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."

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 .. ;-)

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 .. 

***

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 ..

***

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

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!

Monday blues ..

I don’t like Mondays (but at least it's over in my time zone) .. I’m always so tired, the caffeine at work doesn’t kick in and the day will just not end. Today I woke up way too late, went to the garage to get my car and when I didn’t see it, realized that I had parked it on the street. I packed my sports bag yesterday and when I was leaving work to head to the gym, I noticed that my bag was still at home. Grr .. then when I was finally at home around 9pm and grabbed for the spicery from the top cabinet whilst cooking, a sauce (sticky Vietnamese fish sauce) fell on the floor and the cap popped open and it stuck everywhere – on the floor, on the oven, on my socks .. Grrrr even more – and the best part  is that I still have not found the stupid cap yet. No idea where my head is at. BUT at least I went to the gym. I did 30min on the step and then joined a “Hot Iron”-course, which involves training the whole body with weights. It was fun, accompanied with music, but I’m sure I will have muscle ache all over the body tomorrow. I was literally out of breath after 20min, but nonetheless, I kept on for an hour. *proud*

Home-made chicken salad (after the work out today on my new plate :))

Lately, I’ve been too lazy and tired too blog (sorry, J!), especially after the 3-day weekend at home (the weekend before). The drive was good since I met three interesting passengers who kept me company on the way down. I finally had sushi (although the anticipation was too high, probably), did some retail therapy at the outlet (which I will dedicate another post to) and met with friends. The weekend was way too short and the drive back to Hamburg was exhausting by my own. Nevertheless, it fit into my hectic (work) week. 

Sushi at Naniwa, Düsseldorf

The weekend before, Uli stayed over and since she has lived here (and visited me) before, no obligated sightseeing was needed. We did some random, regular things, like dining at Das Weisse Haus, which was good, but not over the top. It's a cosy little place, which makes you feel like eating at a friend's place. Perfect place to go with a friend/Uli, but for a date it wouldn't be intimate/romantic enough, since you can look straight onto the plate of the neighbour at the next table. Also the menu is rather limited (you could only pick fish or beef as a main course) - only 2 choices for every course! We had cocktails at Die Bank afterwards, where I initially wanted to make reservations. Next time, I will definitely eat there, especially after this article. It has a really nice atmosphere and interesting little details (since it has actually been a bank before)!

Dining at Das Weisse Haus - Loup de Mer on the left // Moelleux au Chocolat with fruit sorbet and Tarte Tartin de poire with Grand Marnier brittle ice cream on the left

Drinks at Die Bank

Next time a more fashionable post ;-)

PS: I just passed my first 6-months ..

PPS: First time no first in the title!
PPPS: all pictures besides the last one were taken with my iPhone!