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In case of doubt - always do it!

One day you will probably be old and spend most of your time sitting in a chair and not doing much.
Until then, gather experiences to think back to and smile!

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Happy New Year!

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Happy New Year 2010!

I hope that everyone is having a great Hanukkah and Christmas season and I wish you a Happy New Year 2010!

My 2009 was a year of change and surprise. What was set has vanished, and what was unattainable became reality. Much has been lost, and even more has been found. End whenever there was doubt - action, not inactivity, was the right answer.

I wish you a warm, joyful, and successful New Year 2010! It will be the last year of the first decade of the new millennium. Things that have been started will be finished, and new amazing things will begin. It will be a year of new success and a year of love. And I wish, it will be a year of reunion with old friends.

Happy New Year!

Images: 
Happy New Year 2010!
Happy New Year 2010!
С Новым 2010 Годом!
Glückliches Neues Jahr 2010!
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Leave me a message!

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This post acts as a message board.
If you would like to leave an open message for me, just post a comment!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Half-Marathon (Melbourne Marathon 2009)

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In case of doubt - always do it; and although I did not have any serious doubt, I did it. Beating all of my personal competitors I have completed a half-marathon! This will stay with me for life.

If you want to know more about the pain and the gain, the experience of agony and of joy I endowed myself with by successfully completing this race, then read on.

Images: 
Arun and me before the race
During the race - going for it!
During the race - the agony is apparent
End spurt
Just before the finish line - Yeeaar!
Yanir, Arun and Julie after the race
Yanir, Arun, Julie and me after the race
Me after the race - I rule !))
Julie aftre the race
Me and Julie after the race
Yanir and me after the race
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Amsterdam

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They say I was in Amsterdam, and for a change I still remember. I knew I would have a stopover here on the way from Madeira back to Oz, but I neglected to realise that it was quite a long one. Only having arrived at the Schiphol airport I realised that there was plenty of time to dump my carry-on luggage into a storage locker and to take the train to the city for a few hours.

Images: 
Amsterdam Central Station
Amsterdam - Street impressions (1)
Amsterdam - Street impressions (2)
Amsterdam - Street impressions (3)
Amsterdam - Lots of Coffeeshops as usual
Amazing street artist performance
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Tivoli Hotel Madeira: Huge Disappointment!

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I'd like to briefly report about the bad experience of staying in the Tivoli resort hotel in Funchal (Madeira) and why I recommend to avoid that place at all costs.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Madeira / ICEC'09

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I went to Madeira to attend the ICEC'09 conference (International Conference on Evolutionary Computation) where I presented my and Suzanne's work on Dual Phase Evolution. The presentation went extremely well and there were some interesting questions during the following discussion.

Images: 
Already in the airport baggage claim hall - Russian money is welcome on Madeira
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Stuttgart

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I had a stopover here on the way from Moscow back to Hamburg. For Fabian’s benefit I must say - it's a cute little city. It's got a typical West German downtown with a shopping district. There is giant Mercedes Benz skyscraper that dominates the otherwise unimpressive skyline. The atmosphere was very nice; I went to the city centre, got a kebab and an ice cream, went for a short stroll. Certainly, there would have been more nice things to do in Stuttgart, but I would not have known what they are, so I was on my way back to the airport within a couple of hours.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Moscow

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One question I have been asked many times during the week in Moscow was - "why did you not come earlier?". And looking back at the last 15 years of foolishly avoiding Russia I must say - I really do not know. In either case - I am very glad to have finally corrected the mistake.

Images: 
Lomonosov State University
Me and Vera
Me and Luba
Me and Lenin
Want a nice car? - Go to Moscow!
Me and Grandma
Backyard view from my childhood flat
Me and the King Bell (Tsar Bell)
Me at Kremlin
Me and Kostya
A cute cafe on the Old Arbat street
Katy, me and Anna
Moscow Undeground (2 of 3)
Moscow Undeground (2 of 3)
Moscow Undeground (3 of 3)
Moscow financial city
Gasprom and the White House
Me at the St Basil Cathedral
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Hamburg

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Since I first moved away from Hamburg many years ago, there was not a single time when it did not feel warm around my heart when I stepped out of the Hamburg airport terminal building onto the street. Whether I came for 2 days or for one and a half years, it always felt right to be there.

This time I came for 6 days and then again for 3 days a week later.

Images: 
Hamburg Port from Plane
Hamburg City from Plane
Florian, Nam and me
Dima and me after a big night out
Lena, Kirill and me after a big night out
Dennis and Caspar
Ann-Kristin
View towards Hamburg Hafen City
Landungsbrücken
In the Planten Un Blomen park
Fil and me
Katya and Sasha
Randomly dicovered fridge contents at a friend's place
Dad
Mum, Masha and Andy
Radar Tower at the Old Elbe Tunnel
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Budapest / ECAL'09

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Down in the old town centre lights shimmered busily. The wind mixed the buzz of the city, the hooting of cars, and the occasional laughter and shouting into a jolly babble and carried it up the Castle Hill, across the park, and up to the walls of the palace. Around, a few groups of people, strolling, many with wine glasses, chatting, smiling, enjoyed the warm Indian summer night and the views across the Danube onto the city of Pest. The giant cornice above the tunnel that lead through the Castle Hill and connected Buda's alleys directly to the Chain Bridge shimmered in a magical silver tone created by the fool moon that shined through the trees. The cornice was a traditional meeting place for couples, and on this night several of them sat and stood along the cornice edge and further up between the trees of the castle. Enchanted, I thought that if someone would ever ask me what it was that I missed while living in breathtaking Australia, missed so much that I could hardly imagine settling there, all I needed to do was to bring across a little of this humbling atmosphere that filled everything around. I could not imagine to find anything like that anywhere outside Europe.

Images: 
View at Pest from Gellért Hill
View inside of Gellért Baths
Hungarian Parmiament
Me in Budapest by day
Suzanne and me in Budapest
Funny beer pitcher with tap
Hungarian Academy of Sciences (conference location)
Magic Indian summer night view in Budapest.jpg
 ECAL'09 Conference Hall
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

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