Some thoughts about the experiences in UK and Europe... ...

A small city in the northern part of England. The main town area is small enough for a day tour. You could almost walk to wherever you want to go, unless you are going somewhere away from the town. That's probably why their public transport and taxis are charging so expensive! It's like going from Serangoon to AMK by bus/taxi would cost you SGD4/SGD14! Preparing your own food would be the best option even for tourists as a meal in UK can be quite expensive, unless you don't mind eating mayo chicken from macs at SGD2, which was deemed as the cheapest stomach-filling food you can get. University students are given more freedom to act on or speak about whatever they want. Bills can be pasted around the campus without student union's approval, peaceful demonstrations etc. Calling professors by their first names is something that will not happen in Singapore! Generally, UK people are quite approachable and talking to strangers seem to be a norm while waiting for traffic lights, on trains, etc...People from different regions have different accents, but I still prefer the accent from London! haha Speaking of London, it is great to be in London as you can visit lots of museums for free on certain days! Metro is very well-integrated by much have to be done on escalators in stations, more spacious carriages, and air-condition/better ventilation in carriages. Checking the status of the metro lines is as important as checking the BBC weather. Expect delays/termination of trains when you least expected it.

Europe has been on many people's wish-list (especially Asians) to visit. Travel shows on TV may have given much video-editing and fixing filming angles to capture the beauty of the cities in Europe. However, when you are actually there, things does not seem to be what it was as shown in pixels. Imagine a metro which smells like a sewage, pavements with spits and rubbish, hoards of street-sellers pestering tourists, the poor/beggars almost everywhere, conman, pickpockets....these are some common sights in most (not all) European countries. On the contrary, some countries like Amsterdam, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Germany have rather clean cities, nice people and relatively safe place to walk at night. We can't deny that they have some of the world's most scenic views and awesome architectures. It is as if there is a developing region within a developed country. Probably it is because of the on-going European crisis, or are they already in such a state a decade ago?