Germany - Frankfurt

22nd December 2014

Can't believe it took me 4 months in Germany to finally come to Frankfurt, especially since it's only 30 minutes away from Mannheim! We checked out of Ulmenweg in the afternoon, and only got to Frankfurt when the sun had already set. We booked a hotel at Frankfurt East. After depositing all our stupidly heavy luggage there, we took the train to the city centre for dinner. We found this nice little bar nearby, which I forgot to record its name unfortunately, because it served great pork knuckle. The mussels were nice too. We shared a glass of apple beer (I think), which tasted awful :P

We bought our mums a bottle of Yves Rocher cream each, since it was at a discount, plus we got 3 euros back from VAT refund :P

We looked around for the Christmas Market and it was by the river! It covered quite a long stretch, and 2 of the stalls that attracted my attention the most were: the sausage stall, which had a big bunch of sausages on charcoal grill; the fries with many flavours to choose from! I was quite sad that I was too full to try them ;(

The market was pretty nicely decorated, and there was a merry-go-round in the middle of it.

We took a stroll along the river, but it was really cold, so we didn't stay long! As we had to wake up early the next day to catch our flight, we decided to go back earlier for a good rest.

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I'm really glad that I decided to come to Europe for exchange. Of course, thanks to my mum's support, both emotionally and financially :P I think the places I enjoyed the most were Italy, Switzerland, and Greece. Hope I'll get to go UK the next time I'm in Europe! Spain, Portugal, Iceland, Norway, and a good France trip are also top on my bucket list :D

Germany - Cologne

19th December 2014

Lc came back to Mannheim on 18th after his exam :) I went to the hauptbahnhof to pick him up at abt 9pm, and I was like half asleep (after helping C pack her luggage), and while walking from the bus stop into the station, my legs just suddenly turned into jelly and I fell on both knees -.- And everyone stared at moi. T.T Waited pretty long for him since we weren't quite sure which train he could catch, and some of the trains were delayed for 50+min!

On the morning of the 19th, we headed to Cologne! It was drizzling when we arrived, way colder than expected. The famous cathedral was right outside the train station, so we quickly snapped a few pictures before leaving for our apartment. There was a Christmas tree and some festive deco, but we didn't see the Christmas market (which was on the other side of the cathedral).

We found a cozy apartment at Cologne South on airbnb. It was slightly far from town, but not too troublesome, and quite reasonably priced. There were also quite a lot of shops/cafes around, so pretty great for tourists who want to save some money! We napped till 6pm since we were both exhausted.

We wanted to take a tram to the city centre (cathedral), but ended up alighting at Neumarkt Christmas Market to satisfy our growling stomachs. We ate a looottttttt. The food was quite expensive, although cheaper than Munich Christmas Market, mostly around 4-6€ per serving.

So we had fried fish fillets first (which was great!!!), then this even-better salmon sandwich! The salmon was roasted using charcoal and tasted really tender and juicy and yummy. Lc also had a steak burger, and we shared a cup of glühwein. After allll that food, we were still craving for more, so lc had a waffle (which was lousy), and I had this bowl of mushrooms. I loved it!! There was a variety of mushrooms cooked in this nice I-don't-know-how-to-describe sauce with onions.

It was a really great meal, but we spent about 25-30€ altogether, which is quite expensive, considering we ate this out in the open! But the atmosphere was great and the food was fantastic. Worth every cent!

We headed to the cathedral for some night views. We crossed over to the other side of the bridge, but unfortunately it was quite dark and scary over there, so I quickly snapped some pictures and went back to the train station.

That concluded our first day in Cologne.

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20th December 2014

We woke up late again! We planned to see the Schloss Drachenburg at Königswinter that day, but first, we went to the city to get some perfume as gift for my mum and some other people.

4711 is one of the oldest and most famous brands that you can only find in Cologne (or very difficult to get elsewhere)! A lot of the scents were too exotic for me, but I managed to find a really nice female one, and another reasonably nice male one. The prices were so low! Typically about 20€ for 100ml. I definitely recommend it to everyone who's traveling to Cologne. On a side note, it's cheaper to buy from 4711 shops than souvenir shops.

We arrived at Königswinter really late. I didn't really expect the city to be so abandoned lol. We almost didn't meet anyone there. The hike up the mountain was a bit longer than expected, but we got there after about half an hour! Sadly, the castle was closed for maintenance T.T Well, at least we got some great exercise and nice views of the city along the way.

It was a gloomy day, but the sun finally greeted us when we arrived at the castle!

Slow tortoise :P

Look at that! Rhine is awesome.

We had to wait quite a while for the train, so we had a short walk around the city.
Everything was closed! Guess it was Chrismas time and everyone was gone?

Back in Cologne, we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant that we had been eyeing since we arrived. We had a plate of Peking Duck (which was actually just roast duck to our disappointment) and 回锅肉.

Afterwards, we visited the main Christmas Market at the cathedral. I didn't really think it was better than the one at Neumarkt. I liked the atmosphere at Neumarkt more!

We were too full for any food, but we got a packet of cathedral shaped butter cookies that had a tinge of cinnamon taste. I liked it even though I hate cinnamon, but it was too pricey!

We also got some chocolates for our friends in Singapore. And trust me, THIS IS THE BEST CHOCOLATE EVER. The Ragusa Blond with caramel is really... too good to be true. I'm not a fan of chocolates (or sweet stuff), but this chocolate is not overly sweet, smooth, and melts in your mouth. 3 bars for 10€. My friends also loved them! :)

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21st December 2014

Time to head home again :( Last 2 days in Germany!

Germany - Ludwisghafen

18th December 2014

Last day of exams for C, and we met up for a final meal before the end of exchange at the Chinese restaurant recommended by S at Ludwigshafen. Y came too! It was pretty crazy that none of us had been to Ludwigshafen when it was just a bridge away from our school... We ordered way too much food and ended up packing some for takeaway. Super greedy and desperate after 4 months in Europe :P

We went over to C's apartment to help her pack her stuff as she was leaving the following day for London! This girl ah... Bought tooooooooooooo many things. We threw away a lot, and I squeezed the remaining stuff into her 2 huge suitcases like crazy, and eventually settled everything at about 7pm.

The best thing that happened during exchange was meeting her haha :) We first met during the Strat Mag intensive seminar on 15 Sept. A group of us were going for lunch together at Mensa, and somehow we ended up sitting together after buying food (and lost the rest lol). Coincidentally, we were sort of 老乡s and are both very 宅, so we became each other's one of the few friends there.

有缘千里来相会 :)

Goodbyes are always hard, but our friendship will definitely be remembered and continued.

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21st December 2014

Back from Cologne, I brought lc to the same restaurant to have dinner so as to avoid pizzas and pastas.

After dinner, we strolled to the Weihnachtsmarkt and enjoyed some last breaths of the chilly air in Germany :(

Germany - Metzingen

16th Dec 2014

So I'd finished all my exams and headed to Metzingen OutletCity to shop for MK bags upon my mum's request :P It was a cold, cold day. I bought the Baden-Württemberg-Ticket and realised (after 4 months in Europe) that it didn't cover IC trains. Haha! So my plan was disrupted and I only arrived at Metzingen at 4+pm after a 3-hour long ride, when my phone was running out of batt and the sky was already turning dark. I initially wanted to visit Tübingen as well, since it was only 10 min away by train, but unfortunately there wasn't enough time :(

The outlets were not far from the train station, just a few minutes away by foot. And I walked pretty damn fast because it was freezing! I couldn't use the Google Maps as my phone was out of batt, so I just randomly walked (tried to consult a local map but couldn't really figure out the right direction) and fortunately went the correct way!

I headed straight to the Tommy Hilfiger shop to get a polo for lc as gift since he always wanted one and claims it's too expensive :P Took a while to decide which one to get, because all the colours had 50% discount (35€ only) except white and black which were 50€. White is really nice, and I was quite tempted to buy it, but 1) the material seemed to have black cloth fibres stuck on it and I was afraid that after washing it in the washing machine it'd just get ruined 2) I wasn't sure if the size would fit, so I thought it wasn't really worth the extra 15€! Anyway, after the purchase, I surprisingly realised that I could still get a 3€ tax refund :P

It took me another 10 min or so to find the Michael Kors shop. It was quite big, but didn't have many new designs. The outlet prices were in general 80-120€ cheaper than retail prices. Good deal! I think I spent 1 hr in the shop, trying to decide what bags to buy because my mum wanted me to get some as gifts for my cousins. So in the end I bought 3 wallets (all 99€ each) and 4 bags (ranging from 159€ to 279€), including 1 wallet and 1 bag for myself :D I think the shop assistants thought I was some typical China 土豪 lol. Got a tax refund of 123€ from an expenditure of almost 1100€. Not bad?

The bags were a lot heavier than expected, and it was late so I was ready to head home. On the way, I saw Triumph, so I went in to get some bras. Haha. I got 3 in the end, 27€ each. That's S$30 cheaper than in Singapore!

Finally, I grabbed my dinner at Macs and headed to the train station to wait for the train. I don't know why, but there was this chicken box at that specific Macs which was super awesome. I think it had 10 pieces of nuggets and 6 wings, and you can choose 3 different types of sauces to go with it, and it only cost 7 or 8€! Best deal ever. And I greedily devoured everything because I didn't have lunch haha!

I got home at 11+pm and I just trembled the whole way T.T I almost didn't get off at Heidelberg to change train because I fell asleep. There was this woman on the train who was talking so loudly on the phone and I was extremely annoyed by her because I was trying so hard to sleep, but eventually she woke me up with her volume at the exact moment when the train stopped at the Heidelberg station. So... I guess I had to thank her instead lol.

I think the outlets at Metzingen were okay, but a lot of people told me they couldn't find anything nice there. I guess if you're just going there to get some basic or classic designs then you'll be fine, but don't expect to find new designs there!