My Denmark Diary

Our Third Baby

2009-11-05T03:01:00.005Z

And her name is Nespresso!

She is my favourite at the moment because she doesn't take away my sanity as there is no mealtime battles and wastage of food. She just sits quietly at a corner waiting to serve delicious coffee at the press of a button.

Nespresso, my life will be disastrous without you!

My beautiful, wonderful Nespresso.

MIL = Monster in law

2009-10-29T08:11:00.005Z

"The importance of grandmothers in the lives of their grandchildren is underlined in a study published today.

But the research showed that it was only granddaughters who were likely to do better with their paternal grandmothers involved in their early lives. In contrast, the presence of paternal grandmothers had a detrimental effect on the survival of their grandsons."

(The above was quoted from an online article in "The Independent". )

Thank Goodness, Gerard is going to be enrolled into a childcare centre soon!

How should I put it? It's been almost 7 years since I became a DIL but the relationship with my MIL has become more complicated in the recent years, to be exact, after Gerard was born. In the past, although she never made it to the "People whom I love" list, she was not in my list for the other extreme of love. However, perhaps I have become more daring and did not hold my tongue when I was supposed to, the conflicts we have had made her number 1 in my the other list.

Nowadays, her presence makes me feel uncomfortable, her voice makes me feel that my ears have been pierced. I used to throw a tantrum at my husband - her son, whenever my emotions were attacked by her tactlessness. However, "Blood is thicker than water" and this saying perfectly describes the result I got so I need not say more. As time goes by, I learn to play smart. Unless absolutely necessary to rebute, I take a deep breath whenever I hear her barking. Then I will find a suitable opportunity to recount the incident to my husband. Although I still may not get the support which I yearn for, I get heard better and there is lesser tears being shed.

The only saving grace for our relationship is her love for my children. While this trait opens up a whole new chapter about "grandparent spoiling the grandchildren", which if I quote all the examples, I can probably write a book, I choose to overlook it and reason to myself that spoiling is better than abusing.

Since her image keeps appearing in my mind when I am writing this entry, I think I have to stop here or I may just throw my monitor out of the window now!

Bitter Sweet Symphony

2009-10-14T02:18:00.001+01:00

SWEET:
Time flew by so quickly and before I realised it, my daughter is almost 3 months old. Sim Gretchen is her name and the moment my gynae put her in my arms in the labour room, I fell in love with her. I used to wonder how I should divide my love between Gerard and Gretchen because before Gretchen came into my world, Gerard owned it. However when I held Gretchen for the first time, I just knew the answer; I don't have to divide, the amount of love has simply multiplied!

Gretchen is an angel. Initially, she slept a lot but yet knew when it was time for her to drink milk. Everyday she would drift in and out of sleep and seem oblivious to her surrounding. We had a lot of visitors in the first two weeks when she arrived home but all the cooings by my friends and relatives never seem to bother her. The only complaint I had about her was she took ages to finish a bottle of milk.

As time goes by, I began to get accustomed to her routine. In addition, my mum came to the rescue and took over most of the care-giving job. Day by day, she grew into a more active baby. She enjoys company and loves to smile. She is generally a very pleasant baby who seldom cries. Maybe I am stereotyping but somehow, she just makes me feel that she is so fragile and needs my protection. So we stay at home most of the days in an attempt to keep her away from the crowd and viruses.

BITTER:
As for Gerard, he is with his grandparents on weekdays and I reckon he's been spoilt to bits, for he gets very rebellious and willful these days. His grandparents probably give in to him all his requests and therefore he expects the same at home (which is NEVER going to happen). Therefore everyday he gives a wide grin when he sees his grandparents at the door. At night when they send him back, he refuses to them leave. Although it is not unusual for grandparents to spoil their grandchildren, I take it to heart a lot because it gives us a harder time to discipline him. A vicious cycle emerges when the more we discipline him, the more he dislikes to come home. I hope he gets a place at the childcare soon so that this wild horse can be tamed.

BITTER & SWEET:
Two more months and I will rejoin the workforce. I have mixed feelings about becoming a working mother, because while I will be financially independent again, I have to give up spending time with my children. Sometimes I wonder if this is a worthwhile sacrifice but then again, I will never know the answer if I do not try.

A letter to my daughter

2009-07-09T02:10:00.004+01:00

Dear Mei Mei,

This is how we address you ever since we found out that you are a girl on my 20th week checkup. Daddy and mummy have not quite decided on a name for you but we do have a nice name in mind and hope you will like it.

By now, you have been in my womb for 37 weeks. I wonder if you already knew who are in your family. Besides daddy and mummy, you have a big brother who came to the world just 19 months earlier than you. The reason why I am writing this letter to you is because I am sorry that I am neglecting you most of the time. Looking after your extremely active brother takes away a lot of my attention and energy. As a result, I do not have much time left to talk to you or let you listen to some soothing music. However, be assured that we love you just as much as we love your brother. We have already bought many pretty clothes for you and we are anxiously looking forward to see you too.

Mei mei, your movements in my womb often keep me awake at night. Sometimes, I thought you were doing aerobics; fast and powerful kicking, other times, it felt like you were doing yoga; slow and relaxed stretching. Don't be mistaken, mummy is not complaining (except that your movements kinda have an effect on my bladder and makes me pee every 2 hours at night). In fact, I'm happy because that is the only tangible way I can feel your presence and know about your well-being.

In a few weeks' (or maybe even few days') time, you will officially be part of our family as I can already feel that you are working your way to come out to meet us! Although mummy still has cold sweat whenever I think of going through labour and experience the real contractions, darling for you, I shall be brave, for nothing is more important than having you safe and sound in my hands.

With all my love and kisses,

Mummy

This is a recent picture of daddy, mummy and brother Gerard taken during my birthday dinner. You will join us next year too!

Spider Spider I 'love' you.

2009-07-04T07:39:00.006+01:00

It is funny how children can be really innocent and naive but yet this character often gives parents a way to "scare" their kids and prohibit them to do things they don't want their kids to do.

A few months ago, I introduced a new concept to Gerard; When I say "Eeeeee", it means I'm referring to something disgusting. It did not take him long to grasp the concept. Hence saying "Eeeee" (the more animated the better) becomes my "top secret weapon" to prevent him from touching or eating things or going somewhere that I don't want him to touch/eat/go.

Gerard is also especially afraid of "spiders". A formidable combination will be "Eeee.....the spider is there!" On hearing this, he never fails to retract his steps or hands, thereby the lid of the dustbin or the kitchen cupboards remain closed, the wine rack stays in place etc etc.

On one hand, I am thankful that I manage to find a way to "frighten"my otherwise dauntless toddler. However on the other hand, I wonder if this will have any repercussion on his development. Although I recognise that a better way is to explain the reasons why he is not allowed to do certain things, I think I shall just leave it till the day we can communicate through proper conversations. Right now, I will just adopt whichever is the most effective method.

Accident Prone / Accident Proof

2009-06-05T12:40:00.000+01:00

For the past seventeen and a half months, motherhood has been considered enjoyable to me as long as the following things don't happen:-

1) Gerard is sick;
2) Gerard is not interested in eating or drinking (ie. poor appetite);
3) Gerard is hurt (physically of course)

Fortunately, no. 1 does not happen very often. No. 2 happens quite often but it is not insurmountable; there are always some ways to trick/threaten him to eat, even if it's only half the amount I gave him. No.3 is what bothers me the most, my son is ACCIDENT PRONE!

Yes, he is and don't ask me why. Ever since he has learned how to crawl, his forehead becomes a magnetic board for bumps and bruises. He took his first independent step a week after he turned 1 year old and since then, the probabilities of him falling down or knocking into somewhere or something increase exponentially. His forehead is perpetually dotted with big and small, dark and light bruises. One and a half months ago, he had the ultimate bruise that made him look like a bull terrier. Till now, I can still see a little bit of swelling and greyness around his left eye. We are all worried that it will become a permanent scar on his face.

Last Saturday evening in church, Gerard was as usual, enjoying his freedom of walking and running around. Suddenly, a small piece of paper on the ground caught his attention and he attempted to pick it up. In view of the most talked about epidemic recently (yeah, blame it on the swine flu!), I quickly tugged at his right arm so that he would not touch that paper and dirty his hand, but the sudden impact caused his elbow to be dislocated! Fortunately after an x-ray, a very experienced doctor at Thomson Medical managed to manipulate the dislocated elbow joint back in a mere two seconds. However, the poor boy suffered the pain for about an hour before he became cheerful (and mischievous) again. I felt so guilty that I cried from the time he was injured till I went to bed that night.

The next episode happened on Tuesday. While in a spur of excitement, Gerard brushed his shin against our tv bench (he was probably trying to get closer to the cartoon character in the tv or just simply wanted to jump for joy) and a small piece of skin was scraped off. It must be painful because there was quite a bit of bleeding and he did not want to walk and held his leg up high for about half an hour. He did not allow me to bandage his leg or cover the wound with a plaster. So he cried everytime he looked down and was reminded of the "injury".

I really want to know, how can I protect Gerard more and make him more accident-proof, at least during this toddler stage.

My little bull terrier

2009-04-21T12:10:00.001+01:00

No I did not get myself a dog because Ed is terribly afraid of them (I should have checked this box before we got married and now I can never dream of getting one!) Rather, it is my darling who looks like one now.

Last Sunday morning after a diaper change, a happy Gerard was rolling in our bed while I tried to fold his soiled diaper into a smaller piece for easy disposal. Suddenly, from the corner of my eyes, I could see him bending towards the edge of the bed and almost going to fall over. I tried to grab him as fast as my reflexes allowed but whilst I managed to prevent him falling down from the bed, his face knocked against the corner of our dressing table and immediately, a huge purple bruise swelled up the bottom of his left eye and there was also some blood as there was a bit of abrasion on his skin.

The poor boy wailed for a minute but halted when he saw his mummy even more upset and terrified. I quickly brought him to the doctor to check if his eye was ok. Fortunately, he said it was just a bad bruise and his eye was not hurt. The bruise and swelling should subside within a few weeks.

Since then, wherever we go, Gerard gets stares from people for obviously the wrong reason. The o-jiisans and o-baasans give us their sympathetic looks and sometimes whisper among themselves. Some friendlier ones offer me their "home-tested" remedies and say babies at this age are very active, so we have to be really careful.

Well, I cringe with guilt and feel heartache whenever I look at Gerard. I think it was partly my fault that I failed to look after him properly because he was technically "under my care, custody and control" at the moment the accident happened. To make things worse, I have to bring him to visit his paternal grandparents tonight. His grandma called three times since last night when Ed broke the news to her, I can already envisage a big drama is going to happen later with probably lots of crying (not me!), pitying and reprimanding. At times like this, I wish we were still in Denmark or anywhere that is far far away. :-(

My most trustworthy and priceless timer

2009-04-09T09:04:00.010+01:00

Recently our house has a new timer, the brand is called "Gerardi". It is perpetually pre-tuned with 45 minutes countdown time and the precision is uncanny. Basically, the countdown time starts when the button is pressed (ie. when Gerard falls asleep) and during the next 45 minute period, I have to race against time to get as many things done as possible. In the meantime, chores like ironing, eating alone with no conversations happening and cleaning the floor/shelves with Magic Wipes are preferred because the noise level is kept at a minimum. Of course, surfing the internet or watching tv are are also permitted unless they involve loud music or sound. Then at exactly 45 minutes later, the ringer goes off by a contiunous stream of piercing shrieks of increasing volume. At that time, the best course of action is to rush to the timer, pacify him and if I am lucky, he will be rubbing his eyes indicating that he is still tired and then after a bit of coaxing and assuring him that I'm just next to him, I can reset the timer to another 45 or even 60 minutes period.

Unfortunately, this timer is one and only in the world and no matter how much people are willing to pay, I will NEVER sell it.

A new beginning

2009-03-25T16:00:00.001Z

Bye bye Denmark, hello Singapore!

Have been back home for almost two months. Everyone is settling down well and we have officially moved back to where we lived before we left for Denmark. Three years ago, the apartment was mostly empty and under utilised since both Ed and I spent a lot of time at work. In contrast, it is fully utilised now because there are 6 of us living under the same roof. My little toddler welcomes the bigger space as he gets more room to walk, play as well as fall. In addition, he also likes the attention his grandparents and uncle shower upon him and is definitely making used of it to its maximum.

Although it is not hard to integrate into the culture in a country where I was born and raised, I have to get used to getting around places with a toddler and a stroller. Before our car comes, I have to make do with taking public transport and boy, it is quite a pain. Buses and MRTs are not baby-friendly and while taxi drivers usually volunteer to take the stroller out of their car boots, they merely sit in their seats when I put it in. As my stomach gets bigger, this simple task is not that simple anymore.

About a week ago, we found out that I am expecting a girl. Initially, it was hard to accept that I was pregnant again when Gerard was still so young. I cried when the home pregnancy test showed "positive" and cried even more when Gerard came forward to "console" me. Now, I am looking forward to meet her. I am going to keep her hair long, buy her pretty dresses, shoes and hairclips. More importantly, I also see this as a new beginning, that I am given another chance to rectify the mistakes that I made with Gerard. So hopefully, my daughter will "turn up" as expected (ie. 30 July) and we shall embark on a new journey together.

Gerad has turned 1

2008-12-29T10:59:00.000Z

Gerard has turned 1! How time flies. I vividly remember myself sitting by the window humming nursery tunes, cradling Gerard in my arms and waiting for Edmund to come home from work. At night, I had to rock him to sleep in my arms and walked around the apartment singing a "self-composed" lullaby. But now, my little baby gives me a hug when he knows I'm sad, watches nursery rhymes on You-Tube, waves goodbye to his daddy in the morning when he leaves for work and at night, snuggles beside me waiting for me to sing our "goodnight song" before falling asleep.

Being a mum for the past one year has transformed me. Whenever I took a plane, I used to pray that that there would not be any baby near where I was sitting. If I saw one, I would curse my luck (or the ground staff who allocated my seat). I thought crying babies or toddlers are a noise pollution and their parents should just stick a tape on their mouths and bring them home. I used to think why my friends wanted to go home to spend time with their children instead of getting a drink to unwind after a hard day's work. I also could not understand why women instead of their husbands take leave from work when their kids are sick. Well, I do now. I pity parents who are desperately trying to pacify their crying babies. What noise pollution? I can't hear anything. I have a whole new load of patience towards babies and children which I thought it never existed. It is a total paradigm shift.

In the year of 2009, I see more changes coming. We are moving back to Singapore at the end of January. Need to get used to a new environment, although I'm confident that it won't be too much of a problem. One thing for sure, I will miss Copenhagen because it is where Gerard and I "grew up" together. I will not trade what I have experienced here for any other things if I were given another chance to choose again.

Publish Post

If only I could turn back time

2008-11-20T21:20:00.015Z

After a stressful evening of listening to Gerard's incessant crying last night, I wished there was a machine that could turn back time, and it could take me back to HongKong, where Ed and I would take a minibus after dinner and roam the streets. Back then, I did not have to wake up at night because I heard my son coughing and worried if he was cold. I did not have to care about the cleanliness of my apartment because there was no baby crawling on the floor. I could leave my candles and magazines everywhere because no one would think those things are edible. I enjoyed cooking because Ed would eat everything and told me they were delicious. I hate the way life has planned out for me now; stay at home to look after a baby. Then I told myself I did not like my baby anymore and hoped this was all a dream.

This morning when I woke up, the baby whom I "disliked" yesterday gave me a wide smile. When I reciprocated, he crawled towards me and put his head on my chest. I said "kiss mummy" and he leaned his face towards mine, not kissing me but waiting for me to kiss him. Instantly, I regretted having those negative feelings. Gerard is again, "the cutest baby in the world!", well in my world at least.

2008-10-03T00:56:00.009+01:00

As Gerard becomes more mobile and eats "proper" food of three meals a day, I have certainly become busier. Suddenly, I found myself having new roles - Gerard's bodyguard, doctor/first-aider, nutritionist, chef, etc. The whole day practically revolves around the little guy and by the time he goes to bed, there leaves me only about 2 hours of personal time (provided he is in bed by 9) to catch up with emails, reading and surfing the internet.

Recently I started to reminisce about my life before I came to Copenhagen. Although the past 9 months of being with Gerard has been great and is also something that money cannot buy, I can't help but feel that I miss my past lifestyle - whether it's having a drink or two with colleagues after work, or going for spa and facial every month, or catching the latest blockbuster during the weekends, they all feel more exciting than now, where everyday is rather predictable. Well, the pasture is always greener on the other side, and humans always like things that they cannot obtain. Perhaps in a few months' time when we pack our bags to go back to Singapore and I start working again, I will miss my current rather blithe life.

As temperature in Denmark dipped, we have said "goodbye" to the nice summer, but fortunately, we managed to visit one of the nicest castles in Denmark. The picturesque countryside and also seeing Gerard enjoyed himself so much made all the driving worth it. Our next expedition, farmstay and horse-riding. I'm looking forward to it already.

"Ma Ma"

2008-08-29T22:41:00.003+01:00

It finally happened! Although it was not the first time I heard Gerard said those words, today was the first time both Ed and I heard it simultaneously and we understood his intention, that he wanted me to carry him out of the stroller. Hence, he was not just burbling like he used to, but he knew what they meant.

Gosh, I love Gerard so much!

Post Home Trip

2008-08-04T11:38:00.000+01:00

After 5 long weeks of drinking, eating and spending binge in Singapore, we are finally back in Denmark. With only 3 luggages from CPH to SIN, we came back with..... 8, and the total weight of our check-in baggages was 80kg! If not for the blur but "kind" counter staff, who did not notice that Ed's Krisflyer Gold has expired, I could not imagine how much we had to pay for the extra baggage weight.

Anyway, I feel a warp sense of familiarity and security when I am back in Denmark. Firstly, I have many friends here who are like me; staying home with a baby. Secondly, many places in Copenhagen are baby friendly, which find my "big" stroller and breastfeeding in public less obnoxious. Thirdly, my apartment although small, but makes me feel at ease because I don't have to worry about clearing the laundry basket and the kitchen sink all the time. Lastly, I am able to bring up my son the way I want without being judged by others.

So, as much as I like to whine about living in Denmark, I actually kinda enjoy my current lifestyle. What do I do nowadays? A stroll in the park when the weather is nice, or window shopping with my precious, or having a bbq with friends, or meeting up with my mothergroup friends and sit for hours talking (or bitching depending on the topics ;-)) or simply play some relaxing music at home and do some mother and son bonding.

Feel quite lethargic suddenly. Maybe I should just snuggle beside Gerard and get some rest while he is napping.....

Movie Marathon

2008-06-01T23:00:00.002+01:00

I was surfing the Golden Village website when I saw the latest movies that they have now. I have not stepped into the cinema ever since Gerard was born and I must admit that I am getting a bit deprived. However, going to the cinema is an expensive entertainment in Copenhagen as a ticket costs about S$20. Downloading is another option but since we are law-abiding citizens, we decided that we should have our entertainment in the proper manner. This means we are going for a movie marathon and watch as many movies as we can during the 5 weeks when we are in Singapore.

Meanwhile, weather has continued to be great in Copenhagen. In contrast to the rainy summer last year, this summer is full of sunshine. Never in my life in Singapore did I have a picnic in a park, but in the month of May 2008, I had 5. So don't be surprised if you see a tanner me this time.

These were not taken during a pinic but we were having dinner in the world's oldest intact still-surviving amusement park, called "Bakken".

I Did Not Know I Could

2008-05-17T23:00:00.006+01:00

My precious turned 5 months old today. As I lay in bed with him a while ago to pat him to sleep, it just occurred to me that 5 months ago, I did not know I could :

clean someone else's backside (with poo) and still keep smiling;
eat a fruit that has been licked and chewed by someone, who has left a lot of saliva on it;
play silly games over and over again just to hear some chuckles;
get heartache when someone is getting an injection;
cry when I saw the video about a maid abusing a two month old baby;
have the strength and energy to stay awake in the day, even when I have to wake up every 3 hours the night before;
sacrifice sleep at night to express my milk so as to maintain a constant supply;
insist on not taking painkiller when my head almost going to explode from a headache;
be so calm and not get irritated when a baby cries for not apparent reason;
look at someone and then from the bottom of my heart, thank God for creating him;
love someone more than I love myself;
feel so contented lying in bed and watching someone plays with his toes;
look forward to the day someone calls me "mum" and feel really ecxited;
feel so special to be a mother!

Life is Good!

2008-05-08T23:23:00.002+01:00

Great weather, nice company, cute babies and good looking topless guys walking in the streets.... how can life get any better?

2008-04-23T14:06:00.001+01:00

This post has long been overdue and I can provide some (decent) explanations:

1) Weather in Copenhagen has been really fantastic lately. Hence I always try to find an an excuse to get out of the apartment to enjoy some fresh air;

2) My MIL is in town. And as my relationship with her has always been "complicated", lesser writing means lesser bitching;

3) Gerard is becoming more active these days. So keeping my eyes on him has become my top priority;

4) I figure out that reading other people's blogs is easier than writing my own.

Anyway except that I am currently having a sinus infection, we are all well and happy. I am looking forward to our home trip in June when we can meet all our friends and eat the delicious local food.

A New Career

2008-03-17T16:08:00.000Z

Every night while Edmund sleeps on half of the bed, Gerard and I share the other half as we can't bear to let him sleep by himself in his own cot. However for the past few nights, it became a challenge as I struggled to sleep in a very tight space because Gerard kept coming closer and closer to me, while I had to go further and further from him, so that I would not roll over on him accidentally. In the end, I found myself practically balancing on the edge of the bed.

As I lay in bed this morning trying hard to fall asleep in a rather awkward posture, I thought to myself; well, perhaps in a few months' time, my "training" could get me a job in the circus performing sleeping on rope!

To My Precious

2008-03-16T20:29:00.003Z

Every morning I wake up and see your face
You have no idea how I am so amazed
By the fact that God has granted me my wish
And He gave you to me as a gift

Close your eyes and sleep
For I am yours to keep
Open your mouth to eat
For I will give you the food you need

We shall live together in harmony
Because we are a family
You are the love of my life
As you light up the fire in my eyes

Gerard, I gave you your life

But you give me a life.

Auspicious Time?

2008-03-04T15:21:00.000Z

Even the ang mos believe in selecting an aupicious time to open their shop.

Gerard and Friends

2008-03-01T11:39:00.002Z

I've never thought that Gerard would like to have a girlfriend so fast. Kids nowadays really mature early.

She's french, by the way. ;-)

I Want To Take Annual Leave

2008-02-20T21:51:00.003Z

When Gerard didn't want to drink his milk for nearly 10 hours and was wailing so much this morning, frustration and fatigue from all the attempts to feed him finally made me broke down. Funny thing was, when he saw me sobbing, he stopped crying to stare at me. He frowned and looked bewildered since we always showed him our smiling faces. However this lasted for about 10 secs before he resumed howling. As for me, I stopped crying because it's my turn now to be amused by his reaction.

Hiaz, I really want to take my "annual leave" to lie in till lunch time, go shopping for MY OWN clothes, go for spa, go for facial or generally to relax. Unfortunately, this is a privilege which new mothers don't have and I really miss it. But then again, we gain some and we lose some and that's life, isn't it.

Our First Reunion Dinner

2008-02-06T22:00:00.000Z

While many of our friends in Singapore and HongKong were either sleeping, playing mahjong or watching late night tv programs, we were having our first reunion dinner together.

For the year of Rat, I wish my Gerard to be happy and healthy and will love us as much as we love him.

Happy New Year

2008-02-05T20:27:00.000Z

I would like to wish everyone a very happy new year and may the year of Rat bring you lots of good luck and fortune!

PS: If you would like to send me your Ang Bao, please contact either my mummy or daddy for our address. :-)

2008-02-02T23:38:00.000Z

Time flies and Gerard is almost 7 weeks old, which means I have not had a nice long and deep sleep for the same period of time. My eye bags are as big as the shopping bags we get at Ikea and my dark eye circles are as dark as the espresso we drink.

But when I saw these looks on Gerard's face, all frustrations and fatigues have somehow disappeared and I felt energized all over again.

When I was writing my earlier diary, Gerard was sleeping on his "milk pillow" on my lap. He seemed to be sleeping very soundly, so my balancing must be pretty good.

Playing time with mummy's friend, whom I have managed to charm with my smile.

I am so tired

2008-01-30T17:10:00.000Z

Boy, I am really tired today. Have been waking up 2 to 3 threes a night to feed my baby for the past 6 weeks but for some reasons, today seemed the worst. Just feel that my eyelids weigh a ton and my body is finally going to surrender to the fatigue that have accumulated.

Gerard is not being cooperative today as well and he doesn't want to sleep on anywhere else except in my arms. Fortunately, I finally succeeded in putting him on a pillow on my lap so I can at least free my arms. Am writing this blog so that I can keep my mind occupied and not fall into a deep sleep (with Gerard still on my laps), which I am absolutely capable of.

But my eyelids are just so heavy. I hope tomorrow will be a better day.......

zzzzzzzzzzz

This is my boy

2008-01-29T21:41:00.001Z

Name - Sim Gerard
Birthday - 17 Dec 2007
Weight - 2.9kg
Height - 48cm
Likes - Drinking milk, sleeping, being cradled by mummy and daddy and listening to music

Dislikes - Being left alone, dirty after a poo or pee and naked.

Favourite person - Mummy

Favourite time of the day - Morning

Favourite song - None because no one in the family can sing properly.

Would you like a homemade egg tart?

2007-12-10T12:02:00.000Z

Had a very strong craving for egg tarts one night that I could not sleep. So the next day, I googled for the recipe. After spending two and a half hours in the kitchen yesterday morning, I made my very own egg tarts.

Verdict by Edmund Sim:
Appearance:
Taste :
Overall :

By the way, each of us had 8 egg tarts yesterday.

A waiting game

2007-12-04T15:30:00.000Z

I go to sleep every night thinking whether tomorrow will be D-Day. I wake up every morning wondering whether it will happen today. The bag which I am going to carry to the hospital is packed. The clothes, towels and bedsheets for my baby are washed and ironed. The baby pram is cleaned. The baby cot, well, unfortunately is still in the box but Edmund said he could assemble it in two hours. (Point is, if I could do it myself, I would have done it already)

Every now and then, I can feel my baby wriggling. There's not much kicking nowadays because he's also running out of space to make big movements. However, I just have an intuition that he is enjoying the warm and nice environment in my womb and is not ready to give that up yet.

So darling take your time but mummy is definitely looking forward to meet you.

It is snowing!

2007-11-11T17:53:00.000Z

First day of snow and many more to come.

Father Of The Year

2007-11-10T20:28:00.000Z

One of the advantages of being pregnant is, you get to call the shots in 99% of all situations.

After I have incessantly threatened to have the leftover prawn crackers for dinner, Edmund finally gave up. He has braved the cold to get me KFC. Although KFC is hardly considered as healthy food, there is at least more protein than prawn crackers.

Opps, someone is at the door, my dinner is back. I'm so happy!

I want to dance, I want my Martini!

2007-11-05T13:37:00.001Z

Was switching between channels on a half asleep mode last night when I stumbled upon Beyonce's live concert in Japan and she was performing this song. I was immediately capitvated by its melody.

A Love Hate Relationship

2007-11-02T17:53:00.000Z

Just when I thought I could live in Denmark, what happened this afternoon made me feel otherwise.

Everytime after my visit at the hospital for the monthly checkup, I always develop a disorder, (temporary) binge eating, because my midwife will tell me that my baby is a little small in comparison to the average weight of other babies of the same age. Hence, almost as soon as I leave the hospital, my brain starts to signal to me that I need food. Different times give me different cravings. Sometimes I crave for apple pies, sometimes I crave for a milk shake and sometimes chocolates. This afternoon, my craving was CHEESECAKE.

Hence I decided to set out to look for a cheesecake. Images of cheesecakes that come in all shapes, sizes and flavours from Starbucks, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, NYDC and Bakerzin filled up my brain. Even though the throbbing pain in my head was very annoying (for unknown reason, I'm tortured by a headache everyday), the desire to sink my teeth into a cheesecake was so strong, that I bore the pain and took a bus to the city to get one.

There were times when I felt like eating cheesecakes in the past but it seemed like not many cafes in Copenhagen served them. Therefore when I was sitting in the bus, I had a premonition that I would be in for a big disappointment. (At this point, the intensity of my headache shot up the scale from 3 to 7.5)

After I got off the bus, I wanted to minimise the walking, so I went straight to a shopping mall that has both a cafe and a supermarket. I reasoned that if I could not get it from the cafe, I should be able to get one of those prepacked one from the supermarket.

At the cafe, I was really happy when I saw a range of delicious looking cakes (a couple of them looked like cheesecakes to me) in the glass display. I thought, "yes! one of them has to be a cheesecake!" I happily stood in line and waited for my turn and it did not take long before my big bubble was burst by the young lady behind the counter. She told me none of the cakes was a cheesecake. Thank you very much!

By this time, my headache level shot to almost 9. I knew all my blood vessels need was one more blow before they burst. Thus I dashed to the supermarket's ice cream section and within seconds, I found my pain reliever!

Ok, so it was a prepacked frozen cheesecake which unfortunately, came with lemon jelly on top. Although it was still somewhat a disappointment as I still had the bloody big cheesecake they sell in Coffee Bean and Bakerzin in my head, this was better than nothing.

Finally, my headache level dropped to 6 and I think I am going to formulate a business plan to get Bakerzin to start a franchise here.

Santa Is Really Coming To Town

2007-11-01T21:30:00.000Z

After my danish class today, I went to the mall to get a present for my friend. Although there are still 55 days more to go, the mall and some shops have already started putting up their christmas decor. A group of "angels" gathered outside the mall and a makeshift hi-fi system beside them was playing Pachelbel's Canon followed by the more common christmas jingles.

Just then, I realised that this will be the first time I am spending Christmas in Europe. While there is a rumour that this winter is going to be unbearably cold, I am actually looking forward to it, maybe partly also because around that time, I shall be expecting my little darling to arrive into this world...

A trip to remember

2007-10-28T22:54:00.000Z

For the benefit of my friends who don't have an account in Facebook, here are some of the photos we took during our recent trip to Berlin, Dresden and Paris.

The protestant Gedächtniskirche (otherwise known locally as "The Hollow Tooth" and "The Lipstick") in Berlin, consists of an ensemble of church ruins and the modern buildings which surround it.

On May 10, 1933, "burning of the books" by the Nazis took place at the Bebelplatz Square. Since 1995, this event has been commemorated by the above monument, which consists of an underground library with empty shelves and which can be seen through a transparent plastic window set into the ground. Isn't it cool?

This is the last bit of the infamous Berlin wall which did not collapse.

We left Berlin the next day and drove to Dresden which was about 200km south of Berlin. Dresden remains a major cultural centre of historical memory for Germans, owing to the city's destruction in World War II.

After Germany, we finally arrived in Paris - the highlight of the whole trip. I really like the parisien feeling for its impressive architecture, romantic ambience and delicious french food.

The Eiffel Tower looked really magnificent at night when it was all lit up. We had a good view of Paris from the highest level.

We took this picture in front of the Notra Dame de Paris. The cathedral is considered as one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture.

The Louvre where we saw the Mona Lisa painting.

Was a bit disppointed when I saw the Moulin Rouge. Other than the oversized windmill, the building was really smaller and much lifeless than I had imagined. Maybe the real show-stopper happened behind the tainted glass door, which unfortunately, we didn't manage to discover because the prices of the shows were pretty steep.

We joined a day tour to Reims, the capital of Champagne, and visited two wine champagne houses. Ed even bought a bottle of vintage champagne to celebrate the birth of our little piggy. I'm really looking forward to filling up my wine glasses again.

In Paris, we concluded our holiday plans for 2007. My next milestone will be the birth of my little baby, whom I believe will bring me more joy and fulfilment. Just wait for my good news!

I Am Back

2007-10-19T12:59:00.000+01:00

After bidding the beautiful Paris farewell with teary eyes last night, I am now back in Denmark. The flight was delayed for an hour, so by the time we reached home, it was already 2330. It was a happy but tiring trip for me as I wanted to explore Paris as much as I could, because I kept thinking this could be my last chance to travel with freedom before my baby came. Hence, I decided to leave the unpacking till the next day or the next or the next.

Woken up by a phone call this morning from a good friend from Singapore asking me to go shopping with her later, I pulled myself out of the bed only to realise how much colder Copenhagen has become. Fortunately, it looks sunny today and this has a positive effect on my mood.

With the luggages still lying on the floor and partially unpacked, I called my mum to let her know I was back in Copenhagen. It was a bad move because I suddenly laid eyes on a thick layer of dust on my study table, hinting that I have not done much housekeeping for the past couple of weeks. This is not good for now I have to unpack the luggages AND clean the house. Life as a housewife is tough, isn't it?

Hiatus

2007-10-11T16:49:00.000+01:00

I am taking a one week hiatus as I am having my last babymoon. I will be back soon and you will be promised with more stories and photographs.

Prata Crazy

2007-10-06T11:20:00.000+01:00

No prize for making a correct guess of what I had for breakfast today. Yup, I had roti prata and homemade teh tarik again! This time, instead of two plain pratas, I replaced one with a plaster prata.

MH, this is for you:

The main difference between a plaster prata and an egg prata is where you find the egg.

In the traditional egg prata, the egg is cracked onto a big piece of prata and the prata man will then fold the prata like an envelope to keep the egg inside.

For a plaster prata, the prata man will put the egg on the prata and he does not fold the prata to encase the egg. Therefore, the egg looks like it has been plastered onto the prata.

I made the plaster prata just to satisfy my curiosity of whether it can be done. As an amateur housewife, eggs appear pretty often on my dinner table. Hence, I really don't need anymore eggs on my pratas. "Less is more" and in this instance, I totally agree.

Something About Cannan

2007-10-05T17:00:00.000+01:00

If you had attended my wedding, you'd probably remember my little nephew, Cannan. This morning, my sister sent me a little joke about him and I thought I should share it with everyone who loves kids because I found it really cute.

Quote

I was asking Cannan if he knows where he had come from. First he said, "Texas"?. I said no.
Then he said, "Hawaii"? And I said no, try again.
Lastly, he said, "Pearl Harbor"! So, I said no.....but how did you know all that?
And Cannan said "Daddy told me".
Anyway, I then said, "Did you remember that mommy's tummy used to be very very big?"
Cannan then replied, "Yeah, that's because you ate too much and caused your tummy to be so big!"
I said to Cannan, "No, silly, my tummy was big because you were in my tummy when you were a tiny baby and I had to give birth to you!"
Then Cannan innocently said," NOOOOOO! Mommy, you ate me?"

Unquote.

Cannan just turned 5 last month and this was taken at his birthday party. Look at how much he has grown!

I can finally relate to Denmark!

2007-10-01T15:30:00.000+01:00

Flu aside, I had a good start this morning. Well two things happened and they made me feel good.

First, I decided to call my doctor to get an appointment because my nose was so stuffed out last night that I almost couldn't breathe. When the line got through, I realised that it was my doctor's voice alright but the "speech" was different. Still in bed and feeling groggy, I had no idea what he was talking about because it was in danish. I panicked for a few seconds and before I could react, the call ended. This time, I sat up and contemplated if I should call Edmund and ask him to get his colleague to interpret what the doctor said or I should just call again and see if I could pick up any familiar words. I decided on the latter.

After two attempts, I got it. The doctor said I had reached the automated answering machine. The clinic would be closed from Friday 28 September to Monday 15 October. If we need to seek treatment between this period, we could go to Doctor Jorgen Hansen at Osterbrogade 53. His telephone numbers, 35380043. He would be back.... (the line went dead before he could finish the sentence. Guess he had exceeded the time limit for the voice recording)

Feeling a little nervous, I dialled the numbers and bingo, the line got through and I was actually talking to Doctor Hansen! In that instance, I felt a great sense of triumph. Suddenly, this country did not feel so alien to me anymore and I thought, hey, I could certainly stay here because slowly but surely, I have managed to intergrate into the culture.

So after I got over the jubilation, I went to the kitchen to get some breakfast. Yesterday, I found a shop in the Asia Market that sells frozen plain roti prathas. It was an exciting finding for me and I bought a packet. The verdict: Not as good as the real ones but definitely a close substitute. Anyway, in a place when such food is scarce, two pieces of prathas even if you had to eat them with sugar and a cup of hot teh on a cold morning will guarantee to make you high. I think I am going to experiment putting a layer of egg on top of the pratha to make it a plaster pratha sometime this week.

Hmm, what a nice way to start the week!

I Am Sick

2007-09-30T18:48:00.000+01:00

For the past few days, I have been getting an itchy throat, a running nose and pain in the ribs (from too much coughing). I am sick, thanks to the flu bug. As much as I know water is good for me, I just can't bring myself to down 8 glasses of water everyday. So if you have any good idea on how to make someone drink 8 glasses of water everyday, please let me know, I really need it badly......

Winter is coming....

2007-09-06T15:27:00.000+01:00

For the past week, the first thing I felt when I woke up was the cold wind in the air. Every morning, this feeling made me dread getting out of bed and away from my quilt.

Hence, I guess it's time to push my sundresses and short sleeves blouses to the back of the closet and replace them with the long sleeves ones. Actually, I had already taken my boots out from its box last week. After wiping off the dust, they made their "grand" appearance onto the streets on Friday, joining many others that were worn by the danish girls.

I remember when I was in Hong Kong, winter was a season which I enjoyed a lot. However, I don't think I can speak the same for the winter in Copenhagen because grey sky will replace the blue and we get wind that will pierce through the bones.

We are having a baby boy!

2007-08-21T16:46:00.000+01:00

I had an ultrasound scan last Wednesday. After the midwife did several tests, the result showed the baby was doing well and it also revealed that he was a boy! It was a very emotional moment for us when we saw the little one stretched his legs and then used his hand to touch his toes. From then on, I told myself I will do my best to love, protect and nurture him.

Edmund was so happy that he bought a bottle of wine to celebrate after we left the hospital. Before we knew the gender of the baby, I could already see the desire in him to have a son whenever we went to the park; he would look and admire those guys playing soccer and wearing the same jerseys with their young sons. I still remember we had so many tiffs in the past few weeks whenever he referred our baby as "he" and I referred baby as "she" in the name of fairness.

Well, the game is over. Now, it is shopping time. As soon we know we should be buying clothes in baby pink or blue, we are starting to stock up his clothes, towels, nappies, milk bottles, etc. The bigger items will come next since they are going to take up space in the house.

It is amazing how lifestyle has changed after my maternal instinct kicked in. Nowadays I will do things like: before buying a packet of potato chips or sweets, I will ponder if the extra salt or sugar will affect my baby; before drinking a cup of coffee or cola, I will ask myself if I have been having too much caffeine recently; talking to my son and ask for his opinion when buying his clothes even though it looks silly; when I am unhappy, I quickly put my favourite CD on and focus on other things so that the bad vibes will not stress my baby out. All these sound very strange but I actually like the way they are.

Everyday, I look forward to feeling my baby moving inside my tummy and I treasure every moment of it.

Santa is gone..... but memories remain

2007-08-08T11:32:00.000+01:00

My Santa has gone back to the ever sunny Singapore on last Thursday. During her stay in Copenhagen, we went to many places, many of which were actually my first time.

Probably the best beer in the world". Find this slogan familiar? Yes, we were at the Carlsberg Visitors Centre.

I still can't believe that I managed to climb all the way to the top of this church with my current state. In addition to the winding staircase inside the tower, the external staircase already consists of 400 steps. It was so windy that day that athough the view from the top is spectacular, I think my heart can only take the stress of being blown off the tower once.

Coming to Denmark will not be complete without going for a castle tour. We just had to join a day tour and it took care of everything.

The drive through the magnificent Danish countryside in the northern part of Denmark and coastline was very refreshing.

We went to a few castles but the one that captivated me was the Frederiksborg Castle (the pic on the top). I was completely memerised by the stories told by the guide.

This is a really short bed. Reason is because the kings used to sleep sitting up!

On a separate day, we also went to Malmo which is merely a 40 minutes train ride away from Copenhagen. To me, Malmo feels like a peaceful and quiet little town and that is probably because it is not the capital for Sweden.

One of the must see is the tallest building called the "Turning Torso". The building consists of nine cubes with a total of 54 stories, with a 90° twist from base to top. I found it quite impressive but a lack of professional photographic skill failed to make it look good on picture.

The last highlight of the whole holiday was an overnight weekend cruise to Oslo, capital of Norway. The cruise was terrible as the sea was very rough but Oslo was awesome; lots of space, greenery and culture.

The Vigeland sculpture park (Vigelandsparken) is a very unique park. Every piece of sculpture is the life work of Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943) and inspired by naked human beings.

As if we were not seasick enough after we had disembarked from the cruise, we went for a boat ride on the Oslo Fjord. Well, this is our only chance but the mountainous view was simply breathtaking. (no picture on the mountains to show because Lily was dozing off and Edmund was still suffering from the earlier seasick so the pictures he took are not clear)

Lily, thanks for your companionship. Those were one of my happiest days in Denmark. Cheers to our friendship!

My Early Christmas

2007-07-24T22:12:00.000+01:00

This is my "Santa". As there isn't a fireplace in our apartment (and there is no lift either!), "Santa" has to carry all her presents up 6 flights of stairs. No wonder she is so trim. Hee hee.....

Ta da! These are the presents she brought and I am eternally grateful to her for all the goodies she got me. I will not be able to survive without them (well, some of them at least) if I don't make another home trip by end of this year.

To be continued.......

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

2007-07-19T16:30:00.000+01:00

SANTA IS COMING TO TOWN NEXT WEEK!!!

To be continued..........

2007-07-15T13:05:00.001+01:00

Hmmm....... so handsome!

2007-07-15T13:01:00.001+01:00

The last time I was so crazy about a celebrity was when I was 14 years old. Internet was not very advanced and virtually unheard of for me at that time. So I tried to save my pocket money in order to buy his cassette tapes and any magazines that had him on the coverpage. I knew all his songs by heart and my drawer was filled with his merchandises like bookmarks, keychains, some glossy cards and newspaper cuttings. I still like him now until recently.

Two weeks ago, his status in my heart has been overthrown. Yes, OVERTHROWN by another person. I discovered this guy by chance when I was so bored one afternoon and decided to watch some VCDs which my aunt passed to me when I was back in Singapore. After that, completely smitten by his good looks, I literally cannot survive a day without watching his music videos. Edmund was not very pleased (most probably jealous, I think) in the beginning but has surrendered now.......... For the first time in Copenhagen, I feel so lucky that I am not stucked in an office replying to emails, typing proposals and doing other mundane matters. (if you think I am just being sour grapes, then so be it.)

Anyway, since I am currently a lady of leisure, I better make use of this opportunity to do all the things that i like. So, for the past two weeks, I caught up with all his music videos and entertainment news on youtube. For him, I'm in front of the computer from 9.30am to 6pm, watching and rewatching his music videos, researching for his latest news, reading his blog and only leaving my seat when nature calls or during meal times. Any other matters that require my attention have inevitably become secondary. This is one of my favourite music video because he looks extremely hot!

We are going to have a "Golden Pig"!

2007-07-05T13:21:00.000+01:00

For some of you who have been wondering whether I am or I am not, this will confirm your speculations. Yes, I am pregnant (3 months) and my estimated delivery date is 1 Jan 2008! The baby came as a pleasant surprise when I discovered my pregnancy on an early morning of May 3. (We like to think he/she is a "gift" from Italy) When you are celebrating the New Year, we will be celebrating the arrival of a new family member. :-)
(Hmm.... I wonder if companies in Denmark have the practice of giving newborns on 1 Jan any sponsorships).

Although the earlier periods of pregnancy did bring about some horrible mood swings and occasional morning sickness, I am glad that I have overcome that and I can only say everything feels great now. Going back to Singapore for two weeks to "reconnect" with the 3 Fs (ie. family, friends and food) seemed to help a lot. Having friends who are also mommy-to-be makes it easier as I have someone to talk and share my experiences with.

I used to think we are not ready to start a family as bringing up a child seems to involve so much time, efforts and sacrifices. Even til now, I still have some doubts about our abilities every once in a while. However, they will disappear whenever I look at the photos from the ultrasound scans because the affection for the little human being growing inside me is so strong that nothing else seems to matter.

Right now, priorities for us have changed and the main focus is for me to have a healthy pregnancy so that in six months' time, we can look forward to meeting our happy and chubby baby!

Enrique Iglesias - Do You Know (The Ping Pong Song)

2007-06-26T11:20:00.001+01:00

Just came back from a two weeks break in Singapore. It was a fantastic, fantastic holiday. We managed to catch up with a lot of friends, do a lot of shoppings, eat all the food that I'd missed so much, play some mahjongs and even go to Bangkok for a weekend of seafood and shopping.

Armed with two luggages full of goodies, DVDs and memories of the fun times we had in Singapore, I should be able to survive another winter in Denmark before we return home again.

Lastly, would like to dedicate this MTV (Not the Babes :-)) to my husband. He heard this song on the plane and told me about it. I think it's the best from Enrique.

I Will Survive

2007-06-03T17:29:00.000+01:00

Woke up at 5.30am this morning and this song kept playing in my head while I'm still lying in bed counting down to the day to fly home.

It is my favourite song from Cake. In fact, it's my all time favourite. It's damn cool, check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10C68Gzd5GM

At first I was afraid
I was petrified
I kept thinking I could never live without you by my side
But then I spent so many nights
Just thinking how you'd done me wrong
And I grew strong
I learned how to get along
So now you're back
From outer space
I just walked in to find you here
Without the look upon your face
I should have changed my fucking lock
I would have made you leave your key
If I'd have known for just one second
You'd be back to bother me

Oh now go,
Walk out the door
Just turn around now
You're not welcome anymore
Weren't you the one who tried to break me with desire
Did you think I'd crumble
Did you think I'd lay down and die
Oh no, not I
I will survive
As long as I know how to love I know I'll be alive
I've got all my life to live
I've got all my love to give
I will survive
I will survive
Yeah, yeah

It took all the strength I had
Just not to fall apart
I'm trying hard to mend the pieces
Of my broken heart
And I spent oh so many nights
Just feeling sorry for myself
I used to cry
But now I hold my head up high
And you see me
With somebody new
I'm not that stupid little person still in love with you
And so you thought you'd just drop by
And you expect me to be free
But now I'm saving all my loving
For someone who's loving me

Oh now go,
Walk out the door
Just turn around now
You're not welcome anymore
Weren't you the one who tried to break me with desire
Did you think I'd crumble
Did you think I'd lay down and die
Oh no, not I
I will survive
As long as I know how to love I know I'll be alive
I've got all my life to live
I've got all my love to give
I will survive
I will survive
Yeah, yeah.................

Now, I have to upload it to my MP3.

Happy Happy Happy

2007-05-23T17:58:00.000+01:00

Thanks to a friend, I was shown a super cool shop at the Asia Market where it has a lot of chinese goodies. The shop not only has the vegetables that we can find in our wet market, it even has things like Gingko nuts, Beancurd Skin, Rock Sugar, seasoning for Ma Po Tofu, Jellyfish, Century Eggs, and some of the canned food that we eat in Singapore. I'm so happy with the purchases I made today.

In addition, Royana is going to teach me her mum's signature dish this Saturday. She called it "Ayam Masak Merah". Don't know what it means but I'm sure it's going to be delicious. We really need some yummy malay curry to spice up our lives.

Finally, I see some hope in Copenhagen and this should last me for the next two weeks till I get to taste the real stuff back home.

We Are Going Home!!

2007-05-15T15:03:00.000+01:00

Yeahhh! We Are Going Home!

The air tickets are booked and the confirmation slips received. We shall arrive in Singapore on 9 June and stay for two weeks. I'm going to :

- have gatherings with my friends
- hang out with my mum
- go for a haircut
- go to the dentist
- go to church
- go shopping
- go for a facial
- eat all my favourite food

Oh man, I really can't wait for the day when I touch down at Changi Airport. I'm dying to go home...........

No More Kentucky Fried Chicken For Me

2007-05-14T16:19:00.000+01:00

This morning, my craving for a 2 piece meal in KFC was so strong that I decided to take a 20 minute walk to the bus stop and then another 15 minute of bus ride to the city centre to settle my lunch. Since my appetite has not been very good lately and I have already skipped many lunches, I decided not to curb this urge even though I know they are actually tasteless chicken meat with oily but delicious crispy skin.

At the counter, I quickly ordered the usual 2 piece meal which is the same stuff as what we get in Singapore except that in Denmark, they only have the original version, french fries instead of whipped potatoes, the drink is not refillable and we pay for the chilli sauce. But what actually horrified me was, the same old 2 piece meal cost Kr 52.25 which is approximately S$15! It is definitely the most expensive KFC meal I've ever had!

Back home, I regret spending so much money on some food that made me feel so greasy and sick now.
:-(

A Terrible Week

2007-05-11T13:20:00.000+01:00

I feel terribly lousy this week:
1. Restless
2. Lethargic
3. Bored
4. Cold
5. Loss of Appetite athough I have a lot of cravings for Pork and Century Egg Congee (Chomp Chomp), Fried Carrot Cake (Chomp Chomp), Fried Prawn Mee (Basement of Vivocity and Ang Mo Kio Hawker Centre), Bak Chok Mee (Circular Road), Barbecued Stingray and Squid (Anywhere that serve them with decent Balachan), Seafood Horfun (Alexandra Village Hawker Centre), Duck Rice (Whampoa Hawker Centre), Rojak (Whampoa Hawker Centre), Nasi Lemak (Sembawang), Roti Prata (Upper Thomson or Jalan Kayu) and Fried Kway Teow (Marine Parade Hawker Centre).

It's lunch time now and I have no interest in any other kinds of food except for the above. Seems like I have to go hungry today again. :-(

PS: To my non-Singaporean friends: in case you are lost in translation, I'm craving for all the local food and that thought is driving me crazy.

Please Give Me The Sun, I Am So Cold!

2007-05-09T13:40:00.000+01:00

Forecast for Copenhagen, issued Wednesday May 9 at 11:30 hours

Wednesday
A little rain with some sunny spells. Maximum day temperatures around 13 degrees Celsius, minimum night temperatures around 4 degrees Celsius. Up to strong wind.

Thursday
Cloudy with some rain. Maximum day temperatures around 15 degrees Celsius, minimum night temperatures around 8 degrees Celsius. Up to strong wind.

Friday
Cloudy and dry. Maximum day temperatures around 14 degrees Celsius, minimum night temperatures around 4 degrees Celsius. Up to fresh wind.

Saturday
Cloudy with some rain. Maximum day temperatures around 12 degrees Celsius, minimum night temperatures around 9 degrees Celsius. Up to fresh wind.

Sunday
Cloudy with some rain. Maximum day temperatures around 17 degrees Celsius, minimum night temperatures around 11 degrees Celsius. Up to fresh wind.

Monday
Cloudy with a little rain. Maximum day temperatures around 16 degrees Celsius, minimum night temperatures around 8 degrees Celsius. Up to strong wind.

Spiderman Cannot Save His Own Day

2007-05-05T22:36:00.000+01:00

Just came back from watching Spiderman3. Instead of leaving the cinema full of admiration for my favourite superhero like the first two serials, it failed to touch me this time.

Just to name a few of the flaws as well as embarrasing moments for a diehard Spidey fan like me, there is just so much cheesy and cliché romance with Mary Jane and a new character called "Gwen Stacy". I really cannot stand the part when Spiderman in his famous pose ie. the upside down hang, encouraged Gwen to kiss him in front of the public . I was thinking, was that scene necessary? Come on, what was the director thinking?

Then, there was a segment when the "new" Peter Parker emerged as the guy who was charged with energy and cheesy dance moves waving his hands and thrusting his groins. The director was probably thinking of injecting some humour but he failed to understand that audiences don't like to see their superhero becoming a joke himself. This is so sad and I feel that the director should be sent back to drama school for a refresher course in directing. And for the record, the hairstyle for the new and supposedly cool-looking Peter Parker looked anything but cool.

In this movie, Spiderman was seen fighting his own inner demon, which was a lump of black gluey substance that dropped down from the sky and creeped out from a meteorite while he and MJ were making out. At this point in time, I'm sure many audiences were thinking, where the hell was the spider sense? And what about the regular human sense of hearing??? Anyway, after its ridiculous debut, that thing followed spiderman home and subsequently turned him into an aggressive and revengeful person. As dumb as the way it appeared, it could be destroyed in an equally dumb way -the loud clanking sound from a church bell or from hitting the steel poles.

Last but not least because I just cannot bear to point out more flaws and trust me I can list so many, Harry's housekeeper appeared out of nowhere and finally told him that he was the one who cleaned his father's wound and that his dad was actually killed by the blades from his own mobile device. The truth was, Spiderman did not kill his father. Don't you think this is so stupid!! Why did the housekeeper wait 2 movies to tell his young master this??? For this important fact, the housekeeper just appeared suddenly and said a two liner dialogue in an attempt to link up the whole story. Tsk tsk tsk.....

Perhaps, the only thing I can compliment is Spiderman's new black suit. It definitely looks better than Batman's but this is only superficial. We love the original spidey suit just as much if not more.

In conclusion, if you really have to watch Spiderman 3 because you love the previous two movies to death, my advice to you is, forget about the cinema, wait for the DVD. Instead of spending $9.50 per pax, spend $20 and the movie can be watched by the whole family or the next gathering at your place. It's more worth it.

I Just Blog To Say I Love U

2007-05-03T14:30:00.000+01:00

After my last outburst of frustration, peace resumed and time just passed by so quickly. As summer approaches, the day lengthens and the sky does not turn completely dark until 9 plus every night, and I think somehow this has a positive effect on me.

I caught a film a couple of days ago. It's called "The Holiday" starring Jude Law, Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet. It's a romance comedy with a happy ending, obviously. I recommend it because:
1) Jude Law is super handsome;
2) Cameron Diaz's outfits are very nice and sexy;
3) it has a happy ending and the light-hearted humour may be what you need after a stressful week.
It should be out on DVD now. If you have not watched it, please do me a favour and go and buy/rent/download it to watch for the weekend.

We have a public holiday tomorrow and Spiderman 3 has its premier today! I am so looking forward to watching my favourite superhero going into action again.

In conclusion, I want to thank all my friends, who after read my blog, called or emailed to comfort me. You guys are really wonderful. However I'm okay now and I may have a piece of good news to share in a couple of weeks time. Look out for it!

I love you all!!!

Moody Talk

2007-04-20T21:00:00.000+01:00

The weekdays are finally over and tomorrow is weekend again. Times flies and today is my two months anniversary in Copenhagen.

For some reasons, I feel extremely moody and restless today. I even took out my old "The Da Vinci Code" to read. The thing is, I never like to watch any movie or read any storybook a second time. I find that there is no more excitement because I already know the plots. So you can imagine I was really goddamn bored.

I thought summer was coming but it suddenly became very chilly in the past few days. The view from my window shows the outside is sunny but what I actually feel in the house is a completely different story. The coldness must have somehow frozen part of my brain for I no longer can think of what can entertain me. However, I am not moody just because I can't think of anything to do.

Everytime I call the old folks back home, they always tell me the same old stuff:
"Better find a job, it's good to earn some pocket money",
"Don't be too dependent on your husband, you should earn your own pocket money",
"Don't waste your time, do something!",
"If you don't want to work, then you better have a baby",
"What do you do everyday, aren't you bored?" etc etc.
Honestly speaking, I am very tired of listening to those craps and everytime the topic starts, they make me cringe. Anything motivation words? Nothing, ZERO.

I mean, have they ever considered my feelings?
Do they know what I actually do at home everyday?
Do they think I have become a burden to my husband because we have only one income now?
Do they think I feel good that I may have probably lost my competitive mind because I no longer have deadlines to meet and clients to please?
Do they think making baby is as easy as making a cup of tea?

Anyway just to prove that I am not a freeloader, I had a meeting with someone yesterday, who might possibly help me get a job. However after the meeting, I felt more confused than before. When I think about it now, that meeting must have had an influence on how I felt today, moody and restless.

Actually, as much as I yearn for the financial independence that a job brings me, I also enjoy the space and freedom I am having now. For 5 years, I did not touch the electric mixer that my mum saved to buy for me because I loved to bake back then. But now, the electric mixer is able to see daylight again because I bake cakes, cookies or muffins every week. And to my mahjong kakis, I will take you on anytime when I go back because my skills have improved (I think).

(sigh) Why am I always standing at a crossroads? (sigh, again) I need some encouragement, even if it is just a bit........

My Italy Trip Part 3 - Rome

2007-04-20T10:15:00.000+01:00

The last stop of my Italy trip - Rome. Hmm.... what can I say about Rome.... Romantic? Not really. Ancient? Yes, very. My initial impression of Rome was not good because firstly, people told me there were a lot of pickpockets. (Thank god our wallets were not stolen but when we were having breakfast one morning, the girl next to me lost her mobile phone the day before).

Secondly, the streets were filthy and smelled of urine. (yaks, i feel like puking whenever I think about it).

Thirdly, people working in the service industry like train station, newspaper stand or information counters are rude.

Lastly, shopping is horribly expensive. (ok, i'm exaggerating a bit here because I could not afford to buy the pretty dresses and shoes which unfortunately I still can't get them out of my mind)

Nevertheless, we spent our 3 days in Rome quite meaningfully visiting the ancient sites and monuments. Fortunately, we joined two local tours so that the tour guides could explain the history of the monuments to us. Otherwise, they were just ruins and it would be difficult for us to appreciate their significances. For someone who came from a country that is barely half a century old, the glory history of the roman empire is something that I have never thought of nor imagined before. Hence for the 3 days in Rome, despite of the not so favourable living condition, I did enjoy looking at and understanding the magnificent roman empire. Well, they say "pictures speak a thousand words". So check them out (with the link) and this time I included some explanations.

Ciao!

http://sg.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/vanacchong/album?.dir=c649re2&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//sg.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

India vs Copenhagen or shall I say, vs Singapore?

2007-04-17T16:30:00.000+01:00

I was reading a friend's blog, who is currently staying in New Dehli because her husband was posted there by his company. In one hour and 15 minutes, I finished reading all her 47 diaries posted in 2007 plus some posted in December 2006. Well, I'm free mah and they were actually very interesting.

India, a place that I have never thought of going there for holiday, let alone stay there. I know I am horrible for discriminating this country but you can't blame me because all I see and hear are mostly things like the streets are very dirty, people are living in poverty, high crime rate, systems inefficient, bad traffic etc. You can imagine living condition there is a complete opposite to Copenhagen and I kinda pity my friend (Not in a condescending way but as a girl friend)

However, I do admire her greatly for the move to New Dehli in order to be with her husband. For love, she gave up her comfortable life in Singapore.
You may think that life is not that bad as an expatriate in India but from what I read, I will never have that view again because a lot of things are just beyond their controls. They may have a maid, two cars, a driver, big house but think of the inconvenience and frustration they have experienced when a cable channel suddenly disappeared while they were watching a program, traffic condition so bad that it took 4 hours to travel to the office and my friend's head was rocking to and fro because the road was so bumpy, they never knew whether the lighting or cable guy would turn up even though they have made an appointment.... tsk tsk tsk... if those are not bad, then what are? Oh one more thing, my friend said there is only 1 acceptable shopping mall in the whole of N.D. OMG!

While I was reading her blog, I did feel a lot in common between us. We are both very, extremely, super homesick. We miss our families, friends, food and a familiar environment.

Now, does this mean Singapore girls are not cosmopolitan enough to accustom to new countries? Of course not, we are just more sentimental ...... ;-)

I'm meeting Royana for dinner today and we are going to have Thai food. I shall have tom yum goong and fried rice later. Yippee!!

My Italy Trip Part 2 - Genoa

2007-04-16T16:45:00.000+01:00

From Venice, we took a train to Genoa, a city and seaport in northern Italy. The ride was about 4 hours but it was all worth it as we could look at the sceneries along the way compared to taking the plane.

As Genoa is still quite undiscovered by the tourism industry except for the italians coming from other parts of Italy, the ambience is still very authentic in its own way. Although it lacks the hustle and bustle of Venice, it has its own charming qualities. For a start, things are generally cheaper than the major cities. Then I also felt that the locals are friendlier. Lastly, there is just simply a good blend of nature and civilisation.

In Genoa, we received the warm hospitality of Maurizio and his girlfriend, Paola. Maurizio is Edmund's colleague and also Edmund's roommate when they were working in Dubai. Since the second largest emirate is just lots of sand and modern shopping malls that offer mostly high-end shopping, the two men kinda clicked together as they both have the same liking - Italian Cuisine.

Therefore, when we arrived in Genoa on Saturday evening, Maurizio and Paola picked us up from the railway station and brought us to a very fine restaurant by the harbour called "Porto Antico". We had a wonderful dinner of foccaccia and cheese, tortelli in walnut sauce and of course italian white wine.

After that, Maurizio took us to our hotel which was situated near a promenade. The hotel is very lovely and our window actually opened out to a luscious landscape. Being close to the promenade also meant that we could stroll along the promenade to enjoy the cool seabreeze and the picturesque scenery anytime.

The next day, Maurizio took us to visit his parents for an Easter tea. We were treated to a traditional Easter sweet eggbread topped with candied orange peels and almonds, a humungous and decadent chocolate egg and a 1997 year old Ferrari Brut Champagne.

When we had satisfied the sweet tooth, we met up with Paola at downtown for sightseeing. Although there are not as many big churches and museums in Genoa as in Italy, the old city oozes charm nonetheless. When we were there, there was a temporary market (something like "pasar malam") and there was a wide selection of cheeses, salami and other types of cured meat. Ingredients for making delicious italian food like fresh porcini mushrooms and local vegetables/fruits were also in abundance. I was very tempted to buy some of the fresh food back but I knew I couldn't because I still have a next stop, which was Rome.

Subsequently, dinner was at a cosy restaurant by the seaside. I wished I had taken a picture of the restaurant because it was a very cool place with glass walls and we were basically sitting above the sea. Contrary to popular belief, Copenhagen is not exactly a place where you can enjoy fresh seafood because the only thing fresh and easily available in the supermarket is probably only salmon and some fish fillets (no mussels or squids or prawns or crabs). So on that night, we had delicious Trofie with Pesto Sauce and a big fish baked with olives and Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

After dinner, we had dessert in one of the cafes at Portofino, which was a small fishing village and tourist resort on the Italian Riveria. It stretched like an arch of the moon around a quiet basin and at a corner, it provided many sailboats a place to moor.

After dessert, we ended our holiday in Genoa as we had to head out to Rome early next morning. It was a short but certainly memorable visit.

My Italy Trip Part 1 - Venice

2007-04-15T22:30:00.000+01:00

Ciao,

Long time no blog! We went to Italy last week and we visited Venice, Genoa and Rome.

Due to the number of pictures I am posting, I will post a few blogs according to the cities that we visited.

First City - Venice. World famous for its canals and one of the most romantic places in the world (where else can it be when it's the birthplace of Giacomo Casanova), is stunningly beautiful both day and night but the little alleys and waterways also add a mysterious touch to the city under the moonlight.

To go around Venice, one has to either go on foot or take the motorised waterbuses called "vaporetti". Of course there are the famous Gondolas, which for centuries, were the chief means of transportation. I used "were" because they are mostly hired by tourists now. And by the way, a ride on the gondola costs between Euro 80 to 150 depending on when and where you hire it and it only lasts for about 30 to 35 mins. During the time, the gondolier will "attempt" to tell you stories and history of Venice.

There are an incredible number of churches and palaces in Venice. Most of them have undergone restoration and are serving as either churches or museums. They stand majestically next to the canals and everyone of them screams stories from different eras. They are such awe-inspiring sights that if you are inside any one of them, you can easily lose track of time from imagining what had happened in the past.

We spent about 3 days in Venice and fortunately, we managed to visit most of the major attractions. Hence, if Venice is your next destination in your holiday list, let me know and I will be glad to share some tips with you.

2007-03-30T23:10:00.000+01:00

Last week was an eventful week for me. I went to my friend's apartment, which was really really nice and she was kind enough to cook curry chicken for me. But before I continue, let me introduce you my new friend in Denmark. Her name is Royana. She is also from Singapore and her husband works at Maersk! Royana is a very affable person who came to CPH a month earlier than me. She has this nice and sweet personality that I warmed to her immediately after our first coffee session. Our second meeting took place the next day when we went to Ikea together. Thereafter, we hang out quite often (once a week on average and twice this week). In the past one month, it's thanks to her that I was like on a fast track program as she gave me many advices and also introduced me to a lot of places and things here. Without her, I probably won't settle in and enjoy CPH so easily and quickly.

Then, a friend from Hong Kong (but currently studying for his Masters in Rotterdam) came to CPH last weekend for a holiday. It's always nice to meet up with old friends when you are in a foreign country. With my limited knowledge about this city, I tried my best to be a good host by taking him (his name is Jacky) to a very traditional danish restaurant located outside the city centre. It was supposed to be a small attempt from me to show him other parts of CPH, which I think it's a bit silly after that because we had wasted time on travelling to and fro. Thankfully, the restaurant did not disappoint me as it was indeed very local with good ambience (NB: We were the only asians in the restaurant) Jacky had "Fried pork with parsley sauce" while I had "Fish and Chips, Danish style" (ok, it´s not that special). After dinner, we went back to the city centre (now you know why my idea wasn't that brilliant after all) to meet his friends. We ended up in a pub on Strøget, which is a hip shopping street. Although there wasn't any dancing, the pub had a great liveband. After some beer and gin tonic, we parted not knowing when we would meet again......

Well the Earth is round. So I know we shall definitely bump into each other again, somewhere sometime.

An Unlucky Sunday

2007-03-18T14:32:00.000Z

Have you ever been caught in a situation where you are completely stumped by a language handicap? If you have, you will understand the frustration I have had. If you have not, lucky you!
Let me tell you what had happened.

Today, I booked the laundry room from 11am to 2pm to wash my clothes but I was 35 mins late. Reason is because I was watching a british documentary on healthy living. (it's one of the few programmes I could find that morning in English!). After I managed to pull myself away from the tv and headed down to the laundry room, guess what? A woman was loading her clothes into the machines. Although I gave her a "what the hell you think you are doing" look, I kept my cool and asked innocently whether she had booked this time slot (which I know is not possible). Then she smiled (also innocently) and explained that as I was late for more than 15 mins, she was entitled to use the machines and she pointed to a note on the noticeboard. Unfortunately, that was the "Rules Of Using The Laundry Room" and as always the case, the note was written in dansk and I could only understand three words out of the list; Ikke, 15 and mins. "Ikke" means "Not or no" while "15 mins" are self-explanatory. Hence, you can imagine I had lost my case.
So I put my clothes aside and said "Oh no worries, have fun washing, I'll go and get some groceries and come back later." but actually I was fuming mad. Anyhow, she told me she would be done in an hour's time so I could use the room after her.

Exactly one hour later, I went back to the laundry room and found her clothes still in the machines. I wondered if I was allowed to take out the clothes. (In case there is another rule which I am not aware). Anyway 5 mins later when she still didn't appear, I took the liberty to take out her clothes and put mine in. (If she blamed me, it's my turn to say she was late... ha!). I left the laundry room with a small satisfaction.

About half and hour later, I went to collect my laundry but today was really not my day for one of the machines did not spin my clothes properly. When I took them out, they were dripping wet! I thought I chose a program appropriate for washing my fleece jacket and yoga pants but apparently, it was for fine and delicate clothings. To make matter worse, my laundry card was at home so I could not put my clothes into the machine again. And, my neighbour who booked the next time slot would be coming in any minute to use the machines. In the end, I had to wring my clothes one by one to make it as dry as possible.

Back in my apartment, just when I hoped enough was enough as I lined the clothes on the rack to dry, water from my clothes started dripping onto my wooden floor! I went into frenzy again trying to clean up or rather mop up the puddles. The least I need is to have termites as my roommates for the next 21 months.

Now please tell me, who says being a housewife is easy!!!

In loving memory of my dear aunt, who departed from this world on March 8, 2007

2007-03-09T16:13:00.000Z

I received an extremely sad news from my mum this afternoon, that one of my aunts has passed away last night. I feel as if I have just had the wind knocked out of me and my heart aches.

In February 2006, my aunt discovered she had cancer and it was probably the second or third stage. For more than a year, she had not stopped battling against this terrible illness.

Looking back, she did not have any children, and maybe because of this reason, she doted on her nephews and nieces. When I was young, she showed me and my sister her love by giving us toys, cakes and extra pocket money that were within her means. However as we grew older, we had her unadulterated love in the form of advices and many of them are still in my heart. Her leaving means I have lost not just a relative, but a good mentor as I really learned a lot from her. Even in the past few months, when the cancer caused her to be frail and bedridden, her courage to fight the illness was evident. Hence through her, I realise how lucky I am to be able to breathe, feel, and also be with my loved ones.

Auntie, I hope a new life will soon begin for you, however YOU will always be remembered in my heart.

My Neighbourhood

2007-03-02T16:20:00.000Z

Hej,
Have you ever woken up feeling wonderful?? I did this morning, and according to a theory of Edmund, I had got up on the right side of the bed. (because he remarked that I got up on the wrong side when I had a grumpy face)
Anyhow, I decided to snap some pictures of my neighbourhood. This is the view from my living room and it is the front (right and left) side of the building. You notice that the buildings are old and rather low rise. Buildings like these are probably 50 to 60 years old but some are still very well maintained. Last week, the entire street was covered with snow and it looked absolutely beautiful.

Then, this is the view of our backyard, actually our neighbour's backyard, which looks pretty much the same as ours. This is where we throw our trash and we can also go to the block's common laundry area.

Below are pictures of a street called "Nordre Frihavnsgade". There is a school which looks more like a library than a school to me. Then there is a very important and busy crossroad junction called "Trianglen". Cafes, boutiques, bakeries and supermarkets line the street. Cyclists are ubiquitous in Copenhagen; cycling is almost as popular as driving a car as it is more economical (and environmental friendly).

So, that was it. I promise to show you my apartment in my coming post, provided I consider it to be tidy enough. ;-)
Well weekend is here again. Have fun and we shall talk soon.

My Friends

2007-02-28T10:35:00.000Z

I am very glad that so many of my friends have read my first blog.

My friends, you are very important to me. You have made my life so much richer and exciting. Although I might be in physical contact with some of you for a couple of years only, I have never forgotten the times we spent together. Through you, I have learnt new things, made more friends and some have even given me inspirations. These are the memories that I file at the back of my mind and reminisce whenever I open my photo albums.

As for the friends whom I have known for a long time, we have been through quite a bit so you are all the more like family to me. You are the people whom I do not have to hide my emotions from and I can really be myself whenever I am around you. I truly treasure that special bonding that we have. Thank you for being there for me all these years.

In conclusion, even though I am thousand of miles away from you, we are never really separated. With my blog, I will try to update you with my life and hope we can still communicate like the good old times. I am still the Vanessa that you all know, whether I am in Hong Kong, Singapore or Denmark.

Love,
Van

My first impression of Copenhagen

2007-02-27T09:09:00.000Z

Hi my friends,

Miss me???? I miss you very much!

I've more or less settled down in my new home and finally overcame jetlag when I did not fall asleep on my couch at 4 o'clock, woke up for dinner when Edmund came home, then fell asleep again at 10 and woke up at 4.30 in the morning. I went through this routine until yesterday when my internet was up and running, then I just sat in front of the computer for the whole afternoon searching for online majong games.

The third day I arrived in Copenhagen, I started missing the warm weather in Singapore already. Now I finally understand why the Ang Mos in Singapore are so fond of basking under the sun. I think I would probably do the same thing when I'm back in Singapore. Until yesterday, the sky in Copenhagen was perpetually gloomy as it was snowing and raining the whole of last week. Hence, before you have at least four layers of clothes/jackets (best if they are fleece) and thick boots, please do not even think of stepping out of the house because you will soon hate yourself for being so garang (In English, this means tough).

Other than the not so pleasant weather, coming to terms with the cost of living is also quite a challenge. Just to give you an idea and I'm not even going to compare to our wet markets, a piece of ginger (the size of say my palm) costs about SGD 4 in the supermarket; 10 eggs cost about SGD 8; a pack of sausages (10 in a pack) cost about SGD 7. Besides, most of the labels are in Dansk, therefore I think I'm soon to be banned by the supermarkets for being the crazy woman always harrassing their customers, because I often try to get hold of people to ask about things. Fortunately, the danes are generally friendly people even though they may look aloof. They won't avoid you like the Japanese do when you approach them asking for directions in English. The danes would tell me what I needed to know and sometimes even helped me search for the correct item if the one that I was holding happened to be something else. This is the problem, because they are so nice, it makes me want to ask them more! :-> To give the danes more credit, they are really eye candies, both men and women.

Food - Other than cheese and bread, it's still cheese and bread. I have cheese and bread for breakfast, I have cheese and bread for lunch. I've probably eaten as much bread for the past 1 week as I had eaten for the past 3 months in Singapore. I'm not exaggerating. This city is full of bakeries and thank God, their bread is actually quite nice....... Here, you don't see luncheon meat or omelette wrapped in buns, they are really freshly baked foccasia/bagels/ciabatta with densely packed dough in the middle. Oh, and there is the famous danish meatloaves (similar to the swedish meatballs that you can find in Ikea). This is a gigantic ball of minced pork and/or beef. So if you eat one plus a few slices of potatotes, it is equivalent to one full meal of "Chai Pun".

Dansk - This is the local language. I must say the country is not very tourist friendly because most signboards are in Dansk. Remember I mentioned earlier the labels on the packages and signs in supermarkets are also in Dansk? Well, to make my experience with Dansk even more "exciting", I had some problems with my internet connection yesterday, so I had to call the telecom to check my phoneline. In Singapore, most companies have an electronic answering system which let you choose a language before you proceed. In Denmark, there is no such luxury. I spent about half and hour straining my ears to catch what the operator said and then deciphering which number I should press. Luckily, I managed to speak to a HUMAN after maybe the 10th attempt and he helped me solved the problem. Otherwise, I would not be able to post this diary today.

So, the above are just my opinions about Denmark. I guess I have a lot more to learn before I can adapt to the new lifestyle. It looks rather sunny today, and hopefully it is as warm outside as it looks. Maybe it's a good chance to check out my neighbourhood later and feast on the eye candies in the street.

Take care, talk to you later.