goodbye 2009, hello 2010...

a few more days, 2009 will be a history. when i looked back at 2009, i was rather proud and excited. 2009 is one of the years that i wont be able to forget... just way too many great things happened. what actually happened?

well.... i finished my master degree without any major problem (i gotta thanks a few friends... they helped me a lot). the best part, i graduated with distinction (1st class honor). something i didn't really expect to get. i actually did quite badly in a few subjects... 54/ 100 for a law subject (i guess that is the result of asking an engineer to take a law subject). anyway, i'm still really proud of myself. my supervisors really love my work/ dissertation.

travelling has always been the biggest passion in my life. this passion has leaded me to visit various amazing destinations in europe and asia in 2009. i have never visited 9 different countries in one single year (excluding uk) before but i done it in 2009. i also visited many interesting places in uk. there is only one place i yet to explore in uk... wales! something i should do in 2010. so, where have i explored in 2009? i explored...

jan - scotland, liverpool & leeds
feb - london
mar - east austria
apr - south england, netherlands
jun - belgium
jul - scotland highland & west germany
aug - sweden
sep - north vietnam
nov - france & north east spain
dec - north italy

well... how can i've visited so many places in one year? most of my friends are still curious. i guess that is the best part of being a student! i think i won't be able to travel that much in 2010 but i have the never say never spirit and let's hope i can explore more places in europe in 2010. i have actually planned a few places to go in 2010....

feb - central italy
mar - switzerland (skiing.... yippee)
apr - czech republic
jun - portugal (for a wedding)

before that, i desperately need a job in uk... which is also my main goal for the new year or else, i will have to pack my things and fly back to malaysia for good (god, please help me... i don't wanna go back to malaysia).

as a big supporter of unesco's world heritage sites, i visited 56 sites in 2009. i bet chee kin yin is cursing me now!!!

new lanark, united kingdom
liverpool – maritime mercantile city, united kingdom
studley royal park including the ruins of fountains abbey, united kingdom
saltaire, united kingdom
tower of london, united kingdom
canterbury cathedral, st augustine's abbey, and st martin's church, united kingdom
historic centre of vienna, austria
palace and gardens of schönbrunn, austria
semmering railways, austria
city of bath, united kingdom
stonehenge, avebury and associated sites, united kingdom
blenheim palace, united kingdom
royal botanic gardens, kew, united kingdom
droogmakerij de beemster (beemster polder), netherlands
defence line of amsterdam, netherlands
mill network at kinderdijk-elshout, netherlands
flemish béguinages, belgium
belfries of belgium, belgium
historic centre of brugge, belgium
plantin-moretus house-workshops-museum complex, belgium
la grand-place, brussels, belgium
major town houses of the architect victor horta, belgium
notre-dame cathedral in tournai, belgium
zollverein coal mine industrial complex in essen, germany
castles of augustusburg and falkenlust at brühl, germany
aachen cathedral, germany
cologne cathedral, germany
upper middle rhine, germany
würzburg residence with the court gardens and residence square, germany
town of bamberg, germany
abbey and altenmünster of lorsch, germany
speyer cathedral, germany
rock carvings in tanum, sweden
birka and hovgården, sweden
skogskyrkogården, sweden
hanseatic town of visby, sweden
mining area of the great copper mountain in falun, sweden
royal domain of drottningholm, sweden
ha long bay, vietnam
paris, banks of the seine, france
palace and park of fontainebleau, france
palace and park of versailles, france
chartres cathedral, france
cathedral of notre-dame, former abbey of saint-remi and palace of tau, reims, france
amiens cathedral, france
works of antoni gaudí, spain
palau de la música catalana and hospital de sant pau, barcelona, spain
la lonja de la seda de valencia, spain
mudejar architecture of aragon, spain
historic walled town of cuenca, spain
archaeological ensemble of tárraco, spain
venice and its lagoon, italy
city of verona, italy
city of vicenza and the palladian villas of the veneto, italy
Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, italy
crespi d'adda, italy

hope i can maintain the record in 2010.

what else happened in 2009? mmmm... i went back to malaysia for a short break (in september) and met my beautiful niece for the first time. that little devil is so cute and funny. i was the baby in the family and suddenly there is a real baby in the house... rather awkward! anyway... having her in the family is quite a good thing... why? at least my mom will nag me lesser! on my next trip back to kuantan, she will be calling me uncle (when i last met her a few months ago, she was only able to call mama and papa)... anyway, wondering what my reaction will be when she calls me uncle!

since i left malaysia for my study in uk, i have been missing my friends in malaysia dearly. meeting them again during my trip back to malaysia was another great moment for me in 2009. many things have chanced since i left, pipeline department is no longer in wisma technip. anyway, i still miss my life at technip. wondering whether my ex-boss willing to take me back or not????

so, my hope for 2010.... get a good job in europe! my other dreams and targets won't be able to take place without a proper job. therefore, i hope i can start 2010 with a job offer! wish me luck folks!

back to where i belong...

life is kinda strange.... sometimes, you just dont know what will be coming! i guess that is the beauty of being a human. a year ago, when i was leaving malaysia for uk, i didnt expect myself to come back here a year later. somehow, my sister offered me a return ticket to come back. after a year in europe, such offer was so welcoming. i wanted so badly to see my parents again, not to mention my new born niece (she is such a cutie)!

the past 3 weeks have been really amazing! i was able to do my duty as a son, a brother, an uncle, a friend, an ex lover and an ex-colleague. sometimes, i really feel guilty and upset for not being able to give my parents more. for now, i can only offer them love, pure love. what they have given me, i think i have to use my whole life to repay! i love them, i really do! i cried when i was sitting in the bus and seeing my mother standing at the platform.

gosh! my friends and ex-colleagues are still funny and crazy! i was so happy to meet them again. we laughed like mad! thanks guys for updating me on what have happened when i was away. i cant wait to see you guys again next year. i have started to miss you guys. those who will be getting marry, hope you guys will have a great wedding. to all my friends, please stop asking me about marriage again. it isnt in my mind yet!

before coming back to malaysia, i prepared a list of things to eat! i was able to eat most of the things in the list but i guess i came back in the wrong time (bulan puasa)... i have to cross out nasi dagang and nasi minyak from the list. anyway, im quite satisfy! i ate a few bowl of my beloved pan mee and hokkien mee.

the coming tuesday, i will be leaving malaysia again. i guess every good thing comes to an end! i do hope all these great times can stay forever. too bad, i really have to leave but im sure i will come back again, to the land which have given me so much!

leaving carlton house!

tomorrow, i will be leaving this place! i actually dont feel good about it! leaving this place means i have to start facing reality... what is reality? for me, reality is apply for working visa and get a secure job. i started to have 101 questions in my brain... will i get the working visa? anyone gonna hire me? do i have enough money for food? i guess, the next few months gonna be very challenging and i am so not ready for it?

the past 11 months have been really amazing! this is the place where i have studies, cooked, played, laughed and...gosh! i started to miss my life over here in carlton house... preparing great meals... playing cards... jokes...

friends are leaving for their home country for good! am i gonna see them again? leaving is always the most difficult thing in life. anyhow, memories stay! all the best to all my friends here!

my desk

my shoes

my lonely planet collection

some of my pants..

my watches

my hard rock cafe t-shirt collection

some of my scarves

my messy room.... i didnt realise i have so many things until i digged out everything!

chocoholics + alcoholics... say hello to belgium!

after one month of crazy schoolworks (assignments + exam), i was so pleased to be at somewhere and exploring. this time, i landed at a place which is like a heaven to me. where? the name is belgium! for a chocoholic + alcoholic like myself, belgium is surely a heaven. i have lost count on how many bottles/ glasses of beer i have drank over there. ice cold beer on a summer afternoon is just perfect. and not to forget, the chocolate! belgium doesnt just offer good beer and chocolate! it has more to give!

in 7 days, we (小白 and deric) visited 7 different belgian cities. in all the 7 days, we were only manage to see blue sky in two days. anyway, it didnt stop us from tasting fine smooth beer and searching for the best chocolate in the country and it certainly didnt stop me from posing from canal side to big square.

we started off our belgian exploration in the city of ghent. ghent is a very romantic looking city. i dont know how to describe it but the town give me the feeling of getting someone and have the kiss of my life. ghent is a perfect place for bridal shots. old churches, calm canals and beautiful squares all blend in together perfectly. ghent is also home to a beguinages, a place where women dedicate their lives for god (aka almost like a nun) stay.

ghent

beguinages

we started day two with half an hour train ride to the city of bruges. the city i was so eager to explore, the home to a few unesco world heritage sites. every corner of the city is postcard perfect. i will let my pictures do the talking!

bruges

next stop, the city of antwerp! the second biggest city in belgium. the city is totally different from ghent and bruges. it has the mixture of modern world hype and old world charm. when speaking of modern world, what else! shopping la! with most labels available, shopping is a fun things to do in antwerp. antwerp isnt just about shopping! like other belgian cities, it has a lot to offer and home to a few unesco world heritage sites. one of those heritage site is the plantin-moretus museum. i have seen enough oil paintings and european porcelains, hence those things wont make me go wild. but plantin-moretus museum offers something different! it is a printing museum (im not talking about laser printer or photocopy machine). the printing here is those in the 16th century. it is rather interesting to know how people back then produce books, maps and other printing materials.

antwerp

on day 4, we explored two charming towns, mechelen and leuven. both towns are rather different from other towns/ cities we have visited. mechelen might be small but rich of heritage but due to its size, we spent less than 4 hours there. in the afternoon of day four, we took a train and arrived at leuven. leuven is slighty more interesting than mechelen. leuven is the belgian version of cambridge. it is a university town and the town is extremely beautiful. leuven is also belgium's beer capital and home to world famous stella artois. surprisingly, i didnt taste any stella artois when i was there. i prefer leffe brunette, a must try!

mechelen

belgian beer with cheese..... superb!

leuven

day 5, we checked in holiday inn brussels. i started to pamper myself more and more. for me, a comfortable hotel is rather important. after a busy and tiring day, you gotta have a comfy room to relax and a clean bathtub to soak yourself. if you able to find the right website and book at the right time, holiday inn, hilton, mercure or novotel can be affordable. 105 euro for two nights stay in a 4 stars hotel, just brilliant!

brussels

just a few weeks before the trip, i read an articles that mentioned brussels is the most boring city in europe (london was voted as the dirtiest and amsterdam was voted as the most exciting). so, i reached brussels without much expectation. to my surprise, brussels is not boring at all. the grand place is a very stunning looking square and the most beautiful among all i have visited so far. the city is also filled up with parks, palaces, galleries, museums and shops.

brussels is also the capital of european union. im still trying to figure out why they made brussels the capital of europe.

we started off the last day (day 7 was the day we flew home, no place was visited so not counted as a touring day) of our belgian exploration at musee (museum in french) horta. i didnt know who the hell is victor horta until i've visited the museum. victor horta was a very famous belgian architect who started art nouveau. now come the question, what is art nouveau? google it! anyway, victor horta was such a great architect. all the townhouses designed by him are rather unique.

musee horta, brussels

the last city we visited was tournai, another very beautiful belgian city. tournai is a small city in the south of brussels and is only 10 km away from the border of france. therefore, everything over there is so french influenced. with the design of the buildings, houses and alleys, you can easily be mistaken you are in france! tournai is also the home to the finest cathedral in belgium, cathedrale notre dame, a world heritage site.

tournai

for more pictures, click belgium

land of tulips, windmills, wooden clogs and home to van gogh...

based on the title, i think most of you guys know where i've explored! yes... kenneth tan conquered netherlands aka holland. to be honest, i wasn't that in love with the country at first. why? first, i cant read dutch (road signs, public transport timetables, menu.... almost everything is in dutch), second, the public transport system is quite complicated (they have trains, buses, trams and metro), third, i have to take a number and wait for more than half an hour in the tourist information centre and lastly, they have buses, cars, trams and loads of bicycle on the roads, which means we gotta be extremely careful when crossing the road. i was pretty stress out on my day one in netherlands. however, after 5 days in the land of tulips and windmills, i totally love this country and would love to go back there again.

both deric and i kicked off our holland exploration at the world renowned sin city, amsterdam. the best part of our stay in amsterdam was the luxury hotel we stayed. 5 stars hotel for the price of a backpacker hostel. thanks to lee chin yang for introducing hotwire to me. it wasnt that cheap at first but they made a mistake with my booking and offered me 58 us$ per night. the hotel is amazing! love everything about it!

nh krasnapolsky hotel

the room is damn big!

the toilet/ bath room

the tv greets me!

my first stop in the city of canals was royal palace and dam square. both the palace and square are just outside the hotel we stayed. the palace is really nice but it isnt open to public. so, visitors can only admire it from the outside. the square isnt something to scream about. i've seen better looking and cleaner square.

a trip to amsterdam wont be completed without a visit to museumplein, home to rijksmuseum and van gogh museum and also some other not so important museums (in my dictionary). anyway, both rikjsmuseum and van gogh museums are filled up with many great paintings. for me, i prefer van gogh museum. the museum is the home to most of the masterpieces by the great artist, vincent van gogh. from there, i gotta know mr van gogh better. his life was kinda tragic. he died young and was a regular at the asylum before he died. the saddest part is he didnt get to know that he has changed the world of art and became someone very important in the history of modern art before he died. some of his works are really inspiring. i almost burst into tears. im serious! if i have the chance, i dont mind visiting the museum again.

museumplein

museumplein

after wandered around museumplein, we headed back to the city centre and stopped at the house of another famous figure of amsterdam, anne frank. a little jewish girl who struggled during german occupation of the netherlands in the second world war and she died in the concentration camp. i got quite emotional. why such sad story has to happen to a sweet little girl like anne? just opposite the house of anne frank is jordaan, a lovely district. the district has so many beautiful canals, lanes and houses and surely a lovely place for an evening walk.

anne frank house

jordaan

jordaan

after a quick dinner, we rushed to the sexmuseum to experience the cheeky side of amsterdam. the museum made me blush. i love to talk about sex but the museum is a bit to much! boobs and penises are everywhere! guess what? in late 19th century, people started taking dirty pictures and the japanese already into sm back then. not far from the sexmuseum is the renowned red light district. i was stunned! girls displayed themselves with just undergarment. some of those girls are really pretty, model material. the funny thing is that area has more tourists than horny men! wondering how those girls survive!

sexmuseum

a big one!

red light district

we started day two with a 45 minutes bus ride to beemster, a polder. about 400 years ago, beemster was a big lake. it was reclaimed and have been used for farming ever since. after a hectic day in the city the day before, a morning walk at the country side was so welcoming. it is actually quite amazing how they reclaimed the land. they transformed a lake into a useful land and it happened 400 years ago. no wonder that place is one of unesco world heritage sites.

beemster

beemster

after spending several hours at beemster, we went back to amsterdam and walked around the eastern part of the city and passed by the scheepvaartmuseum, nieuwmarkt and chinatown. i was quite surprised! the chinatown over there is actually more interesting than the chinatown in london. there is a big guang yin temple at the amsterdam chinatown. from chinatown, we walked back to dam square and boarded a tram to heineken brewery. i only knew that heineken is from netherlands when i got there. i love going to brewery! the smell of roasting barley is so nice. it isnt cheap to visit the brewery, 15 euro per entry with 2 glasses of heineken.

heineken brewery

after leaving the heineken building, we went to the flower market. i was quite disappointed! they dont really sell flowers over there. they mostly sell seeds and bulbs. the market should be renamed to bulb market. when walking at the market, i was more interested at the shops selling weird things than those so called flower stalls. weird things? amsterdam is a funny place and the only place in the world where weed is legal. with full of curiosity, i bought a weed lollipop and was prepared to get high that night. i finished the lollipop while watching csi! no feeling of high or excited! wasted my 1 euro!

day three was suppose to be a very interesting day of my trip. the kuekenhof garden day! somehow, i wasnt that excited. maybe because i have seen tulip field before. before reaching leiden for the bus to keukenhof, i stopped at haarlem. the town isnt as beautiful as described in books and travel journals. it is just a typical european town big churches and square! the only different the town from other european towns is the windmill near the town

haarlem

haarlem

keukenhof is a very beautiful garden but it didnt blow me away. after wondered in the garden for a few hours and clicked enough pictures, we rented bicycles and cycled around the area outside the garden. to be honest, i prefer the sceneries outside the garden than inside the garden. outside the garden, i saw countless row of tulips in various colours. riding a bike and passing by such a colourful landscape was a very amazing experience. i did feel like i was making a romantic flick. sadly, no camera, no director and no lead actress, just deric chia cycling behind me.

after enough of tulips, we used the extra spring daylight to explore leiden. leiden is a typical dutch city, which means you will see windmills and canals inside the city. after tired of leiden, i continues my journey to next stop, the hague. we reached the hague quite late but i was still very excited as i knew i gonna meet my ex-colleague there. we agreed to meet up at the hague and travel together, after he finished his training at paris. i was so glad to see him again. i am really close to my ex-colleagues. even im not with technip now, i still email them regularly.

leiden

we started exploring the hague at binnenhof, the heart of the city. binnenhof has been the centre of dutch politics since 1446. in the centre of binnenhof is the ridderzaal, a gothic dining hall. after done admiring the beauty of binnenhof, we walked around the old quarter of the city and ended up at vredespaleis (peace palace), the united nations' international court of justice. the building is so beautiful and it is the most photographed landmarks of the hague.

binnenhof

peace palace

from the peace palace, we took a tram to delft. i really like delft. the town is so charming. it is still a typical dutch town but it has a better looking square and more old buildings within the square. one funny thing i noticed in netherlands is that all cities and towns have a nieuwe kerk (new church) and an oude kerk (old church). the tower of the nieuwe kerk at delft can be climbed with just euro 3. we climbed and proved one thing to ourselves! we are all afraid of height. after climbed the tower and walked around the charming town, we carried our backpack and headed to rotterdam.

delft

delft

rotterdam is so different from other cities in netherlands. the city was bombed flat during the second world war which is why the city is filled up with modern buildings. the city is so futuristic and buildings are in various size, shape and design! we kicked off our rotterdam exploration at boompjeskade and walked all the way to euromast. we were quite amazed with the city! the city is so modern and not so european at all. we ended our rotterdam tour at an indonesian restaurant. we all felt like the restaurant conned us! guess what? they weighed the amount of rice and dishes with the plate. the more you take, the more you gonna pay! i have never came across such system before. the restaurant got a funny name too! it is called toko papaya!

rotterdam

euromast, rotterdam

on day five, we started off at kinderdijk. the place is so beautiful but getting there from rotterdam city isnt easy. we took a tram to rotterdam central station and from the station, we took a train to rotterdam lombardijen station. at lombardijen station, we waited 45 minutes for the bus to kinderdijk. the bus ride itself took another 30 minutes. in total, we used more than two hours to get to kinderdijk but the journey was very worthy! seeing more than 10 windmills within your eyes span is just incredible. we spent 2.50 euro each for hiring a bike. the 2.50 euro was so well spent. kinderdijk isnt big but it isnt small either but for sure walking the entire area will cause us some major legs pain.

cycling around kinderdijk

kinderdijk

kinderdijk

after done snapping photos at kinderdijk, we headed back to rotterdam for the train to amsterdam. after 5 amazing days in netherlands, i did wish i can stay longer and explore more. anyway, would definately go there again.

for more pictures, click netherlands