Monday, March 28, 2016

My 28mm Journey of Munich 2016

January 2016. Due to work reason I have a chance to travel to Europe for the first time in my life. Destination: Munich. This 14 days journey allows me to experience my first snow, sat on Airbus A380, meeting new colleagues and friends and many more.

 View of Munich city from St. Peter Church clock tower.
I only bring my Fuji, along side with the SJCAM for this journey. In addition, my LG G4 is barely 1 months old. The images and video you see is made with these equipments.

The winter is unusual this year. The snow fall is later and lesser than before. So happen I get to experience the snow during my visit. I arrived at noon, which is my bed time back in home. While I'm excited to explore around the city, my body resist. My colleague who travel with me (my boss to be), who is a regular here brought me for my first dinner, in Munich, in Europe. The food is nice, but we couldn't finish it. The portion is too much, I almost fall as sleep while chewing. At 8pm local time, I sleep. For the next 1 week, I will go to bed around 9pm and wake up around 3am. So called, jet-lag.

Having my lunch while watching movies. There are too much temptations to keep you awake.



This is my room for the next 14 days



Hauptbahnhof, the main train station in Munich.

The old and the new
Isator, in German means gate by the Isa river
 On weekdays, I go to work using their subway (s-bahn). The subway system is based on "honesty system", which means you don't see barricade at the entrance. There will be officer checking for tickets randomly but I never encounter one. I can claim the ticket anyway.
At one of the U-Bahn station
Climbing up the St. Peter Church clock tower, cost you 2 Euro, but cost more energy to get up there!
During one of the weekday, a colleague of mine in Munich offer me a tour at the city after work. The sky gets dark around 4pm so we move earlier. We climb the St. Peter Church tower to for a magnificent view on the city. I climb like an old man, but once I reach the top, it was worth it! I use gorilla pod and my Fuji built in 3 stop ND filter to make few seconds exposure for more dramatic scene. From here you can see Rathaus  (their town hall), Frauenkirche church, Viktulienmarkt and Olympic tower on the far side.
The Frauenkirche (Cathedral of Our Dear Lady) is the famous landmark in this Bavarian city.

Viktualienmarkt is a market place for fresh fruits, vegetables as well as meats.
I have made lots of my adventure after work, which the sun have long gone. Therefore, lots of the place is only lid by streets light and moon light. I have take train to Frottmaning, where the Allianz stadium is located. Due to no match on that day, I'm the only one there. Taking picture there is kind of spooky, not to mentioned the weather is -3 degree Celsius.
Deutsches Museum
This is the road to Allianz Stadium from U-Bahn station

The home of Bayern Munich
The next few days I just explore around my hotel after my quick dinner, which is usually doner (turkish kebab).
I don't know what is this, but the building look nice by the river.
Night photography on the cold street is really unforgettable! 
The weekend is here. My colleague offer me a tour around the lake Starnberg. I was told to meet at a station Planegg. I remember the station because it spell like egg plant. I arrived at the station early because I don't like people waiting for me. I found out that behind the station there is a forest / park. The branches were covered in snow and the scene is really beautiful.
The forest behind the station

It's so hard to see blue sky during this season.

The trail lead to a church, perhaps a small residential area. 
The playground is all covered in snow
Having a hot cappuccino while waiting for my colleague. 
Meet Hilmar, my colleague, a friend, a photo enthusiast as well! We have reached lake Starnberg but weather turns bad on us. It started to snow heavily but I'm still taking pictures as if my Fuji is weather sealed. I couldn't care that much. I not sure if I have chance to come here again anyway.
Hilmar walk steadily with his Nikon expose to the falling snow, while I'm constantly blowing the snow flakes away from my camera!

You can't see the snow, but its there.
The pier where you can take a boat tour to the south tip of the lake (Seeshaupt). Not in winter!
My shoes were sinking ... and it started to get wet, inside!
Lake Starnberg
We then went to few more places around the lake including Seeshaupt, before departing to Wolfratshausen (another town nearby). We talk alot along the journey and I am really grateful that he spent time bringing me around. Here are some scene around the lake and Wolfratshausen.
Wooden cabin
We went to one of the restaurant for hot coffee.
The bench for sunset view
Seeshaupt. The southern tip of lake Starnberg.




selfie with my Fuji.
The road to heaven
Back to the town, there is nothing much to do on Sunday. Shops were closed, and most attraction closed early as well. Therefore, this is all I can get on Sunday. I been to BMW museum but I did not buy the entrance to go into the museum because I'm not really a fan of cars. I wanted to go up the olympic tower for more photos opportunity but the weather is bad therefore the open deck observation is closed. Due to time constraint, I have yet to visit Nymphenburg Palace, Deutsches Museum and also the legendary Neuschwanstein Palace.
Rathaus and the rare blue sky
On Sunday, beside restaurant, all shops were closed.
wandering around on a quiet street
I was waiting for him to pass by to snap this photo but I did not expect he look right at me.
Private moment
The lake nearby Olympic park
The Welt, BMW
BMW Museum
The Olympic Tower

Inside the museum

Posted by Kian Ann Puen on Wednesday, 27 January 2016
Two weeks time ends and it is time to go back. While the journey ends, the memory on the trip still echoing in my mind... thirsting for the next adventure to begin....