Summer 2010: Oh, hell.. why not

The month after my eurotrip started as a time of nothingness. Nothing to do, while everyone waited their turn to fly back to Malaysia for the holidays.

A lot of my friends' housing contract ends at the end of July, but they would only leave the UK in late August or early September. Therefore, a number of them crashed in my house throughout this period.

A lot of guys in one house yet nothing to do... woke up, played some PS, watched some movies.. yada yada. So whatever idea that came up, such as "hey, lets ..(fill in blanks)..", was always supported with a Oh, hell.. why not.

Few of the highlights include,

A fishing trip to the North of Wales! A friend of a friend would supply everything we need for an overnight camping and fishing trip, the remaining three of us had minimal fishing experience.

Oh, hell.. why not.

The site was far from sunny beaches. It was hard rocky edges drenched in cold rain.

Me and a friend went hiking on the edges of the sea, climbing and hopping from rock to rock, far out from camp and back. One stayed in the camp and slept for most of the time. Leaving the avid fisherman to battle a sea-lion to haul in food for the day.

In the end, we spent a total of 200 pounds only to eat 4 mackerels.

Back from the trip was some time in Manchester.. Someone suggested that we spend a night out in town as 'gentlemen' to celebrate a friends graduation.

Oh, hell.. why not

Next, was the trip to send my friend to Heathrow airport, London. In London, we met a Malay prostitute who offered us a night in her apartment. Unfortunately, we declined. After having dinner in the famous Tinseltown restaurant, we were ready to head back to Manchester.

"There are some great nudist beaches in Brighton, two hours south of London" said a friend.

Oh, hell.. why not.

Nude people don't come out at night so we decided to spend the night on the beach. On arrival, we saw a group of guys lighting up a campfire. We wanted one as well.

We drove around town looking for something to burn. Surprisingly, there were a stack of construction planks next to a bin. We loaded them into the car, found some discarded boxes as well and we were good to go.

Few hours later, as the fire died out... I said "Ive never been to Portsmouth, its only an hour west of here".

Oh, hell.. why not.

We drove an hour to Portsmouth at 5 in the morning. Parked the car in Portsmouth and slept till 9. Woked up and walked around Portsmouth till about noon. My friend still wanted to see the beaches of Brighton. We got back in the car and drove back to the east.

We did not find any nudist beach. Oh, hell

From there we headed back to Manchester where I spent a few more days before my flight back to Malaysia. I was almost broke at this point but it was money well spent. It turned out to be a rather interesting month after all.

Summer 2010: Eurotrip

I would say that my last summer holidays felt like the most fulfilling holiday Ive had in a long long while. The holiday lasted close to four months and I don't think there was a single dull moment through it all.

I'm just gonna list down the things that happened for my future reference's. Don't expect to read of any new epiphanies ....

Kicking off at the start of summer was my euro trip!! First leg of the journey covers Krakow-Stockholm-Oslo.

Krakow was beautiful and warm. The city's appeal come mostly from its medieval history. Parts of the fortress wall still surround the inner city. It gave me the rare opportunity to get a glimpse of what it would have been like living in one of those medieval towns. I also went underground into an ancient salt mine that is rumored to be the inspiration behind the Mines of Moria in The Lord of The Rings.

On top of that, I got free accommodation and tip top hospitality from my host, Peter. A polish guy who is into Amy Search and nashid music (he doesn't understand the language btw).

From there I flew to Stockholm. The last time i was there the temperature was -15c. The weather was more bearable this time around and yet still too cold to feel like summer. Nevertheless, there is a certain charm about Stockholm. The city feels almost archipelago like and the hop-on hop-off ferries are one of the best ways of getting around.

Next up, Oslo. The city of Oslo is not as dense as most other European cities. There was part of an old fortress wall on top a hill that looks over the Oslo bay which i enjoyed. Sorry to say, but it is one of the more forgettable places ive seen so far. What i will remember though, is eating whale meat stew. Much to my surprise is that whales have red meat - complete with a beefy flavor.

A week on the road got me bummed. From Oslo I head back to Manchester for a week of rest and preparation for my Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam trip.

Paris is much like London or Kuala Lumpur in my point of view. Being a Metropolitan city, it drains my energy just by being there. A source of energy however, would be French girls. hehe. As expected from the fashion capital of the world I suppose. People who actually shop would enjoy Paris more than i did. Spent the last night in Paris on top of the Eiffel tower. The view from there was amazing. The city looked like an ocean of gold coins below my feet.

En-route to Amsterdam lies the city of Brussels. First striking feature of Belgium is that it doesn't have its own language. Belgium is a small country in between giants like France, Germany and Holland. Its interesting to imagine Belgium's origin as a rouge town formed by people from those three giant states. It must have only been a stopover town for travelers. Brussels itself was alright, but not one of my top picks. Chocolate and waffles galore.

From Brussels, I got the bus into Holland. One one side of the road was a vast expense of farmland. On the other, a vast expense of open sea. The sea was on higher ground. (Try imagine sitting by the beach, but instead of looking down to the sea, you'd have to look up to the sea). A few hours later I finally got into Amsterdam....

Amsterdam oh Amsterdam....

no further comment ;)