Entries about 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 !

It was a really tough decision, to stay or to leave.
There were many different options, we cpould stay longer in Bouligat, up to 3 weeks, or go on to the next farm or even next 2 farms !
We had so many options it was a bit of a headache. Even among the next farms there were several options to choose from.
As we had 'mass send request to several farms, somehow the many that replied all seem interesting.
A super embarrassing thing even happened, while at the thursday market, another farmer selling bread ( Michel ) came up to me and said Are u Shawn... yes.... You are suppose to come next week right ? ....redfaced shawn stunned and mumbles errrr we are waiting for some stuff to happen so we will contact you online. ( i neither considered him nor replied him after awhile as he was a little strict and there were better options)

In the end i decided to leave as, i felt yes they were really nice people and all and we really wanted to stay and help, but it would be better for us if we could see more farms and experience more. The next awaiting farm was a Bed and breakfast 34 ha big !! in contrast to Ferme de la bouligat which was 3 ha

We told them we were leaving on tuesday...Daniel left us earlier as he had to go back to Cambridge to study. this next portion is a description of our last night.
It was 9pm and they were still busy, so we decided to cook them our instant noodles for dinner, haha beef noodles and mee goreng.
After dinner, the three of us were sleeping in the trailer when Daniel suddenly said, I'm going to put the Cat in the cupboard ( the same cat scratch daniel went he tried to carry it) Are u guys ok with the meowing the whole night.
Are u serious ?! i repplied ( with daniel, u never know when he is joking) haha
Thinking he was joking, i just laid down and said, ok la
The next moment he got up, wore his jacket and went out into the night in search of the cat.
He found it, brought it in and put it in the cupboard !!!
I was stunned and was confused, whether to laugh or feel sad. Daniel said the cupboard was lined with pillows, so it would be very comfortable. I made him promise to remove the cat in the morning, and in my mind i thought, should be quite comfortable and warm so i went to sleep.
i am a very light sleeper, and i could hear the cat meowing and scratching the door at different intervals during the night !

The next morning, i awoke...Daniel was gone, but i could still hear the cat inside !!!
nonsense Daniel, he didnt let the cat go !!! and i was too scared at the thought of wha i would find behind the door to open it. So Jason did the dirty work and let the cat out of the Placard
Haha, it seemed perfectly fine

Sunday,
i awoke at 7.30 am and walked over for breakfast.... the door was locked. Feeling very cold, i went back to the trailer to wait.
8.30, i went back, still sleeping !!!
I decided to read my book outside the trailer...
They finally awoke at 12.30pm !!!! Wa, they forgot to tell us they sleep in on sundays
We had breakfast than.
Oh man, after breakfast they went to laze around,and so did i...
After awhile jason and i decided to cook Lunch.
So i cooked them a Rosti, haha and jason baked them a cake apple crumble : )
We had a nice lunch, off course they said my rosti was nice

Monday,
Pierre, Xavier, Jason and i finish the green house, finally ! haha the job was completed...
We had a simple dinner and more cake and crashed.
After dinner Xavier asked me what was i studying in University, i replied Should be business.
He immediately said You devil !!!
haha, and everytime i tried to explain, he said devil !!! haha
Than he said Shawn you are a cool guy man, but you are the devil !!!
Haha,oh well, i guess he is right in some way
Tuesday,
Breakfast time, i had a super heavy breakfast as i didnt know when my next meal would be ( wise choice)
They bid farewell and thank us for our work and Xavier brought us to the bus station.
After shaking hands and Thanking Xavier, he turned to me again and said: Shawn you are a nice and cool guy, dont be the devil
I smiled and said ok thanks, i really will miss him...
We went to the train station, it xas either a 5 hour free train, a 3 hour train we had to pay a reservation fee or a 1.5 hour(very expensive or free) bus ride. We went to check with the train station and it was.....FREE !!!!
Weeee !!!!
Backside pain bus to Aubenas

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...

buddy--- Thanks ! i ll be as safe as i can hope school is good !
Roger--- i think if u are here with me you will die, ang moh paradise !!! haha
Confirm not everyone here is Drop dead gorgeus ! haha
but no GF la
Leon --- Screw facebook ! and how are the applications ?
Ambrish, kian pin, wei yu, matt, leon--- you ll love it here man !
Warrick--- wa lao, u should seriously be here, we confirm high ! HGBD !

We left Iain house at around 10 am yesterday leaving for Cambridge in search of Dan the Man
How ? heh heh

We took the underground to balthamstow station, the station which we thought was closest to the M11 (highway that leaves London for Cambridge like their PIE), when we arrived we kept asking for direction to the M11. When we got a rough idea of the general direction, and with determination in our hearts and a heavy fulpack on our bags we set off for the M11. Haha !
Excitement quickly diminshed as we started to realise
1.how far it was ! (google balthamstow station to M11)
2.how hard it was going to find a good place to hitchhike (cars were too fast or cant walk there)
3.How dangerous and how little day light hours we had to get a ride !

We started walking and met a few people who kept wishing us good luck which made me burn with a fiery determination ! )
As mentioned earlier, we were trying to reach the M11, the connecting road was called the A406, and somehow we walked past the start of that and were already in the middle of the A406, so we decided to continue walking to the M11, and wow it was one long walk.
The whole time i was thinking to myself
1. this is getting really crazy, is this one of the craziest things ive ever done ?
2. Every step forward will mean 2 steps backwards in order to go back so there were quite a few junctions where a decision was to be made to move forward and boy oh boy despite my fiery determination, it was a hard one to make.
(A little like navigating in the jungles of Brunei, with a heavy field pack, and almost no sense of direction, everytime a junction was reached, a choice on which direction to take and we had to take turn Reccing the area in front ! in order to help us with our decision.)
After a really long and crazy walk ( Climbing over fences, crossing roads and overhead bridges countless times all woth our field pack) we finally arrived at the start of the legendary M11.

Unlike the movies or video clips it wasnt a slow moving or lonely highway where you could take your time, the M11 was really busy road with many cars driving at least 50mph zooming past.
Thankfully there was a small road shoulder where we could walk confidently as there was quite a wide gap.
We were already very exhausted and somehow it didnt occur to us that we should start hitching, and we just walked forward nonstop until we reached a signed which said Cambridge 47 Miles and oh man it hit me again in the face, in OCS we only route marched 30+km in a day, and this was 47 Miles this might take awhile, we might even spend the night before reaching Cambridge !
But with all these being said, we continued walking, i could tell Jason was getting quite irritated and tired, but i was just going a little crazy in my mind thinking back on all the brunei days and was secretly smilingly to myself once in awhile and decided while walking why not stick my thumb out as well...

After walking for who knows how long, suddenly, really just suddenly a green Car just pulled over and Jason was like " Shawn !!!!"
and i was like " Eh he really Stopped !!! Crap !" *both of us running with our heavy fullpacks towards the car, when the door opened, i took a quick scan to screen the driver while he asked us where we were heading, we told him cambridge and asked if he was heading there. He said he wasnt but he could drop us near by so we got in !!!

We soon found out he(Mark) was heading home from London after visiting his Grandson and he stayed in Norwich which was an hour north of cambridge so we told him, drop us any where convenient for you near Cambridge and he agreed.
We were both overwhelmed with a sense of relieve and disbelief. On the Journey there we found out much about him and apparently he was a hitchhiker himself when he was our age and explained that in the past, everyone did it He also shared with us stories about his work and told us about his chickens as he had 1 Acre of Land (about a football field)
Shawn: Wow, if you had that much land in Singapore, you would be a real wealthy man !
saf: Yea, maybe even president !
Shawn, Jason and Mark: Laugh like crap
Mark also told us he had done alot of traveling and had been hitching all his life and shared with us that he had 4 children and was twice divorced
After a long chat, but extremely fast journey, we suddenly realised he had turned into Cambridge and he started asking us which part of Cambridge we were going to and kept asking us to call Daniel for his address, and spent at least 15mins finding a driving us to where Daniel was (Arbury Community centre) We were just lost for words at his sudden gesture of kindness of going out of his way to drop us right at the doorstep !
When we got off, i gave Daniel a call and he said he was walking over. We dropped our bags and thanked Mark profusely knowing the debt can never be repaid but happy that my belief in the goodness of people was still alive

When Daniel was seen crossing the road walking towards us, i shouted in relief :
" DAN ! So good to see you man, epic journey we just had haha "
Daniel than proceeded to help me with my Fullpack and we went away to his school where we took a rest, and Daniel just took our hitching Sign and showed everyone we met on the way " Hey ! this are my friends from Singapore, They just hitchhiked from london "
And everyone was like " Really !?"
I proceeded to stand at the side and act seh pretending as if "oh it was nothing special" haha !
Ang moh Chicks !

Unfortunately, Bad news guys, Jason left the camera battery in Iain's House so we have no pictures to share, but believe me it was one epic adventure ! You can see the sign we made though. haha !

Cheers !

Richard, Kenni, Jason and i went for the evening Choral service in Westminster Abbey, sure photography was not allowed but i couldnt stop my camera from having a sneak peak at such an bone chilling place.

Warning, this entry only reflects my thoughts and experiences at the 2 churches and is no way doing justice to the majesty of them.

Westminster Abbey

As i sit awestruck during the service, my head couldnt help turining aroung * im usually very attentive during service I was going dizzy ! Everything was so detailed, from the roof which was uniquely shaped (some sections were painted and tiled * i believe by hand) to the floor which was covered in inscriptions. The entire church was splattered with Sculptures of different people ( the one im sitting beside dates 1752, Holy smokes ! ) The chandeliers were stunning, reflecting light in a slightly different way each time you look at it. The pillars were another thing altogether, each pillar was carved in such a way that it resembled many smaller pillars fused together to become a bigger one, with all these being said, no single thing was similar or duplicated, each pillar was different from the one beside it * amazing right !
Lastly what really took my breath away were the stained glass that covered the sides of the buildings, absolutely surreal.
A wave of emotions and peace sweap through me as i gaze admiringly at it. They were just beautiful and no Art piece i had ever encountered could ever hold a candle to it. Maybe this is what defines Art, It hits you, leaving you stunned and amazed in awe, and after allows you a moment of serenity and calmness as you enjoy it beauty.
Very Similar to God;s amazing Love and Grace, it hits you, and you think how can something like this ever exist, but when you finally enjoy it and experience it, you are left with a sense of fulfilment and contentment. Off course Westminster Abbey cannot compare with God's Love but thats just an illustration

St Paul's Cahedral

After seeing Westminster abbey, a friend josh said St Paul's was bigger and better, i was sceptical thinking, how can any thing be any better. Oh well... Jason and i walked to St Paul's from Elephant and castle the next day ( if u google it, its quite a walk )
When we arrived....duh duh duh, yes we were blown away again, especially Jason haha, who couldnt stop taking picture of it !
My description of it can never be appropriate to what you will experience when you see it for yourself, so if u are thinking " should i go see St Paul's cathedral ? "... " YES ! YES ! YES "
We again went for the evening Choral service, as the entrance fee to have a look around was 14 pounds ! money we never had
Its Epic la, my vocab is running out, glorious majestic....indescribable. Except this time instead of the Stained glass in Westminster, St Paul's had an absolutely amazing ceiling, which i believed was hand painted and woah, u could just stare at it for hours, this time though the choir and sermon was more audible and a preacher from australia was preaching. He was preaching about God leaving the 99 sheep to find the 1 lost sheep and it was a really good sermon, but what brought tears to my eyes were what he said in the closing " Do you believe that you, as a mere mortal... a Sinner can change heaven... yes, the bible tells us that heaven rejoices when a sinner repents...when u choose to repent...God rejoices ! Entire heaven rejoices ! " He than went to quote Luke 15:7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Blessings and bye bye
Wish u were here !