Swiss Merdeka Day - my only public holiday :(

Besides fireworks, Swiss National Day is nowhere close to Merdeka Day ( Malaysian National Day ). If you think Malaysian are not patriotic, wait till you see the Swiss. They have no glue to their national anthem, no eagerness to countdown, no wish to hang their flags, and no thoughts to greet Happy Birthday Switzerland or Happy National Day or what-so-ever. I was only informed the most Swiss thing to do is probably attend farmer’s brunch or gather at a politician talk then enjoy some firewood and fireworks. However, it is not unusual to witness ‘malapetaka’ when righteous rage and cynicism between politicians and minority of citizens arise on this day.

On the 31st ( the eve of National Day ) , I headed to Basel ( 2 hours from Winterthur ) to catch the official fireworks display ( sadly, it was the only big one on the eve, the rest on the actual day, strange huh?! ). Although we missed our train back home and had to folk EXTRA fat money to go home, it was all worth. The colourful fireworks was released at Rhein River and I was on the bridge, so close that I could feel the ashes and particles scattered round my face. Really..my friends felt as well. It was so good – lasted exactly 30 mins ( although pretty long, I expected more :p ). Well, to describe precisely, it was a 3D effect, if you know what I mean.

Well, ok before the eve, I did something appear to be more in National Day celebration mood i.e. my typical dance-drink-and-meet-people party !! I met up with my favourite St.Gallen circle of friends and guess what, little piggy and tall eric, it is a SMALL world !! Your friend, Luca is coincidently my friend’s roommate. We just bumped ( abit of a long story ) into each other and we couldn’t believe how amazing to find each other this way. Aah…really it makes me believe more everyday that things happen for a reason. It felt as though you were reading chapters that led one event to another. Then it’s either a peak or a downfall – you don’t know where it takes you. ( little piggy - sounds familiar huh ? :p )

Before party, I done something considerably known as a Swiss pastime. I went swimming at the Swiss famous river, sounds cool huh?! Yeah you think so too right? But noooo…I had nightmare – I was half-drowning and frantically giving up when my friend ( yea..I know you are reading my blog :p ) refused to let me go :( My fair swimming techniques was clearly not good enough to survive the solid 20mins-byfoot-journey stream – I was terrible - struck me again how much a city gal I am even after all the hardcore adventures around Switzerland. sigh*

Basel fireworks on Swiss National Day