Fav machine in my room=) Spongebob Schwamm(sponge)kopf(head) Toaster! It feels quite exciting having a toasted bread smiling back at me! Was over the moon especially after my first few attempts with the machine! Borrowed it from Simon's bro=) Cute Toast eh=)


Autumn is approaching! Look at the leaves=) It will get nicer in time to come! Getting colder too... brrrr...

1 Litre Apple wine with Martina and her Husband on Sunday after a bicycle tour at dinner at some Restaurant! They were both living in Singapore for 2 years coz her husband was working here=) Got to know Martina from Badminton and she is really nice to talk to! It always feels like we can go on talking non-stop! She knows more about Singapore than me! Will have to make a To-Do-List for Singapore and be touristy when I get home!

Singapore My Home

Somehow I became MORE patriortic ever since I got to Germany. I was already quite pro- Singapore before i left not to mention. I guess, having travelled quite a fair bit and now that I am living in a foreign land, I see and come to appreciate alot of things that did not seem so significant in the past, especially about Singapore. This strong feeling of patriotisim became more evident as I was watching F1 on Sunday! May be i should attribute it to the successful Civics and Moral education or Social Studies in school? =)


Lileng fell asleep while watching and I can totally understand why coz they are racing in circles and it is kind of repetitive. But the fact that I am watching it overseas, and not having seen familiar sights of Singapore for a long time certainly made me very excited. I was sitting at the end of my chair, brimming with joy and excitment, feeling very proud of Singapore at the same time! I am serious.. I never knew that the night scenery, especially the aerial view, is so amazing and breadth-taking... Identifying the Esplanade, Sheares Bridge, Funan mall etc made me more excited!


Simon was also feeling quite excited as he watched the F1. I guess having lived in Singapore for 1 year has allowed him to appreciate the many aspects of Singapore. It was nice to hear him saying that Singapore is indeed a nice place to wrok and live and he wont mind doing that for sometime. As a Singaporean hearing that coming from a foreigner, I felt very proud of Singapore! Singapore is indeed a nice, safe place to live in! I wont mind working or living overseas for a long period of time, but at the end of the day, I will still come back to Singapore!




When I was in Ulm, Renate mentioned that they do study about Singapore in Politics or sth in school and I was quite amazed. She somehow said that Singapore is very developed, high-tech and all and all these came at a price-that our people are surpressed and we dont have a say etc... She was right and wrong and i did not know how to explain this especially when there are so many evidences that this and that are banned in Singapore etc and this set me thinking.

I asked Simon what he thought about this and it was nice to know that he, having been and lived in Singapore, says something different from Renate. I guess you need to experience this for yaself to understand what Singapore really is like. I guess our Government has a lot of say in everything, especially in the future developments of Singapore if you recall the whole commotion when the whole idea of having a Casino in Singapore was born. I did not remember us having to vote or anything, and we were just " informed" that we were going to have one. We definitely have a very different system and it is rather effective because we are small and we have seen good results from this sort of ruling, hence having confidence in the government. However, having said that, I must say that i never thought that this type of ruling is totally bad (most Europeans find this too supressing and restrictive). I still led a normal life, do what I want to do, not restricted in any way, blessed to be living in a safe and clean environment, knowing that rules and bans are in place for a reason and for the better good and benefit of everyone, people are taken care of, the interest of Singaporeans is always priority and that we are happy. Our "structured" system has proven to be effective for us as seen from the developments of the young nation and it amazes me now and then too... SOmetimes it is nice to know that riots are banned in Singapore coz soemtimes you see how much time and money is wasted on such stuff that will not solve anything. Hence, Singapore can channel resources to other areas and not waste them on mindless stuff...

Ulm

Ulm is a city in the German Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 (2006), forms an urban district of its own. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and traditions as a former Free Imperial City. Today, it is an economic centre due to its varied industries, and it is the seat of a university (University of Ulm, founded in 1967). Ulm is primarily known for the tallest church in the world, the Gothic minster (Ulm Minster, German: Ulmer Münster) and as the birthplace of Albert Einstein.



Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist. He is best known for his theory of relativity and specifically mass–energy equivalence, E = mc 2. Einstein received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect."Einstein's many contributions to physics include his special theory of relativity, which reconciled mechanics with electromagnetism, and his general theory of relativity, which was intended to extend the principle of relativity to non-uniform motion and to provide a new theory of gravitation. His other contributions include relativistic cosmology, capillary action, critical opalescence, classical problems of statistical mechanics and their application to quantum theory, an explanation of the Brownian movement of molecules, atomic transition probabilities, the quantum theory of a monatomic gas, thermal properties of light with low radiation density (which laid the foundation for the photon theory), a theory of radiation including stimulated emission, the conception of a unified field theory, and the geometrization of physics.Einstein published over 300 scientific works and over 150 non-scientific works. Einstein is revered by the physics community, and in 1999 Time magazine named him the "Person of the Century". In wider culture the name "Einstein" has become synonymous with genius. He is indeed one, undeniable!





CITY TOUR

The Donau River flows through Ulm and you have Ulm on one side of the bank and New Ulm on the other=) The biggest festival in Ulm is some river festival with many people and boats/rafts in the river etc... Renate was telling me about it. I went to Ulm because Renate Sommer invited me to her place when I was in New Zealand and when I arrived in Germany! We met at Taupo at Rainbow lodge. We were staying together in a 6 man bunk then and we started talking=) We only knew each other for 2 days in New Zealand but we talked so much! She is very chatty, enthusiastic and thinks quite differently from the normal Germans I would say. I would attribute this to the way she was brought up(came to this conclusion after spending 3 days with the family), having studied Latin and having read "philosophical" aritcles and also her experience from backpacking and working in New Zealand as a nanny for a family. It was very nice talking to her in NZ when she told me all about the small town where she lives, where everyone knows what is happening with the other families, where nothing happens when she is around but accidents and robbery of the liquor store occured when she was away etc.... It was always very interesting for me=) It was very nice seeing her again and she was indeed a great host! I wouldnt have know so much about Ulm and her town, Oberdischingen if not for her. She knows heaps of stuff in details! Amazing! I wont be able to do so for Singapore! I might need to mug lonely planet a week before bringing people around! Will do just that=) Determined to be a good guide=) I was in Ulm from Fri afternoon till Sunday evening. We did a tour of the city and went to a super PRIVATE "bar" on Friday, went to Blaubeuren to see BLUE water from the caves and went into a Cave after that(Tiefenhöhlen Laichingen) and on Sunday, we went to Ulm to look at the Einstein race and went for a tiny exhibition at the town where Renate stays, explaining the history of Oberdischingen! Amazing trip! I learnt SO much just in one weekend, not only about Ulm, Oberdischingen but also GErman! I came back with a long list of words for my vocab list! Amazing!




Ulm Münster- I think it is the tallest Münster in the world with 768 steps to the peak with a height of 161.53m. It reminds me of the Cologne Dom, which is slightly prettier! Or it might be solely due to the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility! The satisfaction gained from seeing Doms or Cathedral diminishes when you have seen more of them=) But it was still nice nevertheless! We went in, up, down and out=)


Some stuff which I learnt from Renate in Ulm which rhymes=) :

(for those who understand German=) ) Will be more willing to translate for those who are interested=)


In Ulm, um Ulm und um Ulm herum-läuft man sich die Füße krumm.

Fischers Fritz fischt frische Fische, frische Fische fischt Fischers Fritz. (Used to know this but it became easier to remember after Renate explain to me what it meant! That is the best way to learn! Understand, remember and make the knowledge yours!)

Blaukraut bleibt Blaukraut und Brautkleid bleibt Brautkleid.





View from the narrow stairs during our hike up to the peak. View from behind bars!

Areial View. Donau river ahead...



Ulm public library! Ulm has modern buildings with interesting designs standing out here and there.




Stadthaus for important big functions? INteresting looking building. Taken from the Münster=)

This bird used to be the old "Ulm symbol" until they recently found some "Lion being" in the caves. These statues have varying colours, designs and paintings on them.

Here's another one outside a music school.. there are heaps of others around!

Interesting looking houses along the Donau River. The Danube flows through the following countries and cities (from source to mouth ordered):

-Germany
Tuttlingen in the State of Baden-Württemberg - the first city it flows through
Sigmaringen in Baden-Württemberg
Ulm in Baden-Württemberg
Ingolstadt in Bavaria
Regensburg in Bavaria
Straubing in Bavaria
Deggendorf in Bavaria
Passau in Bavaria



-Austria
Linz, capital of Upper Austria
Vienna - capital of Austria, where the Danube floodplain is called the Lobau, though the Innere Stadt is situated away from the main flow of the Danube (it is bounded by the Donaukanal - 'Danube canal').


-Slovakia
Bratislava capital of Slovakia



-Hungary
Budapest(capital)



-Serbia
Belgrade - the capital of Serbia



-Romania



Rathaus (townhall) looks very different from the other Rathaus that I have seen. Different flavour altogether. It looks like a huge art piece.

The Biergarten at the Rathaus. Very typical.




Here's the new "lion being" that was found in the caves. There are more statues of this sort in weird colours and designs. This looked the most normal=) Cool eh!

Look at how short i am in conparison=)

Bad lighting from evening sun=(

We headed to a pancake house! They had a huge variety of pancakes that are super thin, ranging from cinnamon and sugar, to ice cream and fruits to main dishes with meat, onion, champinions etc... cool eh! I can now make super Pancakes after witnessing how Simon does it! =) All are welcome to a Pancake treat when they come to visit me=)

Home and Food

I was staying at her brother's room when i was there! Looks quite different eh! Funky! They obviously like rock music alot!






Some nice and typical Swäbish food that the mum prepared! The Spätzle is some self-made noodle which I will try to make if i manage to find the tiny hand-powered device at the supermarkt! And the other dish is some meat rolled with minced meat in the middle=) Yummy! Renate parents has 4 kids and they are strong believers of Bio-food. Imagine the amount of shock on their faces when I said that i am doing research for Bayer CropScience and that I work with Hebicides! Conflicting interest!haha but it was better after i cleared the misconception that Herbicides and other plant chemicals are safe for human consumption and that millions of test are being carried out before the product is being launched into the market. The whole process of launching an effective chemical into the market takes about 10 years, excluding the time consumed for research. Renate parents also have 2 peices of land, about 80 sq m, and a garden which grows Bio-food! I think they are more or less self-sufficient! They have XXL produce from their fields and garden- Paprika(Capsicum), apples, pears, Cucumber, Cabbage. Potatoe, Carrots, Onions, Hasselnuts, Starwberry, Himbeern, Johannesbeern etc.. It is crazy! I think they din used to be very well-to-do and having their own source of food was impt which i can totally understand esp with 4 kids. It is expensive. Morever, her grandfather was also involved in agriculture in the earlier days.

Private Bar

On Friday night, we met up with some of her friends at their usual hang out in a "bar-like" place where they built themselves! It is totally private where friends just meet up every week. So you kinda know everyone who turns up and the alcohol is also cheaper. They had good music and lightings too... amazing... alot of effort was pumped into building up this place! It was about 26 sq m with sofa, 2 stand up bar tables(dunno what you call that) and a bar counter where you get ya alcohol! Tried vodka with some sweet powder=) It was quite string but was nice!

Blautopf(Blue pot) and Tiefenhöhlen (deep caves) Laichingen

Look at the forest in the backgrnd!

There is some legend about this Mermaid. Die Schöne Lau.

The lake was perfect for mirror shots! Nice eh! The church at the backgrnd!

The Hammer smith on the right

Look at how blue the water is! Amazing...

Second cute train i have seen. First was in Luzern in Switzerland.. All specially for tourist!

Old houses that are being protected by the government=)

Inside the cave. We descended 55m below ground level. It was wet and narrow in the cave. Pretty dark at certain areas. This is suppose to be Salactites and Salacnites.





There was a narrow passgae in the cave which is called "Streussel Passage" in the German HAndout that Renate got because the walls (on the left) look like a German cake- Streusselkuchen! I love this cake! I took the Handout in English and it had a totally different name! It was called Blumenkohl(Broccoli) Passage! Haha.. and we figured that tourist wont know what Streusselkuchen is coz it is quite unique to Germany/Europe! Was quite interesting!



Oberdischingen

This row of trees was the highlight!!!It is damn nice just driving through here! Autumn is just starting and I bet it will get nicer when the leaves are orange red! Most of the leaves are starting to turn red here and it is very nice! This row of tress reminds me of the row of trees on Nami Island in Korea where Winter Sonata was filmed!!!!!!! haha.. look similar!

Here's a church in the village. There is also a Townhall, schools, a few old shops(not much.. around 5?) etc... Saw everything in the village!

Old school table at the Exhibition on Sunday. It is about 200 years old i think!

Einstein Race

There is practically a race in every city in Germany or Europe. Witness one in Hamburg (Bicycle race), in Switzerland when i visited Nicolas Hunkeler and now in Ulm. I just read somewhere that Frankfurt also has one! The races here have a different atmosphere here, maybe coz it is colder.. but i think it is also because there are more people watching and they are more supportive. You dont see this in Singapore. Look at all the supporters below!

The kids anticipating the arrival of their mum!

Mum, du schaffst es! -Mum, You can do it! How cute and sweet is that! It would be really nice if my kids do that for me next time at a race or match ;)

Her "banner" says: Mum, gib alles! -Mum, give it all! Awww... so sweet!





Happy bleibe! Stay happy!


Does Teamwork really need to be taught=) I dun tink so!



Look at the LKV, huge trucks that they have for the participants to put there stuff.. quite pro eh! Not like Singapore.. but we do not have so much space for all these huge trucks!

Apparently this magical blanket keeps you warm. Seeing it for the first time=)

One of Renate Friend's bf who ran the race! He is 12 years older than his gf! Random info! But they look ok tght coz they guy looks young while the gal looks mature=) Is age gap a major concern when it comes to relationship?

Finally!!! I am done with all the blogging! It takes alot of time, effort and discipline to complete the entries. I hope you enjoyed reading my entries as much as how much i enjoyed sharing my experiences and journey.