Project WWWT -Misadventure Journal

18 May ~ 20 July 2017

As promised, I will post the misadventures, accidents or events that was unplanned and somewhat put a dent on our adventure. This journal will be given an update every week or the earliest possible date.

Netherlands

Lisse

The rented car turns out smaller than expected so we ended up opting for an upgrade which set us back some €€€

Amsterdam

The travel cooker that I packd along was spoiled (Think it may havve short circuited although I have used an international adapter that regulate the voltages). I ended up buying a replacement for it and the next best thing I had was a new electric rice cooker for €19.90 which took a long time to get the water to boiling point but it still manages to perform its needed function albeit really slow. 

The Best Western Schiphol Airport Hotel's elevator breaks down on our checking out date so we not only have to walk down the stairs, yours truly has to carry all luggages down from the 3rd floor.

Eden pooped on the hotel's carpet floor... Yes, it happened, like a dog. I have forgotten about this event until something similar happened in London. You can scroll down to see what happened. The only good thing was that the poop is dry so I could pick it up with toilet paper just like I picked up my pet, Bon Bon's poop. After picking the poop up, I cleaned the carpet with wet wipes and spray it with Young Living's Thieves spray. It looked good but I am not smelling the floor... hope it goes well.

Giethoorn

We are supposed to rent out own boat to navigate Giethoorn but I didn't bring adequate cash (I usually carry less than €50 and try to make most other payment via credit card) and the deposit for the boat rental is €50. I manages to convince the young attendant to allow me to rent without deposit citing that I do not have anywhere to go to with his boat. It went well... until an older gentleman came along (I reckon he was the father of the younger attendant) and stopped me and said that I need to pay the deposit or there will be no boat for me. Anyway, that's how we ended up taking a group boat ride which saves me €€€ and besides, its no joke to navigate those canal on my own, especially ferrying one active monkey on board.

Belgium

We missed the connecting train from Brussels to Bruges but since it is an Intercity train,  we managed to take the train that departs 40 mins later.

One of my small luggage (The small green one shown in the photo below) containing dried food and provision was stolen during our train journey from Brussels to Bruges. I suspect that the luggage was stolen in one of the two stoppage before reaching Bruges (Sint Pieters and Ghent). I wonder what are the thieves going to do with the content... perhaps just throw it away as I doubt he knows how to prepare or even enjoy Ginseng chicken soup, Bak Kut Teh or the super hot lemon chili sauce.

Our accomodation in Bruges doesn't come with a lift, so that menas more carrying of luggages for me but this time up a narrow flight of stairs to the second storey.

I think I left my wireless mouse' USB transmitter and my online banking token in my Bruges accomodation.

We missed yet again the connecting train from Brussels to Marne La Vallee Chessy (Paris). Managed to catch the next train which departs 4 hours later from our actual train.

France

Chose to eat McDonald's for Supner (Dinner at Supper time) in Parc Disneyland Paris. The queue is super long and the service system is really inefficient which gives a new definition to fast food. We ended up having our dinner at 21:55 hour.

When you buy Disneyland multipass, the "ticket" that you are asked to print from home is not a ticket but a voucher. You need to redeem your ticket with that printed voucher at the ticketing Cashier before you can enter the Disney Studio Park.

Eden fell and injured his head at the bus station while waiting for the bus to Disneyland Paris. Its nothing serious but the boy ended up with some scratches and a bump on his head.

OK, I may have to delete this if Naaman got older or if this post received tremendous readership... but he peed on the stroller while he was sleeping in it.

We reached Gare du Nord early and thought that the departure train (Eurostar) is at the platform since it was stated Niv+1 which I think meant 1st level/floor. So since we had time, we decided to go for lunch first and waited for the timing is nearer before we go to the platform. As one of our company didn't print her tickets, I went to the ticketing counter to print the ticket and the attendant told me that I am late for check in and asked me to go get everyone up to the check-in point immediately. When I went to fetch the rest of the company, they just started eating for a short while... so we decided to forgo the food (The grilled chicken actually tasted really good, its a shame... nay, a sin to just go without finishing). We ran but still missed the train but they put us on another train departing 30mins later. We need to check in 30 minutes before departure and the reason is because we need to clear 2 (Yes, TWO!) immigration check point, perform luggage scanning and walk to the platform. I noticed many people are in the same predicament as I am. Such a wonderful design! Its sarcasm.

United Kingdom

London

We rented a car with the intention to drive up to Bicester Village for a shopping day. When I collect the car , he guy upsell me a better car. I succumbed and got a Range Rover.

Eden fell sick for 1 day and my wife applied some essential oils on him. The next day he is well and up + running again although it is n a 70% energy level. I liked him best when he is in this condition.

Went to Bethnal Green Burberry Outlet and it was raining cats and dogs. To make matter worse, Eden pooped on his diapers big time and the Burberry outlet does not allow customers to use their toilet (they say its because they are preventing people from stealing from the shop by bringing the items into the toilet. I call it Balonney!) and they pointed me to a cafe with a toilet somewhere nearby. When I found the cafe, it is closed and has a sign saying "Toilet only for customers only". By that, you will know that many people are wrongfully diverted to this cafe's toilet in the past, hence the sign. Anyway, the real misadventure is not that. I could not find any other toilet to clean Eden and change his diapers and out of desperation, opt for some place near the residential dump. After taking off Eden's shoe, he pulled down his pants and the diapers went with it and you have a poop foundue from the backside to the back of his knees! Naaman was near to vomitting and in my frustration, I told him to go away. OK, the misadventure is not Eden, it is Naaman. When I was about done with Eden, I looked back and Naaman is not there! He ran off on his own! I was totally shocked. I have a soiled toddler on my hand that I could not leave alone and I have the other toddler who disappeared. I shouted his name but no reply, hence I quickly finished up the cleaning and praying in between. I went back into the Burberry outlet and pray that he is there. HE WAS! He got a good dress down although it does gives some assurance that he started to know where he is going and who to look for.

Terrorism at London Bridge and Borough Market left 8 dead and 40 injured. We were there a couple of days before. Thank God for protection.

Naaman soiled the bed twice.

Eden... after he is through with his bubble bath, he decided to make a number 2 in the bath tub! Its no fun. Its really difficult to bear the smell and the sight. I have to rinse the bath tub with boiling water for four times after i picked/wiped the poop from the tub. I have it in photo. You think I could use this to blackmail him to clean mine when I became old? Didnt think so.

Almost missed the flight due to extensive check at Stansted airport. Flight got delayed anyway, so thank God we still managed to board the flight to Pisa.

Northern Ireland

While we are at the Giant Causeway, Eden was really excited and ran around. We tried to catch up with him but he has the energy of a nuclear plant. We gave up after telling him to stop playing and come walk with us, which fell on deaf ear. Alas, the inevitable happened, Eden fell and knocked his forehead. He got a big swelling as a result of not listening to his parent's instruction. Mommy applied some essential oil on the bruise/swelling and thank God it subsided the next day. I read somewhere that someone suffered a heavy injury on his head and goes into coma. After he woke up, he suddenly has the urge to play the piano and proceeded to play masterpieces upon masterpieces. The weird thing is, he has not learnt piano in his entire life, let alone the masterpieces that he played. Wonder if Eden’s bump makes him any smarter or unlocked any hidden talents?

We have bought a flight ticket from Dublin to Prague as Belfast does not have a direct flight there. The bus ride from Belfast to Dublin was quite uneventful except for me having to run 400m sprint from the location of my rented-car’s return point to the Europa Bus Centre. I managed to board the bus of course. Some minor incident during the bag drop at Dublin Airport for RyanAir. My wife has queued up ahead of us and while we try to make our way towards her, an idiot of a man placed his luggage beside him on purpose to block our way. I politely asked him to excuse us and his reply stunned me. He said “No. I was here first”. I was like WTH? His turn is still a good 4 to 5 person away and he would not let us pass through where my missus is already at the counter. Excuse me, I know you can’t afford the more expensive flight where you can perhaps has a remote chances of throwing your weight around, but this is a budget flight. Racist? I don’t know. I try not to play that race victim card, but it’s hard not to think of it.

Italy

Cinque Terre (Manarola)

When purchasing the train ticket from La Spezia to Manarola, the ticket attendant told me that the train ticket for 3 adults and one 4yo child is €40. I was a little surprised by the exhorbitant price but hey, you are already there right, so what's stopping me? After getting my return ticket, I walked towards the platform and while walking, looked at the train ticket for details. I noticed that the adult ticket costs €4.00 and the child ticket is €2.00. How did we get to €40.00?? I head back and asked the ticket attendant. She said she realised she made a mistake but I have already left. She returned me the extra change of €12.00 only because I came back. A genuine mistake? May be more than meets the eye. We had some food at the bistro at Manarola that came with a view. My MIL picked up the bill. The total price was €8 and she gave the cashier €20 and the cashier just stare at her. I recalled my MIL walked away but realised something is amiss and went back to ask for her change and they say they were getting her the change but my MIL has walked away... beware of such scam.

Was given the wrong instruction at La Spezia centrale station (by no less than the train supervisor despite showing him the tickets. A practical joke? None of us is laughing) to board a train towards Pisa. Realized the train going in the wrong direction after 20 minutes. Alighted at the next station and have to repurchase train tickets. Wasted time, wasted €€€.

Pisa

The accomodation we stayed in was at the third story and yes, there is no lift yet again! I really had a good workout.

Was supposed to extend the car rental but didn't get an access to a phone. In the end, the car was returned pass the allowed period. The car rental attendant mentioned that the additional say rental is €80 (I rented the car for €34 yesterday) so needless to say, I asked what will it costs me if I were to not go with the rental. He told me that the charges will be €70 due to the late return. Faced with such obvious choice, I grudgingly go for an extra day rental. I didn't read the T&C, so perhaps the car rental guy is trying to trick me into renting an additional day.

Florence

Drove to Florence and what is important to know is the ZTL zone which is a restricted zone for foreign cars. You get a fine of €200 (so I heard) for breaching the ZTL. I think I did... will have to wait for the bill to come (sigh... why do we chose to drive in. Why did I cave in? Its a double whammy).

Update: It is confirmed. I got fined. The car rental company notified me of such summons and further stated that the government will be sending the summons to me directly, not sure whether it is by mail? Anyway, I don’t know how many summons and how much it will costs me but the car rental company will charge me a €55.00 for administrative charges for the inconvenience. Double sigh…

Genoa

Took a train to Nice and need to make a one-time transfer at Genova Piazza Princippe. The connection at Piazza Princippe will have approx.. 1 hour till the next train but the first train from Pisa to Piazza Princippe was delayed for 20 minutes and to make things worse, we alighted at the wrong station. We alighted at Genova Brignole instead. So we rushed for the next train to Piazza Princippe but missed it by that much. We will board another train with 8 minutes transfer window. While at Piazza Princippe, we try to enter the lift and despite us already filled up the lift, someone still try to enter and caused us some delay. Nevertheless, thank God we still made it (it’s a miracle as we have missed so many trains before).

The train we took to Nice stopped at Taggia Arma due to technical fault. Got delayed 20-30 minutes. Train delayed again at Ventimiglia for 45 minutes.

France

Nice

Our apartment smells like cigarette smoke so my initial thought was that the previous tenants smoked while staying in this apartment despite it being a non-smoking apartment. Later, I realised that my neighbour next door is a heavy smoker. Our apartment smells like cigarette too. In order to get rid of the smell, we cooked up a storm. It worked a bit so we have to double up our effort by lighting up our essential oil diffuser.  

Provence

We decided to drive to Provence and I have booked a car through EasyJet’s subsidiary EasyCar which is an intermediary agent, whereby the actual car rental company is Keddy, a subsidiary of EuropCar. While I booked a Mini-Cooper or a similar car, I was given a Volkswagon Polo which the car rental attendant mentioned to me is an upgrade. I asked for the Mini Cooper and was told that it was a higher grade of car which is 2 category above mine. Undeterred, I asked them to call EasyCar. Although my initial call with them confirmed that I had booked a Mini Cooper, I pass the call over to the Keddy attendant. It ended up with the same conclusion. I was even told that they could give me a similar car, which I promptly retorted that I am a seasoned car rental customer and know what does “similar car” actually means i.e. a similar category of car, not just any “similar car” (However they define that). So I ended up with a Volkswagon Polo.

While the car brought us to where we need to, the back seat of the car was so uncomfortable that two of my boys and my wife suffered road sickness and vomited one to two times throughout the journey. Naaman was the first to vomit followed by Eden. Then my wife vomited too. When we thought all is ok, Naaman vomited again. Thanks but no thanks to EasyCar.

Cannes

Both Naaman and Eden enjoys playing with water and has this funny habit of drinking the water from the shower or the bathtub. Sometimes they spit it out, other times, they just drink it in. So we went to Cannes and the water is crystal clear and was ice cold too. The boys get to swim at the beach and they happily drink the sea water while they were in it. They ended up vomiting into the sea, which in a way is "good" as their vomit attracts fishes 😅😂 and kept other people away by avoiding the vomit or the potential of my boys vomiting again.

Monaco

Monte Carlo

Thank God the day excursion to Monte Carlo is uneventful.

Prague

While visiting the old town square, we had brunch before we proceeded for our horse right and sightseeing. In between the short 5 seconds that I am talking with my MIL, Eden ran off in his own amongst the huge throng of tourists! Good thing I managed to find him 20 meters away. He was trying to chase the pigeons along the cobbled stone street. My wife and I pulled him to a corner or rather a small building’s lobby, whacked him and give him a good dressing down that even alarmed the building security guard. What should I do with this boy??

I went out during one of our nights in Prague to Charles Bridge in the evening for night photography. Uber is really cheap over here. However, there are areas that Uber driver could not access but is accessible to Taxis. Since it was quite late after I am done with my shooting session, I decided to take a taxi instead. The price of the ride ended up 4-5 times more expensive than Uber. According to my local Prague friend, you do not hail a taxi on the street. You always call. I guess this is the reason why.

I went out for another session of evening photography and thinking that I am smarter now in navigation and ensuring that I do not take a taxi ride, something else caught me by surprise. I was at the Charles Bridge again and intend to take head to the neighbouring bridge to take the photo of the famed bridge itself. I noticed that the illumination/lighting of the bridge seems a little different from when I saw it on Sunday. After taking many shots, I took an Uber back. While on the way, I asked the Uber driver regarding the bridge’s illumination. He promptly answer “Yes, the lighting on the bridge is brighter on weekends”. I went on Monday...

Austria

Vienna

Although Vienna as a city/tourist location is a far cry from what Prague has shown to us, we are excited to explore the city especially the World’s oldest zoo and the Belvedere Palace where it housed the painting of Gustav Klimt – The Kiss. The misadventure is not in the city but was the apartment that we rented. We have booked a 2-Bedroom apartment from Bookings.com (Apartment Diana), which has a policy stating that children stays for free. When we reached the apartment, we are made to wait. We waited for a good 15 minutes before someone opened the front door (Not for us, but we sneaked in as there are no shelter outside the apartment building). We try to check out the internal of the building’s lobby. It looked like a scene from a criminal thriller or a scary movie. When the apartment co-ordinator came to meet us, he has this thuggish outlook, which kind of caught us by surprise… in a bad way. He saw our party of 5 and refused to let us enter the apartment. I told him we have booked a 2 bedroom apartment but he insisted that we have booked an apartment for 2 despite me showing him my booking confirmation that stated that children can stay for free. He proceeded to call Bookings.com and let us all wait at the dirty lobby. The wait lasted around 40 minutes. In our minds, we are already thinking that we should just abandon this booking and stay in another hotel despite the need to pay a no-show/cancellation penalty. Anyway, he ended up re-offering us accommodation for a total price of €448.00 i.e. double of what I have paid but we flatly turned him down. We moved to another apartment hotel downtown and paid €598.00 but was happy with the more expensive price as the hotel was in good condition and was in a fantastic location. 

Salzburg

Pretty uneventful here in this hotel. The only thing that can be remotely considered as a misadventure was our tour to Berchtesgaden. The tour was scheduled to last for 4 hours and we were supposed to visit Marktschellenberg (Where Julie Andrews sang “The hills are alive with the sound of music” in the movie The Sound of Music), Konigsee and Berchtesgaden. We got lumped up together with another tour group and ended up wasting time for 1) stopping at the Salt Mine to drop of another tour group that has opted for the Salt Mine; 2) Picked up other tour group that includes the Salt Mine and Konigsee; and 3) We later came back to pick up the tour group that we dropped off earlier to head for tea in Berchtesgaden. We only had 60 minutes in Konigsee and the walk from the drop off point to the viewing point of St. Bartholomew’s Church (which is approximately 5 miles away) is no walk in the garden. It is really trekking. Suffice to say, the timing provided was not enough to take in the view of Konigsee (The boat ride is 2 hours!) and I exceeded the allocated time by 8 minutes and suffered the wrath of the tour guide and everyone in the tour bus. In summary, the tour we took, which costs us €42.00 per adult was 60 minutes in Konigsee and 30 minutes self-navigate tea time in Berchtesgaden. What a ripped off! Highly NOT recommended! Oh, we took the tour from Panorama City Tour. Avoid!

Germany

Munich

We took a train from Salzburg to Munich. The train we took was for trains running between 6PM ~ 6AM. The initial plan was to take the train at 650PM on the 4^th July but we have decided to extend one night in Salzburg and little did I know that the similar timing train on 5^th July requires passenger to make 2 transfers (The train on the 4^th is a direct train)! Hence we ended up purchasing a new ticket but thank God it only costs €39.00 for 3 adults and the children rides for free! Hooray!  

We have booked Courtyard Munich East Hotel as our accommodation in Munich but was surprised that this hotel is selected to be a business hotel. What does that even means, right? I discovered after checking in that it means budget and most things are self-service. Yours truly became the highest qualified bellboy at that hotel for the day. As a platinum member, I am entitled to free room upgrade, lounge access or breakfasts, welcome gift and sometimes, food and amenities vouchers. There are none of those here. Oh, there is a welcome gift. A can of sweetened drink and a bottle of mineral water. We stayed a night and transferred to Munich Marriott Hotel instead. Thank God they allow us for free cancellation.

When we tried checking in to Munich Marriott Hotel, we experienced another episode of drama. We are not given any complimentary upgrade although it is stated that Platinum members should usually be given provided that there is availability. I have checked, there are better rooms available but was not given to me until I ask, then the reception mentioned that he can only upgrade one of my room to a business room. I asked, “What about the other room?” and I was blatantly lied to by the reception staff saying that “There are no available room as most of our large room has been booked over the weekend”. I was frustrated but this situation was made worse when they made my family and I waited for a good 2 hours and yet, still did not have a room for us! I’ve had enough and ended up asking them to just give me any room they had and suddenly, they have 2 connecting rooms. I posted my frustration on their facebook and the hotel decided to write me a letter but does not have the guts to send it to me face-to-face. They just slot the letter under the door around 10PM. Well done Marriott. Well done!  

I brought the boys to the hotel’s indoor swimming pool. While at the facility front desk, I tried to look for towels. The moment I turned around, I saw Eden in the swimming pool alone. Although he has his float on, he is struggling with it and without thinking much, I jumped into the pool to “save” him. He is OK. The problem is, I had my mobile phone with me when I tried to save him. The phone can still be used after switching it off an letting it dry for 2 days, but the screen was flickering. Oh well…

We went out to check out the vicinity of the hotel. Found a nice garden and several playground. As usual, the boys are very curious and excited, which is really a recipe for disaster. However, the disaster did not happen to the boys nor happened when they are running about. It happened when Naaman was too tired and could not keep up. He was crying and wanted me to attend to him although I was already carrying Eden, the one whom is always running without paying any attention to our instruction(s). I place Eden down and asked my wife to hold his hand while I walk towards Naaman to carry him. It happened so quickly and all I heard was my MIL calling out to my wife. When I turned around, she was already on the floor. She apparently misplaced her foot in between the curb and the pathway while carrying Eden. This causes her to loose balance and sprained her ankle/foot. She was unable to walk and I carried her most of the distance of 200 meters back to the hotel. The doctor referred her to undertake an MRI scan. The result shows that she has torn and ruptured her ligaments and was not fit for further travel. As such, our project Where Were We Today will end in Munich where we will stay here for another week or two before heading back to Singapore. Croatia and Greece, we shall meet again in the future.

On our last day in Munich, we decided to head out (My wife on the wheelchair of course) to a nearby pond to feed the wild drakes & ducks, wild goose, resident swans and the fishes. Once we are done, we decided to venture a little further since its out last day in Munich and to both our excitement and disappointment, there is a public water park just a couple hundred meters away. We still have time but we did not bring the boys' swimming attire. Hence I went back to the hotel to fetch the necessities when I received a call from my wife... Eden has wandered into the pond! OMG! I rushed there to find a mud covered boy! The locals whom are resting/relaxing at the pond helped to save that boy from the shallow pond (my wife could not do much as she was bound by the wheelchair). This boy is really testing us to the max! Thank God its our last day so this is the final misadventure/mishap that we encountered in our Europe odyssey.