寶寶小日記：つれづれなるままに．．．

It was true when people said that there was no speed limit on Germany's high-way, or better put, "free-way"....

On Saturday, January 26th, my husband, worrying that I would be bored at home everyday, took me to Germany. His cousin Nori kept us company during the trip.

Since a couple days prior to this trip, I was... kinda anxious about this trip... Why? Well.... it's about the "freeway" in Germany. They said that there was no speed limit on their "high-way" and that people drove as fast as 250km/hour.... which is like just 100km/hr less than the bullet train... I was worried because in such situation, well, as a normal sane person, I may get panic-ed and completely lose my mind...

"Would I be okay....? ," I pondered worryingly. 

My husband said that since everybody drove so fast that it would be more dangerous to drive at the normal speed than drive at their speed... true, true..... very true and logical, but I'm still a bit scared, honey. I pretended that I was just "concerned" about the speed, but in fact I was actually a bit..., just a bit, terrified. Just thinking of it, my heart pounds faster, just thinking about what if it crushes with other cars... oh well..., too much of "thinking", I guess. 

Anyhow. That was how I felt about this trip in the very beginning. On one hand, I was so excited 'cuz this would be my first trip to Germany!!! But, on the other hand, I was a bit concerned, well, 'cuz you know, the "freeway" thing.... 

We departed around 11am, which was pretty late, for our first destination, Roermond, where the outlet was. First we went to pick up Nori, who speaks native Japanese and English. The interaction between my husband Wayne and his cousin Nori always keeps me entertained. Sometimes, they are like high-school boys, teasing, joking and laughing at/with each other. I never get bored around them. I always tell Wayne that he is lucky to have Nori here to keep him company, but I guess, the same applies to Nori as well that he has Wayne here to keep him company. So, we enjoyed the ride through the highway in the Netherlands, across the border, then here came the "no-speed-limit zone"..... 

There was a big forest with naked trees on the left side of the freeway. 

"It must be pitch-dark walking in the forest," said Wayne. 

Then, we got into the topic of "Black-forest" in Germany, the dark, spooky mysterious zone where you never know where you are going or where you come from, and where you can be lost and never be found. I've heard of the term "Black-Forest" before, but never really knew where it was or what it was like. They told me that "Black-Forest" was just a huge, deep forest where the trees were so crammed that there wouldn't be any ray of light peeking through that forest, thus pitch-dark. That, is quite scary. I remember seeing a movie in which a head-less soulder ghost in metal garment riding on the outraged black hourse and holding a sparkling and deadly sharpened plow dashed through the sadistic forest, a place that seemed to be ruthlessly swallowing any life that came close to it.... Woo..... that's quite scary. I hope this isn't "that" black forest... the haunted zone...  I guess I watched too much TV...?  

Anyhow. By this time, we were driving into the "no-speed-limit" zone. Wayne started to accelarate, and the speed started to go up, up and up...., 130km/hr, 140km/hr, then finally stablized around 170km/hr. Haven't gotten used to the brilliant idea of "no-speed-limit," I held my beath and my bag tightly in the front passenger seat.

"170km/hr....? You can get faster, you know? This car has no problem up to 200km/hr. But, after passing 200km/hr, it will start to shake and there will be a roaring sound," said Nori. 
"Well, I feel more cautious holding two lives on my hands..." answered Wayne. 
"Good, very good," I commented. 

One car tried to change the lane from right to ours. Our speed was as fast as 170km/hr. 

"A!" My astounded voice escaped out from my mouth before getting my permission. I thought that car wasn't going to slow down, but it did. "My God...," I took a deep breath and felt so relieved, "I thought it would hit us!" They laughed at me.

Then, Wayne slowed down the car. "You scary cat~~~! " Nori laughed at Wayne. 
"No, 'cuz there was a car chasing up, so I let him go first." Wayne fighted back. 
"Well, they will drive arond you to get ahead of you. They know what to do. They are experienced." Nori said.
"I guess, holding two lives in my hands makes me more careful 'cuz it's not just me." Wayne reasoned.

But, after a while, I started to get used to this speed. I didn't even feel that fast after a while although Wayne drove 180km/hr probably because most of the cars around us drove even faster! Then, we came to our first stop, Roermond, where the outlet was. 

The outlet was quite nicely built to give a feeling of a little town. Cafeterrias, coffee shops, brand-shops, etc. etc. There was even a Merry-Go-Round in the open square (although nobody was riding on it...). The stores of the popular brands were jammed with the enthusiastic shop hunters, so crowded that I didn't even feel like looking through the preys... not to mention trying them on. It was also hectic to take the multiple layers of clothes off to just try out a pants... So, I gave up on buying any clothes. But, I loved the stores of kitchenwares. I love cooking and making deserts. Those pots, pans, cooking equipments, tools, etc. etc.... Darn! Why they are so shinny and beautiful~~~~~!!!! It's a sin to blink at me like that~~~!!! Just imagining myself holding unto those tools and pans in my own kitchen immediately puts me in my own little rosy dream world. I want to carry them all home!!! (Seriously!) There's nothing more enjoyable than those moments devoting myself in gormet cooking and making delicious deserts in my own dream kitchen!!!! Alas, alas, the convection air-flowing oven, the cake pan, the pressure pots, the spatula, the blender, the, the....... My God, I cannot stand it. I want them all~~~~!!! Okay, gotta control myself before commiting a crime of rubbery.... Well, okay, yeah, there's some other moments possibly as enjoyable as this, I guess. But, well, you know what I mean. We got a rectangular hot plate for "Teppan Yaki," which was originally 54 Euro, and now 29 Euro, and we decided to soon use this hot plate for "Teppan Yaki" tomorrow night. With joy and whistle in my heart, we left my dream land. Then, we left the outlet assuring and convinced that we would come back to this place quite often in the future. 

"Where shall we go? Shall we go to Dusseldorf?" My dear husband suggested innocently. 
"What are you talking about? You had already made the plan even before we came here!" Nori pointed out. True, my husband had already made the plan to go to Dusseldorf although he said it as if that idea just came up to his mind now. Off we went to Dusseldorf, a modern city of Germany, which is about 1 hr away from Roermond. 

......I don't remember the way to Dusseldorf because I fell asleep. I have proved my prosecution true that I would fall asleep soon after the "swinging" motion applied to me. "You really fall asleep right away as soon as the car started to move. You probably will fall sleep when the eathquake hits us," said Nori. "Well, I did sleep through the earthquake before," replied me. Dusseldorf was close to Roermond. The city looked like the modern downtown area of any country. Milan looked like this. Toronto looked like this. Amsterdam looked like this. Most of the buildings are gray and ugly. But, the beautiful Cathoric churches did add some spice to the cold grayish ugly city. I guess the modern cities everywhere in the world are pretty much the same. 

The streets were packed with cars on both sides. We were lucky to notice a car just leaving. We quickly made an U-turn and beautifully parked into the still warm space where the previous car has just left. We decided to just walk around first before the dinner. What surprised me was that Dusseldorf was full of Asian people and so many Asian stores. Mostly Japanese and Korean. The person just passed through us is Japanese. That group coming toward us are also Japanese. Japanese and Korean everywhere! What's going on here? Did we drive to Tokyo or Souel??? 

Here I found my favorite place. The basement floor of an department store. This department store looked like the Sear's in the US, or you would say Macy's or Robinson's May if you like. Something of that line. But, the kitchenware section covers more than half of the basement floor!!! The pots are beautiful. The knives are shinny. The cakepans just sit there smiling at me~~~. Oh the curves of these wares....  Oh dear, this is so sinful..... These things are such an art that merely looking at them entertained my eyes for no end! I loved it. I totally fell in love with them. 

"I'm not going back," I gave my dear husband a serious look, "I will live in Germany." 

My husband laughed at me. But, but, this is so~~~ good!!!! Things are great. The prices are cheaper than those in the Netherlands. I love it here (so far).  Anyway, my husband dragged me away from the basement floor, and off we go to find a restaurant for hot dinner. We were hungry. 

The noodle place "Naniwa" was full of people. The line of "potential" customers trying to have a taste of the chef's art were persistently waiting in line outside of the restaurant. It was cold. The guests eating inside the restaurant on the other side of the window looked very superior. We gave up on the noodle. "Let's just eat the Korean food next to it," we concluded, "It looks.... not very good according to the pictures, but, yeah, it smells nice, not the very best, but should be ok." We compromised with our hunger and chose an "looks-okay" Korean cousine right next to the hot and popular "Naniwa". We were hungry and didn't want to wait. My honest comment on the dishes served in that Korean restaurant was..... okay, sorry, but just okay. Not bad, but not very good, either. At least, it satisfied our hunger. After the dinner, we headed back to our car. 

Nori drove us back home. I was unconscious throughout the entire trip. In the middle, I opened my eyes once or twice and saw my husband's head tilting in the right or left from the backseat, then I fell asleep again. Nori safely drove us back to his apartment, then he ran up to his own apartment after saying goodnight to both of us, whose minds have still half lost in the dream. Then, my husband drove us back to our sweet sweet home for a good night rest. 

I enjoyed this trip. I enjoyed the companies who joined this trip. I think there will be many trips like this while we are in Europe. My husband asked, "Are you gonna tell your sister, 'I went to Germany today~~~!!!'? " I said, "Sure, I will!  "

I really consider myself very blessed to have a husband like Wayne. He's always care about me and make sure that I enjoy my days as much as possible while he's at work and during the weekend. He's been tired throughout the week from work, but he will not neglect our weekends because of that. In the car coming back from Germany, I thanked God for Wayne. Now, we are planning to go to MunChen and Salzburg (Germany) next weekend, to the home town of Motzart!!!