My second Liebster Award: 10 months as a blogger, and counting! Rah! Rah!

Phwoah!

It was just ten (10) months ago when I started this blog about my lifestyle, travel, being British, and living in Berlin, and since then, I’ve gone on in leaps and bounds.

May, 2014 was when that door of prominence opened with the various shows, performances, and events that I went to, when I accidentally stumbled upon a PR person at the Sony Center in Berlin, and I never looked back!

Isn’t it marvellous?

Back in November, only a month after I actually started blogging at all, I was nominated for my first Liebster Award by a lovely Canadian girl called Jess from Turquoise Compass.

My second award in December, was a Dragon’s Loyalty Award given to me by an exciting American girl called Cristin from Cristin’s Adventures.

My third award and second (2nd) Liebster Award in April, was given to me by a hilarious British guy called Tom from Waegook Tom.

I do actually have a fourth award in May – the Versatile Blogger Award – given to me by a brilliant American couple called Jennifer and Chad from And Three To Go but I’d like to give their award the honour it deserves on its own page, later on in the academic year LOL!

I hadn’t previously been able to write about the awards as why you shouldn’t bother going to Poland, death in Berlin, choosing life and a job, breaking an arm at the Berlin Music Video Awards, and going to Berlin Fashion Week were deemed a bit more appropriate at the time!

So back to Tom and my lovely second Liebster Award. I’m enormously pleased and coming from Tom. It’s an absolute honour. Thank you so much Tom from Waegook Tom!

Waegook Tom is a fellow British person who has a hilarious blog about living in South Korea, travels, adventures, food porn, and taking an awesome number of selfies! He is presently teaching in Taiwan and having adventures that you wouldn’t believe. I like him because he’s not afraid to put his feelings and thoughts on the line. Explore the rest of his blog to see for yourself!

What is a Liebster Award?

A Liebster Award is a blog reward believed to have taken birth in my new home-land – Germany! “Die Liebster” in German means sweetheart, my love or dearest, and is a world-wide nomination for up-and-coming bloggers with less than 200 followers. Even though I now have more than 200 followers (thank you everyone), I still consider myself an up-and-coming blogger, so I accept!

The Rules of the Award are:

• Thank the person who nominated you and provide a link to his or her blog.
• Answer the 10 questions by the nominee before you.
• Nominate 5 of your favorite blogs and notify them of their nomination.
• Come up with 10 questions for your nominees to answer.

The questions were:

1.  Have you ever had an embarrassing bodily discharge moment while travelling?

Ha! Ha! Tom. Very funny. I’m not telling! That’s for my memoirs and my autobiography LOL! However, I can tell you that I had a moment. In India. Oh yes! No surprises there I guess. I was on a bus which of course had no toilet facilities unlike in Germany. Sigh! Anyway, I’d been holding for a few hours and was now desperate, so asked the bus driver to stop at a random village, which he did. I picked a local house with people in front of it. I don’t think they really understood what I wanted because when I turned around, there were about 30 Indian men following me! I wasn’t scared, just surprised. And desperate. I’m a teacher so I told them to bugger off, and went to look for a woman who escorted me to the toilet facilities!

2.  Is there anywhere in the world that you’re not interested in visiting at all?

Not really. I’m open to everywhere. As long as they’re interesting LOL, but I don’t think my family would be amused if I went to a war zone or something. I’m that mad! I haven’t really been to South America yet and I have no idea why. I’ve been to the Dominican Republic though. Does that count?

3.  What’s your favourite cocktail?

I thought you wouldn’t ask. Anything with vodka or champagne! And fruity stuff. No milk concoctions. I have bad memories about those milky White Russians cocktail jugs, in a London bar. Let’s just say, that it didn’t end well!

4.  Would you rather fly first class on a long haul flight, or stay in a luxury suite at a 5-star hotel for a weekend break?

Hmm. You’ve got me there. It depends. I’ve only flown first class once and that was an upgrade from Berlin to London soooooo I wouldn’t mind getting that pampering experience of flying first class properly on a long haul flight. On the other hand, if I’m in Europe with my  hubby, I think a luxury suite at a 5-star hotel on a weekend break sounds quite acceptable, don’t you think? In fact, I’ll be all fabulous and take them both!

5.  Winter wonderland or tropical paradise?

I’m a winter baby so Winter wonderland it is. I like skiing and breathing in the fresh air, and walking in the mountains. I also like the changing of the seasons. I’m not averse to a beach holiday though, but I don’t want to live in a tropical paradise otherwise, what would I dream about?

6.  Have you ever contemplated giving up on a trip while you’re already on it?

Sure. Haven’t we all? Ha! Ha! Back to India again. About 9 years ago, I went to India solo. It was the most exciting and yet frustrating trip I’d ever been on. I saw amazing things both good and bad, got hit and bruised by a cow, my skin colour turned grey because I was ill, and I had the worst journey ever, on an overnight Indian train. Horrible! Even though I was on a “spiritual journey” and I found a Hindu god that would fit my personality (Lord Ganesh if you want to know), India has been the only country where for the first time, I really couldn’t wait to leave, but I did continue my planned journey nevertheless.

In fact, I quite fancy going back to India again!

7.  What’s your favourite passport stamp?

It’s pretty hard to choose as I’ve been to so many places. Egypt. I’ve been there three (3) times and I’m still overwhelmed by the pyramids. I’m just so sorry that it’s not as safe as it used to be anymore. What a shame. 🙁  Hong Kong. I loved it. Chinese yet so utterly British! Bali and it’s wonderful food and beaches, minus the horrible monkeys. And the US of A. An amazing trip on the west coast including California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. I could quite see myself living in San Francisco!

8.  What’s your guilty pleasure while travelling?

I know it sounds boring but reading all day. I’m always out and about and I’m also a wife and mother so the only time I get to really read, is on the train or at bedtime! I like to read three or four books at the same time, and If I really like the book, I have no problem reading it all over again!

9.  Have you ever gotten into an argument with a local?

I’m afraid so. In a polite way though. I am British after all LOL! Only because they thought that I was a tourist. I’m an expat. Some people don’t like us (expats) because they believe that we’re the reason that the prices have gone up. We’re not. Most of us couldn’t care less about the quality of housing and services but the Berliners from West Germany, do care. Double sigh! We expats love living in Berlin. Warts and all.

Sometimes people can be rude and say awful things only to have the shock of their life when I respond. In German. Or they try to over-charge. Not so long ago, my son and I went to a small shop not far from the international English-speaking cinema. I wasn’t paying 100% attention,but enough to notice that the sales-assistant put our purchases through the till three times instead of once. Well, that was a surprise, as that has never happened to me before, being that I know the difference between the Euro and a Pound!

10.  In your opinion, which country has the dreamiest dudes or most gorgeous girls?

You’ve got to be joking right. Germany of course! All that blonde hair and blues eyes or in my case, a gorgeous brunette and green eyes. Tall babes. I’m talking about the boys AND the girls here. Fit bodies and an intelligent mind!

Just say, I do!

O.K. Enough about me. As per the rules, I have to nominate five of my favourite blogs so I nominate the lovely people below:

1. Hippie in Heels: Rachel is a young lady going places. I like her because she is living most successfully in the country that most of us would find extremely difficult. That’s right. She lives in Goa, India. She really writes detailed realistic posts about how to live and get around in India. If you’re going to India, make sure you write to her!
2. eTramping.com: Agness and Cez are two adventurous young people from Poland who are just about to leave China, after living there for two years! They call themselves tramps because they live and travel all over the world for under 25 bucks a day, and seem to have cornered the budget market. Agness tends to do the writing and I like her because she tells it like it is, and isn’t afraid to experiment by sleeping at the laundromat and hanging out with the locals on Chinese trains.
3. Young Adventuress: Liz is another young lady who knows what she wants! I like her blog ‘cos she’s constantly engaging with her readers and isn’t afraid to tell you what she thinks. She used to be an expat in Spain and has recently moved to New Zealand.
4. Next Bite of Life: Kemkem is an American who lives in Malta with her Italian husband. That was a mouthful. Phew! Due to financial acumen and clever investment sense, she and her husband are able to take early retirement and self-fund their way around the world! I like her blog ‘cos it’s nice to see older couples who also travel, and although they watch their pennies and cents, just like the rest of us, they leave no doubt that if it makes sense to upgrade, they aren’t afraid to do so. I find that refreshing!
5. Thomas Peck Photos: Thomas is a fellow Brit and Northerner. He grew up in beautiful York. He’s very interested in photography. Black and white photography. I like his blog because he centers on his passion and has fun at the same time, focusing on both personal and professional stuff.

Thanks so much to all the people who have visited my blog and or made comments. I am astounded by the support, kindness, and advice, that I have received since I started this blog just ten months ago!

I really appreciate it and look forward to seeing more of you on my blog, and elsewhere in the blogging world with your Clicks! Comments! Shares! and Likes!

Enjoy these blogs and I’ll see you next week!

Right, here are my 10 questions:

1. If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go and why?

2. What’s your favourite smell?

3. What do the clothes you wear, say about you?

4. What was the last electrical item you threw away and why?

5. Half-full or half-empty?

6. What language would you like to learn and why?

7. Have you ever been to the Red Sea?

8. if you could be an insect, what insect would you be and why?

9. Name the most disgusting meal that you have ever had?

10. Complete this sentence: Queen Elizabeth II is…….?

That’s it for now.

Have you had a bloggers award, been nominated for an award, or even rejected one?

Spill the beans!

See you in Berlin.