Germany road trip

With the line up of public holidays in the Netherlands like Queen's Day and Liberation Day, Shermanator, Rong, Poh and I decided to exploit the holidays to the fullest. Which explains why we went all out and rented a car to go on a Germany road trip! According to recce Sergeant Poh, we will be taking the Koblenz, Mainz, Frankfurt, Munich route.

For the next one week, it will just be the 4 of us and our ah-beng rolex GOLD Volvo s60 cruising down the unbeaten path.


About the car, we were expecting to collect a swanky Mercedez C class or sporty Beemer 3 series, but instead the Volvo s60 was eagerly waiting for us in the Sixt car rental parking lot. Don't get me wrong, the car is nice. But the colour - don't even get me started. Oh my goodness gawdy, gross and bengsish to the max! Apparantly the people at Sixt beg to differ, they were like boasting that they got us a 'GOLD', emphasizing the word 'GOLD' car.

Haha, well I guess as long as it works, all's good for me.

See you in a week! :)

keukenhof!

Just a short introduction about Keukenhof and then I'll shut up and let the flowers speak for themselves.

The Keukenhof is open only for a peek-a-boo-play-hard-to-get 2 month period each year during Spring. Located in The Netherlands about a half an hour bus ride away from the Amsterdam Schipol airport, Keukenhof boasts a bountiful collection of gorgeous magnificent flowers and sensational splash of colours. I swear there are some exquisite colours I have never seen before in my life! Say between the dark blue and light blue continuum there are like about 15375328649 other shades of blue! Serious!

Keukenhof receives over 750,000 national and international visitors annually and that is definitely not hard to believe. The Keukenhof which has a a park concept, offers the opportunity to see millions of bulbs in flower, entertaining flower shows (ie: flower arrangement classes), glass houses with flowers on competition to competes which flower will be THE flower of the week (like the pros will come and rank them upon a 1-10 scale, there silly me was taking ten million photos with a flower I thought was very pretty and then when I saw the rating it was only like a 7.6 - jaw drop to the feet kind!), and is the largest sculpture park in the Netherlands. There are like SOOO many flowers there and each one has their own unique name, kudos to whoever comes up with all these names. Check out for some cool names in the pictures like '(Suma) Cum Laude', 'Fancy Frills', 'Lady Jane' etc. The HUGE ass orange tulip named 'Giant Orange Sunset' is THE biggest tulip in the WORLD!!! OH MY guess what, Keukenhof is THE most photographed place in the world. Shaun, Weims, Nabs, Jac, Jh... you guys will love it! The camera lens that some of the visitors there use are INSANE, I think its like your ultimate fantasy! The lens there can like can stretch to close to 1 metre long costs ten million dollars kind! Hardcore!

Visiting the park on a mid week Wednesday with the 6 of you was the best! Basking and enjoying the full glory of Spring together made everything all the more surreal. Its like TULIPS galore there, hmmm even the word galore is an understatement!! Mum, to be honest, the thought of plucking a tulip for you and parceling it back did cross my mind (I mean who would even notice 1 tulip is gone amidst the millions of tulips right?), right. But my fingers were shivering and I couldn't bear to disrupt the peace. Hahaha

Everything there looked soo freaking perfect with each flower strategically placed. For example, we overheard a Keukenhof guide telling a visitor that Flower X was placed next to flower Y just so as to bring out the true essence of flower X. It must have took months of planning to create that impeccable experience. The crowd there was very international because beauty like this transcends all boundaries.

Keukenhof is the closest to what I imagine heaven to be like. My utopia, my perfect rapture.

You know usually when you take a picture you have to like aim properly then okay 1,2,3, shoot? At Keukenhof its like ANYHOW close eyes aim and take also DAMNNNN nice. ANY picture taken at the Keukenhof will look like an art piece because of the striking colours, period. Even using my humble digital point and shoot camera, I think there is a 100% chance I will win a SMUSAIC photography competition with those photos, hands down. Haha errr jokes?

WARNING: please mentally prepare your eyes for some rich, vivid, vibrant colours ahead! Editing done on photos - Zilch, to showcase the flowers in their full honest glory. With that said, put on some classical music, spray some floral scented perfume in the air (guys, go borrow from your mum/girlfriend/sister/auntie) and you're ready to go :)

a thousand words is not enough to describe it,
you got to see it to believe it.

you know its spring when...

• You are dumbfounded with the sudden increase of Maastricht's city centre population
• Teenagers engage in licentious behaviour dressed in their scantily clad outfits
• All the Andy Roddick's and Maria Sharapova's from all over the world start getting all competitive at the Guesthouse tennis courts
• The smell of barbecued food lingers in the evening air
• There is an increase in tourists
• You sincerely get invited to outings by your local friends where they excitedly say "hey, lets go eat strawberries at that grass patch there and enjoy the sun!"
• Or you get dates which read "Eh, wanna go study in the sun together?"
  
• Poh and Sherman are perspiring at 100 sweat drops/min
• Your Caucasian counterparts are getting pink!
• People can be strolling along the pavements and then once a tiny beam of sunshine manages to burst through some nook, and with an unspoken acquiescence they will spontaneously plop their butts down in the middle of nowhere to bask in the warmth
• When the flowers in Maastricht a bit acting Keukenhof
  
• Ice cream sales are sky rocketing
  
• You have flies/moths/insects as companions as they stubbornly glue themselves to the walls of your room
• Everyone is carrying a H&M plastic bag containing new spring/summer apparel
• The thought of sitting INSIDE a cafe is ludicrous
  
• The thought of sitting at an alfresco cafe and have your back facing the sun is equally absurd too (Everyone faces the sun and talks to each other while sitting side by side)
• Thoughts of finding the closest beach to Maastricht can even enter your mind
• Kids hide in bushes with their loaded super-soakers patiently waiting for their next target
• You eavesdrop on a conversation that its now officially Spring
  
• Dowdy winter clothes were so yesterday

Contributed by Alexis:

You also know its spring when:
1) your caucasian friends all start having their allergies from the pollen in the wonderful spring air

2) suddenly having bbqs are the most natural thing to do when having an event.

3) drinking beer out on the lawn while enjoying the sun means that you are maximizing your time in the sun

4) you dont have to bring a jacket 'just in case' when you go out to the city at night

5) a night not going out into the city/ having a party is considered a wasted night

6) you have evening class and its still bright outside when class is over

7) people look at you weirdly when you say you want to study IN the library when there is so much lawn space outdoors

goodbye winter,

acting emo on a snowy afternoonThank you windbreaker, sweaters, scarves, gloves, thermal wear for keeping me warm during the winter, now is your rest time

hello spring!

I seriously have no clue where all these people suddenly came from
"Shagg lah, time for some bermudas".
Check out the roundabout near our guesthouse looking all pretty and accessorized :)

Enough of winter already,
I'm embracing spring like never before! :)

be our guest, please be our guest!

Beauty and the Beast is undoubtedly one of my favourite cartoons of all time!

I remember my Mum got DAMN sian and bored to tears reading to my brother and I the SAME old bedtime stories every night when we were young. One day she got smart and decided to buy a trolley full of Disney audio tapes instead where... voila! insert it into the boombox and with the simple push of the play button you get a narrator tell the story in his/her varied tonations and there's even the appropriate music softly playing in the background and all. I remember I used to be super scared of the introduction music of the Aladdin tape because it was too intense, acting all Arabian night and mysterious and scary.

And so I digress, as usual. What I wanted to say was that I love the Beauty and the Beast "Be our Guest" song, I swear its the Hospitality101 song of the century, every restaurateur should learn it by heart !

Lumiere the candlestick doing his thang

Be our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest! Get your worries off your chest Let us say for your entree We've an array; may we suggest: Try the bread! Try the soup! When the croutons loop de loop It's a treat for any dinner Don't belive me? Ask the china Singing pork! Dancing veal! What an entertaining meal! How could anyone be gloomy and depressed? We'll make you shout "encore!" And send us out for more So, be our guest! Lumiere: Be our guest! Chorus: Be our guest! Mrs Potts: It's a guest! It's a guest! Sakes alive, well I'll be blessed! Wine's been poured and thank the Lord I've had the napkins freshly pressed With dessert, she'll want tea And my dear that's fine with me While the cups do their soft-shoein' I'll be bubbling, I'll be brewing I'll get warm, piping hot Heaven's sakes! Is that a spot? Clean it up!
We want the company impressed

Today, the SMU Mademoiselles doing their exchange at Paris Dauphine University - Carissa, Clara, Jiakai, Vanessa and their Mexican friend Marcela popped by Maastricht for a day trip :) and will be leaving for Amsterdam tomorrow.

The Parisians have arrived! I repeat, the Parisians have arrived. They're like super cute and excitable doing the 'M' sign at the Maastricht Centraal Station hurhurr
Thanks Carissa dear for planning this lil SMU girls night out in Maastricht,
appreciate it lots! :)

Its the FIRST time anyone in their right mind visits Maastricht, so Chian and I were ALL OUT to impress playing hosts! I was super nervous & jittery but I forced myself to remain calm and recollected all the little actions and warm hospitality others showered on us while we were visiting, shoutout to Jh, Won, Auntie Wai Chan, Steph... :)

Initially, Poh and I planned to surprise them with local delight stroopwaffles as a welcome gift but Barry their Dutch friend HAD TO BE the Perfect wikipedia tour guide and foiled my sweetish plans as I bumped into ALL of them at the stroopwaffle aisle of Albert Heijn :( I was then frantically trying to rack my brains and suggest bringing them to other places of interest of Maastricht like River Maas, the frites store but it seemed like they already knew Maastricht at the back of their hand. Hahaha

So, after hearing that the girls have been deprived of Chinese food for about 3 months, Chian and I jumped at the opportunity to bring them to Wen Zhou - this rather good authentic Chinese restaurant opposite the Centraal Station and pamper ourselves with a good dinner. I personally thought the roasted duck and chee cheong fun were yums!

The waiter teased that we would have to pay him a good 25 euros for this peekture haha, ask him to shuts!
The person who took this picture obviously didn't understand when we said "Could you help us take a picture in front of the Maastricht station with the words behind?"
Clara and Vanessa strolling along the streets of Maastricht
Great catching up with you Clara! Go join the Dauphine choir!RGS Alumni unite!
7 of us plus a million flies Jiakai looks tiny with her barang! Longchamp ah someone,
I think I want dusty pink! winkz

Chilling out at the Highlander where we met a really awesome bartender who gave us free shooters and a taste of cherry beer :)

Gee girls, thinking back I think you girls really treated Chian and I as if we were your guests, preparing Bailey's and offering all the Dutch snacks to us. What the hell! hahaha, but at the end of the day, I guess its the company that matters and I really had alot alot Alot of fun meeting each and every single one of you today. Thanks Carissa for planning this once again, hugs! Vanessa, Jiakai, Clara it was great knowing you girls 1-2 notches better and Marcela it was a pleasure knowing you.

Have a good overdue Easter trip yawl, hope you girls don't oversleep!

Take care and see you around

Indeed, strangers are friends
waiting to happen :)

Goodnight!