Heidelburg

The day after Frankfurt, we had breakfast at the korean hostel and off we go! out to explore Germany.
We got out really early in the morning, the streets were still empty but that's perhaps it's a saturday. We went to the second hand market in Frankfurt which is one of the largest market in Europe. there were lots of stuff to see and buy, everything was pretty cheap but nah i'm not really into hand me downs =P
and then we had to go to the train station to catch our train to Heidelburg, daljoon says "15mins before the train leaves" and from what i recalled the train station is really far from where we are now! eeeeksss rush rush rush....walk faster steph! but my feet was so filled with blisters from yesterday, it was soo difficult to walk, be it run. thank goodness we made it to the train just in time

the journey from frankfurt am main to heidelburg is pretty long, maybe an hr or so. the scenery was real nice from the train, and the train is so comfy, unlike the uncushioned ones we have on mrt. and alas! we reached Heidelburg station. we came down from the train, all excited only to realise, that it wasnt the stop! it wasnt the main train station! oopsieeee, hahaha blunder=P so we waited for another train which took 10mins to arrive, to the next stop, the correct one. and ta da! Heidelburg!
a little introduction on Heidelburg:

Heidelberg is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. As of 2006, over 140,000 people live within the city's 109 square kilometres (42 sq mi) area. Heidelberg is a unitary authority. The Rhein-Neckar-Kreis rural district surrounds and has its seat in the city, but the city itself does not form a part of it.

Heidelberg lies on the river Neckar at the point where it leaves its narrow, steep valley in the Odenwald to flow into the Rhine valley where, 20 kilometres (12 mi) northwest of Heidelberg, it joins the river Rhine at Mannheim. Heidelberg is part of a densely populated region known as the Rhein-Neckar-Triangle.

it is probably a university town, the university campus is said to be spread all around Heidelburg. it's much more lively here compared to the where im living. so many shops, so much to do! SHOPPING! when we talk about shopping, daljoon's face turn into disappointment. haha shant be so bad to him. he is a real good tour guide actually, he knows everything! walking wikipedia! daljoon-pedia =P

a snap of the shopping district in Heidelburg

our next plan is to have lunch at a Thai buffet which is according to the daljoon, real goood, so we searched and searched but to no avail! where the hell isit?! it's suppose to be 15mins away from the train station but it seems like an hour or 2 already. we ended up having Nordsea which served seafood! yummmy! hadnt had that for a really long time! look at my 8.45Euro fish & chips which is equivalent to $17 Sing dollars. and my yummy crepes which cost me 3.50 euros.

Sightseeing in Heidelburg.
1. Student Prison

where naughty boys and girls are placed in the 1700s. they were allowed to go to school while serving their time and friends are allowed to visit. they could even bring alcohol into the cell. the spent their free time carving on tables and drawing on the wall using whatever materials they have.

2. Bits and pieces of Heidelberg University

it's a really famous university actually, and the campus is strewn around the town itself. we went to one of the lecture halls and wow! they're impressive. it's so medieval like, it looks like those u see on the big screen, especially on Harry Potter.

and the library is amazing! the facade of building is so magnificant and grand and inside is so modern just like any other library. envy.

first 2 pictures are of the lecture hall and the last one is of course the library

3. Heidelberg Castle

a little information of the castle from Wikipedia:

The castle is a mix of styles from Gothic to Renaissance. Prince Elector Ruprecht III (1398–1410) erected the first representative building in the inner courtyard as a regal residence. The building was divided into a ground floor made of stone and framework upper levels. Another regal building is located opposite to the Ruprecht Building: The Fountain Hall. Prince Elector Philipp (1476–1508) is said to have arranged the transfer of the hall's columns from a decayed palace of Charlemagne to Heidelberg.

Today, the hall is used for festivities, e.g. dinner banquets, balls and theatre performances. During the Heidelberg Castle Festival in the summer, the courtyard is the site of open air musicals, operas, theatre performances and classical concerts performed by the Heidelberg Philharmonics.

The castle is surrounded by a park where the famous poet Johann von Goethe once walked. The Heidelberger Bergbahn funicular railway runs from Heidelberg's Kornmakt to the summit of the Königstuhl via the castle.

this is the first castle i've visited, excluding my school that is. the walk up to the castle is sooo tiring! ekkks! it's a long road up and what's worst is, the whole stretch of road is a steep steep steep slope! i was afraid i might just roll down the slope while climbing it. and after 20mins of climbing we finally reached the castle! yay! totally breathless at that point of time. but the scenery is breathtaking =) well worth the walk

and this is the big water/wine barrel located in the castle, to store wine for the king, and to store water when there is a war. it is said to be 2000litres. it is HUGEEE!

and the park next to the castle, i've nv been to a place so green before and it makes u wanna just lie on the grass and laze there all afternoon

Frankfurt

fast forwarding to 2nd week in Germany.

Our very first venture out of our little town or shall i say village with the other exchange students.

It was a rainy gloomy afternoon, skipped morning's workshop so we could sleep in late and get ready for the trip.

walked to school in heavy bags of clothes because we're gonna stayover at Frankfurt! woooo exciting. hopped onto the bus and off we go to FRANKFURT!

it was supposedly a really long journey but, hmmmz nah it wasnt. reached frankfurt in no time! it was still raining when we got there, open umbrellas! but there were 6 of us and only 3 umbrellas. being nice pple, we shared our umbrellas =) the rain got heavier and heavier as the tour went on, and the stupid tour guide didnt want to take a break in the shelter, instead he continued to explain in the rain. gosh! and i was all wet thanks to my umbrella holder! =P
what a bad day
1. my clothes were all wet
2. it's sooo damn cold, till the extent smoke were coming out of our mouths
3. my passport was wet
4. my entire bag, which i tot was waterproof, wasnt, so everything i had was wet
5. i had to pour water out of my shoes

and finally we reached our destination of the day. i dont even know what tower isit, i was more concern with the state im in now. brrrrrr.......... anyway the tower is 190m so we could see the whole of frankfurt from up there. when we got up to the top of the tower, it stopped raining, what a miracle! so we could take photos! yippees!when we got down from the tower it was already 5pm? and the tourguide already went missing. lousy tour guide! arghh all wet, we hurried to the korean hostel that daljoon booked. the korean hostel is amazing! so clean and warm, finally walked around barefooted in a house..that was when i realise everything i had except the camera and hp were wet! got to dry everything up with the heater.

next plan is to go to the Korean supermarket which daljoon and the other koreans were looking forward to. you can see the smile and sparkle on daljoon's face when he got there. haha very funny, i bought ramen tooooooo! 5 packets of it..not alot but still happy! spent a lot of time there and i was starving actually! cold and hungry, how much worst can the day get. arghh got back at around 7.30pm, and the korean food at the dining area just look soo good for a hungry person like me. according to the other koreans, the food aint that great, but im HUNGRY! so everything tastes good =P
and yeah that was end of frankfurt day for us. i told sungho this is the worst day of my LIFE! phew...glad it's over.

The night the cops paid us a visit

there was a welcome party last week on one of the weekdays, cant remember the actual day but, it was the first official introduction day for exchange students in ebs.

first we had free breakfast in school, where we cooped all the jams, nutella and what not. we planned to eat until we burst and save lunch money. hehez

and then it was back to boring day in school with nothing much to do but sit around, waiting for the sky to drop. and after jinmoo n heeyeon got their bikes, we cycled down to the river which is not too far from the schloss campus to chill.

and next, free dinner again! at a restaurant near our apartment. was starving by the time we got there! but there were several speech in between before we can eat. and damn the food is hmmmmmz...... like breakfast again! omg bread bread ham ham ham and more ham, everything was cold. i feel like as if it's just appetizer but yeah that's dinner for them. and 1 free drink of coz.=)and the highlight of the evening, party at our place! *wooooots* BYOB please pple. we only provide the place and the soccer table and oh yeah beer pong too. the turnout was great, lotsa of pple came, most i dont even know! people just keeep coming and the alcohol came in crates. one thing i learnt, they dont do mixers, it's just the drink alone. i had 1 shot of jim bean and that's it! no more for me tonight. the only mixers are probably alcohol with alcohol eg beer with jim bean and it actually taste not bad.the party ran through the night and people were hanging outside the house tooo, and it got kinda noisy and the neighbours were complaining until the cops came! =X haha first time ever. shows how haps our party was =P

First day of School

first day of language class actually, a 1 week intensive german class for exchange students. and liyin n i were placed in the basic level. and day 1 is a level test. goodness me.........we had listening first, and liyin n i just looked at each other "i dont know what the hell is happening now!" it was like something we havent heard before

and next it was comprehension, and at least 90% of the words are foreign to us, nv seen before words. i was like ''shit......" and the next one is grammar which was better, at first until we reach qn 25 onwards, i just circled "C'' for every question. higher chance they say. but ahya the last one, composition, at that point of time i just dont know how to form a sentence in german. so i just handed up a blank sheet with my name on it. and that's it! end of language class.

first day was pretty much an introduction of the school, and to meet new friends. we found those who we've seen on the facebook grp, thanks to symon. and many others from all over the globe, their really friendly pple except for some. ahhh finally met semin! we've been talking so much on facebook n msn and finally i met her. yippps so happy! and of course the smu pple and huixin.
walking from the burg campus to the schloss campus is really tiring, maybe a 30mins walk? Burg campus is really near my apartment 5 mins maybe? and the schloss is well pretty far. the school isnt as big as i expected actually, it's kinda small! *woops* it's probably the size of FASS. and guess what we have a vineyard in school! haha and a nice cafe which looks like a posh restaurant. and a castle for the office blocks. ooo pretty pretty pretty!and we got our student cards today! oh oh! and im in the Business Ad faculty. HAHAHa! it is also the day we get our bicycles too! for those who dont already know, people here cycle a lot! like everywhere they go, around the town because it is really hard to drive in narrow streets. soo from today onwards im cycling to school everyday! and everywhere.

my idea of a perfect afternoon

Our free time are mainly spent on cycling around the area, looking at beautiful houses and green vineyards.

our town is really beautiful! mountains in the background and a river in the front. and today we cycled to the river from our house to the river takes about 10mins on bike. it's a really long stretch of road, maybe ONE day i'll go there for a jog.

rode 20mins to a spot with a big field and a small bar.

wine at the riverside on a fine weathered afternoonawesomeeee

Days of our lives in Oestrich Winkel

there isnt much to do around here, all shops, even supermarkets are closed on Sundays. it is apparently illegal to make your worker work on a Sunday.

so the town is practically dead on Sundays. hence Sundays became a day we do our housechores and wash clothes. there isnt a washing machine in the house, apparently it was a misunderstanding between the landlord and that bitch lady. and we end up with no washing machine, everything is done by hand which kinda suck because i'll be killing my beautiful hands with soap powder =(
FOOD. because it's a small town, you cant expect much around here. only a few restaurants and cafes and pizzeries, mainly pizzerias and bakery. everything here is bread, bread bread bread. i am at the max bread tolerance level now. no more bread ! argh! we cook at home most of the time, unless we're really lazy then we'll tabao frm a pizzeria or just cycle there. in the supermarket, all the seafood are frozen which taste yucky, they only have fresh meat. lots and lots of meat and sausages. there isnt much selection for vegetables too, mainly those u eat in salad. sooo the only veg we could cook with was the big white cabbage. they have lots of fruit but it's expensive and lots of potatos tooo

we had Mee Sua on the first day. Mee sua brought from Singapore. ahhh i miss Singapore foodhere this is the frozen fish im talking about, and it's already seasoned with ginger and spring onion. the only thing left for us to do is to put it into the oven. and that's it! wala! it taste kinda sucky actually =P *woops*

DRINKS. since the day we arrived, which is a week, we havent stopped drinking! goshh...people here drink at any time of the day, morning, afternoon and night. and we always have wine after dinner. ALWAYS! once we had a hungarian drink Palinkom which is close to 70% alcohol. man, after that, i went back and plopped into bed immediately till the next morning. Lethal.
ps: they dont drink their hard liquor with any mixers, just the alcohol by itself.

this is the wine we had on our first night here in germany. and another korean raspberry wine from our housemate daljoon. it's really nice coz it's very very sweeet tasting.

Wiesbaden

2nd day in germany already, we cant stand the country life! tooooo quiet! we needed a life! soooo we bumped ourselves to the city, Wiesbaden.

Gosh! just to get to the city cost us 7.40Euros per person which is like $14! eeeeks and it was only a 20mins bus ride! =( hole in the pocket getting deeper each day !

as blur as we can be, we forgot to check online which station to stop at! so we stopped at a random station in Wiesbaden and spent an hour searching for the shopping district! thank god we found it =) and i went crazy shopppping !
love the idea of street shopping! just like everywhere else in the world, too bad singapore doesnt have that, only big shopping malls. and guess what, the germans bring their pets, okay mainly dogs for shopping! leashed of course. they are allowed to go into shops as well can u believe that?! u cant do that in singapore. soo dogs are pretty much part of their fashion accessories.
and babies tooo! so many babies and toddlers in prams with their mommy n daddy.we were to lucky to chance upon an annual wine festival ! lotsa people there, lotsa of music and of course what's a wine festival without wine! oh and there's food tooo! local germany foood, u just got to try them.

the bratswurt and pork burger
the sausage didnt taste too special actually, but the burger was awesome! simple delicioussss.
it is like singapore roasted pork with onion sauce

here is a german pizza! it's paper thin, no crust, we had a sour cream onion, bacon and cheese pizza, which is oh-soo-gooooood! haha they make it fresh as and when u order, and pple in singapore queue for donuts while germans queue for their pizza, which is wayyyyy bettter! =Pthis is the first time i've seen fresh potato chips in the making! omg so fascinating! we never tried it because we were too full and the queue was so damn long! fresh potato chips! saving the best for last, WINE! yeappps tasting of wine cost us 2 euros per glass only. where can u get such cheap ones in singapore that actually taste goood?!
oh oh apart from eating and shopping, we went for a little sightseeing, look at that magnificant looking church!!! so pretttty right.....awwwwww dont know what's the name of it though, but it's pretty!

and yeah that's about it for my little trip to the city

bis morgen!