...

To be continued...

P.S Here's wishing you all an adventurous, happy and love-filled start to the new year. See you in 2012!

A Case of Time Out.

Let me begin by apologising to you all for not updating you of my whereabouts.

I realise now that my sudden disappearance from the Land of Bloggers may have left some of you concerned. After all it has been a whole month since my last post and who knows what could have happened. But as dramatic as my last blog entry sounded, i'm now happy to report i didn't decide to move out and neither do i plan to in the near future.

Relationships are hard work, even if one thinks one is meant to be with one another. And as corny as it may sound, it's true "...it takes two to Tango."

However, it took a weekend at my sister + her boyfriend + Mimi's place and dodging the subject for three weeks before J and i decided to talk it out.

Amongst various other things, it turned out the stress from J's work, his lack of sleep and disinterest in wanting to do anything else but play Warcraft on the weekend had finally taken its' toll on our relationship.

A part of him was envious of "my life" and used his gaming as payback for something he knew i had no control of.

But it was the period of two weeks prior to our argument that forced him to work 14-18 hour days. He was bitter that i got to work from home and learn a new language at my own pace. Never mind, that on top of that i also take charge of the household chores, clean after him and make sure his work clothes are ironed just in time for the new week.

But all that seemed pale in comparison to how much he works. And with that i had to remind him, once again, our lives are incomparable. And at the peak of our quarrel he dared to compare me to his ex - which of course, he later apologised for.

This happened around the time i practically finished all my projects and my twice-a-week German course was ending. I had enrolled in the next course but days before it was going to begin i received a letter to say it was cancelled.

Great.

Just as i was getting back into the groove of wanting to learn German.

But i couldn't just sit on my arse till September and wait for the next round of courses to begin. So last minute i decided to join an intensive Summer course. It's an intensive German class which runs Monday through Friday from 9am to 1pm and goes on until the 29th of July.

I'm already in my third week but it ends next week just in time for Little L's arrival at the end of the month.

Oh...

and i've also decided August will be the month i will find a new job.

Or at least will try and find one.

Preferably a full-time job that wants me to speak English as well. But a part-time job will do just fine too and it doesn't necessarily have to do with graphic design either.

As for my relationship with J, well since our big talk last weekend, we seem to be getting along fine. In fact, it's as if nothing had happened.

J is making it a point to speak to me more nicely and believe it or not, is even gaming less. I can even see his patience with me is getting a bit better.

As for me, i'm trying to finish all my daily chores before J gets back from work and am making more of an effort to speak in German with J. Plus i'm also making it a point to be a little more independent and give J his "space" so he can have time to rewind.


Cause we all know, we have our moments when we just need a little time out.

Multiculti and Trying to Blend In.

Minutes before i was about to step out of my front door yesterday, a rush of panic came flooding in.

My heart felt like it wanted to rip itself out of my body and make a run for it. The air suddenly got very thin and i had trouble breathing. I looked down at my hands and they were trembling. So i immediately lowered my head, positioned my hands on my knees and took deep long breaths in.

I eventually pulled myself together and convinced myself everything was going to be alright. And within minutes, i was at the underground train station and i was back in my element.

But before that, weeks ago i had received a confirmation letter to say i was registered and "Almuth..." was going to be my teacher. I had never heard of that name before and was slightly disappointed as i imagined the person to be male and Turkish. I'm not sexist or racist, i've just come to the conclusion that [most] female teachers are more patient.

I feel the same about my gynaes, i prefer them to be female. For obvious reasons, we have the same ummm... bits?

So there i am, in class and a woman walks in.

She puts her books on the table then leaves the room. At which point, in my head i'm wondering who she is. A part of me was expecting a tanned, half hairy man with a big gut and an uninterested facial expression to walk in.

Paranoid that i may had been sitting in the wrong class for the last twenty minutes, i turn to the other three women sitting in the room. They are flipping through their text books and doing last minute homework. I ask them in German whether i'm in the right class, followed by the course name and they reply with a short but informative, "Ja".

I breathed out a sigh of relief when i found out that the fifty or so year old woman who had just left the room was in fact our teacher. I later found out from my sister that "Almuth" is an old school German name.

Anyway...

Eventually the class filled up, and including myself, there were a dozen of us. Apparently, there were more in the previous course but many dropped out because they found the course too expensive. At VHS, 80 hours costs 179 Euro, which is helluvalot cheaper than most other schools.

As for the people, there are ten women and two guys. Minus the teacher, i'm probably the third eldest. The average age seems to be twenty-four and the eldest being in her late forties. There are two university students, a few housewives, a handyman and many Au Pairs.

We began by introducing ourselves. Since i was one of two new students, i ended up going last. I had practised the night before with J and made sure i structured my sentences correctly. When i was done the teacher said i spoke very well and wondered why i was put in her class and not in a higher level.

She went on to say that i may be too good for this class and as the other students agreed in unison, i could almost feel their stares piercing me from all angles.

When i explained to her and the rest of the class, i had taken a break and my grammar was actually not that good. She then added, that i could always change courses if i found the class too easy.

But although the level is not that hard, neither is it super easy.

I would much rather be a little more confident in what i'm learning than be thrown into another class where there's a higher chance that i'm repeatedly lost and stressed.

So as the morning progressed, i realised once my classmates figured out i'm not as perfect as they had originally thought, they weren't as shy and were in fact, were really friendly towards me.

But what i was most surprised about was the wide spectrum of nationalities in the class; Indian, Japanese, French, Greek, Mongolian, Turkish, Colombian, Ukrainian, and myself, Dutch/Singaporean.

I dunno if it's just me but something weird happens when an Asian comes across another Asian looking person. It's as if an invisible bond occurs even though not a single word has been exchanged.

Weird, huh?


So anyway, before the class ended, i mentioned to the extremely tall Polish guy with the exceptionally large head who sat next to me, i had troubles remembering when to use the correct articles in Nominative, Accusative and Dative. He then was kind enough to lend me some of his past notes so i could copy them at home.

And after a very noisy train ride home with twenty-five ear piercing screaming children sitting beside me, i spent two hours rewriting my notes and doing my homework.

Yes, the nerd in me was in full force.

So for the moment, i'm going to try and keep a low profile. I don't want to be in anyone's face and neither do i want anyone to think i'm a smart arse.

And just like everyone else, i'm far from perfect.

Before and After.

J, also known as Grumpos, spent part of Monday night battling his allergies. By 3 AM Yoshi decided he wanted to bring random toys in the bed because he wanted us to play with him. I tried kicking him out of the bedroom but Yoshi just ended up scratching at the door, which was more annoying.

So my only solution was to sleep on the sofa, hoping that Yoshi would follow me. And in turn, hope J wouldn't get annoyed that he didn't get enough shuteye. Yes, i am a thoughtful girlfriend.

My typical week day starts at 6:10 AM, so you can imagine my annoyance when my alarm went off just as i had fallen back to sleep.

I must have clicked the snooze button again because before i knew it J storms out of the bedroom in a frantic mess because he had forgotten to switch on his alarm and had only 15 minutes to get ready and be at work.

I don't know about you but waking up before the crack of dawn AND then getting yelled at, is not exactly how i like to start my day.


Later that afternoon Grumpos came home from work with a bunch of I'm Sorry flowers.

***

But let's rewind back...

After J came back from sorting through and packing up the contents of his parents' house the other weekend, he brought home with him a bunch of stuff including a huge box full of tools which he inherited from his mothers' late boyfriend.


It looked like we were in a mechanics' heaven.

The remaining half a dozen or more duplicates are now in another box collecting dust. But instead of throwing them away, i'm thinking we should rent out a space in a flea market and sell all the crap that we don't want.

As they say, one Man's Rubbish, is anothers' Treasure.

***

Originally, J was supposed to use the small room that leads to our bedroom as his work area but since we moved here, he hasn't once used the space. The area has turned out to be an area to hang our laundry. So to make use of our apartment, we decided to rearrange the furniture and make that area a place to put our closet as well as our deep freezer. We then moved all of J's stuff to my workroom.

But when we moved here in January, J promised me he would help me sort through the leftover boxes in the workroom/guestroom. With no place to put the contents, we were desperate for extra shelves.

So after dinner on Friday, we checked out IKEA online and the Expedit shelf series we wanted were on sale until Saturday. J's ex-colleagues had given him a 88 Euro IKEA voucher and so we decided to make use it.

And after a quick calculation, we found out we would end up having to pay 40 Euros more if we didn't make use of the sale plus whatever extra we needed for other items. So with one hour left until closing, we got into the car and made our way to IKEA.


And thanks to the faulty boot lock on J's car, we weren't able to open the boot. But lucky for us we managed to squeeze the 150cm long boards through the back door.

Had we got them delivered, it would have cost us 75 Euro - which is just as much as a set of 4x4 shelves!

How crazy is that!?

At last, gone are the days i have to walk through a maze to get to my desk.

Before • After

Before • After

We turned the IKEA 2x4 Expedit shelves on its' side and used it as a divider to separate J's working area and my space. I've taken over the open shelves and have used it for my folders, working files and German books. And i've had to leave a gap in between one of the folders since Yoshi and Luna like to use the space as their shortcut to the kitchen.


And the other IKEA 4x4 Expedit shelves are on the opposite wall and is used to house some of Js books, my design books and various other bits and bobs.

All that's left are half a dozen boxes or so and a wardrobe that still needs to be put together - the one item that we couldn't be bothered to put together once we dismantled it in our previous apartment in Düsseldorf over a year and a half ago.

Working at my desk feels so much better now.

It actually feels like i'm in a proper office just minus the colleagues and an irritating boss.

Closing Yet Another Chapter.

It took us about a month and a half to finally get the rest of our crap belongings from our previous place to our current one. Mainly due to timing and the fact that the new tenants had only planned to move in in March, so the rush to remove all our stuff immediately wasn't so urgent.

But prior to Saturday's adventure, we had driven back twice and each time J's car was completely full. And each time we went, we underestimated how much stuff we really had. So instead of wasting more time and having to drive back more than we really needed to, we thought it would be best to rent a combi or some kind of car that was big enough.

93€/day

So we booked a VW Touran online but upon arrival the guy at SIXT told us there was a Citroën C4 Picasso available. Having no idea what the difference was, we had to be there to compare the sizes. But immediately opted for the Picasso not only because it looked bigger but it ran on diesel which meant filling her back up wouldn't be as expensive.


After paying by EC card, we spent the first few minutes checking out the car and its' functions.

I've never sat in seven-seater before but i have to say, for a family car it was very spacious. The seats at the back could fold down which was perfect since it allowed for more room. And it also had a "vast panoramic windscreen" which one could adjust and that gave the feeling that i was on some sort of spacecraft.

But what i, and my butt, was most grateful for were the adjustable heaters that were integrated into the front seats.

Believe me, when it's 2˚C outside, you'll know exactly what i'm saying.


But before we went off on our 170 km journey up north, we stopped off for some lunch at Vapiano. Not exactly the cheapest lunch out there but the pizzas are delicious and we like to think we deserve to splurge on 7 Euro pizzas once and a while.


0.5 litre beer [weizen] and a roasted vegetable pizza for little ol' me and a chilled white wine and Hawaiian pizza for J.

***

It took us just short of an hour and a half to get to our old place. But it didn't take us that long to clear what was left in the cellar.


And when we went upstairs the new tenants had already prepared the apartment for painting and had covered everything in plastic. What was ours were then stacked up against the kitchen wall and ready for us to remove. It felt weird seeing other peoples' stuff in "our" place.


But after having a peek outside, i noticed they had scrubbed down the balcony that we had unintentionally ignored to clean before we left. I was amazed at how clean they had managed to get it.

After handing over the keys to our ex-landlord, i couldn't help but think how glad i was that we chose the bigger car over the smaller one. And had we gone for the other, there would have been no way we could have fit everything in there without having to make a second trip.

But after a day of stress and J sneakily getting rid of some of our stuff in the bins at the rest stops along the highway, i'm just glad the move is finally over.

Next stop is to register as official Köln residents.

If only Moving was as simple as an IKEA Instruction Manual.

I can't believe it's been twelve days already since my last post. So much to share, so much to grumble about. Where, oh where, do i begin?

But when i wasn't wrapping random items in old newspapers and labeling boxes, i did manage to sneak in a few photos along the way. I haven't gotten around to editing them yet cause i've only just hooked up my computer and managed to get online this morning.

But here's a somewhat brief update of the last twelve days...

It was everything but relaxing.

The move itself went relatively smooth and thanks to the two big Russian men, J's brothers and elder brother's girlfriend for helping bringing the boxes down to the truck, it only took two hours to basically fill a 6.6 tonne truck right to the brim.

Yup.

We have that much stuff. And that doesn't include all the stuff that is still left in the cellar.

But since we had to give three months notice and our landlord couldn't find somebody to move in before the end of January we still have to pay another months' rent. Which sort of works out seeing that we still need to repair/paint part of the wall and clear out whatever stuff we have left.

Sigh.

But unlike our previous cellar which was tiled, clean and big enough to put a queen size bed plus more, the cellar we have now is quite the opposite. I'm just grateful that we've moved into a much bigger apartment.

Anyway, my biggest headache so far has had to be our IKEA kitchen.

We payed extra for IKEA to gather the components to our kitchen and when we got home we found out that some of the items were either missing or completely wrong. But perhaps it was a blessing in disguise because due to some minor miscalculations and crooked pipes, we had to make some last minute adjustments anyway.

After driving to IKEA twice because they promised to deliver the missing items the next day but didn't. They then said we had to wait a week until they could deliver the missing items and pick up the extra pieces because their schedule was full. Annoyed and frustrated because half of our kitchen was missing, J then threatened to return the whole kitchen and insisted that we get our money back.

At which point, the woman went to go speak to her boss and within a few minutes came back and said, they would deliver the pieces the next day already built at 8 in the morning.

Hmmm.

Proof that a little pressure didn't hurt no one.

So anyway, as part of The Moving deal, the big Russian men that helped with our move, also said they would set up our kitchen and do the necessary drilling. Half way through unpacking the items, they tell us that it was the first time they had ever built a kitchen from scratch.

Apparently, there are other kitchen brands that come partially built. One just has to slot the corpuses together and drill the holes for the sink and stove top to fit.

Uhhhh. OK.

We just invested just over a thousand Euros for the kitchen cabinets and knowing that they haven't put together kitchen cabinets before, only stressed me out further.

But after many hours, a few shed tears and some shuteye, they finally finished the job

Never mind that we ended up having to pay them an extra 300 Euros to drive an hour and a half last weekend to finish the job.

I guess it's safe to say, that will be the last time i will ever build an IKEA kitchen.

***

Anyway, as i get distracted by all the different sounds that the city has to offer and stare up at the five-storey block of apartments blocking my view, i look around me wishing the boxes that have yet to be unpacked would just magically disappear. If only there was a genie who would put away all its contents so i could get on with my errands.

Oh right! I am that genie.

But first, i need to get my arse to the hardware store which so happens to be like, twenty minutes away by foot and return some metre long blinds and various items that don't fit. Seriously, i don't know what i was measuring because i was, like, off by 20 cm.

All in all, i love being back in a big city. Everything is reachable within walking distance and shops are literally around the corner.

Great for exercise, not so great for my bank balance.

I'll be back soonish.

Hopefully with some photos.

Christmas 2010.

Christmas lunch was non-traditional, in the sense that there was no turkey to carve, instead J's older brother made beef wellington. But because i don't eat meat, he made one with salmon and a champagne white sauce especially for me - which was super yummy.

And as side dishes; potatoes and brussels sprouts. It's taken me over thirty years to fully appreciate the taste of brussels sprouts. I can safely say, i can eat them now without gagging.

The trick to brussels sprouts comes down to not cooking them for too long but most importantly, boiling them in milk first.

And for dessert, Oma M's homemade apple cake.

Then after dinner it was time to open presents...


I had baked vegan shortbread cookies and bought some IKEA jars the day before. Wrapped them up and gave them as presents to J's grandmother, mother, his two brothers and their girlfriends.

Oma M bought me a black scarf which is featured in the third photo from the bottom of this post.


This year Santa [J] bought me a pair of house socks/slippers which i found out later were super expensive. They're so nice, i'm scared i'll ruin them by running around the apartment. Plus a knee-length coat with embroidered flowers that are a wee bit too feminine for my liking and one size too big.

J said it would look much nicer if the coat was more fitted and suggested the next time we're ever in Hannover, we could go back to ey Linda where his friend works to exchange it for something else.

I'm not usually the kind of person to ever exchange presents but with this coat, i may just have to make an exception.

So what did i end up getting J for Christmas?


A tealight holder made out of pink quartz which is said to bring love, calm and harmony. Intended it to be placed beside his computer to relieve stress and perhaps, more for my benefit, bring me at peace with him and his gaming.

Rose Quartz enhances and strengthens all forms of love, including self-love, parental love, platonic love, and romantic love. It can attract love and bring unconditional love to a relationship. It can dissolve blockages to love and help develop, rebuild, and renew love. It strengthens family unity, kinship, friendships, and all other relationships. Placed throughout the home, rose quartz will fill it with love and harmony. [source]

So far so good, we've only argued once. I think it's working.

We then drove to his mom's house which was only 10 minutes away and spent the rest of the evening learning how to play Mahjong.


It was the first time i had ever played and by the end of the night i had even learned how to read numbers one through nine in Chinese characters - my mom will be so proud when she finds out.


There wasn't any Triple Sec in the house so we improvised and made pink margaritas instead.


After 8 hours of playing Mahjong and actually winning because i had the most chips, we decided to call it a night. It was 2:30 AM already and it had dipped down to -11˚Celsius by the time we drove back to J's grandmother's place which is where we had our own room.

***

After sleeping in and later taking Oma for a very short walk up and down the street so she could get some fresh air, it was already time to say our farewells.

With Oma M, she's a whopping 87 years old.

And there's us, standing outside his parent's house where J grew up in as a child.

It took us just over two and a half hours to get home because on certain parts of the highway there was still ice on the ground. Sections of the highway that would normally have no speed limit was brought down to 80 km to prevent accidents. Hence the reason why it took so long to get home.


And when we finally got home, we saw how much more snow had fallen in just one day. The small snow hill that we had created last week had grown.

***

The next day, J came home with another present saying that Santa had forgotten to give it to me. And inside was a massive and very heavy Himalayan Salt lamp. It measures to about 31 cm in height and sits right beside my computer. It's absolutely beautiful.

Himalayan crystal salt lamps are carved from natural Himalayan salt crystals, which are prized for their purity and clarity... Himalayan salt lamps, which actually originate in the Himalayan foothills of Pakistan...

There are also many claims of health benefits from Himalayan crystal salt lamps. Salt lamps are said to be ionizers: objects that release negative ions, which are believed to purify air and promote good health.

Natural salt lamps are said to:

• Improve air quality by reducing air pollution, airborne dust particles, and airborne bacteria and viruses
• Reduce symptoms of asthma, allergies, bronchitis, sinusitis, and other respiratory diseases
• Reduce the effects of Season Affective Disorder (SAD) and other mood problems
• Reduce stress
• Improve concentration
• Relieve headaches and migraines
• Reduce feelings of fatigue and insomnia

So yea, that was my Christmas. How was yours?

***

Oh yeah, on Monday we went to choose the final touches to our new IKEA kitchen. We've gone slightly over our estimated budget but that was expected. We're going to go and pick it up next Monday, i'm so excited!

But i seriously need to stop procrastinating and get back to packing.

This Friday we're going to drive to Köln to pick up the keys to our new place. Our plan is to stay just after the countdown and spend the first few minutes in our new home before we have to drive two hours to get back here and finish packing.

Which really doesn't leave me much time. The movers are coming in to take our things on Sunday.

Can you believe it? Four more days!

P.S. Have i told you how much i loathe packing?

The Eve.

2:07 PM UPDATE : Snowed In.

According to the news report on the radio just now they said an additional 20 cm of snow fell last night. And anyone heading in the direction of Hannover and Hamburg should be extremely careful because that part of the highway is completely iced over. One of the main causes for accidents and super long traffic jams.

Not good because that's the way we have to travel.

So J's decided that it's best that we not risk it and just stay at home instead. Hopefully, the weather will be better tomorrow and the roads will be clear.

And not because i was spying...


But check out the icicles that are growing on my neighbor's balcony!

So wherever you might be spending this Christmas holiday, here's wishing you a stress-free and safe journey home.

Love, Chrissie... xx

Delayed Trains and Frozen Body Parts.

Here's some advice for anyone who plans on traveling by train to and from Germany via Deutsche Bahn in Winter : PLEASE DON'T!

J and i spent a total of eight hours traveling [including waiting time] for our trains yesterday. We were either freezing our arses off waiting for delayed trains or sitting in an overcrowded cabin.

On the last leg of the journey the dumb arse train conductor was so inconsiderate that he left all the doors open for a whole twenty minutes in minus degrees Celsius temperatures. So J made his way up the front of the train to tap on the train conductor's glass door to ask if he could shut the doors and turn up the heat.

Anyway, one would think we were traveling from one end of the country to the other. We weren't.


By car it would take about an hour an half but since many people were warned beforehand to be very careful on the highways as some parts were/are iced over, we opted to take the train.


The estimated time [including one change over] would have taken about two hours and twenty-three minutes but due to many other trains breaking down and tracks having technical glitches and not functioning, schedules were interrupted.

But the funniest part was, we only spent one hour at our destination before we had to rush back to the train station to get back home.

What originally was meant to be a two hours and fifty-one minutes journey back, ended up being just over four and a half hours.


Waiting on an exposed platform for a train at night that first said it was going to be 20 minutes late but ended up being nearly 45 minutes late can be really uncomfortable. However, for a normal situation when the temperature is decent, i can imagine it could be an inconvenience but when you're standing there and you can't feel your toes or fingers, it can be damn right irritating.

We get to the station where we're supposed to change trains and realise we're half an hour too late. Our train is not there. Lucky for us another regional train passes through there every hour.

So J wanders off to look for the loo.

And as usual, the second J leaves me alone, some random guy starts talking to me. I did my best to answer him in German and i even used grammatically correct sentences.

Was that his attempt to chat me up? Maybe.

I didn't get his name but if my tired brain serves me correctly he was relatively good-looking, perhaps in his late 20s and had a friendly persona.

Had i been single and he spoke English, who knows what could have happened.


I'm joking. Nothing would have happened except maybe a nice conversation just to occupy some time.

So J returns just in time as my learnt German vocabulary was about to run out and before i began stuttering. But by the looks of it, i don't think J was too impressed with the other guy standing so close to me. Of course i introduced J straight away as my boyfriend and i could tell the other guy looked slightly disappointed.

One could immediately see a change in his body language.

Oh well.

Forty-five minutes later the train arrives.


And delirium is starting to kick in.

As time ticked on and all the food we had brought along with us was consumed, we had no choice but be creative when it came to entertainment. That teaches me a lesson, never doubt whether or not i should bring along my iPod and headphones. One never knows when you might really need it.

So our journey started at 3:38 PM and by the time we arrived in Köln we were delayed by only half an hour. Which meant we arrived at our destination at 6:35 PM. Our train back was at 7:57 PM but due to so many delays we finally reached the end of our journey at 12:30 AM. Most of which were spent in the freezing cold by the way.

But i'm not complaining.

At least we weren't in the fast train that broke down half way between stations and in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, that would have totally sucked!


We were lucky it didn't snow the whole of yesterday because i'm sure that would have made it a whole lot worse. Apparently, the weatherman predicts more snow for the next three days and i just heard on the radio, they're planning on shutting down a few airports.


Last night there was a full moon. Maybe she's partly to blame for the chaos.


After walking for what felt like the longest five minutes in my life to get to the park house, i checked the thermometer and it was a frosty minus 15˚Celsius!

No wonder i couldn't feel my face.

At 1:30 AM we were in bed and i passed out the second my head hit the pillow. Five hours later our alarm clocks were screaming for us to get ready for work and cease the day.

RAWR!!!

Finally...

The lady just called me because she said she couldn't get a hold of J on the phone. But from what i understood she said...

YES, WE CAN HAVE THE APARTMENT!!!

*Does an extended happy dance*

I was so excited when she told me, i was having trouble stringing my German words together to make proper sentences. But prior to her telling me the good news i did my best in telling her in the simplest way that my German wasn't so good.

As if she didn't figure that out already.

But ya know, just in case she ended up telling me something really important and then after, me typically saying, i didn't understand.

So she asked if i could understand her and i replied in German, yes.

Which was true, i did understand her.

I just had/have issues talking in long sentences - another reason why i intend to enroll myself again in German classes in February.

So in fear that i heard her wrong, i rephrased her answer with, So everything is OK?

I could almost see her smiling as she said, "Yes. Everything is OK".

Like a starving child being given food, i kept thanking her and telling her how great it was.

But seriously, what a huge relief to know that we have a confirmed home to move into in January. And with 4 weeks to go and not a single box packed, i can now focus on meeting my deadlines and organising what i want to throw/keep before the new year rolls in.

It honestly feels like i've just been told i've won the lottery.

Although i've never won any money, winning would definitely help pay for our complete new kitchen that we have to now buy and install.

Never mind, one step at a time.

OMG can i be anymore excited???

OK... back to work.

Wishing for Apartment #3 in the List + Megamind

07:52

Our mission to find an apartment continued at 7:30 AM on a frosty minus 8 degrees Celsius Saturday. We were on a very tight schedule and i didn't want to take any chances. Knowing there's a section of the highway that's notorious for being jammed due to three lanes turning into one, all thanks to never ending roadworks and the unpredictable weather, our my original plan was to leave by 6:30 AM.

But not all schedules go as planned.


Which ended up being a good thing because we got there an hour early and we managed to squeeze in breakfast.

We found ourselves at a Greek café that i didn't get the name of but their slices of bread, rolls and croissant were really yummy. And in a glass cabinet beside our table stood numerous plastic figurines, the kind that stood on top of Wedding and Congratulations cakes.

This one in particular caught my eye...


Although it's the classic stork and baby, there's something i find disturbing about a baby in a fishnet bag.

Anyway back to our apartment hunt...

J managed to line up five confirmed apartment viewings that i had found online in the last week. All of which were in different parts of the city and each were completely different from the other.

The first was with a real estate agent that didn't seem to be able to answer any of our basic questions about the block. And to think that someone has to pay a compulsory fee to this semi-greasy shoulder lengthed hair guy with blue/purple coloured hands, just doesn't seem worth it.

How hard is it to do a bit of research prior to seeing potential renters?

But after driving through the city and standing in early morning traffic, we decided seconds before arriving at our next destination that we would not have enough time to see the second apartment. We figured trying to find parking along the main road would lose precious time and that could mean we would be late or worse, miss seeing the third apartment.

Turned out to be a wise choice because the third apartment is the one that we're actually wanting.

Not only is the location great and the train station just a minute walk away but the apartment is much bigger and slightly cheaper than the others we ended up seeing.

I'm not going to say much as we still have to go through the application process. But there was another guy also viewing the place at the same time who seemed very interested too.

I just hope nobody else sees the place.

But if all else fails, we do have a back-up option; Apartment #5 in the list. But i'd much rather focus my energy on the apartment that we do want.

Remember the Law of Attraction?

So, what do i want?

Well in my head we've already moved into the apartment, we're entertaining imaginary friends and preparing meals at our fabulous kitchen island.

THE GAME IS SO ON MISTER! That apartment is OURS!

***

So after what seemed like a marathon of apartment viewings, we were finally done by 3 PM.

J and i decided to drive through Duesseldorf which was only half an hour away to check whether Cinestar was showing any movies in English. Majority of the cinemas we've been to only show German-dubbed films, which is pointless for me since my German is not up to scratch and it would end up being a waste of money. Plus hearing English-speaking actors with a german voice over just doesn't seem right.

But lucky for us Megamind was showing.

Yes, a whole lot of popcorn & 7-UP was involved.

After uploading the above two photos one right after each other, doesn't it look like J has a popcorn bag as a hat? ehehe.

Don't mind me. Little things obviously amuses me this morning.

ANYWAY...

I hadn't heard of Megamind prior to watching it, so i didn't actually know what to expect. I only read on the poster that Dreamworks were responsible for it and to be honest, you can't really go wrong with Dreamworks. Plus J had mentioned he liked what he saw in the preview earlier that morning, so i took his word for it.

I tried to find a trailer so that you could watch it. One that didn't give away too much of the plot.

Don't you hate that?

I really dislike how some trailers tend to pick out the best of the best scenes [and often there aren't that many to begin with]. So after watching a preview, one ends up with a condensed version of the movie making any surprises in the film, well not a surprise.



Anyway, if you haven't seen it, i so recommend that you do. It totally cracked me up.

And just for keepsakes, we think it's so good that it's worth buying the original once it's out on DVD. Yes original. No bootlegged DVDs available on this side of the world.