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..