Its a small world after all…

1120am Amsterdam time…

After posting all the activities that Ive done in Barcelona… i think its nice to post some of my personal reflections on the trip itself.. making the trip more meaningful… Well i believe this trip more than just a trip, its an experience… and an experience is really personal…

Called my mum in the morning.. she sounded really happy to hear from me.. and can sense shes really happy and joyous over in Singapore… im very pleased and relieved.. i hope i can do something that she can be proud of.. like studying hard and gain knowledge.. dun wan to let my family or anyone down… so i do really want to do my best in the school here.. and not think about play and stuff…

If i say i dun miss home i would be lying to myself… how i wish i could go back to my family and my friends to share about my life and joy here… Happiness cant be self-contained…

Well… reflections… Barcelona is awesome.. period.. But most of all the impact people over there have made.. Spanish people, esp the older ones have trouble relating in English and the younger ones are generally nice.. but its more than just Spanish people.. Ive met and spoke to many tourists all over the world.. i mean this is like a hub for all people! Chatted with an Australian biomedical student at a pub, had breakfast with an Englishman, a New Zealand architect, and two Parisian girls, met a tourist couple from Japan, talked with a beautiful Argentinian girl and helped by a Spanish old man who squeezed by cheeks 3 times… Its a small world..

It makes me feel the world is really colourful… diverse and yet converging at the same time… If you get to see this post.. do really go out and see the world.. dun look at your own circumstances or even Singaporean circumstances… get to know the rest of the world and whats going on in their lives, hobbies, likes and dislikes etc.. Thats most impt..

Its back to the good ol’ days of studying in TUe soon.. time to prepare my project le.. Looking forward to my next trip..

Daniel

Barcelona 20-22 Feb

20-22 Feb…

Visited Barcelona, Spain.. home of Gaudi architecture.. It was absolutely awesome… some of those stuff you could probably see it once in a lifetime… At first we thought that the 2 days was not enough to see much of Barcelona, but with careful planning and some travel instincts, we managed to see through it satisfied.. and of course tired…

At the Eindhoven airport, Fulin, Shoong Hong and Me… we took Ryanair to Barcelona..

It was a 2 hours flight to Girona Airport where we have another 1 hour journey to the central of Barcelona… We took to the streets immediately… The buildings architecture is way uncomparable to modern Singapore, with gothic buildings and narrow roads, the feeling is like entering Chijmes city.. the architecture is truely amazing with the efforts on the detailing on every part of the building…

We reach the Cathedral… landmark of Barri Gothic and very near our hostel, Itaca Hostel
The hostel is small but gives u a homely feeling… the rooms are shared by 8 person in a room, fully furbished with kitchen and lounge… the breakfast is very appealing too..

We hit La Rambas.. a street very much like our own Orchard Road… with an artistic twist.. there are live performances, such as jugglers, human statue buskers and portrait artists, spray artists(they are phenomenal)… The road also sells live pets such as birds, ducklings and tortoises… and of course there are other shops selling souvenirs, food and other stuffs…

There is marketplace beside La Ramblas… Market la Borquera

Just at the turn of dusk… perfect timing I would say… we reached Placa de Catalunya.. a fountain area with monumental statues and beautiful statuesque buildings surrounding it..

Ended a day with a sumptuous meal at a spanish restaurant… delightful..

Day 2

In the afternoon we went to the famous cathedral called Sagrada Familia by Antonio Gaudi… and boy was that awesome… our jaws nearly dropped when we see the building upclose and personal… Get inside and go up the building… its a once-in-a-lifetime experience!!

just look at the panaromic view of Barcelona…

Next, we went to Parc Guell… situated at the station of Vallcarna.. Its a park that has many architectures designed by Gaudi… exceptional designs made of marble and mosaics.. and guess what he made the world’s longest bench.. its more amusing than amazing.. but who can fault his mastery with such a beautiful work that draws thousands of tourists to this place…

Today is also the matchday between hometown Barcelona and visiting team Liverpool in a Champions League quarterfinal match… We made our way to Nou Camp (FC Barcelona) with a false hope of getting the tickets but its sold out! And black market rates were like cost u a fortune… so sadly we could jus take the outside of the stadium.. Liverpool won 2-1 in the end… u might not want to know whats going to happen in the streets between the Spaniards and the Englishmen…

Dinner time again! Now at a Japanese buffet restaurant.. we had like 140 plates of Jap stuffs…

Ok… its time to sign out… Barcelona is truely a very beautiful city, with wonderful architecture and extraordinary landscapes.. well just like what Ryanair always say.. I wish u a pleasant day whether its for work or purely pleasure… Good bye!

PS.. Lastly this is a pic of my girl in her Chinese New Year dress… Missing her…

Carnaval…

Its a special week in Eindhoven… Carnaval… where people gather together in the streets wearing wierd clothings… and doing even wierder stuff.. and boozing and drinking in the streets… ITS AMAZING… Ive not seen anything like it.. a giant costume party.. where if u wear common clothes.. u are uncommon…

I love it..

Cowboy Daniel…

In the city center where the fun begins…

What an atmosphere…

Live bands playing everywhere on the streets, passers-by dance along for the sport of it…

Sumo wrestlers, cheongsam girls, cavemen, pilots, firemen, air-stewardesses, Latin babes, Indian sarongs… or jus plain colourful and wierd clothes… Everything u can imagine.. This place is full of creativity, colour and imagination…

Its Chinese New Year!!

Hey its happy new year everyone! Yesterday had a good reunion dinner with fellow Singaporeans and some foreign imports, Spanish, Turkish, Polish and Dutch… Well its fun to have a huge dinner with familiar and unfamiliar people… Two friends, Huiqian and Vchew also came for the gathering…

The food was enormous.. Maa-chiam like 10 course meal or something.. everyone cooked a dish and we had potluck… We had Baakwa, sweet n sour pork, sweetcorn soup, mushroom vege (my dish), mixed vege, omellete… etc

The CNY gathering…

My room-mate, Simmon, trying his new ’sticks’

Tuckin’ in…

Lotsa love, Daniel

Pasta Galore

Its 840pm in the Friday evening… usually its a time to take a step back and relax… coz tml would be free and easy… well could easily stayed up late… well its interesting compared to my time in Singapore… well the weekends are always packed with stuff… no time to relax and enjoy a cooked meal…

Cooked meals.. Its really been a chance to develop my culinery skills here in my exchange time… i could say im able to cook aesthetically and aromatically pleasing foods already la.. Well im starting to love this cooking life of mine… haha..

Daniel’s menu:

Creamy pasta with mushrooms and crabmeat- 8 Feb

Curry pasta with luncheon meat and egg- 10 Feb

Marinated chicken… Pasta with vegetables and meat – 12 Feb

Fried rice! – Valentines Day

Potatoes and sausages – 16 Feb

Sneak peek at Eindhoven (1)

Heres some pics of Eindhoven…

Kruisstraat… the place where the open market was every sat.. Kruisstraat… the marketplace

The open market… Sorry for the blurness..

Daniel

Ice Hockey Match & First Day in School

Sunday we went over to the ice hockey match… first time watching a sports event so violent… there are absolutely no rules.. just put the hockey seed to the opponents net.. U can smash, punch, whack and bully your way through… Or u could use sleek well-timed passing and movement to whizzle pass through… well its extraordinary..

2-1 is the score… Conjo Trappers Tilberg win Eindhoven IJSBREKERS…

Monday wasn’t so fun… Its my first day to school :) I mean to really get into the mood of doing a major design project is very hard for me already… but also to work with people whose native language i dun understand is much worse…

Well i went over to Philips High Tech Campus to liaise with Philips clients on the issue of wellness of individuals… with my other Dutch group members… they are really nice and friendly and tried to speak English whenever we have a project discussion… Well i must take a picture of them some day… when i get the camera…

Signing out, Daniel

Stocking up….

Oh today is saturday morn… What most Europeans does today is stocking up!! Coz on sunday everything is closed! Ive learnt my lesson last weekend on Sunday where we practically have no food to eat.. haha..

There is an open market thats opened every sat.. something like our pasar malam… but only with more fresh foods and groceries… Well consider myself lucky my housing is really near the shops compared to the rest… so we just have to stock up…

Today ive bought peanut butter, chocolate jam, some bread, lettuce and some canned foods… ready for a winter weekend…

Sign out, Daniel

Its getting colder…

Im writing this at 240pm Amsterdam time.. well its another day back from school am writing this post… just wanna say its getting colder and colder…

Today is the first day that Eindhoven had snowed in the daytime.. many people in Eindhoven had said it had never snowed in many seasons already… well i must be really lucky to be seeing this scenario… Everywhere is covered with snow from cars to trees, from the pavements to the grasses… Snow and ice splattering on my face is an experience of a lifetime.. Well not that i really enjoyed it though… but its an experience…

Freezing cold…

Footprints

Well jus a little comment of school… i tell u its really mindblowing and awesome to work with fellow id-ers (industrial design) in Eindhoven… they really think out of the convention, not afraid to stand for their designs and shows respect when discussing… its really an honour to be in their midst learning from them and at the same time imparting things to them too… its really time to break our mindset in Singapore…

ID is really respected over at this school with over 100 over people intakes per year… compared to their mech engine.. 30 overs.. its really the opposite at NUS…

Warming my hands with a thermal pack right now… all right.. thats it.. cooking later soon…

Signing out, Daniel

Snow is not a myth anymore…

Snow! Yesterday morning was beautiful.. Everywhere u see is covered with a thin layer of snow… branches were laced with white snowy ice… absolutely awe-struck…

I was almost happy to tears seeing such a magnificent.. never in my life have i thought of watching snow or even touching it… its really worth it coming here.. makes me wonder who could have done such a beautiful and magnificent sight?? Its absolutely amazing…

I took whats left on my lao kok camera.. and snap it..

Snowy flakes on branches…

A church on my way to school

More sceneries in snow…

 

 

 

Eh test test…

Test testing123.. The time now is 11.08 pm… Eindhoven time… just fiddling around with the blog.. always wanted to have something to think about and share it with the rest…

 Just absolutely sorry for myself that my camera got into a bit of problem and i cant upload much photos right now.. but i will do it soon…

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