time on a bike

well, since the blog's called timeonabike, here are some (posed) pictures of our time on a bike. LOL

IWC Big Pilot c1907

also spotted in the same shop was this 102 year old watch. well, the movement's 102 years old! so tempting!

IWC Portuguese c1937

we went window shopping and spotted this watch in a 'Rent-a'box' shop where the owner put this watch up for sale! probably the beginning of the Portuguese watch, this is called a IWC Marriage where the original movement is enclosed in a non-IWC case.

Story has it that during the second World War people had no money and had to sell off the casings of their pocket watches (made of gold or silver) for money, but they kept the movements which were not worth as much money. A 'marriage' subsequently took place where the movements were built into watches. 5,900 CHF for a piece of history.

for Danielle

wei was so happy to spot this shop.

the morning after

after a good night sleep (before the trains woke us up), and a hearty breakfast, we set off for the next leg of our trip. Psst, our room was to the left of the building. yes. BEFORE stepping into the hotel lobby, turn left, through the garden, past the bike shed, down the stairs... budget trip. what to do. yes we are also cheap. hahaha.

what a breakfast!

breakfast at the Park Villa was a pleasant surprise! The spread was just awesome. so much to eat. choices choices. Yes my Sony VAIO netbook at the breakfast table. blogging. :)

Nestle if you are reading this - BRING THIS YUMMY YOGHURT TO SINGAPORE! We all loved it!

Rhine Falls again

wei and vince left early the next morning to the Rhine Falls again to take photos. I took the opportunity to catch up on sleep on a proper bed.

truth be told. I did not miss the climb back up from the falls as well. hahaha. excuses excuses.

fabrice and heidi

we stayed on after all the guests have left and enjoyed ourselves so much chatting with the couple (but still no discount after all that networking. hahaha)

thanks for introducing us to Swiss food that's not Rosti (or anything Marche) Fabrice!

We invited them to Singapore. Yes. to open a restaurant. I could never get a table at Buko Nero. Maybe they will do us a favor and always keep a table for us. :)

13 points

set up 2.5 years ago "as a joke", Heidi and Fabrice ("ya ya ya") have come a long way. The restaurant (located in a 500 year old building) is well received in Shaffhausen and we found out why. They passed the jaded palates of wei, vince and me. We were not easily impressed, but we were. very. The restaurant has a 13 points rating (best in Shaffhausen has 18 points). If you are ever in IWC land, do have a meal there and say "HI" to the lovely couple on our behalf! www.wirtschaft-frieden.ch, t: +41(0)52 625 47 67, info@wirtschaft-frieden.ch



Heidi found a wine with no sulphites that I could drink! nice.

the perch caught from the lake was very good. we should have ordered seconds.

other dishes and the desserts were all very good. We were too busy enjoying ourselves with the food and company to remember to take all the pictures! :)

considering that Fabrice was self taught (he was a sous chef at the last restaurant Heidi and him worked together) the food was very good! YA YA YA!

meeting Heidi

yes we met Heidi! My first words were "Are you open?" Unfortunately the entrance to Frieden was badly lit, and the restaurant looked closed. At 8pm. Not a promising sign.

Heidi is part of a husband and wife team and owners of Frieden. Extremely knowledgeable about the food, wines from the region, and yes she speaks perfect English, we felt like we were in extremely good hands!

population 27,000

Shauffhausen is a really small town. Population 27,000. Corinne at IWC recommended a local place for dinner called Wirtschaft Zum Frieden (Freedom). With trepidation we decided to give the place a try. Afterall, this is the sequel to a 1 Michelin star dinner the previous night, and we must not have too big a gap. yeah, cyclists hate big gaps.

Hotel Park Villa - an upgrade!

While in Shauffhausen, we stayed in the Hotel Park Villa just off the main roads (cheaper). 3 stars = 189CHF. another hotel in the city was available for 390CHF! There wasn't much choice as hotels were quite full. Vince used his charm to get a hotel receptionist at a fully-booked hotel to call around and check for us. Is there anything he cannot do? snake oil anyone?

Room was nicely done (but we messed up the room too quickly before any photo op). Only downside was we had to stay in the basement. next to the staff quarters. next to the railway tracks. They claimed it was the last room left. :)

We did not even have to pass through the hotel reception. This is a photo of us going into the dungeon... entrance via the side of the garden. next to the bike shed. sigh.

Max the nice, happy butler told wei that Raffles Hotel sends its staff to Park Villa for training. Impressed? Yes we were.

jumping into river Rhein

Wei's dream was to jump and swim in the Rhein River. He spoke about it before we left for the trip, Here he is before taking the plunge.

Boys said current was strong and they just 'float' along. Yes all that extra food we have been eating helped...

Vince jumped in too. Water was cold but they enjoyed it so much they are going to do it again the next day. Not sure if it has anything to do with the bikini babes (and grannies) around them, and strategically missing from the photos. hahaha.

Me? Very happy jaga-ing the bikes and all our possessions.

Rhinefalls

Our first stop arriving in Schaffhausen (after some challenges with the connecting trains from Colmar, and paying a 75EUR day pass penalty for our 3 bikes) was to visit the Rhine Falls, Europe's largest waterfall. Awesome sight. Yes we rode down to see the falls up close, and gulp, rode up again to get back.

schaffhausen = IWC

of course we visited IWC! the museum was awesome! the boutique too. Corinne was very nice, and gave a big welcome to 3 sweaty unshaven (only Vince shaves daily) chinese guys on bikes, 2 of whom just swam in the river...

We took home souvenirs. ;)