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Fellowship of the Shares

Hi Geojam, pls dun forget Elf newly adopt kitten....

Hehhe looking forwardt to August re-union ^^ 

P.S. pls find a restaurant that allow pets....
if not bunbun & kitten will get kick out!!! 

 

hi folks!!   a voice crying from Out of Africa..land of Karen Blixen, who had a farm under the Ngong Hills....

first of all, Congratulations to Elf, Victorian, Eastonbay for your great play on EDMI , Stamford ld...  !!!

so we all have makan when Geojam comes in August??  or we keep this as seed money for the next round... particularly to Elf, to achieve her wish.. and dream.. to be truely financially independent...?

and Fairygal, sounds like you have a happy family:  i can imagine.. all of you trekking together up the mountains, alive with the sound of music...

my dear Sporegal..  if you wish I could arrange for you a trip to visit masai mara, and watch the eight wonder of the world, the annual animal migration ; stay at Governor's camp .. http://www.governorscamp.com/  you can have a spa in the most luxurious out door "hotel" in the world..  amid the lions, zebras, cheetahs, wilderbeast giraffe, gazelles, hippos, ostriches, etc etc.. or if you also wish stay at a lodge on an escarpement with a private jacuzzi overlooking the Masai Mara plains...

and Hi my Auntie Bunnie... glad know you are home relaxing.. you have now started to post more..and nice ones too about india & vietnam...  oh I note your request on photos, and I remember you talking too about your photos of Sakuras taken in japan... we must exchange notes... let me compile mine first (but actually I have not decided to post them on the net, not sure how the copyrights work..)  I also have pictures of flowers that I take on my trips...  perhaps we share in August when we have dinner with Geojam?

 

In my experience in European cities, no matter which county I went to, I'll probably spend more time luxuriating  in the hotel suites than go sight-seeing... 

Or watch some 'travel movies' of home... :)

No big deal... really... :)

 

Hey elf,

 Nah... I'm not the backpacking type... my idea of a holiday is to eat good food and stay in luxury hotels!

 

Hi chinkiasu,

Wow.... you really get to travel around the world! Africa is one continent I have not been to yet!

 

Hi Fairygal,

 Hahaha... are you pulling my leg about the hypnosis part? Sounds so mystical!

Ok... I'll probably want to visit Greece at the end of this year. I actually like the cold. I will look for the same hotel you stayed in at the Acropolis. Sounds cool indeed!

 

Fairygal,

U are very right about dark alley "happenings". Especially there are many Albanians who ask for money...Euro85 per night for a penthouse...perfect!!! Yes, getting Zara there is so much cheaper than Singapore...me got a jacket there which cost me Euro65, but here cost me S$180.

 

Bunbun,

Thanks for mentioning ICE, almost forgot about it. As I'm planning for my June trip, I only compare prices on Eurorail & flight tickets. Any suggestions for me to note? I have 3D for Lisbon, 3D for Madrid, 3D for Barcelona & 10D for Italy.

 

No. You get transported to a land of myths though!

A lot of Chinese nationals and Filipinos though in the F & B industry. And they speak Greek!

Chinkiasu,

Just gotta train up before my trip for those long hikes. We backpacked with our kids, so they are trained as well. So Greece is the only place we travelled with so-called luxury with hotels.  All other countries, it's HI, self-catering, and lots of walking! Lots of Vit E to ease those aching muscles! A good backpack, a good pair of hiking boots, our reliable Leki, muesli bars, water bottles, and we are on our way!

 

So do the Greek men looks juz like those legendary stories heroes? :P

 

Sporegal,

Less than $3000 for 2 weeks, can be lesser per pax. (incl air-tix and shopping)This is one trip we stayed in hotel thru' out the trip.  No youth hostel at all. Consider cheap when we eat out all meals, ferry to Crete, which is like a cruise ship, 10 hrs on board complete with bed and bathroom in your own room,  fly back from Crete after missing our ferry back. Cost of living lower compared to Germany.  In Athens, take bus to town, then take their "MRT" to wherever you are staying.  We stayed at the foot of Acropolis, and for 85 Euro per night, we get the penthouse of the hotel, overlooking Acropolis.  I can still recall the view! Magnificent! And 85 Euro is a room for 4, like a suite. Includes breakfast! Love it! 3 star, but very good! You can shop at Zara in Crete too! We arranged for accommodation with Dolphin hellas before we leave for Greece. Going to Piraeus, the port to catch all ferries to the islands, including Santorini is only less than 45 mins again by MRT from downtown Athens. One word of caution, avoid dark alley, and also people who talk to you and stare straight into your eyes.  They are trying to hypnotise you, even at the airport! Let me know if you need more info.

 

 

Indeed I neber been to US before, only live in Germany for 2 yrs so get to travel bit in Europ..
like chinkiasu & EastonBoy said.... at the biggining I was force to learnt German cuz nothing is in English. Butaft after a while I can understand why European are not really fond with the Americano nor the Aussie who make too much noise =)


Travelling around asian is great, I went to Bali, Mth Kinabalu & Krabi last yrs.... it was good and cheap!!! When it come to budget I would say Vietnam SapaSapa or siem reap would be the first choice in my list for this yrs!

 

Elf

Got hold of u at last.Congrats on ur stland and edmi.

I look forward to having a big treat from u and bunbun.

Fortunegal,i tot u are on my side???

 

travelling: elf taking long leave in oct leh. was planning backpacking either siem reap again (to finish off the ruluos group and bang melea) or to go hawaii.

bunnie, sggal! trip together? heehee. note hawaii gonna be expensive tho. check out four seasons hua lai lai. best beach resort in the world. heehee.

dowan europe....just went UK and Italy last year....

 

uncle forever!!! wah, so long neber see u on this thread leh... cannot follow u lah. i like cathedral, grasslands, gothic castles, locally brewed beer, etc. mostly found in europe. how to go US w u? the only thing i like about US is the branded factory outlets.

 

hmm... sorry, it was actually almost 4-yrs (not 3-yrs) ago i went, went end june 03. when did u go?

 

hehe smart bunnie, yeah I agree sometime you dun have to spend lot of traveling.... flexible, spontaneous and savvy is the keywords for an enjoyable trip, but I think my god-sista bunnie is rather good in those thing I mention, not like most of the majority Sg-gal who asking for better toilet in the bigger Hotel?.. that would definitely cost lot!!! ^^

Indeed I did my Eastern Europ in 3 yrs ago too... hahah too bad I didn't see you there.


Ya, talk abt travelling.... Kitten is planning a trip to US in Oct to visit my mate in Arizona.... will touch down at San Fran first then drive down to LA via the Pacific Coast Highway, visit another frend at Mexico, Puerto Penasco, then will drive all the way through Nogales and hit Tucson then to Grand Canyon.

Hope I'll make enough money from the mkt by then and boss allow me to take 2 week off...
If so bunnie wanna join in the road trip? look like I still have 2 seat vacant ^^

 

hi synnexo, i didn't use any eurorail passes, neither did i travel on budget air. the route i had wanted was not inclded in the eurorail pass. and the only flights i took was from sg-budapest and prague-sg. in betw it was all ICE. and my tix from budapest to krakow was 'wasted' coz i missed the damn train by 1 min.

 

i'm planning for another backpacking trip. am thinking if i can get away from work and backpack for 1 mth or so, target 5k max. *grins* let's see if i can do it.

 

Bunbun,

That was efficient use of resources in that case. But the rail passes cost more now i think. Its can cost >USD1000 for multi-pass for 1 month, depends on how many countries one is travelling. Flights on the other hand can cost as low as Euro20....u might be flying onboard planes with propellers instead of jet engines...



Overall cost will depends on how one plan for the trip. Also, what u expected from the trip. Low cost doesnt mean u'll be enjoying, vv with expensive trips. I love planning all my trips by myself. This will allow me to read up about the interesting places before I visit them. Widen knowledge by understanding the history about the place & culture, etc.



Singaporegal,

If u plan to visit Greece or other parts of the world, u can go to www.virtualtourist.com to do some research. Santorini is indeed very beautiful, but the hotel can be quite expensive there. Rhodess is another place u might want to visit when u are there. But then hor...its very tempting to fly into Rome when u are in Athens. The flight tickets are really very affordable.



For hotels bookings, I usually book through www.otel.com & for flight tickets, usually after I planned my itinerary then I'll ask for quotations from different tour agencies. Alternatively, u can do so by telling them to quote u for both air tickets & hotel stay. Then, u compare the rates via online.

 

bunbun, i now recalled...for europe backpacking... i remember my friend also spend abt $3 plus, and my cousin also spend less than $3K (more than 14 days).

ya, best u go backpacked now before u settled down in future with kids or etc.

 

eastonbay, surprise surprise. it inclded air tix. and i had an open jaw too. hehehe. good deal rite? that was 3-yrs ago. flew into budapest, out from prague. and this 2.2K inclded a loss of 100euros on the streets and an extra train tix price coz i missed the train from budapest to krakow.

 

in case u are wondering if i had gone in off-peak season (e.g. may or earlier), i flew in late june, and out mid jul.

 

hehehe. me need another backpack session this yr. haven't done it for almost 4 yrs. any further delay, old liao, will not have the stamina to do it.

 

bunbun is right.. geojam should treat all the god-daughters dinner instead..  :P

 

Elf, I regret on stamfordland.... should have got it earlier!!