First time to the Ostsee

Just a short weekend recap since I'm exhausted!

I finally managed to go to the Ostsee (the German Baltic Sea) today! I've been to the Baltic Sea before last year on the Swedish, Finnish, Latvian and Estonian side but never in my life on the German side, although I've been living in Germany for nearly 20 years!

clockwise: the Baltic Sea in Sweden, Finland, Estonia and Latvia (I ♥ the last pic)!

The drive was a little tiring because, first, due to the Cyclassics (something like Tour de Hamburg), half of the city was blocked and I have to go throughout the whole city to get to the direction of Berlin (I went to Schwerin to pick up Uli). It took me more than 40-frickin-minutes to get out of the city .. At the end of the day, Uli and I almost covered 400km together (HH-Schwerin and back is 230km)!

We first went to Boltenhagen, a small spa town, to relax and sunbath for nearly 2 hours (yay to no sun allergies!!).

We actually had to pay a "fee" for using the beach ..

Then continued driving to the island Poel, which is a very picturesque and cute town.

Timmendorf Strand at Poel (no not Timmendorfer Strand)

I guess this is my only short get-away for now, since I am car-less from next week on. My sis will need the car for her studies and since I don't really need a car in Hamburg, she will pick it up. And my Asia vacation won't be until mid-November (still 3 looong months to go!!!). Still hoping for a spontaneous trip though .. 

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On Saturday, I finally tried out Sushi Circle, an AYCE restaurant near the Jungfernstieg and I must say that it was better than expected. It was a rotating sushi restaurant that served other things than usual sushi restaurants (next to the basics), which was refreshing for a change and also a good alternative to Düsseldorf! 

Small selection of my countless plates ..

That's it for now .. enjoy the late summer! :)

Seven things

Instead of a lot of words, just seven things on a rainy Sunday ..

Queen Mary 2 in Hamburg

The Queen Mary 2 ship was in Hamburg for the last time this year, so I took the opportunity to go out and take some shots .. 

Some shots of the Queen

"Diner en blanc"

Then I came across this awesome event in my neighbourhood - Diner en Blanc, which is adapted from France. People gather together all dressed up in white to have dinner outside on the streets. I HAVE to join next time! So fancy!

Simple cooking (penne with fresh basil and baby mozzarella)

Simple desserts - Yoghurt with fresh blackberries

Work out

Finally starting my work out! Friday after work I went, did more than an hour on the step and cycle, and joined a dance course .. I intend to go twice a week - and on top of that squash. Hope I can stick to that! As soon as I get home from work, I get too comfortable, therefore I have to go straight after work!

More goodies ..

I exchanged my old shampoo for this Fekkai shampoo, which is supposed to be really good and used by many celebrities. Apparently it's a "shine-enhancing shampoo infused with pure olive oil extract which gently cleanses and adds luster to normal or dull hair" .. Well my hair does feel softer, but it doesn't provide the shine I was anticipating for ..

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That's it for now. Have a nice, sunny week, especially in HK, Nanning and Teneriffa! ;-)

Prada

As promised, my fashionable post. Last time when I went to Roermond, I treated myself to my first Prada handbag. :) 

Goofing around with the immensely huge Prada shopping bags

I was about 2 hours in the shop thinking about whether to purchase it or not, but in the end it's a life-long investment!

Here it is! :)

It's a big, black leather handbag with two short handles and an extra long handle for the shoulder. Inside is covered with light suede. It has two inside pockets, the bigger one with a zipper.

I ♥ the smell of leather!

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Aaand I finally got to hang up the matching frame (which is why this post took so long) - with a hairspray can (since I don't have a hammer). :P

A little apartment therapy :)

It's a little tacky, but I like it, since it's plain and simple. I plan on putting a bookcase underneath it to store all my handbags!
And yes, it's adapted from the Gossip Girl, therefore tacky!

Living room in GG.

Goodies

Mission accomplished! 

Of course I got stuck in traffic jamS on my way back home last week .. As always, before I even leave Hamburg, I get stuck in front of the Elbtunnel - this time for about 45-frickin'-minutes and then shortly before Düsseldorf (work traffic), which made me arrive after my dad's afternoon break. But I went straight to his work and kinda jumped out of the wardrobe and he was surprised! It was everything he wished for - to have the family together on his birthday. After work we toasted with champagne and had mango cake, I picked up earlier from the Torii Bar at Hotel Nikko in Düsseldorf. The weekend was the usual, having drinks, food, did some shopping and actually waitressing at the restaurant! People are very generous at the end of the month ;-)

Pic bf having drinks, birthday cake & champagne, Naniwa in Düsseldorf

This time, I had been craving for Naniwa's noodle soups, which is probably Düsseldorf's most famous Japanese noodle soup place. People actually queue in front of it - in all weathers! The noodle soups are huge - and they even add more veggies and an egg - for free, but you have to ask for it! Also the gyoza (dumplings, see r.a.) is very good there.

Queueing for food, which is very uncommon in Germany!

On Monday, I went to Maastricht and had dim sum with my granny and in the evening BBQ with the family, which turned into an entertaining night with guitar music, cake, people of 40+ doing the split and all kinds of liquor (..)

BBQ at grandma's - my dad's cake looks like a kids' cake!

Cute wine glass holders!

I got stuck into traffic on my way back - again on Tuesday afternoon - where do all the people come from??? This time it was an hour .. I hate waiting! Nevertheless, I get to know interesting (and less interesting) people on my ride! Soon I will have to give up the car and do everything by public transportation, bike (I don't really think so) and by foot again.

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I love goodies from the US or Canada, to be exact! This is what I got from my aunt Stella (thx!):

Goodies from Bath & Body Works and MAC products

My sis, however, got the best goodie of all - an iPhone4!
And she got me my favorite haribo! 

White gummy bears! ♥ - 1kg of it!

Lately I have been trying out more functions of my phone and I facetimed with my family, which was hilarious! I also figured out how to use my personal hotspot, which can be so handy!

So funny, especially my grandma on the iPad and on the left my uncle eating noodles!

Closing week is here again next week, so it will be stressful, but on Friday there will be a department outing to a high wire park outside of Hamburg. Perfect ending to a busy work week!

PS: all iPhone pics again ..therefore the crappy quality!

PPS: almost ready for my fashionable post ;-) 

Bye, bye July!

How can it be that I'm so inflexible? After my gym workout last week, I had muscle ache all over! For two days I had muscle ache in my neck - never thought that was possible. After one week I still had sore arms! Now I’m too lazy to do anything. My superior is currently on vacation (as are many other people) and I didn’t think it would be so busy for me, since the HQ had a lot of urgent last minute requests – even on a Saturday. Crazy Dutch people ;-)

Other than that my internet and telephone broke down right before the weekend and the technician didn’t come before Monday. I can't survive without internet, but luckily I had my iPhone, which I can depend on. So I spent the time with old movies on my laptop, like 127 hours or The Wall Street. On the corner of my house, there's video rental store, which I never thought, I'd step foot in, but I did last time when a friend was visiting and it was cold and rainy and uncomfortable all weekend. This weekend would have been the ideal opportunity to go again, but I just noticed that they shut down! So I started my SATC marathon since the weather was not summery at all. 

SATC-marathon - I actually only finished the first CD!

Last weekend, apart from the usual household duties, I did some apartment therapy, which is in fact related to my outlet shopping spree, BUT I’ll keep it until the next post ;-) Other than that I tried a cheesecake recipe (yours, J!) and altered it a little bit and it turned out surprisingly well. You know it especially, if kids like it, too!

Cheesecake

I also went out on the Reeperbahn to a small club named Superfly that played a lot of classic R&B (I like!). It was fun, since I haven’t gone out (dancing) for a while ..

@ Superfly w/ Wendy

I will actually go back home tomorrow to surprise my dad for his birthday (no, he doesn’t read my blog .. I’m not even sure, if he knows what a blog is). He has asked like three times already and I said I didn’t know or probably not :P 

Celebrating dad's bday 2009 in Paris

I will work until lunch time, then head to Düsseldorf to pick up a cake (no time for baking myself) and rush home, just in time (hopefully) to have cake with my dad before he has to go to work. I just learned that this weekend is supposed to be “Black Weekend” in Europe, since people start their vacations, head back or whatever, so I really hope this won’t affect me. However, it already concerns me that I got so many requests from fellow travelers – there were so many that I had to remove my ad. I will see .. I actually took 2 more days off to spend some time with my family. I haven’t seen my grandma in months and some family members from the US and Canada are currently in the Netherlands, so I will spend at least one day with them. 

Family reunions from the past years

I just found out, with relief, who will be my new neighbors. I live in an apartment complex for four parties, spread over three floors, of which three are currently occupied. The apartment on the first floor is connected to the one on the second floor that has been empty ever since I moved in. I also live on the second floor, which has been very quiet and peaceful. On the third floor, right above me, a guy lives, that I have only seen like twice (and I moved in almost 6 months ago), but only because his water was leaking into my bathroom (see here). I sometimes hear him .. mostly in the morning, when he starts his washing machine or in the weekend when he listens to Rihanna at 8am in the morning. :P The other apartment on the third floor is inhabited by 3 students that share the flat together, who are all very nice and I never encountered any problems with. So I was a little worried, when I saw people dismantling the whole sanitary installations and renovating all week long. Yesterday, I ran into the handyman and asked him about what was going on and apparently some kind of travel agency will move into the two-story apartment – this week already and I saw the renovation work. Good for me, since during their working hours (which are hopefully from 9 to 5), I won’t be at home anyway, so no disruption for me. :)

Update: I just googled and found the potential new neighbor, which I am almost sure it is (I’m pretty good at this) and the working hours are 9 to 7 during the week and Saturdays from 2 to 4pm, which I can live with. If I’m not mistaken, they procure holiday apartments and villas at the Mediterranean Sea.

I can’t believe, time is flying by so fast .. it’s already the last week of July! Having said this:

Life is short,
Break the rules,
Forgive quickly,
Kiss slowly,
Love truly,
Laugh uncontrollably,
And never regret anything that made you smile!