Before leaving for Swiss..

first day in bangkok : March 25, 09

joon and i left home for bangkok on march 24, 09 at night. we arrived at kati's home around 9 pm. next morning, joon and kati went to their office. i, at 10 am, left for central pinkrao to meet with "OR", my dear friend who i've been in touch via postcards and phonecalls for 12 years since leaving PSU. as we had never met in person for 12 years, i was extremely excited and happy seeing her before i left for europe. we went up to fuji restaurant for branch and a very long chat to make up for the long lost time. while walking in the mall, we held hands like a love couple. we chatted until 2 pm and then i saw her off at the bus stop. it was fantastic meeting her in person again.

..a cup of tea after the big meal..

after leaving OR, i took a bus to the victory monument to connect the BTS to Joon's office. i had another plan at night, to meet up with dave and stay overnight with pu.

i walked leisurely on the flyover at the victory monument and took some pictures. i had loads of time to waste, so no need to hurry..

after meeting joon at her office, i headed to central ladprao to meet with dave. i was there first so i walked around window shopping.

at 5.45 pm, dave showed up.
god! just half a year that you left hatyai, you are hugely growing up, champ! i couldn't stop teasing him for his beer-invested belly.. we headed to sizzler while greeting each other. i've craved for steak, a glass of red wine and a cool buddy to chat for a long time. ( i can't have them all at home, i have steak and wine but most of my buddies are living in bangkok!)

we talked about our old times and catched up with each other's lives. it was great meeting and drinking with you again, champ.... too bad that you moved away.. i think i'd better go to bangkok more often to meet with him and other buddies...

the steak was yummy and wine was delicious and the chat was cool.. how could i ask for more? but the night was too short. pu showed up later after we finished our steak. as it was wednesday, i dared not ask pu to go out with me and dave. (but later i found out that she was okay to go out with me and dave, only if i asked first!...why why didn't i ask her first???--) so i had to say good bye to dave after we finished our dinner and then headed to pu's apartment. i hope next time, i will have more time to catch up with you, champ!

we parted at 8 pm in front of sizzler, with a bear hug from him. i left with pu for her apartment. when arriving at pu's apartment, we didn't go to bed right after arriving. instead, we watched a movie (i couldn't remember the name of it.. but it was a good one and i quite liked it.) later at 9.30 pm, jack, pu's sister, joined us for the chitchat. we chatted and shared on trival girlie things until midnight. pu was the first one dozing off. jack just came back from finland, so we had a lot to share and catch up. it was nice meeting her again...

next morning, i catched a taxi back to kati's home. pu joined me in the taxi but got dropped off at the mrt station.

the first day in bangkok, the trip was already marvelous meeting with 3 old friends in one day. god.. i should be here more often!

Day 1 : Leaving Bangkok..

bangkok - doha - zurich : March 26, 09

we left kati's home at 3 pm. too early i guess. the traffic was not jammed so it took only an hour to get there. we were the first group to be there. we looked for something to eat, walked around, took photos and sat watching people..

..sitting, waiting and watching people ..

at suwannabhum airport, checking in at qatar counter.

waiting to board the plane. in a minute, we were leaving thailand.

..time to get into the plane..

inside the plane. the seats were pretty tiny. but they were fine for me.

..leaving bangkok... sea of bangkok night light ..

our first dinner on the plane served by qatar air.

and it was time for movies after late dinner. my first movie on the plane was twilight. good one!

arrived doha international airport at 2 am. thailand time. the weather in doha was pretty the same as in bangkok, just a little bit colder and a wee bit windier.

after 6 hours on the plane, we transited at doha international airport. the wc looked so nice and comfy. i like to keep collection of it. (and from now on, you will see different kinds of wc along the trip. enjoy!)

leaving the toilet, i walked around taking some pictures. in 2 hours, we were going to get in the plane again and this time it was from doha to zurich.

i like to take pictures of

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buildings/ places

strangers

kids

and signs.

mommy joon, armed with pillow and blanket, was looking for a place to take a rest at doha airport.

p'tang still looked happy and joyful. but wait! the wine hadn't kicked her yet.. wait until she arrived lucerne!

..p'tang and joon infront of the canteen in doha international airport...

at 1.30 am (doha time), we got into another plane again. this time, i could sleep deeply and no more movie until it was time for breakfast.

we were still flying when the sky was light with warm morning sunshine. around 6.00 am, breakfast was served. it was fritata, with cheese, mushroom, sausage, omelet, croisant, banana cupcake, orange juice, fruit and coffee or tea. not so yummy if compare to thai food but still bearable, as it was still the first day..

as still having few hours on the plane before it landed in zurich airport, i dug out my journal to write morning page. highly pleased that it was very quiet and i was not interrupted while doodling. other passengers were still sleeping soundly (i could hear an elderly couple sitting on the seats behind me snored a little bit loudly !)

here, we were flying above zurich at 6.30 am. it was cloudy and raining when we approached zurich.

as the plane touched the land, i heard the captain announced the temperature. it was 7 C! switzerland greeted us with light rains and cold breeze with chilly temperature. pretty cold, huh?

..... hello switzerland! ....

Day 2 : Switzerland

Zurich - Engelberg - Lucerne : March 27, 09

Zurich Airport

after passing the passport control unit, we took an escalator to the ground floor to take a train to the other side of the airport.

waiting for the next train...

inside the train

after getting off the train, we looked for the wc to get changed and put some more layers of clothes and get ready for the titlis mountain. the guide told us that the temperature up there was -10 C. so, we'd better be prepared!

inside the toilet at zurich airport

..outside zurich airport, leaving for engelberg..

Engelberg : Titlis Mountain

.... the gorgeous view along the roadside ....

..arrived the mountain, got inside to take the cable car up to the forth station..

the day we arrived, there were quite a lot of of skiiers and snow boarders. we had to wait in a long queue to get into the cable car...and here are photos of skiiers and snow boarders i sneaked a few shoots while waiting for the cable car..

riding up to the third and forth station..

joon and p'tang. p'tang was being kicked by the wine she drank in the plane and was having headache and getting sick..

..our chinese lunch up in the titlis mountain..

after having lunch, our guide left us walking around the area for about an hour. we walked out to play in the snow and enjoy the grand view of the titlis. it was pretty cold standing and posing for photos outside.. way too long we were there but it was bearable and we love it!

we had lots of fun and we acted like kids in wonderland.

..mommy joon, 25 week-pregnant..

after playing for a while, we jumped back inside to get some warmth from the heater and then jumped back outside again. when sitting on the snow, i felt that my butts and thighs were hard-cold like a big piece of pork being freezed in the freezer!

after playing and shooting enough photos in the snow covered-area, we walked inside and took the lift down to the first floor and looked for the Glacier Ice Grotto. we passed wooden dark brown doors to get inside. it felt like we were in someone's brewery house. the entrance were bluey with fluorescent tube. the floor was pretty slipery to walk on. and inside, it was an ice cave andit it looked like we were inside a big whale tummy. upon arriving, we saw a juke box with 10-12 buttons on top. we pressed the the buttons and it sang different kinds of song. amazing that it had thai national anthem. and we danced when the song was played!

Glacier Ice Grotto

outside the lift was a souvenir shop selling postcards, magnets and the stuff. it was colorfully decorated. kati and i walked around to take some photos..

while riding the cable down, i couldn't help taking photos of the skiiers' shoes. to keep in my shoe photo collection..

..took photo with the cable controller...

..he looks like one of my old workmate, Mr. Greg Chamberlain..

..inside the cable car..

..toilet..

..there were toilets at every station. a long queue. so joon and i tried the men's room..

inside the men's room..

in the afternoon, it was time to leave titlis mountain. after taking the cable car to the first floor and leaving the building, we saw this little chalet (A wooden dwelling with a sloping roof and widely overhanging eaves, common in Switzerland and other Alpine regions.) and the view with snow covered-mountain around us. it was so splendid!

the sunlight was so strong but i tell you what.. the weather was still freezing!

..when 2 jumpy girls meet..

.. kati was creative with jumping photos..

Lucerne

we left titlis mountain for lucerne to check in at the hotel named "Astoria". after leaving our luggages in the room, we walked outside and around the hotel waiting for other people to get into the coach. next, antonio would bring us to see the Lucerne's Lion Monument..

..outside the hotel..posing and shooting for photos while waiting for time to get into the coach..

the lucerne lion monument was not so far from the hotel. it was in a walking distance and took about 15 minutes (if we didn't get lost!)

..finally, we arrived and saw it together..

brief history about Lucerne's Lion Monument..

The Swiss have a long tradition of supplying mercenaries to foreign governments. Because the Swiss have been politically neutral for centuries and have long enjoyed a reputation for honoring their agreements, a pope or emperor could be confident that his Swiss Guards wouldn't turn on him when the political winds shifted direction.
The Swiss Guards' honor was put to the test in 1792, when--after trying to escape the French Revolution--King Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, and their children were hauled back to the Tuileries Palace in Paris. A mob of working-class Parisians stormed the palace in search of aristocratic blood. More than 700 Swiss officers and soldiers died while defending the palace, without knowing that their royal employers--like Elvis--had left the building.

In the early 1800s, the Danish artist Bertel Thorvaldsen was hired to sculpt a monument to the fallen Swiss Guards. The sculpture was carved in a sandstone cliff above the city center, near Lucerne's Glacier Garden and the Panorama, and it has attracted countless visitors since its dedication in 1821.

after the lion monument, we walked down along the road to a thai souvenir shop. the owner was from nakornsrithammarat. i couldn't remember her name. she was friendly and looked nice but the goods in her shop were pretty pricey.. so i just walked around taking photos..

along the way back to the coach, i took some photos of the town. it was still quiet at this early afternoon. i guess people were still working in their office..

not far from the coach parking lot, at the corner sat a cute little bakery shop. joon and i walked inside and picked the one we couldn't find in thailand.. all of them looked so yummy and it was hard work to pick out.. we bought one just to share and taste.. it was quite a big chunk and it tasted so good..

after the bakery shop, joon got back into the coach. i decided to walk around and took some more pictures. here are flowers, my fave shoots..

after everyone got back into the coach, antonio dropped us in front of lucerne lake to walk around.. we walked to see the chapel bridge, water tower, churches, shops sitting along the lake. we saw local people walking by and bringing their kids to feed the swans by the lake..

this city was very amiable and unique. i love sitting by the lake feeding bread to the swans (they were pretty aggressive--be careful).., the people looked posh and dressed beautifully.. as it was friday night, we could see the town was lively with people enjoying their firday night out..

..at the chapel bridge..

walking out of the bridge, we walked into a souvenir/bakery shop to look for a cup of hot drink.. and here we bought a hot cup of chocolate.. i would call it "chocolate au lait" bc there was more milk than chocolate in it.. still it tasted good in a chilly weather..

a shop by the lake

at 6 pm, we gathered back with the group and walked along the narrow street for dinner. and again.. chinese food.. it was okay but we started to miss thai food more...

after dinner, the guide showed us the way to walk back to the hotel and then everyone went on their seperate ways... some went shopping for fresh fruit and chocolate.. joon, kati and i walked along the road to take night pictures. lucky that i brought the tripod with me so most of the night screnes were not blur.. "eddy" worked brilliantly!.. and with the tripod, we could take photos of all of us..

after the long chilly walk, we marched back inside the hotel and started to survey it. we followed the sign said "gym". it was like walking in a crooked mountain. we walked down and down the stairs.. and finally we found it.. there was nobody there so we acted like kids in wonderland again.. ;]

and then back to the first floor, it was a mirrored wall and i couldn't help took some photos!..

after surveying and walking through the hotel, we walked back to our room, took a hot shower, went to bed and got ready for the adventure on the next day..

--good night lucerne!--