I AM BACK!!!

i. am. back!!!

wow. the feeling is awesome, to be home and to be sleeping on my own bed, my smelly pillow. haha however still feeling a bit jetlag, couldn't sleep till 3am on the first nite at home. then i woke up at 630am next morning to eat breakfast with my mom, (partly cos i miss laksa very much lar). 2nd nite i think i finally slept around 2am after tossing around. so im seriously lacked of sleep!

to summarize about my trip, which is currently without photos (sorry, i have no time to arrange my 8GB worth of photos, and no i don't know how many photos are there).

basically i went around England and Scotland as mentioned earlier in the previous post. after that i joined a budget tour under Tucan Travel on Budget Expeditions for 18-35 for a backpacking trip in Europe. My tour is call Classic Europe for 21 days from London-London. The interesting part is, I'm camping around the whole Europe. there were proper campsites, with clean toilets and hot showers, campsite restaurant, cafe, bar, shop. there were lots of Europeans camping around with their caravans and tents. my tour consist of our bus which is like our everything, our coach driver; a Spanish, a cook and tour leader who are both Australians. There were 21 in my group departing from London, and 5 stop the tour at Rome, (they sign up for another tour) and another 8 hop on, which makes 24 at the end of the trip. we are like a big family, moving from country to country, city to city by bus. our cook prepares our 3 meals, and sometimes we have picnic lunch beside the highway stops call Autogrill, or at the campsite, or had packed lunch. we set up cook's tent at every campsite, there were stoves, gas, fridge, tables, utensils, food containers, plates, bowls, pots, pans, kettle etc etc in our bus. we unload each time we reach another campsite, and we set our tents near cook's tent. we normally eat sitting in a circle, wash our own plates, had a duty list of whose on washing, or getting water, or carrying stuffs to the bus. oh btw, we do have stools that is foldable. Everything is in the bus! I don't think I can explain much without pictures. the tour is very flexible, we were given our free time, our tour leader will bring us around on walking tour/driving tour b4 a free day if there's a 2-day stop at a place. she, yes she's a female who is only 23years old knows alot about everywhere, and she's just informational. our cook is also very wonderful, she tried to prepare the local cuisine whenever we are at a different place, we had proper meals, fruits, healthy breakfast. i am quite satisfied with the food, cos i eat almost everything, and food in Europe is very expensive if we eat out.

From London, we went to Dover by bus which is abour 2 hrs, then ferry to Calais (France) for 90 mins, and another 3-4hours drive to Paris. Paris is not as romantic as everyone say lah, but its fantastic! then we head to Avignon. then to French Riveria my first time going to a pebble beach! absolutely beautiful. Antibes was also scenic and oh my Nice, then Monaco omg Monte Carlo casino, sports car, yatch. oh Pisa and that leaning tower. Florence is nice, Rome is tooooo hot and dusty and dirty and ppl are rude and and.. i don't like Rome. but Vatican city was worth going. Verona the Romeo & Juliet balcony. ooo Venice is awesome! and the campsite in Venice rocks. after that, Lauterbrunnen oh my it was absolutely beautiful! Tyrol and the river rush, Vienna the Mozart's hometown and Schnnaps that totally bonks you out with a 64% alcohol. Prague cheapest among all cities with happening pubs. Heidelburg is really nice with the oldest university of Germany and yummy german sausages. and Amsterdam! the one with legal prostitution & drugs. rather interesting red light district and 'coffeeshops' where coffee ain't normal coffees.


there's too much to say about the tour. it was just fantastic. made lots of friends. Tucan/Budget Expeditions ROCKS! there are many other travel tour options like Contiki, Topdeck, Busabout, but Budget is cheaper, with more meals provided, and Contiki is all about partying from what I see. Topdeck is slightly more expensive i think. anyway, TUCAN RECOMMENDED!!! besides, i did many things i never did before or might not have a chance to do back at home, experience other cultures, learned new things. Some highlights are like, i went Paragliding from Murren peak of Switzerland down to Lauterbrunnen which was about 900-1000m from ground. it was an awesome experience, but don't think im ever doing something like that again. freezing cold and had a bad landing/ending. walked miles and miles everyday, till sometimes i dont feel my legs. had about 15kg of load behind my back. lived in tents for 3 weeks. experience the coldest temperature i have ever feel, and also the hottest. went to English bars, Europe bars. went to a club for the first time at the age of 22. can now drink beer and lots of bacardi, rum, wine, sangria and shots. had 6 different currencies at once. traveled on bus, trains, bus again, trains, and ferry so much. etc etc etc.

im rather sleepy already. i am now very tanned, dark and fat. argh. i walked a lot but i also ate a lot haha. i feel very blessed indeed, to have the chance to see and do so much while young. now its time to get a job! i'm really jobless, still no replies from those i applied. seeking for opportunities now :)

home sweet home.

away for so long already!

its been 3weeks since i was away from home.

marked a few places in UK and Scotland, mostly staying in Nottingham right now. Will be off backpacking down to Europe this sunday. *hopes for clean toilet*


my 13kg+ (think its heavier now) bagpack that i have to carry for the next 3 more weeks. hopefully i won't be hunchback by then.

i saw many things in this trip, learnt even more. i met people from different places. i stayed in a youth hostel for the first time and got shocked cos the angmos strip into undies and go to bed. i had the longest flight i have ever took and not to forget the awful 10 hours of transit in KL and Dubai in total. i had nth better to do in Dubai (the dutyfree has nothing at all, old watches, pricey books, almost the same price as in msia's perfume) so i went to a saloon at Dubai airport. worse of all in this 3 weeks i gained weight. AHHHH !@#$%^&


summary:

i marked London, Nottingham, Bath (+Stonehenge), Bristol, York, Birmingham, Manchester. and, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Livingstone, Glasgow, Inverness, the Highlands, Glencoe.

funny enough i don't like London. I don't like underground tubing. London is dirty and the air is horrible. Try sticking ur finger into ur nose at the end of the day and its horrible haha. Nottingham is quiet enough, slower paced, not bad. Bath is small and historical, and pigs monument are everywhere. Stonehenge, what can i say? the entrance fee was 5.50 pounds and it was actually smaller than i thought. Bristol is very modern. York is very very old, as if in the movies, very beautiful. Birmingham erm didn't really tour around. Manchester got dimsum! I like Aberdeen and Scotland highlands! the seaside is beautiful, and the green mountains with sheeps here and there. Edinburgh is very crowded, and hills here and there, difficult to walk. but Scottish kilts are cute! hehe. Glasgow has only shopping. Inverness is a small town beside the famous Loch Ness. i took the Loch Ness cruise and no, i did not see Nessie the Loch Ness Monster. Livingstone has a designer outlet store that sells cheap branded stuff. Glencoe is like the scenery photo from the calendar.

i took trains here and there, its always quite on time. when i was heading to Bristol from Bath, i waited at the platform and suddenly there was a announcement of changing platforms and everyone rushed to catch the earlier train. then i heard from the crowd that the reason that particular rail is closed is because some teenage girl committed suicide at that railway. yer! another unpleasant ride was from edinburgh to aberdeen, which was actually a 2hrs 20minutes ride, became a 5hrs ride. train ahead of the one i was taking broke down and blocked the way, and both trains linked together and runs at the slowest pace (too long) till Dundee. on the way everyone was angry, frustrated and the only view at the middle of nowhere was sheeps and cows gazing the grass happily. Might as well ask the cow to let me ride on it and bring me to Aberdeen!

some pictures are up in my facebook already. but no time to upload the rest. will blog each place properly when i go back, also have to depend on the mood hahaha.

i miss home too. everytime i call back i miss home even more. life is good outside when u r having fun. but home is always the best. i miss my pets very much. i wonder how everyone and my 4 rabbits are doing all the time.

don't know what to expect

seriously when the time is almost here, i feel horrible. this is going to be the first time i leave home for so long. double checked my backpack...

clothes checked
toiletries checked
towel checked
socks checked
maglite checked
sleeping bag checked
items ppl ask me to bring over checked
medicine checked
camera and battery charger checked
camera checked
memory cards checked
earplugs checked..very important!
documents checked
ticket checked
passport checked
IC checked

yada yada yada...

sigh. i can agree no more to the fact that i did not left Kuching for studies is indeed a right choice. my mom made a good decision asking me to stay back 4 years ago than head to KL. i love home too much! now my mom encourage me to work elsewhere outside Kuching while young, and even offered to take care of my 4 naughty rabbits :( i said dont want lar. i love home, my family is here, my rabbits are here. the only reason i could leave is unless its really necessary, and something is good out there. haha. can consider that i'm so conservative, but what is wrong of being family oriented? life is good at home to date, family and friends are here. and who knows a year from now i think differently.

anyhow, coming up next is, the grueling 30hrs +- till i reach my destination where I'm alone. hopefully the guy sitting next to me is good looking? hahaha.

to those who sent their bon voyage messages, thanks.

not sure when will be the next time i'll be updating. at most i'll upload pictures up either in Facebook or Picasa.

till then.

bye Kuching.

packing for 7 weeks

my room is like pasar malam (night market) now.

clothes scattered, piles here and there on the bed.
backpack, sleeping bag, this and that all on the floor.

i want to bring hairdryer. cannot :(
i want to bring more clothes. cannot lar later overweight.
2 pairs of jeans already very heavy wor.
and the empty backpack is already 4kg++ argh.
sleeping bag so bulky.
maglite is without batteries of course, still heavy ah.
thinnest material towel liao.
reducing everything to smaller size ones.
20kg limit only. later when i come back might be bringing more back, so i need to limit myself now. ain't easy -___-

this is the only bagpack im checking in. hopefully everything will go in :)

its actually quite huge!

i've never been away from home this long. i'm trying to spend more time with my rabbits now, let the 3 girls out more often, cos they are pretty troublesome, difficult to get them back home. the boy rabbit should be fine, my sis adores her. made list of things to do for the rabbits, feeding time and cleaning methods. flight details, local time noted for my mom. contact numbers sticking on the fridge door. documents all printed and prepared.

gah! packing is really crazy.

sobbbbbbbbbbb i will miss home, miss my rabbits terribly horribly sadly. and i hope i wont miss out a lot of things from my friends. email me ya? or sms me.

ta

to buy or not to buy

Oakley Belong!
Lavender Tortoise (G40 Black Gradient lens) and Polished Black (Grey lens)

howhow? sigh. i went to try on it after seeing it online. arghhhh it fits perfectly for me, although its not the asian fit one. but...

its rm570 after discount! damn.

the other polarized one is 700. gah!

*rational* rm570 can do alot of things ok, can buy lots of stuffs.
*irrational* how many sunglasses i spot that i like and fits so well? as if mend to have me buying it lol.

ok fine. better stick to my old Guess and rm39 Mango sunglasses =.=

SIGH!