Cruisin‘

I’ve been meaning to write this post for so long already, since it has already been 7 weeks ago when we went on a cruise vacation.

Six years ago, I went on my first cruise with my parents and sister on the Norwegian Jewel on the Western Mediterranean Sea and visited 6 cities within a week: Barcelona, Messina, Naples, Rome, Florence, Pisa and Villefranche-sur-Mer. I especially liked Villefranche – it was a small place close to Nice, but so nice and refreshing.

Villefrance with the "Jewel" in the background

This time, I chose the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and visited Venice and Greek Isles, like Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos and Katakolon (Olympia). The cruise was a good choice, since we had two sea days, so that we could relax on board, but also saw 5 picturesque cities. I have seen views that have literally blown me away, because they were simply so damn beautiful. The reason we picked this cruise was Venice and Santorini – particularly Santorini has been on top of my list of places to see in Europe.

We booked an excursion in Corfu, since we only had limited time, where we could see the highlights. We first went to Perama, where we stopped to take photographs of the famous views of Mouse Island. Then, we continued to Lakones, or “Bella Vista” - I liked the view in Corfu very much, since we could look onto the Paleokastritsa; see mountains in the foggy background, spot vineyards and olive trees. For the rest, we did not have time to explore Corfu town due to the time restriction.

Mouse Island

Beautiful view - Bella Vista

Next was Santorini, where we only arrived in the early afternoon, since it was quite a distance. We had to wait for our turn to get on the tender boats and then again wait for the cable car to get up to the city centre. Once arrived, after taking a few first shots, we took the bus to Oia, where the famous sunsets are taken. It was indeed a gorgeous view from the spot, but I also liked this view very much:

Santorini

Unfortunately, it was sooo windy that we couldn't take any decent pictures without my hair flying around. This is the best I could get:

Windy ..

We missed the sunset, because we were already on the ship when the sun was going down. However, we could enjoy it anyway:

When leaving Santorini ..

After dinner .. having fresh fruit while watching the sunset ..

Next was Mykonos, an island full of yachts and rich tourist, famous for its pelicans (we didn’t spot one), the windmills and “Little Venice”. It was indeed very charming, with its white streets and big cobble stones, but it was very small and a lot of the streets/houses looked the same to me. And we were kinda ripped off for a cappuccino priced €6 – each! Nevertheless, we could benefit from this view whilst drinking it:

One of Mykonos' landmarks: windmills

Our ship and Little Venice behind me

And yes - it was so blue there - blue sky and crystal clear water!

The last greek island was Katakolon, more famous for Olympia. We are not big historic fans, but we felt like having to go, since it was one of the places along the cruise and a historic landmark, but were not blown away by the many, many old stones in a huge park – I know Philistines! It was more like been there, done that – check. The street from the station of Katakolon to the harbor where our ship was located, however, was very pretty and Mediterranean.

Katakolon

Oh and as a proof, I was actually IN Olympia -

We decided to spend one more day in Venice, since we didn’t get to see it when we arrived. Unfortunately, it was very cloudy, but it didn’t rain luckily. Nevertheless, pictures are thus not sooo nice. We took the vaporetto (watertaxi) up and down the Grand Canal and got to see all the “must sees”, like the Piazza de San Marco, the basilica and campanile, the Rialto bridge or bridge of sighs. We had delicious Italian food as well. The only thing missing for me was going up the campanile and having risotto (and maybe Italian dessert). What I didn’t like was that it was so soo crowed. There were tourists everywhere, obviously, but it was a bit too overwhelming – even after spending 6 days on a ship with 3000 other people. 

So peaceful!

Narrow streets in Venice

Bridge of Sighs

Piazzi di San Marco in the evening

The ship itself was fine, there was enough choice of restaurants (there are two complimentary ones and we basically switched from night to night and a various specialty restaurants, where you had to pay an additional cover charge). However, we missed some activities. We didn’t do any sports (swimming, golf, basket ball), go to the casino, but only went to the show every night. We enjoyed the cruising experience anyway and already think about a next cruise :)

at the atrium/lobby of the ship

French dinner at "Le Bistro"

pic of the "Jade"

 

Recap in pictures ..

A quick recap in collages from my 2 months of blog-abstinence. I have been kinda busy in the past weeks with work, friends and enjoying life :) 

Baby shower of my cousin

In the beginning of March, we surprised my cousin with a baby shower. She had no idea, we all hid in the nursery and surprised her with all kinds of different treats, beautiful presents and a few games. She is actually due this week, so I am really excited for her.

Judy and me reunited

Also, my bestie FINALLY came and visited me in Hamburg. We caught up, went sample "shopping", had high tea at Messmer Momentum (afterwards, you can get three tea bags of your choice for free - and they have more kinds than at the supermarket) and dined at the Bullerei, a restaurant by star cook Tim Mälzer. The steaks and sides were really delicious! It was so good to see her again :)

Hamburg

Also, I explored Hamburg more, went to the Dom, had more Korean food, enjoyed the first warm weekend at the Elbstrand and spend more time at home with my new sofa:

Long awaited sofa .. :)

And spent more time in home-cooking .. Most proud of the Boeuf Bourguignon by Jamie Oliver .. it took me more than 6 hours and for the first attempt, it was pretty damn delicious! Will try out more ..

green curry, lasagna, boeuf bourguignon, Laksa, sweet and sour pineapple chicken and spicy garlic eggplant

And I went to Holland for two days .. did a tiny bit of touristy stuff and finally satisfied my sashimi cravings :)

Holland visit

These upcoming weeks are going to be sooo busy at work, but at the end of my favorite month, I can at least look forward to a sunny week off .. :)

Leap year

It has been again toooo long since I last blogged, so I use this rare day to write a little update about the past 6 weeks. I am more and more enjoying living in a big city and always discovering and exploring new things, whether it is new areas (whilst trying out new ways to work by coincidence), new restaurants and getting to know new people. Hamburg has so many opportunities, as I definitely see it as a growing, modern city that still has much in store.

On the work front everything is still the same, although we try to cut back on the many working hours, improve our processes and way of working to allow a cleaner outcome. There are still those busier times, where you have to meet one deadline after the other, but somehow I like it to get challenged and work under stress.

My apartment still looks the same, but I got a new stove + oven, since my old one smelled funny everything I used it in the past weeks. And .. my couch will finally, FINALLY arrive after 5 months delivery time (pictures will follow). I honestly don’t remember for 100% how it looked, felt like and I am a bit worried that I don’t like it anymore, but on the other hand I will finally have something to sit on and start arranging the rest of my living room, like the room divider (from sleeping area to living area), a small carpet, a tv table and ultimately a new TV. I now have a very old, boxy TV that fulfills its purpose, but that’s it.

Also I just learned today that the little bakery that is supposed to open down my street will start selling from tomorrow onwards from a vending car. Normally I am very lazy and go out the door the very last minute that I have to and hardly eat any breakfast. Plus the bakery that is close to my house does not taste and the service is horrible. Anyway, since it’s on my way, I’m sure I won’t skip my breakfast so often anymore.

Doesn't the rasberry-yogurt-tarte look delicious?

For the rest, I have been home last weekend for the first time this year, helped out my parents a bit, met up with some friends and scored some good deals at the McArthurGlen outlet in Roermond. Also tried out La Baracca, an Italian restaurant from the same owners as Vapiano in Düsseldorf, but was not very convinced by it. You also get a card like Vapiano, but you order via a PC-tablet at your table. This tablet contains all the information you need (description of the dish, price, picture) and the dish is quickly served after ordering (maybe due to the lack of other customers). However, the dishes are very small, the pasta is only nearly al dente and the special something is missing. I must admit that the menu and the décor is fancier then Vapiano’s and the only self-service you can choose for is to get wine from the tap, but other than that there is no extra value for me to drive all the way to La Baracca (outside the city center, just like Hamburg that is located in Hafencity).

My new gem in Hamburg is “Hanmi”, a Korean restaurant that satisfies all my Korean food cravings, since they offer Korean BBQ, bibimbap and kimchi! Also half of the clientele is Korean, which in my eyes is in favor of the restaurant. The prices are very reasonable, so I will go back for sure!

Anyway, this weekend I have more time to take care of some long overdue household duties and things I should have done weeks ago. I also need to start with my tax computation .. and if I have some time left, I will come back to my vacation summaries ;)

One year!

Can't believe it has already been a year that I've been working now. The last 12 months have been a big learning and development process for me with lots of ups and downs, looong working hours and skipped meals.

I intend to improve constantly, no matter if it's in learning, engaging in new responsibilities, meeting more deadlines and taking more challenges. Or leaving work on time (not so many 10hrs+) and taking more time for myself. Still a long way to go to follow my ambitions, but it's part of the deal!

Always keeping in mind one of Steve Jobs' speeches concerning work:

"The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.

Do what you love. Seek out an occupation that gives you a sense of meaning, direction and satisfaction in life. Having a sense of purpose and striving towards goals gives life meaning, direction and satisfaction."

Recap - Sanya, Hainan (China)

It's a lazy Saturday afternoon at home and it's freezing cold and windy outside, that's why I cuddle up next to my heater and write some holiday recaps to keep me warm :) - starting with Sanya.

Sanya, Hainan

Sanya is apparently the southernmost city in the PRC and renowned for its tropical climate and has emerged as a popular tourist destination, therefore I picked this place instead of Shanghai or Fuzhou (sorry YY)! Anyway, here a little summary:

Traffic

The traffic here in Sanya is a big Chaos (yes, with a big C). There seem to be no rules, it's so dangerous, crosswalks have no meaning, everybody is honking all the times, which have 3 different meanings (that's what I figured): 1) get out of my way 2) watch out, I'm overtaking/coming from behind 3) U want a ride? Even if it's a scooter, they can transport you. Talking about scooters - I've seen 3 persons one it and a kid standing backwards. Taxis are mostly a rip-off. Since I couldn't find the bus stop upon arrival, I chose for the taxi, who offered me a ride to the hotel for ¥60, which I found reasonable since based on my research it costs around ¥80. After a few minutes into the road, the driver asked for the address and figured it was veryyy far. Then literally halfway through he stopped and said this is half of the journey, I have to charge you ¥100, if you want to proceed. In my poor Chinese, I said no way, you initially said ¥60, you can't charge me more all of a sudden. But I did not have much room for discussion, since my luggage was in the trunk and I didn't want to be left in the middle of nowhere. The busses (more bus drivers) are crazy, the busses are disgusting. On my last trip back to the airport (for cheapy ¥5), the bus driver kept letting people into the bus although it was majorly overloaded, which made him stopping at stops a few meters further to only let people out. However, people were still trying to get it and forcing the doors to open. In the end, it was a mixture of acrobatic act (trying to hold on to the handhangers above) and the constant attempt to avoid being dry-humped by greasy men behind me. The questions is: do you rather want to be ripped-off for ¥100, but have a cab by yourself and arrive at the place you need to be or pay ¥5 and interchange, wait, accepting to be pushed around and risking life voluntarily?

Sanya by night (fascinated by the lights)

Beach

I stayed in Sanya for 2 full days and I think 3 ought to do it. There are a lot of mainland China tourists (that spoil the holiday feeling) and also many Russians. It's a small island, which mainly accounts for beach and water vacations. I've been to all three of them and they weren't as beautiful as I expected them to be. First, Yalong Bay which has a diving/water fun area, then a lot of parts, where you could have your own piece of beach, which I liked. I could only endure 2 hours of sun enduring the massive heat, while reading my book and trying to relax. Second, I went to Sanya Bay to see and photograph the sunset (which is the place one should see it in Sanya). It was nice, but not extraordinary. Third, I saw Dadonghai beach on the first night, which is more the going out place with a lot of food stalls and beach bars. Also not so spectacular, so I'd recommend Yalong Bay for the privacy with a real coconut! ;-)

Swimming I haven’t done in either of the beaches, since nobody could watch my stuff with all my belongings (I didn't leave anything in the hotel due to lack of safety, in my eyes) and I wouldn't dare to just leave it on the beach, like a Russian woman, who put her Louis Vuitton on the sand and went for a swim! I just went 30minutes in the hotel pool in the evening, which was fricking cold, yet refreshing.

Yalong Bay

Sunset at Sanya Bay

Hotel

I picked the hotel after careful consideration - that's what I thought. Seems so many reviews in ctrip.com and Tripadvisor can be fake! It was a 3* hotel in (near would be more accurate) Dadonghai with no lights during day, which even caused problems for the bell boy to find the right room number due to the dark hallways. The breakfast buffet was horrible, leftover leftovers and fluid congee, dry bread or oily fried dishes. The only thing that I liked about the hotel was the pool, especially when it was lit at night.

Not recommended: Sanya Searainbow Hotel

Food

Except from the fresh fruit and coconuts, I was quite dissappointed from the food. I don't know if it was because I ordered the wrong things, but I expected so much more. Too bad the Hainan Chicken Rice is from Singapore!

Sanya food

Conslusion: Sightseeing-wise, I haven't done much, just photographed the Sanya totem and heaven stone in passing. However, Sanya does not have that much to offer. I went at the end of November and it was surprisingly warm and sunny at 28 degrees (C) - I even got a sunburn, but it was very windy, especially in the evening, where you need an extra jacket! One full more day would have let me "sightsee" more and spend one more day at the bay. So, what's left to say is: been there, done that. Don't think, I will return to Hainan.

Happy new year 2012!

I can't believe how fast this year has gone by .. so many things changed and happened for me and I'm excited about what the new year has in store for me.

Still need to catch up on so many recaps (holidays in Asia, Turkey and 2011) .. 

Right now I am home with my parents and preparing the New Year's eve at the restaurant, which is the busiest night of the year .. tomorrow after the morning shift, I will head back to Hamburg again. 

Anyway, just a short post .. hope you have an awesome NYE and a happy & healthy 2012!

My birthday in Istanbul

***

One last quote before the end of this year:

"Life is too short to wake up with regrets. 

So love the people who treat you right. Forget about the one's who don't. 

Believe everything happens for a reason. 

If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it. 

Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it!"

Have a good one! :)

Back!

It has exactly one month since I went on vacation. The three weeks have gone by so incredibly fast! But I have done a lot in those three weeks .. seen a lot, done a lot, ate a lot, bought a lot! Went to Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Sanya, Hanoi and Halong Bay! Been busy ever since I got back, so I need to follow up on my blogging another time ..

Just a short recap in pictures taken with my  iPhone ..

Two weeks in Hong Kong, meeting up with friends, attending my roomie's beautiful wedding, eating all kinds of food and enjoying the gorgeous skyline ..

Hong Kong

Two and a half days of relaxing by the beach, enjoying fresh fruit, relaxing and swimming in Sanya ..


Hainan

 6 days visiting Hanh in Hanoi, exploring splendid Halong Bay, taking in Vietnam's delicious cuisine and seeing another kind of Asia .. 



Vietnam

 More stories, pictures and recaps later ..

First REAL vacation

Just a quick post ..

Have been too lazy and busy to blog .. have been home since the last post, did some retail therapy at the outlet .. had some Gourmet Attack experience and went to the Hamburger Dom.

My thoughts on the Gourmet Attack - excellent way to try out some restaurants and experience some new things ..

Le Ciel, Le Royal Méridien

Starter: Red beet -pear cream soup with caramelized goat cheese

Main dish: Beed medaillons in jus de thyme, sauteed cabbage and potato gratin

Dessert: Home-made peach dumpling with caramel ice and a compote of berries

I chose this restaurant with a French kitchen, because of it's extra-ordinary menu - something you don't eat every day - and it was the only 5-star hotel that was participating. Although, I'm not a soup fan, I loved the soup. Very interesting combination, light flavor of the red beet and creamy (yet not too rich) pear taste. The goat cheese was not mine. Didn't fit into this composition, in my mind. The beef was very tender and perfectly prepared. It was gooood! The sides were boring, but tasty as well. The dessert was a bit disappointing .. the dumpling was too doughy and filling, the compote sour. The caramel ice was good though, with tiny bits of caramel. Dining was special at the top roof of the hotel, overlooking the Außenalster. All in all, a true fine dining experience.

Mövenpick Hotel & Restaurant

Starter: pumpkin soup with apple-pumpkin chutney and a praline of goat cheese

Main dish: Guinea fowl scalloped with onion mouse, noodle risotto and grilled mushrooms

Dessert: apple crumble in a glas and apple wine mousse

Mövenpick Hotel & Restaurants have a Swiss kitchen, which I am not familiar with, but I am starting to like soups .. the pumpkin soup was delish! Also I really like the way of serving it. We were served a tray with the can of soup, the bowl with pumpkin and the chutney seperately. After placing the tray, the waiter poured the soup into the bowl. However, a little bit too creamy and very filling. The fowl (piece of chicken) was too small, but given the starter and the (again) creamy risotto, it was enough. Nothing very special. The dessert was not mine .. I don't like crumble, so I only ate the mousse and decoration. The hotel itself is gorgeous - within the water tower amid of the Sternschanze - a going out district for youngsters. The restaurant was simple, cool and like any other hotel restaurant. I don't think, I will return for dinner, but drinks for sure!

***

Anyway, the LONG overdue day has come and I will be heading to Hong Kong TODAY! Sooooo looking forward to it .. seeing my family, meeting my new baby cousin, catching up with friends, attending the wedding of my roomie and visiting Vietnam! :)

finally!!!

Take care and good luck with everything you all are up to! :)

Weekend recap

Lüneburg is a really cute, little and especially picturesque city. Unfortunately, on Thursday we were stuck all day in the conference room. In the evening, during and after dinner we had too much to drink, so I was glad that we were dismissed around lunch time on Friday, so that I could actually explore the city. The Medieval oldtown is really sweet with it's old houses. I spent 1,5hrs to stroll around the small city center and took some pictures with my iPhone. The rest of the day, I just rested at home in my comfy clothes and catched up on my favorite series.

Some shots with my iPhone

For the rest of the weekend, I did the usual household routine by running errands, doing laundry and cleaning up. On Saturday evening, I picked up a friend from work, we went for dinner and got ready at my place afterwards for going out. Again, it was a failed attempt. Together with two other friends, we checked out Moondoo directly on the Reeperbahn, but somehow I got the wrong vibe. Maybe it was because we arrived very late (2 am), we were too tired or simply the music was too electro. So after a short stay, we went home. The next day, I met 2 ½ friends for cooking, well more sushi-making. Haven't done that in ages! I can't remember the last time, I did that, but it was nice and we ended up making too many (since we were snacking away the whole time) ..

Sushi with the ½, checking out the iPhone 4S and facetiming with the fam

I still haven't updated to the newest iOS5, since my computer is still not fixed yet .. should really get it done. Pretty annoying .. I have 3 laptops at home currently and none of them works 100% - luxury problem, I know!

***

Hamburg is having it's first Gourmet Attack starting this weekend, similar to Restaurant Week in NL and elsewhere and it's motto is "Book. Eat. Love." - clever! So I'm looking for dining buddies .. let me know, if you're in town and interested! ;-)

Have a good, rest of the week! And keep on sharing your news! :)

Happy thoughts!

Exactly one month to go until my vacation! I'm counting the days! I could really use some change of setting to reboost my energy! Still need to do some detailed planning ..
I had the opportunity to join Sue to Rome in two weeks, however through the stress at work and the stupid connections from Hamburg, the tickets got way too expensive and impossible :( But I HAVE to go one more time after my big holidays next month. Since two years, I made it a new tradition to spend my birthday in a city that I've never been before. And since i still have 14 vacation days (3 full weeks), I made it my mission to go somewhere oriental :)

Last weekend I finally got the chance to visit Hamburg's Apple Store, which is supposed to be Germany's biggest! Btw, I accidentally washed my iPhone's earplugs, because I forget to take them out of my sport pants and guess what? They still work .. I just don't hope there will be a tiny electrocution in my ear the next time ..

Apple store at the Jungfernstieg

Hamburg is getting a lot of new additions to support my retail theraphy :) Zara Home just opened last week, where I've already bought a pressie and Abercrombie & Fitch will open next spring! :)

Zara Home, Große Bleichen, HH

Oh and my new ankle boots arrived, so I can throw out my old ones! I will show them in the next post after I impregnated them (double-hint at Sam)! :P

Miss you, sis! FT soon!

Also I met a new friend, who hooked me up with nice Kiehl's goodies :) I've been trying out this Midnight Recovery Concentrate and it somehow reminds me of massages, so very soothing!

I ♥ goodies!!!

My superior told me this week that she is surprised everything went well with my part of the financial forecast/budget planning. Should I take it as an insult or a compliment? Normally, my glass is half empty, but after my meaningful ending in my last post, it should be half full .. Anyway, she added that she acknowledges my progress overnight (?). After the rough week I had, it's good to get a little tap on my shoulder ..

This Thursday and Friday, I will be on a company teambuilding workshop in Lüneburg, north of Hamburg. I'm curious what that has in store for me ..

Anyway, as I was saying .. one month to go .. hope you have great vacation plans in store as well or at least some other happy things to keep you motivated! ;-)

Expect the unexpected

Last weekend turned out a bit different than expected. The girls were supposed to arrive at my place around 10pm, so I started cooking shortly after 9pm, when Sue called and told me their flight was cancelled. All attempts trying to re-book, finding a train and a rental car failed and they finally ended up in Berlin (!) for the night. This incident kinda messed up the whole weekend in some way.

The girls finally arrived around lunch time and we went straight to the city to do some shopping and sightseeing. The weather was just perfect! Since the AIDA cruise ship was in town again, we wanted to take a close up by ferry. Somehow we took the wrong one and ended up spending 1,5hrs on the ferry. At least we could enjoy the view!
We went to dinner around 8.30pm at 4experiment Gastraum, a more alternative restaurant that is opened by 4 friends that create new dishes - every day! It's an easy going restaurant with high quality ingredients that make extraordinary dishes. It was quite okay, but it didn't blow me away. Afterwards we took a quick tour through the Reeperbahn to check out the crazy people and went to a club in the city. However, the drinks were too pricey and the girls too tired, so that we already left before 1am.

On Sunday we had breakfast at a cafe nearby and went straight to Blankenese, the richer part of Hamburg with its famous stairs (there are about 5000 of them).
Somehow, the weekend went by way too quickly - as always. The week afterwards was crazy busy - monthly closing and budget in the same week. So glad it's weekend now!

Girl's weekend

On another note, it was shocking to hear the news about Steve Jobs. I've been reading a lot about him these days and this quote struck me:

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

With this being said .. make the most of it and expect the unexpected! Enjoy the fall weekend!

Indian Summer

Fall is officially here, but this weekend summer is back! I'm soooo looking forward to this weekend, since .. 

1. Sunny 24 degrees! Calls for Hamburg's beach again ..

Sunny!!!

2. It will be a long weekend due to the German National Day on Monday, well the German Unification Day.

3. My girls are coming! They are two of my oldest friends that I know since high school. Sue, I have already known since I'm 10 and Sarah probably since the age of 12-13. Seems like ages ago! So a fun, busy weekend is planned. :)

Sarah, Sue & I - good times in Düsseldorf

4. Partying! Haven't been for so long! We scored some VIP tickets to an exclusive club in the city center of Hamburg.

5. October is around the corner, which means NEXT month I am having my well-deserved, long-awaited vacation. Technically it's still 6 weeks to go, but still it's next month. :)

***

Happy (long) weekend and enjoy the sun! More after the weekend!

Friday is finally here again!

Oh how I live for the weekend! This week went by pretty fast. Haven't done much after work (although it was more relaxed this week), but still felt so beat from before .. I'm getting old!

Monday was Mid-Autumn festival, but my family and I never really used to celebrate it, since we aren't very traditional Chinese .. nevertheless, I "celebrated" with my sis via Facetime while having dinner.

My sis was like: what's mid-autumny about sushi?

The sushi is from around the block, which is quick and quite okay - and manages to still my sushi cravings! :)

***

Today I received a package in the mail from my bestie - wow, thanks sooooo much!

Thanks, J - you're the best! xxx

Also, I will be going home tonight after work .. haven't been home since the beginning of August (which is long for me). Looking forward to being HOME! Now I need to pack quickly :P

Happy, happy weekend!

PS: my computer had a major crash this week and my hard drive is completely malfunctioning, which sucks big time. I guess I need to re-install Windows again .. but not today! Therefore, this was posted with the Blogger App .. Curious how that turns out!

PPS: turns out very unsatisfactory .. had to re-do it a couple of times .. :(

Update

I know I’ve been MIA for too long, but I didn’t feel like blogging, since I was so caught up with work lately .. so much for that. Having said that, I’ll start my top 11 news (it's 9/11 btw) from the past weeks with this ..

1. I broke my overtime hours record .. I have 100+ now. Not that I’m proud of it – I have no idea how I can compensate that, since I still have my full 30 vacation days .. 

not getting less ..

2. I am officially car-less now, but not before scoring another speeding ticket in the last weekend where I had the car. 

In Germany, they send you a charming picture to accompany the ticket ..

3. My mom and sis came two weeks ago to pick up the car and we spent a little time in Hamburg .. 

Their visit involved mainly eating ..

4. And we made earrings together .. which took us almost 2 frickin hours .. so I had to post it .. (all hand-made, of course):

Aren't they pretty?

5. After getting the newest Ikea catalogue in the mail, I went there immediately to check out the newest things .. unfortunately still no couch of my desire .. maybe I need to settle for something else?

Just bought a set of tools and new homes for my shoes :)

6. I had another "first" last week – I checked out the Hamburg beach, which is obviously not at the coast, but at the river that goes through Hamburg. It was definitely different from the usual beach, but also quite special, since you see huge containers and tourist boats coming by every now and then.

Hamburg Elbstrand

7. My youngest uncle and his wife just welcomed their first son in Hong Kong 3 weeks ago and it’s actually his birthday today, so happy birthday, uncle Tom! 

On another note, one of my colleagues also got a baby and I was in charge of buying a present, so I got him this:

A diaper cake! And a personalized pacifier chain.

8. My grandma facetimed me yesterday for the first time by her own and I was so surprised and so proud of her almost 80 years for being so modern and fit!

9. Summer is officially over after seeing people wearing gloves (!!) this week and already seeing Christmas stuff in the shops .. So ridiculous!

German "stollen" and gingerbread etc.

10. Biggest news of all: I just booked my tickets to Hong Kong TODAY for a steal! :D
However, the flight won't be until November, but the planning can begin now for sure! :)

Thanks to my overly caring mom!

11. As a matter of fact, I just got the wedding invitation of my one-and-only literal room mate in Hong Kong. I realized, the other day, that I had more than different 10 room-(well actually flat-)mates in my life, but Shirley is the only one, I shared the room with during my studies in Hong Kong. 

Shirley and I, 2008

She is getting married in November and I am thrilled for her and so happy I can be there on her big day. 

Such a fancy invitation (on my new place-mats)

 That's it for now. Hope I can keep up better next time! Keep warm .. ;-)