Still dirty, but now also thirty

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Geo: 58.2534, 22.4892

Today I turn 30 ... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh well, what do you do? At least I'm turning 30 while doing what I love to do. And I must admit that celebrating a birthday in Europe for the 3rd year in a row is pretty cool. I wonder how much longer I can maintain that tradition?

Mary Moment #20: A funny thing happened last night. I was in bed, trying to sleep when I heard some loud snoring. I looked around the room - Magda and her boyfriend weren't sleeping yet. The other bunkmate was asleep, but it wasn't him. Perhaps it was coming from another room. It couldn't have been Mary - her light was on and she was lying in bed doing Sudoku puzzles.

But then I walked up to take a look ... she was asleep and yes, she was snoring - VERY loudly. So I clicked off her light and went to bed. At breakfast this morning, I heard a very funny story.

I found out that Magda had climbed out of bed last night because of Mary's snoring. Mary awoke to find Magda clutching a pillow and moving towards her. Apparently, she thought that giving Mary an extra pillow might stop her snoring. But we all suspect that she was trying to smother her.

Mary couldn't sleep after because she was a little traumatized by the incident. I couldn't understand why and told her that I was jealous. Imagine sleeping in a hostel, only to be awakened by the sight of a beautiful, half-naked Slovakian girl approaching you? That's the dream of EVERY guy that has EVER stayed in a hostel! All I can say is if that happened to me, it would've been a great way to kick off my 30th birthday!

Magda's boyfriend also mentioned how shocking last night's snoring was. His words were "I expected such snoring to come from a big, fat, drunk Russian man, not some little Asian girl." We were actually a little shocked at how blunt he was, but still laughed all the same.

Magda later mentioned to Mary that she actually wanted to break up with her boyfriend. If only Mary mentioned that it was my birthday ... perhaps Magda would decide to trade-in her current model for an Asian import, and re-enact last night's pillow incident with me? Dare to dream boys, DARE TO DREAM!!!

We stopped at the grocery store for some bananas and cheesy-baked hot dog buns on the way to the bus station. The bus to Saaremaa island actually goes onto a ferry that crosses over to the island.

Our arrival in Kuressaare was greeted by ... not much! We dropped off our bags at the guesthouse and went to the TI for a map. We went to a car rental place to book something for tomorrow, but they had none available. We'll try at another place in the morning ... hopefully we can find a car - otherwise, we're in for a long, boring day tomorrow.

Off to the castle - it was closed today. I wasn't too disappointed as it didn't look terribly exciting. We were still able to wander around the grassy area on the island surrounding the castle. The beach wasn't too nice but there were some nice green areas around town.

We stopped at the library to use the free internet. Mary Moment #21: Mary's web browser was set to something like "badgirls.com" as the home page. No wonder Mary stayed at her computer terminal for so long ... they had to kick her off because they were closing. They practically had to pry the keyboard out of her hands.

Mary-ism #10: Mary has a creative way of pronouncing "verification". Ask her for a demonstration.

We wandered around town looking for a place for dinner. Quite a few places were closed, so we settled for a simple little café. I had dinner with ... another cider. I'm addicted. I need help.

We took a walk after dinner, but there wasn't much to see in this town. Pat and Mary Asian Circus-Sideshow Freak in the Baltics Moment #4: Some locals actually laughed at us as we strolled by. Yup, it's nice to be reminded that we're Asian freaks. For a few hours, we almost forgot that fact!

Back to the guest house - we watched "Con Air". A typical North American cheesy blockbuster. I didn't realize how bad of an actor Nicolas Cage could be. Especially when attempting a lame southern accent.

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Photos

a1
Though it was still early morning, I couldn't resist having another cider. This time it was passionfruit.
Mary-ism #11: As I drank it, I told Mary that I wished I had my nuts (referring to a couple of cans of Macadamia nuts I had brought from home).
Mary asked "Aren't they inside of your pants?" I think Mary has spent too much time with me. She is now officially permanently scarred and corrupted by me.

b
The car rental place - it was actually behind this building, but we stumbled into here instead. It was a creepy hospital, complete with extremely loud creaking door. I half-expected Vincent Price to pop out and say "Good evening ..."

b1
Pat and Mary Asian Circus-Sideshow Freak in the Baltics Moment #5: Not only the the Baltic people find us freakish, but their dogs as well. The dog's gutteral and savage barking made it clear exactly what he was thinking - "I want some Chinese food tonight!"

c
These are supposed to represent folkloric Estonian giants. Folklore or not, present-day Estonians are still giants!

e
The moat surrounding the castle was bubbling, non-stop. That CANNOT be a good sign!
Perhaps Tri was scuba diving and passing gas?

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The castle is definitely in a picture-perfect spot.

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Check out the first item under "grill", in the centre of the picture. Mmmm ... Chinese chicken spit ... spit-ilicious ...

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At my birthday dinner, I was fortunate to kiss this beautiful Estonian girl. Not much of a kisser though ... a little lifeless ...

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We partied with all of their friends, having good laughs and good conversation ...

zh
In the background - roasted pork with mushrooms, peppers, and cream sauce (We've learned that you cannot escape the pork or cream sauce in Estonia).
Foreground - roasted chicken. The pork was definitely better. A good, hearty meal. If you're a meat and potatoes type of person ... Estonia is the place for you.

zh1
Dessert - pancakes with ice cream. They were burnt and kind of crappy.

zj
How sweet of Mary! Now it all made sense - we went to MEC to buy stuff for the trip just before leaving, and when I wanted to pick up a Swiss Army knife to open wine bottles, she told me that she had one. So she gave me this one, engraved with my name.
She also gave me an engraved token that said "Good for one hug". Mary knows how difficult it is for me to get women to hug me, so hopefully this helps!
Another good birthday in Europe ... Mary's sweet gestures really touched my heart ... until I realized that I don't have one. At least, that's what I've been told!

zk
Our little birthday "hats" were actually the cardboard cones spritzed with DKNY perfume, from our dinner in Girona.