Germany 2012 Part 1

Once again, trip to Germany which is almost a yearly event for me. This should be the longest trip ever to Germany, setting off from 2nd September and returning back on 21st September. Our itinerary will be Hamburg for first 2 weeks. On the third week we will drive from Hamburg to Elsfleth to visit some customers and check into a hotel in Bremen on the same day. The next day, we will drive from Bremen to Leer. The rest of the trip will be fully in Bremen for a day before we head our way back to Singapore.


THE FOOD WE EAT

I have been telling my friends that Germany isn't what they imagine to be "that" expensive. In fact, Singapore is more expensive now mainly due to the weaken Euro. If you dine in a restaurant, the price is about 20% lower than Singapore. If you like Hugo Boss or Longchamp (even Prada), you will get a saving of 50% or more depending on what you buy. If you are looking for a coffee machine, all models are half price as compared to Singapore. My boss bought a Delonghi at just Euro 125.00 and 750 coffee capsules at just Euro 297.00. If you are into toys, most toys in departmental stores are lower priced as compared to Singapore. If you like ice-cream, you pay 3 to 4 times lower for the same kind of quality you have in Singapore. I also pack chocolate and candies into a box for checking in. I can't imagine I bought 6kg of it after weighing the box at the airport.

Eisbein. One of my favourite dish in Germany. I had only half of it this trip and this one nearly broke my baby tooth. It's shaking now.

This restaurant serve very nice mushroom soup. Usually I order tomato suppen as they taste much better in Germany as compared to Singapore. 

Yes, this is curry chicken but Portuguese style. There is a stretch of Portuguese and Spanish restaurant near Voesetzen which is almost like Little Portugal or Little Spain. There are also many Italian restaurants in Germany. We also had Chinese and Korean food in Germany.

I paid only Euro 1.80 for the cheese cake and Euro 1.50 for the coffee. Total spent is Euro 3.30 for this simple lunch. 

Food to go. Sometimes we just like to dine in front of our work desk (computer).

The portion is huge that there was once I had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It happened when I ate the first instalment before driving from Bremen to Leer, 2nd instalment upon reaching Leer and last instalment before I drove back to Bremen again. The curry on the left is actually soup, not gravy and it taste much better than I expected.


THE CARS I SAW

There are many vintage cars in Germany. It's only if your hands or the car is faster because I missed many of them. Here are some of them. The above looks like a Rover Mini.

This looks an Austin Mini to me. I am not a Mini expert but I just love how they look.

I used to hate the W123 when I was a kid because it looks ugly. Just recently, I love this edition of the E-Class predecessor. I was considering to buy one if I sell my current ride.

I always love Citroen but I am always too slow for the DS. This H Truck was park in the flea market (in fact, I met her twice in 2 flohmarkt) and it's an Espresso truck which serve coffee.

I was almost fooled by this Ford Crown (I think so) but this is Hamburg, not New York City.

My Kombie in red and it's getting rare in Singapore. 

This monster zoomed past me when I was standing in front of my hotel.

Fisker Karma. Oh my god, this is the first time I seen this car in flesh.

This is nothing special. Golf Plus, our ride for this year.


THE TOYS I LIKE

Wiking! I always tell myself to skip these but I simply cannot resist when so many of them are put together. I bought a car and some little people eventually.

I wanted this but the box is slightly damage. If I am paying so much for a "little" car, I need a good box.

I told myself to find the latest VW Beetle in Germany. I don't mind the size but I really mind the price. The tag just says no to my wallet.

I promised that I really wanted a Bruder especially the Land Rover (not featured here). The price in Singapore is way too much and you get a lot of plastic for this money. The size of the toy stopped me because I don't know how I am going to pack this into my luggage.

This is not expensive to buy but it is expensive to ship back to Singapore. I really want the brown one.


THE FLOHMARKT I WENT

Bad luck on first flohmarkt I went to. It was raining so I took a taxi there because the Hauptbahnhof is a 5 minutes walking distance from my hotel.

Saw some old and slightly beaten up toys.

After walking for half an hour, I saw some light in the tunnel.

This stall has very beaten up toy cars with broken arms and legs. Luckily, the seller had some better condition cars which I pick them not from the junk box. I did a bundle sale and paid 50 Euro for around 7 cars (various sizes).

The next day, which is a Sunday, I went the 2nd flohmarkt of the first weekend.

Hurray. I did better because I paid 1 to 3 Euro per car here.

The 3rd one was near my hotel.

I thought I was going to get disappointed.

Then I found "gold", 6 pots in all. The price I paid for this thing is amazing low. I dirtied my hands and sweat a little while ramaging through the cars containers by containers. Total score at this stall is 15 cars. Wow.

The flohmarkt on my 2nd weekend in Hamburg are all so faraway from my hotel. I really had bad luck on this small flea market. I just found 2 Siku at $0.25 each.

The last flohmarkt I went is the largest one so far for this trip. I had a lot of hopes on this one.

 They sell vintage motorcycles as well.

I saw vintage tractor pedal car as well but I had really zero luck for this one. No toy cars!!! If you like to see the toy cars I bought and the shops I went to, tune in closely for my post on Germany 2012 part 2.

The Yung Ping Road Diaries

I am supposed to post these photos before my trip since it will be a long 3 weeks in Germany. I will bring you back to time where I spend most of my childhood. I used to live in block 5 (on the left) which my dad bought it for just a mere $9500.00 in 1973 years before my parents were married. We sold it to a man and shifted to a new apartment in 1999. This place is now a deserted estate and I decided to visit this place before it was torn down or upgraded for rentals.

The unit which is circled in black is where I used to stay. The step or corridor which was circled in red  was where I used to play my toys. Sorry for not bolding the circles.

Nothing has changed. Brought back some memories when I saw the familiar door in front of me.

Nothing changed internally too. The wall tiles are still the same as before. The same goes for the green cabinet on the left which was not in the photo.

There are actually 6 sister blocks (5 to 10) since they look identical. I went to block 7 and 8 to take a look since I used to pass by there when my late grandma brought us to NTUC supermarket or haircuts. It's a shame that the barber shops and toy shops we frequent are all demolished. The distinctive feature of these 6 blocks should be the connecting bridge between blocks. They connect the residents of both blocks together.

Letter box which I used to help my parents fetch letters at times.

These have been upgraded in late 80s. Original ones looked more vintage.

Elevators that already ceased operations. Used to take elevators for fun and hide-and-seek only since I stay on the first level.

There used to be a slide made of stone or granite with width of about 3 meters laying against the stairs. I don't know when did the authorities demolish it and fill it up to merge with stairs on both sides. Don't try to slide down when the sun was up and shining because I got burnt many times.

There used to be children playing here but there is nobody staying in this estate already.

Little Tikes! Have the urge to take it back home.

The pink stone chairs which I used to play my toys. The ones in front of our unit are demolished so I have to take a photo shot behind block 6. I used to have this Yatming Honda Civic for just a day and dumped it into the lot of cars in my toy box. I remembered my aunt (my father's youngest sister) came to my house with my cousins. She gave me a dollar and I made my way down to the Indian provision shop which was just 5 mins away. They like to hang all toys then (to save space for provisions maybe) and I looked up and pointed to the green car. I chose it because it's a hatchback. I ripped the card happily to release the car. Little did I know that it was a Honda Civic till I looked at the base. My cousin was sitting at the pink stone chair just in front of our unit, so I just rammed the car against her buttocks. After playing for less than 5 minutes, the front bumper gave way and detached from the car. This should be the toy I broke in the shortest time. I couldn't remember about this toy car after that as I don't like toys which are already broken. I managed to get this car back again and don't mind to have a few more spares if the price is reasonable. I placed it against the Tomica and it is actually larger as I always thought that it is a Tomica copy. More post coming up in the next few days since I am absence for 3 weeks.

Proton Saga Iswara Taxi

I found a Proton Saga Iswara Taxi last week when I visited the usual flea market I frequent. The scale of the Proton should be approximate 1/20 when compared to the 1/35 Hyundai Sonata. It's a plastic model which is actually a coin bank rather than a toy. I have heard that one of the bank has given this as a gift some 20 years ago. I have been looking for this item and I know I have to get it when I saw it parked at one corner of a shelf.

It puzzles me as it has "The Singapore Taxi" decals on both sides of the car. We have never used a Proton as a taxi because our taxis in the 80s or 90s are either Nissan Cedric or Toyota Crown and Corona. Occasionally, you will encounter a Opel Omega Wagon, London cab or a Mercedes taxi. This coin bank must have been issued in the early 90s as it looked more like a Iswara rather than the earlier Saga. Red and White are used by TransCab but this company is only founded in 2004. Before 1994, we have only Yellow Top taxis, Blue Comfort taxis and White SMRT taxis. I figured that this is actually a Malaysian taxi as Malaysia has Red-White colour combination similar to this Proton taxi and Proton is Malaysia's National car.

The Taxi does comes with a registration number which is a Johore registration plate. I do not know if the previous owner custom his own decals onto the taxi. Although the taxi is play worn and has missing wing mirrors but it is a rare find. Anyone knows which bank issued this as a souvenir? Just like to know more of the history of this item.