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 ;)

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 ..

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! :)

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.

***

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 ;-) 

First wedding and vacation this year

The past week was soooo exhausting, tiring, stressful, but also exciting and most importantly FUN! I must apologize upfront for the extended post - I'm sure some of you will skip the huge text parts, while my loyal readers will go through every word :)

On Friday evening I rushed home, ran around my block to run the last errands before heading to the airport to go back home to DUS.
On Saturday morning, my sis and I drove up to NL to visit my new baby boy nephew (son of my cousin M) Dylano, who is just 12 days old on the day we visited him. He was so tiny and easy to get along with - and very cute! He is a mix between a Chinese and Iraquee (?), but he looks more like his dad (which is the latter). Click on the pictures to get a larger image!

Babyful weekend (Kirsten on the left, baby Dylano on the right and sister Tara on the bottom)

After a short visit, we went to my other (then soon to be married) cousin W for our final bridesmaid dresses fitting, altered by her (then) future mom in law, which she managed very well and quick. Simultaneously, a high tea for my other cousin C (I have a lot of cousins) was held, who had her birthday that day. In the eve we went for dinner at the Satébar (opened by one of the gm) with the other bridesmaids and groomsmen to go through the last details, which was fun and the food was good and spicy!

Randomness: bored in the car, feeding baby D, high tea and dinner

On Sunday, after buying the last wedding stuff in the city, we all met at the hotel to start with the first preparations, like going through the location, starting to decorate (inflating balloons), etc. Afterwards we drove down to Zeeland, where the bride grew up and her parents still live. This was also the place where the bride was picked up (along with Chinese traditions). The eve got very late due to other (last minute) preparations, eating tong yuan, preparations for the tea ceremony, etc. It was also very crowded since many people were there, which let us stay up long, which resulted in 2-3hrs sleep only.
On the next morning/night still we got up at 5 to start with hair & make up with all the girls. I tried to make some light wavy curls with my friend's GHD hair straightener, which was easy and quick to use. Since I don't have the straightest hair, I'm not sure if others noticed. As for make up, I used my usual going out make up, since I don't like too much stuff on the face, especially by day .. One of the bm helped me to apply eyeliner to accentuate my eyes. For jewellery, I decided to keep it simple with Swarovski earrings and a bracelet, on top of that I had a fashion ring in yhe shape of a flower in a similar color as the bm dress, which I somehow lost - probably during assisting the last tea ceremony. The shoes that I wore hurt a lot, but luckily I had silver ballerinas for in between and in the end I didn't take them of anymore (see pic below for the whole looks). The guys came around 7am and we played some games that are meant to proof themselves in honor of the groom. It was hilarious since they had to put on granny's lingerie (and they kept asking whose undies they were - they were like size XXL), apply lipstick to the other guys with their mouth (!) and pass on thin seaweed sheets with their lips (although they of course cheated), but we girls had our fun! After the groom listed up things why he loves his fiancee so much - in Chinese (and he never speaks Chinese), we were ready to go after the first quick tea ceremony (where the future bride pair show their respect to their parents and relatives by pouring them tea and in return get jewellery). The bride pair left immediately afterwards for the second tea ceremony for the groom's family in Rotterdam. The others followed shortly after to the city hall. The ceremony was beautiful and a little glamorous since all the bridesmaids and groomsmen (in total 8 couples) walked in front of the bride and her dad. After the ceremony ended, we congratulated the couple, took some pictures and had a little private photo session with the girls and guys, where this one was made:

Very nice shot!

We were on a tight time schedule, so we drove to the hotel to have a quick bite and started preparing the venue (mostly checking out the preparations so far, continue decorating the reception area, setting up the beamer, etc). Around 3pm the third and last tea ceremony for the bride's family took place, closely followed with th cake cutting, tossing of the bouquet and garter - and guess who caught the bouquet?
All of the girls were stepping more and more to the back and somebody said the bouquet should not fall on the floor (bad luck?) and I was encouraging the other girls to catch it (since I was one of the two single ladies), but they didn't want to. In the end, the bouquet fell right into my hands .. It was even worse with the guys - they stood like 5m away from where the garter landed and it fell right on the floor. Then one of the groomsmen picked it up (who has a gf and a child), so maybe I'll be dancing on his wedding soon?!

Bouquet

Afterwards, it was time to sit at the reception table to greet the incoming guests, accepting the red pockets on behalf of the married couple, assigning them to the right tables, etc. We were blessed with excellent weather, but it was really warm in the dining room, since the airco broke down, which resulted in people sweating, undressing and make up running down the couture (yes, this is taken from SATC). Nevertheless, the speeches were beautiful and touching and the food was good (although too tired to eat further than the 3rd of 10 courses, which was a waste) - I didn't even eat the cake until the next morning, because I was rushing around taking care of things, but the cake was delish! It was a mango-passion fruit cake covered with sugar! At the end of the eve, I even managed to dance a little bit after the bride and groom performed a sexy first dance.
We were all pretty beat around 1am, since we were awake since more than 20hrs, therefore we didn't stay so long. All in all, it was a successful day despite some minor hick ups in between and I enjoyed myself, especially having fun with the guys (and girls). More pics will be revealed, when the newlyweds are back from their honeymoon in the Caribbean.

My sis & I in our dresses

 ***

The next day, my sis and I were in a rush to get to Schiphol, the airport of Amsterdam and dropped our car there to take off to MALLORCA! We landed in the late afternoon and headed right to the Mango outlet. Luckily we rented a car, since public transportation sucks on the Balearic island. Although it was a tiny box on wheels (Kia Picanto), it fulfilled its purposes. The Mango outlet was a little disappointing, but we scored each 3 items nonetheless! Since we were late for the hotel dinner (which is located more than 1hr from the airport and outlet), we walked to the city center of Cala Ratjada to get some first tapas.
On Wednesday, we went to the beach of Cala Mesquida to get a little tan (no sun allergy, yay! Therefore 5 mosquito bites in the hotel lobby. :(), then drove to the city center of Palma to do some shopping and a little bit of sightseeing (since Sam hasn't been to Mallorca before), which was quite successful. In the evening, we decided to have paella in the city instead of rushing back to the hotel.



Snapshots of our holidays

On Thursday, we woke up early to head out to Cap de Formentor, a lighthouse on top of a hill/mountain. Unfortunately, I broke one of my contact lenses the night before, so I had to buy new ones. If I go on vacation for a longer period, I always bring spare ones, but not for a short trip. Next time, I will (and I advice all contact lense wearers to do the same) since I don't feel like walking in my glasses. The drive up to the lighthouse was fun, since the road is very narrow, steep and bends sharply for some parts. The view was breathtaking and worth the drive up (also for the second time, since I've been to Mallorca 4x already and on the lighthouse noe for the second time). Then we went to another part of Palma to finish our shopping route, which was less successful for me. I was saying to my sis that I haven't bought anything yet, then she said: You bought two pairs of shoes! I already forgot since she bought so many more clothes .. In the end, apart from the shoes, I "only" bought 1 dress, 1 pair of pants, 1 skirt, 1 pullover, 1 leggings and 3 shirts/tops.

My purchases (incl. the one, I'm wearing) and I (taken from Cap de Formentor)

Now I'm killing time in the plane by writing this blog entry (time is precious) with my iPhone! We have a 2.5hrs drive back to DUS ahead of us. I'm not sure if I will do anything for the rest of the weekend, since I am really exhausted and have to drive about 4.5hrs to HH on Sunday afternoon - by myself. I will be drop dead tired if I get there .. But it was worth it!

Oh two things that made my day:
1. Hilarious video of how I caught the bouquet
2. I bought a bottle of wine and got asked for my ID!

Happy last days of May!

First sun allergy

I try to keep up with my blog, since I had some "complaints" about my loooong post the last time .. :P

Last Thursday, I hurried back home after work to pack my stuff and meet a 'stranger' for my ride home. In Germany, they are known as "Mitfahrgelegenheit", it's like pre-arranged carpool/hitch-hiking thing, where you can look for people online that drive a certain route and look for passengers. It was my first time and the girl, I drove with was very nice, we had a good talk and the 4,5h drive didn't seem that long any more.

On Friday, my schedule was jam-packed, I had brunch in Düsseldorf at Café Schwan, which was nice, but the price-quality-ratio was only okay, especially compared to Café May in Hamburg. Café Schwan had less choice, it was not arranged that nicely and the price was a little higher. Therefore, the area (Altstadt, near the Rhine-promenade) was more appealing! Afterwards, we went strolling around the promenade, where it's all about seen and to be seen, which is a thing that I dislike about Düsseldorf .. mostly it were younger women with older men, accessorized to the max with Chanel handbags, Gucci shoes, big jewellery and far too much make up. Later, I went house-viewing, since my friend just build his first house very close to where my parent's live. I like his taste and his kitchen is gorgeous - white, simple, yet modern - without any knobs or handles. I forget to take pictures .. I will catch up next time once it's ready and he has his bar installed ;-)

Düsseldorf, my other home ..

For the rest, my Easter weekend was very low key. After the fully planned Friday, I was pretty beat. I tried to relax most of the times, although I woke up early every morning, was bored and struggling with my sun allergy. I hate it! Every year when the first sun comes out, it hits me and I get a rash on both arms and it itches like crazy - just because I spent a little too much time outside .. I will try to plan nothing in the weekend, which is hard for me, since I hate wasting time and doing nothing is wasting time for me, but I think it will help me relax more and make me more fit for the week ahead .. let's see if I can resist! ;-)

Sam's Easter basket

I am looking forward to May, since it's my favourite month of the year, since the weather is most enjoyable, flowers blossom the most beautiful and there are the most public holidays - at least in Germany (since it's a rather religious country)! Also my cousin is going to marry and I will be one of the bridesmaids, which means there are a lot of things to look forward to. I will be also planning the bachelorette's party (it will even be a weekend), so that will be even more fun ..
We got the dresses made in Hong Kong in a very nice lilac color and I can't wait to try them on .. now I am challenged to find the perfect matching (and comfortable) shoes and maybe even handbag within a month. I just found these .. what do you think? yes or no? gold or silver?

That's it for now .. I will catch up on some series .. I hate online streaming by the way .. any tips to watch with a better quality for free and legal, let me know!

Happy short rest-week ahead! :)

First busy week ahead

Last week was pretty low-key, since my boss was on holidays and she didn’t leave me with many tasks to do. I had some introductory meetings with colleagues from other areas and departments to get to know them better, their work field and also to understand the business better. I went to have a look at a crystal lamp, which I’m now bidding on online, since the store price is much higher than what I saw on eBay. It’s really nice and would fit perfectly into my new apartment. However, since I’ve seen it gone away for half price online, I also only want to pay a little bit more than that. 

On Friday evening I went out to an Asian party to celebrate the Chinese New Year and I was quite disappointed. The location was small, the crowd more non-Asian and the atmosphere was missing. But after some drinks, I went dancing and it got more entertaining. In the end I was back at the B at 5.30am in the morning, in bed by 6 and got up at 8.30am to go to Schwerin to visit a friend. Besides the very nasty weather – it was non-stop raining and very windy, it was very nice and relaxing. We went sightseeing despite the bad weather conditions, got a private tour of the Schwerin cathedral for an hour (very interesting!) and made a quick stop at the castle. The city center is very cute and the city itself is partly rebuild after Hamburg, which made it more special. 

Schwerin Caste

Schwerin market square (reminded me of Tallinn town hall square)

Furthermore, Schwerin is surrounded picturesque lakes, of which my friend literally lives at. Unfortunately, I could not enjoy the view due to the constant rain, but I’ll be back in the summer for sure. :) It’s just an hour away from Hamburg and the ideal weekend trip to the beach! We didn’t (or more couldn’t) do that much (outside), just had a typical Mecklenburg-Vorpommern meal (for me very German), but it was delicious! I have never ordered non-Chinese duck before, but since it was a specialty of the province, I had to. I also never had “Klöße” before – some kind of German dumplings made of potatoes, but I really finished the whole plate (except for the decoration and the duck skin). Yum! 

Crispy Mecklenburg farmer's duck filled with with dried fruit, apple red cabbage and home-made potato Klöße

We spent the rest of the Saturday evening at home having cake, chai tea latte with chocolate, watching DVD and chatting until 2pm at night (despite the lack of sleep the night before). On Sunday, we had a long late breakfast, went for a very short walk along the beach (a must – even though it was still raining) and made pasta with salmon, before I had to leave again. It was the perfect girl’s weekend!

DVD "Atonement" with wine and chocolates

A must-picture at the beach (with my friend's apartment in the background)

The whole day today I was sooo tired, although I should have been relaxed, but maybe I was just too long outside in the weekend in the nasty weather. But this week is going to be very busy. My boss is back and it’s our monthly closing. Today I already spent 11hours at work and it’s just the beginning. Therefore, this is it for now. I intended to blog more often, but I’m so tired after work that I don’t feel like blogging at all. I think I just have to get used to work life. I hope the pictures make up for it though. ;-)

Have a fabulous week!