During our dinner session, we had a discussion to conclude where we are going for vacation during the Singapore holidays season in November and December and my brother and sister in law, who is stationed in Shanghai, may also be joining us on our trip to Japan in November.

As you may know, the cost of living in Japan is pretty expensive and we were all talking about ways and possibilities of how we can utilize the number of days and the budget we have to maximize our stay and enjoyment in Japan.

Isn’t that what most people who are at work or even on shoestring budget think about most of the time when they are planning for vacations?

Like what I mentioned on my previous post, I have really made a conscious decision to become a millionaire so that I do not have to be concerned of saving tens of dollars or getting the useless free gift from a travel fair. I know this may pissed some people off and I don’t mean to but unless one changes the state of mind to become wealthy, we will always be stuck in a poverty consciousness mindset.

We should start changing our mindset to a Prosperity Consciousness mindset and from then on, we can start going to vacations anytime and anywhere without having to worry about the cost.

Would you like to have that too?

I am sure you would because I sure will!

To your dream vacation!

Eugene Goh

On the Sunday when were about to leave Hunchun for Yanji to catch a flight to Changchun, we stopped by a place called the broken bridge and that is the closest where I got to North Korea. We could hear the radio playing Korean songs and with Korean commentary and surprisingly there was no border police on both ends but we did not dare to go near as we were fearful of getting shot.

I took a picture of North Korea from the Chinese border and that is the closest I would want to be near to North Korea because up till this point in time, North Korea is a mystery to me.

All these years I have been lucky and conservative too because I always had my friends with me when we are out for dinner and he will normally place the order with the waitresses in the small restaurants, which we go to regularly.

If I am not having dinner with my friends, I would normally eat in the hotel as I fear of the unknown when I step out of the hotel or would have difficulties ordering food.

Last week when I was in Ayutthaya, my friend had something on and couldn’t join me for dinner and I had to eat alone. I had also decided that I would not eat in the hotel because I know that the small restaurants served nicer and tastier food that the hotel’s coffee garden.

I am glad I had learned the ordering of food in Thai 12 years ago as I managed to order something I had wanted to eat and it really tasted real good.

Well, if learning language is something you liked, then maybe starting with the ordering of food in a foreign language could serve you well? At least you won’t go hungry, hehehe….

Hunchun is located in the north eastern part of China where it is very close to North Korea and Russia. I must say that I am really surprised to see all the developments in Hunchun because previously, it always look very grim to me.

Maybe it is also because of the morning walk that has allowed me to see Hunchun from a different perspective and it also teaches me to look at things from different view.

When we were about to leave Hunchun for another city, we stopped by a place where they called it the “Broken Bridge” and that is the closest a person can get to North Korea. We were walking halfway through the bridge and did not want to cross further for fear of the North Korea soldiers shooting at us.

It was a pleasant experience for this trip to Hunchun.

We were at this restaurant called Carlsund and according to Mrs Hedes, this restaurant serves authentic Odense food and we were all looking forward to it since the 4 of us, Jon, Goh, Kumpol and I, are all food lovers.

When the meal was served, we were shocked! We did not know that pork lard is one of the favorites for the Odense people and while we were tucking in, we were talking about how good if we could have some chili or spices to go with the food, since that is still the way of Asian eating.

After a sinful meal, we decided to take a short walk by the lake to help digest our food and took some photos along the way. In one of the picture where Goh was taking a close up shot of the swans, the rest of us, Jon, Kumpol and I were shouting away trying to scare the swans and turn around and bite Goh. We really had a good time!

Unfortunately, Mr. Hedes passed on last year and all of us did not had the chance to pay our respects to him and we have decided during the end of last year to do so. I am glad we did so paying our last respects.

The following are just some of the pictures I took in Odense from the backyard of Mrs Hedes house; the nice and clean environment of the front entrance to her house; the strong wind we were enjoying at the seaside (look at the ripples created by the pier) to the nice sunny sky shining through the clouds.

On 15th January 2008, Jon and I arrived in Copenhagen airport where Goh and Kumpol picked us up from the airport with the rented car and we made our trip directly to Odense from the airport. It was about 2 hours drive with nice scenery along the way.

Since end 2007, I have made a conscious decision to start making side trips looking around some nice attractions during my business travel because it is really a shame and a waste not to make those side trips since we are already within the vicinity.

The start of 2008 in January with a trip to Odense and Copenhagen is one of the best decision I ever made. Though it was only a 3 days trip with Jon, Kumpol and Goh, I must admit that I had lots of fun and it has been a long time since the 4 of us got together to have some nice fun.

I had taken some pictures on our first day of arrival at Odense, enjoy:

Managed to upload my photos to my notebook and to a slide show anyone can see. Enjoy:

I am feeling both sad and happy at the same time.  Sad because I will be away from my family for about 3 weeks and happy because I am going to meet my colleagues in Europe and at the same time, my company is exhibiting in Domotex Hannover.

The other thing that I am more excited about is the wonderful gourmet that we are going to have in Hannover.  According to our previous visits, the restaurants that we patronize with our customers during Domotex is surrounding a lake that was man made by Hitler during the WWII for Hitler and his officers to relax during summer time.

Will keep you updated and definitely with lots of photos this time round since I have the new FujiFilm digital camera with me.

Till then, keep you posted in Europe!

Eugene Goh