The Oktoberfest

I dub it to be the best party in the world, absolutely smashing. Its special in more ways than I can elaborate but its also one of the events that puts Munich on the map. Seldom do you see a 10,000 intoxicated souls in one room singing and dancing to the band gulping down enormous quantities of beer having the times of their lives with little or no fist action (I mean fighting of course). A similar drinking binge in India (some would say the UK too) would almost definitely require an army of policemen and there would be many a head split over masculine posturing. I usually leave not wanting to leave and always very happy - the high alcohol content beer helps but I would also say its got to do with energy that keeps the place abuzz. Went to a few tents this year, best beer was at the Augustiner tent, most rowdy but the best service was at the HofBrau tent and best looking one was the Hippodrome. So while I am still around in Munich, best to come see for yourself. However I must warn you to empty your bowels prior to entering the tent as the smallest size is a 1 litre mug of beer. Finally the end is in sight - my frequent jaunts to Malaysia should be coming to an end as we seem to be genuinely coming to the end of our deal making here. Though it is still not clear if airmiles have been worth the effort. Planning to be in Nigeria for 3 weeks in November and then for a couple of weeks in India at the end of the year. A few weddings to look forward to. Spoke to Saklani today (again vain attempts to catch up with friends) and confirmed that he was getting married to a nice South African girl. He claims its pure love and nothing to do with lust and a copious amount of music (she is a violinist when she is not a model). I guess I am gettting there when friends like Plex and Saku get married, not to mention when friends send you emails about their 2nd and 3rd babies. Good luck to you mate - wish I could be there for the wedding. Please keep the woman happy and I don't mean by sharing your joint with her.. In KL this weekend, hopefully will be home for the next weekend.

Birthday weekend in Florence..

Planned a suprise visit to Florence to add some spice to P's birthday this year. Only fair to mention that I have not been able to make it for the last 2 birthdays so this one would have been especially sore if I played truant again. With my usual last minute style, plane tickets were out of question so got night train tickets instead. Could not keep the suprise all the way as I had to convince her to be back home early on friday so I told her that we were going to Salzburg. Inspite thinking how unimaginative I was (does'nt much for Salzburg), she acted all nice and suprised. Needless to say she was not prepared for Italy, finally gave in because wanted her to get her wardrobe right since Florence was all sunny that weekend (Munich weather absolutely sucked). The thank you kiss did not go abegging :). Got to the train with time to spare and in time to see one of compartment mates get ejected for not having a passport and traveling to Italy. The night train compartments were absolutely crap, not comfortable at all. Got to Florence at 5.30 in the morning and we had trouble getting a cab to the hotel. Had an excellent cup of coffee. Caught a couple of good winks and hit the town a few hours later in what seemed almost perfect weather, of course I organized it as part of the itinerary. Walked around the Dome, admired the bronze doors and queued up to see David. Spent the next lounging around town and taking in renaissance art in Uffici. Foodwise, the big suprise was the Bistecca alla fiorentina - huge chunk of meat grilled. The pasta was not too bad either. Fell in love with Italy again - they really know how to live life eh! As I have said before, my next incarnate should be as Italian! Wished we had a little more time but I think it was not bad considering that I was actually here for her birthday. Off to KL again this weekend..next post will be about the Oktoberfest..