Bruges, Day 1

From Brussels, I took a train to Brugges, all ready, excited, worried and relieved to meet Tom, a Belgian. Worried, because if he doesnt turn up due to some last min stuff, my planning is screwed. Excited, for what he could show me of Brugges. Relieved, for I did not worry about where to go and where to sleep and being alone. He texted me that he'll be slightly late. Alright. At the train station, I sat there waiting for Tom, who shortly appeared. We walked out of the train station, and I saw the hugest carpark of bicycles. Tom came with a car, and I deposited my bag into his car. He took me for a walk, round the small but really really pretty town of Brugges. I remember Heather said she loved this town. I can understand why. Brugges is really pretty.

1st picture of Tom and I, in Brugges.
And we catch up on each other's lives. Tom is a good tour guide :). Having a local friend is cool. I worry and stress not about getting lost, trying to figure out the history, culture and things to see and do.

 Shared some truffles which I bought in Brussels with Tom.

Very detailed, life-like expressions

The town of Bruges

Tin Tin came from Belgium

On the way to the Grand Place

Then, we walked to the Grand Place of Bruges. Another square with the most beautiful buildings and architecture around. Typical European central Town.

The Belfort
I am quite impressed with the Belfort's majesty.

From the Belfort, Tom showed me around the little streets of Bruges.

 Under Construction.

As Tom struggled with map reading (of his town!! expect him to know this small place on his fingertips already!), I realised that this map is really really special. Its woven. Yes, and you can see the building through the map, this map is loosely woven. Cool eh. Problem is, you need to figure which side to look from. That took a while.
After a while, he got it figured, and off we go to walk the streets somemore, and visit a small pond with lotsa swans.

This town is really really quaint, quiet, and nice. A good place to lead the simple life. Part of me just hoped that I was born here, and lives here. Owns a humble shop and lead a happy simply life.

I can own a chocolate shop (:.


Finally reached the pond. It really is full of swans. I've never seen so much swans in my life.

More swans in the pond.

Near here, I met this Malay Malaysian couple from Brussels again. They were rather lost and asked Tom for directions.

Me: "You 2 just came from Brussels right?"

Them: "Yea how did you know?"

Me: "Well, I saw you in Brussels, we were at a shop selling wafers. You asked for the price and I noticed your English accent. It had to Malaysian or Singapore Malay"

Them: "Oh wow. Yea, and we came from Amsterdam before Brussels. Did you?"

Me: "Oh yea I did. That's really cool."

Them: "We are from Malaysia. You are from Malaysia/Singapore?"

Me: "Singapore"

Them: "Cool. Thanks for noticing us"

And all the while, the guy had his camcorder on me. His camcorder perpetually on. Im in some random guy's honeymoon video log.

Thereafter, Tom decided that he was really hungry, and should get back home for a quick meal. So we went back to get his car. 

And I noticed that beside the carpark, just outside the train station, is a huge bicycle-park! Look at the number of bicycles!

As I sat in his car, I got kinda excited to visit his countryside.
On the way, he asked at what speed do we usually drive in Singapore.

I said "90"

He was amazed, because he was already driving at 130, and I didnt noticed. 90 was like real slow for him. Well, we dont have vast lands of countryside roads like big countries do. (And I remember Tom saying that Belgium was really really small and didnt believe that Singapore was smaller. He wikied it in front of me and was convinced. Wahliew)
On the way back.

Cows, Cows, Cows of different colour. The ride across the countryside was sweet, peaceful, restful, despite him going at 130, it feels peaceful.



We reached the countryside and this is where Tom lives.

Reached Tom's house. It looks like a worn-down farm at one-side. I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to sound offending. But Tom exclaimed "my house looks like a old farm from this side yes? Well, you will see the rest after I parked my car"

The rest of the house was simply amazing. Like the dream house I always wanted - Glass walls crystal clear looking across vastless grass and cows.

And to my surprise, Tom's entire family lives together. His elder brother, him, his parents. Which is really rare, cause most of my Western friends dont live with their family. They rather move out and have an apartment of their own. And moreover, Tom is very very thoughtful towards his family, reminding me not to make any sound at night, when his parents are asleep. To walk softly, not to bathe etc. It reminded me of the old traditional asian family.

His backyard consists of a farm, though the farm does not belong to his family. His father is an architect and his mum is a nurse.

Saw this very pretty basket in his house. The dried roses looks good. I kinda like dried roses more than fresh ones cos dried ones kinda signifies eternal love. You never know when the fresh ones will be thrown into the bin. Its the dried ones that stood the test of time and situations.

Whatcha eating Tom?

As we were eating, his mum came home, and we had a very good chat. We talked about some hospital stuff and I told her how NSFs in Singapore loves to go to the hospital for therapy because that means they get to book out. They are the only ones, who walks into a hospital with a huge smile.

Me: "The army boys are the only boys in the physio and orthopedics department who's always smiling and happy, and the nurses are happy too"

She: "Why? In Belgium, I see sad faces when they come to me with injuries. It makes me sad."

Me: "cos we get to escape from tough training if we get to book out for treatment (:"

She: "HAHAHAHAAHAHAAA"

I was shown my humble guest room. It was a small and sweet room. I liked it alot.

Next, her mum recommend that Tom bring me to the beach. I was like "You have a beach here? How come I never read of it". With an expression of shock with a little hint of insult, she replied "Yes, we have a beach. A very nice one". I humbly acknowledged and accepted the recommendation of the beach.

Tom also had to run an errand, to deliver a letter to his uncle, for his mum. Looks like an even rarer case of extended family living in the same town.

His uncle's house is like those in the cartoon, with gnomes figurines. Next stop, to the beach!

On the way to the beach.

The small town beside the beach.

The beach

Strange architecture along the beach.

On the other side of the sea, is England.

 

Our footsteps, which I tried so hard to capture while he keeps running away.

There's a restaurant by the sea, ahead.


Beside the restaurant.

Its a very nice place to have a meal, in summer. Now's too windy and cold.

But windy also means, lotsa surfers. Though I dont understand how they can stand the cold, freezing waters. Neither do Tom.

On the way back!

There was a hitchhiker by the road. He wrote on a cardboard stating the place he wants to go and looks like he's been standing there for very long. Tom actually stopped to check the place he's going and chat with him. Unfortunately, its not along the way and Tom didnt pick him up. I was very surprised that Tom would pick a hitchhiker up, saying that in Singapore and probably in Asia, nobody would do that because it is not safe. Moreover, Singaporean mentality is such that they would not care about other people's business. Tom says that if he was in the guy's shoes, he'll want people to pick him up too, so he can understand.

I managed to catch the sunset, on the way back. Its been a good day. The first day on my trip, that I had a friend to guide me. It feels safe and good. End of Bruges, Day 1.