Bayerische Motoren Werkes & Amadeus, Amadeus!

Our second day of Munich was pretty rainy. We worked our way north to the BMW museum and exhibition halls. Its interesting to see how BMW started from a 6 cylinder aircraft engine maker to a motorcycle maker and lastly a car maker. The museum highlights all their technical improvements throughout a 90 year period. Quite impressive and illuminating to see how the whole brand made its way almost a century!



We left the museum for a quick stop in the Munich Olympic park. The place is pretty drabby from all the rain so we took off immediately for the city center. Munich is a quaint little town with lots of attractions for Tourists. The bratwursts were excellent, especially the white brats. Things were much cheaper in Munich in comparison to Paris. So we roamed the area while it rained and bought some foodies from the local market in the area. Germans close shop really early. Places were shutting their doors at 6:00pm.



After some market shopping to headed home to rest before going to the Hoffbrauhaus! The largest and most famous beerhall in Munich. Its self seating there on these long wooden tables. You just join anybody where there is a seat, so we sat by a group of Germans from Stuttgart and an Irish-German couple. We ordered huge chunks of pork along with other german beerhall foods. The best thing there was their beer though. I got the Hoffbrau orignal which is only served in a liter (a whole bottle of nalgene) and I finished off Jason and Tommy's half litre of the local Hefenwiesen. Delicious! I would've really wanted to stay longer, but we had to do laundry so we headed home... but I will be back again!



The next day we decided to make an improptu stop at Salzburg, Austria on our way to Vienna. What was suppose to be a few hours visit took up the entire afternoon. Salzburg is the home of Mozart and beautiful views. We walked along the main plazas where we got some almond flavored chocolates that will floor you. Walking along the ridge of the mountain, we walked by several classically trained street performers who were playing the masters on various instruments. Quite enjoyable with a huge chess game being played on the plaza.



At the top of Salzburg sits the Salzburg Fortress. 582 meters up, and we attained some of the nicest panoramic views of the city and the alpalachians. I'd recommend going up there for the view since they don't have much in displays or exhibits.



Lastly we caught the next train to Vienna. We lucked out and snagged our own cabin which had A/C, curtains, a lockable door, slouching chairs, and a great view of the countryside. Three hours didnt seem that long as we made our way to Vienna.

Croissants to Bratwurst

So we left the beautiful city of Paris on an overnight train to Munich. Apparently, once you get into the EU, they dont check your passport or anything else as you travel between countries. We hopped onto the CNL (City night line) train from Paris EST to Munich HBF and found some really cosy 6 bunk cabins. It's a place to sleep and not do much else. It can get pretty congested in there on the top bunk, but I had the lower bunk which was closer to the A/C. They give you a fresh bed sheet and pillow, along with a wool/polyester blanket to use. It is rather cramped though, but for me it was all part of the backpacking experience so no complaints from me.



We traveled through the French countryside which was beautiful until I woke up the next morning traveling through the Bavarian countryside. I think it's much nicer in Germany with the black forest. The train arrived right on time in Munich and we dropped off our junk at the hostel luggage room and took off for Fussen, where we'd go out to see some majestic Bavarian castles.

Fussen is a busy little tourist town that caters to all your needs. The town is surrounded by the alps and the castles, Neuschwanstein and a smaller castle is located right in the middle of the mountains. We hike our way most of the way up, then Jason catered us to a horse drawn carriage for the rest of the way. The lakes are so clean and clear over here. Despite the smell of cow shit (that region is where all the livestock are kept) it was a pleasant trip up.



The Neuschwanstein was created by King Ludwig, which is also the castle design that inspired the castle we see at Disney. There are actually two castles in that area which we both visited, and I'm sure Tommy's SLR will have captured it better than my camera. It's a fairy tale castle scenary, and definitely worth seeing even though its a touristy thing.



Afterwards, we headed home on a long train ride home. Two transfers and a heavy thunderstorm later , we arrived back at our hostel. While the rooms here are bigger than our last one, their dorm ensuite doesnt include a bathroom and the key did work while opening the door two times over. Other than that, it's a nice place though.

So we got to a late start today. Peeling out of bed at noon from a crazy night at the Trocadero Bastille festivities was enough to put us out. I managed to make my way down to the free breakfast at 8:30am for some croissants, coffee and cereal, but I immediately went back to bed upstairs on my bunk. Anyhow, we went to some more of the big things today.



We took the metro to Concorde station. The metro here is wider than that of London underground, but the door latch is tough to open and sometimes requires a bit of a jolt. The underground in Paris also gets ridiculously crowded and doesnt feel very comfortable. Anyhow, arriving at the Concorde, we saw the Egyptian pillaged obelisk standing high with lots of construction going on around it. Not the best photograph material, but eh, it would have to do. We then walked down another park towards the louvre, where we stopped off at a cafe for some delicious sandwiches and crepes. The bill includes the tip, so waiters here don't really provide good service, as they have NO incentive to do anything more than minimally required (let this be a lesson to entitlement motivated socialists out there). We ordered water along with our meal that never showed up since it wouldn't boost his 5% service charge.



We arrived at the Louvre which has been an art gallery since the 1790s. The progressively got expanded by each King there after. While the line may look long, it's actually quite easy to get in and the guards don't really check the tickets. It wasnt expensive at all, a mere 9 euros compared to the Dallas Museum of Art which charges $7-10 for crappy artwork (in comparison). We roamed the massive Louvre for about 3 hours, initially doing the Ninja Turtle tour (finding something made by each ninja turtle), but abandoned that quickly to hit up the main highlights.


(Mona Lisa and Winged Victory)

Mona Lisa is anti-climatic and crowded, and I doubt it's the real thing on display. Wayyy too many flashes going off on it. FOB Asian people get pretty annoying as they want to just stand there up front and lounge about while other people are trying to get in. They'll also snake in front of you too those little b*stards. The greek sculptures were quite amazing here, and I definitely recommend going through the Richelieu section. Huge spacious indoor forums filled with marble statues.


(Quasimodo was on vacation)

Then we headed off for the Notre Dame. This is where I saw my first gypsies in Paris. Esmeralda approached me with a pamphlet and asked me if I spoke English, however, a "dui bu qi, wo ting bu dong" send her to her next victim. It's good to be Asian heh. Inside the Notre Dame is quaint with high ceilings and lots of old mosaics. We hung around to rest our feet then pushed off for the latin quarter of Paris.



Here we found a nice area on Rue de Michel (my street!) where we bought some local ready-made foods that we'd mix together and feast on. The awesome thing about Parisian dairy products is the fact that they are not required to pasteurize their cheese. Therefore, the diary here is awesome! We bought a lot of stuff that looked good, but I dont know what their names are. We have pictures of them on Tommy's camera. We ate on the Seine overlooking the Notre Dame, then we headed off to the Eiffel again.

The Eiffel tower was much better the second time around. No crazy crowds like the other night and we were able to get some better silouette pictures there. While it's not particularly expensive to go up to the first two levels EUR 4.50, you have to take the stairs to get that price, which is about 360 feet according to my travel book. The line was crazy long so we passed on the opportunity. Seriously, it was wayyy too long.



After that we took the underground home to rest and recover. Today is our veg out day, but we'll see a few more things. We gotta save up energy for Munich and Vienna. I'm really looking forward to Munich as the combination of beer and brats really have the power to make me euphorically happy. No update tonight as we'll be taking an overnight train from Paris to the Fatherland.

Oui, Paris!

Jason brought his netbook, and since they're both still jet lagging, I will have the mornings to post away on this blog in the wee morning hours(10am here, 1am Texas).



Yesterday we arrived in Paris from London via the Eurostar. This is a high speed rail from London, that runs under the English Channel, thru the French countryside and into one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been into. The number of palais's and grand structures that I' ve seen here so far is flooring. It's the streets are single laned but wide. The city is build on traffic circuses where roads proliferate from the center like expanding sunrays. The boulevards that run out from the circuses are kept with nicely trimmed hedges and great views of other 1800 french style apartments. I've got to hand it to the frogs, they've completely impressed me with this city.



We started the day at Arc de Triomphe. Even though the French are known to be surrender monkeys, Napoleon won enough battles against the eastern europeansm that he erected this building for his soldiers after the battle of Austerlitz in the early 1800. Today was Bastille day, so military parades and displays were aplenty at the capitol city of France. It's the french July 4th holiday. We managed to get a french legionaire to take a picture with us in his jeep.



We then walked down the champ towards the grand palais. It was a nice stroll in the 70F weather. Although running low on water, the sights were more than enough to keep us going. We saw some really nice palaces along the way and arrived at the army museum.



This place was built by Louis the 14th to house disabled veterans and troops who were stuck begging on the streets. It now houses one of the finest military museums that I've ever seen. Everything from the stone age up to WW2. Since it was Bastille day, everything was free! Whoohoo! Built into this structure is the Sun King's dome chapel. Napoleon is buried here and we snapped a few pictures of the tomb. The greatest French military general was actually an Italian!



Then we made our way to the Eiffel Tower via champ de mars. It got a bit dusty and it was packed with people who were waiting for the evening fireworks that would fly off the Eiffel tower itself. We were pretty tired by then, so we pushed off for the hostel to eat and rest up a bit. While Tommy is disgusted with my choice of a one star establishment of a 70% rating, we're on a budget that I intend to keep. Tough luck little hombre.

We ate at a little cafe near by and we got the rumpsteak, french onion soup, and a quiche. All of which are very good and put La Madeliene as just another French cafe. Despite what people may say, the french have actually been quite nice up until this point. Service is prompt and they haven't refused to serve me even though I know only two words of French.

Our last excursion of the day was to go to Trocadero to see the fireworks shoot off from the Eiffel tower. Crowds were swarming up and pouringinto the streets. People on mopeds and bikes were idiotic and trying to drive through the crowds. It was annoying. We actually found a decent spot, but tall people kept moving in front of us so we ended up shoo-ing back a bit further which offerred a better view. Ambulance and riot police were everywhere which should've tipped me off that this would be like new years in Madrid.

It got so packed with craziness that you couldnt move and people started punching and shoving. I get clausterphobic in large crowds. In fact, I really really hate being stuck in a position where I can't decide my own movement. We got completely jammed in the middle of the Trocadero. I felt my ass patted by pickpockets for a wallet atleast 7-8 times, but they got nothing. Everything was well hidden in my secret pouch under my shirt. I caught the hand of an old lady who had her hand in my backpocket who had a crutch. She was making the most noise about trying to get through the crowd. Distraction?

Anyway, after the fireworks ended, the crowd started to disperse and we managed to push our way out to the underground trains. My back was killing me and it hurt to stand up and/or sneeze. I think we'll be taking it nice and slow today.

More later!

The Format

So this will be my last post for a while. George is dropping Jason and Tommy off at the airport this afternoon, and I'll be busy traveling.



Our itinerary runs like this (July 11-July 26):

1. London (3 days)
2. Paris (3 days)
3. Munich (2 days with a day trip to Fussen)
4. Vienna (2 days)
5. Venice (1 day)
6. Rome (3 days)
7. London (1 day)

Per Person: Flight ($800) + Train/overnight coachs ($650) + Hostels ($350). This doesn't include the food either. ~$1,800

I'm particularly looking forward to the train rides and Munich/Fussen. They've got some of the best beer gardens, castles, and bratwurst in the world. Exciting stuff!

On the unbeaten path

London, like most things in life, is a mixed bag of goods and bads. Whenever I get bored around here, I can always take a walk through the city center.



According to google maps, I did a little over 7 miles starting from my dorms. I walked as many random alleys and streets as I could so this map is just an approximation.

Jason and Tommy arrive this Saturday morning, and it's going to be a very walking intensive trip. We're going to see this city in 2.5 days. It's helpful that the sunrise begins at 5AM in the morning and sunset starts around 9pm. Fun times soon to come!

Smarty Pants

I don't like it when people explain things out of perspective to the audience. When somebody drops a lot of technical terms and new terminology without bothering to explain it, it's annoying. For instance, if I were to say that NPV is a better measure than using IRR in evaluating the value of an income producing property, many people would go... huh?

In the sitcom, Home Improvement, Tim Allen notes how guys feel all tough and important when they use technical terms that other people don't get. It's an ego trip. I know this, and you don't. Wahhh, I'm smart!

On the flipside, I don't like is when people purposely choose to be ignorant on certain essential life skills. This ranges from cooking, using a computer, personal finances, laundry, and so on. None of these things are really that hard to understand. It's usually just a matter of patience. Are you willing to read the manual, recipe book, excel tutorial?

In the words of Doc Brown, (Back to the Future), "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything." I'm not a smart guy, but I'll read the manual. Where I lack in technical prowess, I make up for it in time and effort. There are resources everywhere. Ask somebody!

It's annoying when people try to break stereotypes by being useless. I've met girls who are proud of the fact that they can't cook. I've met Asian guys who are proud of being bad at math. Dude, the stereotypes that need breaking are NOT the ones that require skill.

Now don't get me wrong, there are divisions of labor and economies of scale to consider here. Not all people are good teachers or good students. Some people should stick to rocket science and some people should avoid it like the plague. I'm just saying the daily stuff should be learned by all. That's it!

Form before Function

Structure is important for a lazy soul. Without some shape to assume, I become a puddle of ooze like Odo in Deep Space 9. This probably explains my penchant for old military formations, definitions, self-help books, and anything else that requires organization-- it always helps me move out of my laggardly core. I used to be one of the worst procrastinators in the world, but after just 5 months with the army, they showed me the benefits of rigid structures and methodical approaches.

One of my favorite childhood activities was the boy scouts of America. There were always little badges to be earned for completing certain activities. The more things you do, the more flair you get to don on in front of other people at pack meetings. The army wasn't much different. During training, the pre-reqs were always clearly stated, and the reward was a badge. My approach hasn't deviated far from this simple set up.

Whenever I pursue any major goals, I always write out the objective and all the pre-reqs. I hate winging it because "prior proper planning prevents piss poor performance" (Thank you Sgt. Donahue). Over the past three years, I've created a private blog with a buddy of mine where we list our goals and scheme over our next moves. Often we fail, but often do we succeed as well. Each of ours are different in set up, and I've decided to share my 2009 Resolutions.

2009 Year Goals—

• Work & Fiscal
  • Attain a job in the real estate development industry
  • Seek out advice on how to manage funds
• Financial Education
  • Learn fundamentals in Real Estate
    • Investment Techniques (DCF, IRR, NPV)
    • Structuring Financing
      
    • Write dissertation on Sustainable Development
    • Learn Argus Program
    • Learn advanced excel spreadsheet modelling
  • Learn stock investment fundamentals & techniques
    
    • Technical analysis
      
    • Fundamental analysis
      
• Physical
  • Bring my blood pressure down to 120/80.
  • Become leaner (body fat percentage below 10%)
  • Interval training
    
  • Train for a Triathlon
    
• Intellectual
  • I want to study more History this year
    • America
    • Texas
    • Asia
• Social:
  • Learn more conversation and rapport building skills
  • Attend more social gatherings and networking events
    
• Artsy:
  • Study some art history
  • Create at least 12 more photoshop banners
  • Edit and create at least 2 more videos
  • Learn a classical spanish guitar song
  • Learn how to use Adobe Premier
    
• Travel Plans:
  • Visit: Germany, France, Austria, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, Ireland, Scotland, Portugal
    

This is my third time around following a self-imposed structure and it's been rewarding. Doing this also gives me a benchmark on how I'm doing at any given time during the year. I'm a fan of metrics, because you always want to know your stats before you head into the next fray.