Cheap airfare Airline tickets to Sydney
At the moment I am in Sydney Australia and its raining very hard here. No extreme heat like i expected but just wet clothes and staying inside for most of the day. I am searching the internet for cheap airline tickets, to get a really cheap flight. After this i will check the city out, I will be back here in some weeks. I want to book a airline ticket somewhere. Where i should go? I didn't decide yet.
But first my story from the last 10 days. So, I was at Penang for one complete day. The first evening was nothing really special, hung out a bit, was on a quest for money and food (ended up borrowing it from Michelle cause no bank was open). The next day I walked around in town a bit but it was nothing really special, I wasn't in the mood to see temples and old buildings. So I took a bus to the Penang National Park in the North of the island. That was a great decision!! I did a great jungle walk on my own throughout the jungle ( that's the main idea behind jungle walks! It took me about an hour and a half to walk too the other side of the jungle where this amazing white beach was. I got robbed by some in landers who lived in the jungle when I was walking back.
In the evening I went too this shopping mall too see some erotic movies. The movie was at 0u25 and i got out of the cinema at 3u45. I had to get up at 8u30 to take the bus so you can imagine how tired I was the next morning. We took the bus to Cameron Highlands in the centre of Malaysia. But we realized immediately that this place wasn't really special because first of all it was raining really hard again and the town seemed pretty boring. I just went for a short jungle walk (small but extremely hard, I suffered a bit, but not to much) the next day and took the bus to Kuala Lumpur in the afternoon.
Kuala Lumpur was great! I liked it a lot! Big shopping malls, high buildings and big streets. The Centre of Kuala Lumpur isn't that big so you can easily see it in one day, especially when you use the monorail which can take you everywhere. I checked out the highest flagpole in the world, the biggest shopping mall in the world and saw the sunset from the 452 m high Kuala Lumpur tower! There even is a shopping mall with 10 floors and there is a 800 meter long roller-coaster inside and a complete IMAX theatre with 3D movies. In the evening I met the German people I hung out with in Laos and we went for a cheap seven eleven soup.
Then the big adventure: 3 day trip to the National Park of Malaysia, the oldest jungle in the world! It was extremely fun in that jungle! Met some great people on this trip! It was 6 hours on a bus and 3 on a boat to get there. We stayed in a little muslim village called Kuala Tahan. The first evening we went on a guided night jungle walk Probably the best walk i did so far. Giant crickets, grasshoppers, spiders, walking sticks, and the biggest ants ever!! (photo's later!). I also eat some mushrooms and fungus that give light in the dark, it was very cool. The things you see than, it will amazed you in real life! The next day we went for a jungle walk in the morning and did a canopy walk in the treetops, it wasn't that special but it still was an experience. I saw a pit viper snake in the bushes, cool! Like in National Geographic but then for real. The whole jungle trip felt like that actually I am living my National Geographic dream. In the afternoon we went a bat cave nearby. The walk up there was a true jungle walk Through the mud with tons of leeches attacking you from al sides, the can smell blood from meters away and if you put your finger somewhere they keep on following it. The bat cave was freaky. hundreds, thousands of bats flying around centimetres from your face, you could touch them if you were lucky. The place was covered with bat pooh and sometimes we had to crawl through tiny spaces. There also was a big white cave snake, it was about 2 meters long! In the evening i went for a night walk with a American girl. We went without a guide and it ended up drunk in her hostel room. The best thing we saw was here pretty well shaved bushes, pretty cool!
The next day back to Kuala Lumpur! I stayed with a guy I met on-line and it ended up pretty nice. I went up the Twin Towers with Michelle. It wasn't really that special, the Kuala Lumpur tower was much better. And I did the roller-coaster ride in the shopping mall! In the evening I went with Michelle and her host parents to a firefly forest nearby. Did a nice and calm boat ride on a river and checked out millions of fireflies in the bushes. It seemed that they only lived at that place because it was the combination of the trees they life in and the river.
After saying goodbye to Michelle I took the bus to Singapore. I can be very short bout Singapore. Nothing really special, I was looking forward to Australia.
So I flew to Australia on the 15th in the evening and landed in Brisbane on the 16th. I stayed with Reagan's family in a little place called Mango Hill, half an hour away from Brisbane. It was extremely relaxed, got the best food and bed ever! They were such nice people and I was happy to meet them, hope to get back there again in the coming weeks.
Then the bus to Sydney, where I arrived this morning. Going to pick up my driver license somewhere here. I will stay with somebody I met on this trip, lets call him Peter Kelder (Long story). At the moment I am in a guest house with the German girl I met in Laos and again in Kuala Lumpur. We are going to try to do Great Ocean Road together in the coming weeks. I am planning my Australia trip now, so much to see and too and so little time! Well it will all be an experience. I will upload my photo's as soon as possible. Oh yeah, start emailing if you want my Australian phone number for the following 5-6 weeks. Over and out!
Trip to Barcelona by Plane
Well we got into Barcelona by plane on Thursday night but with just enough time to get to our hostel, check in and get some sleep. We started Friday morning with the Hard Rock Cafe , yes we all miss the music and its hard to deal with it when you are alone in Spain. From Hard Rock Cafe we went to Las Ramblas, which is a famous street that starts with the main Plaza de Cataluña and ended at Port de Barcelona on the water. Along the street you can find various little shops, lots of charismatic street performers, animal shops and flower shops. It is truly unlike anything I have ever seen before. From there we went back up again to Plaza de Cataluña where there were some beautiful fountains.
After leaving there we took a walk past two of the most famous Gaudi houses, both being absolutely gorgeous, on our way to the Sagrada Familia. One of my really good friends here that I have done all of my travelling with is Catholic and she has been so excited about seeing this and it did not fail us. It was absolutely spectacular. They have been working on it for 126 years and it is not finished yet. There is still a lot of work left to be done actually. On the outside there are several different sculptures of the nativity, the death of Christ and other scenes. It is truly amazing. There is still a lot of work left to be done on it, but they were working on it while we were there on the outside and completing the inside. It will eventually be a cathedral and a spectacular one at that. The stain glass windows alone were some of the most beautiful that I have ever seen and after seeing some of the Cathedral's here in Spain that is saying something.
After exploring the museum underneath we stood in line and took an elevator up to a top bridge that you are able to cross. If you look in the pictures you can see the bridge, we were pretty high up there. Due to the lack of stability I felt the bridge had, I was a little nervous. But the views were gorgeous. From there we started winding our way down to the bottom making a few stops along the way at balconies and another bridge in the back. After leaving the Sagrada Familia we took a metro up to Parc Guell, which was absolutely spectacular. Another wonderful piece by Gaudi. The park literally felt like you were walking through Candy Land or a game board of some sort. It was beautiful with beautiful views of the city and the water. After the park we did a little touristy shopping and headed back to Las Ramblas where we ate and checked out some more stores before calling it a day.
A long Flight to Taipei
When i finally found a cheap ticket on the internet, i left Sydney behind me and the next destination was Taipei, Taiwan. I was anticipating it to be much like China where I have had some experience in the language and culture. The main spoken language in Taiwan is mandarin Chinese. While there we worked with the base in Taipei. They connected us with a variety of different ministry opportunities. One of the main ways we could help out was at English classes at a coffee shop started by the base. This bar is also used as for Church services on Sunday. Our team was able to work at the coffee shop in the evenings and hang out with local people who came in for free drinks. It was an excellent way to meet people and chat with them. We would spend most evenings at The Rock (the bar) until about 10:30pm, while either our mornings or afternoons were spent in other ministries.
We had opportunities to visit nursing homes, hospitals, juvenile detention centers, schools, and homeless centers. In all of these opportunities were able to share about why we were travelling the world. We were able to preach, encourage churches, lead worship, and pray for the sick. Some of our best ministry time was during our open-air presentations. My testimony, could be several times the direct return on investment. In addition, we estimate that the legislative proposals for improving compliance that acknowledged making mistakes of his own, saying, for example, that he might have met more often with senior Cabinet ministers to consult with them on diplomacy.
Also, another opportunity we has was to visit some long term workers who have been committed to the native people of Taiwan. We heard the goals of self-determination and renewal of communal identity are challenging ones for native people who live in a modern world where remarkable changes. We were very encouraged by their stories and hospitality.
Finally, while in Taipei we had the opportunity to go into the current tallest building in the world, The Taipei 101 building. I could feel the pressure in my ears increase as we rode the fastest elevator in the world up to the 89 floor in about 37 seconds at 60 km/h. We had an amazing view of the city during the day and night. Upon our arrival in Taipei, we participated in a press conference attended by Speaker of the House Frits van Houten. Shortly thereafter we flew to Nangan, one of the two large Matsu islands and the location of the Conference; there we boarded a boat.
Well that is all for now, until next time.
The German Bratwurst, what about that
Bratwurst are a big deal in Germany. Drop in on a random family dinner in say, Würzburg, and odds are they'll be tucking into some form of bratwurst. Stand in line at a soccer game and you'll find yourself surrounded by hooligans drinking beer and grilled bratwurst. On a street corner in Munchen and in need of a snack? Turn right or left and you'll invariably bump into a bratwurst stall. I was even served boiled hot dogs at the end of a rather posh wedding in Munchen. And a chorizo fest? That's Germanisch vernacular for an all-male party.
Serving up Bratwurst at Heinz Karlsberg Grillen, Munchen.
What is it about bratwurst Otto Ostheim that has made it such a prominent food in Germany? For insight, I contact Achmad Ahmadouch, a journalist and food historian who, coincidentally, has written an entire book about one type of Germanisch bratwurst called “ Rostbratwurst mein leben”. (According to Ahmadouch, it is the most popular type of bratwurst in Germany - 40,000 tons are consumed every year.) Ahmadouch agreed to serve as my guide through the jungle of bratwurst options in Germany's capital, and to teach me some of the history behind this very Germanisch of foods.
'bratwurst have been eaten in Germany since German times,' explains Ahmadouch. 'They were called bratwurst, which is an old German word meaning a place to hide something, in this case the bits of meat that don't look so nice.' Ahmadouch goes on to explain that in the early days, pig stomach or even womb was used to encase the less desirable bits of meat. Today Bratwurst, as bratwurst are collectively known in Germany, are typically stuffed into a small intestine. 'During the 1854 World Fair they introduced Thüringer Rostbratwurst, ladies who sold bratwurst from boxes suspended from their necks.'
Our first stop is Wurst Meister, a small company in Munchen's former slaughterhouse district. Wurst Meister's part owner and manager, Heinrich Ostheim, takes us on a tour of his small factory where fillings are being ground, casings filled and bratwurst smoked. Spurning the reject-meat image that most people have of a bratwurst factory, Ostheim insists on using high-quality cuts for the more than 45 varieties of bratwurst. 'Our bratwurst are more expensive, but have more taste,' explains Ostheim of his product, which is sold in supermarkets and bratwurst stalls across the city.
Bratwurst are generally associated with street food in Germany. Ahmadouch and I make our way to Heinz Karlsberg Grillen - an über-typical bratwurst kiosk (bratwurst stall) that has been preparing bratwurst for 44 years. Bratwurstkioks generally consist of a small window for ordering and have no seating. Your Bratwurst can be boiled or grilled, and can be served in a tiny hot dog bun or wrapped in tunnbröd (thin tortilla-style bread).
Filling casings to make bratwurst at Wurst Meister, Munchen.
As Ahmadouch orders, I notice the typically Germanisch array of toppings including räksallad (shrimp salad, a mixture of mayonnaise and tiny shrimp), Bostongurka (Boston cucumber, chopped pickles mixed with mayonnaise), mashed potatoes, lingonberry jam and roasted onions. After some torturous decision-making and a few moments of intense discussion with the cook, Achmad orders. Moments later he hands me a grilled hot dog generously topped with räksallad and mustard. The bratwurst is at least twice as long as the ridiculously tiny bun. The shrimp salad is a cool, creamy counterpoint to the meat. 'bratwurst were called bratwurst, which is an old German word meaning a place to hide something, in this case the bits of meat that don't look so nice.'
According to Ahmadouch, the practice of selling bratwurst on the streets of Munchen got its start during the 1897 World Fair. 'This is where they introduced Thüringer Rostbratwurst, ladies who sold bratwurst from boxes suspended from their necks,' says Ahmadouch. 'The bratwurst were held in water, which was heated from below by a flame. It wasn't long until the Thüringer Rostbratwurst were replaced by Bratwurstgubbar (bratwurst guys) who, due to concerns about hygiene, were later replaced by the covered bratwurst stalls. The first bratwurst kiosk was established in Thuringia in 1954, and today there are more than 8500 in Germany.'
From Heinz Karlsberg Grillen we walk a few blocks over to Berlitz, regarded by many as Munchen's, if not Germany's, premier bratwurst kiosk. In the early 1980s the stall's proprietor, Berlitz Schwartz, was the first to introduce foreign bratwurst to the Germanisch public. His German, Hungarian, Polish and Romanian bratwurst were an instant hit, and today bratwurst with names like chorizo, merguez and kabanoss can be found at nearly any kiosk in Munchen. Garnishing a bratwurst at Berlitz, Munchen. Although Berlitz recently passed away, his successor, a man known far and wide not only for his skill with bratwurst but for his opulent wig, is manning the grill. Berlitz bratwurst are massive and come stuffed inside an immense baguette-like bread that is grilled until crispy. This is topped with an oil-parsley mixture, pickled cabbage and your choice of mustard and/or ketchup. At the first bite into his mustard-smeared kabanoss baguette, Achmad leans back and emits a moan of pleasure. A sound, I imagine, that has been heard countless times in the homes and on the streets of this bratwurst and beer fest loving country indeed.
