Overall, the trip was okay-ish, despite the big group of 49 people. There weren't any brats on the bus so the bus rides were relatively quiet and peaceful. Well, there was a kid who has some illness, not exactly sure what, but she was generally normal except that she couldn't really talk properly. As in, the way she talks is different, a little bit loud at times, but she's still a cute and innocent girl so that's fine. And I'm glad that the people on the bus were rather understanding of her! There were some stuck-up people, but people like them are meant to be ignored. If they can't be bothered about you, don't be bothered by them either hahaha.
Okay let me elaborate a bit about this family. There's this big family of 12 people, but out of which let's just focus on the smaller family of 4, the rest of them are fine. The thing about this family is that they don't interact with others, which makes them seem stuck-up. My sis said that she heard the father of this family telling one of his daughters that "those who didn't buy a (branded) bag are the poor ones". Whoa this is such a wrong statement to make, on so many levels.
1. Is this even something a father should be telling his kids? (FYI his kids are around our age, who probably are already influenced by him.)
2. It doesn't mean that a rich person has to buy a branded bag. It may be just that the person does not fancy such things. Just shows how shallow he is.
3. For someone like him to be so obsessed over wealth and status and refuse to interact with the supposedly poorer people, shame on him man. So much for living over 50 years (I assume) and being so rich.
"Some people are so poor, all they have is money." - Patrick MeagherPlus, it does not help that his character is so flawed when his face itself looks qianbian. Really, if you see his face, he looks like the typical black triads boss. Call me judging or superficial but when it comes to people like him I don't really care.
All right, enough of this. Moving on to the good/better things~
As with most other trips with a tour group, there will always be a few funny people who make your trip a little more interesting. On this trip there was the Young Couple, Cute Auntie & Uncle, Snowman Lady, 三菜一汤guy, The Teacher, Kiasu Auntie, Para's (my dad) Best Friend.
Hahaha if you're wondering what's with the weird names, my sis came up with most of them (as usual) because of some story behind it. Ok shall share it since it's interesting :)
Young Couple - No one actually came up with this name, it just became a known fact somehow. Well, simply because they are a couple... who are young. LOL ya. There were many couples in this tour group, but they looked the youngest and were the most good-looking pair haha. Honey-moon couple la. They were nice for looking out for me when I went out at the top of the mountain myself (because the rest of my family had altitude sickness LOL and were resting indoors) and asked me if I wanted to follow them.
Cute Auntie&Uncle - I love this pair the most hahaha they're too cute! They are actually in their 60s I think, and they came on this trip with their son and daughter-in-law (who are both very nice to both their parents. Probably the family we were the closest to on the trip) who got married this year May. Despite their old age, they were probably one of the most loving couples in the whole tour group! Hahaha they wore matching jackets throughout the trip and the uncle even pulled out the chair for the auntie to sit. And amusingly, they call one another "auntie" and "uncle" :P Just damn cute la. Especially the auntie because she's so small-sized like a little kid. And you know what, she says she's working as a promoter for children clothes hahaha.
Snowman Lady - My sis came up with this name because one day, this lady was wearing a white Uniqlo down feather jacket which made her seem like a snowman (partly due to her size also) LOL. Ya but she's very friendly la, one of the first few people we talked to. I remember very clearly how she and my mum found a common topic because they both were tired from the long walking distance to the bus HAHA.
三菜一汤guy - Again, credits to my sis. You know the Channel 8 cooking show? The Taiwanese host? Ya this guy looks like him, according to my sis LOL. No one else seems to think so, but somehow that was the easiest way to refer to him since we don't know his name HAHA poor guy. The impression he gave me was that he works in the finance sector hahaha probably because of how he dressed and behaved.
The Teacher - Oh she was an epic character. Just based on the way she talked, you could guess what her profession was even without her telling you LOL. I swear it's her 职业病. Coincidentally, she used to teach at St. Nicholas but got transferred to another school a year before my sis entered and her daughter was from Dunman too. She was full of praises for former, but not for the latter haha. So when she asked me whether I missed St Nicks and I said not really, I guess it didn't impress her hahahahaha. Anyway, she's a super funny character. Maybe she didn't mean to be funny, but it just turned out funny somehow and so she became a source of entertainment (at least to my sis and I). The comments she made on the bus are so teacher-like. E.g. "Those who want to go to the Louvre Museum, put up your hands!" "(regarding the quality of the food) Good. No, not bad, got improvement. But still can be better." Hahahah I can't really remember the rest but it was just too funny the way she said it. Oh and she has a talented daughter.
Kiasu Auntie - Ok I started this. Simply because she was TOO KIASU. I got super irritated during the lunch we had up the mountain because she refused to move her chair in for me to get out (to go to the toilet!!!!). I needed to squeeze through two rows of seats because I dumbly sat all the way inside even though I needed to go to the toilet. She claimed that her row (mostly her family members) "cannot move in anymore" and said to "ask the other row to move". But hello excuse me there's a huge space behind your butt on the chair you were sitting on and you tell me there's no space for you to move?! At moments like this when someone is so urgent and yet you obstruct her from relieving herself, you have no idea how irritated I was. Prior to this she already left me a poor impression because of how she always pushed her luggages in front of the lift first every time we checked into a hotel. Ya so from then on that's how she got her nickname.
Para's Best Friend - He's the Kiasu Auntie's husband. Ok let me just explain a little. Basically, 'para' is my dad's nickname hahaha since young my sis and I started calling him that. I think it started during the time when the Para Para dance game was in trend. We used to call him 'papa' but since they sounded similar.... LOL ya. Ok so now moving on to his best friend. We called him my dad's best friend all because they are TOO SIMILAR. They're both very talkative and luosuo HAHA. Are all middle-aged men like that?! Oh and something super funny (and maybe gross) about him my sis told us. She said he didn't leave her a good impression because the first thing she happened to hear him say was that he once had diarrhoea "until it turned from liquid to solid!!!" LOLOLOLOL. Wth man not exactly the best thing to be heard saying by a stranger right hahahaha.
That's all for the interesting people we met on this trip. Lol didn't expect to spend so much time on this hahaha.
I had never really understood the big hoo-ha about going on a trip to Europe (other than how expensive it is), but now I realise why - it's beautiful. Although I still prefer natural sceneries, I think I can better appreciate architecture right now. The churches we went to were simply breath-taking the very moment you step into them, especially St. Peter's Cathedral (kept thinking it's St. Paul's, but no, it's St. Peter's) in Vatican City. Besides the size of the church, the interior of it was so intricately built that it just amazes anyone who steps into it, regardless of one's religion. The other more significant architectures we went to were the Colosseum in Rome, Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Eiffel Tower. Oh but it was regretful that I couldn't really understand what the local tour guides were saying, either because of their strong accent or that they were too soft, so I didn't get to learn as much about the history of these places.
In short, if you like all the old buildings, history of places and love photography, Europe's the place for you. Just remember to join a tour group with a good tour guide if you're interested in the history. We were so disappointed with the tour agency we went to, be it the tour guide or the food they provided.
I definitely want to go to Europe again (especially UK, Switz) but I guess that will have to wait for a few years. Including Maldives, these could be potential places for my honeymoon trip in the future HAHA. I'm thinking too far ahead.
Lastly, happy end of the year~~~~~
