DAY 7 BERLIN / POTSDAM

Having breakfast at Henriette’s home and then we headed to Postdam today. I think the train/ tram/ subway system is strange in Germany coz anyone can go to the platform without buying the ticket. Yesterday we bought one day pass but we realized no one would check us so today we didn’t buy the train and train ticket. We took the subway and tram for FREE :) Luckily no one checked us, even if someone checked us, we could pretend we can’t speak English!! An advantage for being a tourist! :P

We didn’t have any plans so when we arrived Potsdam, we just took any tram and had a free tram city tour. We went to Schloss Sanssouci and walked around the Park Sanssouci. Sanssouci is the former summer palace of the King of Prussia.

The Park is so huge! It took us few hours to walk around there!! I think Potsdam is nice. It’s so different with Berlin. Berlin is more like a city with modern architectures. The buildings in Potsdam is very cute and with unique cultural landscapes. The air in Potsdam is even fresher than Berlin!!




Afterwards we went back to Berlin in the evening and went to Warschauer. We looked for a bar to have a drink. Henriette told us there are lots of bars there. Unfortunately it was still early, some of the bars were not opened yet. We just picked one and had a bottle of beer there.

Then we went back to Schiöneweide and then went to supermarket to buy some sausages and chocolates. Henriette is a vegetarian so we didn’t eat much meat at her place. We bought some sausages and ate it right away :P

We went back to Henriette’s home at around 8pm. She made us some potatoes for dinner. She ate few sliced of bread only!! Henriette told us they usually eat big lunch and light dinner. It’s very different with Hong Kong!

After dinner, we started to pack our stuff. These few days we bought a lot of stuff. My luggage is so darn heavy!! We went to bed at around 11pm, kinda strange coz I never sleep so early in Hong Kong. No night life, no meat, not much drinking in Berlin! Wow!!! Healthy!! :D

DAY 6 BERLIN

Woke up at around 9am, took a shower and then we went to the city centre of Berlin. We planned to visit Potsdam today but becoz of the rain, we went to city centre instead. Shit! I hate raining!! It ruins my mood!! Last time when I went to Berlin, it was raining and this time it’s the same!! Some people say London is gloomy but I think Berlin is more gloomy!!

We went to Checkpoint Charlie first to see the wall museum and then I bought some souvenir there. Got some postcards and a magnet. Typical souvenir!! Checkpoint Charlie is a crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War. Can’t understand how East German people want the freedom but it’s history of Germany so we have to have a look at least.


Then we just got into a bus to Alexanderplatz, walked around and visited some historial buildings like Brandenburger Tor, Unter den Linden, Clock Tower, Fernsehturm, Berliner Dom and Altes museums...

We walked up to the Reichstag to see the city view of Berlin. After that we shopped around again. I bought a pair of scandals at Brikenstock and bought a hat, a clothes a ring and then we went to Kedawe to buy some chocolates and Play Mobile. Crazy shopping today!! I didn’t expect to buy so many things!! Oh my luggage is getting heavier!!

When we took a train back to Henriette home, we met a group of students at the train. They talked to us and asked if we were from China. Seems they rarely seen Chinese people!! Those students are from Stuttgart, they went to Berlin for 5 days as a school trip. Lucky trip!! When I was in school I only went to the Park in New Territories, one day trip only!! Not fair!! :D They saw us buying Lego and Playmobil and they thought we were childish!! :D We are not childish, we just like to collect them!! It doesn’t matter about age :P Those teens were going to nightclub tho they have a teacher who was going with them. But they are only 15 years old!! How come they can go to nightclub? Strange!!

German people are quite nice but not many of them can speak English. Some staffs in the train station can only speak German!! Except “Danke”, I don’t know what I can say to them… But it’s a good experience!!

When we got back to Henriette’s home, it was nearly 9.30pm. They were waiting for us for the dinner. I felt bad that we were so late to go back there. We got them chocolate to appreciate their kindness. Henreitte’s mom cooked us something tasty (dunno what it is, it’s like pizza with cheese but not really pizza). And we had some cucumber salad and fruit wine. I had a few glasses of wine but I didn’t get drunk :D I have to get used to the alcohol so when I go back to Munich on Saturday, I can get used to the beer!!



During dinner, they asked us to play piano for them but I didn’t really want to coz I haven’t practiced for a long time. Then Henreitte’s sister played it first, she can play quite well. And finally I played Richard Clayderman’s Mariage d’amour. Kinda shame to play this song coz I can only remember this one without reading the music sheet. They have never heard this song but they think it is beautiful :)

I think the eating habit in Germany is so different with Hong Kong. My stomach didn’t feel so well. It’s like either meat, bread and potatoes… I haven’t eaten vegetable for few days! I need vegetables to help me to digest! I start to miss the food in Hong Kong now!!

DAY 5 BERLIN

Woke up in the early morning coz we are going to Berlin at 9.20am. Michele was so nice to get us some croissants and orange juice for breakfast. He even drove us to the train station though he had to work.

We took nearly 6 hours train to Berlin, when we arrived there it was already 4pm. What a long journey!! Germany is so big!! Haha it reminds me that Michele and Dirk said England is small and nothing :D I don’t think so tho :P

We hung out a bit in the Berlin train station coz we had no idea where to go and we didn’t have plan. The host family were not available until 8pm so we had to walk around by ourselves for few hours.

Then we just picked a bus to Zoologischer Garden and visited the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche. This church was destroyed by British during World War II and then the German people rebuilt a new one just next to it.

And then we shopped around at Kurfürsten-damn. We didn’t lock our luggages at the train station, we just dragged our HEAVY LUGGAGES to go shopping!! We were crazy!! :D We went to H&M and Zara, we just left our lugguges at the cashier and then shopped around. I bought a bag at H&M, it only costs 19 Euro!! So cheap!! And I also bought a fragrance set at Zara :)



We couldn’t reach Henriette before coz the mobile number didn’t work. Finally we called her home and she could pick us up at the Schiöneweide Station. We took the tram to her home. She isn’t living in the centre of Berlin but it’s not too far away.

The big problem to go to her place is… she lives in 3rd floor!! Oh my goodness!! How come there is no lift in the buildings? Last time we have Dirk to help us but this time we have to do it by ourselves. I don’t think the little girl can help me to carry our stuff. Next time I will never take such heavy luggage to travel!!


Henriette’s flat is so big and the interior design is classic. She lives with her mom and sister in such big flat. It’s great!! She has a piano at home and the piano looks classic too. I wish I could have a piano room like that. Henriette’s mom was so nice, she cooked us some pasta and we chatted for a while. And her sister is a little girl and I guess she can’t speak English much. She loves Johnny Depp coz there are many Johnny Depp’s posters in her room!!

I was too tired today so after dinner we didn’t do much thing. We just went to bed at 11.30m. Health life in Berlin :D

DAY 4 MUNICH

Woke up at 10.30am this morning with a bit headache. I think I drank too much beer last night. When we woke up, Michele was in the kitchen and he was cooking the breakfast (brunch) for us. He made scrambled eggs with his homemade bacons. It was soooo delicious!! Also he made espresso and prepared the croissants for us. I like the espresso!!


Then Dirk and Max came to Michele’s home and we were going to the lakeside. Dirk drove his PORSCHE car, what a cool cold classic car!! It’s brilliant! He bought this car from America! Rich man :D Nice car! No wonder why he can only drive this car during summer!!

The lakeside isn’t far away from the city centre. They said most of the rich people have their houses in the lakeside. Obviously the houses there look much bigger. Some are very huge!! Michele’s said one house was for one family and we joked that the family was for more than 20 people :D I really can’t imagine how rich those people are!!

The lake is big and beautiful. It was so good to relax on the lake in the sunny day. I forgot to bring my sunblock coz I didn’t expect it would be so hot and sunny in Germany. I used Kristine’s sun lotion but Max told me the sun lotion could only protect me from the sunburn but not protect me from tanned. Oh I don’t want to get tanned!! :P

Dirk and Max brought their swimming suit but they didn’t go swimming. The lake water was cold and I think they couldn’t swim in the cold water :D What a shame that they didn’t swim. I couldn’t take any funny pics :P

After that we went to a restaurant which is on the top of the hill. We had our dinner there (someone said it was snack only, impossible!!). I had 1 liter beer, a super huge pork with potatoes. Max and Michele could finish all!! Amazing!! Dirk didn’t eat the pork, he only ordered some light food coz he doesn’t like it. He is clever :D

The pork was nice, the skin was crispy. I shared one with Connie. Connie tried her best to finish it!! Cool!! I tried my best to eat as much as I can, but my stomach was too full and I could only finish my 1 liter beer. Dirk joked that if I couldn’t finish the dish, the weather would be bad :D Oh my god! How come German people are not fat if they eat that much? :D

I drink more and more everyday. The total beer I have drunk these days is more than I drink beer in Hong Kong for a month or two!! I was a bit drunk when I walked down to the hill. I couldn’t walk straight and I felt asleep at Michele’s car :P

"i fell asleep but not drunk!"

We went back to Michele’s home at around 8pm, Dirk came over and we had beer again. We chatted and made fun of each other. It makes me feel closer to them. They all are so funny and have sense of humour!! We are like good friends now. They laughed at me that I got drunk easily and I explained that I was too tired to fall asleep but not drunk :P But in their faces, they didn’t believe me!! :P

DAY 3 MUNICH

Woke up at 7.30am this morning... I wanted to sleep more but I couldn’t. Maybe becoz of the Jetlag. Took a shower, had some breakfast and then Dirk took us to walk around the city centre of Munich. We visited Peterskirche, Frauenkirche, Marienpatz... There are a lot of nice buildings which were built by Hitler. There are churches, arches, towers, universities... Munich is a really peaceful city, there are no tall buildings and not many people in the streets (except the Oktoberfest).

We went for the Oktoberfest to take a look to see how it looks like. There were loads people!! Many of them wear traditional clothes and they looked so nice!! But the clothes are expensive!! It costs around 70 Euro at least!!

Then we had some soup for lunch at Münchner Suppenküche which is near by Dirk’s office. It tasted good. Then we walked back to Dirk’s home, rested a while and went shopping. I bought some short-sleeves coz the weather is a bit hot during day time. The sun was too bright. I only brought few short sleeves from Hong Kong so I need some more. It’s strange that the temperature can be 24 degrees during day time but 14 degrees at night.

At night we finally met Michele and her girlfriend Kristine. Michele looks so Italian!! :D We packed our stuff and moved to his place. His flat is closed to Dirk’s home. His flat is smaller than Dirk’s but it’s very comfort and it’s a nice warm flat.

Later on we had dinner at a nice restaurant which is near by Michele’s home. We had traditional Bavarian food. They were delicious but the portion was too big!! I shared with Connie but we couldn’t finish the dishes. We also drank some beers and we were so full!!

Then after dinner, we went back to Michele’s home. Michele showed me some strong alcohol which is stronger than 40% vol. My throat felt like burning!! :P We chitchatted until 2.30am. It was kinda relaxing and fun.

DAY 2 MUNICH

When we arrived Munich it was nearly 2 pm. We took 45 mins train from the airport to Hackerbruecke Station. Dirk was there waiting for us already. He was so kind to take us to his flat since he had work to do.

My luggage was so darn HEAVY!! It was 24 kg!! I don’t understand why it was so heavy!! I don’t think I bring much things for my trip :P It tired me out to carry the luggage from the train station to Dirk’s home.

Dirk lives in 4th floor. He helped us to carry the luggages but he asked if I brought a stone with me!! I have no idea either :P His flat is so big! With 2 living rooms, 2 bedrooms, 1 kitchen, 1 bathroom, 1 toilet and 1 balcony. I love his flat!! He went back to work afterward then me and Connie rested ourselves and waited him coming home after work.

When Dirk came back, he took us to the bar (just downstairs of his flat), I drank 0.5 liter of beer, it was kinda strong for me. I was a bit dizzy after finishing the glass. German beer tastes good, it’s fresher than what I drink in Hong Kong. I thought Budweiser / Heineken / Guinness were German beer but they are not!! :P

Dirk’s flat mate Chris joined us. We chitchatted and had good time. Dirk and Chris can drink quite a lot!! They drank few glasses!! Then we went back to their home and drank one more bottle. I was amazed that they drank beer like drinking water!! :D Dirk said Chris looked so German but I really can’t tell. They both just look European to me :P This night we had a really good time tho it was our first met.

DAY 1 HONG KONG / DUBAI

Yay!! Here you go Germany!! Taking 7 hours flight from Hong Kong to Dubai first, I slept all the way but couldn’t sleep well. I really don’t like to take long haul flight. When we arrived Dubai it was 4.30am. Nothing much to do at Dubai Airport though it is big and with many shops. We just hung around, read magazine and waited for the flight to Munich. We waited for 4 hours and then took another hours to Munich.

I realized the advantaged of using BNO passport. Connie used SAR passport, the immigrants kept checking if her passport was real and asked her a lot of questions. Well I really love British now :D

MEETING MY FRENCH FRIEND

Meeting my French friend at IFC City Super, I could recognise him easily!! It's good to see him in person finally!! Then we went to Causeway Bay for dinner. We had dinner at Shanghai Xiao Nan Guo Cuisine and then his girlfriend came to join us after work. Someone recommended me this restaurant and I think the Shanghai Dumpling was really good. After dinner we went to Ikea coz they wanted to buy a dining table. I want to get a bookself but my flat is really too small to get a new one!! Really need to thow away something useless!!

RÉVÉRENCE

Shopped around at HMV today and then I bought this CD "Révérence" by Henri Salvador. Actually I wanted to buy his other album "Chambre Avec Vue" but it was out of stock. What a shame. I know him by accident coz once my friend sent me some Jazz songs and I found his voice is very magnetic. His voice doesn't sound like he is 90 years old!! It's a wonderful album!!

MY OWN BOXING GLOVES

Bought a pair of boxing gloves today!! That's cool!! I feel like I'm more like a professional boxer now :D Tho I'm far more good at it :P It feels so good to have my own gloves, I don't want to use the public gloves anymore, they are really mess. I'm so in love with kick boxing now!! It gives me so much fun!! My trainer said I played better that before :) Hopefully I can manage to do twice a week next month.

ENGLAND 3-0 RUSSIA

Yay!! England won another game!! Owen scored two first-half goals and it propelled England into second place in group E!! :) Owen is totally back!! :D He could become England's all-time top goalscorer!

ENGLAND VS ISRAEL

England win over Israel 3-0!! Owen's superb goal is impressive!! He is England's Hero!! :D It feels so good to see him scoring and lead England to win. I usually think Heskey is his best partner!! I'm glad that SHREK and ROBOT were not on the pitch LOL Yay!!

LOOK FOR FLAT IN LAMMA

My french friend's girlfriend is coming to Hong Kong for work so I helped her to look for a flat in Lamma Island. Lamma Island is a good place to live since it's peaceful and the rent is cheaper. I think it's really suitable for her. If I work in Hong Kong Island, I may choose to live there if I can afford. The property agent showed us few flats and finally she chose a nice one which is not far away from the pier. It is furnished with balcony and rooftop, it's good!! Maybe I can borrow her roottop to barbecue? :D

10th ANNIVERSARY GATHERING

It was 10 years ago when we studied in Intitute. Time runs fast!! We are no more teens now LOL I organised this gathering coz I really like the moment in the institute, it brings me lot of happy memories. I didn't expect so many people will join!! I meet some friends frequently but some of friends haven't met since graduation. It's good to see old friends!! Comparing with 10 years ago, we don't change much, huh? lol What a shame that some of them can't join. Maybe next time, 11th?

WORN OUT

I'm worn out and feeling a bit fed up for my busy life. I feel happy when everything is going smooth but I feel so annoyed when something goes wrong or not like what I expected. I feel less concontrated on my work since my assistant handed in her resignation letter. Tho I will have a new assistant soon but I don't like to train up a new staff again. Kinda wasting time...

And we still haven't confirmed everything for the Germany trip yet... Hopefully we can confirm everything next week. It's rush and we don't have much time... My manager knew me using private msn at work so I have to be careful... Don't want to get caught!!

NASTY HAIRCUT

Went to have a haircut today... I went to the same salon, same hair stylist but not the he didn't do what I expected! I asked him to trim a bit only but he cut too much for the my fringe!! He cut more than 3 iches!! Darn!! I look like an idoit now!! :( I dunno what's wrong with him!! I will definately never go there again!! What can I do now? Wearing hat until my hair grow? Or is there any way to make my hair grow faster?