I should have updated this blog sooner, but circumstances (welcomed or otherwise) have forced me to neglect my monthly posting duties. Circumstances meaning my laziness and inability to be consistent practically made me busy for almost 3 quarters of 2009. Oh well, as what I always say to friends who never cease to cringe on my tardiness "better late than never!"

So, what has transpired since I last updated? "A lot", my evil twin seems to say. Truly one year of living outside the Philippines brought vast changes in my life. A couple I would rather forget, but the rest gave me immense (or exagerrated) elation. I think 4 of the most "mind sticking" events were sharing a three-storey flat with several Germans; going to and from the uni and likewise around Passau by means of a bike; traveling all the way to Prague with my best pal with only 20 euros as pocket money; and talking to those whose views and opinions are or were opposite of mine. I'm not saying that these four are extremely outstanding. Its more of, the experiences made me realize that I have nothing to fear, that very very slowly, I am becoming an authentic adult. My authenticity of course is stil up for debate. haha. Some would probably suggest that my behaviour remains on pubescent stage. My long-suffering siblings might think so too. But anyway, inauthentic or not, I believe the year alone transformed my outlook, upped my confidence...made me less soft.

Of course like what I said, disappointments and erroneous decisions that I made in the past year continue to haunt me. I sometimes wish that I had more resolve before so that I was able to spare myself from the nightmare later. But then again, if I had not experienced them, would I have not been more formidable now? I guess I shouldnt bury them totally. Maybe just place them in the deepest recesses of memory.


My glorious flat on Lowenmuhl Strasse


Biking through thick and thin


Cam-whoring in Prague: Please ignore my incredible hulk arms


First trip outside of Germany with complete strangers



Me, my hippy hair and my first non-Filipino best pal:walking with Jum

Bike at your own risk

My ego took a deep dive last Saturday when, out of sheer stupidity, I decided to ride a bicycle after downing two glasses of red wine.    I was far from the "sobriety test" level, but I guess the alcohol in my blood stream must have done enough damage to wreak havoc on my so-called better judgement.  Or maybe I was just too much of a cheap nut that, upon hearing the offer of a free bike, decided to accept , regardless if whether the bike appropriately matched my small (yet chunky) frame.  Anyway, I surely made an ass of myself since Janine, my Canadian friend, almost had a cardiac arrest after witnessing my stunt moves.  I can vaguely remember her somewhat shocked but amused face when I was slowly falling sideways.  Of course it wasn't slow since it occured in an instant, but yeah, I had a vague feeling that it was happening in a slow-mo pace. Anyway, we were both laughing at the end, Janine standing deliriously a few meters from me, while I, stupidly lying on the stone-cold ground.   My ego was definitely bruised while I lay "dying of embarrasment" on the ground.  But really, the experience sort of brought a happy feeliing inside of me.  Probably because the no-holds-barred laughter boosted my oxygen deprived brain, or maybe released some pent-up emotions. Whatev.  But yeah, kidding aside, the fall did leave two marks on my "body".  Actually, it was only the next day when I learned that I had superficial bruises on my left hand. 


Band aid me: This is actually a hand,not a foot

Those cuts are hardly visible and faaaaaaaaaaaaaar from life-threatening, but yeah, the pain is a bit nasty.  I told my brother about my latest ass-kicking acrobatics (of course I left out the wine info) he just said that I should be careful next time (and that I SHOULD NOT stay out LATE).  Its funny that I even fell off a bike since my family (or  to be exact my brother jjrm-bicycles.com/) supplies bike parts in the Philippines. Go figure.

Addendum:  Kidding aside, I think the incident last Sat, no matter how insignificant, was not something that I should be proud of. 

I decided last week to lie low for a while to concentrate on my hausarbeit and of course, cut down on costs.  However, my brilliant plan seems to have backfired as I am, at the moment, at my wits end!  Yesterday was semi-alright since I at least had something to do.  My russian flatmate, whom I barely had a decent discussion, suddenly found her tongue and asked me to help pack her things.  I wasn't offended since she never gave me any problems --- it was just the language barrier that limited our verbal exchanges.  Anyway, at least I can now safely say that not all russians are like Putin (hehe), and that some actually have decent taste in fashion.  Her brown, body hugging leather jacket is to die for!  Must have cost her a fortune. But yes I will definitely miss Katya  because she's the only female that I know in Germany who has yet to adopt the habit of flushing after peeing.  Yep, the girl can't flush!  I'm exaggerating obviously but there were times when I wanted to smack her since flushing is a simple gesture of courtesy.   Likewise, both K and the other girl (I keep forgetting her name), are also guilty of almost always leaving the "kitchen" in a state of utter chaos.  But K did wash my dishes the other day, so I guess we're even. Bygones!

This morning I woke up and realized that I absolutely had nothing to do. I tried facebooking but got bored after realizing that no one was availabe to chat (and I'm not a big fan of chatting anyway). I next turned to TMZ and JustJared for my daily source of trashy hollywood news.  But the endless drama about Rihanna was making me puke.  So, with only the four walls of my 10m2 room to keep me company, I decided to pass the time by "cooking".    Cooking has never been a part of my daily routine since of all the Atienza siblings, I'm  the only one who cannot whip up a decent meal.  Well back in my home country,  I used to cook Adobo, but my dish was always met with stoic silence.  I tried experimenting, some worked, but most didn't.  I think I can create something spectacular in the kitchen (what origami!?!), but I guess I got used to having other people do the cooking for me. 

Anyway,  with my so-called sanity at stake, I "expertly" heated the ready-to-cook mashed potato mix and, boiled about 1/4 of the nudeln contents.   I really don't know what drove me to cook such an eye-popping amount of carbs as I was eating for one.  But hell, I came up with these:


Close encounters of the mashed kind:
Mashed potatoes topped with Zweibel Salz and,
tuna - my one and only viand. In fairness
bagay naman, dapat lang extra spicy.


Gangsta Pasta: I'm actually happy with the
end result since its super al dente. lol.
Wa masabi si Gaita Fores dyan!  I finished
it off with a generous splash (?)of Bolognese
sauce (yung nasa bote of course).


The mashed potatoes, at first glance, may cause one to hyperventilate.    The sheer volume sort of bothered me at one point since I thought that I could not finish it all.  Plus, the dish sort of reminded me of  Steven Spielberg's opus Close Encounters of the third kind.  I used to watched re-runs of that film, and for movie buffs, one of the highlights of the film was Richard Dreyfuss'  playing with his mashed potatoes.  Dreyfuss' character was subconsciously replicating the mountain where the aliens were hiding.  Fortunately, no aliens came out of my meal. 

True to form, I ate the entire meal in one seating.  That meal alone could make one bloat.  A few minutes after gorging, I felt the sudden urge to join a marathon, or at least walk.  Walking has become part of my Sunday ritual (THAT IS, if I'm not sleeping), so I suited up and headed to the nunnery across the Inn River.  I still have no clue what the cloister is called, all I know is that its yellow and located almost on top of the hill.  I was up there last week, and was completely elated with the site. Elated meaning I was just so freaking glad that I reached the place after an almost 20-minute trek.  Anyway, I think I shouldn't have gone up  since the almost steep climb compared to last week was a teeny bit harder due to the icy ground.  Plus it was raining the whole day.  So just imagine me walking in slow-mo.  But yeah, it was my come hell or high water moment. 


These boots are made for walkin':  My original Ugg boots, courtesy
of my sister Melissa.  I'm planning to raid her closet (and Rhoda's)
again, as I need a new wardrobe for spring.  The folded up pants'
style was copied from Sienna Miller, my fashion icon.   


Almost there:  Just a few meters from the yellow cloister.  From my view,
I could practically see the whole of Passau (OA, hehe)


The yellow cloister: The doors are
open daily because the cloister
is some sort of a gateway to...the
other side (para makaraing
sa kagubatan)


The other side:  On the left is the path
leading to the forest.  Wa ko balak
puntahan.


I wanted to roll down the hill after the
strenous trek.  Good for the legs though!

Thai "themed" partey:  We all gathered in the ITZ to celebrate the last day of class. 
This picture was taken before we said our temporary goodbyes.  As you can see, I
am again the smallest in the group.  I'm not really familiar with the names of the girls
(some have already left kaya konti na lang kami sa photo), but they are really nice,
especially the one with the pinck scarf.  Mukhang snob pero nakakatawa. 

Classes may be over for most of us here in the Universität, but we still have more than a month to go to submit all the credit prerequisites like term papers and what have you.  This period for me is by far the bloodiest as you practically have to spend your entire day re-reading, organizing haphazardly written notes and typing your so-called rational thoughts.  I was at the Bibliothek this afternoon and my gawd, it took me forever to find a vacant space as most of the tables and chairs were occupied by harrased (but still cool-looking) students.  Thankfully, after 20 minutes of ferreting for a perfect spot, I found one in the European (or was it Philosophy?) section of the Buchertürm (BookTower).  It wasn't really that perfect as the floors creaked and I could practically hear the people chatting one floor above me.   Believe me, the library is quite high tech, but the flooring in the Bucherturm needs a bit of work.  Anyhow,  normally I stay in the Southeast Asian Section or near the area where coffee and magazines are aplenty, but Monday was not obviously my day.  Guess I should have gone there in the morning.  

Oh yes, we had the end of the semester party in the SOAK department but unfortunately, my camera's batteries were unwilling to work with me.  That's what happens when you assume that everything would turn out fine!?!  But yeah, though no pictures were taken by yours truly, the memories of the night will forever be etched in my cerebral cortex.  Haha.  The people that I've "networked with" were pretty refreshing and stimulating.  Grounded but funny.  The food was excellent, so was the endless supply of liquor.  It was near dawn when I left the uni with Prof. Rüdiger Korff and Areefa, and thankfully we all reached our humble abodes with nary a bruise nor bump. 

My original  plan was to kick back and relax in my room for the whole day, but Linda, one of the MA students, needed some fresh air to revitalize her sagging health.  As I am one of the nicest people on this side of the earth, plus my legs were badly in need of strenous activity, I decided to go with her and explore the beauty of Passau's countryside.  Going with her for a more than an hour stroll was actually one of the best decisions that I've made so far.   Inexpensive but definitlely worth the sweat.  We didn't actually perspire since the weather was below zero and, the semi forest where we walked was somewhat covered with snow. But yeah, the stroll really rejuvinated my weakened body and "de-fogged" my colorless vision.   It was thrilling actually since it was only that time when I realized that Passau is practically within striking distance from Austria.  Well I always knew that it was near (same with Czech Republic), but I didn't know that one could walk to and fro under one hour. 

Anyway, though we didn't exactly step foot on the land of Maria Von Trapp, the sights,  (or lack of structures) and smell were enough to make me say "ahhhhh!, clean air!  Even the stench of horse crap made me delirious!  As usual, I took pictures for documentation, but because I was so enamored with the simple beauty, I only managed to capture three.  Pakshet.  Too bad really that my family didn't see Passau as I had to cancel their two-night stay here due to the Neo-nazi demonstration.  About that, fortunately it wasn't too successful as there were only 200 black-clad fascists, as opposed to the 1000-strong counter protesters.  Hooray for wisdom!  Jum (my thai friend) was actually in the alstadt (old city) when the demo occured, but she said it was actually a sleepfest. 



Linda with the cats:  I stood two meters away from the "vermins" while she petted them. 
Seriously, cats are only good for Siopao. haha.  This photo was taken on a farmland, near 
the Austrian border.



Linda has a starring role: Hmmm, I should have asked her to capture my
ecstatic image instead.



View from the bridge:  As we were about to return to Passau "proper".
I later learned that a car fell into the river.  Baka gusto mag swimming.


Addendum:  Just in case you see a banner on the upper left side of the screen, advertisng single Filipinas, Please DO NOT click.  Can't understand why it keeps popping on this site.