I know, I know....it's been awhile.

Okay, I thought of just putting up the picture above as self explanatory but then again, I haven't written anything for awhile and so my hand itched to type. So, what causes this sudden urge to write? Well...lets just say I am this excitedthatmyheartcan'tcontainandifeellikelettingitout. Get it? I'll be seeing Oliver, my husband (still not used to it whatiswrongwithme) in 17 days and as always I'm having this butterflies or jitters. Also, Oliver reminded me that I have a blog and I have not written in a while. So yeah. Oh, wedding pictures. A few of my friends have been asking about it. I have it already and actually I've been meaning to post it up, probably not the entire album on Facebook just a few here but then, Oliver has not seen it, so it's only fair that I wait till he comes back, look through it together and then, share it.

So many exciting things ahead in December, with Oliver coming back, Christmas and New Year with our families, a few friends will also be back from overseas, it will be my last month in Malaysia before I follow Oliver back to Germany and seriously go into married mode,..what else, oh, there is a wedding and yeah in amidst of all that...it's really just spending time with people, especially the ones from my workplace, my colleagues whom I have bonded with for the past three years and became good friends with and of course, from Toastmasters, some of the most awesomest people I've met (I know I'm not being grammartically correct here) are the ones from Toastmasters, again, it's funny but in a great kind of way that eventhough we just knew each other for a short while, we became great friends and for that, I'm quite blessed.

"We are all a little weird and life's a little weird and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up and then fall in mutual weirdness and call it Love."-Dr, Seuss.

I hope you have that weird person in your life too. :)

I love being married

Luxembourg

“Luxembourg is fairy-tale stuff…complete with happy ending. The story of this land’s tumultuous history beguiles with its counts and dynasties, wars and victories, fortresses and promontories. Only the dragon is missing. It’s no surprise that Luxembourgers are a proud people who national motton, Mir welle bleiwe wat mir sin(We want to remain what we are), sums up their independent spirit.”- Lonely Planet-Luxembourg.

I woke up groggily from my sleep as Polly pulled to a stop. After two hours journey from the city Metz, we were in Luxembourg City. We got out the car and I felt the gentle cool air; much more pleasant than the heat we had in Metz earlier. ‘This is my ideal weather’, I thought. We started out by admiring the stunning view of the lush greens that stretched to the horizon and what look like a castle perched on the hill in the distance to the left. A beautiful bridge connecting inner cities  hanged majestically on the other side completed the picture perfect panoramic view. I like Luxembourg already.

We then set off to the quiet town squares.  Most stores were either closed or about to close for the day.

As we continued to wander aimlessly, we saw a palace guarded by tall iron gates said to house a family of duke and duchess. We look for cafes to sit down and finally settled for a café that sold ice cream and crepes. I had Nutella with banana crepe, dust with sugar and cocoa powder and came with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. Sinfully delicious.

After refueling, we continued walking; we went to a park where there was a small stream and a couple of old impressive stone walls. Autumn was around the corner. So the leaves were turning into tinge of yellow, red and orange.

We came across an open area walled by a modern looking art building on one side and on the other side was a terrace that overlooked the whole rustic and quaint town of Luxembourg and lush greens. Again, the sun setting sky was beautiful with mix mash color of sky blue as well as pastel orange and yellow.

It was then that we decided to head back to the car to continue our journey back home. When I arrived home, the house smelled of olive oil, tomatoes and herbs. In the kitchen, the husband was making spaghetti sauce. It warms my heart each time I see him working the kitchen. Anyways, to wrap up, I think Luxembourg deserves another visit albeit a longer one. I read that to really appreciate the beauty of Luxembourg, one has to travel to north to arrive in Vianden and on towards the southeast, the Moselle Valley, where in between these two, one can see rolling farms, vineyards, little villages, and historic medieval castles.  Now, that would be a road trip to look forward to. Sigh. There're just so many places to go visit. But, until then.

Metz, France

Four women, two countries and one day were all it takes to make an awesome day. Our initial plan was to do a road trip to Metz, France which we did. But since we had extra hours to kill after making our rounds in Metz, Adriana suggested we visit Luxembourg which was jut 60kms drive, equivalent to an hour journey. Brilliant I tell you. The idea of being in two countries, well make that three since we started and ended our journey in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The day was made more awesome with great weather considering the previous days were wet. So after bidding my dear husband farewell, I joined the crew of the day; Eriko, Adriana and of course Polly. The city Metz was pretty cool. At this point, having been to a few cities in Europe, the excitement was derived not so much from seeing but simply from being; yes you see the same ol’ architecture buildings, narrow  and winding streets and alleys, rivers and bridges, cathedrals and museums, creperies and patisseries, that is Europe for me. But of course, I have not been to many other cities in other European countries like Austria, Italy, Spain and Greece that beg to differ. One day. That's the plan But first, Metz....

Where you know that you reach the intended destination

Where there are lanes designated for those who cycles

Where people walk their dogs, eat and sun bask under the mild summer sun

Where creperie/s tempt the weak like me

Where you find gigantic cathedral in amidst the city

Where you're further astounded by the interior of the cathedral

And again...

Where tourist get their tour info pack or map

Where when you see something as cool like this, it means picture time!

Where there's always that sky reaching roof exterior that makes an artistic shot.

Where the river flows under the bridge

Where you looked back and felt glad, you have good company for the day

Where you wished you're living in one of those apartments and you write for living

Where you don't mind walking under the moonlight, relishing on the still river and share silent conversation.

Where, hey, we're back here again.

Where when one is undecided of which path to venture



Where one decides to move on to the next adventure.

Next, Luxembourg. Till then.

Routine

When we were back in Kaiserslautern, we sort of established a routine. Each morning, I would wake up and make Oliver breakfast. By nine-thirty, he would be off to work. Then, I’ll go do some house duties; make the bed, water the plants, occasionally mop and vacuum the floor and prepare dinner. Come to think of it, I sound like a housemaid. If I’m not doing all that, I’ll either be on the computer or be reading a book. Oliver usually comes back at five and we’ll walk to the groceries or to town. Sometimes to grab coffee or ice cream, other times, just for the sake of walking. While most nights, it was only Oliver and me having dinner while watching Grey’s together, other nights we have friends over for dinner or potluck followed by cakes and ice creams and a game of monopoly afterwards. They are crazy about monopoly or any board games for that matters and I am saying they, because usually, I’ll stay out of the game. I find it too time and energy consuming.  We spent a lot of time in the kitchen especially when we’re baking. Yes, we. Oliver has been upgraded from a mere ‘guinea pig’ to kitchen assistant and a good one he is. We’ve been meaning to try baking coffee bun. So, following an online recipe; we tried, in fact, a couple of times. It’s not easy and it didn’t turn out as to what we expected the first few times. But one day, we had a new kitchen machine Oliver ordered and bought online, so we tried making and baking again, this time, it was pretty close to original. We have yet to establish a date night. You know how couples designate one day in a week as a date night. I think it’s important to have a date night now and even later when children come into the picture. Just to keep the intimacy and sparks between two people, away from all the distractions; work, television, computer and even kids. We do however, designate Thursday as Spaghetti day; where Oliver gets to work the kitchen and cook us spaghetti. He makes good spaghetti. Of course, the Asian me always tend to add more flavors to food; cut chili with soya sauce on any Chinese dishes, mayo/thousand islands on potatoes and salad, etc. chili garlic seasoning to Oliver’s spaghetti which always brings him to question, ‘Not enough taste, kah?’ with a slightly offended look on his face. Anyways, I’m writing these down because I miss those days, those routines. But most of all, I just miss my husband.

He's so sexy when he cooks. :P

Disneyland Tokyo

I'm not sure about you but I think one is never too old to enjoy Disneyland. I mean, how can the 'child' in you not reignite with the joyful rides, the happy tunes being played all day long everywhere in the park, the colourful parades, the walking mascots of your favourite Disney characters, one breathes air of youthfulness just being in Disneyland. For me, personally, Disneyland is a reminiscent of my childhood spent in the U.S. for a mere 2 years. The first time I went to Disneyland, it was in Florida and I was six. I was too young to recall much then. I do remember that I was sick, hence I didn't really enjoy Disneyland like other kids would or should. I also remember going into the 'It's a small world' ride and came out of it feeling more sick and since then, the song was never a favourite. Fast forward two decades, it was as if I was given another chance to enjoy Disneyland, like how I was supposed to twenty years ago and I did enjoy it. But you know what, travelling is half the fun without Oliver. So, while I am or was having the time of my life in Disney or Tokyo or anywhere for that matters, somewhere inside me wishes/wished that he was there to enjoy it with me. It felt like the whole experience was lacking of something. But this aside, a blessing is a blessing and not otherwise and it's good to know that Oliver and I had our fair share of travelling together and it ain't gonna stop there. We have plans, baby. The world is like a book that is ready to be read and we will read it page by page, city by city, country by country. Not always. But still. Together. At its best.

 Last meal before I went back home and that's a wrap for Japan.

Land of Rising Sun (Part 2)

I guess Tokyo is fantastic for shopping if it wasn't too expensive. on day three, the group were brought to several shopping districts. Asakusa, Shinjuku, Ginza etc. I don't remember buying anything worth mentioning so for me, it was basically just enjoying the sight, sound and taste of Japan. The weather however was not too pleasant. We were warned the day before that a typhoon would be hitting Japan on our third day. But, thank God it wasn't that serious. Rain and drizzles aside, it was bearable with a good ol' umbrella. The Japanese, they don't really speak much English and despite knowing that we, foreigners, do not speak Japanese, they would continue going on and on and on in Japanese expecting us to understand. When it comes to queueing up, I bet, the Japanese could win the 'best queue' if there ever was a contest. However, the rule when it comes to catching a train ride during peak hours is even when space seems impossible, so as long as the train door is still open,  just squeeze your way in. Japanese, men and women are quite fashionable and that includes keeping up with the latest fashion trends, hairstyles, gadgets etc. So, it can be quite intimidating. I confessed that the first thing I did upon arriving home from Japan was go to the saloon to get a haircut. The pressure that didnn't last long. I do miss their convenience stores. I wanted to try all their snacks, instants noodles and mini pastries. I didn't though which reminds me, we do have a store selling Japanese goods. I might drop by one of these days. Picture time.



With Omo-sans.



Rain, rain go away...



In front of Asakusa Temple



Asakusa shopping street

Japanese Mochi.

Fountain in one of the shopping mall

Beef patties with cheese, potatoes and brocolli. Yummy!

Building, people and umbrellas.

Ginza Street, 'Champs Avenue' for Japan

One of my favourite shots throughout the trip

Kobe beef, hot pot, and warm sake, perfect end to the day

To be continued....