Vienna sightseeing

Sorry for the stall.

I'm having some problems trying to upload our gazillion photos here so I've put them on Facebook instead.  Please click here to get there!

Vienna - Day 3

Jan 20: We had lunch with daddy at the Naschmarkt. It's a traditional open market with stalls lined up in two to three neat rows for about several hundred meters. Between some of these stalls are built-up restaurants, which is a great idea for winter when people would rather be eating indoors.

Because we've been craving sushi recently and can't get anything decent in Rostock, we ate at a restaurant called Tokori, which serve up sushi, among other kinds of Asian food, although none of the people working there seems to be Japanese. Later we realized it's really not difficult to find sushi in Vienna... many of the run-down take-out outlets have it too. Tokori wasn't great, but was good enough to satisfy our craving for a bit of home.

Karlskirche

Since our apartment is in the city center, the girls and I decided to just check out the area which gave us enough to see for the day. The cathedral near our apartment, for example, Karlskirche, is a magnificent piece of architecture. Although throughout our stay we must have walked past it over a dozen times, each time we do it looks a little different.

A school near Karlskirche. Yes, even schools look this great here!
Faces and heads popping from walls and around arches seem to be a common theme in Viennese architecture.

Vienna - Day 2

Jan 19: When the girls and I woke up, the room smelled of coffee. There was already breakfast on the table. Daddy had jogged out to a nearby supermarket early in the morning to grab some coffee, milk, salami, cheese, lettuce and a baguette for our first breakfast in Vienna.

Carrie was right at the door just before 10am. She had come all the way from Zurich to spend the weekend in Vienna and meet us. Only a week before she was in the US (Hawaii just days before the Obamas' vacation, Seattle then Portland). Several days after Vienna, she was to leave for KL for the Chinese New Year. Oh and did I mention the day before today, she made a day trip to Slovakia? Where does she get the energy? The kids, she says. Kids that she can play with but do not own. I have not seen Carrie in years but she has not changed. She obviously still puts the Energizer bunny to shame and has retained her million watt smile.

Daddy headed off to work while the rest of us took a train to the Schönbrunn Zoo. We saw pandas, koalas, and more vicious species, and ate chestnuts and potato wedges. The girls barely napped -- with so much to see and zesty Aunty Carrie for company who can blame them?

The Schönbrunn Castle is in the background, right at the end of the row of pines.

Aunty Carrie took the overnight train back to Zurich. We're so thankful that she made this trip to see us. Our fingers are crossed that it won't be another couple of years before we meet again.

Vienna - Day 1

Jan 18: We left our apartment at the crack of dawn, for the train station for our 2.5hr train ride to Hamburg where we caught the plane heading to Vienna.  Arrived in Vienna, took more trains, walked in the blistering cold and slush with two sleepy kids, and found the hotel apartment that we were to call home for the next 7 days.  Realized that the apartment is located close to a beautiful church with a magnificent dome but was too tired to find out what it's called.  Got to the apartment, pulled out the sofa beds and collapsed into them for a well-deserved nap!

"This uncle"

Minori became a bit of a Wang Leehom fan after watching him a few days ago on CNN's Talk Asia. She was completely fascinated that:

"He speaks English and Chinese!"

"He plays the guitar and violin and piano!"

"He's just like Leo!" when he conducted the Hongkong Philharmonic Orchestra. To those who don't watch the Disney Channel, Leo is a character in the Little Einsteins who likes to conduct.

Conclusion: "I like this uncle. He looks like Uncle James" (later it was Uncle Steve). <-- time to get either her or my eyes checked.

Note: In Malaysia, children typically refer to someone older as "uncle" or "auntie" out of respect. In Japan, someone around Leehom's age would probably be "oniisan" (big brother) or "oneisan" (big sister).

Wien

We will finally get our opportunity to see what else is there in this beautiful continent of Europe besides Germany.  This weekend, we will all be going with Daddy to Vienna on his working trip.

With all the recent news about the cold winter and limited supply of gas -- I hope Russia and Ukraine sort this out real quick -- I'm hoping for the temperatures to rise above freezing point next week.  The weather forecast looks promising and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will remain that way.

In the meantime, my prayers go out to my friends in the US, especially in the Midwest, who are battling the unexpectedly severe winter conditions.  Think warm thoughts!

Bugged!

Our apologies for not posting much in the last few weeks. The truth is that we've been taking turns to get sick. There seems to be a throat infecting virus/bacteria going around Rostock... we've heard of friends and friends of friends getting it. In our family, the germs have made a complete round and come back to me again. Sick a second time in 2 weeks!!!

As soon as I'm back on my feet and back on track with my photo uploading, I'll set up a decent blog entry. In the meantime, I'm wishing our blog followers better health!

Blessed Christmas!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Greatness

"I have never been the kind of person who has defined myself by a career or a job... People used to ask me that during the course of the campaign: ‘Is it hard for you to have stepped off the track and devoted your life to his dream?’ But the truth is that I believe in this man as our president, and his vision for the country. And if that meant stepping away from my particular job . . . that’s a small sacrifice to make.”

Michelle Obama, Nov 26, 2008, in her interview with Barbara Walters.

Background from Wikipedia:

Alma Mater: Princeton University, Harvard Law School.

According to the couple's 2006 income tax return, Michelle's salary was $273,618... while [Barack Obama] had a salary of $157,082 from the United States Senate.

I want to dedicate this entry to a friend who has recently been taking a lot of heat for expressing her enjoyment in being a stay-at-home-mom and supporting her husband on the domestic front.  As you can see from the universally popular upcoming First Family, staying at home and bringing up your own children is the new cool!  :D

Kefir

Several weeks ago, our friends S&S gave us a few kefir grains and instructions on how to make our own kefir drink. It's funny that they are called grains because they look like cauliflower and are rubbery in texture. Kefir grains are a combination of bacteria and yeasts, like yogurt.

In Japan, I remember watching infomercials on TV about something being similar to, but is even healthier than, yogurt that comes from Russia. I think it was kefir. According to Wikipedia, it is becoming increasingly popular due to new research into its health benefits. Many different bacteria and yeasts are found in the kefir grains, which are a complex and highly variable community of micro-organism.

Making a kefir drink is really quite simple. I just add milk to the grains and leave it to ferment in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. When we feel like drinking it, I just pour the stuff out into our cups, rinse the grains with cold water, put it back into a clean container, add milk and leave it for another 24 hours or so. It's a little sour, like yogurt, and it's more so the longer we leave it in the fridge. It tastes great with honey though.

The kefir grains keep multiplying so they never actually run out. I'm happy to give some away to whoever who wants to try it!