Thursday, July 19, 2012

22 Years Later


This year’s anniversary holiday was really a trip to the past for me. After changing his mind and schedules several times, Husband finally decided on a destination. 

Europe. 

The last time I set my feet on European land was in 1990. It was a very sad, sad day.  And I certainly left a big chunk of heart in Vienna. One of my biggest wishes was to visit Europe and see my friends in Vienna again. Who knew that 22 years later, April 20th, to be exact, I did. 

Our trip began in Paris. It was.... Paris. Need I say more? :) It supposed to be spring already. But the weather was quite chilly. Still, I was the only one who wore thick scarf, boots, long john, gloves AND chattering teeth. Meanwhile Husband and child acted like they’ve been Parisians all their lifes with their “Cold? What cold?” attitude. The highlight of Paris was, of course, NOT The Eiffel Tower. It was Disneyland Paris. My babycakes was totally thrilled to be there. It was such a perfect timing too. Right when she’s in this epic Pinocchio Phase, she actually DID visit Pinocchio’s house. 3 times to be exact. We had to wait in line for about 45 minutes and the ride lasted only around 5. You do the math. 

After that we flew to Germany and stayed at our good friends’ house in Eichwalde. The town was B E A U T I F U L! Almost everything I planned to do with Kukka when we visited Europe, I did it there. We took a walk through the wood, walked along the lake, saw wild ducks and a beautiful swan swam towards us, sat and played in the park. We also vistited Berliner Tierpark, an awesome zoo!! I wish we could go camping there with the lions :))

Now, after Berlin came the city that I’ve been missing for 22 years. Vienna. Right after the plane landed, tears ran down my cheeks. The first thing I wanted to do was contacting my friends IMMEDIATELY! :)) But I had to be patient and waited for dinner time. My friends and I agreed to have dinner at Ristorante San Carlo in Mahlerstrasse (highly recommended, btw). I was excited and afraid at the same time. How wouldn’t I be?! I was about to meet my friends who had a very special place in my heart after 22 years! I’ve been imagining about this event for a very long time. But when the time came, I was totally clueless of how to act, what to say or do. 

We were greeted by Marco, Susanne’s husband. He’s the owner of the restaurant. I know that restauranteurs HAVE to be friendly but the second I met Marco, I could feel his genuine kindness, friendlyness and fun. He led us to the table and there they were. My beautiful friends. There were Susanne and her pretty daughter, Alba, David, Ernst and Nenad :) Good God, I’m smiling and can feel the happiness as I’m typing these words:)) It was a beautiful, beautiful moment. It’s funny to think that we probably didn’t appreciate each other’s presence back then when we were together. Yet 22 years later it seemed like we’ve been the best of friends all this time and nothing has changed. 

Well, except for David. He’s becoming soooo tall and too slim I could feel his bones when we hugged! Yet still talkative and flirtatious, just like when he was 12 :)) Susanne is the same sweet and friendly girl I’ve ever know but now she has a gorgeous mini-her. Ernst is a bit quiet and I couldn’t understand his German very well because he speaks so....Austrian :)) Nenad... Well... Still the same Mr. Nice and Shy Guy and apparently still very healthy too. Still not smoking and drinks alcohol on minimum limit heheh... We spent a couple of hours chatting, eating and laughing. Too bad we couldn’t spend more time because it was getting late and they all had to go to work early in the morning. I think and I do hope I did cherish and appreaciated every second we were together because I don’t know if I ever going to see them again. 

After spending 2 nights in Vienna, we took a night train to Zürich and changed train in Geneve. Our next destination was Chamonix, France. Although we couldn’t find what we were looking for (read: snow) due to a wind storm, but we did have a great time there. Would love to go there again someday. 

Our trip started and ended in Paris. Although she was enjoying the holiday but I knew that My Little Godsend was also getting kind of homesick. The last 2 days in Europe she kept asking for her kitten almost everytime we’re about to ride on a bus, train or airplanes :)) “I miss Kwazii. Are we going to Kukka’s house? Are we going to Kwazii’s house?” she asked. So after 12 days of holiday, we finally flew home. 

And a day or two afterwards, My Little Godsend said “I want to go to Pinocchio’s house. I want to go to Disneyland.” What, you think we can go to Disneyland anytime by bus, girl?? :)) 


And yes, this post turned out to be quite short. But if I wrote the whole details, it would certainly be too long. So I guess I better keep this simple. Besides, I do have some new memories that I rather keep to myself because they were too beautiful to share :)




Monday, July 16, 2012

Dear Kukka: Happy 4th Birthday!


Because of you, I'm happier
Because of you, I'm braver
Because of you, I'm stronger
Because of you, I'm humbler
Because of you, I'm calmer
Because of you, I might be even wiser
And because of you, I know I am better

Therefore I'm forever grateful
There's not a single day gone by without me thanking Allah SWT for creating you 
To be the most important part of my life

To be my heart



Happy birthday, my most beloved Godsend

My angel, my rock, my life
My unconditional love and never ending prayers are with you

Forever and always