Flying Asia

Tomorrow I will be on the fly again, this time destination à Asia. This trip was never planned but it came as a surprise from KLM Flying Blue web award promotion where for very little miles I am able to redeem tickets to Manila, Philippines. Our original plan was to spend the 2^nd week of July in Normandy, France but with this promotion we are heading to Asia.

Manila is not our final destination but Kota Kinabalu is. We will be spending a few days in Manila, just to check out the city but will then fly with Air Asia to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, the land below the wind.

I am getting very excited now, all packed and although not really know what to expect from Manila, but surely we will enjoy ourselves there...

Now is the time to catch some ZZZZZzzzzzzzz.

p/s: photo of Makati city in Manila, Philippines.

m!L@No Ag@!N

I just came back from Milan last night, while 28th May is jus a normal working day at Milan, 27th May was full of pleasing and relaxing highlights. Well, never expect myself to revisit Milan again after my March visit with my family. This time I am back for an overnight business trip. Since the incident happened in the office last week, I am now free for another project, and while waiting for the project, there are some requests to help our office in Milan to support their business development.

I arrived early in the midday and spent the whole afternoon and evening wondering around the city. It was warm and humid, not so much of sun, but I could feel the stickiness on my skin all the time. I strolled from Hilton hotel (where I stayed) towards the city center. Although this is my 3^rd trip to Milan already but I still never stop discover new shops and eating place.

The shops along Corso Buena Aires are quiet pocket friendly and things are uniquely Milan or at least made in Italy. I got 2 pairs of shoes at a price that you would never believe for real leather. Due to the increase heat, I decided to take a metro instead of carry on walking.

It is only a short ride to Duomo, as soon as I arrived, I immediately check out the Luini store for the panzerotti, I ordered one takeaway and eat it at the Piazza Duomo.

After the snack, with the weather I bought 3 scopes Gelato as a treat, the pineapple, Lemon and berries are yummy for a warm weather.

It was a relaxing day, got a few ‘acquisitions’ aka 2 pair of shoes, one blouse and one trouser but no damage on my pocketJ.

Same place, different season, different occasion thus make Milan very charming again for me.

Who is on the cross?

We spotted this somewhere around the Charlie Checkpoint and the remains of the Berlin Wall. At first glance this is rather humorous but on second thought who is this icon on the cross?? This is what I meant by the new wave of arts that sweeping across Berlin.

The Dividing Wall

This was the former barrier surrounding West Berlin and a symbol of the Cold War, built on August 13, 1961. It was opened peacefully on November 9, 1989 and torn down by the end of 1990, as Communism collapsed and the cold war ended. Today there are only few remains left to be seen. I had a mixed feeling after I visited this area. Checkpoint Charlie is almost not existed now apart from some photos explaining the situation. The sharp blazer on the iron fence and the wall that divided the East and West for years are incomprehensible for me. It is a bit hard for me to relate and identify what the Berliners have gone through must be very miserable…

A city that is divided into two overnight, imagine if you just happened to visit a family or a friend at the other side of the city and ended up unable to return to your home due to this sudden wall? I am sure such incident happened in reality and I hope Berliners would have recovered from this tragic memory…

Berliner Arts

Although the Berlin Wall has divided the East and West Berlin, but it has also brought forth a new artistic or graffiti wave to this city. Every where you go, there area always some sculpture, monuments and some displays at the road side. Despite of the East side of the wall remained with white paint, the west side of the wall has been then serve as a free drawing board for artists to express themselves...

Finally Berlin

It is a very last minute decision, in fact a change of plan.. The original plan is to go to Normandy, France but due to bad weather forecast, I have to cancel all hotel bookings and also as a result of a good weather forecast, we decided to drive to Berlin, Germany.

Finally after more than 9 hours drive, partly due to more than 2 hours of traffic jam, we finally arrived the city center of Berlin. In fact our hotel is situated at the former East Germany. Will definitely check out the city tomorrow, hopefully the warm weather lasts for the next few days.

Flower Parade 2008

Saturday 26^th April 2008

It feels like the first warm spring day so far and I am waiting eagerly at Sassenheim for the annual flower parade to pass by. The schedule time is 12:10 noon but the flower carousels didn’t arrived until 12:40. It is a relatively long wait under the spring sun heat, which is rather warm. The theme of the flower parade this year is called ‘holiday’. Therefore the procession comprises of 20 large floats interspersed by marching bands, most of the floats displays are around holiday destination such as India with beautiful elephants, Schiphol airport control tower, ski and snowboarding, Swiss Alps, and many others. It is a celebration of colors and a proclamation of flowers, so beautifully displayed and a feast to the eyes.