Europe Honeymoon 4 - Sit back and relax

If there's anything important that I really learnt from my Europe trip, it is how amazingly relax the Europeans are.

First of all, the Unions in European are strong, as compared to many of the more feeble unions we have here in Asia. You may have heard of the French or some European nations going for strike, demanding for higher pay and shorter working hours, causing a complete standstill to traffic. Try that here in Singapore and see what the Gahmen do to you.

Based on some readups, South Korea has the highest number of work-week. The article quotes "Most people (South Koreans) start their day at 8am and end at around 7pm or later, often having dinner before returning to work."

If you compare the total work-hours of various countries, this is what you will see.

Source: OECD (2004)

Anyway, back to the Honeymoon. I shall put some photos of the Europeans enjoying life over here.

A father and son playing around with a mini sail boat in Luxembourg Palace, Paris, France.


Basking in the sunshine in the gardens of Luxembourg Palace.


Tons of parks in Europe. Versaille, France.


Just plain strolling on the streets of Salzburg, Austria.


Watching talented performers on the streets of Amsterdam, Holland.


Plenty of museums in Paris. And they are not just for tourists.


Mingling through the flea market in Paris.


Snuggling inside the house of a snowing Switzerland.

You can't turn Singapore to a less hectic environment overnight.
But you can slow down your lifestyle IF you want it that way.

Europe Honeymoon 3 - No ordinary iron tower

If an Italy trip isn't complete without visiting the Tower of Pisa, then the Eiffel Tower is a must for a trip to France.

The Eiffel tower is so damn tall when viewed from close that you won't be able to get a decent picture. And one of the best place to take a photo of the tower is to go on a river cruise on River Seine.

One thing that surprised us on our cruise trip was that along the way, we saw a mini version of the Statue of Liberty on the cruise, with the Eiffel Tower at the backdrop.

Before we wonder if France actually stole the Statue of Liberty from the USA, our tour guide told us that it was ironically the French who actually came up with it in 1886, but presented it to the USA. Well, the French sure didn't expect the statue to be that iconic when they gave it away. After realising their folly, they decided to build one at France too, to let the world know that the French, not the Americans were the genius behind it. Something like that.

Anyway, back to the Eiffel Tower. It is actually a tower made entirely from iron in 1889. Gustave Eiffel was the designer, cum engineer of the tower, and hence the name. According to Wikipedia, the height of the tower is equivalent to 81 levels of a conventional building. Lagi higher than Singapore's Raffles City. Don't play play.

The Eiffel guy had originally wanted to build the tower in Barcelona, Spain. But the Spanish thought it was an expensive white elephant, and thus reject Mr Eiffel. Eiffel subsequently have it built in Paris. It was quite an engineering feat at that time, cos no one knew iron will be so powderful.

After it was finished building, the French people found it an eyesore (just like the Spanish). So it was given a 20-year permit, but it was left to carry on after they realise its a cash cow. $_$ Moooo!!!

This is Limpeh pointing to you what the Eiffel Tower looks like, never mind that almost everyone knows how it looks like.

I swear I look slimmer in person. Weather in France is quite cool at the time I'm there, so I gotta don a thick jacket.

The queue to buy a ticket to go up the tower is terribly long. It beats the Hello Kitty frenzy queue at Singapore McDonalds hands down. There is a lift that takes you up. Alternatively, you can climb the stairs and practise your vertical marathon. Heard it should take at least an hour for the average walker.

AQnd if you ever had the chance to go to Paris, do view the Eiffel towers in both the evening (very the romantic), and at night (also romantic).

Here's a view from the top of the tower in the day.


We love the place so much that Wifey wanna leave her hubby and and be a Eiffel Tower wannabe. ^_^


About the Author: Shingo T thinks Paris is the perfect romantic place to bring all your wives and mistresses for a surprise rendezous.

Europe Honeymoon 2 - The Leaning Tower

No trip in Italy is complete without the world-acclaimed Leaning Tower of Pisa.

After years of hearing about it, Wifey and myself finally got the chance to see the real thing during our honeymoon.

First of all, Pisa is not the name of a person or a wrong spelling for Pizza.
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy.

So how come the tower is leaning? The tower was damn heavy and tall, and it was built on a ground of sand and clay that is only slightly above sea level. So the tower sank bit by bit, even before construction was finished.

The tower was actually closed in 1990, because of fears that tons of tourists at the top of the tower will cause the money-making tower to fall. It was re-opened in about 2001, with part of the lean corrected.

And the Leaning Tower of Pisa is actually part of a series of buildings surrounded by walls. Think this enclosed area is called the "Piazza del Duomo" or something like that. This panaromic picture sums it up best.



The dome-shape building on the left is the Baptistry of the Cathedral.



The area is huge, full of green grass patches, and plenty of tourists when we went there.

Almost every tourist had to have a picture of themselves supporting the Leaning Tower. Its quite a sight, seeing everyone trying their best to support the tower with their bare hands.

Here's a picture of Limpeh doing my part to prevent the Tower from falling.



And here's Wifey helping me out with the tedious job.



And if you go on top of the tower (which we did not), here is what you will see - The Township of Pisa!



Place is quite hot when we were there, but a row of shops provide some nice shade, and sells plenty of "Made in China" keychains and ornaments of the Leaning Tower.

I have read that it might actually be possible to set the tower back vertically, with modern engineering. But then no one wants to see the tower lose its "leaning" properties.




Not even Deuce Bigalow.

About the Author: Shingo T thinks we should lean the Raffles City Tower by a little, and attract more tourist dollars.

Europe Honeymoon 1 - A bear named Choco

I have always wanted to write a 10,00,000 words entry about my Europe Honeymoon, but never had a full day to sit down before the computer, and spend hours doing photoshop, recaps of itinery and a proper writeup.

So I have decided to do sporadic writeups about the Honeymoon. It will also serve as a diary for me, my children, my grandchildren etc.... to read years down the road.

I shall begin the first of the series with a little story about a bear called Choco.

Choco was a small little bear I bought at our stopover at Austria. For those who didn't know, Austria is a lovely place. Not just because it is the backdrop for the evergreen "Sound of Music" film, but also the serenity and beauty of the mountainous areas.

We past by alot of green mountains while on the tour bus in Austria, and saw plenty of houses on the slopes. Its amazing how these people can live with nature, without the convenience of city life that many of us has taken for granted.

Choco was named after his nose.

Back to Choco. He cost me about S$15. I fell in love with this cute little furry creature the moment I set my eyes on it. And who better to give this bear to than my beloved Wifey?

So Choco accompanied us for the rest of the trip. The bear's too lazy to walk, so he was either resting in my backpack, snuggling in hotel beds or daydreaming in the comfort of Wifey's hug on tour buses, most of the time.

During our extended free-and-easy stay in Paris, we forgot about packing Choco when we departed from the tour's hotel. Wifey thought I had packed him, while I have failed to check the bed before I left. So poor Choco was left on the hotel bed, alone. By the time we realised the missing bear, we were already miles away in another Paris hotel.

We weren't entirely sure if our ex-hotel will keep the bear. As our wonderful tour guide has mentioned, "What you take from the hotel are yours, what you left at the hotel are theirs."

My holiday mood did dampen a little, and I thought I'll try my luck at calling the hotel to see if I can get the bear back. The good news is that I kept a copy of the hotel's brochure, so I could get the phone number easily. The bad news is that the hotel is part of a hotel chain that has 3 similarly named hotels in the vicinity.

Which hotel was it?

So I called all 3 hotels. Luckily, our ex-hotel room was located at a high floor, and the first 2 hotels we called did not have that floor, so we easily narrowed down to our ex-hotel.

Then, our next obstacle was that we had problem communicating to the hotel staff about our lost bear. They kept repeating "lost bag?" You see, most French people do not speak that much English.

Over here in Singapore, we think English is a commonly spoke language all over the world, but it clearly isn't the case at Europe. Europeans are proud of their native language. It also doesn't helped that someway back in history, the French hated the English for raping their female heroine, the famous Joan of Arc.

Anyway, we finally got across to a receptionist that we are missing a bear. And was greeted with a positive reply that Choco was making himself comfortable at the maid's room, waiting for our return.

It may be a soft toy, but I was really happy that they actually kept it. Images of chambermaids taking Choco for their children to abuse faded from my mind. The journey to reclaim Choco was long, and a little out of the way from our itinery. But I'm glad we made the trip.

When I finally reached the once familiar hotel, I approached the ex-hotel's staff counter to ask for the bear (Wifey was too paiseh to ask), the friendly receptionist giggled when returning me the bear.

Now why the POOK was the zhabor giggling?
Was it my silliness they see, to come back for an "insignificant" bear?
Or is Limpeh so handsome, you know, the lady-killer that we all know?

Back to the present, Choco is lazing around on Wifey's side of the bed right now. And everytime I see the furry guy, I think of the great adventure he created for us in Paris.

And the lovely mountains where he grew up.

Our super coach driver, Daniel against the backdrop of the Austrian mountains. All coach drivers should look as cool as him.
I miss Austria. =(

About the Author: Shingo T sees nothing wrong with testosterone-filled man having a soft spot for cute cuddly bears.