After so many years here, even my relatively new manager knows I go Germany every Christmas. And people don't quite understand how a born and bred pure Singaporean girl has German connections? For this I will forever be grateful to Pris who very graciously welcomed me into her family more than 6 years ago when I came over to London. Christmas is never meant to be spent alone and for that she has time and again invited me to join the Tews and that's how I came to know the rest of the family. Sabrina (Pris' sister in law) was here in London for about 9 years and then she left about 3 years ago, now based in Frankfurt.
I have not been to Frankfurt and work wise I am on good terms with the Frankfurt team. They have been asking on and off when I'm planning to visit and so I thought it's time. I could crash on Sabrina's comfy couch for 2 nights. We have not properly chatted since she left London it seems? At the same time, my NTU professor Olaf and his family moved back to Germany about 5 years ago and when Michelle went visiting them last November, I thought why have I not thought about this idea before?
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| The lovely pad, aka my home for 2 nights |
Well first things first. Yes I do passively keep in touch with my Final Year Project (FYP) tutor by having him and his wife on my Facebook. How it even started I have no idea but they were really kind and I remember them throwing a party for us once FYP was over. They are now living in Friedberg, a small town 45min outside Frankfurt by train with their two beautiful kids. When I first told Sabrina she had no idea where Friedberg was. Although to be fair I kept telling her "Hessen" and she was like "umm Hessen is a county i.e. massive! Where do they live exactly, Bel?"
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| The reunion at an old school coffee house in Bad Nauheim |
I suggested visiting them together and I was so glad we did. It was such an enjoyable day trip out and I still wonder why I have not thought about visiting them before. They picked us up from the train station and drove to their new home. They just moved last month and are still in the unpacking phase. We had a little house tour, and sat down for a catch up. I thought it might be awkward but no, it was just so nice chatting with them. And Cindy suggested going into town for coffee and cake. Which we did. They drove out to Bad Nauheim, a neighbouring town which is very pretty. We settled down into an old school coffee house and continued chatting. They joked saying they half expected me to speak in a British accent after being in London for so long.
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Say hello to Siana and Esko!
Who both speak fluent cantonese by the way! |
We took a walk in the park and soon it was 6pm (what? so soon!). Olaf asked what were our dinner plans and we had none. Sabrina had suggested joining her friends at some wine festival but we thought to play by ear. Olaf said they didn't have plans either, "why not let's have a BBQ?" Yay I love BBQs! I think I said yes rather excitedly without asking Sabrina. But I was glad she liked the idea too haha checking with her after my eager "yes".
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| Busy setting the table; our sit down BBQ dinner |
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| Beautiful Siana helping to set the table. |
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| "Why are you taking photos of me?" |
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| Our tong master helping to set up the BBQ |
So from what I thought might be an awkward reunion, it turned out to be so enjoyable that we left only at 10.20pm (to catch the 10.47pm train)! The two kids Esko and Siana were so well behaved it was almost unbelievable. We persuaded them to perform a little music piece for us and they were really good. What a talented family, seriously. Soon it was time to say goodbye and Olaf and Esko sent us to the train station.
By this time, 50% of my time in Frankfurt was up and I had no idea how Frankfurt looked like. lol
Next morning, Sabrina gave me their signature Tews brunch. A full elaborate affair which I love. I kept telling her no need to rush because it's the company that counts, plus I wanted a relaxing weekend.
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| German brunch time (or maybe lunch? It was 12noon!) |
The weather seemed better than yesterday though it was really windy. She said we would be doing some walking today and one of the places she brought me was up Main Tower to look at Frankfurt.
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| Frankfurt with the River Main running through it |
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| One of the two photos with me in it! |
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| In the city square |
She figured that due to time constraints, at least I can say I have seen Frankfurt from up above lol. We walked and chatted the whole time before finding ourselves at cafe Metropol for tea and cake. And we soon realised there was not much time left! I had to go to the airport!
One thing for sure, I think my German connection has grown once more. I look forward to bringing K for a visit to the Reicks.
A short but wonderful weekend to Frankfurt and Friedberg.
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