Cologne, Germany

Cologne, Dusseldorf and Aachen; two major cities and a town on the west side of Germany close to its border with Belgium. This was where we spent our recent 5 day trip and boy was it cold!


The main interest of the trip were the Christmas markets in Cologne, which is one of the most famous places for Christmas markets in Europe. Irene was so keen for this trip that she booked it almost 6 months in advance and have been looking forward to it ever since.


We initially wanted to have a seven day trip but my boss wasn't too keen for me to be away around this time of the year and so we cut it down to five days. This turned out to be for the better as Cologne and the Christmas markets turned out to be smaller than we anticipated and we ended up having enough time to make some side trips Aachen and Dusseldorf.


Given the time of the year, everywhere we went had a Christmas theme and multiple Christmas markets. As a result, we ended up visiting over 10 Christmas markets on this trip. Although you can find some unique stores at each market, most of the stores are more or less the same so the main appeal, at least for me, were the food.

It was not that the food was different at each market, though there were some unique food stores at some markets, but that the food were so good that you can never get enough of it, no matter which market you were at. As a result, we ended up eating numerous potato scallop type things, sausages, nuts, and other unhealthy stuff. We also drank a lot of mulled wine and punch.


Apart from the street food at the Christmas markets, we also wanted to try the genuine German beer haus food – the type like Lowenbrau in Sydney but without the stuff that allows Lowenbrau to inflate their prices. This proved to be a harder feat than first thought.

At first, we tried to make a booking at the beer haus recommended on the free tourist map that we got but unfortunately they were all booked out. Then back at the hotel, we found on the internet that those recommended beer haus are actually tourist traps and so were glad that we didn't end up booking. Instead, we found a few other recommended beer haus, some of which weren't too far from where we were staying. So on one of the mornings, we rocked up to try and make a booking. However, the language barrier made it slightly difficult and in the end, we were told to come back that night and "maybe" there will be a table.

Expecting the worst, we rocked up and waited at the door to be served. The waiter said to wait a moment and shortly afterwards, took us to a table that had a reserved sign. The fact that he didn't ask us for the number of guests and that they provided us with English menus (nothing to do with the beer haus – website, waiters, etc – had any English and so I was surprised to have been given an English menu) suggested that the waiter actually remembered us from the morning and reserved a table for us.

Having an English menu made life a lot easier and Irene ended up ordering a Pork Knuckle while I ordered a Pork Schnitzel. We ended up sharing the meal as usual, which was a good thing because the knuckle was HUGE! As we ordered our food relatively early (other guests tend to drink a while before ordering) the other guests were surprised to see the huge knuckle when it was placed in front of Irene. Whether it was the huge knuckle or the fact that it was for Irene, we don't know.


That dining experience was well worth the effort. I always enjoy immersing myself in different cultural experiences and definitely got a good dose of that at the beer haus. During the night, we saw groups of local German drink, eat, sing and socialise; and the price of the food and beer , and the lack of English with the waiters, made the experience all the more authentic.

This was the longest Europe trip since we've come to the UK and is the one that we've come back with the most "battle scars" (the type that you exchange with money). For me, the two main treasures that I brought back was a really nice looking wooden fountain pen, and a nice watch winder, which I've been in search of for a long wihle!


It was definitely a great trip – full of memories, experiences and goodies!

Traditional Afternoon Tea, Ritz, London

Ritz has arguably one of the best known afternoon tea (aka high tea) in the world. However, whether it's the best is another question.

Thanks to our good friends Chewy, Sabrina and Adrian, who gave us a voucher for afternoon tea at The Ritz, we were able to indulge ourselves in this posh experience at this posh establishment. For this indulgence, I was required to wear a tie and have a coat. This gave me the opportunity to wear my nice Banana Republic jacket, which has not been able to see much light of day since I bought it.


Upon arrival, we were greeted by men in penguin suits, or more formally known as tuxedos. We were first directed to the cloak room to store our coats before being seated in the Palm Court dining area for our afternoon tea experience.

Being the Christmas period, there was naturally a Christmas theme in the decor. But beyond these temporary fixtures, we can see the true Ritz afternoon tea decor. This included classy silverware on the tables, posh tablecloth and seats, beautiful statues, etc.


As afternoon tea is traditionally a female affair, having started by a princess who got hungry in between lunch and dinner, the Ritz afternoon tea patronage was not surprisingly predominantly female. Surprisingly, though, all the wait staff were male! However, the efficiency of these wait staff in tux were unquestionably efficient.

Shortly after having seated us, these men in tux brought out a three tier stand with the bottom layer consisting of finger sandwiches, the top layer with a few pieces of beautiful and mouth watering pastries and cakes, and the middle layer empty but to be filled with scones. The wait staff then took our tea order (we made our orders late because there was too much to choose from) and before long came our tea.


I ordered an interesting tea with flavours of orange and other citrus fruits. The sweet aromatic smell of the tea was really nice on the nose and complemented the food really well. After we finished the first round of sandwiches, a waiter came around and topped up our plate with more. Then halfway through the meal, a waiter came around with a nice little apple crumble in a cup. Shortly afterwards, another waiter came offering a choice of sponge cake or a Christmas log. We got one of each.


By the end off the meal, we left carrying our stomach as we were so full our body couldn't support the bulge! And I must say, all the food was delicious, but not as plentiful and as much variety as some other places.

Eye Skate, London

With all the outdoor ice rinks in vogue around this time of the year, choices are abundant and one of the first that we've tried is the Eye Skate. This outdoor ice skating rink is rather small but with the London Eye as a backdrop, the surrounds is rather stunning.

Given the limited operations of these outdoor ice skating rinks during the year, I was rather surprised by the relatively new ice skates that were provided. And given the weather was not that cold, I was also surprised by how well the ice held up in the great outdoors.

One gripe that I had with the session was the large number of kids and beginners, and the limited space in the rink. But despite this, it was a great 45min on the ice!

London Southbank Christmas Market

Unlike Irene, I wasn't all that enthusiastic about Christmas Markets. However, things started to change as I read and saw more about Christmas Markets in newspapers and on TV over the last few weeks. Apparently, girls have always been interested in Christmas Markets because of the shopping opportunities they present but guys don't mind going either because of the abundance of German beer and food that is around every corner. As one magazine put it, going to German Christmas Markets is all about eating and drinking; the shopping is just something to do in between meals!


With this knowledge at hand, I was looking forward to our first taste of Cologne Christmas Markets at London Southbank. Every year, hordes of German people bring their wares to the UK for a few weeks to set up shop at makeshift Christmas Markets. Upon arrival, one of the first things we did was buy some yummy German sausages in a roll and mulled wine. Yum! Then we bought an ostrich burger. Yum! And finally we started to trawl through the market, seeing a variety of novel gifts on offer.



Strolling through the relatively small Christmas market, we did more than our fair share of boosting the UK and German economy, having bought a wooden chess set, two beanies, other German crafts, warm apple juice, warm punch, crepe, more sausage in a roll, German pizza, water chestnut, churros, etc.


That was a great taste of what is to come in Cologne Germany! Hopefully the one is Cologne is much much bigger.

Barclay's ATP World Tour Finals - 24 November 2011

Just came back from the night session of the Barclay's ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena. Today's one of the last days of the Group stage and we saw a doubles match and the last of the Group B group matches. Not having the luck to see Federer play (missed out again by a whisker as he was playing during the day), we saw Nadal and Tsonga instead.

As both Nadal and Tsonga were vying for the remaining Group B place in the semis (Federer was the first to qualify), the match was destined to be intense from the beginning. Naturally, the match was very tight with both Nadal and Tsonga playing some exceptional shots, however, Tsonga was clearly the more outstanding player, which was reflected by some of his very impressive shots.


In the end, the match went to three sets before Tsonga finally broke Nadal three times to win (he was broken in the second last game by Nadal and so was made to break Nadal for a third time in the set to win).

Watching the tennis in O2 was a great experience. Apparently, O2 is the world's largest indoor tennis stadium and given it's multipurpose facilities, they were able to make fancy light work and sound effects in between games. Amongst the most impressive was turning the blue courts into a screen on which short videos were projected.


Looking forward to our next visit tomorrow where we'll be treated to the last of the Group matches, including one featuring the number 1 doubles team and one featuring the leading player in Group A of the singles matches - Ferrer.

MBA Enrolment and Registration

I have just registered and enrolled for my MBA studies. It was interesting seeing how different working in the UK is compared to Australia and now I get to see the difference on the study front as well.

The enrolment and registration process was relatively straightforward. Most of the fields were pre-populated and so it was more a process of reviewing the details than actually having to fill things out. As part of the enrolment process, we have to upload a photo for our student card. Not having a decent photo on hand, I went into a meeting room and took a mug shot with my mobile. That appears to have worked so hopefully I won't get a message later saying that my photo is too crappy to be acceptable.

One part of the enrolment and registration process required us to provide details on how we'll be paying our fees. This is where my head was pulled out of the clouds and I was brought back to the harsh reality of our quid pro quo society! Studying my undergrad and my first postgrad in Aust, I never really had to worry about the fees as they were deferred and automatically taken out of our pay when we started working. As such, the vast sums of money that we have to fork out for our self embetterment never really bit me - the only times that I was even aware/reminded of their existence were when I received the annual statements around tax time with the current outstandings of my educational debt.

This time, however, things are slightly different. Although nothing's confirmed yet as discussions are still taking place regarding my study support (my boss is speaking to his boss, and his boss is speaking to his boss), I am prepared for the worse and am ready to pay the fees out of my own pocket. As such, I opted to pay by quarterly instalments, hoping that will ease the burden a bit.

Now that all is done on my end, I guess I can only sit back and twiddle my thumb while I wait for the Uni to process my details and send me my bill and study pack!

Disneyland, Paris

Some might say I'm a little too old for Disneyland but hey, if you ask me, I'd rather live a little younger than a little older! This is the mindset that I'm finding more and more appealing. I mean, why waste your life working and doing other grown up things? Life is too short to be stuck in an office, or spent drinking hazardous chemicals. Instead, we should embrace life and live to our heart's content.

Disneyland was a great getaway. Unlike other trips, where the main activities involved staring at famous sites, Disneyland allowed us to live our childhood again and do all the things we loved doing, such as shooting targets with laser guns on the Buzz Lightyear ride, or sitting in a roller coaster in the form of a train going through man made mountains that were supposed to be mine shafts.


And how could this be complete without staying in a themed resort hotel, in our case, the theme was a cowboy them.

After the two days of re-visiting my childhood, I must say, I enjoyed every bit of it! Actually, maybe except for the 1hr+ queues for some of the rides and the 1 hour delay with the Eurostar trip back, but hey, these are only minor gripes considering how much fun we had over the two days!