Mind Games

I guess I don't know how the rest of the world works outside of the little red dot, otherwise I wouldn't be so puzzled as to why certain things are done here.

For example, it was only explained to me why they have to thoroughly wash their cars every week manually. And no. The automatic car washes are insufficient. Although, I know they use salt on the streets, it never occurred to me to put the two together. Salt corrodes the metal pipes very quickly.

I still can't figure out why they add so much calcium to the tap water here, so much so that the pipes, sinks and whatnot can end up calcified. And they have to spend extra trouble to clean those things up. Is it because of the cold? Or are they trying to build stronger bones?

I've also noticed from my many many walks here at night that there are always two buring lamps just outside of pubs and restaurants, one on each side of the door. Why is that? To drive away flies? Or to tell people that they serve food? I haven't seen flies here. And no ants too. Great! And isn't the sign board obvious enough that those are restaurants or pubs? Even I can figure it out, and I can't string a proper sentence in Swedish.

Does anyone know the answers to these? Or I may have to ask one of the locals here then.

Their working style is also so different here. They are so relaxed. For some reason, they have fika (fee-ka) two times a day or more, where they stop all they are doing, and take a coffee break for 30 minutes or more. Wow! The pace is so slow here that an Iranian commented to me today sometimes he just wishes for some action of sorts.

My nose capillaries broke ever since I reached Sweden and I keep getting bloody boogers. Dang. On the bright side, every day has been a good hair day. Unlike in Singapore where the humid air simply causes my hair to explode.

Swedish phrase of the day: tack så mycket (Thank you very much)

Day 8: The Morning I see Grass

That's right. Snow has melted to such an extent that patches of brownish-green moss like stuff (I guess it's the grass here?) has started peeking out. The weather is kind these two days, hovering around 4 to 7 Celsius. But according the people here and the weather forecast, this good weather will not last. By the end of the week, it's supposed to be 7 below 0 again. Dang...

I've just been chided by someone I know for being crazy, for feeling lonesome and homesick, for missing my family. Xiao eh, I have very good relations with my family and friends, and even I don't I'll still miss them. Tell it to me if you are away from home for 6 months or more. It's different going on a holiday (or work) for a week or two or even up to a month. You'll know that you would be home soon and be able to see your family and friends whenever you want, by simply picking up the phone, calling them and making an appointment. Here, at the back of my mind, I know it's not possible to do all that. To see my family (or friends) whenever I want. I won't be able to see them physically, or touch them, for not a week or two, not even a month or two, but for 6 long months. Tell it to me then if you feel homesick during the initial stages.

In fact, I've already started counting down to the day I can go home. 24 more weeks.

On another note, I've finally been able to sleep more. Woke up at 0500 instead of 0400 today. In fact, I'm feeling tired now, which means that I woke up too early and may be a good sign that I may be over the jet lag soon. Great!

Oh, I was walking past the cinemas this morning and noticed that they will only start playing 'Chicken Little' ('Lilla Kycklingen') on 3rd Feburary and 'Harry Potter' is still showing on their big screens. How slow is that! I watched both show at least a month (or more) ago. Oh man. And one of the kind Swedes here told me that if I wanted to watch a movie or something, tell him and we can arrange something. So far, I don't think I want to waste my money watching something I've already watched before in Singapore, and with the possibility that the shows here may be in Swedish, I certainly don't want to throw good money down the drain like that. Yet. But it was a kind offer. Well, maybe I'll take it up at a later stage.

And I've just been told by the kind Nepalese girl that she and her sister think I'm very friendly. Ha! This is a good sign. Maybe I may get to know more people here soon. Hopefully some Chinese? I miss conversing in Mandarin, as crazy as it may seem. Or Singaporeans (IF I can find any. Singaporeans or Malaysians in Uppsala? Come on. Contact me! My apartment's telephone number is...). I miss Singlish as well. But fear not, I will not turn up as some pseudo-Swede speaking in Swedish accented English, which by the way is very close to Queen's English, very perfect per se, at the end of 6 months.

Better days ahead? Cheers!

Day 7: The Day I Cooked

Yup. This marks the first day I cooked here in Sweden. Before this I was surviving on basically bread, bread and more bread. No, it wasn't the gardenia white bread, but some form of bun that had some (but very little) rasins in it. Actually, the bread is so cheap (5 buns for 10kr, which comes to roughly S$2.50. And each bun is quite filling) that I think they are stale buns. A little bit hard, but then again, what do I know? Maybe the Swedes like these type of hard buns? I see enough people buying them to know that they are safe to eat. Anyway, back to the cooking issue. Yes, I cooked for my lunch and dinner. Boiled some noodles, and stir fried with broccoli, some mushrooms, and chicken meat balls. Added some Knorr seasoning and pepper for taste. If I have to rate my cooking, I'll give it a 6 out of 10 for today. It was good enough to be eaten cold without waming in the microwave, but of course, a hot meal always tastes better.

And just for information, chicken in Swedish is called kyckling.

Bought another comfort food today. A 350g bottle of Nutella! Yup! Nutella! It's something I know and like! But, the cost is a little steep. After conversion, that bottle of Nutella costs S$7.50! Come on man. If this were in Singapore, I can complain to CASE for profiteering. If I'm not wrong, the same bottle costs only around S$5.

I have a presentation to make on Thursday or Friday. Oh. My. God. They want to hear about what I do. Xiao liao! Think I what? Professor ah? Die, die, die. They some more allocate 20 minutes for that. Aiyoh... Madness!

Something odd happened today. I suddenly found another fridge in my room! After opening the door, removing my shoes, I stepped in and bumped into a fridge. WHAT THE??? I didn't ask for one. It was only the first day that I complained that the original fridge stinks and asked for someone to clean it. It works fine now. What is that fridge doing here? If it was for my next complaint that the television was not working, I emailed them back on the very same day that it worked fine after all. The batteries in the remote needed changing. Does the word 'fridge' in Swedish spell like 'television set'?

YES! I have TV to keep me company now. The room will not feel as lonely as before.

Oh yah. I nearly got into an accident today. Some idiot old man didn't see me cross the road, even though I had the right of way (Pedestrians always have the right of way here. And I checked to make sure the cars stopped before crossing.), and he was driving way too fast on such a wet and slippery day. I had to quickly take steps back to avoid getting hit by his car. To his credit, he slammed on the brakes in time as well. Close shave. Otherwise, I may be typing this from the hospital bed (IF this laptop survives the accident), or maybe not at all. But I'm safe. No harm done.

Here's to better days ahead. And hopefully better weather. Cheers.

It's Melting

Snow has started to melt in some places. The ground is damp and slippery, the banks are grey/black and disgusting. What an ugly sight.

On the bright side, it's 7 degrees Celsius today. So hot...

Day 6: The Close

After a long day of boredom and bad internet connection, my spirits are lifted somewhat. I guess it's because I actually talked to persons face to face. We humans are such social animals. No matter how introverted I am, I'm not autistic. I still need human company. I still need people to make conversations with.

Mass today was good. Not only was I lifted spiritually, I also met new people. I can't call any of them friends yet, but at least I know some of them now. There's a Christof (sp?) from Germany, Robert, Anna, and Anna from Poland, Heinmann (sp?) from Mexico originally and moved to the United States, Veera (sp?) from Lithuania, Sumi (sp?) from Japan, and Zurich (sp?) from I don't know where. Africa? Well, lookie here. I don't know the spelling to most of the names. They meet twice a week on Thursdays and Sundays after Mass. Great! I'll join them. I'll be going to Mass everyday anyway, since I have the time. And I need the company. Plus they go off one weekend a month to a cottage somewhere out of town. Great too! That will make one of my weekends less unbearable. And maybe meeting them more often, I'll get to know some of them better?

Which brings me to another thing. People are supposed to volunteer to bake something for the gatherings. I can't possible go there and just eat all the time, can I? So that means I need to do something. Does anyone have a nice recipe for an asian cake or something? Like some Malay cakes I know are steamed. But I don't have the recipe for any of it. All I know is that it's not a tapioca cake. I don't even know what a tapioca looks like let alone find it in the shops here. My old neighbour used to make it during Hari Raya and always gave some to us. Brownish on colour, very nice to eat. Anything will do, I guess. Beggers can't be choosers here. But it must be easy to cook, involves NO meat, and hopefully I can find all the ingredients here.

I realised it's very difficult to speak in Singlish when I'm not conversing with Singaporeans. When one of the Annas wanted to hear something in Singlish, I found it so difficult to come up with something. But it comes so naturally when I'm in Singapore. See. Who says Singaporeans can't speak proper English? Only when with own people, then no need so straight-laced mah. Relax a little lah. But at the end of it, she was so impressed that she wanted to learn it. Goodness! And our government is trying to eradicate its existance.

I think it's because the entire thing seems exotic to her. It seems like Europeans are enamoured with all things asian. Judo, taekwondo, karate, and so on are very popular in most European countries I heard. Well, I'm exotic. Ha ha. Then in that case, why aren't people coming up to talk to me more often? Why don't they invite me out or something? I'm exotic mah. Ha ha ha.

One can only hope life gets better. Cheers.

Day 6: Sunday, 29 January 2006

It's a Sunday, a rather depressing Sunday. I didn't mange to cam with my family successfully because of internet connection problems. Now when the problem seems to have eased, it's already too late to ask them back online for a chat.

I think I'm too used to my comfortable life in Singapore. I'm not used to living alone like this. If I were in Singapore, not cooking lunch or dinner will not be a problem whatsoever. Food is available everywhere, at all hours. It's a different story here. I have to learn to cook for nothing more but pure survival. Or at least make a sandwich.

Also, I'm way too used to have everything at my disposal. Broadband internet connection, snacks, drink, TV, and other forms of entertainment. The TV here doesn't work. I've already informed the person-in-charge but nothing seemed to have happened. Maybe with television, I won't be as bored as I am now. It is also too cold for me to venture out too far without feeling the effects. Therefore, all my exploration has been kept to place near where I'm staying, which is to say I haven't seen many interesting things.

It's a good thing I'm going to Church later. That will take up at least one hour of my time, and when I reach back, it would be almost ready to get into bed, snuggle under the blanket and sleep the rest of the day away. And when I wake, it'll be Monday, and I'll have more things to do and see. At the very least, I've never felt bored on a working day before.

And hopefully by weeks' end, I would have made friends and would have found some company to idle these unbearable weekends away.

Here's to better days ahead. Cheers.

Day 6: Lunar New Year

Happy New Year! While all of you are enjoying yourselves with good food and company, what am I doing here in cold Uppsala?

I've finally met the first unkind (or rather unfriendly) Swede at the supermarket yesterday. It was at the supermarket near my apartment (but not the one I frequent), and the person was manning the cashier (Whatever do you call them?). Anyway, I noticed that there seems to be some form of rounding up of the bill by usually 10kr. But to my knowledge from what I read, this is NOT a tipping country, so I'm not obliged to leave tips. Then again, I must confess that I don't know much about this country or its culture. And so yesterday, in search of happy food, my bill came up to 197kr. I looked into my wallet and found two 100kr notes that I proceeded to hand to her. Nothing wrong so far, I feel. I gave 200kr for a 197kr bill. I'm giving excess, damn it! Instead of handing me the receipt nicely, she simply threw it back with a really sour look on her face. The look could freeze, as if the place wasn't cold enough. And all without the 3kr change I expected. Hey! 3kr comes to less than one Singapore dollar, but it's still change nonetheless. What happened to it. Given her cold stare, I decided not to ask, and beat a hasty retreat.

What, what? Did I do something wrong here?

I miss home. I miss seeing my family up close, and everyday. I miss the endless food I get back home and the wonderful smell of my bed and the warmth of my blanket. I miss the comfort of knowing exactly how things are done. What am I doing here in a foreign land, here in cold, cold Uppsala, Sweden? I wish I could just put everything down, say I quit and head back home to sunny Singapore. If I only could, I would pick up the phone now, call Air France in Stockholm-Arlanda Airport (It's 0600hrs. Their office would already be open for a half hour by now.), confirm my open dated booking and make a reservation back to home-sweet-beautiful-home.

Maybe it'll get better with time, once I get to know more people and make more friends. Or maybe it'll simply get worse. Maybe, maybe...

Day 5: End

Day 5 is coming to an end. And judging by the frequency of my posts, I reckon all of you can guess that I have absolutely no life here.

After meeting the nice Nepalese girl and her sister, when they showed me where to get my groceries, and a little bit of the town, we parted ways. We met at 1030hrs, and went our separate ways at 1300hrs. What else could I do? Carrying those parcels of food and heavy oil and stuff, the best option was to get back to the room. I did just that.

Left the room again soon after and went exploring. But how interesting can it be to explore or walk about town by yourself? Not very. It got so boring that I decided to head back. Seriously, without friends for company, even the most interesting of things will be boring like hell.

The loneliness is unbearable. I cannot imagine more days like this. No! Those who envy me and want to trade places, at this point in time, I'm totally willing to do so. I would rather be back home with friends and family. Seriously, the loneliness was so bad that I teared. Yes, I almost cried because of this terrible cold (Not the physical cold. Actually, today was rather warm. The ice on the river has broken apart. I can see the water flowing again, and ducks on the river.) and lonely place.

I've never felt this bad before. But that's a given. How could I ever be bored or lonely at home? There were always friends to talk with, to shop with, to do stuff with; my music (instruments) to accompany me; my family to comfort me, to support me. I never felt this kind of loneliness before.

And the worst thing? I'm still the introverted person you know so well. I don't go up to people and make small talk. I'm not the most approchable person, I think. How am I able find company here in this cold, foreign land?

To keep myself from feeling bad, the only way is to keep myself busy. I did my laundry, surfed the internet, and posted many many times here (so obvious). I need to find friends, otherwise it's going to be unbearable, and in six months time, I'll be mental.

I seriously do not recommend people to do such a thing by themselves only, especially if they are introverted. Always have a friend with you. Life will be much better. Time will pass much more quickly and the stay will seem to be so much more exciting, much better.

Better days ahead? Cheers...

The View from My Room

It's snow, snow and more snow. Great day I think. It's light out early today.

Family Cam

I miss my family. Sure I called them many times this week but still I think it's insufficient. I miss not only talking to them but to see them and to feel their warmth. It's a good thing I brought the webcam here with me. Just being able to see them and hear them... It brings tears to my eyes. I never thought that I would miss them this much.

I love you Mummy, Brother, and Daddy.

I hope to see you soon and feel the comfort of your arms again.

Day 5: The Start of the Day and It's 除夕

It's Saturday. It's 除夕 (New Years' Eve). Here I am, at 0540hrs (Singapore time: 1240hrs), sitting by the table all by my-lonesome-self. What a drag. It's not fun at all, especially when you know that your friends and family back home are preparing, or will be preparing soon, for 团圆饭, the reunion dinner.

I guess it's days like this that will make one extremely home sick regardless of how novel the foreign land can be.

I guess when you guys are having your reunion dinner back home, I'll be munching on sandwiches, buns or something to that extent. Maybe I'll treat myself to MacDonalds, albeit it being a little expensive. Oh... Do remember me when you are enjoying yourselves, and the good food on your plates. I'll be salivating in Uppsala.

I miss my family...

Day 4: Part 2

Alrighty then. I'm back from my shower. Freezing cold after I finish. Trust me. After stepping out of the hot shower, it feels as though I stepped into a freezer. My teeth couldn't stop chattering. No wonder some people i heard on TV hate taking baths or showers. I couldn't understand why they would prefer to be dirty. But now I do.

Anyway, the 'Excellent Day' post is over. Now, it's time for some of my inconsequential observations about this place.

For starters, professors are the same everywhere when it comes to money or grants. Even collaborations can be backhanded. For example some persons on the pretext of developing some thing that may be of use to a certain company, and at the same time develop a similar product for the competing company, without the other collaborators' knowledge. How devious is that?

Back to the light stuff.

I noticed that the light switches here are a little odd. Maybe they'll feel the same way about the switches in Singapore. But I really think that their switches are counter-intuitive. Now, they have this big, huge switches to control basically lights. When I say huge... I mean huge.


See. It's HUGE! Just compare the size of that thing to the door handle!

But that's not the counter-intuitive thing. They flick the switch UP to turn on the lights! Huh? Hasn't it always been down? Isn't it natural to flick down to turn something on? But it's no big deal hor? Just an observation.

The supermarkets that I've been to so far do not seem to sell toilet paper! Where can I get it? They don't sell cereal drinks like Milo Fuzz. Heck, they don't even sell Milo. Or Swiss Miss Hot Chocolates. They only have powdered chocolate to mix with warm milk. Swiss Miss can just mix with water and it's so good. Not only that. Their instant noodles are limited to only a few types. And no CUP instant noodles. Why? And their version of noodles taste so horrible. Maybe it's the style of cooking? The shower gels I see only come in small bottles. Nothing like the ones I used to get back home. And they seem to like Thai food out of all asian foods. I've already come across TWO Thai restaurants here, and no Chinese restaurants.

I thought I would be able to see wild animals here, especially when I see these "beware of raindeers" signs around. But, no... I've not seen a single wild animal here, except for a hare. See, it's so cold that non-hibernating animals have also hidden themselves for warmth. What are we, intelligent animals, doing walking about in the cold and freezing our arses off? So smart... Oh well, maybe I'll see more in spring.

-----

Oh yah. I updated Reborn with a new post. I'll just summarise it here since everyone seems to be reading this now. Try Pandora! Read more about it here, and here.

Day 4: An Excellent Day

It's been a great day! For starters, I was right. He (the prof) was wrong. Woohoo! Instead of using hydrophilic channels for the device like he suggested, we found out from the second prof (from another university, working on the same project) that hydrophobic channels are better for our purposes. Ha! Score another one for me. That means I don't have to major-ly re-design the entire thing. Phew!

The second piece of good news (to me at least) is that I may have a life here after all! Went for the daily Mass as St. Lars and met an Australian called Cameron. He introduced the place to me, one of the sisters and one of the priests. Plus he told me that there's a students' group that meets every Thursday after Mass for coffee and cakes. Yay! I can meet new people! Not only am I able to attend daily Mass here (because of their extremely strict working hours; unlike in Singapore where one doesn't seem to stop working), I'm also able to meet new people there and they have activities. Yay! I'm simply giddy with joy.

The third piece of good news is that I met the other bunch of people with whom I will be working. And they are a really nice group of people and invited me to go skating with them when they have settled on the date. Ooo... time to pad my butt. I now have two, I repeat, TWO tables. One at each university. Come on man. I don't ever see that happening back in the lab at home. Plus the offices or tables are so separate from all the labs (unlike back home; I get to breathe in all the contaminated lab air). And I have my own personal workspace in their lab as well. And get this. With my own personal pipettes! Can it get any better? Yes, it can! I get to use the stationary (pens, paper, notebooks, etc) and print articles for FREE!

Do you ever see it happening in Singapore? For the professors maybe. But for the students? Hell, no! Here, the students and professors enjoy the same facilities, and behave like friends, like equals. Not only that, they do not have super big offices and leave students with cramped cubicles. The cubicles here are huge and students can also have a choice to sit in an office room if they want. Moreover, the students' area and the professors' area are together in the same office or corridor. That makes it seem as though they are all equals, and they do behave in a similar manner. I must remember to take my camera to work and take a picture of my huge working space in the office. Man, oh man. It's more than twice the space I have in Singapore.

I'm now feeling a little more optimistic about this place than when I first came. Thing may not be so bad after all. Sure, I still miss home and family. But, it's time to spread my wings.

Here's to better days ahead. Cheers!

Photos Time

Changi Airport.
(Left to Right) Huiling, Me, Koh, Xinzhuan














Changi Airport
(Left to Right) Sanwu, Me











Changi Airport
(Left to Right) Huiling, Me, Peiying, Xinzhuan



















Changi Airport
(Left to Right) Me (What a nice smile I have. *grin*)

My unmade bed on the very first day. Home sweet home.

It's really depressing that I can't get good photos of the place here. It's really depressing that I leave the room before the sun is up and arrive back home after the sun sets. So I have't been able to take any nice photos of the place. Maybe, I'll find some time during the weekend for that.
For the ones I know who are sensitive about having their photos online, I didn't put them up. For the rest, if you are uncomfortable with letting the whole world see your face, let me know. I'll take them down.

Day 3: The Jet Lag Continues

And so. I slept slightly better the second than the first. Instead of waking at 0000hrs, I woke at 0300hrs. Oh well, this should get better with time. I'm sure it'll be right soon.

Day 3 has been good to me. I got to know someone from another apartment, living just a few doors down from me. A girl from Honduras. Come on. How many Singaporeans can say that they met a real person from honduras before? (Ha ha. Score one for me.) And I learnt that I have a post office near the apartment that allows me to receive packages that are too large for the mailbox. Yay. Maybe larger packages of food can be sent to me??? (Hint hint)

Learnt how to do the casting and something about milling the forms. To my utter surprise, they use Solidworks for their drawings instead of AutoCAD or L-Edit. Woohoo! I don't have to relearn some user-unfriendly software here! What luck. I never thought I would find another person using Solidworks. It seemed like such an ulu program to me. I thought only the ME guys would have some idea about it but it seemed that only a few of them actually use it.

Anyway, I manged to cut the costs of buying food at more than s$10 a meal at the cafeteria, to around s$4 a meal from the supermarket. And that s$4 meal includes a drink, unlike the more expensive one. This will be my plan from now on until I can find something better.

From my apartment at Sysslomansgatan, take a 20min walk to Stora Torget, go to the supermarket and buy my food. Then take the bus to the lab. So nice. I think I'm going to be a very healthy person after six months of 40min walk a day.

And I take my words back about the bus service being inefficient! I was wrong. So totally wrong. Although the intervals are longer than what I am used to, the busses here are extremely puncutal. Extremely. I can plan my entire schedule and journey using the bus times and not have to leave too early and be at the bus-stop freezing my arse off. What fun. Plus the busses here have an electronic signboard that shows next stop and the driver also announces the stop for all to hear. So nice. Unlike the SBS busses, especially 105, that can come two at the same time and the next bus after that would be a loooong wait, and the SMRT busses that have the same electronic signboard idea, theirs hang quite often, or show the wrong stop. In terms of service, this place in leaps and bounds ahead. It's just that the prices are a little steep. Shucks... I can't have everything, can I?

Well, here's to better days ahead and better weather. Cheers!

Day 2: The Work Begins

The second day has passed. And oh, what a long day it has been. I've been awake since 0000hrs and not rested until now, which is 2100hrs. But it was a fruitful day. I learnt a lot. Not really related to what I'll be doing but still nonetheless, I learnt something. Things like micro contact printing, of which I had only heard and read about, I saw it for myself today.

I attended a super long (see... fits my long day) meeting this afternoon that started at 1500hrs (time to prepare for bed back home) and lasted for two and one half hours. I hate meetings. But they seem to love it. Or maybe it's because I felt like sleeping. Still I learnt something. Something about PDMS gating, and others. But blah blah blah. And after which, I had to go to a 'party' with the other professors in the group and it was another blah blah session. And finally made it home at not more than a half hour ago. All I wanted to do was to sleep.

I think it's more important to mention that I saw my first snowfall in Uppsala today. So cool. And when I walked back, I felt the snow falling around me. Cold. Heck, it was freezing (What else?), but lovely. I'm absolutely sure that this kind of feeling will last only for a short short while.

I'm finally connected to the internet back at the office. But I doubt I'll be using the compute much during office hours. From the looks of it, the students here are highly productive (and motivated) during office hours. Any time out of it, they just slack I think. Shoot, almost the entire country, I heard, shuts down in mid July for one month. Only bare minimal (less than enough) administrative staff will be around then. Everyone goes off for a holiday! Wow!

Bought my bus pass this morning and went into the supermaket to shop as well. Things are not that difficult to understand, but it takes a while for the words to register in my head. Oh well. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it sooner or later.

I'll upload the pictures, not that I've taken any so far, as soon as I can. Pictures taken at the airport, and of my room, and if the weather permits (meaning: bright enough), I'll take the view that I see from my room window.

In the meantime, I just want to sleep.

First Day (continued)

OK. I lied. I hate the bitter cold here. It was enjoyable initially but as time wore on, it simply felt terrible, especially when the wind blows. It gets so chilly, that on my way back, my ears almost freezed. Then again, I was inappropriately dressed. Left the room with the Professor without the right gear.

It's 0300hrs local time and 10am back in sunny Singapore. I'm having trouble sleeping. Woke up at 1200hrs and couldn't fall back to sleep after that. No wonder. It would be 0700hrs in Singapore and by then I would already be wide awake. My sleep on the plane was short and intermittent. Shoot. Jet lag.

The sun hours here are few. Depressingly few. It was dark by 1630hrs and when I left at 1800hrs, it felt as though it was 2000hrs back home. It was that dark. I miss the warmth of the sun.

Anyway, the people whom I've met here are friendly. Even total strangers off the street. If I were back in Singapore, I'm sure I would be met with an 'idiot-why-are-you-bothering-me' look. No smiles, no niceties.

The bus system here seems highly inefficient when compared against the high standard back home. I'll never complain the busses at home are slow. Busses here run at about half hour intervals, so it takes some planning to get to the final destination. The fare is a little high too. Depending on the time of the day, it ranges from 13 to 20 kronors, which is about S$3 - 5 dollars. But one ticket allows you any number of trips on any of the busses. The ticket runs by time. So long as it's within the one and one half hour limit, you can get on any bus, any where. Cool, isn't it?

Uppsala is a biking town. Saw tons to bicycles at the lab and it seems like everyone has bike here. But given that the streets are icy now and I'm not used to riding on such conditions, I better not try.

So I didn't take the bus back, nor did I use a bicycle. Instead, I walked back to the apartment. Heck, S$5 is too much to pay! Think I'll be getting a monthly bus card in the near future. It took me 45 minutes to walk from the laboratory/office to my apartment. It wasn't tiring at all. The only problem I had was the cold. My ears, as mentioned earlier, became slightly numb. After all, it was below O Celcius and the wind was blowing. Good thing I didn't get any frost bite. Shoot, it's so cold here. I wonder if I have enough sweaters. The cost of living here is too high for me to want to get a whole set of clothes.

Anyway, I wanted to take a look around the place and I thought that walking back would give me a chance to get a feel of the area. Heck, it was so cold that the only thought in my mind was to find the apartment as quickly as possible. The place here is not marked very well. I didn't see many street signs, or maybe it was because I was not along the main roads. So after some time of walking, out of desperation, I finally stopped someone along the street to ask for directions. Funny thing though. The kind lady mentioned that I was already on the street that I was looking for and the apartment would only be a few blocks away. After thanking her, I walked up the same path, and saw the supermarket at the block where I was staying only 50 metres ahead. I must have been trying too hard to get out of the freezing cold and warm my poor ears, that I didn't think straight.

There's a supermarket! Yay! I don't have to go too far for food. I doubt it'll be the cheapest but for certain things I guess it beat lugging them back from the central square where the shopping district is located.

There are some things I still need to locate though. Places such as the hairdresser, ATM machines for me to withdraw cash, and a post office. More exploring to do. It's only my first day here. I'm sure I'll find my way around. Wish me luck.

First Day

The first day in Uppsala has come and gone. After a gruelling 17-hour plane ride, not including a more-than-three-hours transit time in Paris, I finally reached Uppsala at 1215hrs. From then it was check the apartment (It’s just like a room in PGP. Nothing spectacular. Will load the pictures later), go to the lab and get started on familiarising the place. Isn’t it horrid? I haven’t had much rest during that long flight and then no rest still until 7pm (Uppsala time) when I reached the apartment.

What’s worse? There’s no internet connection! And if I want it, I have to pay for a year’s connection! A-doi! Xiao ah? I guess that means I’ll be in the office almost every day. Otherwise, how would I be able to cam with my family? I’ll be working a lot harder here than back home. Even then, internet connection will have to wait till they settled all the administrative procedures for me…

Guess what? I heard from the students here that they work till about 1800pm latest and reach around 0830 to 0930. And… they never turn up on Saturdays and Sundays until they are finishing up their work there (meaning thesis writing time). Wah… so nice.

It’s really lonely here. I haven’t seen a single asian, except for a Nepalese girl. Just like in the plane when I was all alone. I kept asking myself why I was there. Just before I left Singapore, I experienced a funny thing again. A priest urging young men to consider the priesthood; a priest personally asking me to consider; and my godmother telling me that she has been praying for something like that. It’s not just that. They happened all on the same day. How uncanny is that? Is this the calling (again)? I don’t know. I don’t know a lot of things. Anyway, since I’m here. I might as well make full use of the time here. Enjoy? I hope so. We’ll see what I can achieve in 6 months time.

Oh well. Nothing major happened during the journey (except that I have CDG airport. So leahchey (troublesome) to have to move from one terminal to another without clear signs.) or on the first day here. Maybe, I’m just tired. My eyes are bloodshot from the lack of sleep. Beddy bye time.

-----

PS: I'm feeding off someone's bandwidth for this post. Shh...

Leaving on a jet plane

And so, the day has come. I'm leaving tonight. It's scary. I never thought that it would come to this.

All my life, I've been meaning to get out on my own, to see the world and be totally independent for a while. But now, I dread this moment. I know some people may call me crazy, but I'm already missing my family. Friends know that I'm really close to my family, especially my mom. It's one thing to move out of the house, to another location in Singapore. But it's a totally different story altogether to leave home to another country. For the former, it's not as though I will not be able to meet up with my family, eat, talk, attend Mass together. Singapore is so small. No matter where I go, it's easy to do all that. To be in another country, how would I be able to do all that? Fly back?

So... I'll be leaving tonight. Wish me luck, smooth journey and health. I'll be praying for all of you as well.

-----

I have the address to the residence I'll be staying. Want to send me stuff? Write me an email (at reborn1223@gmail.com or preferably my main account), and I'll reply with the address.

Ready to Leave?

The answer is no. Almost but no.

I've yet to complete my packing. 6 months of changing weather. From the bitter cold winter to the warm summer days. I'm having a hell of a time trying to sort out the clothes that I need. Oh sure, tell me that I can buy clothes there. It's the thing I need to know... I don't want to carry too much and yet I don't want to look as though I don't wash my clothes and only have to rehash the same few over and over again. Malu, can?

More dinners to go. Had one last night with the ex-CE guys, one last Sunday with JC friends. That leaves 4 more to go - secondary school pals; current CE people; Godparents; and family. An early reunion dinner with my family on Sunday. Everyone seems to be shocked that I wouldn't be around for Chinese/Lunar New Year this year. And I've already loaded up on enough new year goodies two weeks before the actual day. New Year is coming early for me this year. Traditional nian gao on Sunday!

In the meantime, I'm still running experiments and typing the write-up for the experiments. So, am I ready to leave?

No.

Shopping List (Update 2)

1) 3 to 4 sweaters
2) Trench coat
3) Leather boots
4) Shower gel
5) Shampoo
6) Facial wash
7) Lip balm
8) Moisturiser
9) Hair gel
10) Plane ticket
11) Travel insurance
12) Baptism and Confirmation certificated (photocopy)
13) Passport (photocopy)
14) Detergent concentrate (for scrubbing stains)
15) Money (exchange)

Now that I have almost everything (Still need to get the all important insurance and money. Time to call my agent!), from toiletries to clothing to the plane ticket, it seems so final. Yes, I'll be leaving on the 23rd of this month. Butterflies fluttered, and a pang of heartache stabbed me as I typed the previous sentence. I'm going to miss home. I'm going to miss my friends. I think I can finally understand how C felt when he left the country as well. It's only 6 months plus. I know. But I'll be going to some place where I know literally (note: not virtually) no one.

On the other hand, it's going to be an exciting time as well. Finally a chance to experience the world by myself. Travelling by myself. Surviving on my own. New people to meet. New sites to see.

A whole plethora of feelings traverse through my body. Excitement, fear. Expectations. Yeah.

Shopping List (Update)

1) 3 to 4 sweaters
2) Trench coat
3) Leather boots
4) Shower gel
5) Shampoo
6) Facial wash
7) Lip balm
8) Moisturiser
9) Hair gel
10) Plane ticket
11) Travel insurance
12) Baptism and Confirmation certificated (photocopy)
13) Passport (photocopy)
14) Travellers' check
15) Money (exchange)

I've been very diligent the past few days spending money. Thanks for the suggestions. Get the kid's trench coat. Very funny... But actually, I couldn't get a coat the fits me, from the mens' section that is. So I resorted to getting one from the womens' section. Don't laugh! It doesn't look that bad. It's plain and black. I guess if I don't mention it, no one will know. Hor?

As for the travellers' check, I may have to do without it. It's more important to get the boots and the travel insurance, and to change my money into the correct currency. No... I'm not that blur to change to euros. They don't use it there.

Am I missing any more essentials?

One month

I'll be leaving in exactly one month after my birthday. That means I'll be leaving on 23 January. Seems like it was just last month I celebrated my birthday.

Wait... It WAS last month. Ooops...

Anyway, my travel itinerary, on Air France (The Auntie Brigade), will be something like this:

Monday 23 January 2006
Depart from Singapore to Paris at night.
Arrive at Paris on 24 January 2006 in the wee hours of the morning.
Travel time: 13 hours 45 minutes

Transit for 3 hours. What can I do then?

Tuesday 24 January 2006
Depart from Paris to Stockholm in the morning.
Arrive at Stockholm on 24 January 2006 in the afternoon.
Travel time: 2 hours 40 minutes

Things have passed the point of no return. I'm going. Definitely.

Shopping List

I'll be leaving soon. As for right now, I still don't know when I will actually depart, but it should be in about 3 weeks time.

It's scary. I still have so much to do. Experiments to complete, things to buy. Time doesn't seem to be on my side.

Clothing
1) 3 or 4 sweaters
The sweaters should be woollen or wool-blend. Preferably woollen cos they are less itchy. And preferably of thinner material, so that I can use them for spring and early summer as well.

2) Trench coat
I seem to have to much trouble getting one. All the designs that I like have such huge cutting, and being the small-sized person I am, they simply drown me in cloth. I have such a headache searching for one.

3) Leather boots
The irritating e.Mart refuses to let me buy the boots even though I have enough credit. Keep prompting that my password/pin is wrong when I verify. How the hell can that be since I use the same password to log in? Irritating. Looks like I have to buy a pair myself.

Toiletries
4) Shower gel
5) Shampoo
6) Facial wash
7) Lip balm
8) Moisturiser
9) Hair gel
Oh sure... I know I can get them there, but it would be better if I carry some with me so that I can take my time to shop around for the best deals. 500mL bottles should be sufficient I think.

Ah... I need my EDT. Three should suffice.
1) Issey Miyake's Limited Edition Spring for Men
2) Bvlgari's AQVA
3) Christian Dior's Farenheit

Documents
10) Plane ticket (buy)
11) Travel insurance (buy)
12) Baptism and confirmation certificates (photocopy)
13) Passport (photocopy)
14) Travellers' check (Somehow only DBS at Shenton Way sells this. Crap. Have to go all the way down to get that.)

I guess that's all for now. I'm sure there'll be more to get. Busy, busy. Broke, broke.