BROKENMUSES BLOG - CLICK HERE FOR A PRINT VERSION - BROKEN BLOG WIDGET FOR APPLE USERS

E-mail:
Comment:
Key:

4 February 2012
P. G. Wodehouse said: “I just sit at a typewriter and curse a bit.” Feels like writing this blog sometimes. He also said: “I know I was writing stories when I was five. I don't know what I did before that. Just loafed I suppose.“

3 February 2012
You must think I'm a fool
So prosaic and awkward and all
D'you think you've got me down?
D'you think I've never been out of this town?
... (song by KEANE "Leaving So Soon?")

2 February 2012
This is not Wikileakes and I do not want to mention the source but I have to share this quote. It is a definition that struck me and it goes like this: “Tech freaks are those ... who get kick and satisfaction in showing their technical prowess even if it amounts to creating inconvenience to others. … Sometimes they take control of the computer controlled machines belonging to someone else. They disrupt the communication systems and channels through their technical skills and knowledge.” That could be the description of any support hotline really (but it isn’t).
Another quote I also found quite remarkable: The added value of the presentation was rather low and we presume that this was exactly what the speaker intended.

1 February 2012
The essence of all truly new is that the process of getting there has no master plan but follows tense, chaotic and rumbling democratic circumstances. This was written in an article in a paper I kept from mid December. And I know I have been accused before of reading oldspapers instead of newspapers.

31 January 2012
I was kindly reminded of Martin Niemöller today and his famous quote:
“ First they came for the communists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the socialist, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

29 January 2012
“ Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” - Mary Oliver

28 January 2012
Why do I get so many Viagra spam mails these days? I read that dissolving one in water and watering Christmas trees makes them stay fresh well into late January but I should think hardly anyone has any Christmas trees left by now…
One of my dear readers says that I may send the blue spam over. Seems more people than I thought still do have Xmas trees!
And then I got some more analytical and highly amusing remarks, stating that spam seems to consist of either financial enticements or performance enhancements or system extensions. So in reverse order it is either to make it bigger or to make it work better or to be able to pay so much that it does not matter. However dissolving the performance type spam in water and giving the result to your Xmas tree may be going too far even if it can keep it going strong almost until Easter.

27 January 2012
Getting used to public transport is quite challenging for me. Just one example: I sat in a more or less empty tram. A man of the type Bill Bryson in his early 30ies sits down next to me, reads my paper and then says rather abruptly: Women in the booming (?) economy may have some benefit from a good business newspaper! One could, he continued his monologue, trade wheat online these days now, trade it to the third dimension (?). Never before in history could humanity trade wheat as varied as now ... the rest of his arguments were incomprehensible.

26 January 2012
I read a comment (in German only) on Kodak’s bankruptcy that states something I agree on totally, namely that waiting has become unfashionable. It is an interesting thought that we lost the original since do more and more digitally. Jim Rocket says that "the lack of an original image is the phantom pain of photography."

25 January 2012
Europe will get new data protection laws. George Orwell is probably already turning in his grave, given official press statements like: “The right to be forgotten is of course not an absolute right. There are cases where there is a legitimate and legally justified interest to keep data in a data base. ... It is clear that the right to be forgotten cannot amount to a right of the total erasure of history.”
Received comment: Dear CBO (Chief Blogging Officer), can I highlight that your esteemed blog entry for January 25th is entirely different in English and German :-)
Answer: I can only apologize…

24 January 2012
The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable. - John Kenneth Galbraith

23 January 2012
I got this poem by Joseph Beuys:
Let yourself go.
Learn to observe snakes.
Plant impossible gardens.
Invite someone dangerous to tea.
Make little signs that say "Yes"
And spread them throughout your house.
Become a friend of freedom and uncertainty.
Look forward to your dreams at night.
Cry at movies.
Swing as high as you can with a swing in the moonlight.
Nourish different moods.
Refuse to be "responsible".
Do it for love.
Take a lot of naps.
Give more money. Do it now. The money will follow.
Belief in witchcraft.
Laugh a lot.
Bathe in the moonlight.
Dream wild, fanciful dreams.
Draw on the walls.
Read every day.
Imagine you'd be enchanted.
Giggle with children. Listen to old people.
Open yourself. Dive in. Be free.
Praise yourself.
Don’t be afraid.
Play with everything.
Entertain your inner child.
You are innocent.
Build a castle made of blankets.
Get wet.
Hug trees.
Write love letters.

21 January 2012
In the series “remarkable quotes from telephone conferences”: A: Can you go on mute, please? B: No. A: Well can you then at least refrain from breathing?

20 January 2012
I promised to get back to you on the topic of skirt lengths and heel height. Many years ago I read that there is a relationship between skirt lengths and the economic cycle. They are indirectly proportional, so in recession times we have long skirts although you'd assume there is less money for fabric while skirts tend to be short in boom times. So my assumption is that in 2012 we're going to move away from tight mini and pencil skirts!
After some more research I found out that the 1920 Hemline Theory by George Taylor in fact suggests that hemlines on women's dresses correlate with rising or falling stock prices. Anyway the theory has been extended since. Quoting from “The hemline index, updated” by Tamar Lewin "During a recession, laxatives go up, because people are under tremendous stress, and holding themselves back," said Shapiro, now chief executive of SAGE, a Chicago-based consulting firm. "During a boom, deodorant sales go up, because people are out dancing around. When people have less money, they buy more of the things that have less water in them, things that are not so perishable. Instead of lettuce and steak and fruit, it's rice and beans and grain and pasta. Except this time the price of pasta's so high that it's beans and rice."
Well to be honest I like the skirt length index better than the laxative one.
And well, I got the hint that this piece here was falling short on heel heights…

19 January 2012
I really want to take the opportunity of today’s entry and thank you all for being raving fans of this blog!
Scott Mc Kain (yet another motivational speaker with round glasses; oh no, I never said that...) says on his blog: “How many followers do YOU have on Twitter?” “Have you maxed out your ‘friends’ on Facebook?” “What’s the traffic on your blog?” Questions anyone on social media are being asked these days — and it exemplifies part of what has been wrong with our thinking in business: More must be better. And, it’s NOT: More is just more. Better is better. In other words, having fewer followers and friends — and providing something so compelling, these people become raving fans — is superior to simply amassing numbers."

18 January 2012
As I am in exile and only going to Brussels on a day trip tomorrow I was told that only very few people regard being away from Brussels as exile!

17 January 2012
I have to share a brilliant video on Photoshop or rather: Fotoshop and another one on Viennese Coffee Shops.

13 January 2012
Poet William Blake on how to start the day: "'Think in the morning, act in the noon, read in the evening, and sleep at night.'

10 January 2012
I have seen e-mail signatures come and go and am not really sure whether they are now en vogue or not. Recently they started to pop up again more and more. One I liked was “Beauty comes first. Victory is secondary. What matters is joy." - Sócrates (1954-2011)

9 January 2012
And yet again more pictures, this time from Thailand, Australia and New Zealand!
Received comment: Nice photos especially Thai!

7 January 2012
It has been rather quiet with regard to the “promised land” Bavaria. But well, there we go. A Bavarian radio station has come up with the rhyme of the day: “It’s nice to be a Preiss (Prussian) but it’s higher to be a Bayer (Bavarian).“
Another interesting development has been noticed at Munich’s airport. Mannequins seem to sprout from the floors there. And I feel quite charmed that they were associated with me. To tell you the truth I fear they are part of Fujitsu’s recent advertisement campaign instead. Fujitsu’s new motto is „accept no boundaries“. It would appear that gravitation is one of the boundaries that are no more. Not too well placed in Munich I dare say. Speaking of which: A charming quote I read a few days ago, allegedly by Einstein himself: „Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love“.

6 January 2012
There are quite some new pictures on this website now namely from Chile, Singapore, Myanmar, Kuala Lumpur and Vietnam.
I swear I came across this article on how to be interesting by pure coincidence. Nevertheless I really liked the suggestions on embracing your inner weirdness. There is more on that here.
Received comment: Inner weirdness? What poppycock. I embrace normality!

5 January 2012
Video of the day: Everybody’s Free (to wear sunscreen).

4 January 2012
I found an old draft note for what I must have considered subjects of tomorrow back then:
1. Are hovers better with or without bags?
2. Should men be able to cook eggs?
3. Are bolt ties better than regular ties? and
4. How to make pumpkins out of ice cream?
I must confess especially the latter is quite a mystery to me together with the first item. It also escapes my mind why I have a soap bar next to a very sticky piece of candy and an even sticker pen in my coat pocket.

3 January 2012
Due to a comment I received from a well wisher who is disappointed there is not enough on fashion or sport on this blog I dare say I read elsewhere that the colors of the season are smoothie colors. And then again that fits all well with the overall tendency to blended or mashed food such as soups, smoothies, cocktails etc. Mostly drinks I guess. Anyway my point is the spring colors are very tolerant towards our eating habits.
Received comment: Thanks regarding the color advise for spring. Am sure your readers will value items on skirt length and heel height and rugby in the future :-)

2 January 2012
What I forgot in yesterday’s entry: The best advertisement punch line I read was by Tudor watches with their rule number seven: “Seduction is just a matter of time”. I could not agree more.

1 January 2012
So this was 2011: My one year sabbatical leave ended in late September and the brief summary is: I would not have had any difficulties meandering through the world for much, much longer.
I divide the longer version into various findings and/or lessons learnt:
On the status of the world at large: In a nutshell: Incompetence rules the world.
On personal details: Often questions around “Where are you from?” end up in a loop. „So where are you from?” “Austria.” “Sidney?” [note: for reasons of simplicity:] “Vienna.” “Where are you going?” … “What's your name?” … “What's your work?” … “How much do you earn?” … “How old are you?” … “Are you married?” … “What’s your shoe size?”… “Where are you from?” “You already asked me that.” “Oh, I forgot...”
On food and drinks: My overall advice is: don’t ever think a green bean is a green bean. When in doubt remember it can and will most certainly be green chili. One of the better encouragements for vegetarians I heard in Asia was: I hope you like rice.
Top 3 (+1) cocktails: Ambience: Singapore Sling, Raffles Hotel, Singapore. Quirky + best view: Coco Loco, Hotel Pink Flamingo, Acapulco. Best taste: Pina Colaca, Boracay/The Phillipines. Extra ranking for most astute promise: Orgasmo, Lake Chapala near Guadajahara, Mexico.
On hygiene and the right sequence: Always check first whether there is water at all and only then put soap onto your hands. I’m still doing very badly at that. And yes, a few years of regular Pilates training came in handy whenever balance without touching any of the surroundings was required, for instance most toilets.
On unfriendly controls at airports: Always take ample time when finishing your water or when tying shoe laces again after an insulting approach to get rid of any remaining water or off your shoes.
On vanity and/or losing it: Using a tiny black plastic sickness bag from a ferry in lieu of an expensive handbag proves one has become less vein than one used to.
On the material: Even waterproof shoes get wet if water (and leeches) are coming from above the ankle. Jeans do not only get lighter, they also get much thinner and eventually they are ripped apart. I lost a scarf, a sweater, my favorite jacket and a bikini - fortunately not all at the same time or at a time when those were the only things I was wearing respectively. Furthermore two people of my acquaintance (obviously no friends of mine) and last but not least a blanket - one of the more useful things I carried though how it slipped my possession eludes my mind.
On hotels: Most hotel rooms are equipped with either a copy of the bible or the yellow pages. Sometimes you’ll find both mostly when all you really need is the password for the wireless Internet.

31 December 2011
„Due to the rain the revolution has been postponed“ is written onto the window front of a shop in Munich. I think that summarizes the state of the world at the end of 2011 quite nicely. Broken Muses wishes all Broken Blog readers a Happy New Year!
Received comment: I hope New Year’s wasn’t postponed due to the rain, too…

30 December 2011
Having seen the tall crooked Christmas tree on Munich’s Marienplatz – a gift from Tirol - once more my only advice to Munich is never to complain about a free tree.
Received comment: Given your photographic instincts for the unusual and the broken, it would have been delightful for you to have posted a photo (taken by you, of course) of that crooked (dare we call it "broken"?) Christmas tree...

29 December 2011
My newspaper tells me that the latest trend in anaplastology (which is branch of medicine dealing with the prosthetic rehabilitation of an absent, disfigured, or malformed anatomically critical location of the face or body) is movable ears or eyes and eyelids. What seems to be en vogue as well is to have two sets of ears, one for the winter and one for the summer.

28 December 2011
I haven’t come across it consciously I fear but Wikipedia tells us that there is a phenomenon called the Hot Chocolate Effect. “It can be observed by pouring hot milk into a mug, stirring in chocolate powder, and tapping the bottom of the mug with a spoon while the milk is still in motion. The pitch of the taps will increase progressively with no relation to the speed or force of tapping. Subsequent stirring will gradually decrease the pitch again. The phenomenon is explained by the effect of bubble density on the speed of sound in the liquid. The note heard is the frequency of a standing wave where a quarter wavelength is the distance between the base of the mug and the liquid surface.” In the blog category: there you have it.

24 December 2011
Broken Muses wishes all Broken Blog readers Merry Christmas!

23 December 2011
Just discovered some recordings of this wonderful show called QI and so I thought I might want to share my favourite bit, why the giant tortoise had not got a name for 300 years. It is also quite remarkable that there is no Latin name for Maltesers.

22 December 2011
I was reminded that I had not yet translated the German blog entry from December 11. I apologize for the lapse and am sorry for the inconvenience.

21 December 2011
A new bestseller has arrived to Germany's bookstores. "Text messages from last night". Subtitle: “Did I leave my pants behind at your place?”

20 December 2011
My favourite Belgian chocolates used to be the pink hearts from Wittamer and the dark brown Euros from Neuhaus. Now I am given to understand that Neuhaus has decided to discontinue the Euro. What a statement if you think about it! They still have the light brown and the dark brown Neuhaus Ns which are similar in taste but well, that is beside the point I fear.

19 December 2011
One of the few Dutch phrases I can pronounce more or less without any accent is “ik bin op de pot” which means I am on the toilet. Not a very good resume after eight years in a partly dutchspeaking country.

17 December 2011
Having been made believe that Munich and/or Bavaria is heaven on earth and /or the promised land I was thinking whether one needs to assume that Frankfurt or more precisely Frankfurt airport is the navel of the world. In essence I am sure there are people who believe that Frankfurt as such has been a mere invention of the aviation industry who want us to believe that Frankfurt is the true heart of Europe.
And when you then enter Belgium (over land) of course it is raining just as you’d expect from Belgium. It is not all too surprising that one of the fashion labels there is called “Mais il est ou, le soleil?”

16 December 2011
Many thanks for some nice quotes:
Can miles truly separate you from friends... If you want to be with someone you like, aren't you already there? - Richard Bach
Absence diminishes mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and fans fires. - Francois de La Rochefoucauld

14 December 2011
It seems that the most renowned Viennese app these days is the so-called "Toilet Map Vienna". This app has been developed based on “Open Government Data” and lists all public toilets. It helps to find the closest public toilet in your surroundings.

12 December 2011
What I learnt is that in case of clogged pipes the quality of the soap that you just used becomes irrelevant very quickly and equally appalling than any other content that surfaces.

11 December 2011
I really don’t know whether subscribing to Groupon has been my greatest idea in 2011. I doubt it. Amongst the things I’ve been offered lately were coupons for a fondue dinner in the style of the 1970-ies at a reduced rate of minus 55%. I could also have bought a coupon for 5 dance classes at the Bollywood Crazy Dance Company (reduction 53%). I should also mention a facial and/or manicure at Egoist Cosmetics (72% off). Egoist Cosmetics promise that “nobody is facing the passing of time, wind and weather as much as your skin”. So it would appear that my skin (or anyone’s really) experiences wind and weather much differently differently than the rest of me. Interesting, isn’t it?

10 December 2011
Can I ask my readers for help in boycotting wasabi cheese? Cheese manufacturers may face tough international competition these days but to be honest wasabi cheese take things one step too far.

9 December 2011
I hear that there are people who really enjoy a rip to Ikea. I am definitely not one of them. Besides more and more I feel like starring in Hinterholz 8, an Austrian movie about renovating a ruined house that eventually gets more and more destroyed. At a certain moment the hero thinks the only remedy against wet walls under electricity is waterproof wallpaper…
Received comment: Margit it appears you’d rather leave sooner than later for the lack of intelligent life down here in Munich.
Answer: Was I that outspoken?

8 December 2011
For those interested in religion: www.vorleser.net offers the bible as audiobook-app for iPhone, iPad and iPod.

7 December 2011
Many thanks to somebody who really made me laugh today when pointing me to Bulgarian modern artist Yanko Tsvetkov’s mapped stereotypes. I especially liked Europe according to the Greeks. For our British readers I also recommend a brief look onto Europe according to Britain.

6 December 2011
News from Repubblica Bavaria: Earlier today the Bavarian minister president opened a summit with the words "welcome to the promised land". And I swear there was not a trace of irony.

4 December 2011
Sorting through some of my pictures I came across a book ad I had noted: “Bury my heart at conference room B – The unbeatable impact of truly committed managers”.

2 December 2011
News from Absurdistan (vulgo Belgium): Am invited to a discussion called: “The Unbearable lightness of the butterfly. What new taxes will the new Belgian government bring us?”

28 November 2011
Visiting Brussels where people cross the streets even when the green man is not yet visible and people stand left and right on escalators without being reprimanded :-)

26 – 27 November 2011
Been to Austria for the first time in six months! For those who speak German or think they do I can recommend listening to the song "Vo Mello bis ge Schoppornou".

25 November 2011
News from Planet Germany: I got fined (well it was a written warning rather) in the company parking lot for parking the wrong way around. Obviously reverse parking is not allowed.
I read that the Pope got in trouble for not wearing a seatbelt when visiting Germany last year…

17 - 24 November 2011
Drinks: Oh how I miss Brussels and its historical landmark decisions: For instance that new EU bans claim that water can prevent dehydration.
UNESCO has recently added the Viennese coffee shops to their immaterial cultural heritage list. I quote: “The coffee houses are a place where time and space are consumed, but only the coffee is found on the bill."
On the other hand what can I report from Bavaria’s Monaco? A bar close to my new flat offers their cocktail of the month: Sex on the Beach while we measure about minus two degrees centigrade.
Berlin on the other hand deviates from the ubiquitous “coffee to go” and ventures out with “hot spiced wine to go”.
Received comment: I think Sex on the Beach suposed to be much hotter and better that minus 2 degrees. And you've been places where both the cocktail and the act itself would be much more comfortable.

16. November 2011
News from Bavaria: A new poster campaign on Munich airport shows a few pictures of Bavaria’s tourist highlights and reads: “From the sky to heaven on earth: welcome to Bavaria.” The most striking images in the background skies are a) condense stripes in the shape of a pretzel or b) a pair of leather trousers.

15 November 2011
Do I have to worry that the HR department addresses me as „Brandes”?

14 November 2011
Once more I am told there are new trends out there. A very recent one is called “owling“. People aim for the closest tree, sit in it trying to look like an owl. Another trend whose name slipped my mind aims at people who wear false beards in the attempt to look cool. And a third one is called “Johanssoning” whereby people take pictures of themselves following an example stated by Scarlett Johansson who took a picture of herself showing her face in the foreground and the mirror image of her back in the background. More to be found at: http://scarlettjohanssoning.com/

13 November 2011
We-love-Germany.com: The scene: a shop specializing in wine and spirits. Customer is approaching service clerk with a bottle of wine. Dialogue: A: What kind of wine is that really? B: White wine!

11 November 2011
Some are celebrating the end of WWI today others the beginning of carnival. I will finally move into my new flat today (11-11-11) which is probably neither of great historical importance nor a pure joke.

10 November 2011
News from Brezen-County (vulgo Bavaria): Interestingly enough people who give presentations here can „throw all hands up in horror“. One would assume that this is rather a quality associated with Goddess Shiva. Anyway at the same meeting and before I’ve had my first coffee that day a colleague warned me and advocated I should refrain from eating anything really. One never knows he said and can never be too careful when it comes to chemical food additives. After that I thought about throwing all my handy up in horror.

9 November 2011
I had lunch with a Greek colleague today who said you could already tell from his name that he was Cretan. Without even thinking my immediate response to that was: “All Cretans are liars." One would have expected an interesting discussion on the Epimenides paradox but instead I was greeted with utter incomprehension and almost asked to leave the table.

8 November 2011
It would appear that E.T has never phoned home. I quote: “The U.S. government has no evidence that any life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race. In addition, there is no credible information to suggest that any evidence is being hidden from the public's eye.”

3 November 2011
Whenever – und under normal circumstances that is rare enough - I come to the conclusion to finally throw away some of my possessions I can be sure that somebody close by says: you cannot possibly throw THAT away…

2 November 2011
I have to say that spreading word about me going around the world has been slightly more exciting than telling people that I am leaving Belgium for Munich.

1 November 2011
Penultimate day in Belgium…

31 October 2011
After about 3 hours at the commune in Brussels I have finally successfully de-registered. I should mention that I had been registered under a wrong name (“Brandi”) a few years ago which could not be changed at all anymore. Today I found out - after having queued for 2 (!) hours in vein at the commune’s foreign department - that on top of that they had registered me as Belgian national.
Received comment: Can only happen to you: an unexpected change of nationality. Although, if you start arguing with people and claiming the Belgian king as “your king” you shouldn't be surprised.

30 October 2011
I am tired beyond words. Five hours of non-stop cleaning. Not that this is my strong side anyway. I am too clumsy for that. For instance I dropped a bottle of window cleaning liquid. It fell off the window in the seventh floor – before I had cleaned all the windows. Fortunately it did not smash the glass roof of the inner courtyard below.
Received comment: At least that window in the courtyard got cleaned now. Good to hear you found a flat in Munich.

29 October 2011
A dead cat stretched out on a Brussels cycling path. I am sure the cat had a lethal collision with a cycling German expat.

25 – 28 October 2011
In Brussels again and busy emptying the flat. One underestimates the amount of property that tends to pile up over the years. During the move I had to keep moving otherwise I am sure the movers would have forced me into a fair sized piece of bubble wrap, put a “fragile” tape around me and put me into the moving truck. What is slightly worrying is that as soon as I am finally about to let go of things sure enough somebody steps in, frowns and says: you cannot possibly throw THAT away, you need to keep it! And so I still possess my blue leather sofa and some garden furniture. The latter even though I had already loosened a few screws in order to dismantle it and throw it out. One of the movers had not noticed, the chair broke down and he sank gracefully to the floor which. Opposed to me he did not immediately see the funny side of that. But well, after many years of peaceful co-existence I finally parted with my mannequin Klaus. He took the lift down to the basement to stay behind. For those interested in learning how he got to Brussels, see blog entry from October 16, 2007. Already back then I have suffered from partial amnesia regarding the amount of things I seem to hoard.
Received comment: Ah, well, my friend, sooner or later this was bound to happen. And perhaps the person who finds Klaus won't be too surprised.... I trust despite the weariness that your move is going or went well.

24 October 2011
Eureka! I finally found a flat in Munich! So relieved…

23 October 2011
A few days ago I mentioned the real estate agency „Head and Colleagues“. At least there is no doubt about what business they’re in. It is harder to tell in the case of „Pseudo Scheininger GmbH“ which would translate to something along the lines of „Pseudo Appearance ltd“.

22 October 2011
Notes of a foreigner in a foreign country (in other words a stranger in a strange land or an alien in Germany): The average who goes to the movies on a Saturday night ranks in the age group of below hundred. But only slightly below hundred.

21 October 2011
The world keeps changing at a very fast pace. The Euro is in great danger, Kaddafi is dead, the Basque ETA has changed their program quite substantially. And what is new on my end? I am still looking for a flat in German’s Monaco. On the bright side of things I have been stopped because of the red numbers in my Belgian license plate and awarded by a hand kiss. Whether the kiss was a compliment for me or the license plate was hard to tell.
Received comment: From fighting frogs to fighting for a flat! I’d like to thank you for entertaining me with your numerous fights! Honestly I can really imagine that finding a nice place is not that easy there. I hope you’ll find a nice place soon!

20 October 2011
Quoting from the highly entertaining world of apartment ads: Some owners feel well represented by the agency „Head and Colleagues“. Others advertise their property as being part of the “hip slaughterhouse district”. Or they say quite pragmatically: “No flat could be more comfortable. The beautiful cemetery is in its immediate neighbourhood.“

19 October 2011
95% of all cyclists in Munich are men. They insist on their cycling paths, their right of way and generally they are riding their bikes way too fast. In short they are true testosterone bombs. One of those bombs has hit me hard this morning, crashing into my car’s already rather damaged door on the driver’s side. Luckily I hadn’t come around yet to having that damage repaired. I then thought it might be wiser to spend the rest of the day as pedestrian. As luck would have it I found myself walking on a cycling path once more. And there it was. A dead squirrel with many deadly open wounds. Obviously - although highly unlikely overall if one was to spend a second thought on the matter – the squirrel had fallen from a tree where it was subsequently and rather immediately squashed by a Munich cyclist.

18 October 2011
Observations on Germany: Three men with six packs were walking shoulder to shoulder towards a local discount shop. Had it not been obvious that they were only after the shop’s actual special offer (same bottled beer in the same carton) they would have appeared quite frightening.

17 October 2011
Getting used to Germany takes time and effort. Just to give you an example that made my stomach cramp quite a bit: a group of kindergarten children was quietly walking along a street in neat pairs of two and two. An inaudible laughter of one of the pairs resulted in a kindergarten teacher shouting: “We are not fooling around when we go to kindergarten! We are serious and reasonable when we go to kindergarten!”

16 October 2011
One of the more humiliating things about searching for a flat in Munich are what they call the lessee’s self declaration. One is basically expected to summarize one’s life ad give a detailed account about one’s financial situation. There is no such thing as a standardized form and so there is a variety of details that are being asked. Sometimes things get slightly absurd. For instance one question about whether one is married was followed by a question stating that if yes, was the husband or wife married as well. Just to stick to the facts: They did not go as far as stating a further question along the lines whether – in case the husband or wife was married as well – their married partner would move in as well and in case one would answer with yes here as well, could the last three income statements of that person also be kindly handed over.

15 October 2011
One gains quite some and often rather deep insights when visiting apartments that are still other people’s homes. For instance it made me wonder what makes people tick who own bright orange toilet seats reading: “Life jacket under your seat!”

14 October 2001
Phrase of the day: A Fool with a Tools is Still a Fool.

13 October 2011
Song of the day: No Monkey von Wally Warning.

12 October 2011
Until recently I was under the assumption that the Milky Way is high above us. In fact it is in the midst of Munich and you can even walk along it. All over the place there are coffee shops and bakeries that sell coffee to go and – less often – coffee to “sit in”. Interesting concept especially after the local newspaper said in one of its recent editions that coffee is and has always been assisting the muse.

7 – 11 October 2011
And once more days went by with hunting for a flat and without publishing anything on this blog – my apologies.
I struggle with the language of most ads here. Sometimes one has to be grateful that wannabe poets do not write actual poetry but housing ads. Else we would be struck harder by expressions like “ambience of a Mediterranean backyard” and the like. Often the laws of physics are stretched to the unthinkable limit or can anyone explain to me how I need to imagine a “spacious 25 square meter apartment on two floors”?
And then there are times when one is waiting for the real estate agent during freezing mornings or afternoons. During one such occasion a tour group stopped by. Their topic was suicides with a special emphasis on people who hung themselves in nearby cellars.

6 October 2011
Finding a flat in Munich is much more complex than I thought. I have my difficulties with the language used for describing places as such. “Generous” and “spacious” are only used to describe miniscule apartments. One of the more entertaining descriptions was: “The flat is located in a quiet inner courtyard. There is also a pond within (the flat?) which is not noisy at all.”

30 September 2011 – 5 October 2011
I have to apologize for not having updated this blog for a while. I have been busy with wrapping up and sorting through things, preparing a farewell party, doing my taxes, locking myself out of my Brussels flat and trying to break in again and finally with driving to Munich where I shall live from now on. I am probably one of only a handful of people ever injured by a ball dress and a big pack of cookies; both fell simultaneously onto my head whereby a reconstruction of the actual event would go beyond the scope of this blog. Well, if there were a scope at all of course. Anyway, I should mention that I learnt an incredible new thing about myself during the past few days: I am unbelievably gifted for keeping old boxes. Sometimes it would appear I simply found the design concept of the box interesting but most often I may have thought it might come in handy to wrap the thing that came in it again with the help of newspaper from 1999.

29 September 2011
I started packing and organizing things and if you have friends over to help you have to live with a certain sarcasm I guess. Like that hoarding stuff might be genetic or that one is inclined to throw things away “a la façon de la grand-mère” meaning holding on to them and merely putting them into another corner. But well it is probably safe to throw out things that have a) always made you look like things the cat has brought in or b) have 100 Lire coins in their pockets as a sign when they were last worn. And that is 10 years after the Euro has been introduced…

28 September 2011
The gentleman age is definitely over, also in Europe. I especially noticed that when throwing out heaps of rubbish being watched by two men standing idly next to their BMWs.

27 September 2011
And once more my e-mail account was blocked. Somehow there is a certain manic attitude to that on the side of the provider lately.

26 September 2011
So I am back in good old Brussels that feels so familiar. I just read that a plane of Nepal’s Buddha Air crashed in bad weather during one of their early morning Everest flights…
Although I have merely just arrived I am still thinking of all those places I wanted to visit as well but did somehow not have the time to include in my itinerary. Tibet, Yekaterinburg, Odessa, Isfahan, Mongolia, Madagascar, Eritrea, Panama, Peru, Galapagos and Canada come to mind...

25 September 2011
After two passport controls within a 10 meter distance they really let me out of the country. Quite astonishing. What major offence could you possibly commit within two consecutive passport control points? Istanbul’s airport at 4 a.m. is not as glamorous as one might think…

24 September 2011
The end of a long journey has come and I am about to leave Beijing and return to Brussels. And in order to keep me entertained this website was down for the whole day for whatever mysterious reason. And that was even before I had spotted a little boy in a very topical t-shirt that read: Big Brother. There was no little brother beside him. After all we’re in the country of single children. Briefly after that – and that was when I thought it timely to return back home – I spotted a hamster-colored poodle in what seemed to be hand-made red leather sneakers. The owner dragged him away from a white poodle and apparently the sneakers were too slippery for any major resistance.

23 September 2011
Again a word on Chinese toilets. A few days ago I mentioned a phenomenon that appeared to be following a policy of the open toilet door (see entry of Sept. 17/18). Having witnessed that I should not have wondered at all when entering a toilet facility at Xi’an airport where the only western style toilet had no toilet door at all. But there was a burning insect coil in the corner, how helpful! I have to say though that you could only see into the stall when approaching it directly which happened only three times or so. A seemingly insignificant number given the number of people around who get in your way, push you around, step on your toes, spit out in front of you or are just in any other way impossible.

22 September 2011
I thought my visit to Xi’an’s terracotta army would be one of the highlights of my trip but well then again I should have thought twice. I have had my problems understanding the state certain UNESCO world heritage sites are in before and apart from being one, the terracotta warrior museum claims it has gained its ISO9000 or 9001 quality certification recently – another one that makes me swallow hard at times. So little surprise it was then. Not only is the whole site a nightmare from an architectural point of view, it is simply not built for purpose and cannot handle thousands and thousands of daily visitors in large groups. The actual archeological sites have been covered completely and the halls and roofs take away the impression of standing next to one of the most interesting archeological sites ever found. The site maps are in Chinese only and do not reflect the layout of the museum. The audio guide must have been recorded for a different museum altogether. The most precious specimen found are in an unlit compartment in the basement of one of the museum buildings. There is no air conditioning and numerous Chinese tourist groups are required by their loud guides to build a Phalanx in front of overseas tourists and stomp them if necessary. And this necessity seems to occur all the time.
When I finally made it back to my hotel I somehow took it lightly that my e-mail account was blocked again! Meanwhile I have developed a routine of unblocking it…

21 September 2011
Quite interestingly whenever some directions are given in English you can be almost sure that they are misleading. Say at the Lama Temple or at the Summer Palace: A sign announces a certain exit as the one suited for the sight. And you can be sure it is - out of 3-6 exits - the one furthest away from the entrance gate. I wonder why?
Again a few words on food: I came across a number of interesting restaurants lately. In Shanghai we had a “Boxing Cat Brewery” next to a “Funky Chicken” restaurant and in Beijing I walked past a restaurant called “Walnut Tree in May – Low Carbon Restaurant”. The latter was a first for me indeed.
On various food stalls on the streets of Beijing I saw bee cocoons, snakes, water beetles, centipedes and silkworms – all fried on sticks. I felt very conservative walking by with my corn on the cob.

20 September 2011
I ventured out to see the China Central TV building and the Summer Palace. I thought that would be an easy day but again underestimated Beijing’s distances and spent almost eight hours just visiting those two sights. The Summer Palace has a huge man made hill and lake. I somehow climbed the hill from the wrong side and instead of walking lush alleyways found myself crawling through the undergrowth - much to the detriment of my already stained clothes. No offence to my Christian readers but on my jeans there are now two stains - one over the left, one over the right knee - just as the stigmata wounds of Christ would have left had he been in jeans at the time they crucified him...
Received comment: From MARGIT to STIGMATA, it only needs an S and an R and a good shaker.
Received comment: Jesus was crucified through his wrists (not the hands), about 2 inches above the hands, and through both feet with a single nail, between the bones of the feet and wrist, without breaking any of them. At any rate, the knees had NOTHING to do with the crucifixion. But your story was, nevertheless, quite entertaining...

19 September 2011
For those who are not following the daily Chinese news I would like to underline one of today’s top articles: “Mint growers in China are calling for more government support for the development of this small sector of agriculture”.
I have always had a weak spot for sociology and language and so reading the other top news story today made me think quite a bit. As opposed to the common stork theory in the west it seems that the Chinese tell their children when asked where they come from that they “were picked up from a trash can”.
After that I thought I need to stop brooding over newspapers and get out and about again. So I trusted my schematic Beijing map and ended up walking for hours and hours to and through Beihai Park and the Houhai area.

17 – 18 September 2011
Against all odds I made it to Beijing by train. But I think that was that with me and trains for the time being and I shall fly to Xi’an next week. With trains you assume starting and ending your journey right in the respective city center. But then you discover that for instance Shanghai’s long distance train terminal is not only as far out of town as the domestic airport, it is also right next to it and equally massive. You even feel like being on an airport there apart from the fact that gates are changed frequently without an announcement in English. There was a restaurant car but the only thing I could safely recognize was dried or rather dried unripe kiwi fruit. The other thing I identified must have been pork in a former and less dried out life.
But Beijing! What an enormous city! The hotel map is more a rough estimate and distances are at least 20 times larger than you’d assume. The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square are superlatives beyond description. Standing on the Great Wall reminded me of seeing the Egyptian Pyramids: no matter how many times you have seen them on pictures or on TV, being there for the first time yourself is definitely different. The Ming Dynasty Tombs were also impressive.
But at the same time there is often a slightly bizarre edge to things. Like hearing the waitress in a top restaurant say “I am afraid there is no Chinese tea left. But we have got fruit.” Whether there is no Chinese tea anymore in the restaurant, in China or even overseas was not to be discussed further. In one of the Forbidden City’s cafés they offered “Hamburg” and at a rather affordable price even. Almost all signs in both Chinese and English in the Forbidden City were sponsored or to quote literally “made possible by the American Express Company”. What I found slightly disturbing was a seemingly unwritten open door policy in the Forbidden City’s female toilets. Twenty toilets, all occupied but with doors just leaning or being open halfway. Talking about weird things: What I think I liked best was the skid down from the Great Wall section at Mutianyu down to the valley.

16 September 2011
Yesterday I saw a great t-short picturing Obama as Chairman Obama. And by the way, Lipton advertises its Yellow Label tea with the slogan “Drink Positive”. Another t-shirt I saw read: Dress To Distress. Speaking of which: most shops her do not have fitting rooms and fitting isn’t allowed. Only some Chinese haute couture shops do have some sort of fitting rooms but most only do clothes up to size 32 or 34. Some pieces I saw looked like a new interpretation of uniforms with a little bit of black lace draped all over.
Without a little note with Chinese letters outlining your destination or anything else you may want and need you are pretty much lost. I somehow managed to buy a train ticket for today (Friday) from Shanghai to Beijing. But I do not want to praise the day before dawn; it still remains to be seen a) whether I can get on that train and b) where I will end up.
Having talked about it at length in the past with various people in involved in the project I just had to ride on the Transrapid (Maglev) train for once. So fortunately I made the 10:45 yesterday which is the last morning train at top speeds of 450 km/h. It just takes 8 min to get to the airport 30 km away. The return train just kept at a steady 300 km/h - boring in comparison.
Received comment: 300 km/h? Is it because they have less electricity to use for the magnets as the rest of the city turns on their electrical equipment?

15 September 2011
McDonalds have western toilets here but from the dirt strains and shoe prints you see on them it seems people are using them just like the holes in the ground. I assume it needs more than six years of Pilates training to balance out on that level. A little Tai Chi from early childhood days on might be needed given the advanced and sometimes slippery circumstances.

14 September 2011
Again a word on food and drinks. Let me start with drinks: I don't know how I would have made it through Hong Kong's and Macao's humid climate without the occasional canned iced coffee. Somehow a side effect of my recent Ayurvedic treatment is that I feel a strong urge for lots of coffee. In China now everything is about milk tea. Sometimes there are even sweet beans inside the milk tea or some sort of jelly beans. In Fuxin Park I finally found a bottle of iced café latte which was first of all really cold. And it smelled coffee. But frankly: it was iced milk tea. I can only hope it is not based on milk powder.
Talking about coffee I had one of my better misunderstandings in a very tiny coffee shop this afternoon. I was the only customer and waited for my coffee and sandwich for about 25 minutes. It seemed much longer and while waiting for the waitress to turn up again I got bitten seven or eight times by mosquitoes. Finally the waitress was back and I in chatty mood that started with: “You have quite some mosquitoes here, don’t you?” She said: “Oh no, go out, go straight, turn left at the intersection and THERE you may find one!”
And food, well yes, food. I have a little paper that is supposed to say I want vegetarian food. At first I assumed it read something along the lines “this woman is mad, she does not want meat”. In fact it seems to say “this woman is mad, feed her noodle soup”. And don't get me wrong: they do great noodle soup here. But after a few days even the best noodle soup starts to lose out on its original excitement. Although, yesterday they almost sneaked some duck stomach into my noodle soup.

13 September 2011
Shanghai is just like I would have imagined Hong Kong to be. Alongside the Hiangpu River or the so-called “Bank” that is there are many impressive buildings from the beginning of the 20th century. One can only imagine how life in the Golden Twenties must have been here! The former Observation Tower has been remodeled into a bar with a rooftop terrace and stunning views to the other side of the river bank with its skyscrapers and the landmark TV tower. Shanghai must be paradise for architects. The sheer number of high rise buildings in bizarre shapes is breathtaking.

12 September 2011
Guangzhou is breathtaking. 18 million inhabitants, skyscrapers around the Pearl River and wherever you go just people, people, people. As some Austrian friends I visited today told me I have unfortunately missed out on some of the best sights here, the Shamian Island. But then again, I basically had one day here and you can’t have it all, can you?
My earlier idea of going to Shanghai by train quickly lost its charms when I was told that the overnight train was booked and the alternative would have meant 19 hours in another train and again sleepers fully booked. So I bought a plane ticket instead and arriving to the airport I once again felt that as much as I love flying I am just not a real train person.
As luck would have it I arrived on Shanghai’s old airport in the west instead of the new airport far outside of town in the east. The latter is served by the Transrapid train which I was looking forward to ever since I decided to go to Shanghai. I can only say that riding the subway to my hotel was slightly less thrilling.

11 September 2011
I hesitated for quite some time whether I should really include the Middle Kingdom into my itinerary for the world trip or not. But here I am now finally – in the land of the single children. There are many things one needs to get accustomed to. For instance traffic rules. It appears that red lights are only optional here and whoever assumes that crossing the street would be a safe enough thing as soon as the green man is thoroughly wrong. A man might push people around when getting onto a train and at the same time carry his wife’s handbag, both apparently socially acceptable behavior patterns.
After my first shock and awe about the sheer size of a random Chinese metropolis and the amount of people I have quickly gained back that lighthearted feeling of just travelling. And so it only took a “1.3 billion Chinese can’t be wrong” when a Brazilian acquaintance asked me quite worried how on earth I could dare and eat from Chinese food stalls.
Ah and yes, I could not accept the irony that virtually all electronic goods on this planet are manufactured here and I cannot get hold of a simple charger for my notebook. And so after quite some time and a few scribbled notes with Chinese letters on them I found what I needed!
Received comment: I DID find it amusing that it was hard for you to find the replacement charger you needed in the one country on earth that makes everything electronic.

10 September 2011
Trying to buy a suitable notebook charger in Hong Kong proves to be an impossible thing to do. The stares I got various shops in Kowloon’s electronic goods quarter were worse than the ones I usually get when asking for film for my camera. So after a night in Hong Kong and a morning with a “mission impossible” I am on my way to Guangzhou in Mainland China. By train. And the absurd thing is that after eleven months on the road I am so excited as if this were my first trip ever!
Apart from the toilets the train itself was very modern. And well, the toilets were basically just Italian/French/Turkish (whatever they may be called in your country) holes with a bright daylight view onto the train tracks. If six years of constant Pilates training have helped me in any way then it was helping me to focus on a thought center line, stabilize even over such a toilet in a moving and shaking train without holding on to anything and without losing my balance. This particular skill has also proven to be immensely helpful alongside African roads where hoards of children seem to take pride in watching the occasional tourist pee.
Just when I arrived in Guangzhou I had just seconds to jump into a taxi before the worst thunderstorm in my life. Nevertheless I was soaking wet when I arrived to the hotel as the taxi’s roof leaked considerably. Still having no power cord for my laptop I went to the hotel’s business center to check my e-mails and there the welcome to China present was that my e-mail account was blocked or, as the website that sprung open to notify me about said “had eventually has been erased”. Next thing was that the exact same website all of a sudden only showed Chinese letters. So instead of dinner I worked for hours with the help of some friendly staff to get the box working again. And so fortunately it does.
To chill out after that I thought I just go out and stroll around the block. My first encounter with China was that upon exiting the hotel an elephant man with a tumor on his throat as big a child’s head (a child of 5-6 years say) nearly bumped into me. When I looked up I saw a teenager with a t-shirt reading „Guten Tag“ (in German!).

9 September 2011
I packed a bit smarter this time (for instance all books except for the Devine Mad Man's biography went into my duffel bag) and had a mild Michelin Man edge to my overall appearance and so my suitcase was 20.9 kilos and went through fine from Kalibu over Manila to Hong Kong without me paying for overweight and thus cross-subsidizing cheap tickets.
A last Philippine massage at Kalibo airport. Next to me a Korean (from the southern part of the peninsula I assume) gets a neck and back massage sitting upright. He is 100% focused on his iPad where he is using a virtual machine gun to shoot at fish in an equally virtual fish tank. As a person that is experiencing back pain literally all the time and for whom a massage is more or less a holy act there was just one thing that came to mind, namely a quote from a well known Austrian insurance company: We'd be pleased to cope with your worries.
But then well, there was the flight itself and a thing you definitely don't want to hear on a Philippine Airlines flight: This is your captain from the flight deck speaking: We are experiencing - rather long pause, rather unpleasant cracks over the ether - turbulences. Silence. It is also not helpful if the person next to you is reading a book called "Transition" by Ian M. Banks. Up to now I was only familiar with a Rosie M. Banks - a made-up character in a P. G. Wodehouse novel. Nevertheless I made it safe and sound and with my suitcase back to Hong Kong.
Received comment: Gorgeous stories - happy travels with your laptop :-)
Received comment: It could be worse if it was the next message: "This is your captain speaking... Is there a mechanic on board?"
Answer: Indeed! I also found it bizarre when they announced briefly before we landed that taking any items such as blankets is prohibited and a serious crime... You do not want to end up in a prison on the Philippines for having nicked an airplane blanket...

8 September 2011
I am getting into this island feeling again. I move within a few hundred square meters - bakery, laundry, people watching at close by cafe, room, pool, beach, massage on the beach, book for the cocktail at happy hour, dinner not too far off.

7 September 2011
Well who would have thought that a laptop power cord would only last six months as a rule? For over ten years I used various notebook computers of a certain brand and never had any issues with the chargers and now within not even a year of having this HP computer the second charger has broken down. And of course on tiny Boracay Island it is impossible to find a replacement. Well I suppose that's just one of those things while travelling. Just have to use it quite prudently until I find the necessary replacement. When I returned from dinner last night there were about twenty ants in and on my bed. Meanwhile I am used to all sorts of animals - let me remind you of dogs in Mexico, pigs in Burma (ok, both not in my bed or anything), a monster spider in Thailand, diverse cockroaches in Singapore and elsewhere or the regular frog visits on Sri Lanka - and so I kept a rather unusual calm for a situation like this and just got rid of them, only to find one or two new ones after every paragraph I read. The regular reader of this blog will have anticipated that the discussion with the night porter on whether or not these ants were of a biting sort or rather completely harmless did not go very far or last very long. I insisted on sleeping in an ant-free zone and moved to the adjacent room where even the sound levels of the Korean karaoke amateurs were much more tolerable than before. So I was rather content.
As it was rainy today I went to see the local hairdresser. The mandatory glossy magazines that every hairdresser has were dating back to 2001 - and that was the most recent magazine - thus rather torn and obviously not that glossy anymore. The washbasin was an old sun bed in front of a sink where cold water could be poured over the customer. All mirrors in the place were blind. From time to time the hairdresser's bare-breasted son showed up in order to sing along with his mother to some songs on a local radio station. Later he wore s t-shirt reading: I have issues.
At night as I went back to my original room there was just one ant, easy to cope with. And that later I hardly noticed the worm watching me showering.
Comment: I am grateful for a comment correcting a spelling mistake. Evidently the Filipino hairdresser's son appeared in the shop bare-breasted and not bear-breasted. I reckon "Filipino" and "bear" do not go together well when it comes to body shapes and appearances.

6 September 2011
In order to escape the hordes of Koreans which have successfully occupied Boracay island I decided to march north towards Puka Beach on the northern tip of the island. In doing so I underestimated a number of things: although the island is only nine kilometers longs and one kilometer wide at its most narrow part, the road north is winding and hilly. And I also started from way more south than the middle. Flip-flops aren't made for hour long walks. Even on a cloudy day walking with a camera backpack can be exhausting and so can be comments by the locals: To Puka Beach!? Walking! Oh, that is so, so far away! But finally after three hours I made it! The ride back in a tricycle - a motorbike with a cabin attached on its right sitting up to six people - took a mere 20 minutes. I literally collapsed into the swimming pool, just in time to make it to the neighboring hotel's cocktail happy hour. All just a matter of good timing. Apart from myself there is a Korean family and a couple of Korean friends staying in my hotel. The latter were coming home at 5 a.m., after heavy partying, shouting at each other. They seemed rather astonished seeing me in my pajamas briskly shouting back at them about people wanting to sleep and all. Since then we mutually ignore each other.

5 September 2011
Miraculously my suitcase has made it to 24.8 kilos and lousy Philippine Airlines charging me for 10 kilogram overweight. Allegedly I had a promo ticket that allowed only 15 kilos. I briefly pondered about the Michelin man option of stuffing up all my pockets but then just decided to pay. When lifting my oh so heavy suitcase onto the belt I seemed to somehow squash the unfriendly flight attendant's finger. Oh was I sorry...
Received comment: Received comment: Pfff... that is so heavy... 24.8kg. I'm absolute sure I can't lift that suitcase anymore, nor can anyone else. Everyone in the world only needs 10kg max... Come on, 24.8 is nothing!

4 September 2011
Last night I followed my guidebook’s advice and searched for a restaurant it recommended and which I finally found. Even in the tourist area, at least I suppose the area I am in and where all the hotels are really is the tourist area is very dimly lit at night. Also walking isn’t made easy as most of the sidewalks/walkways are occupied by street dwellers which are rather difficult to spot in low light. Else it is kind of a freak show. Midgets are put outside karaoke bars to lure customers in. Most clubs have beautiful women with very little clothing outside, others employ transvestites and one even had a blind transsexual in a very sexy white dress matching his/her eyes. Luckily the guidebook advised to be careful with massages in order to not get more than you pay for which I thought summarized the situation quite nicely. Business seems low though. As far as I could tell I was the only tourist around apart from the few nerds in the hotel that had their catalogue women already including some angry looking patents in law in their entourage.
Today I trusted the guide book once more and ventured out to a place called “Happy Veggie” for lunch. Inside sat a sweating elderly lady in a t-shirt that read: “Save The Polar Bear”. She also gave the impression that she had recently had the “milk rebonding” hair treatment they offered next door. Soon after I sat down a chicken walked past the restaurant door. Obviously it had spotted the sign “meat products not allowed inside” just in time. I wonder though how “beefsteak” made it onto the menu…
Earlier that day I wanted to go to Divisoria market by jeepney, a weird-looking longish sort of jeep that is THE form of local transport here. Before I went the hotel staff said I should not go. That the market was just too big. That I would get lost. Or at the very least that people would snatch my bag. None of that happened but the jeepney had an accident. It crashed into a milk truck or whatever, luckily at very low speed. I fell onto the alcoholic sitting next to me which was insofar unfortunate as I then had an even more intimate chance to reconfirm what I had already smelled before namely that alcoholics the world over have the same body odor. And then obviously he was a rather lean fellow so my landing was a rather hard experience. He seemed to take it lightly though and together with everybody else disembarked almost immediately.
Received comment: Good blog! Where are you off to next?

3 September 2011
It was slightly unsettling boarding a plane of an airline that is blacklisted in Europe for lack of security standards. But apart from a few anomalies it brought me safely, on time and with my luggage to Manila yesterday night. For instance they advise that it is not only prohibited to smoke on board, no, it is even prohibited to use “electronic cigarettes” on board – whatever they might be. Then they serve from H to A instead of from A to H which is slightly unnerving if you’re sitting on an A-chair. As far as I can tell the reason for that must be that the Filipinos also count from left to right when using their fingers, starting with the little finger on the left side and ending with the little finger on the right side. As far as the airline as such is concerned they do not seem to mind being forbidden to land in Europe too much. They even fly Airbus planes.
For reasons unknown to me the taxi driver that brought me to my hotel was convinced I was Turkish. When he introduced himself as Arnold - as in Arnie Schwarzenegger were his words – and I identified Arnie as my countryman he was slightly puzzled. Arnie was a Turk? He changed the subject almost immediately and asked me whether we in Turkey get a lot of news about the Philippines. I was somehow glad he did not really understand my answer which was: no apart from when one of your airlines has a crash, a ferry sinks or your Manila ranks once more up high in the cities with most murders.

2 September 2011
Before leaving back to Hong Kong I went to Taipa and one the way back then once more to the A-Má Temple where I had seen people burning paper money, paper gold bars, quite nice paper shoes and the like yesterday. Not knowing the international standard sign for “fake paper money” in the appropriate dialect of the Macao sign language I was offered a lighter, incense sticks, a large pink candle in the shape of a lotus flower and finally after more gesturing much to the amusement of the local monk and all his helpers the real thing: Hell’s Money: paper money issued by the “Bank of Hell”. Following the as advised of the locals I burnt all of my Hell’s Money in order to bring prosperity to my deceased grandmother.

1 September 2011
To me Macao is much more appealing than Hong Kong. At times it feels as if you were in Lisbon or Porto and the colonial history is very present. They even have Pasteis de Belem/Nata but what is missing of course are the tiny little coffee places on every corner where you could get the strong espresso to wash down your tart. Even the casino district has something like grace about it. It is not as loud and imposing as Las Vegas. I had the chance to watch one great roulette player win a fortune which he immediately lost minutes later. He went away with the greatest dignity imaginable.

31 August 2011
It appears that I am quite talented in causing the Chinese to raise their eyebrows or to start laughing at me: Trusting my guidebook that said they sell incense and all kinds of funeral accessories in Shanghai street including fake money that is burnt for the deceased I entered one of these shops and asked the following question much to the amusement of the shop owner: “Do you have paper money to burn?” Obviously the answer was no. I should have guessed so.
A word on food: After two nights of running sushi I thought I ought to try something different. So I went to some other local restaurants that listed the following dishes, mostly under the section “vegetarian”: Chicken broth, drunken ox tongue, deep fried pork intestines, pig’s front leg with reddish bean curd rice and drunken goose liver. For an additional three dollars one can have “cold/hot coke with lemon/milk”. I can only imagine how drunken goose liver must taste when combined with hot coke with milk but only when I read “steamed grass crap with soy sauce” I gave up on the idea of eating there entirely. On I went and in one of the better looking places - and I use “better” as a quite relative them here – I ordered a menu of soup followed by “pomfret” (a fish) in soy sauce. Very soon a clear soup arrived in which swam a bone of the sort that already gave me shivers when I was a child. The fish was a very lean fellow, came in one piece and swam in dark soy sauce. I had to use all fine motor skills acquired in Asia over the past months to filet it with chopsticks only. Although still hungry I did however not feel for trying the desert: stewed white fungus with papaya.
On my last evening in Hong Kong evidently I had to go back to the running sushi place, mostly to brood over life in general and running sushi in particular. There are many similarities I reckon. What goes around comes around especially if it looks really bad and nobody wants their share of it. Mostly you just have to be patient and wait until something suiting your taste comes along. And have you then ceased the moment and taken your tiny plate of something you can be sure something better looking comes along. Although not everything white and shiny is butter fish either. Most things are nothing more than highly decorated rice anyway and you really have to be into side dishes (or marketing for that matter) to like that. Nevertheless one sometimes wonders whether one’s neighbor has the bigger ball of rice. At times you are forced to take an instant decision. Sometimes things go around that you can hardly believe are for real. And there may be things lurking from around the corner and meet you eye unexpectedly and others never announce themselves and disappear again silently.

30 August 2011
Judging from old pictures Hong Kong must have been a very beautiful city once. I expected a mix old modern and colonial architecture, many traditional Chinese shops and basically a tailor on every corner to serve the English gentleman’s need. In reality virtually all colonial buildings have been demolished and replaced by faceless modern buildings. Even on the Peak, the hill overlooking the city, there are no villas or anything just skyscrapers. Hong Kong must be the shopper’s paradise. And its market economy is so free that prices vary even between outlets of the same supermarket chain. Perhaps that’s why they called it 7 Eleven in the first place. Expect to pay anything between seven and eleven for the same product. When it comes to fashion I did not spot a single tailor, just lots and lots of prêt-à-porter shops. Oddly enough most of them would not allow any fitting. And looking at how badly people are dressed well that’s what you get then I suppose.
Received comment: When visiting the Man Mo Temple you can really see the enormous metamorphosis Hong Kong had undergone. A tiny single floor temple in between all kind of skyscrapers. Have you visited the Chi Lin Nunnery already? Which is near the Wong Tai Sin temple (Diamond Hill station is the one to get off). Good training on Hong Kong Island is to take the stairs up :-) And how long did you stand in line for the Peak Tram?
Answer: You are absolutely right about the Man Mo Temple. It made my eyes tear because of all the incense they burn there! There are incense spirals that burn for 14 days and obviously I just stood under one of them and was consequently covered in ash for the rest of the day. I haven't made it to the nunnery but as I will eventually return to Hong Kong I may still go there. And well, I only waited for 25 minutes of so for the Peak Tram. It was already past 5pm and a foggy day so perhaps that was why it did not take ages really.

29 August 2011
So now I’ve also done all my walking through Kowloon on the island facing Hong Kong Island and Victoria harbor from “the other side”. Interestingly for a person who loves flying I have all of a sudden developed the fixed idea to go by train to mainland China. So I thought it advisable to pay a visit to Kowloon’s Hung Hom station in order to investigate my options. One has to know that this is not just any remote train station; in fact it is huge and of course also serves as a stop on the metro line. Nevertheless – judging from the facial expression – it must have come as quite a surprise to the clerk at the information desk when I said I wanted to buy a ticket to Shanghai. He was obviously only selling metro tickets and gave me the odd “Do-I-look-like-the-Chinese-Emperor?” look, barely retaining his composure in order to send me to the “real station” upstairs. There, of course, tickets could not be sold, yet. They are sold between ten days and the day of the planned journey but you must not come too late also because otherwise, say four to five days in advance of your trip, tickets might be sold out. I know why I am just not a train person.
Else I went to the Gold Fish Market - the place to be for the gold fish connoisseur (which I am not). Gold fish are sold in almost any shape and form and also in colors beyond orange. Besides gold fish the offer on that particular market consist of a vast number of gold fish colored cats (it was impossible to find somebody to discuss the topic of overnight, cat-induced gold fish loss), turtles, hamsters, dogs, smallish sea snakes, rabbits and frogs merely out of their tadpole state (and I speak with some expertise here lately).

28 August 2011
Today I saw the western part of Hong Kong island. Around Hollywood Street there are lots and lots of antique stores many of which also sell carved ivory sculptures. Whole fairy tale landscapes or war scenes are carved into those tusks. A few roads further west there are endless rows of herbalists and shops selling dried fish, sea weed, black and hair moss, various kinds of dried sea cucumbers and the odd dried sea star. The inherent intelligence test is putting pots of cashew nuts and walnuts in between just to make sure people can tell the difference between say a smallish dried sea cucumber and a cashew nut. Mushrooms are also a delicacy it seems. Even dried they come in the oddest shapes colors and consistencies.
Received comment: Reassemble. And I insist on precision!
Received comment: You should mark India on your map. Answer: I will see to it!

27 August 2011
Not only do Sunshine Foot Massages who operate close to my hotel discount their massages during a “Happy Hour”; they also feature a so-called “fire treatment”. I did not discuss the matter any further and hence skipped the idea of another massage today. Instead I ventured out to see the eastern part of town around Causeway Bay. To summarize: it is one of the busiest places I have ever seen and there is probably nothing you cannot buy there. Only when it comes to food things get a little tricky. My taste buds were seriously challenged when dealing with some wobbly mass of tofu in a brownish sauce. It is also a tough call for vegetarians when meat-stuffed tofu is listed as vegetarian dish. Not to speak of most restaurants which have only Chinese language menus in the first place.
Dinner on the other hand was spectacular. I found an Italian place on the waterfront of Kowloon with a fist class view of Victoria Harbor’s skyline. After dinner I took the Star Ferry Back to the main island and was asked by a group of Polish guys where they could find the best bars in town. Much to my concern – it’s my second night here - and perhaps to the delight of some of my readers I could give them advice.

26 August 2011
What I have seen of Hong Kong so far is truly overwhelming. They have double-decker buses and double-decker trams, every square centimeter seems to be used and Nutella and Swiss chocolate is sold side-by-side with fried, sugar coated ducks, chickens and other animals (dogs?).
Right after my arrival I went to the Chinese consulate in order to apply for a visa to mainland China. Against all odds and despite many horrible stories I’ve read and heard the process was rather swift and efficient. Well, filling in a seven page form seems to be slightly over the edge but then again hey this is CHINA after all.
I had dinner at a running sushi place and overestimated the meditative effect of staring at a conveyor belt that caters raw fish on rice around and around and around. So I was still slightly dizzy when I made it to a massage place around the corner. I thought the treatment I’ve head could be continued with some Chinese massages over here. But well. The lady was petite but behaved more like a butcher. I assume she wanted to rip me apart at least partly and almost managed to filet my sciatic nerve with here elbow.

25 August 2011
Unfortunately my stay on Sri Lanka and the treatments are already over. By the way I confided the Cambodian Buddha to a fellow traveler and so he will now soon be on his way to Europe with a three day stopover in Dubai. Nevertheless my suitcase has some mysterious 21.8 kilograms. Anyway. So my journey goes on and once more I almost flew out under a wrong name and itinerary. I already had my boarding pass in hands that would have brought me to Bombay under the name of Mr. Magoswalati. What is it with India really? I deliberately did not want to visit India during this journey and so although I fly via India now for the third time it sort of draws me in. Even the in-flight magazine’s horoscope said I should prepare for spending some time in Mumbai and Delhi. Most likely it is because I keep on flying with this Indian airline that I kind of like despite their food that is soaked in chili which makes one whine for water or any other relief thinkable. Talking about their in-flight magazine. They ran a featured story about popular fairy tales and managed to reduce the meaning of Hansel and Gretel to an appetizing story. Never mind the overall cruelty of the evil witch or the captured children – no it was the gingerbread house that made all the difference!
India is different even at their airports. It is slightly unsettling to walk into a bookshop and see “Mein Kampf” in a new edition and wrapped together with the latest movie adaptation on DVD. And close-by a bizarre series of books with the following bewildering titles: Chicken Soup for the Soul, Chicken Soup for Indian Teachers, Chicken Soup for Indian Women, Chicken Soup for the Indian Bride’s Soul, Chicken Soup for Indian Fathers, Chicken Soup for the Indian Spiritual Soul, Chicken Soup for the Indian Golden Soul and Chicken Soup for the Indian Armed Forces (!). Just in case you wonder: I resisted even the weakest temptation and bought a P.G. Wodehouse novel instead.

24 August 2011
So what else have I done in the Munich enclave in Hambantota apart from following Ayurvedic treatments? I had a lot of very stimulating conversations with very interesting people. And I found once more how much I treasure charisma and authenticity. Many of these talks took place during long walks on the beach. Speaking of which: As we know my eyesight could be much better and so often I really miss out on things like colorful boats on the ocean and the like. And so during one of the walks I also overlooked the local exhibitionist. I only found out when I heard the girl who I was walking with started yelling at someone who at that moment had already closed his sarong again. S I can’t report on any details of the offender’s anatomy I’m afraid.
Else I read much less than I thought I would. One was a really funny and sarcastic alternative traveling guidebook called „No Shitting On The Toilet“ - for when you’ve really lost it and enjoying every second of it. Anything else I tried to read is not really worthwhile mentioning here at all.

22 and 23 August 2011
I went on day trips to the biggest and holiest pilgrimage area in Sri Lanka, the Kataragama temple and on the day after to the Mandunagala jungle temple. The Kataragama area is insofar fascinating as it serves as a Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim pilgrimage area with respective temples and mosques. During the evening puja one can smash a coconut and make a wish. If the coconut bursts asunder the wish shall be granted. I shattered my coconut into a thousand pieces. What my wish was is any attentive reader’s educated guess.

21 August 2011
It is little wonder that the hotel I’m staying at is called Oasis. It is surrounded by a beautiful, almost untouched beach and a lagoon with mangroves. My rather unambitious intention was to just sit on the beach for ten minutes and watch the waves but then it all came differently. The fisherman Limahl convinced me of what turned out to be a two hour long walk through the backwaters. At times we crossed hip-deep channels and when it got darker and darker and we sank into the swampy lagoon more and more it got kind of unpleasant. Sometimes he lifted me out of the mud, sometimes I had to drag him further. The last bit was then a thorny sidewalk alongside the outside wall of the hotel. I got back as dirty as one can possibly be and was of course promptly seen by most guests. One comment at dinner was then “and well when we went to that authority in country xwz at the time we were as dirty as you are all the time”.

18 – 20 August 2011
Meanwhile I have a certain routine when it comes to catching frogs. I can fit smaller ones into envelopes which I then carry over to the reception in order to hand it over to the first employee that crosses my path whereby I pay utmost attention to deliberately ignoring the occasional raised eyebrow. Yesterday I was particularly handy and caught a rather big specimen in a tea cup and the appropriate saucer. I carried it over to the restaurant where the first waiter thought it thoughtful of me to return an unused cup. When I confined to him that there was a huge frog inside and advised to be careful when removing the lid he seemed to react a little consternated. With the help of another envelope I could throw a third specimen into the backyard of my villa but more and more often I am asked why I do not finally kiss one of them or at least throw them against a nearby wall. Well before they actually start talking I think I can’t do that.
Received comment: It appears that frogs really like you but you don’t quite seem to reciprocate...
Received comment: After having read your descriptions I’d really love to be a frog in your room hoping to be the first one to be transformed into a prince!

15 – 17 August 2011
Time flies here on Sri Lanka. Mainly I am following my treatments, enjoy the massages and the beautiful scenery at the beach in Hambantota. It seems all the back pain of all recent years is just coming out again. Hopefully I can leave some of it behind with all the Ayurvedic treatments. Yesterday I ventured out to the Udawalhawe National Park which was a peaceful and quiet experience of great scenery and wildlife. The jeep stopped in between an elephant herd with at least 50 or 60 elephants. There were even two week old elephant babies amongst them. We also saw crocodiles, buffalos, peacocks and an enormous amount of green parrots.
I should also give you a brief status update on the frog side of things as I was asked whether I finally opted to kiss the frog to see whether it was a handsome prince, or whether the frog was too ugly that I didn't even want to take the effort. Well to tell you the truth in the meantime there are three of them. One jumped right onto me when I entered my room last night, the other, much bigger and uglier one is meanwhile living in the toilet and refuses to be flushed down which makes me not only reluctant to kissing him but also to using the toilet as such and the third one was little enough to be captured and escorted out.
Received comment: So the frog that jumped onto you fell in love with you? I think he (or she) never saw such a gorgeous Austrian before.

12 August 2011
A tiny frog calls the space behind the toilet door of my „villa“ home. He is yellowish white and sticks to the wall. During the first night he has grown double in size. On my second evening he prominently jumped down from the ventilator into the center of the main room before retiring to his usual place on the wall. Finally during the third night he occupied the toilet and despite quite some attempts refused to be flushed down.
Received comment: Villa, tropics, massages and a frog. What else would you wish for? I have to say that I might envy you. Even though the weather in Toulouse is very good as well.

11 August 2011
A wise saying of a wise grandmother: You need to work hard for being envied, pity you’ll get for free.

10 August 2011
My hotel features standard and superior rooms and one special hut called „Villa“ or „Kabana“ that I rented. It stands slightly off the rest of the buildings and is built to Ayurvedic standards. What that means is that it is a hexagon in shape which would have done some of my father’s recent garage plans and drawings justice. On one of the six walls there is a door leading to a huge outdoor annex; the bathroom. Other than that and in order to have some kind of natural air conditioning the building is open to all other sides through window blinds that cannot be fully shut and open spaces between walls and roof. Would someone build up a windmill in the room they could for sure power the whole resort. Although I required some kind of drapes to at least keep the heavy storm out I still need a blanket, a fleece sweater, a hat and a scarf to sleep for a few hours at best before the wind wakes me again. And well yes, it IS hot and yes, I am in the tropics!

9 August 2011
I am in the south of Sri Lanka for an Ayurvedic treatment. It is my third treatment since 2004. Basically you can summarize Ayurvedic treatments as follows: You gain an insider’s knowledge about who an oil sardine (accidentally still alive) must feel before being tinned. What I want to say is t is the feeling of being oily all over, not so much the feeling of getting put into a tin. At the very beginning of each treatment about two handful of oil is poured over your head and the treatment does not seem to stop until the therapist has made absolutely sure that each oily hair on your skull is knotted with at least one other hair.

8 August 2011
Off to Sri Lanka and most likely without Internet access for the coming 16 days…

7 August 2011
Phnom Penh reminds me a lot about India. At least at the touristy spots there are many severely injured people begging for money. Some have eye diseases others are land mine victims, some have no limbs at all and humble along on the pavement before they are carried away by someone on a wheelchair. Street children want to sell bracelets or books and mothers are begging for food for their babies. It is not easy to take that all in. At the same time, dozens of restaurants want to sell you their “French fried” and their “Cooktails” during happy hour. The national dish is called “amok” – not that I am suggesting anything here.
The splendid national museum focuses on the pre Angkor and Angkor period and together with the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda is beautiful to visit. The recent history is vividly present in the so called S21 prison where the Pol Pot Khmer Rouge regime tortured and killed about 20.000 people in the cruelest ways. The atmosphere in the compound is still very oppressive. Only seven people survived.
On the so-called Russian Market dried fish is cut with scissors. There were no fish heads to be seen which reminded me of the stories from Norway. Allegedly almost all Norwegian dried fish heads are exported to Nigeria where a dried Norwegian fish head is considered a status symbol. Anyway. When discussing options for lunch I opted for a local restaurant. I got some kind of fish soup and my internal radar reminded me of things like amoebic dysentery. I fished out something that could have been a piece of snake liver (not that I have an idea how snake liver looks like) but fortunately and after quite some investigation by both the tour guide and me turned out to be a mushroom.

6 August 2011
After having travelled so many months through Buddhist countries I finally decided to buy a Buddha sculpture. It is new and carved out of wood, weighs four kilos and was bought in a fair trade shop supporting local villages. I wanted to bid farewell to the Buddha almost immediately, sending him on a long journey as a parcel to Europe but to my utter astonishment was told at the post office that Buddhas cannot be mailed. I asked for a written note in the postal regulation but the clerk could not produce them. He was also unable to explain the deeper reasoning behind that rule. Religious? Fear of bringing antiques out of the country? Who knows! So I am now sitting on a huge piece of Buddha.
Received comment: And thus resulting in a heavier suitcase. What's the current weight? Last time I checked it was 18.4kg (though 18.2 a few moments before).
Answer: 21.9 kilos, 21.8 the moment before. And the Buddha is 4 kilos…

5 August 2011
It is not always about food when rare or dangerous animals are mentioned. For instance a massage place advertises with “Dr. Fish massage – no piranhas!”. Another Dr. Fish at the other side of town says: “Dr. Fish massage can make you funny and happy – free can of beer with 20 min massage for 3 USD.” And beer is also advertised in a friendly manner: “Every great journey starts with a Kingdom. Kingdom – one for the road less travelled.”
I took a Tuk Tuk to Tonle Sap lake, the biggest lake in South East Asia with the most ridiculous regime for tourist boating trips I’ve ever seen. Everybody pays the same price no matter whether in a group or alone. A group would be given a boat but also a couple or a single traveler. So whether you are just one or 15, you are always considered a group and given your own boat. So lots of boats leave and are out and about with just one person on. The lake is dark brown, the so-called floating market was nowhere to be seen and the floating village was ok; its best part was the crocodile farm.
The best part was the ride I’d say. You drive through rice and lotus flower fields - both very pretty. One can eat the lotus fruits. They taste like fresh hazelnuts. And no, I do not think that people with a hazelnut allergy would be allergic to lotus flowers.

4 August 2011
Today I met the perfect antithesis to broken muses: Mr. Fix from Alberta, Canada. Talking about his job he said: if it is broken, I fix it. In the phone book they should call me Mr. Fix.
Other than that I finally got to visit Angkor Wat and Ta Prohm, the jungle temple. Both are stunning. Angkor Wat is the largest temple in the world and it is not only massive it is also very beautiful. Ta Prohm is the temple where enormous roots from so-called water trees grow over the temple ruins which creates a very special atmosphere. I was advised to wear long pants as in parts of Angkor Wat you are not allowed in wearing only shorts. So I wore my jeans (for my very true readers: since I last mentioned them they have been washed thrice only to get hopelessly dirty again the very next day) in what felt like 50 degrees centigrade and still haven’t found a way to cool down again.
My guide today (a different one than yesterday) said forget cobras and try tarantulas – they’d taste like peanuts! Fortunately they were not offered anywhere close-by.
Received comment: Are there really fried cockroaches and tarantulas on the streets down there? :-) If yes, have you tasted any? :-)))

3 August 2011
In comparison to Laos the Cambodians are really good business people. In Laos a Tuk Tuk driver would approach you with “Tuk (pause) Tuk”, no intonation, not even a question. In Cambodia at least they try it with “Tuk Tuk Lady?”. From what I can tell so far Siam Reap is a really pleasant place. My hotel is splendid, has a large pool and all nice amenities one can think of. To my shame I have to admit that the only thing I really remember from a guide book I read earlier this year about the place is that there is a bar called “Angkor What?”. And well, finally I found the place. It could also be an underground bar in Berlin, nothing to write home about really.
While visiting the Angkor Thom temples today my guide told me that although eating cobras is forbidden in Cambodia if only I wanted he could organize it; it would only take a phone call to some hunters and a couple of days. The meat he promised was much better than chicken. Although he said that the head with the poisonous teeth would be chopped off, I politely declined.

2 August 2011
My fight to Cambodia had a mere four hour delay. Luckily I had swapped a rather good book for a really trashy novel the other day and so I had hundreds of pages to read. It was all about betrayal, abuse and breach of trust, so perhaps not that trashy given the circumstances.
My first impressions of Siam Reap? Books are sold traveling hawkers only; all of them land-mine victims. One even had his story as a book. Other things are not sold on the street. There is an enormous supermarket right in the middle of town and where normal supermarkets have chewing gum and sweets right next to the counter, this supermarket has Viagra on offer. It is literally sold over the counter in small packages of four pills for 10 USD.
Received comment: Have you witnessed men buying those pills? Could make you able to gossip a lot :-)
Received comment: I appreciate your travel blog! Speaking of things to read during "mere four hour" delays, maybe you can convert your travel blog into a travel e-book so that other travelers with 4 hours to kill will have something to read? Illustrated with plenty of Margitangela's photos, of course...

1 August 2011
I spoke to a young monk for quite some time today. He wants to become IT administrator when he is older. Next to us some of his fellow monks were arm-wrestling and another monk hung in a tree. On second glance he was doing some pull-ups. Again another one was reading a book at the entrance of the temple, lying in his robe on his stomach. I am convinced Laos is not anymore what it used to be. Close to the temple once again living grubs and wasp larvae were on sale as a quick snack. The grubs were bright green or brownish and looking directly at you with their little eyes. If you are allergic to wasp-stings you may not eat wasp larvae. My guide is allergic and said that in his case eating more than five larvae leads to a choking fit and an ugly red rash. His eyes seem to say you need to know when enough is enough. I point to a one-wasp-sting-can-bring-me-into-hospital allergy (close enough to the truth) and am exempt from trying one of the larvae.
Received comment: I'm glad you know when you can't eat a specific product. I saw the results of what can happen when you order a meal containing peanuts (and which is clearly stated on the menu) when having a peanut allergy. Result: ride to the hospital by ambulance…

31 July 2011
Whenever I told someone in recent months who had already been to Laos before the reaction were shiny eyes and a sighed “oh Laos”. Well I understand now. Laos is very different. Nobody is bothering you, no one wants to sell anything and everyone seems just relaxed. On the local market you can buy dried buffalo skin for the traditional soup, dried seaweed from a side arm of the Mekong, fresh snails, living grubs and wasp larvae.
In the national museum (the former king’s palace) I’ve seen the Buddha sculpture Phra Bang which is almost 1000 years old and gave the city its name.
Temples and monasteries are called “vat” here (as opposed to “wat” in Thailand) and they do have quite a number of those. Some monks were predominantly occupied by planting flowers and trees today. Must have been a good day for gardening. Some of them had their bright orange robes knotted to form a simple loincloth that could have made Tarzan envious. But then again it is hard to imagine Tarzan as a gardener.
I am by no means an advertising expert but for one reason or another I have the feeling that “we do the best we can do” is not the best of slogans.
And on a totally different matter, isn’t it interesting that some people love it if you just repeat what they are saying and others want opposition and get suspicious if you agree with them for once?

30 July 2011
Yesterday’s 170 kilometers along the Mekong were totally different than today’s 130 kilometers: sunshine versus pouring rain. To be honest, today’s rainy scenery was even more beautiful than yesterday’s post card blue skies. On the way we visited the Tham Ting cave temple with its thousand wooden Buddha sculptures and the Pak Ou caves right above. In Luang Prabang now.
Received comment: Your blog is so very well written, makes me think about our last conversation.

29 July 2011
In between northern Thailand and Laos the Mekong forms the border. All you do to get into the country is crossing over on a slow boat, following the immigration procedures, pay for your visa and there you are. Easy. I hear that they still grow and use opium in Laos. So far no traces along the Mekong that is brown rather than blue.
The two day boat cruise from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang has a regular overnight stopover in Pakbeng. My hotel room there is a perfect cube, all polished teak wood: ceilings, walls, floor, doors. It feels like being deep down in an antique ship’s belly. Or like up in the Alps – then no teak of course and no soaking in sweat but you know, for the sake of the argument…
The local restaurants seem to know little else than the omnipresent Bob Marley and some Beatles. Why is it that wherever you go Bob Marley is for sure already there waiting and singing for you?
One of the local shops in Pakbeng sold mobile handsets, amongst them a fake Nokia quadruple SIM phone. Another one specialized in tools and had at least 15 different sorts of motor oil in stock; in comparison the selection of bras in the same store was not too impressive to be honest: one white or slightly yellowish bra amongst a number of composite gloves.
Received comment: Should be horrible if you are desperate for a new sexy bra and you only have such shops.

28 July 2011
There is nothing, really nothing happening in Chiang Whatever. How nice! The local mobile antenna is bigger than the local temple and in the restaurant they serve “French fried“. The Guide Routard Thailand is the first thing you see in the restaurant’s book shelve; obviously put there by French that have been fried recently.
My room has a balcony and a pretty view over the Mekong river. Far below I can see a road along the river but when I ask at the reception how I can get there, I am first asked to speak slowly and then whether I really want to go to the MEKONG river, really? When I reassured them they put me into something that looks like one of these caddy cars at golf courts and bring me to a staircase about 120 meters away. The driver looks at me and says “but be very, very careful!”. He sounds like a person I met in the plane to Australia a few months ago who said that the only warning he has for me is to be aware of brown snakes. The walk on itself then was totally harmless. Apart from the tiny black flies that make you feel like a piece of fruit covered by fruit flies.
At other places in this not all too touristy spot you are reminded about general intelligence tests (“strike what does not belong”): Shops for instance: Thai massage, Thai massage, Café with a range of sandwiches, monk outfitter, neon bulb wholesaler, Thai massage, Thai massage.
Received comment: Ha Ha Margit...I love yr blog...

27 July 2011
After I’ve been hiding in my Bangkok hotel for the past two days – no, I cannot recommend a tailor and no, Glorious Tailors are by no means glorious – I flew out to Chiang Rai (not Chiang Mai) today and was then driven for two more hours to the northern town Chiang Khong on the border between Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. By the way there are reserved seats for monks at Bangkok airport. Elderly and handicapped people, pregnant and women with children can also sit there.

26 July 2011
One of the best comments to my recent Brutus entry on this blog was as follows: „In a pool full of sharks vegetarian fish really have a bad hand. And they should not quite hang out with those sharks either…”
Not very long ago I was asking myself how many people were reading this blog or visiting this site overall. Since then I got the invaluable hint that all that could be double-checked with Google Analytics. And there I go: in the past four days alone there were 103 visits from 6 continents and 18 countries!

25 July 2011
Jet Airways brought me from Kathmandu to Bangkok via New Delhi where I had to run as fast as I could to the other side of the airport in order to catch the connecting flight. Hearing the last boarding call while you’re still at security is quite unsettling to say the least. There is a worldwide trend to it I know but still I ask myself whether there is a reason or deeper meaning in the fact that planes with tight connections are physically put as far apart as logistically possible?
So I am back in Tom Yam Soup country! And thinking of it my toe still hurts from that massage in Chiang Mai back in late February (see blog entry from 25 and 26 February 2011). Nevertheless I had another Thai massage this evening and it was just wonderful!
It won’t be one night in Bangkok but two. Anyway, I try to take it easy this time. No more scams hopefully. Driving into Bangkok feels familiar; they still wish their king a long life as soon as you enter the motorway/highway (and it seems to suit him well; he will be turning 85 in December!) and the hotel Me Style Place is as cool as ever.

24 July 2011
After a final long drive back from Pkhara to Kathmandu and a final visit to the Dream Garden I stay one more time at the Kantipur Temple House hotel. It seems many people I meet combine their stay in Nepal with a visit to India. And So I heard quite a number of stories from Varanasi, one of the oldest cities in the world and a place famous for burning dead bodies. Allegedly you stand no chance of being burnt though if you are a) a child, b) a monk, c) a leper or d) after you have been bitten by a cobra. In those cases a huge stone is tied around the waist and the bodies are sunken in the Ganges.

23 July 2011
Yesterday night I had a pizza with yak cheese. It was called Nepalitalia. When I asked the waiter whether it was fresh or dried yak cheese, he said: “fresh yak cheese but it is a little very strong”. Surprisingly it was really good. In Bhutan I had tried a piece of dried yak cheese which is a local snack there. Bumthang is famous for it and they sell pieces of dried white yak cheese on a chain that you can wear like a necklace – very handy on long trips. As I did not feel in the mood for a smelly necklace at the time I tried to buy just one tiny piece. Single pieces are on offer but… They are stored in plastic candy jars and what happened when I wanted to buy one was that both the shopkeeper and my tour guide shook the jar, touching one or the other piece of cheese, holding it against the light, dismissing it for another and so forth until they found the suitable one. I have no idea through how many hands this piece of cheese had gone by then and thought if I do not get sick from that one, I am really lucky. As it happened it did not do me any harm but was also definitely not the culinary highlight of my trip.

21 and 22 July 2011
From the Chitwan National Park I continued to Pokhara, a pleasant city in the adjacent valley, about 200 kilometers away from Kathmandu. It is basically a starting point to the Annapurna massive but as it is monsoon time there are not many people here for trekking. Having said that there are not many people here anyway. On my first evening the only other person on the road was the local drug dealer.
The tourist area is alongside a nice lake where rowing boats take you to a little temple on an island. I saw most of the tourist spots already, a rather interesting mountain museum, a waterfall, a river gorge, a Tibetan refugee camp (yes, that is a tourist site as well). There is not much to do here apart from those few sites, so having coffee and reading a book is what one does.

20 July 2011
In Dante’s Inferno, Satan is waist deep in ice, has three faces and each face has a mouth that chews on a prominent traitor: Brutus, Cassius and Judas (as always, Wikipedia offers much more information than that).
Since yesterday I am in the Nepalese Chitwan National Park. Unfortunately it is Monsoon season and what a monsoon! It is pouring down and all meadows and the rain forest itself are nothing but muddy. There are leeches everywhere. This morning a so-called jungle walk revealed nothing but a few termites, birds and said leeches. An elephant ride in the afternoon was a hundred times better and a real delight. I shared an elephant with a Nepalese family of three. You step on a platform and “board” the elephant that carries a rather uncomfortable litter on his back. One sits sideways, looking in a 45 degree angle either over the elephant’s head or back. We saw two rhinos – in both cases about 3-4 meters away from the elephant. The other highlight was for sure crossing rivers on top of the elephant. At some point the elephant had to swim and made sure to keep its tail dry and sticking out of the water.
With me in the hotel is a fabulous P. G. Wodehouse character (“Excellent! Oh isn’t the monsoon time just lovely?”) with his family. When one of his sons wanted to take a picture of the mother touching an elephant he said rather parenthetically and referring first to Gus, his son and second to it, the elephant: Gus, dear, please don’t use the flash or it may squash your mother!

19. Juli 2011
During a walk through Kathmandu yesterday I had merely one thought: Wouldn’t it be great to just let all the sightseeing be for a day and sit down in a park. I had just formulated that thought when I suddenly stood in front of an interesting looking door announcing the entry to the so-called „Garden of Dreams“ – constructed in the 1920ies by the late Kaiser Sumsher Rana who admired Emperor (Kaiser) Franz Joseph of Austria/Hungary (hence the chosen name „Kaiser“).
There are many pavilions, idyllic corners, statues, a pond with water lilies and a Roman theater. Most of the park was deserted and crumbling over many years until an Austrian development aid team recovered and reconstructed the park. That is also why there is a Viennese coffee house called „Kaiser“ serving Sachertorte, Wienerschnitzel and Backhendl. And so I spent the rest of the afternoon in said coffee house, having a coffee and Sacher cake, reading newspapers. Sitting in a Viennese park with sounds of Kathmandu all around does leave one rather melancholic…
Received comment: Is it veal Wienerschnitzel they are serving there? You see what is really important to a Viennese!
Answer: As the calves roam around and deliver themselves to your doorstep so to say I assume so, although I haven’t asked specifically.

18 July 2011
Bhutan’s society is definitely not based on guilt. I do not recall having heard the word “sorry” once in the past ten days. Interestingly people do not feel for apologizing even if things go really wrong. This morning I checked in for my flight back to Kathmandu (delayed by 2:45 hours, no apology), got my boarding pass, went through passport control, sat down and realized only then that my boarding pass was for a Mr. Martin Donald James going to New Delhi (as was my luggage by the way). So I went back out, reverse through passport control (smile, no apology for having stamped the wrong boarding pass without double-checking) and back to the counter where things were set straight without a sign of distress or guilt or anything. Quite remarkable I thought coming from a society where you apologize two hundred times a day.
Being mistaken is a great way of meeting new people by the way. Before I went to change my boarding pass I tried to find Mr. Martin hoping he had gotten my boarding pass. So I got to speak to a nice Australian group; all non-Martins but anyway. Finally I did met Mr. Martin. Actually we had already met last night in the hotel bar. He had not heard of all the trouble, had no idea why he should have gone to New Delhi today and just gotten another Martin Donald James boarding pass to Kathmandu (even on a different seat).

17 July 2011
Hiking up to Tier’s Nest, a monastery high up over Paro at about 3.000 meters altitude brought me to my physical edges. One could have ridden a horse up for most of the way but I am more afraid of horses than of altitude sickness I thought.
On the way up I discovered a new side of myself: obviously I am poisonous. Three big flies flew towards me, sat down on me and died more or less instantly thereafter. Or perhaps it is only a side effect of having sprayed about half a can of insecticides in my room the other day after having spotted an enormous cockroach. Anyway, being a graveyard for flies was slightly disturbing.
I wish I could say that after so many months of traveling I can stand dirt and/or being dirty better than before. I am afraid I can’t. For one reason or another I did not get the chance to wash my (one pair) of blue jeans since South Africa. Meanwhile I dread the mere sight of them. With some hints and quite a bit of fantasy you can tell that they must have been blue once. When I get off them in the evenings I do not have to hang them really; they can stand by themselves.

16 July 2011
Again this was a day with a long drive back to Paro. On the way we stopped at a water fountain which distributes holy water. You sip, you wash your hands, face and neck and whatever else you can reach easily and gone are all your sins. Easy. We then visited the oldest fort (Dzong) in the country and luckily met the tour guide’s uncle there who turned out to be the deputy head monk. He invited us into his monk’s cell which was very interesting indeed. It was a cozy place with a wooden floor, the walls painted in turquoise, pictures of other monks and the royal family on the walls, a bed covered with a pink mosquito net, a sort of yoga mat on the floor, a beautifully carved drawer alongside a wall, two comfortable chairs, a fridge, water fountain and a TV. While we had tea, the king was giving a speech on TV. We watched attentively. I did not understand a word of course but the king himself is quite handsome, has a nice somber voice and a lovely, calm way of delivering his speeches and what more can you ask of a king really? While watching TV the guide and I sat on the chairs. The monk was lying on his side on his bed, the pink mosquito net draped all over his dark red robe. I told him that he really looked like a lying Buddha. He said his aim was to become the future Buddha anyway and why shouldn’t he train whenever he could? Besides when he was little and only just had become monk they were required to sleep in that exact position.

15 July 2011
Another long drive today brought me back from Bumthang to Punakha over long, winding roads alongside mountains, passes and through valleys. During most of the journey there was heavy fog which made it very difficult to spot the beautiful scenery. There was just one sight to see on the way, the biggest fort in all Bhutan: Trongsa Dzong.
I’ve asked myself already so many times in so many countries: What did we do before flip flops and other plastic sandals had been invented? Whole nations seem to wear nothing else.
I still think about a story one of the tour guides told me the other day. He said that his grandmother had been attacked by a bear when she was 26. The bear bit off half of her face. These were the days prior to plastic surgery and so she barely got some stitches to hold the skin together. She lived up to the age of 96 with only half a face and was allegedly a very strong woman ever since the accident.

14 July 2011
As mentioned before Bumthang is the holiest city in all of Bhutan. There are tempels dating back to the 7th or 8th century and forts from the 17th century which are still used as administrative and spiritual centers.
All in all I find the sheer number of gods, goddesses and saints here confusing. Guru who brought the Buddhism to Bhutan can be found in many temples, monasteries and forts and so can Pema Lingpa – a hero and founder of many monasteries from the early 16th century. Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, who unified the country is worshipped a lot and of course Buddha in his past, present and future form together with his 16 Arhats.
When driving through the country you cannot help but notice many decorated trucks, most of them have eyes painted above the lights. Along the roads there are many, many cows and the occasional bull, often on a rope and led by a woman.
Marihuana grows alongside the roads like a weed. It is fed to the pigs which makes them happy pigs – or at least that is what the locals assure me.

13 July 2011
After 10 long hours in the (chauffeur driven) car and coming from Punakha I finally arrived in Bumthang. Bumthang is the holiest city in all of Bhutan. On the way we visited the Phobjikha Valley and a monastery where monks were just decorating their horses and ponies for a festival. Tradition and modern times overlap quite a bit. Unlike in Myanmar where Buddhist monks are not allowed to have money or own things, in Bhutan almost every monk has a mobile phone and some even drive cars. In order to get to the holiest of holy in a Buddhist monastery, you have to get off your shoes. Often you are rewarded by beautiful scenery of junior monks reciting their prayers and songs or monks performing music. Almost always there is a monk who blesses visitors. And so it comes always like a shock when you whisper with your tour guide, trying to be respectful and understanding the details a monk’s phone rings and he does not only answer the call but starts discussing vividly with the caller.
A fellow traveler who happened to be on a similar route has proven to be a Vietnamese ex-hippie who has been to 160 countries so far. He traveled mostly over land which he proves – whether you want to see it or not - with a plastic covered world map showing his itinerary. He does not get tired mentioning one could ask him anything about foreign countries and getting there and around, anything. Unfortunately you never get to speak up in his presence so there is no use of that friendly offer.
Being the only guest in a hotel has its advantages. You get a very nice room, tea whenever you want it and you have the guard dog to yourself. Exclusively in front of your room’s door which is a reason not to leave the room anymore.

12 July 2011
The Divine Madman is growing on me. Today I visited his temple and sooner than I could count to three got a blessing there. For that three phalli were dropped onto my head. One was rather big and made of ivory, the second one of wood and the third and comparably rather small one of stone. All three were dropped simultaneously onto my head which hurt quite a bit, especially in the case of the stone specimen.
After three days in Bhutan and I am eating chilies for dinner like there is no tomorrow. Chilies come in a creamy cheese sauce with onion and tomato is an actual dish here. But when in Bhutan, do as the Bhutanese they say, don’t they? I am sure I will have some butter tea soon enough, too.
Discussing the relative merits of walking around circumnavigating stupas in your old age with a Buddhist we concluded that this might be a great way of a) not mourning your various illnesses all the time like you would be inclined to in an old people’s home and b) that it is a great spot for new late romances. We also came to the conclusion that this concept would not work for Europe as it would perhaps be fair to assume that people circumnavigating a cathedral all day long would be considered utterly mad.

11 July 2011
If you do not figure in those young boys that are mainly seen in their Superman t-shirts (according to a trustworthy source that is due to a movie from last year where the hero sported such a shirt), the Bhutanese love to wear their local dress. For men it is a long piece of cloth that is artistically put around one’s neck and then folded so that together with a belt it becomes jacket and skirt. Allegedly the shape of the jacket also forms world’s biggest breast pocket in any male garments and this breast pocket is used to virtually store everything. I assume when a person gets smelly others tell him to search for something rotting away inside.
During an extensive sightseeing program in the capital city (nunnery, national library, folk museum, center for traditional medicine, weaver workshop, main post office, national bank and arts and crafts center) we ran into the Queen Mother twice. Unfortunately and despite visiting the king’s palace I did not see the king though. On the other hand that is not really necessary as his portrait is literally hanging on almost every wall.
The Bhutanese do not seem stressed at all. You work from 9 to 5 and when you are too old to work the only thing expected from you is to circumnavigate a stupa clockwise with a prayer wheel in your hand.
Received comment: Time flies... one moment you are enjoying the sun on a Zanzibar beach and suddenly you are in Bhutan. Pity about the shower in Kathmandu but you've seen Everest. I envy you.
AND I have seen the BIG FIVE!

10 July 2011
At breakfast the waitress tells me she smiles a lot as already her grandmother had told her it does not cost anything. She asks me whether I am happy in Bhutan. After being barely 20 hours in the country I say so far, yes.
After breakfast it is time to drive from Paro to Bhutan’s capital city, Thimphu. Along the road cows are chewing on low branches of trees. Most houses are painted with colorful symbols amongst them enormous phallus symbols. What is moral and what isn’t varies from culture to culture. Allegedly a rather uncommon saint from Tibet – he liked women and wine – has brought this tradition to Bhutan in the 15th century to help fighting demons. He became commonly known as the Divine Mad Man and his followers still worship him and use his symbol on their walls.
Big billboards and signs are forbidden by law in Bhutan and so you have to look twice what they sell in a shop. Some are selling men’s wear, some solely monk wear. The local book shop has a billboard where you can stick up your colored post-it answering the topic of this month: The most important thing I learnt in kindergarten. So far there is nothing to write home about on that wall. My own kindergarten experiences are too personal to be posted on a wall I thought.

9 July 2011
As China does not issue any visas for foreign visitors until the end of July I will spend 10 days in Bhutan instead of the originally planned four. Druk Air, the national Bhutanese carrier, flies for about an hour along the Himalayas from Kathmandu to Paro. I am seated at the left side of the plane in order to see Mount Everest again, last row, row 13 where even the stewardesses prefer row 12. I am staring out the window. The captain mumbles something. I ask the stewardess. She says she understood something jungle. I said I understood something Everest. We both do not get to see what we heard of, just clouds.
My guide book says Bhutan is Nepal for the Jet Set, referring to a steep per diem “fee” of 200 US Dollars the Bhutanese government requires each tourist to spend as a minimum. On the positive side, with that fee everything from accommodation to food, transportation and guided tours is covered. Like in Nepal I was met by a lady guide. This time it is somebody who studied English at University, is very, very, very well informed about her country and on top of that really easy to understand. So far we’ve only been to the national museum but that alone and the drive there has already been very interesting. Stunning architecture, mountains all around, friendly people. All in all there are a mere 700.000 people living in Bhutan. Since 2008 it is a constitutional monarchy but people seem to really love and miss their king having all the power. They do not take the gross national product as welfare indicator but the state of the individual’s content, nicknamed the gross happiness product.

8 July 2011
Back in the metropolis I ask myself what it is with me that I am offered hashish on almost every corner. If only they knew I can't even light a cigarette... A dinner acquaintance tells me later that as a man he is offered many more things than that. Being asked by him what has been so far my best and my worst experience on my trip respectively he got my thinking. The best, most unusual one was easy: it was definitely being told about my upcoming birthday the night before (in Mandalay, by a fortuneteller asked to not tell me anything). And the worst? Well, you could say broken promises but really, concerning the actual trip having money stolen from my hotel room in Saigon and being involved in a scam in Bangkok probably. Anyway, thinking about that I really should not complain, it has been a great 9 months since I took off on October 1st to Los Angeles!

7 July 2011
Unfortunately it is raining in Nepal. More or less non-stop but it is the rainy season so there you go. Interestingly enough up to three Nepalese fit under one tiny umbrella and do not seem to get wet at all. Nepal is four hours and forty five minutes ahead of cental European time, allegedly to prove a point and show independence from India which is gour hours and thirty minutes ahead. Nepal has a myriad of gods and goddesses and on top of everything a “living goddess”. Her name is Kumari and it is a young girl that needs to fit a certain physical description, fulfill a number of other requirements including passing a test of courage. As soon as she menstruates for the first time she loses the job and on goes the search for a suitable successor.
Kathmandu has a lot on offer culturally. There are palaces, stupas and temples galore. Yesterday I visited the largest Tibetian stupa outside of Tibet, Boudha, which is especially lovely due to many prayer flags and the painted eyes of Buddha that seem to follow all your moves.
After visiting Nepal’s second royal city apart from Kathmandu, Patan, yesterday I saw the third Royal City Bhaktapur today. Now I am in Nagarkot in the mountains where the hotel has a power cut schedule!

6 July 2011
I was on a Mount Everest experience flight this morning with Buddha Air whose motto is: “I did not climb Mount Everest but touched it with my heart”. Most of the Everest mountain range was covered in clouds but Mount Everest or rather its peak was visible. From the distance it reminded me a lot of Rio de Janeiro’s Sugar Loaf. Same same as they say in Thailand. Just a tiny bit higher (8.848 meters).

5 July 2011
After a sleepless night on Mumbai airport I finally made it to Kathmandu. My hotel is a very pretty, eco friendly place and advises its customers on the following (and I just quote A, B and C): A: Please don’t flush too often. B: Save water, shower together. C: Would you like to change your towels every day? Hope not! Rules D to G remind you that you can get a cloth shopping bag in the lobby, that plastic bottles are to be avoided and lights need to be switched off when leaving a room. So far I have been trying my very best but on the “shower together” point I am afraid I failed. Not least due to the lack of innocent bystanders in need of a shower.

4 July 2011
Leaving Africa again, headed towards Nepal. Some journeys lead you along quite bumpy roads. My ticket routed me from Johannesburg via Mumbai on to New Delhi and then further to Kathmandu. As I was only getting my connecting flight there of course I had not bothered about getting a visa for India. In fact and unfortunately I would have needed one in order to go to domestic departures in Mumbai. When I heard that my heart stood still for about five minutes. Kindly I got rebooked at a Johannesburg – Mumbai – Kathmandu connection. Still rather upset I boarded my first flight only to find out that I was trapped in the long distance traveler’s nightmare: a middle seat with a smelly person on my left and a tremendously overweight - albeit neutral smelling - person at my right. Fortunately I talked the stewardess into a comfy emergency seat. Before long I discovered that the occasional male throwing himself onto an airline blanket in front of me was neither desperate nor tired but a Muslim in search of the ideal praying spot. As we were flying northeast, Mecca seemed sort of just across towards the middle isle.

29 June 29 – 3 July, 2011
Upon arrival in the Krueger National Park we prepared lunch and were about to sit down on our terrace when two monkeys approached the set table and started to feast on the salad. I was moved - or rather petrified to be honest - by the picture of a grey monkey with a baby tomato in his left hand. The park itself is just amazing. We saw the BIG FIVE, lions, leopards, buffalos, rhinos and elephants as well as hippos, giraffes, turtles, eagles, elephants, crocodiles, monkeys, zebras, wild boars, all kinds of birds... What I liked bests of all? A beautiful elephant dung ball in low brownish grass in a great afternoon light. And little monkey babies hanging from their mother's bellies.

28 June 2011
Oh It’s Tuesday: It must be Johannesburg! Left Dar Es Salaam and arrived a few hours later to Johannesburg. I had planned to see the Kruger National Park when in South Africa and so I skipped a trip to the Serengeti in Tanzania which gave me more time on Zanzibar.

27 June 2011
After time-consuming discussions with unhelpful hotel staff, seemingly illiterate taxi drivers and car rental agencies who did not seem to mind whether their cars are rented or not I found out that I cannot spend three hours clinging to a bus on the outside (and that was the only option of getting “on” it. So finally I settled on a taxi driver who seemed reliable enough only to find out half way up to Bagamoyo that the last time he had actually been there was as a young boy in 1984. So we ventured of to explore the former capital of German East Africa together which proved to be quite difficult given the language barrier. The city itself is a quiet place with a long beach and a Dhow freight connection to Zanzibar. All old colonial buildings have already fallen down completely or are crumbling down to the extent that they do hardly resemble houses anymore.
Received comment: Did you find any house that you might consider reconstructing in order to have it as your own house (or palace)?

26 June 2011
I had a hard time leaving Zanzibar for Dar Es Salaam really. I quickly got used to being there and thanks to a nice acquaintance I was also updated on some local gossip. Before leaving I still went to the Palace Museum where, much to my surprise, I was greeted by a picture of Emperor Franz-Joseph and one of Sisi respectively. The paintings, literally the only paintings to speak of in the whole palace, were a gift from the Emperor a propos a trade agreement between Zanzibar and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the 1880ies. The paintings as such look just fine but their frames have definitely seen better times.

25 June 2011
After quite some time I’ve seen two original t-shirts today: One read ‘trust me, I am a doctor’ and the other ‘my blog is running cold’. I saw the person with the blog t-shirt again and in reality and much to my embarrassment it read ‘my blood is running cold’.
Today I almost boosted into unseen activity. I wrote 4 (in words: four) postcards, bought a few souvenirs and made the two hour trip to Prison Island to see the giant turtles there.

24 June 2011
Today was the last and big day of the Zanzibar film and music festival and the big final event starring Shaggy. I am definitely here for much too long by now because without me asking for it or a second glance on me I was sold a resident ticket. My usual pace has decelerated to the extent that I almost missed the concert. In other words I am really slow these days. On the other hand I would not have missed much. A slightly aged and not quite fit ‘Mr. Lover-Lover’ appeared in beach clothes that every all-inclusive cruise passenger would feel too embarrassed to sport publicly. When he was not shouting ‘are you ready?’ or ‘put your hands up in the air’ he sang a few old songs in a lovely baritone voice. Bombastic was ten years ago or so.

23 June 2011
Zanzibar proves to be a sticky place for me; I just can’t convince myself of leaving really. Stone Town is like an oriental Venice with narrow pathways and winding streets too narrow for any cars to get through. There are no channels though…

22 June 2011
And once more I have changed hotels and moved from the Dhow Palace Hotel to a new place called Emerson Spice. Once again it is an old palace, some things are not quite finished, yet and there is lots of renovation ongoing. My room features a huge veranda with a wood carved balustrade. From the veranda I can see a small square in the midst of Stone Town and watch people from high above. Women with colorful headscarves hurry past with small children, the girls often dressed in their white or pink Sunday outfits, their hair braided into many small knots. Directly opposite the veranda is a mosque with loudspeakers that keep me jumping out of my seat five times as well.
The Zanzibar music and film festival featuring Tanzanian musicians is ongoing in the old fort showing documentaries about life in Africa. Everybody seems to be waiting for Friday and Shaggy who shall sing as the last performer of the festival.

21 June 2011
I needed a haircut and after quite some searching ended up at a men’s hairdresser’s on Stone Town’s Bazaar. A Rasta produced a pair of scissors that every child would have cleared out from his toy kit years ago and started to cut a very shaky uneven line across my forehead. After quite some cutting and looking into a more and more concerned face on my side the line got somewhat straighter. The discussion of “well I know one haircut for long hair” pointing at my shoulders and imitating a straight cut across ended with “no, we don’t do that”. Quite some bystanders were watching by the time and only a crab hawker dared to move past the small crowd to present me with a muddy dark green crab for further investigation.

20 June 2011
I just love what a dear friend had to say on one quite touchy issue that keeps me awake at night: “Perhaps someone can rise above uselessness and elevate into tolerable.”
Allegedly people are happiest when they are engaged in a task and fully absorbed by it not thinking about anything else.
I finished reading the second part of Stephen Fry’s autobiography, very impressive.

19 June 2011
As they say in Zanzibar (it is a book title, I swear on a book of proverbs):
“ When two elephants tussle, it's the grass that suffers."
” A coconut shell full of water is a sea to an ant.”
Received comment: I have been following your WONDERFUL blog… I wonder how many followers you have...
Answer: Well I also wonder, I really do...
Received comment: We are following your trip on your blog!

18 June 2011
The shipyard in the North of Zanzibar really looks like a Dutch painting from the 16th century – carpenters hammering away, dark cloud and edge of the world included. Occasionally a ray of light makes it through the clouds and highlights one of the Dhow sailing boats. Crows feast on the dead tuna fish that has been washed ashore not paying attention to the pelican skull that lies right next to it.
Although I wanted to restrict my dream on the Siamese ice bear to close friends only I decided to share it here nevertheless: So I dreamt about a Siamese ice bear with two heads roaring and groaning terribly in the attempt of ripping itself apart. The cows that were jumping over a wall next to it and the one albino cow with a lion face were then not anymore center stage really.

17 June 2011
Apart from the already mentioned layman Massai the most illustrious characters are shuffling past the beach. As soon as I have my camera ready they all seem to hide away though.
Talking to people here the Massai are not too respected here as such. People talk very derogatively about them and often refer to them as sort of another animal species that can be seen on game drives through the countryside. On the other hand the local artists seem to paint nothing else than Massai, mostly in bright colours, often from behind carrying firewood, babies or spears respectively.

16 June 2011
An easy definition for mania? One and the same policeman stops you three times in one and a half days and also wants to see your driving license on all three occasions.

14 and 15 June 2011
In the north east of Zanzibar you cannot witness any sunsets really but there are other incredible things to do, for instance a morning walk to a faraway coral reef through knee deep water. Whilst making sure not to step on one of the thousands of sea urchins you see local women harvesting pinkish and lilac see weed which they allegedly sell to a Norwegian beauty company. Sometimes you see beautiful bright orange see stars in between the black sea urchins. I convinced my travel companion to carry one ashore in order to take a picture there and advised to water it from time to time on the long journey. Quite a striking image I have to say…

13 June 2011
On Zanzibar the aperitif is called “sundowner” and it seems the best place for it in Stone Town is the terrace of the former British gentleman’s club, the so-called “Africa House”. You see ancient looking sailing boats competing with palm trees for the title of best sight during a spectacular sunset. My hotel (Dhow Palace) here resembles a palace you would use to stage a 1001 nights play and luckily it is only a few steps away from the Africa house. Laymen Massai seem to be all over the place, often in white sandals and permanently attached to their mobile phones.

12 June 2011
Stone Town is peculiar, its former wealth showing in majestic now crumbling palaces and grand houses. The former slave market is now a cathedral and the high altar is where the whipping post used to be. It used to be the world’s last open slave market and formally ceased to exist only in 1873 due to a successful intervention by Livingstone.

11 June 2011
I took the ferry to Zanzibar and already explored parts of Stone Town today.
Some conversations are doomed to fail. A: Tomorrow you should visit the museum first thing in the morning, followed by the bazaar and then by the slave market. B: I’d say if I want fresh slaves I ought to head to the slave market first thing in the morning, don’t you think?

10 June 2011
The good old Austrian rule of thumb – where there is a church there is also a church restaurant – cannot be applied to Africa. But then again I am in a mostly Muslim country. Nevertheless I heard the rehearsal of a church choir in the Luther Church. The choir’s band is equipped with drums, an electric guitar, keyboards and a powerful amplifier. Instead of “test” or “one, two, one two three” they test the microphones with „halllujah“ or „Jesus“.
I also went to some safari tour operators to enquire about possible itineraries and got the very useful hint that safaris include full board and accommodation but do not include whiskey and cigarettes.

9 June 2011
My first chat upon arrival started very promising. The taxi driver introduced himself with a hearty „Hey, I am Dead“ to which I replied “well for being dead to me you look rather alive”. We spent the rest of the ride in silence.
In terms of conversation I wasn’t much luckier in the hotel restaurant when asking what soup was served. I was told “cream soup” and that was that. To be fair it tasted exactly like that.
I have to say that a total lack of business sense can be very charming. So when I was told that I could get my drinks in a nearby supermarket and consume them in the hotel’s rooftop bar I was rather amused.
Talking about shopping I just want to highlight some of the many things you can buy on Dar El Salaam’s streets: High heels which prove to be very unpractical on dirt sideways/walkways. The local cobblers are well prepared though and have loads of mostly brightly red spare heels readily available. Other traveling hawkers sell pre-knotted ties, nuts, apples, maps of Africa, conference table flags of almost any country, single cigarettes, mosquito nets for children and dolls.
All in all it proves to be quite difficult to blend in here. Even after eight months of travelling I am still not tanned enough to not being instantly noticed as the only white one around. Not good for taking photographs at all… One of the locals asked me whether I could tell from a sheer look at other white people where they are from. I said well sometimes and asked him the same question regarding other Africans. The rather odd answer was “no, we all look the same and no one is blonde or so, so I need to hear them speak”.

8 June 2011
Allegedly Mark Twain said that “the man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them”.
By the way I remembered what I still wanted to report on New Zealand since quite some time. They have women for women female-undertakers-only enterprises such as White Lady Funerals. A brief Interent research highlighted that this is quite fashionable in the UK already since the mid 1990-ies. The motto of the New Zealand Funeral Directors Association is also worth noting: “because a live deserves celebrating”. What is a bit odd is that they have a “members login” button. Another one leads to “my live, my funeral kit”. “Prepaid funerals” are also on offer.

7 June 2011
I hit the road again and continue my journey around the world – part IV. This time I am flying via Ethiopia to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. I am getting better in packing lighter but again, miraculously, already on the conveyer belt during check-in the weight of my suitcase went from 18.2 kilos up to 18.4 in a matter of two minutes! See also April 1st, 2011 where I already reflected upon the fact that the laws of physics do not apply to my luggage.
Received comment from the only witness I have on the miraculous weight change: I hope you had a great flight... Did you check the weight of your suitcase already? And if yes, what is the current weight?
Actually I haven’t but I assume it has increased already. It definitely does feel heavier…

6 June 2011
It does not go down well at all with the Belgians when I refer to the king as “our” king. Somehow there is a stingy attitude and I as a foreigner cannot claim him. For ease of use we settled on “my adopted king” although I do not know whether the king himself would like that.

5 June 2011
It is a well-known fact that Manneken Pis is dressed at times and pees beer once a year. What I find outrageous is that a chocolate shop now uses a copy of the sculpture as chocolate fountain. It is slightly disgusting seeing melted chocolate dripping out of a little boy.

4 June 2011
Planning my onward journey isn’t straightforward really. Up to now the only thing I’ve booked is a one-way flight to Tanzania. Hardly the ordinary routing: Brussels – Dar es Salaam – stop.

3 June 2011
My grandmother used to say that what doesn’t kill you only makes you harder. She also claimed that things often turn out differently than expected. How right she was…

2 June 2011
German isn’t that easy to learn. A minor pronunciation error of a future father who enthusiastically claims he’ll feed his baby can be very entertaining and mean he’ll eat his baby.
Apart from that Austria has come one step closer to an uncertain and potentially fatal destiny: Meanwhile supermarkets sell not only wasabi potato chips but also chips with pumpkin seed oil!

1 June 2011
When discussing whether it should read “brain transplants” or rather “body transplants” in his book “The Blank Slate” Steven Pinker quotes Dan Dennett who said – and I think rightly so – that a brain transplant is the only transplant operation in which it is better to be the donor than the recipient.

31 May 2011
I heard that the US Department of Justice has a website that lists not only all names of the recently executed but also their „last statements“.

23 May 2011
I can only apologize for the recent blog holidays...

22 May 2011
I got a very beautiful necklace pendant in the shape of a Boomerang. It reminded me of course of Australia but also of a period in time where I learned a nice little poem by heart – much to the discomfort of my mother who had to listen to it again and again when I tried the right intonation. It sounds better in German and after I had found a rather unhelpful Esperanto version I finally found an English one, too:
Boomerang by Joachim Ringelnatz:
There once was a boomerang
That was a little bit too long.
The boomerang flew into the air,
Never again to reappear.
The audience stood around for long,
Waiting for that boomerang.

21 May 2011
As far as I can tell the world did not go under today at 18:00 as predicted by some. I think we can all be content with the situation.

20 May 2011
It seems that I really missed quite a bit during my long absence. For instance that the Viennese central cemetery hosted a “long night” at the cemetery with highlights like:
* Presentation of hearses and carriages
* Making lanterns and painting coffins (children’s program)
* Performance show of the Viennese undertakers
* Presentation of flapping coffins and coffins to sit in
* Exhibition of glamorous funerals and international death notices
* Lifting of coffins
Another highlight according to the website (in German only) was evidently trying out to lie in a coffin. According to a foreign newspaper one child wrote during the painting session “I don’t want into it” onto one of the coffins.

17 to 19 May 2011
Brussels has not changed much, although Rue Froissart has been revived and is now almost urban. The falcons nest for the seventh year in the Dome which is really no excuse for the ever so wrong carillon.

16 May 2011
What goes around comes around and now it is official: I have circled the globe once. On January 6 I started in Brussels and after having been to Singapore, Myanmar, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Hawaii and San Francisco I am back in Brussels. And Belgium did not disappoint me regarding the usual “Welcome to Absurdistan” notion: While I waited for my luggage at the conveyor belt a tray kept coming past a number of times that contained nothing but a single, bright pink bra. How you can lose a bra at check-in and still make it arrive at your destination was the mystery I was pondering today. And no, there was no luggage tag attached to it.

15 May 2011
It is time to say good bye to San Francisco and ending the second leg of my big journey. I like good advertisements and since quite some time saw a really good one at San Francisco airport. It showed a little girl looking into a big suitcase and read: What did Mary bring back from her vacations? The boxes to tick were: A: T-Shirt, B: snow globe and C: Measles.
To be fair: I also liked “Washaria” as a name for a laundry shop and a big sign near the road pointing to a fruit stand reading: “Nature’s gift: garlic and cherries”

14 May 2011
I could spend days just driving over San Francisco’s bridges. The Golden Gate Bridge at sunset is just like on a postcard although on a postcard you cannot feel the freezing wind. And yes, I did it again – driving down Lombard Street! Having a car in San Francisco is great, although parking is scarce like in any big city. What I remember best of my first stay in the city 12 years ago is walking, walking, walking. And it is a very hilly place! Of course in the end I also ended up walking a fair bit and desperately craving for a massage I only saw slightly dubious places called for instance “Les Nuits de Paris Massage and Spa”. So I refrained.

13 May 2011
San Francisco’s Valencia Street is ever delightful. I discovered a shop that advertises its expertise in “sustainable sex”. It invites people to learn more about “the eco friendly way”. I assume you get carbon credits these days in one way or the other. On the flipside of things: in my experience it gets harder and harder to flirt with anyone in coffee shops these days. It can be a sophisticated and nicely decorated coffee shop full of people all by themselves; as soon as there is free Wi-Fi there is no – no as in absolutely no – on-site communication.
I drove down Lombard Street, something I wanted to do since I first saw it in 1999. It was great! Must do that again! The best part was the longing faces of other (walking) tourists.
Received comment: I have to say they people in the coffee shop just don't know what they are missing!

12 May 2011
I’ll try driving back up to San Francisco today and briefly considered wearing my I love New York t-shirt for the occasion. Perhaps not the best idea so I dropped it.
I stopped by in Santa Cruz. The oceanfront is partly just a huge amusement park. At one booth – called the stinky feet – you could sit on a toilet while competing with others in throwing soap at stinky feet (of puppets).

11 May 2011
Still feel feverish, same as yesterday – dragged myself to the splendid Aquarium in Monterey but could not really enjoy it.

10 May 2011
I dragged my body to Napa city and helped it to a coffee. How pathetic is that in the middle of a wine region?

9 May 2011
Having the flu is terrible in all instances but especially when you are far away from home. So annoying. I am in a phase where friends recommend an overdose of Vitamin C. Maybe that helps.
From a comment I received today the good news is that my website is no longer censored in China as opposed to Google, Picasaweb or Xing.

8 May 2011
I moved on towards Napa Valley and went through Berkeley and Richmond today. I always like browsing bookstores and again there were very dubious titles on sale in one of them. For instance a book on “Zen Judaism”, a book called “Keep calm and cross-word on” or “The book of general ignorance – everything you think you know is wrong” and last but not least “The guerilla art kit”. Unfortunately the shop closed before I could decide to buy any of those.
When I arrived at my hotel I was approached by another guest with the words: What about a German shepherd? I sell it to you for a nickel!

7 May 2011
I spent a very agreeable time in Oakland. There are a few neighborhoods that are different and so I browsed shops in Rockridge on College Street, Montclair Village, Piedmont Avenue and Old Oakland. Some places had really curious names like “I squared”, “God’s Gym” or “Posh Polish”. As some of you will find very agreeable there were restaurants that advertised “the bottomless glass” – you could get your wine refilled if you had dinner with them. The Conga Lounge on College Street - their sticker covered toilets say they are “powered by pineapple” - fights hard for making the Mai Tai Oakland’s official drink. They also claim that it had been invented in Oakland.

6 May 2011
Time to leave Hawaii and go back to the “mainland”. I avoided a full-body scanner at the airport in claiming I could still not raise my left arm fully (which is sadly true). That was the only acceptable reason; moral ground did not count at all (I tested first: “and what if I do not want that?” which was met by “you are the next in line so you have through”). Sometimes I am really sad that certain pictures can simply not be taken. With me on the plane and later of course at baggage claim was a Chinese gentleman who wore a khaki jacket that was overly covered with badges of places he had obviously been to. You know those badges than can be purchased and sewn onto anything. The guy looked more like a suitcase than anything else. Had he not moved from time to time I am almost certain they would have deposited him at the lost and found counter.

5 May 2011
Captain Cook was omnipresent in Australia and is also quite a figure in Hawaii. I went to the pace where they finally ate him. His strategic mistake was that he bade farewell to one of his crew members in the out and open which lead the Hawaiians to believe that – contrary their former assumption Cook and the other newcomers were mortal. And mortal strangers could as well be eaten.
Did I mention that it had been raining most of the time in Hawaii? So annoying. Today – my last day on the Big Island and later on my last evening in Honolulu – was no exception.
Received comment: I checked out your blog, then got sidetracked on the photos of the Grand Canyon... I do not recall ever seeing the quality that you can reproduce… I am awed by your work!!!

4 May 2011
After driving on the left side for the last three months or so driving on the right side is – albeit automatic - all of a sudden unfamiliar. Guide books can really come in handy at times. How else would you know for instance that “Discovery Antiques” sells the best ice cream on the island or that a shop called “Donkey Balls” is in fact a chocolate shop that manufactures delicious balls using local ingredients such as macadamia nuts and Hawaiian coffee? The book also brags about frogs on the island and claims that a) Hilo in the east is “froggier” than Kona in the west and b) that “froggier” is an actual word! I have not seen a single frog over here in Kona and neither in Hilo. Talking about animaIs: I swam with a turtle today! To be honest – and those of you who have seen me respectfully retreating from even chickens will understand – I snorkeled behind a sea turtle without any attempt to making myself too visible to the turtle.

4 May 2011
After driving on the left side for the last three months or so driving on the right side is – albeit automatic - all of a sudden unfamiliar. Guide books can really come in handy at times. How else would you know for instance that “Discovery Antiques” sells the best ice cream on the island or that a shop called “Donkey Balls” is in fact a chocolate shop that manufactures delicious balls using local ingredients such as macadamia nuts and Hawaiian coffee? The book also brags about frogs on the island and claims that a) Hilo in the east is “froggier” than Kona in the west and b) that “froggier” is an actual word! I have not seen a single frog over here in Kona and neither in Hilo. Talking about animals: I swam with a turtle today! To be honest – and those of you who have seen me respectfully retreating from even chickens will understand – I snorkeled behind a sea turtle without any attempt to making myself too visible to the turtle.

3 May 2011
Now it is official: I am definitely not ahead of time, rather the opposite. I had an appointment on the 4th which in fact took place on the 3rd for me. But I suppose that is life, when it’s morning in Asia it is still yesterday afternoon in Hawaii. Anyway, very confusing all that.
Yesterday or – for most of my readers – the day before yesterday then I drove down south of Kona and saw the wonderful Place of Refuge in the Pu‘uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park. Today (well, I suppose yesterday for you then) I circled the island which is surprisingly much bigger than I had anticipated. The famous volcano is unfortunately too active and too inactive at the same time. Since its last unforeseen eruption in 2008 parts of the rim road are inaccessible and so although there is some activity ongoing it is hard to spot. And contrary to many pictures you see around there is no place to see fresh lava.

2 May 2011
Sometimes I ask myself what future archeologists and anthropologists will say about mankind around the year 2000. Take for instance drinking water fountains, plastic bottles and skeletons. Will they assume that people who were about 1.5 to 1.9 meters tall mostly drank bent over a drinking water fountain in an impossible and very uncomfortable angle? And will they further assume that others filled plastic water bottles from the same drinking water fountains and sold them to the well to do?

1 May 2011
On I went from Honolulu to Hawaii (the „Big Island“). Hawaiian Airlines charges ten dollars to check a suitcase in. But they only charge US citizens, green card holders and others who live legally in the US. All others are exempt from that fee and are not charged extra at check-in. What an interesting example of discrimination. In most cases it is foreigners that suffer from discrimination. In Australia and New Zealand for instance only Australians or New Zealanders respectively can be handicapped. A handicapped foreigner is formally healthy.

30 April 2011
Welcome to Hawaii and definitely to the US. Instead of flower necklaces one is awaited by the same cumbersome formalities at passport control and customs as anywhere else when entering the US: long, long queues in fridge like air-conditioned halls, questions over questions and reassurance that one does not intend to stay long in the Promised Land. Honolulu is nevertheless somehow classy although there are no traces of Elvis left on Waikiki Beach, although skyscraper is next to skyscraper and hotels next to other hotels, expensive shops next to expensive shops and flower necklaces can only be bought. Talking about shopping: I intended to buy a minimum amount of alcohol in a shop and was promptly asked how old I was. My broad smile when I told the shop clerk was met by a frosty inquiry about a piece of identification. As I did not have any ID on me he only pointed to a preposterous sign stating: People who look 30 years of age or younger need to show a valid ID when purchasing alcohol. People who are below 40 years of age need to show a valid ID when purchasing tobacco.
Waikiki is also home to the Royal Hawaiian Shooting Club that advertises its large indoor shooting range offering a “premier shooting experience for the whole family”. The ad I saw did however not advertise a family package like four in – two out.
Received comment: Well I thought the Americans were completely paranoid but the proof of age is surely beyond common sense. Proving that you are old enough to drink alcohol or smoke tobacco. And then that add for the family shooting range: "Dad what is this lever for??" (while aiming at sister).

1 Mai 2011
I am leaving Fiji on the 1st of Mai at 9:45 in the morning for Hawaii and after six and a half hours and only two hours time difference it is April 30th (18:15) again when I arrive! It may sound childish but already when planning this trip I was excited about crossing the International Date Line. And I think it is also quite symbolic that I get to celebrate two May Days (and two April the 30th come to think of it) during a year where I am not working.

30 April 2011
I participated in a Kava ceremony. Kava is a root that is first ground to powder and then mixed with cold water. Its smell reminds you faintly of cacao and its taste of stale Chinese tea with a hint of chili. According to old Fijian tradition when a Fijian asks his potential father in law for the hand of his Fijian daughter he has to present him with a kilogram of Kava and a whale fish tooth. I suppose my father would have little use for such tooth.
The amount of frogs in Fiji is enormous. My cautious estimate is about five to ten frogs per square meter after dark. Unfortunately they are way too mobile to be kissed.
Received comment: I really wanted to go to bed as it is past midnight over here but then I really wanted to thank you still tonight, you really made my day! Your recent blog entries are once more Margit at her best although you seem to prefer “Eva” these days. Can we see a photo of you with that hat? And one more thing: don’t start kissing frogs please!
Received comment: You said today that I would not have any use for a whale fish tooth. Well I have to say that in your case a candidate better presents a whole set of teeth. I would use it as a door for a new garden fence. Papa

28 and 29 April 2011
1st note to self: When staying in a surfer’s paradise surfing resort expect only surfers speaking exclusively about surfing.
2nd note to self: Fiji may have 300 days of pure lovely sunshine but there is a possibility that you are there during the other 65 days.
3r note to self: renting a little traditional hut by the beach can mean you wake up soaking wet because it is just pouring through the roof, into your bed and spraying into your eyes. (The hut being called “rock lobster bure” had quite an accurate name as it was holding on to the surface just as I imagine a rock lobster would when threatened to be washed away.)

26 and 27 April 2011
Flying into Fiji meant again declaring food. I was met by a lady who insisted “and you don’t have anything to declare, do you?” When I said I DO have food to declare she again insisted I did not and waved me by. After spending a night in Nadi I took a ferry to a resort on the Mamaluka islands which people had often referred to as “home away from home” in reviews I read on the Internet. Well it all depends on what you call home back home I suppose. I am back again to a mosquito zone, I dare say worse than around Cairns. But apart from that the island here is pretty, relaxing and very remote. I think it is fair to say that I landed at the edge of civilization. And I really like it.
Received comment: What is it with food and flying? Hope you had good flights!

25 April 2011
All Australian airports I have seen fancy explosive tests. And for whatever mysterious reason I am always chosen for the test. That means I am approached in a very friendly way, informed that I can of course chose not to cooperate but in that case unfortunately I also cannot board the plane. I think I should be pleased that the last one did not hear me mumbling that one day one of his colleagues will eventually find something…
You must not bring any food into Australia or New Zealand unless you declare it. Fines are hefty and luckily I remembered some breakfast cereal and an apple I had on me. So I passed the first test but was briskly stopped at the second one. A voice telling me in a very sincere tone that I had an APPLE on me! I said, well yes, and that I had declared it and all. I was told to pull the apple out and so I stood there like a trapped Eve holding a dark red apple the size of a mandarin in my hand, waiting for further instructions. Soon enough an inspector turned up, evidently further up in the food inspection hierarchy and wearing gloves. With a disgusted look he took the apple from my hand and threw it into the garbage bin. Nobody around seemed to see the slightly off but still humorous side of it at all. Later in a bus heading downtown I spoke to a New Zealander who said the same thing had happened to him as well but as he had forgotten to declare the apple he had to pay a fine of 400 dollars.
Before I was allowed on to that same bus I had to tell the driver which hotel I was going to. When I said something about an Ibis hotel in Auckland city center he almost refused me on the bus as there was no such hotel in the center. When I finally found out that what I meant was a Mercure hotel (all Accor anyway) he gave me a puzzled look and said he would call my stop explicitly. I expect something along the lines of “perplexed woman with enormous scarf and silly boatman hat: get off here” or: “Eve step out, next stop’s paradise!”
Talking about the silly hat: Well into about 15 minutes of discussion with the New Zealander on the bus he remarked about how good he thought my French was. I must have looked quite surprised as I had not uttered a word of French he tried to explain that with my hat I looked very French. It was a late night for all of us I guess.

24 April 2011
Happy Easter! This is my last day in Australia and later today I will continue my journey once more to New Zealand (hmm, can I stay there please?) for one night before I fly on to Fiji.
So Australia in summary: I saw an awful lot of my various cars but also of the country. When I first switched on the radio in my first rental car the song they played was “I come from a land down under”, very intriguing for starting a four week roundtrip through down under. Australia’s bookshops feature titles called for instance “I am not crazy, I am just not you” or “Free Will, a guide for the perplexed” and – interestingly – “Obama and the Empire” by Fidel Castro. Used books reach prices above the original retail price overseas. And generally the price levels are as breathtaking as some of Australia’s natural beauty. Everybody reassured me that 16-20 dollars (maybe 14-18 Euros) for a kilo of bananas was due to the recent floods in Queensland but 7 dollars for a bottle of water and 20 dollars for a piece of local cheese were harder to explain.
The Australians are big into abbreviations. They call the 2008 financial crisis GFC – global financial crisis, BYO is a common thing to do at many restaurants, you just bring your own bottle of wine or beer. The best one I thought was: Don’t feed the sea gulls or they will s.o.y. (figure out for yourselves…).
Received comment: Don’t forget to mention the price of a good Belgian beer which is over 12 dollars. Makes them taste very nice!

23 April 2011
I’ve been up at a quarter to six and went over to the Ayers Rock to see the sunrise. How amazing. The color of the rock really changes from black to orange within an hour or so. In the afternoon I went to the Olgas, now called Kata Tjuta. I hiked through the Valley of the Winds, of course wearing my dear veil. What a beautiful landscape, almost as beautiful as New Zealand ;-)

22 April 2011
My last stop in Australia is Uluru - the Ayers Rock. Already approaching Ayers Rock airport was spectacular - seeing the massive rock and the so-called “Olgas” in the distance. The red desert is not as deserted at the moment as one might think. It has rained quite a bit over the past weeks and so there are a few lakes around the area which are normally empty and there is a fair bit of green all around. Unfortunately – and that brings me back to yesterday’s observations – also the flies seem to like those changed conditions. As we are on the boarder to Western Australia we’re back to black flies. The species here loves to hide in your ears, nose or mouth and if all places are taken they just sit all over your body. Like many other people I bought a black net to cover my head. To say it looks classy like a veil would be overstating the case but it does its job and insofar was worth the investment.
But back to the Ayers Rock itself. It is true that no matter how often you have seen it on TV or on postcards - nothing compares to having seen it with your own eyes and standing in front of it. It is massive, it is orange, it changes color in the sunset and it is beautiful.

21 April 2011
I have been asked whether there is something to Australia’s rough and sometimes dangerous "wild life". To be honest sometimes I am quite happy that my eyesight isn’t the best – even with glasses. I went for several walks through the so-called “wet tropics” during the past few days. The rain forests are fascinating and walking through those mystic and dark woods is definitely different. There are roots that curve down to the soil in spirals, Tarzan could be around every corner and giant trees and ferns are all over the place. But when you are there on those various well-kept boardwalks you wonder whether all the animals know that they must not bother you whilst on that boardwalk. And so at times I did not really look that closely or paid too much attention to strange noises. In short: I haven’t seen any snakes yet, wild kangaroos only in the distance, koalas and cassowaries only in the zoo and crocodiles and box jellyfish only on warning signs.
But I was bitten by about 400 insects over the past two or three days and the tendency is towards even more bites. One wonders but it is possible for Australian mosquitoes to bite into the same wound twice if it comes in handy or other nearby opportunities seem somehow deserted. As far as I can tell the difference between west Australian mosquitoes and those up here in the north-east is that the ones over here are miniscule and bite everywhere but in the head region whereas the west Australian ones are big and black, do not bite that much and focus on the head only. Mostly they sit near your eyes and are ready to enter them as well if need be.

18 and 19 April 2011
I went on to Port Douglas, a nice little coastal town with a beautiful beach. Further out there is the Great Barrier Reef where back then Captain Cook - naturally – stranded. Anyways, it is one of the most beautiful natural sights I have ever seen. I went out with the so-called Silver Sonic, a super fast boat that brings you to the outer reef area close to the continental shelf. I saw fishes in colors I have never seen before, shells and coral in all colors and even a dark blue starfish! It was like swimming in a very large fish tank…

17 April 2011
It appears and judging from things I read Captain Cook was obsessed by naming places. Still today the Aborigines are fighting back hard in getting some original names of places back onto the maps. To balance out you then see the James Cook University and a Captain Cook Highway the latter interrupted by roundabouts every 900 meters or so.
There are about 150 different tours out to the Grand Barrier reed and I am still undecided which one to book. So I ventured out to Ellis Beach north of Cairns. My attempt to swim there was quickly over when I saw the signs warning of jellyfish and crocodiles…

15 and 16 April 2011
Still in Brisbane and its adjacent towns. The Australians are very proud of being relaxed, laid back and in a continuous no-worries state. Sometimes that is rather unreal and seems to cause them quite a bit of stress.

14 April 2011
I really like Brisbane, it has a very nice atmosphere. In the Lone Pine Koala Park I finally got really close to kangaroos and koalas. I loved the koalas and their sweet faces!

13 April 2011
I spent again many hours in the car going from Black Head to Brisbane. As so many times before I listened to some talk radio. This time the topics ranged from stress and disease to an extensive report on a new book on the English castle. A topic that is broadly discussed here is whether the speed limit on motorways should be reduced from 110 to 80 kilometers per hour. I just hope that any initiative on that won’t be decided positively while I am still in the country. Anyway apart from hundreds of speed cameras there are many odd signs like the evergreen “stop, revive, survive”, “slowing down won’t kill you” and my favorite “don’t die for a deadline”.

11 and 12 April 2011
I spent two very nice and relaxing days in Black Head and Hallidays Point. Again a beautiful landscape with mostly empty beaches. If you are a fisherman in the area you really want to fish with sandworms. And if you are really experienced, you get your own sandworms on the beach. Seeing that was a real first for me. I found it quite extraordinary to see somebody “worming” and getting those worms out with his bare hands.

10 April 2011
Everybody I recently spoke to bragged about the beauty of the Blue Mountains. And so I skipped another city day and drove there – together with what seemed all of Sydney’s inhabitants and their visitors. I think it is fair to assume that as we started in sunny Sydney at 26 degrees we all assumed to spend a splendid day in the mountains. The road authorities were kind enough to devote most of the motorway to road works, leaving us for long stretches with mostly one lane. After we’ve made it through the traffic jam the weather had turned to windy, foggy and rainy at only 13 degrees. No mountains to see, not even the allegedly oh-so-beautiful three sisters. So we all boarded out vehicles again and created another long traffic jam when leaving the valley. I then still drove on up to Newcastle.

9 April 2011
My grandmother would have turned 95 today and I am sure she would have had tears in her eyes hearing that I saw Sydney’s iconic opera house on her birthday.
I explored the city today and walked I think between 15 and 20 kilometers. I am really, really tired.

8 April 2011
I really don’t understand why so many people thought it wasn’t worthwhile going to Canberra. I really liked it! Where else can you park in the Parliament’s car park for three hours for free and can walk to all major sights from there? The Parliament building as such is well worth visiting and the guided tour was excellent. The National Gallery made an impression on me as well. It is very well designed and has great exhibitions as well as a lovely sculpture garden. I saw a great designer water jug in the museum shop but refrained from buying it. A book on a shelf close by was titled “love it and leave it” and that is what I did in the end for a variety of reasons.

7 April 2011
I motored down the Hume Highway from Melbourne to Canberra. Driving 650 kilometers is tiring and it really isn’t surprising that every 200 meters or so there is a sign warning drivers that fatigue, a millisecond of sleep or dozing off can kill you. On the other hand they do everything they can to foster fatigue. There are virtually no attractions along the road apart from a fair amount of speed cameras, koala bear signs (with images of smiling koalas or timidly waving koalas), the occational kangaroo sign and a few gas stations. The only radio station you can listen to discusses interesting topics such as the variations in the milk price over what seems to be the last two centuries or the history and future destiny of the handkerchief. The latter was by far better all things considered.

6 April 2011
I am in a city again! Melbourne reminds me somehow of San Francisco. I was in a very special neighborhood called Fitzroy, in Brunswick Street to be more specific. It is full of quirky shops, interesting people and nice restaurants, bars and coffee shops. I have a weak spot for curious names and to name only two there was a clothes shop called Halsinky and a bar called “Naked for Satan”. For the sake of the argument I think it can be assumed that hell is a hot place and so perhaps „Dressed for Satan“ would be more the real sacrifice. Talking about interesting things: I read that Samsonite just issued a new trolley suitcase that can also be used as a scooter, very handy! And in Melbourne today I saw that meanwhile there is a „Lego Arcitecture” with which one can build for instance New York’s Guggenheim museum, the Rockefeller Center or Seattle’s Space Needle. Talking about Melbourne and things worthwhile mentioning: In Chinatown and beyond there are quite some Japanese restaurants. Some sell sushi that is made with brown rice and some have real bargains on both sushi and sashimi. Whether the latter is due to the recent catastrophe in Japan was unclear.

5 April 2011
From an olfactory point of view I am certain that the national dish in Australia is still fish and chips other than in the UK where I am told it is meanwhile curry. The unfortunate side effect of fish and chips is that wherever you go there is a smell after fried food and old oil.

4 April 2011
I accidentally turned Italian today when ordering a coffee. I said “Can I have an espresso, please?” and when the girl said what I heard was “Are you tired?” I smiled and said “yes”. In fact she must have said “Are you Italian?” because she continued and said “I can tell by the way you pronounced espresso! It sounds like music!”

3 March 2011
After a 750 kilometer ride from Esperance to Perth I finally arrived at my “hotel”. In fact and for a number of reasons I had booked a private room in a youth hostel. I parked right in front of the hostel’s pub and was merrily greeted by a drunken eighteen year old. After his initial hellos he gave me a stern second look and said disapprovingly “but you are not a backpacker!” I guess I have to admit that much.
My first impressions of Perth are that it is a very agreeable city. Many buildings in the city center are getting a facelift and it seems that a company called “Trojan Horse Interiors” is doing a lot of the interior design. Although I really admire the crearivity embedded in that name I am not convinced I would want my house decorated by them.

2 April 2011
In Esperance I saw wild kangaroos, a sailing race and beautiful coastline, especially in the Cape Le Grand National Park, and a pink lake!

1 April 2011
Half of my sabbatical is over and so I think I should reflect a little bit on travelling for half a year: The foremost thing I want to mention is that the laws of physics simply do not apply to my luggage. To give you some insight in the mysteries of that: I started with 19 kilos in my suitcase back in early January and to my knowledge only bought 40 rolls of film, one pair of short pants, one hat, some suntan lotion, a bag, two books and three guidebooks (apart from the three suits and the 12 shirts in Bangkok but that is another story). I traded one book for another and accidentally sent that one to Austria before I read it. In total I mailed five parcels to Austria so far with a total weight of about 16 kilos. Apart from the suits and shirts I sent a fair bit of the original load I carried. So net you’d assume I’d have less to carry but miraculously I still have 25 kilos (and I do not even dare to discuss my hand luggage!). Quantas was nice enough to put a “heavy, get some assistance and bend your knees when lifting” tag on my suitcase when I flew with them a few days ago.
Else I sometimes ask myself what is wrong with the world really. Even in the most remote areas you can buy wasabi peas these days!
Watching other travelers has left me with the note that future all-inclusive tourists are socialized in a quite peculiar manner. They carry their backpacks. They then put the backpacks and themselves onto huge busses that seem to cater for tourists that are on their “individual” journey. At interesting touristy spots the busses stop and the future all-inclusive tourists are let out for a few minutes to have a look around before the bus continues a route everybody else is also doing.
Without the Internet a journey like mine is unthinkable. And without my GPS I would have gotten lost more often than I want to think of.
My penultimate tribute to the analogue world, film (or flim like they call it in south east Asia) makes me a curious species that earns more raised eyebrows than helpful comments. I learned to be careful with shops that have proud signs reading “we still process film”.
And my last tribute to the analogue world, books, a for sure a part of the weight disaster discribed earlier on.

31 March 2011
I drove from Denmark to Esperance which was a fair distance I have to say. After having driven 1400 kilometers in Australia in total I have seen nine signs warning of kangaroos and three dead kangaroos on the roads. So either the Australians really have a point with their signs or they are very stingy with putting enough of them. Unfortunately the road I travelled did not go along the coast and hence was a bit monotonous. Lots of brown and dry landscape.

30 March 2011
My trip today brought me to Denmark, a tiny town in Western Australia. On the way there I stopped in the so-called „Valley of the Giants“, a valley full of giant trees. As if that wasn’t impressive enough they have installed a treetop walk there which was somehow similar to the one I did in the AH Reed Memorial Kauri Park in New Zealand. What differentiates the Australian variant from the one in New Zealand is that it goes up to about 38 meters in a zigzag. The steel bridges suspension bridges swing quite a bot while you see the treetops! Close to Denmark there is a bay called „Greens Pool“ which has really, really turquoise water, very beautiful.

29 March 2011
I have driven on to Margaret River where there is lots to do. Apart from a chocolate factory, a coffee roaster and a winery (there are about 200 here) I have been to the nearby beaches. I could not stop watching the enormous waves, as they were getting bigger and bigger, transforming their deep blue color to light turquoise before they break and toss against rocks and splash up like fountains!

28 March 2011
My first impressions of Australia? Flying over the country was like browsing the Geo coffee table book “the earth from above”. There are salt lakes, huge plains, fields and vast arrays of dry red landscape. Everything is so much drier than in New Zealand.
On the ground I have so far seen three beware of kangaroos signs and one dead kangaroo at the side of the road.

26 and 27 March 2011
I have to say good bye to New Zealand for the time being... Today (27 March) I flew to Perth via Brisbane (first a 4 hour ride in a super modern plane – the seatbelts had inbuilt airbags (!) and then a 5 hour one in an old and fully booked plane) and then drove to Bunburry. In the plane to Perth I spoke to two Australians who warned me of brown snakes. They said that if I invade snake’s territory they might go after me and as they are really fast and a deadly bite would be likely I better avoid disturbing them in the first place. I considered not leaving the plane, hoping the crew would only discover me when hitting more inviting territory. The Australians raised their eyebrows and said I should think twice, after all we have bears in Europe who not only kill you but also eat you. I thought it better not discuss the matter any further but thought to myself that this is debatable. Personally I don’t think it makes much of a difference whether you are bitten to death and seem rather uninjured or you are eaten alive.

25 March 2011
On I went to Waitomo and saw the so-called glowworm caves. You go down some stalactite caves and arrive at a lake down below. It is pitch black dark there but on the ceiling there are thousands of glowworms, looking like stars. Or LED lamps.
In Waitomo I stay at a small bed and breakfast called the Abseil Inn. My room is called “cave” and its four poster bed is decorated with black chiffon. On the bed sat a Mammoth. A teddy bear Mammoth to be precise. On the walls there are many artistically carved iron sheet geckos.

24 March 2011
So it is official, I did the Tongariro Alpine Crossing! My guidebook says that this is described as the best one day hike in New Zealand. Frankly I would not be fit enough for a second day anyways, especially not when carrying all the photo equipment on my back. Life without a Sherpa is tough. Nevertheless - and despite my constant thoughts of why nobody has yet installed a cable car here - it was absolutely worth it. The Tongariro national park’s centerpieces are three volcanoes and the hike leads along and across them. The most stunning images are those of the Red Crater and the Emerald Lakes. In both cases it is not just a name…

23 March 2011
Yesterday’s Art Deco walk in Napier was lovely. After an earthquake that leveled most of the city in the early 1930ies the inhabitants decided to rebuild their buildings in Art Deco. It is an amazing place and from an architectural point of view most interesting. I had to come back here today and take more time to marvel at the buildings before I drove on to Tongariro. My hotel there (the Bayview Chateau Tongariro) is a great building in itself. It features a cinema for hotel guests in the basement, a huge billiard table in the main lobby and overall gives you a distinct 1920ies European feeling.

22 March 2011
The Bed and Breakfast in Havelock North has me wash up the family silver and their expensive English family China in the bathroom sink. Luckily they have no idea how bad the broken glass ratio (number of broken glasses per 100 hand washed glasses per week) was before I owned a dishwasher. I still remember the times when my desperate mother used to buy glasses in bulk during the biannual sales…

21 March 2011
Another detail of the New Zealand children’s painting is that there is only one sort of animal to be seen at any given point in time. E.g. black cows with white heads or black cows with black heads or black and white cows with unpredictable heads.
Have I mentioned that I finally made peace with McDonald’s? For years I have only used their toilet facilities but since they now offer acceptable coffee and free wireless Internet (at least in some countries) I frequent them more often. Talking about free Internet: After all this is one of the only disadvantages I’ve come across in New Zealand so far. There is hardly any Internet connectivity or to put more precisely: if there is it is often prohibitively expensive. And often coffee shops or restaurants who obviously do have a wireless LAN just say they don’t or would just not give you the password. What a difference to Vietnam and Thailand! And really annoying as planning my trip further is hardly possible these days without a proper Internet connection…

20 March 2011
Kipling once dubbed the white and pink sinter terraces of Weimangu once the eighth world wonder and these terraces also were the reason for the first tourists ever to arrive in New Zealand 125 years ago. Unfortunately the terraces are all gone after the colcano Mount Terawera erupted in 1886. Today there is a huge lake where the terraces used to be. Albeit the notion that all remains were destroyed, just recently a team of scientists found some leftovers of the pink terraces. I was the only guest on a boat tour over the lake and we stopped just where the terraces had once been, looking at some early photographs of the area. It must have been truly stunning at the time!

19 March 2011
New Zealand has a very peaceful and quiet connotation. Sometimes I think the country resembles a child’s drawing: here is the wood and here are the sheep, here’s the road, a rock, a grocery shop, a church, a railway crossing, a gas station, the coffee shop where they have the ice cream and look, over there’s a library. I always imagined the Astrid Lindgren stories to play in sourroundings like that but never thought they’d really exist.
Today I passed the Kiwi capital De Puke and went on to Rotorua. Unfortunately the Kiwi season has not yet started but still seeing the Kiwi plantations was qute interesting.

18 March 2011
New Zealand’s roads are basically in a very good condition but nevertheless driving here often feels like participating in a driver’s training. It is hilly, curvy and you don’t see much of the road in front of you. On top of that you drive on the left side. In essence I like that as it teaches you a lot about your concept of right and wrong and it works wonders on your coordination. But what gives me a hard time is shifting gears with my left hand.
One trip today brought me – amongst other nice stops - to the Cathedral Cove. It was a good trip but almost too cozy with seven people on a high speed hyper modern rubber boat.
Another less successful trip led me to a so-called hot water beach. I had rented a spade for the occasion and dug two deep holes in search of hot thermal water but in vein. I only earned curious looks by passersby. Some of them asked me whether they could pose with my spade in one of my sand holes. On the way back along the shore I was caught by a huge wave which ruined my newest mobile handset. This is particularly sad as this handset took really good easy to email first impression pictures.

17 March 2011
I visited a very unpretentious thermal spa on my way to Tairua. Basically it was just one huge basin with very hot thermal water. Apart from me there were four other guests. Interestingly enough there was a lower entrance fee for non swimmers. As I still do not dare to swim due to my shoulder problem I briefly thought of negotiating the matter but then dropped it.
On another issue: You really have to be careful when it comes to food in this country! I almost overlooked the text on my dried fruits and nuts pack. It read: “There be real pieces of eight, doubloons, pearls, rubies and other treasures here, me hearties. Aye, so look lively there mateys and don’t ye squander it all at once, or ‘tis the plank for ye! Arrrr!” I am sure the NZ dentists lobby had its say here.

16 March 2011
Friedensreich Hundertwasser used to live in New Zealand from 1973 until his death in 2000. I had no idea. Anyway he designed the public toilets in Kawakawa and that is really a strange experience. It feels like being at home somehow and still you know ot could not be further away from home.
I traveled on to Mangawhai today and on the way I visited the AH Reed Memorial Kauri Park. What they’ve done there is constructing a bridge through a Kauri forest in a very clever way. It is a boardwalk through the trees, not quite through the treetops but high enough to change your perspective on these enormous trees.
The Mangawhai Cliffs Walkway was another stunning experience of the seemingly endless beauty of New Zealand.
On the bizarre side of things: I had dinner in a restaurant called „Smashed Pipi“.The song they played nonstop was called “sex without love”. It could have been worse - the name of the place that is, the food was really good.

14 and 15 March 2011
I was on an overnight cruise in the Bay of Islands on a boat called “The Rock”. It was great. Colors here are just stunning!
Can I trust a hairdresser that has a sign out front saying: “Have fun... Anything can change and that's why I try not to take any of what's happened to seriously.” Well in the end I did trust it and the result is not too bad.
Something is definitely wrong with globalization: The kiwi fruits sold here in kiwi country come from Italy (according to the tiny tags on them I saw in the supermarket)!!! And that is actually really sad because one of the reasons that made me cone to New Zealand was the urge to eat local kiwi fruits!

14 and 15 March 2011
I was on an overnight cruise in the Bay of Islands on a boat called “The Rock”. It was great. Colors here are just stunning!
Can I trust a hairdresser that has a sign out front saying: “Have fun... Anything can change and that's why I try not to take any of what's happened to seriously.” Something is wrong with globalization: the kiwi fruits sold here in kiwi country come from Italy (according to the tiny tags on them I saw in the supermarket)!!!

13 March 2011
I started my day with a so-called „Mammoth Yoghurt”. On the package it read “This is man’s yoghurt and you are a man. Now find a spoon, fork or spade and didg in. This is a thick, filling apricot and honey yoghurt made for men – by men (seriously – it was made by a bloke named Brian). Men need to know that it is not acceptable to cry… It is acceptable to eat yoghurt – when it’s thick and chunky and it’s made for men.”
Then I drove about 400 kilometers up north to Kaeo. That does not seem much but it actually was. The road winds up and down and through forests. The landscape is just amazing and the light is as clear as it can possibly be. Sometimes it is just idyllic and you have heaps of sheep grassing around and under trees.
It seems to be a great country from what I’ve seen so far: There are wineries all over the place and cafés every few kilometers. Some have curious names such as Café Eutopia, or Ginger Cat Café.
The strangest thing today was a short dialogue that went along the following lines: A: So where are you from? B: Austria. A: Do you also have as many sheep as we do? B (has no idea where this will lead to and no idea about the proportion of sheep in the overall animal population of Austria): Well I think we have more cows than sheep. A (giving me a triumphing look and ending the conversation rather abruptly): Ah, so we have more sheep than you then!

12 March 2011
While brushing my teeth with Vietnamese toothpaste I am thinking of a Thai sunset and of a glass of New Zealand white wine at the same time. Then the scenery mingles with the stunning beauty of New Zealand’s landscape, its magnificent clear light and the taste of fresh coconut juice. I think I am losing it today, all is mixed up!

11 March 2011
As I did not have to make use of my emergency exit on the Bangkok – Sydney flight yesterday I had the chance to reflect on my two months South East Asia experience during the Sydney – Auckland flight today.
In Singapore everything seems to work out very well and despite that it is exotic enough to be interesting. For instance it seems to be the most obvious thing to offer dishes like “Claypot Drunken Live Frog” on the food parlour next door. On the other hand it is modern enough to make me fail with my attempts to buy 35mm film. My question or to be more precise the word “film” was turned around to “flim???” and came together with a peculiar way of a risen eyebrow.
Kuala Lumpur is somehow similar to Singapur but then again very different at the same time. What impressed me most was a naked Indian at the enge of a busy intersection. He stood there perfectly still as if in deep meditation and was later escorted to the other side of the road by two policemen. He had deposited all his clothes there and was forced to dress again.
Alongside men in pretty longys and women in their most colorful dresses the ordinary tourist outfit is a real visual burden in Myanmar. Anyhow Myanmar was by far the most impressive country I’ve seen this time in South East Asia whereby the hot air balloon ride over Bagan and the prophecy of my upcoming birthday are the most impressive and probably lasting memories I will have.
Apart from the disgusting experience in Saigon I was really pleased by Hanoi and especially its water puppet theater. What describes Vietnam best I think was a sentence in the mausoleum of the last emperor reading: Where sadness smiles and joy weeps.
In Thailand the Austro-Hungarian monarchy is still considered as one of the leading world powers. And other than in Europe where we have many tanning lotions all the bestselling deodorants and creams are “whitening”. Bangkok is much more international than many other capitals I’ve been to recently; even in the suburbs you will find the International Herald Tribune and Le Monde being sold together with local newspapers. Nevertheless my impression is a mixed one. After having been seriously cheated upon by a tailor and after having had many “interesting” experiences at various massage places (one masseuse fell asleep, one almost broke a toe and one was definitely a man or a lady boy) I also have to mention nice encounters with interesting people: in a fish-spa, at Koh Pha Ngan island and one in Bangkok with a travel acquaintance from Myanmar.
Received comment: Now you have me really curious: To what does your comment on 11 March's blog refer when you mention "the prophecy of my upcoming birthday are the most impressive and probably lasting memories I will have"?
Comment: The day before my birthday I climbed up a hill in Mandalay to see a monastery up there. When I went down a palm reader, an old man, stopped me. i said I do not want any palm reading and that I was afraid of it really. He looked at me and said, why? and furthermore: you are going to celebrate your 35th birthday tomorrow. I was really taken aback...

10 March 2011
On a plane from Bangkok to Sydney. A nine hour flight. I have never ever been in such an empty plane. It is an Airbus 340 with eight seats per seat row in economy class. In most rows there is just one person but some of those rows are completely empty. The premium economy class is empty, too and I think I have not seen more than five or six people heading for the business class section. Even the stewardess I just spoke to says it feels lonely today.
I am seated next to my personal emergency exit with nobody in my immediate vicinity. It is a pretty emergency exit with a tiny little window. It is also pretty modern as one does not have to throw the whole door out in case of emergency but just pull a handle to slide the door open. I was advised to instruct and assist other passengers in case of emergency to get to and through the exit which turns into a slide to a life raft when needed. I am just wondering how to attract others to my exit when almost everybody on the plane has his personal exit. Maybe the life raft is a proper attribute that could help me advertise my exit?

9 March 2011
In countries where you have a hard time making yourself understood it is vital to make local people you are able to communicate with write down essential phrases such as your hotel address or eatable food in the local language. And so before I headed out for my last Thai supper I was equipped with a nice little paper pointing out what I wanted. That paper made the restaurant staff laugh for a little while and shortly after that I found myself in front of a see-through plastic bag containing the soup I had just ordered and another plastic bag with my drink in. This is the local Thai takeaway culture: everything from liquids to solid food (mostly bedded on heaps of cooked rice) is neatly put into plastic bags, sealed and handed over to the customer. Seeing people drink from plastic bags is quite common. So after a few attempts in sign language I was presented with a plate and a glass and could dig into what proved to be my favorite Thai dish: Tom Yam soup. It is sort of the Thai variant of a Wiener Schnitzel; something widely available all over the country and well known to everyone, more appreciated by foreigners than the local crowd. What distinguishes the soup from the Wiener Schnitzel is that it comes in many variants: with and without meat, seafood, mushrooms and noodles respectively. Most astonishingly it contains many uneatable ingredients. There is a variety of leaves and roots floating in it and the average green bean can be a green bean, a green chili or a piece of green bamboo. At its very core the soup is enormously spicy. One only recognizes that after biting on something hidden and thus when it is too late anyway. Green chili has a tendency to hide in and around very aromatic stems of whatever it is. Even when the cook has added coconut milk to the soup the effect on the degree of spiciness is minor. By definition the soup falls in the category of slow food mainly because one is busy telling the eatable ingredients apart from the uneatable ones. Also there is a need to stop eating every so often just to deal with the rashes in one’s face and the tears in one’s eyes. In the concrete example o feeling that soup today I just necessarily disregarded the black rat that was passing by my table and also started to forget about the fact that a laundry shop had misplaced all my socks, that an hour ago I had to do a sit-in at a Thai massage place in order to claim a proper neck massage (I am not getting up here unless…) and that my brand new so-called tailor made shirts look still incredibly poor after being washed and ironed.

8 March 2011
I am in what I think is one of the coolest hotels I have ever been to. It is called Mestyle Place and is in Bangkok or let’s say the outskirts of greater Bangkok. The hotel is a refurbished concrete building that could also be found in ex-communist countries. It is very colorful though. The entrance is marked by a minibus sculpture and the reception is an old dark green minicooper. A collector has made sculptures from all sorts of old machinery. The central element of the bar is table made of a wooden kanu that has been put on some support. On top of the kanu is a glass surface that is indirectly lit by a blue neon light. Next to the entrance there are shiny red old oil barrels, the lobby is decorated with old dentist’s chairs and a hypermodern soccer table. The lobby’s ceiling is decorated with old window frames and some old bicycles.

7 March 2011
My laptop charger broke and what they sell here is somehow the wrong voltage… A long journey is sometimes just like any other time one spends at home. One is searching for things or trying to organize or fix things. I went to a shopping center called the IT City. It is packed with IT gadgets but against all odds I was not able to find the right replacement for my charger. Finally and totally stressed out I got hold of an appropriate specimen at another shopping center right in the gravity center of Bangkok’s shopping mile.
On the positive side: I saw a Buddha wholesale district earlier today. One giant Buddha was already wrapped for shipping. Being wrapped in orange cloth it looked like a piece of art by the late Christo and Jean Claude.

4 – 6 March
After some nice and relaxing days on Koh Paghnan Island I made it back to Bangkok where I saw a man with a white goatee that was held together with a hair clip. His other accessory was a catalogue woman about 40 years his junior. There are some things you just can’t take a picture of and that is a real pity.
On all local Thai airports one is offered free mobile SIM cards that can be charged at any 7/11 supermarket in the country. What a difference to Myanmar where there is no roaming and a SIM card is sold at a whooping retail price of 1.500 US Dollars!
A lovely acquaintance I met the other day alerted me on another remarkable fact which is the way people treat airline meals that are served during national flights. After the cardboard boxes have been distributed people open them, give them a disbelieving look and close them immediately whilst being visibly disgusted. I have to say the food is not at all THAT bad after you familiarize yourself with the fact that cake can be brown and yellow, green and yellow or sometimes even lilac and yellow.

1 – 3 March 2011
There are ample customers for all the tattoo shops on Die Koh Pha Ngan island. I’ve hardly ever seen so many people sporting tattoos at one place. Today I even spotted a travel agency that seems to specialize in tattooed people; it was called Tattoo Travel. Among the tattooed and apart from them there are many nonconformists whose best times are long over (dreadlocks getting dirty and dirtier and the savings have obviously long been used up). Overall the island is not anymore the secret hideaway, recommended only by insiders. At some stretches of the beach resorts can be found next to one another. A scooter adventure trip brought me to the north tip of the island and to a restaurant that served „no name with chicken or pork“. I took something that had a name and squid in it. Right across the street there was “The World's End Café” serving all day breakfast and lunch.

27 and 28 February 2011
I flew from Chiang Mai over Bangkok to Surat Thani and took a bus and a ferry to Koh Pha Ngan. Upon arrival I learned that I was upgraded to a super luxurious bungalow for the first night which was really nice and a good start for a steep learning curve. During the first eve I just had to deal with one ant and an oversized bug which I managed to trap in a water glass. It is still sitting there I suppose. My new and not as luxurious bungalow meanwhile looks more like a battlefield. Up to now I defeated about 30 ants and an enormous wasp. A monstrous spider (about 10 cm diameter, black, countless legs) survived two shoe attacks and is hiding in the bathroom ever since. All in all for once I do not regret my failing eyesight. Apart from the insects the island and the beach are very nice. Personally I am very tired and the nasty comment earlier today was that it is understandable that one is tired after five months of holidays. Anyways I only felt ready to explore the immediate neighborhood of the hotel and later on for the 50 meter walk to the nearby Pirates Bar on the beach. Around the hotel there are countless massage places, laundries, places to rent and fill up scooters and tattoo studios, in short, everything the visitor needs.

25 and 26 February 2011
I had a lazy day on the 25th and my main worry was whether I should have a one hour or a two hour Thai massage after all. I decided for a one hour neck and shoulder massage and the heavyweight masseuse had nothing better to do as also washing my feet and pulling hard on my toes. Overnight my second right toe swelled and grew double in size. So I thought it might be better to go check it and get an x-ray. After three hours in the hospital where they measured my blood pressure, fever, bloodsugar and checked my weight and height before I was admitted to get an x-ray done and speak to a doctor I can fortunately say that this toe is not broken. It is seriously injured and I have to take anti-inflammatory medication and painkillers now. Interestingly enough, the big toe shows a fraction but the doctor thought that must be an old one since it doesn’t hurt. I’m thinking of going back to the massage place in order to present both my double-sized toe and the hospital bill.
The funny part of the story was that the doctor asked me where I was from. I said Austria. He beamed and said: Oh: Austria-Hungary! You have such a lovely empire and that castle in Vienna! That left me sort of speechless, never mind the empire went under about 100 years ago.

24 February 2011
The bookstores in Chiang Mai aren’t any better. I quote just two of the titles I’ve seen: “Mad monks on the road” and “I’m too sexy for my Volvo”.
A tag in my Chiang Mai hotel bathroom advises me: “Do not take tower [sic!] out of your room!” and “Do not put tissue or others [sic!] in toilet!”
On the sightseeing part: I went to see the Doi Suthep temple and the Phra Tamnak palace.

23 February 2011
It is nine in the morning and I am in a Bangkok airport bookshop. Not that I need another book, mind you, I have just checked in a 25 kilo suitcase that owes his weight mainly to the three new guidebooks I have recently added to the other two I already had. Although I really love books I sometimes think those e-books have quite an advantage on a long journey. But still, having a real book in hands makes a difference. The problem of course is that airport bookshops are hardly the place to find any extraordinary book, especially if the bookshop is rather a line of shelves amongst a much wider selection of candy and last minute trinkets. So next to about 15 books on prison inmates telling the stories of innocent inmates in Cambodia, Thailand, India, Australia and god knows where else I had the choice between about 30 memoirs of various male, female and Ladyboy Bangkok sex workers/slaves. Of course there were the airport evergreens like Dan Brown, Stieg Larsson, John Irving and John Grisham, the latter on the decline I think when it comes to airport shelve space. Bloody “Eat, Pray, Love” is continued - the new book being called “Committed” – and I reckon it is equally bad than the first one. What really got me and drove me out of the shop instantly was the Harry Potter edition in Latin and Old Greek.

22 February 2011
So finally I saw a ladyboy show called Calypso. Stunning!

21 February 2011
Well, now that I have seen more of Bangkok I am still very pleased. There is so much to see! I really liked Chinatown, the Japanese market was interesting, too and the Wat Pho and the marble temples were really pretty. I did see the golden Buddha at Wat Tramit (it is a 5 ton pure gold sculpture) but somehow overlooked the Royal Palace and the Emerald Buddha…
What I forgot to mention yesterday was that I also had my first Thai massage. Unfortunately the masseuse fell asleep after half an hour and was slightly grumpy when I woke her.

20 February 2011
My travel guidebook is really incredibly bad. Instead of explaining how to best get from Bangkok airport to the city center it goes on and on about something the author calls “backpacker’s burnout”, a lethargy the backpacker experiences after an “overdose” of beautiful beaches and sunsets. Else the author advises not to make fun of the king. This is particularly difficult when you sit in a taxi with a giggling driver, a plastic pig with a wobbling head on the dashboard and the first thing visible on the motorway/highway is a banner reading “long live the king”.
I haven’t seen much of Bangkok, yet but I visited the Chatuchak weekend market and absolutely loved it. You can find anything there from puppies to dishes, clothes and decoration. Food is available on every corner. After quite some time I spotted a few interesting t-shirts. One had a print of Tut Ench Amun with 3D glasses, one read „I am not perfect but I’m limited edition“ and another one „my blog is bigger than yours“.
Else I have so far seen one dancing ladyboy and just a few westerners with catalogue women.

19 February 2011
It is quite interesting to observe what moves the Vietnamese soul. There was a newspaper article the other day on a so-called “kissathlon” in Vietnam, a kissing competition. In Europe that would make it onto the backside of the papers at most but would not discomfort people in the least.
I am back in Saigon and was positively surprised. The hotel I stayed in last time (where all that money went missing) gave me their best room for free. At my room there was a handwritten letter from the hotel manager waiting for me together with a rose and two apples as a small gift.

18 February 2011
I am still in this peculiar bed and breakfast on Phu Quoc island that has only for rooms. Today it took a while until breakfast was served because of a religious ceremony. First things first. A boiled chicken was offered on a makeshift altar in the front garden. I thought if would have perhaps been better to offer the chicken a place in the fridge instead of having it lay on an altar in the boiling heat for some time. But then again as the generator is only on from 6pm to 11pm the fridge would not make much of a difference anyway. The wireless Internet is only on when all guests have eaten up I have the feeling, so not very often.
Anyway I thought I would not push my luck again today and so I did not take another attempt on seeing the rest of the island on the motorbike but went to the beach.
On a different matter: A ship just like the one I had been on sank in Halong Bay just two days after I had been there. I also stayed overnight and was obviously very lucky.

17 February 2011
In order to escape my „home away from home“ which is located in the me jungle and admittedly near the best and most beautiful beach on the island I had to rent a motorbike from my landlady. As I had never driven a motorbike before I tried hard to pretend that it was only the manual gearshift that poses some problems. My landlady had a cigarette in the corner of her mouth, showed me reluctantly what all the buttons on the motorbike were for and gave me her best “I am so sure you are going to total that motorbike” stare. Ever the motivator she also mentioned that totaling would cost me quite some money. So after the initial challenge – a 3km dirt road with heaps of sand leading to the main street – I stayed on paved roads and saw most of the island (An Thoi in the south, Ham Ninh with its man made pearl production and Duong Dong, the capital city). The main road is broad enough for one car but not for many motorbikes, lorries and cars. So not being pushed off-road is also a challenge. People have to wear helmets but these helmets are more of a fashion statement than a means of protection. They are pink, yellow, green, some even have the Burberry pattern on them and they barely cover the back of your head. Luckily and to the utter surprise of Madame I made it back safely.

16 February 2011
After two days freezing on a boat in cloudy Halong Bay I finally made it down south and arrived to Phu Quoc island. The island has the shape of South America and I am in the very south, in Tierra del Fuego so to speak. Close by there is a beautiful white beach and hardly any people to share it with. What is kind of bizarre is that my landlady of the Inn here is of the overly protective sort. She told me to put on sun cream, sent me to the beach on a scooter that was driven by her son as she thought I could a) get lost in the forest on a 10 minute hike down to the beach or b) bored walking there alone. And just now as she is preparing dinner I was asked whether I had taken a proper shower.

14 – 15 February 2011
Despite six layers of clothes my two day trip to Halong Bay – a UNESCO world heritage site – left me half frozen. I am sure it must be a beautiful spot when it is warm and sunny. In cold and humid times it is unfortunately barely visible. Tomorrow I am off to the South again!

13 February 2011
Vietnam is just really not my country. It is humid and really cold up here in Hanoi and I just feel miserable most of the time. Was on a tour to the so-called Perfume Pagoda today – and I’ve seen quite a bit but somehow not the actual pagoda itself. First of all the 60km bus ride took hours (in a bus that was not heated). Then we were on a rowing boat for over an hour which would have been nice on a sunny day but not today. And then there were 51.000 pilgrims (allegedly really a counted number and due to one of the main religious holidays these days). When I say pilgrims I mean people who wanted to go to the Pagoda. One has a different image of a pilgrim really. In this case it was people pushing hard to get through, punching left and right and sliding on slippery muddy stones. There was nothing solemn to that. And I am still freezing while I write this.

12 February 2011
Today it is like Christmas and Easter at the same time! I brought the films I shot during recent weeks to a laboratory (against all odds I managed to find one) and now I am waiting for the results! Like I said many times before I still do not understand why people have so easily given in and have given up the wonderful experience of having to wait for the results of one’s photographic experiments. Although I see more and more people raising their eyebrows when I say I still use film or I earn the stare that is reserved for the die-hard I still think that what differentiates humans from all other races is the ability to deal with delayed gratification.

11 February 2011
In Hanoi now and that is really a different world it seems. So I am feeling much better. I’ve just come back from the evening show of the Thang Long water puppet theater. It was lovely! Just imagine a pool in the size of an average family swimming pool as a stage and the reflection of a pagoda entrance in it. After a few minutes of drumming the first puppets show up, in the water up to their waists and they drum along splashing the water. The firedrakes that follow are rather waterdrakes than firedrakes and there are two small bull puppets – one white, one black – who engage in bullfighting. What I thought best of all was when they showed puppets doing farm work. They were plowing the fields, planting rice seedlings and finally harvesting rice. I felt somehow sorry for the poor puppeteer who had to play the role of the ripe rice although could of course not see him. He reminded me of my father’s rather lusterless theater career. His first and only role was to act as “the wood” in the background scenery. What was quite funny was that one of the horse marionettes got involuntarily beheaded. They immediately withdrew the remaining marionette but the horse head floated in the pool during the entire show.

10 February 2011
As my plane to Hannoi leaves from Hué tonight I had to go back there from Hoi An. Well, what can I report from the bus journey this time? Well, no bats, no people who lost their wallets during the stopover (that was the other thing that happened two days ago). The biggest difference really was that the journey back was done in a blue bus, whilst the journey to Hoi An was operated with a yellow bus and almost double in price. I could have booked the same journey also 2.5 times more expensive but was not sure about the color of the bus then. Maybe purple or metallic. The point of all that? Prices vary so much and as most of them are very low nothing is exactly a rip-off but to put it diplomatically all in all they seem to be chosen at random. People careless and unfriendly and despite some natural beauty overall being here in Vietnam it is a most unpleasant experience.

9 February 2011
Instead of 2 to 3 hours the bus journey to Hoi An took almost 6 hours – without any apparent problem as it did not hold us up for long when a bat entered the rooftop window. The driver stopped only briefly, took the bat with the filthy door mat and threw it out of the window. The bat that is not the mat although that had somehow in the end disappeared as well.

8 February 2011
I would have needed more time for visiting Vietnam’s ancient capital city Hué. The Tet festivities are finally over but there are many traces of it that are still visible. For instance the traditional cone shaped hats are hanging from some trees, giving shade to some Christmas flowers that are also dangling in the trees. Hué and all imperial monuments in and around Hué are considered by the UNESCO as cultural heritage sites although there is neither a pigeon invasion nor a lot of dog excrement. Why cleanliness is not at all given see blog entries from December 4th and 20th, 2010, November 28th 2009 und April 25th and 26th 2009. Some of the buildings in the Tu Doc mausoleum crumble and are about to break apart but are supported by metal pillars – a true sign for an UNESCO involvement. I have to admit though that the pillars are not as ugly as the ones in Lalibela in Ethiopia.
In the Thien Mu Pagoda I saw some monks – a first in Vietnam. They are dressed in dark brown or bright yellow here and the novices in grayish blue. As opposed to the monks the novices are not totally bald but have raving haircuts. While most of the head is shaven, there is at least one very long strain of hair behind one ear, hanging down often almost to the boy’s waist in a nice curly manner.

7 February 2011
Ho Chi Minh‘s portrait is everywhere, on every bank note, on all the posters of the ruling party, etc. What seems rather bizarre though is that his picture is also positioned over the main entrance of the citadel and former imperial castle in the old capital city of Hué. Thinking about that having a handsome face really helps a charismatic leader, especially if the image of that face can still be used and reproduced after almost 70 years. I sometimes ask myself if the local population has seen enough of that face meanwhile. Same with all the numerous Fidel and Ché portraits in Cuba or the Lenin reproductions in the tourist places in Moscow. Only in Calcutta - the only other town I can think of that has a communist government and that I have visited – there was no visible image of a local leader.

6 February 2011
I have just learned a very expensive lesson: Do not trust hotel staff, even if they are very, very friendly. Up to now whenever people told me that various items or money was stolen from their hotel rooms I said I think that if a person chooses to work as cleaning staff they want to earn an honest living and would not go and steal. And that I have never had a bad experience. Yet. Well that has for sure changed. While being on a trip to the Mekong Delta yesterday 170 Euro, 50 USD and about 25 USD in local Vietnamese currency made their way out of my room. The General Manager of a hotel that is in other terms really nice was honestly very sorry and went to file a police report with me. And there I learned another lesson about power and the lack of equality. As in so many other places a bright woman (the hotel manager) speaks to an official (a police officer with 4 stars) and he would not even look at her, lest into her eyes. He simply refused to file a report. A younger one with only two stars that we approached after that showed the same behavior, did not really listen to her, did not look at me at all and needed to be asked a hundred times to fill in the report. Many questions later he released us saying I should have been more careful and all in all it was my problem.

5 February 2011
In the end I went to the Mekong Delta but it was a very unpleasant experience after all. Basically it was a tourist rip off and we were only brought to places where we were expected to buy something. During the day it was difficult to get an impression of the scenery really as there were just so many tourists. The better part of the tour was the envisaged one and a half hour speed boat tour back to Saigon which took in the end about 4 hours. At least it was quiet, nobody tried to sell anything and one could look at the beauty of the delta landscape.

4 February 2011
Finally I felt well enough to go on a day trip. Here in the South of Vietnam quite a number of people follow a special religion called Cao Dai. It combines Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism and Taoism. We got there to see the ceremony at lunchtime which was really interesting but spoiled by the sheer amounts of tourists there.
After that the tour continued to the Cu Chi Tunnels that were used by partisans in the Vietnam War. It is now sort of a theme park but still shows the cruelty of the war.

2 – 3 February 2011
Slowly I am recovering from my cold. Unfortunately I had to change plans quite a bit. Although I have seen the better part of Saigon already I have to stay on for a number of days. Due to the local variety of the Chinese New Year festival (the call it TET here), there are no three day tours to the Mekong Delta and also travelling on from here proves to be more difficult than usual.

31 January - 1 February 2011
After one more night in Singapore I arrived to Saigon/Vietnam. I am struggling with a cold so my abilities to get an impression are somewhat limited. What is noticeable is that you can buy almost anything on the streets. Women walk buy with vertical bookcases and sell copied books, everything from best sellers to the latest travel guide books. Others come by with sunglasses, bracelets, cigarettes or scales as if anybody having a nice meal would want their weight checked instantly. Apart from that the whole city is preparing for the Chinese New Year festivities.

29 – 30 January 2011
Visited all major sights in Kuala Lumpur including the Petronas Towers, the Oriental arts museum and the telecoms tower. What a difference between KL and its shopping malls in comparison to the markets in Myanmar where I even saw dried rats. Just as with dried fish you were supposed to soak them for a while in water before cooking them up.
But I have to say that I have quite a weak side for luxury sometimes. My KL hotel had an inbuilt TV screen in the bathroom mirror, a hypermodern toilet, the biggest bed I have ever seen and a great view.

28 January 2011
I came across another fish spa today in Kuala Lumpur’s China Town. Just for the record: As opposed to Singapore this one was a massage and beauty spa as well but not an Internet Café. There were three different fish tanks this time, one with small, one with medium and one with rather large fishes. I was told that the fishes chew away dead skin from your feet whereby the small fishes cause some kind of vibrations only whereas the medium ones tickle and make people (especially “newcomers”) giggle and the large ones really sort of nibble. Coward me only went for a very classy Chinese back massage.
It is frightening how quickly one is catapulted back to modern life both in Singapore and in Kuala Lumpur. Everything works perfectly, there is a subway/underground connection to Singapore city center and on the train from the airport to Kuala Lumpur city center there is even complimentary high speed Internet access. In both cities people are not unfriendly as such but they hardly recognize other people and the world around them as they mostly stare at their mobile phones or other gadgets. Alternatively they wipe them, stroke them or hit them with their fingertips. I reckon that the ultimate proof of intimacy these days is letting somebody else touch your phone or iPad.

27 January 2011
A truly great journey through Myanmar came to an end today and so before boarding my flight to Singapore I went once more to Yangon’s/Rangoon’s Shwedagon pagoda. This is a very powerful place to be and I would have loved to spend days and days there. It seems to be the perfect place for reflection. Only every so often one is interrupted by a monk or somebody else that wants to chat. From time to time those dialogues are slightly absurd. For instance: A: Where are you from? B: Austria. A: Ah! Sidney! B: No, Vienna.
Or another one: A: Where are you from? B: Austria. A: What’s your name? B: Margit. A: Where are you going? B: Nowhere at the moment. A (changing the subject abruptly): Are you married? B: No. A (harshly): Do you have a lover? B: ... (!) A (not too sensitive and obviously not in the mood of winning my trust): How much do you earn? B: Well that depends really. A: Same in my case. A: How long will you stay in Myanmar? B: Three weeks. A (slightly annoyed): Why only three weeks? All other tourists stay for four weeks! B: Well, you know... A (angrily): You must stay four weeks! Why do you only stay for three? B (slightly irritated): I guess I can’t help it. A: Where are you from. B (even more irritated): Austria. A: Yes, I forgot. What’s your name. B (rather sour): I think I gotta go.
At the end of the journey the group had one last discussion on the topic of mosquitoes and on how to best avoid mosquito bites. Allegedly only pregnant mosquitoes do bite which is why one of my fellow travelers brought a device that sends out sounds – inaudible for the human ear – that resemble the typical sounds of male mosquitoes in rut. Unfortunately for me my grin did not go unnoticed and promptly I was asked why I was smiling. So I thought I better stick to the truth and said that I had just imagined the lady in question as a male mosquito in rut…
Received comment: At a meeting of ASEAN lately in South Korea they put big dolls of member states outside the conference centre, all dressed in their national dresses.... Australia had Lederhosen and Dirndl and their delegation was greeted by a Korean children choir singing "Edelweiss".....
Additional comment: The epilogue is that the Australians filed an official complaint with the organizers.

26 January 2011
As my journey in Myanmar comes to its end in Yangon/Rangoon, finally I have some Internet connectivity again. It’s interesting how quickly you get used to not having an Internet connection or a working mobile phone all the time. I reckon as these are all very recent additions to our daily lives one can get used to not having them as quickly as one got used to having them all time. Finally I really had the feeling of being in a faraway country on this long journey around the world.

25 January 2011
I went over Bagan in a hot air balloon which was an amazing experience! I would have never thought how peaceful it is to hover over a beautiful landscape. Also the sunrise was amazing from up there.

24 January 2011
Bagan is a beautiful and magical place. There are more than 4000 tempels, stupas and pagodas spread out over a vast surface. Wherever you look there is something ancient to spot. It is like a journey back in time the only difference is that you would expect these impressions in black and white just like on old postcards but instead the journey back in time is very colorful.
The trinket salespeople are slightly annoying but some of them have got really curious thing on offer. For instance there were hand carved chess boards with bronze figurines that resembled aggressive garden dwarfs.
The sunset seen from the so-called sunset pagoda was also spectacular. A huge, dark red sun disappears behind a field of mysterious looking pagodas…

23 January 2011
This was a birthday according to the schedule of a one year journey indeed. I spent it on a boat on the Irrawaddy, on a nine hour journey from Mandalay to Bagan...

22 January 2011
When climbing the Mandalay Hill I met a fortune teller and was - against my will - told that I would celebrate my 35th birthday on the very next day…

21 January 2011
Mandalay is only about 150 years old. Its streets form a grid and so it is fairly easy to get orientated. Despite its young age there is a lot to see. One cannot imagine the process of manufacturing gold leaves for instance. It is still done manually as allegedly machines cannot produce as fine a gold leaf as a person can using a hammer. So there are men hammering gold for hours and hours with all their physical strength. Those gold leaves are so thin that where they are wrapped, talking is forbidden as talking or even inhaling could make the gold leaf vanish.
Mandalay is also home of one of the holiest pagoda in all of Myanmar, the Mahamuni pagoda. There is an enormous Buddha inside. Pilgrims are coating the body of this Buddha with gold leaves since hundreds of years and so what is stunning is that face and body still seem to be in harmony.
What really fascinated me was the Sagain Hill in Amarapura, eleven kilometers away from Mandalay. There are so many monasteries and you see countless monks and nuns. We visited the monastery on top of the mountain and I have hardly ever experienced such perfect stillness.
For sunset we went to the picturesque U-Bein bridge in Amarapura. I got to talk to a novice there for quite some time. Starting with asking me questions about a list of irregular English verbs and how to pronounce this and that we soon went on to discussing about divine and worldly matters. Mostly worldly as it turned out for I failed badly on reciting the Ten Commandments. I got as far as commandment 8 but even when told to concentrate very hard I could not come up with the remaining two. Very embarrassing. He on the other hand could recite his ten rules for novices perfectly but on the other hand admitted that adhering to them is not always easy. For instance not eating after 12 is of course hard or not listening to music at all. And he cannot fully adhere to a rule that says no moving images as football/soccer and the Internet are just to inviting.

20 January 2011
Mandalay, what a beautiful and promising name for a city! Mandaly is the city of the last Burmese king Thibaw Min who was defeated by the British and sent to exile to India. Mandalay and the history around this last king was the reason for me to come to Burma in the first place. After having read Amitav Ghosh‘s novel „The Glass Palace“ which seems to be accurate as far as historic details are concerned I wanted to see the country. The book commences with a description of the last days of the Burmese kingdom and gests more and more complex when the stories of two families are interwoven over the course of three generations. Having seen teak woods hee in the countryside Teak wood and the hunger for teak forms also part of the story and so seeing teak trees and woods was particularly interesting for me.

19 January 2011
Sometimes there are national peculiarities that are hard to explain. For instance while some others turn away in slight bewilderment, the Austrians on the table can very well appreciate (and laugh about) a story as follows: Years ago a grandmother died and when a few years later the family grave was opened again to bury another body they found the grandmother’s skeleton upside down. So obviously the grandmother had been buried alive and she had still managed to turn around in her grave (at least once). We were also told that in the same area there are quite some stories about funeral processions where the dead-said have been heard knocking from within their coffins.

18 January 2011
I am sometimes really astonished about the lack of sensitivity in men when it comes to sarcastic remarks. For instance take the following dialogue between a Thai and his female Burmese tour guide I eavesdropped earlier today: The Thai: So you really think I am handsome? The Burmese girl: Well, yes, by and large.
On a different subject: A little later I wanted to take a picture of a pretty little girl at a paper workshop. While kneeling in front of the kid waiting for a good moment an enormous black dog came by and licked with his tongue all across my face. I took it – and that will perhaps surprise all of my readers who know my issues with dogs – stoically, took my picture and only then washed my face.

17 January 2011
One of my fellow travelers practices a quite unique form of personal aid to the local population. He wears his shirts on two consecutive days and then hands them – worn and unwashed – over to a beggar. This is not always met with pure appreciation and deep gratitude. As far as I noticed the first reaction is mostly mild astonishment followed by a thorough examination of the shirt. It is then held against the silhouette of an almost always extremely lean passerby showing even from a remote distance that the shirt is by far too large. Then there is the phase of non-believing sniffing. Thereafter the shirt is folded and handed over to the next woman who has a look at it, sniffs at it while losing some grace in her expression, holds it against the nearest lean male body and so on and so forth.

15 and 16 January 2011
To travel in and through Myanmar is not always easy and being in a group really seems to be the only viable option. Nevertheless we waited for hours at Rangoon airport for a flight to Heho that then without prior notice landed first in Mandalay before continuing to Heho. So it took until the early evening of the 15th to get to the Inle/Inlay lake. The lake as such is a world in itself. You travel on it with a motorized canoe and get to see whole stilt villages. There are floating gardens that are home to an immense tomato monoculture. Allegedly about 50 tons of tomatoes are produced on the lake daily. Due to chemical fertilizers quit some fish sorts have been extinct from the lake. The floating gardens are 10 meters long, two meters broad and two meters deep. They are in a two meter distance from the next floating garden so that the farmers can harvest them from their canoes. In the villages cloth is woven as if the mechanic loom had never been invented. What was new to me was cloth made from lotus flowers. In a very work intense process lotus (their stem) flowers are cut, single fibers are released and then woven to cloth.
What was equally fascinating were the ruins of about 1000 stupas, one more damaged then the next. Some are about to be renovated but as far as I can tell from my layman perspective in that process holding on to historical features is merely an option. The sheer number of the remaining broken ones is nevertheless fascinating.
Unfortunately I could not see one thing I would have been particularly interested in: jumping cats in one of the lake’s monasteries. Monks train cats there to jump through rings. When we arrived there the cats were having “dinner” and so the monks reassured us after that they would not be keen on jumping anymore. A pity.

14 January 2011
On the way back to Ragoon/Yangon we visited Bago, a large city and home to one of the largest pagodas in the country as well as to one of the largest lying Buddhas. It is still strange getting used to being in a group again and just hopping on and of a bus being brought from one site to the other. To a certain degree it is relaxing but at the other hand it is not as intense as organizing everything by yourself.
Ah yes, I do not have any mobile connectivity here. There seem to be no roaming agreements and buying a SIM card proves to be hard to impossible.
At night I took a bicycle rickshaw back to my Rangoon hotel which proved to be equally dangerous than walking. The pedaling gentleman managed to find a way around every bump in the road but mainly through driving on the other side of the four lane road – without any lights on but making good use of his bell.
Received comment: Full of adventure... I can see you're enjoying it; especially I think Mayanmar is full of surprises!
Received comment: Myanmar !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Be careful with the military junta, they may force you to become a monk!

13 January 2011
A long journey brought us to Kyaikto and to one of the holiest locations in Myanmar, the Golden Rock. It is located on top of a mountain that you have to climb. There are Sherpas for the luggage and you can also chose to let people carry you uphill in a palanquin. I briefly thought about it…
The rock itself is an amazing structure. It sits on the edge of a cliff and seems to fall down any moment.

11 and 12 January 2011
The amazing news first: Against all odds there is some Internet connectivity here in Rangoon/Yangon in Myanmar!
My first impression was that the Shwedagon pagoda ist just incredible. Everything seems to be golden. What that must have meant to early visitors can only be imagined.
On the streets of Rangoon/Yangon there are so many monks – it is a sheer pleasure to see them in their orange, brown and reddish brown robes. There are even many nuns, bareheaded like their male counterparts but dressed in pink.
The traffic isn’t as bad as in other countries but still aggressive enough. It is advisable to cross any street closely behind a monk or a nun, hoping that for karma reasons nobody would intentionally run them over.
Talking about falling over: walking the sidewalks/pavements in Rangoon/Yangon is challenging as they are more uneven than in Brussels (if that does not mean anything to you, ask anyone who has ever been to Brussels on a rainy day). So the stones are not only broken but so mobile that one can only hope that one’s ankle joints, ankles and sense of balance would not fail at the same time.

10 January 2011
I think I said a few years ago that I really enjoyed all the complicated arrangements when it comes to film: buying film, having film developed, enjoying the result. But well, things are getting really complicated lately. It was already difficult to buy film in the US but with the help of friends and the Internet I found a place to stock up. In Singapore film is universally referred to as “flim” and already mentioning it is seen as a bizarre request. So I spent more or less the whole Sunday searching for a shop that would sell me some rolls. I went back and forth all over the place and saw many shopping centers in order to hear the same thing over and over again: Flim? No! At least people are very friendly when saying no and they try to be helpful, sending you up and down shopping centers. At level two they might have flim. And there they say, well no but at level 5 maybe. And at level 5, sorry no but the shopping arcade next door might be a safe bet. Or: sorry no we do not get too many requests for flim lately. Today I finally found THE shop (Ruby Photo) where they have the refrigerator for film and all that makes you a really good store. So I paid an arm and a leg for 40 rolls of film.
Apart from that Singapore is an astonishing city. You can have a feet and a neck massage in Chinatown (only a mild relief for my still aching shoulder) and then eat Indian food three subway stops away in Little India. On the way back one can stop at a Fish Spa Internet Cafe (for a picture click here) in a shopping center in order to spend 41 Singapore Dollars on: a soft drink, 30 minutes fish-spa (that is sitting on a smallish table while having one’s feet in a fish tank with a number of fish in it and surfing the Internet at the same time). And no, I have NOT tried that.
Received comment: On feet and fish tanks: Oh, Margit, you've really GOT to reconsider not trying the fish tank spa. What better way to illustrate the quirkiness of Singapore than to post a digital pic of your feet being chomped on by a bunch of fish!

8 – 9 January 2011
Singapore is the perfect orchestration of a post modern society: a low crime rate, draconian punishments (sometimes one worries whether drinking from a water bottle on the street is legal), one shopping mall next to the other. Where churches are still used as churches there are masses in all four official languages, one mass after the other. Near my hotel a cloister has been refurbished and serves as a restaurant and entertainment complex. The church building itself is empty and can be booked for “special occasions”. One billboard read: “Fatima comes to Singapore”. Whether that is a new rock band or a revival band is not clear but judging from the design of the billboard it may have a religious context.
A previous catholic boy school has been refurbished and hosts now the Singapore Art Museum. At the moment there is a solo exhibition of an artist whose name escapes me. He mainly paints the back of the head of his mother. The best picture for me in the whole museum was a photograph by another artist showing a conference banner that read: 5th annual congress of the Islam society XYZ for the abolition of polygamy.

7 January 2011
I arrived well to Singapore and only got a first impression, yet. The city is really as sparkling clean as all prejudices suggest. My GPS had quite some problems adjusting and thought I wanted to walk the 12.800km from Brasilia where I used it last to Singapore.
At dinner the house specialty was “live frog” but luckily the menu said “minimum two persons”. There was a choice between “Claypot Live Frog”, “Spring Onion Live Frog”, “Chicken Essence Live Frog” and “Claypot Drunken Live Frog”. I wonder really what the especially the last one was all about. Is the frog about to drown in a claypot of alcohol? Why is it so important that the frog is still alive? Anyway my mixed veggies were surprisingly good and not drunken at all.

6 January 2011
It is slightly annoying when people know you too well. They can then remind you at 14:00 on a day of a 19:00 flight that you haven’t started packing yet and still have a point at 15:00. In my defense there is always still an invoice to pay, a last coffee to drink and an Australian visa to apply for.

5 January 2011
I’ve heard that my blog is considered being more amusing when things go a bit south. So I should perhaps continue the story of my visa application at a faraway country’s embassy in Brussels (for the beginning of the story see 26 November). Upon return from Brazil I got to the embassy in order to pick up my visa. I was about 20 minutes late but with quite some begging was let in. My excuse that my flight from Brazil had been late was met with a raised eyebrow and the statement: So how can you be in Brazil if I have your passport? I could tell that my answer that I had a second one was not appreciated at all and so – expectedly – the power game had to continue. First of all my passport was hidden under a number of others and had suffered quite a bit on the outside. I took it lightly and proceeded to pay the 25 Euro fee with a 50 Euro note. After having already a 20 and a fiver in his hands, the embassy person decided otherwise, gave me a wicked smile and threw 25 single Euro coins in front of me. He then asked me when I would go see his country and continued that I will be thrilled how friendly and charming his countrymen would be. I could tell from my pleasant experience in Brussels I would answer, holding on to my passport and the coins and left.

3 January 2011
Romeo and Juliet are somehow still alive. You can actually write a letter to Juliet in Verona and will receive a personal answer…

2 January 2010
I finally put a selection of pictures of my world journey online! The US ones can be found here and the ones from Mexico here! You can also click on the countries on the world map here.
Received comment: Margit, Margit!! The photos are magnificent! Well done, my artistic friend. The Mexico Day of the Dead works are most colorful, and your photos of US national parks are beautiful, too.

1 January 2011
Resume after three months of traveling: The watch got repaired and is broken again. The tripod broke completely but I got a new one as a Christmas present. I still miss Kaff Country (the radio station) and my left wing is still clipped.

26-31 December 2010
After quite some days in Austria and seeing the doctor in Vienna yesterday to check on my shoulder I am back in grey, foggy and rainy Brussels and can hardly see the buildings next door. Nevertheless it feels good being home. The shoulder still hurts but luckily no further surgery is needed for the time being. And talking about appropriate ways of spending Christmas or New Year’s while on a world journey: I was on a highway/motorway at midnight this year.

25 December 2010
I finally made it. My 10:00 a.m. flight proved to be a 9:15 p.m. flight but never mind. A Christmas spent at the airport is probably the best thing to go with a world journey.

24 December 2010
Merry Christmas from Brussels Airport! So far I haven’t found anyone to share the costs for a Christmas tree. After a long and complicated journey through South America and a punctual return yesterday I am stuck now for the last leg to Vienna, isn’t that ironic? My flight to Vienna has been cancelled and whether there will be another one still today is more than unclear. Well, anyhow that’s life. By the way in times of modern social networks the Christmas story would anyway look slightly different (see video).

22 and 23 December 2010
Travelling home from Brasilia over Sao Paulo and Madrid to Brussels I had quite some hours to wait on the way but made it perfectly on time and without any problems.
In Brasilia I spotted a t-shirt print that perfectly summarizes my time in Brazil: „I’m lost!“

21 December 2010
I rented a car and drove all the way to Brazil’s second planned city, Goiania. The construction started in 1933 and well, what can I say? In about seven hours in a car you have a lot of time to yourself to think things over, especially with speed limits of 80 and 100 km/h. On almost all 80 km/h speed signs there was another sign reading: “Jesus loves you” and on the 100 km/h sign one that read: “Read the bible.” The only car that overtook me had a big sticker on the rear window saying: “I belong to Jesus.” Isn’t that interesting. A few days ago in Rio de Jeneiro I learned the hard way that the big sculptur is called Christ and not Jesus. The latter was unknown to all people I asked (and that was quite a number). So after my frustrating experience I saw now that along the highway/motorway it is not only so that Jesus loves you, you can even belong to him. I wonder whether people pray to Jesus then as well, just to be on the safe side.
Anyway, Guiania is as a city equally lifeless and boring as Brasilia. It seems that people are not made for living in artificially planned cities, even if they appear to live there in millions after a while.

20 December 2010
I met the other tourist in Brasilia today - an architect who speaks English!
So Brasilia was built in only three years and celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. It has as a whole UNESCO world heritage status and as reflected earlier on during my journeys it seems that UNESCO has it with animal infested towns and cities. This time it isn’t dogs but pigeons that nest on and around the main monuments.
In terms of building I have to say they are interesting, different but also somehow bizarre. The city as such as a concept and artificially planned capital is impressive. Whoever has missed his political science classes should really come and visit this city. All the government and lawmaking bodies are in immediate neighborhood and so are the enforcement and jurisdiction entities. Interestingly the ministries are lined up one next to the other and judging from the sheer number of buildings a state reform seems unlikely as you would then eventually have either too many or too little ministries.

19 December 2010
It was kind of a new experience to take a taxi to my pre-booked and confirmed Brasilia hotel only to find out that it has ceased to exist. Well, the taxi driver showed some sense of humor and was kind enough to bring me to another place.

18 December 2010
Film-based photography has really come to an end. Even at flea markets they now sell expired film and feel the need to additionally advertise it as „ideal for lomography“. So only lomography is still remotely en vogue.
On the same Rio de Janeiro flea market I saw a disproportionate amount of brass and copper objects as well as almost too many Buddha sculptures for south American standards.
And again I met a lawyer, also on the flea market. I think it is time to give up hope to ever meeting a doctor, let alone a shoulder specialist on any of my journeys. Anyway I have to work out a better job description for myself. Being a corporate lawyer doesn’t really fly and creates utter boredom it seems (the reaction – changing the subject quite a bit - in that concrete example was: “let’s go inside the pub and watch some soccer”). Well, not sure whether “lobbyist” would do the trick either. Luckily that was just an intermediary dip in the conversation. We then saw a very interesting orient exhibition. Some of the pictures shown there really reminded me of the 5 Euro Burka in XXL n Brussels that I almost bought when preparing myself to go to Teheran. The shop clerk advised me at the time that I should really go for that bargain as I could always wear it at home when cleaning the house or – and I quote literally – when “not so important relatives show up”. We also went to an interesting arts and crafts market and to two samba clubs.

17 December 2010
I did not go to Rio by bicycle (song only in German) but really got very acquainted to the local bus system. The 511 bus really grew on me. It brought me to and from almost all the sights and to and from almost all the metro stops I needed. Talking about sights: You get on top of the sugar loaf by cable car in order to meet all the other tourists. You do the same to get to the sculpture of Christ which is in my opinion a bit overrated as a sculpture. Talking about riding busses or the metro: Nobody ever sat next to me which makes conversing even harder than it already is. Talking about conversing: The Jesus sculpture is called Christ and not Jesus. If you mention Jesus people have no idea what you might be thinking of. And even when I said Christ people were only reacting after a pantomime act (which must have looked bizarre with one arm only).
I went to a Pizzeria at night and unfortunately accepted the waiter’s offer to cut the pizza for me. Note: We are talking about a waiter that resembled more a village butcher than anything else. Had I not said halt at a certain moment I fear he would have even pre-chewed that pizza for me. Note: The cute guys play volleyball on the Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon beaches; they do not wait tables there.

16 December 2010
I arrived late last night to my Rio hotel that was described as very welcoming by people on trip advisor. Most likely nobody has been there lately. At one in the morning they were fixing the floors in the lobby, the angle grinder at top speed and full roar. Well.
Maybe I have an issue with the Brasilians but somehow I fail to understand a lot of things, mainly their economic growth and stellar raise over the last years. I meet mostly people who have no sense of business whatsoever. For instance – vis-à-vis a waiter: M: I’d like a mango juice please. W (remains silent and cannot be convinced to do anything for quite some time). Or in a photoshop: M: Do you speak English? P: No. M: Just a little? P: Maybe. M: I’d like to have 12 films developed, 36 pictures each. P (stoically): No. M: What do you mean by no? P: No. M: But you say here that you do develop film! P: No. And he turns around, not paying any attention to me anymore at all.
After all that I made an experience what getting older means: I met a Swiss - approximately 400 years old – who wanted to have a look at my city map. When I approached him formally (in German), he said I could address him informally as we were about the same age.
Received comment: Sorry Margito, it's called Football and not "Soccer"! Having said that, England are bloody hopeless and seemingly cannot even play "Soccer" never mind Football! I will have to finally pull my finger out and comment on your adventures so far in 2010!
I can only apologize for that lapse!

15 December 2010
When travelling from San Pedro de Atacama to Rio de Janeiro today I had a long stopover in Santiago de Chile. I spend my last 6.500 Pesos on: a locker for mos of my camera gear (2.500), a return trip on the airport bus (2.500), an empanada and a drink (1.000) and shoe shining (500). The latter investment was the best of all! Not only did my shoes really need to be cleaned after 4 days in the desert but more importantly I have never been called queen so often in so little time (and for so little money).

12 – 14 December 2010
The Atacma Desert is a really, really dry place. The air humidity is about 1% which makes one thirsty all the time and the skin dry as leather. Apropos leather: I forgot to mention that I had been to the archeological museum in Vina del Mar, close to Valparaiso. There was a section with a detailed description how to make shrunken heads. Very impressive! They even had some samples there to underline the step-by-step process. It seems that the mixture of herbs to stuff the head with (after it has been expertly cut open and emptied), the boiling process and the drying period is most important and needs quite some practice. But if correctly done, the spirit of the defeated can help you a great deal.
Anyway, back to the Atacama Desert, where was I? Right, everything’s dry, the red dust is literally everywhere and the air is really clear. During the day it is quite hot and at night it’s almost freezing. You can see the moon and the stars almost as clearly and the four mobile communication masts. Frankly, compared to the moon and the stars and the Southern Cross the mobile masts are by far better visible. But I might suffer from selective perception here.
San Pedro de Atacama’s altitude is 2.500 meters and the landscape around it is just spectacular. On the first day I thought I might take it easy and do just a half day tour to see the sunset in the Moon Valley. In the end the easy tour turned out to be more than two and a half hours walking up sand dunes, through dried river beds and sliding down some more sand dunes. One handedly that proved to be quite a challenge.
On the second day another tour departed already at 4 am. The drive from 2.500 meters to 4.300 meters took virtually no time and so I got very, very sick with altitude sickness, not so nice. Nevertheless of course the hot springs and geysers were impressive. You do not see phenomena like that every day! Allegedly a Swiss doctor died just last year, trying to take a close-up picture near one of the boiling hot springs. He fell into the basin and nobody even tried to rescue him. The tour guide seemed rather worryingly disturbed by the question of why nobody helped. He said that trying to rescue him would have probably meant falling into the spring and dying oneself. Bathing in a thermal spring with minus nine degrees centigrade outside was nevertheless nice, especially as it did my shoulder good.
The last day finally was devoted to a tour to the Altiplano Lakes. They are deep blue and light turquoise respectively. Beautiful! And so were the flamingos in the salt desert.

11 December 2010
This second leg of my big journey is undoubtedly a bit rushed and so unfortunately again there was only one night and half a day for Santiago de Chile. But one must make the best out of the time one has got.

10 December 2010
After I have dragged myself through this ultra hyped and so pathetic book “Eat, Pray, Love” (plot: recently divorced woman travels around the world for one year and stops in Italy to follow the stereotypes and eat, in India to attempt learning to meditate in an equally stereotype ashram in order to make it to Bali finally to – physically and mentally pepped up – fall in love with a stereotype Brazilian Latin lover) a while ago I finally saw myself exposed to the 2.5 hour movie flying back from Easter Island to what the islanders call mainland Chile. It is hard to imagine but it is even worse than the book. Why is pathetic the new black these days?

9 December 2010
Sound bites from the Easter island: After waiting for a very long time for some very simple food the waiter says apologetically: “This is not the best restaurant on the island but I have to put up with it because I work here.”
Or, after a long walk down from the volcano in the south, having walked past the airstrip and not totally sure how to get to the center whereby there are only two main roads: A to a waitress in a corner restaurant (pointing to either the one or the other street forming the corner): “Would you know where the main road to town is?” B: “No, I am not from here, sorry!"
Or in front of Hanga Roa’s tiny little harbor sculpture of Jesus: A: Jesus Christ! B (laughing): Yes, that would be him!
Or talking to a person from mainland Chile who decided to live on the island 11 years ago about whether that is not a lonely place to be. The answer was: Let me put it as a famous Cuban author did for Cuba: Poor Cuba, so far from God and so close to America.
On another issue; I am proud to say that I finally bought a Moai sculpture. Very pretty! And I agree with one of my readers that in a way it is unfortunate that there is Internet and mobile phone connectivity on the Easter Island. But modern day life can’t be stopped it seems.

7 and 8 December 2010
I've been on a tour all day today and saw most of the Easter Island. It is absolutely stunning! It is such an outlandish place. The story goes that the locals at the time believed that they were the only people on this earth and in that sense the navel of the world. Having flown in for 5.5 hours yesterday seeing the airplane on the inflight mapping system over the pacific with nothing else around and just blue water underneath when peering out of the window you get a sense of that. They must have been mortified and their world view shaken to the core when they saw the first Dutch seamen arriving on Easter Sunday in 1722.
There are about 900 Maoi sculptures all over the island. They are incredible! I love sculptures but they top everything I have seen so far in terms of sculpturing. It is a most mystical and ethereous place.

6 December 2010
On my way back to Santiago de Chile I stopped again in the Casablanca Valley to visit yet another winery - Indomito – which has a spectacular view over the valley.
Santiago reminded me a bit of Brussels insofar as its charms are not immediately visible. What is quite interesting is the sheer multitude of (male only) chess players on Santiago’s main square. Nothingt seems to distract their concentration, not even the many homeless dogs in search for shade beneath the chess tables. The lucky dogs that find their cool spots are mostly lying on their sides. Breathing heavily first they slowly but surely retire to a state of mere hot dogs.

5 December 2010
Valparaiso is definitely different. Many if not most houses are painted with murals or graffiti, the steep, curvy streets run in zigzags over its many hills and the old elevators take you back in time quite a bit. Pablo Neruda used to have a house there – now a museum – and having seen the view he had over the Pacific, it is easy to imagine where he found his inspiration.
With the guidebook in my pockets I drove north of Valparaiso to see some other coastal towns. One was a Hippy commune 40 years ago and somehow there are still some elderly hippies there. Looking at their graying hair and flowery dresses I thought even back then I would probably not have been one of them.
Another thought that crossed my mind is that at the moment where regarding my shoulder a doctor would come in very handy I just get to know lawyers.

4 December 2010
How bad can a travel guidebook be really? The teaser was a seaside restaurant with the most magnificent view to watch the sunset. The reality was a remote costal village some 50 kilometers away from Valparaiso where the sun set behind the hills and not as envisaged right on the ocean. Plus the house specialty was what can be described as “remains of shellfish – mostly shell – cooked in cream and baked with cheese substitute in order to make it boiling hot while avoiding a crust”. At least the wine came from the Casablanca valley and thus was very good.
Valparaiso itself is absolutely worth a visit. It is very different, not beautiful but interesting. It also got UNESCO world heritage status in 2003 and that is really interesting. I do not know what drives UNESCO’s decision making but when I think of Porto in Portugal for instance half the city is empty and inhabited by pigeons leading to an awful stench all over the place. Valparaiso is most likely home to every single homeless dog with digestion problems - mostly constipation I reckon. You could study every possible kind of dog feces within a few meters. A stale smell is the least you can say when thinking of a proper description of the odor of that city.
Received comment: Read your blog. Very funny!
Received comment: I must say, dear Margit, you are one of the most colorful writers I've come across on the Internet… "homeless dog with digestion problems" ...creatively composed, Margit. Most creative. And I do hope your shoulder is feeling better today.

3 December 2010
I made it to Chile – despite the hurt shoulder and the arm in the sling and went to a vineyard (Veramonte in the Casablanca Valley) and a wine tasting on the way to Valparaiso.

2 December 2010
Coming to Sao Paulo as a tourist is not an obvious thing to do. It is vast. It is not strikingly beautiful. Mostly it is grey. The skyline is impressive but the only spot where you can see it from is the so-called BANESPA building, a bank tower that resembles New York’s Empire State building, where the staff allows you a meager 5 minutes on top of the building. With a handicap like mine (my left arm is of no use due to the dislocated shoulder) that is barely enough to take three pictures, let alone enjoying the view. To be fair it is one of the only things that are free of charge.
After I had dislocated my shoulder I had to venture out to a medical supply store in a neighborhood even further away from the usual spots. The store featured a mannequin with a mask. And I had no camera on me… On the way back I got pitiful looks from two guys from an anti AIDS campaign and two free condoms that will unfortunately expire soon. So you see, I just don’t have it with free things in this city.
As I can neither comb nor wash my hair properly I thought I might as well see a hairdresser. He was a Rasta with a tattoo on his right upper arm that read “I love living” in German! And he spoke German as well, working half the year in Zurich, half the year in Sao Paulo. After having washed my hair he stopped combing it half way, seemed to have lost all interest and went outside to smoke a cigarette. I tried not to take it personally.
My first general impression of the city was three homeless people sleeping in front of the ministry for employment of all places. Overall the sheer number of homeless people on the streets and digging through trash in search for food is remarkable.
The job situation must be difficult. Even nuns have side jobs here. I saw one selling CDs in a coffee shop going from table to table. With my handicap I was too slow to take a picture though. Another job option is sandwich. The sandwich people advertising for copy shops, gold and silver traders or mobile phone recyclers almost outnumber the homeless on the streets.
Sao Paulo is home to the largest Japanese community outside of Japan. The Libertade quarter is therefore more than just Little Tokyo. You see Japanese gardens, lots of shops with Japanese food and vegetables and even gift shops with Santa Causes in Kimonos.
What I had not at all expected was that virtually nobody speaks English here or Spanish for that matter. So communicating is extremely difficult. I just gave it a go most of the time, mixing whatever piece of language that was at hand which landed me a “sorry I don’t understand most of the time” and a ridiculous “your Portuguese is very good” in a taxi to the airport.

1 December 2010
A quick wrap-up after travelling for a month: Dislocated my left shoulder (while asleep…) and due to the pain I am not in a writing mood.

30 November 2010
My alter ego, the other Margit Brandl who recently got married, has taken a train from Vienna to Wels in Upper Austria the other day. The Austrian Railway Company has been kind enough to send me her ticket via e-mail. Sitting in Sao Paulo I can only hope that the dear lady uses only my e-mail address for her extravagant journeys.
I spent most of today’s afternoon in Sao Paulo’s cathedral. Not necessarily out of free will but mostly due to abrupt weather changes and a real bad thunderstorm. What was most interesting wasn’t the sheer size of the church (allegedly it seats 8.000 people) but that there were long lines in front of the confessionals. I guess the weather was to blame.

29 November 2010
And off I went again, this time I am headed for Brazil. Spending time in airplanes can be lengthy and so one reads the inflight magazine a bit more carefully than during shorter flights. Interestingly peanut allergies seem to worry certain carriers. I quote: “XYZ Airlines recognizes that some passengers are allergic to peanuts. Although we do not serve peanuts, we do serve other nut products, and there may be trace elements of unspecified peanut ingredients... Additionally other customers may bring peanuts onboard. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that customers will not be exposed to peanuts during flights, and we strongly encourage customers to take all necessary medical precautions to prepare for the possibility of exposure.” That sounds rather radical to be to be honest.

28 November 2010
A real classic: Hape Kerkeling pretends to be Queen Beatrix on a state visit (only in German).

27 November 2010
While I still stick to my beloved analogue film camera, interesting new laws get enacted, such as a ban of the use of digital cameras in Kuwait. I wonder whether in practice a distinction is made by the officials whether your SLR camera is a digital or analogue one – as long as it looks fancy enough to serve an unwanted purpose.

26 November 2010
Power games are played in remarkable ways. The setting: Embassy of a faraway country, visa department in the cellar, afternoon, no applicants, after one hour in the empty waiting room for no obvious reason. A: I would like to apply for a visa. B: Applications in the morning, picking up visas in the afternoons (4 weeks after the application morning that is). A: Oh! But would you please have at least a look at my application to see whether it is complete. B (gives it a glance): The picture is no good. A (surprised): Why? B: I mean, it is a good picture but is much too big! And we only see your face! A (asking herself what else you really need to see on a passport picture): Well… B: You need to go and get yourself a nice new picture and come back tomorrow.
One day later, 3 people in the waiting room, no obvious action. After more than one hour: A: Here I am again. B shows no obvious sign of recollection. A: You remember you sent me to get some new passport pictures and well, here they are, I hope they are good. B (beams): They are perfect now. Let me have a look at the CD (with the required softcopy of the picture in a special format). B frowns, saying: But that is the OTHER picture. A: Yes, you had a look at it yesterday on the CD and it was fine. B (neglecting the comment): But this is the actual picture that will be used on your visa! Why did you not store the new one on the CD? A: I just got it today from a machine… B: But why didn’t you scan it? A: I had no time. B (slowly recognizing the slight absurdity): But why didn’t you scan it? A: Well, you know… B (changing the subject, interestingly to make a constructive proposal): If you go to the traffic lights, turn right, there is a shop where they can scan your new photo. But come back in less than 15 minutes, otherwise we’re closed. After 15 minutes, quite some jogging and a harsh debate in the photo shop. B (showing no sign of recollection): Go to the waiting room. A: But I just wanted to hand you’re the CD. B: Ah. A hands over the CD. B: And you have your receipt? A (suppressing a sigh): Yes, thank you.
Received comment: Get yourself a column in the Standard on Saturday. It will make you famous!

22-25 November 2010
A brief visit to Austria where things have changed quite a bit during the recent weeks. One of the many bridges in my hometown Bruck an der Mur is being tiered down which gives the whole city a new and very nice look.

21 November 2010
Brussels has not changed much in the past few weeks. The only obvious change I’ve spotted is a recent name change of one of the already interestingly named restaurants. It used to be called “And Who Is Going To Walk The Dog?” and has been renamed to read: “And Who Is Going To Bring The Dog Home?” Et Qui Va Ramener Le Chien?

19 – 20 November 2010
Back in Brussels. What I miss already:
- Driving through Arizona and listening to Kaff Country. Luckily they have a live stream.
- Idiosyncrasies in Mexico such as whole packages of cigarettes in the mini bar in a non-smoking hotel room.
- T-Shirt prints such as “Delightfully Tacky, Yet Unrefined.” and – on a boy – “Guilty”, on a girl “Kiss Me” and again on a boy: “Sexiest Man Alive”.

18 November 2010
Thinking about modern travelling and its ups and downs. Are airport hotels helpful when they forget to do the promised wake-up calls? Captains tired of repeating the same sentences over and over again stating: We… aaaahhh… fly to…aaaahhh… Dallas. And flight attendants who continue with remarkable statements like: We sell snacks and beverages and accept all major credit cards. We do not accept cash. I repeat: We remind you that we do not accept cash. I wonder when airports will start charging for using their toilets, to be paid by credit cards of course...

17 November 2010
A last visit to Mexico City center which accounts to a number of accomplishments: Watch repaired, camera repaired, beautiful bookshop (El Péndulo, Cafebreria) visited, six more beetle taxis counted. I also saw a bubble wrapped Jesus in a Jesus et al sculpture wholesale store.

16 November 2010
Very insightful thoughts by J.: It’s a good thing to get something started. It’s a better thing to get something finished. Perfectionism is a poison to completion.

15 November 2010
Beetle counting mounted up to 756. Meanwhile the drivers start recognizing me and greet me with “Hello Austria”. There is obviously something to that song “Going Loco Down in Acapulco”. Talking to somebody today about Panama I recognized a recurring pattern which is that no matter where you go people apologize for things they have read at the hairdresser’s. It always starts with: I would never really read that magazine but as I was at the hairdresser and they had nothing else really there was this story I remember now…

14 November 2010
I could spend all day here riding beetle taxi cabs. In fact I guess I do… Yesterday night I had the best encounter of all. The usual three questions (where are you from, what’s your name, are you married) came out slightly twisted – admittedly after some nice chit chat about the beautiful beetle, a 2003 model and as such one of the last ones ever produced - and went like that: Where are you from? What is your name? Do you want to drive the beetle? At first I thought that must be a joke but he went on saying: No really, now you play the “taxista” and I play the guest! He did not have to say that twice really. That was one remarkable ride, especially uphill to my bright pink Los Flamingos hotel!
What I should not forget to mention because it is really breathtaking is the La Quebrada cliff divers. I went to see the show twice last night and once today in sunlight. It is amazing, the cliff divers jump from 35 meter high cliffs into a narrow channel. They perform saltos, jump two and two together, one even jumped backwards and made a salto on top of that.

13 November 2010
I would not have thought that finally here they are: Acapulco has them all, beautiful white and blue Volkswagen beetle taxis! Driving into the city alone I counted 200. With number 202 I headed down to the city centre this morning. I have noticed that I am not too social here looking impolitely over people’s shoulders during a conversation in keeping on counting beetles. I’ve come up to 543 by the end of the day.
Acapulco is an aged holiday town, it’s heyday long over. Even the bathing suits on sale in many shops look like they date back to the 50ies.
Just like in Mexico City one can buy vast quantities of church supplies and Jesuses next to the Cathedral. For what would be 30 Euros one can get a fine baby Jesus sculpture with either dark or fair skin.
The following dialogue spun loose at breakfast this morning: A: May I ask you where the local cemetery is and how I best get there? B (with a very kind and mild expression): Wait, I’ll draw a picture for you. Just go down to the center and take a yellow bus that reads “Maxitunnel”. Right at the other end of the tunnel you have the cemetery. B (thinking how accurate...): Ah, many thanks! B (even milder and in that sense very Mexican): May I inquire who you are paying condolences to? Family? A (honestly and therefore unfortunately a bit too matter of factly): Johnny Weissmueller. Tarzan! B (slightly irritated and already a bit reserved): Him? A: Yes, I read on the Internet that his tomb stone reads „Johnny Weissmueller, Tarzan“ and that his wife, fulfilling his last wish, had the famous Tarzan cry cried at the funeral when the coffin was lowered down. (Who she engaged for the cry or whether she had it played back I have not yet found out but it seems that the B was not too interested in that anyway). B (at that point VERY reserved): But he is buried somewhere else anyway! And you can’t go there. A (puzzled): But why not? B (coldly): Much too dangerous if you are by yourself. Which made the old cemetery tourist shy away at least for the time being. Instead I went to the other cemetery. On a bus, just as B had recommended. And without knowing it seems that all the passengers were on their way to the cemetery judging from the drivers’s driving style: overtaking on the other side of the street, never mind the traffic, overtaking on the right side through gas stations (!).

12 November 2010
On I went (on a bus) to Acapulco and ended up in a hotel which is spectacular in its own terms. Its name is Los Flamingos and allegedly it once belonged to John Wayne and Johnny Weissmüller. There is even a Tarzan Pavilion in which Johnny Weissmüller spent his honeymoon and lived during old age. Also movies have been made here. The hotel is painted in a bright flamingo pink and a bit worn but not without charm. It sits on top of one of the highest cliffs in Acapulco and from my room I see the Pacific bay. It is very romantic but has also a very lonely touch to it. Perhaps that is because the Hollywood celebrities are not walking in and out anymore like in the 1950ies and because there are hardly any guests here overall.

11 November 2010
The number of counted Volkswagen beetle taxis in Mexico City went up to a meager 82 out of which none (!) was green and white.
Mexico City is incredibly large. It took almost one and a half hours to go by subway and train to a suburban town called Xochimilco. With its canals and gondolas it really has something, very picturesque!

10 November 2010
Mexico City has changed quite a bit since I have last been here in the summer of 2003. Most notably the Volkswagen Beetle taxis have really almost disappeared. That was the reason for my original journey to Mexico City in 2003; I had read in early 2003 that for environmental reasons Mexico City wanted to phase out all green and white beetle taxis by the end of 2003. My first reaction back then was: The only (and also the largest) city on this globe that uses beetle taxis will phase them out? So I have to go see them before it is too late! And so I did. And it was marvelous. In three days I counted over 3600 green and white beetle taxis. In fact I did not do much else than counting beetles. This time things are quite different. First of all, all taxis are now halfway golden and halfway dark red. And second there is a plethora of brands out there. Third and most annoying: so far I have only counted 39 gold/dark red beetle taxis and not a single (!) green and white one.
I am somehow reminded of a line in Malcolm Gladwell’s book “What the Dog Saw” reading: Change does not necessarily mean progress.

9 November 2010
Puerto Escondidos Alcoholics Anonymous advertise with a meeting schedule that looks as follows: from 6 – 7 p.m. for the English speaking group and 4:30 to 6 pm for the Spanish speaking one. I could not help but notice that the first one coincides with the typical happy hour in Puerto Escondido and the other one would just be done by the time the Happy Hour starts.

7 – 8 November 2010
Puerto Escondido is a nice and calm costal town. People visiting here seem to be mostly interested in nice beaches, surfing, good food and interestingly enough wireless Internet and tattoos. There is also a clear age differentiation. Almost everyone I’ve seen under the age of 45 has a tattoo, mostly in a shape that can expand easily when the possessor gains weight (which seems to happen a lot). And particularly men over 60 seem to enjoy sitting in the back of coffee shops with their tiny little laptop PCs making use of the wireless links.

6 November 2010
Early this morning the journey went on from Oaxaca to Puerto Escondido – this time with a tiny little Cessna airplane – a real experience. Fortunately the weather was really good. After temperatures of just around 10 degrees centigrade in Mexico City and later at night in Oaxaca the 25-30 degrees and light see breeze here are really a welcome change. For those readers who are interested in cooking with alcohol: I had a tomato soup with Pernod today whereby the Pernod was the best thing about the soup. Just as my grandmother used to say: That little bit of food you could also drink! The restaurant would have offered a “Bloody Merry” as well but I thought after the soup that that was maybe a bit overstated.

5 November 2010
After having visited Teotihuacan’s ruins close to Mexico City and returned the car at the airport, on we went by bus to Oaxaca (which non-Mexicans just cannot pronounce; it is supposed to sound somehow like o-a-ha-ha-ca but pronounced with a seriously blocked nose). Bus lines operate just as airlines in this country. The terminals remind you very much of airports and one checks in suitcases just like at the airport. At security and passport (!) control I was almost denied boarding the bus as my ticket read Margarita Brandooooo. Interestingly enough my rather lame excuse that my passport was in my already checked in suitcase was accepted and so I had no further trouble boarding the bus. On the bus there is ample leg space, headsets are handed out and even movies are shown (in Spanish). As traffic is unpredictable the journey lasted over seven hours in the end and was - despite the comfort on the bus – quite tiring. Oaxaca itself is a very pleasant place. I read somewhere that chocolate was invented here and so of course I had to test some. The hot chocolate was very good, but the rest not comparable to Belgian chocolate. What is indeed interesting is that in and around Oaxaca some sauces called “mole” are prepared using chocolate and chili as main ingredients. The sauces are not necessarily sweet but of course rather heavy. They are delicious but unfortunately mainly served with meat.
Monte Alban close to Oaxaca is not quite as big as Teotihuacan but the pyramids and excavations there are equally stunning.

4 November 2010
This morning I overheard the following conversation on the breakfast table next to me in my Hotel in Mexico City. On the table there was a 65 year old couple from Australia, a blind person with his mother and unclear whereabouts, a single American traveler in his 60ies and a Polish guy in his late 30ies or early 40ies. The Polish guy started telling everybody on the table that his career really took off since he decided to devote all his time and effort to this one company who sells a wonderful health enhancing product. It was so good that it could be used for and against virtually everything. He said that although he now works in the health business, there is one thing he cannot stand: cross-eyed people. And so one of his latest cases was a cross-eyed woman who he approached against all personal odds. And really, immediately after using the product she got back a superb straight vision. Nodding to one another the Australians and the US traveler said unanimously that they should perhaps buy the product and could they have a business card. The blind person and his mother understandably grew more and more silent.

3 November 2010
Driving to Mexico City and then through Mexico City was a test for one’s nerves. Again I had some troubles with a GPS unit and just though in the very last moment that I also could use my phone which then of course worked perfectly and guided us through a massive traffic jam.
Less worldly and a bit more on the bizarre side of life was a dialogue I entered in yesterday in Uruapan: A: You know, I don’t find any work here and I am a bit short of money. B: Ah. A: I’d like to work in the US. B: Ah. A: Where are you from? B: Austria and (C) Belgium. A (visibly disappointed and more to himself): Well, then it is rather unlikely that you could bring me to the US, right? Hmmm. Austria and Belgium, that is in the Soviet Union, the UDSSR, right? B (slightly irritated): No, in Europe and well the Soviet Union ceased to exist over 20 years ago. A (sincerely appalled): No! B (unsure whether to laugh or to cry): Yes! A: And Russia? Has Russia also ceased to exist? B (conciliatory): No, Russia is still there.
Received comment: I guess I don't have to worry anymore that it's folk from the USA who don't know anything at all about world geography. We Americans appear to have moved from last place, where Mexicans have just moved, to second-to-last place.

2 November 2010
One cannot imagine how the Dia de los Muertos is celebrated here. Parly it is one big folk festival, partly it is deeply religious mourning of the deceased. Mostly it is both at the same time. There is loud polka music and laughing and at the same time there are people sitting on the graves of their ancestors in meditative silence. Often whole families are around the graves and eat there. The graves themselves are beautifully decorated. Orange flowers dominate but there is a wide variety of colors used for crosses and other shapes. I even saw an airplane and a bicycle made of flowers. It is also not unusual to decorate the graves with a bottle of Tequila or a gun.
From a local brochure: “The Underworld, called infierno by the Spanish – in Latin ínferus – which means the lower region, was the equivalent of Heaven or the Christian sky for the Tarascans. They considered it a place of pleasure, but they also believed that in that place darkness ruled. The name designating that place was Pátzcuaro, which was literally translated as “place of darkness”, in other words, the world of death, because night is the death of the sun which is going to rule in the land of shadows. Pátzcuaro was also considered to be the “door to the sky”, the place through which the gods ascended and descended, and the seasonal seat of Curicaueri, god of sun and fire, to whom offerings were made in this place.”

1 November 2010
A quick wrap-up aftertravelling for a month: Watch broken, tripod broken, lost one scarf and one jacket and was almost bitten by a dog. The first four are not quite as bad but the last one really was. Three stray dogs were running towards me, the biggest one jumped onto me from behind and had my left upper arm already in his mouth when the smallest one also jumped onto me. This may have distracted the first one and so he let go of my arm. The third dog fortunately remained rather passiv.
Received comment: International recommendation from Albania and Georgia regarding dogs: Lift up your hand, try to appear taller than you are, puff yourself up and just try to imitate the peculiar look of men who are about to open a meeting where they are unsure about what to expect. You should further pretend having a stone in your hand that you are about to throw. That has so far worked everywhere, even in Mali where dogs only speak Bambara .

31 October 2010
Patzcuaro is located on a large lake and seems to be the zenith of all Day of the Death and All Saints Day festivities. The city itself was packed with visitors already today. On all corners skeletons were on sale whereby one booth really overdid it: There was a pregnant skeleton with a fetus skeleton in her belly. The baby’s skeleton was upside down and the belly was done with a layer of clothes.

30 October 2010
I am more and more convinced that death is not Viennese but Mexican. It is incredible what effort is put into decorating cities and even hotels and restaurants for All Saints Day. There are skulls everywhere and Morelia – according to my guide book the best place you’ve never been (and you’ve never heard of) – is decorated with skeletons in all shapes and forms, sourrounded by orange flowers. There are skeletons that drive carriages, skeletons in beautiful dresses coquettishly showing one boney knee, skeletons with mustaches and skeletons with ammunition belts and guns.
Received comment: Hello Margito :-) Love that one by the way. Did I make a stupid Orgasmo comment on the 27th? If so - sorry! I've been nightshifting for the last 10 days - the consumption of four crates of beer has probably no helped. Loving the first month!

29 October 2010
Queretaro is also a former silver mining town but it is really hiding its treasures well within a very ugly periphery. Within the old town there are numerous beautiful churches and a very nice art museum within an old cloister. Maximilian I. was sentenced to death and executed in Queretaro in 1867.
On every corner they sell day of the death sweets. Mostly the sweets are in the shape of skulls and made from sugar, chocolate or marzipan. Very bizarre but also very interesting!
More and more one sees people in various day-of-the-death costumes. Yesterday night for instance Death himself sold red roses. Today a family waited for a bus having their young son with them in a self-made cardboard coffin. One side of the black cardboard box showed a white cross, the other was open and one could see the boy who was busy putting a death mask onto his face.

28 October 2010
We went to a nice little town called San Miguel de Allende. The guide book describes it as Disneyland for aging Americans and well, it is a dreamy and perhaps typically Mexican town where everything seems to be at the right place.
I had a great and very funny misunderstanding with a waiter. I had forgotten the Spanish word for spoon and held a spoon up, somewhat pointing at the waiter, asking “y se llama” what probably sounded very dismissive and meant something along the lines of “… and the name is?”. He answered slightly puzzled: “Pablo”. We both had to laugh really hard.

27 October 2010
On we went today from Guadalajara to Guanajuato. Guanajuato is a UNESCO world cultural heritage site and is hometown of Diego Rivera. In earlier days there was a lot of silver mining there which partly explains the beautiful architecture. The city is very colorful and reminded me of Positano, Peruggia and Budapest, the latter just because the market hall resembled the one in Budapest. Guanajuato is not located at the sea but has quite some steep alleys and passages. Perhaps some places easily renind you of others. Traffic in Guanajuato is mostly led in tunnels that used to be mines or the river bed. Those tunnels are barely lit and a bit spooky. We also saw catacombs similar to those in Palermo where mummies are shown. The climate of the local cemetery was evidently well suited for mummifying the corpses. In front of the museum hawkers were offering mummy lollipops which perhaps stretches the point a bit too much and is really gothic.
On the received comments: I understand that just following this bog can be unsatisfying at times. The rather indiscrete question whether I tried the Orgasmo I’d rather leave unanswered.
And yes, as Brandl cannot be pronounced Brando comes in handy.
In the Yosemite national park the GPS has in essence led me rightly. After the downhill tour I was led back to a highway, drove 4 more miles and arrived safely at my hotel.

26 October 2010
Guadalajara is a very agreeable town and has many things to see. For ease of use in Mexico I changed my name to Margarita Brando which goes down very well it seems. Today we went to Ajicic and lake Chapala, also very worthwhile going to. On lake Chapala I saw that a bar offered the following three drinks, marked as traditional drinks: Vampiro, Gin and Toni (who’s Toni?) and Orgasmo, the first two ones for 39 Pesos each, the latter one for 59 Pesos.
Received comment: Received comment: Your blog seems to focus on drinking! Good...

25 October 2010
A bartender in Guadalajara asked me: "Have you heard the story of that husband who threw his wife off a cliff?" I shake my head. "Do you know why he did it?" I shake my head again. "Tequila."

24 October 2010
Tequila is a really nice and very colorful little town. All things considered, given how lively and multicolored everything is here, what a contrast to the United States! People dress up, go out and show their best outfits. So many things and corners are just so picturesque. Visiting a Tequila factory was a real highlight. The huge agave plants are harvested and the inner core that can weigh up to 60 kilos is then shredded, pressed and fermented. In the inner courtyard of the factory there huge amounts of the fruit piled up against a crumbling yellow wall. Very, very beautiful.

23 October 2010
Travelling on to Mexico was quite a tour that took many more hours than expected. After Obama had announced his visit the LA airport was about to be shut down and so my first plane seemed to be the last one to leave before his arrival. The connecting flight seemed to be on time, too but when everybody was on the plane, the plane started leaking and water was pouring down on me in the cabin. I was asked whether I’d like to move to first class and I thought for about 2 minutes that life was really good. Then everybody had to disembark, go to another terminal and wait for another aircraft which arrived hours later. Surely as soon as everybody was on board again – and I was back on nmy old seat in economy – the crew needed to be changed resulting in another one and a half hour delay. All in all I was on the road from 8 in the morning till past midnight.

22 October 2010
Leaving the US and reflecting upon things I was wrestling with in America a little bit. First of all I am not familiar with so many habits here such as drinking coffee from paper or plastic cups with lids on them. How do you, just in general, drink from a cup with a lid? How does one pour milk into a cup that is already filled up to the rim with coffee without pouring coffee all over the place or all over oneself? How do you mount a lid onto a cup or dismantle the whole construction without looking ridiculous? Where do you get a straw from and how do you place with regard to the cup’s lid? And why does one have to drink coffee with a straw in the first place?
What I find equally troubling is being forced into giving feedback several times during one single meal. One should tell whether the meal is good, whether anything else can be brought, whether you’re having a good time etc. Those questions are always asked when the guest is chewing or has in other ways a hard time of giving a propoer reply. The waiters also do not really stop by, they ask these questions on the go, leaving the guest in a dilemma: being rude not answering at all or being rude answering with a full mouth. Personally I think that waiters act upon a need for revenge for the „give them your best smile“-mantra they are facing from their employers.

21 October 2010
On my way back to Los Angeles (and again I absolutely underestimated the sheer distances in this country) I stopped at the Hearst Castle. It is an amazing structure, a dream come true for a true lover of mostly European art. One can really feel the spirit of the 1930ies when celebrities such as Chaplin or Lindström had been invited to stay there. Hearst simply liked good conversations they say and just invited people he thought interesting over.

20 October 2010
I left San Francisco and drove south taking highway number one and the 17 miles drive. Well it could have been anywhere really. The fog was so intense that I could hardly see the road. That was really unfortunate as I had absolutely looked forward to that part of my journey…
I worked on my personal charts of country songs:
1. Anything Like Me - Brad Paisley
2. Bullets in a Gun - Toby Keith
3. I loved her first - Heartland
4. Three Wooden Crosses - Randy Travis
5. Every Light In The House - Trace Adkins
6. Farmer's Daugher - Rodney Atkins
7. Whiskey Lullaby - Bill Anderson
8. Toes (I call it rather “Life Is Good Today) - The Zac Brown Band
9. All Over Me - Josh Turner
10. Little White Church - Little Big Town

19 October 2010
San Francisco is really a very special place. I went to the Pirate Supply Store on Valencia and they really sell glass eyes there. There is a little tag beside the eyes reading: Glass Eye frequently asked questions: Question: Can the eyes see me? Answer: Probably.
They also had a little booklet on kissing. I quote: Never interrupt a man when he prays, or curses, or kisses. From Red Pearls by Charlotte Mansfield.

18 October 2010
When I was driving into San Francisco I had to stop at the toll booth on the Bay Bridge. And interestingly enough the normal three questions I tend to get asked all the time (What is your name? Where are you from? Are you married?) were slightly twisted this time and went like follows: ‘A: So where are you from? B: Austria! A: Ah, Australia! B: No, Austria. Europe. A: Ah, south of Germany! B: Well, yes but… A (beaming): But that is where our Arnold is from! B (smiling regretfully): Yes… A (obviously coming to the next subject and remember I was just trying to pay the toll): How tall are you? B: Well, whatever, one meter and… A (not too interested in the actual figure): You are so beautiful! Have a good day!

17 October 2010
On my way to Sacramento. A few recent t-shirt prints:
- King Cobra
- All roads lead to summer
- You better read fast because I’m leaving you behind (on the backside of the shirt)
- Front of the pack, best place to be
And my favorite: My anger control class just pisses me off!
On a board in front of a beggar: Why lie? I need a beer.

16 October 2010
Still a bit shaky from yesterday’s driving experience I saw today (from below) not only where I have been driving but also where and how far I would have fallen down. The Yosemite National Park as such is really, really beautiful. Yet it was the first park where I really had the feeling that there were too many people. When climbing up a mountain it was not as crowded anymore than down in the valley but still. Nevertheless I came to understand why Ansel Adams took some of his most impressive pictures here in this park.

15 October 2010
I finally made it to Yosemite National Park. It was a 12 hour drive, over 500 miles (about 850 kilometers) out of which the last 120 or so were through a pitch black Yosemite Park, leading over a pass. That would have all been fine, even with the occasional rock in the size of a child’s head on the street. I’ve seen much worse and I mean MUCH worse street conditions when driving through Ethiopia, especially at night. The really lousy thing was that the GPS said about 10 miles from the hotel “please turn right on Forest Road”. And so I did. The first few hundred meters were still more or less paved. Then there was a turn. I took the wrong turn. The GPS shouted at me and said in a nasty voice that due to me it had to recalculate now. My turn was a dead end turn but there was still enough room to reverse the car. And then of course I went down the other turn just as the GPS said. I should say that the rental car I drive here is a Dodge van with eight seats and as such constructed very low, almost touching the ground. And then I went down what proved to be not only a forest road (well, sometimes they name roads for a reason) but a road that was built into solid rock most of the time. It was about as wide as a car, on one side there was the rocky mountain and on the other a cliff. The surface of the road as such was mostly not only uneven, there were massive cracks, rocks and god knows what. I would not even have dared to drive down there with a four wheel drive. But as said there was no chance to turn back. So I went down seven miles with the van. I sweated, prayed, trembled and stayed cool at the same time. After 800 kilometers and about 11 hours in a car this is the least you need. I wished I could wake up from that nightmare but unfortunately I was not dreaming but driving literally straight down a mountain.

14 October 2010
After having been to Zion National Park yesterday and driven through the Nevada desert I am happy to be in Las Vegas now. For the time being I had my share of nature and am happy to see city lights again! And what a city! Everything seems to shine and sparkle; there are neon signs all around you. One hotel (the Mirage) has a volcano that erupts one time per hour, another one (the Belagio) a light show using the water fountain in front of the hotel. The Luxor hotel is a huge black pyramid, the New York, New York features a statue of liberty in front and one made of candy inside and the Venetian is a masterpiece as such. It is Venice, inside out. But it is a Venice that is wholesome, intact and does not crack and crumble at all.
Unfortunately these days the slot machines are not actual slot machines anymore. They feature slots for dollar bills, not for quarters and winning does not mean you hear the quarters falling down but that you can print out a coupon and cash it. But winning does not seem to be much of an option anyway.
It is very, very interesting to watch people gambling on those machines. Shortly after sitting down and having inserted their first bill they seem to be drifting away. It is almost a meditative state, a stare in a faraway distant, interrupted only by the occasional tap on a button of the slot machine.
When driving to Las Vegas the country radio stations were getting fewer and fewer and to a certain degree I miss them already. Especially when people were calling in and then were too excited to actually say something. One of them said to the moderator: “Maybe you can help me decide. I can talk about my horse, my husband and about whiskey.”

13 October 2010
I saw the Red Canyon and the Bryce Canyon yesterday, again marvelous sights and totally different than the other canyons and valleys I have seen so far.
One of the local radio stations was raffling a new CD by a allegedly well-known band whose name escapes me. The number one hit on that CD is called “Pretty good in drinking beer”. I heard that while I drove through “Garfield County” (I swear…).

12 October 2010
Food photographer Carl Warner is a real artist I think. He calls his landscapes that are made from food foodscapes…
On the corporate word the following thought occurred to me when reading through some recent communication. During the next few months I will definitely not miss sentences like that (although they make nice blog contributions): The choice and promotion of xyz should be driven by the anticipated availability of an associated ecosystem.

11 October 2010
From a telecommunications point of view I am deprived of most services. There is either no mobile coverage or my various network providers have no roaming agreements… The Belgian phone should be back online (theoretically, but definitely at the moment the problem is not on the Belgian side…).
Lake Powell is beautiful – especially for a dam and artificial lake – and the Antelope Canyon just stunning!

10 October 2010
The journey goes on and so I went to the Monument Valley today which is, well, what can I say: monumental. It is in the Navajo reservation at the border between Arizona and Utah. I felt a bit like Joanna Wayne there. Joanna Wayne with a nasty cold to be honest. It seems that air-conditioned rooms, iced drinks and a 40 minute photo stop in the ice cold Grand Canyon at sunset the other day did not do me good at all.

9 October 2010
I was told to watch that little movie as sort of an intercultural training for the US… Isn’t it awesome, incredible, amazing?
My journey led me to the Canyon de Chelly today. It is huge and is maintained by the Navajo Nation. Standing on the Canyon’s rim is spectacular and again totally different than the Grand Canyon.

8 October 2010
I arrived at the Grand Canyon yesterday night. The only things I could still see were shops with Elk kitsch. Reminds me a lot of Norway…
But then the Grand Canyon as such sent cold shivers down my spine. I lack words to describe it really. I think it is apart from the calving glaciers in southern Argentina the most breathtaking natural wonder I have ever seen.

7 October 2010
I made a detour today which was somewhat silly, going south from Phoenix to Tucson in southern Arizona to see an airplane boneyard. And then I drove back up again all the way to the Grand Canyon. The boneyard was not as spectacular as I had exected, mainl because the planes were not as old or as broken as I had imagined. The adjacent museum had a better variety of old planes but still most of them were former air force planes. It gave me some chills seeing them in all different shapes and forms. It seems that human phantasy is without limits when it comes to thinking up military equipment.

6 October 2010
Didn’t they say that America is God’s own country? Nowadays he advertises along the highways in twitter style: ‘Feeling lost? My book is your map. - God’. Pay attention to the minus! There is even a website, called God Speaks.

5 October 2010
On to San Diego, a really lovely and hip town. Didn’t they say it never rains in California? Well it sure rains now and it is rather cold. I am dressed similarly to what I was dressed like in Norway a few weeks ago. A postcard print I read today said: Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that people who have the most live the longest. (Larry Lorenzoni)

5 October 2010
On to San Diego…

4 October 2010
Just as expected my Belgian phone died today. I hope that I will be able to bring it back online somehow...
I went on a tour called „Hollywood's Tragical History Tour”, organized by a tour organizer called "Dearly Departed". One is brought from one tragic site where a Hollywood star or inhabitant died or was murdered to the next. Very interesting and as such almost Viennese. What was special was that today was the 40th anniversary of Janis Joplin’s death. She died in a hotel that was called Landmark at the time and is called Highland Gardens Hotel today. Allegedly the room is booked for years in advance for October 4th. And one could see light in the room today as well.

3 October 2010
Disneyland is a different world. What is particularly amusing are people that beam when Disneyfigures embrae them or perfectly serious looking grown ups with Micky Mouse ears in their hair. Also a good place to spot interesting t-shirt prints such as: Future trophy wife.

2 October 2010
The Getty museum and Hollywood are two extremes. One is amazing and has a vast collection of nearly every direction in art, the other one hosts a 50 year old, meanwhile worn walk of fame. Its over 2000 stars on the sidewalks are dirty and partially even breaking.

1 October 2010
Big changes: it is day 1 of my sabbatical year and the big adventure has started. I read somewhere the other day that smiling requires about 50 mussels whereas sitting just requires one. After sitting in an airplane for 9 hours and then again for 4 hours I can only underline that we are talking facts here.

30 September 2010
It is becoming more and more difficult to buy film these days. I went to three shops and the result was: no film sold anymore. Or just Fuji which is essentially the same thing.

29 September 2010
I forgot to mention a nice analogue statement I found during the Photokina fair last Sunday: The return of Luck, coincidence, contingency, chance, fortune and surprise.

28 September 2010
Well, you can always have an explanation…

27 September 2010
Just discovered this website where finally somebody stands up against all the intentionally positive marketing stories. The 'Demotivators' sell calendars, mugs, t-shirts etc with very clear messages. Some of their statements are just so to the point. A few soundbites:
BLOGGING: Never before have so many people with so little to say said so much to so few.
CLUELESSNESS: There are no stupid questions, but there are a LOT of inquisitive idiots.
CUSTOMER DISSERVICE: Because we're not satisfied until you're not satisfied.
DESPAIR: It's always darkest just before it goes pitch black.
GOALS: It's best to avoid standing directly between a competitive jerk and his goals.
INSPIRATION: Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99% perspiration, which is why engineers sometimes smell really bad

26 September 2010
I went to Photokina - the biggest photography fair worldwide. The Nikon stand advertised already on the steps leading up to their booth: I am colorful, I am imagination, I am happy, I am curious, I am here, I am home, I am ambitious, I am precise, I am fun, I am stylish, I am brave, I am the next step, I am innovative, I am slim, I am intelligent, I am awesome, I am cool, I am perfection, I am your muse, I am passion.

25 September 2010
Mostly things are not as straightforward as in movies where there are machos and non machos, beloved ones and denied ones.

24 September 2010
About mobile phone ringtones: What does the following lyrics of a song used as a ringtone tell us about a certain person? You lip stick stains on the front lobe of my left side brain... (from the song Hey Soul Sister by Train)

23 September 2010
Somebody said in a radio show that consuming is a secular promise of otherwise devine salvation.

21 September 2010
Idiosyncrasies:
- Reading a long, well written, wise article on analphabetism
- Belgians buying chocolate in Switzerland
- A delayed landing in Zurich due to fog and an on time departure to Brussels despite fog – leaving me behind in Zurich limbo

20 September 2010
Thinking about contradictions: Even Schopenhauer has already pondered the thought that certain core principles cannot be applied to all possible cases. Should one assume a principle like if two or more people love doing something they can very well do it together then at least in certain cases that is not fully applicable. An example: A says he likes to go on walks in solitude. B replies, well, yes, me too and continues to state 'so we can perfectly go on a walk together then!'

16 September 2010
T-Shirt print: United States of Belgium.

15 September 2010
What an out of office auto-reply: I am on vacation all afternoon on Sept 15.

14 September 2010
Hectic times...

13 September 2010
I often hear people describing a situation in which somebody is taking ‘an active interest’ in something. I wonder how taking a passive interest feels.

12 September 2010
A song is playing on my mind… Shirley Bassey, Kiss Me Honey Honey Kiss Me…

11 September 2010
I was told that the September 11 headline in China’s Guangzhou was that a 30 year old man fell asleep 47m up on Guangzhou's Haiyin Bridge. He had climbed intending to commit suicide. He was rescued by firemen when he fell asleep. Apparently he swallowed 6 sleeping pills before climbing.....

10 September 2010
Amazon sells ice cube trays that make ice cubes in the shape of the famous Moai stone statues!

9 September 2010
I love idiosyncrasies such as hating umbrellas when living in a really wet country.

8 September 2010
Since quite some time my name was misspelled again: Margrit.

7 September 2010
I got an e-mail today from a wedding photographer with about 8MB of pictures that were taken at my wedding last Saturday. According to the pictures I am blonde, my husband is called Thomas and we have a little son. Apparently I have a namesake with a similar e-mail address.
Received comment: I was wondering if you were blogging and just found broken blog. At quick reading I got a shock when I saw you had got your wedding photos Then I re read it!

6 September 2010
A routine check-up at the institute for tropical diseases ended with the order to 'stay alive' and to use a seatbelt when travelling as many more people are killed in road traffic accidents than die from malaria and the likes.

5 September 2010
There is an ongoing vote for the German word in youth language 2010. Amongst others there are words like egosurfing = searching the net for one’s own name, emotionally flexible = erratic, phantom vibration = illusion that one’s mobile vibrates and (can’t translate that really) speckbarbie = girl dressed in clothes that are much too tight.

4 September 2010
Roland Roos’ two year project of repairing broken, displaced or damaged things in public space ended recently. According to his website, each repair was intended to restore a particular detail to its pre-damaged state. Before and after the repair a photograph was taken that can be viewed here.

3 September 2010
Brussels is a very peculiar place. Until recently, the out-of-tune carillion of the catheadral played back 'Freude schoener Goetterfunken'. Now it plays equally out-of-tune 'Oh Du lieber Augustin'.

2 September 2010
T-shirt print: My boyfriend is out of town this week.

1 September 2010
What an interesting spelling error: Miss-used. I reckon it should have read abused. Or misuse. But it somehow made me stop reading that piece of text and reflect.

31 August 2010
Since quite some time Coca Cola has this new product ‚zero‘ on the market which seems to suggest being cooler than the ‚light‘ variant. I am told that it has been specifically designed for men which would be worth a discussion.

30 August 2010
There is a new Internet service that is really nice. It is an audio streaming service called Grooveshark. Really good!

28 August 2010
Very soon the big trip will start, so I am pondering whether or not to buy new Nikkor lenses...

27 August 2010
What a roundabout question in a questionnaire: What was your age on your last birthday?

25 August 2010
What do you think of a software that tells you the following: Say ‘yes’ if the security warning box appears!

24 August 2010
'The Baseballs’ should be much better known! What a sound!
Received comment: Most impressed with the Baseballs, except their name. Listen too to the Stray Cats and to Big Audio Dynamite.

23 August 2010
Driving into Munich I saw a sign reading ‘Munich is blue’. Signs in Vienna say ‘Vienna is different’.

21 August 2010
T-Shirt print: Who’s playing you?

18 – 21 August 2010
Stayed in Tisno, Croatia, near the island of Murter and stopped in Zagreb on the way back.

17 August 2010
Silence can be one form of a lie. So a philosopher on the radio said today.

16 August 2010
Back in Austria. The Norway/Finland/Sweden trip was very intense! So many impressions: landscape, stockfish, salmon ladders, reindeers, Fjords, light nights!

15 August 2010
Ferryboat from Helsinki to Stockholm. Stockholm is most beautiful! We had to go to the Astrid Lindgren museum which I thought was a bit childish. In fact it turned out to be really nice and rather inspiring. One goes on a lift through scenes of various Astrid Lindgren stories. Cute!

14 August 2010
Helsinki: The ‘Wrong Noodle Bar’ is next to the ‘Arctic Icebar’. The local hairdresser advertises with a number of sayings like: Hairway to heaven. Forget the brain, use the hair. One single hair can make your day. Sweet dreams are made of hair. I love your thoughts under your hair. Crazy little thing called hair. You’re haired. Hairs truly.

13 August 2010
T-shirt print: Your skill in reading has increased by 1 point.

12 August 2010
My Finnish skills are quite poor but in addition to my favourite words ‘banani’, ‘banki’, ‘posti’, ‘ravintola’ and ‘hissi’ I have learned two new ones: ‘grammofoni’ and ‘messinki’.

11 August 2010
Dialogue in Finland (on a boat): A: Where are you from? B: Austria. Silence. B: And you? A: Here. B: From here? A: No, from Turku. Near Helsinki. B: And this is your holiday destination? A: Yes. And this is my dog.

10 August 2010
T-shirt print: Steak Sandwich.

9 August 2010
Lappland, North Cape: I have think of Qualtinger who said: Why would I need the sun at midnight? And Fjords? You can’t bathe in a Fjord. And the Lapps? Rednecks in furcoats! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRAttwSV_7c

8 August 2010
Driving through Norway is like driving through the images of my grandmother’s calendar.

7 August 2010
Security warning in a hotel room: Leave the room at once. However, if exit routes are filled with smoke stay in your room. Keep the door and window closed. Let the firemen be aware of you.

6 August 2010
Stockfish must not be confused with cured cod. Stockfish is unsalted fish, especially cod and is dried by sun and wind on wooden racks. Cured cod is salted fish that is dried on cliffs. In both cases the tongue of the fish seems to be a speciality that is sold separately. Almost 100% of all dried fish heads are exported to Nigeria where a dried Norwegian fish head is said to be a status symbol.

5 August 2010
Standing on the polar circle really has something to it!

4 August 2010
We drove all the way up to Trondheim, a really marvelous Nordic cioty.

3 August 2010
The Briksdal glacier and the Gerangerfjord were really amazing! What a beautiful country!

2 August 2010
What was really amazing and what will be the last impression from a real city I suppose was the enormous Vigeland sculpture park. From there we went up north over Lillehammer to Lom. Saw a postcard from the 1950ies showing a woman with a toaster, reading: If it fits in a toaster I can cook it!

1 August 2010
Oslo was called Christiania for quite some time (from 1624 to 1925). Oslo is a very nice town, unfortunately there wasn’t too much time to visit. The townhall is somewhat special but could also be in Eastern Europe. A new Olympic ski-jump is about to be built.

27 July 2010
Quotes from Brussels: ‘You do not have to be dominant to be significant. It is more about relevance than dominance.’

26 July 2010
The bookshop Passa Porta in Brussels states on one of its walls: ‘The curse of babel is in fact a blessing.’

23 July 2010
When talking to people, random gaps in general education can hurt almost physically.

22 July 2010
Psychologists differentiate between rational behavior and so-called pre-rational behavior which is triggered by stress and causes action based on old and very simple mental strategies.

21 July 2010
I am discovering songs in old operettas that are new to me. So for instance I just love the refrain of a song that translates as kissing is not a sin. For the German speaking community I quote the text:
Küssen ist keine Sünd’,
Mit einem schönen Kind;
Lacht dir ein Rosenmund,
Küß ihn zu jeder Stund'!
Pflücke die Rosen kühn,
Die dir am Wege Blüh'n,
Nimm dir, was dir bestimmt,
Weil's sonst ein andrer nimmt.

19 July 2010
' I love to listen to you thinking out loud' is I think the most beautiful compliment I ever heard.

18 July 2010
YouTube is a place for real discoveries. Even Duracell’s drumming bunny has made it there!

17 July 2010
A song I haven’t heard in years is 'Heut' kommen d'Engerln auf Urlaub nach Wean'. What is quite funny are the summaries given for the non-German speaking community: 'This is an original Viennese song. It is about angels having a holiday in Vienna, and they like it and god Amor also comes an has a lot of fun.' – 'The angels are taking the 38 tram to go drinking to excess and they are happily planning some singing and some mischief during their vacation!' Actually I like this version better…

16 July 2010
During a very good talk at the venue of my current exhibition I got a very thought provoking comment concerning some of my pictures. Allegedly already hundreds of years ago painters knew that when painting nudes, the nudes had to look away and not directly at the beholder. A direct stare would shy away the beholder. Reflecting on my pictures the comment then was that those ones where the mannequin in question looks more or less dreamily away into a distance are more erotic and sensual than those where the mannequin boldly and almost offensively glances at the beholder.

15 July 2010
I am told that the highest honours for the British Civil Service are in the Order of St. Michael and St. George. The hierarchy is:
* CMG = Companion in the order
* KCMG = Knight Commander
* GCMG = Grand Cross
The alternative explanation given by civil service less senior officials is:
* CMG = Call Me God
* KCMG = Kindly Call Me God
* GCMG = God Calls Me God
Received comment: I like the 15 July entry a great deal!

14 July 2010
A frequent quote, often used after stating simple facts aimed at proving people wrong is: 'This is of course not rocket science.' From a modern day’s perspective, is the crown jewel of all sciences still rocket science?

13 July 2010
Life can be tough but there is hope. Yesterday I learned that there is life after death.
From the Q&A of a newsletter: Q: How will my insurance be affected if I travel a high-risk country privately? A: If you travel to such a country privately you must pay an additional premium if you wish to submit a claim to your insurance in case of death.
Received comment: Have an educated insurance!

12 July 2010
I am invited to an event where High Definition TV will be presented. The print on the invite is blurred. Honi soit qui mal y pense (evil to him who evil thinks)…

11. July 2010
Home, sweet home: Apart from Zotter’s chocolate there is a band that’s called Chilli da Mur. Sweet!

10 July 2010
Dilbert’s alter ego and creator Scott Adams has a theory that you should invest in the companies that you hate the most. I can only recommend the hilarious article, especially the bits where he ponders about Apple’s emotional control over himself and his family.

9 July 2010
How likely is that certain things can happen at all? It’s a busy day. I run to a meeting, I have a paper notebook. I finally also find a pen, a metal one. I can’t use it because for some reason it has a dent that makes it impossible to get the ink cartridge out.

8 July 2010
For the quote collection: ‘… and here I am considerably honest: we must not let the best be the enemy of the good!’

7 July 2010
Life in a modern society is challenging. I went to a garage today to have my tyres changed. The garage was opposite a supermarket and as I had an hour or so I thought I might as well go shopping for groceries. The trolley had a nice little plate saying ‘thank you for bringing me back’. I thought that was nice and just wanted to leave the compound to head off to my car when all of a sudden the wheels of the trolley blocked. I pushed and pushed – but no real movement. I got another trolley, unloaded the first and loaded the second just to discover that a meter further the second trolley’s wheels blocked as well. With all strength at hand I tried my best and dragged the trolley back into the shop where I was greeted with ‘Oh yes, it was you who wanted to leave the compound, wasn’t it? We have an electronic system that blocks the wheels as soon as you leave the parking lot!’ As said, the trolley had a nice little plate saying ‘thank you for bringing me back’. It did however not say: Don’t you dare to take me away in the first place.

6 July 2010
At the end of June the ‘First International Conference on Yawning’ was held in Paris. According to the website, 20 leading experts came to Paris for an in-depth assessment of the challenges involved in the dynamic and fast moving field of research and conjectures on yawning.

5 July 2010
How sad is that: a second hand wedding dress on sale for just 290 Euros.

4 July 2010
I hadn’t heard that song for ages: Adieu mein kleiner Gardeoffizier…

3 July 2010
Saw the newest Hasselblad cameras during a trade show. Amazing! Unfortunately also the prices are amazing.

2 July 2010
The exhibition opening at Expression Deco went really well. I got some interesting new interpretations of m pictures amongst them that the mannequin on a balcony looks like a figurehead.

1 July 2010
Tonight my exhibition at Expression Deco will be opened!

30 June 2010
A hectic day with a one day trip to Vienna followed by exhibition preparations in Brussels at Exhibition Deco!

29 June 2010
I read that bacteria in sewage plants work much better if exposed to Mozart music. I went to a toilet today that was exposed to the Radetzky March. I guess that helps in pre-processing the product before it comes to the Mozart-led finalizing touches in the sewage plant.

28 June 2010
T-shirt print: Everybody just want to be like me!

27 June 2010
Talking about snobbery my father told me the following joke: After having stranded there years ago, an Englishman lives alone on a deserted island. After quite some time, finally a visitor comes and sees three houses, asking the Englishman: Why three houses? The Englishman says, well, of course there is one house I am living in. The other one is the club I go to. And the third one, the visitor wanted to know? Well, the Englishman said, that's the club I don't go to.

26 June 2010
I hear that the word of the day is tenebrous.

25 June 2010
Quite a number of Spaniards are called Jesus. Sometimes I reckon it is only me who finds it kind of funny when a meeting is opened with the statement: ‘… and we are especially pleased that Jesus is with us today!’

24 June 2010
How come that a PC just dies from one second to the other???

23 June 2010
I came across a really interesting artist from Larnaca/Cyprus that works with Dolls. More on his website!

22 June 2010
Is it really a compliment if somebody says about somebody else: 'no matter how busy he is with work, he always finds time for people'?

21 June 2010
How often do you have to say something until you can safely claim to say 'I always tend to say that...'?
Received comment: Seven times.

20 June 2010
Reading 'At home' by Bill Bryson.

19 June 2010
The laugh is always on the loser: Have a look at this image from a BP gas station with the warning: Do not leave pumps unattended - you are responsible for spills.

18 June 2010
I am quoting from a Travel Advisory that I got from a travel agency in order to prepare for a trip to Austria:
- Do not call Austrians German or assume that their cultures are the same.
- Avoid discussing religion, money and politics unless you are well acquainted with your conversational partner.
- In the west, it is respectful to keep appropriate distance from another person. Around Vienna, it is common for social interaction to occur at a closer proximity to others.
- Austrians tend to avoid confrontation, compromising rather than disagreeing.
- The judicial system is not corrupt and is independent of the legislature. The police are competent, and … some police officers speak English.

17 June 2010
How come that some grownups decide to carry around their mobile phones in hand knitted socks? Somehow that socks. Also the thought of grandmothers who start knitting socks for mobile phones from November onward seems odd.

16 June 2010
If someone says he is in a "listening mode" I reckon that does not necessarily mean he is in a "changing mood" or that anything could ever change at all.
Received comment: There is a vast difference between listening and hearing; a lot seem to do the former; fewer the latter...

15 June 2010
A new sound bite in my series of logic reasoning or rather the failure of any logics when trying to reason: “Now, there is apparently an issue with your connectivity to the new server, meaning that our current understanding is that you may not have access to the server. We are trying to debug this situation and get the connection up as soon as possible. Related to this situation, we’ve set up a page at http://www.the-server-you-cannot-connect-to.com where we will be updating the situation as we get more information. Related to this, we won’t directly spam you with status updates: the next and final information will be visible at the page http://www.the-server-you-cannot-connect-to.com [which you can obviously not access]. We may email you again to let you know once we’ve solved the connectivity issue [but we’re not sure of that yet. It might make it too easy for you].” Comment: The comments in square brackets are a mere interpretation by the blogger

14 June 2010
Although the oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico is all but amusing, this video is! What if BP had to clean up spilled coffee….

13 June 2010
Isn´t it a strange form of brand loyalty that I get an immense feeling of wanderlust when driving by Frankfurt airport seeing planes take off but not so much when driving past Charles de Gaulle airport?

12 June 2010
Who invented payback cards? And why is it that I somehow see to remember that the original ratio was something like 3%?

11 June 2010
USB is a very powerful connection it seems. This video shows the latest groundbreaking invention…

10 June 2010
People who put themselves in the center of their attention often stand in their own way.

9 June 2010
I promised to post a picture of the M&M dispenser… Here it is!

8 June 2010
I had a small accident. I heard a crack and thought my finger broke. It hurt, it swelled and I panicked. I called a hospital. They told me to come to the emergency room. When I arrived I rang the bell and told the person that answered that I had just spoken to him on the phone. He asked me whether I was sure. I said yes, I was sure, I had called a few minutes before and I most probably had a broken finger. He did not say he wished he could help. What he did say was that he was a psychiatrist and whether I was really sure I would not rather want to see him. I insisted on an x-ray instead. Coldly he sent me away to another branch of the hospital where I gladly waited for 2 hours in an emergency room until all reanimation for the day was done. Finally it was my turn and I was told that the finger was injured but fortunately not broken.

7 June 2010
Dilbertonian moments: A learns that B is invited to go to X. C and D should advise B whether to accept or to decline. C asks E to prepare pros and cons in order to advise B correctly. A advises that B accepts. B says, B would like to attend. D is all for it, too. E says mission accomplished. C says no, a proper pros and cons paper by E is due. E asks A for input. A sighs and fills in a 1.5 page form that says B is right in wishing to attend.

6 June 2010
I like the atmosphere on markets that are about to close. Shop owners do not pay attention to potential customers anymore. They hurry up to make sure they pack up all their belongings. Leftovers are taken by people passing by or end up in garbage. It so happened that my mother and I passed such a closing scene this afternoon. We walked by a flower booth and the owner presented us with 100 (!) tulips!

5 June 2010
Trip to Gouda and Delft: There is even grass green cheese in Holland, made by using basil.

4 June 2010
Modern societies and their unexpressed behavior patterns: If a rather civilized person says “sorry, I am eating like a pig here” does that actually mean the person is fishing for compliments? And, given the circumstances, is an apologetic nod an insult? How to keep one`s eyebrows under control in the situation?

3 June 2010
Sometimes unsolicited communication can be quite interesting. As recently blogged I was awarded an M&M dispenser for winning in a power point karaoke show. Now I get an e-mail alerting me to a service that allows you to order personalized M&Ms. I am tempted. Wouldn’t Broken Muses M&Ms be sort of cool?
Received comment: Will leave a big box of smashed M&Ms at your flat.
Received comment: How about posting a photo of the M&M dispenser you were awarded?

2 June 2010
Quote: “We have a contemporary website.” I wonder what that is really.

1 June 2010
A quite interesting quote: „The iPad is the killer application for the mobile Internet“. I have only seen it on pictures so far but dare say that it is quite bulky for an application. Especially given that it claims to be the haven for so many applications.
Another quote I actually liked was: We tend to overestimate the near future and always underestimate the remote future.

31 May 2010
This is also Europe: I parked my rental car in Cyprus, walked though the main pedestrian area and ended up at a checkpoint that divides the main shopping street into two distinct areas. After applying for a visa, I was allowed to walk over to the Turkish part of the city which proved to be much more interesting from a photogenic point of view. Unfortunately it was already to dark to take pictures.

30 May 2010
Observations from the airport: Most people aren’t dressed well. Jeans that do not quite fit in length, at the waist or are just in general wrong models for the persons wearing them seem to be latest fashion. Also, misfit high heels leading to shaky movements as well as ill-fit boots leading to dragging feet are equally beloved it seems. Above all elegance seems to be history.

29 May 2010
My next exhibition is upcoming: It will be through the whole month of July at Expression Deco in Brussels, Avenue Louise 226A. Opening: Thursday, July 1.

28 May 2010
Today a visitor in the office asked: Can I use your bedroom? How am I to keep a poker face?

27 May 2010
I only feel comfortable in a city when there is a coffee shop that could potentially become my favorite coffee shop – were I to stay in that city. Such place I recently discovered I Addis Ababa, right next to the old train station, the main station of the Ethiopia – Djibouti line that is not operational since quite some years. Only now, back in Brussels, I learn more about this coffee shop. It belongs to the Belgian ambassador
s wife and is described as follows: “Cleverly disguised behind a wooden picket fence, Café́ Choché́ opened a few months ago. After 18 years abroad, Rahel Zewdie wanted to create an oasis in a busy hub, only meters away from Addis-Abeba historical train station “la Gare”.

26 May 2010
I just love that statement from an e-mail I got earlier today: "Here is my problem: None of the organizations I had a look at actually seems to produce something useful. Everyone just looks around and summarizes what the others do." In essence that could also form part of my collection of circular definitions as if nobody is actually doing anything apart from looking around, what is there to summarize apart from general disorientation and tracking the overall inactivity?

25 May 2010
So again my name has come out as Margrit... This time it is consistently misspelled by a "communications manager". Isn't that interesting how broadly text blindness and/or dyslexia are spread amongst different professions?

24 May 2010
It is time to leave Africa again. Some thoughts on the famous sigh TIA – this is Africa: Don’t worry if you buy six stamps and the price you pay is a number that cannot be divided by six. The same holds of course true for all other things, too, e.g. a price of 11 for three coffees. Don’t feel the urge to raise an eyebrow if someone says wholeheartedly “good night mister” at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Also the attempt of being sold sunglasses or t-shits reading 13 months of sunshine in pouring rain is probably just TIA.

23 May 2010
Another way of spelling my name for the collection: Merkit.

19 – 22 May 2010
Lake Tana is as beautiful as I remembered it from the last time I’ve been there. Driving there from Addis Ababa is most beautiful, what a country, what a landscape

15 - 18 May 2010
Days in Addis Ababa with visits to the Entoto mountain, the big covered market Merkato and the Ethiopia National Museum with its archeological section featuring Lucy that was so far believed to be the earliest human-like being. Since 1994 archeologists have been digging out parts of an even older skeleton, Ardi, who belongs to a human-like species 4.4 million years old.

14 May 2010
A trip to the South of Addis Ababa, not quite to the Omo valley (which would be a three week tour I believe) but to Lake Langano and Lake Ziway. There are hot springs with boiling hot water and flamingos.

13 May 2010
Climate change is visible everywhere. Whereas it should be nice and warm in Ethiopia around this time, it is cool and rainy. Addis Ababa’s streets are covered with mud and at certain parts the streets seem to float away. Still there are picturesque moments but I have not been in a photography mood, yet.

12 May 2010
Flying to Africa again I have hardly ever seen such an empty plane with such caring stewardesses. A nice and easy trip so far!

11 May 2010
Slightly absurd dialogue: A: May I borrow your pen please? B: That`s mine. A: Yes, sure, but may I borrow it for a second? B (still staring at his phone): That`s mine. A takes it anyway and says thank you. B remains silent.

10 May 2010
I just love automated e-mails giving travel advise such as: "Organized crime groups occasionally carry out small-scale bombings, though these are generally closely targeted against others implicated in dubious business and pose little risk to personnel."

9 May 2010
Harbor cruise in Antwerp. After Rotterdam, Antwerp has the second biggest harbor in Europe.

8 May 2010
Quite an interesting day: I saw a flash mob event. A number of people had assembled on a large square in order to perform a polonaise for just a few moments and then walked on again just as if nothing had happened. Later on I participated in a Power Point Karaoke, spoke vividly on slides the organizers had downloaded from the Internet at random and that I had never seen before. I won. I even got a prize: a huge M&M dispenser. And I don`t know whether I should be proud about that really.
Talking about power point, one should never forget the take home messages and the lessons learned of course. So in essence three points:
1. On average people lack general education.
2. Overall people`s verbal skills are quite limited
3. It really depends what one tends to be ashamed of; when it comes to embarrassment, the bar has risen considerably in the past few years.

7 May 2010
Received comment on the April 28 reflection on the crowd intelligence: What if we had no stop signs, yet…

6 May 2010
Two attentive readers have pointed out two sides of the same story to me today. One is on mannequins and their history, pointing out that on the one hand they have over time become more and more homogenous but on the other hand still tell us something about ourselves: “At their best they tell us how we stand and carry our bodies; whether we want to be tall, willowy, athletic, busty, Amazonian, and if we need to pay attention to our arches. But even at their worst — headless, colorless, listless — a mannequin tells us something about ourselves.” The other article goes more into detail on one particular aspect of the change that has started to occur when it comes to the design of mannequins – an increase in slenderness. Interestingly enough it is called manorexic mannequins, and although the article contains mainly noteworthy statistics, the best part to me is the list of skinny men in history, lead by Hermes and Jesus. Gandhi ranks eighth followed by Fred Astaire…

5 May 2010
Parts of my recent Broken Muses exhibition have ended today. About half of the pictures will remain exhibited until summer.

4 May 2010
Is putting one`s cards on the table really the best way of getting something off the table?

3 May 2010
New names again: After having been called Marget the other day also the intolerable Birgit has resurfaced. And that from a man whose surname sounds like a prominent mixed yellow spice.

2 May 2010
A rather non-charming quote from a newspaper article: More and more people work out feverishly, trying to change for the better but fail to achieve any measurable result.”

30 April – 1 May 2010
Travelling is always exciting I find. It is interesting to see what people read, e.g. a book titled “Moscow is much more beautiful than Paris”, seen at Cologne airport waiting for a flight to Vienna. I also thought it rather uncommon to write one`s shopping list on the back of one`s hand as was the case with the person sitting next to me in the plane. What was slightly irritating was that “valerian” came first, followed by milk and bread.

28 April 2010
Being in many different sorts of working groups every so often, I am more and more wondering whether it is really true that groups or crowds are more efficient and intelligent than singular human beings. Anyways, in one way or another and contradicting Aristotle - who for that matter probably was never forced to attend working group meetings - I assume it is not always true that the whole is more than the sum of its parts.

27 April 2010
“A cynic is what an idealist calls a realist.” Sir Humphrey in Yes, Minister.‏

26 April 2010
T-Shirt print: Life is 10% how you make it and 90% how you take it.

25 April 2010
Reminded me of broken muses: “Behind every beautiful thing there is some sort of pain.” Bob Dylan

24 April 2010
If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you find an excuse.

23 April 2010
Casino Austria International opened an outlet in Brussels. It is rather an entertainment palace than a casino really. Impressive.

22. April 2010
Talking about bacteria: I recently read a slogan from an Asian campaign promoting washing hands: “If the cook doesn’t wash his hands, the guests eat more than rice.”

21. April 2010
The New York Times quotes two interesting figures, stating that according to the International Telecommunication Union, “the number of mobile phone subscription is expected to pass five billion this year” which means that “more human beings today have access to a mobile phone than the United Nations say have access to a clean toilet.” That reminds me of a study stating that there are more bacteria on our mobile phones than on an average toilet seat. Is there a trigger or are apples compared to oranges here? In other words do people value phones over toilets, do clean phones lead to clean toilets, or clean toilets to clean phones, or dirty phones to dirty toilets, or toilets to higher phone usage or a generally higher phone penetration to dirtier toilets?

20 April 2010
Best practice sharing is not a bad thing as such. I was reminded of a well meant advice I got a few years ago to never wear fair colored suits in morning meetings after early morning flights. The rational was that an early morning flight, moderate boredom and utter tiredness can, in combination with a mouthful of rather average tasting coffee, lead to nasty stains on fair colored suits. Not to forget the embarrassment - especially vis-à-vis the host - of having spit coffee while drifting away. What reminded me of that was the feeling that my black trousers got dusty during a meeting. Be it that the Icelandic volcano`s ashes finally settled on Europe`s surface or my feeling that I had been in that two hour meeting since about two weeks – the baseline was I felt I needed to be dusted.

19 April 2010
One tends to forget that the content of professional looking papers coming out from a printer is not necessarily good or true.

18 April 2010
You can go by bus along the silk road from Hamburg to Shanghai in 75 days! In a newspaper interview the organizers underline the environmental friendly way of bus journeys. On a bus journey the average fuel consumption per passenger is 1 liter per 100km as compared to about 4 liters for a train journey and of course only a fraction of a plane ride. After the Icelandic volcano made the European airspace more or less collapse, these journeys might become a real hype!

17 April 2010
Had a really Dutch day with a visit to a cheese manufacturer in Gouda, lots of history on Holland and a visit through the Royal Delft Pottery. One has to really like the fine pottery. There are some quite original tulip vases which cost a few thousand Euros, though. The oddest new invention is a series of plates with text painted onto. The so-called “Diskus! Plate Men” reads: "Success isn't good for men. It makes them much too secure. Left to his own devices a man isn't going to reflect on life; it's not in the genes. And a man who is doing well has only himself to thank. He thinks. So he needs to get knocked around a bit by life. That might have the desired effect. I think". Quite remarkable is also the text of the “Diskus! plate Chance” reading "I'm sure it's no coincidence that we're sitting at this table together. Some things cannot be mere chance; everybody has got an example of this. On the other hand I think it's nonsense to say chance doesn't exist. I mean what's the chance that nothing ever happens by chance". The latter one makes it into my collection of circular definitions I think.

16 April 2010
Is having a sparring partner just another way of wanting to engage in some sort of competition?

15 April 2010
Is it a form of powerpoint poisoning that while staring in the hole of a ring shaped graph you engage in pondering whether you like ring shaped or pie shaped graphs better?

15 April 2010
I read that year after year more and more bees die over winter time. I wonder what happens to the drones.

13 April 2010
T-shirt print: We did the sheep.

12 April 2010
'Never to get what one wants is never to want (for long) what one gets, unless, sometimes, when it is taken away.' Susan Sontag.

9 - 11 April 2010
London gives the impression of having only suffered a little bit from the recession. There are still plenty of big words and slogans out there like: 'The icon re-imagined'.

8 April 2010
After a really long time of moderate name stability I have been given quite a new nice new name again today: Marlies.

7 April 2010
I was listening to a really professional and exhaustive explanation regarding the proper usage of a mobile e-mail client. The presenter began literally every sentence with an inimitable "unfortunately". His best contribution was: "Unfortunately this device cannot be upgraded, but please have a look at the support page of unsupported devices - of course at your own risk."

5 April 2010
Just for your reference: Should anyone ever be bothered to sell or buy an island, there is a brilliant website out there. Vladi Private Islands even has islands to rent on offer! The island shop is really neat! I recommend having a look at the "Island Survival Bag" which is not only elegant but also contains – and I quote verbally – contents which Robinson Crusoe only dreamed of. Amongst the goodies are a 2-man tent which pops up in seconds, a voucher for a free three day stay on a Canadian island (great if you get stranded somewhere in the Pacific I say…), a bottle of mineral water and a message in a bottle (Which message? Beware of contaminated water???), some fishing rods with accessories and amongst others the novel Robinson Crusoe.

4 April 2010
Happy Easter!

3 April 2010
Easter seems to be high noon for spammers. After quite some time when Viagra offers were on the decline and Valium on the rise, the time for Shylocks has come. As far as I can tell from my spam mail, on the Viagra front generic medicaments are on the rise.

2 April 2010
Photographer Bettina Rheims says that at times one needs to conceal things even from oneself.

1 April 2010
Presidential elections in Austria are upcoming and so the people of this country are told by candidate A that our behavior needs values and – in response – by candidate B that without courage there are no values.

31 March 2010
For people who have not been Austrian kids in the 1980ies this might not mean anything at all but astonishingly enough Helmi, an egg shaped puppet and TV star helping to teach children responsible behavior in tricky traffic situations is still active and even has his own Internet page! Don’t miss the song on the website!

30 March 2010
The few things I ever read on small talk can be summarized in three `take home messages`: 1. Smalltalk is not a bad thing as such and one does not necessarily imply intrinsic shame. 2. The situation always gives you the topic you want to discuss. And 3. Practise, practice, practice!

29 March 2010
The German defense minister is from nobility and has an appropriate name: Karl-Theodor von und zu Guttenberg. Over the past months it seems that as a matter of simplicity, newspapers started to let go of parts of his name, calling him `Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg` only. Recently he had quite some bad press regarding German involvement in Afghanistan. From that moment on he lost all traces of nobility in his name and is referred to as `Guttenberg` only.

28 Mach 2010
Once more on kindergarten: I was told that there is even a book out there called ´All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten´. The author ponders over things like: share everything, play fair, don´t hit people, put things back where you found them, cean up your own mess, flush, wash your hands before your eat and many more. What I really meant when I mentioned a similar mantra a few days ago was rather different. I thought of things - and this is merely a start of a more elaborate collection – things like: Profound changes take place without anybody telling you. In the example: Child A promises child B to play together in a special corner on the next day. When child B gets to kindergarten the very next day, child A sits in the respective corner playing with child C and not allowing child A to join. Both, child A and child C smile at child B and act as if all of that were perfectly normal.

27 March 2010
As I noted on the 6th of June 2009, the words ‘Carefully balanced on the edge of a hole in time’ are engraved above the entrance of a bookshop in Brussels city centre. Today I saw exactly the same quote above the entrance of a theatre in Brussels city centre.

26 March 2010
Thinking about chess: Wikipedia tells us that the word ‘rook’ is borrowed from the Persian ‘rokh’ and the Sanskrit ‘rath”. In the past the piece was called a castle, tower, marquess and rector. The Persian word rokh means chariot, and the corresponding pieces in Oriental chess games such as xiangqi and shogi have names meaning chariot. Persian War Chariots were heavily armored, carrying a driver and at least one ranged-weapon bearer, such as an archer. The sides of the chariot were built to resemble fortified stone work, giving the impression of small, mobile buildings, causing terror on the battlefield. However, in the West, the rook is almost universally represented as a crenellated turret. One possible explanation is that when the game was imported to Italy, the Persian rokh became the Italian word rocca, meaning fortress.

25 March 2010
Men talking to each other: A: That comment you made earlier during lunch was brilliant! B: Actually it was a suggestion. And people took it up and so we can expect xzy as a result. A: Now that you say that I remember. It was great, whereas my own contribution was barely a comment. A: No, I have to protest, it was so the point! I have to say that without your contribution we would not be where we are now!

21 – 24 March 2010
The last few days have been very, very busy with preparing last night`s event which was really nice! Over 50 people gathered together and spend a nice evening I think.

23 March 2010
Exhibition opening and reading in Brussels!
Received comment: The pictures were wonderful!

20 March 2010
After quite some time I have been to Oostende again. And when I am there of course I pay the mannequin with the beautifully broken nose a visit. She is still there, still beautiful, but even more scratched and broken then in the past which makes her look even more melancholic.
Received comment: If she's melancholic, dear lady (and I'm inclined to think that a more appropriate descriptor is "pensive"), it's because she has missed you...

19 March 2010
A collection of messages that seem to help some people through hours of discussions: Well, it's kind of like, you know. You never know, it really all depends.

18 March
Overall when thinking about what has best prepared me for life I have to say, upon careful reflection of course, it was my time in kindergarten. Nothing in human interaction in day to day life that hasn`t already happened there in a, I must admit, less coded way.

17 March 2010
Steady observation shows that the older people become the more they seem to be interested in construction sites. Close to almost any modern construction site you see a few on average elderly people watching others work on the construction.

16 March 2010
Does the extensive use of smart phones and blackberries and the like lead to callused skin on the thumbs?

15 March 2010
I like the video of the song Serious by Richard Hawley a lot.

14 March 2010
Framing pictures for an exhibition brings you much closer to your own images. You are forced to engage with them in a variety of ways.

13 March 2010
Adam was only a specimen for Eve. Jeanne Moreau

12 March 2010
I tend to believe that there are people that manage to trigger severe Tourette Syndrome attacks in otherwise completely sane fellow human beings.

11 March 2010
Urban myth: Allegedly there has been a Viennese student who managed to nick a thighbone from the medical university. He used it as a gearshift in his car. He was expelled from medical school whether because of stealing a bone or because of impious behavior no one knows.

10 March 2010
Upcoming Broken Muses Exhibition and Reading from Margit Kuchler-D´Aiello´s book in Brussels on March 23!

9 March 2010
News from Vienna's bookstores: I was searching for a biography of Potemkin and all I found was a biography of Andreas Hofer, hero and rebel of the alps, so the title says. Another book which appears to have elapsed my notice is the bestseller 'I thought I was a panther – the story of a duck in search of its real self'.

8 March 2010
Vienna. Passport office. After a while one is finally served but quickly interrupted again. The clerk in the passport office takes a phone call of a person who obviously needs some more information on how to apply for a passport for a newborn baby. The official is in a really bad mood, shows signs of passive resistance and mumbles: all you need is a passport photo, a proof of citizenship, a birth certificate, and most importantly: a baby.

7 March 2010
Flowers are blooming at all times for those who want to see them. Henri Matisse.

6 March 2010
A house without books is poor, even if beautiful carpets cover its floors and precious pictures hang on its walls. Hermann Hesse.

4 March 2010
The keyboard has been rescued and the M key works again. So far, so good but now the mouse pad is on strike.

3 March 2010
I managed to poor some water over my computer’s keyboard. As if that wasn’t clumsy enough, I ended up losing the M key in my attempt to quickly wipe over and dry the keyboard. Having problems with my name all time, the M has grown on me lately.

2 March 2010
Problems were the day before yesterday, then we had challenges yesterday. Today we have mere opportunities. Everything, even the most challenging problematic situation is an opportunity. In Orwell's newspeak one would call that perhaps a paradigm shift. And as we know, alternative thinking is a thoughtcrime.

1 March 2010
I learned today that cognitive behavior consists of six phases: 'Observe, Orient, Plan, Learn, Decide, Act'

27 February 2010
Why is the movie Up In The Air nominated for 6 Oscars?

26 February 2010
Until recently I got between 3 and 5 e-mails a day advertising Viagra. Since a few days that has changed and instead of the Viagra ads I get ads for valium. What do the spammers want to tell me really?

25 February 2010
Having participated in countless meetings in the last decade I can summarize my overall findings in just one statement: men like to talk to men. The content of the conversation is of rather low importance but it seems to give them reassurance and self confidence. Also being amongst themselves they tend to go on for longer than necessarily needed.
Received comment: Loved the comment about men talking, especially. Your man friend who makes conversation "of rather low importance"... :-)

24 February 2010
The French have eight words for soup: Bouillon, Consommé, Crème, Bisque, Potage, Soupe, Potée and Verlouté.

23 February 2010
What I forgot to mention is that I read an article about latest findings in brain research: Contrary to common believe, forgetting is an active process of the brain!

22 February 2010
So much about gender equality: A 15cm scratch on a car formerly driven by a man is seen as a minor damage, to be repaired with some car polish. The same auditor however regarded three hardly visible spots on a car formerly driven by a woman as major damage.

21 February 2010
Now we know it, Tiger Woods allegedly wanted to let the world knowhe was sorry . What for was not really clear. With this speech he could basically have apologized for almost everything. It’s a good example how you can say rather little with many, many words and still manage to bore people to death. Even his mother seemed to sleep through most of the speech.

20 February 2010
Exhibition opening of the photo collages of Bernadette Reginster . Interesting!

19 February 2010
According to Alec Wilder, in his study of American popular song, the rhythmic pattern in 'Puttin' on the Ritz' is the most complex and provocative he has have ever come upon.
Wikipedia knows that the song is in AABA form, with a verse. According to John Mueller, the central device in the A section is the 'use of delayed rhythmic resolution: a staggering, off-balance passage, emphasized by the unorthodox stresses in the lyric, suddenly resolves satisfyingly on a held note, followed by the forceful assertion of the title phrase.' The marchlike B section, which is only barely syncopated, acts as a contrast to the previous rhythmic complexities.

18 February 2010
A travel agency I came across the other day offers tourist trips to Saudi Arabia (and to North Korea for that matter). For women, the Saudi trip includes a top-notch burka that is handed out in the plane just before arrival.

17 February 2010
Some published diaries - especially when edited and published by a deceased celebrity's child - can only be seen as a cure for insomnia.

16 February 2010
Incomprehensible blurb: 'There is a Finn in every Dutch guy.'

15. Februar 2010
Recently I notice bizarre book titles like: 'There is only me who calls myself I'

14 February 2010
The economic crisis fosters quite notable developments like this rap between Keynes and Hayek . One hears that this song is meanwhile even used at universities to explain the difference between Keynes' and Hayek's theories.

12 February 2010
Still sick.

11 February 2010
For the concerned reader who wonders what has happened to the poor guinea fowl (see 16 December and related days): In the meantime it is not smelly anymore and has made it from the freezing cold terrace into a warm room.

10 February 2010
Some people expect that if they let you have their read copies of 'The Economist' you would most certainly be jumping for joy.

9 February 2010
The American photographer Leonard Freud said about photographs: the more ambigous the better.

5 – 8 February 2010
Having an angina is bad enough but trying to find a doctor who could prescribe some antibiotics on a Saturday is a challege to say the least. A pharmacist sent me to an adress that proved to be the address of a city center hospital. It was closed. Just when I wanted to ring the front entrance doorbell, a friendly bypassing women said that according to er experience this makes absolutely no sense and I should instead follow her and enter the hospital via the garage. I did as I had been told and ended up in an evelvator that would not stop at level zero. At level five it eventually stopped, the woman headed out to the geriatric station that happened to be there and a young fellow with a swollen cheeck entered the elevator. Together we ventured through other levels of the hospital, deserted, dark corridors, construction sites and eventually took another elevator that – surpirsing enough - brought us to level zero. There - as expected - the information desk was unmanned. There were no people. All shops were closed. The light was dim. Suddenly another young guy appeared and asked whether we were also searching for the exit. We said no, we were searching for doctors, people who could help with swollen cheeks and swollen throats. In the end at least we could show him the way out through the grim garage. The moral of the story was that of course I should have just rang the bell. That was the direct connection to the Saturday/Sunday emergency service where two perfectly friendly people, a nurse and a doctor were there to help. No queues, just nice and friendly service.

4 February 2010
A sign of being stressed out? Politely asked for the reasoning behind a certain piece of text, the person says: 'Well as I have written it, I must have thought something at the time!'

3 February 2010
Manipulation or charming way of saying 'I want'?
If you take a cake, I will take one, too.

2 February 2010
The world of marketing: These days you get ancient dishes that are high in carbohydrates but low in taste in yesterday’s canteens with modern day names. An example: without the slightest change in the actual preparation of the meal, a tasteless lentil stew, cooked to rags becomes a lentil curry on basmati rice.

1 February 2010
The mannequins page of this website has undergone a major overhaul!
Received comment: I think the blog is increasingly witty and sardonic. And I enjoyed the new mannequins page esp 5th down on right

31 January 2010
Brussels' flea market was more beautiful today than ever I thought, be it because of the cold weather and sunshine or because of more classy goods.

30 January 2010
After quite some time I found again some useful instructions on how to wash your hands properly. The advice is to:
1. Wet your hands with water.
2. Put 3 to 4 ml of soap liquid into your hands.
3. Rub your hands together for 30 seconds, talking care to completely soap all areas of your hands and fingers.
4. Rinse your hands and dry them well with a paper towel.
5. Turn the tap of with the paper towel in order to avoid recontamination of your hands.
As if all that would not be complicated enough (I just remind of the need for water, liquid soap and a paper towel), the best advice comes thereafter: 'Avoid touching your face with your hands during the day!' So face touching only at night time in the future!

29 January 2010
Very inspiring video on one of the new EU Commissioners!

28 January 2010
Now we know it, heaven is not only on earth, it is in Belgium! A Belgian made chocolate bar I bought today states on its package: 'Chocolate made in heaven!' A few lines below they also state 'Made in Belgium'.

27 January 2010
Giorgio Armani seems to have said 'You should not be dressed for the job you have but for the job you want.' Well. During the last few days I was approximately dressed like that. Well, not quite. But still I felt very much like following the motto 'A woman modestly dressed is as a pearl in its shell'.

23 – 26 January 2010
72 hours in Tehran/Iran. It is a different place indeed. I had again quite some issues with my name and gender. It started with being registered under Brandi all over the place, but that was not so bad. When I gave my room number to the girl who controlled access to the breakfast room, her reply was: Where is your husband? I said politely there was no husband. She said that the room was booked on Mr. Margit Brandi. I tried to explain that there was a misunderstanding and that in fact it should read Mrs. Brandi. Instead of talking to me she opened a file with a scanned copy of my passport, pointing at the picture while stating: This is not you, this is your husband!
Before leaving the country I was greeted with the words: Thank you, Sir.
Wearing a headscarf as default accessory, I also had the chance to notice that the women’s hairdresser lobby is rather weak. When I called the hotel reception for a hairdresser they replied sharply: 'Only for men!' and hang up on me. I tried again, explaining that it was a hairdryer I needed, not a hairdresser.
Tehran’s covered market is the largest one on earth I was told. It hosts shops underneath about 10 kilometers of roofs in different styles and shapes. It was a paradise for male broken muses! I just could not hold myself back and took many, many pictures which of course did not go unnoticed. People were tremendously friendly and showed great interest in the broken muses theme as well as in foreign ethical behavior. I had quite an interesting discussion on women in general and their hypothetical husbands and their pars, the hypothetical boyfriends and whether, in the theoretical circumstances, one would or would not be jealous of the other.
Another issue was that unfortunately my website was not accessible from Tehran.

22 January 2010
Saying on a postcard: Feelings are unreasonable. That’s what makes them special.

21 January 2010
Oscar (the skeleton) travelled back home – again that went unnoticed.

20 January 2010
Oscar is a great photo model. Even after an exhausting session yesterday he was still fresh and in good spirits for today's.

19 January 2010
Brussels is a very liberal place and that's what I like about it. If one wanted to be overly critical, one could also call that indifffernce. But anyway. What happened wan't much but still amazing. After a long dry period of lobbying - but that's another story - I could finally borrow a friend's skeleton. It is a male skeleton. Real bones. The owner calles it Oscar. So Oscar travelled with me to the studio - all the way through Brussels on the passenger seat. And the amazing part was: nobody cared. No raising of eyebrows, nothing. Well that's what I like about Brussels!

18 January 2010
Also this year is obviously not the year where my name is finally correctly spelled. Today I learned on an official document that my name was Dr. Branol. That again reminded me of the first and most thrilling way of having my name misspelled. Years ago the owner of an Italian photo lab called me Signora Brando – with a big smile on his face!
Received comment: Maybe you should change your last name from BRANDL to SMITH? :-)

17 January 2010
From the collection of not so bad insults: 'Oh, I did not recognize you. You are blonder than you used to be!'

16 January 2010
My name was misspelled again. It read 'Brendl' in a hotel reservation. The nice thingthough was that the saying of the day on the hotel reception day said: 'Two wrongs don’t make a right, but they make a good excuse!' (Thomas Szasz)

15 January 2010
After quite some time of relative silence on the recent question on twitter (to tweet or not to tweet, that is) I had a discussion on the pros and cons of twitter the other day. Pros are hard to find I'm afraid but on the cons side I can't add much to this page describing what you should definitely not tweet about. Worth mentioning - also for day to day life I guess - is speaking out of context.

14 January 2010
An advertisement for some speakers I recently saw read 'Seduced by design, surrounded by sound'. Sounds like a lot of noise to me.

13 January 2010
A young girl wore a handbag with an interesting print the other day. It read 'Generation mtv - official sponsor of friendships'.

12 January 2010
Having thought about Ethiopia over the weekend again: Many schools there have their own mottos. I particularly liked: 'There is no darkness like ignorance' and 'Knowledge cannot be taken away from you.'

11 January 2010
Finally the Ethiopia pictures are online!

10 January 2010
And coffee once more: The 15 things worth knowing about coffee are really worth reading. What is also a remarkable idea is to paint in coffee. An artist called Karen Eland has reproduced famous pieces of art using coffee as paint. I wonder when the smell starts fading. And the most remarkable one: a Mona Lisa made from 3,604 filled coffee mugs whereby the color shades are derived from the various shades of coffee.

9 January 2010
And again a story on Nespresso: I have to admit that the newest TV advertisement is well done. In the shorter version it is not that obvious but I think that having seen the longer version one could say that if the machine and the tabs are the only thing missing in heaven Nespresso is perhaps not heavenly as such :-)

8 January 2010
Elvis is alive. We knew it. On the occasion of Elvis' birthday (8 January 1935) Brussels' Manneken Pis was dressed like Elvis. Unfortunately I was 30 minutes late and Manneken was naked again.

7 January 2010
Starting the day with a train at 6:54 is an unpleasant thing as such especially if at 6:53 a metallic voice lets you know that this train will not be running at all (for no obvious reason) and besides all coffee places in the station are still closed.

6 January 2010
There is a museum for glasses in Amsterdam where about 1000 glasses from various periods are exhibited, amongst them of course also monocles. They were originally used as magnifying glass and 'as playful distance correction'. The description further read that 'they were the favorite tool for eccentrics' especially at a time when 'it became fashion to hold them in one eye'.

5 January 2010
In Amsterdam the newest t-shirt print for t-shirts sold at tourist shops is: I am Sterdam.
What I’ve also seen in Amsterdam was a money saving box with Obama’s picture on it and the word 'change'.
Furthermore there is a fashion store called UN whereby UN stands for 'united nudes'.

4 January 2010
An article in the newspaper advises that one should always have much more knowledge than one shows.

1 January 2010
Broken Muses wishes a Happy New Year 2010!

31 December 2009
Isn’t it slightly unsettling if a restaurant advertises with the slogan: 'Patience is a sister of wisdom'?

29 December 2009
New book titles that make me shiver: 'The art of reading thoughts', '111 reasons for being a Philistine' and 'Let’s face it: I’m overweight'

28 December 2009
I almost bought the complete DVD set of the Austrian 1970ies cult series 'Mundl' and this just because the set had a complimentary white ripped flannel undershirt reading: 'My beer isn’t stupid'

27 December 2009
Quotes of real friends: '… and when you’re going to visit me in the US, make sure you come on a Tuesday. Tuesdays are good, I am free on Tuesday evenings!'

26 December 2009
Family stories: Christmas lunch. The late grandfather's ex-girlfriend has lunch on the next table. As one of the most unbeloved people ever – her nickname always was 'the witch' – people keep staring at her secretly. When she leaves the restaurant, she nods in the direction of the family. Soon after the family decides to leave as well and misses a coat. A family owned good winter coat. Instead of the coat there is a leftover shabby thin black coat. Angry and disgusted looks follow. The witch is accused. A group is sent over to her house. She swears she hadn't taken the coat, brings out every coat she owns, proving her case. The group leaves unsatisfied and returns the shabby coat to the restaurant. The family exchanges stories and the most vocal one has a lot to tell about lost coats, umbrellas and hats. When he prepares to leave he finds out he is missing his coat; the coat that was waiting for its owner to come back to the restaurant.

24 and 25 December 2009
Merry Christmas!

23 December 2009
Driving home for Christmas with a thousand memories from any available radio station that Michael Schumacher made it back to Formula I. As if there was no other news at all. Well. Riving through Germany and Austria I saw quite some differences. While you can mostly drive as fast as you wish in Germany there are some 'highway churches' on the way. The message in Austria is much more direct. There you have huge billboards where the word ‘Death’ is crossed out with a seat belt.

22 December 2009
It is thawing; the guinea fowl is visible again!

21 December 2009
I love those invitations you get from social networking sites. XYZ indicated that you are a friend. Wow! It reminds me a lot of my time in kindergarten where other children would eventually ask you: Do you want to be my friend?

20 December 2009
In the morning I could still see the guinea fowl’s head. In the afternoon even that was gone and the guinea fowl is a mere hill covered by snow.

19 December 2009
It was minus seven degrees during the day, the streets are slippery and cars meander through Brussels icy streets. Even pet dogs were dressed. I saw one in a pirate dress with the Jolly Roger printed all over. Creepy.

18 December 2009
The guinea fowl is rather smelly and had to move out. It lives now on the terrace and is totally covered with snow which is as such rather unlikely for guinea fowls I assume. Besides, it is also rather unlikely for Brussels to have 10 centimeters of snow that seems to be here to stay!

17 December 2009
I saw a picture of the demonstrations alongside the climate change summit in Copenhagen. One poster I though was simply great in its simplicity. It read: There is no planet B.

16 December 2009
I got a guinea fowl as a present. To be precise it is a helmeted guinea fowl which must by no means be mistaken for a white-breasted guinea fowl, let alone a crested guinea fowl. No, it is not a real one, it's made from terracotta but it is interesting. It has an enormous body and a very small head. Anyway I’ve been doing some research. Wikipedia lets us know that guinea fowls are social beings and are 'normally monogamous' although occasional bigamy has been recorded for the helmeted guinea fowl. How interesting. Furthermore there is a small and declining ethnic group in the south of Ethiopia called Karo. During festivals and dances men dress up as either guinea fowls or leopards. Well, one sort of understands that their number is declining.

15 December 2009
From my kinky quotes collection: 'We have looked at so much material we've gone dotty.'

14 December 2009
Karl Lagerfeld recently said in an interview that he has still not shot the perfect photograph. I have the same feeling when it comes to my own pictures.

13 December 2009
I always forget how many interesting galleries there are in Brussels and how many nice details there are over all.

12 December 2009
Very nice t-shirt print: 'Belgian chocolate addict'. I saw a very interesting muse today, maybe I can even involve that mannequin in my next exhibition!

12 December 2009
Very nice t-shirt print: 'Belgian chocolate addict'.

11 December 2009
I love the creativity in this manual on how to hand wash! You shall never forget to start it all with wetting your hands (!), applying enough (!) soap and rubbing hands palm to palm. Also rotational rubbing involving the left thumb is a good idea it seems, and the rinsing with water should not be underestimated!

10 December 2009
And yes, I also noted down some new and interesting t-shirt prints in Ethiopia: One simply read 'Nobel' and another one 'Mr. Zero'. Quite a different approach to life I thought. Another one ran around proudly with a t-shirt reading 'Pyromanist' and a fourth one just let the world know: 'In that case I chose dancing'.

9 December 2009
Still digging through some notes and memories of Ethiopia: What I particularly liked were some menus with really interesting dishes: There was 'full with beard', 'raise with mean' quite some offers of 'paper steak' and – my favorite – 'chicken with raise'! Even as a vegetarian I could think of going for that one, after all it comes with a raise! Although you never know if they run out of it and just give you a 'raise with mean' served next to a 'full with beard' who is up for a ‘paper steak’ really.

8 December 2009
By the way who came up with the idea that raw carrots are a good snack at evening receptions? As soon as you eat them while trying to have a conversation, you spit. And depending on the person you are talking to, you regret or embrace that fact.

7 December 2009
Real life has me back I fear. I saw my name printed as Ms. Brendel today. Well, what more can I say?
Maybe something slightly ironic: I carry home kilos of Ethiopian coffee, of those at least three different sorts of coffee for my parents. And what have they done in the meantime while I was away? They have changed their coffee machine for a Nespresso one that operates with coffee capsules…

6 December 2009
Thinking about Ethiopia: I have so many impressions, memories and so many images. I liked a conversation around my question of the whereabouts of the city center. I simply wanted a direction or say pointing somewhere would have been fine as well. Instead I was confronted with the honest question - that was not in the least cynical - 'What does city mean?' A good question I thought. I said well, in a city you have houses, streets, shops. When he heard shops he beamed and said, aha, yes, shops and pointed me into the good direction.

5 December 2009
I'm back in Brussels with a severe cold. Who said that you could get a cold in Africa in the first place? Isn't it supposed to be hot there all the time?
What I will definitely miss is a word that I really learned to like there: Ischi. It is often used and sounds mostly like a sigh. Ischi can mean many things. Sometimes it simply means yes or ok, then also: I understand, I agree, I see, let's see, I will do what I can, you may think I will do what I can but I actually won’t, no, not quite, well, maybe. A very powerful word!

4 December 2009
Last day in Addis and so much was still to do. For instance last pictures needed to be taken, films needed to be brought to development and shopping (for the famous Ethiopian coffee) to be done. Exactly when I started to believe that I cannot do all what I had planned in my last day anymore and felt slightly stressed I saw a guy in a t-shirt that read: Too blessed to be stressed.

3 December 2009
About a 1.5 hours drive outside of Dire Dawa 7000 year old cave paintings have been found a few years ago. At first they seem to be quite disappointing given the long way and the bad roads leading there. One saw two or three rather faded images. But the longer you looked, the more you saw. There were hundreds of paintings, faded but still visible.
Dire Dawa on itself is quite a big city but only about 100 years old. Originally the Addis Ababa – Djibouti railroad should have connected Djibouti’s port with Harar and Addis. As the project developed, connecting Harar seemed to difficult and costly as the train would have needed to go through a very mountainous area and so the decision was taken to have a stop in what then was a small town; Dire Dawa. For me the most interesting site in the city was the train station with its many broken and discarded railway carriages and locomotives. A paradise for pictures of the neglected and the broken!

2 December 2009
From Dire Dawa it is about a one hour drive to Harar. After Mekka, Medina and Jerusalem, Harar is seen as the fourth most important Muslim city. Harar has a very intact city center that reminded me very much of cities I have seen in Yemen four years ago. Its 89 mosques are often tiny and hidden in people’s houses. Water is scare and water supply remains one of the most pressing issues in the region.

1 December 2009
Ethiopia follows the Julian calendar and advertises with 13 months of sunshine. Given that it was slightly raining during the last two days and else rather cloudy and July and August is the yearly rainy season I dare to doubt that promise.
I admit that flying to Ethiopia’s second biggest city Dire Dawa was much easier than driving again for 550 kilometres each way. On the other hand one also misses something when taking a plane, probably it is the feeling of travelling as such.

30 November 2009
I did not want to disappoint any shoe shine boy any more and so I took the car and went downtown in embarrassingly dirty shoes. Guess what, no shoe shine boy around. Not a single one, as if they were on strike or all had a day off. So I went back again still in dirty shoes. On the positive side I found a bunch of nicely broken muses.
Traditional Ethiopian restaurants often have hay on the floor and a corner where they prepare the coffee in the traditional coffee ceremony. In that corner there are also quite some animals, mostly rabbits and chickens. Mobile food it you will. What is logical but still slightly unsettling is that the amount of those animals decreases proportionally to the amount of food served to neighbouring tables.

29 November 2009
Due to unforeseen circumstances we stayed overnight in a real budget hotel in Dessie. The travel guide book would probably not even rate that hotel in its category ‘shoestringing’. Well, anyway, it was quite funny. I tried to convince the staff to give me a towel. After we discussed what ‘shower’ and ‘dry’ could possibly mean I really made them laugh when performing a pantomime of showering and drying myself with a non-existing towel. Anyway that was not necessary as there were a) no towels and b) no water at all. It was definitely an experience at Euro 2,- to put it that way.
Driving from Dessie to Addis took about 10 hours although the distance is a mere 400 kilometres. I tried to find rational explanations for what I saw but my only conclusion is that road works here are illogically planned and executed. The pattern is as follows: A stretch of about 500-1000 metres of relatively good if not excellent road is demolished and replaced by gravel or a dirt side road. The next stretch of about 500-1000 meters is left as it was before but gets worse and worse due to trucks that are heavily loaded with gravel. So one is forced to drive from pothole over bumps into the next pothole on a formerly good road, led sideways to a gravel stretch or a side road, back up on the asphalt stretch, down again and so on and so on. Instead of finishing one stretch and then going to the next, there are literally hundreds of these construction sites and of course works cannot be carried out at all places at the same time. What is also quite remarkable are big square shaped holes (about 10 cm deep) that are cut into good asphalt. Mainly that is done just behind crests or curves, naturally without any warning signs. Even a four by four car doesn’t pardon driving into a sudden hole easily. As if that wasn’t enough, various animal herds (lambs, goats, cattle, camels) tend to walk or rest on the streets and suicidal people seem to have declared it a national sport to run across the street only when a car is approaching. As soon as darkness falls groups of three tend to sit down on (!) the road for an evening chat. One can imagine more comfortable places. As the streets are not lit, driving past such groups makes your heart stop for a moment. The nastiest hurdles to driving safely are football sized stones on the street. As far as I can tell there are three reasons for those stones: One is that as soon as a car or truck breaks down, stones are arranged around it to block up the road for a while. While the vehicle might be removed after a while, the stones remain. Another reason is stones that have been thrown at animal herds in order to make them cross the street. And the third and probably most accurate reason for the majority of stones is bored children that place them there.

28 November 2009
Lalibela is THE highlight of a trip to northern Ethiopia! Its 900 year old monolithic rock hewn churches are breathtaking. There are eleven of those churches in two groups and one is standing freely apart. UNESCO has insisted on ‘preserving’ the churches from further damage (water, erosion???) by putting up equally breathtakingly ugly scaffolding and modern roofs on top of most churches. From an aesthetic point of view one can only wonder why it was necessary to do it that way. ‘Preserving’ the churches resulted in a large crack in one of them as some heavy machinery was parked on top of the church in order to install the roof...
Well, anyway one has to try hard and blind that out when looking at these masterpieces of human architecture. All of the eleven churches are still in use and different in style and decoration. King Lalibela wanted to build a second Jerusalem and had 40.000 people working on these churches for about 33 years. Most of them are connected through a subterranean network of corridors. Those corridors are not lit and it is said that this was done on purpose so that people could experience how hell could look like. For me the most beautiful church is the free standing church Bet Giyorgis. When walking towards it, the first thing visible is its cross-shaped roof. Later on one descends to the entrance and can visit it inside.

27 November 2009
When driving through the marvellous landscape it is striking how many unmanned offertory boxes there are even in the most deserted places. No church, no chapel, no priest but a tinny offertory box.
Juding upon various recommendations of locals, driving to Lalibela should have taken us between 6 hours and two days. What was more worrying was how they looked at the four by four car. In disbeliev they mumbled: You want to drive to Lalibela with THAT car? How many spare tyres do you have? Just ONE? And you dare to go like that? In fact it was long drive but then again the road was not that bad.
In Lalibela the traditional round hut is quite a special; it has two floors. There is a very nice new hotel (Tukul Village) that rents out either ground floor or upper floor of such a hut, combining traditional architecture with modern comfort.

26 November 2009
I see vasts amounts of haytsacks here in Ethiopia. Many of them walk on either two or four legs. When carried by people this is done by men using the inevitable stick they carry around. Haystacks on four legs are carried by donkeys, horses or camels. The interesting thing is that in all cases the haystack as such is about the equal in size. The only difference is the speed in which it is carried. Especially donkeys love resting at the middle of the street. Live in general happens on the streets. Most people lack a natural shortening reaction when a car is approaching them. I was told that the haircut of many boys in the countryside reflect upon that. Those boys are bald apart from two ringlets on their forehead. Although it is believed that nothing will happen to them these locks are there for security reasons. Should the kid’s guardian angel urgently need to act, he has to grab the boy somewhere and drag him off the street. Therefore those two ringlets come in handy.
What I was told, too is that instead of being celebrated yearly, birthdays are only celebrated shortly after a baby is born. A special bread is beaked for the occasion and the tradition is to break this crispy bread on the baby’s back. If is breaks and the baby does not scream, people believe that this will be a strong girl or boy. If the baby is crying, relatives pity the parents and wish them well with their weak child.

25 November 2009
Axum used to be the capital of a huge kingdom and is still perceived as the holiest city in Ethiopia. Today it is actually a small town and also when visiting most of the sights one is done with that in pretty much half a day. People believe that the Queen of Sheba has lived in Axum. The most impressive site are the obelisks or stelae. They are simply wonderful. After having been in Italy more than 70 years, the second tallest obelisk (about 27 meters high) has been returned to Axum in 2005. The tallest one (over 33 meters high and also carved out of one single piece of granite) is believed to having collapsed already during its erecting. It lies scattered into five pieces on the obelisk field but still is beautiful. I liked that one most, maybe just because it is so broken. All the obelisks are about 1700 years old and were used to mark tombs. Some of these tombs have been excavated and can be visited. Another remarkable sight is a church where allegedly the ark of the covenant is kept and guarded by a monk. This monk is the only one who is allowed to see it and hands over this duty to his successor on his dead bed. Sometimes it is shown during religious festivals but covered up so they say. Nobody, not even the monk who is guarding it may open it.
As in many places, chats on the road here tend to start with the phrase ‘Where are you from?’. After having disclosed that I come from Austria, the answer I got today was quite stunning: ‘All right, I also come from the US!’ In general I decided not to protest anymore if somebody takes me for an Australian. What was slightly embarrassing the other day was when a waiter then introduced me to an Australian band with the words ‘meet your countrymen’. The Australians gave me a certain look when they found out that actually it was Austria...

24 November 2009
The street from Gondar to Debark was the first really bad dirt road and the way to Axum was even worse. It’s a drive from one bump to the next and through nothing but dust. When we finally arrived to Axum I was covered with a red layer of dust. There is financial support from the world bank for paving these roads. The project has been won by a Chinese company and has already been started. Chinese lorries, road rollers and excavators are visible all over the place. Ethiopia as such seems to be largely in Chinese hands anyways. Most recently paved streets have been built by Chinese companies and all masts of the one mobile network are brand new and Chinese. In the cities you see Chinese companies digging the roads to lay new fixed telecommunications cables. Chinese sneakers and clothes flood the weekly markets. Most workers are locals but all the foremen are Chinese.

What strikes me particularly when driving through the villages is the sheer multitude of tabletop soccer games. Judging from their design, those tables must be about 25 years old. I assume they have been imported at the time in bulk and distributed to most villages. Almost every bigger village and any city has about one, two or three of these tabletop soccer games and most of them just stand next to the main road. They are either surrounded by 10-12 children or 2-4 teenagers. In the first case the game is rather static; there are too many players around the table and thus there is not too much movement amongst the little soccer players on the table. In the latter case two of the 3-4 teenagers play the game with high concentration; the others seem to be there for moral support only.

23 November 2009
Maybe I have been assigned my own personal rain cloud after having spent more than six years in Belgium. Anyway it is quite interesting to notice that already in Bahir Dar it was slightly raining and people said this is by no means normal for this time of the year. In Gondar there were showers, too and here now in Debark it is really pouring with rain. Debark is 1800 meters above sea level and it is not only wet but also very cool. In the mountains today it was still sunny but also very cool but sort of expected given the altitude of up to 4600 meters. Those mountains are spectacular. At times they reminded me of the Andes in Argentina, at times of the Alps but then again they are different. There are trees and other very lush plants up until over 3000 meters, cows, horses, sheep and baboons live there and today we even saw buzzards and lammergeyers.

22 November 2009
Gonder is a treasure and a real discovery! Gonder had its golden times as capital of Ethiopia and seat of the empire in the 17th century. Palaces and ruins of palaces are a sign that show the wealth and power still today. Emperor Fasilidas even built a huge swimming pool, about 30 by 70 meters big, with a castle in the middle. It must have been truly splendid at its time. Even today they fill the pool up once a year during the most important festival in January and have children bathe in it. UNESCO has declared the palaces world heritage and they had all reason to do so. The dynasty is said to go back to the mighty queen of Sheba who reigned Arabia and most of eastern Africa at her time. It is also said that back home in Europe people just laughed about stories of an independent and sophisticated empire in Africa when early European visitors told about Gonder in the 17th and 18th century. They simply could not believe that this was even possible. Since the empire went down, most of the palaces have suffered and some of them are only ruins. The interior decoration and treasures were all taken out of the country and most of it is probably in different British museums.

What is very bizarre in the city itself are the Pepsi cola sponsorship activities. Most interestingly Pepsi even sponsors police control points at intersections. Those little huts are not only branded but also have man-sized Pepsi cola bottles on their roofs.

21 November 2009
In the early days they used to say ‚Mens sana in corpore sano’. Nowadays that reads ‘When your body heats, your mind chills.’ Having read that on a billboard the other day I had a relaxing morning in beautiful spa of the Kuriftu Lake Tana Hotel in Bahir Dar. Actually this splendid hotel and especially its interior design reminded me very much of the Flintstones. From Bahir Dar we drove about an hour to the Blue Nile Waterfalls which are nice but as always I am more thrilled by artefacts than by nature. Anyway it was very well worth the visit. From there it took quite some hours to get to Gondar, home of the emperors of Ethiopia’s early days. The landscape was as stunning as on the way from Addis to Bahir Dar and interestingly often reminds me of Austria and the Alps. I really have to redefine my picture of Africa.

20 November 2009
Lake Tana hosts over 20 cloisters on its many islands. We reached some of them by boat today and this was really and experience. They are peaceful and quiet. On some of these islands only priests and monks live. On others there are also small villages. The lake itself has the colour of the river in my hometown during my childhood; a light brown that looks sort of dangerous. The cloisters were all similar. Their shape was the traditional Ethiopian round hut with a straw roof. The sanctum sanctorum inside is square shaped and only accessible for priests and monks. On the walls of the sanctum sanctorum that you surround walking inside the round shape of the cloister building there are naïve paintings of diverse bible stories from the new and old testament. Much beloved are Saint George killing the dragon, the martyrs, the circumstances of all Apostle’s death, all stages of Mary’s life as well as the angels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. What was particularly fascinating were the little museum that hosted old Gondar, Axum and Lalibela crosses as well as old bibles dating back to as early as the 9th century (!).

18 November 2009
Went to some excavations from prehistoric times in the south of Addis Ababa. Splendid and nicely presented!

17 November 2009
I estimate having seen about 80% of all mannequins in Addis Ababa during the last three days. It is a paradise for Broken Muses! What was especially nice were mannequins wearing glasses and all sorts of fractures. I think I experienced sort of a muse trance on those days, recognizing only very little apart from the mannequins. I have been to the Addis Ababa Museum though. There was a room ‘first in Ethiopia’ showing the then king driving the first car and operating the first telephone. Apart from that I had some interesting discussions with my driver/Sherpa, for instance whether or why it makes sense to switch on the lights when driving downhill in neck breaking speed over a sand road. Or why it could be worthwhile asking the way after having gotten totally lost. Earlier on and just before the first real turn and maneuver, we had figured out that he has never driven an automatic car. After I had violently removed his left leg from the break, things went generally a lot smoother.

16 November 2009
My first impressions of Addis Ababa: It is a big and not too beautiful town that does not unveil its charms immediately. There are more Volkswagen beetles here than I have seen in a long, long time. And else of course the gap between rich and poor is enormous although not as bad as I experienced it in India. People say that the Merkato is the biggest market in all of Africa. If you only search long enough I am sure you can literally really find everything there. The most bizarre sight I found was an area devoted to the production and sales of coffins. You can get anything there from the cheapest, carelessly assembled coffin made from raw wood, over carefully crafted and painted ones up to the upmarket coffin with cloth coating on the outside and a comfortable foam coating on the inside. What stroke me was that in another area I had seen matrasses in various shapes and forms. Not a single one of them was white: they all came covered in breathtakingly ugly patterned cloth. The same cloth or at least similar patterns were also used for coating coffins. There may be advantages in chosing similar patterns for both, who knows. In one corner children’s coffins were for sale. Those were rather on the simple and bare wood side but painted in bright pink. And they could be esily stampled by the dozen

15 November 2009
Arrived to Addis Ababa late last night and spent a beautiful day here. I had a massage, took a lot of pictures of mostly broken mannequins, had a car cruise around the city, a drink in one of the most luxurious hotels and a great French/Belgian dinner. So I guess I had a very good first day here!

14 November 2009
Recent T-Shirt prints: 'Your pizza has arrived!' – 'Idylls end in thunderstorms' – 'Sold out' – 'Future Artist' – 'Untitled'

13 November 2009
No problems with my name today but I am back to square one regarding my gender. I received the following invite, addressed to Mister Margit Brandl: Monsieur Margit Brandl, nous avons le plaisir de vous inviter à une table ronde sur le thème: "Irak 2010: année zéro?"

12 November 2009
Hadn’t I moved from time to time yesterday they would have taken me for airport inventory and probably dusted me sooner or later. Else I found that you see more men with backpacks at the airport than in the mountains (not that I would be in the mountains myself often but s till). And there has been a clear shift in trends; while it is still cool to have something behind one's ear it used to be a cigarette some years back and is a Bluetooth hands free device for your mobile phone nowadays.

11 November 2009
One should do a series of pictures in airplanes. Many people who most often don’t know each other and who also do not really want to communicate sit close to each other. Sooner or later almost all of them stare at a little screen in front of them, headphones on and show different stages of excitement.
Back from Lebanon. Well not exactly. I was flying over Brussels but needed to connect at Heathrow airport to finally go to Brussels. Standing 6.5 hours ahead of time in front of three screens that list flights for the coming hours and seeing that your flight is the last one on those screens can be rather depressing.

10 November 2009
Man is a creature of habit and worryingly so. After my late arrival the day before yesterday I did not notice, yesterday it was the evening small talk’s main topic and today it seems pretty normal: the ubiquitous military presence in Beirut/Lebanon. There are armed soldiers on literally every corner presenting their machine guns and often there is a fully fledged armed and camouflaged tank right next to them. All uniforms have the same camouflage pattern but differ in colors. There are blue ones, grey ones and khaki ones. The guns all look the same and very frightening but the guys as such are just very friendly. They chat, text, greet tourists but nevertheless a feeling of slight uneasiness remains.

9 November 2009
From the collection of well articulated offenses: 'Your English is very good! Do you want me to speak slowly so that you can understand?'
And, this time witnessed: An elderly gentlemen waves at a colleague of me and asks politely: 'Are you asleep?'
Received comment: I notice that you were not kidding when you put my unfortunate comment on your blog. Your website appears to be a true reflection of who you are, creative, confident and willing to communicate on every level.

8 November 2009
Even during the financial crisis banks advertise. Brussels airport is decorated with a huge poster of PNB Paribas reading 'The bank for a changing world.' On the same spot there used to be a huge Fortis ad showing a red curve reading: 'Life is a curve, where are you on it?'

7 November 2009
I saw a few beautiful broken muses yesterday in Paris and was suffering as I did not hav my camera with me. Today I spent a few hours in my darkroom, for the first time in months. It is such a thrilling feeling to see the picture slowly appearing in the developing liquid.

6 November 2009
Finally – after going by train to London Wednesday and from there by train to Paris I am on my trip back to Brussels. Well that’s what I thought. There is a high speed train between Paris and Brussels. I had an electronic ticket that required me to print out a paper ticket at the station using a code. Sure enough I could not print the ticket out in Brussels, as I had to rebook the whole journey and go straight from London to Paris. But the return trip remained valid and so I tried to get a ticket. What I found out is that I had a 7 digit code and that is what one needs for the Belgian electronic system. In Paris one would need a 6 digit code and sure enough it is not the first 6 digits of the 7 digit code. As the tickets are booked on codes and not on names, nobody could find the ticket. In the end I boarded the train and tried to convince the conductor that the print out of my lousy electronic booking confirmation is as good as a ticket. He ran away with my passport and for about ten minutes I thought he would either kick me out of the train (running 300km/h) or require an enormous fine. To my total surprise I got back the passport and a nod that everything was fine.

5 November 2009
From the collection of well articulated offenses: 'If we do not pay attention, xyz will employ some lawyers and a few other unemployed people…'

4 November 2009
I am not good at taking trains, And also not very lucky in doing so. From tonight onward there will be a 4 hour strike. So my journey back from London to Brussels and my trip to Paris tomorrow are affected. Great. And on top of that, the Eurostar train got stuck in the channel tunnel. A creepy feeling I have to say. While one is beneath the sea, all engines went out, the lights went out as well and no information was given. After ages the conductor said that he was in 'permanent contact' with the driver. Well, probably he saw him running towards the end of the tunnel…

3 November 2009
I hear that in the UK an area where there is no Internet is called Not Spot as opposed to the inevitable Hot Spot. I like that. It reminds me of my trip to India and that mountain resort that I assumed to be just nature and thus a classical not spot whereby it turned out to be the best hot spot I’ve been to ever!

2 November 2009
I’ll go to Paris later this week and will take the high speed train. Somebody told me that I can travel paperless; all I need to do is filling in an online form. Well. I tried. And I found it odd. The website opened but instead of a form it showed an idyllic image of a train in the far distance and a ruminant cow whose ears move accordingly!
Received comment: Yup, the old Margit is back. The blog is just hilarious! Harry
Harry is right. The \"old Margit\" is back. But the \"new Margit\" (whoever that is!) is just, fine with me, too.... William

30 October 2009
I would never have thought so but a touristic Flamenco show can be fascinating! Wonderful rhythm and proud dancers!

31 October 2009
Sometime life is fair. For a number of days you are somebody’s Sherpa and then on the next day when you least expect it, someone is your Sherpa.

29 October 2009
Arrived to Seville/Spain yesterday Tonight a colleague and me were was searching for the vibrant nightlife in Seville everybody spoke of. Somehow it is rather limited.

28 October 2009
My phone tells me that I tried to call myself 11 times today. I even left me a voicemail. Unfortunately I did not understand the message I left for myself on the voicemail.

27 October 2009
Seen as advertisement on a truck from a tires company: My sport is transport.

26 October 2009
Although it is not often publicly stated or if so very well paraphrased, passing things on has become a valuable job description of many people. Having said that, one must by no means underestimate the role of the forwarding function in modern day e-mail clients for growth and job creation!

25 October 2009
I’ve read it a few days ago in a newspaper and actually seen it in a leaflet in Austria this weekend: Penny, a food discounter with a budget travel agency subsidiary, actually offers journeys to outer space for 209.555 Euro – sold via their Austrian call center. This is no hoax but actually meant to boost their overall travel portfolio. Like they do for their food offer, they have a best price guarantee; if you see the journey to outer space for a cheaper price anywhere else, you get the difference back. More here.

24 October 2009
I wanted to order a new (HP) keyboard online. Unfortunately the online shop said when I typed in that I wanted to have it shipped to 'Belgium': 'We do not ship to Alaska, Hawaii and Prisons.'

22 October 2009
After a long period of relative name integrity I was called 'Verena' the other day as well as 'Margite'.

21 October 2009
Last weekend I saw a toilet seat in a shop with Obama's picture and the inevitable ‘Yes you can!’ printed on it.

20 October 2009
Everybody seems to be thrilled by social networking sites these days. After having reported on my dubious twitter experiences a while ago (29 April), I am now again amazed about the notification (!) of one of these websites that a number of people want to get in touch with me. One of them highlights a picture showing his well trained upper body; it can only be assumed that there might be a face as well but the possessor seems to suggest it can be disregarded.

19 October 2009
I have to quote a friend of mine who often says: 'The fact that one is paranoid does not mean that they are not after you.'

18 October 2009
We all know that you can see the Chinese Wall from outer space. What seems to be less known is that one can also see the illuminated Belgian highways. On second thought who would have thought that the kingdom of Belgium and the 'Middle Kingdom' have that much in common?

17. October 2009
And what else is happening in the world? Well, Hugo Chavez is about to nationalize a Hilton Hotel on Isla Margarita. In London, an art event is just over where 2400 people stood on a pole on Trafalgar square one hour each. One I read was dressed in brown, giving the image of a piece of shit with an impressively big fly on his back. He was holding up a sign reading: 884 million people do not have clean water.

16 October 2009
I spoke at a conference earlier this week and received the following thank-you letter (I only quote the relevant part only): 'Thank you very much for your participation at this week's … Conference 2009. We really appreciate your contribution, and the part that you played in helping to make the event the success that it was. I very much hope that you both enjoyed the event, and also found it useful.' Well obviously I could not hide my alter ego as the both (!) of us are mentioned.

15 October 2009
News News News: There is now a mobile page for reading the Brokenmuses Blog on a mobile device. Just bookmark that page http://www.brokenmuses.com/brokenblog-en.php on your mobile phone or scan the code with your phone’s bar code reader:

14 October 2009
A friend of mine just shared the following nice story, underlining that this really just happened in a Barnes and Noble coffee shop in the USA. 'That will be $4.17. Do you have a Barnes and Noble card sir?' 'No.' 'No worries sir ... hey good news get a refill today for only $0.50 when you return today before 11pm.' 'OK.' 'Here is your change. Thank you for shopping at Barnes and Noble. Have a love filled day.' All that was delivered perfectly with a straight face and no doubt pre programmed as part of the customer service manual.
Well all I can say now is 'Dear readers, thank you for reading the broken blog and we hope to welcome you back to our site soon again! Have a perfectly broken day!'

13 October 2009
Have a look at this website on Smart Logos With Second Thought To Make You Look Twice. It is really nice and thoughtful what simple images/logos can do.

12 October 2009
I love online tools that – after having used them successfully for registering demands for approval - give you the insightful line: 'Following requests have been granted or rejected …' without of course giving you any hint how to find out whether they were approved or rejected. Probably the decision has not been taken and will never be taken. I thought this rather neutral half-sentence would be a wise answering line for any requests that come over social networking sites: Your request to connect to me has either been approved or rejected.

11 October 2009
I eavesdropped on a conversation on the table next to me in a Munich coffee shop: A: 'You know I really like bears.' B: 'But they can eat you, too!' A: 'That’s right but you know when I went to Alaska I was very disappointed; I did not see a single bear!' B: 'That’s such a shame!'

10 October 2009
A bakery in Tyrol advertises with the following: 'We bake wishes!' and 'You should give good things to your body so that the soul is eager to live in it.' Well.

8 October 2009
Book title: 'Kiss, bow or shake hands: How to do business in 60 countries'.

7 October 2009
Saw a photography exhibition by Jonathan Zuck; very inspiring!

6 October 2009
Word of the day: throttle.

5 October 2009
New t-shirt prints: 'What is fashion?' – 'Future Billionaire' and 'It's all about me'.

4 October 2009
Today’s Dilbert comic strip is simply hilarious. We all know that Twitter is helpful.

2 October 2009
In 2000 the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 on 'women, peace and security'. What a title!

29 September 2009
I eavesdropped on the following conversation: A: What is that (xyz)? B: I have no idea. A: You can't know everything. A little later: A: Where is (city xyz)? B: I have no idea. A: You can't know everything. Again later. A: When will we arrive? B: I have no idea. A: You can't know everything. There was not the slightest irony in all that.

28 September 2009
I cannot stand blurred photos, especially when they are huge and used as advertisements. I keep staring at them thinking to myself: Why? Why is there a trend towards blurred images?

27 September 2009
Who has invented those smoking rooms on airports? Since smoking is prohibited, smokers are forced into foggy chambers, most often unembellished glass cubicles. This is humiliating for the smokers and a source of cursory compassion for passersby.

25 September 2009
Thoughts on a Friday: Why do printer jams only occur during Friday afternoons or when in a hurry? Why is it more difficult to eat round sandwiches compared to longish ones? And why is mayonnaise always dripping out of sandwiches when one does not have a napkin? And why is mayonnaise still used for sandwiches at all?

24 September 2009
A new fast-food chain in Brussels is called 'Take Eat Easy'.

20 September 2009
Just recently I had an evergreen conversation on what makes Brussels special and whether or not there is something like life quality in Brussels. Despite some drawbacks for me it is the surreal moment that makes Brussels worth living in. Twice a year (one was today) Brussels has a car-free Sunday. It seemed that virtually everybody was on the street, people were cycling, there were spontaneous flea markets. Roaming through the streets all of a sudden I found myself in front of a house, a tailor most likely, that had a bright red corset hanging out of his first floor window that was the top part of a long red carpet. Magritte couldn’t have painted a better picture of the surreal Brussels moment. Click here to see a picture.

19 September 2009
The Champagne region i not far away from Belgium and today was the most lovely day to visit. I loved the catheadral of Reims with its smiling angel, all the other beautiful sculptures on the outside and the windows by Chagall inside. I did not know that it is UNSCO world heritage. A visit to the Pommery champaign wine cellars was well worth the visit. About 20 million bottles of champagne are stored in about 18 kilometers of chalkstone cellars. The buildings on top seem like a castle complex, it is fascinating. I mused about buying a so called Salmanazar; a 9 liter bottle of Champaign but refained from it for a number of reasons. The Methusalem (6 liters) was also impressive but equally unhandy.

17 September 2009
I’ve spotted quite a number of new t-shirt prints: 'Superlative conspiracy', 'Make me cupcakes' and – next to a museum worn by a young girl: 'I really don’t like art'.

16 September 2009
I’ve been to the new Acropolis Museum in Athens yesterday. It is truly splendid. The museum is replicating the acropolis uphill which you see from many places of the building. They’ve brought together many remains of the antique decoration. What impressed me most were the Caryatids.

15 September 2009
It is always interesting to see people working close to airport terminals. Since one world is sponsoring ‘electricity geysers’ on some airports, you see more and more people around those pillars, connected through cables. In Byzantine times we had pillar saints but as far as I know they were sitting on the pillars and were very ascetic. On second thought I guess I prefer that they’re sitting next to the modern airport electricity pillars and not on them.

14 September 2009
E-Mail programs are tricky and sometimes do more than they should. I just wanted to file something in a draft folder, addressed 'to self'. Who can assume that I have a colleague whose name is Selfu to whom the message went automatically and who now probably muses about my message? I tried to recall it but in vein.
Unrelated to that but also oddly enough I got an e-mail saying 'Dear Mr. Margit … you should rent a technical resource program'. I have no idea what that means but after just having admitted writing e-mails to myself, I did not dare to ask. Ah yes, the gender issue came up again with that as well!

13 September 2009
Notes on a Sunday: Went to cinema with 15 Euros in my pocket. Lost the money on the way. Found out in front of the cinema. Went home.

11 September 2009
I really like the new song by pink ‘Please don’t leave me’. But the best thing about it is the video.

10 September 2009
I had no idea that a) carrier pigeons are still used today and b) that pigeons really provide broadband capabilities. A story worth reading… Where can I get a pigeon?

9 September 2009
This online presentation is a very beautiful piece of art with some very thoughtful observations. I especially liked ‘Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful’ and ‘Don’t take yourself too seriously. No one else does.’ And ‘What other people think of you is none of your business.'

7 September 2009
Adding to yesterday's butcher shop: Today I saw a Brussels bakery called 'Boulangerie Sans Souci'.

6 September 2009
Close to Brussels’ south station there is a butcher shop called 'Boucherie Stalingrad'.

5 September 2009
Just read in a brochure for woman travelers: ‘To concentrate your favorite shampoo and conditioner, just pour the shampoo into one pie plate and the conditioner into another. Place them in the oven at a low temperature (about 200-250°) for several hours. Much of the water will evaporate, leaving very thick liquids. Using a funnel, pour these liquids into small travel bottles and label them. All you need is just a few drops at a time, and they'll last for weeks.’ I don’t know if I would want to do that.

4 September 2009
I was invited to a wedding in Bruges which was really nice. It reminded me once more how difficult it is to be the wedding photographer and was happy that I did not have the honor.

1 September 2009
A new muse is online in the friends-section of this website.

31 August 2009
A new museum opened. In their frequently asked questions section on their website they say the following about whether or not one can visit the museum now: ‘the museum will remain closed to the public until after its official opening.’ Well great!

29/30 August 2009
I’ve been away from Brussels recently and after a fist assessment three huge buildings have been torn down in the meantime. Not a big surprise. I have not been to Vienna city center in a while and having been there just now I find out that they have torn down a building in one of the major downtown shopping streets. And that is sheer unbelievable.

28 August 2009
Seen on a car today (advertising a company that obviously has to do with construction or better destruction): ‘Our mission – your demolition.’ Taken out of context I would not necessarily think this is a great slogan.

27 August 2009
French is really not my strongest side. So it happens that three young guys in a little car stop and ask me for the time. Or at least that was what I understood. Actually they asked the way to the station. They were at least as puzzled as I was but took it nicely and said they liked my accent.

26 August 2009
T-shirt print (pink on brown shirt, worn by a 30 year old): I’ve been dressed by my mum.

23 August 2009
Thinking about it raspberry juice is somewhat totally out. I guess peach ice tea has made the race and replaces raspberry juice fully.

22 August 2009
I have become a Billy Bryson aficionado. Can’t stop reading his traveling books.

20 August 2009
T-shirt prints: 'I am entitled to be grumpy'
'Made in Jail IIII II'
'Live beyond your means'
'Real eyes, real lies, realize'

7 – 19 August 2009
Umbria, Rome. Well, Umbria does not feel like Italy at all. It is all neat and tidy and well kept. No dirt on the streets, plants are in pots and neatly arranged around the houses. Most little towns are on hilltops and from medieval or Etruscan times.
My best insight was that Baci, the hazelnut praline chocolate comes from Perugia. In every Baci there is a little paper with a quote or a proverb like: 'Of all sentiments love is that which has the greatest need of leisure' - Stendhal.
Perugia is overall the nicest and most enjoyable city in Umbria I thought. What was particular interesting was that there are escalators that bring you up to the historic city. So from various spots on the hill they’ve constructed escalators that bring you up and around so to say. Probably it is only possible in Italy to drill through historic walls and antique archeologically interesting ground in order to make life easier with escalators.
Assisi is a great spot for tourists, its double cathedral (one is above the other) is very impressive, Citta de la Pieve is enjoyable (especially the costume festival on august 15 was) and Orvieto is also a place one has to see (mainly again for the cathedral). Gubbio is allegedly the oldest medieval town which is still entirely intact and I must say it has something.
Else being in sunny Italy really felt like holidays with important questions: Do I have a second cappuccino for breakfast? Is it sunbathing or culture today? Do I read another chapter or will I just get lost in thought now?
The last day then in Rome was again totally different. Even in the middle of summer and in an incredible heat Rome is special and stunning. In quite a rush we saw Fontana di Trevi, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campo di Fiori, Trastevere and San Giovanni in Laterano.

6 August 2009
Not underestimating the pandemic, warnings against the swine flu - or whatever it is called these days - have always quite some comic potential. I read today that the best way to avoid infection is to observe the following basic rules of hygiene (please pay special attention to the first two):
- Wash your hands and keep them away from your face.
- Cough hygienic: Keep your distance from others and cover your mouth with your - sleeve or a tissue.
- Make sure closed rooms are aired regularly.
- Keep your distance from others and avoid crowds.

5 August 2009
Pole Pole. Suaheli for take it easy.

4 August 2009
On 13 February 2009 I asked whether you can urge people who are already collecting bags of antique book shops to start a collection of sickness bags from airplanes. Well, obviously you can. And people do much more than that. There is an online gallery for air sickness disposal bags. Most wanted these days: any pre-1970 bag. Somebody offers a free starter kit consisting of 3 bags of his choosing.
My personal favorite is Rafael Antonio Lozano jr. He is on a personal mission to visit every Starbuck’s outlet in the world. See his webpage. I especially liked the about me page.

2 August 2009
Summer slump in the newspapers: The only things that newspapers do is pondering the beer brand Obama recently drank while receiving guests in the white house garden, whether – on the eve of becoming grandfather - it is about time for Sarkozy to have a baby with Bruni and whether it is appropriate for a serious newspaper to have an interview with Brüno, Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest figure (as Cohen is not willing to have interviews as such and rather prefers posing as one of his alter egos).

1 August 2009
So this is it, one of THE Belgian seaside destinations, Blankenberge. Seen it, been there. No need to go there again in the middle of summer I guess.

31 July 2009
Belgian Artist Phebus has created a limited series of broken muses stamps.

30 July 2009
Austrian wafer manufacturer Manner now also sells Manner 'soundbags': handbags where you can connect your iPod. It has integrated boxes and replays music…

29 July 2009
Is the NASA video of the moon landing still copyright protected?

27 July 2009
Swine flu isn’t called swine flu anymore ans also Mexican flu seems to be an outdated term. It has a very prosaic name now: Influenza A/H1N1. Anyway, a recent warning reads: 'Personal hygiene is all the more important, especially in contact with people who are returning from a trip or vacation and in contact with other people in general – at work, for example. …
- Cough and sneeze into a paper tissue (not into your hands).
- Keep a physical distance from people who have cold symptoms.
- Refrain from shaking hands.
There are basically no grounds for panic.'
I especially like the last two lines.

24 July 2009
T-shirt print: 'Secret society of vegans – saving the unicorns since the 90s'

23 July 2009
As my father would put it: Some people are really dreaming of lukewarm iced-lollies.

22 July 2009
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights says in its article 24: 'Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.'

20 July 2009
New pictures from Cairo/Egypt are online, amongst them many new broken muses!

19 July 2009
'I can because I want what I must.' Immanuel Kant

18 July 2009
In Bruck an der Mur there is a school for explosive engineering.

16 July 2009
T-Shirt print: 'Reality is a stinky business'

15 July 2009
Sometimes you don’t know if something is a change of for a change.

14 July 2009
Even after many years of practice I find small talk tiring. And I still manage to go home hungry after an evening reception with food and drinks.

13 July 2009
The Finns are very curious people, they even have a competition for carrying wives.

12 July 2009
'I am always perplexed when people say that a photograph has captured someone. A photograph is just a tiny slice of a subject. A piece of them in a moment.' Annie Leibovitz in At Work.

11 July 2009
'Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.' Mark Twain

10 July 2009
'When you meet a man, you judge him by his clothes; when you leave, you judge him by his heart.' Russian Proverb

9 July 2009
'When I get a little money, I buy books: and if any is left, I buy food and clothes.' Erasmus
'My best friend is a person who will give me a book I have not read.' Abraham Lincoln

8 July 2009
Weird scenes on Munich airport... Many young people in traditional clothes stood there waving huge signs reading ‘To the international convention of Jehova winesses’ with which they welcomed about half the population of Japan.

7 July 2009
No all song texts are cunning. An example: ‘There are nine million bicycles in Beijing - That's a fact - It's a thing we can't deny - Like the fact that I will love you till I die.’

5 July 2009
Advertisement for a bookshop: 'Shoot your own movie – read a book.'
And another t-shirt print: '99% angel'.

4 July 2009
Can you claim doing sports regularly when you just run after planes or between gates at the airport respectively?
Latest spotted t-shirt print: 'Greetings from Djibouti!' I am sure not everybody has got a t-shirt like that.

3 July 2009
A few very insightful Wittgenstein quotes:
The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.
What cannot be imagined cannot even be talked about.
Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.

2 July 2009
Dennis Meadows, who was part of the Club of Rome and co-authored the book 'limits to growth' said in a recent interview: 'In the short term you often have to go complicated ways in order to change things for the better in the long term' and 'you have to sacrifice now in order to live better in the long run'.

1 July 2009
A friend told me about a quote by Henri Ford who said 'When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.'

30 June 2009
My grandmother used to say: 'Life isn’t a musical request programme.' Today's word: 'muddle'.

29 June 2009
Today’s word is ‘cantankerous’.

28 June 2009
Nobel laureate Eric Kandel said in an interview 'a human being is what he has learnt and what he remembers'.

27 June 2009
I wonder why politicians like Obama are so successful with slogans of 'change', 'yes we can' or 'the time is now'. Change seems the most difficult thing to achieve for most people. Maybe it is because the marketing of these slogans imply that someone else will do it, that being for it is all it takes and the dirty work is done by others. I am curious whether the opposition will soon start marketing slogans like 'too little, too late'.

26 June 2009
What else do you need on a Friday apart from a pigeon that shits on you, a PC that gets stolen and the police that says they were not informed about a stolen PC but instead about the fact that somebody had been taken hostage?

25 June 2009
Bertrand Russell allegedly said 'Anything that can be put in a nutshell shall remain there.'

24 June 2009
New pictures at the Broken Muses start page.

23 June 2009
I ask myself what drives people to throw away things on the street. Today I saw a pair of boots on the streets. So somebody has left them behind. Why?

22 June 2009
After long months of relative stability regarding my name I was called 'Birgit' and 'Margrit' today. The latter is maybe a tribute to the recently opened Magritte museum in Brussels.

21 June 2009
Midsummer and it is raining cats and dogs in Brussels.

20 June 2009
I Can’t stop reading 'Shantaram' by Gregory David Roberts. It is one of the most fascinating books I’ve read in recent years.

18 June 2009
Trying to recover from bleeding hands, aching back and other pain from yesterday’s exhibition.

17 June 2009
Exhibition in Brussels in the Royal Arts and History Museum. My main take is that the secret of some people’s success seems to be having developed mastership in watching others work. Well, apart from that I refine my earlier assumption of personal hell (which was screwing together picture frames). Since I do pictures on aluminum support, that is no longer necessary. It now contains mounting and demounting easels. So it has changed a bit over time.
Some people but really just a few seemed to be interested in my pictures and said things ranging from 'I really like them' to 'they all look so sad' and 'well I'm into art from the far east'.

16 June 2009
I read a most shocking article by a woman who survived a prison sentence in North Korea.

14 June 2009
Finally found some time again to work in the dark room. Facing my negatives I only realize today in how many places I have been lately: Budapest, Lisbon, Porto, Prague, Maastricht, New York, Munich, Cairo, Athens.
What else is new? There is now a news archive on the website. And I will have a half day exhibition next Wednesday in the Royal Arts and History Museum in Brussels.

13 June 2009
My best friend tends to say ‘Man should stay amongst themselves and play football.’

12 June 2009
Returned from Athens. I read a very interesting article on photographic retouching. Retouching is not only commonplace, it becomes so bizarre that celebrities start to look totally different from magazine to magazine.

11 June 2009
News in the section of t-shirt prints: ‘Three reasons to be a teacher: June, July, August.’
and ‘To do is to be. Socrates - To be is to do. Plato - Do Be Do Be Do. Sinatra.’

10 June 2009
Arrived to Athens quite late and had barely time to see the Acropolis. Such a great city. So much to see and no time really.

6 June 2009
Written above the entrance of a Brussels bookshop: 'Carefully balanced on the edge of a hole in time'.

5 June 2009
My camera seemed broken. I am so relieved that it was only empty batteries.

4 June 2009
I got some very interesting feedback to this website today asking me whether I was suggesting James Bond is a 'broken muse'?!

3 June 2009
Newsletters are always a fruitful source for my blog. I read today under a heading ‘joyful news’ that ‘we would like to take the opportunity to inform you of the birth of our new website’. Had I only known that websites just get born, broken muses would have been up and running years before 2005.

2 June 2009
A while ago I reflected on the fact that there are people who you can smell before you even see them. In elevators I sometimes get the feeling that you can smell certain people also still a while after they’ve left. I am not sure which is worse.

1 June 2009
What I forgot to mention about Cairo the other day was a very insightful button on the livery of every hotel employee reading: 'Yes is the answer, what is the question?' It was not always easy to get the question across, especially as it needed to be worded in a yes/no manner. Difficult to ask where breakfast is served or when to check out at the latest.

30 – 31 May 2009
A classical trip to Paris involving a visit to the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel tower, a boat trip on the Seine, a stroll through St. Germain des Pres and a visit to Versailles. What was perhaps different to a really pure classical Paris trip was a tribute to the largest flea market of all times at Porte de Clinancourt where the bride, a broken muse in her wedding dress, is still sitting in the back of a shop for old metal.

29 May 2009
2 years of Broken Muses blog!

28 May 2009
WWF says without the environment there is no economy.

27 May 2009
While waiting for a takeaway pizza a woman with a dog on her arm entered the pizza place. She asked whether the owner needed a dog. He declined politely, not today. I was happy having ordered a vegetarian pizza.

26 May 2009
You can be registered in more than one country in Europe but it seems that you can only vote in the vote on the European Parliament in one country.

25 May 2009
I cycled to another bike shop in order to buy a lock. It was closed.

21 - 24 May 2009
My visit to Cairo already started of well. I was picked up by a driver who looked like Omar Sharif’s grandson and said his name was Honey. His two phrases were: 'Welcome to Egypt' and 'no problem'. Without any problems he welcomed me to Egypt at least 15 times. We drove to the pyramids of Gizeh. Although I had of course seen them numerous times on TV or on pictures, the feeling of actually standing in front of them is hard to describe. There is a reason for calling them a world wonder. Being there and looking at them is stunning, moving. The Sphinx is equally impressive. How must the first discoverers have felt when seeing them? Of course there are numerous people who try to make the impression even better for tourists, they offer posing with camels or riding horse carriages.
The bazaar in the Islamic part of the city offers a wide array of obvious and not so obvious products. There are shops that manufacture hats or bind books. In between there are goats living on the streets and stands where you can drink freshly squeezed sugar cane juice. A must is the picturesque El Fishawy Café on the Khan El Khalili bazaar. More posh is the rooftop bar in the Nile Hilton that offers a splendid view over the city.
Coptic Cairo, the oldest part of the city as it seems is also most interesting. So is the Egyptian Museum that hosts all the sarcophaguses, mummies, sculptures, tomb accessories and whatever one can imagine from the ancient Egyptian times. I guess one would need weeks to see all its treasures.
The City of the Dead is probably the thing that made the biggest impression on me apart form the pyramids. About 300.000 people are said to live there in mausoleums and huts between the gravestones and tombs. It is a city in the city for the poorest of the poor, it has bus connections, shops and car repairs. The alleys have names and the graves numbers, so even mail can be delivered.

20 May 2009
I decided to ride a bike again. I cycled to the office, somehow managed to lose the lock. I then walked to a sports shop, the only one I know by the way, only to find out it has been closed down and replaced by a clothes shop. Somehow my cycling seems to be ill-fated.

19 May 2009
Wherever there is a construction ongoing you can be sure that there are people close by observing the scene. Is there a meditative aspect to construction sites and the change coming with it? Or is it just comforting to watch other people work?

16 May 2009
Art is beautiful but a lot of work. Karl Valentin

15 May 2009
Have a look at this real estate ad. Isn’t that THE brokenmuses apartment?

14 May 2009
I visited a brewery in Munich which was really interesting especially regarding the logistics. What was nice to hear was that at some stage in the fermentation process the beer is cooled and a certain amount of CO2 is set free. You cannot smell the gas and if you breathe in a certain amount that is lethal. In the past, many people died when entering the cooling rooms. So a way out was that the master brewer had a sausage dog, accompanying him to the site. Then he sent the sausage dog to the cooling room on a long leash. If the dog collapsed, the CO2 level was obviously too high. The respective dog collapsed but did not die. He eventually recovered but remained dizzy for a while. On old pictures it seems that you always see the sandwich dog next to the master brewer.

13 May 2009
Why are there dishes that are described as follows: 'Fly fish caviar mousse on Castell Franco salad, asparagus spears in watercress vinaigrette and ciabatta bread'?

12 May 2009
… beauty is found in the everyday rather than in the ideal … Ann Temkin, the Blanchette Rockefeller Curator of Painting and Sculpture.

11 May 2009
Sentences you hear when shopping. Some of them sound pretty boring but make some sense, e.g. 'Would you want a plastic bag?' Others are a bit awkward like 'Do you collect Disney stickers?'

10 May 2009
A wine and book lover recently told me that only red wine is real wine. White wine he thinks is just a refreshment.

9 May 2009
New pictures from Rome are online!

8 May 2009
Some people think it is eccentric to read old newspapers. One could call them oldspapers. The advantage is that the chance of missing something important is rather low. On the other hand the problem is that one is never quite up to date of what is ongoing on the present day.

7 May 2009
At the airport I got a leaflet that draws your attention to various symptoms of what I thought was called the swine flu and what now all of a sudden is called Mexican flu. So at first, a whole species was discredited, now it is a whole country.

1 – 6 May 2009
An interesting fact I had not come across so far was that New York was briefly called New Orange after the Dutch had taken over briefly again from the British between August 1673 and November 1674. I found this nowhere in the Museum of the City of New York but only in a little brochure.
Being in the Library Hotel where every room has its theme and ‘please make my room’ signs read ‘please dust my books’ and ‘do not disturb’ is neatly worded ‘shhh, let me read’ all of a sudden New York seems to be all about reading. The theme of another bookshop was: Don’t judge a bookstore by its cover. Reading the daily paper, I came across an interesting article on the myth of multitasking and another one on the inventor and genius Nikola Tesla.
In New York Everybody between 16 and 20 seems to go crazy for Abercrombie & Fitch clothes. I saw many youngsters in the rain with paper shopping bags from the brand, protecting the shopping bag from the rain rather than themselves. The shopping bags show parts of the jeans and the well trained six pack of a male model. Allegedly the clothes are sold in dark rooms and so I wanted to check whether that was true. The first thing I saw was a gigantic poster of the shopping bag picture, a crowd of screaming girls, a girl with a Polaroid camera and – the model. I waked past the crowd, posed with the model and got a Polaroid picture of the two of us instantly.
Else it was raining cats and dogs most of the time and freezing cold. Nevertheless I saw districts I haven’t seen before, like the Meatpacking district, the Upper East Side and some parts of Brooklyn. A real discovery was the Bar of the Mandarine Oriental Hotel, overlooking Central Park.

30 April 2009
'I have always imagined that Paradise would be a kind of library' – Jorge Luis Borges.
Also read today: 'Busy loving, busy hating, busy laughing, busy going crazy'. And a new t-shirt quote: 'There is no future in time travel'

29 April 2009
I don’t know whether joining twitter was such a success. Amongst the first ones who became my 'followers' were persons calling themselves 'Harpi Bizarre' and 'I hate people'.

28 April 2009
I was informed about the following recommended health and safety procedures regarding the swine flu:
- Maintain good personal hygiene, wash your hands frequently.
- Avoid touching your face.
- Avoid people who are obviously sick.
And now my absolute favourite:
- Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze and put your used tissue in a wastebasket. If you don't have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve, not your hands

27 April 2009
I think I will start a collection of insults. Heard yesterday: A person goes on and on about something. The next one says: 'Recently I heard something really intelligent. Actually it was the opposite of what you just said.'

25 -26 April 2009
It’s a shame. I am in Porto and exactly today (April 25) is the most important Portuguese national holiday. Everything’s closed. Well, eventually one shop was open where I could buy the thickest sweatshirt ever as it is sunny but freezing cold. Who would think that this is possible in Portugal? Anyways, Porto’s center is UNESCO world heritage and although there are not many people on the streets and somewhat is seems like a ghost town and although half or more of the houses are empty or breaking apart, there is an irresistible charm to it. It is truly broken, which I of course happen to enjoy very much. I even found a few broken muses.
One should definitely have dinner in the Cafe de Paris, a drink in the Bar dos Livros (both Rua da Galleria de Paris), have coffee in the neo-baroque Café Majestic dating back to 1921 (Rua Santa Catarina) and browse through the books in the Llelo bookshop (Livraria Llelo, Rua des Carmelitos).

24 April 2009
There are exceptionally many blind people in Lisbon I think. During the last three days I saw at least 15. Today there was one on the streets passing me who wasn’t very good at it, yet. Although I tried to make space he still managed to hit me with his stick.
On the Mrs. Bean syndrome (© by a friend of mine; what she means by that is being enormously clumsy just as Mr. Bean): First I burnt my tongue today with a Pasteis de Belem (a cake and real Portuguese delight). Then as said I got hit by a blind person’s stick. When I tried to help someone at a lunch buffet I managed to hold my own plate in such a clumsy way that sauce was running all over my hand. And finally without George Clooney I was just unable to operate a Nespresso machine – producing only hot water.

23 April 2009
At a conference: A colleague referred me to talk to a person from a particular country. So I walked up to this person, introduced my self and said I was referred to him in order to talk to him. The I thought not so polite answer was: 'I don’t think that this will be useful.'

22 April 2009
Visited Sintra/Protugal and got tremendously lost. When I finally discovered I was going around in circles, the police drove by. I managed to stop them. I must have looked very exhausted. The drove me about 15 km to the train station and dropped me there saying 'enjoy Portugal!'.

21 April 2009
It is not easy to keep a poker face when somebody who is about to present a no-nonsense topic stands in front of a white wall while a video is projected and has a play-button projected onto his trousers.

20 April 2009
There is nothing such as a casual Monday. I went to the office casually as there were no meetings foreseen. Then a meeting popped up. So I prepared for it, got back home, dressed up, went to the meeting only to find out it was cancelled.

18 – 19 April 2009
Maastricht is a very interesting city. A new bookshop (Boekhandel Selexyz Dominicanen) has been built into an old Dominican church from the 13th century. Where the altar was, today there is a coffee shop. Not far fr