18jul2010 - junk trip
sunday. i am a lucky bastard! why? well, i arrange a junk trip for a client on that day, which almost got ruined by the frist typhoon of the season. since monday i was watching the typhoons track on a daily basis and luckily the forecast got better each day. as sunday came, the typhoon had passed hong kong and left behing blue skies, a few clowds and sunshine. so much sunshine, that the sun really beat us up on our trip to lamma island and repulse bay. man, what a summer, what a weather.

17jul2010 - tjen & lan kwai fong beerfest
saturday. tjen (schwaki, tjenser) was on a farewell visit to hong kong before returning to bremen for studies. after a dinner in soho we then headed to lan kwai fong to have a beer on the beerfest. too bad that it poured buckets from the sky that night and it was too packed there. well, the purpose was to meet an old friend. take good care, save travels and success with your studies in bremen! i am a little jealous. ;)

09jul2010 - lh via munich
friday. in these years always flying back and forth to asia i have taken almost all big airlines (lufthansa, klm, british airways, emirates, singapore airlines, swiss, thai, china airlines, china southern, dragonair... bla bla bla). some are good, some better. i don't really care about the food, but i can not stand if there is no personal screen and you need to watch a movie (based on their schedule) on a 5" screen some 10 meters away. lufthansa was always an airline like this. they simply don't care. the planes are full anyways. well, the flight via munich has a new entertainment system. so if you ever fly to germany via lufthansa, make sure to book via munich. a340 is so much better than 747jumbo.

09jul2010 - last brunch
friday. one last chance to hit the city for brunch with my old buddy gerrit. nice to sit in a cafe with your shades on when everyone in the city seems to be working. our vacation comes to an end as we need to fly back still today. vacations in germany are always too short and this year it felt especially bad. usually i will feel the urge of going into the wide world again after just 10 days in bremen, but this year thinges are different. maybe it's been too long, maybe the weather was good, maybe it was all my friends getting their own places ... anyways, bremen will always be my home. see ya next year.

08jul2010 - bbq
thursday. no summer is complete without a proper bbq. that evening my aunt, her friend and some other relatives came over to have bbq with us on the terrace. aaah, these are the things you really miss when living over here. kinda difficult to have a bbq on the 27th floor balcony. makes me want to move back to my house in guangzhou.

07jul2010 - public viewing
wednesday. of course i would not miss the chance to watch germany play spain at a publich viewing event on bremen's domshof marketsquare. 20.000 people, sunshine, peaceful atmosphere, pride, excitement ... and in the end a joint depression after the game. well, germany played an excellent tournament and it was an exciting summer. spain was sadly just 1% better than us, same like 2 years ago. anyways, vamos espana! now please go all the way and beat the dutch as well.

07jul2010 - baguette & icecream
wednesday. germany vacations have their little routines. one of them is having a baguette as our favourite baguette-shop near the central hospital in bremen. we love it sooo much, that we actually had the idea once to copy them and open our own baguette-shop in hong kong. anyways, we simply have to go there as well and we always have to have an ice-cream at the historic market-square in downtown bremen. yes, we are getting older, so we need routines in our daily lives to get through the day. ;)

06jul2010 - never again
tuesday. if you look a little down this page, you can see that we spent the 20-21|june at the OCT east theme-park in shenzhen. so far so good. while in germany we heard on the news that there was an accident in a chinese theme-park. oh oh, could it have been the one we just went to? after returning to hong kong we learnt from our in-laws that it was indeed that park. one attraction (while we also took a ride on) had an accident at six people ended dead and for seriously injured. damn, i was on the same ride just two weeks ago. never again will it go on any ride in a chinese theme-park.

06jul2010 - strandperle
tuesday. to finish the day we drove down to the standperle bar in blankenese (nice neighborhood!) to watch the sunset near the eble river (opposite the container-terminal) and have a nice cool beer. i hate to admit it, but hamburg is a nice city. still, my wife (as a neutral observer) prefers bremen as it is less crowded and simply more cozy. there you go!

06jul2010 - fish!
tuesday. walking makes hungry and we soon headed to a steakhouse in hamburg city. after sitting down we realized that we were not really up for steak, but craved something typical for hamburg - fish! so we got up again (a little emberassing) and walked to daniel wischer's fishrestaurant. "pannfisch, bratkartoffeln und dazu ein glass fassbrause." hamburg tastes good! life is good!

06jul2010 - alster walk
tuesday. our friends shirly and ivo (from guangzhou) are now living in beautiful hamburg, so we had to pay them a visit. we drove there by car (despite all warning by friends about the traffic conditions and roadworks these days) and got there smoothly. after a coffee at ivo's place in winterhude we took a walk along the aussenalster to hamburg city. perfect weather! what a day. by the way, nice neighbourhood at the aussenalster. one day i will have a house there.

05jul2010 - schlachte vol.II
monday. you can't stand on one leg, so in due course one visit per year to the schlachte is not enough. not that i need an excuse, i simply love this place. we met that night with an old friend|classmate and his girlfriend to have dinner. good to see you again! wish you all the best for building your new house. see you next year.

05jul2010 - shopping day!
monday. while everyone is working - what would be the best past-time? of course, shopping. we spent the whole day and our whole bank-account in the bremen city. well, actually shopping was very cheap the year. the euro is considerably (20%) weaker than last year and therefore we can buy at least 40% more. ;)

04jul2010 - schlachte vol.I
sunday. no visit to bremen is complete without me inspecting my former living room: the schlachte. 32 degrees, sunshine, bars, the river, friends, good food, becks beer, chill-out music. aaah, bremen, meine perle. good to be home for a while and get to enjoy your beauty and the company of my good old friends.

03jul2010 -mom's 60th
saturday. my wife and me recently joined the 3-o club, so only naturally my mother joined the 6-o club that night. her birthday was actually the day before, but the party was held only on that night. neighbours, family and close friends who were also happy to see me again (as i am naturally not around that often) and also meet my wife after having only seen our wedding pictures on the computer so far. happy birthday, mom!

03jul2010 - crushed argentina!
saturday. everyone was nervous when germany was up against argentina that late afternoon in the quarter-finals of the 2010 world cup. turned out that there was no need. germany have diego maradonna and his 'boys' a severe 4-nil beating. au revoir france, ciao italy, goodbye england, adios argentina ... and next we say adios spain on our way to the cup. well, let's see. for sure this team has already exceeded my expectations and i am so happy to feel this unity and spirit in germany these days. while i always had a strong pride and feeling of nationality, this has only recently (since 2006) emerged publicly in germany. it feels good. thanks mueller, schweini & co.

02jul2010 - housewarming
friday. just as i rolled into my parent's driveway, my mom just got off the phone with some friends who wanted to invite me for a housewarming party at a friends new house. see, things have changed considerably. a-levels, graduated, startet working, girlfriends, fiancees, married, planning children, buying life insurances, buying or buidling houses ... we are getting older. nice house gerrit and nina! can't wait for the next bbq party at your place. see you next summer!

02jul2010 - home
friday. that afternoon we arrived my parent's house to a warm welcome with a fresh homemade strawberry cake and fresh strawberries for tea-time under the trees in the garden. aaaaah, it always feels good to come home, especially during a super-summer like this.

01jul2010 - frankfurt
thursday. another beautiful day on the road. after breakfast we headed onto the autobahn and drove to frankfurt to visit our old friends bianka and simon, who recently received a bundle of joy call henri. so we did a little sightseeing in frankfurt, had dinner together and spent the rest of the time chatting away. thanks for letting us stay over. wish you three all the best and a smooth build of your house. take care and see you again soon, somewhere on this small planet.

30jun2010 - neuschwanstein
wednesday. afte checking in at the hotel we quickly got our tickets. really quick. took less than a minute as smartass soenke (me) was so clever to reserve them online beforehand, so i did not have to queue up with all those tourists from japan, usa, korea, poland, russia, china ... you may now think that such a castle visit is just for old people and tourists, but i can tell you it is definetly a site worth visiting....wenn ich koenig von deutschland waer!

30jun2010 - bavarian country roads
wednesday. the next morning we hit the road and our car's navigation system routed us safely through bavarian country roads from munich to oberschwangau, the site of the neuschwanstein castle. aaah, what a nice drive up and down those serpentines, hills and mountains. almost forgot how beautiful bavaria is, especially with 30 degrees and not a single cloud in the sky.

29jun2010 - hofbraeuhaus
tuesday. after a long day of sightseeing and shopping in beautiful and sunny munich we quickly refreshed at the hotel before heading to the world-famous hofbraeuhaus to meet a former hong kong colleague of mine, who recently moved to munich (well, two days before we got there). nice location, excellent food, absolutely great beer ... but arrogant and unfriendly staff. hey, i thought you bavarians are famous for your hospitality? anyways, wish you a great start in munich, justina and manuel. take care and come back to asia soon.

29jun2010 - good morning bavaria
tuesday. yeah, munich. we arrived munich around 5:30 in the morning, picked-up the rental car, checked-in at the hotel and then walked around deserted munich downtown around 9:00 in the morning. after just a little while we decided to kick-off the day at the viktualienmarkt with a typical bavarian breakfast: white sausages, sweet mustard and bretzels. good morning bavaria!

24jun2010 - brass monkey pub
thursday 02:30am. of course i would not miss the decisive group game of germany against ghana, despite being in taipei and the game being broadcasted at 02:30am. my colleagues scooped me from the hotel at 02:00 in the morning and we headed over to a bar only 3 minutes away from my hotel. the bar was packed with foreigners and taiwanese people alike, all cheering germany on to a 1:0 victory over ghana and a spot in the final-16. go germany!

22jun2010 - taipei
tuesday. that morning if had to fly to taipei on a business trip, which luckily is only 1,5 hours away from hong kong. after arriving at taipei i quickly passed through immigration, picked up my suitbag and walked into the arrival hall. there is was greeted by a well-dressed (suit and vest) gentleman with my name on a sign. he took my luggage and walked me over to his lexus limo (black, black leather seats), gave me some water and drove me to my downtown hotel. wow, so cheap for such service. then, who would expect that in some downtown taipei backstreet such a nice hotel "les suites taipei" is hidden. 5*, good service, great food and at such a low price. unbelievable. what else is there to say about my taipei trip. nice colleagues, good meetings, even better food ... love taiwan. it feels more friendly and more relaxed than china. more scooters. more english! people don't stare at me. their putonghua sound very clear. buidlings are not that high. i didn't see anyone spit on the floor. people smell better. people dress better. in short: i could well imagine to work here once my china assignment is over.

21jun2010 - vivy's big 3oh
monday. my wife vivien is now officiall also a member of the big 3-o club. happy birthday! hope you enjoyed the family outing on this weekend to celebrate it. love you!

20jun2010 - spa adventure
sunday. as part of our hotel package we held a spa coupon for the interlaken spa. no, not the one in switzerland, but the one belonging to the interlaken hotel, which is part of the oct east theme park. it is open till 2:00am, but the problem is that it is 5km (within the park) away and that the last shuttle departs at 11:00. that makes no sense, right? anyways, money solves all problems in china, so we found a private van to take us back after the spa when we call him. on the way there we still had to take the shuttle, which is also used by the staff of oct east. of course the queue was mess and we fianlly managed to get on such a shuttle after 15 minutes waiting. on the way there my brother-in-law almost got in a fight with another passenger before we finally arrived at the spa. wow! in the end it was all worth it. the spa was empty and we six had about 4 pools (from which you can watch the world cup on huge screen), 4 saunas and whirlpools all to ourselves. thank god our adventure came to such a good end.

20jun2010 - oct east
sunday. to celebrate my wife's 30th birthday, we decided to have a family outing to the oct east theme park in shenzhen. despite it being an overall nice trip, i can tell you that this will be the last time i visit a theme park in china. why? well, the ideas are nice (mostly copied), the design is nice (mostly copied), but the execution is poor and the maintenance is even worse. so no matter how nice the thing was when it opened, you can be sure that the chinese will wear it down in a matter of months. sorry to say that, but it's true. finally, not to mention that it is not fun to queue up for an attraction for 30 minutes standing next to a group of chinese tourists that obvisously didn't think it was necessary for 2 weeks despite the 30 degrees outside and the 90% humidity. oh, one good thing. as usualy someone tried to jump the line, and this time, the very first time, i saw the staff kick someone out because of that and refuse entry. there is hope! maybe!

14jun2010 - beat the socceroooooos
monday 02:30am. the game-times for the 2010 world cup in south africa are just as bad as the ones in germany four years ago. this again means we have to get up sometimes in the middle of the night to watch germany play. well, this time i travelled to hong kong on a sunday evening, hung out with my friends and colleagues till game time at 2:30am and we were rewarded by an impressive 4-nil wil over australia. bring on the world cup, we feel like the champions already. schlaaaaaaand!

21may2010 - vivy wonder
friday. my wife vivien (vivy) had a eye infection the other day and had to see a doctor in due course. while being treated, the doctor also examined her chances (upon her request) to have her short-sight corrected via laser-sugery. the doctor did some test and stated that she could do it. appointment set, money paid and a few days later vivien was under the laser. just hours after the surgery she was alread able to see clear and will never need glasses again. the only thing is that she needs to wear some goggles to protect her eyes for two days, well, which make her look like stevie ... aeh, vivy wonder.

15may2010 - dafen art village
saturday. my colleague and friend manuel came over from hong kong that afternoon and we hopped on a taxi in lo wu (20-30 mins) dafen. dafen is a village in buji (longguang, shenzhen) that got famous through small workshops copying world-famous oil-paintings. this small industry has since turned into a major one and small workshops turned into big galleries. you can buy all kind of paintings there at very low prices. copies of famous painters, modern art as well as custom-made paintings and drawings. a cool place, and if my walls weren't full with frames and paintings already, i would have gone on a shopping spree there as well.

14may2010 - visa again
friday. next week i will have my one-year anniversary working in shenzhen, which also prompts the extension of my work-visa. aaarg, evey year the same shit. get a statement from my estate, register with the police, apply a new work-permit, apply the visa-extension ... da da da , bla bla bla. damn, this whole process it so annoying and a pure revenue-maker for the chinese government. well, at least the authorities in shenzhen are much more efficient. it takes approx. 10 working days here, in guangzhou it took 4-6 weeks.

08may2010 - season finale
saturday. that night werder bremen defeated our old rivals from the hamburger sv 1:1 in the final game of the season. this helped my beloved werder bremen to secure the overall third place and participate in the qualification for the champions league 2010-11. always fun to watch football in wan chai's typhoon bar with a bunch of friends and colleagues. thanks that I live so close to hong kong. a drink in wan chai is never more than 1,5 hours away.

08may2010 - sold the gold
saturday. at our wedding party we got a lot of gold from vivien's family, which is a local tradition. we decided to keep the gold for a while to see how the price of gold would develop before we sell it. well, the price soared recently and we sold off the gold at a profit of +25%. sweet. now i wish i had my own fort knox in the basement, but i don't.

07may2010 - farewell
friday. i travelled to hong kong for a farewell of my long-term boss and supporter who left the company after 23 years (18 years in hong kong). more than 100 people who shared his parh attended from the seafreight department. crazy, funny, emotional and after all sad. you will be missed, john!

24apr10 - moved to a new crib
saturday. it's done! we moved from our new apartment with in the same estate, but different tower and 10 floors higher. i am really happy with our new place - nicer floor, less decoration, 10 floors higher, better kitchen, nicer view, nicer bathrooms ... everything better. well, except the price, which soared by 50% within a year. whish i had the money to buy my own place here, prices will keep going up.

26mar2010 - hong kong sevens!
friday. not like i have a ticket, but i (truly by coincidence) am in hong kong this weekend and it is sevens-time. that means the city will be full of party-goers and fun-loving people. besides that, i also like to watch the sevens. amazing stuff! have been planning to go there for years. really got to get my hands on some tickets next year! ;)

26mar2010 - hong kong travel pass
friday. when i cross the border into hong kong (and i do this a lot) i always have to spend a lot of time. not really at the chinese side, as they have a special line (thanks!) for foreigners, but at the hong kong side where i have to queue up with all the mainland visitors. well, i don't have a full hong kong visa anymore. before i apply for a dependant visa through my wife, i applied for a hong kong travel pass and i will be able to pick it up this week. it took them less than 2 weeks to process it. not bad, eh. hong kong is efficient. so now i can queue up with the hong kong residents and use the vip channel at the hong kong airport. aaaah, hong kong, my second home! gotta love hong kong!

24mar2010 - homeless city
wednesday. shenzhen has 14 million citizens. not a small city! 2 million of them are local people from the area. 12 million come from all over china, well, and those who come from other parts of this world, like me. so it is basically a city of the homeless. noone is really at home here. that explains why the people here are so agressive and money-focused. they are just here to earn a buck and then head home to their village or city. damn, loyalty is really difficult to find here. very disappointing!

20mar2010 - the blind side
saturday. wenoticed that sandra bullock recently one an oscar as best actress in the movie called 'the blind side'. so when our beloved around-the-corner-dvd-lady had it on her table, vivien was quick to pick it. the story is amazing and it gets even more amazing in the end when the story turns out to be a real one. wish there was such people in this world. stop racism!

20mar2010 - new apartment
saturday. woohoo, we spent the whole day looking at apartments in the same estate where we live and found three nice ones. not a bad quota! now we just have to quickly close the deal after reaching an agreement with the landlord. the new apartment has less decoration, nice kitchen, nice bathrooms and it on the 27th floor with a view over futian. yeehah, please pray that i can get this one!

08mar2010 - kicked out on da street
monday. my rental contract im shenzhen will soon run out as i approach my one-year anniversary here. since moving is always trouble in china - i mean first of all to find a decent place that is not totally overpriced, not to mention dealing with agents and landlords, changing your address and registration with the police, set-up the internet and all that crap - we were hoping to stay in the same apartment for another year...but our landlord wants to move in himself. thanks a lot, buddy, now i gotta go out and go through all this crap by may 8th. damn.

01mar2010 - your plane has landed!
monday. sad but true, but we had to leave the maldives again. after talking to the swiss manager of our resort, we were able to check out late that day, since our plane would only depart around 17:00 and it did not want to check out at 11:00 as usual. so, we kept relaxing in our villa until about 16:00 when the phone rang and someone said: sir, your plane has just landed. i must say, one of the coolest phone calls i ever got.

28feb2010 - 5* service and empty pockets
sunday. yes, staff in 5* hotels are usually very friendly and attentive, but i would surely say that maldivians are particularly friendly by nature. they have all been more than friendly, polite, attentive and will always greet you and talk to you. people recognize you, call you by your name and you never need to carry any money with you. simply pay with your room number and signature. aaaaah, so relaxing. i never want to leave here.

27feb2010 - spa!
saturday. a honeymoon would not be complete without a spa day, so we booked a session with head massage and facial treatment. well, of course not as cheap as over here in china, but certainly nice and very relaxing. open-air spa, palm-trees, atmospheric music .... aaah.

26feb2010 - snorkeling
friday. the hotel provided free snorkeling gear for every villa, so you simply have to walk down the stairs for your own personal sea-access and you can dip right in a blue world full of corals and fish. supercool to visit the world of rays, fishes in all colours and i even found nemo. the investment for an underwater digital camera definetly paid off.

25feb2010 - angsana velavaru
thursday. we arrived in velavarul with the plane touching down right in the atoll next to the hotel. the coolest arrival! we were greeted and then had some breakfast before we could check into our villa. we rented an in-ocean villa (fully detached from any land) with our own sundeck, two floors, own pool, etc. this is going to be great!

25feb2010 - airtaxi
thursday. time for the third plane in a row. after flyging hong kong to singapore and then to male, we finally had to take an airtaxi (waterplane) from trans maldivian airways from male airport to the vatuu atoll. i was especially looking forward to this part of our journey! man, that would be a job for me. the pilots were well-tanned, no shoes, shorts, short-sleave white shirt and ray ban sunglasses. so after the shortest security briefing (less than a minute) we boarded this little tin-can and took off. now that is real flying!

24feb2010 - airboss a380
wednesday. yes, the airbus a380 is already around for a while, but i never had the chance to take one yet. so, i was of course very excited to take the singapore airline's a380 from hong kong to singapore on that day. so our honeymoon already started with a first highlight. i must say, a huge 'bird', nice interiour and a very smooth flight. well, i am an european, so i'd always prefer airbus over boeing, if you ask me. boing boing!

24feb2010 - honeymoon @ maldives
wednesday. better have a late honeymoon than never, right? after the wedding, some settlements and my business trip, it was time for vivien and me to escape from this world to the beautiful maldives. yes, expensive and all, but honeymoon is only once in your life, so not the right time to be cost-concerned. thank god that i just shook my middle-ear infection in time for the honeymoon. my plan for the honeymoon: 33% of time in the water, 33% in the sun and 33% in bed. ;)

22feb2010 - middle-ear infection
monday. the cold that i caught while in europe was almost cured, when the cold weather in hong kong during the chinese new year pushed back and it turned into a full-on middle-ear infection. in due course i travelled across the border to hong kong to see a doctor twice during the chinese new year. what a start into the year of the tiger.

14feb2010 - year of the tiger
sunday. this is now my seventh chinese new year! yes, i saw the year of the monkey, rooster, dog, pig, rat, ox come and now it is time for the tiger to arrive. after a poor year 2009, everyone is of course looking forward to a strong tiger to bring fortune in 2010. so, let me wish you, your families and loved-ones a happy chinese new year. kung hei fat choi! gong xi fa cai! ...i was wondering, do you think that exxon, kellogs and tiger beer see better profits simply due to the year of the tiger?

08feb2010 - germany by train
monday. that morning it took the train from bremen to duisburg, where i met with local colleagues to visit one big customer in the area. after the meeting, a lunch with the client and a quick stop at our duisburg office, i hopped on a train again and took the ICE to frankfurt airport. i must say, travelling by train is really nice and the germany rail operator DB has really stepped up its service.

07feb2010 - brunch
sunday. despite my now serious cold, i pulled myself from my bed and went for brunch my my best man gerrit, his wife nina and my close friend leif at the bolero in bremen. so good to have good friends around whenever i come home to my beloved bremen. can't wait to come back to bremen in the summer 2010 as this visit visit was simply too short.

06feb2010 - got a cold
saturday. i guess i have lived in china for too long. it's always warm here, so it just took two weeks in europe's cold winter climate and i got myself a hefty cold. when i still lived in germany, i seldom got such a cold. damn. i guess for the future i should only plan my europe trips during the summer or fall. brrrr, i hate cold-wet bremen winter weather.

05feb2010 - werder bremen
friday. oh, finally I was able again to watch a match of my beloved werder bremen live in the beautiful westerstadion. thanks to my best man arne! usually i return home to germany in the summer or on christmas during the bundesliga off-season. it was super-cold and i literally froze off my feet watching the match (not a good match), but werder bremen left the pitch as the winner over hertha bsc berlin that night (2:1). oh, wish i could do that more often.

03feb2010 - sparta rotterdam
wednesday. spent the whole day in the car visiting some customers in the netherlands before i went out for dinner with some rotterdam colleagues. afterwards i got invited to watch a football match of sparta rotterdam, for which my company is a big sponsor. heated seats in the VIP area, free drinks, free food. nice! just what you need after a long hard day working. ;)

01feb2010 - lugano
monday. that morning i got up really early and took the train from pfaeffikon to lugano in southern switzerland to meet a client. it was a beautiful 2,5 hour train ride across the alps. a lot of snow and -15 degrees up there, but an amazing scencery! after arriving in lugano i took a 5-minute (25 CHF = 17 EUR) taxi ride to my client's office. after a good meeting and a nice lunch in lugano, i headed back towards zuerich across the alps. what a beautiful country!

30jan2010 - zuerich walk
saturday. took the train to zuerich that morning and spend some time walking around the old city centre of zuerich. what a beautiful city! everything is clean, fresh air, beautiful old buildings, the mountain scenery in the background and expensive cars wherever you look. i could well imagine to live here since it is the city with the highest living standard in the world. well, if at the same time it wasn't so expensive. a coffee already sets you back a fortune. well, that's the price you have to pay, i guess.

29jan2010 - party in zuerich
friday. after our presentation to the management board and our HIPO graduation it was time to blow of some steam. we took the train to zuerich and kicked things off with a big dinner at the zeughauskeller in downtown zuerich. all 'refreshed' after a big schnitzel and two liters of beer we strolled through zuerich looking for a place to party. well, we were not the only ones. every place was packed and long cueues outside. we ended up in a small club|bar where the atmosphere was rather mellow. well, if there is no party there, you bring it yourself. not a big issue when you have a group of 15 people from usa, kenya, turkey, france, germany, taiwan, hong kong, china, brazil, south africa and mexico with you. we quickly took charge of the dancefloor and it turned out to be a fun night. my crecit card bill will kill me next month. ;)

29jan2010 - board presentation
friday. after spending two days working on developing a strategic growth initiative, it was time to present it to the management board of our company. quite a tense experience, but we pulled it off and performed well. afterwards we graduated from the program and got a handshake from our CEO. a nice experience, since you simply don't get to meet such people that often and so up-close.

28jan2010 - snow
thursday. we seldom ...eh, never see snow in south china and during my last few christmas visits to germany i was rather unlucky with seeing any snow. so i was even happier when i saw loads of snow come down on us during my visit to switzerland. everything so white, clean, quiet - like covered with powder-sugar.

27jan2010 - fondue
wednesday. what is switzerland famous for? bank accounts, mountains, snow, fresh air, high living quality, chocolate, watches and ... fondue! so we of course had to have a cheese fondue with bread, potatoes and kirschwasser. delicious!

25jan2010 - schindellegi, ch
monday. time for the final module of my company's high potential training. this time in schindellegi, which is just 40 minutes out of zuerich, switzerland. if you ask me, i guess i would also build my company's headquarter (if i had my own company) in schindellegi, not only because of tax benefits, but simply due to the beautiful landscape. switzerland is simply beautiful, but we will not have much time to enjoy the scenery as we have a busy week ahead. let's get to work.

23jan2010 - savognin
saturday. after landing in zuerich in the early morning hours i hopped on a train to chur in southern switzerland. arriving in chur i met with my old friend pasquale, who took me to savognin for some winter-fun. i quickly dropped my luggage and i rented some winter-gear and we headed right up the mountain for some sledding. sunshine, beautiful white snow, blue skies - what a day! rivella (famous swiss soft drink), lunch on the mountain, tea with alocohol - life is good. the only downside was that i didn't have proper winter gear and i was not able to rent any snowboard pants, only boots, so i ended up with literally frozen jeans and everything underneath it. oh yeah, and after we got a little lost on the sledding track, we ended up going down the skiing track. crazy! don't tell my mom. we closed the day with a nice swiss cheese fondue before i fell into bed dead-tired that night. must have been the jet-lag paired with fresh mountain air and the high altitude. what a fun day. thanks pg!

22jan2010 - perfect timing
friday. i got invited to a cocktail reception of hapag lloyd that afternoon at the ifc in hong kong. perfect timing since i had to fly out from hong kong to zuerich that night anyways. so i left the office after lunch, grabbed my stuff, headed to hong kong, dropped my luggage at the in-town check-in, went upstairs, had a couple of drinks, afterwards had dinner with my wife and then hopped on the airport express to the airport. europe, i'm on my way!

02jan2009 - avatar
saturday. what a hype around these blue smurfs ... eh, naiv(?) or whatever these blue frogs in the movie avatar are called. anyways, i watched the movie in a 27-d theather in hong kong and actuallt to found it to be quite okay. well, but if you ask me, lord of the rings was far move impressive than these smurfs ... eh ... avasomething.

31dec2009 - welcome 2010 in hong kong
thursday. we will travel to hong kong to celebrate with friends in soho and lan kwai fong. no better place than hong kong, my second home, to welcome the new year. i personally look positive into the new year - it will be a good one. plans are being made for trips to switzerland, netherlands, germany, maledives, korea and again germany, so travel-wise it will be a busy year. oh yeah, busy ... i threatened to turn my mother into a grandmother. so we will get busy on that soon and hope that there will be a tiger-baby soon. happy new year everyone!

31dec2009 - looking back at 2009
thursday. what a year! a huge global recession, a first black US-president, a promotion and a wedding. while it was certainly not a good year economy-wise, which may have had its toll on many people, i must say i had an excellent 2009. i took on a new challenge in shenzhen, settled in well and to top of the year got to marry the sweetest and prettiest lady of all. if 2010 is only half as good as 2009, then it won't be a bad year.

28dec2009 - haute cuisine in shenzhen
monday. we celebrated our 76th anniversary in a french restaurant in shenzhen's mix city. it had louisXIV-style decoration, nice food (very arty and small portions) and excellent service ... well, yes at a high price compared with chinese standards. anyhow, happy to have such locations around in case you need something different than rice and noodles. ;) just kidding, so happy to have my dear vivien cook chinese and western food very well. no wonder why i can't loose any weight.

26dec2009 - booked the honeymoon
saturday. don't mean to brag, but we went to hong kong that afternoon to book our honeymoon for february 2010. destination: maledives! well, figures we had to go there before they disappear in the indian ocean if we can not get our climate under control. anyhow, we will fly the A380 from hong kong to singapore and then spend 5 nights in a beautiful in-ocean villa (the picture on the left is our hotel) surrounded by nothing but water. can't wait!

25dec2009 - she jie zhi chuang
friday. the above chinese words translate into 'window of the world', which is a theme park in shenzhen that brings the world's attractions to local citizens in a miniature format. so we wera able to travel from china to london, paris, italy, germany, cambodia, usa, india, japan and egypt in only a matter of minutes. not a must-see attraction, but in the end quite a fun trip. well, i suppose it would have been a different 'more crowded' experience if china also had a public holiday on that day.

24dec2009 - christmas in china
thursday. since i couldn't be with my family in germany this year, we invited our hong kong family over to shenzhen to celebrate christmas with us here. vivien put on her best cooking skills and made an incredible dinner with gluehwein, lamb chop, casserole, caesar's salad, pumpkin soup, potato salad, bruchetta ... and followed by cake. delicious and it was a really nice dinner. besides that, christmas in china is not officially celebrated in china and we do not have any public holidays, still the chinese people have embraced it and celebrate it in their way - just as colourful as on the left hand side picture. merry x-mas everyone!

19dec2009 - winter solstice
saturday. guangdong and hong kong people celebrate the winter solstice with a traditional dinner on the 22nd of december. well, it is actually celebrated all over china in one way or another. still, i was told that in hong kong it is supposed to be even more important that the chinese spring festival (chinese new year). well, i don't believe that! anyways, that day i travelled to hong kong with my wife to have dinner with 'my hong kong family'.

13dec2009 - teppanyaki
sunday. that night we went out to 'da yue' (big fish) restaurant to enjoy some japanase teppanyaki food. nothing better than to sit around a big steel table where a jap...aeh...chinese master-kung-fu-karate-teppanyaki-chef prepares freshly seafood and meat at lightning speed right in front of your face. wonder how this looks and tastes if you get this done by a real japanese chef in tokyo for example. well, cheap and good over here, just gets a little crowded sometimes.

06dec2009 - shangri-la nikolausi
sunday. do you know nikolausi? well, in germany we have "nikolaus" (a guy that just 100% the same like santa claus) to come to the children overnight to put candy (if they behaved well) or a root (if they were naughty) into they freshly-cleanded boots that the children leave outside their door. i am not sure about the history on this mr. nikolaus. well, the bigger the boot, the better. anyways, vivien and me took this special occasion to enjoy dinner at the shangri-la hotel in futian. they have the best lamb-chop and chinese soup. life is good. still, i wish we could spend christmas in germany with my family.

28nov2009 - first class shopping
saturday. vivien and me spent our anniversary pursuing hong kong people's favourite past-time: shopping. we went to harbour city, zara, armani, h&m, shanghai tang, chanel, gucci, rimowa and burberry. guess we had some money left from the wedding. ;) hehe, well, in chanel and gucci we just did window shopping. still, seems the economy is getting better in hong kong. there were long queues in front of louis vuitton, gucci and prada. people here still have money for this stuff ... well, most of them are nowadays from the chinese mainland. how things change, huh?

24nov2009 - return to normal and busy again
tuesday. after a hectic, busy, emotional and happy week life has returned to 'normal'. we are back in shenzhen and i was back in the office fighting with my email backlog. well, now there is even more things ahead that are still to be done: vivien's name change and all matters related to it, application for hong kong frequent traveller card, combine our bank accounts, get wedding pictures, send thank-you cards, plan and book honeymoon, have a health check-up ... and (hehe) start working on a tiger-baby for 2010.

21nov2009 - wan chai with friends
saturday. that night we met up with some colleagues|friends from hong kong, singapore and tokyo in wan chai for some malaysian food and drinks afterwards. this puts a nice and relaxed ending to a very busy, emotional but happy week. it feels good to have friends around to spend time with and celebrate life, the asian way of life, this wonderful city and of course our fresh marriage.

21oct2009 - killing time in stanley
saturday. that day my parents and sister we to fly back to germany, but we still had some hours left to kill in this beautiful city. so after the bus tour we grabbed a quick coffee at starbucks, called vivien over from the hotel and hopped on a cab to stanley market. after a stroll across the stanley market we took some pictures at the sea side and also grabbed a bite at the stanley promenade. well, stanley is always worth a visit. after returning to the city a few hours later it was time to say goodbye.

21nov2009 - bus tour
saturday. that morning my parents, sister and me walked from our hotel over to the hong kong convention centre to take a bus-tour through wan chai and causeway bay. yes, very tourisity, but ey. anyways, we booked an english tour (of course) and were the only four passengers on the bus. so you may call this VIP. nothing i haven't seen before, but still a very nice tour, especially on the open roof-top of a double-decker bus. guess i love hong kong, so of course i also married a hong kong girl. ;)

20nov2009 - nomad's
friday. after the sypmhony of lights we walked along nathan road into kimberly road to have dinner at nomad's mongolian restaurant, which is a always a perfect choice when you are hungry and you have people with different food preferences. why? well, you can all you eat and they will stir-fry the ingredients based on your own composition. nice! ey, but be easy on the garlic. ;)

20nov2009 - symphony of lights
friday. that evening we all (friends and family from germany) met at the wan chai pier to take the star ferry across the victoria harbour to tsim sha tsui. upon arrival we enjoyed hong kong's symphony of lights, which is a laser- and light-show that lights up the already (without light) impressive hong kong skyline. even if have seen it literally a hundred times, still can not get enough of the hong kong skyline panorama. love this city.

19nov2009 - thank you!
thursday. it was a very emotional week in hong kong and there is a lot of things on my chest and i have to thank a lot of people. where to begin? words can hardly express how i feel inside.

first if would have to thank my parents for bringing me into this world and always supporting to me in what i did. without their love, support and encouragement i would not be the person i am today. without their support i may not have entered university, not made my way to hong kong and i may never have met my beautiful wife in due course. i also have to thank them of course for making this long way over here to hong kong to share this special day with us. i also want to thank them for accepting and welcoming vivien so warmly into our family. no matter where we will be on this planet, i will always be thankful and we will always be close. at the same time i always want to thank my sister for making her way over here and that she stood by her big brother on this wedding day. this day would not have been complete without you.

i also want to thank my new parents (in-law) as well as vivien's family for the warm welcome into their middle. i am happy to see that love can build bridges over long distances as well as cultures. we are united as one mixed family now and it feels good and special. this means a lot to me.

next i would like to say thank you to my best men arne and gerrit for being the best friends i could have. thanks for making your way over to hong kong, standing by my side as well as the kind gift you prepared. thanks of course also to nina, jenny as well as lars and stefan to spend this very special day with us. this day would not have been complete without you.

at this time i of course alsy want to thank all those friends and family from overseas that were not able to attend. thanks for your cards, gifts, greetings, flowers, video greetings and emails. we will share the pictures of this special day with you soon.

a big thank you of course also to our local friends from guangzhou and hong kong for attending our wedding. thank you of course as well to vivien's friends and old schoolmates to come to our wedding. this day would not have been complete without you.

at this point i also want to say thank you to my colleagues from hong kong, guanzhou, shenzhen, tokyo, singapore and shanghai for coming to the wedding. you are more than good colleagues - you are close friends to us. this day would not have been complete without you.

thanks of course as well to the 'mc brommel', the bridemaids chloe & lisa as well as vivien's brother leung and those little angels karen and sienna for their big help on the wedding day. thanks for your support and taking some worries away from us on that day. this wedding would not have been as smooth and perfect without you.

last but not least, i of course would like to thank my sweet and beautiful wife vivien for her love. many things i achieved in the past six years i could not have achieved without you. actually, we achieved them together. from now on there will be less 'i', but more 'we'. we are a team. you gave up a lot yourself and always stood by my side when we lived in hong kong and when we move to china. i am thankful for the past six years with you and i am so proud on this very day to be able to call you my wife. it feels so good. i love you.

...hope i got it all covered. words still can hardly express how i feel these days. thanks to all of you for you support, greetings and wishes.

19nov2009 - afterparty @ penthouse|skylounge
thursday. after the wedding party we got changed and headed over to the penthouse skylounge in wan chai (29th floor) to have a little afterparty and some more chance to chat and mingle with our friends. we had some more cake and drinks and it didn't take long for the different families, groups of friends and cultures to mix while playing drinking-games. it was the perfect setting to conclude this wonderful day overlooking the victoria harbour at night and we ended up staying until 3am before leaving for our hotel beds.

19nov2009 - we are married
thursday. after more than six years we tied the knot at our wedding party on that night in the oasis room of the renaissance harbourview hotel. the decoration was beautiful, the food and service was excellent and we had the chance to enjoy the beautiful view overlooking the victoria harbour with our guests. after a tea ceremony and extensive picture taking my dear vivien was walked down the aisle by her father and handed over to me in front of the stage. we exchanged our vows, signed the papers in presence of our fathers and held our speeches in english as well as german and (yes!) cantonese. it was very calm, romantic and at the same time emotional - the perfect wedding. our parents were moved to tears and the wedding was all we dreamed of. everything went smooth and we can not thank vivien's brother as well as mc brommel enough for their great support on that night. our thanks of course also to all my best men, our families, friends and colleagues (from hong kong, germany, tokyo, shanghai and singapore), the bridemaids as well as to sienna, karen as well as everyone else who shared that special night with us.

19nov2009 - still relaxed
thursday. standard hong kong weddings are kicked-off with a test for the groom to get his future bride, which is followed by a tea ceremony, dim sum, photo taking and mahjong before the actuall ceremony and wedding banquet. that usually takes the whole day from early(!) morning onwards and is very stressful. vivien and me both agreed that we wanted things to be a little more relaxed. due to our excellent planning and organization we were still able to enjoy a relaxed cup of coffee at starbucks just four hours before the wedding banquet. well, i am sure i will be nervous a little later, but so far it has been the perfect wedding week and this wedding can only be a full success if you get to do things in such a relaxed way. this will be a day to remember!

18oct2009 - happy valley
wednesday. after getting off the tram we went to the happy valley racecourse to watch the night races, which are usually held every wednesday. i didn't have the chance to go there for a long time, so i of course had to take my friends and family there, even though the wedding was just the next day. despite my best efforts in gambling i didn't win anything. well, guess bad luck in gambling means good luck in love, right? can't wait to get married tomorrow!

18nov2009 - tram
wednesday. in the evening we headed out towards happy valley to watch some horseracing and hopped on the old hong kong tram. and old and fun relic from the old hong kong days that is still in operation today, and not only as a tourist attraction but also as a normal mean of public transport. you can't go wrong to spend 2 hong kong dollar for such a special ride through hong kong island.

18oct2009 - we are family (soon)
wednesday. luckily i didn't have a major hangover from my bachelor party as we had to get up quite early in order to have a big pre-wedding dim sum lunch with both families in tsing yi that afternoon. vivien's parents, her brother and grandmother were there along with my parents, my sister as well as my aunt and uncle, who arrived the day before. quite funny and interesting experience as everyone hugged vivien's grandmother, which she was not used to since chinese usually avoid such close physical contact. so it was somehow a mixing of cultures and we had a nice lunch and both families got even closer than they already were before. of course my parents and vivien's parent met already before when they were all in hong kong during november 2006. everyone was happy and proud, so nothing stands in the way of getting married tomorrow and unite both families.

17oct2009 - bachelor bash
tuesday. that night we started at my favourite bar 'typhoon' for a little bachelor tour around wan chai. we had such a good time (started at 6pm) and so many pints of beer that we simply forgot about dinner. at the same time vivien was partying with the girls in lan kwai fong. better keep things seperated. after typhoon we went to laguna, neptune II and ... well, i just remember the security reminded me several times that i was not allowed to take pictures in neptune II. after that we wend to ... don't remember. finally I managed to get my guys over to lan kwai fong's insomnia bar to meet up with vivien and the girls. we all arrived in safe physical condition, however the lack of dinner and the pints had take a toll on us. some more - some less. well, everything was okay and it was a worthy bachelor party night in hong kong. two more days in freedom! ;)

17oct2009 - dim sum
tuesday. at lunch time i took my friends out to experiences traditional chinese dim sum in a wan chai restaurant. we tried all the local specialties, even chicken feet and i got the impression they really liked it. well, simply do not believe all the nightmare stories about chinese food and open yourself up in order to give something new to your tastebuds. well, of course we didn't order all the crazy stuff. ;) well, how could i let them leave hong kong without trying the most famous local food?

16nov2009 - shopping spree
monday. what would hong kong be without shopping? well, my parents of course wanted to do some major shopping as well, wherefore i took them to pacific place and mong kok's ladies market. after a couple of tiring hours in the mad shopping crowds in mong kok, we headed back to wan chai to have dinner at 'coyote', where we also welcome gerrit & nina, who arrived on that day. three days left. getting a little excited, or should i say nervous? not nervous about the idea of getting married, but hoping that eveything runs smooth.

15nov2009 - parent's in town
sunday. with the wedding only four days away, the first guests (my parents & sister, arne & jenny, lars & stefan) arrived hong kong that weekend and we met up in 'fat angelo's' restaurant in wan chai for dinner. it feels soooo good to see your family and friends again and i can not thank them enough for making their long way to hong kong to celerbrate our wedding with us. the next few days will be very busy and it will be very hard to get everyone together at all times (impossible!), but I hope i get to spend as much time as possible with them while they are over here. at the same time we are of course excited to stay in the hear of wan chai at the renaissance harbourview hotel for a week. funny feeling to stay in a hotel in hong kong, since we used to live here and|or always stay at vivien's familiy. we took a van that morning to move all the stuff to the hotel and now we really enter the hot phase prior to the wedding. just four days to go!

14nov2009 - family day
sunday. the wedding week is ahead, so we packed all out stuff and moved to hong kong to prepare for our big day. on the first day after our arrival we had a big family day with vivien's grandmother celebrating her birthday and her brother celebrating his graduation from university. puuuh, ate too much chinese food that day. well, looking forward that this will actually be my family as well pretty soon.

04nov2009 - shekou blitz
wednesday. that night i had to go out for dinner with a client of mine in shekou. funny guys! we had dinner and drinks in a restaurant, then drinks in one bar, then drinks in another bar (bottle of jim beam), then drinks in antother bar, then ... and so on. i ended up home around 4am and the next day was kinda unpleasant to be in the office. anyways, i am much closer to the client now and that's what counts. while i know many guys in this industry who go out like that regularly, I could not take this too often. guess i am getting old.

03nov2009 - naked man
tuesday. that night i had to pick up a visitor from the shangri-la hotel in lowu. since i can see the hotel from my office window, i decided to walk 10-15 minutes from my office to there. not that that was a mistake, but i had quite an interesting experience. after passing underneath the railtracks that pass right by our office, i came upon an intersection where i had to wait for the green light. i was dreaming a little away listening to my ipod when suddenly a guys walked buy - totally naked. no shoes! nothing! well, obviously that guys was not mentally sane, but still ... a crazy sight. not a pretty one either! well, you never know what happens next in china.

30oct2009 - bachelor party #1
friday. that evening I went out with my colleagues to have a little bachelor party. we started off at v-bar and ended up in lowu for some drinks and karaoke later. nothing totally crazy, but simply a little warm-up before my real bachelor party in hong kong on november 17th.

28oct2009 - trattoria da angelo
wednesday. that evening we took a taxi to shekou to go out for dinner and celebrate our 74 months anniversary, which would also be the last anniversary as girfriend and boylfriend. next month at this time we will be married, how exiting is that? it is incredible how fast 14 months after our engagement flew by. so we had dinner at a very nice italian restaurant callded 'trattoria da angelo'. they have two branches in shenzhen, one run by the father (futian) and one by his son (shekou). excellent food, fresh ingredients imported from italy and excellent service. always happy to find good western restaurants in china. will come here more often, but then as wife and husband.

18oct2009 - wedding coming up!
sunday. please expect that i will most likely not be able to do any more entries in the next couple of weeks. why? our wedding is only one month away and i will be in and out of hong kong all the time to make some finishing touches on everything. will post all the details and pictues after the wedding. i am excited to spend a whole week in hong kong with friends and family and get married. can't wait!

08oct2009 - closed the pool!
thursday. the estate management closed our outdoor swimming pool from today and i really can not understand why. yes, it's past the mid-autumn festival and it is getting cooler over here, but in the afternoons we still have 25+ degrees and sunshine. so why can't i go into the pool. come on guys, have some common sense!

oct2009 - china's golden 'mid-autumn' week
before and after. china has two big holidays: chinese new year and the gold week at the beginning of october, when china celebrates its national day. based on old traditions both of these holidays are very long (more than a week) so that migrant workers can return home to their families. due to this more than 200 milllion people are on the road. this time it's even worse with the national holiday falling together with the mid-autumn festival. all this stir-up now causes everyone to be very busy before and after the golden week. it was pure madness. can't we just have many small holidays? that would be less of an impact and i would have more time to write on my webpage diary as well. well, okay, i spent some days in hong kong with vivien's family and shopping, too.

31aug2009 - back to reality
monday. i am back to china, back to shenzhen and also back to work. reality got me back and i got almost 2000 emails in my inbox. well, that's what you get for not checking emails during vacation. well, either you ruin every day a little by checking emails or you wait for the big backlog when you are back. either way, that's what you get for being out of the office.

28aug2009 - viertelfest
friday. after a romantic dinner to celebrate our sixth anniversary, vivien and me walked along the riverside towards the viertelfest. a last few moments of enjoying bremen's beautiful summer atmosphere before we have to return to busy, hot, humid and crowded china. well, always good to be home, but now let's go back to china and get ready to be married.

28aug2009 - 6 year anniversary
friday. just one year ago i proposed to vivien and she said yes. at that point we felt that our wedding would still be very far away, but now, one year later, our wedding is a mere three months away. don't get me wrong, i am not getting worried about being married, just the fact that there are still so many things pending. six years, more to come and i simply can't wait to get married.

27aug2009 - ambiente
thursday. to round up a nice day, i invited my family out for dinner in a local restaurant. i could not stand living in hotel mama anymore with at least spoiling my parents a little bit. yes, of course they are always happy to host us when we are back in germany, but still. aaah, these vacations just fly by too quick. soon we will fly back to china. at least my family will come over soon to see vivien and me get married ... and we shall be back nexy summer.

27aug2009 - in the garden
thursday. that afternoon we spent with my uncle and aunt in their beautiful garden in weyhe, near bremen. there is just nothing better than sitting in one's garden while enjoying fresh local plum-cake with whip-cream and tea. i will for sure never get tired of this and will always look forward to going back to germany. well, but first of all i am now looking forward to all my family and friends attending our wedding in hong kong.

27aug2009 - insurance
thursday. apart from used-car salesmen and insurance brokes, we as humans have no any other natural enemies. well, that's my opinion and if it wasn't due to my mother, i would probably never really thought about certain things at my young age. still, yes, it feels good to take care of one's future by buying an insurance product that provides retirement, life insurance and disability insurance in one go. thanks mom for being so annoying. ;)

26aug2009 - schlachte
wednesday. my old living room - bremen's schlachte. you don't know what it is? well, it's one of the best bar streets in the world right next to the weser river. we met some friends, had dinner (yes, again) and many more drinks that night. why is called my living room? well, i used to live 10 minutes by foot from there and had my o2 home-zone (genion) laid exactly on that are. so even i was accepting calls on my mobile, people could reach me under my fixed line there as well. so my mom always called my home and asked me what is all that noise in the background? where are you? in my living room ...

25aug2009 - katzencafe
tuesday. eating, drinking, shopping - the standard things we do when on vacation in germany. some on this day. after shopping some more in the city we met with nina and gerrit at the schlachte and later in the schnoor-area for dinner and drinks. nice food, nice drinks, nice company - it doesn't get better than this. yes, yes, booooring you may say. is that all we do when in germany? yes, you are damn right.

24aug2009 - shopping
monday. this day was dominated by shopping in the city for just these kind of things that we can not find in china - polo shirts, dvds, candy, handbags, belts ... haha. but, no kidding, some things end up cheaper over here. don't ask me why. it always feels strange to buy something over here in germany that is actually made where we live - in china. still, some things you really can't get locally in china. guess i am a true hong kong-chinese already - nothing but shopping on my mind.

22aug2009 - wedding
saturday. that day we went to one of my best friend's wedding, which was the actual reason why we made our way over to germany in the first place. i would not miss any of my friend's wedding, no matter how far. after the afternoon in the church it was time for a big party and many of my old classmates where there as well. sadly i was still bugged by the jetlag that night. anyhow, a nice wedding and this was now definetly the last one before my own wedding in november.

21aug2009 - bremen city
friday. that night we went to the city to meet with one of my best friend's arne, his girlfriend jenny and 'larsi-baby'. it always feels good to come back to germany and your friends are there to have a dinner and drinks with you. no matter where i will end up in this world one day, i will never stop loving the most beautiful city in the world - bremen. ...oh, and apart from your partner and family, friends are the most important thing in the world. priceless!

21aug2009 - country roads
friday. next day i pushed my rental car across some country roads south of bremen on a very sunny and warm day. what a nice drive along these curvy roads. on the way to my aunt's house we stopped at the lloyd's factory in sulingen to buy some of the worl-renown shoes. afterwards we also bought some shirts and candy, then had coffee at my aunt's house before heading back to bremen. oh, how i love these country roads!

20aug2009 - super jetlag
thursday. arrived in germany after a long travel via dubai. i jumped into my rental car and enjoyed (as usual) the feeling of driving again (since i don't have a car in china). then coming home to mom's cooking and having dinner on the terrace of my parent's house on a nice and warm late-summer evening. perfect! well, soon the jetlag spoiled the fun and forced me to retire to my old bedroom to get some sleep. i fell asleep so fast and so deep, that i didn't even hear the major thunderstorm that started just 30 mins after i went to back. no matter what people say about jetlag and that it's psychological - and all that crap. don't believe a word. it always hits me hard when i fly westbound rather than eastbound, while some people say it just the other way around. anyways, jetlag sucks!

20aug2009 - off to germany
thursday. after coming back to germany usually around christmas time, vivien and me will visit bremen in the summer this year. why? well, it's too hot in china these days, one of my best friends is getting married and i simply need a break from work before we enter the budget and peak season. can't wait to hit the schlachte for some drinks with family and friends. i am on my way! yeehah!

14aug2009 - shenzhen buzz
friday. my colleagues asked my out to celebrate ( a promotion) with them drinking in a local bar. we ended up in "le nest" in the luohu district and finished off two huge bottles of chivas at our vip table. what a fun night! however, i ended up being rather drunk and tomorrow will be marked by a major hangover. anyways, once a while you have to blow off some steam.

08aug2009 - sushi maker
saturday. vivien and me made our own sushi at home that night. how did we do it? well, you need rice, salmon, cucumber, tuna and whatever else you may like on top of you sushi and sushi-making tools that you can buy in every jusco in hong kong. yes, it takes some time and the first ones you make look rather ugly, but once you got it they turn out really nice. homemade sushi - the best! (no one got hurt nor poisoned during the process.)

05aug2009 - freegate
wednesday. as i mentioned earlier, china has blocked the facebook portal since the day some riots erupted in xinjiang province at the end of june. however, thanks to freegate i am now able to work my way around this censorship and use it again. the free will and creativity can not be stopped nor censored. against censorship!

04aug2009 - sick
tuesday. after not having been sick for more than 2 years, apart from a little sniff or cough here and there, i got hit hard by a sore throat, coughing and high fever that week. after getting treated at the shenzhen 1st hospital that afternoon, i spent almost the rest of the week in bed. damn, now that means all the work is left undone and i will be busy catching up on 500+ emails. damn,

july2009 - loooooong time - no time!
all month. first of all i am sorry that i have not been able to update my webpage recently. some busy weeks lay behind me and i never found the time to sit down and add some diary entries. so maybe i just write down a few things in one go as i actually don't really recall what happened on what date anymore. >>> i managed to obtain my new china visa recently, which is quite a process. i even had to do an interview with the shenzhen police to justify to them that my company really needs to hire me as foreigner and why not a local manager. anyhow, that went well and shenzhen authorities were surprisingly efficient. in between i had a real downer as my long anticipated business trip fell victim to .... issues and the fact that the economic crisis still forbids us from travelling much. to make myself happy again i went to hong kong for some shopping and learned that any price can be negotiated. no matter if on a street market or a brand-name shop, they can still knock-off up to 20% of the price. sweet! now i will have a nice pair of sunglasses and a new polo-shirt to go with me to germany in august. can't wait! what else? well, the chinese government decided to block facebook from the end of june due to the riots in xinjiang provice. i hoped that it would come back on quickly, but unfortunately it looks like they will keep it blocked forever. i hate them for this! come on, just want to share my life with friends and family. what else? oh yeah, i watched my first movie in a movie theater in china - transformers 2. nice one, but after that i went right back to my habit of buying DVD copies. found a nice shop(!) in dongmen and i must say the quality gets better and better here. for every two movies vivien and me watch we buy three new ones, so we shall never run out of movies to watch at night. yes, that's all i do these weekdays. get up, work, come home, have dinner, check emails, go for a swim, watch a movie, sleep. on the weekends i am more happy now since hong kong is so close. it is so quick to travel over to hong kong for partying and shopping. sweet! that of course only in case there is no typhoon like two weeks ago. how come they only come on weekends? anyways, this one was a direct hit and the winds and rain were quite heavy. weather, yes, we are in the middle of the rainy season. it is very hot every days and also very humid. aircondition becomes your best friend. finally, i am getting excited to travel to germany in august to visit familiy and friends as well as to attend a wedding party. soon it will be my turn. in four months i will be a married man. wow, that's close. i am not scared and actually can't wait. hmm, let's see how i feel on that acutaly day, haha. >>> hope i will find more time in the next few weeks to update. if not, it will be another essay entry from my side soon. take care my friends! enjoy the summer!

23jun2009 - shenzhen's party zone
tuesday. attended a gathering of the german community in shenzhen at the intercontinental hotel's galleon bar, where i have already been last friday with my boss and a customer. nice hotel! nice bar! no, let me correct that - awesome bar! it looks like a real pirate ship on top of the hotel (30m above the ground). outdoor- and indoor-seating, waitresses dressed like cpt. jack sparrow, live music, drinks ... sweet! shenzhen is already outperforming guangzhou's nightlife - and there is more to come. love shenzhen!

21jun2009 - vivien turns 30 minus 1
sundday. vivien's family came over for the weekend (ey, hong kong is not that far) to celebrate vivien's 29th birthday. as per hong kong tradition, apart from having a swim in the pool, the celebrations turned into an eating marathon: dim sum, cake, snacks, dinner... happy birthday, baby. next year will be a big one! don't worry, for me you still look like 25. love you! (check out the image on the left. what do you see?)

13jun2009 - t&c wedding
saturday. cookie fung + timo blok = cookie & timo blok! we celebrated their wedding at the american club in tai tam. really nice. many old colleagues, familiar faces, good food, good drinks and quite an emotional ceremony. oh oh, next wedding will be my own!

12jun2009 - bachelor party
friday. travelled to hong kong to party with my colleague|friend timo before he is getting married the next day. we set of in wan chai, had dinner in happy valley and then went through every single bar in wan chai again. damn, i forgot how expensive hong kong was. well, soon it will be my own bachelor party. can't wait!

06jun2009 - shek....wow!
saturday. vivien and me took advantage of a sunny day to travel to shekou to relax a little. we were told that it is a nice place - and we were not disappointed. what a nice place! fresh air, modern buildings, beergardens, bars, restaurants, seasview.... okay, it's quite far away from the city centre, but with a taxi no problem at all. i am really starting to like this city!

28may2009 - 69 months and dragon boat festival
thursday. today we celebrate the dragon boat festival in china. at the same time vivien and me celebrate 69 months of being together. soon we will hit 6 years and just three months later we will be married. wow, how time flies. anyways, we had a nice and relaxed day at home (after i checked through my work emails) and headed out for a big dinner that night - the first time we can really explore shenzhen after our apartment is finished. we are off this saturday, but need to work on sunday to make up for the lost friday. well, holidays always come back to bite you in the ass.

23may2009 - modern shenzhen
saturday. shenzhen is a very young city and it took an amazing journey over the past 20 years. from a small fishing village to a special commercial zone to a modern metropolis with more than 13 million peope. most of them are not local, but come from all over china. what a melting pot of local cultures. the malls are brandnew, modern and host the world's most famous brands. skyscrapers pop out at all corners of the city and it seems like it's never sleeping. this city may not have much history, but it will have a great future.

22may2009 - getting things done
friday. after changing a million light bulbs (chinese people here like neon- and energy-saving bulbs with the white light), since i didn't want my apartment to look like a hospital, changing locks and door-handles, fixing the shower, opening a bank account, installing the internet, unpacking all boxes, hanging up curtains, fixing the washing machine and aircon - we can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. tomorrow we gonna hit IKEA and soon our place will be ready. puuuh, moving is always stressful.

21may2009 - busy workweek
thursday. my office has been without a seafreight manager for quite some time, so after my arrival it seems like all issues are suddenly brought up to my attention. at the same time if need to get to know all my staff and teams as well as meet with several clients and carriers - not to mention all these administrative things. puuuh, what a first week already. well, guess i need to get on top of things first and then it will get easier and better.

18may2009 - seafreight manager
monday. this morning i took my new job as a seafreight manager in shenzhen. a first day in a new job is always exciting! i got to meet all other management collagues, my secretarty linda, my team leaders and my overall 72 staff. well, hope i will get to know them all quickly and that i can manage to remember all their names. i'm getting old, you know.

16may2007 - settling in
saturday. we arrived shenzhen and are now of course facing a big mess. some things still need to be fixed and arranged here and there while we also have to unpack 100 boxes or so. yes, the moving company can do that, but it's simply faster to do it yourself. otherwise you have to explain them where every single cup or DVD goes. anyhow, the first week will be stressful as usual and we hope that this will be over soon so that we can sit back and explore and enjoy life in shenzhen.