Cruising....

I´ve now decided to book a tour to Ha Long Bay this coming weekend. Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, about 3 hr from Hanoi.

I´m going on an overnight cruise on this boat...
Not too bad, huh?

I´m really excited about this. The only thing is that I suddenly realized that for the very first time in my life, I´ve booked a cruise... And a pretty luxury one as well... or what do you say about this?
I´m afraid that this is a pretty clear sign that I´ve reached the middle-ages... :-/ So pls don´t tell anyone..! *blushing*

Hanoi = love

I love Hanoi! Just so you know... A wonderful, beautiful city with tons of atmosphere. Great food and shopping, amazing arcitechture and art galleries. I love it!!!

Next stop Hanoi...

Tomorrow, I´m leaving for Hanoi where I´m going to take a course in "Project and Programme Management" for two weeks. I´ve planned so I´ll get three weekends in total in Hanoi to get some time to explore the city as well. Ever since I watched the beautiful movie "At the Height of Summer" or "the Vertical Rays of the Sun" as it´s also called sometimes (see the movie clips below), I´ve always wanted to go to Hanoi, so I´m really looking forward to it.

To treat myself,  and to get some well deserved time off from the studies, I might do this as well. What do you think?! :-)

August the 13:th - my birthday

So this is how if feels be exactly between 30 and 40... So far, so good, I guess...?! 

I´m planning to celebrate by spoiling myself rotten today! :-) Yaaay! I´ve taken a day off from work, and will spend the day shopping, going to a spa and have dinner with friends at the Spanish tapas restaurant Pacharan on the riverside.

The birthday kicked off with knocks on the door at 7.30 this morning. My dear friends Albin, Mimmi and their son Noam payed me a surprise visit, singing happy birthday. They brought Swedish chocolate pudding (aaahhhh! My all time favourite!) - one for breakfast and one for lunch, juice (made of "youngberries" - what could the hidden message possibly be?) and also a very nice painting, made by Albin. 
He made this painting some time ago, and I´ve loved it since the very first time I saw it. It´s inspired by their cat "Skruttis".  I´ve spent many days and nights with Skruttis, cat sitting her when her family has been away, and become very attached to her. Sadly enough, she ran away some time ago, and hasn´t been seen since. We all miss her terribly, so this painting is not only a beautiful painting, it´s also a nice memory of Skruttis. 

Thank you to Albin, Mimmi and Noam for this very nice birthday surprise this morning! 

Thank you also to Janne and my parents, who are giving me this beautiful lithography; "Woman with dog"
This is one of my favourite art pieces (you can spot the bull terrier, right?!) by one of my favourite artists; Olga Semenova. It´s been bought for me in Stockholm and Janne will bring it with him when he´s coming to Phnom Penh in October. 

Ok, better get going now. Well, I´ve started the day with some really nice chocolate pudding and some youngberry juice :-) for breakfast, but I guess I´d better head to my favourite café for a treat of good coffee and french baguettes as well. After that, Albin has promised to take me to some good places where I get plants, flowers and pots for my project "Pimp my terrace". He, Mimmi and Noam will give me a couple of plants as a birthday present to start off my project. 

Can´t wait to see how nice my apartment will be with these two art pieces, one Semenova and one Hagberg, on my walls. And a dazzling terrace as well! 

Aaahhh, life between 30 and 40 is pretty good after all...! :-)