Living in Munich

Munich has one of the World's highest standards of living. In fact most western European cities are expensive when compared to places in Asia. But how expensive are things here?

The expensive list (1 euro is approx = S$2)

1. Frozen chicken (whole): 2.19 euros
2. Ice cream with cone/cup: 0.6-1.2 euros/scoop
3. Durian (yes they do sell it here): 15.99 euros / 0.5kg
4. Fresh seafood: from 1.29 euros/100g
5. Watermelon: 1.99 euros/ quarter
6. Transportation: 1.2 euros for 2 stops on the S/U-bahn. Travelling in groups of 5 is most cost saving at 9 euros/day for all 5 people. Ticket for one from airport to city centre will cost 9.20 euros for just 1 trip, again the day ticket makes more sense.

A typical meal(main dish only) here in Munich would set you back by at least 5 euros in cafes, and about 8 euros in restaurants. For the ill-informed, there is NO hawker centres or kopi-tiam here.

Not everything here is expensive, there must still be stuff that is cheaper than anywhere else. Local products are indeed cheaper than imported goods, in fact some can be so cheap, its unbelievable.

The cheap list
1. Potatoes: can go as cheap as 0.99 euros/ 5kg
2. Dairy products: e.g. ice cream (tub): 1.2 euros for 1 liter tub
3. Alcohol products: Beer can go as cheap as 0.5 euros/ 500ml bottle (pfand not included)
4. Mineral water: 0.19 euros/ 1.5L bottle



Some people may lament at the high cost of Eurail passes, but if you have the time, its well-worth to learn about the Deutsche Bahn(DB) system.

The Happy-weekend ticket entitles up to 5 people on unlimited travel for either Saturday/Sunday from 00.00-03.00 the next day throughout Germany by regional trains. (37 euros)

The lander ticket is a state ticket which entitles up to 5 people on unlimited travel on DB, metros and buses within the state for the day by regional trains (weekdays 09.00-03.00, weekends 00.00-06.00 the next day). (28 euros)

My recent trip to Northern Bavaria with 4 other exchange students only cost me 15 euros for transport for 4 days and 5 cities. Some planning in advance and getting to know the DB system will save you a lot of money while in Germany, of course the Eurail passes allows you to take the superfast Inter-City Express trains.

Funeral - English

MCYS' newest commercial... I miss S'pore TV programmes!

The short-lived spring

When I first arrived in Munich on 24 March, it was snowing. Before I left for Spain on 25, it was still snowing in the afternoon.

When I returned from Spain on 2 April, clutching the same thick jacket I was wearing when I left Munich, it was all shiny revealing the arrival of Spring. Leaves started emerging from the buds and flowers started blooming this week.

Yesterday temperature starting soaring past 20 degrees Celcius, the sun was up with no clouds across the sky. It certainly has a hint of Summer that couldn't wait for Spring to be over.

The main difference in weather here is that though its sunny, its still cooling and slightly drier than Singapore. You do not sweat after just walking for 5mins under the sun. The dry weather creates static on the clothing where you can hear the short-circuiting by just running your arms over the blankets. Its a eye-opener at night when the lights are off and it just seemed like lightning has descended upon you.

Stepping into Europe

Arriving in Munich on 24th March, it was snowing and freezing like hell. Condensation could be observed when I left the airport to take the S-bahn (street train). A german approached us if we wanted to share the partner ticket (for up to 5) with him and we did, so the train ride which would have cost us 9euros is now 4euros. Anyway it was a good thing that I made arrangement to Spain where the weather is a lot better, warmer and sunny, at least in Madrid.

Madrid did not get off to a good start with the plane delayed for an hour but the Barajas airport got a magnificent surroundings with mountains and nature. Madrid has very nice streets, cobblestone and the houses that lined these streets all have balcony, those little ones. I like their metro (MRT) system which is similar to Singapore's but a lot more extensive and also need to walk more to change to connecting trains. Interestingly there's 2 types of train doors, 1) all doors open at the station, 2) press a button/lift a lever to open individual doors.

30mins away by train brings you to a very different town of Segovia. Its main attractions are the Roman Aquaduct, Sant Maria Cathedral and the Alcazar fortress.
More details later, I'm in Barcelona now and its very different from Madrid. Adios!

I will complain you!

It always amazes me how people in general, not particularly Singaporeans (I believe such people exist everywhere) like to look at things from just their point of view. People like to complain at anything and everything that did not turn out to favour them. People now regards convenience as an entitlement and demands it. People have failed to recognise that maybe convenience should be more of a personal previlege than an entitlement conferred. This way when things go wrong, people are less likely to feel anger and disppointment.

It is also human nature to blame others first than themselves, these people failed to look at things from the perspective of others. Thoughts of 'They could have done this, or why don't they do that instead?' always surface in their mind but they never go deeper on the possible chain effect or put themselves in the shoes of the other party.

Crowded buses and trains are the common grouses these days, tons of people complain about them. Their suggestion? Get more buses lah. This does seemed to be the most straightforward solution but not many actually delve deeper than just purely getting more buses.

There are at least 300 bus services in Singapore, assuming half of them are always crowded during peak hours and we increase the fleet of these services by just 1 bus each and we will already get at least 150 more buses. Question is, does it really end here?

1) Where do we park these 150 more buses if the interchanges and depot are already at close to max capacity?
Of course if they had sound planning in the first place they would have already considered the option of getting more buses thus would already have plans for that.

2) Who will drive and maintain these buses?
Since its recession now, many people are out of jobs so now there's 150 more jobs? Would you go be a bus captain after you're retrenched? I am not saying its not a decent job but it is a fact that not many people want to do it (long hours, low pay, etc). Same goes for automotive technicians.

3) Who is going to pay for these buses?
New buses cost S$360,000- S$500,000 each, equating to S$54m- S$75m needed to acquire the 150 new buses, not inclusive of spare parts, additional staff and support needed, as well as fuel. Shareholders definitely would not want to bear that costs since it will cost their dividends. The government would not want to bear that cost either where the taxpayers' complaint letters almost drowned them when the GST was increased to 7%.

4) With more buses, do we even have enough roads for every vehicles?
Bus passengers: Build more roads lor.
Government: No land leh.
Bus passengers: More bus lanes lor.
Car drivers: Cause more jam leh.

As you can see, there is no way to satifsy everyone, it is a vicious cycle that never ends. I just want to bring the point that everyone should take things easy and be content.




I also would like to share a rather interesting conversation I overheard (I didn't mean to, he was way too loud) on the way home.

Guy: I was late for work today

Girl: How come?

Guy: I took bus A and reached the bus stop to change to bus B. When I alighted, I saw bus B in front and ran, trying to catch the bus. When I reached the door, before I could knock on the bus door, the bus just left the bay. F**k! (Expletives included in actual conversation)

Guy: I don't care, I am going to write to SBS and demand an explanation why the bus just drove off and did not wait for me.

Girl: Were you late?

Guy: I was at the bus stop on time...

Girl: I meant if you were late for work

Guy: I had to wait for the next bus which came at 9am.


Firstly, buses are never on time, they do have a guide as to what time they are supposed to be at each bus stop but as the name suggests it is just a guide. Even MRTs which have their own tracks are not always on time. Secondly, if you expect such exclusive service, public transport is definitely not recommended. Again as the name suggests, it is for the general public so it has no obligations to wait for you. Thirdly, not everything in this world revolves around you, people must learn to take things easily and no complain at the slightest issue. Wake up to the real world dude, maybe wake up early to catch that bus of yours as well!

The never ending war

If you have read about the ongoing rat killing biltz in Orchard, LAMESHIT School of Thought is going to tell you why the rats will NEVER be annihilated.

Background: Rats are running rampart in Orchard Skatepark area and breeding like nobody's business affecting real businesses (nice huh!) in the area. So pest controllers area engaged to trap, poison, starve, ultimately killing the rats.

Why its not going to work?
Reason 1: There will always be rubbish
From the observation by LAMESHIT on Singaporeans, many of them do not care a hoot about leaving their rubbish uncleared. Their main response to this problem will always be to expect cleaners to clean after them. As such the rats will always have a steady supply of food so starving them really isn't a solution since it cannot be sustained unless NEA resolved to permanently post dedicated Bangla cleaners in the very heart of Orchard 24/7.

Reason 2: They are indestructible!
LAMESHIT has witnessed first hand how tough a rat can be when a rat fell 3 storeys yet lived to tell the tale; though it was not confirmed if the actual rat actually died after telling the tale. But yes, the rat is that tough that hitting the ground from 3 stories did not managed to kill it. They eat all sorts of rubbish and not die. Poison can work only if they egest enough of it to kill it, if not it would only be a matter of time before they grow immune to it.

Reason 3: The numbers are always there
The report has indicated a 95% success in eradicating rats, this would mean that the rat population has drastically decrease right? Yet any 14 year old who have paid attention in Science class can tell you that it would only mean good news to that remaining 5% and bad news to us. Why? The main factors for survival includes low competition for food, with most of the other rats now dead, the remaining ones only have much more food to go around. Even if there is a decline in rubbish (see reason 1), there would still be enough to go around since their numbers have decreased 19x but not the same for the amount of food.

Natural selection would probably also have gotten rid of the weaker ones, leaving the stronger ones who can withstand sufficient amounts of poison or smart enough to not eat that lousy grilled coconut amid that sea of rat glue. The result: Fatter and stronger rats who will re-populate their communities with their kind.


LAMESHIT School of Thought's suggested solution:
Solution 1: Introduce the their natural predator... the snake. Compared to rats who tear apart rubbish bags and spread deadly diseases like plague, snakes do not have such problems. Sure, snakes bite but they hardly kill (non-poisonous snakes), comparatively plague have killed millions worldwide. Snakes are slower and bigger thus easier to catch and they generally leave us alone. So LAMESHIT suggests unleashing snakes to do the job and re-capturing them when its done so they can be reused again (smart right!).

Solution 2: Since you can't kill them all then why not just leave them be. Urbanites have already learned to live with rats. Did you know there is at least one rat in every 50m radius in urban areas? We just leave them to their scavenging at night while we are sound asleep, so since there isn't anyone staying in Orchard at night, who cares?


Note: This is proudly brought to you by LAMESHIT School of Thought, it is totally nonsensical and should not be taken seriously.

Picture below is not for the faint-hearted!

The missing orange.... without a trace!

Intern 1 decided to leave an orange on his table so he can eat it as and when he wants. He also brought 3 bags of chocolates, which he left on his other chair, so he could snack on them. Intern 2 bought a a box of Kinder Bueno, ate some and left the remaining pack and a half on his table togehter with his other goodies which comprised of a big box of 'chiong' Pocky called Rocky and a box of small curry-puff-lookalikes which were originally thought to contain peanuts as fillings but turned out to contain hae bi hiam (prawn paste).

One day Intern 2 wanted to snack on his Kinder Bueno after lunch but found them missing, he asked Intern 3 if he had seen them but no one had any idea where the chocolates went. When Intern 1 came back from lunch, he too had wanted to eat his orange but found it missing from his table and asked the other 2 interns about his orange which had mysteriously disappeared. Also 2 of the 3 bags of chocolates were also missing. This prompted the 3 interns to ponder on the mysterious case of the missing orange. 3 explainations were provided:

1) The office cleaner had took them. But this was rejected as the cleaner typically arrive later and leave earlier than the workers in the office.

2) The missing foodstuff had been preyed upon by rats. Upon closer scrutiny of the 'crime scene', the interns found no traces of food bits or torn wrappers and thus also reject this hypothesis.

3) Someone on OT decided to snack upon the interns food while they were gone. This seemed to be most plausible judging by the positions of the food items which seemed inaccessible to rats and the rather selective disapperance (the other food items were intact).

A few days later, another colleague discovered a packet drink under his table behind his cabinet and decided to check it out. The scene motified him. Bits of wrappers and food scraps were everywhere. Packet drinks were chewed into and the contents emptied, so too were chocolates leaving only their wrappers behind. Out of the pile of mess were discovered bits of skin of orange and 2 rather intact bags of chocolates that resembled that of Intern 1. If up to this point you still had no idea what had happened, it was the rats that had intelligently removed the food, taking care not to consume any of them but to first gather them in their 'hideout' before settling into their buffet complete with drinks, fruits and desserts. Due to the grotesque sight and in prevention of scaring away present and future readers, photos were not published.

The mysterious case of the missing orange: Solved!