Last weekend, 51 years ago, something happened that would change the course of American history and would remain as one of the most riveting tragedies (or conspiracies, if you're into that kind of thing) of all time: the assassination of President John F Kennedy.

My fascination with this subject matter has been on and off over the years - something somewhere will reignite my interest and I will obsessively read about it all over again, even when there are no new facts to be examined. Now I'm thinking of re-watching 'Parkland', a movie which was released during its 50th anniversary last year. The plot summarized by Wikipedia:

Parkland weaves together the perspectives of a handful of ordinary individuals suddenly thrust into extraordinary circumstances: the young doctors and nurses at Parkland Hospital; Dallas’s chief of the Secret Service; an unwitting cameraman who captured what became the most famous home movie in history; the FBI agents who were visited by Lee Harvey Oswald before the shooting; the brother of Lee Harvey Oswald, left to deal with his shattered family; and JFK’s security team, witnesses to both the president’s death and Vice President Lyndon Johnson’s rise to power.

Online reviews for the movie are so-so at best but personally, I quite liked it... maybe because I have a skewed interest in the assassination and its aftermath?

I think it's always tricky to create a movie based on something that everyone already knows the ending to, so the challenge is in trying to build the tension towards the ending... which the movie does pretty well, or is at least good enough for me. The movie is interlaced with actual footage from the event too! I like lah that sort of detail so don't mind me, please. Hehe.

If all of that does not spark any interest in you to watch the movie... ZAC EFRON IS IN THE CAST LAH HOW CAN YOU NOT TENGOK?! Haha! Honestly I wasn't a fan of Zac Efron when he was still a floppy-haired fetus in High School Musical (2006) but he caught my eye when he was in Hairspray (2007) and then officially sealed my love for him when he became a very convincing and charming delivery boy in New Year's Eve (2011). He is so yummy!!! If he was halal, mesti ZAC Butchery would've put him in their menu, mashaAllah banyak beristighfar sis. 

Saliheen and I are taking a break from running home-related errands this weekend so I'm hoping to squeeze in some time to watch/re-watch some movies, including Parkland (He still hasn't watched it wtf)

Let me know if y'all have movie recommendations too! I particularly enjoy movies with dark humour, movies with quirky characters like The Grand Budapest Hotel or those based on history or true stories like Dallas Buyers Club, Hotel Rwanda or Argo (even if they've been embellished by Hollywood)

Eastern Europe Holiday Series - Part 2: Hello Dresden & Berlin!

So after breakfast was over at our hotel in Prague, we made our way to...

Dresden, Germany!

Yep! We were at the beautiful Zwinger Palace!!! I really like the sound of its name seh. Macam got nice twang to it. Zzzw~inger~ Zzzzzzwinger~ Zwiiiiinger~ Nice eh? Macam Zinger burger.

Anyway, we walked around a lot in Dresden too, but it was still okay because the weather was beautiful! (Beautiful weather = aku tak berpeluh terus heh heh) We spent about half a day in Dresden, had our lunch and then made our way to Berlin.

And since half the day was already spent in Dresden and we were quite tired when we reached Berlin, we could only visit Berlin's historical landmarks the following day. So the minute we arrived in Berlin, our tour manager sent us off to one of their malls for about 3 hours' worth of shopping before dinner and check in to our next hotel.

Saliheen and I had no particular intention to shop during our holiday and we weren't specifically looking out for anything, but then as fate would have it... this baby happened:

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME INDEED.

THANK YOU FOR BEING SO UNDERSTANDING, THE BEST HUSBAND IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!!!!

Hehehehehe. So jambu kan ini barang!!!!!  And the price is so much lower in Berlin wtf

If you know me personally, you'll know that I don't usually lust after designer bags but this one caught my eye kaw kaw after I saw it on a celebrity in a trashy tabloid mag haha. Can't really remember who ah... but I think it was Ashley Tisdale. So, Ashley... jangan sampai aku nampak kau kat Tampines eh, kau siap.

Anyway! It was between the classic black one and this seasonal black one and I opted for the latter because honestly, when compared to each other, the seasonal one looked so much more appealing to me. The leather rasa so sedap and bau so sedap omggggg I don't think I can ever get over it!!!

My only grouse is that this bag is bloody heavy, even without contents wtf, but I guess as long as I'm not using this bag to lari rumah, I can definitely live with its weight lah. I mean, what world are we living in if we discriminate people bags because of their weight kan?

Settled down at our hotel in Berlin, which was Leonardo Royal Hotel Berlin:

We only stayed overnight in Berlin for one night, and thank God for that because their Wifi was chargeable, and so expensive, ya ampun. Berlin reminded us of Singapore in some ways, and their everything pun mesti charge expensively ways was one of it :/

Tapi takpelah Berlin, you mahal dan mengira macam mana pun I tetap nak tour all over you the next day!

Almost couldn't believe it when I stood in front of the iconic Reichstag Building, okay!!!!!

To this day, I still wonder whether Hitler and his Nazi party had anything to do with the Reichstag fire or they just got lucky with it..............................................

Okay, silly picture of my silly husband now to stop such serious thoughts lawlz

The magnificent Brandenburg Gate!!!!!

The icon of Germanys' history and European unity and peace!!!

And also the place where the recent World Cup-winning Germany football team were welcomed back home with glorious celebrations like the champions that they are hehehehehe (Penting eh ini nugget of information!)

Grabbed hot drinks from Starbucks for comfort because the weather was so cold outside. 

And apparently, my name is Hanna in Europe. Hahahahaha

Well, guess where else Hanna went to while she was in Berlin?








But of course.

Oh, move along now, nothing to see here..... just me, y'know, casually FREAKING TOUCHING THE BERLIN WALL.

:O :O :O :O :O

Hahahahaha. Pardon the extreme excitement but you must understand - my ~burning~ desire to see and feel the Berlin Wall was one of the main reasons why I really wanted to go on this trip!!!!! Out of all the historical events and places that I've read about, the Berlin Wall has always been the one I was most fascinated about so to actually be in front of it was just... all sorts of crazy for me.

And it still feels surreal, thinking about how I was exactly there on my birthday just two months ago.

Oooh, and that's the famous Fraternal Kiss mural on the Berlin Wall!

This particular mural was too far away from where we were dropped off from so I only managed to capture a picture while we were in the bus. And can you imagine - I was still shell shocked after seeing and touching the Berlin Wall when we made our way to our next stop.....

 

CHECKPOINT CHARLIE!!!!!

WE WERE *LEGIT* AT CHECKPOINT CHARLIE, YOU GAIZE!!!

I was so enthralled by it all - the road section, the iconic sign at the (then) East-West border, the information boards with true stories of what happened at Checkpoint Charlie... and I just kept imagining how it must have been like in the 1960s... things must have been much more hostile and desperate back then :(

Absolutely nothing like the atmosphere now: tourists of different nationalities milling around freely, fake soldiers inviting passersby for pictures, and a McDonalds outlet located right behind them lol

Okay, including a few old photos of how some of these sites looked like because..... Because I punya suka lah.

 

I was so sad to leave Berlin but I peeled myself away, knowing that our next destination was another reason why I came on this trip. We said our goodbyes to Berlin after lunch and went on our way.

See you soon, Poznan and Krakow!