A Vacation With Many Firsts - Part 2

I fell asleep at around 2am, in the same clothing I had put on at 6.45am that morning, albeit for a borrowed T-shirt. I felt so uncomfortable and dirty. I did buy a toothbrush and toothpaste but there was no luxury of facial cleanser, toner, or moisturiser. I woke up at around 8am the next day. Washed up and had breakfast - still in the dirty clothes unfortunately. It felt really really weird to not have *any* luggage. I know most people carry a change of clothing and toiletries in their hand luggage - but I was trying to travel light so I had no hand luggage except for a sling bag with my camera, extra lens, travel documents and the Twilight novel. I guess I will never travel without a hand luggage from now on :)

I made a few phone calls to the Airline and to the travel insurance company. I was allowed to buy clothing, toiletries, etc and be reimbursed. Of course the private travel insurance provided more coverage than the Airline.

So, I went shopping. It was difficult to shop and buy literally everything enough for 1-2 days in the span of an hour or so. I got a pair of jeans, a sweater, a t-shirt, and lots of undies (hey, it was free clothes!). I also bought a lot of toiletries - especially 2 bottles of my favourite Neutrogena Norwegian formula moisturiser. . The irony is that I cannot get this moisturiser in Norway :) It works wonderfully - especially for autumn and winter when my skin becomes really dry.

After shopping, I headed back and fell asleep for approximately 2 hours. Then my friend and I decided to go to the airport to place a formal incident report, so that the private insurance will approve our claims. On the way to the airport, at about 5pm, we received a phone call telling us that our luggage had arrived. We were so relieved :) I had McDonald's for dinner that night, after picking up the luggage. McDonald's in Germany is quite tasty.

The next day, I went to Zurich. It was beautiful. Granted, the Swiss are really really rich - you see Louis Vuitton, Prada, Ferragamo, Gucci, all along the streets. For a moment, I felt like I was in New York (someday, I shall go there). The Louis Vuitton store's window display was just one handbag. I remember my friend asking why the display was only of _a_ bag. I mentioned that our one month's salary is not enough to pay for one of those bags, then he got the picture. Breakfast at Zurich was in a quaint cafe with croissants, bread, strong Swiss coffee and orange juice. Lunch was at Wagamama. I heard of this place from a friend but never got to try it. Fortunately, Zurich has all the nice stores you can imagine. I bought some scarves in the Christmas market at Zurich; I also got some skin care products from Lush. I love Lush's products - they are really nice. I learned how to use their Mask of Magnanimity from my sister while she was in UK.

The following day was spent in Konstanz. My friend was getting iPod shuffles (three of them in blue, green, and pink) for his nieces and nephew. I got an external hard drive (640GB) and some clothing from Esprit. Esprit was having a storewide 20% sale for members. I happen to have a membership card so I got some pieces of clothing at a steal :) I was never a fan of Esprit in KL but in Oslo, I have to be, because its one of the lesser worn brands. I don't like buying clothing that I will see on somebody else. It's a small luxury I allow myself. Since there are only 2 Esprit stores in Oslo, I have some false sense of security that nobody will wear what I am wearing :) Lunch in Konstanz was a sandwich and a slice of German cheesecake from Vogelhaus. Dinner was at a Turkish restaurant known as "Radischen", with a mutual friend and his Turkish fiancee.