Tuesday, August 3, 2010

A lot of people didn't know that Riga is in Latvia.

...Me included. I had to google it first to find it on the map. *shame on me*

I'm glad not many people do though, cos it's a wonderful rare jewel of the baltic seas...

The people at the Garden Palace Hotel were sOooOo nice. They were quick to answer my emails before arrival, and they upgraded the room for free..!

It's bigger than my living room. :p

A sauna can be found in the bathroom. Woohoo!

Ok let's divert a little. Boredom struck while at Brussels airport. Had to kill 5 hours of layover time. So went over to what they call the 'Prayer services'...

There were several rooms. Each room was dedicated to each major religion. This was for us Muslimins and Muslimas.

Another room.

Nice ball. I mean, nice bull.

Ok back to Latvia.
Big nightlife. The skanks were out on the prowl.. looking for victims i guess (pictures of which i will not post here just in case you've got a weak heart) LOL

But for laid-back folks like me, you can sit and enjoy some country music outside... And if that's not your cup of tea, walk around a little and you'll find other bands playing other types of music, like slow rock. :p


A few of the scenes at the Central Market of Riga.
It opens most days of the week, including Saturdays and Sundays.

This is the Freedom Monument - honoring soldiers killed during the Latvian War of Independence (1918–1920)


There is a story behind the Black Cat on the roof of this building. It dates back to the 14th century, where the original owner of the building was disgruntled with the prestigious Great Guild, as they denied him membership. To show his displeasure for the guild, which stood opposite to his building, he placed the black cat, tailed raised and rear end facing it. The cat sculpture created the desired affect and after much deliberation, the owner agreed to turn the cat the other way for admittance of the guild.

I'm definitely gonna have a black cat standing on top of the front gate of my house one day. I'll make sure unwelcome visitors can see its backside. LOL


The House of the Blackheads. What i originally thought was something to do with some sort of skin irritant, the House of the Blackheads was actually a place rented to the Blackhead Brotherhood - a guild for unmarried foreign merchants who lived in the Baltic towns without families.


I don't see this everyday.

Pork ears? Uhh..

Ls 4.60 for a sex on the beach.

An After Sex drink.
Dessert at a sushi restaurant. Coconut cake shaped like a maki. Didn't taste as good as they looked though.

The Riga Aviation Museum.



This is the biggest helicopter I've ever seen in my life.

There was another mini museum inside the helicopter. Soviet era stuff. Too cool for a nerd like me.

Overall, it was a great trip. The people were friendly. Everything was reasonable priced. And almost all the places of interests/major attractions were within walking distance. I would recommend you to go and visit if you get the chance..

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Jack and Jill went up the hill...

... to fetch a pail of water,
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
and Jill came tumbling after...

I apparently drove Toni crazy with this song. I was singing happily (over and over again) as we hiked up Pointe de Miribel.. which was about an hour away from Geneva across the French border.

As soon as I got out of that bloody car, I was just like "Shit that's high".

But didn't say it to Toni (for obvious reasons). But! The walk was 'shockingly fine' for me and my short legs.

From time to time, I stopped during the walk pretending I was looking at the view... but I was actually out of breath. LOL. Hopefully, Toni didn't notice.

One of the many cows chillin' on the mountain. I took pics of their uhhh landmines of poop but decided not to post them up, just in case the prophets of vomit decided to pay a visit.

Aww wild pink roses...

Perverts! stop checking out his ass from here. LOL

What I initially thought were tombstones turned out to be just posts to give respects to Virgin Mary.




A statue of the Virgin Mary right at the top.


A sneak peek of Lac Leman.

Overall, no complaints from me... before, during or after the hike. It was 'shockingly awesome' (my current catch phrase)... hence I sang the same wonderful song all the way down the mountain... :-)

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Rising Shuffler

I'm putting up this post because it's awesome.
My brother noodles can shuffle... a dance era way after my generation... (and yes i suddenly feel old after saying that). The boys in my generation who COULD dance had gay moves. LOL
Well done, boy!

... and this song rocks!~

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

So close...

Jon Mclaughlin - voice of an angel...
This totally deserves to be posted in my blog. :-)

Saturday, July 10, 2010

ASEAN Sports and Family Day 2010

The Philippines was the event organiser for this year. Well done, guys!

The Brunei tent.

i LOVE kuih mor... Thanks ka hjh kam, delicious!


The lucky draw prizes contributed by each mission.

Winners of the bowling - ladies team

The winners of the dart competition!! Congratulations!!

The highest pinfall for ladies' bowling goes to Mali! Well done!

A packet of dried mangoes, kindly 'provided' by the organisers. Ok... more like STOLEN from them... hehe they didn't seem to mind :-)

My gold medal for billiards... and an Umbrella won as a lucky draw number from Cambodia.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Dear Aprilia,


Good bye, Selamat tinggal, Au revoir, Sayonara, Ciao.

You're in good hands now.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Welcome to Isola dei Pescatori (Fisherman's Island)!

Over the weekend, we went to Isola dei Pescatori... one of the islands on Lake Maggiore, northern Italy.

We left Geneva around 9 am, drove through Bern and Luzern, then to Locarno, and took the lake drive to Baveno. We arrived in Baveno around 6 pm, left the car there and took a boat to the Island.


We would've arrived earlier, if it wasn't for this massive traffic jam in Uri. One hour in the car moving slowwwwlyyyy... for what could have been a 15 min ride...


I can just imagine how the conversation went between the couple in this car.
Wife: 'Honey, i knew we shouldn't have bought this car!'
Husband: 'It's ok honey, see? i told you we could bring everything with this car.. The boat, our bikes, the kids and the dog! Problem solved!'

The passenger behind me was obviously bored.

Locarno!

Ahhh, Baveno at last!

The day was beautiful one second, and then... it hailed the next!

One of the hail stones that came with the rain.
Isola dei Pescatori - The island on the left

Charming..!




The island opposite ours (yes, it's now 'ours') LOL

Must be a lost Bruneian fan hehehe


St. Catarina


We took the ferry from Laveno (which was on the other side of the lake) and went back to Intra. We then drove from Intra back to Baveno.

My baby's first ride on a ferry (how cute) :-)
*i'm talking abt my car* durr

We found this awesome hiker's path on the way to Simplon Pass

We decided to take the mountain route of Simplon Pass instead of busy Bern and Luzern. Good call!




nice. oh i mean, bad.