13.05.04 - Had to buy some minced lamb yesterday. See I'm getting into the whole cooking malarky and have a book that my mother gave me. It's really the most idiot-proof cook book I've ever seen and chock full of fantastic recipes. So yesterday evenings culinery extravaganza was going to be Greek Lamb Pie which necessitated the purchasing of some minced lamb (or Lamm Hackfleisch), 450g of it to be precise. Munich is a pork based town. they tolerate beef because there's a large Muslim population and because cows look good in touristy Alpine photos. Asking for lamb at the meat counter in Tenglemann's was a waste of time as I knew, but had to be done since I was in there anyway. I got myself off down to the little Turkish shop opposite my old apartment on Schwanthalerstr. The assumption being that Turks have to need lamb, they just have to. After queueing for an eternity (the two people in front of me each bought over 2kg of mince) I got to the counter and made my request "450g of minced lamb please" (of course in my bestist German). He selected a piece from in front of him and cut the meat from the bone before lobbing it into the mincer. Once done it came to 405g. He asked if this was ok to which I replied that I had asked for 450g. He said it's always a little bit more or less. I said that it was 20% less than I needed and just not bloody good enough. So then he goes into a moan about how difficult it is to cut it off the bone in the first place. I could see that this was going nowhere. Anyway, he offers me the other 50g in minced beef, at which point I gave in and said fair enough, whatever. Tonight we're having minced beef. It's a lot less hassle. Incidentally the lamb pie was fantastic. Filo pastry is simply the dogs bollocks!

09.05.04 - Just added a page for a great apartment on the Costa Del Sol which is now for sale. Click Here for details. A great opportunity for someone looking for a place in the sun!

08.05.04 - A few updates which I haven't previously mentioned. Click Here for photos from Erik's birthday on 29th April, click here for the Wassermann's party on 30th April and click here for some photos from a wander around Dublin city on 6th May. Enjoy!

28.04.04 - Click here for a few photos from the opening night of a refurbished Japanese restaurant here in town which we attended on Monday evening. Free beer and free food. Not to shabby at all

26.04.04 - Added two new galleries to the site. The first is from the Toytown Munich party at Zweite-Heimat. Good night, bad place. The second set of photos if from a fantastic day out at Andechs on the 24th of April. Great stuff! Incidentally if you hadn't noticed the links below this box, check them out. Particularly the Oktoberfest 2004 site which I currently have under development.

19.04.04 - Click Here for photos from Cindy & Sean's birthday dinner in la Boheme. An excellent night had by all.

Have a looksee at my guide to Oktoberfest. I know it's not until September, but if you're thinking of attending then you'd wanna start getting organised as soon as possible. Click Here to check out the page. It's currently under development so I'd appreciate any feedback, suggestions and comments that you may have in terms of what's there, what should be there and so on.

Hosting-Unlimited.net provide one of the best value for money webhosting services that I've seen...anywhere. Click Here to find out all about the services that they offer. I've been with them for a couple of years now and am completely satisfied and regularly impressed with the quality of the service.

07.04.04 - Uploaded a set of photos from Irina's birthday bash at Julep's restaurant. Click here to see how it went. I've also got a load of photos from my visit to Ireland last week. They'll be up shortly.

24.03.04 - Eventually got around to sorting out and uploading three pages of photos from our Christmas trip to Calahonda. Ok so I'm almost 3 months late with them. I don't get paid for this you know! Click here to see what we got up to.

19.03.04 - Click Here to see the rest of the St. Patrick's Day photos. These were on Paddy's Day itself in Kilian's pub.

17.03.04 - Happy St. Patrick's Day! Here's my little St. Patrick's Day page. It got me in trouble with some American plastic paddy's because they said I was demeaning my own people by including the "Guide to surviving St. Patricks Day" and actively telling Irish jokes. Also they said that I was degrading my nationality and showing my self-loathing by living with a German. Riiiight. Some people really are badly fcuked in the head. Anyway, moving swiftly on from such idiotic nonsense, Happy St. Patrick's Day to all and I hope you enjoy it wherever you are. From my folks in Wicklow to Ger out in Thailand, and everyone in between and around the sides, I'll raise a glass to you.

On a completely seperate note, here's a link to a page for my new motor and finally, if you're interested at all in Orthomolecular Medicine AND you can speak German, then this page might just be for you..

16.03.04 - I know that Wednesday is officially St. Patrick's Day. However, we had the parade and main festivities here in Munich yesterday (Sunday) since we don't have a holiday for it...yet. Click Here to view the mayhem that was. We'll be back out on Wednesday evening too though

09.03.04 - What with having a bit of free time on my hands, I've finally managed to get the photos from our weekend in Elzach sorted out. Click Here to see two pages of photos and story from an excellent weekend. Now if only I could get the Christmas photos in order...

01.03.04 - Click Here for the photos from the Boys Night Out on Saturday night.

28.02.04 - Just uploaded some photos from the Toytown party in L-Lounge-2 on Thursday night just gone. Click Here to have a looksee.

The North Wind doth blow, And we shall have snow,

And what shall the poor robin do then?

Poor thing!

He'll sit in the barn,And keep himself warm,

And hide his head under his wing,

Poor thing!

02.02.04 - "Start the day the Flahavan's Way, The natural way to start the day, the fibre rich way to start the day on a cold and frosty morning.". Anyone remember that? Anyways, Monday morning and another weekend done & dusted. Had dad visiting from Friday 'till Sunday morning. Also Brian & Nida were in town for a couple of days. 'Twas a bit of a Murphy invasion! Did Augustiner Keller with Bernd & Liz on Friday night and Weißesbrauhaus on Saturday. Gotta love that Bavarian food :-) Need a rest now. Photos? Of course I've got lots of photos, but as usual they most likely won't be posted for ages yet. Still gotta sort the Christmas ones first! Oh, forgot to mention I've quit smoking. After a couple of pre & post-Christmas false starts, I've finally gone for it. It's now been 13 days since my last cigarette. I faltered once and had a half a drag of someone else on Friday night, but apart from that I've been 100% clean. Not counting my chickens just yet as there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip, but at €3 a pack what I have counted is just over €40 that I've not inhaled. To Julian the "Jamaican in New York", I told you I'd do it evenutally :-)

28.01.04 - Munich Webcam looking down onto Marienplatz with the Rathaus on the right. Updated every 60 seconds or thereabouts.

Oh and Happy Birthday Mammy!!!

 

20.01.04  - Still haven't sorted out the photos from Christmas & New Year in Spain. I'll have it done soon. By the way, if you want to receive an e-mail when areas of this site have been updated, then please send a mail to info@keydeck.com with your name & e-mail address. The original list got lost in transit, so if you registered before, please do so once again (note that the button on the main screen doesn't work anymore). Thanks.

06.01.04 - Just added a gallery from a Bodypainting competition held back in November that Kathrin took part in. Click Here to see the piccies.

18.12.03 - Just connected up a gallery from a great weekend in Vienna. Click Here to see how it all went.

16.12.03 - Click Here for a gallery from last weekends party in Bondi

04.12.03 - With a tear in either eye I am offering GP up for sale. Click Here to see.

27.11.03 - New gallery up from the "Red or Dead" party that we had last weekend. Click Here to see the photos from a very good night.

17.11.03 - Just uploaded the photos from the Def Leppard concert. Click here to have a looksee. Tomorrow is my birthday. 31 years young and currently sporting a couple on black eyes and more than a couple of stitches in my face after a misfortunate run-in with a Munich escalator, which I now know is called "Rolltreppe". Click Here to have a look.

03.11.03 Just for the sake of it....65 things I know about Munich

01. It's very close to some rather large & impressive mountains.
02. You don't need to speak German (or Bavarian) to live there quite happily.
03. 10% of the population is Turkish.
04. Sandwichs made with soft bread rolls are hard to come by.
05. The beer is great!
06. Any area of grass is likely to be full of dog shit.
07. "The Never Ending Story" was filmed there.
08. Matjesfilet is raw pickled fish. It is not nice.
09. There is a specific method to eating Weißwurst.
10. Never cross the road against the pedestrian lights if a cop, elderly lady or a parent with child is nearby.
11. If you're just looking for a signature or to hand in a document, feel free to skip the queue in banks.
12. Winter gets very cold.
13. You can get into trouble for referring to a policeman as "du" instead of "sie".
14. The headquarters of BMW are there.
15. If you walk to the left of people it freaks them out.
16. Dressing up in leather shorts and slapping your male friends on the ass is perfectly normal during festivals.
17. The beer is great!
18. There are too many taxis because extras were put on during the 1972 Olympics and never gotten rid of.
19. The 2006 World Cup will be held there.
20. Müncheners don't like to cause a scene and never complain in restaurants.
21. 6'3" is not particularly tall in Munich.
22. There is a nude sun-bathing area practically in the city center.
23. Don't expect an apology if someone bumps you in the street.
24. When you get close to a Münchener you've made a friend for life.
25. People are not openly patriotic and rarely sing along to the national anthem because overt nationalism is frowned upon.
26. Polo-neck sweaters are very popular.
27. People spend a lot of money on eye-wear.
28. Weasel-like animals called Marders live in the city and chew the brake-cables on cars.
29. Elderly women are fearsome.
30. Offices don't have much in the way of air-conditioning.
31. You should look someone in the eye when saying "Prost!", otherwise you risk 7 years bad sex.
32. Every New Years Eve people watch a short B&W film called "Dinner For One". It's in English with English actors, yet nobody in England has ever heard of it.
33. People go surfing on the river Isar.
34. A mullet is referred to as a "Prole" after the word, Proletariet.
35. Munich is sometimes referred to as the northernmost city in Italy.
36. If it's your birthday then you should bring a cake into work to share with your colleagues.
37. On St.Patricks Day (March 17th) the main thoroughfare is closed to traffic for a parade. The Irish are the only nation whose national day this street is closed for.
38. If all the singles in the city got partners and moved in with them, 30% of apartments would become vacant.
39. "Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory" was filmed in Munich.
40. People seperate all their rubbish for recycling even though many refuse collection firms just bundle it all together again.
41. Lederhosen does not specifically refer to the traditional Bavarian costume but any leather trousers.
42. The Reinheitsgebot brewing law had more to do with taxation than ensuring the purity of ingredients.
43. "Schloß Neuschwanstein", near Munich, was the model for Disney's magic kingdom and also appeared in the movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang".
44. Adolf Hitler was not German but Austrian.
45. Mozart was not Austrian but German.
46. It is against the law to wash your car in the street.
47. The beer is great!
48. Most individual apartments do not have numbers. They go by your name and the house number.
49. Officially roller-bladers do not belong on the pavement or on the cycle-path.
50. In 1980, 13 people died as a result of a bomb attack at Oktoberfest
51. If a menu offers "calves head with an ox eye", it will be slivers of beef with a fried egg on top.
52. Children there are more respectful of adults than in Ireland or the UK.
53. If you say "Gesundheit" to a person for the 3rd time in a row, then their next child will be a girl.
54. There is a creature called a "Wolperdinger" which has webbed feet, antlers, wings & long fangs and is about the size of a rabbit.
55. Public transport is superb.
56. The choice of mens shoes is not good.
57. There is a statue in Munich of the man who invented the Oxo cube.
58. In November there's a warm period caused by the Fön where many people get headaches.
59. It's quite normal to live in a rented apartment all your life.
60. The artificial hill in the Olympia Park was made from the remains of bombed out buildings and rubble from the construction of the u-bahn system.
61. You can be fined for giving someone the finger.
62. There is a very serious shortage of student accomodation in the city of Munich.
63. By law, every office must have a view of the sky.
64. Pressing your thumb against your forefinger has the same meaning as "fingers crossed"
65. You may have 2 parties per year in your apartment (as loud as you want) and nobody can do anything about it.