Monday, July 11, 2005
Bloody hell. I hate it when blogspot screws up and I have to retype everything. This one will certainly not have the same amount of enthusiasm.
Ok. From where I left off, I took a flight over to Brussels to meet the others after spending a week in the UK. I think I should first introduce each of them so I wouldn't have to point them out again in future.
First, Gary. The girls said that they thought of him as a serious person on first impression. Confident in his work, "zai", hardworking etc. But now they have revised their impression of him. In fact, it only took Peishan and Huijing 1 day to change their minds. Gary IS full of shit. 90% of the stuff that comes out of his mouth is rubbish. But of course it adds to the fun.
Next, Alex. Think I have talked about enough for me to leave out the introductory description. But there's one mystery about Alex which bugs me... He shits every day...but why he still so full of shit?
Huijing. Yes, the one who constantly milks me dry on the mahjong table. We found out her secret during the trip. Chocolates. All gambling fans know that the God of Gamblers, Gao Jun (Chow Yuen Fatt for those who dunno), loves chocolates. Huijing stuffs herself with chocolates everyday. Even if its not chocolates, she still has sweets, ice-cream, or nutella, or anything sweet she can lay her hands on. She eats so much sugar a day, we actually wonder where it all goes inside of her. (God of Gamblers is a show for those who REALLY don't know)
We are also speculating that putting tea bags on your eyes when you sleep helps you develop the power of looking through the back of a mahjong tile.
Jiawei. She's both brains and brawn. Top student of NUS Biz Ad. Don't pray pray. Soft-spoken, reserved most of the time, but once in a while, she also does take a gibe at us guys.
Peishan. She is independent, loves to take lead when we walk, so we let her to the topo, and then we hide while she does her usual charge ahead. Lucky for her, she managed to escape my camera.
Anyway, we only spent a night in Brussels because there wasn't much to see. Its a really small place, the city centre that is, and most of the sights are all a short walk away from each other. We completed all we wanted to see in just one afternoon.
First we went to check out the Grand Place, the most famous square in Brussels which is lined with nice buildings that were once guildhouses in the past, thus the tinge of gold on their exterior. The sky was overcast, so the pictures didn't turn out too well, otherwise the golden facade of the buildings around the square would have been nicer with the sun shining.
Just off the Grand Place is a statue of Everard 't Serclaes, some 14th century hero. Rubbing his tummy supposedly gave you good luck. But, obviously, as I have learnt, its a load of bull since I didn't win mahjong.
Next, we headed to see the famous statue of the Manneken Pis. Along the way, Huijing (not surprising, she loves sweet stuff) and Gary (not surprising, he's fat) decided to try out the Belgium waffles we kept seeing along the way. The stalls were everywhere. Just like Starbucks in the US. Unfortunately, I didn't think it was anything great. Wasn't that nice.
But Gary seemed to be enjoying his waffle.
And so did Huijing, such that she decided to leave some for tea. When we walk, and she craves for sugar, she would stick out her tongue and lick the sides of her mouth.
As we neared the site of the Manneken Pis, I noticed a crowd. Immediately I knew it was the statue. As I got closer, and saw the statue, I was thinking..."wtf, everyone comes here just to see this boy piss?!". Well, we know legend has it that this boy kinda saved the town from a fire by peeing, but then I expected the statue to be at least quite big or quite grand? But...its puny! Maybe when the little boy whipped out his hose and peed to put out the fire, that gave the fire fighters at that time to start using hoses to spray water instead of using buckets.
Up close...
Maybe its the way he poses that appeals to people? One hand on the waist, the other hand on the...and the back arched in a sexy pose. But, if that's the case, I can pose better. No hands even.
I was so disappointed. I decided that I would be a better Manneken Pis.
Anyway, we moved on. Met these 2 little kids along the street. Highly cute.
I love ang mo kids. I think they're the cutest, both in actions and in looks. Somehow, Asian kids just doesn't seem to be as cute. Unless of course, its me. Heh.
Ok. So we walk by this cathedral that looks very similar to the Notre Dame in Paris.
The girls wanted to go in and take a look, probably because they haven't seen much cathedrals yet. Gary and I have seen so many in Italy that its all the same to us now. And once you've been to the Vatican, no other cathedral can compare in terms of grandeur and majesty. But, this cathedral still had a nice big pipe organ mounted on the walls. Think its supposed to be one of the biggest in Europe or smtg if I remember correctly.
And also, the stained glasses which you'll probably find in every cathedral.
Next, we headed towards our final destination (yes, there is that little to see), the Royal Palace. En route, we walked through a park and decided to laze on the grass for a while. Rest and air our feet.
Huijing decides that she is a horse, and tries to sniff the flowers (weeds actually) on the grass. In Europe, people love to take their dogs everywhere the go. In the train, at the cafe when they eat, shopping etc. Some places, like Paris, you'll find dog shit everywhere, while other places, I the people bother to pick up after their dogs. So, Gary wondered, maybe a dog just shat on that same flower that Huijing just sniffed. Of course Huijing denies the possibility cos she didn't smell any shit. Then, we wondered, maybe a dog shat there before, that's why there are flowers there! Shit on soil = more fertile soil!
So, after lazing around in the sun, which wasn't hot since the weather was cool, we walked to the Royal Palace. Once again, nothing too fancy, even for a palace.
The highlight of the day was probably dinner when we had mussels. Gary says mussels and seafood are cheap in Belgium, so we should try it. Not really a mussel fan, but then it still tasted not bad. So long as the food is good, I'm a happy man. (Tip for the gals: The best way to Mingmong's heart is through his stomach. heh.)
Went back to our room which we had all to ourselves and played cards till we KOed. The next morning we had to catch a train down to Amsterdam.
Check out our bags (especially mine). Slowly you might notice that it gets bigger in size, things start to be hanging outside the bag and I have more things in hand. Think I started the trip with the heaviest bag pack at 18 kg.
En route to Amsterdam for 2 nights...
Shall type again tomorrow or smtg. Pissed off by blogspot for tonight.
P/S Alex is missing cos he only joined us in Berlin. He went to Copenhagen first.
