Staying strong

Everyone around me are sick. Literally. People are running to the toilet, sleeping, running to the toilet, sleeping.. and so on. It all started on Christmas Day in the night; Marcus, his brother and brother's fiance took turns to the toilet for puking and other not so fun stuff. I was trying to sleep and praying not to get sick myself because i HATE throwing up! The following day we were supposed to go and see a cricket game, New Zealand vs. Pakistan and I was the only one who wasn't sick. It seemed like we couldn't make the game but in the last minute everyone came together and I got to see my first ever cricket game.

So now we are on day 3 and Marcus stomach isn't back to its normal self yet, the other two are feeling like crap and we just had a phone call from Marcus mum with not so great news. She now has the bug as well since this morning. BUT I STILL FEEL GREAT!! Fingers crossed that I will NOT get this bug.
We were supposed to drive up to the cottage today but this has been postponed since our designated driver still has the bug. Hopefully we'll be on our way tomorrow. We are going to spend New Years at the cottage with Marcus dad and about 20 other people. Should be fun! Just hope the weather's gonna be OK since Marcus and I are sleeping in a tent...

Marcus and I saw the 3rd Millennium movie in cinema yesterday

I thought the movie was great! It completed the trilogy and now all the pieces fell into place. The quality of the film was better than the previous one, of which you can read more here

Despite the puking bug going around I enjoyed Christmas. I wanted to make some Finnish Christmas food on Christmas Eve but realized that I don't know how to make any. So I cooked up some makaronilada instead which everyone seemed to enjoy. Marcus and I exchanged a few gifts on Christmas Eve because that's the tradition where I come from. The next day presents where put under the Christmas tree and Marcus' two nieces, 5 and almost 2 years old, got up early in the morning to open presents. I already knew what Santa had in store for me since me and Marcus had been into the city earlier that week to buy each other stuff.
I got a black lace insert tank and some underwear from my favourite shop peteralexander

Here's a few pictures from our most recent trip to Auckland city. This time we did take the boat over from Half Moon Bay.

Very yummy food!!

If everything goes as planned we will drive up to the cottage tomorrow. I'm not sure if they have Internet access there but hopefully I'll be able to keep you posted over New Years.

GOD JUL

MAN LIKE ME - Snowman by Man Like Me

Here's a little Christmas tune for you all! From my favourite band :) And with this I want to wish you a

VERY MERRY XMAS!!!

 

Makaronilåda

Mmmmm..!

Fun stuff

Today we were 'babysitting' Marcus' niece. Or not so much babysitting, more keeping company. She's 5 years old and just needs someone to entertain her a bit. The rain stopped during the day and we took full advantage spending a lot of time outdoors - walked with Marcus to his (last) dentist appointment, stopped at the dairy, set up a tent at the backyard and played heaps of games. Ah, and we also had yummy ice cream in the (almost) sunshine! Mr Whippy a.k.a the ice cream van happened to stop outside the house and Marcus treated as all to sundaes. :) Mr Whippy is quite similar to Kotijaatelo that we have in Finland. They stop outside people homes here and play a little tune and then you can go out and buy the ice cream from the van. The difference is that here you can buy single cones, or sundaes, but in Finland you have to buy massive packets. I like the system here more. (Haven't bought anything from Kotijaatelo in about 15 years, to be honest I don't even know if they're up and running anymore...).

Anyway we had a fun day with the niece who by the way can read and write already. I'm impressed. She's only 5 years old! I don't think I knew how to read before we started school as 7 year olds..

E and her pink scooter out for a walk

Watching Scooby Doo with uncle Marcus

Mr Whippy sundae umbrellas are DA THING ;)

Matching nail polish

Tomorrow me and Marcus are going in to the city again to buy each other Christmas presents. There won't be any surprises on Christmas this year.. Oh well, at least we will get something we both want.
Four sleeps to (the Finnish) Xmas BTW!

CV updating

The heading says it all...   Have been working on a new CV and cover letter for a few days. Boring stuff. Have to start applying for jobs soon. Boring stuff.
As you might know I don't have a job waiting for me in Sydney. This is both exciting and scary;
exciting because I can apply for any job I like, all doors are open and if I see something interesting I can just go for it. A bit scary money wise until I find a job.

I updated my CV picture as well. Realized that the one I've been using is from 2006 and I really don't look like that anymore. Settled for a black and white pic that Marcus took the other day. Hope it will help me land my dream job, hehheh ;)

Auckland

We went in to Auckland city yesterday! Had been planning to ride our bikes to Half moon bay and take the boat from there but nada. It was rain, rain and more rain. In the morning we decided to wait and see if the rain would stop. This was a bad idea. It didn't stop. So at 2pm we caught the bus instead. The weather in the city wasn't too bad and we didn't mind as we were mostly going in and out of shops.

Apparently Santa turns 50 this year..??

Had delicious pizzas and vinos at this place!

The result from yesterdays shopping; a pair of nice sunglasses for me, a few surprises for NYE (hehehee) and tired feet after all the walking up the major hills. So all in all it was a good day!

First run in months

Yep, went for a 40min run today. The plan is to start running about 5 times a week. Should be easy to do now that we're on holiday and all. To keep the motivation up I bought new trainers and a few shorts and tops in the US. Invested in a mp3 player armband yesterday because I CAN'T run without a few tunes. :)

Have these in turquoise/neon yellow.

To keep the tunes coming

The Millennium trilogy

Yesterday we decided to spend Saturday night in watching the two first movies of Stieg Larsson's trilogy.We ordered some Dominos and closed the curtains (it's still light here until about 9pm). I haven't read the books but I thought the movies were quite easy to follow. It felt a bit strange sitting in New Zealand and watching a Swedish movie. I tried not to read the subtitles but sometimes my eyes would automatically start scanning the text (annoying)...

The first movie in the trilogy. I thought it was amazing, great cast and awesome locations. I give it  *****.

Very good as well. Only thing that bothered me was that it was poorly filmed. Seemed to be shot with a home cam and I'm sure the budget would have allowed for more quality cameras. ****

Half moon bay

Today we went for a bicycle ride. I can't get my head around saying push bike, for me it equals  --->

It's been a while since I was on a bike last and one hour of riding up and down hills in the burning sunshine took its toll. I'm not complaining about the heat but maaan it was hot. We cycled to Half moon bay, which is where the boat to Auckland city leaves from. We might bike there and take the boat in to the city on Tuesday for some shopping. We stopped for a coffee (Marcus) and lemonade (me) at the bay before we headed back. (mmmmm... lemonade!..)

This is me the other day with my bike. This is NOT the outfit I wore today, I would have collapsed and had a heat stroke at the first hill! I think I look like a mix of an old lady and a teenage boy on this picture. Old lady from like waist up. And check out the pink helmet! hahah I seriously haven't worn a helmet since I was 13 and no longer had to bike to school because we lived at walking distance. And especially check out the pink Dora the explorer bell. That's like the best part of riding this bike!

Yesterday we completed the task of decorating Marcus dad's Christmas tree. Yes, they have proper pine Christmas trees indoors just like we do. Don't know about the result but decorating was fun!

I've also grown horns since arriving in NZ..

Got a bit carried away and decorated the railing as well.

If you are wondering where we are staying at the moment it would be this house

with this lazy cat

also known as Molly

New Zealand

Now we're here!!  (well, actually been here for 4 days already..)  But anyway, this is our long sought after 5 week holiday before hell reality sets in again. We flew with Air New Zealand and I'm sure Marcus felt a bit patriotic on the plain already. We have now been able to catch up with most of the bro's & cuzzies    (= family), been on a push bike ride (= bicycle ride), had a few barbies (= barbecues) and done other choice stuff. hihihii. :)
Tonight we're off for dinner with Marcus mum a.k.a yesterdays birthday girl. I'll try and write more during the weekend + include some pics. Laters!

San Francisco

We're on our last day here in SF. Have had an awesome time with a lot of shopping, a visit to the famous fish markets, jumped on a boat to the Alcatraz prison where we saw Al Capone's cell, ate 'till we dropped and lots of other fun stuff. Our hotel is right in the center, next to Macy's so can't complain bout the location. I've been to California before, to LA and in comparison SF doesn't seem like a big city. Nevertheless, loved this city and saw a lot in five days. Now we're leaving the Americas and heading down under to New Zealand!! Yess!

In English please.

YES - your prayers have been answered and this is your lucky day. I'm writing in English from now on so that ALL my friends can understand! :D:D
For you who haven't been on this page before, this is where I keep you posted on what's happening in my life. At the moment it's travel, travel and more travel. I'm quite lazy when it comes to e-mails so I thought keeping a blog and reaching out to you all this way would be easier (feel free to comment nd stuff!).

As you might know I'm currently traveling across the globe. Our final destination is Australia but I'm sitting in a hotel room in Bayswater, London at the moment. Just here for a day though, don't worry, we've seen enough of this place already! Tonight we're picking up our suitcases from my friend A who's been kind enough to look after them while we've been holidaying in Finlandia. Tomorrow we're taking a morning flight to SAN FRANCISCO!! I'm sooo excited! :D

Finland was awesome anyway, very cold. And I mean proper cold, like -15 degrees. Was nice to see everyone but of course sad to say goodbye.. Check out some pictures below!

Cutting Christmas tree for grandma

@ Sean Paul concert

Baking ginger cookies