You have to live spherically - in many directions. Never lose your childish enthusiasm - and things will come your way

Europe was truly a cultural experience worth having. I actually got that quote from "Under the Tuscan sun", a film that was shown during a long tour bus journey towards Florence in Italy. It was a romantic film set in the beautiful and cultural-rich Italy, and the life quotes it provided (where the main actress narrated) really intrigued me, and possibly even made me try to change the way I live. You see, we often are misguided by so many advertisements, "sound advice" from educators and experts alike, so much so that our values are misaligned and we are often left confused about what exactly is our moral purpose in life. What we set out to achieve may actually be what our governments want us to do, and our freedom is perpetually suppressed by systems in place to ensure that we are merely products of a detailed plan. Why go the standard path? The rewards are all the same. The best experiences in life, I feel, consists of the relations/conversations you have with people, and the sights and sounds of our natural world. You don't have to travel, although that might enrich your experience bank. You just have to go out there, and experience it all. Another relevant quote at this point might be "Read everything, absorb all the information you can. Whether its good or bad, discern for yourself." This self-explanatory quote tells us that any piece of information is as valuable as any experience. This is where "childish enthusiasm" is applicable. If you seek knowledge with the fervor and curiosity you had as a child, you will only have gains! Because against those who only seek for specific information they want, you have all sides of it available to you -- the sphere of information! Life is rough, yes, but ride the seas, take life by the reigns, and your life will be well-lived no matter what "bad experiences" may have disheartened you. Be both the spectator and actor, refine your own method of living. What you do doesn't matter, really. Well as long as you don't dwell into crime or try to prevent others from living their own lives. What matters is you have done it, and when you have lived your life, you'll look back, and never regret what you have done. At this point, I urge you to do this: whenever you listen to a song, try to focus on its lyrics if they have any. They usually are quite interesting, sometimes even useful. They represent the various emotions of the artistes, and reflect the state of our society. Again, useful information. On my European tour, I went to 5 countries: France, Italy, Switzerland, Monaco and Germany. Germany was just a transit back to Paris, where I took the return flight to Singapore. I started of in the heart of France -- Paris, particularly at the Mcdonald's where we met our tour leader. In paris, we visited the Arc de Triomphe, which was basically a huge-ass arc in the middle of a roundabout in one of the busiest streets in Paris. Tons of vehicle circle about the arc and there are no traffic lights there, so you can't even jaywalk safely lol. To get there you had to go through an underground pass. We weren't able to go to the top though, but the bird's eye view of Paris was reserved for Eiffel tower anyway, and it was raining that day. Musee de Louvre was exceptionally crowded. More importantly, the chocolate shops just outside the entrance of the museum had products comparable to Swiss chocolate. There are basically 4 sections in the louvre, but everybody goes to the section where the famous Mona Lisa by LDV is located (Also the winged triumph and other paintings). I only toured this section and one other section, which wasn't really interesting as it was filled with old egyptian/ arabian art and some roman statues. There's a sphinx there too. The mona lisa is located in a room off the right of a huge walkway filled with wall paintings and period paintings. When we went there there was a huge crowd (not surprising) gathered right infront of the painting, blocking much of the view. There is a huge painting of a banquet facing it at the other end. To get a close-up u have to zoom in on the painting (which is enclosed in a glass case, with a guard on standby) and even so you probably can't get a good picture. After this we went to visit the Eiffel tower. So apparently the Eiffel tower was built as an entrance to the world expo in 1890+, quite interesting. But it became the tallest building in the world then, and the tallest in the area currently. In reality, it is quite monstrous in size. There are elevators that go diagonally through each of the legs of the tower, or you can take the stairs (yes there are spiral staircases) which is incredibly time-consuming. There are 3 floors, and on the top (which is a few metres below the apex), you can enter a fenced-up area to take photos of Paris buildings. There is also a bar there and a restaurant on the 2nd floor. On the 1st and 2nd floors, you can take pretty cool shots from below to make it look like you're jumping off the tower. Honestly the view from the top is not very interesting, as it just looks very flat with a river in between. Most of the buildings are very short. What's cool is the elevator ride up and down. The time-consuming part was queueing up for tickets. At night, the tower is really very beautiful. It was actually converted into a radio tower sometime ago to prevent it from being taken down because of complaints. It hosts 2 of the most powerful laser lights which scan the city. In the night, about 8pm, it sparkled so much it looked like glitter in the sky and at that time was a great addition to the Christmas mood. Its best to experience it in person :). If I recall correctly the street food like their crepe and special bread with meat is great to have when taking in the sight. After this we went to switzerland to stop by in Lucern, which is basically a city by the lake. There is an old bridge that wasn't bombed there above the lake. I saw swans in real life, and they are indeed very graceful. You can also see their electrical trams. All in all a very peaceful place, with nice people. I didn't manage to buy swiss chocolate from their wholesale shops, instead I got some at a convenience store. Its pretty cool too, with liquor trapped in the milk chocolate.

i'll alight at your heart
12:13 AM