My first Christmas in Sweden.....

23th December 2005
Singapore

I could hardly contain my excitment!! I'm going on a flight to Copenhagen, Denmark and Tom will be waiting for me at the hotel when i arrived. This is the first time i'll be celebrating Chirstmas with him and his family in Sweden. In fact, i'm meeting his whole family for the first time... "Meet the parents" session...Oh well, im sure it will not be as bad as in the movie.

24th December 2005
Christmas eve

At the hotel lobby
Tom was late...as usual...
Haha..actually the flight was early.. It's been 10days since he went back to Sweden to spend some time with his family and i missed him alot. I was just taking a bite into my second croissant when he magically appeared infront of me. "LATE LATE LATE" i teased him but i was really glad to see him.

Train station in Copenhagen

Time to take the train to Malmö, the third largest city of Sweden with a population of estimated 270,000. It's not really a long ride through the Øresund Bridge - The bridge that connects Denmark and Sweden. It was opened on July 1, 2000 and is the world's longest single bridge carrying both road and railway traffic. The ride probably took around 20mins? Not that expensive as well.. I can't tell you how much it cost because Tom paid for it...HAHAHA
( train leaving at 4.23pm). .

Fyi, the sun set ard 4pm and rise at 8am during winter. So its like just 8hours of daylight!







They have a really weird train system. There's no barriers or gates to stop people without ticket from boarding the train. What they have are train conductors who conducts regular checks onboard the train. When you first board the train, the train conductors will come round checking the validity of the ticket. At the next train stop (of cos people come and go) the train conductors will make another round of checking the tickets. This happens at every stop! Talk about efficiency!


At Tom's parents place

It's a REAL christmas tree!!!!! Oh boy, with lotsa presents underneath!!! This is so cool!! His family members are really nice. Everyone of them gave me a hug, saying that they are really glad to have me here for Christmas and it makes me feel so welcome.*touched* Why isnt Tom so affectionate as well? *just kidding*
Apparently, they have a "who bought the most presents?" contest going on this year
Tom won because he bought like 20presents and his youngest brother, Dennis got like 17presents.
That's Tom, always wanna be the winner in everything

And this is the Christmas Eve dinner!!!
lutfisk - A christmas dish
Gravlax - thin slices of salmon in salt and sugar
Julskinka - Christmas ham
Inlagd sill - Pickled herring
Yummy yummy....simply delicious!!! droolz~~


25th December 2005
Christmas day

They called this the Christmas breakfast! Personally, i'm wondering how can this be refer to as breakfast when its almost 12.30pm? sounds more like brunch to me.. Oh well, it's a nice breakfast though, with Gravlax(thin slices of salted salmon), roasted beef and my favourite, Köttbullar -swedish meatballs!!!!

His sister drove us around Malmö after Christmas breakfast.
A point to note: If you don't have a driving license, don't complain about someone's driving skill (hint hint).
It's really cold in Malmö, probabaly around 0 to -2degrees. And no matter how much clothes i piled on, i was still freezing my ass off.
Before i started flying, i used to hate the hot and humid weather in Singapore. I kept telling myself that i rather be cold and freezing instead of feeling hot and sweaty all the times. However, once i experience the harsh winter overseas, i learn to appreciate the weather in Singapore.
Give me Singapore weather anytime!!!
The cold wind pierced right throught ur spine, and you'll get cracked lips, painful nosebleed, dry and peeling skin, winter itch. It's so horrible~~ Always Moisturize,Moisturize,Moisturize


And this is Tom's favourite pastry: Chokladboll (chocolate ball)
The chocolate ball is usually the size of a meatball. The recipe consists of oatmeal, sugar, coffee, cocoa, butter which is mixed into a compact mass and then rolled on shredded coconut. I personally finds it a tad too sweet for my taste.

Another kind of candy will be the salmiak. It looks like candy but taste really salty. Salmiak resembles black liquorice in colour and are almost always black or very dark brown. It is extremely popular in all five of the Nordic countries but is lesser known elsewhere in the world. Apparently, Tom's relatives in the States love it so much that they buy tons and tons of the salmiak whenever they are back in Sweden. Tom's dad gave me one to try and i should say it is an acquired taste.

26th December 2005
Boxing day

Woke up to find it's snowing outside. Such a beautiful sight. I just wanna lean out and touch the falling snow. DARN~ why didnt it snow on Chritmas day! we could have a snowball fight..and it will be us against Tom...Muahahaha...

Someone once told me that snow has a very nice taste. I wondered how it taste like? hmm...stick my tongue out ...
fyi, snow doesnt have any taste at all



And that's Tom cooking breakfast for us*..heehee...If only he's so nice everyday! *dodge flying pan*
Oh well, he's a nice person and quite a good cook actually (i shall not complain about his cooking cos begger cant be choosy!)

* actually there's a picture of Tom cooking breakfast. But he asked me *politely* to remove it cos he thinks he look really bad in it

Gonna head back to Copenhagen soon. Sighz, I just cant bear to leave Malmö. Its almost like a christmas holiday with falling snow, christmas presents, christmas tree.

That's my lazy Tom laying in bed while i snap dozens of pictures of him...."wakie wakie, time to head back to Copenhagen!!!"

Our way to Malmö Central train station....
The snows are starting to get heavier.
"Please let there be a snowstorm tonight and my flight will get delayed, Amen"
Wishful thinking, i guess

Back in Copenhagen

Went in search for the famous pølse, Denmark's very famous red sausages!! These hot dog-like sausages are long (around 12 inch long), thin (about the diameter of an index finger) and bright red. They are traditionally served on a small, rectangular paper plate along with a side order of bread (similar to a hot dog bun, but without a slice in it), and a serving of both Ketchup, mustard and roasted onions. The sausage is hand held, dipped into both the ketchup,mustard, roasted onions and eaten. The bread is eaten alternately, also dipped into the ketchup, mustard and roasted onions.

YESH!!! finally found a pølsevogn!!!!! (sausage wagon)
*two freezing idiots made a mad dash for it*

I must say it has been a wonderful christmas and i can't wait to go back next year. I heard its really beautiful during summer as well....Hopefully, someone will sponser my trip to Sweden next year...

Swedish word : GOD JUL
it means "MERRY CHRISTMAS"

Could this get any worse?

Im the type that deserves the "Best employee of the year" award.

I don't complain too much about long working hours,
I don't curse and swear whenever my new roster comes out,
I don't "report sick" just so i could miss the most tedious flight
I don't swop flights with my colleagues just so i could earn more allowances/off days
I don't have any discriplinary records/medical leave records during my one and a half year of flying..

To put it simply...I'm the best employee a company could ever ask for (Bragging?)

That was until earlier this month..It started out with running nose, sore throat, cough and a slight fever. When the day was out, it was full blown "FLU"..not bird flu...just a common flu. I was comtemplating about going to work later in the evening. "Are you insane??" my boyfriend, Tom and my family members exclaimed. So there i was, whisked by Tom to see the company doctor. One look at me..."tsk tsk tsk", the doctor said "You are down with a bad bout of flu, im gonna put you on Medical leave for two days." Three more visits to the doctor and i was put on Medical leave for another 3days. Apparently, my flu had lead to conjunctivitis (an inflammation of the conjunctiva, the clear membrane that covers the white part of the eye and lines the inner surface of the eyelids). As a result, i miss my Los Angeles Flight!!!! (sobz sobz)

While i was still recovering from my flu, i had to get food poisoning in Mumbai. Off to see the doctor again. A jab on the arm to stop the vomitting and some medicines to stop the stomach pain.
2days later, it doesnt seem to get any better. In fact, it got worse! i was running to the toilet 7 times a day and just throwing up everything i ate/drank!! I practically had to dragged myself off the floor to see my family doctor.


Check out the amount of medicines i had to consumed! 7pills!!!! To make myself feel better, i arranged my pills into a smiling face with the tongue sticking out. My mom thought i was too sick in the brain.

When it comes to swallowing pills, i will always start with the biggest pills and then slowly move on to the smaller one. So the "eyes" of my smiling face goes first.. Muahahaha...DIE!!!!

My sister commented that i should probably not take out all the pills first. "It's all in the mind. You should take out one first, swallow and then take out the next pill." I tried and it does makes a difference. Darn~ how come i didnt think of it earlier??!! No more smiling face with tongue sticking out.....

I hate to swallow pills. What i usually do is to them right at the back of the tongue (easier to swallow mah!) and then take big gulps of water to bring it down. That was until i realise the "bitter" taste of the tongue....yupz, u got that right! It's at the back of the tongue!!!. No wonder pills always taste bitter to me. So will it taste sweeter if i put it on the "sweet" taste of the tongue? bites me...

Sighz...it has been two days since i had solid food. The only consolation that i get out of all these misery is that i lost 2kgs. However, its probably just water loss so nothing to celebrate about.

All in all, this December alone, i had seen the doctors six times, was on medical leave for 5days and was sick half of the time.
I hope it will get better after this....sniff sniff.
There goes my "best employee award"


Swedish sentence for the day: Jag är mycket hungrig
It means : I am very hungry

Lost...in a toilet in Japan?

You have to hand it to the Japanese!

It's a well-known fact that they have the cleanest and most advanced, high-tech toilet in Asia, or probably the whole world. It never fail to amaze me how creative they are when it comes to designing a simple thing, The Toilet (toire (トイレ) or toiretto (トイレット) in japanese). Features, such as blow dryer, seat heating, massage options, water jet adjustments, automatic lid opening, flushing after use are commonly found in Japanese toilets. The modern toilet in Japan, is commonly known as Washlet (ウォシュレット) or as warm-water cleaning toilet seat (温水洗浄便座: onsui senjō benza).

My first encounter with the washlet - I was baffled by the colorful array of buttons on the complicated keypad on the washlet (super-high-tech sit-down model with a control panel that looks like the cockpit of a plane). As u can see, on the left hand side, there's three electronic buttons and a dial control. One probably control the bidet, and another would be the spray (what spray?). After my...uh hmmm...business, i realised i didnt have a clue how to flush the toilet. I tried the first button - whoops, bidet! a little plastic thingy at the back of the bowl and began shooting a stream of warm water and getting my t-shirt and floor wet in the process...Geez~ Better to close the lid. Where's the flush button??? #!&*%$?# *tearing my hair out in frustration*
Two minutes later, I found an old-fashioned lever on the right hand side of the wall...duh~
and i ended up, on all fours, wiping the toilet floor dry with a thick wad of toilet paper.....sighz..

















I don't know about you but i find this pretty interesting. In the woman's toilet, there's usually a device called an "Etiquette device" which is either attached to the wall of the toilet, or included in an existing washlet. The device is activated by pressing a button, or by the wave of a hand in front of a motion sensor. After activation, the device creates a loud flushing sound similar to a toilet being flushed. This sound either stops after a preset time or can be halted through a second press on the button. I mean, C'mon does it matter if your neighbour in the next cubicle hears u taking a dump or a pee? Apparently to the Japanese Women! In fact, before the introduction of the Etiquette device, Japanese women used to flush public toilets continuously while using them, wasting a large amount of water in the process. It was estimated that this waste up to 20 liters of water per use. (talk about water conservation!)

And believe it anot! Some of the toilets in the departmental stores even come with a MAP! (picture on the left). It lays out cubicles with squatters, washlet, baby change, baby chair (Yesh! they have baby chair in some cubicles - Very mother friendly!!)

I pray for the day when toilets in Singapore are up there with the Japanese!. A google search shows that a WTO website, http://www.worldtoilet.org/hp/wto_hp.htm, was launched by Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Singapore on 30th June 2001. No, Not That WTO!!!! WORLD TOILET ORGANISATION (in case u're wondering, im not kidding here)
Singapore also launch a "Happy Toilet" campaign that rate public restrooms with a five-star system similar to the one used for hotels. A "Happy Toilet" is one that's rated three stars or more. Happy toilet? sounds abit corny to me...oh well...

So where could u find the cleanliest toilet in Singapore? Its a well-known joke - But Singaporeans always say the cleanliest toilet is probably your home toilet.. The public toilet?? Singaporeans just can't be bothered to keep it clean and dry cos they don't have to clean it up.

Kowtow to the aunties and uncles who clean it up for you after use..they are the one who make the happy toilet "Happy"...

The swedish word today is "toalett"
You guess it! It's toilet in Swedish

New blog, New me?

After much consideration and (poking from my friends as well), i decided to shift my blog out of Friendster..
(My friends: Horray...pop the Champagne!!! no more enduring the irritating emails from friendster)...actually it doesnt make a difference since i update my blog like once a month??..Haha...well, a writer needs inspirations to write wonderful and award winning novels, poems, songs, rap and whatsoever...But as my good friend, Jeremy pointed out>>>a blog is meant to be updated regularly...haha..who cares? Definitely not me

Well, kindly continue to support my new blog.."A simple life" not that my life is simple..in fact its filled with irritating passengers and colleagues, misbehaving children (esp. now it's the school holidays), crying infants, and other stuffs like my overseas adventures, my shopping spree, gossips, juicy news, pictures, good-to-know and blah blah blah..No politics, No discrimination, No racism, No bitchy stuff..so dun hack into my blog please~~
and i promise to update my blog on a regular basis *keep my fingers crossed*

Since i'm learning a new language, Swedish...i decided to teach all my nice and lovely friends some useful swedish words as well...

the first sentence : Du är dumm
Pronounce as : "Do a Dom"
translate into: You are dumb (to be reading my blog) Haha...just kidding

Cheers!!!