Entries about couchsurfing

One of the defining moments of staying with the Werner family was when we were having supper with Daniel, Cyril and Andy.
Half of the time was spent planning activities and talking about us.
Cyril:" What are you doing on saturday ? When i get off work, i want to bring and show you switzerland" ( went on to make many plans !)
Daniel : "ok so tmr you ll do this, and the day after we will do this"
Suddenly,
Daniel" Guys what do you want to do ? Do you have anything planned out ?"

(we have no idea what to do and was just following their plans)
Shawn and Jason: " We will just follow you guys "
Daniel: " HAHA, we make more plans for you than you make for yourself ! "

I was really touched and felt a deep sense of warmth inside, we were daniel's friends but the rest of the family did not come with the attitude, they are daniel's friends and he will take care of them but the entire family wanted to and made the effort to get to know us, bring us around....
Lovely

After the Supper we had a crazy idea to go back to the bunker and get the speedometer we found !
It was past midnight and pitch black haha,
We were suppose to get up around 6.15 the next morning....
We overslept ! So did Daniel !
Haha, when i walked past his door the next morning, and we both stared at each other and simultaneously burst out laughing.

Thursday.
We went to work, We relocated a 5/6 m high stack of hay by hand ( No joke)
Tiring it was, but the main problem for me was the massive dust cloud being stirred up which than brought chaos and fire in my nose.
But ! we had a Raclette for lunch ! Ooo lala
We help with some gardening after lunch and than had a special dish for dinner.
I have no idea what it was called but it was basically a giant bowl of strawberries, muesli, yoghurt and milk.
It was super nice ! However, most singaporeans will not be used to it as, typical dinner for us is always warm and savoury.
We had a nice long chat with Cyril and Yvonne (really miss the both of them)
We than went for a BBQ at the Lake ! played basketball and than Daniel said to me, im going to the lake to hang again, you come too !
We were exhausted and had to wake up at 6 the next day so we wanted to go home !

Daniel than said :" Ok you drive back, and i ll come back later ! "
Shawn: " what ! really ? By myself ?"
Daniel :"Yes go ! "
Shawn (in the car after leaving daniel) :" WA, epic ! "

Friday.

We went to the Andy's family pig farm !
Haha, We helped to shove shit and clean all the pig pens !
Wa super dirty and smelly ! ( but we got used to it after awhile haha)
We were working with Josef ( Slovakia) Super capable and trusted worker ! ( there was only him and Andy's Dad working in the massive farm)
We watched him remove the teeth of baby pigs, helped him feed the pigs as well as tried pig cheese ! ( yes made with pig's milk ! )
It was hard work, and a little back braking as we had to bend down the entire time to work.
We had a nice Rosti lunch and went back to work,
It was time to Castrate the pigs ! ( due to the strict laws in switzerland, the pigs were gassed first)
Imagine someone grabbing you, gassing you and you wake up with your balls gone...
Yes, that is what happened to the pigs
Yes, i did it to one of them.

We came back from work exhausted but the delicious Risotto Rice and the great chat with Daniel's two sister was made us really happy !
She is from ETH ! ( yes i didnt know what it was until i googled it ! )

Things go up, things go down,
But at least the Lord is always around.

We went for a Road trip to the Gothard the next day, and when we came back, Daniel said,
You have two options, either you rest or i teach you to drive the tractor ( If you have to guess which one we chose, slap yourself )
Yes ! a tractor !!!

Sunday morning ! ( mother's day ! )
I sent my mum an email wishing her happy mother's day and than Daniel took us hiking !
We drove 80km to the foot of the mountain and started our hike !
Once we started, i knew immediately that all my other hiking trips werent really hiking haha !
( i was drenched in sweat ! and feeling really tired )
I have no idea why, the entire time, i was thinking to myself, i climb Biang with FBO and can climb so much in the army with FBO now so lousy embarrassing Singapore haha !
Daniel hadnt climbed in 10 years but he was really doing it faster than us !
When an old lady overtook me and Daniel turned around and asked if i was ok
I replied, " IF they can, I must ! "
There were really alot of old people climbing the mountain ! SUPER ZAI !
We finally arrived at the top 1,794 m Hoher Kasten !
The view at the top, tre jolie !!!
You could see 4 countries, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein
Really Epic, it was surrounded by the Alps.
We had a nice lunch and found Nody ! ( the worker in daniel's farm who was from that village, like the village lao jiao)
he led the Descent and showed us how to do it the Nody way haha

The next part was really sad but happy...
We rushed back, and went to Ida's house to help prepare dinner, RACLETTE mother's day dinner !
really nice dinner but inside i was a little sad that the next day, we would be leaving...
I cant find the right words to describe the atmosphere and food at a dinner.
Maybe this intangible feeling is what made it so special...

"People are not people without people" Shawn

Good Day everyone,

To anyone who has been reading regularly ( matthew tan !!!) i apologise for this long interval between my post.
Hopefully, you will be entertained in this one

We had an early breakfast and Marie Francoise gave us a Baguette as well as alot of cheese and more food, She than gave jason a recipe book and me (le petit prince) a French story book ! ( to encourage me to learn french haha ) Gave us both a kiss and than off we went in Adrien's car for the train station.

Super long journey ( >7 hours) to Winterthur, Switzerland to meet our next host Daniel Werner
On the way there, we got to experience the negative effects of the French attitude towards work.
The SNCF train drivers went on strike ! haha ! So instead of the 4 trains we were taking, we now had to take 3 trains and a bus Pek chek.
Everyone was confused and complaining...i thought to myself, all is good as long as i arrive in Daniel's house before 10pm.

We notified Daniel that we were going to be late and arranged to meet at the train station, unfortunately there was some miscommunication as i didnt know he was out and planned to meet us in the train, but thank God we were saved by Daniel's wit and initiative. He just popped into the train and randomly ask us if we were couchsurfers ! haha !! Epic.
His brother Cyril than drove us back from the train station.

The Werner Farm ( Dad, mum, Daniel, 2 sis and 1 bro)

When i arrived, i was immediately blown away...
Our first farm was a vegetable farm ( a really small one with 12 green houses +- 7 Ha)
Our second "farm" was a bed and breakfast ( 34 Ha, but it wasnt used for anything except for taking walks and climbing trees haha ! )
Now the Werners Farm was i think the biggest ( +- 40 ha and with 3000 chickens and i cant remember how many cows but yes, you can imagine )
They produced milk ( i totally forgot how many litres but when daniel told me i fell off the chair, i think it was 300 or more ) and chickens for their meat. Apart from this, all the wood in their forrest was used to heat the house and for other misc stuff...
Their farm house was really nice and was also super old ( if i remembered right 8 generations) Woah !!!

Our room was also really nice, we had a TV and a giant bed and sheets and...

So that night, we had a quick simple dinner and than Daniel brought us jogging ! Yes jogging ( at around 9-10 pm) weee !
We jogged through the small village, and into the forrest ( some places were pitch black) and finally we arrived at a place where we were overlooking Germany ( lake constance and Konstanz, germany ) and than on the way back, Daniel brought us to an old Bunker (used for defence in world war II )
It was locked, but someone had broken in already, so imagine 3 guys slowly creeping into a hole in the ground in the pitch black forrest only guided by the light from daniel's handphone... EPIC
After that, shower and crash

The next day: Breakfast ( fresh milk !!!)

Shawn ( after climbing up from the floor after being stunned by the amount of milk produced daily) : So your family has never bought milk in your life ?
Daniel ( smiling and proudly proclaiming): No
Shawn and jason : yes ! we love milk ! haha

We than went to see Nody at work. He let the chickens out of their chicken house and than went to mix hay for the cows and proceeded to feed them. We than helped to prepare and had a delicious lunch
While i was a little free i started watching " There will be blood" Great movie
We than went grocery shopping with Daniel's mom, our commander and boss
We had 2 fridges( 1 was full with yoghurt) and 2 freezers...when we arrived at the supermarket, she asked us to buy more yoghurt but we both thought of the amount of yoghurt back home and couldnt bring ourselves to take anymore ! haha, but she took like 10 more anyway
While we were queing up, she handed me her wallet and told me to pay, i was shocked and amazed. ( generally jason and i are really honest and we have integrity but Daniel's mum didnt know us yet ! it was only our first day and she already gave us such a high level of trust ) i was really touched by that simple gesture... My own mom would never even think of passing her wallet to my friend and even for me she still would try to avoid it...
When we got back, we kept everything into the fridge and i kid you not when i say we were stocked for war like if there was a zombie attack or something, the werner house is the house to go haha

We were thinking of where to go for a walk when suddenly Daniel came back from school and said he would bring us to Konstanz ( Germany) Weee ! wait, remember i mentioned the trust Daniel's mom had for us, now Daniel said to me " ok you drive" ! wah !!!
And i have never driven in Europe, they drive on the right side of the road while Singaporeans drive on the wrong side also they drive alot faster in the small narrow roads ! haha we parked the car and started walking. ( yes we survived my driving, haha)
Konstanz was a beautiful small town with many interesting shops...We had lunch along the river and than Daniel brought us to the Munster ( a church in the centre) We were going to climb up and i really thought it was free but turns out it was like 5 Euros and Daniel had to pay for the three of us ( Thank you Daniel )
It was the first time we had climbed up a church " tower" and the view was terrific ! we got to see a 360 view of konstanz ( the lake, the countryside, the city, switzerland...) really nice... I coukd have stayed up there for the entire day...
We walked some more and after that we went back, waiting for us in the Car was a ticket !!! ( oh crap, sorry daniel )
I really thought there was free parking everywhere in switzerland...

OK... im very tired now, so stay tuned for the next entry haha
but first some things to think about

Those who make religion their god will not have god for their religion. Thomas Erskine

There is a God we want and a God who is and they are not the same God...
The turning point of our lives is when we stop seeking the God we want and seek the God who is. P. morley

I have no problem with alcohol
but i will have problems if i have no alcohol. Andy ( Daniel friend ) haha

Cheers !

“Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.” – Paul Theroux

The subsequent days were getting better.
Like going outfield and all new things, its all abut getting used to it.
Ironically, from wanting to leave the Far, we now cant bear leaving and are thinking if we should change our plans to stay longer or continue or tour....
Xavier and Lisa are extremely nice people, they give us so much and take extra care to ensure we have everthing we need.
The food has been simple, but really fresh !!! At least half or more is usually freshly harvested before the meal haha,
I have been eating alot of cheese, carrots, salads, beans, bread, potatoes, and random stuff. i think my diet is at its healthiest
The work has been quite fun at times, especially harvesting !
We pluck red Spinach leaves, pull carrots from the ground...
The one thing that we cannot stand ( literally) is weeding, haha you squat on the ground the whole time ( which is really tiring) beant over pulling out weeds with your bare hands. This gets worse when you are weeding plants to help the specific plant grow and that specific plant looks like weed ! ( like beetroot)
Another thing we have been helping with is the set up of the new greenhouse.
Its quite a big job as the greenhouse is big and we have to carry the plastic sheets, measure and cut them, carry it to the top, spread it out, stretch it, dig and cover the base with soil and adjust again ! Not easy man.
After the first hour, i said to Jason, this is totally not a 5 men job.
Haha, another thing that is crazy is the temperature variation, at night its mega cold, even with 2 blankets you would still feel cold. In the day its gets so hot, i take of my shirt to work ( i dont wanna sweat )

While walking the giant container for a shower, i saw jason peeling potatoes with a small little girl. I went into the shower and thought to myself who is that little girl, maybe its Lisa's nice she talked about....
After i came out, she said hi in probably the best english since we left england. I asked her what she was studying, and she said she stopped studying a long time ago.
Hmmm, does she want to be a farmer too ?
She than explained she finish uni long time ago.
Than i couldnt stand it and asj her, How old are u this year ?
She replied 29...
I fell off the chair, remember the electric shock in Switzerland, this was like same intensity but in my face haha
I thought she was 14 !!! Serious Its like if a fountain of everlasting youth ever existed, she drank from it everyyday...
Ok, never mind...
She stayed and studied in London for 9 years ( v good english) and off course v good french
She was a very nice girl and we had a nice tme chatting over dinner.
We soon found out she earns 9 Euro(x1.8 to Sgd) an hour and she gets accommodation and food also !!!!
I xas just thinking, maybe she is more experienced than us but still her productivity cannot be 9:0 right !!!
Oh well, for now, The delicious apple pie and Rhubarb cake are our wages
I asked her about so French habits and she admitted that she was not a typical french, haha
We had nice chats the next few days while working, and i liked her alot, but i guess i ll never see her again. Oh well, we could have been good friends.

Saturday-
We went to the market today !
There was only two avenues of sales for Xavier and lisa, one was to their regular customers on thursdays, the other was the saturday market in the nearby village Crest.
It was very exciting, as some of the products being sold were hand plucked by us !!! we had plucked and bundled carrots ( 40 bundles of 12-15 carrots) and some other random vegetables.
Also, Xavier suggested for us to cycle to the market, instead of driving there so we could see the country side better.
It was a pleasant but very tiring journey haha ! Jason and i were very happy at the market, jason because of the pastry and me beacuse i could finally get to see the authentic french market ive been looking for !
Haha, there was cheese; jam, honey, bread, eggs, vegetables.... many local produce being sold.
I was looking to buy something back home, but everything was either way too expensive, too bulky ( glasses of jam and honey, super nice), too silly ( bars of handmade soap) or couldnt last the journey ( cheese, bread, pottery...)
Everything that i mentioned was very nicely presented, and i was quite sure tasted nice.
I bought a crispy croissant for 80cents euro and a fruit cake for us to share at 4.50 euros ( ouch) While Jason bought some pastry for 2 Euros and a Chocolate croissant for 2 Euros. They were all very nice ( finally i had a crispy croissant haha)
We packed up and went back for a nice lunch of é eggs ( yes finally !!!!), more vegetables, brie cheese and off course cakes ! weeee !
haha.
It was a lazy saturday afternoon....
Oh ya, remember the carrots we plucked ?
All sold out !!!

We left the comfortable, clean, efficient and nice Switzerland to France. I mentioned before about the punctuality of the trains in switzerland, the same does not apply in France. haha
When we got off the swiss train for the train to the farm in France, we were relieved that we finally could afford some stuff( Haribo !!!)
However, we got quite irritated thatour train was delayed ( unheard off in the swiss) and we had to call Lisa to inform them we were going to be late as they were picking us up at the train station.

We waited awhile when Xavier suddely appeared and brought us to his car. His english was quite bad, and i was struggling hard to communicate with him, but first He did not look like the average farmer.
He was tall, young and with sunglasses and the only thing that gave him away was his hands and the dirty old car. Haha
When we arrived at the farm, we met Lisa ( his wife) and Pierre ( their friend and worker) who showed us around the Farm.
Honestly, it was smaller than i expected ( 3 Ha) but big enough as they were only 2 people and that had about 10 greenhouse and a horse ( Rosali) and another plot of land for other stuff.

They were sleeping in a mobile home (which was essentially a giant container) where the shower was located and had our meals.
We were sleeping in 1 out of the two trailers meant for workers and random friends.
There was 2 Dry toilets ( toilets without water, just sawdust to cover ur dump with) and a workhouse.
Our trailer was very bare, two beds and a cupboard, very little...but enough.
We were honestly a little disappointed as

1) there were only 1 horse and 2 cats...
2)the rooms were a little errrrrr
3) the toilets were quite errrr
4) the work on the first day was very tiring, boring and hard !!!

At the end of first day, we gathered for a simple dinner of green salad, beans and carrots.
We found out they were very poor, they had purchased the Farm for 111,000 Euros and were still paying it off.
After dinner, they took out 3 plates of different pastry !
Super nice, apple crumble, Rhurbarb cake and apple cake ( i gave them the names myself )
It really was good, and i told jason, ok at least the cake is worth it. haha

At this point of time, i have to share about my thoughts on traveling,

Every person at every age should travel.

For the young, it broadens perspective; inspires and induces them to set goals and priorities.
For the middle aged, It reminds a person of his identity and reminds and allow him to appreciate what is important in life.*
For the old, If you haven't seen much, you haven't lived much.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

We had to leave Fabio's after staying there for 4 days.
I never knew we would have so much fun staying with the 4 guys, the amount of beer they drank over the 4 days was more than the amount of water i drank haha ! ( somehow they are doing quite well at school, Manuel is taking a double degree in History and Biology and he also reads alot of Philosophy ) Crazy !

Oh well, it was a great time, we went to Manuel's house (back in Thun !) by ourselves. His house was about 1/2 the size but there was only him living in it (He broke up with his girlfriend recently ) His rental was 1000 Francs a month ( 1400 Sgd) still cheaper than daniel's matchbox room in cambridge 1050 pounds ( almost 2100 sgd) haha !!! With a better view and nice neighbourhood, daniel was quite pissed off at the price of his accommodation.
Manuel was a really nice guy, his english was alot beter in real life than over the phone. He was a 32 year old living by himself. Interested in Chinese martial arts and this interest sparked his interest in Chinese culture (just like Pierre ) His house was decorated all over with chinese stuff ( a buddha, chinese paintings, giant chinese brush, chinese swords, chinese tea and pottery. We were already embarassed by miube when his skills at chopsticks overshadowed ours, Now, Manuel's house was definitely more chinese than mine !! haha

His entire house was decorated and also modified by him. His toilet is also super cool, his shower head had Led lights whenever water flowed through and there were posters of Waterfalls everywhere haha.
To train, he had a giant punching bag, a bucket of sand for punching in ( yes hardcore ), 5 nunchucks, various swords, a pole ( used for spear training), shurikens and more.
We could very well be staying with an assassin, haha, but despite all this, Manuel was a really soft and nice guy who was extremely polite and genuine concern for us. He was also very funny and made various funny expressions to help bring across his points.
We just did some grocery shopping and came back to rest as we were a little tired ( he gave us a key so that was great, again he trusted us before even meeting us really epic, would u leave ur key to someone u never met ? especially if he was an Asian ? )

The next day, i asked him if he knew how to cook a Rosti, as i really wanted to try 1 and it was the last swiss dish that we haven really tried ( it goes for around 20 sgd in a restaurant ( just for potatoes !) and he decided to cook one for our lunch !
Haha, i have tried cooking a rosti once ( based on gut feeling) and the reaction was, hmmm what is the difference between a Rosti and Hashbrowns ? haha, i finally knew !!! Manuel's Rosti was crispy on the outside and all fluffy and soft on the inside

The next day, we did it again, and i had a chance to cook my own !! Haha, and the epic thing is i managed to flip it !!! Woooo ! haha, we ate alot of pasta and rosti those 3 days
Manuel ( feeling guilty he had gone out each night and had no time for us) decided to bring us hiking !
However, by the time we decided it was too late so we had to go hiking in a nearer 'hill' which was still a mountain as it was more than a thousand meters. Thankfully, we had another chance to climb the swiss mountains...
It wasnt an easy journey up, and i realised every time i climb something steep, memories of climbing in the army will just come flowing back, and i would just smile to myself, thankfully this time im doing it without a crazy backpack and some harribo in my pocket haha

While walking up, we encountered an entire village that was situated on the mountains ( according to manuel this was quite common), i felt it was quite amazing how they managed to construct everything so high up and also live so far from the rest of the world.
We walk past many different cattle grazing and lazing around, soon there was a herd of sheep just 5m away from me.
I felt very curious as i never seen a sheep so close before and the fact that they wouldnt run on to the road as they were just enclosed by what look to be 2 thin black ropes. The four of us walked closer and looked at the sheep, while looking at the sheep i decided to hold the wire and and the stand for support...
This time i kid u not that i flew away...
Not because the sheep were so nice but because the thin black wires were all charged, and i felt the entire electric current flow through my body, haha and the rest looked at me with eyes wide open and asked if i was ok, not sure whether to laugh or be concerned, haha, after 2 secsonds i could still feel the effects of that current in my chest and heart.
Haha, oh well, experience Manuel apologised for not warning me before hand and daniel said wa imagine if u die here...After manuel realised i was fine, he said now i could leave the way since my battery was charged, haha
We continued walking upwards in no specific direction.I was thinking to myself, manuel seems quite lost ( it was his first time up ) and felt at least we got to climb somewhere.
I was so wrong, somehow manuel found the way too the top and oh man was it another sight to behold.
In fact it was probably one of the better sights on this trip, even better than gurtenbahn as over here we could see most of the famous swiss Alps.
Manuel showed us the mountain that he climbed ( i still cant pronounce it till today) and i told myself one day i gotta climb one of those one day.

We walked past 2 couples having a BBQ !!! Wa so nice ( remember in Europe im a broke man , in the swiss im a vagrant )
After photos and chilling there, Daniel and Manuel took up Nunchucks to practise haha !
We had a steep decent down, passing by plenty of houses which were just really sick, they really had the best of both words. Full of nature and crazy scenery but yet enjoy the comforts of modern technology.
When we reached the bottom ( oberhofen) it was a small town beside the lake and we went to the restaurant as Daniel and Manuel wanted a drink; surprisingly the price wasnt inflated despite the perfect location.
It was a very nice restaurant (open air) beside the lake and you could still see all the beautiful mountains but somehow there wasnt many people there. We went back and had a feast ( Rosti, pasta, fish fillet, sausages, cheese, bruschetta) haha.
We bid farewell to a drowzy Manuel at 6 am and left for the bus, initiallly when we were walking out we saw the bus and we sprinted like crazy to get on the bus as we thought we were late, but when we finally got on, the bus just waited there for another 15 mins ( than i realised that ours was the first stop) Alamak....
When anyone comes to the Swiss remember this the Swiss are always punctual, their trains schedule says 9.15am and the train will be there by 9.05 and be gone before 9.16. Serious.

Journey by train to the Farm in France ( Lisa and Xavier) Weee !!!!

Queen, yes im in the farm now and it is a vegetable farm so i have been eating vegetables every meal !!!
Haha, but its like super fresh( we pluck some of them ourselves ) and somehow taste very different haha You should see this

Jeryl, you must come one day also !!!
I was telling Michael ser when i was in the Swiss, i was really happy but felt quite sad that my friends and family were not with me to enjoy it also, and might never be able or want to...

3.30pm-- Our bus brought us to Gallieni bus station in the outskirts of Paris and we had until 7.30 pm to find our way to Avenue De Ternes near the famous Champ elysees so there we went walking (full gear
While walking we got to see numerous sights that really was quite amazing(but i guess a little unappreciated due to our fatigue and me still dizzy from westminster abbey haha)
After a 3.45 hour (very tiring) walk, we finally arrived at our Thibaut house !!!

When we first met he was a real nice gentleman and brought us to his studio apartment which was really nice and cozy (pictures will be up 1 day)
Next moment, breaking news. He was leaving the next day to his parents house (an hour drive from Paris) as he had a Duathlon to go to.
Puzzled, i asked " what about us ?"
Thibaut " oh dont worry, u will stay here. I give you my keys"
Shawn(with a calm composure) "oh, ok" ( EPIC !!!! Screaming in my mind !!! Wooooo !!!!)
Thibaut trusted us with his entire house before he had even met us !
We had changed our dates last minute and he could have very real rejected us as he wouldnt have been home but he didnt !
Instead he trusted us with his beloved apartment to me, evidence of people geniune kind nature

The next day we bid farewell and rushed off to Cathedral Notre Dame where Jason suggested for us to join the Paris "free" tour.
We were first given a brief history on how the cathedral was neglected and partially saved by Victor Hugo who wrote (the Hunchback of Notre Dame) inspiring people in paris to save it from neglect.

Right after, we had a nice stroll along the Seine river ( it was supposed to be romantic but..dude i was with 2 other guys) haha and headed to the Lourve, Yes ! the Lourve

• For those of you who dont know the Lourve it is basically the biggest toilet in Paris
• and for those who thought that was true please stop reading this blog and get out, find the nearest stranger and ask him to slap you

yes do it now

The Lourve was way bigger than we thought in fact one of the amazing things of it was the sheer size of the museum ( the queue also) but man, it was one big museum !
there are 35,000 artefacts in it !
If you see 1 artefact a second u would still need 9 hours to completely see them all !
We didnt go in... as

1)The queue
2)the price
3)we had already seen the british museum which was argued to be better or just as good.
4)The outside of the building itself was already worth the trip, also we did get to see the "invincible pyramid" haha

After passing through the Lourve, we walked pass the great garden " Jardin des tuileries" created by Queen Catherine de medici.
It was quite nice, as it had almost perfect symmetry from the start to the end on both sides.
However the real mind blower was at the end of the garden, there was a 6km amazing line of monuments (the Historical axis) go google it
where all the famous monuments run straight for almost 6km
simply amazing !

After we finished walking the historical axis, we carried on walking along the river and finally reached a nice small park where there was a great view of the Eiffel tower. Our guide explained that it was constructed for the 1889 world exhibition and it was meant to be a temporary exhibitation, but when the French finally fell in love with it they decided to let it stay so they put up a radio transmitter.
We left the tour (after paying about 3 Euros of tips, you just have to pay somehow) and went to eat and hang around the area as we wanted to see the tower at night

At 7.40 pm, we finally walked towards the tower and just waited for 8pm.
7.55 PM- the tower was beautiful (seriously) just standing there and admiring it for who knows how long. Off course we took photos.
8 PM - The flashing lights finally started. Sweet gotta see it if u are in Paris !
.....
Went back home tired and yes spent the night chilling and eating Cheese ! hahaha

Roger dont so sad eh !
i was going to buy the Eiffel tower back for you but they say 152 million, my pocket not enough money.
Sorry

After the great time we had at Richard's house it was time to move on and head to chiswick park where Iain was waiting for us, but first a stop at my favourite shop the 99p store !!!
It was epic, After 8 chocolates, big packets of Haribo Sweets and many many more all for 99p each ! However when i paid for them goods i didnt check the change and i lost 4 pounds so instead of saving money i spent even more ! Crap ! Also, i noticed many people shoplifting, (elephant and castle is a poor area) but there was this guy with a 4.6k pounds racer bike who did the same !

The bus ride to chiswick park was a long one, when we finally arrived, the houses that surronded us were epic big, similar to the landed area in Singapore, and we started getting excited as we walked towards his house. When the door opened all excitment and anticipation was immediately swaped into disbelief and surprise, haha ! the big epic house we imagined was split into 12 different rooms by the owner and rented out, and Iain was staying in one of them. The entire house was just a room and a kitchen ! haha (

We than proceeded with a long chat with Iain about life and he asked us countless questions about Singapore which i found hard to answer, " So tell me, what do Singaporeans eat" ..." What time do Singaporeans normally eat"..."what happens if you Pee on a tree in Sinapore"..."Are there dinosaurs in Singapore, a Singaporeans once brought Dinousaur soup in a can here"
Ok the last one was made up But Iain was a really interesting person, when he first sat down he emptied his pockets of about 6pounds of coins(which is what i usually do as well) than he proceeded to say " thats all the money i have till the end of the week" (my mind : oh no he should be staying with us instead). He explained how he did not believe in amassing money and everything he ever owed could be thrown away and he would still be perfectly fine(sad off course but perfectly fine)
Iain than made us an epic soup, it was really nice, one of the nicest i ever had He had an amazing movie collection, alot like Victor's but slightly more specialised. He let us listen to an album he was working on and i was totally blown away ! Really great music, im sure Jenn, Eddie and David would love to meet him.
The Second day we went to Arsenal Stadium as jason was dying to see his favourite team. 15 Pounds for a tour of the stadium, we ll have pictures posted so u can decide if it was worth the money, haha.
We stayed for two nights in his house and than had to leave for Daniel's place in Cambridge.
As there was no internet connection at his house, reality suddenly dawned upon us when he said " so how are you guys getting to cambridge"
..."we're going to try to hitchhike " "how are u doing it ?" * silly smiles appearing*... " oh man, you boys dont know what you are doing eh, interesting " * silly smiles appears on Iain's face also....