Not forgetting to keep healthy while doing case Sunday, September 06, 2009
30 August 2009: Kayaking at Brunnsviken On a bright and sunny (cum windy) Sunday evening, 7 of us ventured out on a kayaking trip with the objective to reach a destination in mind: CASTLE (though we have no idea what the name of the castle is)! Taking the kayak boats and doing last-minute checks... Here we go!!! A total of 2 doubles and 3 singles set out with the same goal - Dont' capsize!!! Row row row your boat~~~ I mean, peddle peddle peddle your boat~~~ Phew! We made it to the castle and back again! 4 hours of straight kayaking and we endured both good weather (clear blue skies) and bad climate (rocky waves, cold wind and slight drizzle) and survived through deadly rippling waves created by passing speedboats. We made it!!! Yeah, so proud of ourselves! Girl Power! The awesome 7 who overcame their physical endurance with the power of the mind!!! Ok ok, I'm crapping~~~ Haha... A random bear left by a random kid... Looks kinda cute on the boat don't you think so? 4 September: Innebandy at Frescatihallen Time to loosen up for a game of innebandy (floorball)! Batch 8 vs Batch 9!!! Let's go! Batch 9 was pretty fierce, but still no match for the batch 8 guys! There were always changes in members of the 2 groups since people got tired half-way through the match and there were reserves waiting at the rest stand. I eventually joined the group of batch 9 towards the end of the game... Chiong ah!!! Woohoo! Last goal of the game was scored by our team! Oh man, that felt so good!!! We were all drained out... 2 hours of innebandy was shagged!!! Especially since the guys didn't give chances at all! Just imagine, the girls had all emerged with injuries after the match... Group photo!!!
--Mary HAD a little lamb--
11:09 pm
Turned 22! Saturday, August 08, 2009
This year's birthday is lonesome... Here I am, sitting in my office (at 8.40pm) trying to finish my work before leaving (at one in the morning) to catch the train and ferry for an island south of Sweden. Tonight's a sleepless night... Celebrated with some of the guys in my batch while out in the cold! Woohoo, Pink Princess cake!!! Really good!
I expect myself to EMO a lot considering that I could not celebrate it with family and friends back home... but strangely enough, I couldn't help but smile to myself all day (except during lunch cos' I didn't like what I cook ><). Maybe it's bcos of the bday videos sent by hybrids. Maybe it's bcos of the numerous bday calls, SMSes and emails that I had gotten from fellow NOC mates. Maybe it's bcos of the bday greetings by many in Facebook (behold... the power of FB!). I know it's hard to keep in touch when separated by distance and not being to see one another on a near-daily basis. And that makes the bday wishes even more precious!!! So, just want to say A BIG THANK YOU to those who had wished me Happy Birthday!
Oh man, as I'm typing this entry, I'm beginning to get emo... Siao liao... Haha, miss you ppl and see you back in Singapore in January 2010! Muacks, hugs, kisses and cheers!!!
--Mary HAD a little lamb--
2:44 am
Slight Interruption from report of summer trip: STOCKHOLM PRIDE Sunday, August 02, 2009
STOCKHOLM PRIDE: 27 July - 2 August!!!
Pride is celebrated worldwide and this week happens to be in Stockholm! Apparently, it's a very big festival held every year, an event that is most likely impossible to execute in Singapore. Hmm, why you may ask!?!
The reason is simple. It's an important ceremony celebrated to commemorate the acceptance of homosexuals, bisexuals and transgender! The Swedes are so open about it that you'll be shocked! Pride can literally be found everywhere during this week, from Pride flags hanged on public buses and cafes, restaurants to setting up of specially-arranged Pride sections in bookstores...
The most entertaining event of the Stockholm Pride has to be its Parade. Held on Saturday (1 August), the parade was about 4 hours long. Everyone had the liberty to join in the parade and cheered to the acceptance and freedom of homosexuality!
Many participants of the Parade had put on 'special' costumes to bring the ambiance up! Btw, they're all guys dressed in tights and dresses! NICE!
See the flag with rainbow colours? That's the Pride flag! It's everywhere that there's no way you can miss it on the streets of Stockholm! Crowds and crowds of people joining in the parade!
Me, Yvonne (one of the PhD student in the department that I work in) and Yvonne's girlfriend! They're very amicable people! Invited me to a picnic and drinking session at the park after the parade was over!
This week was also the last week that batch 7 would be here in Stockholm... Sad sad... The gals had already left on Saturday morning and the guys will be leaving on Monday morning... I will miss all of them! I already missed Suba's presence in the lab and department... See you guys back in SG!
Me and Suba after the disputationfest!
On our way to the dinner in Vasa Museum...
Pic of some students in our deparment! Taken during the outing to GrönaLund!
--Mary HAD a little lamb--
8:01 pm
A small town called Sault Friday, July 31, 2009
Day 10: In the French 'capital' of lavender called Sault (a small town in Provence)... We were sitting in the cafe to enjoy a cup of hot kaffee and citron tart (as well as writing to send postcards home)... Great way to start the day!
After a satisfying breakfast, it was time to begin our lavender adventure!!! We obtained the map of the town from the tourist info centre and off we go! Taking photos of the extensive stretches of lavender fields from a top view:
Snapping away as we walked down to reach our favourite lavenders... 5 km to go!
Look at the neat rows of the lavender plants... A very beautiful sight...
How I wished we had rented a car then... The sun was not being friendly to us... It was really very warm then and we had to turn back after walking for 2 hours... Another 2 hours' stroll back to the town... I need an ice cream!
My lunch, which I had at 4 pm!!! (or rather dinner!) I ordered the meal of the day - grilled pork with white wine sauce! Pretty good!!! I like the sauce a lot as the taste of the wine is just perfect and isn't very strong!
And I got what I wanted! GLACIER!!! (ice cream in French)
Sault... Hmm... How should I describe it??? Let's just say that being another small town in the province of Provence, it is very well hidden from the crowds of tourists that mob the better known cities of France... That has its pros and cons. It is a town that is undeniably beautiful for its large fields of lavenders... Really amazing to be able to jump into patches of lavender and to be immensed in the sweet-smelling aura that filled the air... However, its accessibility was definitely a headache for us. Piece of advice for those who plan to visit this place during the season when the lavenders look the best (July): please remember to check and get the bus schedules correct... It's hell if you miss the bus or the bus schedule is wrong...
Look out for the final destination of the summer trip: Barcelona, Spain!
--Mary HAD a little lamb--
4:07 am
9 July: Carpentras and Avignon Thursday, July 30, 2009
Day 9, 9 July: First half of the day was spent exploring a small town called Carpentras. Initially, we had intention to explore Carpentras, but we missed our bus... Oh well, since we were already there with 2 hours to spare, why not... Nothing spectacular, but we felt comfortable during our stroll around the central area. The whole town was very artistic... Lots of graffiti on the walls and oil paintings hanged along the streets. Highlight of the day: Fortified city of Avignon!!! As its name suggests, the whole city is surrounded by rock fortress! Very cool!!! July was the month of the Avignon Festival, so there were many posters illustrating different art expressions of various genres pasted or pined onto the walls/poles/lamps/trees/any possible visible objects. St Pierre, a minor church that was of Gothic architectural construction Walking past a rock-strewn opening to reach the most significant attraction of Avignon... As usual, street musicians were a common sight... After reaching the end of the rocky terrain, we were greeted by the most prominent prospect of Avignon: Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes)! Built during the 14th century by successive popes of the period, the palace was once the residence of the popes. I found it strange that the Popes had their own palace (akin to that of a king)... Hmm... Standing next to the palace is the cathedral, Notre Dame des Doms. The famous 'broken' bridge: Pont d'Avignon... An interesting thing about the bridge is the well-known children folk song that accompanies with it: Sur le pont d'Avignon (on the bridge of Avignon). I even bought a postcard with the lyrics of the song, but it's all in French! Since this was the last main attraction that we visited in Avignon, we had several shots of different poses taken at the bridge. ^^ Personal opinion on Avignon: Definitely worth a visit to the city! I like the way that the whole town is enveloped by a fortress that stands very intact till today! Not only am I impressed by its traditional fortress, Avignon is definitely the most artistic city that I've been to so far. There were so many musicals, mimic shows and theatre works that were playing during the week that we were there. It was a pity that they were all in French and we hence had to give them a miss. Nonetheless, it's a beautiful and small city! One day should be sufficient to finish covering the place. Next up: SAULT (The second last pit stop and last French town in our itinerary)
--Mary HAD a little lamb--
2:49 am
Me!
Cindy (Short: Cinz)
*Leo*
loves!
*Loves manga and anime*
*Fan of Desperate Housewives, CSI and Grey's Anatomy *
*Enthusiast of documentaries of animals and plants*
Next up: SAULT (The second last pit stop and last French town in our itinerary)