Entry 25: Final Chapter

I guess this will be the final chapter of this blog. 4 more days and I will be in the comfort of my home, the company of my girl friend and, of course, my friends.

It has quite an experience for me in Germany, first I had to sent my roommate to the hospital in mid-night (we called an ambulance with my limited German), then I lost my passport in Rome, sneaked back into Germany by train and the grand finale of getting a blood infection and ended up in hospital for 10 days.

Although I didn’t write about my hospital trip, the stay is quite pleasant. I shared a double room with another German man who was undergoing an insect allergic treatment. I had my own toilet in the room. Not to mention, I am the hospital star while I was there. Due to the rare blood infection, and the fact that I was in a university hospital, made me the subject of interest to both professors and students. How often do you have 20 hands feeling on your feet at the same time? I had it almost everyday when my legs were swollen and had red spot all over them (later I find out that the 20 doctors (or students) are feeling for the spot where my vein had burst which result in the swelling and the red spot). Well, the first 7 days were nightmare to me. I had fever around the clock. (But) I got to practice my German with my roommate and the ever smiling nurses. Generally, the money I paid every month to the health insurance company is not totally wasted (on the bright side of the matter).

Looking at the title of this blog, the memories when I started this blog rush to me. A story on his life in Munich and his relationship with his girl friend who is in Singapore. Although I am quite confident that the relationship will survive the trip, I am also surprise that it REALLY worked out. So much had happened, ha-ha, the love letters I wrote, the Europe trip, the silly phone calls we made and, of course, the occasional argument.

I can still remember how silly we were when we planned to have a romantic picnic lunch out in the Olympic Park (Munich), by the lake, under the warm sun, and… in the cold chilling wind of winter. I still remember how our fingers lost their sense of touch and how fast the steaming rice froze; but, somehow, it manages to put a smile on my face. Next time we should do it in June. Somehow, this becomes the first thing I think of when I think about the Europe trip.

Hmm… he-he hai… sweet memories… oh no, I have to stop thinking about this if not this blog will turn into one that freeze the reader. I will whisper to you what is in mind now when I come back where I can hold you in my arms. (Hoping that they are long enough LoL)

Entry 24: Enjoying a European Weedend

Well, finally I have done it, spending a weekend like a classical European.

Despite the fact that my laptop's fan is broken, my weekend has not been a boring one.

I have found a big bookshop in my town and, fortunately, they sold English novels.

For 10 Euros, I bought a book by Trudi Canavan, The Black Magician Trilogy I.

It is a nice book, so nice that I decided to spend a day reading it, the European way.

So, on Sunday, I took a train down to Munich and then took a walk to the beautiful Englischer Garden.

Finding a nice seat by the lake in the Beer Garden, I settled in my seat.
With the sun shinning warmly on my face and a 0,5 l beer on one hand, I began to enjoy my fantasy book.

The sad part is that I have already finished half the book while taking the train from Regensburg to Munich.
The sadder part is that I HAVE TO leave about 2 chapters of the book so it can keep me company for the ride back to Regensburg.

By the time I finish my beer (about 2 hours), I have already read till the last chapter of the book...

Leaving my comfortable seat is such a torture... but I know I have to so that I have something to read while taking the boring train.

AND comes the saddest part... I SLEPT ON THE TRAIN BECAUSE OF THE BEER.... AHHHH
I should enjoy the last chapter by the lake.

BUT not all is lost... I went back to the book shop and has bought Book II and III.

Now I just need to pray that the whether will be nice next week.

Entry 23: Second Life?

Some time ago, I began to wonder, if given a chance to re/live this Germany experience, how different would I be?

I guess this usually happened when things are approaching to an end; just like the times when the exams are over and you begin to ask yourself, did you do your best?

For me, it seems that I have waste a considerable amount of time here in Germany.
Also I realised I need stress to work. I am hopelessly lazy when left alone. I still remembered when I set off to Germany, I made some promise to myself:
- I must be able to speak German as if it is English.
- I must work out until I gain to build.
- I must get to know more people.

So far, I only achieved No.3, half of No.1, a quarter of No.2. Add up, I guess I had failed.

Main reason> Lazy, Free Online Game, U-Tube, Very Friendly Colleagues.

So if really I were to live these 1 year all over again... Most likely... hmmm.... I would end up the same lol

Entry 22: European

Hi all,

Sorry, it has been a long time since I update this blog mainly because of gaming. (Oops... I am born an addict)

Anyway, Spring is here in Regensburg. The sky is always blue now and the baby birds have all grown up! (Meaning they no longer "chip" for food).

The good old mother or father birds are now fatter and look as if they are feathered balloons. Sometimes, the small balloons which I named them, high pitch noisy balloon and non-stop high pitch noisy balloon and 5:30am noisy balloon, would come to my window if I leave them a piece of bread outside.

(Good thing is that they are now learning to sing for mating season)

Anyway some thing I discovered about Europeans is that they like to work in dim lighting.

Back in office, whenever the sun comes out, my colleagues will just pull down the curtain and dim the light... (to me it is just the perfect setting for an afternoon nap...)´

Back home, my flat-mates have just removed the light bulbs from the main lamp in the living room and replace it with a table lamp bulb with a thick blur glass covering which gives a fade yellow glow. (to me it is just the perfect setting for cutting off your fingers when chopping vegetable)

Oh and most importantly, I realised that I have misunderstood the intend of the girl I met in the bar in September for asking to come home with me at 2am.

It is common for them to go to a friend's house after a drink in the bar and stay there (the house) to continue chatting with a glass of wine till earlier into the next day and drive home.

(I found this out because there are always people (flat-mate's friends) in my flat chatting until 4 or 5 am)

Ok, the time has come when I must return to my game.

Take care!

Entry 21: Spring, Accident, Cold Shower

Spring has finally arrived in Regensburg. The flowers are blooming, baby birds are chipping (at around 6 am outside my window), shorts skirts are appearing (but europeans have fat waist) and the warm water stopping.

Yes... WARM WATER STOPPING. Now every time I bath, I feel like I am acting in the movie, Gone in 30 seconds.

00:00 Enter bathroom

00:10 100% Strip

00:15 Deep Breath + On shower

00:20 Everything soap and rub

00:25 Grab a towel

00:30 100% dressed rush to blacket

Anyway, I was hit by a car recently. Or to be exact, my foot was ran over by the wheel. It was pure luck that I am still alive. If I were to take a step faster, my body will be hit instead of my toes.

And to be even more luckier, no bones are broken and all toes are able to move.

My little pinky toe was broken once, I hope there won't be a second time.

Anyway, when my throat stops burning and my head feel a little lighter, I would go outside and took some nice picture of Spring.

The flowers are really blooming now.

Oh and I will be back on 25^th July. YA~ can't wait to be on home ground.

Entry 20: Thoughts

Life is really an interesting thing. It is full of twists; sometimes, this twists makes us feel troubled or sad but at times, it puts a smile onto our face. And what makes life even more interesting is that you can always look back and look at all these moments, be it sad, worrying, happy or sweet, and you will just be amused about how far you have come, or just how on earth you pull it through.

Tonight, I gave a call back home to check on my mom, dogs and, of course, to talk to my dear darling. Looking back, it is simply so beyond any of my imagination that there could be one day that my girl friend would not only have the keys to my house, sleeps in my room, have breakfast and do Yoga every weekend with my mom AND could walk out just with a towel from a shower in my house to pick up my calls. The feeling is so heart warming when I called home (the home number) and then 敏敏 picked up the call~ It is as if that we are already husband and wife. Sweet!

And then there were the army days that now become one of my most precious memories. I could easily recall the day when I broke down in front of my men when they disobeied my orders to clear the mud in a stupid drain. Or the times, when we were crossing the swamps in Indonesia and freezing almost to death that night. Then there was that stupid Helicopter Operation which "a piece" of mud was blown into my mouth and I swallowed it. These time are tough, but when they are over. They are just sweet memories that makes the ME today.

Do you remember the movie, "Click"? I think it really inspired me. Sometimes, we would hope that the bad and tough times could be fast-forwarded or skipped. It is just human nature. But these tough and unpleasant times is what we feed on to grow. They are part of our life, the parts which will put the biggest smile and pride on our faces when we look back at them.

May be it is the whether in Regensburg, it is so romantic and (hmm...) peaceful here. It would naturally make a person think. If you know German, Regensbug means The Rainy Mountains. May be it is because of the weather here, this place always rain. Anytime in the day, be it sunny or not, there will be at least a light shower and everything would turn misty and foggy. I was told that it is because this town is surrounded by the mountains and a river (Danube River) runs through it, the water vapour (or clouds) are trapped by the peaks of the mountain and remain (always) on the sky of Regensburg.

And when it rains, this song would play in my ears...
雨下整夜 我的爱溢出就像雨水
院子落叶 跟我的思念厚厚一叠
几句是非 也无法将我的热情冷却
你出现在我诗的每一页

Entry 19: A New Beginning - The Romantic Town: Regensburg

After the exams, I am finally here, in the romantic town of Regensburg.

Lying on the "romantic route", Regensburg is among the best-preserved medieval towns in Europe.

And it is as beautiful as how lonely planet describe it...

So after the hassle (the testing of human limit: I use would have used all 4 limbs to carry my staff if I could walk without my legs... one hand dragging a suit cast, one hand carrying "something", the back carrying my backpack, the front carrying another smaller backpack, mouth biting onto my train/bus ticket or the keys) of moving all my staff from my Munich Bungalow to the cosy little house in Regensburg in 2 trips, I spent my Friday in Regensburg searching for the Asia supermarket, the registry of address, the RVV office (to get my student bus ride card)

Lucky enough, I completed all that in a single morning!! (Unbelievably good luck)

And since the sun is good and I am in the mood, I decided to tour around this city and, unexpected, I fall in love with this medieval town.

PS: At the end of the blog is the video featuring the handsome boy and his new house!

St. Peter's Church in Regensburg

I will call it the mini-Marian Platz

I like the way the streets are built in the town. Romantic feeling... hai...

The Stone Bridge across the Donau

The Donau. It is because of this river that makes Regensburg misty and cold >_<

Would love to live by the river

Asia Markt! Discover this store while roaming the town aimlessly

菜心! My favorite! Bought 2, each cost 1.2 Euro...

Decided! I am going to spend my first paid here! (Veg Curry!)

Weird Car... fake BMW

Entry 18: A Post specially for 敏敏

14^th Feb, 2007.

I have been thinking quit a while of what to do on this special day.

You have told me on skype that you understand that I am too occupied with my finals and the preparation for my coming internship (e.g. looking for a house) that I need not do anything for 14^th Feb.

I am so touched by you, you know.

Although this year I can’t spend this special day by your side and can’t send you any roses, I want to at least show you my heart in the most honest, most direct fashion.

Like the song playing now, we started out as strangers, we met unexpectedly, neither of us prepared, and just by a little chance we have come to this stage where you have become like part of my family, eating 汤圆 with my family on New Year’s Eve.

May be you will find it strange that I am writing this on my blog, instead of on a love letter.

But I want to make this a testimonial of what I am going to promise you. I want all of my friends to know that I have found the woman I have always been looking for, a woman that fits so perfectly in the picture that I always have in my mind. A picture, which I was sitting on a coach on a lazy Sunday afternoon, looking into the kitchen to find my wife, back facing me, chopping carrots and my children watching the TV.

I want to print this message out and frame it up during our wedding.

You know it is so strange and so magical for us to be together? First, we get to know each other because of KM who I only met in a programming class. Then we got into the same UROP program, and then, I got into RH during the holidays just by dropping by the RH office. Do you know how many people got rejected? And do you still remember how I got the room? Because they have key in a person’s name twice and hence having an extra room! Then there is your break up (finally~) (Not to mention, the long queue of guys “chasing” you. Ha ha, I am so proud of this). Looking back, I can only be amazed by how impossible this chain of event has led us~

Dear, it has already been almost 6 months since I came to Munich. We have gone through a lot didn’t we?

The moment when I lost my passport in Rome is still very fresh in my mind. I can still remember the moment when you told me you would stick with me even though you may miss the flight back to Singapore. I can still remember the moments when we fell sick in Florence, when I was shivering under the blanket (Ok, I will try to forget the part when I told you, “ok, you can sleep, I will take care of myself” and you really fell back to slee)

Many have said that traveling together is the best way to discover what one truly is. I think we sure have, didn’t we? And I am glad that I have discovered that you are what I always wanted.

Dear, please forgive me for the silly things I have done to make you angry. I really don’t know and is never (never) my intention~ (ok… besides that one time when I took away the toilet roll from you)

I really hope that you will be the one who would be witnessing my life and I witnessing yours.

I love you.

Happy Valentine Day.

To me, every moment during your stay in Europe is Valentine Day, really.

I really miss you.

~Tale as old as time~

~Tune as old as song~

~Beauty and the Beast~

~Meow~

From your lovely beast~ Goofy~ m(^_^)m

Entry 17: Meet Mr. ICE KACHANG!!

Introducting~~~~

My First Snow Man~!

Mr. Ice Kachang!

I always want to do this~

Entry 16: White Chinese New Year

One thing about living in Munich is that you can really feel the power of nature.

2 days ago, there was a storm and wind speed picked up to 200 km/h.

I was at school at that moment when the storm warning came in. The wind was really strong. So strong that I can incline my body hmm at a 60 degree angle when walking against the wind (and lifting the foot is difficult!!). Ok I may not be a commando, but I am not weak and the feeling of being blown away is so REAL!

Then now instead of a white Christmas, I think I am going to get a white Chinese New Year. The snow is so deep that it can now cover my whole shoe. I heard from the Germans that it is normal for the snow to pile up till the knee…

Should I to start digging tunnels from my door to the train station?

Hmm… I will try to build a snow man on my balcony tonight!
(Suggestion on the name of my first snow man?)

Oh Oh Oh and 敏敏 is going to become an advertisement girl!! So proud of her. Ha ha ha I am a super star’s boyfriend liao~ Mu HAHAHHA~~~

1st Day of Snowing (Excited)

I though this is called "everything is covered in snow"

Then... I woke up this morning...

I am one shoe deep into the snow

Narnia

That is called... covered in snow (please not any worse pls)

(^_^)

Entry 15: Leveling Up in Europe

“Am I aging?” I wondered.

Lately when I was reading my friends’ blog, I realize myself commenting in my head, “Ha ha, silly kid~”, “Ha ha, poor kid~”, “Ha ha, funny kid~”

Is that a sign of getting old!? Why am I using the verb “kid” when I myself am a handsome and wonderful kid!?

Ah~ anyway, it has been really busy for me these days. Like what Candice describe as “1001” things to do ah~

First, my passport was stolen in the airport of Rome the day that I am suppose to fly back to Munich which leads to me having a taste of the life of an illegal immigrant in Italy.

At first, I thought falling sick in Florence was bad enough…

Anyway, the Italy trip was packed with adventures.

I experienced an airport lockup when the 190cm Italian police misunderstood me as not having a passport and lock me up in an interrogation room when I reported my stolen passport in Rome airport (The passport was stolen in the Airport, fainted).

Then because it was Friday, the Embassy was closed till Monday.

Not being able to take a flight back, I was told that we can take a train back since night trains do not conduct passport checks

Well, as lucky as we have been, there were 2 checks that night when the train passed the Italy-Austria and Austria-Germany bonders.

I am really glad that the innocent and helpless face I put up stopped the police from dragging me out of the train.

Next time, I am going to draw a mask for myself with those sparkling eyes should I visit Italy again (just in case)

During these troubled times, 敏敏 stayed all the way with me even when she was free to go and that she was suppose to fly back Singapore on Monday.

The love and care she showed me was… beyond comprehension.

I am so glad that I confessed to her before I leave if not I will miss such a wonderful girl for the rest of my life.

Now that I have her, I will…

Anyway, so that losing of Passport would naturally translate to having to redo a new Passport.

Trouble trouble…

The embassy here in Munich is only open 3 days a week, 4 hours a day.

40 Euros, 4 photos, parent’s birthday, Singapore IC, forms… @_@

My “quests” do not end here.

Just as I though my luck has hit the bottom of the lake, my precious laptop was infected with virus when I plug the brand new USB 30GB hard disk in.

The virus attacked IE 7 and attached itself to it.

Damn Bill Gate for launching a cracked product and all hail to Firefox.

(Is it on purpose? The MS Office spell check does not recognize the word Firefox?)

Anyway, I removed IE 7, run Trend Mirco and removed the virus / worm and installed Firefox

Done with the Laptop, I have yet to look for a house / room in Regensburg, the town I am going to do my internship in.

At first I thought an infected laptop (for your information: In Munich, fixing laptop = 30 EURO per HOUR) signaled the bottom of the lake, but NO! I can still sink into the mud!

Let me simplify it, I saw an ad of a room available between March and August. (Perfect fit to my internship duration)

Then I made an appointment and waited happily till Friday to go check it out.

Friday morning, the owner SMS me that he was going to rent to his friend~

BOMB!!

So the search goes on and my examinations (finals) are in 2 weeks, internship in 4 weeks, my IC from Singapore reached 2 days ago meaning that I have to go through many paper work again on Tuesday (the day the embassy is open)…

And!

I realize there are some problems uploading photos to Blogger using Firefox.

So till then… Most likely the photos will be uploaded when the above tasks are completed

But again, that is life; like an online game just that we are the players. Quest after quest we have to complete and at the same time level up!

(Or should I say SEP is like an accelerated growth program. Now I am so used to knocking into new problems then my mental has been tuned to “Problems are natural”)

Chiong ahhhhhhhhhh~ When I come back, I shall be a Lv100 player liao~ Ha ha ha~

I miss 敏敏’s cooking…

Austria 1st Stop: Vienna

It is a church, can you believe that?

T-shirt for the bottle

Left behind Angel

Everywhere there is Music

Giant Get a Doll Machine

(Salzburg) Look familiar? Sound of Music?

Sound of Music?

The Sign...

The house we stayed in Salzburg

SNOW~~~

Camera man is running actually

Peace~

And love~

Am I that tall?

Sweet

Mozart's Hair

The mountain we are going to CONQUER~

YAYA TOP OF THE WORLD~

Handsome Boy~

Then we fly to Italy over the Alps

1st Stop: Venice

The Whatever Boat you call that @_@


The misty streets at night






Sky of Venice


The Merano X'mas Tree


Pizza, Florence, A place where a hundred people is posting the same post on the street


Say Hi to David


Florence, simply amazing



The names are to be added by 敏敏


River leading to Gallery Uffici


I guess you know where I am ^_^


She is cute~






Dead


On top of St. Peter Church, Vintecan


Inside St. Peter Church, it is too big for photos


Outside of St. Peter


Guess? Something to do with Wishes and a Fountain


"End Already!?"