From Paris with love..

Finally, I is have stepped foot on 1 of my must-go countries before i dai.. *do the chicken dance* Once again i must thank Amigo.my for this chance. I've been waiting for the day to arrive in Paris since day1 i reach Europe. So can't wait to do my part in helping Paris's finances.. if you know what i mean =p

What i love most about this package's itinerary is that they gave us more than enough time to shop and ample time for us to camwhore at those well known landmarks. And the best part is, our hotel is just located 5 minutes away from Disneyland Paris and Paris's largest outlet mall - Marne LaValle.

 Marne LaValle Outlet Mall - the biggest outlet mall in Paris. They have so many brands for you to shop including big brands like Burberry, Fred Perry, Ralph Lauren, Lacoste, Timberland, and many many more.

 The weather on that day was just perfecto.. All the things sold there were just SO uber cheap i'd wish i was born a millionaire so i can buy EVERYTHING without needing to worry about the hole in my pocket >.<

Another thing i love about Marne LaValle mall is that THEY HAVE STARBUCKS!!! Do you guys know how hard it is to find a Starbucks in Paris!? Thanx to all those sidewalk cafes Starbucks became so unwanted in Paris, unlike other western countries where i can so easily get my drug. I know you might be thinking "Stupid bitch, those sidewalk cafes' coffee are way much more cheaper n more aromatic compared to Starbucks coffees." Yes i know, but i am a Starbucks lover, not really a coffee lover. Period.

 SELCA moment

 Sorry if today's post seemed a little boring.. but i'm gonna bombard my next post with lots n lots of pics from Disneyland Paris so please await my next post!

Mother of all chocolates and waffles!

Belgium - the mother of all chocolates and waffles. I is SO excited to go there and nom all the waffles! I've hearing alot of stories saying how yummylicious the waffles in Belgium are and how addictive the locally made chocolates can be.
We departed from Amsterdam to Belgium early morning after breakfast *Goodbye Amsterdam!* and during the road trip, we stopped at the former 1958 World Expo site to have a quick photo session with 'The Atomium'.

The super 5 bijik Atomium

 I decided to upload sis's pic because i is no look nice in any of the pics i took with the super 5 *sad face*

Major luff this pic <3>

 This is one of the reason why i love autumn. Those brown orangie and yellow leaves made every path of the road looks SO beautiful!! It just made me wanna go down the bus and sleep on those piles of dried leaves and roll roll roll myself all over it like a mad woman. Malaysia why u no autumn!!?

 Finally we are here - Belgium! You have to visit the Grand Square when you are in Brussels, especially the center of Grand Square where it is surrounded by all these unique buildings that have been there since centuries. I don't know about you but as for me, i have a thing for old buildings. I can just stand there for hours admiring those buildings' architectures and the ambiance there is just so good i don't wanna leave. BUT these are not the only thing Belgium has to amaze me... 

 WAFFLES!! You ain't come to Belgium if you never have a bite of their local waffles. It is just SO SO SO yummylicious! 

You can choose from so many varieties of topping for your waffle. Majority of the shops are selling for 1EUR each but because i dai dai also wanted Nutella topping so it was 2EUR instead of 1EUR. Approx RM8 for 1 piece of waffle but it was totally worth it. Nutella + Waffle = H.E.A.V.E.N.L.Y

 This little fella is one of the main reason why I am here in Brussels. Honestly i find it kind of funny.. a few hours journey from Amsterdam all the way just to see this small infamous peeing statue. #FML I couldn't helped but LOL-ed when i came upon this statue. This little boy became famous because he piss-ed on a bomb during a war in Brussels and his pee saved his hometown. Like wtf? Hence he and his pissing pose became well-known internationally for centuries. I wonder if  he is proud.. in a way.. *if you know what i mean*

He is everywhere!! In all forms too! Check out this statue in front of a waffle shop - one hand holding waffle another hand holding his *ahem* 'little brother'.. so wrong.. >.<

Last but not least, woofie spotted in Brussels! Owner looking so vogue walking her furkid.  

It's all about WINDMILLS and CHEESE!

The second day in Amsterdam was freezing cold thanks to Mr.Wind who was blowing extra strong that day. Our itinerary for today is kind of packed yet interesting. I am finally getting to see the real wind mill! Wooo hhooo!!~ I've always love wind mills.. but never had the chance to see the real thing myself. But now i is finally have the chance! Yay!!

Here we are at the Dutch Village Zaanse Schaans (please do not ask me how to pronounce it). The village is a one stop center where u can see WIND MILLS! (damn i love to caplock and emphasize the word 'wind mills'), and how wooden clogs and cheese are made.

 

Look look!! WIND MILLS!! And they are actually still working, not for display only!

 

I was greeted by this fat cat in front of wooden clog workshop..

 

This guy is showing us step by step how a block of wood is made into a wooden clog. It was actually pretty interesting how they did it... Wooden clogs have always been a long tradition in Holland and now it had become their trademark. It was used by the people many years back to protect them from injuries and indeed the clogs' protection is pretty strong. Thus, this is proven that it is way better than CROCS! At least it won't get your feet stuck in the escalator.. =.=

Me being such a good audience.. =p

 

 

Wooden clogs nowadays comes in many varieties for you to choose from. Be it for footwear protection or a mini fridge magnet as a souvenir, they have it all covered up.

 

Next stop - the cheese workshop. Here, we were introduced by this Dutch lady on how cheese are made and those round round yellow stuff are CHEESE! Here you can find all sorts of cheese, they even sell special knives for cheese so you can enjoy it in the best way.

 

These are the many different flavors of cheese wrapped up in colorful wrappings. This is like a cheese heaven for all you cheese lovers, unfortunately i'm not a cheese lover due to my lactose intolerance. *Sad face*

 

Surprisingly, these kind of cheese are rather heavy. It is so solid that it just won't break no matter how you drop it.. you can even use it like a bowling ball, roll it and make a strike. And then pick it up and eat to celebrate.. wth..  Me and my sis didn't stay long inside the shop since we both aren't a cheese lover hence we went out maximized our time there to camwhore outside the beautiful village.

 

 

Ducks!! Quack quack quack!!

 

After lunch, we went back again to Dams Square for an hour ride in Amsterdam's Glass Roof Cruise. Throughout this cruise, we get to see the other side of the city and capture more many beautiful scenary of Amsterdam.

 

 

During the cruise, you will get to see all these uniquely renovated and decorated boathouses along the river bank. Each and every one of them has their own twist of design. And if you noticed those blocks of buildings behind the boathouses are actually shops, studios and houses. This whole stretch of street is named "The Artistic Street" because many designers, artists, musicians will come here in search for inspiration, thus there are many shops that sell paintings, self designed items, musical instruments, and even bundle stuffs!

 

Because it was an hour ride we somehow got bored and camwhore our ownselves.. hahahaa! Conveniently, the boat brought us straight to our next destination - The Diamond Factory. In there I learnt what diamonds are made of and how they are cut and evaluated. Tonight is going to our last night in Amsterdam and we are going to Belgium tomorrow! Chocolates and waffles i'm gonna nom u ALL!

Central Europe - Post 1

Yes, while you think that my blog was dead.. it is now alive once again! This is somehow my first post for the year 2012, written on the last month of the year 2012 as well.. how wtf ridiculous it is. This is all a huge thank you to Amigo.my for sponsoring my trip to Central Europe so i can have the chance to make my blog alive once again. THANK YOU AMIGO! It is an honor to write for you people!

Amongst all the amazingly cheap travel deals available in their website, 8days 5nights Central Europe is one of their top selling travel deal. I was lucky enough to be given the privilege to follow their tour that departed on the 10th November. Flying with Ethihad Airlines, we departed from KLIA at 8.30pm continued with a what seems to be like forever 8hours flight to reach Abu Dhabi Airport for transit. Must i point out that i had a suffering first half of the journey because i was seated next to a XXXXXXXL negro who took up half of my seat's space and i'm like cramped up with the remaining half of my seat.. FOR FREAKING 8HOURS! Then, another 7hours journey to reach our destination, DUSSELDORF. Thank god the other half was a comfy journey and i could have a good rest, I swear i couldn't feel my ass the moment i reached Dusseldorf.

We reached our destination approximately around 8AM local time and we were all so uber tired from the long hours flight. From air to land, we then sat for another hour plus bus journey to our first destination from the itinerary -  Cologne, where the largest Cathedral Church in Germany is.

I was mesmerized by the unique beauty of the church the moment i laid my eyes on it. It is just so breathtaking! The whole structure, the architectures are so detailed like every crafting has a story behind it. Oh, and I was very lucky to be able to witness a huge parade going on at Cologne that morning too. I don't know what parade was it although everyone was dressed up in all sorts of quirky costumes, and it wasn't a Halloween parade. The locals who attended the parade were very hyped up and can see that they really took alot of effort to dress up for the parade. There were bunches of Minnie Mouses, Swat teams, Camouflaged soldiers, Animals, Mushroom heads, Marios, u name it they have it. All of them are singing and enjoying themselves with all at least a bottle of beer in their hand at 9am in the morning. Yes, 9AM IN THE MORNING and they are getting themselves high in alcohol already.

The spectacular Catheral Church of Cologne. Breathtaking isn't it? This picture is 100% unedited and yet it looked so surreal, just like a beautiful painting.

 

Please do ignore my makeup-less tired face.

 

This is what i call "People mountain people sea" XD

                          The animal category from the parade. How many 'animals' can you spot?

 

Woohoooo!! Minnie mouse in the haos! I want their costume so badly!!

This is me making an attempt to ask them for a picture..

Succeed!! I kind of blend in too... lol!

 

This Avatar couple is one of my favourites. They really took the effort to color themselves blue. Thumbs up for the both of them!

The Sesame Street category. I wonder where they find such cute Cookie Monster costume. The costume even come in different designs for male and female. How cool is that! Why Malaysia no have such cute costumes!?

 

Sis with the macho SWAT team. She chose this because she thinks she blends in with them. =.=||

These are the random categories of costumes.

 

Woofies spotted!! Woof woof!!

 

"Hello this is Superman. I need help, there's no more money in my account"

 

 

Surprisingly most of the shops are close on Sundays. According to the Starbucks barista, he said all the shops are closed on Sundays in Germany. Who cares, as long as Starbucks is open can adi. Hahahaha!

 

 After lunch, we continued our journey to our next destination - Amsterdam. It was almost night time when we reached Dams Square for dinner.

Bicycles are the main transportation in Europe. I believe mainly because it is environmental friendly and it is very convenient. If I ever get a bicycle and make it as my transportation I bet i'd die a horrible death on the road.

 

Finally bunking in for the night! I love our hotel in Amsterdam. Ramada Appollo Hotel is a new hotel and i love it because their room and facilities are all very good. Best of all they have FREE WIFI and their speed is fast too!

The hotel's cafe for breakfast. Love their concept and love their breakfast too! One of the best hotel breakfast i've ever taken. And you can enjoy the beautiful morning scenery while nom-ing on your breakfast. Perfect kick start for the day.