My very first Europe trip: Summer in Munich! (part 2)

 I will continue writing, since the momentum is alive.

Second day.

On the second day, I planned to go to a lake called Schliersee. It is around 45 minutes by train from the city. I think I went around 9 a.m. I wanted to go earlier, but decided to take it easy. I ate wheat bread for breakfast and packed some wheat bread with slice cheese for my lunch. The first thing that I needed to do is buying a 1-day ticket covering Schliersee area. So, in Munich you can buy 1-day ticket that covers unlimited rides by train, tram, and bus, according to an area that you choose. If you stay in the city, you can choose M-zone. If you travel outside the city, you can choose zones 1 until 12. As long as I remember, Schliersee is in zone 8.

So. The original plan was going to the Schliersee, hiking and enjoying the lake. Then, I will move to Tegernsee. It is another lake, near the Schliersee. Tegernsee is in zone 7, so I could travel there with my day ticket.

From the hotel, I went to the train station, approximately 850 m or 1 km. Just before crossing the road to reach the train station, I saw dm (a drug store). Nice, I will go there absolutely. After arriving at the train station, I tried to buy my ticket, and succeed. Mission completed. Then, I took my first train to Donnersbergerbrücke, where I needed to take a regional train called RB55. The RB55 train is not that frequent. I think it comes every hour. Because I spent some times trying to buy the train ticket, I missed it and needed to wait for the next train. I already waited in Donnersbergerbrücke, in the right platform. While waiting for the train, a women, quite old but very fit and brought her bicycle, sat next to me, on my left side. We did not say a word for some times, until our eyes met, and I smiled. Then, she said something to me, IN GERMANY.

Oh my God. Then, I just replied, "I am from Indonesia". Hahaha. She replied, "Oh, nice. Yes, actually, I thought, maybe she is from Indonesia. I know Indonesia. Where are you from? Jakarta?".

"No, I am from Yogyakarta."

"Which island is it?"

"It's in Java."

She confused. "Oh, do you mean Yava? Yes, I know Yava."

"Yeah, that's right."

And then, our train arrived.

I get on the train and sit. Inside the train, as usual, there is  monitor that tells you the name of the train, the route, the next station, etc. I supposed to get on RB55. I waited in the right train platform, and the train arrived at the right time (right schedule). So, I am pretty sure I get on the right train. However, the monitor was displaying RB56, instead of RB55. Was it a mistake? At the end, I just simply ignore it and enjoy the view.

And, turns out, I AM THE ONE WHO MADE A MISTAKE. I get on the wrong train!

I just realized it when I tried to open google maps and it was deviating from my route to Schliersee. I did not check google maps as frequent as possible because I was saving my phone battery. I got very panic. I tried to find a route to go back to the city but I confused, because the route seemed complicated (not just a single train ride). I decided to get off in the next station. But, when we arrived in a station, it was very empty. The station was empty, maybe because it is a small station. I was afraid I couldn't get information in this station, so I decided to stay in the train and get off in the next station. Fortunately, the next station was better. There was actual train station building, unlike the previous stop. So, I get off, but still confused. I did not find anybody to ask. And the information monitor was not helpful. Still panic and confused, I decided to sat in that station. The train, that I took, had not left yet. It was still there. When I saw the train from the outside, I realized that I took the first train car. Then, I saw the second train car behind. The second train car, had its own head train car. And in the head train car, the train's destination was displayed: TEGERNSEE.

Wait a minute.

I quickly got onto the second train car to Tegernsee. I thought that if I couldn't make it to Schliersee, I would just go to Tegernsee instead. It was very very fortunate that I managed to get on that train, so I still made it to the lake.

Lesson learned: I think I waited in the right platform to take RB55 train. However, I did not know that RB55 train to Schliersee was not coming alone. I think there were three train cars with three different destinations. They were Schliersee, Tegernsee, and Lenggries (RB56). I did not check which train car goes to Schliersee. So I ended up got onto the train to Lenggries. It is very important to check each train car destination before deciding which one to get on.

I did not know what's in Lenggries. But, I know Tegernsee. So it was way way better to just go to Tegernsee. After some times, I finally arrived at Tegernsee. My previous plan to have 45-minutes train ride to Schliersee shifted to more than 1-hour train ride to Tegernsee. Now, the next problem is, how to go to the lake. 

I didn't do enough research about Tegernsee, where to go, how to go. Actually, I also didn't know much about Schliersee. I just relied on one Instagram reels about, 1-day trip from Munich! My original plan was to hike (an easy hike, don't worry) then, went to the lake. So, I tried to search easy hike spot in Tegernsee in Google and found one. I followed my google maps. Tegernsee was a little too quiet, which made me afraid. How if I got lost? How if I encountered a snake? How if I fall?

The path to the hills was sometime surrounded by trees (like a forest?). Actually, the path was quite clear, so I won't get lost. Sometime I saw groups of people heading to the same directions. But then, it got quiet again. After walked for a while, I decided to go back, not continuing to pursue the top. I was only 1/4 or 1/3 of the route to the top. But, I thought that after reaching the top, I must go down. So the distance and time will be doubled. In addition, I only packed cheese and honey sandwich and it was quite hot. Nah, maybe that's enough hike for today. Let's went back and searching for the lake.

The route to the hills sometime surrounded by trees, but sometimes is residents' houses. It was quiet, but I saw a woman outside her house. I didn't remember what was she doing. But, when I walked in front of her house, She greeted me, "Halo". And I replied, "Halo". Why so nice..... In this trip, I realized that people are very nice. They greeted me first. Like in hotel hallway, if I faced people from the opposite direction, they greeted, "Guten morgen". And I replied, "Halo".

Okay, so now I was reaching my starting point. Tegernsee station. I googled the route to the lake, found it, and followed it. The route to the lake was filled with beautiful houses (I think because they are near the lake, most of them not a 'house', but shops or cafes or restaurants). The lake was not far from the station. When I finally arrived at the lake, I felt relieved. Finally, I reached my destination. A LAKE.

The lake was beautiful. Just like what I see in google maps or Instagram reels. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. It was quite windy. I searched for empty bench with cool shade, and found one. I sat and ate my cheese and honey sandwich. I just sat and ate quietly. Took some pictures, of course. I didn't finish my food. I don't know but I was suddenly full. I walked again, a little, to see what's on the right and what's on the left. Then, I sat again and I opened my google maps. I tried to find my train to the city. I think it was approximately 2 p.m. So, I decided to go back to the train station. What a short trip! Haha. But that's okay, I am still happy. I missed the nearest train schedule, because I took some photos along the way. That's okay. The next train is about 20-30 minutes later. I arrived in the train station and continued my lunch.

And something strange happened. I was surrounded by school-age kids??? Is this because in summer, many kids spending their time in the lake with friends? What an interesting experience for me. Take a train ride back from the lake, with many kids. LOL.

Nothing much happened in the train. I get on the right train and car. Then, I switched to local subway to the station near my hotel. After arriving in last train station, my next destination was DM!!! I was very excited to shop. I took a basket and I opened my phone. I look at screen shots that I saved in 'Munich' folder. There are skincare, perfume, snack, and household needs. Hahaha. Something like detergent for black or white cloths, wipes for sink, etc etc. The skincare I bought were mostly Balea. Balea is cheap and has distinct purpose. For example, there are retinol series, exfoliation series, zinc series, hydration series, etc. I also bought deocreme from Balea. I boycott my go-to deodorant and have been using "tawas". But I want to try something new, so I bought deocreme. While shopping, I opened my gallery to search for what products I want to buy and a calculator! I calculated all stuffs that I took. I couldn't overspent. After spending some times, hardly decided what to buy and not to buy, I finally went to the cashier. I calculated it won't go over 50 euro and I was right! After a fulfilling activity in DM, I went to the next store, REWE supermarket.

I captured some muslim-friendly snacks in Rewe supermarket from Instagram reels. I searched for them and found two out of three. I bought two each then went home. After this, I realized that I need to buy chocolate but had not conducted research about it.

So, finally I arrived at my room. No more drama entering the hotel room. I think it was approximately 6 p.m., but since it is summer, the sky was still as bright as my day. So, let's do the laundry!

In the morning I had asked the receptionist whether there is washing machine or laundry service or not, and the answer for both is no. But, I had saved a laundromat near the hotel. I packed my used clothes, and it was quite a lot. Yeah, I must do the laundry no matter what. I couldn't wash these in hotel and let them dry in my room. It will take forever. I weighted my laundry and I think it was around 3 kg. Not so heavy to be honest.

I walked and arrived at the laundromat. There were quite many people, and almost all machines were occupied. Since I did not know how to do the laundry, first I observed a group of Indian (?) men do their laundry. After they finished, it's my turn. I tried to be as calm as possible and not get panicked. For washing service, the price is 5.9 or 4.9 euro. Nah, I forgot the exact amount. And it has included the detergent and softener. This! I made a mistake here. After paying for washing machine, I put my clothes and then I grabbed the detergent and poured them on top of my clothes. I closed the door and pressed start button. Then, I waited for 30 minutes. While waiting, I observed other people did their laundry. This is it. I saw a man did a laundry. He put his clothes and closed the door. He poured the detergent ABOVE the washing machine and next, poured the softener. Oh my God. So, there were a dedicated placed to pour the detergent and softener. I ended up washing my clothes without the softener. The first thing that I did after 30 minutes was sniffing my clothes to check were they smell good enough. Luckily, they smelled nothing. No fragrance, but also did not smell bad. Now, I need to do the drying part. I forgot the price. The drying machine price was based on duration. For every 30 minutes, it was either 0.5 or 1.5 euro. With coins that I had, I only could drying for 30 minutes. I spent 6.4 euro for the whole laundry process. But I forgot the exact price for washing and drying. After finishing my laundry, I went home again. It is still bright, maybe around 8 p.m.

Lesson learned: How to do a laundry in Munich.

At hotel, I folded my laundry and had dinner. I think I ate cup noodles. And I slept. I think I slept before midnight. It was a fun, fulfilling, and relaxing day!

Third day.

We have arrived to the main reason why I am here. An ESMO Conference for gastrointestinal cancer. Currently, I worked in a colorectal cancer project, so I submitted an abstract and gratefully could attend this conference on site.

Again, I did not prepare much before going to the conference. For the beginning, I was holding onto the fact that registration start at 9 and poster hanging start at 10. I had quite relax but tight morning. I cooked instant rice for lunch, because in the website it is written 'paid lunch'. Nah, I don't want to spend money for lunch. I made rice balls with rice, seaweed flakes, and spicy peanut sauce called bumbu pecel. I cooked 2 sachets of instant rice and apparently, it was enough for breakfast and lunch. I went to conference venue after finishing my breakfast.

I walked to the train station, it is different from the train station before. The train station is underground, and it is RED. Oh, I need to buy a ticket first. My supervisor once said that the conference often gives us free tickets for public transportation during conference dates. Thus, I only bought a single ticket. I was little confused since the price was expensive. Did I make a mistake while choosing the ticket from the machine? It costed 4.2 euro. Is it supposed to be 2 euro??? I still don't know.

From the train station to the conference venue, they were very clear signages. I arrived at the venue around 8.30 and there was NO ONE. Yeah, not exactly no one, but VERY QUIET. Only several committee staff. I was quite puzzled, so I just decided to sat near the entrance. The registration desk to print our badge was operated by machine. So, no one there. After some times, I saw a person entering the registration area. So, I followed him. I printed by badge, but I confused how to fold it. At the same time, a staff approached and helped me. Okay, I had my badge. Now, what?

The venue was still as quiet as before. I entered the hall and again, decided to sit at secluded places. There were some times before I could finally hang my poster. I used this free time to check the conference schedules and marked which sessions I want to attend. This is when I realized my mistake. THE VERY FIRST SESSION IS STARTING AT 11.30. Oh my God. Why did I arrive at 8.30 when the first session is at 11.30. No wonder it was very quiet. The event even did not started yet. Cry out loud.

So yeah, while waiting for my time to hang the poster, which is 10 a.m, I studied conference schedules. After that, I did research about chocolate. I found that Ritter sport is cheaper than Lindt. Then, I searched for halal Ritter sport and found a list of halal (I don't know if it is officially halal or not, but it quite convincing. And I also confirmed it with Mustakshif app) Ritter sport flavors. After that, I checked Ritter sport Indonesia Instagram because I don't want to buy Ritter sport flavor that you can find in Indonesia. After gathering those information, it was getting near to 10 a.m. I decided to just go to the poster hall.

In the poster hall, a staff approached and helped me to find my spot. Again, it was very quiet. The poster boards were mostly still blank. I took my time hanging my poster myself and it was finished in no time. Nah, what am I gonna to do now.

I left the poster hall and found seating spots with table in front of the hall. I sat in an empty table. Some tables were occupied, and all of them had their laptop. Ugh, I did not bring my laptop. I just studied my poster, because I did not study at all before, using my phone. I also ate my lunch because I didn't know what to do. I almost finished my lunch, but left some rice balls. I continued studying my poster.

Then, a person came to my table and asked whether he can sit. We ended up talking until 11.30. He is from Nigeria and a lecturer in University of Hertfordshire, UK. He is a biologist, originally focus on snake bite, but then took Master degree on public health and now a part-time PhD, I guess, at molecular immunology (?). He works on colorectal cancer. We both work at colorectal cancer. His topic is molecular and mine is about colorectal cancer screening and risk stratification. We parted as we chose different sessions at 11.30.

Little did I know that this very first symposium session is a lunch symposium. So, when we left the room, there were lunch packages prepared for us. Mistake number 2, not knowing there was free lunch. I grabbed the lunch package. I chose the falafel one, because the other one had chicken or turkey. It is quite doubtful, so the safest choice will be falafel with humus. The lunch package came with a falafel with humus wrap, a mineral water, a snack bar, and an apple. I ate the wrap and it made me full. I saved the apple for my tomorrow breakfast and the snack bar for emergency food. Hahaha. At the snack bar, there were some sweets. I grabbed a blueberry pie and it was SO GOOD. I REGRETED i only ate one. The berry pie was never served again. Crying out loud.

After the first session, I finally met my supervisor. She just arrived at the conference because she had an online meeting before. Then, we attended more sessions together. At break time, my supervisor and I grabbed some drinks, latte for me and ginger tea for her. And this is where it went wrong. After drinking a cup of latte, I got stomachache! Oh my God. I drink latte frequently. Why I got stomachache. Why now?! I had plan to go to the English garden today. But I was not sure I can go.

I was very very very cautious during this trip. I didn't go all out. Maybe because it is my first time in Europe and I almost like solo traveler. I booked a different hotel with my supervisor. So, I always chose the safest choice, going back to the hotel. Actually it was very strange, because the sky was still bright until 9.30. I always went back to the hotel when the sky was still bright. I never stayed out until it gets dark. But it was also because shops, cafes, and restaurants close early. Around 6, 7, or the latest is 8 p.m. What can I do if shops and cafes are close?? And also, the price. Cafes and restaurants, no doubt, expensive as hell for Indonesian people like me. Food will cost 10 euro, a cup of coffee maybe 6 or 7 euro at minimum. And after getting stomachache from latte, do you think I still want a cup of coffee? Definitely not. I want to add one thing. Because the sky is still bright until 9 p.m, I always had a LATE dinner. I had dinner around 8, which is quite early, or 9... Sad...

So, this third day also ended early. I sent a message to the lecturer I had met before, because in the morning he asked what my plan in the evening and asked if he can join. I told that I will go home because I had stomachache. We walked together and parted in the train station. Ah, I forgot to mention my next mistake. The conference didn't give us free public transportation ticket! SAD. I did quick calculation before, I decided to buy 1-week ticket. It costs 23.8 euro and I can use it for the rest of my stay in Munich. It is cheaper than buying 1-day ticket that costs 10 euro because I still need to buy a single ticket for going home now, additional 2 euro. If I buy 1-day ticket, it costs 22 euro, at a very minimum. Yeah, so I decided to go with 1-week ticket.

Lessons learned: Always check the conference schedule first. Conference provided free lunch. Conference did not provide free public transportation ticket.

Oh, I nearly forgot. As I walked from the conference venue to the train station, my stomach got better. I think the stomachache had completely disappeared. So, am I just need a fresh air? LOL. But then, I still chose the safest options, going home.

But I didn't going straight to my hotel. Remember my research on Ritter sport? It's time to shopping! I searched for the nearest REWE along the route from train station to my hotel and found one. But sadly, I only found one Ritter sport flavor that I want to buy. It is honey salt almond. So, I just bought 5 of them. After that, I went to another supermarket, Kaufland. I searched for Ritter sport, and..... The results were exactly the same. The available flavor, from my own list, was only honey salt almond. I got confused and was not sure what to do. I just walked aimlessly. Nah, I couldn't walk aimlessly like this. I was like a lost person. Before actually getting lost inside the supermarket, I decided to grab 2 honey salt almond chocolate and went to cashier, paid, and actually went home. I think it was not so early because Kaufland was about to close, which is 8 p.m. See? And I had not have my dinner.

After arrived at my room, I quickly grabbed a cup noodle and made it. I had a cup noodle for dinner while waiting for the sunset from my hotel window. Quite romantic right? And it was beautiful.

Oh, and I missed the receptionist from Egypt. I never see him again. He always greeted and offered some help. "What do you need, Madam? Just ask". I think confusion was all written on my face but I said nothing. So he told me to just ask my questions, instead of being confused. LOL.

Lessons learned: Just ask. Don't keep it.

I still has forth, fifth, and sixth day. I will come back with Part 3. Soon.