Thai Tour Guide Impersonation

Whilst on our Europe vacation package last December, we were fortunate to have Ricky Tiang from Chan Brothers Travel as our tour manager.

Ricky was not only very informative, he also did his best to entertain us and our group definitely enjoyed his company for the duration of the 16 days Europe tour.

Here is an example of how he kept us entertained.  Did not know he could be so hilarious, or would have started video taping from the very beginning...


However, believe you would be able to enjoy the balance of Ricky's story and see how entertaining he was.

A brief summary of his earlier story:-  A travel agent from lets call it ABC co called Ricky and asked him to lead a 3 days tour to Bangkok.  Suspecting something amiss, Ricky soon found out that the group had been underquoted and as such, much of what was promised could not be delivered.  However, Ricky was asked by someone he held in high esteem to help out and thus, he took up the job and in so doing, he managed to resolve the problem with his quick thinking and Thai tour guide impersonation.






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16 Days Europe Vacation Package Day 2

16 Days Europe Vacation Package Day 2 Paris - Rome

Upon leaving the plane in Paris, we met with Ricky, our tour group manager from Chan Brothers.  Ricky then briefed us on the Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport which he mentioned is one of the most confusing airports to get around as well as distributed a Whisperer Guide to each of the tour group member.  The Whisperer Guide is a great tool where the guide does not have to shout to make himself heard and each and every member of the group gets to hear the commentary loud and clear.  Cool!

Bright pink toilets for the ladies at Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport

We then cleared immigration in Paris and had three hours to spare in Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport  before catching our connecting Air France flight to Rome where we would commence our 16 days Europe vacation package.  Our group of six family members decided to have some snacks and drinks at EXK to while away the time.

Christmas decorations in a chocolate shop in De Gaulle Airport

Quiche in EXK

EXK in Paris De Gaulle Airport

Our connecting flight to Rome took off at 1015 hrs instead of 0945 hrs and we arrived in Rome Da Vinci airport two hours later.  By the time we retrieved our luggage, cleared customs and boarded our bus, it was already almost 1330 hrs.

La Baia Ristorante Pizzeria

The weather in Rome was a nice and cool ten degrees Celsius, dropping further in the evening.  First stop was lunch at a pizza eatery, La Baia Ristorante Pizzeria.

Here, we had pasta as appetizer followed by chicken as main course and a super and wonderfully light tiramisu for dessert.  Yummy yummy…

Pasta for appetizer

Chicken as main course

One of the best tiramisu we have tasted!

Since it is winter, and it starts to get dark by 1700 hrs, we quickly proceeded to start our tour in the Vatican City.  Along the way, Ricky, our tour manager, pointed out various points of interest and impressed us with his knowledge of Rome.

Some of the interesting points he made:-

Rome is covered by 7 hills.

Roman period – 2000 years ago

Gothic period – 1200 years ago

Medieval period – 500 years ago

Renaissance period – 400 years ago

Baroche period – 200 – 300 years ago

Horse Chestnut tree

Interesting to see so many mini cars near the Tiber River...

Part of city wall in ancient Rome

Our Vatican City guide, Leah, gave us more detailed information of the ancient city.

In Italy, there are lots of obelisks originating from Egypt.  However there are only 2 original obelisks which were donated to Rome by Egypt and date back 3500 years ago, even before the Roman period, one of which is in St Peter’s square, Vatican City.

We visited the Vatican City, the smallest and richest city.  Governed by the Pope, this is a city of its own and not part of Italy.

We made our way to St Peter’s Basilica, the largest Roman Catholic church in the world.  St Peter’s Basilica is famous for:-

1. housing the tomb of St Peter, Jesus’ first disciple and the first pope of the world
2. being the largest cathedral in the world
3. Michael Angelos’s Pieta sculpture which he created when he was 24 years old and the only work of art that he signed
4. being a work of art and include works of other famous artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Bellini, etc…
5. its greatest dome, the whisper dome
6. housing all the orders of the Roman Catholic church
7.  Holy door which is opened every 25 years, the next opening being in 2025

The iconic dome of St Peter's Basilica

A must see sight, the Roman Colosseum amphitheatre is a double ring Greek theatre and biggest amphitheatre in the world built in 72 – 80 AD.  Now in ruins after being felled by an earthquake, it is still impressive.

The ruins of the Roman Colosseum

Next to the Roman Colosseum is the Triumphal Arch of Constantine.  This Arch was erected to celebrate Constantine I's victory at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312.

Triumphal Arch of Constantine

Along the way to Trevi fountain, we passed by the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, an ancient Roman Catholic Marian basilica of Rome and the largest church in Rome dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Basilica de Santa Maria Maggiore

Next stop in our Europe vacation package was none other than the Trevi fountain, one of the most famous fountains in the world.

The Trevi Fountain

Enjoying some ice-cream even during winter

From the Trevi Fountain, we walked to the Spanish Steppes where we saw the Fountain of the Old Boat, the Trinity of the Mount Church as well as Via Condotti, a busy and fashionable street of Rome.

Spanish Steppes leading up to the Trinity of the Mount Church

At the Restorante Cinese where we had a Chinese dinner, though not the best standard.

Chinese decor

Ristorante Cinese

Mandarin oranges for dessert

Vegetable

Another vegetable dish

Pork ribs dish

Fish dish

Chicken dish

After a long day, we arrived at Hotel Melia Roma Aurella Antica almost 2300 hrs, which meant about 0400 hrs Singapore time, which was the reason why some of the kids in the group could not even keep their eyes open during our Chinese dinner.

Holiday Travel Tips:-
As our guide, Ricky, mentioned, we should not be expecting good food when we are on tour. At most, the food that is included in the tour is above average and this we found to be so true.

Hotel Melia Roma Aurelia Antica

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16 Days Europe Vacation Package 10 - 25 Dec 2010 Day 1

16 Days Europe Vacation Package Day 1 SIN - Paris

Our tour package, 16 Days Europe, was booked with Chan Brothers Travel.  Leaving Singapore on Friday, 10^th Dec via Air France, 2330 hrs departure from Singapore Changi International Airport Terminal 1, we had a short transit in Paris on the way to Rome.  Costing approximately SGD$5000 (USD3921) per person, a Europe vacation package does not come cheap.

Leaving home at 2015 hrs, we arrived at Singapore Changi Airport before 2100 hrs, the requested time by our tour manager, Ricky Tiang, to meet.  After getting our boarding passes from Ricky, we proceeded to the Air France counter to check in our luggage.

Holiday Travel Tips:-

Air France and KLM flights have a new baggage policy where if you are on AF Voyageur or KLM Economy flight, you are only allowed one piece of check in luggage at 23 kg or less.  For a second bag under the one piece allowance for AF Voyageur or KLM Economy cabins, there is a charge of USD55. Additional bags cost USD200 per bag.  Although it is stated that a second bag is able to be checked in free of charge on more than 50 routes, you need to check which destination this is applicable to.

Our friends, Lionel and Lisa, together with their kids had dinner at the airport and on the way, came to see us off.  After having a drink with them, we proceeded to clear immigration.

We spent some time walking around the duty free shopping before boarding the plane.  Our flight departed at 2340 hrs, ten minutes later than scheduled.

Waiting outside the boarding gate for Air France flight

Air France plane

As we were seated almost to the back of the plane, we could feel the turbulence even more.  Fortunately none of us suffered any motion sickness and we arrived in Paris Charles De Gaulle airport more than 12 hours later, at 0600 hrs local time.

Aerial clouds image from our Air France flight

Holiday Travel Tips:-
After serving you with your dinner, Air France will dim the lights.  As most passengers would be sleeping, they do not wake you up to serve you water or snacks.  However, if you require any, just make your way to the galley and help yourself to the water and snacks provided.