ern's in Europe

Images of Milan

2009-05-04T04:13:00.000-07:00

Milano Centrale: The gateway to Milan! Their central train station.

Cars, trams, motorbikes and bicycles.

The metros, either empty or super full!

Rawr buildings..

It's cold on some days..

Vongole clam-sy yummy spaghetti. This is the real deal!

Now i know where Bugis got their idea..

The Duomo on a rainy day.

and of course, what's Milan without A.C. Milan and Inter? The San Siro! Home of Italian football.

GelatooO!

2009-05-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

The best! The best Tiramisu ever!!

Our last Gelato. Sobbz...

Milan Design Week

2009-05-03T08:21:00.000-07:00

Well. The main reason why I stayed on and not go home was to visit the very famous Milan Design Week. The entire city turned into a work of art. Shops turned into tiny museums and galleries. And all this coincides with the annual Salone Internazionle De Mobile(Mo-bee-leh: furniture). The great furniture design fair. Designers from all over descend in Milan during the week.. SM Goh Chok Tong was there too!

But sadly, i cannot show you pictures from the fair because Andrea fried her CF card. bleh! Nonetheless, that's just a tiny part of entire Milan. There are other way more interesting stuff..

Italy, home to great looking furniture and lighting. Kartell, Flos, Artemide etc. And the city has many of these showrooms. Bigg and Nicee!

Great book shops too.. 10 Corso Como. Very rare books sometimes. Also, saw some prominent Singapore designers here.

Street art.

We spent an entire afternoon at Zona Tortona. A small area in Milan cordoned off and turned into galleries. I havent been here before, but it sure looks like it was turned upside down.

Garages are galleries too you see. Smart conceptual designs here. These are... err.. thinking....... Belgium! yes.

Remember. This is a garage where cars are parked and fixed. Belongs to Lotus, if i'm not wrong.

Houses on top, galleries down below.

Left: Me, Right: Her.
At the end of every trip, we return with many brochures flyers and free stuff.. All worth keeping.

A photo i took in Mr. Achilles Castiglioni's studio apartment turned into a museum. (not supposed to take photos in there) This place highly recommended by Mr. K. And we totally enjoyed it.

Design around the city.. Everywhere!! ARGH!!

It's time for Venice!

2009-05-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

Yay! It's Venice..

The Italians call it Venezia, in english, it's Venice.

Thoughout the trip, Venice is the bestest place! No.1. I think it's very very unique. No where on earth can you find a city like this one. So, before you go to heaven, please visit it.

So yea! We left for Venice on a day trip. The island is so small that 1 day is enough to cover the area. We returned to Milan after that on a choo choo train.

Yes! So this is Venice! surrounded by water, alleys are both walkways and waterways. very narrow. There are no such things as cars here. No cars..

Typical houses on the island.

Parking lots..

Rialto Market. A bustling area with lots of craft shops, smelly seafood markets push-cart shops. The widest canal on the left. Grande Canal. I think it's like the expressway.. hahha.

Gondolas under wraps.

Mode of transport. Most of the boats look like that. Privately owned. See the swirly piles behind? Tie your boats there..

Andrea on the water-bus.

Bow of the Gondola facing the central part of Venice, it's at the Grande Canal's mouth. Huge! Grand, as the word says and really loevly. It's romantic!

Btw, Gondola rides are 100€. Student price 80€.

one of the many Basilicas in Venice. Massive marble pillars.

Many pigeons, of course..

A Gondolier singing away in the narrow alleys. It's echos all around and make you feel so loved.

I love Venice the most!!

Amsterdam back to Paris

2009-04-22T16:39:00.000-07:00

We (andrea and i) are now back in Paris. Waiting to go on to Milan, Italy. Btw, we're leaving tomorrow evening. So yea. This is just to wrap things up. It has been a good 4-5 days. =)

Andrea euphoria..

The train ride back to Paris from Amsterdam where the family left us. We were given 1st class! So there was free flow of food and drinks. Yoghurt, biscuits, chips, wine, fruits and free wi-fi..

Ah! The first night we arrived, we had another warm welcome back to St. Germaine. Yum!

Julien sprinkling some parsely on the lamb stew.. Very yummy..

Oh yea.. So, sundays are when most shops are closed around the city.. So Uncle Christian and Aunt Mey Kien brought us to the Chateau de Versailles, the castle of Versailles.

A lot of history here.. The court of Versailles was the centre of political power in France from 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in October 1789. - Wiki..

The famous Hall of Mirrors...
If you did history in secondary school, you'll know this place.

In the gardens.. Vast!

stones, pebbles got into her sneakers.

Time to go home to another sumptuous dinner! yay!!

So yea! The usual morning walks to the RER (MRT station). One of the days, we got followed by there terrier..

Andrea looking all posh at Galeries Lafayette.

Andrea looking all Jap at La Defense..

Our last dinner at St. Germaine..

Icing the raspberry cheesecake that aunt Mey Kien baked.

Julien watching..

Last sweets.. Sobbz.

Bye Uncle Christian! zzZ..

MILAN!! Here we come!!!

Amsterdam, Holland

2009-04-18T14:01:00.000-07:00

Guest blogger: Andrea
and a bit of me.

Welcome to Amsterdam! The place of many drugs and prostitutes.
Yes, that's what we were educated about Amsterdam before we got there.

walla! aunty siew kien decided to accompany us for the first day there.
because there was good dim sum

The rolls royce of all cheeses. Old Amsterdam cheese! YUMMY!
Of course, this was a cheese stall so they had 101 cheese-s.

As you can see from Nick's expression,

He loves cheese but the smell... *&^%$#$

Grocery shopping in Amsterdam, we have to stock up food for our little apartment near the Singel river. And yes, we had too much food supplies we needed boxes to bring them back.

The MEN are the strongest.

We sat on the river cruise that went 1metre per minute and spoke in 4 different languages. English was the last language.. how nice.

Yeh, we're on our way to the coolest library in the whole wide world ever.
And finding NEMO (a much better science centre in Amsterdam)
and apparently the architecturer(Renzo Piano) for NEMO was same as Pompidou Museum.

NEMO (New Metropolis) Museum. This is Nick's favourite place this holiday.

Whoo Whee!

A walk to Van Gogh museum. Starry staryy night.

I amsterdam!

Amsterdam - 15 - 18 Apr

2009-04-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

A lack of internet in the apartment in Amsterdam has caused me to blog after the entire stay there.

This is 1 of the many many canals they have in Amsterdam city, the capital of the Netherlands. It is like a web.

Day 14 - Breda town

2009-04-14T14:56:00.000-07:00

Finally, today after 4 days in living in Ulvenhout, just outside of Breda town, we're going TO Breda. hahaha..

Large cold green fluffy grass patches. Fit for lying down.

We popped by a Museum, as you can see. Thing is, you'll rarely come across a museum devoted solely to graphic design. As usual, the museum shop sells cool stuff, and as usual, i didnt get anything =(

Bicycle land!

Downtown Breda.

Bagels & Beans.

Hey boys and girls, it's me Nick. Ernest's big brother and guest blogger for tonight. Ern's off playing Guitar Hero. (He is no hero at the game. he is zero.)

Nice cafe along some street in Breda. Waiting for the rest to come so we can makan @ Mark's restaurant. (long awaited dinner, this one)

Breda's streets o' gold.

'is nice, i like'

Dickens&Jones! this is where cousin Mark Sax works. He's been here for 9 years and was a guest at his work place tonight.

Europe's tradition of bread and butter before starters are served. The butter with herbs is super. It gives us the supernatural ability to eat more bread. I could really get used to this Euro-culture.

'is nice, i like'

A remake of a 1996 ( i think) shot in Thomson Grove, Singapore. Where ern & mike hang on to Paul's arms for their dear lives.. have no idea why. (Julien and Claire are supposed to be in this pic too.) We were all by the pool ...and half naked. (not claire i think)

How things have changed. We all have grown up with shirts on our backs and a church in the background.

Ern and Benjamin.

A famous Dutch musician once sang: 'Dutch bikes, the only way to travel in Flat Holland.'

I have made an observation here during my week's stay: Having the rustiest of bike lights, heaviest of frames and of course- the chunkiest of bike locks are one of Holland's cool trends to be hip. Ern thinks he's so hip right now. Ben patronizes tourists from SE Asia.

'is nice, he like'

Day 13 - Jazz day in Ginnekin, Breda

2009-04-14T14:48:00.000-07:00

A little visit to the wind mill in the morning..

Typical houses in Dutch land. A lot of green pastures.

Andrea enjoying her bubbly iced lemon tea. She like!

We then moved on to Jazz in the street which are lined with pubs. It was monday, Easter holiday. Everyone flocked to the pubs to listen to some jazz.. They are preparing for the annual jazz festival in May.

Swing..

This is another bar we went to. Uncle Hans like this one.. A trio here

Again! We are on the terrace eating, drinking, chatting and joking.

Bitterballas! Chicken paste covered in fried bread crumps, dipped in bitter mustard! It's a dutch thing.

Eindhoven Day 12

2009-04-12T15:58:00.001-07:00

Before arriving in any of the countries that we were visiting, i did my research.. see if there's any exhibitions on or whatever. They had one on in Eindhoven. That's like 45mins drive from where we were staying.

we were off to STRP festival. Light, sound and technology festival. Weird stuff.

So we set out on the long drive. Long drives cuz we have long chats and the locals tell you about history and the dutch jokes.

Yea. So you see.. Weird stuff at the exhibition. Loud weird ear piercing audio experience.

you can visit the webbie if you wanna know more.
www.STRP.nl

The expo was held at the old Philips (the electronics company) factory. The original. It's kinda messed up as you can see.

After the expo, we headed around the town of Eindhoven to check it out. (that's us driving aorund town!) As you can see from above, the roads are empty cuz it's Sunday!

All the shops are closed. And it's custom that ppl stay home and hibernate. Ghostly roads.

Eindhoven, birth place of Philips. There are Philips buildings everywhere!

A Dutch boy at the road side picking flowers for, i suppose, his friend.

Yeap, we needed a tea break, so we settled down for a dutch sausage and some fries.

a little video..

2009-04-12T15:00:00.001-07:00

This is at a restaurant in St. Germaine En Laye in Paris. Thang Long Vietnamese, entertained by the boss himself, who was a concert pianist.

Antwerp Day 11

2009-04-11T15:34:00.000-07:00

Hello again to my dood around the world. It is small indeed!

Today, the weather was warmer than the usual cold. We slept in while the parents went on a supermarche(supermarket) trip to buy the breakfast/lunch.

So the plan was to go on a short road trip down south to Antwerp, Belgium. So yea! Add 1 more euro country to the list! England, France, Netherlands and to Belgium! But now we’re back in their house in Holland.

So this is Benjamin(family friend of the aunt Siew Kien), driving, and andrea holding on tight. We set off in 3 cars. A 2 Citroens and an Opel. An average speed of 130km/h on the freeway.

This is Andrea at Antwerp. The streets are very tight. Everything has been conserved and kept as original as possible. I like this common European policy. Conservation!

Nick and dad with the town hall in the background. De cathedral the tallest structure in the area..

Pointy houses that are now cafes, homes and chocolate shops

I forgot what we were doing.. yea.

After walking though the more trendy area of Antwerp, we settled down on the terrace for a drink.

“At the terrace!” – meaning lets have a drink, alfresco style.

This is Mark(my cousin), Benjamin and uncle Hans.

Tight alleys and walkways. And look at the roads we're walking on. Even the roads we drive on are like that. Rocky road..

Ah! We finished off Antwerp with a movie at some kickass cinema. Then a last drink here at the terrace! Ooh it’s getting cold again! Brr!

Netherlands

2009-04-11T05:18:00.001-07:00

Hello! We've arrived in Netherlands already! A 3 hour train from Paris, and here we are at another cousin's house.

Cut the long story short yea. My camera has 'malfunction' or 'cease to operate' yea? so there will be a lack of photos. I am sad. But dont worry, i still have andrea's and mom's camera!

take care everyone! =))

Paris Day 9

2009-04-11T04:36:00.000-07:00

Ah! I’m writing on the train now. We’re on the way to Netherlands now to meet my other cousins. It’s been a busy 2 days, that’s why we haven’t been blogging..

Anyways. Yesterday, we devoted the entire day for an educational trip to some art universities. But before all that, we went to Galeries Lafayette. It’s like a Isetan in Sg.

This building you see here is devoted to the Women, the building next to it is for the Males.

The view from the main atrium, it’s just very beautiful!

Ok.. so we are here at the first university. Beaux-Art de Paris. This uni is quite up there. Not sure if it’s the best in France, but yea.

One of Julien’s friend, Jean-baptiste, (JB in short) took us for a tour around the premises, to the classrooms, studios and galleries.

The have all the freedom in the world to do whatever they want.

On the way to the next school, we passed by some pretty cool shops. Like this one where Julien goes to buy his art materials. It’s the oldest around. And sexpensive too.

The next University we went to is Julien’s very own school. They have animation, product design, fashion design etc.

What’s cool is that popstar designer Philippe Starck designed the interiors and retro fitted the exteriors.

We couldn’t tour the insides but we visited the toilets. That’s all.

Dad eating some very sweet juicy yummy strawberries on the way to another school.

And at long last, we arrived at a art school in Gobelins. This is one of the best animation school around.

St Germaine (Paris) Day 7

2009-04-08T15:51:00.000-07:00

1.hi world. yesterday was a lazy day. so ern didn't blog. if you havent noticed, im not ern. and ern's not blogging for yesterday. reason being: ern was not involved yesterday. that's him at 11am, volcano hair and the lack of pants means he just got up... up and about on facebook, not caring about ernksy@blogspot.

2.so we woke up late and wasted the morning (yes i know, we're on holiday in europe, we should squeeze every penny/euro/krono out of the trip, blah, blah, blah). we were too tired from the day before's strainous activity: holidaying. there was a football match too. UEFA Champion's league. very odd that we didnt have to drag ourselves out of bed at 4am to watch these matches.. Regarding football match timings, living in Europe's quite glorious. I'd rather eat after-dinner-desserts and chug a beer during a match than rub crust outta my eye.

2.5. michel is happy too.

3.this is me, ern and domo-kun satisfied at one of life's simple pleasure- microwavable food, aka. food on demand.
did i mention one of life's simple pleasures are microwavable food, aka. food on demand.
anyway, we bought for 4 boys to eat: mash potato with cheese, cordon bleu x6, lasagna (1kg), rissotto, cheese burger and fries.

4.5. the men + andrea chilled in the garden out in the cold while waiting for dinner. chasing whiskey with beer.

4.after the ladies returned from shopping, they retired to the kitchen.. to cook. not really a retirement there eh?

Andrea is happy.

Julien is happier.

5.dad presents the beer.

More Photos of the Eiffel Tower

2009-04-07T10:56:00.000-07:00

Paris Day 6

2009-04-07T04:03:00.000-07:00

So at last, it's time for us to make a trip to downtown Paris after 2 days of being in the suburban area. It is a nice change.

So here, Julein brought us out for the entire day! We went to the Arche de Triumph. Self explainable. Erected after WW1 to commemorate the soldiers lost.

After that, we headed down the one of the major avenues, Champs Elysees. Posh shops, car show rooms, the mothership, flagship store of Louis Vuitton.

Along the avenue, there are cafes, chairs, table and customers face the road. Hmmm..

Nick trying to look all Paris-ee..

And then we settled down for some Italian Pasta. Served in a huge bowl with huge spoon and thong! We managed to finish everything easily. Very yummy!

We headed to the Pompidou Museum after lunch. One of the very unique buildings ever built. It stands out from the rest of the buildings surrounding it.

Contains contemporary art!

Mike walking through the escalator tube of the museum.. It overlooks the city.

And after an entre day of walking, we had to take a rest... We settled down on a patch of grass just outside one of the many churches. I think it's called something-Nemo-something.

Anyways, the being so nice, it's normal for ppl to just sit around and just stare at blank space. Something that we cant do in Sg. We'll just be fed by mosquitoes, sweat like a pig or just start getting bored.

They have lots to do while sitting on grass! Watch ppl on weird bikes cycle by, dogs play with their friends, ppl skate boarding.

And i guess we saved the best fot the last? We went to the Effiel Tower! (Tour Effiel) It's a magnifiecent sight.. it's very nice. I thought it was grey-ish black or something. But it turned out to be a light cream copper colour.

anyways. It's a very tall super structure.

This is one of the 4 'legs' of the tower. At every leg, it's either a restaurant(150sgd a dish) or a ticketing vendor. On the left is a small shop that sells merchandise. So, just imagine the size of the tower.

At 9pm sharp or at every hour, it's starts to sparkle. Ding ding ding!!

St. Germaine, France Day 5 Part2

2009-04-05T14:30:00.000-07:00

Today, we have guest blogger, Andrea..

Nick practising for reservist
Warning: Real Dagger

Warning: Real gun thingy with white balls loaded and some air

Ern preparing for army

The impact on the cans

Ernie so ready for army

Apparently Andrea's better than the other "sister" in the family.. in throwing daggers
And all thanks to Julien for teaching us to handle dangerous weapons

Yummy food at brasserie du theat-(rsch)

Best oysters ever!! and escargots.. and bone marrow..
This is only the appetiser
Click picture to see michael drool

Dessert ala creme brulee and cheesecake :)

mmmm. good food good company good weather.

St. Germaine, France Day 5

2009-04-05T07:44:00.000-07:00

We arrived 5.26pm at Gare Du Nord, Paris… after 2 hours 20 mins train ride from London, Eurostar.. awaiting for our Uncle Christian and cousin, Julien to pick us up to their home… waited for an hour plus ‘cos they were both caught in Paris’ jam.. worst than in Singapore.

Nick making his yum yum French breakfast.. croissant with butter, ham and shaved cheese.. sent to microwave to warm up.. breakfast was best.. baguette was crispy and so so fresh.. dad and uncle Christian walked to the bakery early morning before we all woke up.

Yeap! all up eating breakfast together.

After breakfast, drove to St Germain En Laye morning market to look look see see.. from stalls selling veg., to clothes, to cheese, to sausages.. very interesting..

Uncle Christian and cousin Julien at St Germain Castle. This place used to be a military outpost. It's because it's ontop of a hilly area. It over looks the entire area of Paris.

Surrounding the Castle area vast fields of green grass and long walk ways. Nick was intrigued by the flowers..

And about 1-ish, we took a rest at one of the cafes along the way.. beers, coffee, a coke, perrier and french fries..

My aunt.. dad's side. Aunt Mey Kien and my mommma!

Ah! we were here last night... An irish Bar. i had a strong bow i think.. haha..

Blogg will continue later on.. we're half way through the day..... going to watch nick and mike play BB guns.

London Dqy 3

2009-04-04T17:07:00.000-07:00

Pleqse forgive my typing todqy becquse i,m using q french keyboqrd:

i hqve qrrived in Frqnce! Stqying zith my cousin Julien now..

We,ve been reqlly tired the lqst fez dqys thqt,s why i hqvent updqted dqy 3 yet::

So day 2.. we decided thqt todqy shall be a museum visiting day.. So we zent to Tate Modern, Museum of London and to the Babrica centre. On the way, we passed by pretty cool buildings, historic; like the St Pauls Catherql;;

so nice...

qnd qt every nuseun; ze visited the shops in there: there, they qlzqys sell extrenly cool stuffs: books qnd notepqds: quirky stuffs:

and at Tate nodern; they hqd contemporqry art, zhich we all couldnt understqnd shit:

LUNCH! We ate EAT. for liunch.

the unforgetqblle MARYLEBONE St. thqt led up to Oxford street;

they hqd very nice houses here:: i think rich ppl stqyed here:: quiet qnd trqnauile

and this is on the famous Oxford Street. Zhile Mom and andrea were shopping, we plqyed 5/10; It was a very nice street tho,, they hqd this reqlly cool depqrtmentql store;; Selfridges and co,

Yellow paper bag=Selfridges And co.

Chinatown in Soho! Leister Square. I ate Singqpore fried noodles:

Leister Squqre at night: this is zere qll the theqtres are; extremely colourful1

London Day 2

2009-04-02T16:38:00.000-07:00

Not a very early this morning! We woke up at 9, at breakfast and reached Portobello Market at about 11am. Quiet place but they sell weird quirk stuffs. Like this one above, sells metal signages. Some are real and rusting, some reproduced.

A Paul Smith shop along the way. Very cool. Chic white and the entire property belongs to them.

In the afternoon, we headed down to Covent Garden! There, they have shopping, busking and lotsa food. Surrounding the area, Opera houses and theatres.

A disaapointing Covent Garden Market. Touristy and boOring compared to the other shops surrounding the place! But Andrea likes that towel.

Soft ice cream. It's like Thick whipped cream. It's quite nice. They sell it in a ice cream truck. Cute!

Oh i like this shop. Just 1 long table, and all the shoes. Very nice!

Take note, all this is happening in Covent Garden area. SHopping! Here is Nick, first time me seeing him so excited. He's seen here running into H&M, similar to Top Shop kinda stuff. Cheap cheap. nice nice!

Along the streets, there are several cool shops too that sell designer stuffs. 'Young' designer stuffs.

www.Mymagma.com
www.londongraphics.co.uk

Dad bought a cap for himself. He says it's to keep him warm..

To end the day on a high note! We watched the Lion King, a musical. Very very well done with excellent sets! Although i fell asleep! Super tired!!

yea. so i'm gonna flip now. into bed. gd night!

Portobello-covent garden-kebab.

London Day 1

2009-04-02T00:46:00.000-07:00

Hello! We've arrived! haha.. Mr Kenny picked us up! shoved our luggage into this trailer. It's reaally cold! 5deg.

Arrival at our hotel.. It's at Earl's Court. I think it's a very nice place because it's along the Tube(mrt)! It's a old place, small and squeezy. 4 of us kids to a room.

Then for lunch, we headed to Leister Square to eat some lunch. Eating in a cafe and eating out has a great diff in price.. so we ordered take away, and ate in the garden. Fruit cheesecake, pizza, kebab and coffee.

walking through Hyde Park and met some squirrels. (not in pic)

At the Buckingham Palace(where Queen Eli stays) we waited for an hour to see the changing of gaurds.

G20 protests about to start! The police, ambulances, motorcycles could be seen throughout the city. Sirens blasting around London central. Annoying!

And finally, the day ended with a trip to Wembley!! Good evening Wembleyy!! to watch England nearly lose to Ukraine!

Mike bought a scarf.

Wembley is so majestic. Better to see it real, not through a camera! This was 2 hours b4 kick off!

2 mins before kickoff!! Come'on Englandd!!!

Leaving now!

2009-03-31T04:03:00.000-07:00

SQ322 departs 2330hrs T3

See all of you soon! The month long journey starts here, on an Airbus A380!
Europe here i come! =)
Thanks Daddy!

31 March - 1 May 2009

I'll see all of you soon.

Blog to be updated everyday! I hope..

1900hrs..

2009-03-31T04:02:00.000-07:00

1 hours till we leave for the airport!

1900hrs at home:

My bags are packed!

The food luggage! For us and for my relatives there.. Bringing Singapore cuisine there. Mee Rubus, Laksa, Mee Siam, etc.

Dad still not packed and everything's in a mess!

Mike still sleeping..

Mom doing some last min bookings and stuffs.

and nick is still not home from work! Faster lehh!

Welcome welcome!

2009-03-27T05:21:00.001-07:00

WHOA! It was a very last min decision. We bought the tix just last week and in a few days time, we're leaving.

So, the main purpose of us going there is to visit my cousins and aunts who are in France and Netherlands. It's our turn to visit them. And for me, to relax after an entire year of pure hard work.

Just to give you a peek into what we're gonna be doing there,

When you're in Europe, especially in England, you've got to watch a football match! So nick has bought tix to watch England play Ukraine in the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers at the red Wembley Stadium. We are England!

Also, when Andrea and I are in Milan, we coincide with the Salone Internazionale del Mobile (Milan Furniture Fair). Which is world famous for all furnitures weird! It'll be held at the world's largest convention centre, FieroMilano.(4x bigger than Singapore's Expo).

And how we're going there? Via the world's largest airplane, the Airbus A380, to the world's busiest international airport Heathrow, London. Whoo!

Yeap. I shan't spoilt it for you now, just stay tuned to see where i'm going, cuz.. i dont even know where i'm headed!

oh! i just wanna share everything with you all! So whenever i get internet there, i'll upload stuffs here for all of you to see! =)