I had 2 unexpected Europe jaunts this year. The first one, to Belgium and Spain, came as a huge surprise courtesy of Uncle D's 70th birthday. He and my Mom used to be together for quite some time after my dad passed away, but that ended long ago. Wonderfully, he still keeps in touch by snail mail (postcards!) from wherever he is, and now finally he has learned the magic of SMS. We also have honorary siblings, his children (although they are quite grown up now and have kids of their own). Uncle D, with his new wife in tow, always makes it a point to have dinner with me and my sister whenever he's in KL and Singapore. The last dinner in KL with him, which was a few weeks before his 7oth birthday, I brought over some pocketbooks as a gift. Little to my knowledge, he had an even bigger gift for me. He offered to pay for a ticket for me, my sister, and her husband to join during the big dinner party in Brussels!
It was a mad scramble to get my visa ready in time. I had to deal with a condescending consulate official, who kept on asking me for more and more papers. But Uncle D didn't let us down, he made calls, wrote letters, and voila, to the shock of the bitchy consul, I got my Schengen visa within 5 working days and the morning of the last day possible for me to leave to make it to the dinner party! Classic line from her "We have never been able to grant Indonesians and Filipinos visas in under 3 weeks. You're on THAT list." Anyway bless her little heart I'm glad I was able to help her break a record.
Besides the major reunion with extended family, a visit to old Brussels haunts, and a day trip to Bruges the "Asian delegation" also snuck off for a few days to Malaga and Ronda. The Spain trip was off my budget, and almost cancelled because we went to the wrong airport (Charleroi not National!). We made it with barely 30 minutes to sprint to the boarding gate because of the efforts of the efficient (and forgiving) Jetairfly check-in crew and the Vin Diesel-like cab driver (seriously!) who raced us to the right airport. Trying to practice my Spanish and seeing an enthralling Flamenco concert by Marina Heredia and the gorgeous gorges of Ronda made it all worth it.
The second trip to Europe came barely a month after, and this time the Swedish consul was wonderful enought to grant me a visa til year's end. This time I spent a weekend exploring Gothernburg with J.P. and her Swedish hubby, and then a few days in meetings in Oslo and nights out with ex-colleagues which made me see another side of Norway.
And just when I thought I got my Europe fill, 2 more trips towards the end of the year suddenly came up! One of them so close to a long holiday here in Malaysia that it would be a crime not to extend. As one of my good friends put it, I think this is my most "kaladkarin" year ever.
Dinner party at Cercle Royal Gaulois. You can't tell we just stepped off the plane a few hours before, can you?
Food and wine was a huge part of the Brussels experience. This is the raw (!) seafood platter from Les Brasseries Georges.
So this is where I picked up the shutter bug!
A visit to Brussels is not complete without stopping by Gran Place, by day and night.
New for me in Brussels - all that graffiti. But a lot of them are pretty good.
Finally I remember what those Bruges canals look like.
Beautiful old buildings in Bruges.
Alcazaba, an old Moorish fort in Malaga.
Malaga town centre.
The famous Ronda gorge and a view of the old town.
Think only Madonna can take a bow in the famous Ronda bullfighting ring?
Lovers in Ronda.
The springtime sun sets at 10 pm over Akerbrygge in Oslo.
Hiking through the woods in Gothernburg.
Back view of Telenor HQ, by the fjords.
Wet and wild in Gotherburg.
Besides the major reunion with extended family, a visit to old Brussels haunts, and a day trip to Bruges the "Asian delegation" also snuck off for a few days to Malaga and Ronda. The Spain trip was off my budget, and almost cancelled because we went to the wrong airport (Charleroi not National!). We made it with barely 30 minutes to sprint to the boarding gate because of the efforts of the efficient (and forgiving) Jetairfly check-in crew and the Vin Diesel-like cab driver (seriously!) who raced us to the right airport. Trying to practice my Spanish and seeing an enthralling Flamenco concert by Marina Heredia and the gorgeous gorges of Ronda made it all worth it.
The second trip to Europe came barely a month after, and this time the Swedish consul was wonderful enought to grant me a visa til year's end. This time I spent a weekend exploring Gothernburg with J.P. and her Swedish hubby, and then a few days in meetings in Oslo and nights out with ex-colleagues which made me see another side of Norway.
And just when I thought I got my Europe fill, 2 more trips towards the end of the year suddenly came up! One of them so close to a long holiday here in Malaysia that it would be a crime not to extend. As one of my good friends put it, I think this is my most "kaladkarin" year ever.
Now to get down to the planning part!
Dinner party at Cercle Royal Gaulois. You can't tell we just stepped off the plane a few hours before, can you?
Food and wine was a huge part of the Brussels experience. This is the raw (!) seafood platter from Les Brasseries Georges.
So this is where I picked up the shutter bug!
A visit to Brussels is not complete without stopping by Gran Place, by day and night.
New for me in Brussels - all that graffiti. But a lot of them are pretty good.
Finally I remember what those Bruges canals look like.
Beautiful old buildings in Bruges.
Alcazaba, an old Moorish fort in Malaga.
Malaga town centre.
The famous Ronda gorge and a view of the old town.
Think only Madonna can take a bow in the famous Ronda bullfighting ring?
Lovers in Ronda.
The springtime sun sets at 10 pm over Akerbrygge in Oslo.
Hiking through the woods in Gothernburg.
Back view of Telenor HQ, by the fjords.
Wet and wild in Gotherburg.
1 comment:
Woohoo! What a great year for you! So many things and places seen, so many new stuff discovered. The year isn't over yet! I wonder what else your journeys will be for the rest of 2009 :D
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