I <3 tea!

Today, J and I (finally) went to Iris Street and bought tea! I completely fell in love with this tea called; Love At First Sight, it is soooo pretty, and it tastes damn good, too.The easiest way to get to Iris Street from Sanlitun is... - Take the line 10 to Guomao and switch to line 1. Take line 1 to Xidan and from there - you take the 46 bus. (Xidan is the last stop FROM Iris street, so I'm assuming it will take you there whatever side of the road you find it FROM Xidan.) I cannot remember what the stop you are getting off at is called, but it is kinda hard to miss, maybe 7-8 stops from Xidan - and there are teastores ALL over the place. Supposedly like... 600 of them. Have fun and go craz-tea! (Ok. No more caffeine for me.)

Rappers get hungry too

The funniest thing I EVER saw... Rapper, producer and general genious Pharrell Williams was getting some serious hunger on at the Charles De Gaulle Airport - but the people at McDonalds wouldn't make the Big Mack no Big Mac. It was 6 am - but still... Damn funny - he REALLY wants some fooood, hahaha. He even tries to bribe them with some singing and dancing. Too bad the French don't have a sense of humor, I'd fry that burger up in no time.

Come to Beijing, P! Here, they deliver 24/7.

We woooooon!

I cannot believe it! We have been waiting for this for SO long.

Druunk quizmasters, be-yathces. Know your Corey Hart is all we say.

The Kinks & Kings

I honestly think J hums a line from a certain "Kinks"-song - every night. I wonder if there is any way I can actually start going to bed when I'm tired. It is like my subconsciousness thinks there is some kind of mean animal in my bed, whilst - most of the time - JUST KIDDING - it is just J! After the lecture at the South African embassy (where Europe got SLASHED btw - shame on you professor!) J & I went to the 5-0 (hahaha) to fix my residency and then off to the bank to pay an electric bill. Thankfully - for my EUROPEAN (what did he say again; "They are in the middle ages once again"?) wallet - the bank was closed and the verdict of a cold Beijing winter will not come until tomorrow. (How much CAN it be? This is China, after all...)

J & I ended up getting Mexican takeaway from Luga's (yey) and watched "The Tudors". If you have ever seen the series, have it ever occurred to you how MADLY SIMILAR actor William Compton is to Chris Martin of Coldplay? It was actually quite distracting, I regret now that J & I didn't bet on it - because he was ABSOLUTELY convinced it was Martin. But - alas - it ain't.

Who is Chris Martin and who is William Compton?

Anyway, so - I think - seeing as today is already the day I decided not to be late for the first time in maybe 27 years, I'm also gonna try to go to sleep within a reasonable hour. That hour is now.

So tired, tired of waiting, tired of waiting for yoooooooou....

Podcasting!

I've decided to start podcasting! I started making one yesterday, but I still need to figure out how to upload it... Haha, I am such a computer geek - in the way, way negative sense...

I need this book....

So anyway, these last couple of days have been quiet and relaxed, we did however - go out a bunch of us on Saturday to celebrate J's 28th birthday - it was a looot of fun, but the birthday boy eventually got so drunk we had to take a taxi from... Mix - to Xin Fu 2 Cun - which is about a two minute walk. It was a five minute taxi-ride, though! We had dinner at an AMAZING Korean BBQ called - well, I can't really say what it's called - but it is in Lido - and the phone number is; 84569336/9551 - You simply HAVE to go there! It was amazing. Then we had drinks at a place I don't want to remember, but quickly moved on to Russian "David Lynch Wet Dream Interior" spot "Chocolate". It was fun, but I think you kinda have to be in the mood to be there and have a GREAT time. After that, we stopped by Alfa for some drinks and dancing - we had more drinks than we danced, and at some blurry point we were suddenly all at Mix. When J was no longer able to stand up straight - I took him home...

But I gotta run, Becci is taking me to this South-African Embassy thingy - and I am actually gonna try - for once in my life - NOT TO BE LAAATE! Stay tuned!

Ps - Do you know how to upload a podcast? Show some love!

Finally!

So, I'm finally back in Beijing - sorry for being such a super lazy blogger - the thing is that yesterday was J's birthday - and I have been planning (together with Jordan, Kathryn, Christina & Becci) a surprise visit for like a month and a half now - and it has just preoccupied my mind completely. J REALLY was surprised, though. Almost a month ago - I went back to Norway to work - and you know - hang out with my friends and family and so on. And J & I talked about how sad it was gonna be that I was not gonna be in Beijing for his birthday.... But little did HE know - that I had already bought a ticket!

The surprise went down like this; Jordan (bless his soul) had arranged to have a lunch with J. It was obviously fake, cause I was gonna be there instead! So when J finished work, I called him and was like all chatty. In Norway it was morning. I asked him what he was doing and so on...

J: I'm gonna go have lunch with Jordan at this place called Bocata, just by 3.3 mall. And you?
Me: Well, I have to go see the doctor* but I'm gonna hit the shower first - when exactly are you meeting Jordan?
J: I'll be there in about 15 minutes, I think
M: Ok - listen, I have to shower, but can I call you back in 10 minutes? There is something we need to talk about.
J: Hm - why can't you just tell me now?
M: I really have to have a shower first, but I'll call you back in ten, ok?
J: Well, ok.

What J doesn't know by now - is that I have been sitting at Bocata for an hour already, getting all nervous and excited about surprising him. I mean - who EVER expects to get a surprise visit from 7800 km away? I wait for ten minutes, and when I can finally see him at the end of the street - I call him back.

Me: Hi.
J: Hi (He is walking towards Bocata)
M: So... You know when we promised we'd always tell each other the truth no matter what?
J: .... Yes....
M: Well, I kinda didn't.
J: Oh, my God, what have you done? (He stops - I can see him, but he cannot see me, as I am behind some bushes)
M: Well - you know yesterday when you asked me where I was - and I said I was on my way to go see my parents...?
J:.... Yes..... (He really doesn't look all that happy right now)
M: Well, I wasn't. (I jump out from the bush, approx ten meters in front of him) I WAS AT THE AIRPORT! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

I ran up to him, and he was just IN SHOCK. He looks at his phone and then at me and then at his phone and says; But... But you are not here?

Haha, it was perfect and we celebrated his birthday last night and it was amazing. First we had breakfast at Element Fresh, then we wandered about HoHai for a couple of hours, and then home - J went to get a haircut and I started cooking. We had pink champagne, and amazing wine (Gigondas, one of my faaaavourites), reindeer, brusslesprouts, the works. I even brought Norwegian brown goats cheese for the sauce... We were gonna go out dancing, but we had so much fun staying in and just getting drunk together, we just did that!

So, now - I'm back in my dear Beijing with my dear J. Yey!!! We're all going out to celebrate his birthday again tomorrow - I'll try to see if my camera works again! For now! Take caaare! (And surprise your loved ones more often. It is FUNFUNFUN!)Lovers reunited....

*I got an ear infection when I first arrived in Norway, and it progressively got worse, so my doctor almost made me stay at home, because flying could cause my eardrum to explode!! My flight for Beijing left Oslo at 9:50 local time on Tuesday morning, and my final doctors appointment was 07:25 that very day. If my ear hadn't gotten better I would have had to stay at home... When he finally said; Well, miss - don't you have a plane to catch? I thought I was gonna DIE of joy! And I couldn't even tell J what was at stake, because of the surprise... But! All is well that ends well!