hhmmm... The Making Sense of German Thinking

I just realised something from my colleague. I find it very "unique". Ok. It goes....:

As you have known, that we have free flow of coffee because Siemens pays for the coffee beans, coffee cream and the filter plus we have 3 coffee maker in the pantry. Just now my colleagues said the coffee was too strong. And I tried, hmm... yes... it is abit too strong. Then I told them:

Jason: Well, just add some hot water!!
Colleague: No It is a sin!!
Jason: huh? What!!
Colleague: Yes. It is a sin!!
Jason: Sin as in S I N , sin??
Colleague: yes.
Jason: but why? What is happen if we mix the coffee with the water?
Colleague: I dont know. It's a tradition. Just like we dont mix water with beer.
Jason: Ach SO!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, coffee and beer ... is different wat!!
They would rather drink the " strong coffee", a bit.. and then leave the rest of the coffee in the coffee pot till the next day and poured it away when they are cooking fresh new coffee.

This incident reminds me of when I was in Octoberfest last year in Munich. A friend of mine couldnt finish his beer and wanted to give me some. Then he poured the beer into my mug.

A young german lady beside us told us that we should not do that. Or else there will be demons following us.

Anyway... It is just their believe. I am sure that not all of them will have the same believe. Because the friend who wanted to pour his beer into my mug is also a german :P

La Sangria~~My flavourite Spanish beverage II

Ganz Kurz.....
Just wanna tell you guys that this is my 2nd bottle of Sangria. It is from Marktkauf supermarket. It costs the same as the one I bought from Audi (€1,15) but i think it tastes better.

It's about empty and I am going to buy the 3rd bottle :D

By the way, it is written on the label of the bottle that Sangria is a beverage for summer. It is best to be served cold.

If you warm it, it will become Glühwein... hehehee ( I think)...

Prost!!

Hmm.. I could be actually a bit taller...

One day I was with a orthopedist( a doctor who is specialiasing in bone)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
orthopedist: Hmm... the X-ray shows that you are suffering torsion scoliosis.
Jason: NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
orthopedist:...
Jason: ...
orthopedist:...
Jason: What is ...torsion ..what... sco...sis?
orthopedist: Abnormal lateral curvature of the spine. You should visit physiotherapy. Let me write a precription for you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

hhm... what a jackpot..

Perhaps you might be interested, why I would go and visit the doctor at the 1st place. All this happened since Last year November............

(flash back....)
(flash back...)
(flash back...)
....
..
.


Last November while I was at Nicholas and Benjamin's( 2 exchanged student from NUS) hostel in Munich, waiting for Ben to go for fitness training. I was squatting down to get something but didnt realised that behind me there was a staircase and........ BANG!!! OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAHHHH!!!!

I hurt my lower back by knocking the corner edge of the staircase. My both legs were numb for a moments and my lower back was aching. I rest for a while and went for fitness training anyway.

I didnt see a doctor because I was thinking that the pain would go away after few weeks. Besides, I was facing financial difficulty. Till now (End of April) the pain is still there when I seat on a sofa, in a plane, car or sitting with some particular postures.

Finally I decided to visit a doctor. I paid €10 for the 1st visit ( the rest is covered by insurance).
I told the doctor what happened and he sent me for X Ray. When the X Ray result came, then he found out that I am suffering another problem, torsion scoliosis.

I was asked to visit physiotherapie and.... that's all.

I asked....

Jason: How did I get this.... torsion scoliosis? was it caused by the injuries?
orthopedist: No. It might have happened since you were born or during your puberty.
Jason: Any side effect? so far it doesnt cause me any trouble. Then what is the use of the physiotherapy?
orthopedist: It might make your bone stronger.
Jason: What about my lower back? ( He forgot totally about my lower back.... purposely, I think) How can this physiotherapy help my injured lower back?
Orthopedist: It might help.....
Jason: -_-' (what the....)

Ok I think this doctor doesnt even know what to do with my lower back. I think I should visit another doctor.

Then I made an appoitment with the physiotherapist and she did a physical body measurement for me and found out that:

physiotherapist: hmm... your left side of your back has more muscle than your right side.
and.... your left leg is longer than your right leg....
Jason:..... (-_-')
physiotherapist: Normally people's right leg is longer than the left leg.
Jason: ( ha ha... I am not the only one.... :D)

Then she taught me 2 exercises which I should do at home just before I sleep. Which I think it doesnt make any sense. The instructions are not clear. Afraid that I might make it worse.


The worst thing of all is... I NEED TO PAY ANOTHER €18 FOR THE THERAPIE!!!

Anyway, my next appointment is on this coming friday. ( 5 more appointments to go)


Just to think about it, I realised that I could be actually taller than what I am now (if my spine doesnt curve). Now I am 179cm, I could be ...perhaps 185cm ???

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An interesting girl I met in Munich

I met this girl last year when I was in Munich. But I just got this photo from Khon last week.

One day Khon told me that he wanted to introduce me to 2 very nice people who can cantonese.
One is Khon's consin, another vietnamese german, and another one from hongkong, her name is Sau Yee. They were FFI!! ( friendly, fun and interesting)

As Sau Yee stayed before in CDC( A german language school which I attened in Sept 2004), learning german last time, she knew manythings which happened then. She told us lots of gossips and jokes about what happened last time in CDC .. hahaha interesting.. a typical female Hong Kee..

Khon's cousin... hmm... forgot his name.. he is a gymnastic sportman.

From the left(Javier, the cousin, Sau Yee and Khon)

That time we were having dinner in an mexican restaurant.
I ordered ...FAJITAS!!! something like poh pia , a high class poh pia.

Then later we adjourned to a cafe for drinks. ...( poh kai liao lah....)

Might be meeting up with them again in the future... i think...i hope...

Night Life for me??

A German friend, Benjamin once drove me to Heidelberg, a Night life club called something... Schwimbad Club because his friend's band was performing. The Entrance fee is €3.50.

This club is very different and special. Well, maybe just to me. It has 4 levels, (with basement). Every level there have different stuffs.

Basement: Hip Hop disco + bar
1st floor: life band concert+bar , mini cinema (FOC)
2nd floor: techno, pop, mix music disco + bar
3rd floor: Cafe (the most quiet and romantic place of all)

While waiting for the band to perform, Benjamin treated me a drink!! One of the best beer that I have ever tried!! It is called.... "banana beer". It tastes like beer.... and banana. It has lesser alcohol, and thicker, and richer in flavour.


Banana Beer!!!


the 3rd floor Cafe


The life band performance. They are quite good. 4 of them, wearing the same cloths, singing .. some modern songs in german.
hmmm... I will name them <the modern.. Beatles>.

Below is another life band concert that I went with Benjamin. The bands were mostly students, young bands getting exposure for performing. The funny thing was... when they were performing, they were smoking and drinking at the same time!!!

Car ride around other town near Bruchsal

A german friend of mine, whom I met in a church in Bruchsal drove me around with his car. His name is

>>Benjamin Zimmermann<<. His surname "Zimmermann" if you translate to english, you will get " a room man". And exactly, he is a carpenter, just graduated as a qualified carpenter and working toward to excel in Canada very soon. And yupe!! He is also the "founder" of Clement (Read the article : What a confusing, exhausting but interesting and funny weekend!! ), when Clement was .. such of lost in Bruchsal. hehehee :P Below are some of the photos of his works. ~~La obra maestra de Zimmermann~~The masterpiece of Zimmermann~~
~~Das Meisterstück von Zimmermann~~

Above is a hanging laptop table. His final year project before he could graduate.


A Guitar shade CD rack. He created it just for fun. Cool~~


Ok. Back to the topic.
Actually we decided to go for cycling but the weather was not that friendly. Then He showed me many interesting places around here, which I dont think I would know without being driven around. He drove me out of the town where I can have a good view of the nature.



Then on one of the hill, there is this place where one of learn more about stars... I dont know the term of that...

anyone anyone??


This big globe with lots of stars "connection" signs. To help people to identify the name of it where they see the real one in the sky.






Once in a while there will be a gathering here, a proffesional will have a talk about the star topics and there will be telescope for anyone to see the stars.
There is this event on 6th of May. We have noted now the date and when everything goes well, we might join the session.

Oh NO!!! My white clothes!! My only JEANS!!! NO!!!!!

OH SHIT!!!

My white clothes, sock,underwears are all gone now!! And I only pair of Jeans..
Add up the costs all there are RM500!! S$250!! €100!! All gone!!! Scheiße!! Mierda!! Shit!! Sek si!! Chiak Sai!! TA MA DE!! Makan TAHI!!

It is all because I was confused with the lanudry machine.. It is supposed to be 95 degree but I thought it was 95 ...minutes.
The longer I wash, the cleaner my clothes are. So.. I chose 95...

Actually I was partly right. 95 degree will take 95 minutes. And 60 gree will take 60 minutes. Now then I understand...

My dark blue Jeans, now it is shrink, distorted, colour faded. And all my white clothes now because partly blue, partly light blue, partly white.. like Batik.

This is my 2nd time since Feb I used laundry and I experienced this disaster..... I should have continued to use my hand...Thought once in a while if I use the machine, my clothes will be cleaner but mana tahu that it doesnt only make it cleaner but also more colour....

It is really my blue day....


AAHHHH!!! AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wah....My lunch today is different....

Today in very unique, because my unique german colleagues ( two of them) invited me for lunch at pizza restaurant near by. We were chatting about everything not related to our jobs at all. Found out that one of them is also a musician. He plays banjo and guitar Folks music.

I ordered a pizza called 4 seasons pizza, where the pizza is divided into 4 parts, which different ingredient:

autumn--> Mushroom
Summer --> Paprika
Spring--> Salami
Winter--> Ham

I might be wrong, i dont know the sequence.

It is good, because usually they are very busy. At least now we have some time to talk. Spent 1 hour in the restaurant, more than our break time allowance, which is just half an hour :P
who cares.....

Das Kebab~~My favourite Turkish Food

This is called "Döner Kebab", a typical turkish food which is sold through out the whole world. It is served like a burger shape. The one we see normally in Malaysia and Singapore (The shape of cylinder) is called "Durum Kebab"... something like that...

It was my everyday lunch while I just reach Germany in September. hahahaa. Till now I am still not bored with it. It is the cheapest and the most balanced diet that one can ever find.

It costs ranged between €2.50 to €3.50. The one on the photo costs €3.50. The most expensive kebab that I have even had.

I like spicy kebab with yogurt the most. Some of them are served with mayonese ... yucks!!

Anyway... Bons appétits!!!

La Sangria~~My favourite Spanish beverage

This is my favourite drink. It is called " Sangria"



It was recommended by one of my spanish friend while I was in Barcelona. It is a type of fruity wine with about 7% of alcohol. Since then I would order this drink where ever I traveled within spain even back in Germany.

The best Sangria I have tasted is still the 1st one in Barcelona. It is sweeter and thicker. The rest is very waterry.

This bottle of Sangria I bought last week in Aldi supermarket. !.5Liter costs just €1,15. Compared to the 1 Liter I order in spain costed about €7.

This bottle of Sangria reminds me the wonderful dreamy time I spent in spain... even though it tastes not as nice as the one in Barcelona. But whatever....it is the cheapests and the best I could find..

Cheers~~~

Das Eis~~ My favorite dessert in Germany

My favorite dessert in Germany!! Ice Cream...

One small scoop cost between €0.50 to €0.70 in bruchsal. One glass/bowl with topings cost €3.50 to €10.00. Of course some of them cost more than €10.

The ice cream here tastes rich in flavour and colour, thick and sweet~~. Of course it will make our "lipid" also thicker :D hence make us "lipider" ==> fatter in bio sense.... hahaha
(One of the bio professor in NUS mentioned a joke saying that our common use of the word "fat" is not correct. We should use the word "lipid" in stead.)

Below are some photos of the ice cream i ate so far.

The... King.. of KEBAB!!!!!

Ok ok... I am not talking about food here.. It is about a german .. movie!!

Yeah... I went to Bruchsal Cinema again for a preview of the movie, €2.50 per entry.
(Preview means that you wont know what new movie will be screened)

Unexpectedly it was a pure german movie ( I was expecting some english movie but in german).
The name of the movie is called >>KEBAB CONNECTION!!!<< href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/22/4165/640/PICT00031.jpg">
front view of the cinema


Staircase leading to the theater and... toilet.


Snack Bar

Javier

Break away from my daily normal routine

Everday I have been doing the same routine.

Weekdays:
Wake up ==> go to work ==> go to health club==> cook and eat==> reading and learning ==> online and check emails ==> sleep.

Weekends:
Wake up ==> eat==> go to health club==> cook and eat==> reading and learning ==> online and check emails ==> sleep.

but last friday and the last weekends was very different. because.... there was a visitor!!

Khon, the vietnamese german visited me from friday till sunday and we really had a great time.
I met Khon last year in September when I attended a german course in CDC, Carls Duisberg Centren in Munich.
The 1st question that he asked me when he knew that I am from Asia

Khon: Do you know programming?
Jason: Yes....
Khon: C++?
Jason: No.... C
Khon: Do you know how to programming virus??
Jason: huh?? -_-

Ok.. I dont know that C programming can be used to programm virus. NUS doesnt teach us to do that. haha

Then how we become friends is also because of another magic question asked by him.

Khon: What language can you speak?
Jason: english, malay, chinese...
Khon: Chinese as in Mandarin??
Jason: yupe!
Khon: Oh shit.... I cant speak mandarin... only cantonese..
Jason: I can speak cantonese too.
Khon: REALLY!!?? Nei sek gong guang tong wua? HAHAHA!! HAHAHAHA!!!

ok.. since then we become good friends... And we speak cantonese since then, sometime english... seldom german..


We haven't seen each other after I left to Bruchsal except the one time I visited back to Munich (Blog Article in Feb: Going back to time?? ).

Well, I showed Khon around in Bruchsal ( nothing much to see except there is one baroque castle)

(Khon in front to the baroque castle)

A garden near a high school (Schönborn Gymnasium) where I learn spanish.

I brought him to the health club. We used the gym, attended a exercise course, sauna, steam room, "resting" room where one can lie on a warmed @ heated stone bed.. or chair, read magazine, listen to soft music or just... rest....


( is this a chair?? or bed??)

We watched Stephen Chow Old Collection Movie at night and south parks. He is really a freak from Stephen Chow, bought online the whole collection of Chow's movie from.. hong kong. thru e Bay.

We cooked dinner and finally he has tasted und understood what spicy really means.... He bited a small chilly unintentionally.. ops.. ( I am so sorry Khon :D)
I used the small chilly to spice up the food, but I myself didnt intend to eat that chilly. It's my fault as I forgot to tell you about it.


(Khon: Trying to wash his mouth after biting the small chilly) :P



Khon!! Khon Quang kuang guang...., after the health club.See!! he looks so healthy...



Javier, me!!


Khon lying on the tree...
Quiz: is this tree suppose to be horizontal or vertical?


I hope that he really have had a great time in Bruchsal and the next time I will be going to visit Khon in Reutlingen!! So, bis bald.



Javier

It's really really Springtime!! don't play play ah

I haven't seen trees with nearly 99% all flowers!! No leaf... how do they breathe??

anyway, below are some photos. Enjoy!!

I wanna learn another language!!

OK.....
Today evening I will start to attend a language course officially !!

Guess... other than english and mandarin, what other language is widely spoken in the whole world?

!!!Spanish!!!

Why do I want to learn spanish? shouldn't I continue with my german?
Of course I want to continue with my german. But in Bruchsal they only have basic german course. For a higher levels' I must travel to another town, Karlsruhe, which is quite troublesome as I dont have a semester train pass.

Actually I wanna take 2 courses: german and spanish. But there is no german for my level, so... I have to choose another one. (By the way, I dont have to pay for the courses). :D
Thanks to the secretary and my employer from the department where I am working.

Ok. The next question is... what other course can I participate?..... cooking... dancing... yoga.. or what..??

After looking through the list, I found : Business communication
I plan to take that course because it might be good for me to learn more about how to speak a formal proper english. It would be even better if the lecture is a native english speaker. But she is not. She is the spanich lecture and she is german. Hmm.....

I think other than malaysian/singaporean english accent, I would be able to speak english with german accent too :P

Well, since the english course is held straight away after the spanish course and it takes only 1 and half hour (or less if she wanna have smoking break) and moreover, I dont have to pay for that course, might as well stay for that course and see what I can learn from there.

Yes. I nearly forget to explain why I choose spanish.

1st: I have some friends who speak spanish. (From Spain, Mexico, Peru, Chile and other part of Latin America)
2nd: I have travelled to spain and I like their culture
3rd: I have so much free time
4th: .. er.... because I wanna learn spanish :P
5th: because spanish is.... fun :P :P
ok... I dont have any more reason.

Just one thing I do worry about is I might forget spanish when I am back in Singapore, where german, french and japanese are more spoken. I haven't heard a work of spanish so far in Singapore.

Anyway, let's see how.

My Colleagues are so nice~~.....

Wah..... I am so touched... the people in this department are very nice!!!

Once in a while, out of the blue, I receive fruits from them. ( Apples so far). Then die secretary from this department gives me 1.5 L bottles of sparkling mineral water sometimes. This water is used to serve guests usually. And then I get to eat CAKES too!!!
Plus I can have free flow to coffee here... wah.............~~~

:D

Ok. I wanna eat my cake now. See you !!

Who is the Bday boy~~?? Wearing the Bday suit??

(Mexico City :03.04.1984)

Gynecologist: Breathe!!! PUSH!! PUSH!! YES!! YOU ARE DOING GREAT!! HARDER!!
Mother: AAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(sound effect): POP!!
Nurses and Gynecologist: HURRAY!!! It's a BOY!!!
Mother: oh~~ so sweet... I will name him.... Jorge.............. Jorge Cleto.

=========================
21 years later.........
=========================

JORGE!!! ALLES GUTE ZUM GEBÜRTSTAG!!! (Happy Bday)
All of us from Malaysia, Japan, Canada, Africa, Lithiania gathered together to celebrate!!

hehehe, actually we are from different part of Germany gathered in this place, ULM.



Ulm is famous for its tallest cathedral in the world.



We were climbling up the stairs to the top of the tower. From the top one can have a bird eye view of the town.



The photo below is taken from the center of the tower.



When we have reached the top of the tower (I thought it was already the top), realised that one can still climb further up to the top top of the tower!!
Look at the narrow spiral staircases... leading up to the top end of the tower.



I didnt climb up to the top end of the tower. Scary....I was lying down on the slanting floor, enjoying the sun light and fresh air, waiting for them and then later we took group pictures.




(Below: in the cathedral)


After the visit in the church we finally started to decide where we should have our lunch.
As Jorge, the Bday boy's wish, we went to an Italian restaurant. I ordered dark beer and pizza for my lunch, The name of the pizza is quite funny. Mafia Pizza, it is because it contains chilly, i think.





After lunch we walked around the inner city, along the river...(The name of the river: Donau)
There is this tongue twister about Ulm

>>>In Ulm, um Ulm,und umUlm herum. <<<

Our Bday BOY!!! JORGE the CLETO aus Mexico!!



That's me!!! Aus MALAYSIA!!!


Albert Einstein was born in this city. And I was told by my friends that Einstein was born on this flat stone!!!....hhmm.... .. suspicous...



Einstein portrait :Theory E=mc^2


New Einstein portrait: Theory...... hhm.....


At a playground....
Clement and Jorge are playing 'ma ma sak'...eheheeheh~~~ (ma ma sak: means small girls cooking game in Malay)


This guy is trying a rob the BANK!!! with his atm card.....

YU: QUICK!! Gimme €50 quick!!!

This poor boy is trying to sell jackets during this hot spring...


Backstreet boyz.....+ a girl...


That's all for that day. Then we travelled individually back to our own town exhaustedly, but we had a great time..

Once again! Happy Birthday Jorge

Javier the Lopez