From Fishandchipsland to Friesland to Pizzaland

While the french students are busy striking, fighting for their future, I've been busy moving around. I've been stuck in my room for more than three weeks, it is only normal for me to want to get the hell out of my 9m² room.

22 March - Brugge (Bruges) Belgium

I went to Brugge with Toh since we both thought that we couldn't stand staring at the ceiling all day anymore. People have always told me to visit Brugge, be it my french friends, be it my seniors, be it my father.

Brugge is actually like Colmar, but with the northern version. If in Colmar you have cardboard-boxes looking houses, in Brugge you have houses that look like as if they were built with legos. If you can take a boat ride in Colmar, you can do it in Brugge as well. In short, if you like visiting Colmar, you'll like visiting Brugge. But beware. The Belgian time curse applies in Brugge as well (the curse is that the time passes really slowly in Belgium, that after staying two hours in Belgium, you wonder if it hasn't been two days anywhere else in the world).

If you happen to visit Brugge, I recommend you to try out the Belgian fries at the Grande Place. It's very delicious. For just 3€ you'll get a large cup of fries, with onions, mayonnaise, and the very tasty curry-ketchup.

Length of visit recommended: Maximum 3 hours

24- 26 March - London (Londres) United Kingdom

see previous post

31 March - Antwerpen (Anvers) Belgium

Antwerp is the second largest city in Belgium after Brussels, and is the capital of Belgian Flanders region. It is also famous for its diamond industry, and is the world diamond capital although they don't have any diamond mines in Belgium. Personally, I think Antwerpen is more interesting than Brussels itself. Eventhough the time curse still applies here, the effects are not that noticable. Plus, there are more shops here than Brussels.

Just outside the train station, there are rows and rows of jewellery stores. Each and everyone of them has signs that says discount up to 50%. I think that's the sight that every woman dream of seeing. There is also a diamond center where they show how a raw diamond is cut, polished, and inserted into a jewellery, for free. And of course, you can always buy them at the end of the visit. In the souvenir shop at the center, there are rows of boxes containing very small grains of diamonds. And don't be fooled with the tags next to them. 0,10 ct does not meant one tenth of a cent, but 0,10 carat. I can always imagine some idiot thought that it's the price and that he had just hit the jackpot by buying a diamond at an unbelievable low price, and end up paying hundreds of dollar for it.

Apart from the diamonds, other places of interest are just like any other cities in the north (Lille, Brussels and Brugges). The old city center is nice, and so is the Cathedral, and the Grande Place. I've always thought that Antwerpen is a seaside city, but it's actually not. But I enjoy walking along the canal just the same. I can always sit on a bench on the terrace next to the canal, and lose myself in thoughts.

Never eat fries in Antwerpen.

Length of visit recommended: Half a day

1 April Nice France

Today Toh, Awad and I went to Nice. Toh and I took the 5.59 morning train to Nice. Awad joined us in Valence. The train ride was 7h30m long. It was really a pain in the ass.

We arrived in Nice at around 1330. We stayed at the Comfort Hotel. The rooms are at hostel's prices, which is not expensive at all considering that it's an international hotel chain. It's just 10 minutes walk from the train station, and between the two, there's a KFC! But I think we've chosen the wrong time to visit Nice. The city center was all messed up with the tramway construction. The main square, Place Masséna, was closed, so taking a picture of the local building architecture, which resembles a lot to buildings in Muar, Kuala Lumpur and Penang (Nice was once under the English), was impossible. If you're planning to visit Nice, go after 2007.

The old city center was very much like cities in Italy, but slightly tidier. There's nothing much to visit actually in Nice, apart from the Promenade des Anglais beach. If you like history, and wish to see the Roman ruins, do not waste your money going to the Gallo Romain archaeological site which is 10 minutes bus ride from Nice. The ruins in Lyon are better, and it's in the city center. There are ruins of an old fortress on top of a hill near the beach. It's worth climbing, not for th ruins, but for the view of Nice from top.

Length of visit recommended: Half a day

2 April Monaco and Cannes France

In the morning we visited Monaco. Monaco is a very nice-small country. As soon as you arrive at the train station you can straight away see how rich this country is. First we went to Monaco Ville where the royal palace and the old city center is. If you ask me, the royal palace was not that great. It looks just like a colonial era building in Malaysia. The city centre was just like any other mediterranean city, narrow streets in between yellow colored buildings.

Then we went to the west side. There's a shopping complex where you need to take an elevator which is situated at the mouth of a shallow cave (it reminds me of Ali Baba's cave), in order to get in. Then there's the Louis II of the Monaco football club, and the tent of the world famous Monaco circus. Then we went to the centre of Monaco, where there's the starting line of the Monaco Grand Prix. Next we went to the Opera and the Casino in Monte Carlo. Monaco is a nice country. But it would be nicer if it's flatter.

At around 1300, we went to Cannes. There's nothing much to see actually in Cannes apart for the Convention center where the Film Festival is held. We climbed the seaside hill like the one in Nice to have an aerial view of Cannes. It was worth the climb. Then we went to the old port, and to the convention center. Next to the convention center there's a park with lines and lines of celebrities' handprints. But mind you, they only date from 1986 to 1994. What happened after that, I have no idea. And the celebrities are mostly never heard of, apart for a few like Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone, Whoopi Goldberg and others. And then there's of course the beach. Unlike the one in Nice, which is a pebble beach, in Cannes it's a sand beach. We stayed there for about an hour before heading back to Nice.

Length of visit recommended; Half a day for each, or if you like gambling, spend more time in Monaco

3 April Ventimiglia (Vintimille) Italy

Not worth going.

The only good thing I can say about this place is that you can sit on the terrace by the beach or on the beach without having the traffic noise like in Nice or Cannes. For crying out loud, it doesn't even have a tourist infromation center.

Should've gone to Grasse. The perfume capital of the world.

Length of visit recommended: Don't