I’m totally thrilled to be on the new team of reporters at Craft Critique. I thought it’d be something different from the regular design team stint and I really looking forward to this. If you’ve never visited their site, you need to coz there are reviews about cool and new products regularly. You can also follow Craft Critique on Twitter or join their Facebook page.

Celine Navarro is coming to Singapore!! Yup, you heard right… Celine will be in Singapore and teaching some awesome workshops at Made With Love.

More details here. Spaces are VERY limited and they are sure to sell out very fast. Call now to book your place. I’ve booked mine. Yay!!

and this…

Ok, so it isn’t a BOSE or a B&O but it’ll do for now.

This is a way overdue post, and I had forgotten all about it.

I had the opportunity to attend PAC 2008 with Soo Jen in early October. It was a last minute thing and we decided and got everything booked within 2 weeks of the show. It started out with an almost 6 hour trip to Paris and then a transfer on another train to Versailles.

We arrived in the late so we headed straight to a small eatery to have dinner. Ooohh.. all those calories.

Early next morning, we set off from our hotel to the Palais de Congres, about a 10 min walk away but we were pleasantly surprised by the street market that was going on just round the bend from our hotel.

I love street markets… I could just walk around in one all day. I’m such a foodie.

Next, it was a short breakfast stop just before arriving at the Palais. I had a yummy Croque Monsieur (which I heard you HAVE to have in France) and a hot chocolate.

We got lost a little after that and finally made it to PAC just in time for our 1st class and over the next 2 days, Jen and I attend 7 classes! It was a mad 2 days of scrapping, I tell ya. We were so busy in the classes, I did not have time to take many pictures but here are two… with Rebecca Sower and Michelle van Etten.

The classes were FUN and I had the opportunity to take Irene’s class and also Kah-Mei’s class again which was great. (I’m knew I had a picture taken with her, but I can’t seem to find it now!!)

On our last day in Versailles, we had a little bit of time to walk over to the Versailles palace for some pics…

And a little walk around the neighbourhood…

I love Versailles. I love it’s wide streets and beautiful buildings. And there were also a lot less people there than in Paris which made it more enjoyable. Next stop, Paris… and to a highly recommended restaurant for lunch.

I found this place on the internet and it was highly recommended because mostly locals go there. And it didn’t disappoint. Lots of French and I love that the place didn’t feel touristy at all. And the no-frills food was very reasonably priced too. Here’s what I had…

Egg Mayo Salad

Steak

and Chestnut Cream

We had 2 days to explore Paris… and it was great visiting the city again. There’s just something magical about the city of lights… enjoy…

Beautiful, isn’t it? More pics here. Have a great week and thank you for stopping by.

As some of you may already know, the kids and I will be heading home in slightly less than 2 weeks. We’ve been here in Switzerland almost 8 months now and time just seemed to whizz by. It’s been an awesome experience both for us and the kids. We will miss this place, surely.

It’s officially winter here in Europe and we’re thankful for the opportunity to see it before leaving. I wanted to capture shots of winter before we left as a reminder… we will never get to see this back home.

We did a day trip up to Brussels on 15 Nov and I haven’t had the chance to blog about it till now! Johnson, our friend from Singapore, arrived early that morning and we drove on through to Belgium, passing through Luxembourg on the way. The drive took us about 6 hours each way.

The first thing that struck me about Brussels is that the streets are lined with chocolatiers. Yup, you heard me right, chocolate stores. In fact, I’m sure you knew that Belgium chocolates are one of the world’s best. Here are some that I saw…

And this… which looked more like a boutique selling designer chocolates …

So, of course, I got busy and started shopping for some Belgium chocolates. And I must admit, they’re some of the finest I’ve ever tasted. It was definitely worth the trip! LOL!

Lunch was next and I was told when in Brussels, you have to try the mussels and fries. Did you also know the fries were actually invented in Belgium and not France?? But I’m not much of a shellfish person so I let the guys do the honor.

Mars and Jupiter beer?? Belgium beers.

After lunch, it was off to roam the streets.

I’d have to say Brussels is a very clean and well-maintained city. It was really nice strolling through the streets. And look what we found…

Yup!! GOT TO HAVE Belgian waffles in Belgium, don’t we?? Look at my yummy waffles with bananas and chocolate.

You can see we’re really happy with our waffles.

This little guy is probably the most famous sight in the city. He’s called Manneken Pis.

It started to get dark soon after that and we had to start our drive back to Switzerland. But before leaving, we made a quick stop at Grand Place, described by Victor Hugo as the most beautiful square in Europe. It is the central market square of Brussels. It is surrounded by guild houses, the city’s Town Hall and the Bread House.

And with bags of chocolates in tow, it was time to say goodbye to Brussels.

Another layout for the GotSketch102 class. This time it’s for sketch #5. Way easier for me coz it’s a one-page layout. And I finally got down to using some older supplies I’ve had for some time now.

Oh and did you realise the stitching?? Heehee.. I just got myself a new sewing machine last week for an amazingly low price of 99CHF (or about US$88/S$125). It was on 50% sale.   How cool is that?!?!? I’ve had fun playing.

Supplies:

Papers – October Afternoon, Making Memories, Momento
Alphas – American Crafts, Jenni Bowlin, Making Memories
Stickers & ribbons – Making Memories
Stamp – Apple Blossom Studio

Are you having a good week so far? It’s Wednesday, at least we’re half-way through! LOL!!

Yup, we’ve been here in Switzerland 5 months now and we haven’t scaled any mountain yet. So last Saturday, we decided to go up Mount Pilatu.

We started out on a 2hr train ride to Luzern.

Luzern is a big city in Switzerland, much like Zurich.

and a city of cyclists, like many Switzerland towns and cities.

Once we exited from the train station, we saw a street market by the old bridge with peddlers selling fruit, flowers, breads and more…

After a short bus ride and a hike, we arrived at the cable car station to begin our ascent to Mount Pilatus.

As we began our ascent, we got a good view of the city of Luzern.

We saw a few hikers hiking up the mountain but check out this guy… it’s almost a 45degrees slope!!

Visibility was already getting poor by this stage and I could only manage a couple of shots… which was a pity because I think on a clear day, I would be able to take a picture of Lake Luzern below.

After the guys had their fun and we walked around a bit, it was time to get on the gondola to the peak.

And so, after another 5mins in the gondola, we arrived at the peak of Mount Pilatus.

Weird that there deck chairs… but here are the kids having some fun.

And Jon had his own fun too, a self-service beer tap for 3CHF per glass.

After lunch and a short walk around, it was time to leave. By the time we were at the peak, visibility was only about 3 metres and it started drizzling as well so I couldn’t capture any pictures of the view from the mountain.   We took the cog train down the mountain.. the world’s steepest cog railway train by the way.

And then on a boat across Lake Luzern back to the Luzern Bahnhof.

The boat ride took us 1.5hrs!! And by the time we got home, it was 8pm and we were all bushed. It was fun though… hopefully we get to visit a snow-capped mountain next. And as usual, I want to leave you with some favourite pictures of the day.

Hope you enjoyed this (picture-intensive) post. Have a great week ahead!

This is gonna be quite a picture-intensive post simply because Venice is truly beautiful and I couldn’t resist taking all those pictures.

It was a 3hr train ride from Florence but as we approached, I knew it was just going to be wonderful… clear blue skies and Venice’s world-famous lagoon and canals. This was the view from the train as we were approaching Santa Lucia railway station.

Santa Lucia station

And I’m sooo glad we splurged a bit on the hotel we chose in Venice. It made the visit all the more memorable. We stayed a the Ca’Gottardi boutique hotel… and it was worth every penny. Our room was spacious and well-decorated…

Venice is still one of the most interesting and lovely places in the world. This sanctuary on a lagoon is virtually the same as it was six hundred years ago, which adds to the fascinating character. And the best way is still by taking the vaporetti (water buses) which ply the Grand Canal. And here’s where all the photos come in.. Enjoy!

It was just amazing to see the different styles of architecture as you travel down the canal… no wonder Venice remains one of the most popular cities in the world to visit!

The famed Gondola ride

Rialto Bridge

San Giorgio Maggiore Island

Did you know that the city Venice stretches over 118 small islands?

So once we set foot on land once again, we headed to Piazza San Marco… Piazza San Marco, often known in English as St Mark’s Square, is the principal square of Venice. As the central landmark and gathering place for Venice, Piazza San Marco is extremely popular with tourists, photographers and Venetian pigeons.

Here are more pictures from our exploring on foot (and if you haven’t realised, Venice is a car-free city! )

One of the many, many shops selling Venetian masks. They are a centuries-old tradition in Venice. Worn during the Carnevale (the Carnival of Venice, elsewhere known as Mardi Gras), they come in all different colors and they can be full-face masks or eye masks. Here is Miss H picking the one she likes. :p

Well, that concludes Venice. I loved the city although I think some may think it’s just over-hyped. And I don’t think there will be a blog post on Milan, we had a short stop-over there (about 2 hours) to grab lunch and have a break from the long train journey. So, THIS IS IT! We had a great time in Italy and hope you had fun ‘going’ on this trip with us. And my apologies for the lack of photos of me, haha, I’m the official family photographer… until I can train someone in the family to do it! And oh yes, you can see the almost 500 pictures of our whole trip here.

Have a great week everyone and thanks for stopping by!

Before I continue with today’s post, I just want to thank those who left comments on the previous posts.. so glad to be able to share our trip with you and that you have been enjoying these recounts. So.. our next stop was…

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. The city lies on the Arno River and is known for its history and its importance in the Middle Ages and in the Renaissance, especially for its art and architecture.

We arrived at Florence by train and our first was to find our hotel, but it wasn’t as easy as we thought.. just look at this…

It was a tight network of roads and small streets around the city centre and our hotel was located on one of these obscure streets. Took us more than half and hour to find it even though we had a map in hand! After we had FINALLY settled our bags, we were out on the streets again.

The best-known site and crowning architectural jewel of Florence is the domed cathedral of the city, Santa Maria del Fiore known as The Duomo. The dome, 600 years after its completion, is still the largest dome built in brick and mortar in the world.

Also in the heart of the city is the Piazza della Signoria which is an L-shaped square.

Here are some of the eye-catching statues in the Piazza…

Bronze equestrian statue of Cosimo I (1594)

Hercules and Cacus (1533)

Fountain of Neptune (1575)

There is also a replica of Michelangelo’s David (which I did not manage to capture).

And a bit of interesting history about this square… In 1497 Girolamo Savonarola and his followers carried out on this square the famous Bonfire of the Vanities, burning in a large pile books, gaming tables, fine dresses, and works of poets. In front of the fountain of Neptune, this round marble plaque marks the exact spot where Girolamo Savonarola was hanged and burned on May 23, 1498.

The Arno River which cuts through the old part of the city, is as much a character in Florentine history as many of the men who lived there. Historically, the locals have had a love-hate relationship with the Arno — which alternated from nourishing the city with commerce, and destroying it by flood.

One of the bridges in particular stands out as being unique — The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge), whose most striking feature is the multitude of shops built upon its edges, held up by stilts. I think I have never seen so many jewelery shops at one place before. The whole bridge was lined with them.

Here are some pics we took on the bridge…

And so that concludes our visit to Florence, before I end this post, just want to share my 2 favourite photos taken in Florence. Nope, it wasn’t of any landmark but of Miss H of course! As a sidenote, I do wish E would be as enthusiastic about posing for mummy as his sister.