The next day it is time to hit the mats for the seminar, and I work on Arm Bars, Hook Punch Defence and Dan Bong to the delight of the local students. I also get the chance to tick off my first country for CGN Fabian’s challenge. Hello to the Hapki Combat Lederhosen, something I am not sure will catch on.

HAPKI COMBAT LEDERHOSEN

Day 2 on the mats in Austria and Kick Defence is the focus, then onto defence from attacks from behind and as a special extra I wrap up the day with an introduction to Turbo Topics which is very well received. It was a good couple of days and plans are already underway to return next trip. I have told GM Perry that if he ever finds his way down under he is welcome to spend some time with us. Monday is a free day and we enjoy a leisurely morning catching up with e-mails, then heading into town for another schnitzel. For a snack afterwards we visit an original bakery established in the 1500’s. A good coffee, lots of laughs and the Austrian snack round up the sight seeing. After that we head back to the Dojang where I spend a couple of hours working with GM Perry on some of our Advanced Dan Bong, Sword and Reversal Techniques. On our driving around I notice a logo becoming more familiar in Aus, Aldi is a German chain that bought out Hofer, but the change in names didn’t work here, so they have the Aldi logo with the Hofer name to keep the locals happy…

Established in 1569

Familiar logo, strange name

*Side Note* Austrians are a pleasant group, for example when one leaves a restaurant or café, they say goodbye to the entire place, with most inside responding politely. They also switch to English when it is apparent you don’t understand German and are in general helpful. Overall you get the idea that most are happy to live here.

Onto Flight #2 Bangkok to Frankfurt with Thai Airways, this time on the Airbus flagship the A380. It truly is a giant aircraft and amazingly quiet in comparison to the 747. The flight goes well and I land in Frankfurt just after 5am, clear the minimal customs – queue raised customs eyebrow on my almost full passport – before heading to the Lufthansa lounge to grab a shower and coffee. I was lucky and the guy at the lounge entrance saw my Flyer status so he sent me to the better First Class/Gold Level lounge. Refreshed I head to my next flight this time on the smaller 737 with Lufthansa as we take the short hop into Graz, Austria where I am met by GM Perry Zmugg.

LUFTHANSA ARE NICE TO THINK OF A COFFEE AND SOMETHING TO READ IN ALMOST EVERY LANGUAGE AT EACH DEPARTURE AREA

It is good to catch up with GM Perry (Sin Moo 9th Degree) and we head into Graz, first stop a Bio Organic market to pick up some Vegetables, Breads, Cheeses, etc. It is a perfectly clear day, and at 10 degrees warm in the sun. After the shopping we head into the centre to take a walk around, grab a schnitzel for lunch and revisit the Schlossberg (The fort on the hill in the centre of town). We catch up over a coffee on the top of the Schlossberg and then meet up with his kids for dinner at their favourite Chinese restaurant.

Bio Organic Market, Euro style.

There is a plate under that schnitzel

The Eagle at the Local Chinese restaurant

Check out the next post for the seminars.

Onto Flight #1 Sydney to Bangkok with Thai Airways. The 747’s are getting old with a lot of them now 40ish, they are truly one of the most dependable work horses of the skies even if they are currently being replaced with newer 2 engine jets for less noise, less fuel and more safety. Still Thai airways do a good job with their inflight service and I expect to be able to while away the 9 hours putting together the outline for the world tour trip report, the maps and miscellaneous stuff. I also have been put a challenge by CGN Fabian where he will do 500 burpies if I succeed. Challenge accepted, a picture of me wearing some country specific clothing in each country I teach Hapkido. I am lucky the open seat next to me stays that way so that gives me more room to stretch out for the flight. Arrival into Bangkok is smooth and I get the shuttle for my hotel into the city. The next couple of days are open, so I work on the maps and other world tour prep I can do, enjoy a few nice meals and enjoy some downtime. I returned to one particular restaurant where I think they thought I was a Critic from last time, and the chef not only cooked me a special menu (talk about stuffed), I got a special desert. Apart from that meal, I also enjoyed visiting the new Robuchon location that opened recently in Bangkok, I normally enjoy the location in Vegas each trip. After chatting with staff, I get a card from one of the senior guys who is actually just visiting for quality control and get told to show it to the one in London for a treat…

Fine Dining at Robuchon Bangkok

Fine Dining at Robuchon Bangkok

That’s about 80 Aus Cents to cross the road

Nice of them to have a special seat for a Hapkidoist and his Cane

“The traveller sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see. ~ G.K. Chesterton”

When it comes to World Tours the year in between does seem to do some magic form of time reduction. I have only just finished the counselling from the last trip, and now I get to lap our wonderful globe yet again. Yes it is time for the 2015 World Tour; first stop the land of Smiles (Thailand), simply to break up the long haul into the Euro Zone. So its an early morning jaunt down the highway in the awesome Thrifty mobile, actually they normally sting me with an old clapper, this time I have a newish Nissan Pulsar so its a comfortable trip. I am not sure if I am getting better at this traveling but not only do my bags seem noticeably light, the packing came together rather too smoothly. Let me qualify that a little, its not the clothing or toiletries that is the challenge, its the DVDs, Dan Bongs, Black Belts, Certificates, Passports and ancillary items that the International family seek. It is easy enough to buy another Toothbrush, but to have an embroidered Black Belt for that student testing for X degree.. You get the idea. Hello airport, a quick drop of the car and up to check in, that goes smoothly, I manage to get a seat with no one next to me which always makes for a smoother flight, and I am off to customs to be scanned. If you have flown internationally in the last year or two you will know that they have smart gates that work off your chipped passport, they are currently trialling the same system for departures as well, just not in Sydney this time. Formalities done, I take the 2 km walk to the lounge, they really need to finish this entrance, its close for Qantas but a trek for Star Alliance flights. The Air NZ lounge is undergoing major renovations (since Nov 14) and is due to open in a couple of months so I get to enjoy the Singapore Airlines lounge. The lounge has space for probably 100 and there are 5 of us in there, lots of room.