my month off ...

Was in Greece two weeks,
now will be in Germany to see family!
More details to come soon!!!

ze beach ...

here are some pics from last evening,
when some colleagues of mine (and myself)
and a huge 20L bottle of sangria
took the train to the beach after work
(only takes half hour to get to beach!)
to sit and chat and watch the sun set
over the North See... it was beautiful.

news...

So,
I will be leaving my current job after August to
go travel Greece and the Cyclades Islands for a few weeks-
Then I'll return to crazy weather land = Holland to start
work on kids movie thet features a magical cg giraffe (aaw).

Very good.
Things couldn't continue like they were going.

BTW, if ever bored at work (I have become the master of bore)
check out this guys blog/vlog:
Ze Frank

short note ...

How come this blog is all buggy in Internet Explorer,
and looks fine on Firefox?

Anyone who knows an answer to this, please help me out,
so i can get this site looking good on both browsers ...

Mehr Fussball ...

Some Spring Pics From Amsterdam

The Dip ... and football

Yes, yes…

It’s been a while since I posted anything-
I guess the reasons are a mixture of
Great weather, feeling lazy,
and not having that much to report really.

Right now I am going through a bit of a
‘whatever, what the hell, who cares anyway’
Phase which is probably a result of my current job
Being pretty lame, and …
Hm, I guess it’s just because the job is frustrating.

Even though I have the great prospect of going back to London
to work on a feature film next year in April,
I have mixed feelings about it all, because it means
being on a long distance relationship again… that is so tiring!
Problem is: being unhappy in your job is also extremely exhausting,
which is not such a big surprise when you spend around 80% of your day at it.

So it seems like I simply cannot have both:
live with boyfriend AND have great job.
The Netherlands simply has very little to offer
when scouting for cool jobs in animation,
Or so it seems.
And I have been looking around for alternatives, believe me.

Ah well, you could say:
Hey, just take the best out of now,
and worry about all the other stuff later…
Yes, well I assure you that I am trying hard to become a balanced,
Zen and thoroughly positive person-
I’m just not quite there yet ;)

Its funny how one seems to always have something to nag about-
First it’s all the stress with moving apartments and renovating etc-
Now I am living la dolce vita in this amazing palace
that I can call home,
And already I am thinking about how sad I’ll be when I have to leave!
Pf- silly.
Don’t get me wrong, I do have great moments of happiness,
And in general people know me as a positive person,
always ready to have a good laugh…
But those little dips you trip into from time to time
just seem to almost swallow me up whole sometimes,
and there is little I can do about it at that very moment…
maybe it's good to feel thoroughly shit from time to time,
because that’s what makes the good times even better, right?
Hm- let’s talk about something lighter…

So anyway,
cool thing that a lot of people are really getting into
the whole world cup happening, ey?
At the moment I am supporting quite a number of teams actually:

Germany, ist ja klar
Korea, eh.. gamsa hamnida?

Because, well... I am German and Korean...

Holland, precies!
And Australia, aussie aussie oi oi oi!!

Because, I support the teams of my friends :)
Of course.

I underestimated how fun it can be watching football in a bar,
decorated in screaming orange to match the yelling fans!
And despite the fact that we are all watching TV,
it feels so good to hang out with friends and chat before and after…
Hm- that should help with getting out of my dip, ey?
Yes… beer and friends (order of words does not reflect priority)…
cannot… resist… the sweet call… of cool lager… must… be strong… must …

Gotta run!

Check My New Blog!

My Animation!!!

More Queensday Stuff

Queens day Amsterdam 2006
Video sent by gabebauer

Little vlog from Gabe's site!

Queensday / House Party

Hm…
Well…
(Must gather thoughts after rather severe hangover)

Queensday is quite an interesting experience here in Amsterdam-
Basically it’s the queen mum’s birth date,
but its the actual queens birthday your celebrating.
Ah well, after the first few beers… who cares.

So anyway, Friday evening was Queensnight, as in…
you know… night before the queens birthday,
and thousands of people are out and about, in bars, on the streets,
drinking beers, listening to live music coming from every corner
and every ‘plein’ (square), and some (like me)
hopping around vigorously,
trying to not get too cold (it felt like November)
while downing some cool lager…
maybe that was the problem!
Cold outside + cold from inside…hm.

Well anyhow, it was a lot of fun hanging out with Ghislaine and Steve,
roaming the streets of Amsterdam,
getting stuck in big masses/waves of drunk people (not so nice),
and being dazzled by some of the extravagant,
very orange outfits of partying people.
(orange = royal colour – the neon ‘burn you eyes out’ version).
(For some reason all the rest of our friends headed up north
to a place called Groningen…
I’ve never been there,
and cannot remember being asked to come along
(ah the sweet bitter undertone ;) nah, just kidding)
but apparently they had a wild Queensnight there as well-
Tamara sounded like the Godfather when I saw her the next day!
Great stuff).

After a pretty late night, we (me and my Gabe)
kicked ourselves out of bed the next day
In order to prepare about 3 tons of food for our party
that we were giving in combination with Queensday-
Great idea, we thought, as there will be shit weather
(turned out to be chilly, but all in all okay...
even with sunny spells, damn it)
and people will flock to our central location
to get a rest from the Queensday craze-
hm well- it almost worked out.

After getting all the salads and pizza and cheese platter done,
We headed out to the ‘Jordaan’ (very popular,
charming area in the heart of Amsterdam)
And then to the Vondelpark,
where kids where selling some old toys and games.
That’s the whole thing you see, getting a spot on the street
and selling a lot of ‘junk’/old stuff for a Euro or so-
well that, and getting hammered by early afternoon for most people-
Its pretty great! Everyone seems happy!
Which must be why its such a big success…Queensday.

So, after heading back home
and getting everything set up (music and more food)
People came by (mostly hung over of course)
had some snacks and some drinks,
And then left pretty early…
Which is fine for me, I thought- ah, what the hell,
its my party too,
so I might as well get hammered.
So ‘sh-woops’ down went the Vodka
and some of the other toxic stuff in the fridge!
After dancing like I was having some kind of weird seizures,
I had some of the 2.8 tons of food that was left-
Put on my pyjamas, and started watching DVDs with Gabe…

Then the spinning and sickness started… ai…

Just when I though- puh, actually I am happy everyone left early-
‘Drrring’ three more people showed up unexpectedly.
And even though you might suspect that that
was the last thing I felt like-
It was great!
Basically I didn’t really know them,
so spending some chilled out time together,
chatting away, was the best thing at that moment.
I really enjoyed it.

So all in all it was a good Queensnight/day experience,
and if I am in town next year,
I want to be on a boat! That looked like so much fun 

Mi-Ah comes to Amshterdahm!!!

Great stuff!
My 'little' sister has been accepted at the
Rietveld Art Academy for Jewelry Design!!!
This means that as of end of this year I will have
a family member in the neighborhood for the first time in ...
I guess its been 4/5 years or so?
Anyway, I get along really well with her,
so I am looking forward to having her around :)


Little tip on the side-
If you wanna check on some stuff
the Gabe's have been doing lately,
check out the Vlogs they made for

mini

even shorter update

moved all furniture from Germany two weeks ago-
went for mini break to Paris last weekend-
set goal to unpack all last boxes this weekend...
and am starting Yoga :)

hm- back in life, back with energy,
finally feeling positive again!

short update

Hm-
too much snow after all,
and dutch truck rental only had summer tires (=insane).
So its move part two the weekend of the 18th... sigh.

The first part went very well though,
with loads of great helpers that made it go fast!
was one of the best moves in my book
(of ... hm, about 18 moves in my life by now).

Thanks again to all those that helped!
You = da best.

moving this weekend...

... and my nerves are lying blank...
I have been renovating like mad, together with Gabe, and one day with 7 fantastic helpers (family and friends) for the last three weeks or so-
Well, it seems like months to me ;)
But it is looking soooo great, I cannot wait to be moved in and settled and all.

Everything is as good as packed... here in Amsterdam.
The (stressy) thing is we need to travel to Germany Friday night,
pack some of my stuff there (furniture etc. dumped at my
parents place/the cellar when moved together with Gabe onto 40m2
about a year and a half ago) on Saturday,
get some good sleep after Dad's Birthday Dinner that evening,
try to get up reeeeeaaally early on Sunday (we are talking
4-5 a.m. here, and I am anything but a morning person)
to head back to Amsterdam where (hopefully) again we will have
helping hands (family and friends- what would you do without them)
to unpack all that stuff -
go over to our old place here in the city (East)
pack more stuff into the truck,
and bring it all to our new location (city, 'old West').

Now- this is a pretty big operation as it is...
but now imagine it with THIS type of weather:



Total nightmare!!! Why is it snowing again all of a sudden? ARGH!!!
Even if it tries to look all nice today, it's still slippery, wet and messy!



I keep my fingers crossed that we have a pretty smooth drive to and from germany, otherwise we'll be stuck in hell...

New Appartement !!!

I can't believe it!

we found a GREAT apartment, really central,
HUGE (two floors, 100m2),
kitchen/bathroom renovated...
we just need to paint the walls and put in the floor!

Just in time as we need to clear the apartment we are in now
(half a floor, 40m2) by the end of march.

It went kinda like this:
Plan A was to move into a new apartment building on a new island (Ijburg, still belongs to city of Amsterdam) that was supposed to be finished by end February 2006...
HAH!
A few weeks ago we get called that due to 'frost' (pfffff) there will be a SHORT delay. The new date will be communicated to us soon-
turned out it was going to be end of May probably June... *gasp*
so no way for us to do that, unless we'd put all our stuff in storage, get a place somewhere, furnished, for a couple of months, and then move to our new home...
Terrible.
Not fun.
*iech*

So we started hunting again at high speed, and looked at places from an housing organization called 'woningnet'...
Now the thing is, that once you visited the apartment (together with 10 or more other house hunters with gleaming eyes and sharp teeth) and decided that this is a place you'd like to move into... you get to participate in the LOTTERY for this particular object.
Yes.
LOTTERY...
Now the idea behind it is that rich privileged people don't get... well privileged (duh), and everybody stands the same chance at getting this apartment that you find fit to move into.
Nice idea-
Devastating when in a desperate position like we were...
Not that we are rich and privileged or something, I was more planning on sobbing incontrolably at the real estate guy and handcuffing myself to the radiator until they assure us that the appartment is ours...
Well, we took a shot at it... hoping...

The phone rings .... the tension is unbearable.......
'We are sorry to inform you that someone else was picked in the lottery of the apartment that you bid on
-(argh! bright flashes of shopping carts, frostbites and cardboard-roofs flash before my eyes)- ...
BUT they are going on a 3 week vacation so, as you were second in line, we'd like to offer it to you if you'd be willing to move in this month?'
MUAHAHAHAHAHA! yes we take! yes *bamm* in your 3 week vacation face!
The apartment is MINEEEEE UAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!
...
So Friday we should be getting the keys, and then its painting, wallpapering, floor in put-ing :)
Quite some work, but sooo worth it! I am just so happy I have place I will be able to call home, and not on a time contract basis like last time, NO! If I wanna I can leave my stuff in there until it rots... or I start rotting... or both.
Aaaanyway, share the joy! I feel fantastic! (Until the day of the move and I will be stressing out like a complete mental person, ripping out my hair in big bunches)
...
And if you have time the first weekend in March... Wanna help carry some boxes?
You will be greatly rewarded with loads of gratitude... and beer :)


Here's a picture of the bathroom... only got that one right now- hm.
More will follow!

a little something to look at:

Gabriel Sings

always nice if you have time to leave a little comment?
very much appreciated!

2006 has begun ...

... and it was a great little vacation I had,
spending xmas at home with the family,
driving up to Amsterdam for New Years at a cool club,
then back to Germany to relax and be extremely lazy for a few days
before plunging back into work here in cold,
freezing, frost-bites-your-nose-and-ears-off Holland!

There was plenty of snow
(see picture of my sister and her good friend M.),
laughs, presents, and fooooood (so soo much food!).
In Luxemburg I met A.'s new boyfriend
who went to the same school in London as I did,
only a few years later, and who still has contact with a bunch of people
I still remember from when I was around 10 years old! Crazy.

Well, right now I have shitloads of work to do
(no kidding- am working two jobs at the moment...
one during the day, one in the evenings to night-time),
and my holiday-energy-buffer is melting away at high speed, argh!
This also does not leave a lot of time for my social life so...
soon I shall turn into an uber-geek that sits at home,
isolated, wondering what it would be like.. out there...
in the real world...
Hm.

I shall have to go shopping this weekend
and meet up with friends for drinks and gossip
to prevent major catastrophy... yes...

sms 'gabriel' to 5656 !!! (in Holland)

well... after a long series of weekends and painting,
I finally finished the mural!
Here it is:



hope you like it :)

Last chance: Wildcard, 24th of December ...

Hey you guys-

Thanks to all of you who voted! I really appreciated it!



Unfortunately Gabriel did not make it to the next round this time, but he can fight for the ‘wildcard’, which is some kind of joker to get to the finals, that all 15 that didn’t make it can try to get in two weeks time (xmas eve… great timing)…

The chances are slim, but of course I’m still all for voting like crazy (though am getting fed up with the Idols-money-making-machine, but what can you do, ey) and happy if anyone decides to support him. I think this time they give you a whole week (the one before the 24th of course... duh) to vote your little hearts out, and on the 24th itself, only the 6 candidates with the most votes get to perform, and only ONE gets the 'wildcard' = gets to go on to the finals with the last 12!

Ah well ...
I think our Gabriel was so nervous on Saturday he only did half as good as he could’ve really- I saw his sleeve jitter and tremble when he was on stage- what stress!!! He never fails to give you some solid goose-bumps when he sings relaxed and full of energy, but that evening stage fright kinda froze him, I guess...

We still believe in him (of course - duh) and hope he stands a chance on Saturday the 24st!
I also hope the Idols-Image-Makers cut the crap and stop showing weird, out-of-the-context snip-its from Gabriels comments/interviews in order to have him come across as arrogant/super self assured, which he really isn't. (Those who saw the show know what I mean.)

So...
Thanks again for your support! And hang in there a little longer to give him a chance to perform again (less trembling to be expected due to 'fuck it, I ain't got nothin' to loose now' factor)-

Kisses and hugs from me to you :)