Heidelberg

The last time I was in Heidelberg was 3 years ago when I was on vacation here. This time round cos my Aunty from Singapore had a stopover in Frankfurt for 2 days and wanted to meet up with myself and my dear cousin Dawn (who is in Bonn), we decided to go to this beautiful town to visit.

Driving time from Stuttgart to Heidelberg takes approximately around 1 and a half hours. We arrived a little earlier than the arranged timing and waited patiently at the train station.. First comes Dawn then Aunty Lena with her friend Aunty Yoke.

At first we were a little lost with the directions to the Altstadt but thankfully for Mikka, the only one that speaks proper German in the group was there to solve these direction issues.. LOL.. And so, we started our walking journey towards the Altstadt. It was a long but interesting walk with much to see along the way.
The Altstadt (as like many other German cities) has very nice architecture. We passed by a shop selling Schneeballträume, a kind of cookie that is round and solid. It is a specialty in the regions of Heidelberg and Rothenburg. Interesting but we did not dare to attempt it as it was really huge and we all know we will not be able to finish it.. Schade!! Afterwards, we stopped by at a cafe at the Marktplatz and enjoyed the sun (while we can). The weather was a surprising 26+ degrees and its quite unusual to have such temperatures like this in Spring.
After the short break, we decided to head towards the Heidelberg Castle which is on the hill behind the Altstadt. When we reached the foot of the stairs leading up to the castle, all of us (except Mikka) was contemplating whether to climb or not... In the end, we only managed half of the 351 steps (I think it was...) and gave up.. LOL.. My aunty and her friend just could not climb anymore. Think I need more exercise, my legs were wobbling when I got down to the bottom again.. keke... Pity that we did not make it up to the castle but well at least we have some pictures and we went to the other 'must see' site.. the Old Stone Bridge which was erected 1786-1788.
Unfortunately we did not have much time as all had a train to catch (except me n Mikka) so we settled for a quick dinner at a small restaurant by the river. They serve excellent Gulash.. My favourite.. keke.. although the serving time was a little too long (baaad esp when u are in a rush). After that, we literally had to race to the Hauptbahnhof. Talk about getting indigestion.. LOL..
It was a great day with good weather and family. After sending them to the train station, we started our drive back to Stuttgart.

After 1 month in Deutschland.....

Okay.. I know I've been too lazy to update my blog but still trying to fit in to the new environment... =P
Have been here for one month and ten days and still trying to get used to the cold.. lol.. Chinese New Year just passed by as a breeze as there is no big celebration here like Singapore. Was soooooooo homesick during those first few days and I would just die for some of the dishes on the reunion table.. You know what I mean.... Maybe next year I will go home for CNY... Still need some of these familiar traditions once in awhile.. *winks*
Mikka's parents are really nice.. For the fact that my Deutsch still sux, we had to trouble them when the building maintainence guy came along to fix the taps when we had our washing machine installed.. Gosh.. Was really surprised at how the parts were corroding.. Should have had these changed long ago... Thankfully they are staying really close by..
Had the chance to meet up with Dawn & Kel when they came down to Stuttgart for a visit. Picked them up from Stuttgart HBF and hung around in town for the day.. Even brought them to Lola's (Towers is actually the name of the place but I call it Lola's.. a joke from last time) in Ludwisburg, my favourite Irish pub so far.. =D Hopefully will be able to meet up with Dawn again, maybe in Bonn before she finishes her work contract.
Also met up with my friend Cindy from the Deutsch class @ Goethe in Singapore. Her husband works in Nürnberg and they go back to Manheim where her in laws are staying once in awhile. So, Mikka & myself took a day trip to Manheim for a visit... =D  All I can say about Manheim is.... its a city of cars & traffic lights.. LOL.. Mikka was going crazy at the amount of times he had to stop on one stretch of the road cos the traffic light intervals was like every 30 - 50 meters.. Maybe its really better to go around that town on bicycles.. keke...
So, what have I been doing for the last month... Hmm... playing maid, cook and carpenter... LOL.. Have been trying out different kinds of recipe and poor Mikka has to eat... can't complain.. heh heh.. I also built up a chest of drawers from scratch... First time in my life.. but it was quite fun.. At first it drove me crazy and I wanted to kick myself for even attempting.. Should have waited for Mikka to finish work and build that up together.. But after awhile, I got it.. LOL..
Will be starting school next Tuesday @ the Henke Schulungen in Stuttgart downtown.. Compulsory Integration course that I have to take... Course will stretch all the way to July.. Hopefully I can catch up cos I'm actually joining another class that has already started....
Ohh.. and my ex company (the head office) offered me a 3 day translation job.. and I have to go to the city of Bielefeld which is (accordong to Mikka) around 300Km away from Stuttgart. After that, I will go to Hannover with them and join Mikka to come home... =D But that means I have to miss school for 2 days.. Think should be no problem.. plus I have to make some money for my monthly train ticket.. keke...

Will update again soon... =D

Party Party Party @ Mings

As our wedding was a small affair, I did not have the pleasure to invite my dear frens of so many years.. It was a pity.. However, I managed to arrange for a 'get-together' to officially introduce my Mikka a.k.a my 'Husband'.. keke.... Am so glad that he can get along with all my friends... That night we all drank ourselves silly.. Beer beer and more beer.. I brought home a 'Kaputt' German.. LOL.. Guess the next gathering for him would be when he comes over later part of the year...

Gathering on X'mas eve 2009...

I know its already waaaaay over Christmas but I only managed to get pictures today, hence the late update...
This group of friends will always be dearest.. Have known them since I was 10.. Nice eh.. Having gatherings with them is always nice and fun.. Brings back a lot of old memories and at the same time creating new ones.. *Grinz* I will miss them when I go away...
Last year's gathering was at Veron's new place @ Compass Heights.. Nice function rooms they have, but just a tad too complicated to get to it.. LOL.. Much easier if you just go straight in from the outside. You would be completely lost once inside the compound. Food was good.. the cake was great.. *yummie* chocolate cake from the Hilton... *winks* Sometimes when we have gatherings, I always have this feeling that I'm growing too old too fast.. keke.. Looking at the kids.. woah.. what have I been doing for the last few years? *giggle* With thanks to Feryl, I have some pictures of that nite....But i just realized that we didn't take any group photos... shucks!! We have to take one.. at least one....

KL Trip 2010

Had a great trip to KL over the weekend. Eat and shop till you drop.. Actually I haven't done this much walking for a loooooong time.. keke... We had to get to the airport by 6am so I practically didn't sleep for most of the night.. Mikka called me grouchy.. LOL I had to admit cos I was really tired and I didn't dare to sleep for fear of not being able to wake up.. Poor me... Love the bed too much.. All was fine, caught a cab, picked up Adrian and Jo and we were headed for the airport. The best thing about Jetstar Asia is the flight takes off from Terminal 1 instead of the sucky budget terminal in which my opinion is - even Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal looks nicer... *giggle* After we checked-in, we headed over to Delifrance to catch a cup of morning coffee and some food. There was this local guy in the queue behind us. He gave his order to the aunty behind the counter -"An egg croissant please".. guess what was the reply? "HAH? 8 Kosong??" We nearly flipped and that guy was so embarrassed. When on earth did Delifrance started selling pratas or did she think he wanted 8 plain croissants? *ROFL* Singapore Changi Airport should really take note of hiring people who can speak better English. To speak, it is supposed to be an International Airport and what? Best in the world? (Or has it been overtaken?) Anyway, that was just a prelude to a happy and fun trip. We slept all the way and the flight was so short it felt just like taking a bus from Yishun to Bedok.. keke.. When we touched down at KLIA, we were a little lost as we had to take a Skytrain to the main immigration block. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze... early morning crowd?? Feels like work huh? =P After a round of looking for our check-in luggage (cos there were simply too little as most people brought hand-carry) we finally cleared immigration and made our way to the hotel to check-in. We stayed at the Coronade Hotel, the location is awesome if you wanna shop shop shop n shop.. LOL It is situated directly opposite Sungei Wang Plaza and within walking distance to most of the shopping malls around that area. The minute we settled the hotel check-in we headed behind the street to have the long missed Bak Kut Teh (Herbal Pork Rib Soup) *Yummie* and after that.. needless to say.. walking all over the place to explore.. I really have no idea how many times we actually visited Times Square. I found the very talked-about 'Krispy Kreme Donut' that Keani is crazy over (Hey babe, u have yours in the States, I have mine in KL =P ) There is one setback during this trip.. I never got on that rollercoaster in the Cosmo's World Indoor Theme Park right inside Times Square itself.. Lach!! They only sell the package entrance tickets which I don't have time for.. I will be back... wait for me rollercoaster... keke.. Other than shopping.. we also drank like crazy.. I could never imagine that we could finish 3 beer towers... keke... Food is great too.. We managed to find the 'famous' Marmite Crab after some searching and well... the taste is not fantastic but something very different from what we normally have.. good!! *Thumbs Up* We should do this again sometime.. keke...

Girl's Nite Out...

Had a little dinner cum drinks outing with Karen and Lucy last Friday.. If you are ever thinking of stuffing yourself silly, or simply just feel like 'pigging out', a good recommendation would be Vienna International Seafood & Teppanyaki Restaurant. They have a good mixture of Japanese, Chinese and Western selection for you to satisfy your stomach. My favourite pick would be the cakes and desserts ending the meal with a nice cup of hot tea. Price is also quite reasonable @ S$36.80++ per pax (for Fri/Sat/Sun & P.Holidays). If you wanna dine there, especially if you have a big group, it is advisable to call in advance for reservations. We were put on the waiting list for a day before we finally managed to confirm a table for just the 3 of us. After dinner, we decided to take a walk in the mall to help digest a little. However, only after awhile, we ended up in a little cosy pub just a few doors down the restaurant. The Brauhaus Restaurant & Pub is a great place if you wanna have a nice chat and a few good drinks. Music is not too loud so you do not have to scream your lungs out when you wanna talk to someone else. Their all-time favourite on the menu would be of course the Pork Knuckles but we had no more space for food. Maybe we will try it another time. The most attractive thing for this pub would be the wide selection of beers from Germany, Belgium, Australia, India, Japan, Jamaica, Brazil, Canada, Argentina, Morocco, Namibia, France, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Thailand, UK, USA and I really dunno where else.. LOL.. I have no idea who else in Singapore can beat this range...

** Mikka.. have to bring you and Yogi here.. Think you guys would like the place.. keke

Food Galore....

We decided to do our regular cousin's gathering last Saturday - Halloween!!!
We only had only 18 adults and 2 kids but the amount of food that we had was more than enough to feed 40 people.. LOL...
Its always nice to see a whole table full of food.. *GRINZ* We all just luuurve these food parties...
We were supposed to be each bringing a dish of some sort to contribute to the food 'mountain' so Jac did her 'speciality' - Crab bee hoon which we all love.. *yummie* Poor girl, got bitten by the stoopid crab while picking it up. Luckily the bite was not too serious, if not we would have felt really guilty.. keke... But it was a little disappointing on my end cos there was simply too much food on the table and I didn't eat as much crabs as I would have liked to.. keke... Will be looking forward to the next food party.. maybe Christmas... haha...