down south in clapham

Saturday night I ventured down to south London, to Clapham. First time on the south side. Well, I had an interview in Croydon but that doesn't really count. Or that I've been at Gatwick airport.

Had a night out with two of my house mates and some of their friends. It was a really nice night. We started out with a couple of beers at a bar called The Belle Vue. Then we ventured to another bar for some dancing and shaking, called Venn Street Records. A lot of fun and lots of dancing. Which continued on at Café Sol before eventually heading back home late night/early morning. Think we were at home at 4 am. Hence the evening should definitely be categorized as a great night.

So my first trip down to south London was definitely a good experience and I might even dare to go again.

night out

I can cross off my first night out in London. A friend from previous exchange studies happened to be in London with three of his friends. The plan was to only join for some dinner and go home with the last tube, since I'm still clueless when it comes to the night buses.

However, things don't always end up the way you plan. I guess I wasn't that difficult to convince either. I was offered a place to sleep in the flat, in an extremely comfortable bed, like one in hotels. So I ventured out for a night on town with four German guys. Of course plenty of German was spoken, of which I understand nothing. But as the evening progressed and the percentage alcohol in their bodies increased, so did the level of English words.

Good fun.

a night at the boat

What a night. Had some dinner yesterday with some friends and after some wining and dining we were ready for a night on town. However, trying to get into Berns was a no go. On a weekend when everybody got their pay, being there a little bit late, not being a regular known by the door men, not being on the guest list, and with door men on a power trip it was doomed.

So we ended up going to Patricia, the club on the boat. My first time there and despite all the rumors and stories we had a great night. A great night that led to an after party and me sleeping in a sofa together with three other people. Not so comfortable. I wish I had had an apartment in the city so I could have gone home at an earlier hour and get a few more hours of sleep in my comfortable bed.

But it was a fun night for which I am paying for today being all messed up and tired. But at least I do not have a job I need to go to on Monday.

a night at berns

Another weekend has passed and a new week has started.

The weekend passed with a night spent out in Stockholm with the girls. We started out with meeting up at E's place and had a bit of pre-party and gossiping with the girls. Since we had the last weekend in mind: long lines and ice cold weather, we opted for heading out early so we would avoid the lines. So we did and just walked in at Berns where there was no lines at eleven. My first time there and I like the place, a nice mix of people.

It was a very eventful evening I must say. The night ended early for some of us and very late for some others. But all in all it was a fun night with nice people. Sunday I was just very, very tired and tried not to fall asleep until bedtime. Another weekend flew by. On the other hand, it does not really matter to me since there is not much of a difference between weekdays and weekend.

girls night out

This weekend L was in town for some fun. We kicked up our heels and painted the town red. Or just plainly had a lot of fun and great party. We partied all night long which started with just us three at E's place chatting and gossiping. A memorable night with the girls in many ways. Sunday was just spent lazying around in E's apartment since we were all rather beat and tired.

Also a lot of photos were taken to remember the night. There were many more, but let's just say that they will never appear online. I had a lot of fun girls. Let's have another one soon again.

great night out in stockholm

I ventured out into the nightlife of Stockholm the Saturday that passed. S who is leaving Stockholm to head back to Switzerland was kind enough to give me a couple of days notice this time. It started with a fondue dinner (of course since he is Swiss) and drinks at his place, he had to empty his liquor cabinet and we were more than willing to help.

Then we went to Obaren and I really liked the place. It is located at Stureplan but has a more rock, indie, soul feeling about it, which I am all in favor of. Unfortunately it closed at 2 a.m. (why is it that all the good places close so early...) and we walked towards some more partying and dancing at Solidaritet.

When it was five minutes left until closing we picked up our jackets and braced ourselves for the cold, snowy weather outside. Kind E let me sleep at her place and we were lucky with the metro and got home fairly easy with basically no waiting. In bed were we at 6 a.m.

in memory of cliff barnes

I managed to figure it all out after all. I should have remembered my own motto that it always works out in the end. I ended up meeting my three friends from the Helsinki era for a couple of beer. A lot of reminiscing and updating. Instead of heading out with them clubbing, I went for M&E's pre-party at their place. Fun to see some of the Jönköping girls again, some I have not seen for a couple of months now and one not for a few years actually. Nice to catch up.

Then we moved on to Cliff Barnes a bar, waling distance from their place. The rumor was to be there early, 10 p.m., and we managed to be there at 10.30 but still had to stand in line for perhaps 30 minutes. But it was totally worth it, definitely a place just in my taste. Great music, not too big, but still possibilities to dance. The only bad thing is that it closes at 1 a.m. since I could have stayed a while longer, but arriving early is what you have to do and what everybody does. It is those places I need to get to know more off, I had my favorites in Copenhagen and need to find them in Stockholm as well. Of course a bit tricky when I do not really have easy access for a night out in Stockholm.

This weekend M&E saved the country girl and let her sleep on their sofa so she could come and experience the city life. Sunday I took the train back home to the countryside and mom picked me up from the train station to take me the rest 15 km back home. I shared some info about the night and found out that Cliff Barnes was a character of the TV series Dallas.

halloween party in tokyo

I have been invited to a Halloween party in Tokyo. I absolutely love Halloween parties and the fact that you can dress up to anything you want. But then comes the difficult part. What do I want to dress up as?

To a Halloween party? In Tokyo? It almost sounds surreal.

one last night out

Friday night turned out to be a Wednesday rerun. Met up with E for a tapas dinner and we had a lot to catch up since it had been a while. Then I had to run to next get-together. This time with my ex coworkers in Nyhavn. First just some beers at the dock and then we sat down by one of the bars. People left one by one and in the end we were only three left but decided to go for one more drink. Happily I suggested my favorite place instead of one more of the slightly boring tourist traps. So then we of course headed to Hornsleth bar. I finally got to see it one more time before I left, goodie.

Then the third one left, K was not feeling too well, and the Swiss guy and I ended up staying for another drink and then some dancing. It was really nice music, a mix of old and new just the way I like it. At 2.30 we decided to call it quits. Quite early I must say but I was a bit tired so what to do. Maybe if I have had some more dancing friends.

One last night out. And many laughs and stories from my coworkers.

fashion week

So yesterday. I am not really sure what I think about it. Even though I did not really have any expectations it was kind of a bummer. Maybe one good hour in the end.

We decided to go to the Fashion Week Party at Marriot Hotel. We got there around 8.30 pm, quite early but they had free drinks from 8-9 pm. When we arrived they told us we had to pay 100 DKK for entrance (in fall it was for free), but since we got this far we could not just skip it. We got a free drink and checked the place out and got a bit disappointed. Basically just a big lobby with a couple of bars placed out and Dj booths. The only place to sit down was a couple of outplaced seating groups but as soon as you sat down, a waitress came and said you could not sit down if you do not buy the table. For 2,500 DKK it was not worth it.

We knew that Outlandish was going to play at midnight so we decided to stay for that and hear them out. But apperently the lead singer was absent for some reason which was kind of a disappointment. Hence they did not even play my favorite Aicha (also the song everbody basically know them for). And they only played for like 20-30 minutes which was a further disappointment. However, the DJ that came after was really good and played nice music so we got to dance a bit. He played the right music to get the crowed going. Well, crowed and crowed. It cannot really be called a crowed since it was not that much people.

We then left and I wanted to tag along a friend and her friends to another bar so I walked all the way to Kongens Nytorv and damned myself for not having a bike. Hoping that we would go to my favorite Hornsleth bar but when arriving the others apparently wanted to go to Karriere bar in Vesterbro. Which means that i had to walk/take a cab there and then take another cab home later.

So I bought a hot dog and took the metro home.

eventful weekend

That is also why I did not really have time to update. With a presentable apartment I could welcome my two visitors, Lois and her sister. They came Friday afternoon and was basically thrown into a dinner party. This time Lois could finally see that I actually have friends in town since they were not out traveling. We managed to fit in ten people around the table, almost New Years Eve revisited. My beloved friends called me and had decided to have a dinner party at my place. For ten people. Since they know me, they had already decided to take care of the grocery shopping and cooking. I took care of the hosting as always.

We had a nice dinner with fajitas and a traditional 'Swedish' punch (only Swedish because I made it) that was happily appreciated as always. Then I was the perfect host and left my two guests in the apartment and headed out with the rest of the bunch to a bar. (My new favorite bar by the way, Hornsleth bar.) The nice hostess continued her good job by staying out later than planning (free shots are not good...) and forgetting her keys so she had to ring the bell and wake her guests up at 3.30 am... The next morning the perfect hostess woke up to an empty apartment since her guests had woken up several hours before and headed out to town. The hostess was a bit tired and spent some hours in the sofa watching Scrubs and eventually made it out to meet up with her guests for a late lunch.

After lunch I was all fit again (although with a bit of a bad conscience) and Saturday evening we headed out for some drinks with some friends. But we called it a night relatively early since we all was a bit tired. For different reasons. My guests for being touristy and walking around town the whole day. And me. For partying while my dear guests was sleeping in my apartment.

Sunday was spent shopping. Really! It was the first Sunday of the month so the stores was actually open. So we did some nice findings.

midsummer and unexpected celebrations

Midsummer came and passed. I did not plan for any real celebrations and stayed in Cph and was even working on Friday since it is not a holiday here. However, it turned out to be a quite interesting day anyway with celebrations. Not really midsummer celebrations but still.

I got a call on Friday from a friend asking if he and some others could join my dinner party Friday night. Since I had no plans of a dinner party I was fairly surprised. He has heard from H who in turn heard from A that I was having a dinner party. This 'dinner party' was a loose plan of K and me going out to dinner only. Apperently I was the last one to know about this dinner party at my own place. Then he asked me again: but you are going to the birthday party right? Once again I am surprised since I have heard nothing about a birthday party.

Then I just had to call my beloved friends that had arrange a dinner party at my place without my knowledge. Due to the short notice I did not do any cooking but we just decided to buy some nice Italian pizza from our favorite place. So I had a midsummer pizza instead of the herring that I do not even like.

Then we headed to the birthday party of a guy that I never met. The party was a lot of fun. The birthday boy was moving out and hence did not care about disturbance he may cause the neighbors. My friends dropped out quite early (the couples...) and as always my co-worker K and me was there until the end. We had no reason to leave early and had fun playing this game where you had to answer questions from cards. Those people now know more (intimate) details than they should after only knowing each other for a few hours. But fun we had indeed.

As the hours passed it got brighter and brighter outside which felt weird since you are usually familiar with the opposite after a long winter. Even the birds had woken up by now. When we finally decided to break up it was very late or early depending on how you see it. I never had to worry about how to get home, since at this point the S-trains had started to run again and no TAXI was needed. There was no people on the way home from a night out but only people heading to work. The metro was clean and smelled of soap, which was a first.

Coming home I went straight to bed dead tired. As always, I woke up damn early at 11 am with only 4 ½ hours of sleep (then you can also figure out when I went to bed...). I had to go up since I could not fall asleep again even though being really tired. Always have to do that and take a nap during the day instead.

So Midsummer eve did involve some kind of celebrations in the end. And Midsummer day involved a lot of sleeping and chilling in the sofa in front of the TV.

schlager

Had a schlager evening yesterday which was really nice. J and me of course had to have this evening being the only two Swedes. Then the rest had to sit with us watching it. But it seems like they liked it and they were even involved making an effort. We attracted them with some very good punch as well.

Although. I am not sure about the winner. I was hoping more for Snälla, snälla. Only two points behind. That just sucks. That song together with Alcazar's Stay the night was my two favorites. If Mums Måns had won that would have been fine too. But this opera song? Not so sure. Well, we just have to wait and see in the Eurovision Song Contest.

After that we started with karaoke! We never made it downtown but just stayed in my apartment having fun.

colorful disco

Saturday was the time of the fastelavns party. It was really fun to get dressed out. I am not really sure what my theme was, basically colorful. Perhaps a little bit disco. The interesting thing though, is that I did not really buy that much new stuff. I bought a few accessories and the turquoise pants but I can actually see myself wearing them in spring or summer. I wear or can wear all that I had on me, I guess I usually just do not go for that combination.

It was fun. Not so much people but it was fun. Otherwise this weekend was quite quiet. It passed so fast considering I did as little as possible. Oh, we did go for another hamburger today, this time for the legendary burgers at Hard Rock Cafe. It was good. Greasy but good. The meat was really good, better than the last burger at Halifax. Although the combination and fries is much better at Halifax. So the Halifax burger is still in the lead.

senior

It is only 8 p.m. and I am totally ready for bed already. It just feels wrong somehow. But I am going to need it. Saturday was a long day. I finally went ice skating at Kongens Nytorv in the city center in the afternoon and then we headed straight for a dinner and party at a friends place. It was a lot of fun and we were a couple of people that ended up sleeping over. It was a really nice night but with not much sleep at all. After a great, very needed, brunch at Stella I finally got to go home and I fell asleep in the sofa almost right away. I think I slept three hours before waking up but I am still so incredibly tired.
I feel old.

ten hour evening

This week at work was kind of busy. Book close of the administration costs on Friday and a few things that needed to be sorted out before that. I had my first Danish class on Thursday so I could not stay late and ended up coming in 6.20 a.m. to work on Friday. Not fun but needed. I managed to fix everything before the deadline. Not that many hours overtime as many others have to do so I am still happy.

After this a nice weekend was needed. As usual I had no plans but in the end it was quite busy since everything happens in the last minute. That is how I like it as well. Friday was spent at a friend of a friend's apartment having dinner, talking, listening to music and drinking wine. A nice evening apart from a little bit too much serious talk. Not what you want after having a 11 hour working day.

Saturday was spent having lunch out and in the evening we went to see Yes Man and I have to admit I really liked the movie. Usually I am not a fan of Jim Carrey but in this move he was not that exaggerated. After that we went to a two bars having a whole bunch of beers. Yes, I am getting more used to drinking beers. It ended up being a very late (or early?) night and I was in bed by 7 a.m. I realized the next day. Mamma mia.

I let home for a movie at 9 p.m. and was home again at 7 a.m. I guess that must qualify as a rather good evening.

happy new year

So the New Years came and went. It was cool. After the short visit in Stockholm I flew back to Copenhagen to join my visitors from Germany. In the beginning we were supposed to be nine people, but my dear friends invited five more. A dinner/party in my apartment with 14 people did not sound that appealing. So I told my friends that I am not cooking for 14 people. So they took care of it all. One cooked, one decorated and they both brought chairs and other stuff that was missing. Nice. I just had to look good and be a nice host. Fine by me.

It turned out to be a really nice evening. Good food. A three course meal. Drinks. Fireworks at city hall. Then back to my apartment again. I like my neighbors. Nobody complained or anything. We did play music until around six in the morning. But then I kicked out my friends and went to bed.

time for bed at this hour

It is past five. Just settling down after coming home from the Christmas party. Walked a short part by myself to Norreport to get to the metro. Was quite calming walking there in the dark and even hearing some birds twittering. Very soothing actually. Then I just wanted to get onto the metro to reach my bed and head into it as soon as possible

But of course that did not happen and I happen to end up in front of the computer writing this message to however that is interested in a somewhat drunken message in the middle of the night. But sometimes I just need to let it out even at the oddest times.

Getting home to my apartment I am listening to 'Supermassive black hole' by Muse and I just wish I had my L hear and a dance floor so we could just go crazy. You know what I mean. Maybe you all know if you know us or the beat of the song.

However, it was a really nice evening. At the end we left to head for a club, ended up at Mc Donalds and I guess did not really have the energy to move on. I think it was a good idea, I need to get some sleep. And here I am. Still awake. Come on, time for bed.

But a nice evening, and some good dancing with the guys as a good substitute to all my girls.

back to school

I went to work on Monday. But after a few hours I had to go home since I could not focus and felt totally dizzy. Walking out of the office I just wanted to go straight home and did not feel like taking the bus and metro. So I took a cab. What a luxury, felt quite good. It was worth it.

I also stayed home on Tuesday and then on Wednesday I was fit for work again. Still sneezy and coughing but getting better and better. The week then of course went by fast. Now it is finally Friday and I am watching Idol. But should be packing.

Tomorrow at 6.36 am I will be on my way to Jönköping again. For my graduation! Yeay. Really looking forward to see everybody again. And of course to the ball and being dressed up in my evening gown. Hopefully I will be able to breath okay during the night since it is quite fitted. But no pain no gain.

partying with 1 200 collegues

Saturday was the time of the APM Cup with the big party after. We, the accounting girls, signed up with a team for the soccer tournament of the company. We just wanted to do it for fun, no guys that would take it all seriously and was in it to win. And of course to get sponsored to go to the party in the evening. No hidden agenda at all.

The bad thing was that we were scheduled to play at 8.50 am on Saturday morning. When I think about it, it was kind of good since there were not many players in the hall at that time. No people to see us suck in other words. Unfortunately we lost one player one minute into the first game. Not good. I thought I would become the next when this guy made me trip and feel right on my knee. But I could fortunately keep on playing. We fought well but lost all the games, but it was all against guys.

After 15 minutes of game time we were out and headed to the mall for some shopping. We were tired so soon after we went to one of the girls apartment for some Polish lunch. Then I headed home for some rest and getting ready for the party. Some crazy night I must say. I went back to my friends place for a pre-party with a game and of course wine. The party continued at Bella Center with dinner and more wine. It was a huge place full of people, 1 200 people in total. That is what I call a company party. It was a great party with good food, free drinks, and nice music. Of course with all that free alchohol everybody had a good time. And my collegues got to see that non-working personality of mine. And today I got to relive it since we all got to see the pictures from the night. Haha...

My Sunday was not a good day. Long time since I was hangover. Even at work today everybody was tired and quiet. We could have needed one more day of weekend to recover.