December 2005

I have been rather rubbish at keeping this updated with my comings and goings, so thought I'll do a summary of what I've been doing in December. December 05 was an exceptionally busy month for me, so when you read this, don't think I usually have such an active social life! :)

3 -5 Dec: Germany
Bri and I trooped off to Germany, taking advantage of Steph's generous offer more than two years ago for us to visit her. I was also keen to visit a real Christmas market; we always have the Frankfurt Xmas market here in Brum and the sceptical side of me always wondered whether this is a real German Xmas market, as opposed to one they have just put up just for the Brits. Steph told us to visit Dresden, as the Xmas market there was the oldest (541 this year!) and Karsten (Steph's boyfriend) was living there (very convenient!) :).

Despite us landing at a remote airport (joys of taking budget airlines), Steph was eventually able to find us after driving round in circles at one point to look for this airport. Arrived at Dresden and left our bags at the YHA, then off we went to see the market. The Dresden Xmas market was huge! I wasn't disappointed with it! Stalls and stalls of mulled wine, wooden figurines from Erzgebirge mountain, handmade lace, pottery, bratwurst, etc. Even the mulled wine had different flavours - cherry, blueberry, honey. Christmas carols blaring from loudspeakers - it was lovely! Steph and Karsten were a great help in showing us what's typically German and translating menus and prices for us. They introduced us to spaghetti ice icream - yum yum yum! See my photos link for this.

On Sunday, both of them showed us around Dresden - it's such a beautiful city! And I say this despite the rainy weather we encountered throughout our visit (we brought the British weather with us). Imagine what it would be like if it didn't rain or if we visit in summer, which thanks to Steph's and Karsten's tremendous hospitality, we are now very tempted to do! Steph may regret extending her offer already! :) Our Dresden photos are here....

Steph dropped us off at Leipzig on Sunday afternoon. After checking in at Ibis, we went walking round Leipzig. Thank goodness the British weather was left in Dresden (ironic as this may sound). Leipzig's Xmas markets were spread out through the city. The ones in front of the Opera House were the most beautiful, I thought, especially when four men came out in full band costume to play the trumpet, etc. Click this link for our Leipzig photos.

6 Dec: St Nicklaus
In line with multicultural teaming, etc etc, we celebrated St Nicklaus as Dutch custom. Usually celebrated on 5 Dec, children have to leave shiny boots outside their doors for St Nicklaus to leave presents in (if they were good). If they had been naughty, they were supposedly going to be sent to Spain. (Not that bad a punishment, surely?) Those from Holland in our team couldn't tell us why naughty children were sent to Spain.

Anyway, our team had previously chosen Secret Santa names for whom to buy presents. We followed the 'older' version of the celebration (so no Spain trips for us!). We had to wrap our presents creatively and write a poem about the person/gift, then present it to them. Tho I dreaded writing the poem as I lack such creativity, Bri was a great help when I decided to write the poem whilst waiting for our flight in Leipzig. Was good fun overall.

8 Dec: Ballet
Watched BRB's Beauty and the Beast at Hippodrome with Christina. This is the first ballet I've watched in a while and I went away rather disappointed. Clara and the lady playing the squirrel had superb expression and strength. I felt the remaining dancers had rather sloppy techniques, which had I done them during my oh-so-younger days in ballet class, I would have earned the wrath of Ms Tan. David Bintley's choreography was a little too modern for my liking too. For example, his choreography to express anger was demonstrated through use of arms rather than strong jetes, pirouttes and grand battements, which I prefer. I guess this is subjective and I do prefer classical styles to modern ones.

9 Dec: First of the Xmas dos
ISAAS South had our first Xmas lunch as a 'combined' region. Exciting and scary at the same time, to see how big our team has expanded. Having eaten at Prana's before, I was disappointed in the Xmas lunch. It started out well as the duck breast I ordered was scrumptious. My main course and desert were not very nice. We had Secret Santa present time too, although it was a more general Secret Santa, if that makes sense. Girls bought presents for girls, boys for boys - then we just chose one of ourselves, rather than buying a present for a specific person.

As a result of a bigger team, it was more difficult to speak to everyone. As we proceeded to the clubs after, groups started forming anyways and we ended the night with two groups - the party animals :) went to Reflex to show off their dancing skills whilst another group stayed on at Hyatt's Praha bar where it was quieter. Since I've mainly been London-based for eight months, it was nice to be able to catch up with South again, especially after a tremendous year of record breaking achievements!

12 Dec: Another Xmas do
Our client team in London threw a Xmas do for the central project team, a black tie affair which most team members were able to make, coming from US, Netherlands and of course, UK . I am also a proud owner of an iPod Nano now! Each of us received one as a thank you for our work over the past year. By far, the most generous present I ever received. Definitely beats the Easter egg I received from another client!

Three pods on the London Eye were rented out for us, so we had a lovely 30mins ride watching the night lights of London sipping champagne and having snacks. This is the life! Then proceeded to have dinner on a restaurant-cruise type thingie. Food and entertainment were surprisingly good. As we passed certain landmarks, the band would start playing specific songs, eg Royal Britannia as we passed Houses of Parliament. When we approached Tower Bridge (my fav!), the boat turned round about three times. That can be dizzying on its own, what more with the influence of alcohol too!

13 Dec: Yet Another Xmas Do
This time, it was for my firm's team members working on this client, so it was pretty much cross-business-unit. We were treated to the tasting menu at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen. Food was good, although I didn't think the quality of the food matched up to the price that we would have paid. It is a good cause though, as I believe the restaurant is effectively a non-profit organisation. The money received would go back into providing opportunities for the children on the streets.

17 Dec: Carol Service
B arrived for a two week and a bit holiday. Yay!!!!

We were back in Birmingham in time for Lin's carol service. The service was in aid of Cruse. I have not heard of Cruse previously. It is an organisation that provides bereavement aid and counselling to those who have lost loved ones. It was really touching hearing them read out the accounts of some of those affected. It is easy in this festive season to think everyone else is also having a good time....such times are especially difficult for those who have lost loved ones. At a time when most families and friends would get together for a celebration, they would be alone... For more information on Cruse, visit www.crusebereavementcare.org.uk

18 Dec: Family Carol Service and Ice Bar
City had its Family Carol Service a week before Christmas. It was great to hear the purpose of Christmas and really praising Jesus's birth.

In the evening, we went down to London and visited the Absolut Ice Bar. Fantastic place, albeit rather cold! Even the 'glasses' were purely ice. How cool is that? This was my consolation since I couldn't go to Sweden's Ice Hotel. If it helps, the wall at the Ice Bar was obtained from the same river where they got the ice bricks for the Ice Hotel. (Just go with me for this one, ok?) After 30mins in the -6 degrees Celsius room, walking outside in the 2 degrees Celsius weather made it seem like spring rather than winter! One day, I will go to the Ice Hotel....! Absolut Ice Bar pics via this link.

19 Dec: The Fat Duck
Indulged in luxurious food at the Fat Duck, voted the World's Best Restaurant 2005. We had the Degustation Menu, which had funny sounding names like Snail Porridge and Bacon and Eggs Ice Cream. Highlight was the Green tea and lime mousse dipped in liquid nitrogen. Weird but fantastic! We reckon most of the dishes had funny sounding names but were actually combinations of simple things. Snail porridge was really escargot! Credit due to Helson Blumenthal, though, for using these ingredients so creatively! Photos of our meal here.

20 - 23 Dec: Milan
Fashion, food, football! Home to (amongst many) Prada, Gucci, Salvatore Ferragamo, Ferrari, AC Milan, Inter Milan and not forgetting good food - pasta, pizza, espresso, cappuccino, gelati, tiramisu. Surprisingly, we only saw one Ferrari the whole four days we were there! Anyway, pictures speak louder than words, so here is the link to our Milan pictures.

25 Dec: Christmas Day!
Church service then off to Ari's and Lin's for Christmas lunch. See previous posts; I won't bore you again! Pictures via this link.

26 Dec: Boxing Day
Most shops are already open on Boxing Day and started the Boxing Day sales. We wondered what the origin of Boxing Day sales was.... No exciting purchases by moi....

27 Dec: London
Braved London for Boxing Day sales. It was crazy! With the crowds there, you'd think that shops were giving out things for free! Having heard about the legendary Next sales, where people start queueing at 2am for the 5am opening, I ventured into the shop on Oxford St. (No, I wasn't that stupid to go in at 5am, it was more like 3pm!). To be honest, I didn't see what the big deal was. Things weren't that cheap! I definintely value my sleep a lot more!

That brings us to 31 Dec - New Year's Eve. Haven't decided where we would be yet, but will keep you posted.....