Well, it'll just be a 2nt/2day trip to Berlin with 2 girlfriends, but it's better than nothing! Will fly to Berlin tomorrow night at 8pm, and return Sunday night at 10pm, so a full weekend trip indeed!
And yes, you did read the first line right - I'll be going with 2 girlfriends, meaning hubby dearest will be staying home. 2 nights are not going to kill him though - the longest I had been away from him on a trip was 1 week in Bulgaria, and when I came home, he was still alive and breathing ;o). In fact, he's going to "return that favour" soon in July, when it'll be his turn to go to Bulgaria for 1 week without me. Not that I don't want to join him and his parents, but just that I can't take such a long vacation during the high summer season at work.
That's why a short weekend trip to break my routine a bit is what I can do instead. I've never been on a "girls only" trip before, so I'm looking forward to it indeed. At least shopping together will not be such a bore for anyone of us ;o).
As for Berlin, it'll be my second trip there. However, the 1st time was way back in 2000, during Christmas period. Cold, wet, but Christmasy. I look forward to see everything in its summer glory this time...if it doesn't rain too much. Has been rather chilly and wet here in Copenhagen, so a lot of sunshine in Berlin would be nice, even for just 2 days.
You know what's the worse part though? I had booked our return flight on the day of the Euro 2008 FINAL!!! The FINAL of the finals!!! That means I'll be IN THE PLANE while the match is being played! It wasn't like I had a choice, since there is only 1 flight per day with Sterling, and it had to be at the time of the match. Of course, we could have chose another weekend, but this weekend had a low price that we were willing to pay for. Plus, I didn't realise that it was THE day when choosing the weekend dates.
Anyway, if all goes smoothly, I will touch down at 10pm, so if the airport does not have a bar showing the final, I will have to rush down to the sports bar at the main station to watch the last remaining minutes. It takes about 15mins to get from the airport by train (excluding waiting time), so I really hope the airport has a bar showing the match.
It's been decided 5mins ago that the final will be between Germany and Spain. I really hope Spain will win the Cup, but somehow it feels like the Germans would. Hey, perhaps I should miss my flight and stay behind in Germany and join the Germans in cheering on their team! No wait, maybe not a good idea if I'm really going to support Spain. Unless I engage in "reverse supportology", which is basically supporting the team I want to lose, since so far, every team that I strongly want to win seem to lose (Portugal, the Netherlands). So yeah, if I "support" the team that I really want to lose, then the team that I really want to win will win :o)!
Anyways...I'm done packing. I think. Just the toiletries left to do. Clothes, check! Shoes, check! Underwear, check! Euros, check! Passport, check! Camera, check! Hubby, uncheck! ;o)
I guess I should go spend my last few waking minutes with hubby then. Don't want him crying like a big baby when he says goodbye to me at the airport tomorrow ;o).
Thursday 26 June 2008
My summer vacation
Saturday 21 June 2008
Not for the faint hearted....
Some of you may remember my previous poll in connection with a post as to whether or not I should get my belly button pierced. Well, the results of that poll was:
Come on people! It's almost as if I never made that poll in the first place, if the end result meant that I still had to make the final decision. You guys were supposed to help me out here! But ok, I guess you guys are right that in the end, the final decision is still mine anyway. Good thinking, y'all!
Nevertheless, for those who took time to vote either way, thank you! After much more thought, I had decided not to do it....until I saw that my 2 sisters did theirs a month ago! I guess they were my "kick" to get mine done in the end...so yes...I DID IT!!! Last Tuesday after work :o).
Preparing target.
That kinda hurt a little. Like someone pinching you real hard.
"HELP!" I didn't dare look at what he was doing, and thank goodness for that because I would definitely have fainted on the spot!
Click to see the bigger picture....if you DARE!
Almost done! Just needed to screw it up.
But yeah, it was done in under 5 mins. The procedure itself was bearable. I mean, I could feel my belly button getting "violated", but as long as I didn't look, it felt just like someone was pinching me really hard at least 3 times. Well, depends on how it's done. My sister, Tania, said that she only felt 1 big "prick", but that was also because her piercer did it a different way.
Anyway, after it was done, my piercer (who was from Bali, Indonesia, btw), asked if I was ok. I said "Yes," so he told me to go to the counter so he can explain the cleaning procedure.
I got my bags and stuff and made my way there. He asked me again if I was ok, and again I said "Yes," so he began to tell me how to clean:
"You need to use this 2 times a day....," he started by saying...
And that was when I started to feel the throbbing feeling on my belly button...like it had its own heartbeat or something like that. "Duk-duk, duk-duk, duk-duk...," it went. The thoughts going through my head were:
"Damn! I have something "poking" through my belly now! It's something that's going to stay there for quite some time! I just had a needle thingy going though my skin!"
When all those thoughts go through your mind like they were in a race against each other, the mind psychologically switches to panic mode, perceiving that my body had just had a sudden injury. A rush of adrenaline and endorphins started to kick in to make me feel dizzy, so I had to cut my piercer short by saying:
"I'm not feeling so good now... ."
So yeah, had to sit down for a few long minutes (10-15). My hearing closed in on me, I was almost blacking out, he got me some water, but told my sister, Claudia, to go get me some coke to get my sugar level in my blood up (thank goodness Claudia was there with me! My heroine...).
I felt a bit better when Claudia returned with the coke, but after drinking some sips of it, I started to feel slightly worse. My thoughts at this point were:
"TAKE THE BELLY RING OFF ME!!! I'LL STILL PAY YOU!"
"CALL AN AMBULANCE!!!"
"What if I puke all over the floor? That'll be too embarrassing...don't think about it...think of rainbows and sunshine and happy singing birds instead...no...CALL AN AMBULANCE!!!"
Thankfully, the dizziness subsided soon enough. Started to feel quite sweaty, so I told Claudia to get a magazine to fan me, and she obediently did so for 5 mins like a slave would do to her Royal Highness back in Egypt... . No, just kidding. Was not exactly feeling quite so glamerous at that point.
But yeah, after 15mins or so, when I can't really feel the initial throbbing around my belly button anymore, I was able to get up and walk again. Was contemplating taking a cab home, but in the end, was able to make it to the bus with Claudia faithfully by my side ;o).
If you ever decide to get your belly button pierced, I suggest that you sit still for 5-10 mins right after the piercing before getting up and walking around. Just to give your body some time to overcome the trauma a bit.
Anyway...here is the final result:
One thing I'm missing so much right now, is being able to sleep on my tummy. That's the most comfortable sleeping position for me, and I usually doze off much better that way. For the 1st 10-14 days at least, I'll not be able to do this...but I hope it'll be possible after that.
And if you want to know the cost of this: 500kr (S$130)!!! Expensive, huh? It did include the jewellery though, and that costs around 190kr (S$50) already. You'd expect the jewellery to be made of gold at that price...but not here in Denmark, unfortunately.
So yeah, imagine if I had really told my piercer to take it off ;o)! Good thing I got better after 10mins... .
Thursday 19 June 2008
Tchau, Portugal... . Até logo!
I am grieving. I was prepared to grieve, but when it happens for real, it still feels that you were not prepared anyway.
Today is the day Portugal goes home :o(. They were beaten by Germany in the Euro 2008 football finals with a score of 2-3. I knew they would lose, but was still hoping they would surprise me in the end. They almost did, but it was too little too late, when the 2nd Portuguese goal was scored in the 87th minute of normal play with Germany already in the lead with 3.
Here are 2 of my favourite players from my Portuguese team:
Cristiano Ronaldo
And no, it's not because they're hot. Not really. They are good players, that's why. I also like the Portuguese goalkeeper, Ricardo, but tonight was just not his night.
And then there are other good players like Deco and Simão. Not my favourites, but they're good.
So why Portugal? Well, it was because I made a couple of new Portuguese friends back in 2000, and since Portugal was playing in the Euro 2000 finals, I had decided to support that team. I had never really noticed that team before, but I remember their first group game against England, and damn! They were good! They were the underdogs who were trailing behind, but ended up winning the match 3-2! They also ended up winning all their group matches, thus getting the maximum 9 points. I was simply impressed, so I continued to support them all the way to the semifinals when France defeated them in a very controversial match.
And yeah...it was during their match against England when I decided that Nuno Gomes was my favourite player, despite his temper. Well, most of the Portuguese players have a temper. Probably the Latino in them.
So since then, Portugal became "my team"...and was very disappointed that they didn't manage to win the European Cup in 2004 when they were so close. They lost in the final match to Greece, which was a bit ironic because the opening match was also between Portugal and Greece, with Greece winning that one too.
Now that Cristiano Ronaldo has decided to join "my team" some years ago, I have another reason to keep supporting them, right ;o)?
Anyway....sigh... . Goodbye my hotties :o(. See you all again in 2 years at the World Cup finals... . You guys did great in this finals, despite not going through to the semifinals!
Oh well, I'll be supporting the Netherlands now. They'll meet Russia on Saturday, and I'm sure they'll win, so I am expecting a Netherlands vs Spain semi-final (assuming that Spain will kick Italy home on Sunday). Now THAT'S going to be exciting.
My guess for the final: Germany vs the Netherlands. And the winner?
The Netherlands!
Tuesday 17 June 2008
BBQ in Birkerød
Martin's company had their annual BBQ summer party in Birkerød (his boss' home) last Saturday. The weather was not exactly BBQ weather, unfortunately. Compared to the previous weekend at Shi Hua's parents' "koloni" house party the Saturday before, the weather last Saturday was indeed "pool weather" too, but more like in a "pool of rain".
Nevertheless, we had good food and good company as usual, and we didn't have Bil and Yellow Goddess there "as usual" either (which in my opinion contributed very much to the good company).
Anyway...here are some pictures from that event:
Getting excited already.
"When's my meat ready? I'm so hungry," thought Andrzej.
Me and Ning running indoors to get away from the rain.
Spain vs Sweden in their last Euro 2008 group match.
3 men and a lady...watching the match.
I was pretty much alone during the 1st half. What is wrong with the world today, when out of around 15 guys, only 1 girl watches the match?
Spicy sausages
"There's something wrong with my beer," said Uffe. "Yeah, I spat in it!" said Andrzej mischieviously.
"There's something wrong with my wine," said Johnni. "Yeah, I spat in it!" said Andrzej mischieviously.
Johnni wondering if Andrzej had spat in other people's drinks too.
"I wish I had that Sony Ericsson G900," thought Thomas.
"Hey, guys...look at what Andrzej did to my drink!" said Uffe. Johnni however, didn't mind the spit in his wine.
The lesson of today is: whoever comes near my food will get something extra tasty in their drinks!!!
Coffee, tea and cake time!
Yummy.
"I had better pour my own wine."
"I had better pour my own beer."
"Mmm...I'm lovin' it! It's thumb suckin' good!"
"Please don't tell Andrzej that I took his sausages...," begged guilty-looking Finn.
Whisky that is 51 years old (bottled in 2001)!
"This whisky is older than I!"
"Let's enjoy it before we get to that age!"
"I was out fishing yesterday...," said Jörn,
"...and I caught a Danish mermaid THIS BIG!" "I don't hope this is an effect from drinking whisky that is ½ a century old," thought Finn.
"I'm really not sleeping!" said Martin.
"Don't you dare take my picture!" said Carl.
This Martin is on his way to becoming a millionaire by betting on football match results!
Lise looking cosy by the camp fire.
A couple shot before taking the last train home.
Koloni hus party at Ballerup
Shi Hua had invited us to her parent's "koloni hus" (some sort of summer house) up in Ballerup on the 7th of June. That was to be the last sunny weekend as of now. The weather was so good, that we could even have a "pool" party besides the good BBQ food! Luxury, huh? Almost.
Toey and me.
Me and bunny.
Lucy and Shi Hua.
There's the "pool"! Martin and Torben (Toey's hubby) not quite doing it right.
This is how you do it, guys!
Martin prefering land to water.
Picnic time!
Eating, drinking and talking.
Real food coming up!
Grill master.
Mmm...keep workin' it!
Am not too into brinjals.
What a feast! I contributed my home-made tiramisu to this party :o).
Can we start to eat already?
Me and bunny again.
Time to do the dishes...happily. Thank you Shi Hua for a fantastic time! Was a pity I couldn't stay longer to play more mahjong, since Lucy going home and we could get a lift from her...and also, Portugal was playing their 1st group match in the Euro 2008 football Championships, so I couldn't let my boys down by not watching them play.