Friday, 8 January 2010

Christmas in Frankfurt, New Year Eve in Munich







FuFu Life in Frankfurt - Chapter Seven
24th December 2009 - 1st January 2010

My Winter break officially started from the Christmas Eve. Leaving my unfinished assignments behind after brunch, i quickly ran to the supermarket nearby that would be closed at 1pm for the usual groceries shopping. Ah Kuan, a friend of my Taiwanese coursemate, Ying-han was coming to Frankfurt for Christmas and would be going to Munich for New Year celebration with us. He would be staying at my room, so i did a quick cleaning of my room and then started preparing for the Christmas dinner with some of the coursemates. It was a simple dinner but having the opportunity sitting down, eating and chatting together was what we all appreciated much.

The next morning, both of us woke up late. After breakfast, we spent couples of hours chatting since i just knew Ah Kuan not more than 15hours. He is now learning German in a small city called Braunschweig, aiming to do his master in Material Engineering. Just only three month plus, he is now able to speak fairly good German. This really reminds my old days when i was studying Japanese in Osaka before stepping further into my tertiary education in Japan.

Okay fast forwards to... I really had a relaxing holidays, known new friends from Taiwan who studying and working in Munich through Ying-han, spending the quality time with them in both Frankfurt and Munich. Thanks God for the hotpot and tang yuan this year to warm up everyone especially during the all of sudden chilly weather. Moreover, a blast countdown of 2010 with fireworks that made the trip down to Munich more meaningful and an unforgettable one. Cut the craps, go enjoy the pictures with captions.


Hotpot (or nabe in Japanese) is my favourite dish in winter.


Bear in mind that hotpot must have smooth tofu.


Tang hun instead of bee hun.


Udon is the best friend of nabe (hotpot).


Siu bak choy that bought from the Asian Market.


Long white Chinese cabbage can sweeten the soup.


The Taiwanese Sha Cha sauce (沙茶醬), dipping sauce for hotpot.


Second round. More fish and prawn balls plus beef. =p


Ying-han and her friend, Ah Kuan.


Bought too much, so dinner was also hotpot but a spicy one.


Dinner was with friend from China. *FuFu needs a haircut!*


Again, i brought him to Myzeil. *Also to use the clean toilet*


Nice weather but still chilly.


How could FuFu not bring visitor to Römerberg?


And the riverside for the spectacular skyline of Frankfurt.


Also the European Central Bank.


Lunch was sushi at the Japanese restaurant.


It's a buffet lunch - eat all you can.


Itadakimasu~


Fabulous! So many sushi for only Euro 11 (RM55).


It also offers Chinese food.


Picture courtesy of the Japanese waitress.


Having tea after sushi is best of the best while chatting.


The old Opera house. (It's getting dark after 4pm)


The office buildings of the European Central Bank.


Then, we went up to the sky bar for the night view of Frankfurt.


And had a drinks while playing cards.


The fourth day, i brought Ah Kuan to a small historical town, Höchst.


One beautiful place with blocks of old buildings.


Spotted Santa delivering Christmas gifts to the children.


The town was too quiet as if only the two of us breaking the silence.


He said it's a perfect place for shooting the Taiwanese series.


A grandpa feeding the ducks, birds and swans.


Lunch was döner. This Turkish guy purposely posed for me!


The fifth day (28th Dec 2009), we left Frankfurt to Munich by train.


On the Metro in Munich, heading to Olympiazentrum station.


The second day in Munich, Ah Kuan was not feeling well.


So we stayed home cooking and watching movies, laying off, phew.


The third day in Munich, we went out to downtown for shopping.


SALE, SALE, SALE... everywhere! Grabbed three new items. LOL


Dinner time at Lamm's, the typical German restaurant.


The ambience of the restaurant was so festive.


Nice ambience real gave good appetite to every customer.


Munich's Angusliner and pumpkin soup.


The Sauerkraut (sour cabbage).


The Schweinshachse (pork knuckle).


Each of us had one Schweinshachse.


It's only Euro 7.50 (RM38.50), consider really cheap in Germany.


Filled up, eeerrrgggghhhhh.


FuFu was not willing to leave though.


Munich is a very beautiful city with numerous of nice buildings.


It also has more places to go compared with Frankfurt.


Well, once arriving home, we started making tang yuan.


It's easy and fun. All you need are glutinous rice flour and water.


Then pinch off pieces of the dough and roll it into small balls.

Later, we went out for the countdown at Olympia park.

It's a marvelous countdown ever FuFu had.

There's no official fireworks display in Germany on the New Year Eve, so the German bought fireworks and light it crazily at any open space welcoming the New Year. Standing on top of a hill at Olympia Park, Munich, i was speechless while overlooking the panorama view of the city with random yet pretty fireworks exploded from everywhere. It was an insane night. A very different New Year Eve i used to have with beautiful official fireworks display. Totally fabulous. *All videos posted below are highly recommended to watch.*

Here's the part two of the fireworks.

We had roughly watching the fireworks for half an hour.

Part Three

I still have more video clips, but i think it's enough for now.


After the fireworks, we back for dessert.


Red bean soup with tang yuan.


It's yummilicous. FuFu had 29 tang yuan.

After that, we started playing different games with cards.

珍珠巧克力榴蓮奶茶 vs 珍珠巧克力鴛鴦奶茶. It's so much fun.

The German cities are hard to memorize.

Murnau vs Wuerzburg. LMAO

Last but not least, happy 2010. Hope it's not too late, i wish you all the best and have a great roaring Tiger Year.