My Prague Journey II

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Well, the second day we woke up quite late as it was too exhausted not having enough sleep on plane and walking around the city straight after our long journey flight. After having bread and hot chocolate drink for breakfast, we continued our sightseeing.

This is how the tram inside looks like. Not much different from a bus. It's actually driven by a person in front. No fuel but electricity. It's faster than a bus I guess, but more unstable, which means the driver will suddenly stop then carry on, people standing have to stand firmly to avoid falling down. The skill is to stand facing window, legs open, one left and one right, balance will be there then, keke.

Can you see those chinese words? Yea, it's a chinese restaurant. It's not something uncommon to see them in Prague. I heard that Czech people enjoy having chinese food. Actually not only Czech, many western countries people love them as well cause our chinese food has more variety to choose from.

Our plan that day was to figure out where Austria embassy is in order to seek more info about Vienna tour and check the location of Prague International which is a travel agency. After we reached Austria embassy, it was closed. They open from 9am to 12pm. Wow, not bad having such a relax job eh. So we moved on to look for our next destination. On our way, we saw this beautiful park. I guess we entered a campus area as we saw a lot of look like uni students walking around. What a nice environment to study. As usual, there's a statue which I'm not sure who the person is.

Then I saw another statue. But this one caught my attention. The picture is a bit small. It's actually a man hugging tightly a lady. My imagination came in. A general who just survived from a war came back his hometown and looked for his beloved. The lady who had been waiting for her lover for more than half a decade finally saw him coming back. She was emotional and in tears. They slowly walked towards each other and hugged as if it was the end of the world. How romantic it was =)

Winter always turns into spring. It's spring now in Czech. Leaves started growing and gradually flowers will begin blooming as well.

Well, local people normally have their breakfast at this kind of shop. A piece of meat, some bread, potatoes and a glass of coke. What surprised me was they dont sit down and enjoy their meal but they stand beside a long table and have it. It's more like a fast food stall type. Maybe the shop is not spacious enough to put some chairs or people are in hurry for working so they just have breakfast quickly or they enjoy to stand and eat as it's good for digestion. Either way.

In Prague, you'll see this type of building everywhere. It can be office, restaurant, shop or living house. It's almost none of single or double storey houses can be seen there. Uncle's apartment also looks like this.

So far I didnt see any wet market in Prague, vegetables are sold at shops. They look fresh but not many choices though. Cabbage, carrot, tomato... The red and small one is diffrent type of baby red carrot.

Meat is sold at shop as well. If not, then it's Tesco. Tesco is everywhere in Prague, no, I shall say in whole country. The meat shop looks clean and clear. Every piece of meat no matter pork or beef is being arranged nicely and look fresh. Any part of the pig or cow body you can choose from there. Pork rib 'jieng' ar. 3 layers pork 'jieng' ar, haha. [Sorry, this is the non halal section =D]

Took this photo purposely. I wanna let you know how serious the vandalism is in Czech. Daddy said it's graffiti. Yea, but it's also part of vandalism. Every old building is decorated by mostly creative words, sometimes it's caricature. Whenever there's a chance and a clean wall, then I'm sure within a few days, it'll become 'a master peice'. Sometimes brand new buildings 'kena' as well. The boss must be headache cause money is wasted again to repaint the wall. The picture above shows a low quality piece. Later in train, car, tram or subway, I saw lots of graffiti that have much more quality than this and nice looking. But I didnt take any photo of them cause I've got no time or I was too lazy to capture. I love their style and design, but in the end, I feel somehow graffiti will still affect the natural beauty of this city. The same problem goes to other European countries. By the way, I wish to see people painting the wall 'live'. Throughout the whole journey, I didnt see anyone doing graffiti, wondering if they 'start working' in midnight huh.

Different style of churches can be seen in Prague. This is one of them. Quite unique.

While daddy was asking local people the direction of Prague International, I didnt waste my time to capture with this lovely town, hehe. Did you notice the big ad board on left? It's pepsi cola ad. My mum likes the design of the ad board.

Well, finally we found Prague International!! To be honest, this location is quite concealed. Obviously daddy was sitting in the middle. On left is the Czech staff, whereas the other side, this pretty lady is a staff as well but she's from France. Her name is Farnny (not sure the spelling though, but I remembered it sounds like 'Funny', keke). She speaks good english and she was helpful to fullfil what we requested. We actually wanted to visit Vienna for a 3 days 2 nights trip. Prague International's clients more on a company trip or holiday trip, they seldom entertain individual's request. But still Farnny is kind enough to help us to book a 3 person room in Holiday Inn, Vienna including two days breakfast. Initially she introduced a guy from Guang Dong, China to offer us help. He can speak cantonese, mandarin, english and czech!! Daddy had some random chat with him. He recommended a few chinese restaurants and told us where to buy train tickets. After settling payment and stuff, we left. Thanks to three of them.

Before leaving, took a photo of the 'jiu pai'. Nice service, friendly staff =)

Even stairscase I didnt want to miss, haha.

Alright, we were hungry, we found the place where the Guang Dong guy recommended. A little food place opened by a Chinese couple. The lady in the counter who bending is 'lao ban niang'. It's like fast food style. Order and pay. But we sat down and waited for her to serve us as we didnt know the style there. I ordered roast duck rice, mummy wanted fried mee hoon and daddy tried their fried rice. Then daddy went to next door 'Cedok' to seek info on train and bus schedule.

Here my roast duck rice came. So much meat man. Two rows of duck slice!! It's always big portion served in western countries no matter what cuisine it is. But this meal was yummy. The duck was so crispy and tasty. Mummy's fried mee hoon was nice as well but slightly too salty. It's reasonable for them to make it more salty even in a Chinese restaurant as they need to accommodate local people. If not, no one wants to eat there. 'Lao ban niang' was so kind to put a cover on daddy's fried rice as he was still at next door 'Cedok'. We chatted a bit with her. It's always a warm feeling to see people who have the same colour skin with us in a foreign country.

This is Cedok. Finally, we decided to go Vienna by train instead of bus. We were offered special rate and mine was student price. Not bad for a 19-year-old girl, hehe. It's very systematic here.

Next, we went to a supermarket and bought lip gloss. The weather was humid. Lip was a bit dry. When we were paying, I saw this cute trolley.

Our next destination was Wencelas Square. It's in top ten attractions in Prague. Last night we left right after finished dinner here. So we came back again to shop around. Many cafes and restaurants around. You see the guy sitting there with a glass of beer? Well, Czech has their own brand of beer. They drink beer regularly regardless what time it is or what age they are. It's like us drinking water. Besides beer, they love coca cola. Most of the teenagers have a bottle of coke with them whenever they are in tram or subway. If not, then it's fruit juice, apple, orange, tomato, peach, carrot, strawberry, any fruits you name it, they have, and its in bottle, 100% pure fruit juice.

Hot dog stall. Mummy wanted to try it for a long time. But we've got no time. Yet, on the last day, we had some hot dog with bun. Nice.

Flowers everywhere in Wencelas Square. A lot of people sitting in the middle of the park, some were reading, some dating, some doing nothing...

Wencelas Square is in New Town. The shops look new and crowded. Tourists do their shopping there.

This is the Czech restaurant where we had dinner last night.

This square represents the heart of modern Prague since the Czech Republic was independent from Czechoslovakia. The huge building is actually National Musuem.

A close up on St. Wencelas Monument. St. Wenceslas was actually a loved Czech King propagating Christianity. He ruled over Prague in the 10th century. I've seen this statue from travel guide book. I was more impressed to see the real one as it showed St. Wencelas a courageous and good king.

Later, we went to metro station and looked for the next attraction. This is the escalator to go down and wait for subway. Uncle who had been to Japan before told us this subway station is deeper than Japan's one. It proves again transportation system in Prague is one of the best in Europe.

This is how the subway looks like. Quite new. It's far more puntual than our KTM. I've never waited for more than 10 minutes every time we take a tram or subway. But its always crowded especially right after working time. And I found that after local people coming out from subway they walk very fast. Like rushing back home for dinner I guess.

We reached another station and saw this church in a big garden. Great achitecture. An obvious landmark. We sat down and drank some water while daddy figured out the way to astronomical clock. A white man and a chinese guy sitting next to our chair. The white man asked daddy, 'Are you lost? Do you need help?' Well, daddy grabbed this chance to ask him gently. He's an american. And guess what, he's learning Mandarin from the chinese guy. It sounds weird but probably he's retired and planned to do travelling and learning some new things I guess. Both of them taught daddy how to get there and some other things.

After we thanked the two guys, we moved on. And I saw this statue. A girl setting a pigeon free. It's good to have some meaningful statues in the city around as they bring positive feelings towards residents. WORLD PEACE.

The famous Church of Our Lady before Tyn. It looks more like a castle. Well, if you see this, you know that you are in Old Town Square now.

Here you are Old Town Square. Did you notice the blue part of the square? It's actually the statue of Jan Hus and it's under renovation. Jan Hus, one of the most important Czech reformers and nationalists. He was the first rector of Charles University and he was the one who simplified the Czech writing rules with others. I was so disappointed that the monument is been renovating. I've come so far away from M'sia to see this statue but... Well, sometimes this is fate. Hope that I will have a chance in future to come again.

We saw these two 'fat' guys walking around. Was not sure what their intention was, probably just for fun. Or else, distributing flyers.

In town, there are several ways to have a sightseeing tour. One of the ways is to explore by antique car.

Another one is to go by horsecar. Whenever you pass by them, you'll smell something. But the horses seem tame and 'disciplined'. Not bad to have a ride but its quite expensive.

Look at the lovely design of the building. Yea, this is the House of the Minute. It's so creative and artistic. Somemore there are quite a lot of 'eyes' on the roof, hehe. Can attract people from far away.

Renowned St. Nicholas Church is here. One of the trademark of Prague city. It stands arrogantly in the middle of Old Town.

Well, well, well, it's only you can tell people you have been to Prague after you paid a visit to Astronomical Clock Tower. Hundreds of tourists admiring the clock. It was 6.55pm. 5 minutes away from 7pm. Every hour, the bell rings and there's something special happens. I dont how to describe 'the special thingy' here, maybe next time i'll upload the video that I've recorded. But frankly, I dont think it's that special anyway. Afterall, the clock itself impressed me the most.

My 'love affair' with the clock, haha.

Details of the clock's dial. Numberings are the opposite of the normal one. It's difficult to figure out the time to be honest. But this is why the clock is so unique. The four figures at the clock dial are symbols of the Prague medieval society.

Under the clock dial is the calendar disk with immobile figures (a chronicler, an angel, an astronomer and a philosopher). Dont have a clue how to read it as well. In the end, I admire its design and carving.

Believe me. I swear that I didnt edit this picture. Believe in your eyes as well. Your sight is not blur. This is the Dancing Tower!! It looks like approaching you and asking 'May I?' haha. I couldnt believe myself seeing it by that time on our way to dinner, inside uncle's car. All of a sudden it appeared in front of me. Luckily there's a traffic light, so that I've got time to turn down window and capture it!! If not, I must regret for the rest of my life (a bit serious huh). How was it built??? I cant find any word to describe its peculiar.

Having dinner at 'Little Hong Kong' which is nearby uncle's apartment. Haha, mummy doesnt like to take photo especially she's hungry. The environment was quite nice.

But the food... Can you see in every dishes there was cabbage? Daddy said its “一曲走天涯”(in cantonese). Meaning one vege was used for every dishes, even the gravy was similar and the diffrence was just meat. Though the name is Little Hong Kong but the food wasnt cooked by Hong Kong people. That's why the taste a bit off.

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So far if you have any enquiries about Prague, can ask me any time on the comment box. Or if you are interested seeing the actual size of any picture on my blog, feel free to ask from me ya. See you =)

...to be continued...

My Prague Journey I

On 24th of April, at 8pm, my brother fetched dad, mum and me to KLIA. We had four wheeled upright luggage and three handbags. It was not my first time to travel by plane, I had been to Sarawak and Langkawi by plane. But they were considered short journey. The most was 2 hours plus. This time round, I had to be on plane for 11 hours to Amsterdam. There's no direct flight to Prague. Have to transit by KLM (Dutch Airline). From Amsterdam to Prague we need to fly 1 hour 50 minutes. Cool, this is the real flight experience, approximately 13 hours in the air.

Gradually I realised that it was not as cool as I thought. I was quite excited and hoping to reach as fast as possible. So I didnt have any proper sleep. There is not much space between the seats. I felt uncomfortable sitting there. Whenever I started falling asleep, stewardess came and served us food and beverage. Firstly, a pack of smoked almond and a cup of juice. Secondly, supper with fried rice, biscuits, cheese and dessert. I brought a small clock that showed M'sia time with me on plane. At 4.30am, yeah, I'm sure this was the exact time, stewardess asked me whether I want a cup of ice-cream or instant noodles. Well, I got awaken by her then I had got no choice but to try the ice-cream. It was Walls brand, nothing special. We just had the supper not too long ago, I was full until I found it difficult to sleep but still there were some other passengers could have the instant noodles. Alright, finally then I managed to sleep a bit and it was 2 hours left to reach our destination. We were served breakfast. I chose sausage and egg, it tasted good.

Finally, we reached Amsterdam airport. It was so early, 6am local time and not many people walking around. This aiport is huge, probably bigger than KLIA.

We had one hour to walk around and shop. There are variety of shops. Many sports shirts can be found, especially Holland international football jersey.

Different souvenir is sold here. Dolls wearing Holland traditional costume. So cute and charming.

Wooden shoes are very famous in Holland. They can be seen almost every shops. The pattern and design are unique.

People started lining up to go through the immigration. As for us, we transit, so we would need to go another gate for boarding, not here.

Can't stop myself to take photo with lots of wooden shoes. I bought a pair of wooden shoes key chain here on last day before I returned to M'sia.

The most important to shop at airport is look for chocolate. Droste chocolate is made in Holland and in fine quality. We bought some and tried them. It was superb and delicious. Picture above is Droste cocoa.

Traditional Dutch syrup waffles. A few months ago, my cousin sister came to Europe on working purpose and she was here to wait for transit as well. She bought many boxes of this syrup waffles. My parents tasted it already. I only tried it here. To be frank, I dont actually like it, it is a bit too sweet.


Cheese cheese cheese. They looked 'fat mou' already right. But I guess they taste good. I love cheese.

Yeah, this is the plane that we would be going to Prague. I was getting nervous and nervous.

Took a photo for memory. Inside the plane is mostly green, very special. Sandwiches were served for passengers. I was still full so I didnt try. My parents said it was nice. This flight is not full. There were still a lot of empty seats. I saw a M'sian couple boarding here as well.

It's transavia.com, another Netherlands based airline, mostly travel between European countries. Yea, this is the type that we would fly to Prague.

The whole journey, I saw a lot of these square square light green thingy. Probably planting. But what kind of plant is it? I was so curious.

At last, I reached Prague airport!! It was so quiet there especially at the arrival hall. But the picture above is departure hall, so it was slightly busier.

Well, the big sign tells you, 'yeah, I'm in Prague!!'

For memory as well.

Uncle arrived and helped us to carry those luggage. So glad to see him. Picture above is my parents and uncle (can just see his head). The blue car is rented and it's more convenient for uncle to go working. He has the international driving license.

You must be wondering why the driver's seat is on the left. Yeah, in most of the European countries except UK, it's left hand side driving. The driving lane is opposite of our M'sian way. So my uncle is so suffering to get used to it. As a foreigner, how can he manage to know the direction? The key is GPS navigator!! You can see it from the picture. Having it with us, it's so convenient. You only have to know what's the street name and its number, then GPS will bring you there. I've heard many countries got GPS, so as M'sia, but it's not well known, I guess the reason is M'sia road construction is every where. My living area is a good example. I dont know how many years it needs to finish the construction.


25th April 2007. 9.16am. 15 Celsius. Once I went outside Prague airport, I breathe and found that the smell of the air is not the same as KL. And obviously it was more windy. I always had jacket with me. Finally I stepped on a four seasons country. Hmm, 25th April, what a special day, haha. My 19th birthday was so unique because it was more than 24 hours!! Well, my flight is at 11pm, 24th. At 12am, it was 25th, plane started flying. After 13 hours, it should have been afternoon. But because of timezone matter, when we reached it was just 9am on 25th, so I've got the longest birthday ever, hehe.


After we left our luggage at uncle's apartment, we couldn't wait for going out. Uncle went back to office to continue working. We would go walking by ourselves. Daddy bought tram tickets at trafika shop which is nearby. Actually the ticket can be used not only for tram but also bus and metro (subway). Prague's transportation system is one of the best in Europe according to some useful websites. It's so true. Daddy figured out how the tram line is and which tram we took. Then we began our excited journey.

Stomache was 'playing drum'. Gotto find a food place. Hmm, dont know what to eat. Uncle recommended KFC before as the menu is mostly different from M'sia's.


This is mashed potato with chicken pieces and corn. Very tasty. We had some chicken burgers and french fries. The potato in Prague is great. Fresher and more delicious.

Once finished having lunch, we explored the city. I walked past this stunning building. Prague's architecture is very famous. The first time I saw it in real, it's National Theater. This theater is very big and I couldnt fully capture it. I was stunned there for a few minutes and amazed how the sculpture are carved. The beauty of Prague is gradually revealed.


Another impressive sculpture. I'm not sure the name of it though.



This is real. I'm not dreaming man. The famous Charles Bridge. I was a bit overjoyed by that time.


The Vtlava River side. The Vtlava River has not always been as calm as it seems now. It had many times been flooded and destroyed.



Crystal is one of the Czech native products. Shining crystal is a lure for ladies. Mummy bought a pair of crystal earrings.


The charming Old Town Bridge Tower behind me. Going to walk across Charles Bridge.


Statue of Charles IV. He's the one who rebuilt Charles Bridge after it had been destroyed by flood. From a wooden bridge, it was changed to a firm stone bridge.

Standing on the more than 600 years Charles Bridge. The bridge is decorated with 30 statues in Baroque style. The original statues are now kept in the National Musuem, whereas the statues on the Charles Bridge are replicas.

The statues of St. Norbert, St. Wenceslas and St. Sigismund (from left to right).

When you have come across Charles Bridge, it's a must to have a look on the statue of St. John of Nepomuk. He was a national saint of Bohemia but been murdered and thrown into Vtlava River. There's a myth saying that seven stars were seen over the very spot where he was drowned. But I only saw five stars above him, hmmm. By the way, a lot of foreigners queuing up in front of this statue. Why?

Ohh, cause it's said that touching the statue of St. John of Nepomuk will make one's wish come true. Daddy said the statue was warm as countless people had touched it. May your wish come true, daddy, hehe.

Okay, we proceed to the next place then. On the way, I saw this couple having three wolfdogs with them. I was so amazed to see wolfdogs in real. It's only on tv I've seen them before. Nice and smooth fur. Had a feeling to touch them, keke.

Walking up stairs to visit Prague Castle.

Hey, this can fight with my National Service camp's stairs man. So tiring.

Finally we were up there. Nice overall view of Prague. Could see most of the famous buildings.

We reached the gate of one of the largest fortresses in the world - the Castle of Prague. The gate is actually leading to the Grand Courtyard.

Whenever I go to Cheras, I'll pass by our Agong's istana. Most of the time the entrance is crowded by foreigners. And the guard is the most famous person as he's been taken millions of photo. Then I must be whispering 'aih, nothing special also, why are there so many people?' But now I found myself taking photo with a Czech guard whom I thought is quite smart and handsome. So contradicting. Well, we will never appreciate what we have and admire what others have, am I right?

This is the second entrance to Prague Castle. Everyday different citizens from variety of countries come here to appreciate the essence of this city.

Including this primary students tour. I'm not sure they are from Czech or other countries. So good to be together with classmates and teachers and not just read history but to see, feel and walk it. So 'syiok'!! They were walking past the Chapel of the Holy Road.

Fountain in the second courtyard.

I'm not sure its name. It looks like a big 'burung sangkar' (cage) though.

Wow, the elegant St. Vitus's Cathdral with splendid rose window appears in front of me. When I saw this, I was speechless. I couldnt tell how superb the neo-Gothic facade is. I wasnt able to take a full photo of it, it's too enormous for us.

Elaborate scene from the entrance portal.

I was standing in front of Alfons Mucha's stained-glass window.

I have never been to a church as I'm a buddhist. It's so stunning to see all those architecture. Somemore it's not just built a few years ago but hundreds years ago. Picture above is a scene of the interior.

Another one of the many stained-glass windows.

Background is the whole building of St. Vitus's Cathedral.

We had actually walked around a part of the Prague Castle area only. Then it was getting dark and we thought we had finished exploring. Well, the other area we would go on last day of our trip. I'll share with you later. Okay, it's dinner time. After working, uncle came to fetch us. Daddy said that we wanna try Czech food. So we came to Wencelas Square and had dinner at a Czech restaurant.

Uncle ordered pork knee. A whole pork knee was served. I took the photo but it was blur so I didnt upload it. I tried the traditional Czech meal, a few slices of pork and carrot pan cake. Well, all food was actually very salty. We didnt get used to eating them.

This is the traditional Czech dumplings - knedliky. Hmm, taste okay.

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Dobry den!! (Hello/Good day in Czech)

Thanks a lot for reading the first part. I've spent a lot of time typing and arranging this. Hope that you'll drop a comment for me =)

...to be continued...