Stabilo - Rhoto - Apple

3 small objects that i've recently purchased which have a big impact on my daily life.

first up is this simple-as-you-can-get stabilo point 88 pen.
i love the clean simple design and unique hexagonal striped body.
i've always had a thing for stationary, whether it be pens, pencils, notepads, erasers, envelopes...
don't get me wrong, i'm not into erasers shaped like ice cream cones, or snoopy pencils, but love well-thought, well-designed stuff.
so there i was, sitting in Nuremberg's tiny airport waiting for my flight with a pocket full of small change.
as Switzerland doesn't do the euro thing, i went hunting for something to buy. a bottle of water later and i was down to a few euro left when a spotted the stabilo stand.
you should have seen my eyes twinkle when i saw the words "made in germany". i had to have one (or two...)
with only a few euro to spare and 25 colors to choose from there was a chance i was gonna miss my flight!
but i eventually choose 2 (that's all my pocket allowed without swiping the credit card).
they write so nicely in my moleskine notebook which accompanies me to any meeting, group brain-storming session, or in the office day-dreaming break.
and to top it all off, stabilo was founded in Nuremberg. obviously meant to be.


next up is eyestretch.
dreadful name but a great little product.
living in a polluted environment and sitting in front of a computer screen most days i have found my eyes get tired or strained pretty easily.
but thanks to eyestretch from rhoto japan, my eyes get re-freshed and by the sounds of it, stretched with the help of a few little drops.
there is a terrible "product introduction" on rhoto's english website...

"As shoulders or lower back become stiff after keeping long in a same posture, eyes get tired if used away. With Neostigmine Methylsulfate taking a kink out of stiff accommodative muscle as if stretching strain muscles, the functional eye drops Eyestretch soothes tense and tired eyes."

mmm.
anyway, it relieves tension in the muscles which our eyes use to focus.
works for me.


lastly is my bigger purchase of the 3; a 4th generation iPod nano.
scary to admit, but it's actually my 3rd iPod "purchase".
i have a shuffle which was a gift (not purchased...) from my old manager. gets a beating every time i go to the gym as it fits snugly into my gym pants without creating a bulge.
naturally i don't wanna look like i'm enjoying that treadmill too much!
i also have an iPod classic, a gift (not purchased...) from K a few years back. this one holds tonnes of videos so i'm not too lonely on business trips.

and now i couldn't resist the light-weight nano (purchased!).
perfect size for my overly jam-packed subway ride to work, and perfect size for my pocket.
speaking of perfect, i just found the perfect handmade leather case for my new toy, but i now need a air ticket to Tokyo to buy it.
anyone out there in a generous mood?

Sausaged-Out

i wrote this post a few days ago, but because i've had such crap internet connection wherever i went it's a bit over due... but here goes


after one week of eating German food I must admit i was getting a bit sick of sausages and bread… the beer was no problem though.
no offence, but i can see why people here are so “well built”. i guess it pays off having an extra layer of warmth in this cold climate.

did manage to check out some pretty cool restaurants while i’ve been here.

in front of Saint Lorenz church was an 800-year old building which used to be a storehouse but has now been made into a restaurant called Nassauer Keller.
i'm sure ghosts roam the restaurant here late at night...
apparently the duck dish here was famous so i had to order that; and i'm glad i did, it was so tender., very delicious. and all washed down with some local beer.

another night i went to a huge beer hall called Barfüßer where they brewed their own beer.

the building was built around 500+ years ago and again used to be a storehouse.

the food was, ummm, well, German, lot’s of sausages, sauerkraut, breads and various other meats. and all washed down with some local beer.



another special restaurant here on the pehnitz river is Helig Geist Spital, or hospital of the holy spirit.
as the name suggests, it used to be a hospital... for leapers. charming.
it's now a restaurant/elderly home.
the food here was similar to that of Barfüßer but i think it’s the history of the building that keeps people coming back. and again, our food was all washed down with some local beer.

and can't forget Nuremberg's famous "Nuremberg sausages in a bun".

i guess it's like the german version of the American hotdog.

for only 1.20 euro it's a great snack after all that sightseeing.

so i'm all sausaged-out.
i'm now off to Switzerland for a few days break (as work has been oh so stressful *wink wink*)
wonder if i will be all cheesed-out by the time i have to go back to Hong Kong?!

Nürnberg - Old Town

yippee i finally escaped "work" and got to do some sightseeing.

i'm in the small town of Nürnberg (or Nuremberg) in the German state of Bavaria, famous for gingerbread (bought some), sausages (ate too many) and toys (seen too many).

with a population of only half a million it was easy to walk around the old town taking in the sights and watching people.
speaking of watching people, why do German guys have such long legs!! could it be all those sausages they eat!?

today started out cold with blue skies but later started snowing just as i was about to return to work. luck was on my side!

here's some of the sights:

Saint Lorenz church. it was empty and freezing inside. very beautiful though.




Saint Frauenkirche church, hauptmarkt (square) which is famous for gingerbread, and the gothic Schöner Brunnen (or "beautiful fountain"). there is a "ring" on the fence which you can turn around to receive "good luck". maybe that's why it didn't start snowing until i was about to leave!







just past Saint Sebaldus church was a street lined with beautiful wooden buildings weaving along until reaching the original wall that surrounds the old town.







i then made my way up the hill to Nuremberg castle which gives amazing views over the city.






nice place to have a rest and eat the banana i took from the hotel.


finally i took a stroll along the pignetz river and checked out the boutique shops which unfortunately were not as "trendy" as i was hoping...






and then it started to snow, just in time to go back to work :)

it just might snow today

guten tag!
sekimachihato is now in a world (well hotel) with no internet connection and it's driving me crazy!
i'm in the land of mercedes benz and lufthansa, so why cant i get online! maybe it's the cheapness of my hotel...

anyway, as you may have guessed i'm in Germany now.
unfortunately something has gone drastically wrong with my camera's memory card so i can't upload any pics of sausages and sourcroat, but i'm working on it and will try to update soon.