29.jun.2oo4 - goodbye hong kong

tuesday. i left hong kong and I left my heart there. i love this city and I will do everything to come back as soon as possible. take a look at all my entries below and you will understand me. good by for now hong kong - I will be back.

28.jun.2oo4 - ten months with my baby

monday. i know what you gonna say: how can she stand a guy like me for 10 months? well, i don't know, but fact is that today i have been with vivien for 10 months straight. a nice day which will be followed by my departure for germany tomorrow, which will be a day of tears.

19.jun.2oo4 - last time out

saturday. as my time in hong kong nears it end, it is always time for 'last' things. this time it was the last time out with my buddies, which we celebrated hard in wan chai and lan kwai fong. hong kong nightlife is just amazing. this might be the last time for now, but it won't be the last time in the end.

11.jun.2oo4 - king mud-eye

friday. something caught my eye on that day - not a girl, something else. my eye swell big, which cause me some poor vision and two days sick-leave. after all it was not a nice experience for king mud-eye.

09.jun.2oo4 - last time happy valley

wednesday. my last time in happy valley for so long, since the season will end and I will leave hong kong soon. i always loved going there, and i will for sure come back to happy valley and put some dollars on those amazing animals. horseracing - gotta love it.

07.jun.2oo4 - chinese can't swim

monday. one thing that you notice when you go to a pool in hong kong - chinese can't swim. well, they don't drown like a stone, some are actually quite good, but... well, let me rephase. they swim like they walk - there is no order just left, right, straight, back, suddenly stopping, etc. it's driving me nuts. i just want to excercise a little in the pool, but they keep ruining it. aaaaaah.

06.jun.2oo4 - the white shark

since today. even though there are sharks in the waters around hong kong, but i bet many of the people haven't seen a white shark like me. it's quite to be the only white person in a pool, especially if you are the only person with hair on your chest. haha, nobody is safe in the pool of the student's hall of residence, as long as the white german shark is alive.

29.may.2oo4 - kn cruises

saturday. after work me and my bitch walked down to the queen's pier in central with some colleagues of mine to get on Kuehne & Nagel's private boat. sadly the weather wasn't that good, that's why we had to skip the swimming and just cruised around hong kong island and aberdeen towards lamma island. after arriving at lamma we had some delicious seafood in Kuehne & Nagel's seafood restaurant. as we finished our food, the weather turned better and we spent some more hours on the boat drinking beers. later on we asked the captain to cruise around the HIT - one of the most amazing things i've ever seen. one of the busiest container terminals in the world hosting the biggest vessels in the world. they were all there: oocl, evergreen, hanjin, maersk, mol, hapag lloyd ... afterwards, as it turned dark we headed towards the skyline. the view was really clear so we could enjoy this surreal scene. what a great day!

29.may.2oo4 - airfreight training

saturday. on this day i was invited to an airfreigh training at our wan chai office. well, nothing really special, but a good chance to say hello to old colleagues, drink a lot of coffee and chat escape from a normal working day. well, apart from that i learned a lot about airfreight - not kidding!

26.may.2oo4 - buddha's birthday

wednesday. thanks to the good old buddha we had a public holiday in the middle of the week - really nice. so i took the chance, slept extra long and spent the day at the pool. as you can see, hong kong is a great place as it comes to public holidays. here we enjoy the long chinese new year, western holidays such as christmas and the traditional chinese holiday! cool, huh? well, they really need them, considering most of my colleagues just have nine holidays a year. as i remember, the minimum in germany is 23 days. aha, that's why we loose all the jobs in europe ... oops.

25.may.2oo4 - shrek2

tuesday. i watched shrek2 at the festival walk in kowloon tong that night. a really funny movie, that's why it has to be mentioned in this diary. for those of you who haven't watched it, make sure to watch it as soon as possible.

22.may.2oo4 - the swiss chalet

saturday. me and my beloved girlfriend had dinner that night in the swiss chalet, an obviously swiss restaurant in tsim sha tsui. we enjoyed some nice swiss fondue, a nice quiet atmosphere and nice desserts there. i can highly recommend it, as long as you bring a big wallet or your credit card along with you.

13.may.2oo4 - klong klong!

thursday. jesper, matthias and me spent the evening in the klong in wan chai, one of the hottest bars in hong kong, which also refers to the women there. well, i didn't touch anything or anyone, but it had a good time and some nice drinks in klong that night.

15.may.2oo4 - the chao inn

saturday. my aunt and uncle flew in from bremen to visit me and some old business friends of my uncle. it was one of them who took us to a really nice chinese restaurant in the peking one tower on canton road in tsim sha tsui, from which you have the most awesome view of the hong kong skyline as you dine. again, it felt so good to have family around in hong kong.

14.may.2oo4 - chep lap kok visit

friday. kuehne+nagel took me to visit the airport of hong kong and it's cargo termials on that day. a nice, exiting and interesting day. you just don't get to visit one of the world's busiest airfreight terminals in the world every day. thanks maggie for taking me.

12.may.2oo4 - no cannot!

wednesday. my colleagues Simon, Francis and me took the elevator to the roof of the hong kong international distribution centre during our lunch break to take some pictures. since you're not allowed to take any pictures on the whole area we tried to hide our cameras as good as we could, but we failed. one security lady walked up to us and said: no, cannot. cannot take pictures. we replied: yes we can! well, in the end she made us leave the roof, but at that point we had already taken many pictures. too late lady!

08.may.2oo4 - we are the champions!

saturday. the season is over and all my dreams came true! i've been waiting for this day for more than 11 years. werder bremen is german champion 2004 after a great victory over bayern munich two days before the end of the season. we watched them live at the wan chai bierkeller with about 50 other supporters. afterwards we drank as much as our wallets could pay for and rocked wan chai. i wish i could have been back home in bremen, but hey, we had our own little bremen here in hong kong this day. and in three weeks we'll also win the german cup - for sure!

06.may.2oo4 - 'say ho ma tau'

thursday. since many taxi drivers do not speak english it's always useful to know the place you wann go in cantonese. 'say ho ma tau' means 'four number container terminal' .... container terminal number four. we use this every day, since Simon, Francis and me always take the taxi to the kwai fong MTR station and back during our lunch break. we always have lunch in the shopping mall there, since there's no good restaurants one the container terminal, as you can imagine.

03.may.2oo4 - coffee, please...

monday. some things in life can be quite funny. on my first day of work i sat with Simon, a swiss colleague and friend of mine, who was served some hot coffee in the moring by one of the staff. simon asked her if she could also bring some coffee for me - no problem. so from now on i get served coffee twice a day, at 9am adn 2pm, without having to aks for it. that really makes my day!

03.may.2oo4 - the kwai chung terminal

monday. the airfreight department is located at the hong kong international distribution centre in kwai chung, where kuehne + nagel has it's warehouse. the building is located directly on the premises of the hong kong international terminals, one of the busiest container terminals in the world. now i can see the physical operations every day. i just have to look out my window or walk down into the warehouse to take a look at incomeing or outgoing consigments. i always wanted to visit this terminal - now i'm working on it!

03.may.2oo4 - we lift you up

monday. this day i transferred to the airfreight department of kuehne + nagel. i've spent so much time in seafreight, since i already worked with evergreen for three years, that i asked for a transfer to the airfreight department. i'll spent three weeks in the import and five weeks in the export. since i've never done airfreight before this will be an exciting time with many interesting things to learn.

02.may.2oo4 - gettin' hot over here

sunday. it's getting really hot over here these days. well, the heat is not the problem, but the humidity. as soon as you leave the house or office - sweat. it's terrible, and even worse if you have to wear suit, shirt and tie to the office every day. can't wait to get some fresh and cool air back in good old europe this summer, believe it or not!

02.may.2oo4 - avenue of stars

sunday. some people in hong kong think that this city is missing some attractions - so what could they do? since chinses people are very good at copying stuff, the simply copied the hollywood walk of fame by creating the hong kong avenue of stars. it's along the tsim sha tsui promenade and it sucks really bad. i mean, why would someone visit hong kong to see some stars on the pavement from actors and singers nobody knows outside of hong kong? well, except jackie chan and jet li. and anyways, the place is so crowded that you end up being really pissed off about stupid people without having seen a single star. i recommend to waste your time somewhere else! i think this place was only created to support pickpockets!

01.may.2oo4 - milchus tonochy

saturday. who is milchus tonochy? well, andre milchus, a classmate from my university, his colleagues and me watched the game bremen against hamburg in club tonochy in wan chai. thanks to some connections, the night club set up a separate room for us, where we could watch the game live and enjoy all we can drink. after this amazing game we spent some more hours in the club singing karaoke..... from now one, in respect of this amazing evening, i shall call him milchus tonochy.

01.may.2oo4 - bremen vs. hamburg

saturday. hey, it was time again to show the german football nation who's the number one in the north. well, it was also time to proof the german football nation who's the number one in the whole country. it all happened at the weserstadion in bremen, where werder bremen crushed the team from hamburg with 6:0. i watched the game live and was more happy than this guy here on the picture, who happens to be one of the biggest ... in the nation. ole ole!

30.apr.2oo4 - last day in wan chai office

friday. since there was nothing new for me left in the seafreight-department i asked for a transfer to the airfreight-department, which is located at in kwai chung. my transfer was approved and therefore i spent my last day in the wan chai office. a strange feeling to leave the office which all the nice colleagues i've met along the way. we had a nice dim sum lunch together and took some final pictures. i'll never forget working in one of the most amazing offices in the world: allways busy, allways loud, always 'crazy'. i had a great time!

21.apr.2oo4 - start of my sick week

wednesday. i was right. i got me a nice cold on monday which got worse on tuesday and transformed into a nice 'gastroenteritis'. i was knocked out and spent half of the week in bed and the other on the throne. that's really messed up, especially it has 25°C and bright sunshine outside! i hate being sick!

19.apr.2oo4 - f###ing aircon

monday. the aircon maniacs are loose since the it's getting quite hot in hong kong these days. wherever you go the air is chilled down to 18°C or less, which really puts your body to a challenge. it's cold in the hall, hot on the way to the bus, really cold in the bus, hot after getting off the bus walking to the office, cold in the office ... and the same thing on the way back from work. i guess i got me a cold that day. no thing is for sure, there's no escape!

17.apr.2oo4 - wan chai buzz

saturday. after dortmund defeated bayern munich we checked out some local bars in the wan chai district. one beer led to another, and another, and another and so on ... finally around 3am i got on a cab to hung hom, where i spent most of the night in the bathroom doing .... you know what. i'll never drink again - yeah right!

17.apr.2oo4 - elsfleth is everywhere

saturday. me and some colleagues went to the 'wan chai bierkeller' in wan chai to watch the bundesliga match 'bayern munich' against 'borussia dortmund'. we sat down, had some food and a lot of beer, when i noticed a familiar-looking guy on the table next to us. during half-time, when i was just about to go over and talk to him, he came over and asked me: ey, don't we study at the same university. now i recognised him! some german restaurant, thousands of miles away from home, some beers and a football match - elsfleth is everywhere. unbelievable!

09.apr.2oo4 - dinner in stanley

friday. we finished of the eving in a nice restaurant in stanley, which Joris and me discovered while being on our 'cracker tours' trip ton big wave beach. we chatted for a long time with the french owner(guess he was a little drunk) and had the best pizza in town. this has been for sure a really nice day. thanks for taking us around, Edwin!

09.apr.2oo4 - top of kowloon

friday. just before sunset we pushed the car up to a pass around the kowloon peak, from which we had an incredible view on the whole of kowloon and the former airport 'kai tak'. thank god we had a car, since i remember the last time i've been on that pass, when me and spent about 10 hours hiking in december. on the way down Edwin showed some real driving skills. thank the lord - i'm still alive!

09.apr.2oo4 - kowloon walled city

friday. the next stop was the kowloon walled city, on which site used to be a government housing project after the 2nd world war. during the war the area was completely destroyed by the japanes, afterwards occupied by a government housing project and later preserved an restored as a really beautfiul park. worth a visit!

09.apr.2oo4 - a cup of tea

friday. after some culture we stopped at one of hong kong most famous cafes in tai po, from which you have an awesome view on shatin. well, the cafe is famous, the view was really nice, the drinks also but the bill was - take a guess - not nice!

09.apr.2oo4 - officer's house

friday. the first stop was an old officer's house somewhere in the new territories. what can i say, it's really nice chinese architecture. if i had the money, i'd build me such a house using modern materials of course. really nice!

09.apr.2oo4 - just cruising

friday. Edwin, a local friend of mine, offered to take us for as spin around hong kong in his car. a nice chance to get some places that are rather difficult to reach by 11bus, MTR and KCR. so Vivien and me visited him in the very north of the new territories before going on a cruise around hong kong. fasten your seatbelts, Edwin is a the wheel!

05.apr.2oo4 - the world's best dumplings

monday. just before leaving taiwan again Vivien and me went to one of taiwan's most famous restaurants to have steamed dumplings. the place was quite crowded, not really cheap - but it was definetly worth it. believe me, one thing is for sure - you won't loose any weight in taiwan, the food there is just toooooo good!

05.apr.2oo4 - taipei 101

monday. at the last day we checked out of the hotel and went to the highest building in the world - the taipei 101 financial centre. as you can guess it's not very hard to find! i can tell you that much: that thing is f***ing high! of course, it's the highest in the world. i think they are construction the highest(in the future) one somewhere in asia these days and i heard some rumors about plans for the construction of an even higher one in kowloon. can't wait to see that one!

04.apr.2oo4 - taiwanese night food market

sunday. we felt really hungry after a long days of walking around taiwan. at night we went to a night food market - one of the craziest places i've ever seen. bright, colourful, full of people, all kinds of foods(i mean all!), all kinds of smell(i mean all!) ... some old lady asked me and Vivien to sit down. we though that was the only english she know - but she proofed us wrong. firstly the quy at that small place explained the whole menu to us in perfect english, made us the most delicious icecream and the best taiwanese sandwich we ever ever had. at the end we had some small talk with the old lady and the said goodbye to us(in perfect english!). i was impressed, by the food, the place and her english. taiwanese food is highly recommended!

04.apr.2oo4 - calvin klein's memorial?

sunday. after returning from the nine gates later that afternoon we walked to the cks (chiang kai-shek) memorial. wanna know more about this quy? check the history yourself, haha! he must be quite famous, even though his name is not written on underwear. but anyways, it's an impressive place, an impressive sight. the huge white memorial, to which you have to climb up many many stairs, the big square with a huge gate in the front, a beautiful park and the national concert hall with it's gold chandeliers which are as big as my car. at first we worried about visiting this sight, since there are many government buildings around that memorial. taiwan was disturbed by large protest about the presidential election a few weeks ago. the independence of taiwan, the election, china - all politics - none of my business, i'm just a tourist.

04.apr.2oo4 - the nine gates

sunday. after a short night we had a decent breakfast at the hotel and took the train to some place in the very north of taiwan. i don't remember the name in chinese or english, but it's quite famous and meant something like 'the nine gates'. it's a nice place where you can buy all kinds of traditional or trendy souvenirs, traditional paintings, toys and of course snacks. i tried the famous pineapple cake - which is even better than the almond cake or phoenix roll i had in macau. so make sure to visit this place, if you can find it.

03.apr.2oo4 - night market of taipei

saturday. after returning from the soho of taipei we went to a nice night market. yes, they have them everywhere in china! the streets we full of small mobile food stands, which sometimes disappeared within seconds when the police hit the scene. the food was really good, really cheap and sometimes really spicy. but i didn't eat the duck head or duck feet - thank you very much! after that we walked by the hooters restaurant in taipei - but i saw no hooters anywhere. oops!

03.apr.2oo4 - soho of taipei

saturday. restaurants in hong kong are only about shouveling food in your mouth - not in taiwan. well, you have also really stylish restaurants in hong kong, but most of them you cannot afford. taiwan is different. all restaurants are stylish, well designed with nice food reasonable prices. the atmosphere is almost european. suddenly i felt at home! that's why i called the street Vivien and me went to: the soho of taipei

03.apr.2oo4 - top of taipei

saturday. after checking into the hotel we went directly to the 'topview taipei' observatory, which used to be the highest building in taiwan, until the construction of the taipei 101 financial centre. on the 63rd floor you have some nice bars and cafes, from which you have an incredible 360° view of taipei. well, that's really nice, since in most of the high buildings (bank of china tower in hong kong) you cannot go to the top. i get the impressions, some people in taiwan must be smarter.....

03.apr.2oo4 - off to taiwan

saturday. due to some chinese holiday we had a long weekend in hong kong. vivien and me decided to book a package to taipei including two nights in a 4 star hotel with breakfast and a direct Thai Airways flight from hong kong. ey, if you love your life, you know which airlines not to take. i'd never fly some cheap crap like 'air china', 'china airlines' or even worse 'shenzhen air'. so we departed from chep lap kok around 1:30pm and arrived in taipei around 3:00pm. so let's check it out, this country, which is famous for small and colourful products nobody really needs.

06.mar.2oo4 - sorry, we live here

saturday. after work Benjamin, Matthias, Martin and me had lunch in a bar in wan chai. we just finished our food and enjoyed the nice weather, while two men set up a camera and a microphone right in front of our table. having finished, they asked if we would answer a few questions for them. well, answer a few question for some tv guys? sure, why not? so one guy sat with us and asked me what my shedule was for my time in hong kong. well, he must have thought we are tourists, since he was quite surprised when i replied:´sorry, we live here.´hmm, after that they packed their equipment and left. sorry about that, maybe he should have asked us first.

03.mar.2oo4 - for members only

wednesday. what is there to do on a wednesday evening in hong kong? for sure, horseracing! but this time it was different. this time, Matthias, Benjamin, Martin and me went for the members area of the happy valley racecourse - and we got in. it's quite amazing what a suit, a german passport and 50 dollars can do for you. after all, horseracing is even more fun now, since for members only.

03.mar.2oo4 - i'm one of them now

wednesday. in february i applied for a hong kong identity card - this week i got it. it's a smart card, even though it doesn't make you any smarter, but it stores your data along with your photo and fingerprints. so, what does that mean? well, i'm one of them now - an offical resident of hong kong. it's official now - i'm no longer a tourist, even though i still keep taking pictures like on of them. haha.

02.mar.2oo4 - my black day

tuesday. you know this kind of day, right? everybody does. it all started waking up without much sleep, having a ten minute fight with one of my ties after having taken a shower. as a result i had to run for my bus in the rain, got to the office at the last minute with no time left for a breakfast. well, arriving at the office i got assigned a rather boring task for a week, which didn't really cheer me up. after work my black day was completed with something caused by my own stupidity, but that's a different story. i'm sure you've had days like these. as you can imagine, i was happy when this one was over.

01.mar.2oo4 - a new department

monday. a new month, a new week, an new department. today i moved from ec (export canada) to ee (export europe). this is the department i was originally assigned, and therefore i'm happy to be there now. what else should i say, don't want to bore you. so, let's get to work!

28.feb.2oo4 - werder bremen! [sorry, german language]

samstag. ich mag ja hier ziemlich weit weg sein, aber dank dem internet und dem chinesischem kabelfernsehen bin ich hier immer auf der höhe des balls. die fakten: werder auf platz eins, den pleiteverein borussia dortmund verdient mit 2:0 geschlagen, ailton mit seinem 20.Tor im 21.Spiel, 7 punkte vor den bayern aus münchen, 12 punkte vor stuttgart, 15 punkte vor bochum, 16 punkt vor leverkusen und ganze 18 punkte vor dortmund. kann mich also nur wiederholen: wer werder nicht auf der rechnung hat, hat sich bereits verrechnet. ach so, und falls jemand ein paar euros, ein paar caipis oder nen kasten bier loswerden möchte - nehme wetten an. werder wird meister, jemand anderer meinung? nein? habe ich es mir doch gedacht. in diesem sinne, ole ole!

28.feb.2oo4 - sai kung seafood

saturday. me and my sweet girlfriend Vivien, being together for already six months, spent our evening in sai kung, a place which is really famous for seafood. it's a rather remote place in the new territories, far away from the busy streets of mong kok and hong kong island - just perfect! so we sat down in a open air restaurant along the harbour promenade, picked some fresh seafood, which is still alive in big tanks, enjoyed the nice weather, nice scenery and later some the best seafood i ever had. well, the bill wasn't as nice as the seafood, but hey, it was worth it for this special evening. love u vivien.

27.feb.2oo4 - the global cartoon network

friday. kuehne and nagel held it's annual dinner at the hong kong international trade and convention centre this friday. the motto was the 'global cartoon network'. altogether about 450 people attended the dinner - their biggest ever. a great evening with nice drinks, nice people, nice costumes, many pictures, with three live bands, a lion dance, a big lucky draw, karaoke, some rather unimportant food and an incredible company band. i never experienced such a crazy and at the same time amazing company dinner. well, things are just different in hong kong. it was really great to be a part of this event.

24.feb.2oo4 - city of money

tuesday. hong kong is definetly one of the most incredible cities in the world. once more, you I realized when i left the office and walked through wan chai on this tuesday night. dozens of expensive cars with drivers wait in front of large business towers to pick up the big bosses. it's just no a big thing to see a bentley or a rolls royce phatom during your lunch break or after work. as you can see, the cars are here - so must be the money. hong kong - the city of money.

20.feb.2oo4 - daniel's b'day

friday. daniel invited us for his 29th birthday to his apartment in the mid-levels. well, what should i say? a crazy taxi ride, some nice people, some beers, some drinks, nice food and nice music = a nice and relaxed evening in hong kong. afterwards we went down to lan kwai fong, spent some time in a few nice bars and clubs. well, tgif = thank god it's friday! have a nice weekend!

19.feb.2oo4 - in the freezer

thursday. Benjamin, Matthias, Vivien and me ha a good time in the russian restaurant 'balalaika' in tsim sha tsui, where they have the world famous freezer, a room in which you can enjoy all kinds of vodka shooters at a temperature of -20°C. so, if you want to try something extraordinary, go to the 'balalaika' in tsim sha tsui, jump in the freezer and heat yourself up from the inside with some nice vodka shots. nastrovje!

14.feb.2oo4 - valentine's day

saturday. well, i guess everyone knows this international day of romance, right? of course i bought some gifts for my sweet girlfriend. the traditional recipe: flowers, chocolate and perfume. later Vivien and me spent the evening in tsim sha tsui, did some shopping and had some sushi in a nice restaurant. what else is there to say about the valentine's day - it's been more than five months, and i just love my sweet girlfriend. hope all of you are as happy as me today.

14.feb.2oo4 - in the middle of the night

saturday - 9:00am. as i mentioned many times before - things are different in hong kong, so are the working hours! every second saturday i have to work from 9:00am to 1:00pm. let me think: usually go to bed around 4:00am on weekend, sleep for 10 hours - ey, 9:00am, that's in the middle of the night! actually it's not to bad, since saturday is casual day and i have really nice colleagues, so time just flies by. but one thing is for sure, things are different in hong kong.

13.feb.2oo4 - the evil phone

friday. on my desk at 'kuehne & nagel' i have a german phone, made by siemens. but there's something wrong with it - it only speaks mandarin or cantonese! can you imagine what a challenge it is to receive calls from chinese shippers, or to call local agents and carriers? well, my phone is evil, that's for sure. anyways, i'll start learing mandarin as soon as i come back to germany, and one day i won't have to fear this evil phone anymore, ha!

11.feb.2oo4 - happy valley racecourse

wednesday. as an unofficial promoter of horseracing in hong kong it is my task to take people to the happy valley racecourse in causeway bay. well, it's a must if you come to hong kong. so I took Jenser, Rolfer and about 20 polyU exchange students to happy valley. there we met with Benjamin, Simon, Matthias, Martin and Daniel, some colleagues and friends of mine. just for your information: if you can't get a hold of me on wednesday night - come to happy valley, you'll find me there!

10.feb.2oo4 - it's a small world

tuesday. well, we knew that some fellow classmates of ours are also in hong kong these days, but would you really expect to meet them in city of seven million people? well, it's a small world! we met Buecki, Lehmbrock and Spilli at the skyline! just unbelievable!

elsfleth meets hong kong, click to enlarge! [it's 68k]

10.feb.2oo4 - the skyline

tuesday. since the view was still incredible on tuesday, Jenser, Rolfer, Tony, Vivien and me decided to enjoy the skyline view at the victoria harbour. let me tell you, i've never seen the skyline like this - a clear sky with no clouds and no smog. it's something pictures and words cannot describe. come to hong kong and enjoy this view - something you will never forget!

09.feb.2oo4 -what a view

monday. the rain of last week washed away the smog and the clouds in hong kong! what's left? 16°C, a sunny and clear sky and the most amazing view in the world! i've never seen such a view in hong kong since i came here in august! from my office i could see the whole of kowloon: the HIT terminal, the kowloon peak, the old kai tak airport. i guess, Jenser and Rolfer even had a better view from the peak. damn, i wish i could have went with them. well, at least this day resulted in the most incredible pictures. wow!

09.feb.2oo4 - mong kok crazy shopping

monday. everybody just loves mong kok and the famous 'ladies market'. it's crowded, it's crazy but it's cheap. well, Jenser and Rolfer got everything they wanted: shirts, sweatshirts, sunglasses, polos, and computer stuff. mong kok - what a great place!

07.feb.2oo4 - lan kwai fong knockout

saturday. did we go to lan kwai fong? of course we did? Rolfer, Jenser and me got quite drunk on 'cutty shark' and 'heineken', took the taxi to lan kwai fong and met with more friends. well, it was a night to remember, even though some things i would rather forget, since we planned things differently and things got out of control. to sum up the night: somebody dropped a bottle, somebody misbehaved towards his girlfriend(i'm sorry), three guys took over the mic in a club, somebody was kicked of the stage, somebody threw up on hollywood road and somebody slipped in front of a strange club. well, blame it on the 'bossanova'!

05.feb.2oo4 - is hong kong ready for this

thursday. only one more day till the notorious 'Rolfer(Ronce)' and 'Jenser(Button)' arrive in hong kong. can't wait to see them again, as it's more than six months since i last saw them! but there is still one question to be answered - is hong kong ready for this?

04.feb.2oo4 - it's raining, man!

wednesday. oh, that's just great! only two more days till 'Rolfer' and 'Jenser' come to hong kong and it's raining all day all week. it's cold, it's miserable - grrrrr! well, you might think why is he complaining at all(with 8°C and some rain)? i know the winters are worse in germany, but hey, the buildings here are not isolated at all and there is no heating! apart from that, the air condition is still running in some places. one thing is for sure, i'm not singin' in the rain.

01.feb.2oo4 - hot pot dinner in tsing yi

sunday. my girlfriend's family invited me for a traditional chinese hot pot dinner to their home in tsing yi, which lies in the new territories of hong kong. different soups are prepared and constantly boiled on hot plates. once the water boiles, all kinds of vegetables, meats and other things can be thrown into the water. for example: lettuce, sausage, beef, octopus, cow stomache, duck eggs, fish meat, fish skin, pig skin, noodles, beef balls, fish balls, etc. they can be eaten, once they start to float. so altogether about 15 people gather around the hot pots that night in tsing yi - again a nice experience, even though hot pot is not my favourite. hey, but at least worth a try, right?

31.jan.2oo4 - the lion dance

saturday. on my way back from the office i walked through tsim sha tsui east, where i suddenly heard some really loud and strange sounds. i followed the sound around a corner and was able to experience one of the traditional lion dances, which usually take place around the chinese new year. nice to see that some chinese traditions have survived in this huge, half western, modern, high tech and time consuming city of hong kong. anyways, in my opinion this mix creates this amazing flair of hong kong. it's for sure asia's world city!

27.jan.2oo4 - sushi, all you can eat

tuesday. living in hong kong made me get used to all kinds of strange food, such as cow stomache, chicken feet and snake soup. but there's one thing that's even better - sushi! actually it's from japan, but you can get it really really really cheap in hong kong. my sweet girlfriend took me to a small restaurant in tsim sha tsui, where you can eat as much sushi as you want for about 9€. can you imagine that? that night i walked home looking like 'Fat Bastard' from the 'Austin Powers' movies. well, i just love that cold fish!

26.jan.2oo4 - no time la!

monday. no time la! so busy la! that's what hong kong people say when you ask them: why can't you go out with us? well, that's exactly the way i feel these days. i get up at 7:30am, enter the office at 9:00am, leave the office at 6:00pm and get home at 7:00pm. afterwards a shower, some food, a visit to the gym, iron the shirt for the next day. well, take a guess what's left of the day - right, nothing! this week i also have on saturday, which cuts the weekend in half. hmm, guess i just have to get used to working office hours again. anyways, this city sucks your time like a vampire the blood from you neck. aaaaah!

25.jan.2oo4 - the carlsberg cup

sunday afternoon. three swedish exchange students - Maria, Johan and Robert - and me went to see the 2nd day of the 'Carlsberg Cup' in the hong kong stadium. in the first game sweden defeated the 'hong kong XI' to win the 3rd place. afterwards norway defeated honduras to win the cup. after all the stadium was more impressive than the presented football - well, who cares! been there - done that!

22.jan.2oo4 - chinese new year

thursday. 'kung hei fat choy' (cantonese), 'gong xi fa cai' (mandarin) or simply 'luck and fortune' for the chinese year of the monkey! these days more than 300.000.000 people are on their way to visit their families and relatives, and thanks to my girlfriend Vivien i was also able to experience this chinsese tradition, that has survived for many centuries. traditionally on the first day of the chinese new year everybody visits their families to have lunch together. everybody is dressed up really nice in all new cloths, since traditonally all chinese buy a full set of cloths and get a haircut before the chinese new year. so Vivien took me with her to have this family lunch at her grandmother's home in the new territories. all the children bring presents such as cookies and chocolates for their parents and married relatives. in return they all receive 'hongbao', which are red envelopes filled with 'lucky money'. after the lunch, which is traditionally vegetarian on the first day of the new year, i also received good wishes and 'hongbao' from Vivien's grandmother, parents and her whole family. after that we all gathered around a table to play a traditional chinese dice game, during which the whole family gambled for money. later the parents usually play 'mahjong' and have some chinese cake during the afternoon. i'm really happy and greatful that i was able to experience the tradtional chinse new year with my sweet girlfriend and her nice family, which never gave me a strange feeling sharing their traditions. thank you so much for this great experience!

19/20.jan.2oo4 - the umbrella wars

monday/tuesday. hong kong is a safe place, unless it's raining! why? well, the week started with some rain, the first since more than three months. as a result, many people make use of their umbrellas, which can be quite dangerous in a large crowd during rush hour! i almost got killed on the way to work on monday and on the traditional new year fair in victoria park on tuesday. people just open their umbrella without taking care of the people around them. some even open their umbrella already in the bus. just insane! my conclusion - umbrellas are more dangerous than the traffic, the smog and George W. Bush together! aaaaah!

18.jan.2oo4 - need for a relaxed weekend

sunday. on friday i finished my first week of working for 'kuehne & nagel'. well, even though it was only two days so far, i really was in need for a relaxed weekend. so many new faces, names and huge amounts of new information. so i spent the weekend around the student halls with my girlfriend, some DVDs and a lot of sleep. aaaaah, now i'm ready to take on the next week, which will only last for 2,5 days, since the chinese new year is comeing up on thursday. can't wait!

15.jan.2oo4 - started my job in hong kong

thursday - 9:00am. today i started working for 'kuehne and nagel' in hong kong. i really had a great day, meeting nice new colleagues in a brandnew office on the 23rd floor with a stunning view on the kowloon peninsula. the first day was quite exhausting - packed with new names, faces and information. i'm confident that i'll have a good time and a great experience with 'kuehne and nagel'. this is just different from everything i experienced so far - the hong kong rush hour, the high buildings, all the expensive cars ...

14.jan.2oo4 - joris leaves hong kong

monday - 10:00am. today Aaron, Maggie and Joris left hong kong for germany - a sad day! especially joris will be missed and at the same time remembered as 'Gerd', 'Santana 2000', 'Bargaining Jori' and 'Old McDonald'. i'll always remember our time in hong kong and beijing together! aaron and maggie, thanks for visiting us in hong kong - hope you had a good time! well, take care you all and see you again in germany this summer!

13.jan.2oo4 - ocean park

tuesday - 10:30am. on this day Vivien and me took the chance to visit 'ocean park' on a weekday, before i'll start working on thursday, which will keep me busy on weekdays till my departure. this was a good decision - the weather was nice, the park was empty - no need to wait for rides, attractions or shows. we took many rides, saw sharks, dolphins, exotic birds and of course the two famous pandas 'An An'(male) and 'Jia Jia'(female). Both were presents of the chinese central government to the people of hong kong in 1997, as hong kong was returned to china by the british. both spend about 55% of a day eating, 41% sleeping and 4% with other activities. what a life, huh?

12.jan.2oo4 - my new room

monday - 1:00pm. today i got my new visa, but the day got even better. later that day i got assigned my new room on the 8th floor - room 882. it's a single room at the end of the corridor, it has a skyline view (i can see the office off 'kuehne und nagel' from my window), extra long beds and i don't have to share the bathroom with anyone! ahhhh, that feels good! what a great day.

12.jan.2oo4 - my new visa

monday - 11:00am. finally i got my new employment visa for hong kong - puuuh! it was quite a struggle and it was about time, since i already start working for 'kuehne und nagel' on this thursday. it felt so good to read these lines today:

IMMIGRATION HONG KONG - OBERSTE-KLEINBECK, SOENKE - Previous conditions of stay are hereby varied. - EMPLOYMENT - Permission to remain extended until 30.06.2004.

10.jan.2oo4 - crazy shopping in shenzhen

saturday - 10:00am. it was Maggie's birthday and just the perfect day to go shopping in shenzhen. so we took the KCR from hung hom to lo wu, where we crossed the border to china. after having crossed the border you just have to walk for 100m until you reach a big shopping mall - a crazy shopping mall. a mall where you can buy everything and anything. from massage, bootleg software, fake gucci handbags, souvenirs, fake cartier watches and dvds of movies that still play on the big screens around the world. so we bought some stuff and returned to hong kong around 6:00pm. after a small rest we celebrated Maggie's birthday in the brazilian restaurant, where we celebrated my birthday 5 days ago. thanks for inviting us maggie!

09.jan.2oo4 - delicious macau

friday. already on thursday night i was able to try some macanese food in front of the racetrack (really cheap, really good), but this was even topped on my second last day in macau. Viven took me to these small backstreets, where you can try the famous macanese 'phoenix rolls', 'almond cakes' and all kinds of spiced meats. you just get the impression that the whole city is a big a market - a delicious macau. after walking around macau for six hours and having visited the 'grand prix museum' we took the turbojet from europe back to asia. what a nice trip.

after having returned to hong kong we still went out that night to have some snake soup on the night market in jordan again. well, it seems like some people don't like it as much as i do! :)

08.jan.2oo4 - macau at night

thursday - 9:30pm. macau is also famous for it's casinos - especially the 'casino lisboa'. from the outside the casino creates a kind of 'las vegas' atmosphere, but i was disappointed after i saw the inside. no formal dresscode, no roulette and no atmosphere. it was just crowded, noisy and dirty. all kinds of strange people, gangsters, prostitutes and in between some 'wannabees'. if you go to macau, don't waste your time on this. you better take a walk around the small streets and places, where beautiful old houses and colourful lights create a mediterranean atmosphere.

08.jan.2oo4 - just little horses

thursday - 8:00pm. the same night we went to see dogracing in macau, which is almost like horseracing, just a little bit smaller. a smaller racecourse, a smaller track and smaller horses - dogs. it was funny to see how greyhound dogs chase a rabbit-doll around the track. and i can tell you something - they are really really really fast!

08.jan.2oo4 - the skywalk on the macau tower

thursday. right after having checked into the 'ritz macau' we went to the macau tower, where we met with Joris, Aaron, Maja and Maggie, who also spent the day in macau. we took the elevator up to the platform, which is 233m high above the ground, and enjoyed the view over macau. but this was not the end. Maja, Maggie, Vivien and me took the skywalk x on the outer rim of the macau tower. 233m, no handrail, no net and no parachute - just your life attached to two ropes. what a thrilling experience! if you go to macau - this is a must! call me 'soenke skywalker' now!

my skywalk picture, click to enlarge! [it's 64k]

08.jan.2oo4 - taking a break in macau

thursday. me and my girlfriend Vivien escaped from hong kong taking the turbojet to macau. it's only a one-hour ride away, but it's a completely different world. even though macau was returned to china by portugal in 1999, the city managed to keep it's relaxed european atmosphere. the friendly people, the european-style buildings and the scooters make you think you are in spain or portugal. europe is right around the corner.

07.jan.2oo4 - horses and drinks

wednesday - 8:00pm. the group is now complete - after Maja and Aaron Maggie arrived in hong kong. since it was wednesday, the first and best thing to visit was the happy valles racecourse. we were once more impressed by the atmosphere. so we placed some bets and finally won some money that night - well, not enough to retire, at least we broke even. afterwards we all took the taxi to the peninsula hotel in kowloon, where we had some nice but expensive drinks (6,60 € a beer), which include the stunning view of the hong kong skyline.

05.jan.2oo4 - my 25th birthday

monday - 9:30pm. you just can't stop the time running! i turned 25 years on jan 5th, which equals a quarter of a century. so old - quite scary! but we are still young enough to go out and party, what we did that night. Joris, Aaron, Maja, my girlfriend Vivien and me went to a brazilian restaurant in tsim sha tsui east for 'all you can eat' and 'all you can drink'. so we enjoyed some nice brazilian food and spanish beer before concluding the evening at the 'mes amis' in tsim sha tsui once more. in the end, it felt really good to have some familiar faces around on my birthday - thanks for the great presents and for spending this nice evening with me. 25 years - aaaaaaah!

04.jan.2oo4 - repulse bay in january

sunday. hey, it's the 4th of january 2004 - a day on which it should be rather cold. well, maybe somewhere else in the world, but not in hong kong. it was just a wonderful day with a blue sky and 26°C - the perfect day spend at the beach. and i'm talking about real 26°C - not 13°C in the morning and 13°C in the evening. so we packed our towels, went to repulse bay on hong kong island and spent the day out in the sun. i never had this kind of experience before - winter sunbathing on the 4th of january. ... and what's even more weird: people still wear scarfs, long trousers, boots and coats. something is wrong here, well, i like it!

03.jan.2oo4 - lan kwai fong

saturday. a visit to lan kwai fong is a must for every visitor to hong kong! if you haven't been to lan kwai fong - you haven't been to hong kong! of course we took aaron and maja there! we had some drinks at 7eleven, met many people from all over the world and danced the night away in the 'c club'. lan kwai fong - i just love this place!

02.jan.2oo4 - aaron's beer diet

friday. hong kong welcomes another visitor - aaron. we picked him up at the airport, took him back to the hall, took a rest and concluded the day at the 'mes amis' in tsim sha tsui. we tried aaron's famous beer diet: 3 large becks = one steak. anyways, it feels really good to have some friends over from germany, which whom we can share asia's world city.

see the whole picture, click to enlarge. [it's 74k]

31.dec.2oo3 - new year's eve

wednesday. another year has passed - time to party. so Jana, Maja, Joris, my girlfriend Vivien and me went to lan kwai fong, which was of course to crowded to get in. damn! so we took a taxi to wan chai, where we welcomed the year 2004 in the 'venue'. new year's eve - nothing special to me! anyways, a happy new year 2004 to everybody!

31.dec.2oo3 - dim sum, park, zoo and carnival

wednesday. we started off maja's first day with a nice dim sum breakfast in hung hom. well, for some reason some people don't like cow stomache and chicken feet - i don't know why! anways, afterwards we took the star ferry to central, where we visite the beautiful hong kong park, the hong kong zoo and botanical garden as well as the world carnival fair. a nice day, especiall with a blue sky and 24°C. haha! the picture on the left shows the 'bauhinia blakeana'. it's the flower with the heart-shaped leaves, which can been seen on the hong kong flag. beautiful!

see the 'bauhinia blakeana'! click on the picture to enlarge! [it's 82k]

30.dec.2oo3 - maja and a hot winter day

tuesday. it seems that hong kong winters are almost as warm as german summers! that's why i'm sure that maja, who arrived here today, will also like it in hong kong.even though it's winter and almost the end of december - it still has 19° and 68% humidity at almost 10:30pm. ain't that something? the weather is for sure one more reason for visiting hong kong! it hasn't been raining for weeks and it's always nice and warm - just perfect. haha!

28.dec.2oo3 - the return of the king

sunday. after 26 hours on the train the king returned to hong kong. no seriously, i chose this headline from a different reason. on this day i've been with my hong kong girlfriend for 4 months - and later that night we went to the movies together and saw the 'lord of the rings - the return of the king'(nice movie!). after an exciting week in beijing, i was soooooo happy to be back in hong kong, where i feel kind of at home after more than four months. and i remembered what the guy at the hostel counter said: hong kong is china. well, i think he's wrong. hong kong belongs to china, no doubt, but china is china, and hong kong is hong kong. hong kong is just different and unique.

27.dec.2oo3 - soft sleeper back to hong kong

saturday - 10:00am. since nothing could top our trips to the great wall and us cruising the streets of beijing, me and Joris left towards hong kong, taking the train again. but this time we took the soft sleeper class, and we were lucky to have nobody else in our compartment. so were were able to look at china from our bed, get some good sleep and relax on our way home. again we spent most of the time in the restaurant, with some food, some beer and some bacardi. as you can see from the picture on the left, we had some more fun on the way back. altogther 'Gerd' and 'Ruge' recommend soft sleeper!

26.dec.2oo3 - paulner braeuhaus beijing

friday - 9:00pm. after riding the bikes for 30km around beijing without any breakfast or lunch got us really really hungry! luckily we were told(thank you so much Florian!) that there is the 'paulaner braeuhaus' at the beijing lufthansa center. Joris and me took the taxi there and arrived around 9:00pm in desperate need of some good food. we were welcomed in german language, also welcomed by the german manager and we could even order 'zwei helle'(2 white beers) in our native language. we had some real german bread, bretzels, sausage as an appetizer and really good 'jaegerschnitzel with spaetzle and extra salad'. and they even brew the beer right in the restaurant - ain't that something? so without any discussion Joris and me agreed, that this was the best food we've had in more than four months. even though beijing is thousands of kilometers away from germany, it felt like home for a moment!

26.dec.2oo3 - cruising the streets of beijing

friday - 11:00am. i know it's crazy and dangerous as hell, but 'Gerd'(Joris) and 'Ruge'(me) rented some bikes to cruise around beijing. we went to beijing west railway station, to the tianmen square, to the forbidden city, the main shopping district, the xiu shui market, the beijing zoo ... they have extra lanes for bikes in the streets of beijing, which makes riding the bike quite easy and safe, if you don't get ran-over at an intersection or a bus stop. well, were survived cruising the streets of china's capital, and the beijing people were really surprised to see some 'western' people riding bikes, which made it even more fun! so if you come to beijing, don't miss out on this experience!

see 'Gerd' and 'Ruge' on bikes! click on the picture to enlarge! [it's 77k]

25.dec.2oo3 - christmas on the great wall

thursday - 6:30pm. it's almost unbelievable, but we really got up that early on the first day of christmas! while it was still dark in beijing, a 4-hour busride took us to the great wall. when we arrived around 12:30am the sky was blue and the sun was shining - really beautiful. so we experienced our most exhausting christmas having a four hour hike on the great wall. the hike was sometimes really tough and dangerous, but the views of the wall, the chinese mountains and mongolia were just impressive. after all, even though we had to get up early and we were ripped off by the 'chinese great wall mafia' - it was really worth it!

24.dec.2oo3 - the beijing duck experience

wednesday - 7:30pm. on christmas eve Joris, Jana, Hortense and me decided to have the famous beijing duck together. so jana reserved a table at a restaurant, which was supposed to be the best beijing duck restaurant in beijing. we left the hostel around 7:30pm and half an hour later arrived at the restaurant, which was closed for a private christmas party, even though we reserved a table. a man waited for us in front of the restaurant and took us to another place instead, which 'belongs' to the other restaurant. the restaurant was small, loud and rather dirty - but we didn't mind after we were offered free beer and free chinese schnaps! so we had some rather strange food, which was served to us by an under-age boy, who dared to directly ask us for some tip. i could tell you even more about this evening, the kitchen and the bathroom facilites of this restaurant, which are basically in the same room ... but, anyways, i'll never forget this 'beijng duck chinese mafia christmas dinner'! what an experience! merry christmas!

After the dinner we finished the evening in the 'jazz ya' again. once again, if you come to beijing, make sure to visit this place. nice atmosphere, nice people, cheap but nice drinks!

24.dec.2oo3 - christmas in the forbidden city

wednesday. a cold but sunny day in beijing - just perfect to visit the 'tianmen square' and the 'forbidden city' in the heart of beijing. we walked around the vast squares and streets, visited all of the 9000 temples(well, almost!) and later took a taxi too the famous 'xiu shui market'. it's also called the 'copy market', since you can buy all kinds of fakes there. fake gucci bags, rolex watches, armani underwear, boss polo shirts, mont blanc pens ... it's even more 'chi sin' than mong kok or shenzhen - so big, so crowded, so much bargaining, so fake, so cheap! merry christmas!

23.dec.2oo3 - welcome to beijing

tuesday - 6:10pm. after 26 hours on the train, which actually went by really fast, we arrived at beijing west railway station. we walked about one hour to our hostel, where we were welcomed with the sentence of the year. when i aksed, if i could pay with hong kong dollar instead of yuan, the guy at the hostel counter replied to me: of course, hong kong is china. hmm, okay, so we took a shower, changed and left the hotel for our first walk around beijing. we had our first dinner at mcdonald's, which is redicilously cheap in china, and afterwards took the metro and a taxi to the 'sunlitun barstreet'. after passing some rather strange bars and clubs we ended up in a nice backstreet jazz club, which has about 110 cocktails on it's list at prices between 3 to 5€ - and they are really nice! so if you go to beijing, make sure to visit the 'jazz ya' behind the sunlitun barstreet(close to the worker's stadium).

22.dec.2oo3 - 26h hard sleeper to beijing

monday - 4:10pm after having finished our last exam (logistics and distribution management) me and Joris packed our stuff and went on our trip to the captial of china - beijing. we took the train from hong kong to beijing west railway station, which takes 26 hours. we held the cheapest tickets(hard sleeper, top bed), which means you sleep just below the ceiling in a six-bed room, always having to climp into your bed and hitting your bed when you wake up. anyways, we enjoyed the view from the train and spend most of our time in the train restaurant drinking cheap chinese beer. after all, taking the train was a good idea, even though we didn't get enough sleep. resume: nice train, nice and friendly people, cheap beer but strange food.

18.dec.2oo3 - 3rd exam hong kong winter fest

thursday. today i finished my third exam - intermodalism - not bad! afterwards i had dinner with my classmates at the polyU canteen - portugese chicken with spaghetti for about 2€ including a drink. afterwards i went shopping, they call me the shopping monster from germany(mong kok is my second home), and spend some time working on a final project. in the evening me and my sweet girlfriend walked around the victoria harbour, lan kwai fong, statue square and the central district to enjoy the beautiful christmas decorations on the skyscrapers and to take some pictures. well, christmas time in hong kong - beautiful but too warm. damn, i want some snow.

15.dec.2oo3 - 2nd exam and florian's farewell

monday. on that morning i just finished my second exam - international trade - piece of cake! afterwards i got some extra hours of sleep, which i really needed, and later that night i went with Florian and Joris to one of our favourite bars in hong kong - mes amis in tsim sha tsui. this was the last time me and Florian could have some beers in hong kong together, since he's leaving for thailand on thursday and i'll be in beijing when he get's back.

Florian, it's been really nice having you as a roommate for the past four months. hope to see you again next year in good old germany. please say hello to alma. take care and keep in touch.

13.dec.2oo3 - 1st exam and paintball

saturday. i finished my first exam on that day - quality management in transport industries. the exam was held at the gym2, which would hold about 400 students having an exam at the same time. i spend three hours for the exam and i almost died - not because of the exam itself, but because of the air-condition, which is still running at full power, event though it's actually quite cold outside these days. does anybody know how much it costs to cool down such a big room, that can hold about 400 seperate tables? if, let me know by email. there's something wrong here. well, actually, the university is having some budget problems, maybe they should consider to shut off the air-condition in the winter. anyways, that's not my problem.

in the afternoon i again went to paintball headquarterts in kowloon bay to play paintball with some german, hong kong and french friends. just the right activity to reduce stress during the exam period. we played eight games, during which i got shot two times in the head, once on my goggles and once on my shoulder. ouch - that hurts! well, can't wait to put on the goggles again!

12.dec.2oo3 - chinese study methods

friday. it's exam time at the hong kong polytechnic university. i myself spend quite some time in the hall's study room, where i discovered chineses study methods. some of my fellow students get into the study room at noon and stay for 10 hours or more. one could think that they are very hard studying, spending 10 hours or more on the books - well, totally wrong. i saw it with my own eyes: most of the time they spend sleeping, as this picture proofs. well, don't take this personally, but go to bed early and learn how to study efficiently.

10.dec.2oo3 - jockey championships

wednesday - 7:00pm. hey, if you know how to study in an efficient way, you still have some time left to go out at night. of course, Joris and me didn't want to miss the international jockey championships held at hong kong jockey club! so we took the bus, got some drinks, placed some bets on the world's most expensive horses and watched the world's best jockeys. well, after all i didn't win a single dollar, but it was again fun to experience world class horse racing in the outstanding atmosphere of the happy valley racecourse at night. i'm lovin it!

do you also want to get excited? check out the multimedia showcase at the website of the hong kong jockey club. it's worth it! [click here]

10.dec.2oo3 - everybody is busy

all week. all lectures are finished, exams are comeing up and the end of the semester is near. everybody panics, no time to relax. the student hall has opened a 24 hour study room. my classmates enter the polyU library at 10am and leave at 8pm. crazy! i have my first exam on saturday, so why panic? you can't spend more than 5 hours a day being 100% focused on your books anyways, right? so i'll take it easy, because it doesn't matter how long, but how efficient you study for exams. anyways, please allways remember: there's more important things in life than exams, papers and grades.

07.dec.2oo3 - maclehose trail stage 4

sunday - 8:00am. on this day(sunny, 20°C) 'Yosemite-Joris' and me,'Huckleberry Soenke', went hiking on the maclehose trail. we took the kcr from hung hom to shatin and the bus 299 to shui long wu in the new territories. we started stage four around 10am, went up and down, up and down, up and down, down and up, passed the ma on shan, pyramid hill, buffalo hill, west buffalo hill, tate's cairn and finished at the sha tin pass at around 6pm after sunset. after all, we hiked for 10 hours, climbed many hills and mountains, met many chinese people, saw banana trees, wild cattle, enjoyed the fresh air, beautiful views and the silence of the ma on shan country park. no cars, no busses - only birds, dragonflies and butterflies. after arriving at the hall, i said 'goodnight' to my girlfried, fell into my bed and slept for 13 hours. what a great day to fill our lungs with some fresh air and to clear our minds for some big-time-studying coeming up.

05.dec.2oo3 - gloucester road

friday - 3:00pm. today i walked down gloucester road on hong kong island, which stretches from the central district to causeway bay. on this street, which is also one of the busiest in hong kong when it comes to traffic, you can find one car dealer after another. so i walked by honda, toyota, mazda, jaguar, nissan, audi, ford, peugeot, subaru, richburg, daihatsu, alfa romeo, lexus, volvo, lamborghini, mini, land rover, kia and many more. when it comes to cars - hong kong is just crazy. ferrari, mercedes, amg, brabus, bmw, porsche, rolly royce - nothing special here!

many people, many cars - so whatever your plans are in hong kong, you'll meet the traffic first!

but one thing is still wrong here! they drive on the left side and say it's the right side. why?

04.dec.2oo3 - the peninsula hotel

thursday - 10:00pm. to celebrate the our last lecture we went into one of asia's most famous and expensive hotels - the peninsula hotel. it's located in the south of Kowloon and from 'felix's bar' on the 28th floor you should have a stunning view on the skyline of hong kong while enjoying a cool drink. so Florent, Joris, Ben, Edwin, Jack and me put on some nice cloths, jumped in the taxi and went to the peninsula. we had a good time enjoying the exclusive atmosphere, the view on the hong kong island and some nice drinks at a reasonable price.

but the best was still to come! the bathroom! when you enter the bathroom, you have to step behind a silk curtain. there you can find three urinals, which stand freely in the room, close to a big glass window, which reaches from the ceiling to the floor. so you cave have an awesome view on kowloon from the 28th floor while doing your very own private business. afterwards you go to a marble table, where a man will swith on the water for you and give you a real towell to dry your hands afterwards. can you believe this? well, there's only one word to describe this experience - unbelievable.

04.dec.2oo3 - just in time

thursday. today it's the last day of the semester - yeah! so now we all have about one week to prepare for the upcomeing exams. basically everbody goes crazy, since now it's all about papers, reports, projects and exams. everybody is busy, everbody is in a bad mood, everybody is stressed. but don't you worry about us! since we are logistic students, we are well aware of the famous japanese JIT philosophy, developed by toyota.

so, in order to reduce the amount of waste and to optimize the allocation of our resources, we will as usual practice JIT and be ready for the exams 'just in time'.

04.dec.2oo3 - i love chicken feet

thursday - 3:00pm. one last thing to mention about dim sum. at first i could not imagine to eat chicken feet, but I did. my first impression: it's allright. now i tried it for the second time: oh my god, i love it.

so if you think eating chicken feet are disgusting - you're totally wrong! just come to hong kong, give it a try and you'll see - they are delicious!

04.dec.2oo3 - dim sum

thursday - 2:00pm. as it was the last day of the semsester, some of my best classmates, Joris and me went to have a final dim sum lunch together. so we went to the restaurant in the li ka shing tower on our university campus, where we spend about 1,5 hours finishing thousands of small dishes for just a few dollars. many thanks to Kin, Lok, Janet, Ryan, Katrina, Younz, Danny, Big Big ... everybody. it's been great studying with you all.

well, i will stay in hong kong for seven more months - so, i hope to see you around.

04.dec.2oo3 - werder bremen! [sorry, german language]

Donnerstag. nach dem dfb-pokal spiel gestern gegen hertha bsc ist ja wohl klar, oder? spaetestens jetzt sollte jeder gemerkt haben, das dem sv werder bremen in dieser saison großes bevorsteht. zweiter platz in der tabelle hinter dem vfb stuttgart(gruß an florian), 4 punkte vor den bayern, ganze 9 punkte vor dem bvb, unglaubliche 16 punkte vor dem hsv. dazu fantastische 38 tore in 14 spielen, ailton davon mit 13 treffern, dutzende traumtore. noch irgendwelche fragen?

okay, abgerechnet wird am ende der saison, aber wer werder nicht auf seiner rechnung hat, der hat sich jetzt schon verrechnet! dieses statement mußt mal raus!

29.nov.2oo3 - hong kong - i'm lovin it

since the first day. today i've been in hong kong for three months and eight days. for sure, there's no place like home, but i definetly fell in love with this city. ever day you experience something new. hong kong is fast, bright, loud, crowded, exciting, stunning and thrilling. i can't really find the suitable words - but i haven't seen a city quite like this! some people talk of new york as the city that never sleeps - well, i guess they've never been to hong kong. hong kong - i'm lovin it!

by the way, i'll soon work in the building to the right of the building showing the mc donald's commercial(i'm lovin' it). i'll work for 'Kuehne & Nagel' on the 24th floor of the mass mutual tower in wan chai. you can see the building in the skyline of hong kong. it carries the 'onward' sign on the top. i can't wait!

28.nov.2oo3 - my beautiful hong kong girl

friday. today i've been with my beautiful girlfriend Vivien for three months already. i can't really find the right words to say, but she's for sure the sweetest and cutest girl in the world. just to let everyone in the world know(well, if they all happen to check my webpage): you can find the world's most beautiful girls in hong kong - but the most beautiful of them is already taken. sorry about that! love u Sze Ah!

27.nov.2oo3 - brazilian barbeque

thursday - 9:30pm - tsim sha tsui. sometimes everybody is fed up with chicken - that's the time when we go out to get some different food. since most of my fellow exchange students are running out of time in hong kong, we all(about 30 people) gathered at a brazilian restaurant to have a farewell bbq together, since we'll all be very busy with exams during the comeing weeks. altogether a great evening with nice food, cold beer and good friends. especially when you consider that we only spend 58 HKD for 'all you can eat' and 25 HKD for 'all beer you can drink'.

27.nov.2oo3 - gerrit and michael left hong kong

thursday - hong kong is crying. the sky is clouded, everybody is sad, hong kong is crying - gerrit and michael left hong kong. Michael, it was really nice to meet you - see you again in bremen next year. Gerrit, my friend, thanks for visiting me in hong kong! i hope you both enjoyed your stay in hong kong and macao. it felt really good to share asia's world city with some friends from germany. now you both now what i mean when i say: hong kong - i'm lovin it! see ya!

26.nov.2oo3 - happy valley racetrack

wednesday - 8:30pm - causeway bay. we finished the day on the happy valley racetrack in causeway bay. horseracing is as famous as football in europe, that's why the hong kong jockey club holds races in hong kong twice a week. every wednesday the have night-races at happy valley - an outstanding experience! an atmosphere of about 40.000 people every week, the world's most expensive horses and millions of dollars spend bets. of course we placed some bets,too. i had a win on horse two in the seventh race! yes! well, i'm not rich now, but again i left the racetrack 'happy'.

26.nov.2oo3 - the world's longest escalator

wednesday - 7:30pm - central. so far Gerrit and Michael passed the longest bridge in the world, saw the biggest glass window in the world, tried the strongest beer in the world, saw the biggest buddha statue in the world and ate one of the world's most dangerous snakes. it was time to take the next step, or should i say, the next escalator? we took the world's longest escalator from central to the mid-levels on hong kong island. in the morning it goes in the downward direction, in the evening it goes in the upward direction. if you want to experience something you can't experience anywhere else in the world, something special, something unique - come to hong kong and i'll take you there.

26.nov.2oo3 - the sushi assembly line

wednesday - dinner time. even though sushi is japanese, Gerrit and Michael just had to give it a try here in hong kong - so I took them to 'genki sushi' in tsim sha tsui, which happens to be one of the best sushi restaurants in hong kong. we sat down at the 'sushi assembly line' and enjoyed a lot of cold fish with rice. acutually, sushi is quite expensive, but still cheaper than at home.

25.nov.2oo3 - party in wan chai

tuesday - 11:00pm - wan chai. this was the second time I went to the Carnegie's in wan chai, a place where a lot of 'gwai lo' (how they call 'white' people in hong kong, means something like ghost or foreigner) go to party. since it was tuesday, Gerrit and Michael had the chance to experience the famous vodka blast - you pay 50 HKD and between 11pm and 12pm you can drink as much as you can. so we had some drinks, walked around wan chai and got home early in the morning. great!

25.nov.2oo3 - the big buddha

tuesday. Gerrit, Michael and me took the mtr to Lantau Island and the bus up to the world's biggest bronze buddha statue. although it was my second visit to the buddha, i was again left impressed by this massive statue and the view from it's platform. afterwards we hiked back about three hours to the mtr station in Tung Chung, passing some beautiful temples and houses along the way. at the end we stopped at an ancient fort from the opium wars, had dinner in tung chung and took the mtr back to hung hom. the big buddha - always worth a visit!

23.nov.2oo3 - the world's strongest beer

sunday. we all went to stanley market, bought some souvenirs and afterwards we went again to the king 'ludwig beerhall' to enjoy their delicious german buffet. after a some really good food today and having tried some snake soup yesterday, Gerrit and me thought, it might be good idea to try the world's stongest beer at this restaurant. so we ordered 2 bottles of samichlaus bier(14% alc). well, it didn't really taste good, but at least we had the chance to experience the world's strongest beer.

22.nov.2oo3 - snake soup

saturday evening. yes, we did it! my girlfriend Vivien took Joris, Gerrit, Michael and me to try the famous cantonese snake soup on the temple street night market. we went into a small restaurant, sat down and we were served some snake soup. at first we hesitated for a few seconds, but we really wanted to try it. hmmm, it tasted really good! afterwards we asked the cook what kind of snake we just ate - cobra! so if you come to hong kong, make sure to try some snake soup!

we did it! see us having snake soup: click on the picture to enlarge! [it's 76k]

22.nov.2oo3 - the markets of hong kong

saturday - late afternoon. we chose saturday to be our market day. we took off around 4pm, had some food at the metropolis and took the kcr and mtr to prince edward station. we walked through the flower market towards the yuen po street bird market. we saw all budgies, parrots, cockatoes, all kinds of expotic birds and also a toucan. after that we walked through the fa yuen street market towards the ladies market in mong kok. afterwards we walked to the night market on temple street and had some snake soup(see entry above). finally we walked back to shim tsa tsui and had a beer at the mes amis.

21.nov.2oo3 - lan kwai fong

friday night. of course i took Gerrit and Michael to lan kwai fong. the same procedure as usual! we had dinner, got some drinks, met in the hall and took the taxi to 7eleven in lan kwai fong. we bought some drinks, walked around and went into a nice club in the california tower. we were the last people to leave the club early in the morning. so they had their first lan kwai fong experience, and we again, had a great time!

21.nov.2oo3 - the tailor

friday evening. on the way back from the peak we stopped in tsim sha tsui, where i picked up my first hand-tailored suit. a week before the tailor took my measurements, i chose the fabrics and design and we agreed on the price. well, it was a great experience to have measurements taken, to come back for the fitting and try on a hand-made suit for the first time. altogether, i never experienced such a good service and i never had such a nice suite before in my life.

told you guys - things are different in hong kong, what a great place!

21.nov.2oo3 - the peak walk

friday afternoon. after having enjoyed the view from the bank of china tower we walked over to the peak tram station near the citibank plaza. we took the tram up to the peak and were once more left speechless. this is fore sure my favourite spot in hong kong! afterwards we had some food at mc something and went on the peak walk, from which you have a nice view on hong kong island, kowloon, the new territories, the port, lantau island, lamma island and the south chinese sea. it was already dark when we finished our walk, so were also able to enjoy the view from the peak at night.

21.nov.2oo3 - bank of china tower

friday afternoon. a really beautiful day in hong kong - no smog, a clear sky, a good visibility, sunshine and 24°C. Gerrit, Michael, Joris and me decided to take a taxi from whompoa to the bank of china tower. it's the 2nd highest building in hong kong, quite unique and quite famous. why do i tell you this, well, it seems like some taxi drivers in hong kong failed their job. we asked the first driver: "bank of china tower, central?" he looked at us in a stupid way and replied: "oh, don't know." also did the 2nd driver, the 3rd and the 4th. the 5th driver finally knew this 'small' building and took us there. finally we took the elevator up to the visitors platform and enjoyed a stunning view. wow!

20.nov.2oo3 - gerrit in hong kong

thursday evening. Gerrit and his friend Michael arrived in hong kong today. i checked them in at the student halls of residence, showed them around the hall and gave them some time to relax. later i picked them up after my exam and introduced them to some traditional cantonese food at stanley's restaurant in whompoa. afterwards Gerrit, Michael, Vivien and me went to victoria harbour to enjoy the skyline view. after taking some pictures, we took the star ferry to wan chai, saw the hong kong convention and exhibition centre, walked to central and took the star ferry back to tsim sha tsui. finally we walked back to the hall in hung hom. one thing for sure - they were tired after that.

19.nov.2oo3 - f###ing assignments

sunday - wednesday. please excuse my language, but there are no other words for my present situation. presentations, assignments, exams, test - all the time, all semester long. let me tell you, that's really annoying! well, i came here to study - but enough is enough! hopefully all the work will pay off at the end, because i could think of 1.ooo better ways to spend my time in this exciting city! anyways, the semester will be over soon and i still have seven and a half months to go - enough time to enjoy my life here. tomorrow i have visitors from germany, that will definetly cheer me up. allright, i'll stop complaining and get back to work. grrrrr!

the picture on the left shows my present attitude towards assignments!

15.nov.2oo3 - paintball

saturday - 5:00pm - kowloon bay. me and Joris met with about 12 other guys from france, hong kong and germany to play indoor-paintball. it's an easy calculation: an indoor paintball area + 14 guys + full protection gear + guns + paintballs = pure fun! we split up in two teams and spent about 2 hours in the area playing all kinds of different games. you run, hide, fire, jump, crawl, fire, fire, fire and fire - quite exhausting. so much fun, so much excitement, so much adrenalin. can't wait to play again, even though some hits really hurt!

the picture on the left shows 'rambo hendrik' and 'terminator soenke'

14.nov.2oo3 - lan kwai fong

friday - 10:30pm - lan kwai fong. it was about time that we paid a visit to lan kwai fong after some busy week with lots of assignments and exams. so we all gathered once more in the hall, took some taxicabs after bargaining for half the tunnel charge and met back in front of 7eleven in lan kwai fong. nice weather, some cheap drinks at 7eleven, some nice clubs, some good music and nice people from all over the world - the lan kwai fong recipe for a good time. so we spent almost the whole night in the c-club before taking a taxi back around 4:30pm. i really needed that - what a great night!

check out lankwaifong.com [click here]

in front of 7eleven: click on the picture to enlarge! [it's 78k]

14.nov.2oo3 - kowloon park

friday - 1:30pm - kowloon. right after we finished our lectures for this week we went to tsim sha tsui and later to kowloon park. it's a big park just in the middle of kowloon. it's really beautiful, it feels just like entering a new world. usually hong kong is always noisy and you can only hear diesel buses 'sing' in the streets, but in kowloon park it's almost silent, birds are singing and you can see butterflies flying around. after a all, a nice place where you can escape from the busy streets and recharge your batteries, especially when you have bright sunshine, no clouds and 25°C. (hey, it's november, right?)

11.nov.2oo3 - getting really cold

tuesday - 5:30pm - hong kong. we experienced the coldest day in honk kong so far. we had only 19°C during the day. people here went crazy - they started to wear scarfs, coats, boots and long-neck sweatshirts. but one thing is still running for 24hours a day - the air condition! well, if you think that makes no sense - i agree with you! anyways, this is hong kong - things are different here.

06.nov.2oo3 - the german bierfest(again!)

thursday - 7:00pm - bierfest again! we didn't get enough the first time we went to the german bierfest at the marco polo hong kong hotel. we also had something to celebrate - we all finished our mid-terms exams! so we met some new friends, enjoyed many beers and the first-class entertainment of the 'Notenhobler'. (you guys are really great! it was really nice meeting you in hong kong. see you again next year!) we spent two really nice extra-hours after the show with the band and took the taxi home around 1am. again, what a great night!

please make sure to visit these two webpages !!!

www.volksmusikant.de and of course www.notenhobler.de

05.nov.2oo3 - exams, science and sushi

wednesday - 4:00pm - tsim sha tsui. just to make one thing clear - we also visit other places then bars, clubs and restaurants, we also go into museums. on wednesday i finished my last mid-term exam and right after the exam we went to the hong kong science museum, which is right next to the campus. the admission is free for everybody on wednesday - a very nice and smart decision! so we spent some hours exploring all fields of science, which got us really hungry. afterwards we went into a quite famous nearby sushi-restaurant. we sat down at the 'conveyor belt' and enjoyed some really nice 'cold fish' and a japanese beer. as you can see, life here is not 'sex, drugs and rock n roll', sometimes it's 'exams, science and sushi'.

02.nov.2oo3 - king ludwig in stanley

sunday - 11:00am - stanley, hong kong island. we were told by the 'Notenhobler' on tuesday night that there's a nice german restaurant called 'king ludwig' in stanley. they invited us to meet them there, since they would perform there during the afternoon. so we left hung hom at 11:00am and went to stanley. we did some shopping on the famous stanley market and arrived at the restaurant at 2:00pm, which is inside the also very famous 'murray house'. so after the 'german Night' on monday and the 'german bierfest' on tuesday we finished our german week with some leberkaes, aus deutschland importierter weißwurst, haehnchen, schweinshaxe, sauerkraut, apfelstrudel, schwarzwaelder kirschtorte, real german bread and german beer. the 'Notenhobler' were also there, we were introduced to the owners, had some more drinks and left stanley around 4:00pm. as you all can see, germany is not far away. what a great day!

28.oct.2oo3 - the german bierfest

tuesday- 8:00pm - kowloon, victoria harbour. it's a tradition - the marco polo german bierfest at the marco polo hong kong hotel. it's the biggest and longest oktoberfest in asia! of course we went there and of course we had a lot of fun. german beer, the 'Notenhobler', german songs, german food, german party games(alphorn-blasen!, nageln!, jodeln!, bier trinken!) and people from all over the world. the people went crazy(especially the local people) doing polonese and the 'chicken dance'(Ententanz). there's no need to feel home-sick, germany is only a 10minute taxi ride away! well, one thing is wrong about this event: they serve 'Jever' and say it's the best beer from germany. well, all of you know that Beck's is the best beer from germany and also the best in the world. prost! cheers!

check out the related website [click here]. check out the 'Notenhobler' [click here].

DON'T MISS THIS EVENT !!! ( on till november 9th )

28.oct.2oo3 - jackie chan visits polyU

tuesday- 2:00pm - polyU campus. it does not happen that you get to meet an international 'kung fu' superstar! we had the chance to have a lecture with Jackie Chan at the hong kong polytechnic university. he has been invited by our university being the ambassador of hong kong toursim, and spend two hours with us in the jockey club auditorium. really exciting! i was lucky to get a ticket and a seat in the 4th row just behind the vips. even though he spok most of the time in cantonese(we received the translation via headset) I liked the event very much. we all took a lot of pictures, even though we were not allowed to do so - who cares, it's a once-in-a-lifetime event!

27.oct.2oo3 - german night at the hall

monday - 8:00pm - 10:00pm - the hall. the 1st german night was held at the polyU student halls of residence - it was a great success. we had the chance to entertain about 90 people from hong kong, mainland china, malaysia, korea, india, japan, england, france, the united states and the netherlands ... we gave a short presentation, served some bavarian white sausage with sweet mustard and bretzel - and of course some german beer! well, it has been a lot of work to organize this event, especially gettin german food and beer in hong kong at a reasonable price, but it was definetly worth it. many thanks to the hall management, Joris, Ben, Daniela, Rico, Lukas, Florian and Davor for making this event happen together with me. we still had some beer left at the end, which we all together of course finished still that night on the landscaped garden terrace of the hall. bzzzzzz!

thanks everybody for comeing, hope you all liked it.

see the german night crew: click on the picture to enlarge! [it's 113k]

25./26.oct.2oo3 - cheung chau

saturday/sunday - cheung chau, hong kong. i really needed a small break from all these assignments, that's why I decided to spend the weekend in cheung chau with my girlfriend Vivien. we went to a travel agent in mong kok a week before and rented a nice seaview apartment for only 300 HKD. we took the fast ferry from central and arrived after 30 minutes on this small beautiful island. no cars allowed, less noise, less people! we brought our stuff to the apartment, rented some bikes(8 HKD/hour) and took a tour around the island. we climbed into an former pirate cave and visited some temples. after that we went swimming, since it still has 27°C during the day, even though it's almost november. at night we had seafood at a nice restaurant on the promenade. we had squila, shrimps, mussels, rice and beer - for altogether only 142 HKD for two people. finally we took a walk around the village and spent a relaxed evening on the beach and on the balcony. the next morning we packed our stuff, left the apartment and had dim sum and a small restaurant near the pier. what a great trip!

24.oct.2oo3 - big wave beach

friday- 10:00am - hong kong. oh, i'm such a good student! i attended a tutorial lesson in advance on wednesday, that's why I had the day off on friday. so we went 'body boarding' at big wave beach on hong kong island. Florent, Joris, Ben and me took a ferry to north point, the mtr to shau kei wan and a finally minibus to the beach. this time we finally got there(a lifeguard from the PolyU student halls took us), since 'cracker tours'(see below) failed to reach the beach last week. we rented some boards and fins and hit the water. this beach is famous for it's big waves, the biggest in hong kong. the lifequards announced: the red flag has been hoisted - swimming is dangerous duet to the rough conditions - please do not enter the water! ooops, but we did! the waves were quite high and the rides were awesome! the sunburn I got that day was not awesome, but it was worth it. can't wait to go to big wave beach again next weekend!

the picture on the left shows me taking the perfect wave!

21.oct.2oo3 - getting cold

tuesday- 1:00pm - hong kong. i'm in hong kong for 2months now. i still love this city, even though its loud, crowded and cold. cold? yeah, it got really cold in the past two weeks. people stop wearing shorts, people start to wear sweatshirts and jackets! well, it's really cold here: 27°C at noon, about 21°C at night. grrrrrr, really cold, isn't it?

So if you come to hong kong, bring some warm cloth. it's really cold here. (haha)

18.oct.2oo3 - cracker tours

saturday - 1:40pm - hong kong. everything started as a beautiful sunny day. we were late(for some reason), went to victoria harbour, picked up some documents for Joris, took the star ferry to central and went on the mtr to chai wan. why? because we wanted to go swimming to big wave beach, for which chai wan is the closest mtr station. we figured there must be a minibus from chain wan to the beach - we were so wrong! there were some busses, everything was written in cantonese, no bus for big wave beach and nobody spoke any english! how should we get there? taxi? we tried, but we already felt ripped off while negotiating the fare. later we met a property agent from stanley who showed us the right bus, which could drop us off at least 'close' to the beach. close, well, you'd still have to hike for one hour! so we changed our minds and went to stanley beach. not very beautiful, not 'Big Wave Beach', but quite famous! so we finally went for a swim and had the best pizza in hong kong at a restaurant close to the beach.

so, if you also want to experience a special trip, ending up at some place you didn't want to go - call cracker tours! (HK) 3159-0556 or 3159-1707.

17.oct.2oo3 - the king of beef balls

friday - 11:30am - mong kok. right after the lecture we again went to the craziest place on this planet - mong kok! first we played some arcade games and looked for some cheap digital cameras and mobile phones. in hong kong you'll usually find two prices for the same product. one is the official price, the other one is the black market price, which is of course much lower. black market price - that's nothing illegal, but just means no warranty. and of course you still have to bargain! things are different in hong kong, what a great place! later we had lunch at a famous traditional cantonese restaurant. we had beef ball in 4 different styles. really nice, except the ones filled with bitter melon - grrrrr! so that was the time where we name Kin the 'king of beef balls'. afterwards we went to a special mall for which mong kok is famous for. it's a mall where you can buy all kinds of movies and computer games. of course, they're all highly illegal bootleg copies and more than 95% of them are porn-movies! a whole mall with several floors - all porno movies. crazy, huh?! later we finished the day on the ladies market and looking for a digital camera. went home quite tired after more than five hours of mong kok. what a nice day! thanks for taking us Kin!

see the king of beef balls: click on the picture to enlarge! [it's 94k]

~15.oct.2oo3 - soooooo busy...

all the time. well, some people got the impression from the pictures on my website that I spent most of my time in hong kong shopping, sight-seeing and clubbin. well, maybe during the first 4 weeks, but things have changed for sure. now I spent most of my time in lectures, meetings or working on presentations and assignments. in almost every class we have to form a group in order to prepare a presentation or term paper. this is really exhausting and time-consuming. when it comes to efficiency - no comment. apart from our projects in polyU the german exchange students will host a german night(presentation of regions and sights, german beer, german music and german food) at the polyU student halls of residence, which keeps us quite busy. usually there's no alcohol allowed in the hall, but we were granted an official exception, due to our german culture. is this a stereotype? mom, let me assure you, i never drink beer .....(smile)

14.oct.2oo3 - at the hairdresser

tuesday morning - 11am - whompoa. again it was time for the hairdresser, my second time in hong kong. again I was taken by my girlfriend Vivien to some small place 'century' in whompoa, which is very close to the student hall. you really need some local person to go with you, since most of the people in the non-tourist areas of hong kong don't speak much english. after being welcomed they put in a gown the procedure started:

1) first wash, 2) shampoo, second wash and head massage, 3) conditioner, third wash and head massage, 4) conditioner, fourth wash and head massage, 5) my hair was dried, 6) my hair was cut, 7) the fifth wash and massage, 8) my hair was dried, 9) my hair was styled.

ok, so now take a guess how much I paid for my haircut? I paid 58 HKD, which equals around 6€. Cool, huh? For this kind of treatment in Germany you would probably have to pay about 50€ or more. things are different in hong kong, what a great place!

i think the hairdresser did a good job, just take a look at my picture on the left.

11.oct.2oo3 - house party at sk's

saturday night - 7:00pm - tsim sha tsui. this was just the perfect way to spend a saturday night. me and my girlfriend were invited by sk, a local friend of ours, to have an indian dinner and some drinks at her apartment. the building looked very old and strange from the outside, but the inside was just impressive. really big, spacious, nice wooden floors and a european-style interiour design. as sk is orginally from india, i figured the 'indian-looking' man preparing the food in the kitchen was her dad. well, totally wrong. just when I was about to say 'hello' I was told that this was her uncle's personal cook. later on a woman entered the apartment and she was also 'indian-looking' - yup, the personal cook of sk's family. so we spent the night taking some nice vodka drinks with some polish friends while the food was prepared - which was really delicious !!! things are different in hong kong, what a great place!

i really had a great time that night! thanks for the invitation, sk(picture).

05.oct.2oo3 - a relaxed weekend

friday - saturday - sunday. puuuh, life in hong kong can really get you exhausted - that's why I really was in need for a nice and rather relaxed weekend. on friday night I went to the famous 'ladies market' in mong kok. it's not what you think! first of all, you can't buy any ladies there and secondly it's not only for ladies. it is certainly one of the most exciting places in hong kong - and its the most crowded place i've ever been to! you'll find everything you want: fake ralph polo lauren shirts for 3€ a piece, fake louis vitton handbags and wallets, fake oakley(4€), dior or chanel sunglasses, fake rolex watches(30€) as well as armani or gucci belts. all fakes are of good quality, only the price will tell you. you can also buy souvenirs, cheap cigarettes for which the hong kong duty was not paid as well as dvd and vcd copies of movies that are still playing on the big screen like t3. in the mong kok computer centre you can buy everything related to computers and electronics. you can buy copies of windows xp, office - whatever you like for 20 hong kong dollars - that's less than 2,5€ !!! you can find streets where every store sells sport shoes(the real brands). it's nike, adidas, and1, kswiss, puma - the latest models - still cheap compared to europe, almost half the price. there's only one word for mong kok: crazy !!! (or in cantonese: chi sin !!!)

on saturday I spent some time with my books and in the pool - since the weather is still nice here(sunny, dry, 30°). at night we went to stanley on hong kong island, where the rich people, guarded by security, hide behind barb-wired fences in their sea-view houses and apartments along the shoreline. i've never seen so many nice cars in one driveway: porsche, ferrari, bentley, rolls royce, bmw, mercedes(amg, brabus) ... wow! we ended up having dinner and some drinks there, watched some 'bundesliga' in a pub and got home early and relaxed.

I spent the whole sunday with my books - aaaargh. well, some work has to be done. at least at night we went out to see the fireworks at the convention centre - nice! to see fireworks in front of the hong kong skyline is one of the most impressive sight i've ever seen. can't wait for the big one on chinese new year in february. the weekend was just completed by werder bremen taking over the lead in the german bundesliga table with a great 5:3 defeat over VfL Wolfsburg. what a nice and relaxed weekend.

something for the boys: click on the picture to enlarge! [it's 192k]

o1.oct.2oo3 - chinese national day

wednesday morning - 10:00am - repulse bay, hong kong island. it's the national day in china, a national holiday: no work, no school, no classes - of course we went to the beach, especially since repulse bay is only a 30 minutes busride away from our student hall. it's quite a nice beach, and it wasn't as crowded as we expected.

well, think about it: it's already october, but when we got to the beach at 10:00am it had 36° already. no tree, no umbrella, no shade at all. it was only possible to stay on the beach towell for like 30 minutes - it was just too hot - so we spent most of the day swimming with the sharks(ok, the sharks are behind the shark-barriers). of course i got myself a nice sunburn, well, i'm not the only one.

28.sep.2oo3 - got 'lost in hong kong'

sunday morning - 9:00am - polyU campus. well, we didn't get enough of hong kong the day before, so we did the 2nd hong kong tour within 2 days. 10 teams left the campus to visit as many checkpoints(mainly non-tourist sites) as possible until 5:00pm in order to face different tasks there. we took it rather easy, visited a typical hong kong government housing project, sang a song with phillipino housemaids at the statue square(traditional meeting place for phillipino servants on the weekend), took a photo with a wedding couple at the hong kong park(traditional location for couples to take their wedding pictures), visited the fortune teller at the 'man mo temple' in central, placed a wish on the wishing tree in tai po(by throwing a sheet of paper with an attached orange on the tree) and saw the mong kok fresh market. after all, we only scored 59 points(the winning team 87), but we saw a lot of interesting non-tourist places and had a lot of fun in the sun(just as hot as on saturday) and the hong kong public transportation system(mtr, kcr, citybus, tram).

hey, even though we didn't win, I had a lot of fun with you guys: Rex(hong kong/china), Jimmy(hong kong), Hortense(france), Demi, Stephanie and Celina(shanghai, mainland china). give me a call, drop me an email or come by room in wuhua hall.

click on the picture to enlarge! [it's 550k]

27.sep.2oo3 - hong kong city tour

saturday morning - 8:45am - polyU campus. of course I was tired, since I got home from 'stewe's farewell' party in 'lan kwai fong' at 6:00am. (stewe me miss u !!!) well, getting up that early was definetly worth it. the guided bus tour took us to the hong kong convention and exhibition centre in wan chai, the victoria peak, repulse bay, stanley market, aberdeen, the tai po wishing tree and mong kok. we again took so many pictures, and some you'll find on this webpage within the next weeks. the sun showed no merci, burning down on us all day, 30° or more, no shade anywhere and not a single cloud in the hong kong sky. puuuh, as you can imagine, after having dinner at the polyU student hall canteen, all i did on this saturday night was - zzz.. zzz.. zzz...