Ever had a 1L mug of beer? If you have, chances are that you've been to Munich. The bravians are renowned for their beer and beer drinking habits, especially their Oktoberfest. So it wasn't much of a surprise when one of the first things I did upon arriving in Germany's third largest city was drink a beer. Mind you, that it was around 10am at the time!

 

Sebastian had to defend his thesis in Munich. So Juan Jose, Rasa and myself thought we would celebrate him finishing univeristy with a couple of litres . JJ and I arrived Monday morning to meet up with Seb and Rasa at one of Seb's friends' apartments. We ate white sausage with sweet mustard and pretzels washed down with some beer (traditionally eaten before 12) before heading out to see most of the sites of Munich. I'll upload pictures tomorrow instead of explaining where i went now.. but i will remove the 100+ pictures of Seb and Rasa kissing  Though really sweet, it was a bit toooo much for JJ and I.

 

We also went on two day trips. The first was to the fairytale Neuschwanstein castle, which was used by Disney for both the inspiration behind Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty castles. The castle was built by Ludwig II, King of Bavaria, as a retreat and as an homage to Richard Wagner, the King's inspiring muse. The castle is ok, its a bit too perfect looking and not that interesting on the inside. But otherwise it was fun playing "I spy with my little eye" on the train to pass the time and the walk up to the castle was a lot of fun plus the views of the countryside and the lake was really really picturesque.

 

The second day trip was to Salzburg, where Rasa and I got to meet up with our former flatmate Richard! He drove us around Salzburg and showed us the sights. Salzburg is the fourth largest city in Austria and is the birth place of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the setting for parts of the musical and film The Sound of Music. JJ has never seen the movie, so the rest of us were kinda mean and forced him to watch it, despite him complaining about how cheesy the movie is and how he hates them singing so much. But it was quite good to recognise parts of the movie that was filmed in Salzburg. For me, it was the first time that I saw real mountains as it sits right next to the Alps. So it was great that Richard drove us up one of the nearby mountains. Which is a huge difference from flat Denmark. I really liked Salzburg, walking around the old part of town you could imagine the classical era with horse drawn carriages and people with top hats.

 

Basically, that was my trip to Munich, Neuschwanstein and Salzburg. I had an amazing time, not because of the beer, but because of the friends i was with and the beautiful countryside. But..... i do have to say, being in a beer garden with your friends isn't such a bad way to spend a lazy afternoon.

 

By the way... around August 19th or 21st i celebrated two years living it up in Denmark!!!

Summer in Denmark so far has been marred by overcast skies and rain. So it was a relief to Torsten, Trine and I to escape to the 40 degree cloudless skies of Florence (Italien: Firenze). Torsten's family has an apartment on the "other side" of the Arno River where Florence is situated. The capital city of the region of Tuscany, it has a population of around 400,000 people and was a center of European trade and finance during medieval times. The city is often considered the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and was long ruled by the Medici family and thus is also famous for its magnificent art and architecture. It is said that, of the 1,000 most important European artists of the second millennium, 350 lived or worked in Florence.

 

Anyways, we arrived around 2am and the first thing we did was open a bottle of wine "to help us sleep" , this would be repeated many times during out stay. The Kolind family's apartment had everything we needed, the game Settlers to pass our time while we hid away from the hottest parts of the day or after a night out, a beautiful outdoor dining area as well as comfortable chairs to recline and read a novel.

 

But we didn't spend all of our time in the apartment. The first day was spent walking around the city where we saw Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge: which has shops built upon its edges, held up by stilts), The Duomo (The cathedral in the center of town) where we walked the 400+ steps up the Campanile tower (Bell tower) with its view of all of Florence. We also saw the market where the fresh food part was unfortunately closed (as we wanted to buy some authentic Italian food), so we went to the supermarket instead. Which did not disappoint us at all! We bought all the things we needed for our snacks and lunches which was crusty bread with homemade creamy green pesto spread on top with our choice of either salami or prosciutto... mmmMMMMMmmmmmmm! The tomatoes are some of the best I've had as well! My mouth is watering just thinking about the food we ate in Florence!

 

We also walked up to Piazzale Michelangelo where we watched the sun set while talking about life with the beautiful city of Florence in front of us. An ice-cream and a drink later, we were ready for some more wine and the challenge of Settlers before getting some much needed sleep.

 

The second day, Trine and I went to book reserved tickets to the Uffizi (otherwise you line up for 4 hours), went shopping, then had lunch at home. Once the heat had subsided a bit, we then spent an hour walking through the Uffizi Gallery which houses some of the oldest and most famous artworks of the Renaissance. After being inspired by the art, we were motivated to taste some of the best Florentine cuisuine at a nearby restaurant. And we were not dissapointed. For the first course, I had some of the best homemade potato gnocchi, while Torsten had some Rabbit Ragout and Trine had a nice anchovy salad. We all chose the steak for dinner with one of their best reds to wash it all down. None of us were the least bit disappointed with the delicious dinner.

 

The last day, we hired a car to see some of the countryside. We made our way to San Gimignano; a small walled medieval hilltop town in Tuscany. It is mainly famous for its medieval architecture, especially its towers, which may be seen from several miles outside the town. But the highlight for me was eating lunch while overlooking the Tuscan countryside! The next stop was Volterra with even better views before we drove to Pisa to catch the flight back to cloudy and cold skies

 

It was Chinese/Vietnamese (Tết) Lunar New Year on 17th/18th Feb and I was lucky enough to be invited to Hamburg by one of dad's friends.  So I was really looking forward to not only seeing another city but getting some really really nice Vietnamese food.  I was not disappointed

 

I arrived on Friday afternoon and started off with a bowl of Pho. Pho is a beef noodle soup with a rich, clear broth achieved from hours upon hours of boiling bones and different herbs served in bowls with white rice noodle, spring onion, slices of raw beef (to be cooked by the boiling hot broth), and then of course the broth itself. Pho is often garnished on the side (more typically in the style of the South) with bean sprouts, lime wedges and other herbs).  It has been ages since I've had this last and its one of my most favourite dishes.  Dad's friend, Bac Phung, can cook a really great pot of Pho.  It was sooo yummy... my mouth is still watering.

 

After two bowls of that, i needed a bit of a rest before Bac Phung took me out.  Hamburg's Tết Festival (New Year Festival) was to be held the next day, so after a drive around town to see some of the sights we headed over to the site to see what we needed to prepare before moving on to my next feast.  Argentinian steaks.  If you've never had one, you have to try it.. unless you're vegetarian of course.  There is a famous chain of restaurants in Hamburg called Block House, where the owner/founder imports beef from Argentina.  So I had a salad first with french dressing and then a tender filet mignon with a side of french fries, Block House bread and chimichurri. Chimichurri is a sauce and marinade used with grilled meat in Argentine cuisine and is made from chopped parsley, dried oregano, garlic, salt, pepper, onion, and paprika with olive oil.  Washed down with 0.5L of Franziskaner Weissbier (wheat beer from a Munich brewery).  I then met his daughter, Tina, at Bond, a bar, to help her celebrate two of her friend's birthdays.

 

After sleeping in and nursing a slight hangover, I had Bánh chung and  for breakfast (sticky rice wrapped in banana or dong leaves and stuffed with mung beans, fatty pork and black pepper) with something else that I can't remember (yellow, sweetish rice) with Cha-lua (sausage made with pork, potato starch and fish sauce; he gave me a roll to take home) and then we left for the Tet Festival.  Which is usually a time for everyone to get together have some fun, buy some food and watch a show.  So that's what I did.. i went around to some of the stalls and picked up a few nice treats...

- Gỏi cuốn (rice paper rolls that often include shrimp, herbs, pork, rice vermicelli and other ingredients wrapped up and dipped in Nước chấm or peanut sauce)

- Bánh bèo (central Vietnamese dish consisting of tiny and round rice flour pancakes, each served in a tiny round dish. They are topped with minced shrimp and other smaller ingredients)

 

But I spent most of my time sitting and watching the show which went throughout the entire day.  They had Dragon Dance (which was a lot of fun to watch), some people singing Vietnamese songs or acting in a Vietnamese opera/comedy (which was boring, but made me think of home) and a beauty pageant (which was interesting ).  I took some photos of people wearing Áo Dài, literally meaning "long dress" or "long tunic," is one out of several traditional Vietnamese costumes worn mostly by women.  A tradition of Tết is where children receive lì xì (red envelopes containing money) from their elders. Usually, children don their new clothes and give their elders the traditional Tết greetings before receiving the money.

 

Sunday's breakfast was sandwiches of Cha-lua before heading out to take some photos and see the sights of Hamburg.  We started at the port and took a ferry around the habour to see the huge port and the river Elbe.  Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany and with Hamburg Harbour, its principal port, Hamburg is also the second largest port city in Europe.  I also saw this runnel which runs under the river, but cars have to use an elevator to get down and up. Next on the list was St. Michaeliskirche (St Michael's Church) and St. Nikolaikirche (Saint Nicholas' Church, memorial).  St. Michael's is a landmark of the city. It is dedicated to the archangel Michael. A large bronze statue, standing above the portal of the church shows the archangel conquering the devil. The 132 m high baroque spire totally covered with copper is a prominent feature of Hamburg’s skyline and has always been a landfall mark for ships sailing up the river Elbe. Saint Nicholas' Church is now in ruins due to air attacks during World War II. The church was the tallest building in the world from 1874 to 1876 and is still the second tallest building in Hamburg.

 

We then saw the Town Hall, Alster lake and walked around a but before having some dinner (teppanyaki Udon noodles with sliced steak).  We had some drinks and headed to The Reeperbahn is a street in Hamburg's St. Pauli district, the centre of Hamburg's nightlife and also the city's red-light district.  So after seeing some of the sights there  and one last drink, we went home for one last snack which was similar to Bánh bèo (but in a triangle shape and wrapped in banana leaf).

 

Monday's breakfast was Banh bao (steamed bun dumpling that can be stuffed with onion, mushrooms, vegetables, etc). Then a day of relaxing and packing, lunch of a German dish (roasted meat, potatos etc) before flying home.  Which ended my mouthwatering holiday in beautiful Hamburg!

Edinburgh, capital of Scotland, is one windy place.  When you're walking, you're either fighting to stay upright or getting propelled to where you're headed!  But, its an absolutely beautiful city with really nice architecture (many of the buildings/districts are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site) and people (though sometimes you have to listen quite carefully to understand what they're saying).  Its also a huge student town so lots of cheap drinks and discounts for students (unlike in Copenhagen where being a student doesn't get you anywhere).

 

The cheapest tickets for me were to fly to London Stansted then on to Edinburgh and back along the same route.  So I spent quite a bit of time waiting for the next flight at Stansted.  The flights were a little bumpy due to the wind and I kep looking out my window expecting us to crash or the wings to rip off (morbid i know).  I stayed with Lina who is there on student exchange.  She lives in a flat where they all pretty much work at the same club/bar... what that means is when you walk into their living room, all you see are bottles of spirits and mixers.  So.. in all truth... I spent most of the nights out at bars or clubs and the mornings sleeping in.  I did get to see *some* of the city but not that much.  I didn't walk up to see the castle (I did take a photo of it) and there was a hill Ann (more about her later) wanted to take me up but because it was getting dark (and windy) we decided not to go (this was at the bottom of the hill where the steps started).

 

Friday night, I arrived and Lina and I walked to Ann's place where her flatmates had prepared a roast dinner. It was delicious!!!  Ann is from HK but moved to study and live in Edinburgh where she went to Copenhagen for a semester on exchange (which is where I met her).  Ann lives with her boyfriend (Andrew) and two good girlfriends (Ailleann [pronoucned Alan] and Gemma).  Roast dinner was followed with shots of vodka where we made a toast before each shot...took a break talking etc then another toast and another shot.  Ailleann had lived in Russia as part of her studies and I think this is the way you do it in Russia.  After that, it was time for the girls to get dressed and we headed out to some bars/clubs and had a great night.

 

Saturday, woke up quite late and went to The Three Sisters for a massive burger and chips with Lina and two of her french friends.  It was pouring down but Lina and I decided to brave the elements and did a quick walk around the city, pit stop at Starbucks (during which time the rain thankfully stopped) and then we headed home.  Lina had to work so I went to Ann's place for some more drinks. The plan was to head out to Lina's work but after we started playing drinking games (Ming, Mang, Mong; this really simple and quick card game and 21), that never happened.  Sunday, was when Ann took me on the rest of the tour of Edinburgh then that night I went out with Lina and her friends to a club.  And that was it!!!

 

oh... one of the highlights of my trip was after 16+months I finally sunk my teeth into a really nice meat pie!!! mmmmmmmmm

My parents were travelling around the US, France, Italy and Singapore and are home now in time for christmas.  Luckily, I had the chance to meet up with them in Rome towards the end of their trip.  We spent four days seeing the sights, eating some really great food and having having a great time.  I got an iPod Nano for Christmas and a nice..hmmm lacking the correct fashion term... but a nice overcoat which I can wear on top of suits, thanks mum and dad!!! So it was really good to not only catch up with mum & dad and spend time with them.. but it was timed perfectly since I really needed a break from work!!  The added benefit that for the entire trip we had sunny skies was just awesome.  It was a stark contrast to when I returned to København around 3.30pm and it was pitch black and raining.

 

Anyways, what follows is all the sights that we saw (so you can skip it if you want). Anything in Bold below, I have pictures of!

 

I arrived Monday afternoon and took the bus to Termini (central station) where I met up with mum and dad.  We had lunch together while catching up on all the news then took the metro to where the Spanish Steps are and took some happy snaps there. The Spanish Steps (Italian: Scalinata di Piazza di Spagna), ramping a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, with the church under the patronage of the Bourbon kings of France. At the bottom of the steps is the fountain called La Fontana della Barcaccia ("Fountain of the Old Boat").

 

And then... the walking started!!!  To put it simply, we pretty much walked all over Rome.. taking the bus or metro here and there.  Anyways, we walked to Fontana di Trevi: The fountain was built by the architect Salvi (1735) in the time of Clement XII, and decorated by several artists of Bernini's school. It is the front of a large palace (Palazzo Poli) decorated with statues and bas-reliefs on heaps of rocks. The fountain is not only celebrated for its excellent water but for the legend that whoever drinks it or throws a coin in the fountain, will assure his return to Rome... which I didn't do... so I guess I won't be going back to Rome!

 

Then it was time to admire The Vittoriano Monument, Piazza Venezia. The enormous white marble monument at the was built as a tribute to the first King of a united Italy, Victor Emmanuel II. The monument, also known as 'Il Vittoriano' consists of a large flight of stairs leading to the Altar of the Nation, dominated by a colossal 12m long equestrian statue of the King. Near the statue is the tomb of the unknown soldier, guarded by two sentries of honor. Right next to is it Trajan Forum where we took a bus home.

 

The next day we went to the Vatican, like all good Catholics should do .  Saint Peter's Square, or Saint Peter's Piazza (Piazza San Pietro), is located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica, in Vatican City, the papal enclave within Rome. The open space before the basilica was redesigned by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, from 1656 to 1667, under the direction of Pope Alexander VII, as an appropriate forecourt, designed "so that the greatest number of people could see the Pope give his blessing, either from the middle of the façade of the church or from a window in the Vatican Palace".  We started off at The Vatican Museums (Musei Vaticani) which are the public art and sculpture museums in the Vatican City, which display works from the extensive collection of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Julius II founded the museums in the 16th century. The Sistine Chapel and the Stanze della Segnatura are on the visitor route through the Vatican Museums. As of November 2006, it was visited by more than 4,000,000 people for the year.  It was quite funny actually... because you go into the Musei Vaticani and take a lot of photos at the start.. gallery of maps, tapestries etc... but after the Sistine Chapel.. you rush through everything else.  And there's guards in the chapel to make sure you don't take photos (I took two anyways) and to shhhh people every now and then.  We spent quite a lot of time just sitting on the benches of one side of the Chapel looking up... then spent the other time on the other side

 

After a quick lunch and coffee (dad loved drinking coffee in Italy), we went to The Crypt of the Popes where you can see where St Peter and Pope John Paul II were buried.  Then we entered The Basilica of Saint Peter, officially known in Italian as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and colloquially called Saint Peter's Basilica. It is the most prominent building inside the Vatican City, it's dome is also a dominant feature of the Roman skyline. Possibly the largest church in Christianity, it covers an area of 23,000 m² (5.7 acres) and has a capacity of over 60,000 people. One of the holiest sites of Christendom in the Catholic tradition, it is traditionally the burial site of Saint Peter. Although the New Testament does not mention Peter either in Rome, or martyred there, ancient tradition holds that his tomb is below the baldachino and altar; for this reason, many Popes, starting with the first ones, have been buried there. Construction on the current basilica began on April 18, 1506 and was completed in 1626.

 

Walking along the right aisle of the basilica, there are several noteworthy monuments and memorials. The first is Michelangelo's Pietà, located immediately to the right of the entrance. After an incident in 1972 when an individual damaged it with an axe, the sculpture was placed behind protective glass. Up the aisle is the monument of Queen Christina of Sweden, who abdicated in 1654 in order to convert to Catholicism. Further up are the monuments of popes Pius XI and Pius XII, as well as the altar of St Sebastian. Even further up is the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, which is open during religious services only.

 

Walking down the left aisle there is the Altar of Transfiguration. Walking down towards the entrance are the monuments to Leo XI and Innocent XI followed by the Chapel of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. After that come the monuments to Pius X and Innocent VIII, then the monuments to John XXIII and Benedict XV, and the Chapel of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin. There is also a monument to Alexander VII by Bernini. A skeleton lifts a fold of red marble drapery and holds an hourglass symbolising the inevitability of death. He is flanked on the right by a statue representing religion, who holds her foot atop a globe, with a thorn piercing her toe from the British Isles, symbolizing the pope's problems with the Church of England.

 

Over the main altar stands a 30 metres (98 ft) tall baldachin held by four immense pillars, all designed by Bernini between 1624 and 1632. The baldachin was built to fill the space beneath the cupola, and it is said that the bronze used to make it was taken from the Pantheon. The representation of a chair, part of the sculpture, is said to contain the remnants of the chair belonging to Saint Peter (It is also said that it is the largest bronze piece in the world.) Underneath the baldachin is the traditional tomb of St Peter.

 

We then made our way over to The Pantheon - A marvel of ancient architecture, this ancient temple to all the gods is celebrated for its large dome, copied during Greek and Roman revival periods by such designers as Thomas Jefferson. Originally built in 27 BCE as a temple to all the gods of the Roman state religion, but has since served as a Christian church since the 7th century. It is the only building from the Graeco-Roman world which has remained substantially intact and in continuous use throughout to the present day. You can also see the tomb of Raphael which has an inscription.

 

The next day, we went to The Colosseum which I won't explain since I took photos of the explanations and will upload those instead!  We then walked to The Roman Forum (Italian, Foro Romano) which represents the original Forum Romanum, the marketplace and the veritable heart of ancient Rome.  Then we went inside The Vittoriano Monument and on top etc...

 

That was pretty much it, the next morning we said our goodbyes *sniff sniff* and went our seperate ways.  But Rome is a beautiful city and if you ever have the chance, you should go for sure.  So many beautiful sights and buildings and good food!!!

 

 

 

 

 

hmmm how to tell the story... I guess right at the start is best....

 

Juan José was supposed to move into a new place but was told a week before he was supposed to move that he couldn't move in anymore.  So after a frantic few days of finding a place, he moves into a nice apartment 25-30min away from the city by train.  Its with a gay couple where one of them has a son from a previous marriage.  So Juan José planned to have a housewarming party/dinner, but due to travel and other commitments it ended up just being myself, Sebastian and Juan José.

 

 

 

 

 

One of my good friends from Australia, Brendan, visited me here in Denmark!!  Bringing back many memories of my time back in Melbourne.  He stayed in Denmark for a week, checking out the sights while I was stuck at work.  Nights, we spent having dinners/drinks with the other Interns.  But the highlight was when we went to Greece for four days!!!!!!!!!!  The intent was to head out to one of the islands.. either Mykonos or Santorini.. but this is what happened.....

 

On Friday, we checked in after waiting in line for about an hour or so, board our plane and it takes off.  10 min later the Captain comes on and says that we have to return to Copenhagen due to a problem!!!  Since the flight attendants didn't freak out, I didn't freak out.  BUT... when we landed and were taxiing to our stop, there were fire engines!!  Apparantly when we landed, the tyres had smoke coming out so they thought that we caught on fire.  Anyways, we had to wait another 3 hours before they fixed the hydraulics problem.

 

So... we finally get to Athens after a 3hr flight.  We go to one of the travel agencies at the airport to see if we can check prices for ferries.  What we didn't know was that they were fully booked out for the weekend since it was peak season and a Greek public holiday on the Tuesday!  So we had to re-think our trip, luckily the guy was really good and suggested that we take a one day cruise/tour of three islands instead, and spend the other day sightseeing in Athens.  Since that was the best way to spend our time, we agreed.  Friday night we checked into our hotel near Omonia Square, an area known for its pickpockets and prostitutes. So we spent some money in the area... on food!!!  mmmm authentic souvlakis.  We also ate and had drinks in the areas of Plaka and Psyrri.  Plaka is the best place as that is where most of the people are, so the atmosphere is great.

 

Saturday we spent seeing the sights.  Spent €5 on a tourist bus where you can jump on and off from the bus AND use it for any means of public transport.  Quite worth it.  So we saw a few sights but spent most of our time at the Acropolis.  Where we saw the Theater of Herodes Atticus, Propylaia, Temple of Athena Nike/Parthenon and the Acropolis Museum.  On the rest of the bus tour we stopped to see the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Hadrian's Arch, Athens Stadium, National Gardens and the National Archaeological Museum.  Standing next to such old buildings does put things into perspective.  Because you wonder how it lasts so long and stand in awe at how big they made them!!  Was a really cool experience.

 

After going back to our hotel for some nap time, we took the tram out to one of the beaches.  It wasn't that good because it was just rocks under your feet once you get out in the water.  But we still had fun.

 

Sunday was the day of chillaxing on the one-day cruise.  The first Island was Poros which had a beautiful bell tower on top of the hill where you can get panoramic views grom Poros looking back onto Greece.  The next stop was Hydra where we spent all of our time at a swimming area.  It was just some rocky/concrete platroms where you can jump out to and swim in the sea.  Was quite cool and different.

 

It was lunchtime where we were treated to some Greek music and cheesy cruise entertainment followed by some great Greek Folk Dancing.  Was heaps of fun and Brendan and I were dragged up to participate.  Sorry, no photos of those *breathes a sigh of relief* .  The last island was Aegina.  The beach there was the best!  Nice warm water which was still cool enough to get out of the heat and no rocks underneath.  So, obviously we spent our time just on the beach.  That was pretty much it, Monday was an uneventful flight back to Copenhagen *phew* and Brendan left the next day for the rest of his round the world trip. 

 

One thing about Greece is that everything is geared towards the tourist spending more money.  When we went to the first travel agency at the airport, she wanted us to fork over heaps of € and fly to one of the islands then stay in Athens. Luckily the other guy we talked to was soo much better.  Then wherever we were eating or sitting, beggars would come up to ask for money or people would come to try to sell us things.  On the boat, they offered "optional" tours for the island of Aegina which we said we didn't want to go on.  We asked if there was a beach there and they said that there was, but it was dirty and the shops would be closed because it was the hottest part of the day.  But they weren't, and as you can see the best beach was on Aegina.  But despite this, I still had a great time.  Seeing all the ancient sites and soaking up the mediterranean sun was a fantastic holiday.  A great way to relax before work started getting hectic again!  I will definately go back to Greece, but this time travel there in September so there aren't as many tourists, its still sunny and ferries to the beautiful islands that we missed out on are still available.  Wanna come?  Start saving!!!!

I had a really great four full days in Berlin over the weekend.  Søren's cousins have an apartment there and he asked if a few of the Interns (Trainees) wanted to go.  So it ended up being Søren, Carolina, Laurence and myself plus Diego from Leuven (Belgium), Rasmus (AIESECer) and Morten (friends of Søren and Rasmus).

 

So all of us except for Diego took an early flight Friday morning.  After taking the train/metro to the aparment near Eberswalder Str. metro station we dropped off our bags and went for brunch... and what a brunch.  There was a plater of different cheeses, spreads, cold meats and a basket of bread.  The great thing about Berlin, compared to København, is that food and drinks are cheaper!!  So after stuffing ourselves, we rolled towards Alexanderplatz.  Towering above us is the second tallest structure in Europe: Fernsehturm (Television Tower).  We then walked back along Kastanienallee with its many cafes and restaurants.  We grabbed a beer in an old brewery which has been converted to clubs and bars and where they had two big screens to watch the World Cup.  Morten and Søren made a really cheap dinner where we celebrated Rasmus' birthday with a lot of wine!  Soo much wine that most of us fell asleep.  So only Rasmus, Søren and Morten went out to some nearby cafe for cheap cocktails.

 

Sat morning was spent sleeping and then preparing another massive brunch which we had at home.  Diego arrived with some Belgian beer and then we all headed out for some sight seeing.  We walked down Strasse des 17. Juni towards Brandburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate).  Since the line was unusually short, we went inside the Parliament house (Reichstag) with its distinctive glass dome.  We then took public transport to Potsdamer Platz, an up and coming trendy part of town with the Sony Centre.  The original plan was to go to a Brazilian show at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of the Cultures of the World) but when we got there it was sold out.  So Morten, Diego, Rasmus and Søren went to see the Olympic Stadium (which was unfortunately closed to the public) while Carolina, Laurence and I went to see the Berlin Wall.  Near Warschauer Str. they have part of the wall over a mile long.  From there we went to Checkpoint Charlie and then home to watch some games.

 

Sunday, I relaxed.  Explored the neighbourhood with Rasmus and Morten while the others went to some Museums.   The area where we lived has lots of ethnic restaurants and many cafes. So its a really cool place to live.  After a beer in a cafe, we headed home to watch the games.... unfortunately Australia lost to Brazil

 

Monday, the girls went shopping, the guys relaxed while Rasmus and I went to go look at some Soviet architecture near Karl Marx Allee.  Its a really wide boulevard where they used to parade their military might.  We then went to Treptower Park which has a memorial for 50,000 dead soviet soldiers.  Then Rasmus took me to this second-hand clothes store where you pay per kilo!  After a bit of shopping I headed home to pack and then Laurence and I took the plane home.  The others stayed till Wednesday afternoon.

 

Berlin was a great city to see.  The streets are wider and greener compared to København and there's a lot more sub-social cultures of people where I would say that most Danes conform to one large group.  I also loved Berlin for the cheap drinks... during happy hour, cocktails were as much as a large coke!

 

But..... the thing that I will remember is the food that we ate.  Since it was relatively more cheaper, we ate out mostly except for the first dinner and breakfasts.  But the other times, I ate: sushi, mexican, vietnamese and thai food.  The highlights being crispy duck in a coconut curry sauce, dim sum and finally a bowl of Pho!!!! yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hullo!!! As you can see from my photo album, I went to Brussels over the weekend.  I was planning on going there since last year but kept having to push it back. I was originally going to stay with Kim, who was my MC coach when I was LCP of AIESEC Monash.  I say originally because I ended up at Robin's place (Rob ex-MCP AIESEC Australia).  What happened was that I arrived late because of a fire at Brussels airport.  I got into the city and walked around a bit and as per my usual fashion, just stumbling onto most of the sights.  So I saw Grand Place and La Bourse without looking at a map.  Also saw some of the comic book stores.  Belgium is famous for its Lace, Chocolate, Comics and Beer!

 

Caught up with Robin back at the Train Station and then walked back the way I came to find Kim with her Finnish friend Elli.  We had a beer there (Leffe) while deciding what to do.  Elli had to go back to her hotel (she was on a business trip) so Kim and Elli went and did that.  So Rob and I went back to his place to dump our bags and then walked back into the city.  We walked from La Bourse (where Rob lives) to the Palace of Justice, eating Fries along the way.

 

 

We went to a nice Vietnamese/Thai restaurant.  And it was great to finally go out for dinner instead of having take out or cooking my self!  Had a nice red curry dish with coconut... the menu was in French so Kim, Rob and Elli had to translate words they recognised.  We went out for a beer (Chimay) at a nice cafe and then went to a place called Elephants (I think) where they have 2500 beers from around the world... even VB ewwww.  But because I was already feeling the effects of the heavy beers I was having I decided on a lighter option with a Raspberry flavoured beer.

 

After sleeping in... and getting woken up by a potential flatmate (Rob's friend moved out) who had two little kids.  So  Rob and I had a laugh imagining him living with them... he would have gained an instant family!  Saturday, I walked around on my own as the others had things to do.  Caught up with Rob for a Beer (Duval) then found Elli and Kim shopping.  Ate at a Pita place out in the sun.  Which was great for Kim and I, we loved it.  But Elli and Rob complained it was too hot!! *sigh*  Kim and Elli went to go get ready for dinner while Rob and I went to play chess at Greenwich after I bought a TinTin T-Shirt!! hehehe TinTin is from Belgium.

 

 

We all caught the train to Leuven for Oli's going away dinner.  Leuven is where all the InBev trainees work so most of them live in that small town.  The town is really nice and clean.  They had  a surprise where those that were there on time (not us) went up the bell tower of the University library where they watched the bells being rung.  It was cool (Tom Gara told me) because it was a guy going crazy on an organ type thing.  We then went for dinner... where i orded a Foccacia (Hoegarden) which came in a lunch box! heheh Back to School.  Oli got a Knife holder thing which was disturbing but hilarious when I found out he was supposed to imgaine his boss when he put the knives in!!!  Caught the train back where I saw the stereotypical train conductor... little hat and bushy moustache hehehe

 

 

Sunday was spent walking up to Palace of Justice with Rob where we stayed for 1min.  But it was the journey up and down that had all the memories and random photos.  Ended up at Kim's place for Crepés.  So I finally got to catch up with Kim.

 

Sorry for the boring "we did that and then we did this" but its my record of the trip so i can remember what I did.  But Brussels is great.  There's not a lot of Touristy stuff to do (and I skipped most of them.. really regret not taking a photo with the TinTin statue).  But its a great city in the summer with all the outdoor cafe culture.  So thats the time to go!

 

Kim has a blog! http://kims.nomadlife.org/

 

This is not really a "European Adventure" but I put it under this category as a "consequence" of my European Adventures.

 

From laksa longings to yum cha yearning, expat Melbourne foodies spill the beans on homesickness and hunger pangs to away-from-home writer Sarina Lewis.

 

Read more... http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/04/10/1144521238419.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1 Sent by my Brother Huy

First of all, to Lil's questions:

 

Are you alive? hmmm barely.  Lack of sleep is not a good thing

How was IPM? read on..
I sent you a 'letter'! :-) Yup, i got it, will reply shortly.

 

 

Those of you who have read my blog from the start will remember my first foray into Amsterdam.  Click on European Adventures under Catergories to read more.  So I booked my tickets to Amsterdam (was there on the last weekend of Feb) and Mazzy (AIESEC Trainee with ABN AMRO) asks me if I want to go to some AIESEC Alumni party.  So I say yeah, cool no problems.  Then I find out that its IPMs!!  International Presidents Meeting for those playing at home.  But lets go through in order...

 

Get there and just walk around the city.  Was pretty much walking from nice building to nice building.  Went to the Sex Museum (only €2.50) and *somehow* I stumble across the Red Light District .  Which is weird... like all these scantily clad women posing in windows/doors and the interested guys just walk in the door and the curtains close.  Word of advice... if you don't like being stared at, don't walk around the red light district by yourself .  Trust me hahahahahaha  Also went on a Canal tour which Mazzy says is the best way to see Amsterdam.  But apart from that, didn't see too much.

 

Went to ABN AMRO for Happy Hour fri night where I met Laura and Russell.  See the photos, Russeel is in the "I'm 23!!" pic with Ralph. So had a few drinks and lots of laughs there.  Then all 4 of us go catch the train to Amersfoort (just outside of Amsterdam) where IPMs is being held.

 

My trip to Amsterdam was a blast because of IPMs.. Friday night was a "closed" party.. so it was delegates only.. Mazzy told me that if anyone asked i was an ABN AMRO Partner hehehehe  It was funny seeing people's reaction to seeing me there.  Taco was like "Vivi Chau.... Vivi Chau wtf are you doing here?!?... Vivi Chau!!" hahahahahaha

 

So I got to see Trent, Tom Gara, Arty J, Ralph, Maria, Mei, Zoe, Louise (DK MC), Steffen (DK MC), Carolina (Chair National Conference), Amit (Chair Winter Conf), Dorys, Francis, Jessie and a few others that I can't remember.  Friday night was the Annoucement of the new President of AIESEC International. If you ever get the chance to be there for that, then go.  People chanting PAI!! PAI!! PAI!! was soooo coool.  Congrats to Marty for applying for PAI!!  Sorry that you didn't get it, you would have been an awesome PAI plus my claim to fame "I know the PAI"

 

Fri night was spent catching up with a lot of people but Ralph, Russell, Mazzy, Laura, Dorys, Steve/Miguel, Reubin and myself stayed up the whole night.  Was an extremely funny and great night!!  One of the great moments was Russel yelling "I am 23!!!" because none of us believed him, thinking that he was 25.... I think he had ID that said he was 23... but no hahahhaa.  Sat went back to Mazzy's to sleep.  Then Sat night we went back for the party that was open to everyone.  So for €15 entry free, we got unlimited drinks plus there was beer tasting kindly sponsored by InBev.  So another great night but crashed in Ralph's.

 

Sunday was spent relaxing at Laura's before catching the plane back to Copenhagen.

 

Amsterdam is a great city where I wouldn't mind living if I was working for ABN AMRO.  There's something like 35 trainees there so every night there's something going on.  Plus its more affordable to go out!

 

So my second time in Amsterdam.... still didn't really get to see a lot of the sights but I had an awesome time!!! Thanks Mazzy!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

London was fantastic!!!  Be warned, long blog posting ahead!  If you want the short version, scroll to the last paragraph.

 

 

 

 

(phew, this is going to be really long... i'm getting super tired writing this so you must be tired just reading it!)

 

So we interrupt this blog with a few short messages from our sponsors:

"Donate to the Chau Charities today!!  Help a Chau brother realise his dream of owning his own sailing boat.  Donators have the honour of being able to wash the boat!!  'A very good cause' - Vivi Chau"

 

"Denmarks premier Business Plan competition has opened Phase 2 of their competition.  The competition is open to everyone at any stage of the competition as long as the team meet's the criteria outlined at our website.  Go to venturecup.dk for more details"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well I think this is long enough so I will cut it here.  But in summary, I loved every minute.  My uncle and aunty were sorry that they were dragging me around in a rush and to do Christmas shopping but i still loved it.  I saw non-touristy areas because of that.  Plus I plan to live here, so i will have all the time in the world to see the sights.  Its a very very very busy city.  Like Sydney on New Years Eve everyday.  but its a a beautiful city and I was blessed with (although very cold) very sunny days!!!

Hullo again

 

Here's the first of my European adventures.... and what a let down it was.. and all my fault too!!

 

I arrived at Amsterdam airport and due to lack of sleep... i found a quite corner and rested some more.  After an hr or so decided to go into Amsterdam and walk around to see the sights for two hrs and then go to Amsterdam Bijlmer Station to meet up with Mazzy who's working at ABN AMRO on a traineeship.  For those that don't know, Mazzy is a good friend and helped me heaps in AIESEC.

 

So after going through passport control, i get to the train state (same building as the airport) and tell the blond and blue eyed lady  that i want to go into Amsterdam to see the sights and then go to Bijlmer and then back to Schipol Airport.... she was sooo helpful... she told me which train and at what time to catch where to change to the next train etc...  So i go and catch my train and get to the station where i need to make my change and get onto the right train.... then i realise that she mistook me for only wanting to go to Amsterdam Bijlmer and back to the airport!!

 

So i get to Amsterdam Bijlmer and cos i'm soo tired i decide to bum around Bijlmer ... only to discover that Bijlmer doesn't have much happening!!! Mazzy told me that its the boringest place in Amsterdam!!! hahahahaha Anyways so i found a nice bench and claimed it as my own and just sat there resting and reading for a coupla hrs.

 

On one of my frequent breaks from "My Bench" i bumped into Mazzy having a meeting with Bergio!!!  Mazzy, Bergio and my brother Huy all worked on the Natioanl Office for AIESEC in Denmark in 2003-2004.  So i sat in and listened to Bergio organising a ABN AMRO conference for his department (Auditing).  And it sounded exactly like there were planning and AIESEC Conference!!

 

After they finished we had lunch... on "My Bench" hehehe... caught up with Mazzy and shared goss after Bergio left.  After having heaps of laughs with Mazzy it was time to go... so caught the train back to Schipol Airport.... thus ending my brief foray in The Netherlands/Holland and Amsterdam!!!

 

Mazzy finishes her traineeship in November, so will make it back to Amsterdam before then to actually see Amsterdam!!! hehehehehehe

 

I'm sure my next adventure will have me actually seeing great parts of Europe!!