incandescent

Today really taught me about taking things for granted. If I could rate it upon 10, 10 being the worst, it’ll probably be a -5 on the ‘how bad does your day suck’ scale.

I was feeling pretty bad after walking back to Julia’s grand aunt’s place in Malmö yesterday in the snow/rain. Yes, SNOW. I don’t even…weather, it’s April already!! Slept super early and felt slightly better today, but still really queasy and nauseous the whole day. Zero appetite to eat anything either so I didn’t really have energy.

And then…Cassi got her wallet pickpocketed. Yes, in Copenhagen of all places. Sigh. I guess it just goes to show that you can never let down your guard while traveling, even in a seemingly safe place.

So I’ve officially felt my first pang of homesickness, what with feeling poorly and everything that’s happened today. I’m just thankful we’re staying in a hotel instead of a hostel so we can rest in peace and quiet after a tough day.

Tomorrow will be a better day.

Sitting in a cafe in downtown Jonkoping, half heartedly studying for my exam tomorrow, and I can’t help but feel a pang of sadness. Suddenly, time feels like it’s flying by too fast, and I don’t wanna leave Jonkoping yet.

I’ve become so used to life here. I love the chill pace of life and walking down the street and it being completely empty. I love the bundled babies, the dogs, and saying ‘hej hej’ to cashier at the supermarket. I love the sense of having time to do whatever you want. After living here for a while, I’ve realized that it’s such a luxury.

In Singapore, we’re always planning our day by the hour. You can even buy time by taking a cab. In Sweden, people walk everywhere. The average commute by walking is about 20 minutes. 

I read somewhere that the richest man in the world is one that has the time to do what he loves best. I understand that now.

April’s gonna zoom pass and I’m not going to be in Jonkoping much at all. I’m gonna miss this place so much when I leave. 

Paris was so beautiful: the perfect mix of old and new. It was a refreshing change to be in a bustling city again, and also so amazing being surrounded by such history and architecture.

It was also four days of indulgence; I don’t think I’ve ever had so many consecutive good meals in my life. 

Had salmon, oysters, and wine for my 21st birthday dinner :) 

Cassi and I were lucky to have Chiying and Yaowen to show us around and recommend us things to do and see. They recommended us this famous falafel place where I had an amazing falafel (okay also the only falafel I have ever eaten…but it tasted pretty darn good.)

And of course, what’s visiting Paris without having a macaroon or two. Or ten.

I’m not usually a desert/sweet stuff person but can I just say that I finally understand the hype about (good) macarons. Pierre Herme’s ones were my favourite. They had really unique flavours like salted caramel and rose, vanilla and olive, and even some cool duochrome ones. 

Hit the usual touristy spots like the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay…

and also gave in to my inner T-Swizzle fangirl and visited the cafe she filmed her ‘Begin Again’ video in. 

To sum it up, Paris was wonderful experience both for my eyes and my tummy. And I still can’t believe I’m (already) 21. Thanks for everyone who wished me via Whatsapp/Facebook/Sms. I had a lot of fun reading them on the floor of a H&M dressing room in Gothenburg as I turned 21 in Singapore time.

Right now I’m looking forward to hopefully visiting Stockholm and then Copenhagen at the end of the month! And of course for May, when Shawn’s coming to this part of the world :) 

It’s ironic how when I’m in a Western country, I actually cook (or am learning to cook) more Chinese food…

One Sunday we had our very own Chinese New Year party, Grashagen style. The 7 of us cooked up a storm and invited our fellow international students to have dinner at our place. Never been so happy to see Chinese food o m g. Everything tasted so good ^^ 

Cassi and I cooked Ba Kut Teh and ABC Soup! It was really fun explaining to our friends Chinese culture and of course, teaching them how to use chopsticks. 

Set off some lanterns Hariz bought at Coop (which we later on found out they were illegal) 

(Photo credit: Cheryl)

A few weeks after that we went over to Raslatt to have a Dutch dinner with our Dutch friends! They cooked pancakes for us, called  pannekoeken. And some huge ass meatballs.

As you can see, food really bonds people together. Or maybe we Singaporeans just love to cook and host. On another occasion, we invited our Swedish friends who were going for internship over for yet another homecooked meal. And of course, ending the night with akaaaa

Cassi & I with Erika and Matilda!

I am leaving for Kiruna today! This is me promising myself that I will update this space on Gothenburg, PARIS and my birthday on the 22 hour bus ride there. 

I WILL DO IT. 

I wasn’t expecting anything on Valentine’s Day this year due to the fact that I’m in Sweden and Shawn’s back in Singapore. But he surprised me with some flowers and plants via the means of Cassi today (: Which made me a very happy girl. 

Thinking about our past 3 years together really has brought back some good memories. And every day I’m grateful for the fact that I have someone that I can confide in, someone who knows me better than myself, and someone to love. Because being able to love is such a gift, such a privilege that we take for granted sometimes. And I’m glad that I’m able to do that wholeheartedly. 

We’ve come a long way.

Counting down the days til I see you again.

1. My eyelashes behave so well here; they don’t droop and they stay curled til the end of the day (unlike in humid Singapore). 

2. How is it that in this frikin dry weather, I still manage to get a huge pimple on my forehead?!

3. Said pimple is not going down no matter how much I try not to touch it.

4. Snow falling is a pretty sight. However, when it settles on your head, it looks like you have dandruff.

5. One does not sweat in the gym. Not even when you sit in the sauna for 10 minutes. 

It’s funny how you get more patriotic when in a foreign country and you’re the minority. Whenever someone asks where I’m from, I never fail to tell them about Singapore and how we are multi-racial, speak English as our first language, and have summer all year round. Most of them look impressed (well, a handful also think that Singapore is a city in China- but let’s ignore them) and this has made me realize that hey, I’m actually really proud to be a Singaporean.

Felt quite homesick today (I think due to the slew of instagram pictures of Chinese New Year goodies and reunion dinners) and couldn’t snap out of it. Thank goodness for the Ba Kut Teh dinner, which was a success! Thanks Prima Taste, you’re a lifesaver. And also…

I’m going to Paris for my 21st Birthday. SAYWHUT!!

Never thought I’d be doing this in a million years. And it’s just when I was feeling kinda sad yesterday looking at everyone’s 21st parties on Facebook with their family and loved ones. So. Paris here I come! (:

On top of that, we might have found a deal for a good gym in Jonkoping that’s half the price of what we were about to pay for a gym membership today. We didn’t manage to pay for it because the reception wasn’t open, but I guess it’s a blessing in disguise! Thank goodness because it’s really quite a lot of money involved and I was starting to feel guilty spending so much on something seemingly frivolous like a gym membership. On exchange. But working out has become such a habit to me and I was honestly willing to spend the money. So thank goodness that’s some money saved which can go to further travels (and maybe a Rebecca Minkoff bag. Shhh.)

It was the most beautiful day yesterday in Jonkoping. Even though the snow had disappeared and in place was wet, muddy slush, we were rewarded by a bright blue sky and sun. Not a bad trade, I’d say.

So, Matt, Hariz and I decided to #yogeo (You Only Go on Exchange Once) and venture out onto (yes, onto) the lake beside our school. 

It was so unreal stepping onto the frozen lake and we had a lot of fun taking pictures and pretending to ice skate.

It went from standing to the edge of the lake to…

Even further out, almost in the middle. Matt even managed to squeeze a jump shot in before a guy shouted at us to “GET OFF THE LAKE!” (exact words). We were kind of shocked and thought he was some kind of patrol person but looking back, I think he was just a random passerby. He explained to us that it wasn’t safe as the lake was melting and there might be undercurrents (?) in the middle that’ll cause the ice to be thinner. We then quickly scrambled off the lake. Oh well.

I guess that sums up my first #yogeo experience on exchange! Today I had 6 hours of classes, my longest day in school yet. One thing about classes here, there is at least one mature student enrolled in it, and they give pretty interesting perspectives about issues. We all agree that the most useful part of lessons so far is the discussion bit, as the Swedish (or European?) viewpoint is quite different from the Asian one. I’m learning new things everyday. 

Okay got to go camp for Kiruna tickets round 2 now. Crossing my fingers!

It’s been 17 days since we got to Jonkoping, but it feels like we’ve been here for much longer than that. Our first two weeks were filled with intro week activities such as nights out at Akademien (the student-run club), a city bus tour, introductory lectures. And of course, furnishing our apartment at- where else- IKEA.

How could I go to Sweden without eating meatballs! These were pretty good.

We’ve been going grocery shopping quite a bit too, which consists of some exasperation (the Swedes seem to have no concept of tissue boxes) and lots of google translate.

Some pictures of our cooking adventures thus far. On our way to becoming domestic goddesses!

Chicken breast in Sweden, for some reason, is really juicy and tender.

Baked salmon, a 15 minute miracle in the oven.

You know you’re getting used to the cold weather when you step out of the house into 2 degrees celcius and rejoice. Which is what happened to me today. It was cold the past week, with temperatures around -7 degree celcius (-10 in the night). It’s been warmer this week, and we’re actually out of the negatives. Hoorah. For now, I am thankful for my heattech and hunters.

It starts getting dark at around 4pm, so the nights are super long here and we start getting tired at around 11pm. Went out a couple of times the past week to Sliver, one of the (few) clubs in Jonkoping. And because the last bus stops running at around 12midnight on weekdays, we had to walk back home on Thursday for 45 minutes in the freeeeezing cold, which certaintly was an experience. My face took a while to thaw after that.

Last night we went to Raslatt for dinner at Hilary’s, where she cooked us honey and soya sauce chicken wings. We gobbled them up because they were so good and so…asian. On a similar vein, we had this for dinner today:

Salmon teriyaki with rice. RICE. Swear I could hear the hallelujah chorus as I put a spoonful of it into my mouth. Never pegged myself for one who can’t survive without Asian food, but I guess having it again makes me realize how much I miss it.

The muffin I had when we went for Fika, which is basically a Swedish tradition of having tea break. Everyday. Today the lecturer in my class gave us a 20 minute break just so everyone could grab a coffee.

For now, school’s starting to pick up and we’re starting to having readings to read and books to buy…or torrent. Heh. Sometimes living in the country that is the home of yohohobay.se has it’s perks.

Been tossing and turning since 4am, and I’ve officially given up. Jet lag, you win this time.

In Jonkoping, Sweden. Home for the next 6 months.

Got settled into our apartment yesterday. We got Grashagen, which was our second choice. But I guess it all works out for the best, cuz I honestly think I’ll die of loneliness in a single room in Raslatt. So glad I have Cassi with me (even though she’s currently sleeping soundly- jelly :( )

The first thing we saw when we stepped into our apartment.

We tried calling the helpline for our apartment to report it, but realized that they were only open from 9-12, and 1-3. Monday-Friday only. WHAT you work 6 hours a day and still want a full hour lunch break in between?? But I guess those are the Swedes for you.

The apartment is clean, but so weirdly designed. The person who designed it obviously did not go to the same school as the designers of IKEA. This is the only picture I took of it, which you’ll have to make do with and use a lil imagination:

It’s a double room, so there are two beds. One bed, which Chevs is sitting on, is in the living room/kitchen(?!) and the other one (out of sight) is in another room. Which I am in. And it’s really small. But- it’s really quite cosy and we’re slowly getting used to it, and lying in my bed now makes me glad that I brought my bed sheet and pillowcase from home :)

Last night we ventured out in the cold to get some sustenance (AND IT IS COLD. NO JOKE.) - haven’t brought groceries yet, because after we finally settled in at around 5pm, we realized that everything was mostly closed. I guess that’s one thing I’ll have to get used to here: not having access to whatever you need whenever you want.

So we went to this pizza place near our accomodation, which serves family sized pizzas of epic proportions:

This pizza is legit. The granddaddy of all pizzas.

I’m excited for today because we’re going to the mall (apparently, the only mall in Jonkoping) to shop for household items and clothes. I need to get more socks (mine keep shedding -.-) and good gloves. And more clothes.

So far haven’t been very homesick- hallelujah for technology and generally stable wifi. The time difference takes awhile to get used to though, I keep checking to see what time it is in Singapore and wonder if my body clock has been sufficiently adjusted (obviously not).

I haven’t changed the time on my Casio either; it’s still on Singapore time. Soon, perhaps. Just not yet.