In order of appearance: (1) Versailles; (2) The garden in Versailles; (3) A street vendor outside Versailles; (4) A street market; (5) Outside Sacré Coeur. I’m pretty happy about how my photos turned out since I had no idea I was using B&W film in the first place. When I shot these photos, I placed a lot of emphasis on the colour composition which I guess is not evident now. If I had known I was using B&W film, I might have approached it at a different angle. But then again, most probably not.
So Paris was a blast. I spent two long ass hours queuing for the Versailles and was 25 euros (the most expensive admission fee I’ve forked out) poorer. Toursists have made Paris a madhouse, especially the touristy areas like the Eiffel. I think the key to visting these places is timing. You either get there really early, or really late to avoid the crowds. For places like the Lourve and Versailles which cannot be covered in one day, it’s best to get there early. Actually on hindsight, I spent such a long time in Versailles because we wasted so much time queuing that we felt the need to spend as long as we physically can to make the pain of queuing all worth.
I don’t need to say how great Paris is. It is, and you know it.
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Overheard from an unnamed source (cos he’s my friend and I feel bad for revealing him but I just have to say it): “Don’t tickle other people’s backside or you might get raped next time”. Which makes sense, but in the most perverse way ever.
Filed under: Random Ramblings
Right, so I know I haven’t been updating. It’s been weeks since I came back US of A, but I had been too busy unpacking working geeking out in DOTA universe and pretending to be a maiden that can rain down a storm of ice and kickass. And despite the verbal abuses dished out to me by various people I do not even know (WTF! You n00b! U suck so much!), I’m still fascinated by it, and hence that accounts for the loss of hours.
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I used to think that ignorant people from the West could not tell the difference between a Japanese and a Chinese to save their lives and just konichiwa-ed the hell out of every vaguely Asian looking person they met. Granted, I probably couldn’t tell the difference between say, a German and an Italian, but hey, I’m not the one trying to sell worthless trinkets to tourists. If you automatically assume I’m Japanese just because I look Asian, that just offends my racial sensibilities.
I stand corrected. Turns out, even the Japanese think I’m Japanese. I was walking happily in Las Vegas, looking all touristy and FOBby when an elderly Japanese lady came up to me.
“Excuse me. Do you know where is the ABC store? “ (in Japanese)
I was more amazed with the fact that 3.5 years of learning Japanese in secondary school did not become an utter waste of taxpayers’ money since I actually understood what she was asking. Unfortunately, I had no idea where it was and after waving my hands stupidly in an attempt to point her in any form of direction, I settled on an even more ridiculous attempt to explain my lack of communication skills.
“I am Japanese..(shakes head and hand wildly)”(in Japanese)
After laughing (probably at my dismal Japanese), the Japanese woman walked away, leaving me absolutely disgraced for failing at the most basic of Japanese conversations. Maybe those 3.5 years were a waste of taxpayers’ money after all. But this brings me back to the point: HOW DO I LOOK JAPANESE?
It seems a bit silly to be blogging about Frankfurt now that it has been almost a month since my visit, but I suppose I have to keep with the spirit of things. To be honest, I don’t really have much to talk about Frankfurt since I think it’s one of the more boring big cities I’ve been to. It’s a huge financial hub, but that’s just it. Even though I spent 3 days 2 nights there, by day 2, I was almost running out of things to do. So my take is, if you have to go Germany, just give Frankfurt a miss, or a cursory stopover.
Skyscrapers in Frankfurt. Believe me, you don’t see many skyscrapers in Germany. They seem to like their buildings short.
The old city of Frankfurt. Frankfurt is compact enough that I could walk around without using the public transport. They were having a gay pride weekend, which explains the rainbow flags hanging around.
Apple wine. That’s a Frankfurt drink which tastes just like how you would expect apple wine to taste like-alcoholic apple juice. Give me apple shots anytime!
I could probably talk more about Frankfurt such as their museum mile, the gay parade, or the German restaurant I went to where I got free apple strudel. Oh yes, I could even tell you about the Indian restaurant near the hotel with an unfortunate name called Gaylord, but I’m getting bored with writing about an unintersting city so I’ll just stop now.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Will not be updating until I get back to Ithaca. Internet access is too unreliable here.
Word of advice: Frankfurt is boring. Not worth going, unless you happen to be stuck in transit there.
Europe fatigue is setting in. I blame long 8 weeks in Germany for this.
