Project WWWT Day 6 of 72 - Bruges, Belgium

24 May 2017

Today is a slow day but it ws intended to be slow as the walking we did yesterday took its toll on us. Although I said slow, it doesn't mean we have little walking... we had equally long walk if not more albeit... slow. 

Project WWWT Day 5 of 72 - Bruges, Belgium

23 May 2017

The day starts early for me. Managed to go for a quick jog around 7AM and what can I say, Bruges is beautiful in the morning with the cool crisp air, still clear water in the canal, absence of crowds of people, horse carriages, cars and motor boats.

Project WWWT Day 4 of 72 - Netherlands/Belgium

22 May 2017

Rachel and her son HN is joining us from Singapore today and we met up with them at Schiphol Airport. Naaman and Eden was really excited when they met HN and ran around as though the airport is their playground. Bless their little hearts. From thereon, we took a train (Thalys) to Brussels Midi station to further transfer to the Intercity train towards Bruges. We only have 14 minutes to perform the transfer and needless to say, we missed the connecting train, hence we have to wait for the next train. Good thing that our tickets allowed for us to take any connecting train towards Bruges. 

Project WWWT Day 3 of 72 - Giethoorn, The Netherlands

21 May 2017

Project WWWT Day 2 of 72 - Lisse, The Netherlands

20th May 2017

The first day was spent mostly to help us recover from the jetlag. Amazingly, the boys was coping well but yours truly was a little under the weather. Fortunately, after much essential oil massages, oral application and diffusing, I am getting better although much damage has been done to my nose... it started to peel a little.

Project WWWT Day 1 of 72 - Lisse, The Netherlands

19 May 2017

Welcome to the start of our 72 Days Project WWWT! We are hopeful there will be many such adventure in the future but if it does not happen, we are contented and gave thanks to Jesus Christ that we managed to pull it off by His grace.

Singapore to Amsterdam via Singapore Airlines. Redeemed a one way economy ticket via KRISFLYER. Accumulated the points for more than 2 years. Ask me how I do it!

The flight journey has been a tiring one because:

1) Eden couldn't sleep well, which translate to yours truly not getting adequate sleep; and

2) The boy seated beside me was sleeping on his father's lap and was kicking me in his sleep throughout the night and this woke me up umpteen times. No, I didn't wake the father up and confront him about this because I am a father too.

What a small world it is, one of my old friend, JW (friend of more than 25 years) was on the same flight as I am and we are seated 3 rows apart. Didn't get to speak much as my hands, eyes and ears are  all occupied by my two boys.

The drive to Lisse from Schiphol Airport is short i.e. lesser than 20 minutes. I managed to navigate the left side driving quite well, if I would say so myself.p

Lisse is beautiful even without the tulips... actually the tulips are 99.9% gone so we could only hope to see them in Keukenhof or make another trip next time in the month of April. What a bummer.

Spent most of the day driving around, resting in the room and explore Heereweg. The houses here are really beautiful but it is expensive.

Read on:

Project WWWT Day 2 of 72 - Lisse, The Netherlands

Mercedes Benz vs. Public Transport

Which one is Faster?

A very interesting read that will put your conviction to the test:

A Neurosurgeon and an Operating Theater (OT) Nurse lives in the same neighborhood with their houses within one block away from each other. Both of them worked together and has a scheduled brain surgery at 10:30AM at Queen Elizabeth Hospital which is a mere 10 miles away from the neighborhood. The surgeon drove a brand new Mercedes Benz to work at 9AM while the OT nurse took the faithful public bus at the same time. She reached Queen Elizabeth Hospital around 9:30AM with ample time to enjoy a cup of coffee and had a chatter with the other nurses who had arrived earlier while he reached at 9:50AM. Why is that so? 

Take some time to think about the reasons before you scroll down further.

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Rain In The Morning

Ahh~ The sound of rain. I find it really soothing and relaxing especially when it is in the morning. The sound of rain droplet hitting the ground, the sweet aroma of water in the air and the cooling temperature just makes you feel rejuvenated and refreshed! Its a great time to continue to snooze though...

Singapore Zoo Visit

Singapore Zoo

For those of you contemplating whether to visit the Singapore Zoo when you are on a holiday trip to Singapore, the answer is a resounding YES! Singapore is pretty small with not many things to fill up your itinerary. The usual top 5 MUST-SEE places in Singapore are as follow:

1) Esplanade (Dubbed the Singapore durian) + One Fullerton
2) Clarke Quay 
3) Sentosa + Resort World (Universal Studio)
4) Orchard Road
5) Marina Bay Sands and Waterfront

If one were to strictly follow the usual itinerary by filling up on the 5 places mentioned above, Singapore has nothing much to offer and you would be done with the city state in a 3D2N stay here. Hence I strongly recommends the Singapore Zoo (Including the River Safari and Night Safari) which is well known as the best Zoo in ASEAN and perhaps would even win a place (If not already) in the best zoo in the world. With the recent River Safari being opened to the public with 2 giant pandas loaned to Singapore by China as the main attraction and the much beloved Inuka (Read Ee-noo-ka) (Inuka has since passed on due to old age since the writing of this post) who was born in Singapore being relocated to a new climatized facility, the Singapore Zoo has became a MUST SEE if you are visiting the country.

Why Bali is worth a Revisit - Part 2

Perhaps many of you have visited Bali and places like Seminyak, Kuta, Jimbaran and Nusa Dua strikes a familiar chord with you. However, Bali is simply more than just these places and the beaches it offers. More than often, those around me will say “I don’t like Bali that much because all you get is beaches and temples” which I can empathy but will definitely disagree. How many of you have taken the path least trodden in Bali to discover its diversity and charm? I am not talking about Tanah Lot, Uluwatu or Discovery Mall but a little something that you will likely not find in any tour package or review.

Have anyone of you tried the famous Bali coffee? I believe you would have but do you know which brand is the more preferred brand? Its ‘Bola Dunia’ brand of coffee both powdered and bean form. Wouldn’t you want to know whether there are any coffee plantations on the island or better still to visit one of these plantations? I have and I will say that it’s a refreshing experience as compared to the beach activities offered all over the island. You will get to see how it was grown and roasted. To top it off, you get to sample all the coffee brews right from the plantation itself. If you have heard of ‘Kopi Luwak’ or more widely known as the Civet Coffee, you can find it here and you may also see the civet itself at the plantation. For the uninitiated, Kopi Luwak is the most expensive coffee in the world due to its out-of-the-world aroma and taste that is strong but does not leave a strong after taste. But what made this coffee so expensive is due to the low supply of the beans as these beans are harvested only after the civet has picked and eaten the best ripe coffee beans and passed out the digested beans from its rear. Yeah, so the next time when someone tells you that his or her coffee tasted like shit, probably it does!