Montreux experience

Barely starting on its routine dance across the Genevan sky, the blinding sun took a peek over the horizon; defyingly eating the darkness that had shrouded the city. A single long shadow was cast as a man stepped off the train onto the railway platform, littered with leaves and coloured into a darker shade by the condensation of morning dews. He looked over his shoulders to admire the city's mountainous backdrop. He had come with a single objective.

If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.

He grinned to himself as he recalled the words of Sir Issac Newton; repeating the words to himself as if it was a personal resolution. His eyes were keen and piercing, but the pronounced eye bags under them betrayed his weariness. It had been 2 days since he had a good sleep, but he has no time to lose. Like clockwork, he whipped out a map and began planning his attack. He allowed adrenaline to consume his body, rejuvenating it. Placebo effect is how the mind beguiled the body to wok harder. 10 hours was all he had and that was all he needed. Any delay would jeopardise his exit strategy; and postpone his much needed rest.

He took his first step towards this objective.

Rochers de Naye - 5hrs 15min. He brushed aside this misleading information. He was sure that he would be able to scale the mountain is less than 4hours. If he stuck to his plan of a 4hour ascent, 2 hour at the summit and 3hours descent, he would have an hour to spare.

His climb was fraughted with fork roads which would each lead to an unknown destination. Anxious to reach the top, he instinctively chose the path that leads upward. Along the way he met a old lady who encouraging told him that when she was young, it took her slightly over 3 hours to scale the mountain. Hunched and frail, old but experienced, she gave him no reason to not believe her. Caringly, she asked about the load on his back. Confidently, he smiled at her and told her it was not a problem. She responded with a kind smile, supportive but not convincing. Having lived her all her life in the mountains, she should know better. But she just waved him off, letting the man discover the secrets of the mountains himself.

view from the half way mark.
Lunch time - sandwiches for the stomach, feast for the eyes.

There was a biathlon at the top of the mountain range!
just a little bit more.
awesome.
Took me 5hours to reach the top. Nearly literally on top of the world, I remembered the old lady. Our acquaintance was brief, but my admiration for her is deep. 3 hours are all you need. The old lady must have been a heroine of some sort when she was young.

I was there standing on the shoulders of Giants.

Montreux Paranomic

The paramonic view from the the mountain. Unfortunately, the full extend of the beauty has been limited by the width of the blog. Photos are unable to fully capture the breathtaking view.

From 500m.

From 700m.
From 1000m.
Peak.

Geneva Reformist

The history of churches is often intertwined with the histories of European countries. Thus to first understand the country's history, it is inevitable that we have to know the church history. Not surprisingly, the first museum that I stepped into in Geneva is their reformist church museum. Inside the dimly lighted rooms, shrouded by a air of mystery, I was brought back into the 16th century Geneva. The historical artifacts that had withstood centuries of ravages is, ironically, being guarded by security technology that was probably a recent invention. Reading the small stenciled prints and admiring the intrinsic artworks, I learnt about the treachery, anarchy, nepotism and betrayal. i was mesmerised.

The 10 commandments.
The chapel.
16th century Bible

A reformist board game.
Masterpiece of J.-S. Bach, Orgelbuchlein. Vers 1740

The reformist wall.

Geneva Intenational

The are numerous museums in Geneva, but not all comes with a history as illustrious as the Reformist Museum. Nonetheless, they are reputable for the causes that they stand for. Home to the United Nations and International Red Cross, Geneva is synonym with humanitarian. You can buy a 20swiss francs ticket, that would allow you into every museum in Geneva.

The United Nations.
National colours.
can you spot the Singapore flag?
chair?
Red Cross and Red Crescent.

Too bad this was closed when i was there..

Geneva Souvenirs

The swiss is famous for their watches, clocks, chocolates and their knives. This is the last post on Geneva. Up next, I will present to you Montreux, the highlight of my trip. Paranomic pictures awaits.



The longest Swiss Army knife measures 20cm long.

Geneva waterfront

This post marks the first of a series of posts on Geneva which will be introduced to you in a bite size manner. Geneva, Switzerland's third largest city, is often mistaken as the Swiss capital. Any one has any idea what is the name of Swiss capital city? If you are thinking Zurich, you are equally wrong. Think Bern instead. Just 2hours from the French border, Geneva is made up of a french speaking community. But English is good enough ticket to help you find your way around this this safe, clean and cosmopolitan city. Probably the most global city in the world it is the headquarters for many multinational companies and many United Nations agencies.

The Geneva waterfront is probably the highlight of the city. The 140m iconic Jet d'Eau is the world's tallest fountain; shooting water upwards at a speed of 200km/h (just about as fast as your Ferrari can go). Initially used as a safety valve for a hydro power generator, it has now become the city's landmark.

Rainbow. Mountainous backdrop.
life's like a boat.

Geneva sunset.

Geneva churches

I have a personal interest in churches, so I went church hunting again in Geneva.
Cathédrale de St Pierre. Notice the blend of Roman and neo-Gothic achitecture.

The Auditorie.
Temple de Madeleine.
Basilique Notre-Dame.

in your dreams

To set the record straight, I do not have 'pupils that are a tinge of lightning blue, with a red, so like fresh blood, surrounding it' ; neither do I have a 'small mark on the white of his right eye, just beside the pupil' yet. Normally, I would have been flattered when people tell that they have been dreaming of me. Normally, I would quite like the idea of me being a blue-eyed boy. Curiously it did not sink in well with me this time. It has only been a month and some people have already forgotten how I looked like. Damn has it been tt long since I left? One month without me must have felt like eternity to them. =p

Here's a photo of me. No blue eyes nor small scar above my right eye.

relativity

This serves as a bridging post as I fervently try to arrange my photos to present to you the Geneva in the best manner possible.. Einstein succinctly explained the essence his magnum opus for the layman who couldn't understand the physics behind relativity...

"When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity." - Albert Einstein

relativity. in another sense.

I got lost in the mountain, chased by a monster dog and almost missed my train. But sorry to disappoint some of you guys. haha.

i made it back alive.

tickets

"By the time any of you guys read this, I would have crossed the French border already.Embarking on this adventure alone, I should be back after 4days if all goes well. I shall bring to you the picturesque Geneva and Montreux. The awesome scenery should help cover up my 'three-legged cat' photographic skills. Swiss beckons. see ya. "

signing off as,

The Great Adventurer

Sometimes words of anger are better to be left unsaid. Won't that totally defeat the purpose of having a blog? I thought for a while and decided that it is not right to hurt them, because they are my friends; even though I'm nothing more but an obligation to them.

I just need to concentrate on living a good life. bless u.

nightfall

The street was dark and silent; the light filtering from his window betrayed the lifelessness of the precinct. The light went off and the man accustomed himself to the dark. Tonight is a great night to hunt; let's have fun. He muttered and smiled to himself like a pre-hunt ritual. When the clock struck twelve, he set forth on his hunt. The others would have disapproved of his midnight exploits; he was nonetheless determined to prove his detractors wrong. Fading into the night, he left the mansion under the cover of the shadows.

The adrenaline rush numbed the pain caused by the biting winds; it was a small price to pay for his cause. His heightened senses picked up a scent. Following his intuition, he crept stealthily. Stayed close to the wall to avoid the downwind he reminded himself. Unlike his hunter predecessor, he wasn't even the least worried about animals picking up his scent; instead shivering hands would not serve him well in his hunt.

His familiarity of the area proved to be indispensable. Visibility was low as clouds in the sky dispersed the faint moonlight. Under low light exposure his eyes failed him. Muscle memory kicked into play. He moved on without breaking a stride; arriving at the hunting ground without any misadventures.

The harsh winds proved to be debilitating. In an hour, his hands were trembling uncontrollably. He mentally noted the number of wasted shots and let out a sigh. Resigned, he ended his hunt. Back in the Nest, he shredded his clothes and went assessed his kills. Disappointingly, this was the only decent shot he got for the night..

The unyielding cold had proved to be a formidable foe. Next time, I'll put on warmer clothes.

lunch

Good news. A japanese girl asked to share table with me during lunch.
Better news. She asked the question in japanese.

what a good start to a week. :)

my lazy mind is telling my very energetic body to stay at home and rot.

mind over body. so true..

In one afternoon, I read all the past entries on my friend's blog, digesting his words for the second time thus far. Reading his blog always managed to set me thinking and deluding myself that I'm one step closer to becoming a philosopher. Sadly, it would never happen, as I'm too caught up in the rat race. Thanks to my good education and a slap in the face by Meritocracy, I'm more interested in solving problem than pensive thinking; which is no longer second nature to me. Education has killed a part of me which I am determined to revive.

I think I ought to put my very good brain into better use.

madame

Madame likes to talk about politics and she hates to have her photo taken. Yesterday madame and i had sat on the bench and we chatted for nearly 2 hours under the clear blue sky. we talk about Singapore, France, the nice weather, unemployment in France, George Bush, our families and nearly everything under the sun literally and figuratively( cos its was practically a cloudless day).

Insightful and encouraging, she had made me realised how shallow I am. she kindly corrected my french as we exchanged our life stories. I was told that philosophy is a compulsory modules in french education. She talked about Socrates and Plato like as if she has known then for years. I can only give my 2 cents worth which I believed she had already known only that she hasn't gone about telling me about it yet. From the star of David around her neck, I guessed that she's Jewish and she went on to tell me about her experience during the second world war. Her stories about how she had gone to the United States and how she wished her American granddaughter would pick up French so as to not forget her roots.

When it was my turn to share about my life, I wondered about how my mere 20 years of existence would actually interest her. I had no life lessons to pass to her, no interesting stories to share and worst of all not enough french vocabulary to adequately express my feelings and opinions. I told her about my school years (which is nearly all my lives), my friends, my interests, national service in Singapore, constellations and the stories behind them and how to use the Orion's Belt to identify the other constellations. She sat and listened attentively.

When we were about to part, she held my hand and wished me bonne chance. I thanked her and bided her farewell. I realised old people want others to talk to them. I walked away, turning back once to wave at her, I wondered if I would meet the madame again. If I do meet her again I'll ask for her name.

The moment she held my hands, I felt i was being appreciated.

itch

happy is not a feeling. it is a pespective of life.
and feeling happy is just the result of the perspective.
I had believed so until you guys introduced me to mahjong...

sometimes gambling leads to happiness too... :)

damn. my hands are itching..

a small step for me

"Hey i need some help in the kitchen.",she chirped. I was in the midst of a very intense battle. Peeling my eyes momentarily from the flickering screen, i turned my head only to find myself looking directly into her innocently green eyes. she dropped her gaze, gave me a sheepish grin and continued, "We dunno how to prepare dinner."

Dinner was pizza. The hardest step involved in preparing a ready-made frozen pizza for dinner is the turning of the knob on the oven. I paused my game and followed my russian housemate to the kitchen. Clinically, i warmed the oven, tore open the wrapping of the pizza, wrapped the tray in aluminum; shove the pizza into the oven. Being the only one who knows how to operate the oven, i'm probably the best cook in the house.

Since dinner would be served shortly, i hurriedly ended my game and make my way back to the kitchen. Wielding a knife and standing square to the pizza, my japanese housemate looked totally like a samurai. The way i see her handle the knives makes me worried about my own safety. The defenseless pizza seemed in a safer where it was lying motionless on the table than me who was standing just outside the door. i inched cautiously towards the cabinet as she continued to frighten the pizza with her stare. I pulled open the drawer and found what i was looking for..

"Here. Use the pizza roller.", i said.

She took hold of it and rolled the roller over the pizza. The pizza was sliced cleanly into two and a smile broke out of her face. she must have felt like a surgeon.

Over dinner, the american was a one man talk show. Beside the inconspicuous mexican ate silently and left without anyone noticing. I looked up from my food to notice that the russian was munching on an apple. "Is that enough for you?" "Yup. I dun want to grow fat in France."The brazilian girl beside me seems to share the same sentiments, as she focus on picking up the green peas and munching the salad. Seemed like dieting is a worldwide female problem. The spread of turkey and pizza seems to be invisible to them. This fact sink in well with me as I each for my third helping of pizza feeling happy that their dieting decision actually complements my weight gain program.

Today, the dinner conversation topic was tongue twister. We each gave a version of a tongue twister in our native language...

四是四,
十是十,
十四是十四,
四十是四十,
四十四是四十四,
四十四隻石獅子是死的

This was a piece of cake, but it sent everyone rolling in laughter. I was mildly irritated and not sure if I should be amused too. why do people laugh at things that they do not understand? They think that chinese language is incredible - incredibly funny. This seems to act as a catalyst instigating the american to launch a conversation which makes fun of chinese inability to speak fluent french. In his heavy boston accent, he blamed them for everything form global warming to his sore throat. The other students happily gave their two cents worth. Pausing for a drink, he turned to me and said,"It's alright for me to say all these if front of you right? since you are Singaporean..."

imbecile.

"Of cos it is not alright. I have family and friends who are chinese. You don't see me laughing at people who can't speak english without an accent, do you?", I replied. I had indirectly issued a myenglishisbetterthanyours challenge.

"Sorry", he muttered. Immediately, the dining table was enveloped by an awkward silenced like as if some unspoken death sentence had been passed. He was not the criminal; instead it was I who was condemned.

Too bad the dinner had to end this way.

music

Yesterday night, we had to choose between hanging around and breathing in deleterious caseinogens in a smoke filled bar or freezing to death outside the bar. We chose the latter. We had gone to the bar with the intention of just hanging out and talking. When we left, we were greeted by a resounding symphony. Across the road, an orchestra was performing in the cold to warm the hearts of the hundred who had gathered around the pavilion, most of whom were elderly. We found ourselves a nice spot where we could watch the performance and hide from the wind at the same time.

I think perhaps Singaporeans could learn a little lesson from this if we want our art scene to take flight. Public performances should be a people's initiative. In France, music is a already way of life. When i get back, I'm gg to pick up my guitar and perform in Orchard.

A concert ticket - $150

A guitar - $100

The expeience of smashing a guitar - priceless

I just gg to give a priceless performance. so no coins please.

haha.

wishing star

Last night, I laid on the beach till 1.a.m in the morning waiting for the celestial phenomenon to happen. The result was a disappointing total of only 5 shooting stars over the 2 hour wait. I was expecting a meteor shower. not meteor drizzle. Unfortunately, I was unable to capture the stars on film, as the spit second wonder was only meant for the eyes. The Mr. McDreamy inside me suggested that, "Maybe if i follow the path of the shooting star, I might find an angel who has fallen from the sky."

Just like a child who never gives up hope, I secretly made a wish after each falling star. But just like a child, I stupidly squandered all 5 wishes on the same thing. Nonetheless, it was enough to make me smile happily to myself for the whole night. At that moment, the cynic inside me was killed and I was a believer in folklores once more. Let's hope my wish turned into reality.

i made a wish upon a falling star.

Perseids

"The Perseids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle. The Perseids are so called because the point they appear to come from, called the radiant, lies in the constellation Perseus. Meteor showers occur when Earth moves through a meteor stream..."

"The famous Perseid meteor shower has been observed for about 2000 years, with the first known information on these meteors coming from the Far East. In early Europe, the Perseids came to be known as the 'tears of St. Lawrence' " - wikipedia

if all goes as planned.

i'll be crossing the border to the land of cheese fondue real soon ;-)

more than words

Writing seemed to be a skill which i have recently lost. My brain can't seem to be able to churn out grammatically correct sentences nowadays. Maybe, it just means that my French is improving. Totally uninspired, so I really dun feel like typing much. I'm just going to post some photos from Singapore. Also, I'm starting to have a liking for black and white photographs. I think that a picture taken in black and white is more meaningful and I can associate better with it than colored photographs. However, with my amateur skills the outcome of the photos never seem to turn out the way i had wanted it to be. Maybe some experts can drop by and give me some tips...

a mosque somewhere in shenton way.
Somewhere near Raffles Hotel.
spottiewood park

Sinagpore River

spottiewood park (those damn dustbins are in the way)
spottiewood park again.
and yet again spottiewood park

if a picture speak a thousands words. I have just written 8000 plus words.