Munich - here I come ...

Back in Germany!! Buahh ... it is sooo bloody freezing cold outside. Can someone please send me a hot chocolate or some sunshine?!

But let?s start from the beginning ... Most of the people will be quite shocked to hear, that I am back in Germany. Yes I am ... It was most of the time kind of a secret, as I didn?t know it either, where I will be in the near future.
Thousands of things happened during the last couple of months and now things are sorted out. Finally!! What am I doing here?!
Hmm ... good question! No ... Basically I am waiting for my new VISA (not the credit card!!) - therefore I needed a new passport and it was easier for everyone to get it back in Germany. Yeah ... Quite cool ... Sitting back home in Germany - it seems like nothing has happened so far. Living in the same apartment, driving the same car ... going to the same nightclubs! It feels good to be back, but wait - yes ... I am looking forward to go back to Singapore as well. This will happen on Sunday next week.
Before it gets too confusing, here a little explanation: I?ve quit my job from the consulting company in Sydney and will now join another company in Singapore. Why?! Hmm ... there are several reasons, but mainly because I was really sick of all this traveling and changing projects etc.
It might sound strange to a lot of people, but I am sure some of my former A** colleagues might be able to confirm that - it is over the time, a pain in the a** (hehe ... these letters again ... what a coincidence ;)) - You start a new project somewhere, you work hard and after 3 - 6 months you have to leave again. Of course you are able to see many places and discover exiting destinations, but in the end there is not that much to see there. I mean you spend most of the time in the office, hotel, airport or in taxis. We are not running around in the cities and doing all the sightseeing stuff. (If we find the time on the weekend we will of course do that, but during the week, we are normally happy, if we can leave the office after a 12 hrs day).
An old consultant joke (Actually it is no joke - it is reality!) is the fact, that people will ask you if you?ve taken half a day vacation because you are leaving at around 6 pm already. Of course I am over-exaggerating now, but lot of these facts are true.

I found myself trapped in a life, where I lost so many precious things and slowly forgot who I am and what I am doing. You don?t even know where you belong to. Life is not easy - but it always is, what you make out of it. I thought I was wasting my time, pretending to be important but in the end all you want is a bit of security.
I started to like Singapore a lot. It is such a convenient place and as done before (see all the other blog entries) the only fun & joy I had during the last couple of month was there. Not only because of Sheela, but also because I found friends there and have a proper life there. I can go to work and know where I will be in the next couple of months. What I will do and whom I have to work with.

Yeah yeah ... In the end I am happy, that my transfer worked out ok and I am able to look forward into a ?bit-of-a-new-life? now.
I have some trips planned and am able to ?only? concentrate on my work now.

On the other hand it is kind of a weird feeling as well. I am making all the decisions now and from today to tomorrow you are changing your whole life. I am not a kid anymore and the decisions you make nowadays are / or can be important ones. You grow older and of course you hear it all the time that with becoming older, you will also gain more and more responsibility ... but people realize way too late, which potential tail these decisions can have. We always want to be independent and mature - then we?ve reached that stage and we would want to have the holding hand again.

I made this experience in the last time and yes I have to admit, that some of my decisions were wrong or decided way before I thought about what is right or wrong. I hated it to see that my life is slipping out of control and I am only the participant, but not the actual driver ... Therefore I?d really like to thank my friends of giving me a lot of helpful hints and recommendations. Especially Vinnie & Irene for their never-ending effort & time to understand me and of course for their support.

This weekend was a quite good one... Birthday of my grandpa ... It is every year a big event, as the family will meet again at their place and then drink / eat & celebrate our honored guest. He turned 89 this year and is fit like my sport-shoe ... Amazing to see in which good mental and conditional shape he & my grandma is. I hope that I will have some of his genes in my blood and my grandson?s will write the same about me in 65 years.

I think that is enough for now ... I will have more to tell, once I've settled down in
Singapore. Give me another 4 - 5 weeks and I will write more!

I have some more pics of Sydney - Singapore - Dubai and of course Munich here ... but
without having a proper computer it is quite hard to upload them. Will do that later ...

Things to write about ...

Here I am again - yes yes ... sorry for the long delay in between, but I am learning a lot of lessons in the last time and it takes me some time to adjust my personal feelings & behaviour.
I am currently again on the way back to Sydney, as I rolled off the project in Singapore yesterday. I am kinda sad to leave, as I really liked the place there and it is such a convenient life-style. You can travel a lot, the weather is throughout the whole year warm and humid - once you are used to that, it is quite a comfortable style.
The people there are very friendly and it is kind of a mixed crowd to go out with. 6 more hours to go on the plane and tonight I will stay with my friends Irene & Vinnie back ?home? in Sydney. Have to search for an apartment - woot woot - *suxxs* ... and of course ... I have to be back in the office tomorrow as well.

Anyway ... what happened in the last couple of months:
- Le grand voyage (I am not talking about my current trip - instead about the French movie, which I saw recently in the cinema.)
Let?s cut it short: wow - wow - wow ... I really liked the movie. I can highly recommend this movie to everyone. What is the movie about!? I think it is a quite difficult area - especially with all the cartoon things going on right now, but the movie is about Islamic education and the problems they are facing with the steady ongoing ?westernization?. In this example a son has to take his dad to his long journey across the whole Europe to their final destination ?Mekka? ... I am personally a big fan of all middle east countries and spent quite some time there already. It is indeed true, that some of these countries are facing major problems between their religion and western influences. Best example for that is alcohol or tourism. Alcohol is accepted but quiet expensive and only hotels are allowed to sell it. With the increasing numbers of incoming tourists & backpackers, also the consume-effect of these goods are increased. It is a question of time until it becomes more and more accepted there - but isn?t that going against their religion? It is truly a question of acceptance and as seen before, over the time, people start to accept more and more things.
Please do not get me wrong - I basically know nothing about Arabic countries or their religions, the above mentioned things were things I?ve seen, while I was there - might be that I am wrong - but nevertheless, I love the Arabic countries!.

Che - the old -*censored*- ...
Dude - I miss you !! He visited me beginning of the year for a couple of days. We had kind of a blast in Singapore, went clubbing often and just enjoyed the time. It is hard to describe, how good it feels, to have someone around who understands what you are talking about and knows what you think. *hach* ...
Anyway ... the old ?Pappnase? has left Phuket now.Yes ... can u imagine .. they (his girlfriend & him) left asia now. They went back to Europe for a couple of weeks! (Ok let?s phrase this sentence as a question!!) ... Not so sure if they will leave again - I mean both of them have been gone for quite a while now. Whatever you both do ... let me know ;) ... either I will come to good old Europe or I simply visit you on the next steps of your exciting tour.
All the best for you both!!

My parents!! - Yes they finally did it.
It was such a good day - Friday (already one week ago) my parents arrived in Singapore. They finally took the last step and came over to see their little son. It was sooooo good. I picked them up from the airport (which was quite difficult as I went out the night before until 5 am) and we?ve spent the weekend together. We went to Indonesia (Bintan) to enjoy a bit of the beach and just relax in our Jacuzzi and get pampered in a 3 hrs SPA treatment. *g* ...
It is the first time for my parents to be in Asia. And so far they really liked it. We had a wonderful Seafood BBQ - buffet at the sea side on Saturday night and we all melted with the amazing food. *yummy* ...
Unfortunately - due to my abrupt end of the Singapore stay (I was told 3 days ago that I have to leave), I won?t be able to see them again, when they return from their 1 week tour around in Malaysia. It is sad, and I am really sorry for that. I would have loved to hear all the exciting stories about the things they?ve seen. I am very proud that my parents came down to see me. It may sound stupid, but (It was sooooo funny to see them both at the beach - they were like two little children - they just enjoyed it sooo much - let?s ignore the sun burned skin *haha*)
I hope you both will come again soon. It was a biiiiig - big pleasure, to have you both here.


Sheela aka my girlfriend.
Yes yes yes ... I am finally back into a relationship again. I met Sheela on one of my first weekends in Singapore. The little dragon-princess (Please don?t get that wrong now! She knows what I am talking about!).
I actually do miss her a lot - but thanks to Internet & Skype / MSN we can talk a lot. It is difficult at the moment for both of us, as we don?t really know what will happen.
Anyway - once I am back in Singapore I will make sure to have a whole fridge, filled with grapes & Royce ;)
Beside of thousand other things I love about her, one amazing fact is, that she is able to have ice cold (an ice cube is NOTHING!!!) hands & feet, while running through 35 degrees hot Singapore. ;)
Sayang sayang - see you soon (k)



Work:
Probably one of my biggest issues at the moment ... I?ve been struggling for the last couple of weeks with major problems around work. Sometimes you think you are so valuable for the company [which applies as long as you keep your mouth shut] - but as soon as you bring in personal feelings, you get replaceable...
There will be a lot of things happening in the next few weeks and I am quiet curious to see where I will be by then.
More news to follow...


I am bloody tired today - not sure why, as the flight yesterday was a day flight and I actually slept on the plane as well. I went to bed at around 1 am and had a good sleep afterwards as well ...
I just came into our city office and just beside of it is one of the exclusive hotels here in Sydney. (We share the same entrance) ... Apparently there is Bill Clinton staying in this hotel right now - I?ve never seen so many policeman & reporters & people standing around. I thought they are there to welcome me back, but unfortunately nobody took pictures of me ;)

Have to work now ... Will post again soon ... Take care!