First impressions

I don’t think I’m such a good blogger, since I blog very randomly and with big breaks in between .. I wish I had more time for this, but work has been pretty overwhelming in the past two weeks and in the last closing week, I haven’t been home before 11pm (!). I don’t even have time to follow up on my favorite series (Brothers and Sisters, Grey’s Anatomy, etc.) or read magazines .. but enough of my whining!

This week was still busy at work, but I didn’t stay that long, so I could do some grocery shopping on Thursday (luckily a lot of supermarkets open until 10-11pm), which makes it more convenient for me. When I came home, I saw dirt in my bathtub and when I wanted to flush the toilet, water came out of my bathtub! When the guy above me started to shower, it got even worse .. Luckily I could reach the janitor around 8pm, who sent out a plumber that came around 10.30pm. He de-installed my toilet and tried to break the blockage, which was very messy, since the sewage came out into my bathroom. After an hour of trying, he decided to check out the basement and discovered there was a major pipe burst in the main pipe, which caused the blockage in my bathroom (my apartment is the lowest point in the house and under my bathroom, the pipes go straight to the canalization through the basement). All the sewage and other sh*t came out and fled into a room in the basement .. it was really nasty and couldn’t be solved right away, which meant that I was not allowed to use water or let water go through the drain until it was repaired. I really thought like: why is this happening to me??? Anyway, they fixed everything the next day and when I got home from work, I cleaned for two hours and my bathroom is as good as new .. Still I feel like the tip of the iceberg is not reached yet and there is something worse to come .. I hope it won’t, but somehow I’m expecting another shock .. 

On another note, I finally got internet and telephone connection, which enables me to blog (now), facebook (too much), order food online (I had sushi on Tuesday), shop online (I ordered contact lenses), watch series (every 2nd day), catch up news (daily), etc. However, I brought a very old and sucky telephone with cord from home, which connection turns out to be really bad, since it comes with a lot of background noise .. everybody who called me, gave up after a few minutes. So I immediately ordered a new wireless phone, which is supposed to arrive next week, so that I can call properly ..

This weekend was rather relaxed, since all my furniture is set up and most of the things are completed. On Saturday I shortly went to the city and fell in love with a wallet .. I didn’t buy it yet .. but it’s on top of my list <3 

My new desire ..

Furthermore, I did grocery shopping at the Chinese supermarket and bought a microwave. In the evening, I immediately utilized that and made Japanese curry with rice from the microwave (unfortunately, I don’t have a rice cooker, but the microwave things is not that bad).

Today, I finally managed to take out my baby (my DLSR camera) and took some pictures of my apartment and Hamburg today. Here are some snapshots:

First impression .. (more to come)

My little kitchen - the place I spend most time in with my first baked goodies - black forest cupcakes!

The cupcakes turned out fabulous - I made two different kinds .. the classic one with whipped cream and a cherry on top and another one, which I saw on Martha Stewart - a layered version with pastry cream and preserved cherries and drizzled with rich chocolate ganache. :) In my kitchen, I am especially pleased with my coffee/liquor shelf .. it's just a €10-Ikea-shelf, but needs 10 big holes in the wall, 10 big screws, 10 big anchors and a lot of patience .. but it turned out perfectly with the great help of a friend! I had too little space in my cupboards, therefore I thought a shelf near my coffee machine would be nice .. so on the left-hand side I put all my coffee cups (Latte Macchiato, Cappuccino and Espresso), while on the other side I placed all my alcohol bottles, which looks really good, I find.

Here come some pictures of the my new home city:

Jungfernstieg

Sunday afternoon at the Alster

I plan to go home again on Wednesday, but since it’s busy at work, I still don’t know if it’s realizable .. cross your fingers for me .. macarons are waiting for me at home ..

Have a great week ahead! Last shot of this post .. beautiful Hamburg!

Hamburg Binnenalster

First apartment

Can you believe it took me 28 years to have my very own apartment? But it FINALLY happened and I’m sooo thrilled. Last week was moving week and it was a really rough week, since nothing ran smoothly, but why should it? I had a busy weekend at home, spending it with running from furniture store to furniture store, packing and throwing away a lot of things – I had no idea I had so much stuff .. so many clothes and papers (I used to write a lot of letters when I was younger) – I also threw away a lot of old diaries and even found money in them!

Only part of my boxes and stuff ..

Nevertheless, I could enjoy some good sushi, seafood, Chinese restaurant food and had breakfast with the girls.

On Monday the moving people came after lunch time, quickly packed my whole life into a transporter and drove off to Hamburg. Except for forgetting the clothing boxes to hang my dresses and other hanging clothes into them, everything was fine – so far. I left 1.5 hours afterwards, since the transporter can’t drive that fast on the highway. I arrived after 3h45min and got only flashed once :P I was a little too quick .. 

My first orchid on the way to Hamburg (see red circle)

Anyway, I arrived around 8.30pm and started cleaning the bathroom closets and kitchen cabinets, whilst waiting for the moving people to arrive. I had to call them to hear that they will be arriving at 10pm, which means they needed 7.5 hours for 430km!!! When they arrived, they said that they couldn’t assemble all my furniture and would do it on Wednesday morning. They quickly set up my bed and left. I was understanding and agreed to it (actually, I had no other choice). Afterwards I cleaned up a little, since they didn’t put all the boxes into the right room (despite the labels) and left stains from their shoes in the kitchen. I got carried away a little and went to bed around 2.30am, although having to get up for work at 7am. I slept very badly and worked really late since I missed two days of work. The next morning, I woke up around 6am, since I had so much on my mind – the moving people and the handyman were supposed to come around 7am. Around 8am, I was desperately trying to reach the moving people and after a while I only got a SMS back that their car broke down on the highway and they couldn’t make it until March (!), which was more than one week later by that time. I was so mad and upset!!! Luckily the handyman fixed everything and I could at least cross one thing of my list. I made some arrangements and on a very short notice, two handymen came out to assemble all my furniture and put up my lights. I thought they would manage it within 2 hours, but they almost took 4 hours and I was impressed – also with the very congenial price. Afterwards I was so glad that everything was standing and shining were it should be. 

The two very helpful handymen

On Saturday morning, I also woke up early because I was expecting my first own washing machine. The people came early, but of course, something was wrong – the stupid cables were too short and they couldn’t finish their job. So I had to run off to the DIY store and buy the extra equipment. Just as I paid for it, the electronics company called out of the blue and said that they got the extra stuff and wanted to come by and fix it. I didn’t expect it, said I’d already bought the equipment and asked them if they could come anyway, since I didn’t see myself connecting the washing machine cables. They came in the evening and fixed it within no time for a small compensation. Still not everything was perfect, since my water outlet is leaking slightly, but the caretaker should be able to fix it. 

My first washing machine!!

Sunday was a relaxed day, fixing some minor things, having phô and making my first home-cooked meal. The only things left are my curtains for the living area and kitchen, as well as buying a sleeping sofa and some things for the kitchen (e.g. microwave, spatulas, etc.). Then I can post pictures! ;-)

This week was a tough week for me at work as well, since my boss is away and I had to deal with some issues. I stayed at work until 10pm yesterday and I was really, really exhausted. Today was the first time so far I left work before 4.30pm (and I honestly felt a little guilty), but I headed straight to Berlin to see my bestie J., where I’m posting this blog now. I already feel better since its so much fun with her around. We haven’t really planned anything yet, just hanging out and relaxing ..  hope you all had a better week and will have an even better weekend!