It was a lousy way to start a Saturday morning. I went to have my laundry washed and found that there were 2 large machines in the laundry room. Since I have a lot of clothes to wash, I decided to try out the large machine. Moreover, it cost one euro cheaper. So I inserted 2 euros into the machine and nothing happened. I pressed the start button and still nothing happened. The 30 min count-down timer was ticking but the machine wasn’t spinning. Then after looking around the notices, I realized what an idiot I was. The machine is for drying the clothes! I swore and cursed until I ran out of vocabulary. No wonder it is cheaper and the machine looked so different to the normal washing machine that I had been using. I had to transfer the clothes to another ‘real’ washing machine and had to run back to room to get another 2 euros. Freak! I just wasted 2 euros because I wanted to save 1 euro for my laundry. I was really angry with myself.
Back in the room, I did some area cleaning. Then I took out the street map and located the Office of Tourism for Bretagne. I had already been to the one that is for Rennes. Now is for the entire region. I highlighted the street on the map and later I would find my way there on foot. So after half an hour or so, I went back to the laundry area to collect my clothes. It was very troublesome to wash my clothes here because I had to wear socks, sport shoes, coat before going as the laundry area is located in another block. When I reached there, I looked at the washing machine and almost went mad. The tumble was spinning but there were no clothes inside! Where the hell are my clothes! Back in NTU, there were cases where my bucket for collecting the clothes was stolen. I felt really panicky now because two third of the clothes that I brought here are inside! Or should be inside. After pondering for 5 min on what to do (should I buy new clothes or call the security), the machine slowed down and as it finally came to a halt, my clothes were there. Hahaha! ZX the moron! The tumble was spinning so fast that I couldn’t see my clothes inside. If I were to call the security to come, I think I would become famous in INSA.
This is the first time I am typing my journal at real time. That is I am typing at the present continuous context. Normally I would type my journal at night when all the events had happened. I just came back from the kitchen and I had cooked a pot of noodles with egg. Yeah! My favourite food is the egg and my mum used to say that if I eat too much of it, I would get an egg for my tests. I never believed her even when I was a kid and I never got a zero for a test before. There was a group of people in the kitchen eating and smoking. I just said hi and cooked my noodles there. I didn’t join in the conversation as they were speaking French and I didn’t intro myself as they were having their own fun. Before I left I said “salut”. Here when you want to say goodbye, you either say “salut”, “bye”, “see you” or “ciao”. The young people like to use “ciao”. I never use “au revoir” (goodbye) unless talking to admin or the shop assistants, etc but never with friends here. I also use “a demain” (at tomorrow) with some colleagues here.
Back in the room, it smells funny to eat noodles with clothes all over the place. The detergent smell mixed with the noodles’ was very irritating. Moreover, my pot had a big sticker at the bottom which I can’t remove and so whenever I cook, it would create some soot at the bottom and the smell is awful. But with an egg, I really felt full and ready for the long march to town later. Before I left, I made a call home but the operator said there was no answer. Perhaps they went out and so I decided to call later when I return. My first destination for today was the Office of Tourism for Bretagne. I got the address from a website. On the map, it looked pretty simple to get to there with just a few junctions. It was sunny today and it almost made me want to take off my coat. Almost. But as the wind blew, it was still quite chilling. Sometimes the wind was strong, sometimes weak but there would always be wind and so I couldn’t take out my map constantly. At one time while navigating, I even had to pin the map on the ground and squat down to look at the map.
After half an hour, I reached the landmark which was very near my actual destination. It was a psychological hospital. So feeling confident now, I moved on without referring to the map, thinking for sure my destination was in front. But somehow I turned into another street which was not found on the map. The more I walked, the more uneasy I felt and knew I had gone the wrong way. I back tracked but I didn’t want to go all the way back to the hospital. So I went back to somewhere in between and took another route. I was really being “geh kiang”. It was a worse route and led me further away. With no choice, I went back to the hospital and went into a phonebooth to look at my map again. This time I got everything sorted out and finally was on the right track. I had wasted an extra half an hour backtracking.
When I reached the Office of Tourism, I hesitated to go in because it didn’t look like one. It was like some kind of government agency building. I looked at the info board but it was in French. Then I found some words about tourism and Bretagne located at 2nd floor and I went up there. At the door, it looked like a real office with people working inside. It didn’t have a counter or brochures all over the place. I caught 3 ladies and asked them is this the Office of Tourism? All of them couldn’t understand English but they knew the word “tourism” and said no. I wanted to ask more but I guess it would be quite useless. So I loitered around the area and saw some other signs saying “committee tourism Bretagne” or something like that. I guess this really isn’t the office of tourism and I wasted so much time and energy finding the place. With nothing better to do here, I went on to my next stop, Place de Bretagne.
On the way, I passed by Republique and contrary to what I had mentioned earlier that the city centre is deserted during weekends, there was surprisingly a crowd here. Probably today the weather was so fine. I reached the Place de Bretagne and felt cheated by the brochure. Really “diu dua”. There was nothing much to see here! Except for a gigantic Cross with Jesus crucified there. By now my feet were sore and my ankles aching. I had been walking for almost 2 hours non-stop. Then I went on to my last destination which was the train station. There were quite a number of brochures on how to get to various part of France via the train from Rennes. The timetables, pricing, etc were all there. I also observed how people take the train, which platform to go to and so on. Once they bought the ticket, they would wait for the signboard to show which platform they are supposed to go. The platform number would be shown 20 min before the departure of the train. Having gathered enough information, I thought it was time to go.
As I exited the station, I saw another small building which said “Gare Routieres” so I went and checked that out. I saw some coaches parked at the carpark and travelers with luggage waiting around the area. I went to the info booth and ask the man where the coaches go to. Then I found out that here is the place to take the direct bus to Mont St Michel! That means I do not need to take the train to Pontorson and take another bus from there. Previously, I found out a city called Fougeres from the net but couldn’t get any info on how to get there. I wanted to go there because the city had one of the most magnificent castles in Bretagne. But no TGV train goes there. Luckily I checked out this place and there is a bus that goes there. My curiosity had paid off. Even though the day started out badly, it ended well in the end. Feeling happy, I went back to INSA. It was about 430pm when I got back and I decided to make a call home.
Again there was no answer. It was 1130pm SG time and normally at this time there would be someone at home. I began to feel a bit worried especially my left eye was twitching for the past 1 week. In the end I sms my brother and he replied that dad and mum had gone out to play. I was really relieved to hear that. While typing this, my mum called my handphone but I cancelled the call as the charge for auto-roaming is very high. So I ran out to the public phone and used the reverse call function. Mum said that she and dad just came back from Marina Square. They had gone to the “Chun Dao He Pan Ying Xin Chun”. Really envious of them because I always like to go there during Chinese New Year. I told her that tomorrow I wouldn’t be around because I had to take a train to another city Vitre for sightseeing. Next week I wouldn’t be around too because I am planning to go St Malo on Saturday. She said the family would be going to my aunt’s house tomorrow and that was why she had to call me now. I told her that I would call once every 2 weeks from now on instead of every week. Because there isn’t much to talk now as I had already get used to the life here. Moreover, my weekends would be occupied for sightseeing and as for my parents, they also want to go out during the weekends. Mum asked me if I miss home and I said a little. Unlike a few weeks ago when I really want to fly back to Singapore asap, now I just hoped that I can finish the attachment earlier and go touring around France.
Additional: Just went to the kitchen I made myself a French toast. It was a disaster. My small pot was too small for my bread and I was so dumb not to tear up the bread first but just stuff it inside the pot. Then I got no oil so I used the instant noodle sesame oil but it wasn’t enough. In the end, it was a mess of egg and bread but smells good. Luckily my neighbour who was busy packing her stuffs because she just arrived did not come in. Else she would think Singaporean can’t cook. Must ask hui to teach me some simple meal on Monday.
Additional x 2: At 1010pm, it was very noisy outside the corridor. Apparently it was someone’s birthday and they were singing “Happy Birthday” song in French. No matter what language, the song always sounds so joyous.
Back in the room, I did some area cleaning. Then I took out the street map and located the Office of Tourism for Bretagne. I had already been to the one that is for Rennes. Now is for the entire region. I highlighted the street on the map and later I would find my way there on foot. So after half an hour or so, I went back to the laundry area to collect my clothes. It was very troublesome to wash my clothes here because I had to wear socks, sport shoes, coat before going as the laundry area is located in another block. When I reached there, I looked at the washing machine and almost went mad. The tumble was spinning but there were no clothes inside! Where the hell are my clothes! Back in NTU, there were cases where my bucket for collecting the clothes was stolen. I felt really panicky now because two third of the clothes that I brought here are inside! Or should be inside. After pondering for 5 min on what to do (should I buy new clothes or call the security), the machine slowed down and as it finally came to a halt, my clothes were there. Hahaha! ZX the moron! The tumble was spinning so fast that I couldn’t see my clothes inside. If I were to call the security to come, I think I would become famous in INSA.
This is the first time I am typing my journal at real time. That is I am typing at the present continuous context. Normally I would type my journal at night when all the events had happened. I just came back from the kitchen and I had cooked a pot of noodles with egg. Yeah! My favourite food is the egg and my mum used to say that if I eat too much of it, I would get an egg for my tests. I never believed her even when I was a kid and I never got a zero for a test before. There was a group of people in the kitchen eating and smoking. I just said hi and cooked my noodles there. I didn’t join in the conversation as they were speaking French and I didn’t intro myself as they were having their own fun. Before I left I said “salut”. Here when you want to say goodbye, you either say “salut”, “bye”, “see you” or “ciao”. The young people like to use “ciao”. I never use “au revoir” (goodbye) unless talking to admin or the shop assistants, etc but never with friends here. I also use “a demain” (at tomorrow) with some colleagues here.
Back in the room, it smells funny to eat noodles with clothes all over the place. The detergent smell mixed with the noodles’ was very irritating. Moreover, my pot had a big sticker at the bottom which I can’t remove and so whenever I cook, it would create some soot at the bottom and the smell is awful. But with an egg, I really felt full and ready for the long march to town later. Before I left, I made a call home but the operator said there was no answer. Perhaps they went out and so I decided to call later when I return. My first destination for today was the Office of Tourism for Bretagne. I got the address from a website. On the map, it looked pretty simple to get to there with just a few junctions. It was sunny today and it almost made me want to take off my coat. Almost. But as the wind blew, it was still quite chilling. Sometimes the wind was strong, sometimes weak but there would always be wind and so I couldn’t take out my map constantly. At one time while navigating, I even had to pin the map on the ground and squat down to look at the map.
After half an hour, I reached the landmark which was very near my actual destination. It was a psychological hospital. So feeling confident now, I moved on without referring to the map, thinking for sure my destination was in front. But somehow I turned into another street which was not found on the map. The more I walked, the more uneasy I felt and knew I had gone the wrong way. I back tracked but I didn’t want to go all the way back to the hospital. So I went back to somewhere in between and took another route. I was really being “geh kiang”. It was a worse route and led me further away. With no choice, I went back to the hospital and went into a phonebooth to look at my map again. This time I got everything sorted out and finally was on the right track. I had wasted an extra half an hour backtracking.
When I reached the Office of Tourism, I hesitated to go in because it didn’t look like one. It was like some kind of government agency building. I looked at the info board but it was in French. Then I found some words about tourism and Bretagne located at 2nd floor and I went up there. At the door, it looked like a real office with people working inside. It didn’t have a counter or brochures all over the place. I caught 3 ladies and asked them is this the Office of Tourism? All of them couldn’t understand English but they knew the word “tourism” and said no. I wanted to ask more but I guess it would be quite useless. So I loitered around the area and saw some other signs saying “committee tourism Bretagne” or something like that. I guess this really isn’t the office of tourism and I wasted so much time and energy finding the place. With nothing better to do here, I went on to my next stop, Place de Bretagne.
On the way, I passed by Republique and contrary to what I had mentioned earlier that the city centre is deserted during weekends, there was surprisingly a crowd here. Probably today the weather was so fine. I reached the Place de Bretagne and felt cheated by the brochure. Really “diu dua”. There was nothing much to see here! Except for a gigantic Cross with Jesus crucified there. By now my feet were sore and my ankles aching. I had been walking for almost 2 hours non-stop. Then I went on to my last destination which was the train station. There were quite a number of brochures on how to get to various part of France via the train from Rennes. The timetables, pricing, etc were all there. I also observed how people take the train, which platform to go to and so on. Once they bought the ticket, they would wait for the signboard to show which platform they are supposed to go. The platform number would be shown 20 min before the departure of the train. Having gathered enough information, I thought it was time to go.
As I exited the station, I saw another small building which said “Gare Routieres” so I went and checked that out. I saw some coaches parked at the carpark and travelers with luggage waiting around the area. I went to the info booth and ask the man where the coaches go to. Then I found out that here is the place to take the direct bus to Mont St Michel! That means I do not need to take the train to Pontorson and take another bus from there. Previously, I found out a city called Fougeres from the net but couldn’t get any info on how to get there. I wanted to go there because the city had one of the most magnificent castles in Bretagne. But no TGV train goes there. Luckily I checked out this place and there is a bus that goes there. My curiosity had paid off. Even though the day started out badly, it ended well in the end. Feeling happy, I went back to INSA. It was about 430pm when I got back and I decided to make a call home.
Again there was no answer. It was 1130pm SG time and normally at this time there would be someone at home. I began to feel a bit worried especially my left eye was twitching for the past 1 week. In the end I sms my brother and he replied that dad and mum had gone out to play. I was really relieved to hear that. While typing this, my mum called my handphone but I cancelled the call as the charge for auto-roaming is very high. So I ran out to the public phone and used the reverse call function. Mum said that she and dad just came back from Marina Square. They had gone to the “Chun Dao He Pan Ying Xin Chun”. Really envious of them because I always like to go there during Chinese New Year. I told her that tomorrow I wouldn’t be around because I had to take a train to another city Vitre for sightseeing. Next week I wouldn’t be around too because I am planning to go St Malo on Saturday. She said the family would be going to my aunt’s house tomorrow and that was why she had to call me now. I told her that I would call once every 2 weeks from now on instead of every week. Because there isn’t much to talk now as I had already get used to the life here. Moreover, my weekends would be occupied for sightseeing and as for my parents, they also want to go out during the weekends. Mum asked me if I miss home and I said a little. Unlike a few weeks ago when I really want to fly back to Singapore asap, now I just hoped that I can finish the attachment earlier and go touring around France.
Additional: Just went to the kitchen I made myself a French toast. It was a disaster. My small pot was too small for my bread and I was so dumb not to tear up the bread first but just stuff it inside the pot. Then I got no oil so I used the instant noodle sesame oil but it wasn’t enough. In the end, it was a mess of egg and bread but smells good. Luckily my neighbour who was busy packing her stuffs because she just arrived did not come in. Else she would think Singaporean can’t cook. Must ask hui to teach me some simple meal on Monday.
Additional x 2: At 1010pm, it was very noisy outside the corridor. Apparently it was someone’s birthday and they were singing “Happy Birthday” song in French. No matter what language, the song always sounds so joyous.
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