10 random things about each country that i’ve visited
since i’m so bored, and am waiting for dear to do voice call. i shall just do this for fun!
10 random things about Belgium
1. they have cheap and good waffles! waffles + chocolate + caramel (or sometimes sugar) costs only 2E! hey, it’s not that expensive ok.. take a look at gelare.. and this is like damn damn good. best one would be at the store just beisde Mannekin Pis.. they will instantly do the waffle for you so it’s warm and nice!
2. I don’t know why the peeing boy aka Mannekin Pis is a famous statue.. i mean, it’s not really that grand and nice, as compared to the Grand Place. oh wait, i actually think i know the story.. but in any case, i think it’s a little overrated
3. You have to try mussels, fries, chocolates and beer when you’re in Belgium! I don’t really like seafood but i’m surprised i actually liked the mussels!
4. Genevivre is is like the best alcohol i’ve tasted! the hard one is 40% and the one with cactus is 20%. oh and btw, jupiler isn’t really nice. no matter how many people offer it to you, i don’t really think you should take it.
5. If you want a nice quiet place, go to Brugges. Beautiful scenery.. which reminds me.. zhijian still has some of my photos because my camera battery was dying and i asked him to help me take (cos he has a charger). should get it from him soon.
6. Ghents/Gent is absolutely not a university town, and has no bars/cafes (i think, because we walked 3km only to settle at macdonalds because everything else was closed/served junk food)
7. you would have no idea what language to speak in belgium! bruxelles/brussels is a french part.. but when i tried asking a guy in french where is hotel de ville, he stared blankly.. before realising it’s city hall (i thought it translates better to town hall?)
8. one town which is 10km apart from the next has a different “dialect”, hence point #7.
9. Carnival in Aalst is crazily fun!
10. Belgium transport is very clean and nice! the Intercity trains are so comfortable, they’re almost like TGV (except that they only cost like 5,50E instead of 55E!)
10 random things about Barcelona
1. Gaudi is everywhere. Okay, maybe more like his works are everywhere! Park Guell, Parc de citudella, basa batillo, le pedrera.. just to name a few
2. souvenirs are very expensive! and they’re all like gaudi/picasso inspired. (was picasso even spanish? what’s he doing there?)
3. barcelona is very easy to walk on foot.
4. transport is cheap and good! unlike paris, you do not have to pay 8,40E to come from the airport to the paris central. it only costs 1,70E, as per the normal tickets! also, a ride costs 0,77E if you buy the T-10.. so that’s about singapore’s price.. except that you can change from metro to bus/tram.. so it’s probably cheaper than in singapore!
5. metro is damn damn damn clean! omg! very little seats though :( but they announce ALL their stations, and there’s a tv screen to tell you what’s the next station as well (proxima estacio) unlike in paris.. whereby it’s so easy to miss your stops!
6. it’s not that difficult to understand spanish/catalan when you know french.
7. barcelona people speak catalan.. and not spanish! now that’s a shock right? i thought people in spain spoke spanish!
8. shopping and food here is damn cheap! you can easily get all you can eat buffets for 7E, buy a tunic top for 1,99E! do take note, however.. the smaller you are (ie the shoe size/clothes size)..the cheaper it gets! so i’m thankful for being uk6 for clothes, and Eur36 for shoes!
9. you can ask for directions in english and the people wouldn’t understand. then they ask “vous parlez francais?” (do you speak french).. and you excitedly shout “OUI OUI!” (yes yes!) and you understand what directions they’re giving you! omg. i never knew french was THAT useful. but that’s because when they were in school.. they had to learn french/german on top of spanish. and most people learnt french because it’s closer to spanish, hence easier to study.
10. everything’s so beautiful, even the shops!
oops. i have to add this one in!
11. GLBT culture is damn strong here in barcelona! we even saw two girls kissing on the plane (and no dear, they’re not hot in case you’re wondering). and GLBT stands for Gays Lesbians Bisexual Transexual
10 random things about paris
1. the most frequent word you hear is “pardon”, everywhere on the streets, in the metro, etcetc. they’re all in a huge hurry.
2. metro stations smell like pee. seriously! and for some places (like the tunnel at gare du nord when you take rer b) smells like poo.
3. graffiti is everywhere! even in the tunnels where the metros are!
4. transport is expensive! (unlike barcelona). a day pass costs 3,20E.. which is why i get a navigo carte instead.. costs 55,10E each month (but only 18E in rome, wth!)
5. food is expensive too! in areas like trocadero, you can pay 15E for a bowl of salad.
6. the staff wouldn’t care about you if you didn’t know how to speak french. and yes, even for tourist areas/ metro stations.
7. there are wayyy too many Bs and As and Gs around..
8. it’s dirty. really. people here spit as much as in china.
9. grocery shopping is very cheap, however. so it’s always a good thing to eat at home!
10. administration here is very very very slow. you can wait like A MONTH to get your bank card (and it’s not free).. although in singapore, you can just get it immediately. and you have to wait 2 months to get your resident’s stay card.. basically.. never ever hurry them. there’s no point.
hope this gave you a little insight!
