Change of Blog

My new blog is at http://www.sehenmeinleben.blogspot.com Those of you still interested to see what's going in my life and in my mind, go there please. =P

Happy Birthday Dad!

Oops. This entry is a bit late. But anyway, happy birthday dad!!!! Soon you'll be entering 耳顺之年 so health is of upmost importance. Sadly I'm not earning enough $$$ yet, but I hope you'll start to relax more and not work so hard.

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Anyway, toying with the idea of ending my blog again. I don't have the mood (or time) to maintain it...

So goodbye for now.

An Intriguing German - Singapore Link

Wahaha, it's been 1 month since i've blogged.

Anyway, I was busy looking up people's feedback on Changi Airport online when I somehow sidetracked and came across something rather intriguing: That there is a Taoist shrine on Pulau Ubin here in Singapore, and it is dedicated to, surprise surprise, a German girl. Singaporeans praying to a German girl! Very interesting indeed.

拿督姑娘 (Dato' Lady)
Schrein des deutschen Mädchen[s]

Read up more here: Pulau Ubin Stories, The White Girl of Pulau Ubin, and some pictures here: German Girl Shrine on Pulau Ubin.

The day that changed Malaysian politics forever

Ok this post consists of random thoughts and random events that occured around the election time. Which means, a long post with no pictures.

As a Malaysian citizen, I felt obliged to fulfil my duty of voting so I took a bus back on 08.03.2008 (三八妇女节, international women's day). I was a little excited as this was the first time I could vote. My polling station was located at the Sekolah Agama. My parents had voted earlier in the morning so they've got my information ready. I went to room 6.

I had to wait for my turn outside the classroom. A police lady was there and she asked me:"baru habis kerja?" and I said no, I just came back from Singapore. And she was like: "bagus!" In reality, travelling back home to vote was nothing extraordinary (contrary to what Eric thought), as many Malaysians did the same; I heard of people flying back to Penang from Singapore just to vote. It's understandable too... this election felt like a wonderful opportunity to hit back at BN (well, for me mostly UMNO) which had lost touch with the people and also became too arrogant for its own good.

This reminds me of a video clip I saw of Badawi replying reporters around the time parliament was dissolved. A reporter asked what did Badawi think about the oppositions' accusations concerning gerrymandering. To my horror he replied "ape tu?" (and sounded really kampung-ish ignorant at that).

People are not that ignorant anymore. Many no longer blindly accept BN's point of view and threats anymore. For example this short excerpt that I found at a side column in the Straits Times: "It serves them (the government) right. The results were totally unexpected but people are just so fed up already with Pak Lah. Now that we have the Internet, the government can't lie to us anymore. Maybe they could before, but not now. I saw in the newspapers photos that appeared to show that only a handful of people attended last year's Bersih rally but when I went online, we could see that tens of thousands were actually there." - Housewife Kah Mah, 48.

So the Chinese vote... many were undetered by threats from the PM that the chinese will lose representation of Chinese in the government if they voted for opposition. They even voted for PAS!! Most unimaginable in previous elections I would say. But there really is no fear of losing representation. If no MCA or Gerakan people get in parliament/cabinet, fine. As long as there are some in opposition. BN can jolly well ignore the needs and calls from the Chinese community, but expect further election losses in the coming election + probably more brain drain. And a lot of other issues that will prop up. It won't be good for BN basically. And I'm kinda sick of all this race-based politics so the opposition (parties that are technically non-race-based) is a breath of fresh air to the stagnant race-politics of BN, and hopefully will lead a future where people are treated equally.

As for the Indian votes... well, it's rather understandable isn't it? After all the sufferings the BN government has caused the community: "body-snatching" and Islam rehabilitation that caused grievances within Hindu families, demolition of Hindu temples, Hindraf leaders jailed, etc...

Problems are likely to surface in the cabinet/central government - state relationship for those states that are under opposition rule ... 左右为难 for the central government I will say.

Of course, not all BN candidates are bad. It's a pity some good ones have lost, but it's not their fault. Many people (especially young/first-time voters I suppose) voted based on parties instead of the candidate's credentials and experience. They were dragged down by the huge dissatisfaction of the people towards the party in general.

Then there was the BERSIH rally, and the "Anwar effect" (he's one hell of a charismatic leader btw). I was reading some articles saying that although Anwar was denied the chance to run in the elections, this however proved to be a blessing in disguise as he was able to commit his full attention and help in working with DAP and PAS, and giving speeches around the country.

To the opposition: "Please don't screw up!!!!" Even as I write this there have been problems brewing up. Haizz. If they don't prove their mettle and that they are a better government than BN, people will be going back to BN (which may not be a bad thing if BN reforms itself properly). And if the Barisan Alternatif/Barisan Rakyat does well, BN will have a lot to worry for the next election. So there is pressure to perform on both sides.

So concerning the Johor side, which is where I stay... it's tough. It's BN/UMNO's stronghold; in fact, JB is the birthplace of UMNO. But the opposition has been making inroads, so maybe it is possible for the following elections for a BA MB (Menteri Besar).

Let the best party emerge the winner.

Ok, my blog is not dead yet

Ok, it has been a long time since ">1/2 way through the exams", but my blog is not dead yet, coz I still have stuff to say and memories to keep!

First up, let's skip all the part in between the last post and this post. Really no time to blog those leh. Just ask me loh if you meet me.

Today after work I rushed over to Goethe Institut near Somerset MRT station to take a placement test. I've taken all 3 levels of German at NTU + 1 term of level A2.3 at Goethe Institute + 1 summer uni course + 1 level B1/B2 at TUM === 2 years of German. The only problem is, I wasn't prepared for the test as I didn't have much time to revise. Still I thought, what the hell I'll just go and take the test bah.

Anyway they've changed the test location so it's kinda along the corridor instead of in a room like the first time I took it. First there'll be the oral "interview", where someone will ask you your name, how long you've learnt German etc. (did all this in German). My interviewer was shaking her head after I answered her question:"Wie heißen Sie?", which was followed by "Buchstabieren Sie bitte". She was impressed with my pronunciation. Yay!

Then there's the 70 MCQ grammar questions part, which is arranged by difficulty. Took me about 45 minutes to do I think. Didn't double check. Haha. Another teacher marked my paper and I got full marks for the first column (20 questions)! Super! She said I was the first one the whole day to get that whole column right. But the rest were 14/20, 11/20 and a pathetic 3/10. So in total I got 48/70, and she suggested I attend class B2.2, which goes very well with me I must say.

Managed to skip about 5 levels (B1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4; B2.1), and that saves me a lot of money. Furthermore the class B2.2 takes place on Saturday afternoon. There is a class B2.4 (where I could take a qualification exam at the end, Goethe-Zertifikat B2) which I probably could have argued to enter, but I'm not prepared and I won't have enough time to study for it. Maybe the next term bah. Then can go on to C1.1... C2... Then I could happily add my German language proficiency in my resumes etc., apart from it being a personal achievement.

Will like to do other things to fill up time during IA... any suggestions?

> 1/2 way through the exams

3 more exams to go...
in 1 day's time : Flugantriebe 1 und Gasturbinen
in 4 day's time : Flugführung
in 8 day's time : Wärme- und Stoffübertragung

I'm most worried of course of Wärme- und Stoffübertragung (Heat and Mass Transfer) because it'll be the actual written German exam, and since I failed the oral exam it shows that I'm not very good at it. But I'll try my best.

So for the other exams that are over:

1. Deutsch als Fremdsprache B2
Written exam, one comprehension passage and one letter writing. Wasn't too confident of it but I knew I should be able to pass. Got my results already: 1.0! (Grades here work by 1.0 being best and 5.0 being worst) Kinda surprised. But then again Sabine (my teacher) didn't mark us down for grammar and spelling errors, so it was mostly based on understanding and content.

2. Aeroelastik
Wasn't too confident of this one, but Bernard helped a lot by spotting the right questions (eventually he came to spot most other questions for the other exams as well). Was my first oral exam. Basically there is a table, and the professor sits directly opposite to me. The professor tests me in the presence of a helper (who is probably there as a "witness"). There were 7 questions on a paper in front of me, and I was suppose to answer what I can on blank sheets of paper (allocated some time). The professor then discusses the questions with me and delves further, and also gives some help for those questions that I couldn't really answer. I know I got 2.3 for this but I haven't gotten a result slip from the office.

3. Versuchstechnik in Flugzeugbau und Leichtbau
Written test. Was quite prepared coz me and Bernard thought this exam was supposed to be held the week before and had revised for it then. Plus the professor had given some guidance as to what may come out and what we should know well. Still I couldn't answer some questions. Should be OK though. Haven't gotten results.

4. Flugsystemdynamik I
Oral exam. There were some really simple stuff that I couldn't remember (was more worried about the harder stuff), but it was still OK. Got my results, a pass. On a sidenote I have to say, Prof. Holzapfel is the most metrosexual-looking professor I've ever met, and he looks rather young too. Yet he is the head of the Flight System Dynamics division. Anyway after the exam he mentioned that he will be in NTU this Fall... something to do with setting up a joint degree between TUM and NTU in Aerospace. I think it's a Masters programme. Well we'll wait and see. It would be nice if I could return to Europe under this programme (if it really is a Masters programme), but then again I'm not really that interested in Engineering anymore, so we'll see how it goes.

(Wärme- und Stoffübertragung)
Enough said. =(

5. Fluidmechanik II
Oral exam, with the help of some sheets with diagrams etc. Surprisingly OK. Professor mentioned that I would probably get a 2- if he had to give a grade. The assistant was very kind to say that I would have done better in the written exam if I could stay long enough to take it. Passed!

6. Luffahrtsysteme
Oral exam, with the help of pass year papers, mostly "tick the right statement" questions. This is the easiest exam so far. It was a 1/2-English 1/2 German exam though. Professor was going to let us off easy, but his assistant was asking us to explain the answers we choose. Still made some careless mistakes, and also there were a thing I skipped during revision. Nevertheless, passed!

Anyway, having an exam the day before I fly off would mean no more travelling for me. Bernard is seriously considering flying back later so that he can travel to London. So I'll probably be flying back Singapore alone. Lots of stuff I need to settle, and I want to go back to Malaysia for a few days before my IA starts. Accommodation during IA... I'm not sure where I'll end up staying, but in any case I should have Hall 5 to fall back on.

Football match at Allianz Arena

Am 12.01.2008 habe ich mit meinen Freunden Allianz Arena in Fröttmanning besucht, um ein Fußballspiel zwischen FC Bayern München und Team China zu schauen. Die Ticket war nicht so teuer, nur €6,-.

The pilgrimage from Fröttmanning U-bahn station to Allianz Arena

Part of the 53,000 spectators (+ one of the many Chinese flags there)

Seungwon and her Korean friend

Olli Kahn!!!

Die Fans von FCB haben viele Lieder gesungen; hier gibt es die Lyrik für eine:

Ich liebe München, ja wohl.
Ich liebe München, ja wohl.
Ich liebe München, ja wohl.
Oh, München find' ich toll.

Sie haben auch einige Lyrik der Lieder geändert... z.B. "Freiheit für Tibet" usw.

Das Spiel fand ich interessant und spannend, aber leider hatten viele Zuschauer Zigaretten rauchen. Es ist auch Schade, dass ich keine Gelegenheit habe, eine Fußballspiel noch zu sehen, bevor ich zurück nach Singapur fliegen.

After the match

Beautifully lit up exterior of Allianz Arena

Nach dem Spiel haben wir das FCBayern-Geschäft besuchen. Ich möchte einen FCB-Schal kaufen, aber der billigsten ist schon €15,- (~S$32, ~RM72) und das finde ich teuer.

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Ok, that was my attempt at a German blog entry. I know it's short, and sorry for all the errors! I promise I will improve.

Anyway the reason why some of the fans were changing the lyrics to "Independence for Tibet" is because there were some Tibetans in the crowd who brought banners and their own flag (which China disapproves, of course). People like to use these opportunities to send out "messages". While we were walking towards Allianz Area there was a middle-aged (European) man holding up a sign demanding the Japanese to apologize for the atrocities they've done in WWII.

农历新年快乐，万事如意！

Happy Chinese New Year to all!!!! This year is supposed to be special for me, since I was born in the year of the Rat (this year is the year of the Earth Rat, if I'm not mistaken). Due to my exchange programme I'm still here in Germany.

Still, I had a simple Chinese (buffet) dinner at a Chinese restaurant at Hohenzollernplatz with Bernard, Seungwon and her friend. We then had cocktails at a bar near Giselastr. It's kinda strange that it's CNY and yet there's nothing really much going on...

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Anyway, I failed an oral exam on Monday, and the professor found out that we were going to fly off on the 19th so we have to take the written exam on the 18th. *sigh* But as he says this is a "second chance". Of the 8 exams I have to take (excluding the German exam; I took the class so that hopefully I can jump to a higher level when I go back to Goethe Institut in Singapore), 4 are over and I know for sure that I passed 3 of them. Wish me luck for the remaining ones!

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But anyway, as usual I shall end this entry with yet another meaningful CNY Petronas ad:


"Please go home for reunion dinner, if you can"
*sob*

Exam hiatus

Aufgrund der anstehende Prüfungen muss ich fleißig lernen, und deshalb habe ich keine Zeit, dieses Blog zu aktualisieren.

=>
"Because of the upcoming exams must I diligently study, and therefore have I no time, this blog to update." Pardon the lousy german =P

Anyway, after most of my exams are over, d.h. (das heißt, that means) after the killer week next week, I would like to start blogging about Munich. Of course this would mean touching upon Germany, German (or Bavarian) culture etc. I know not a lot of people read my blog, but I thought it would be nice if those of you who do read could suggest any particular area that you might want me to research and then blog about. As of now, I already have some topics in mind, which include the following:

Recycling culture
Transportation system
Lectures in the university

I would then try to write a blog entry based on my research and my own experiences.

Looking forward to responses!

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23 years old now. Great.

There was an exam on Monday so I didn't really celebrate my birthday. Treated some friends to a dinner at Tribühne, which is a restaurant located in StuSta (Studentenstadt). However, I did manage to get some people to join me for lunch last Saturday. Went to this place that Seungwon recommended near Marienplatz.

The restaurant, Opatija im Tal, is located on Hochbrückenstraße which is an offshoot from Tal (name of a road), which is along the way from Marienplatz to Isartor. Anyway I decided on this one after a few other choices because the price (for some lunch meals) was moderate and it was a Croatian/International restaurant. So something unique for a change.

Can't remember the name of the dish I ordered, but it was quite large and I was satisfied. =) There were 3 different types of meat, some kinda rice + fries. And I also got a glass of Helles beer. Anyway I recommend this place as the food was satisfactory, the ambience was nice, and the service was friendly.


After the satisfying meal I went to Hugendubel (a major book retail store) to see what type of books I might get before I go back to Singapore (German books of course). Then we thought about having ice cream but decided on Starbucks instead. Kinda surprised myself that I could ordered my usual Mocha Frappucino in German, but I paused like 0,5 seconds every time before I answered; hope the person at the counter didn't realise that. Need to go out more after exams because I'm just not speaking enough German!

Europe Winter Trip (Part 6 - Rome and the Vatican) (end)

Day 12

Coat of Arms of Vatican City I suppose

The Vatican Museum was first on our list, coz it was the last Sunday of the month, so the entrance was free! Guess we arrived quite late (around 9.30am)... there was already a long long queue. Took us freakin' 2 hours 15 minutes to get in.

Then it was a few hours inside... there were many interesting stuff/sculptures etc. to see but we didn't have a lot of time actually, coz it was going to close at 1:45pm. The whole museum is filled with artefacts: statues, paitings, maps, Egyptian, Greek, Roman... totally amazing. Particularly liked the ancient maps, coz I'm into maps. Wanted to buy some of the copies on sale, but they were too expensive...

Gallery of Maps

The whole decor of the museum was lavish. More like a palace I guess. There was kinda like a fixed route (esp. if you wanted to go to Sistine Chapel). Along the way we saw lots of amazing paintings on the walls on ceilings by the likes of Raphael and Michelangelo (which started me thinking about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Great.)

The designs on the pillar is reproduced in the painting as well. Found it interesting.

The right portion of Raphael's "The School of Athens", (possibly) depicting Euclid or Archimedes, Zoroaster amongst others, and Raphael himself (the one with black hair near to the edge of the drawing... sorry for the poor quality)

The highlight for many tourists is of course, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, with the famous "The Creation of Adam" (the one where a guy is stretching out his arm to God and God almost touches his finger). It reminded me of the Flying Spaghetti Monster... nevermind that. I personally liked "The Downfall of Adam and Eve and their Expulsion from the Garden of Eden". No photos here, you can google/wiki them. Visitors aren't supposed to take photos but many people took photos anyway. As we came out we saw the Vatican Post Office and decided to send a postcard (to ourselves). We were just in time; they closed shortly after.

"Poste Vaticane". It's been 2 weeks and I still haven't received my postcard =(

After that we walked around Saint Peter's Square. It is surrounded by the largest amount of pillars I have ever seen. Then tried to find a (cheap) place to eat. I ended up eating Kebab (which is like, one of the most popular fast food in Europe nowadays). We then walked to Castel Sant'Angelo and crossed the Tiber river (Fiume Tevere) on Ponte Sant'Angelo.

Wikipedia says there are 248 columns and 88 pilasters circling St. Peter's Basilica.

View of Castel Sant'Angelo from the bridge. The bridge reminds me of Prague's Karluv Most, with statues on both sides.

Barely 2pm and it was getting dark. We hurried and made our way to the Pantheon, passing by Piazza Navona (which was like a huge carnival ground at the time with carousels and cotton candy). There was an obelisk topped with a cross (Christianity prevails over Paganism?) in front of the Pantheon. The sarcophagus of Raphael the artist lies here.

We then went to the Coffee shop recommended by Seungwon, La Casa del Caffe Tazza D'oro. Seungwon let us try some of the chocolate wrapped coffee beans (Chicchi) she bought from her visit there and we all really liked it. We also had a cup of coffee each there.

Logo of the shop/company.

Then it was on to Fonatana di Trevi. Passed by Tempio Adriano but it was under maintenance repair. Along the way we also saw this fantastic street musician who was playing songs (mostly Christmas songs) by wiping his fingers around the rim of glasses of different sizes and shapes filled to different levels of water. Fontana di Trevi looks really grand at night with the lights and stuff. According to legend I heard, you're supposed to throw a coin over your shoulder to ensure you return to Rome and another to make a wish. Checked on wikipedia... apparently there are different versions, and approximately €3,000 (S$6,377.38; RM14,514.18) are thrown in every day! Crazy. Anyway, we helped to take a photo of a Singaporean guy and his girlfriend there and we chatted a bit afterwards.

The famous Fontana di Trevi. The centre statue is Neptune, riding on his chariot.

After going to the Hard Rock Cafe shop we then went to walk down Via dei Fori Imperiali from the Colosseum (Colosseo). There are lots of open archaeological sites around this region. We didn't spend much time as we had to go to Roma Termini to pick up Enrique. We bought take-away for dinner and we went back to Camping Fabulous. Enrique told us about his amazing time in Finland and we told him what happened the last few days. Slept.

Colosseo by night

Day 13

We moved out from Camping Fabulous and went to another hostel that was nearer to Termini. It was an awesome sunny day. Enrique left to visit the Vatican, and the rest of us went to San Giovanni Laterano, which is (according to Wikipedia) the cathedral church of Rome and official ecclesiastical seat of the Bishop of Rome, who is the Pope. Couldn't tell it was a church from the outside though. There were many confession boxes along one corridor (well I'm sure there are special terms for the parts in the church but I certainly have no idea), and differing from most other churches that I've been to, these were all operational at the time (i.e. there were priests inside). Some of the priests speak English, and it is indicated on the outside of the box.

San Giovanni Laterano. It's days like this that I feel Europe would be much nicer to visit during summer.

The "papal cathedra", located in the apse

We then went to Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, but there wasn't much to see there. We met up with Enrique again and passed by some of the places we went to yesterday. Had some ice-cream at this place called San Crispino. I had some kind of chocolate ice cream but the rest tried the Honey sorbet (which is highly recommended). Theirs were better... haha...

Ice cream in winter is nice coz it doesn't melt as quickly.

Italians don't have water bottles on their bikes, they've got freakin' wine bottles!

Anyway by the time we reached Colosseo it was already closed. So all we did is walk one round around it and attempt to take some photos.

The Colosseo seems to have 2 different colour tones... I wonder why.

Fatigue really settled in. The whole trip has been so rushed... We went back to the hostel to sleep. Sure there were many other places in Rome to visit; maybe next time. Anyway after some time we took the metro to Cavour, which was one stop before Colosseo, because there were sure to be many many people there. And there were. Squeezed our way through until we were rather near the stage at the end of Via dei Fori Imperiali. There were some open areas along the road where people were lighting up their own fireworks and the most annoying of all, firecrackers.

Seems more like a scene of a riot that a new year's party

Of course we had no idea who the people on the stage were, nor what they were singing. But we tried to join in the fun nonetheless. As 2008 approached we were waiting for a countdown but apparently they don't do it there. No "...three, two, one!", not even "...tres, dos, uno!" That was a bit disappointing. There were the usual fireworks in the sky, but there was also champagne squirting. Tried to hide from it but couldn't. Someone nearby held up an umbrella (well prepared!) so we were saved from becoming totally drenched.

Back to hostel and sleep. Zzzz...

Day 14 (01.01.2008)

We made our way to the train station and took our 10-hour ride home (to Munich)

When we stopped at Verona, a woman and her daughter came in and sat in the same compartment as us. She could speak English fairly well; she said that she was now teaching English, and she taught German previously. She was going to Munich to visit a friend she got to know under some programmes organised between Munich and Verona (which are "twin cities"). We chatted a lot on the train... She said she was from a traditional type of school where you had to learn Latin and Greek (!).

She told us about an old lady she met when she was in the UK, whose family had to travel frequently around the world as her father was posted to the different British colonies, so she was rather "worldly" in that sense. This old lady, probably 80 at the time, was learning Chinese. This Verona lady was curious so she asked her:"Why are you still learning languages at this old age?" to which her response was "If you don't know 10 languages by the time your my age you must be an idiot!".

Bologna - just a station we passed by. Would have loved to stop for Bolognese sauce though!

She was also interested in sociology: she asked us what were our parents' and grandparents' occupation. She then commented that it was interesting to see the change in social status/class, and mentioned that her father was also a farmer before (my grandfather was a farmer). And then told us to count our blessings (well, my dad says that all the time. Lol).

Anyway we also talked about many other things... She didn't know where was Malaysia and Singapore, but she had a world map in her sociology-related book, so we could point them out. Asked us about our countries, its people, language, culture, religion...

Passed by the Alps... they are simply breathtaking. (Reminder to self: climb Kilimanjaro before the ice is gone!)

Back in Munich I went straight back to my room, my bed and a long pleasant sleep. The End.

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Other points:

Well after this very very rushed trip (4 countries, 9 places in 14 weeks? you gotta be kidding me) I told myself next time I will take it slow and easy instead.

Well sadly I'll probably not travel in Europe anymore before I go back to Singapore. It depends on the exams and when I'll get the results. Therefore I can't book any tickets or make reservations because I won't know if I'll be able to go. Still, I'm setting my eyes on Poland, within Germany of someplace really nearby (Salzburg or something).

Bernard had a good suggestion of the next trip (which will definitely be after the exams, i.e. 1 month from now), which is a cycling trip around Munich. That'll be great coz I haven't even talked much about Munich yet even though I've been here for 4+ months!