syncopation

Three nations in one day

I am pissed at VGs.  

This morning I woke up at 6 because of the lovely sun, had a light breakfast and then fell back to sleep again until 9.30 as I had scheduled a brunch with Nikki, Candy, Sherman, Peter, Konrad and Winston at VGs.  But if you know me well, I am a person with surprisingly good apetite in the morning, and I am grumpy when my blood sugar is low due to lack of food.  Since I only had a pancake at 6, I was literally dragging my dead body to VGs hoping that I would be fed with sizzling hot ad tasty brunch when time was due.

But NO.  We arrived there half an hour early then the brunch was served and apparently there were already 49 people in the queue before us, so only one of us could get to have brunch if we wished.  Great.  As if VG’s brunch is unreachable, and much sorrow to Nikki, her second chance to have brunch in VGs has again ended with no avail.

We then walked further down to town where Kalmar is located, hoping their brunch at 12 won’t be as popular although Nikki has already tried it the week before.  As we were there half an hour early and there was no one in sight, we went to the lawn opposite to Kalmar to lounge a bit until it’s closer to the serving time.  But apparently every Nation has two entrances to their brunch, when it’s finally time and we decided to get in without waiting any longer, we found that there was already a line in front of the counter.  But god bless Kalmar that they had enough food for us, or else I wouldn’t imagine what I could have possibly done.

Compare to our last Brunch at Lunds, the prices we paid in Kalmar and Lunds were the same.  But Nikki thought the food at Kalmar was better however, she appreciates that one can help themselves at Lunds instead of needing to ask for a tiny portion of food at the counter every time you want to fill up your plate at Kalmar.  I definitely appreciated Kalmar much more when I rediscovered my long lost favourite dessert since forever – Lemon Tart – was served!

Almost immediately after I left Kalmar, I had to head straight to ÖG for tea with VJ, Tess and Yat.  I was carrying my full stomach to them so I didn’t really had much at their cafe.  But I couldn’t resist and ordered a serve of wedges at last… and what was I thinking when I ordered Earl Grey when it was practically 30 degrees outside?!

Song of the Week #1

Keep Me Warm – Ida Maria

Pour myself a cup of coffee full of sober nights,
Cos nicotine and coffee are my friends in this fight

And you, you keep me warm
You, you keep me warm
All your cigarettes and cup of coffee
It keeps me warm

Believe me I can play games cos I know all the rules,
Believe me I can pretend cos I’ve studied the masks

But I don’t wanna play any theatre for you,
I don’t wanna stage a single piece for you

Oh, you, you keep me warm
You, you keep me warm
All your cigarettes and cup of coffee
It keeps me warm

No, I don’t wanna stage any theatre for you,
I don’t wanna play a single piece for you

Just Watched: Made of Hono(u)r

Sorry, I just can’t help it – honour looks weird without a ‘u’.

Okay, so I watched Made of Honour because Patrick Dempsey is in it. But I think I am growing out of the whole chick flick phase, possibly because of the overdose of Grey’s Anatomy. The whole thing is just too fairy tale and I am not buying this kind of story anymore – best friends falling in love with each other without knowing it and the guy has to go all the way to another foreign country to stop his best friend from marrying the wrong guy. And it has totally become an overkill when Patrick’s character has to get on the horseback to get to the chapel to interrupt the wedding ceremony.

Acting-wise, I of course enjoying having Dempsey on the screen. And Monaghan and him do have good chemistry. I am certainly not complaining watching the two enjoying each others’ company in two of my favourite places in the world. But I think I am more impressed by the acting of Kathleen Quinlan who is the mother of Monaghan’s character. And lastly, seeing Dempsey in mini-kilt and with briefs underneath it was too much and unnatural. That said, I however would not have a problem if the deleted full Monty scene was shown if it is handled naturally.

I don’t know what’s got into me, maybe watching Enchanted, ironically, made me realise there is no fairy tale in the real world. And for the record, although I find the movie very endearing and absolutely adorable, I don’t see why people like it so much that they are even talking about the possibility of making a sequel! It’s just another overly-merry Disney movie that is loaded with love songs with overly-optimistic lyrics.

Anyway, I should stop poisoning the world with my crazy bitter rant. Made of Honour is a good movie, go watch it if you have never been to Scotland or you like Patrick Dempsey or Michelle Monaghan, or you are still in the chick flick phase.

Seriously, what’s with all the bitterness and sarcasm? My apologies if I have ruined it for you. I definitely have watched way too much Grey’s.

There is no enough

“When you waited two months to tell me and I had to find out by her showing up all leggy and fabulous, and telling me herself. You pulled the plug. I’m a sink with an open drain. Anything you say runs right out. There is no enough.”

– Meredith Grey, Enough is Enough (No more tears), Grey’s Anatomy

Eftermiddag på strandbaden i Falsterbo

The studio isn’t over until we have completed our GIS exercise and modification for the exhibition next week but we decided we have to recover the lost time with the sun and the outdoors. Especially when we were all marvelling how beautiful the natural landscape is but all we had done the past two weeks was just sitting in front of the computer and the closest that we had been to the nature is that patch of lawn in front of A-huset.

After ditching Naturbussen for bed yesterday, I met up Chiara, Yat, Kasia, Jenny and Pascal at Lund Central to take the train to Malmö to take the bus to Falsterbo. Falsterbo is almost the southest point of Skåne and is 50 minutes away from Malmö. It wasn’t exactly beach weather, but at least it was better than the day before. Imagine it’s just like Valborg but without booze and that we were on the beach instead of Stadsparken. We had fun just by lounging all day, lying on the sand, slowing becoming tanned by the sun that momentarily hides behind the clouds.

Later, Chiara, Yat, Kasia and I decided to take a walk on the endless beach. Well, it is not Gold Coast-endless, but it is pretty magnificent if you consider this is Scandinavia. We got to a golf course where Yat and I had a really late yet pleasant lunch out on the porch of the club house – I only realised it was after four when I looked at the clock on the building! Good times do indeed past faster.

We had a couple attempts at taking jumping pictures – I swear it wasn’t my idea – and the results were all pretty amazing. Then we all headed home and I headed to Thierry’s place for Eriks Dag celebration a.k.a. His pre-birthday celebration…

For more pictures of our little veg out on the Scandinavian beach, please visit here.

Wishful Thinking

Why does blood turn brown when it dries
Why do the tears well up in your eyes
Why didnt I learn to ride my bike
When it was warm and sunny outside

Why cant little kids tie their shoes
Why cant the white people play the blues
Why cant I fall in love with you
It must be because of the seasons

When the leaves start falling from the trees
When the birds start flirting with the bees
When the wind starts blowing from the East to the West
Maybe youll be the one that I like best

Clouds start forming I cant complain
Cause I think we might be in need of some rain
When it starts pouring
Dont hide away without me

I bought an umbrella big enough for two
But it feels pretty empty under here without you
Dry as a bone but Im still alone
Im so gray

When youre standing in a puddle with wet feet
And your head is sore from pounding drops of sleet
When the cold and lonely hours put your heart to the test
Maybe Ill be the one that you like best

If the sky can open its eyes
And cry from up above
Lets shed some tears of joy
And fall in love

– The Ditty Bops

Relationship

Modern Love: The College Essay Contest – New York Times

“… it’s not a question of faithfulness but of expectation.”

- Steven, in Want to Be My Boyfriend? Please Define, written by Marguerite Fields

A car is like your mother-in-law

Interview – January/February 2006 – Sierra Magazine – Sierra Club:

“I’m not against cars. But your city doesn’t have to be oriented toward them. A car is like your mother-in-law. You want to have a good relationship with her, but you can’t let her conduct your life. When a city has good public transportation, it becomes for people and for cars. Imagine a city with 30 percent fewer cars on the streets.”

– Jaime Lerner, former Mayor of Curitaba, Brazil

(Via Planning quote of the day: a car is like your mother-in-law.)

The 22nd celebration

I blame the gloomy thoughts on the gloomy weather on the first of May which, in case you did not know, was raining cats and dogs. Anyway, on the very first birthday that I spent out of the Asia-Pacific region, I finally decided to have a barbie at Delphi instead of having an over-indulgence of champagne and strawberries at Västra Hamnen in Malmö as originally planned. (Sorry Yat, I know you were really looking forward to that. But I guess the current arrangement will make everyone’s wallet a little bit happier.) Initially I was quite worried about the weather because the forecast said there will be 20% chance for precipitation when I checked it yesterday. But the sky started to clear up and sun started to show a little bit more since four. So there, I had a 22 year record of good weather on my birthday! (As far as I can remember, and, only at where I was located.)

Other than my very close friends in Lund, I also had the pleasure to meet many new friends and also reacquainted with some people whom I have met at parties sometimes ago. I am sorry that I might not be able to give you the full attention that I would have loved to but parties like that just get quite chaotic at the end, especially when a bunch of people in their twenties decided they want to play hide-and-seek.

Anyway, here are a few special moments that I would really love to share with you all:
Continue reading…

I’m 22

The title sounds strange – I’m 22 – it sounds strange, doesn’t it? Although I am not that kind of person who whines about getting older, I seem not to be able to get over the fact that my 21 years old is already over.

I have done a lot in the last year but there is also a lot of things that I still haven’t done. And a lot of me has also changed. I remember Chel once asked me when I was barely 20 that, “Would you have any regrets if you were to be dead?” and I answered that I would have no regrets if I were to be dead because I thought I have had a fair share of chance for the time I have lived and life shouldn’t be measured by the amount of things I have done but rather, the life you have lived. However, I am starting to reconsider that. I still haven’t experienced enough that I am willing to settle into the graveyard.

Besides, many people think that 21st is a big deal however, in my opinion, the years behind your 21st are way more hardcore. Being 21 is like you have just secured your driver’s license – you don’t have a full license yet and you still have to hang your P signs at your windscreens to let people that you are still a fresher on the road. People often cut you some slacks when you make some minor mistakes as they mostly will think, ‘Ok, she’s still new.’ But being 22 is like being offered a full license one year too early – you are forced to put away your P signs even though you still haven’t had enough practice and are psychologically unprepared for it. And the second you make any mistakes, your arse will get kicked right away.

Anyway, enough of these gloomy thoughts. I really am not prepared for having a gloomy birthday. Seriously, I can’t remember I have ever had a bad-weathered birthday. (Maybe I have had it before, but my brain just don’t hold any bad things like that.) And it certainly is not going to happen this year, because I am holding a barbie in Delphi at 18.00 – a worldwide invitation has already been circulated throughout the cyber world. If you still haven’t received any invitation today, just bring your food and booze and drop by.

And lastly a big warm thank you to everyone who have already said happy birthday to me. It certainly felt very special to receive birthday messages from people in Australia and Hong Kong when it’s still 1st May in Sweden however, My lovely mom got the gold medal because she’s the only one in the whole wide world who will ever remember my Lunar birthday and my Lunar birthday of this year just happened to be on 29th April so she was the very first one who said happy birthday to me this year.

Oh right, in light of my birthday, I also changed the blog’s theme from Grady to Theseus. Hope you guys will appreciated this more Swedish and brighter theme :)