Munich - Oktoberfest 2006

Monday 25 September 2006

After work, we met up with my parents at Fung Shing in Soho before heading to Her Majesty's theatre to watch the West End production of The Phantom of the Opera. It was so much better than when I saw it in Perth years ago at the Entertainment Centre. Just the atmosphere of being in a Theatre, and so close to the performers made it such a different experience compared to watching it in Perth. Also, the props were much better, but I guess given the musical is still running after it opened in the West End in 1986 and in a permanent location, they can afford to keep updating their props.

Wednesday 27 September 2006
I met up with Allison, Claudine, Jane, Inchee, Tao and Kah Leng (and we also bumped into Maxine) for the London Fashion Weekend at the Natural History Museum. It was not what we were expecting...although there was a fashion show, sadly it wasn't anything glamourous...just a place where London designers sell their collections at reduced prices. I didn't end up buying anything apart from a £3 goody bag - a definite bargain, and we got some free Elizabeth Arden cosmetics and a Campari cocktail. After a rose champagne at the Moet and Chandon Bar in the tent, Alli, Claudine, Inchee, Jane and I left the others to their shopping and grabbed dinner at Oriental Canteen down the road.

Friday 29 September 2006
It was my last day at Shell Trading so the team had dim sum at New World in Chinatown to send me off. After work I met Yang at Paddington Station and we headed to Heathrow to catch our flight to Munich. The flight was delayed so we only arrived into Munich at midnight and by the time we got to the Le Meridien it was approaching 1am.

Saturday 30 September 2006
We met Sean and James at 9am and headed to the fairgrounds for Oktoberfest. There were masses of people when we arrived and even though we were early, the tents were all packed. 2 hours later and we still couldn't get into a tent or a beer garden (weather was much better than last year, sunny clear skies and warm) so we decided to cut our losses and try our luck at Hofbrauhaus in the city centre. Hofbrauhaus is where Hitler gave his first mass meeting of the then fledgling Nazi party. In keeping with Oktoberfest tradition, the boys had pig trotters with bread dumplings and a stein of beer. I took the easy option and had a radler (equivalent of a shandy) and a bavarian meatloaf (just a fat sausage).

After lunch, we walked around the town centre and did a bit of shopping. I got my first pair of birkenstocks - so much cheaper than in Australia or London - but I had to check 6 stores before I got the model, colour and size I wanted.

That evening, we all headed back to the fairgrounds to try our luck at getting into a tent. But with huge queues still, we compromised by grabbing a seat in the beer garden of a boutique brewery (famous for its Wheat beer but I can't recall the name...must have drank too much!). We met a two people from Hamburg and had a good conversation over dinner and a pint.

After dinner, we tried our luck getting to the Hippodrome beer garden and thankfully we got in after not too long. After a stein and a bit of dancing, Yang and I headed back to the hotel whilst Sean and James moved on to Club 4004.




Sunday 1 October 2006
We woke up even earlier today to make sure we could get into a tent, so just after 8am, Sean, James, Yang and I were on our way to the fairgrounds for the third time. We decided to go to Augustiner as locals told us that it was the best beer in Munich (and apparently keep away from Lowenbrau - it is only for tourists). The tent opened just after 9am and we got a table just in front of the band stand. As there was only 4 of us and the benches sit 10, we got to meet a few locals, and had a great time. The locals introduced us to a white breakfast sausage with sweet mustard and then to a product called "snuff" which is tobacco mixed with menthol in powder form and which you snort...very legal so don't worry! Later, as the local was fascinated by how intrigued we were with "snuff" he bought us a bottle of ice "snuff" which is sugar with menthol...which was deceivingly cocaine looking (all white)...but still legal!

After lunch, Yang and I said Auf Wiedersehen to Oktoberfest and headed to the airport to catch our flight back to London (not a good flight as we were in the plane for 1.5 hours waiting for it to take off) whilst Sean and James continued on their journey to break drinking records!