almost every stop that we make, there’s a xmas market!!!!

of cos we were all excited about the first one we saw at budapest!!!

a must drink is the hot wine~~~ looks like ribena~~~

this mug costs 1,100 hungarian forint, but upon returning the mug, u get 500 forint back~~

n of cos~~~ the food!!! the sausages~~~ YUMMY!!

i think this is duck thigh~~~ looks delicious~~~

about 40/50 stalls selling foodstuffs n xmas decor~~~

it’s a lovely season to be in eastern europe with all these xmas markets!!!!

n lotsa more~~~

full of colours~~~ i will let the photos do the talking…

i mean… market?!? no need to explain hor~~~

last picture is just to show u how big the chili is… yes it’s my hand…

n i would say my hand is not the normal frail gal’s hand!!!

i used to pride in blogging in order… or maybe i was more organised then ahaha

i had wanted to blog about china beijing first… but i dunno where i left the photos~~~ hhahaha

in view that my memory is deteriorating… i thought i better post about eastern europe first before i forget the details..

or worse still… cannot recall where i left my photos again hahahahaha

25nov… i went on a 10 eastern europe danube river cruise plus prague holiday~~~

[minus the flying... it's about 8 days of holidaying~~~]

flew 13 hours i think to amsterdam, transit for 4 hours, then caught a 2 hr flight to hungary, budapest…

the view of budapest from hilltop~~~ temp approz 12degrees

the streets of budapest…

the same bridge in photo one… taken from the grand palace i think ahhahaha

n its only about 5pm!!!!

yeah… after a long day of travelling, we finally boarded the cruise~~~

wow… got welcome programme~~~

this is the welcome cocktail party by the captain n crew~~~

the above is NOT all… a few others not displayed… n of cos… not forgetting the dessert~~~

that’s suppose to be a swan~~~ bon appetite~~~

this year is almost coming to an end le~~~

yes yes ppl who know me can expect my travel destinations to be either australia or japan… BUT

there are several first in terms of travelling this year~~~

first holiday [not work trip] to china ie shanghai late feb…

first holiday [not work trip] to taiwan mid mar…

first time to several neighbouring places due to low airfares, budget airlines n Mediacorp Day Off  like Manado, Miri & Kota Kinabalu~~~

first time to Beijing!!!!!

first time to Hungary & Slovakia~~~

check out the miri n kk photos in the gallery…

as for the rest… soon i hope…

in case i m really S~L~O~W…

merry xmas n happy new year!!!!

well… i have been to taipei several times, but always on working trips to cover press con or concerts…

so i was happy to just be able to enjoy taipei without worrying about work…

amongst us… there’s a taipei guru who kept notes of where to go, what to eat…

so i have almost no idea of the iti until the trip itself…

上山去吧！！

花季即将结束～～

美！

on sale~~~

荷包花 cos it looks like a purse~~~

this is 海芋～～end mar til may is the time to catch the place full of this simple classic flower

not to be miss… 夜市小吃！！

n a trip to jiu fen~~~

a nice place to relax, n enjoy a cuppa tea or coffee~~

and then~~ taiwan onsen~~ hotspring!!! but i cant remember if this is beitou or wulai?

haha like i hv mentioned, i m a follower not leader…

sometimes when u have a good leader, it’s bliss to just follow instructions~~

my 2 fave dishes at kiki… i think it’s call 苍蝇头？and 老皮嫩肉 ie toufu!!

~ the end ~ catching up my travel blog posts on a mc day~~

2009 has been a year of several short holidays~~~ due to the pay-cut=forced-day-off…

my first holiday of the year was actually to shanghai… a place that i have not been too…

except for flying out of pudong airport when in 2005 i went to nanjing to host a 同一首歌 concert…

thanks to my bro for the free accom, n my fren ye for her hospitality…

things were not too bad except the weather was cloudy~~ rainy~~

the night view from my room~~ that’s the bund外滩…

where most ppl will be there to take a pic with the 东方明珠塔in the background

a trip to 豫园, n this should be 梅花 haha

a shop that u cannot miss cos there’s forever a long queue~~~

go pray pray at 城隍庙

the nice old old colonial style buildings along the bund… if i remember correctly aaah

a lil more zoom into the lights at night

trying to be like a pro… somehow that 一盏灯caught my attention…

~ the end ~

在新泽西州市郊的一座小镇上，一个由26个孩子组成的班级被安排在教学楼最里面一间光线昏暗的教室里。他们中所有的人都有过不光彩的历史：有人吸过毒、有人进过管教所、有一个女孩子甚至在一年之内堕过3次胎。家长拿他们没办法，老师和学校也几乎放弃了他们。

 就在这个时候，一个叫菲拉的女教师担任了这个班的辅导老师。新学年开始的第一天，菲拉没有像以前的老师那样，首先对这些孩子进行一顿训斥，给他们一个下马威，而是为大家出了一道题，有3个候选人，他们分别是──

    A：笃信巫医，有两个情妇，有多年的吸烟史，而且嗜酒如命；

    B：曾经两次被赶出办公室，每天要到中午才起床，每晚都要喝大约1公升的白兰地，而且曾经有过吸食鸦片的记录；

    C：曾是国家的战斗英雄，一直保持素食习惯，热爱艺术，偶尔喝点酒，年轻时从未做过违法的事。

    菲拉给孩子们的问题是：

    如果我告诉你们，在这3个人中，有一位会成为众人敬仰的伟人，你们认为会是谁？猜想一下，这3个人将来各自会有什么样的命运？

    对于第一个问题，毋庸置疑，孩子们都选择了C；对于第二个问题，大家的推论也几乎一致：A和B将来的命运肯定不妙，要么成为罪犯，要么就是需要社会照顾的废物。而C呢，一定是一个品德高尚的人，注定会成为精英。

    然而，菲拉的答案却让人大吃一惊。“孩子们，你们的结论也许符合一般的判断，但事实是，你们都错了。这3个人大家都很熟悉，他们是二战时期的3个著名的人物──A是富兰克林·罗斯福，他身残志坚，连任四届美国总统；B是温斯顿·丘吉尔，英国历史上最著名的首相；C的名字大家也很熟悉，他叫阿道夫·希特勒，一个夺去了几千万无辜生命的法西斯元首。”学生们都呆呆地瞅着菲拉，他们简直不相信自己的耳朵。

    “孩子们，”菲拉接着说，“你们的人生才刚刚开始，以往的过错和耻辱只能代表过去，真正能代表一个人一生的，是他现在和将来的所作所为。每个人都不是完人，连伟人也有过错。从过去的阴影里出来吧，从现在开始，努力做自己最想做的事情，你们都将成为了不起的优秀的人才……”

    菲拉的这番话，改变了26个孩子一生的命运。如今这些孩子都已长大成人，他们中有的做了心理医生、有的做了法官、有的做了飞机驾驶员。值得一提的是，当年班里那个个子最矮也最捣乱的学生罗伯特·哈里森，后来成了华尔街上最年轻的基金经理人。

    “原来我们都觉得自己已经无可救药，因为所有的人都这么认为。是菲拉老师第一次让我们觉醒：过去并不重要，我们还有可以把握的现在和将来。”孩子们长大后这样说。

~~~extracted from the internet~~~

… …

??? ???

!!! !!!

here’s a few photos that i would love to share before moving on ahaha

must be in chronological order la~~ :O)

the above pictures are all taken in spore… somewhere out there~~~

any guesses?