Did a biathlon

I havent exercised for many weeks even before leaving munich.

So, the only daily exercise I do routinely here is just - walking. Yes, walking from train station to my room is exercise. Walking around/to places of interest in Munich like Deutsches Museum, Neuschwanstein, Hofbraeuhaus, and English Garden. Walking to get Kebab is also an exercise. Basically, not having a car is an exercise. Just like Singapore. So that means, in Malaysia I get zero exercise. That is why I was 12 kg heavier before coming to Singapore 3 years ago.

So finally, Ive done my first exercise in Munich. Not 1, but 2 sports. Yeah, cycling and swimming. Yesterday, Wajdie, my Israeli neighbour called me to go for a swim. The prob is the swimming pool is in Olympiapark, the international swimming complex for 1972 Olympics.


Gotta say wow at this impressive architecture, even this building is already 35 years old! Damn.. can thrash Bukit Jalil stadium anytime.

We cycled from our hostel through English Garden (cos I wanted to see how the other side of Gardens look) to a post office near my Uni for him to post some books to Ebay. Then we cycled on to Olympiapark. Just you think Autobahn is synonymous with cars. I was wrong. The urban cyclists like to have their own "mini Autobahn", so catching up with Wajdie was a problem. So, 1 solid exercise done already.

On the way, saw this..

thats the memorial for the Black September incident in 1972. If you watch Munich ( the movie) then you'll know. On top there are Hebrew words, which I didnt take.

Next, swimming. The entry was 3.60 euros. But, I could have gotten a student semester card for 15 euros, but I forgot to bring my student paper. The heating system wasnt good enough for me, so I easily got cramps after half an hour.

Cycled back with lactic acid in my legs. My pants and underpants wet with sweat. But my face was chilling and dry from the wind. Heh.

After dinner(thanks to Super Mario and Bros), checked out a so called "start of semester Party that even have a DJ". But turned out to be a small bar 3 times the size of my room with 20 over ppl only. So, we left after drinking beer and cocktail. Then I KOed on the bed, knowing my body has taken its toll. If this goes on again, I could be a biathlete.

Ok.. signing off with this picture that I photoshopped.

Class starts

I attended 2 lectures on Tuesday. 1 English and 1 German lecture. German lecture is about car engines. That is why I'm trying to attend the next 1 again today. Hope that he doesnt ask me any questions.

Just added a new photo gallery, called Photo Art. Any pictures I took and edited with special effects belong in this album. This is more fun than blogging.

Castle, Lakes, Hills, Snow Mountains, Villages and Magical Things..

Meet Bavaria's bests. From left: Lake, Snowy Mountain, Hills, Hohenschwangau Castle, and Little Towns.

Neuschwanstein Castle

These 2 photos are done by combining few shots into panoramic view. First Ive tried with my 3 year old camera.

How to get there? We took a train from the main station to Fuessen. The journey lasts 2.5 hours. In Fuessen, forget about walking about the town. Just go straight to the castles by bus ride of about 5 km. On the spot, the 2 castles are a sight to behold. The "Disney" castle , Neuschwanstein built by a Bavarian King, while the other is his Daddy's. Just walk and trek around the area with this map below. Gotta admit, my legs did ache halfway during the trip.

To further explain, here's my photo gallery for the trip. Click here.

Later, we went for dinner and gathering with the rest of the SEP gang. Obscenely, there are more than 20 NUS ppl in Munich this semester! Looks like I wont miss Chinese food and Singapore at all! Hurhur..

Next feature, my hostel room... till then.

Quickie Recap

Okie.. finally time to blog once again. What can I say? This blog is just to tell everyone back at home that I'm alright and having a whale of time. So, don't expect it to be journal, diary or some sort.

Recap day 1

I flew on Emirates airline from KL-Dubai-Munich. This picture was somewhere above India at night. Cool thing about Emirates is that they offer over 500 channels of entertainment on the personal LCD screen. Watched few movies, particularly X-Men 3 (finally!, not bad movie) and some tv series like Scrubs for the first time.

Stopover in Dubai for 3 hours, made use of the free wireless there and expected another visitor to Munich this coming May. hmmm... even the whole hall knows about it. -_-", according to Abhi.

Reaching Munich on Easter day was the most stupid mistake ever made so far in this trip. The hostel office was not opened that day. So, I stayed in a hotel nearby. Later, received a mail by Kat (fellow hostelmate) that even 2nd day of Easter is holiday! So, that means I couldnt check into my room for the first few days. Perfect.

Well, I walked around Munich town on a particularly quiet day. So the main square was supposed to be quiet, i assumed. But, some people still flocked over an area.

To watch this! A Chinese man was putting up some of his balancing skills. I salute him for balancing while the wind was blowing quite strong.

Anyways, staying in hotel was an experience. Late TV programs have some "interesting" advertisements. Even Playboy has their own airtime that night.

Day 2

Finally met Kat for the first time in the morning. Gotta thank her for offering her place for me to sleep for the night. I joined her and the rest of the SEP group to visit the Deutsches Museum.

Yup. Germany has an illustrious background and history of their technological advancements, that the main exhibits are their innovations and inventions of the past. It became more of a science center than a museum. Found this awkward cos I watched Night at the Museum on plane few days back. I expected to see Atilla the Hun, Mummies or something. Hee..

Day 3

Jason helped take me around the town to settle all my admin stuffs, like matriculation, accomodation, banking, insurance, applications., etc.. With his help, I managed to settle everything in 2 days. Amazing.

Later went for some shopping in a huge hypermart. Only this caught my eye though. 1 crate of beer, 0.5 l x 12 bottles costs around 10-12 euros. Brands like Augustiner, Becks, includ. I better find out some way to transport them without a car soon. I'll fill in the updates soon, once I secure my best method of transporting this to my hostel.

Day 4

Bayern Munich vs AC Milan that day. No wonder so many Italians roaming around the street. I was expecting them to brawl in the streets. Maybe they are not like Roma fans. In this picture, there is me, with 80000 fans, 22 player, 10 substitutes, 4 referees and 2 managers behind.

Yeah.. the game was on that time.

For more pictures, just check out my personal picasa web album.