9 Oct | 24 Hours in the Island City | Singapore

We arrived into Singapore early in the morning, and I was glad to find myself in Asia again after the 2 weeks of racing around Europe. After going to all these places, I know my heart belongs in Asia, as I always feel so comforted to land on these soils, no matter which country it may be.

Anyways, mum and I checked ourselves into the same hotel we stayed at 10 years ago. Peninsula-Excelsior which has a fantastic location around Marina Bay. I'm pleased to say the hotel has undergone extensive renovations and the rooms we stayed at was significantly more comfortable than before. The views from the hotel room are quite amazing, and again, quite different to those we saw 10 years ago. How rapid changes happen in Singapore!

View from hotel room of Marina Bay

The obvious new addition to the skyline is the Marina Bay Sands building. I don't know how architects feel about this building? Its definitely futuristic and conceptually intersting. I suppose it fits into the Marina Bay surrounds area given all the futuristic buildings around there.

New building on the block! Marina Bay Sands...
There's a park in the sky

6 Oct - 7 Oct | Land of Fairytales | Bavaria, Germany

You always feel a bit sad when a holiday is reaching its end, yet there's a sense of relief to find yourself on the return journey too. I have to say, the 3 of us were looking forward to returning to Munich. According to my dad, it was 'back to cilivisation' for him. I think he meant German efficiency and precision. And really, you do feel the difference when you travel from the affluent Germany & Austria to the developing Hungary and Czech. 

Well the Prague-Munich rail trip was by far the longest train ride of our trip! More than 6 hours on a train! I can't say we did a great deal but sleep or read our books. It was still great to enjoy the at times mountainous scenery and the autumn scenery always makes me feel so happy.

Scenes from the longest train journey all trip:

On the way back to Germany from Prague

The sun almost breaking through

My sneaky Dad took this pic hahaha
We sat on a Czech train, still way more comfy than Aussie trains!

By the time we got back to Munich, there really wasn't much time to do anything else but enjoy a good meal. My parents were desperate for a non-western meal, so luckily for us we found a great Indian restaurant near the hotel. I have to say, it was as good as the Indian meal I had in London 4 years ago!

Family meal...Indian food in Munich, pretty awesome actually!

The next morning I commenced my final day of Bavaria super early (it was still black outside when I left the hotel), as I booked myself on the popular Castles Tour. I was finally going to see Neuschwanstein Castle!! The castle that inspired Walt Disney, the one built by the 'mad' King Ludwig II. After experiencing several days of grey skies, I was filled with joy to see a blue sunny day in Bavaria!! Oh how I missed the sunshine and blue skies!

First stop: Linderhof Castle - Built by King Ludwig II as a hunting lodge, in the French Rococo style

Look at that! No clouds in the sky

Who doesn't like nice romantic walks in this setting?

The beautiful Linderhof Castle

4 Oct - 5 Oct | City of a Hundred Spires | Prague, Czech Republic

The magical lure of old-Bohemia draws millions of tourists each year to see these lands, often topping peoples ‘must see’ destination lists. The train ride from Vienna to Prague was another scenic, colourful and romantic one, which was in stark contrast to the flat and lacklustre countryside on the Vienna-Budapest journey. I will stress again that the beauty of rail travel is just witnessing the gorgeous scenery passing by, something that is lost in the modern age of air travel.

Prague Castle in a distance...

This was my second visit to Prague. Four years ago Prague left a good impression on me. A city where one can still imagine how Bohemian life may have been, old castles, churches and cobbled stone paths. Second time round I have to say, the glamour and magic had diminished slightly, so it was time to ‘discover’ Prague again by getting lost in those old cobble-street alleys (and thankfully, we did). Last time we took a guided tour of the city, this time we had our own itinerary. One cannot go to Prague and not revisit Prague Castle & Charles Bridge. So that is exactly what we did, both by day and by night.

Prague Castle & Charles Bridge
(if only I had a blue sky day!)

Charles Bridge is definitely the most densely populated touristy part of the city, but at least this time we were onlookers to a bridal photo-shoot. Behaving exactly as paparazzi tourists do, I made sure I captured a photo of the newlyweds. Once we passed Charles Bridge, we were onto giving ourselves a good workout by walking all the way up to Prague Castle. The parents may have complained the walk was too long and steep, but I think they were secretly proud of actually completing the walk to the top, as the views above were amazing! Perhaps a bit museum-ed out from the Vienna visit, we didn’t really check out the Prague Castle museum, preferring to wonder around the castle grounds and eventually walking down to the main town.

Photo shoot!! The crowds weren't moving for a while, this is why!

Entertainer on Charles Bridge

Exiting Charles Bridge

1 Oct - 2 Oct | Grand City of Lights | Budapest, Hungary

Budapest was once a great Romantic City of Eastern Europe, and the remnants of that period in history are obvious. Unlike Vienna where it still is the cultural heartbeat of Central Europe, Budapest appears to be lost in its hey day. That is until you see Budapest light up gloriously at night.

We stayed at the elegant Le Meridien Hotel where we were served by the most welcoming staff all trip. Luckily for us the hotel had a special Friday night Hungarian folk dance performance coupled by an excellent buffet dinner meal. I really wish I had more space to stomach ALL the fantastic desserts. (Yes, greedy!)

The elegant Le Meridien Hotel Room

Hungarian quartet that entertained us all evening

I loved the chandeliers and lights at the hotel restaurant!

28 Sep - 30 Sep | Wien Take 3 | Vienna, Austria

Some people only visit a city once, especially if they have to travel more than 20 hours to get there. Well this was my third visit to Vienna! It is now ranked as highly as Paris as my most frequented overseas destination outside of Asia. I've always been fond of Vienna. It has a certain charm, elegance and beauty surrounding it. It was afterall, the capital of the Habsburg Empire that ruled over vast parts of Europe for centuries.  It's not a mega city on the scale of London or Tokyo, but it is a city that certainly offers everything those big cities offer as well.

A wet Viennese day...interesting lamp post though! Pinocchio?

Hotel Bristol - A classic hotel that we stayed at.

Vienna State Opera House by Night. Just brilliant!

Vienna Concert House (I think)