Hanau

On Timeline: 8-9 Nov 2007

Have you guys ever seen the immigration officers when u take trains within Europe? Well I haven't seen much of them, apart from the time at Schaffhausen, I have not encountered them at all!

But this time round, on a trip to Hanau, I saw a team of Zoll, or the German customs officers. As I boarded the train to Dusseldorf from Venlo, I saw a camera crew and a huge dog with the Zoll, who were sitting rather dispersed in the entire cabin.

And as the train moved into Germany, they started to come into action and checked for passports of passengers on the train, with the dog sniffing around, probably for drugs (eg. weed)


The Zoll


And the officer asked for my passport in German (which I obviously did not understand a single word of it), and then spoke to me in English with a heavy German accent, after realising I do not understand at all.

And this was what happened...

(officer flips passport)
Officer: Oh! You're from Singapore? Nice country!
Me: Yup...haha (wondering if Singapore = Nice for Europeans)
Officer: I am going there next year. (I) heard the A380, you know, the big one, fly to Australia from Singapore. Singapore Airlines very good, very comfortable.
Me: Oh yes, do visit Singapore!

And I stopped short of saying, yea, come and visit me when you're there. HAHA. And well, he asked me if I had drugs or weapons with me, and he seemed less strict to me, compared to a guy who was sitting just a row ahead of me. He was confronted by a huge group of officers and they searched him and his bag (well probably the dog smelt something??) and the camera crew even moved into action to take videos of the body-search! Gosh.

Probably the guy would appear on the next advertisement for the Zoll. Hurhur.

I guess coming from Singapore does have its perks? Well most Europeans whom I have encountered immediately linked Singapore to being a clean and green city, so I guess that's the impression we give foreigners (which is good), and being a safe country (also good), but to some of my Dutch friends, our interesting 'laws' (read: Sex is legislated??) are kind of a joke to them.

Well, I don't really blame them, the Dutch are pretty open, and considering that Amsterdam is sorta like the Gay and Lesbian Haven, well.....

Ok I digressed.

The trip to Hanau was pretty smooth, with the ICE train covering about 200km to Frankfurt Airport *yay!*, and taking a slow train from Frankfurt to Hanau. Gosh...Frankfurt Airport is super big...it's a pity I did not have time to walk around in the Airport, else I can prolly explore a bit as I had to walk from the ICE platforms to the S-Bahn platforms.

And after reaching Hanau, I hit a snag. Ok it was about 6pm, it was cold and drizzling outside, and I had absolutely NO idea how to get to the hotel which was given to me. Lucky for me, I met this guy who, after I asked how to get to the bus interchange, offered me a ride there. Apparently he was picking up his girlfriend...and then in the car he offered me a ride direct to the hotel!!! How cool was that!

Had a case of deja vu when he asked me whether Singapore had a lot of Muslims, and a conversation ensued with him ending,
Dun blame Muslims for everything okay...

Ok I had felt that it was a familiar line....so familiar. Probably in my dreams.

And I digressed...the hotel was great. In fact I think the company had some tie-up with the hotel 'cos when I searched online for some rooms to stay I was kinda disappointed - there were no cheap backpacker hostels around!


The room!


The nearby bridge


Rittersports!


Was hungry after arrival in the hotel, so I put down my stuff and went out to the nearby old city (within the old city walls!) and found this small pizza joint which gave a 32cm pizza for 5.50 Euros. Quite decent meal I guess, but too many pizzas are BADDD....But, anything to save money ;) Haha!

Anyway, my impression of the hotel was that it would probably be at least a 3-star hotel. Judging from the people I see in the hotel, I feel so out of place >.< But the rooms were...EXCELLENT! Man...Totally did not expect it, and I think it's the best room I have since my arrival in Europe (yea it's like...that bad???)


This elaborate set-up is just for tea -.-


The old fortifications


Cathedral


Lunch! Fillet with potatoes :)


The hotel - Best Western Premier Hotel Villa Stokkum


I guess the interview went well...Not too sure what I should say on it, so I shall not blog on that. Within the 3 hours at the company, 2 scenarios are possible:
1) I was too truthful and shot myself in the foot, thus the "pls go home and think over it"
2) I have a chance, thus the "pls go home and think over it"

Anyway, since I had time prior to my departure to Eindhoven, I went to change out of my formal attire and explored the old city, and there was relatively good weather too! There was nothing much within the old city walls, and I just walked around the small town, which reminded me of those old cities with the stone pavements and the small houses dotting the landscape.

Then, after having lunch, I decided to go to Hanau city centre early to have a look, but there was nothing much also. Apparently the better places to explore in that region would be Frankfurt, but that is like a big city/financial hub/main airport and my train ride was from Hanau, not Frankfurt! UGH!

However, there were a lot of shopping centers in Hanau (more than Eindhoven I think!) and I just went into them, walked around, but eventually I was not that willing to part money for 2 tee shirts or equipment.

Train ride back to Dusseldorf was late...with the strong winds blowing I was forced to take 'shelter' at the underground pass below the platforms, and even so my hands were starting to become darker in colour as I had not put on my gloves!

Gosh.

But the ICE train soon arrived, and I was finally on a 3hr long ride home, and as the train was late by 26 minutes, I missed my connecting train to Venlo, and I had to wait almost an hour for the next connection. Luckily, there were no problems with the border trains this time round, and I reached back to rainy Eindhoven safe and sound. And on the way, a lady asked if I had a discount card, and I just asked her to travel with me lor. Turns out she's a French, interning in Germany, and studied in Eindhoven! At least, there was someone to talk to throughout the 40 min ride home.

Shall blog on Rotterdam later, where I went with Weixian and Fuhong when they came over from Sweden!

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