Back from Köln and Bonn.
The highlights of the trip were visiting the chocolate museum, beethoven's house and eating tropical spaghetti ice. Honestly, I still dont quite get why people think spaghetti ice is all that nice. Its just ice cream. It just looks like spaghetti, that's all. Oh well.

In Köln, I 'retried' the Raffaelo flavoured ice cream, and thankfully, it tasted lovely. I think its some sort of a white chocolate coconut thing?? But whatever it is, it was really yummy so there.. you could just imagine me finishing the cone to the very last bit.
(I ate another 4 scoops of ice cream over the weekend. Photos dont lie. I put on more weight)

I am left with $40 to buy souvenirs now. Boo hoo, I am a poor man - all thanks to the things I bought over the weekend. In the most Singaporean terms, 'No regrets la. They are damn nice can. Its like I love everything I bought!'

Rebecca, Val and (Joce): You guys are invited to my house for a wonderful spread. I bought some exotic stuff from the different parts of the world and I've decided to 'whip up a storm' for you guys when I'm back. Hahahaa!!! Please be sure to turn up alright? I am sure it'll be nice. Dont worry! Unless you guys turn up for my speciality sampling, you will not receive your souvenirs. Ah hem haha!! It'll be sometime next week cause I dont think the food can be kept for too long. So please arranage a day and make yourself free k. Rebecca, its your job. Let me know SOON hahaha! And oh yes, I bought lotsa stuff for you! Okay. Maýbe not so much.. But. Ya. Some. Few.

I am going to 'whip up a storm' for three batches of people. I hope they'll like my wonderful creation. But more importantly, I hope my luggage is not as 'overweight' as I am. Absolutely ridiculous. My bag is DEFINITELY over 20kg. Ive gotta check in with Liz. Hopefully all goes well and hopefully they wont catch me for stuff. (oops, censored. its a public blog after all.)

Anyway, Ill be going for a swim in the canal today after my project. I think its gonna be all dirty, but well, what the heck. Brand new experience once again.

Okay, I know I am sidetracking.. But I really love all the clothes I bought. They are so lovely and I cant wait to wear them. For now, I gotta bathe and prepare for school. Take care guys!

In seven days' time, I will be en route to the Frankfurt airport. Time really flies. I kinda dont want to go home.

Home= being locked up in jail (thats a big no no for me!!!!)
Home= time to lose weight and not binge on good food. (what a mood spoiler)
Home= I'll have to work and earn money (work again!)
Home= no interesting places to explore, no interesting food to eat
Home= reality
Home= 3 weeks to school
Home= curfew! curfew! curfew! do you know how much i detest and hate it!!!!
Home= taking away my house keys

But, oh well I guess home could also mean
- seeing everyone that matters to me. which is damn important!
- going for choir and attending an english mass
- eating singaporean food (actually i am over the i need singaporean food phase already)
- a step closer to materialising my car plan. if it actually materialises. sigh.
yea thats about it.

I am not exactly excited, neither am I detesting the fact that I have to leave Europe. I am just, well you could say, indifferent.

I will be travelling to Köln and Bonn tomorrow. Will be staying there over the weekend. I hope there'll be lotsa interesting places to explore. We'll be visiting the chocolate museum. Am really looking forward to that, really! haha! I cant wait for it.

Did lotsa shopping today. Spent lotsa money. I have about $140 left for 7 days. That sounds quite pathetic. Shit. I think I overspent already. Haha.
Still have lotsa sausages and chocolates to get before leaving here. haha!

Had turkish döner burger for lunch. Hell damn oily. Imagine the fats and oil that sink into my body. But I thought it would have been a pity if I didnt try the turkish thing since the turks form a small minority of the population in this country. Afterwhich, I had half a portion of currywurst again.

No nordsee today. But will be having it on Monday, I guess.

Hope I dont eat too much over the weekends.
Damn fat. shit. I am damn sure my watch feels tighter today. After 4 ice cream. I am damn sure my face grew rounder. I am damn sure I am fat. I am damn sure that I am sad.

4 scoops of ice cream in a day, more than 8 scoops of ice cream within a week. I dont know if I am addicted to the different flavours of ice cream or something!
Let me try to list all the flavours of ice cream that Ive tasted in Münster:
- Malaga
- Rocher
- Raffaelo (i dont even know what it is. dont think it was that great)
- Snickers
- Soya Chocolate
- Cinammon
- Pistachios
- Nutella
- Mandeln (its a kind of nut)
and more. But I am too tired to recall now.

Had more meals at the Nordsee again haha! I ate fish and wild rice, and will be eating more fish tomorrow. Its about 7-8 more days before I leave Europe and bid all the ice cream, delicious yummy bread and curry wurst farewell. ):
I am trying to make the best out of it as far as possible and my stomach's also trying its best not to balloon, but to no avail.

I have never had a stomach as round as this for at least two years. Arghhh!
I had so much fattening food today, and intend to have more tomorrow. Hahaha! But I think I will put ice cream to a halt till tuesday, I hope.
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I toured Rughrgebiet today. Rughrgebiet is a place where coal mining, steel and i dont know what are really popular. You learn about how coal is being made and stuff like that. I didnt really pay attention to the guided tour cause I was really bored by it. The only interesting thing that I did today was to climb steep slopes after steep slopes to reach the Teträder. But I thought the experience was really memorable and priceless! :) tell you more about it sometime soon.
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Over the last two days, deutschland lost to italy. damn it. I dont want to elaborate on it. The football fever has subsided here. But am still gonna get a jersey sometime this week. After the match, something really 'scary' really happened. My midnight bus did not arrive at the bus stop. I was scared out of my wits! I was alone and I didnt really know what to do. But thank god, thank god, everything was well and I managed to reach home safely. All I can say is that God really answers prayers in critical moments and the good Lord will always provide.
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Had a sleepover last night. Was really tired today but it was worth it. I wouldnt trade it for sleep. The company was fabulous! haha! Im too tired to blog about it. But I probably will do it soon.
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I need to sleep. good night.

I had spaghetti with bacon for dinner. Something ordinary I guess, but it was quite tasty. Am superbly happy with that, and was really full after dinner. Ich bin satt. Haha! Horror of horrors.. The daughter decided to drive glory and I out for an ice cream. We went to this ice cream place which was not bad and I had two cones of ice cream! Tried Malaga and rocher. Btw, malaga is a place in Spain. Haha. So I guess its a spanish thing?? The rocher was really good, but I thought the malaga was somewhat dissapointing. Liz's tasted better on Saturday.

When I reached home, the father introduced me to more 'I must try' flavours. Argh!!! Should have consulted him before leaving the house. Damn it. I think I will be going back some time next week before I leave. Will be putting on more weight. Damn it la. My hands are growing fatter. Was putting on my watch this morning. For once, it felt tight. I was shocked. Sigh.

Will be boat peddling tomorrow and then I will be having a picnic with cakes. Fattening food again! I wonder how much weight have I actually put on. Argh. Then,
Everyone will be watching the football match together at the Mensa. Deutschland against Italien. I hope Deutschland wins! You guys must support germany okay? Since Brazil is out already.. Haha! Would really love to watch the match with my family but well, I guess its good to experience something different for once.

Anyway, today was an okay okay day for me. Came straight home after lunch to choose the nus modules. What an utter waste of the day! Hopefully it'll be better tomorrow. Somehow, I feel really delighted after having the Rocher ice cream. It only cost me 60 cents. And it was yummilious. Haha!

Lessons start really early tomorrow. Like at nine. Stupid. I hate it.
Btw. I ate at Nordsee again. ):

So Brazil is out. Quarterfinals? I am s.p.e.e.c.h.l.e.s.s. It is my second favourite team after Germany. But oh well. Go Deutschland!!! Jetzt geht's los! Really hope they win the world cup!!

I felt the football fever when Germany won Argentina last friday. (I thought it was just Argentina's luck when something happened to the goalkeeper. They werent playing *that* badly.) After the match, I dressed up as some German fan and went out to the city to party with my host family's children. I guess I dont really want to talk about it right now. Will let the pictures speak for themselves when I get back. The experience was awesome and priceless! Never, never in my life will I get to relive this. I loveddd it!

Next.

This is a very important announcement for MYSELF.
As of tomorrow, I will abandon my eat-freely plan! I will eat selectively!
This cannot go on. I realised ever since I started on the plan, I have been binging and eating excessively in huge portions. My face grew even fatter and I dont really know what to do about it. I can only lament and complain. I am starting to get irritated with my routine. Well.
As you know, I am not the kind who wakes up at 5am to go for a morning jog and do sit ups before sleeping. So there. I am starting to be quite concerned about my weight again.

Big sigh to that.

On the hindsight, I just had a damn damn nice German meal, thanks to the mum. 2 slices of Schweinebraten mit sauce (Its some pork thingee. 1 portion = 1 slice), 1 1/2 Knödeln (I call it the western version of tang yuen. Its potato like gluey thing. Oriental westernisation!) and many many servings of Redkohl (red cabbage in salt, pepper and lotsa lotsa sugar). Over dinner, I learnt that they eat Redkohl during summer and Sauerkraut (white cabbage) during winter. Ach so! Haha! I took some photos of it for eternal memory. But I doubt I managed to capture the tastiness of the food with my poor photography skills. But haha. Nevertheless, the tastiness will linger in my memory for as long as I live.

I love it when my family cooks.

Yesterday, I went to eat fish at Nordsee in Bremen again. I think I had at least 3 meals at Nordsee already can. Visit www.nordsee.de for more information. Yes I am mad. Have been spending a bomb on the different kinds of fish and bread. I have never eaten so many kinds of bread in such a short span of time. Its absolutely crazy, but Im loving it.

I'll have to eat at least two more meals there before I leave this place in less than 14 days' time. Also, I'll have to visit the chocolate place (again) and patronise the big ice cream stall to try the different flavours soon. They have more than a 100 different kinds of flavours of ice cream, so I am really excited to visit it for the first time.

I intend to buy lotsa chocolates back to store them in my fridge. it is a MUST. The rocher is so different here!!! Its not even anything like Singapore's. The chocolate is so fine, and the inner filling is well.. I dont really know how to describe it. It would not do it justice if I were to describe it as 'damn nice la!'

Anyway, I decided to control my diet come tomorrow. I hope everything will be okay and I will start losing weight. It looks like its really difficult cause the family cooks such nice food, coupled with the fact that I keep wanting to try new stuff. Moreover, there is lotsa yoghurt in the fridge and I heard its damn nice as well. I need to try it la. I am in some dire straits now.
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(Eins und zwei und drei und)
Vierundfünfzig, vierundsiebzig, neunzig, zweitausendsechs,
ja so stimmen wir alle ein,
mit dem Herz in der Hand und
der Leidenschaft im Beinwerden
wir Weltmeister sein.

it translates to:
1 and 2 and 3 and
54, 74, 90 and 2006
(erm i dont know how translate the second phrase)
with hearts in the hand and
passion in the legs,
we will be the World cup Champion.

This song is really popular and damn nice.

Unglaublich (which translates to 'unbelievable')! Yesterday, I said I will leave some room for weight increment because I believe, with great conviction, that it is worth trying the different kinds of Deutsches food. It will be a pity if I were to return to Singapore without much knowledge on how typical German food tastes like. So da.

Since I am less preoccupied with putting on more weight now, I feasted, binged and gobbled down lotsa food that Ive always wanted to try in Münster since day 1. It is coming as a shock to me now that I am recapitulating it.

Food intake on 29/6/06:

Breakfast: 1 Banana (I feel constipated here!) and 1 cup of coffee. (saving 'space' in the stomach for more yummilious food consumption later during the course of the day)
Lunch: Shelled and unshelled rice, salmon (I took half from this really huge portion), some kind of fish, bagette and curry sausage.
Dinner: 3 pieces of Herring in olive oil, fish and chips (lotsa, lotsa chips), 1 bottle of coca cola lemonde, 1 medium sized portion of pizza.

Mind you, thats hell of a lot lah. I am so gonna put on weight lah. But whatever lah.

I dont know what came over me to indulge in so much good food. The salmon was oh so good that I thought I was in heaven. Secondly, Ive been wanting to eat chips since I was in Italy. Everyone in Europe eats chips and ice cream like nobody's business. Its such a lovely sight to see old men and ladies holding a cone of ice cream and enjoying the sweetness and the coldness of it. It just brings to mind how seemingly carefree and happy these old people are. Im starting to think that an ice cream holds the connotation of freedom. It is a joy to watch them eat. It is so wonderful how an ice cream can be so closely associated with young children and their brightly litted smiles.

Okay. I was disgressing. So I allowed myself a packet of fish and chips. I wouldnt have bought the cola in normal Singaporean circumstances. But it was Cola Limonade here. Different. Also, I was really thirsty and yea.. I decided to heck about weight for that moment.

I ate, and ate, and ate. Binged, and binged and binged. I know I am gonna suffer for this. I think I am truly at the mercy of good food! Its ridiculous I tell you. I promise myself to eat lesser tomorrow. But oh schade! The family is cooking Klopse for me. Schade! I cant diet tomorrow. Ah but oh well. Its okay. I will just eat whatever I wanna eat.

My stomachs really fat now. Some people say its not okay to put on weight. Some say its okay. Hmm. Is it really ok? Or not? Perhaps my justification to the allowance in weight increment is only for self-consolation. (after being in such a pitiful state)

But. The important thing is- I felt really happy today. It has been a long time (with the exception of the picnic under the eiffel tower) since I ate so freely. Trust me, it IS a great feeling when you eat whatever you want to eat. Haha!

Enough about food.
We had a new teacher today. He is A GAZILLION times better than that stupid first teacher. At least I get to learn interesting stuff about the language today lah. I had a fun time in class. He'll be taking us tomorrow as well. Haha! So I guess I wont be dreading school tomorrow morning. Sehr gut! I love lessons which are productive! In all honesty, I understood only about half of the things he said. The class was equally clueless as well. His entire lesson was in German. Haha! But it was a great pleasure listening to him speak and ask questions. I always give a really blank look and expect the teachers or my host family to explain to me in English. Haha!

As the days go by, I am starting to speak more German. This evening, I was communicating with the fish stall lady in German cause she couldnt understand English. We had lotsa problems understanding each other (Naturally!).
But oh well. I really love speaking German to the Germans. Imagine their puzzled look when I speak to them! Haha! But I am slowly but surely learning how to speak more fluently (I think).

People only understand me when I ask for directions in German. I am often lost.. (yes, even after walking in the city for days!) So I ask the people there for directions all the time. That is the ONLY time when there is NO communication breakdown between both parties.

Anyway, I wanna turn in soon. I wonder why there are so many mosquitoes in my room. Argh. I need to spray the insect thing now. So goodnight people of Singapore! Thats all for my day and my mad weight increment after tonight.
I will be home in 15 days' time. Really sad about that though. Im starting to love my lessons, my temporary family and this place. And of course, the food.

Münster:

Im slowly but surely yielding to temptation after 4 long weeks of struggle. I dont know if I have resigned to fate, or perhaps I have utterly NO self discipline. I cringe at the thought of how fat I will be in 3 weeks' time (or 17 days to be exact) after eating and stuff like that. Despite such possible notions, I still welcome German food (and all other possible types of food) with wide open arms.

So much happened today.
First, I told my family that I wont be back for mein Abendessen (dinner) cause I intended to go shopping. Instead, I went to the strawberry farm to pick strawberries! They were yummilious! It was a brand new experience for me. I was plucking the berries and eating them simultaneously! I know many have already done such stuff before.. But I havent.. So I was really quite fascinated. Being gay, glee and happy is an understatement to describe how Im feeling now! Yea. You get my drift.

After that, I walked around the city with Liz and decided to take the late night bus home. (Their night rider starts around 8pm)! I expected the night rider to go by the same route (20 min) but in the end, it took another turn instead of the regular one. I took an hour to reach home! I felt quite bad cause I told my family I will be home by 9 odd. I only reached home close to 11!

That aside, I was actually quite scared when the bus took a different route (it passed through cemetries and campsites). So I rushed to the driver and asked him if it actually goes to my place (in English). But that old retard replied me in German! Absurdism! I didnt even understand a shit. So I tried, at full intellectual capacity, to speak to him in Deutsch. Mein Gott! It sounded totally horrendous and hilarious! But good.. And to my surprise.. He actually understood. He gave this really long, long, complicated reply.. And I caught only the 'ja' word (which means yes in german). I got quite irritated actually.

In order to clarify, I asked him again... 'Dieser Bus goes to Otto Hersing Weg. Ja oder Nein'. (this bus goes to Otto Hersing Weg. yes or no?) And he gave the same long reply. What the hell. I walked away and asked the passengers instead. Anyway, the bus did go to Otto Hersing Weg in the end. Thank God, thank God! Ive never felt so alone and lost in a foreign country before. But thank God everything went well and I am back home safely.

When I came back, I had every intention of going down to change, blog and sleep. I think I really need lotsa energy for school. The lessons are hell boring. It takes more energy to pay attention during lessons than think (I sometimes feel). Anyway, I thought since I didnt get much shopping done today, I will probably do it tomorrow. So, I went up, after changing, to tell the family that I will be back late and will not be having dinner tomorrow as well.

At the same time, I asked them for the recipe to cook Deutsches curry with Wurst (so that I will be able to cook for my fellow Singaporeans when I am back). The topic of food really interest them. The father, the mother and I ended up in this whole long discussion about typical german food.

Incidentally, I was learning about German food today in school. I absorbed almost nothing in the 4 hours. Yet, during the half hour talk with the family, I thought I learnt so much, so much more than what was being taught in school.

Okay. Back to the conversation. They started to introduce me to the different kinds of german food. They were saying that its really hard to cook german stuff for me cause I am seldom home for dinner and that I eat really little (haha, what rubbish. I am being weight conscious. that doesnt mean i cant eat). So I told them I will definitely be back when they decide to cook to a Deutsches meal. Yum.. And being the hospitable them, they said they will cook Klopse for me on Friday during the German match against Argentina and some Schnit (er..) on Sunday! Marvellious! I am damn happy about that! Oh btw, the Schnit thing is full of fats. Youre basically eating pork with fats.

Anyhow, after much thinking and pondering, I decided to extend my weight allowance to 5kg. I am allowing myself to put on 5 kg before returning to Singapore. My rational being... If I dont eat free german food here, then when will my next chance of eating pure german food be? No one in Singapore will be able to cook german food for me. And the thing is- I really love german sausages and stuff like that! So yea. I had better make use of these last 17 days.

Not *too* long ago, I felt really bread-sick. So, I went to eat a piece of white bread and half a piece of my favourite Deutsches bread . Then, I went to the wine cellar and ate my kit kat Peanut butter Chunky. I finished the entire bar! I am feeling really full and guilty, and above all... feeling FAT now!

Peanut Butter Kit Kat was given to me (free of charge) in London. It is newly introduced in Europe and I suppose they were distributing it to the masses to create some sorta awareness. I loved it! Brilliant. Singaporeans, please try. Its damn nice.

I decided to heck about my weight as long as I am here. I dont think I can be truly happy if I were to be so concerned about my weight all the time. I guess as long as I LOSE them when Im back in Singapore, I will be okay with it. But one things for sure, 5kg is definitely not easy to lose. Oh well. The joys of eating come with a heavy price.

Thought about the 5kg thing before eating my Kit Kat today. After much consideration, I decided that I am willing to pay the price. You know, I dont get to travel to Germany all the time and live with a host family (and get free food) yah? Since I am here, I think I will just make full use of the opportunity.

Will be going to eat more fish tomorrow = more oil = more fat = more money = more weight. Haha! But well, I am going anyway. A lover of the Deutsches bread, I think I will really miss it if I dont try it. Lunch today was sehr gut! Two kinds of bread stuffed with mayo, onions, new and old Herring. There was so much cream that I will put on 1 kg cause of it.

My project for this immersion is about the Beer and the Bread in Germany! How cool is that?! I hope to be more familiar with the different kinds of beer and bread asap. It would be a pity if I dont learn their names! Realistically speaking, I dont think I will be able to master most of their names, but oh well. I just wanna learn a small minority of them. I dont even know any names right now.
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Singapore:

Me: I wont be coming back for dinner tomorrow cause I will be back late.
My Host Family-Mum: You will be back late?
Me: Er ya. Cause I wanna get some shopping done.
Mum: Do you want the house keys?
Me: Oh no. Its okay. I will be back around 9 odd... When the shops are closed.
Mum: Okay, sure!

Given the Singaporean context..........

Me: I wont be coming back for dinner tomorrow cause I will be back late.
My real mum: What time? Where are you going? Who are you going with?
Me: Friends la. I dont know what time. Probably before 11 la. Anyway I also cant come back after 11 right.
Mum: You better come back before 11. Everyone is tired and the maid needs to sleep. We cant be waiting for you. We have to work the next day.
Me: Ya. (walks away with absolutely nothing to say)

Haha, but still, I love my real Singaporean family!
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This is a damn long post, eh? (: