PANJIAYUAN ANTIQUE MARKED

This Sunday I went for the third time to the Panjiayuan Antique Marked, south on 3rd ring road - and like the previous time I didn´t come home empty handed. It is a super cool antique marked where you can buy anything from books, souvenirs, to furniture, to traditional and minority handcraft, to old/antique stuff such as Mao books, posters, teapots etc. Last time I was there I went to buy Christmas present for my family - and I think I found very cool stuff for them - such at a little wooden cage for grasshopper, minority children´s skirt that my mother made into a pillow and a Tibetan "lunchbox" - and both the previous times I have been craving to buy furniture and stuff for myself - and yes, yesterday I did. I bough a bench/table to have in front of the sofa, a picture of the coolest old Chinese couple and a bowl for salad or fruits. The table were a little tricky because I needed it delivered to my address that I could´t remember - but with the help of my french Chinese-speaking college over the phone I made it - and today my table was delivered to my address - actually work - but to make a long story short - with help from my Chinese college - I now have it in front of me and the sofa. It was a little difficult to get it here - but my God it´s worth it (I have already packed away the Ikea table the dutch girl who´s apartment I am living in normally has here - and it´s not coming back before me and my new table is moving (hopefully) in 14 days.

2KOLEGAS CONCERT

Friday night were send having Indian dinner with friends & Danish Jazz at 2Kolegas. 2Kolegas is a bar in Beijing placed at the corner of a Drive Inn Movie theater. Super cool place – a little like Christiania in Copenhagen. When we arrived a 30 minutes after the concert should have started we were met with people walking away from the bar. The power was down – so there were no light and no power for the microphones – so the concert were postponed – until power would returned. It did half a beer later – and we had a cool, but (too) quiet for my taste, intimate concert with approximate 30 people.

PECHA KUCHA NIGHT

Last year I went to my first and so far only Pecha Kucha Night. It was super interesting and I was an immediate fan. Tomorrow there's another here in Beijing and I think I am going. If you don't know the Pecha Kucha way, it is as following: “Pecha Kucha Night events consist of around a dozen presentations, each presenter having 20 slides, each shown for 20 seconds. Each presenter has just 6 minutes 40 seconds to explain their ideas before the next presenter takes the stage. Conceived as a venue through which young designers could meet, show their work, exchange ideas, and network, the format keeps presentations concise, fast-paced and entertaining.” (thank you Wikipedia). The pictures are from last experience ... I am sure I will follow up with more from tomorrow. Too night I am going out – again – 3 time this week and it´s only Friday – for dinner with friend and for Jazz – Danish Cathrine Legardh´s jazz quartet, with legendary bass player Hugo Rasmussen – I don't know him, but I am open minded and sure it gonna be great. I will let you know how it goes tomorrow in between checking out of my hotel room to move to temporary apartment and Pecha Kucha.

FRITZ HANSEN IN CHINA

Every quite often I go to the Village. It a “Village” of different stores such as Uniqlo, Jack & Jones & Nike – Boyfriends all favorite store in the future I bet! Yesterday evening I went there for the weekly dinner with a large group of Danish girls – the other foreigners makes fun of us Danes since they think we are too Danish together – and seems to forget other nationalities – however I don't care – I just like to have fun – nationality doesn't matter – so who ever is hosting an event I find interesting – I am gamed. And yes every Wednesday it's dinner with these girls. I am absolutely gonna show you more pictures from the Village – but now I´ll keep it Danish. Let's face it – China is not well know for it's interesting inventive designs – and actually I have seen similar chair for sale in Hong Kong – but I thinks it hilarious this one – just next to Ya Show marked where I would say the percentage of fake whatever is more than 85%. My love affair with China continues ... Stuff like this is just gasoline on my fire.

WHAT MATTERS TO ME

On my table in my hotel room is these 2 photos of my parent - with almost 40 between them. I have brought them every time I have goon for longer periods - and I love to look at them. I think my parents are the best parents in the world - and I love to see how their feelings are just the same even after more than 40 year together.

My desktop picture is my 3 wonderful girlfriends. The sweetest, coolest, best girlfriends I could ever wish for - and I love to look at them every time I switch between my programs - I thank God for MSN & skype - It doesn´t feel like I am missing out on everything.

This is my favorite picture of my sister & I - and also this I saved on my computer to look at when ever I miss her. Fortunately my sister loves to travel - and she is super good at prioritizing this and since she is her own boss she is also able to move stuff around to make time for holiday - so my prediction is that it not gonna be long before she (and maybe her super cool boyfriend - who, however, thinks NY is more interesting than Beijing (!)) will come to visit. That´s super cool and I can´t wait to show her all of China´s cool treasures.

This is the "Thank you Note" from my girlfriends wedding - and ever since I got it, it been hanging in our apartment in Copenhagen - but now it has gone with me to Beijing and is hanging from the mirror in my hotel room. I love the twins - well I am not their Godmother, but I like to think of myself as their ferry-godmother - and I am so sad that I am missing their first year birthday next month - but believe me I will shower them with gifts, loves & photographs when I am home in Copenhagen next time.

- and yes, boyfriend & me .... on my desktop - but most of all in my heart all the time. Not that I am counting - but 13 days and 11 hours to go until I get to see the love of my life again.

HOROSCOPE HOME FACIAL

I am returning to my own "charming" self today - I can really feel that I am not in my twenties anymore, so I decided to help my body just a little - yesterday evening with massage, this morning with a trip to the gym and this evening with a home-facial combined with the days third Starbucks coffee. I found these great masks at boutique in the basement of the building where I work: love the concept of using your horoscope to choose a mask - totally crazy - so yes, I bought 3 different to check out if I really have been born at the right time of the year. I guess and hope tomorrow will bring me back my normal self. This week I don´t have that many plans - work, dinners with the danish girls and a trip to the nail saloon to get nice new polish on fingers and toes. Besides that I am counting the day till boyfriend is coming to visit - and I have 2 weekends and all in 15 days left before I can pick him up in the airport. Can´t wait to show him all of wonderful Beijing.

SATURDAY IN RITAN PARK

Well I am back - finally got my connection to the outside world and yes I have been twitting, facebooking and looking at blogspots. I have now been in China for a week, a busy week where I both went to Canton fair in south of China, had a health examination, been appartment hunting and been out partying with the danish football team here in Beijing - lot´s of fun, however now I feel half dead and even though I have been laying low all day. Before I went to the BBQ yesterday I had brunch with some danish friends at a super cool little place called Nola very close to where we live. Also just next to where they live is also a park called Ritan Park - I took a lot of pictures for boyfriend to see because I think he will like running there when he comes to visit in a couple of weeks. The park is super nice with lot of fun and different things to do - such a fishing for goldfish ! and yes, in the park I also spotted the very first pair of chinense twins - not as cute as my two favorite bundles of joy - but cute. Twins are rare in China so I could not help myself and snapped a photo.Well my hangover brings me back in bed - so until next time - enjoy Ritan Park.