Category Archives: Work

Day 309 – The Day of the Food Hipsters

The camp ground was lovely. The weather was lovely. And Flo had been pointed towards a job that he just needed to apply for. So we quickly decided to stay put another day so Flo could put his application together. Which in turn meant, I’ll have the whole day to myself…with my book. 🙂

Hipster food shot

Hipster food shot

After the food disasters yesterday, we carefully made sure to have appropriate food hipster food today. At 2pm, slightly late for lunch, we went into a vegetarian café close to the camp ground. It was brand new, in fact yesterday they had still painted some of the outdoor furniture, but it looked cosy and just like our thing. Which it was. 🙂 I had the bread platter while Flo took the falafel plate and we shared equally. It was fantastic food. It made us wonder a little bit on how much amazing food we were missing out because we cook ourselves when we camp.

Going back, more laying in the sun followed for me. In the evening, when Flo had finished his documents, we went out for a real dinner. The Lonely Planet recommends Saraphane which is the Turkish word for “wine house”. This seemed like the right place to celebrate that Flo started

Frist wine since Sohar - offically since Kuala Lumpur

Frist wine since Sohar – offically since Kuala Lumpur

on the application process already. Again, it was amazing. The super friendly cook took me into the kitchen because the menu didn’t feature a vegetarian main and gave me option what she could make for me. She spoke more German than English so with a mix of languages I ordered a cold yoghurt soup as a starter which is refreshing and a great summer dish and got a custom-made pasta plate as a main. The pasta is home-made, too, and with cheese, walnuts and rocket…it was delicious.

But the main attraction is definitely the wine menu. Choosing chicken as a main which will go with red wine, Flo was superbly advised while picking the wine to go with it. A local Turkish red wine. Can’t get much better. It reminded us of so many evenings in Wellington but also in Frankfurt when you have good food and are able to share with friends. Slightly home-sick, we contacted at least one of the ones we thought of.

To round things off, we went for coffee and tea afterwards. Also, superbly done and yummy. Paying, we realized that those drinks were not on the bill and when I asked about it the lovely lady said it was on the house. Happy, we walked back to our tent.

 

Day 308 – Opportunities

Using some time after breakfast for blogging

Using some time after breakfast for blogging

What a blissful night! The bed was really fantastic. Our hosts had to leave for work early, but kindly allowed us to sleep in and take the time we needed. When I got up, I had a text telling me that they even left some breakfast outside for us. Thank you so much!

Last night I got a message from a good friend about a job currently on offer in Frankfurt. After having missed the opportunity to fix up my application papers in Oman while staying with Lina, I thought I would leave any job hunting until we reach my dad’s place in Würzburg. This one really was too good to let slip, I had to admit. That meant I would have to call them at some point today to get some more details. Then, I probably would need a day dedicated to writing the cover letter, wrapping up a German style CV and gathering all the required documents from their various storage places.

Isn't Tiny cute? She pretended to sleep but kept an eye on us while we packed

Isn’t Tiny cute? She pretended to sleep but kept an eye on us while we packed

After a brief discussion with Nina, we decided that a nice campground on the Turkish Mediterranean coast would be just the perfect place to do so, provided Nina would be allowed to buy her next book. 😉 So we packed our bike, said goodbye to “Villa Naz” and headed towards Kaş.

We were hoping to find a place somewhere along the way, or if not to go to the campground we heard about in Kaş. Of the attractions along the way, the only one marked as a must by Nina was the sunken Lycian city of Simena. Although this was best accessed via Üçağız, only 35 km from Kaş, so we could also do it as a day trip from there.

Beautiful coast

Beautiful coast

None of the other bits along the road really tickled our fancy that day, apart from the scenery on the coastal road section. But these were taken in anyway. We had our lunch picnic in the woods near the road after first failing to find a nice beach and then refusing to pay 40 lira to get to the one we saw from the road.

So we rolled on, with the mood getting a bit better along the coast, but my mind constantly drifting towards the job offer. What to write, what to say, how not to bumble like the fool when trying to sound professional in German (remember, no practice for four years). When we came to the turn off to Üçağız, we gave it a pass and pushed on to the campground. It was late enough that I would need to call Germany soon before they would go home for the day.

The view from our tent

The view from our tent

The campground offered a pretty cool location. Lucky for us, not too much is going on right now. The arrangements of the camp spots has a lot in common with the locally famous sardine dishes … but it was only maybe 15% full. The host is also a bit quirky, refusing to let us get our bike down to the spot. So we had to strip the bike at the entrance without shade and have him taxi all our gear down in a cartoonish electric trike.

We finished setting up the tent and I had my call. Afterwards, I only was more excited for the job. Needs must, tomorrow I would need to set my application straight. So excited!

During dinner, cats appeared looking very hopeful

During dinner, cats appeared looking very hopeful

Dinner was another sad fail, on both the main and the dessert part, unfortunately. We went to a fish restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet. The place managed to go down to abysmal quality and raise their prices in the short time since our edition came out. Quite the feat. The fries were half raw and dripping and the anchovies soggy and bland. To make up for it, Nina felt like having a waffle. We both nearly choked, though when we heard that it would cost 15 lira, for a single half-cooked waffle with way too much cheap Nutella knock-off slabbed on top of it. Welcome back to tourist land …

We did jump into the sea at out campground, which made for a pretty lovely end for a very mixed day.

Never a writer …

There are many things that I personally strive for. There are many things I can see myself doing. Being a writer or enjoying the written word was and never will be one of them. Be it to write in school, technical writing at work all forbid writing for “fun”. Maybe that is why it is all to easy for me to fall out of the habit of writing for this blog, but Continue reading →

Flat and job hunting

Sorry for not updating, it’s been a stressful couple of days. Flo is sick and we’re both quite jetlagged. I’ve forgotten how long it takes to get used to a different time zone. At around 4pm, since yesterday we managed to push it back to 5 pm, we get so incredibly tired that we really can’t do anything productive anymore. We did the smart thing and stayed up till 10pm on the first night but we still have these attacks of tiredness. Continue reading →

My farewell from work

Though Flo is still working, he had is “Ausstand” from work already (see last post). My last day at work was on the 17th of August. It was quite a mixed day…considering that I wasn’t too keen about my work place, I do miss it. *gg* There were only colleagues present that I like and Aurica gave my muffins which spelled out “NINA” with smarties and two smiley faces made out of gummy bears and smarties. That was very cute.

I got my job reference (very good) and a small gift (voucher) for my farewell. Saying good-bye to my colleagues is going to happen today. It started with a “breakfast” from 12.30 to 13.30 at the advertising agency that actually employed me. A whole table full of food from bread rolls and cheese to potato salad and ice cream. Very, very yummy. The breakfast is a tradition at the agency; everybody gets one for their birthday. Three of my work colleagues celebrated their birthday within the last month so this was a combined one and they invited me as well even though I don’t work there anymore. =) There probably will be pictures as my boss and Timo (only male colleague) took some. My boss thanked me again for my excellent work, thanked me for making sure that all my responsibilities were taken care of by colleagues and said he bought a small gift for me but forgot it at home. -.- I’ll get it with the mail. Then he hugged me which was awkward. *lol*

Now the fun part can start. Six of my colleagues and me will meet up at 17.30 to play laser tag. Timo (see above) was quite jealous when I talked about laser tag about a month ago so he talked me into going again. I think it’ll be fun. Again. =) Let’s see how the girls will fight. Aurica already challenged everyone.

Afterwards we will eat out in an Italian restaurant. =)

 

That’s the fun part. The non-fun part is moving out. Flo hired a van on that same last friday. Luckily we had a lot of help from friends because we managed to clear out quite a bit of the flat. Almost all content of the cupboards and wardrobes are stored as is our complete bedroom furniture. On this friday the other furniture will be stored, too. The next step after that is to paint every wall in the flat.-.- Happy times.

A lovely Ausstand

farewell from my colleagues

Today I gave my customary “Ausstand” at work. A formal party to remember your time at an employer and meet up with fellow and cherished colleagues one last time. I chose German style bakery goodness as the morsel of choice. The shop woman asked me if I had my car close by … hmm … what car?

Somehow, with hurting arms and sweating I managed to get everything where it needed to be. Continue reading →