I will not publish all posts and information publicly – I have learned some things in the past few years…
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I am flying Thai airlines on my way back from Singapore (SIA-BKK-MUC-FRA) and I have to say ‘I am not amused’. Having previously flown Lufthansa, Emirates, Singapore airlines and Swiss on that route I got some experience in economy and business class from Europe to SE Asia. Having plenty of air miles to spare I opted for a business ticket.
Flying business class there are just some standards you expect for paying so much more. Singapore Airlines and Emirates are great when it comes to customer experience (at least on most flights – had an exception with SIA to Mumbai). So flying another Star Alliance airline shouldn’t differ too much you would think…
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I have been back in Singapore a little over two weeks now. Good to be back… But doing nothing then walking up and down Orchard Road for four weeks seemed a bleak outlook. Therefore I decided to do something useful: I started to learn Mandarin 
Mandarin is a Chinese dialect, spoken by most Chinese and dominant in mainland China (or PRC or People’s Republic of China – whichever you like). Since I have spend a lot of time in south east Asia, why not take it a step further and learn a language spoken by a good share of the earths population.
As usual I decided pretty late before coming here to learn Chinese (I think it was on the plane on the way here), so I had to find a language school providing full time courses and immediate enrollment. Quickly, I discovered that the Spring Language School in Bishan let’s you in pretty much at any time (2 weeks for 535SGD, 790SGD for 4 weeks). So Monday morning I went to their office and enrolled for four weeks. Half an hour latter I already sat in class.
The benefit of joining at any time comes to the cost of not getting into a dedicated class. So I am learning with other students, which are already studying for months and new students are joining the class at any time. The individual skill level is quite diverse as you can imagine. If you’re looking for a dedicated class it may be best to check the language schools a few months prior to your desired start date when they start new classes.
In the next few posts I will write about some of the tools and websites I use for my daily study. So watch this space…
Without much text, this post is just for a few more photos from Singapore. Mostly night shots from Orchard Central, Mount Faber / Jewel Box and the new Marina Sands Casino. Enjoy the show…
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Being on long term holiday for a while I have a lot of spare time, which needs to be filled (wasted…). I discovered that Comedy Central hosts plenty of interesting episodes of their show online. And these are not the normal 30 second cliff hangers you will find in YouTube, this are the full episodes without any ads.
So, if you are interested in some real rude animated series, Southpark (this is a localized site, you may be redirected to a local site) is for you. Episodes are available in German and in English. But be warned, especially the later episodes are getting real rude 
Another funny show is the The Daily Show. Though it is very much US centered, it still is a very entertaining 20 minutes per episode. Available only in English.
Enjoy the entertainment and don’t waste too much time…
I am spending a fair amount of my travel time listening and watching podcasts and videocasts. Every now and then I come across funny, inspiring or otherwise remarkable episodes. So instead of consuming it by myself only, why not spread the word and let other people know (or at least improving the page rank of these podcasts in Google ).
My first entry in this category will be about failing incentives, stupid rules and the wisdom required to work around these. This is one of many great videos from TED: Barry Schwartz on our loss of wisdom
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did…
Been in London holding a SAP BI bootcamp for some British folks. Not having been in the UK for one and a half years or so I have enjoyed London very much again. So many memories being refreshed… Hot chocolate from apostrophe, bread from Paul, Cupcakes from Hummingbird, lunch from Ned’s Noodle Box (unfortunately they didn’t have the discount anymore…) and – always a pleasure – riding the tube
I have been lucky for the whole week being blessed with sunshine. Temperatures were not so good and I got a cold, but London with sun is very nice indeed – and at least the tube is bearable if it is cold outside. I am sure I wouldn’t nearly enjoy it that much if it would have rained. Maybe after all I have to adjust my opinion about staying long term in London towards a more positive view.
During the week I didn’t have much time to get around since a cold isn’t the best companion to join you after a long day in office, but I’ve made it up on the weekend with a stroll through Hyde Park and alongside South Bank. The photos below are from Saturday / Sunday and cover Hyde Park, Hummingbird in South Kensington, the South Bank, Tower Brigde, the Tube and Canary Wharf and the Natural History Museum on Sunday.
Some photos to follow as soon as I manage to upload them… Apologies for the long delay. Have been quite lazy recently during my looong holiday. Please find some of the London snapshots below.
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I am just back from my first visit to Thailand. I have stayed one week in Bangkok, backpackers style. The hotel was at the very last station of the BTS (On Nut) and the area did not necessarily impress with it’s beauty. Looked more like a nice industrial area
The hotel (Imm Fusion) was ok, but definitely not upper class. Maybe you could consider it a better backpacker hostel without dorms. Though it was just a few meters away from a shopping center and the BTS station, there was not much in the area apart from roads and traffic.
Bangkok itself however is a very interesting and lively city full of adventures (if you’re up for it). It has dozens of temples and though a lot of them look alike it is amazing to walk through them and admire the culture and the architecture. The shiny materials and golden Buddhas everywhere give you an impression of how important Buddhism is in the everyday Thai life.
Though I would consider Thais very friendly and in pursuit of happiness we had a few episodes with the less friendly part of the population. On the way from the airport to the hotel out taxi driver overcharged by almost a 100% and insisted that it was “not too much” tip. After claiming that he wouldn’t have any change he just drove off. This obviously left a bitter taste on the first day in Thailand.
In general, you have to be very careful about any deals with taxi or tuc-tuc drivers. If you look foreign in any way there is a good chance that you pay much more then the locals. For the tuc tuc it may be up to 10x the local rate. Not that we wouldn’t be able to afford it, but you constantly feel shortchanged and on the watch – ignorance is a bliss here.
My best suggestion for getting around would be the BTS (and possibly MTR, though I didn’t try it) and the Chao Praya ferries. The ferries are fairly cheap and get you almost anywhere along the river. The first day we too the hassle free tourist boat, but after that we only used the local ferries, which run more frequently and are just a fraction of the price. You may also get a cab or a tuc-tuc, but make sure you negotiate the rate upfront or use a metered taxi (make sure the meter is actually running). It is also good to have an understanding or a map of where you are going as we also had drivers, who weren’t quite sure where certain streets / landmarks where.
Overall Bangkok is to be recommended weather you are after history and architecture (temples, wats, Jim Thompson’s house, etc.), shopping (night market, plenty of street markets, cheap tailors) or party (Patpong area at night). Now that I know what to expect the next trip should be even more enjoyable.
Please find some pictures of Bangkok at day in the gallery below. I didn’t take any pix of the Patpong trip for obvious reasons
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Since yesterday I am back in Hong Kong again. Loving it, despite the weather being real crappy. Low hanging clouds (means touching the ground ) and rain with temperatures around 10˚C – definitely not what I was looking for when trying to get away from German winter, but will enjoy Chinese New Year celebration over the next two days. Yay…
This year I decided to skip a substantial part of the cold, grey and dark February and leave Germany for warmer locations. And since I have not really had a ‘holiday’ in the last few years this one had to be worth it
I have just arrived in Hong Kong and my first impression is ‘amazing’. The skyline is really impressive, especially at night when everything is lit up. The city itself is very lively and fairly clean, seems well organized and quite convenient.
Went to the symphony of lights, which is a joint display of building lighting along Victoria harbor. It comes with music, but the music is kinda dodgy. Nothing compared to the impressive skyline and the (mostly) beautifully arranged lights.
Finished the day with roaming through the streets of Kowloon and took a ferry back to central. Great views at night, though the walk to the hotel was a little tedious with all the hills and highways blocking your direct way.
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