Day 36: Out of My Mind

I'm officially sick. I can't think straight.

I hate not being to get any PCR products. Not once, but twice. How can that be possible? Now, I'm sick in more ways than one. Sick of being unable to amplify DNA.

In spite of my delirium, I have to buck up and get some results from the PCR process. Being unsuccessful twice is too much. I have to get some amplicons out tomorrow. I still need to purify them, measure the concentration, and dilute the products so that each has the same concentration. This perpetual tiredness of mine is not helping.

To all who emailed me, thanks for your concern. I'm recovering well. Tired, but not dead. (Do you think a smiley face at this point will look weird? Yah, I think so too.)

On the bright side, Ben is here to squat with me for a while. Though he won't be around too much, I think. His main aim is still to travel as much as he can on his sabatical. And my secondary school and JC friends will be here for the weekend. Together. But only the weekend. Shucks. It's amazing how they'd been able to obtain leave for the same dates. Just amazing. And they are coming together. Shucks, shouldn't have made the introduction some time back. Otherwise, I could have two groups visiting on different days.

I hope I'll be well enough to go skating on Friday. Hopefully there will be good weather too.

To my quick recovery, and a great weekend!

Day 35: Soon to be sick

I'm coming down with something. I lost my voice this morning, felt feverish, and extremely tired. Took two Panadol pills before leaving the apartment. Although I did feel better this afternoon, it certainly seems like the beginings of flu or the common cold.

Perhaps the sauna and the ice dip were too much for me. Perhaps I just need a vacation from the weekend break. Who knows.

All I know is I feel tired. I cannot think straight because my brain's dead.

Need. Sleep.

I'll post the photos some other day.

Day 34: Marieudd Debrief

Date: 24 February 2006
Time: 1650 hrs
Activity: Leave apartment for the Uppsala Central Station to meet the rest at 1715, before boarding the bus for Stockholm.

Date: 24 February 2006
Time: Approximately 2000 hrs
Activity: Arrival at the house in Marieudd.

Date: 26 February 2006
Time: 1030 hrs
Activity: Mass on the frozen lake at Marieudd.

Date: 26 February 2006
Time: 1530 hrs
Activity: Departure from Marieudd.

Date: 26 February 2006
Time: 1610 hrs
Activity: Arrival at Marieudd.

Date: 26 February 2006
Time: 1630 hrs
Activity: Departure from Marieudd 2.

Date: 26 February 2006
Time: 2000 hrs
Activity: Arrival at apartment.

The last two days had been excellent.

I noticed that the people here, or many of those I met, like to use two ex- words; excellent and exactly. And they way they pronounce it is ‘ack-sir-lant’ and ‘ack-zack-ly’ respectively, with a drawn emphasis on ‘ack’. And I dare say, I’m kind of influenced now, and have been using ‘excellent’ more than I would normally have done.

The weekend officially started on Friday, 24 February 2006 at 1730 hours, when we boarded the bus towards Stockholm. We took an approximately 55-minute uneventful bus journey to the station in order to catch a train, or subway, towards Brommaplan.

The real excitement started at Arkiv Station en route to Brommaplan from Stockholm’s Central Station.

“I suddenly feel very lonely”, Juan from Columbia.

The train terminated at Arkiv, everyone had already left except us. And when a lady called out to inform us of that fact, we tried to leave but only two made it. Our group of eight was separated. There was no one we could ask for help; no one to seek information from. Where were we going???

The six of us went for a ‘train ride’ to the depot and stopped for a while before the train made its way back to Arkiv. We had a grand total of 15 minutes of uneasiness amongst us 6 non-Swedes, before someone came to inform us the train would be making its way back to the station. It was really a lucky thing that one of the two who managed to alight was a Swede, otherwise poor Hanna from the Netherlands, who can’t understand Swedish (like me) would have panicked.

But anyway, we got back onto the right route soon after. Reached Brommaplan, waited a while for the bus to Marieudd, and met Fr. Philip at the bus stop. He drove our bags and some of the girls to the house, while the rest of us who wanted to walk, made our way slowly in the dark. Yes, the dark. It was the suburbs, so maybe it’s not that surprising. But I noticed that the motorways, even the major ones, do not have any street lamps at all! Energy conservation?

When I first heard about the two cottages in Marieudd, I had the impression of long sloping roofs, red or yellow exteriors, and window sills with flower planters. I was right only on one count. The exterior was red; the roof was sloping but not the kind I’d imagined; and there were no flower planters. It isn’t a cottage anyway. Basically one is a house, and the other a shed.

The first night was spent basically eating dinner, talking and sleeping. Nothing spectacular.

And as usual, my biological clock refused to let me sleep past 0600 (in any place in the world!), and I was awake at 0530. Since there was nothing to do, and I didn’t want to stone in bed, I went for a little walk and watched colours at the lake beside the house unfold during sunrise. Beautiful. The world slowly turned from a grey black scene to a lively multi-coloured real-life painting.

After breakfast, we took a little walk over the frozen lake to a little island out in the middle. On it stood a chapel and a mausoleum. This chapel was built by a rich lady who is now resting for eternity in the mausoleum during the early 1800s. This chapel was the IKEA type of thing. You find what you wanted in the catalogue, order it, and it will come to you in a box, in separate pieces. You then have to build it according to the plans given in the box. This chapel is quite unique. There are no internal supporting pillars. All the load bearing pillars are located at the sides. The wooden chapel contrasted starkly with the heavy metal tabernacle, circular altar and pulpit. Behind the mausoleum was a Marian grotto. The statue was from the late 1800s as well, just after the Marian apparitions occurred at Fatima. Upon her passing, the lady willed the island, the house and the surrounding land to the Catholic Church on the condition that Mass is said once a year in the chapel. Cool, isn’t it?

It was sauna after lunch. Yes, I did the ice dip in the lake after the perfect 80C warm up. This process was repeated three times. No, I didn’t reach any falsettos or soprano scales. Instead, I was the stoic, stiff upper lip influenced citizen of a former British colony. No, I didn’t scream. It was fun! Really fun! I never thought I would do such a crazy thing like jumping into a hole of a frozen lake, let alone do it three times. But after the sauna, and the icy dip, it just felt so good; relaxed and sleepy. A nap was absolutely necessary after that. Excellent stuff.

Before the nap though, we had some semlor. It's cream bum eaten just before lent. Actually, semlor is quite easy to make. It can even be done in Singapore, with the simple ingredients. All you need is buns, whipped cream, and confectionary sugar to sprinkle on top of the buns. The only tough ingredient to buy is the sweetened marzipan, placed between the bottom half of the bun and the whipped cream. Perhaps, this can be found in Cold Storage or Carrefour?

After dinner, it was chips, chocolate and wine. Some stayed in the kitchen to talk, while others like me headed to the living room to play games. Jana brought a board game called Settlers. I’d not heard of that before. But it was fun. It wasn’t those easy games that even brain dead people would have no problems winning, but this game required thinking and strategising. It’s some sort like Age of Empires or Settlers PC game. Very cool, but very taxing on ones’ grey matter. In fact, it was so fun that six of us played until 0200 before heading back to bed.

Despite sleeping at 0200, the second day started early for me, at 0600. I really cannot understand why I can’t sleep past that witching hour.

"What do you do when you so early?" Fr. Philip, 2006.

"Pray.", said in an as-a-matter-of-fact manner. Does this sound arrogant? But I do what. It's not as though I'm lying or as though I have to be ashamed of that fact like that.

But of course, I did say I stone for a period of time as well.

Anyway, it was another walk before breakfast. After which was the Mass, on the frozen lake, with the elements beating down on us. It was sunny but absolutely cold because of the wind. Lucy suggested that. We went along. In retrospect, I disagree with her concept of returning to the very basics. It’s not a matter of material basics but spiritual basics. Having Mass out in the open like that only distracted my thoughts from what should be the centre of the Mass – Jesus. I was constantly thinking of how cold I was, how my toes felt frozen, how I wanted the wind to stop, etc. I couldn’t concentrate on the word of God at all. And the host wasn't unleavened bread. They had run out of it, so they substituted it with ordinary toast bread! Even though it was a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience, I didn't appreciate the inability to concentrate on the Mass very much.

It was some rest, lunch and cleaning up after that. We left in three groups. One group wanted to watch the Sweden-Finland ice hockey finals of the Turin Winter Olympics Games. One group took Fr. Philips car back to Uppsala. And one group took the bus-train-bus combination back. I was in the third group.

At 1530, Fr.Philip wanted to drive us to the bus stop, while he waited there for Group two to arrive so that he could drive them back. Little did we expect that his car would get stuck in the snow. We got out to push, but two guys and two girls weren’t able to the get car moving too far. We managed to get the car moving for a few feet before it was stuck again. We had to call reinforcements from the house. It worked almost immediately. But it was already too late for us to catch the 1553 bus to Brommaplan. And it was too late for Fr. Philip to wait any longer, because he needed to reach Uppsala for the English Mass. So off Group Two went, while the rest of us headed back to the house to wait and warm up. Heck, I was already sweating from all that pushing and the carrying of luggage. We only had 10 to 15 minutes of rest before we needed to head to the bus stop once again. But not before I had to run down to the lake in falling snow, to grab an oar that we left behind from the previous day.

The way back was rather uneventful, except for the huge amount of noise we heard when we emerged from Stockholm’s Central Station. Cars were beeping their horns everywhere. We saw crowds of people along one side of the streets.

A protest! Yay! I can finally see a protest.

Protest, my foot.

I realised what happened when I saw cars with Swedish flags, hanging from their windows, posters, and people screaming. Sweden won the ice hockey final against the arch rivals Finland. Gold medal for them.

Well, duh…

So I reached back the apartment at approximately 2000 hrs. After a long eventful, relaxed weekend, I feel totally worn out. I need a vacation for this weekend break.

Photos later. Need rest first.

Day 31: Another Day, Another Wrong Turn

I’m typing this post without internet connection. Yup, I’m saving it in Words first and backdating it when I post. Somehow, I can’t seem to connect to any kind souls. I need my modem. I feel so lost without internet. I’m an internet junkie, without it I feel naked. Clothe me, please.

I hope I get my modem soon.

Anyway… My nick on MSN had the word ‘failure’ in it. Thinking back, failure is too harsh a word. But failing is NOT an option here. I cannot afford to fail, especially since my situation with Boss is where it’s at now. Failing is simply out of the question.

I’ll work harder. I may have to change materials, I may have to change methods, I don’t mind. I’ll do anything to get things right. I’m quite partial towards COC and PDMS, particularly PDMS because it’s the easier to use among the two, and not so much towards the UV glue that we are currently using. I know too little about it; porosity, water absorption, moisture barrier, and so on. At this point in time, I’m leaning towards PDMS, but it was the very first material rejected here. Why? Beats me. Perhaps too many people have worked with it. But I’ll do anything; anything to make it work.

Failing is not and cannot be in my vocabulary.

Enough about that. I have the weekend to mull things over. I’ll be at SLU tomorrow working on the chip, instead of fabrication. I’m more confident of success in this area. Much more confident. At the very least, I know the processes and theory behind the procedures, so modifying them shouldn’t be a problem.

And just to spice up my life a little, I’ve decided to try another bus service to SLU. I should be able to see new scenery tomorrow.

Actually, I’m eagerly anticipating Friday and the coming weekend. I’ll be away. Yup, I’ll be going out of Uppsala to Marieudd. I think it’s somewhere near Stockholm. It’s going to be fun. I know the people at Catholic Students’ Society better now, so it won’t feel too strange. I’ll see new places, explore new areas. Not by myself, but with new friends. I can’t wait.

So I can safely say that there will not be any new updates for the next two days, or maybe three. Don’t miss me too much, you hear? *grin*

On the same strand of thought, I officially volunteered to be a reader for the English Mass on Sundays. Sister Dorothy asked me about it two Sundays ago. I declined it then, knowing fully well the readings that day were tough, with those weird unpronounceable names. But I agreed to read some time in the future. Last Sunday, they made an announcement seeking more readers. I officially volunteered. It’s so unlike me, isn’t it? If I were back home, I’d just ignore the issue totally. It’s amazing what daily Mass can do to a person. It’s amazing what being alone in a foreign land can do to a person.

Perhaps, I’ve changed. Maybe. Just maybe.

Start of Spring, Soon?

The rain has simmered to a drizzle this morning. And it was warm, 4C. Does this herald the death of winter and the birth of spring? Or is this simply an anormaly?

Day 30: I Love, I Hate

I've been here for a month now. I've settled down nicely and have found some really nice bunch of friends here. I'm glad.

But today wasn't a really good day. Happy times can't last forever, can they? (Yah, I know lah. In heaven, everyday is a happy day.) The channel layer "looks like shit" (courtesy of Roger, Angstromlaboratoriet, 2006). And I kind of agree. The process didn't work as it should. I'm not an expert in this area, so I can't tell what went wrong. Heck, I'm not an expert in any area.

Plus, I cut my fingers again today. The previous cuts have yet to heal fully, and I have to slice them again. Shoot. Somehow, I seem to heal very slowly here, and get into a lot of accidents.

Take all of that and add to the fact that I fell again this evening. And you can imagine how unpleasant my day was. Oh well, I can only hope for a better day tomorrow.

In the meantime, I'll make a list (incomplete and completely personal) of what I love and hate about this place.

I hate the neverending cold. It was snowing when I left the apartment this morning. No, it wasn't the soft snowflakes that I raved about, but the ice particles that I complained previously. This evening, while walking back, it was raining. Can you imagine ice cold water particles hitting your face? Brr... The ground was in parts wet and slippery, in parts icy and slippery, and in parts slushy and dirty. Not fun to walk back (or cycle) in these conditions. And puddles of water on the sides of the road don't help either. You have vehicles zipping pass you, splashing water all over. So I don't only have to be aware of where I'm stepping on, I have to be aware of any puddles on the road and of any vehicles.

I hate the cyclical shower in my apartment. The hot water seems to come in cycles. Moments of hot, and moments of cold. I can understand it if it were in a gym or something. Just like in the Netherlands, in 2001 when I was there for WMC. The showers in the gym (where we were placed) had hot water coming in cycles. Can you imagine 5 guys jumping in and out of the showers (open concept; totally no partitions) with one person shouting "It's hot! Go!" periodically? It was a joke I tell you. A joke. So yes, I can understand that if it were in a gym. But in an apartment that charges so much? Oh come on. How can this be possible?

It seems like most of what I hate has something to do with the cold.

I hate the lack of quality control in some foods here. This particular brand of yogurt that I buy seems to change every single time. The first time I got it was just perfect. Not too thick, not curdled. The second time, it was thick, thick, thick. The third time, it looked curdled and lumpy. And finally the forth time, watery like hell. What is this? It's the same brand, same type, same packaging, but the texture varied too much. Can have some QC or not?

Alright, I'm done with what I hate. I don't hate this place, so I can't really think of much, unlike some people I know.

I totally love the meatballs here! I really do! The beef and chicken meatballs are simply excellent. I'm already buying the cheap to mid range varieties, and they taste so good. Can you imagine what the expensive ones taste like? Ooo... orgasmic man.

I love the buses and the bus system here. Its punctuality, cleanliness and space. I've said enough about that. You want to know more? Read the archives.

I love the fact that the people here are responsive. You say 'Hej' to them, and they'll give you a smile and a hearty 'Hej' back. Back home, more often than not, you'll be greeted with a surly look, and be ignored. Just like you don't exist.

I love the working attitude of the people here. They enjoy what they do. They really work when it's time to work. And knock off when it's time. Really rest when they should. Life should have time for rest and relaxation. Why are we expected to work like robots 24/7? (Or maybe we are robots, since we don't think for ourselves and expect the government to do everything for us. Including feeding us.)

I love the wide open spaces here. Unlike the concrete jungle I grew up in, this is really beautiful (even with the slushy dirty snow). Snow covered parks, frozen tree branches, etc. This place will really look great in spring. I can't wait.

Oh yes, although this has nothing to do with Sweden, I'm listing it simply because Joakim influenced me to watch it. I love Prison Break. I've only watched two episodes so far and the riveting plot has me captivated already. Excellent show! I urge all of you to watch it when Singapore's Mediacorp starts screening the first season some time this year.

I love, I hate. I wish I can combine the best of both worlds.

The Blame Game

Oh... So now you think I asked someone to collect the modem from you...

"This is very strange. Obviously a man came in on Friday night, asked for a modem to be picked up and when the receptionist showed him the parcel with your name on it he said that it was the one. She thought you had asked a friend to pick it up for you.

The man was dark, about 25, spoke english and looked european. Can it be someone you know?"

Very good description. This will include so many people I see on the streets.

Hello... If I asked someone to collect on my behalf, I would even turn up on Sunday evening. What? Do you think I want to cheat you of a modem? Come on. I can't even use it back in Singapore. I'm on cable, NOT ADSL, for goodness sakes.

Only three people including myself know that I'm getting a modem.

(1) Me
I speak english, but I'm not dark, nor do I look 25. And I certainly do not look european. So it cannot be me.

(2) One Angstrom Personnel
Yup. Right age. European. Speaks english. But not dark! Plus he didn't even know the modem was ready for collection. Heck, I didn't even find out until Sunday. Nope. Not him.

(3) The Email Sender Himself
I don't know how he looks like, but from his name, I can infer that he's european. And through our phone conversation, he definitely speaks english. So it's him? I don't think so.

It looks like they were too lax in terms of handling the parcels. Since it had my name, they should at least verified that I was the person collecting the parcel, or I had authorised the person to collect it. How could they have given it away like that?

And so I replied that I don't know anyone like that.

Hey! I really don't! Most people I know here are fair. And most people I know here don't even know I'm getting a modem!

"OK

It seems we will not find out who the mysterious man is. I will order another modem."

At no further charge to me I presume?

I replied to inform them that this time I will personally go down to collect the modem (Of course I would! Who would I ask to collect on my behalf?), and show them proof of identity if needed. This way we can ensure that the new modem will land up in the right hands, namely mine.

Sigh... Why do these bad things always happen to me?

Day 29: Great Day, Today

Good News 1
“I just want to congratulate you on your successful PCR. First try and you have such nice bands. What are the odds?”
- PCM Clone (Mangus) at SLU, 2006

What are the odds, indeed. The last time I did a PCR was eons ago, and the first time I tried it, I didn’t even get any products. I was kind of worried yesterday that my first PCR would fail, and ‘lose face’, especially since they explicitly asked if I did these things before. Yah. I did. But that was a long time ago. I graduated to work on simpler things like on synthetic oligos.

I was so eager to start on the molecular work that I dug up the old PCR protocol that I had saved somewhere within the dark depths of my hard disk. Good thing I did that too. They didn’t even show me the recipe. Goodness. So many reagents, and of different concentrations, do you expect me to remember the ratios I should use for each of them? After such a long break? It would be embarrassing to ask for their protocol. Luckily I had the foresight to find mine. Heng sia. And it worked! Woohoo!

Phew! I still have my ‘face’ intact.

But I have to admit that it’s not all because of me. I do believe that the primer sets they designed were excellent. That’s why it was so easy to achieve positive results. So humble, I am.

Good News 2
Remember how I complained about my rosary breaking? Well, one of the persons I asked if she knows where I can buy one was Jana.

Guess what. She gave me one this evening. Handmade.

“When someone wants to pray, especially Rosary :) there should be done everything to help him :)”
- Jana from the Czech Republic, 2006

Don’t mind the grammar. English is not her first language, okay. She even took a 3 month stint in England to brush up on her English one year ago. That’s how eager she is to learn the language. She’s going to be such a great teacher for her primary school students in future.

The Rosary was made of coarse rope, aluminium foil and pieces of stick. And you can say it’s not very well made.

But it’s the thought that counts.

Cliché as it may seem. But this is the first time in my life that I truly felt this in my heart. I said the phrase to countless of people, and to myself whenever I receive something I don’t like or need. But not once did I ever really feel that way. This is the very first time I truly felt happy receiving a gift like this. It’s not the cost; it’s not how beautiful it looks. But it’s the thought behind it. She actually took the trouble to make one.

I’ll appreciate this all my life. Really. I love my new Rosary.

My new Rosary, its box, and the note.

On the back of the box, it says “Some things are different than they seem. :)”.

So this has been a great day! Here’s to more days like this. Cheers!

Day 28: Dog Tired

Sorry about the lack of update yesterday. Hey, my life is not THAT exciting that I have something to write about every single day. Okay?

Anyways, the reason for not updating is my tiredness. I was watching TV the night before. Scary Movie. It's a really funny parody on Scream and incorporated elements of Blair Witch Project, Matrix, and a host of other pop-culture pictures. Entertaining. That's why I sacrificed some sleep for that.

Ended up feeling tired by midday and to top things off, I had a new gathering/meeting to attend with the study group. There were Patrick, Sara, Sara, Christer (?) (from Sweden), Angus, Carl (South Africa), Grace, Mitchel (Australia), Mathias, Mathias (Germany), Mary (Finland), and many others, of whom I can't remember the names. And they ended at 2130hrs. So when I got back, I was already half-dead.

I admit. Age is catching up to me. I can't go a day without sleep, or rather, good and sufficient sleep.

So yah. That was my boring life yesterday.

Disappointed

I went to collect the modem from Akademihotellet this evening, only to find out that someone else had already taken it. What the... He called on Friday about a package, and the receptionist asked if it was a modem. He said yes, went down and took it away. She didn't even ask for any proof that he was the intended receipient! How can that be possible? Does this mean I can anyhow call and take a package that does not belong to me? Didn't they write my name down on the package, and why didn't they ask for any identification? Aren't these standard operating procedures?

Shoot. Now, I'm left high and dry without my modem. The one for which I paid good money. They better settle this quickly otherwise it'll be a failing mark for them when it comes to feedback time.

I'm sorry default. I have to continue borrowing your bandwidth.

And my rosary had to break this evening as well. I can't find a shop selling them at all. Nada. Zilch. Not a single one. While I managed to fix it, the metal wire is now so weak that it's liable to break off totally at any time. This is sad. I only brought two with me. And if one breaks, I'll be left with only one. The one that I don't want to use; the one that was blessed by Pope John Paul II; the one I don't want to dirty or carry around with me because it was blessed by such a special person; the one I didn't want to bring to Sweden but gave in at the very last minute because it was so special to me. I asked around and nobody knows where I can buy one. I have to ask one of the Fathers or Sisters when I see them next.

Sigh...

Day 27: 15 Minutes of Excitement

The fire alarm rang today.

Excuse me, a Dolly moment. "Ooo... So exciting!"

I'm sorry. It's not exciting at all, but it was the most happening thing today.

And boy, was it loud. I was one of the last few in the corridor to peek out of my room, wondering what happened. Was it a real fire? Should we evacuate? Nah. It was a false alarm. The early birds had already checked out the situation and found the trigger. They thought it was from Room 207 that caused the alarm.

And so, almost the entire corridor went to the said room and hammered on the door, but to no avail. No one answered. We could only wait till Securitas came. They did. After 15 minutes. The two-man team shut off the alarm and guess what. It wasn't 207 that caused the alarm to ring. It was my immediate neighbour, Room 204.

Oops. She was cooking something, and that triggered off the false alarm. I wonder if the smoke detector-fire alarm thing installed in the rooms here are too sensitive. She was just frying some sausages, and that triggered the alarm??? My goodness. The administrators are indeed cautious. Some may say overly cautious though.

And this was my first look at the fire personnel in Uppsala. Very cool. They are what all kids imagined to be like. Tall, strapping and imposing. Very cool figures. In fact, they are what you would expect to see in TV shows or movies. All (Most) boys were in awe of such amazing heros, at one point or another. I admit. I used to like fire-fighters and policemen a lot when I was in primary school. They seemed like such cool characters, leading such exciting lives. It was too bad that when I grew older I saw the real fire fighters - pot-bellied (or plump), and slow. That dashed my whole mental image of the cool characters I had always imagined them to be. What a downer. A poor 11 year-old boy's dream crushed by some unnamed, unidentified civil defense personnel.

Anyway, I finally have my modem! Woohoo! Constant internet connection without having to steal borrow from some idiot kind soul. To default, thanks for the use of your bandwidth the past three weeks. I really appreciate it very, very much.

To Church I go!

Day 26: Foiled by the Bus

How do you get rid of smoke smell from your clothes? Last night's bonfire left my clothes, especially the jacket reeking of burnt smoke smell. Couldn't wash them all day today because the laundry room was booked. Let's hope a good wash tomorrow will take the stench away.

I really cannot understand why I spend over 160kr (S$40) each week when I do my grocery shopping. Every single week, I check what I need, and more often than not, I don't seem to require anything much. But whenever I check out, the bill comes to that amount or more! I just don't get it! What did I buy? Maybe it's time for me to start making a list of what I need each week. That way I'll know what extras I bought. Good idea, no?

Anyway, back to the main topic. It seems I had an utopian veiw of the bus system here. I was so amazed at the punctuality of the buses, the facts that the buses can actually tip towards the pavement (At first, I thought the bus had uber poor suspension.) and that they were never that crowded as back home in Singapore. I was wrong on two counts. But I hope these incidents do not happen too frequently.

Disappointment 1
Bus 20 came late yesterday. Very late. It was a whole 15 minutes late. And worse still two buses came at the same time. Ala Number 105 in the little red dot. Whenever two buses arrive at the bus stop together, it can only mean two things. The wait for the next bus will be very long. And the other will be my disappointment 2.

Disappointment 2
It can be crowded in the buses here as well. There may not be seats available, so standing is the only option. That, I don't mind so much. Usually the standing space is sufficient. However, the bus was extremely packed yesterday. Like sardines in a tin can. Like in buses during peak hours back in the little red dot. Squeezed like mad.

Disappointment 3
I never expected of this here, but I guess we are all human. And we err. The bus this evening (Bus 2) actually missed its stop! Oh. My. Goodness! I heard the bell ring indicating that someone wanted to get down at the coming stop. But, no... The driver missed it. We had to alight at the stop after that. It's not like the bus stops here are almost every 100 to 200 metres apart, like in back home. They can be quite a distance away! Missing a stop when the weather is bad means a horrible cold and wet walk back. And yes. The driver missed MY stop. 6 passengers (myself included) had to trek back to the right bus stop and towards our final destination. Luckily the weather was good this evening.

That said, I still think that the bus system here is leaps and bounds ahead than in back home. The punctuality generally cannot be beat, and the buses are very well maintained. Plus, the buses here have two exits! People do not crowd around the exits, and I don't have to force my way out of buses. The buses allow pets but limits them to the back of the bus, so those with allergies or those who mind should sit towards the front. Pets of all forms (other than fishes) are banned in buses back home. I've even seen signs that forbid birds and caged rabbits (or hamsters) in the bus.

Watched Narnia for the second time. This time it was with Jana (or Janka as she prefers it) and friends; Eva, Maruska (both from the Czech Republic), Maria (Spain), and Jamie (USA). I went to Flogsta for that. It's a really nice place. I guess that's what is considered the suburbs. More space and more trees.

And the student corridor there is really what I consider a real sutdents' corridor. It's just like PGP. A relatively small room (although it's nearly twice the size of a typical PGP room), with an attached bathroom (relatively large as well). There is a common kitchen, so it's the meeting place (so easy to meet people like that), and a common lounge room with television (another great meeting place). The guys and girls are split into different corridors, just like back home. A real students' hall. Where I stay the room and bathroom are much larger and a small kitchen and television included. While I like the spaciousness, it gets lonely because everyone stays in his own room. The common kitchen is used, but not so much for socialising. While I know some of my neighbours, and even caught a show together, we don't meet often. I haven't seen many other occupants in the same corridor as I. That's how impersonal this place is. I would prefer something of the former. Wouldn't you?

Photos!

05 February 2006: View from my room at 2200hrs. It was freaking bright that night. Almost like the sun didn't set.

10 February 2006: My first movie ticket stub. The show was Jarhead. Look at the price of the ticket man. 90kr! To think I watched another movie the next day.

10 February 2006: View from my table at Angstromlaboratoriet. This was the first time I saw the state flags being flown on the poles. I was told that the flags mean that something big is going on within the building, like a dissertation (oral defence).

14 February 2006: Ultunaallén. View from the bus stop.

14 February 2006: Ultunaallén. I'm told this literally means tree-lined street of Ultuna. I'm sure it'll look great in spring.

14 February 2006: Genetikvägen. The road leading to the microbiology building at SLU. On the right are parking spaces, while on the left is a garden. Since SLU is an agricultural university, the trees in the garden are mostly labelled.

14 February 2006: Garden at SLU.

14 February 2006: Tree-lined motorway leading to Genetikvägen. It's a busy road, and the only pedestrian crossing is just a simple zebra crossing. It can be quite difficult to cross at times. And for some reason, this place (and Ultunaallén) is really freezing cold. Even more so than at the city. The wind had always been very strong whenever I was there (thus far anyway).

The following pictures are horribly unclear. Mostly because it was freaking cold, my fingers were frozen and hands shaking.

17 February 2006: Sunnersta. At the base of the slopes, looking up.

17 February 2006: Slopes at Sunnersta. At the top of the slopes, looking down. This is the 'bunny' slope where I tried skiing. For pulka, I ventured to the more advanced slope. That was fun.

17 February 2006: Campfire after pulka. Baked apples and baked chocolate bananas anyone?

Too bad there wasn't any image of me skiing or sledging down the slopes. It was just too cold for anyone to operate the mini-camera that I had. Heck. It was too cold to operate ANY camera. The cameras only came out during the campfire.

Day 25: The Day of Many Firsts

I had loads of fun today. Envy me.

This marks the day of many firsts. I went sledging and tried skiing! Woohoo! That was fun, I tell you. Fun.

I met up the the people from the International Bible Group at the Central Station and we took a car down to the slopes at Sunnersta. I had my first try of pulka (or sledging), and boy, I tasted snow. Yup. I made a few backflips along the way, landed back on the sledge and continued sliding down the slope. Every. Single. Time. Well of course by the end of the night, I was a pro at pulka-ing. I only tumbled the first three times, landed right on top of my head once, and after that, it was smooth sailing all the way. The bump on the head seemed to have jolted something right in me, or maybe some snow went into my brain by osmosis and I suddenly knew how to do it correctly.

And then, I tried skiing. Balancing is really difficult. On the pulka, you are seated, so the centre of gravity is low. But on skis, it's really easy to fall. Needless to say, I fell. Hard. So yah. I prefer the pulka so much more at this point in time.

But I know... Sledging is for the kids. So this makes me too old to be enjoying such an activity. So sue me. It's my first time trying such things out. So that makes me a kid in some ways.

I feel like a kid again. I really had fun tonight. This makes me remember why I wanted to come to Sweden in the first place. To have fun as the locals do.

I always imagined that it would be really freezing cold when whizzing down the slopes. But it's not cold at all! In fact, I felt warmer sledging and skiing than sitting by the fire. My toes didn't feel numb while having fun on the slopes.

I've always hate campfires at home because the perspiration, heat, smoke and humidity will simply kill you. Here, only the smoke is a problem. At this time of the year anyway.

Somehow, people are always shocked to hear that my first language is English. I is Asian. Cannot have engrish as first language meh? But in retrospect, it’s true. Which other country in Asia, other that the little red dot, has English as the first language? Nada! That makes us unique. Ah… Uniquely Singapore.

Or maybe it’s because I don’t speak English too well and have a weird accent? I is grammar god leh. How can?

I had more fun today with the Bible Group than with the Catholic Students’ Society. Monday nights are going to be so much fun from here on.

To more fun days like this. Cheers!

Day 24: Tired

I didn't manage to get a good nights' sleep yesterday. Somehow quite a number of my neighbours returned late and the sounds from the closing of those heavy doors were able to penetrate through the thin walls, and irritated the hell out of me.

Plus today is Thursday, the weekly meeting at Church. It ended early today, at 2200 hrs. That's considered early??? We went for a little field trip to the Swedish Bible Society.

Did you know that there is a national Bible Society in Singapore? I didn't know that. Did you know that there are over 6000 languages in the world (according to the United Bible Society) and they have already translated the Bible in full for over 1200 languages and in parts for more than 800 languages. So that makes the Bible in over 2000 languages, and this covers over 85% of the world! Interesting. Did you know that the Bible has been translated into Bahasa Melayu (Malay)? Bahasa Indonesia I can understand, but Malay? It came as a surprise to me, since according to the Malaysian legislation, all Malays are born Muslims, and I have the impression that it's very difficult for them to renounce their faith.

Anyway, the Singaporean shopaholic always has to look for something to buy. I found one thing that I would love to get. It's a metal Bible! The pages are made of paper. Only the cover is metal. But it's still the first metal cover I've seen so far. And it looks really good. Sleak matt silver finish. Plus it's light and the metal cover protects the pages. So... that will be one of my buys when I'm flushed with money or when I'm leaving Sweden. Remind me about that.

I'm starting to get worried about my hands though. I'm fairly certain it's not dry skin. Would dry skin be red? I slathered on plenty of moisturising lotion on my hands and nada. They are still the same. Worse actually, especially around the knuckles. It looks like a freaking 2nd degree burn! I know extreme cold can cause burns but this weather? Seems ridiculous. Let's hope the condition clears up soon.

Final note: Never try putting on your gloves while walking down spiral staircases. Especially in the mornings. You'll need to muster all your concentration on walking down those dangerous stairs. Otherwise... Ouch!

To a good nights' sleep! Cheeeeee... zzz...

How gramatically correct are you?

Sorry. I can't help but to duplicate this post.

Bow before me you lowly mortals!

Try it!


You are a GRAMMAR GOD!

Congratulations! If your mission in life is not already to preserve the English tongue, it should be. You can smell a grammatical inaccuracy from fifty yards. Your speech is revered by the underlings, though some may blaspheme and call you a snob. They're just jealous. Go out there and change the world.

How grammatically correct are you? (Revised with answer key)
brought to you by Quizilla

Day 23: Dazed and Confused

No longer.

I was trying to draw some parallels between studying overseas (not exchange) and what I'm doing now. I can't really find any. Other than the fact that in both cases, it'll be away from family and close friends.

What would happen if I had actually gone through with my overseas studies during my undergraduate years, as my god-father had so kindly extended his monetary help to fund my studies. I really do believe that I'll be a different person now.

But it's not just that. Would I have faced the same problems that I faced here in Uppsala? I doubt so. I would have started the semester with a whole bunch of other students, both local and foreign, so that would have made it easier to know others both from home and from other places. Moreover, as a real student (unlike my situation now), there would be orientation for the new students, and classes would be a great time to meet more people. See. The opportunities to meet and greet are great! And it would be so much easier to befriend people who are in the same position as you. Then there would be the faternities, clubs, and societies to join. All good people-meeting, friend-making opportunities.

But would I be a better person? More open and independent, I guess. But a better person? I've walked the path I walked for a reason. A reason beyond my comprehension. And I have no regrets.

So no. I'm no longer doubting that my decision many years ago to remain in Singapore to study was wrong. I'm no longer having any regrets about that decision. It certainly took me long enough but I'm dazed and confused no longer.

Anyway...

Beware of falling icicles! I was made aware of the barrier last Friday and I saw a similar barrier this evening. It's true and dangerous! I was told that it can kill and death by icicle penetration did occur before. Scary thought. Needless to say, the kiasi part of me commanded me to make a huge detour.

I've also noticed something odd here. While there are many bicycles, quite a number of cars, and buses, there are no motorcycles at all! Nada. Zilch. None. Why ah? Too cold? Cannot be, since they cycle almost everywhere. It's really odd, yet pleasant at the same time.

Can't wait for Friday to come. I'm going to try sledging for the very first time in my life thus far. Skating? Been there. Done that. Skiing? Well, it's on the cards. But will I get a chance to try that soon? Hmm...

To a great time sledging on Friday! CHEERS!

Spies Everywhere!

Big Brother is watching...

Just because I wasn't around in the afternoon yesterday, I had the following conversation this morning.

I heard that you weren't as SLU yesterday.
I was! I reached just before 9 and attended their meeting!
Oh really? I was told you weren't around. Or maybe it was Joakim. Did you talk to him?
Yah sure. But he went off before the meeting because his son had a fever.
Hmm... That's alright then. Let Joakim know anything next time. He should be your contact person over at SLU.
Yah... Sure.

There's a spy at that place, man. I only left after lunch. And that was because I didn't have anything to do there. So I would have spent my time more constructively at the apartment where I had my laptop, and make modifications to my designs. But, of course, I took a detour to ask about the internet connections and to get my pre-paid SIM card lah.

Wrong meh? Back home, I could leave whenever I wanted, so long as I produce my work on time and show results.

Spies. Spies. I hate spies.

Does this mean I can't leave early on Friday? I'm supposed to meet some people at 1730hrs at the Central Station to go pulka (box sliding). First time leh. I want to try. But I want to put my bag (and laptop) down at the apartment first, so will leave the office at about 1600hrs. Die lah. Like that I cannot go sliding any more? Sianz...

Oh. And Big Brother, if you are reading this, I still have bloody boogers, which started since the very first day I came. It has only gotten worse. Big Brother, any solutions?

Day 22: The Day I Spent Loads of Money (Theoretically)

It's Valentine's Day today. What have you done for your loved ones? For all the singles out there, it's Friendship Day (I know, I know. This is just some crap someone thought of to ease the pain of being single.). What did you do for your friends?

Me? I spent money! I finally got tired of receiving those welcome messages from Vodafone whenever my auto-roaming mobile switches to their network. Oy... One useless message from them I also got to pay leh. So I finally got my pre-paid SIM card for use in Sweden. It wasn't that expensive. Only 99kr with a stored value of 66kr. Oh well. So long as it's sufficient for my use.

Too bad the S$10 million Toto draw is over otherwise you can try to find tickets with numbers close to my new mobile number.

Ah well, people back home can easily mix and match the numbers to buy 4D or something. Want the number? Email me. I ain't stupid enough to put it online for Tom, Dick and Harry to see.

Speaking of home, why didn't anyone tell me that someone from the lab actually tendered her resignation? Such an big event and I was left out of the loop? Sob... I'm the ostracised one now...

Anyway, spending 99kr is not a lot. But that's not all to my shopping spree today!

I've finally gotten tired of this unstable, unsure internet connection. Yes, I know. I'm borrowing the bandwidth from some kind soul, so I shouldn't expect too much. That's why I've decided to spare that kind soul the agony of slow internet connections any longer. I've asked the manager of this apartment to get me broadband internet connection. Now, this is expensive. Since I'm here for less than 12 to 18 months, it doesn't make sense for me to get a plan that has some contract. So I can only get the super expensive version. For 2Mbits/s, I'm paying a whooping 419kr/month, and this doesn't include the installation fee of almost 2000kr for the connection and the modem. Now that's chor.

The things I do for internet. All apartments should come with mandatory internet connection. Come on man, which young person today can survive without the internet? It's like water to us!

And I've finally realised why there's a burning smell whenever I shower. It comes from my hair! Help! My hair's burning!!! The static is causing my hair to smell like burnt wood or like some stale cigarette smoke has embedded itself onto the strands of my hair. And a haircut here costs an arm and leg (make that two arms and legs). The cheapest I've seen so far is 200kr (++), and that comes to more than S$50 a cut! Oh. My. Goodness. Pay S$20 more and I can have an entire treatment on my hair and scalp back home! What to do? Wait till I can't stand the length of my hair any longer, then plan to cut. So by the time I really go to the saloon it'll be in April or something.

Hyuk Hyuk.

But I doubt it'll happen.

To spending money like water, and to my living on bread and water for the next few weeks. Cheers!

Day 21: The Day I Slipped and Fell; The Day of Spit

The day was mild, as warm as the weather can get at this time of the year, but the streets were icy and slippery. I slipped a few times but had never fallen. Nope. Not even once due to the icy streets. However, just as I was thinking to myself on how great my balance was, as luck would have it (Bad, I presume.), I slipped and fell. Dang. I counted my chickens before they hatched.

The man walking beside me was so concerned, and said something (very long) in what I think is Swedish, which I believe was along the line of whether I was fine. Seriously, if I were back home and this happened, no one will give a flying hoot. They would just walk past, oblivious to the incident. Or maybe they would notice, but not care or simply stand and laugh.

I regret not buying SAF’s Gortex boots… They should have a much better grip on the icy ground.

Or maybe not.

Anyway, I’m thinking of getting my own internet connection instead of stealing borrowing bandwidth from some idiot goondu kind soul. At least this way I’ll be able to get a more consistent connection instead of waiting for the idiot goondu kind soul to be online. And even if he is, I may not definitely get a good connection. I’m such a *cough cough* nice person.

Getting internet is such a chore though. Since the web page is in Swedish, I cannot understand a single word. So that means I have to go down to the office in town and understand what plans they offer. And I don’t even have a clue where it’s located. Of course, they should have the location map on their website. But, you know, in Swedish hor, I catch no balls leh. After which, I have to email or call the Akademihotellet to arrange for them to arrange the connection for me.

Oh yes. Today marks the day of spit. I never thought I would ever type this. But it’s true! This morning when I was at the bus stop, I saw two girls smoking (a common sight here) but that wasn’t all. They were simply spitting on the ground like nobody’s business.

*Hack, hack. Ah... Ptui!*

It wasn’t only once, or twice but many times. The floor had so many spots where their spit landed. Was it a competition? Because it was not too long later, a boy joined in the fun. A-doi. Like very considerate like that. If we were back home, they could have been fined S$1000 leh.

And it happened again at the bus stop when I was heading home! The day of spit! Is it because of the cold?

Ah well. When in Rome…

Speaking of cold, my loose jaw joint hasn’t gotten any rheumatism. So sorry to disappoint some of my friends for betting that it would be more painful in the cold. I win.

To my assimilation of the culture! Cheers!

Day 20: Almost Three Weeks Already

I’m enjoying Uppsala more with each passing day. The first two weeks were terrible. However, I’m really comfortable now. I have settled in and am homesick no longer. This is indeed very, very fun. I can safely say that when it’s time for me to leave, I’ll miss this place. Although it’ll be back to see my family and the friends I’ve grown up with, I’ll miss this place still. Oh well, there’s still a few more months for me to enjoy the independence, comfort, and warmth (not the weather) this place, Uppsala, Sweden, has so graciously extended to me.

I’ve signed up to make something for fika with Jana on March 26. Will somebody please remind me a week before the actual date?

It seems like it’s easy to find coconut here. At least one of the cakes on each of the past three weeks has had grated coconut on it. Why haven’t I seen any? Maybe I’m just looking at the wrong places. Or maybe I’m just searching for the type of coconut I know; freshly grated coconut, or coconut milk in a packet. It’s likely the coconut here will be in some processed form, grated and packed in a box or something. Have to take a closer look at things. But then again, what’s coconut in Swedish? I can’t read many Swedish words yet. Buying food in the markets is really touch and go or guess work. If I’m lucky, I’ll get the thing I want. Otherwise, lan lan lor. So I wouldn’t even know if it’s coconut without pictures of it on the packaging.

According to an online translator, coconut in Swedish is ‘kakao’. I think it’s crap though. Isn’t that cacao or cocoa for the beans, of which chocolate is made from?

More to see, more to do, more to experience in the coming weeks! Can’t wait. Life here is much more exciting than back home. Perhaps it’s because everything is absolutely new to me here. Yah, I think so.

I still haven't had the chance to take photos! At least one other person agreed with me that it's so difficult to take pictures in the cold. First you have to take the gloves off. Then remove the camera from the bag, turn it on, aim and finally snap. By then the moment and the mood are gone.

To more photo taking opportunities. Cheers!

Dryness

I can't take the dry air any longer. My skin has gotten all tight, dry, and scabby. Especially where the joints are; elbows, fingers, knuckles, etc.

But I'm certainly not going to fork out good money to buy a humidifier, ala Watsons type, to place in the room. And since I doubt mosquitoes is an issue in such conditions, may I present MY humidifier.


A bowl of water under the radiator.

Day 20: Another Movie

As expensive as the tickets are, I went for another show. This time with my neighbours. I understand that the movie scene in the little red dot is extremely huge. Maybe because we really don't have much to do in town other than eating, shopping, and watching movies. You want some other entertainment? Go in the evenings for concerts or go to the outskirts for beaches and/or other activities and attractions. But what is it with Singaporeans and movies? Do we always go together or is this just a common worldwide phenomena?

Anyway...

Fun with Dick and Jane. Don't watch that show. Ever. Hate it! So far, it's the worst movie I've caught in the last 6 months.

Virtually money down the drain.

I'm waiting for Curious George to open though. I expect it to be rather good.

Day 19: The Day I went to IKEA

Another Saturday, another great day. The sun was shining so beautifully today. It was a great photo opportunity day. Too bad the sun was in the wrong angle when I went out this afternoon to get my groceries. It was in the way of the nice sceneries. Shoot.

So I made it a point to go take some photos later in the afternoon, at around 1530. By then, the sun would be in the right position. Not to high, not directly behind me or the buildings and sceneries. Just perfect. Too bad I didn't manage to take any photos again.

What's with me and photos? I can never get a chance to take them. It was the perfect day for photo taking!

Instead, I went to IKEA.

En route to the cathedral (great photo opportunity there), I met a guy from church. He was on his way to IKEA and asked me to join him. It was rather good timing since I wanted to get some containers and see the IKEA here in Uppsala. I heard that it's the smallest in Sweden.

Yup. It is small. In fact, I think it's slightly smaller than the one in Singapore. But they do have an additional warehouse here, one that the little red dot lacks. If the signs were not in Swedish, I certainly would have thought I was back in Singapore.

To think we almost had the largest IKEA in southeast asia (SEA). As I understand, they wanted to build one (the second in Singapore; as their flagship store in both Singapore and SEA) at Woodlands, but the authorities didn't approve of it. So they moved north, to Johor.

The good thing about IKEA is the sense of comfort one feels. Go to any hostel in Europe and you'll find that almost everything, especially the utensils, is from IKEA. The same dishes and cups. Only of different colours. This uniformity is rather comforting.

But I was rather disappointed with the food hall in this particular IKEA. I think the one in Singapore is bigger. Shucks.

Yup. I got my containers and also a set of clips. Yah lah, this time I bought them. Didn't get freebies. Their stall wasn't in the city today anyway.

On the city, it was really lively this afternoon. There were more people out than the previous two weeks. Almost made it crowded. Somehow, I think it's the good weather we had today. Everyone just wanted to come out and have fun. There were street performers (singers, jugglers, and mime) and street vendors selling those battery operated soft toys that can move and make noise (the ones we see at our pasar malam). Well, these things were there the previous weeks, just that the atmosphere was so different today; much more lively than I'd experienced. And of course, the usual carts selling hotdogs. I wonder if they are any good. Haven't bought one to try yet. I will. One day.

I'm thinking of getting a second-hand bicycle to use here. It should facilitate my travel to more and further places, instead of relying on the bus. But the road conditions and the fact that I'm used to driving on the different side of the road makes this a rather difficult decision to make. Should I risk cycling on slippery icy streets and on conditions that I'm not familar with, or should I be more concerned about going places where the bike can take me. Ooo... My aching head.

Great day today. Cheers!

The Crazy JC Days

Take a look at that. Madness reigns. I miss those crazy JC days.

And do check out his other videos!

Retraction of Statement

"The sweets, however, eaten during the movie needs some getting used to on my part. I'm getting there. I think."
- Reborn (11 February 2006; Day 18: After a Dinner and a Movie)

I take back what I said about the sweets. I like them.

Just not the liquorice flavoured ones. That I can still tahan (endure or bear). It's the brownish-black ones but are not liquorice though. I can't, for the life of me, figure out what it is. I was just so lucky to have taken two of them during the movie yesterday. And to think I only took two that night.

Day 18: After a Dinner and a Movie

Dinner at a modest restaurant isn’t all that expensive after all. One full three course meal, which includes a starter, the main dish and a desert, costs about forty to fifty SGD. It’s not really too expensive, considering that one meal in ordinary Swensons’ can cost close to the same amount. It's really quite affordable. But, of course, when I see prices in the hundreds (even though) they are in kronors, I freak out. I think it's because those numbers just register in my head as SGD. I don't think I'm accustomed to seeing these type of numbers yet.

Dinner was at a Greek restaurant tonight, and my starter was some seafood mayo salad on a piece of toast. I particularly enjoyed the salad, but the toast could be better. It was slightly too well done. It should be much more palatable if it was toasted half a minute lesser. The main dish was Filé Oscar. It’s a pork fillet with some sour dressing. The amateur connoisseur in me likes the vinegar but the fillet wasn’t as tender as I would like it to be. My overall impression of the dish was good. I’ll give it 6.5 out of 10. I don’t think I’m too fussy about food, just difficult to please. Wonder how the Japanese restaurants fare here? Any standard you think?

The sweets, however, eaten during the movie needs some getting used to on my part. I'm getting there. I think.

But the movie tickets are expensive! 90kr per ticket comes to over S$20! And to think there was so much caterwauling when some cinema chains at home raised the prices to just below S$10 for the weekend shows. And considering the state of our cinema chains, I can say that we have it really good. We are lucky.

Well, we watched Jarhead. I won't give any reviews on this show, but it was realistic enough, for a war movie. I give it 6 out of 10.

The walk back was cold! Maybe it was the late night air, coupled with the wind. Shear factor, I was told. But it felt like I was walking along Mohd Sultan Road. People were gathering to drink, with bottles of beer in their hands. Some drunks staggering past. Huge screams of joy or ecstasy rang out occassionally. Very Mohd Sultan Road. But much bigger. The scene stretched from the main city to one street from my apartment building 10 minutes walk away.

There were cars racing on the narrow streets. Skidding at times then negotating a bend. It's lke watching a shootout. You suddenly hear the screech of tires and see a car speeding past you. Then while making a turn, the wheels lock and the car skidded a bit. Almost like watching another movie.

Well, we missed desert because of time and I mentioned about our green worms during dinner tonight. So here's desert for tonight.

Chendol in its full neon green glory! Looks disgusting, tastes like flour.



Because it is made of flour.

But it isn't eaten plain. Usually with other ingredients, and most importantly sugar (gula melaka) and/or coconut milk. But it's still called chendol.

Oh yah, a description of pandan leaves can be found here.

Words Misconstrued

Some people just can't listen. They hear but they don't listen.

Oh come on, all I asked was why the Swedes work such standard hours, go home early in the day, and not work during weekend. I didn't imply that they are lazy or anything. I was just wondering why they work less and have such high productivity levels while we works like slaves and are unable to produce anything. It was in fact a compliment. I wonder which goon misconstrued what I said and got offended.

While I was innocently commenting on the work culture here in Sweden, that they work less than us and very standard hours, I did not mean anything more than that. It was simply a culture shock to me since we never seem to stop working. Moreover, I was wondering why their productivity was so high compared to us, and yet we work like slaves and never seem to have time for ourselves.

Was that SO wrong?So who are the people who will be offended by such innocent comments?

1) Persons who hear but do not listen.
Pure and simple. They take in only what they want to hear and block out the rest. More often than not, they often only notice the unpleasant parts and come to their own conclusion without listening to the rest of the story.

2) Egotistical, know-it-all persons.
Easy. These are the one who think they are far superior to you and take offence at the slightest provocation, or otherwise. They are too defensive for their own good.

From these, I make an educated guess on who was offended. Some PCM clone at SLU. No wonder, on one fine day, he suddenly came into my office and commented that Sweden is the top research paper producing country per person in the world.

Really. He's too sensitive. I rather enjoy such a life. Why would he take it in the wrong manner?

Haiz... some people are just like that. Too touchy for their own good.

Next time I just keep my mouth shut.

For the record, I'm awed at the fact that the Swedes work such standard hours, and yet in terms of productivity are leaps and bounds ahead of us. I'm awed by the fact that they manage to enjoy life. And awed by the fact that they are the most content people with their work in the world.

'Nuff said.

Day 18: Morning Break

Just read an email from Boss.

"Great to know things are going well there! Please take care of your health."

So kind of him. I didn't know he cared. I can just feel the blood dripping from my stab wounds.

-----

Walking in the snow is like walking in the sand. It's soft, and takes a lot of energy to plough your way through. IPPT in 6 months time shouldn't leave my muscles aching too much. But I can never imagine walking for 15 minutes back home just to get to a bus stop. Unlike the cool weather here (now), I'll probably sweat buckets. But I've enjoyed the walks so far. These days especially. Maybe the weather's milder now, or maybe I'm just getting used to it.

But I can't imagine how some people actually run in this cold weather. Dressed in tights, a windbreaker, and a cap. Not cold meh? You'll heat up during the run but it's still beyond my limited comprehension that they don't/can't feel the cold under that thin material.

Shalala...

I'm thinking of baking some banana cake next month for the Sunday fika after Mass. Or maybe some chocolate cookies. Since we are the two newest persons there, let's see if Jana wants to cooperate. If she wants, maybe we can cook up something from home (banana cake or banana friters) and something from Czech Republic. We'll see.

I like the old buildings here. Over a hundred years, and the exterior still appears to be solidly constructed. And well maintained. I'll give our buildings at most 30 years before they turn into a pile of dung. No quality. Force of habit. But their exterior pipes can do with some insulation. Iced pipes are never good.

Because of the snow, it still feels like Christmas!

Thanks for your calls

Dear Ms LSK,

Thanks for calling to inform me that my claim form had errors. Please understand that I am not so blur to include Saturdays and Sundays into the claim. I do appreciate your calling to allow me time for amendments. But, in future, please check that you are using the right calendar. This is already 2006.

For the three calls this morning, is it possible for me to charge my phone bill to the school? It's more than 5 dollars per minute.

Once again, I do appreciate your calling. But not at 0300hrs. I was still sleeping. No doubt you thought I'm in Singapore. Hasn't the department updated my status? I'm on STUDY LEAVE IN SWEDEN. It was approved by Prof Q, and certified by you no less.

Thanks, but I do not need to get up to pee in the middle of the night. All I wanted is uninterrupted sleep.

B. Regards,
Reborn

Day 17: Mood's Picking Up

Shalala...

After making the decision to throw that issue to the back of my mind and not think about it until the time comes, my mood has started to pick up.

One thing puzzles me. My knuckles are reddish and sometimes feel kind of scabby. I haven't been hitting them against anything hard or rough, so why are they like that? Dry? But why red? My elbows are dry. My face is dry. I can feel the difference.

One thing good about this dryness. My face is not as oily as it usually is back home. But less oil means faster aging. Moisturise, moisturise, moisturise.

It's almost 2300hrs (0600 SG time), and I just reached the apartment. It was a long day. I'm not complaining! In fact, I rather enjoyed the long day. It wasn't the work the kept me back, but I finally attended my first Thursday nights meeting with the group in church and met a whole new bunch of people. Eric, Stephen, Eleanor, and Anna (a very popular name) from Sweden. Of course, I spell them the way I know. I have no idea what their names should look like on paper. Except maybe for Eric. Maybe it should be spelt like this: Erik. Jana (pronounced as Ya-na) from the Czech Republic. An aspiring teacher. Very nice. Well, how many ordinary Singaporeans can say they met someone from Czech Republic? Another score for me! I may not be so ordinary after all. And of course, Father Philip (sp?). It seems like I'm the only person he has met from the little red dot so far. We are not as well travelled or as mobile as we think we are, or the government thinks we are, after all.

It seems like the people here are amazed at my super short family name. Tonight wasn't the first time someone asked if that was all to my surname. More like the forth or fifth time. "That's it?" Yup. That is it. Only two letters to it. Sometimes, I've had to explain my chinese name as well. 志强. Two characters joined to mean a whole host of things. Well, the given name doesn't only have a meaning to it, it has a significance attached too. The first character represents the generation to which I belong in my family and the second character reflects the wishes or hopes that my parents or grandparents have for me. And when put together, they can mean something too. Asians are exotic. I'm exotic. lol.

Boss emailed me today. Of course he wants to know my progress. Didn't he read the biweekly report I sent last week? But before he touched on the main subject, he had the cursory niceties, along the lines of how things are and that I'm not TOO cold. (The words in bold are the exact style he typed. TOO in Caps form.) Is this humour? Ha ha ha... Can I bitch about the idiot in France? *grin* Of course not lah.

Oh well, time to rest. It had been a long but fruitful day.

Laugh of the Moment

Gay rights for animals.

Gay German penguins unimpressed by Swedish females.

What's hilarious is the concluding 4 sentences. Gay rights groups furious about the initiative to 'turn' the penguins straight! Is there nothing else better to do?

Day 17: Reminds me of home

A familar name by the bus-stop. I've not noticed it until today. O'Connor's Irish Pub. Reminds me of home.

A scent wafted pass my path this morning. It was the same smell that one person in the lab back home likes to use. That moisturiser. Sad to say, that smell just doesn't agree with me. But it reminded me of home nonetheless.

Even the snow today looked like shaved ice we get for ice kachang. Just grap a bowl, find some syrup, and I get ice balls! Wonder if the snow is clean. lol.

Not only that. This morning in the common kitchen, I found a box labelled 'GULA'. How cool is that? I thought the the Swedish word for sugar was gula, the same as malay! But I'm sad to announce that sugar in Swedish is 'socker'. Shoot. The box sure looked like it's packed with sugar, with pictures of cakes and coffee on it. Gula means yolk (or yellow) in Swedish. Glad that I didn't make that mistake in the supermarket yet. Otherwise I'd have been adding yolk into my tea and wondering why it tastes so weird.

Snow Grains?

Think shaved ice. Ice kachang style.

Day 16: Similarities and Differences

The world is round. We agree on that.

Governmental and civil agencies are the same in every country. Since they are paid by the taxpayers, they do not have to answer to any one person, not even to the very people who pay their salaries; simply because they are 'the authorities'. It’s a totally different story when it comes to private companies or places that depend on customers. For example, after I complained about not having hot water in my shower, the Akademihotellet, which runs the apartments that I’m staying in, sent a plumber and when I reached back that night, I found hot water. Today, when I came back, I found that the plumber had come again to change the taps and the temperature control of the shower even though the heater was working fine yesterday. That’s what I call service. See. That’s because I’m a paying customer, even though I’m not the one who’s paying the rent and everything. But still, someone is paying them to provide such services, and because of that they are efficient in providing it. When I needed a map, even though they could have easily said that they don’t provide maps, they quickly found one and gave it to me and I didn’t even say I was staying with them!

After all that trouble with the passport matter, I think I’ll consider the matter closed, and will take things as they come. Sudah lah. I won’t let this matter and the horrible service I’d experienced spoil my stay here. I’ll wait for the reply from the consulate in Norway. IF they reply. 船到桥头自然直.

Going to church always clears my head. It's the same here and back home. I feel calmer and much better now.

Anyway, there are major differences in the food here and back home in Singapore. Coke in Sweden tastes totally different from coke in Singapore. I guess that was to be expected since the same product tastes different in India as well. Minor but discernable differences. Even Skippy peanut butter is different. Now, this is a big difference. I like my peanut butter chunky, and the peanut bits in the chunky spread here are so small! Macam like smooth like that. And of course, the water (one of the most important factor) tastes different here as well. I like my water soft and smooth. The water here, after boiling and straight from the tap, tastes odd. I’m sorry but I’m just not used to the water. It’s hard, and has a slight slimy after-feel to it. Don’t like… (Say with a whiny voice) It’s like what our water tastes like after days of deluge, and I never did like the water during those times.

Recycling here occurs at source. So that means every household has the responsibility to separate its garbage into the right categories and dispose of them accordingly. The garbage trucks will go around collecting the appropriate trash. If only we could have that at home. But we have to first stop all and sundry from throwing inappropriate items such as cans into bins meant for paper. Inconsiderate. Moreover, our recycling bins are so few and far between that it’s little wonder why many families don’t bother about separating the trash at all.

The world is round. We agree on that.

Passport Matters in Limbo

Mood: Grouchy beyond description

WARNING: A vulgarity filled post ahead. And when I mean filled, I mean filled. Easily offended, please refrain from reading further.




















Kan ni nah... No fucking authority wants to claim responsibility for the missing entry stamp. I've contacted the Migration Board, the Airport Authorities, and the Airport Police and all claim absolutely no freaking responsibility and were unable to provide me with any avenue for recourse or advice for assistance!

So much for being the polite person I usually am. Sometimes, in this world, you need ATTITUDE!

FUCK!

The larger the organisation becomes, the clumsier it gets.

I hereby vow NEVER to work in the civil service. Since they don't have to answer to any person, shareholder or otherwise, they are always unwilling to get their butts off the chair to help. All they need to fucking do is to cover their lan-cheow arses.

For the past two weeks, I've been bounced around like a fucking ball and now the only thing I can do is bang balls. LPPL. Fuck it. I hate not being in control.

What open travel within Europe? Shit. It's too damn open. Why do away with immigration control and counters? All travellers should go though such controls at each border. IF you are holding an EU passport, go to that counter, they check that it's a valid passport, you leave. How slow can that be? If you are holding an international passport, go to another counter, and they check if you came in from another EU country or from other parts of the world. IF you came from an EU counntry and received an entry chop, off you go. IF the stamp is missing, they can at the very least solve the problem there and then! How difficult can that be?

Now, no freaking agency wants to take any responsibility to solve this anomaly caused by the Paris airport border control, or to provide any avenue for me to make an official report on that.

IDIOT CIVIL AGENCIES!

Especially that nah bae chee bye French immigration counter girl who did not stamp my passport. And that fucker had the audacity to idiotically wave my passport around, showing it to her colleagues. What the fuck was that?

KNNBCCB!

All I have now is a piece of paper, a semi-official note from the Swedish migration board stating that I visited them today. I quote.

"The Migration Board hereby certify that XYZ (my name) today on the 8th of feburary 2006 has visited the Migration Office in Uppsala."

Fuck! That's only a note and all that they are willing to say. Nothing about the missing entry stamp that I notified them. Of course, they say it's not their problem. Every agency has said that so far, and I have no way of reporting that. I have to screw the French for that.

FUCK!

Horrible inflexible civil agencies. Everywhere. Even back home.

There's no consulate in Sweden that I can seek advice from. The nearest is in Norway. I seeked clarification from the MFA back home on this issue and they told me to contact the local immigration board, which I did and they did not provide any help.

Screwed man. I'm fucking screwed by that CB bor. Even though the airport police did say I would have not trouble getting home. But how am I going to certify my 6 months here? By magic?

What now? Help from the consulate in Norway? I emailed them for advice already. All I can do is to put this matter behind until they reply.

Chee bye...

Called but No Luck

I called the airport police again. And he insisted that it wouldn't be a problem, and that I'll be able to go home. He remembered me...

Well, duh... Of course, I'll be able to go home. It's a matter of whether I'll face any problems when I'm trying to head back home.

If asked about the misssing entry stamp at France, I was told to show them the boarding pass stubs and tell them that it was their fault for not giving me one in the first place. Xiao leh. Nanti I offend them, then how?

Asked if I should make a report and get an official memo, he said no. And they won't give one to me. What the? I'm not asking for an entry stamp now! I'm asking to make a report to verify that I've notified the relevant authorities (whatever it is) that I am aware of the anomaly in my passport and that they are also aware of it. So difficult meh?

In short, no recourse whatsoever.

Authorities are the same everywhere. C'est la vie.

What now? Ignore it?

Suay-ness is my name.

Day 15: The Worst Day Thus Far

Pity me. Oh, pity me.

Not only did I find out today that some IDIOT in France neglected to give me the entry chop (And to think I took French for two years in lower secondary. But I have to admit that my accent was never right and I’ve already given it all back to the teachers.), and I neglected to ask what my best recourse would be now (Will call back to bug them about it tomorrow.), something bad had to happen on my way back to the apartment.

Seriously, how would I know that the system in Europe is so different from the rest of the world? For goodness sake, I was in transit! I did not get an entry stamp in London en route to New York. Neither did I get one in Malaysia en route to Australia. Why would I want one in transit in France en route to Sweden? They are two different countries! Who knew they give the entry stamp at the first European Union country you arrive at? Shoot. And some IDIOT had to play punk and so conveniently forget to chop my passport.

Then on the way back, I rolled down the stairs. Yes. Rolled. It wasn’t the entire flight but it was at least half. Like I mentioned before, almost all the staircases I’ve seen in Sweden are spiral. The only ones that are not are at mainly at SLU. I know spiral stairs are aesthetically pleasing. BUT it works only if they are on the outside of the building or if enclosed by a glass façade. Otherwise, they are useless for that aspect. And, of course, spiral staircases are more of a construction challenge than the normal boxed/square ones. And sure, spiral staircases save space. BUT they are freaking DANGEROUS! The outside step is much bigger than the inside, and one misstep like what happened today and BOOM! You roll down the stairs. Ow… I think I have a bump on my head or butt, but it’s so painful I can’t figure out where. Concussion, I believe. I’m exaggerating a little. It’s painful but I’m alright, I think. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here typing this post.

The one good thing that happened today is the return of hot water. I finally had a nice warm shower.

This marks the worst day I’ve had thus far in cold, cold Uppsala.

One only hopes this is rock bottom and cannot get any lower. Cheers.

Idle

One can probably judge by the number of posts today that I'm bored at SLU. Right now, there is nothing to see or do.

What? Don't tell me to go watch people conduct PCR. There's nothing new to see here. I've done PCR before, what. Until the device is out, I doubt I have anything much to do here. So I think I'll limit my time here to one day a week. Tuesdays. That's when the meetings are held. More to learn back at Angstromlaboratoriet.

Anyway, I don't really like the toilets on this level. The ventilation system seems to be very poor. By midday, the water closets, as they're called here, reek of poop but are absolutely clean! No residue whatsoever. There can only be one reason. Poor ventilation. Stale air. Man... time to upgrade the fans or blowers. As you all know, my sensitive nose cannot take too much torture. Poor me.

*grin*

Oh well. Back to work and to get used to using the big-ass Microsoft trackball mouse. That one, hor, the cursor you control with your thumb one leh.

Passport Matters

Always check your passport for the entry stamp!

I didn't receive mine in Sweden and was totally confused about it. Asked the police at the airport, only to find out that they don't certify that you entered Sweden IF you came from another European Union country. Free travel it seems. Told me it's fine and I accepted it.

Came to Uppsala, called the migration board, then got bounced to Arlanda Airport, then bounced to the Arlanda Airport police only to find out that the IDIOTS at Charles De Gaulle (Paris) Airport were supposed to certify my entry into Europe! That she-idiot didn't give me an entry stamp! I can't get one now, and it seems like the police here can't do anything as well.

I can only hope this won't come bite me in the ass in future. Especially when I'm leaving the country. Especially in France. Who knows what those idiots would do? I kept getting assurances from the local authorities that it's not going to be a problem and all of them kept saying that it's not going to be a problem. But I just don't feel safe.

Read about these kind of things happening in the papers when you visit up north, but I've never thought that it would happen to me. What's worse is that the offending place isn't some where up north but some IDIOT in France. Suay man.

Wonder if there's anywhere they can issue a document to state that I officially entered Sweden. Would making a police report help? Argh... Those idiots at CDG Airport.

Or maybe I should just ignore it and take things as they come.

What about reservist? If they want to see how? Dang. Bang balls then.

Better keep my boarding pass stubs properly.

Oh... let everything turn out right. Puh-lease...

Day 15: At Work and Other Tidbits

Well, I called the apartment administrators this morning and it seems like this problem has occurred before and they know about it. Said they would send a plumber over as soon as possible. Hopefully, the water system will be repaired by the time I reach back to the room tonight.

It snowed last night. I think there was about 3 to 4 inches of snow on the ground this morning. While it was new to be walking on such ‘thick’ snow again after so many years, kudos goes out to the public workers for clearing the ground so quickly. It makes the streets so much easier to walk. I’d never realised that their hard work only made our days more pleasant, here and in Singapore. Imagine waking up at unearthly hours and starting your day while the rest of the world is sleeping comfortably in their beds, and what you do is often met with disregard and scorn. They are often the unnamed, unseen, unheard, and unsung heroes of any society. Without them, we cease to function the way we know it. And of course, in Singapore, the cleaners and garbage collectors are usually foreign workers or people we feel are uncouth, and do not want to associate ourselves with them. Horrible, isn’t it? But they are a necessary part of society, and no job is too demeaning. Who knows if I will end up as a table cleaner in my later years?

To the road cleaners, the trash collectors, table cleaners, basically the REAL public administrators, I salute you for your work and the effort that you put into making our lives more comfortable.

On a much lighter note, Sweden is indeed the land of babes. Eye candy galore. Everywhere! Almost. I revel at standing at the bus-stop every weekday morning. Deserts are not necessary here. Lest I appear too hum sup, I don’t ‘feast’ too obviously. I’m sure all guys in the world know how to look without appearing to be staring. It’s a skill. As for the SPGs back home, don’t worry. You have your share of sweets as well. The world is fair. What I can’t understand is when it’s so cold, how to they stand wearing low cut blouses?

I love the apples here. Unlike in Singapore, where Fuji apples abound and it’s so difficult to find Washington apples or the gor kee kah (5-legged) variety. Here, all they have are the gor kee kah apples and I don’t see any fuji apples. Great. They taste much better.

The computer at the SLU office is finally up and running, but I’m a total klutz at using the keyboard. While it’s still basically the QWERTY typing board style, the punctuation marks are in different places because of certain letters not found in the English alphabet. Like Å, Ö, Ä. Plus the functions are also somewhat different. For italics, we use Ctrl-I, while they call it kursiv and use Ctrl-K. The same for bold (fet). Ctrl-B versus Ctrl-F. The controls are totally reversed from what I’m used to using.

Me: Ctrl-F = Find or Search; Ctrl-B = Bold
Them: Ctrl-F = Bold; Ctrl-B = Search

I’m a total klutz at this. And they can’t add my notebook to their IP. Afraid that my anti-virus is not updated and will infect all the other computers in the building. Hmm… then why do we manage to log on so easily onto the school network without such problems? You mean we don’t care about viruses?

I can change the keyboard style to US and all problems are solved. Except one. Some times I don't even know where some of the less common punctuations and symbols are and rely on the keyboard for that. So changing the style, while the printed letters on the keyboard remains in the Swedish style, I also got problem. Oh well, all it takes is some getting used to the keyboard style. No biggie.

The best part of all the trouble this morning? I finally have my internet connection at the second office! I'm a total addict. I admit that.

I don't know what to cheer about today, but who cares.

Cheers!

Or we do it in Singapore, during wedding or major chinese celebrations, (deep breath now) Yaaaa.............................................um Seng!

It's a miracle!

For some unknown reason, the shower heater worked this morning.

What. The. Is there something to this eratic behaviour? Does the hot water come in cycles? Or must I always take my chances as to when I can shower?

Better call the adminstrators to sort this out.

Day 14: Foiled by a faulty water heater

It was a perfect start. Beautiful walk to the bus-stop. And an almost perfect end to the day, with a wonderful walk back home. In fact, it was not freezing at all. It was just perfect. Even the light snow felt good, with soft little snowflakes tickling the bare skin of my face. It was in short, great. It was so comfortable that I made a snowball and threw it at some sign post. But, of course I made sure that no one was around first lah. If I were younger, say secondary school age, I'd lie down on the ground and make snow angels like I did back then in the US. It was that comfortable this evening.

I even had a nice cursory talk with my Honduras neighbour when I met her along the corridor. See. Wonderful day.

"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." Murphy’s law.

It’s ironic that this was mentioned in the afternoon.

The perfect day was foiled by a faulty water heater.

I was already commenting/complaining this afternoon about showering in almost freezing cold waters. Granted the weather may be frigid at times, but I don't expect the shower to be freezing as well. The waters were initially bearable but got better after I adjusted the temperatures. What, think I stupid, meh? Don't know how to adjust, izzit? But yesterday was bad. The water just got colder and colder, to the point of near freezing cold. To me, at least. This evening? It simply didn't heat up. At all. O...kay..., I exaggerate. The water was bearable, though not warm. For a full 5 seconds! That's all. Accurate, ok? I can count by the number of shivers per second. Yup, I showered in freezing cold water today. And to think someone this afternoon asked me to take an ice dip. I did that now.

Called the adminstrators of this apartment, but somehow the recipient couldn't even note it down or take a message. I wasn't asking her to come over and take a look at it immediately, just for something to be done tomorrow. But all I have to do is to call again tomorrow. So, no biggie. But I do hope the heater will be repaired asap. Best if it can be done before I reach back tomorrow. I can't imagine another day in icy cold waters. If I want conditions like that, I'll gladly go the the north pole or add ice cubes into the water.

And the wise army crazy guys out there, don't tell me to take a powder bath. Think what? Field camp ah? Tell me that and I'll throw ice in your pants the first chance I get.

Mood this morning: Happy
Mood this evening: Delighted
Mood now: Grouchy

Argh... I want a shiver-free shower!

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Reborn is back from his haitus, and will occassionally post in Outward Expressions of Inward Thoughts. Do check back for updates.

Picture Perfect

A postcard worthy scene this morning.

The cathedral highlighted by a hue of reddish tint of the morning sky. The branches of trees beautifully coated with pristine white ice particles.

And from far, it seemed as though I was looking at cherry blossoms on full bloom. Wonderful.

If only I had my camera with me. I really ought to carry it along with me everywhere I go, and learn how to use it with those big bulky gloves of mine.