Earthquake

I guess there was an earthquake in Singapore about 2 hours ago. How do I know? Facebook. :-P

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Hm....I guess it wasn't Singapore...

Mysterious Rodent

Waiting for the strassenbahn on the way home from the symphony last
night, we saw these strange creatures in the window of a nearby
jewelry store. They were really cute, even if they are fake. Sort of
look like a cross between a chipmunk and a guineau pig. Anyone know
what they are?
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Later...

Dirk - how did you figure out what they were?!?!? Genius! :-)
And they are so damn cute as babies.

Oktoberfest For IPhone

I admit it, I am not a big Oktoberfest fan. For me...it's a bunch of people drinking way too much beer. It's usually cold and drizzly, you need to fight your way into a tent and when you get in, the crowds are even worse. The beer is way too expensive, the food is too salty (drink more beer), and I don't know any of the weird German songs they sing. I'll stop complaining now.

The other day...actually I guess this was yesterday morning, I got into the elevator at the client I am working with at the moment with Dominik - one of my (former - now he is working for the wrong company) Sapient colleagues - who (of course) had visited the Oktoberfest over the weekend.

"Did you go?" he asked.
"No way," I said. "I don't like Oktoberfest."
Saying this is sort of like spitting in the Pope's eye in Bavaria. Sacrilege.
There must have been 20 people in the elevator. And it was a really short ride - just up one floor. But everyone kind of glared at me (they were all probably hung over from the night before) and I gulped and stepped out of the elevator with relief. hehe....next time...will not be so honest so loudly....

This morning I found a way to experience Oktoberfest in a new way. Ironically, the company I am working for at the moment has launched an Oktoberfest iPhone application. For only 99 cents (Rohit...I will be expensing this - Dirk's idea....a good one I think) you can download a nice little game to your iphone where you can experience all the joys of Oktoberfest. ;-)

Without the hangover.

No Movie...So...

Time Traveler's Wife was only playing at 10:30 this morning in Munich. Therefore the pumpkin was executed.

And transformed into an Afghani pumpkin dish that I love - with a tomato relish and yogurt sauce.

Practicing making rotis...which I might officially learn tomorrow evening from a REAL Indian Woman. ;-) (Rohit? You found the flour?)

Sacrificial Pumpkin

Unless we end up going for a movie and dinner this evening (I want to
see The Time Traveler's Wife because I liked the book so much) that beautiful hokkaido pumpkin that looks so perfect next to the gladiolas, is going to be cubed up and paired with chicken on a plate. Rented and watched the movie "12" last night-a really really spectacular remake of 12 Angry Men. One of the best movies I have seen in months. Dad-you and mom would like it a lot.

Was very sorry to miss the Rosh Hashanah dinner even if the veal wasn't up to par and everyone was disappointed because there was no apple pie (?what's up with that?). Will eat some apples
and honey here and think of you all. Need to dig out my pickled salmon recipe for Yom Kippur in ...9 (?) days. xoxo

Diminutive

Back to raining gray Munich now, (well Brussels was just as rainy and gray I suppose), and have been sent to the next client already...which is quite ok. Ramping up quickly. Switching from Pharma to Media - like switching to another part of my brain.

All in all, though the Brussels trip was a lot of work and not so much sleep for a night, had a lot of fun with the UK team (thank you Anand, Bradley, Robert, Richard, Andy, Anthony...) on Tuesday night and during the presentation on Wednesday.

I managed to try a few of the Belgium specialties: a plate of frog legs, plenty of fries, some very nice mashed potatoes, a couple glasses of Chimay ale, a bite of a crepe and a bite of a waffle, some chocolate (wasn't that impressed...), and the most expensive (22 Euros!) but very tasty hamburger I think I have ever eaten (which is admittedly not Belgian.)

Was overwhelmed by one ever-present feature in all the streets of Brussels. The famous Mannequin Pis - which they even sold for 8.50 euros in the minibar of my hotel room. You wander around the city and this guy is EVERYWHERE. An hour before I headed to the airport to head home I made Bradley take me over to see the statue, which was only a few streets away from the hotel we were in. As we approached, I was astounded by the size of the thing which has left its impression all over the city (even saw a painting of it on a coke machine at the airport). It can't be more than a foot and a half tall. I exclaimed "that's it?!" and Bradley said "yup." And the 20 tourists that were standing around looking at the thing cracked up laughing and started nodding at me.




Need to look up the story behind the statue I guess...

Brussels

Flew in to arrive mid-day for a pitch tomorrow afternoon. Ended up on the morning flight rather than evening in order to keep the costs down which has its plusses and minusses. Minus=get up early and deal with the rush hour commuters on the way to the airport. Plus=rest of team gets in around 6 pm, leaving me with a few hours to relax. Um, I mean, work really hard in my hotel room. ;-)

In all seriousness, I guess I get to do both. I took an hour out to go down and walk around and pick up a really nice bio sandwich and salad for lunch and pop my head into a few shops. I've never been to Belgium before, so this is finally a new country for me - first one in many years. (Yeah, i gotta get out and see more of Europe...). Not that I will be able to boast that I saw Belgium in the few hours I will have to explore.

I *knew* Belgium was famous for chocolate (among other food items...which are turning my head right and left as I walk down the street - waffles, fries, mussels, seafood everywhere), but I don't think I have ever seen so many chocolate shops in my life. Rather overwhelming. Of course I will take some chocolate home...but I wouldn't even know where to buy it - one chocolate from 20 different shops I guess....:-P

Meanwhile, the wall of beer/ale in another store had me pretty awed as well...

And the cathedral in the center - just had time for a snap and then I turned and headed back to the hotel. Time to work for a bit, but the team heads out for dinner together tonight, and that should be fun. The concierge recommended a French place and a Belgian place, but if I know the UK guys, we're gonna end up in a pub. ;-) Actually, everyone is recommending mussels and fries (very Belgian!), which sounds like a good plan to me.

Resurrection?

Walking to work today, I passed this rather frightening newspaper...


Translated, the headline reads:
"Man hung dead in cellar for 13 years."

I didn't buy a copy of the paper to read it, but sort of wondered...

"What now?"

Did he return to life after 13 years of being dead?

Who found him?

Why didn't anyone go down to the cellar for 13 years?

What made them FINALLY go down there?

So many questions....

Maybe I should have bought the paper.

Lucky Buddha Pears

I have a beer bottle (originally filled with beer) that I bought in Singapore because of the fact that it was in the shape of a buddha. Called "Lucky" beer, I am guessing it sells really well around the time of the Chinese New Year (late January, early February).


Just saw this, though....over on Boing Boing.

I wonder if they call these Lucky pears...



...and I wonder if they are lucky.

Jackfruit

It feels normal to be back in the office and in front of a computer again. Although when I stepped outside to get something for lunch today, the warm air and sun was much more inviting than the office buzz, phones, and LCD monitors. It's HOT here, though, and I wonder if the frozen shrimp I bought during my lunch run will make it home in ice-cube state or if I will have a drippy mess when I get to the door. The streets in Munich are all torn up everywhere - everyone is on vacation now, so the city decided to do all the road work at once - a big mess getting around, even on a bike. Hoping the repairs go quickly. Meanwhile, on a bike, one has to weave around the pedestrians and the few cars that manage to remain on the road which makes the going a bit slower than usual.

Saw these two lovely jackfruit during my lunch run as well, although they will not accompany the shrimp home. One of my favorite tropical fruits, I think I ate it from a can the first time 20 years ago. Used to eat it fresh in Singapore all the time, and as you can see, it's still possible to get here, but the pricing is a bit different. And like lychees, jackfruit manages to keep its texture and flavor when it gets canned, so it's not a bad option.