nach Deutschland

The Best of Munich

How to get here

Die Deutsche Bahn offers a great price for first class travel from Berlin(hbf) to Munich(hbf), both these are the main train stations of the corresponding cities.  It cost me 74€ per ticket for one way ticket.  For peace of mind, and an extra 8€ per reservation, I chose seats at the time of the booking.  Booking was easy using the the DB on-line reservation system.  For added convenience the site is available in English as well.  The more advanced of the trip the tickets are purchased the greater the savings.  Also, the DB offers a special price, sparepreis, that is non-refundable and cannot be changed.  I took advantage of this offer which significantly reduced the price.

Cash or credit

Cash is the preferred means of business in Munich, and in general Europe.  Credit or debit card machines are rarely seen at the museums, cafes, mini-markets, public transit, and shops.  I always buy euro at home.  Unlucky me, this time round, I lost 200€ to some sham happening on the street of Berlin.  I had to change Canadian dollar.  The der Reise Bank AG at Munichs main bahnhof, charged me a hefty 4.90€ commission on $100 Canadian and gave me a lousy rate of $1.50.  Really sucked!

Place to stay

Munich Park Hilton, Am Tucherpark 7
Rooms are spacious, furnished tastefully and include free coffee-tea service, cash mini-bar, bio toiletries, hair dryer, and a very spacious bathroom with shower massage.  The hotel offers a gym, which I have to check out before departure, a restaurant with excellent food, we had the pasta of the day, ceasar salad, and pumpkin soup all deliciously made with the finest ingredient and cooked to perfection with hand squeezed, fresh orange juice, a fully equipped business center, public computer with access to Internet, and Microsoft office in the lobby and unlimited free access to wifi in the lobby.  All this for starting price of 159 €, I was able to get a room for 2 adults for 110 € three weeks in advance of my travel dates --excellent deal!

Sightseeing

Munich is a small city, very classy, and it provides a lot of opportunity to  enjoy beautifully restored pre-war architecture for free and by just walking the streets surrounding the city center.  Today we travelled to the city center, Marienplatz U and S, and from there walked about twenty minutes to one of the collection of museums, Alte Pinakothek.  Sundays are reduced admission fee days, 1€.  The two floors museum, is not only Munichs most important art museum but also one of the most significant collections in Europe.  Among the 900 paintings on display are historical and exquisit paintings by renowned painters of renaissance era, 1400 - 1800, from all over Europe.  Such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Sandro Boticelli, Fra Filippo Lippi, Rambrandt, Paul Rubens, Anthoins Van Dyck.  I make sure to include pictures of some of the paintings that caught my un-trained eye here when I get to download them.  The mueseum is definitely one of the must-sees of Munich.  The museume is on Barer Straße.  The 27 tram to Petuelring has a stop close to it on Barer.  Theresienstraße, U2, is a few blocks north west of the museum. .....

Where to eat

If you are staying at Munich Park Hilton, indulge at the Tivoli restaurant for dinner.  The cafe at Marienplatz, serves a variety of breakfasts, Pariser, butter croissant, or Kleins Fruhstück, bread, butter and marmalade, average price for breakfast for two is 8€.  There are a large selection of different variety food at Munichs main Bahnhof.  All U and S trains have a stop at this station.  There is also a mini-market inside that sells fresh fruit.  REWE, city of Munichs super market is located on Bahnhofplatz 1.  Knowing a few words Duetsch definitely improves the quality of your trip. 

General Tips

When booking train tickets for travel within Europe or if you intend to use public transportation to and from the international airport, avoid the rush hour.  Traveling with suitcases during the rush hour, maneuvering the crowd who ruthlessly pass or run you over, is a rather stressful, unpleasant experience.

There are many web sites that offer travel tickets on behalf of the air-lines.  These on-line agents gather, and compare ticket prices and sort them for you.  In the event you need to change or cancel you have to
a. call these companies which is most likely a toll call
b. adjust the time difference because they are most likely in a different time zone
c. they charge you their cancellation fee in addition to the airline fee

So, it's best to buy the tickets direct from the airline as opposed to these third party companies.

More expensive non-stop tickets really add to the quality of the trip, unless you are planning an overnight stay or the length of the flight is ridiculously long.  Stop over means going through transit and this translates to standing in line for immigration and custom as well as gate security check. It also means spending valuable hours in a closed, noisy airport with little motivation to do anything other than snoozing.  Unless it is Schiphol Airport, the stop-over leaves you tired and sore.


Culture and Memorable Incidents
To be added soon....

Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

Joe Montag lives in a strange time. But according to Ray Bradbury this is the future, 2022. Seashell Radios, a device that resembles iPod, are best past time and accompanist. Atomic wars are declared and won in a day. Relatives are characters in episodes of T.V. programs. Children are snatched from parents at an early age because people are not born to be free and equal but they are "made equal. Each man the image of every other; then all are happy, for there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against." Books are burnt and those who possess a book are arrested. Alarms are there to notify the police of the crime of reading, owning a book. Firefighters, they are "the Happiness Boys…." They "stand against the small tide of those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought." They "have our fingers in the dike. Hold steady. Don’t let the torrent of melancholy and drear philosophy drown our world.”

Joe Montag is a married firefighter. His life is the very definition of status quo. Up until he meets Clarisse McClellan, who claims to be seventeen and insane. "Are you happy?", she asks. She is unlike anyone Joe Montag has met before. She thinks about everything and anything. She is interested in others.

Montag a complacent resident, all of a sudden feels uneasy in his environment. He questions his own action. Why does he burn books? What is in them?

The shrewd, hateful supervisor, Captain Beatty, does all in his power to dissuade Montag questioning things. But he can't stop Montag. But in the end he fails and it is with these words he condemns him.
“Now, Montag, you’re a burden. And fire will lift you off my shoulders, clean, quick, sure; nothing to rot later. Antibiotic, aesthetic, practical.”— Beatty

But could there be hope? One man's moment of weakness is the other's opportunity to gain strength.

Unbundled: I intend to slash my internet, phone, cable bill by half by end of the month!

As far back as five years ago, for better service and convenience of having to pay for everything in one-bill, I consolidated all my services, phone, cell-phone, TV, and internet  with Rogers.  Recently, I have noticed that I can save a whole lot, minimum $200/year, if I abandon Rogers.

My goal is to pay half of what I am paying now, $155-$157/month, for all the above services;  hence the title of this and follow on blogs.

So far I have spoken to three people I know who are using Teksavvy for Internet.  If there is any truth to "word of mouth marketing", I should feel confident of giving TekSavvy a try.  TeckSavvy Cable 6 is exact same Internet service I have for $10.00 cheaper

Rogers vs Teksavvy

DL Speed	UL Speed	Bandwidth	Rogers' Price	TekSavvy's Price
6 Mbs	256 Kbs	25GB	$34.71	$24.95

The savings will only show in the second year. The cost of service for the first year is on-par with what I am paying Rogers, because no doubt there will be one-time upfront fees to switch to TekSavvy. The two I found on their web site are:

• Activation Fee: $45 after $20 fee discount
• Modem: $75-$99

The following modems are compatible with their Cable service:

Product	Price	Specification
Thomson DCM 425	$75.00 from TekSavvy	DOCSIS 2.0, good for DL speeds up to 18MBps
Thomson DCM 476	$99.00 from TekSavvy	DOCSIS 3.0 latest standard, faster DL speed than DOCSIS 2.0
Motorola SB5101N - firmware version: 2.1.7.0	$69.99 from Canada Computers	DOCSIS 2.0, DL speeds of 30MBps
Motorola SB6120 - firmware version: 1.0.6.1	$99.99 from Motorla web site	DOCSIS 3.0, DL speeds of 180MBps
Joohong SL-2810 - firmware version: 10.2.7	$52.00 from laceytech.com	DOCSIS 2.0
SMC D3GN-RES-DOCSIS 3.0	$130.00 from Audio 2001	DOCSIS 3.0, Draft-N Wireless Residential Cable Modem Gateway

All the above modems can be found for cheaper prices on web sites such as kijiji.ca. There was a post in one of the forums that buying off of kijiji runs the risk of being stuck with a returned modem that cannot be activated by the provider. The other advantage of paying for a brand new modem is that it comes with peace of mind that it can be returned/replaced if not functional. A few retailers that may have new modems for competitive prices are:

• Canada Computer
• Tigerdirect

I don't have a router now; it is an unnecessary cost to pay for the convenience, and with smart phones enabled with data plans it seems even less likely that I'd be interested in paying an additional $50-$90 for a router. Nevertheless I looked into it. Half the population out there prefers a router+modem combo to separate devices. The router+modem combo saves on space, creates a cleaner visual effect, think about all those wires tangled if you have two separate boxes--yikes, and it consumes less electricity. The other half of the population thinks having two separate boxes is more prudent, because trouble shooting is easier, and in the event of trouble with router one can still enjoy connectivity with a working modem. Someone was raving about how his Motorola SB 6120 modem and a Netgear WNR 3500L work in harmony together.
After spending a good part of the day searching for all this wonderful information, I am still not clear if the reward of the switch will beat the:

a: uncertainty of service of a new, relatively small provider -despite the good word-of-mouth advertisement 

b: time spent to research and find good deals on modem, set up, and trouble-shoot 

c: money spent on activation fee and modem 

d: an additional bill to remember and pay each month 

 Next up is the phone service.

Innovation in the transportation

This is my last of a three part blog series on the topic of transportation.  Motivated by the Global Engineering Innovation Challenge, my friend and I brainstormed on what can be done to improve the road share in a limited right of way.

The goal is to pack a collection of objects, cars, buses, and bikes, into the minimum number of fixed-size bins, the road lanes. The resemblance between this and the classic bin packing problem is eminent.  In a bin packing problem one may pack based on first fit, or first best fit, based on ascending or descending ordered list of object based on its size.  Here we will be packing based on time of use.

The existing infrastructure of surface transport is sliced in at least three bins

            The side walks at least one on each side

            The roads at least one for each direction, North-South or East-West

S_urface -> {S_idewalk, R_oad1, R_oad2}

The objects are bikes, cars, buses, and trucks

I_tems -> {B_ikes, C_ars, B_uses, T_rucks}

In solving this problem it is important to consider the time of the week day as the constraint to optimize.

T_ime -> {   06 < T < 10                   // demand is high because it is morning rush hour

               10 < T < 14                     // demand is low

               14 < T < 20                     // demand is high because it evening rush hour

               20 < T < 24                     // demand is low

            }

The solution is:

T_ime -> {   06 < T < 10                        S_urface -> {S_idewalk        No constraint

                                                                             , R_oad1       Car-pool, Buses only

                                                                             , R_oad2  Car-pool, Buses only

                                                                     }

                10 < T < 14                        S_urface -> {S_idewalk        No constraint

                                                                             , R_oad1     Bikes, Cars, Buses, Trucks

                                                                             , R_oad2  Cars, Buses, Trucks

                                                                      }

                           

               14 < T < 20                         S_urface -> {S_idewalk        No constraint

                                                                             , R_oad1       Car-pool, Buses only

                                                                            , R_oad2  Car-pool, Buses only

                                                                     }

               20 < T < 24             S_urface -> {S_idewalk        No constraint

                                                                , R_oad1     Bikes, Cars, Buses, Trucks

                                                                , R_oad2  Cars, Buses, Trucks

                                                                  }

            }

This proposal promotes better, safer sharing of the road by distributing the load of its usage through out the day.

Challenges of the modern transit planners

Studies show Torontonians commute an average of 80 minutes a day - or when you crunch the numbers, a month in a car.  Thanks to the suburban sprawl or work places out in the boonies :) we now have to spend more time getting to work than before.  We are more involved in extracurricular activities.  We volunteer.  We want to stay employed longer so we take continuing education courses.  We want to live a healthy life so we go to the gym.  We want our kids to learn how to swim, do karate, dance, play hockey, play music, etc., and so we chauffeur them from school to class to home, etc.

In short: we move around a lot.

It is important for us to have access to a good transit system that guarantees safe, efficient, and fast transportation.  Also, it is important for us to have an integrated transit system that enables us to drive, walk, cycle, or take the train or the bus to our destination.  When we are in rush, we want to have access to a rapid transit.  When we are not in a rush we can afford to sit back and enjoy the ride.  We want to be in control of what to choose and when to choose it.  If there is a traffic jam we want to know about it and to know an alternate route to avoid it.


The transit architect has to take all the above into consideration in the planning.


Resources:
TheCityFix.com is an online resource for sustainable transport news, research and “best practice” solutions from around the world    http://thecityfix.com/blog/pedestranged/ 

With the York Region Rapidways project new express lane is being built in the middle of the street for the buses
www.vivanext.com

Efficient sustainable mobility
http://www.frame-online.net/sites/default/files/first-view/further-reading/PlanningGuide.pdf

Other resources provided by the "Global Engineering Innovation" web site.

• http://www.transect.org/codes.html
• http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/widgets_document/download-document/piece_id/2141/file_number/0
• http://www.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Commission_reports_and_information/Commission_meetings/2009/May_28_2009/Other/East_Bayfront_Transi.pdf

High demand on the transportation system

Everyday I join 1,000,000 residents of this city and its suburbs to travel to my destination. Whether it is work, school, day care, store, we all have a route and a way to get to our destination. I take the subway. Then I switch to the bus. I spend close to 40 minutes door to door. Recently I spend more time on the bus, because there is construction. You see they are building a bus rapid transit system in the middle of Highway 7. Although, the road is open and operating, but due to separating the construction site: the workers, the tools, and the machinery, from the rest of the road, there is traffic and cars move very slowly. The 40 minutes travel time takes 50% more. I spend roughly 20 more minutes in the bus each way. If I produced 7 units of work each day, my productivity level dips to 6.6 units of work. That's if I don't adjust my arrival to and departure from work times to make up for the lost time. This is just one of the impacts of changing the surface transit operation to address the increase in usage. One can only imagine that the impact is much larger to local community that need shop, play and live there.

What I am living day in and day out, happens as a result of population growth in an urban area.  The existing transportation system is not able to meet the demand.  Therefore expansion of the roads become necessary but this comes at the cost of severely disrupting the life of the local community.


If money was abundant we would finish such projects in a week or two.  In reality, however, the timeline is around two to four years.  The thought of  having the construction workers in the backyard for that long of a time, even makes the most easy-going people cringe. 

What are some of the strategies to reduce the negative impacts of road expansion projects?

This is one of the three questions in the "Global Engineering Innovation Challenge".

 "     How can we balance the needs of surface transit operations, drivers, cyclists and pedestrians that use streets with limited right-of-way, safer, faster and more reliable, in a way that is acceptable to the local community?"

The End of Growth

Mayan predicted December 21, 2012 to be the end of the world.  They were not the first to herald apocalypse.  According to wikipedia there are 150 predictions of the end of the world prior to the Mayan's. Some predict a clash of Earth with obscure objects in the milky-way will end it all others predict that there will be a nuclear war.  Despite radically different ways each predict the world will end, there is one common theme: life on Earth as we know it today will dramatically change. Thankfully none of these predictions have rung true. 
But, we cannot deny the gradual shift that has been happening over the past two decades in the world.  The world reached its 7 billionth inhabitant in 2011.  How can the definite resources sustain the indefinite growth?
Jeff Rubin's The End of Growth explains the changes in the context of oil possession, consumption and acquisition.  The appetite for oil has been on the rise and so has its price, from $20 a barrel to $120, the oil price have been steadily rising.  Rubin argues the world's dependency on oil is at the root of most political unrest, long term wars and foreign interventions in domestic politics of oil rich countries. While we can control the amount of energy we consume or conserve, we tend to see, most governments shift towards consumption of energy.  But, reducing the oil consumption is not an impossible tasks.  Rubin talks about how Danes curbed their appetite for oil and the consequence of that is "rosy-cheeked, good-looking Danes peddling around he city".  What Danes have done is: they have shown to the world that it is possible to reduce the dependency on oil and still have a healthy, prosper society.
Although the book looks at issues concerning energy and economic growth at the macro level, it also provokes readers to think about their own energy footprint.  I know that I will be buying more local food, use more public transportation, and ride my bike more often.
The only thing I wish the book had more of is Canadian content.  There is only one chapter, "Keystone Conundrum", on the situation of connecting the oil in Alberta to refineries.