Got Prince William and Kate Middleton feel or not? LOLLLLLL. I'm just kidding okay, please don't think that I am buay hiao bai.
Will blog more about our humble solemnisation!
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
We're Official!
Yes, we are! :)
Got Prince William and Kate Middleton feel or not? LOLLLLLL. I'm just kidding okay, please don't think that I am buay hiao bai.
Will blog more about our humble solemnisation!
Got Prince William and Kate Middleton feel or not? LOLLLLLL. I'm just kidding okay, please don't think that I am buay hiao bai.
Will blog more about our humble solemnisation!
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Marriage Preparation Session Two
This session discussed more about the in-laws relationships between your spouse and your family. The facilitator said, "No matter how long your spouse has been married to you, he or she remains a guest to your family system."
I think it's true. You took twenty-over years to grow up in a family and sometimes, even yourself could get annoyed or exasperated at some family situation, what more he or she? A very stark reminder to myself that it is not him who fails me (if he does), it is my expectation that did.
We also did a role play that displayed how each spouse's familial relationships can harm the tension between a couple. Imagine that you and your spouse are tied together with a rope. Not body-to-body kind of tight, but with some space in between facing each other. Now imagine each of you with different ropes tied to your body. These ropes are namely your father, mother and sibling. The other ends of these ropes are held or pulled by them respectively. Same goes for your spouse.
If your family start to pull the ropes, not only do you find yourself pulling away from your spouse, you also notice that the rope tying the two of you together becomes very tight with tension. Imagine your spouse's ropes that are held by his family pulls him at the same time. You find yourself tearing away from your spouse and him tearing away from you. What can you do to ease the tension between the two of you?
Stand closer.
That way, the rope that binds that two of you becomes looser.
I think it makes a lot of sense. It is important that a couple stands as a united front to 'battle' any issues. Yes, you can agree to disagree, but in times of adversity, it is crucial to come to a high extent of consensus to protect your spousal relationship.
The session also talked about initimacy and discussed our love languages out of the five:
1. Words of Affirmation
2. Acts of Service
3. Receiving Gifts
4. Quality Time
5. Physical Touch
I always thought mine was 'Acts of Service' and 'Receiving Gifts'. Turned out that I have evolved to 'Physical Touch'. A hug to me during a quarrel means more than a hug given during happy times. Guess I am a '雪中送炭' person than a '錦上添花' kind of person.
At end of the session, they gave a game box to each couple! Well, it's not exactly a game but a box filled with small cards and reminders of what you can do to make your spouse's day.
Stay in love. Relationships are effortful. Don't minimise what you can do for your relationship.
I think it's true. You took twenty-over years to grow up in a family and sometimes, even yourself could get annoyed or exasperated at some family situation, what more he or she? A very stark reminder to myself that it is not him who fails me (if he does), it is my expectation that did.
We also did a role play that displayed how each spouse's familial relationships can harm the tension between a couple. Imagine that you and your spouse are tied together with a rope. Not body-to-body kind of tight, but with some space in between facing each other. Now imagine each of you with different ropes tied to your body. These ropes are namely your father, mother and sibling. The other ends of these ropes are held or pulled by them respectively. Same goes for your spouse.
If your family start to pull the ropes, not only do you find yourself pulling away from your spouse, you also notice that the rope tying the two of you together becomes very tight with tension. Imagine your spouse's ropes that are held by his family pulls him at the same time. You find yourself tearing away from your spouse and him tearing away from you. What can you do to ease the tension between the two of you?
Stand closer.
That way, the rope that binds that two of you becomes looser.
I think it makes a lot of sense. It is important that a couple stands as a united front to 'battle' any issues. Yes, you can agree to disagree, but in times of adversity, it is crucial to come to a high extent of consensus to protect your spousal relationship.
The session also talked about initimacy and discussed our love languages out of the five:
1. Words of Affirmation
2. Acts of Service
3. Receiving Gifts
4. Quality Time
5. Physical Touch
I always thought mine was 'Acts of Service' and 'Receiving Gifts'. Turned out that I have evolved to 'Physical Touch'. A hug to me during a quarrel means more than a hug given during happy times. Guess I am a '雪中送炭' person than a '錦上添花' kind of person.
At end of the session, they gave a game box to each couple! Well, it's not exactly a game but a box filled with small cards and reminders of what you can do to make your spouse's day.
Stay in love. Relationships are effortful. Don't minimise what you can do for your relationship.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Marriage Preparation Session One
I've been so busy recently but all for a good cause - starting the marriage right.
Realising that we have reached a bottle neck in settling and resolving conflicts, Tex and I finally decided that we should attend a marriage preparation course - of which, I fully agree. We feel that we have got this thing going and it's too much to let go hence we wanted to be equipped with the knowledge of how to settle conflicts amicably and healthily.
Tex found many courses on the ROM's website so he asked around and finally decided on Care Corner Toa Payoh! Honestly, I didn't know there were so many centres supporting marriage preparation programmes like this! If you are interested, be sure to pick one that is supported by MCYS because they will give you a rebate of $70 per couple when you finish the course - the courses can cost quite a bit, we're talking about $250 per couple for two sessions of four hours each.
Our first session was last Saturday! Went in feeling a little apprehensive because I am not really exposed to counselling sessions or therapies, unlike Tex who is a counselor. There were two facilitators along side with three other couples. I think a group session like this worked better for me because I would have felt really uncomfortable. Besides, it would also have been more expensive if you were to go one-to-one hahaha. But I have to say, the most rewarding part of the session for me was - realising that there are also other couples out there who fight as much as us (you can tell when the facilitators asked what areas we would like to work on, almost every couple chose "conflict resolution"). It was heartening to see that they too, want their relationships to work better for them. Tex and I felt really assured that conflicts can be normal in a relationship too. It's about how you manage them. One facilitator said, "You can't be thinking about how to avoid conflicts. It's how to face them and work it to the best for the relationship." All these while, we've been thinking that we fight so much, we must a really incompatible couple and self-created many self-doubts. If we looked deep enough into the core cause of why we fight, we just want to have a better future for us which is of absolute good intention.
The course enlightened us how to detect, reflect and intervene in a fight in its really early stages to prevent it from becoming a full-fledged fight. Also, it helped us recognise which of the four coping stances that we are most predominantly use - Blaming, Placating, Super Reasonable, or Irrelevant. This can be really useful when you recognise your stance and react accordingly.
There are three variables involved - you, your partner and the context:
Blaming - focusing on yourself, neglecting partner's feelings and context
Placating - focusing on your partner, neglecting yourself and context
Super Reasonable - focusing on context, neglecting yourself and your partner
Irrelevant - Neglecting all aspects
As you can see, all four stances have their pros and cons. Of course, I'm just trying to recall what I've learned and make sure I put them into practice, the next time we have a conflict.
Can't wait for the next session! I think it's going to be really fulfilling!
Thanks for dropping by! :)
Realising that we have reached a bottle neck in settling and resolving conflicts, Tex and I finally decided that we should attend a marriage preparation course - of which, I fully agree. We feel that we have got this thing going and it's too much to let go hence we wanted to be equipped with the knowledge of how to settle conflicts amicably and healthily.
Tex found many courses on the ROM's website so he asked around and finally decided on Care Corner Toa Payoh! Honestly, I didn't know there were so many centres supporting marriage preparation programmes like this! If you are interested, be sure to pick one that is supported by MCYS because they will give you a rebate of $70 per couple when you finish the course - the courses can cost quite a bit, we're talking about $250 per couple for two sessions of four hours each.
Our first session was last Saturday! Went in feeling a little apprehensive because I am not really exposed to counselling sessions or therapies, unlike Tex who is a counselor. There were two facilitators along side with three other couples. I think a group session like this worked better for me because I would have felt really uncomfortable. Besides, it would also have been more expensive if you were to go one-to-one hahaha. But I have to say, the most rewarding part of the session for me was - realising that there are also other couples out there who fight as much as us (you can tell when the facilitators asked what areas we would like to work on, almost every couple chose "conflict resolution"). It was heartening to see that they too, want their relationships to work better for them. Tex and I felt really assured that conflicts can be normal in a relationship too. It's about how you manage them. One facilitator said, "You can't be thinking about how to avoid conflicts. It's how to face them and work it to the best for the relationship." All these while, we've been thinking that we fight so much, we must a really incompatible couple and self-created many self-doubts. If we looked deep enough into the core cause of why we fight, we just want to have a better future for us which is of absolute good intention.
The course enlightened us how to detect, reflect and intervene in a fight in its really early stages to prevent it from becoming a full-fledged fight. Also, it helped us recognise which of the four coping stances that we are most predominantly use - Blaming, Placating, Super Reasonable, or Irrelevant. This can be really useful when you recognise your stance and react accordingly.
There are three variables involved - you, your partner and the context:
Blaming - focusing on yourself, neglecting partner's feelings and context
Placating - focusing on your partner, neglecting yourself and context
Super Reasonable - focusing on context, neglecting yourself and your partner
Irrelevant - Neglecting all aspects
As you can see, all four stances have their pros and cons. Of course, I'm just trying to recall what I've learned and make sure I put them into practice, the next time we have a conflict.
Can't wait for the next session! I think it's going to be really fulfilling!
Thanks for dropping by! :)
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
Six Years Together
This month, we celebrate our sixth year of getting together. (Level up!) In my opinion, the past year has been one of the toughest, strenuous but enriching and rewarding years to walk through with Tex. Even though there were what others consider to be worse times like being apart for three and a half years while we were together, the past year has been turbulent and unnerving but nonetheless memorable and heartwarming.
What others do not know is that, in 2007, he left for Perth and started our long-distance relationship shortly after we got together for one and a half months. When he came back in mid-2010, we had to go through about three and a half years later, what other couples already went through in their novice stage of courtship. We had to get to used to each others' facial expressions, vocal tones, body language, mannerisms, smells, household habits, lifestyle habits, love languages and intimacy on a face-to-face basis, which were all very new to us, albeit having been together for close to four years then.
It was hard and challenging but I am so glad now we never gave up. Our new life is here, baby. :) I know you are reading this.
We chose this month to solemnise our marriage because January means something to us. We do not have an actual or specific anniversary date because Tex never asked me to be be his girlfriend; we just got together. No questions were needed. Since then, we have agreed to celebrate our anniversary within the first week of January on different days, haha.
And nope, we (still) do not have a flat under our names. Two young earthlings chasing a big dream. :)
First in 2008: The very young us took a glass-bottom cable car ride and celebrated at the Jewel Box. I remember it to be rather expensive and warm, haha!
Second in 2009: Craving for ribs so we had dinner at Tony Roma's and we went to Acid Bar for drinks later.
Third in 2010: This was at a Mediterranean restaurant at Club Street which closed down. I remember the food to be rather decent but quite expensive too! Went Marina Barrage after dinner for a stroll.
Fourth in 2011: We were quite poor then so went to the old Burger Bench & Bar at Cineleisure! Very happy and fulfilling meal as I recalled. :)
Fifth in 2012: Had a very delicious meal at Vineyard @ Hort Park, I strongly recommend the lemon lava cake! Please go try try try! The pizza was sooo good! Changed seats to the alfresco seating over looking the pond and chatted about our future.
Sixth in 2013: Craving for a crazy hearty meal so we opted for a buffet meal at our favourite buffet place - Buffet Town! Love the massive variety at a more pocket-friendly price as compared to hotel buffets. Chatted our dinner away. :)
As you can see, we like to chat a lot. Perhaps we were very used to talking on the phone when we were apart. Sometimes, we feel we are dating the phone and not a person. Sometimes, I would forget how he looked like. Bittersweet times like this, we would send each other photos to remind each other of our faces. I would snail mail him letters and he would mail me presents back. Ever since he came back, we stopped doing such stuffs because there is simply no reason to do it now. Miss the snail mails! He would call me everyday and I would tell him all about my day and chat till late into the night. Sometimes I would wait for his call till I fell asleep and he would only call me at 3am when he was done with his studying. We laughed, fought, cried and kissed through the phone. It was definitely our best friend throughout our relationship.
Now that we are going to 'restart' our LDR cycle again, I will definitely find the mojo and rigour back!
Tex, thank you for everything. I am so looking forward to writing our next chapter together. You will continue to be my pillar of support, my best friend, my soulmate and I hope to offer you nothing less than what you have provided for me.
一切，盡在不言中.
What others do not know is that, in 2007, he left for Perth and started our long-distance relationship shortly after we got together for one and a half months. When he came back in mid-2010, we had to go through about three and a half years later, what other couples already went through in their novice stage of courtship. We had to get to used to each others' facial expressions, vocal tones, body language, mannerisms, smells, household habits, lifestyle habits, love languages and intimacy on a face-to-face basis, which were all very new to us, albeit having been together for close to four years then.
It was hard and challenging but I am so glad now we never gave up. Our new life is here, baby. :) I know you are reading this.
We chose this month to solemnise our marriage because January means something to us. We do not have an actual or specific anniversary date because Tex never asked me to be be his girlfriend; we just got together. No questions were needed. Since then, we have agreed to celebrate our anniversary within the first week of January on different days, haha.
And nope, we (still) do not have a flat under our names. Two young earthlings chasing a big dream. :)
 |
| Our first. |
 |
| Our second. |
Second in 2009: Craving for ribs so we had dinner at Tony Roma's and we went to Acid Bar for drinks later.
 |
| Our third. |
Third in 2010: This was at a Mediterranean restaurant at Club Street which closed down. I remember the food to be rather decent but quite expensive too! Went Marina Barrage after dinner for a stroll.
 |
| Our fourth. |
Fourth in 2011: We were quite poor then so went to the old Burger Bench & Bar at Cineleisure! Very happy and fulfilling meal as I recalled. :)
 |
| Our fifth. |
Fifth in 2012: Had a very delicious meal at Vineyard @ Hort Park, I strongly recommend the lemon lava cake! Please go try try try! The pizza was sooo good! Changed seats to the alfresco seating over looking the pond and chatted about our future.
 |
| Our sixth. |
As you can see, we like to chat a lot. Perhaps we were very used to talking on the phone when we were apart. Sometimes, we feel we are dating the phone and not a person. Sometimes, I would forget how he looked like. Bittersweet times like this, we would send each other photos to remind each other of our faces. I would snail mail him letters and he would mail me presents back. Ever since he came back, we stopped doing such stuffs because there is simply no reason to do it now. Miss the snail mails! He would call me everyday and I would tell him all about my day and chat till late into the night. Sometimes I would wait for his call till I fell asleep and he would only call me at 3am when he was done with his studying. We laughed, fought, cried and kissed through the phone. It was definitely our best friend throughout our relationship.
Now that we are going to 'restart' our LDR cycle again, I will definitely find the mojo and rigour back!
 |
| Thank you for the times. |
Tex, thank you for everything. I am so looking forward to writing our next chapter together. You will continue to be my pillar of support, my best friend, my soulmate and I hope to offer you nothing less than what you have provided for me.
一切，盡在不言中.
Thursday, January 03, 2013
2012
I think I owe it to myself to conclude 2012 properly.
1. Went on apple-diet and managed to lose 6kg.
2. Family trip to Bangkok after a long time and spent time with Tex in Boracay.
3. Got proposed to.
4. Had our hugest fight since the proposal, haha.
5. Best work-month with high satisfaction and stress. It's a wonder I didn't get a lot of migraines during that month.
6. Had my own thanksgiving. Exterminated grumpyfucks - one of my best decisions in life.
7. Started my OFTDs posts. Self-doubts went up. Fought with Tex.
8. Birthday month. Binged. Got fat again. Fought with Tex.
9. Europe with Tex - only thing I got was a Longchamp bg and coin pouch. Fought with Tex.
10. More OFTDs, booked our solemnisation date and family members' birthdays aka didn't-get-to-save-money month. Fought with Tex.
11. Had my first flea ever! Felt good to clear old stuffs! Fought with Tex.
12. Made terrible mistakes. Fought with Tex.
I know, we keep fighting, haha. Why do we fight so much and what do we fight for? Ultimately, we just want a better future. Two young individuals coming together against many odds to fight hard to stay together.
Hello 2013! I'm so glad to see you. Determined to love myself more.
1. Went on apple-diet and managed to lose 6kg.
2. Family trip to Bangkok after a long time and spent time with Tex in Boracay.
3. Got proposed to.
4. Had our hugest fight since the proposal, haha.
5. Best work-month with high satisfaction and stress. It's a wonder I didn't get a lot of migraines during that month.
6. Had my own thanksgiving. Exterminated grumpyfucks - one of my best decisions in life.
7. Started my OFTDs posts. Self-doubts went up. Fought with Tex.
8. Birthday month. Binged. Got fat again. Fought with Tex.
9. Europe with Tex - only thing I got was a Longchamp bg and coin pouch. Fought with Tex.
10. More OFTDs, booked our solemnisation date and family members' birthdays aka didn't-get-to-save-money month. Fought with Tex.
11. Had my first flea ever! Felt good to clear old stuffs! Fought with Tex.
12. Made terrible mistakes. Fought with Tex.
I know, we keep fighting, haha. Why do we fight so much and what do we fight for? Ultimately, we just want a better future. Two young individuals coming together against many odds to fight hard to stay together.
Hello 2013! I'm so glad to see you. Determined to love myself more.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
ASOS Lucy Ballet Flats
Had to do a review for this pair of shoes because I've been wearing them so often!
The colours work in mysterious ways and it is so easy to match! I wore it out almost immediately and have been wearing it daily since. Most sizes are still available here! :)
The colours work in mysterious ways and it is so easy to match! I wore it out almost immediately and have been wearing it daily since. Most sizes are still available here! :)
Travelogue - Salzburg, Austria September 2012
I'm not sorry to say that I've littered my little blog with brainfarts and thoughts that were so intense I had to blog it out. Thanks for sticking around, y'all!
Very excited to blog about this part of the travelogue. It's now classified as one of my top favourite cities. I can conclude I like any city that gives me that bright blue sky. Hehe.
Gotta admit that I love taking train rides in Europe. Quick, fast and enjoyable experience. We would normally very cheapo-ly, plopped ourselves and our bags in any first class cabin that we see. When the train conductor came by and check our tickets, the nice ones would let us stay since there wasn't anyone else with a proper first-class ticket looking for a cabin. The more "on" ones would ask us to top up our train fares or move to the economy class. I must say we have been blessed with very nice train conductors so far. Only one required us to top up, which Tex very kindly offered to pay. T.T
Prague to Salzburg was one of the most troublesome transits we had to make during the trip. We had to take a train from Prague Main Station to Linz and board another train from Linz to Salzburg. The entire journey took us about six hours and we finally reached Salzburg at around 2pm!
After rubbing shoulders with the grumpy Czechs, the Austrians that we met at the visitors' centre seemed soooooo friendly in contrast. A very nice lady was so patient to explain to us where we could visit within our short one-night stay and even advised us where we could attend musicals or concerts, which was on our to-do checklist in Salzburg!
If you ever visit Salzburg and are keen on visiting museums, cable cars, historical sites and interesting tourist attractions, please buy their Salzburg card for €26 per person for 24 hours. They come in 24 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours. Trust me, you will save so much more than €26. One cable car ride for an adult (ascent and descent) already cost you €21 and with the Salzburg card, it's free! Moreover, you will get free admissions or more than 50% discount on other attractions' admission rates, it's totally worth it! :) Know more about it here.
Checked into our hotel, Hotel Schwarzse Rossl. It's an academic hotel so it's open during their holidays seasons to travellers when their long-term students go back to their countries or homes. Reminded me strongly of Tex's room in his Perth college when I went to bunk in with him four years ago! See some reviews here! Kudos to Tex - he always, always never fails to find us affordable, clean and unique accomodations wherever we travel! :D
Dropped our bags and we headed out immediately to make full use of our Salzburg card! First stop was to Mozart's birth place! Oh, did you know that Salzburg was the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? Therefore you could see many shops selling souvenirs related to Mozart, like chocolates etc. They even had a chocolate named after him called Mozart balls. I know rightttttt. It's also called Mozartkugel.
Walked around the city to look for more places to go to and stumbled upon.. HOTEL SACHER!!! Now now, I've only heard of Hotel Sacher in Vienna, which was also one of my to-go list and they produce the famous Sacher Tortes. I didn't know Hotel Sacher existed in Salzburg too!
And now that we know, we had to patronise the cafe to give the famous torte, which also means "cake", to give the desserts a try! I couldn't wait till we visit Vienna, I had to eat it then!
We ordered a small selection of cakes and sinned.
And of course, the very famous Sacher Torte in praline size or in cake slice size. We ordered one alcoholic and one non-alcoholic in praline sizes for tasting!
Chose our seat by the Salzburg River for a quiet afternoon, resting our legs. It was a long day with us waking up early and rushing around changing trains.
Hotel Sacher Salzburg
Schwarzstraße 5-7, A-5020 Salzburg
Tel.: +43 (0)662 - 88 977 0
Fax: +43 (0)662 - 88 977 551
Photo-taking time at the river banks.
Walked to Mirabell Palace to attend a classical concert! Flashed our student cards and managed to get tickets at student price rates! :D Happy! The Mirabell Palace was really a wonderful place to hold a concert! An old lady told us to get married there. She also advised us that we had to wait for two years. LOL.
That night was relatively cold and we huddled to sleep together. :)
Went over to the cafe next door for free breakfast and spotted a cute little Vespa!
We packed up and left our backpacks with the hotel before starting our day proper! It was a good good good day!
Staring at these photos again makes me feel like every dollar I spent there was worth it.
Went to rent bicycles again! Took some time to choose bike again because I am short! T.T
We cycled along the river banks with the intention to visit Untersberg and take the cable car! That's the mountain in the below photo. Only after we have been there, then we knew that we were at the Austrian part of the Alps! OMG, holyshit!
Taking a breather - we were lost. We must have cycled continuously for about 6km or so or close to an hour but Untersberg seemed so near yet so far! I guess we have deviated away from the main roads and made some detours here and there. But fret not! It was also during this part where we took the nicest photos that tour buses could never have brought us to! :D
Cycled for what seemed like another 4 km through the residential estates and entered another small town nearer to Untersberg.
Took the cable car ride up to the Alps! Yay!!
While waiting for the cable car, we chatted an old American couple up and they told us they have been travelling around Europe for more than a month now. Hai, I would totally do that when I am old too.
At one point, the cable car just went vertically up and it was rather scary.. given that the carriage seemed a little weathered. Hurhur.
Tex was totally not dressed in hiking gear please. As Salzburg enjoyed quite an awesome weather that day, the summit was rather chilly! It must have felt like 12 degrees Celsius or so!
I packed bagels from the day's breakfast and we had our lunch while enjoying the breathtaking view.
It was, soooo worth it. That was the best day I had.
I really like the photo above. I felt really blissful with the opportunities given by so many people to be able to travel to such a wonderful place with Tex.
We then moved on to where Tex really wanted to visit - the Red Bull Arena!!! Mad soccer fan, he is. At first the stadium was closed, only the merchandise shop was opened. Then we stumbled upon an office and very earnestly explained to the lady that we came from Singapore and blah blah and really wanted to see the stadium and blah blah. Thank goodness she was so kind to open a door for us to enter the stadium! I thought we even saw some players training! Heee.
We then had to leave to catch the train to Vienna. I had a small regret that we didn't get to visit the Hohensalzburg Fortress due to time constraint! Had really wanted to take the furnicular. Oh well, it just means that I need to be back again! :)
The platforms at Salzburg Main Station were mad confusing and most of the announcements were made in German so we could only try our best to grasp what they were saying, mostly listening out for words like 'Wien' and the likes to make sure we were at the right platform. Alas, the train that we were supposed to be on, got delayed time and time again and we got so confused we eventually got up the wrong train! Better to be on the wrong train then to miss a train?
Turned out that the train that we were on was managed by WestBahn and not OBB, where our tickets were bought from. Hence, the train conductor told us that either we could get off the next stop to catch the right OBB train or continue with WestBahn on this train but we had to get new tickets. We looked around and Tex decided to just spend the money because the train was sooo nice and new! It was really different from the OBB trains that we took and WestBahn trains had food carts, double-decked seatings and free WIFI! Also, the fares that we eventually paid for WestBahn was cheaper than OBB! Tex made a good call after all! :)
The WestBahn train conductor also advised us that after we reached the Vienna Westbahnhof, we might be able to lodge for a refund of the unused tickets from OBB. So off to the counter we went when we alighted at about 9pm and submitted our forms. We seriously thought there might be no hope because it was purely due to our confusion and slow-wittedness, if I may say so, that we boarded the wrong train. However, Tex just informed me a few days ago that they processed the refunds and we got our money back! OBB, you still rock after all! :)
Seriously we were free to choose anywhere we wanted to sit. Shiok sia!!!
That's all for Salzburg, loves! Next up would be the Vienna leg! Ahhhhh, I love Austria!
Very excited to blog about this part of the travelogue. It's now classified as one of my top favourite cities. I can conclude I like any city that gives me that bright blue sky. Hehe.
 |
| Very scenic view along the train ride from Prague to Salzburg. |
Gotta admit that I love taking train rides in Europe. Quick, fast and enjoyable experience. We would normally very cheapo-ly, plopped ourselves and our bags in any first class cabin that we see. When the train conductor came by and check our tickets, the nice ones would let us stay since there wasn't anyone else with a proper first-class ticket looking for a cabin. The more "on" ones would ask us to top up our train fares or move to the economy class. I must say we have been blessed with very nice train conductors so far. Only one required us to top up, which Tex very kindly offered to pay. T.T
 |
| Sleepy heawd, sleepy hair. |
Prague to Salzburg was one of the most troublesome transits we had to make during the trip. We had to take a train from Prague Main Station to Linz and board another train from Linz to Salzburg. The entire journey took us about six hours and we finally reached Salzburg at around 2pm!
After rubbing shoulders with the grumpy Czechs, the Austrians that we met at the visitors' centre seemed soooooo friendly in contrast. A very nice lady was so patient to explain to us where we could visit within our short one-night stay and even advised us where we could attend musicals or concerts, which was on our to-do checklist in Salzburg!
If you ever visit Salzburg and are keen on visiting museums, cable cars, historical sites and interesting tourist attractions, please buy their Salzburg card for €26 per person for 24 hours. They come in 24 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours. Trust me, you will save so much more than €26. One cable car ride for an adult (ascent and descent) already cost you €21 and with the Salzburg card, it's free! Moreover, you will get free admissions or more than 50% discount on other attractions' admission rates, it's totally worth it! :) Know more about it here.
Checked into our hotel, Hotel Schwarzse Rossl. It's an academic hotel so it's open during their holidays seasons to travellers when their long-term students go back to their countries or homes. Reminded me strongly of Tex's room in his Perth college when I went to bunk in with him four years ago! See some reviews here! Kudos to Tex - he always, always never fails to find us affordable, clean and unique accomodations wherever we travel! :D
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| Tex's sexy butt while he checked out what was outside our window. |
Dropped our bags and we headed out immediately to make full use of our Salzburg card! First stop was to Mozart's birth place! Oh, did you know that Salzburg was the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? Therefore you could see many shops selling souvenirs related to Mozart, like chocolates etc. They even had a chocolate named after him called Mozart balls. I know rightttttt. It's also called Mozartkugel.
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| Free admission. Thank you Salzburg Card! |
Walked around the city to look for more places to go to and stumbled upon.. HOTEL SACHER!!! Now now, I've only heard of Hotel Sacher in Vienna, which was also one of my to-go list and they produce the famous Sacher Tortes. I didn't know Hotel Sacher existed in Salzburg too!
And now that we know, we had to patronise the cafe to give the famous torte, which also means "cake", to give the desserts a try! I couldn't wait till we visit Vienna, I had to eat it then!
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| Cafe Sacher. |
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| Ohhhhh look at those cakes. |
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| More souvenirs suitable for friends and family! |
We ordered a small selection of cakes and sinned.
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| This was so so so awesome. |
And of course, the very famous Sacher Torte in praline size or in cake slice size. We ordered one alcoholic and one non-alcoholic in praline sizes for tasting!
Chose our seat by the Salzburg River for a quiet afternoon, resting our legs. It was a long day with us waking up early and rushing around changing trains.
Hotel Sacher Salzburg
Schwarzstraße 5-7, A-5020 Salzburg
Tel.: +43 (0)662 - 88 977 0
Fax: +43 (0)662 - 88 977 551
Photo-taking time at the river banks.
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| Sunset at Hotel Sacher. |
Got hungry and found a nice restaurant for our dinner! Had traditional Austrian food! I don't particularly like horseradish. They tasted rather weird and spicy to me and only then I realised that they were of the same Brassicaceae family which consisted of mustard, wasabi, broccoli and cabbage. Tex didn't seem to mind it though.
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| As usual, couldn't finish our dinner and we packed home again! |
Walked to Mirabell Palace to attend a classical concert! Flashed our student cards and managed to get tickets at student price rates! :D Happy! The Mirabell Palace was really a wonderful place to hold a concert! An old lady told us to get married there. She also advised us that we had to wait for two years. LOL.
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| Strolling along the river bank again after the concert. |
That night was relatively cold and we huddled to sleep together. :)
Went over to the cafe next door for free breakfast and spotted a cute little Vespa!
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| Love having quiet breakfasts like this with Tex |
We packed up and left our backpacks with the hotel before starting our day proper! It was a good good good day!
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| Don't you just love the sky? |
Staring at these photos again makes me feel like every dollar I spent there was worth it.
Went to rent bicycles again! Took some time to choose bike again because I am short! T.T
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| That's Tex going very fast in front. I'm trailing behind because I wanted to take photos. |
We cycled along the river banks with the intention to visit Untersberg and take the cable car! That's the mountain in the below photo. Only after we have been there, then we knew that we were at the Austrian part of the Alps! OMG, holyshit!
Taking a breather - we were lost. We must have cycled continuously for about 6km or so or close to an hour but Untersberg seemed so near yet so far! I guess we have deviated away from the main roads and made some detours here and there. But fret not! It was also during this part where we took the nicest photos that tour buses could never have brought us to! :D
Cycled for what seemed like another 4 km through the residential estates and entered another small town nearer to Untersberg.
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| Finally reached! |
Took the cable car ride up to the Alps! Yay!!
While waiting for the cable car, we chatted an old American couple up and they told us they have been travelling around Europe for more than a month now. Hai, I would totally do that when I am old too.
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| Cars and houses getting smaller and smaller. |
At one point, the cable car just went vertically up and it was rather scary.. given that the carriage seemed a little weathered. Hurhur.
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| How about alfresco dining right on a height of 1972 metres? |
Tex was totally not dressed in hiking gear please. As Salzburg enjoyed quite an awesome weather that day, the summit was rather chilly! It must have felt like 12 degrees Celsius or so!
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| No idea where/what he was looking at. |
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| Had to tame my very notorious hair. |
I packed bagels from the day's breakfast and we had our lunch while enjoying the breathtaking view.
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| This was the old couple we talked to. |
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| There was snow!!! Not falling though. :( |
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| Hai, just to see this, the ride there was totally worth it. |
It was, soooo worth it. That was the best day I had.
I really like the photo above. I felt really blissful with the opportunities given by so many people to be able to travel to such a wonderful place with Tex.
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| On our descent down the mountain. |
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| Retrieving our parked bicycles! |
We then moved on to where Tex really wanted to visit - the Red Bull Arena!!! Mad soccer fan, he is. At first the stadium was closed, only the merchandise shop was opened. Then we stumbled upon an office and very earnestly explained to the lady that we came from Singapore and blah blah and really wanted to see the stadium and blah blah. Thank goodness she was so kind to open a door for us to enter the stadium! I thought we even saw some players training! Heee.
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| Happy Tex with his purchase. |
We then had to leave to catch the train to Vienna. I had a small regret that we didn't get to visit the Hohensalzburg Fortress due to time constraint! Had really wanted to take the furnicular. Oh well, it just means that I need to be back again! :)
The platforms at Salzburg Main Station were mad confusing and most of the announcements were made in German so we could only try our best to grasp what they were saying, mostly listening out for words like 'Wien' and the likes to make sure we were at the right platform. Alas, the train that we were supposed to be on, got delayed time and time again and we got so confused we eventually got up the wrong train! Better to be on the wrong train then to miss a train?
Turned out that the train that we were on was managed by WestBahn and not OBB, where our tickets were bought from. Hence, the train conductor told us that either we could get off the next stop to catch the right OBB train or continue with WestBahn on this train but we had to get new tickets. We looked around and Tex decided to just spend the money because the train was sooo nice and new! It was really different from the OBB trains that we took and WestBahn trains had food carts, double-decked seatings and free WIFI! Also, the fares that we eventually paid for WestBahn was cheaper than OBB! Tex made a good call after all! :)
The WestBahn train conductor also advised us that after we reached the Vienna Westbahnhof, we might be able to lodge for a refund of the unused tickets from OBB. So off to the counter we went when we alighted at about 9pm and submitted our forms. We seriously thought there might be no hope because it was purely due to our confusion and slow-wittedness, if I may say so, that we boarded the wrong train. However, Tex just informed me a few days ago that they processed the refunds and we got our money back! OBB, you still rock after all! :)
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| Upper deck. |
Seriously we were free to choose anywhere we wanted to sit. Shiok sia!!!
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| Nine classic faces of Tex eating sticky sweets. |
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| And here's one of mine. |
That's all for Salzburg, loves! Next up would be the Vienna leg! Ahhhhh, I love Austria!
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