Advent Calendar

An Advent calendar is a special calendar used to count the days of Advent. Today, they are mostly made for

 children, in a rectangular form containing chocolate. The most common usage of an Advent calendar is to countdown for Xmas!

 The traditional calender consists of two pieces of cardboard on top of each other. Twenty four doors are cut out in the top layer, with a number ranging from one to twenty four on each. Beginning on the first day of December, one door is opened each day, counting down the days remaining until Christmas Eve, from twenty four to one. Behind each door is a surprise, usually chocolate. I saw one during my shopping trip in the city which has different make-up products behind each window! Amazing to see how creativity has led to evolution=)

Bayer gave out an Advent Calendar to all its workers except Interns...Which means I wont get one=( They probably din have enuff or wadever. I was joking to Christian saying that I wont mind having all his chocolates =) I went for a break and came back, noticing a tiny note with super pretty handwriting from Sabina(a lady who works in the same lab):

Hallo Jackie,

wenn Du möchtest,

kannst Du meinen Adventskalender haben.

Liebe Grüße, bis morgen,

Sabina

A tiny note that made my day. It suddenly went beyond just having a cute advents calender that would probably the first and last in my entire life. Her thoughfulness and kindness touched me. Really. I wont bare to ripe it open and gobble up all the chocolate. It looks like perfect and clean like it is now=) Thank you Sabina! It was greatly appreciated! 

More pretty advents calender!

To add on to my already meaningful day, I received an Email from the SEP secretary from TUM, notifying me that she has received my application despite all the "Errors" that took place during the whole simple process-submission of the wrong form on my part as well as NUS' part etc... I am offered a place for SEP at TUM and i am staying in Germany till Aug 09 for sure! Cheers! She was very endearing in the email and seemed very approachable! I will get a welcome buddy next year and i have Orientation week awaiting me! 

~Savouring every bit of life. What more can i ask for~

A White winter and Xmas!

Sunday was indeed a day well spent-full of excitement, good food and conversations! I cant find words that adequetely expalins how happy and excited i get at seeing snow. The whole idea of having a cold white christmas sounds enticing. It is no more something that i see only in movies or read about in books! I am experiencing it!

Martina called me the morning and she was planning to go to Feldberg (a mountain near my place and it is arnd 800m tall). We decided to go walk through the forest with her husband and it was awesome! We walked for about 5 hrs and I now have muscle ache from walking for the FIRST time! Did not realised that until i woke up the next day! MOn morning was a white morning! The snow remained on the street and trees!! =)

Martina and Christian! I play badminton with Martina and she was in Singapore for 2 year when her husband got a posting in Singapore a few years back. She knows indeed more than me about Singapore! She will bring me around when she comes to SIngapore! A very nice lady whom i talked to non-stopped for 10 hrs! Just imagine how good we get along! I like her!

US!

The snow in the mountains obviously attracted alot of people here! We made a stop at a Guest house for lunch and we had peas soup with German Sausage and bread followed by Glüwein-Red wine with augar! I drank 2 Glüwein today.. It is actually red wine warmed with sugar! I was gone after that! Got very tired and a recovery break was needed. My alcohol treshold is niedrig!

Winter is indeed very pretty for the snow! I love winter! Looking forward egerly to a White Xmas!

Small Xmas tree that you might wanna consider putting at home.. one tree growing on another=)

That is a Husky dog which is ginomous! So cute... i only rem this dog pulling some sledge in movies...and that was abt it! I am seeing them for real now!  Many people slide from the top of the mountian on a sledge!

Look at the bicycles when i got home on sunday evening

The snowman deserve a foto. It was done by smoeone else!

Martina removing the thick layer of snow from her car!Driving on snow needs alot of patience and low speed! Before going home, i saw pictures from Martina from vietnam, india and Singapore for a few hrs! Vietnam looked like Cambodia. India was CHAOTIC.. they even have vultures that eat sacred cows that die on the streets! The people only eat chicken and nothing else coz all other animals are sacred! Pictures from Singapore were new. Saw her nice condo, botanical gardens that i have nv been to... time to be a tourist when I get back to Singapore, walking around with the city guide!

1st snow in Germany!

Friday in the city was very nice with Diana! It started off with a 4hr shopping in the city which passed in a wink of an eye! It was freezing yesterday! It is very annoying to go shopping in cold countries! Just imagine wearing a few layers of jackets, warm and nice in the cold, and having to step into a shop with full blast heater just makes you start sweating! It gets worse if you are lazy and leave ya coats on! But shopping was still very nice nevertheless=) Diana's company is always great! We get along vvvv well and " you yi jian ru gu de gan jue"! I will miss her when i leave Frankfurt!

Stalls(as seen the picture above) were all set up and ready for the Christmas Market which starts on the 26th of nov here!So exciting!! Looking to white, cold Xmas!

 

Portable German Sausage man! Cool umbrella! He was carrying some gas on his back as well for the grill! The whole thing weighs about 14kg!

Crossing the bridge that spans across the Mainz River yesterday for the first time yesterday! The night scenery made me realise that Frankfurt is not as Ugly as i think it is! It is very nice just standing there and breathing!

After shopping, we went to meet some friends at a cocktail bar for a drink and some food! We then when bar hopping to a Columbian baR! Interesting music and saw some people dancing! I would rather dance with Latin american music than clubbing hip hop music IF i could dance ;) Realise that my alcohol-threshold is not very high yesterday. Felt a bit floaty after drinking ONE Long Island ICe Tea cocktail with low alcohol content!!

This picture was taking in a n attempt to caoture the falling snow but in vain! When we came out of the Colobian bar, I tot it was raining when Diana said that it was snowing!!!!! Affirmation came when i saw white snow droplets on my black coat! I got all excited!!! It started pouring after a while!!! and more snow fell, not rain!! Our hair, coats, bags shoes all had snow!! I could hardly contained my excitement!!! Looking forward to more snow on Sunday!!!!!! I love snow! I have seen alot of snow in USA n 2003... But it is just different. Maybe coz I din really see snow falling but saw in all on the ground! Also, i think it is just very different seeing snow in a place that i am living now as opposed to rain taht i have been seeing in Spore for the past 20 years of my life! I was probably the most excited person in Germany yesterday when it snowed!! 

Weekend at Stuttgart

Santa Claus is coming to town!!!  *Jingle Bells* X'mas is around the corner! Look at the pretty decorations at my hostel's entrance! It must be the Housemaster's efforts again=) Looking forward to going to Christmas markets in Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Poland, BArcelona and hopefully in Belgium and the Niederlands as well if they have!

*I took this pict with ELvin in mind* =) 

This weekend trip was totally random and last minute. Usually my trips are planned well well ahead of time. Diana was driving to Stuttgart with her friend and asked if I wanted to go along and I would see the city while they visited her bf's boss from BOSCH! Sounded like a good idea. I den contacted Zollin who is now doing an Internship at BOSCH at Stuttgart and conincidentally, he is meeting Haoming to go Factory Outlet and I went along with them! This Factory Outlet is not that big. It has about 30 shops with good deals for branded goods. Unfortunately, the stuff are not cheap enuff for my tight budget!

Happened to ask someone about Factory Outlets near Frankfurt and I think there is one near Würzburg,Wertheim which is 1 hr drive away with about 150 shops! Apparently all stuff are on crazy sale on boxing day, 26th Dec! You wont find me there!

The evening was spent walking through the city. The shopping street totally looked like those in Frankfurt. Thought i was in Frankfurt for a while...  Stuttgart is very unique in a way coz it is like a valley, with the city centre all the way at the bottom and the hsing and residential areas are on hill tops! The view must be awesome from the top! It was nice seeing lights on the hills at night...

There was a tiny Markt in Stuutgart, probabaly like a pre-Xmas MArt thingy! On the left is an ice-skating ring! 5 Euros for students! How cool is that!

Slabs of nuts coated with chocolate! Mouth watering....

Trip to Stuttgart was on Saturday. Sunday morning was spent playing a badminton match which ended in a draw, and the evening was spent making Jiao Zi Dumplings with Yanling, and talking heaps to Diana! I enjoyed my weekend!

Look at how bare the trees are! Was at Badminton training yesterday and realised that a large majority of Middle-aged German men in their 30s or 40s onwards look like these trees!!

Men have more problems than Women

Got this Email from a collegue at work and tot it was quite cute=) It says that women has alot of worries-Am i fat? Does my bf love me? What do they have that I dont? My mother. His Mother. etc and Men have only one worry-Women.

I came up with this theory that Men have more troubles than Women. If Women have "n" problems, then Men will have "n+1" problems. This is because Women problems are subsets of Women. "n+1" = Women problems + Women= Serious Problem.

Assumption: Boyfriend cares about Girlfriend.

Here is a diagram showing the subsets to aid understanding.

Northern Italy

3 full days were well spent in Italy. Highlights of the trip were Verona and Venice! Ugliest city was Milan!It was alright but not fantastic. I must say that it was a well-planned trip by me-cheap transportation, accommodation, perfect timing and excellent orientation! *Pat on the back* ;) Impressed with myself! Good planning has allowed me to see a lot within limited time and budget=) My trip got better and better towards the end! I am gonna be a pro in planning trips soon=) Planning a 3day weekend trip to Barcelona and 19day back packing trip in December when my Parents and Nicolas come by=) I still have loads to plan but i am remaining positive about it=) I actually gain satisfaction from planning trips=) Might just be a freelance backpacking organiser in the future! Favourite food in Italy- Thin-crusted pizza and Pistacchio flavoured ice cream! The ice cream is pretty expensive and sinful. Despite that, i think i ate about 9 or more scoops in 3 days!

Half of Friday was spent in Bergamo before moving on to explore Milan for the rest of Friday. On Saturday, I left for Verona in the afternoon and spent about 5hrs there?Couldnt bare to leave coz it was so so pretty! Saturday evening and Sunday was spent in Venice! Venice is unbelievable pretty! Did half of the trip alone and met up with Simon for the second half before meeting Zhen Yi for 1 min in Venice during her Marathon at Venice! Great Job gal! Zhen will be joining my family and Nic during out trips in Dez! Looking forward to that! *Hugz* 

BERGAMO
The old town of Bergamo is super old but nice! The old town is on a hill and a nice view of it from the lower new town was simply pretty... It was very nice just roaming Bergamo alone.. i think i enjoy travelling alone for a short while but no longer than that.. Will get boring....

The old town at the background...

Took the cable car down hill=) Nice scenery along the way=)

Nicolas:I thought of you when i took this pict... =) Did it capture any emotions?

A random church that came my way when i was roaming around... 

Nice interior! They were having service..

Look at how old the shops and streets were! Very very old but nice!!! I love old cities.. modern cities dun really excite me that much.. so far the nicer modern city is Hamburg. The harbour probably made it more attractive! Cant wait to show my parents some old and nice citites of Germany like Köln, Heidelberg and München when they are here=) It is nice to be spending Xmas with them! 

I had so many failed attempts with catching this yellow traffic light man! haha.. cool eh! Red yellow and green for pedestrians too... 

MILAN 
High point of the trip was when I was very comfortable moving around alone in Bergamo and Milan. The Metros in Milan were very similar to that in Paris and I got accustomed to how they worked very quickly and finding my way around was not the least difficult! Sense of achievement and satisfaction=) Felt very independent=)

My first Italian castle: Castello Sforzesc. It was the Renaissance residence of the Sforza dynasty. It doesnt really appeal to me.. looks very dull, rigid and boring compared to the ones I have seen in Germany... Oh well.. just a different style...

Shopping arcade-Expansive and high class shopping like Paris and Orchard Road! Dun really excite me... was thrilled by the awesome arichitecture inside this arcade though=)

It was gorgeous the architecture... Fancy fancy... Breadth-taking as well=)

The parade in front of the Shopping arcade and Duomo(Milan's landmark cathedral which is the world's largest Gothic cathedral). There were HEAPS and HEAPS of people at the parade! TOurists like me i bet=) haha... 

Legendary Duomo Cathedral

Very nice architecture... Probably the only thing i liked about Milan.... The city have nothing special or exotic apart from that...

Some nice carvings at the entrance..

A corner in the interior of the cathedral

Fancy fancy Ferrari store. The F1 race made me a tiny winnie bity more intrigued by F1! BUt the stuff in this store are sold at exorbitant prices! Like 80 euros for a t-shirt for kids! *The shirt might be able to help burn fats and keep you slim without you having to do anything;) *

Mobile vans selling snacks, bread, ice cream and roasted "chestnut" (like those we have in Singapore along the road)... Thought it look quite cute=)

This couple is so good! They interacted well with one another and the crowd! Have seen many other "artists" like them and felt tt this was the best.. I would have given them money if i was really feeling rich... *Not feeling very rich in Germany actually.. trying hard to make ends meet but seem to be over spending no matter how thrifty i am.... den again, I probbaly wont have the time to spend money and enjoy life like this overseas again anymore after my return to SIngapore and when I start working... So that makes it alright to spend money WISELY now=)*

Italy seems to be a country where the government doesn’t pump in much money to develop the areas outside the cities. In Milan, I stayed at some place which is 4 metro stations away from the city centre and everything looks very run down.. Pretty much equivalent to Bangkok! ‘Developing country’ look alike! Unbelieveable. The environment is not nice outside the city unlike in Germany where more often than not, are areas away from the city very nice, peaceful and with great scenery. Oh well, it might just be the "wrong" parts that I have been to coz nicolas' aunt stays in a nice area outside the city=)

I have seen the most motorcycles in Italy compared to other countries like Switzerland, Paris and Germany!

VERONA

I am glad i stopped over Verona on the way to Venice! Was afraid of not having enough time initially but it wasnt so bad after all as i left Milan earlier coz theer was nth much there=) Decided to visit Verona coz lonely planet says, " Dont miss Verona, one of Italy's most beautiful cities. Shakespear set Romeo and Juliet here!" Look at how pretty the city centre is! I love Verona!

It got quite tiring walking with the backpack after a while. Leg cramp. Back ache.

Some castle across the river! Was a memorable view!

The gate into the city!

Even MacDonalds look different!

The walk to the city centre  from the train station in Verona was disappointing! The streets were ugly!

Trains in Germany are about 4 times or more expensive than that in Italy! But the trains in Italy are older definitely.  Italy is a nice place to travel but it doesn’t feel like a nice place to live in. Planning another trip to Central Italy (Rome etc) in Feb! Bought tix le! Return ticket with budget air(Ryan air) for 22 euros! Dunno how they make profit! 

Some ROman wall with soldiers guarding them! SO funny!

The had a fair on the Arena, selling cheese and sausages. We were super hungry and went straight for the food samples! Oily, fatty and soft sausages!

Touristy trains once again.

The Arena

Nice houses along the way!

Sat down for a good meal to recharge our batteries. Typical delicacies from Italy- Pasta (available in different shapes and colours), specialist in Pasta sauces and pestos, thin crispy pizzas, cookies like Biscotti (baked them when i got back!Made that once in Singapore before. Did not know that it ‘originated’ from Italy back then.) Pasta is the centerpiece of Italian eating and Italians take pride in their proficiency in the many and varied kinds of pasta making and cooking. Cheese and wine are a major part of the cuisine. Italian cuisine is now famous worldwide.

Chance upon another castle, with the same style as the first i saw at Milan, by chance.

This bridge to the castle can be lifted, preventing entry into the castle. I intially tot that such stuff only existed in cartoons... amazing!

Old ROman gates!

A typical shop in italy selling sausages, all types of pasta, sauces and spices.

VENICE

It is really hard to believe or imagine that a place like this actually exists. Island surrounded by water=) It is a place that one MUST visit!It is super easy to get lost in Venice due to the hundreds of bridges and there are many small lanes… you will understand best when you go there=) The most effective way to move around was to walk in the general direction by looking at the map, feel ya way around and ask people along the way=) Be sure not to ask tourists!The amount of tourist there is incredible though! On Sunday, I gained an extra hour in Venice due to the change in timing due to the approach of Winter. It felt like it was a gift from heaven, having an hour extra to enjoy and appreciate everything around! Germany is now 7 hrs behind Singapore. Bought a pretty pretty glass necklace from Venice! All the shops in Venice sold the same stuff- Either Bakeries,shops selling glassware (an island off Venice, Murano, specializes in the manufacture of such stuff) or shops selling colourful masks which are worn during some festival in Venice. There are not much tourist attractions in Venice except St Mark's sq! But for me, that was not the highlight. Weaving my way through the buildings, overcoming the bridges, watching the various ships/boats go by, admiring the amazingly old and interesting buildings were enough to made my jaw drop!

Love this!

The amount of tourists here was worse than Milan! Incredible! Spent 5 hours walking from the train station to St Mark's sq here and we only stayed here for about 15 min! Couldnt wait to get out of this tourist infested place! The queue into the Piazza was crazy!

Cute baby! Simon was fast=)

Here is a Gaundola looks very luxurious! Coz 80 euros for a ride on this boat! Way off budget!

Masks for a special event in Venice is sold everywhere!!

Look at how many people were flooding this place! Had to inch my way through and had look out for Zhenyi amongst the million participant under the scorching sun! It is suppose to be Autumn but it felt like some crzy summer that you can never find in Europe, only in Singapore!! 

I msged Zhen and she replied say that she is 1km away from the finishing line. I stood around, not knowing if she has passed already! And after like 10 mins of anticipation she appeared, looking like her usual cheery and jolly self! She said that," Xiuqing, i wanna die already!". But she made it! Passed her chocs for herself and darrel and a pretty watch!

MOre fanciful mask. Wanted to buy one initially but after much consideration, i came to this conclusion that it looks quite scary! Bought a glass necklace from Venice and I love it! Despite all the shops selling the same stuff, I only saw my necklace at ONE store and I was praying that it will be open on Sunday on our way back. Was peering into every store and looking for it and Simon was on the verge of putting me on a dog leash!!

Playing with pigeons would be the last thing I would ever play with coz their faeces are toxic! But this gal was very sweet and adorable!

INteresting chimney!

"Street stalls" on a Sunday morning! Shops are specially opened on Sunday becoz of the sheer amount of tourists in Venice!!!!! *Shops are always closed on Sundays in Europe*

Cute ginormous paint brushes!

Cute pizza box when we bought a thin-crusted pizza to share!  had to pay for the box!

Italian Bakeries! Quite ex though! Everything is sold by weight!!

Here's a soap shop that we chanced upon... Simon was comtemplating if he should get his mum sth from here for her bdae... He did not eventually... I dun like received soap stuff for bdaes! It is probably worse den receiving edible food stuff...It is just me! It is always nice to have stuff that would not perish as presents! 

Some pretty boxes! I love collecting boxes and tins etc...

More pictures of Venice......... ;)

There are no cars in the city centre! Only mode of transport is with boats or ferries... unless you wanna swim to ya destination! There are buses etc out of Venice=)

One of the million necklace shops..... which i stopped by in search of my dream necklace...  *guys will never understand* I dun usually spend money on such stuff unless i see something i really like... In fact, ever since i got to Germany, i havnt bought anything for myself when i went shopping.. This is the first necklace/item that i bought...

What is ya defination of fine dining?

Another pict of Piazza... lazy to sort photos..  too much effort!

Despite the amount of sun we have in Singapore, people dun BASK in the sun like them!! Sun = gold in europe!

Looking forward to my next trip to Central Italy-Rome, Pisa and Florence... need more planning though.. Verona and Venice are higly recommended!