Journey to Deutschland

It's foh real!

2006-11-13T17:21:00.000-08:00

A bit late but...

2006-08-20T12:52:00.000-07:00

Temporary Sanity

http://tempors.blogspot.com

PS

2006-06-21T21:29:00.000-07:00

This incredible journey might be over but this blog certainly hasn't reached its end, yet. Once I get to settle down, I am going to post some more pictures and links and reflections on all that I have experienced.

So DO come back again in a short while!

:)

NYC

2006-06-21T21:07:00.000-07:00

This is not technically part of my trip to Germany but I am too tired to bother with a new blog or on my own site. (Altho I do have some plans of re-designing my blog)

I am now typing away on a computer at my hotel because I am simply too tired to go out now. I just got back from watching Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. It was pretty good but it was shorter than I had expected. I just couldn't help but compare it to London's production of Les Miserables both in its content and the execution. I am certainly biased but I felt Les Mis was much much better than Phantom. Maybe it's due to my years of familiarity of the show and reading of the book. Nevertheless... I think I will get the soundtrack of Phantom. Who knows, maybe it'll grow on me and I will come to appreciate it more.

I did go to my personal mecca, the Museum of Modern Art today. I saw a few Pollocks I had never seen before and the Mondrians were amazing as always. I really liked the Cezzanes as well but I was honestly expecting more of his work at MoMA.

Last night I saw a great jazz performance by a quartet (whose name escapes me atm) at the Village Vanguard. It was a really fucking (vulgarity warranted) awesome
experience. That's about all I really need to say.

(PS one of my most treasured Jazz cds/albums is Bill Evans Trio, Live at Village Vanguard, so it was quite a treat to return to the same place where "the magic" was produced years and years ago.)
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I had a grand time in Boston a few days ago, thanks to my friends Henry and Jewel showing me all the places where local Bostonians go for food, music, and beer. It was a nice, welcome change, really. I have been travelling for weeks and weeks by myself only to be accompanied, once in a while, by strangers I come to meet.

Ever since I got back to Seattle from Berlin, I had developed some sort of cold. It all started with that damn "deep-fried currywursts" that destroyed my throat. Sore throat turned into incessant coughing which leads to a cold + sneezing and more coughing. I am sure being on the plane and airprot for some 20 hours after the currwurst incident didn't help. So I have been coughing like mad for this last week or so, through Seattle, through Boston, through NYC. I have been taking some meds for them and they work good initially (for like the first 6-8 hour) but today I think the drug has finally lost its effectiveness. The pharmacist says if the coughing still persists after 5 days of taking the drug, I should go see a doctor. That is, however, with A LOT OF REST, which as you could tell, I haven't got any in the last week.

With that said... I am definitely looking forward to going "home" (which is about to be redefined in last than 1 week).

10.40 pm Seattle.... can't wait....

(altho i am going to try to go see the guggenheim museum before my 5 pm flight tomorrow haha)

I am home!

2006-06-13T00:30:00.000-07:00

for now....

;-)

Tschuess Berlin!

2006-06-11T15:50:00.000-07:00

:'''''''(

I will miss you Berlin! I will miss you Paris! I will miss you Prague! I will miss you fair Europe!

I will be flying out of London to Seattle tomorrow... I felt pretty homesick and tired from travelling during my trip of the smaller cities/towns in Germany; however, the energies of the big cities like Prague, London, Paris, and Berlin definitely just lifted my spirits up. (if that makes any sense at all..)

Anyway... I will make another post once I get home...

so long for now!

Lost in Translation (World Cup edition)

2006-06-09T17:28:00.000-07:00

Whew... what a day.. First I did the bike tour thing for 4 hours. It was great fun and definitely a bit scary at times. I am by no means a good or experienced rider. I learned to ride a bike like 6-7 years ago. And I don't really get to ride much in US. So it was quite a challenge to go through streets in Berlin when I couldn't even balance myself well initially. Eventually I got a hang of it and things went smoother and definitely more enjoyable. It is so great riding through Berlin on bike especially since the city, the cars, the pedastrians are pretty friendly towards bikers.

On this bike tour, I met a great bunch of people. Our tour guide, four aussies- Kurt (Aussie with Dutch passport), a great super friendly couple, Steve and Tanya from Perf (sp), and a single gal named Katherine. There were three Brits, Jackie, who is with her boyfriend/husband Pascal, a French guy from Lyon, a very very adorable young couple from Kent, Laura and Jamie. The real funny thing was we were all Arsenal fans (a football club in London), even the French guy.

After the bike tour, the gang of us went to the 'Fan Mile' where they have huge gigantic screens showing the games. It was pretty fun. The young couple and I were being contrarian and rooting for Costa Rica to upset Germany, the host. It was quite a game it turned out. 4-2 was the final score but it defintely felt closer than that.

After the first game, we went on a bit of a pub crawl led by our tour man, Kurt. That was quite fun, we went to all the bars and lounges where the locals go. I met a couple there, a Kiwi named Ruben and his Turkish girlfriend.. Pinot or something that soudns like that.. hehe.. (The Turkish couple and the Aussie couple have all been to HK and thought that it's a completely wicked and amazing place. :)

We decided to meet up tomorrow for the England game! That should be great fun. Laura and I both need to get an England shirt or at least an England flag. Gotta show our allegiance! (Yes I do have a British passport.. as a subject to her majesty haha)

Anyway... it's 2:40 am now I am probably not being all too coherent makind loads of spelling and grammatical mistakes. (not that it doesn't happen when i am somber and wide awake) but I am going to catch some sleep before meeting up at noon time...

I will post some pictures and videos when I can later. German fans were rather tame to be honest (compared to what and how English fans would react haha)

Ciao!

56,000 words.

2006-06-07T09:16:00.000-07:00

A picture is worth a thousand words, so they say....

London Eye

Big Ben

Turner Gallery!

Tate Modern!

Metro in Paris!

Notre Dame Model!

Notre Dame!

Le Tour de Tourism!

View of the beautiful Seine River

Beautiful sunset of the Montmartre street

Yum!!!

hehe...

The lil girl below was kicking the ball arond with a boy she just met!

Champ Elyeses (sp)

Montmartre!

Tour Eiffel with the lightshow going

Berlin!

Part of a group of sculptures that meant to signify
Germany as the "Land of Ideas"

The Absolutely mind blowing altar from the old city of Pergamon

Berlin at night!

Here they are. I am about 95% sure these will be the last pictures posted here as I will post the rest of the pictures, especially the higher quality ones from my big camera, on my own website.

I am going on a bike tour of the city tomorrow, can't wait!

I buy therefore I am.

2006-06-07T04:09:00.000-07:00

There is a little shopping center right around block to my hostel. There is a Birkenstock store here. They are amazingly cheap. They are almost half as cheap as the ones sold in US (or HK, but I don't really know). They range from $50-75 USD. So if you want me to bring you a pair, shoot me an email with details of what kind you want. Try going on their website.

The same goes for World Cup 2006 souvenirs. If you want any key chain or magnet or t-shirts or whatever, try looking for them on the web and let me know what you want.

Needless to say... this offer only applies to people in Seattle and Hong Kong. (Unless you are REALLY interested.. then I can mail them to you i guess..)

Streets. Night. Once more.

2006-06-06T14:31:00.000-07:00

After downing a super-sized doner kebap to the tunes of Death Cab of Cutie (which I am still listening to hours later), I went walking around and train-hopping rather aimlessly with a 1/4 full water bottle on one hand, a mesmerizing book on another.

As you can tell by the cover (UK version), it's called Never Let Me Go by Kayuo Ishiguro. Seeing how I was about to finish The Shipping News, I thought I'd pick up another novel. So while waiting for the Eurostar train in London, I browsed around the bookstore and eventually came across this.
This is what made me bought the book (I didnt't even read the synopsis on the back of the book, rather deliberately),

An oblique and elegiac meditation on mortality and lost innocence.. What Ishiguro has done so artfully in these pages is not only assemble a chilling jigsaw puyyle, but also create a distinct fictional world. - NYTimes Book Review

I really don't want to say much besides, GO READ IT. I have read quite a few book on this trip. From four strangers meeting on the roof top all with the goals of jumping off of it (A Long Way Down, Nick Hornby) to the narrative of a girl who was murdered and now looking down from heaven on her family as they try to cope (Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold) to a story about the possibilities of 'love without pain or misery' (The Shipping News, Annie Proulx). They have all been pretty entertaining and enlightening in their own different ways tho none has affected me this does. None has made me put the book down, only to gather my thoughts, let them sink in, reflect, and resume reading.

It's probably the real 'good' novel among those I have read in a while. Much of the impact, so far, has been from the discovery and unravelling of the narrative. The reader follows the narrator as she traces back her memory from when she was an adolescent, much like us in the figurative sense. We know but we don't really know. In my own times and spaec, I have certainly gone on much of the same sort of archaelogical journeys in search of answer and explanation for the way I am, the way things are. The fact that the context is set in such an incredibly and interestingly skewed world only marks the novel all the more, at the very least, original and thought-provoking.

I was just absorbed in my book for the most part as I sat at various random stations watching people hop on and off the trains. Eventually I decided I should head back to where my hostel is, Alexandar Platz station. When I got out, I took a slower than normal strode around the area and took a few photos. I really like those and the ones I got at the stations earlier. What a pity I can't show them.

Interestingly enough, one of my favorite experiences, tho not necessarily with the results, from my trip to Europe six years ago was of walking around town in Munich and just taking pics of the subway station. I can't really explain it enough so you'd understand how I really feel. Walking around late at night being ever so attentive to the pace, the smell inside, people's looks of weariness, the perpetual motions of the train coming and going. I just find intrigue in it all, somehow.

London sucks

2006-06-05T08:24:00.000-07:00

Oh I forgot to mention this very important piece of observation-

London sucks

because

1 pound = $1.9 dollars

A pound is almost double dollar now. For those living in US, basically imagine everything being double in priced. That is right, $4 for a botter of water, $15 a salad, $10 for a glass of wine..etc..etc.

It was pretty brutal. I didn't spend a whole lot there (besides splurging for the fantastic Les Mis show). It's nice coming back to Berlin spending euros again.

Everything happens for a reason

2006-06-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

Arrival in Berlin at last. I can't believe I missed the plane from London to Berlin. It was pretty much all my fault for lingering in the internet cafe for too long. The fact that half of the main line to the airport was cut off for maintenance DEFINITELY didn't help.

So I ended up staying overnight at the airport on 'standby' for the earliest flight at 7 am, which is supposedly full. There were definitely flashbacks to the movie 'The Terminal' (based on a real life story btw). In the moments of despair and seemingly inexhaustible self-hatred, I wrote about 50 pages of existential manifestos on all matters of life ranging from why the §$"(? I am always so bad with time to what does the saying 'everything happens for a reason' really entail. All in my blood and tears too.

(ok just kidding about the blood part)

(tears part as well)

Fortunately the plane was by no means full and I was able to snatch an aisle seat with the adjacent one empty. You have no idea how much my sore behind appreciates leather seat after a night of sleeping on a makeshift 'bed' of metal chairs and coffee tables.

In any case, I am at the hostel now which is incredibly close to the city center. It's quite a change coming here from Paris though. There is so much more space here, it seems a tad surreal. The hostel itself is very nice. HUGE rooms, very clean, and decent staff. I think I am going to head to the Museum Island tomorrow. There's so much to see there I bet I'll be pretty tired by the time I am done.

After last night, I have definitely a newfound appreciation for a simple bed and room.

----------------------------------

(Sorry I don't really have access to my pics atm. I would love love love love to show you all the pictures I took of Paris... you guys will have to just wait till I get home, I suppose)

Paris was lovely. Like I said before, I really felt at home there. I could definitely see myself living there. It was great fun using my itsy bitsy of French to try to communicate with whoever I come into contact with. I found most of the Parisians to be pretty pleasant actually.

Since my stay was so short, I really didn't try to do a whole lot. The highlight (besides just walking around the city and enjoying all the nuances) was probably going up the tower of Notre Dame. The view was magnificnent. Like my sister said, it was probably better than the Eiffel Tower. Nevertheless, I did go to Le Eiffel on my last night and caught the nightshow at 11 pm. That was pretty neat. I was playing around with my big camera's long exposures and I got a few shots of le Tour glittering as if it is covered in diamonds.

I met this girl from Shanghai who is doing an exchange program in Milan for her MBA. We took a boat trip on the river Seine and that was pretty fun. While on the boat, we met a couple from LA who enlightened me on the fact that not all of LA is insufferable with exhuast and silicone. I guess they live in this neighborhood where they can walk anywhere for nice shops and restaurants.

On the second day, I went to the La Butte Montmartre (the Montmartre hill i guess) which was a decent hike from the main street. (turned out there was a furnicular, oh well) It was quite a scene with quite a handful of artists competing for the tourists attentions, some of whom got the portrait drawn right on the street. I headed to Sacre Coeur basilica, which was quite handsome. There was a quintet of young Parisians playing music right outside and they gathered quite a crowd. Sadly tho they were stopped by the police, to which a few in the crowd responded by jeers. I did buy their CD. Gotta support artists.

Oh lord, oh lord, lord praise French pastries.

I think I am going to leave it at that. ; )

Ciao!

Where's Amelie?

2006-06-01T10:19:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention I am staying in the Montmarte area.... it's actually a pretty nice area. I like it. the lines of small shops, cafes, and stores remind me a bit of Soho in HK.

Amelie was supposedly filmed here. Hm.. i haven't watched it in like 4-5 years.. i don't really remember much of it. Maybe I'll recognize some of the places when i walk around some more tonight/tomorrow.

Shit!

2006-06-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

First I missed the train to Paris, which means a whopping 50 pound penalty (about 90 USD). Then when i get to paris, i was tired, dehydrated (having only eaten a crossant and cereal), then when i get to the right metro stop, turns out the hostel was nowhere close. i walked for about 10 mins and i knew i was pretty close but i gave up and fetched a taxi. 3 euro was spent. best choice ever.

Just as I dropped all my bags and backpacks to the floor at the reception, the guy could not find my name on the list of people who had reserved for today. Checking... checking... and check again... oh.. my... f)#$@*)@... god... I BOOKED FOR JULY 1ST........... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.......

ok it wasn't that bad becuase they had a bed for me still but it wasn't the nice bed in mixed dorm i had reserved. it was some bed in twin-bed private room that is somewhere in the basement or something..

in any case, i am too tired. my roomate is waiting for me (who is in the same room with me, we have been walking around and eating together)... so... i think i am going to walk back for abit.. and.. just chill out... hopefully i will have a better tomorrow (cliche++)

wearily yours,

A Life Without Art or Gummy Bears

2006-05-30T15:31:00.000-07:00

I am so glad that I decided to come to London. I wasn't expecting a whole lot besides the usual and how the usual manages to become extraordinary! I can't really believe I have forgotten how much I admire the British painter William Turner. I went to the National Gallery in London today and there were a few Turners there. I also saw some Degas and Cezzanes that I really like as well as some of the incredible Dutch paintings by Vemeer and such. There were a few surprises from artists and periods of which I am not too knowledgeable. The Turners tho are still the highlights imo. In particular, this painting -

Rain, Steam, & Speed

I bought two postcards of it and almost bought a small print until I spotted a Turner book. I looked at all the other amazing paintings and "Tate Gallery" is under almost every other painting. So I decided to hold off on purchasing the print until I have seen the collection at Tate Britian, which supposedly holds his paintings in his own seperate gallery.

Unlike Turner, Les Miserables has never escaped from my consciousness in the last few years. I have been enchanted by the story and the music ever since I first saw the musical about 4-5 years ago. Since then I have listened to the soundtrack and read about 3/4s of the book. I once listened to the entirety of the soundtrack on the plane from Seattle to Hongkong and I wept.

I have always heard the production in London to be excellent and musn't be missed. After having seen it tonight, I can't help but agree with that sentiment. The vocal performances of all the actors were really incredible. John Owen Jones really brought Valjean to life. The musical was played at London's Queens Theater which is this relativley small and rather intimate theater. It is about one third the size of the theather where I first saw it. It really enchances the feeling of intimacy as I sat on fourth row, as opposed to like the 13th row last time. It really is something of another sort when you could see the facial expressions as the cast weep, embrace, growl, and kiss to show all the passions of life.

On the way back from the train, I couldn't help but felt so unfortunate to have seen and heard so much great art in the last few weeks. I wondered, what would life be without art?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am quite disappointed in the British populace as a whole. Last night I went through 3 small grocery stores (including a chain one) and could not locate a single pack of Gummy Bears. The significance of this, without a doubt, is not so apparent to all but myself. On the second day of my trip when I was waiting in Berlin for my train to Hamburg, I bought, along with a much appreciated bottle of "still" water, a pack of gummy bears. I ended up eating a few every night before I sleep and when I wake up for the rest of the trip. It's become the one welcoming constant that's both sweet and chewy.

So to think that, England, of all places, does not readily sell these delightful sweets at their everyday stores really saddens me. I ended up purchasing the next best thing - sour bears.

I suppose.

(I still haven't opened it....)

Motherland: England

2006-05-29T03:19:00.000-07:00

The punchline of this Indian-Canadian's (real Indian, not Native American) joke was that the motherland for all Indians is not India but England. I can't help but feel a bit of that as I took "the Tube" (subway) to my hostel. Just about every other name reminds me of a certain street in HK that has the same name.

Oh let me backtrack...

The flight was to depart at 7:30 am so I set my alarm clock to 5:30 am

5:20 am: I woke myself up (beating my alarm clock, ha!.... which almost never happened...) feeling really lousy with a bit of cold and sore throat.
5:21-5:23 am: unpack a few things so I can check my backpack in and not have my gifts being thrown around by airport people
5:24 am: For a good 15 seconds or so I debated whether to take shower.
5:25 am: unpack a few more things
5:29 am: stepped into shower
5:41 am: body-warming-cleansing-and-mind-refreshing ritual completed (I usually take a shower for 30 mins ish so I was delighted to beat the clock yet again!)
6:00 am: Packed everything, brushed teeth and checked out of hostel
6:02 am: Got to train station and the S42 train was right there waiting for me. Very very delighted at perfect timing. Pat self on back for job well done.
6:18 am: Got to Beusselstr. station and realized I have missed the TXL bus to Tegel airport by 3 minutes. Next one at 6:31 am. Wonderful feeling of self fleeted and transgressed into self blame. Pondered what I could have possibly done to have made the 6:15 am connection. Conclusion: aside from waking up 30 mins or earlier, none. I still would have had to wait for S42 train regardless.
6:22 am: sigh 9 more minutes to go....
6:23 am: Spotted this guy who seems to be travelling very anxiously got into a taxi right in front of bus stop. There's an idea!
6:24 am: Now en route to Tegel airport by taxi and delivered me right to the check in counter. Very pleased with self, yet again, for actually getting to airport way earlier than expected.
6:40 am: Now waiting at the gate to board plane after checking in.
7:00 am: Now on plane, hurray!
7:25 am: Now pondering the multitude of scenarios in which I will die on this plane. Euphoria replaced by morbid considerations of dying. Said to self that if the plane was to blow up right this moment, it'd be ok. I could accept that................ Thought of death turned into thought of insufferable living; what if i was to be completely burned but kept alive? I will turn into a vegetable, a grilled vegetable. What would I do then? Will anyone love me? Will my friends abandon me? Will I then draw from my experience of "overcoming" my disaster and write some piece of mementos that'd inspire generations to come?
7:32 am: plane took off
7:33 am: sound asleep
.
.
.
.
.
10:10 am ish: Arrived at this good looking hostel but unfortunately no checking in till 2 pm.
11:14 am: Present- time to figure out where I am going today. There are tons of art I want to see. Can't believe I am going to see so much of the art I have always read in books and dreamed to see in person, namely William Turner, Rothko...etc.

'Till next time!

Ha!

2006-05-28T10:36:00.000-07:00

Forgot to check which airport my flight is at... hence 30 more mins of interneting!

:D

7 freaking 35 freaking AM flight! GAHHHHHHHHH

2006-05-28T09:48:00.000-07:00

I have returned to Deutschland once more. Prague was gorgeous. Absolutely fantastic stay despite the poor weather and me not having explored the Lesser Quarter. Love the music festival.

no! 5 mins left on internet cafe!

Anyway... 7:35 am flight to London tomorrow... no wonder it is so darn cheap....

3:45 min left!

I am going to grab a bite, take some of those drowsy motion sickness pills, read my london guide book and go to bed early... Hopefully i wont miss the plane!

fingers crossed!

Ciao!

PS 2:00 left......... oh i picked up Annie Proulx' The Shipping News.. about 3/4 way through. it is a good read but, unlike other film adaptations from books, the movie of Shipping News actually is better in some of the other sensory aspects...

I HAVE LESS THAN 1 MIN LEFT! WHAT WILL I DO!

Magnificent performances.

2006-05-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

The decision to come during the annual Prague Spring music festival is probably the best decision I have made in a looonnnggg time.

On Monday I saw The Greek Passion at the Národní Divadlo (National Theater). The vocal performances were just superb, most especially the three who played Manolios (Christ), Katernia (Mary), and Yannakos (Peter). I just found this link to a commentary on the original novel. It's a pretty good summary and its commentary is pretty insightful. This is a good link on the opera version of the novel, the one I watched.

On Tuesday I had the great fortune to listen to Garrick Ohlsson recited pieces by Beethoven, Korte, and Smetana at the Obecní dům (Municipal House) A few people left at the interval after the Beethoven pieces but personally I rather liked the Korte and Smetana pieces. Ohlsson must have done at least 4 encores to which the audience responded with a standing ovation at the end.

Just tonight I heard the Prague Chamber Orchestra played Mozart's Requiem at the gorgeous St. Vitus Cathedral. The show has been sold out for months. (I couldn't get tickets weeks before I was to depart, just to give you an idea..) I was, however, lucky enough to get a ticket at the door at the very very very last minute for a mere 200 korunas which is just little more than $9. My musical vocabruary is rather limited so all I can really say is that it was an incredible experience and I am so glad to have made it without having a ticket booked early on.

I think I will likely take a break from the festival tomorrow. On Friday, however, I have tickets to the English Chamber Orchestra and I am really looking forward to that since it contains two piano concerti, which is my favorite, by Mozart.

On Saturday, I am hoping to get ticket to Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Stavovské divadlo (Estates' Theater) which, incidentally, premiered at this exact venue 218 years ago. Fingers crossed!

Anyway.. time for me to hop off the computer and get some sleep. I am going to try to get up early so I can go take some good pics of the incredible Prague Castle with the morning light. The clouds cleared out afternoon today, hopefully it'll stay that way!

Ciao!

PS don't be shy on the commentary! I get quite lonely at time and I enjoy it a lot when I get feedback from people... you don't have to say much, even something silly and nonsensical would be great! (at least I know you are reading..)

PPS I have been talking to people (mostly White Europeans) and most think I look lot younger than 25... I guess that's a good thing right?..... right? I bet all my Asian family and friends think I look older than 25! ok I am not making sense anymore... off i go...

A few pictures from Dresden and Prague!

2006-05-23T08:32:00.000-07:00

While I am here figuring out my lodging for London+Paris... might as well upload a few pics. :)

These were all taken with my small camera so the quality is definitely not as good as my big one. I haven't really had a chance to fully explore Prague yet. I've been "busy" on the computer trying to figure out my side trips to London and Paris but hopefully tomorrow I will be able to just go walk around and see more of the city.

Dresden

Dresden Semperoper, where I saw Dead Man Walking

The Národní Divadlo (National Theater) in Prague, where I saw The Greek Passion

Inside Národní Divadlo

Another view

Bravo!

It started to rain really hard right after the performance.
I quickly hopped over to the cafe right across from the theater and spent a good while
listening to my iPod and enjoying my cake. :)

Drenched at night.

I really like this shot. Taken from metro in Prague.

This might just be the last time you will see me upload pics while on the road. Well.. maybe I will have time to do it once more in Berlin... just maybe... ;-)

London! Paris! OMG!

2006-05-23T07:59:00.000-07:00

That's right, I'll be hitting up London and Paris next week! This is a result of two realizations. First, I have been actually, quite miraculously, under the budget. Second, I realize I don't really want to spend two weeks in Berlin when I have already spent nearly a whole month in German cities. I figure a full week in Berlin should provide a decent amound of time for fun in the city.

Voila!

I am going to spend 3 nights each in London and Paris. It should be fun travelling to two places in which my language skills are about 1000 times more competent than German. My French is newbie at best; nevertheless, I am familiar with the alphabet and how they sound so it shouldn't be too hard trying to put it together. Moreover, I'll be trying to gain sympathy points from the French as I, an Asian traveller, attempt very humbly at communicating in their language.

I am guessing that I'll most likely try to hit up most of the big museums, Tate Modern and such (yeah i am biased towards Modearn art, sue me), then see if I could catch some big musical production like Les Miserables or some local jazz acts.

In any case, it should be great fun.

There's always time for a list

2006-05-21T07:39:00.000-07:00

Here's a list of largely unrelated facts, impressions and thoughts-

1- staying in a hotel is not much fun when travelling alone
2- hence trying to rebook to get into hostels for rest of trip
3- Finished two books- Bridget Jones Diary and A long way down (both v. g.)
4- Watched an opera version of Dead Man Walking, was quite good, will post a more thoughtful response to it later
5- mobile phone SIM card has run out of minutes, no longer reachable by family and friends.
6- Wild thoughts of flying to exotic places like Kenya or Narobi or Vietnam or Taiwan in the middle of my trip
7- Out of the blue (tho it is sunday), a group of German seniors tourist was singing choir in the middle of the hotel reception ground floor at 10 am. They were quite good.
8- Was under-dressed for the opera... not much I could do since I couldn't really carry any formal wear with me while backpacking. Still feel a bit out of place, awkward, and slightly embarassed.
9- Had a really expensive but incredibly good meal in Nuremberg, 6-course and wine-tasting menu.
10- Ate nothing but currywursts yesterday. Managed to reduce and average out total expenditure for expensive meal in dramatic fashion. ; )
11- Saw Arsenal got beat by Barcelonla in an Irish Pub. There was an Irish woman next to me who was cheering Barcelona on simply because of her apparent idol Henrik Larsson, even before he got on the field. Unfortunately for us Gunners fans, Larsson proved to be the difference between the two teams in the decisive span of 5 minutes. Can't be more proud of the fighting gunners. There was a lad there who sported an arsenal jersey and was pretty much screaming and clapping during the entire match cheering his team on. He was so emotional and teary-eyed when it was done. I went over to offer my consolation and to which he responded with 'I have been waiting for this day for 20 years.' and two very very firm handshakes.
12- Henry is staying with Arsenal till he retires!!!
13- Must get back on track and sort out my lodging for the remaining 3 weeks of the trip....
14- Cao!
14a- Quite excited to get out of Germany for a while as everything was getting a tad too familiar
14b- hence undescribable excitement for Prague!

7 mins to 110 mins

2006-05-15T02:44:00.000-07:00

I just missed the train to Baden-Baden by about 7 minutes now I gotta wait for almost 2 hours >< . So here I am chatting away, blogging, and just surfing the web in general to kill time. After staying one night in Baden-Baden, I'll head up to Nürnberg, then Dresden..etc.. back to all the big cities! This small journey down south to the smaller towns has been good but I think I am yearning for more metropolitan-like experiences. I finished Lovely Bones over two nights of nonstop reading. It was quite good and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone. I am sorta re-reading it again.. but I think I might either dump it or mail it back home just to lighten the load. I wish I can grab another book somewhere tho. English bookstores are hard to find here, especially in the smaller towns.

PS I MISS playing bball and football under the sun. I haven't done that for a while. I met this guy from HK in Heidelberg. He got me all riled up with all the talk about the sports. Wherever I go now, I try to keep an eye out for basketball courts hahaha. It'd be interesting if I get to play a few games here in Germany with the locals. Speaking of which, I did play bball when I was in Hawaii once. The peeps I played with weren't terribly impressive and rather bitchy. One big guy did body check me after I scored on him. That's old school bball right there. I still had a lot of fun tho haha.

On another note, a friend of mine in HK had mentioned before that we could coach/lead a bball team of young teenage kids, like in junior high or community center. I think that'd be a load of fun. I have always enjoyed teaching and watching people learn/progress give me great satisfaciton. Anyway... this is one big PS. hehe

PPS they certainly show a lot of American films here in the theaters. Mission Impossible 3, ice age, proof, brokeback mountain..etc. Tv shows as well, there'll always be some American tv shows or movies on. Anyways, I don't know why I just mentioned all that. Lost my train of thought =/

PPPS I love how this little internet cafe has Dr. Dre and Snoop Doog blasting 10 o'clock in the morning.

Pictures hooray!

2006-05-11T07:41:00.000-07:00

I found a decent internet cafe and I installed some photo editing software which allows me to view RAW images from my big camera! Here are a few pics from Hamburg -> Heidelberg. Enjoy!

ps I went to Heidelberg about 7 years ago on a photography trip. We were so unfortunate because during our stay there it was either raining or heavy overcast, hence most of our pictures were of pretty bad quality. FORTUNATELY, however, the weather has been just perfect. I woke up at 6 am today to try to get the castle in an early morning light before the harsher light of the afternoon set in.

Rathaus (Townhall) in Hamburg

Köln Hbf (Cologne Central Station)

The Dom (cathedral) in Köln (Cologne)

A church in Köln

From the Dom

The Dom

Schlöss (castle) of Heidelberg

Studententkarzer (Student prison)

A view of the Schlöss from afar

A birdseye view of Heidelberg in the morning

A model of the castle in ruins

From the garden inside the Schlöss

A reception room in the Schlöss

A couple waiting for the english tour of the Schlöss

Me (duh)

A kitty infront of an apartment in the same building as the studententkarzer

Happy doggies!

View of Heidelberg and the Neckar river at sunset

A barge going through the river of Neckar

Schlöss at night!

Helloooo from Heidelberg

2006-05-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

I love the transport system but most especially the inter-city trains. I got the 10 day in 1 month pass. I just get to the train station and hop on whichever train will take me to my next stop. Today I took a 2 hours train ride from Köln to Mannheim down the Rhine river. It was so awesome.

The weather here is gorgeous. A bit cooler than Hamburg / Cologne but that's ok because it's still heck of a lot warmer than Seattle.

If i have time, I'll bring my cable and hook up my camera to the computer at the internet cafe and upload some pics.

I'm thinking about cancelling my reservations in Munich and just spend the extra day in Freiberg and extend my stay in Heidleberg. Or maybe I'll just go to another place altogether....

Anyway.. gonna go grab a bite and then head to bed... I want to get up early to take pictures of the Schloss (castle).

Ciao!

Pics!

2006-05-07T08:02:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Köln a tad earlier than I expected and there's an internet cafe very close to the hotel so here I am!

I don't have access to all the good pics I took with my big camera so these will have to do. :) Without further adue-

A Rodin exhibition in Hamburg

Kunsthalle (Art Hall?)

Evard Munch Exhibition

Pic of a smallg group from the boat tour of Lake Alster

TONS of people at the port fair in celebration of the anniversary!

Currywurst!

Please excuse the horrible formatting. It's rather difficult to resize these and such on this computer. In anycase I've spent way too long in here! I think I'm going to go find something to eat.

Till next time.... Ciao!

Todaz is actually day 3!

2006-05-06T03:48:00.000-07:00

I thought today was Friday and hence my 2nd day in Hamburg... I forgot that I actually arrived here on Thursday night and of course I had a full day yesterday.... In any case, thanks to the clerk at the internet cafe reminding me!

I'm now trying to find directions to my hostel in Cologne and the schedule for the DB train there. I don't imagine having much time to get on a computer there. So next time you see an update would probably when I'm in Heidleberg or Dresden!

I can't get any pictures uploaded :( I use my DSLR to take most of the pictures and they are in RAW format and they don't have any software that would read RAW. Well... I'll try again next time... maybe when I get to Prague or Berlin later in the month.

Welp.... I'm running out of time again... so I gotta go or I'll miss the tour of the Rathaus town hall in English!

Ciao!!!!

Hamburg Day 2

2006-05-06T01:58:00.000-07:00

Don't have time to say much. Day 1 was great, weather is awesome and Hamburg is pleasant.

Gotta go, will update tomorrow with pics and stuff.

In Germany at last!

2006-05-03T14:19:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update-

I am now typing away in my hostel's internet cafe using this keyboard layout that's totally unfamiliar. There are lots of key in different places but I think I am getting a hang of it. Almost midnight here actually. I'm pretty darn tired so I'm going to get some sleep. Gotta get up early to take a train to Hamburg tomorrow.

Ciao!

Arrival in Heathrow, London

2006-05-03T05:50:00.000-07:00

I have safely arrived at Heathrow Airport in London. The flight was rather uneventful. As usual, I had no problem sleeping on the plane. I met a lady from Portland before the flight. We had a nice chat while we were waiting to board our plane. The couple next to me was courteous and we definitely appreciated our good fortune as the seat laid empty between us. :-) They are on a 2 weeks or so trip to Italy. I definitely want to visit Italy and Sicily one day, one village at a time!

I saw "Last Holiday" and bits of "Walk the Line" on the plane. Last Holiday was pretty entertaining. I actually had a nice dream. I was out with my HK friends and family on the street at night somewhere. Then I was asked to chop some onions in the middle of the elevator... how bizare! Then later on, I was having a drink with some friends. To my surprise, one of them was actualy a classmate of Reese Witherspoon! (who played June Carter in Walk the Line) I asked her to help introduce me to her because I was a big fan of hers. (I cited Legally Blonde as an example... lol..)

Anyways, I think I'm going to hop off the computer now and go browse around and read my guidebook a bit. I will be in Berlin for an overnight stay then I'll head to Hamburg. Cya then!

Books books and books!!

2006-04-29T04:11:00.000-07:00

I took a short trip to the bookstore today and came across this book called Lovely Bones. It was recommended by the staff and seems like a good read. I also picked up two "guide books" on Germany and Prague by Fodor's. I spent about an hour reading them at the bookstore. They are fantastic. It's almost 95% text; in other words, it's filled with information!

As I was reading the Fodor guide, I was feeling a wee bit of regret. I almost wished I hadn't planned my trip out so thoroughly and precisely. But I suppose it's ok. For the most part I dont' really have a precise idea for how I'm going to spend my time on the trip; nevertheless, I'm definitely feeling more exicted and anxious as I have a better idea of the places I'm going and things I'll be doing.

On another note, I just finished Junebug. It's a fantastic film. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in watching an honest and genuinely heartfelt flick of family drama. I got another film from Netflix (probably my last two from them...). It's called Seducing Doctor Lewis. It's a hoot and a half. I saw it at the Seattle film fest about 2 years ago. It was soooooooooooooooooooo funny. I don't recall I have ever lol'ed so hard in the theater.

Music Festival in Prague!

2006-04-28T02:19:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad that during my stay in Prague there are two music festivals going on, the annual Prague Spring Music Festival and the Mozart 2006 (to commemorate the 250th anniversary of his birth). Here are 3 events I have gotten tickets for. The Greek Passion will be at the National Theater in Prague. It looks absolutely incredible!

Garrick Ohlsson – piano

ENGLISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

The Greek Passion

Just 4 days before I fly off to Berlin. I'm pretty much all set with my preparations. The only thing I really need to do now is to continue looking up for events during my extended stay in Prague and Berlin. Oh I also need to make up my mind on what novels I'm bringing with me. The candidates so far are Les Miserables (I'm about half way through) and Unbearable Lightness of being (since it was set in Prague). For those reading this... got any suggestion? ;-)

Itinerary

2006-04-28T02:18:00.000-07:00

May 2           Leaving Seattle!
May 3           Berlin
May 4-7         Hamburg
May 7-10        Cologne
May 10-12       Heildelberg
May 12-14       Black Forest
May 14-16       Munich
May 16-18       Nuremberg
May 18-21       Dresden
May 21-28       Prague
May 28-June 12  Berlin
June 12         Back to Seattle

Welcome!

2006-04-28T02:17:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog!

This is the place where I'll post updates and pictures of my trip to Germany this summer. Anyone can comment so feel free to do so..... well if u want to!

My email address while on this trip will be arttikm@gmail.com . I'll also get a cell phone sim card once I land there. If you feel like calling me, shoot me an email and I'll let u know what my phone # is. :D