iPandaAround: Swatting - No funny prank

While browsing YouTube I came across a video where a man sitting in his room, playing a video game while streaming it live on the internet as a SWAT team - yeah, a fricking SWAT team! - bursting into his room.
I don't want to call it a trend, because I hope it won't ever get a trend! The SWAT team was heavily armed with assault rifles and ready to clear a bomb thread. I really have huge respect for the work those men do and I don't understand why people must play such a ridiculous act. Are they stupid? Whats going on in their heads I wanna know sometimes.
This is supposed to be a prank, but it is not funny at all. Fortunately the man only got handcuffed and nothing worse happened after he explained the whole situation. All this could end up a in a big tragedy. It really reminds me of the tale of Aesop 'The boy who cried wolf'...

iPandaAroundUniversity: I am an official student now!

It is official! As of today I am a student now! ^o^
This morning I went to the 'student service center' of my university and they hand me out my student ID! Somehow I am so glad to feel that (cheap :D) little plastic card in my palm. From a freeloader to a student - transformation complete! Well, I got nothing to do the next month as well, so technically I am still a freeloader...
And damn, I look like a weirdo on that ID...

I am also trying  to learn playing guitar by watching YouTube videos. Right now I can play a few little things. It is not really great, but it is really fun and of course it kills time. ;)
This guitar is like ancient and the strings need to be replaced, but just now they are doing fine. I guess, if I get better at playing and stuff, I will go buying new strings, also to get my playing to next level. :D

iPandaAroundUniversity: Final, Physics and Future - What now?

So this year was my graduation year and I am very happy to get out of school. Well, university's the next level now and will follow me for the next three years. I don't even know, what to expect or what to do with the free time till university starts this fall. I guess I'll write some boring blogs then. ;)

Back in high school I was a good-for-nothing average guy, with average grades and a couple of friends. Of course school wasn't that fun and there were always other more interesting things to do. 

Woah, hold on, dude! Is this supposed to be a drama story or what? I am not prepared for that one!

Then brace yourself, go grab popcorn and tissues and read my story about finding the right path in life (life so far, haha).

However, I really struggled with the question what to do with my life after graduation. Yeah, there were plenty of possibilities, but I just couldn't be friends with neither of them. And as I watched my friends knowing exactly what they what to do and working towards their goal, I kinda felt out of place and stuck in nowhere. Computer science, teaching post, law, chemistry - they even already have chosen their university.

Fortunately I was very occupied with the preparation for the final exams, so that I was at least a little bit distracted from the question what to do after school and the time just flew by. 

In a blink of an eye I messed up with my math exam, slipped through my history presentation and got very disappointed with my German one and then I was holding my graduation certificate in my hands. As you can tell, I wasn't very happy with all this, since I really did a lot for preparation and stuff. Hard work gonna pays off - not for me it seemed. And again the infamous question came to my mind. What are you doing now?

According to some advises I got, I sat down, got pen and paper and made a list of what I can do best and at what I do suck. Well, the list was very one sided. There was nothing I really was good at. I know I am hypercritical to myself, but I am also a realist who doesn't overestimate anything concerning own strengths. 

The list was tossed in the paper bin and here I was again standing at the beginning.

After weeks of searching after the littlest clue, I decided to study Physics. You can tell it wasn't easy for me. 

And why did you decided to study physics? That's sick, bruh!

That is what my mother was saying as I told her I gonna study physics. What's physics, son? Can you even earn money with that? Why not studying law? Your grand-mother and I would be very happy if you go studying law. Or what about medicine like your uncle? Or why not doing this computer thing and founding a company like your uncle back in Japan?

Yeah, it would make you happy, but this is my life. And anyway, my grades are not good enough to apply for any of those courses. 

Before deciding to study physics, I applied for a gap year to do voluntary work in the social sector. I felt like helping people and making them smile, but I got to notice that you can't help people and make them smile, if you can't smile and even help yourself. So I dropped this idea and applied for Goethe University Frankfurt instead.

source: wikipedia.org - Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt

Soon I got an acceptance. Nothing to wonder about, because nobody is crazy enough to study Physics. I want to achieve something, want to challenge myself, want to capture new experiences. 

That is what I was thinking at the beginning. I was not superb in physics at school, but my grades was far better than any other subjects (around 90 points out of 100), so I thought, why not give it a shot. I rather would do engineering school, but again my grades are not good enough. But physics is also really fun for me, I like to explain the world through physical terms and I am fascinated by the universe and its mysteries. You have an understanding for those things, is what my teacher was telling me. By the way, he was the best physics teacher I've ever had! You could almost say, he was the one convincing me studying physics.
I have respect for this degree course. Not because it has 50% of abortion rate, but also because of its demand and its toughness.
Bring it on, physics! I am prepared. Challenge accepted!

(And the other thing is that I don't have any other options or alternatives. If I fail here, I most likely fail my life :D)

iPandaAroundBlogger: Troll

This is my first time blogging and writing on the net. So please be nice and gentle to me. :D
Blogger: Nope, not today.
I was spending like hours, HOURS! writing down our Europe journey, having a hard time thinking what to write, which picture to choose and all. Finally in the late evening I finished everything, happy to share this with you.
No spelling mistakes? Check! Photos looking good? Double check! Saving the file? Triple check! Saving the saved file? Paranoid check!
Alright, publish! And what happened? Half of the my essay was gone! Gone in the world wide web, no chance to restore anything. I was speachless, guys.
So, not giving up I spent another whole day to rewrite everything and this time there were no problems uploading this potato.
I hope you guys enjoy it, maybe also consider to make a trip to see the world and if so, let me know and share your experiences with me! :)

Katschauw!

iPandaAroundEurope

21.07.2014 - 04.08.2014

I must admit it is just half europe, south-east europe to be precise but 'iPandaAroundEurope' sounds more dramatic. I also must admit that this is my first time doing backpacking and blogging and stuff. Let me think, what else do I have to admit...? Na, whatever. Lets go! ;)

Lindau (Lake Constance)

With my bag on my back (lol) and a friend by my side, our first destination was the huge lake Constance. There we met up with three other pals of ours and took their little rubber boat to discover the lake (five person in one little boat - that was crazy :D). Although we could not find any sea monsters living in there, we were not dissapointed. The nature was breathtaking, the air clean and the rain not too annoying. We even could swim in the lake. What a nice place to start our journey.

Milan

Serious guys, I have spent the past five minutes to think about Milan and what to write, but all that pops in head were muffins. ._. 
Just kiddin'.
The first problem in Milan was their streets. There were so many cross roads, so many side roads, we had a hard time finding our hostel. The owner laugh at us later on, how one could not find a hostel located at the biggest street in Milan. Cars were still driving and honking at 1 A.M. Yeah, it was one hell of big street. Nonetheless Milan has one of the greatest cathedral I've ever, EVER saw. If you get out of the Duomo subway station and walk up the stairs to the surface, the first thing you will see is this white, gigantic building. I was standing there like frozen and couldn't do anything but starring. The white marble, the enormous number of statue, the Neo-Gothic architectural style and the huge organ inside the building give the Duomo di Milano a unique and magnificent presence. I am not surprised that there were so many tourists.

Unfortunately the cathedral is the only interesting sight. At least for me. The city was fine (Italian drivers were horrible though...), but Milan is more a shopping/glamour town than a 'sightseeing town'.

If you are in Italy and you don't try pizza or pasta there, you gonna miss something. That's what we thought and we could find a nice little restaurant to eat great pizza. Super delicious, super prices! :D The trick is not to search for a restaurant near town center. The same goes for Rome...

Rome

Rome was like a level up to me. It has this Italian flair ('Non grazie' here, 'Ciao' there and drivers were still crazy...) but has much, much more to offer. In Milan you could find some churches that are really pompous with all the gold and marble and fresco. In Rome you could find ten times more of such churches after every corner. Every church had another 'wow'-effect to me, every church was more magnificent than the other one.

Also Rome has this great historical background. We were walking hours through the Palatin (and tried to have a philosophical talk like Aristotle and Plato :D), were stunned by the Colosseum and discovered the center of Christianity - the Vatican. Not expecting pope Francis there, but got to see and listen him preaching about piece and solving the conflicts in the middle east. Although we didn't understand a word he was saying it impressive and we could tell by the crowd that it also touching.

And as if this isn't the highlight already, there was a great ice cream palour, the oldest ice cream palour throughout Italy, lads and gents. I do not exaggerate when I say the ice cream there tasted like heaven... ;)





After amazing two days in Rome, we travel on to Vienna. We decided to take the night train. 'It would spare us one whole day', we said. 'We can lay down and sleep and all', we said.

We were so wrong. It was a huge mistake...

Vienna

The first time we entered the cabinet I was thinking that this wasn't bad at all. There was enough space and the seats look somehow comfortable too. Then four other people came in and with them four big bags. Our space were gone and the body heat of six people let the small cabin (around 170 x 150 cm) getting warmer and warmer. Not to mentioned that the outside temperature was 36°C already. To top it all we couldn't even sit straight on our beds ('bed' - it took us some damn time to figure out how to revert the seats to beds). I was not expecting too much sleep that night, but our 'roommates' were all nice, gentle and quiet and I even could stretch out my entire legs (first time I was glad not to be that tall :D) so that I could found some sleep in the late night. The train arrived in Vienna with one hour of delay, but we got a little breakfast and some tea, which was nice.

In our hostel we got to met Nathalia (I am sorry, I don't know how to spell her name). She is from Columbia and could speak Spanish, French and English fluently. I was impressed. She was kinda lively and talkative, but also a little bit clumsy. We went to town with her and that was fun. The second guy was from Australian. His name was Joe and he was like the typical surfer boy (he did surfing though :D). He was backpacking around the world and we could chat a little bit, sharing some experiences but he left early in the morning already leaving us some Forints (about 3€) for Budapest. Good Guy Joe!  The third guy was Ismael (And again, I don't know how to spell his name :D). We couldn't talk to him much, cause he was away, when we were in the room and he changed rooms in the middle of the night, because some people were too loud outside.

I didn't take too much picture of Vienne somehow, but Vienna was also a great city. It has a cathedral, that 'Anker Uhr' with different famous personalities like Marcus Aurelius or Charles the Great showing up at specific hours and a few nice churches. What is definitely worth mentioned is a restaurant called 'Cafe Central'. It is more like a cafe and its apple strudel is superb! The cafe has a long tradition going back up to 1870 and so does the cafe looks. 

Mum, don't worry. I only has alcohol-free cockteils! ;)

Before leaving to Budapest, my friend and I had a bet. There were so many people waiting on the platform for the train to Budapest and it was obviously hard for us to find seats, since we didn't even make any reservations. The bet was about finding free, non-booked seats  next to each other. I won the bet, although we found some seats but we were like hundred miles apart. I had a nice talk with a girl from Munich though.

Budapest

My house in Budapest

My hidden treasure chest,

Golden grand piano

My beautiful Castillo

This is what George Ezra sings in his song 'Budapest'. It is quite matching, isn't it? ;) The first thing I noticed in Budapest was its cleanliness. And this already started in the metro. It was super modern (obviously new build), there where lights to mark stairs and signs, no vandalism in the subway, security in front of every metro entrance. The streets were clean (compared to Rome, where there were garbage in every narrow street...) and the drivers were least paying attention to traffic lights and cross-walks. You can tell, Budapest was my personal highlight. :D The city has this modern touch, but manage to combine their history and architecture to a harmonic ensemble. As I walked the streets of Budapest I got the feeling that the city can carry their history along without being 'stuck in time'.

The other day, we climbed Gellért Hill. It was so exhausting, but it was really worth it. The view of city, the river and the bridges was amazing! You could even spot some hills far away. It was splendid. And of course we enjoyed the city and the river Danube, dividing the two former city districts Buda and Pest.


































Budapest was the cheapest city after Prague. We could eat so much and saved so much money at the same time. How is this possible? :D The Ungarian have an interesting way to prepare Goulash. It was not too hot and very tasty though (I just was happy to get anything apart from pizza and pasta. Couldn't see it anymore :D). Too bad we missed to try Palacsinta :(. From what I heard it is like sweet pancakes.

There are also a lot of good clubs around Budapest. And since it is so cheap, you could meet a lot of people just visiting the city for its clubs. As if the prices aren't low enough there are many promoters standing in front of restaurants and clubs, handing out sales discounts. At least they were serious and gentle and not as persistent as those street vendors who want to foist shit on someone. But I must mentioned, that we didn't saw any of them since Vienna though.

With a 'slow' and rather old train, we travel on to Prague. It took us about 7 hours on the train (with a high speed train we would have been sooner there. And what the hell was with the toilet?! It was just like a pit latrine, a seat with a hole! Guys really, it's the 21. century...)

Prague

After arriving in Prague I was like 'My feet hurts, I am tired, I have seen enough, I miss my bed, I want to go home'. Then we got to our hostel and I can tell you that was one hell of a hostel! The building is a stunning 17-century baroque one and so was the inside and the facilities. Marble and golden doorknob everywhere! Our bathroom was marble only and the receptionist had a good taste of music (playing Linkin Park and Alternative Rock all the time :D) Jesus, that was awesome.  

In our six-bed-dorm we got to meet quite a lot of people. There were two guys from the United Kingdom (they study law and they left early), another guy from Spain (he worked for facebook, we called him the 'facebok-insider' in secret :D) and four guys from America. Three of them were from Seattle and they studied computer science/web design. One even had cambodian roots. I never met a Cambodian in my age before, so that was nice. He couldn't talk that good Khmer though. One our last day a South Korean woman moved in our room. She was a elementary school teacher and made use of the summer vacation in South Korea to travel around Europe. She also seemed to be very impressed by Germans. Germans are always so strict and on time, which is a good thing, she said. She also said Physicist are sexy as I told her I gonna study Physics this fall. That was the sweetest thing I've heard in a while... :D We spent one whole day visiting the Prague Castle, with the St. Vitus Cathedral. The cathedral reminded us of the Cologne Cathedral in Germany and it turned out that both cathedral had the same architect.

At our last day, we went and visit the Charles Bridge and the old town square with the astronomical clock and the gothic Tyn Church (unfortunately it wasn't open, so that we could take a look inside). While walking on the old street enjoying the sights, a rather nice thing happened. I found some money laying on the ground. It was about 600 Czech Crowns (about 20€) and there was couple standing some meters away looking at a map. We walked toward them, asking them if they've lost something. They negated, we apologized and explained ourselves and they walked on. We didn't really know what to do, so I suggested to wait for the next ten minutes. It may be possible, that the people are coming back searching for their  money. At least that's what I would do, I said and was not mistaken. After about seven minutes I noticed another couple, looking somehow desperate, searching for something in their bags, putting all stuff out, looking in every pocket. Again we asked, if they might have lost something. 'Yes, money', the woman answered. 'How exactly?' '600 Crowns'. I smiled and gave them the money we've found. The woman was like shocked, surprised, super glad, happy at the same time. We explained her the situation and she was super thankful. We also were glad about this outcome and I could bet that we've made their day.

Czech dark beer

To celebrate our last evening in this beautiful city, we went to a pub and got ourselves drinks. There is something worth mentioning about beer at this point. Water, pure water costs double as much as beer. Everywhere you could get beer or some alcoholic drinks, but water was like super expensive in comparison. And I am not talking about 0,33l or something. You could get 0,5l for a little bit more than 1€. That the Czech Republic for you! :D

But the food were quite cheap here in Prague. It was the cheapest place in our journey. You could get a super big steak with fries and a drink for around 9€. The good girl receptionist recommended us a small restaurant quite hidden around a corner and it was so good, that we decided to have dinner there every time. :D

After spending every Crown we had left, we went to the river side and enjoyed the lights and the Charles Bridge.

Some facts

Total hours spent in the train: 40+ h

Total distance covered: 3000+ km

Total distance walked in town: 35+ km

Sweat level: over 9000

Got a frickin' cold right away back in Germany. Glad to have my bed again though... ;)



Psst! For more pics, check out my G+! ;)