tomorrow, blissfully empty.

where do we go from here

2010-02-11T03:52:00.003+01:00

Can't quite bear to leave this, but...

NOW-THAT-IM-OLDER.TUMBLR.COM

let them eat cake

2009-11-23T03:04:00.006+01:00

Reminder to self —

Never ever have only one kid. Some only children grow up to be normal, even awesome, individuals despite them being showered with unrelenting love and concern in their childhood. But chances are, your little emperor might never grow up to be anything more than an annoying, ungrateful little twat.

* * *

I think we all need some cake. I do. I want December to come so bad.

exploring the common search psyche of my fellow human beings

2009-11-19T03:22:00.004+01:00

"Why is there a dead Pakistani on my couch?"

WHY ARE THERE SO MANY SNAILS IN SCHOOL.

物の哀れ

2009-11-09T02:36:00.005+01:00

(via sarah hermans.)

Wikipedia defines mono no aware as "the awareness of the transience of things and a bittersweet sadness at their passing". Which I reckon, is what one feels when one sees on facebook pictures taken by the new exchange student who now lives on the floor she used to live in, possibly in my old room, viewing the sunset i used to watch, dancing with the blonde danish kids who used to be her noisy neighbours, in the messy kitchen which converts into a dance floor complete with disco ball during parties.

いい天気ですね。

we lived an adventure, love in the summer.

2009-11-08T07:02:00.004+01:00

Google Street View brings out the essence of that age-old adage, "so near yet so far". Through this wondrous invention, I'm along the Thames on Westminster bridge, looking at the London Eye. I have done this in reverse before — in Year 2 I used to squint at the Eiffel Tower webcam I had on iGoogle, watching the lights come on, all gold and sparkly. That was before I saw it over winter last year. But now, everything feels fucking far away. Come, December, Come!

I want to remember the places that we left, lost to the mists of time.

2009-10-30T03:59:00.003+01:00

Got home after a late night in school. The sky was especially bright, not its usual midnight blue. Thought of the time in Spring when we stepped out from a party at 4am and the sky was already beginning to turn bright. It felt odd though, us clumsily cycling home semi-drunk in the first hours of a new day; it felt like we didn't belong to that perfect picture of dewy early morning calmness. Still, kinda surreal.

I Think You Should Come With Me.

2009-10-28T16:49:00.004+01:00

Came across this and thought of you. It would have made a nice photo, you sitting in that small dimly-lit room, with your back to me. That tattoo on your right shoulder blade, the one that was kinda a secret. The one you got in remembrance of your first love. It was sweet, ¿no?

Study Room Madness

2009-10-28T09:59:00.004+01:00

(from This Is Indexed.)

Sums up 7 semesters of Law School. A flurry of madness.

Youth is Wasted on the Young.

2009-10-21T19:18:00.003+02:00

I've always found it hard to write. It's not just about my inability to sit still and consolidate all my random thoughts. It's about actually sitting out Life itself. Yet I find myself wanting to document almost everything remotely interesting that happens to me. It's as if I have a deep fear of forgetting. I guess this is what happens in the last years of our youth, when we're desperately trying to grasp on to still-vivid memories, and trying to create more extraordinary experiences before we run out of time and energy, all at the same time. There are so so so so many things I want to write about and I don't know where to start.

this is for you.

2009-09-16T11:35:00.003+02:00

(via buttersafe.com)

Beek: The only reason why this ever happened is cos the person wanted me to throw the box away.

a violent nostalgia

2009-09-14T08:45:00.005+02:00

(via susannah b.)

Bored in Banking Law class --> Editing photos of us in Monaco
--> ATTACK OF SEVERE WANDERLUST.

The Old Man and the Sea.

2009-09-03T07:08:00.003+02:00

(via nytimes.com)

This is Clingstone, a 103-year-old mansion set on a rock, owned by a Mr Wood. Would be a great hideaway, a great place to run to. NOW.

Just another Manic Monday.

2009-08-31T15:39:00.005+02:00

It's just another Manic Monday / I wish it was Sunday
'Cause that's my Fun day / My I-don't-have-to-Run day
It's just another Manic Monday

So it's not really Manic Monday, even though according to my timetable, it should be. Because I spent all my time in the 3 lectures today fiddling with Google Reader, trying to organise everything. Ironically, I started with good intentions — to limit my aimless surfing by trying to get updates 'pushed' to me, instead of me checking 37041231 websites every 15 mins out of boredom. I guess it kinda backfired, although I'm still hoping that this pays off in the long run hurhur.

Now, I really should be getting down to starting my evidence tutorial (as I should have been, 4 hours ago). I am the True Queen of Procrastination. Everyone one else doesn't know what they're talking about.

I'm scared of pigeons, but

2009-08-26T15:20:00.003+02:00

I WANT A FLYING PIGEON (although I'll replace the basket with a wicker one).

Their tagline is “有蓝天就有飞鸽，让飞鸽伴你同行。” According to Bicycling.com, the Flying Pigeon was (and is) so ubiquitous in China that Deng Xiaoping — the post-Mao leader who launched China's economic reforms in the 1970s — defined prosperity as a "Pigeon in every household." Besides, it's amusing that although the name 飞鸽 has been mistranslated into Flying Pigeon from the original peaceful-sounding Flying Dove, the mistranslation is strikingly appropriate, given how 10 million of these bicycles swarm the roads in Beijing.

Unfortunately, it's probably near impossible to rely solely on a bicycle in Singapore, with the oppresive humidity and the lack of bike-friendly infrastructure. Damnit, because there's just something about cycling, whizzing through a city's streets. But that's probably just in Copenhagen.

The Sun Always Shines on TV

2009-07-23T07:23:00.004+02:00

Saw this on CopenhagenCycleChic — a Love Bicycle, covered with post-it notes with declarations of love. Even the basket in front is filled with love notes. This one says, unambiguously, "Love You." Terribly sweet.

I miss my big red bicycle. I dreamt that I parked it along Studiestræde, and someone stole it whilst I was having coffee at Ricco's... Then again, it's no longer mine :/

They Don't Love You Like I Love You.

2009-07-14T07:50:00.004+02:00

Have left Copenhagen, and have been back in Singapore for almost a week now. Now that I'm finally done with pupillage applications, I finally have time to just sprawl on my bed and type this, instead of bumbling about preparing CVs and writing 2031347 cover letters.

Everyone asks, "So how, have you been missing Copenhagen?" My answer surprises me, even, when I say, "No, I haven't really been missing it all that much." But then again, I reckon it's because I've not had the luxury of time to sit around, lament and mope. So I guess all that bumbling about has been a good thing. But today, when I saw Erik's photo album on facebook, of all these familiar streets, I guess that I felt a sense of loss, kinda. Nothing melodramatic or overwhelmingly depressing, just a sense of loss which makes one sigh.

But it has been good to be back. It has been a year, so of course, many things are have changed. Orchard Ion has been completed, overshadowing the rest of Orchard Road with its florescent garishness, the parents have relented and bought us an Altis which although means that I have a car at my convenience, is a very different one from the previous one we had, the Braddell/Lornie flyover has finally been completed, BTC is filled with fresh-faced law students I don't recognise...

But yet, even though so much has changed, so much remains the same that its possible to forget that we've spent a year in Europe. I still order the same things at Al Ameen (mushroom cheese prata with milopeng), parking is still impossible to find in BTC, the young chinese acrobatic performers outside Takashimaya, the way ChompChomp smells (of sambal stingray), calls from Mum at midnight asking what time I'm coming home and my answer is always "soon", and the mildly crude yet comforting hum of Singlish all around.

Like If Ever There was Someone who Could Make Things Heavy Again.

2009-06-27T04:25:00.006+02:00

Admittedly, I'm tipsy, so this post is probably going to sound all rambly.

This reeks of commitment-phobia but I honestly am frightened at the hypothetical prospect of being the centre of someone's universe. The whole weight of his love, his being, is on your shoulders. Your shoulders which are more than willing to bear this weight, but which you are sure, as your past lovers will tell you, will one day be unable to shoulder the weight of all that love, and give way. It is an eventuality that hearts will be broken. But because I'm not a cynic, we will not leave this at such a hopeless note. Maybe, in the hypothetical reality that a chance offers itself, maybe we'll give it a try, in the hope that this is just one of my 32028231 irrational apprehensions.

Some random danish bloke read my palm tonight and told me that I think too much. Hmm, can't say that is untrue, I guess. Apparently I'm going to have a successful but short-lived career, which doesn't sound too bad, I reckon. But then he kept apologising, because according to this palmistry expert I'm going to have a hard life ahead of me. Apparently it's going to be difficult for me to find The One, because I have sky-high expectations and needs that are difficult to fulfil. I beg to differ; that's an unfair statement to make because plainly, I'm a girl with simple needs who doesn't have sky-high expectations! I reckon that Life is never easy for anyone, because Life is such that one never ever gets what one truly desires (just like tonight).

I should get to sleep, there are tons of things to be done tomorrow. Picnic at Ørested Parken, Roskilde bracelets to be collected at Soupanatural, Guinness with Michael, and all the random errands to be done in preparation for Roskilde Festival. And also, we've already watched the sun rise so I guess there's nothing left to do, except to sleep. Goodnight, world.

你的笑容已泛黄

2009-06-15T13:05:00.005+02:00

We're off to London tonight, Yeonju and I, for a couple of days. And then it's off to Southern France with Nette and Beeks, to meet up with Clotilde. Back on 25 June (: Will hopefully be updating PROJ60. xxx.

PROJ60 / DAY27 : Every Night Peacefully Setting the World on Fire.

2009-06-10T23:28:00.000+02:00

At Floss, that smokey dingy vandalised tiny bar, for Michael and Janus' post-exam celebrations (: Apparently Wednesdays at Floss is a regular thing they do amongst themselves, a Boys' Night Out kinda thing, so I guess we were erm, kinda crashing their party. Admittedly, I'm horrible at Foosball but Danish boys are really good at it. Comes with the intensive practice I reckon, since we spend half our time at parties hovering over Foosball tables haha.

PROJ60 / DAY28 : There Will Be No Distance that Can Hold Us Back.

2009-06-09T22:32:00.008+02:00

I love cycling in this city. From Nørreport, across the Lakes, down Nørrebrogade towards the sunset, down Jagtvej, singing along to I Will Follow You into the Dark. After an afternoon of unrelenting rain, the city smells like it's been washed clean. I love the smell of rain, it smells like fresh, like green grass, and like home.

PROJ60 / DAY29 : The Sugary Smell of Springtime.

2009-06-08T23:47:00.004+02:00

An afternoon in Vesterbro — books coffee coke smokes out in the sun.

PROJ60 / DAY30 : With Your Arms Outstretched Trying to Take Flight.

2009-06-07T23:19:00.006+02:00

At Islands Brygge, for Distortion's final event. It was meant to be brunch, but because the skies opened up, everyone sat huddled under a giant inversed boat. We ate Ben&Jerry's and sipped Tuborg though, nonetheless. If I was 16 again, I would have danced in the rain, but well, somehow the possibility of catching a cold seemed to weigh rather heavily in our minds.

This Abject Lack of Intensity.

2009-06-07T00:43:00.002+02:00

We're almost halfway through 2009 — the harsh Nordic winter has come and gone, spring in all its glory arrived and is almost over, we're on the brink of summer. And there's still all these unread mail sitting in your flooded mailbox, or maybe, just mails that have been read, just not replied to. Halfway across the world, one wonders, what are you up to these days?

PROJ60 / DAY31 : To Be Where There's Life.

2009-06-06T23:38:00.003+02:00

Intersection of Studiestræde and Larsbjørnstræde. Was trying to take a picture of this vibrantly yellow building when this dude just cycled into my picture haha.

PROJ60 / DAY32 : Looking for the Places Only They Would Know.

2009-06-05T23:16:00.004+02:00

Street Party along Istegade, Vesterbro, as part of the Distortion Festival. Street parties are amazing, and it takes an amazing city to be able to carry it off. All its young inhabitants out in full force on the streets — in the late afternoon chilling along the sidewalk (and atop containers; anywhere you want, really) sitting in the sun munching on pizza and sipping beer, and then as night descends, proceeding to just dance the night away under the warm shadows of the phosphorus street lamps.

PROJ60 / DAY33 : After Changes Upon Changes We Are More of Less the Same.

2009-06-04T23:02:00.004+02:00

Along Studiestræde. Went to watch Mothra at Filmstationen, with Yeonju and Greg. I didn't know this before, and this is going to sound incredibly silly but Mothra is erm, Godzilla's frenemy. So this was one of those silly Japanese movies from the 1960s which seems silly us because it was made so long ago. Classic scene — Mothra (still in the form of a giant caterpillar) crawls up the Tokyo Tower, proceeds to spin a giant unbreakable cocoon around it, before breaking out from it the next day to become a giant moth (which causes tidal waves when it flaps its wings haha). It was a good mood-lifter, despite my tiredness (:

PROJ60 / DAY34 : That Was What My Youth Was For.

2009-06-03T22:56:00.003+02:00

Birthday Brunch in London — I turn 22 today. Compared to previous years where I threw a uniform party (19), a poker/mahjong party (20) and a crazy drunken party at Zouk (21), this year was subdued. We satisfied my intense craving for Asian Food, and that was it. I didn't want more, didn't feel like more. Thought of celebrating it in Copenhagen, but well, most friends had either left or were traipsing around Europe and not in Copenhagen, so we scrapped the idea. I guess after you turn 21, you just don't get terribly excited about turning older. Just feels like yet another day... Real Life begins now? Maybe not, maybe in 34 more days, but not for now; for now, Life here continues, and I'm going to live exactly the way I want to, self-indulgent, decadent, free (:

PROJ60 / DAY35 : There is Nothing Outside, Above.

2009-06-02T21:08:00.003+02:00

Preveli, Crete. At the mouth of the Kourtaliotis Gorge, the Kourtaliotis River flows into the crystalline greenish waters of the Libyan Sea, creating a delta of fine soft sand where the two meet. Again, all the black&white diagrams illustrating the formation of gorges and deltas we struggled to memorise in Secondary 4 came alive here.

PROJ60 / DAY36 : There was a Feeling the Spirit was Leaving.

2009-06-01T23:07:00.005+02:00

In Knossos, Crete. Felt strangely at home when I saw these hmm. Bougainvillea really should be Singapore's national flower, not the Orchid, seeing how it's all around; it's the first thing you see, as you exit Changi Airport, long rows of purple Bougainvillea bushes welcoming you as you drive down East Coast Parkway...

PROJ60 / DAY37 : I've Got a Hunger Twisting My Stomach into Knots.

2009-05-31T23:17:00.006+02:00

Arrived in Heraklion, Crete. Here's Sam with his gigantic gash, courtesy of the ATV accident. On hindsight, I love the irony of this picture; I don't think I recognised the irony when I first took the picture...

PROJ60 / DAY38 : I Think I'm Drunk Enough to Drive You Home Now.

2009-05-30T23:20:00.006+02:00

Today is the day Sam and I fell off an ATV. Rather, the day Sam swerved to avoid a jaywalking little girl and we got thrown off the flimsy vehicle which subsequently did a bounce and a flip over us. We emerged unscathed (almost) though, thankfully. Although I was in shock for a while after the accident, after all, I was riding pillion and blissfully daydreaming about how I was going to spend my last night in Copenhagen, and suddenly, before I knew it, I hit the tarmac. Sam said he thought I died or something, because apparently I didn't scream, but I reckon that's what happens when you're caught off-guard, although it was scary to see the goddamn ATV flip over you.

PROJ60 / DAY39 : I Will Possess Your Heart.

2009-05-29T23:34:00.003+02:00

The Red Beach, in Santorini. It's like a Geography class come alive, you know, seeing such majestic landscapes for real. A hidden stretch of red sand set against soaring red cliffs, lava cliffs which drop right into the crystal-clear turquoise waters of the Aegean sea.

PROJ60 / DAY40 : The Sky Above Ablaze that only Lovers See.

2009-05-28T23:28:00.008+02:00

People say that sunsets in Santorini are the most beautiful in the world. And they are. We were drunk on sunsets, climbing to the highest cliffs and most remote of hills on the island, chasing the sunset. Every sunset is magnificent, yet different. On one day, the sky is a delicate graduation of sky-blue, orange and scarlet as the sun disappears into the horizon; on another, as the sun sets behind a lone island, it dyes the sky a majestic blend of burnt orange and crimson. Still, it's always utterly breathtaking. Or maybe, this is us over-romanticising Santorini — maybe there are sunsets that are just as spectacular, we've just never sat so patiently to watch them.

PROJ60 / DAY41 : He Walks Away the Sun Goes Away.

2009-05-27T23:31:00.005+02:00

In Santorini, on Perissa Beach. A rather surreal landscape, although maybe it's because we only got there in the late afternoon, when the sun was starting to cast shadows on the black sand beach, and therefore few people on the beach.

PROJ60 / DAY42 : And a Sun to Maybe Dissipate Shadows of the Mess You Made.

2009-05-26T23:49:00.001+02:00

Typical Cycladic architecture, which admittedly is a Greek postcard cliche. Mykonos is all glimmering white and cobalt blue — unembellished smooth whitewashed cubist houses lining narrow labyrinthine streets paved with whiterimmed stones. Enchanting.

Should buy a summer house here when I grow up, haha.

PROJ60 / DAY43 : Everyone is Scenery.

2009-05-25T22:56:00.003+02:00

At Paradise Beach, in Mykonos. Dancing on tables, at 4pm. Insane, but I guess, this is Mykonos, where partying is meant to be relentless, and this is Paradise Beach! Although it does sound kinda cheesy, with it's name bearing semblance to Paradise Hotel, the thrashy Danish reality show...

PROJ60 / DAY44 : When I was a Child, Everyone Smiled.

2009-05-24T21:14:00.000+02:00

Made it to Athens, to meet up with the motley crew. In the centre of Athen's dusty sprawling frustrating existence, the Acropolis stands, like it always has, since 500 BC. The juxtaposition between history, documented by its ancient archeological monuments, and progress, evidenced by the urban sprawl swallowing up the surrounding areas around Athens, seems contradictory at first sight. I can't decide if there's beauty in such a contradiction, or if it's just plain ugly.

PROJ60 / DAY45 : You are Not Alone in This.

2009-05-23T20:59:00.004+02:00

Had dinner with Clotilde — a farewell dinner of sorts, at La Galette, since I'm leaving for Greece tomorrow and she's going back on the 28th. Had beers on benches in Rådhuspladsen, accompanied by the bright lights and watching hordes of Copenhageners cycle past us along HC Andersens Boulevard. But we'll see each other again, when I go to Marseilles to visit, so saying goodbye wasn't particularly tearful, for now least.

(As you can tell, I'm back-dating these entries, now that I'm back from Greece and have the time to sit on my window ledge with my laptop, watch the sun set over Copenhagen, and transcribe these entries from my notebook.)

PROJ60 / DAY46 : I Want to Remember the Places that We Left Lost to the Mists of Time.

2009-05-22T23:01:00.000+02:00

Went to Amager Strand for a barbecue next to the beach — which sounded like a perfect idea when Adam and Radek conceptualised it one fine day, sitting in Jurahuset. Until it started HAILING (not just raining, mind you) 1 hour into the barbecue, and our sausages starting boiling in the tray, instead of grilling. But I guess sometimes, things turn out so bad, they become hilarious. So yeah. Still, hail in the middle of May?! Only in Denmark.

PROJ60 / DAY47 : And I Know You Have a Heavy Heart I Can Feel It When We Kiss.

2009-05-21T22:37:00.005+02:00

Sat by the Harbour Bath at Langebro — Me lying precariously on the ledge, ready to fall into the canal should I just roll over, watching Erik and Yeonju play her guitar. And us attempting to sing, or rather, hum, because no one ever really knows the lyrics to a song.

Went to Kulor Bar after — where cheap international students get sloshed with cheap beer. It's a meat-market, really. Night ended when we decided to give up dancing to euro-pop; we cycled home to Østerbro, semi-drunk.

PROJ60 / DAY48 : I Want a Lover I Don't Have to Love.

2009-05-20T20:42:00.003+02:00

Took the final paper today, and it feels fantastic to be able to do whatever you please. Everything feels perfect, after a particularly wonderful afternoon (:

PROJ60 / DAY49 : You Said, "Thanks, Can I Follow You?"

2009-05-19T19:40:00.004+02:00

On the steps of Studiestræde 41, on yet another of those too-long and too-frequent breaks, watching the world cycle past. It's the last day of studying before the last paper! (:

PROJ60 / DAY50 : Frazzle likes to eat.. Croissant!

2009-05-18T17:49:00.002+02:00

Jens ate 6 croissants for breakfast today! I guess he's still a growing boy, despite being 2 metres tall...

2 more days before the Energy Law exam! Came across this wonderful line in the notes Michael made — "This provision is pretty much useless." Haha pretty much sums up the entire module for me.

PROJ60 / DAY51 : Shake it like a Polaroid Picture.

2009-05-17T23:32:00.002+02:00

I guess Girls Around the World do the same thing when they go insane during Exam Period, they take 2374212410 pictures using PhotoBooth. Hmm maybe I should post up those from Year 1, circa 2006, the ones we took before the goddamn contract exam.

PROJ60 / DAY52 : Up against The Legends.

2009-05-16T19:06:00.004+02:00

Here's Janus insisting on playing us Depeche Mode first thing in the morning, to which we vehemently resisted (because you're meant to listen to soothing jazz or chirpy pop first thing in the morning!), but to no avail, because after all, it's his (messy) apartment that we camped out in the previous night.

PROJ60 / DAY53 : Here's to the Future.

2009-05-15T23:58:00.002+02:00

Tonight we went to the Film&Media FridayBar. This is David, and Michael. Danish boys are obsessed with Foosball (although they call it table soccer); they're always playing Foosball at parties. ALWAYS.

Anyway the rainy Danish weather is back. The wonderful weather we had in April, apparently, was the sunniest April Copenhagen has seen since 1974, but I guess that's over now. Am trying to clean my room in order to find some space on my table to get some work done, but it's hard to start when you've got clothes and stuff strewn all over your room.

PROJ60 / DAY54 : I had the Strangest Dream where Everything was Exactly How it Seemed.

2009-05-14T23:39:00.002+02:00

Along Strøget — Random Street Party that ended up as a Tag-Fest last weekend, haha.

Went to Nicole's birthday barbecue, which also was a farewell party of sorts for her, but I guess it wasn't that bad because she's probably going to come visit when the rest of us finish our exams.

PROJ60 / DAY55 : Explosions in the Sky.

2009-05-13T23:54:00.004+02:00

Here's Christian, blowing bubbles in the kitchen, whilst everyone gathers in front of the TV to watch Paradise Island (like they do, thrice a week; all the Danish kids are addicted to this trashy show). I love how random he is, even when he's not drunk. Notice how he's holding up a cushion so that the bubbles will show in the picture... But obviously, it's not working. Fail.

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

2009-05-13T12:47:00.004+02:00

WE'RE GOING TO SOUTHERN FRANCE IN SUMMER! (:

PROJ60 / DAY56 : We Are Your Friends.

2009-05-12T14:25:00.008+02:00

Taken outside the old University building at Frue Plads. When the sun shines in CPH, everyone sits on the steps and eats lunch outside.

Am done with the damn Human Rights exam! (: Promptly went shopping after the oral exam, although I probably should have waited till next Wednesday, when Energy Law is over and done with...

PROJ60 / DAY57 : So Glad to Meet You, Angeles.

2009-05-11T23:24:00.009+02:00

Yeonju, on the steps — my favourite part of the Jurahuset (which ironically, is outside the Law Library itself haha).

Am frantically pouring over 20474132 Human Rights cases... It feels like Public Law circa Year 2 Sem 2 again.; feel like tearing my hair out just trying to finish reading all the cases.

PROJ60 / DAY58 : I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning.

2009-05-10T11:54:00.006+02:00

Here's Erik. After 4 days of gloomy weather, the skies were clear blue and the sun was shining again. Brunch on weekends is a Copenhagen institution, so we went to Stella. Can't think of a better way to start the day (:

PROJ60 / DAY59 : Damn these Wild Young Hearts.

2009-05-09T23:01:00.007+02:00

Yet another drunken house party with the usual international students (: Here, With Adam and Johannes, who are usually more than 1.9m tall...

PROJ60 / DAY60 : You'd be so Crazy to Say Goodbye.

2009-05-08T22:50:00.005+02:00

This is Clotilde, my favourite French girl, with whom I spent too many hours sitting in the first floor of the Law Library, with whom I take long breaks on the steps outside the Jurahuset, with whom I drink too much alcohol (she's French, wine flows through her veins).

This is Clotilde, with her Return Ticket to Marseilles.

PROJ60: 其实不想走

2009-05-07T23:58:00.003+02:00

So, I came up with this whilst sitting at my favourite spot in my Kollegium, curled up next to the window atop the Freezer, half-listening to my lovely half-drunk Danish neighbours and their emergency room stories about tampons and garden hoses and beer bottles and test-tubes getting stuck in some guy's ass (... okay irrelevant).

Anyway the point is, I ONLY HAVE 60 MORE DAYS HERE. And I won't even be in this wonderful city for all of 60 days, I'll be in Greece, Southern France, London, Roskilde etc. As much as I am terribly excited at the prospect of going home to Singapore (finally seeing everyone again and eating all the shiokalicious food), I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE. And it doesn't help that my very wonderful neighbours nonchalantly tell me to stay for another semester; when they do that, all I want to do is to shout "OF COURSE I WANT TO STAY HERE TOO, IF I COULD!" into their smiling faces. Rahh.

So, one rambly paragraph on, I am getting to the point. I'm going to embark on PROJECT 60 DAYS. Where I'm going to post a single picture, daily, of my life here. Don't know how it'd turn out — after all, all I'm doing these days is sitting in the Law Library, so we'll see how that goes. Maybe I will end up posting back-dated photos, but whatever, it's my project so I can do whatever I want (:

TOMORROW I BEGIN.

we might die from medication but we sure killed all the pain.

2009-05-01T23:44:00.008+02:00

Karma is a notion I've always liked. Not so much literally. Not necessarily because I believed that I used to be Cleopatra's bartender — but more metaphorically.

The karmic philosophy appeals to me on a metaphorical level because even in one lifetime it's obvious how often we must repeat our same mistakes, banging our heads against the same old addictions and compulsions, generating the same old miserable and often catastrophic consequences, until we can finally stop and fix it.

This is the supreme lesson of karma — take care of the problems now, or else you'll just have to suffer again later when you screw everything up the next time. And that repetition of suffering — that's hell. Moving out of that endless repetition to a new level of understanding, that's where you'll find heaven.

— Eat, Pray, Love / Elizabeth Gilbert.

I reckon there are words of wisdom to be found everywhere, even with her not-too-occasional lapsing into an annoying self-help book style of writing. Still, a little too positive and Oprah Winfrey-ish for my liking. There has to be something which does not work out! You know, like what happens in real life.

The Glory that was Greece.

2009-04-15T19:13:00.002+02:00

WE'RE GOING TO GREECE IN SUMMER! (:

(Am posting this as I sit in the Law Library, trying to speed read my notes for Comparative Conflicts in preparation for the goddamn mock exam tomorrow morning, pffft.)

begonia skies like a sleepyhead

2009-04-12T22:35:00.003+02:00

Concrete proof that Glenda is going mad — utterly random drawing of links between totally unrelated things... Note her triumphant "HAHAHA" at the end.

9:34:33 PM djg: Since we broke up, I wake each night at 3:14 am. Did we have mind-blowing sex once at 3:14 am, or is that just what I wish I was waking up to now?

9:57:31 PM djg.: MAYBE THIS IS WHY you woke at 7:__am three days in a row!!!!

10:25:36 PM rui, it's just love, give it away.: huh? haha im confused :/

10:26:06 PM djg.: thats on dearoldlove haha. michelle told me to go read. then i saw that post. and then i remember how you told me you woke at 7:xx am for three days in a row!

10:26:10 PM rui, it's just love, give it away.: oh. i thought you were randomly spamming...

10:26:30 PM rui, it's just love, give it away.: hahaha HMMMMM.

10:26:34 PM djg.: i found your reason. HAHAHA.

loop duplicate my heart

2009-03-29T12:44:00.002+02:00

And it's bigger than everything i have ever done before / I've found a reason for staying home tonight / Just by myself tonight - all by myself / I'm gonna loop duplicate my heart into a million songs / AND IT'S BIGGER THAN EVERYTHING I HAVE EVER DONE BEFOREEEEE.

On a whim, we went crossed the bridge to Malmö, to catch Swedish twee pop band, Suburban Kids with Biblical Names! The day was perfect — we spent it trying on 342063 pairs of jeans at Weekday, sitting in Wayne's Cafe sipping giant mugs of coffee and giant pieces of chocolate-coated meringue, and ending the night talking to Swedish boys who asked us, "Why did you come to Sweden to party with Ugly Swedish People?" (:

Oh, but that was not the end of the night. The end of the night came only after a fire alarm went off in Egmont, and the whole kollegium evacuated. So the night ended, at 0545h, in the yard where everyone gathered to watch the firemen arrive in record time. Some in various states of undress after being rudely awakened, others in fancy dress after having their Ibiza-themed party abruptly interrupted... And I, in typical Singaporean fashion, and most stupidly, in just FBTs and a pullover, shivering in the relentless wind. Thank god there was no raging fire, it was probably some drunk Danish dude smoking weed in his room (who's probably going to be slapped with a €400 fine for the false alarm). But anyway, the real end of the night came when the sky was turning light and we finally went to bed (:

the light reflects your hair beautifully.

2009-03-21T01:33:00.005+01:00

Friday afternoon was spent at the Black Diamond, next to the canals. We attempted to study, but ended up sneaking off for numerous breaks — to see photography exhibitions in the basement, to eat oranges in the sun by the waterfront... We devised plans to go study at all the other libraries around Copenhagen just for the heck of it, saw groups of canoeists along the canal and got the ridiculous idea to go canoeing in the canals when it gets warmer, laughed at people who are fixated on the idea that Asian girls are exotic... Friday ended with us drinking Tuborg's special edition beer for Easter and coming up with the best idea ever — next Friday, we'll have a Gyoza Party (:

This City Belongs to Us

2009-03-14T23:44:00.003+01:00

This City, where the weekend starts on Wednesdays.

Wednesday, when I drag myself to the Studenterhuset and drink too much Danish pilsner, where three (otherwise) cute Danish blokes tell us that they're too lazy to think in English, where tattooed Spanish boys tell me that there are six ways to say "my darling" in Spanish and none in German (although Beeks say that there is — "mein lieber schatz"?), where French girls take too many photos while dancing, while chain-smoking Korean girl and I stand outside in the freezing cold having a conversation about boys not acting their age, and us catching the 94N night bus that leaves at 0233h from Nørreport.

Thursday, though we're tired out from dragging ourselves out of bed to get to our Conflicts class early in the morning, we still get our asses to Vesterbro, where all the clubs are. We go to the SkatePark, where (almost) everyone is clad in checks, chilling on the ramps listening to a Reggae band (which is apparently popular in Denmark, but I have no idea, because I've never heard Reggae nor Dancehall before tonight). Then we move to Stengade30, which is supposedly an underground music venue, and when I see it I understand why. It’s in the middle of a rather shady neighbourhood, Nørrebro, and there's graffiti all over the place, (love/hate messages scribbled by regulars, none of those huge murals), and the gigs are either mind-blowing or just downright bad. But it’s Confetti night tonight, so everything and everyone is covered with silver confetti. Everyone is bright and shiny and happy because someone is handing out flutes of free champagne. The night ends at one of Nørrebro’s 237402 Kebab shops, us laughing at how Swedish boys cannot speak Korean no matter how hard they try.

Friday, we are at the Law FridayBar, which someone marvels, is happening right below the Law Library. Beers are going for nothing more than spare change, and as we lean over the bar we spot a crate of Christmas beer, and of course someone orders that after he’s told that the alcohol content is higher, for the same next-to-nothing price. In between cheek-kissing every other person and dancing to Kun For Mig (#1 on the Danish charts on iTunes), every 10 mins, we sneak out for smokes and audible conversations. We’re downing cheap Turborgs as we continue the conversation about younger boys, and the girls conclude that (1) a preoccupation with age isn’t an Asian thing and more importantly, (2) it doesn’t matter if a boy is younger, as long as he's cute. The night ends with us listening to The Killers, our backs against floor-to-ceiling posters of James Dean and Bob Dylan, arguing over which is the best film Wong Kar Wai has ever made.

This City belongs to Us.

The Primer / Christina Davis

2009-03-11T20:13:00.002+01:00

She said, I love you.

He said, Nothing.

(As if there were just one
of each word and the one
who used it, used it up).

In the history of language
the first obscenity was silence.

2009-03-10T20:32:00.001+01:00

The scene has to stop replaying in my mind. It strikes me at the most random of moments.

When I’m sitting next to cute Danish bloke on the 150S, passing by the Statens Museum for Kunst. When I’m on my earphones listening to Cut Copy, brisk walking towards Nørreport because I’m late to meet Amos. When I’m sitting in the back row at Alexander Hall listening to the beautiful girl from the University of Cape Town flesh out her proposal for combating climate change. When I’m on a bar stool in the Egmont Kitchen, stirring a huge pot of Thai Green Curry on a cloudy Monday afternoon. When I’m picking at my chocolate muffin during break in Energy Law class, chatting with Australian girl who moved to Copenhagen to be with her Danish boyfriend. When we ate our first scoop of chocolate ice-cream of 2009, to celebrate the first signs of spring — spring showers.

But not when I met J, the heartbroken German girl sharing my train compartment back from Amsterdam, when I told her the entire story about Us (because strangers are the best people to tell stories to). Pity she didn’t get to hear the end.

// This was first written during energy law class today, although I must say that perhaps things have taken a turn for the better since then, due to certain coincidences. So perhaps, the end is not here, yet.

you do not belong here anymore.

2009-03-07T03:56:00.007+01:00

TONIGHT WAS MEANT TO BE LEGENDARY.
BUT FUCK, IT'S JUST LOVE, SO JUST GIVE IT ALL AWAY.
After all, this was meant to be Nothing. It shall go back to being Nothing.

the glorious days

2009-02-19T14:51:00.003+01:00

From Garance Doré —

A friend and I were saying last year that the first sign of spring isn’t the sprouting foliage. Nuh-uh. You see it first in shop windows displaying colors and light outfits that distill in our spirits the idea that yes, one day, spring will come. One day.

what im trying to say

2009-02-18T01:46:00.006+01:00

(angsty mode)

this is hypocritical because i owe some people emails

but

WHY DO PEOPLE NOT REPLY TO EMAILS.

it's not as if you're dead. fuck lah if someone cares enough to email you, surely 6 weeks has been enough for you to craft a reply?

WHY DO I EVEN CARE.

it's here then it's gone

2009-02-05T16:33:00.002+01:00

When we woke up, there was snow everywhere. I sat on the window-sill and stared, at how everything was covered with a blanket of white. But of course, by the time I returned from class, everything had melted away. I guess some things aren't meant to stay around for long, in this city.

stop snowing already

2009-02-01T14:38:00.005+01:00

WHY IS IT SNOWING NOW.

Because it's still winter, damnit. Enough, enough, of all this winter wonderland nonsense. I remember Risse saying this when we were in the Tuileries — only now can we understand how people can churn out impossibly passionate poems about flowers blooming with the arrival of spring... Where are you, Spring!

be of love (a little)

2009-01-31T22:28:00.002+01:00

“Loving someone means taking the risk that they might fuck up your nicely ordered little life.” Mark Haddon, A Spot of Bother.

i'm going back to the start

2009-01-30T02:10:00.002+01:00

Am back in København (: Have also moved into Egmont, which means yes to getting to know more danish people (finally) and no more grumpy landlady cutting off my internet access. The place is lovely, although the room does feel a little empty, with its white-washed walls. So, in my attempt to brighten up the place a little and make it seem less empty, I've been plastering the wall with postcards and pages from magazines.

Anyway yeah, now that I'm no longer living where I used to live, if any of you lovely people intend to mail me some love letters or anything of that sort, please ask me for my new address (:

dance dance dance

2009-01-17T02:16:00.002+01:00

I'm back! (: Though "back" now refers to London, not Copenhagen, for now.

I've been in London for a month now, kinda, but not quite. In between arriving exactly a month ago...

We've spent too much time (and too much cash) battling the crowds at Oxford Circus, eaten too many times in Chinatown (to make up for the past semester, and in anticipation for the coming one), spent eight lovely days in Paris traipsing along Rue de Rivoli, watching seagulls, ducks and pigeons in the Tuileries and tasting the best macarons in the world, went to the friendliest country in Europe - Portugal - and cycled along the Estoril Coast watching huge waves crash down on the rocky shorelines...

But for now, I'm home, in London. For a couple of days at least, before we're off to Ireland and Scotland (:

the shock of the lightning

2008-12-16T23:57:00.002+01:00

I SLEPT THROUGH AN EARTHQUAKE. Wtf right, like everyone else felt it and there I was, nicely snuggled up, in deep slumber...

From politken.dk —

A mild earthquake measuring 4.7 on the open Richter scale shook Denmark this morning, with concerned members of the public across the country telephoning police and rescue services.

The quake, which the USGS center in the United States said had its epicentre in southern Sweden, was one of the strongest ever to hit Denmark.

There are no reports of casualties or damage although there were reports of people in some high rise buldings rushing outside as windows and cupboards shook and buildings swayed briefly.

According to the USGS center, the epicenter of the earthquake was some 40 kilometers east of the southern Swedish port of Malmo, and 65 kilometers east of the Danish capital Copenhagen.

Although there are a handful of much smaller tremors in the area each year, these are normally registered only by highly sensitive equipment. A tremor of 4.7 on the Richter scale has only been measured in the region once before, in 1985.

whatever gets you through today

2008-12-09T16:37:00.003+01:00

(I know this is like what, 3 years late, but....)

I JUST WATCHED THE ENTIRE FIRST SEASON OF GREY'S ANATOMY. IN ONE DAY.

Which is just Madness. I spent the entire day (from dawn till dusk, no less) sitting in front of my laptop watching the Entire Season. At 11am, I told Risse, "Okay ONE more episode and I'll get started on work" and then before I knew it, at 3pm, I told her, "You know what, I'm at episode EIGHT now, and I think I'm just going to finish the season hurhur".

I'm overwhelmed by this huge sense of guilt right now. Especially because yesterday's exam didn't go fabulously well, and I have a bad feeling about Thursday's... Pfft. Off to bed. An all-nighter ahead awaits.

hope for the hopeless

2008-12-07T21:49:00.003+01:00

i finished writing my mediation paper before dinner and i'm meant to be reading my notes on takeovers of companies. but no, i'm not. i want to ramble and manja to people on msn, but everyone's somewhere else. therefore, i'm here. i was going to start reading those notes, i swear. i was even on some sort of high — you know, the sort you get when complete a task and you feel like nothing can stop you now. but it just kinda fizzled out. when i fucking fell back while leaning back on my chair, grabbed hold of my desk to avoid getting a concussion and toppled my entire desk. and of course everything i had on the desk was left sprawled (can you use the word for things, or only humans/animals) on the floor. it's still on the floor. and i'm in the middle of it all.

the box inside my head

2008-12-03T20:45:00.004+01:00

While trying to make sense of Danish Public Law today....

I skyped my parents (spent 15 minutes discussing, with my brother, the state of our teeth, how gross yes haha), watched a strangely fasinating 8-min long youtube video where a huge-ass Tuna was carefully sliced apart and turned into delicious chunks of Maguro, stuck my head out the window and tried to figure out whether it was snow or sleet falling on Copenhagen, watched an episode of Gossip Girl and another 0f 9210 (sorry, guilty pleasure — watching thrashy American shows during meal times), read more than a few food blogs in the name of researching must-eats in Paris, uploaded photos of us in Vienna onto facebook, munched on cheap unsatisfying sugar-laden chocolate chip cookies and listened to The Section Quartet's cover of Muse's Time is Running Out 65 times.

There really isn't much point to this entry — just didn't feel like going back to reading the minute print on 234082 powerpoint slides about the Danish Constitution. Sigh, guess it's back to (futile attempts at) work!

the bells are ringing out for christmas day

2008-11-28T20:54:00.011+01:00

MY PORRIDGE IS DA BOMBZZZ :D

This is Comfort Food — Chinese Mushrooms, Ikan Bilis, Dried Scallops! Tastes of HOMEEEE (truly, where I know I must beeee (and where Kwek is now). A cure for a gloomy (it's true what they say about the depressing effects of the Scandinavian winter) and completely unproductive day!

I knew thought the day would come, but, I think, for the first time in my life, I'm Homesick. Even though I love being in Europe and know for sure that I would be devastated when I have to go back to Singapore come summer '09, I miss my friends (love!), my family (even my dear mother who refused to send me a CNY food package pffft) and the food.

Food really is a big part of being Singaporean. Never quite realised that till I got here, and spent my first day in Copenhagen ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the wide array of familiar brands (Lee Kum Kee! Dodo! Milo!) and assorted foodstuff (pandan! frozen durian! tangyuan!) they have in the Chinese and Thai supermarkets.

But no, it's not just the food I miss. After all, there are these well-stocked Asian supermarkets and not-too-bad Asian restaurants in Copenhagen and I have 2342042 packets of Prima Taste pastes — everything I long to eat can be found or whipped up, if I really wanted to.

Apart from, and above the food, its about the memories (argh I hate the word, sounds so melodramatic) that we have, of us eating. Of friends across tables discussing how to classify ngoh hiang, driving across our tiny island to eat prata at 3am, navigating the roads of Geylang trying to find the 126 dimsum stall (near the gigantic 3d durian), our disappointment when we thought that yonghe doujiang had closed down (thank god they merely moved), nights of catching up while slurping down milopengs and chugging down pratas, taking brief breaks from studying by going to eat Nasi Briyani at Sixth Avenue, ending off drunken clubbing nights eating bak kut teh at mohd sultan, barbecues on my rooftop followed by a soak in the jacuzzi after, recess in the bright airy SN canteen gossiping over orange bowl and fried wantons, skipping first period to have yongtaufoo for breakfast in the NJ canteen....

Food from Home may be what we seek solace in, but it really is the Company I miss :(

The Eternal City

2008-11-26T19:08:00.006+01:00

Am back in Copenhagen! (: Today was meant to be a day of rest, before I embark on conquering those books — exams are in 1.5 weeks pffft. But no, instead of catching up on the thrashy shows I unfortunately am glued to (and missed on this long trip to Central Europe), I have decided to be productive! In the sense that I've uploaded photos (albeit just of Nottingham) and I'm going to blog about ROME. Which we went to (more than) 1 month ago, yes. HAHA.

11 October 2008

Arrived in Rome at night. Rome was where it all started — the incredible gelato-eating competition, the traipsing around the city entirely on foot (with Josh and his tripod), the meals consisting of only pizza or pasta and wine (: Our first night — Josh dragging us around Rome exploring, and starting the gelato-count by wolfing down 2 megacups of gelato haha.

12 October 2008

This is the day we conquered THE SIGHT — The Colosseum. Which I remember, from the audioguide, did not take its name from its size haha but after the colossal statue of some Emperor nearby haha.

Anyway. This is dear Des with her acid-washed jeans. Haha the woman, while biting into her delicious chocolate pastry, sprinkled powdered sugar all over herself. Nice job haha.

View from atop Capitoline Hill of Piazza del Capidoglio. The Italians and their piazzas — the first piazza, out of the 23472134 piazzas we will eventually see in the next 10 days haha.

Went across the River Tiber for lunch, for the THE BEST PASTA ON EARTH. (Anyway wah lao I miss those early autumn days, when it was still warm, sunny and toasty. When we still could be bare-legged without freezing our asses off, not like now when we cheer when its anything more than 5ºC pfft.)

THE BEST PASTA I'VE EVER EATEN.
Like, seriously. You must go to Le Mani in Rome to eat this impossibly amazing pasta in red wine sauce!!!! It really was motherfcking shiok :D

THE SIGHT which every tourist goes to Rome to see (and which is on every single souvenir) — The Colosseum. Which, despite all its hype, was still pretty much amazing, considering how the ginormous thing was built like close to 2000 years ago (or something), and (the audioguide told us) they actually built a retractable roof. How high-tech is that sial hahah.

The Arch of Constantine — "built to honour Constantine's victory over his rival Maxentious". If there's one thing I realised about Roman architecture, it's that they loved building arches like this, and that it's purpose was always to celebrate someone's victory over something. Which is interesting, since, we don't quite do that anymore, do we. We build memorials, but usually nothing celebratory.

Walked around Palatine Hill. Which really wasn't anything much, after you're seen the magnificence of the Colosseum, unfortunately. Also because there were just tons of ruins which we couldn't identify haha.

The Roman Forum... which I guess was more interesting than Palatine Hill, but haha I guess by then we were quite sick of ruins haha. Rome really was full of ruins haha. Anyway a passing tour guide (Rome is flooded with tour guides holding umbrellas tied at the end with a colourful scarf high up in the air haha) told us (indirectly, because we were cheapos eavesdropping) that a Forum means a "public square" and that the Roman Forum was the center of political, commercial and judicial life in ancient Rome...

Dinner was at Baffetto, where we queued for damn long :/ But it was worth it because the pizzas were DAMN SHIOK. We shared so everyone was supposed to eat their own share of each pizza and then pass it around, but because Josh being Josh, he basically lapped all of us and stressed Des and I out by his speedy rate at which he was devouring those pizzas haha. Then gelato to end the meal, of course (:

After all that food, at Josh's command we had to walk it off haha. So we walked to see the Pantheon. And the Trevi Fountain! Which although gimmicky, is really quite theatrical. As in, you're walking through the windy streets, head buried in your map trying to locate the stupid fountain, and suddenly, you hear it before you see it, the sound of the torrential water (:

Anyway, apparently the custom is to throw a coin into the fountain to ensure one's return to Rome, and then a second coin to make a wish. So obviously, being the tourists we are, we did. The only thing, we sat there for 5 mins figuring out which of our coins of the various currencies had the smallest value :/ Doubt our wishes will be granted lah, seeing how unfortunately Singaporean we were haha.

12 October 2008

Vatican City! The World's smallest state (can you tell I'm obsessed with facts haha). Piazza San Pietro in the early morning, already crowded with 234824029 tourists. After surveying 43023942 postcards of Piazza San Pietro in Rome, I have concluded that its impossible to take a picture of the place without having a tourist in the picture at all haha. Only if you come in the dead of the night, I guess... Rome is just perenially swarming with tourists I guess.

The interior of St Peter's Basilica is MADNESS. I swear, once you've seen this church, all the others just look shag compared to this one haha. Not only is it immense in scale, hello, the dome is designed by Michelangelo leh (the guy is impossibly talented). My god, I just wikied this place and it says that "you can fit the Statue of Liberty (93m), underneath the dome (interior height of 120m from floor to top of dome) with room to spare". Haha I thought it was huge, but I didn't know it was thaaaat huge.

Below, the statue of St Peter! Haha his foot really has been worn thin by the millions of tourist and pilgrims who just keep queuing up to touch and kiss it. It has become shiny, really haha. And the Swiss Guards, with their damn cute uniforms (and high socks) haha.

Then we went to the Vatican Museum! Which was ridiculously huge haha. It took us what, 3 hours to walk to the Sistine Chapel. And halfway through, we, the apparently young and energetic, even had to take a break haha (while Desiree napped haha).

Random art students sitting around, drawing. That was till the couple in the middle started making out, in the middle of their art class, just like that haha. Should have taken a picture haha.

Anyway we walked and we walked and we walked. We saw a lot of damn amazing art, but after like 1.5 hours we were all just damn zzz. Not because the art ceased to be damn amazing or what, just that there were signs after signs telling us that we were approaching the Sistine Chapel (which is what people go to the Vatican Museum to see), but we just kept seeing those signs and never seemed to reach the damn Sistine Chapel, argh.

Seriously haha it took us DAMN LONG. Towards the end we weren't even looking properly at the stuff, apart from the Raphael rooms...

So of course by the time we got to the Sistine Chapel (they should really make it the first one you go to), we were damn damn shag and quite zzz by the tautings of the neverending signs. But but but the Sistine Chapel was still DAMN AWE-INSIPIRING. Like, even though we were not in the best of moods and just incredibly tired.

Michelangelo really was a genius, I swear. We basically just stood there staring at the ceiling, trying to take in everything (whilst Josh and Ben tried to recognise the biblical charaters and tell me the stories behind the frescoes). Everything was damn life-like, almost popping out, if you stared at it long enough. I guess that comes from him being a sculptor as well? No idea man. But anyway, it really was damn damn amazing, was really worth the frustration of the trek there haha. It really is the best piece of art I've ever seen, and probably will ever see.

Anyway. Sorry but there are NO pictures of the Sistine Chapel :/ They had guards (bouncers really), ready to acost us if we even dared to whip up a camera. But then we should have sneakily taken some lah, on hindsight haha. So I guess, the best we got was a picture of a poster depicting the Last Judgment below.

After we got out of the Sistine Chapel, everything else just looked damn blaahh haha.

All museum-ed out, we left for the the Spanish steps (: Which really is nothing much except for a place for people to sit around, eat some gelato and chill. And for some of us (i.e. Desiree), to take a much-needed nap haha, while Josh and I went window shopping along Via Condotti.

Of course, before leaving Rome, we had to see The Colosseum one last time (: Actually I think it was because Josh just wanted to take a nice picture of it, without any tourists swarming the background. And we succeeded! (: Haha actually, it kinda looks better at night, no?

Okay finally, the end of a damn long entry! :/ And on a random note, I had the most shiok dinner — mushroom scallop porridge! Ultra ultra comforting in the cold weather.

a velvet revolution

2008-11-19T00:10:00.002+01:00

In Prague now (: Off to Vienna tomorrow. Although that's if we manage to get our asses on a train (hopefully please), because dear Czech Railways does not support online reservations unless you're paying a million czech korunas or something for a sleeper. So yeah we're gonna try our luck I guess.

Prague is not like Rome or Florence; there are no museums with awe-inspiring art collections, no must-see ruins perfectly preserved since the beginning of time, no violent history that will shock your sensibilities. But Prague has been charming, with its windy cobbled stoned and hilly streets, its communist past and stories of countless revolutions throughout the centuries, its varied architectural styles ranging from Gothic to Baroque to Rococo to everything else I can't even name-drop haha, its hearty (maybe too hearty) cuisine, its people who are masters at black humour... Prague is a city that's just kinda offbeat, I guess, a city that has a lot of character (:

People as Places as People

2008-11-16T15:12:00.002+01:00

Am sitting in Alec's room in St Peter's Court, waiting for Alec Tan while he gyms, before we set off for Central Europe — Prague, Vienna and Bratislava! (:

Nottingham has been nice and quaint. It's kinda nice just hanging out, lazing our days away, hanging out drinking with his friends. The Death Cab gig was fantastic, Chris Walla was charming in his lost-in-space ways, and Ben Gibbard dances weirdly haha. They didn't play The Ice Is Getting Thinner, but then again, I got a perfect recording of I Will Follow You Into The Dark so I guess that makes up for it (:

I hope Central Europe is as charming and magical as everyone (and the photo above) has made it out to be (: Be back in 1 week's time!

为了爱梦一生

2008-11-12T09:12:00.004+01:00

So, I'm off later today to Nottingham (: To watch Death Cab for Cutie, and to get some fresh air — Alec says Notts has the most beautiful campus in the UK, with its vast expanse of rolling hills (and little else).

Now, the grittier side of life.

Life really isn't turning out out the way everyone thought it would be, and how everyone hoped it would be. What can one still say amidst all this? That there is everlasting love? That we'll all eventually snag wonderful boys who will be Mr Right? That we should let go of ourselves and place our hearts in the hands of another, in complete trust? That all problems can be sorted out if you work at it long and hard enough?

How are we going to continue thinking all these impossibly romantic thoughts?

how the day sounds

2008-11-09T12:45:00.002+01:00

So, Hello World.

Autumn has come in Denmark — night now falls by 4:30pm, the drizzle is neverending, my neighbour has kept their trampoline which was out in their garden, the trees have shed most of their leaves, everyone just huddles around drinking hot chocolate and christmas beers. So well, it's kinda cosy, but depressing at the same time.

But anyway. At the behest of Desiree Tan, the long overdue (do i ever post anything soon after, on this blog haha) post on OKTOBERFEST. which erm, took place in the last weeks of September, so erm, about a month ago. Heh. So here goes.

22 September 2008, Monday

Slept over at Berlin-Schönefeld Airport on my own for a night en route to Munich (: On hindsight, it was really nothing much, although I was pretty apprehensive about it before actually doing it, and actually felt accomplished after I did it (: But anyway, Berlin seemed like a great city with tons of fascinating neighbourhoods to explore and history to learn about, so we'll be back!

23 September 2008, Tuesday

Walked around the City Centre (: Saw the New City Hall with the Glockenspiel in the middle of Marienplatz, saw Frauenkirche, the one with the two onion-domed towers below, ate very typical rich Bavarian food (crispy pork knuckles omg those were so good), and went to Viktualienmarkt, where we bought more more and more food. Haha with us, its always about the food huh.

24 September 2008, Wednesday

Went to Dachau, to see the Nazi Concentration Camp :/ Was quite a sobering experience I guess, although Jgan says one must go to Auschwitz which is even worse because it was a death camp. Anyway, random wiki trivia — The slogan "Arbeit macht frei" was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps "as a kind of mystical declaration that self-sacrifice in the form of endless labour does in itself bring a kind of spiritual freedom." Which obviously, is rubbish, although I guess, it endless labour does bring about spiritual freedom, when, erm, you die from overwork in the harsh winter hmm, so there's a certain amount of accuracy there hurhur.

Then we finally went to OKTOBERFEST! :D Which was AMAZING. i thought it would only be beer tents, but not only did the sheer magnitude of these beer tents shock me (they didn't look like tents at all from the outside!), I also didn't expect it to be this full-fledged carnival haha. With rollercoasters, like the insane one below which we went on, which had 5(!) freaking loops. Was insane, really.

Us with random drunk Germans in the traditional Bavarian costumes, who just happily hopped into the group picture hahaha.

24 September 2008, Thursday

Got to the tents damn bloody early, so that we could get seats in the tent. Damn Singaporean, but we had to lah haha. Even though it meant we had to sit through a mass and watch the baptism of 2 kids in the tent, before the first beers of the day could be served haha. Seriously, baptising your babies in a beer tent? Hahaha, and beers for breakfast? Only at Oktoberfest (:

The Brass Band! Which had to taaah a full 1-litre of beer first thing in the morning before playing, which kept playing this song called "Ein Prosit" which is somewhat like a cue for everyone to stand up, singalong and taaah their beers haha.

GIANT pretzels haha. Damn amazing, and with the salt, damn shiok to eat when drinking litres and litres of beer haha.

Meet my ridiculous friends I don't know what the hell these 2 are doing HAHAHA. It just seems like some cantonese opera thingamajig haha I don't even know how it started haha, only that there actually are more than 4 of these in the series haha.

More happy people (: With the waitress with the damn ooh-la-la cleavage haha. Like Risse said, the costume really does bring out the best in female anatomy haha.

Then we moved to the Paulaner's tent (: And had even more beer and pretzels and those fantastic honey-coated almonds (at least that's what I think they were). Haha I told you, with us its always about the eating and drinking.

Random dudes dressed as beer bottles. Its damn amazing how its such a tradition, Oktoberfest. Like you see old men in groups at the tents, and you can totally imagine that they've been going since they were teenagers, dressed like this haha.

After all that beer, we went on Weixuan's Walking Tour of Munich! (: On hindsight, this is where it all started — seeing sights at night because there's always too much to do in the day. I say "on hindsight", because this is what we did in London and in Italy subsequently as well haha. It's always a case of "too many things to do, too little time".

25 September 2008, Friday

Wanted to go to Neuschwanstein Castle which was the inspiration for Cinderella's castle haha. But damnit we didn't have enough time so yeah :/ Anyway, we finally went on a real walking tour of the city, and it was quite incredible — our tour guide was this history professor (he was trying to become one anyway) so dates and stories just rolled off his tongue haha. Anyway, our ridiculous friends below. All from Scandinavia and still so damn scared of the cold, damn embarrassing haha.

So yeah, that was it (: Apart from the fact that I had to spend yet another night in transit sleeping in the airport in Berlin (with a pretzel and a book haha) and almost missed my bus back to Copenhagen because I overslept at the airport haha. I know, how can one oversleep at the airport right haha.

Okay that's all! Need to head out now (: Going to watch some film that's part of the CPH:DOX film festival. It's gonna be something about ChipTunes — "The ChipTune movement is made up of a bunch of technology nerds, who manage to get the most fantastic sounds out of gameboys, videogames and other electronic junk." Sounds like nothing I know, so haha should be exciting, especially since after that there should be a hands-on session (:

different names for the same thing

2008-11-01T19:36:00.001+01:00

I WANT.

shadow weighs a ton

2008-10-28T03:04:00.002+01:00

5 episodes of 90210 later, all I can think of is the OC.
I hate lying on my bed wide awake at 3am, argh.
So well, from The River Road by Sean O'Brien, first spotted on the London Tube.

The way we'd go on summer nights
In the times we were children
And thought we were lovers.

with kaleidoscopic eyes

2008-10-24T22:55:00.002+02:00

Finally, am back in Copenhagen! After a 14-day trip that eventually stretched itself into a 17-day one, which saw me going to London, Italy and then London again, because of RyanAir's wonderful on-time flights that left us stranded at Venice for 5 hours, and consequently me missing my EasyJet connection back to Copenhagen from London. And so, I decided to make the best of the situation and stay in London for 3 more days haha.

London did feel almost like home to return to, especially after a whirlwind trip to Italy (: Italy was fantastic, really. We spent too many euros shopping, ate too much gelati and took too many retarded photos (:

Will blog on the individual cities soon (and Oktoberfest omg) but for now, there's a whole load of laundry to be done, and a dusty room to vacuum. And work which should be started on. Oh and I'm meant to only survive on yoghurt, muesli, bread, ham and cheese, because of the hugeass amount I blew in the last 3 weeks : / Terribly exciting, really.

tummy full of gelato

2008-10-11T12:01:00.004+02:00

Am in London now, in Kwek & Weijia's place, erm hanging out till Josh is due to show up before we head down to Stansted together. But yeah, for the past 3 days, LONDON AS BEEN FANTASTIC. Didn't quite see the sights (although Josh and I did take a 4 hour walk that was damn cold because of the wind at night, along the Thames and around the Westminster area and we did see the Big Ben, the London Eye etc), because well... I'm definitely coming back to London again (how can I not). And because London seems like a city to live in, not, well, to do all the touristy things in, I spent many many hours along/around Oxford Street haha (: Oh, and we went to Koko last night, which was a rather amazing (albeit different) club. In essence, I LOVE LONDON <3

along the magical banks of the Thames

2008-10-08T16:02:00.004+02:00

Am off to London! A brief stop of 3 days, before 11 days of Italia! (: Haven't planned for what to do in London, but well, we'll just take it as it comes. Hopefully, we'll spot some Banksy rats while aimlessly wandering around The City (:

I woke with wings from lucid dreams

2008-10-06T17:39:00.003+02:00

19-21 September 2008

100 international law students provided with an endless flow of beer (: That was what the Law Welcome Weekend was, i.e. partying resting partying resting partying. The campsite was in the middle of nowhere, in Lolland which I have been told, is actually an island in the Baltic Sea. I never knew haha.

Anyway so we had a costume party which was P-themed. Meaning, one had to come dressed as something that starts with the letter P. So yeah we had plenty of pirates, police(wo)men, pregnant people, purple (me!), pussycats etc. But the guy who won best-dressed was Phelps. The brave soul wore only his speedos the entire night haha.

Okay done (: Am on a roll here, OKTOBERFEST next!

i fly like paper, get high like planes

2008-10-05T10:31:00.005+02:00

Damnit this is a month late... But yeah am forcing myself to clear the backlog (there's still the Law Welcome Weekend and Oktoberfest!) before we head off to Italy next week (: So anyway, a month ago, I headed to Århus to visit Desiree Tan, where she stuffed me with not only with chocolate banana / caramalised apple crepes, but also forced me to down wine for breakfast...

4 September 2008, Thursday

Took the bus to Århus! Didn't know we were going to drive up a ferry enroute to Århus so it was plenty exciting (: No photos of the ferry ride though, because it was at night and thus pitch black.

5 September 2008, Friday

Took a walk around the city centre, just chilling, eating, watching the world go by. That really sums up my trip to Århus, you know, chilling and eating. We ate so much ice-cream because we found cheap and good ice-cream (after-eights flavour!) haha. And well... the story of the pizza. That slice of pizza was impossibly spicy because dear Desiree and I, being very proud to be Singaporean, piled on the chili flakes. And then, had to subsequently pick them off the pizza slice because our tongues were on fire. I swear. Like, there were drops of perspiration on our noses, it was thaaat spicy haha.

As part of the Århus Festival, there was an exhibition titled — "Guess the Statue". So yeah, apparently, nine of the cities’ statues were wrapped in red shrink wrap and an additional ”dummy sculpture” usually not present was mounted. Interesting yes, but this meant that all I got to see the entire weekend were statutes wrapped in red shrink wrap. We didn't quite bother finding the additional dummy sculpture though.

At night, went to Social Club for free beer (again argh, people here drink nothing but beer). Spent an hour after closing freezing our asses off in the drizzle, talking to some danish dude about the idiosyncracies of the danish people. Kinda surreal I guess, after a night of free beers.

6 September 2008, Saturday

Went on a walking tour — the Icons for Now exhibition (: Below, an entire stage made completely out of wooden crates. Very very amazing. And a religion-themed piece — graffiti artists of various religions linked together by spray paint. Didn't find an explanation behind the piece, but haha that's how I interpreted it anyway haha.

Random posters stuck on a wall that weren't part of the walking tour.

Paper covers Rock, Rock breaks Scissors, Scissors cut Paper, Gun wins Every Time. Hours Devoured, Days Slayed, Years Disappeared. I had a Friend, I had a Kroner, I Gave a Friend a Kroner. Countless Obstacles, Relentless Optimism, Senseless Optimism.

The piece of red wall was just... amazing (how else does one describe something like that). Imagine how it took our breaths away, as we came in through that door, turned around and... WOW.

Okay Desiree forced me to taahh a glass of wine for breakfast. So yeah, I think this was the wine at work, at least for me haha. I don't know about Miss Pouty Lips though haha.

THIS IS CRAZILY AMAZING. We spotted it from a distance, and it wasn't even commissioned or what-not, it just was on the side of a privately-owned building. Walking down some alley, turning around to make a comment to your friend walking behind you, stopping mid-sentence because you saw this. You must admit that this is nothing short of awe-inspiring. When I grow up and have my own house, this is what I will do haha.

Random messages left by random people, on random walls. The first one, my motto for Exchange: IF NOT NOW, WHEN? On a I'm-obsessed-with-Wikipedia sidenote, "If Not Now, When? is a novel by the Italian author Primo Levi, first published in 1982 under the title Se non ora, quando?". The second one is just plain emo-nemo.

Ended up at the Passage for Thought, furnished by Ikea, in a narrow alley.

Then we wandered into an abandoned courtyard which is the MOST AWESOME COURTYARD IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. I swear. You will see.

We Came to Change.

LOOK AT THE DETAILS (click to enlarge! please!). This just ain't graffiti anymore, its Art. Anyway, Lynn Sim, I thought of you and the intricate drawings you used to draw in your notebooks when we were in St Nicks when I saw this!

Then we climbed the stairs and from where we were sitting...

We saw... THIS. This was the reason why we wandered into this abandoned courtyard in the first place, to find this. But we found so much more (: But if we didn't climb up those rickety stairs, we wouldn't have found this. I cannot stop saying this, but it really was damn amazing lah, to keep discovering all these pieces.

HOW DOES ONE CREATE STUFF LIKE THIS.

Anti-Smoking Ban campaign initiated by Kim Larsen, some Danish rock musician who's a heavy smoker. The posters read "Tillykke med rygeforbudet - Gesundheit macht frei!", which translates to "Congratulations for the Smoking Ban - Health makes (One) Free!" So apparently this has stirred up a huge controversy in Denmark, because the phrase "Gesundheit macht frei" is seen as an allusion to the Nazi phrase, "Arbeit macht frei" (work makes one free) which were placed at the entrance of concentration camps. So yeah.

Trekked out of the city centre to see the piece below... And this was where I fell down while walking backwards trying to get a better view of the building, and promptly twisted my ankle. This is Desiree the nurse who came to my rescue haha.

7 September 2008, Sunday

Hobbled to the ARoS Museum where there were damn fantastic contemporary art exhibitions. Anyway time for some useless trivia (again, which HweeNgee adores) — "The name ARoS is the Latin word for the city Århus while the capitalized letters of the name hint at the Latin word for art, namely ars."

Saw the exhibition and film titled "Open Sky", which documented a danish woman's journey from Copenhagen to Kabul, in her bid to enable an Afghan girl to realize her dream of flying. So yeah this was the small aircraft (the real thing! not just a model!) which made it all the way from Denmark to Afghanistan... Also saw the "Music to See" exhibition, which showcased mtvs as a pictorial art form. Was damn fascinating, to read about the styles of the various directors, and the analyses of their videos. It's like practical criticism in literature class all over again, just that its no longer words we're pouring over, but images.

Oh my god. Am finally done. Started doing this while waiting for the rain to stop, so I could cycle to the supermarket but well... the drizzle doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon, argh. So yeah, I guess someone's staying in today and catching up on shows (:

living in the world's cycling capital

2008-09-30T18:51:00.004+02:00

I HAVE BEEN COPENHAGENIZED.

drinking beer by the litre

2008-09-22T01:47:00.004+02:00

Am off to Munich for Oktoberfest! (:

But before that, a 7-hour bus ride to Berlin, and a one-nighter at the Berlin-Schönefeld Airport, alone! But if I make it, I'm sure we'll have a damn damn damn good time (: Prost!

still your face is young

2008-09-19T12:02:00.006+02:00

Am off to the Law Welcome Weekend (:

I know, 1.5 months after I arrive, 3 weeks after classes have officially started, and well, when its 1 more week to recess week for everyone else back home... But anyway, will be back on Sunday afternoon (: Hopefully I'll update this again before I'm off to Munich for Oktoberfest come Monday!

The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything

2008-09-15T22:08:00.010+02:00

So it's like I'm down with a cold :/ It developed because of the stupid weather and because of my 3-day week which saw all the international students partying too hard :/ 4 nights out in a row with a lot a lot of drinks = everyone falling sick. I'm waiting for my teochew muay (with luncheon meat!) to boil so yeah, here's a damn long (seriously) and belated update, from 2 weeks back when, Desiree came to København to visit for a week! (:

25th August 2008, Monday

We went to the Zulu Sommerbio event at Søndermarken near my place to catch American Gangster under the stars (: It was nice, Desiree loved the free potato ships that tasted like tapioca chips but it was SUPER COLD, throughout the 3 hours :/ And we only brought a thin towel to sit on, unlike seasoned Copenhageners who had the foresight to bring mini foldable beach chairs.

26th August 2008, Tuesday

We had lunch at Ida Davidson for smørrebrød! It is, according to Lonely Planet, the epitome of danish tradition and culture. But well, being the epitome of danish tradition and culture, this meant that even though it was listed in the Budget Eating section of Lonely Planet, this place was not cheap — food in Copenhagen is never cheap :/ I think it cost us like 300 dkk in total, for 2 pieces of smørrebrød and a strawberry tart. Okay enough of being Singaporean, apart from the shocking price (they didn't have menus with prices!), the food was fantastic! They had every kind of topping imaginable that you can want on top of your ryebread — we had one with fresh shrimp, and another with smoked salmon and caviar! The strawberry tart was damn shiok as well, fresh strawberries, with custard and a crispy almond crust (:

After that I brought her on the Canal Tour (: And yes, I did go on it again. I seriously reccommend the tour, it really is damn worth it for 30 dkk (:

We crossed over to Christianshavn, for tea at Lagkagehuset (: We had another strawberry tart, nevermind that we already had one a couple of hours ago. We somehow just had an obsession with strawberry tarts that day, or something.

In between tea and dinner, we went to Christiania but there are no photos because you can't take pictures of all the interesting (hmmm) things in there so oh well. Then we found our way to Bang & Jensen in Vesterbro, which was a cosy little cafe in the day that turns into a restaurant and bar at night. Okay so by now you should be able to tell that Desiree and I were just hopping from one nice restaurant/bakery/cafe to another, and sightseeing in between heh.

27th August 2008, Wednesday

I think this was my favourite place — the Laundromat Cafe in Vesterbro (: Very colourful and cheery, perfect for brunch. Oh, and the second-hand books, arranged by colour, are on sale! Anyway the Laundromat Cafe really is a laundromat with washing machines, although I was too paiseh to go take a photo of these people using the bright red washing machines hurhur. Anyway brunch was great, will probably go back again one lazy sunday!

Then we made it to the Carlsberg Brewery! Anyway Joan, if you're reading this, we thought of you when we saw the Carlsberg tray and ice-bucket! (: We kinda rushed through the self-guided tour, because we wanted to get to the end, to drink our 2 free beers hahaha. So anyway there was this damn cool thing where you smell 20 aromas, and then pick out those that you like. And according to your preferences, the guy will pick out a beer that best suits you! Dam exciting lah, especially when I picked damn wtf/girly flavours like citrus, chocolate, coffee, caramel. But yeah they did haha.

Then we had dinner at Cafe Zirup, off Strøget. Okay shit I realise this really is turning into a food blog. Haha but hey, it was because Desiree was visiting okay. I, as a most wonderful host, tailor my guided tours around Copenhagen around the interests of my guests (:

28th August 2008, Thursday

We went to Lund! (: To visit Jgan, KT and Jingmin (: Lund is like super-duper near, around 45 mins by train? It's like how in Singapore, I drove all the way from Serangoon to Buona Vista to play monopoly at KT's place lah. It is thaaat near. Anyway the very kind boys (who wore sweaters that matched their bikes!!) picked us up at the train station,walked us to Jingmin's place, in exchange for a bottle of oyster sauce haha.

After a long trek (we got lost hurhur), we got our asses to Jingmin's place, for dinner with her SMU friends and 3 Germans they invited over (: Her apartment is damn nice lah, damn new and spacious.

28th August 2008, Friday

We left Lund for Malmö! (: Which is like... 10 mins away by train. Apparently a lot of Danes and Swedes live Malmö but work in Copenhagen because its so damn near, to take advantage of the lower costs of living in Malmö. Its damn JB-Singapore lah. The weather was perfect so we just kinda roamed the streets and spent a long time at the mega-H&M haha.

Got back to my place in time for dinner (told you Malmö was near), and we had damn fantastic soup! Carrots, fishballs, Corn and WANTON WANTON WANTON. The taste of Shrimp! (I was going to say fresh shrimp but obviously it was frozen shrimp haha.) It was damn... umami, my god.

29th August 2008, Saturday

TIVOLI ! (: Apparently, according to Wikipedia, Tivoli was a source of inspiration for Disneyland – "After a visit to Tivoli Gardens, Walt Disney was so impressed with the Danish amusement park, he immediately decided Disneyland should try to emulate its 'happy and unbuttoned air of relaxed fun.'" Anyway, Miss Desiree Tan dragged us up ALL the rides in Tivoli, making full use of our multi-ride ticket :/ We even went up the Demon twice, (the rollercoaster with the red loop below). And it was damn cold on the Star Flyer thing (top left picture), which is the world's tallest carousel (according to Wikipedia again yes) although haha if you don't have vertigo, it does provide a wonderful view of the City.

30th August 2008, Sunday

By now, we were damn shagged already so we just relak-jacked. Did a half-hearted stroll through the Statens Museum for Kunst but it wasn't that great without a guide, unfortunately. Then we just kinda watched the world go by, chilling at Baresso, which is kinda like Denmark's answer to Starbucks (:

Okay and that was it (: Desiree's week-long trip to Copenhagen, with our side trip to Malmö and Lund. Erm, and next up, soon hurhur, my trip to Århus (: I should try and do this soon, before I leave for the Law Welcome Weekend Camping Trip and for Munich!

they call it the bohemian capital

2008-09-04T18:05:00.006+02:00

I'M GOING TO ÅRHUS FOR THE WEEKEND TO VISIT DESIREE TAN (:

But shit that's assuming I'll make the bus :/ Because now, I'm waiting for my dryer to finish up my laundry and it has 20 mins to do so, before I need to dash out of my house and catch the S-Train to Valby. Damnit where did the day go! But anyway, the wonders of a 3-day week! (:

(And no, I didn't take that picture, not yet anyway haha, wait till I get there.)

where i stood

2008-09-01T00:07:00.007+02:00

Two, from Never Let Me Go.

I caught a glimpse of his face in the moonlight, caked in mud and distorted with fury, then I reached for his flailing arms and held on tight. He tried to shake me off, but I kept holding on, until he stopped shouting and I felt the fight go out of him. Then I realised he too had his arms around me. And so we stood together like that, at the top of that field, for what seemed like ages, not saying anything, just holding each other, while the wind kept blowing and blowing at us, tugging our clothes, and for a moment, it seemed like we were holding onto each other because that was the only way to stop us being swept away into the night.

x x x

Mind you, though I say I never go looking for Hailsham, what I find is that sometimes, when I'm driving around, I suddenly think I've spotted some bit of it. I see a sports pavilion in the distance and I'm sure its ours. Or a row of poplars on the horizon next to a big woolly oak, and I'm convinced for a second I'm coming up to the South Playing Field from the other side. Once, on a grey morning, on a long stretch of road in Gloucestershire, I passed a broken-down car in a lay-by, and I was sure the girl standing in front of it, was Susanna. These moments hit me when I'm least expecting it, when I'm driving with something else entirely on my mind. So maybe a some level, I am on the lookout for Hailsham.

what were the chances

2008-08-27T10:04:00.008+02:00

Omg this is way overdue :/ But yah i'm getting to it now, while Desiree refuses to get up and get ready. Raahh. We're meant to go to the Laundromat Cafe, which apparently serves the best brunch in Copenhagen (: Oh and on a very joyous note, I am impossibly happy that Nette is coming to Europe next semester! (:

15 August 2008, Friday

So well, the international students again, trooped down to the beach — Amager Strandpark (: Was quite excited about going to the beach but erm, forgot to bring beach wear. I know, nice.

Brave souls who went into the water which was goddamn cold! It was madness, people were just diving in, not quite out of enthusiasm, but more because apparently it will be less cold if you go in all at once, or something. I don't know, they're mad. Below, one of aforementiond enthusiastic people, a classmate, in his underwear after his valiant attempt.

Planning trips for the one-week break (ie the break we're having now) after the end of the danish course (:

16 August 2008, Saturday

Trip to Ikea! To get myself a full-length mirror, so that I can stop using PhotoBooth every morning to see what I'm wearing :/ Damn loser. And a new pillow, so that I can stop having neck cramps because of the flat cushion I have masquerading as a pillow.

The Danes and the Swedes are damn nationalistic about their meatballs! But anyway, there was a recent proar about how Ikea named its products. Swedish imperialism, they all it. Apparently, "academics in Copenhagen claim to have discovered a pattern at Ikea whereby high-end items - chairs, beds, home furnishings - get named after Swedish, Finnish and Norwegian towns whereas products of lesser value like doormats, draught excluders and runners are named after Danish towns." And apparently, as retaliation, Carlsberg is considering naming one of its low-alcohol beers brewed by Carlsberg after a Swedish town - because the Swedes traditionally loathe "lite" beer.

Party at Handværkekollegiet (: Where I made my first Danish friend, ridiculous as it sounds, a first danish friend after 2 weeks here. But well... danish people don't go for beginners' danish, do they.

And because of a long episode at the end of the party, we failed to catch the last night bus. And so we walked. So here, a picture of the Statens Museum for Kunst (refer to previous entry for photo in the day) at 5am :/

Okay done! (: Desiree's finally awake, and getting ready. Hopefully we don't miss the last order for brunch haha that will be damn pathetic of us. And after that, we'll probably be headed to the Carlsberg brewery! (:

this city we live in

2008-08-25T11:42:00.001+02:00

11 August 2008, Monday

We went on a random walkabout after danish class, around Kongens Nytorv and saw this! — Fashion Is for Idiots. (Like us) :D

Then while trying to find some building, we wandered into the cobbled central square of the Amalienborg Palace, with the statue of Frederik V in the middle, next to the water front. (You know its damn lame how I usually take photos of nice buildings/statues first, before going closer to read the plaque and finding out what it is, but aiyah nevermind.) Anyway, it's apparently the home of the royal family, which explains why there are guards. Its damn funny how they can talk to each other though, because I thought guards are not supposed to?! We saw a pair kinda doing a slow march around, and throughout the entire march/stroll, they were chatting... I don't know man.

Then we saw the Marmorkirken, which means the Marble Church in Danish. Apparently, it boasts the largest church dome in Scandinavia. Erm okay, that's that. And on the left, cyclist waiting in line at a traffic light, on bike lanes (:

12 August 2008, Tuesday

As part of our danish course, we went to the Statens Museum for Kunst, which is the Danish National Gallery.

So we had a guide, Stine. The thing is, everyone couldn't help but laugh when she introduced herself, because Stine happens to be a damn danish name for girls — like how Ali, Devi, Ahmad and their friends were from our PETS textbooks in primary school, Stine was the only danish female name that kept appearing in our danish textbooks, alongside Ivan and Søren.

And then she told us about the Danish Golden Age which really is damn amusing. Apparently in the 19th century, Denmark was a place of political and economic chaos. She said something about them being attacked by the British, the State going bankrupt, and Denmark losing Norway. So apparently someone thought of a damn good idea, to paint the country as being damn harmonious and idyllic despite it being the exact opposite, in the hope that it would become reality, and it did. It's damn propaganda-ish, I must say, but smart, yes.

After going to the DNG, we went searching for bikes. It's damn shady, this second-hand bike buying business. We went to some shop which seemed only to sell first-hand bikes, but when we asked for second-hand ones, they opened this door at the back of the shop which opened out to this huge yard full of used bikes. It's damn shady lah, they told us that they were from the police auction but oh well, haha at the rate at which bikes are getting stolen, I won't be surprised if some of them were stolen, especially when a lot of them had broken locks.

13 August 2008, Wednesday

We went to Field's! Which apparently is Scandinavian's largest shopping mall but isn't all that big actually, probably like Vivocity, maybe? Probably because unlike the Americans and Asians, Europeans just aren't into ginormous shopping malls. Anyway I finally managed to buy my rice cooker! Omg I was damn excited but erm, till now, I haven't even bought rice, because I'm too lazy to lug a huge bag of rice home. But I will soon!

Okay end of post, time for me to go tidy up my room a little before Desiree comes visiting today from Århus! (: And to plan what we're gonna do for the next 3 days here in København. Hopefully we'll do random walkabouts around the city, shop a little (just a little), and wander into quaint cafes (:

但愿人长久，千里共婵娟

2008-08-23T15:54:00.003+02:00

THANK YOU GIRLS, FOR SENDING ME MOONCAKES! (: Especially, for knowing that I detest lotus paste and therefore sent me yam paste ones! Thanks for the love, especially since Copenhagen is a a cold windy rainy gloomy place today :/

Jeg kan tale lidt dansk.

2008-08-22T17:40:00.002+02:00

This is a photo of my danish class because today was the last day of my danish course and... I PASSED MY DANISH TEST (:

running up that hill

2008-08-21T10:14:00.003+02:00

07 August 2008, Thursday

We trooped down to Fælledparken for the inter-class Rundbold tournament (: Anyway it's just like danish baseball/softball lah. And yes, St Nicks PE has prepared me well, I surprisingly managed to bat properly haha. Anyway the weather was damn damn shiok — sunny but breezy. There were people tanning in bikinis in the middle of the park! If the weather is ever like this again, I shall go tanning too yay.

09 August 2008, Saturday

Day trip by train to Roskilde! For the Viking Festival at the Viking Museum (: Basically, it was the Homecoming of the Sea Stallion, which is a reconstructed Viking ship, which set sail from Roskilde for Dublin in 2007. So yeah there, we had to go to see some Vikings haha.

Below, the København H station, and the Roskilde station.

The Danes really do love their flags yeah. Anyway I only realised it was National Day when I saw these flags haha.

Inside the Viking Museum, with all the reconstructed Viking ships. Apparently they were sunk in the 11th century to block the Roskilde Fjord to protect Roskilde against attacks by sea. In the 1960s or something, the ships were excavated from the sea bed, but in thousands of pieces. So somehow, they managed to assemble all the timber fragments to recreate these Viking ships. Quite cool huh.

After going to the Viking Museum, we tried to visit the Roskile Domkirke but didn't manage to because they were having church service in there. But apparently, some 39 Danish kings and queens are buried there. But no, we didn't get to see them :/

Came back to the main city and saw an ongoing street basketball match being played at the Rådupladsen, in front of the City Hall building. Was blacks against whites huhur, but erm, the whites won, haha.

Okay that's all for now, time to study for my Danish oral test which is tomorrow :/ After that, it's a week long break! (:

row row row your boat

2008-08-18T15:35:00.009+02:00

06 August 2008, Wednesday

So well, after danish class last week, the exchange students went on a Canal Tour in the Nyhavn waterfront (: It was damn touristy yes, but well, it was pretty nice (: we did find the brightly painted townhouses that we saw on every other postcard, and we did see the little mermaid's backview and a lot more scandinavian-styled buildings that i snapped 3082402 photos of because of their damn cool designs but can't identify hurhur.

So while out in the harbour, we also saw the Royal Ship Denneborg (complete with damn cute sailor who waved at us haha) and some Danish naval battleships (or at least that's what I think they are haha). Oh, and the goddamn Little Mermaid which is damn small (the postcards lied!) :/ I don't know why so many people flock to see it though. But anyway trivia time — my guidebook says that, "the mermaid has sufffered over the years at the hands of mischevious pranksters, even losing her head and an arm." I wiki-ed her and tada, apparently she has been draped in a tudung and burka before, got covered with pink paint, lost her head a couple of times, had a bra painted on her and a dildo put in her hand...

We also saw (clockwise from top right) the Black Diamond (named after its shiny black granite facade) which is the home of the Royal Library, the Royal Danish Playhouse, the Copenhagen Opera House, and erm a host of other unidentifiable but damn nice buildings haha.

There were a lot of houseboats and luxury yachts in the canals as well. Oh and random smiley danish people just relaking on their boats with beers in their hands... And random kayakers!

And because this is Denmark, of course they have floating bars in the canal! Calsberg, no less.

More pictures of colourful buildings... I wonder if the individual owners of the various buildings did actually decide to collaborate with each other to make sure that the colours turned out nice and cheery, or was it just a random thing hmm. Anyway yeah we also saw the Børsen, which is Copenhagen's old stock exchange. Oh and an interesting juxtaposition — random old building juxtaposed against grafitti along the canal banks.

Okay end of post, gotta go do my laundry and attempt to study for the danish test tomorrow :/