Blurry Vision + A Random Road Trip

R.I.P

On Sunday morning i woke to find my Paul Frank Jennie Bomb specs snapped in half. I have a habit of falling asleep with my glasses on but i recall many mornings waking up with them still sitting comfortably on my face.

But not this time around.

Wedged underneath the blanket, she lay lifeless. She was one month shy of five years.

I tried various super glues and even went out and bought a glue specifically for plastic and cost me 6 Euro. It stuck for about half an hour and then when i tilted my head forward, it snapped.

But i'm gonna check out Apollo-Optiker down the road and see if they can salvage her. If not, perhaps they can use my old lenses and i'll just look for an affordable new frame. Glasses here are generally quite expensive in Germany and can cost about 300 Euro.

***

So what's been happening the last one and half weeks?

There is an EHEC bacteria outbreak in Germany. They're saying raw food like cucumber, salad, tomatoes and beansprouts are infected. However, the source has yet to be found.

"Officials just announced that tests on sprouts from the organic farm they thought was to blame came back negative". [source]

Weird.

[source]

Majority of those infected are in Hamburg, although there has been several found cases throughout Germany and surrounding countries. Those numbers marked in red are the number of infected in Germany and those in black are the number of people who have died because of this nasty bacteria.

So until the WHO says it's 100% safe to eat those suspected vegetables, i'm refusing to eat them.

***

As for the weather, it's been ridiculously hot [for German standards]. I'm talking 34˚C in the shade, warm air and clear blue skies. I contemplated bringing up the standing fans from the cellar but woke up this morning to rain and a major drop in temperature. It's already noon, the sun is nowhere to be seen and it's only 17˚C.

A few weeks back, J's 8-year old Audi went in for a check-up. It turns out the brake pads have worn down and the small crack in the windshield - thanks to a flyaway pebble on the ground, is not safe and therefore the windshield needs to be replaced.

All in all, it'll cost about 1,300 Euro to fix. Money, that obviously is not available at the moment.

J thought about selling the car all together but J's father insisted that he didn't. We're going to see if we can find another mechanic and get another quotation.

So knowing that the car isn't exactly roadworthy, i woke up on Saturday, hours before J was supposed to go on a road trip with an awful gut feeling. I couldn't stop crying for some reason.

The plan was to drive to his grandmother's place which is about 4 hours away, then check out a few old peoples' homes and the next day on the way back, pick up his summer wheels from our old landlords' cellar.

He needed to rent a car with a bigger boot in order to carry 4 extra wheels. And ended up renting a Ford Focus which costed 140 Euro for two days.


That was when i decided last minute to accompany him. I figured Luna and Yoshi are capable of staying one night alone, so why not.

Are we there yet!?

However, i did feel kind of spewy the whole way there and decided to crawl to the back and lay down.

For anyone thinking of purchasing or renting a Ford Focus, i say, DON'T. Unless of course you don't mind getting car sick and you enjoy feeling every bump and turn.

HOTNESS!!!

But then again, i don't think it helped that i threw up several times the night before and was incredibly nauseous the morning i got into the car.

No, i'm not pregnant. I blame indigestion and those Knorr Instant fried noodles.


Finally after 4 hours we arrived and as usual, J's grandmother had set up the dining table with an assortment of cake and freshly brewed coffee.

Just in time for Kaffee und Kuchen. Yummeh!


We then went to check out an old people's home. J's grandmother is showing early signs of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, so before it gets too late the family is trying to persuade her that living alone may not be the best option.


After we were done, Oma wanted to visit her husband's grave. He's been gone for thirty-one years but she apparently visits him every two days to water the flowers and clear away the dead leaves.

I can't say graveyards are my favorite places to be at. At the beginning i even contemplated waiting in the car whilst J and her did what they had to do but ended up going along with them. I helped water the plot and J's grandfathers' brothers' grave too.

***

The next day we went to go see another old peoples' home and visited his mothers' new cafe. She recently signed a one year leas and is now co-owner. She has no experience running a restaurant but she says she knows how to cook.

Let's hope everything works out and she can make a small profit.


Catching the last few rays in Oma's garden before the huge storm arrived.

31 + 88 + 31

A group photo before J and i got back into the car so we can make our long 6-hour journey back home.


There was an 11 km long traffic jam on the highway, so for the first half the trip J drove inland and that added another hour to the journey.

Words of Advice : Don't eat butter cookies if you're feeling car sick.

On that note, i'll have to leave you. It's 2 pm already and i've got a bunch of errands to attend to before making my way to yoga class this evening.

Delayed Trains and Frozen Body Parts.

Here's some advice for anyone who plans on traveling by train to and from Germany via Deutsche Bahn in Winter : PLEASE DON'T!

J and i spent a total of eight hours traveling [including waiting time] for our trains yesterday. We were either freezing our arses off waiting for delayed trains or sitting in an overcrowded cabin.

On the last leg of the journey the dumb arse train conductor was so inconsiderate that he left all the doors open for a whole twenty minutes in minus degrees Celsius temperatures. So J made his way up the front of the train to tap on the train conductor's glass door to ask if he could shut the doors and turn up the heat.

Anyway, one would think we were traveling from one end of the country to the other. We weren't.


By car it would take about an hour an half but since many people were warned beforehand to be very careful on the highways as some parts were/are iced over, we opted to take the train.


The estimated time [including one change over] would have taken about two hours and twenty-three minutes but due to many other trains breaking down and tracks having technical glitches and not functioning, schedules were interrupted.

But the funniest part was, we only spent one hour at our destination before we had to rush back to the train station to get back home.

What originally was meant to be a two hours and fifty-one minutes journey back, ended up being just over four and a half hours.


Waiting on an exposed platform for a train at night that first said it was going to be 20 minutes late but ended up being nearly 45 minutes late can be really uncomfortable. However, for a normal situation when the temperature is decent, i can imagine it could be an inconvenience but when you're standing there and you can't feel your toes or fingers, it can be damn right irritating.

We get to the station where we're supposed to change trains and realise we're half an hour too late. Our train is not there. Lucky for us another regional train passes through there every hour.

So J wanders off to look for the loo.

And as usual, the second J leaves me alone, some random guy starts talking to me. I did my best to answer him in German and i even used grammatically correct sentences.

Was that his attempt to chat me up? Maybe.

I didn't get his name but if my tired brain serves me correctly he was relatively good-looking, perhaps in his late 20s and had a friendly persona.

Had i been single and he spoke English, who knows what could have happened.


I'm joking. Nothing would have happened except maybe a nice conversation just to occupy some time.

So J returns just in time as my learnt German vocabulary was about to run out and before i began stuttering. But by the looks of it, i don't think J was too impressed with the other guy standing so close to me. Of course i introduced J straight away as my boyfriend and i could tell the other guy looked slightly disappointed.

One could immediately see a change in his body language.

Oh well.

Forty-five minutes later the train arrives.


And delirium is starting to kick in.

As time ticked on and all the food we had brought along with us was consumed, we had no choice but be creative when it came to entertainment. That teaches me a lesson, never doubt whether or not i should bring along my iPod and headphones. One never knows when you might really need it.

So our journey started at 3:38 PM and by the time we arrived in Köln we were delayed by only half an hour. Which meant we arrived at our destination at 6:35 PM. Our train back was at 7:57 PM but due to so many delays we finally reached the end of our journey at 12:30 AM. Most of which were spent in the freezing cold by the way.

But i'm not complaining.

At least we weren't in the fast train that broke down half way between stations and in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, that would have totally sucked!


We were lucky it didn't snow the whole of yesterday because i'm sure that would have made it a whole lot worse. Apparently, the weatherman predicts more snow for the next three days and i just heard on the radio, they're planning on shutting down a few airports.


Last night there was a full moon. Maybe she's partly to blame for the chaos.


After walking for what felt like the longest five minutes in my life to get to the park house, i checked the thermometer and it was a frosty minus 15˚Celsius!

No wonder i couldn't feel my face.

At 1:30 AM we were in bed and i passed out the second my head hit the pillow. Five hours later our alarm clocks were screaming for us to get ready for work and cease the day.

RAWR!!!

Koeln/Köln = Cologne

After falling asleep at home, we eventually arrived at the hotel at 4 AM and managed to squeeze in a 3-hour nap before J had to get up and make it to his job interview at 9 AM. I, on the other hand, spent the morning consoling his younger brother on the phone because his girlfriend of one year had just broken up with him. So by the time i hung up, it was time for me to get changed and pack.

Js younger brother ended up driving the 3 and a half hours to Koeln because he needed some company and ended up following us with his car so he could stay the night at our place.

Anyway back to the hotel...

I had booked a room at the B&B Hotel Köln Porz, thinking that the standard would be the same as in Hamburg.

Boy, was i wrong.


The hotel was directly across a casino and facing a parking lot. The room was the about the width of a double bed and it smelt of old cigarettes. The bathroom sink was covered in cigarette burns and the carpet floor had ash embedded in it from god knows how long ago. I'm not even going to go into detail about the questionable dried up dark splatter i saw on the bathroom wall.

Gross.

I've never felt so happy to check-out of a hotel room. And was eager for Js return, in hopes for some good news.


We thought we'd kill two birds with one stone and go for an apartment viewing. Our appointment was in the evening and so we spent the rest of the afternoon in the city just to buy some time. Turned out the apartment was perfect except for one problem, they didn't allow cats.

Oh well, better luck next time.

Anyway, for those of you who are not familiar with Koeln [also known as Cologne to many English speakers or those living outside Germany]. The city is most famous for their cathedral and Karneval.

REWIND:
About two and half years ago, J and i were living in separate cities but only an hour away from each other by train. We'd reunite every other weekend and often take day trips to neighboring cities.

24.05.2008

On that occasion, we decided to check out the Cologne cathedral. I had a look through my archives and realised i didn't have a blog post about it. I think i was going through a stage where i lost interest in regurgitating my thoughts.

24.05.2008

But lucky for you, i had uploaded a few photos into facebook. The ones above were taken in the bell tower [the halfway mark] and whilst going up the 509 steps to get to the steeple. Back when we were much fitter and didn't carry around our double chins.

FAST FORWARD:
My hair hangs down to my waist and we've both developed a few more lines on our faces. This is us now, looking slightly more bloated seasoned with only 3 hours sleep...

05.11.2010

The Koeln dome which pretty much looked the same since the last time we were there. Only difference was probably one of the steeples' were cleaner and the scaffolding had been moved to the next tower.


Smack bang in the middle of the city, we saw an archaeological site in progress.


And across a parking lot and next to some shops is "one of Cologne's oldest parish churches, it was modified several times during the Middle Ages and newly designed as a hall church between 1668 and 1672; steeple 1494 and facade 1896. The "Mourning Parents" are a replica and the original statues are now on the German war cemetery at Vladslo/Flanders in Belgium."

Those passersby can look through the metal gates to see that the roof is missing.


We also wasted some time looking in an antique shop that sold really expensive wooden furniture and ridiculously large metal animals.

Uh... OK.


At first i thought the price tag said 319 Euros, then figured out it was 39. But still, who would pay 39 Euros for a cracked frame and a dead leaf?


A fancy Koeln drain cover and an archway just above some apartments near the Rhine river.


Then as we were walking through one of the streets, we saw Hard Rock cafe. I was so excited, i insisted we go and have lunch there. It was much smaller than the one i had been to in Kuala Lumpur and helluva lot more expensive. At 10.25 Euros for a plate of cheese nachos, J and i made sure we cleaned the plate dry. But man, was every calorie worth it.

I ordered a veggie patty burger and a "Pickled Tink" which was a mix of Smirnoff Raspberry Vodka, Piña colada mix and fresh strawberries served frozen and garnished with two maraschino cherries.

It gave me a brain freeze but was totally yummy!


We accompanied his younger brother to get a haircut. Since there's nothing like a new hair do to make yourself feel just that little bit better after a break-up.

After waiting impatiently all afternoon, J finally received the phone call. Turned out they offered him a great deal with responsibilities he only dreamed of.

And so J was quick to accept.

So as part of his excitement, J insisted on buying me a pair of wedge boots from Buffalo. Buffalo is a shoe store that sells some really nice heels but are way over my budget. I often would bitch to him that i don't like wearing heels because they're so uncomfortable. So after trying on numerous pairs, J made me try on these and hoped they'd change my mind.

[source]

At first i was skeptical over those buckles. Looking a bit like my feet were parading around in a straight jacket, i was soon convinced they didn't look that bad. In fact, they added some character to the boots. And the dirt-like marks on the wedged part is apparently the new "vintage" look. New things made to look old.

Uh... OK. Whatever you say lady.

And the added insole i got is said to keep my feet warm when the temperature dips down lower.

Half an hour later, we left the store with another pair of shoes to add to my collection. And me being the abiding girlfriend, had successfully fulfilled J's [semi] heel fetish.

***

Oh and in case you didn't catch that...

We're moving to Koeln in January!

That gives us about seven weeks to get packed.

And so i'm sending out my wishes and hoping to find a somewhat centrally located, cat-friendly decent sized/priced 3-room apartment. Preferably, on the first floor with proper flooring. A balcony for the kitties and a built-in kitchen. Not forgetting a modern bathroom plus a bathtub and a toilet that doesn't belong in the 1920s. But more specifically a bathroom that also has a window.

Really, is it that too much to ask for?

Mini Getaway to Hamburg.

[WARNING: PHOTO HEAVY]

Yesterday was a public holiday, i'm not sure what the holiday was but i know the region we live in [NRW] had the day off. J originally had a job interview for yesterday but requested to change it to Saturday afternoon, that way we could make the most of our trip to Hamburg by doing all the touristy things and get a feel for the city.

Hamburg is the second largest port in Europe [Rotterdam being the largest] and has a staggering 1.8 million people living there. It ranks as the 11th largest port in the world. [source]

Basically, the place is huge!

DAY ONE:
I've never visited Hamburg, so for me it was exciting to actually see the place in real life as opposed to stills on google images. Living most of my life in metropolitan cities, except of course the town that J and i are currently living in, we felt like kids in a candy store.


And yes once again, packing light is not one of our virtues.

Our heads couldn't stop darting around the minute the train pulled up at Hamburgs' main train station. I met the typical Asian tourist stereotype each time i busted out my camera to take a random photo of graffiti, rubbish or a fine piece of architecture.


I didn't mind. And i don't think anybody else did either.



We stayed at the B & B Hotel Hamburg-Altona which was not directly in the city centre but near public transport so J could get to his job interview on time. It cost us for a double bed 77.80 € per night including a simple buffet breakfast - probably the cheapest deal we could find.

Basic but worth the money.


After J came back from his interview and we rested some, we wanted to take the tour of the suburb, Saint Pauli [sounds like, Sayn-t Pow-lee].

St. Pauli is a German Sports club. It was in the mid-1980s that St. Pauli's transition from a traditional club into a "Kult" club began. The club was also able to turn the location of its ground in the dock area part of town, near Hamburg's famous Reeperbahn—centre of the city's night life and its red-light district—to its advantage.

Supporters adopted the skull and crossbones as their own unofficial emblem. St. Pauli became the first team in Germany to officially ban right-wing nationalist activities and displays in its stadium in an era when fascist-inspired football hooliganism threatened the game across Europe.

[source]

St. Pauli is also a worldwide symbol for punk and related subcultures.

This has on occasion brought them into conflict with neo-Nazis and hooligans at away games. The organisation has adopted an outspoken stance against racism, fascism, sexism, and homophobia and has embodied this position in its constitution.

The club prides itself on having the largest number of female fans in all of German football.

One study recently estimated that the team has roughly 11 million fans throughout Germany, making the club one of the most widely recognised German sides. There are about 200 registered fan clubs, many of them outside Germany. [source]

So having read that and hearing from my sister and her boyfriend that the area is not one place to be wandering down isolated streets alone at night we decided to try and make it to a St. Pauli tour. The leaflet in the lobby said it started at 7 PM but ended up arriving five minutes too late. As we stood in front of a closed store with no tour group waiting outside, we decided to get a beer at the nearest drink kiosk.

J asked a friendly local what was there to do and it turned out St. Pauli was known for their bars, quirky stores and being very alternative.


We walked past a store called pony & kleid [translated into English it's called, fringe & dress], which i thought was such a clever name as not only does it sound like the famous Bonnie & Clyde but it's an old school hairdresser that also sells clothes.

Every few metres i'd stop and take photos of the graffiti that covered most walls.

BREATHE, BREATHE EVERY DAY BREATHE!

And the above image is of somebody's ground floor apartment which faces the side walk. The cage-like protection is to prevent break-ins and broken beer bottles being thrown through the windows.

But with riot police and police vans/trucks stationed in areas known for trouble, it sort of, kinda, makes you feel safe.


We passed a shop called Lockengeloet, the concept was every day objects given a second chance at life.


And just a few blocks away was the famous red light district called Reeperbahn [sort of sounds like, Ray-pa-baahn] where you can browse through sex shops, have an expensive drink at a girlie show or check out some tabletop dancers.

With more than enough ATM machines at every corner, patrons have no excuse.

In the early 1960s, before The Beatles became world famous, it was known that they would often have gigs in several clubs at the Reeberbahn. John Lennon has even been quoted as saying, "I might have been born in Liverpool - but i grew up in Hamburg" [source]

The famous high class tabletop dancing at the Dollhouse.


You can even visit a cabaret sex show where tables are organised like in a small theatre. It's not sleazy, if that's what you're wondering. It cost 5 Euros per entry plus a minimum first drink charge of 25 Euros even if you just plan on drinking juice. So to make it worth the price, order a bottle of wine for two and it'll cost just 50 Euros [plus 5 Euros for each person.] Obviously, taking photos inside are not allowed.

The name Reeperbahn - meaning actually Rope Street - was a centre for rope-making in the port side area's sailing days. But now an officially sanctioned and cherished adult entertainment zone that is one of the northern port city's primary tourist attraction. [source]

Legal prostitutes line certain streets and wait for potential customers. Apparently, moon boots are their choice of footwear, so they're not that hard to find should you happen to be in the area.

I didn't take any photos of the girls, in fear that they'd lash out and grab my camera and break it. I remember walking through the red light district in Amsterdam and i saw one woman run past and take a photo of a hooker in the window. But the second the flash went off, the girl started pounding on the window and yelling at her because it's known you're not allowed to take photos.


Nestled behind the district street police station is a famous small street where women are not allowed to enter. Guarded by a heavy steel gate on either end, men can literally window shop for a woman of their choice.


But if that's not your cuppa tea, there are also many theatres in Hamburg ranging from Disney's Lion King to even a Transvestite Cabaret. We were told that the Transvestite Cabaret is really good and so i told J that should we eventually decide to move to Hamburg, we should go.


Speaking of trannies, as we were walking down one of the streets we came across one of Germany's famous drag queens; Olivia Jones. She was doing one of her tours and the funniest part was when we walked past, she smiled at J.

I was so star struck having seen her on TV, it was surreal to see her in real life, i had to take a photo.

DAY TWO:
We woke up in time for the breakfast buffet and made sure we got more food so we wouldn't be that hungry by the time it was lunch time.


After checking out at noon, we made our way to the train station and put our bags in the lockers.


We wanted to catch a tour bus, so we could get a real feel of the city rather than walking around aimlessly until we had to catch our 7:53 PM train back to Guetersloh. The tour began with driving along a street full of mansions such as the one above - a street where millionaires and billionaires are said to reside.


We also took a harbour tour and ate some really yummy plum cake.


On this tour we saw a war ship being fixed, a dock where yachts are being built and huge ships carrying containers.


After the tour we went back to shore and checked out the Elb Tunnel. The purpose of it being built was to link St. Pauli, the port and the shipyards together.


We jumped back on the bus...


and they took us through the city crossing more canals and making our way through cobbled streets back to the main train station.

But then having another two hours to spare we decided to have a meal and found ourselves at a bar/place to eat called Frau Moeller. Atmosphere was friendly, portions were big and prices were affordable. I definitely would recommend the place.


And seeing that it was Halloween, we even saw them offering sweets to kids that were dressed up. Of course, in return for a song or a verse.

I thought that was so nice. Even though Hamburg is such a huge city, it still hasn't lost the fun aspect of life.

We also ended up chatting in English to a girl, originally from Freiburg, who was sitting at the next table. Found out she was taking an entrance exam for a degree in Theatre & Costume design at the university on Monday hence the reason why she was there alone.

As we left and shook hands, we wished her good luck and said if we do decide to move to Hamburg and she does get accepted into the course, we should all meet back here in January.

Whether that happens, we'll just have to see. I think her name is Katarina.

***

So on that note ladies and gentlemen, i have to bid you adieu because i've run out of words and my fingers are starting to cramp. If there's typos or grammatical errors, i'm sorry. I'll come back and sort them out later.

Next stop is Köln.

J has another job interview this Friday and so i'll be accompanying him, so we can have a look around. I'm hoping by next week we'll make up our minds as to which city best suits us but more importantly, which job has the better offer.