Suwon, Korea

29 Nov 2011 to 3 Dec 2011 - Suwon

Well, the business trip to Suwon is mostly busy and eat Korean. One thing about them is Kimchi for all 3 meals (as it was winter). Only the finally before the flight back to Singapore me and my colleagues had the time to sight see Suwon.

Korean BBQ.

DIY spicy beef.

High Grade Beef (only 2nd best in Korea as we are told)

Suwon palace. Autumn scenery in winter?

Fried Oyster

I will be back in the future, Korea!!

Desaru, Johor

22 Feb 2011 - Desaru Beach

Depressed from not finding a job, I joined my cousin to relax at Desaru beach. I did a lot of fooling around there.

Rocks that look like mud??

I like this view!

Hermit Crabs: they will abandon shell if you turn them upside down in midair.

Barnacles??

Europe Backpack - Germany and Holland

22 Sept  2010 - Berlin

Spending the whole night in train, we finally arrived in Berlin. The regrettable thing is I didn't allocate a lot of time in Berlin, so we only went up Bundestag, the Parliament building of Germany. We visited the Berlin Wall, Victory Column (too bad it was under renovation), holocaust memorial, and during the night, we relaxed as watched a fountain show. The moon that night was bright and big as it was Mid-Autumn Festival.

The Eagle of Germany

Bundestag and the Moon

23 Sept 2010 - Cologne

Cologne has a very big cathedral, other than that, nothing really interesting for us. Nevertheless, it was very nice and relaxing to walk around the city. In the evening, we has a nice all you can eat Chinese buffet.

24 Sept 2010 - Kinderdijk and Amsterdam

After arriving in Amsterdam, we quickly checked in and travel to Kinderdijk, where the windmills are. Very scenic too bad we can't spend much time there.

Windmill

We arrived in back Amsterdam in the evening. And we went to see the red light district! It was quite an experience, the prostitutes posing in windows, and customer who want them simply open the small door beside the window, and with curtains closed, business..

And so, the end of backpack trip. Great experience obtained!

Europe Backpack - Czeh Republic

19 Sept 2010 - Prague

We spent whole day traveling to Prague. In the end we only manage to start sightseeing Prague at night.

Prague Castle at night.

20 Sept 2010 - Prague

We explored full day, seeing the astronomical clock at Prague Square, explored Prague Castle; which was expensive but worth the experience. In the evening, we had dinner at Old Prague Square, they had a blacksmith, very nice beer and wine, and my favorite: the juicy roasted ham. All these comes with a cheap price. We spent the night relaxing and watching movie in the hostel. Very relaxing, especially all the rushing around we have done so far.

21 Sept 2010 - Omolouc

Omolouc is a small but nice place, famous for the Hold Trinity Column and the cathedral with the highest spire in the country. They even had a sand sculpture when we visited! I like this town, quiet, slow and relaxing. Ans so, we go back to Prague and prepare for the next destination: Berlin.

Sand Sculpture

Holy Trinity Column

Europe Backpack - Musical Austria

16 Sept 2010 - Salzburg

And so in the morning we left the Alps to Salzburg, Austria via a very scenic train ride.The first place we visit is the Mirabelle Palace, famous for where Sound of Music is shot.

 Mirabelle Palace

After a short break in the hostel, we climb up one of the 2 hills overlooking Salzburg. The scenery is actually quite gloomy, unlike what we saw in Europe so far. Having explored the narrow medieval-feel streets, we call it a day.

Gloomy Salzburg Dusk

17 Sept 2010 - Salzburg

The next morning we went to the zoo, unexpected plan, but quite enjoyable (mostly due to the zoo is much better than zoos in Malaysia although the zoo is quite small). Hellbrunn palace we visit to, experiencing the garden full of mechanism operated by water and the traps to make us wet.. They even had water imitating song birds! Amazing, fun, and wet.

All the models in this can dance around. Purely operated by water!!

And lastly, we visited Salzburg Fortress before leaving to Vienna. In my opinion, the coolest fortress we visited. This fortress has never been captured, except when the garrison unconditionally surrendered to Napoleon.

Salzburg Fortress

18 Sept 2010 - Vienna

Vienna in summary is quite rushed, but still very enjoyable. We bought ourselves a concert ticket at St. Stephen's Cathedral. After that we strolled the beautiful streets and Hofburg palace. Being the capital of classical musical, there are many street musicians playing classical music indeed. I regretted that I didn't explore the parliment building though.

Hofburg Palace

Parliment Building

In the night, after the concert (too bad not at the famous Vienna Concert House.) we meet up with a friend of ours who was traveling with his family. The next morning we head for a long, long journey to Prague.