You know you’re in Europe when…

You know you’re in Europe when there’s advertising like this.

They know how to capture a male audience that for sure.

Train to Paris

TRAIN TO PARIS.

From the Sky train we got to some station where we could catch a train into Paris.

We bought ourselves 3 day train passes and got on our way. Everything was already 197x (precisely) better in terms of architecture. Those awesome designs that you see in magazines and never actually being built in Sydney were actually built in Europe.

Sydney Architecture = Boring? 

Looking up

Platform

Not sure why I took this.

THIS GUY.

Skytrain.

So we got through customs and all the immigration without too much fuss, time to go find a train that would take us into the heart of Paris – and more importantly our apartment.

It’s funny –  that term “to set foot on (insert country name)’s soil” isn’t really that applicable anymore.

Looking back at these photos now, i just noticed how long it actually takes to find proper soil at all. I don’t think i can actually say that we set foot on french soil until….to be honest i’m not really sure! There isn’t much soil anymore in cities, it’s concrete, asphalt, steel and more concrete.

Skytrain to the French rail network

Light at the end of the tunnel

Paris International – The Escalators

After passing through immigration, one of the first things we encountered that somehow came across as amazing was this assortment of escalators running through the centre of the terminal. It reminded me of those Harry Potter books/movies – The Moving Staircases?

Oh Luke, so eager to get into the photo!

Bonjour – Arrival

APRIL 10, 2012

Yes after an entire day of travelling, it was still the 10th of April….Jet Laaagggggggggggggggggg.

After a good day of economy class seating, battleship, poker, complimentary red wine, orange juice and water. We had made it.

First glimpses of Europe for the trip.

Funny cause Gerard looks like he need to go to the bathroom really badly, Lorraine looks sleepy after just waking up (She slept for majority of the flight) and Kelsey looks Jolly. haha 🙂

Been in Europe for a few minutes and already some pretty exciting stuff already!

Stage 3 of Holiday Psychology had hit.

“Extreme anxiety and excitement for the holiday adventure upon arrival.”

Sydney to Singapore

APRIL 10, 2012

So onto the plane, first stop was in Singapore for a few hours then transit to Paris.

We were flying Singapore Airlines in an A380. Absolute beast of a plane. However, not too different once inside compared to a 747 – though noticeably quieter!

Often, there are 3 emotional stages that a traveller must go through when they’re about to embark on their epic journey to another world by plane.

1) Extreme anxiety and excitement for the holiday adventure.

2) Depression when stuck on a plane and transit lounges around the world for hours and sometimes days.

3) Extreme anxiety and excitement for the holiday adventure upon arrival.

This trip was a bit different though, especially travelling with friends, it seemed the depression stage never set in.

😛

Hours of talking about nothing, in flight entertainment screens fully equipped with movies, shows, music and most importantly Battleship and Poker.

We played poker for a good few hours, bankrupting one another, and shouting abuse at each other from opposite sides of the plane. (3 of us sat on each side of the plane with the middle section taken by others). They weren’t very happy about the noise and laughter when they were sleeping…

Singapore

Arrived at Changi International in the early morning. Got a few eats and waited….Ok so maybe i was getting a tiny bit of stage 2 travel depression but that was only because I hadn’t slept yet (my attempt at timing my sleep so i wouldn’t be jet lagged).

THIS GUY was all happy as usual though.

Waiting time…

Changi International

Eurotrip #1 Documented Through Pictures

I just reconsidered what i was going to do with the images i post up from Europe. Instead of randoms posted up every now and then, i may as well start from the very beginning – i do have 8500 photos and i need a place to put some of them after all!

So here’s the first post recounting the little adventure that was our trip to Europe for uni to see the Milan Furniture Fair.

Waiting at Sydney International Airport

APRIL 10, 2012

Starting in Sydney on April 10th 2012, we were all pretty excited like fat kids at a candy store.

note:one of the worst parts of international flights…waiting time.

so ill take this bit to intro my travel buddies – the ones who made the trip the adventure it was.

Daniel

This is Daniel. He packed for  a one month trip with a carry on bag – inspirational.

Luke

This is Luke. He’s going to become a really good dad one day – his jokes are terribly good 😛

Lorraine

This is Lorraine. She looks really unhappy in this photo

Kelsey

This is Kelsey. He is funny and likes military stuff (you’ll see when we get to Milan).

Gerard

Last (and definitely least) is Gerard. Known forever as THIS GUY or Questo Ragazzo. Comic Relief for the entire trip 🙂

Edit: Forgot.

Me

This is me. I look like a complete idiot in this picture. Probably because I am. Above *imitating Jackie Chan Meme – Not too difficult for an asian*

Parked.

VW Polo GTi

One of the many one off pictures from Eurotrip #1.

No matter what car was on the road, they always looked good.  And Majority of them were little city cars like this Polo.

Bloody European cityscapes WHY YOU LOOK SO GOOD!?

Taken in Milan.

From Paris With Love

Stereotypical French car in a stereotypical French setting. How lovely!

Citroen 2CV

– Taken in Paris while on a walk to explore the area we were living in. Stupid idea cause we were tired, it was cold and we were actually looking for a supermarket which we never found.

Ended up with a car photo instead – First World problems…

I don’t usually like Vtec…but when I do…

I don’t usually like Vtec…but when I do…it looks something along the lines of this Clean EK Civic with fully built motor, Skunk2 exhaust, new paint and riding on Works.

clean EK civic at Ison Industries

Here’s a sneak peek of my visit to Ison Industries, just across the road from Top Secret Imports in Western Sydney.

Ison is yet to officially open, but already some of their workmanship can be seen. You don’t need a Crazy workshop to do some crazy good work. Just need time, patience, passion and some tools! 😉

Visit and follow their facebook site at http://www.facebook.com/IsonIndustries

and look out for some proper photos when they finally open in a month!