Moving house

Short post today. Gonna move house tomorrow. Exciting huh? I am gonna get a new roomie. But immediate problems: I have too much things to pack. WAYYY too much. Need to reorganise things again. Ciao Tirolerheim… I will miss the garden!

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Switch off Global warming!

In an attempt to save money, and to Save the World! I took my pink bike out for a ride today, about 3k to the city, to the insurance company to register for my health insurance. Innsbruck traffic baffles me, the bike lanes, sometimes go against traffic, sometimes goes with traffic. And its not a nice continuous bike lane, it stops and starts somewhere else. Its confusing enough having to cycle on the right side, and not knowing traffic rules. And those intermittent bike lanes totally give me a headache, and I sort of ended up walking quite a bit coz I didn’t know where the bike lane was and also to cross traffic lights. I am such a hazard on the road. Thank goodness I didn’t cause any accidents. Anyway, I think I am gonna love my bike at the end of this year. Its an expensive toy, coz it caused 55 euros, and the lock another 5 euros, and I sent it to the shop to mod it for a bike rack/basket so thats gonna cost more. And not to mention I need front and back lights in case I cycle at night (16 euros). It might cost more to fit the bike than the bike itself.  

Anyway, back to the part about biking in the city, the Altstadt is a pain to cycle in, even though there is no traffic, the amount of ppl on the streets, who seriously just walk around and have no awareness for cyclists, its really just swerving every other sec to avoid ppl. But other places like next to the river, and also in small small roads, its really nice to cycle. And so going to the insurance company, and to this major big sports chain, I rode to this small bike shop which was supposedly cheaper (and it is). Just my luck, it was time for lunch, so I had to go back later, and thus, I rode to this supermarket and had a sandwich, after which I rode back to the bike shop. And he said oh you can’t fix a back rack coz its a mountain bike, so why don’t you cycle to Bauhaus (big big store for everything you need for your house) and get a front basket from there coz its cheaper. And Bauhaus happens to be next to that supermarket I was just at. And thus, me cycled back to Bauhaus, asked around and found that… they don’t sell anymore baskets! So ride ride back to bike store, told them no basket! just fix me any basket you have! And then the guy took the front basket, fiddled a bit and said cannot fit! I was like omg die. Must have basket, or how am I gonna carry my stuff around. And this other guy came and said yah you CAN fit a back rack, who said you can’t? Thus my bike is kept by the store, until Thursday, but I will probably only pick it up on Friday after I move house.  

Back to the story… so no more bike, how? Still had to save the world right? So man powered transportation all the way yah, and thus I walked about 2k back, the whole long way, with a bag with a dictionary, water bottle, miscellaneous groceries, and other random stuff.  And it started to rain. 5 mins later, the rain stopped and the sun came out, and it became warmer.

What a tiring day.

• Route taken by me today! 

  

Photo Post

Today nothing much happened, except the fact that I bought a PINK bike. Its not like baby pink or something. I quite like it. It only needs streamers now. =P Just kidding. But anyway, photos photos today!

Roses and lovely sunny days.

What I do during german class

Court jesters doing their funny dance

Pseudo Swordsmen

Playing with fire

Lunchkonzert Im Hofgarten

And the view from up there

And they have playgrounds all the way up there!

I missed out on Ultimate =(

Schones Sonntag. It was super duper cold when I woke up early this morning, about 7.30. 14 degrees! I know its probably warm to some ppl but it was freezing for me. I am never warm enough in the mornings until I get to drink my Nesquik. Anyway, scuttled off to church, I was actually there early, when I thought I would be late. Its the Evangelisch Freikirchliche Gemeinde Innsbruck, one of maybe 5? protestant churches in Innsbruck. I quite like it there, it was a nice cozy room, and I understood most of the songs they were singing, and they sang a few english! songs too! Which I am really thankful for, to have something familiar amongst all the foreign things. The sermon however, was a totally different story all together, coz me being a German nut, can’t understand cheem German which is spoken during sermons. Anyway, I got the 1st part, which the pastor was saying something like, this family went on a holiday and ended up quarreling coz of like spilt juice in the car, road rage eg. I realised it was a parallel to how Moses lead the ppl out of Egypt, and they ended up not trusting God and being all angry at God for bringing them to the desert. But other than that, and the fact that he were talking about Moses and his staff during the sermon, I was pretty much lost. I guess my German is so not there.Anyway, went back after the service, it was a bit strange leaving, coz I don’t know everyone and like I was the 1st to go, it felt so strange and like lonely to go to a church where I don’t know anyone. So, back home, I wanted to settle admin stuff, like fill in insurance forms and stuff, and then my friend asked me if I wanted to ‘walk’ up this trail to this hut in the middle of the mountains. And it being such a gorgeous Sunday afternoon (see picture below), I agreed. He claimed it only takes 2 hrs up and down, and well, guess I proved the fact that Singapore is as flat as it can be. Its probably the 1st time I climbed up something to like a few thousand meters and its really all up-slope. And it also demonstrates how unfit I am coz seriously, he said it was a walk but felt more like a climb to me. But the view up there, like WOAAAHHHHHH. And there are cute cows up there with bells and they go clang clung clong. I bet if I was a cow I would be rather irritated haha.The way down was much much easier and I think faster. But there were bits where it was really a straight vertical slope and rather scary coz you get the I am sliding down free fall kind of feeling. And we got back to Marktplatz busstop by 5.40, which hai, was too late for Ultimate, coz they were picking me up at 5.40. When I actually managed to get back (the bus took ages to come, the ride itself was quite fast) they were long gone and I was sad =( I tried to get there myself by bus, but waiting for the O bus to Marktplatz took 15 mins, and even if I took the earlier bus, it would still be pretty much useless, coz the A bus which goes to Stadion, only comes at something:10, the next one which was 7.10pm. And last week, they played till 7.30pm only, so that pretty much dashed my dream of playing Ultimate today. Haii. I miss disc time!I really like Innsbruck, the place is nice, mountains are pretty, and I quite like outdoor activities so this place is ideal for me. But I do wish there were some things, like shops opening till 9, or supermarkets opening on Sundays and public holidays, and cheaper laundry, and green leafy vegetables, and seafood. I haven’t had a craving for rice yet but I think I might soon, 3kg of pasta might make me throw up at the end of it. I guess, if I could pack all my friends (and a washing machine) into my luggage, Innsbruck would be superb to stay in.

•  View of Innsbruck

Things you only get in Austria

Saturday! Nothing much goes on on Saturday actually, shops close early, and everyone prepares for the real day of rest, Sunday. I woke up late as usual, and talked to Tong and Kiku a bit online. In Austria you get people of all sorts, including this person, who got on the bus with 3/4 capris and a bikini top haha. And looking really blur with her coke can in her hand. Anyway I went for this Lunchkonzert in the Hofgarten. The Hofgarten is actually a park, and if anyone has Facebook, you can see the lovely flowers they have there =) Any anyway, the pavilion next to the big chess pieces, was where the concert took place. They put chairs and everything and there was this lady singing opera style, this guy who was playing some medieval instrument and I think there was a piano or harpsichord too. Its really pleasant, to sit in the park, and having entertainment. Of course classical music isn’t really my thing (they had jazz playing somewhere but it wasn’t in the park, at Maria-Theresa Straße, and its not as nice to sit on the street) but it was peaceful to sit in the park, eat my croissant and peach, and read a bit with the gorgeous blue cloudless sky above your head and music playing in the background. And I saw this person with a tattoo which read 自力. Haha, I bet she’s Italian and has no idea what she got for a tattoo. 

Stayed in the park till it was really too darn hot, and I went into the Altstadt and got an ice-cream! Gelato more like it. Kirsch flavour (cherry). Lovely stuff. And coz I felt really bad eating so much, I walked from the Altstadt, to Marktplatz, and next to the river Inn, a slow relaxing walk, and across the bridge, and found out the bus was only coming in 7 mins, so I walked further down to the next bus stop. Took the bus to the supermarket, got off and bought onions. Austrian supermarkets are strange places, 1stly, I realised that Austrians don’t eat much veg and fruit, cos I am the only one who stocks the fridge full with veg and fruit. 2ndly, the supermarket seems to be empty of all kind of green leafy vegetables. Yah they do have lettuce and cabbage, but the former is usually the salad sort and cabbage is also usually the salad sort or the sauerkraut kind. So they are not really meant to be cooked. Things like spinach even, are missing, which I find really strange coz they do have spinach pasta and spinach pizza. It seems that all the green leafy vegetables disappear to restaurants. Anyway, got a bag of salad (only coz it was half price!) and also a box of champignon mushrooms. I can finally do something other than tomato sauce pasta! 

Sunday should be fun. Shall search for the church at the obscure part of city I haven’t been to yet. And then I gotta call up ppl again to make the exact appointment to see the bikes, and then I get to play ULTIMATE!  

I have more pictures to post again but I am just to lazy.  

Frei Freitag

Today was my free day! So I took a few couple hours to sleep and stuff. And I woke up and had a nice breakfast of toasted bread with cheese… and then I went online a bit (the internet is a horrible addiction!) and then went out to the nice sunny garden to read my book =) The garden is a lovely place, peaceful and with a few trees and good grass. Only problem is that Europe has the biggest flies I have ever seen, and the bees are busy… Anyway, got sick of being bothered with them all after about 3 hrs and went up to my room.  I guess it was a quiet day for me today. Its quite good too, coz I got to talk to more ppl in SG… and got some time to think and stuff. And this blog post took quite long time. And I should go to sleep soon! Also, guten Nacht. Ciao! 
There might be a beach tourne on the 1st of Sept! I dunnoe if I am invited, I couldn’t understand what he was saying haha. But how exciting! There seems to be a lot of tournes in Europe. I can’t wait for the big beach one in Italy in April! 

On Modules and Lehrveranstaltungen

Today, I finally got to wake up late! No admin stuff to do so it meant that I could wake up late enough like after 12 or so. But I didn’t wake up dattt late. I got my 8 hrs and woke up promptly. Ate yummy breakfast (I finally found white bread!) and then went off to meet my tutor Johannes so he can advise me on what subjects to take and stuff. The uni is quite interesting, like there are different different facs and all the facs are scattered all over the city. Not like NUS where we have internal shuttles, and you can walk everywhere using the yellow tiled roof. Here, you might need to get a bus just to communicate with your professor. Okay I am falling asleep so shall cut story short. Went for frisbee training. Not really training but it was beach ulti and it was super duper difficult to run on sand.  And after that there was this concert at the Gold Roof. Okay i better go super sleep. Ciao! 

Okay continuation from yesterday coz I was falling asleep and starting to type rubbish. Anyway, the concert/theatre thingy. It was 1stly, super crowded, so I couldn’t find my friend. And I was actually starting to cramp from frisbee earlier (standing for long periods of time when you haven’t stretched after frisbee is not nice) And me being a shortie, was blocked by those darn italian tourists who were all taller than me. Anyway, at least I could see the action on the stage, like saw the Emperor Maximilian I and his entourage all in the Middle Ages costumes. And they had all these entertainment thingys. Like dancing and stuff and there was a jester. Quite interesting except that haha I don’t think they had spectacles in the Middle Ages and neither did they have folding music stands haha. Anyway, it was quite an experience, like the showcase of the dances and stuff… Rather hilarious what ppl found entertaining and cultured in the Middle Ages haha.  

Shall post pictures soon.  

Bike hunting

I really need a telephone card, so I woke up particularly early to go down to the Student Union place to get the so called free ESN telephone card. But there was no ESN person there and so I didn’t get a telephone card. Somehow, telephone stuff here are complicated, and its way more expensive, especially prepaid cards. Okay, anyway, I also needed a bike, so I picked up the newspaper called the Stadtblatt, and there were adds, like bikes for about 50-60 euros. And I called up a couple of ppl, most were not free, I could only see one bike that day, and so I went down to this place near the West Bahnhof. And the guy was old and cranky. And I was having 2nd thoughts about travelling all the way there to see the bike, coz they were way too big for me. It wasn’t the height, coz he tried to adjust the height for me, but the frame itself was rather big and I didn’t like it. And anyway, he was tinkering away, and he digressed to something else and it turned out to be quite an interesting experience. 1stly, the building was actually really old… like since before the war. He had like pictures, showing half of the bombed building, together with his mother’s piano which fell out when the building got bombed. And it was quite visible, traces of history in that building itself. And the guy too, experienced the war and everything. And he rambled on talking about everything from his experiences with hunger, and to cheap restaurants and bread. And he recommended me somewhere to eat Wiener Schnitzel. And he also told me what he thought about Turkish people, especially those who wear the Tudung. I thought it was rather sad that in Austria, Muslims, especially those who wear the tudung, are treated as 2nd class people. He said, even if someone did everything correct, but wore a tudung, job prospects were quite bad. That’s quite sad actually, having grown up in SG where everyone has equal opportunities. Anyway, ramble ramble. I stood there and listened to him for quite a while. I think my german probably improved. It was quite hard to understand him but I think i caught 80% of it. And I realise, if i really want to catch something, I gotta concentrate and sometimes, I just get sick of it and like my german understand just switches off. I am glad people here speak, most ppl at least, speak decent english for me to understand and for them to express themselves. Anyway, I am so darn sleepy and tired and not mention  cold coz my computer is next to the window which has cold air drifting in. So I shall plonk myself onto the bed. 
I want to play ultimate! 

Risotto and Peach/Pear crumble

What does one do when in Austria? You gotta do a lot of silly things, like get health insurance (I am perfectly healthy for your information!) and also apply for a resident permit. I woke up early just to do all this but still both are undone coz I was missing documents to finish all the stuff. And tomorrow I need to go get my telephone card and buy a bike so I so should be asleep now but I am just procrastinating. Anyway, weather here is really really strange. It can be really hot and sunny in the morning, and by 12, the sky will be overcast, strong wind blowing and you know within the next 24hrs or so it will start pouring for one whole day. Anyway, so coz of all these, I was stuck at home after walking probably a few km just to find out I couldn’t get my resident permit yet and I couldn’t get my health insurance. Being the hungry girl I am, and coz I was sick of pasta, lunch menu became risotto. And not bad considering I have no idea how to make risotto. Followed Jamie Oliver’s recipe except I didn’t have celery. Worked out quite well with nice oozy rice with like a nice saucy coating coz of all the starch. It was quite fun. And after lunch, I decided I was bored. And instead of studying german, I thought… hemm I have so many peaches and pears. And I think the pears might rot any moment. So what to do? No fruit cake coz thats hard. No pie/tart coz no base. The easiest became peach and pear crumble! And thus, I was stuck in the kitchen (I am starting to hate the kitchen coz it gets dirty easily and the ppl steal the sponges) for about 2hrs. The crumble was finally done at 8pm. But I had so much problem coz I didn’t have a pan suitable for baking. Being the poor student who is unable to buy baking pan, it called for massive improvisation. So everything into my way-too-small bowl, and baked the top first. And then, using a knife, separate the crumble from the bowl and put plate over bowl. With swift motion to prevent fingers from burning, flip the whole thing over and remove bowl. Replace ‘crumble’ in oven and watch for it to brown. Haha it was quite funny coz my raisins started blowing up from the heat. None exploded though. Anyway, end product, not bad, could have been better but I need a pan!  Anyway, tired from all the cooking. Thank goodness for all the things I can eat tomorrow by just heating up and NO MORE COOKING for 2 days I hope!  Time to snooze. Auf Wiedersehen!