BrOwnIcOle wAndeRiNg Up thE clOuD

在金邊的第二天走了一整天，經過無數個傳統市場，看到他們不乾淨的那一面（炙熱的中午➕生肉活魚腥味➕辣椒味➕尿騷味➕垃圾味），被超過上百人搭訕（tuk tuk），終於在絕望的回家路上用地址找到了我今天預計要去的餐廳！坐在可以刷卡的餐廳吃飯真是太棒了！没有魚腥辣烤等怪味在四周，沒有人用手抓開胃菜直接裝盤，没有人用二手回收筷，不用擔心他們會刻意少找你錢，我也不用擔心現金不夠不敢亂點；而這家餐廳成立的目的是在幫助街童及邊緣化的年輕人，所以吃的多點的多的同時也幫助當地社區，重點是它還頗好吃的！很厲害的素食漢堡跟草莓冰沙～且它離我住在地方走路才10分鐘，我應該明天會再來噢！

（好吃的餐廳又可以做公益）

PS, 看完傳統市場再回想我昨天（第一天就敢吃路邊攤）的好膽量，幸好沒吃生菜！不過我的胃真的太健康嗎？還是已被台灣的黑心食品訓練的很好？！

(第一天的第二餐就吃路邊攤食物了！好大的膽子～）

 

以下是我到了柬埔寨的前兩天跟當地人民交涉的真實故事分享給大家看看：

情境一：
旅館附近的小吃店，我在金邊的第一餐，點個麵跟一杯飲料，11,000柬幣，我用美金10元（4,000:1）付，他應該找回我29,000柬幣，但他只給我19,000柬幣（把我當笨蛋嗄？），我腦中轉了一下就跟對方說這金額不對吧，他看了我幾秒後...... 就又給了我一張10,000柬幣（他應該懊惱想說這個女子不好騙），好險我有先算過，畢竟是第一次在柬國花錢（但其實10,000柬幣只合台幣80元，但還是不能這樣騙觀光客的錢啊，你說是不是？！）

（柬埔寨的第一餐！）

情境二：
看到湄公河上聚集一堆船，且有階梯下去，就走近瞧瞧....
（以下是英翻中）
船家問：你要搭船嗎？
我問：一次幾多錢？
船家說：一次一小時帶你到湄公河出海口，15美金
我說：那不了 （心想好貴，正轉身離開）
船家說：那5美金就好
我說：還是不用（因為出海口我所在位置就看的到，不覺得會有多美啊）
船家說：那不然你開價嘛，要多少錢？
我搖頭走了，佇足在另一艘比較有設計的船前欣賞....
船家走過來說：那10美金要不要？
我...... （當場三條線直接轉身離開）！

結論是：柬人的算數都不太好齁

每次人家都會問我說為什麼不找人一起旅行？

我想想可以用下面的說明來解釋：

一，常常我想去的地方，我的朋友都没啥興趣。與其在背包客網站找到不認識的人一起去，不見得比較好玩～

二，有同伴一起走時，會把很多精力放在想話題聊天、猜測他不知道想不想去這景點、會不會想吃我現在腦海中浮出的食物、嫌路邊攤很不乾淨（因為我很敢試，且腸胃似乎很耐得住）、想不想花大錢吃高級餐廳等，太多的不確定因素，增添很多麻煩，無法說走就走！反而影響原本休假輕鬆的心情～

三，我走的路線一直都屬於漫無目的走法，只要確定目的地或根本沒有，我都會開始亂走，總是可以看到新鮮好玩事。不愛受限的我一但被限制住了，馬上臉就臭掉，再來就不好玩了～

四，自己一個人可以注意到四週環境，很多小細節都會注意到（如街邊有人在尿尿或樹上有猴子），有人一起走會忙著聊天看著對方眼睛～

五，我很不愛逛mall及商店，除非有需要

六，我超愛曬太陽，有海邊絕對會往海邊跑

七，與其找人一起走有這麼多條件又難搞，不如就別害別人，自己走自己的路也没什麼不好啊?!

您說是吧？！

 

話說我又搭上巴士前往下一站（14小時），途中巴士在某城市（El Bolson）停車接其他旅客，我因為對該城特別好奇，於是下車探探。沒想到轉個彎，看到一家甜點店，就進去瞧了瞧，看到可口的蛋糕我....... 心～動～了～～，當下準備要買但櫃員卻要我去排外帶的那區。

 

看到5-6個人在排隊時，就呈現半放棄狀態，沒想到又看到當地自產的果汁及啤酒（有好多口味ㄛ～且是西文，還要稍稍研究一下），忍不住趕緊挑了一瓶啤酒加入短了一點的排隊隊伍，當然一起買了想吃的蛋糕。

 

待我走回車站時，想說離開有一點點久，心理還莫名地想說巴士應該不會不等我就開走了吧，轉過彎後還真的•••••••

 

馬路上空空的，我的心涼涼的！！

（我所有行李都在巴士上，車票也是，我身上只有錢跟手機，噢～還有啤酒跟蛋糕！(¬_¬)）

 

結果知道我怎麼作？

 

 

在路邊......坐～下～來～吃～蛋～糕～

 

（待續）

Goodbye moms and kids that I've been working with at HOOP for the past three months at Flora Tristan, Arequipa. It was really a great experience that I "have never had" in my life and for sure I ll remember you all and miss you already.... (Sorry for the emotion broke down this afternoon.( ; _ ; )/~~~)

 

 

告一段落了，在距離台灣很遙遠的秘魯第二大城Arequipa住了三個月：陪伴20位3-5歲的小鬼每天玩驚聲尖叫、你追我跑遊戲3個月；跟比我年輕一輪以上的國際志工（大部份是歐洲人來的）喝酒趴替鬼混了3個月；在陽光燦爛的火山沙漠乾燥氣候吸收整整3個月的維他命D到滿載，即將帶著曬到黑亮的皮膚、超棒的胖嘟嘟體格（因為每天吃很多但又花費體力抱孩子們玩耍）離開這座終年陽光普照的城市！

 

謝謝Flora Tristan 的媽媽及小朋友們，你們真的讓我心靈收穫滿滿滿！

雖然不捨，但還是要說聲再會了～～

 

 

 

 

想說～～

何其幸運可以讓原本的生活停擺一陣子（感謝我自己擁有讓人驚訝的勇氣與開明樂觀的父母），跑到這麼一個獨特的國家體驗當地人的生活，感受他們人與人之間的熱情對待及即使不富裕卻貢獻他們僅有的與他人共享，並仍然開心渡過每一分一秒！

 

 

（正當要拍合照時，蘿蔔頭Roberto把聖誕樹弄倒了，大家回頭看到底發生了啥事？！整個笑歪啊～）

 

離開會不捨嘛？當然～

畢竟在異地生活，所有的事情都需要別人的互相幫助，且3個月也夠培養一定程度的感情。

但人生就是不斷地相見與再見，新的人事物會促使我不斷地向前行，似乎連眷戀的時間都不太有，或許這也是我總是表現不出熱情的原因吧！因為我深知即便我短時間放入感情，沒多久就是時候說再見！怕自己感情投入太多受傷更深！

 

 

去過終年不下雨的沙漠省份Ica，也是鼎鼎有名Nasca Line的所在地，缺水缺物資的城市在秘魯處處可聽到，但是看到的居民卻是夭壽樂天的一群人～

"有"，就夠了～如果有很多，那就是多餘、就是奢侈～ 我想這是秘魯人民的特性！

其實這一趟旅程下來，我承認我學到的真的比我當志工付出的還多很多～

（學校附近正在裝水管管線（終於裝了），我們都是這樣走去教室上課的！很危險吧？！）

4天走馬丘比丘的印加古道都還沒時間po文秀漂亮的風景照，這週末又去了個超酷的兩天一夜健行，活火山Misti, 海拔5,822公尺高～

 

從沒爬過走一步退半步的山，由於它的火山地形，整座山全都是難走的碎石路，不然就是雜亂的大石塊，都要自己找路走～

 

 

 

 

我們從3,415m 開始入山，走了約5小時，晚上紮營地點在4,600m 高，這營地的景超美，可以看到日落、雲海及Arequipa 的夜景！

 

 

 

隔天凌晨1：30起床，再加上隔壁的帳篷內有人因為高山症而整晚吐不停（所以根本整晚睡不著），吃完早餐後就邁向Misti 的山頂前進。由於山路超級難走，又是直接從4,600m 走上5,822m, 幾乎200m就要走上一小時，還要適應海拔增加會有呼吸困難或其它症狀，途中我們就一直在減少同伴，直到6-7個小時過後，我們總共有3個人登上山頂喲！！

 

（回頭看我走過的路）

 

我真的要謝謝我的嚮導非常有耐心的陪我一步一步慢慢走，途中我還在休息時睡著了大概10分鐘吧，醒來時，看到他就坐在旁邊默默的等著我，真的很感動耶～

要不是有他，我真的無法踏上最高峰5,822公尺!

 

 

超難爬的一座山～

且連下山也超級困難的說～

 

 

 

 

阿雷基帕有5多：

1. 太陽多炙熱，要多少有多少！ 還加二十倍贈送，真的！

2. 計程車爆多，滿街跑的車基本上都是它們，據說有幾千輛在這小城跑跳

3. 水果種類多，號稱「水果王國」的台灣終於可以卸下這重擔了（呼～扛的好累！終於擺脫了～）！真的不蓋你，我每天都可以喝到不同的新鮮果汁，看到沒見過的怪怪水果，絕對超過60種以上！

4. Chifa 餐廳多，這裡秘魯中國餐廳多到個不像樣，隨便走在一條街上10分鐘，可以看到20家 chifa （吃飯），完全是直譯中文“吃飯”，當地人進餐廳就是點“炒飯”，真的完全不會點別的來吃說！-_- #

5. 最後卻不是不重要的“多”～ 就是食物及地理高度讓人排氣多！（Oooops 洩露太多秘密囉～）

PS,

最近這幾天荷包大大大大大大～失血，我想我可能需要開始打包行李，款款鄧萊棄逮丸摟～

在生日的今天偷偷給自己放了個假，不用對小鬼們大聲喊叫1小時，也算享受到了從未有過的週間平靜下午。

（我的生日蛋糕！沒錯～上面插的是大麻菸！！哈）

中午吃了超棒的生日午餐，謝謝Wendy 及Nikky。在這兒只有台灣志工才懂得花錢在美食上，其他國家的志工們都是大學生或剛畢業，個個比誰省的大。我來的第一個月跟他們每天吃自煮的pasta或是某家餐廳的三明治（因為衛生問題，他們大都不敢嚐試當地食物），害我現在聽到這兩樣食物就抖～

好加在10月初來了個台灣女孩兒，我的秘魯美食之旅就此開始～

當地美食有很多口味跟台灣相似，雖然口味重鹹了點，且以雞肉、馬鈴薯與米飯為主要食物，但還是延伸出很多好吃又便宜的料理～

一起來看看......

 

秘魯當局表示游姓旅客在該國駐留太久，需短期離境再視狀況給予簽證。於是，週六早我坐了6小時的巴士到了秘魯最南端Tacna，再換乘計程車過境到智利最北邊的城市Arica。

巴士途中播放了我從未看過的「葉問1」及「葉問2」之西文版配音，讓我覺得才剛開始的跨國之旅已經有了超級怪異的異國風情～ 沿途中的風景大部份是沙漠及火山地型，經過了大概2000個彎路後，我到了膚色白一點，街道大一點，沙灘無限長的智利最北邊城市Arica。

週日很輕鬆的去城市制高點看風景及到沙灘踩踩浪花曬曬肥肉，到秘魯40天後，這是我最放鬆的週末～還真不想回到馬不停蹄週一到週五的志工生活呢～ （大聲吶喊！！）

在距離秘魯第二大城Arequipa約45分鐘車程的北方，有一個社區叫Flora Tristan，這裡住了250戶低收入戶家庭。大部分的爸爸們都在礦場工作，常年不在家，只剩媽媽們做做手工賺些微薄的錢支撐整個家庭。整個社區位於沙漠區終年乾燥且鄰近兩座火山，多數房子是棚寮，只有少數是磚房。外在環境不良加上家庭無法負擔電費，且氣候乾燥時常缺水，所以居民們健康時有堪慮，孩子們也沒有機會受到良好的教育。

一群有愛心的志工於2012年創立HOOP Perú，讓世界各地的志工可以到這擁有獨特地型及氣候的城市近郊，替這社區的孩子們及媽媽們提供英文教學並時常舉辦募款活動幫助改善他們的健康及教育狀況！官網請看：http://www.hoopperu.org/index.php。

尼可因為這群孩子，鼓起勇氣單人前往從未踏足過的南美洲，來這才短短的兩三周，看到可愛純真的孩子們用極少的資源努力學習及玩樂，看到來自世界各地的志工們為了這些孩子們貢獻時間想教學課程及課後的募款活動等等，大家都很用心在幫助這群住在偏遠山區的孩子們～

我知道住在台灣的你/妳可能沒有機會到南美洲來玩，更不可能到Flora Tristan 看到這群純真的孩子，只因為跟他們玩轉圈圈而聽到天堂般的笑聲。如果你/妳願意贊助HOOP Perú台幣500元或以上，我可以從這地球的另一端寄出一張當地特色明信片給你/妳，卡片上或許會有孩子的塗鴉驚喜！500元對台灣人來說可能只是一餐的飯錢，對Flora Tristan的居民來說，卻可能是一家人一週的吃飯錢....

500元新台幣扣除郵資約100元，轉帳手續費用約5-10%，外加購買明信片的費用約20-50元，不算我花時間寫卡片的人工費用，實際上進到HOOP 的帳號也所剩不多，希望大家諒解我要求最低金額的門檻～

進行方式如下步驟：

1. 請用下面的link匯款, 先註冊PayPal 帳號（我知道很討厭，但花個3分鐘就好）https://www.paypal.com/pe/webapps/mpp/home，之後去到send payment, 對象請填 volunteer@hoopperu.org, 再填上要捐款的金額

2. 將匯款收據照相後私訊給我並附上你/妳家的地址，郵遞區號及收件人

3. 我會在12月前將明信片寄到愛心人士你/妳提供的地址，愛心捐款完成！

謝謝大家的愛心～

PS. 我們也即將推出HOOP聖誕節卡片及HOOP T-shirt! 敬請期待唷～

7件上衣，3件長褲，1件毛衣，4件外套及三雙鞋要陪伴我渡過至少4個月，對注重搭配穿著的我實在是個極大的挑戰吖～ 目前挑戰成功一個半月！（不過換個角度看，是要多少件衣服才夠？我可以一週每天都有不同衣服穿，醬就夠了不是嘛？）

話說在秘魯已經兩週半了，除了鼻子不斷流鼻水甚至到流血（因為身處2,335公尺高海拔地區及超乾燥氣候），兩週後終於平息下來；右眼球上週血管破裂，造成嚇人的紅眼維持一週；為了刮腳毛把皮削了一塊下來（因為買了當地便宜貨，折合台幣10元），還以為自己的腳變白了；及志工們為了省錢，常常煮pasta 或漢堡當做晚餐外（餐後我都獎勵自己當地蛋糕及餅乾），我的外地生活還算正常！

報告完畢!

好久沒有自己的時間可以寫點東西或看書了，來Hoop 已經整整一週，幾乎每天的所有時間都跟志工們一起行動。

早上7點起床吃早餐，週末也是，9-10點去採購，然後去辦公室準備下午授課課程，中午一起吃午餐，但自己準備自己的食物。

下午2點一起坐45分鐘巴士去位於Arequipa北方的Flora Tristan學校，那區只有沙漠跟礦坑，熱到我以為我置身沙漠地帶，陪小鬼從3點半上英文課兼玩樂到5點半（真的很累人）。

晚上7點回到旅館，有時一起煮晚餐，有時出去吃飯，兩小時後回到房間，基本上都已經累垮，因為沙漠區的太陽曝曬沒得躲，以及兩小時來回的巴士車程。如果有精力，可以看部影集，不過那是非常奢侈的休閒活動。

每週三有Quiz Night, 是要幫孩子募款的活動日，我們要想出50個問題在一家酒吧跟旅客玩遊戲並伸手要錢，參與遊戲的每人5 Soles，折合台幣50元，贏得團隊每人有free shots可以喝，這麼好玩的夜晚且有意義，還是會有人不賞臉（就算不玩，也可以捐錢吖，真沒愛心）。

每週五有孩子的媽幫我們準備當地的午餐，我們一個人付10 Soles給孩子的媽， 也算是給那家庭另一種贊助捐款。

In a city where I m going to start something new. Not exactly a new life but with a heart that aiming something good for others instead of for myself.

While I could handle things well, not care much about the quality at all... Life is just need to go through.

 

追夢，其實就真的放下手邊的一切去追，看起來似乎就是這麼簡單，實際上卻需要極大的勇氣與堅決的心～

我不知道我出來這一趟究竟是要追求什麼，或是要完成什麼？只知道我現在不出國，好像以後就沒機會可以完成我去年計劃要作的事。

於是乎，我不管家人的意見，不理會朋友的擔心，奮不顧身的隻身一人計劃這樣的邊旅行邊做公益計劃（其實也是短短一周就決定好了），只希望我的勇氣與體力可以支撐我出來這麼久的一人旅行生活。

在歐洲的三周，經歷了丹麥文（哥本哈根）、德文（柏林）、法文（巴黎）、荷語（比利時魯汶）及去南美前轉機時的西文（西班牙馬德里），也是日後必須長待秘魯必須適應的語言。雖覺我的英文可以將就點在世界各地旅行，並與人交談溝通，但是短短期間接觸了這麼多種語言，也讓我生出好想學會各國語言的瘋狂念頭！只為了可以聽懂別人在聊什麼！哈

經過了三週在歐洲的人文薈萃極度開發的文明社會，享受了高水準餐飲及高品質服務，也花了我不少積蓄後，我從西班牙飛到了它從16世紀開始統治的南美洲直到18-19世紀～一個我未曾踏上過的大陸洲。

 

Very good sayings that I saw in John Gallery at Chiang Mai, Thailand.... 

just wanted to share~~

 

"Do what you love best, the universe will take care of the rest."

"Don't just say maybe."

"Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass... It's about dancing in the rain."

"The past is history, the future is a mystery. Now is a gift which is why it's called the present."

"Be original, be yourself, become unbreakable."

"Can't get lost if you don't care where you are!"

"Don't stare up the steps, step up the stairs."

"Life is like the train ride, it's not important how long the trip goes, it's important where u get off."

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breaths away."

"Friends are like stars... Just because you can't always see them doesn't mean they aren't there."

今年的夏天已經結束
雖然沒去哪度到假
及老在辦公室吹冷氣冷到半死
卻也不算白白浪費

*** 沙灘 / 陽光 / 事故 / 男同志
去了兩次Fire Island，經歷都非常特別
 - Kismet Beach：同行13 人， 約有5 人玩水玩到一起被救生員救起，嚇到整個海灘清空約莫半小時，朋友有劫後餘生的念頭出現
 
- Pine Beach：是個同志專用沙灘，去的那週剛好是個同志趴週末..... 整個沙灘的男人們都正到一個不行，但他們卻對女人一點興趣都沒有 orz

 - Sandy Hook：位於紐澤西國家公園小島，因為天氣不佳，剛抵達未走到沙灘就被大規模人群撤離沙灘而嚇到，只好趕緊躲避雷雨+ 閃電，後來也只有把握到10 分鐘的時間躺在沙灘上(還沒太陽露臉勒)，剩下的時間都在廁所裡打牌躲雨及等公車來接我們坐渡輪回曼哈頓 (同一天的同一沙灘，有人被閃電打到而當場身亡.....)

 - Jones Beach：跟老闆請假一天到長島上的沙灘曬太陽外加玩Skimboarding，倒是我唯一一次曬到超級超級古銅色，躺在幟熱的陽光下有感而發的寄出下面一段簡訊給在辛苦上班的朋友們:
Going to beach: $15.00
Suncare lotion: $45.00
Get tanned in the weekdays: priceless

PS, 有個星期日午後，因為早起不成，沒趕到去沙灘的那一ㄊㄨㄚ，只好招朋友陪我去中央公園穿泳衣躺在海灘巾上作日光浴，也不無小補


*** 餐廳週大吃
紐約夏天的餐廳週在7月底，恰巧老闆渡假去，我也就非常順理成章的跟朋友們約中午吃飯，一吃就花掉至少2小時，星期五更扯，中午吃完飯後，直接下班去逛街或逛博物館 .... 好些個舒服的夏日午後ㄚ


*** 踏出紐約市
露營：在8月份終於順利的到紐約上州露營，雖然是在朋友的朋友家，有3隻小馬，幾甲草地，後院有溪流(去溪邊釣魚還被鄰居家的三隻惡狗狂吠約一小時)，前門是玉米田，烤肉烤菲力牛排....也沒真的睡在帳篷裡 (女生睡在朋友的朋友舒適家中，男生4 人窩在寒冷的帳蓬中)... 但還是稍微有那麼一點點點露營的味道

釣螃蟹：在夏天結尾前，9月的第一個週末，去長島 Smith Point，試試看能不能打破朋友去年釣了100隻藍螃蟹的紀錄，哪知前一天剛好暴風雨，河流湍急，螃蟹沒來得及吃我們特製的臭味雞腿，就匆匆游過，錯失上餌機會，所以總計釣到藍螃蟹隻數：9。最後一行9人決定去大嗑牛排來補充浪費一下午站在河流中跟臭雞腿共同奮鬥的精力。

瀑布行：去了一趟尼加拉瓜瀑布，詳細內容請詳閱 " 水牛城雞翅"


就這樣....不是太精采的夏天，也沒真的曬到古銅膚色，不過......也真的沒啥好挑剔的啦

上週五跟老闆請了一天假，和朋友去了水牛城+尼加拉瓜瀑布的三天之旅

出發前一天晚上只睡兩小時的我，正想上機後小憩一下，沒想到從紐約市飛到上州水牛城只要短短一小時，屁股都還沒坐熱就抵達目的地了。不過總比從紐約開車要6小時才能到來的好

因為我是租車人，雖然國際駕照過期，行程三天還都是由我來開車。上車四人坐定後，我瞧瞧車內狀況，一年多未開車的陌生感果真還是陌生到不行，就問了同行人一個問題＂Ｎ檔是啥？Ｄ檔是啥？＂當下其餘三人都想破窗而出。。。。。。。。   就在三人還處在吃驚的狀態下，我woohoo 聲不停的開車上路，開始我們的旅程...

I did not plan to go to Paris at all in this trip, or I can say I did not plan anything... haha, and not even think of it. But I met a Taiwanese girl in Amsterdam, and she went to Paris directly afterward, so I think it might be good to have an accompany to walk around for couple hours since Paris was on the way back to St Etienne. Therefore, I bought the train ticket from Brussels to Paris on the 5th, the day before I left Europe, and the ticket cost me 82.00€, so expensive... but it took only an hour and 20 minutes.

At 11:35am, the 5th of January, 2008, I arrived Paris. Since last time I've been here was 10 years ago, the year of 1998. Not too excited, because I was in a hurry to buy the ticket back to St Etienne later on so that I know when to come back to the station and I had to meet the girl at noon at the Place de la Bastille, so I don't really have time walking around. After brought the ticket, I had to take the train to another station, because that's the one I need to take back to Lyon and St Etienne. 

However, I realized the Paris main train station was fucking huge, I walked inside the station at least 30 minutes to find my train and got in line to buy a ticket to the next destination, Nevertheless, I need to put my package to the locker, and I spent like an hour to find it with my strained feet. I kept swearing inside of my heart, by the time I almost gave it up, I found it, and I had to walk through the security for putting my bag into a locker. I was so nervous when my bag under the X-ray, because I got the weeds that left from Manu in Amsterdam, and I took them with me all the trip. 

I got lucky that they did not find out anything, but the worst thing happened. I only had 50.00€ in my wallet and no coins. It only needs 4 euros for the locker. I was trying to put the bag inside and not lock it for couple hours, cause I will be leaving soon after 5 hours and there was nothing important for thief to steal. Somehow, I felt that I would be feeling unsafety during the whole afternoon, so I walked out to buy a chocolate croissant at a station stand. She looked at me with the 50.00€ as if it was fake, but I had no choice to buy a 1.50€ croissant with 50.00€. 

Anyhow, when I finally arrived the destination, Eve already gone..... of course, it was 1:30pm already, no one would wait for that long, and I was just a girl that she met two days ago. I still texted her and stayed for like 10 minutes. The amazing thing happened, she showed up before I gave up upon her appearance and she walked me to anywhere with my lame feet until I had to get back to the station and back to St Etienne to end the trip. 

Who gives it a shit of "LV", see my little finger


I walked to Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Arc de Triomphe, Gare de Lyon, Bastille, Opéra de la Bastille, and Hôtel de Ville and more that I had no idea what was that.....

Even though it was only 3 hours walking around in Paris, because we spent a half hour sitting at Paul, a nice bakery restaurant, taking some rest for my feet, it was still worth even weaken my feet. After I arrived at Manu's, my right foot was swollon and all reddish.... 

La Champagne crêpes et chocolat chaud à Paul


more photos go to: http://www.pixnet.net/album/nicoleyu1/13405116

I became totally alone while I was in Belgium for two days. My feet started hurting me while I walk and getting worse and worse since I only wore one boots for my 12 days trip.

I took the train to Brugge and transferred at Antwerp, during the 15 minutes waiting, I ran out off the station, took some photos and then rushed back to train station, arrived Brugge around 3pm. It was mixed rain and snow that afternoon, I did not plan to spend a night in Brugge so I just walked quickly around the city, tried to see the whole town in one afternoon. It was packed in the shopping streets, because they had discount in every store, unfortunately, I had no time for shopping. 



It is absolutely the prettiest city that I've been to during the trip. It was tiny, yet has everything in the centrum, the river goes through, the architecture, the stores, the coffee shops (the real one unlike in Amsterdam), the restaurants.... I like it very much, althought I only stayed there for three hours, but it was quite enough. The only thing I regret was not having time to dine at one of the resturants here...

http://www.pixnet.net/album/nicoleyu1/13407446


On the train to Brussels, a father with three kids seated across me, the two little kids were so cute, around 3-5 yo, they played or fought or cried during the whole time, not a moment quiet down. 
While I wondered which stop was mine that's near my hostel, a gentleman seated opposite me gave me advises and even showed me the way after we got off the train. He is a policeman, a high level like detective, not the one that needs to chase bad guys. After I checked in the hostel, Young Hostel of Van Gogh, my feet tried so hard telling me not to walk anymore, but I was unwillingly since I will only have one whole day tomorrow to visit the city, I did not think it's enough for the capital of Belgium. So I walked out, no direction, no specific sightsee that I needed to see.

But I would say that night out was a mistake, it gave me a bad impression of Brussels. It was a fucking cold day, nobody on the streets, I was hungry and can't find a restaurant that I felt comfortable to dine by myself. As I walked in one restaurant with lots of people in it after 2 hours, the lead 偷笑 at me, I had no idea why, but felt totally uncomfortable during the whole meal time. They don't have English menu, they speak only French, the clients were all look like gays... I did not know as if I walked in the wrong restaurant or what, but I did not care, cus I was so hungry, so I stayed and for as long as I can to rest my feet.

After I walked back to the hostel, I stayed at the bar for a while, chatted to a guy from British until midnight. I tried to get some sleep, but somehow, I can't open the door of my room. I was walking back and forth with the man from the hostel trying to open the door for me, but he realized that he did not have the key and he is newbie and he had no idea what to do... After two hours, I was tired of everything and fell asleep on a sofa at the bar, he woke me up said he knocked the window and asked one of my roommate to open the door.... I got in at 2:30am and then slept through till noon the next day.

Since I had a bad experience the day before, and my feet hurt so much, so I did not care where will I go the next day, just need to go to the biggest museum and see the manekin pis, that's all I need to see in Brussels.... and I did. I spent the whole afternoon walked around the Royal district and the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, then back to centrum tried to take picture of Manekin pis. Somehow, after asked a couple of locals there, I walked into the same street that I walked last night and I remembered I stopped at the corner checking a restaurant over there. At that same corner, tourists surrounded, I knew that's the spot then I saw the manekin pis.... $%^&* $@          

teeny tiny "manekin pis" just at that corner..... 
Did you see the statue? It is in the middle of the photo, which is between bushes....


I walked around the city for couple more hours, I went to bookstore and bought a children book, in French of course, and couple of postcards with Nicolas and TinTin, because I love postcards and those are the famous characters in Belgium. I found the Chinatown, which you will always see that area unexpectedly, because its always around the centrum. Then I was hungry again, I only had a waffle from street van the whole day. I tried to walked back to the area that full of restaurants for tourists and have some mussels, then I would say the trip to Brussels will be no regrets at all.

When I found the street restaurants, it had passed like an hour since I started feel hungry. They have server outside the restaurants and try to get clients in, so they are so good to talk people in with free champagne, and served whatever we like. I was almost steped into a restaurant of what they said, but suddenly I saw the restaurant was nearly empty, I knew it's not right to get in. Therefore, I walked into a restaurant which was no one outside buy inside was packed. I told them I was one, waited like 5 minutes, then I got a table.

The dinner was quite interesting because the people sitting next to me. For the first two hours, I was taught by a local lady what to order, what kind of beer to go with mussels, how to eat mussels with mussel shell and talked once in awhile during the dinner time.... She told me I made a good choice to come to this restaurant, because this is the only traditional Belgium restaurant on this street, the rest of them are owned by Moroccan. She was delightful, friendly and funny while talking to me and her friend, who is from San Francisco; unlike the bad experience I encountered the day before. 

Nice lady who speaks not only French but also good English... Thanks to you!!


Look what I ordered at the restaurant, totally 老饕水準... and the white beer, excellent!!


After she and her friend left, there was an old lady seated next to me. She kept talking to me in French for awhile, then I realized she really wanted to talk, so I told her I can't speak French, however, a three hour long conversation started until the restaurant closed. My server, he is quite cute tho, kept asking me "are you ok?" seems that he felt I was bothered by the lady.... but actually, I had a pleasant night by just listening to her story for three hours...... lol

That's the British lady, we were the last two customers in the restaurant... 


At the end, she took me to the hostel by taxi at midnight... incredible~~

I love the second day in Brussels, because I met two nice ladies and went to a good restaurant and got what I need to see and to eat over there, only not having a chance to meet up with Nicolas.....

photos: http://www.pixnet.net/album/nicoleyu1/13405141

We drove to Lyon the fourth day, spend a night at his friend's flat, Soumia. I was sleeping whole day time, so we arrived Lyon around 6pm, and had only 2 hours tour in the city, the third big city in France. Almost everything closed except restaurants, so we just walked around, the basilica Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Statue of Louis XIV at Bellecour, medieval Cathédrale St-Jean. After short city tour we found a cute, small restaurant to have dinner, 9 mercier, they have a name "bouchon" for Lyonaise restaurant. We got home around 11pm, we talked (well.... actually they talked, because they are so bad in English), watched TV, smoked until 3am then we went to bed.

The next day, we drove to Grenoble, a small airport that you have to walk to the plane on the ground by yourself. I was stopped to get through the airplane for like 20 minutes, Manu standing 5 feets away from me and tried to listen from them what's my situation. After I released(I would say that), Manu told me that the customs never saw Asian passport flying out from their airport, so they were not sure that I can be on the plane...... how ridiculous resaon not letting me get through.... 

Anyway.... we flied out France and arrived Netherlands, fast and cheap(at least two times cheaper than I took trains from Amsterdam back to St Etienne), but I would not try it again, it's really easier to take trains than planes. Since we arrived Rotterdam, something happened that kept me laughing stealthily. 5 french needed a Taiwanese girl to speak out for them in English, because as I said before, their English are damned suck, I was the one who asked for direction, asked for information, checked in at the hotel and fought for the extra fee they charged us. But they were pretty good while we were at bars and coffee shops... weird. 



In addition, all they wanted to do at this trip in Amsterdam were drinking and smoking and nothing else. So we were only hanging around bars, coffee shops, bars and coffee shops until the time we heading to a big square that we did the countdown of 2008 with everyone. After that, we searched for bars or coffee shops to stay for awhile, but not successfully, because everywhere was packed, therefore, we walked on the streets for like 2 hours, the temperature was under 0 degree, fucking cold.... However, they did not give it up and keep walking till the time around 5am, we had to take the train back to Rotterdam, because they gotta fly back to France at 10am. 

What an extraordinary experience I had with these five french guys....

Thank goodness, I am smart that I booked the hostels in Amsterdam for two more days, so I had a chance to see the other side of Amsterdam. It is a pretty city, I would say, and it's not really just about sex and drugs, it has lots of museums(Van gogh museum and Rijksmuseum, the National Art museum with lots Rembrandt's paintings in it and more), and the architecture are excellent, and the canals and bridges are splendid.



After the 5 french left me, I was all alone for the rest of my trip, but I met a Taiwanese girl in the hostel in Amsterdam and hung out with her for a night at two bars, then we split the day after and she took a bus to Paris, where we planned to meet for an afternoon and I off to Belgium by train.

see the photos in Amsterdam http://www.pixnet.net/album/nicoleyu1/13405166 
and Rotterdam http://www.pixnet.net/album/nicoleyu1/13407424

I am back to New York from the trip in France, Netherlands and Belgium...

It was a totally different trip than the last time in Europe three months ago.  I had fun at both trips, but in totally opposite way.

I flied to Lyon at the night of 25th, Christmas, after a warmth and happy X'mas eve at Stephany's new home in Williamsburg.
After 8 hours flight and 4 hours waiting in London Heathrow airport, I arrived at 18:00 on the 26th in Lyon, France. 5 minutes to get through the customs, asking about the reason to go there; unlike other people used only 3 seconds to get into France.

Anyway, as I walked out the customs, Manu was waiting there, drove more than an hour to pick me up at Lyon airport. Then we drove back to his hometown, Saint Etienne, a city that located in the middle of mountain. At first, we were kind of awkward, because we met like a year ago, and only talked on MSN once in a while. But his English is getting so much better than the last time we met in NY, I was shocked but happy for him. After we arrived home sweet home, he served Foie Gras, a super huge portion that I never saw it in somewhere else. He showed me whatelse to go with FG with the best white wine. Afterward, his friends came over, 4 boys, we drank, chatted, smoked... till the night to the end. I went to bed directly after the long journey from NY to St. Etienne, France.

I slept through most of the mornings in St. Etienne for three days, as if I was taking day off at home. But since I did not plan out anything for this trip, I would like to just follow the winds, do whatever I feel like to do. Not in a hurry to some place to visit... 

After Manu got back from work around 2pm, he took me out to do some sight seeing in St. Etienne, the mountain city, the origin of Loire. He invited friends to go to a bar with 14 people, but two girls only, we drank shots a lot, some handsome guy talked to me.  He cooked dinner for me or had dinner with his family, 16 people at a table, that's a big crazy, isn't it !! The family dinner was amazing, three families at the same table: la soupe aux choux, pork, sausage, bread for entrée, then cheese, chocolate, cake and fruit with coffee and tea for the desserts till the end, lots of talking, chatting and eating from 7:30pm till 11:30pm, after a wonderful meal, we called it a night!!



The interesting thing was when you meet new people in a day, you have to greet everyone on the cheeks twice at the same table no matter you know each other or not and also the time when you leaving; so I was been greeting for three days everytime I met and left his friends and family. So I greeted 5 people the first day, 15 people the second day, 16 people the third day for twice..... funnnn

photos in St Etienne: http://www.pixnet.net/album/nicoleyu1/13407461