magic of a fading day

eurovision and me

2009-05-17T13:49:03Z

caught the end of the eurovision finals on tv just now. and norway won. and it reminded me of being in bergen with laurie and flora, and battling the snow and finding quaint cosy cafes up the hill in some random back lane, and the wonderful train ride with rolling hills and frozen lakes, snow on treetops and pure, untouched nature.

and hearing the winner give his thank you speech made me miss that heavily swedish-accented english, and being able to listen to people around me speaking swedish and picking up bits of words that i understand. (and although the winner was norwegian, i'm pretty sure he said something about tomorrow)

and because of all these, its opened up my little box of malmö memories.
like warm milk and honey in the kitchen with bianca and laurie.
like nutella and crepes and lemon and sugar.
like "the terrible threes trip to norway"
like movies in laurie's room, huddled under blankets.
like cider (which i miss dearly) and poker and drunk fredrick.
like the excitement of planning and going away every month to some new and unexplored corner of the earth.
like the cobbled streets of shopping and the shops tucked away in little corners.
like the christmas lights and light snow and going ice skating.
like our cosy underground cafe with awesome coffee, comfy seats and beautifully painted walls.
like the friendships and love and laughter that i left behind in that little red brick building called celciusgården.

at the end of the day, all you have is a little box of memories buried deep in the crevices of your heart and life goes on.

all i really need to know i learned in kindergarten.

2009-03-24T10:07:47Z

Read this while doing my qt the other day.. :)

"These are the things I learned: Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt someone. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life. Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work some every day.

Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the plastic cup. The roots go down, and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we're all like that.

Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the plastic cup - they all die. So do we.

And then, remember the book about Dick and Jane and the first word you learned, the biggest word of all: LOOK. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and sane living.

Think of what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk about 3 o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our nation and other nations to always put things back where we found them and cleaned up our own messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world it is best to hold hands and stick together."

Now, how meaningful is that! :) It made me laugh.

the very hungry caterpillar!

2009-03-20T11:52:33Z

hee hee! this lj is dying a slow death.. and google.com.au is showing a very hungry caterpillar.. i'm sure none of you will understand the significance of this unless you read children's picture books.. hur hur..

how cute is this! :P

stir11 @ 2009-01-27T23:15:00

2009-01-27T15:38:44Z

its strange being back this time around.
the first day back, i couldn't shirk my accent off.
the second day back, i couldn't sleep between the hours of 0500 and 0800.
the third day back, i couldn't get used to the bright, hot, humidity.

i'm also really looking forward to march. for a myriad of reasons.
one of it being that i feel so much in transition now. its almost as if i have to get back to Melbourne to settle back into routine.
and well, :)

quote of the day

2009-01-22T09:14:53Z

M (5 year old kid who just learnt how to count to 40): how old are you, Esther?
Me: 22
M (counts under her breath): 22, 23, 24, 25....
M: Wow! You're almost 30!! :D
Me: Well, no, not really...

My supervising teacher couldn't stop laughing at me after that.. :( I'm most definitely not 'almost 30'! raar..

twelve more sleeps

2009-01-12T09:51:09Z

till i board the plane for home and close this chapter.

and yes, i'm here cos i refuse to open the word document to start writing my last essay.. gah..

ben harper makes me happy.
so does the prospect of not cooking for a month while in sunny singapore.
and the idea of march drawing nearer with each passing day.
and me and laurie's random comments and observations which make me laugh ohsomuch.
and knowing that i'm going to be dog sledding and seeing the northern lights in 4 days (block out cold freezing thoughts).
and promises of future buttons galore. :)

mini summary of the past 3.5 weeks

2009-01-07T14:32:08Z

the lead up to christmas last year (oh my, its 2009 already!) was extremely nice.. well, nice is a weird word to use, but if you get what i mean, you get what i mean. :) loads of belly aching laughter and silly antics and stupid jokes. and nice cafes and slow walks and thoughtful conversations. :)

christmas day in Toulouse was foggy (the snow came a day late). a long long long lunch with absolutely delicious food. :) i ate and ate and ate, and tried to understand the overflow of french around me. hur hur.

exploring Angers and the small village near Laurie's was fun and interesting. retail therapy added to that as well. new year's eve at her friend's place was actually quite fun. :) food was good. yes, i ate alot of bread. alot.

i moved out of my room today. (and into my friend's room on the same floor) i've only 2.5 more weeks before my exchange ends. as much as i would like to stay for another sem, i'm actually really looking forward to sg and melb. :) i think i'm actually going to miss my cold little end-of-the-corridor room. it was, afterall, home. :)

fyi

2008-12-11T19:51:46Z

22-24/12: copenhagen, denmark
24/12-05/01: toulouse+angers, france
05-14/01: malmo, sweden
14-19/01: abisko+stockholm(for one day), sweden
19-24/01: malmo sweden
25/01: home!
26/01: stuff myself full with cny goodies. :)

:D

2008-11-29T17:07:54Z

stolen from a friend's blog.

mistletoe and snow bells

2008-11-29T16:47:21Z

i absolutely love christmas shopping in sweden! :D i want to open all the nicely wrapped presents i bought for other people.. i even wanted to ask the salesgirl to wrap up something i was buying for myself.. so that i could go home and unwrap it like a happy lil girl on christmas morning.. :D hur hur..

i want to spend all my time in the pretty christmas markets and buy all the pretty lil trinkets back home.. gah.. i also wish certain finnish brands weren't that expensive..

i dont understand why they don't sell portable heaters here in Malmo.. its quite very irritating, although i really thank God for the nice coursemate who lent me hers cos her family doesn't need it at all.. somehow, my room is the coldest of the lot but i'm relishing in my 'new' powerful heater.. it makes me happy.. :)

in other news, i really thank God for keeping my family safe and sound.. :)

ok, back to admiring the pretty wrapped up presents!

there's no combination of words i could put on the back of a postcard

2008-11-09T10:26:43Z

i wanted to say something yesterday. but i conveniently forgot.
norway in 2 weeks time is kinda exciting. :)
heh.. its kinda last minute. but i'm sure it'll be fun.
for now, stir is getting kinda poor and has to stay home and eat pasta.

oh, i honestly can't wait for christmas to come.

and there's a million and one other things i want to say, but i shan't.

schokolade ist mein gemus!

2008-10-15T15:19:04Z

hur hur. that's chocolate is my vegetables! (: this little german girl at the kindergarten i'm at now had it on her tshirt. i was so tickled by it i had to take a picture! (:

i must say the kids in this school are all extremely cute. it was raining today and they had to put on their rain pants and rain coat and rain boots! it was such a chore helping them put it all on and take it all off 30 minutes later. and they had two break times.. gah.. its quite cute though.. some of them take 10 minutes to get everything on.. which leaves them with not enough time to play.. hur hur.. it makes me want to get wellingtons and jump in puddles with them.. (:

stir11 @ 2008-10-11T16:51:00

2008-10-11T14:49:59Z

stir misses saturday brunches and mart 130. :(

hello world! (:

2008-09-20T21:29:18Z

hello hello! ooh! hello laurie! :D welcome to my seldom-updated rusty blog!

gah. i've been so busy that this place is almost non-existent. there's so much to do and way too little time to do them. (: i like malmo. its very happening is a slightly understated way. i'm quite happy going for free documentaries and movies and exhibitions and concerts. and its all oh-so-interesting. yep.

its fun planning trips to all over. a drag sometimes when ppl are indecisive. *shrugs shoulders* that's the way the world will always be. (:

ooh! we went out for dinner on friday! i haven't been out to eat properly in a long while. its good to not eat my own food once in awhile. (: i'll put photos up when i get to it sometime this week. (:

lala: if u see this, can i pls have your address so i can send u a pretty pretty postcard? (:

accomplished!

2008-09-11T21:42:20Z

i conquered the weird Swedish library system today. with no call numbers and weird categories. woot! i feel accomplished. hur hur. and i figured out how to use the swedish equivalent of lms, the learning website where i upload stuff for my lecturer to access. yes, i made good use of my swedish-english dictionary, trying to figure out how to upload files and making sure i sent it correctly. pfft.

in short, london was a blast.
see photos on fb for a clearer picture.
i er, lazy to type.

presentation tmw. after nearly 3 months of holiday-ing. rusty brains are no good. no good at all.

meh.

2008-08-30T19:55:17Z

sometimes i wonder why people tick the way they do.
*shrugs shoulders at the world*
maybe i'm the weird one, not them.

in other random thoughts, i love the rabbits staying outside my apartment.
they brighten up my day.
every time i see them. (:

i think

2008-08-28T10:01:53Z

my french friends think i'm really weird that i get happy every time the post office van drives past. i also learn weird random phrases like 'i don't wanna take off my shoes' and 'i can't take off my shoes' and 'you are my friend!' and 'you're mean!' (all these on top of the sentences about chocolate) heh. they are really cute though.. i think we keep each other greatly entertained.. ;)

hello world! (:

2008-08-23T20:30:48Z

its been one extremely hectic exhausting week! swedish classes in the morning, concerts and movies and parties at night. stir has had enough of parties for awhile.

day trip out to osterlen and ystad was just horribly sad today. it was raining since early in the morning and it wld have been the perfect day to sleep in. boo the dreary weather. i didn't take much pictures either. :(

ooh and do u know how cute the swedish postal service is! the van makes me happy every morning if they drive past.. heh.. i will take a picture of the van and post it up soon! (:

heh! so cute right! (: they always make me happy.. anw i'll post postcards to around the world soon-ish! er, as soon as i get down to writing stuff on them.. and if anybody wants to send me mail i'll happily give u my address! (: (:

ooh! and i've got cute french friends who taught me how to say "i want lots of chocolate!" and "i wanna bite u!" in french! haha! :P but i haven't learnt how to say tt in swedish though (tt bit's for lala).. :D

fun fact #1

2008-08-18T16:38:08Z

Northern swedes like to take a sharp intake of breath in normal conversation. Its like how we go 'yes', 'uh-huh', 'hmm', etc. And yesterday at church, I talked to this lady from Iceland, and she did the same thing. It made me want to breath in sharply as well. Hur hur. (:

stir11 @ 2008-08-18T17:39:00

2008-08-18T16:34:18Z

Hejsan! Jag är blogging i svenska på studentrum. Jag går till kursen daglig.
Hello! I am blogging in swedish in my hostel room. I walk to school everyday. (trying to, at least)

ok, i give up. its hard thinking of all the words cos i can only say all the basic words which are all useless here. heh. malmö's been great fun! i've been getting to know many ppl.. swedish and from other places.. and i visited a church on sunday! the service was in svenska but they had english translations over a headset.. the msg was quite powerful even though the translator had a really soothing voice that was making me abit sleepy.. heh..

anw photos are up on fb if u didn't already know.

hej då!

stir11 @ 2008-08-10T23:48:00

2008-08-10T21:55:53Z

this one's for u eugenia! (:

yes i had fun at ikea. and i was trying to explain to my turkish and aussie/poland friends the meatball fetish that singaporeans have. and how singaporeans don't mind traveling to far flung places for food. i don't think they really understood it though. heh.

oh and i find haribo in almost every supermarket or convenience store that i've been in! which makes me a very happy gummybear-chewing girl! :D

hello from sweden!

2008-08-10T09:04:47Z

its been an awesome two weeks! i absolutely loved italy although it was way too hot for my liking.. well, i'll put up photos on facebook for u all to have a look.. (:

and malmö has been fantastic so far.. i dont know why but everybody remembers me as the singaporean girl who studies in australia.. hur hur.. my hostel's nice and cosy and the people on my floor all seem to be really friendly.. (: and i finally got internet although the signal's quite horrendous cos the swedish guy who lets us use his internet is staying on the other end of the corridor.. ah well, its better than nothing! :D

ok time for er..brunch? :D going to ikea later! :)

stir11 @ 2008-07-25T18:47:00

2008-07-25T11:19:03Z

the past three weeks have been interesting, to say the least.
i come back and i do the same things.
alter clothes, thread my eyebrows, satisfy my food cravings.
hur hur.
but its never really the same.
and i never saw certain things coming my way.

and tomorrow, i go on another journey.
a part of me is tired and just wants to rest.
a part of me is exhilarated and can't wait to go out there.
a part of me is afraid. of many things.

and yes, i'm terrible at updating.
i will strive to do better in sweden.
i promise. heh. (:

stir11 @ 2008-07-13T23:45:00

2008-07-13T16:11:44Z

its been busy.
singapore's always busy.
too many things to do.
too many people to meet.
too little time to do it all.

its always interesting coming back and seeing how people have changed and grown.
how they are ohsofamiliar yet has that teensy bit of 'stranger' in them.
i'm not making much sense am i?

stir11 @ 2008-07-10T11:20:00

2008-07-10T04:18:09Z

its always good to be home and i thank God for the covering of clouds and the little bit of drizzle that makes the heat more bearable.

its always bittersweet coming back. but this time, i know i'm definitely going to miss my lil apartment for quite awhile. that said, i'm really looking forward to sweden and europe! (:

i was thinking of posting pictures up. but stir is lazy. the weather makes me lazy. :D

stir has a love-hate relationship with the singapore transport system. they bring you everywhere and is relatively fast. but taking the train at peak hour leaves me out of breath after a 4 minute, 1 stop only transfer. i was greatly traumatized. boo.