The Tjioe family is so lovely!!! She emailed us to say that they’ve prepared a room for us – it’s the room of her youngest daughter Mick (hope they are not too inconvenienced), and 2 bikes for us to cycle around! =)=) Thanks muchly!!! =)
OMG. which means i have to practice cycling. Ughhhs. Insofar I’ve only gone cycling twice in the past 6 months cos’ the last time I cycled was in Ubin with Joris, Jwen, Grace and Zhemin, I had to doublebike with Joris cos’ I couldn’t really cycle *wahahaha*
But at least I haven’t quite forgotten how to cycle completely as of now! =)
The weather is erratic by the way, the temperature ranges from 14 – 27 degrees, and though it’s sunny there, Mrs Tjioe advised us to bring some warm clothings =)
We’ll be preparing some pictures of our homes and school, and perhaps of our polyclinic and CGH attachment so they’ll be able to see how our living and work environment’s like.
Plans to borrow BNF from the school library before we leave so we’ve something on hand to refer to during our attachment there and renew it online over in NL =)
just so you know, i’m still working on my single SOAP case. Ughhhs. am awfully distracted.
HAPPY DADDY’S DAY by the way! =)=)
Jwen’s off to have Daddy’s Day dinner, and I’m off for a jog!
xoxo, Xue Fen! =)
Categories: Holland · Pre-Trip
We’ve finally decided on our accommodations in Brussels from 23rd to 27th July!
The Hotel Moon:
About The Hotel Moon:
The Moon Hotel is located on a beautiful Square, just a few steps from the Grand Place and Brussels Central Train Station.
For a convenient stay in the Capital of Europe, with easy access to everything that this important city has to offer, you could not wish for a better place to stay than The Moon Hotel. The hotel is a short walk away from the famous Grand Place with its grand guild houses and spectacular Town Hall making it the most popular tourist destination in this famous old city. Due to its central location the hotel is literally surrounded by shops, restaurants and other attractions, while the Central Business District is about a 10 minute walk away.
The hotel is perfect for both business and leisure stays, however please note that it does not have a lift.
All rooms have private bathroom with shower, toilet, hair dryer, satellite TV, telephone, alarm clock and payable WIFI access.
.
The ISIC card discount doesn’t cover this particular hotel so the rate for a double room is 30 Euros per night/pax which means we’ll be forking out Euros/pax for our accommodations in Belgium alone, which is about SGD400*horrified*.
ISIC Discount Card Finder: http://www.statravel.com/cps/rde/xchg/us_division_web_live/hs.xsl/discount-finder.htm
I’ve done the bookings online for Hotel The Moon, after an inital scare with non-availability and stuffies =) We’re tentatively checking in at 11am (hotel check in is 1pm so we’re leaving our luggage there if we arrive earlier) on 23rd, leaving on 27th morning 11am. Which is E241.50 (inclusive of service charge of E1.50 =S) in total and 10% has been paid via credit card, so left with E216 to pay when we reach there!
Categories: Accommodations · Belgium
Yixin recommended using Lebara Mobile (which she’s currently using) to call back home/ contact each other in NL. Apparently it’s cheaper than Ortel and Vodafone! =)
Approximate rates:
- SMS: 9 cents
- Call: 19 cents/min
- Calling back to Sg: 29 cents/min
Payment of 5 Euros for the calling card, once activated online the 5 Euros can be used as calling credit =)
Thanks Yixin! =)
Categories: Travel Expenses
Hi folks,
Sorry for the months-long hiatus! It’s been a while, with exam preparations and hospital attachment straight after that =S
It’s the start of the last week of our 6 weeks of hospital attachment, and our progress from the last post (which was in March by the way) hasn’t gone very far.
Insofar:
- Mrs Tjioe has kindly offered to pick us up from the airport when we arrive real early (about 530am NL time) in Amsterdam! and we might be joining our host family for their weekend golf trip to Maastrich, the south of Holland! =)
- meeting Yixin in NL! Tentatively we’ll be going to the Alkmaar Cheese Market in Arnhem on 4th July (Friday), and the next day we’ll be going to Burger’s Zoo (cute name!) in Hoge Veluwe National Park, near Nijmejin to picnic and catch the park performance in the evening!
- meeting Joris, who will be in Rotterdam doing his final posting! =)
- touring Belgium with Kelvin and 2 other pharmacy grad seniors who are arriving at Brussels on 26th July (about 6 – 7 am)
- We’re going to Brussels and Brugges on the 26th and 27th of July, but Jwen and I will be arriving in Brussels on the afternoon of the 23rd, check in and explore abit of Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent before they arrive =) we’ll be based in Brussels by the way.
Other random information:
- Most of trains leave the station at 7pm
- It only takes 2+ hours to reach Cologne, Germany via train from Brussels
- Antwerp and Brugges are within 50min by train from Brussels. Ghent is about 30min away.
Hostel Booking:
For Belgium (Brussels) we’ve taken a look at:
Pre-Trip:
- Insurance is more or less settled!
- Left with currency exchange to do later this week =)
- We can share Dove body foam
- HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Much stuff to do, like deciding on where to go in Holland and Germany so we can start booking hostels/ bed and breakfasts to stay in during the trip, especially now that it’s the peak season for tourists =S
Was talking to my preceptor after work one day and he gave me some travel tips! =)=) Shall go find the travel guide (sth along the likes of “Backdoor to Europe”) he recommended, apparently it introduces some lovely spots in the country that aren’t too touristy, and rather off the beaten path routes and places in an interesting, narrative manner unlike the typical guidebooks. Sounds like a good read! =)
And this reminds me of the SOAP case that I’m supposed to be working on now haha. I’m currently chatting with Yixin and Jingwen; just emailed Joris and Mrs Tjioe; and feeling uber excited now that we’ll be in NL NEXT FRIDAY MORNING!!!!!!!!!!!! =)
But it’s 3.10am and my bed beckons! That’s all for now folks! =)
xoxo, Xue Fen =)
Categories: Accommodations · Belgium · Pre-Trip
