopted strong policies that require toxics to be removed from many products. So, while our electronic gadgets and cosmetics have toxics in them, people in Europe can buy the same things toxics-free. Let’s demand the same thing here. Getting the toxics out of production at the source is the best way to ensure they don’t get into any home and body.

6) Unplug (the TV and internet) and Plug In (the community).
The average person in the U.S. watches T.V. over 4 hours a day. Four hours per day filled with messages about stuff we should buy. That is four hours a day that could be spent with family, friends and in our community. On-line activism is a good start, but spending time in face-to-face civic or community activities strengthens the community and many studies show that a stronger community is a source of social and logistical support, greater security and happiness. A strong community is also critical to having a strong, active democracy.

7) Park your car and walk…and when necessary MARCH!
Car-centric land use policies and life styles lead to more greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel extraction, conversion of agricultural and wildlands to roads and parking lots. Driving less and walking more is good for the climate, the planet, your health, and your wallet. But sometimes we don’t have an option to leave the car home because of inadequate bike lanes or public transportation options. Then, we may need to march, to join with others to demand sustainable transportation options. Throughout U.S. history, peaceful non-violent marches have played a powerful role in raising awareness about issues, mobilizing people, and sending messages to decision makers.

8) Change your lightbulbs…and then, change your paradigm.
Changing lightbulbs is quick and easy. Energy efficient lightbulbs use 75% less energy and last 10 times longer than conventional ones. That’s a no-brainer. But changing lightbulbs is just tinkering at the margins of a fundamentally flawed system unless we also change our paradigm. A paradigm is a collection of assumptions, concepts, believes and values that together make up a community’s way of viewing reality. Our current paradigm dictates that more stuff is better, that infinite economic growth is desirable and possible, and that pollution is the price of progress. To really turn things around, we need to nurture a different paradigm based on the values of sustainability, justice, health, and community.

9) Recycle your trash…and, recycle your elected officials.
Recycling saves energy and reduces both waste and the pressure to harvest and mine new stuff. Unfortunately, many cities still don’t have adequate recycling systems in place. In that case you can usually find some recycling options in the phone book to start recycling while you’re pressuring your local government to support recycling city-wide. Also, many products – for example, most electronics – are designed not to be recycled or contain toxics so recycling is hazardous. In these cases, we need to lobby government to prohibit toxics in consumer products and to enact Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws, as is happening in Europe. EPR is a policy which holds producers responsible for the entire lifecycle of their products, so that electronics company who use toxics in their products, have to take them back. That is a great incentive for them to get the toxics out!

10) Buy Green, Buy Fair, Buy Local, Buy Used, and most importantly, Buy Less.
Shopping is not the solution to the environmental problems we currently face because the real changes we need just aren’t for sale in even the greenest shop. But, when we do shop, we should ensure our dollars support businesses that protect the environment and worker rights. Look beyond vague claims on packages like “all natural” to find hard facts. Is it organic? Is it free of super-toxic PVC plastic? When you can, buy local products from local stores, which keeps more of our hard earned money in the community. Buying used items keeps them out of the trash and avoids the upstream waste created during extraction and production. But, buying less may be the best option of all. Less pollution. Less Waste. Less time working to pay for the stuff. Sometimes, less really is more.

Cheer up…or not

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I read an article in the Sydney’s Sun-Herald today and I thought it was very interesting.This article was titled “‘Don’t worry, be happy’ has a lot to answer for” by Hugh MacKay and it talks about how everyone wants to be happy to the point that no one wants to admit they are unhappy as if being unhappy is a disease to be avoided at all cost. Yet there is nothing wrong with being unhappy as it is part of the human emotion. If there was no unhappiness we would not know what happiness is. I don’t think this article is on the web but if you can find it, it would be interesting to read.

The following is a portion of the article that really struck a chord in me:

” “Cheer up” is about the most pointless – and sometimes the most heartless – thing we can say to each other, and especially to our kids. Here’s a better alternative: “You’re feeling down? It’s ok. There doesn’t always have to be a reason. If you want to talk about it, I’m happy to listen. But if you’d rather be left in peace, just say so.” ”

So from now on, my friends, if you’re not happy or sad, that’s perfectly ok. If you need someone to listen, I’m here for you. But if you rather sulk in silence, that’s perfectly ok too. =)

Interesting story…

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During the time of Socrates who was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great scholar and said:

‘Do you know what I just heard about your friend?’

‘Hold on a minute,’ the scholar replied.

‘Before telling me anything I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called the Triple Filter Test.’

‘Triple filter?’

‘That’s right,’ the scholar continued. ‘Before you talk to me about my friend it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say. That’s why I call it the triple filter test.

 

The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?’

‘No,’ the man said, ‘actually I just heard about it and…’

‘All right,’ said the scholar. ‘So you don’t really know if it’s true or not.

 

Now let’s try the second filter, the filter of Goodness.

Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?’ ‘No, on the contrary…’ ‘So,’ the scholar continued, ‘you want to tell me something bad about him, but you’re not certain it’s true.

 

You may still pass the test though, because there’s one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?’

‘No, not really.’ ‘Well,’ concluded the scholar, ‘if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?’

 

*****

 

I read this on a website and it caught my attention because it is very true yet so very difficult to do in life. How many times have we talked about something or someone in a negative way which does not benefit us in anyway other to ‘bond’ with the person you talking to at the expense of the person you’re talking about?

 

I’m going to do my best to use the three filters in my life and hopefully I can eliminate all the negative ‘gossips’ and ‘rumors’.

And you thought that real estate prices in Vancouver are bad…

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Wait till you hear about the real estate prices in Singapore!I walked by a presentation centre while shopping along Orchard Road, the most famous road in Singapore, and I thought it would be interesting to go in and check it out. It was a nice development, fantastic location smack in the middle of Orchard Road, and some amenities such as a pool and gym. There were 1, 2 and 3-bedroom suites available and the furnishings were definitely upscale and very modern. The price tag? From $3655SG per square foot! (For prices in your local currencies, check out www.xe.com) OH MI GOD!!! Now I know that this is prime location and everything, but come on! Give me a bloody break? Over $3500 per square foot??? There is a development in Vancouver that is selling at $1000CND per square foot and I thought that was bad. This is just beyond ridiculous! Later, I saw an article that talked about recent developments and their prices start from $2000SG per square foot!!!

Geez… How on earth are people affording this? The even more unbelievable thing is that this development and many others are almost sold out!!! So who’s buying? Definitely not your average Singaporeans, that’s for sure. According to a source, it’s, and I quote, “those rich oil tycoons from the Middle East trying to hide their money.” Ohhh…So that’s what happening. I guess that’s what happening all around the world that is forcing the price of properties up to the point that none of the average working class citizen in that city can afford to buy a place.

I said it before and I’ll say it again: I am SO glad I bought when I did. And I am NOT selling!

9-month Update

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** Warning: This is an EXTREMELY long note. You might want to read it in a number of sessions. **

 

So I’ve just finished my 9th month of traveling, and I am sitting on the EuroStar train on my way back to London as I am writing this. What have I been up do since the last update? It’s only been two months since the 6-month update but I was trying to do an update every three months so here is the 9-month update.

 

I just can’t believe that I am over ¾ done my year of traveling. Guess it’s true, time does fly when you’re having fun! For those of you who knew me since the beginning of this trip, you’ll see that I’ve altered my plans a little, more on that later. I am now down to my last two weeks in Europe, and it has been a fantastic and fascinating ride. A brief recap:

 

January – New Zealand

February – New Zealand, Fiji

March – Australia, Singapore, Egypt

April – Egypt, Greece, Turkey

May – Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Germany

June – Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

July – Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Spain, Portugal, Morocco

August – England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland

September – France, Monaco

October – Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland

 

As some of you know, I’ve always wanted to go to Europe more than any other continents and I have to say that I am so glad I did. I’ve learned and experienced so much in the last 6 months in Europe, met tons of cool people and gained some priceless memories.

 

Enough sentimental reflections, let’s bring on the stories!

 

At the last update, I ended off with July in Spain. At the end of the tour, I took my first flight since April and flew from Madrid to London. I would have taken the train to keep my streak going, but I decided I wanted to have an extra day in London instead of on a train.

 

This being me, I cannot have a normal trip. Right before I left for the airport in Madrid, I got a text from the person who I was supposed to stay with in London. He gotten sick and so it was probably not a good idea for me to stay. To say that I was shocked and in a little bit of a panic was like calling the pope Catholic. After texting him back and not getting a response, I took a page from ‘The Hitchhiker’s guidebook’ (don’t panic) and told myself to take a deep breathe. I put on my resource hat and decided to go to the airport first and check in before tackling the problem of hoe to find a place in London last minute and with me arriving at 1am. I’ve decided to enlist my brother to help me track down some numbers for me to call. After a few emails and calls, I managed to nail down accommodation for the night and the rest of the weekend. 

 

So, arriving in London was exciting. London, together with Paris, has been at the top of my list of cities to visit for as long as I can remember. Even though I had arrived in the middle of the night, I couldn’t help but feel psyched and itching to explore.

 

London was fabulous! It was everything I’ve imaged and more. The 10 days I’ve spent in London were probably not the typical tourist trip but I love it. I alternated between visiting the affiliated clubs and wandering around the city. The days that I was there was beautiful, sunshine the entire time except for the last day or so. I must have hit the sunshine jackpot as England had experienced nothing but rain the entire summer. I wasn’t about to complain! 🙂

 

After about 5 days in London, I took the train to go up to Scotland to do some visits around there. I started off in Edinburgh and managed to hit the city just as the festival season was starting. There was the Fringe Festival and the Book Festival, not to mention the famous Military Tattoo was starting. I was very fortunate and got a ticket to see the Military Tattoo so I was very happy and excited. It was wonderful! I highly recommend seeing it if you get the chance, but do remember to buy tickets in advance because this sells out fast every year. I liked Edinburgh, it was a very compact version of London, similar yet different.

 

While I was in Edinburgh, I managed to get in contact with Carly (hi Carly!), whom I’ve met on the awesome Kiwi Bus in New Zealand back in February. She invited me to stay with her in her village for the weekend and I jumped at chance to see her and Sophie again, plus visit a little English village that most tourists won’t see.

 

So after a short trip to Aberdeen, I took the train down to Pewsey, where Carly picked me up and we went to her village, All-Canning. I had such a great time with Carly and her family. Carly and her boyfriend at the time took me out to Bath, Avebury and a drive through the countryside of England. I went to the local pub and had a traditional Shepard’s pie which was huge and delicious, plus an amazing BBQ with her family. Thank you so much Carly! 🙂

 

After leaving Carly and her family, I went back to Scotland, to Glasgow. While I was there, I took a short trip to Oban to visit the distillery of my of my favourite single malt scotch, Oban. It was a great visit, the town was very picturesque and the distillery tour was informative and cool. Not only did I learned how malt scotch was made, I also learned about a few other scotches in Scotland. To visit a lot of the distilleries in Scotland, a car is very useful, so I definitely would love to come back and do a scotch-tour of Scotland. 🙂

 

Glasgow was interesting. It is more industrial then Edinburgh and not as pretty but it is still a nice city to wander around. Glasgow has a special place in my heart simply because it is the city where I finally finished reading “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”. For those of you who don’t know, I am a big fan of the Harry Potters book. The last one came out in July and I put off buying a copy because it is a big and heavy book and I didn’t really want to carry it around with me. However I do want to read it. So my solution was to go into bookstores wherever I was and read a few chapters. This works great since there is a bookstore in all the train station and so I was able to read a bit while waiting for my train. This method took me about two weeks to finish the book. After I finished it Glasgow, I was so impressed that I wanted to read it again! In the end, I ended up buying the book back in London. It was that good that I was willing to lug it around with me. From that point on, long train rides were my friends. 🙂

 

Going back to London was a joy to me. It wasn’t just the city that I loved, but also the people I’ve met have been awesome. I think it’s quite funny that most people you meet in London aren’t really from London! That’s what makes it such a cosmopolitan city. Since The Vancouver Club has a lot of clubs in London, I spent a good chuck of my time visiting various clubs in different parts of London, which gave me the chance to get orientated. I also managed to meet up with some of the London Couch Surfers at various meetings and events, like picnics, BBQs, drinks, etc. What a bunch of cool people! Everyone I’ve met were interesting and all with their stories and reasons why they’re in London. I’m looking forward to seeing them again.

 

Ah…Couch Surfing… For me this website has been one of the best tools for me on this trip. Not only is it possible to cut down on accommodation cost by staying on someone’s couch, it’s a way to meet people who actually live in the city you’re in and learn about the city through their eyes. Since I am not a fan of crowds and doing things the ‘traditional’ tourist way, this has been the best thing for me to travel the way I want. A big heartfelt thank you goes to Bliss and Seamus for telling me about the site.

 

So what happens after London? As much as I didn’t want to leave London, I wanted to see Ireland. I also wanted to see Northern Island but wasn’t sure how I wanted to do it. I was thinking of doing a small tour similar to the Kiwi Bus, but then Neil, who I met in New Zealand, called and said that he’ll be back in Belfast and when was I coming? I ended up staying with him and his family and he drove me all around Belfast and told me about the history, the troubles and the division that is still there today. It was such an eye-opening experience to be there and see the city as it starts to emerge from its dark history. He was going to drive me to the Giant’s Causeway but I ended up visiting a potential club instead so I’ll have to go back to Belfast again one day. To top off the trip, we went to an outdoor festival/concert featuring The Killers. It was a fun day, which was a little tainted by a lot of pushing and someone tossing a lit cigarette into my bag and burned holes into my jacket. Oh well, I think I’m getting too old for outdoor concerts. Thank you, Neil, for a rocking good time! 🙂

 

From Belfast I moved onto Dublin. One thing I will always remember about Dublin is that it has a Tim Horton’s. Yes, you heard me right, there is a Tim Horton’s outlet inside a convenience store. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was so strange I just had to take pictures of it! 🙂

 

I visited a reciprocal club and met up with Paul, yet another person I met in New Zealand. 🙂 He drove me around to various spots and walked around the city. We visited the Guinness Brewery, but only to the shop cause I didn’t really want to take tour. We also went to a little church where his great grandfather did the stained glass windows. How cool was that? Paul got a job with Shell and was in the process of moving to The Hague in the Netherlands so it was good to catch him before he left. He also very generously offer his spare bedroom if I go The Hague. This was very much appreciated as I wasn’t sure what my plans were after Paris, so it’s good to have an option available. Thank you Paul! 🙂

 

I left Paul and Dublin to catch an overnight bus back to London in order to catch the EuroStar train to Paris. I would have to go back to Ireland because I didn’t have time to visit the rest of the country. My planning for August was a little spotty and I didn’t budget enough time for UK and Ireland.

 

After a surprise invite by Erik for breakfast, I got all my bags and went to Paris, where I had an apartment waiting for me for a month!

 

Paris. There are so many adjectives I can use to describe my time in Paris but I don’t think it’ll suffice. My month in Paris was incredible and brilliant and amazing and I met so many Parisian Couch Surfers who treated me like one of them. There were so many events and meetings that I could have filled up my entire month just partying. Quiz nights, homemade cassoulet picnic, birthday parties, house warming parties, pasta party, running parties, the list just goes on and on. My goal in Paris was to live like a Parisian and I definitely accomplished that. I didn’t really do much of the touristy things until my friends visited. It was a very cool experience to have friends visiting and staying with me in my tiny 12m² apartment, as if I actually lived in Paris. Melroy, who I met in London, came for a couple of days and Sheri and James came all the way from Vancouver! It was so great to see my friends from home and to hear about everything in Vancouver. We survived living in such close quarters for a week and James was such a trooper, sleeping on the floor. I hope you guys had a great time in Paris.

 

While I was in Paris, I took numerous day trips out to different cities, getting a taste of the French countryside and life outside of Paris. Mark (yes, another person I met on the Kiwi bus in New Zealand!) invited me to stay with him in Normandy for a few days and he was such a great guide, driving me around to touristy Mont St. Michel and also to the various D-Day landing beaches. I learned more about World War II and D-Day from him and my stay in Normandy than I did in school. Really, learning about history is much more interesting for me in the places it happened than from textbooks. You just can’t grasp the magnitude of what happened unless you were there, or for our generation, being in the cemeteries and seeing all the graves. It was a humbling experience visiting the D-Day sites that day. Thank you, Mark, for everything.

 

I also visit Champagne, Burgundy, Loire Valley, Brittany, Rhone etc on day trips and it was a really good way for me to visit key cities in each region and see specific sites or things that each region is famous for and not feel rushed. France is a beautiful country and its train service is quite good and extensive, and it’s a very enjoyable way to see the country.

 

Completely off the France map, I also went to Milan for the day because I had made plans to meet up with Tim and Sequoiah, (no, I did not meet them in New Zealand!) who I met on my tour of Spain, Morocco and Portugal. It was a blast walking around the city and window shopping. We also went to a designer outlet place and got some cool stuff. We ended the day with a great dinner of pizza and risotto at a little Italian restaurant, where Tim told me some jaw-dropping stories about his grandfather fighting in WWII. Seriously, if his grandfather was my history teacher, I would have become a history major! I had planned on taking the night train back to Paris so that I would be able to go hang out with Sheri, James and some Couch Surfers, but I was having so much fun that I decided to accept Tim and Sequoiah’s offer of crashing on the floor of their hotel room and catch a train in the morning. Good plan…except the hotel receptionist would not let me as the room is only for two people. If I wanted to stay, I would have to get my own room! Because I had missed the night train, I had to stay in Milan, but I refused to stay in that hotel based on principles as the receptionist was so rude and so condensing that I would rather walk around and look for a different place. It’s just one of those things. Anyways, long story short, I got a place, got very little sleep and caught the first train back to Paris.

 

As my month in Paris passes, I began to rethink my plans for last few months of my trip. My original plan was to spend September in France, October in Italy and then catching the Trans-Siberian and Trans-Mongolian trains from Russia to China via Mongolia at the end of October. From China, I would make my way back to Singapore and then flying back to Australia and New Zealand for December, come back to Singapore for my cousin’s wedding at the end of December, then fly up to Hong Kong in Jan and back to Vancouver at the end of January.

 

The Trans-Siberian/Trans-Mongolian tour that I had booked was cancelled and so I would be doing it on my own which I actually preferred. However, the more I thought about it, the more I felt it would be better to do the train trip from Russia to China a different time. One main reason is that I would be doing it in winter when I did not have many winter clothes with me and also because of the amount of luggage I had. There is also the issue of the visas. I also had not made any decisions about Italy as I was debating between traveling on my way and booking a tour. So with so many unanswered questions, I decided to skip the train trip and go back to London until I fly to Singapore instead.

 

Not long after I decided to skip Russia, I got an email from my friend in Vancouver, Sally, who wanted to know what I was doing in October because she’s thinking of coming to Europe. It was a big surprise but I was delighted because it would awesome to see her. This also help solved my dilemma about what I was going to do for Italy in October. I spent the last couple of weeks in Paris planning Italy, with lots of emails and phone calls back and forth with Sally.

 

Towards the end of my stay in Paris, I was getting a little sad at the thought of leaving. I really had just a marvelous time, meeting all the cool Parisian Couch Surfers, hanging out and partying with them. Alas, all good things come to an end and so, after a month of living in Paris, I packed up, went to The Hague in The Netherlands to leave one (big) bag at Paul’s place so that I would only have to travel with one suitcase, and took off to Bordeaux and the south of France.

 

I had a great time in Bordeaux, even though I’m not really a huge fan or Bordeaux wine. I stayed with Sebastien, a Couch Surfer, who lived in a beautiful old building that used to be a jail. I didn’t believe it because the building was just magnificent. That would be a jail I wouldn’t mind being going to! The two nights I stayed with Sebastien were fun and fantastic. The first night, he decided to invite a few friends over and it turned into a cool little impromptu party. 🙂

 

The second night, he and I organized a dinner out at a place called the Restaurant la Cassolette, a cool spot where you can mix and match from the choices. We had quite a few people show up and all had a good time. Afterwards, a small group of us went to a funky wine bar where there are real trees growing inside, which makes the whole place like a courtyard. It was a very interesting place.

 

While I was in Bordeaux, I explored a bit of the city, but didn’t manage to make it to the cheese buffet that Terry and Jessica told me about, so next time! I did manage to go to St. Emillion, one of the premier wine regions of Bordeaux. It is a very old and quaint little village and the wine producing chateaus were very impressive. The time of the year then was the most important, grape harvest, so the cellar tours were not offered. By good fortune, I managed to tag onto an Australian family going to do a private visit of a chateau in town. It was brilliant. Our guide is an Australian wine maker, working for a company that includes Hardy’s wines, who is in France on a sort of a wine-maker exchange program. (It’s not really an exchange program but you know what I mean.) He told us all about the process, the equipment and the best part, the cellars.

 

There were so many bottles of really old wines there that I went picture happy. Then he showed us the private cellar where the owners kept his personal collection. To say it was impressive is an understatement. I think his collection would be classified as priceless. In fact some rich oil tycoon offered to purchase one of the rare bottles and asked the owner to name a price, he wouldn’t sell. It was priceless. As impressive as it was, I couldn’t help but wonder, is the wine really that good to command such prestige and price tag? Especially if the wine is bought and then stored in the cellar. I mean, there were wines there that were over 70 years old!!! Would the wine still taste good after all that time? Then again, most of the wine collectors never drink the wine anyways, so what’s the point? Someone needs to help me understand the logic of paying a lot of money for a bottle of wine that will never be drunk.

 

Ok, enough ranting…After the tour was over, we got to taste the wine. The chateau I visited was Chateau Guadet St. Julien, whose wine is classified as Grand Cru Classe, which is the highest/best classification for Bordeaux wines. We tasted a 2004 and a 2002 vintages. I was impressed. For someone who doesn’t really like Bordeaux wines, because they have a taste that is too ‘earthy’ for me, I quite like these wines. The 2004 didn’t have what I called a typical Bordeaux taste and it was very nice. The 2002 was better. It was great because you can actually taste the difference the two extra years of aging does for the wine. In fact, I liked the wine so much that I bought two bottles, a 2000 vintage, which was one of the best years, and a table wine, that is considered their lower quality wine. Since this is still a Bordeaux wine, I was curious to see what lower quality means. I was debating on whether to get the 2000 or 1998 because I couldn’t remember which the ‘better’ year was, but I settled on 2000. (After checking online, I found out that both years were pretty much similar.) Considering that 2000 was one of the best years, it only costs about 30euros, which is about $45C, which is pretty cheap for a high-end Bordeaux wine. Guess that’s a great thing about buying wine directly from the wine maker, in the country it was made as opposed to buying it from your local wine store in Vancouver where you pay twice as much due to all the taxes and import fees tagged onto it!

 

After my very favorable Bordeaux wine experience, I moved onto a very long train ride to Barcelona. That’s right, I decided to go back to Barcelona because, if you remember, I was only there for 20hrs the first time back in July. So this time, my plan was to stay two nights, play beach volleyball and go check out the sights. It turns out that Hannah, a Canadian girl from CS is having her going-home party the same weekend so I finally got to meet her! My beach volleyball plans didn’t work out as it rained, which is for the best as I had to organized my travel plans for the next couple of weeks, as well as finish plans for Italy with Sally.

 

When I finally managed to get out of Zsuzsu’s place, I went on a tourist sight seeing mission and wandered around the city for a bit. I even found a cool tea shop and found some Matcha tea! The first tea shop I went to that actually sells Matcha! Mmmmm

 

Then it was time to go to Hannah’s going-home party. What a fun get-together! Everyone bought a food item that is supposed to be from their home city/country. What did I bring? I brought along some mini-donuts cause of Tim Horton’s timbits and donuts, a Canadian tradition. I met and chatted with a few people, but being tired, I left the party early and went back to Zsuzsa’s place. I was supposed to meet up with Tom and Johann, who I met playing volleyball, but things didn’t work out. Too bad.

 

After Barcelona, I took another long train ride to Aix-en-Provence, where I stayed with Anne-Lise, a friend of Christiane. Aix-en-Provence was very nice and Anne-Lise was cool and introduced me to her friends. I felt bad for invading her space as she had started school, so I was staying with her in her dorm room. One thing about staying in a dorm room though is that it allowed me to claim that I have been in one, as I went to university close to home so I didn’t live on campus. Oh and also, it reinforced the fact that I am definitely not interested in going back to school. Guess that’s that option out of the window.

 

From Aix-en-Provence, I visited a few cities on day trips, including Nimes, Avignon, Nice, Marseilles, and Monte Carlo. Monte Carlo was interesting, especially since I went the wrong way and went to the industrial part instead of the glitzy part. I managed to get myself back but didn’t have enough time to explore more closely, so another place on my list of places to visit again.

 

I was planning on going to Turin to visit some Piedmont wineries as my favourite red wines come from that region. However, I decided to make a detour and go to Munich instead because I wanted to check out Oktoberfest and a few CSers were going to be there. It was a blast hanging out with Josh and Mike, both Americans from Cincinnati, plus we met up with Mark, from Atlanta. It definitely was an experience being at Oktoberfest, checking out the huge beer tents, the fairgrounds and the amount of people was crazy. Glad I decided to take the trip.

 

After Munich it was onwards to Italy where I am to meet Sally at the Rome airport. For those of you who knows me pretty well, you would know that Italy has been a dream country for me to visit for the longest time. There is this mystic around it, with its history, its arts, food and wine. It sounded like my kind of place. Since I had such a great time in France, which is one of my countries I’ve always wanted to visit, I figured Italy would be the same.

Boy was I wrong about this. People will probably be shocked and protest, but I was not a big fan of the country. I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would and I can count the number of things that I love on one hand. Am I being harsh? Probably, but that was my experience and nothing anyone can say will change my mind. It’s not so much any specific thing that happened, it was more about how I felt in the country, the feeling I got and experienced. But nonetheless, I will give the country a second chance and go back one day. What didn’t I like about the country? Let’s not get too negative and concentrate on what I did like. I love Venice, the gelato, the food, and the art. What about the wine? Well I still love Italian (Piedmont) wine, but only by what I had before I came to the country because the wine I actually did have in Italy were awful. I’m sorry to say the Sally didn’t have a good time either so between the two of us we were a couple of disappointed gals. She decided to go home earlier than planned, so you can imagine how much fun she was not having. To top everything off, I got sick towards the end of the trip. It was the first time I’ve gotten sick this year and after everything that happened, I decided to throw in the towel, leave Italy and go to The Hague and take Paul up on his offer of his spare bedroom to recuperate.

 

Thank you so much Paul! To be able to just sleep, veg on the couch and watch non-stop North American sports (I love satellite TV!), NHL,NFL, MLB, was a soothing balm to my tired soul. It was a bit of home in Europe. Even the weather in The Hague reminded me of Vancouver, dark, cloudy with no sign of sun. I hibernated for almost a week before I decided I had recovered enough to go out. I went to Brussels and Antwerpen in Belgium, where I bought a LOT of chocolates, some beer to try (chocolate, raspberries, and apple flavoured), and ate mussels, frites and waffles. I also went to Luxembourg and did a day trip of Switzerland by train. You may laugh, but I managed to see Zurich, Bern, Basel, Interlaken and Lucern in Switzerland, plus the stunning train trip between Lucern and Interlaken with ranks just below the Mydral-Flam train trip in Norway in terms of breath-taking scenery. Since it was October, the fall colours were out in full force and added their brilliance to the picture. You know, I have to admit. I didn’t think I would like Switzerland, but I love it. The cities were big enough to have all the amenities yet small enough to retain the quintessential Swiss look and feel. I would definitely be going back to Switzerland one day.

 

Yes, I did go to Amsterdam and no I didn’t like it that much. Pot makes me sick, the smell of it gives me a headache, so walking around the area with all the coffee shops (or maybe it was just people smoking on the streets) took its toll after a while. I did go on a canal cruise and that was nice. I tried to go to the Red Light District to see what the fuss is all about. But the maps were pretty vague about exactly where it is so I thought I found it and thought it was pretty tame. Paul told me that I probably didn’t see the ‘real’ thing; it was probably just a side street or something. I mean, it had the windows and the girls in them, how was I supposed to know there were different streets?

 

Anyways, I had about enough of Amsterdam by that point and so I went back to The Hague, packed up my bags and went back to London.

 

I should mention that by this point, I have now finished 9 months of traveling. Many people along the way have asked me if I was tired yet. Well, I wasn’t tired after month 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6.I was feeling a little wary by the end of month 7, with is why I was glad to have my own place in Paris for a month. But the wariness grew and now, at the end of month 9, I was tired. Not tired of traveling or seeing new places or having new experiences. I was tired of lugging my bags with me, tired of packing and unpacking only to have to pack again, tired of only having certain clothes or shoes to wear, tired of wearing the same things over and over again. (I missed my wardrobe back in Vancouver where I had choices of what to wear.) I was tired of trying to figure out where I want to go next, how to get there and what to do once I am there. I was ready to stay put in one spot just so I don’t have to think about packing. So this is why people keep asking me if I was tired of traveling yet. Because it’s true. You do get tired. It all depends on what your threshold it. For me, I realized that I can safely go traveling for up to six months before I start feeling wary. Things you learn…

 

The funny thing is, even though I am tired of the nitty bitty details associated with traveling, I don’t want to stop yet. I don’t want to go home yet. I still want to keep going. I guess my desire to travel is still stronger than my tiredness. Another interesting thing to learn.

 

So, we have now reached the end of this very long, very detailed and very varied update. If you have managed to read to the end, wow!

 

If you are on Facebook, be sure to check out my profile cause I update it almost every day (I’m addicted to it!) and also I post my pics on there. www.facebook.com You can also check my website, but I am embarrassed to say that I am very bad at updating this one. http://yingying-lee.spaces.live.com

 

The next update you’ll probably get will be one when I get home in about 3 months time, the conclusion to my year of traveling.

 

Lots of love,

 

Ying Ying =)

Food for Thought

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I found this quote today and it made me stop to think it over.
“If you feel drawn to someone, but you are annoyed because you think that they are telling you some lies, try to look beyond the lies and try to focus upon the feeling. People offer all kinds of words for all kinds of different reasons. Most lies are offered to try to keep things in alignment. We’re not encouraging it, but the motive behind lying is usually a pretty honorable motive. In other words, when a child lies to their parents, it’s usually because they want to be free to do what they want to do, and they don’t want their parents to be upset about it. It’s about wanting an alignment. Physical ears have a hard time hearing this. You keep talking about “We need to be honest.” And we say, we don’t meet any of you who are honest. Even those who claim to be the most virtuous, are not honest, but your vibration always is. We would trust the feeling more than the words.”
It’s very interesting as I’ve always believe in honestly is the best policy, but there is some truth in this. Sometimes people do tell lies (big or small) to avoid hurting someone else. But is that really a good reason for the lie? Wouldn’t it be less hurtful to tell the truth in the long run?
What do you think?
Ying Ying =)

6-Month Update

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Hi everyone!

 

So I’ve just finished my 7th month of traveling, and I am now in Paris. What have I been up do since the last update? If you read the 3-month update back in April, this was supposed to be the 6-month update but I got sidetracked in London and hence this ‘6-month update’ is one month late!

 

But then again, for those of you who know me, being late is something that (unfortunately) I am familiar with. I know, I know, when it comes to “important” things, I’m pretty good, but when it comes to things like this where there is really no real urgency, I tend to let slide. I am working on it, I swear!

 

So since the 3-month update, I’ve traveled throughout Europe, covering more than half the continent and over 20 countries! A brief recap:

 

January – New Zealand

February – New Zealand, Fiji

March – Australia, Singapore, Egypt

April – Egypt, Greece, Turkey

May – Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Germany

June – Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

July – Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Spain, Portugal, Morocco

August – England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland

 

The last 3 months went by quite fast, compared with the first 3 months. I think the main reason is that I went to a lot of countries in 3 months as opposed to 3 countries in 3 months. The bulk of my ‘on-the-road’ traveling is now over. The next 3 months will be spent more leisurely, as I have a home base in Paris for September, and looking for another base for October then I’ll head off to Russia to board the trans-Siberian and trans-Mongolian trains to China. After the hectic and very eventful 3 months navigating through Europe, I am looking forward to slowing down a little and pretend I’m a Parisian, living in Paris for a month. J

 

So what happened the last 3 months? Here are the highlights, stories and rants in a nutshell:

 

May – This is the month of Eastern European countries as I went on a Cosmo tour to Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia. I met Lorraine, from New Zealand, who became my partner-in-crime as we were on the same tours for the 3 weeks, so we ended up roommates and became good friends. The countries were very cool but slightly different from what I expected. It has been a while since Communism fell and the countries have definitely embraced the western way of life (ie: Capitalism). I am glad to have visited them before they became even more westernized. On one of the tours, I met Grant and Sandra, who used to live in Vancouver but have moved out to the east coast, and we had a great time checking out the different cuisine of the countries by check out the restaurants recommended by Lonely Planet. I also enjoyed the talks about politics, economics and history, from which I learned a lot.

 

What I found is that it is one thing to read about a country, it is a different thing to actually be in the country and experiencing it for yourself. The history comes alive and the things that happened makes more sense and becomes more relevant. Visiting these countries really made me understand more what they went through in the past and definitely made me more appreciative of Canada and Vancouver.

 

Each country has unique and something cool to offer but my favourite countries in Europe are Croatia and Greece. Driving down the Dalmatian Coast is absolutely stunning, the water is so blue that it just makes me want to jump in and spend the day swimming and lazing on the beach. The walled city of Dubrovnik is amazing, and walking on the city walls provided such breath-taking views of the city and the sea. Greece is amazing for me as I love Greek mythology. To visit places such as the Parthenon, Temple of Athena, Ancient Olympia among other, is to see the myths come alive. Not only is Greece full of ancient ruins, Greece also has numerous islands that offer something for everyone. One day, I want explore the islands on a boat, island hopping at its best.

 

June – Ah June. This is what I called the low month. Many things happened this month that on their own won’t be that bad but collectively made me feel low and cranky. However, I did learn from the bad experiences, such as what I like and don’t like and discover and confirm various parts of my personality and my style so all was not lost. Like what, you ask?

1) I am NOT a backpacker

2) There are some people that just rub you the wrong way, on the wrong wavelength so you just weren’t going to get along no matter what

3) There are always pros and cons with everything, you just have to be able to evaluate them objectively

 

The countries of the Nordic and Baltic countries were nice and interesting in their own way. I found the Nordic countries to be really expensive and the people…ummm unique. J I met Ine and Jorgen in Fiji back in Feb and I told them I’ll visit them when I get to Norway. Well, I did and met up with them in Bergen and had a fantastic two days hanging out and catching up and checking out Bergen. Thanks for a great time, Ine and Jorgen! J Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were very cool, great food, interesting history and a good mix of the old and the new. They are bound to become more of a tourist destination as more and more people discover their charms.

 

July – July was indeed the most hectic month in terms of traveling. I visited 7 countries and within those countries, numerous cities. It was at this point, at the end of the month, I felt the first sign of fatigue, not just physical, but mental as well. After traveling for 6 months, I was ready to settle in one spot to relax and chill without the thought/pressure of “having to see things” cause I’m in a new city. That’s when I started to REALLY look forward to London and Paris. London, cause I can speak English and have conversations with people again and Paris cause I have an apartment waiting for me for an entire month!

 

Anyways, back to July. I went to Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Poland reminded me of the feeling I got when I was in Sarajevo. It had a sad, somber feel that stems from the suffering in its history. The Old City in Warsaw was completely destroyed in WWII and it was rebuilt afterwards. It was quite interesting to go from the old part to the new part, you can really see the difference. Krakow was very cool, it is different from Warsaw and I can see why some people prefer Krakow to Warsaw. I met Roople, who hosted me, through Couch Surfing and I had a great time hanging out with her. She’s Canadian too, it’s always awesome meeting fellow Canadians. Thanks Roople! J

 

After Poland, I took off for Austria, to Vienna first. Vienna was very cultured and polished. I went to a Mozart concert and it was great! The orchestra was wearing period costumes and they were very good. There was also some opera singing involved! I really enjoyed it. J From Vienna, I went to Salzburg, with a stopover in Graz. I stayed with Virginia, another Couch Surfer and she’s is very cool! She lived in so many different countries and speaks many different languages fluently, I am quite envious. Thanks Virginia for a fun time in Salzburg. J

 

I went to Prague and Cesky Krumlov in Czech Republic after Austria. It was quite funny but I ran into the tour group that I was with in the Baltics in Cesky Krumlov. (The group continued on towards central Europe) Talk about timing and coincidences! Cesky Krumlov was very historic and fun to explore. You definitely feel like you’re back in medieval Europe. I went on to Prague and I’m sorry to say that I only spent one night in Prague but it’s all good cause I managed to explore quite a bit and I know I definitely want to go back there again.

 

After Prague I had to decide on how I was going to get to Barcelona since I wanted to go there first before going to Madrid to start my Spain, Portugal and Morocco tour. For the last few days I have been debating between taking the train and flying. I ended up taking the train which was my first choice anyways. Thus began one of the coolest adventure of my trip so far:

 

 I lef Prague at 11pm on Thursday night and got into Bratislava, Slovakia at 4:30am, then caught a train to Vienna at 5am. I got into Vienna where I proceeded to grab my bags that I had left at the hostel, had a shower and did some last minute emails at before catching the 9:30am train to Zurich where my plan was to buy a ticket to Barcelona on the overnight train and get there at 9:30am. Good plan…except that I didn’t know that summer holidays started on that very day so when I got to Zurich at 6:30pm, I found out that the overnight train to Barcelona is completely sold out!!! Well, I ended up catching a train with 2 changes to Port Bou in Spain and then catching a train from there to Barcelona with an arrival time of 12:46pm, over 3 hours later than planned.

I only had only about 20 hours in Barcelona since I had to be in Madrid the next day. Well, let me tell you, I sure made great use of those 20 hours! I had three goals in Barcelona: 1) play some beach volleyball 2) eat some tapas/seafood/paella 3) go out and see the night life.

Mission accomplished on all counts. I went straight to the beach as soon as I dropped off my bags at Zsuzsa’s place, another Couch Surfer, who then took me to the beach where I met some people who let me play some beach volleyball. While playing, I met two guys, Tom and Johann, who Zsuzsa and I ended up hanging out at the beach and made plans to go out clubbing that night. Zsuzsa and I went out for dinner at the typical Spanish time of 10:30pm, had some tapas and seafood paella, then met up with Tom and Johann to the two clubs, partying till 6am, got back to Zsuzsa’s place at 6:30am, just in time to pack my stuff and get ready to leave and catch the 9am bus to Madrid. J

I know I’m crazy and it’s times like this that prove it and also make me glad that I am cause I had such a fantastic time. I did everything I wanted to do, and felt totally like a local rather than a tourist. I made new friends and now I’m making plans to come back in September to play more beach volleyball.

 

The tour of Spain, Portugal and Morocco was the last tour for me so I was really happy as I was ready to have some time on my own, especially with the BIG 3 coming up, UK, France and Italy. France and Italy were the top two countries I wanted to visit and London and Paris were the top two cities. All of them are coming up after this tour and although it’s bad, a small part of me just couldn’t wait for the tour to finish so I can get started on “the main trip”.

 

I met some really cool people on this trip which is always good cause really, one’s enjoyment of and in tour groups are determined by the people who are in it and to a lesser extent, the tour leader. I was told that Barcelona and the region are not like the rest of Spain, and it’s true. I’ve like Barcelona a lot, not so much for the rest of Spain. Although the places we went to were nice, I never got the same feeling as I did in Barcelona. Also, my experiences were tainted by the rude staff at a place we went to for lunch. And people say the French is rude! Portugal is also very cool, mellower in atmosphere than Spain but with an equally colourful history and tradition. Morocco was definitely interesting. Personally, I liked it much more than Egypt, possibly it has more European influences than Egypt. It is also cleaner and less polluted, at least to me. All in all, the tour was one of the better ones that I’ve taken, there weren’t really anyone that I didn’t get along with and also there were people in the 20s and 30s as well as the older crowd. It was a good way to end my touring experiences.

 

That’s my adventures in a nutshell of the three months since my last update. If you are on Facebook, be sure to check out my profile cause I update it almost every day (I’m addicted to it!) and also I post my pics on there. www.facebook.com You can also check my website, but I am embarrassed to say that I am very bad at updating this one. http://yingying-lee.spaces.live.com

 

I’ll send out the next update email in oh another 3 months. J

 

Lots of love,

 

Ying Ying =) 

Crazy, fun, fantastic and awesome day in Barcelona

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It’s 8am in Barcelona and I’ve have not gone to bed yet. It has been a absolutly weird and crazy last couple of days. You wanna hear it?

I lef Prague at 11pm on Thursday night and got into Bratislava at 4:30am, then caught a train to Vienna at 5am. I got into Vienna where I proceeded to grab my bag, had a shower and did some last minute emails at the hostel before catching the 9:30am train to Zurich where my plan was to buy a ticket to Barcelona on the overnight train and get there at 9:30am. Good plan…except that I didn’t know that summer holidays started on that very day so when I got to Zurich at 6:30pm, I found out that the overnight train to Barcelona is completely sold out!!! Well, I ended up catching a train with 2 changes to PortBou and then catching a train from there to Barcelona with an arrival time of 12:46pm, over 3 hours later than planned.

Well, let me tell you, I sure made great use of the last 17hrs! My goal was Barcelona was to play some beach volleyball, eat some tapas and seafood and palella, and go out and see the night life.

Mission accomplished on all counts. Went straight to the beach as soon as I dropped off my bags, met some people who let me play with them, met two guys who I ended up going out with partying till 6am, got back to my host’s place at 6:30am, just in time to pack my stuff and get ready to leave and catch the 9am train to Madrid.

I know I’m crazy and it’s times like this that prove it and also make me glad that I am cause I had such a fantastic time. I did everything I wanted to do, and felt totally like a local than a tourist. I even made two new friends, (besides the CS host) and now I’m making plans to come back in September.

 
I love travelling!