New Years in Freiburg

Dear Readers,

as I always hope, I hope my lines find you well. Please accept my apologies for such a long delay in posting. Lately things have been hectic, lots of emotional ups and downs, sadly not only sun-shiny as most of you know. Now I am happy to catch up with previous postings that have been waiting to be shared with you. One of the most wonderful parts of my visit to Europe around New Years was to be part of the great group of friends that united in the South of Germany for a wonderful New Year party. It was such a good feeling to be connected life again with many of my buddies from old Swiss times, many of which I was missing for a long time. We ate a fabulous dinner, enjoyed much quality time together over discussions and board games and celebrated the start into the new Year with plenty of liquids! I hope the next Years will be equally joyful!

Many thanks to all organizers and travelers involved who made such a great event a possibility!

Hope to see you soon,

Mat

Christmas with the Tietz Clan

Dear friends near and far,

I hope my lines may find you very well. As traditionally we meet the entire family over the Christmas holidays, it so happened that we were hosting both sides of the family on the frist and second day after Christmas Eve. As we have always played together since we were little, we also continued that wonderful tradition with a great round of "the game of life" amongst us four cousins. I truly wish we had more quality time to share like this and I was a little bit more lucky so that next time I may win :-)

All the best of luck for your next board game,

Matti

Christmas at home

Dear friends and family,

what else is as wonderful and enriching as uniting the family for Christmas over a fantastic home-cooked 5 star dinner? I can hardly imagine anything else with more beauty and appeal to my soul and tastes!

I invite you to enjoy your memories of Christmas in the circle of your loved ones as well!

Yours only,

Matthias

Goodbye dinner and goodbye Singapore

Liebe Freunde,

Am Abend des 23. Dezember war der kleine Kurzurlaub in Asien schon wieder vorbei. Das Dinner am Abend zuvor mit Ming und neuen Freunden in einem meiner Lieblingsrestaurants in City Hall war hervorragend und der anschliessende Spaziergang durch die beleuchtete Innenstadt auch gut für die Verdauung und die Photos auf meinem Blog. Ich hoffe euch gefällt es ebensogut wie mir.

Alles Liebe und Gute,

Euer Matti

enjoying life in Singapore

Dear friends and family,

just before Xmas 2009 I was fortunate enough to visit great friends in Singapore. After a few days in Malaysia's jungle and KL hype, the relaxation of the pool was a welcome re-energizer that Susan and I could enjoy thanks to our friend Andi!

Life is great with friends like you!

Your Mat

Taman Negara

Liebe Freunde nah und fern,

ich hoffe es geht euch allen wunderbar. Wie bereits angekündigt, habe ich in Malaysia den wohl ältesten unberührten Dschungel der Erde besucht. Taman Negara ("Park National") ist von den Eiszeiten verschont geblieben, die viele andere Regenwälder zerstört haben und wird auf stolze 600 Millionen Jahre geschätzt. Also haben Susan und ich auch einen Tag Respekt gezollt und sind bei 30 Grad und gefühlten 300% Luftfeutchtigkeit auf einen Erkundungs "Spaziergang" gegangen. Anfänglich sehr gut ausgebaut, entpuppte sich der Wanderweg mehr als Schlammschlacht, denn die Nacht zuvor hatte es wie aus Eimern gegossen. Nichtsdestotrotz haben wir es bis zum Gipfel des Touristenberges geschafft. 400m mag zwar nicht nach all zu viel klingen, aber wenn man im Schlamm 3 Schritte vorwärts und zwei zurück macht, kann es sich länger hinziehen als gewünscht. Entschädigt wurden wir für unsere Strapazen nur sehr bedingt, denn das eingefügte Bild über die grünen Baumkronen ist wohl eines der besten was an diesem Tag entstanden ist. Es war einfach zu dunstig.

Photos von den Blutegeln, die uns heimgesucht haben erspare ich euch an dieser Stelle und sende statt dessen,

ganz liebe Grüße,

Euer Matti

What might this be?

Dear friends,

during our stay in Malaysia I found many stickers like that mostly on the ceiling of restaurants, hotel rooms or other public places. It took me a while to figure out that it indicates the direction in which Mekka (or more precisely the Quiba/Kaaba) lies. For the large community of practicing Muslims in Malaysia, this is an important part of their religion. My lack of knowledge in Malay caused some initial amusement that was followed by the realization how important a role religion plays in everyday life in Malaysia.

All the best to you,

Mat