The Eiffel Tower

 I'm sitting here, basking on the torrent of memories which has not left my mind since I went to bed. 

I remember the day I decided to become a researcher. 

It's an occupation which isn't highly-esteemed in my country that's why I did my best to fly here so I could conveniently unravel the mysteries of molecular biology. However, I need to work harder again so I can obtain a doctorate degree. Hopefully my brain capacity will enable me to obtain another scholarship because I am financially incapable of sustaining myself in this unimaginably expensive western world. That's my plan; but let's leave it for now and concentrate on the present.

Before I start cleaning my room and breezing through my books, I want to tell you about my encounter with the stunning golden Eiffel Tower. I have always dreamed of seeing the Statue of Liberty. But I honestly haven't imagined climbing the "piece of metal" everyone wants to see.

I never cared until I saw the tower and I was swept on my feet. I trembled in excitement and fear when I saw "the piece of metal" erected before my eyes. A burning edifice of brilliance and ingenuity! 

The lattice of iron carefully welded together stands 320 meters tall. When I saw it, I couldn't imagine what it be like to reach the peak. I have fear of heights that's why I couldn't imagine what it would be like. The line was rather short when my friends and I arrived because it was nearly midnight. They close at 11:30 pm, by the way. People swarm the area the entire day; but the busiest hours are probably around dinner time. Like the Louvre, you also have to patiently wait in line to be admitted. If I remember correctly, we only paid 8 euros each--that's probably because we look young. They give discounts to young adults. I remember the inspector at the entrance baby-talked me when he was asking me to open my bag. My friends said he probably thought I was a little girl. I am tiny so I can't blame him. Plus we got the discount for looking young, so that's ok.

To get to the top, we had to ride the elevator. I  had a funny feeling in my stomach as we were ascending. I could see the view outside and that made me feel really sick, I wanted to cry. There were two stops: the middle and the peak. It was nearly closing time that's why we didn't reach the peak. My friends wanted to go there and ride that scary elevator again. Time did not permit it so we just spent the last few minutes taking pictures and looking at souvenirs. The view of Paris at night was breathtaking. Despite my acrophobia, I drew all my courage to turn my gaze on the sparkling city. I thought the shiny buildings looked like stars and that, I was on top of the world!

Pizza Party!

Chicken barbecue

Alsace

 My "brain" has nothing to boast tonight. Reading a chapter of a basic immunology book was the most difficult task I have accomplished since the sun stung my sleepy eyes and forced me to roll off my cozy bed. Nevertheless, I somehow got my hypothalamus working when my girl friends and I feasted on four types of pizza somewhere in Brussels. If I were a plant cell, my walls would have ruptured due to vacuole expansion. If I were a balloon, I would have popped, flew in the air and landed nowhere. If I were a trash bag, I would have vomited my garbage and spread foul odor all over the room. Fortunately, I am a human being with around 5-7 meters of intestines buried deep within my deceptively tiny belly. haha

Hot N' Spicy

While some people find eating extremely pleasurable, I must say, I'm a bit indifferent. In fact, everyday, I content myself with a bowl of oats for breakfast, a layer of chicken and cheese sandwich for lunch and a platter of raw spinach dipped in vinaigrette for dinner.  And when I'm studying, I often don't eat because when I do them simultaneously, I consume lots of energy drastically and eventually fall into a deep slumber.

Super Supreme

But today, like some rare special day, I found pleasure in eating. I unbelievably devoured 5 slices of pizza! I cannot remember eating that much in my whole life. I ate as though I have been famished for a year and that I won't ever have the chance to eat again. I can only blame the Pizza Hut in Belgium for making one of the best pizzas I have ever tasted! They are definitely incomparable to the pizzas in the Philippines. I remember. My boyfriend used to complain a lot about the pizzas in the Philippines. He told me they're too dry and too bland. I never really believed him before. I thought he was just being fussy about food because he has already tasted various dishes around the world. But after I ate the pizzas in Belgium, the sad truth just dawned on me. He was right. Pizzas in the Philippines are nothing compared to these. But I understand, because the Asian restaurants here in Brussels serve the worst Asian food in the world. I remember clamoring about the fried noodles in an Asian restaurant. It was unimaginably disgusting, I wanted to tell the chef to do a better job so as not to disgrace the Asians in Europe. 

Oh! Sorry if I have to cut this short. I have to attend another dinner. This means, I have to eat again. Waah. It's better than not eating anything though. I hope one day the people in  the Philippines will be able to enjoy this abundance of food in Europe. 

Bye. See you next week.

Wallonia, Belgium

It's Friday again! And that means, I have lots of books to read again! Hopefully, I won't be as lazy as the past weekends where I didn't do anything but eat and sleep and skype. To make the beginning of my "weekend" productive, I thought of logging in my blog again and tell you about the majestic place in Belgium located several miles away from Brussels where I am currently typing these thoughts.

We had a month break so we could study for the exams. But because it was never my nature to study  in advance, I willingly accepted an all-expense-paid trip to Wallonia! The place was notably different from my place of residence. Everything in Wallonia just seems so serene and relaxing. I was surprised to learn that people there sleep so early too!

The goods are also relatively cheaper than those in Brussels. We went to one Christmas market along the way. I must say it wasn't as extravagant as the Christmas market in Brussels and Koln (Germany). There were just tiny booths were people sell a variety of goods like cheese, sausages, bracelets and even ostrich eggs! One egg was only 20.80 euros. That's cheap for an ostrich egg in Belgium. Ostrich eggs in the Philippines cost the same, I think.

Although we never saw the dukes and duchess inside the magnificent castles we visited, we were able to take innumerable pictures to preserve that priceless moment where we glanced upon real castles for the first time in our lives. 

We also went to Namur (the last picture), the capital city of Wallonia. It was more of a town than a city. Its most striking feature is the long stretch of river in front of an old church. Quite a number of battles occurred in this area because of this body of water. The church stood tall through the years though.

If you ever visit Belgium one day, I recommend that you find time to detour to the rural areas. They're very peaceful and quiet. Definitely the places to be if you want to embrace the invigorating beauty of nature.

Meanwhile, I will embrace the invigorating knowledge in my books. haha Have a nice weekend everyone!!

Brugge, Belgium

 It's the 11th of March and the person I'm thinking of right now is my bestfriend grandma. It's her 84th birthday and I hope she will have more birthdays to come. If there is one person in this world who loves me more than anything and whom I equally love, it's her. My bestfriend.

I don't want to feel homesick so let's cruise to another topic. It seems like I have transformed this site into a travel blog. From anything-under-the-sun blog to a travel blog! What a miracle! Finally I'm beginning to get a little bit organized! 

One of the many places we visited during the laboratory tour was Brugge. We didn't actually go here for academic reason--it was purely touristic. Besides, the only laboratory you can find here is the one for chocolates. Brugge is one of the biggest producer of chocolates in Belgium.

It's a city quite distinct from the rest of Belgium. Infrastructures were well-preserved. I felt like I was in the medieval era when I was trekking along the cobbled streets. It was also my first time to see the majestic swans! It's true that two swans frequently form a heart when they're together. Maybe that's where people derived the ridiculously (in a biological perspective) and erroneously represented shape of a heart. 

The swans are really more majestic in real life than the ones I saw in BBC series! I was the last one to bid goodbye to them when we were heading back. It makes me happy watching them groom themselves in such a smooth and graceful way. No wonder why ballerinas always play the role of swans.

The canals were also exquisite! But I can't wait to see the ones in Venice. I'm planning to go there this April, by the way. I already have a ticket from Brussels to Milan and Rome to Brussels. I was thinking of going to Venice and Pisa on the way from Milan to Rome. I'm fervently praying I won't get lost. But I suppose it's ok because I will be travelling with my two other friends. haha. 

I really enjoy travelling (with friends or with Rob because I will get lost alone). There is so much to see and learn. From restaurant etiquette to street courtesy. They vary from one culture to another. I wonder if Italians are as friendly as Belgians. 

Back to back: Belgium and Philippines

Hello Everyone!

Today, I worked on the lab tour report. I'm 90% complete. I'm just waiting on my friend to send me her notes during the first day because at that time I was still "jet-setting" from Abu Dhabi to Belgium. I just hope our coordinator will enjoy reading the report just as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I want to show you Page 26 of my report. I made a succinct juxtaposition of Philippines and Belgium. I took the photos of the Belgian places myself but I just downloaded the ones from Philippines because most of my pictures of Philippines are on my other laptop and I'm too lazy to transfer the files. haha.

What do yo think? Oh, I forgot. My friends told me they can't comment on my blog. I have been thinking about fixing the comment box but I'm just too lazy to do it because it might mean changing the blog's theme.