Club Tropicana

Last weekend, my Lithuanian friend Vee paid me a visit in Tallinn!

So backstory - we first met in Sønderborg as we both began studying Chinese, but then our life parted, she lived in Indonesia and London, while I divided my life between Denmark and Shanghai. 

Eventually, shortly after I moved to Beijing for my Master studies, she also moved there for work. Within these two years, we've gone through loads of Beijing adventures and it's just amazing and rare to find people that you can connect with after all these years.

Anyways - we did a bunch of stuff. Very touristy. I felt like I'm on a trip myself at one point. 

Autumn in Beijing via Phone

You know what time it is - phone pics recap!

A week in Helsinki

I spent the majority of my last week in Helsinki, where my days consisted of walking, shopping, more walking and reading.

2016 in a nutshell

January

I greeted New Years with Anna-Lisa, Vee and a bunch of others at someone's flat - to be honest, we were afraid we won't make it there before midnight. But yes, NY started off well and on January 1st, Anna-Lisa cut of her hair (with my blessings, of course).

(click for more - it's a long post!)

Bye '16, hi '17!

 Happy New Year!

新年快乐！

Head uut aastat!

С Новым годом! 

I am very aware that I'd been inactive with my posts in December - I swear, it was a busy one! 

Enjoying my 3 days off right now, drinking coffee with some Miles Davis tunes and am so ready for 2017.

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Olen vägagi teadlik, et olin detsembris väga ebaaktiivne blogimises - võin vanduda, et see oli üks hullumeelselt tegus kuu!

Hetkel naudin 3-päevast puhkust (esmaspäev on vaba!), kuulan Miles Davis't ja joon kohvi. 2017, ma olen valmis.

Taipei forever

Taipei City

I did it, I made it out of China.

A week ago I landed on a magical island south of China - Taiwan.

The people I met, the things I saw and experienced are nothing that I would've dared to expect in my wildest dreams. This world is full of surprises. If you're willing to open up to these, of course.

Nali Patio

One of them neat locations of Beijing - Nali Patio in Sanlitun. It's a mediterranean style courtyard mall with a bunch of cool bars and cafes. 

I mean, they call it a mall, but tbh there are no shops over there except an American Apparel store just at the courtyard entrance. However, the place is worth a visit for casual dining or for nice drinks at Mosto. Also, the rooftop bar Migas has great parties and a beautiful view over Sanlitun.

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Üks võrratu koht Pekingis - Nali Patio. See on vahemereäärses stiilis siseõu-ostukeskus, kus asub paar laheda baari ja kohvikut.

Kui väga aus olla, siis olgugi et seda kutsutakse ostukeskuseks, pole seal peale ühe American Apparel'i poe suurt kuskil ostelda. Kuid kergeks eineks või paariks dringiks on Nali Patio ideaalne (must go: Mosto!). Ja katuseterrassiga klubi Migas korraldab linna parimaid pidusid ning neil on imeline vaade tervele Sanlituni piirkonnale.

Done with year one!

I've been done already as of Tuesday, 'cause that's when I had my exam and got my grade, but the formal closing dinner for the first year was last night. So waking up today feels amazing - ugh, is it really summer?

However, I'm starting with my internship at a European advertising agency already tomorrow, so no time to aimlessly hang out - time to get to work! So excited!

 So this one time, me, Lili and Chen went for a sweaty yoga session at Lululemon in Sanlitun

Labor Day weekend

Ah, Labor Day - it's another public holiday in China, so no work or school for me today! 
This time of the year in China - always weird & busy times (welp, it's so far only the second time for me, but seems like we're developing a habit here).
So, fast forward to my Labor Day weekend in Beijing 2016, what's been happenin'?

I did actually go to Lantern to see Jarreau Vandal & Mr. Carmack. 

It was oh-so-lit. 

Can't even. 

The music was so good, man, what even.

Danced until 5 a.m. and got home just in time for sunrise.

April via iPhone

(Psssst, Mr. Carmack coming straight from Coachella to China - Chengdu, Beijing & Shanghai. Takes Jarreau Vandal with him. I'll be dancing to these this Friday!) 

*insert salsa girl emoji*

Anyways, what's been up this month?

 Full on elevator selfies in Shanghai

上海

 I'm visiting Shanghai again! 
It was raining so bad when I arrived, I was soaking wet 'til my knees. So an umbrella was my first purchase.
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Tagasi Shanghais!
Saabudes sadas maailma kõige hullemat padukat, nii et olin põlvini märg. Vihmavari oli mu esimene ost siin.

Sakura time of the year

First day of spring brought along these beautiful plum blossoms!

Went for a long walk with Betti yesterday...

TGIF

The new semester has begun! Since we all survived the first week of our second semester, me, Lili and Chen all headed to Sanlitun on Friday. 

So Many Details

 After a half as year in Beijing - now I've also been to the Central Business District! That's basically the area of Beijing with all the skyscrapers and the (in)famous CCTV tower, which the locals like to call "Big Box Pants" (cause the tower looks like a pair of pants, tho you can't really tell by the photo here).

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Peale umbes poolt aastat Pekingis suutsin end lõpuks Central Business District'isse vedada. See on Pekingi ärikeskus, mis eristub ülejäänud linnast suure arvu pilvelõhkujate poolest. Seal asub ka (kuri)kuulus CCTV torn,  mida kohalikud tunnevad nime järgi "Kantpüksid" (sest torn näeb välja, nagu paar pükse, kuigi sellelt pildilt pole seda eriti näha).

2015 leftovers and tidbits from 2016

Happy New year!

Head uut aastat!

新年快乐！

I hope you all had a wonderful New Years Eve and the first days of 2016 have been kind to you - both of these sure apply to me!

I actually discovered some old unpublished photos, so I'll just toss them in with some newer stuff and voila! We get the first post of the year!

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Loodan, et kõigil oli megavahva aastavahetus ja 2016 aasta esimesed päevad on olnud helded - mul on õnne olnud mõlema puhul!

Tegelikult avastasin, et mul on kogunenud paras ports avaldamata fotosid, nii et mõtlesin, et pressiks nad kõik koos vähe uuema kraamiga kokku ja voila! Selle aasta esimene postitus ongi sündinud!

 Went to Roberts' crib for group work - this lucky guy lived on the 16th floor and it was a clear smog-free day. Um, mountains in the background, not bad.

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Käisin Roberti juures grupitöö kallal pusimas - kutt elab 16dal korrusel ja parajasti oli sudu-vaba päev. Taustal paistavad mäed, pole paha.

Totally airpocalyptic Xmas

 Late Xmas greetings to ya, babes & dudes!

24th of December was a lovely day with sunshine and the pollution level was gradually getting lower and lower. So I went to Sanlitun to get some Xmas shopping done - apparently that was a bad idea. As I got out of the metro, I saw armed special police, so I pretty much freaked out a bit, but it took me like a few hours to actually read the news that the U.S. Embassy had advised foreigners to keep out of Sanlitun. Ooopsie.

When my eyes reached possible ISIS threats I basically flipped my cup of coffee and figured it's time to head out. So much for Christmas cheer then!

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Hilised jõulutervitused beibsidele ja duudsidele!

24. detsember oli mõnusalt päikseline ja madala õhusaastega, seega läksin Sanlituni jõulušopingule - mis ilmselgelt polnud just kõige parim mõte. Kohe, kui metroopeatusest väljusin, jäi silma relvastatud eripolitsei, nii et läksin kergelt närvi, et mis siin toimub. Aga no ilmselgelt jõudis paar tundi mööduda, enne kui lugesin U.S. saatkonna soovitust välismaalastele, et nood väldiks Sanlituni piirkonda. Ma ei osanud suurt midagi sellest arvata, aga kohe kui silmad jõudsid reani, kus oli kirjas "ISIS", oleksin äärepealt oma kohvi maha pillanud ja leidsin, et nüüd oleks aeg lahkuda. Nii palju siis jõulurahust! 

Home away from home

I guess it's easier for me to do a recap of my SH trip now that a few days have passed. 

This was my first time booking tickets on C-Trip & traveling alone in China, so I gotta be honest, I was more than excited. The whole flight to Shanghai went so fast & without any problems, I was pleasantly surprised. I also took the Maglev train from Pudong Airport - I figured ye olde metro is way too boring and when traveling, go all in for new experiences!

Shanghers Trip

It's been a wild weekend full of trips down the memory lane and adventures and new people and experiences. 

I'd forgotten the vibe of Shanghai and learned to accept Beijing. Hey, I almost developed a thing for Beijing, right? Maybe it's the smog and the grey winter of Beijing or perhaps the sheer nostalgia of returning to a city full of so many vivid memories, but I think the entire time in Shanghai I had this goofy million watt smile on my face and prancing around. 

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Seljatasin just metsiku nädalavahetuse, mis sisaldas endas pilguheitu mälestusterajal, kuid samas ka uusi seiklusi, inimesi ja kogemusi.

Suutsin kuidagi täiesti ära unustada Shanghai vibe'i ja hakkasin Pekingit aktsepteerima. Peaaegu lausa kiinduma, eks? Ehk on tegemist Pekingi sudu ja halli talvega, samas võib asi olla lihtsalt nostalgias ja naasmises linna, mis on täis nii elavaid mälestusi, aga Peking kahvatus täielikult peale seda trippi. Terve nädalavahetuse Shanghais oli mu näol miljonivatine naeratus ja kõnnak asendus kepslemisega.

November phone snaps

Get ready, it's gonna be a photo-heavy post - I warned ya!
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Valmistuge pildirohkeks postituseks!