We should be inside a plane heading for Hong Kong at the moment, but little man has fever and I have a cold, so we decided to stay in Berlin for a few more days.
Which gave me time to sort through pictures I took at our previous travel stop, located at the beautiful Adriatic coast in the south east of Europe.
Hong Kong’s remaining street markets are under constant threat to become the next victims of “urban renewal”. Yesterday, I had some errands to run in Central, Hong Kong’s business district, and afterwards did my bit to save one of them.
The Central Street Market is located on Graham Street, which runs between Queen’s Road, one of the city’s busiest shopping streets, and Hollywood Road, which hosts a lot of art galleries and antique shops.
I bought cucumber and tomatoes…
… delicious pomegranates…
and very fresh shrimps…
Even drive-by shopping is possible ;)…
If you live in Hong Kong, or even if you are just a potential tourist, who thinks that street markets are an essential part of local flair, go here and sign the petition… please :).
After more than twenty hours spent in airplanes and airports, we have arrived in Hong Kong. This time we flew via Doha, the capital of Qatar, which is one of the booming Emirates located at the Persian Gulf. In the past, I have also changed planes in Muscat (first time that I saw a hunting falcon being checked in for a flight), Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, and Dubai. All these places have lots of sand, lots of oil and gas, and lots of newly built skyscrapers. Their oil has made them very rich, but they also try to diversify their economies with aggressive investments into tourism and other service sectors. The nice byproduct of this is that their state airlines offer plane tickets at very low prices.
My seat neighbor on the Berlin to Doha flight was a woman living in Dubai and working for a German manufacturer of desalination plants. She told me that the income tax in Dubai is at zero percent, but that it has become very difficult to find affordable housing. The property market is booming, and Dubai has become one big construction site.
Newly built islands off the Dubai shoreI have been to Dubai a couple of years ago on a one-night layover to Hong Kong. Little man was still a baby when we stayed at the then newest hotel in town, and he went crazy about all the gold and glitter around him. His greatest joy was lying on the bed and throwing his arms and legs about, while watching his reflections in the huge mosaic mirror above him.
This time it was Doha, and all I can say is that their airport terminal is nice but will be soon too small for the quantities of passengers channeled through it. During our six hour wait I discovered that obesity is becoming a world-wide phenomena, and after a look at the offerings of the two restaurants at the terminal (French fries with various fried meat), I knew why. Passengers came from Europe, Africa, the Gulf region, India, and the rest of Asia, and to pass time, I compared fashion styles. Europe was mostly represented by jeans and a few saggy jogging pants, Africa by colorful local garb, the Gulf by black georgette abayas (Islamic overgarment) with artful embroidery, India and Pakistan by salwar kameez (long shirt and roomy pants), and fellow Asians by all sorts of casual wear. Isn’t it curious that some dress up for travel, while some dress down? You won’t see me in 5 inch heels in an airplane, but baggy jogging pants paired off with flip flops don’t seem right either. Especially if you haven’t washed your feet for days, like the guy who sat behind me on the eight and a half hour flight to Hong Kong. To survive, I directed the air jet directly to my nose. In terms of ripeness, his feet were similar to old Appenzeller or Harzer… not young Gouda, that’s for sure.
Berlin is my home city, and it will always be a special place for me, but I don’t suffer from home sickness in Hong Kong either. Living abroad is a wonderful adventure for me. When I am in Berlin, half of me is a native, the other half sees the city with some distance, almost like a tourist. It’s a funny state to be in, and I think most expats go through the same feelings.
I try to make the most of my Berlin visits. I don’t have to work from nine to five, and can enjoy the city, and the best part is that I already know some of the best places to visit.
The following is not a top ten list of things to see or do in Berlin, just a random list of things I enjoy when I am here.
I enjoy that Berlin is a green city
Whenever I arrive, it’s the first thing I notice, and it has an immediate soothing effect on me. Berlin has over 400,000 trees lining its streets, and they make walking or bicycling on a hot summer day much more fun. Berlin also has over 2,500 parks, small neighborhood parks as well as expansive city parks like the Tiergarten in the center of the city (pictured above), or the beautiful Gardens of the World.
Berlin has lots and lots of water
Any tourist guide worth his money will tell you that Berlin has more bridges than Venice. There are two rivers, several canals, and innumerable lakes throughout the city area. The Wannsee and Müggelsee, the two largest lakes, are popular weekend retreats.
One of my favorite spots in the city is the bank of the Landwehrkanal in Kreuzberg. I usually start my stroll at Maybachufer, which is the site of a colorful Turkish market on Tuesday and Friday afternoons, and then walk along the green banks of the canal towards Urbanhafen. There are some very nice garden cafes and restaurants along the way, and also restaurant ships anchored on the banks of the canal.
Speaking of water…
Berliners are spoiled for choice, when they want to go swimming. There are more than 60 public swimming pools and lake-side beaches, and wherever you live in the city a pool isn’t far away. Little man has been going to swimming lessons at our neighborhood pool since we have arrived. It’s a special daily course during the school holidays, and it’s great fun to see all these kids having fun and making progress.
Berlin’s traffic men look cute
Berlin’s little green and red men are one of the few holdovers from communism. In East Germany all traffic men wore hats, and when the wall came down West Berliners wanted them too. Now they can be found in East Berlin, and also on new traffic lights in West Berlin.
Ick bin een Berlina. Da kiekste, wa?!
I love the Berlin dialect. Ok… the rest of Germany might not agree, but they don’t know what’s good anyway. It’s my true first language. I also know how to speak Hochdeutsch (high German), but when I am in Berlin, chatting with good friends or family, there is absolutely no doubt that I was born and raised here.
Berliners are direct
Most often too direct. They relish telling you, when you are wrong, and won’t hide if they don’t like you. On the other hand, you always know where you are with them, which is quite refreshing.
To give you an example, a few days ago little man crashed with his bicycle. His knee and elbow were bleeding, and he was crying miserably. Five people passed us, on foot or bicycles, and all of them offered help. But the sixth only saw a mama holding her child in her arms, standing in the middle of the path. He told me that I was blocking the way… that’s the Berlin mix of “Herz und Schnauze” (heart and big mouth). Some have more Herz, others more Schnauze.
Berlin has a public transport system that works!
Subways, city trains, buses, trams… all interconnected in a dense network crisscrossing the city. But don’t try to tell Berliners, how good their public transport is. They won’t believe you. Instead, they rather stand in traffic jams with their cars, and spend hours in search for a parking space.
Speaking of not having to use a car…
Berlin has over 800 kilometers of bicycle paths, and a lot of people use their bicycles for daily transportation. It’s a wonderful way to see the city, go to places without worrying about high gas prices, and getting a work-out at the same time. If you don’t want to pedal on your own, you can always hire a velotaxi… the video even says that they are exporting the high-tech rickshaws back to Asia… :)
Museums, theaters, operas, art galleries…
we have them all, and the nice thing is that there isn’t just a wide variety of big, state-supported places, but also smaller ones, like off-theaters in cellars and rooftops, music stages in former circus tents, private galleries, and one room museums. It makes for a very lively cultural scene, which no doubt profits from Berlin’s low property prices.
I hear that the night life isn’t bad either…
and doesn’t need to hide behind those of bigger cities, but don’t ask me where to go. Like all people over thirty with small kids, I am so out of it. On the other hand, if you need to know where the best children’s playgrounds are, send me an email.
In hindsight the title for the last post was very well chosen. Please excuse my long absence from blogging.
The older I get, I need more time to recuperate from long distance flights. I don’t know how pilots and flight attendants do it. As we touched down in Berlin, I was thinking that this nineteen-hour trip had shaved off at least six months off my life expectancy.
Nothing special happened, the two flights we were on were just extremely full, and it felt like being in tightly packed sardine cans. I didn’t manage to sleep during the flight. I can sleep in almost every place, busy train stations, hard floors, next to blaring music, but I need to be horizontal, not sitting bold upright in a plane seat with little man across my lap.
On the bright side, not sleeping gave me time to watch three movies. I saw The Lives of Others, which deserves every Oscar it got and even more, Desaccord parfait, a French/ English comedy with Charlotte Rampling which let me laugh out loud so many times, and Because I Said So with Diane Keaton, which was bad, I mean really, really bad.
On the ground in Berlin at Oma and Opa’s place, we immediately started preparations for little man’s fifth birthday. One day before we left Hong Kong, the big birthday bash with 25 of his kindergarten- and playmates took place, but of course we also celebrated on the real date.
Most of the preparations took place in Oma and Opa’s recently upgraded kitchen. The renovation was overdue, because the old one from the sixties could have played the leading role in a Doris Day movie. So now they have the newest in over-engineered German kitchen design, which requires a quick read through the instructions manual for even the most basic tasks. We haven’t yet explored all the possibilities of the new stove and oven, but supposedly it can cook a five-course dinner all by itself!?! You just need to know how to program it. But the drawers are very neat. You only need to give them the slightest nudge with your hand, hip, or butt and they silently roll towards closure, the last quarter inch aided by a magnetic suction mechanism.
I baked a chocolate cake in the new oven, and it developed a hump, which in my oven in Hong Kong it does not. Still tasted good, just decorating it was a challenge. Smarties have the tendency to slide off, when placed on a 45 degree slope covered with couverture.
Little man’s birthday party was a very happy one. I don’t know who had more fun, little man or my parents. We ate good food, tried out all the new toys, and when little man’s uncle joined us the day was declared an overwhelming success. For me it is such a joy to see my parents and my son together. They light up in each others presence.
My birthday was few days after my son’s, so it was a week full of celebration. Little man’s birth five years ago was the most precious gift I have ever received. It’s so nice that our two birthdays are close together.
Since I am traveling tomorrow… oops today… I thought that it fits the theme. Off to bed… see you all in Berlin.
Doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun at home…
My week was busy, busy, busy… but on Friday, after my last meeting for Cosima Inc, I indulged a little and snapped pictures around Tsim Sha Tsui, which is the southern tip of the Kowloon peninsula, and a major shopping and tourist area. I felt a little bit like a tourist too, with my camera around my neck, stopping at sights and taking pictures. I must have looked like one as well. On Nathan Road, touters stopped me every twenty meters, offering “Copy watches? Handbags? Rolex?”, “Tailor, Madam?”, and “Massage?”
The ride from Hong Kong Island to Tsim Sha Tsui with the Star Ferry costs HK$2.20 (US$0.28) on the upper deck and HK$1.70 (US$0.22) on the lower deck, proving that good things don’t need to be expensive. The Star Ferry Pier in the picture was only recently opened. The old pier from the 1920s fell victim to a land reclamation project, which will give Hong Kong Island a new waterfront promenade.
These trees and the little tower in Tsim Sha Tsui were luckier. They are still standing, but the hill that used to be around and under them is gone. I wonder, what is planned for them. Will they become the 3rd floor attraction of a new shopping mall?
The queue in front of Louis Vuitton reminded me of old times in East Germany. Whenever there was a queue in front of a shop, people would first join the line, and then ask the person in front what was on offer, usually something hard to get like bananas or jeans. These folks are probably tourists from Mainland China, wanting to buy a coveted status symbol bag, and the store makes sure that it doesn’t get too crowded inside.
I headed towards Nathan Road, Kowloon’s main thoroughfare. The picture below shows the entrance to famous Chungking Mansions. The lower levels host myriads of little shops, offering cheap clothing, electronics, watches, CDs and DVDs, food, and money changing services. There are also many snack bars with ethnic cuisine. I had a roti, which was delicious. A high proportion of the shops are run by Indians and Pakistanis, while many of the customers come from Africa. They buy in large quantities to resell the items in their home countries.
Chungking Mansions is a one-stop shop, if you have to travel on a shoestring. I saw heavily laden travelers waiting in front of the elevators, to go to one of the many budget guest houses on the upper floors. Accommodation is very basic, many of the rooms don’t even have windows, but the location is convenient and prices are the cheapest in town.
After Chungking Mansions, I went into a big souvenir shop. I tried to resist, but how could I not buy a little cheongsam for my mobile phone :)? It’s a little souvenir to remember the touristy afternoon in my adopted city.
Opposite from Chungking Mansions, Hong Kong’s largest mosque is located, and behind it Kowloon Park, the green lung of the area. There is also a subway station at the same corner, making the crossing a very busy one. When I crossed the road, I stopped on the pedestrian island and took a series of pictures. It was fascinating to observe the rising and falling tide of people through the camera lens.
I headed back south towards the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, and walked along the Avenue of Stars, which is modeled after Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, and boasts a Bruce Lee statue and imprints of Cantonese movie stars.
The waterfront is also the best place to watch the Symphony of Lights, a light and laser show displayed by skyscrapers along the Hong Kong harbor. It takes place every day at 8pm. It was a wonderful finale to my sight-seeing adventure.
Aah, Switzerland… the Alps, numbered bank accounts, cheese, and chocolate. I have visited Switzerland before, on business trips and vacations, but I had never been to Basel, the destination of my latest trip.
I didn’t see the Alps this time. Basel is located at the Rhine River in the northwest of Switzerland, a stone’s throw away from the borders of France and Germany. There are beautiful hills, but no Matterhorn. I didn’t open a numbered bank account either. The small change in my current account can stay where it is.
This only left cheese and chocolate to enjoy, and wonderful lunches at the banks of the Rhine. My ass only expanded a little. I walked it all off during sight-seeing.
My trip consisted of two days of wheelings and dealings for Cosima Inc and one blissful day of exploring Basel.
When I looked for a hotel room on the internet – much too late, I admit – I was only able to find outrageously priced rooms. As Cosima Inc is a start-up company, and its only shareholder/employee/gofer runs a tight budget, the Trois Rois was out of the question… unfortunately. But a call at the Basel tourist office yielded a private room in Dornach, a village just outside of Basel at CHF80 (US$ 66) a night. Private rooms can be a little risky, especially if you haven’t even seen a picture beforehand, but this one turned out to be very nice. I had a huge room with balcony, a bathroom with shower, and even a small kitchen on the upper floor of a house owned by a very nice couple. The only downside was the location of the house, at the outer edge of the village, on top of a hill, far away from the tram and train station. The village bus came every thirty minutes, at night only every hour… I walked quite a lot during my trip.
But my strolls through Dornach were quite interesting. Every morning, I came by the Goetheanum, and other buildings that were slightly out of the ordinary.
The Goetheanum is the the center of the Anthroposophic Society and hosts its offices and a performance theater. The founder and architect was Rudolf Steiner, whose educational and philosophical teachings form the basis for Waldorf education.
Upon seeing it, my first thought was “bunker”. I guess in the 1920s, when the Goetheanum was built, concrete was still seen as a new, exciting building material, valued for its formability. Upon nearer inspection and seeing the sculpted walls inside, I was almost converted to the building’s virtues… almost.
I had the choice between a fifteen-minute train ride or a thirty-minute tram ride to the center of Basel every morning. Basel’s old town, built on the banks and hills above the Rhine, and the promenade along the river are very beautiful.
In the old town, houses often have their name and building date above the entrance. In the older quarters, I saw dates from the 13th to 15th century. In the “newer” neighborhoods the buildings dated from the 18th century.
I also enjoyed crossing the river by ferry. Although there are plenty of bridges, at several points along the river it is possible to get to the other side by taking a small boat. These ferries don’t have motors, but are attached to steel ropes hung across the river, and are propelled by the current alone.
Before coming to Basel, I didn’t know much about the city. It’s not known as Switzerland’s most picturesque spot… it’s hard to compete against romantic villages nestled in the Alps. The city is also infamous as the centre of Switzerland’s pharmaceutical and chemical industry. Novartis, Roche, and other companies have their headquarters here.
In 1986, a chemical warehouse of Sandoz (which is now part of Novartis) burnt down, and the runoff fire-fighter water poisoned the Rhine for hundreds of kilometers. The river seems to be back to its old self, but the incident is still remembered by many, and still tarnishes the city’s image.
Last night, I returned from my not-so-secret mission to Europe. The only 007 aspect of my trip was the six hour lay-over in Moscow.
It takes a special frame of mind to survive stopovers in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport unruffled.
I can take the three-hour-waits in front of the closed transfer counters. I can take Aeroflot’s consistently unfriendly ground staff. I can take the single flight information board, carefully hidden away in a dark corner. I can take the eight Euros for a pot of tea, and the sourly faces and rudeness of the waitresses. I can take the squalid toilets… with tightly, clenched nostrils. I can take the too few chairs that force half of the passengers to sit on stairs or stand around…
But what I can absolutely not take is people rummaging through my checked-in baggage and stealing a bar of exquisite Swiss chocolate…
Just wait! After I have received my gadgets from Q, I will return… be very afraid!
The rest of my trip was lovely though, and I will post pictures of Switzerland after I have taken care of a few pressing things for Cosima Inc. and nursed my son back to health, who has caught a nasty tummy bug.
From Hong Kong with Love,
Cosima :)
She is washing her hands in the female toilets in front of gate 1. She stares into the mirror and sees three things: her smudged mascara, a cleaning lady mopping the dirt from the left side to the right side of the room, and a woman disposing something brown and dirty into a wash basin. Question marks pop up in her head, demanding an answer. She turns around and discovers that the woman is bathing a cactus the size of a human head, trying to get rid of the soil around it. More question marks pop up.
She then goes to gate 3, and queues to board her flight. The woman with the big cactus is there as well, pleading with ground personnel. A woman in a red uniform points to a specific spot on the giant prickly cactus, and says
“See here, Madam? That’s not ok. You need to bathe it again.”
“Will I be allowed to take it onboard afterwards?”
“Yes, Madam!”
The woman takes her cactus and walks back to the toilets.
It seems to be ok to take a spotlessly clean cactus onboard, even if it is the size of a human head and covered with thousands of thorns. Maybe there exists a logical explanation. Maybe.
