I'm Sorry.

So i'm back.

Every day that goes past and i don't write down my thoughts, an ounce of guilt hovers over me. It's not like i have nothing to say. I just have been occupied with other things. And by the time i'm done with whatever i was doing, the desire to sit down and spew out my thoughts in a logical manner doesn't exactly excite me.

But i think i know what my problem is.

More times than often, i am unable to downsize my posts to just a meer paragraph.

I need to learn that Less is More.

Generally, i find the whole blogging process rather long. First, i'll just type whatever comes into my head. Then i'll read over it at least once before i dive into iPhoto and pick out the more relevant photos. Then i'm in Photoshop to resize them so they don't take forever to upload and if necessary, edit them. I'm only allowed to attach five photos at a time and so inserting the pictures to the relevant paragraphs takes time. And then finally, i read through the post one or several times before i publish it.

And because i can't be arsed sometimes, i somehow convince myself that i'll blog later.

Later soon turns to days.

Days often adds up to a week.

I still have to upload photos from the weekend before and of course write about last weekend. But i'll see if i can work backwards.

If you are one of my Twitter followers, you may remember last weekend i may have said something along the lines of me being pissed off at J because Friday was his 3rd night in a row that he was playing Battleships and World-of-fucking-Warcraft.

We had previously agreed that every other day he would not play any computer games. And on that day he doesn't play, we would call it, Girlfriend Day.

But all hell broke loose when i woke up on Saturday morning and i found him still gaming since the night before.

Apparently, he is currently ranked #100 out of 30,000 players but his mission is to be one day ranked #1. And in order for that to happen, he would need to play a lot more.

So in the event that should happen, i told him, there's no guarantee that i'll still be around then.


After a few hours of silence, J felt guilty that he was ignoring me and suggested we get the Wellnesstag Hama package that included a day at the sauna, a 5 Euro voucher to be used in the café and a 30 minute Turkish Hammam massage at Aqualand. We later found out the massage involved lying on a marble table, get sanded down with some kind of glove and later soaped down and massaged.

But the idea of lying naked and being hidden by a semi-see through barricade in a room full of strangers watching didn't quite appeal to us. So J and i traded it for a normal back massage each in a private room.


The entrance and sauna area featured massive crystals such as amethyst rocks and rose quartz. They say crystals are good for healing, so what better place for us to be at then at a sauna decorated with crystals.


One wasn't allowed to wear swimming gear in the Sauna World and it was the first time i've ever been to a place that didn't allow their customers to wear anything. However, we were allowed to keep our towels on.


All in all, there were 12 saunas, ranging from 55˚C all the way to 100˚C. Each one was themed and at certain times they had special scents. There were two fairly small swimming pools outside and a small café.

And for obvious reasons, cameras and phones weren't allowed in the area.

***

The next morning, J went out to get some fresh bread rolls and croissants for breakfast.


And of course he had to squeeze in a round of Battleships before we went cycling around the city.


On our way, we ended up having to pass through a tunnel which had a sign beside it. Apparently back in 1941 this was the entrance to the train station that deported over 11,000 Jews to the concentration camps.


And after cycling around for a few hours, we decided to ride back but just as we were about to cross one of the bridges, J was convinced that he could hear music.

In the distance we could see people gathering underneath the bridge on the opposite side from where we were at.


So i zoomed in on my camera and true enough there were people there. They had set up their DJ equipment and were playing electronic music.

We decided to check it out but not before stopping at a kiosk to buy a few beers.


It took us about 20 minutes to get to the bridge and by that time it was already 7:30pm. We later found out that it was a replacement event for an outdoor event that was cancelled. The weatherman had predicted rain, so they set up their equipment under the bridge.

It ended just before 10 pm and that's when we decided to head back - just in time for me to get some shuteye and for J to jump back into few more rounds of Battleships.

*Sigh*

Twisting and Turning and Breathing In and Out.

It's Friday and J won't be back home until late tonight because him and his work colleagues are going out for dinner and drinks. As for me, i'm stuck at home trying to do all the housework and finish off work - "trying" being the operative word for both.

Last week i finally received the final copy changes to the project i've been working on for the last few months. But because there's a lot more text than previously, i'm forced to rethink one of the designs. Which, now that i think about it, is probably a good thing because i wasn't 100% happy with what i presented earlier.

Anyway, some of you may have read, i went to a trial yoga class on Wednesday. It took me twenty minutes to ride my bike there and for the most part of the journey, i avoided cycling beside cars.


It was a small group with only six people [five women and one man] and lasted about an hour and a half. And although i didn't understand every single word that the woman said because she spoke in German, i managed to follow reasonably well. And only when i wasn't doing the correct move, she would then stand next to me and whisper it in English - which i thought was nice.

In the beginning i honestly thought, it was a waste of time but by the end of it my perception changed.

By the time we got the downward facing dog position and into the plank, my legs were shaking. By the end, i was having troubles holding the remaining positions for the said amount of time. And by the next morning my muscles were in pain! I was aching all over.

Who would have thought simple stretches and poses would be such a workout?

Proof that i'm actually not that fit and i've lost some flexibility.

21:15 by the Rhine river.

And because Summer is just around the corner, the sun doesn't actually set until 9:30 pm and that means i don't have to ride in the dark.

So how much was it? Well the initial trial class costs 12 Euro and if one decides to sign up then it's only an extra 58 Euro for the remaining six classes. So in total it's 70 Euros [which makes it 10 Euros per class]. Which is a pretty good deal because at most yoga centres it costs an average 15 Euro per class and most of them are on the other side of the Rhine. Which would mean i would also have to pay for my train tickets and that would be an additional 5 Euro.

And so i've decided to sign up. I figured since i'm paying for it, i will have more initiative to go.

If you want to read the benefits of Yoga click here.

Plus i figured there's no point waiting any longer for J to set aside some time so we could both get into some kind of fitness routine together.

But i'm sure he's happy that i'm getting out of the apartment and being more active now. After all that would mean he would get to play Battleships and Warcraft in peace and i won't find a reason to start bickering.

It's a win-win situation.

Manila is not spelt like Vanilla.

I spent all morning psyching myself up so i could have a telephone conversation in German with a lady i've been trying to contact about translating my birth certificate for a reasonable price.

German?

I knoooOoooow! Who would have thought i'd have enough guts to bust out questions and be all fancy in a language i was once so scared of.

And thanks to google, i also found out that the lady also teaches a yoga class once a week and the course starts tonight.

So i figured i'd kill two birds with one stone and squeeze in that i was interested in trying out her yoga class AND that i needed her to translate a document for me. In hopes that she would be willing to lower her price to do a notarized translation.

Not because i was being a cheap arse but the other week i had ventured out into the city looking for a translation office. They quoted me a whopping 108.59 Euro! Which is ridiculous seeing that it is for something so small that i'll probably never really need, except if i were having a baby or was planning on getting married in Germany - which in both cases, are not in the near future.

But i had read online that some places translate documents into German for as little as 30 Euro, so there was no way i was going to pay over 100 Euro for a dinky-looking piece of paper.


So after scribbling down grammatically correct German sentences this morning, the lady finally picked up. She lives a few streets down from where we live, so finding the address later is no problem.

My appointment is at 3pm and her Hatha Yoga class is at a different address further down the Rhine at 7:30pm - which i plan to go to by bike.

But the reason for all this hassle began when i registered here as a resident a few months back. For some reason the guy who had keyed in my information had selected the wrong country as my place of birth, even though i had clearly mentioned where i was born.

And the document that one receives to show proof that one has registered, only states the city, so how was i suppposed to know he made the mistake? And it wasn't until a few days later did they realise their mistake when their system wasn't recognising the information.

So because of their mistake, i have to fork out my hard earned money to get my birth certificate translated.

How lame!

But to make it even more confusing, the person who had done my passport at the Dutch embassy in Kuala Lumpur spelt Manila with a double L [apparently that's how the Dutch spell it], so it's no wonder Germans are confused.

Just so you know, my country of citizenship is not the same as the country that i was born in. My father is Dutch and my mother is Singaporean.

Yes, my life is a bit complicated.

Oh well. That's how the cookie crumbles.

I guess that means i'm be going to Yoga class tonight... alone because J has to work late tonight.

The past two weeks in a nutshell.

WARNING : PICTURE HEAVY*

Yesterday was Friday the 13th and so i thought, what better than to make a comeback. Thinking i could just simply log on as usual and start regurgitating my thoughts, i was wrong. Blogger was down and had apparently been not working for the past two days.

I'll admit it though, i did feel a little guilty leaving you all hanging like that. After all, it has been just over two weeks since my last post. It's amazing how fast time can fly when you don't pay attention to it.

And if it weren't for the fact that i had my camera, i, probably, would have said i didn't do that much.

But in reality the past two weeks were stuffed with various activities like a few bike rides, eating pizza and lots of ice-cream, a night-time barbecue, attending German classes and trying to do some work. But the highlight of the last week has to be going on a random train trip that took an hour and half, which later involved bike riding and trekking through a forest to get to the top.

Oh but that's not all! J and i have agreed that every other day of the week will be "Girlfriend Day" which basically means, NO GAMING ALLOWED on that day. It's only been one week but so far so good.

But as for my absence, i have no real excuse.

I'm just going to blame the lack of motivation and the sudden peak in the temperature. However, it seems like that will be changing. They predict showers and the temperature is said to not push past 20˚C.

It's taken me close to five hours to sort through the photos and write this, so a part from the occasional descriptions, i will let the photos speak for themselves. My fingers are cramping and i need more coffee.

29.04.2011 - Friday


Ate at a new pizza place further up the road. J had his piece of flesh and i indulged in a salmon pizza.

Ate too much but decided to have a quick beer at Vreiheit anyway.

Felt a little sick because we overate, so we rode our bikes to the edge of the Rhine, laid on the concrete wall and stared up at the night sky.

01.05.2011 - Sunday

We checked out another pizza place and found out they cooked their pizzas in a stone oven. And since the weather was so nice, we ate our pizzas in the park near our place.

Spring has an effect on people. Couples are generally more lovey-dovey.

04.05.2011 - Wednesday

On that Monday J left for three days because of his exams. And after two and half years of attending the workshops, he finally completed his Management Development Program.

Go J!

06.05.2011 - Friday

Earlier that week J suggested we go for another barbecue, this time in the nearby by park. But before leaving he insisted on playing one round of Warcraft. By the time we left it was slowly getting dark. The sun sets now around 9 pm, so by the time we got to the park we noticed there weren't that many people left in the park. But those that were left, were already packing up to go home. So decided to make our way to the Rhine.

I didn't think we were going far, so i didn't bring my jacket. So by the time the sun was gone, it got nippy and so J built me a little fire to keep me warm and to keep the mosquitos and flies at bay.

At around 10:30 PM we heard fireworks going off. Apparently in one of the stadiums they were having some kind of talent show, so we assumed the finale involved fireworks.

07.05.2011


After five months, we finally put up some curtains up in our bedroom. There's nothing like having privacy.

Previously, we had put up a roller blind from our previous apartment but to our disappointment it didn't cover the whole window. Kinda ghetto, i know but it sure beat putting up newspapers or a blanket to block their view.

08.05.2011 - Sunday


J suggested we take a train to Bad Münstereifel. One could buy a Weekend ticket that cost 39 Euro a day for 5 people. There was no direct route, so we had to change twice.


Including changing trains and waiting, it took us about an hour and a half to get to our destination.

Old train station.

Surrounding the city/town is a stone wall. As soon as i walked in, it felt like i was walking back in time.


We ate some really good homemade ice-cream. Probably the best yogurt ice-cream i've ever had. The scoops were huge and was half the price than what we usually pay in the city.



Tudor houses line the cobbled streets. I think we were the only ones with "city" bikes. Practically everyone we saw who rode a bike had proper mountain bikes with what looked like a million gears.

A photo opp with my new cap i had just bought minutes before.

As i tried to make my way up the hill and around the corner. I saw J talking to some guy. He was dressed up as one of the gate keepers but lead one of the tour groups. J thought it would be funny if i got a photo taken with him.

Such tourists, i know.


Back in the day, they used to change horses hooves here. I wouldn't be surprised if they still do.


We got up one of the hills but the look out point was closed because the wood was eroding.

We sat up on the wall and looked down over the town.

And before heading down to look for some cake, we roasted on the benches for a little while.


I reckon it was about 28˚C, if not more that day and i remember i was sweating bullets.


We came across a bake sale. A youth group was raising money so they could get to Spain. So we helped them by buying a slice each of apple and rhubarb cake. Home baked cakes are the best!


The next mission was to make our way up the mountain. I could only manage to push my bike up the steep slope.


We got to the stone wall and made our way to the top and peered through the gaps. These gaps were used by the archers to protect the town from intruders or invasions.

We did, however, end up leaving our bikes by the entrance because we knew there was no way we could make it up the steep hill and forest.

Super sweaty, dehydrated and trying to catch up.

We had already finished two litres of water before we made the trek up the mountain.

Word of advice : Be sure you have sufficient water with you before you go on a hike, especially when it's really hot.

After nearly walking about two hours, we eventually get out of the forrest and closer to the top. Entering a residential area, was like walking into another world. We ended up asking a boy on the street for directions to a kiosk but tells us there isn't one nearby. He does, however, tell us where we can go to get to the top of the mountain.

So we're walking down the road and we see a guy in his garage. At which point, i'm about to pass out because i'm so thirsty. So J asks this stranger if he would be so kind to fill up our empty water bottle with some tap water.


He returns and says he's filled it with bubbly water. Nice! And best part was, it wasn't any ordinary kind of bubbly water but the expensive stuff.

See, there are nice people in this world.

Although on a typical ordinary day, i would never accept a drink from a stranger. Especially, if he ran off with my bottle and came back. But at that moment, seriously, it was a case of life and death. I would have drank anything.


We eventually see the path that we need to get to and after passing a perfectly good bench, J persuades me to climb further up.

I'm tired and at the point of exhaustion. We get to the bench at the top and it's covered in mold and insects.

So we opt to lie on the road, which so happened to be on a steep angle.

Two men walked passed us and look at us strange because we laied out our blanket on the hard surface in the middle of the road.

We then found out that further up, not too far away from where we were sitting, there was an even better view.


And lo and behold, there was even a wooden bench. So we lay our blanket over it and sucked in the view.


After about 15 minutes, we decided to make our way down. We were hungry and we weren't sure what time the train back was leaving. And because it was pretty much all down hill, it only took us about half an hour.


And feasted on potato cakes with slices of salmon, shrimps in a garlic + oil sauce, homemade beer bread and a vegetarian flammkuche. But no meal would be complete without a weizen.

We got told the last train had already left but we could take the last bus to the nearest biggest city.

But had we of missed that last bus, J said that he was prepared for us to stay at a hotel.

So whilst waiting for the bus, we treated ourselves with MORE ice-cream.

From below, that's how far up we walked!

On the bus, on a very windy road.

Direction Cologne.

So apart from gaining weight, that's pretty much what i've been up to. I, seriously, need to cut down on my eating/snacking/sweets/ice-cream. Yesterday there was a weighing scale at the pharmacy and it turns out i've gained about six kilos in the last three years.

Yikes!

Oh well. I hope you have a great weekend.