Friday, July 21, 2006

Recap: 19th to 21st June Vienna, Austria

Presenting..... the music capital of Europe, Vienna :)

Believe it or not, this was the hostel I stayed in! ( No pun intended, the picture proves it)
Don't know why but only Americans stayed in this hostel besides 2 Singaporeans haha. And all were girls except one more American guy.


Main Entrance of the hostel, we were quite disappointed initially though...it was dark, scary and rundown



I live on C and D, pretty decent isn't it? Enough of the boring hostel, let's move on to Vienna proper!

The Austrian Parlament..greater details are found here. A mixture of Greek and Roman style. If you can see the 2 statues sitting...the one carrying the sword is the Greek which represents practical and the one with the book is the Roman, representing the theories.

This is a close up to tell you what I mean.

The parlament entrance is modelled after the Acropolis in Greece. Here I am standing in the Hall of Pillars. Each pillar was transported by horses from Salzburg taking 21 days in the past. Many were destroyed during WWII only the last 2 on the right side are the original copies. In the past it was a meeting place between the very powerful and not so powerful people, not it is for receptions :D but not for tourists of course haha

The Federal Assembly, used only when a new President is installed. The only room not destroyed during WWII. Roof top is made of the famous Bohemia glass. It was too bright to take a shot of it.
Seriously I don't even know if I have one with the Singapore flag :D

The Federal Council with veto powers...


Very near the Parlament is the Burg Theatre, where we had a hard hard time finding the BOX OFFICE.And opposite the Burg theatre, we have the Gothic City Hall Rathaus


And now hold on to your breath as we enter the grounds of Hofburg Palace..Amazingly beautiful!


Taking a break by the fountain in the Volksgarten

(To be continued....)

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Back in Singapore

HejHej! I am finally back in Singapore. Felt kind of strange but well, it is always nice to be back home after 6 months. No one to speak swedish to anymore, but singlish everywhere. Still suffering from jetlag and the terrible hot weather. (I know the Swedes will love it) haha. I haven't acclimitaise yet but tomorrow i am leaving for another 5 days reservist. Back to reality. Back to jungle. Back to mosquitoes. Back to sweat. Back to the same old shit routine.

The elite Guards logo


We are guardsman warriors,

resolute in loyaty, steadfast in commitment

We fight for our country, our home and family

Land Warriros from air and sea

Unfailing in toughness

Valiant in our actions

We destroy all foes who challenge our mission

We are elite warriros

With daring initiative

We rule the day, we rule the night

Always ready, Ready to Strike!