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7: The Stars Agree

October 16th, 2005

I think it was end of August or beginning of September when I decided to quit my job and do something different.
Naturally giving up ones job is a big step especially if one does not have a new one lined up already so there were certainly moments of doubt.

Well, Rose found this one recently in one of her Magazines (Sep 2005 Issue) and though I ought to be aware of it.

Not that I ever read Horoscopes but this one certainly made me wonder if I should 😀

The Stars agree :-)

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6: 1st Ticket Reservation

October 15th, 2005

I now have a reservation for my RTW ticket though I have a few days to decide about it.

I called up Trailfinders and spent about an hour or so on the phone.
I had the Itinery very well prepared since I use the Star Alliance Desktop Program on my PC to plan the entire trip including exact departure dates, times and flight numbers.
Sadly Trailfinders does not have a descent web page where you can do the same thing and submit the Itinery online so I had to call them.

Anyway lucky me all the flights were available.

Here is the Itinery, items in ( ) are overland routes to be organised by myself:

UK – German – Thailand – (Cambodia) – (Vietnam) – Hong Kong – Japan – New Zealand – Australia – Fiji – Cook Islands – Tahiti – San Francisco – New York – UK/Germany

I am not entirely sure about the Route yet because I am contemplating whether of not to go to Hong Kong & Japan.
Trouble is that New Zealand is best before April but thats when I would get there after Japan.

We will see… I have until the 22nd of October (Saturday) to decide. After that the reservation is lost.

Another Backblog.

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5: Backblogs?

October 12th, 2005

What are Backblogs?

I hope it’s not a Trademark since I just made this one up. (Backblogs = Backlog Blogs)

Hopefully Backblogs won’t happen often. Backblogs are Blogs which I had written or was going to write but did not publish them on time.
Instead Backblogs got published a day, a week or weeks late.

Backblog have their timestamp adjusted to reflect the time or intended time of writing.

A bit weird but certain milestones I would like to keep recorded date-correct so I will tweak timestamps accordingly.
(Otherwise the blogs would contain the timestamp of when I published it)

When I submit a Backblog I will mention it in the blog itself.

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4: Rough Plans

October 8th, 2005

In short: I plan to travel mainly SE Asia and South Pacific for a few months starting December 2005 / January 2006

In more Detail:
My last day at work is planned to be the 9th of December 2005. A few days later I will begin my travel adventure by taking the first segment of my Round-The-World (RTW) flight ticket. It takes me to Germany (I know.. it’s not the real start of my trip but hey I could squeeze in the flight for free with my RTW ticket so why now :-)) So I will see my Family including the two most adorable nieces and the cutest nephew one could imagine :-D.

After that I plan to fly to SE Asia (Thailand) and tour adound for a good while including countries such as Cambodia and Vitenam. Then up to Japan (or so I hope) when the Cherry Trees are blossoming. Next stop would be New Zealand and Australia where again I would stop for a good wee while (a few months) before Island hopping across the South Pacific to North America.

Before all that can happen I have TONS of things to prepare incuding the RTW ticket itself, visas, vaccinations but also such minor things as moving out of my rented flat and putting all my belongings into storage until I am back.

(A Backblog)

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3: The Perfect Itinery

October 1st, 2005

My perfect Itinery would probably looks something like this:

The World.

Oh ok then.. lets be more realistic 😀

Afrika – Thailand – Tibet* – Nepal – Cambodia – Vietnam – China – Japan – Australia – New Zealand – Pacific Islands – Chile – Peru – Carribean – hey, I forgot Mongolia..

Sadly the World does not agree with this Itinery for the following reasons:

Temperatures, Rainfall, Humidity, Distances, Time, Finances and not to forget my Family and my own Family plans I guess (should they ever materialise ;-))

So I convinced myself that something less perfect will do (almost)..

Let’s see..

Thailand – Cambodia – Vietnam – China – Japan – Australia – New Zealand – Pacific Islands – Peru – Carribean – US – Home

Well I have got a feeling even this is still wishful thinking…

A Backblog.

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2: Background

October 1st, 2005

Some brief background then as to why I bother with this Blog…

After years of deliberation, procastination and generally chicken’ish hesitation I grabbed an opportunity to quit my current job and try something new…

I have not spent too many thoughts on what job I will do next and I’m not too bothered about this question at the moment because I have other plans for the short-term which are aimed at escaping the monotoneous daily clockwork routine of wakeup, commute, work, commute, sleep for a wee while… (I could expand this routine but you get the idea;-)

To do that (escaping) I plan to fulfil a long time desire to travel the world, experience different countries, cultures, people and live an almost certainly poorer lifestyle but hopefully a richer life in the short-term. And who knows I might even learn one or two things that might allow me to live a richer life in the long-term.

So… In a few months I will embark on a journey, nothing grand, nothing special or even epic but maybe some journey worth remembering, if not for others then at least for myself.

To that end the plan is that I will use this Blog as my travel diary and that (to others) it migth be a tracking device, a looking glass that wraps around the world to see whereever I am (or rather have been, still might be or maybe even will be shortly) and maybe a hearing aid that tunes into my thoughts whilst I am at those places.

I will try to keep a good record (hear hear) of where I am, where I have been and what I have seen and probably also what my next plans are. Seemingly I can add pictures so I might be able to throw in the odd photo to illustrate my trip 🙂 More importanlty though this Blog will hopefully not only allow me to keep a good visual record of the places I have seen but also of my thoughts and my emotions whilst travelling some exciting but also very different places around the world. No doubt there will be highs and lows throughout the trip and my aim is to capture those thoughts so I can relive my experiences more detailed later on… After all a title above a picture is just not enough to tell the tale, is it? 🙂

Well, for now I need to continue planning my trip as there are only about 2 months left until I leave work ( or should I say “until I start travelling”? 🙂

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1: Blogs?

October 1st, 2005

Blog One

So…. here I am starting my first blog. “A Blog?” you ask? Well don’t ask me. I have no idea who or when or how or why the word Blog came about or even who first came up with the concept of “Blogging” (though no doubt Google has the answer to all those questions).

A Blog is a rather strange odd thing. You can’t touch it, smell it, taste it, hear it and one can even argue about whether of not you can see it, yet – you can still experience it. A Blog isn’t real in the physical sense. A Blog is a collection of zeros and ones, of bits and bytes, of electrons. A Blog has a home on a harddisk somewhere yet it travels simultaneously all over the world. It is constantly on the move throughout the internet yet once it’s home dies it also seizes to exist. And then again.. a Blog is nothig like that at all…

A Blog is a record of one individuals thoughts, ideas or emotions. A record shared with nobody except the Author him-/herself, or shared with friends or foes or simply with whole wide world. A Blog is a stimulus to any human brain. A Blog a medium to record ones thoughts. No matter what the content, a Blog is just that.

A Blog is an electronic Post-It Note, a Notebook, a Diary if you like. It’s good for anything and nothing at the same time. A Blog can be personal or not at all and if you share it with the whole wide world you can, however unlikely it may seem, be guaranteed that some people somewhere in the world will read your blog, relive your thought, ideas, emotions and share part of your life with you, even if is just this weekends shopping list that you blogged 😉

Blogging is big it seems as blog sites are everywhere. Blogs are the new trend after E-Mail and SMS.
Blogging is a way to preserve ones Life and blogging is also it seems a way of life.

Well, we shall see how well I take up blogging and if it changes my life 🙂

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Mama’s Kueche

October 1st, 2005

Ein paar Rezepte aus Mama’s Kueche…

Gruene Bohnen

Kleinschneiden or brechen und in Salz Wasser mit Bohnenkraut (wenn vorhanden) abkocken. Wasser abschuetten und etwas Bruehe aufheben.

Speck & Schmalz auslassen, kleingehackte Zwiebeln duensten.
1EL Mehl dazu (vorsicht, nicht braeunen lassen) und mit Bruehe abloeschen.
Pfeffer & Salz

Moehren

In duenne Scheibchen schneiden.
2-3EL Butter order Margarine auslassen, 1 gehackte Zwiebel anduensten und rohen Moehren dazugeben. Auf kleiner Flamme duesten bis fast weich. Ein wenig Zucker dazu dann Deckel drauf und 10min schmoren lassen.
Etwas Bruehe dazu und Sossenbinder zum andicken.
Zum schluss viel gehackte Petersilie. Pfeffer und Salz.

Rotkohl

Schmalz in Topf, Zwiebel (geviertelt) mit Nelken spicken und in Schmalz anbraten
Rotkohl (von Dose/Glas) dazu und ein wenig Wasser hinzugeben.
1 sauren Apfel grob raspeln und dazu
etwas (3/4 EL) Weinessig
2 Lorbeerblaetter
1/4 Bruehwuerfel
15-20 min schmoren lassen
Zum schluss etwas binden

Sauerkraut

Schmalz auslassen, Zwielbel andiensten
Sauerkrauf (Glas/Tuete) hinzu
etwas Bruehwuerfel
Schuss Essig
1/2 Apfel dazu reiben
Wachholderbeeren

Zum schluss etwas binden.

Blumenkohl, Brokkoli, Kohlrabi mit Heller Sosse

Gemuese Zerlegen und 20min in Salzwasser abkochen
(bei Kohlrabi schaelen und holziges vorher abschneiden)
Abschuetten und Bruehe aufheben fuer Sosse
Butter auslassen (nicht braeunen)
Bruehwuerfel in heissem wasser aufloesen.
1-2EL Mehl dazu fuer Mehlschwitze und gleichzeitig etwas Bruehe langsam dazu
(weniger als 1 tasse bruehe da noch milch/sahne dazukommt)
Milch order Sahne dazu und u.U. etwas Kaese einreiben
Pfeffer Salz

Wirsing, Spitzkohl, Chinakohl

Butter o Margarine auslassen
u.U. gehackte Zwiebeln leicht anbraten ( nicht braeunen)
Bruehwuerfel in Gemusebruehe aufloesen
Mehl zu fett/zweibeln und mit Bruehe abloeschen
Pfeffer Salz

Ratatui

Gurken, Tomaten, Paprika, Zuccini
Speck + Schmalz auslassen, gehackte Zwiebeln anbraten
Gremuese kleinschneiden und dazu.
einige minuten koecheln lassen
Mit Bruehe gemuese greade so bedecken
Peffer Salz
Tomatenmark, Curryketchup, Ketchup, Sambal Olek, Paprika
Mit Reis..

Kartoffelsalat

Feste Kartoffeln abkochen, abschrecken und pellen.
Etwas abkuehlen lassen aber wenn noch warm in scheiben schneiden

Essig Ol Pfeffer Salz
Bruehe von eingelegten Gurken
Gute Mayonaise
Etwas Senf
Eingelegte Gurken in kleine stuecke geschnitten dazu
Kleingehackte Zwiebel
Alles mit Kartoffeln vermischen
Petersilie

Nudelsalat

Nudeln knackig kochen
Schinken kleinschneiden
Eier abkochen
Ananas Stuecke
Essig Ol Mayonaise
Erbsen (muss nicht)
Kleingeschnittenen eingelegte Gurken
Pfefer Salz

Schichtsalat

1 Glas Selleriestreifne
1 Dose Mais
1 Dose Ananas Stuecke
1 Packet Gekochten Schinken (gewuerfelt)
6 gekochte Eier
2 Stangen Lauich in ganz feine ringe gechnitten
1 Glas Miracle Wip
1 Packet geriebener Kaese order kleine wuerfel

24h kuehl ziehen lassen

Heisser Kartoffel Salat

Feste Kartoffeln abkochen, abschrecken und pellen.
Etwas abkuehlen lassen aber wenn noch warm in scheiben schneiden
Essig Ol Pfeffer Salz (alles etwas wuerziger als kalter Kartoffelsalat)
2 Zwiebeln gehackt dazu
Gurken gehackt
Dosentomaten kleinschneiden und dazu
1-2 Bruehwuerfel mit wenig! wasser
Doerrfleisch oder Speck in Topf mit Schmalz auslassen
Alles dazu und gut mischen
in Ofenform 1h bei 175C mit Deckel drauf backen.
Letzten 10 min Dekel ab zum braeunen.

Rahm Geschnetzeltes

Fleisch in streifen schneiden und in butter kurz anbraten
Aus Pfanne raus
soviel gehackte zweibeln wie fleisch anbraten (in fett von fleisch!)
Halbierte Champignons dazu
Etwas Bruehe bei kleiner fleamme koecheln
1 Becher Sahne dazu
Fleisch wieder dazugeben und nochmal aufwaermen.
Pfeffer Salz
U.u. etwas Kaese drin zerlassen

Curry Variante:
Fleisch anbraten dazu Curry Pulver (viel).
Schmoren lassen dann Sahne & Bruehe..

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