Noel & Via

Yesterday I had to give an advanced notice to my bank here in Munich for them to close my account by October. Thus also closing another chapter of our life.

I had opened a bank account because that was the only way I could get paid for my internship. It might turn out that I have to transfer whatever is remaining in the bank to my Manila bank. The transfer fees will cost about 50euros, thus deducting from my hard earned money. But there is no other way since my ATM card isn't global.

So in a few days time I will be over with my internship. Stay tuned for things to come.

Posted by Noel at 03:11 PM | Permalink

Three young girls (about 12 years old) were shrieking and giggling so loudly two tables away from me at my favorite hang-out, Hugendubel Bookstore’s coffee shop. They were trying desperately to hide an erotic book (with photos!) that they’d been ogling from one of their friends’ mothers. She caught them and gave them an “aha-like” glare, (they are quite conservative here in Munich) and the girls screeched like banshees. Thank goodness there was minimal glass around. The Mom looked like she was trying hard not to laugh herself. Oh to be 12 again! Actually, I think I’d rather not be 12 again.

Posted by Via at 09:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

One of my favorite make-up brands. Finally I know how to pronounce it. My Japanese friend, Yuriko, very politely told me that it’s said shoowemra not shoomura, the way I let it fly out of my lips. (I knew I’d been saying it the wrong way!) This during a beauty break at her home, where I discovered the sleekest pair of black, matte MAC tweezers. (the Japanese know about the coolest things!) We were busy preparing for our international food fest dinner at Cristina’s that night. Yuri was making Japanese rice balls, while I tried not to burn the adobo and bistek I had bubbling away in the kitchen. (Just kidding! I know better than to leave bistek alone on its own.)

For those curious, the dinner turned out quite nicely. We started with authentic Italian gnocchi, hand-rolled by Cristina and her husband Giuseppe. They still had about four plates left over when we were done, but we could eat no more! Then we had the Japanese rice balls (actually triangular in shape) we ate with Nori wrapper and this delicious sweet/sour orangey paste that Yuri said was made from salmon. And the main course was surprisingly our Filipino dishes, adobo and bistek. I was so happy to see almost no left-overs, in spite of the fact that I personally found the beef a little tough. Dessert was some kind of ice-cream cake and this divine creamy Limoncello. (Which is an Italian dessert wine in a shot glass, but this was a creamier and sweeter type- not as strong as original Limoncello) And of course beer, wine (red and white) and Prosecco (Italian Champagne) flowed. We were so dizzy and tipsy and happy, we could barely walk home!

Posted by Via at 09:43 AM | Permalink

Or so I thought when I heard a sudden shrill singing coming from next door, after having had my lunch. Then the singing started to sound like someone vocalizing, but the female voice was getting louder and higher. I ran to the same chambermaid (she was the only one on our floor) who accompanied me to bear witness to the noises- that I was not losing my mind over a silly pair of sunglasses. (I was relieved to know she did not take offense or hold a grudge over the stupid sunglasses incident) She cringed when she heard the woman going mi-mi-mi-mi-mi! And suggested I knock on the door. Hesitantly I did.
And to my surprise, it was a man, not a woman that I came face-to-face with. (Maybe he’s been castrated I thought. But then again, he looked a little old to be a eunuch. And they don’t still exist anyway do they?) “Is everything all right?” I said in a very small voice. (By then the chambermaid had already abandoned me and returning to her bedsheets) “Yes, it will only be a few more minutes.” Thank God the man was quite friendly. And then I saw her. The irritable woman by the window, wreaking havoc on my nerves. “Is it not good?” She asked me- and she sounded like I should have been grateful to hear her singing!!!! And then she said something I couldn’t understand like “Scram” or I don’t know. So I called up Noel to let him on my “unwilling opera experience.” He suggested I leave the pension to prevent myself from going batty. So I did.

Posted by Via at 06:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

My stupid brand new shades got stolen from our pension. It’s not like they were expensive, but I bought them-on sale- to replace the pair I thought I’d lost (which I had just actually left at my friend, Cristina’s house). I had only worn them once, and noticed them to be missing from my tiny “nightstool” (it’s not a table) a few days ago. When I confronted the reception about it, she quickly caught on that I thought it a possibility that one of the chambermaids had taken them. To my horror, this morning, one of the chambermaids (as they are referred to here, I’m not being snooty) approached me asking about my sonnebrille. (She doesn’t really speak English) Heavens knows how we understood one another, but she told me that she hadn’t seen them when she made up our room yesterday. Wait a minute, I was the violated party so why was I feeling guilty? But I felt she was being truthful as she looked me right in the eye when she said this. I don’t even care very much for shades, it’s just the act of having something taken from you from your “supposed” private space that is so enraging!

Posted by Via at 06:51 PM | Permalink

Our graphics department has now complied with the request. :) Here are the first batch of our photos from our first month in Munich. Hope you enjoy them. (Click on the image to see the whole album)

Some photos of our first few days in Munich. Most of which were spent in the Marienplatz area.

I was really excited to see the office which I was going to do internship in for the next couple of months. It is a really impressive office space/warehouse. Here are the photos at designafairs GmbH

Our first tour was called "Royal Castles Tour." We visited 2 castles of Ludwig II, one of which is the magical Neuschwanstein Castle (pictured here). Warning: This might take long to load since there are a lot of pictures.

Odeonsplatz is where the Opera house, Residenz Munchen, Museums, and a nice design bookstore is located at. Just a few steps away from Marienplatz. Here are a few photos... we must go back.

Posted by Noel at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

German Classmates at Inlingua

Lovely Spanish Resto: Bodega Dali

Schwabing Night-Out

Posted by Via at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Has summer ended already? It seemed so fast. This weekend we experienced some weather changes. Nights feel like 15 degrees which is much colder than Manila weather. This was from a very humid 28 degress last week. There are occasional showers, and I needed to wear a jacket to go to work this morning.

People are coming back from vacation too. An office that was once filled mostly with interns is now coming back to busy life with full time employees. I myself have only 2 or more weeks to go until my internship officially ends. Whew! How time flies.

Posted by Noel at 11:10 AM | Permalink

Today I had one of my favorite Italian dishes in a little Italian place near our pensione called Eiscafe Tonino. "Prego signorina." Said a nice woman who pointed me to a table. She was the main mover and was called Maria, this middle-aged, cheerful woman who expertly called out the orders in German and Italian- delivering them at mach speed to her hungry customers' tables. Their spaghetti aglio olio (olive oil, garlic and some chili pepper bits) had a little more parsley than usual which added to the flavor.

The tiny place was packed. I had to share a table with this smoking couple who were friendly enough- and they were already having coffee. After repeated movements to and fro, Maria finally declared she had a cold fever to the largest table- with about 10 people seated. (They were probably most to blame for her frenzied state anyway). At which point one of the men at that table felt her forehead and made her sit down. It was quite hilarious that my "tablemates" and I couldn't help but laugh and stare as she summarized all their coffee orders from her seated position.

Then something brown wriggled on the couple's booth seat across me. Their Yorkie had just woken up. I was so surprised that they were hiding a dog there between them- I felt like I was on some weird theater set.

Soon after they left, a German in his 30s with glasses occupied the booth seat across me. This was even more awkward as we were the only two at the table. So I ordered a cafe marocchino (it's a mix of espresso, chocolate and some foam, very popular in Turin). Maria looked at me like I had just stepped out from another galaxy. She had no idea what I was talking about while I tried to explain what a marocchino was. They make them in the North, I added so she would believe me. "Ma vengo dal Sud." (But I come from the South). Oh great. Now I've probably offended her. I'm given a Latte Macchiato instead.

A few minutes later, Mr. 30s' date arrives. And she gives me this look and we exchange tiny smiles and "hallos". She probably thinks I was after her boyfriend! I pray they will notice my wedding ring. When my bill arrived, I noticed Maria suddenly referring to me as Signora and no longer Signorina. I've managed to age in a few minutes' time. I must've really upset her with my marocchino trivia coming from the North. (I vaguely remember something my Italian teacher told me about the Southern Italians thinking the Northern ones are snobs- the North being the richer part of Italy).

It's strange how I felt so at home though with all the screaming and running about at that place. Not just that it was so much like being back in Italy which we've gotten somewhat accustomed to, but I think more so that it was so much like our family lunches back home in Manila.

Posted by Via at 02:59 PM | Permalink

For lunch today I decided to try something other than our regular caffeteria. I tried that canteen I mentioned to you before but they were closed possibly because I arrived there at 1pm (which is after the lunch hour here unlike Italy where it only starts at that time)

So walking in another direction, I found an asian restaurant. This is much like any other "asien imbiss" here in munich serving all kinds of asian food and all tasting the same. It is like a canteen with a few stools since they expect you not to eat in. But I did eat in and enjoyed my Chicken Cashew (Hühnerfleish mit Cashewnüssen.)

And as I was paying the owner talked to me in some chinese sounding language. I guess he thought I was Chinese. So I just replied "Sorry?" and said "Filipino." He was curious and asked me "Tourist?" and I said "No, prakticant." It was a surreal experience, he obviously didn't know any English and I don't know any German. But being Asian made it okay.

Posted by Noel at 02:07 PM | Permalink

They made their way into a 3-story building. Mostly of wood finish. The top floor held all sorts of toys imaginable- fashioned also out of wood. Little wooden chairs for dollies to sit on. Incredibly detailed miniature furniture down to the little teacups for the dollies to drink from in their doll house. A full-service gasoline station with gas pumps that you could really detach. The second floor held all sorts of household things- fine Libeco linens of every color and pattern from Belgium, delicious hand-made soap from France, exquisite china with blue elephants from Africa and other delectable goodies. But the most magical place of all was the first floor. Smelling of all sorts of paper, glue, oil paints and other wonderful things that bring one's imagination to life.

The two friends stopped at the stacks of beads- each color and shape in its own little wooden corner. They giggled like young girls- assembling their own jewelry, critiquing one another's taste. Content with their choices, they took their treasures to the counter and handed in their money. Proudly wearing their creations, they held them up in the air making the sun kiss the colors into bright rainbow sparkles. "Schon." (attractive) were the compliments they received. And the two friends celebrated their afternoon over a beer and an iced tea, watching the people go by or enjoy their own drinks at nearby cafes. "Made in Munchen." Her Japanese friend proudly proclaimed. And again they giggled like schoolgirls.

Posted by Via at 12:29 PM | Permalink

Due to problems with our Graphics/Creative Department, photos have not been available for your viewing for some time now. Hopefully, things will improve in the coming weeks. Thank you for your continued patronage. :)

(Translation: Noel is too busy/tired to post our photos. And he does not have the time nor patience to teach me how to do it so please bear with us)

Posted by Via at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

After more than a month of going to work, taking the subway has been automatic to me. During the first week I had to double check and make sure that the train I was getting on was the right one. Now it is almost second nature...

This is my routine in the morning: Take the Tram 20 or 21 just outside our pensione, get off the 2nd stop, take the U4 or U5 and change in the next stop. Then finally take the U3 and wait for 5 or 6 stops until "Obersendling" and get down. There is still a 5 minute walk from there to my final destination. This whole commute takes only about 30 minutes.

Posted by Noel at 09:58 AM | Permalink

I had my first European job interview last August 11, Wednesday. Of course I was thrilled that I piqued someone's attention and curiousity- especially since the job I was applying for was that of an English trainer at a Language School. And they usually specify that they are only privy to the English and sometimes to the Americans.

The building was old, but in a nice buzzing location here in Munich- in Schwabing- where there are lots of cafes and little shops. The first thing I noticed was the music- later on I learned that this is part of their approach to language teaching. The interviewer was Irish and was quite easy to talk to. It seemed they were very interested in me, for a free-lance contract. (That was usually the agreement with the teachers of their school, she explained to me). So that made me feel quite low after the interview.

Nevertheless, I went to check out the requirements of processing a work visa in Poccistrasse, where Immigrations is. Turns out I would have to request this from Italy, since that's where we had been living before Munich. It would take at least a month to process the work visa and only then could I begin to process my residence permit for Munich. And after all that waiting, of course there would be no assurance of being granted one. How difficult to be in a foreign land, really. And it's all magnified when you don't speak their language.

Posted by Via at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Let me start with the first installation of our shared bathroom experiences. For those of you who don't know, we have been living in a Pension-Hotel in Munich for a month now. It was the cheaper alternative, trust me. And one of the sacrifices we had to take was using a shared bathroom and toilet. It seems like everytime we come back from our walk to the bathroom, Via and I would have some story to share.

Imagine this, a whole floor sharing 1, yes ONE, shower. This means around 10 to 15 rooms lining up to use it. The toilet situation is a bit better since there are 3 toilets.

So one time as I was making my way to the toilet carrying my own toilet paper and disinfectant. A man who was going out of his room right beside one of the toilets gave me a weird advice. He said, "Use the one in the far end, its bigger!" So I looked at the door of that toilet, it clearly had a sign that said LADIES on it. I looked back at him. He said "Oh, don't worry, you can use that too."

I was puzzled why he even bothered to tell me where to go. Could he have done something in the one I was supposed to go to? I decided to go the the middle one since the big one stank anyway.

Posted by Noel at 05:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Arrgh! Just went through deleting a lot of spam comments. I never had this before, comments like "Viagra" and "Casino." Similar to the ones that you get in your emails. Should I be happy since this means that this site gets a lot of hits to matter to spammers? Uk.

I've been thinking of upgrading to the next version of Movable Type. (3.01) which costs some money and overhauling the entire site. This definitely gives me more reason to, the upgrade promises to block comment spam. In time.. i will..

Any of you know a good alternative? I've been waiting for MT to get a decent Photo Gallery plug-in, seems to be taking forever! I don't understand why because they already have this option in their other service called TypePad. Help!

Posted by Noel at 04:55 PM | Permalink

I made Noel really angry yesterday. And he had a right to be. I was an hour late yesterday for our meeting in the bread shop called Aran. I tried calling his mobile several times, but I received a German message (with an English translation that followed, thank God) saying the person I was trying to call could not be reached. I sent him 2 SMS messages. And I tried calling his office which was already closed. I even resorted to leaving a message for him at our pension just in case he decided to go home. My feet were killing me because I was trying to break in my new sandals but mostly my head hurt as all kinds of awful things were jostling for space in my mind- making me worried sick with wonder as to why I couldn't reach Noel. And why he might have left or never got to our meeting place.

So the rush of blood to (or from my head- it was hard to tell) came immediately when I saw the familiar blue shirt that Noel had on that day. But of course he wasn't pleased to see me. Remorse and guilt fought their way into my very tired heart. The least I could have done was send him a message that I was going to be late, having spent an unsually long lunch at my friend, Cristina's house. Yuri and I left at 5pm! So I thought that I could still squeeze in some window-shopping time before I met Noel at 6-630pm. I did not anticipate getting a bit confused with the subway... and getting too distracted with the things on display. Why is it that we try so hard to fight loneliness and plug ourselves with our momentary distractions? Only to find we have let down the person that matters the most? The only one that really counts anyway?

Posted by Via at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yesterday while waiting for Via in a cafe/bread shop called Aran. I had nothing else to do but watch people pass by and people sitting around me. I think 'people watching' is one of my favorite pastimes.

It was my Dad who informed me of such a phrase. He said he enjoyed it too. We were in the lobby of the Manila Penninsula then, just watching people come in and out of the hotel.

When my Dad took some personality test, the result was that he was an “Observer.” This was not surprising to me since he was a psychiatrist! I think I would probably get the same result if I take the test. Which is also not surprising because I am a designer who relies on keen visual observation.

One of the funny things I observed was this couple beside me. The man just arrived and greeted the woman. The woman happily greeted back and said something in German, which later on I realized was “look what I bought.” So she whips out this skimpy brown thong underwear and shouted “BIKINI!” Apparently this is the same word in German. I was shocked at the sight and didn’t want to imagine how this big German woman in her late 30s would look wearing them. I just turned away and continued people watching.

Posted by Noel at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Only on my 4th week in work and I am already getting the Monday morning blues. It was a very slow and restful weekend for us. The only major event was doing the laundry. So it was hard for us to get up this morning and get ready for work (and in Via's case: class).

We dread the day when we have to go back to this routine for real. Why do Mondays have to be so? Is it because you know you are working for someone else and not for yourself?

Luckily I was jolted out of this state quickly when I arrived at my desk. My boss prompted me that my designs were needed by the client immediately.

Posted by Noel at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I remember my first day at my internship about 3 weeks ago, I had to eat in a "carinderia" near our office. It was 1pm and the others had already left for lunch so I had to go somewhere else and not the Siemens canteen.

The "carinderia" is similar to what you see in the streets of makati or any office area in need of a quick lunch. It is like the "jolli-jeeps" that I used to frequent when I was working in Gold Building in Annapolis. It was small and crowded with rickety wooden chairs and tables.

They had a decent glass shelf where food was placed and you can point to order. My german isn't good so that was a plus. So I went ahead and ordered a hamburger and a coke. Their other selections were breaded pork (schnitzel), some beef stew, and spaghetti. Suprisingly no sausages in sight.

As I was in the middle of my meal, a guy in a suit sat right in front of me with his meal. It was awkward for me, but since it was the only seat available he had no choice but to take that place. So we exchanged smiles and went on with our lunch.

Posted by Noel at 10:38 AM | Permalink