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So -why on earth did I choose to travel in the cold?

HM and I have been friends since 1999: HM is one of those old friends I can not only debrief various stuff with but also bare my soul to and expect to receive rationale, honest and non-judgemental feedback (and vice versa). We started off our angst-ridden PhD journey together (not realising that the other was equally angst) and have found out since then that nothing is too insignificant for us to dissect and discuss.

Finally catching up: I had chosen to make the long train journey involving 3 changes despite desperately wanting to stay and settle into everyday life here because HM and I hadn't seen each other since February 2010, mainly due to our conflicting schedules. And we had so much things to catch up on: our respective move to different continents, new additions to our family and changes we were experiencing in our professional lives. 

Of course, I didn't expect to spend long minutes waiting for delayed trains or have the journey time expanded. Still, I suspect this would not have swayed me from making the journey. It was an investment I could afford and wanted to make. Sometimes, one just has to bite the bullet and do tedious things like hopping on and off economy class coaches to maintain special friendships don't you fink? 

 

Germany

Hello from Ingolstadt.

Herr Meyer (HM) has just left for the airport to go back to North America; I'm going to the train station shortly to head back home. HM's mum has gave me a lot of jam to bring back, knowing from past years how much I LOVE her home made jam. HM's dad who doesn't speak to me very much (not surprisingly as I don't speak any German...yet) might drive me to the station with his hunting car if HM's mum is not back from the airport in time. Yesterday, I saw a dead bird with nice feathers outside on the driveway.. HM's dad motioned to me to see what's inside the garage like store. I was expecting to see another dead bird - maybe a bigger or more beautiful one .. and screamed when I saw instead a wild boar hanging from the ceiling: a bounty from HM's hunting a few days ago. 

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I had a very pleasant surprise yesterday - meeting up with old friends from Spain. I had written on fb that I was here and it was spotted by a couple of Spanish friends who had moved here. They had been living outside Barcelona in the same old farm house as F from a few years back and the last time I had seen them was probably over dinner in 2003 or 2004. They exclaimed themselves to be Spanish -ergo having no problems to spontaneously show up at HM's house at 930pm last night. We had a great time catching up. 

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. 
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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.

 

 

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.

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.  

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.

 

Sleep over at home

A reversal of roles: the gals accepted my invitation and came over to spend the afternoon and the evening at ours.

I wanted to cook something special for them and chose beef rendang for lunch. E and woke up early to go shopping. Surprisingly we managed to source most of the rendang ingredients from the German supermarket - even the more untypical ones (eg lemon grass paste, desiccated coconut). The dish turned out quite well and E reckons it would also be a hit with his parents next time they're here.

We stayed up watching films: "A lot like love" which was suitably fluffy and entertaining and "L'appartment" - a film G and I liked from many years ago. I had forgotten most of the details and even the ending of the story - so it almost felt like the first time. One of the main characters was played by Monica Bellucci - she looked very fresh and beautiful. Watching the film - I was reminded of the times G and I caught discounted day films at the Swiss centre in London.

A pix from last year

I like this pix a lot. We took it while attending LS's wedding in Penang, Malaysia -last year in May.

SK and I shared a room at the venue - the old blue mansion. I didnt know it had ghosts until I was there. And man, was I spooked.  Poor SK had to deal with a-sometimes-hysterical- me - .. it was funny (I can say that now).

We are the champions!

Monday pub quiz here. And guess what? We (SK's regular group that I crashed) won! Woop woop. So freaking pleased. Too pleased. Omg, I think I've become super competitive since I left my job in HK.

I had another good day today: Woke up late - without any essay due, which felt terrific. We went for a Thai massage {bliss} and then had lunch (delicious mustard with my baguette) and then to the shoe shops (SK bought some really cute boots!). After that, I went to the hairdressers (haven't been since Menorca in Aug - much needed {so expensive in CH, I've been told} - missing beloved Kenji in HK!) and then home and then out for dins (tex-mex) and the montly pub quiz where SK's group won!

Hurrah.

It's really lovely to spend time with SK and share a snippet of her life!

The quiz in action -- hisptamatic app on iphone  not working so well - it was dark. Gave up and went back to regular camera on iphone. 

Eh....guess the states in Germany - resized and turnaround .... Que?

Prizes for the winners -- Jagermeister! 

SK and me :-)

Visiting a friend

Another essay sent after a few very late nights - E thinks I turn mad and obsessive once I start writing them. I suspect the same thing.

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I hopped on the train to come here earlier in the day to visit SK, a close family friend. I worked on an essay on the train so the journey felt shorter than 3 hours. I was pleased with myself for having the foresight to be organised enough to have brought along a separate small school bag. I stashed it under my seat and it had all the necessary things for me to work well on the busy train. Less so when I got here and realised I had been careless -  jumping off the train in haste without my trusty Swiss to Europe adapter (which I use A LOT at home and had left behind in the power socket of my train seat). What a bugger (of course, Poor SK had to hear me whinge about this stupidity at least 10x since picking me up from the station).

I spent a very pleasant Sunday afternoon with SK: catching up in person over cakes and tea before heading back to the  cute home she's currently living  (there I finally sent off my essay -but not before asking SK's help to proof read it first) . We enjoyed dinner at a nearby Italian resto  - with one of SK's friend. The conversation was both fun and funny.  

I've had a really good day.