Road Trip - Mainau, Germany

Early next morning, we set off for the "Flower Island" of Mainau situated on Bodensee, in South Germany. The drive there was extremely scenic - with the rolling green hills, blue skies, white clouds and the tranquil lakes.



The island is only accessible by ferry and it was an interesting experience for me to be in a car, boarding the big ship. The journey took merely 30 minutes and soon, we were queuing up at the ticketing counter of the island's main entrance. No car is allowed on the island and has to be parked at the big car park before the main entrance.

In the lake, just next to a bridge leading to the island lies a very prominent Christian Cross. It is known as the "Schwedenkreuz" which literally translates to "Swedish Cross". And why is this cross found in the middle of nowhere? Well, as history has it, Mainau came under the rule of the Swedish following a defeat in the Thirty Years war. However, the occupation ended a few months later with the Swedish taking with them all valuables during the withdrawal from the island. And for some unknown reason, this cross was carried halfway but eventually left behind.


Once across the bridge, a giant smiley face greeted all tourists and began what is to be a neatly pedicured tour around the flower island.


A small plot of land is allocated to small animals; the likes of ponies and goats where children can interact with. And what was interesting for me were the goats...they are pretty smart to begin with. :)

Outside some small shops, I noticed candies for sale which were contained in semi-circular plastic domes with openings for the placement of scoops. And in almost all of the domes, wasps were clearly having an enjoyable time licking up the sugar. I wonder if anybody buys the candies after seeing such a sight?


By early afternoon, we ended the tour around the small island with a rewarding lunch at one of the touristy restaurants beside a small castle. Interestingly, the Swedish meatballs usually served at Ikea were also available here!

Cream Pumpkin Soup

Grilled Chicken Steak with Rice

Swedish Meatballs with Lingoberry Jam!

Cake Teller - which was included in the set lunch

Road trip - Austria, Reutte

To get away from the hustle and bustle of touristy and expensive Füssen, we decided to drive further South and make our pitstop at the small town of Reutte, Austria.


We found a guesthouse with reasonably priced rooms at Pension Hohenrainer and decided to spurge the rest of the budget on a lavish dinner at Hotel Maximilian instead. Afterall, I'm a true blue-blooded Singaporean...what can be more important than food? :)

The dinner started with the usual fanfare of salad and the necessary thirst quencher - beer.

The highlight were the mains - Prawn Sphagetti with Safron & Sphagetti with Wild Mushrooms. The former was and is still the best pasta I have tasted! The sauce was rather unique with a tinge of sweetness amidst the aroma of seafood, quite unlike any others I have tasted thus far. The latter is less special but nevertheless good as well!

And naturally we ended the dinner as all other Austrians would - with dessert of apple strudel and vanilla ice-cream.

Road Trip - Neuschwanstein Castle (Germany, Bavaria)

Did you know that the Neuschwanstein Castle was the inspiration behind the creation of the Walt Disney logo? After hearing about it all these years, I finally had the opportunity to set foot in this dream castle.

The road trip began in the early hours of a beautiful morning and although the drive was long, the motivation remained strong. Along the way, to fuel the itching mouths, we stopped en route for a break of coffee and strawberry yoghurt cake. Disappointingly, the cake did not taste as good as it look. The strawberries could have been fresher and the crust could have been crispier.

By mid afternoon, we arrived at the destination and was shocked to find the snaking queue at the ticketing counters. It took us another 45 minutes before we finally purchased the ticket for a guided tour in the castle. Lunch was a quick affair of frankfurters and soon, we were again queuing for the horse ride up the castle which, by the way, was not included in the castle ticket. Nevertheless, the horse ride would have to be one of the highlights for the entire castle visit.

After alighting from the coach, we had to walk another 15 minutes or so to the castle entrance. Then, it's another queue for the guided tour into the castle. Perhaps it's the fantasy theme built up by Disney movies or the massive throng of tourists coupled with long queues that upped my anticipation and expectation of the castle. At the end of the approximately 30 minutes tour, we were reasonably disappointed. Firstly, the interior furnishings were not as grand as we thought it to be and more importantly, the tour group was really massive with many jostling to hear the guide who merely gave a summarized summary of the castle in a heavily German accented English (without the use of an amplifier!).

After exiting the castle, we made our way to a nearby bridge - Marienbrücke. According to the recommendation on the official website, the bridge is said to have a nice view of the castle. that I would have to agree as it was the other highlight of this trip. It was quite windy with a small waterfall gushing beneath the bridge. Photography of the castle would really be great from this viewpoint if not for the ongoing construction of the castle's exterior.

For those who are planning a trip there, I do have some advices:

(1) Buy one of those pocket-sized, cheap castle pictorial guidebook and bring it along to the guided tour. It definitely gave me more insight into the furnishings within the castle compared to the guided tour.

(2) Buy the combo ticket to visit the nearby Hohenschwangau as well. This was the castle where King Lugwig II grew up. With Neuschwanstein, he only spent less than 2 weeks before he was 'diagnosed' of mental instability and stripped of his title as King of Bavaria.

(3) Purchase a copy of the life of the "Mad" King Ludwig II, it might just change your perception of whether he's as "mad" as legend made it to be... :)

Villach - Strassenkunstfestival

In summer, Villach is lined up with lots of activities which added quite abit of hustle and bustle to the otherwise relatively small and quiet town south of Austria.

I was lucky to arrive in time for the Strassenkunstfestival held in mid-July. It is essentially a Busker's festival held over a 2 days period right in the city center. The performers came mainly from different parts of Europe and at least one group from China.



The performances began at about 1000hrs till the wee hours of 2300hrs which is considered really late for a small town in Europe.

Despite the scorching mid day sun, the city came alive with locals and tourists crowding the walking streets, eating and drinking in open-air cafes.

Naturally, I was also enjoying the many performances with a fat juicy piece of Leberkäse wedged in between a freshly baked semmel. Yummy!

Weisskirchen - Food and Sights

Spent a relaxing weekend at the small town of Weisskirchen, Steiermark. It is summer now, sometimes at a scorching afternoon high of 35°C.

It is also the mushroom season and interestingly, I was informed that there is a local regulation stating that each person can only harvest a certain quantity of mushroom from the forest. With that, I decided to try my luck hunting for mushrooms in the nearby forest.

I'm lucky enough to spot some mushrooms but unfortunately, they were either poisonous or already half-eaten by insects.

Along the way, I also found some wild blue berries growing from the bushes but they were extremely sour to the taste. So much for having absolute zero patience and being a glutton.

Summer here is for a relatively short period of time compared to winter. So while it's here, everyone's taking the opportunity to enjoy the sun, buzzing insects and the bright colours that nature brings along with it - the white, white clouds, the blue, blue sky, the green, green trees, the red, red flowers and the brown, brown wheat harvest.

And of course, the Austrian cows which are a fantastically, photogenic bunch. :)

I also had the luxury of enjoying home-cooked Austrian food which were simply delectable!

Faschierte Laibchen mit Kartoffel puree

(Oven roasted meatloaf with mashed potato)

Fritattensuppe

(Pancake slices in beef broth - my all-time favourite)

Pistazien Kuchen

(Pistachio Cake)

Nuss Strudel

(Bread with nut fillings)

Chinese Salad Anyone?

One more resolution to add to my list for 2009: To eat like a cow and not look like one. :)


And when creativity hits me, I'll add a twist of Chinese touch to 'brighten up' my salad.

The Coming of a Great Artist

Development of the right hemisphere at 1 year, 10 months & 14 days...

Titled: "姑姑的Spiderman Wallet"

Cost: Priceless

Attack of the Sweet Tooth Monster!

Question: "Will human ever get enough of money?"
Answer: "No"

Question: "Will I ever get enough of desserts?"
Answer: "NO"

4-in-1 Dessert@ Bollywood Veggies

(all 4 desserts are nonya kuehs which came in just the right portions and ain't too sweet)

Durian Puree with Pomelo Sago @ 记得吃, Liang Seah Street

(seriously, why bother spending tens of dollars buying durians at Geylang only to curse at the sub-standard quality WHEN you can have the bitter-sweet durian presented to you in a chilled bowl without the seeds!?!)