NICK CHAN DOT NET

Tag: Warsaw

Warsaw: Taking The Metro & Leaving To Krakow By PolskiBus

Eastern Europe Trip // Warsaw: Taking The Metro & Leaving To Krakow By PolskiBus – Day 4 of the whole Eastern Europe Trip, we leaved Warsaw early in the morning to Krakow! It was still dark out there when we stepped out of the hostel that I wouldn’t recommend (Jump Inn). Feeling fresh and cold and wandered our way to the metro station – Centrum. The funny thing about the metro station was the the disabled-gate was left opened and people passed through it without scanning ticket or something. Hmm? Hiak hiak hiak, We followed the local and wandered through the gate as well.

Upon getting on the metro, it sort of like bring me to somewhere else, not today, but back in time. The squarish metro train with red, white and blue stripes just looks so retro. It’s nothing like London’s Underground or Hong Kong’s MTR. It’s old, but still cool.

It’s still looking dark out there at Dworzec Autobusowy Metro Wilanowska (Wilanowska Bus Station), and we spent a bit time at the convenient store for for breakfast while waiting for the arrival of the bus to Krakow – PolskiBus. Yes, we are budget travellers, and bus is our best friend for bring us around and PolskiBus is a good one because there’s Wifi and powerpoint for charging! And the other thing is, the bus has a toilet too!

Bye Jump Inn!

Bye Jump Inn, and no thank you. Thank you in Polish is Dziekujie (Jin-ku-yah)

On the way to Krakow, one of the oldest city in Poland and also is a very exciting place as well!

February 25, 2014
Warsaw: KFC’s Chicken Wings Are Finger Freaking Good

Warsaw: KFC’s Chicken Wings Are Finger Freaking Good! – Seriously, the KFC in Warsaw is damn good, especially the chicken wings! Well, it’s our dinner on our third day in Warsaw and some might think it’s weird that we were having KFC there because we could actually eat KFC back in the UK or Malaysia. Well, KFC in UK sucks because there’s no chilli sauce, nor the chicken is crispy enough. KFC back in Malaysia is awesome, with great Thai chilli sauce as condiment but then there’s no chicken wings as addictive as this bucket.

For about 40 Zloty (RM40++), we get about 32+1 chicken wings which I find it reasonable and mouthwatering! I can now recommend that KFC is one of the must-try. LOL.

February 25, 2014
Warsaw: Palace Of Culture And Science That Looks Like Empire State Building

Eastern Europe Trip // Warsaw: Palace Of Culture And Science That Looks Like Empire State Building – Standing at the heart of Warsaw, the capital of Poland is the Palace of Culture and Science (Palac Kultury i Nauki, PKiN), which I normally call it the Empire State Building of Poland as it really looks a bit a like with the one in New York City except this being very short, like a dwarf version of it (237m height).

A little history about the building is the name was formally called Joseph Stalin Palace of Culture and Science, only after Soviet Union went down and they remove Mr Stalin’s name from it. As being the city’s most visible landmark, one will not missed it, it’s also located at the central train station. The building currently serves as an exhibition and offices with the Museum of Communism at the ground floor.

Initially thought of heading up to the observation floor to check it out, but the ticket to go up there is 17 Zloty, so we’ve decided to move on and spend the money somewhere else. A picture below of the building is more than enough. YEAH!

Some tank exhibition down the Palace of Culture and Science.

A picture, down below.

The modern side of Warsaw is just opposite of the palace. Cool!

February 24, 2014
Warsaw: Stare Miasto (Old Town) Revisited In Daytime

Warsaw: Stare Miasto (Old Town) Revisited In Daytime – Day 3 of Warsaw was serious for us, no more waking up late as this is the last day for us! Only two places to visit on this day and that’s to Stare Miasto (Old Town) again to have a better view in daytime and also to check out the Palace of Culture & Science, and that’s it for Warsaw.

Third day in Warsaw and I still didn’t get a glimpse of the sun, it’s cloudy but the fog was away already and the vision was getting clearer, but it’s still cold, at about 3-4 degree celcius. We took the tram to Stare Miasto as it’s quite convenient which connects directly to the main square of old town. Both night and daytime visit gave a different perspective of the place, there’s more tourist and people during daytime and it gets beautiful when it lights up at night during Christmas. So I was quite happy I’ve visited the place twice during day and night.

A clearer vision for the day in Warsaw!

Stare Miasto is on top!

A very small Carrefour Express.

Warsaw National Stadium can be seen from here.

Zapiecek, I’ve been here on the first day in Warsaw. Pretty good Polish food, dumplings.

The ‘ONE’ guy.

Well, I’ve found the original Penang bicycle mural art here. I think the famous bicycle mural by Ernest in Penang was inspired by this two fellas on a bicycle!

Feeding the bird.

FLYYYYY.

With a bear, glad that I did not get electrocuted. The whole thing lights up at night!

Press for crossing. CZEKAJ, DOTKNIJ. LOLMAO.

Back to the tram stop, next stop, the Palace of Culture & Science.

February 24, 2014
Warsaw: Kebab Dinner, National Stadium

Warsaw: Kebab Dinner, National Stadium – Things get boring in Warsaw as there’s not much to do and the 4 of us had decided to hop on the tram (randomly) and head to a place far to look for food. As the tram got further away from the city and tall buildings, we got panic and alighted at somewhere near the National Stadium. It’s still fine, just crossed a bridge.

Trying to look for something different other than kebab that stand right in fronts of the tram stop, we walked into an unknown neighbourhood of Warsaw. Along the way, we came across with a Ukrainian Restaurant, an Italian Restaurant (no more, because of the heavy lunch), and a bakery, that’s it. That’s pretty deep into the neighbourhood, like 20 minutes from the tram stop, and we’d decided to head back to the kebab. =D Still, kebab is the best thing and cheapest thing to eat.

Day 2, the Palace of Culture & Science was still covered in cloud. What a foggy foggy weather it was.

A quiet neighbourhood.

Here comes the KEBAB feast.

Warsaw National Stadium, the venue of semi final for UEFA Euro 2012!

A couple on the street.

February 23, 2014
Warsaw: Got Scammed 40 Zloty For Pasta Meal

Eastern Europe Trip // Warsaw: Got Scammed 40 Zloty For Pasta Meal – Day 2 in Warsaw, damn, we woke up at 12 and only willing to head out of the hostel at about 2pm. I guess we have forgotten to change our clock an hour forward. LOL. The night was coming as we headed out to look for lunch. We were just so lazy and unexcited about the city as we had 3 days in Warsaw. Day 2 was either head back to the Old Town or to look for Christmas Market, but since the night was so near, we went to ‘Christmas Market’. (There’s actually no Christmas Market in Warsaw, I guess we’d just mistaken the super market as Christmas Market when we asked about it at our hostel. LOL).

We were looking for food, but had no idea what to eat. Not kebab again, nor McDonald’s or KFC. We were quite stingy as well, and then came across a board writing 17.9 Zloty for an Italian set menu. Without any hesitation, we just went in a sat down. The friendly boss came and showed us the menu and it was like no where near 17.9Zloty. The boss who were unable to speak a proper English nor us able to speak Polish or Italian, we were like pointing this and that. We asked about the set lunch that was written out there, the boss said lunch hour is over, we were like ‘OMG, let’s go?’, then in a few minutes, he came and told us it’s still available in the kitchen.

Tried to ask about what’s included in the set but we just couldn’t get a proper answer. We only know it’s pasta and we did ask about the price again to be sure, the boss was like saying ‘forty, fourteen, forty’. Well, it seems reasonable 14Zloty for a pasta, hardly speak further with a different language, we said OK with enthusiasm.

First a soup of unknown, tasted garlic and onion, which was quite nice. Later a spaghetti pasta of nothing, with no meat but tasted sweet and tomato. A bit disappointed but still reasonable with the price. =) BUT, when the bill came, it was 40Zloty per person. Gosh! Scammed. Make sure you ask properly about the price, properly as in really proper, written in black and white before ordering something that is too good to be true. Feeling, mehh.

Passed by this cool place while looking for food.

The soup, garlic onion.

The spaghetti pasta.

February 22, 2014
Warsaw: Night At Stare Miasto (Old Town), Polish Food & Polish McDonald’s

Eastern Europe Trip // Warsaw: Night At Stare Miasto (Old Town), Polish Food & Polish McDonald’s – Stare Miasto means ‘Old Town’ in Polish, don’t be surprise if you see similar word like Stare Mesto in Prague, Slovakia and beyond, they all mean the same – Old Town. It’s not like the Ipoh Old Town White Coffee’s Old Town, it’s just one thing that most European cities have in common, a historic center of a city.

It’s quite funny that we go at night. Actually it was still daytime when we reached Warsaw, but we were slacking the the hostel room and only started the exploration when night falls at about 3pm. Nevertheless, we made in to the Old Town and it’s pretty quiet as not what I’ve expected. Is it because it’s night time?

Nevermind, we still walked around and went in to a Polish restaurant – Zapiecek to try some Polish food. We kept on seeing the name of ‘Zapiecek’ in the Old Town and there’s like a few outlets of it. No idea what Polish food was like and we were just tempted by an old Polish lady who keep on waving at us. She successfully lured us into the restaurant. Luckily, there’s English menu, it’s not surprise that their restaurant do not have an English menu because tourist does not frequent the place. Polish food is about dumpling, cheese, dumpling and cheese! In fact, most of the Eastern European food are about dumpling! Don’t mistaken their dumpling with Chinese dumpling, they are totally different thing. There’s another vegetable dish that we ordered taste almost like a Hainaese Bangkuang-Char, except it’s more sourish. Overall, a thumbs up for this meal as it’s something very new and I kinda like it.

Later then, we just navigate around freely to find the exit because we were lost in the Old Town! HAHA. Not that bad after all as the town is quite small and we ended taking a tram back to our hostel place. Reluctant to go back to hostel as there’s no wifi (never know that there’s hostel that doesn’t offers free wifi! – Jump Inn Warsaw), and we headed to McDonald’s for supper and wifi. Well, finally I can have McDonald’s that is cheaper than the UK. Chicken Box rocks.

Here’s me, a dark me.

Rocking Christmas tree at Warsaw’s Old Town.

The Old Town Square.

This is the restaurant that I’ve mentioned – Zapiecek. Not bad, you can give it a try.

The dumplings that I’ve mentioned, not shui gao, or wan tan, but their dumpling. There’s cheese in it.

The BangKuang-Char thing.

Some statue of soldiers outside the Warsaw Uprising Museum. Accidentally passed by this place while finding our way home. No GPS, no data, but found new place.

The quiet and unknown street.

A Polish road.

A patch of shity ice, again.

On the tram! Exciting.

Chicken Box for the supper, the Chicken Wings were just so awesome.

February 21, 2014
Warsaw: Ulica Nowy Świat – The High Street Of The City

Eastern Europe Trip // Warsaw: Ulica Nowy Świat – The High Street Of The City – After checking into the hostel (Jump Inn), the not-that-friendly receptionist ad pointed a few attractions in the city, and it seems that there’s really not much things to do. Warsaw is the capital of Poland but it’s not a famous tourist destination as there’s not much attractions. Could it be the influence of communist that I felt a bit like in China when I was in Warsaw.

Night falls early during winter and we had not eat anything since the last meal at London’s Stansted! Hungry and cold, and being alien to the place, we didn’t know what to eat. The name ‘Kebab King’ gave a familiar impression, and there’s just plenty of ‘Kebab King’ along the street, I guess it’s one of their local fast food chain that serves kebab. Interestingly, the kebab was good, finished everything in less than 15 minutes for four of us. Bravo.

Without any target destination, four of us just spend the night walking along Ul. Nowy Świat – a street that I consider it equivalent to standard European’s High St., like Oxford Street of London. Brands were boring and not much of food neither. The road stretch all the way to Stare Miasto (Old Town) and did has quite some nice Christmas lighting along the road, which I find it more interesting than London! The Ul. Nowy Świat is of course, one of the attraction in Warsaw. I did ask the reception about Christmas Market in Warsaw, but she said, no. Hmm?

In a foreign city out of Asia, and you are craving to see Chinese/Asian, there’s two place you can find them, one – Louis Vuitton and other branded label, two – the casino.

Oh tram, a public transport that hardly make sure everyone pays their ticket.

Working in a manhole.

This is Kebab King, the McDonald’s of Kebab.

University of Warsaw with a grand entrance. Moreover located on such a nice location.

Presidential Palace of Warsaw. Lovely!

A patch of shity ice. Guess I missed the snow falls.

February 20, 2014
Warsaw: Heading To City From Modlin Airport

Eastern Europe Trip // Warsaw: Heading To City From Modlin Airport – Being a very careful Asian tourist, and trying to save as much bucks as we can (or just trying to be super selfish), I wandered around the airport for a bit of time, trying to scout for the cheapest way to head to the city.

A bunch of cab driver swarmed to us and offer us a ride to the city for about 40Euro for all of us. It’s pretty obvious it’s very expensive, I cannot say they are scamming us, but they were offering us in Euro instead of Polish Zloty, so I guess it’s quite a rip-off. The information lady was very kind to show us the cheapest way, that is a about 15 Zloty per person by bus then via train to the city (Warsaw Central) and I guess the ticket include the public transport in the city Zone 1 for 60 minutes after validation as well. (But actually right, it can be cheaper! Forget about buying the bus ticket and just buy the train ticket because the bus driver didn’t even check the ticket also. Of course it’s illegal. :P)

The journey took about an hour and a half and we have to listen closely to the station announcement because there’s no English and Polish was like so new to me. The scenery along the was quite boring, it’s just like the other side of the world, definitely out of the ‘typical Europe’s expectation’, but it’s just cool getting away to somewhere different from Britain.

Waiting at the train station near the airport.

What a foggy day, just like Genting Highland and we couldn’t even see the short building of the Warsaw Palace of Culture and Science!

Woot, there’s a casino here in Warsaw.

February 18, 2014
London Stansted To Warsaw Modlin Via RyanAir

Eastern Europe Trip // London Stansted To Warsaw Modlin Via RyanAir – Last Winter, I’ve been on a trip to Eastern Europe, starting at Warsaw, then to Krakow, Bratislava, Budapest, Vienna, ended at Prague then back to London. It’s quite funny that how we actually planned the trip were that the 4 of us went on to Ryan Air website (airline like AirAsia of Europe), then search every destination that is listed on the website, checking that which one returns the cheapest air fare. Warsaw and Oslo were the cheapest place to fly to, at £12 for Warsaw and £6 for Oslo and ended picking Warsaw because travelling to Eastern Europe is a lot more cheaper than the Scandinavian.

After buying the air ticket, only then we started to look at Google Maps and plan our trip on how the journey goes. London > fly to Warsaw > bus to Krakow > bus to (Zakopane) > bus to (Poprad) > train to Bratislava > bus to Budapest > bus to Vienna > bus to London. It’s quite a budget trip we didn’t even think about a return air ticket, or look for train, it’s just bus all the way and guess what, the bus ticket back to London was the most expensive of all at about 50Euro!

Being in the UK, a part of Europe for a year is an opportunity for me to travel around since the transportation are so convenient and cheap. Moreover, there’s no problem for my Malaysian passport to travel around as no Visa is needed in the European Union countries, and you just never know that Europe is actually very small if to compare to other continent.

So the journey started in London, on the cheap airport transfer van (easyBus) that brought us to London Stansted Airport, it was night time already and we had to spend the night at Stansted Airport. Feeling excited and hungry, I had a burger at Burger King then tried to just find a spot, lie down and sleep; however, once I almost fall into my lovely dreamland, the airport security guard came and kick my leg and ask me to wake up, saying the airport is now open and no sleeping is allowed. ‘WTH?!”, nothing I can do but just wait until 6 something in the morning when the screen shows calling for our Ryan Air flight. London Stansted is the airport where most of the budget airlines are, but then it’s so much better than Kuala Lumpur’s AirAsia LCCT!

One thing that RyanAir is similar with AirAsia is that there’s no aerobridge that connects the plane, and you have to walk up to the plane. Yeah. Slept all the way to Warsaw and landed at Warsaw Modlin airport, I guess that’s not the main airport as it’s very small and located remotely from the city. Alien language started to appear everywhere, but luckily, not much of currency conversion was need as the Polish Zloty is almost equivalent to Ringgit Malaysia. Remember, use Poland Zloty instead of Euro is better.

Super foggy night at London Stansted.

Waiting terminal. Time to fly.

Lovely twilight from the plane, but I missed the sunrise as I was sitting on the west side.

Oh my god, foggy at Warsaw too! What a bad first day weather.

The small Warsaw Modlin airport.

February 13, 2014

WP2Social Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com