Round 6: Our Weathermen just don't get along very well, do they?

Bei mir regnet es immer, wenn das Wetter bei dir gut ist.



It always rains over here whenever the sun leaves me to accompany you.

Round 5: Weekly Grocery Shopping

Announcement:

As of 21. June 2007, Hajime no Stan has, from Blog Patrol records, received her first 100 hits!!

*Stan pops a Bitburger open and raises it in toast* Whoohoo....!!
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Ok ok, some of you may be thinking: "100? Thats peanuts!"

Well, maybe...but from around where I come from, peanuts are actually worth a lot. Roughly around 600 000 singapore dollars, last I recall? :P


Haha I digress. My point is, I'm not a very prolific writer and blogging is just, for many, another pasttime. Yes, I've been guilty of plugging my blog to close friends and all that. But still, to have reached the 100th hit is a milestone, no matter how small, for this humble blog of mine.

Since I'm on the topic of blogs, I've recently discovered The Assimiliated Negro - T.A.N. To describe it as interesting would be an understatement. Just go ahead and read his entries about being arrested for holding a DVD in NYC. This guy has got his game on, I shit you not.

T.A.N, if you're reading this, I'll be linking you up. So do me a favor and leave a comment or something.

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Saturdays are usually my Fridge Reloadings. But it sucks sometimes, because, like everyone else, they too do their grocery shopping on Saturdays. The queues take longer to clear, and unsurprisingly, I end up missing the bus that goes from shops to my apartment building, doubling my intended shopping duration. So that I could spend my Saturday this week indoors, which was also predicted to be overcast and/or rainy, I headed on Thursday for my groceries.

My usual grocery-shopping is done along a stretch of shops at Neuer Messplatz. There are 2 supermarkets, Kaufland and Lidl. These are my usual sources of frozen chicken breast, pork fillets, salmon and grilled fish, bread, cornflakes. Fresh vegetables and fruits are usually brought from a Turkish shop, Hüda Verdi. The quality, I have found, is always better yet cheaper than most supermarkets.

Here's an example of their Gelbe paprika(yellow pepper) :

Have a look at my thumb for a comparison.

Haha, ok, not always fresh. That's white fungus growing on a patch of red paprika. Not exactly very appetizing.

My fresh produce for the week. How much do you reckon it costs?

Bananas, chinese pears, tomatoes and yellow peppers

A mere 4,44€!

Now if you convert it to Ringgits(RM20.59) or Sing dollars($9.21), it may seem a lot. But like those have studied or are studying in overseas, constantly converting your expenditure amount back to your home currency will really make Jack either a very hungry or dull boy, or both.



And this is the rest of the weekly supplies:



Price of the above: 24,24€ + 4,44€= 28,68€ (RM133)

Heh, yes I know. I eat a lot. And I an a big fan of fish. I NEED that much food just to keep my weight at 60kg(the weight limit for super featherweight class boxers is 59,0kg). Yep, I'm one of those hard-gainers, who loses 2-3kg after a gym session and over 1kg after a night's sleep. Which, I admit, is a double-edged sword. But that's another blog post for another time.

That's it for now. Enjoy your weekend people. And now, if you'll excuse me, it's approaching dinnertime - time for me to put on a few more kilos. Ciao and Servus!;)

Round 4: Aching to Box again

Sign...was about to go shower when I heard jazzy chill-out music playing outdoors. Like a moth to a sputtering flame, I drew to the kitchen window and saw a DJ spinning at the local outdoor beach chill-out spot, Musikpark, all lit up with beach torches and the works.



If it weren't for the coming exams and my goal of sleeping earlier tonight, I'll just gel up the hair and head straight there and make new friends.

Als ich unterwegs zu duschen war, hörete ich von draussen jazzische Musik. Wie ein Falter zu einer heiße Flamme, ging ich sofort zu dem Fenster bei der Küche. Die Musik stammte von Strandgut und die Umgebung war mit Strand-fackel sehr schön beleuchtet. Es sah sehr anziehend aus.



Leider wegen der kommende Klasuren ging ich nicht. Apopo wollte ich heute auch früher schlafen. Naja, ist aber kein großer Theme. Ich warte bis die Freundin wieder bei mir ist, und dann können wir so oft wir wollen besuchen :)

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It's been a good 3 weeks since I've boxed or sparred. Mainly again, because of the exams. Even though training is only twice a week, I take it up a notch by doing my road work and conditioning twice to 3 times a week in the early mornings or evenings.



Am really missing training on the sandbag and reflexes training. Somehow the body doesn't feel right. Those who body-build or run would prolly know what I'm talking about.

Well, these days I'm just keeping the body toned with daily pushups of 30 - 50 and 30 lower body squats. My only consolation I keep telling myself is after the exams, I can box, train and run as much as I want. Even till I puke. Hahaha....no no I'm not so hardcore.

Don't wanna puke my protein to waste:P


My Boxing Equipment: mouthguard, handwraps and of course, red boxing gloves


After the papers, one of the things on my to-do list is to check out free sport unions(ja you read right - you can join w/o paying membership fees) in Mannheim that offer boxing. I've already
found one in Frankenthal. It costs 6 euros per month and training is 4 times per week, 1800-2000 hrs. As of late, I've been learning and boxing at the University Gym. It's ok, but after 5 months, I'll love to take my boxing skills to the next level.

I'll keep you readers informed about my progress as time goes. In the mean time, if I've managed to pique anyone's interest, you can check here and here out. Stay tuned for updates!

Round 3: Sushi Abend im Sushi Park

It's approaching 2000 hours and I'm wondering if I should head off to the library to study tonight while waiting for the fish to grill in the microwave. The bicycle's already parked there, but its Tuesday - that means boxing night on DSF, Europe's Sport Channel.


One of Life's greatest decisions. What to do? Doshiyo..>_<

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Last night was Sushi Dinner with my japanese teacher and 7 of her students. Well, she's not exactly my teacher - I attended her lessons for a month or so but stopped after because I was already attending classes for 6 other subjects. But we still see each other on and off and she is a really sweet lady. Coincidently she has the same name as my gf: Kayo!


The sushi restaurant of choice was Sushi Park. For any readers who happen to live in or near Mannheim, it's located round the corner of L6. It's just a 10 minute stroll from Hauptbahnhof and one block just after Cinemaxx, with Wasserturm(Watertower) as your ref.


I arrived there earlier than the rest, so I got seated and ordered a pot of green tea first. It was aromatic, smelled delicious to whet my appetite for sushi. It was my 2nd time there and I already knew that it wasn't a genuine japanese sushi restaurant. The place was managed by a korean couple(the husband was the chef) and the waitress that evening was a korean student studying music in Mannheim. But it offered a relaxing atmosphere and the ambiance was soothing. The others came shortly and well, with 10 customers, after the rounds of "Is the specialty worth it?" or "Hey, what do you recommend?" it usually take quite a while before everyone decided what to order. I could empathize with the waitress who came 2 times only to finally take our orders at the 3rd.



The salad as appetizer:



I ordered the middle sushi set (13 euros), which consisted of 3 Maki sushi rolls, 1 Ebi sushi, 1
tako sushi, 2 others which look like salmon or lachs and 1 with a crabmeat stick. Had the impression from the menu that it wasn't gonna be enough to fill the belly, so prior to ordering this, I had also ordered 6 fried spring rolls (3 euros) and 6 pieces of fried Ebi (5 euros), which I passed around. Unfortunately I forgot to snap them. Oh well, here's a shot of the main courses:



The food wasn't jack-jumping delicious, but the fish was certainly fresh. The thing about eating sushi is, you've gotta take your time. Thanks to the appetizers, I was able to not wolf all my sushi at one go. I'm a wasabi junkie, so I had to order a second helping of it. Just love the rush of blood to the head when you overdose on it. Hehe..


Last night was also my first time trying Asahi and Kirin Ichiban beer. Nelly, the german in striped t-shirt, like Frau Funatsu's husband, seated opposite me here, is no stranger to japanese beer.

Kanpai!


After 3 years of german beer, the japanese beers are like water in contrast! The taste of malt was there, but many more times diluted. I think I'm confident enough to take on 3/4 to a whole crate of Asahi!


Any challengers/sponsors? :P

It's been 7 months, baby.

Die Zeit lässt sicher kein Mensch zu warten, oder? Aber in diese Fall, ich muss sagen: ich freue mich. Sehr.

Persönlich glaube ich mich nicht ganz so fest an die 3-Monaten Test. Hast du schon mal gehört? Wenn ein Paare nach 3 Monaten noch zusammen bleibt, ist das ein Zeichen dass die Beziehung weiter läufen kann. Glaubst du auch daran Schatz? :)

Gestern war unsere siebente offizielle monatlich Liebesfeier. So nenne ich, vielleicht klingt es komisch, aber hautpsache ist dass ich das nicht vergesse, oder? Hahaha...ist schon gut, mir ist nicht mehr so doji als vorher. Es bleibt am wichtigsten jedes Monat und der 2. wichtigsten Tag des Jahres. Sagt mal, bin ich suß oder was?Hehehe...

Ich freue mich, wenn wir endlich zusammen unsere Jubiläume, beide unoffizielle und offizielle, zusammen zu ferien können. Jetzt und in der nähe Zukunft wird es nicht leicht für uns beide, aber eins ist sicher: die Sonne kommt immer raus wenn es aufhört, zu regnen:)

Round 2: Thursday & G8 in Germany

You know, it's either a sign of the times or just me getting kinda old, when I started laughing my ass off 2 minutes into the start of a Swedish porn movie.

The movie opens with a fighting scene of an agent stealing a radioactive package wrapped in BROWN PAPER. After knocking out 5 bodyguards with flimsy slaps on their faces, the agent roars away on a snow jet and later,removes the ski-mask to reveal a so-so looking blond who introduces herself as Jane Bomb, secret agent 006, with the license to kill.

Jane Bomb then narrates further of their secret HQ as M-I-SEX fronting as a brothel,hahaha! She enter the HQ, and meets Miss Moneypussy(wth!?), who starts fondling Jane's tits! Jane is then interrupted and goes in to meet M,some cigar-smoking british guy. She is handed a new mission from M and the new mission turns out to be the intervention of a Russian spy who plans to make Californians horny and get them screwing all the time with a sex drug. Operation is code-named: Operation Penetration! When I heard that, I just lost it. I roared in laughter for a good 3 minutes...the set-ups are just so lame, its f***ing hilarious and one just must laugh. Incredible.


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Thursdays are my off days - I have no lessons at all. I usually head off to the FH and get some learning done, but not this week. By the time I managed to drag my ass outta bed, its was close to 11am. Although the day didn't turn out too productive, I did manage to book bus tickets to Paris for myself and the gf, and did my roadwork : 4.5km in approx. 45mins. Dinner was simple - grilled fish with tomatoes - but despite a good shower, I somehow didn't feel too good. The stomach was kinda queasy. Putting it down to just wind, I retired early for the night and surfed channels.


That was when I came to a Spiegel TV documentary on the protesters and their demonstrations against the nations gathering at the G8 Summit in Rostock, Mecklenburg Vorpommern in north Germany. The protesters seemed rather quiet and peaceful at the beginning. The camera then switched to another group don in black clothing and ski masks. It wasn't just the black clothing that made the air of menace so imminent. They kept their group cohesive by having the members at the edge of the group hold a black banner all around the group.You could see the wild anger in their eyes. You just knew something was about to happen.

The next minute, scenes of fighting and disorder broke across the tv screen. The black-clad protesters were hurling stones at a police officer inside a green police VW. Seemed like the officer was too stunned to drive away immediately; he took off after the car windows were smashed to bits. The violence escalated from that point on. Protesters threw all kinds of things they could lay their hands on.Some even came prepared with handmade bombs, A car belonging to a Rostock resident was overturned and set on flames as a barricade. 2 of the protesters turned a rubbish dump on its side and pushed it along the road, in the direction of the accumulating police blockage. The violence that unfolded before my eyes just seemed surreal. I had seen similar clashes on tv before, but that was years ago in France, with the famous Macdonald's Restaurant being the target of vandalism. But to witness such frustration and anger in Germany, made me feel almost naive.

What had started out as a peaceful demonstration,
turned out to become one of the most violent clashes between the police and civilians,


just because of idiots like this,


and these punks:

provoking other issues on police violence and abuse.

You could call me a fence-sitter on this issue. I have no sidings, am not totally for or against capitalism. Money is unarguably the main driving force in today's economy. But I do not stand for silence of the voices of the opposition either. So long as one of the 2 exist, so must the other half. Make your voice heard, but using violence instantly destroys your credibility.

As Gandhi, along with several other non-violence quotes, once uttered: An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.

Round 1

Maybe its the heat. Maybe its just the stress from the impending exams. But whatever it is, I've given in. I've started my first blog.

Somehow thoughts tonight just wound up along of the lines of my msn conversation of Sae Wei weeks ago. And then I recalled a sentence I read off one of the Cowboy's Post: you blog because you have no mouth but must scream. Tonight, after 2 hours of frustrated half-assed attempts to solve polytropic expansion question, I finally comprehended what he meant.

*Spoiler: Rant ahead*


Tonight, after a simple dinner and getting a couple of personal projects done, I headed off to the University library to study. Somehow learning at home was never really 100% efficient - there is the TV and then the Internet. I've learned to catergorize my activities and their corresponding locations. Hochschule - lessons, labs, project work & discussions; Library - just studying(I think I deserve credit for being able to actually focus on my material instead of checking out every other chick that strides in and rating her in the head automatically lol); at home - meals, chatting, chilling, and now, blogging;)


At around 2340, a certain sense of hopelessness twinged with fear started clouding my mind. My concentration just went downhill from then. Reading and re-reading the text(in german), I suddenly couldn't understand a thing. I decided to give up the current question and proceeded with the next. Damm! Also another polytropic one. And the next. And the Next. Wtf...-__-

Here's a shot of the gritty old Business Library where I was:

This is how it looks like when Stan is at work(heh): The HP iPaq for music, The Wall Street Journal waiting to provide a good distraction

And just like that, my thoughts drifted to blogging. Thought about the template. Pondered over the title. Wondered which language to blog in. Until it was time to leave...and I admit, on the ride home, like a little boy looking forward to his first chocolate, I was intrigued and excited.

So there you have it: My first, virgin blog post on blogspot.com.

Oh, there goes the gong! End of Round One!