Salzbrug - Day 1

Salzburg + New Chinese friends

The Sound of Music Gezebo + Mozart's hair :p

Wien - Day 3.5; Salzburg - Day 0.5

United Nations, Vienna + Manners shop

Visited UN with Ding and the Indians. This UN center at Vienna is responsible for discussing energy and social issues. Bought some chocolate wafers at Manners. They claim to be authenticated Neopolean schnitten... :p


Salzburg arrival + hostel

Ding and I arrived with the train from Vienna to Salzbrug in late evening.

Wien - Day 3

In front of the Parliament + Inside

Because I don't like walking around the city alone (If I like this, I don't need any person accompanying me for a trip...), today I went with 2 Indians and 1 Nepal whom I met at the hostel. They are very friendly. Basically they didn't have a plan where they wanted to visit, so I was completely free to give my suggestions, which was much easier than with Ding, who has strong opinions (and blamed me for having no opinion :p). I don't really hate him, but I just think we are too different to have an harmoneous trip together. My tour group had some guided tours at the Rathaus and the Parliament, walked around the city and took photos.

Night view at Hofburg + Stattopera queue

Then we queued 3 hours before the opera started in order to get a ticket at the pakett. But I must say, the management for the Stattopera is *extremely* poor. They over-sold tickets and there is no designated place for a standing place. Even if I am not paying the full price, I'd expect to receive a reasonable treatment. We had some little conflicts with some Japanese standing at the first row. Basically there is a "tradition" that one can tie something at the standing place to reserve it on a first come basis. But the problem was an Austrian couple stirred up our conflicts. Those were people who dressed up very formal, like they are educated, and have good social manners. Please forgive me I'm rude and don't know these regulations of politeness. I just think as long as I am standing in a place, not blocking the sight of any people, not making the place too crowded so that they have no place to move, it is alright. The Austrian man said: "you guys haven't queued up for 3 hours and you cannot stand on the first row. It is not fair." I thought, what is fair? What is wrong with us standing at a place blocking no one, except making these people jealous? Even the Japanese were fine with us... This world is sometimes crazy...

Wien - Day 2

I have forgotten what was the excuse, but Ding has decided today, we better walk around the city, splitted. Probably I'm too boring a person... or I cannot get along well with most HKer, I feel... :p

St Stephen's Dom + Hofburg

At the St. Stephens Dom there is a ceremony in the morning on the 25th. I think the pope's speech was broadcasted live. I just walked freely around the city, roughly following the map. The mounuments are coupled so closed together that you don't really have to look up a map. A random walk will encounter a random one.


Schönbrunn + X'mas lights

In the afternoon I visited the Schönbrunn. There was the last X'mas market. Had a tour around the palace. Went back to the city center at night for Arabella with a standing place at the Stattopera. The opera was in German. I wonder what it is like when Germans are listening to an opera in German. Is it similar to us listening to a 粤曲?

Wien - Day 1

Cheap bus from Budapest to Wien + Austria-Hungary border

The whole day spent on traveling on the bus. At night there was no shop opened on X'mas day. This is one of the most boring X'mas...

Budapest - Day 3

St Stephens Basilica + Synagouge

Continued the walk through different mounuments. It was actually not a good idea to travel around Europe during X'mas, because all the places are closed some days between 24th-26th. The only thing you should do is: visit an European family. X'mas is a family festival.


Szt. Gellert ter + closed Shopping mall

Budapest - Day 2

Cable car + shift duty ceremony

Rided the cable car to the National Gallery. Watched the duty shift of the soldiers. Walked around the mounuments in the Castle district: Matthias Church, Fischermen's Bastion. Had lunch at a Chinese Imbiss with 480Ft. Took different night shots along the Donau. Watched a film Deja fu(?) at night (an American film...).


Matthias Church + Parliament

Budapest - Day 1

On the train to Budapest + Metro station

Ding, a HKU worldwide exchange student, and I went to Budapest as our first destination. The train took some 12 hours. It was strange that on the seat, there is no English description. Although the buildings in the city look quite old, the Metro is quite modern and clean.


West End shopping mall + hostel

We walked along the Donau, took some pictures. The sky went dark at around 4pm. We then walked to the West End shopping mall (quite large in an European scale) and settled down in the hostel.

Merry X'mas to you all

 

Kartespielen

Heute habe ich mit Teresa und ihr Freundinen Karte gespielt. Wir haben 3 Spielen gemacht. Das erste weiß ich den Name gar nicht... Das zweite heißt Aktivität. Man muss durch Malen, Sprechen, oder Pipamimic(?) die Bedeutung eines Worts die Gruppe kommunitieren. Das dritte heißt Der Siegel. In diesem Spiel muss man Stiche winnen.

Schloss im Himmel

Ich, Yu-chun, Nien-Shou haben den Film "der Schloss im Himmel" von Miyasaki bei Motohiro angeschaut. Das Dialog war auf Japanisch, aber der Untertitel war auf Deutsch. Danach haben wir gemeisam Abendessen. Motohiro hat etwas japanisches gekocht. Es war ganz einfach, aber es hat gut geschmeckt. Der Receipt ist: Putenbrust - 800g Zwiebel - 1 stück Mirin - 2 Teelöffel Katsuo - Dashi - 2 Teelöffel Zugar - ein bisschen Salz - ein bisschen Wasser - ein bisschen

冷戰十二日...

Sometimes I am not sure if I am feeling unhappy about it, or I simply cannot adapt well to a sudden change. It is a habit that we contact each other every 2-3 days since August, even for something silly... :p He never told me why he stopped our contacts. I can only guess, maybe it is due to the same reason why I attempted to stop my contacts with L. Since I was a child, I never succeed to stop my contacts with any other person more than 3-5 days. Actually, these 12 days is a record for me. Heute redeten wir wieder. Aber manchmal bin ich sooo verwirrt, dass ich auch denke, wir sollen unsere Freundschaft aufhören. Es gibt eigentlich keinen großen Grund dafür. Ich brauche aber Unabhängigkeit.

Weihnachtsmarkt@Bebenhausen

Es war ein kleiner mittelältlichen Weihnachtsmarkt... Es gab aber keine Weihnachtsatmosphäre