After the second day of training, we were all brought on a bus through the cold but sunny afternoon weather from our training centre out near Hausen to the city of Stuttgart where we came upon this futuristic looking building: The Mercedes-Benz Museum. The entrance door of the museum greeted us like some Federation building of the 23rd century. After paying for the tickets you have to take the awesome looking lift there which will transport you to the top floor. From there you will have to slowly walk down the building which is engineered in a double helix structure on the outer walls, taking you past some fantastic Mercedes-Benz vehicles from old to new. There are also pictures on the wall that show famous historical events pertaining to the era of the cars featured. From 1895 is the Benz Omnibus. It only goes up to 12mph so I have […]

It was a cold Sunday morning when we arrived in Germany. It wasn’t as cold as it was two Februaries ago when snow surrounded Munich airport, but it was chilly enough for a bunch of Malaysians. But instead of staying over at Tiefenbronn (which was close by) I was given a room at Hotel-Gasthof Hirsch. And no, I can’t speak, read or write in German. The title came about after a quick visit to an free online translator website. Here I am freezing my butt off on a Sunday afternoon, when the town seemed as if it was totally deserted. I wish Kuala Lumpur would be like this every Sunday morning: The Hirsch is a series of three buildings. The middle and the main building (where reception and the restaurant is situated) is where the sign hangs with the figure of the hart. The balcony is connected to Sudriman’s room. […]

As promised here are some images from my weekend walkabout in Stuttgart. I thought I didn’t take a lot of good photos there because of my need to walk quickly to cover a lot of ground, and searching for internet cafes so I could communicate with Malaysia 7 time zones away. Flughafen Stuttgart, interior shot of the check in area, in the departure hall level. The parking lot and main entrance into Flughafen Stuttgart. Hotel Am Wilhelmsplatz, where I stayed for two nights. Cozy, but I prefer the charm of the Ochsen Post Hotel myself. Wilhelmsplatz, looking towards the direction of Holzstraße, immediately in front of the Hotel Am Wilhelmsplatz. I took this when I wasn’t really familiar with the city streets so I can’t remember where this was. Two shots of Theodor-Heuss-Straße early Saturday morning. I’m really disappointed I didn’t get a couple of pictures of the weekend crowd […]

I got back from the airport today from a training in Germany. While there I stayed at Ochsen Post Hotel in the village of Tiefenbronn not too far from Hausen, where I had my training. The hotel is right in the middle of town, where dozens of dummies are placed on trees, walls, lamposts and roofs, which heralds the oncoming Carnival. One thing the hotel has an abundance of is atmosphere. You have to be there to experience it. Here’s the lobby area, with its green walls and old decoration. According to the person at the front desk the building was constructed in 1630. An upright piano in a corner of the lobby, close to the front desk. The door and hallway into my hotel room (14), at the third floor of the building. The mirror on the left there kind of said I need to lose some weight. On […]

…SNOW! Thirteen years. Here we are again. Damn it’s cold. And the Autobahn is jammed up. And Hausen seems to be a really nice, quaint litle hamlet. Pictures will be up when I have the chance.