lin's blog
medical student
having the time of my life!
Monday, December 26, 2005
heehee spain photos! just a smattering from the 638 i have in my collecttion =S haha... crazy la dunno how come my parents and i became soo trigger happy bleah.
Amsterdam:
dutch houses by the canals. this was taken whilst i was in the queue waiting in the cold to visit Anne Frank's house. interesting experience. saw the actual "Annex" where they hid for 2yrs plus. quite amazing. and to maximise livng space, these houses have really scarily steep and high staircases that are almost ladders. quite scary to climb haha...
Amsterdam's famous flower market =) sold tonnes of tulip bulbs, even instant ones (so-called anw cos its "just add water") haha i was so tempted to get some for home. but they'd never survive.
wedding clogs! haha... we took a day tour with a tour company and ended up visiting this tremendously touristy clog making place. but got to see a demonstration of how modern clogs are made with the machines. quite interesting.
mum and me in a giant clog =P the "old women who lived in a shoe" haha...
barcelona:
this was the place we enjoyed most in our whole trip. barcelona's a wonderful city, so clean, spacious, airy and bright. beautiful architecture, ranging from the old gothic style, to the modernist kind that prevailed in the late 19th early 20th century, all found in different districts. it was wonderful walking around the city for 3 days, visiting buildings, being awed by the wonderful architecture of the modernist era, namely by Antonio Gaudi, eating fantastic food, drinking lovely rose wine (spaniards seem to like rose wine alot haha), shopping a little bit...
parents at La Rambla, this tree lined pedestrian avenue with stretches having animal stalls, flower stalls, and other quirky stuff like buskers in weird funny outfits! hehe.. very fun to walk down here, just soaking in the atmosphere.
this is Casa Batlio. Its a late 19th century house remodelled from the traditional type of building by Gaudi, who was inspired by the underwater world. hence the house looks like a hybrid dragon/sea creature, and the railings look like bones. haha... mum and i went into this house, and it was beautiful, in the sense that there werent furniture or anything, but the style and the commonsense of the architect (Gaudi) in times when alot of technologies werent available yet were really awe inspiring.
just one of the many chimneys of the house on the rooftop. Gaudi had this style of grouping the chimneys of various rooms together, and designing it such that no matter what direction the wind blew from, the smoke would still get to escape from the chimney in a straight line upwards. haha quite amazing. and fantastical too... Barcelona's noted for its houses designed by Gaudi with their fantastical chimneys haha...
ok visited a few other buildings by Gaudi that were equally amazing haha... but decided not to post pics cos scared it'll be boring. =P
Gaudi also contributed design elements to a Park! haha... we visited Park Guell just outside the city centre, where all of us went a bit crazy heehee...
this is really a surf-wave shaped alley way built out of stones. it was amazing... haha... k im in a silly pose heehee, addled by too much Gaudi already =P
as u can see, dad went crazy too! haha so fun! =)
and this is a picture of the gorgeous piazza in the park, with a cafe, and pigeons all over the place... beautiful sunlight, nice trees, and buskers that simply complete the atmosphere. =)
spanish countryside:
we spent a few days driving through the spanish countryside visiting the various towns and villages along our planned route. free and easy btw... dad was the driver, i was the navigator with the (inadequate) maps, mum was the *ahem* sustenance provider in the backseat.. hehe ultra fun =) the countryside was much colder, in the sense that at times when we set off in the morning it was like -8degrees. ultra cold pls. an entire 5l bottle of water left in the car overnight froze solid. woohoo.
teruel's famous ham. spain has fantastic cured hams which we ate plenty of in our entire trip. ham, cheese and crusty bread, washed down by some good red wine. heehee... teruel ham is soo thinly sliced, soft and tender, and tastes sublime. haha... i could dream about this man...
the parador at teruel. Paradors are like castles or historical buildings that the Spanish govt decided to retain, but yet add some economic use by converting them into hotels. There're many of them scattered around Spain, in the lesser known towns mostly. Must commend my dad, haha cos during the trip we stayed in a good range of hotels which totally completed the experience. in amsterdam, a normal townhouse hotel, barcelona, the normal type of city hotel found everywhere, teruel, this parador, in toledo, this antique building along the castle wall that resembled a little chateau by itself =P, in seville, a moorish villa converted into a guest house, and in madrid, a contemporary type of modern hotel. heehee.. really interesting.
a wonderfully rustic house in Albaraccin, this beautiful picturesque village thats so rural (read: ulu) and untouched by tourists i wonder where all the tourists have been. haha...
the beautiful view of Albaraccin =) felt on top of the world to clamber on top and sit there.
and a huge majestic roman aqueduc at segovia. this was built by romans to transport water to the town.
seafood paella =) (i took photos of all the food we ate haha..)
and its sooo happifying!! the streets of Seville are lined with ORANGE TREES! haha i even found a lemon tree somewhere hahahah... mum kept trying to coerce dad to pluck one for her. dad sadly, didn't =(
Madrid:
by the time we got ot madrid, we were basically tired out from visiting the sights, and concentrated more on shopping (zara in spain is quite abit cheaper), eating and relaxing...
the frescoed wall in Plaza Mayor, the tourist centre of Madrid =)
famous neapolitanas... custard filled and not too sweet. we ate this all 3 days we were in madrid =P haha the shop was always crowded and stuffed full, and they bake them on their premises. can smell the wonderful aroma as we walked by outside even.
my favourite breakfast in Spain, xocolata con xurros! hahaha (actually chocolate and churros, but spanish's ch=x) hot chocolate in spain is unlike all other hot chocolate i've tried elsewhere. in US it's more like hot cocoa. in Spain its literally hot, melted thick, gooey chocolate. decadent and wonderfully filling and warming on a cold morning. made by literally melting chocolate chunks in milk. kept me full the whole day =) with crispy, slightly salty churros dipped into the sweet thick chocolate, its decadent.
my serving of Lobster paella. really expensive. one serving at a restaurant that was equivalent to about 3 times of what u see in the picture (just nicely shared out between mum, dad and me) cost almost $100 Sing. Mad la. but dad wanted to try, so we ate it in a once-off thing. very delicious though abit salty =)
yay i end off with a picture of my family! =) the Spanish also love to drink. hehe here we are at a roadside table (in the cold yes...) lunch at a bar in Seville on a sunday haha.. =P it was crowded with people drinking and eating after church hehe...
sorry for the tremendous lot of pictures... bleah. haha hope u guys enjoyed them tho =) i have lots more =P hahaha... in the meantime, Happy Holidays!
lin~*
2:10 pm
hey! im back! haha got back on friday afternoon actually... MERRY CHRISTMAS! =)
took a long time, but i just made a dvd outta my spain photos. took 638 photos. a tremendous lot. madness haha... shall upload a few on my blog la. not all for sure =P haha..
for now, here are some photos from lunch at coffee club with ruth, shiyun, fiona and grace on the thurs before i left! haha...
ruth's shiny gold SEA games medal for fencing! haha sooo proud of u darling =)
yun and ruth...
fiona and me!
grace looks gorgeous in these pictures =) she has such wonderfully expressive eyes...*sighs dreamily*
and the 5 of us =) so nice haha...
lin~*
1:48 pm
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
HOLA!
blogging frm my hotel in madrid right now hee... free 24h internet access haha...
spain is wonderful and fun and ive absolutely love the FOOD (i took pics of most stuff i ate hee), the architecture, the scenery, the fashion (the models here are damn hot too. hee i oogle at them every night on the tellie)... its all just wonderful haha. taken abt like 600 photos so far alr. shall have to like filter out the rubbish nonsense ones hahaha... will upload those when i get home the day aft tmr hehe...
well, spain rocks. so did amsterdam hehe... yeppies. hope everyones fine! byebye parents waiting for me were gg out to eat and shop soon! the ppl here eat astonishingly late. dinner can start at 10pm for them. bah. ive drunk more red wine than i ever have in my life too hehe... amazing discovery that i can hold my drink (in red wine) and that i love sangria! haha... byebye
lin~*
12:56 am
Friday, December 09, 2005
leaving tonight for my amsterdam/barcelona/madrid trip! about 1more hr to go before i head off to the airport. 9th - 23rd hehe... see u all at xmas!!
thanks aileen for remembering me when u bought the awfully chocolate cake!!! and im so so so really v touched that you saved me a piece even if you cldnt bring it to school today haha... thanks so much dear... i hope u/whoever else u decide to give it to enjoys that piece ok? =P
and had a wonderful day yesterday lunching with grace, ruth (SEA games gold medalist babe!!!), fiona and shiyun!!! hehe i had so so so much fun with u babes! havent seen ruth and grace esp for SO LONG! haha ruthie's gold medal was really shiny and glaring tho =P will definitely post pics of it when i get back frm my trip hehe =)
and mm 3I ppl, daryl/em/whoever else who happens to read this, im ok with having the class xmas party at my place! mm pick one day between 26-30st? and let me know when i get back/else tag it on my tagboard??? haha.. im sorry i cldnt tell u guys earlier, lent my darling my powerbook, and SOMEHOW can't get online on msn on this stupid pc. bah. oh yes, it'd be nice if we can potluck or sthg, then less troublesome for my parents/maid, unless we settle everything ourselves (inclding cleanup).. hee sorry arh.
shuen/sel/mq!! i dunno when u guys want to come over for the bake/cookout too!! haha it has to be somewhere within that time frame (26-30) too cos i'll be heading to meleka with my parents for newyear countdown w a few of my dad's old frens and their families. shuen dearest, do arrange k? so sorry i had to pangseh about the cruise. sighs. parents evidently think 2 trips within the same holiday is alot already. but im so so so dying to go off somewhere with frens. sighs.
yun/di!!! u guys wanted to stay over too when di gets back right?? haha im also available anytime between 25th-30th! haha tell me too!
darling!! i think i can go to ur xmas party on 24th... parents were hmmy but shld be fine (i hope). perils of being an only child, parents want to hang on tight to me on xmas eve even tho it means nothing to us since we dun celebrate anw.
bleah haha last minute arrangements that have to be made via my blog. so distant. too bad getting back soo soo close to xmas. too close. all the xmas arrangements must be made so darn last minute.
ok so im off for 2weeks now~ =)
lin~*
8:40 pm
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
to shiyun =) heehee.. today we had a damn nice time slacking at starbucks at mp library, taking loads of nice nice nice shots of each other and ourselves! esp me, i went mad snapping pics of the gorgeous shiyun=) so many pics that i had to make a collage hehehe..
there. doesnt she look so beautiful, dreamy and ethereal? hehe... yun, here's a nice "xie zhen ji" for u! hehe...
yun's rhumba frap. heehee i love the macro function on the ixus 55! feel hungry just looking at the pic hehehehe..
me drinking my tazo chai tea latte =) with a foam milk mustache!! hehehe...
and me just being happy and silly in my comfy chair! the chairs there are so huge and sinky... so comfy!!
and when i tried this cardigan on at esprit darling yun insisted that must take photo so that i can look upon it in the future to decide if i want to buy it. hehe its like 79 right now. too ex, and totally against my shopping principles hehehehe =P
and these are the kind of pictures that we will look back when we're 50, and sigh and laugh over. good times... good times. babe, thanks for being such a fantastic friend for the past 7 yrs. muacks.
thanks girl, i had a wonderful time at mp today just chatting with u, chilling, sharing our life stories from where we left off last... and just basking in ur wonderful company =) we're so different, yet so alike in many ways, and well im so glad that our days since sec1 to 4 when we'd sit tog, in cyber being chair/vchair tog hehe... havent ended yet =P hehe... muacks. love u girl.
lin~*
8:50 pm
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Had a wonderful bean day today!! =) went out and about town taitai-ing with my darling bean!! =)
bean!! =)=)
wonderful dimsum lunch at some place in taka =) the century egg porridge was GOOD! haha ate alot even tho i wasnt hungry =P hehehe... using the macro function of my wonderful ixus 55 to take these food pics! =) more tempting food pics to come! haha i love my cam =P
bean again! using this funky colour function hehee... so nice and green =) (oh bean! i finally learnt how to use it properly! aft this!)
as u can see, more photos, this of me pouring tea "demurely". we just kept playing wth the dratted camera haha...
that girl has SUCH A WONDERFUL SUNSHINE SMILE! =)
that lunch was followed by shopping, then a nice nice dinner at anatolia at far east with lawrence!! =)
his dinner! the doner chicken pancake! haha this v nice flour bread wrapped thing, containing their doner chicken (sliced off this huge chunk in one corner), fries!, and other various stuff. vv delectable =)
my salad bar salad mix dinner =) not at all like "healthy salad" but really good, with lots of flavourful sauces and interesting turkish salads.
nice goat's milk pistachio nut icecream!! =) its damn fun, the guy who plays with u actually teases u before he lets u get the icecream hehe.. think i've done it abt 3times. hahaha... but this was lawrence's first visit to anatolia, so i made him play!! hehe.. never ever fails to get a laugh out of it. =) damn filling tho, this icecream, so we hadta share.
playing around with the colour functions in the camera again! hahah.. best shots of lawrence n me!
but really gosh, the ixus 55 is so nice to snap. every single day when i go out, i end up taking like 50over shots each day! haha... spamming. the quality is damn high, hope i dun use up my laptop space too fast heehee..
and i just hadta add this. i bought new slippers and was showing them to my mum, when my little nephew (2.5yrs old) cam over and clamoured to wear them. hehe.. he looks so cute here.
post exams are wonderful wonderful wonderful. i feel like an ultra tai tai pls. hehehe... gg to spain/holland on fri for 2wks!!! =) excitedness. hehe.
lin~*
11:30 pm
Thursday, December 01, 2005
oh yes! and i took pics of my newly renovated room too! hahaha
the room from the entrance! still looks pretty much similar from this angle i suppose. note the nice chocolatey brown wall!!
my study table! finally got an Lshape one. can pull out or push in the L hee... note the open netters on the desk too! hahah from last night =P
oh yes and i got an attic ceiling! high sloping ceiling with the wooden beams visible hehe..
another view of the table with the new wardrobe, semi translucent cos of the frosted glass hee
and i cldnt help but add this in. my rj bears from my council buddy dennis!! hehe
lin~*
12:29 am
