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Ask Not What Your Country Can Do for You

Stop right there! We definitely need to ask!

OK some background stories out of it. Remember Lisa? The German Lady from my walking tour in Estocolmo? We had lunch together before visiting Vasa Museum, she said that everything in Germany is not much cheaper than in Stockholm, they are kind of on the same level, Germany is getting “more expensive” (with the inflation). Look at this, I bought a 72 hours public transport ticket, it cost me 30 Euro. Yes it is still more expensive than Germany but not much anymore.

After hearing the price of the public transport, I feel quiet weird because every time I tap my Master Card it’s written 0,09 SEK = 0,10 Euro… Automatically I felt I have the Vorteile of not buying it as it only cost me 10 Cents each time. I am not the type who put fuel on the fire, so just let it be when Lisa said it, I won’t say “btw I only paid 10 Cents” reason: a. it’s not helping; b. this is so not true at all! hahaha

Fast forward to end of the month, Erin need to renew her monthly card, to which I asked “why don’t you just tap like me?” see it’s always 10 Cents. I actually don’t understand why because if I eat in the restaurants, the real value is there directly, for example dinner 1390 kr = 119,94 Euro or 980 kr = 84,43 Euro. All are correct other than public transport one.

Moment of truth ladies and gentleman!!!! I was completely wrong the whole damn time! I have 0 idea why, SL (the public transportation) need 2-3 days until the real value came up to my Master Card. It all depends on the exchange rate sometimes one way fee was 3,33 Euro or 3,44 Euro or 3,67 Euro. Verdammt! She was right! Rrrr should’ve trust the Germans for sure she did her research before! Aaargghh! had I knew it, I would have bought that damn 30 Euro card! I used all public transport like no one ever just to know it hasn’t been charged completely!!!

Fuck fuck fuck! what can I do? Now it’s not lohnt sich anymore to buy the 72 hours as my trips approaching the end. On top of it, I already visited all the necessary sightseeing with always tap tap tap tap #Running out of money! What can this Scandinavian country offer me? Erin sent a link “free museum in Stockholm” aha! that’s what’s I’m gonna do for the rest of my trip with the rest of the money I have. How about public transportation? Nope, I’m gonna walk the whole damn day!

We will reveal it one by one:

First: The Medieval Museum

I chose the locker number that represents my age 😉 then I read a sign there will be an English tour whoaaaa There is a part where I remembered clearly is about a punishment for adultery, the woman need to carry a 30-40kg of weight on her shoulder while the man’s private part will be tied on a string and they have to walked all the city. However! most man will get away by paying the money while girl doesn’t have much money to begin with. What?! I hope I understand that part wrong except I wasn’t…. Oh see the brick wall? that was the real wall from ancient time, they found it when they dug die Erde to make this Medieval Museum.

Second: Moderna Museet with Erin

The free entrance was 2 hours before it’s closing. We did went through all exhibitions, sometimes our reaction were only ‘hmmmm’ didn’t think I understand it 😉 I do however understand one paint with thinking “are we in Asia?” once I got close yep! inspired from Thailand 🙂

Moving on to one part where they provided us a book of a conversation between Rashid Johnson an Kevin Quashie called ” Thinking-In-Action” in Swedish and English at a corner called “please have a book”. We happily taking the book thinking “oh we got ourselves a souvenir!” Only to find out they didn’t put the Q and A on the right page, or maybe this is still a part of the art? where I need to guess on which page the answer will continue?

Third: The Jewish Museum

I came exactly at the hour when it’s free for public. Followed by many people after me, hello not paying customers 😉 #I’m not the only one

What really strucks me was this videos:

The first lady’s family were hosting Jewish girl from Berlin when she was 9-15 years old. She didn’t like her at all, according to her the Jewish girl came out of a sudden to her family and everyone need to feel sorry for her. She gave her a real hard time. Then they met again at age 40ish. She asked her about her experience on living with her family? To her surprise the Jewish girl replied “that’s the best year of my life”. Then she said “you know I was hard on you”. The Jewish girl didn’t felt and never thought of it. She is not religious person but she prayed to God for forgiveness for hating her.

The middle lady remembers a Hitler songs in German: “if a Jews’ blood drip from the knife then life is twice as good” I could still see the fear on the video when she recite it.

The third man said when he got older he understood the reason why every time he visit his classmates’ home there will be coins on the floor and it’s to see if he will take it. That’s when he felt what is the meaning of being offended.

Fourth: The Swedish Holocaust Museum

This Museums tells the story about 7 Jewish survivors who came to Sweden. They have the part where we can ask questions with AI’s help unfortunately by the time I came we can only ask in Swedish.

I bought a book from them, it’s very…. I can’t read it in one go, not because its too think, rather the content is just so wow in a negative way.

Fifth: The Living History Forum

There’s one corner about the story of Per Anger, a diplomat of Swedish Embassy in Budapest who issued a fake Passport for Jewish people. He saved so many Hungarian Jewish, there was a time he went to the train full of Jews asking “who has Swedish Emergency Passport?” only two people has it, then he spoke to the Hungarian if they have any receipt whatsoever anything that looks like legal? The German officer won’t understand it anyway. They did have that and Per Anger talked with the German officer “their Swedish Emergency Passport just got delivered, here is the receipt”

Thank you very much for standing up Sir! That’s why your name and your best friend’s Raoul Wallenberg are still be remembered to this day.

That was it, all the museums I could visit as my last resort against the cold and against the money in Estocolmo 😉

I’m so happy that Stockholm offers this options. Germany! do it please! Take a good example from your neighbor European countries!

P.S: Here is the link https://www.visitstockholm.com/see-do/attractions/museums-with-free-entry/

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Old Habits

They have been talking, at the same time I have been hearing about Stockholm Archipelago, island hopping. I was confused with “island hopping”? we are not in Thailand…. Anyway, I looked at the map, consult with Erin, made up my mind to go to at least one of their island. Decided to choose the one with bearable distance: Vaxholm, about 40-50 minutes on the boat, I can handle those!

The website showed all tickets were sold out which I don’t believe it for a second…. how? it wasn’t any high season, on top of that, I did read in the advertisement near the Port something along the rhyme “departs every day” well…. how can I depart every day if their website doesn’t allow me to?! Back to basic, went to the counter to booked a ticket there. She gave me a map of Vaxholm, take a look of it, put it back to my bag, make sure I’ll carry it as I thought “OK this is what I can see, it’s quiet big lalala”

The day came, there were so many people queuing on the line for the boat, I asked some people if they will go to Vaxholm too? some answers were no…. what is going on… I felt relief after they scanned my ticket and said “You are on the right place” Yais! off we go!

Right after the boat departs, the “tour guide” ask if we want to sit outside before she announced it to the whole people through microphone. As a result, many people were sitting outside on the deck of the boat, I was like “why” I know it was relative warm for end of September in Stockholm but still you are surrounded by water yo, the breeze air, fresh water, possibility you will got splashed etc still exist! I am comfortable inside the boat #Ain’t gonna move my ass.

Indeed she was our “tour guide”, she explains some history of the island in English and Swedish followed by this kind of sentence “on the right hand side you will see, now we are on Number 1 it is a lalalala” I didn’t really pay attention, I don’t even know where the number she was talking about coming from….. until it clicked that the map the counter lady given was NOT map of Vaxholm but rather a map on the way to Vaxholm! #You stupid! By the time I realized it I missed so much points already hahaha Makes matter worse, it’s written on the map “Sights along the route” #Clever ball

Time to move on to one hour later, which means Vaxholm’s people reach their destination. It was quiet a lot of people actually, I just asked the wrong one 😉 I have 3 hours 15 minutes in this island, set alarm on my phone. Let’s see what I can explore, is it enough though? Yes it does! There was a very nice lady who showed the way of which I can go. I searched a path that looks like a private property except it wasn’t #Her instruction. Found it, it is somehow quiet peace, many people had a small picnic or tanning. I ain’t gonna do that!

What’s on the opposite side? apart from…. the same water 😀 haha I saw a very cute Briefkasten! #Very creative. It was so funny because there are quiet some people off from the board. Supported with the fact that Vaxholm isn’t that big, I kept meeting them while walking yet I didn’t say hi haha I deliberately wait until they left to take picture or wait for another strangers to help take a photo of me hihihi

It can’t be it right? OK this side is done, let’s move to the other, the “land” side. There are big houses, church with graveyard. Back to the water side once I see a “highway” road leads to another island… #Supposedly

Like 20 minutes before picking up by the boat, I somehow “discover” another part of Vaxholm, how the hell did I miss this kind of “city center” hahaha I found a chess statues like when I was small with my sissy in front of a hotel. I thought it was only one so it was kind of special to me, only to realize it’s not #Face palm there are lots of it! pfff why did I take pic -_-

The boat are back, we got picked up obviously with the same boat crew again meaning she continued to explained this number that number and I am back again to not learned the lesson haha #Too tired already!

Old habits are hard to crack hey! I’ll show some improvement on my span of attention ab und zu 😉

I’ve been to one of the island Stockholm has! #Checked 🙂

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Lesson Learned

I do have a learning curve hey…. directly applied it when I do another walking tour in Stockholm, accepted that my memory is faded as time goes by, hence I type type type everything our guide said 🙂

The meeting point is on Monument Gustavus Adolphus or King Gustav II. She said there will be many Kings in Estocolmo with the name Gustav.

What was so special about King Gustav II? He was very success in military battlefield, well known either as “Captain of Military History” or “The Father of Combined Arms Warfare. Not gonna doubt his ability… doch! have to doubt it 😉

He too, was a keen artillerist, saw the potential of ships as gun platforms, gave the order to private entrepreneur to built one of the most powerful armed vessels in the world with richly decorated as a symbol of his ambitions for Sweden and himself. He ordered a series of ships with two full gundecks, outfitted with much heavier guns. It was named The Vasa (or Wasa) Ship.

The making of Vasa took 2 years. Did it work? Was the ship actually sailed? Yes it was! Was it a smooth sail? For 120m before it started to swiftly sank to a depth of 32m. It’s officially out of sight after sailing roughly 1300m into her maiden voyage on 10th of August 1628. Just like that, the Great Vasa sank to the bottom of the ocean in full view of a crowds who had come to see the ship set sail. The crowd included foreign ambassadors, in effect spies of King Gustav II’s allies and enemies. He witnessed his most pride ship sank in 20 minutes. It was sink for 333 years before a team pull it up to put it into the museum. Next thing he was famous for is trying to kill the Germans alone, he failed btw. Which lead us to Gustav III.

Turn around to see the Opera behind you. Gustav III also special person, genes runs in the family. He really likes to party, yet as a King he need to be somewhat protected, we can’t afford losing another Gustav again. Did we? Tragically yes, he died doing what he likes most. He held a Masquerade Ball only to got shot on his left hip by Jacob Johan Anckarström, to which he was sentenced to death and executed. Gustav III was the only king who saw his own assassins’. It is being said that his outfit with a bullet on it or the Assassins’ one are stored in The Royal Armoury. Spoiler about the assassins’ masked, it’s like someone who wears a paper mask.

Leave the monument Gustav II, walk straight to the bridge, turn your head to the right, the Ministry of Finance building. There is a Valkyries without her sword. 4 people below her represents the Swedish society: Nobility, Church, Merchants and Farmers. There are many speculation of what is the meaning of the 3 crowns. It could be representative of 3 Magi who came to visit the birth of Jesus. Nevertheless, nobody can confirm it, they just left it for mystery or open suggestions 😉 #I think.

When the Danish took the 3 crown symbol, Swedish drop it for 333 years, the same exact length as the Vasa was under water #Coincidence or conspiracy theory? Yet, its now serve as a symbol of both countries. Lions symbol associated with a royal family or some kind of royalty.

On the end of the road is the Parliament. There is a tunnel underneath the bridge made out of “glass” didn’t see it no matter how much I concentrated or squinted my eyes, write me if you can find it. Some people who were able to see it said wasn’t really a full glass. The little crown in the middle of Swedish flag meaning the king is there. Yep, backlight, can’t see it from the picture but it was indeed there.

Funny faces on the facade was based on real people, the sculpture asked some people who works in the Ministry if they allowed him to make a statue of his face to put it on the wall. Little did they know know, the sculpture wasn’t planning on engraved a real face rather emphasis some characteristic they have, at the end he was being asked to stop doing it. They also have changing the guard scene on the Parliament area every day at 12:15 but on that day we can’t go through it as they were filming a demonstration scene hihihi

The OG Idea of Stockholm City Hall to be called a Blue City Hall to represents the blue sky, it would have been a gradation of blue color. However, on the making, he falls in love with the red color of the brick, that’s why its a Red City Hall now 🙂 He waited purposefully until the Denmark’s City Hall finished only for him to made his’ 40 cm taller than the Danish one. Put the 3 crowns facing Copenhagen as a slap in the face showing “We have a bigger tower”

Chair is definitely not a part of the sculpture. We are in fact in the area of Stockholm’s WG for the Parliament people.

The condition is not that prima, 3 people in a WG with private bathroom. They shared the common area like kitchen and living room. They’re geographically grouped, consequently, one could be in one WG with his opponent. I mean…. I don’t even want to leave in a WG when I reached 29 years old….the reason behind is to show how open and fair Sweden is. Another fun facts that I managed to wrote half of it, if we see a phone booth with red green and something color, it is a direct call to the Parliament.

They said you can have a “basic” information from hitter.si. How basic is this basic? Not basic at all: name, address, tax return, closest body to water haha are you planning a Dexter move? #Orphan Black reference.

The Swedish likes to put “Sustainability” in every word from make sense to having less sense like Sustainability Bridge blablabla in order to prove their sustainability, they have a public washing machine in every apartment building 🙂 I can confirm that, Erin doesn’t have the Anschluss at her place. They need to booked a time slot to do it, each round is 3 hours. It’s very common excuse in Sweden “sorry, can’t go out, I have to do my laundry”

We stopped at a candy shop because our guide needs to rest her voice, at the same time we can get a sample candy hihihi. She said the real candy cane is straight, but USA put a hook into it to what candy cane we know.

Around that candy shop we saw a Valkyrie symbol with sword. We also walked through the so called “narrow” street which is not narrow at all for some luck or so. There was a statue named Engelen…. something? I tried to surf for him more but couldn’t get more information…. anyhow, I am sure our guide said he was the one who successfully (there were many tried before him to no avail) lead the rebellions of Danish.

Look up at the Gamla Stan area please, there are some buildings that doesn’t have window. Because having more window meaning you are being taxed more. Some people doesn’t want to pay it, to please the eyes, they decided to paint it.

Some house also have a proof that they paid a fire insurance for their house. How do you know it? look at the symbol / ornaments on top of their door. The symbol of Phoenix rises from ashes…. how ironic can you be. In worse case scenario, if 2 houses were on fire. The house with the fire insurance symbol will be saved first. If both have the symbol then the one with colorful symbol will be saved first. Fast forward now, it’s not valid anymore 😉

They have a German Church in Estocolmo whom doesn’t have Gargoyles but rather a north metology.

We visited the little iron boy statue sitting on a kitchen table looking at the moon and dreaming. His head is made from Swedish iron, really easy to be mold meaning a very high quality. During WW Swedish iron is on a very high demand. He gave access to Germany for the iron… for all that, Sweden asked in return for Germany to never step foot in Sweden. That is why Sweden is not bombarded during WW and became a safe heaven for Jewish population.

May peace come to this piece of our beautiful world. A sentence serve as a slide show on the display in front of the Nobel Prize Winner museum. She said if one of your friends got nominated for Nobel, he or she can take 12 friends with him / her to the banquet. So… my friends, maybe it’s time to do your job? hahaha

The Gamla Stan (the one who always come out everytime you type Stockholm) is like a red banquet scene from Game of Thrones, nope I didn’t watch it. So what was happening? The Danish locked the door, only to start the beheaded party of each Swedish Nobel on that evening, it was very gruesome. The ground we are on are uneven, it was believed caused by the blood was running out from the building. The white square in the wall represents the number of the beheaded Swedish high noble, it is that much!! Gustav managed to survived, gathered the crowd, attacked, send back the Danish intruder without clothing to Copenhagen.

The rivalry between Denmark and Sweden is still existing, if you go to IKEA all the name for beautiful decoration will be in Swedish name, on the opposite all the doormat will be in Danish name.

How about my learning curve? Will keep typing 🙂

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Je suis sans Susi

Archimedes EUREKA… same same but different… as I was alone strolling inside the Museum, why don’t I do a walking tour like I normally do in every city I travelled to? EUREKAAA! let’s see if they have availability for today in English. It was around 17:30 when I got my Eureka moments, 18:00 is the walking tour, walking distance from the Museum to the Meeting Point is 20 minutes, perfecto!

Saw the tour guide and two more guys plus me…hmm… will the tour keep going? or we need to have a minimum participants? Yes it does! (the first one) wohooo felt like having a private tour 🙂

We started at Monument Kleber. Eric is the name of our guide, he explains very detail about who is Kleber, what did he do in Strasbourg, why there is a monument for him, why Sphinx is behind him. From what I can recall…. he was disobeying one order so his face is turning away from the order (the paper on his hand), he has an important figure during the battle, he faced his faith due to someone disguise as a student walked to his direction then stab him to death!! Why Sphinx is there? I forget pffff

We cannot skip the amazing, number 1 attraction in Strasbourg ever, Cathedrale Notre Dame! He showed us the story from what was engraved on the outside of the Cathedral. It divided into 3 parts, Christmas – Passion of the Christ – ….judgement day? yes I think that’s the third.

The artist freely design the stone based on their own interpretation. Moving on to first door with theme Christmas:

It was only 3 of us, obviously I heard he said the lady statues represents one of parable about: “Ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps”. I only see 4 on each side….. okay we are here to appreciate the detailed, not to challenge 😉 let’s move on from it.

There is one part I couldn’t forget as it blown me away so much, it’s about the story of each biblical character per se. In the Passion of the Christ parts, Eric recognized two parables: Cain and Abel + Jonah who got eaten by a fish. I think I found Saint Peter as he was crucified upside down. Speechless guaranteed!

Last gate which I thought was a judgment day? Yes, I think it is or at least somewhere in that direction…. Eric told Evil comes 3 times in this illustration, in form of a dragon like people being pushed to hell + a “Prince” who actually a disguise Evil, we can see it from snakes behind his robe + the one I forget, I believe it was on the corner of the door, the Gargoyle symbol. Disregard my forgetfulness, it’s still marvelous heiiii

Then we went to the other side of the church where… this time… I’m 100% remember what was that all about. It’s the parable of King Solomon, a story of two women who came to him with two young babies- one alive and one dead. Both claimed that the living child was their own and that the other woman was only pretending to be the mother of the surviving infant. King Solomon solved it by “let’s cut the baby half so each one got one”. To which, the fake mother agreed whilst the real mother prefer to give the baby to her as long as the baby’s alive. That’s how King Solomon know who the real mother is. #Bravo Marlyn! at least one full story you remembered #Proud of moi-self!

How about that? isn’t it breathtaking? I promise for the next walking tour, I won’t forget much things #Better be improved!

Few steps around the Cathedrale, look down, there is a capsule time which will be opened in year 3790 mwahaha who would have known?!?! maybe people couldn’t read the handwritten anymore. Or worse, they ain’t gonna be people! Hiyyy….don’t wanna know…

We walked passed La Petite Alsace again, definitely need to take pictures 🙂 at this moment we already know each other more, they are Michael, Manuel and me, the 3M tourist, just like a 3M Tape.

There is another important statue with important people + important moment engraved like Galileo, the abolished of slavery.

We closed the tour with parting up in the bridge! the same bridge I went this morning, this time with some lights.

Manuel recommended me a place to eat. However, I need to do my job of buying Susi a diaper before the store closed so we didn’t eat together. Once I secure the diaper, don’t know where to eat, went to Manuel’s recommendation: Kitsch ‘n Bar and guess who I found? it’s them!

We connected on Instagram, they told me the water in Dublin is for free, what?!?! I can’t hear the word “free”, my Asian soul is calling, I’m gonna come to take a bath every damn day! haha you two also welcome btw just one thing need to be reconsidered, I paid my water + there is no Bathub, so…. save it! haha Either way, travelling is the essence here.

Definitely book yourself a walking tour wherever it’s available, you got a bit of knowledge…. well…. at that time is a lot but less memory capacity 🙂 with a bonus you can get new friends!

My random memories keep jumping: Angelo is a good place to eat, the statue of St. Martin in front of Martin’s Church, nobody lives on a Dach, Strasbourg was a place of EU Composer like Mozart, this little corner is the best view from Cathedrale Notre Dame.

Oh here is the recommendation from Eric’s, you’re welcome!

See ya 🙂

#3M Tape, sealed by travel.

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Closing The Circle

Did I reach Adolphe Bridge? Still hasn’t reported that one didn’t I? Yes we did!

We saw the bridge, were walking on top of it but I want to be under the bridge, where is the entrance? crossed the road two times until Feli found some clue “I think the entrance is across this road as we can see the Zig Zag way” She was correct “see, see, not so hard to find, we did it” 😉

Right before we reach the other end of the bridge she said “let’s get out, I’m scared” I was surprised why? we were on the transparent glass tower before, in comparison, Adolphe Bridge is very robust #confused

I think if we keep walking this direction we will reach The Grund as we already at the bottom. We follow the road, find a skateboard ground, Feli pick a flower to what she claimed it’s a “wild flower” therefore it’s OK to pick, not a flower in front of Spuerkeess where she saw one lady grabbed it. Where is our lunch destination? Italian restaurant (again) hahaha! She was very dedicated to have Aperol Spritz although have to say the one she had wasn’t really the real Aperol.

We walked through the same route meaning passed a Cathedral, since it’s raining, I pay a visit. This Cathedral is famous for the paintings hanged in the wall. Continue our journey to city center, while looking a map, Feli remembered the road “oh here is right” she’s already a local after one day here.

We gathered with the guys in an Irish Pub down on the other side of the hill, to get to the bottom of Lukas’ stolen bag story #condolence. There we met with Tobias’ friend from “Ireland” Delia. We stayed until we finish watching Hurling final. After that we went for a billiard where we met Pedro and Delia’s friend from Taiwan, Daniel. The guys continuing their drinking activities while me and Feli went back to Ncim’s.

On the last day which is Monday, I had brunch with April and Leoni whereas Feli stayed in city center doing her last shopping, cafeing or caking. I spoke Mandarin to Leonie, received no reply, April said she speaks only Cantonese or Luxembourgish. Yves and his family also didn’t force Leonie to speak English, she is a real Luxembourgish in heart. April packed Leonie a lot of books, one of them is sticker books, she tear it off to stick it everywhere. This little Pizza is heavy! around 12 kg.

After brunch, it’s time for me to go back to Dortmund so we both went to Gare Centrale. April put Leonie into the stroller although Leonie can walk, she said it’s easier for her, if Yves is there then she let Leonie walk. We passed the fountain thingy, Leonie screamed 水水 we can actually stopped by to play with the water. To my suggestion, April said “I think it’s a bad idea” hahaha We saw a Boba Shop near the fountain, she missed 珍珠奶茶 so much, well… Feli is working at the Boba Tea Shop, I will get you 3* 珍珠奶茶 each day 🙂 Thank you so much April for spending the time to meet me. 珍珠奶茶 is waiting in Dortmund!

What else what else what else? Oh I also met Barbie + Ken! The marketing of this movie is so total! Hi Barbie! Hi Ken!

I’m grateful for Luxembourg weekend experience, it couldn’t have gone better if we’d planned it. Now the circle is closed 🙂

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Swarovski in a Non-existing Rose Garden – Part 2

….continuation story…..

Feli feel tired, therefore she chose to stay put, doing some Cafeing whereas I was heading towards Adolphe Bridge, only to meet with another walking tour participants (at this point I didn’t know their names) the same girls we met at the entrance of Bock Casemates. They wanted to see the Rose Garden, I already forget this option exists! I asked if I can join, they don’t mind, so here I am, one party changes to three party. Maria said: Netherlands is famous for the Tulip, Luxembourg is famous for the Rose. She also mentioned perhaps there won’t be any at this time as this is not the season. However, it didn’t reduce our spirit to check. The result was: there were no rose hahaha but one of the girl found something else 🙂

What’s next then? I’m not sure if I’m allow to follow them again as I kind of crashing their party of two hihihi I asked and they don’t mind so here we are in The Gudde Wedder. Spoiler alert, this is where the night getting excited! we grow to an even bigger + exponentially funny party. At this time I already know their names, Franzi and Sabine. Franzi is a German live in Luxembourg, Sabine is a Mauritians on the way to USA. Franzi asked “where is your friend? she can come here too other than waiting alone” OK, send picture + location + write Feli. Done from my side.

This place is always full, there is no waiter who will search a seat for you. You just have to run once a table is free, pretty Barbaric I’d say. The plan was we sat anywhere first, if we see one of the table at the side is free then moved. Our seat was the middle, next to us were 4 guys. I thought all of them are together until I realized they too separated into 2 and 2. Franzi whispered to me “they are Germans”

Mistakes happened by one of the guy’s order that caused a conversation which lead to the best unexpected night of my life. 2 Moscow Mule for free! My brain and heart already locked to Pisco Sour therefore Sabine and Franzi took it but I also had few sips #slurp 🙂

They talked, I zoned out from time to time until I saw the perfect corner table is empty! I don’t care what were their conversation is all about, it was worth to break it. Guys! Empty table on the corner, run! get it! the guys talked “should we move?” “yes yes moved!” both girls said thanks for the drink to the other guys, I didn’t even see them. Focus focus, tadammm!!! party of 3 becomes party of 5!

We have one more empty seat that could be a hot seat between Feli or Franzi’s housemate. Knowing the party will be bigger, one of the guy (at that time I didn’t know their names yet) said we wont be asking chairs from another table anymore rather asking for a table. Funnily, both of them arrived at the same time, I asked Feli to “run, run” but she ignored me, she was the last one to get the seat 🙂 How many are we now? party of 5 become party of 7! After we complete, now I know all the names, they are Lukas, Tobias, Sabine, Feli, Ivy, Franzi and moi!

Best seat – Best crew

We will treat this corner as generational, ain’t gonna move our asses. If someone needs to go to the toilet, we will guard the sits with all our hearts. Don’t be a beginner like the French guys sitting next to us pfffff. Okay, French guy asked in French if we have a paper for smoking, none of us understand so he spoke in English, we all “no, sorry we don’t smoke, we don’t have it”. The three of them try to asked the restaurant I think, they didn’t realized….they have left their table!!! In three seconds, two ladies already grabbed their spot. Me and Franzi was looking at the girl giving thumbs up or trying to say “I don’t think the guys meant to left the table” the moment the guys realized, it’s too late. Lukas said “it’s because he didn’t put the towel in the chair as a mark, the German towel really is sacred”

Lukas, Tobias and me still have a bit of drinks, meanwhile Sabine, Ivy and Franzi are ready to move on for Open Air Cinema. Lukas gave Ivy his “Towel” (read: jacket) to spot the chairs for Open Air Cinema. Once we are done, we walked to Place Guillaume II, “you guys continue, I forgot my bag” ahhh Tobias… we didn’t realized he walked without his bag #face palm Lukas said “I need to take care of my bag because many people (myself including) said I have a nice bag”

I was the one who made itinerary for the trip so I know we are passing the Corniche aka the “most beautiful balcony of Europe” When I told the guys their response was “OK, checked” me on the other hand getting a selfie “Have you see yourselves on the camera?” Lukas answered “I am right there!” We arrived at the Open Air Cinema, the movie is Singing in The Rain with French and German Subtitle. The German Towel doesn’t serve the purpose of 7 seats, we have to scatter around. I was sitting with Lukas, Feli with Tobias, Sabine with Franzi, Ivy prefer to stand.

Once the movie is finished, Franzi and Ivy already gone but we got additional member which is Tobias’ housemate, Pedro. We kept strolling around until we reached one pub only to use the toilet haha noooo we stay just a bit due to our AirBnB is quiet far, we need to catch the last bus. On the dance floor we received a good news that Lukas was accepted into a University in Mannheim, whoaaaa! Congratulations!!!!

The level of Dopamine from that whole day was very indescribable, one of the night you don’t want to end, not in my wildest dream I would expect any of it. It is like finding a hidden gems or Swarovski in the most unexpected place like a non-existing rose garden.

Hey! I’m serious, Franzi found it and she gave it to me 🙂

Made in Germany, found by a German!

I will remember all of you, Ivy who study her PhD, Franzi who work in EU Parliament, Sabine who always manage to get into private swimming pool at any Hotel in Mauritius, Tobias who studies Data Science if only I can turn back time, I’ll tell myself to study that too, Lukas whose backpack was stolen 🙁

Sorry to deliver a sad news… I know the next day that Lukas’ great backpack has been stolen. I was very shocked when I heard it, damn! how about bank card + Personalausweis + keys etc. When we met the guys, I even more shocked because he can turn the negative into something humorous, that is the skill not everyone have. Lukas himself turn it into a joke that leads to running gag for the whole day, such as “they dropped my AirPods and I have the box back home, so now it’s complete; well, now I can’t pay anything; I need to chill, good thing is I can’t get lower than this, they took everything from me; I wear the same clothes because they took all my belongings”. Ah yes forget to mentioned Lukas literally just arrived Luxembourg when I met him so his backpack is all his stuff for the weekend. Anyway, my personal opinion, with this kind of mentality, he will be able to go very far in life.

Moral of Lukas’ incident, follow the quote from How I Met Your Mother, “when it’s 2 A.M., just go to sleep. Because nothing good happens after 2 A.M” I told him I believe in Karma, something stolen from you, it will be stolen from the thief in another way too, for example something bad happen to their family that would cause damage more than your iPad etc. He said my words are too dark he didn’t intend any bad things to the Täter, oh yes bitch I am Indonesian, we have Voodoo Master hahaha don’t mess up with my things or else……#devil’s laugh

Back to the good side of me, you guys have made my weekend unforgettable. I owe you a big thank you, I wish you all success in life. See you when I see you #you’ll never know 😉

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Swarovski in a Non-existing Rose Garden – Part 1

We started with Twentytour / walking tour guided by Maria from Russia, my initial thought was that she is a local Luxembourgish as…she speaks the language hahaha such a standard to define if someone a local or not. She mentioned, it is very normal for people to be Polyglot, your language ability will not be treated as skills but rather as a part of life.

We gathered at the Jan Pallach Square in front of Monument Dicks and Lentz who supposed to have a red lion as symbol of Lux’s flag. FYI, you saw the correct lion, it is not red. Moving on to Place Guillaume II where they have market until 17:00 in front of a building called Hotel de Ville, it’s not a hotel nor a Villa, it’s a Town Hall. We walked passed Place de Clairefontaine and Grand Duchess Charlotte Memorial.

She explains how Luxembourg become very rich due to steel and agriculture. When we arrived at Grand ducal Palace + Chamber of Deputies, she informed that the Prime Minister- Mr. Xavier Bettel is a complete regular guy, you can find him on the street, the bar etc too bad, he is on holiday. How do I know? because there is no flag hanged in front of the palace.

There is some interesting pole in front of it, on top of there is a face, everywhere you move the face is following into your direction. It has a symbolic meaning as the people who works on the palace is being watched by the Luxembourgish people.

Next is we visited Saint Michael’s Church who is the oldest shrine in the city. Right outside, adjacent to it we arrived to the most picturesque of Luxembourg, Bock Promontory = the cradle of the city of Luxembourg.

There we met our new friend from Brazil who lives in Ireland, Brunna. I like her mentality, she asked if I can take picture of her as a proof that she was there. Girl, we are the same! Picture or else it didn’t happen 😉

We walked in circular movement for about 5 Minutes tadammmm we reached The Grund.

We closed our tour by visiting Cathedral Notre-Dame de Luxembourg + Place de la Constitution, saw from distance Spuerkeess and….Adolphe Bridge, p.s not gonna lie I was shocked to hear the name of the bridge.

I felt myself not really myself, I need to eat before I turn into Hulk. What is the best options in this situation? Italian! its very hard to make it wrong. Brunna agrees too, ha! same mentality proof! #high five.

Right after I feel satisfied, we three went to the Pfaffenthal elevator, re-do what we did with Maria only with more time haha we also visited Fondation Pescatore. Brunna wants to crossed the bridge. Which bridge? the only bridge that matters, the red one. It has a name no? Yes it is, it’s Pont Grande Duchesse-Charlotte. Feli said we might only come until the middle as we have Bock Casemates at 16:45. However as what Maria said, it looks far but it ain’t. We finished crossing the bridge plus come back to the city using Bus.

Brunna didn’t join for the Casemates tour so we separated there. On the entrance we met with two other girls from the walking tour, she bought the ticket for tomorrow visit while we already have it.

Here it is the one that I have been waiting for, Bock Casemates! What is that exactly? Its a Unesco world heritage fortifications and old town Gibraltar of the North – that’s how its written on the flyer hahaha in a normal language, it used to be a fortress for underground military defense system. The view always faced the same, nevertheless it didn’t reduce the beauty. We saw the same thing on a different level.

Here is the video of the views from different angles:

We walked back to the city center, enjoying the last chance of shopping until…. who do we met randomly? Brunna!!! She somehow had a feeling she will meet us again 🙂 We have to separated for the second time as she went to a supermarket then fetch her stuff to catch her flight back to Ireland.

We seal our good thoughts deals of meeting each other again in the future which are more likely to happen, thanks to so many reasons: we live in EU, she has a German boyfriend, she knows if she’s in Köln she has to text us or we do it the other way…. we visit you in Ireland. Whatever or however it will be, we will see you again Brunna 🙂

…..story continues….

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Indonesian at Heart

Some time ago Felicia saw an advertisement of where you can take DB Bahn using your Deutschland Ticket aka it can be interpreted as for “free” as I already have it and she can upgrade her NRW Ticket to DE Ticket. Options are Salzburg, Luxembourg, Venlo, Strasbourg or Basel. She chose Luxembourg, I’m OK with that, checked the train connection, it’ll took us from 6 hours to eternity depends on element of surprises DB Bahn offers.

She did snack shopping on Thursday, übernachtet at my place so we can go together on Friday morning. Originally we planned to take the 10:45 train, due to my excitement for the trip, I wasn’t able to sleep well, meaning I woke up earlier than planned….hmmm.. what to do? started with the preparation for our food on the train then. After few minutes, Feli also woke up, only then, we realized we could take the 09:45 train. It will be knapp but if we Gas geben to every activity we are currently doing, we might catch it.

We turned to our express mode. She packed her stuff, I watched the food, while I took shower, she was in charge for the food, put my last stuff into our luggage, placed food into the container, clean my apartment, took rubbish out, done and gone! I know… from all activity possible why do I still need to squeeze cleaning the apartment zzzzzzzz #face palm

We walk as fast as we can to the point we sweat when we reached Dortmund Hbf. 50% of the way DB was on time until we had our second Umsteigen, element of surprise take parts, there was 40-50 minutes delay due to something which I didn’t even try to listen to. Boahhh our effort to be 1 hour earlier is just gerade ausgeglichen! On the bright side, since we missed our bus, we were able to visit Trier center for a quick glance.

Took the next bus, arrived Luxembourg city center, took another train to Ncim’s accommodation in Esch-sur-Alzette. Haha we called our AirBnB Landlord Ncim 🙂 #very unpolite heyyyy

Ncim’s place is really near the border of France. I saw on the Map there is an abandon train station, we could go there by walking for only 17 Minutes haha. After we freshened ourselves, the sun is still exist, that’s why at first I want to visit this Port just to put my legs on both countries. However, Feli decided it’s not a wise idea, let’s just have dinner. Need to say, we couldn’t get any receptions, she pinned some restaurants around the area yet we just can’t reach it, we need to rely on our direction sense on where the hell to turn? We decided on one restaurant simply because we heard they are speaking Germans.

I told her I saw Carefour near our AirBnB, she responded “ha? you think we are back home in Indonesia? seit wann haben wir Carefour?” yes I’m dead serious, I saw it on the map. Remember, we can’t rely on our internet so we stroll around until we found it! here it is! although the color is different back home at least we saw this brand again!

We had important day ahead of us, full with sightseeing activities as Sunday is a Ghost Town in Lux so shopping etc must be done on Saturday hahaha. Before reaching our walking tour meeting point’s she saw a “Superindo” Logo, said “are we really back home?” we miss Indonesian super or minimarket so much.

Among any beautiful view Luxemburg’s offers, nothing compare to our “home” brand view 🙂

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Verbal Illusion

  • She’s On The Money book for Irina – checked and checked 1000 times or else she would reject my arrival! #I have no doubt #It’s foreseeable
  • Food during my at least 4,5 hours DB Journey to Amsterdam – checked. Why at least? Because DB Bahn ist genau bekannt für die Pünktlichkeit.

Was my train delayed? certainly! there was some Chemical thingy happening in Venlo (btw Venlo is already Amsterdam) while I had to take another train from Venlo to Amsterdam. A glimpse of hope appears when ICE train on the next platform also stopped there. That ICE bound for Amsterdam from Frankfurt, perfekt! Hop on to that train thinking they could have taken another track, hoping I could have arrived earlier #innocence

That exact ICE has no clue when it will continue the journey, had to wait inside for about 1,5 hours before everyone started to panic. The guy sitting next to me called a Taxi from Amsterdam asked if they will be able to pick him up in the train station. There was a couple, she is a German while he….somewhere from EU, Spain or Italy or so, she was very active in searching a way out. She thought to take Uber to Roermond as it’s a bigger station then took any train to Amsterdam. I, on the other hand, stand by…. well, honestly not really stand by, I was more eavesdropping 😉 30 minutes later, the girl said according to Twitter, the firefighter already cleaned Venlo’s track hence all trains are able to departs again. Yeay!! Without further due, the machinist only blew the whistle once dann los geht’s! #no warning #no waiting time

I was so hungry when I finally reached Amsterdam Central. Irina was still working anyway, I got to eat yo! Indonesian food it is! What else other than Warung Made 🙂 back to Sarah!

I really felt like home in this Warung, chilled for a long while until the rain is somewhat bearable to continue my journey. Truth: it’s never bearable, welcome to Amsterdam 🙂

She got cat sitting job right after her normal job therefore I had to be at home alone, decided to take shower, put all my equipment at her bathroom. I brought my own shampoo, conditioner, face wash, basically everything except soap. I saw her soap was put upside down, lift it, felt empty…hmmm… doesn’t matter, shampoo works perfectly fine as a soap too.

Finished, made myself comfy at her armchair with Fatty, wrote her via WA “btw you soap is dead” she asked if I finished it up. No, it’s already dead that’s why I had to use my shampoo.

Long story short, it was only an illusion, there was still some left had I tried open it. Not forget to mentioned, Irina is the type who always have a back up after another back up, there is still a hidden soap behind the closed cabinet. I took shower with a soap for the rest of me staying at her place 😉 #just so everyone conscious.

Perhaps Salem had to do revenge during my soap drama, he throwed up while I was sleeping, not literally on me, rather on the blanket. It was around 3AM, for some reason I felt Salem on my thigh (100% it was him, if it was Fatty I would got up as he is very very heavy) then I heard some choking noise. I’m not a light sleeper, I was only half aware by the time I knew some food already out of his mouth. “Irina, Irina” she woke up immediately and told me, you take the other side of the bed, I directly went asleep again zzzzz

On the weekend, we were fully book with brunch! Saturday we met with her friend, Diana at brunch Cocotei. Our agenda is to go to Amsterdam Dungeon even though I’m not a fan of horror. I went to the one in London when I was 16 or 17 yo boy oh boy! it was amazing! I still remember it so well, that scared the shit out of me, except now I’m older I wanted to see if that shit still scares me or not, thus I agreed on it.

We arrived earlier than our admission ticket, we were waiting in the supposedly creepy room. The waiting is the one that kills Diana and I. Long story short, we went in with 20 other people, it wasn’t so scary, the act were more screaming in a way that supposedly shocked us, sometimes they succeed, most of the time they weren’t. Hate to say, it wasn’t really successful #imo I think the one in London was much better, less communication.

Diana need to go but our next bitch come, Terezaaaa! with her, what did we do? cake-ing! #sweet tooth gang! Live from Amsterdam.

I bought 2 cakes to go, guys, I have no idea what went wrong in the whole conversation:

  • “I want to have 2 cupcakes please, 1 red velvet, 1 carrot cake”
  • somehow she took out a big box with 4 holes on it, she put 2 red velvet in the hole…..
  • caught her in that action, I said “No, I meant 1 and 1”
  • Her action after it was even weirder, she took 1 box for 1 cupcake so it will be 2 boxes.
  • before it went too far, I need to say another “No, No”
  • out of the blue, she put 2 red velvet in one box and 1 carrot cake in one box to me.
  • I clearly have no idea where her logic coming from, what kind of illusion it is. I…. had to say…. again….”I meant, 1 red velvet and 1 carrot cake in one box”
  • she changed the box unhappily.

Girl…seriously… you coming from another planet? Tereza and Irina waited in H&M next door. I told them the story, they said “don’t worry Marlyn, it’s a Dutch service”

Although we were not too hungry, we went to Warung Made again hahaha! I want to introduce them the new Indonesian restaurant I discovered 😉 I know Sara would be there however when I get in there was a white blonde lady….oh! Where is Sara? haha very polite ehhh!

Irina went for cat sitting right after dinner while I went to her place to feed Salem and Fatty, they must be sooooo hungry! They lead me to the kitchen as I opened the door. Yes Salem I know! We’re sorry, Fatty you’re always hungry anyway 😉

On an Easter Sunday we decided to go to Utrecht. In my opinion it’s a mini Amsterdam. Sadly it wasn’t so alive due to it was on an Easter Sunday. We still can see something, it was enough for the grasp that Utrecht is beautiful.

Our destination is to reach the famous Gelato ice cream, did we take a straight way? No way in hell #got distracted. One of them is by getting in to Kelly Expat Store #We are an expat yo! It sounds fancy but basically it’s a shop selling American food brands hahaha. What other shops that opened on the holiday? Souvenirs shop! Magnet for mother – checked.

Reached the famous Gelato Roberto, I had a Broodjes with 2 scoop of Ice Cream. The place is small, there isn’t a proper place to sit outside of this shop, there was only a “bank” (auf Deutsch) attached to the wall so we sat there having a view of other people waiting in line to get the ice cream. Fuck no I ain’t leaving the bank, my ass need some rest haha

Utrecht is the origin of Miffy, there are many of this statue around city center. In one specific red lights they have Miffy as their icon. Just like Ampelmann in Berlin, here is Miffy in Utrecht.

On the way back the train didn’t stop at Tereza’s station so she need to get out from another station. Yeay! more time with you!

On my last day, we finished Jeffrey Epstein Series. There were still some time before my train, clueless what to do? While I tried to re-heat the bagel, Irina screamed with joy “Marlyn, Netflix understand us! there is a movie about Ghislaine Maxwell ! let’s watch it!”

Wait, back to the bagel story. I was informed there is a bagel in the kitchen, I can cut it half, put on the air fryer facing up then spread the Frischkase. I’m so lost in life, I spread the Frischkase first so I can’t put it again into the air fryer otherwise I’ll messed it up more than I already am….pfffff what can I do without her.

Once the movie ended, my gut told me to go to the train station. It was too early, more than 2 hours from my real ticket. When I just arrived the Dam, I got notification that my middle train, the one that is from Venlo to Germany got cancelled hahaha! Am I surprise? honestly no however it didn’t meant that I’m calm. I’m still panic #not at the disco. Since I was there earlier I just took whatever train available, most important it will take me to Dortmund. I reached home one hour later than I suppose to be, bottom line, made it!

Although it’s not a Lake Como holiday like our bitches Anu and Louise, I still had my fun! Looking forward pho next time bitcheeessss!

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It Was All Yellow

I have more or less one year Covid’s anniversary which reminds me of my failed trip to Keukenhof in 2022 with my GGI bitchessss 🙁 Fast forward one year later, Miley Cyrus appears with her iconic “I can buy myself flower” inspired me to go this time, alone!

Call my bitch Irina, “bitch I’m coming over Easter”, it was a bit unplanned as there was always DB Streik once a week, I waited until I knew there won’t be a Streik during Easter, only then I contacted her confirming my arrival. Thanks God the flower ticket are still available as they do sold out heyyyy!

I had to stand on the bus from Europaplein to Keukenhof, why? a. it was full and b. I don’t want to wait on the station while rain pour down. When I arrived the destination, Zeus’ still operating, after a while, he put Zephyrus in control 🙂 Because of him, all pictures aren’t so bright, no worries, it still didn’t change the fact that the flowers are very beautiful.

There are many people, like manyyyy! Sarah from Warung Made Indonesian Restaurant already mentioned about humongous Chinese and Indian tourist, bulls eyes!

I visited the important places #completed successfully. I can (not) proudly say as I do thought everyone who went there would have the same opinion haha. In my view, the most beautiful is the Mill! Save it for later 🙂

Allright, back to the beginning!

As you entered the garden, you can get your map from the basket that just lay there. Additionally there is a beautiful lady in the middle of the garden, wearing a fashion which I believe was the Era back in the day, who welcomed you and having a knowledge about the garden itself #you’ll know what I meant by it later on. My first impression was “whoaaa this is so big how can I go see all?” Relax, it’s walkable, besides… at some point you will feel its enough haha 😀

Then there is a bunch of tulip arrangement with word Keukenhof on it which I had to took a Panoramic picture otherwise you can’t catch the full words.

Oranje Nassau is the first flower shows I visited, there is a flower mosaic, decoration’s idea for garden, everything there smell so fresh 🙂 me like it!

Afterwards I walked to Juliana / Tulpomania, passing through a very interesting music from Irene fountain. In the Juliana there is a myth about a black tulip. Ooooooo I also did a photo where I “christened” my first tulip, it happened to be Thorben’s birthday so I got to make one for him 🙂 Thanks for the knowledge Juliana, next!

I thought Wilhelmina would be some special flower too however it’s only a shop. Nevertheless, in front of Wilhemina is good view 🙂 Bottom line, still can’t skip it!

Beatrix is good since they displayed the flower decoration as an idea for you which for sure it’ll never come to my mind #me not creative

And you’re the place my life begins,
And you’ll be where it ends
I’m flying without wings

Cherry on top, the Mill! oh Mill! Had I knew it earlier I will stayed in this area longer before Zeus re-appears…

The Mill is a big area, you can either took the stairs to get to the observation deck from the windmill or stay on the ground as they have the so called picnic area or there is a cafe close by. What did I chose? Obviously all of them!

During Zeus’ show time, I chose to get inside to the Willem-Alexander. Here, you found OMG countless of tulip flowers, among all there is Uliana! haha I also had a very long lunch there as my feet cannot take it any longer. What I can take in during my sitting time was, tulips is so underrated, they have more than my brain could contain, the color, the way it blossoms, the sizes, WOW! unbelievable! I am beyond amazed!

I read the map again making sure I checked all the list until I stumbled into “Historical Garden” hmmmm where is it? Went to the shop to ask the lady who works there just in case if she knew, she didn’t. While I’m asking her, there is an Italian or Spanish family asked her questions too about “black tulip” the real one, someone said it’s in the Willem-Alexander, she didn’t know it either. I, on the other hand, don’t want to miss it, for sure will ask about it too!

Yes ofc the open area along the way is beautiful too, the way the flower arranged is really mind-blowing.

I have no idea why the flowers outside are mostly yellow, it matched with my jacket haha everywhere I see, most of it, it was all yellow, maybe the one who plant those are fans of Coldplay hihihi #clever balls

There is also one more Mill view, if you managed to get through the Maze to reach a cottage by the end of it 😉 did I manage? ja klar! The previous Mills area was better in my opinion consider the view from this one is quiet far.

Back to find the vintage dress lady at the entrance, asked about the Historical garden and black tulip, she said there is no black tulip, it’s just a myth, in reality is a very dark purple, see! she’s very smart! no need to wonder anymore #You’re welcome.

I left Keukenhof with satisfaction knowing I didn’t miss anything haha oh not forget to mentioned, got coronated, earlier than King Charles 😉

FYI if you want to know the bus ticket + entrance’s cost, its Euro 36,00. I was there from 11 – 14:00, give or take. The opening time was on 23 March – 14 May. I went there on 7th April, there are not all blossoms, yet I already satisfied, will I go there again next time? Maybe only under one condition, if it’s in the beginning of May as I perceived it shall have be blossoms more than in April. I’m so already eingedeutscht eh, need to complain about anything. Okay back to Indonesian, I’m satisfied with my own experience 🙂

Did I buy flower in the end? Nope, but I do know “I can buy myself flower and it was called Yellow” 😉