Paris, je t'aime

Paris... city of love... and it was pretty obvious, seeing couples seeing everywhere i almost wanted to barf. I've been there 2 years back, but only for 3 days... so although this was a pretty last minute trip, i was quite excited to revisit some of the places and explore the others.

Here are the usual suspects in Paris:


Eiffel Tower by day...

Eiffel tower by night... and it was really amazing, despite the really strong winds

All smiles now....

The Lourve... didnt go in this time round... in fact i didnt visit any museums this time cos it wasnt really cup f tea... and its not exactly very cheap either

Notre Dame...

The Pantheon...

Arc de Triomphe....

Champs Elysee.... this picture is taken esp for all my female blog readers.... the Louis Vuitton Flagship store.... somewhere Janelle Seah must be hyperventilating.... i actually did go in despite wearing what should be considered crap by Paris Standards and i was surprised i wasnt stopped. hahaha. And i was seriously disturbed how pricey all those stuff were.... 900plus euros for a piece of leather??? SERIOUSLY???

Moulin Rouge!!

Sacre Coeur... i love this place! And i was actually tricked by some African dude (like Johnny) into buying a jamaican bracelet!! Argh.... this was the only touristy thing i did.

Revisiting all these places, made me think about the time Skee, Carol and Johnny were there... and it brought back good memories

I was more excited to see stuff that i didnt get to see 2 summers ago:

like the Bastille!

And the Chateau de Versailles! This is one of the places i really did want to visit.... I didnt really know the history of this place....except that the treaty was signed here. I also found out that Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette lived here...

For all the glory of France.... yeah ok whatever... i am so sick of France and their high and mighty attitude... according to my sis the history major, France has never won a major war ever since Napoleon... Glory my ass seriously

And apparently it was usual to dress a boy in a freaking gown back then.... this picture is really one of the Louis.... XV i think. SICK

The royal chapel, which was rather cool

From another angle... my photography skills are improving!

The opera in the Chateau where Louis XVI and Marie Antionette got married and it was really spectacular!!

The King's bed

This place is so huge i almost died walking.... in fact only Forbidden City can rival this place in terms of vastness.... and god knows i almost died walking that as well

it extends till the end where the woods are and where the pond is

Marie Antoinette's estate.... i swear i could hear Kirten Dunst giggling away wearing those poofy gowns eating her gateaux.... that cracks me up man.

I was glad i got to go to Versailles with Sundeep otherwise i would have been bored to death walking all those parks and stuff

I nua-ed a lot at Jardin du Luxembourg. I love it!! The sun was shining, there were pple everywhere. I took off my shoes and socks, sat down, wrote some postcards and basically just enjoyed 1 1/2 hours of suntanning!

oh gosh i think i look really round... i weighed myself at Jianghao's place and i was over 70kg... like OMFG. This is the heaviest i ever weighed.... i should seriously buy some kickass running shoes and start running soon.

And then i walked past the famous Sorbonne... where all the smart kids study.... it was so high class they actually have doorman to open the doors... and it is so close to the Pantheon! Damn nice surroundings... i actually went by the back entrance and went t take a leak inside. muahaha

And the other place i wanted to visit was La Defense... basically a place full of high rised buildings and most famous for the Grande Arche!

the esplanade of La Defense

Some... building

Great photography skills once again...

I love how silly monuments just spring out every little corner in Paris...

There it is... the Grande Arche!

I actually did a little report back in NUS on this building for my final presentation for French ACAD so i was kinda excited to see it! Civil Engineering wonder!!

Some... stuff

And then i went to Bois de Boulogne.... damn big. i got lost. quite paiseh. Not as nice as Luxembourg but i love it nonetheless

And then i even went to the Père Lachaise Cemetery where a couple of really famous pple were buried.... i thought i was going to be the only one there, i mean its a cemetary.... BUT NOOOOOO.... tourists cant even let dead pple rest in peace... i'm one such example! there were even maps showing where the tombs were! Seriously.... ridiculous

I saw this one tomd and it was rather disturbing.... the living dead!!! OMFG... run for your lives!!!

Chopin's tomb.... the guy is a guide... i mean they even have tomb guides and tomb tours.... goodness

Jim Morrison's grave.... all you rocker wannabes on your knees now!!

Oscar Wilde's tomb.... which has been defaced by countless female adorers.... those are their lipstick marks.... dun they know Oscar Wilde is gay?? (i think....)

Chanteuse extraordinaire Edith Piaf... singer of La Vie En Rose.

And then to the Hotel des Invalides

And then to the Opera

Below are just some of the pictures i've taken and loved very much:

I remember some pigeon shat on my head at the jardin Tuileries.... damn fucking suay... and it was quite a lot... right smack on my head... i went to a water fountain to wash of the bird poo... the other 10000 pple there must be thinking i am some crazy psycho chink

I even collected a small album of the Metro signage...

And also the interior.... i love the different styles of all these metro platforms.... its special and full of character dun ya think??? Unlike the boring Singapore ones...

the one at the Lourve actually had actually relics lining the walls.... like how cool is that????

And then there was the food! Went to ome of the places my guidebook reccommended... like this one selling famous sorbet called Berthillon... which was really good... i had the Cherry Plum and Blood orange flavour.... janelle said i look like i am licking 2 balls....... nice.

And also went to this small cafe beside a Mosque at Jussieu that has the most splendid setting.... semi open air... selling mint tea and various turkish pastries which were really good!! YUMZ!!!!

And then i finally perusaded myself to have some tea at one of those outdoor cafes that u see on tv.... this one's near the Lourve so.... it's the most ex Coke and Sandwich i ate... ever... altogether 10euros

And then this, pita thing with eggplant, beef and lots of salad which i bought at the Marais region... really quite good! and heathly too!

So yeah.... this marks the end of my 4 day trip to Paris.... which i enjoyed more than i thought i would.... and this time, it didnt suck as much to be alone.... cos there is just so much more things to do in paris... that i didnt have time to think abt negative thoughts.... so yeah. I love Paris... it was sunny, and the weather was great.... and there was nothing to complain about this time round!

Random photos of food i cooked myself last week.

French toast

and the regular stuff i cook....Dun they look delicious????

I was so stupid i didnt know today is the easter vacation.... so all the shops are closed and i cant buy my food supplies...... thank god for chinese pple who are hardworking enuff to open their shops in chinatown.... i stocked up lots of instant noodles to tide me over today.... ASIAN PPLE ROCKS LA!!!!

And i am quite excited about all the food i am planning to cook this week.... chicken rice.... fried rice, pork chops..... WOOTS!!!

PARIS BOUND

i am so touched by all these wonderful and often comforting messages i get from my frens.... really appreciate them. Anyway i will be away in Paris till Sunday nite. So till then, see ya guys soon and good luck for the exam preparations!

PEACE OUT

Damn Troublesome

Today, i finally went to the last stop of this wild goose chase for my refunds and compensations... to the German Consulate. And, surprise surprise.... they themselves say the POLIZEI were not correct..... aiyah.... den i cannot claim the refunds from the Consulate cos its not their fault....i got to write to the head office of the POLIZEI.... wah piang this is getting nowhere.... i'm going to try la.... but if this also doesnt work i seriously just lanlan and suck thumb and treat this as a really REALLY expensive lesson... that the EU is... well, not very efficient to say the least.

But i was quite impressed with myself cos.... i got to express myself in french quite fluently at the Consulate.... firm but not aggresive... Wahwahwah.... maybe my french dun suck as bad as i thot. I think my french even better than the germans working at the visa section

Anw.... i got an offline message from a fren in china....Apparently he was detained in North Korea.... oh gosh. ok. i dun really wanna experience that. Later kena executed by those communist foot soldiers with no rhyme or reason.... wah actually seems like everyone is getting detained. Step's fren got detained at the Johor customs... i got detained in Berlin.... the Ambassador told me pple once thought a guy was holding fake Singapore passport somewhere and got detained as well....

THIS IS A CRAZY WORLD...

argh this is so confusing....

Ok now i am really confused.... up till 2 hours ago, thought i have a case.... at the Berlin Airport, the person from the Singapore Embassy in Berlin said i have nothing wrong with my visa.... On Saturday, i called Mr Lee, whom i now realised is the First Secretary of the Singapore Embassy in Paris, and he also said that i should not have any problems..... TODAYYYYYYY i went to the Lyon Prefecture and ask them the same question..... and they too were puzzled as to what exactly happened....

So as of 2 hours ago.... its 2 EMBASSIES representive and one French Prefecture against the fucking Germans....

but just now... Mr Lee called me again and he told me after doing some research and calling some French Interior Ministry..... apparently the Germans were right all along... my visa DID only allow me to stay in France and no where else.... but he also said this is the first time he encountered this problem.... he told me all along pple were travelling fine with a D visa and not getting refused at borders or the rest had D+C.... but he also said the Germans were too technical by refusing me entry

So i am really confused.... i am really pissed.... I AM PISSED because if even representatives from the EMBASSIES didnt know exactly what is going on...... HOW AM I.... A FUCKING STUDENT.... KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT??????

argh.... but either way, i just wanna find somewhere to get my money back... somehow.... going to the GERMAN consulate tmr to try my luck.... but i think the possibility is rather slim... And since i dun think i will have time after this easter break to travel out of France anyway... i'll just stay here.... and maybe go to Mont St Michel during the short breaks..... So either way i will just stick with my current visa.....

I will be going to Paris on Wednesday till Sunday instead.... to kill sometime and stay with some frens from NUS.... and try to be happy for a while...

Anyway i have been trying to hone my cooking skills these couple of days.... and these are the results:

Maggi Instant Porridge with vegetables, eggs and stir fried paprika and basil chicken with mushroom last nite!

Pasta with sauteed paprika and basil Salmon, stir fried zucchini, green vege and mushroom and scrambled eggs today!

and on Saturday nite i actually cooked Napoleon sauce pasta with Mushroom, zucchini cheese ommelette and the same salmon but didnt take picture cos it looked too ugly... BASICALLY i am on a one way road to cholesterol hell.

hhhaha nice right? yeah... notice how frequently i use paprika and basil... they are my favourite condiments right now... i use that for EVERYTHING... basil to give fragrance and paprika to make them spicy.... and since i eat a heavy breakfast, tea and skip lunch altogether, i have a heavy dinner.... save money.... poor student ta ma de.

SO ANYWAYYYYY i am really fine now. i am just angry no one can give me a proper definte answer.... i guess some things happen for a reason.... you win some you lose some. In this case i lost ard 300euros. but probably some bad things might have happened to me in Eastern Europe anyway. so... yeah. In any case i have my Paris trip to look forward to and i am 200% sure this time there will be no borders to cross whatsoever....

And whoever invented type D long sejour visa should be SHOT!!! Body torn apart by horses, roasted and then fed to sharks!!! ITS USELESS!!!! EVERYONE SHOULD JUST MAKE A D+C SHORT STAY VISA SO YOU CAN APPLY FOR TITRE DE SEJOUR AND CAF AND TRAVEL WITHOUT GETTING DETAINED!!!! YA HEAR ME???!

PEACE OUT!

my trip that was the berlin shoenfeld airport

Thanks everyone for the kind words.... it's comforting to know that i can count on my family and frens back home for support. Although i havent totally recovered from the whole fiasco, i am much better now. At least i am in the comfort of my room.

Up till now i still have no concrete answer as to what happened... i have talked to both the embassies at Berlin and Paris but they also said my situtation was wierd and they have never encountered before... looks like i just really have some bad bad luck this week.

anyway, this are ALL of my pics for this "trip".... basically everything was taken in the transit area of the Shoenfeld Airport... during my 12hr wait back to geneva:

Some 24hr bakery/Marche looking place where i bought the smelliest, saltiest cheese sandwich ever... i cant believe my luck... i cant even randomly choose a good sandwich. I ate half and kept the other half, hoping i can find it in me to finish it for breakfast..... i promptly threw it away when i woke up.

the deserted transit lounge at 1am in the morning... there were just 3 shops in the 50m transit. And i was bored to death.

Duty free store... with quite a good range of alcohol selling for really cheap prices. One litre of martini for just 6 euros... that's like one glass in singapore.

me and my bored face.

the official "refusal of entry" in deutsch

the translation in english

so yeah... a grand total of 5 to 6 pictures. Perhaps when i go back to spore, when everything is really over, i can see this experience with a positive light.... but right now, i still feel... embarassed. Like an NUS student cant even find out properly what is wrong with his visa... i mean... even the ambassadors have no concrete answers for me... i have to find out when i get a reply from him via email...