Autumn has arrived

So I'm sitting here sniffing my nose off due to cold. My butt hurts from attempting to do a butt/leg exercise I found on Youtube. I'm looking out of the window and despite Autumn and how it had been pretty gloomy these past few days, the sun is actually out playing and teasing me at this moment. I'm so tempted to go out to town for a walk or even take a short walk to nearby grocery stores just for the sake of being out. But then again, my butt hurts. Oh well, maybe later. 

Anyways, since I have this much time, I thought I write something here. A lot of things have happened since the last time I wrote about how things were. I recently turned 28. It is really not a big deal, only the fact that I am 2 years away from being 30. Yikes. Okay, instead of focusing on getting old, I rather focus on counting my blessings. I think, no, it HAS been a good year for me and for us. When I first got here in January, I was pretty worried. I'll be away from my family and friends and I had to leave my job and depend on Oliver. I'll be deprived of the food back home. Hey, don't judge. But it was for the better. Oliver is now my family and us finally settling down is well, the right thing to do. And in fact, we are having an awesome time here. It was a little difficult at first. I recall minor things that annoyed me and it was probably for him too. But we're getting good at being patient and considerate, truthful, forgiving and swallowing our pride. Then there are things that just give conviction to our marriage. Little things like how he prepared hot bubble bath just to ease my cold and aching body. Moments like that, I just can't help feeling blessed to be married to a good man. 

Then, there are the people that I got to know closer (having met them briefly a couple of times when I came to visit last time) and the new friends I've acquired. Even in these short period of time, I've been blessed so much with their loves and their constant support and prayers. And recently for my birthday, my German coursemates, friends,  who I've known for barely 2 months, threw me a birthday celebration and the fact that they spent their whole Sunday cooking and preparing awesome meals. How awesome is that. There are also those who walk with me in my spiritual journey to get to know God more. 

And there is God's constant provision and blessings in our lives. When I think about all the things that had happened in our lives, good and bad, I see God. How He carried us through the bad times and reminded us to love and forgive. How He blessed us during good times and reminded us to give glory to Him always. How He guides us to be a better person, a better wife and husband, friend, daughter and servant. How He sacrificed his only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross to wash away our sin. And so much more. Just because He loves us first.

I hope I'll never forget this. To always give thanks despite of everything.

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." 


Psalm 107:1

Berlin in Summer 2012

Berlin. Oh, notice the green traffic man. 

So I've got to say, Oli's job is pretty cool. Sometimes. Like when he gets sent to places for conference. And the cooler thing is his trip is usually paid for. But the coolest among all is I get to tag along. Sometimes. Like Hanoi but not Bielefeld, Germany (not that I care) or Berlin but not Barcelona (Okay, I really wanted to go to Barcelona but his accommodation was in Campus and truthfully, I couldn't miss any more German classes). Anyways, I thought I write about Berlin because it is a cool big city and I really had a good time just exploring Berlin. The things I enjoy about my days in Berlin, well, a plenty. First, it was so easy to get around in Berlin. And the accommodation that we chose helped because it had good train and bus connections just around the corner and very close to Kunfusterdam shopping street. Oh, and I have to say, I had Curry wurst from different places almost everyday I was in Berlin (that is 7 days) and the best curry wurst for me was the one located beside KADEWE shopping mall. Straight off the pan (which what makes it good and fresh), it was crisp from the outside and juicy inside. I'm salivating just thinking about it.

Curry Wurst. Cheap, tasty not so healthy.

The long queue into Pergamon Museum.

We visited the usual tourist spots; from Brandenburger Tor, Holocaust Museum, Jewish Memorial Site, and Jewish Museum to Checkpoint Charlie and whats left of the Berlin wall scattered around the city. We also went up to Bundestag Dome, Pergamon Museum (well only visited the special exhibition which was pretty fascinating) and after a bit of persuasion from Oli, Berlin Aquarium. I only agreed because Oliver said, there was whale but when we got there, none. Nada. I love him. Other days, when Oliver was cooped up in conference, I wandered on my own to the less touristy part of Berlin, which was pretty cool you know, slower paced and I guess, I'm pretty proud of myself. Having learn that much German (still learning) and being able to get around with much ease.

Bundestag (Berlin Parliament)

Loud, drunk, shirtless men.

Behind us are Berlin Dome and TV Tower

At Checkpoint Charlie. When East and West Berlin were separated by the wall, they had to go through several checkpoints to cross over to each side. Checkpoint Charlie was one of them and somehow, the popular one.

Pretty synagogue.

Us at Brandenburger Tor at night.

So yes, Berlin is a great city to visit. I've always vaguely known about Hitler, the Holocaust, World War 2, Jewish etc. And my visit to Berlin had really opened my eyes to the things that had happened in the past and how it shaped the things as of current. I learnt a great amount of history in Berlin, in a good way. One of the profound moments I had was when I visited the Holocaust Museum. The museum had different partitions or rooms and they were arranged in such a way that visitors will walk through rooms in chronological order depicting events in pictures and captions. In one of the rooms, it was set in dark, no light except the light coming from the previous room. There were a few blocks for people to sit. So I sat in one of the blocks. And in all four walls of the room, a name was projected. Every 20 seconds, it changed to another name. And another. Each names was narrated from a speaker. Those names were victims of Holocaust. Since the room was opened to public a few years back, it has been projecting names of the victims and up till today, they never repeated a name twice. There were just too many. Over 6 millions.

History, no doubt is one of the reasons you must visit Berlin. Even for someone like me who is not into history. Otherwise, there is the little interesting things that catch your fancies. Oh and of course, curry wurst.