Getting lost

Whenever I visit a new country, I have this habit of getting lost. I enjoy the slow walk, the small little interesting stuff by the street, the unexpected things and events... just bits and pieces… Especially on a sunny day, that is a great way to see see look look. *Laugh as I typed my Manglish*. Sometimes I even get the chance to talk to a local while having my tea. They often give some good advice on the nice places and events in the region. To me, it also helps me to understand the place, the culture and the people a bit more. I guess I simply enjoy the feeling of exploring things in my own pace and the way the trip unfolded as it goes. I just don’t like the idea of tour group, but the short ones are alright. Not to say that it is something bad, but just a personal preference. Moreover, travelling by myself always give me the flexibility and time to take photos.

Having said that, yesterday was really a pain in the arse… By 11:00pm, I was decisive that I was going to leave after the last round of Napoleon. I was quite tired and sleepy, partly because of my work and partly because of the stuffy heat in my office. As I missed the tram and the next one was in 25 minutes. I decided to walk back to the dorm. At one point, I was mistaken and took a wrong turn at the junction. However, I was still under the impression that I was on the right direction. Little do I know…? Some 20 minutes later, I found myself somewhere in the city, on a street that I had never been before. Everything seems so familiar yet unfamiliar. By then, the last bus at the local bust stop had left. I had no choice but to walk back. While I guess I could take a cab as the last resort. Although I was in a lost situation in the middle of the night, that did not stop me from taking another guessing move. This time, I was right and when I reach home, it was already 12:30am. Geeezzzz… Taking the tram back then would get me back to the dorm earlier… *Smile* Thinking it from a good side, it was quite a nice stroll after my heavy dinner. Lady Boss had some new dishes, steamed radish with strong dip sauce that I didn’t like and soy bean pancake that was fantastic.

After the late night missing yesterday, I woke up 30 minutes earlier this morning to catch the 8:45am bus. While waking up early is a good sign for me, but when I stepped out my dorm. It started to rain very heavily and the bad thing was I do not have an umbrella! *Sigh...* I put on my Jordan cap and flip on my Adidas jacket hood and ran towards the bus. Luckily, I got the time right and the bus arrived just after me. Since then the storm started. When I got off from the bus, I had to run my way to work and half of my body was wet. There goes my effort of hair waxing and my just washed jeans… all wet.

Later tonight I will be going to the Opar to watch an opera show. Is about French revolution and is in Italian with German subtitles… Great…

Aussie 0 – 1 Italy

Shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, well done! You guys did great! Aussie! Aussie Aussie!

Rush through Saturday~~

“Ring!!!!!” it was 9:00am in the morning, I woke up and I was wondering why the heck I set my alarm so early in the morning… On a Saturday morning … Heck cares, I decided to go back to sleep after I smashed my alarm. Few hours later, I suddenly jumped off my bed and I just remembered I was supposed to meet the guys at 12:00pm at Haufplatz and now was 1:30am. Somehow I always have this problem to remember the reason to get up so early, if only I could… Argg… Quickly, I picked up my mobile and called. Luckily, Martin was going to drive and he could pick me up. In a way, it was good that I was late, so I did not need to cycle to Wildon. It was a fantastic idea at the beginning, while looking at the guys who cycled here, was kind of exhausting… Not to say that I was lazy, just simply I overslept...

After a long hot week, swimming was really a great choice. The lake that we went swimming was Badesee, nearby Wildon and it was artificially constructed by the plant owner no far from the small town. However, the water quality was excellent. When I was sitting in the lake by the shore, I could see fishes swimming around me, not just one but quite a few. Also, the water wa quite clear and I could see myself through the water. While I spent most of the time swimming, Laura, Martin and Bjarne went strolling and had some ice cream. Karin, Elene and Johannes were either taking a nap or sun bathing. After a good swim, we went up to the hill for some food and wine at the cottage. The food was mostly grown in the region and wines were produced by the cottage host. So, it wasn’t expensive and the food was nice. For the wine, we bought three different wine, rosé, white and red. I personally prefer the red more than the rest. The red had a very sweet-dry-grape smell and taste.

When the sun started to fall, we paid and went back to Graz. There were two parties following tonight, Erica’s Farewell and Philip’s Birthday. I would go both, but before that I went back to have a quick shower. Laura and I didn’t stay long at Erica’s Farewell at Eckhaus. We had some quick conversation with her and a drink then we left to catch the last tram to Philip’s place. Talking about Philip’s party, it was totally out of control, in a fun sense. Almost half of the people were drunk and wet at the end. As people started to drag each other into the pool, which was roughly 1 meter radius wide. While those that were smoking by the courtyard, was spalshed wet from the top of the balcony. Looking at how people reacted was funny… Happy Birthday Philip!

USI Sport Fest

After a few nights straight of drinking and insufficient of sleep, my panda eyes was getting worse and I just couldn’t stop myself going instant coma at work. I hoped that no one noticed. When I finally finished the work that I intended to complete, it was already 7:00pm. It was kinda sad thing to stay late on a Friday evening. Regardless, I would go to the USI Sport Fest, it was the biggest student party of the year or probably because the fest was just across the street, two minutes walk from my dormitory. Anyhow, I ended up taking the longer way, I misunderstood the direction that I was given. By the time I arrived, the run had already overed and the party had only just started. It wasn’t as crowded as I expected. Nonetheless, I headed to the food booth. After what I had that afternoon, I would really appreciate a good dinner. Quickly, I bought myself half a roasted chicken, salad, bread and a beer. Not the best roasted chicken, but was good enough to fill my stomach. Then, we went to meet the other guys. As night got late, people started to pack. Apparantly, at least one third of the student population is here...

It was quite a surprise that I met someone just came back travelling from Malaysia. Although we did not have a long conversation, it was nice and at least it kinda made me felt less homesick. Strangely however, she only knew “Selamat Datang.” and “Selamat Jalan.” Probably, she spent the whole trip on shopping. Just after she left, Martin pointed towards a road sign written “notausgang” and asked us what it means. I know ausgang means exit and thus it make sense that noatausgang refered to no exit. With the wicked smile of his face, more or less I knew that I was wrong. It actually means emergency exit… Yikes! If something disastrous happened, I would have ran in an opposite direction. Kinda think of it, it would be hilarious. By 11:00pm, Johannes was going to leave and it was so not him to leave this early. Kekekekee~~ He had an exam at 8:30am the next day, on a Saturday, poor fellow… Hold on… I have an exam coming soon as well… Shit, I haven't studied yet… Whatever… Later we decided to have a look at the different parts of the fest. There was techno, trance, rock, pop, R&B and country.

The R&B was quite nice, but the hall was so stuffy and hot, I felt like a chicken being roasted in an oven and ironically I just had half of it myself... If you want to know how crowded it was, imagine there was a long queue in front of the women’s toilet and the gals started queuing in the men’s toilet. Couldn’t stand the heat anymore, we went for the country songs, which was at the outdoor area and it was great. Everyone was having a great time! Looking around, we could easily see people standing on the table, singing, clapping and even dancing, till the security guy came in to warn them. However, everything was back to before once the security went off. The only down side was that most of the country songs were Styrian music. Not that the songs weren’t nice, it was simply that I didn’t understand a single word of the lyrics. Slowly that I found hard to cope with the conversation and I would have to use toothpicks to hold my eyes open. When my watch stroked 3:00am in the morning, I left… ZZZzzZZzZZzzz…

Summer is finally here

Just when I was soldering one of my testing boards, Andy and Negin turned to me and said, “Do you want some ice? … Ice cream…” Without a second thought, I left my stuff and walked out of the building with them. It is Metaphof Ice Day. After experiencing more than a week of hot grilling temperature and being baked in the office, this is great. Slowly waiting for our turn, it was not hard to notice that almost everyone from our building came out. The weather has cooled down a bit today, but almost everyone is still on casual clothing and short pant, the ice cream is really the saviour and people appreciate it so much. While in the meantime, it is also a short break away from work. The hazelnut and chocolate ice cream that I am having now is fantastic~~

Thinking of it, I am here in Austria for almost two months and so many things had happened, both good ones and bad ones… while, more good ones of course. Although I miss my family, friends and of course food back in Malaysia and Melbourne, I have to say I really enjoy being in Graz. I like my tough day work that always make me depressed, miserable and feel stupid, but hell lot of satisfaction once I got it done. Then there are these lazy weeknights chill out at a friend restaurant with wine, nice food and great accompany, or probably getting tipsy in the pubs. Follow by the weekend trips that often surprise me with excitement and fun.

Almost finishing my ice cream now, I can’t wait for the events in the coming weeks. While later tonight, there is a party and tomorrow, I will be going to Donauinsel Festival Vienna for the weekend… and probably Erica’s farewell and Philip’s birthday party... Great! An internal mail just came in, teams from Graz, Klagenfurt, Munich, Regensburg and Villach are going to compete at the Infineon Dragon Boat Cup race at lake Ossiachersee in Villach on 12th August. Arghhh… too bad that I am going to miss it for sure… I will be going to Mauritius for Rhavy’s wedding.

Summer is finally here and it will be great!

P/S: Photos will be uploaded later. My dorm account just got blocked and had to wait till connection up again to upload the photos.

Misummer Festival

Although I had heard Midsummer Festival for several times, I did not know what it was really about till lately. It celebrates the longest day of the year and yesterday was the day… I guess. There are similar events in Melbourne as well, but was not really interested to find out then, probably because life was already packed.

Together with some familiar faces, we were invited by Johannes to celebrate the day on the top of Reinerkogel hill in Graz. It had been a hard day at work and most of my scripts have to be rewritten, I really appreciated the invitation. It was a good way to let my brain loosen up and got some rest. BBQ by the bonfire… drank some Australian wine… listened to the guitar… saw some fireflies that I haven’t seen for years or maybe decades… The late evening was simply wonderful.

Kathi listen closely to the music

Philip played the guitar by the bonfire

Munich... TBW.....

No ticket!

For the past months, I had always thought that I had already purchased the ticket for Saudi Arabia against Turnesia. However, I had to face the hard cold reality. I DON'T HAVE A TICKET!!!! What I was told and what actually happened was totally different... When the others were enjoying, I am totally pissed... By now, the match should had finished... I am totally speechless... Who to blame, probably myself... because I don't understand German and I trusted those that think they understand, but in fact they aren't that good as they think they are. Now, I just hoped that I could enjoy the following two days in Munich. For now, I am among the thousands who got dissapointed in Munich... What a lesson... A painful one! *pissed off + dissapointed + slightly sobbed*

Let it be

Yesterday was such a shit day, not only because the dramatical change of plan, it was also what happened after that. First there was the breaking news... then I need to corked out extra EURO$200 for the sudden changes... then I almost got hitted by the tram... then 1 minute before I left my dorm, it started to storm and rain heavily... then there was this thing about I might not have the ticket for the match tonight, although I had paid... then just when I was about to use the mobile, battery went flat... Was it a coincidence or some mysterious force is stopping to come to Munich... It was so fucked up in short!

However, I manage to buy a train ticket to Munich. I left Graz at 9:35pm and I had to change train at 1:08am in the morning at Bischofshofen. From there, 2 more hours of waiting for the train to Munich. After the d-o-drama, I was totally exhausted like a flatted balloon, but I couldn't sleep nor rest. This was my first time with ÖBB outside Austria, I have to make sure I got on the right train. What a nice way to start... Fortunately, I was not the only one who was suffering. Björn was in the same situation as well. He just flew back from Spain after two weeks of vacation and was on his way back to Villach. On top of that, he only had one hour to sleep before class starts. At least, I had someone for accompany and we had quite a good conversation during the wait. That actually lightened up my mood abit. Waiving goodbye, I later hopped on my train. In no time, I picked a cabin, went in, left my luggage, removed my shoes and straight to sleep. Somehow, I was still awake... Slowly time passed and an hour before I reached Munich, I sat up and starting to look out the window. By that time, the Mexican kid had got up and we chatted along the way. He is only 16 this year, my Godness! He just spent 3 weeks in Slovenia and a week in Italy by himself. I wished my mum would let me to do that when I were his age... Now, he is flying back to Mexico City. Finally in Munich... at 6:35am.

... I am so tired right now and I am waiting to check in... I need sleep... very badly... The reception lady has been nice and offer me to check in 3.5 hours early. At least a glimse sign of good luck coming back... Finished my tasteless Darjeeling and this... Is time, and I am about to head towards the reception and for a good shower! I am just going to let it be... let it be... Not going to let all these shit spoils my trip. *Winks with goofy eyes*

FUCKING RIDICULOUS!!!!

Just when I was getting so excited about going to Munich, my mobile rang. It was Jing Rong. She sounded strange and for the next few minutes there were piece of silence. Finally, she said, “… I am sorry. I don’t think you can follow us to Munich… I was talking with his dad just now… His dad said that he does not know you and do not feel right if accident happened on the road…” and something blar blar blar… Although I was completely berserk and mad, I managed to say, “Is ok…”

WHAT THE FUCK!!!! I almost screamed out. I am so pissed off now!!! Really I mean it. I do not mind going to Munich by myself or pay my own fucking accommodation, but telling me 2 hours before I leave my job and less than 24 hours before the match starts. THAT IS FUCKING RIDICULOUS! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! YEAH, ACCIDENT MY ARSE!!!!!!!! If you are afraid of accident, why are you still driving there. Can't wait to die??!! Or you think I am a piece of shitass junkee who is going to kidnap and murder your kid. Even if I wanted to do so, You will probably come after the bull fly. Arggghhh... So humiliating and insulting! You better not think that way! Furthermore, I was invited at the first place! I have never been so pissed off. I need a channel to let out my anger. FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!

I sounded totally rude. However for now, at least I feel like a human. At this moment, I am totally blank and anger still burns badly in me. What am I going to do next, I am not too sure? One thing for sure that I am no more able to concentrate my work for the rest of the day… Think… Think… Think… Not going to let this stop me and I am going to enjoy myself for sure!

2nd assignment continues

Three days back, I was so uncertain about my 2nd assignment. While now, I have completed the script needed for the initial testing and I am ahead of my schedule by 5 days. *Wink!* Besides, I had my 1st trial on the soldering and everything was good. Wolfgang was really nice in giving me some tips on the soldering and showed me the various equipments. Then, Sebastian was happy with my soldering, since he hated it so much. Also, I finally got my pair of slippers after 5 weeks of waiting. Thanks to I-do-not-know-his-name nice guy. The slippers are specially made to protect us, lab dwellers. The bottom of the slippers is grounded to earth. In another word, under the scenario that I accidentally get electrical shocked heavily, there is possibility that I survived without being crispy. Today has been great. This is the 1st time since I arrived in Graz that I feel I can finish my internship. Gaining confidence~~~~~ 1%... 2%... 3%... 4%... 5%...

Looking around my office now, most of my colleagues had left and I am left alone to take my time to write my blog. Probably because today is the opening of FIFA World Cup, everyone is excited about it and has planned where to watch the game or it is just because it is simply Friday. I know some of the pubs offer free beers from kick off till the 1st goal and I am pretty certain that my colleagues are in one of those pubs drinking beer now. Regardless, I am going down to old town area and grab a place before it got crowded… or it is already crowded now…

The coming week, I will be watching Saudi Arabia against Tunisian live and spend five days in Munich! *Grin!* Although that is not my favourite, I am going to enjoy and be a part of the game. Andreas is going to drive and I am staying over his place. Thanks to Jing Rong!!!

Ready for FIFA World Cup in Germany

2nd assignment

It would have been great to start work on a Tuesday, but went to bed at 3:00am and woke up at 8:45am could be a disaster! Why do I always fell into the vicious cycle of sleep late, wake up early and doze off during work… Somehow, I have to stop this. *Sigh!*

Today, Sebastian has given me a new task, to write a program to test Received Strength Signal Indicator (RSSI) of a transceiver. Although I listened carefully to his explanation and trying to understand the task, I failed! My brain was totally blank. I wasn’t sure whether I was too tired or it was just too hard, which I hoped was the previous one. As I am so damn sure that I have to complete by myself. However, I was demoralised soon. I don’t know what the hell was going on. Carefully looking at the template script, trying hard to figure what to do next, reading the bug listed out by the compiler errors, all I could do was sitting in front of my PC and idle... I feel hopeless… Progress has been extremely slow and brain is malfunctioning at the moment. Meanwhile, I am reluctant to ask help from Sebastian as he himself is also busy with his stuff. This is only the first day, probably I should not expect so much after all. “Be positive, you can do it!” I told myself repeatedly to lift up my mood. *Crossed fingers!*

15 more minutes and I am going to leave work, shall I go for an early dinner which will always end up to be a late night or just go back home and straight to the bed…. I cannot decide as yet. One thing for sure, I want to leave my work…

Naked at Loisperdorf

It was on Saturday that Johannes proposed to go to the local hot spring for the weekend excursion. I had nothing planned, so I said yes. However, it was quite a hard night before and I only had less than three hours sleep. As Friday night, I went to pool with the guys and had some drinks till early morning, 4:00am Saturday precisely! Regardless, I woke up with a disoriented brain and waited for pick up at 10:00am. A hot spring trip could be excellent to get me ready for the clubbing tonight.

The hot spring village, Loipersdorf is situated east of Styria and is only an hour drive from Graz. The thermal and healing bath in this region populated due to the volcano range around it. The water in the bath was pumped from the ground and it is really good for the skin and the body. After Kathi parked the car, we walked towards the bath. The key to various entries in the bath was a watch with a built in chip. By placing the chip on the sensors, we could access the facility, the lockers... By the end of the day, just simply put it back in a machine to get the refund back. It was quite an eye opener. The last similar trip that I went, they were still using paper strips over the wrist.

There were two main areas which we could access for the day, the hot spring and sauna. The hot spring area was further divided to indoor and outdoor. Nothing fancy about this part, but one was really nice. As the bath opens till late night, it is wonderful to sink in the outdoor hot spring under the stars that will be really nice. For the coming full moon, it is going to open till 2:00am the next day. Too bad, I didn't have a spare hand for my digital camera. Then there was the sauna...

While have anyone been to a public naked bath? Yap, this is one of them. In Austria, people go to sauna naked! In addition to that, the baths are usually mixed. Some of your guys who are reading this might start to think... Ahem... Later I heard from Philip that it is more for the hygienic purpose rather than sexual. At the beginning, it was completely weird and uncomfortable for me. The guys just went in the changing room, undressed and walked into the sauna with literally nothing. It was the same for the girls as well. Hmmm... Since I am in Austria, I shall follow their rules and I didn't think I have a choice then. I walked in with nothing, but with a towel around my waist. Trying to hide my thingy without being obvious. In less than 15 minutes I gave up and walked around the area like the others. To my surprise, once I got used to, it was really nothing and I enjoyed myself. When we were in the sauna room, someone would always take the initiative be the 'Master of Ceremony' and it is normally a guy's job. Starting of every session, he will open the door and spin his towel to get some fresh air into the room. Then, he will close the door and pour the water on the hot rocks. Also, he would flip his towel to get some air towards the stone and swing his towel like an helicopter, in order to get the hot air evenly distributed in the room. At the end of the session, people will really applaud for his effort. Philip and Thomas took the honor and did it really well.

Loipersdorf bath

By the time we left, it was already 8:00pm and it ended up quite funny. After a local took photos for us, he asked where were we from. In no time that Philip said, "We are from Okinawa, east of Styria." While the guy surprisingly replied, "Okinawa... Hmm... I haven been there... east of Styria." He actually believed it! Then, we finished off with Philip and Johannes doing a Nazi style goodbye... They were hilarious!

Johannes, me, Philip, Kathi, Thomas and Suza(Left to right)

Sunset at Loipersdorf

Johannes and Philip with Nazi style goodbye

Curse the stove!

While I have always reckon myself as a good cook, somehow yesterday was by far my worst... Having said that, the tastes were still reasonably good.

After the clubbing night at Won, which the DJ sucked big time, 5am in the morning we decided to have potluck at Nai Wen's place. So, Nai Wen, Guo Quan and I went to the ONLY supermarket in Graz that opens on Sunday to get some stuff. At that moment, I was quite happy. Finally, some decent cooking of mine. Later I found out that there was no pork in SPAR... I had to go to another place to get the spare ribs I needed so so so so so so much. On top of that, most of the materials were not available and I had to somehow find something else to replace. Anyway, I managed to get some repacements. I left my place at 5pm and by the time I started cooking, it was 8pm. Shit! I had nothing and my stomach were killing me so bad...

I was going to made three dishes, sesame oil chicken with chinese wine, japanese curry spare ribs and snowpeas with oyster sauce. Chopping and slicing the ingredients in no time, I quickly heated up the stove and started cooking. However, I was disheartened sooner than one can expect. The damn electric stove went on and off for every 5 minutes. I had to cope with unfamiliar ingredients, various replacements, not enough cooking utensils and now..... cooking in a fucking turtle speed. That was totally a fucked up. Imagine it took more than 15 minutes to boil water... For some reasons, it ended up myself being the one and only one who was cooking. I had no choice, but just to continue my love and hate relationship with the bitchy stove.

9:00pm... 10:00pm... 11:00pm... Fucked! I just stopped everything and ate. By that time, everone was hungry and finished everything till the finest pieces of meat you can find in a light speed. Oh ya,There were 9 people to share... Eventually, I managed to fill my stomach with shiraz and rose. *Totally a bad idea and I am having a slight headache now.* The problem with the dishes was that the tastes were not dense enough as I had wanted. Argghhhh... just hated it when it is not what I want!

Hallstadt + Pürgg

Waiving goodbye, we got on the car and started our way back to Graz. That was a rainy day and it had been drizzling never ending since early morning. The sky looked moody and we could only drive slowly. So, we decided to take our time and visit two rural villages.

Less than 30 minutes drive, we arrived at our first destination. Hallstadt sits along the mountain region of Salzkammergut and by the lake of Hallstättersee. The magnificent landscape combines the aspects of cultural and nature in a manner that is both harmonious and mutually complimentary. The history of Hallstadt is significant and can be traced back as far as 5000 BC as results of its rich sources of natural salt, which is still on production now. For that reason, it was named Hallstadt. Hall is the old Celtic name for salt, but some argue that it derived from Old High German. Anyway, active trades had facilitated wealth generation and allowed the evolvement of one of the earliest highly developed culture in Europe, Hallstadt Culture. It existed for a period of 400 years, from 800BC till 400BC. In 1997, it was honored a position in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage.

Although the weather was not good, the walk along the lake was quite enjoyable. On one side, there was this calm and quite lake. On the other side, there were various skillfully constructed houses made distinct by architectural styles from Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque period up to modern day. Carefully, I hold my umbrella close to me to protect my digital camera, took some photos and headed towards the church.

Hallstadt

Hallstadt
Main square of Hallstadt
Church by the main square

Hallstadt

Johannes, Karin, Erika and me (Right to left)

First thing that struck my mind was that I want to die here. The cemetery’s view was fantastic! * Laugh out loud!* Then, I was surprised by a tradition in the town. Located behind the Catholic Parish Church, there is Beinhaus (Charnel House) on the Romanic ground floor of the Gothic Michaelskapelle. Since 1600, those who were buried in the village cemetery for approximately 10 to 20 years, their bones will be dig out of their grave, cleaned and organised according to the body parts. The skull would then be painted and colored with the details of his or her owners. The recent one was about 30 years ago. Apparently, it was one of the old practices of the Catholic Church. Yikes spooky… Somehow it reminded me of the massacre in Cambodia and the old head hunting tradition of some local aboriginals in east Malaysia. Not wanting to offend the spirits, I quickly prayed and offered my respects.

Catholic Parish Church on the hill

Michaelskapelle and Beinhaus
Collected bones in Beinhaus

We then walked to the other end of the village. On the way, I found something fasinating. This thing that look so real, roses. They were displayed nicely in buckets, red, pink, green, purple and yellow. Smelt exactly like roses, but they were just simply soap. Later that we walked in the shop and found they more interesting stuff, soap like chocolate, cheese, piggy, lemon, orange... They all smelt like what they are. Ermmm.... of course not the piggy... The chocolate was extremely tempting and I felt like having a bite. On the other end, were all kind salts mined from this area. Talking about the salt, there were all sort of related tourist traps. As a lot of Japanese visit this region, it was not hard to see special items catered just for them to buy in while... twice folded price...

Blue and Purple Rose Soap

Chocolate Soap 10g for 0,36Euro
A bucket of piggy

Natural salt on sale

That non, we had limited time. So without visiting the fully preserved prehistoric miner “Man In Salt”, Hallstadt Salt World, Dachstein Cave, Historical Excavation Site… * Geez… I wished I had more time!* We moved on to Pürgg. This is a mountain village near the border of Styria with two interesting church. Up on the hill to the south stands the little Romanesque chapel of Johanneskapelle with frescos such as, Feeding the Five Thousand and the Birth of Christ dated back 12th Century as interior. Act like a proper tourist, I took few photos, got a postcards, donate some coins and walked down the hill to the Parish Church of St George. A Romanesque church built in 1130 with some fine frescos in the ringing chamber, which had later been remodeled into Gothic style. Here, bones were collected and kept nicely as those at Hallstadt, but the skulls were not painted. Unfortunately, the church was closed for some reasons. Tough luck! We have no choice but to stroll back to the parking. Oh ya! From here, we can get a good view of Grimming. “The tallest mountain in the world…” said the Romans in this region centuries ago.

Fascade material of Johanneskapelle = 12th century rotten wood?

Johannes and the crosses of Johanneskapelle

Frescos in Johanneskapelle
Parish Church of St. George

Grimmig

By the time I reached Graz, it was already 9:00pm and my stomach was groaning badly and I went to get myself a big bowl of Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup. After few days of local meal, I need my Asian food…

Dumpling Festival, a Korean traditional festival… Huh!??

When I was reading the online newspaper this afternoon on a super mini size window, a news caught my attention. Dumpling Festival has been officially declared as a traditional festival of the KOREANS by the UN. Huh!!???????? Reading through the article carefully, the Koreans had sneakily and cunningly applied Dumpling Festival under the Human Cultural Heritage section and the proposal was amazingly approved… Unbelievable! I wondered which birdbrains in the UN processed the applications.

Dumpling Festival or Duan Wu Jie in mandarin is a day for commemorating Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet who died during the period of Warring States. He served as an official in the Chu, but was later being framed and banished from the court due to jealousy against his talent and ability. For the coming 20 years, he travelled across states as a poet and wrote many famous poems reflecting his thought and the things he had seen. Later then, he witnessed how Chu was conquered by Qin. Things that were once there were no more and every thing had become so unfamiliar. He was depressed, disheartened and overwhelmed by misery. Qu Yuan clasped a huge stone against his chest and plunged into Mi Luo River, which located in current Hunan Province. When the tragedy reached the local fishermen, they set sail to search for his body. However, it was nowhere to be found and they threw rice into the river. Hoping and prayed that the fishes will not feed on his body. That night, all the fishermen had the same dream that their prayer had been heard. The fishes had eaten the rice and left Qu Yuan untouched. On the following day, the fishermen returned to the river and threw rice stuffed in bamboo leaves into the river to express their gratitude. These later evolved to the Dumpling Festival the Chinese celebrate today, with various dumplings and dragonboat competition. For more than 20 centuries, the Chinese has celebrated the festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar year.

I cannot remember when and how many times that the story was repeated and now when something new… It is the Korean’s… Reading the next paragraph, the news continued… Apparantly, the Japanese did something similar. They applied Kimchi under the same section behind the back of the Koreans and got approved. Anyone who knows a little bit about Korean culture would understand the pain they suffered, as Kimchi is just like another name for Korean. Having such crude and hard experience, the Koreans took the same approach, like the Japanese.

Although it is a huge disappointment that it ended up this way, to many Chinese, Dumpling Festival will always still be a Chinese traditional festival regardless of the record of UN and this is not going to spoil my festive mood. Five minutes from now, I will be leaving work. Chinese dumpling awaits me at Restaurant Asia~~~

Happy Duan Wu Jie!!!!