Type Delete Retype

Settling in

{view from iced window upstairs - old home)

Back home: An uneventful and smooth flight back to Basel but a wonderful welcome at the airport. I was greeted by E and LE - the latter rushing and jumping towards me. I had missed him so very much there was nothing to do but to drop my bag and catch him for a long, big hug. It's so nice to see him again - I really (100x) love him.   

It's snowing: E and I talked about taking LE out for a walk in the forest on Sunday - after I arrived but reconsidered when it started snowing. We subsequently kept warm, playing indoors and watching cartoons on television. It is still snowing but LE's teachers and school mates are made of sterner stuff: this morning LE joined them for his weekly activities in the forest.  

Where am I again? I'm jet lagged. This time I'm not only feeling disoriented but also achy, like I've caught a bug from my fellow passengers. Dangdamnit. I know I'm back in Basel now (and not Singapore or KL or Spain or HK or Copenhagen) but still I'm not feeling entirely settled: we are making trips to and fro our old house and new apartment as the latter is still missing many things including much needed wifi.    

Sniff sniff

I'm sitting at the airport lounge waiting to board the flight back home with a lump in my throat after waving goodbye to G&T. Dangdamit - How I wish G and I live closer to each other.

Sing-sing

It has been a while

It has been some time I know. We had to leave the idyllic Langkawi Island after 2 nights to spend some time with the family in KL. It was a mostly rushed affair in KL, as we had to squeeze in a few things within a short space of time. I was also knackered, working late at night on my term paper which resulted in little-sleep-more-clumsy-and disoriented-me. And then we returned to Sing-Sing to do our respective things like work, meet friends, colleagues and most important of all, spend time with family members including adorable little boys. Amid all these, E and I succeeded in carving out an evening where we could have a 1-1 session to connect and debrief properly. E surprised me with dinner reservations at a restaurant near where we had our first date in 2010; I reciprocated by showing up with extended eyelashes and blow dried hair. The next day we escaped again, where we ended up watching a film (Sherlock Holmes) which we both enjoyed. E has departed for a few more places around the world. I'm still in Sing-Sing where I've had the pleasure of celebrating the lunar new year with G and family and friends and ran in the morning these past few days with G&T at the nearby park. The next few days will see me flying to KL and back before hopping on the plane to CH.

We are 40

{Birthday party - Langkawi Island}

 

We (G and I) had a lovely party (organised/hosted by T and helped by E) on Langkawi Island. It was magical; a number of old close friends showed up to help us celebrate. 

I panicked about turning 40 a few months back. But that's all over now. I'm older and wiser i.e. calm and happy to be *alive* and to have so much love in my life.

I'm determined to make this year and decade the best one evah!

 

Around me (while I wait for the tram)

 

I discovered this blog when I was mooching about in the bedroom in Spain. I love it.

Our new apartment

(The First supper)

I'm loving our new apartment. It's still barely furnished and all the empty space is making me feel calm and good. We are still missing ceiling lights and are making do with table lamps and fairy lights; this makes the living room dark but cozy.

Last night, E and I had our first supper at home, consisting mostly of salad (we are on a diet after the excesses of the last weeks) and accompanied by Drop Dead Diva. Afterwards, I went back to work (writing my term paper on Afghanistan) while E watched a few American dramas in Spanish.

Our new sofa is extremely comfortable; our bed is even better. Truly, I do think we did well with our choice of mattress and pillows considering the improvement in our quality of sleep.

I had brought a few boxes from HK to the new apartment. I found a few items broken (a wine decanter, sake jug and 2 tier cake stand) while unpacking my "kitchen" boxes. Sigh, a little bit sad as they were items I favoured (unsurprisingly having discarded all the things I didn't feel strongly about). Mais, cie la vie -they are only possessions which can be replaced in the grander scheme of things I suppose.

We are leaving for Singapore later today. Business class tickets courtesy of E as an early birthday pressie - Big YAY. I must remember to stock up on Swiss chocolates at the airport.

Basel

Back in Basel but not for long. It's not sunny here, unlike in Zaragoza. The skies are grey and it's dark outside. Not too bad as at least, it's not windy and raining, which was the case everyday in the UK Midlands (yes, yes, I am a broken record). We spent most of yesterday unpacking and packing for our few nights in the new apartment and upcoming trip to Singers (G and I turn 40 this weekend!). I'm really looking forward to celebrating our birthday and being in the heat again.

I can be obsessive and annoying I know, repeating an incident over and over again. The last big episode was about losing a pair of spanking new wolfords tights which I just couldn't find in my bag as I was dressing to say I do. Poor E and G had to hear me go on about it for days afterwards while we were in Denmark and then Asia. We came back home and I still couldn't find it, despite turning our bedroom upside down - cue for E to hear me go on (and on) with greater force...until last night - when I found it while unravelling my wardrobe! Amazing grace. YaY! 

Next obsession nipped in the bud: E reckons that I will not stop going ack over the VAT incident as I do about my tights (and before that, the adapter I left behind on the train to Germany). He mentioned he would compensate me to minimise the obsession but I didn't take him so seriously. Until last night when he actually did it! Rright after I waved the tights to him. Haha. He's convinced that it's best to nip my VAT thing in the bud i.e. before I get worse seeing as I won't have much else to obsess about having found the tights. As if (yes!)

Home sweet home

Hurrah, I mean Yay, for we have arrived back home!

The departure was a bit fraught: waking up before 4am, squeezing all the last few items in our bags (breaking a nail in the process) and then putting all the bags in the car boot for the 2 hour + journey in a tetris like way for our trip to Barcelona airport with the PIL. Passing security check points with so many layers of clothes, boots and lap tops that needed to be deposited in trays and a wandering 4 year old added to the chaos.

Damnation: I realised after we boarded the plane that I had forgotten to get my VAT forms stamped at the customs. The refund amount was substantial enough and even an inducement for the shopping. To think that all that effort of getting the forms and collecting the receipts was for nada de nada.

The picture below was taken yesterday, in the city, while I was walking on the main street on the way to Cortes Ingles to get the VAT forms sorted out. The statues have very long slim legs which I envy.

A delicious bottle of wine

We had this bottle of Spanish wine with dinner. Well, actually E and FIL. I just took a few sips from E's glass (and am still sipping). It's only retailing at Euro 5.95 at the moment. I think it could justify a higher price. It taste rich, fruity and smooth and has a nice finish. Nice smell - similar to its taste. The grapes are Syrah, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. The producer is Oller del Mas from the region Pla De Bages. It's apparently produced in an ecologically friendly way. We (E and I) will likely finish the bottle as it's bloody good (and I'm not preggers*).

We are departing tomorrow at 4am! I'm sooooooooooooo 100x looking forward to having my own space again. YAY.

 [*I thought I could surprisingly be, just because of my expanding tummy but I've checked and confirmed that I'm not - my tummy is just a fcuking lot bigger because of my multi-course luncheons and 10pm dinners] 

 

A few Yays

An update further to my earlier post re: red + white bikes: I've seen many more people using them around town. I think it's a great effort by the people who thought about it and the city administrators who agreed to go along with it. I'm all for biking vs. driving in the city and saying yay to Zaragoza bikes in the same way the character Stacy does in Drop Dead Diva. Yay! 

We have started packing:  E's brother has given him for Christmas, a wardrobe of new-ish clothes to bring back home to Swizzer. All very well except that E's bag can no longer accomodate my two pair of boots. The boots are too bulky for my medium sized luggage (yes, it is also padded with pressies). Thankfully, we have solved this problem by purchasing the right to check in an additional bag. I am relief. Yay to budget airlines and the flexibility they afford.

I'm continuing to work on my term paper:  Pounding the keyboards in PIL's kitchen trying to tie everything I gleaned from the interviews together with the theoretical background (Yay?) having successfully excused myself from another night out at a tapas bar with E's Spanish speaking friends (Yay!). This morning, E and I had a meeting with another army doctor who served in North Afghanistan to get some colour on the conditions there. She brought along pictures which looked like they were pinched from National Geography. 

 

On identical twins

discovered via http://www.susannahconway.com/

Spellbinding Portraits of Identical Twins - My Modern Metropolis

Talk about uncanny! New York-based photographer Martin Schoeller (who you remember from here) recently took photographs of identical twins for an interesting National Geographic story. The intricate details of the photographs, caught by Schoeller's professional camera, exposes every detail of the subjects' faces. By putting portraits of twins side by side, it's easy to see how remarkably similar the two faces look. In fact, it's sometimes hard to tell one from the other!

via www.mymodernmet.com

 

A few things that keep me busy (sane)

(Kitchen wall, Students House)

I think I've mentioned here before, in my basket ball/cheerleaders related post that although I can now understand some Spanish (when people speak slowly)(usually for my benefit), I can't speak it ('yet', I would add, on the days I'm feeling  more optimistic). Hence, going out meeting people, or even staying in with PIL requires effort.

On some days, making an effort or understanding conversation is not enough. It could be the the cumulative affect, or my feeling of exclusion. The latter could be due to several reasons and include: my inability to speak/participate, being with others who are simply uninterested in me, E not being able to translate because everyone is talking at the same time or just forgetting to do it. Whatever it is - it's totally crap and makes me want to do a few or all of the following depending on how progressive I'm feeling:

(1) Stand up, shake my fist and shout "Enough!" and storm off 

(2) Scratch and prick the sofa (secretly)

(3) Be diligent about learning Spanish so I can speak it fluently (and while I'm at it -German and French too)

Anyhow, today was such a day. What I did do instead was to have a strop, go out for an hours walk by myself which led to a shopping spree at a German home furnishing store where I bought a few pastel coloured table mats and kitchen cloths for our new apartment.

It's not all bad. Sometimes, the conversations are totally in accordance to my interests and wishes. For example, this morning we had a second meeting with a medical doctor who had served in Afghanistan just talking about the ongoing conflict resolution efforts there. This came about after I had mentioned to FIL and E that I planned to do a case-study for my term paper and couldn't decide on Iraq, Afghanistan or the Middle East. FIL got in touch with a medical doctor he knew and I had an appointment with E acting as translator.

It's nice to be distracted or kept sane by my work AND have a furnishing shop nearby selling lovely things.  

 

Capitulating

Yet another Tapas Bar 

 

Ok, I'm admitting defeat ... putting on weight NOW during Christmas, New Year, 3 Kings is inevitable when I'm with my new husband's parents, aunt, cousins, extended family and school friends. Goodbye weight loss; hello Chipmunk Cheeks.

Yeyse folks... I'm really crashing under pressure here and try as I might it's so hard to say no for the umpteenth time when we are out and about seeing or visiting E's cousins, old colleagues, old school friends, LE's uncle, all the people we have been meeting and not eat the food that's served specifically on my plate by Aunt C. 

I'm so relief and happy to have only a few days left here. Spain and Spaniards, I truly love you, but I have to say, I'm severely tested now that I'm married to a Spanish hombre.

Argh to the pressure of eating and drinking!

 

El Parque

I went for a run at the parque again this morning. This time, I brought my iphone so that I can take some pictures to show you how lovely it is. It is still a surprise to me - how unassuming the park sits, just 10 minutes away from here, behind the yellow and grey gates and walls. I've passed by the park at least twice, unknowingly, only seeing the bustling traffic at the roundabout opposite the park instead. 

Around El Tubo

 

Pictures - Red

A bar in the old town: The view from the 1st floor of a Algo Mas, a bar in El Tubo where I was waiting. We ate tapas and drank wine at this bar (amongst others) on the afternoon of New Year's Eve with E's mates and their mates. A couple had brought along their 3 years old twins: one wore a scarf with red stripes and the other, blue stripes. This reminded me of G and I - growing up with our favourite colours: blue (G's) and red (mine). We still like the same colours -although these days I'm more partial to orange vs. red and like pink as much as red. 

 

 

Bicycles for rent: I didn't see as many bicycles (on stands, for rent) around the city last year as I do now (although in the two + weeks here, I've seen only one person inserting coins into the machine and taking a bike. It was a young-ish lady and she had multiple bags of groceries).  There are also more bike lanes, as well as pedestrian lanes next to the new tram lines at the expense of roads for cars. E thinks it's a bad idea to convert roads into pedestrian lanes, making it just impossible to drive around the city; I like pedestrian friendly cities and have counter argued him based on my biases, even though I don't know which side I would really support if I was living here. 

 

 

A random fire truck: E and FIL went into the government office in Huesca to sort out some stuff. I initially stayed in the car fiddling my iphone (deleting contacts I hardly talk to) reluctant to take a step outside as it was cold and windy.  But ended up joining E and FIL when they waved to me. I took this picture on the way into the government office. The latter reminded me of a typical department in the city where I grew up (i.e. only one person serving many people -  many years ago - I suspect it is not the case now). Incidentally, the Bahasa word for "Bomberos" is "Bomba".

Oh - To be fit

I don't know whether you've noticed from my previous postings - Luncheons are BIG affairs here with the E's family. Meals during festive occasions are especially elaborate, involving many (and I mean many, many, many) different courses including pre-appetisers (like in the picture above) and numerous bottles of (Spanish) wine.

Last year, I didn't dare to say "gracias, no"  too many times, especially to E's Tia C and Madre who are zealous cooks, so  I ended up feeling overwhelmed and a good few pounds heavier (90% of them piled on my cheeks). This year, I'm more prepared -saying no to generous portions (having practised saying "no" at least 10x a day before we came here, in front of the miror and accompanied by a picture of E's Tia C).

I've also been much more mindful about marginal enjoyment from consumption, stopping before I feel full (even if it means leaving stuff on my plate) and going out for walks outside in the cold even when everyone else is having a siesta or watching television in the warmth of the casa. Of course - you also know about my new party trick:  to swap a glass of vino or G&T for agua con gas and choose tapas with the least amount of carbs whenever possible (harder to avoid the fried tapas).

I've not been able to do this all the time - and especially not during Christmas/New Years eve and day but this is inevitable I think.  An unexpected and big challenge for me this year is to decline the after lunch-tray of turon which typically comes with coffee. All sorts of yummy flavours - chocolate, almond, pine nuts, caramel. All calling out to be tasted. 

I don't know whether I've avoided putting on weight these past few weeks here. I do know that I'm doing generally well given the many temptations and pressure from the various family and social events. This morning, I went out for an an hour's jog - discovering the nearby park which E's family have mentioned a number of times. It was very pleasant and I plan to repeat the experience in the coming days. I'm turning 40 in two weeks time and one of my goals for 40/2012 is to be as fit as possible.

4th attempt - More tapas from 2011

I've been trying to post here more pictures I took from my iphone relating to the different tapas we had during the last few days of 2011. They have all been unsuccessfully (as you've no doubt noticed). Aside from the usual problem with the app on iphone (which refuses to upload the pictures), LE has also been diligently helping me to  type whenever he sees me here with the lap top. Random "hsdNSGDFhsdikkkkfggg" is fine. Its the "Esc" which creates trouble. 

P.s. Yes, LE is back with us... and we are D.E.L.I.G.H.T.E.D.

2012

Happy new year!

Huesca, Dec 2011

Windy town in España

We spent most of the day at Huesca which is some 75km away from E's hometown of Zaragoza. The town is windy, significantly more than the city of Zaragoza. I was there accompanying the 2 Es to run errands and was subsequently treated to a cortado during a mid-morning break and for lunch, a delicious 3 course meal at a recently refurbished restaurant close to the train station. The bottle of wine we sampled at lunch was mediocre - a rare instance in E´s company and also very typical of the Spanish wine I drank before becoming acquainted with E. Later at home, E and I had a marathon viewing of the sitcome "Drop Dead Diva", finally completing the first series. I couldnt help myself and wanting to know more (and get on with my life) went on to the website to read the episode guides for Season 2 and Season 3. I feel better after knowing about what is going to happen but a tad bit disappointed with the writers for what I suspect is a string of tease and retreat. Still all very entertaining so all´s well I suppose.  

The restaurant where we had lunch  

We sat overlooking the train tracks

This traffic light was swaying because of the wind - I know this picture doesnt show this   

Night out watching basket ball

 

I've caught a bad cold these last few days. I hesitate to call it "flu" because although I'm suffering a coughing fit, a terrible sore throat and a nose bleed, I'm not too weak to stay put in bed and neither do I have a raging fever. I'm also evidently well enough for walks (to get some exercise to mitigate the eating) even if it's windy and chilly outside. &*%$, probably the reason why this cold is not only prolonging but worsening.  

I have however, begged off a few of E's social activities when not feeling "too well". I think I deserve the break: I really do have to make a big effort to understand 1/3 of the conversations. During my time alone in the room (Tia C's room to be exact), I 've discovered a number of lovely blogs on cooking, fashion and design. They are wonderful. I know I would not have found them if I wasn't hiding in the borrowed room, using E's Ipad and clicking on unfamiliar links. 

I was tempted to use the I'm not well card again last night (especially as I was NOT feeling well having spent most of the day in a cold house in the country, while E indulged in some winter BBQing). But I didn't and went along with PIL's good idea to watch live basket ball with his friends. We were given good tickets; we sat not too far from the court (but clearly, not near enough for me to take good pictures from my iphone).

The match was entertaining. Basket ball I realise again, is more my cup of tea than non-world cup football or rugby matches. However, I was a little disconcerted by the suit wearing managers (why the need to be so formal?) and more so by the cheer-leading performance during the breaks. The direct transfer of culture from America to Spain? Or the spectacle of teenagers disrobing, while flicking their hair suggestively and then dancing energetically watched by an audience consisting of mostly middle aged men (some of whom had booed and made dismissive comments relating to a woman referee).

We went to a tapas bar for dinner after the match (my stomach is now used to late luncheons and dinners after more than a week here) and there I tried again to follow the conversation - while also lapsing into my own thoughts,  mulling whether I was turning into my dear late grandmother who was always distressed watching the accompanying dancers on solid gold and similar programmes.   

Jeez... Am I really becoming a boring prude again (in my old age)? Or am I just concerned about the role and perception of women, especially in the context of women not being taken seriously. I don't know (I do know that I have no moral views or objections about women working in lap dancing bars or exchanging sex for money).   

Zurich before Spain

I think I mentioned here that I had spent a day in Zurich before coming here to Spain. That was my first time hanging out there.  My friend and course mate  T who lives there,  picked me from the train station. We spend an hour or so walking around the station itself, which was decorated with lights and full of Christmas stalls selling artisan goodies. I had to remind myself  that NO!  I did not need anything extra for myself a few times, as I'm not earning any dosh at the moment. Instead, I focused my attention on pressies to bring to Espana. These included yummy looking items like the ones in the pictures below (rose flavoured liquor and lavender scented bath flakes).   

J, another course mate who also lives in the city joined us for an hour or so. We walked around the old town with her. The streets were cobbled; I took pictures of some of the lovely window displays knowing that they would also make G go 'ahh' if she had been walking with me. 

J led us to a cake shop in the old town (seen in this picture below) where her mum used to bring her in as a child for afternoon treats. We put our heads in and that's when I saw the cake display. I was completely sold and promised to return.  Which is what T and I did later, spending a few good hours in there, chatting while nibbling our delicious moist chocolate cake and apple strudel respectively accompanied by our choice of hot tea. The cafe has at least 3 floors (we were on the 2nd floor) and was completely full when we we were there. 

 

9 days later

So, I'm continuing writing and posting using typepad app on my iphone but it seems as if the posts are lost in transit and will never appear here.

Hmm. And hmmm. 

So --- what's the latest since 9 days ago? 

I am (we are) still in Spain for our year end holidays.

LE is now with his mum.

I continue to be tempted by all the delicious tapas that are on offer and indeed caved in a couple of times - i.e. consumed carbs & alkie. And not out of hunger and thirst, but simply for pleasure AND on several occassions too. Tsk, tsk, tsk. 

Not counting my smaller lapse during family meal times (where I am under the watchful eye of Tia C's eyes who takes pleasure in cooking and watching us eat) - the first big transgression was on Christmas eve: We (E and I) were in Madrid for 2 days, after saying goodbye to LE. On Christmas eve, we hung out with E's cousins and friends and my current drink of choice, "agua con gas" was sneered at and swiftly replaced by cervesa (which is incidentally something I like and would drink it at every given opportunity if not for my chipmunk cheeks). Gloves off,  I went on to enjoy all the fried tapas that were on offer.

The other occasion was just  few days ago when E and I spontaneously hopped from one bar to another for an extended lunch of tapas which included a delicious but totally WRONG plate of fried eggs and potatoes. The alarm bells were ringing but... the door for other plus calorie-evilness opened and I indulged in several glasses of vino blanco and sugary sweet mojito. We started our tapas lunch/tea/dinner/supper at 2pm and finished at 12.30 at night.  Hello Kitty (who is currently half a world away from us) came to my mind a few times.  Funny - I could imagine her joining us for the impromptu afternoon-evening out. 

Point of interest: One bar served Japanese tapas (see below). Another newly opened one served fried squids dipped in teriyaki sauce.  We met E's friends last week at a Japanese restaurant which served Japanese sounding food which looked like Spanish dishes (garlic mayonnaise, tortilla etc). I see a trend.

There are a few cozy bars in the old part of town (El Tubo). The picture below does not really capture the comfortable and pleasing bar we sat in for a few good hours drinking cocktails. 

Tapas for dins last night

We had another tapas dinner last night. It's hard to say no to such delicious food. I'm trying to mitigate this by not drinking any alkie, walking as much as I can and avoiding carbs.

Delicious fried squids - Bula Restaurant 

Colouring

I'm trying to keep LE occupied and entertained without resorting to too much television. At the moment, he's really enjoying a few books: a sesame street on splashing in the rain and the 12 bugs of Christmas as well as playing his collection of cars but then he starts getting restless.

Yesterday, I took a 3 hour walk around the city to have some air (I was also getting restless -cabin fever!) and found a papileria stocking coloring books and "plastidecors" (a cross between colour pencils and crayons). I bought them and started to use them with LE last night. We colored a few pages. This morning, E and I were woken up by an enthusiastic and excited flying cat who wanted to Colour! Colour! Colour!

LE is enjoying the activity very much - nearly as much as E and I.

Tapas

Tapas at El Rincon 

LE's sleeping company - Leo the lion

One of the many pressies by his grandmami. He (LE, not Lio) is adored by his Grampies.

In Spain for Christmas

We are away again - this time to E's hometown in Spain. I had written a longer post but it seems to have vanished and will never be found again. Wifi internet connection seems to be good and reliable here, so I may be able to post more often despite being away from home. 

Super nice

We saw LE yesterday after 1 month - it felt so good. We have missed him so so so much.

We attended his kindergarten's parent-child-teacher-Christmas-do yesterday morning. I was very taken by the cozy ambiance of the class room: candle lights, drawings and biscuits and cakes arranged around the room. We tasted the biscuits and hot drinks after watching the children perform a song and dance. The seven of them had started their act by walking into the dark class room with a painted glass jar containing a tea light while singing softly in German. The glass jar was handed to each parent by the child, with another art work and off he/she  went back to the centre of the room to sing, clap, thump and dance. We all (parents and teachers)  joined in at the end of the performance.

The experience made me feel warm and fuzzy and totally in love with Swizzer, especially since I had such a good day out in Zurich the day before. 

Lack of Internet

I'm missing regular Internet connection these days. I'm mostly away from home being out and about.

We had our first sleep over our new apartment last night. I had spend the day in Zurich while E had his office party in town. We both felt great about not having to worry about making our regular trek to get back home. E walked home while I simply hopped on a tram from the train station.

We are still missing lights on the ceilings and wall. This is my innovative effort of having some light in the flat. 

A joint effort

Colouring by S, 5; drawing by me (following instructions) 

The view

The view from our new bedroom window. It was one of the flat's selling point. 

Where am I? Part 2

Back in Basel now albeit just for a few days. I hopped off the plane in Zurich yesterday only to make a mad dash for the train to Basel and then straight to our new apartment so I could let in the people delivering and assembling our furniture. They took about 6-7 hours to finish. There was no place to sit until the sofa was ready so I stood around the apartment in various locations and took pictures of the flat, in between eating clementines (by the kitchen sink) serving the workers Danish Christmas biscuits + water (in the living room) and reading Gandhi's autobiography on my kindle for i-phone (in the kitchen by the radiator). I'm really looking forward to settling in our new place which in case I havent mentioned enough times before is right smack in the middle of the city i.e. only 2 minutes away from the market square. 

 

The view from our kitchen window -which I like very much.

 

 

Our living room (before the arrival of our new furniture) -

 

Leaving HK ... But first,

Lunch and natter with the lovely girlfriends in central followed by a visit to Kenji.  E is lovingly occupying himself now, while waiting for me to be done here at Kenji's (did I tell you? Kenji has left his old place and now owns his own shop - good for him non?). E and I had checked out of our hotel prior to lunch and after some time packing. We have time to play before departing later tonight. We hope to get a massage after this.

Last breakfast in singapore

I've been spending quality time with G and her bubbas since Monday. Today is my last day. Thank god I'll see them again in January. I would feel terribly miserable saying goodbye otherwise.

 

Preview picture by C

A pleasant surprise to wake up this morning to find this picture posted on my fb wall by our marriage photographer (C) in Denmark.

E and I very much enjoyed our photography session: we were whisked away by C to various locations around the beautiful island right after we toasted and cheered the marriage, our guests and organizers.

I think it was cold. But for the first time ever I was immune to it and could have continued walking around without my coat if it was necessary.

In fact, I remember feeling giddy and breathless with love for E and excited about our future.

 

Santa Claus was on our flight from Copenhagen to Zurich

He gave out treats on the plane and spoke to everyone. A Swiss looking man who had to wait behind him to get to the back of the plane (where we were) didn't look too pleased.

Santa Claus told G and I that we looked like Americans (eh?). G who has been looking for a santa suit for an occasion at work noticed that he wore a robe vs. trousers. Santa told E that E was the only guy who replied "anything" when asked which treat he wanted. I had chosen a biscuit with almonds; G had picked one with a picture of Santa for bubba D back at home. 

I took this picture of Santa when we were waiting to board the plane. G had before me tried to take a picture of him on her camera but shied away when he starred at her without smiling. Like us, he had checked in his stuff and had to wait by the conveyer belt to collect his sack upon arriving.

Whistle stop in HK

Our HK girl friends surprised us with a marriage themed tea party on Saturday. The dining room at L's home was decorated with candles and the table hosted an array of goodies to look at and eat. We were plied with champers. I was very touched. Afterwards we went on a surprise junk boat cruise across the harbour for dinner at a Spanish restaurant where the manager sang us a love song before we said goodbye. 
---
The night before (and upon arrival) E and I had hastily left our luggage at the hotel to meet up with a few of my ex-colleagues for a Friday post work drinks. It was lovely to see them and catch up. I had not eaten much since we left Copenhagen and hardly drank these past weeks (save for the few glasses at the closing ceremony at school) so the affect from the merry making sin dinner left me stupidly disoriented on Saturday.

 

 

Denmark

We said yes on a little beautiful island in Denmark. Going there and coming back was such an adventure involving planes, trains, buses, taxis, ferries and very tired booted feet. We are not home yet - currently lounging at an airport in Switzerland for a few hours, after arriving from Copenhagen and about to make tracks to Asia.

At the Danish island -we (henceforth named the laughing famous five) stayed overnight at a lovely old pensione. Breakfast there was a delightful affair with cute crockery and classical music in the background (playing from another room). Here are some pictures from the dining room.

It's official

We are Mr and Mrs!

Occupied

Hi- I've been occupied with a few things these past days like falling asleep whenever I find myself in a comfortable position and getting ready to fly away for a few weeks. Yesterday, I took a train to Zurich to collect the G who landed at noon. I'm so happy to see her after so many months I was jumping up and down with excitement. Last night, E and I cooked dinner and invited the lovely gals R and Z around so we could introduce them to G (and vice versa) and also say goodbye properly.We will spend most of today making our way to a place up north in Europe.

A picture

of our dancing troup, just before we started our second go at the Indian Dance.

 

The Party on Friday

I arrived to the school in the afternoon and was pleasantly surprised to find the hallway and ground floor decorated with candles and colourful roses.  The tables were set with tray after tray of yummy looking cheese and an assortment of cold cuts. The official ceremony, which started around 4pm was touching, funny and sometimes cheesy. Afterwards, we were treated to the lavish apero. The candle light certainly enhanced the cosy atmosphere. Some of us ran upstairs to decorate the upstairs room for the after party which included a short Indian dance for the graduating students -which I think I've talked about before. I had a lot of fun dressing up for the dance: trying to fix my sari so that it was secure and sticking the bhindi on my forehead while gulping down a shared glass of wine. We continued to dance and drink after our performance, taking only a short break to savour our self-cooked dinner of curry, lasagna and salad before continuing to dance and drink. The party took some effort to organise and prepare but was so totally worth it.  

A few close ups

The second poster

Nearly completed 

The finished product!

 

Art in progress

I cut a lot of crepe paper last night to make streamers and pom-poms. It  was a little bit tricky, messy and tedious.  I suppose I will be more inspired when I see the results later, probably when I string them out (or maybe not?).

I had more fun working on the poster. The first picture was taken last night before I went to bed (on the living room floor, where I left it at 2am) and the second one (propped up on the piano) after some inking this morning and becoming cross eyed.

Before:

After: 

Now on to the second poster!

Who is having fun? Fun? Fun? 

 

Not for today but maybe next year -for the party

Hello color-loving friends!Today I'm helping kick off the summer series over at Delia Creates and Kojo Designs.We're going to COLOR my SUMMER (and yours!) because summer feels a rainbow of never-ending fun. Swimming pools are open, flowers are in bloom, berries need picking, vacations are planned, the sun stays up late, and we celebrate our nation's birthday with fireworks and friends.So to color my summer, I'm sharing a rainbow-inspired party decoration that's easy to make and fun to stream around the house:Standard streamers feel like the oldest party decor in the book. But Ruffled streamers?...in multiple colors?....that can be used over and over? (if you're careful when you take them down). Fun, right?!

via www.dana-made-it.com

I need a sewing machine!

Preparing for the closing ceremony

Last class over: Some of us (like me) will be taking a long break, reconvening only at the end of February. Others will leave for new pastures. I think I've mentioned here (a few times even) that I've grown attached to a number of the gals who are leaving. Sniff sniff.

Well, the closing ceremony is tomorrow and we (the remaining students) have been busy preparing for the party tomorrow.

First - we have a surprise Indian dance - with sari et al. Our rehearsal which went badly last few times suddenly came together today. Very pleasing for us who are involved.

 

Second -  we are planning to cook dinner and have divided ourselves to the "curry team", "lasagna team" and "salad and drinks" (Can you guess which team I'm heading?). Four of us who had the time, hopped into B's rustic car to go shopping in Germany to buy the stuff from the discounted supermarket there. Hah, I felt like a student all over again  (that I am) - with B's erratic driving, us getting lost and Jimi Hendrix playing too loud on the iPod (I couldnt stand it and had to disappoint B by pressing the stop button). At Treasure Island, I discovered that the prices of wine were staggeringly low - especially compared to the ones I've been picking from co-op in Basel. At least 50-60 per cent less! Truly amazing.

We forgot about the decorations! My friend "I" pointed this out when we were unpacking back at school. Too true. I agreed to pick some up on the way home as I had parked the car in front of a home decor shop. Well, I went into the store and couldn't find anything suitable but did see a lot of art supplies. I've bought some and I'm going to spend tonight assembling something fun. I will keep you posted.