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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. 
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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.

 

 

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!

Get a haircut - done

I've not had a hair cut for at least 6 months. Maybe even longer. Pretty long time don't you think? I observed last week that perhaps it was my out- of- shape- hair that was contributing to my feeling blah about getting dressed to go out or even life in general. This, and realising I need to get myself together for next week, prompted a hair-melt-down/crisis discussion with E last Saturday night, which in turn led me to the Swiss hair salon this afternoon.  

Alor, why did I not do this sooner?  Well, aside from not noticing it was making me grumpy, it was because I was reluctant. A few reasons: (1)  I wasn't up to entering a shop to ask for an appointment, only to have the person carelessly shrug NO to me like I'm a dumb ass: because I can't speak German (as has been the case with the many nail shop I've skipped into and walk dejectedly out off); (2) I've been told so many times - "nooo...it's terribly, terribly, terribly expensive here in Swizzer ... you must go to France/Germany instead" and I listen to this because I don't want to spend more, especially as I'm not earning at the moment; (3) I don't trust strangers to cut my hair (colouring is ok), having learnt my awful lesson in HK when I was disloyal to beloved Kenji and went to see another hairdresser who butchered my hair (which led me to eat a lot of cake; I still haven't recovered). 

How it went this afternoon: Well, much better than I expected. Firstly, I could communicate with the hair stylist (yes, I was struggling to ask for an appointment in German until one of the ladies asked me whether I spoke Spanish)(no, no one spoke English). Secondly, the Spanish speaking hair stylish had nice layered long hair, so she knew exactly what I wanted. Thirdly, I  seized the opportunity and added highlights to my recently darkened hair to make me look less fierce (which is what I've been hearing lately). 

Voila. Now all I need to do is to solve my manicuring-pedicuring nails issue. 

Preparation complete?

Another El Weekend!

This afternoon, we will be celebrating LE's 4th birthday at a community hall with some of LE's friends and their parents. LE's mum is organizing it; we will bring LE to the fiesta. Last night, we presented LE with a wooden train set which extended his current set. LE was very excited to play with it - nearly as much as E and I.

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Meanwhile, at school yesterday, our class on conflict transformation relating to religion wrapped up at noon. After classes, a few of us spontaneously decided to hop on the train to a town in France to shop, watch films, eat, etc. I concentrated on visiting shoe stores having realized that my black and white dress needed new black boots. I don't speak French so I showed the picture of my dress to the one of the keepers of the store with a decent selection instead: She brought out three pairs for me to try and I settled on the last one. So it looks like I've got everything I need for the registration. Now what shall I do with my hair and nails?

Dresses etc

I've been walking around the city looking for a suitable dress to wear for the registration of our marriage. I can say that (1) everything costs more here compared to neighboring Germany and France and (2) the choice seems limited- ranging from glittery evening dresses to casual knitwear. Am I not looking at the right places?

In case you don't know - my (recurring) problem of not venturing to Germany or France is that I currently don't have the means to travel from the train station to home. It's a bugger to cycle home with plastic bags on the handle (I've tried it) and even more when it involves dark country lanes.

So, I didn't fall in love with any of the dresses I came across today. In fact seeing the other stuff today - I feel sure now of my plan to wear an existing unworn dress from Karen Millen. I had bought the black and white dress a few years ago in HK. I imagined at the time that I would wear it for a really special occasion. Funny how things turn out.

Having made that choice - I decided to buy a black smart bolero in case the vintage shrug I bought from the internet doesn't turn out as expected. Also a black and white short polkadot coat to match the dress. I will try and assemble them together tonight and see how they look with black tights and boots.

Unlike some of my friends, I never fantasized about a white wedding outfit or super wedding reception. I knew however that I wanted to be a super star at work. Come to think of it, I only thought about wanting a diamond ring (and marriage and kids) not too long before I met E. I'm wondering now whether I'm spoiling my own fun by not being conventional especially with the dress. Well - it's a thought I'm parking for now - I may yet decide on wearing one when we have our party next year.

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Moving on to another topic - this is a picture of one of our bath towels. When I first arrived, LE designated the smallest owl as me. Papi was the big owl and he (LE) was the middle one. One day, He switched us around: I became the middle one and he (LE) was the smaller one. I thought we had it all sorted out. But then, one day, LE asked his Papi whether I (Azurities) could eat chewing gum or did I have to be wait i.e. become older (said LE, while munching on his gum). Needless to say, this made me go hmmm. These days, with LE calling me Mama Gatito or Tiburon Grande I'm no longer as concerned.

Where am I?

These last few days of not having any classes and E around, traveling to Germany and communicating with my HK mates (to tell them I would be in town) has made me confused about where I am and where I'm going to be. I realise that classes (a temporary replacement for a career) play a significant part in grounding me - it gives me a sense of purpose and without the classes (and classmates) I feel like I'm drifting.

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I'm only now seriously thinking about what to wear for the occasion when E and I sign the official deed in Europe. Considerations: it's going to be cold and I would like to be warm; I would like to incorporate a vibe of playful and fun; I need to have the dress by 2 weeks. I've been scouring websites and my own wardrobe (I'm ashamed to tell you that I still have more than 10 new-unworn formal dresses - even after giving away half my wardrobe when leaving HK). Your creative ideas would be appreciated. Email me if you don't feel like leaving comments here.

X

Nervous for some reason

I've finally did it- sent out the save the date emails last night. I will admit to feeling nervous about sending it out. I'm not sure why. Is it the commitment to host the party? Or the not wanting to jinx our state of happiness? Or a multitude of other reasons. The draft had existed for some weeks. E will be sending his email out today, in Spanish. The countdown begins.