Tag Archives: Paris

Bisdak Babbles’ 6th year!

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As I celebrate my little girl’s 8th birthday, I’m also celebrating this blog’s 6th year!

I started this blog as “Idle Moments” in October 2006. I later renamed it to “Bisdak Babbles”. In 2008, I transferred from Blogger.com to this domain. Am I going to continue blogging? Yes, definitely!


I started this blog in Japan, so the photo to include in this post should be from Japan ^^

To mark this milestone, here’s 6 my of “6ths”:

France is the 6th country I have visited. I was able to stay in Paris for two nights and two days when I was sent to Lisbon, Portugal on a business trip in 2011. The first five countries I visited were: Japan, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport is the 6th international airport I’ve been to. I decided to go through Kuala Lumpur on my way back home to Philippines in December 2009. The first five airports were: Narita*, Kagoshima*, Sydney, Kansai* and Changi International Airport here in Singapore. And the least crowded airport was Kagoshima.

A very nice and quiet Shiojiri City in Nagano is the 6th city in Japan that I’ve visited. I stayed there for about 3 months when I was a trainee at Epson in 2001. Our apartments were very nice, too. I can still remember clearly how nice the bath tub was! The first first five cities were: Yokohama, Tokyo, Nagoya,, Kyoto, and Osaka. Yes, I’ve already been to Osaka before I went back to Japan in 2006.

The current company I’m working for is my 6th. I’ve been in this company for almost 4 years, my longest stay so far. I previously worked for companies in Philippines and Japan.

The 6th plane ride I took was from Kagoshima to Tokyo in 2001. It was the end of my training in Epson. It was such a sad day for me. After my 7 months stay in Kagoshima, I came to love the place. I hope I would have the chance to visit that city again.

Finally, on my 6th birthday, there was a power outage in our area. I know, because it’s in the photos. There were candles other than the ones on my birthday cake!

*Narita, Kagoshima, Kansai are all in Japan

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Souvenirs from Paris and Portugal

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When you visit a new place, what are the things that you would buy as souvenirs? I usually buy key holders and coasters for my family, friends and myself. I also add in postcards for myself. I have bought these postcards from Paris and Portugal. I wanted to put each card in each own frame or have one custom-made to put everything in. Then I’ve bought one poster of Eiffel Tower that I’ve wanted to take back home to Philippines but I couldn’t find a shipping tube for it. I was even surprised that it didn’t end up crumpled when I just stuffed it in my luggage from Portugal to Singapore.

Postcards

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The day when I said good-bye to Paris and Portugal

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I finally came around to writing about the last part of my travel to Paris and Portugal last February!

I only spent 7 days and 6 nights in Portugal but as I looked out from my hotel room, I knew I was going to miss the place. Who wouldn’t miss the place with such a magnificent and peaceful view as this? Not to mention the sumptuous breakfast, the huge bath tub, and the gigantic bed!

I wanted to explore Lisbon more but business trip was up. Staying longer would mean emptying my pockets. With a heavy heart, I managed to drag myself to the airport. I only paid 28 euros for cab fare. I was early and the check-in counter wasn’t open until 2 hours before departure so I managed to take some photos at the airport.

After checking in, I immediately proceeded to the boarding gates. I was surprised to find out that hand-carry luggage inspection in Lisbon is so strict. I even had to buy a transparent plastic bag for my toiletries!
I was still on business class on my way back so the food was great, especially the white cheese. In fact, I got a bit addicted to it.

Maybe because I was different (might be the only Asian passenger at that time) that I was asked to fill in another survey form. I filled in one during my flight from Singapore to Paris.

When I reached Paris, I had to transfer from Orly to Charles de Gaulle airport. The transfer was not hard but it was such a long walk.

Fortunately, I was offered to have my luggage transferred directly to my flight to Singapore. No more check-in was required so I headed directly to the business class lounge.

I wanted to take photos of the other business class lounges I’ve been to but it was not deserted such as in the photo above. I might get reprimanded taking photos with the rich people on it. :P

All in all, my trip to Europe was great. Indeed, a wish fulfilled and I will forever treasure it. I thank God for that gift.

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Your queue is over there

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I still woke up very early, mainly due to jet lag. I was quite blue because I wanted to explore Paris more but I couldn’t. So I left the hotel and was relieved that I only had to pay the amount stated in my online booking confirmation plus the breakfast meals. I couldn’t find a cab so I dragged my luggage (which seemed heavier) to the bus stop.

I was to go to the Paris Charles de Gaulle Terminal 2D. I arrived three hours before the departure time so I had to wait an hour before I was able to check-in. I tried to ask for early check-in but the lady at the counter just told me that my luggage could get lost if I do that.

I’ve never been comfortable taking photos at airports but I had to, having this blog in mind. :P Still, the Changi airport here in Singapore is better. Here are the Business Class and First Class check-in counters:

After checking in, I headed directly to the business class lounge and was delighted to have given the key to use the free wifi connection for 6 hours if I’m not mistaken. Wifi is free for everyone but only for 30 minutes. Aside from wifi, I also had my fill of sandwiches, coffee and bottled water at the lounge.

Traveling in business class (thanks again to a certain company policy) gave me the choice to go through the “N1 gate”, an express lane going to the boarding gates. I was not able to find it quickly so I approached an airport staff, pointed at my flight number in the ticket. He directed me to go to the farthest one. When I got there, the queue to the x-ray machine was just too long so I back-tracked and finally found the N1 gate. I gave the ticket to the attendant but without even glancing at the paper I was holding, she directed me again to the direction I’ve been through. Then I showed her my ticket and pointed at the “magic phrase”. When she realized her mistake, she gave me her apologies. Well, I don’t blame her because I obviously look like I couldn’t afford to travel in business class. Honestly, it is even worse, because with the state I am in now, I couldn’t even travel in Thailand or South Korea, which I’ve been longing to visit for years!

At the boarding gate…

So I finally left Paris with a few souvenirs and a lot more wishes. I wanted to buy some t shirts but 10 euros each was too much for me.

By the way, this Schengen Visa was really convenient. I didn’t have to go through immigration when I left for Portugal.

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Goodbye, Paris

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From the audio guide in the hop-on hop-off buses, I learned that quite a lot of the buildings in Paris just had minor renovations. How could they be still standing so elegantly when there were still no metal buildings centuries ago! Anyway, one of the things in Paris that bewitched me was the sunset. It just made the buildings glow…

After my visit at the Louvre, I walked to the souvenir shops near the Notre Dame Cathedral. I wanted to buy a lot of those Eiffel Tower miniatures/key chains but my bag was still full of sweets from Singapore.

I lost track of time looking through post cards and I missed the hop-on hop-off bus. I walked and walked hoping to find the tall tower close to the hotel but I ended up in a dark alley. (That tower looked so near based on the map!) To make things worse, it even took me so long to find a cab! It was Valentine’s Day so most of the cabs were occupied. I looked at the restaurants but wondered why most were still deserted. Was it because it’s still 6PM? Thankfully, I got myself a cab with an English-speaking driver. I bought a sandwich for dinner and retired to bed early.

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Musée du Louvre

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Like the other tourist spots in Paris, the Louvre Museum was filled with tourists. A Chinese guy was kind enough to take two of my five photos in Paris…


There was a long queue going into the museum that I almost decided not to go inside. But that could be my only chance to visit Paris, so I endured the long queue and went inside.

One of the ticket booths:

The ticket cost 10 Euros but it was worth it, having seen the famous Mona Lisa. Not to mention, I was able to use the toilet.

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On the way to the Louvre Museum

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It was almost 4PM and I still haven’t seen first hand that famous glass pyramid at the Louvre Museum. Nevertheless, I stayed at the open, top deck of the bus and thoroughly enjoyed the scenes on the way there (even if I could no longer feel my fingers and ears). I was almost tempted to get off the bus because there was a better place to view and get a better photo of the Eiffel Tower:

And this building (forgot the name) was right in front of it…

I’m not sure what are these. Apartments, perhaps? It would be great to try living there…

Golden statues…

And, here it is, finally!

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The bus did it again

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After getting rid of hunger and of some fluids, I was in my best condition to continue exploring Paris again. So I headed to the pickup point, being confident that the bus would be there in 30 minutes at most.

I spent the first few minutes observing the people around me, proving more and more that many people in Paris don’t follow traffic rules. Luckily, no crazy guy approached me, but a woman (who didn’t look like a tourist to me because she didn’t have a camera on hand) asked me if I could speak English. I just shook my head, keeping in mind what happened at the Eiffel Tower. 40 minutes since I started waiting, still no bus! I was getting agitated because I only had but a few hours and I still haven’t gone inside the Louvre Museum! Also, I haven’t taken a photo of myself with these wonderful buildings in the background.

Then a Chinese couple joined me at the pickup point. Obviously, they were tourists too because the guy had a DSLR. They looked so friendly and the guy was fluent in English, so I asked them to take a photo of me (my second and third one in Paris).

Actually, with my eyeglasses on, many Chinese tourists mistook me for a Chinese tourist.
Finally, after an hour and 10 minutes of waiting, the bus finally appeared! But we didn’t get out of the avenue fast because of the heavy traffic.

The pickup point that I was looking for before having lunch? I was actually on the right track but I was just too anxious that I missed the small pickup point sign!

It was already 3:30PM so I made a decision that no matter how marvelous a certain building I find along the way, I should by all means not get off the bus and head directly to the Louvre Museum.

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