Venice 2-5 Apr

A place where there are no traffic lights, round-abouts, trains, cars, only bridges, boats and gondolas.. we had our most relax time here.. walked and ate a lot.. gelato, pizzas and pastas.. we paid for a shared bathroom stay and lucky to be upgraded to a big room with attached bathroom and balcony.. felt very safe and carefree.. a must-go city..

Kawaii Iain @ 20 Dec 2006

I can still remember his loveliest smile that he gave me on my wedding day.. love him so much..

Antoni Gaudí

Casa Milà, Park Güell, Sagrada Familia

Barcelona 30 Mar - 2 Apr

My online wedding album..

is up.. yes.. finally.. i have uploaded the wedding album and actual day lunch pics.. let me know if u wana see =)

France 26-30 Mar

We have 1100 pics just for france only.. lucky my dear downloaded them into the appropriate folders.. so it's not tat tuff to go thru them.. spent most of my time today just to pick the best according to the itinerary.. actually all r nice but taken at different angles.. crankygal and ah lian will know how "bored" it gets to browse thru all of them.. anyways i have picked the highlights of the trip.. just let me know if u r keen to find out more.. will continue with the rest next wk.. stay tuned =)

Paris in 1 day

Château de Versailles, Paris

We were back to paris late as we spent quite some time trying to find the d-day beaches.. so it was drizzling and 1 hr to closing time when we reached.. we hurriedly followed thru the route and snapped pics quickly.. actually i was quite bored after seeing a few chateaus.. but this is the only one with a huge and pretty garden.. lucky the rain has stopped when we were strolling in the garden.. rays shining thru the clouds.. so pretty.. hehe but the way back to paris city to find a petrol station and return the car was scary.. rush hr traffic in the city is horrendous.. drivers were impatient and navigating in the 5-lanes round-about is tricky..

D-day beaches, Normandy, France

I felt very sad when i was here.. the scenes of "saving private ryan" were flashing in my mind.. i cannot imagine how much blood were shed here..

Mont Saint-Michel, France

Chateaus in Loire Valley that we visited

First night in Amboise, France - Chateau des Ormeaux

Still trying..

to get used to calling his folks as "ma" and "pa" instead of "auntie" and "uncle".. thou its only been a week and i only see them on wkend.. it feels really really weird.. i need to b conscious abt it else i will forget easily.. come to think of it.. i hardly call my dad.. hehe simply just instruct him to do things.. zhen shi bu siao nu =P..

Picnic..

Ages since i last do picnic.. after reading touraco's blog.. i miss the time we (ah lian as well) met up for picnics at botanic garden whenever there is a jazz concert.. we will buy or prepare food and wine.. laze and gossip anything under the sky till dark.. den we were still single.. now we are all married.. hehe got them mark the calendar.. we will meet up on the 1st wkend of may.. after touraco back from biz trip.. so excited.. it will be fun as we have a new member.. bb iain.. a real charming boy.. i wana see him crawl and roll on the grass and how he charm all the ppl out there.. counting down..

Strawberries..

are ex in sg.. abt 4-6 bucks for a small box.. hehe.. we had quite-a-big sweet-and-juicy box at 1.5 euro and 1kg of sour and not-so-sweet and not-so-nice-looking bag at 1 euro at barcelona la boqueria market.. of coz on diff day.. we had so much that we were kinda sick of it and had to throw some away.. hehe.. 1 kg is definitely not little..

4%..

My dear has visited 4% more countries than me.. unless i make him go to those he went b4.. prob tuff to catch up with him.. hehe.. it's a good tool to track where u have been.. interesting..

Will i have the chance..

to stand on the icy ground of the north pole and feel the polar bears.. mayb when i get flirty rich..

Pics..

Sorry dearies.. i'm still struggling with the tons and tons of pics we took for the wedding and honeymoon.. as usual.. it's just too much to be sorted out in a short period.. just b patient and it will b make available asap.. i hope.. the lazy bug is still inside me.. *grin*..

All the best and good luck..

to my dear.. he's applying for a perm job in vancouver office in washington US.. interviews scheduled early morning these 2 wks with many ppl.. i hope he can get the job.. a chance for us to live together in a foreign land..

Some notes from honeymoon trip

1. No stamp of custom clearance in paris and we were lost.. trying to confirm this is ok.. i din wan us to get caught of illegal entry to country at the start of our honeymoon.. hehe.. took some time trying to find hertz and the rented car.. we got a hybrid car.. toyota prius..

2. Roads are narrow in france (loire valley and normandy) and driving in paris is crazy.. cars are packed and close to each other.. roads are complicated and u will get lost even with gps.. we had a hard time trying to find a petrol station in paris central.. if u are not daring enuff dun drive!.. however the countrysides in france and uk are scenic and smell great.. definitely worth trying..

3. Flight to rome on 2 apr was cancelled due to technical fault.. lucky we picked venice instead.. else dunno wat will happen to us.. heard there were fights at the football match in rome as well (police and the man u fans).. it probably quite chaotic there..

4. We packed the lightest so far.. each about 7 kg plus.. just change of 2 tops and 1 bottom.. 1 set of sleepwear.. toiletries and slipper.. so that we can carry and go.. esp after car return in paris and london.. we can oso save some $.. checking in baggage at ryan air is not free.. hehe definitely diff honeymoon from others.. it's impt to watch your pockets and bags tight.. these ppl are so skillful that u wont feel anything and in a blink all your valuables are gone.. i guess we asian have a "pls-rob-me" face.. kekeke..

5. I "fainted" on our way to football match in barcelona.. thanks to sangria.. a super doper strong drink we had for dinner.. lucky just after the man left the train whom we suspected as pickpocket.. the train was warm and i couldn't see anything.. so we got out of the train and i rested on the bench.. lucky i was fine after that and still enjoyed the match :)

6. Building of sagrada familia still on-going.. dunno when it will b completed.. hopefully it's done when we bring our kids there.. i actually felt sad about gaudi's death.. he's such a genius..

7. Football match in europe is a must-watch.. esp barcelona as nou camp is the biggest in europe and fans are passionate..

8. Full english breakfast in uk is a must-eat.. tasty and filling.. roast duck in london too.. oily, juicy and tender..

9. Hotdog in paris near notre dame is a must-eat.. so cheesy and tasty..

10. Gelato in venice is yummie too but i think it's not too far from gelare.. fish soup is a must-eat.. it's better than spaghetti..

11. Never schedule shopping on sunday.. all the major shops are closed.. only managed to shop at zara but i have oni 15 mins to browse and try.. hehe coz we were on our way to the bus terminal for airport transfer.. totally no time in paris as we were running thru all the major POIs under the 2-days museum pass.. i dunno whether my dear purposely or not.. or just me no luck for shopping.. harrods and m&s etc were closed on easter sunday.. ah lian was "screaming" in yahoo tat i have changed.. well not quite.. havent been a shopping person for ages.. so din really feel anything abt this..

I'm back..

The warm and humid weather is killing us.. and we have to stay in the aircon room most of the time.. i missed the cooling, dry and sunny days we had in europe.. supper outside at kopi thiam was unbearable.. this is 1 of the things i hate it here.. *pout*.. of coz i missed my fishball soup and the local food here.. the chinese food we had in europe was at chinatown in paris and london.. wantan noodle soup (chicken rice for my dear) and roast duck noodle (rice for him).. yum yum.. big portion and tasty.. of coz ex oso.. think 4 or 5 euro and pound respectively.. definitely taste diff from here.. *drool*..

Full english breakfast..

was wat we had for 3 mornings (including today).. 2 from b&b at the farm stay and 1 here in hilton.. it includes sausages, egg, bacon, toast, tomatoes, mushrooms, coffee, cereal, yogurt and juices.. these lasted us till late afternoon.. so far was the best meal for the world trip.. escargot and croissants in paris still our favourite.. paella in barcelona was not that great.. still prefer japanese rice.. sangria almost "knock" me out.. even my dear cannot take too much of it.. spaghetti in venice.. yummie.. esp the fish soup.. *drool*..

Yosh..

we are now enjoying the sunset in london from the executive lounge at the hilton canary wharf.. it's gorgeous.. we redeemed a free night stay and got upgraded to the executive guestroom.. with free access to the executive lounge for free snacks, drinks (including beers/wines/liqueurs) and internet for all time.. breakfast for 2 as well.. so lucky and we are so glad to end our honeymoon with such treatment.. hehe in a blink we are flying home tomorrow.. time just passes by so quickly.. we are now walking in london city.. it seems like yesterday when we just had our wedding.. really dun feel like going back to work.. geeeeeee.. my dear beloved hubby can i just quit and be taitai????.. plssssss.. *pout*..

Caving..

in gough's cave at cheddar caves and gorge was really exciting and interesting.. we were crawling thru really tiny holes and crevasses (hehe my dear managed to squeeze thru.. i was worried he may get stuck =P) and climbing up and down the ladders.. some parts involved near vertical head first crawls.. the chambers were huge and cooling.. very dark and "muddy".. too bad no pics as no cameras allowed.. really not for claustrophobia.. i doubt i will ever go caving again.. i had bruises now on my knees and i was "stressed" by my dirty hands, legs and body.. luckily everything was provided but still the thought of crawling with my bare hands in the "mud" again freaked me out.. definitely a good experience with a cost of 16 pounds per pax.. no more mulu caves in my to-do-list.. yuckssssss..

Hola...

Finally i can access the internet.. we are at barcelona now and leaving for venice later..

Everything happened pretty fast and we are now half way thru our honeymoon in europe.. the wedding was great minus a few minor hiccups.. thanks to my dearest crankygal as the main coordinator.. muikian, jiawei, seowwen, weiling, tianlong and janet who helped out in the morning and lunch.. as well as kellin and kat.. we had a "special" solemnization as the JP is my folks' friend from bishan cc.. our guests were punctual and fun.. the day before we were still busy with the trip booking and packing.. as well as last min wedding prep (esp the montages).. now we have seen chateaus in loire valley, abby on mont st-michel and d day beaches from world war 2 at normandy.. paris.. barcelona.. famous of gaudi works and football match at the nou camp (fc barcelona vs deportivo).. the 3 months effort for the wedding and honeymoon really pays off..

So far we are lucky.. almost got pickpocket for past 2 evenings.. 1 in the train on our way for football match.. 1 at subway.. this one was scary and it happened in a blink.. if he succeed i would have lost my camera.. we saw them walk out in a hurry.. young chaps.. the person behind saw everything but din tell us until they walked away.. i was still in shock when we back to the hostel.. drive trip in france was great too.. just a few kisses of the curbs and 1 of the hub cap dropped at amboise.. lucky the man from hertz din spot any.. the view was scenic.. greeny and vast..

I had fun at the football match.. 1st time was in singapore.. a boring game and i was dying to go home.. this time since we din manage to get tickets for game in london we paid 48 euro per pax for fc barcelona.. i actually watched the game hoping to see a goal.. the stadium was huge and packed with ppl.. the atmosphere was exciting and "loyal".. supporters were cheering hard for fcb (barca), messi and ronaldino.. final score was barca 2 deportivo 1..

Alright have to end here.. will try to blog if i have access again.. meanwhile we will watch our pockets tight and venice here we come..