the many faces of amsa

Last night, my flat mate Annalotta and I went to the Austrian Medical Students’ Association AIDS awareness party. I would have taken photos, but nobody else was doing so and I really didn’t want to draw attention to myself as a foreigner. In any case, the bar itself was nothing special, but the music was good (the songs had lyrics). Although I’m sure it must’ve changed to more clubbing-type music after we left at ~11.30pm.

To atone for my negligence, I shall share here my souvenirs of the night:


The condom packet was actually a raffle ticket. We didn’t stay long enough to see if we’d won anything, though.

Today I discovered the whole “Vienna waits for you” side of Vienna. While my apartment is rather cozy and friendly, it is really nothing at all like the first district. Anna and I went to the city centre this afternoon, where we window-shopped. There are many things that I would really love to buy, but nothing priced in Euros is very affordable.

I’m not quite sure how we ended up wandering around the Christmas markets at Rathaus, but they were lovely. The early sunset made it impossible for me to take nice photos, but the Christmas markets were well lit enough for me to attempt a happy snap:



We finished the night by watching an Advent concert at Stephensdom.

It is almost midnight now, so I shall go to bed and upload this from my (okay, Candice’s) USB tomorrow.

the travel bug

I do not recommend contracting gastroenteritis on the dawn of 24 hours of non-stop travel. It is not a pleasant experience. Fortunately, the SQ flight attendants were absolutely wonderful and caring, and I was treated to a never-ending supply of peppermint tea and warm water. I stopped having to ask after about my 5th request for warm water.

Frankfurt airport was not as easy to navigate as I’d imagined. Perhaps it was my semi-conscious state (although I did try to be “seng mok”), but I easily bypassed the airport train station.

Whoever wrote all those Wikipedia articles on Frankfurt airport being ideal for travellers must have been joking, or had only backpackers in mind. I had barely eaten in over 24 hours, and although I packed light (yes, I really did) several times I was thwarted by the lack of escalators. Fortunately, Germans and Austrians are very kind people, and many men and women assisted me with the luggage/stairs issue.

Greetings from Vienna! Here is a photo of my host's apartment:

Edit: I did make it to the supermarket, and to the internet café, which just goes to show you that even navigational bimbos like myself are capable of remembering directions, if the situation is dire enough.

Quirky Viennese fact: Pedestrians have to watch the traffic lights at zebra crossings.

step two

Today's schedule pretty much encapsulates the essence of every Summer I've spent in Singapore:

Wake up ridiculously early. Ridiculous because the shops in Singapore only open at 10am.
Walk to the markets for wanton mee and sugarcane.
Purchase and carry home supplies (milk, bread, papaya) in the humid heat.

Janet yeemah took me shopping after lunch. Today's destination was Marina Square. We must have walked into every single shoe shop (and a couple of other shops) before we finally settled on the second pair of white shoes that we'd seen:


And of course, dinner was at Yeemah's house.

Today's completed checklist of last-minute preparations for Austria:
- Comfortable white shoes for the placement
- Instant noodles and chopsticks
- Top up SIM card