My new ride

Simply can't stop staring at it....

Winter

Winter is finally here! Been so busy with work and studying that i hardly have time to write my blog anymore. So i will try to make this short. First snow fell on last thursday, although snow is no longer new, i still look forward to it despite many of my friends warning me that it would not be as nice as i think it would be. Didn't take them quite seriously as how bad can snow be right??

So on Monday, snow fell for the entire day, everywhere is white and covered with fresh fluffy snow. It was simply magical, and i can now truly understand the term Winterwonderland. Told my friends that hey look, snow is not bad at all! They simply smiled back and said "Just wait".

Things became clearer on second day. The fluffy fresh snow is no longer fluffy and fresh, instead browning and hardening into ice. Surfaces of the streets can no longer be seen since they are fully covered by an uneven slippery brown ice. I've never had so much problem walking. It is amazing to see how despite that many people still cycle to school.

Anyway, here is a couple of pictures which i managed to capture despite my busy schedule, mainly from my phone since lugging around an SLR to school makes absolute no sense.

Autumn

Been quite busy ploughing through my notes and homework lately so haven't really had time for blog update. My weekly schedule is so packed that i have not even extended my Visa. "Visum Verlängerung" (Extension of Visa) still sits in my phone's ToDo list, which keeps blinking, reminding me that i should settle it asap before i become illegal immigrant in Germany.

Anyway, the landscape of Karlsruhe has changed quite a bit from a month ago. It was all green with little signs of autumn, but now the trees are almost bare, signalling the start of winter. Speaking of which i haven't had the time to buy myself a winter jacket, or snow boots, or waterproof pants. With the Eur skyrocketing recently thanks to Usd, i can't bring myself to purchase online anymore. Or purchase at all..

Regreted not taking more photos during this autumn period, it is so much prettier than the summer landscape. Wanted to go for another phototrip today but the storm from the past 2 days kinda blew all the leaves away. Anyway heres a couple of the photos i took from last week!

Enjoy.

Above Afghanistan

Ever wonder why CIA couldn't find Osama even after 10 years? Fly over Afghanistan and you will know why.

Driving from Munich to Karlsruhe

As i have too much baggage to bring over from Munich, it was impossible to travel by train. So decided to rent a car for a day to drive all my luggage over. Plus i have never driven in Germany before, so i was looking forward to the experience.

Driving on the Autobahn is like.. erm.. watching a soccer match in a stadium for football fans! haha. Ok bad comparison, but you get me..All was well till the day i collected the vehicle. I immediately noticed 3 pedals the moment i opened the door and the gear stick confirmed my fear. Closed the door immediately and went back to the car rental office. Dropped the keys infront of the lady behind the desk and told her that i have booked an automatic car. I have not driven a manual car since i past my driving test 3 years ago. She gave me a sympathetic look and said they didn't have any automatic cars in this class. Why the hell allow people to book automatic on the website then!? So i went back to the car thinking that how hard can it really be. Afterall i took the manual driving test. So started the car, cruised slowly around the underground carpark until i reached the first ramp. That was when the nightmare began. With a little speed i managed to reach the halfway point before the car jumped to a stop and the dash started lighting up like a christmas tree. So i though hey use the handbrake first, a little gas and off we go. But no, it revved, jumped and stalled again. This time the hydraulics went de

ad and my car started rolling down the ramp. First instinct was to step on the brake but alas! It didn't work anymore! The steering and pedals went stiff and the car continued rolling, stopping just inches infront of a car parked before the ramp. Not giving up, i tried again hoping that the level ground could gain me some speed but no, the engine revved and revved but again at the middle of the ramp it jumped to its death again. Again i rolled back down the ramp

screaming... After like 10 minutes, i finally made it up that ramp. By then the car smelt a little funny. Right after the ramp i drove straight into a lot and jumped out, shaking a little... Went right back to the office telling her that i would surely get into an accident if i drove that manual car. Getting desperate, I offered to upgrade to a higher class with an auto transmission. She laughed and said she would see what she can do. Called other offices but none of them had an automatic. At that time i didn't even know how to engage the bloody reverse gear. Apparently you have to push the stick down before engaging it. Didn't really have a choice so i went back to the car again. The entire basement 1 carpark already smelt like burnt clutch. So one more ramp and i am out of the car park. Same thing happened at this ramp. Tried the second time, this time the car died 2 meters short from the crest of the ramp. At the very moment someone was driving into the carpark and saw me stuck. He came out an

d offered to drive my car out. It was super embarrassing..By that time, the bonnet was smoking.

After the carpark, it got better but the smell remained. The route to Karlsruhe was really pretty, but due to a number of road works, most part of the autobahn was limited to 120km/h. Halfway through my bloody GPS died. Really if there is one thing in the world you cannot rely on, it will be a HTC phone. Relied solely on road signs and got to Karlsruhe without much problem. Got lost again in the city itself but quickly found my way around. Took a couple of videos through my phone on the way but can't upload it as they are of a incompatible format. Will try to if i manage to change the format. In anycase by the end of the day, i am a master of manual again!

Housemates

Ok i have only 4 other housemates. The rest are guests from my housemates during a saturday evening party..Have i already mentioned that they are awesome??

Karlsruhe first week

Unbelieveable how time flies. Been a week since i arrived here in Karlsruhe, 2 weeks since i left Singapore for Germany. So much happened over the past 2 weeks, attending Oktoberfest, driving for the first time in Germany, attending the first lecture in German, staying on my own for the first time. Running around the town looking for items i need to survive the first week.

There are simply too many things to write about but too little time to do so. As such i hope that my experiences here can be shared through the pictures i take. A picture is worth a thousand words right? Enjoy..

Released..

I am out of the Dungeon! Saved by a generous Singaporean friend who provided me with a shelter over my head for the first 2 weeks. Damn that dungeon lady tried to extort me. Paid the full month rent in the beginning of my stay and having only stayed for 2 weeks, she suggested that we meet halfway, that is i pay for 3 weeks. Didn't want to argue with her so agreed initially. But after spending some time thinking about it, i realised that i had to pay 240 bucks for a 2 weeks stay, thats 480 a month for that crappy dungeon stay. That was totally unacceptable. Told her that i wasn't comfortable with that rate and suggested that i'd pay her 12 bucks a day, which amounts to 180 bucks (a rate which she suggested on the first day). Oh did i mention that she claimed that she didn't have to return me a single buck by law? Anyway, haven't gotten back that money yet. She is still waiting for her internet bill to arrive to check if my little aluminium reflector caused any increase in her bill. Sigh...

So glad that i am finally out of that gloomy hole. Haven't done much other than watching worldcup and surfing the net nowadays. Been rainy for the past 3 days and will continue to be for the next 3. As a result my plan of buying the bicycle and cycling back is put on hold at the moment. Need to start searching for an apartment in Karlsruhe before i fly back to Singapore, otherwise it will be yet another nightmare and a hell lot of money gone. So planning a short trip to Karlsruhe to check out the surrounding, the university and most importantly, secure a room during that short 4 days window. Nothing much to update lately..

Will upload some pictures later... am using the computer of my landlady.

Welcome to my Dungeon

Was thinking for quite a while, whether i should start another blog to pen down the wonderful memories of my second trip to Germany. Well, wondering why it took me 4 weeks to start the first post? I tell you why, because it has been rather terrible all along since my arrival 4 weeks ago. So no wonderful memories worth remembering. And my camera has hardly seen the daylight. Number of photos i took in this month? 20? Thats less than what i took in 1 hour during my last trip!

Anyway, this time round i am here on a mission. Yes. This one is purely business. My mission, to conquer TESTDAF language exam. I shall spare you the details why i flew here specially for an exam and why i will be flying back to Singapore and then back to Germany again. Wasting of money is just the biggest sin in the world. Long story short, i am here to take a Language exam which is a requirement for my University course. Brought forward my plans by two weeks because of some change in the bloody language policy of a particular university, thus couldn't apply visa in time. No visa thus must fly home in 3 months. There, 3 sweet sentences to sum up the agony that has been plaguing me since April.

So enough of the background, back to my story in Europe. Where were we? Ah yes, terrible since day 1. Ok maybe it wasn't that bad, but it got worse especially over the last 2 weeks . I guess it was mainly due to the immense stress from my impending TESTDAF exam. Took it last year, didn't quite meet the criteria although i would't call it fail. Speaking part was hard. The lack of opportunities to speak german in Singapore certainly didn't help in the situation. After 9 months of stagnation, i really couldn't speak german anymore. Writing yes, reading yes, listening ok, but speaking no. Amount of time i have in Germany before my exam, 3 weeks. Yes i have 3 weeks to get back my German, to the standard where i am expected to describe graphs, give advices to friends who are planning to quit school because of certain reasons, have to weigh the pros and cons of the situation etc.

And then theres the weather, as i am writing right now, its 32 degrees outside. Last week was 12 degrees. The week before, 7 degrees. 20 degrees change in just 3 days. It was raining and raining and raining, grey skies for the entire week. Today is hot as hell. And where i am living now (been here for 2 weeks) is a freaking dungeon. I am not kidding you. The only thing missing are the fire sticks along the corridor. To prove my point, i have taken a picture of this place. And the landlady of the dungeon isn't too friendly either. So it was just me, my notes, in my 19th century room, not forgetting the gloomy skies and the cold. To make the matters worst, the internet connection is crappy.

A little digression, because of the crappy W-Lan, i built a small aluminium reflector to direct as much signal from the modem towards my room. It worked amazingly. Signal strength increased significantly, video streaming was good. And this dungeon landlady, uncomfortable with my idea decided to go ask her equally dungeon friends if what i did was illegal (so she claimed). Needless to say they all said its not legal. I seriously doubt if she even asked. So i took it away and now back to crappy internet connection. Sigh..

Also, this dungeon has an oven that runs on gas and matchsticks. Seriously? I mean seriously??? So again shes not comfortable with me lighting up that ancient piece of metal ( i wouldn't even call it machine). Meaning i can't bake pizzas whenever i want! Or fries for that matters. I can't afford to whip up meals that take me 1 and a half hours.

And the worst part, i have to wait for her to have a certain amount of clothes, OF DIFFERENT COLOUR summore before i can wash my clothes. I have underwear for 7 days. I don't know how many underwears i will have to flip over before the next washing appointment. 2 weeks and i have had enough.

Having only 3 weeks to brush up my german skill and having to worry about all that crap, it was shitty. Speaking of which, the bloody toilet bowl just makes my day. Every single time i do my business, i will have to spend the next 5 minutes unclogging it. I shall not go into details but this toilet bowl is built for hamsters man. Not humans. You know what, this toilet bowl is separated from the bath, so no basin. Meaning everytime you shit or pee, you got to walk to the other side of the apartment where the bath is to wash you hands. How nice after you spend 5 minutes trying to pump your shit through the pipes.... Sorry about the language. ok enough ranting. Just got to get it off my chest.

So now, 4 weeks later, my exam is finally over. Whats next? No idea. haha. I have 6 more weeks here, not too many friends, no bicycle, no television, crappy internet and the list goes on. So as you might have guessed, one of the reasons that i am writing this again is because i have so much time. Have some university matters to settle, but shouldn't take up 6 weeks. Is there a Princess in a Lamborghini to save me from the evil Dungeon lady?? Anyway, off to cooking my Wursts and mash potato. Till the next time...`