Monday, August 10, 2009
Popo and ah yi finally arrived last week, after much anticipation! As last weekend was the only time jw had a longer break, we decided to bring popo and ah yi on a road trip.. And our last minute decision led us to select Berlin, Germany as the destination. =) Dear jw drove all the way for like 8-9 hours along the journey before we reached, but we made often WC stops or lunch/snack stops. Hee. Considering we had an elderly and a preggie on board, I think we made it in good time! Keke.
It was a different kind of experience for us, since most of our previous trips consisted of just the two of us. When you travel with family, there are more considerations and more things we need to take note of. Well, it's lucky that baby angel is still in my tummy, because I guess it will be much more cumbersome to bring a baby cum elderly around! All the baby barang barang will be enough! Waha. So I really decided to cherish this trip before we become real mummy and daddy!
We must have walked at least 5-6 hours each day, which I think was really good for me but tiring for popo, considering that she doesn't like the sun in the least. Haha. Jw and I love the sun though. Makes everything so warm and nice. But popo was really a sport to go to each and every place with us, although she doesn't understand any english and most of the time doesn't even realise what was the tourist spot all about. Ah yi was very athletic, fit and knowledgeable, and she really had interest in exploring new places and learning new things. Cool though! Guess my mum would never do that. Waha.
The ferry that we took from Rodby to Puttgarden was a short and very stable one, which I was glad cos' that would mean popo would feel quite safe. Hee. We would always test her and ask her if she knew which country she was in, cos' we moved from sweden to denmark to germany along the way. And sometimes she would give really innocent and funny replies. Hee. Like how we were saying 9 Aug was national day in Singapore, and she said 'Oh, no wonder I saw so many flowers for celebration' when we were in the streets of Germany. That was quite a classic.
Surprisingly, popo loved the breakfast we had in the hotel on our first night of stay. Oh, we actually booked an apartment, but guess what, we were late for check-in but we kept calling the apartment the whole day and there was no one and when we reached there was no one too. Haha. So we had no choice but to bunk into a hotel on the first night, but for 90 euros we had a room for 4 and breakfast the next morning. So it was quite okie. =) Except the slippery bathroom, the water that stopped suddenly, plus the noisy subway and street right outside our window. Still, it was good to see popo enjoying her breakfast, and she had two hard boiled eggs!
We visited the Berlin wall on the first day, since I guessed this was one of the most famous spots. The East Side Gallery wall was not like the ruins I imagined, instead I kinda like the drawings people had painted on it.
This was quite a colourful and cute drawing, though it didn't possess as much meaning as the rest which depicted the East germans who tried to break through the wall towards the West.
Ah yi said this was a photo we should take, one foot on the east side of germany and the other on the west side of germany. Quite classic. So we did! But no matter which side we were on, we were always together. Hee.
We had mainly Chinese food in Germany, which was relatively cheaper and more yummy as compared to what we usually ate in Sweden. We took the above pic after eating at Peking restaurant opened by authentic Chinese, and there was even free mei jiu after the meal!
Ah yi, jw and I also walked up to the top of the dome to get a scenic view of Berlin and all the famous spots. Hee. =) Popo rested on the first floor waiting for us, since she couldn't understand the english audio guide anyway and there was no way she would want to walk such a long distance up slope. =)
On the second and third night, we finally stayed in Da Vinci suite, where we had booked. It was really a nice apartment with a big double room along with a four-posted bed, a nice living room and clean kitchen, a small balcony, and a huge bathroom equipped with a huge jacuzzi bathtub. Woohoo. Just nice a for a family stay. Peaceful and quiet at nights too, so nice to zzzz!
Jw and I went out for a night walk on our own on the second night. Hee. More walking!! I wanted to check out the night view in the city, which wasn't as pretty as I would have expected and far from Paris. But well, it was still a good and cool night walk! And oh yar, as usual we visited the casino again! and guess what, jw was lucky that night at roulette and we won 50euros! Hee. =)
On our last day, we visited Potsdam, the city of emperors which reminded me abit of Versailles in Paris. We went on a bus tour which costed a discounted rate of 10euros each, which was a good idea because it saved popo alot of walking and anyway the place was too huge to walk on two feet. Hee.
Ah yi was the faithful one who listened to the tour guide all the way and understood the history and significance of each place. For jw and me, we only wanted to see see look look and take pics. Hee. Ah yi said the place above was where the national representatives conducted a meeting during World War II and came to the decision to bomb Hiroshima. 
All in all, we had a relaxing and nice time in Berlin. Sure hope ah yi and popo had fun too. Many thanks to jw who was the nicest and sweetest anyone could possibly be to my family. He was sweet and considerate to popo and he drank beer with ah yi every single day! Wahaha. Beer is cheaper than Coke!!! Grrrrr, too bad I can't try any of it now!!! Looking forward to our next road trip, be it whether baby angel is still in my tummy or already happily in the world! =) Cheers to 23 weeks of pregnancy! Tata!
~Summer~ 9:06 PM