Am now back from Berlin! Well, was back almost a week ago, actually. It was a short but good trip in general. Oh, and Germany didn't win the Euro Championship this year. I think I had really jinxed that country just by being there...which actually worked fine for me because I wanted Spain to win anyway.
Saw a lot of German fans on Sunday, but I didn't get to watch the match itself. Good thing I have a friend and colleague to update me on the results while I was on the plane. Yes, I had my mobile turned on throughout the whole 40min flight, including during take-off and landing. I usually always make it a point to switch off my phone, but not on this particular flight.
Well guess what? The plane didn't crash! Maybe because we were sitting too far back in the plane away from the navigation equipment ;o). Anyway, I don't know how true it is that mobile signals affect the plane's navigating equipment, especially if everyone on the plane has their mobiles turned on, or if these interferences can actually cause a crash. What I do know, is that on September 11, 2001, there were 4 plane crashes and while many (if not all) passengers in those planes were calling their loved ones to say goodbye via their moblie phones, it was *not*, I repeat, *not* mobile signal interferences that caused all 4 crashes.
Anyway...while I would not like it if people are talking loudly into their mobile phones while I try to get some sleep in the plane, I think that airline carriers should loosen up a bit by either a) allowing phones to be used in "Flight mode", or b) allowing sms'es to be sent/received as long as the phone is in meeting/silent mode.
Ok, enough about phones. Back to Berlin! The first night was fairly uneventful, since we arrived late at the hotel. Was pretty easy to find our way there once we found out which buses or trains to take.
Since the weather was pretty rainy the next day, we agreed to go shopping :o). Not that we spent much anyway. My shopping items as below:
Leather traveller bag - inside. Pretty compact, huh?Previous price: 48€
Sale price: 25€
Sporty traveller bag - 5€ (sale price)
Pair of shoes: 14.95€
Tank top: 6.90€
Soles for shoes: 1.95€
Pair of earrings: 8€
Travelling shampoo and conditioner with interesting fragrances - 3.75€.That's about it! Total shopping price of non-food items = 66€ (500 DKK / S$132)!!!
Enough of my shopping...here's what we did:
Under our umbrellas, ellas, ellas, eh, eh, eh... .
Interesting looking church.
Smoking...
...this - a water pipe (or Hookah), apple flavoured.
Hmm...apparently not quite as safe as I thought :o(. Unless we had the "tobacco-free flavour". Anyway, that would be my first and last time. Kids, don't try this at home (or anywhere else, for that matter).
The Netherlands supporter vs a German supporter
Evidence of our shopping...but what else could we do when it was raining outside?
Can't really see it in the picture, but that shoe is size 45! Can women really have such big feet? Or would these be for erhm...cross-dressers and transversites?
Shopping area in Berlin.
At an U-bahn (or Untergrundbahn / Underground)
Gonna check out Berlin's nightlife.
This really reminded me of Clarke Quay in Singapore.
Not sure if this was a restaurant or bar.
I SO wanna see "Mamma Mia!"...but not in German, so Adagio was where we were headed to.
It was a church building converted into a nightclub. Was HUGE! Big enough for a fountain within.
Lots of people, as you can see.
Vandalised section of the Berlin Wall.
Non-vandalised section of the Berlin Wall.
No, I did not vandalise this section.
Didn't see any trams in central Berlin, so not sure if they're only going around certain parts.
This station was closed when East and West Germany were separated, and opened again in 1989 when the wall came down.
TV Tower with the promise of a good view of Berlin, but we didn't go up because of time (the queue looked quite long) and money (9.50 EUR/72 DKK/S$19 just to go up, lookie-lookie, and down again - No way!).
Checkpoint Charlie
Got my passport stamped with orignal stamps by this solider. Funny guy. He even made me go buy coffee for him (he gave the money, of course). I should have bought it for him at staff rate (1 EUR), but due to some miscommunication, I ended up getting it at the usual rate of 3.60 EUR! Oops. He paid up the difference, but I doubt he'll ask a tourist to buy his coffee again ;o).
My stamped passport.
Bye, bye!
Not sure what this building is, but it's definitely not a nightclub ;o).
Wanted to walk through here as there was a park behind it, but the area was sealed off due to the Germany-Spain Euro 2008 final.
Beautiful
Some government building, I guess.
The main station in the background.
Thousands of German football supporters.Anyway that was my quick getaway in a nutshell. Oh, there was an incident that really pissed me off a bit while in 1 of the shopping centres. We were standing in line to pay for our merchandise, and though it was my turn next, some crazy woman with a child of around 1½ years wanted to cut in! How rude was that?!
Me (getting ready to pay)
Siao char bor ("Crazy woman" in Hokkien) trying to cut in.
Cashier (in German and pointing to me): "This lady was here first."
Siao char bor to Cashier: "Ojaogjr opopep ihwahkf oiweik!!!" ----------> speaking in "German" to cashier
Siao char bor to me (angrily in English): "Is it ok that I pay first?! I've got a baby!!!"
Me: "Sure, go ahead."
Siao char bor to Cashier (still angry): "Wkjalfjo poajsoep p ojaporj!!!" (this is not really German, if you don't know by now).
Cashier explaining to her that she just wanted to be fair.
Wagma asking what was going on, so I told her, and loud enough for Siao char bor to hear: "This woman wants to pay first, but it would have been nice if she had asked first instead of just cutting in."
Siao char bor overheard what I said, and started to give her "I've got a baby!" speech again.
Me directly to her this time: "You could have just asked first instead of just cutting in."
Siao char bor....still angry when she left. Not even a word of "Thanks".
SERIOUSLY!!! Just because you have a baby or young child with you DOES NOT GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO LEAVE YOUR MANNERS AT HOME!!! If you had just asked first instead of assuming that the rest of us owe you something for being a mother, we would be understanding enough to let you cut the queue. So what if you have a baby? I didn't ask you to get one, so don't make it my problem. And maybe I don't have a baby like you to "justify" being next in line, but for all you know, I might need to pee really badly. Then what? Would my need to pee over-rule the "reason" that you have a baby? It most certainly would, if I am the one who is really next in line.
I hope her child did not learn anything from her during that episode. And for the rest of you who are already parents or becoming one, *never*, I repeat, *never* assume that the Red Sea should part for you and you alone just because you have a child with you. In some cases, yes - like during an emergency, or sometimes even when boarding a flight. In other cases, all you need to do is ask politely, and the majority of the human race will surely empathise and let you have your way.
And kudos to that cashier who was right in wanting to be fair on a "first-come-first-serve" way, because the next bad thing to someone who wants to cut the queue is a service staff to allow it without getting the permission of the customer who is rightfully next in line. Bartenders and taxi drivers picking up passengers on weekend nights are top failures in applying this "rule".
