hi all,

 

i m back from my post exams travels in barcelona and london. It was really tiring, but definitely worth it! i think i have never took planes so many times as i did last week. Haha..budget airlines really revoluntionise air travel. I nv dreamt of travelling around europe at this age of 22! Yupz, i muz really thank god for being so lucky.

 

havent got time and mood to sit down and slowly blog about my travels, which i must do soon before i forget and lose the feeling. Haha. Right now, i have just packed most of my stuff into my luggage. Or rather, stuff everything into bags so that the housemaster can check the room. And i had a great evening with my neighbours trying to estimate the weight of my luggage. Some say abt 10kg, some say more. We have tried many means to correctly estimate the weight and our tools were cartons of glass bottles and a mini 2kg weighting scale. Obviously it wasnt accurate until we decided to use the bodybuilding machine outside Jose room. So we brought our luggage 2 storeys down and use the metal rod as the balance scale! haha. Andreas even brought the ruler to measure the midpoint of the rod. Really nice. And tadaaa..my bag is about 17kg.

 

And the really sad thing is that our baggage allowance is only 20kg. I think i have about 35 kg in total. And only 5kg is allowed in cabin. So where shall the 10kg go? hahah...i m gg to perform some magic!

 

shall go off to bed and continue another day.

 

 

 

Oh no, i think i keep neglecting my bloggie. And complaining when pple dun update theirs too often. So i gotta make it a habit to write more often.

 

END OF WC2006!

This is like really fast. When i first came to stuttgart, the countdown clock was like many many days to World Cup, then when i next came, it just seems to get slower. And in a bliz, it is all gone. WC always update my soccer knowledge from 0 to a bit more than zero. Haha.Before that, i have totally no idea who are the players in the German team. But after a few matches, the names become familiar. Haha..if only i can remember the names of the new people i met this well. But that's cos the players are wearing jerseys with their names. Haha.

 

So Italy won. But i think the french are quite lucky to have come this far too. Bias or not bias, it's over. And the result matters the most, not the players' skills or their method of winning, so long they win. Cos that's what everyone remembers them for. Being the winner.

 

Oh yes, it marks the end of the pipipopo of car horns in the streets. And the sea of flags, painted faces, enthusiasm, hope, tears. It is interesting to watch how people react to soccer. Haha. Such intense reactions on a mass scale will prob nv happen in Singapore.

 

SOMMERtime

Summer is getting so hot one week and rainy another week. but it is still generally hot and the buses are totally like incubators. But summer has great things to look out for too.

Summer has great sunsets. At ard 9pm, the sky is cast in shades of pink, orange and purple. And is slowly gets darker and darker. Longer days means we can stay out later but then again all the shops are closed too early.

 

End of summer brings summer sales too. And it is especially good because of the World Cup, the shops are opened a little later than usual. But not enough! Hopefully, there will be more time to do shopping before i go back.

 

Summer brings loads of fruits too like strawberries and cherries, which i m alternating between them cos get sianz of them when there is too much. They look so much nicer and fresher than in Singapore and best part is of course it is cheaper! As well as many interesting fruits which i wanna try to! Ritter Sport has summer series too. Of yoghurt flavoured chocolate with fruits. They taste greater than chocolate cos they dun hv the chocolatey sticky,and sinnful feelings. Haha.but i doubt it is any less fattening than the normal ones.

 

END oF EXAMS

It is not the end of exams yet, but i feel like a kite on a really really thin string. Like my freedom is almost there where i can taste it. hv been slacking around or zzing. Left with the last paper and the whole exam period is too draggy. From the 20th June till now. I guess, the momentum of studying is also lost, or hasnt really been there, or will be there when nearer the date of exam where i ll go oh sheet oh sheet, then start picking up my books.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last weekend was spent in Italy! The v.touisty place but by the Singaporean Mentality, u can nv go wrong with the longest queue of all char kway teow stalls.

 

12 May 2006

 

We set off to Bologna, the ulu place where nobody knows. But everyone knows Spaghetti Bolognese yah? Unfortunately i couldnt find that there either. Being kiasu we sat at the front of the waiting lounge jus before the gate and were one of the 1st few people to board the plane. The reward: Nice legroom just in front of the emergency exit. Teeny setback: Every single bottle and bag, including the small bag of sandwich i hid behind my back was discovered and had to be put in the cabin or someplace where it wont fly off easily.

 

Bologna airport is way different from a budget airport. It has international connections, many restaurants and it is just like stuttgart airport. We caught a train to Florence and had a pleasant surprise that our trains are jus as nice as the ICE trains. I dunno what class is that but it was fast and stable.

 

My favourite attraction is the Piazza del Duomo. The cathedral is so magnificent and huge that i wondered how people in the past built it. The construction lasted for more than 150 years and is one of the largest churches in the world! It was really a pity that we couldnt get to see the interior even though we tried to rush back the next day.

 

13 May 2006

 

Today i still cant believe that i m going to visit the ever so popular leaning tower of pisa which Italien scientists dropped balls of equal mass from?? I didnt get to find out if Galileo really conducted experiments there but the tower was really leaning and it felt weird climbing up a leaning tower. But the popularity of the tower really overshadowed all the other buildings surrounding it that i really thought that the tower was jus a tower in the middle of nowhere. But in actual fact, the bell tower is part of a group of buildings that symbolises the life of important Italiens in the past. From young the Christian is being baptised in the Batistry, then as he grows up, he prays in the cathedral. After his death, he is buried in the cemetary just beside the Baptistry. And the bell tower is to call the people for a mass.

 

But today, the place is a successful tourist attraction where English can be heard more often than Italien and there are lines of souvenoir shops along the streets. Something pretty interesting is that everyone is like taking photos of themselves superimposingly pushing the tower or some funny actions. If Pisa the tower is human, he probably will be laughing his toes off at all the silly things people do with his slanted body.

 

14 May 2006

 

Morning was spent strolling along the streets of Bologna where some marathon happened to be held there. There was pretty nothing much to do so we went to the airport early to have a really italien meal of Riscotti and Tortellini. The place was really fourt court style(v.rare to find) and we got a nice seat which a view of all the planes along the runway. The price was cheap too. What more can we ask for? Well, a rest for our tired feet!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today was a great day and mood was super super happie despite being tired at the end of the day.

 

I woke up late and had ample sleep. When i stepped into the kitchen, i could smell herbal chicken soup! ah ha...muz be yvonne! she has woke up early to cook the wat she calls  "Vit C" soup which is v.yummlicious. it is smhthg i get to enjoy once a mth! Thx yvon for the long long preparation in the kitchen the whole morning cos i didnt help much. And Chun Wei came to join us for lunch and we went to Fruehlingsfest tog after that.

 

Fruehlingsfest in the daytime was really different. Going there with different pple is a different experience. The last few time we went there most of the time was spent in a bier tent and this time was a more peaceful and fresh change. 

 

I felt like a kid again playing little games in pasar malam stalls. And there is nv a game one is too old for. We sat on the ferris wheel and it had a hidden surprise cos our cabin can spin! So exciting...and poor yvonne was scared to bits but still brave enough to take many photos! The scenery was great seeing Bad Cannstatt being surrounded by hills and greenery. We sat on water slides too and was wet but fun, esp with yvonne around! hee...there were many other rides too, but just looking at them makes mi uncomfortable.

 

Another thing i like abt the fest is that we can eat food that we normally cant find in the streets, like a whole fish! it has been such a long time we ate fish with bones. The side bones were so chewy that i chewed them off. And Chun Wei cleared the whole head too. Apparently he is also another chewy person who chews the bone cartilage and marrow! But till now i have yet to find my fellow speices who eat chicken neck whole.

 

Today is Esslingen Music Night too where many bars in Esslingen have live music and there is shuttle bus to shuttle people from bar to bar the whole night. But we were pretty tired and didnt really have the stamina to last the whole night so we decided to call it a day.

 

But tmr is going to be a cool day cos we are going shopping in Metzingen. It is like the 1st time shops are actually opened on sundays. Wat a miracle and how can we miss it! It's great that finally we have smthg to do on sundays instead of staying at home the whole day.

 

 

Last weekend i was in holland and i really enjoyed every bit of it.

 

Friday, 28 Apr 2006

It didnt started off went cos on Friday night i was locked in my room. No matter how hard i turn the key in the lock it jus wouldnt bulge. Initially i thought it was someone was playing a silly prank but after awhile it seemed unlikely. So i seeked Yvonne's help thro msn.Luckily she wasnt asleep else i think i would hv cried. Then i had to throw the key out through my window to the 1st storey so that others can try opening from outside. Silly thoughts ran through my head like why must this happen just the night before i wanna go holland?It is like about 6 hours before departure. what if i m trapped the whole night? Then i cant go? muz i wait till tuesday before a locksmith is available? wat if i wanna pee? or shit? forunately, Matthias managed to turned the key after what seems like really long to mi cos i was so kan cheong. And he was saying the key was on the verge of breaking. Sheesh, i cant imagine if that happens. All is over and i went to lalaland.

 

Saturday, 29 Apr 2006 - Kinderdijk - Rotterdam

We left for holland slightly before 6 but it was already quite bright. It was the beginning of a 6 hr journey to Holland with an old but tough audi. Yvonne's classmate, Zhao Wei has invited us for this short trip with another of her friend, Jianping and her partner, Markus, a german. Along the journey we listened to chinese songs and i felt pretty much at home.

 

We reached holland around 11 plus and it is really interesting because there is really no physical borders or customs. It is jus as we travel along the expressway and suddenly, oh we are in holland. Our first stop was Kinderdijk, a windmill village with 19 mills dating all the way back from 1740s. One of them is opened to visitors and we could see how the people in those days lived and how the rotating shafts of the mills pump the water to reservoirs to control flooding because the whole place is below sealevel.

 

After that we travelled to Rottedam and checked into NH hotel. I was pretty excited cos we are like staying in a hotel! It has been so long since i last stayed in a Hotel. I am like wow-ing and taking in the surroundings like a mountain turtle. Haha.Though the experience was good, i would have preferred to stay in Youth Hostels cos they are much cheaper and somehow more casual and more fun.

 

Maybe because there were some celebration (it was the Queen's Birthday), the streets was especially messy and full of litter. There is Chinatown in the city centre, but not much Chinese around. That is really ironic. There are more Chinese Restaurants and shops in Rotterdam than Esslingen and yet there are more Chinese faces in Esslingen. So where did all the Chinese go? At home? in cars?

 

Sunday, 30 Apr 2006 - Keukenhof - Amsterdam

The hotel breakfast was great. The variety is not as splendid as many others but enough. Tried their different types of cheese and all was fantastic! Had a really full breakfast and is really to set off to Keukenhof Gardens where there are so many kinds of tulips all in full bloom. It is so postcard perfekt that we took so many photos! unfortunately there wasnt enough time else i could have picnic there the whole day amongst all the colorful tulips!

 

Afternoon we went to Amsterdam which was a real shopping paradise! It has been so long since i last see shops opened on Sundays. The whole place was bustling with activities. We went to red light district too and it was really an eye-opener. It is really nothing like Geylang because everything is so open here. The girls would advertise themselves behind a full length window and passerbys would then examine the girls as if they are some kind of product like a dress or something in the window display.

 

After that, it was a long long journey back to Esslingen which took like about 7 hours. I was pretty tired but i thought about Markus driving and keeping awake and i guess that's 100 times worse, driving from 6 pm to 2am. Another interesting thing on Expressways is that there is no upper speed limit unless otherwise stated. So there are many vehicles going at 200Km/h, something really unimaginable in Singapore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today lessons begin really early and i almost fell asleep during datenbanken if not for yvonne that do her yvonne-wakeing-pple-arm-tapping. haha.it is already a trademark. We were kinda in a rush this morning and didnt have time to make coffee to bring to school. The nearest i got to coffee was the coffee stain in my lecture notes from last week's lec. sigh.

 

After that i thot i had to rush for optoelectronics but in the end turned out that it was cancelled becos of excurksion week. sigh. But in the end we went for early lunch and we packed our own lunch of rice and vege which was close to our hearts. So chinese at heart. And it is pretty healthy too. Most importantly, can save money!all-in-one solution.

 

Today our stock (my floor level in my hostel) had a little outing to bad cannsatt fruhlingsfest! And the best part is, today is Dinkelacker day, so the biers are one for one! haha. It was really quite fun and better than last tuesday, besides the cool offer of course, but rather cos we are going with alot of pple we know, and the whole table is like familiar faces. Esp so when our other frens we met through the same exchange program as us also came along after the Landeskunde (german culture and history) class. I was supposed to go today as well but how can i resist the temptation to go out to play with my stock people! and fruhlingsfest ( spring festival ) is also part of german cultur yah. It is the 2nd biggest fest after oktoberfest.

 

Today is especially special too cos it is the Musikfireworks day too. I did managed to see fireworks but the musik was inaudible cos my ears are still ringing with musik from the live band.

 

It is really interesting to see how germans really let their hair down. When the work, they work hard, when they play, they play hard too. A german who had visited singapore last semester also as exchange student commented that there is not much festive celebration in singapore which is actually quite true cos there isnt really any large scale mb except like during countdown in sentosa or smthg but then again the atmosphere is different here, esp the stomping on the bench and everyone jus dancing together and making a effort to look into the eyes of the person u are beer mugs cheers-ing with else 7 yrs of bad sex as what i have heard. haha...

 

It was really fun going out together as a stock outing. The whole level was almost empty. And at the end of the day, have to dilute my tummy with tea! have a fear of having a beer belly, something which i nv hv to worried b4 in singapore! It is anti beer week for mi, which should be pretty easy to achieve than anti-cheese or anti-chocolate week which both didnt last a week. ahha..

Today muz hv been a lucky day cos

 

1. dipsy's bdae

2. darling's bdae

3. Mitch n Mike's married for 3 mths!

 

so many reasons to rejoice but i suddenly feel so far away from the happenings in singapore. On the macro side, i do not have to vote in this year election because i m studying overseas, but somehow it is like i jus turned 21 and supposedly my first time voting, having a teeny weeny influence on singapore's future,somehow i think it will be cool to be able to vote.

 

On the smaller scale, i miss out little happenings and novelities amongst frens in singapore. Like merina having won free movie tickets for "interesting" movies, nus having free concerts, muggersauruses all over nus during exam time, etc etc

 

But being here is smthg i wont regret, cos it's really more than what i can ask for. Surely certain things cannot be compared to singapore, like there is no place to go on sunday cos all the shops are closed. But with the right pple, (and nice pple), sundays dun hv to be boring. Today was really sunny for once and pple where studying or relaxing at the rooftop. It was pretty nice minus the wind cos if your worksheets get blowed away that is the end of your homework, probably to be found among some vineyard at the back or flowing along the canal in the front.

 

Then for dinner tina suggested bbq at the rooftop which was great and Matthias joined us too, helping us to set up the fire and all. The cool part was cos we lived on the highest level, so we just have to shift everything from the kitchen up to the rooftop. We prepared some satay sauce with cucumber and rosti which wasnt part of the bbq but something to fill our growling tummies. Oh yeah, anyone has any idea how to make the potato strips in the rosti stick together?Merina how did u cook last time? Anyway we jus gotta trial and error and that is part of the fun. Then tina made carrot salad and tomato chicken which taste great. Carlos came along later and made his really pro totillas which taste better bbq-ed than heated in pan. And with gouda cheese once again. Then we had bbq-ed apple and pears with honey yvonne's style as dessert which taste really great so nxt time i could do that too. It was really fun and when the sun set it got really cold and we sit around the grill and grilled our palms.

 

That was really fun eating together and exchanging cultures on food and stuff. We should really do that more often and with more pple perharps when it gets warmer and when the sun sets later in months to come.

 

 

Today is Dipsy bdae!

 

Happie bdae to u, happie bdae to u,

u r born in the zoo, happie bdae to u!

 

is today really a cool day to get married? was walking along the streets just now and there were a few mini celebrations for weddings. The tradition, not just in Germany, they say, goes like this: the day before the wedding, the groom and friends will go out and celebrate in many interesting ways. There was a guy who walked ard the streets collecting signatures on his tshirt which was pretty cool!

 

Jus seen michie wedding photos and they are really nice. Thx michie for putting all that up and all the captions.i wanna get married too! ahha..like so fun. lol.

 

When i first came to stuttgart Koenigstrasse i thot it was really like some cold shopping district with pple walking ard. But it gets better in spring and i m lovin it. There was someone playin the piano in the middle of the street and the groups of pple jus sit down ard the piano and jus relax and enjoy. reminds mi of the open air concerts outside esplanade but there isnt always enuff space for everyone and it only takes place like on special occasions like perharps christmas or new yr.

 

Jus another week more, i ld hv been here for 2 months. 2 months more of lectures, then half a month of exams and it is the end of the semester. Sheesh.Jus as when i m beginning to like the lifestyle here. Why muz time fly so fast? Esslingen is really a nice place to live in.

 

i think i ll return.

My referat on wednesday went well.Except my silly joke on "which food in Singapur ist the heaviest?" then i think i didnt translate heaviest properly then my joke is wasted! When i asked the class have you understand why? then nobody understood.sad sad.My "one-tonne" noodle!haha..i miss wanton mee.Merina! i miss the wanton mee in ubi. The uncle that always give a lot of wanton and chicken feet.haha.and the v.meaty smelly roast pork! Oh and the super spicy tom yam soup.Miss those days when we were working in ubi.

 

Ytd evening mi, yvonne and tina made choco vanilla pudding and banana soup. When tina suggested banana soup i was like banana??So cool!It turned out it is her first time too making the soup and it was all an experiment for us all. But wat i really like best was the fried banana sprinkled wif roasted coconut powder.heehaa.I think she is really adventurous at tryin out new recipes and always so successful! hee..nxt time i shld do that and become a great cook.wahahhaa

 

And it was alex's bdae too and we hv a little decorated pudding cake which was actually quite huge. haha.ate too much chocolate and this week shall be chocolate-free week. Last week was cheese-free week which lasted till the new packet of brie cheese was opened and the battle was lost.It was once again so yummlicious.haha.and my fav gouda or edamer cheese with nutella!ok, every paragraph has smthg abt food and this is really not a gd sign. Are singaporeans all abt food? Have to check out Yvonne's blog and see what she says.Food Food FOod?haha

 

Oh yeah back to alex's bdae. We had dinner tog in our cosy little kitchen which i m beginning to like more and more everyday. And then sang happie bdae in many many languages. haha..so fun.Jose brought his lappie too and we listened to mexican songs which were so full of emotions.I dunno how to describe yah.Mb like the french, romantic and slow and nice.

 

oh then we played wif whipped cream but it wasnt that bad actually. alex's face is still 90% face and 10% cream. No skill. haha..mb nxt time.the cream is still in the fridge.wahahha.oops secret is out.Haha.

 

Tina and yvonne went up to the rooftop admist all the mess in the kitchen and made "ALLES GUTE" out of tealights and it was pretty difficult cos the wind was quite strong. Then we all went up and played with wax which wasnt hot at all cos the weather was cool. haha.Then more singing and wax playing and tryin to make a singapore shape out of inverted germany map shape. ahha...

 

Cleaning up the wax was fun wif so many hands and we shovel till the floor prob came off too. but still not really clean cos we couldnt see clearly in the dark. Now it is sunny and hopefully the natural elements can help a bit??

 

then aft that we had an invitation to the opera and guess what?? no clothes! haha.lol.that was really funny and the pple was so enthu on helping us choose clothes and in the end i m tina from head to toe! It was really funny cos we tried on endless combination of clothes and shoes and Shi nan had a full length mirror which was really great! We even went to the 3 floor to borrow boots from the french gals and suddenly i feel like everyone is like so nice. It is like smthg i hv nv experience cos i dun hv an elder sister and like cannot share clothes or like give comments on dressing or smthg. And tina was really nice cos she really took effort to see how we look overall and we look great! Then in the end we helped her choose her clothes too and it was great fun tryin matching all the accessories and clothes. haha..when was the last time i did smthg like that? At mich's place where all the bridesmaids were like helping each other match stuff.That was so much fun too.Michie i wan to see the photos! hahaha.

 

HAHAHHAHAA..it has been a long time since i had so much fun with such simple things in life.

 

Oh dear i m so sleepy. Rehearsing for my presentation later and it is so boring repeating the same thing again and again. Cant wait for it to be over cos i dun wanna spend too much time on a subject which i m not claiming credit for in nus! v.praktisch.haha.But then again must let people know more about singapore mah.that is really really important. We are not jus a dot in the middle of nowhere. Haha..i m becoming so patriotic.i should celebrate National Day when i cum back!

 

Slept like a pig till 10 plus today and got a shock when i woke up! that is more than 10 hrs of zz and under the strong sunlight too. Ytd night was pretty tiring but fun. Went to the Springfest in Bad Canstatt,in stuttgart. it it like a whole amusement park, jus that everything is temporary and the best part is it doesnt look temporary. Will put up some pix aft i kop them from yvonne.

 

There were roller coasters, free fallers, and other spinning machines that really look colorful and attractive. but quite expensive so didnt play any. Rather spend on food which i did and did not regret. There were many Bier Tents or dunno wat u call them, but they are really huge and the interior just look like a club with live band bars, etc. Then there were rows of tables and benches like the primary skool canteens jus that people were dancing on the benches. At some point in time where there were so many people standing on benches till i felt the floor has risen! Only the waitress are like submerged below. ahha..and they are really cute in traditional dresses and v.pro too, carrying dunno how many mugs of 1 liter biers with their hands.And they are really heavy!

 

Oh yeah, i finally tasted Schweinhaxe which is Pork knuckles which is really really Yummlicious! For the 1st time in dunno how long i actually like pork fat! haha.normally i would remove the fat layer in Chinese dishes. And the skin was really crispy! Ok every sentence is like ending wif !!! becos that is really jus how it tastes. !!! haha. It taste nice with bier too. Oh yeah my fav is Radler which is like lemonade with bier and it has the fizziness like cocktail which i like. And they have alcohol free bier too which taste jus as good as normal! ahha..i cant tell the difference. But it was really an experience, and the germans are really wild at partying and alot of stamina too! Haha..but the not so nice part is that eveyone smokes. So my whole body smell really terrible after the whole thing and my tummy felt weird after the Pork knuckes did dunno how many roller coaster from jumping on the benches. Haha..but v.fun.

 

ok that is all for now and i ll prob rehearse my presentation one last time before i go to skool later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 15 was a zoo day! i feel like i m a kid again cos i m gg to the zoo zoo zoo, how abt u u u, u can come along too too too, cos we are going to the zoo zoo zoo!

 

Went to the Wilhelma zoo and spent the whole day there! We walked around the place like from 11 till 6 plus, only stopping for lunch when our butts can finally rest. And my legs too apparently still sore from last thursday's Taebo. But i ll be fitter, so no prob.

 

It is really much bigger than singapore zoo and loads of beautiful gardens to walk around in. there were alot of greenhouse mini jungles and i felt so at home again amongst tropical forest habitat cos it is humid once again!  Seen so many animals and fish that i really lost count. Oh there is orang-utan too which reminds me so much of Singapore zoo.

 

Oh yeah, made a discovery that cheese taste yummy with nutella.So sinful but yummy.oh i m on a no-cheese diet till tuesday morning cos i ate dunno how many slices of cheese at one meal at one go.So hopefully it is successful! cos the cheese has like 48% fat! Oh my god.haha.no more cheese for now.

 

Oh yeah, bought some chicken necks too in the evening at the supermarket.my fav again! And it is cheap too cos nobody likes them except me and doggies perharps.

 

so basically saturday was a really happie day for mi! high on cheese and chicken neck.

 

April 16 is "maria-day". Woke up in the morning to hand wash my clothes cos the sunlight was bright and warm. yeah! then vacuumed my room which is full of dunno wat white bits of stuff and naturally loads of hair. then now i can finally begin to start work.aft i finish this blog of course.

 

which is now!