lyon!

Yes! I'm finally in lyon!!! And I finally have internet! Well, the french are really nice people. I have not met any not-nice french. But then again maybe thats because I can speak french. I won't recommend coming to france if you can't speak french. You will be able to survive in Paris, but not anywhere else.

I'm enjoying a 1999 red wine as I type this post. I bought it at the sunday market for 2.50euros. Aweeeeeeeeesome.

I've accumulated sooooo many pictures man. So here goes!

9 janvier 2008



my bro the ninja (turtle), me and my dad.



Yes, my bro was enlisting to serve the army. There are many white horses this year. PM's son and the Perm Sec of defence's son were going in on 10th.


The bus to pulau tekong chalet. The army dudes were quite rude to my bro, and I wanted to tell them to mind their manners.


We reached pulau tekong chalet after a short boat ride.


Woooooo. It seriously looks like a resort lah! With the nice buildings and beach.


"BMT- its not what you leave behind, but what you gain in the days ahead"
HAHAHAHAHA


Check out their beds. Freaking king koil spring beds!!! Even better than the one I have at home lah!


the food wasn't too bad either. Chicken rice with punch. But I know it's a one off thing. I heard they even served fries in another camp for the send-off day.


This guy is quite funny. I initially thought he was a statue, so I told my dad to take a picture with him. It was only when I was standing next to him that I realized he was a REAL person. I let out a yelp of surprise and ran away, but came back later after i've recovered from the shock and took this picture with him. That's why he has the -______- look.


I had dinner at the new T3, which wasn't as spectacular as the hype surrounding it. It's just a new T2.


The patterns on the floor are supposed to divert your eyes from seeing people, so you won't get the impression that there are so many people at the terminal.


Baggage collection area. This was where the winning wedding photo for that T3 wedding photo competition was shot.


The ceiling shutters can move and they are meant to change the amount of light that is let into the terminal.


I bumped into the other yixin and xiaoli, who were sending off their friend at the airport.


Instead of flying to heathrow, I transitted at frankfruit. My plane was full of angmohs, and I was the only asian there, so I felt very uncomfortable.

10 janvier 2008
At frankfruit, I helped a bunch of 11 PRCs going to Africa get their boarding passes. They couldn't speak english so I had to help them get their stuff done. These PRCs were going to Africa to build some resort.


Frankfruit. The passport dude chopping my passport tested my french. I passed. :)


My lyon flight on luthansa. I was damn thirsty at the airport and had to sacrifice 2euros for a bottle of water. OUCH.

I met an american girl on the flight who was also an exchange student at insa. What a god-send. Her french was quite good, though she had a strong american accent when she spoke. We also made friends with a south african woman living in lyon, who told us about all the must-sees in Lyon.


The bus to part-dieu station.

At part dieu, Kane came over to bring us to Insa. I can't imagine what I would do without this guy's help man.

Julia, the american girl. At the back, the "crayon" which houses the Credit Lyonnais office and a hotel.


The lyon Library. The national library in singapore pales in comparison.

I stayed in Kane's room on the first night because the office I was supposed to get my keys from was strangly closed at 3pm when it was supposed to be open. I wasn't too happy with that but that's they way things work here. Imagine if Kane didn't help me, I would have had to sleep on the street or something.

Anyway when I went to collect my keys the next day, the key dude told me in french that I was supposed to find some woman for the keys if the office was closed. I tried to tell him in my shitty french that there was no one around. He didn't seem to believe me. -__-


The hall where I live. Residence H. I got a single room, which costs a BOMB. 375 euros per month, which is about 800SGD. Sigh. 800 x 6 = 4.8k spent on accomdation. This does NOT include food. At least I don't have to put up with dirty, messy roommates.


The food in the canteen has been great so far. 3 meals/day, 5 days/week. The first and only time I spoke english on impulse happened in the canteen. I was asking the woman if I could take something and english just tumbled out of mouth. Of course, she didnt understand until I spoke french.


Somewhere in my school. It's been FREAKING cold, temperatures hovering under 10degrees. I can't stand it and I wasn't prepared for this. Oh, and the reason why my hair looks so bad is because I don't have a comb. I didn't bring one and it costs too much to buy one here.

Clothes are really cheap here, and it is possible to get really good make up and food for cheap. Cheap in european standards lah. It's the winter sale now (like the great singapore sale, a nation wide thing). LV in paris is having 70% sale. Most shops in Part dieu are also having crazy discounts. :D


Margaurite milk. Milk here is FANTASTIC. I usually buy the cheapest of everything I need. But I don't do that for two things: milk and wine.


Chocolate here is just so awesome too. This was recommended by my dad: Petit ecolier. It means little schoolboy. Remind me to bring some back for you guys to eat.


The first dinner I cooked. It was quite a failure. My stomach felt wierd after eating it. But the second dinner was way better. :)


Me at the TGV station. :) TGV tran in the background.

Life here is just so boring. There is nothing much to do at all. I was telling ben that I'll return to sg a duller, slower person.

Ok, will update more tomorrow about my sunday market trip and my trip to the zoo(which is actually a park but there are animals in the park and entry is FREEEE).