My 4 year old has caught the travel bug. An initial plan to laze and hibernate in Paris over the long weekend, turned out to be an impromptu 3 day trip to revisit Le Mont Saint Michel and the beach in the north western region of France, after succumbing to his plea. He was eager to climb atop the rocky tidal island and to catch sight of the changing landscape brought about by the tidal change.

This time round, we managed to tour the abbey and see much more but I think Malcolm enjoys it more and appreciates better, waddling on nearby marshy lands and observing the tidal change which miraculously engulfs and reveals the surrounding land.

Here’s sharing some of the pictures we took.

The Mass

To the Mass

they called this Pieta too. Not sure why this one is headless though. Definitely prefer the one in St Peter’s Basilica.

view from atop

Entrance of the Abbey

at the heavenly garden

Since the Airbus A380’s debut in Singapore, Malcolm has been an avid fan of this gigantic luxurious flying machine. He got even more hooked when my father-in-law introduced to him this video end of last year, when we were back in Singapore for a few months. He has since added this to his list of favourite videos and he watched it over and over again. I think he knows the details of the video more than me.

When we found out that the Airbus factory was in France, we knew he will go berserk if we will to bring him there. And sure enough, when we told him that we will be visiting the factory this holiday, he got extremely excited. Almost every night, he would ask whether there is school the next day, whether holiday has started. He simply can’t wait to be there!

So finally the day came and on the 3rd day of our trip, we visited the factory in Toulouse. It was a 1 1/2 hour guided tour, which includes 1/2 hour English presentation showing the visitors how the engineers test and put together the A380. We visited the assembly line and watched the same video, which by now, Malcolm has already grown so familiar with. This video was in fact put together by the Airbus company and if you watched it closely, you will realise that the different parts of this huge plane was actually shipped and transported by convoy, from Spain, Germany and United Kingdom to Toulouse. The parts were so huge and gigantic that they couldn’t use the usual air transportation by Airbus Beluga.

We were the only Asian in the group of about 30, or more specifically Singaporean. More than once, the word ‘Singapore Airline’ was mentioned as Singapore was the FIRST customer for the A380 and we had ordered 20, after the UAE who had ordered 50. In the assembly line, we were thrilled to see a few of the Airbus with the SIA logo.

I felt a sense of pride whenever the word ‘Singapore Airline’ was mentioned which probably stems from the fact that being just a mere dot on the world map, to be known wide and far, the achievement is marked.

Since cameras are not allowed in the factory, we only managed to take a few snap shots at the entrance. Scrutinized the video if you are interested to see how the factory looks like.

On the 2nd day of our trip,  we made a last minute decision to visit the Cité de l’espace, a theme park in Toulouse oriented towards space and the conquest of space.

Malcolm had a whale of a time even though everything was in French. He took picture with a full size Ariane 5 rocket, played with numerous interactive exhibits, had an expedition to Mars, collected some Mars rocks, saw how astronaut drinks were made, visited a mock up Russian Mir space station, saw how the astronauts live on board, tried star gazing through a telescope, shot a water rocket.

and here’s a video of him putting the Ariane 5 rocket together with other kids. He was the shortest but laughed the loudest during the later part of the video.

Ever since our visit to the ancient ruins in Rome, I was fascinated and intrigued. I wished I have the time and brain bytes to read more. Drink up the fountain of knowledge about the Roman empire. It has since been added to one of my to-do-list.

During our visits, architecture of this ancient civilisation left me in awe and made me feel little, literally. I was swarmed by a feeling that is usually invoked by the creation of mother nature and rarely by anything man made.

How on earth did these ancient beings put together such humongous structures without modern tools. To me, is an impossible feat.

When we read about the Roman aqueducts, I was curious, and so was Malcolm. Some of these aqueducts that are still around today, look like bridges. They were in fact water supply channels used for carrying water from the river to the cities and industrial sites. and were amongst the greatest engineering feats of the ancient world, which set a standard not equalled for over a thousand years after the fall of Rome.

Just south of France, there is Pont Du Gard, a 3 level aqueduct built by the Romans in the middle of the first century A.D. and we drove 7 hours, just to catch a glimpse of this magnificent structure.

We spent the whole afternoon just sitting by the Gard river, admiring the structure,with its reflection in the rippled water, from afar.

We hiked a bit and came across a wide varieties of vegetation in that region.

olive trees are aplenty, but his one is a rather old and unique one with twisted branches

Reaching the Sky, blue berries look-alike plants…

Brightly coloured toadstools. Knock knock, is Papa smurf home ?!

coffee break ? we thought this new extension, which includes a museum, some gift shops and cafes, was far too modern and is a huge mismatch to this ancient heritage site.

and while trying to climb on top this metal stump, Malcolm slipped and fell.

He ended up with a few mouthful of blood and a very bad bruise on his upper lips.

This marked the beginning of our autumn holiday.

Today’s hike was quite painful, mainly because my body was already feeling exhausted after the last 2 hikes and also because an outdoor bed is not the best way to rest my body.

We started the hike at Charamillon-Balme, 7172 ft, climbed 1706 ft to Refuge Albert 1er, a mountain refuge perched atop a scraggy crag, lateral moraine of the Glacier du Tour.

The ascent saw us crawling precariously over piles of jagged rocks and during the descent, a loose shoe lace caused a bad landing and I thought I couldn’t escape the fate of a sprained ankle. Fortunately all was well, I was still able to make it down though at a much slower pace. My knees hurt and my left toe was already blistered from yesterday’s descent. I never find descending gentle slopes such a torture. We took 4 1/2 hour to complete the hike.

I thought I had seen quite enough glacier but today’s view atop humbled me. The huge mass of glacier stretched almost endlessly and the resulting waterfall that gushed from underneath huge masses of ice once again reminded me of mother nature’s unrelenting power.

Time like this, when the body aches and the butt sore, I wished I never have to climb further, but I knew better than that.

All it takes is a good night rest and another beautiful day and we will be tempted to go again.

We are currently camping in a little camping village tucked in the middle of the woods, near Chamonix, the main town in the Mont Blanc Valley. It wasn’t as wild and rugged as I thought. Phew! We still have water to bath, electric power to start our stove, potable water from proper taps and toilets to do our business. The facilities are mostly shared except for a personal tent we pitched, our little blue portable table from Carrefour and an open air kitchen we set up next to our tent.

Things wasn’t looking good on our first day. It rained in the middle of the night which kept me awake worrying about rain seeping through our not so professional tent. I woke up every now and then shifting position as my body proved to be too delicate for an outdoor bed. I finally started my day at 8 am when rescue helicopter from a nearby port boomed right above our site. My body ached and my hips were bruised. I was already feeling grouchy and grumpy before starting our hike, which ended up in the rain! The 3 hours hike brought us to million years old glacier and it was only on our way back that the sky started to clear up. The gloomy weather and unrestful sleep did dampen my spirit and I was quite sure I would pack my stuff anytime but I stayed on.

Day 2 started bright and cheery and so was my mood. Maybe it was due to our first day hike. I slept like a baby and a restful sleep did make hell of a difference. We did another 3 hours hike but this time in sunny sunshine and with a panoramic view of the Mont Blanc mountain range.

Strangely, I looked forward to coming back to our little tent. I felt an odd sense of belonging, a strange familiarity. Queuing for shared bathrooms, brushing teeth with total strangers and greeting our neighbours from Germany, Netherland, Great Britain and Spain with my just-out-of-bed look seem to bother me less.

I am beginning to think that such open and non privacy living is good for the human soul. I am beginning to love this communal living stuff.

~ posted from Mont Blanc valley

As crazy as it may sound, we are setting off again! This time to camp and hike in the French Alps, home to Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe. Very last minute, very impromptu, very unplanned.

Our bodies are still recovering from our long trip, our muscles still ache from our last hike. But we know this may probably be the last chance for us to camp in the Alps before we head home next summer.

So while the heat is still on and the momentum is still with us, we are setting off.

When we were in Italy, we spent 1 week in Florence, in the Tuscany region. Florence is a small city and like many cities, has its fair share of crazy traffic and tourist crowd. We rented a 1 bedroom apartment, just outside Florence and it was one of the nicest accommodation for our whole trip.

This little apartment was tucked nicely up in a little hill, shielded from all the buzz in the city, yet within walking distance from Florence. The apartment was tastefully decorated. Very Tuscan style and extremely cozy. I fell in love with the ochre coloured and very classic wood furnishing. There was a HUGE balcony with a perfect view of the city, where we had our meals everyday and thereafter, catch the sun set in the evening. It was amazing how well it was shaded from the Tuscan sun throughout the day, which thus provide a perfect place for a good siesta.

For once, I don’t mind the buzzing mosquitoes as the scent from the burning incense made me feel nostalgic, reminded me of the good old kampong days when I was a child.

Thanks to the mosquitoes, Mal had fun every evening helping Daddy light up citronella candles and mosquito coils.

and here’s an attempt to capture the view from the balcony on paper

and here’s one from Malcolm too.

Today is our last day in Mestre, a concrete jungle which reminds me more of Asia with its hot humid weather and numerous Indian immigrants. We just did our grocery shopping at a nearby Indian ‘mama’ store and we managed to replenish our rice, not just any rice but Thai long grain rice!

So I was rather disappointed when we checked into our hotel 2 days back, I couldn’t imagine how Venice would be like,  being just a mere 10 minutes bus ride from our hotel. I lowered my expectation to prevent myself from further disappointment.

The 10 minutes bus ride crossed the strait and brought us to Venice bus station which really, reminded me of Johor bus station in Malaysia. SO, here we are, at Venice! the sinking city that intrigued many and probably the dream destination for many lovers. I was still hopeful that it will not turn out to be another myth.

We started walking, crossing our first bridge by foot, saw the canal and were greeted by graffiti walls and overflowing trash bins. I was lamenting to myself that graffiti might just be Venetians’ favourite past time, maybe they are simply too artistic and constantly need a channel to express themselves or maybe they are too suppressed and graffiti is way of letting all out. I wasn’t very impressed and found it quite a pity how this medieval city was not spared from such vandalism. These were my first thoughts.

As we walked along, the flaws of the city started fading into background and I was slowly charmed by the uniqueness of this city, even with its not so glamorous side.

From its winding lanes and dark alleys to its ocher coloured facades and delipated walls. I realised that everything added up and contributed to the beauty of the place.We took the water bus, saw many gondolas with their very charming and manly gondoliers. We walked some more, took tons of pictures and chatted with local painters. We chased the famous pigeons at St Mark Square, fed them lots of breadcrumbs and we went back the same place again the next day to do it again.

Malcolm was simply fascinated by this sinking city and his questions were endless. If you asked him what he loved about Venice, he would probably tell you, the water, the pigeons and the ice cream. As for me, I will say that the gondoliers are really hot and so are the gondola rides! Imagine baking under the hot sun for an hour without shade, it is like riding in a rickshaw in Singapore without a shelter overhead during midday, maybe some of you may find that romantic.

We have been on the road for 5 days now. We visited Germany and Austria and they were simply marvelous and I am afraid that by trying to describe our experience in such a short post may do these places injustice. So will do so when I have more time. Everything has been perfect until now.

We are at our 3rd stop, Italy. Just checked into a hotel in this small town Mestre, outside Venice. First thing that welcomed me was this HUGE mosquito that tried to suck blood out of me while waiting for our turn to check in. With a quick swipe, I managed to cripple the hell out of this pesky little insect. I was pleased with my quick reaction though a little surprise to find mosquito breeding in a developed temperate country, it was afterall my first encounter with a mosquito in Europe.

We finally checked in and I had a shock of my life when I saw our room. Pink bedsheets and red curtains with japanese paper lamps hanging from the ceiling. Wooden furnishing that reminds me of my childhood days. Hangers of varied designs and colours that look like they were collected over donkey years. The best part is the huge oriental paper fan that opens up as the headboard of the bed! The room looks trying. Trying to be oriental in the 80s or even 7os and it does invoke a sense of nostalgia in me. But I certainly don’t expect a room that cost me close to SGD 200 a night to remind me of my grandfather’s in rural Muar! I can almost feel the mosquito sneering at me! I have my blood sucked after all!

Let’s hope that Venice will not turn out like Punggol ‘long gang” tomorrow!
oh one good thing here, I have free WIFI in the room, first time ever! thus the chance for me to bitch and vent my frustration!
swwisshh! I just killed another mosquito! 3 days seem like a loooong time here!

We are back! After 9 hours on the road over 2 days for an airshow in Sanicole, a little town in Belgium. We weren’t so lucky this time though. As it turned out, the weather sucked on the way there, sucked during the show, but cleared up on our way back! It didn’t help that we had to park in a pool of mud, and waddle our way through it (yes, the mud pool) to the spectator areas, ruining my shoes, my beloved red pumps! Of course I was shivering by then although I was all decked out in winter gear except for my dainty red shoes. Urrrghhh!

And there we were, 3 of us, wrapped up in our gear, braving the rain and cold eager to watch a couple of jet planes (and also propeller ones as well) zooming around in the sky. But we were not alone, cos we were joined by thousands of other crazy Europeans. Their enthusiasm were only matched by those of the pilots that flew.

Despite the rain, the wind and the black clouds and the cold, the show went on and I could feel the passion these guys had for the whole event, the organizer, the pilots and the audience. The pilots definitely put out their best, as their planes disappeared now and then into clouds as they tried to find clear air to fly in. It was dangerous doing what they did so low to the ground. I must say that the Red Arrows are amazing. Not because of their display which they are well known for, but for their dedication and enthusiasm. After trying their best to put a decent display in the really bad weather, they left for UK to perform at the Farnborough Air Show. After their display at Farnborough, they actually came back again to give us another fly pass, with smoke and everything! How cool was that!The sky finally cleared up nearing the end of the show and we got to watch the Breitling Jet Team performed in considerably clear blue sky. It was our first encounter with them and we thought they were extremely impressive for a non military aerobatic team. We were so thrilled to get to watch them performed, a chance we may never have again. It was worth all the hassle that we had gone through and what best was, we got to eat hot soft belgian waffles and belgian french fries with mayonnaise under our poncho in the rain! By the way, do you know that the Beglians were the ones who invented french fries and baguette?!

So what’s next? Fly to Moscow to catch the Russian Strizhi?! Will see whether we are that crazy!

We are setting off. This time towards the North East, to Sanicole, Belgium. A slightly longer drive. Approximately 3.5 hour. To catch another airshow. This time featuring the Red Arrows and the Breitling Jet Team. Not sure what to expect, but we do know, we may never get another chance like this.
So here we go again, another last minute trip.

We have been trying to psycho ourselves for the longest time that ‘WE DON”T NEED A CAR IN PARIS’. The public transport is so extensive that it doesn’t quite make sense to drive a car, get trapped in bad traffic, pay an arm and a leg for parking and petrol and only drive it on weekends. It all makes perfect sense to just live without a car for our short stay here, blend into the culture and live like a real parisian. If only so.

Our minds were too weak, our limbs too pampered and after loads of mental struggle and tons of research, we finally succumb to the temptation.
WE BOUGHT A CAR ! A 7 year old Diesel Manual Engine Blue Voltswagon Turbo Golf !
Yah, it is an old car and I can’t help but to notice the black rubber tubing that runs round the body, an indication that it is an old model. But we have a car now!
and here are the possibilities,
we could now,
load up our stuff, drive to places of few human inhabitants, picnic on green meadow, hike in wilderness, camp under the stars and maybe catch a fish or 2 in countryside lake.
I feel so happy just thinking of it and I guess it is about time to stop the procrastination.

And YES, WE ARE DOING IT!
We just decided last night that coming end of the month, we shall CHUG our old ‘new’ car for our summer vacation and the itinerary is freshly out from the oven.
We plan to,
- cruise along Rhine river in Germany
- visit the birthplace of Mozart and origin of Sound of Music in Salzburg, Austria
- row a gondola in Venice
- explore the ancient civilization in Rome
- smell the sunflowers under the Tuscan sun
and finally
- camp on the Swiss Alps
and we will be on the road for 3 long weeks!

I am so so so excited
I am in cloud nine
and I could hardly contain myself!
Eeeekkks!!! Yiippee!

Europe is 1/2 the size of North America but has a population density of more than 3 times of the latter. This may explain why the beaches we visited so far were usually packed and crowded with people, desperate for the summer sun and eager to get that golden tan.

Amidst all the buzz, we managed to find our little spot, right next to the Mediterranean Sea, collecting pebbles and piling them up.
It was amazing what we could achieve with a steady hand and concentration.
We sort of drifted off to a place of calm, peace and tranquility.
It was a good place to be …

Inspired by Matt’s dancing video, during our recent trip, we made it a point to talk to strangers we met along the way. Trust me, it wasn’t easy especially for a SAHM, who spent most of her waking hours talking and negotiating with her 4 year old, and now, with the language barrier. It was very challenging, doing something that was so not me and the greatest lesson I learned was, people were usually friendlier than they looked and they usually have interesting stories to tell.

We talked to the lady pub owner downstairs our hotel, a group of English speaking teenagers on the beach, cyclists from Wales, painters in the market and an old couple from Italy who were so keen to take a picture with Mal.

During our train ride from Nice to Marseille, we met a girl who was traveling alone. She was 14 and had just spent 1 week of her summer vacation, sailing on a boat in the Mediterranean Sea. She set sail with a friend, and the friend’s father who built the sailing boat all by himself.

They sailed in open water to beautiful deserted island, snorkeled in crystal clear water and fished in deep blue sea. Once a while they would ‘park’ their boat a distance from the shore, jumped onto their rubber dinghy and row ashore, to get close to civilization.

It all sound so exciting, wild and adventurous and I couldn’t help wondering to myself, ‘what was I doing when I was 14 …’