Anubis Is My Daddy
Dec. 29th, 2025 06:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lupestripeChristmas Day was the usual affair of commitments, dinner, and then realising that most of the day has been used up. Granted, I don't often get up until about 2pm on a day off, but speaking with family always takes most of the day. I guess this is to be expected though - I haven't spent Christmas with them for a long time and it is always good to catch up. I even had lengthy calls with my brother and sister, who I should probably speak to far more often than I do. Aside from that, Wolfie and I largely had a Christmas together. We drank on Christmas Eve and watched train videos while we cooked strip-loin steak from Hello Fresh on Christmas Day itself. We also swapped Christmas presents, with Wolfie getting me a gas mask inhaler from Blackstyle and me buying Wolfie a year's membership to Wolf Watch UK alongside a visit to see the wolves. He's sponsoring Bosch, a male wolf who enjoys eating frogs from a pond, and we have booked to see him in May. I'm usually quite lazy when it comes to Christmas presents, buying him whisky or hot sauce, but with his desire to cut alcohol down, I thought I'd be creative. He was incredibly grateful, almost tear-inducingly so, and his kiss on my muzzle was the best thing about Christmas.
Boxing Day was a busy workday, what with the NFL having Saturday matches now, and I ended up missing my regular monthly writers' group meeting. For some reason we had scheduled this for 8pm rather than the usual 11pm and I hadn't realised. A lot has happened in the last month, so we have rearranged for this coming Friday. This was a little frustrating as I'd wanted to get feedback on the story I had written during the weekend before Christmas, but in the end, I used Saturday as an opportunity to finish another story which has been pending for some time. There was talk of going out to a gin bar with Notefox in the evening, but she didn't realise it opened at 8pm and she'd wanted to go for 6:30pm. In the end, we didn't go out and ended up staying in the house.
Sunday was a busy day though as it was Al's birthday. He is in Berlin over Christmas and I felt a little sorry for him as many people use the weekend between Christmas and New Year to travel from family to friends or vice versa. This means there weren't many people around to celebrate his birthday but Planke and I could oblige, while Wolfie joined us later as he felt a whole day out and about would ravage his feet. Al had been firing ideas at me most of the week and although I ruled out karaoke, he did end up booking an escape room. I was very apprehensive about this, but decided to go with the flow. The main issue was that the only time the room was free was 7:45pm, meaning we had a long time to wait, particularly as Al wanted to meet up at 1pm.
We started at VVE Cafe, a place right next to Richard-Wagner-Platz U-Bahn station. This only opened up this year so we couldn't have visited when we were living in 2021 (and that's despite the COVID situation at the time). Specialising in Jamaican food, this cafe is around the corner from Al's place of work and is where he often goes to write. The owners therefore know him and opened up specifically for his birthday. They also gave him two cakes - one tiramisu and one black forest gateaux - which considering there were only three of us, resulted in us carrying them around with us for the rest of the day. I don't much care for coffee but its flavour was subtle in the tiramisu, while we also got free Aperol-like shots and wine from the owners too. Considering I only bought a spicy chai latte and a dry chocolate-chip scone with tasteless butter, I thought this was overly generous, but the cafe had a good vibe. While here, we played Flip 7, a very interesting card game that is a bit like blackjack without the gambling. I won two of the three games we played.
The plan had been to go to a museum, but we spent so long vibing in the cafe, that we ran out of time. We decided instead to go to Khinkali House, the third of three Georgian restaurants in the city and the only one I hadn't tried. We arranged to meet Wolfie there but he was having a nightmare on the trains, resulting in him arriving a full hour after we had intended to meet there. Fortunately in a way, the cafe was very busy, meaning we had to wait about 20 minutes for a seat. This killed some time and allowed Wolfie to join about five minutes after the food had been served. I knew what he wanted though - Khatchapuri Atchaluri, the famous one with the egg in it - and I got him some Georgian wine too. This was overly sweet but pleasant enough, certainly far better than the cha cha shots that Al got for his birthday. This was probably my favourite of the three Georgian restaurants in the city and as it's around the corner from Protokoll in Friedrichshain, we'll have to go back. Note that before Wolfie had arrived, we had also killed a little time taking a group photo in one of those analogue photo booths dotted around the city. What I hadn't realised was that they were quite cramped so three of the four photos taken had me hovering in the corner largely out of frame. The fourth looked half-decent though and I did like the black and white photos they produced, even if it did take ages to wait for them. I'd never used one of these old 1950s booths before - I've used plenty of the modern ones - and I did like the nostalgia element. Paying €4 for four photographs seemed a decent deal too.
We got to the escape room about half an hour ahead of time, as the bus we needed was every half hour. We were due to meet two other furs there, so we ended up hanging around the lobby watching the same advertising video on loop with the same catchy music. I also went to the toilet three times. I was quite nervous as I'd never done an escape room before, but was reassured by the fact that Planke had never done one either. We also didn't know what the theme was and I was concerned about jump scares (and snakes for some odd reason). Once the others joined, we paid our €25 each and were guided to a hotel-themed place. We were given a rundown of the rules and were told that we had walkie-talkie communication should we need it. There were four rooms in this challenge and we had 75 minutes to complete it. In the end, we were done in 62, and apparently this was one of the harder ones. The first ten minutes didn't bode well as we were stuck in the reception area of the lobby. It was only when I looked through a keyhole and found a number we had to ring that we started to motor. Getting such an early contribution really boosted my confidence and in the end, all six of us played to our strengths. Six may have been a little too big a crowd and at times I got a little irritated, but ultimately it was all fantastic fun and I really want to go to another one soon.
Speaking of challenges, I have been watching a lot of Jet Lag: The Game of late, with the latest series being Hide and Seek in the UK. It's odd watching a show and knowing where they are, particularly these first two episodes as they are in the north of England. Al is interested in doing Hide and Seek across Berlin with their card game, so I bought this last night in the hope of doing something in the Spring. I have no intention of standing for hours in the freezing cold at this time of year - the last few days have been particularly icy.
Wolfie had ripped his jeans in the escape room and although the owner did lend him a stapler with about three staples in it, it didn't fully close the hole. The fact he was wearing bright blue boxer shorts didn't help either. Still, it was closed enough that he could get away with it and we went to Strassenbrau nearby. This was at the recommendation of one of the two other furs and here I discovered his partner lives in Ingleby Barwick, near where I grew up. It was an incredible piece of coincidence and we'll likely meet up again before he leaves for Teesside on the 11th. In Strassenbrau we ended up having three drinks, drinking past when the couple left at 10:30pm and Planke left shortly after 11pm. We ended up staying until our last train. I enjoyed Strassenbrau as we had the big table at the back, where we played Flip 7 again. This wasn't as good with six people, but it was still a fun evening. In the end, we left after midnight, with Wolfie stealing my hat to keep his crotch warm as his staples had burst. Still, we got back home pretty safely, although today has been a very groggy workday. Last night I did have an incredible dream though. I'd bought a horse and while riding it in North Carolina, I realised it was a magical talking horse. I was so happy, but then I feared I couldn't keep him, with the plot following the same trajectory as when Bart got a replacement dog for Santa's Little Helper on credit in an early episode of The Simpsons. There was also odd US sports that involved hitting the backsides of toned women wearing bikinis that rode up their bottoms.
Tonight we're looking at doing Jackbox with Stray's group, trying to distract ourselves from the fireworks that have already started. We may try and limit the alcohol though as yesterday in particular was quite high. We could have gone out for New Year's but I hate the city at this time of year so I think we'll just stay in. Aside from that, apart from Thursday, this will be another regular working week before everything returns to normal next year. There's loads to do in 2026 and it's another uncertain year, but for now, we'll just take things as they come.
Late Night Update: Jackbox was a lot of fun - it was fantastic reuniting with the same group who got me through the pandemic through similar means. It was also great playing some of the old games including The Wheel of Incredible Proportions (which has gone more luck-based) and Gartic Phone, which had a head, torso and feet picture round as well as a 10-line story round we could play. Some of the music and film games towards the end I struggled with, but it was a very enjoyable few hours indeed. Stray is looking to do one of these on the last Saturday of every month and it would be great if they were reinstated. It's great just being able to catch up with so many of our UK friends.
Boxing Day was a busy workday, what with the NFL having Saturday matches now, and I ended up missing my regular monthly writers' group meeting. For some reason we had scheduled this for 8pm rather than the usual 11pm and I hadn't realised. A lot has happened in the last month, so we have rearranged for this coming Friday. This was a little frustrating as I'd wanted to get feedback on the story I had written during the weekend before Christmas, but in the end, I used Saturday as an opportunity to finish another story which has been pending for some time. There was talk of going out to a gin bar with Notefox in the evening, but she didn't realise it opened at 8pm and she'd wanted to go for 6:30pm. In the end, we didn't go out and ended up staying in the house.
Sunday was a busy day though as it was Al's birthday. He is in Berlin over Christmas and I felt a little sorry for him as many people use the weekend between Christmas and New Year to travel from family to friends or vice versa. This means there weren't many people around to celebrate his birthday but Planke and I could oblige, while Wolfie joined us later as he felt a whole day out and about would ravage his feet. Al had been firing ideas at me most of the week and although I ruled out karaoke, he did end up booking an escape room. I was very apprehensive about this, but decided to go with the flow. The main issue was that the only time the room was free was 7:45pm, meaning we had a long time to wait, particularly as Al wanted to meet up at 1pm.
We started at VVE Cafe, a place right next to Richard-Wagner-Platz U-Bahn station. This only opened up this year so we couldn't have visited when we were living in 2021 (and that's despite the COVID situation at the time). Specialising in Jamaican food, this cafe is around the corner from Al's place of work and is where he often goes to write. The owners therefore know him and opened up specifically for his birthday. They also gave him two cakes - one tiramisu and one black forest gateaux - which considering there were only three of us, resulted in us carrying them around with us for the rest of the day. I don't much care for coffee but its flavour was subtle in the tiramisu, while we also got free Aperol-like shots and wine from the owners too. Considering I only bought a spicy chai latte and a dry chocolate-chip scone with tasteless butter, I thought this was overly generous, but the cafe had a good vibe. While here, we played Flip 7, a very interesting card game that is a bit like blackjack without the gambling. I won two of the three games we played.
The plan had been to go to a museum, but we spent so long vibing in the cafe, that we ran out of time. We decided instead to go to Khinkali House, the third of three Georgian restaurants in the city and the only one I hadn't tried. We arranged to meet Wolfie there but he was having a nightmare on the trains, resulting in him arriving a full hour after we had intended to meet there. Fortunately in a way, the cafe was very busy, meaning we had to wait about 20 minutes for a seat. This killed some time and allowed Wolfie to join about five minutes after the food had been served. I knew what he wanted though - Khatchapuri Atchaluri, the famous one with the egg in it - and I got him some Georgian wine too. This was overly sweet but pleasant enough, certainly far better than the cha cha shots that Al got for his birthday. This was probably my favourite of the three Georgian restaurants in the city and as it's around the corner from Protokoll in Friedrichshain, we'll have to go back. Note that before Wolfie had arrived, we had also killed a little time taking a group photo in one of those analogue photo booths dotted around the city. What I hadn't realised was that they were quite cramped so three of the four photos taken had me hovering in the corner largely out of frame. The fourth looked half-decent though and I did like the black and white photos they produced, even if it did take ages to wait for them. I'd never used one of these old 1950s booths before - I've used plenty of the modern ones - and I did like the nostalgia element. Paying €4 for four photographs seemed a decent deal too.
We got to the escape room about half an hour ahead of time, as the bus we needed was every half hour. We were due to meet two other furs there, so we ended up hanging around the lobby watching the same advertising video on loop with the same catchy music. I also went to the toilet three times. I was quite nervous as I'd never done an escape room before, but was reassured by the fact that Planke had never done one either. We also didn't know what the theme was and I was concerned about jump scares (and snakes for some odd reason). Once the others joined, we paid our €25 each and were guided to a hotel-themed place. We were given a rundown of the rules and were told that we had walkie-talkie communication should we need it. There were four rooms in this challenge and we had 75 minutes to complete it. In the end, we were done in 62, and apparently this was one of the harder ones. The first ten minutes didn't bode well as we were stuck in the reception area of the lobby. It was only when I looked through a keyhole and found a number we had to ring that we started to motor. Getting such an early contribution really boosted my confidence and in the end, all six of us played to our strengths. Six may have been a little too big a crowd and at times I got a little irritated, but ultimately it was all fantastic fun and I really want to go to another one soon.
Speaking of challenges, I have been watching a lot of Jet Lag: The Game of late, with the latest series being Hide and Seek in the UK. It's odd watching a show and knowing where they are, particularly these first two episodes as they are in the north of England. Al is interested in doing Hide and Seek across Berlin with their card game, so I bought this last night in the hope of doing something in the Spring. I have no intention of standing for hours in the freezing cold at this time of year - the last few days have been particularly icy.
Wolfie had ripped his jeans in the escape room and although the owner did lend him a stapler with about three staples in it, it didn't fully close the hole. The fact he was wearing bright blue boxer shorts didn't help either. Still, it was closed enough that he could get away with it and we went to Strassenbrau nearby. This was at the recommendation of one of the two other furs and here I discovered his partner lives in Ingleby Barwick, near where I grew up. It was an incredible piece of coincidence and we'll likely meet up again before he leaves for Teesside on the 11th. In Strassenbrau we ended up having three drinks, drinking past when the couple left at 10:30pm and Planke left shortly after 11pm. We ended up staying until our last train. I enjoyed Strassenbrau as we had the big table at the back, where we played Flip 7 again. This wasn't as good with six people, but it was still a fun evening. In the end, we left after midnight, with Wolfie stealing my hat to keep his crotch warm as his staples had burst. Still, we got back home pretty safely, although today has been a very groggy workday. Last night I did have an incredible dream though. I'd bought a horse and while riding it in North Carolina, I realised it was a magical talking horse. I was so happy, but then I feared I couldn't keep him, with the plot following the same trajectory as when Bart got a replacement dog for Santa's Little Helper on credit in an early episode of The Simpsons. There was also odd US sports that involved hitting the backsides of toned women wearing bikinis that rode up their bottoms.
Tonight we're looking at doing Jackbox with Stray's group, trying to distract ourselves from the fireworks that have already started. We may try and limit the alcohol though as yesterday in particular was quite high. We could have gone out for New Year's but I hate the city at this time of year so I think we'll just stay in. Aside from that, apart from Thursday, this will be another regular working week before everything returns to normal next year. There's loads to do in 2026 and it's another uncertain year, but for now, we'll just take things as they come.
Late Night Update: Jackbox was a lot of fun - it was fantastic reuniting with the same group who got me through the pandemic through similar means. It was also great playing some of the old games including The Wheel of Incredible Proportions (which has gone more luck-based) and Gartic Phone, which had a head, torso and feet picture round as well as a 10-line story round we could play. Some of the music and film games towards the end I struggled with, but it was a very enjoyable few hours indeed. Stray is looking to do one of these on the last Saturday of every month and it would be great if they were reinstated. It's great just being able to catch up with so many of our UK friends.
