Oktoberfest Hangover, Stopover in Stuttgart

I spent a couple more days in Munich because I was not quite done with Oktoberfest just yet... besides, with three (or more???) wives, err...ex-wives to deal with, I had to make sure we annulled anything that might come up during my Daniel Lew for President campaign in 2012. One evening, I found myself wandering upstairs in one of the tents and found a rare half-empty table. Turns out the table was reserved for the owner of the tent so I decided to sit down and maybe get an opportunity to drink with the guy. Given how busy it was, he never showed up, but I did get a chance to meet a German couple from Munich and two guys from Israel. They knew each other through an exchange program set up between the governments of Israel and Germany after the war. I bet Hitler never thought the day would come when two guys from Israel would ever have a beer in Munich during Oktoberfest, singing along German folk songs along with two fellow Germans, much less an American-born Chinese!

As a car enthusiast, I decided to check out the BMW Museum the next day. The BMW Museum was pretty cool-- recently built and definitely worth a visit. There is a free part, which I spent a good couple of hours in, and a paid admission, which I didn't do. I wanted to take the plant tour, but because of Oktoberfest, they were fully booked that day and the next, so I will have to learn how to build an M3 another day!

I decided to go and visit my hilarious German-born Serbian friend Dragan, whom I met in Oslo, and currently lives in Stuttgart, for a quick weekend trip. To my total surprise, Stuttgart also a huge outdoor festival similar to Oktoberfest except nobody dresses up in dirndles or liederhosen. Those who do are obviously the tourists because any local would know that Stuttgart is not in Bavaria! There are other differences between the two towns, according to Dragan. When I asked what the prevailing stereotypes are about each respective city, he said that Munich is traditionally a very conservative city (except during Oktoberfest) and the people of Stuttgart are a frugal lot. Munich is relatively flat, and Stuttgart is in a hilly valley. Munich, of course, is home to BMW and Stuttgart, Mercedes-Benz. I went to the Mercedes Museum and hands down is the most interesting and fascinating museum I have been to so far. Obviously I have a bias towards all things automotive, but the architecture alone was pretty awesome. The walls of the entire building are swathed in the same leather they use in their cars.

We headed out one night to explore the local area and somehow we got separated later in the night. I decided to head back to his apartment but stopped along the way to pick up a pizza pie. I was surprised to see they had a pepperoni pizza on the menu and ordered that right away. Sadly, pepperonis are not the same as in the US, as they are actually peppercinis! On my way back to the apartment, I was stopped by a couple of dudes who were willing to pay me 2 euros for a lighter-- desparate guys, I assumed who really wanted to smoke. During this transaction, a group of about 6 idiots tried to pick a fight with us, for no other reason except that they were drunk. I was in no mood (or condition, for that matter) to fight, and so I offered one of the guys a slice of my "pepperoni" pizza. He didn't take it, but left us alone shortly afterwards. Lesson learned, and to paraphrase Teddy Roosevelt's famous quote, "Speak softly and carry a big stick," I would argue that it is more effective to "Speak however you want, so long as you carry a pizza!"

Oktoberfest!!!!! And the end of my bachelor days....yeah right!

For those of you who don´t already know this, Oktoberfest really is worth all the hype. Totally surpassed all my expectations.... Think Disneyland, full of thousands of drunk adults holding 1 liter steins and you kind of get the idea. But any beer lover should seriously consider making a trip to Munich for Oktoberfest at least once in their lives. I plan on going back for sure.... maybe even return for the closing weekend!! Hmm......

The first day, we got to the Paulaner tent late at 10am, and luckily scored a table outside. Though the temperature was in the low 50´s, that didn´t stop us from ordering beers like there was no Oktoberfest! I ordered two large steins right away, because on the train ride over to Munich I learned how to ask for two large beers, please (Zwei ghosse bier bitter!!) I kept asking for two large beers everytime the huge Bavarian waitress came by with about ten steins on her person. Needless to say, I (we) got pretty tanked (Hakke zein!!) and met some very interesting people our first day. I apparently got married to Lola from Spain.


Our second day we got to the Oktoberfest pretty late (surprise surprise), so we weren´t able to score a table. We eventually mosied along the way to the Lowenbrau Tent, where I met up with Brendon, one of my travel buddies I met in Scotland. Interesting thing about the Lowenbrau Tent-- I saw this one waitress and kept trying to get her attention for a beer. She would smile and shake her head, like, sorry, no beer for you. Then I would see her again, and plead for a beer, and she would promptly bring me one fairly quickly. This went on and on several times and after a few liters of beer I wasn´t really digging this little cat and mouse game of feeding me beer. I mean, all jokes get old, right? Well, it turns out, this lovely waitress has a twin sister!! One serves beer, the other one serves food. Seriously, I would marry both of them if I could.

From Oktoberfest, Munich

Speaking of marriage, I allegedly got hitched to Nora from Finland.

Our third day we also got to the festivities quite late in the afternoon and ended up outside at a tent... can´t quite remember which one but once again it was good times. Today was the day Ron was supposed to leave at 7pm-- we did our best to get him drunk so that he would miss his flight. We almost got him....

From Oktoberfest, Munich

Oh yeah, did I mention that I got engaged to Kirsten from Germany that day??!!!

From Oktoberfest, Munich

And the rest of the pics....

Amsterdamned!!

This is probably going to be my shortest post, not because we were only there for four days but because.. well, I don't remember much! Usually when I am travelling solo, I'll bring my diary along with me wherever I go so I can jot down a few things here and there but I seemed to have forgotten about that....It's a good thing I have a camera as my second brain!

Not much to report on Amsterdam really since I've been here before. And not much has changed since I last came here in 1997 while I was studying abroad. It's by far the most international and diverse city I have visited in Europe. One could argue that Paris or London would qualify but not in such a small area. And the pommes frittes, well, they are delicious!

One interesting thing to note during our visit is that I went to a KFC and surprise surprise, I got stuck in the slow line. When it was finally my turn to order, the girl who brought me my food was clearly stoned out of her mind. She (slowly) filled up my Coke and put a lid on it. Then she (slowly) went and got another lid and put it on the same freakin Coke! Only in Amsterdam....

Denmark, and the Little Mermaid, Part II

I headed back to Denmark, excited to meet up with my buddies from California for a quick warmup lap before heading out to Amsterdam and Munich for Oktoberfest.

Copenhagen, as with most of Scandinavia, is quite expensive, and I am happy to report that from this point forward, things will get cheaper as I head towards Germany, Greece, Turkey, Africa, S. America....etc. etc.. But if there is a place I would return to again to actually live and work outside of the US (besides Spain and Hong Kong,) Copenhagen would be at the top of my list. I had a conversation with a local and she mentioned that the unemployment rate in Denmark is 1.4%, and that is not only considered high, but the majority of that 1.4% choose to stay unemployed. The social welfare system here is quite generous, apparently. Given that people at McDonalds make $20/hour, I was curious what kind of jobs were available. I quickly found a gig from a technology company (salesforce.com) which had an open requisition for an account representative that I could easily qualify for..... but I read the list of job responsibilities, and returning to a 9-5 schedule at this point in my trip would make no sense. But for the record, Copenhagen is a beautiful city that I would come back to and can see myself living in. For those of you who go to Europe thinking London, Paris and Rome is the ideal two-week vacation, try to squeeze in Copenhagen for a few days as I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

My time in Denmark was a blast-- had the chance to see Snoop Dogg in concert. We arrived a couple of hours early and luckily found our way to the front of the stage. I have never been that close before for ANY concert so this was a definite highlight for me. In the US, you'd have to line up early in the morning to get into our position, but apparently Snoop (and hip hop in general) is not that popular in Denmark. The funny thing about the set he went through is that everybody knew all his new stuff, but when he busted out Gin and Juice or anything from his first or second album, I think only Ron and I were the only ones singing along! I looked around me and everybody looked like they were still in high school!

Another highlight was getting lost one day and subsequently having what I would call a perfect travel day. I stumbled into a bakery (Lagkagehuset) filled with tons of baked goodies and desserts. I then walked down a main street and saw a restaurant just packed with people. Curious, I stepped inside to take a look at their menu and it was only about $15 for a vegetarian buffet-- took a look inside and it was a pretty good looking spread. Well lemme tell ya, if there was ever a time I would consider being a vegetarian for the rest of my life, it was after having that meal at Riz Raz. After that meal, I walked over to the Marble Cathedral for a free live classical concert I had read about earlier in the day. Listening to that kind of music with those kind of acoustics in a setting as inspiring as a cathedral definitely stirred my soul. I thought to myself that I could very well have died and gone to heaven. When I told Ron about the two places I ate at, he told me those were the most popular places to eat! And to think it all just happened because I got lost. Never underestimate the power of getting lost and going with what your gut tells you, or in my case, your stomach!

My friends from LA arrived on the 10th, and were ready to rock. I have been excited to see these guys for quite awhile, since two of them are getting married and I probably won't get the chance to see, much less beer with them again. We headed out one night to a club, Emma. On our way there, we met a Danish soldier in his full uniform on the train ride into town. We were passing our pre-party bottle of rum and coke around, and I stuck to my shampoo bottle of vodka. He kept refusing at first but then he started telling us that he works 25 hour shifts, 7 days a week yadda yadda yadda. Soonafter telling us this, we offered our rum and coke to him again and he said, "I don't want that... I want THAT!" and pointed directly at my shampoo bottle. Needless to say, we got him pretty drunk prior to showing up for his guard duty. I was a bit concerned though, because he polished off half of my bottle and he said, "If they ask me if I have been drinking I will tell them yes, that I have been drinking vodka out of a shampoo bottle and they will understand that I could not refuse." We took a picture of him drinking as well, and shortly after it sounded like he dropped a gun out of his bag. At that point, I turned to my friend Mike because he heard the same thing and looked a bit concerned. I told Mike under my breath, "Looks like fun time's over. He's going to kill us now for taking that picture!!!"

From Denmark Part II

Club Emma was fun-- Long Islands cost about $30, not so fun. We did, however, meet a couple of Danish girls, Louise and Melissa, who were both incredibly hilarious. When I asked Melissa what happened to her bell on her pink bike and she said, "I don't need a bell, I just say 'Move bitch!'" Classic! And they say that Danish people are reserved.....

I labelled my first post in Denmark and the Little Mermaid, Part I, because I knew there would be a Part II with my friends in town. When I told my friends that I took a picture with my hand on her boob, it was a given that we would have to take another picture, this time with all of us violating her! I don't have that picture yet since my friends took it, but will definitely upload it later. Good times!!

Wikings in Norway

My mom's going to get mad at this semi-public disclosure, but hey, I'm a 15 hour flight away from her and probably won't see her for another 8 months so I'll deal with the consequences later! Some of you know that my mother has a problem pronouncing the letter V, ironic, then, that she named my older sister Vanessa. She also loves American football, and in particular has an affinity for the Minnesota Wikings, I mean, Vikings. The point of this disclosure is that throughout my travels, every person I've met has told me how incredibly expensive Norway is so I decided early on to say forget it, I'll go some other time when I hit the lottery or something. However, I found a cheap flight while I was staying in Denmark and decided why not go and wisit the wikings for my mom!

It was a pleasant surprise then, when I landed in Oslo and was given a free apple and a stamp from the Post Office to announce a new stamp! This would never happen in the US. Anyway, I checked into my hostel (completely stoked to see that I got a double bed AND it wasn't a bunk!) and headed to the nearest bar just in time for beer o'clock. Unfortunately, I believe I set the Guinness Book of World Records for the most expensive Guinness-- 16 bucks!! Needless to say, I decided to double up on my record breaking day and set the Guinness Book of World Records for slowest sip. I went back to the hostel, bummed and not at all buzzed and read a book instead and played a fairly entertaining crossword puzzle with my fellow roommates. (I assume they also came to the same sad conclusion that I did about drinking in Norway.) Given that I had five days, I needed to get creative with entertainment and how I was going to spend my time there.

Fortunately, Norway's wealth offers many free museums and exhibits, things I NORMALLY wouldn't really check out. I mean, you've seen one Picasso, you've seen em all right? Nobel Peace Museum, check. National Gallery, check. Museum of Contemporary Art, check. Ski Jump Museum, City Hall, Wiking Ship Museum, Frogner Park-- check, check, check, and check. I actually took the time to read everything too-- something I would normally not do, because I had a lot of time to kill.

For such a wealthy nation, I was really surprised at the number of homeless begging for money. Out of the four Scandinavian capitals, I'd say Oslo has the worst problem. You don't see many in Copenhagen, nor Stockholm -- even Helsinki seems to be relatively ok. Just boggles my mind that they're the richest Scandinavian country, but seemingly has the worst homeless problem. I could be wrong, but just my initial impression.

Anyway, apologies for the brief post, I really want to write more and put some thought into it but my buddies from LA are coming into town and I know that I won't be blogging for a bit as we travel from Copenhagen to Amsterdam to Oktoberfest!!! Wish us luck!! And...."Hi Mom, love you lots!!"