As we made our grand entry into the premises of the St. Peter's Basillica, it was inevitable not to pay homage to the souvenir shops before making it to the grand sanctuary, the ultimate object of our visit, since we 'walked into' the premises of St. Peter's, as opposed to 'drove into it'. We browsed through and bought some made-in-Rome rosaries and other religious trinkets. We also made some prepayments for some pontifical certificates with papal blessings which the shop attendant promised to send to our respective home addresses after having them signed by a papal representative. The lady in attendance assured us that we'd get our certificates by the time we reached home. As it turned out, the lady who served us was a Malaysian from Perak who, she claimed, had been working in the Vatican premises for the last couple of years. She told us that there were other nationals around, particularly the Filipinos, who'd all been working there without any visa. Suzanne rolled eyes giving me the ideas that the PTI back home must be conjuring in her mind. Actually, to be fair, as I found out later, there was no visa requirement to work within the premises of the Vatican city.
As we proceeded to the main building of the Basilica, we saw a guided tour group whom we promptly followed. As it turned out, they were on their way to the top of the Dome. We took our queue for the lift which invoked some nostalgia of a similar queue I had at the K. L. Tower. The lift stopped at the base of the Dome from where we had an advantageous and marvelous view of the entire interior of the Basilica. From there we walked up an intricate staircase formation leading to the highest part of the dome, meanwhile intimating to Suzanne to check for our names scribbled during my earlier visit, among the myriads of graffiti along the length of the staircase. We were not so lucky in our search.
It was a bright sunny day, so when we reached the pinnacle of the Dome, we had a marvelous view of the whole city, as far as the eyes could see. We could see the Amphitheater, the Colosseum, the hotel we checked into and, of course, the entire Vatican state and the residences therein of which one, with its unique architecture and size, must be that of the Holy Father, so Suzanne opined. We never did get any confirmation. I couldn't help noticing that the Vatican state was the only green patch within the entire geography of the city.
We spent the rest of the evening roaming the part of the city in the vicinity of our hotel especially looking for a restaurant that serves food agreeable to our palates.
The next morning we retraced our journey back by train to Geneva where we parted company - Suzanne to her college at Laussane while Andrew and yours truly to London for our long flight back to Kuala Lumpur on a Malaysian Airline System.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Friday, January 4, 2008
10. Rome, the Eternal City.
We reached Rome quite late in the night. I reckoned it was about 8.00 o'clock. There was a very heavy downpour earlier and it was still drizzling when we reached the city's rail terminal. The exit was a little messy passing through passageways and staircases with hundreds of tourists and commuters going helter-skelter, and what with our heavy un-wheeled luggages. On top of that we had to queue up for a taxi. We later found out, that the taxis were on strike which explained the crowd of stranded commuters at the terminal. We managed to meet a kindly looking man who sent us to our hotel for a 'reasonable' price. It was about ten when we finally checked-in into a hotel.
After a late dinner, which was more like supper, and at the suggestion of the front office personnel, we went into a neighborhood bar a few blocks away. We noticed that the bar was decorated with lots of basketball paraphernalia and the guests were mainly decent athletic types. We reckoned that the bar must be owned by an ardent basketball fan. As it turned out, it belonged to a former professional player who enthusiastically talked to us about the sport. Being strangers, we gave our enthusiastic ears, and for that we were offered a bottle of fine Italian wine on the house. Returning the hospitality of the owner, Susan ordered two bottles to take away which she later shipped to her daddy as a momento of a happy encounter in Rome. To date, I understand, the two bottles of wine are still with her daddy unconsumed.
Early the next day we roamed the street of Rome. We were told that the street we were on was the longest in the world, stretching all the way to Paris. That was news to me. While roaming the city's street, we were quite shocked to notice that pornographic materials were freely and rampantly available along streets not quite far away from the Vatican. In fact from where we stood, where piles of pornographic magazines were displayed, we could actually see the dome of St. Peter looming, prompting one of us to jokingly remark that with a pair of powerful binoculars the Pope could actually browse through the covers of all the sleazy magazines.
Belied by a deceptive estimation of the distance as the cockcrow flies to the Vatican, Susan suggested that we walked the street so that we could get acquainted with the nooks and corners of Rome. So we walked which took us a few hours to reach St. Peter's and only with the guidance of kindly Roman commuter. But our time was not entirely wasted as we managed to get to see, at close range, some of the interesting places which were way out of the usual tourist routes. For instance we did get to walk pass by the Central Jewish Synagogue of Rome; we did get to assess the life styles of the common who were standing around the crowded bus stand. And although we didn't manage to board any of the coaches, we did get to walk across the bridge crossing the Tiber to St. Peter's Basilica . Also, earlier in our walk, Susan and I did get to mock-gauge the extent of our faithfulness to each other by doing the ritual of sticking our hands into the mouth of an ancient Roman-Truth-Determiner, a roundish face-like rock board fashioned from a block of hardy rock. An intact hand after the ritual signified that one was faithful. We both walked away certified 'faithful' much to our glee.
The owner of the gadget had told us of a legend that liars in antiquity had their hands cut-off every time they stuck their hands into the 'mouth' of the thing. Believe it or not, I made sure the thing was resting against a solid wall block before I dared stick my hand into it. I noticed that Susan too had some hesitation and laughed heartily, happy that her hand was still intact when she pulled it out. Andrew thought that it was some stupid legend dreamed up by some ancient royalties to vindicate their questionable judgments. Well, we had our good laughs happy that we still have our hands intact.
After a late dinner, which was more like supper, and at the suggestion of the front office personnel, we went into a neighborhood bar a few blocks away. We noticed that the bar was decorated with lots of basketball paraphernalia and the guests were mainly decent athletic types. We reckoned that the bar must be owned by an ardent basketball fan. As it turned out, it belonged to a former professional player who enthusiastically talked to us about the sport. Being strangers, we gave our enthusiastic ears, and for that we were offered a bottle of fine Italian wine on the house. Returning the hospitality of the owner, Susan ordered two bottles to take away which she later shipped to her daddy as a momento of a happy encounter in Rome. To date, I understand, the two bottles of wine are still with her daddy unconsumed.
Early the next day we roamed the street of Rome. We were told that the street we were on was the longest in the world, stretching all the way to Paris. That was news to me. While roaming the city's street, we were quite shocked to notice that pornographic materials were freely and rampantly available along streets not quite far away from the Vatican. In fact from where we stood, where piles of pornographic magazines were displayed, we could actually see the dome of St. Peter looming, prompting one of us to jokingly remark that with a pair of powerful binoculars the Pope could actually browse through the covers of all the sleazy magazines.
Belied by a deceptive estimation of the distance as the cockcrow flies to the Vatican, Susan suggested that we walked the street so that we could get acquainted with the nooks and corners of Rome. So we walked which took us a few hours to reach St. Peter's and only with the guidance of kindly Roman commuter. But our time was not entirely wasted as we managed to get to see, at close range, some of the interesting places which were way out of the usual tourist routes. For instance we did get to walk pass by the Central Jewish Synagogue of Rome; we did get to assess the life styles of the common who were standing around the crowded bus stand. And although we didn't manage to board any of the coaches, we did get to walk across the bridge crossing the Tiber to St. Peter's Basilica . Also, earlier in our walk, Susan and I did get to mock-gauge the extent of our faithfulness to each other by doing the ritual of sticking our hands into the mouth of an ancient Roman-Truth-Determiner, a roundish face-like rock board fashioned from a block of hardy rock. An intact hand after the ritual signified that one was faithful. We both walked away certified 'faithful' much to our glee.
The owner of the gadget had told us of a legend that liars in antiquity had their hands cut-off every time they stuck their hands into the 'mouth' of the thing. Believe it or not, I made sure the thing was resting against a solid wall block before I dared stick my hand into it. I noticed that Susan too had some hesitation and laughed heartily, happy that her hand was still intact when she pulled it out. Andrew thought that it was some stupid legend dreamed up by some ancient royalties to vindicate their questionable judgments. Well, we had our good laughs happy that we still have our hands intact.
Friday, December 28, 2007
9. Galivanting in Italy.
After her graduation, Suzanne had a week off before her internship program began in one of the local hotels. As I had a few weeks credit to my leave, I and a friend, Andrew, made a plan for a holiday in Europe. We took a grueling-no-smoking thirteen-hour flight to London and onward to Zurich where Suzanne was already waiting at the airport. For the benefit of Andrew, we took the train to Lausanne to let him see and feel the thrill of traveling across the beautiful countryside, and of course also for Suzanne to pick up a few things from her college for our journey to Italy. Though I have traveled the route before, the thrill of viewing the countryside did not get any lesser for me.
From Lausanne we proceeded to Italy via Lugano and unto Milan, our first stop in Italy. We had a few hours in Milan where we did, among others, some browsing on some antique-looking artifacts peddled by some peddlers of African origin. While walking through downtown Milan, I couldn't help being reminded of Shakespeare although I didn't quite remember what or where it was he spoke about Milan. Was it in Macbeth, in the Merchant of Venice? Whatever! From Milan we proceeded to Venice. That night we had an unusually sumptuous dinner, which we had partly in celebration of Suzanne's graduation.
Venice was as remarkable as I had imagined it to be. It's really a city in the sea where one has to travel in gondolas to various destinations. While in one of those gondolas, Suzanne and I sat close to each other, with my hands lightly tucked around her waist, basking in the magic of being together in a far away land while being ferried in a gondola. We could feel a surge of unbounded love released between us. We ever wondered aloud whether the magic could last forever, or whether we would experience ever again such romance and magic perhaps in some other time and setting. We visited lots of memorable places where we bought, among others, some venetian masks and two look-alike gilded rings which we slipped into our fingers as our make-believe engagement rings. And of all things, we also bought a piece of old coconut meat which we nibbled off as we hopped from shop to shop. Strange, but it was perhaps an attempt on our part to invoke a nostalgic memory of a place so far away which we called our home where coconut meat was aplenty.
After a couple of days in Venice, we proceeded to Florence where we put up for another couple of nights before proceeding to Rome. While at Florence, we visited an antiquated but grand Cathedral where we took time to light a few prayer candles to Our Lady. I imagined She didn't smile but I did beg her to pray for us, not as I wanted it but as she deemed fit. As we exited the compound of the Cathedral, two strange events immediately happened. It had been raining, so as we exited, I almost slipped on the the slippery tarmac of the Church compound but for my quick reaction to balance myself, only to flipped my hand against Andrew's groin which doubled him up in pain. As we went further, Andrew extended a compassionate help to a beggar by handing him over a few loose change only to attract a throng of 20 to 30 beggars engulfing him for more handouts, much to his shock! We had to run into a store for protection with the beggars running pied-piper fashion after us. Having just exited a Church, I have wondered if there might have been a message for us by those incidents. Anyways, I let it go at that apart from being the wiser about being generous to beggars while on a tour.
On the same day, having noticed from a map that Pisa was not very far away from where we were, we took a taxi to see the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was indeed leaning, and for the last eight centuries, we were told. We couldn't climb it then, as it was under renovation. Also, because of a heavy downpour, we were prevented from browsing through the gift stalls which were constructed not quite unlike those vegetables stalls at Kundasang back home.
The Chinese has a saying which sounds as follows, "..where there's smoke, there are Chinese." I suspected someone coined that before the invention of the microwave oven. But true enough, wherever I was, whether in Europe or in the U.S, there were always Chinese restaurants. So it was that in our first night in Florence we had dinner in a Chinese restaurant which was quiet when we came in but turned out bustling with Japanese tourists as the night progressed. Suddenly, I had an idea, "...Andrew, why don't you take an 'engagement dinner' picture of us with the Japanese tourists in the background as 'guests'?" Suzanne chuckled at the idea calling it preposterous, but seeing the comedy behind went along with it. And so Andrew took a photo or two of Suzanne and me doing a mock exchange of engagement rings with the Japanese diners as 'guests'. If only they knew. We had a big laugh...
The next day we proceeded to Rome by train.
From Lausanne we proceeded to Italy via Lugano and unto Milan, our first stop in Italy. We had a few hours in Milan where we did, among others, some browsing on some antique-looking artifacts peddled by some peddlers of African origin. While walking through downtown Milan, I couldn't help being reminded of Shakespeare although I didn't quite remember what or where it was he spoke about Milan. Was it in Macbeth, in the Merchant of Venice? Whatever! From Milan we proceeded to Venice. That night we had an unusually sumptuous dinner, which we had partly in celebration of Suzanne's graduation.
Venice was as remarkable as I had imagined it to be. It's really a city in the sea where one has to travel in gondolas to various destinations. While in one of those gondolas, Suzanne and I sat close to each other, with my hands lightly tucked around her waist, basking in the magic of being together in a far away land while being ferried in a gondola. We could feel a surge of unbounded love released between us. We ever wondered aloud whether the magic could last forever, or whether we would experience ever again such romance and magic perhaps in some other time and setting. We visited lots of memorable places where we bought, among others, some venetian masks and two look-alike gilded rings which we slipped into our fingers as our make-believe engagement rings. And of all things, we also bought a piece of old coconut meat which we nibbled off as we hopped from shop to shop. Strange, but it was perhaps an attempt on our part to invoke a nostalgic memory of a place so far away which we called our home where coconut meat was aplenty.
After a couple of days in Venice, we proceeded to Florence where we put up for another couple of nights before proceeding to Rome. While at Florence, we visited an antiquated but grand Cathedral where we took time to light a few prayer candles to Our Lady. I imagined She didn't smile but I did beg her to pray for us, not as I wanted it but as she deemed fit. As we exited the compound of the Cathedral, two strange events immediately happened. It had been raining, so as we exited, I almost slipped on the the slippery tarmac of the Church compound but for my quick reaction to balance myself, only to flipped my hand against Andrew's groin which doubled him up in pain. As we went further, Andrew extended a compassionate help to a beggar by handing him over a few loose change only to attract a throng of 20 to 30 beggars engulfing him for more handouts, much to his shock! We had to run into a store for protection with the beggars running pied-piper fashion after us. Having just exited a Church, I have wondered if there might have been a message for us by those incidents. Anyways, I let it go at that apart from being the wiser about being generous to beggars while on a tour.
On the same day, having noticed from a map that Pisa was not very far away from where we were, we took a taxi to see the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was indeed leaning, and for the last eight centuries, we were told. We couldn't climb it then, as it was under renovation. Also, because of a heavy downpour, we were prevented from browsing through the gift stalls which were constructed not quite unlike those vegetables stalls at Kundasang back home.
The Chinese has a saying which sounds as follows, "..where there's smoke, there are Chinese." I suspected someone coined that before the invention of the microwave oven. But true enough, wherever I was, whether in Europe or in the U.S, there were always Chinese restaurants. So it was that in our first night in Florence we had dinner in a Chinese restaurant which was quiet when we came in but turned out bustling with Japanese tourists as the night progressed. Suddenly, I had an idea, "...Andrew, why don't you take an 'engagement dinner' picture of us with the Japanese tourists in the background as 'guests'?" Suzanne chuckled at the idea calling it preposterous, but seeing the comedy behind went along with it. And so Andrew took a photo or two of Suzanne and me doing a mock exchange of engagement rings with the Japanese diners as 'guests'. If only they knew. We had a big laugh...
The next day we proceeded to Rome by train.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
8. Her School Performance.
In spite of her constant travel, Susan did quite well in school. By the third semester of her last year in school she had garnered enough points to put her above a three-point average in her overall performance. Her main drawback, she ever complained, was her French which she barely passed, though she spoke the language quite fluently, as when she spoke to the front desk personnel at a hotel in Geneva. To my amazement, she actually spoke French fluently. "She's picked up a working knowledge of the language while working at the Hotel Consul," she had bragged. But, then again, Susan was quite a linguist in a way. She spoke Hakka, Mandarin and Japanese apart from English, Bahasa Malaysia and her mother tongue.
I have always considered her a fast learner and competitive too. She had told me of an incident while she was still a tot. Having no one taking care of the children at home, her parents sent her to preschool together with her elder brother. In her final year exam, her result actually exceeded that of her brother. But he got promoted to primary one while she got retained for another year, and with her juniors too, being underage for the primary one class, much to her disappointment. Her competitive trait would manifest later during her secondary school sojourn. For instance, she was a Minister of Health in her school cabinet, a post she was appointed to having been elected in her school's parliamentary election. She had also shown some competitive ability in the athletic field. She represented her school in several events, particularly in the shot put event and the 200 meter dash. She once represented the State in hockey. In a way she was an all-rounder, a jack-of-all-trade but a master-of-none, I ever teased her, much to her feigned chagrin.
In a quite different subject, She has related to me of an experience working under strange situation in Europe. As a student-worker, she once volunteered for a waitress job in a function held at an antiquated castle in Switzerland, which involved the rich and the famous from all over Europe. The party lasted the whole day long. It was a party of a kind, she explained, which started from very early in the morning with various dishes served at intervals continuing right into the night leaving everyone exhausted and tired, including those who consumed those dishes, who would also be drunk by the day's end. Every time she raised this subject, she would brag of how she withstood the ordeal of working more than 15 hours in a stretch in an environment where efficiency was exacted. And I would teasingly feign wonder if the function might not have been one organized by the Freemasons of Europe.
I have always considered her a fast learner and competitive too. She had told me of an incident while she was still a tot. Having no one taking care of the children at home, her parents sent her to preschool together with her elder brother. In her final year exam, her result actually exceeded that of her brother. But he got promoted to primary one while she got retained for another year, and with her juniors too, being underage for the primary one class, much to her disappointment. Her competitive trait would manifest later during her secondary school sojourn. For instance, she was a Minister of Health in her school cabinet, a post she was appointed to having been elected in her school's parliamentary election. She had also shown some competitive ability in the athletic field. She represented her school in several events, particularly in the shot put event and the 200 meter dash. She once represented the State in hockey. In a way she was an all-rounder, a jack-of-all-trade but a master-of-none, I ever teased her, much to her feigned chagrin.
In a quite different subject, She has related to me of an experience working under strange situation in Europe. As a student-worker, she once volunteered for a waitress job in a function held at an antiquated castle in Switzerland, which involved the rich and the famous from all over Europe. The party lasted the whole day long. It was a party of a kind, she explained, which started from very early in the morning with various dishes served at intervals continuing right into the night leaving everyone exhausted and tired, including those who consumed those dishes, who would also be drunk by the day's end. Every time she raised this subject, she would brag of how she withstood the ordeal of working more than 15 hours in a stretch in an environment where efficiency was exacted. And I would teasingly feign wonder if the function might not have been one organized by the Freemasons of Europe.
Before the end of her last semester, she also took an examination with the Black & Decker of
After graduating, she was given a choice of doing her internship program in any hotel in any part of the world which has an affiliation with her College. She chose a hotel in
Saturday, December 22, 2007
7. Our Rendezvous In London
Sometime in the Summer of 1993, we arranged a rendezvous in London. She was having her school vacation and I was on a two-week official visit. On the day I reached London I called her and by three in the afternoon we were already having tea together at the lobby of my hotel.
In between official visits, We would explore London on our own. On one occasion, we hopped on the canopy of one of the city's double-decker which plied all over starting from the Piccadilly Circus terminal passing through places some of which we have only read about in books and magazines, like the Hyde Park, the Trafalgar Square, the Tower of London, the London Bridge and the like. We also ran around Trafalgar square feeding and chasing birds, quite bemused by how free and well provided they were. We mused that we too were free, free in the midst of the sea of people in the heart of London, a city often frequented by the rich and famous, kings and royalties, the free and the powerful. We too were there free from the prying eyes of judgemental people.
Dinner time was fun time. We would go restaurant-hopping and with her expertise she would make the order and educate me on the etiquettes and fine arts of western dining. On a couple of occasions, just to feel quite at home, we went for Chinese in restaurants which unfortunately did not serve quite the dishes with the Malaysian flavor we were accustomed to.
On one occasion after dinner, we walked in and around Hyde Park till past midnight quite unaware of a ban on visits past ten o'clock. We were informed of this later by friends who were quite concerned with our conspicuous absence the previous night. We were lucky we didn't get caught, and all for the better because she was due to return to Lausanne, or she would have missed a few days of lectures slouching in some British lock-up.
My official trip included also the Netherlands, France, Spain and Italy. Unfortunately, Susan could not accompany me in that leg of my trip. So as she flew back to Geneva, I continued my trip on my own to Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid and onward to Rome and the Vatican City, very much missing her company which could have added much to the romantic flavor of the whole trip. While in Rome I climbed the Tower of St. Peter's where I scribbled my name and hers all over in graffiti.
Dinner time was fun time. We would go restaurant-hopping and with her expertise she would make the order and educate me on the etiquettes and fine arts of western dining. On a couple of occasions, just to feel quite at home, we went for Chinese in restaurants which unfortunately did not serve quite the dishes with the Malaysian flavor we were accustomed to.
On one occasion after dinner, we walked in and around Hyde Park till past midnight quite unaware of a ban on visits past ten o'clock. We were informed of this later by friends who were quite concerned with our conspicuous absence the previous night. We were lucky we didn't get caught, and all for the better because she was due to return to Lausanne, or she would have missed a few days of lectures slouching in some British lock-up.
My official trip included also the Netherlands, France, Spain and Italy. Unfortunately, Susan could not accompany me in that leg of my trip. So as she flew back to Geneva, I continued my trip on my own to Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid and onward to Rome and the Vatican City, very much missing her company which could have added much to the romantic flavor of the whole trip. While in Rome I climbed the Tower of St. Peter's where I scribbled my name and hers all over in graffiti.
Friday, December 21, 2007
6. A Rendezvous In Europe
I visited Suzanne in the late Spring of 1992. Having not seen her for months, she was a picture of happiness when we met. In the first couple of days, with her as guide, we took time to explore all the nooks and corners of Geneva, visiting places like the Geneva Convention Hall where international issues were discussed and decided, and the renown Rolex watch showroom where high-end Rolex watches were offered for sale at factory prices. We also walked hand-in-hand along the bank of the Geneva lake with the snow-capped Alps in the backdrop and the cool Alps mountain breeze blowing softly against our faces, her hair fluttering tenderly brushing against my face, rendering a scenario quite reminiscent of a hindi-film love scene. It was such a moment of ecstasy for the both of us.
During the next few days we explored the greater part of Switzerland. Armed with an Olympus camera and an assortment of tour maps, we toured almost all the bold-fonted towns displayed in the maps, staying at least overnight in each destination. We visited more than half a dozen towns like Lausanne, Lucerne, Basel, Bern, Brig, Zurich, Lugano, Zermat etc basking in the beauty of the awesome and panoramic views of those places and wallowing on the architectural splendour of both modern and antiquated buildings. At Zermat, we had a close range view of the majestic Matterhorn mountain, one made famous back home by a cigarette brand by the same name. We sighed as we beheld its sheer majesty, my hands lightly tucked on her shoulders.
This was my first visit to Europe, and I must admit that I was much awestruck by all the panoramic splendor of the countryside and the ultra modern facilities available in that part of the world. The whole cacophony of things both natural and man-made were awesome and overwhelming which somewhat added to the magic of our adventure together.
My next visit was in the Fall about 5 months later. Suzanne's vacation was acommodative of a week travel, so we decided to take a tour of Austria. We took a train in Geneva and proceeded to Zurich during which we had a good sampling of the rural scenes of Switzerland. Awesome! We put up a night at Zurich before proceeding to Salzburg in Austria the next day. At Salzburg we made a tour of the city, visiting famous places like the Bethoven house, where a century or so ago Bethoven composed the song now made very famous world over: the 'Silent Night', and the house where some scenes of the musical, 'Sound of Music' was shot. Not far from there was a view of an almost endless fields of growing wheat invoking some nostalgia of an era when padi was still grown in my kampung. I couldn't help noticing the twinkle in Suzanne's eyes for she too must have been overwhelmed by the sheer majesty of the panorama before us.
From Salzburg we proceeded to Linz where we had a quick lunch before doing a round of sight-seeing around town. It was mid afternoon when we boarded the next train to Vienna, where we spent the night savoring Deutch cuisines in candle light at Berring street and sampling some quite expensive night spots in downtown Vienna. As we arrived quite late the previous day, it was only on the next day that the majestic splendor of the city impacted fully upon us. We took a cab, and as usual, Suzanne navigated while I searched the streets, savoring the uniqueness of the many structures we passed by. At lunch time, we stopped by a restaurant perched on the plateau of a low mount overlooking the whole city where we could see the Danube meandering across the city, and identify some famous landmarks, such as the 40,000-bed hospital of Vienna. While there, we pondered. We pondered on about a lot of things among them being the viability of our future together.
We planned to fly back to Geneva that evening, but finding the trip too expensive we opted for the train instead. We took a cabin in which we slept through our journey home, with Susan lying snugly beside me perhaps still pondering on the question about the viability of our future together.
During the next few days we explored the greater part of Switzerland. Armed with an Olympus camera and an assortment of tour maps, we toured almost all the bold-fonted towns displayed in the maps, staying at least overnight in each destination. We visited more than half a dozen towns like Lausanne, Lucerne, Basel, Bern, Brig, Zurich, Lugano, Zermat etc basking in the beauty of the awesome and panoramic views of those places and wallowing on the architectural splendour of both modern and antiquated buildings. At Zermat, we had a close range view of the majestic Matterhorn mountain, one made famous back home by a cigarette brand by the same name. We sighed as we beheld its sheer majesty, my hands lightly tucked on her shoulders.
This was my first visit to Europe, and I must admit that I was much awestruck by all the panoramic splendor of the countryside and the ultra modern facilities available in that part of the world. The whole cacophony of things both natural and man-made were awesome and overwhelming which somewhat added to the magic of our adventure together.
My next visit was in the Fall about 5 months later. Suzanne's vacation was acommodative of a week travel, so we decided to take a tour of Austria. We took a train in Geneva and proceeded to Zurich during which we had a good sampling of the rural scenes of Switzerland. Awesome! We put up a night at Zurich before proceeding to Salzburg in Austria the next day. At Salzburg we made a tour of the city, visiting famous places like the Bethoven house, where a century or so ago Bethoven composed the song now made very famous world over: the 'Silent Night', and the house where some scenes of the musical, 'Sound of Music' was shot. Not far from there was a view of an almost endless fields of growing wheat invoking some nostalgia of an era when padi was still grown in my kampung. I couldn't help noticing the twinkle in Suzanne's eyes for she too must have been overwhelmed by the sheer majesty of the panorama before us.
From Salzburg we proceeded to Linz where we had a quick lunch before doing a round of sight-seeing around town. It was mid afternoon when we boarded the next train to Vienna, where we spent the night savoring Deutch cuisines in candle light at Berring street and sampling some quite expensive night spots in downtown Vienna. As we arrived quite late the previous day, it was only on the next day that the majestic splendor of the city impacted fully upon us. We took a cab, and as usual, Suzanne navigated while I searched the streets, savoring the uniqueness of the many structures we passed by. At lunch time, we stopped by a restaurant perched on the plateau of a low mount overlooking the whole city where we could see the Danube meandering across the city, and identify some famous landmarks, such as the 40,000-bed hospital of Vienna. While there, we pondered. We pondered on about a lot of things among them being the viability of our future together.
We planned to fly back to Geneva that evening, but finding the trip too expensive we opted for the train instead. We took a cabin in which we slept through our journey home, with Susan lying snugly beside me perhaps still pondering on the question about the viability of our future together.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
5. Susan went To College
In late 1991 Susan received news of her admission into the Hotel Consul in Lausanne, Switzerland for a two-year diploma course in Hotel and Catering. She was so excited but confided that she feared she would miss me much.
In early 1992 she flew to Kuala Lumpur en route to Geneva. She had a transit stop at the Dubai airport from where she called back expressing, quite excitedly, her awe of the place. She was quick to say that she missed me already. I missed her too but I was also happy for her.
I especially missed her happy-go-lucky countenance every time she was with me. She was full of zest. She kind of adored me, though she was not particularly possessive nor ever indulged in self pity. She was the kind of girl who would look at a situation positively and would come up with some response. She had a solution for any situation and went through with it. She rarely procrastinated on a task at hand. She was zealous. I too have come to feel much attached to her. I was willing to make sacrifices and do away with whatever taboos there were in the way to be with her. In fact, I found it untenable to drop out of the relationship. But mindful of my religious background, I ever cried to God for help, for forgiveness, for release ... for whatever! But that was not about to be for several more years to come.
In early 1992 she flew to Kuala Lumpur en route to Geneva. She had a transit stop at the Dubai airport from where she called back expressing, quite excitedly, her awe of the place. She was quick to say that she missed me already. I missed her too but I was also happy for her.
I especially missed her happy-go-lucky countenance every time she was with me. She was full of zest. She kind of adored me, though she was not particularly possessive nor ever indulged in self pity. She was the kind of girl who would look at a situation positively and would come up with some response. She had a solution for any situation and went through with it. She rarely procrastinated on a task at hand. She was zealous. I too have come to feel much attached to her. I was willing to make sacrifices and do away with whatever taboos there were in the way to be with her. In fact, I found it untenable to drop out of the relationship. But mindful of my religious background, I ever cried to God for help, for forgiveness, for release ... for whatever! But that was not about to be for several more years to come.
It was in the wee hour of the next morning when she next called. It was probably about 10.00 pm where she was at and that was at the Hotel Consul in Lausanne into which she had checked in soon after arriving by train from Geneva.
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