Deutschland

Finally got my first check. 5th Solo, kind of late as compared to my other batchies.

Kelly and myself haven been pondering when it'll be, since our 3rd solo. Which explains why we were so stressed up and it was written all over our faces @ control centre the other day, such that Wen sms me all the way from Manchester to check if i'm all right. LOL (Thks Babe)

During the flght, we have no idea if we're on check. But our LS and LSS seems to be asking us a few questions. After touched down still no indication, so we happily thought "okie no check again." Finally, they only let us know when we were leaving Frankfurt and my LS asked me what we served 2 days ago..... Lagi Best, how the H*** i remember? It was 2 days ago and i'm serving meals every day! I mean every flight! LOL....


Marriott Hotel, Frankfurt. 6 Pillows! I was having a mini pillow party there... Hiak Hiak... The MOST comfortable bed i've ever slept in too! Perfect remedy for my tired body. My team was telling me wait til i go Zurich.


In the hotel lobby, some of the senior girls was sharing with us about their exprienece touring the european places and they encouraged us to go on some of the tours the hotel offers. *Piang* All the tours are considered expensive for newbies like us where every dollar counts. But it was something they said that catalysed my decision despite the price.
"It's not everytime you have company (as in buddy) to go on tour with ."

Thus, we chose what we thought was the most value-for-money tour : The Rhine River. 1 full day @ 69 Euro.

The description of the tour goes:
An unforgettable day trip to the Rhine River Valley - an area which UNESCO coutns to the World Heritage of Mankind. Come to see the river, the little villages and vineyards. Mighty medival castles, more than anywhere else in the world. The famous Loreley rock. Enjoy a georgous view from Niederwald Monument and a cable car ride (optional) from the top of the hills in summertime. Lunch in a beautiful restaurant at the riverside is included and a wonderful boat trip on a Rhine steamer alongside the famous river panorama up to St. Goarshausen. we invite you to wine tasting. Shopping stop at Rudesheim/Drosselgasse. (in winter when steamers are not operating we may visit a castle instead).

Enticing right?

Bleah~

Booked the tour, charged to our room, bathe, changed out and was ready to leave again 2 hours later.

It turns out bulk of the time end up in waiting for the bus, the people, the tourguide etc etc. Wasted so much time on waiting. The lunch was so-so (grilled chicken wing with fries and veggie), drinks we have to pay ourselves somemore, not exactly a beautiful restaurant either. Felt a little cheated.

The little village where we had our lunch.














It was freaking hot. Feels as though i'm baking myself under the sun... Another No-Go item for summer time in these countries will be a cap and sunglasses.






And the Castles...







When the whole cruise ride ended, i have no idea what are the castles, their names, the time they were built or destroyed or rebuilt. But i know i heard the name "Napoleon" many times though =P. We were simply 'stoning' onboard cos of the searing heat.


A peaceful little cafe which kelly and myself settled for some light refreshments while the others went for wine tasting (we opt out cos we know without sleep plus alcohol, we may not be able to return back to the hotel Hehe). The only people who frequent those places are tourists and we are the youngest ones around =9




At the end of the day when we returned to our hotel, we've clock our recording breaking 31 hours of no sleep, and i was having a throbbing head. Honestly, the tour seems more suited for retirees =P

In fact we did get to know one of the retiree couples around while having lunch. They were from Washington, USA. Been travelling around the world and for the past 3 to 6 months, they've been touring Europe and not seen home. Said that this was their dream and they started saving towards this ever since 21 years old! 10% of income every month to be exact and despite having 3 children to raise! So disciplined! We were like Wow!

Speaking of this, just the day b4 leaving for Frankfurt, met up with Gerry and we sort of approached a similar topic.

"It'll take more then just money for you to like/stay in this job."
Honestly, i was a little taken-a-back, maybe cos up to now, i'm still quite blinded by the monetary benefits this job brings. The initial few years i guessed it'll all be about money, money, money; travel, travel, travel. Then i'll have to decide whether i want this for long...

Don't worry babe, when i first graduated, i went through a similar quarter life crisis too. It's really tough choosing between doing what you like and doing what you must to get what you like @ the end. Life's all about choices and time will show the way....

I'll have to find a path among this maze, the maze of life.

The next day. Lunch with the team and shopping's next. While walking to the common pizza crew joint, i was telling Kelly how this job feels a little "Ho Jia, Ho Koon" (hokkien) =P Which is why we must constantly upgrade ourselves, otherwise we may just become what Kelly fears most: senile!

Major item on everyone's shopping list, what Germany's famous for : Birkenstock!

But it was such disappointment cos it's either no size or no stock at all. Winter will be a better time, the sale assistant says, it'll take only about 2 days to deliver if an advance order is made. She gave us namecards and advised we email her to make an order first the next time b4 we go (Wen in case u're reading this, i'll drop the email into your box hehe). I think the shop gets aircrew everyday, cos we went with another set of crew too. In the end, i got a pair that wasn't really on my buying list at all, and Kelly(previously not mad about Birki's) is pretty upset that she couldn't find anything to buy for herself. LOL...

Shopping in the city square.

The street to the supermarket frequent by crew.

An interesting encounter. As we were walking up to the Penny Supermarket, 1 of the fruits stall man call out his greetings and then he shouted, "Singapore Airlines??" I was dumbfounded! LOL. Like how he knows man... Maybe there's so few Asians, the only Asian girls he sees will be from SQ? Ke ke...

Maggie Mee and Yogurt party over @ Kelly's room. The yogurt there is so nice and cheap !!!

My buys. Glad that i kept within my budget, inclusive of the Rhine River Valley tour, for this trip. The Adidas there is in fact more expensive than in Singapore. The cap i got is originally 20 Euro!!! But they were having sale, got it at 50% off, thus the price after conversion is still acceptable. The brand's German, but products made in China and the prices are more expensive in the motherland. How ironic.

The chocolate waffles and Giotto chocolates from Penny, highly recommended by seniors. Not sure if the waffles is nice anot, so didn't buy much. But after trying, next time i'll certainly get more as gifts =9

Although i kept within my budget, but i realised i am not doing good enough. Cos i just found out that Peh Peh went and came back from his Frankfurt-New York trip and spent barely 50 bucks in each country >.<"""

Will try harder =)