Chan Weng Kit's Blogspot: DAY 258

May 17

1) We left our hostel late today, as most of us overslept from exhaustion. We were relieved that Kuhan had recovered from his tiredness and was fit as ever. First thing we did was board the Hop On Hop Off Bus, which is a sight-seeing bus with audio guides that stops at various landmarks around Berlin city centre. Our first stop was Checkpoint Charlie, the best known crossing point between East and West Berlin during the Cold War.

2) We walked by ourselves to the Berlin Wall memorial, where there was an exhibition on the life and times of the people on both sides of the country. Afterwards, we stopped for lunch at a local kebab shop, and I had one of the spiciest chow mein (fried noodles) ever. I did not expect the cook to use lots of bird's eye chilli a.k.a. cabai burung/ cili padi, which is a really potent pepper with a Scoville rating ("spiciness rating") of 100,000-225,000 units. This is exactly the same rating as a Scotch bonnet or habanero. In a moment of foolishness, I asked for all the toppings as well, which included chilli sauce and sriracha sauce. To top it all off, I added a mountain of chilli flakes to the already spice-laden mee. Boy did I regret it haha. I still managed to finish it all off, albeit with beads of sweat and a numb tongue afterwards. Hey, a little spice is good for metabolism, no? XD

3) In the afternoon, we went hunting for souvenirs at the various shops around Checkpoint Charlie, before boarding the bus again to Alexanderplatz, in Berlin-Mitte. We stopped right in front of the TV Tower, the fourth highest freestanding structure in Europe (at 368m). After taking a barrage of photos, we stopped for some ice cream. Then we walked across to the shopping district and checked out some more souvenirs. Next, we took the bus again, this time stopping at the Museum Island. Apparently, the Altes Museum (Old Museum) is right next to the Berlin Cathedral. Due to time constraints, we only entered the Altes Museum (there are another four museums around the area).

4) We came out at around six, when the museum had to close. We thought the Hop On Hop Off service had ended (the brochure said 4 p.m.) but thanks to Zi Yan, we managed to hail the last bus back to Brandenburg Gate stop. There, we took a train back to the Hbf/ Central Station. We had a nice dinner at the Currywurst Express (in the station itself). For dessert, we had ordered some German delicacies and were about to pay when the staff in charge told us it was on him. He asked us to just "try it out and see". I guess he knew we were all tourists, seeing as how Kuhan was Google-ing the dessert to find out what it was. Still, it was very kind of him and we are really grateful for that.

5) We returned on foot to our hostel, stopping by Aldi and Penny. Aldi was closed when we arrived, so we went to Penny instead. Stocked up on tomorrow's breakfast as well as some body lotion. Today's weather has been lovely, and it is has been one of the very rare occasions that I can actually say I felt "hot" since last year. I certainly hope the weather continues for the duration of our trip. Anyway, that was the end of our day, and rather than bore you with words, please enjoy the pictures of our very eventful day. Thanks for reading, and have a nice day. Cheers!