My 23rd Birthday: 29th November 2009

Happy 23rd Birthday Max!

My Birthday is my happiest day of the year - IMHO.

Well basically it's because the spotlight is on ME only.

My your telephone will get flooded by congratulatory SMSes.

Not forgetting my Facebook wall too - will be scribbled by a lot of well wishers.

My friends will try their best to surprise me with a party of some sort.

Or if that doesn't work out, they will just treat me on a birthday dinner.

And the most exciting part is when the gift is brought out - I just don't know what is it!

Thank you everyone for making my 23rd Birthday a memorable one.

I will cherish these memories as long as I can remember.

Love you all!

These are people whom I hold close and dear to my heart.

Thanks for the lovely gifts! You guys knew what I liked the most - chocolates and perfumes!

[ <3 Thank you <3 ]

Day 6: Storming Moscow

OH NO.

The dreaded day came.

MY LAST DAY OF MY TRIP.

Okay - there is no use whining. Better make the most of the limited time that we had.

Poor thing. Saw him on the streets begging for money. Curse those humans who forced these poor animals to attend to their  unnecessary needs.

Woke up. Packed everything although it was nearly impossible. One-hour journey to Domodedovo International Airport. Had lunch there. Bid farewell to uncle and aunty. Went back to Moscow City centre by the aero-express. Checked the time of our train back to Kursk. 

7 p.m. 

What is the time now?

5.30 p.m.

DRATZ. I have at most 1 hour to shop!

Darn it.

Let's start!

SHOPPING A SUCCESS!!!

Uber-cool tie with shades of blue and hints of silver from Mexx. Valued at 5430 roubles.

Black cardigan-jacket from Zara Homme. Valued at 3990 roubles.

Black cardigan with purple borders from Bershka. Valued at 1290 roubles.

Okay - these 3 are enough! What is the time now? 

6.30 p.m.!

Okay - good bye Moscow! Till we meet again soon! I've got a train to catch!

Oh and we met some really friendly and cool Russian youngsters on board, and we became instant friends!

Nice to meet you, Anton Yakovlev & Anyuta Yeliseeva!

Day 5: Storming Moscow

Okay, now we've reached Moscow! First things first, let's head to our apartment!

Aww - this is the owner's cat.

WOW - and we have a piano at home too! Coolness~~

Okay - basically this is our last day of quality holiday. Tomorrow is going to be super-packing day for uncle and aunty (going back to Malaysia) and for us (going back to Kursk - sigh~~)

Where to: The Red Square, Kremlin, and the Arbat Street.

Kremlin at the Red Square

Supposedly you make wishes on this spot as you throw a coin over your shoulder.

The Red Square

Who wants to take pictures with Lenin?

This place just attracted my attention.

Arbat Street!

Statue of Russia's most famous poet Alexander Pushkin, and his wife.

Spring Shopping Complex

Mu-Mu Cafe.

Okay - I think this is enough for our holiday...

WAIT!!!

I HAVEN'T SHOPPED ANYTHING YET!!!!

sigh.

I guess I have to do it tomorrow then.

But will I succeed in the rush?

*crossing fingers*

Day 4: Storming St. Petersburg

Okay - it was our 4th day in the beautiful city of St. Petersburg. Hurry hurry up - we have got to cover more parts of the city!

Today's destination is the Spas-Na-Krov, which is the The Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood (Cool name huh?)

Anyway this church was supposedly built here on the site of where Emperor Alexander II was fatally wounded and died on the spot - after an allegedly 7th attempt on his life. So to commemorate the Resurrection of Christ - this church was built here. (IDK about you, but I think this description is quite odd - don't ask me I just took the info from the St. Petersburg guide!)

View in daylight and under the moon.

In front of the gates.

Griboedov canal.

Me and best buddy Vin on the bridge of the canal. 

Uncle was nearly frozen to death (well he wasn't too accustomed to the mild weather yet :P) so he wanted to buy a scarf on the spot! Try this on for size, uncle!

We didn't enter the church because I WAS ADAMANT about it. I don't want to enter another historical hoo-haa and i have to pay for it when I know I'm not going to be impressed again. So off we go to the Palace Square and Alexander Column nearby, and the General Staff Building was in the vicinity.

Palace Square with Alexander Column

The General Staff Building

As we made our way back to our lodgings - I took the view around the famous Prospekt Nevskij (The main street in St. Petersburg) 

I had to take this. A Roman Catholic church! Me being an RC - I had an urge to do so :P

Okay - officially we have covered most of the main attractions of St. Petersburg - and we have to get back to our lodgings and pack for our next destination: MOSCOW!!!

So we got on a VERY VERY comfortable train from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Now this is what you call a pleasant journey!

Good night!

I guess I couldn't sleep yet - my stomach was growling. 

Hungry~~~~ Train cafe, here I come!

Day 3: Storming St. Petersburg

Well this is my first blog post for 2010 - and Happy New Year first of all! I have a LOT to catch up...so let's not waste much time, and cut the chase shall we?

Well, where did I stop like 2 months ago?

Day 3: Storming St. Petersburg

Well, as far as I can remember the 3rd day we went to visit the Hermitage or also known as the Winter Palace. Supposedly it was the winter retreat for the Tsar and his royal family, but now it has been preserved into a high-class museum.

Picture collage

Grand gallery

Tsar's throne

Truthfully I HATED visiting museums. They bore me. The only exciting part is to take pictures of the unique items on display. The most you can get out of me from visiting a museum is "Oh wow - that MUST be old." God - I was soooo bored!

Energy....drained...need to...rechargeee......need FOOD!

We had lunch at an authentic Russian Restaurant - Елки-Палки (transliteralized as Yolki-Palki). The interior ambience really reflected the cozy interior of a warm Russian home, kept crisp by good interior heating systems - be it a fireplace or a hot water piping system. So, what was on the menu? We ordered a myriad of Russian delicacies: 

Борщ (Borshch - Beetroot soup with beef and cabbages and potatoes with sour cream)

Солянкя (Soljanka - Thick spicy and sour soup made of picked cucumbers with brine, cabbages, salty mushrooms and beef) 

Кутлеты (Kutlet'y - Cutlets of beef, pork and chicken, fried or baked) 

Биф-строганоф (Bif-stroganof - Beef strips stewed in cream with black pepper, which was (strangely) served upon a bed of fettucini) 

Шашлик (Sashlik - Skewered pieces of pork roasted with peppers and tomatoes, served with piquant dipping made of fresh grated onions and peppers with vinegar)

Компот (Kompot - Chilled concoction of dried fruits and berries)

Wow - now that is what I call a good meal!

Then after that we just wandered off to some random shops along the way home. TOO TIRED! We shall continue the next day! Good night!