Caravan Adventure (Prep)

To be honest, caravaning was kinda always on my wanna try list but I never thought that I would actually really get down to doing it. Just earlier this year Mikka and me were just still cringing at the thought of clearing pee n poo from these kind of travels when we were just looking around through camper van halls at the CMT fair.. But strangely enough as fate may have it, we decided really out of the blue that we try this out.. So.. Here we are, start of one of many new adventures to come...

Being both newbies to Caravaning, Mikka and myself were kind of clueless as to what we really need to prepare for the trip. Would we need extra cables? Will we need to get a proper camping guide just in case? Thankfully ADAC has all these included in the rental of their camper vans. So, that means we only have to bring our luggages and we're good to go (literally). 

We are talking about camping afterall so how can we not stock up the van a little with food? Hey, I'm Singaporean.. Instant noodles are travel essentials.. Lol... Anyway, we brought along coffee, tea, milo, instant soups, bread and water for our backup rations just in case we ever get hungry and there is no possibilities of getting food (which is more likely than not). 

Bedding is also something that you have to take care of yourselves. Mattress is good for 2 persons (in our small little Globaltrotter) but the shape of it is kinda irregular so bedsheets are good for cover but not the fitted kind. Pillows and covers also has to be brought along.

Mikka picked up the caravan one day ahead and we had everything loaded and ready to go.

Updates to follow up.... 

Starnberger See

Continuing the mini break after Legoland, we drove approx. another 1.5hrs thru Munich to Starnberg. Our next destination... The lake - Starnberger see...

After check in at our hotel - Hotel Residence Starnberger See - we freshened up a little and then went on our hunt for the next Beer Garden we can find. When you are in Bayern (Bavaria), you look for beer garden food!!...

At the recommendation of the hotel receptionist, the nearest one to us is Tutzinger Biergarten and that was where we went...

Took awhile before we made the turn into the small little road leading up to this beautiful beer garden by the lake.. Our stomachs were already growling with a vengeance by the time we arrived.. Stepping out of the car, we were greeted with the smell of BBQ fish.. Heavenly... 

Stangerl Fisch

We had our fills and took our time to soak in the beautiful view of the sunset by the lake.. Priceless!!...

Day 2 started with a decent breakfast at the hotel. We then drove down to Starnberg Port where our little (approx) 3hr roundabout cruise starts (and ends... lol).

The beautiful Starnberger see is only 1 of 5 lakes in this region - Fünfseeland.. If we have the time and chance, maybe we can make a trip to visit all of them..

As it was still early, we also made a trip to the oldest pilgrimage church in Bavaria since 1850 - Kloster Andechs.. The interior of the church was simply breathtaking...

Interior of the church

We decided to be adventurous and made the climb to the top of the bell tower.. Do not try this if you are afraid of heights and claustrophobic... 

Interior of the bell tower

Exterior of the bell tower

The last adventure of the day was the forest climb (in my flimsy sandals) to the 'König Ludwig II Gedenkstätte' where King Ludwig was said to have drowned. A church was built at this point in remembrance of him.

Memorial cross (the small one) at the spot where King Ludwig's body was found

So.. that's the end of our short 2 day break... Looking forward to the next one but I hope we don't get sunburnt again.. Lol...

L E G O L A N D Deutschland

2013 has been such a bad travel together with Mikka year. All travel plans were either made alone or not materialized... I felt that we really needed a short break away - Together...

We decided to do a short getaway starting with Legoland!!...

Have been talking about visiting this place for a long time but never did get down to planning it. Since its only about 1.5hrs away from here, why should we not include it in our 'mini vacation'?

It was no surprise that the moment we got out of the car in the parking lot, we were more or less surrounded by kids (of all ages ranging from 3 - 80)... Lol... It's afterall a kids paradise... 

Since we already got our entrance tickets online, there was no need to queue to get them (thank God!!)... That saved us at least 20mins. 

 

First thing that hit you after u push past the entrance bar was "Now I remember why we love Lego".... Tiny pieces of coloured plastic bricks put together to become all kinds of fantastic and amazing figures... WOW!!!... As you go further into the park, big and small figurines always never fail to keep the smile on your face along the way...

There are rides, 4D films, live animal shows.. Something for everyone in the family. For those who prefer to walk around, there's the miniature land that is absolutely gorgeous.. Mini versions of Berlin, Amsterdam, Castle Neuschwanstein to name a few. Also, for all those Star Wars fans.. of course you can find your favourite characters build up from what else but - Lego bricks... 

Tip for those who want to visit.. Double up on the batteries for your camera and phones.. You WILL make lots and lots of pictures.. 

Castle Neuschwanstein 

Das Rote Rathaus in Berlin 

Amsterdam 

Hamburg 

Allianz Arena München

Chicken Baked Rice (Tomato Based)

Coming home from work and cracking my head to think of what to cook everyday can be quite a feat.. I am always trying to find the easiest recipes to prepare. And this is also why I adore oven baked dishes. Throw them in and forget about it until the timer beeps..

Recently I came across a cream based chicken baked rice recipe but Mikka can't take too much cream (and its also not good for my waistline.. haha) so I decided to alter the original recipe a little and made mine into a tomato based one instead.

Like I said, fast and easy is my thing so I used a lot of short cuts. For those who might be interested, here's the recipe :-

Ingredients

(Serves 2-3)

- 1 cup cooked rice

- 1 onoin, diced

- 200g (white or brown) button mushrooms, sliced

- 2pcs chicken fillet (breaded or grilled) - Cooked & cut into thick strips,

- 15g garlic butter

- 5 - 6 tbsp pasta sauce of your choice / 2 - 3 tbsp to spread over rice

- Shredded Cheese (I used emmentaler)

- White asparagus (or whatever veggie of your choice)

- Salt & Pepper

- Parsley (garnishing)

Directions

1. In a heated wok or saucepan, melt the butter. Add the sliced mushrooms, onions and asparagus, stir-fry for a few minutes until the veggies are soft. Add 5 - 6 tablespoons of pasta sauce and some salt to taste.

2. Portion out the rice into individual oven-safe baking dishes (or use a 20cm x 20 cm square alumnium tray) until about half the height of the dish.

4. Spread some pasta sauce on top of the rice, and topped with a layer of fried mushrooms, asparagus and onion. Place the chicken slices and top with shredded cheese.

5. Baked in a pre-heated oven at 200°C for about 20-25 minutes, or until all the cheese melted and is very slightly browned. Garnish with parsley.

Natural Detox Water

Came across some natural detox water recipes about a month ago and I was kinda fascinated... Always wanted to make some of these but never had the time nor right ingredients at hand... So, I decided to do a classic with the simplest ingredients..
For those who are also interested can give it a try... Easy and healthy.. Great for the summer too..

Cucumber + Lemon + Mint

Ingredients :-
1 medium cucumber
1 lemon
20 mint leaves
1-2 liters water

Cut cucumber and lemon into thin slices. Place cucumber and lemon slices together with the mint leaves in a jar.
Add water and refrigerate overnight.

And.. It's that easy... Have fun!!...

From Textbooks to Spreadsheets...

This picture was snapped with my mobile phone and I'm sooooo proud of the result... =)

It has been a long while since I have written anything.. Feel bad about it.. Lol..

Well, it has been a smooth transition moving from my school textbooks to my work excel sheets. The company is no stranger to me. I was working for this firm for close to 10 years back in Singapore so when they asked me if I wanted to work for them again here at HQ was simply to say.. Godsend... I know of people who try so hard to get a job here in Germany but failed to do so cos of language and other problems so I am really thankful I did not need to join in the ranks of searching for a job myself.

Other than landing myself a job, I also made a trip back to

Singapore during Chinese New Year... Boy.. How I missed everyone and everything back home.. No matter how well you can adjust to new environments, there's just this place deep in your heart that you will always remember as home.. =)

A friend mentioned recently to me that with all these new technology, people are losing the 'personal touch' unlike years ago when they actually 'talk' to each other and not only thru texting and emails. It hit me that this is really the case nowadays.. Sad but true. On the other hand, without these technologies then people like me who is so far away from home would really be isolated..

Looking forward to goin back home again next year..

Now that I have started writing again, will update soon!!... =)

Bye bye 2011, hello 2012... Marking my one year in Germany!!

Today marks my 1st full year in Germany. Looking back it has been a rather fruitful and interesting year for me. Getting to know all the great freinds in my German class and the different places in Germany that I have visited, Spring/Summer Fests, Canstatter Volksfest, playing DIY lady and also all the recipes that I have not had the chance to try out.. Here's a short picture sum up of my 2011... =)

Some of my great classmates from my German class in Henke Schulungen..

Heidelberg

Tübingen

Bodensee

Düsseldorf

Fireworks @ Blühendes Barock

Mallorca

 Food......

Cola BBQ Sauce Pork Chop

The picture of this dish got a little rave from my friends in FB. Happened to find this a few years ago over the internet and I picked up a lot of 'advice' from others.
For those who are curious and wanna try, this is my final recipe....

Original Recipe Yield 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup BBQ Sauce
• 1 cup cola-flavored carbonated beverage
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tsp plain flour
• 8 pork chops
• salt and pepper to taste

1 onion sliced & sauteed until soft and translucent.

Meat Seasoning

• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• Pepper
• Salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees C .
2. Mix together the ketchup, BBQ Sauce, cola and brown sugar & 1 tsp of plain flour.
3. Sear pork chops in frying pan to seal in the juices.
4. Place pork chops into a baking pan, spread onions over and pour cola mixture over, coating well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
5. Bake for about 50mins to one hour depending on the thickness of the pork chop.

Mallorca 2011

A change from the cold cold cold Germany... Hmm... We decided for some sun, sea & sand... and the nearest place would be Palma de Mallorca - Spain!! The flight was only 2 hrs which is like going from SIN to BKK.. can't be more convenient.. *winks* On the flight to Mallorca, I was greeted by this magnificent view of 'Mountains in the clouds'.. wow... it was really really beautiful..  

Upon arrival, we picked up our luggages and headed over to the Hertz to get our rented 'baby' and made our way to the hotel - Protur Sa Coma Playa Hotel & Spa. As we took the late flight and arrived at the hotel only at around 9pm, we were kind of starving but it was a nice surprise when the reception told us that they have prepared some food for the late check-in guests and we were free to go and eat at our own timing.. Cool.... 

It is no wonder that they say Mallorca has up to 80% tourists from Germany.. The TV channels in the hotel room consists of mostly German and a few English channels.. LOL.. Mikka was going crazy and was rambling about this being impossible.. Can't even find a single Spanish channel in Spain... Hahaha....

The next day after breakfast, we decided to check out the surrounding area.. We headed down the street towards the beach which is around 10mins walk from the hotel.. (ok.. if your legs are longer probably it will be less... keke) There are many pubs and restaurants along the way and of course souvenir shops.. The beach is of course awesome... Fine sand, great waves.. unfortunately... too crowded.. Well, me n Mikka are not really the beach people so we just hung around and enjoyed the atmosphere.. We parked our butts at one of the beach 'pubs' (dunno if you can call it that... Lol..) and had our first beer in Mallorca.. Spanish San Miguel!! (Note note!! It's not the same as the Philippines one...) 

After the thirst quenching drink, we decided to explore the place a little bit more. We went into the smaller lanes where there are also shops and Mikka decided to get a new pair of slippers as his was 'biting'. We ended up in this Pakistani guy's shop and we were speaking to him in Deutsch in Spain... So ironic.. talking about going international... haha... After threading through the alleys for a bit, we made a pit-stop at this English pub called King's Head to have a bite and something to drink. This place is along the main street so you can't miss it. Great chill-out place to recommend. As we had nothing much planned for the day, we decided to go check out the hotel facilities. Protur has a chain of hotels around the area and it works a little like Club-Med. Hotel guests can inter-use the facilities at all the chains. They have facilities like spa, driving range, archery, shooting, tennis, squash etc... they also have free lessons for some of the facilities on certain days of the week. That is as per schedule so one must check that out at the main clubhouse.

We planned for a little tour of the city and visited many great sites.. First stop was at the town Manacor.. The town is pretty interesting I would say.. We were goin all around snapping away on our cameras. Mikka was however going all crazy driving through the towns as the roads were soooooo small and the sides of the roads are mostly just rock piles. I was thanking my lucky stars that I don't have to drive... Scary... We made a visit to Sant Salvador situated on the top of the mountain of the same name. Its origin dates back to 1348, when the primitive church dedicated to the "Passió de la Imatge" was built. Then we came to Porto Christo which is a small town on the eastern coast of Mallorca. Porto Cristo Harbour is a natural Harbour which still homes small fishing boats giving shelter from storms and in recent years, the New Marina now homes high end pleasure boats. We had lunch in one of the riverside restaurants and the atmosphere was most serene.. Dinners at the hotel is kinda delightful. The dishes that they have on the buffet table was great and the selection is also big. Seafood deprived me had a big grin always after dinner... keke... There was one setback though.. We were to have a complimentary dinner at any one of the restaurants of the hotel chain and we chose this Spanish restaurant Sa Bodega right at our doorstep. Disappointment is the only word to describe the experience. The food was bland and the service was... well.... not up to standard. I would think that the buffet dinner at the hotel dining room was even better.. Sorry.. but thumbs down for this one.

 Mikka made reservations to play golf at one of the nearby courses and so I was left with some free time on my own.. =D I took a little stroll down to the beach again and had lunch at this small place - Restaurante El Sol. The recommendation for the day was fish but I was dying for a grilled squid so I just went with my senses... and boy how right it was... most satisfying meal in a long time.. Since I had the time, I also made a reservation to use the sauna at the hotel. Yes.. you have to make a reservation cos the sauna is all yours within your booking time.. How nice... As it was also in the same place as the indoor pool, so I conveniently also too a short swim to work out my lazy body a little.. Lol... Very nice and relaxing.. also made me sleep rather well.. haha...

On the last day, Mikka managed to make another appointment at a different golf course so off he went to play again... I was not really feeling well so I just hung around at the hotel and had a relaxed day... That night we finally made it 'out of the hotel' for dinner.. Lol.. We went to a nearby restaurant where we finally had Paella... =D I was craving for this eversince we touched down... haha... A little bit salty but still satisfying.. As we had to check out and leave the hotel by 6am, we had to have an early night but I think due to the sudden strong winds earlier that night, I unfortunately caught a cold... So it was a terrible last night with not much sleep for me. Thankfully, the hotel had also food prepared for the early check-out guests so at least we didn't leave with an empty stomach. The flight back to Stuttgart was delayed for around 2 hrs so it was another round of waiting and waiting at the airport.. So this is it for Mallorca this time.. It's a big island with many places that we have not explored yet.. We will be back.. Till the next time!!!