falling in love with busan in 17 hours

Due to the short term notice nature of my trip to Japan I had to keep flight prices in mind (since it was also Easter Weekend and on top of that prime Cherry Blossom season) so I ended up booking a trip over Korean Air with a 17 hour layover in Busan on the first leg of my trip.

 

 

Busan is South Korea’s second most populous city after Seoul and is nestled between mountains and the sea on the southern-most tip of Korea.

 

I had been to Korea before in 2012 to Seoul but never Busan and welcomed this short stopover as a good opportunity to get a glimpse of this city. After some issues with public transportation (due to late arrival at Gimhae Airport and lack of Korean language skills) I arrived at my couchsurfing host for the night. Luckily, Koreans are some of the most friendly and helpful people I have ever met, so I managed to get to my host just after midnight. He lives in a cute little apartment right next to the beach with stunning views of the beach and the towering high rises along the coast (see picture above). 

 

The next morning I set out to explore the area by the beach and head down to a street supposedly lined with cherry blossom trees. The weather wasn’t too great but I enjoyed the walk on the beach, people playing with their puppies and jogging along the shore. After a delicious pastry from a cute bakery on the way I took a stroll through the streets lined with cherry blossom trees. Magnificent!

 

 

Since my flight was at 4pm in the afternoon I decided to collect my things and make my way to another area of Busan, Gamcheon Culture Village. It was again a bit of a challenge to get there, but once again the people of Busan were so helpful and friendly (someone even paid for my bus fare as I didn’t have any change and only large bills!) so I managed to get there in the end. You have to take a tiny little bus that takes you up the winding little streets up to the “village”, which is famous for it’s colorful houses nestled close to each other on the mountain. They even call it the “Favelas” of Korea!

 

 

I was lucky that the sun came out for a bit while I was there but unfortunately I didn’t have a lot of time to explore the little alleys due to my tight schedule… so I hailed a cab and headed back to the airport, where I tried some seafood noodles that proved that I have no tolerance towards spiciness…

 

 

I am really glad I had the opportunity to combine two places in one trip – and one thing is for sure: This wasn’t my last time in Busan… :)

xxx
Ines

a roaring 20ies epicness

I mentioned this many times before. I have the most amazing friends. And they make the most amazing parties!!

Especially Sven and Stefanie (>>her blog)! They are the masters of Beijing house parties (partly because of amazing house *cough* *cough*, but especially because of their never ending passion in organizing the best house party YET. After I was not in Beijing at their first themed party (dead celebrities), I vowed I wouldn’t miss any other, they have topped themselves with an incredible Hawaii party that nobody thought could get any better. However, they still managed to up their game and threw this amazing 20ies Gatsby bash! It was also a late birthday party for Stefanie, including champagne pyramid, drop hems and even burlesque dancers from our friend’s group Moonglow Burlesque!

Check out these great pics taken by our talented friend Laurent Hou:


What I loved the most is that all of our friends (we were probably around 50 people in the end) made an effort to dress up! Even the boys – you know guys are usually not too much into dressing up – were bow tie clad and rocking those suspenders! Everyone looked so glamorous and fancy! A truly amazing party. I am dying to see what you come up with next guys! :P

xxx

 

my ups and downs 2014

I wanted to do a little recap of 2014, but instead of doing a general rundown of my year, I decided to thing of the moments that made 2014 special and that will stand out from the rest. Here are my little highlights 2014:

The Highs:

Adopting our dog Ally who had been literally scarred by life by her previous owner who made her fight other dogs for money. She developed from a shy and scared-by-every moment to a loving, playful puppy. It shows once more that the owner determines what the dog is like.



One of my highlights of 2014 were the amazing events I was working at with my company – the best one being the AMG and G-Class Test drive in May in the desert of Ordos, Inner Mongolia. Driving through the sand dunes and riverbeds with the G-Class will be something I never forget. The SLS on the racing track wasn’t half bad too… ;)



2014 was the year of trips – I got to get out of Beijing and explore the area around the capital a lot more. I climbed two different parts of the great wall and went hiking in the mountains north of Beijing every other weekend. The landscapes in China amaze me time and time again.


Another thing on my bucket list of 2014 was to see some more cities in China – and the Ice and Snow festival in Harbin was on the very top. A city carved out of ice and gigantic snow sculptures – only in China! Qingdao was one of my favorites this year two. Probably my most fun weekend 2014 with my German roommates in a German-Chinese beer city!

 

2014 was most definitely the year of amazing parties! My favorites are house parties – all your friends together, cheap endless booze and music you can choose! Better than any club in my opinion! Endlessly grateful for my friends in Beijing. Love you all loads!



THE ONE AND ONLY most amazing thing that happened to me was being able to go and live 2 months in the US. From July to September 2014 I got to live one month in New York and one in LA. I had always dreamed about living in the big apple one day and didn’t even know how much I would fall in love with Los Angeles. Wish I could go back ASAP!

The lows….

Unfortunately 2014 was not just the year of travelling and happiness. Of course there are always days you’re feeling down but there are those days that just make you want to lay down and cry. 2014 I lost a dear friend, a brother… I will always remember you.

xxx

festive feasting days

Christmas time is feasting time. I think that’s the same in every family! I love the food and being close to my loved ones, especially now that I live in China and things like an average supermarket really excite me because of all the stuff I can’t buy in Beijing! It does feels like you are in a constant move from plate to plate, mindlessly stuffing everything inside you… but this is no time to feel guilty! For these days I make an exception to my usual eating habits and have whatever I like. Come new year we will all be sweating in the gym again, trying to get rid of our Christmas pounds but that’s ok. Christmas is feel good time.

These nights never seem to go to plan

First off I want to show you some touristy shots of Madame Liberty and Manhattan during sunset! Seeing the statue of liberty was high up there on my to-do list – but I was surprised how small it is! From the shots on TV I thought it would be huge! Of course it’s still big (Just the nose is 4 feet long) but not as big as I expected.

Did you know you can skip the overpriced boats and get on the Staten Island ferry FOR FREE? It will take you past this lovely lady and after a bit of waiting back to Manhattan. ;)

xxx

 

Happy new year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014!

 

Hey Lovelies! I hope you had a great start in 2014!

 

I celebrated the new year with my closest friends and of course we had to play around with the sparklers haha! We had a great night with Raclette, silly games and lots of drinking till 4.30am… now I am a little bit dead (and ill – seems like I brought a cold into the new year) but very happy and looking forward to an eventful 2014!

 

I am planning to travel a lot and make the most of what is to come; I hope you are looking forward to what 2014 has to offer as much as I do!

All the best!

 

xxx