Uncategorized | NZ Muse

August 12, 2013

Halfway there: Random travel snippets and thoughts

Now that we’re halfway through our journey, I thought it might be time to pause and share a few random stats from the trip!

Biggest facepalm moment
Losing about 650 Thai baht (about $35 or so) one dark night, presumably to the back seat of a taxi. Even more galling: the driver didn’t have change for 1000 baht, which is why he took me to a 7/11 so I could buy something to break up the note in the first place. Cue gnashing of teeth afterwards when I dug into my pocket and realised I no longer had the change.

Biggest food gamble that paid off
Ordering bun moc from a street stall in Hanoi without actually knowing what it was, aside from the fact that it contained noodles. Honestly, I just liked the look of the word ‘moc’, and it seemed easier to pronounce than some of the other dishes.

Most affecting moment
The boy with the balloon head, horrifically bloated atop his undersized torso, cradled in the arms of an old woman in the corner of a temple at Angkor Wat.

Best transport
Qatar Airways, Hanoi to Bangkok. Super short, but super luxurious.

Worst transport
The hellish train ride from Germany to Switzerland, on which there was no air con and the windows were sealed shut. Not just swelteringly uncomfortable, but downright dangerous in those temperatures.

Most memorable moment
Oh, there are so many, but probably the most unexpected and unusual was the Emerald Cave in Thailand. Bonus points for pushing me out of my comfort zone in order to get there.

Best tour
Okay, it’s a bit of a copout as we only did 2 tours – but the winner would be Halong Bay. Beautiful scenery, fun activities – kayaking, attempting to make spring rolls together, karaoke – and a good group of people, not least of all our entertaining guide.

Most random sighting
Of all the things I expected to see on the streets of Edinburgh, the most pierced woman in the world would never have placed on the list. Weirdly, I’d seen her on TV not long before we left, but I had no idea where she lived.

Best book
Again, a bit of a copout, seeing as I’ve only read one book. Even worse, it was a kid’s book. But I’m not ashamed to say that Phantom Tollbooth is a wicked tale, and if you love language like I do, you’ll get a huge kick out of it. Especially enjoyable when picked up at a random coffee shop in Bangkok and accompanied by cake.

Biggest guilty pleasure
Mister Donut. Totally saved our lives in Hat Yai, and again at Bangkok airport.

Best plane entertainment
Scandal, without a doubt. I watched the pilot episode on a flight, then later got T hooked; we watched the whole first season and a third of the second throughout Rome and Athens. (Close second goes to The Newsroom; I can’t even remember which episode it was, but it doesn’t matter, because I am totally infatuated with Jim.)

Most overpriced meal
Caught out by the whole selling by weight thing, we spent basically $26 on stall food in Prague. There was a fair bit of roasted ham and a hearty potato dish, but most certainly not THAT much worth. Delicious, though.

Unforeseen, but oh-so-common annoyance
Electric tram/bus overhead lines. That shiz will ruin a good picture every time.

Biggest travel peeve
City tax. That is all.

August 8, 2013

How do you like to celebrate your birthday?

How did I wind up in Prague on my birthday?

Well, since I couldn’t find a host in Berlin for the weekend, I figured that instead of lingering in the city, we might as well head over the border to Prague, which so many people rave about. As it turns out, our Berlin weekday host would have been happy to have us longer – but we didn’t know that until we got there and met him. Nonetheless, it was nice to sleep in a real bed for a few days, and to see a very different part of Europe.

Along the main drag, Wencelaus Square pulsed with street musicians playing folk tunes, bright, clean food stalls serving up wholesome (if overpriced) fare, and cops on every block. But a couple blocks away, Prague’s parks showed off the city’s shadier side. Junkies slouched on benches, shooting up in the open just metres away from families with kids.

The architecture, of course, is astonishing. The Old and New Town have survived the centuries and remain surprisingly well-preserved.

The famous ‘dancing’ buildings – fortuitously, a tram happened to toddle along at just the right moment

The even more famous clock tower. So intricate, so ornate.

We didn’t pay to enter the castle, but wandering around the grounds kept us occupied for awhile.

Slightly out of the way: the Lennon wall.

My favourite place of all? The Charles Bridge. There’s plenty of reasons to dawdle as you make your way across, from the countless talented caricature artists to the master puppeteer – whose puppet actually plays an instrument – to the live bands, especially when a rowdy group of European guys in tight breeches are hooting it up and dancing like madmen. (Stag do, I bet. There were SO many of those going on that weekend.)

A little part of me still wishes we’d taken up the offer of free accommodation in Prague. For some bizarre reason, the rate for the first night was 5 euros each (!!!) but 25 euros for the second. I didn’t really want to move to a different place for the second night, though, and figured it evened out to a decent rate overall. When we got there, though? They were running short on double rooms and offered us free bunks in a dorm instead. After a lot of back and forth, T convinced me to go with the private room, and while I would have chosen differently if I was alone, it was nice to have a little luxury on my birthday.

How do you like to celebrate your birthday? Do you have any limits, or will you splurge as you feel like it?

August 6, 2013

Berlin on a budget: Four free/cheap things to do

Berlin is the place to be if you’re an arty, hip, vegan.

But even if you’re none of those things (like me), odds are you’re still going to fall in love with this colourful, vibrant city. We got to experience two sides of it during our visit – the quiet suburban neighbourhood, with blocky apartments and all – and the edgy eastern area. I think that one of the first sights we laid eyes on in Berlin sums up the city nicely: a skate park, bike trail and community garden, all slotted in tightly alongside a railway track.

Best of all, Berlin is ridiculously affordable in comparison to some other European cities (cough Munich cough). Our arty hostel cost 18 euros a bed, for example, and the awesome soup cafe down the road clocked in at under 5 euros a meal. Just walking around provides free entertainment in spades – my favourite surprise sights included a random abandoned-looking circus and a dodgy park where we napped in the sun and observed covert drug deals being done from afar.

Seriously, though, there are tons of frugal ways to enjoy yourself in Berlin. My recommendations:

Visit the Brandenburg Tor at night (free)
This imposing gate is impressive at any time of day, but it takes on an ethereal glow when lit up in the dark. Go, and thank me later.

It started raining on us about halfway there, but instead of turning back, we bought an umbrella from the nearest shop and forged on (which later served us equally well in the sweltering heat of Venice and Athens). Amidst the wind and wet, the Brandenburg Tor lit up the night like a beacon at the end of the road – a sight for sore eyes on our first night in Germany.

Buy strawberries from a street stand (cheap)
I’ve been horribly spoiled by European produce. This continent has shown me the light, with the sweetest berries and tomatoes I ever did taste, and in comparison, the stuff we get at home doesn’t even register. Buy a carton of strawberries from a street vendor, devour, and hold back tears of ecstasy. The fruit quite literally melts off the stem and drenches your mouth with its goodness. Once you start, you can’t stop.

Eat at Burgermeister (cheap)
Plunked firmly underneath a U-bahn station, Burgermeister dishes up a range of hearty burgers for under 5 euros. The tables go fast, so you might have to perch on one of the plastic crates, or head across the road to one of the nearby public benches. Be prepared to wait a while, and try not to think about the fact that the place used to be a public restroom.

Check out the rock climbing scene (free/cheap, depending on whether you watch or partake)
If you’re in the area, wander through Cassopeia on the East Side – the old industrial compound houses some outdoor climbing areas next to a few grungy bars. Alternatively, spend an afternoon exploring the Volkspark, which caters to everyone from bikers to beach volleyballers to climbers.

Ever been to Berlin? Any other budget-friendly recommendations for passing the time there?

August 2, 2013

Apple juice! Lakes! Bikes! And other Munich highlights

If there is one reason one should always wear a bra, it’s the flexibility to go for a swim at any time.

It was a devilishly hot day in Munich as we strolled through the English garden, so I naturally cursed the fact that I couldn’t join the swarms of people jumping into the river. (We later heard that there are parts of the park where locals swim/sunbathe in the buff, but we weren’t in that area, and I’m really not down with swimming sans clothing myself.)

But then! This happened…

Surfing in the park

A little further down, we spotted a few guys carrying surfboards. Eh? Curiosity piqued, we followed them and wound up at a bridge where surfers were queued up on both sides of the river, taking turns to ride the waves that surged out from under the bridge on a rolling basis. Munich may be landlocked, but the surfers have found ways to get their fix.

Staying in a centuries-old farmhouse

Our Hospitality Club host happened to live in Kranzberg, a small village north of Munich, in an ancient farmhouse where the bathroom floor sagged and they made their own apple juice. (It was hands down best apple juice I’ve ever tasted, and we must have guzzled close to a dozen bottles during our stay.) Not only was the surrounding interesting, he was a fascinating character himself – an accomplished scientist with a bunch of patents to his name, an artist, a musician, and an extensive traveller.

Biking through the countryside

Despite a shaky start – I literally haven’t gotten on a bike for over a decade –he let us use his bikes for a day trip, and oh boy. We killed ourselves out there. Riding to secluded lakes for a swim, through forest trails and to nearby Freising took us the better part of a day, and we felt it all over the next day. I literally had bruises on my thighs for a week (a combination of bad technique and a too-big bike, methinks).

Rolling around in a BMW

There’s plenty to satisfy gearheads in Munich, not least the BMW Welt (free to visit) and the BMW Museum (not free). You can also rent a BMW, either by the hour, for a day, or overnight – they call it a test drive, but they charge you for the privilege. That said, it’s not a bad price, and if you’re under 25 you won’t be excluded – you just won’t be able to take out the higher powered models. How it works is that you pay by the hour for up to three hours, and beyond that, you won’t pay any extra for the whole day. It’s a wacky way to structure pricing, but it’s a good gimmick. More info and fees here.

July 31, 2013

Four things that blew my mind in Berlin

The beach bars
Berlin might not have an ocean, but it DOES have a river. And along that river are a handful of beach bars, complete with sand, hammocks, and recliners – perfect for chilling out with a cold bevvie for an hour or so in the middle of the day. Ingenious.

The glass
Overall, I found Germany to to be surprisingly environmentally conscious. Everything gets separated out for recycling, and almost all the bottles are made out of glass. Apparently they’re very conscious about PET plastic here. Drinking outdoors (e.g. at one of these rocking beach bars)? You’re probably going to get charged 2 euros as a deposit, which you get refunded when you return your bottle to the bar/counter.

(Related: I can’t remember the last time I saw a sipper bottle on this continent. Even the water bottles/sports drinks all come in flat screw top lids, which is so very different from home.)

The art
According to T, I have a talent for finding us accommodation in the “ghetto”. We stayed in the east for a few days, not far from East Side Gallery, where graffiti is rampant and the streets are, well, gritty. Whatever. The street art here is unreal. As for the remains of the Berlin Wall, they weren’t as physically tall as I expected, but the murals were every bit as vibrant and emotional as I could have imagined.

Over the Oberbaum bridge, you might spot a freaky pink man creeping up the side of a building – but look closer, and you’ll see he’s made up of countless small skeletons. Or, a little further along, a man in handcuffs, which upon a second look, are actually golden watches. Now that’s dark.

The gardens
As our awesome Hospitality Club host in Berlin explained, a lot of apartment-dwellers (like him and his girlfriend) rent gardens so they can create a little oasis for themselves. There are little garden communities all over, where tenants can landscape their patch, build little houses, and get away from the hustle and bustle. For all that, though, there are plenty of regulations. You have to dedicate a certain amount of your land to growing fruit/vegetables, and you can’t live in your little house on a permanent basis. It’s strictly a part-time kind of thing.

This COMPLETELY blew my mind; gardens and backyards are something we definitely take for granted in New Zealand. /shameface

July 26, 2013

How to work for free AND have the time of your life doing it

So y’all want to know more about what volunteering at Englischhausen was like? Glad to oblige.

In a nutshell: One week. A group of locals. An equal number of Anglos (English-speaking volunteers). One secluded rural location. Total English immersion, led by an MC and a programme director.

(Just a note: I’m referring to the German arm of the umbrella Diverbo programme, but there is also a Spanish one, the original one, which runs on the same model and known as Pueblo Ingles. I’m told they party a lot harder and the days start an hour later/finish an hour later. The Spanish one also has a lot more locations. PLUS there’s another held in Ireland, which I understand is for Spaniards as well.)

What to expect

Do NOT go if you want to improve your German.
It is not a language exchange. It is an English immersion course, and only English is spoken all week (even to the German hotel staff, though they do understand English, and even amongst the German students themselves). That’s why they want native English speakers as volunteers. HOWEVER, there is an equivalent immersion programme for those who want to learn Spanish, and you should get a discount if you are a veteran (I got an email right after finishing our volunteer week offering one).

Expect to talk more than you’ve ever talked in your life.
I may be exaggerating slightly, but if you have a job like mine that mostly consists of sitting at a computer, you probably don’t speak out loud all that often during the work day. The Englischhausen course is based around one-to-one sessions where you pair up with a student and talk for an hour at a time.

What about? Absolutely anything. Family. Work. Culture. Travel (they were all very well travelled and a bunch had actually been to NZ before). Economics and politics. The way the world is headed. Or simply answering questions about how to phrase certain things, how to construct sentences, whether you would use this word or that word, clarifying the meanings of words or phrases.

We did this several times a day, with breaks for lunch, phone sessions (the same thing, but talking on the phone), a few group discussion sessions and some group activities. Along the way, we corrected any mistakes they made and exposed them to a lot of new vocabulary.

Be prepared to work hard and play hard.
Long days, late nights – especially if you partake in the evening activities, and you definitely should. Ours included a campfire, pub quiz, and a good old party on the last night. Ain’t no better way to bond than by doing the YMCA/Gangnam dance en masse. It’s always the dark horses who turn out to have the best moves…

You may come out of it a tad sleep deprived, but you’ll have a pretty comfortable stay.
There’s good food (lots of it) very nice accommodation, a bucolic and isolated location, a sauna, pool, and Jacuzzi (though neither of the latter are particularly hot). I loved taking walks in the forest during our sessions and picking fruit along the way. The wild berries may have been almost microscopic, but the strawberries were the sweetest I’ve ever tasted in my life.

Think about something you might like to share with the group.
Every evening we had a variety hour, where a few people took part in theatre skits and others gave presentations. We learned about American football, corporate burnout, heard Swedish and Norwegian songs, and a ton of jokes.

I think that if you’re from a smaller country, it’s nice to take the chance to share something from it that most people might not otherwise be exposed to. T played a few videos of different hakas and explained the tradition, demonstrated a hongi, and when it came time to share a local song around the bonfire, we teamed up with the sole Aussie in the group to do Pokarekare Ana (which she actually knew the lyrics to, and beat me to suggesting!) It’s funny, because before leaving homeI thought to myself that we should learn a simple song like that in full, in case we were ever compelled to sing an NZ song acapella overseas. We didn’t, though, and had to Google the words for the latter verses.

There will be tears.
When you leave, that is. (And maybe in between, who knows?) I wouldn’t say I met any soul sister/brother types, but I enjoyed the company of every single one of the students, from my young and wide-eyed Swiss buddy to the older and more gregarious guys. We also got on surprisingly well with some of the older Anglo ladies, who I think saw their own kids reflected in us.

Apply if:

You like to talk.
Self-explanatory, really.

You’re interested in people.
Talking is one part of the equation; listening is the other.

You aren’t a douchebag.
You’re going to be thrown in with a bunch of people from all different countries, cultures, beliefs, and walks of life. In a situation like this, you don’t want to find yourself going out of your way to avoid certain people all week. But if you DO end up being that person, hey, at least you’re giving everyone else something in common to bond over.

A few last thoughts…

Overall, our group of students had an incredibly high level of English and we hardly ever had trouble understanding them. It was just a matter of a) practice and b) confidence, both of which I think they gained over the week. I have so much respect for them. I can’t ever imagine improving my grasp of German or Japanese – the two languages I took oh-so-briefly in high school and now remember maybe five words of each – to the point that I could do the same type of thing.

Most had learned English in school, and some had done non-intensive courses (except one guy who had picked up multiple languages simply by literally learning on the job) but now wanted or needed to improve their fluency for whatever reason. Some were sent by their employers, some attended of their own accord. All were awesome human beings, and I would love to meet them again; I think we convinced a couple to come visit after regaling them with tales of NZ life, so here’s hoping…

The course exposes them to a lot of different accents, which I’m sure was super challenging, but also a good thing to be forced to deal with. I found it interesting how some of the Germans were more accustomed to UK spelling/pronunciation/expressions while others were more Americanised. (I don’t think I realised just how large the gap is until this week.) Either way, I had to laugh when one of the students mentioned that when it came time to learn the lyrics to the German song they sang around the campfire, some of them found themselves (mis)pronouncing words like an Anglo would.

Again, here is the website for Diverbo. Volunteers have their food and accommodation covered (the students pay a fee to participate, obviously) but have to fund flights themselves. Personally, I’m angling to apply for Pueblo Ingles in the future and build a trip to Madrid and Portugal around that…

July 22, 2013

Communication FTW! A week of English volunteering in the Black Forest

I never worried too much about potentially running into language barriers before we set out. Maybe I should have, but as it turns out, I didn’t really need to. English is truly universal, like it or not.

While I tried to memorise a few key words from my handy phrasebook in the Triposo app for each new country we entered, 99% of the time it was more of a nice-to-have rather than a need. Anyone in a frontline role serving customers in the countries we visited usually understood a LITTLE bit of English, and with gestures, we could usually bridge the gap if there was one. And of course, anytime you get a group of travellers that hails from different countries, they’ll all communicate in English. It’s a beautiful thing.

But when you DO run up against someone who speaks absolutely no English? It’s frustrating. Words are my currency, both at work and in, well, LIFE. So this past week, which I spent volunteering at an immersive conversational English language programme in Germany, was incredibly interesting. Meeting these Germans for the first time, when they stuttered and paused and generally struggled to find the right words to express themselves, vs the end of the week when sentences flowed much more freely and they started to correct themselves mid-sentence as needed, was rewarding to the extreme. Language barriers, we slayed you good.

The Anglos on the course mainly consisted of retirees or teachers (which makes sense really, since they’re currently enjoying their summer holidays), though I thought there might be more young travellers like ourselves (and apparently the Spanish courses often skew younger). Most of them had taken part in the programme before, so I was a little apprehensive about how we might fare as newbies. Almost everything I know I gained through simply reading a heckuva lot. I don’t know the rules of grammar inside out. I don’t know what a proposition or a participle is. I work on instinct, honed by years of reading and writing. As it turned out, though, I didn’t need to know the WHYs, though it helped when I did.

It’s always funny when you throw a bunch of strangers together in close quarters, especially for something as intensive as this one-week course. After a few days, you get more comfortable around each other, but tensions also bubble to the surface, certain groups form, and personality clashes become evident. I hate to say it, but a lot of the Americans on the course (who made up the majority of the ‘Anglos’, or English-speaking volunteer teachers) were pretty stereotypically American. The kind who give the US a bad name. Some were lovely for the most part (as long as you avoided saying ANYTHING vaguely critical about the US) while others were of the brash, ‘do you have tea? is it fresh? oh, you don’t have iced tea? well, can I get a pot of tea and a glass of ice cubes so I can make my own iced tea rather than just GET SOMETHING THAT YOU ACTUALLY SERVE?‘ variety. The programme is meant to attract openminded types, but I think we were a tad lacking in diversity within the American contingent in this case.

What really got our goat was how arrogant they could be. For example, one told T that she found him difficult to understand because he “says things wrong”. Certain words and expressions vary in different parts of the world, right? That’s different, not wrong. Americans say purse, those in the UK and down under say handbag. Vacation versus holiday. Gas vs petrol. And if we must quibble, then let’s acknowledge that British English is much, MUCH older than American English.

That aside, it was one of the best experiences of our trip – and maybe even of my life. I’m already scheming to return to Europe to try out the Spanish version of the programme, and maybe visit some of the people we met this week.

July 20, 2013

Lest we forget: Auckland by night

I’m almost starting to feel a few pangs of homesickness. Not quite, though!

Here are a few photos I took of Auckland shortly before we left.

July 13, 2013

Link love (Powered by bikes and BMWs)

It’s been a whirlwind few weeks since we touched down at Heathrow. And the thing is, not every single one of the places we’ve visited warrants a post of its own. Between London and Germany, I haven’t really felt inspired to put pen to paper at length about any of the towns or cities we’ve passed through. So instead, you get a brief summary:

Edinburgh – as one commenter on my London post put it, London failed to truly capture her heart, and I have to agree. Edinburgh, on the other hand? Absolutely brimming with charm – and yes, the accents. Plus, can you imagine walking past a ginormous castle every single day?

Brussels – epic street murals. Oh, and waffles. Otherwise, it was a tad dull, to be honest. I wanted to stop in at Bruges as well, but instead we next visited…

Maastricht – thanks to the Yes and Yes Amsterdam mini travel guide, I was alerted to this quaint little southern Dutch town. Bring a full wallet and empty stomach; unfortunately I did this the wrong way around.

Amsterdam – all we expected, really, from canals to bikes to coffee shops and parks, trams and the red light district.

Until I get around to fleshing out my thoughts on Germany, here’s some more good reading to whet your appetite.

Quit your job while you’re young in order to travel, says Jess Yurasek on Medium.

And on that note, here’s Financial Samurai on some other common reasons why people quit their jobs.

Here is a beautiful guest post on Stephany Writes – a letter by Akirah Robinson to her younger self.

I’m sure you’ll find something new and great on this Yes and Yes list of amazing magazines you should be reading.

A reminder of why having money is a wonderful thing (as if you could forget!) over at Grumpy Rumblings

A step by step guide to combining finances, over at L Bee and the Money Tree

Via A Practical Wedding: what if your friends don’t like your partner?

Ashley has a killer post on the liquid nature of truth.

Perfectly Cursed Life lists the new milestones in life.

And Chelsea Talks Smack is back with 13 things she wished she’d believed her mother told her.

I’m not sure if I’ll be online over the next week; if not, I’ll catch you on the flipside. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.

July 10, 2013

London, how do I love thee?

There are many things I love about London. Let’s see:

The Tube. I am in Type A love with the Underground. Efficient public transport – say what? Until now, it was unfathomable to an Aucklander like me that I could rock up at a station and rest easy knowing a train would be along in a few minutes. On time. No need to check schedules before leaving the house – just turn up and step aboard. It might be a little pricey, but as value for money goes, it beats what I’m used to any day, if only for the fact that you can navigate around different areas of the city by seamlessly changing train lines,

The parks. Meticulously manicured. Sprawling, magnificent, made for people-watching. With squirrels to feed, fountains, statues, gardens, bikes for rent, even freaking carousels right on the grounds – it’s something straight off the pages of Mary Poppins. Just watch out for the scummy ponds.

The terrain. It’s flat and oh-so-walkable. Even T traipsed around all day, every day, nary a complaint.

The buildings. Charming architecture, laden with detail, practically oozing history.

The recycling. Oh yes. After Asia, I did a little happy dance after seeing not just public bins and recycling bins, but separate bins for different TYPES of materials – paper, plastic, glass … A sight for sore eyes, is all I have to say about that.

Yep, I was pleasantly surprised by Londontown, especially after having just spent two days with a bunch of Brits on a boat in Vietnam and hearing their tales.

But London has never held a huge draw for me. A place to visit? Hell yeah. A place to live? Don’t see the appeal. I’m in the minority of my graduating class – almost everyone I went to university with is a) currently in London, b) about to move to London, or c) has already done their stint in London and returned to NZ, or perhaps moved on somewhere else entirely. With two-year visas being easy to get and plenty of Kiwis enjoying the privileges of British-born parents, the London OE is still well and truly in fashion, abysmal job market not withstanding.

So when my London friends and family asked if, having experienced the city for a few days, if I could see myself living here, the answer was still no, for all the reasons I already suspected.

For one, the weather. You might laugh at this, but if I’m going to leave New Zealand, it better damn well be for sunnier shores. Good weather counts for a lot in my books.

Prices are also a factor. Some things, like milk, internet and cars, are way cheaper. But the cost of living is pretty high, and starting salaries low (at least in media).

All the same, London was a fantastic place to visit. There’s just so much to see (I would literally just stroll around gaping up at the buildings on every street). If you were to visit, you’d probably have an entirely different experience; we caught street performers in Southbank and Leicester Square, and spent hours at Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, which were right next to our hostel. Cyclists, dog walkers, schoolkids, mums and babies, rowers, longboarders, a random guy breakdancing and posing while his friends filmed him – we watched them all go by. Best of all was a serendipitous detour by one of the murky looking ponds, where we caught two giant geese literally racing across the water – wings outstretched, feet skimming the surface.

Our last day was rounded off with a picnic and nap outdoors, where I wrote this post, killing time before our train up to Edinburgh.

Juxtaposition FTW at Southbank skate park