I want to remember these few days clearly in the future because these few weeks have been the happiest days of my life. I think I have made the right decision to go to Europe because I've always wanted to see the place, and it's almost time for us to take off from the ground and leave behind what I know well and reach for the unknown. What does the food taste like in Europe? What kind of house do people live in? What kind of car do they drive? Do they drive faster? Do they follow the road code? What about the cafe? Do they have good coffee? I want to eat ice cream and cake sometimes, enjoy an afternoon in the street market, looking at exotic products that I've never seen before. I want to be among the people who look different, smell different, sound different, and just amazing to be with.
I have sorted out several things in the afternoon, went to see the doctor (finally) and got eczema cream, exchanged currency, and asked about credit card usage in Europe. I played rugby in lunchtime, soccer after work, and baked a cake for Fuzzy's party on Saturday. It was an awesome day.
I will go find a vase for my beautiful flowers, too. Hopefully, I can find a good one in Stevens in town. I may get some more food, too. Better get going.
11/09/2007
Engineering tour
I have found a list of motorcycle museums around the world: http://www.vft.org/vftmuseums.html, that's wonderful. Some of them are in Germany, some are in Austria. I think Richard will like these kind of museum immensely. There are also maritime museums: http://www.google.com/Top/Reference/Museums/Transportation/Maritime/Europe/, for my nautical adventure in Europe. I will try to find the ones that are close to the places where I am going and take tours close to these cities. It will be so much fun! I love aviation as well, biplanes, planes from the Second World War and the new planes of today are really interesting engineering feats as well. http://www.google.com/Top/Reference/Museums/Transportation/Aviation/Europe/ offers a list of these museums in Europe. Trains, cars, planes, boats, here I come! I think these boys' toys are just as much as girls' toys in my eyes. http://europeforvisitors.com/switzaustria/articles/swiss_transportation_museum.htm This museum in Lucern, Switzerland is just at the lakefront, and I believe we are going to pass through this place when we cross into Switzerland, hopefully we will have some time to visit.
Famous bridges are hard to build, and it depends on the structure of the bridge, the lay of the land, the span across the river or above railway tracks, and some bridges are old and stood against the test of time. The bridges saw the rise and fall of dynasties, wars, people growing up and dying, they are testments of history and things of beauty. http://www.cse.polyu.edu.hk/~ctbridge/links/europe.htm This plain website offers a list of bridges in Europe, which is subject oriented and leave the beauty of these bridges in the links it provide.
Tall buildings, and buildings that stand above water, and buildings that are built to lean towards its side are all interesting buildings. Palaces, castles, and chateau all holds memory of the old time, arts, guilded rooms. I am going to see some of these beauty that you can't see anywhere else in the world in Europe.
I better get a backup prescription for my glasses today so I will be able to see the marvel of Europe from next week.
Famous bridges are hard to build, and it depends on the structure of the bridge, the lay of the land, the span across the river or above railway tracks, and some bridges are old and stood against the test of time. The bridges saw the rise and fall of dynasties, wars, people growing up and dying, they are testments of history and things of beauty. http://www.cse.polyu.edu.hk/~ctbridge/links/europe.htm This plain website offers a list of bridges in Europe, which is subject oriented and leave the beauty of these bridges in the links it provide.
Tall buildings, and buildings that stand above water, and buildings that are built to lean towards its side are all interesting buildings. Palaces, castles, and chateau all holds memory of the old time, arts, guilded rooms. I am going to see some of these beauty that you can't see anywhere else in the world in Europe.
I better get a backup prescription for my glasses today so I will be able to see the marvel of Europe from next week.
11/07/2007
Sabrina
We have been watching some golden oldies these few weeks, I watched Roman Holiday for Europe research the other night and watched Sabrina last night. It's a great love story between rich and poor, Sabrina is a girl who is not brave enough to love in her life. She went to Paris to learn how to cook, and come back a sophisticated lady who has the confidence to get who she wants. David falls in love with her because she is dazzling, but his brother Linus sees her as a child grown up. He schemes to keep her for himself, and also keeps her away from his womanizing brother so he can help with the plastic merger between two families. However, Linus falls deeply in love with Sabrina because she is a girl full of romantic ideas and understands how lonely Linus really is. The movie has great moments where Sabrina sings French love song and also shows how a girl transforms into a woman. She has great feelings, and will not be easily silenced by money. Movies are made with different values in the old days, and I hope they make these kind of movies more now. It's quite hard to surpass the oldies, though. Writers have to focus more on human emotions and relationships, rather than special effects.
That's what make movies memorable.
That's what make movies memorable.
Flights between countries
Richard and I have bought our air tickets from Rome to Athens and Athens to Vienna online: http://www.expedia.com He telephoned the helpline and the price increased a little, still a lot cheaper than the other airlines. We will have lunch on the flight from Rome to Athens, but from Athens to Vienna, we won't be able to eat so we have to pack some food for ourselves.
I have worked out the schedule with Richard, planning where to go everyday, and found that it's easier to book hotels online, http://www.hostelbookers.com offers good hostels, and http://www.eurocheapo.com, http://eurobookings.com and http://en.venere.com all offer good deals, too. I have written down these sites so I will be able to access them when I go to internet cafe or have the chance to use the internet over there.
I have also written down my address so I can write postcard home, and work address so I can send my workmates postcards. It will be so much fun! I am thinking about what kind of Christmas presents I can bring home for Fuzzy, mum and dad. I hope I will be able to find something that's not too expensive, yet represent some countries that I have visited.
The 10,000 steps challenge is going great, I have done about 18000 steps yesterday, and will accumulate more steps today. It's easy to walk in lunch time to Richard's company and get steps, and I also walk to Washup and I can go to the store this afternoon.
I should do more research on where Da Vinci's engineering drawings are kept. I wish that I can go see the real thing in Europe. That will be great.
I have worked out the schedule with Richard, planning where to go everyday, and found that it's easier to book hotels online, http://www.hostelbookers.com offers good hostels, and http://www.eurocheapo.com, http://eurobookings.com and http://en.venere.com all offer good deals, too. I have written down these sites so I will be able to access them when I go to internet cafe or have the chance to use the internet over there.
I have also written down my address so I can write postcard home, and work address so I can send my workmates postcards. It will be so much fun! I am thinking about what kind of Christmas presents I can bring home for Fuzzy, mum and dad. I hope I will be able to find something that's not too expensive, yet represent some countries that I have visited.
The 10,000 steps challenge is going great, I have done about 18000 steps yesterday, and will accumulate more steps today. It's easy to walk in lunch time to Richard's company and get steps, and I also walk to Washup and I can go to the store this afternoon.
I should do more research on where Da Vinci's engineering drawings are kept. I wish that I can go see the real thing in Europe. That will be great.
11/05/2007
Europe plan continue and start of Nanowrimo
Hello there to all the people who reads my blog, and I have started Nanowrimo again. I know I am going to Europe in the middle of the month, but just can't help to jump on the same band wagon as thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of authors who participate in Nanowrimo every year. It's time to drink coffee, smoke cigarettes, chew candy, or scratch your head for plots. It's time to find the perfect murder weapon, cutest guy, exotic places to make your story better. Who can resist the lure of writing a good novel? It's so much fun just to participate and if I get to the word limit then fine, if I don't, it's still a story worth writing. Who said that a novel has to be certain length? I am sure my story will be fine.
I had a good Friday because Chris and Frank met with me to discuss what I will do in the future and I suddenly realised that I am doing discovery science. It's easy to lose the big picture when I am doing everyday experiment, and that got me very excited. I had to tell Kelly and Richard, but still can't reveal why I am excited. That's the problem with my job, you can talk about general things but anything specific is forbidden.
I went for a quick walk with Kelly, we talked about what music we like. There's a song called "Bubbly" out. It's a happy and healthy song, like Destiny's Child. Songs have to have good lyrics and melody, meaningful words instead of mumble jumble. We have picked several good artists on our walk and they are certainly good for keeping us motivated when we are doing the 10,000 steps challenge.
Richard and I went to the Warehouse to get fireworks, we had so much fun there! He found a polystyrene sword and we start hiding from each other and fight when we meet. It was exhilirating, and I had gained a few steps and ran until slightly puffed. Bevan and Haylie went to see what kind of plants they can put in their garden, and try to find a new lock for the door. The locks are not very expensive.
Richard and I went to the toy section to check out different outfits you can put on for Halloween and dress up parties for kids. It was fun to wear pink pigtail and scary facemasks. Richard was trying to scare me, and one of the mask was quite scary. However, I am not easily scared so he didn't get the desire effect...I think he has to do it suddenly, if I wasn't expecting to get shocked then I would probably scream. Haha. It was so much fun hanging out in the Warehouse.
We picked Roman Candles and let off some in the evening. It was fun looking at the stars that we have created under the cloudy sky.
The weather packed in on Saturday so I did some housework. I was still tidying up everything in my room when Richard got to my place. We packed and checked what we still have to get, and went to town to buy Richard a larger quick dry towel. We then wrote down where I really want to go in Europe and put prioritised pawns on the spots where I want to go in Europe. It's almost like I am going to conquer Europe! That's exactly what I am gonna do, isn't it? We figured that it will take too long to do Eastern Europe, so we have decreased the number of points and give more days for sightseeing on each point. I have a better idea about where to go and how to get to each points now. I just have to figure out the logistic details, for example, if I want to get from Berlin to Amsterdam in the evening then I have to find the time the train departs from Berlin to Amsterdam, and whether we can take the sleeper train to save money for hotels.
Fuzzy and I went to Brooke Fraser's concert on Saturday. It was awesome! I love her songs. Op Shop was also good, they started us up with rock songs. The concert was two-in-one. Brooke's part was conversational, she talked about her engagement to the Australian and made lots of jokes about her future. I really like it. I will probably go to another one if she comes to town again.
Richard and I went to have dinner in Lone Star last night. I was so full with Lasso of Hog, however the salad wasn't so good. We watched Casshern the movie after dinner and that was quite interesting as well. They don't make movies like that very often, it was imaginative and beautiful, sad and quite depressed as well. Japanese directors have a knack of making anti-war movies, probably because of the history of Second World War. I think the generals had ambition to take over Asia, and people in power wants more power when they can get it, they ignore the human suffering in war. Generals stand upon thousands of rotten bones, and this is certainly true for many Japanese generals who waged war on China and South East Asia. Was it right for Japan to start the war on China? Was it right for us to fight back? I think citizens in the country just want to preserve their way of life, and if you are invaded, will you let people take away what you hold dear and kill the ones who you love? I think not. Wars are not right because there's never a legitimate reason for it, but people should be allowed to defend their country, their way of life, their culture, and work on ways to prevent wars. There's always going to be differences in the world, like different religions, ethinicity and cultures, and we still have to learn how to live with one another even if we are different. We still have a long way to go on this issue, there's still wars and conflicts, and ultimately, we can avoid these by more negotiation, understanding of different cultures, and tolerance.
I am going to have dinner with Richard in town tonight. Romantic? I hope it is.
I had a good Friday because Chris and Frank met with me to discuss what I will do in the future and I suddenly realised that I am doing discovery science. It's easy to lose the big picture when I am doing everyday experiment, and that got me very excited. I had to tell Kelly and Richard, but still can't reveal why I am excited. That's the problem with my job, you can talk about general things but anything specific is forbidden.
I went for a quick walk with Kelly, we talked about what music we like. There's a song called "Bubbly" out. It's a happy and healthy song, like Destiny's Child. Songs have to have good lyrics and melody, meaningful words instead of mumble jumble. We have picked several good artists on our walk and they are certainly good for keeping us motivated when we are doing the 10,000 steps challenge.
Richard and I went to the Warehouse to get fireworks, we had so much fun there! He found a polystyrene sword and we start hiding from each other and fight when we meet. It was exhilirating, and I had gained a few steps and ran until slightly puffed. Bevan and Haylie went to see what kind of plants they can put in their garden, and try to find a new lock for the door. The locks are not very expensive.
Richard and I went to the toy section to check out different outfits you can put on for Halloween and dress up parties for kids. It was fun to wear pink pigtail and scary facemasks. Richard was trying to scare me, and one of the mask was quite scary. However, I am not easily scared so he didn't get the desire effect...I think he has to do it suddenly, if I wasn't expecting to get shocked then I would probably scream. Haha. It was so much fun hanging out in the Warehouse.
We picked Roman Candles and let off some in the evening. It was fun looking at the stars that we have created under the cloudy sky.
The weather packed in on Saturday so I did some housework. I was still tidying up everything in my room when Richard got to my place. We packed and checked what we still have to get, and went to town to buy Richard a larger quick dry towel. We then wrote down where I really want to go in Europe and put prioritised pawns on the spots where I want to go in Europe. It's almost like I am going to conquer Europe! That's exactly what I am gonna do, isn't it? We figured that it will take too long to do Eastern Europe, so we have decreased the number of points and give more days for sightseeing on each point. I have a better idea about where to go and how to get to each points now. I just have to figure out the logistic details, for example, if I want to get from Berlin to Amsterdam in the evening then I have to find the time the train departs from Berlin to Amsterdam, and whether we can take the sleeper train to save money for hotels.
Fuzzy and I went to Brooke Fraser's concert on Saturday. It was awesome! I love her songs. Op Shop was also good, they started us up with rock songs. The concert was two-in-one. Brooke's part was conversational, she talked about her engagement to the Australian and made lots of jokes about her future. I really like it. I will probably go to another one if she comes to town again.
Richard and I went to have dinner in Lone Star last night. I was so full with Lasso of Hog, however the salad wasn't so good. We watched Casshern the movie after dinner and that was quite interesting as well. They don't make movies like that very often, it was imaginative and beautiful, sad and quite depressed as well. Japanese directors have a knack of making anti-war movies, probably because of the history of Second World War. I think the generals had ambition to take over Asia, and people in power wants more power when they can get it, they ignore the human suffering in war. Generals stand upon thousands of rotten bones, and this is certainly true for many Japanese generals who waged war on China and South East Asia. Was it right for Japan to start the war on China? Was it right for us to fight back? I think citizens in the country just want to preserve their way of life, and if you are invaded, will you let people take away what you hold dear and kill the ones who you love? I think not. Wars are not right because there's never a legitimate reason for it, but people should be allowed to defend their country, their way of life, their culture, and work on ways to prevent wars. There's always going to be differences in the world, like different religions, ethinicity and cultures, and we still have to learn how to live with one another even if we are different. We still have a long way to go on this issue, there's still wars and conflicts, and ultimately, we can avoid these by more negotiation, understanding of different cultures, and tolerance.
I am going to have dinner with Richard in town tonight. Romantic? I hope it is.
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