A trip to remember

For the benefit of my friends who don't have an account in Facebook, here are some of the photos we took during our recent trip to Berlin, Dresden and Paris.



The protestant Gedächtniskirche (otherwise known locally as "The Hollow Tooth" and "The Lipstick") in Berlin, consists of an ensemble of church ruins and the modern buildings which surround it.



On May 10, 1933, "burning of the books" by the Nazis took place at the Bebelplatz Square. Since 1995, this event has been commemorated by the above monument, which consists of an underground library with empty shelves and which can be seen through a transparent plastic window set into the ground. Isn't it cool?




This is the last bit of the infamous Berlin wall which did not collapse.

We left Berlin the next day and drove to Dresden which was about 200km south of Berlin. Dresden remains a major cultural centre of historical memory for Germans, owing to the city's destruction in World War II.





After Germany, we finally arrived in Paris - the highlight of the whole trip. I really like the parisien feeling for its impressive architecture, romantic ambience and delicious french food.






The Eiffel Tower looked really magnificent at night when it was all lit up. We had a good view of Paris from the highest level.



We took this picture in front of the Notra Dame de Paris. The cathedral is considered as one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture.



The Louvre where we saw the Mona Lisa painting.





Was a bit disppointed when I saw the Moulin Rouge. Other than the oversized windmill, the building was really smaller and much lifeless than I had imagined. Maybe the real show-stopper happened behind the tainted glass door, which unfortunately, we didn't manage to discover because the prices of the shows were pretty steep.


We joined a day tour to Reims, the capital of Champagne, and visited two wine champagne houses. Ed even bought a bottle of vintage champagne to celebrate the birth of our little piggy. I'm really looking forward to filling up my wine glasses again.








In Paris, we concluded our holiday plans for 2007. My next milestone will be the birth of my little baby, whom I believe will bring me more joy and fulfilment. Just wait for my good news!

I Am Back

After bidding the beautiful Paris farewell with teary eyes last night, I am now back in Denmark. The flight was delayed for an hour, so by the time we reached home, it was already 2330. It was a happy but tiring trip for me as I wanted to explore Paris as much as I could, because I kept thinking this could be my last chance to travel with freedom before my baby came. Hence, I decided to leave the unpacking till the next day or the next or the next.

Woken up by a phone call this morning from a good friend from Singapore asking me to go shopping with her later, I pulled myself out of the bed only to realise how much colder Copenhagen has become. Fortunately, it looks sunny today and this has a positive effect on my mood.

With the luggages still lying on the floor and partially unpacked, I called my mum to let her know I was back in Copenhagen. It was a bad move because I suddenly laid eyes on a thick layer of dust on my study table, hinting that I have not done much housekeeping for the past couple of weeks. This is not good for now I have to unpack the luggages AND clean the house. Life as a housewife is tough, isn't it?

Hiatus

I am taking a one week hiatus as I am having my last babymoon. I will be back soon and you will be promised with more stories and photographs.

Prata Crazy

No prize for making a correct guess of what I had for breakfast today. Yup, I had roti prata and homemade teh tarik again! This time, instead of two plain pratas, I replaced one with a plaster prata.

MH, this is for you:

The main difference between a plaster prata and an egg prata is where you find the egg.

In the traditional egg prata, the egg is cracked onto a big piece of prata and the prata man will then fold the prata like an envelope to keep the egg inside.

For a plaster prata, the prata man will put the egg on the prata and he does not fold the prata to encase the egg. Therefore, the egg looks like it has been plastered onto the prata.



I made the plaster prata just to satisfy my curiosity of whether it can be done. As an amateur housewife, eggs appear pretty often on my dinner table. Hence, I really don't need anymore eggs on my pratas. "Less is more" and in this instance, I totally agree.

Something About Cannan

If you had attended my wedding, you'd probably remember my little nephew, Cannan. This morning, my sister sent me a little joke about him and I thought I should share it with everyone who loves kids because I found it really cute.


Quote

I was asking Cannan if he knows where he had come from. First he said, "Texas"?. I said no.
Then he said, "Hawaii"? And I said no, try again.
Lastly, he said, "Pearl Harbor"! So, I said no.....but how did you know all that?
And Cannan said "Daddy told me".
Anyway, I then said, "Did you remember that mommy's tummy used to be very very big?"
Cannan then replied, "Yeah, that's because you ate too much and caused your tummy to be so big!"
I said to Cannan, "No, silly, my tummy was big because you were in my tummy when you were a tiny baby and I had to give birth to you!"
Then Cannan innocently said," NOOOOOO! Mommy, you ate me?"

Unquote.

Cannan just turned 5 last month and this was taken at his birthday party. Look at how much he has grown!

I can finally relate to Denmark!

Flu aside, I had a good start this morning. Well two things happened and they made me feel good.

First, I decided to call my doctor to get an appointment because my nose was so stuffed out last night that I almost couldn't breathe. When the line got through, I realised that it was my doctor's voice alright but the "speech" was different. Still in bed and feeling groggy, I had no idea what he was talking about because it was in danish. I panicked for a few seconds and before I could react, the call ended. This time, I sat up and contemplated if I should call Edmund and ask him to get his colleague to interpret what the doctor said or I should just call again and see if I could pick up any familiar words. I decided on the latter.

After two attempts, I got it. The doctor said I had reached the automated answering machine. The clinic would be closed from Friday 28 September to Monday 15 October. If we need to seek treatment between this period, we could go to Doctor Jorgen Hansen at Osterbrogade 53. His telephone numbers, 35380043. He would be back.... (the line went dead before he could finish the sentence. Guess he had exceeded the time limit for the voice recording)

Feeling a little nervous, I dialled the numbers and bingo, the line got through and I was actually talking to Doctor Hansen! In that instance, I felt a great sense of triumph. Suddenly, this country did not feel so alien to me anymore and I thought, hey, I could certainly stay here because slowly but surely, I have managed to intergrate into the culture.

So after I got over the jubilation, I went to the kitchen to get some breakfast. Yesterday, I found a shop in the Asia Market that sells frozen plain roti prathas. It was an exciting finding for me and I bought a packet. The verdict: Not as good as the real ones but definitely a close substitute. Anyway, in a place when such food is scarce, two pieces of prathas even if you had to eat them with sugar and a cup of hot teh on a cold morning will guarantee to make you high. I think I am going to experiment putting a layer of egg on top of the pratha to make it a plaster pratha sometime this week.

Hmm, what a nice way to start the week!