Top 10 things to do in Brussels besides drinking beer

1. Ascend the Atomium

Built in 1958 when Brussels hosted the World’s Fair, the Atomium is a cross between sculpture and architecture.

It’s modeled after a crystallized molecule of iron magnified 150 thousand million times.

Escalators take visitors to expositions in the various spheres, and the upper sphere houses a restaurant, Chez Adrienne.

2. Experience Mini Europe.

At the foot of the Atomium is Mini Europe, the only place where touring the continent takes just a few hours. Roughly 80 cities and 350 buildings are represented.

Marvel at impressive reproductions of Europe’s most attractive monuments, watch Mount Vesuvius erupt, and see a Finnish girl dive into icy waters.

3. Discover Old Town.

The crown jewel of Brussels’ Old Town is the Grand Place, built as a merchants’ market in the 13th century. Tour the striking Gothic town hall or people watch from a café. Then, wander the surrounding cobblestone streets.

Stroll through the Galeries St. Hubert, a glass roofed arcade lined with cafes, theaters, and luxury shops. Also be sure to see the Manneken Pis, the famous bronze sculpture of a boy peeing in a fountain.

4. Sample world-famous chocolate

Learn about Belgian chocolate at the Chocolate Museum, then visit some of the Brussels’ most celebrated chocolate shops.

Wittamer, in the heart of the city, is a family-owned chocolatier that’s been in business since 1910. It’s the official chocolate supplier to the Belgian Court.

Pierre Marcolini, whose flagship store is located near the Grand Place, is a newer but welcome addition to the Belgian chocolate scene.

Marcolini opened his first store in 1995, the same year he was named the World Champion of Pastry.
5. Revisit the comic strips of your youth.

Did you know that Tintin was created by a Belgian artist? You would if you visited Brussels’ Comic Strip Museum. See original pages of comic artwork, sketches and memorabilia.

Learn how the Smurfs, also of Belgian origin, got their start. (Hint: They’re a spin-off!)

6. Savor moules frites.

When Bruxellois devour this unofficial national dish, they eat the first mussel with their fingers and then scoop up the rest using the empty shell as a utensil.

And what about the fries? They dip those in mayonnaise.

Moules frites can be found at most restaurants, but if you’re near the Grand Place, try the mid-range and delicious L’Estaminet du Kelderke.

7. See a puppet performance.

Nestled at the end of a cobblestone alley in Old Town is Café Toone, whose cozy building dates from 1696.

Enjoy a drink with locals downstairs, then head up to the attic for a show like no other: marionettes perform Shakespeare and other classics.

8. Take a tour.

Hop-on, hop-off bus tours, offered by Brussels City Tours, give a good overview of the city’s most famous sights. Catch the bus outside Central Station.

For do-it-yourselfers, take a walking tour of Brussels’ most upscale designers, explore the city’s antique and flea markets, or experience its beautiful green spaces.
9. Visit the EU.

As the European capital, Brussels is home to the European Union headquarters. Take an audio-guided tour of the European Parliament, the elected body of the EU.

During sessions, you can even attend a parliamentary sitting. Check for session dates here.

10. Okay, a little bit of beer…

Near the South train station, which connects Brussels to other cities in Europe, is one of the last traditional breweries, Cantillon.

Almost nothing has changed since the brewery opened in 1900.

See the open vats where their signature Lambic beer is cooled, and the oak wood barrels where it’s aged for up to three years.

IKEA and Our Happy Smiles

IKEA makes Jingyi very happy! >< you can just tell from the brilliance of her grin :))This gal will make a great wife! Hehe...

Amazing Pics of the Vlatava

Vlatava, a lake near our home where the ducks play and the canoes idle...

Nous allons à la Belgique

Guess what? We'll be jetting off to Belgium tomorrow! Ahaha! It's a rather spontaneous trip... we booked our tickets and accomodation just yesterday...lol! We will be staying at a hotel known as the Hotel de France. There was little choice for our accomodation as most of the hostels were fully booked. Lesson learnt, plan future trips earlier. So mom, dad and sis...if you're reading this, here's me telling you that I will be leaving for Belgium tomorrow (27 Jan) and returning on 1 Feb. :)) And I'm so excited about the trip because they speak English, French and Dutch in Belgium! The perfect opportunity to practise communicating in French.

By the way, we haven't gone to Wenceslas Square yet...we got kinda sidetracked by IKEA and Tesko! >< We took a train to Zličín (the last stop of Metro line B), then we took a shuttlebus that ferried us to IKEA where we dug into mouth-watering Swedish meatballs and honeyed cakes >< yummy! At Tesko (your Czech equivalent of NTUC), we bought our groceries and I finally got my hands on my beloved strawberries. For reasons unknown to me, Alberts (the supermarket near our place) doesn't sell any straberries T-T boo~~

I'm still pretty hyped right now because I spent the morning studying French with JY and JC...a refreshing change from our Czech lessons... sorry JC...

Can't wait for tomorrow seriously... Belgium = beer +mussels +fries +chocolates + waffles!!! Oh yes, I am sooooo going to Belgium for a Food/Chocolate Tour!

Bon appetit to all!

My Fave Pic from Yesterday (včera)

Hot wine! Perfect for a cold zima (winter) day!

Wenceslas Square

Václavské náměstí (Wenceslas Square)

We'll be going there today!

"Wenceslas Square (Czech: Václavské náměstí ) is one of the main city squares and the centre of the business and cultural communities in the New Town of Prague, Czech Republic. Many historical events occurred there, and it is a traditional setting for demonstrations, celebrations, and other public gatherings. The square is named after Saint Wenceslas, the patron saint of Bohemia. It is part of the historic centre of Prague, a World Heritage Site.

Formerly known as Koňský trh (English: Horse Market), for its perodic accommodation of horse markets during the Middle Ages, it was renamed Svatováclavské náměstí (English: Saint Wenceslas square) in 1848 on the proposal of Karel Havlíček Borovský."

Stay tuned for more pictures! :)

The Sun on a Sunday Morning

Neděle a slunce

Sunday and the sun

Home-Cooking in Prague

Breakfast and dinner...hehe... I looked so sleepy!!! Just woke up~~

Reply to Kellie's SMS

Heya this is my second blogpost from Prague! :)) So here's a post with me replying a pretty long sms from my Kellie.

What have u been doing these days?

For the first three days since arriving in prague, Jingyi, Jin cheng and I have been familiarising ourselves with our neighbourhood and the local transport system. So far, we have taken the metro and the tram. I think that I'm starting to get the hang of traveling by train though it can be a little confusing at first since there are barely any signs in English...and some of the station masters either cannot or do not want to speak English.

Today, we went to Old Town Square by train. We ambled along the cobbled stoned paths and visited the Loreta Church, Charles Bridge, Prague Castle(er...we were looking at it from a distance? hehe...), and we also watched the appearence of the twelve Apostles at the Astronomical Clock Tower! We had kebabs, hot chocolate and hot wine for lunch today.


Who cook n u eat what?

Jingyi has been doing most of the cooking. You can log on to facebook to see the photos of our meals...I will try to post some photos if I have time. For breakfast, we mostly have bread and coffee. Because we are mostly out during the day, we grab whatever we can find for lunch. Dinner is usually Asian fare...we ate pasta once I think and it was pretty good!


U going to travel soon?

Not too sure about that yet... Will KIV this question and will let you know as soon as we decide to do so :)


Got internet yet?

Obviously...haha...ok, the situation's a little complicated. Let me explain this to you SLOWLY... Our modem's a little shitty...so we couldn't connect to the internet and were thus disconnected from the world for three days. So we called the agent and he sent someone over yesterday (Friday) to help us with that damned thing! But, he couldn't get it fixed...so the internet-guy allowed us to tap into his wireless connection for the time being. He will be coming back on Monday to help us settle the problem.

Prague apartment

Our apartment in Prague! It's been a little messy because it;s laundry day! We can't dry our clothes outside because of the weather... wet clothes do freeze...tried and tested

Sorry for the short post...it's almost dinner time...

Caution! Butterfish coming through!

"Butterfish is the tastiest, creamiest, most luscious piece of fish you will ever eat… but beware as it tends to cause explosive and uncontrollable orange-oil diarrhea and fecal incontinence. You have been warned!

Yes, I had one of these experiences about 10 years ago; I’d had said butter fish for dinner, and a few hours later, it went right through me, and when trying to clean up, the toilet paper just kept skidding off my oily butter fish-abused hole! Ick! Never eaten butter fish since!"

http://andyandadrian.com/2008/06/21/butterfish/

Lol...this is one dish in Prague that I'd have to be really drunk to try ><

Dim Sum at River City

Half-eaten!!!

Here I am with Umama...I'm looking a littly tipsy/sleepy here...must be because no make-up


Umama doing her best to eat more!!! lol

What a wonderful brunch it was! River city's ala carte buffet dim sum lunch was totally worth the $15 >< ate till I was bursting at the seams lol...

Umama's hair looked really pretty today! That's why I couldn't resist putting up a photo of umama! Haha...

And Jason...as usual refused to be in the photo...but if you looked really carefully, you'll find that his fingers are in one shot...the one with the food!

Hehe, what a fun day it was hanging out with Shirely, Angela, Umama and Jason!!! It was totally an otaku outing! As they say, birds of the same feather flock together :D
can't wait to cosplay again! Shirely's cosplay photo was so awesome!

Yeah...I was supposed to go for my H1N1 vaccination. But to it was out of stock at the clinic! Arg...gotta look for another clinic tomorrow T-T *cries*...

New Hair ...OMG orange highlights

OMG...I can't believe I got orange highlights to go with my jet-black hair. Now I know that I'll definately be standing out in the crowd...lol...so much for blending in with the rest of Europe... lol...can't say that I hate my new do... but it's just a shock I guess?! Please try to refrain from saying anything nasty about my hair! Just a reminder because Kellie has told me for the third time how much she hates it
:( what can I do? The dye is pretty much permanent. All I can do is to hope that the sun washes it out a little.

While I was on my way to the salon yesterday, I was ambushed by a beautician. Enticed by the free sample she was dangling infront of my nose... I followed her into the shop to do a free assessment of my skin type. She nagged, and nagged, and nagged "girl your pores are very clogged...pretty girls must also take care of their skin u know...blah...blah...blah" Can you believe it? She repeated her lecture four times (yes, I was keeping count), just to sell me a fourty-five dollar facial voucher. Omg... the things a bad economy can do to our beauty industry...

By the way, according to Linda Wells, the editor in chief of Allure magazine, overdoing your extraction processes at facials can do you more harm than good. Read my lips: enlarged pores

Oh the horror!

Yeah just in case you were wondering, I didn't buy the damned voucher. Just as the beautician was about to start her droning for the fifth time, I grabbed my bag and took off like a mad woman! Lol... I am never falling into this trap again!

It's only the beginning...

My room's already a huge mess, and preparing for my trip to Europe is only helping it morph into a real-life war zone.

We got our isic cards already! Yippe!

Going over to JY's house today to make concrete plans for our adventure. It's like a dream come true, really it is... and it's finally sinking in :)) I'm not really one who draws up merticulous plans (you know me, I just like to go with the flow), but anyway I'm more than happy to participate in the planning this time :D

Dad (Homer Simpson) and I helped with the repair of Da Yi's TV this morning. Then, we went to Homer's fave fish soup stall at Sheng Siong...and its was really delicious! :D Thanks Homer

Ok, just letting u guys know that I'm off to KL tomorrow to get my visa :) with all these happy faces lurking around my blog entry...I'm sure you can guess what I'm feeling? :) :D :3

Nodame Complete!

Gyabo!!! I can't believe it...I am really blur to this degree. I finished reading the last chapter of nodame cantabile and didn't realise it. After yesterday's movie outing with umamama, angela, shirely and jason (yes, sherlock holmes was super awesome), I rushed home to read the last chapter of nodame cantabile when I heard from jason that the manga was finally complete. And to my horror, I've already read that chapter weeks ago T-T

Maybe I should start 2010 with a new year's resolution: eliminate any acts of sotong-ness. Gya...but I don't think it's possible.

We stopped by Mango yesterday while shopping and I must say that I really miss working at mango already!!! I mean I think this is the first job that I really love because of the fantastic company at work! We work hard and play hard too... hopefully we did more of the former of Candy(the boss) will... cough...murder...cough... us. Really missing all my friends there right now ><

Gonna head to the STA office at bugis to get our isic card done today! Whee~