Munich, Munich

There were the last few hours in Munich before our flight.

Clothes and gifts have already been packed, sitting idly at the back of the bus. I was enjoying the last few hours in Munich before leaving this lovely city.

Five days have been quite long for me. Every day was packed with activities and foods. We were constantly on the move. There were works awaiting me in Singapore that made this precious trip seemed to be an even more oddly long break.

But these were five awesome days. Five busy days. Cold and sweet. Stuffed with surprised and cherished moments. And topped with so many great people that I have met. There were Mr. Juchet from BMW, there were German guides in the museums at the Palace that I, disappointedly, unable to spell the names correctly. There was the pleasant German woman that so generously showed us the way at the underground train station when we got confused with the giant underground train network. And most of all, there was Susanne Navarro, our dearest host from BMW, so kind-hearted and caring who has made the trip a wonderful journey.

I was sitting there again, at the windows of the bus, on the high way to the airport. I was seeing the beautiful streets of Munich passing by once again. This time, they looked strangely familiar to me. I will be back here. Munich, Munich.

Up in the air, down on the field

Zugspitze - We were at the top of Munich.

Of all the experiences with the weather in Munich, that was the most striking. The temperature at the summit was eight degrees below zero. But it was so cool! The view was extraordinary from the top with mountain ranges covered with ice and snow, gleaming mysteriously a bluish light, stretching to the horizon. It was so tranquil and yet thrilling from the top of Zugspitze.

And I was at Allianz Arena, the stadium of FC Bayern Munich!

I was visiting that giant bubble. A masterpiece of both architecture and technology.

It was strange standing inside the locker's room of FC Bayern Munich. I was standing in front of the locker of Schweinsteiger and Ribery. Where they would be putting on their jerseys before match. I was going out of the tunnel with the Bayern Munich's anthem playing. Where they would be waiting, jumping and stretching eagerly before stepping on the grass field.

I was there.

Museums, museums after museums. Restaurants, restaurants after restaurants.

We have not wasted any hour since the moment we came to Munich.

Everything was so well planned by Susanne. Four days have seemed to be so much longer for me. We have been brought around to many museums in Munich: BMW Museum, Deutsche Museum of Modern Arts, Deutsche Museum of Technology, Nymphenburg Palace. I have not only enjoyed watching the exhibitions, but also the accompanying of the friendly guides in each and every place that we went to. They were all so knowledgeable and most of all, so whole-heartedly passionate with their work. I have been inspired to learn more about Medieval Arts and Modern Arts much more than by any Arts lesson I have ever had.

But I guessed one of the best parts of the trip was the fine dining catered for us. All the places we have been to are very fine dining places. The serving in Germany was really huge. I realized that by the third day of the trip, I have tried everything in the "Bavarian Specialties" section of the restaurants' menus. The white sausages and other foods were just so awesome that I would not mind to try another round of "Bavarian specialties" again :D

BMW Museum

"Where the spirit does not work with the hand there is no Art" - Leonardo da Vinci

To me, a GINA is a piece of Art. Only a designer with a truly artistic mind like Chris Bangle can think about giving a "skin" to a car. And in BMW, a car was really crafted like an avant-garde. By hands on clay.

We came to the BMW Museum on the third day in Munich.

Being proud and willing to invest in building a museum for itself just shows how substantial the history of BMW has been and how successful the brand BMW is.

I was especially interested in the exhibition "Art of Car Designs" in the Museum. The exhibition specifically shows many car models in the past and some concept cars and motorcycles for the future produced by BMW. I'm not a fanatics of cars. However, the intriguingly smart details of the automobiles in the exhibition were what interested me the most. There seemed to be no technical blockages to stop BMW designers from inventing, there are only challenges for them to invent a new way through.

600 Transformers

I was visiting a place with 600 Transformers. Really, those robots in the BMW Plant looked more impressive and, more importantly, real as compared to the Transformers. The 600 or so robots in the BMW Plant in Munich were in charge of 90% of the work in manufacturing a BMW car. These robots were giant mechanic structures with arms rotating, lifting and splashing melting metals in rhythms. The whole place was filled with the buzzing noise of the hydraulic joints and the screeching noise of metals. Car’s shell and fully-functioning cars were moving around those gigantic 3-meters arms.

First hours in Munich

On the way from the airport to the hotel

Wet. Cold. Beautiful

After the long flight, we arrived at Munich at 6:30 in the morning. It was wet and cold.

It took us another 40 minutes to get back to the hotel. I did not really talk much, but enjoyed watching the scenery outside the car’s windows. The panorama was so monotonous with a dark tone of color. The clouds were heavy and the sun had not appeared. The rows of winter trees kept passing the windows like a dark ribbons. The piles of snow appeared so striking on that dark background, like gemstones so aptly ornamented on the veil covering the whole landscape. Sad, yet so calming and elegant.

I thought I could just slouch there in the back seat and watched that beautiful painting passing by.

The city

Then came the Allianz Arena. Susanne pointed out that striking building to us. It was huge and stunning.

I turned to the opposite site of the stadium and saw one thing that looked even more delightful to me. It was a lone wind turbine standing alone on top of a small hill. It was the first time I saw such a wind turbine in real life. It was striking the way that giant man-built structure standing out from the surroundings. The blades quietly cut through the chilling air. Gorgeous.

The view became more lively when we arrived nearer to the city.

It was pleasant the scene. Sky scrapers and modern architectures all blended into the whole scenery. The dark colors of the roofs, the dark greenish tone of gleaming glasses found a way to blend so picturesquely into the landscape.

We went further into the city. There were lovely streets with uniquely “European architectures”. The old-styled bicycles leaning on the walls of those buildings made the whole sight even more antique. Charming.

And snow was falling outside.

Munich, Munich

It seems so weird that I have not felt hyperexcited for the trip to Munich as others expect.

I realised recently that the place is so distant and so "strange" to me. It just felt the same way a few years ago when I packed up to come to Singapore. Going to Germany? I did not plan for this.

It feels like a dream slowly comes to you, something I have long wanted but never expected it to come so early. I like this feeling, though. It's just like watching a jigsaw puzzle slowing coming together, piece by piece in a slow motion, revealing a beautiful serene scene of Nymphenburg.

Munich, Munich.