Copenhagen is like Stockholm, both being capitals. Very lively, very populated, unlike Gothenburg haha. Weather was much better there too, the sun was out, the only thing was the prices! My goodness. If you think Sweden is expensive, Denmark is up another level. A decent dinner cost us SGD30.00 plus. The apple juice in the restaurant cost SGD8.00, and mineral water at another restaurant cost around SGD 6.00.
Sugared almonds. Is it available in Singapore?The sugared almonds were sold in those "kao lak" kind of stalls. Singapore should have them too! Instead of kao lak stalls :S
Concert at Tivoli on Friday nights. Tivoli is an amusement park in Copenhagen. I can't imagine that people will go to Escape theme park if there were concerts there every weekend. As I was there I was thinking, so safe! Like, everyone was crowding around for the concert, beer in their hands, yet it was so safe as well. I have nothing to say about Scandinavia. The security is great.
I really liked the hostel we stayed in. It was clean, good location (near the central station/city), and cozy as well. Not dingy at all. Good for a first stay in hostel during this exchange.
Streets in Lund; mostly made up of this kind of building
Having our fika (sheltering from the drizzle) at the cafe inside the Botanical Gardens
G, JS and L cooked dinner for us, this is popcorn chicken!
Corn soup with pork ribs; I couldn't believe they cooked this!
Their place was huge. It was apartment-style, so there was a living room with kitchnette and bathroom, and 2 bedrooms. It's great. When they come over they'll just have to squeeze in my small humble room.
Before dinner we went to Lund Cathedral for the international service, and there was this really nice hymn "God of the Sparrow". Go Youtube it.
I think the most notable thing that happened this trip is the meeting of this old man and old lady after the service. After the service refreshments were served, so we just stood around and talked to the people there. I noticed this old man alone so asked my friend if she wanted to talk to him, so we approached him.
The thing about these elderly is that before you talk to them you never knew what kind of stories they have to share with you. The old man told us that he came to Sweden in the 60s, and he went to Singapore before, by hitchhiking, from England. You see the wrinkles on their faces, the all-white hair, and they tell you this kind of stories, they've been through the world war, they've been through so much, I myself can't even imagine going through all that.
The old lady, she used to be an athlete, a diving athlete, one time during a competition when she was about to jump off the platform someone called her name and she got distracted and she landed to the left on her shoulder blade and head at the side of the pool. It could be the most terrible time of her life because it involved so much pain, and later it turned into cancer, but thankfully she's all right now, and she told us that it wasn't the most terrible time, because she had a special friend, a transvestite, who stayed with her throughout and brought laughter to her life. That was how she got through. She's a devout Christian, and she said, she couldn't tell her friend that he/she was going to Hell, because he/she was such a good person, all she can say is, "God judges, not me". At that point I was so touched, tears welled.
God brings people together. That is what I have been thinking since going to the Christian services so far on this exchange. I haven't been to Catholic mass, but the last two Christian services I went to, had been meaningful for me. I meet people, people with stories to share, and I love this experience; this is partly what exchange is all about.
We could tell that the old lady felt a special connection to us, because last winter there were 3 girls from Singapore on exchange in Lund as well, and they got along really well. One weekend they would have dinner at her place, and the next they would cook Chinese food for her. She's going to Singapore in December this year, and invited us over to her place for dinner actually, but we were leaving the next day, so we couldn't. She said, it would be great if we can come by another time, and this time, we're going to stay in her flat. It would be hard to fit Lund into our schedules again, but it would definitely be great to dine with her I'm sure. We also told her to contact us in Singapore since she's going to be there until January.
Concert at Tivoli on Friday nights. Tivoli is an amusement park in Copenhagen. I can't imagine that people will go to Escape theme park if there were concerts there every weekend. As I was there I was thinking, so safe! Like, everyone was crowding around for the concert, beer in their hands, yet it was so safe as well. I have nothing to say about Scandinavia. The security is great.
I really liked the hostel we stayed in. It was clean, good location (near the central station/city), and cozy as well. Not dingy at all. Good for a first stay in hostel during this exchange.
I love the flea markets there. We went to two on Saturday morning. Bought a mini furniture set for my sister that I think she'll like (and she does), and now I use it to decorate my desk HAHA. I mean, why not right. The thing about their flea markets is that it's really a flea market, like, the things they sell are antiques! Real vintage stuff, and I love this kind of stuff. In Singapore it's the young ladies selling second hand clothes or mass-produced clothes from City Plaza, but over here, it's the octogenarians who are selling things they probably owned before. We should probably keep the things we own now and sell them when we're old one day. They even sell postcards they received in the past! And the postcards are nice.
The elderly in Western societies are really different from our grandparents. They are so active! Setting up stalls in flea markets and selling stuff.
Anyway, now I understand why Yokey seldom blogged after each traveling escapade, because it is so hard! To write down and describe every single thing you did, went to, ate and so on.
Anyway, I felt that 2 days in Copenhagen was enough. It's like any other city I felt. It's nice, but it's the same. After this we went to Lund 'cos it's just 2 hours away, and we stayed at Pam and Lionel's place. We were surprised to see that they had mattresses for us! I was prepared to sleep on the floor.
In Lund it was back to the slow life compared to the bustling city of Copenhagen. And I mean realllly slow, 'cos during the weekend most shops are closed, and buses come like once an hour. It was like a ghost town. But still, it has its charm. (But I still prefer Gothenburg haha).
The elderly in Western societies are really different from our grandparents. They are so active! Setting up stalls in flea markets and selling stuff.
Anyway, now I understand why Yokey seldom blogged after each traveling escapade, because it is so hard! To write down and describe every single thing you did, went to, ate and so on.
Anyway, I felt that 2 days in Copenhagen was enough. It's like any other city I felt. It's nice, but it's the same. After this we went to Lund 'cos it's just 2 hours away, and we stayed at Pam and Lionel's place. We were surprised to see that they had mattresses for us! I was prepared to sleep on the floor.
In Lund it was back to the slow life compared to the bustling city of Copenhagen. And I mean realllly slow, 'cos during the weekend most shops are closed, and buses come like once an hour. It was like a ghost town. But still, it has its charm. (But I still prefer Gothenburg haha).
Streets in Lund; mostly made up of this kind of building
Having our fika (sheltering from the drizzle) at the cafe inside the Botanical Gardens
G, JS and L cooked dinner for us, this is popcorn chicken!
Corn soup with pork ribs; I couldn't believe they cooked this!Dinner was absolutely yummy. G and JS's fridge was sooo well-stocked my goodness. It's fuller than the fridge at home in Singapore haha. I suppose I could try making popcorn chicken on my own, but it doesn't really make much sense to go through so much trouble to cook for one person, you know? Most of the time I can whip up a decent dinner in 20 minutes :)
Their place was huge. It was apartment-style, so there was a living room with kitchnette and bathroom, and 2 bedrooms. It's great. When they come over they'll just have to squeeze in my small humble room.Before dinner we went to Lund Cathedral for the international service, and there was this really nice hymn "God of the Sparrow". Go Youtube it.
I think the most notable thing that happened this trip is the meeting of this old man and old lady after the service. After the service refreshments were served, so we just stood around and talked to the people there. I noticed this old man alone so asked my friend if she wanted to talk to him, so we approached him.
The thing about these elderly is that before you talk to them you never knew what kind of stories they have to share with you. The old man told us that he came to Sweden in the 60s, and he went to Singapore before, by hitchhiking, from England. You see the wrinkles on their faces, the all-white hair, and they tell you this kind of stories, they've been through the world war, they've been through so much, I myself can't even imagine going through all that.
The old lady, she used to be an athlete, a diving athlete, one time during a competition when she was about to jump off the platform someone called her name and she got distracted and she landed to the left on her shoulder blade and head at the side of the pool. It could be the most terrible time of her life because it involved so much pain, and later it turned into cancer, but thankfully she's all right now, and she told us that it wasn't the most terrible time, because she had a special friend, a transvestite, who stayed with her throughout and brought laughter to her life. That was how she got through. She's a devout Christian, and she said, she couldn't tell her friend that he/she was going to Hell, because he/she was such a good person, all she can say is, "God judges, not me". At that point I was so touched, tears welled.
God brings people together. That is what I have been thinking since going to the Christian services so far on this exchange. I haven't been to Catholic mass, but the last two Christian services I went to, had been meaningful for me. I meet people, people with stories to share, and I love this experience; this is partly what exchange is all about.
We could tell that the old lady felt a special connection to us, because last winter there were 3 girls from Singapore on exchange in Lund as well, and they got along really well. One weekend they would have dinner at her place, and the next they would cook Chinese food for her. She's going to Singapore in December this year, and invited us over to her place for dinner actually, but we were leaving the next day, so we couldn't. She said, it would be great if we can come by another time, and this time, we're going to stay in her flat. It would be hard to fit Lund into our schedules again, but it would definitely be great to dine with her I'm sure. We also told her to contact us in Singapore since she's going to be there until January.
ahh TIVOLI! When I was there, it was closed :( did you get to take any rides?
ReplyDeleteaha, you see what i mean now :) so busy that you don't really have time to write every single thing down. I just end up summarizing whatever thoughts that come into my head when i finally sit down to blog, much easier that way :)
and i couldn't agree more zhu zhu, "I meet people, people with stories to share, and I love this experience; this is partly what exchange is all about." -- with this.
Yokey