St. Moritz--Day 2

We went skiing on Friday(Good Friday) in Diavolezza,which means Devil's Valley, a skiing area not too far from St. Moritz. Before we went there, I had to rent my ski boots, skis & sticks or whatever coz I don't know what those 2 sticks for skiing are called. Ski business is a big business here, especially at the skiing areas. Tourists from Germany, Italy,etc come all the way here to ski as Engadin is like THE place for skiing.

We drove to Diavolezza & boy there were a lot of people there. We changed into our ski boots & brought along our skis to the skiing area. Wearning the ski boots, it reminded me of my roller blades back at home. The only difference is that instead of 4 wheels in the sole, the sole of the ski boots are flat. Papi, Anja & Laura took the cable car up to the high slopes & skied/ snow -boarded from there, while Mami accompanied me at the beginner's slope. What to do, my 1st time skiing mah...Luckily, I was not the only 'older' person skiing at the beginner's slope coz most of them were little 5,6 year old kids. There were other adults , learning & falling too. There was a lady called Alana from Czechoslavia (dunno the spelling) who started at the beginner's slope too coz she didn't ski after a knee injury. She was pretty nice & I was gald I was not the only 'old' one learning how to ski.

Skiing is THE SPORT for the Swiss. It's like football is to Brazil & skiing is to Switzerland. Most kids learn how to ski when they are young. Therefore it's harder for people like me to start skiing now. Oh, by the way, did I mention that the guys at the skiing area are hot? =P

First, I had to learn how to 'walk' on the slopes with my skis on coz I don't know why, I kept going backwards! What the hell was wrong?!Anyway, after a few tries & a few tips from Mami, I was getting better & we decided to use the 'pony lift' to go higher up on the slopes & ski down from there. Woo....the feeling was great! I was going fast down the slopes & it was speeding down---fast! I too had to of course learn how to stop lah. I mean if I learn how to go, must learn how to stop too! Learning to stop wasn't too hard, but learning how to turn left & right was not an easy task. As they say, falling down is always part of the learning process. So, I fell down---so that I could learn!Yeah right. Falling down was for sure lah...of course mah..1st time skiing, what do you expect.... Although I had bruises on my ankles & knees, it was all worth it, for me at least.

At about 2, we had a break as Papi, Laura & Anja had completed their whole ski journey from the top of the moutains till the end. As the others needed a rest, Papi & I boarded the cable car up to the high mountains which were more than 3000m above sea level. Soon, we were at the closest place we could go to see Piz Palu & Piz Bernina & some other ' Pizs' before our eyes.

The view was SPECTECULAR! I was marvelled by the sight of the snow-covered mountains standing tall before my eyes. Papi said that we could actually walk even nearer, on the glacier, but as the glacier was all covered with snow, it was not safe to do so. There were a lot of skiers too high up at the place we were in. The ski journey way down would take a looong time & when they get started, there's no turning back---literally. According to Papi, there are only 4 places in Switzerland where people are able to have tea/ coffee 3000m above sea level, & Diavolezza is one of those places.

We got back to the slopes again for the last 2 skis. The last 2 skis were great! I didn't fall & had a smooth ski all the way down. Super! We went back to the apartment in the evening & had a rest from all the ski hype. We played cards, watched Titanic in German on TV...haha...got to see 'some scenes' which were censored by the censorship board in Malaysia....=P People here are pretty open . Therefore, it's quite common to have the so-called '18 SX scenes' on national TV.

At night, we went out for an early easter dinner in an Italian restaurant. The atmosphere was good. I thought that only Chinese restaurants would be that noisy, but apparently this restaurant too was AS noisy too. Anyway, that didn't bother me much coz I'm used to it. But Mami said that it was too noisy.

Friday was a really GOOD Friday for me. I enjoyed it a lot & had a great time skiing at the slopes. Anyway, what better way to learn about Swiss culture than indulging myself in the famous sport itself? =)