Sunday & Monday, September 26 & 27 2010 (diary)

If there were a Heaven (although I am sure there is not), it would look like this. Or rather this would be on the Menu everyday.
Finally I found a place where they have the same idea of what I think is a proper Egg Liquor icecream : the Wirtshaus Zur Sonne. A small ball of vanilla icecream with dollop of cream on top, floating in a sea of egg liqueur!

After two days of dreadful weather, Sunday morning is dry with here and there a blue patch of sky. So off I go for my 4th time down the St.Peter-Glottertal track My physical condition has definitely improved, as I do the 8km hike to Glottertal in just over one and a half hours.
It is overcast as I arrive and the outside terrace of Wirtshaus Zur Sonne is closed. Inside every table is booked, but Frau Gertrude lets me sit on an as yet not occupied table, to recover from my trip with a couple of beers (Hirschen Bräu of course) on the house.   I very much like the inside of this Michelin Guide Inn so book a table for my last dinner with Wivica tonight.
The dinner is great, it certainly justifies the restaurant's Michelin Guide ranking, and what a delicious desert (photo).

A clear blue sky awaits me on Monday as I wake up, with only a few thin long wispy clouds, to enhance the scenery rather than a thread of rain. Wivica drops me off at Freiburg Bahnhof, where I catch the train to Baden Baden, to spend the last hours of my time in Germany in that wonderful city. Every time I enter it I am enchanted by it. I spend 3 hours in the Spas, loose 1.5 kg weight in the process, then as a memento of this city buy an expensive handmade woolen hat (brown) by Mayser.
After a final drink at Wallstreet im Hamilton I catch my train to Frankfurt International Airport, check in and right now wait for the boarding call, about one hour away.

Tuesday & Wednesday, September 28 & 29 2010 (diary)

Well, as you can see, still a bit jet lagged, but safe and sound back at home on the farm. The mangos all around me have grown and are quite big now, although as yet still very green. The Mango geese too are around, I saw some flying over in the morning in a large V formation.


I had a fairly comfortable flight home (as far as that is possible in Economy class) and quite a good dinner served on board by Lufthansa with generous servings of G&Ts, wine, brandy, etc.
Unfortunately restrictions of what you may take on board are becoming more and more severe, all for the sake of security. So sadly my bottle of Hummelhof Kirschwasser did not make the journey with me, but was confiscated by the Security at Frankfurt Airport. It is not allowed in your hand luggage.

After arriving at Singapore Airport I rediscovered (in Terminal 1) the place where I had my very first Singapore laksa soup (coconut milk based soup with tofu and various meats and/or fish), a historic culinary discovery moment for me, way back in April 1982. The place used to be a buffet style local restaurant, but now has become a "24 hours food Gallery" with several eateries. But I could get my laksa there which I thoroughly enjoyed, reliving that first time almost 30 years ago.

Upon my arrival at Darwin Airport at 2.30AM Wednesday morning I was welcomed by Renee to pick me up and drive me to the Darwin Best Western Motel where my car was waiting for me.
A few hours of sleep, then onto the hospital for my appointment with a plastic surgeon at 9AM. As a result a few spots on my right eye lid, in my nose, and on my cheek and arm will be removed "within one month" time, which is good. The rest of the day was just sleep, sleep and more sleep.

Thursday, September 30 2010 (diary)

The very first memorable hat I have had was a midnight blue barret (a French "alpino" it was), just after WW2 (1945) as an 8-9 year old. Imitating the Allied soldiers I always pulled it firmly to the right and had some sort of enamel insignia pinned onto its front. You would not see me outside without it throughout my school years.

After that, as a Geological student, I appropriated my Dad's light grey Stetson hat to wear on Geology excursions and during my fieldwork summers in Spain. I eventually lost it at a Fiesta Maior in Caión while dancing in the village square, throwing the hat on the ground and dancing around it. It ended up on the head of the trumpet player in the band and I never saw it again.

A few years ago I bought a black Akubra hat at the Sunshine Coast, not bad, but it never really quite suited me I felt. It also shrank (as the salesman had warned) so it is almost too tight now.

Last Monday in Baden Baden (on my way to Frankfurt Airport) I went back to a shop where I had seen some quite nice hats, including a range of Stetsons. But I finally decided on this lovely brown hand made felt hat made by Mayser in Germany. I am already very attached to it and feel it is a most worthy successor after my barret and Stetson days. It is of course also a lovely memento from an elegant city I have come to like so much.
Cheap hats just don't suit me I find. So I will stick to world renown quality brands in the future, like Stetson from the UK, Akubra from Australia, Mayser from Germany and perhaps the beautiful straw Havana hats from the Caribbean.