6 Jun 11 – Day 4 (Lucerne, Bern, Interlaken)

I was the last to get up at 6:20am. Went for breakfast slightly before 7am and then moved off from the hotel at 8am. Everyone was given a voucher each to exchange for a teaspoon from the shop Bucherer, one of the leading watch and jewellery retailers in Switzerland with the largest flagship store in Lucerne. We reached Lucerne around 9am and went to see the Lion Monument (Lion of Lucerne) and took photos. It was drizzling and so I put on my windbreaker instead of taking umbrella.

Then we went off for a brief city tour before going to see the Old Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke), the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe and it was nicely decorated with flowers along the side, series of paintings from the 17th century depicting events from Luzerne's history on the wooden cover and a section of the bridge was blacken from the 1993 fire. Fed the ducks and swans with the bread that we had brought along and took some photos. We were told to gather at 12:45pm and so that gave us some time to explore the town. Checked out some souvenir shops, shoe shops and almost bought a pair of nice black boots but didn’t manage to coz didn’t have my size.

The Lion Monument :

Some photos of the Old Chapel Bridge and the Ducks and Swans nearby :

Bought some chocolates from Manor and then some from Coop. Walked back to Bucherer and headed to the top level to exchange for the teaspoon and checked out some of the souvenir where Kim bought a can of sweets, saw part of the big Aion Ball Rolling Clock (the world’s largest indoor rolling ball clock) in Bucherer, then came down to level one and went to check out the watches. Saw the B Swiss watches, Bucherer house brand, that Cecilia recommended and the price looked on par with the Swiss Railway watches that I saw the other day. So I decided to see if there were any suitable ones that I could buy. Looked at the prices, designs and functions and finally settled on a Swiss Military Gent’s wristwatch at CHF245 and felt a pinch.

Proceeded to the entrance where we were supposed to gather but it was still early. So went off to explore other shops round the corner and Mag bought a box of 14 macaroons to try. Headed back to the meeting point and saw a few of our members together with other people scavenging from a big container of rubbish. It seemed that shops nearby would sometime bring out unwanted or defected stuff to dump into that container and few lucky ones would be able to scavenge for treasure.

One or two of our members managed to find black rubber boots and a couple of big paper bags to put their stuff. Our coach came and we headed off for char siew and roast duck rice, recommended by Cecilia. The shop sells a variety of Asian stuff such as Korean noodles, various types of cooking sauces, dried stuff and they also sell cooked food. Our lunch was not included and so Cecilia suggested that we eat at this shop so that it would be easier to move off together to the next destination. There were not a lot of seats and so we had to go into the shop by batches whenever seats were available. Waited for our food, gobbled them up so that we could give up our seats to others. Our lunch turned out to be CHF18 each. That was the most expensive char siew and roast duck rice I have ever eaten.

The Chinese eating place - Kam Tong

The expensive char siew & roast duck rice

Waited outside of the shop for others to finish and saw a very, very big dog. It wasn’t big in size but was very long and I could imagine it being probably about 2 meters in height if it was standing up. Some of our members took photos of it and some went to pat the dog. The owner had a smaller dog but no one seem to take note of that poor dog. After everyone was out of the shop, we boarded the coach to go to Bern, the capital city of Switzerland, to see the Bärengraben (Bear Pit) which is now empty and replaced by the BärenPark (Bear Park), an open-air park next to the Aare River and the Nydeggbrücke (a bridge). Managed to see a couple of bears and took photos of them.

Then we went to the old city of Bern which the structure is largely medieval, to see the Zytglogge clock tower, took photos, walk the streets, and took photos of the fountains. Saw the Stadttheater but forgot to look for the No. 49 Albert Einstein's House before heading to Interlaken for city tour. Dinner was Swiss fondue at the place called Bebbis which we upgraded with 5 Euro. The boss, Bebbi Boesch, and one of his employees were the one doing all the entertainment from singing to dancing.

The Aare River The empty Bärengraben (Bear Pit)

The Nydeggbrücke (bridge) The new BärenPark (Bear Park)

Some photos of the clock tower, the old town and couple of the many fountains in old town :

The back of the clock tower

The front of the clock tower

The first fondue was the cheese fondue where there were three types of cheese melted in a pot and we had to use the long fork to dip the bread into the cheese to eat. There was wine in the pot of cheese and so after trying with one piece of bread, I stopped. Next was the meat fondue and we were given beef, chicken and pork. Used the long fork to poke a piece of meat and left it in the pot of water to cook. After it was cooked, dipped it in one of the many sauces available and ate. Wasn’t too bad and I ate most of the beef coz Kim doesn’t take beef. The last was the chocolate fondue and it was my favorite. Unlike our local chocolate fondue which was in the shape of a fountain, the Swiss chocolate fondue was in a pot and the chocolate was not as thick as our local ones.

Our dinner :

The bread for the cheese fondue The meat fondue

The melted cheese The chocolate fondue

After dinner, we were given some time to explore the town before gathering at 7:45pm. So walked about but some shops were already closed and so was Migros, the supermarket. Got back to the meeting point and waited for the coach but the engine didn’t work. The worse thing was that the coach stalled at the no-parking place. The road was narrow and the cars behind the coach were stuck and drivers were cursing and swearing in their vehicles. One of our members went to be a temporary traffic policeman to direct the traffic stuck behind the coach. Some sped off at the side and one particular one just had to be the trouble maker. The guy at the passenger seat rolled his window down and started scolding. A member explained to him the situation and still he wasn’t very satisfied and after a while drove off.

Interlaken

Our coach driver then told Cecilia that he would need about an hour or so to find ways to fix the coach and hence we were told to gather again at the same place at 8:45pm. Walked around and took some more photos to kill time. Finally the night ended at 9+pm when we got to our hotel in the mountains. It was cold and felt like winter. The hotel lobby and the rooms were opposite each other and so after getting the keys and being brief at the lobby, we dragged our luggage across the road to the rooms’ block. The block came with only one small lift and since there were so many of us, a couple of us with light luggage decided to just take to the stairs and I was one of them.

The room was quite spacious with a balcony, microwave oven, fridge, tv and so on. The extra bed was placed near the window while the other two beds were nearer to the door. Kim was fast to occupy the window bed coz she liked the cold while I took the one closest to the door so Mag could only have the middle bed next to me.

Thoughts: Disappointment one after the other today. The nice black boots didn’t have my size and the coach broke down. The only good thing was the view that the hotel room provided overseeing the mountains.

5 Jun 11 – Day 3 (Black Forest & Schaffhausen)

We went for breakfast about 7am and took about one hour to finish. Brought our luggage down about 8:30am to load into the coach, took some photos before setting off at 9am on a four hours journey to the Black Forest. Along the way, I saw quite a number of people either cycling or walking with hiking sticks along the countryside. Also saw bikers on the road and interestingly, they all wore full biker gears. Had a toilet break around 11:40am and paid 0.50 Euro to use the toilet.

Reached Titisee at 1:10pm and headed straight for lunch at 1:30pm where we paid 5 Euro to upgrade our lunch to pork knuckles and black forest cake, specialties of Germany. The pork knuckle was big but fortunately was tender enough to cut and eat. The black forest cake was different from our local ones, this one had more cream but fortunately again the cream was quite light coz they used fresh cream. Some of the waitresses in the restaurant wore traditional Bavarian costumes. After eating, we were given a small cup of ice wine to try and we could place order if we like it but I found it too expensive so didn’t buy any.

My lunch :

Went to the shop next door (belongs to the restaurant owner) called Drubba Shopping to look around while waiting for the cuckoo clock making demonstration which was held at the basement of the shop at 2:45pm. Mag commented that my face was very red and I explained to her that it happens every time I drink and that is why I never like to drink. The demonstration ended about 3pm and we were given only half an hour to walk the street. Bought some souvenirs, took some photos of the flower clock and the Titisee Lake and reached the coach at 3:30pm. Two middle-age couples were late for 15 minutes which caused us having the time for the next stop cut back by 15 minutes.

The cuckoo clock workshop

A cuckoo clock maker at work

Cuckoo Clock Making Demostration (P1) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CSbVYpL6yM

Cuckoo Clock Making Demostration (P2) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu99f3hMFMA

 Some photos of Titisee Lake and its town :

Titisee Lake - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v98aiQqB3ug

Got to the Switzerland border at 4:30pm, reached Neuhausen am Rheinfall to see the Schaffhausen Rhine Falls (Europe’s largest waterfall) after 5pm and was told to report back by 6pm. So walked briskly to check out some shops and found out that almost all shops sell Swiss Army knives of various functions and prices were quite standard. Found the Swiss Railway watches too but almost all comes in leather straps only and things looked expensive so didn’t get anything. Saw the Wörth Castle (Schloss Wörth) but didn’t go in.

We walked quite far, almost a full circle to take photos and looked around. Saw some tourists taking boat rides to view the Rhine Falls from the downstream of the fall, some were even seen walking down the steps on the Rheinfallfelsen, a large rock.  Returned to the coach and headed to the airport hotel in Zurich for the night. Cecilia said it was difficult to get hotel rooms during the summer period and so we had to stay in Zurich instead.

Some photos of the Rhine Falls and its surroundings :

Rhine Fall with Laufen castle on the right

Wörth castle from afar

Got to the hotel, checked in and then went out to walk around the area as well as to look for food. As it was Sunday, shops were closed. Found a pizza take-away place and placed our orders for a Hawaiian pizza (32cm) and an eight-piece chicken nuggets. Bumped into our coach driver and he told us about another dine-in place for pizza. Walked the direction he had given and saw a convenient store next to the railway station and so we stopped there to get some snacks. Didn’t continue to the dine-in pizza place and we headed back to collect our food.

The food should have cost us CHF34.50 but we were charged only CHF32.50 and they even threw in a bottle of red wine. Carried our food back and passed by Cecilia and the driver, they were surprised with the free wine. Got back to the room, I went to take my shower, followed by Kim and Mag was having gastric attack. Finally settled down to eat and then headed for bed closed to 11pm.

Our dinner :

Thoughts: It looked kind of fun to cycle or trek around the countryside. The bikes in Germany were big and some had two wheels in front and one wheel at the back. The bikers looked so cool in their full biker gears.

3 & 4 Jun 11 – Day 1 & 2 (Munich & Fussen)

Left the house at 9pm and waited at the pickup point for Kim. Reached Changi Airport Terminal 1 about 9:30pm and Mag was already there with a small cabin bag and a Fila sport bag. Found the tour guide Cecilia and went to Row 2 to check-in our luggage. Kim’s luggage weighed about 15kg while Mag and mine weighed about 10.5kg each. After that, we went to Ruyi for some food. Kim and I had hot and sour seafood noodle soup while Mag had red bean soup with rice balls. After we were done, we walked around more and Mag bought some mini sausages to eat. She also bought a magazine and a small bottle of Tiger balm.

Checked-in about 11:50pm and waited at the designated gate. Boarded the plane at 12:55am and it took off around 1:10am. We were given light meals which consisted of pan-fried parrot fish with red pepper, mashed potato, blueberry cheesecake, dinner bun and orange juice around 2:50am. The plane landed at Colombo around 4:40am before taking off again to Dubai around 6am. Watched a little of the movie “Unknown” but was snoozing most of the time coz was simply too tired.

Landed in Dubai about 6am and by the time we gathered it was already 6:30am. Followed the tour guide to do security clearance and then it was F&E time till boarding at 8am. Walked a few rounds in airport, browsed some shops, looked at prices of gold before going to the toilet and boarded the plane at the stated time. The plane delayed close to an hour before finally taking off at 9:30am. It was terrible waiting for the plane to take off while inside the plane in Dubai coz of the glare and also the heat sipping into the plane (I was allocated the window seat).

Shortly after the plane took off, we were served breakfast which consisted of cold cut, croissant, bun, fruits, coffee etc. Slept for a while and then watched “The Resident”, rest a while and continued with “Season of the Witch”. Suddenly my left arm brushed against something rough and I was shocked to find a foot on my arm rest. Fortunately after a few minutes, the uncle put his foot down. About an hour later or so, lunch was served. Gosh, I was eating non-stop since boarded the plane.

A couple of pictures of the meals I ate during the journey

Finally the plane touched down in Munich around 1:10pm but we only gathered about 2pm coz our luggage came out late. We moved off from the airport at 2:30pm to go to the Neuschwanstein Castle in Fussen. It took us about two over hours to reach the village of Hohenschwangau and which is dominated by car parks, restaurants, guesthouses, hotels and souvenir shops. By then it was 4:30pm so took some photos of the Hohenschwangau Castle (Schloss Hohenschwangau) and the Neuschwanstein Castle (Schloss Neuschwanstein) from a distance. We walked around the village while waiting for Cecilia to get the tickets for the bus to go up to Neuschwanstein Castle. The castle was up on the mountain and while looking up, saw some people doing paragliding.

The village of Hohenschwangau

Neuschwanstein Castle from afar

Queued up for the shuttle bus and there were three members missing. Cecilia panicked and went to search for them and only to find them coming out from the toilet coz there was a very long queue. The three of them ended up behind the queue with some other people between us and them. The tour guide dare not moved the three forward to join the rest of us coz she was afraid that those in between would start scolding her.

It started drizzling while waiting for the bus and it got heavier. By the time the bus came for us to board, it was pouring. A lot of us had to squeeze into the bus coz it was the last bus for the day. The road was winding and when we got to the top, we alighted and headed for shelter to wait. None of us brought umbrella coz Cecilia told us there was no need to since it was sunny at the time we alighted from our coach. Waited for the rain to get smaller and Cecilia went to get us some ponchos. All members except Kim, Mag and me put on ponchos. The three of us walked briskly towards the castle and along the way took some photos.

Reached the castle and waited again for 6:35pm for the guided tour so in the meantime, we took more photos. Went to the ladies and when I came out I saw Kim bought a postcard with stamps on it but I didn’t have the time to get for myself. Soon the guided tour started and we were not allowed to take photos inside the castle. Couldn’t really hear what the guide was saying coz there were a lot of talking and the guide wasn’t loud enough. The tour ended about 7pm and since it was raining and there was no bus, we had to put on our ponchos and walked down. It was really taking a toll on me coz I have phobia of walking down slopes on rainy day. I kept thinking if I would slip on my pair of sneakers while walking down.

Some photos of Neuschwanstein Castle :

Finally reached the base, Cecilia was pissed with a few members coz they walked on down another path on their own when came to the intersection half way down the mountain. Headed to the restaurant at 8pm for dinner where we had vegetable clear soup and sausages. Sat with a family of three consisted of a mother and two daughters in their twenties. Dinner ended at 9pm and we checked into our hotel. The room only had the basic things, no kettle and the shower space was really small such that I had very little room to maneuver.

My dinner :

Thoughts: The bad weather and long flight made me very disappointed with the trip. Would have been good if we were given more time in the castle to explore.

15 May 11 (Sun) - Rainbow Cupcakes with Chocolate Chips

My younger niece, Lyn, was asking for cupcakes two weeks ago and I said that I would bake them when I next stay over at her house. Didn't plan to go to my sis's place this weekend but my BIL messaged me early last week to go over so that I could help coach his boy, Ry, on his Principles of Accounts. So went to get a packet of chocolate buttons during the week to be used during the baking session early this morning.

Followed my usual cupcake recipe but this time I tripled the usual portion estimating that it would yield about 15 cupcakes. After I was done mixing the ingredients, added about 100g of chocolate buttons to the mixture and separated the mixture into three portions. Added the red food coloring to one portion and the blue food coloring to another portion. Spooned the original mixture into the 12 silicon muffin cases lined with cupcake cases as well as three aluminum muffin cases lined with cupcake cases and then followed by the pink mixture and blue mixture.

After filling up the 15 cupcake cases, I still had some mixture left and so had to prepared another two more cupcake cases. However, I was down with only one aluminum muffin case and so the other cupcake case was without any mould. Put all of them into the oven and set it to bake at 160 degree celsius for 20 minutes. The cupcakes expanded and those in the silicon muffin cases went out of shapes coz they were placed too closely together and the one without the mould was dripping mixture to the bottom of the oven. Only those in the aluminum muffin cases looked nice. This time the cupcakes didn't cracked as much as my previous few rounds. In fact, this time the surface of the cupcakes was rather smooth and I could have done glace frosting on them if I wanted to.

After the 20 minutes was up, did the satay stick test and it came out clean but I set the cupcakes to bake for another two minutes before bringing them out to cool. Unmolded them before taking some photos of my creations and then did the taste test. The taste was just nice, not too sweet and could taste the semi-dark chocolate chips. My BIL commented that the blue color looked green and hence made the cupcakes seemed mouldy. Well, the surface of the cakes was of brownish tone and so made the blue looked green but the inside of the cake, the blue was obvious and the red was like pink. Perhaps next time I should put the blue color mixture as the base, follows by the pink mixture and tops with the original mixture.

Outside

Inside

8 May 11 (Sun) - Green Curry Chicken and Preserved Raddish with Minced Meat

Bought a packet of green curry paste sometime ago so decided to cook it today. Also missed mum's stir-fry preserved raddish with minced meat in dark soya sauce therefore decided to attempt that as well. Went to the market yesterday morning to get the ingredients such as chicken breast meat, preserved raddish, minced meat and coconut milk. Then prepared the ingredients by cutting and washing them as well as soaking the preserved raddish overnight. So this morning was just taking them out to cook.

Started with the preserved raddish with minced meat. Heated up the oil, added in the shallot, garlic and then the minced meat and kept on stirring and cutting them to prevent them from sticking together. When the meat was half cooked, added the preserved raddish and then poured some dark soya sauce over it. When it was almost done, added the chili padi and some sugar so that the end product wouldn't be too salty. Scoped them up to a big bowl and took a couple of photos.

Next was the green curry chicken. Added water, coconut milk and the paste to a pot and bring to boil. Then added the chicken meat and after the chicken meat was cooked, off the fire and kept the pot covered. Didn't buy things like long beans, eggplants or carrot to go with curry coz it would be too much for me to finish.

Dancing Chef Green Curry Paste - Front View Preserved Raddish with Minced Meat Green Curry Chicken

Dancing Chef Green Curry Paste - Back View Preserved Raddish with Minced Meat - Close up Green Curry Chicken - Close up

2 May 11 (Mon) - Pandan Flavour Rainbow Steamed Sago Cake

Asked my sis to help me get the pandan pearl sago from Giant during her weekly grocery shopping and made the steamed sago cake today using another recipe I found. As I still have the red and blue food coloring so decided to be a bit adventurous. When I tried to take it out of the aluminum tray after it was done and cooled, the bottom of the cake still stuck to the tray despite the fact that I had greased the tray before pouring in the sago. Manged to get the cake out and cut into smaller pieces before coating then with grated coconut. The center of the cake seemed to be firmer than my previous attempt but it didn't have the pearly effect. The effect of the red, blue and green color looked nice though. Tasted my creation and found that it wasn't sweet enough but there was a faint tint of pandan flavour.

Pandan Pearl Sago

Pandan Flavour Rainbow Steamed Sago Cake