Das Ende rueckt naeher...

Hallihallo,

wahrscheinlich einer meiner letzten Eintraege, schnief.
Mein 4-Tages Ausflug nach Ko Phi Phi war nett. Auch wenn Phi Phi sehr sehr touristisch und Hauptklientel eher high-end range ist und somit auch fuer uns budget traveller alle Preise steigen. Hab ein Dorm gefunden, was 20 Betten und nichts ausser Betten enthielt aber dafuer viele interessante und lustige Leute, und man so als grosse Gruppe das Nacht- und Partyleben geniessen konnte. Denn darin war Phi Phi spitze: Strandparties. Gleichzeitig war es ja Vollmond und die beruehmt beruechtigten Full Moon Parties von Ko Pha Ngan sind auch hier her geschwappt, so dass am 14./15.10. die ganz Insel eine einzige riesige Party war.

Einen Tag war ich Tauchen und es war einfach wundervoll! Fuer mich sogar besser als in Ko Tao: farbenpraechtige Korallen, Fische so weit das Auge reicht und mit den Highlights fuer Taucher: Feuerfisch, Skorpionfish, schwarz-weisse Seeschlange (die giftigste der Welt!), Riesenqualle, Moraenen, einen 2m Leoparden-Hai, viele Riff-Haie und zum Schluss eine riesige Schildkroete, die nur unsere 3er Gruppe geniessen konnte und welche uns sie 10 minuten bis zum Auftauchen hat beobachten lassen.
Ich war den ganzen Tag happy :)

Mittlerweile bin ich Phuket, von wo es morgen nach Bangkok geht. Hab 2 volle Tage, um die unzaehligen Highlights und Sehenswuerdigkeiten dieser Megametropole abzuarbeiten... bevor es am 22.10. in den Flieger geht.

Vielen lieben Dank fuer eure lieben Kommentare! Hab mich immer sehr darueber gefreut! Ja und dann, bis ganz Bald in der Heimat!

Koh Tao and Krabi

It's been a while, time to update my blog :)

I've been 6 days in beautiful Koh Tao and I am a licensed diver now, juheee! It was really great even though I never got the perfect sunset, but some nice sky colors anyways. Diving was wonderful, so I spent most of the day in or on the water. 29 degree water temperature makes it very easy.

By now, I am in Krabi... no island but an amazing coast scenery: numerous limestones in the sea creating a spectacular view and stunning beaches. I met 2 Danish girls, I am also sharing a room with, and we booked a tour around these small islands and enjoyed some time on the white soft sand and in the blue water with lots of fish.



Unfortunately, I can count my days left before heading back to Germany (even though I look foward to be home again as well). In my last 1 1/2 weeks I plan to go to Ko Phi Phi for a couple of days, then a day in Phuket and as a shocking ending - huge city Bangkok where I'll try not to get lost...

3 Day Trekking Tour Northern Thailand

Grad zurueck von meiner fantastischen Trekking-Tour, hier die ersten Bilder.
Ein wunderschoenes Erlebnis - Baden und Waschen der Elefanten. Da wir in einem Dorf uebernachtet haben, wo morgens die Elefanten fuer die Trekkingtouren fertig gemacht werden, durften wir (bzw. diejenigen die gewillt waren auf ihr Fruehstueck zu verzichten, sprich 2) mit den Elefanten ins Wasser und ganz nah ran und drauf. Was fuer spezielle Momente mit diesen sanften Riesen, und mein persoenlicher Favorit der Tour.

My Last Country: Thailand

Hey guys!

Yesterday I arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand! I have 24 days left and tried to plan my route. I don't have figured out everything yet, but I've come quite far - I will do a 3-day-trekking tour up in the north starting tomorrow, then head a bit south to visit the ruins of Sukhothai, hopefully catching a night bus to Bangkok (again...). I also booked my flight from Bangkok to Surat Thani on 4th october to finally do my island hopping and diving (Ko Tao, Ko Pha-Ngan and Ko Samui). Maybe a week later or so I catch a bus tp Phuket and try to find out what's all about this legendary holiday spot and to do some more island hopping (Ko Phi Phi and Similan Islands) before I head back to Bangkok on the 19th october and finally after being to the airport so often, do some exploring of this city itself. And on 22nd october I have to leave...

So now it's noon and I will use the rest of the day to do some wat sightseeing in Chiang Mai (some 300 temples to see here...) and stroll around the famous Sunday Market. Tomorrow I booked a 3 day tour to trek in the mountains up in the north of Thailand, visit 3 hill tribes and spending 2 nights in their villages, do white water rafting and bamboo rafting and yippiie, and last but not least an elephant ride through the jungle. So after purring rain in Bangkok yesterday, the weather is as perfect as it can be here with 30 degree and sunshine.

:)

Hanoi, Vietnam

This is our last day in Hanoi and my last entry from Vietnam. We arrived in Hanoi 3 days ago and planned to do a 3 day/2night boat trip in the Halong Bay. Unfortunately we are not lucky in Vietnam. After recovering in Nha Trang and skipping Hoi Anh and Hue we only wanted to see this world heritage. However, due to a typhoon hitting the coast all boat tours are cancelled until the 27th of September - the day of our flight out...
Besides that, it is horrible how many fake and copied tour agents there are - having the same name and color of the signs and offering the same packages for half the money and telling you only the best. The worst thing - they even wanna talk you in buying their tour even when officially there is no boat allowed in the bay these days. (So it was easy to identify all fakes... but what if there is good weather?) All the guide books are warning you of the fakes, and still you can see lots of tourists inside...
So no tour for us. It's heartbreaking.
We have had some very rainy days here and a sick Holger with an otitis externa. Hanoi is actually really nice. We stayed mainly only in the old quarter with lots of shops, cafes, food stalls, markets and French influenced architecture. And because of the bad weather there are not that many tourists and mototaxis around, so the usually crowded loud streets calmed down a bit. So we wander from cafe to cafe, did a bit of bargaining and try to get the best out of the last days,...

One thing you can find in all the countries we've been so far is that the fastest and cheapest and the most local way to get around is by motorbike and a constant honking (i wonder why they don't just build in a button to turn off the honk!) and driving just insane! But after getting a ride here and there it is a really cool and fun way to get around - I won't miss this constant noise of pressing the honk 20cm next to you, but I WANT A MOTORBIKE!!!! :)
Well, and since the bike is really a thing to have here, it deserves a special place :) like in the middle of the living room! yes, that's right. in vietnam the houses start usually with a tiny vendor space and right behind is the living room where everybody can have a look inside... and in the middle right next to the table or couch is the perfect spot for your vehicle.

Vietnam is a great place and there is still so much left to see, so we've already decided that we definetely have to come back!!!

So tomorrow I head to Chiang Mai, Thailand to trek a bit in the jungle before I start the island hopping.

Vietnamese Cooking Class

Oh what fun and how delicious!!!
we've been in Nha Trang for 8 days now, Holger completed his diving course and is now a licenced PADI diver while I had to quit my course due to my health. I hope to complete it in Thailand.
So yesterday we went out with the boat to the nearby islands - Holger dived and I snorkeled. It was a beautiful spot with great corals, fish and other marine life. Today Holger dived again :( while I had a great half day of beach and blue water and treated myself to a sunlounger and a parasol in the first row.
In the afternoon we took a Vietnamese cooking class. It was an awesome experience and the 3 dishes we cooked were sooo yummy! Three easy and very typical Vietnamese dishes really worth trying at home: 1. Spring Rolls, 2. Stewed Fish in Clay Pot and 3. Spicy Lemongrass Chicken

1. Spring Rolls
Ingredients:
- 50g minced pork (or other meat)
- small amount Vermicelli (glass noodles)
- 50g black mushrooms
- 50g grated carrot
- 1/2 onion
- 1 or 2 spring onion
- 1 egg yolk, keep the egg white
- 8 rice paper sheets
- 1 lime
- fish sauce, ground garlic, sugar, pepper, salt, oil, Vietnamese basil and some lettuce

Always taste rice paper before using (salt)! Dice onion and carrot finely. Chop the spring onion. Soak vermicelli in water for 10 minutes. Rinse, drain and cut into small pieces. Soak the mushroom in warm water for 10 minutes, then wash them thoroughly, remove the stems and chop finely. Mix all ingredients together with 1 egg yolk and 2 pinches of pepper, 2 pinches of bullion and 1 pinch of salt. Spread each rice paper out. Place 1 table spoon of the stuffing at the base of each sheet, roll it tight. Fry the rolls in hot oil (rolls need to be covered halfway in oil) until they get a nice golden brown color.

Dipping Sauce
Mix 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar and 1-2 limes. Add 1 Tbsp fish sauce, 1 1/2 Tbsp boiling water, 1 Tbsp chopped garlic, and the preferred amount of chopped chili (about 1 Tbsp).

To enjoy your appetizer for 2 persons, just wrap your roll in lettuce and Vietnamese basil and dip in the sauce :)


2. Stewed Fish and Pork in Clay Pot
Ingredients:
- 100g fish filet
- 50g meat (pork etc.)
- spring onion
- roasted onions
- lemon grass
- 1 big fresh chili
- fish sauce, sugar, pepper, salt, caramel, oil, bullion

Marinate the fish and/or pork with 2 Tbsp fish sauce, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp caramel (you can do it yourself - just melt some sugar in a pan), chopped spring onions, 1/2 tsp bullion, 2 Tbsp roasted onions.
Heat the clay pot over medium heat, add a bit of cooking oil. Cook the fish/pork in the clay pot until slightly cooked on all sides, then add water to cover the fish/pork. Cover the pot and allow to boil, then reduce the heat. Continue cooking over a low heat until most of the liquid is gone and the fish/pork are golden.
Leave in the clay pot and garnish with spring onions and fresh chili. Serve with steamed rice and some sliced cucumber.


3. Spicy Lemongrass Chicken
Ingredients:
- 150g chicken (highly recommended also with thinly sliced beef!!!)
- shaved lemongrass root
- fresh chili
- 1/2 onion
- curry powder
- sate tom sauce
- caramel, fish sauce, garlic, pepper, salt, sugar, spring onion, water, bullion, ginger if you like

Slice the chicken into bit size pieces, cut the onion into strips, shave the lemongrass roots. Heat a frying pan over medium heat, add some cooking oil. Turn heat off and add garlic, ginger, lemongrass, sate and chili quickly and stir. Then add the chicken and cook quickly! Add about half a rice bowl of water, 1 tsp curry powder, 1 Tbsp fish sauce, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1/2 Tbsp bullion, salt and pepper to your taste. Finally add the onion for about another minute. Enjoy with steamed rice.

You can cook all dishes within 1 hour, I guess. But since we ate it as soon as we cooked it and took some breaks we lost track of time :) Vietnames Cuisine is really amazing and you'll love the taste of the food because of their spices.

We ended our stay in Nha Trang with a very nice day program and now head to Hanoi by plane to visit the famous Halong Bay.

Bali Pics

Bilder hochladen im Internetcafe ist hier nicht so empfehlenswert. Vielleicht lande ich mal wieder in einem kleinen suessen Hotel, wo ich mich traue meine Fotos anzustoepseln. Aber dafuer hier ein paar nette Bilder aus Bali, geschossen von Arnold, den wir auf unserer Tour getroffen haben.


Besuch einer traditionellen Batikmanufaktur (und doch eher ziehmlich fuer Touris...)

Blick auf eines der Reisfelder in Zentralbali

Blick auf Bali's Vulkan Mt. Batur und Vulkansee

Update ueber meinen Gesundheitszustand

Ich bin auf dem Weg der Genesung...
Die Fieber-Tage sind Gott sei Dank hinter mir und nach mehreren Antibiotika bin ich wieder unter den Lebenden. Nach Saigon und der positiven Nachricht: No Dengue and No Malaria, dachte ich mir dann geht das Fieber sicher schon wieder weg. Der Arzt hat mich zwar auf meine massiv erhoehten Entzuendungsparameter hingewiesen und mir Antibiotika verordnet, aber mit Ibuprofen, Paracetamol und Berlosin bin ich ganz gut hingekommen und fand die 11 Stunden Nachbusfahrt nach Nha Trang als Einzige etwas erholsam...
Dafuer erschlug es mich dann am Morgen in Nha Trang. Ab da sollte ich fuer 3 Tage wirklich lahmgelegt sein. Das Fieber stieg auf knapp 40 Grad und es ging einfach nicht mehr zu senken. Nackensteife und Kopfschmerzen taten den Rest. Dazu kam noch Bauchkraempfe und waessriger Durchfall, wo ich nicht mal den einfachsten Schluck Wasser drin behielt. Holger hat mich am 2. Tag erneut ins Krankenhaus geschleppt, was fuer mich eine koerperliche Qual war (wenn ich gekonnt haette, ich war gewillt jeden einzelnen Huper fuer sein daemliches auf die Hupe druecken eigenhaendig zu bestrafen!). Ansonsten hab ich von den letzten Tagen nicht viel mitbekommen, die anscheinend sehr schoene Stadt muss ich erst noch erkunden und das Hotelbett kann ich auch nicht mehr sehen. Gestern wurde ich hoechstpersoenlich vom Hotelchef (welchen ich noch nie zuvor gesehen hatte) begruesst mit "ach wie schoen, es geht ihnen besser!" :)
Mit mir war nix anzufangen, und Holger hat sich um mich und auch alles andere gekuemmert. Bin wirklich froh gerade in der Situation nicht allein gewesen zu sein.

Mittlerweile ist das Fieber weg, mein Magen-Darm-Trakt stabilisiert sich - aber meinen Tauchschein kann ich noch nicht machen wie geplant. Jetzt kam noch Schnupfen dazu, sodass meine Ohren zu sind und ich nicht in die Tiefe tauchen kann... Holger ist morgen fertig und ein lizensierter Taucher :)

Lieber Gruss

Mekong Delta & Chau Doc, Vietnam

We made it ... a beautiful and relaxed border crossing from Cambodia to Vietnam on the Mekong. We booked a 3-day tour via boat and bus to discover the Mekong delta.

Vietnam is great!!! Our first impressions of this country are as perfect as they can be. The river cruise was lovely - nice weather and amazing people - kids and adults waving from the land or boats and shouting greetings and always smiling for the camera. In the Mekong delta the people live different lives. It is almost like centuries ago - duck farms, fishing, rice fields and water buffalo, wood houses on stilts and rowing boats, but with the most charming people.
The river provides everything - the things for living and daily needs - water for washing clothes or dishes and the water for body hygiene (brushing teeth or washing hair etc.). Of course the river is very dirty, and imagining us drinking it is impossible, but the Mekong people are used to it and are totally fine with using it just like our tab water.

Chau Doc, the first Vietnamese city after the border, turned out to be the cutest big city we've been to. It has 100.000 inhabitants, but still the charm of a small town, tourists are still very exotic and everywhere you are starred at very obviously and kids are waving and shouting and running after you. But the most positive thing for us - you could walk down the market and enjoy these strange things they sell without any annoying touting and you still pay the local price for local things. Our dinner was 10.000 Dong (0,5 Euro) for Pho, a fresh cooked beef & noodle soup with vegetables, and our fresh sugar cane juice was 3.000 Dong (0,15 Euro). The people are very friendly and they try to practice their few English words like "Hello", "How are you?" or "Happy New Year", but don't expect an answer - they haven't learned that yet :) So if you want to know how much it costs, they just show you the banknote with an adoring smile!
We had a sweet tour guide - a Vietnames woman from Chau Doc. She asked us if we would volunteer in a school to practise English conversation with 2 classes. So we spontanously agreed and it was such an amazing experience. Our first lesson was with the small ones (6-11 years) and after a shy beginning we didn't know whom to answer first their questions like "How tall are you?", "How is your home like?", "What are your hobbies?", "When do you get up?" and so on. But the question they enjoyed the most was "What is your telephone number?" with everyone writing my long answer in their exercise books ;). Our second class was actually more of a conversation and they constantly reassured me how highly regarded doctors are in Vietnam and were eager to find out everything about living and studying in Germany. So that's what we did last night - meeting these locals and having a really good time with them.

Tonight we stay in Can Tho, another big city right at the Mekong. Tomorrow is the last day of our tour starting with the floating markets and finishing in Saigon/ Ho Chi Minh City. There we'll stay maybe another day and try to catch an open bus heading north, where you can hop on and off as much as you like on your way to Hanoi. So since our days together are count (Holger leaves 27th or 28th of September to Singapore), we try to have some interesting but also relaxing days in Vietnam.

Poverty, Tourism and its Consequences

Cambodia is war and terror-torn, with a lack of education, worker-skills and infrastructure and poverty all over the country. The Khmer Rouge regime killed almost all of their own intellectual people, and destroyed schools and infrastructure - so there is the need to build houses but there is no one left who is able because there is a lack of engineers and architects. This is only one example.
Begging is a big problem in Cambodia, and unfortunately begging or selling little things to tourists brings in more money than going to school to get an education. So there are lots of children begging you to buy things, and they are really good in making you feel bad when not buying anything. So far we could resist, and only bought some postcards from one little girl in the temples, because we know we don't help them in the long-term by buying things from them.
Since Cambodia has a long and tragic history of killing, more than half of the population is below 27 years of age. On the street you can see a lot of homeless (?) women with kids begging for money, and at the museum of the genocide there are victims of war with burned faces or lost legs coming up to you begging for money. So they give you a hard and exhausting time here, and learning about the country makes you feel bad and appreciate what you have at the same time.
There are lot of organizations and projects offering long term help and support services that help kids and people in need to have a better future. For example cooking schools where restaurants train street kids for free to give them a qualification, or a kids hospital run by donations and volunteer work or renting bikes with all profit for building houses, projects for producing prosthetics for mine-injured people, non-profit organizations for orphans, etc.
You are advised not to give money directly to children or street sales people, but rather to a charity project as an effective alternative. They produce clearly labelled products for a slightly higher price, but they ensure safe and humane working conditions and are made by parents, so that children can go back to school, or by disabled people and former street kids in training so that they can find employment.

Great Angkor

Yesterday we visited the Temples of Angkor, with the famous Angkor Wat. We got up at 4 AM to get a view of the temples in a nice sunrise light, however the weather was not quite on our side. So we did our impressive temple tour until around 4 PM when it started to rain... yes, unfortunately it is rain season, so we did not get a good sunset either.
Anyways, it was a great day and it is just amazing what mankind built a thousand years ago.

First impressions of Cambodia

It is our second day now in Cambodia and so far we've only been in Phnom Penh. We arrived yesterday late afternoon, and since it gets dark around 6.30 ~ 7.00 PM in South East Asia, there is not much to look at in the evening. And we didn't want to take the risk and do too much here because it is safe by day, but not advised to walk around by night, or even to carry bags because robbery is still a problem. Today we did all the sightseeing around the city, most of it by the numerous motos (tuk tuks), offering a lift literally everywhere along the way. But it is the most adventurous, easiest, cheapest (but you still have to bargain hard) and fun way to get around town. Phnom Penh is very different from all the big cities we've seen so far - dirty, stinky, dusty!, loud, crowded - but with its own charm and all the noise and dirt is easy to take :) The people still try to sell you things, but not that aggressive and they are very friendly, helpful and always have a smile for you. Cambodia has a very dark and brutal history of decades of war followed by a genocide era of the Khmer Rouge regime. Today we visited the killing field with the mass graves and the Tuol Sleng Museum, the largest prison of torture and unthinkable horrors wich happened there. All this knowledge gives us a better understanding why Cambodia is at this point of development where it is and also raises the admiration for its still optimistic people.

Tomorrow we head to Siem Reap to visit the world famous Angkor Wat and Temples before...

Bali

A big hello from Phnom Penh, Cambodia! Yesterday we arrived in Phnom Penh after quite a long journey from Bali via Jakarta and an overnight stay in Bangkok. Everything went fine except the many airport taxes (100.000 Rp in Jakarta ~ 8 Euro for just a short stop) and a very turbulence-rich flight to Bangkok through a thunderstorm and lightning closer than I have ever experienced. I was very very happy to land safely on Thai ground.

Just a short summary of our week in Bali. Well, Indonesia has a very special mentality of dealing with tourists, and it is not one I like. They always try to rip you off, overcharge, make up prices however they feel and are very aggressive trying to sell you things. And the sentence I probably heard the most was "Yes, transport?" or a variation of that: "Yes, taxi?". It seemed like everybody loitering around and owning a moped or car decided to offer you a ride as soon as he spotted you. Sometimes Holger was really pissed off not being able to walk a few steps without answering in a polite way 'no thanks.' But by the end of our stay we could handle it quite well and ended up rather taking it with humour and joking with them.

But Bali was, off course, more than just annoying tourist traps. It is really a beautiful island with great weather and landscapes. Its culture is displayed everywhere. Even in the most crowded of tourist shop alleys in Kuta you could see the offerings (sesajen) displaying their religious roots. There are family temples and statues everywhere along the streets. People that do not profit from you are very friendly. The temples are very pretty and located in scenic spots like the Uluwatu Temple, a stunning clifftop temple with a great sunset view and Tanah Lot, placed on a little island which you can only reach during low tide. Most of the time we stayed in Kuta and taking trips to the different places. Kuta is the most heavily developed place and its gangs are so narrow! Most of the times the alleys close to the beach are oneway streets stuffed with shops, tourists and mopeds and sometimes insane car drivers trying to move their vehicle through a much too tiny street. But the most funny thing, we could frequently watch, was how a narrow one way street turns into a two way street by all these mopeds ignoring the the sign and transforming a pavement - with pedestrians still on it - into the missing lane :)
After many frustrating tries to book an online flight to Jakarta, we ended up booking a flight through an agency. And while waiting for Holger, who went to a different office once across town by moped to pay with credit card (you should have seen his more than happy and joyous face about that little moped ride!)I got into a nice talk with the travel agent and ended up booking 2 individual one-day tours for a very good price. After a full 2 day cultural program, lots of picture-posing but thievish monkeys and a final lunch with an amazing view over the volcano Mt.Batur and Lake Batur, we were lucky to get dropped of in Ubud - a cute art and craft town in central Bali. Ubud has a very lively and cramped 2 story market and nice cafes to chill and to enjoy the flair. While looking for budget accomodation we ended up in a very cheap and familiar tiny place with just 2 huts (and some unidentified roommates under the roof) right next to the family temple and breakfast served right on our front porch by a very charming owner.
Back in Kuta, the surfer place and center of party culture, we could not miss taking a beginner surfing lesson. That was really cool and one of the highlights in Bali. It is so much fun! Had our visa not been limited to 7 days and had we not booked flights, we would just have stayed there and surfed for the next weeks :) After some nights in Kuta, we even found our favorite restaurant and I became a beef lover with my favorite dish being the Daging Rendang - sliced beef in peanut sauce and rice.

Information ueber weitere Reiseroute

Wir sind heute nochmal ins Internet und Dank Holgers Ma sind wir intensiver auf die Unruhen in Bangkok aufmerksam geworden. Wir haben uns informiert und entschieden trotzdem alle unsere Fluege anzutreten.
Somit geht es morgen von Bali nach Jakarta (Lion Air), dann Jakarta - Bangkok, Flugnummer QZ7716 (Air Asia), und am Samstag dann hoffentlich Bangkok - Phnom Penh, Flugnummer FD3616 (Air Asia).

Wir werden die Orte der Demonstrationen meiden oder gar nicht erst in die Stadt reinfahren. Wo wir unsere Nacht verbringen entscheiden wir vor Ort, aber wir nehmen die sicherste Option und wenns sein muss ein Airport-Hotel.

Inwieweit Kambodscha Internet hat muss sich erst noch herausstellen ;). Dann gibt es einen ausfuehrlichen Bali-Bericht. Uns geht es gut, Bali ist toll und wir sind unter die Surfer gegangen.

Lieber Gruss!!!

Everything has to end - last day in Singapore

Heute ist Freitag, unser letzter Tag in Singapore und auch unser letzter Famulaturtag. Netterweise koennen wir diesen Tag aber nutzen fuer diverse Wege wie grosses Postpaket nach Deutschland schicken, 2 Rucksaecke zu einem zusammenlegen, Gepaeck bei einem Freund unterstellen und nochmal unsere Gruppe an Famulanten treffen.
Das war wohl das Beste an der Famulatur - die Leute, die man getroffen hat. Auch wenn es in der Mehrzahl Deutsche und Oesterreicher waren - es war eine super Mischung und dadurch war immer volles Programm angesagt. Leerlauf gabs somit nicht, was auch ganz schoen anstrengend werden kann, um so mehr man ins Schlafdefizit kommt ;) Mit einer Sim-Karte und Handy ausgeruestet konnte man Gross-Singapore glatt einen familiaeren Touch verleihen. Auf jeden Fall ein herzliches Aufwiedersehen in Deutschland oder Oesterreich oder natuerlich auf der Insel zu Anne & Sebastian, Tobi, Dirk & Matthias, Michael, Susan, Brigit, Niece, Anh und Kathrin!

Wahnsinn wie schnell 4 Wochen rumgingen. Kaum zu glauben, dass ich einen Monat in Singapore war. Und es war wirklich schoen! Noch etwas mehr und man faengt an heimisch zu werden. Mittlerweile geh ich schon geziehlt meinen Essenswuenschen nach, kenne meine Buslinien in die Stadt und und lauf ganz selbstbewusst ohne entlarvenden Stadtplan die Strassen entlang :)
Wir machen uns heute mit der letzten Bahn auf zum etwas ausserhalb gelegenen Flughafen, um morgen frueh 6.20 nach Bali zu starten. Es koennte eventuell sein, dass ich in der naechsten Zeit nicht so oft ins Inernet komme, daher wenigstens die Plaene unserer weiteren Reise. Unsere grobe Route ist momentan: ca. 1 Woche Bali, dann nach Bangkok oder Phnom Penh fliegen und per Land- oder Wasserweg nach Vietnam, um dort ca. 2 Wochen Zeit zu haben. Holger muss Ende September wieder nach Singapore und dann heissts Bye Bye Asien, ich hab dann noch 3 Wochen Zeit Thailand zu erkunden.

Freu mich natuerlich trotzdem immer ueber alle Nachrichten!!! Viele liebe Gruesse aus Singapore! Und fuer diejenigen, die wieder anfangen, einen gelungenen Semesterstart!

Today's Topic: Forest of Signs and Singapore

Wie oft ich hier schon ueber Schilder geschmunzelt habe, hab ich zwar nicht gezaehlt, aber es passiert eigentlich taeglich. Singapore beeindruckt gar nicht so durch seine Verkehrswarnschilder auf der Strasse, eher durch die zahlreichen Verhaltenshinweise in Bussen, MRT, auf Muelleimern, in den Hawkern oder einfach mitten in der Stadt auf aufgehaengten Plakaten. Das geht von einfachen Verboten wie "No Littering" oder dezenten Ins-Gewissen-Sprechen "Please use the seatbelt for your own safety to prevent serious injuries", um dann fuer die noch nicht Ueberzeugten noch den Satz "prohibited by LAW" anzufuegen. Singapore wird dem Ruf 'a fine city' irgendwie schon sehr gerecht - von ueberall wird man freundlich erinnert: "No smoking - Fine $1000", "No littering - Fine $1000", "No Eating and Drinking (in the MRT) - Fine $500", "No Durians!", "No (bike) riding - Fine $1000", "No flammable goods - Fine $5000".

Aber Singapore benutzt nicht nur Strafen, um seine Bevoelkerung auf den rechten Weg zu bringen! Es wimmelt hier auch nur so von Propagandaplakaten und Appellen. Vom "Singapore Spirit", "We are Singapore", "When going out - use the right protection: sunscreen" bis zu den (persoenlich auch fuer gut befunden) aufgestellten Schriften vor den Wohnvierteln "Let's keep our town clean!".
Einer meiner Favoriten ist, der Aufkleber in Bus und Bahn, in Anlehung an die bei uns bekannten Comics 'Liebe ist...': "Courtesy is ... giving the seat to someone who needs it more' und dann ein Bildchen von einem alten Mann mit Stock und einer schwangeren Frau mit Kind an der Hand :)
Letztendlich muss man Singapore auch mal zu Gute halten, dass sie mit ihren ganzen Verboten es geschafft haben Malaria auszurotten und fleissig am Dengue-Fever arbeiten, da stehendes Wasser wie z.B. in Blumentoepfen ebenfalls streng verboten ist und mit hohen Strafen geahndet wird. Und wohl aufgrund der Strafen und vielen Verhaltenshinweisen, halten sich auch Jugendliche daran ihren Muell in den Muelleimer zu werfen und nutzen die oeffentlichen Plaetze ohne sie zu zerstoeren. Es ist fasst so, als haben die Singaporianer den Wert und den Sinn verstanden, ihre Insel schoen zu erhalten und das durch alle Altersschichten hindurch und tun dies mit Stolz statt aus Zwang.

Bintan, Indonesia

It was the last weekend of our stay in Singapore and we decided to have a relaxing time on the beach on this beautiful island close to Singapore. It turned out to be totally different to our expectations. Though it was a fun weekend with our group of 5 Germans, 1 Austrian and 1 British! Indonesia is pure contrast to clean and regular Singapore.

Hello Indonesia

We finally decided on our next destination after completing the clinical elective next Friday. Today we booked our flight to Bali on 30th August. Cheapest one we could find was LionAir. Yes, we know it is on the Black List of Banned Airlines in Europe, but we decided to give it a try. So, we end up visiting Indonesia and might skip Malaysia instead.

If we manage to organize a trip for a bunch of students, we will go to Bintan, a little island belonging to Indonesia but easily reached by ferry from Singapore within an hour, on the upcoming weekend.

My New Favorits

1 Euro is about 2 Singapore Dollar

Drinks:
• Fresh Mango Lassi, often iceblended (S$ 3,00)
• Fresh Watermelon Juice
• Fresh Orange-Carrot Juice
• Fresh Lime Juice
• Fresh Sugarcane Juice (all S$ 1,50)
• Apple Juice with Aloe-Pieces (S$ 2,20/1l)
• Blueberry lemonade with starch bubbles (S$ 1,50)
• Milo Dinosaur (S$ 3,00)

Food:
• Chicken Rice (S$ 3,50)
• Char Sew Pau (S$ 0,60 – 1,00)
• Char Sew Rice (S$ 2,50 – 3,00)
• Rice with dark duck sauce (S$ 0,70)

• Fried Dumplings (S$ 8,00)

• Bean sprouts (S$ 0,70)
• Bee Hoon (Noodles) usually with vegetables or meat
• Mee Pok (without the fish and tofu) (S$ 3,00)
• Satay Chicken (S$ 0,50 per piece)
• Ketupat (Rice Cake) (S$ 0,50)

• Carrot Cake (no carrots!)

• Sweet & Sour Fish (S$ 2,00)
• Bahkwa ( a thin squared slice of pork roasted in a special honey sauce)
• Rice Porridge / Congee (S$ 3,00)
• Plain Prata with curry sauce (S$ 0,80)
• Banana Prata (S$ 2,00)
• Naan (S$ 1,00)
• Chicken Briyani (safran rice on banana leave and chicken) ((S$ 5,00)
• Murtabak Chicken (Prata with Chicken filling) (S$ 5,00 – 6,00)
• Dhall (cooked lentils in thick yellow sauce) (S$ 2,00)
• Popiah (S$ 1,70 – 2,00)

...to be continued...

Things I've tried

Very tasty north Indian food - rice, lentils and chicken.

Local cook BBQing assorted Satay Sticks (chicken, pork, beef, mutton).

Chicken Congee, savoury rice porridge, and Siew Mai with a meat filling.

Ice Kachang - crushed ice with syrup in rose and other artificial tastes and durian topping, and as a surprise you find kidney beans, corn and atap seeds and jelly cubes under the ice tower.

Famous durians - very smelly but sweet fruit.

Today's Topic: Food and Singapore

Singapore’s variety on dishes is just as numerous as its cultural background. It is a hotspot for Chinese, Malay and Indian food. And the best thing about it – it is cheap and so tasty, just like you are in the country itself!
The first thing you have to know about Singapore is: nobody cooks itself! Because it is so cheap to go out and grab some food, it would not be worth it doing it yourself. Even if you get something different everyday, it would take forever to make the round. And cooking all these dishes would be too complex and extensive – it will be very hard to be as good as what you get on the street. Though the consequence is, you hardly find someone (academic) who actually can cook. Not even a morning egg. But because here a morning egg barely sees any hot water… you eat it rather raw poured into a bowl ;)
The second thing you have to know about food in Singapore is the place where to get it! The best places are the hawkers (open halls with only fans) and food stalls (halls with aircon). Of course there are tons of them in Singapore and you’ll soon find your favorite ones. But for all you can be sure that the food you get there is cheap, fresh cooked and delicious. Please do not expect an nice neat restaurant with dimmed light and a waiter, it is rather crowded and it happens frequently that you share your installed table with total strangers. But be sure, they are usually locals!
I like the Maxwell Food Centre and the hawker in People’s Plaza, both located in Chinatown having all the typical Chinese dishes. It is nothing compared to the menue we know from German Chinese restaurants. It is so much more, more than you actually would have thought of… chicken feet, fishball soup, bean sprout salad, chicken in all imaginary pieces, sea food, minced noodles, fish heads, innards, new kinds of vegetables, fresh juices with strange flavors, great spices and the best rice I ever had! There something for everyone. You have to love it.
In the business district and in Vivo City, an awarded shopping center, you can find some fancy food courts. A very nice and pretty hawker I can recommend is Lau Pa Sat Festival Market, which is constructed only out of iron, imported from Glasgow about a hundred years ago, and usually is crowded by business men around lunch time. For eating right under the clear sky try Newton Food Centre. Since they are not in Chinatown, you can find all different kind of food – Chinese, Malay, Indian and even some Burgers (for I don’t know who ).
All these food places have in common that you find round tables and usually 6 chairs around them all being fixed on the ground in the middle of the place. Surrounding the tables you find many little kitchen shops selling and cooking different kind of food and drinks. You leave your used plates and glasses on the table, there are workers to pick everything up. A nice detail and orientation is a blue DIN-A4 paper being displayed in every shop, letting the consumer know about the status of cleanliness. An A means the highest possible standard, but you can easily buy food until a C. Most hawker stalls have an A or a B, so it is rather safe to eat in those places. So, there's nothing in the way for a great food experience!
Going out to have good Indian food is just a bit different. The best place to go is, of course, Little India. There you don’t have hawkers, it is similar to restaurants. You have one kitchen/counter, where you usually can choose your food by picking it right off the counter and then you sit down on plastic chairs, and depending on how full it is, it happens that you share your table with a local. But to mention it, who were so far all very very friendly and interested. Little India never sleeps, so if you go there by 11 pm, the streets and food places are full of Indians. You should pick a place with lots of locals in it! The less glass the more local. The food there is generally good, but it’s best in the bit shabby looking places. And of course, also the cheapest. Don’t think, “oh, there are many tourists in, it must be good!” in little India they start to make their place more attractive to the tourists by putting in glass in the windows, having nice chairs and offering aircon (what of course makes it very comfortable). But the prices go up as well (still cheap though) and cooking becomes second placed. If you don’t find a menue, that’s a good sign ;). So far we’ve tried 4 or 5 different places and all were superb. Just pick one of these many along the streets and you won’t get disappointed.
One last place I would like to introduce is the seafood centre at the East Coast Park. Here you can go out in fancy and a bit pricier restaurants along the beach getting the best seafood of Singapore. There, Holger ordered the popular Pepper Crab, prawns and sweet & sour fish and I really liked it – me having almost no experience in seafood. The best place to make your first steps ;).

So far no fast food yet, hurray! Only a Sunday at Mac Donalds when Holger needs to use the bathroom. However prices are cheaper here. A Sunday for 75 cents and a meal for 3 Euro. Starbucks is really nice if you want a place to chill and something to cool down. A large frappuccino for about 3,70 euro.

First Experiences on the Ward

Stationsunterricht ist definitiv was anderes, aber das heute kam dem am naechsten von dem was ich bisher hatte. War heute auf meiner ersten Visite auf anscheinend mehreren Stationen, oder war es eine auf mehreren Etagen? Es war definitiv spannend, aber eher weil alles so anders ist anstatt des Fachlichen. Weil das hab ich mit all den Abkuerzungen, die hier die Alltagssprache beherrschen, so gut wie nicht verstanden. Bei all den STO, TDI, TCU, PCR, M usw. war ich froh, wenn ich die Hauptdiagnose mitbekommen habe... mit Pankreatitis, Oesophagus-Ca und Adhaesions kann ich dann doch schon mehr anfangen. Aber selbst wenn ganz normal gesprochen wird, und mir meine Fragen beantwortet werden, versteh ich nur die Haelfte, denn hier ist es Singlish und kein English. Ingsamt geht alles ziehmlich schnell, letztendlich kennen die Aerzte die Patienten ja auch schon, und stellen uns ihn nicht erst noch vor ;). Immerhin kannte ich dann doch schon einige und deren Geschichte aus dem Op und so war es nett zu sehen, wie sie sich so machen.
Die Stationen sind auf den ersten Blick sehr aehnlich wie bei uns aufgebaut, man erkennt die Krankenhausstruktur sofort. Allerdings sind die Patientenzimmer sehr unterschiedlich. Die General Surgery Station besteht aus vielen Zimmern mit mindestens 6 Betten oder ein grosses Zimmer mit 10 Betten. Die Betten ansich haben Vorhaenge, die einmal herum gezogen werden koennen. Bei Visite und koerperlicher Untersuchung wird dies immer getan. Es gibt auch keine Toiletten fuer die Zimmer, sondern nur Gemeinschaftsbaeder auf dem Gang. Wie das nicht so fuss-fitte Patienten handhaben, hab ich noch nicht rausgefunden. Ein Arztzimmer gibt es auch nicht wirklich, es ist eher eine offene Nische auf dem Gang. Apropos Gang - da wuseln soooo viele Aerzte rum, so dass es erst mal gedauert hat sein Team zu finden. Die sogenannten vielzaehligen House Officers machen taeglich eine Art praevisite. Auf der Station arbeiten alle Teams 1 bis 6, jedoch hat jedes Team seine eigenen Patienten, die es behandelt. Verglichen zu Deutschland gibt es auch viel mehr Schwestern pro Patient. Manchmal hab ich den Eindruck das SGH ist hier und da noch etwas veraltet und dann gibt es wiederum soviel modernes. In jedem Patientenzimmer steht ein PC mit Flatscreen, wo jederzeit die Befunde und Bildgebung abgerufen werden kann, was bei der Visite wirklich praktisch war. Jeder Patient hat zugeordnetes Pflegepersonal, was auch an der Tuer mit Namensschildchen deutlich sichtbar ist. Singapore hat ebenso viele Sprachen wie Ethnitaeten. Daher waren es heute nicht nur die Abkuerzungen, die mir bei den Arzt-Unter-Sich-Gespraechen, das Leben schwer machten, sondern auch die Arzt-Patienten-Kommunikation, welche je nach Patient auf Chinesisch - Mandarin oder Kantonese, Malay oder Tamil, und ab und zu Englisch ;) stattfand. Beeindruckender Weise hatte wir in unserem 6er Gespann auch immer mindestens einen, der sich verstaendigen konnte. Gerade die aeltere Bevoelkerung (70% Chinesen in Singapore) spricht fast nur Chinesisch und kein Englisch. Aber ein wirklich nettes Detail ist dafuer die grosse Plakette ueber dem Patienten-Bett. Da findet man jeweils den Namen des Patienten, den behandelnden Arzt, die Sprache des Patienten, Art und Weise der Nahrungszufuhr und gegebenenfalls Besonderheiten wie Medikamenten-Allergien oder Sturzgefaehrdung. Damit bekommt man sofort die wichtigsten Infos auf einen Blick.

Singapore National Day 2008

This Saturday was Singapore's National Day which is really important for this multicultural country and lots of celebrations were going on.

The biggest and well organized one being the npd08 = national day parade - a 3 hour mega show on a stage in Marina Bay involving tenthousands of actors, a flight show of the national air force and ending with a nice firework in the bay. It is said that 200.000 people watched it in the bay and even more on the tv... at least for us...our elective student group of 10 people... found it very very crowded in the city. The government puts a lot of money into the event. All the houses were decorated with the National Flag and the motto of the day was "Celebrating the Singapore Spirit" and it is praising the ambitions, goals and characteristics of the nation. Find out more about this on Wikipedia.

Pics of the Perhentian Islands

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The island was beautiful. Small and desolated, great corals, jungle and a basic accomodation where you fell right on the beach. And a monkey as a pet :) (ehm, i am that shiny because i just put on sunscreen, examplary ;)

Singapore and the Singapore General Hospital

I stayed 2 nights in a hostal with holger before I moved into the sisters quarter of the hospital where men and female are strictly separated. The shared room is simple but really ok, even with an own bathroom and a small couch. However no air condition, and yes, Singapore is very hot and humid. I am dying every night while trying to get some sleep.

On Monday my clinical elective in the general surgery department officially started. But I had to report there first on Tuesday, so it was nice to have another day off. Tuesday we had a powerpoint introduction with all the rules of the hospital and code of conduct and we were introduced to our department and supervisors. Singapore is a rather strict country and the hospitals and sister quarters have a lot of rules for medical students – you have to dress very formal, men with tie, no shirts, short skirts and slippers allowed. You have to wear your nametag all the time. Today we had a 2 hour lecture about infection control and mask fitting. It was quite boring but it seemed they take it very serious. Actually the same precautions we take in Germany, when to wash your hand, how to handle mrsa patients and so on. So we thought they were really strict with sterility as well, but just to find out in the OT (operation theatre = OP) that they are a bit slack there. At least it was the impression of our first day in the OT. But it was surpisrising that all new students including the singaporians had to take part in that lecture or otherwise you are not allowed to work in the hospital.
SGH is huge and kind of a 9-story labyrinth with many hallways and even more people. Nurses wear all different colors depending of the department, doctors are dressed very formal but wearing the white coat only on the wards. I am in the general surgery department, which is devided into 6 teams. I am 2 weeks team 3: head and neck surgery and the other 2 weeks team 6: transplant surgery. They only do liver transplant here, however there is only 1 every month. So not really a lot. Each team has its own specialty but they are all doing the general surgery as well. Each team has one operation day of the week – team 1 on Mondays, team 2 on Tuesdays and so on. As well as the on call duty for each team one day a week, which is from 8 to 8. if we want we can take part in that and stay overnight, but I am not sure if I want to ;)
The OT was very modern – the dressing room was big and with pink lockers, the upcoming operations were shown on large flat screens and the instruments such as a mobile ct? in the hallway were very new. But with entering the operation room itself it felt like 20 years ago… they still use rather numerous greens sheets to cover the patient instead of the self-sticking ones, I felt they were really incautiously with allowing also non-sterile people too close to the table. And the patient is brought right into the operation room fully awake. Then lots of people are moving around preparing the operation while his waiting to get anesthetized. I believe it is kind of traumatizing for the patient to see the actual OT rather then a quiet neat room with only the 2 anesthetists and peacefully sleeping away. So far it was no hands on for us elective students. When going out, you usually throw all worn clothes and shoes into a basket to get washed and sanitized. Surprisingly after a whole lecture of infection control you put the used shoes right back to where you took them without any cleaning.

Destination Singapore

Yes, getting to Singapore was quite an adventure as well. After arriving in Mersing early in the morning, because we were told to take the first ferry at 7.30am to make sure we don’t miss the bus at 12pm. so we still had plenty of time left to get a nice breakfast.

I soon found out it was the best choice to already buy the ticket a couple of days ago, since Friday to Sunday all locals are on the road as well. So people trying to get tickets to Singapore on Friday morning were not lucky because all buses were sold out. Well I got a ticket, but no bus came at 12pm… after getting quite nervous I got into talking with a family and I was still trying to find out where the bus would arrive in Singapore a man came up to me “why don’t you just ask me, I am from Singapore”  so at least I knew then what to tell holger to come pick me up. My bus eventually arrived 1 hour delayed, but I was finally on my way to Singapore. Amazingly it costs 10 RM (like 2 Euro) to get to Singapore by bus but 35 RM one way to get to the island Tioman by ferry (51km). At the ticket counter they told me it would take 3 hours… so I told holger I would be there around 4pm. well, at 4pm we only where in Johor Bahru and haven”t even crossed the border yet… by that time holger reassured me he’s going to pick me up and a friend as well. As time went by we eventually crossed the bridge and at around 6pm we finally completed the passport and security check only to arrive around 6.30pm at the bus station where holger and youheng were waiting since 4pm… I am still sorry you guys. But it was so nice to be picked up by car and directly having dinner in a recommended area with local food (i mean when i have 2 locals with me ;) ). And since then it is a food experience for me with having new stuff every day. And the food is sooooo good – we only had Chinese and Indian food so far and I am not sure if I will make it at least once around everything. I probably miss the cultural shock compared to the food shock ;)

Monkey portrait

I shot it in the Batu Caves. There were a lot of these monkeys. The mama with her kid just sat in perfect light allowing me to take that picture.

Last days in Malaysia - Pulau Tioman

I finally arrived in Singapore. I am here for about 6 days now.
But first to catch up with the last stop of my trip – Pulau Tioman. It was very beautiful – but in a different way to the Perhentian Islands. Much bigger and also more crowded with more resorts, more the chalet type for budget travelling, the beaches were pretty though more rocky, but you could hike to some very isolated and sandy ones. The water was great – warm and blue with lots of things to see when snorkeling. But the highlight of the island really was the jungle which started right behind the beach and was almost untouched. I met a girl in my dorm and we did one day of hiking. It was steep and a rough walk up and down a tiny path you really had to look out for, and sometimes we had to climb rocks because it was still such a pure untouched piece of nature. so I didn’t bring my big and heavy camera, unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of the day as well. Only the memories in my head. hiking through the jungle was an adventure and relaxing meditation at the same time. It was quiet and you were all on your own. But since the jungle is never quiet, there were all these noises – birds, insects, the wind through the leaves, monkeys… that was the most fun and impressive part: you could see animals in their wild life and true surroundings, getting along perfectly without any interference of humans. So we meet lizards, were surrounded by lots of colorful butterflies, huge ants, monkey families up in the trees and of course lots n lots of mosquitos. We were dropping wet and boiling, but it was great and in the end we were rewarded with a gorgeous desolated sandy beach and a great coral reef to snorkel.

Pics of Kuala Lumpur and the Batu Caves

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Some impressions of my first days in Kuala Lumpur (Petronas Twin Towers, a typical market in Little India and Chinatown) and the near by Batu caves, a Hindu pilger place. You can find mopeds everywhere in Malaysia and usually the whole family rides on it. This is a shot from my bus stop on the way to Kota Bharu, where the kids were picked up from school :)

Mersing & Pulau Tioman

Hehe, I finally found cheap internet, so I write a bit more :)
yesterday i left Pulau Kecil and took a night bus to Mersing, also in the east cost but further south and closer to singapore. i was happy to get a night bus, what saved me a night and time, but it was a crappy bus. the last jetty from the island leaves 4pm, my bus was supposed to leave 9.15pm and i had to go to a busstation half an hour away from the port. so far i thought it is ok, i have a book and just read. usually i get the ticket at the busstation because i can ask directly when the departure times are, i see the busses and the different companies. since i wanted a night bus and was stuck on a wonderful island i decided to book there without knowing what i get because usually night seats are sold out very fast. there they sad it is transnational bus - a cheap and secure line regulated by the government. (that was the one with the 3 seats only, too :) ) anyways being on the mainland again, the ticket man brought me to the busstation. when i arrived i already saw that i am now very very very local! it was a bus halt, not a station. anyways since i had the ticket i waited and read my book. in the beginning i was the only one, around 8 to 10pm it was crowded, people arriving and leaving with several long distance busses. at 9pm also a counter there opened where i asked about my bus... arrival time on schedule was here 10.30... and since it was a bus coming from kota bharu it arrived around 11pm... quite a time of waiting. but i was asked so many times were I go, where I am from, if i am lost by the waiting people around me and also the stopping busdrivers... i must have been the attraction - a foreigner in a place where i guess there arent that many foreigners seen and especially not at night ;)
yes, eventually i arrived save. i only hated stopping every half an hour, turning the light on and people hop on and off the bus. so my sleep wasnt that copious. and in the busses they always turn on the a/c that i really wait when hell freeze is over. this night i needed to ask the driver to open the luggage storage once more, so i could get my sleeping bag... since long pants and a pullover was not enough :)

i arrived at 7.15am in mersing. the whole town was still sleeping. only this meditation group doing its morning training on the beach with the rising sun in its back. so i walked into town to get some food and internet just to find out that everything openes at 9.00am. so i went to an indian food stall and had roti telur for breakfast - kind of a pancake with egg and indian dip. well, and now it is 11am... i had breakfast, got some supplies for the island and am sitting in the internet cafe.

weather is beautiful. about 30 degree celcius and the sky starts to clear up. i try to catch one of these many ferry boats to go to Pulau Tioman, the biggest island of malaysia's east coast and rich of nature, jungle and beautiful beaches.
on friday i head to singapore, where i will be until the end of august.

i will upload photos on the weekend since i am not sure about the safety here.

Hope everybody is fine, and happy late birthday to my friends i couldn't reach in time!!!!

Kota Bharu & beautiful Perhentian Islands

So many happenings in the last few days.
After a spontanous decision to go all the way up to Kota Bharu and only got a day bus with an 8-hour ride. this was actually quite nice and interesting - most of the time we went through jungle and jungle and jungle. here and there you could see these typical building but mostly not bigger than a small village. the bus was suprisingly comfortable - only 3 seats in a row and i had a single one. when arriving i was trying to find a hostal from the lonely planet and found it eventually after a long walk and being wet... my backpack is way too heavy and really needs to be lightened after the internship. well i arrived only to notice that all dorm beds were full. well, since i didnt want to walk all the way back, he offered me a single room for doulbe price... yes, and i took it. but at least i had internet for free and could call holger. while going through town in started to rain and so I only got something to eat in one of these many cheap but really delicious food stalls. then i wanted to get some batteries and i even found a big supermarket. this is something new to me: on the left side is the entrance, in the middle a counter where you have to leave all your bags and on the right the exit. on every door standing security guards. so i went to leave my bag there, but i wanted to ask to take my dslr with me inside since it is too expensive to get stolen. after looking at and several tries to understand each other and finding nobody who at least understood english, they gave up and i could take all my stuff inside ;) and could get my batteries.
i really do get along well with english in malaysia. in kuala lumpur there was always at least somebody around who could help out in english if one couldnt. but the more rural it gets, the less do people speak english and sometimes it was hard to get all the stuff done because of the language. but nevertheless, the people are really nice and also try to help if they see you looking at a map or so. and the more rural zou get, the more exotic i become... and it is really cute to see how little kids stare at me and others are waving and shouting hello from the car... you need no language knowledge for that :)

i found out that the next morning a shuttle went to Kuala Besut to take a jetty to Pulau Perhentian - 2 beautiful paradise islands about 20km from the mainland. since the hostal boss organized all that i decided to go there, too. he even arranged a place to stay there for me. it went all so well - i was very suprised and happy to arrive there with no need of self-organisation at all. the islands were so beautiful. i went to the smaller and cheaper one, Pulau Kecil. I arrived in an isolated lagoon, where there was only one hostal. i felt like robinson crusoe. turkis and warm ocean, sun, palm trees and hammocks, wood houses with no glass in the window, the door standing open during night, electricity only from 9pm to 9am and some very basic bathroom facilities and the jungle right behind you. the atmosphere was relaxed and quiet though still very social. and a pretty coral reef to snorkle and dive right infront of the hostal. you just had to get into the turkis water. the underwater world was gorgeous - lots and lots of tropical fish... i even saw a real sea turtel of about 1,5m length and the biggest fish of the southeastasian sea, 21 double-headed parrot fish. that was scarry when i discovered them but then just impressive. the warans came really close and in the jungle we saw a spider as big as ny hand. horrible!!!
i spent 2 nights there and relaxed and enjoyed the beauty. yeah, that was paradies.

City of Contrasts - Kuala Lumpur

Nach langem Flug, Umsteigen und vom Flughafen rein in die Riesenstadt Kuala Lumpur, mitten in Chinatown, bin ich gut angekommen! Zusammen mit Rucksack. Allein das Hostal finden war schon ein Erlebniss. Hab direkt den Nachtmarkt mit all seinen Geruechen, Essenstaenden und Prada und Cartier-Artikeln durchgequert und auf Anhieb diese Minieingangstuer gefunden :) Bis dahin war ich allerdings schon klitschenass... also hier ist definitiv Sommer und noch mehr... 32 Grad in der Nacht und tropische Luftfeuchtigkeit. Das sollte ich auch am naechsten Tag beim Erkunden der Stadt deutlich merken. Kuala Lumpur ist einfach monstroes, laut, voll, und chaotisch. Als Fussgaenger hat man schon mal verloren, und der Linksverkehr tut uebriges. Wenn man sich an das Bahnsystem haelt kommt man gut rum, und zu Fuss ist auch einiges zu schaffen. Egal wo man hingeht, es ist immer ein Kontrast zu dem wo man grad herkommt. Das enge Chinatown mit Staenden auf engstem Raum und Massen, die sich durchzwaengen und Foodstalls wie aus dem Bilderbuch. Businessviertel mit den Petronas TwinTwowers gepflegt, modern, schnieke Anzugsleute, riesen Shoppingcenter mit echtem Gucci und Prada, dahinter eine gepflegte Parkanlage und alles viel grosszuegiger. Die Wohnviertel - von Monsterhochhauskomplexen, wo tausende Leute wohnen muessen zu Luxuswillen. Ueberall Katzen, ohne Schwanz, und dann noch 3 bis 4 spurige Strassen in jede Richtung. Und Mopeds. Und auch ganz schoen viel Dreck. Achja, und Dschungel - mitten in der Stadt.
Morgen gehts dann aber weiter, ganz in den Norden der Ostkueste: Kota Bahru, um dann wieder Richtung Sueden schoene Straende mitzunehmen.

Flughafenstories

Ach ja, das eTicket - das ist schon eine tolle Erfindung! Schneller kann man wohl kaum mehr werden... mein Gepaeck war weg so schnell konnt ich gar nicht gucken. Selbst das Boarding an sich kann man damit selber machen und darf noch vor der Economyklasse rein. Aber nein nein nein, damit das nicht zu schnell geht, hat der Flughafen sich noch was einfallen lassen. Ich hatte natuerlich das Glueck auserkohren zu werden...
Da bin ich also bei der Handgepaeckkontrolle und nachdem ich schon meine Schuhe ausziehen musste, wurde ich zur Seite gerufen mit "Ist das hier ihr Gepaeck?", 'ehm, ja', "gut, dann kommen sie bitte mit." Waerend ich verdattert mitlaufe, hoere ich sie noch ihrem Kollegen zurufen:"Mache den CZ305-Test" (oder so aehnlich). Langsam wurde mir schon mulmig, ich hatte doch gar nix verbrochen. In einem gesonderten Raum standen schon 2 Polizisten. Na Gute Nacht! Dann sagten sie:" Wir machen jetzt einen Sprengstofftest mit ihrer Tasche". So ehrfuerchtig ich war, nun musste ich schon mal nachfragen, was das hier soll... und die mich abfuehrende Dame legte ein schon viel freundlicheres Gesicht auf und erklaerte mir, dass sie Stichproben nach Sprengstoff machen und ich ausgewaehlt wurde. Na Spitze, solche Ehre darf mir aber auch gern erspart bleiben. Naja, und die Polizisten in ihrem Speziallabor haben mit irgendnem Papier durch meine Tasche gewischt, ihren Automaten angeworfen und dann schon festgestellt, was ich schon wusste: kein Sprengstoff in meiner Tasche. Dann haben sie alle gelacht und ich durfte wieder gehen. Spitze! Ohne weitere Vorkommnisse konnte ich dann meinen Flug antreten (und Lufthansa ist doof - mega eng und n TV am Gangende! wasn das?!?!)

Bye Bye Germany

Jetzt geht es wirklich los - alles ist erledigt, zumindest was noch möglich war und ich lass den Stress jetzt einfach hier und mit den Shuttle gehts zum Flughafen und dann in die neue Ferne. Ich hoffe, dass alles gut geht und vorallem mein Gepäck auch ankommt... diesmal wär es noch ungeschickter mein voll gepackten Rucksack zu verlieren!
Ich sag hierüber nochmal allen "Tschüß", die ich nicht mehr geschafft habe noch vor meiner Abreise zu sehen oder zu sprechen. Ich wünsch euch einen schönen Sommer und ich würde mich freuen, immer mal von euch zu hören und den neusten Stand der Dinge zu erfahren :) Lasst's euch gut gehen!!!

Immer ein Schritt näher... 20 Stunden noch

Damits nicht langweilig wird und ich mit der Zeit gehe, jede Reise etwas Neues :) ein eTicket kann einen ja mittlerweile nicht mehr vom Hocker hauen, daher Trommelwirbel, ich habe das erste Mal online eingecheckt. Hach war das aufregend :)... einen feinen Fensterplatz hab ich mir ausgesucht, immerhin lande ich sowohl in Singapore als auch in Kuala Lumpur bei Tag... und jetzt hoffen wir nur noch, dass der Mittelplatz frei bleibt und ich mich zum Schlafen ganz breit mach kann.

Die Woche ist zu Ende

Endlich.
Es ist Freitag Nachmittag, ich komme soeben von meiner letzten Ballschul-Stunde und hab soeben das letzte Kind untersucht und bin jetzt überglücklich die Datenaufnahme meiner Doktorarbeit abgeschlossen zu haben. Ich mache glatt drei Luftsprünge :)
Somit hat der Tag insgesamt doch hoffentlich ein gutes Ende, nachdem ich beinahe das erste Mal im Studium eine Klausur verpasst hätte. Und das, obwohl ich doch grad ein paar Meter weiter in der Bib saß... glücklicherweise hatte ich irgendwann keine Lust mehr auf Lernen und hab mich entschieden schon etwas eher hinzugehen als ich glaubte, dass ich da sein müsste... nachdem ich verdächtig viele Fahrräder erspähte und Totenstille aus dem Hörsaal drang, befürchtete ich schon das Übel... nun denn, ich saß in der ersten Reihe bekam noch eine Klausur und fing an so schnell wie noch nie die Fragen in knapp 1/3 der Zeit zu beantworten... letzendlich sollte es gereicht haben auch wenn sicher ein paar Punkte in Lesefehlern untergingen... puh!
(ehm, jaa ich bin verpeilt ;), aber zu meiner Verteidigung will ich noch eben anmerken, dass es wirklich verschiedene Versionen des Klausurzeitpunktes gab!!!)

Jetzt, wo die Klausuren alle geschrieben, und die Uni zumindest gedanklich abgehakt ist, werde ich mich endlich noch dem Packen, Putzen und letzten Wegen und Dingen vor meinem Verschwinden widmen.

Aber eine Feststellung konnte ich schon machen:
man wird viel bedachter mit der Essensauswahl :) und was man alles aus den vermeintlich spärlichen und zu verbrauchenden Vorräten noch so rausholen kann, wenn man weiß, man ist in ein paar Tagen für drei Monate einfach nicht da... ich kann stolz berichten, das meiste verbraucht zu haben... nur auf die 2 Fischdosen hab ich momentan irgendwie keine Lust ;)

Maybe the motto of the trip?

There is always a way out...

168 hours left until departure

In exactly 7 days I will be sitting in the plane starting to Kuala Lumpur ... excitement!

Der Countdown läuft.

Es sind nur noch 12 Tage bis zum Abflug nach Kuala Lumpur!
Mittlerweile wird es schon knapp und die letzten organisatorischen Sachen wollen noch erledigt werden... wie Auslandsreiseversicherung, Famulaturversicherung, Zahnarzt, Doktorarbeit, mal ganz zu schweigen von den Klausuren und Uni. Vielleicht hab ich dann auch noch was vom deutschen Sommer, ansonsten warmes Wetter ich komme!!!!
Die Tasche ist seit Wochen im Packprozess und es fehlt eigentlich nur noch die Kleidung ;) Diesmal bin ich auch eine wandelnde Apotheke und ich glaub für fast jeden erdenklichen Fall gerüstet :)

Und leider, trotz guter Vorsätze, der Reiseführer muss warten bis ich im Flugzeug bin...

Padova & Venice, Italia

What a weekend! Looking for words to describe it without overflowing... fully packed, gelato, plazas, sight seeing, strolling along, nice weather, sunburn, conversations, conversations and conversations, pasta, pizza, funny people, strange people and very nice people, tourists, pictures ;), market, alleys, water, boat, channels...

It was very nicely timed. We arrived in Treviso Friday afternoon being clowdy, but not raining. We drove by bus to Padova where Rike picked us up. After a typical italian lunch, pasta of course, we started to hit all the sights in Padova, had our first gelato (4 different kinds of chocolate icecream and about 20 more sorts!!!!) and after walking for about 4 hours, we stopped for a bite to eat: pizza :). Rike was so kind to leave us her room, so we 4 could sleep there while she moved to her housemate. Of course, it was a short night... at least for some of us ;) after chatting and having some glasses of wine, we all fell exausted to sleep. Anne and Holger got up very early to head to Venice. Rike, Hannah and I rather lived the Italian lifestyle and strolled around these many farmers' markets in Padova. It is very typically and so all the locals were out, too. We looked at the university and the clinical centre where the medicine students have their practical courses. Rike invited some of her Erasmus friends to join us. So our group enlarged to 6 - another German girl, a Portuguese and a Finn. We had a lot of fun. Visited the botanical garden, which is still very traditional with all these medicinal herbs. And well, being in Italy you cannot miss to drop into one of the numerous cafés. Since we were with insiders by now, we went to a local spot and it was just wonderful! There we also got introduced with "Spritz" - the student alcoholic drink in Italy. It consists of Aperol, white wine and mineral water or Aperol and Prosecco, decorated with a slice of orange. When enjoying this in a bar or café you get chips and peanuts with it. So we spent some hours there, sitting outside and letting the sun shine in our face and of course talking talking talking :)

Next day we all got up very early to visit Venice. It was a beautiful day - warm and sunny - so probably all people around Venice decided to spent a nice Sunday INSIDE Venice. So it was very crowded and we quickly decided not to follow the common tourist pathway but to look at the less crowded other islands of Venice. So we went by boat to Murano, famous for its traditional glass work and art, and to Burano, a small island for the workers without these architectural highlights but so lovely and colourful. In the afternoon we went back to the main island and of cousre stopped at the St. Mark's Square, the Bridge of Sighs, and the romantic channels with the Gondolieri shipping couples. Holger and Anne decided to see more churches, so we 3 decided since it was so cowded not to do the tourist stuff and to leave it for another visit. So we walked around these alleys, enjoyed the architecture. I even forgot to keep up my rate of pictures because we fell deep in conversations.
In the evening we drove back to Padova - all having aching feet and starving. Again we went to a local restaurant and had a Maxi-Pizza for 4 people and a couple of Spritzs as well, of course ;). Very tasty.
Unfortunately we had to leave on Monday morning, because our plane was daparting early noon. And because Italy was so sad that we had to leave it was raining again!!!
But we came to one realization this morning: Rike can run as fast as the tram ;) as she gave prove when running to give Hannah her towel she forgot ;)

Thanks Rike, for this wonderful weekend. It was a great time for all of us!!!!

Bella Italia

Juhu, ich entrinne (hoffentlich) dem tristen Grau Deutschlands! Es geht für 4 Tage nach Italien, um als Vierer-Tross die Rike in ihrem Erasmusjahr in Padua zu besuchen. Hach, ich freu mich :-)

What you can find in the internet...

NO SEX TONIGHT!
Date: 2005-02-18, 9:18AM PST

I never quite figured out why the sexual urge of men and women differ so much. And I never have figured out the whole Venus and Mars thing. I have never figured out why men think with their head and women with their heart.

FOR EXAMPLE: One evening last week, my girlfriend and I were getting into bed.
Well, the passion starts to heat up, and she eventually says "I don't feel like it, I just want you to hold me." I said "WHAT??!! What was that?!"
So she says the words that every boyfriend on the planet dreads to hear... "You're just not in touch with my emotional needs as a woman enough for me to satisfy your physical needs as a man." She responded to my puzzled look by saying, "Can't you just love me for who I am and not what I do for you in the bedroom?" Realizing that nothing was going to happen that night, I went to sleep.

The very next day I opted to take the day off of work to spend time with her. We went out to a nice lunch and then went shopping at a big, big unnamed department store. I walked around with her while she tried on several different very expensive outfits. She couldn't decide which one to take so I told her we'd just buy them all. She wanted new shoes to compliment her new clothes, so I said lets get a pair for each outfit. We went onto the jewelry department where she picked out a pair of diamond
earrings. Let me tell you...she was so excited. She must have thought I was one wave short of a shipwreck. I started to think she was testing me because she asked for a tennis bracelet when she doesn't even know how to play tennis. I think I threw her for a loop when I said, "That's fine, honey."
She was almost nearing sexual satisfaction from all of the excitement. Smiling with excited anticipation she finally said, "I think this is all dear, let's go to the cashier."

I could hardly contain myself when I blurted out, "No honey, I don't feel
like it." Her face just went completely blank as her jaw dropped with a baffled
WHAT?" I then said "honey! I just want you to HOLD this stuff for a while. You're
just not in touch with my financial needs as a man enough for me to satisfy your shopping needs as a woman." And just when she had this look like she was going to kill me, I added, "Why can't you just love me for who I am and not for the things I buy you?"

Apparently I'm not having sex tonight either.

Map of Southeast Asia

My Clinical Elective

Yesterday I received the long awaited acceptance of my application for a clinical elective in Singapore.
After a long application process I can now announce that I will be working for 4 weeks in Singapore General Hospital Department General Surgery.

So far, Holger and I plan to travel about 3 weeks together, and maybe we'll be joined by a friend from Singapore. The considered destination for the moment is Vietnam and/or Cambodia. More updates follow :-)

The more precise the content of the trip gets, the more excited I get. 4 months to go.

Juhuuu - ich habe eine DSLR

Sie ist endlich angekommen. Meine neue Kamera. Ich bin superglücklich und werde in nächster Zeit wohl sehr viel lernen und lernen müssen, aber ich freu mich drauf. Rein theoretisch steht jetzt tollen Fotos nichts mehr im Weg. :-))

Girls, what else ?! :-))

Forwarded Funnies: Girls Night Out

The other night I was invited out for a night with the 'girls.' I told my husband that I would be home by midnight, 'I promise!'

Well, the hours passed and the margarita's went down way too easily. Around 3 a.m., a bit loaded, I headed for home.

Just as I got in the door, the cuckoo clock in the hallway started up and cuckooed 3 times. Quickly, realizing my husband would probably wake up, I cuckooed another 9 times. I was really proud of myself for coming up with such a quick-witted solution in order to escape a possible conflict with him.

(Even when totally smashed... 3 cuckoos plus 9 cuckoos totals 12 cuckoos = MIDNIGHT!)

The next morning my husband asked me what time I got in, I told him 'MIDNIGHT'... he didn't seem pissed off in the least. Whew, I got away with that one!

Then he said 'We need a new cuckoo clock.'

When I asked him why, he said, 'Well, last night our clock cuckooed three times, then said 'oh shit.' Cuckooed 4 more times, cleared its throat, cuckooed another three times, giggled, cuckooed twice more, and then tripped over the coffee table and farted.

Erkenntnis des Tages / Today's eureka moment

Mein Handy mag keinen Apfelsaft.

My mobile phone does not like apple juice.

List of Countries

A short update about the number of countries I plan to travel:

Malaysia
Singapore (clinical elective)
Thailand
Parts of Cambodia and Vietnam depending on time left

Fixed dates available now! I've booked my flights!

Yippie, it is finally out when and where my Asia trip will begin!
After a long search and changes over changes in when to fly and where to go, I finally made up my mind and decided on this:

22. July 2008
Frankfurt (Germany) to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) via a mini stop in Singapore

22. October 2008
Bangkok (Thailand) to Frankfurt (Germany)

With eagerness and happy anticipation I am going to plan the exact route!

Very bad sad news:

Good afternoon,
Situation is currently so bad that we suspended all projects in Kenya.
Prof. V. Krcmery

Therefore my trip to Africa is canceled for now and I am distraught.

Flowers

Große Freude

... alle Prüfungen - sei es schriftlich - mündlich - Innere, Allgemeinmedizin, Geriatrie oder Pharmakologie sind abgearbeitet. Aus, aus und vorbei. Die Ferien haben soeben begonnen. Dies ist auch bitternötig!!! Erholung wird gefordert. Nun ja nicht ganz - die Zeit wird gebraucht, um sich anderen Dingen wie Doktorarbeit und Nebenjobs wieder etwas intensiver widmen zu können. Nun denn, der erste freie Tag wird mit Regen begrüßt :( egal, kein Wässerchen kann die Freude trüben!

Kenia - zur Lage der Nation

Leider überhäufen sich in letzter Zeit die schlechten Nachrichten über die Geschehnisse in Kenia. Seit Ende letzten Jahres kann man die Entwicklung Richtung Krisensituation und Bürgerkrieg verfolgen, welche durch die Wahl aufgerüttet wurde.
In den letzten paar Tagen häuften sich Meldungen, welche eine Verschärfung anstelle der erhofften Beilegung des Konflikts zeigen:

BILD berichtet:
Das einstige Urlaubsparadies – es driftet immer mehr in Chaos und Anarchie ab.
Und auch die berühmten Nationalparks des Landes sind von den bürgerkriegähnlichen Unruhen betroffen. Weil die Touristen ausbleiben, haben die Städte kaum noch Einnahmen. Die Wildhüter kommen nicht zur Arbeit oder – noch schlimmer – schießen Wilderer die Tiere ab, um zu Nahrungsmitteln zu kommen.

Der frühere UN-Generalsekretär Kofi Annan zeigte sich bei einer Reise durch die Provinz Rift Valley betroffen vom Ausmaß der Zerstörungen. „Man sollte sich nichts vormachen und sagen, dass dies ein Wahlproblem ist“, sagte Annan, der zwischen Kibaki und Odinga vermittelt. „Dies reicht sehr viel tiefer.“
http://www.bild.t-online.de/BILD/news/vermischtes/2008/01/27/kenia-machete/wilderer-stmmes-fehde,geo=3607222.html">
--------------------------------------

Ausschnitte aus Artikeln von Spiegel-Online:

Zwei Deutsche mit Macheten erschlagen

Bluttat im Feriendomizil: Bewaffnete Räuber haben in Kenia zwei Deutsche überfallen und getötet. Die Tat scheint ersten Erkenntnissen zufolge nicht politisch motiviert.
Mombasa - Wie die örtliche Polizei berichtete, waren die Täter den beiden Deutschen gestern in die Ferienanlage "Diana Beach Resort" fünf Kilometer südlich von Mombasa gefolgt. Dort überwältigten sie zunächst einen Wachmann. Anschließend stürzten sie sich mit Prügeln und Macheten auf ihre beiden Opfer, die kurz darauf starben.

Bei den Getöteten handelt es sich ersten Berichten zufolge um einen in Kenia ansässigen Geschäftsmann und einen deutschen Touristen. Es gibt offenbar keinen Zusammenhang der Bluttat mit den politisch motivierten Unruhen nach der Präsidentschaftswahl Ende Dezember. Seit dem 27. Dezember war es in Kenia zu schwersten Unruhen und Gewaltexzessen gekommen. Die Zahl der Toten soll bis heute auf etwa 800 gestiegen sein. Derzeit bemüht sich der frühere UN-Generalsekretär Kofi Annan um Vermittlung in dem Konflikt.
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Der Untergang des Paradieses

Kenias Tierparadies Massai Mara droht der Kollaps: Wegen der bürgerkriegsartigen Unruhen trauen sich kaum noch ausländische Gäste für eine Safari ins Land. Die Jagdaufseher können nicht mehr bezahlt werden, die Wilderei nimmt epidemische Ausmaße an.
(http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/0,1518,531224,00.html)
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Blutige Stammeskämpfe mit Pfeil und Bogen - über 60 Tote

Zwischen rivalisierenden Stämmen von Kenia ist es zu heftigen Kämpfen gekommen. Mehr als 60 Menschen wurden am Wochenende mit Macheten und Pfeilen ermordet oder kamen in Flammen ums Leben. Ex-Uno-Generalsekretär Kofi Annan äußerte sich besorgt über das Ausmaß der Zerstörung.
Naivasha - Erbittert führen Kenias Stämme ihre Kämpfe gegeneinander weiter. Dabei wird es immer deutlicher, dass die blutigen Zusammenstöße mit vielen Toten kaum noch etwas mit der umstrittenen Präsidentenwahl vom Dezember zu tun haben.

Das Zentrum der Kämpfe war am Wochenende Nakuru: In der Hauptstadt der Provinz Rift Valley gingen bis Samstagmorgen Kikuyu und Angehörige anderer Stämme aufeinander los. In zwei Tagen wurden 60 Menschen getötet, die in eine Leichenhalle gebracht wurden. Mehr als 100 Menschen seien verletzt worden, berichtete die Zeitung "Daily Nation" heute.
Zahlreiche Menschen flüchteten aus Angst um ihr Leben aus der rund 150 Kilometer nordwestlich von Nairobi gelegenen Stadt. Andere suchten in Kirchen und Polizeiwachen Zuflucht, nachdem mit Macheten bewaffnete Angehörige verschiedener Stammesgruppen aufeinander losgegangen waren, berichtete die Zeitung.

In der nahegelegenen Ortschaft Naivasha griffen rund hundert Angehörige des Kikuyu-Stammes heute Luo-Bewohner mit Macheten sowie Pfeil und Bogen an. Sie setzten zahlreiche Häuser und Autos in Brand. Dabei wurden mindestens sieben Menschen getötet. Die Polizei griff nicht ein. Ein Reporter der Nachrichtenagentur AP sah, wie Menschen mit Hackmessern getötet wurden oder bei lebendigem Leibe in ihren Häusern verbrannten. Naivasha liegt rund 90 Kilometer nordwestlich der Hauptstadt Nairobi.
---------------------------------------------

Annan versucht weiter zu vermitteln

Die Kikuyu sind der Stamm des Präsidenten Mwai Kibaki, der Ende Dezember in einer höchst umstrittenen Wahl für eine zweite Amtszeit bestätigt wurde. Oppositionsführer Raila Odinga gehört dem Stamm der Luo an. Bisher sind mehr als 700 Menschen bei Zusammenstößen mit der Polizei oder in den Stammeskämpfen getötet. Anfangs waren vor allem Kikuyu unter den Opfern. Jetzt sind sie offenbar zur Offensive übergegangen.
Der frühere Uno-Generalsekretär Kofi Annan zeigte sich bei einer Reise durch die Provinz Rift Valley betroffen vom Ausmaß der Zerstörungen und äußerte sich besorgt über die dortigen Menschenrechtsverletzungen. Es gebe einen "groben und systematischen Missbrauch der Menschenrechte", sagte er vor Journalisten. "Man sollte sich nichts vormachen und sagen, dass dies ein Wahlproblem ist", sagte Annan, der zwischen Kibaki und Odinga vermittelt. "Dies reicht sehr viel tiefer." Annan besuchte gestern die Region am Ostafrikanischen Grabenbruch, zu der auch Naivasha gehört. Annan sprach von jahrzehntelangen Ressentiments gegen die Dominanz der Kikuyu in Politik und Wirtschaft sowie alten Konflikten um Landbesitz.

Annan wollte am Sonntagabend zu einem weiteren Treffen mit Odinga zusammenkommen, ein von ihm vermitteltes Treffen von Präsident Kibaki mit Odinga hatte am Donnerstag keinen Durchbruch gebracht. Oppositionssprecher Salim Lone sagte, seine Partei ODM sei gebeten worden, drei Unterhändler für Gespräche mit der Regierung zu benennen, die innerhalb einer Woche beginnen sollten.
(http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,531300,00.html)
--------------------------------------------------

Das Auswärtige Amt rät aktuell dringend von Reisen nach Kenia ab. Große Reiseveranstalter haben derzeit noch keine Schritte eingeleitet, sind aber vorsichtig. TUI-Sprecherin Alexa Hüner: „Jeder Urlauber, der bei uns eine Reise nach Kenia buchen möchte, wird derzeit ausdrücklich auf den Hinweis des Auswärtigen Amtes aufmerksam gemacht.
----------------------------------------------------

Daher steht es momentan noch in den Sternen, ob mein geplanter Aufenthalt in Kenia realisierbar bleibt oder es einfach zu riskant ist und ich aufgrund der Sicherheitslage mich entscheide, nicht nach Afrika zu gehen. Ich hoffe, dass sich die Lage stabilisiert. Weitere Entscheidungen hängen ganz davon ab. Mehr, wenn man mehr absehen kann.

(Bilder von: http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,553,PB64-SUQ9Mjg0MTAmbnI9Mw_3_3,00.html)

Kreuth, 2nd - 6th January 2008

It's already weeks ago, but it was such a nice little holiday in a beautiful lonely lodge in the middle of a magical snow-covered forest at the foot of the Alps.
We were so lucky that a member of our group used to live there and still had some connections, so we had the possibility of staying there in this beautiful area around the Tegernsee, Bavaria as a group of 13 friends and medical students. Although we had only 4 days, they were activity packed. Some tried cross-country skiing, others drove the short distance across the border to Austria to go skiing or snowboarding in Achenkirch, while some of us even luged down the longest toboggan run in Germany. On another day we just wandered through the snow and felt like kids again while having a snowball fight.

Upon returning, the fight for the only shower began and everybody was granted 10 minutes :) In the evenings it was always a challenge to cook for such a large group in such small pots and pans. However, it was always a success! Those who didn't fall asleep, stayed up for one or two, mostly more, rounds of games. One highlight of a game was the "Greul"game: to bring and to get the worst and ugliest present you can find, haha.
Unfortunately we had to suffer 2 losses: one person lost a tooth and another having an unlucky ski accident. Fortunately though, both have recovered. Best wishes to Ralph!
Nevertheless, it was a wonderful and joyous time we spend as group together. I want to go again!

(upper pic by Felix)