1. Advent: Feuerzangenowlezeit

Erich's sausage kiosk is ready for Christmas celebrations

Santa Erich has arrived in his sledge and Rudi is parked in the multi storey car park
And since it's wintertime, it's time for a hot glass of "Feuerzangenbowle" to warm up your body, a tradition at Erich's every 1. Advent

Santa Erich and his elves

Only four more Sundays to Christmas

With the newly openend Malls on Orchard Road there is more competition in who's got the best Christmas decoration.
The following photo were taken by "TheChef", a very talented photographer, all shot hand held(!!) and the results are stunning. Thank you for allowing us to use these fantastic shots.
Ion@Orchard

5 Years of Wuerstelstand celebration

Some of the regular, most faithful customers and good friends came to celebrate Erich's 5th anniversary on November 1st!

MOHAMED ANUAR is the winner for 2009 Subaru challenge

The challenge is over for this year. All hands are off the cars. After cruelling days and nights one man was left standing, actually 2. I was the first time that the winner was announced with the runner up still having his hands on his refusing to admit that he had fouled out.

HAPPY 5TH ANNIVERSAY

It's the 5th year and Erich ('s Wuerstelstand) is still alive!

Unbelievable 5 Halloweens Erich's friends of the darkness have been flocking to this haunted shed he calls Wuerstelstand and listened to his misterious stories from the dark side! Only masochists or creatures of the night have enough resistance to survive this torture! LOL

Click the photo to enlarge

Congratulations Erich and Helen! May you survive many more halloweens in this dark environment!

Happy anniversary!!

It's Palm Down Time Again- Day 4

Like Christmas the Subaru Impreza challenge comes around towards the end of a year.
The Challenge is back and will see once again Singaporeans pitting their endurance and tolerance levels against contenders from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, China, Taiwan and Indonesia!

400 contestants started to battle it out and the last one standing will take home the ultimate prize of a Subaru Impreza WRX Sedan 2.5MT worth $81,000 (without COE).

4 days rain and shine have passed and in the morning of the 4th day 8 contestants are still standing.

Can they brake last years record, 81 hours and 32 minutes, by Singaporean George Lee?

Happy National Day Austria

Today Austria is celebrating its „everlasting neutrality“ which was decided by the Austrian government on 26. October 1955.
It has been the national holiday day since 26. Oktober 1965 and a public holiday since 1967.

Most national days worldwide are related to historical events from the 20 th century. On the one hand that idea of a nation is not very old (ca. End of 18. Century ) on the other hand 2 world wars, the end of colonial supremacy and the fall of the Eastern bloc made arise new states.

One of the oldest national days is celebrated in Switzerland which celebrates the founding of their “Eidgenossenschaft“ on August 1. of 1291!
Their newly founded independence (with just few anniversaries) is celebrated by some Austrian neighbors , the Eastern European countries withe „youngest“ being Kosovo, on February 17. 2008. Slowenia is celebrating since June 25, 1991, as well as Croatia. Bosnia- Herzegowina celebrates March 1 as their day of independence since 1992.
Slovakia honors on January 1, the 1993 performed separation from Czechia. The Czechs however kept their original day of founding Czechoslovacia (October 28. 1918) despite their brake up.
Germans raise their glasses on October 3 the "Tag der Deutschen Einheit" (day of German unity) which is only 19 years old.
The Brits are most flexible: They celebrate the Queens birthday always on the 2. Saturday in June –due to the weather- although Queen Elizabeth II. was born on April 21. The Irish "St. Patricks Day" March 17 honors the obit of the national saint, St. Patrick.
July 4. the "Declaration of Independence" in 1776 is the National Day in the USA.

"Speak proper Singlish" (A new Government campaign)

After months of thorough auditioning the government announced that Ris Low (Miss Singapore 2009) and Puah Chu Kang ( No.1 Singapore contractor) will be the spokespersons for their newly launched campaign: "Speak proper Singlish"

Here's the first interview introducing the celebrities:

If you have trouble understanding, press the replay button and give it another try! ......and yes, you did hear words that sounded like English.

HAPPY DEEPAVALI

Little India has been beautifully decorated for Deepavali since a couple weeks. Come Saturday the celebrations will peak and all the roads and lanes will be even more packed than usual.
Diwali is celebrated on the first day of the lunar Kartika month, which comes in the month of October or November.
Diwali, or Deepavali, (also called Tihar and Swanti in Nepal) is a major Indian and Nepalese festival, and a significant festival in Hinduism, Sikhism and Jainism. Many legends are associated with Diwali. Today it is celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs across the globe as the “Festival of Light” or “Celebration of Light” where the lights or lamps signify victory of good over evil within every human being. The festival is also celebrated by Buddhists of Nepal, particularly the Newar Buddhists.
According to one theory Diwali may have originated as a harvest festival, marking the last harvest of the year before winter. In an agrarian society this results in businessmen closing accounts, and beginning a new accounting year. The Goddess Lakshmi (the Goddess of wealth in Hinduism) thanked and worshipped on this day and everyone prays for a good and prosperous year ahead. This is the common factor in Diwali celebrations all over the Indian subcontinent.

The festival marks the victory of good over evil, and uplifting of spiritual darkness. Symbolically it marks the homecoming of goodwill and faith after an absence, as suggested by the Ramayana.
On the day of Diwali, many wear new clothes and share sweets and snacks. Some North Indian business communities start their financial year on Diwali and new account books are opened on this day.

Guess what: Singapore Girls don't want sex!!!

When girls engage in sexual activities with the opposite sex, it's more out of obligation than anything else, to maintain the relationship. But for the boys, (of course) it's because they want to do it," Mr Md Yusof Ismail, chief executive officer of Ain Society told MediaCorp.

Ya right, the boys want it but the girls don't! But only in Singapore I guess, not in the rest of the world!! Just blame it on the boys.

But that's not all. A survey done by contraceptive maker Durex found out that more than half of those aged 16 to 24 and 35 to 44 said they would like to have received more information on "emotional aspects of sex" as love, respect and the shared enjoyment of giving pleasure to one's partner.

Many of the people interviewed said these aspects were not covered during sex education in schools. Only 12 per cent of the 1,021 Singapore respondents claimed they were taught these aspects of sexual learning.
Do people need a manual "How to?" or "Emotion, love and feelings for dummies" Can this actually be taught?

Oh ya maybe get a certificate or even graduate from this program with a degree!

Guess you can tell how shocked I am about that very sad state of Singapore's young adults.

One last remark. I had a great upbringing, I witnessed the emotion, the love, the caring my parents had for each other. The openly showed it.
However I hardly have seen this with Singapore's families. Not many parents do show emotions, probably because they can't make money of it, so no point!
Maybe that's why kids need to learn it in school!

What a sad world we live in nowadays.

Singapore The City Of Firsts

Singapore, as a city of firsts, hosted the world's first F1 night race last year and is still the host city of the only F1 night race, making it one of the most exciting races in the season.
The race is complemented by the 10-day Singapore GP Season, offering lifestyle and entertainment experiences including all-night parties, art exhibitions, great Asian cuisine and retail promotions.

The F1 championship has entered its final stages where there is only 4 races left to go and things are really hotting up at the top of the Championship table.
But not only the race track will be hot. For the first time "F1 Rocks™" will fuse the world's most popular annual sporting series with the most iconic and hot music stars to create an unrivalled experience for F1 and music fans alike. "F1 ROCKS Singapore with LG" spans three days from September 24th-26th, adding to the uniquem F1 night-time grand prix weekend.

Thursday September 24th: Jacky Cheung - A Mei - Da Mouth

Friday September 25th: ZZ-Top - No Doubt - N*E*R*D


Saturday September 26th - Beyonce - Black Eyed Peas

It can't get any hotter

Since last weekend a lot of activities are already happening. Strolling along Orchard Road you already can feel the tension and excitement. Many stalls are set up with F1 merchandise items and here and there you're able to spot first fans dressed up in their favorite teams colors.

Traditional and Fusion (modern) Mooncakes

Mooncakes are Chinese pastries traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The festival is for lunar worship and moon watching; moon cakes are regarded as an indispensable delicacy on this occasion.

Mooncakes are offered between friends or on family gatherings while celebrating the festival, one of the three most important Chinese festivals.

Typical mooncakes are round or rectangular pastries, measuring about 10 cm in diameter and 4-5 cm thick. A thick filling usually made from lotus seed paste is surrounded by a relatively thin (2-3 mm) crust and may contain yolks from salted duck eggs.

Mooncakes are rich, heavy, and dense compared with most Western cakes and pastries. They are usually eaten in small wedges accompanied by Chinese tea.
Nowadays many hotel create a variety of "modern" mooncakes which come in many colors and fillings:
White Lotus Paste, Green Tea Lotus Paste, Pandan Lotus Paste

even Durian Paste
very colorful

Still our favorites are the ones from Raffles Hotel with fillings such as:Champagne-Truffles & Chocolate Ganache, Feulletine-Hazelnut with Wafer Crunch Nuts, Baileys Chocolate and Rum & Raisin Chocolate Truffle
Mooncakes with white skin are called Snow - Skin Mooncakes and are really delcious!!

Impressions from the Mid Autumn Festival

Beautifully decorated Eu Tong Sen Street

The Festival takes place in the Chinese Garden and Chinatown in Singapore.

Stalls selling all kind of lanterns

Singapore's largest recycled lantern, 5.3m tall, made from 6,000 used mineral water bottles and 2,000 compact discs.

Sweet pomelos
There are also other forms of cultural shows and performances singers, Chinese instrumentalists and others add to the excitement of the Mooncake festival. A huge crowd listening to stage performances in chinatown

This cute little girl is an excellent singer and of course loved by the people

and items such as traditional paper lanterns, decorations and other souvenirs


Erich is very busy every night

but there is always time for a chatt with his regulars

The mid autumn festival is on till October 3

It's Pomelo Time!

It's party time!
Finally the "gates of hell" are closed for another year and we're celebrating the mid autumn or lantern festival.

Lanterns are usually the highlight of this festival for the kids.
And the highlight for adults? You guessed right: It's gotta be food!!

Pomelo stalls are all over Chinatown..... ...and even Erich's Backstube for the first time is selling a local delicacy tied up to this festival: MOON CAKES!
You can buy them at his Backstube-Kiosk close to the Wuerstelstand.
To cater for the expected huge crowd Erich even increased the space of his stall.

It was Chocolate last year this year it's all Bread!

Maybe you remember last year's race car made of 90kg chocolate by the Chefs of Royal Paza on Scott's.

This year it's "Asia's First and Largest Life-sized Bread Race Car!"

The Culinary Executive Chef led a team of 6 chefs, 2 artists, 2 technicians, 2 culinary staff and 5 young volunteers from Metta Welfare Association to create this unique bread race car in support of Community Chest Singapore.
These are the 22 different breads used for the car:

Hard Roll-Curry Roll-Onion Roll-Ceral Rolls- Dark Sour Rye Bread- Country Bread- Soya Bread- French Baguette- Wholemeal Baguette- Sesame Kaiser Roll- Laugen Snadwich- Focaccia Bun- Rustico Baguette- Farmer Bread- Squid Ink Focaccia Bread- Swiss Farmer Bread- Soft Bun- Chinese Bun- Milano Grain- Ciabatta Bread, Honey Milk Bread,- Potato Bread
The team spent S$15,000 and took 549 hours to assemble the life-sized race car. They used a total of 15 kg of yeast, 14 litres of water, 2 kg of salt and 10800 ml of food varnish! The completed car is made up of 1,000 loaves!
Squid Ink Focaccia Bread was used for the tyres.


BREAD TORQUE! is raising funds for Metta School under the care of Community Chest. You can participate in doing a good deed through:
1) Purchasing the scale-model chocolate race cars, made of fine edible chocolate at Gourmet Carousel at S$29.90 each. Freshly-baked cookies, Turbo Choc Chip (Inside-out chocolate chip flavour) and Hot Wheels (Walnut flavour), are also available at S$2.80 each. S$5 from each sale of the scale-model chocolate race cars and S$1 from each sale of the cookies will be contributed to Metta School.
2) Purchasing a S$5 lucky draw ticket to take part in a charity drive for Metta School. There will be a draw on Wednesday, 23 September 2009, to pick the winner for the grand prize of a one-night stay in a newly-renovated Premiere Business Suite at RP, with breakfast for two, on Singapore Grand Prix weekend (26 – 27 September 2009) and a pair of walkabout 3-day pass for Singapore Grand Prix 2009, worth S$2,300. 3) Enjoying a sumptuous dinner at Gourmet Carousel as the hotel will donate S$2 for every adult dinner cover from 22 August to 19 September 2009.

Or you just go to view this amazing bread race car at "Royal Plaza On Scotts" lobby till 27 September 2009.

More photos at this Flickr photoset here.

Another Interview for Erich

German Radio ARD came the other day to record an interview with Erich and some of his customers.

Customers love Erich's bread

After some modifications in the Backstube, Erich's much appreciated, famous bread is back.

Semmeln, Onion Bun and Bretzeln are back, the dark bread is soon to come as well.

You can buy the bread at his Backstube which opens at 10 am every day. Kiosk Nr. 7 is located just two stalls next to the sausage kiosk.

Kaesekrainer, Currywurst, Leberkaese and sides daily from 3 pm at the sausage kiosk.

You Don't believe in Hungry Ghosts?

Neither did I. But during the "Hungry Ghost Month" tour I learned that sometimes when you take photos in this month there might be more on the photo than you'd expect. They say you might spot a ghost on your photo!

.....and true enough it happened to me as well. So better never play, play.........

This hungry ghost can even be spotted the year round at Erich's and man he loves the sausages.
Conclusion even ghosts like Erich's sausages!!........ just kidding!!

The F1 Night Race is about to come!

The city is getting ready for the biggest event of the year. Everyone is getting ready for the teams and visitors to "flood" the town. So far it seems less tickets will be sold, but the same happened to other races this year a well. Last year Singapore had 100,000 spectators, this year they expect about 80.000, which is not too bad.

In this economic situation many organisations don't dare to invite their important customers although they need to be convinced to support these companies again. To show the appreciation of their business these people want to be entertained...

The lights are up since a few weeks and the last fences are in the works. Most of the grand stands are ready to seat the F1 fans.
Where now drivers are frustrated waiting in traffic jams to crawl to their destinations, soon race cars will zoom by with 300 kmh.
More experienced since last years successful race, the set up was accomplished more quickly: Singapore is ready for the race!

Hungry Ghost Festival

The Ghost Festival is on the 14th night of the seventh lunar month. In Chinese tradition the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the Underworld. During the Festival the living descendants pay homage to their ancestors and on Ghost Day, the deceased visit the living.

San Qing: are the highest deities in the Taoist Pantheon. The entire manifested universe is ruled by three original forces, the Three Pure Ones:

The Jade Purity, The Yuanshi Tianzhun, also known as "The Universally Honoured One of Origin", or "The Universal Lord of the Primordial Beginning"

The Supreme Pure One, also known as "The Universally Honoured One of Divinities and Treasures", or "The Universal Lord of the Numinous Treasure"

The Grand Pure One, also known as "The Universally Honoured One of Tao and Virtues or "The Universal Lord of the Way and its Virtue" or "The Grand Supreme Elder Lord"
"The Supreme Commander of the "Thunder Agency". The belief of the Thunder Deity originated from worshipping of nature since ancient times. People felt that heavens must be angry thus venting the anger with lightning and thunder. Taoists belief that the Thunder Deity is a formidable deity who is upright and righteous.

There are many Thunder Deities and the "Heavenly Lord of Universal Transformation Whose Voice of Thunder Resonates with the Origin of the Nine Heavens" is the overall commander of all the 36 Supreme Commanders in the "Thunder Agency".
Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense and burning joss paper paper-mache form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors.
Elaborate meals would be served with empty seats for each of the deceased in the family treating the deceased as if they are still living.
An array of foods being offered to the deceased

The priest will strike the bell to call back the souls, other monks singing chimes of incantations.

Guan Yin is an extremely popular Goddess in Chinese folk belief and is worshipped throughout East and South East Asia. Guna Yin is revered due to her unconditional love, compassion and mercy. She is generally regarded as the protector of women and children, a fertility goddess capable of granting children, seen as the champion of the unfortunate, the sick, the disabled, the poor, and those in trouble.

The Eight Immortals are a group of legendary immortals in Chinese mythology. They are popularly known for the legend of "the Eight Immortals cross the sea, each reveals its divine powers", where they were going to the Conference of Magical Peach and encountered an ocean.

Food and drink will be offered at night outside the gates of houses. This is so that the ghosts do not enter their houses and cause trouble.

Lanterns are lit to help guide the ghosts to the feasts set out for them.

To make sure that these souls stay out of trouble, entertainment is set up round the clock, and Chinese operas or Getai is performed on outdoor stages.

A Getai (literally song stage) is a boisterous live stage performance commonly held in Singapore & Malaysia, in contrast to the generally solemn mood of the festival. The stage setup is usually composed of temporary structures and situated in the suburbs of the city in any empty field or even in car parking spaces or housing estate.
The backdrop of the stage is made of cardboard and clothes painted in bright colours. Spotlights bright colours, like, red, blue, pink and yellow illuminate the stage.
The younger folks in Singapore normally relate to a Getai as kitsch, as the performers sing and talk often in Hokkien, a dialect they label as crude and passe. The older people however enjoy watching a Getai, dance and sing along to the staple songs.

The event is meant to be performed to the spirits and also the people alike during the seventh month. The performers don loud and glittery clothing, and the compere spouts crude jokes all in the name of fun.
For the older folks from the surrounding neighbourhoods these performances are most welcome because it means a free evening of entertainment.

Incense are burnt in front of the door of each household. The more incense, the better, for the amount of incense stands for the degree of prosperity. In some places, people flow water lanterns. Such lanterns are made by setting a lotus flower-shaped lantern on a piece of board. According to the Chinese tradition, the lanterns are used to direct the ghosts. Ghosts find their way back when the lanterns are out.