SEP Munich, Germany – Nice Boss! – Day 2 – 06.05.11

Nothing much today. Went for our German language class but been chased out by the teacher, she said that the class is really full. Well, seems not too full to me though. Anyway, we still have about 5 hours till the time we meet Mr Grassl (yea accommodation again). We intended to have a look at the Museum of Sculpture (it’s called Glyptothek) but failed. Our time was taken away by some random research on internet access.

Glyptothek: Greece and Roma Sculptures. XD

After researching we still left about 3 hours. Visiting Glyptothek might not be a wise decision now and hence we went to wander around the city!

Museum! Just in front of TUM. It's really huge; if I have to say then I'll say that it's even larger than VivoCity + Harbourfront Center! There are people who play soccer on the field in the evening.

We somehow wondered which direction should we go at a cross junction nearby. A very nice madam who just came back from supermarket (I guess) has just approached us, after looking at our innocent face, and asked whether if we are going to Marienplatz! We said we are just wandering around but without hesitation she introduced us another museum nearby, pointed the direction of it and explained the very detailed of how we can actually get there! Oh well, we thanked her (Dank-e!) and continued our wandering.

Randomly saw this luxurious bus.

Newspaper vending machine. We found that most of the machines in Munich are mechanical instead of electrical.

The statue of Franz Xaver Gabelsberger: A famous guy in Germany, but I have no idea about him.

And we went back to meet Mr Grassl at the entrance of TUM, settled our contract.

And our dinner of the day:

Mine - Sandwich with Citrus Juice!

The boss is really a nice and friendly guy. He asked us whether we are Asians and then started to guess which country we are from! Sadly he couldn’t manage to get it right. He kept chatting with us throughout our dinner and asked us some random questions. Just before we go, he gave us 3 sandwiches (those expensive ones) for free! XD

The nice boss!

Free sandwiches! XD

SEP Munich, Germany – Marienplatz! – Day 1 – 05.05.2011

We woke up with the correct timing today. My previous bad “sleep late wake up early” policy has somehow become my current “sleep early wake up even earlier” habit! Jetlag helps, ha!

From the window of our room, the building under construction is just a part of TUM!

Buffet-style breakfast is provided (not bad huh?). For the first day we somehow agreed on eat all we can during the breakfast since we have paid for it!

My first round.

We went to school for some admin stuffs after that and we are going to meet Mr Grassl in the afternoon. He asked us to meet at a famous place in Munich called the Marienplatz. Well he said it’s famous but we have no idea about it at all. So after google-mapping we walked there, about 1 hour due to the followings on our way!

A huge grass patch with small flowers all around, people are just sitting there and having picnic!

Museum of sculpture. Tempted to go in!

Another museum in the middle of a roundabout!

One more museum there, right opposite the museum of sculpture!

Dandelion. The size is quite big. They are everywhere too!

The obelisk. Mr Grassl says it's some monument from Egypt.

The flowers around the obelisk.

Guess what? It's a bank!

There are really a lot of flowers around Munich. Here's another!

Strawberries at a stall. Really fresh and tempting!

Not really sure what this building is…

And finally…

The Marienplatz! (Left view)

The Marienplatz! (Right view)

The right wing of Marienplatz.

Road post!

Mr Grassl says that normally around 1200hrs there will be full of tourists there, because of something will happen during that time!

We are leaving Marienplatz right away though, to view our accommodation. A place to live is always important, so we shall just come back the other day!

I must mention that Mr Grassl is very tall with long legs, and thus walk very fast! He likes walking we guessed, and we had some nice exercises following him.

An ancient building near Isartor, looks new anyway. Mr Grassl says that this building was built to signify something related (I forgot!) to the Isar river, but now it's a museum.

Random shot of street on our way.

We visited two apartments and had to decide tomorrow. The whole visiting finished around 2000hrs, but again the sky was still bright! Many shops had already closed and we had to eat some simple dinner at a pastry shop. The day was getting darker yet we were sitting outside the shop. Wind blew and we were just shivering… Haha, what a weird experience!

Ok, gotta decide something important tomorrow!

SEP Munich, Germany – Departure – Day 0 – 04.05.11

Finally, after a whole month of attending various authorities both physically and electronically, it’s now my turn of SEP! Well, I was quite depressed since my SEP to Japan was cancelled. Not quite looking forward towards the alternative in Germany though, since I know neither Germany nor Munich other than FC Bayern Munich. Anyway, SEP is always the better and more interesting option than delaying my degree. Thus I’m on my way there now.

Today is even more depressing than any other, since we can’t even manage to get ourselves a confirmed accommodation in Munich. A landlord called Esther wanted our money of €1780 and then €890 before we even reached Munich. Another named Jimmy wanted €850 to his mother in London. They are really suspicious but I was desperate enough to nearly get into their tricks. Thanks to Mr. Grassl, I hold my decision and we were led to a temporary solution of staying in a hotel first, before getting a confirmed place to live. Well, not to forget YC’s effort in halting us, thank you (if you ever read this).

And so with this kind of are-we-going-to-suffer mind I got to Changi Airport with my luggage (packed for Japan actually). Got some Euros and we started our flight.

Boeing777-300ER is really not bad (watched お兄ちゃんの花火 onboard XD). 8 hours later we arrived at Dubai for transiting. I must say Dubai International Airport is really H.U.G.E. Well, at least it’s very long. Heavily decorated with luxuries and was impressive in the first sight, but soon after realising that their hygiene and maintenance are not so good after all, it lost some points from me.

Garden in Dubai International Airport, not one but two!

Donation bin. You can find this almost everywhere in the airport, and none of them are empty!

Rolex clock. It's everywhere too!

And around 1630hrs Dubai time (2030hrs SG/MY), our flight to Munich began. Boeing777-200 this time, well the seats are slightly broader but the entertainment system is really outdated. I’m a bit sorry to see YC for being so bored and feeling unwell (too cold) during both flights though…

And we are in Munich after 6 hours! Around 2048hrs already but it’s still bright with 8^oC outside! Before we enter the checkpoint YC was wondering why we don’t need to fill in any embarkation card or anything alike. Anyway the officers are really friendly! Wow, if I were to compare, Malaysia’s officers are emotionless, Singapore’s officers are serious but friendly enough, and Germany’s officers are just purely friendly! They welcomed us whole-heartedly and chat with us happily! Oh, the embarkation card is not needed, or maybe there’s nothing like that in Europe, just a visa is sufficient (I think this is why it took so long).

For some reason we forgot to take a photo in the airport! Soon we got onto a taxi to go to our hotel. Again, the Egyptian driver (in Munich for 20 years) is very friendly too! He chatted with us along the way, introduced many places for us to visit and taught us quite a lot of useful German words! Well although I can’t remember a single word he had taught but he’s just nice! We promised him to call him to fetch us to airport again for our return; I guess we can do it!

Along the way - Bayern Munich Stadium

40 minutes from the airport we reached our hotel. Now here’s something special: The hotel reception is only until 2100hrs, but we arrived around 2200hrs, to allow us to go in the room key is dropped into a key box at the front door, we just input a password and we can get our key! Hmm, it’s not special right? But we can just run away early in the morning! Yet they still allow this to happen. Of course, we didn’t do it since we are going to stay 3 days there. Soon after we entered the hotel we were stunned, lights are all switched off, old wooden spiral stairs with extraordinary quietness, a bit scary after all. And this is our room:

A 5-beds room instead! For €25 per pax.

For a moment the idea of staying here for 3 months instead popped out among us, since it’s very nice and extremely close to our university (just cross the road). But we gave up that idea since it’s really expensive to do it that way.

What’s next? Of course, sleep!

Blade & Soul Facebook Group

Somehow created a facebook group for Blade & Soul. Fans, do join and share! :D

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=128699723828108

Blade & Soul Gameplay Trailer

This rocks even more! Make sure you watch it in HD.

Blade & Soul

This gonna be my next favorite game. Hoping it to be B2P XD

宮崎駿さんの映画

しばらくだなあ。。。今までずっと忙しいんだ。。。

先週も今週も試験週だから、みんな勉強しなきゃと思うんだけど。。。最初僕もそうしていたんだけど、水曜日からずっと勉強の気持ちがない。すごく不思議で信じられないことがあったんだ。だから、宮崎駿さんの映画をたくさん見た。

まずは「千と千尋の神隠し」だった。何回も見ても、感動したなあ。。千尋ちゃんとハク君のことはほんとに素敵なあ。。それから、「天空の城」を見た。「天空の城」の中のバズー君はずいぶんかっこよかった。そういうのは顔じゃなくて、心だ。シータちゃんのためにいくら大変なことがあっても、勇気を出てやったんだ。次は「ほたるの墓」だった。最初宮崎さんの映画と思ったんだけど、そうじゃなくても本当にいい映画だった。兄さんから妹さんにの愛は、清太くんから全部見た。清太くんが節子ちゃんにしたことは、やり方がちょっと違うんだけど、兄さんからの愛だ。

「ハウルの動く城」はすばらしかった。ソフィーちゃんの勇気と気力はとてもいいなあ。。そして、「魔女の宅急便」が習えることをたくさん教えてくれた。キキちゃんの修行のとき、たいへんなことがたくさんあった。それでも、優しいキキちゃんは新しい友達に手伝われて修行を続けた。最後のはさっき見たの「耳をすませば」。この映画は本当によかった。不思議な魔法がなくても、すごい技術もなくても、ゆっくり雫ちゃんと聖司君のストーリが見られた。普通のストーリ見たいけど、感動した。雫ちゃんが難しく将来のことを選ぶときも、聖司君と一緒に何かをするときも、すてきだった。特に「カントリーロード」という歌、易しそうだけど、聞いたら気持ちよくなった。これからこの歌をポーストする。時間があったら、ぜひこの映画をもう一度見る。