Posts Tagged ‘Warsaw’
looking over my shoulder…
Krakowskie Przedmiescie street, originally uploaded by Exposure-photo.
today marks the 7th day since i stepped on that flight heading to copenhagen. its been quite a long week, with successful transactions both in copenhagen and warsaw.
also had my first encounter with the polish pharmacist – a pleasant one nonetheless. flu really gets you especially in the climate here. it is probably compounded by the change in humidity as well.
so, after a long lunch of prosecco, spaghetti bolognese and beer, i’m having a nice espresso – the first proper one since copenhagen, at costa coffee. the cashier (whose name is intricately polish) is a real cutie.
staying in the financial district of warsaw has its good and bad. the place is buzzing on weekdays, but is dead on weekends. plus the constant reminder of the girl with buildings of the big 4 firms (EY is opposite, Deloitte building is in construction right outside my window).
i’ve also been reading a lot, mainly due to the abundance of time. i’ve been through 4 of daniel silva’s books. also working out at the fantastic westin workout gym on a daily basis. i don’t think i have the tolerance to do a run outdoors due to the recovering flu.
i’m pretty thankful that i remembered to pack the winter coat. it certainly came in handy. ambient temperature is charming but the wind chill is killing.
Why I love Europe...
from warsaw with love
the majestic, originally uploaded by mr.sparks.
a nice view of the mid-section of my hotel, the westin warsaw. within the glass atrium are three bubble elevators that span the entire height of the building…
it’s always an interesting ride up or down from the floor that i’m on – eleventh. here you can see a short video of the ride..
the hotel gm got his panties knotted up due to the fuckups of his dear colleagues… hence, i am getting a 50% discount off my bill when i check out, and an additional 2 nights complimentary stay with breakfast on my next trip to warsaw…
it’s a wonder how a little email to the worldwide office and VP of the chain can do… how about that? 🙂
The Kulturi palace in Warsaw
The Kulturi palace in Warsaw, originally uploaded by Exposure-photo.
dzieÅ„ dobry – greetings from warsaw.. its a beautiful day with the sun shining brightly against cloudless skies.
i’m stuck in my room – with a terrible flu, compounded with things that have transpired in the last 24 hours.
nevertheless, i had a sumptuous indian dinner last night (yes yes, indian food in warsaw) as i really couldn’t taste anything with the chinese dinner i had the night before.
went to get some drugs for my condition – you haven’t been to warsaw until you visit the 24-hour apothecary. it’s like queuing for coffee – you place your orders, get a sheet, proceed to the “kasa” (cashier) to pay and then go back to your “pharmacist” to collect your drugs.
work wise, it is really productive. more updates on my next post..
Killing me softly with his words…
*WARNING – GRUESOME PICTURE AHEAD*
The Palace of Culture, Warsaw
Being away and alone for the duration gives me plenty of time to contemplate on my life.
A little something I found in my room today – how nice of the hotel
It appears to be a variety of the German kugelhof, and tastes like yeast-raised rich brioche cake/bread… Yummy with Earl Grey tea!
Happy Easter – Today, Christians all around the world celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ “the Saviour” after being crucified a million Fridays ago.
It is shocking for me, to learn that there are still people around the world nailing themselves to crosses hoping for the salvation or whatever they hope to achieve. Done a lot of reading in the past few days on the atrocities of the Church in Europe and it’s a wonder why 95% of Poland’s population are still, staunch Catholics.
In addition, watched the movie entitled Goya – which is the precise embodiment of what I have mentioned above. I am swaying towards agnosticism. I do believe there is a supreme force up there but I don’t understand what drives people to cause such harm to others. Good example would be the Jihadist movements who would kill in the name of god. Open your eyes – while you are “sacrificing” yourself in a suicide mission, you won’t be getting your 72 virgins… I stress that this is my blog and strictly my opinion.
I don’t really give a shit about religion and I am a firm believer that all religions preach peace and harmony (ir)regardless of denomination or genre. That said, I am also a firm believer that there should not be an intermediary between me and the supreme force up there.
I doubt the authenticity of the religious books (all of them) – history is recorded by winners (of wars and conflicts) and as such, facts may be distorted to sway toward some ideas or direction.
Normal turn-down chocolates
My Easter turn-down chocolates… See! Easter is really a big thing this part of the world…
Indeed, paying a little extra to stay in 5-star hotels comes with benefits hehe!
Anyway, today also marks the 3rd week in Europe. I must say I’m enjoying it very much.. I went to Europe early this month with 1,500 euro in cash and I have about 600 left.
It’s been a wonderful journey so far, with the latest news being me clinching top notch clients in Hungary and Poland.
I hope all’s well back home, although I know the political scene has been much of a circus.
Anyway, the weather is much better now. It was snowing for abit just now but it’s all nice and dandy now, nevertheless its still cloudy with occasional bouts of sunlight.
Easter is one of two major holidays in this part of Europe (the other being Christmas) and all the shops are closed. Even old town – the main tourist area of Warsaw has seem to come to a standstill. It’s like Kuala Lumpur during Chinese New Year.
Had lunch at my regular Chinese restaurant – you can always count on the Chinese to take advantage of demand, there was a 10% surcharge on top of the bill due to the holidays (typical, isn’t it?). Also met a couple of Hongkies working with a company branch in Warsaw. They are here for 3 months, and are the gambling and women type of men. Me no like. However it is nice to speak Cantonese after 3 weeks! =)
I am very pleased with the flights and hotels so far but I’m bracing myself for the old communist-style hotels of Kiev on Wednesday. With a name like President Hotel, who wouldn’t?
Additionally, I won’t be updating from Kiev due to a busy schedule but will do it when I get the chance.
P.S.: The prices of real estate in Warsaw seems pretty reasonable.. *hint hint*
White Christmas
It was snowing here in Warsaw – yes, it was snowing in March…
It really seems like winter time here with temperatures hovering around the low 5’s..
The following pictures says it all… Views from my windows…
The hotel did a minor boo boo and they sent me these chocolate truffles and some money to shut me up as service recovery.
Hello from Warsaw!
Greetings from The Westin Warsaw! I arrived this morning from Budapest. Boy I thought Budapest was cold, Warsaw is even colder. Ambient outdoor temperature is 3 degrees, with wind chills making it worse.
I took the Embraer 145 jet here. It was a nice 1+2 seat configuration. I must say this is my favourite commercial jet of all. It seats 48 persons and is manned by only one flight attendant.
Here are some pictures…
The Westin also has the most stunning elevators I’ve ever laid eyes on. Take a look…
This is my room – The Westin Guest Office. It has a inbuilt fax, printer, free internet connection with 3 bottles of water replenished twice daily. It also comes with Molton Brown toiletries and windows on two sides of the room (it’s at the corner of the building). I’ll post more pictures of the views from my room in my next post.
In the meantime, it’s going to be a busy Thursday and Friday for me. I am probably going to spend Easter weekend in Krakow.
Cheers for now… More on my next trip to Europe in the next update.
Did I tell you I hate snow?
This isn’t good news… I need some hot tropical sun!! ARGH!!
Europe for a month.. (updated)
3 March 2008
Singapore Airlines SQ119 Kuala Lumpur-Singapore (184 miles)
Singapore Airlines SQ026 Singapore-Frankfurt (7984 miles)
4 March 2008
Lufthansa LH176 Frankfurt-Berlin (338 miles)
Apartments am Brandenburger Tor
8 March 2008
Lufthansa LH221 Berlin-Munich (386 miles)
Sheraton Munich Arabellapark Hotel
12 March 2008
Lufthansa LH977 Munich-Frankfurt (194 miles)
GHOTEL hotel & living Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen
15 March 2008
Lufthansa LH3446 Frankfurt-Budapest (648 miles)
Le Méridien Budapest
19 March 2008
LOT Polish Airlines LO534 Budapest-Warsaw (420 miles)
The Westin Warsaw
25 March 2008
LOT Polish Airlines LO751 Warsaw-Kiev (560 miles)
President Hotel Kiev
28 March 2008
Lufthansa LH3237 Kiev-Frankfurt
Singapore Airlines SQ325 Frankfurt-Singapore (7984 miles)
29 March 2008
Singapore Airlines SQ118 Singapore-Kuala Lumpur (184 miles)
Anyone flying the same flight / staying at the same places as I am in these periods? Let me know!
38 hours of flying, 18,882 miles on 11 flights in 27 days across 6 cities… *makes mental note to stock up on Valium*
Going away… AGAIN
I’m cutting short this trip from the initial 3-week circuit to two weeks. Believe it or not, I have not fully recovered from the exhaustion of my previous three week circuit around Europe…
15 – 21 April 2007: Frankfurt, Germany
Not my first trip to Frankfurt, nevertheless I look forward to it. Contrary to popular believe, I find Frankfurt more interesting than other major cities in Germany (besides Munich, where Oktoberfest is held annually).
21 – 25 April 2007: Riga, Latvia
This will be my first trip to Latvia, I think it would not be much different from its neighbour Estonia, which I visited last month.
25 – 28 April 2007: Krakow, Poland
Having visit Warsaw in my last trip, I had a good impression of Krakow from speaking to the hotel staff (the wonderful Sofitel Victoria Warsaw). They mentioned that Krakow was unscathed by the two World Wars and many beautiful buildings and historical monuments are the most interesting places to visit.
The only thing is, I will be flying Thai Airways due to the unavailability of flights on Singapore Airlinesand KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. And I found out that they don’t have the video on demand (personal screens). I managed to secure the last seat on the flight.
Lets hope that the renown Thai hospitality will manage to bowl me over (with help of lots of Singha beer).
Oh well, here I go again…
Wish me luck! =)
Baci baci, Leo
I so dread this…
My first decent meal in about 2 weeks! Sweet and sour pork and fried broccoli with garlic.
Anyhow, wish me luck. Won’t have internet access in Moscow so don’t expect any updates till I’m back in Kuala Lumpur.
Leo's travel journal 