Hong Kong, Macao and Shenzhen

sitting on the veranda of baba’s guesthouse in batu ferringi, penang, northwestern malaysia, overlooking the sea while sipping icecold …. water …. i finally found time to reflect what happened the last weeks – and is going to happen in the coming months. wasn’t it that i’ve been to hong kong just recently? well, apparently, hehe ….

i was of course very excited to visit asia’s ‘new york’, the city of which everybody comes back with so many stunning experiences. and indeed, i wouldn’t mind to go there another time … taking two days off and finding a positive number on my account, was then a good reason to charge my credit card once again, for two plane tickets, and a booking at hostelworld. furthermore, i met felix, a fellow student back from aarhus, which was another fine reason to get up at 4.00am in the morning, after only 1 ½ hour of sleep, and a relaxed and funny birthday night in singapore.

felix then picked me up at the airport (YOU FORGOT THE NAME TAG), and together we made it to my hostel. the term ‘hostel’ got a complete new meaning though. before leaving to hk, i heard a lot of stories, and internet ratings left enough room for a lot of interpretations. well, just imagine a 17 storey building which facade could need a bit more than just a new paintwork. a dodgy entrance area with vendors that try to sell all kinds of more or – rather - less useful stuff (and that OF COURSE have the best price, especially for YOU, my dear SIR). you then try to imagine an elevator for which you wait at least 5 minutes – because the house is like a small city inside, which small businesses on all levels, from tailors to key service and sales & ‘marketing’ enterprises – and hostels. it would probably take at least an hour to walk around the aisles that face the grungy courtyard, to check out the single activities on each storey. in all that concrete, people have their tiny apartments – and in all that, there are these hostels.

i’m not even sure if the bed i got was in the hostel i’ve booked before. however, one reception (basically, a table and two chairs in the middle of the corridor where elderly nice chinese ladies fulfilled all check-in and –out activities) fitted for a whole bunch of hostels (in my case: usa hostel, traveller’s hostel, garden hostel, city hostel, and hk hostel … apologies if i forgot one). long corridors from which new aisles go off to rooms of the size of shoeboxes. like my one, filled with one normal and one bunk bed, an air con that worked – or not – and a neon lamp. oh, the room of course had a door that could be hardly opened (same with the ones of the three 1.5sqm all-in-one ‘shower + basin + toilet’ – bathrooms). beside that, there was nothing but great limitedness. no window, of course. no common room (well, the floor of the corridor could be considered as a HUGE one). nothing - but actually, all i needed, for a bargain price of 7,50€ per night (it’s hk – and hk is expensive in that manner). and after a looong day in this bustling city, it even gave a quite relaxing (???) atmosphere. would stay there again, hehe!

one of the first things to do was the classic ‘let’s take the star ferry and then, the cable car up to the peak’ – thing. well, they build quite a skyline on hk island. finding buildings in hk with less than 6 stories is almost impossible. the city is packed with houses that direct their noses skywards. an amazing jungle of concrete, decorated with neon signs, air cons, and outside-laundry racks. like it or not, but thinking about the dimension of people living and working in all these blocks leaves you wondering. parts of kowloon (hk peninsula) house more than 200.000 people – per sqkm, on of the highest populated areas in the world.

hk island certainly has a wide range of stunning skyscrapers that turn into one ocean of lights after sundown. personally i must say that this gets boring after a while though. that might sound weird, but what is really enjoyable about hk is the (traditional) daily life (as far as you can spot it – remember my hostel? it isn’t really imaginable how much more is happening behind the facades of these blocks). markets you can stroll along for hours, temples that give insight in the great religious heritage, and – most beloved – street eateries, corner shops, and all kinds of family retailers. it is a wonderful contrast to the modern hk, a place where something interesting happens in the moment you look at it.

hk in its variety is a must-see destination as it is full of strong impressions that leave you behind with go-for-more memories.

there is the enormous taoism won-tai-sin temple, that i visited on a sunday. it was packed with 1000s of people that worshiped their gods with millions of joss sticks that turned the air into one big cloud of incense. watching their rituals of getting into a state of trance, was simply amazing, and my camera had one of their busiest jobs ever.

foodstalls offer all kinds of food, so if you are fancy to try roasted bats, hk is the place to go. markets are full of fresh fish (SMELLY!!!), butchers follow their routine job right on the spot (fresh pig snout, someone?), elderly ladies bind chains of dried tangerine and orange skin, others sell all sorts of fruits, nuts, or spices you can imagine. it’s a busy colorful world you can experience for hours without getting bored.

unfortunately, time was scarce, as i also went to macao. being an old portuguese colony, macao’s inner city hosts some very beautiful mediterranean churches and facades. small alleys are busy with food stalls and antique stores, and seeing ethnical chinese people everywhere is confusing and interesting at the same time. macao is of course also home to some of the largest casinos in the world, and has – according to some sources – already overtaken las vegas in gaming turnover. while the casino areas are definitely not as stunning, twinkling and loony as las vegas must be, it still feels crazy to imagine how many people might sit in these complexes and lose money that would be so much better invested – tickets for a new travel destination for example, hehe.

one of these complexes is the venetian. check the webpage to find out more about this weird world of hotel, casino, shopping , and entertainment. but to give you some crazy ideas about it: they have a 11.000sqm poker room, 21 restaurants, a gondola canal (like in venice, SURPRISE) that once goes around the 3^rd floor (including gondola rides and an artificial blue sky that almost feels real). the whole complex is tremendously huge, standing in the middle of nowhere, and framed by ‘original’ venetian architecture like a venetian tower. it is a twisted and peverse idea that became reality, and though it is stunning, it is horrible!

felix and me also made it to china, better said to shenzhen – a weird place as well. a place that was developed almost from scratch. 30.000 people lived there in 1979 – 6.5 million do today, and including all legal (and illegal workers), shenzhen has a total population of over 12 million people. you might be able to imagine how this looks like. in fact, that’s not how it does on first sight. it’s modern, yes, with many skyscrapers that want to be state-of-the-art, but miss the last touch of extravagance. there is no real structure, just huge streets, blocks, streets again, houses. in between and all of a sudden comes, for example, a small arab community, then again modern architecture. shenzhen felt like a place that had no time to catch its breath while it developed. a city that looks half way to being perfect.

moreover, it was so quite, and not at all busy as you would expect from city with 12 million people. felix and me were always wondering where all these people are. but the view, while having a beer in a sky restaurant (which felt weird, and kind of like sitting on the tv tower at alexanderplatz in 1985), gave kind of an idea about the dimension of the city … HUGE!

it was not the crazy china experience as i hoped for, but that was somehow expected as it is too close to hong kong. however, we got a kind of taste for more of china.

overall, it was a quite exhausting, but very wonderful, awe-inspiring, amazing trip that was enjoyable in every moment, with stories and memories for a life time. photos need a little bit more time, as days and nights are quite busy …. as mentioned at the beginning: i’m already on the next trip …..

Advent season at 30° - SNOW, PLEASE!

meanwhile, it's already the day after the 1st advent. time to get this posted!
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today is the 1st advent. if my dad would not have sent me an email with all the best advent wishes, i would have totally forgot about it. which is not that tricky - it's 30° outside. although the whole inner singapore is fully decorated with xmas lights and ornaments, the real xmas feeling is light-years away. to be honest, i find that quite sad - but i would be daft to drink mulled wine under the singaporean weather conditions. thus, i need to use my imagination - and try the skiing hall to get my portion of snow.

thus, instead of xmas drinks, i had mango lassi in little india. yes, it's sunday evening again and little india is a must at that time, at least for me. as mentioned once, it's simply a great experience. that small area is packed with people. well, actually it's packed with male people. i have no idea where all women and kids are, but apparently the sunday night is made for the guys.

thus, hundreds and thousands of indian men stand and sit and hang around in small alleys, on squares and sidewalks. the shops are bursting at the seams, the car traffic almost comes to a complete stop, and a single person becomes one big crowd with all the others. a crowd that is pushed objectlessly from one point to another. escaping is almost impossible, not to mention stopping no matter for what reason. it's one big flow, approaching from all sides - an ocean of unfamiliar faces, voices, smells.

of course it is not enough that this big crowd already produces a distinctive noise level. NO, of course the quarter is also packed with shops, markets, street vendors. and if music store A on the left side of dunlop st decides to play the latest indian newcomer, then music store B (which is either next door or on the other side) MUST play its own favorite. i should also metion that the loudspeakers are not really ultra-modern. and nevertheless - even the world's best speakers have a certain tolerance level. at a specific volume, music does not sound like music anymore. however (and guess what): it's GREAT fun to be in the middle of these two shops.

there are also promotion stalls everywhere, mainly for phonecards (local or overseas to, GUESS, india). same game, basically. the singtel (mobile network no.01) dude tries to be louder than the m1 dude (mobile networkno.02), and is additionally facing BOISTEROUS competition from the overseas phone card fella. the dude's solution then is to climb on chairs and tables, speak faster, scream louder ... until ecstasy is only a click away. i'm always wondering someone even understand what these guys are screaming. probably, they do not even understand their own words - no surprise if you would see their promotion equipment (they kind of sound like radio emcees in the 50s - on short wave).

a common thing among indian men is to hold hands and arms, an walk along arm in arm. what looks strange in first place is a totally normal thing. holding hands here is a meaningful sign of deep friendship (not what you thought. JESUS!). however ... it is cute and weird at the same time. guys in germany usually walk arm in arm ONLY if the last beer was one too much. by the way: one of india's beer is called 'knock out' .... CHEERS (it has almost 10% alcohol)!

beside that, and as mentioned once, shops have the best offers in town. jeans are 3 - 5€. t-shirt are as cheap as 1€. one shop even claims to sell the whole product range BELOW COST! since this seems to work in reality (forget the whole business and economics theories - this is a real life case), i will copy this business model for my first firm. apparently, i won't need accountants then. i just purchase at price x, and sell for x-1 ... EASY!

did i mention that little india is a lovely place? and that indian food is fantastic, too? that indian people rather use their hands to eat their tandori briyami? that mango lassis can cover one whole meal if served in a 500ml glass? apparently, i need to visit the real india one day ... (better not now, i guess). meanwhile, i will take my camera soon and film the whole spectacle.

meanwhile, i'm listening to the 'dynamo live radio' - my favorite football club that (right now and, that's not really a surprise) is 0:1 behind. why am i not a real manchester united supporter? nevermind ...

the last weeks were quite busy ones. days in the offices stretched from 8am till 8 or 9pm. two bigger projects were running at the same time, and many things had to be done until last minute. but now that we finished both successfully, the weeks until xmas should be smooth and relaxed. lovely ...

in order to reward myself i will fly to hong kong on early thursday morning for almost 5 days, and meet felix, a fellow student from aarhus. xmas and new year is also fixed and will bring me to koh tao and railay beach in thailand (not by plane, though). and in between, i still try to see and experience as much of singapore as possible without falling into stress.

today was one of these days. leaving the house at 11, breakfast at a coffee store (rather due to heavy rain than to intention), and then national museum, OOHOOOH. a photo exhibition of a taiwanese artist was shown. themed 'doubleness', he portrayed e.g. chinese families that are separated - the husband (illegally) living and working in chinatown, new york in search for a better life (money, money, money), and the families back in china that, though they suddenly have a much better (materialistic) life, faces the loss of the main family member. something that was meant to be a a lucky chance turned out to be a family's tragedy. very impressive, dramatic, and touching photos. another part of the exhibition pictures the story of vietnamese women that (voluntarily or not) were sold to taiwanese men, in order to get married. again, very moving pics.

afterwards, i just went over to the singapore art museum (where we, currently, display the highlights from the daimler art collection), and checked not only ours (OURS ... funny), but also a japanese exhibition - fresh, funny, colorful bits of japanese media and entertainment. since it was raining (again), i played a bit more of nintendo wii with on of the exhibition guides, hehe.

later, i spend two hours in the arab quarter, planned a bit for xmas (i should have planned hong kong, instead), and DID some things for my upcoming master thesis - which, in fact, means that i read at least some articles about corporate social responsibility.

due to the fact that i met a lot of (business) people on several company events lately (it pays off to work in the external affairs department, hehe), the network regarding my thesis increased - however, the level of insight about a clear topic is still ... rather ... low. SURPRISE! if anyone has an idea, PLEASE let me know.

beside that, i finally uploaded my manila photos (plus some more ... and another 1.000 are still pending ....).

hong kong's next ... let's see what happens there!


cheers everyone!

Manila

it has been some of the most thoughtful, impressing and lasting memories of my life. manila. a city, 650 sqkm in size. officially, 11 million people - but that is probably not even close to the real numbers. it’s a moloch of a city. a dirty, noisy, overcrowded place that seems uncontrollable, tumultuous and stunning (not in beauty though). a loose cannon.

no, manila definitely will never win a beauty contest. i do not even have a single clue about where they should start with polishing, ordering and constructing. too huge seems the chaos, too large appear the problems, too corrupt is the government. manila rather has good chances to win a prize for one of the most polluted cities in the world. it’s traffic situation is a big mess, rules exist but – does someone care?

manila therefore receives my personal trophy for the most contrary place i’ve been to. however, there is another picture you get of this city. it’s the philippinos, mainly. a phenomenon, people always talk about when they were traveling to considerable poorer countries: no matter how hard the life seems to us westerners, the people who live in these places still seem to be happy. they laugh. they sing. they smile.

i don’t wanna start the discussion whether they are the happier people or not. whether we can learn from them by giving our own problems a new relation. at the end, we live in a different world with its own problems, its own ups and downs. but it might help sometimes to reevaluate the things that trouble us. it might help to appreciate much more what we have, the environment we grew up, the possibilities we have. at the end, this gain of experience, this way of thinking is what made this trip so valuable for me.

i skipped the modern part of manila - on purpose. from the bus i could see that they build up a lot of skyscrapers, housing offices and modern apartments, mainly for expats and those philippinos that benefit from the economic development. mataki, as this area is called, probably represents the modernization of manila, turning into an air conditioned, commercialized, high gloss world. i heard enough about it, and decided that i rather wanna see the manila that is still behind development process. but is it?

being there only for 2 ½ days makes it hard to judge, so the answer to that question is not a clear YES. that would definitely not do justice to the people that handle their everyday life with commitment and willingness. and simultaneously, it would mean that everything we do is the desirable aim in life.

experiencing manila was certainly a culture shock for me. and fun, at the same time, then shocking again. it was a constant rush of pictures, smells, sounds, and impressions that tumbled down on me. and, as you probably recognized: i try to explain this experience quite for a while now without finding a real, ultimate point, hehe.

manila’s streets are simply full of cars. basically, that’s no difference to many other large cities in the world. but the dark, stinky diesel exhaust fumes of thousands and thousands of old minibuses (that seem to be filled with another thousand of people) make walking along these arterial roads a quite smoky something. road marking exists, but five lanes (each direction!!) can suddenly become eight on large main roads – it’s magic. huge trucks drive next to small horse-drawn carriages, facing rickshaws in opposing traffic (of course contrary to the traffic, and on the wrong side). however, this is not that big deal, since main streets are usually congested, anyways – average speed easily drops to 20 km/h and below.

beside three elevated train lines that are operated within central manila, and that make the sometimes grey, dusty roads even more unpleasant, there is no public transport system in this huge city – at least, not as we know it from our world. instead, millions of old u.s. army jeeps, converted into mini busses with two benches and space for 25 people, are cruising around. each comes with a personalized design. from paintings of virgin mary to liverpool fc, decorated with flags, figures and other items. people jump on and off – even on big crossroads if the bus needs to stop due to congestion. main route destinations are painted on the car body – and for a ‘special’ price, you could probably have a whole bus for yourself.

chinatown was definitely an attraction. a spooky, polluted, stressful, wicked place that is simply exhausting. even on a sunny day, the narrow alleys appear as one dark room that is rather brightened up by the colors of a thousand shops. everything you can imagine is sold: copied cds next to vegetables, next to spare car parts, next to loudspeaker systems, next to porn movie dvds , next to …. the list could be continued endlessly. one large noise level that can simply become too much only after a few minutes. not to forget the mud, the humidity, the heat. a smelly air – some delicate flavors, some rather not so delicate ones. and if the rain came, you could exponentiate all these factors once more. impressive - and uncomfortable at the same time.

poverty is a big problem, still. even there is a growing (lower) middle class, one cannot ignore the situations in the slums, or the problems of homeless people on the streets. i again and again got a little shock when being faced with these aspects. we all hear about these issues, and we all know a little bit of what’s going on. and so did i before i went to manila, preparing myself for sad, thought-provoking moments.

i arranged a taxi (with my new friend danny), and was going around the slums for more than an hour. it looks surreal if you just look at outside the window – but it is there and you can’t ignore it … you cannot escape from all these thoughts that come up to your mind. and it makes a difference if you just think about all these problems beforehand - or if you almost run into a woman that is breastfeeding her baby on the sidewalk of a congested main road – although she would need some food and help for herself, first.

i cannot forget this! and honestly, i sometimes don’t know how to handle these situations, how to act when i’m faced with them. what to do, or better not do. what would help, and what would make matters worse. what is appropriate, and what might be even dangerous for me. there are no real answers upon that …. it’s very sad. and it is very frustrating!

however, and as mentioned before, the philippinos are one my favourite people so far. why? because, beside their friendliness and openness, they really appreciate the wonderful art of photography, hehe. it was the same everywhere i’ve been to: as soon as people saw me with my camera, they came and asked for a picture. or at least, i could see that they wanted a photo. whether it was a street musician, a bank’s security guard, the chess player – or even the police general with his whole company. they went crazy for a shot and were proud and happy to be captured. telling them that they would be appearing on the internet, where my german and international friends would see them, made them even prouder.

the best were, above all, the kids. even though the begging for food brought me in very uncomfortable situations (having ten children hanging on your body, hands everywhere, can be quite awkward), most situations were simply stunning (this time in a positive manner), lovely, beautiful, and funny. taking pictures of them was a big enjoyment. and, of course, they wanted to see the outcome. showing them the result always ended in big laughter – and in another picture … “agaaaaiiiin”! remarkable moments. and THANK YOU to the person who invented the digital camera, hehe! once, when showing them the picture while sitting on the ground, i suddenly founf myself with eight kiddies lying on me. fun! i played these very basic ‘clapping hands’games for almost an hour, talked to them a little, did stupid grimaces. an unforgettable memory! should i rather change my career and become a kindergarden teacher? who knows ….

summing up, visiting manila was a very wise decision - a gain in experience that will last forever!

however, since that trip, i appreciate singapore a lot more. walking around at night without safety concerns, in a city that is clean, structured, and offers all these possibilities to do a whole bunch of things is truly something, i should not simply take for granted!

the weekend will bring me to bintan, an island in indonesia, only an one hour ferry ride away. beach, sun (hopefully), relaxing times …. no complaints anymore!

take care!

p.s. one last story: philippinos are very religious (almost everybody is catholic). so, i decided to attend a church service close to my hostel on sunday evening. and guess what: the priest’s words from his speech, the prayer, and all song lyrics, were presented by power point slides, via a beamer, on a big screen. interesting ….hehe!

p.p.s. pictures will follow. however, it will take a while to go through them and do my little extra work! sorry for that …. be patient, please!

New Photos online!

... as promised, some more pictures (added in my singapore folder). just click on the link - and make your way through! or click on the slide show on the left, and look at ALL of them again, hehe!

enjoy - hope you will!!

The most expensive flat in the world ... kind of!

i moved out. and in. but wait. i need to start differently. i'm sorry for less than little news i have spread over the last two weeks. two weeks? wow, that's not THAT long though. feels like that. however. this shortage of information is due to many facts.

i moved out. and in. which in fact was a necessary move. not, that the other place was so bad. it was just simply to expensive. 650€ for one room is not really a bargain. therefore, i chose that .... room .... here. room is however not really the right word. compartment might be a better one. or how would you call something of the size of 6.5 sqm? i know people whose wardrobe is three times bigger. and i mean the one for their shoes.

the best about the new place is the following fact: each sqm costs me more than 55€. a bargain! no kidding. this luxury palace in my new 5 room flat share has the lordly price of 375€. it has features like 'few daylight' for a nice saturday morningnoonafternoon sleep after a lovely friday night. at least the aircon is working (oh, by the way... air con ... there was something i wanted to complain about last time .... later then). and here comes the best part: it's one of the cheapest places in singapore i've heard of. weird!

but seriously: if i see my normal day, then this is more than alright. it's clean, i've friends living next door, there's a 24h food court. and most important: the whole area is way different than the singapore, people (let's call them tourists) would find when they drop by.

it's authentic. that itself is already the right word. the people on the other side of our dark, smelly alley are mostly from india. they work as construction worker - or have whatever job they could find. they wash themselves in a dark, awkward basement - no own bathroom, NO. water bowls is what they mostly use. you find these guys lying outside at night, having their nap on some pickups or even the garbage can, if it's getting to noisy or packed inside.

this little world is so far away from the glamour and gloria that singapore tries to sell and represent to the outside. and i am happy to be here. to experience the other side of the coin. soon, i will load up pictures - it's probably better you see that (somehow). i'm still discovering it - and don't find the words for it right now.

beside the location change, i did a lot with the people i met here. almost everyday brings a new experience, a new place to see and explore. usually, work is done by 6.30 at latest - and then it's time to stroll around. a beer at the new asia bar for example. 70th floor, erdinger for 5€ (!!CHEAP!!), the city being at our feet. or food courts. chinatown. little india. arab quarter. korean food tonight? malay? sushi? kebap, maybe. rice or noodles? prata.

these are the tough decisions in a city that has more eating spots than i've ever seen before. tough decisions because there is so much on offer. and tough, because rice, rice and more rice everyday leads to a frustration that - from time to time - guides us directly to the big yellow M. so far, i had my best big macs here in singapore, hehe! however, in most of the cases, the assortment and prices of eatery spots is simply great! and finishing all with a freshly squeezed fruit juice for less than 1.50€ is always again a hard-to-beat moment.

singapore is also a brilliant starting point for any kinds of trips in the region (SURPRISE!). two weekends ago, we all have been on tioman, an island on east coast malaysia - at the end, we were 20 people .... some nice and some ... different. it is not that untouched spot as i hoped. but .... COME ON .... getting a sunburn on a white sandy beach or while snorkelling in the lagoons or around huge rocks in the open sea is actually NOT BAD! and it wasn't, really. not, that is comparable with my fiji island, i've once been (NOTHING IS!). but, i had one of the most beautiful moments in my whole life, seriously.

we did that boat trip the whole day. heading for different bays, snorkling around (which, again, was cool - surprisingly cool if you know what a horrible swimmer i am, and how MUCH i DISLIKE swimming). then it happened. we were stopping into our last bay. the sun was preparing for her good night. the water was shining in a dazzling turquoise. in the backdrop, a deep-green, vigorous rain forest. we, snorklling in the sea. and suddenly, it started o rain.

an amazing moment. the warm ocean, the cool rain, the sun still there, everything shining in intense colours - and raindrops dancing all around you. we were all standing there for minutes. stunned by the beauty of the moment. i turned a bit away from the others. looked around. realizing how special it was. how special all this is what happens right now. how lucky i am to be here. how much i MUST appreciate it! a special moment that i have to keep as memory in my mind (DAMN, no one took a picture, hehe!!!!). but how can one ever forget ...

the job is going alright, too. i won't suffer from a work overload, though. however, i got involved in a quite nice project that keeps me busy until march. as my employer has an art collection that will be exhibited in singapore soon, my job will be to handle (well, for now i should say to 'assist the handling') the organization of media, journalists, workshops, more media, involvement of schools and universities .... the fun thing about my internship is definitely the different kinds of people i deal with everyday. our asians at work. the interns all around. journalists that drop by. the pantry and cleaning ladies that always smile.

singapore is definitely a place to live for a longer time (i come back, though - no worries .... yet!). a great art museum. little india that is PACKED with people on sunday nights (best offer: two ORIGINAL swiss watches and an ORIGINAL swiss knife. set price: 11€. placing an order, someone?). good bars. a very efficient, very modern, very tidy, very SAFE city. at the same time the mentioned contrast that need time to discover - and definitely worth it!

what's next? manila is waiting on the weekend, which is extended to monday thanks to a public holiday. well, this holiday would actually have been on tuesday. but the government decided to bring it forward one day earlier. no problem. in fact, would the holiday have been on a sunday - they would have done the same, hehe - monday would still be off. as i said already: NICE place!

the most impressive thing above all though is indeed the fact, that so many different ethnical groups - with all their own history, habits, religion - live together peacefully in this quite tiny place, as if it would be the most normal thing ever. you see: it IS possible! let's tell the ones, who always make that ridiculous trouble .....

Air cons suck big time, still!

... i realized that i haven't talked about my problems with air cons at all (why did i call this post like this then?!).

i will discuss this topic next time. however, they are responsible that a liquid with a consistency of pure islandic rain water is running out of my nose ... constantly. talking to a journalist face-to-face is anything but pleasure ... for me, as well as for him (i suppose).

Air cons suck big time!

the first info of the day is: my telephone receiver smells of hand lotion, which my antecessor always used. having longer phone calls leads to the fact that this fragrance does not leave my nose for at least a few minutes. everything i smell afterwards then reminds me exactly of that lotion. it confused me for a while. but apparently, today is the right one to figure out stuff like this - i was on a free-flow party yesterday ... and the heat is definitely not helpful in recovering from such nights.

you found that part interesting? well ... are you alright? or just facing the same problem?

by the way, phone calls. good topic. i would extend it to general language problems i'm facing here. not that this is my fault, no no no. i would blame the others (which is generally always a great thing if it's the others' fault). just an example ...

we all know about the financial crisis (and we all know one who REALLY knows a lot about it - or have you not read my email?). anyways, so do the bankers here (well, at least they should know what the hell they did wrong). i met one of these bankers yesterday. an indian dude, standing next to me in the elevator. suddenly, he started the conversation. i'd like to reflect what he was saying. but i simply can't.

i heard noises coming out of his mouth. some of them sounded like "british bank", "merrill lynch", "barclays". the rest was sounding in a way like "cnwehfuiowehyfubc yiweg weuif7wey79fywe ce8f89wefweyh wejf8wefue890w"!

and telling that story, he was always smiling, sometimes laughing, even really loudly. and i laughed with him, of course. i like that. laughing, i mean. making fun of his colleagues. making fun of him. isn't it good that these banking dudes are still happy, though they are miserable and fucked up the world? isn't it just a minor and very unimportant fact that daimler felt over 9%, again? i mean .... as long as the share price itself is still positive ... it's all good, isn't it?

so why do we worry, if we could do it like the indian bank dude, and grin like a cat that just swallowed a mouse (which is indeed a very nice metaphor for all recent happenings .... merrill lynch is the mouse, and the bank of america symbolizes the cat that swallowed. have to check whether we have a bank of america office in our building - maybe the indian works for THEM!).

well, who cares. all that matters right now is looking forward to the weekend. a trip is waiting. together with 13 other people, we travel to one of malaysia's beautiful islands, called tioman. i don't need to mention that they have great beaches there. and cheap drinks. not to forget the yummy food. holiday from my holiday here in singapore - lovely!

it's, by the way, still great to be here. i don't know if you realized that when you read all these words, hehe. because it is. and last night brought one of these moments you have when something special happens. a moment where you stand in a bar, holding a belgium beer (well, it could be any beer in the world .... beside harboe), look around, and suddenly think "JESUS CHRIST, i'm standing in a bar, having a belgium beer (it COULD BE ANY, even harboe is okay), and look around .... and beside that, i do all these things in singapore. 12.000km away from the place called home. and i work here. for the best car maker in the world (tell these brokers that a certain someone said we are undervalued!!!). fantastic thing ... this thing i am doing here!".

coming back to that language problem ... i'm always afraid when the telephone rings. of course i am not, but ... let's say i'm always full of expectations. every phone call can bring me into an awkward situation. people calling for the boss, for example. they ask for his name. at least i think they do that. because they seem to mix his first and family name.

moreover, it's the sound of that (mainly) chinese accent, which always confuses me. they are able to combine four words into one, then entering into a two second break (a kind of one-noise aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah), and add the next four-into-one words. if this would be music, it might would have potential for a number one hit. unfortunately, it is supposed to be business english.

the worst that can happen is wanting to leave a message for someone. these calls sometimes take four to five minutes, for a simple three line message. the trick, meanwhile, is to give them my email address, but than i have to spell my name - and they do not get it. they ask again. i do not get it. i ask again.

"sorry, beg your pardon? you wanna speak to ..... whom? your name was ....? can you spell that, please? x v h j j k e r u e 3 z? that's your name? no? shall i repeat? x v h j j k e r u e 3 ... what? no? can i buy a 's'? you mean there is no 3? aaah ... T?! ok, i got it! thanks for calling!"

something like this happens all the time. daily life - ordering food, for example. i always hope i gave all information about the type of meat, the size of my beer, the fact i need a folk (still, JES..). and what do they do? they ask me if i want "lice". i usually have that then ... rice, i mean. that's how bavarians must feel when they talk to people from the 'chemnitz area'. or a brit from oxford, meeting an aussie from alice springs.

but, whatever happens, it's great and it's fun. although confusing, annoying, tiring, and exhausting sometimes. but it's part of that experience that i wanted. and i will learn to understand their form of speaking the english language. that's why i leave you now. have to find that indian bank dude again - i'm curious what he actually was saying about barclays and the brits ......

Clarke Quay - Prostitutes, Xmas Shop and Aussie jokes

good morning ... kind of,


well, a few hours ago, i was too tired to go SERIOUSLY out - and too awake to go to bed. so, i decided to walk around clarke quay, a riverside destination, where a lot of nightlife happens .... bars, pubs, clubs. in fact, being there by myself was nothing special but somehow, i picked up some stories which were weird and funny.

first of all, it takes around 15-20 minutes to walk down there. and, on that way, there comes a point where a bunch of prostitutes are around (which is in fact illegal here, but these girls are not THAT easy to recognize ... at least not at first sight). however, one of these chicks started talking to me. where i would come from, she asked. and what i would do here. her third question then was: "do you like massage?". aha. massage. well. i answered that i would be on the way to my girlfriend (girlfriend??? alright, i was lying, but she was too, hehe .... "massage" .... SURE THING!).

however, when i came with that "girlfriend fact", she suddenly was very embarrassed, holding her hands in front of her face, and affected by my words, said "oooouuuuh, you have girlfriend. i didn't know. sorry, sorry. have a good night". well ...... i mean .... SERIOUSLY??? a "prostitute" that is apologizing for her "offer"? jes.. ....!

by the way, i met her again on my way back home. she was looking at me. i looked at her. massage? NOPE. but i felt kind of embarrassed, too. what "might have happened" with my "girlfriend", hehe.

second weird thing happened when i finally arrived at the kind of party place. i checked out an arabic bar, when suddenly ... on the other side of the alley ... i recognized that shop ... and that was weird. for all germans of you, it was called "der erzgebirge laden" ... and it had what you would expect from that name: traditional german xmas decoration stuff: carved santa clauses, xmas pyramids, and all that stuff - in the middle of singapore, close to the equator, in the party district. what the f***!

and finally, when having a rest from walking around, i picked up jokes from some australian dudes that were sitting right next to me. and here are the ones i remember. by the way ... i already apologize. and for those of you who are rather critical and serious, just stop reading here. for all the others ...:

"why wouldn't you like to be an egg? well, you get only laid once. it takes 5 minutes to become hard. and the only thing that is sitting on your face is your mum."

"what do men do after they had sex? ... 80% are driving home."

"what do airplanes and women have in common? ... both have a cock-pit."

"what is the difference between 'like' and 'love'? ... if you like, you spit. if you love, you swallow!"

and here comes my favourite one. it's for all of you who had a bad, bad day, and think, life can't be worse. well, it can if you imagine the following (and girls, PLEASE try!!):

"you have a siamese brother. he is gay. you are NOT. your brother has a date for tonight, where apparently someone will score. he is the "female" type. he won't score. he will get laid .... .... ....
...
....
.....
you only have ONE ASS!"

have a good one & cheers!

F1 video .... nothing to see, but an idea how it was - simply by listening!

hej,


at the end, youtube was faster than expected ... here is the video link. don't expect too much .... better watch another one :D! just takes a little while to be processed ...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl8feJ7GI1Y


cheers!

One week Singapore - F1, new job, nice people ... and still hot!

hej there,


one week is already over since i came here - and it was a very interesting, funny, exciting, stunning, great one. but before i write more, i'd like to give you the link to the first pictures. you can either click on the slideshow or this link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mistertausend

the second thing is a funny story that happened monday after work. i was about to go shopping since i realized that one pair of business shoes are definitely not enough. well, buying new ones was not as easy as expected - size 45 is apparently one only few people have down here. the shoes you get in this size usually look - well - let's say NOT what i have in mind. but then, finally ....

i saw this pair of shoes, nice ones, brown, lovely. went into the shop. two shop men came to assist me. i showed them the brown shoe and asked for size 45. "i check, i check", one said, but somehow seemed to be confident about having them. i took a seat, and waited .... waited .... waited. finally, he came back. with a shoe box and a big smile. "seems he found one ...", i thought. well. he opened the box. and took out the black version of this shoe.

"i don't want the black ones, i'd like the brown ones", i told him. "i'm sorry. don't have them. i can check with other shop. you try?". well. i did. checking if they would fit and hoping they would be available somewhere else in this huge city with its thousands of shops.

let's say, i tried to put them on. i did. 30 seconds of one big fight. no victory. somehow, it was impossible - they were simply too small. i looked it them again. then looked at the shop man, disbelieving. "are you sure that this is size 45?", i asked. "oooooooh, is a 43", he said. "i don't have 45". "yeah, but i need 45. how am i supposed to fit into a 43?" - and by the way, why do you bring the 43 in black instead of brown??

"i can check with other shop", he said. "alright", i said, looking at him, hopefully. "i can check", he said, again. "well, would you .... check, please?". "i can check".

he didn't. instead, he was looking at me, holding his hands behind his back, smiling, kind of. no checking. just that "don't make me lose my face" - smile.

i left the place. "thank you siiiiir. come agaiiiiiin." yeah, probably not .... or just for an experiment: maybe, one day, with really cold feet, on a good day, being drunk, very drunk, i MIGHT fit into a 43!

by the way, i later got two wonderful pair of shoes for good money - and was glad to have that previous shopping experience!

beside that adventure, i had nice days here so far. the good news are: i'm less sweating than expected. the bad news is: i still do HELL of a lot, but so do the non-asian people around which keeps me being confident.

and there was the formula1 race, of course. i recorded some videos. however, no matter what i would have uploaded, the result would have been the same: very fast cars, almost invisible ... and a heavy noise - too heavy for my the audio recorder of my camera. anyways. the only thing i can tell is: when you are really close to the track and these "bolides" of a car pass you only a few meters away, your whole body is shaking, your skin is shivering, and your innermost is set out to an enormous pression. it truly was amazing, even it became quite boring after a few rounds just watching the cars for a fraction of a second - the best was this tremendous , noisy sound.

and then, monday, work has started. daimler south east asia. external affairs and communications - a sort of public relations. and it's very nice so far. my boss is a nice dude (and went golfing for charity today - it's ALL for the good business). and lena, predecessor, did her very best to introduce me in all relevant aspects of work. nothing burnt down or collapsed today on my first day being alone in the office - apparently, she did a good job though! the next days will be smooth so i have my time to get involved in all kinds of the job - and have a little time to enjoy the view from the 29th floor, all over singapore.

was is also sweet is, that i met nice people at work. with some of them, i just had dinner after work today. we went to one of the biggest food stalls (or as they call it here hawker stalls), having different kinds of food - from fish to chicken and pork, with different kinds of vegetables, rice, souces ... yummy! imagine a big square with all sorts of snack bars and eateries around. you can choose from the whole asian food range. and of course, for little prices. the whole thing is open-air, and packed with people eating, even after 10pm (which is, in fact, very common for the whole city as malls are also just CROWDED - and so is the subway).

it was lovely - 4 germans, and 4 singaporeans (chinese). we had a lot to laugh and were stunned about each story regarding each cultural difference - or just a funny, stupid story someone was telling. very nice, indeed!

and so was tuesday night (it was a public holiday on wednesday, since the muslims were celebrating the end of ramadan) when we had the farewell party for lena. even the reason to party was quite sad, the people i met very nice and so, it was a very cosy and somehow familiar atmosphere. which is somehow true for the whole singapore experience so far.

it does not feel like home, of course. but it also does not feel unfamiliar, strange, and unfamiliar at all. true, it IS different than home. but then again .... it is very often quite european - just with different looking people and different food. which is again NOT true because there are many things that are stunning, crazy, incredible, very new, different. and of course it is very hard to judge and describe my whole picture after only a week. it just feels so normal to be here. there simply existed no acclimation time - it was the place from the first minute without any uncomfortable moments, no doubts, no questions. everything is pretty straight forward, pretty clear. nothing seems to be new, and there is nothing that has to be really learnt in a new way - while at the same time, the while thing is completely new. i'm not sure if you understand what i mean because you have to experience that. but something like this might happened to many of you when moving to a new place, no matter where this was. (by the way, i hope this "honeymoon time iwll last for ... well ... for a long time!!)

right ... a lot of text again. at least you have the pics. the video upload at youtube seems to take for forever so i post the link later then.

for the moment, it's time for bed ... and the information that in 3 weeks, i will fly to manila, philippines. i have no real idea what i really do and why i booked the flight, but it was cheap and we have another holiday and thus, a longer weekend. sounded like an option, even though everybody today said "wow, that's brave". i rather shouldn't tell my parents, i guess ... (and how good they can't read english!!!).


cheers for that!

formula 1 in singapore

the day of formula 1 - history ... the first night race ever. i have to admit that i am not quite a big fan of that sport. but being here you can really feel the excitement - and it's hard to resist. i would bet that most singaporeans were not big racing fans before, too. however, this great event is just another chance to do some shopping. but more about that later.

in a few hours, i will be at the race track watching this spectacular event. and i hope my ears will survive it. the noise is just incredible and swarming through the whole city. here, in my room, about 1.5km away from the track, all windows closed, and with my crappy air conditioning on, the cars were still louder and audible.

singaporeans are apparently very proud that this event takes place. and they prepared it for years. the area around the start - finish line for example, was ocean before. the organization officers simply decided to create more land by filling up huge masses of material. this alone shows what is possible in this small but highly potential state. crazy ....

and, as mentioned, the race gives all the potential for firms to do some business. there are promotions everywhere ... win this with xxx, buy xxx and "race up your life", get your ferrari shirt and benefit from a free trial of xxx - and, obviously, singaporeans LOVE that! as they love to shop and consume, generally. i have been on orchard road on friday, the number one shopping mile here in sp. and what i saw was truly amazing. not that the shops itself were so breathtaking - but the amount of choices are stunning. it is said that you would need three days to walk through all of these huge malls. well, maybe, if you consider that you have at least 15 malls that stretch over 5 floors, with a kind of labyrinth of corridors, filed with shops that offer EVERYTHING. some of them are specialized in a specific product or product group. at suntec city, for example, there is one section in this huge complex that offers all kinds of stuff for little kids - 40+ stores full of clothes and toys and clothes and toys and ....

and beside that you find more and more stores for the rich ... and wanna-be rich. the question just always is: HOW DOES THAT ALL WORK? where do the people get all that money from to become part of this consumption circle? or do they just do window shopping? how, then, do all these over dimensional malls survive? whatever it is, one thing is for sure: these malls are always packed with people, no matter if you go there at noon or - even worse - after 6 or 7 in the evening. and since most of them are at least open until 10pm, there is muuuuch time to spend all your money - by the way, prices are not considerably cheaper than back home, at least in these huge and modern malls.

yesterday, i firstly had a "hangover" - breakfast with my flatmates. not that i was drunk the night before - but they were (how surprising when you are invited to an "free champagne" - party where your company pays for everything). so, we went to mc donalds, had a BIG ball of ice cream and a freshly made juice (for about 1.50€ ... amazing).

later, i walked around the arab quarter which is just a stone's throw away. the (malay) muslims are celebrating the hari raya light-up right now. the festival aims to bring people from different ethnic groups together to have a better understanding of the (malay) muslim culture. different shows with traditional dances were held, and of course the streets were full of food stalls offering all sorts of typical food - shouldn't have had that big mac - stuff before, DAMN! however, it was beautiful and very enjoyable!

later the day, i walked to little india - only a 15min walk from my place. and this was a truly great experience. it is definitely not at all as real india is - too organized, to laid-back, to clean. however, compared to singaporean standards, it's light-years away from how i experienced the city so far. it's a little, lovely chaos, hundreds of shops selling all kinds of things - some vulnerable and important, some others ... less crucial. people were very friendly, open for a chat, smiling. and i had to try a lot of different kinds of snacks, just for the experience. the hindus are celebrating their "deepavali" right now - the festival of light, fireworks and sweets with the main day end of october - the streets therefore were full of chain of lights ... and all this added to magnificent moments. after all, i had spend 4 hours in the area, happy about the experience.

well, that's it for the moment. have to get prepared for the big race. weather doesn't look too good but that just makes it more interesting. tomorrow then is my first day at work. but till then, i will catch some great food for little money. and more pictures will follow later that week on my picasa- page ...

singapore - a lifetime experience

singapore ... a mix of asian cultures, spotted in a clean and organized environment, and only a stone's throw away from the equator. asias's biggest hub, world's 2nd largest port, a financial centre ... and my new home for the next 5 month.

and since there is a huge tropical thunder storm with heavy rain outside (well, locals and those who know better might say it's just a common phenomena), which stopped me from sleeping two hours ago (especially if you sleep in the 26th floor having the city at my feet), and an internet connection that suddenly works (apparently), i decided to open this blog so that all of you get the news from my singapore experience.

for the next 5 month, i'll be doing my internship at daimler southeast asia - the headquater for the whole region. and since it fits so perfectly to my studies, i got my job in the marketing department - or the "external affairs and communication" department, to be precise. organizing elaborating corporate events that charge the brand with emotion ... and i guess a lot of other stuff that interns usually do, will be part of my daily work. however, whatever it might be - in a place like this, it is not the MOST important point in the end, i guess.

i don't wanna bore you with any details about the flight ... but by the way, i had three red wine, chicken and pasta pesto (pesto pasta?), something that was supposed to be fish, two sandwiches, a chocolate bar, a muffin, another cheese cake, one more wine ... wine ... and stuff on my entertainment system like ... english premier league, two episodes of friends, one movie that i forgot (also because i've watched only 1/10th of it), more comedy stuff ... comedy ... and did i mention that i had wine? red wine, actually - from chile ... lovely - even though it was refrigerated.

evyerything worked fine. the saudis (well, these guys in qatar) did not make any trouble. same here in singapore when i was entering the country. everything worked smoothly even though i had two packages of chewing gum with me. they didn't even check that ... guys, there is a great dealing potential!! (chewing gum is regarded as a oral hygiene product and therefore only available in pharmacies ... for high prices, i guess). beside a huge bunch of toyota taxi available, i was the lucky one to get a mercedes (OF COURSE!!) - and when telling the driver that i was from germany and start work for daimler, he started a 5 minute monologue about the enjoying advantages of this car - it goes without saying that i agreed to ALL points.

and finally, i made it to the appartment complex, got the key, entered my room, faced this view from the 26th floor - and already lost about 1,46 litres ... going outside is always like hitting a wall - having 30 degrees and 90% humidity outside is everything but fun!

luckily, i have air conditioning. unfortunately, it is noisy ... tremendously noisy. however, there is this view ... good one!

the appartment as such is nothing special, but nice. i live together with two guys, both called alex - and both from germany. i met one this morning (remember, the rain ... got up, went down for a coffee, came back - and he met him) - nice dude. he's working at sap, while the other one is a medicine student and supposed to be nice, too.

even though this place costs a fortune, i think i'll stay here at least a few days and check later what is available on the market. because the good thing is that it is very central and not far from work. well ... shouldn't be the issue at the moment.

rather, i have to use my spare time to discover the city - which is, in fact, a hard hard thing. walking around in this heat, in the middle of the day feels like a contest. and now i know why they start the singapore marathon at 5 in the morning. BOY OH BOY! it's impossible (for me) to stay outside for longer than one hour - whenever i can, i try to catch a airconditioned building (or at least the shade), knowing that the next cold is just a few days away. how do people manage to live under such conditions? all these locals do not sweat at all - while me ... well ... try to imagine it!!



beside that there is a lot to discover and experience in this fascinating place. it's all that great food, WOW! it's shopping malls that won't end. a central business district with impressive architecture. chinatown, little india and the arab quater. singapore sling and tiger beer. all these things will keep me busy for the next days .... rubbish ... MONTH! but read more next time ... for now, it's time for another day in singapore .... man, it's weird to say that!!!