7樣德國慕尼黑啤酒節你要知嘅嘢 7 things you want to know about Oktoberfest

慕尼黑啤酒節呢個節日每年9月10月都成日聽,但對於呢個全世界最大嘅啤酒節,你又知幾多呢?以下呢幾樣野又知唔知?

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1. 啤酒節有幾耐歷史?

啤酒節源自1810年,最初只係慶祝Bavarian國王Ludwig I.同佢妻子Theresie嘅結婚紀念活動之一。本來係賽馬活動,但因太受歡迎,而逐漸變成每年舉行嘅活動,繼而進發成今日嘅啤酒節!

2. 啲啤酒有啲咩特色架?

啤酒節嘅啤酒全部都係係德國慕尼黑釀造,而自16世紀,德國Bavaria(啤酒節所屬嘅州)已經對釀造啤酒有嚴格嘅規條,為咗釀造最純嘅啤酒,喺1516年,Duke William IV訂下只可以用水, 大麥(Barley),同啤酒花(Hop),所以德國嘅啤酒被譽為世上最好味嘅啤酒!

3. 去到啤酒節有咩牌子嘅啤酒飲呢?

啤酒節嘅啤酒都係喺Bavaria釀製,有以下幾個品牌:Augustiner, Paulaner, Spaten-Franziskaner, Löwenbräu, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbräu

4. 1杯啤酒有幾大杯?幾多錢?又有幾多卡路里?

啤酒節一杯啤酒一般都係1公升1杯,一個人飲唔晒嘅話,就記得同朋友仔share嗌一杯好啦!1杯啤酒通常都係大概10euro以下,而1杯啤酒嘅卡路里就有500kcal啦!!!好肥呀!!!

5. 啤酒節有啲咩德國傳統嘢食要食呢?

有幾樣嘢食嚟到啤酒節唔可以唔試嘅!德國咸豬手啦,腸仔啦,德國麵包啦…!呢啲都聽得多,但原來德國人仲鍾意係啤酒節食燒雞,隻雞醃到好入味,啲皮再燒到脆卜卜!

6. 啤酒節有咩玩架?

啤酒節其實就好似一個大型嘉年華會,有機動遊戲,有賣嘢食既攤位,當然唔少得飲啤酒嘅帳幕!啤酒節係無入場費嘅,機動遊戲都係玩先要俾錢,所以假如你唔食唔飲唔玩,基本上係可以唔洗錢嘅!

7. 去啤酒節要準備啲乜?

話晒係全球最大嘅啤酒節,每年都好多人慕名而來!所以每逢啤酒節期間,去慕尼黑嘅機票火車飛酒店都會好full同好貴,所以要預早book定同計劃行程,如果唔係就要「出外靠朋友」,如果有係慕尼黑住嘅朋友就唔使咁擔心啦!去啤酒節仲要預咗book定張檯,如果唔係入到去都無位坐,無位坐就無得嗌啤酒啦!想全情投入仲可以著埋Bavaria嘅傳統服裝Dirndl(女)或者Lederhosen(男),去到啤酒節大把人著,唔使驚得自己一個著!

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 (Source of picture: wikipedia)

The German Oktoberfest occur every year during September and October as the world’s biggest beer festival! How much do you know about it? Do you know the following things about Oktoberfest?

1. What’s the history of Oktoberfest?

Oktoberfest originates from 1810. At first it was a horse race and was part of the celebration of Bravarian King Ludwig I. and his wife Theresie. As the horse race was very popular, it was held as an annual event afterwards, and eventually becomes the Oktoberfest nowadays.

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2. What’s so special about the beer?

The beer we drink in Oktoberfest are all brewed in Munich. Since 16th century, Bavaria in Germany already has set strict rules for brewing the best beer. In order to brew the purest beer, in 1516, Duke William IV ordered only water, barley and hop can be used for brewing!

3. What brands of beer are you expecting to see in Oktoberfest?

All the beer in Oktoberfest are brewed in Munich in Bavaria, include the following brands: Augustiner, Paulaner, Spaten-Franziskaner, Löwenbräu, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbräu

4. How big and how much is a glass of beer? How many calories does a glass of beer contain?

During Oktoberfest, a glass of beer is usually 1L. It costs around 10euro and it has around 500kcal for each glass of beer! Maybe sharing the glass of beer with a friend is not a bad idea, thinking about how much fat you are gaining!

5. What are some typical German food to eat in Oktoberfest?

There are a few foods you should try when you go to Oktoberfest! The common ones are pork knuckle, bratwurst, pretzels…!  But maybe it never draws your attention that Germans also like to eat roast chicken in Oktoberfest, season the chicken and roast the skin till crispy! Ohlalalaaaaaa. Nom!

6. What am I expecting to have fun in Oktoberfest?

Oktoberfest is like a big carnival, there are rides, stalls for food and beer tent! There’s no entrance fee for Oktoberfest, and you only have to pay if you are playing the rides, eating or drinking! So if you don’t want to spend any money in Oktoberfest, you can simply walk around and feel how it’s like!

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7. What should I prepare to go to Oktoberfest?

As it’s the biggest beer festival in the world, there are people from all around the world to go to Oktoberfest every year! During that period, hotels and transportation like flights and trains tickets soared! So plan ahead, if not, maybe it’s good to have a good friend who lives in Munich! Also remember to book a table in the tent earlier, if you don’t have a seat, they won’t serve you a beer! If you would like to get in the atmosphere, you can also wear what the Bavarian traditional costume! Don’t feel shy, because there will be many people wearing Dirndl and Lederhosen!

To get to know more: http://www.oktoberfest.de/

5種住hostel唔想遇到嘅人 5 types of people you don’t want to meet in a Hostel

最近啱啱去完旅行,有時鍾意「窮遊大地」嘅我,當中都住咗好幾晚Hostel,仲要唔平唔住,平均都係5-6euro一晚!一分錢一分貨,有時都唔會要求多多,但住hostel遇著以下啲咁嘅人,都咪話唔喊三聲囉!

1. 鬧鐘響不停嘅人

有一次住hostel,由其中一個同房嘅朋友(唔識嘅),鬧鐘係朝早6點幾就開始響,如果佢真係要咁早起身,我都唔介意,咁各有所需嘛!但弊就弊在佢又唔醒,個鬧鐘由6點幾響到8點半先起身!慘在我地呢啲無辜嘅人俾佢嘈醒晒…陰功!

2. 深夜講嘢大大聲嘅人

試過十一點幾瞓覺,已經訓著咗架啦,跟住有班人十二點幾返房,開始講嘢,係間房行嚟行去大大聲,結果嘈醒咗!但一山還有一山高,話說個Hostel都有少少舊,房同房之間嘅隔音麻麻哋,一點幾隔離房講西班牙文嘅朋友仲係度高談闊論緊,忍唔住都係要去同reception投訴下!

3. 飲醉酒嘅人

飲酒飲到醉醺醺,成身酒味仲要深宵嘈嘈閉嘅人。本人最怕就係遇到飲醉酒嘅人,佢都飲醉酒,你講乜佢都聽唔入耳,話佢佢都會繼續嘈,仲要第二日乜都唔記得晒自己做咗啲咩!真係有時都唔知點對付呢啲人!

4. 做兒童不宜嘢嘅人(唔係吸煙同飲酒)

即係住係一個mixed dorm,明明就係有好多陌生人,有男有女,但就偏偏要係咁多人嘅地方做一啲兒童不宜嘅嘢,發出一啲「奇怪」嘅聲音!可能佢哋覺得好刺激,但聽到啲咁嘅聲音嘅人就真係瞓得有啲唔係好安樂!

5. 話對你有興趣嘅人

即係傾咗一陣計,跟住就開始話覺得你好靚,對你好有興趣嘅人,如果佢仲要同你同一間房,都咪話唔驚。試過同個朋友一齊去旅行,佢就係個受害者,最後明明一人俾咗一張牀嘅錢都要嗰晚一齊孖鋪!

你又有冇喺hostel遇過啲唔想遇到嘅人呢?歡迎分享! DSCN7508 Recently I just got back form a trip, as usual, I would like to save some money and decided to stay in a Hostel for a few nights. Since some of them are really cheap, say 5-6euro per night, we decided to go for those hostel! When things are so cheap, I don’t expect too much from it. But if I met these kinds of people in a Hostel, sometimes I really think it’s a disaster!

1. Person with alarm clock keeps ringing

Once I lived in a hostel, someone in the room had her alarm clock starts ringing at 6.30am! I understand sometimes people may have to wake up early to catch their schedule, it’s okay if someone is waking up at 6.30am! But the thing is, this girl actually wakes up at 8.30am in the end. So she just keeps her alarm clock ringing at 6.30am,7am, 7.30am, 8am, 8.15am, 8.25am…etc. Pfffffff

2. Person who chats/speaks loudly in the midnight

I once fell asleep at around 11pm. Then I thought I could sleep till the next morning. But at around 12am, my dorm-mates came back. They started chatting, tidying up their things, walking around the room to get stuff…They were soooo noisy that they actually woke me up. What is worse was there were a group of 12 Spanish living the room right next. As the hostel is quite old, you can hear people speaking next room quite clearly. In the end, there was no way but I had to go to the reception and told them the situation and got it solved.

3. Person who is drunk

When it’s the middle of the night, and your dorm-mate came back drunk and talking to someone else, that’s actually quite horrible. I personally think drunk people are one of the hardest people to deal with. Because even when you talk to them, they can’t really control themselves and the next morning, they won’t even remember what happened last night. I feel that’s not much I can do under this circumstance.

4. People who do 18+ things in the room (i don’t mean smoking or drinking)

When you live in a mixed form, with people of all ages and both male and female in the room, sometimes I don’t really understand how people can do something like that, and making noise that makes people feel uncomfortable. Perhaps they think it’s exciting to do such things, but seriously, it just so awkward to hear something like that.

5. Person who said he’s interested in you

After chatting for awhile, the person told you you are so cute, so pretty, and he’s interested in you, and you are living in the same dorm with him! Ohlalalaaaaa Once I traveled with my friend and she’s the victim, just to play safe, my friend and I slept in the same bed together that night even though we paid for our own bed!

Have you met someone in the hostel that you would not like to meet? Please feel free to share your experience!

Schwetzingen – 德國的秘密城堡花園 Schwetzingen – Secret castle garden in Germany

德國海德堡可能對去過德國嘅朋友仔都會唔會陌生,海德堡附近有個叫Mannheim嘅城市,十個有九個去過嘅人都話個個地方無嘢睇,筆者由於探朋友嘅關係留咗係呢個地方好幾日。

絞盡腦汁去邊之際,朋友嘅同屋介紹我哋去呢個叫Schwetzingen嘅地方,話好靚好靚!我哋入到去城堡花園之後,即刻「嘩」咗聲!然後發現個花園大到好似行極都行唔完,結果就係度玩咗一日啦!呢個城堡花園一d都唔出名,連我個係Mannheim讀書嘅德國朋友仔都唔知呢個地方,你話係咪秘密啦!

Heidelberg in Germany may not sound strange to many travelers. However, its nearby city – Mannheim, most of the people go there just for the sake of having cheaper accommodation when visiting Heidelberg, because that is a city which is not too much to see. Yet, I stayed in Mannheim for a few days because of a friend.

While my friend was worrying where she should show me around in Mannheim, her housemate suggested we can go to Schwetzingen. She said we would definitely love it! We were shocked after we enter the castle garden, and then we realized the garden was realllllllllly huge! This castle is so secret that even my German friend who’s been studying there didn’t know about that! What a big discovery!

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噴泉 Big Fountain!

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放塊樹葉,就會跟住水流走 Put a leaf, and it will flow along the water

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小橋流水 little bridge

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五顏六色的秋天 colourful autumn

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城堡內的清真寺 Mosque in the castle

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遊完花園嘆下蘋果餡餅 Enjoy apple strudel after the visit

‘You are not special’ 3 ways how I choose my next travel destination

“Go to Paris to be in Paris, not to cross it off your list and congratulate yourself for being worldly.” from the video, a very inspiring video.

I think this was how I used to choose where to go: just to choose somewhere I never been to, maybe in the bottom of my heart, I just want to cross another country/city on my list. Now that I travel more, I see more, I start realizing crossing the list is cool, but it shouldn’t be the reason to travel. It’s nothing to proud of that you’ve been to 20 countries in 1 year, because when you think you are cool, there are someone else in the world travel to 30 countries in 1 year. What I mean is, you think you are cool? There are someone who is cooler out there. So now, when I want to travel, these are some reasons to determine my next destination.

1. Friends

Throughout the travel I had before, I met a lot of interesting people. I want to meet many of them again. So when I know we are close, that’s a motivation to see  them again and visit the places they are at.

2. Cultural

Last Christmas, I was in Europe. I really would like to spend Christmas with an European family to experience the difference of celebrating Christmas in Europe and in Hong Kong. I also would like to go to the Tomato Festival in SpainOktoberfest in Germany…etc.

3. Place I never been

Instead of checking the list, I still would like to explore places I never been. But I would like to experience and enjoy the place rather than just for the sake of being there.