First step into Germany
Hello. I haven’t been blogging since I
touched down in Berlin. This is gonna be a very long post. Everything was so
messed up the moment I arrived. My luggage was kinda heavy and I wasn’t used to
the weight. So decided to hop on a cab to the hostel that I have booked. And I
got cheated as the cab driver brought up the prices, making the cab ride of less
than 20 min cost 85EUR. Madass. But as I do not know German and it’s my first
time there in Berlin, I decide to not make matters big and just pay the money.
Safety was my first priority
The plane journey was quite awesome. Not
even kidding. Qatar Dreamline was really like a dream for me. Firstly, I had
the whole row to myself (3 seats) and I could sleep flat, then the food was
good too. The air stewardesses were very nice and polite too. Was really good.
It starts with them providing refreshing towels. Then snoozeeee. My
flight was at 2.30 am, and I was basically dying in the plane. Was getting
super cranky. But the moment I got onto the plane, that cranky-ness in me was
dissolve to nothing. I was so hype about the facilities in the plane. (Well,
could be mainly be due to me taking budget airlines everywhere nowadays). So
everything was so god and beyond my expectation (but do note that I wasn’t
expecting much from the plane, I was thinking in terms of budget airline
standards. So… that’s why I am so hype about the airplane)
Then after 7 hours, I alighted at Doha
Airport (Hamad International Airport). The airport looks relatively new.
Totally different from what I was expecting. The airport wasn’t that full as
many people were there just to do a transit. But then again, wasn’t expecting
an airport this nice. And came my cranky-ness again as I was so tired from the
first plane ride although I kept sleeping and sleeping. Waited for about 3
hours and board the next plane. Oh, one thing about Qatar Airways, I don’t know
if it’s due to budget of the plane at the airport, but I have to walk down the plane from the
stairs and take the bus everytime. Only boarding from Changi International
Airport was directly through the tube.
The second flight after the layover was not
as awesome as the first one I would say, it was an older model of Qatar Airways,
and similarly, I had the entire whole to myself, was 2 seats. I lied flat and
slept again like a pig after taking many pictures from the plane of the
beautiful man-made islands around the Middle East. The plane passes through
Iran, and from the plane, I saw all the tiny villages and many sandy areas.
Really cannot imagine the living condition there.
So, after I alighted from the cab, I walked
about 50m and manage to locate the hostel that I had booked. I stayed at this
hostel call HappyHostel Berlin. Reason being that it was cheap and not too bad.
Shower was fine for me as I am not the big build kind like most
Europeans/ Westerns would be but some others did complain about the place being small. Went
in and go sheets at 2.50EUR one-time fee. Had free wifi there and there was a
kitchen and a chill-out corner. There were 3 showers available and I didn’t
have to wait for any whenever I wish to take my shower.
I then met up with someone call Adam from
CouchSurfing and it was terrible. Not even kidding. He was nice at the
beginning. Offered to bring me to places around Berlin that I was mentioned
that I was interested in and even stayed at his (but I rejected staying at
his). After I touched down, I contacted him and he was so nice and picked me up
from my hostel as I do not know my way around. So, he took me to the train
station, bought a day pass costing 6.90EUR and we only took 1 ride and it was
only 1 stop. Drop off the train and started going to the various places.
We started off by going to the Pariser
Platz, where the Brandenburg Gate were, took a few photos and saw that there
was a big event coming up in Berlin. The UEFA championship. Then walk over to
the Berlin Cathedral which was nice. The infrastructure was so amazing. But I
was so tired already, so didn’t went in to take a better look at it. Then
after, went to Gendarmenmakt and Die Hackeschen Hoefe. Everything was fine but
I didn’t do any research on the transport so thought everything so very
walkable by foot. Little did I expect, we were actually walking to his
place. I got really tired after awhile
and my feet was growing huge blister. We then went to get a sim card without
internet, and I seriously thought he was bringing me back to the hostel, but
no, turns out we are heading to his place….. I was so freaked out. But stayed
calm and thought it positivity at first as I was able to see how an apartment
looks like in Berlin. Then came the nightmare. I arrive at his, and he tried
helping me out with activating of the card. Little did I know that he didn’t
activate it for me, and lied to me and the phone would require an hour for
activation. Think he took me like I was really dumb or some sort, and was
trying to keep me at his place. He then ask me if I have muscle, and asked me
to show him. I was grossed out and said no. then he tried to arm wrestle me
which I did and was only using 1/3 my strength as I was really tired. I didn’t
know what he was trying to achieve, he also ask me about what sizes of clothes
I wear and my hand and feet size and my weight. Then I felt really
uncomfortable and told him that I want to leave to go back to the hostel. It
was about 10pm then.
That prick was really a serious bastard, he
told me that I should just stay his place today and tomorrow. Don’t need to
head back to the hostel. I told him that I have already paid for it and I will
really prefer staying there. So I grabbed my bag, whether he liked it or not and walked to the front door to wear my shoes. He then had no choice walked me to the bus stop and told me he is
gonna leave me there and tell me which buses to take and where to change buses.
I literally freak out and asked very nicely if he could send me back as I do
not know the place. He then said “ that will be too much”. Then I ask him to
tell me where to take the buses and all but he couldn’t explain it properly. I
got annoyed and ask him to borrow me his hotspot. I screenshot down the way
that I would prefer going back from and took the train. He took me to the train
station and asked if I was ok.
I was mad, like really mad. I was so scared
and lost. Come on, I don’t have a map with me, I cant speak German, and I had
no internet, I don’t even have a working German phone line. I wanted to really
just take the cab back, then I thought about the incident in the morning and
decided to take the public transport back.
However, things wasn’t as good as expected.
After I separated ways with him, I took the train and and to change to Bus 245.
I had a hard time locating the bus stop and was really feeling very terrible. I
met some nice people on the way and am seriously grateful and thankful for
them. They guided me with other ways to go back to the hostel.
In Berlin, in June, the sun sets at only
about 9.30pm. So I was stranded on the road at 1030pm and didn’t know where to
go. Everywhere was dark and I was on the verge of breaking down. When I managed to find my way back to
the hostel. Omg. I literally almost broke down in front of the door. I went
back to my bed and washed up and was really drained. I cried in bed so bad, and
didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t imagine what I have just went through and
what worst things could have possibly happen to me. It was a nightmare. The
entire day. I was so worn out and cried so much that night. Didn’t even felt
like heading out the next day to travel and look around. The world seem like
such a scary place. It really taught me how guys always have an ulterior motive
(usually) when approaching girls.
The very next day, I was feeling a lot
better. Really really more comfortable. I have decided the night before that I
should sleep to my content and only get up and start roaming around if I wish
to after. Really really thankful for someone (you know who you are) for guiding
me and helping me and comforting me through all those moments. Really grateful.
Then we skype and tried to figure out the locations of the places that I should be heading for that day (3rd June). How I should take the public transport and
where I should head to. I decided that I should not go to the concentration
camp as it was on the outskirt of Berlin and would be very difficult in
commuting to other places, plus my legs were still not fully ready for long
walks. So very nicely, we discuss about where I should go and how and what
transport I should take. I was really really thankful for it and got the
courage to head out again after checking with the receptionist many things.
I went to the shop nearby the hostel where
they sell sim cards and operates as an internet café. It was only then that I realize
that my sim card wasn’t activated and the idiot told me that I could throw the
exterior cover away. The person in the store couldn’t activate my card for me
at all because I do not have my phone number and I had to get a new sim card
again and buy the internet to use it. I was utterly disappointed with
everything that has happened for the previous day. But it was also through all
those, I realized what I am capable of and I have learnt so much just from it.
Moral of the story, never ever give anyone 100% trust when you just know them
no matter how nice they are to you.
So after the shop to settle my sim card
issue, I decided to head to the main train station to have brunch as I haven’t
eaten anything and was starvinggggg. Not even kidding when I said starving. My
stomach was grumbling super loudly. Went to the one of the store that sells
fish & chips and order some fish fillet burger and was disappointed with
the food, the portion was huge, but it wasn’t the slightest hot. It was ice
cold. I almost died trying to swallow it down. But then again, not gonna waste
food and I know I need to fill my stomach, I really really tried very hard
swallowing the entire fish fillet meat down. The bread was so hard I can’t even
chew it properly. (Regretted and thought that I should have just went to
McDonalds that was opposite, probably be better. But then, I met a lady while
eating my terrible cold fish fillet and had a small talk. The lady was so nice
and told me some stuff about Germany and how people below the age of 65 usually
can speak English and told me not to worry about getting lost.
This was when I realise my day is getting
better. I then went to the museum fur Natukunde (Natural History museum) all
because of the dinosaur bones. I really think dinosaurs are awesomeeeeeee. It
costs 3EUR for students. There wasn’t really much to see there but there was an
exhibition on Panda that caught my eyes. So went to take a look at the pandas
that were kept in Berlin and learn some things about the pandas in Berlin.
I then went to the Classic Remise Berlin.
Free entry. That place was so cool. Really. Not even kidding, there were so
many antique cars around and omg, I really wanna just sit in one and drive
around and feel it moving. Hahaha. Then I realized, all these cars are actually
for sale! And even after converting back to SGD, it is still much cheaper than
buying a car in SG.
Of course, there were the sports cars,
Ferrari, Maserati, Bugatti, Porsche ... So on and so on. I
want one too. So cool. The place wasn’t that huge so completed walking around
in about 45 min. But the cars were really nice.
Then my next stop, Charlottenburg Palace.
Student 8EUR, to take photos additional 3EUR. So I just took my phone in and
snap a few picture whenever I can and there are no guards around. :P The
interior is amazing. Really good. The painting on the walls were so classic. I
can just sit there for the entire day admiring the ceilings. After I was done
with the palace, well… you cannot miss the palace garden at the back. The park
is sooooooo scenic. And there were ducks in the pond. Very beautiful park. It
was better than the Taiwan themepark I went to. (There was a lavender park at
the entrance when I was there). By that time, my legs were dying on me and I
was hungry. Really hungry, so I have decided to skip Tiergarten and return back
to hostel early. On the way back to the hostel, I got lost again. Yes, but this
time, I was slightly better, as I had my 3G although my phone battery was about
to die on me. I had written down how to go from places to places. Then after I
walked towards this guy on his bicycle and he is the nicest guy I met so far.
He accompanied me to the bus stop to make sure that I am at the right bus stop
and also, told me about himself touring around Germany and had went to China,
Philippines and all. So we exchange contact details as he was keeping a blog
too about the places that he has been to. I think the universe decides to make
Berlin a better place for me that day. So alighting the bus, I make a pit stop
at PENNY (supermarket) to get apple and some food for breakfast. Went back,
cook noodles (as I was really craving for some warm, hot soupy food) and had
the apple I bought.
Then met this guy that just check in, he is
originally from India, but living in Canada now. He slept on the opposite bunk
bed of mine and then we shared the experience that we had and we both had bad
experience from couchsurfing. Not even kidding. He met a gay and left his
apartment at 10pm too. So we were both scared and lonely. Chat so much and more
people came along to chat with us, everyone was saying how much they miss home
and all. I was missing home so bad when I was lost. But otherwise it was still
ok. Have already prep myself to be away for 3 months. :D
Right now as I’m typing this, I am on my
way to Cologne, on the train for 5-6 hours. Will be reaching in another 4 more
stops. It’s a very long journey from Berlin to Cologne. And there is this guy
sitting opposite me. Chatted a little too, he gave me some tips in Cologne and
where I should go. So grateful for all these friendly people that appeared. :D
Oh, did I mention, I am falling in love
with the public transport here. It is so good, and so much better than the ones
in SG. The weather has been really good on me too. Very lucky. Not too cold and
no rain.
I supposed I wouldn’t be able to blog
anytime soon again. So until then :D
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