Hannover Rina

Dear friends and family members, this is my first posting since my other half and the kids created this blog. I'll only be able to pen a few words over the weekend as I'm at work during the weekdays. Our days here have been challenging yet exciting.
Challenging in terms of getting used to the language and strict rules and regulation.....it's not "Boleh Land" here unlike our beloved country....I was quizzed by the Alien Office for the extension of my visa until I nearly shed tears, with him refusing to speak English although I later found out that he can and me in my smattering German, and even then we still haven't got our extension yet...they're waiting for confirmation that we haven't committed any crime in Germany before officially issuing them....so I hope and pray to Allah SWT that dearest hubby does not flout any rules especially when he's driving, zig zagging along the authbahn at 180 that is....my German colleagues at the office told me that along the autobahn the police or Politzei as they call it here will be in ordinary cars trailing the culprits before actually flagging them off for the hefty fine....violation of traffic lights will result in a very clear and pretty photo of yours being printed....so detailed until one can see the time shown on your wrist watch and zits too....some points are given to you and if you let them accumulate up to a certain maximum limit, there goes your driving freedom...banned!
The places that we visit every weekend continues to be the highlight of our activities here, be it far or in the neighbouring villages. The trip to Marienburg Castle was magical...rasa macam dalam fairy tale.....had dearest hubby on his knees asking to marry him amidst the castle background.....brought back to reality when the three kids datang kacau daun! The castle was a birthday gift from the last King of Hannover, King George V to his beloved Queen in 1858....so romantic worrr....just before the annexation of the Kingdom of Hannover by the Prussians and King George went into exile. Queen Marie stayed on at the castle with her children until she followed the King into exile in 1876.

Berlin....was a different story altogether...big city with loads of history. We still haven't finished our rounds but fret not, we'll be there again soon if we couldn't find any cinemas in Hannover that screens Harry Porter English version. The one in Berlin shows the Original Version and the cinema sits next to the Arcaden shopping centre housing an ice cream parlour serving the best icecream in the whole of Berlin...so we said! The flavours, especially the Creme Argentina is out of this world! The last time we were there, we had second and third helping.....now you know where that bulge, spare tyres and double chin come from ehh.....
My other half got all excited with the old Russian tank, the Brandenburger Tor (a former city gate built in 1788, restored in 2000 and one of the main symbols of Berlin and Germany, this gate symbolises the reunification of East and West Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall), the old Berlin Wall (constructed on August 13 1961 and fell on 9 Nov 1989 when the Iron Curtain was raised), the old Eastern Germany cars (very the ugly....), Checkpoint Charlie (the name given by the Western Allies to the most well known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Germany and West Germany during the Cold War).....and for me the ever so romantic at heart, I never got to go to the castle, Schlos Charlottenburg in Berlin, tak sempat sebab kita orang banyak sangat panjat kereta kebal yang reminded me of my cousin Ija's "kumbang ijo" coz they're green in colour.
This weekend will be somewhat a quiet one. The last 3 days have been cold despite it being smack in the middle of summer and it rained a lot, so this weekend may be similar weather, not the time to venture out in the open. Saturday is Imran Koya's birthday and has promised to go get his present in the town centre before making our normal stopover at our favourite Doner Kebab cafe for lunch and dessert at Giovanni's Ice cream shop....the best in Hannover this one! Funny that the best ice cream in a German town is Italian. The flavours are interestingly varied with Chocolate Chili to boot.
I baked my very first muffin in Germany tonight finishing off the box of fresh blueberries sitting in the fridge for the last 2 day and boy... do they came out awesome....puffed up well and meleleh-leleh buah tu melt and seeped through the batter. Hubby dearest was never a fan of them muffins but this one he gave thumbs up...dunno whether betoi-betoi sedap or the cold weather's making him eat whatever's available.....Had them warm with ice cream (AGAIN? u might say....this one not the best in Garbsen, the village we're staying in but merely normal vanilla icecream, the cheapo one house brand supermarket nearby, only 2 Euro for very big tub, they're extremely good for that price I must say) and yet more fresh blueberries. Might try with some other fruits next time....the cherries are to die for too....berlonggok-longgok and so cheap too! Hunting for the ingredients was an experience though....there I was with trolley looking for baking powder, baking soda, sour cream and stuff...arrived at the right section but surprise, surprise, all the products in German...jenuh nak try to decipher which is what....so in the end found out that baking soda is "natron" and baking powder is "backpulver", sour cream is "saure sahne".
Sunday, InsyaAllah if weather permits, we'll go to a very interesting and yet another magical place, not very far from Hannover. I'll give you a clue.....mice.., loads of them. You'll see the pics soonest they are posted and my celoteh next weekend. Meanwhile, have a good weekend guys!

Guess ! what were the two ladies doing ? They were 'selling' the bottles (1L and abv) thru the RED vending machine, which will be used to off-set the payment when buying any drinks. It cost 25cnt/1.5L bottle. We tried to put in the small bottles but cud not get thru. Pandai lah mesin tu !! This is part of Germany's recyling plan. We always buy Lipton Ice-lemon tea which comes in diferent flavours such as Peach, Cranberry, Lemon, Green tea which cost 99cents/bottle. So, in actual fact the cost/bottle is 74 cents. Murah gila......sekali beli 2 dozens.......

It is a common sight to see Germans with lots of bottles going to REAL i.e. the suprmarket which is about 200meters from our house. This is our GIANT/TESCO.