Sunday Update #4

Haven’t done these in a while!

Chinese New Year is just around the corner (specifically on the 18th of this month) and I can’t wait to take off in three days to go to Shanghai! We are going in a small group of friends for five days so I am sure it will be a blast. Although I have been to Shanghai before (see this post here), it’s been a while and I only had 3 nights there because I was on a business trip and working during the day time. I am looking forward to exploring the city more, especially since people are usually either pro Beijing or pro Shanghai and rarely both! 

In case you have been living under a Rock - I'll save you the work and give you Wikipedia:

Chinese New Year is an important traditional Chinese holiday celebrated at the turn of the Chinese calendar. In China, it is also known as the Spring Festival, the literal translation of the modern Chinese name. Chinese New Year celebrations traditionally run from Chinese New Year's Eve, the last day of the last month of the Chinese calendar, to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month, making the festival the longest in the Chinese calendar. Because the Chinese calendar is lunisolar, the Chinese New Year is often referred to as the "Lunar New Year".

Last year I spent CNY in Beijing and it was pretty boring to be honest, the whole city is dead because everyone has gone back to their hometown and all the foreigners use the week of holidays to go travelling. I am hoping Shanghai will be at least a bit warmer than here, Beijing is still freezing and it can’t be spring soon enough in my opinion!

Saw – THIS lovely video that only people in China or Chinese will understand.

Listened -   Nothing new actually, I should update my playlist some time!

Learned -   The more people travelling in one group, the harder to organize! Also: If you want something done right, do it yourself!

Ate – Been stuffing myself with Avocado on toast, topped with poached egg! Not just a breakfast favorite!

Read -  www.Thewanderingtrader.com – I have no clue about stocks and trading… but seeing this guy travel the world and still earning money? I want to do that too!!! :D

Drank -  Smoothies! I am smoothie addicted! Banana and peanut butter is my favorite at the moment!

Thought – About ways to become a millionaire as soon as possible… so that I can travel the world!

Wished -  I was a millionaire already.

Bought -  New filters for my pollution mask. The pollution is out of control at the moment! >.< 

Wishing you all a lovely start in the week!

x

sunday update #2

Hey lovelies!

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend! I’s been around one and a half weeks since I am back in China and it’s been hell busy as expected.

 

I am back at my new job and dived right into many new projects so it’s all very exiting and fun! I sure hope it stays that way because people keep telling me that every job starts out great and then the routine catches up with you and once the excitement cools down it gets a bit boring after a while. I am however determined not to let that happen… and fortunately there are some business trips and cool events lined up so I guess it won’t be boring for a while!

 

Meanwhile the weather is bad. Really bad. And when you are talking weather in China you usually don’t mean the sun and rain but the pollution. January is famous for being one of the worst months in the year pollution wise and it just hit a year’s high of over 600 – the highest score since January 2013. Just to put that into perspective for you – that’s 52 times the recommended score by the World Health Association. So going out is not that fun (plus it is really freaking cold) so we spend most of our time indoors…

 

…which still doesn’t keep us from having fun! Last weekend we celebrated a friend’s birthday with a day on the go-kart course, Japanese munchies and a wild night in the clubs - and the next curing our hangovers with manicures and martinis. Oh and I got my hair cut – finally! About 10cm are off and I got blonder but I’ll show you the results another time…

 

This weekend my French flatmate moved out. It was sad to see him leave and not knowing who will move in next – but we celebrated it worthy of the time we spend together.

I am off to go Ice skating on Houhai now. Enjoy your weekend!

Saw -  The emperor’s groove – we love this for a movie night in, Pretty Little Liars – I got hooked! 

Listened -  Tom Odell – Another Love

Learned -   Chinese

Ate – Typical Chinese breakfast, and a massive French cheese fest at my French friends house!

Read -  Game of Thrones

Drank -  Too much at the farewell party…

Thought – I need to work out…

Wished -  That my boyfriend was back from his business trip already!

Bought -  nothing! I am resisting the Sales by just not entering any shop!

 

Sunday Update #1

Thought I’d start doing a little weekly update on life and what is happening and what day would be more suitable than Sunday? (Of course I know that this is not a new idea but it’s not like I could care less.)

So it’s the first Sunday of the year and I just drove my sis to the rail station to catch her train back to Vienna. In two days I will be leaving for Beijing again and it felt like these couple of weeks went in a blink of an eye. I managed to see all my best friends, spend a lot of time with my family and even sneaked in some nice little shopping (Primark hehe) but I always feel a certain melancholy when I pack my bags and leave for another place. When I am in Germany I don’t want to leave, when I am in London I want to stay and I never want to say goodbye to Beijing. I am still waiting desperately for a teleport so that I can finally be at all the places and with all the people I love…

I am starting my new job in a couple of days which is very exiting (I did work there for a trial period of a week already to see if it suits me) and I am looking forward to a couple of interesting projects. Of course I am also missing my friends in Beijing and can’t wait to see them again.

Unfortunately a new job always means that you have fewer holidays and it might be a while until I am back home again. Thinking about the future always troubles me a little because I didn’t really choose the easiest path and there are always sticks and stones in the way that you have to get past in order to achieve your goals. But I guess it will all be worth it in the end and there are so many great things that are happening on the way so stick to your dreams and make it happen. 2014 is going to be a great year.

2014 is going to be my year.

What I did this week:

• Saw -  Doctor’s Diary – An awesome German TV series from a couple of years back
• Listened -  Lorde - Royals
• Learned -   a bit about HTML/Design, a little bit Chinese vocab
• Ate – Sushi, sushi, sushi.
• Read -  HTML/Web hosting/design tutorials
• Drank -  All the (non alcoholic) leftovers from NYE
• Thought -  Why do so many things go wrong when you really need them to work
• Wished -  to be at home for one more week
• Bought -  a couple of bits and pieces from the sale + Primark craziness