One Month Journey to the West

It was my third trip to the west.

Very blessed to be honest.

This time in 2022, I stayed for almost one whole month.

Ahaha, planning is very important, a good boss too.

Somehow, I made it after the traumatic pandemic that strikes and hits the world.

It is not easy, especially coming back in one piece and stay covid-virgin.

Many reasons why I traveled this time.

But I won't tell you why.

Me in the Mozart land during our road trip. 

 

Trying to chill and also be alert with the crowd.

But somehow, cannot avoid the people all the time.

Cause there are people that I need to see and meet too!

Hello there, lovely couple that always invite me to their place.

I am happy to see you again too!

Guess what we had?

Raclette!

Which you add the ingredients you want on the mini pan,

then add cheese on top,  and you kind of heat it up in the heating machine.

Then enjoy the food when all the cheese melted!

Can't remember how much cheese I had, just very good.

And it got warmer after awhile, and I started to sweat a bit.

Still cannot understand the winter cold and indoor warm transition,

I need a balance.

And really appreciate the treat!

Then, there was a birthday celebration, I got invited, haha!

I felt a bit awkward dealing with strangers, like usual.

Simply because it is challenging for me!

So I just enjoyed the food and drinks.

Yummy food, creamy and very filling.

Happy birthday!

Very happening when all the friends and family spent time for one whole afternoon.

Then there was also cake time, haha.

Best of all.

Need a break in between because I am not used to a long gathering, 

and with a lot of strangers.

 

The view as we walked along the village road.

I just love the autumn-winter vibes.

Never miss the IKEA trip huh?

Unfortunately I was unable to go for shopping there.

So we just had the food as we were on the way to visit friends.

 

It was vegetarian meatball this time, huhu!

Trying different plant based or vegetarian food in this trip.

As we continued our road trip, we also stopped by a friend's house.

Finally this time we made it there, it was really long time since we said goodbye.

But wait! This little boy, my beloved Eric!

I miss him...

Thanks for making us pizza and Indian curry with prata.

What a lovely night we spent chit chatting and playing with the boy.

 

He went to school and looked for me after we left, aww...

A very cute family - German and Malaysian with a mixed boy.

Thank you for hosting and hope to see you all again one day.

The journey continued as we head to a familiar town called Tutlingen.

Sweet pastry and hot chocolate when it snows...

I appreciate that.

The second family we visited is a senior of mine.

This time, I took sometime to mingle with the boy, Gerwin.

 

Finally he let me hold him, haha!

Good achievement!

Two of the boys were born when Covid happened.

Very impressive as the mums shared their respective experience in delivering the baby.

I hope they will grow healthily and happily. 

Although we traveled quite a long distance, but we met people and it was a good trip.

Thank you for driving all the way to make it happen.

One month can be quite long, and a lot of food to share.

And one day, we had steamboat, which made me sweat also after awhile.

Steamboat with wine, and too happy when I found the Enoki mushroom in a China store.

Also I brought the Ling Ling Juan from Malaysia, haha!

A must for steamboat, especially I am practising mealtless diet now.

Some Christmas vibes for me in December~

Yay, a lot of homebaked cookies and wines and deco~

But I never expected this!!!

A visit from St. Nikolaus (Santa) and Krampus 

(the one who beat and put the kids in a bag if they are naughty).

Ahh, I was in shocked and terrified a bit to see Krampus so near to me.

And he made noise and scary voice, I was so lost.

Anyway, it was definitely an unforgettable experience for me.

Thanks for the arrangement, truly a successful surprise for me. 

 

Yup, thank you very much for everything, even the cat tried to be friendly to me.

Fancy cookies for Christmas, looked really good too!

Meanwhile, eating out was also good cause I do not have to cook, haha!

Full hand-size vegetarian burger for me, haha!

Too much I cannot finish it.

Missing the pancake soup, finally got it!

 
But definitely not vegetarian, I think.

After dinner game~

They had fun, that's the most important thing to me.

Thank you for the food.

I am not good in socialising, hope it was a good night for everyone.

And received some gifts for Christmas, really appreciate it.

 

Together, we also went to a Christmas tree market to buy a tree~

Then it started to snow, haha!

Really lucky me!

Here's the chosen tree!

And really the snow is not a joke.

As Christmas is nearer, more cultural event and markets around.

Here's a Krampus gathering and show in Austria.

Can be quite scary huh?

Very happening as people were unable to celebrate much last 2 years.

Thanks to Covid.

So now everyone came to join the festival and celebration.

Some other food I had in this journey to the west.

Gelato and lots of fries~

 

Cakes and some self-cooked meal~

 

A different me in the far far away country~

Where I do not have to shower everyday, 

and woke up every midnight due to the cold and running nose.

And one food that made me fall sick!

I accidentally ate one sushi with sashimi aka the raw fish.

And ended up having diarrhea and fever for 3 days...

Guess my stomach can no longer accept raw meat.

I thought I got Covid, but actually not, so phew~

Hockey in real life, quite fun actually, 

wonder when I can ski like them...

Then one month passed by and it's time to go home.

I don't miss work, but I miss my dog and homeland food.

 

Maybe I won't miss the winter, 

but for sure I will miss it after go home and it gets hotter.

It was really crowded at the airport, 

and the airport was forced to close the next day due to heavy snow.

Thank god I managed to took the flight right on time.

I need to go home~

 

Good bye, everyone and everything.

I will  miss it, and the flight meal was good as usual.

The journey back home was a bit unexpected.

I missed the transiting flight due to late departure.

And then, the flight company arranged another flight for me.

So ya, I took my first MAS in KL.

Hello MAS, welcome home?

But nope, my luggage got missing somewhere due to the change of flight...

Urgh, though everything was fixed in the end,

but it was quite annoying for me.

One lesson from this experience: Always get travel insurance.

And I got my full claim for 24 hours luggage missing, haha!

In a conclusion, it was a good journey.

Many things can happen in 3 years, 

I am glad everyone is still ok and doing good.

Maybe one day I will return, maybe I won't.

Cause I need to save some money to travel to the North next time.

Last but not least, thank you for everything and 

it was great to see you, you and you.