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P.O.T.W. #4
The past 2 weeks have been hectic. With early morning lectures to late evening tutorials to dance practices for PMC Farewell AND Chocolate Ball, I'm surprised I managed through it alive. The videos for Wan Lin's, Hui Xin's and dance performances are on Facebook and most of you would've already seen it.
Dance practices are fun and some what nerve wrecking especially when the time frame is very narrow. But nonetheless, the moment you walk off stage, you know it was all worth your while.
I personally enjoyed the farewell organized by the juniors and headed by Evelyn. When they say time flies when you're having fun, it certainly did last Thursday when most of us had to change from one outfit to another and could only sit our butts down for less than half an hour.
Now, instead of looking forward to going home, I think I might actually miss this place. ;p
P.O.T.W #3
Vino and the turkey he and Tamal stayed up till 4am for.
We had Thanksgiving Lunch with the American Medical Student Association on Saturday to celebrate Thanksgiving. Apparently Thanksgiving in Canada, England and America fall on different dates. But the most striking similarity is definitely the presence of the yummy turkey ready to be eaten!
~gobble gobble~
P.O.T.W. #2
Amanda, Michelle and EeVien were in Dublin for the weekend. On a very early Sunday morning, we headed off to Howth for some yummy goodness of orgasmic fresh oysters only 7.50 euros for a dozen. This picture was taken when we were feeding 8 seals at the pier.
Will update on this soonish.
MUNICH DAY 324th September '09
On our last day in Munich, with a late afternoon flight to catch, Jie and I cramped our city tour into what ever time was left for us.
Because we booked our flights and accommodation for the Oktoberfest a tad too late, (by late I meant 5 months prior to the event. Normally, people would actually book a year in advance!!) we got a hotel that was a 30 minute train ride away from the city of Munich itself.
So up we were, early in the morning, taking turns with the shower and finally, breakfast at the hotel. I've always been a sucker for hotel breakfasts. Ever since my trip to Australia in 2003, I've never said no to any buffet breakfast that were provided by hotels. It's not like they serve Michellin-quality food, but it's the variety that makes me go nuts!
Look at me, I'm sidetracking again.
After a really good breakfast of heaps and heaps of bacon, scrambled eggs, sausages and loaves of ham, Jie and I headed to the station for our walking tour.
It's not obvious in this picture, but Jie is (proudly, if I might add) wearing Munich FC's jersey.
Our free walking tour started at Marienplatz and it takes about 3-4 hours to complete the entire tour. It's free but the tour guides are given tips based on how good you think they are.Our group ironically got an excellent tour guide from New Zealand! What are the odds!
A closer look of the New Town Hall. The gold statue atop the Mariensaule on the right is the Virgin MaryThis is a better picture if you're interested.
Mariensaule is a column erected at its current location after the Swedish occupation. Germany, Munich in particular, has too many good and bad histories with other countries and I can only remember a few bits here and there.
That aside, the point I was trying to make was that Marienplatz (Mary's Square) was named after Mariensaule (Mary's Column).Ah.. makes sense right? ;p
And the rest of the new town hall.
I actually can't remember the name of this building. But it looked unique to me.
As you walk through the new town hall, this is what you see on the ceilings.It's a priest holding 'something brown' in his left hand and pointing towards a direction with his right.When our tour guide asked us to guess what was in the priest's left hand, I immediately said BEER without any thought what-so-ever that OBVIOUSLY it's a BIBLE!!! *shy*But, people do joke about how these priests can be thought as holding a mug of beer and pointing to the next nearest beer house!
Next, we walked towards a cathedral called Frauenkirche that was under refurbishment. Based on a long-winded legend, it is said that the Devil helped the builder construct the windows to the cathedral.
Okay, I know that sounds very odd so I guess I have to clarify what I said with the long-winded story itself.
Teufelstritt a.k.a the Devil's foot.
Before the cathedral was built, the devil made an agreement with the builder that there should not be any windows because he knew that Christians sing songs a praise as part of worshiping God. After much give and take, they came to a consensus of building small windows instead. When the cathedral was built, (note, these are all based on legends and myths and this one that I remember is just one of the versions) the devil could still hear the singing coming from the large windows of the cathedral. So he flew down (or up if you get what I mean) and told the builder to remove the windows. The builder who didn't want to argue with the devil agreed. So the devil stood, watched and ridiculed as the builder removed the windows. Little did the devil know that he was tricked because the builder made the windows in columns, in such a way that the devil could not see from where he was standing. As expected, the devil was furious when he found out. Because the church was already sanctified, the devil could not enter. So at the entrance, that's where he stomped his foot in rage and fury.
This was one of the few things out of the many which I remember in full from what the tour guide said cause as she was reiterating this legend to us, I could actually picture all of it happening. Well, with my own version of 'the devil' and 'the builder' in my head.
In the Frauenkirche.Looks like any other cathedrals you see in any parts of Europe which I've been.
On the left, is what was beside the Frauenkirche. They're tombs of bishops if I'm not wrong.On the right, is where Mozart used to live. It's now a Button Shop.
Left: The priest with a mug of beer pointing to the Hofbrauhaus.Right: St. Peter's.
That's our tour guide. She was explaining to us some historical facts about that thing on the wall. That's about when my attention slipped from me.
Next stop, last stop for Jie and I, was the Viktualienmarkt.
It's a market which sells all sorts of stuff. Fruits, vegetables, flowers, decorations and all that jazz.What captured my attention though, were these really cute but not very cuddly animal look-a-likes!
Aren't they adorable!!My favourite is the hedgehog. Sho sho sho sho kuuutee!
In the centre of the Viktualienmarkt.
Jie was in desperate need for water. Lol.At the market, this is the German's version of a water cooler. Barcelona's is kind of similar.
Another beer garden where the Germans just eat and drink.
What a lovely summer day.*looks out window into the charcoal black sky*=[
Pork knuckle!
Potatoes.
Sausages!
That was the first part of our lunch. There were no seats left so we hunted around the area for some good beer before heading back home.
Ah... Augustiner bier, what a way to end our trip!
Sausage and sauerkraut for me.
Beef + beer soup for Jie.
Although it was a mere 3 days, we certainly enjoyed ourselves, with good company, good food, good beer, nice hotel, what's there to complain about?
I know Jie will revisit Munich for another round of Oktoberfest in the near future. Even if you don't enjoy beer as much, you'll enjoy the atmosphere of Oktoberfest because to me, that alone made my O'fest a one to remember.
+.+.+.+
Next up, my birthday celebrations in 3 different countries!I honestly thought by the time I get to my birthday post, it'll be time for X'mas!
Ta now!
P.O.T.W. #1
Jie was in Dublin over the weekend. His first time this term and hopefully more to come!
OKTOBERFEST @ MUNICHTuesday, 22nd September '09
Well hello there! I'm back!But not for long. The workload is starting to pile up and with only a month left before the Xmas break, there's just too much to do! (studies AND social life included)
A couple of friends just got back from Munich yesterday and a few are going next weekend. This prompted me to blog about my Oktoberfest experience in Munich before it becomes nothing but a vague memory.
+.+.+.+
DAY 1
Jie and I flew from Malaysia on the 20th of September, arrived London Heathrow on the 21st of September and left for Munich on the 22nd. It isn't as tiring as it sounds, cause in a funny way, you get immune to the airports, airport people, airport smell, express trains and the whole travel vibe.
This was my first time on an EasyJet flight which doesn't operate to or from Dublin. Jie took the window seat but that did not deter me from taking window-view pictures.
At our hotel, Am Moosfeld.The gang from Dublin; Joanne, Hui Xin, Kev, Kings, HanBing and Jason were booked into the hotel earlier that day and were roaming the streets of the city by the time we arrived.
So we headed towards the city centre for tourist-y activities.
A beer garden and I.Missing those summer days! As I'm typing this, I'm wearing 3 layers of clothes + a scarf. And I'm indoors. Joy.
The new town hall at Marienplatz.
HuiXin and I at the entrance of Hofbrauhaus where we had our dinner.
Apparently, way back then when the women used to wear Dirndls and men used to wear Lederhosens on a daily basis, the floors of the restaurants and beer houses were coated with a thick layer of sand.
Because there's so many people and you'd be a nuisance if you make everyone get up from the bench just so you can visit the loo, the men would have walking sticks with them so that they can use these sticks to dig up holes from the ground of sand, unhook their Lederhosens and pee right there and then. Then, with the walking stick, they'd push the sand back above their excretions.I wonder how the women coped with this problem. Heh.
Looks awesome eh?A typical guy would love Germany; Meat, carbo, beer, meat, carbo and more meat! Nothing green on the plate.
Cheers!To our first litre in Munich!
L-R: Kev, Jo, me, Huixin, Jie, Kings.
DAY 2
After a good hearty buffet breakfast, we were all geared up for the real deal. The Oktoberfest itself.
All of us on our way to Moosfeld Station.
<3
You cannot imagine how packed the trains were on that day. Pictures do tell a thousand words but this is something you've got to see with your own eyes.
This is just a glimpse of it.
The weather was perfect for a day out that day. It was a lil hot but I'd rather be boiling hot than freezing-Titanic-scene-cold.
Of all things, we first spotted this at our entrance.Yumzz! But Oktoberfest is about Pork and Beer so we left this for later.
Our first tent, HIPPODROM.The word tent is very deceiving.
Look at the colours!
First Oktoberfest litre.There are 2 types of beers, one is the normal bittery beer which I call the man's beer. The other is the lemonade beer which I call the lady's beer. It's sweeter and alot like cider. For those who don't like beer in general, I'd recommend the lemonade beer. I personally prefer the bittery beer and it's after taste; the consequence of an overdose of Jie.
Cheers, round 2!
German white sausage and a pretzel with kickass German mustard!
Performances by a live band.I don't get German music. But if you're high on beer and sausages, it makes a very good combination!
The camera and it's 10-second picture capturing function.
*Roar*
Next tent, PAULANER.
Second litre of the day.
Performances again by the Germans.One of the performers was quite an elderly person (far right if I'm not wrong) but he displayed so much enthusiasm in his routine! And as you can see, it's very very packed. Little did we know it was gonna get worse the next few tents.
How can you resist this!
Roast chicken and Pork knuckle!Munchen, I miss you!
He was obviously having the time of his life. Lol.
The performers stood on the tables and were whacking their whips in the air to the beat of the live band.
Getting pink from the heat and alcohol.
Before leaving for the next tent.
We decided to take a break from food and beers.
Shooting looked interesting to the boys.The gun was deceivingly heavy. Kinda denotes what the average size of a German is.
Us girls and our prizes.
Horsey and Jie.The horses pooped everywhere!
Jie and I with the Augustiner-Brau cart.
Third tent, Augustiner-Brau! Literally, the best of the best!
Nothing can beat this litre.
Cheers to round 3!The only downside about A-B is their mugs. When we were clicking (okay, more like whamming) our mugs, one of the the mugs broke and there goes a litre of good beer. My dress was drenched in A-B but better this than hot Milo i guess. =p
Group pic!And besides brewing one of the best beers on earth, their waiters are the kind of workers anybody would like, excluding their employers. The waitress took our orders, served us and never came back to get our money!We waited and waited, we even asked other waitresses but when they're put in charge of a single area, they stick to a single area. It's not like we were dishonest, we just got lucky I guess.The best tent, and it was free for all of us!
And as you can see, it made all of us very happy people. Especially Kevinder. ;p
All smiles!
4th tent, Hacker.
This tent was filled with so many people, many didn't have seats. Then again, people with seats didn't bother sitting down anyway. It's very intimidating to see very happy men standing on the bench/tables while singing/roaring the words to the songs that were played.
But their cheery mood is so darn contagious, it just feels so good to be part of this German culture.
*ngom ngom ngom**stares at picture**stares at own bowl of salad**gags*
This wasn't too bad. But when your body is submerged in what, 4Ls of beer, it doesn't matter anymore.
After we decided we're finally full, Jie, Kev and I went to play more games while the rest went for rides.
I would have loved to go on rollercoasters and whatnot but with the ridonkulous amount of food measuring from my intestines to esophagus (I was THAT full), it would be better not to risk it.
Throwing darts to pop 'em balloons!
Whheee!.. Probably the only funfair game I'm good at.
This stall was a big con.
You had 15 tries to throw the hoops around the prizes places nicely in the middle of the stall.Obviously the more expensive prizes were the furthest, and the crappier prizes were within an arm's length. The catch here is, all the prizes are placed on top of a square block. A hoop is only counted if the entire circumference of the hoop gets through the prize AND all the sides of the block.
Wow. I managed to explain it quite well, if I do say so myself. Heh.Anyway, point is, how is that even possible??That's why the first 5 hoops were fun and when it came to the next 10, you know it's never going to go in.
Last tent, Lowenbrau!
By the time we got to our last tent, it was already 5 in the evening!Check out the amount of people in the tent!The Germans really know how to live life.
RCSI-ans.
I wanted to buy one of those dirndls probably as a Halloween costume, but the really nice ones costs a bomb!!! 100 euros or something like that. Giler.
This looked like so much fun!!*touches tummy* not so much fun anymore.
And we're back to our baked friends.
Om Nom Nom Nom!
By the end of the day, when the alcohol starts to die off and our limbs begin to tire, we were all restless and sleepy. I was a lil jet lagged but still very eager to snap touristy pictures!
OKTOBERFEST 2009!
And just when we thought we were about to head home, we decided to go for more German goodness!
Augustiner Keller, the Biergarten.
Apparently, the German people used to sit on these benches, drinking their mugs of beer, while watching people get hanged in the area in front of them (the right of this picture). Now, that area is a playground. WOW.Gory!
To sum up Day 2, here's a typical Jie picture.
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A short post on Day 3 coming up soon.
On a rather random note, I think I might be starting my Project 365 again. Well, not one picture a day perse, but I was thinking more along the lines of 'Picture of the Week.'
We'll see how that will turn out.
