Deutschland-ING: one of my favourite German Cities 2/2, Hamburg

HAMBURG, Germany

In Late October 2018

Part one of my two favourite German cities: Heidelberg

According to Google, "Hamburg, a major port city in northern Germany, is connected to the North Sea by the Elbe River. It's crossed by hundreds of canals, and also contains large areas of parkland. Near its core, Inner Alster lake is dotted with boats and surrounded by cafes. The city's central Jungfernstieg boulevard connects the Neustadt (new town) with the Altstadt (old town), home to landmarks like 18th-century St. Michael’s Church."

I definitely have a thing for water. I have unexplainable fascinations about water, about places close to the water. Water is calming. Being close to it just gives me so much joy. I have been trying to improve my swimming skills so hopefully, one day I will live close by the water, with my dog.

The trip was done around late October in 2018, while I was on exchange. It's a little funny, I actually took more than a year to write about my travels. It doesn't feel long though. I am still in disbelief about how time goes so fast, and I am already in the quarter-life crisis chapter of my life.

And the world has been paused all of sudden, travelling is basically forbidden in most countries. Going to restaurants, mass gatherings, going out for brunch the very essential every activity we do and take for granted are now histories. I thought maybe this would soothe my quarantine soul. It has been a long due travel diary, I really should have done this in 2018. But I am not going to deny the fact, this is actually a perfect time to do stay home activities. Hence, let's all sit back and grab a cup of tea, let's go on this memory lane together, shall we?

I like all my photos unfiltered, unedited and present them in their most natural form that is when I took them, and with the exact lighting.  I do really, miss Germany and Europe very much. I can't wait to be back in summer to have a month-long trip just dedicated to travel, slowly.

I don't exactly recall the type of transportation we took to get to Hamburg. I am just going to assume, it was done by Flixbus as it was the most used transportation for me to get to places. The only reason I was willing to stay more than 8hr on a bus was to save money because broke as fuck as we all know. Anyways, that didn't really stop me from enjoying my trips. We arrived on the 26th of October, 2018. And guess what, the first meal we had in Hamburg was HAMBURGERS :). My lameness shall never get old in this blog also, actually never.

Day 1- 26th October 2018 in Hamburg 

With my Hamburg travel buddy, Olivia from Taiwan. Our trip was spontaneously decided during our German class. It was originally Santorini, Greece but we didn't make it happen, Instead, Hamburg happened.

not sure if that man is judging or just getting sick of an Asian tourist taking selfies. Sorry, can't help it being myself. 

The Airbnb was the biggest surprised. I was not expecting beautiful green plants and nicely decorated room. The room was big and very simple, yet it has its own uniqueness to it. The bed was alright, a little bit hard to sleep on.

After being super hyped in the middle of the night, I've decided I should go to sleep to ensure a good night of sleep for a full-on day and possibly the next few days in Hamburg. I am not bragging but this trip has been the most productive one so far. We were so organised and did a lot of things.

28th October 2018, Day two in Hamburg. 

Just really aesthetically pleasing as I was on my way to the train station - the location according to my Iphone is Winterhude

Landungsbrücken, Hamburg

St. Paulli Landing Bridges

I was thrilled to be there, as you can totally tell.

This photo and this seagull were meant to be, it flew into my frame without me trying to capture it. Perfect timing and perfect location.

I was contemplating if I should buy a fridge magnet from St Pauli. It is rather a cliche and seems stupid to do so, as your memory of a destination will fade even if you have the fridge sticker on your fridge. The best memory is always in your head. And we always overestimate how much we need a physical item to remind us of a particular experience. However, I am by no means against. I was just trying to be minimal with my journey. So I took photos of these instead. I was a little disheartened after I've got back to Australia and I seriously wish I had bought more fridge stickers from cities I've visited instead of countries.

 

"Old Elbe Tunnel or St. Pauli Elbe Tunnel which opened in 1911, is a pedestrian and vehicle tunnel in Hamburg, Germany. The 426 m long tunnel was a technical sensation; 24 m beneath the surface, two 6 m diameter tubes connect central Hamburg with the docks and shipyards on the south side of the river Elbe."
 

The view from the other side of the St. Pauli Piers

A cute Westie encountered in Germany, and now proudly a westie dog mum :). Well, my affection for Westies didn't start here, It was from Sarah's wedding.

After the Berlin Pho Incident, I was so thankful and very happy to have a hearty warm pho soup with some real pho in Hamburg. I would've cried if I had got a real pho in Germany.

Rathaus

going up in Saint Peter's Church

I got really excited when I came across a physical Monki store as Brisbane didn't have one.

Alstadt

4pm at Jungfernstieg, it was a long day but it is not even the end yet. We've got more planned ahead.

again, got really excited with a physical Abercrombie & Fitch store, Brisbane has nothing. I've known these brands from online but I've never been a physical one. It was exciting for me.

 Then after that, we were in Sternschanze, apparently a really hip suburb in Hamburg to meet up with my model friend Addie - Adelaide Sine. She happened to be working in Hamburg when I was in Hamburg! It was the coolest thing to have met up with her and hearing about how she got scouted and her adventures in the modelling industry.

It was so lovely, and I am really short. Correction is just that my model friend is really tall.

After we've parted, I've decided that I want to explore more of this suburb. I serious miss travelling;').

Reeperbahn, Hamburg's nightlife and also the city's major red-light district

Last day - 28th October 2018 in Hamburg 

Hamburg's fish market. Who else also think the fish market is only for fish. It turned out that the fish market has a lot of fresh fish and a lot of fresh produce as well. It was definitely a place to experience how Hamburgers spend their morning, the buzz, the crowd and the cold winter breeze. It was all worth it to get up early.

After the fish market, we went to the Hafencity. " Harborside HafenCity is known for the landmark Elbphilharmonie Hamburg concert hall, with its striking facade and cutting-edge acoustics. The red brick warehouses of the 19th-century Speicherstadt complex house the Spice Museum and Miniatur Wunderland model railway. Near the busy Port of Hamburg, historic vessels moored in Sandtor harbor contrast with the upscale residential buildings and hip cafes by the water."
 

ignored the really-need-sleep travel face, but I've got the tiny balls back to where they belong 

Night view from a church, last few moments before we going back to Oestrich Winkel.

In my natural elements

25

Firstly, I want to say a big happy birthday to me, for hitting this quarter-life mark in life. It truly is a milestone in this day and age. I am thankful that I am alive and didn't contract any COVID-19. It has been the hottest topic globally. COVID-19 pandemic is no joke. The highly infectious and yet no vaccines can be developed until years later, is scary to even think about. This has costed China's economy and soon the worlds. Almost every country has cases with COVID-19. I hope this could end soon. Australia has just put down the lockdown measure, not sure when it will end. Definitely not any time soon. People's lives have changed and it's just not the same anymore. The ordinary going to the cafe to catch up with friends, is illegal now, at least in Australia. The social distancing rule only allows two people who are strangers to be out together for legitimate reasons only. All restaurants and most retail shops have closed and made millions of people unemployed. Desperate times call for desperate measures, this year's 25th celebration has been moved to video call dinner with the girls. I should probably write this post after the 'skype dinner', but I thought I can always put the photos in again later today. (Mind you it is currently 1.34am in the morning, I should really be sleeping, well Cooper is).

 Wow, what a year it has been since my 24th!

2019 has been extremely fast. I almost don't even recall what had happened last year. I suppose it was a good year. Although my mum still is quite disappointed that I am still in uni. However, she seems to be more understanding of my choices now. 2020 brought a lot of mental clarity to me, not too sure if it's because of my age or it's because of other experience I've had. Ok, probably both.

I don't feel particularly too stressed with anything, I don't feel rushed because I've finally come to peace with myself about the pace I want to take with myself. Continue from last year, I have been paying attention to myself, on how I feel mentally and emotionally. This year, I want to keep myself focused, not that every other year I was not. Every year I was focused but not knowing where I want to go. This year I am focused and I have a direction I want to follow. Since moved out, I have loved doing life more, making myself a hot cup of tea in the morning, dancing to every beat of the music, keeping myself on track with university and making delicious healthy meals to look after myself. All these little things brought me the real joy of doing life.

Truth to be told, I've been missing a lot about Europe and the times I had overseas when COVID-19 was not a thing. (I am continuing my Europe trip posts, although It has been taking forever.) I did have a fall out with blogging.

I've definitely have changed a lot in the past year, in terms of my style and what I wanted with my life. Here are the most recent photos of me and Cooper in the last 3 months.

Cooper is 10 months old now, I can't believe I had been looking after him for 10 months! and He had been with me for 10 happy months!

got a handsome trim by me :)

Jan: got my dog chain necklace, definitely obsessed with thick necklace chains for 2020

Feb: layering some necklaces I barely wore but own

Mar: trying Bobbi Brown's intensive serum foundation, that shit is good

 

This is how I celebrated my quarter-life. 

Anh was the first one (surprisingly) to have sent me the birthday message. She said 'enjoy your day alone.' She forgot that I am never alone again anymore. An intimate morning photo, a bit blurry with filtered morning light. This year and in the next ten years or more, I will never be alone.

My phone rang in my fanny pack. For a second, I was stoned. Because who would call me at this hour of the day? As Cooper was resting on the pavement below a blooming tree, I fished out my phone. Voila, it was Anne! The sweetheart that I really appreciate in my life. She wanted something special from her this year. Indeed, very special.

Always spoiled :)

As I was having my virtual birthday celebration with the gals, I got this surprise delivery on my birthday. I was extremely puzzled who delivered this. ( I had no clue, it was from UberEats.) I acted like a lunatic when I went out and grabbed this. I waved at the UberEat driver and screamed on top of my lung:" THANK YOU, WHO ARE YOU? ARE YOU ANH'S FRIEND?" After that, I waved at the driver again. Only minutes later, I've realised I was just being an idiot.

Till next year!

2020

Hi 2019, Bye 2019. You were a bitch to me on many occasions this year. Thank you for being a bitch to me so that I've realized the realness of being a grown-up.

Honestly, where do I begin? Whenever I started to write this post, I always found it hard to recall, probably because I don't have the best memory, I will try though. Don't you worry, the tradition has to continue on this blog.

I remembered that my flight landed on the 1st of January last year (2019). I've completed my exchange studies and travelled around Europe and had finished my last trip to Copenhagen. I still recall the morning before my flight back home in CPH, my eyes were so swollen because of lack of sleep. I was excited and longing to be back in Australia, longing for the sun, longing for my friends, longing for home and longing for love in Brisbane.

The first few months of this year were mainly used for healing. Little did I know I needed this time. Perhaps I was too proud to tell myself I needed it. Thank god, my cousin came to visit us from Hong Kong. So I had a buddy to be with me all the time. Things were much easier with more companies. I took my cousin to trip around Sydney-Melbourne-Brisbane during her one-month stay here. It was nice, however, at the time I was a little bit over traveling. After my cousin went back to Hong Kong, things just got even faster. Although I did plan to get a dog while my cousin was here, in the end, I didn't dare to. However, the urge didn't go away so I did it eventually in July this year. I got in trouble, a lot of it, of course. But I shall save that story for another time.

As planned, I will graduate at the end of this year. Things took a very big turn. Now I am not graduating until 2021. And for that, I will have to explain. As I was doing an HRM major, to graduate I only needed to complete 5 more units, which would run for 2 semesters. I finished the first semester until I got a dog (Cooper) and a job. Since I was not too sure about my life I took the second semester off to look after my dog and train him to be well-behaved and giving him the best kind of life he could possibly have. And also to just work and think about life, particularly my life in the next 5-10 years. At least I've came to a decision that I want to study finance major hence why the graduation date has changed.

Few Big Lessons I've learned in 2019

1. Hard-work, authenticity, and honesty aren't always relevant in every situation, but it is always necessary to have them. Always judge the situation because sometimes people only act on their best interests instead of appreciating other's morals
2. There's nothing wrong with being different, especially being yourself
3. Don't look at other's path, focus on yours so you don't involve in any accidents
4. Don't think too much about the future when you are not even sure about your present
5. Take life as it comes, enjoys every stage in life
6. Not everyone is worth your kindness, be selective
7. Be picky about who you want to date, be very picky

Few highlights of 2019, I personally treasured
- Landed in Australia on the first of Jan
- Cousin's one-month-long visit
- Toured around Sydney-Melbourne-Brisbane
- Met Jo and Henry in Southbank
- Launched ReFashion Collaborative Blog 
- Celebrated another year of being wiser
- ReFashion Collaborations
- Being better at mindfulness and positive-thinking
- Kept my habit of reading
- Got a job in Luxury retail
- Got a dog of my dream
- Knows a thing or two about dog training, and potentially a really good dog mum
- Took a pause in life
- Moved out and became more independent in every possible way
- Shopped for furniture
- Started the Hairoin-Retreat Challenge with Chelssie and Anh
- Went back to China and went to Joy's Wedding, reconnected with mum and the distant relatives
- Discovered the Howard Smith Drive in Brisbane, and has become one of my go-to spot
- Got color contact lenses
- Spontaneously got a red bag on the last day of 2019

24

That's right, only a few days left for 2019. Christmas is gone, so is Boxing Day. And the next public holiday is coming up. So is New Year's Eve. Umm, where have all these times gone? This year has been R E F R E S H I N G for me personally, on a very spiritual and mentally-conscious level.

As I was reading my previous year's birthday post, I was cringing so much, along with my heartstring twitching uncontrollably as I could still clearly experiencing the sort of emotions I went through when I wrote those lines of madness and obsession. I call it the obsession because it was, I had no idea who I was really loving. Clearly, I was loving the idea of loving a person. I had no fucking clue what love is. And I still have no clue of it right now. Believe or not, we don't need to have it all figured out. What I learnt about love and my feeling is, listen to your most honest feedback from yourself. If you are feeling fake then it probably is a surreal feeling, it probably is too good to be true. Leave it, is better than having something you don't truly in tune with. Less truly is more, less makeup, fewer things and less fake people in your life. Let's be real though, more money is always good. Let's redirect the energy into making more money, and building wealth for yourself. Because you know goddamn well, you deserve so much more, and work for it!

It took me a whole year to learn the real art of self-love, self-care and be ok with your self. And truly enjoying the space of solitude. In fact, I think self-love is a life long lesson that should always be practised. This year I took every conscious moment to recognise my desire, needs and paying uttermost attention to understand myself in every situation when dealing with adversity, love, friends, work and with my fur baby. I took mental notes of how I behaved and reacted in those situations in order to understand myself better. I want to know myself as much as I could. Anyways, I will leave all those reflections in another post about the new year.

For my 24th this year, I decided I would still invite the OG group of my closest high school and Uni friends to have a nice dinner at the Chu The Phat. For the oddest reason, I somehow feel like I am 26 already, maybe because I've moved out and have a dog now, and things just felt more mature and official than before.