Land of Fairy Tales - Denmark II

 Nothing beats the curiosity in us, really. As we approached the entrance of Legoland Billund.  It was a magical feeling as we were going to the origin of Lego! I wasn't sure how other Legolands look like but this one is surely authentic one.

We saw kids with parents going into Legoland. Not very crowded as we streamed into Legoland.  We were fascinated by the stuff in Legoland and my wife led me straight to the tower ride to see the aerial view of Legoland. Wow.  What a starting ride to go right on top.  My dear told me that the rides should all be kiddy ones, nothing to worry about. 

Frankly, we were amazed by the details of Legoland. Near the jungle, you could see lego lion gang. Very realistic as the train ride passed through the safari jungle.  I rem there were roaring noises too. Haha, feel like a kid again.  

The mini-Copenhagen famous colourful Nyhavn (I finally got the correct spelling) where yachts berth were so real - perhaps it is a 1:x scale model? It was really interesting as there were other models including airports and the airlines too - I didn't spot SQ though. The efforts and the details were worth a thousand claps to me. We wonder how BB will feel if he was here. 

Next in our itinerary were the different rides. From train rides to boat rides to plane rides, we tried to try as many rides as possible since we have the 2-day pass.  Some of the seats were really for children and they were hard for us.  "Hard" literally. 

We went for aquarium adventure and wow wow the place was interesting.  We were amazed again by the details put in by Legoland - from treasure chest, capsized boats to divers - they were like a story to be told by Lego. We took turns to take an interesting pose with the Lego divers and at times with school of fishes swimming across our heads! 

We were so playful playing most of the rides that we had to rush to a new place "Ninjago" to play the Ninja game.  Initially, I still a bit worried about the Ninja ride as I was uncertain what it entailed. Understanding that we had to use our hands to simulate throwing of darts when our ninja car moved along the rail, we quickly got into actions.  The playful and "want-to-win" spirit came alive in me and I "karate chop" here and "TKD chop" there to hit the targets.  I even made use of my cooking skills - chopping minced meat - to "throw" the darts out.  Haha, I got quite a high score and I proudly bought the photo of us in action. It was the last game we played as Legoland rides closed at around evening time.  

What an interesting Lego Day!  What's funny was we played the "mild" kiddish rides on Day 1 and we did the more scarier rides on Day 2.  Water rides with slight sudden fall from steep gradients ~ we screamed when we were thrown down from the rides ~ well, I regretted that I didn't buy the photo as my wife said that was the most authentic side of us.  

Lego-ing. 

Land of Fairy Tales - Denmark I

I was still thinking which or where should I start to blog about our recent Denmark trip. Maybe I should start with the adventure we had at Legoland, and it would be apt to start off with the place we stayed?  It was very kiddy and " lego" when we first checked in.  A key in the shape of Lego Block - wow, I was getting to like the place.  We bunked in a " holiday camping site" where we needed to buy a camping permit.  I was still wondering where should I apply for it and well, it was already part of the cost in the reservation.  

Room Key in Lego block

It was fun searching for the hut H31. There was a field with "warning sign" for scorpions and I was very very wary whether there were actually one or not.  I was always on high alert when I chanced upon that field, and made sure my wife dun go near it. 

The "Lego Land" was not too far from this holiday village.  About 10 mins walk and it was cold out there so walking won't sweat. 

We sort of got our "bearings"  right and we ventured into our room. Wooden hut and well, it was nice. 

One typical hut with lego stuff built-in. I was still wondering if they could do all in Lego haha. Very nice feeling especially when it was located in the forest.  Of cos, I still did a check for snakes, pests and bears? haha. 

The interior of the hut was amazing.  Posters of lego, hunter's equipment like hammer and gun in Lego could be found. We even have two rooms and jokingly sharing with my wife that we could zz in separate room if we quarrelled.  My wife said we were not suited to live in small apartment i.e. hut.  

The bathroom was decent and clean.  We got a bit issue with the water tank as I had emptied it to wash and disinfect the utensils, and as well as taking a shower.  Ended up my wife with no hot water.  Poor her - no shower will be angry.

The whole place gave me and us a cozy feel.  I used to watch cartoons about people living in such wooden hut in the forest.  Interestingly, we got to have this chance to stay in such an interesting Lego hut.  At night, we "on" the lamps and I closed the windows to prevent bugs from flying in.  (My wife would say moths, I suppose).

We also bought instant noodles to prepare for breakfast the next day since there were induction cooker and utensils.  Well, we had slight argument over the cooking ordeal though haha. 

I was happy that my wife planned this legoland visit as part of the itinerary. At first, I was still a bit "uneasy" going to Legoland as we didn't even go to the one in JB.  No regret despite the longer journey from Copenhagen to Legoland.  It's definitely worth it and in fact, it was a good starting point for our journey of fairy tales.

Lego! 

Chocolates, Snow & Fondue (VI) - Dec 2016

This Zurich blog will not be complete without the mention of Swiss Food - especially the fondue. First, we got our first taste of local food for lunch.  It was like our 7-11 concept and we chose the chicken fillets and a bowl of salad. Quite expensive but it was a nice meal after our long night flight. The food tasted a bit salty but we thought this was the norm of "fast food" concept.  Interestingly, many local "makan" here - a quick bite.  So we felt we also 入乡随俗 followed the local tradition of eating. The tables and overall ambience gave quite a cozy feel too.  



I could not remember when we started to google in trip advisor for nice restaurants to eat.  I believed it was during our Rome trip.  Similarly, we did the same to try to find exciting places frequented by locals. One "to-eat" list by my wife was the cheese fondue which you would dip bread into it. Sounds cheesy at the first thought.  

 
We got to taste our fondue at a very homely and apparently very traditional restaurant near the old town.  I had to book early to secure a seat.  While waiting for our fondue, we ordered a herb soup - and well, it was very saltish! I could not finish it and my wife had tried too.  We gave our comments to the waitress who told us "it was herbs".  Then, came out fondue. We tried out dipping our bread into the fondue and it was saltish. Too much sodium intake for us and we didn't finish.  Initially, we thought it was the "speciality" and style of the restaurant.  My wife googled and shared it seemed to be the taste for all fondue.



There was very good review at a restaurant known as "Federal" at Zurich Hbf so we went to try out. Well, I have the habit of ordering fish and chip to "test out" whether the restaurant was good or not. Without fail, the picture told the story. My wife was snapping photos of the food while I was out to the train station checking for the schedule of our Paris train the next day.  The food was okay and still a bit saltish but the waiter was very entertaining and "warm".  He had a good attitude of joking and making customers laugh, and he had such a passion for his job. Really admirable.

 
One surprise discovery was this "gingerbread"-looking bun which was a gift from the local post office.  So cute that we ordered another one for our journey to Paris at the second leg of our journey.  When we ordered, the service counter asked what do we call the name of this bun in English, and I just said "Gingerbread" man haha.  It was a unique discovery that trilled me looking for it and the background.  

It was officially called Grittibanz - christmas bread man.  Uniquely Swiss. 

Chocolates, Snow & Fondue (V) - Dec 2016

Bern Clock Tower

I like old towns.  My wife likes me to plan excursions to old towns. So, one old town that we visited was Bern. 

I didn't realise Bern is the capital of Switzerland! I only did research on Bern that it had a rich history with nice old town buildings. Going to Bern is also to visit the Einstein Museum to understand more about this great scientist.  An easy train ride from Zurich to Bern and it was very fascinating when we took the tram from Bern HBF to the Museum and the tram meandered past all the old building and stoned pavements.  

My only impression about Einstein was E=mc Square. So much of science lessons had returned back to my science teachers.  We went to venture into the Einstein Museum and understood more about his public and private life.  What caught my attention most were the love letters written by him to his first wife, and then what happened to them when their relationship got bitter.  Human relationship is a complex matter.  We saw that their love letters were very sweet, and we wondered why their relationship turned so bitter.  For me, I know it takes time to build and takes more time to enrich a relationship.  Just like watering a plant, or even from a seed, it takes tender loving care and time to nurture the plant.  Not easy.  In fact, it takes lots of patience.  However, if you treasure the relationship, it is worthwhile.  

On our way to Einstein's house (also a museum), we passed by the Clock Tower.  We took some pictures with the Bern Clock Tower.  There were times when the day was foggy with mist.  I actually wondered why clock towers were so important in old towns. Posing at the pavement was also risky as we didn't know the pavement was also used by bus! We nearly missed a bus coming out from our back when we were happily setting timer and posing.  At this time of blogging, I also discovered one thing - the statue at the fountain was actually a bear in armour! Dunno if my wife had told me before.

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My wife said there were some bears around. So we tried to stand at the bridge looking out for bears.  Where were the bears?  Didn't see any.  The bears were supposed to be kept in houses - and this thought really puzzled me.  The air and the cool greenery were perfect place for hibernate - did I joke about this with my wife?   As there were no sightings of bears, we saw a bear statue and I asked my wife to take a photo with the bear instead.  Haha. 

It seemed that there were many different statues to look at and well, obviously I missed some of them.  My mind was focusing on the Christmas Markets again.  Not chocolates, fondue or snow here. 

Chocolates, Snow & Fondue (IV) - Dec 2016

Canteen, ETH

It is interesting to walk into local university and we have done so in Bangkok, Japan and London-Cambridge, Eton School.  We chanced upon this ETH University as it was very near our hotel.  You can either trek upslope or take a polybahn (something like a tram) up.  We took the polybahn up as it was considered as one attraction too.  1 Euro per pax but we got on free due to our train pass =).

There were a few places that we would like to see when we were on the campus - the lecture rooms, the canteen, the co-op bookstore and the classroom.  My wife has wanted to go overseas to study and coming to overseas university always a reminder of her dream.  She said before her dream was realised by her brother.  

The canteen was crowded and we didn't makan there.  We just had our makan elsewhere and if not, we would like to try the food.  Not sure it would be cheaper but more for the fun of it.  In fact, I had wanted to eat at primary school canteens - miss the good old days when i could eat fish cake at 10 cent and dipping it in red chilli. Yummy! 

The ETH university was quite a big building.  It was very different from our university as it has tall and "museum"-looking type of buildings.  Very different feel.  I also wondered how was it if I have chosen to study in overseas campus.  Just a thought as I wasn't so adventurous after all.  

Bulletin Art

My wife took notice of the bulletin and it was interesting to her.  I believe it showed the lives of the students in the campus - their activities, their aspirations.  Come to think about it, I have not really pinned any on bulletin board during my schooling days.  I only remember my smart buddy Weixiong who suggested to pin a group of same posters together to attract attention.  I thought it was a brilliant idea.  I contributed to the posters too, and the posters were promoting our magazines.  Long long time ago.

We saw some ETH souvenirs with Einstein. Hmm, guess he also taught or visited the campus?  ETH looked like a technological school though we saw in one of the exhibition halls about architectural designs.  

Aerial view of Zurich

We got rewarded with a very good view outsides the campus. Wow, we felt it was worthwhile to make the trip up. The view was fantastic and could see the mountainous view.  Students' lives are far better than working lives?  It is often very funny when the position is swapped.  When we are studying, we hate exams and classes and wanted to be freed from all these stuff.  When we are working, we yearn for the studying kind of lives.  Guess people grow and have to adapt different challenges of growing up.  Yup, we are all still growing up.

Chocolates, Snow & Fondue (III) - Dec 2016

Never did I realise beforehand that the store - Freitag originates from Swiss. Frankly, I dun have any stuff of Freitag and I didn't know it has been a brand for a while. The brand was special to my wife as she bought her brother a bag on first pay-day. There were a few big flagship stores in Zurich, and we went to the one - quite an unique one - "stacked containers". 

The store was located not far from HBF and the train ride was about 10 minutes or less. An easy walk from the station and you get a very good view of Zurich on the top of the containers. So amazing icon here, and how the store organise the bags and clothes is also amazing.  Carefully stacked in paper boxes and 100% on its recycle concept.  Frankly, I also didn't know the bags were made of materials from truck's canvas.  

Now, my wife got excited and tried on almost all bags, wallets while I walked up and down searching for suitable bags for use.  According to my wife, "black" coloured types of Freitag bags are quite rare so I was on "lookout" for them too.  My wife said I was "quite easily influenced" by her and her brother - if they decided to buy something uniquely from a country, I might also want to get mine too.  She got a black wallet for her brother after much consideration and what apps with him.  For me, I found something "cool"   and handy too - a cardholder. Really was influenced to a certain extent by her, I think. 

Well, the trip to Freitag wasn't the end yet. My wife wanted to get the "perfect" bag for her daily  walk and we decided to visit other stores. Yup, and we went to a few major ones like "The Gloss" stall, some were quite "ulu".  In fact, we went back to the "stacked containers" twice in search for the "perfect bag". Hmm, I believe that  I have not seen so many different types of bags (same brand) during my trip and this was one record.  

Looking for something that she likes is important and I have the patience for her.  While she was looking and posing with the potential bag, I did my research into places to visit or makan places.  Fortunately, there were seats to rest our tired legs.  She was quite focused in searching for the bag and I was quite amazed that she wasn't showing signs of tiredness. It's good to see her having something to buy.  And me too. My wife likes to comment that I usually buy stuff for all my loved ones during overseas trip and none for myself. 

By the way, Freitag means "Friday". A word that amuses me during this trip, and I kept "reminding" my wife about it. I like Fridays.  

Chocolates, Snow & Fondue (II) - Dec 2015

Christmas Market @ Zurich

Christmas Market @ Zurich - The thought of going Christmas Markets already excites me as I started to source for good markets to go.  The mood, the songs, the partying and the whole atmosphere really impress me a lot when we went Munich the last round.  I like eating junk food there and drinking mulled wine.  Not a good drinker and my wife usually has to help me finish the wine.  


There were quite a few big ones and some claimed to be traditional ones.  As this round we were earlier than Santa Claus, so we could pick and choose which ones to go. Our schedule however was tight so we could not afford to see ALL markets.  The one at Zurich HBF was okay and normal and the only attraction to us was the spectacular Christmas Tree from Swarovski.  We took some pictures with the tree when the market was still closed. Haha, more space and angle to choose from.  The rest of the stalls were normal, selling food and even chinese food.

I like the one at Opera House best.  It was the first one that we went. Besides a German Toy Wooden House (we bought a toy for our own Christmas Tree), the market was huge. There was also ice activities for kids. 

  
It was interesting to have the Opera House as the background for the market - something old something tradition. We spent some time here taking quick panning shots and amazed at the circular patterns formed and captured in our SD card.  I didn't even notice them until my wife told me. My eye for details not as instinctive now.  

Something caught our attention was an entourage of Santa Claus - both males and females. They were made up of old uncles and aunties riding on motorbikes - still as fit! Dunno why I am usually more sporty when travelling and took a picture of a tall old Santa with his favourite bike. Say Cheese.  Wonder what motivate them?



As we were in Switzerland, the Christmas Markets were also full of chocolates.  Initially, the chocolates looked so "soapy" like the lush soaps that my wife were eyeing back in London.  I am still a bit confused and puzzled over the similarity in colour.  For me, I was looking not for the chocolates at market but some traditional chocolates outlets or shops. I "forced" my wife to take pictures with the chocolates even though we didn't buy any.  She was sporting this time round. 



One thing that we would do in Christmas Markets is to drink mulled wine, and if possible collect the cup. Most shops were selling the wine (hot ones) in paper cups, and we finally found one with the festive cups.  About 6 Swiss Franc for the drink and cup (if you like it, no need to return cup).


This time round, we didn't collect the cup after some drinking and deliberation. We have two from Munich and this one will be three. Too bad we were very practical people who started and agreed that we dun really have much use for the cups back homie. Haha. 

Another thing is to eat hot steamy junk food. Sausage is one of them.  Frankly, they were not the best and marche may have better ones, but the mood needs to be there. Eating junk food - usually we were given a paper plate - rectangular ones - and we would hold them in our hands and share. With people surrounding us while we stood and ate - the christmas mood was hanging in the air.

Christmas markets - we visited several others along our excursions.  Got one stall selling little red shoes and this reminded me of my wife's father who without fail got her a pair of red shoes (same design but different sizes) every year.  The other was a shop that sold cute little tortoises.  It was chanced upon by my wife. Very cute.

Well Well, we so like Christmas Marketing.