Ok, firstly goodbye 2008. Every year, same time, we always wished for a better year ahead…. so is your 2008 better than your 2007 ?
Well, perhaps. The highlight this year being the trip to Europe. Places that I thought I would never have the chance or money to go…. I’ve been there this year. So, i consider my 2008 as better than 2007. Haha.
Hello 2009. Hope 2009 will be better than 2008.
Lets go for a Ramly burger and a pint of Guiness with homies.
I don’t know if its part of the itinerary, but the visit to Swarovski (while heading to Innsbruck, Austria) was interesting… firstly for the scenery… the Tyrol region…. the Alps, the vast green fields and country side. We all love these postcard-picture/calendar scene and this is it. I would certainly want to spend a few days at these “kampung” (village) but too bad…. I dont think I’ll have such a chance.
The headquarter of the world reknown crystal manufacturer, Swarovski.
The eyecatching fountain…… the exhibition centre inside that “giant head”.
Crystals are everywhere… “Yes to all” is filled with tons of crystals.
One of the displays in the exhibition centre. We have to pay an entrance fee.
The jewelleries they sell here are cheap as compared to elsewhere in the world.
Ok… its the time of the year again…. Merrry Christmas and a happy new year for 2009.
Lately we see numerous opinions on whether the country should adopt a single school system or not. Well, firstly I would say I am siding Prof. Khoo Kay Kim’s opinion/suggestion as I think it is the way to go. We need to take the first step to create a Malaysian race. When schools use the same common language as medium of teaching….. we will have everyone able to communicate with each other across the board. Usually people will group with people who speak the same language.
We just gotta abolish vernacular school and introduce single national school to create a new generation of people who dont speak broken Bahasa Malaysia anymore…… even some foreigners can speak better BM than some Malaysians. I would suggest that Mandarin and Tamil should also be made compulsory language along with English. Hence we will create a nation that can speak 4 languages…… no matter you are chinese. malay, indian or others.
Ha… what about that? Call me a traitor if you like but I strongly agree with Prof. Khoo !!!!!! I would stress that all Malaysians MUST read this.
Shit does happen. Bought a pair of Clarks shoe the morning right before I boarded the plane back to Malaysia from London. Now, slightly after a month and worn a only a few times for casual outings, the shoe is now rendered useless. Why? The elastic shoe lace snapped. Emailed Clarks London and all they replied is :
Dear Mr G
Thank you for your email.
Unfortunately, we are unable to obtain replacement laces for your mamba Drum shoes and I’m sorry for any disappointment caused.
Regards
Linda Murphy
Customer Care
Our Ref: 000699099A
I can’t believe thats all they can say. Well, I decided not to pursue the case and full refund is only available between 28 days of purchase. Furthermore, this Ms. Linda Murphy have not replied my second email which I asked for a full refund as there are no laces replacement available. In fact, I went to the Clarks shop in 1Utama and was told that they dont sell accessories such as shoe laces let alone an elastic shoe laces. This is real shitty. I was so frustrated. I bought that fucking shoe for £49.99 (incl. VAT) and that was before the forex fell to RM5.40 to a pound. Arrghghhhh… fuck.
Luckily, I found a pair of laces at Bata, 1Utama. The colour may not match entirely but it does the job. At least I can wear the shoe. Looks like I gotta drop by their Malaysia HQ/factory in Jalan Kapar, Klang to buy matching laces.
Long live, Bata…
Guten morgen ! The breakfast at the hotel was great….. the best breakfast for the entire trip… where they have free flow of real german sausages….. thick fat thin small short long…. all sizes for your liking. I whack a whole plate full of sausages.
So after that, we checked out and headed straight into the city again. Munich at night was nice…. the buildings were lit up brightly…. weather was just nice.
The bus dropped us here and from there we ventured ourselves. Here I was standing on the bicycle lane risking my life to take this picture.
Ok… now where do we go? I dont know… anywhere… we’re tourist. No we’re traveller. No we’re tourist. Ok, whatever.
Kaiser Ludwig’s statue in the background. And a Mini….. haha. Was wearing the Mannschaft tshirt.
Englischer Garten…. travel guide book said this park is more expensive than Kensington Park or Hyde Park in London.
It was cold and foggy…
Teathiner Kirche
The entrance to the aldstadt… old city…. inner Munich.
Maggi… and their showcase and retail shop.
Munchener Detektive…. private investigator service
St. Peter’s Catholic Church, the oldest church in inner Munich.
I like the idea of putting mannequin at the window
Spielzeugmuseum, (Toy Museum) at Marienplatz
Some of the toys displayed
The Glockenspiel….. everyone was waiting for it to come to life at 11.00am. Munich is world famous for this structure.
The clockwork is actually boring….
Guten tag. Alright….. here’s the long overdue post. We reached Munich in the evening after visiting Dachau. Checked into a nice brand new hotel…. Azimut.
We were supposed to stay in the hotel next to azimut but there was some last-minute glitches and contiki switched the hotel for us. Well, we were glad as the hotel is nicer, cleaner and its new. Maybe it just opened recently.
A bunch of italians occupied the hotel that nite. Bayern Munich vs Fiorentina for Champions League that night.
So, the first stop in town…. Glockenspiel. Everyone was hungry but Richie insist that we see it first. Thats the main attraction in the centre of Munich. This is the best nite shot we’ve got. After that, we headed straight to the best beer garden in the world…. Hofbrauhaus.
From left: Amanda (partially covered), myself, the senior American couple, Gary and Steven. Seen here in the picture on the next table is Niki and Shanell. I love this beer. By the way, give the jolly Steven a vote. He’s a nice guy.
The lady is Maria. Szer took the pictures.
My favourite beer. Now I prefer this to Paulaner.
Together with german sausages…. it was great dinner.
Germans take their beer very seriously. They even have their personal stein locked up at the beer hall so that they can used it when they come here for a drink. Behind these steins was a bunch of fellow tour mates with our tour manager, Richie. He was later kicked out by bouncers immediately after bringing down his underwear let alone his trousers. They were piss drunk.
After dinner, szer and I separated from the rest and we explored the city on our own.
Just some random pictures…
One thing I realised is that europeans like to put statue on the corner edge of buildings.
Passed by a pub and a bunch of local Bayern Munich fans was watching the game. Just as I stood into the crowd to check the score, Munich scored their 3rd goal against Fiorentina. Here I was celebrating with the locals with both my hands up in the air…
The taste of Paulaner there is different from the one we got here in Deutsches Haus and Bavarian Bierhaus, two of the more famous german food joint.
