My Journey so far...

It’s been nearly a month I’m in Germany... and my travelogue is dead quiet as i’m busy doing my attachment, settling down and travel around europe during weekends. And I hardly have the time to rest, to seat down and type my stories and upload photos of my travels.


I can’t believe that I have the chance to be here in Europe. I mean never had thought about it. I thought I din’t stand a chance to impress the interview panel. My hopes were low… Until the result had been announced. Wait what? My name is in the list?!!! I can’t help to take a second look to be assure. Wow~ it’s really true. Up until now, I still can’t believe that I’m actually living here O. O

I’m really grateful for this opportunity of a lifetime. 无限感恩~!

    


I’m currently doing my internship in Villingen-Schwenningen. Doing research in the field of industrial metrology. For the past few weeks, was trying to fit in the corporate culture here, and try to adapt to the society in Germany. It’s isn’t that hard after all. And not forgetting to adapt the cold climate here. The cold wind of winter that blows right into your face which gives you a chill. The minimum temperature, it can hit 4 degree Celsius. and that is during mid September. I wondering how low it can go during the winter.


For the first 10 days, i’m lining a lovely city known as Villingen. located next to the Black Forest and near the border of France and Switzerland. Well, it’s not actually a ‘city’ city, It’s more like a town city, where you can’t see any skyscrapers at all, and buildings there are more cottage like There are four historical clock tower gates that are situated at the north, south, east and west if the town, each of them are connected with walls. which makes the city into a little fort . Paved roads and small canal with fresh water running along them. The streets are well decorated with classic lamp posts, benches and trees as well. During autumn, the tree leaves turns golden, which is a beautiful scene to behold. If you travel out of town by car, you will see fields and fields of crops ready to be harvest. It will be like mosaic nicely arranged on the ground if view from the sky. Lines and lines of flowers fills the field with arrays of colors. If you look far at the mountains, you will notice that you are surrounded by the pine trees of the Black forest. In the grassland not far away, you can see herds of lamb feeding on the vast field of lush green grass. You can feel the wind gently blow across the land, you can hear the whistling of the grass and trees. Listen silently with your heart, and you will here symphony of the nature.

It’s really beautiful > . <


However, I have to move to Bad Dürrheim for the rest of my stay in Germany, a spa/ resort village. (well, it’s not as remote at all, it’s more like a town instead). It is usually describe as a town with many old people as it’s major industry is medicinal spa specially catered for people in their golden age. One thing interesting about this town is, they planted chestnut tree everywhere!!!

Woohoo~ free chestnut up for grab! There is also a trekking trail that leads into the Black forest (just right in front of my door step)

The downside of staying here is, it is not convenient as compare to Villingen. every morning, we need to walk 20 mins in the cold to the nearest stop to take bus to Schwenningen city, then transfer another bus to reach our company at Mulhasen. The total travel time is like one hour. (If go by car, it takes around). After the weekend travel, we usually reached the Schwenningen Station at night, not much buses available, so we have to take cab or called buses (call to a hotline, and a special mini bus will fetch us)



Oh yah, right… Me and my partner Yongyan usually travel around Europe during the weekends or holidays. We meet up with other teams (Zhi hong & Rong Chen, Snowie & Edwin.and Lindy & Issac) which are staying at different part of Europe, and travel together. Well, travel with friends is fun experience indeed.

Places I been for the past one month…

 Vienna, Austria   
  Prague, Czech Republic 
 Munich, Germany
 Venice-Florence-Pisa-Rome, Italy



What’s next? BERLIN for this weekend!


Too bad, don’t have enough time to upload the photos yet. but will blog about these exciting travels once I have the free time to seat down, drink coffee, listen to music and write.


Gosh, look at the time! Have to get going, gonna catch a train soon to Berlin! .


Tschüs!


Signing off
Zen

UPDATE : One more week~ to a land Far Far Away

Hi all travelers! 

It's been ages since my previous post. Well, I don't have the time to update.

Din't even have the time to upload my Taiwan travelogue that I went this March.

You know, life as a final year student is kinda hard, as there are tons of presentations, reports, and assignments waiting for you. What more, is the final exam I ever had in Polytechnic that makes me need to devote 100% of my time to focus on it. The semester had ended, and entered a new one. But yet, I'm as busy as usual... 

Busy with what? 

Preparing for my internship in Germany! Woohoo~ 

A land popular for it's Beer and Bratwurst.

I din't expect I have the chance to travel all the way to Europe to learn and explore. 

Finally all the hard work to get into the list paid off. 

By the way, I really appreciate this once a life time opportunity given by my polytechnic.

Oh gosh, I'm flying off next week, still have a lot of things to prepare as it gonna be long autumn and winter.

Kinda excited, I never experience autumn and winter before, as I'm living in a climate that is only hot and extra hot like Singapore and Malaysia. The chill breeze, is enough to make me enthusiastic for the trip. 

Yeah, I'm able to be there for the October Fest, The Reunification Day of Germany, Halloween and Christmas Market. 

What more, I got myself a Eurail pass, where I can travel around Europe unlimited for 15 days in 2 months.

It's really really expensive, but will make full use of it. *wink :D 

Here I come... Germany, France, Itally, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands,  Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland... ... 

Man, I couldn't believe that my dream came true >.<

I think I better go back to start packing now and have intensive German Language crash course.

Stay tune for more updates~

Auf Wiedersehen! ('Good bye' in German)

Signing off

Zen 

A Humble Beginning

Hello Mina-san!

Welcome to my humble journal/blog about my travels and photography. 

Well, I set up this blog to share my adventures and what I experienced during my travelling. Adventure might sound cheesy, but it is true. When you are constantly moving around, you will encounter a lot of difficulties and obstacles such as...stepping out of your comfort zone, facing people from different background and culture, not knowing where you are (lost) and finding your way to reach your destination. It is also a challenge when you attempt to communicate with the locals to which language is a barrier, surviving your trip with limited budget... the possibilities are endless.

I believe all of us are familiar with a popular cartoon series, 'Pokemon'. When I was a kid, I was inspired by this character ,Ash Ketchum. I envy that he can travel to see the world, gaining experiences and found friendship along in his journey to be a Pokemon Master.

Besides that, the TV-show, 'The Amazing Race' ,watching contestants crossing over the seven seas, countries and continents, exploring different corner of the world, seeing the beauty of amazing wonders, it really is an eye opener. At that point, I realized that the world is bigger than what I imagine.

Now is my turn to start my voyage.

There  is a Chinese proverb that goes like this

'千里之行,始于足下'

which means ' A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step'

We always wish we can do something or go somewhere of our desire. Although we had everything well-planned in our mind, But if you don't take the first step, you will be always standing on the same spot.I gotta admit taking the first step isn't easy at all.

What it takes is Courage & Confidence to take the initiative to start. And Perseverance is needed to complete the rest of the course. Little by little, step by step, eventually we will reach our destination.

So, let's start saving right now for the next journey!

Hahaha~