*~ Cherindipity Moments ~*

Austria Day 9: To Salzburg~ Mozart's City~

Once again we were on our own to explore a City about 1.5 hours away from Linz by the OBB train. Unfortunately it was also colder and "rain-ier" than the day before in Salzkammergut.

So as usual we had our hearty breakfast at the youth hotel. Hmm well its rather unique because all the meats and ham and leber were all in the forms of spreads. Kinda reminded me of tuna and luncheon meat but tasted nothing like that.. heh~ And there's still a wide variety of breads as well as tea, coffee, milk and juices. Not too bad for a budget stay. :)

*~ The interesting range of meaty spreads ~*

After breakie we took a short 5 min walk in the drizzle to the nearest tram station, WiFi.


*~ ticket machine ~*

There are 3 available types of tickets, if i remember well with my "amazing memory", hmm i think for €0.80 - 1 to 3 stations, €1.70 - 1 trip (no limit of stations), and €3.40 - unlimited rides for a day.


*~ a unlimited day tram pass ~*

We were to take a tram from WiFi to Hauptbahnof where we can get the OBB from Linz-Wels-Salzburg.

*~ Hauptbahnof station, Linz ~*

Decided to take a closer shot at the door of the trams. In Linz, the doors to not automatically open or close at every station. If u wanted to get on or off, you will have to press the button on the door.


*~ open sesame! ~*

Before going to Linz, we had already heard so many stories about "Do not use the public toilets, its really expensive!" Hmm well in Singapore if you have to pay at a public toilet, it is usually 10cts or maximum 20cts, but that one public toilet i had to pay at was €0.50. That's about SGD 1.10? Took a photo when i was leaving the toilet because I got really confused by this gate. Almost didn't know how to get out. *embarassed*


*~ confusing toilet gate ~*

Finally Chris got the OBB tickets and we went to wait for our train at the platform on this cold Tuesday morning.


*~ Freezing on Platform 5 ~*

Noticed these little "fish tanks" along the platform. They were obviously not smoking boxes like what you will see in Japan. So i figured it was to shelter people from the cold! Cleverly, i also went in to take cover! :D


*~ my "Keep-me-warm" tank ~*

The trains also have a special cabin where people keep their bikes in. Cool stuff, something again not so convenient in Singapore which is why we now have foldable & portable bikes which people can bring on MRTs.


*~ Bike cabin ~*

Happily took a window seat because we didn't pre-book a seat. Suddenly felt like i was a character in Harry Potter!


*~ My train ticket to Salzburg (2-way) - €41.40 ~*

This was the coolest bit, when the lady came to sell some hot drinks and snacks. Hmm maybe they would have had some chocolate frogs?


*~ Coffee for you? ~*


*~ The beautiful countryside along the way ~*

Not really sure how we were going to get around Salzburg, we went to the tourist information center to ask for help. Got ourselves a Salzburg Card for €21 per adult. This entitles us to free admission and discounts to lots of attractions and stuff. Definitely a must-buy if u wanted to see as much as you can.


*~ Finally arriving at the Salzburg Hauptbahnof ~*

We were still praying for good weather, but looked like it wasn't any different from the weather in Linz. Perhaps it was even colder in Salzburg. I had on 1 long sleeve, 1 thick woolen cardigan and a windbreaker, and i was still freezing especially as the wind blew in my face.


*~ First impression of the city center ~*

After checking out again at another tourist information center in the city, we found out which bus we had to take to get to Untersberg. Along the way we also passed by Hellbrunn, but because of the limited amount of time, we had decided to give that a miss. Hellbrunn is another palace from the late Renaissance which i later learnt from Florian that it has these trick fountains for tourists.. :( Looks like Salzburg is another place i have to visit...


*~ Untersberg ~*

From our little guidebook, it looked like Untersberg was the highest point we could get to by cable car to enjjoy a magnificient view of Salzburg from the summit at 1853m!! I was super excited!!


*~ Cable car going into the clouds!! ~*

And then we realised we went into clouds and more clouds and we could only see clouds, because of the not too good weather :( Well, at least i got to freeze myself totally unprepared! Taking photos really killed my fingers up there... and sadly there was no magnificient view.. (another reason to go to Salzburg once more..)


*~ Me freezing at -1°C ~*

We skipped Hellbrunn and made our way back to the city center again. The day trip was a little rushed because we had intended to make it back to Linz to meet Michael for dinner, and a beer we didn't have the day before.

I got a shock seeing a guy standing on top of that round globe. From far he looked really real don't you think? I still have no idea what that was supposed to mean though. Maybe just a nice feeling of "I'm on top of the world!"?


*~ The thing that gave me a shock ~*

Next we went to the Hohensalzburg Fortress. Apparently the largest, completely preserved fortress in Central Europe dating from the 11th century.


*~ The entrance ~*


*~ Inside the Fortress ~*

Thankful that we made a trip up to the fortress cos we finally had a truly amazing view over the city center.


*~ Looking down from the fortress ~*


*~ A magnificient view of Salzburg ~*

On our way back into the city center to do some sight seeing of the town, I also took a photo of Mozart. :) The area is also known as Mozartplatz.


*~ Mozart ~*


*~ Shops along the streets ~*


*~ I loved looking at the windows of the shops, nicely decorated ~*


*~ Easter eggs!!! ~*

Since Salzburg is well known as Mozart's city, we had to visit Mozart's Birthplace! Unfortunately, photos are not allowed in the museum. There were cool displays of his pianos from the very antique kinds to those with more keys. And funny displays of his hair, and photos and paintings blah blah..


*~ Mozart's Birthplace ~*

Weather was still cold and a little rainy.. and after all the walking and sightseeing, my hands were still feeling frozen. :( As it was already dinner time and we would take another ~1.5 hrs to get back to Linz so we took a bus back to the Salzburg Hauptbahnof.

Back in Linz, our dinner date was too tired to meet us in the end so Chris and I walked around a little in Hauptplatz to find a good place for one last dinner in Linz.


*~ Goldener Anker ~*

Highly recommended by me now! Located in the smaller street branching from the main street near to the souvenir shop. The food we had was great!! And the waiter was really friendly and i loved the cosy atmostphere.


*~ Our table beside the window with my Radler :D ~*

Dinner was really great! I loved my order i just can't describe! Maybe i was too cold and hungry too? but hmm definitely something i will have again!


*~ My Schweinskotelette vom Grill ~*


*~ Chris's Schweinslendchen ~*

They didn't serve any Sacher Torte and Linzer Torte looked like it may have been a traditional dessert so we decided to have a go at it! :) Another great choice!


*~ Linzer Torte ~*

Finally saying bye to the night view of Hauptplatz, a place i'd grown so familiar with already. And with my primitive digital Samsung camera, I took a shot which turned out pretty satisfying too~


*~ The Trinity Column at night ~*

Although there were some glitches here and there, but the day was still great despite feeling a little too cold and hence really tired. :) This was a quick touch and go trip for me but if ever there is another chance, Salzburg will be on my list and 2 days might be a good idea to also try some activities there. *HAPPY*

Austria Day 10: Leaving Linz~

Finally it was the day where we leave Linz. Was pretty emotional for me since I got to know some people here on a much friendlier basis.. I had pre-arranged to have a "farewell" lunch with some of the people from office at the nearby Chinese restaurant. This was also because I had wanted to try what Chinese food in a European country was going to be like! hahaha!! :D

Chris and I left our hotel a little earlier so that there was some time to get some "gifts" for my lunch dates. After a little shopping there was still some time so we took a walk around the office building.

*~ Linz Office ~*

Behind the office, you can see beautiful green fields and bright red and yellow flowers. It's really nice to have such view right outside of your window at work. *filled with envy*


*~ Behind the office ~*

My most amazing discovery though, was to find a CLOVER field right at the left side of the office building!! My goodness, the leaves are so green with a nice ring of white aura and the best part is, they are also so large! I'm sure the guys in office have never realised what LUCK they have!!


*~ the Lucky Clover Field ~*

Wanting to share a little good luck, I managed to find my very first 4 leaf clover and of cos took it home with me!! (on top of 5 others that Gudrun had already found for me from her garden! All 6 of them have been nicely laminated now ^^ )


*~ First 4-leaf clover i found on my own ~*

We took a short 5 to 10 min walk from office to Goldener Hof (a Chinese restaurant just down the road) which Didi had already told me about, especially also of the wonderful plum wine they serve at the end of the meal.


*~ my lovely lunch dates ~*

Like a typical western meal, everything was "personal". I ordered Jasmine tea, and I had my own personal little teapot, as compared to the typical chinese bigger tea pot which the whole table shares.


*~ my teapot, almost the size of of teacup ~*

I do not know what soup this was, it tasted like our kind of sour and spicy seafood soup, but it wasn't as spicy probably also catered to Austrian taste. But it still tasted really good!


*~ Chinese Soup for starters ~*

This is really funny, it looks like an apple pie! But in actual fact, its a springroll in "disguise"!! Not sure about the taste but i wanted to remember how an Austrian spring roll looked like :)


*~ i'm a spring roll! no.. spring pie! no.. roll? pie?? ~*

Next up was of cos the main course. Also served in a typical western style. A plate of main course with rice. How strange because that's like a plate of food i can have with my whole family, except we will have 3 or 4 different dishes. Food was nice, and tasted like proper chinese food. But they all looked the same, and until today, i still do not know what chop suay is! However, the owners are from China.. so it explains why the food still tastes right :)


*~ the sweet and sour dishes ~*


*~ chop suay something (maybe chicken or pork) ~*


*~ fried noodles ~*

Finally! The long awaited for, warm plum wine! mmmmmmm~~~~ *YUMMY!*


*~ Yummy warm plum wine! ~*

Got a kiddy gift for everyone. Kiddy but with a lot of thought into it. How else do you get a surprise, chocolates and a toy in 1 right? I didn't want to be too typical to just buy chocolates. And it was funny to see everyone get their toys :) *satisfied* I always believe deep inside, there's always a child in every person, and i'm just one big kid!


*~ kinder surprise! ~*

I love this photo of Lukas which Didi had sent to me later :) I had grown very fond of Didi's family when we were invited over for a meal. Fun games and a great dinner.


*~ Lukas, my young friend ~*

After lunch, Chris and I took the tram once again to Hauptplatz. Not for more eating but to do some serious last minute shopping for the guys back in Singapore.
Saw 2 men playing chess on the floor tiles! How cool is that!!


*~ Giant Chessboard ~*

Not forgetting also to grab some food from the highly recommended by michi's Leberkas Pepi.


*~ Leberkas Pepi ~*

Yet again, we rushed back to the Youth Hotel to pack all our shopping again into the luggages and left for the airport.


*~ Byebye to the Youth Hotel ~*


*~ Flughafen Linz~*

Having time to spare and feeling emotional, i sat there with my lappy, chatting, surfing, blogging.. and eating my leberkas.. :'( Tasted a little like sausages/luncheon meat/ham? I can't really explain it well again. :P


*~ leberkas ~*

Reaching Frankfurt, we managed to get a train from the airport to near where our hotel was. But getting a little lost in the underground train station. And the funny thing is when I stop people to ask for directions, they were all tourists!! Hmm that is how touristy Frankfurt is. But finally we found a girl whose boyfriend was from Frankfurt and he finally pointed us in the right direction.

By the time we settled in, it was already almost 10?? Feeling a little hungry and thirsty, we rushed back again to the Hauptbahnof to grab a nice sandwich and some mineral water. *phew*


*~ my first dinner in Frankfurt ~*

It was one long... tiring ... day...

Returning from Austria/Frankfurt and still craving for meat.. the first day back in office Cindy suggested to go try out the food at Aston's Express. Newly opened, an express outlet of the well-known Aston's Steakhouse. Cool! Now you can get good quality western food at a more affordable price, minus the ambience and service of course. But it's all still too good :)

*~ Aston's Express ~*


*~ Black Pepper Grilled Fish ~*


*~ Grilled fish with herb sauce ~*


*~ Spicy Chicken Spaggetti ~*


*~ Teriyaki grilled chicken ~*

Every main course comes with a choice of 2 side dishes. On average about $5.90. Steaks are a little more pricey but they weren't really something i wanted for lunch.. so yup. ;)

Rating: YYYYY

Had a short 2-day stop over in Frankfurt and now I'm back home~
*relieved and tired* up from a 11 hour sleep. :)

After leaving all my already-melted chocolate lying all over the bedroom floor, i plopped into my lovely bed and rejunvenated for 11 hours. Its pretty good considering the past 2 weeks I had about 5 ~ 6 hours each night only.

Looking through the photos again and I really wanted to put this one together.



A picture of everyone with their new "Chocolate+Surprise+Toy". :) Trust that in some way or another the toys do remind them about me.. despite the fact that wolfgang had a trashcan with dirt.. and michi, gudrun, manuel and max had this 'thingy' that sticks to the shirt, didi2 had a hmm.. bug? and florian had a new car which Didi would have needed more to replace his red "ferrari". I got a hermit crab.. and Didi still had his surprise wrapped up.

And now i have a great picture of Lukas with the sweet red dragon Didi found in his kinder surprise. :) I love this photo, he looks tooooooo cute! :)



Well it's gonna take some time to sort through my >1000 photos, and to get my hands on another >1000 of Chris's.

I'm now waiting for my next flight to Frankfurt where I stay 2 more days before returning home..

Just a quick goodbye to the great people I met in Linz.. and the great weather i've had.
To all that made my trip soooooo much better.. a BIG THANK YOU and Lotsa Best Wishes.

I'm a typical girl.. so i'm going to miss you alot alot alot. Trust that I could have a few tears in my eyes right now... :-(

Was leaving for Linz in the afternoon so we decided to get to the airport early. It was also Claire's "2nd" time at Terminal 3! Her first time was a guided tour while she was still in her mummy's tummy. hehee~

Settled for some thai food @ Lerk Thai. Was really good and spicy :P~

*~ The family and the finished food ~*


*~ My favourite Claire Bear :D ~*

Happy Mummy Day~ to my darling mom and my lovely sister~ ^^

A quick update!
Sorry about the delays of sending of photos etc etc and postings of gatherings blah blah..

Finally!! pinkk's going to Linz, Austria! :D For a week or so in mid-May to meet my work counterparts.. then can take a few days off to visit nearby cities. Um~

It had been a while since we met up with Sri and wuff after they left borland. So finally we had a little get-together, which was also a farewell cos Sri had decided to go and further her studies. :(

We had dinner at chachacha, a small cosy mexican restaurant in Holland Village. :) The food was really good and price was reasonable. Definitely worth going again and with a camera the next time~

After dinner, always comes dessert. So we walked to Haagen daaz and shared a chocolate fondue.

*~ chocolate fondue ~*


*~ Cindy, Sri, Michelle, Ani, Wufang, Me ~*

Happy to know everyone's still doing very well. Wuff's baby is still so cute, and Sri is excited about school. We'll meet up soon again i hope ;)