"This is Chiu Weng, reporting live from München"

Signing off

It's been an eventful 24 weeks in Europe. I've really had a wonderful time, so at this point, I'd like to thank the people who made it possible for me to get there, the people who supported me in my job, the people who have helped in any way they can, and not to forget, all of you who've been supporting this photoblog, after exactly 60 posts.

The only picture of my colleagues, the DMTS Research Department.
(L to R) Guo Lei, Harald Eisenhoefer (Research Director), Anna, Reinhart Alt, Dr. Christian Bohris (my supervisor), Me
Absent: Dr. Andreas Lutz (on MC that day)

I'm back in Singapore now, so that's the end of my trip and my European experience. Once again, thanks to everyone who have helped.

This is Chiu Weng, reporting live from Singapore, SIGNING OFF!

Photobucket: My Photobucket

Switzerland Trip – Part 6: Geneva (23-24 July 2006)

My final destination: Geneva. This is more like a "pilgrimage trip" for me, considering that there really isn't anything interesting in Geneva other than the Jet d'Eau, the Palais des Nations of the United Nations and the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

I reached Geneva around 11am, and found that this place is distinctly different. The most obvious change is that this place is heavily French-speaking, unlike many other parts of Switzerland. Maybe it's due to the fact that Geneva is surrounded almost entirely by France, with only a 4km-wide connection to the rest of Switzerland.

Reaching Geneva

Situated at Lake Geneva, there's plenty of water here as well. However, I thought I'd make a run for both the UN and the Red Cross first, since that's the reason why I came all the way.

Getting off at the tram station

All the flags of the member states

Outside the entrance

They even make a security pass on the spot with your picture

The org chart of the UN

One of the frequently-used conference rooms

The Palais des Nations

The garden (which is out of bounds)

The monument

The Soviet gift, a monument commemorating man's conquering of space

The conference room where John F. Kennedy met Nikita Khruschev

And the grand hall, the largest in the compound

Yup, that's the end of the tour, short but informative

This is just across the road

It's "CICR" because it's the French version

The building as seen from the UN entrance

Monument outside the museum

The red cross and red crescent emblems symbolising the movement

The oldest known Red Cross flag ever used

Walls and walls of record cards of PoWs in World War I

The first Red Crescent flag used

Sculpture of Henry Dunant writing

Red Cross posters in China

The newly unveiled Red Crystal, to be recognised equally with the Red Cross and the Red Crescent

Mission statement

A trip downtown, the Jet d'Eau, a water jet that sprays water 140m high, it's as symbolic to Geneva as the Chapel Bridge is symbolic to Luzern

This is also another famous sight of Geneva

Well, like I said, nothing really much about Geneva. So I caught an earlier train and headed back to Zurich. That's the end of the trip, time to head home... to Singapore!

Photobucket: Geneva

Switzerland Trip – Part 5: Golden Pass Line and Luzern (22 July 2006)

Quick as I could, I packed up and got out of Funny Farm, regardless of how much noise I made. Made it just on time to the train station and found out to my pleasant surprise that the train was a Golden Pass train, another scenic train, except this didn’t have a surcharge like the Glacier Express. If you like mountains, the Glacier Express is for you. If you like lakes, then take the Golden Pass Line. If you like both, like me, then be nice and let the train companies suck your money, will you? You’ll love it, trust me.

The Golden Pass Line

The Golden Pass Line from Interlaken to Luzern (Lucerne in English) took me through 3 lakes, including the Brienzersee east of Interlaken, stopping briefly at Brienz. All throughout, the scenery was beautiful, but the morning sun obstructed it a little. It’s important to sit away from the sun.

Images from Brienz and the Brienzersee

Reached Luzern bright and early at 0900, found my lodging for the night, the Tourist Hotel Luzern. It’s the most expensive of all my accommodations, but at least it’s decent and anything is better than Funny Farm! My bed wasn’t ready yet, so I dropped my things off and went out to walk around. I was actually hoping for the bed so I could take a short nap before I went out, but it wasn’t possible.

Luzern’s quite small and easily accessible by foot. Not many things to see as well, unless you take a boat ride of a trip up to Mt. Pilatus, but I’m quite “mountain-ed out” already. Set about exploring the sights and did some window shopping as well. Surprisingly, the shops all close at 1600 on a Saturday, and there was a summer sale going on throughout, so I just went to take a look. Not advisable for a backpacker like myself to buy too many things, not to mention the additional headache of how to lug it all back to Singapore, but I did buy another Swiss Army knife, the simple Edelweiss Classic which had a very beautiful Edelweiss shell that I thought is quite uniquely Swiss.

I'm there!

The gate outside the train station

The main sights in Luzern are the Chapel Bridge (seen in almost every single postcard from Luzern), the Lion Monument and the lake. The water’s really clear, you can see the bottom of the river. The bridge is the oldest wooden bridge in Europe, but it’s also beautiful because they’ve put flowers on it in the summer. Together with the water tower, it’s become Luzern’s landmark. The Lion Monument was built to commemorate the Swiss mercenaries who died fighting for France during the French Revolution in 1792. It was sculpted by Bettel Thorvaldsen in 1819, featuring a dying lion, and is carved into the stone.

Sights of the Old Town

The water's crystal-clear

The famous Chapel Bridge

You know it's a conspiracy when they only put flowers on ONE side of the bridge

Water is something you won't miss in Luzern

Music lovers take note! (pun intended)

And the famous Lion Monument

With a zoom-up

So after all that sightseeing, I went back to get my room because I was quite tired from the early day and I needed a nap. I met this lady who was sleeping in the bed next to mine, an Australian who was working in London for 3 years, then touring Europe before she’s going back Down Under, we hung out together for the night, going down to the Blue Balls Festival where we had dinner and listened to the Golden Pride Children’s Choir from Tanzania. I think the African sound is really unique and I quite liked the African song in Civ4. Really enjoyed myself.

Golden Pride Children's Choir

Yup, that's Melissa and myself. I should have used the flash

I walked Melissa back to the room then went out to get some night shots of Luzern, the only chance I’ve ever had to do so. Quite beautiful, though Mt. Pilatus wasn’t lit up, so it didn’t seem like in the postcard.

The Jesuitenkirche at night

The coastline

And the Chapel Bridge

That done with, off to bed and then off to my final destination.

Photobucket: Golden Pass Line & Luzern

"This is Chiu Weng, reporting live from München"

About Me

Monday, August 28, 2006

Quick Links

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Signing off

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Switzerland Trip – Part 6: Geneva (23-24 July 2006)

Switzerland Trip – Part 5: Golden Pass Line and Luzern (22 July 2006)