Epilogue- The Swiss Trip.

Chinese New Year's around the corner, getting back into the hang of things which usually means long lunches, irate clients and massive paperwork. I did say I'd talk about the swiss trip but facebook and the ease with which photos can be uploaded does greatly reduce the impetus to blog about it. Or I could just be lazy. But I will do so briefly.

They always say first impressions last and my first impression of Switzerland when I landed in Zurich was that of efficiency. The most obvious example being their excellent rail and transport system which runs like clockwork, is highly interconnected and travelling to any part of the country is painless.

Trains and trams alike depart exactly when scheduled and punctuality is not a word just given lip service or expressed in % of trains that leave on time (sounds familiar eh.) In fact the only time when a train was delayed during my entire trip was once at interlaken where the train to Bern was delayed by 10 mins.

They made an announcement over the PA, apologised for the delay and asked passengers to head over to the next platform to take another train also headed to Bern which would be arriving 4 mins earlier than the delayed train. Just 4 mins and they have another train. Now friends, that is what I call efficiency, not some sorry ad proclaiming the % of trains that successfully arrive on time and have a few major breakdowns which leave passengers stranded for over an hour. Walk the talk.

The scenery and environment was great, certainly a very refreshing change from our cityscape. While Zurich was large, cosmopolitan yet still possessing that old world charm with the numerous cathedrals and stately architecture, it was quaint Bern with its spacious streets and medieval buildings in the Altstadt which I preferred. In many ways, it was indeed a medieval capital and the large swathes of open space coupled with the numerous cafes and cobbled streets made walking for hours on end an enjoyable activity.



Interlaken and the Jungfrau region in particular were scenic and smothered in snow. My greatest regret perhaps was not being able to ski due to the relatively short duration there. Besides I figured it'd be a waste of moola to rent the equipment just to spend most of my time on my bum in the snow. Sledding was the other alternative and proved to be a blast if not a rather accident prone one.



For one, the signs are ..ahem.. hard to read. I mean I know they have different slopes for skiing and sledding though on some slopes, both skiing and sledding is allowed. But having 2 slopes side by side with a pole and a sledding sign in the middle doesn't really help. You can guess what happened next. I went down the ski slope with the rented rickety sled.

I realised something was wrong when I pushed off, for one the slope seemed incredibly steep and more importantly only the skiers were whizzing past. But I was off and it was too late to stop. What followed was a hair raising eternity as the sled rocketed down the slope and a frantic attempt to brake only hastened a spectacular crash into a snow bank below that left me briefly winded. The sled spun a few frenzied circles before coming to rest beside the nearby thicket of trees.

So thankfully it was soft snow and not trees I crashed into, I doubt I'd still be in one piece otherwise. Other than that and another crash which involved having to brake violently to avoid a screaming korean woman on a runaway sled, sledding down the mountain was highly enjoyable and provided a decent workout. That's one winter activity I'll do again in a jiffy the next opportunity I get.

The food was great. Even though it consisted mainly of a lot of meat, cheese, cream and potatoes and in very sizeable portions. It's the kind of cuisine and serving size with which you can go in positively famished and leave positively stuffed. With just a single main course and beer and coffee to boot. So much so that I was amazed to an extent how they wolf down such stuff on a regular basis. It's fine in winter when you're almost perpetually hungry due to the cold but summer?



I guess it's an acquired taste/habit, by the end of the trip I was so used to the serving sizes, I was having a little difficulty adjusting to the local, asian sized portions when I returned. Coffee and Cigarettes were the other vice. I consumed copious amounts of both. Practically every meal ended with the de rigeur Latte Machiatto. I never liked smoking, still don't in fact, but it keeps you warm even if briefly which is excellent for long strolls in the frigid weather when your fingers get numb with cold. People smoke like chimneys there, with good reason I guess. I consumed like 3.5 packs, still have half a pack of Kent menthol lights lying somewhere in the knapsack. All that indulgence and toxification probably explains the extra 2 kg, grumbles, of which I've only managed to shed 1 thus far. Grumbles more.



The Swiss guys did not disappoint. As forewarned, the Swiss are incredibly reserved and while efficient, would usually not make the first move., preferring instead to respect your personal space until you show some interest. But once you get to know them better, you'll find them warm, affable and almost intensely passionate.

J. surprisingly chatted me up at the Samurai gay 'club/bar' at Bern (which is really more like a pub in size) while I was exchanging looks with another hottie across the bar and considering whether to make a move. He spoke in german first and after I indicated that I could only speak english, promptly launched into fluent english.

An apprentice banker, 23, and a french swiss, he proudly informed me that he was a lot more 'open-minded' having studied briefly in the USA where he found the people's friendliness a refreshing change. We talked for a bit, I finally found out the title of that song which had stuck in my head since the last jive at Play, dirty danced a lot and snogged like there was no tomorrow. I probably would have gotten into his pants if not for the fact that 1. he came with friends and 2. he was from out of town, a neighbouring city to be exact.

The other two, A. and H. I met in Zurich on New Year's Eve. H. was the hot, cute bartender at Cranberry's with the thickly accented english and A., suave and established in his mid 30s, I bumped into at T&M. H. was on shift for New Year's Eve so after getting his contact number and arranging to meet him the following day, I spent the rest of New Year's Eve with A.

Swiss men are reserved till their clothes are off then all inhibitions go out of the window and the seat of reason transposes to that glorious turgid organ which overrides all thought processes more complicated than SeX+Safe = Good.

A. was wildly passionate and highly attentive, almost painfully so but I must admit the acrobatic work out which included a voyeuristic new year fuck against the windows was highly enjoyable. By the time, we collapsed into bed, spent and sweaty, the first rays of a sleepy New Year's day wintry morning were peeping through the partially drawn shades. Good morniiing, A drawled, drawing me close. Good night I replied and we fell asleep, snuggled under the sheets till 2 in the afternoon.

H. was cute and had a lean yet lightly muscled toned body, the kind that really turns me on. While his command of english wasn't as good as A.'s, we all know the language of love (or lust rather) transcends all linguistic barriers. I know I've said this before but guys are highly visual creatures I'm no different and the sight and touch of a hot, hard body like the aforesaid coupled with a cute face is a potent aphrodisiac. Sex was a lot more boring than the one with A. He liked too much full body contact (think skin on skin massage) till I actually had to pop the alright let's fuck now shall we cowboy? question. Conventional but hot bod and a cute face so who am I to complain?

All in all a highly enjoyable trip... now to plan for my next one and to get started on the 3 year old New Year's resolution of picking up German...finally..damnit.

I leave you with that jazzy gotta-move-your-hips hit, Mercy by Duffy.

Mercy by Duffy




Yeah Yeah Yeah x4

I love you
but i gotta stay true
my morals got me on my knees
I'm begging please stop playing games

I don't know what this is
cos you got me good
just like you knew you would

I don't know what you do
but you do it well
I'm under your spell

Chorus
You got me begging you for mercy
why won't you release me
you got me begging you for mercy
why won't you release me
I said release me

Now you think that I
will be something on the side
but you got to understand
that i need a man
who can take my hand yes i do

I don't know what this is
but you got me good
just like you knew you would

I don't know what you do
but you do it well
I'm under your spell

You got me begging you for mercy
why wont you release me
you got me begging you for mercy
why wont you release me
I said you'd better release yeah yeah yeah

I'm begging you for mercy
yes why wont you release me
I'm begging you for mercy

you got me begging
you got me begging
you got me begging

Mercy, why wont you release me
I'm begging you for mercy
why wont you release me

you got me begging you for mercy
I'm begging you for mercy
I'm begging you for mercy
I'm begging you for mercy
I'm begging you for mercy

Why wont you release me yeah yeah
break it down