day 34: farewell dinner party

Leaving Ilsoya, the summer house, was swift, but not painless. By this time, we were more experienced with putting on the water safety suits and Oyvind had a softer dock with the small boat. While everything was going a lot smoother, I was not as happy as when I first arrived. I felt like the little green monster who appears at the end of every episode of Gag and screams "Mommy, it's over!!". Jerrain and Oyvind managed to coax me into leaving Soranoy, or South Eagle Island, without being dragged on to the boat.

We caught a quick nap during the one hour ferry ride to Bodo and gathered enough energy to do some light trekking on Keiservarden. We strolled pass two small lakes which Oyvind used to spend a lot of time at as a child. There was a drizzle but we strived on to the peak which took us about an hour. It felt great to be at the summit although the views would have been better if it was not as cloudy.

The rest of the afternoon was spent preparing for the dinner party. Oyvind invited his good friends, Tom, Frida and Arild over for dinner, wine and Rock Band. I helped prepare dinner by doing lots of chopping (and dancing to Lady Gaga). For dinner, we had:

• Bruschetta with chorizo sausage and feta cheese
• Beef roast with mixed vegetables and thyme potatos
• Vanilla ce cream with raspberry purée and chocolate sauce drizzle
• Four and a half bottle of wine

Location: Bodo, Norway
Cost: 99nok ferry back to Bodo
Highlight: Sharing lives and travel stories with our new Norwegian friends over a home-cooked dinner and wine. It warmed my heart to see how we could easily share a joke despite our cultural differences. And I do not know anyone who did not enjoy jamming on Rock Band!

day 28: say cheese fondue

Our last full day in Interlaken. Jerrain and I were determined to keep it as relaxing as possible. So no more seven-hour cycling or heavy partying.

We skipped breakfast at our hostel for a full spread at the main square in town. Des Alpes, a restaurant recommended by our hostel, had seats facing the field where many paragliders land. We had:

• Cheese fondue with bread - 28.50chf
• Sirloin steak 180 grams - 35.90 chf
• A bottle of Ramseier's Apfel Schorle (sparkling apple juice) each - 4.50chf

We saw at least 15 paragliders while we had lunch. Paragliding is now on my bucket list, so is canyoning and sky diving! Especially after seeing Mike's video and photos of his dive over dinner.

The highlight of the day was discovering Tally Weijl! Jerrain bought a pretty black dress and a white top, and I could not resist a pair of white shorts.

We were all ready for bed about 9pm when the inviting 'Happy Hour' gong went off. (Actually I had been watching the time and wondering why the daily gong had not gone off yet). I had a last 10chf note in my wallet for emergency, and we concurred that it seemed like one. So we hurried down to the bar in our pyjamas for our final two vodka cranberries.

As we were heading to bed (again), Dan and the guys came by with their 1chf beer. Xport pizza just next door was celebrating its second birthday and offering beers at this crazy price. Stocks were out by the time we got there so the boss gave us a 0.50chf discount off our 3.50chf local beer. We shared a salami and cheese pizza with the guys before (successfully this time) going to sleep.

• Location: Interlaken, Switzerland
• Highlight: Hard to believe, but it was shopping at Tally Weijl and trying all the pretty dresses! And drinking at Metro Bar in our PJs.
• Cost: 1.90chf postage per post card, 36.70chf lunch, 15chf white shorts, 8.35chf chocolates and shower foam, 9chf vodka cranberry, €10 chicken cordon bleu, 3chf beer, €4 pizza.

day 24: munching munchen

Huge sausages, mega ribs, juicy roasted chicken, big leg of ham and more. Besides these glorious meat stalls, carts selling fresh fruit and vegetables surrounded the Viktualienmaekt Beer Garden. I held my breath in anticipation as I wait for Jerrain to complete the Sandrmans New Munich Tour.

Instead of joining the tour, I decided to wander around with my map. That way, I could pace myself (and my recovering right foot). Starting at the magnificent Neues Rathaus at Marienplatz, my first stop was the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) and its tower. After 82 steps and an elevator ride, I stood at 86 metres overlooking the city. Before heading to Viktualienmaekt, I also checked out the Royal Residence, Theatinerkirche, Siegestor, bronze sculpture of Romeo's heart-throb
Juliet, and the Hofgarten.

The highlight of the day was the afternoon at the Englisher Garten. Viktualienmaekt had everything we needed for our picnic. We were spoilt for choice, and after 30 minutes of circling the shops and beer garden, our basket was filled with:

• 2 Knusprig Gegrillte Schweinshax'n (pork knuckles)
• Kabanossi-Pfanne (potato salad with salami)
• Bread stick with sea salt and herb
• Bag of Kelly's paprika potato crisps
• Nutella chocolate waffle
• Sporto chocolate milk
• Bottle of Coca-Cola

The Englisher Garten, which stretched across several train stations, had endless fields and streams running between them. We ate, listened to music, read, and chatted. Several dogs dropped by to sniff us out.

The park was everything we expected it to be and more. Except, we read from guidebooks and heard from our roommate Ben that there were people sunbathing in the nude. But we spotted none of that.

We headed back to the hostel early to prepare for tomorrow's 7am train. We decided to shorten our Munich stay by a day so we could spend more time in Interlaken. We needed to get away from the city.

• Location: Munich, Germany
• Cost: €2.20 roasted chicken leg for breakfast, €3 entrance to Turn Tower, €1 tea at Subway, €5.50 pork knuckle, €0.80 500ml chocolate milk, €1.30 bread stick
• Highlight: Friendly and extremely helpful locals! More than three people came up to me asking if I needed help with the map or to take a photo. A guy near the Englisher Garten even walked with us for a distance to make sure we did not get lost, when he was actually
  heading the opposite direction.

day 23: my best 55 minutes

I gave 55 minutes to Paul Clarke and he rocked it!

On the way to Munich, I listened to him while I ate my kebab (pictured). Speaking on a highly controversial topic 'Is Jesus the only way?', Clarke wrestled this issue in a clear, concise, logical and engaging manner.

Some questions which he intelligently discussed included:

• My close friends who are Muslims and Buddhists live sinless and selfless lives, are you saying they will go to hell?
• Why can't all religion be right? We could be all walking towards the same mountain peak, just that each religion is a culturally unique route.
• How do we know the bible is true?
• Many (mad) people have claimed that they are God, what makes Jesus different?

If these are questions you do not have answers for, I strongly recommend you hear this talk, easily downloadable to your laptop or iPhone. It might just be your best 55 minutes too.

• Location: Munich, Germany
• Cost: €4 kebab, €20 Jaeger Hostel, €9 dessert and drink in beer garden
• Highlight: 200-metre dash for the only Kentucky Fried Chicken in Vienna, near the Westbahnhof train station before our 10.20am train. But the hunt was fruitless as that KFC only opned at 11am. The hunt for original KFC chicken and coleslaw continues...
• People: Our two pretty and party-crazy roommates. Kamilla and her friend, from Salzburg
• Injury: Walking speed has increased slightly. I had less people staring at me since the limp was not as obvious. I could place some weight (not my full weight though) across the entire foot but it would hurt when I walked more than 200 metres. 5.5/10
• Train: Wien West to Munchen Hbf 4 hours

day 19: absorbing krakow

The problem with staying at Tom & Greg, my favourite hostel in Europe so far, is that you never want to leave. Proper (instead of bunk) beds in a spacious room, full spread of breakfast, all day cereal and milk, fresh fruit and nuts in the cosy lounge and the most friendly and helpful staff - they give you no reason to leave at all.

After breakfast at 10am, I hung out in the hostel for five prime hours, when the sun was out and the temperature perfect. Somehow the hostel was more appealing than the unexplored streets of Krakow. I painted my nails fairy-tale pink, updated this blog, read about Solomon's God-given wisdom (the book of 1 Kings chapter 3 and 4 in the bible), showered, chatted with Bok Hwee on MSN, and washed my socks. After accomplishing so much, I left the hostel at 3pm.

U Babci Maliny restaurant, just around the corner from the Old Town Market Square, is a typical peasant's house serving authentic Polish food. I had fried Pierogi dumplings filled with minced meat for 15.50 zl. I tried the boiled ones which Jerrain ordered which had mushroom and cabbage filling. They tasted a little like Chinese 'Guo Tie', just with thicker skin. My deep fried Pierogi were crispy and tasted like Japanese gyoza, but again with thicker skin and meat filled to the brim.

We worked off all that carbs with a slow stroll around the Old Town, to see St Mary Church (pictured), the outside of the Cloth Hall which is currently under renovation, and the Town Hall Tower.

The fifteen minutes walk to the Jewish Quarter (Kazimierz) passed several other churches and the Wawel Royal Castle, which probably deserves a few hours in the late morning tomorrow.

There were quite a number of sights in the Jewish Quarter - Old Jewish Cemetary which you can only peek into from a window, Old Synagogue built at the end of the 14th century, the grand Corpus Christi with intricate sculptures and huge old paintings inside, and an original old Jewish house used for Talmud lessons for adult Jews.

The lovely garden cafes - turn bars come evening - scattered around this aged and quaint neighbourhood draws a local crowd, according to Justin from our hostel. As I sat in one of them sipping my Latte, I can see why the locals love this place.

I have another day in Krakow tomorrow. Once I visit Wawel Castle, I have covered majority of the tourist spots. It seems like there is not much to see (besides Auschwitz, which alone justifies a trip to Europe), but Krakow has a unique appeal. I cannot put my finger on it - whether it is the cheap food, rough appearance or the raw energy - but Krakow has sparked the desire to move East. I need to plan a trip to Eastern Europe, whether it is another 37 day adventure, or longer, I do not know yet.

• Location: Krakow, Poland
• Cost: Fried perogi with meat 15.50 zl, Latte 8 zl, mojito 15 zl, muscat white wine 7.50 zl
• Highlight: Fairy-tale pink nails!! Finally get to use my nail polish which I rather blondely brought along and added to my already overweight and oversized backpack.
• People: Met Thierry and Dave from a UK or French HR software company. We sat in a bar in the Jewish Quarter that was lighted only by candles.

day 16: i ate peter rabbit

I could not resist the roasted home-bred rabbit with garlic, cabbage, bacon on the menu. Going at 210 czk (approximately €8.40), this traditional Czech dish can be found in most restaurants beside beef or deer goulash.

After letting Jerrain have a bite to taste, I finished the 300-gram meaty plate which came with sauerkraut on the side. It tasted like chicken breast, while the more tender parts had a duck-like texture. It went perfectly with the sauerkraut, red wine and brown bread.

A hearty dinner at Starmomacek Rearaurant near the Old Town Square was a spledid way to end a full day of sight-seeing. We joined the Sandemans New Prague Free tour. Our guide, Colin who was from Scotland, showed us the Astronomical Clock, Statue of Jan Hus, St Nicholas Church, Old Jewish Quarter, Wenceslas Square, House of the Black Madonna and told us lots of stories!!

Jerrain and I spent the rest of the afternoon getting lost in Prague Castle and taking loads of photos.

• Location: Prague, Czech Republic
• Cost: 45 czk hot chocolate, €5 tip for Colin from the New Europe Prague tour, 90 czk soup and hot chocolate, 270 czk traditional Czech dinner
• Highlight: Roasted rabbit
• Hostel: Prague Square Hostel right around the corner of the Old Town Square - Definitely one of our least favourite hostels on this trip. Bathrooms are not only shared, but gender neutral. The bathing cubicles do not have locks so anyone can open the plastic door or peep over the wall while you bathe. Only saving grace is my bed! A ladder in the room leads to a two-metre wide platform above the door, enough for a mattress and some space for my stuff.
• Health: After a day or two of sore throat, I now have a cough. Hope it will go away soon.

day 14: black out!!

We ate in complete darkness. I tried waving my right hand in front of my face and I could see nothing. Not even shadows.

When I was told that we were eating in the dark, I had no idea it was going to be pitch black. In fact, I do not think I have been in such a dark room before.

The restaurant, Unsicht-Bar, had a well-lit lounge where we first chose our drinks and type of meat - fish, beef or poultry - from a set menu. Our waitress then led us in a row, hands on the shoulders of the person in front, into the main dining hall.

Our €43 four course meal was served by a friendly and professional visually impaired waitress. We had:

• Starter: small selection of fish pralines with a sauce of honey and dill and leaf salad
• Entree: fried pike perch under a crust of sauerkraut served with saffron-fennel and risotto out of vegetables, on white wine foam
• Dessert: cream of passionfruit in a mini-preserving jar and fresh couls of raspberries

I always wondered what it was like to be blind. I think I had a 'glimpse' of how it was like this evening.

• Location: Berlin, Germany
• Cost: €1.40 sweet flat doughnut for breakfast, €6.10 day trip train ticket, €43 dinner
• Activities: Topographie des Terrors, East Side Gallery 1.3km of graffiti and art

day 11: the movable bookcase

Jerrain wanted to sleep in so I ventured out on my own at 8 in the morning. The streets were empty, except with the few drunkards who have not found home or the locals cycling to work. It was nice to be out early (ask me again in a few hours after fatigue kicks in, and I might say otherwise).

First - and my priority - stop was Anne Frank Huis. Despite being 15 minutes early (it opens at 9am), there were already three American tourists in the queue.

No photography was allowed. But none was required. I would never be able to capture the Secret Annexe as well as Anne had described in her diary. The unfurnished house demonstrated how moving her words alone are. I cannot imagine how scary it must have been. And I pray that no one would ever have to go through that type of fear again. *world peace \V/*

To lift my spirits, we decided to get some authentic Dutch food. Open since 1945, Van Dobben serves excellent Kippensoep (chicken noodle soup) €6.50, Broodje Croquet €2.50, Broodje Pekelvlees (ham sandwich) €3.25, and others which we had no stomach space for.

I took a quick stroll around the Bloemenmarkt (flower market) and an endless shopping street before heading back to the hostel. It is our last night in Amsterdam and we were determined to check out the clubbing scene.

• Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Cost: €8.50 Anne Frank House, €6 Dutch lunch, €2.50 hot chocolate in a cafe.
• Highlight: Visiting Anne Frank Huis, and relating to a lot of what she wrote in the book

day 10: hunt for the moules

A hot bowl of mussels with fries sealed the deal this afternoon. It was easy deciding what to eat, but it was another matter when it comes to choosing where. The entire stretch of Rue des Bouchers was lined with restaurants. Waiters stood at the entrances urging you to enter.

The first restaurant we sat at unpleasantly asked us to leave because we did not order a drink to go with our food.

We skipped right next door to La Cotelette which not only did not require us to buy drinks, the boss offered complimentary drinks. The €12 set lunch started with creamy fish soup and warm bread, followed by mussels and fries, and completed with buttery waffles with sugar and chocolate fudge.

Nabil, the restaurant manager, taught us French, offered a shoulder massage, sang for us, and wanted to hold back the bill just so we stayed longer.

A day in Brussels is short, but we managed to cover the key sights, such as Sainte Catherine Cathedral, The Stock Exchange, Saint Nicolas Church, Brussels Town Hall, Grand Place, and the Manneken Pis Fountain.

It was difficult saying goodbye to the hotel. At €55, Hotel Queen Anne offered a private double room en suite with television and hairdryer (I have learnt to appreciate these little luxuries), breakfast with excellent scrambled eggs, ham, bacon, selection of bread and cereal, and the experience of riding in its super vintage lift!

Location: Bussels, Belgium
Cost: £12 set lunch, €27 hotel, €1 orange juice on the train, €5 black netted stockings
Highlight: Meeting Nabil the friendly restaurant manager
Train: Paris Gare du nord to Brussels Midi in 1.5 hours

day 8: day in the park

You need a break every once in a while, even when you are on a holiday. My favourite way to recuperate is to find a nice park, an even patch of green, a small sandwich, and a bottle of chocolate milk.

I did just that for the majority of this afternoon in a park near the hostel. I managed to catch up on King David in 2 Samuel and researched a little about Paris and the next few stops with my Lonely Planet guide.

Beside the park was Brunswick Mall. There was an international food fair, serving everything from French pastries and sweets, Spanish seafood rice, Japanese gyoza, American hotdogs, English caramel swirls, and lots more. I chatted briefly with a Hong Konger selling Malay food (how strange) and he said this fair is on every Saturday. I am glad we managed to catch it.

It was time to leave London, via Eurostar to Paris. Having learnt our lesson when we missed the Megabus to Coventry, we arrived at Saint Pancras station way ahead of time. I am looking forward to meeting Norie!!

• Location: London Britain
• Cost: £2.80 chicken, bacon and cheese sandwich, 99p chocolate milk from Waitrose
• Highlight: Reading in the park at 20 degrees celcius, the occasional breeze can be a little chilly, but you quickly get warm up by the sun

day 7: instant comfort food

Too many glasses of vodka cranberry. That was the first thing on my mind - together with the headache - when I got up this morning, still in my dress and make up from last night.

Jerrain and I dragged ourselves to Leicester Square to hunt down noodle soup, which we have been craving the moment we landed in London. The first shop we passed was Cafe de Hong Kong at Newport Court. Both of us agreed that we could not wait to walk to the next stop. I had luncheon pork and egg instant noodle soup at £4.70. Bubble tea would have been a heavenly finish, but it was £3.60!

The highlight of the afternoon was seeing Dirty Dancing at Aldwych Theatre. There was less dancing than I expected.

To make up for that, Jerrain and I joined the New London Pub Crawl for £12. It gave us four drinks (though I only remembered drinking three shots) and priority entry to a bar and four clubs in Covent Garden. But most of all, it is the company of 91 other partyheads that made it a crazy night.

1. Belushi: Rather no-frills bar which Jerrain and I were there the night before. First shot of rum.
2. Roadhouse: Single storey club with harleys scattered around. This was where we had wanted to go last night with the London lawyer trainees.
3. Verge: Bar with a tiny basement club. Good DJ playing the latest hits by Lady Gaga and Shakira. Shot of sambuca. Salsed shortly with a guy but I could hardly handle the turns in that space.
4. Oxygen: Bar with a basement club. It had poles at several corners but I couldn't convince Jerrain to do a demo. Shot of tequila. Met Matthias from Germany and Vitor from Brazil who were part of the pub crawl bunch.
5. Zoo: Biggest club of the five and had the highest energy both in the bar area and the basement club. Met James from Boston who just completed his first year of the Masters programme at the London School of Economics, Rebecca and her guyfriend from Zurich who are doing an English course in London, and (wait for it)... two Singaporeans!! I cannot remember their names now but it sure feels great bumping into them. We wanted to have frog legs congee (popular post-club supper in Singapore) after being chased out of Zoo at 2ish in the morning, but Jerrain and I settled for cup noodes and strawberry milk respectively. They sent us back to our hostels before heading back, how sweet.

• Location: London, Britain
• Cost: £7 chinese food for lunch, £39 Dirty Dancing, £3 ham and cheese croissant, £3 Starbucks mocha frap, £12 pub crawl, £12 drinks
• Highlight: Bumping into two Singaporeans and dancing six hours straight in my heels!

day 6: royal tea party

Inspired by the 1898 Royal Weekend Party we saw at the Warwick Castle yesterday, we decided to throw one ourselves. Short of dressing up as Earl and Countesses, I must say our tea party was just as grand (and very English).

After visiting Chipping Camden and Broadway Tower, we quickly made ourselves comfortable in a lovely tea room in Broadway. We had fruit scones with jam, Victorian sponge cake and Cotswold Afternoon Tea. Gavin introduced clotted cream, which went perfectly with the scones and jam. Jerrain was happy to polish off all the cream before she found out clotted cream was more fattening than butter. Actually she was still licking off the saucer after she was told the fact. You go girl!

Gavin and Serene had to peel us off the seats of that tea room before we miss our Megabus to London. We dropped by Lakeside to check out Serene's apartment and the wild geese she feeds from time to time.

Then it was time to leave Coventry with our oversized backpakcs and tuna and egg sandwiches which Gavin and Serene lovingly prepared for us. They are the sweetest!

• Location: Cotswold, Britain
• Highlight: Tea and scones with clotted cream

day 5: the return of the princess

My dream of becoming a princess was ruthlessly dashed this morning at Warwick Castle. I was refused entry to the Princess Tower. It is only for kids. Looks like I am a few years too late. I settled for a photograph with the princess who was welcoming kids into the tower.

The rejection was still too much to bear. So Serene and Gavin thought it best to bring me to quiet Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare was born. I rowed a boat down the river and fed the swans some leftover tea cakes from lunch.

We are back at Union Court, where Gavin lives. The lamb hot pot is in the oven. The clothes are in the laundry and some in the dryer. After dinner, Jerrain and I will have some heavy packing to do. We leave Coventry tomorrow, but not before we see Cotswold.

• Location: Warwick Castle, Stratford-upon-avon, Britain
• Cost: £19.95 Warwick Castle, £4 half hour boat rental, £3 fish and chips for lunch
• Highlight: Rowing down the river and feeding the swans at Stratford, and sipping mulled wine as we cuddled in the room to watch BBC's Over the Rainbow

day 4: what do the english know about breakfast?

A lot it seems. After having a home made traditional English breakfast, I was satisfied (and stuffed) for the next nine hours.

Serene and Gavin insisted on making everything - bacon, scrambled eggs, beans, tomatos, mushrooms, and tea. They only allowed me to help toast the bread. Perhaps they knew how bad a cook I am.

That was a perfect start to the day! A visit to Oxford and dinner at Zizzi's after left me feeling very accomplished.

We dropped by to pick up some groceries for breakfast and dinner tomorrow. I'm looking forward to what is cooking!!

• Location: Oxford & Lemington Spa, Britain
• Cost: £0 (Gavin and Serene refused to let us pay for anything! Now I know, never trust the British when they say you can get the next one)
• People: met up with Nicholas from Cyprus and Dominik from Slovakia for dinner