It has been more than two months I am here in the land of Ikea, Volvo, Pippi Longstockings , ABBA etc etc etc. I have not blogged for sometime also... well school is crazy and i got tired of reading and typing cos of that somewhat but again i should not complain. Its still better than being frustrated and stuck at work for a long time.
Autumn is finally here and many of the greens has turned red and yellow and orange. Its beautiful! of course my faourtie tree nearby has turned botak totally and looks like an upside down tree.
The first term is coming to an end. I am grateful my group, thou not perfect is harmonious. We did not so bad for the motorola project. Now waiting for exam on 29th and another individual task dateline on 30th. The new module, International Business is starting this monday and so is an extra course on Improvisation of multicultural thingie through drama and stuff. I am in dilemma. That extra course starts at 5pm to 8pm on Mondays and Wednesdays and i dunno if i can do it. Thou the lecturer seems excited that I am from sg( not many sg pple around).
Hari Raya Celebrations
hari raya was unexpectedly one day earlier than sg for me. It was so klam kabut but Inta and I went to Indonesian embassy that evening and got to eat rendang. Somewhat it was quite sad for me on hari raya, but i expected myself to be sad anyways.... I managed to get online nand web conference with my uncles and aunts and cousin on that day(my 2nd day raya). i was in school then waiting for seminar to start.
I had given my feedback to the lecturers about not having important seminars on certain dates for eg Eid. And not to reply to students questions coldy(ok i wont explain this cos i know you guys who read this are the ones who has been tlaking to me often). Still no response till now anyways from the lecturers.But its ok. I was also feeling so horrible over one of the students i think an italian comment when i wish pple Eid Mubarak. he figured it was some kind of religious crap. But Im glad th other students are not as shallow and narrow as he is... sigh good for the world that proportionately more pple are not as ignorant.
My Hari raya open house is not bad... and yeah i managed to cook my own rendang. And its yummy. hehe dunno how come i can realy cook since i moved here. Gullu, my hos sister from gothernburgh came too and stayed over. I was so happy. My friends loved Orebro too and will come again i believe.
Another hari Raya gathering was organised by Inta and Mushin(another indonesian in Malardarlen) we had it at Noora Allegatan's community room. Its also splendid. Theres chop chye and opor.
The past month, I have gotten to know Aida, a singaporean who has lived her for 7 years and she seems nice. I have not met her yet thou. Just talked thru msn and skype. and phone. My big package also arrive with my ikan bilis and jewelry making things. I went to SG Club Hari raya gathering and thru SG club has got to know more singaporeans mostly living in stockholm.
The SG club gathering was held at almadinah restaurant at the side of a mosque in stockholm. www.almadinah.se. Gosh I love stockholm. Its beautiful beauftiful just so beautiful. I will go there many times I hope before i come back to sg. Too bad I did not take that much photos cos it was gettting dark. I was a bit moody also cos worried about my baby nia fia cos i heard shes been acting out. (I have sent some things to her yesterday and promised to send mini books now onwards at least once in two weeks).
Anyhow back to the gathering, theres another malay lady with her hubby and cute baby elias. Theres a lady who lives in vasteras and she has lived here for 11 years. I am glad to know an Sg ean nearby hehe. I met 2 NOC boys and some Karolinska students whos in collaboration program between karolinska and researc institute in nus.
The students missed sg as i did and think that stockholm is not happening as sg. hahahahahahaahahahaha try live in orebro or vasteraslah. I thot stockholm was happening enough. Anyhow Happening not happneing, i embrace the life here. the natural beauty the weather, the fresh air and the peacefulness(looking nt he bright side). I missed the big shopping centres in sg and the crowds and the noise and the humid heatiness haha well i can live without those for a bit. But wat i missed the most is my wonderful family and friends. Every night without fail, I dream of sg anything sg. The people is the factor.
Here, thou i value the everything nice, i sometimes feel isolated and handicapped (like i cant travel far cos it may be expensive or i dunno how to but that i can learn). My social life sucks cos my peers are an hour away.
Worse now my nintendo dslite is gone...i dunno how and how... gosh... it takes away my attention form studying. but i have to focus.
Currently theres no class but just studying and i still wish i can share the beautiful sights and places with my moved ones, my family and friends.....
My achievements:
Walked super fast
understand more swedish words and understand how much to pay fromt he cashiers
enjoying swedish entertainment show slike the singing be(similar to remember the lyrics)
through that enjoying some swedish songs
made pineapple tarts
oats cookies with chocolate
cornflake cookies
honey cornflake cookies
wonderful rendang
daging masak kicap pedas
lodeh
Nasi Lemak
Sambal tumis ikan bilis for nasi lemak
No pictures for now But i will put it up soon. i am trying to get beautiful colours of autumn and try put it up for competition in school.
So look out for it. ( i really shd write more cos i tend to forget details)
Views of the area in Västerås, near my campus.
A clock tower Names of Tsunami Victims from Västerås. Graveyard.
View of centrum(central) in västerås. 5 or 10 mins from school. Below are photos of the market in central selling veges and lots of berriesalso and a public toilet thats self cleaning. The toilet cleans itself after use. I didnt try though.
Home cooked foods mostly by me. except the apple crumble.
Assam Pedas, Apple Crumble eat with vanilla sauce, mee siam, my 1st ramadan meal, chicken rice. the dessert was apple crumble... yummmm
A sat out with friends. We had rice dinner . View from sky bar. Friends from left: Juan(Panama), Max (Germany), Inta(indonesia), Gaston & Victoria (Argentina). I drank non alcoholic wine and it sucks. Shd just stick to coffee.
Its been about a Month in Ikealand aka Sverige aka Sweden. I am honestly still settling down. School is already getting serious and projects and assignments already loading up. Stress and panicky attacks begin too. Its manageable. What I have achieved?
- I got used to walking alot and walking to school from train station is a walk in the park(literally walking through a park or i can choose shopping area). I am begining to time my speed in walking.
- I manage to cycle to and fro home to train station with bike that has no hand brakes. i got used to pedal brakes(just cycle backwards) its a common thing here. So far has not fallen down yet but many times wobbling when theres pple standing around the paths.
- At times i get over fear of dogs at other times still jump at sight of one well at least not at all times i jump
- learn to be patient when trains were delayed...but then it does not happen many time so its ok
- Improve in reading superfast
- Start to undertand some swedish true listening... cos kinda have to esp at train stations they announced delays and stuff in swedish and if i dun understand... that wont be convenient
- I can cook!!!!! and not a bad cook afterall... must be genes from my mom hehehe
- Hainanese Chicken Rice
- Sardin my mom's style
- Mee Siam
- Tom Yum Noodles
- Assam Pedas
Two weeks ago a day spent in Västerås with my friends were really great.
We went shopping in hälla, "lepak" in Vicky's room while Gas was preparing a caramel by boiling a sealed can of condensed milk (tried it back home and its yummy), tried argentian tea, Mate and then dinner to bid farewell to Gaston, Vicky's bf who will be studying in Ronneby, south sweden (apparently there's 8 singaporeans studying there). We went to a club then just for fun and its really not happening) and i thot the word 'happening' is quite normal to use, it isn't Juan and the gang had fun with the word 'happening' which was introduced by Inta) and awkward. Theres nobody haha. Then we went to Skybar, probably the highest point in västerås or at least one of the highest. Its beautiful view from up there but its already late at night so cnanot see anything much. On way down, we encountered a couple of teenage girls giggling looking out through the see through elevator. I was with Gaston and Stef and they spoke english to each other when one of the girls turned and asked, " Are you from England?". we reacted quite slowly. but we realised, they are teenage girls and i understand, they are not used to tall buidings and people speaking English. so its an exciting experience for them... quite cute actually...
Anyhow I do miss home. and a bit sad that my little princess refused to talk to me now. I'm glad her her pink shoes have arrived in sg and I'm finding creative ideas to make things better for her . I hope she will be better at dealing wiht me being away soon and for her to understand and know that i will be back to be with her soon again.
It's Ramadan, I miss the sound of Azan so I actually turn on to live radio Warna when its almost maghrib in Singapore to listen to it and the song after the azan which is so Ramadan... So far, fasting has been going quite well for me here. The cool weather helps actually...thou sometimes challenging.
I wish I could share what i see , what i smell and what i encounter with my friends and family. For now, I'm still enjoying the view i get on the trains to and fro school. its still is spectacular with lots of moo cows and horses and sometimes deers....
21 August 2008
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I have decided to skip all the orientation parties and tours and off to Saffle to visit the Henningssons, practically my Swedish family. Saffle looks so different then it was in winter ...duh. As usual, Mr & Mrs Henningsson with their warm welcome and warm hugs, melted my nervousness away. I will call them Stefsmor & Stefsfar. We headed straight for lunch.
My first Swedish lunch-->Pickled Herrings with boiled Potatoes. Its scary at first but strangely, pickled herrings taste so much better here than back home. I actually enjoyed my meal very much. We had our lunch at the patio(never get that chance when i was here during winter).
We went out to the lake for a walk and then rested for a bit before I joined the guys to fish by the lake but no lucklah.
We had Salmon for dinner...
At night before sleep, we played a really fun card game, Quiddler. I would reckon that if anyone of my friends in Sg are gong to the Settlers Cafe. I think I saw that game there too.
22 August 2008
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I was up quite late on Friday, as in got out of the bedroom late cos was busy trying to start the blog ha ha. We had bread and cheese for breakfast and then headed to town to open my bank account. The turnip bank refused to let me open my account although I should be able to according to the University. But the branch in Saffle asked me to open it in Vasteras ...sigh and of course I start to compare thins back home.... I have to remind myself not to compare or I'll go nuts. If i have patience for mails in a neighboring country back home, I should have patience here too.
We went groceries shopping after that and cooked Hainanese Chicken Rice. hey realised the recipe in the pre departure notepad is nuts. Its not a complete recipe. Nonetheless the chicken rice happen and my chili sauce turns out well...and that's a new recipe on its own ha ha.
We played quidder at night and had our own mini Crayfish Party with cheese pie (it was a yummy experience and I was surprised no itching around my mouth...did i lost my shellfish allergy here?) and a 2nd round of Quiddler
Sweden at 8pm. Crayfish!!!!!
So I've been eating and eating and eating...
23 Aug 2008
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After breakfast, we went out for a stroll around the town area in Saffle. We went home for a wonderful lunch of salmon like fishes with eggplant/tomatoes curry.
On way home Stefsfar, stopped by several places around lake vanern. It was really beautiful!
Back home, I tried to watch last episode of Cinta Fitri from SCTV but in vain. It got stuck always. I gave up watching. A family friend came as a family of four plus another dog, Buster for dinner. They are such wonderful people. Buster was very much friendly too and I was very much "shy" of Buster but again I managed to get over it.
Jan, Ulla and their son Richard with wife, Kamilla were wonderful. so we had more food and more apple crumble pie. I had herrings with potatoes and then salmon with more potatoes and then apple crumble pie with sauce. Plenty of food and drinks( gingeer ale and plain water for me thou) and everyone was jolly and chatty... I was again lost in language recognition but I really do not mind that, in fact I hope I could pick up the language faster that way.
I guess my loss of 4 kg has been pointless after being in Saffle for a few days...
24 August 2008
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We had Goulash Soup for lunch and pancakes with homemade jam with cream. We then head off back to Orebro. I cooked my mom's styled sardines again for dinner. I hope to be able to shed some fats and extra food off the coming weeks. Ramadan's coming any ways...