Category Archives: Life - Page 2

TGIF reloaded (at least a little bit)

Posted by on June 26, 2010 No comments

Yesterday, some colleagues from work and me went to the Hirschgarten and enjoyed way too much food along with the soccer game Chile – Spain. There we also found out that a lighter can be 85% child resistant (look closely):

After the game was over (and it started getting cold, already) we moved to the city and finally ended up in that Australian Bar – the one which always gives me a hard time remembering its name – and found out that you have to be ‘croc-wise’ in croc country (sorry for the crappy pic but that’s the best I managed to take with the iPhone cam):

A thing that i DO miss, actually

Posted by on June 26, 2010 No comments

As mentioned in an older post (back from the time when I was in Japan and still writing in German), the weather in Japan is really humid and hot during the summer. Back then, I was complaining a little bit about it. However, at the end of my stay there I realized I actually started liking this kind of weather. And when I think about how the summer here in Germany was so far this year… yeah, I have to admit that more sunshine, higher temperatures and all that stuff would be nice 🙂

Speechless

Posted by on June 3, 2010 2 comments

When I saw that video for the first time I was just left speechless. First, I could not find the words to say because I was simply stunned and overwhelmed. I’ve been thinking about all the feelings it ignited in me and want to state this: It reminds me of so much, touches something deep inside of me. However, this video barely even scratches the surface of the sheer beauty and all the nasty things I’ve seen during my stay in Tokyo! All the good and all the bad memories I have from that time have changed the way I think, no, the way I am in a very profound way and everyone who knows me knew that the original plan was to return to Japan for a few years – maybe even for good. Well, things turned out a little different and I admit that I was being resentful for not getting what I wanted most for quite some time…

However: I know my constant babbling about Japan annoys many people – especially those around me who would have missed me if I had left Germany. And I’m sorry about that, seriously. I don’t want to point out that living in Germany (or especially in Munich) sucks – not at all! Germany is great, Munich is even greater and I enjoy being here to the fullest.

I do, however, want to embrace this moment to point out that I’m really grateful for all the things I have here: Living in a city that’s (in my opinion) the best place to be in whole Germany (aside from Hamburg, maybe). Having a great job where I can actually do the stuff I enjoy doing while decently getting paid for it. Tons of good friends who’ve been with me through all my ups and downs and who still stick with me even though I sometimes step on their toes by taking them for a little too granted and by not acknowledging their friendship in a more appropriate way. And most importantly: my family is here, my roots are here, the very essence that I came from is here. Even though I sometimes enjoy pointing out how not-German or how not-Bavarian I am, I still am and ever will be!

As much as I’m thankful for my time in Japan, I’m even more thankful for the time here! And that’s because of all of you crazy people in my life :mrgreen:

Always keep in mind that no one ever ends up where he or she expected to end up – it’s all about what we make of the chances that are given to us and how we overcome all difficulties and how we deal with all the setbacks that life throws at us.

Please vote for CakeUpArtist

Posted by on May 17, 2010 No comments

There’s a big youtube contest going on for the next six days and one of my friends is participating. So I’m doing my best to promote her video, of course! :mrgreen:

Alright, my dear readers: Please go to http://www.youtube.com/user/canneslions, enter the word catastrophic in the search box and click on the Go button. There should be only one or just a few videos in the search results now being displayed. Now, please find the one that looks like on the screenshot and click on it to play it. And if you like hit, just hit the green thumbs up button to support that video 😉

Thanks a lot, folks!

UPDATE: I just heard that you don’t even need to have a youtube account. Everyone’s free to vote!

Bye, Barcelona

Posted by on May 17, 2010 2 comments

And again, I have to point out that time flies when you’re happy and when you’re having a good time… Because I had a good time this weekend and it went by so damn fast! On Saturday, Mark and me went to the beach and enjoyed the sun. In fact, there were clouds coming up and hiding the sun the very moment we arrived at the beach so almost everybody else packed their belongings and left. Hence the beach was ours! 😎 We basically ignored the wannabe-bad weather and that the sun wasn’t shining. It came out again, eventually, and we even ditched into the ocean for a short while. Right there on the beach there was a cool hut selling drinks and food and they also played finest electronic tunes – to Mark’s and my pleasure 🙂

When after a while the clouds were closing in again (and we were getting hungry) we decided to have “lunch” there and that decision was rewarded with the best bocadillos ever. The very moment we started devouring those, rain started pouring down. Well, we did what we can best and just ignored the bad weather while we were enjoying the bocadillos under the hut’s roof. Just as we finished our awesome meal, the sun was back :mrgreen:

In the evening we returned home for the big birthday party. It was big fun (and we had tons of great food) and I wanna thank Ela for hosting and having us there! Unfortunately, we all forgot to take more pictures…

Not having had a big load of sleep, we were all kinda lazy in the “morning” on Sunday. And because Mark had to leave for the airport anyways, we decided to just stay at Ela’s place, clean up the typical after-party-mess and relax a little. The weather was unbelievably beautiful, by the way, so Mark and me barely left the balcony where we tried to absorb as much sunshine as possible. But all good things have come to an end, eventually, and so Mark had to leave in the afternoon 🙁 Ela and me left the house with him, but instead of going to the airport, we went to the beach and met with a group of her colleagues and played beach volleyball for the rest of the day. 😎 Side note: I’m the world’s worst beach volleyball player, seriously. And I did my best to defend that title 😀

In the evening, we gathered a group and had dinner at a great pizza place in Barceloneta. And after that, we decided to retreat to Ela’s place and have the birthday party 2.0 … Unfortunately, I had to get up at 5:30 today in order to get my flight back to Munich. Too bad the volcano ash cloud wasn’t there when I needed it most 😉

Thanks again to Ela for hosting and to all the funny people I met in Barcelona! I’ll be back, promised!

Mark Roland Barcelona

Posted by on May 15, 2010 4 comments

Woke up at 11. Scrambled eggs, Mousse and Nespresso. Relaxed at Ela’s place while rain was pouring down outside. Went out at 2 when the sun came out, eventually. Strolled down the Passeig de Gràcia. Bought my first Ray Ban. Bought a new Kukuxumusu shirt in the store next to the Santa Maria del Mar church. Took the metro to Ela’s workplace and said ‘hi’ to the beach. Took a long walk to and up the Rambla de Santa Monica. Had a little rest after returning home. Had extremely delicious Tapas at the Nou Candanchú. Had extremely delicious ice cream in the heart of Gràcia. Had a drink in the Raïm Bar… Now this is what I call a nice day!

… It’s so good to be back in town. I LOVE BARCELONA.

Metaprogramming in Ruby

Posted by on May 6, 2010 No comments

I just stumbled upon this one and I think it’s a superb example of how metaprogramming works: http://gregosuri.com/powerful-twitter-api-wrapper-in-less-than-50. If you understand it, you can show off in the comment section here :mrgreen:

BBQ, finally

Posted by on May 1, 2010 2 comments

Last weekend, we officially launched the barbecue season. It was a very warm and sunny day and we were enjoying sitting in the beautiful garden 🙂

Ela’s birthday weekend in Bad Aibling

Posted by on May 1, 2010 2 comments

Thanks to Marc for the great pictures!

Freddy & Shiho in Munich

Posted by on April 27, 2010 1 comment

Wow, time flies! I’ve mentioned it several times by now, I know, but it’s incredible. I wanted to post this for weeks now and just couldn’t find the time to do it…

Anyways, here it goes: On the first weekend of April, Freddy and Shiho visited me in Munich! It has been a while since we last met and therefore I was really happy to have them here. The weather was terrific and I could show them around my turf :mrgreen:

Shiho, Freddy, it was so cool to have you here and I hope we can meet again soon! Maybe I finally manage to find the time to visit you in Marburg? Anyways, thanks again for the visit!!!!