Mindless entertainment =]

These originals are from a group called The Lonely Island. Their songs are totally mindless and pretty creative. The first 2 videos are recently discovered by me and the last 2 helped make my mugging for the 1st Professional MBBS earlier this year more enjoyable =] Have fun!

This is really impressive!

The singer in both videos is Sam Tsui, a student from Yale.

It made it! =]

This is so killer man.. My photo of Old Trafford made it to the newly released 9th edition of the Schmap Manchester Guide! Whoohoo!

That is my photo in the red box! =]

London, United Kingdom (5th-8th August '09)

Our final destination was London! There was so much to be done in London that we hardly covered the tip of the iceberg...

Having caught the Phantom of the Opera in Singapore, I wanted to check out the original West End version and compare the differences. I recognized the actors from the musical staged in the Esplanade and left Her Majesty's Theatre preferring the play I saw back home. Perhaps it was to do with the seating...

Anyhow, I caught Les Miserables on the last night before we left and was glad I did. It was such a beautiful play...Simply brilliant! I felt that the production made use of pretty simple props but was able to bring out the desired effect due to the killer revolving stage. That was the bomb!

Tower Bridge

Funky building along the River Thames

The London Eye

Jose Mourinho at Madame Tussauds

David Beckham at Madame Tussauds

Sensory and Motor Homunculus at The Natural History Museam

Big Ben

Jason and I cooking instant noodles illegally at the already closed kitchen in the hotel =]

Our A380 flight back to Singapore at London Heathrow Airport

A conclusion to a wonderful journey at Singapore Changi Airport

Dover, United Kingdom (4th August '09)

Dover. This was my favourite place out of all the places we visited. A small, somewhat quaint town where the White Cliffs are located. I felt immediately at home when we stepped out of the train station to a map of Dover where Marine Parade could be found =]

This was also where we had our killer adventure! Pictures speak a thousand words...so let us begin! =]

Coincidence =]

I found Marine Parade! It was also built facing the sea...

The White Cliffs of Dover in the distance...We hiked all the way there =]

This was actually a very dangerous as the land I am lying on is sloping downwards!

The adventure begins on our way back to the town centre. We decided to try an alternative way back and I believed there was a way back by the beach. Therefore, we begin our journey down the zigzag path to the beach.

We then had to climb down this really tall ladder to finally reach the beach

The rocks we had to climb over to reach the steps near the port which supposedly leads to the town centre...I think....The intial plan was to walk near waters to avoid climbing, but the tide was rising, we had no choice but to move inland and climb...

After about 45mins of climbing , we reached the steps I saw near the port. We were quite shocked to see a locked gate in front of us. We are stuck! There is no time to back track as the rising tide will sweep us out to sea! The only way out was to pick up the phone outside the gate...

There is always time for a picture to capture our adventure =]

We waited for the police to come to our rescue. They took our student cards and recorded our names and particulars. We then took the police car back to the town centre. What a nice way to explore a place! =]

Liverpool, United Kingdom (3rd August '09)

This destination was for Jiajie's pilgrimage to Anfield. He and I visited both stadiums and I came to a conclusion that Old Trafford was much more classy than Anfield but the Liverpool fans are really with their team through thick and thin. They are indeed the 12th man on the pitch; my hair stood when I watched how the Liverpool fans travelled to Istanbul to support their team in the Champions League Final against AC Milan which turned out to be as great as the comeback from Manchester United against Bayern Munich in 1999.

The Kop

Statue of Bill Shankly

Silverware in the museam

The dressing room

Notice Xabi Alonso's jersey; it was still there when we visited. His move to Real Madrid happened a few days later...and so did the decline of Liverpool Football Club.

This is Anfield!

The pitch

Anfield

Manchester, United Kingdom (1st-2nd August '09)

This destination was planned purposefully by Jason for my pilgrimage to Old Trafford! =] Thank you Yipster! I will let the pictures do the talking...

The street leading to Old Trafford

Old Trafford

The Megastore

Silverware in the museam

Names of all the players who played for Manchester United Football Club

The dressing room

Rooney might have sat where I was sitting =]

The ultimate 4-lung midfielder Park Ji Sung

Tunnel

Entrance into the pitch

Home team!

I really wanted to get my hands on some pitch turf, but the security was really crazy. The closest I got to was touch the pitch =]

Old Trafford - Fortress of the Red Devils

This killer photo was taken illegally as I sneaked behind the posts placed to prevent visitors from getting onto the field and proned to capture. It has been shortlisted for inclusion in the 9th edition of the Schmap Manchester Guide! Cool beans =] I will keep you guys updated if it has been chosen.

Amsterdam, Netherlands (30th-31st July '09)

The next destination was vice capital of the world, Amsterdam. It was a waste that we only had 2 days to spend there. Amsterdam is a very beautiful city with wonderful city planning creating a fusion of past and present.

The people in Amsterdam are also super friendly, and they speak really fluent English! =] One could really let one's hair down in this really happening city. We visited the city centre for the day and explored the streets, food and culture.

Fast food vending machine! Killer cool...

The famous fries. This could be a meal on its own!

24k Gold Vodka! What the hell!

A range of Absolut Vodka in the Vodka museam

Vodka in a Kalashnikov and grenade

A typical street in Amsterdam

We then stayed back in the city centre to check out the red light district as the skies darkened, transforming the city into a totally different place..Lights of all colours do their best to draw eyes to their masters behind glass windows. This was where I experienced the temptation...

Red light district, Amsterdam

Beauties behind glass..

Munich, Germany (28th-29th July '09)

We stopped by Munich, Germany for 2 days to visit Nicolas and Xiuqing. 2 days was insufficient to cover what Munich had to offer...However, the meal that Xiuqing fixed us on the last night was uber delicious. Not forgetting the company we had consisting of a German and a French student; they were hilarious.

We noticed this painting on the wall at Xiuqing's hostel. It was pretty descriptive of the 4 of us remaining at this stage of our eurotrip.

Slacking bird: Me!
Shitting bird: Jason
Upside down bird: Melvin
Birds in love: Jiajie and Michelle

I also visited Dachau concentration camp on my own in the day prior to the dinner we had at Xiuqing's hostel. I never regretted my decision to split from the group as the tour guide that brought us around was very well-informed.

I hardly took any photos there as I wanted to respect the place and the people who once walked on the very same concrete that I was walking on during WWII.

It is hard to imagine how human beings can be so devoid of emotions in times of stress (war) and resort to the things they did to other human beings. We are all told that history is written for us to learn from mistakes of the past in order to not make them in the future, but is this so in reality? Does theory and talking on paper translate to practice and actions in real time situations?

We human beings sometimes just fail to learn this important aspect of life...

Paris, France (24th-27th July '09)

The Louvre

Parisian artists plying their trade

Buskers entertaining the crowd

Moulin Rouge

We stayed in a hotel in Pigalle, and it was very near Moulin Rouge. Pigalle is where cabaret apparently originated. Shops flanking both sides of the streets ALL sold sex toys, DVDs, live sex shows and the like. It was indeed an eye-opening experience; it was like living in the heart of Geylang, Singapore!

A fish market

Market

The markets were very similar to the ones we have in Singapore! This was a very astonishing discovery. It seems like markets do not vary much in their layout and appearance.

Jason on his 2nd 'bombing' incident. The first was in Florence, Italy. Birds just seem to enjoy 'showering' him with 'gifts' of love.

Arc de Triomphe

Last stage of Le Tour de France with the winning team, Astana leading the peloton on 1 round of victory lap before the sprint finish.

The Eiffel Tower

We chilled out like the Parisians do =]

Eiffel Tower shots

The cafe we waited 45mins to dine in...

...was well-worth the wait! Crepes and cider make a wonderful combination...

...desserts to top it all off! =]

We took the TGV to Munich, Germany