千八百七十二： In Halmstad

Halmstad is a little town in sweden - about 4hours by train from Copahagen.

When i reached there on Monday evening it was snowing super heavily, the kind where you can't raise your head because the snow will hit your eyes.

dark & snowy..

the day after the storm

We went to the central area of Halmstad the next day, and saw a famous Picasso sculpture & I realised that the shadows were very very long even though it was only about 3.30pm.

super super long shadows on the snow

there was a liquor supermart there & there were some weird flavours on sale -

Wasabi + Lemon - anyone want to try this?

And I kinda had to take a 2nd look when I saw this:

nudelbar, did u think it was a nude bar? means noodle bar in swedish :D

We had a mini gathering with M & J's korean friends & got to know a bunch of very cute korean little girls (they are all about 21-23 years old).

Helsingborg/helsingor are the border towns linking Denmark & Sweden. They are actually separated by ferry, & I managed to catch the sunset on the Ferry yesterday.

scandinavian sunset

Had a good trip so far except for frozen feet daily.. yesterday was -16 degrees, crazy weather & i'm kind of happy I survived that temperature :) the only good thing about frozen toes is that they are numb & you don't feel the blisters that form on the side of the feet from walking too much in enclosed shoes. BUT definitely it means my shoes are not warm enough & I should get a pair of uggs for any northern winter trips in future. Stuff in sweden is so expensive its crazy - the GST / VAT is 25%. Luckily I'm staying with friends & can cook my meals / share what they cook. Am glad that i'm staying with friends because i would never be experiencing small town life / local life if I'm only touring with Ryo & got to know alot of new people as well. Seeing these kids party & have fun despite the bitter cold & walking everywhere in the cold kinda motivates me to nv ever complain about the weather in JP/London again. however, again, i guess I also learnt that i'm a city person & small town life w/o modernities / shops is not really a life for me. Oh .. & i didnt noe H&M originated from Sweden. & there are no starbucks here!!! i'm shocked about that.

Leaving tomorrow afternoon, happy to be heading back to the city after some recharging out in a small town. :)

千八百七十一： Unfortunately

things haven't been going too well.

Photos:
London:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexxis/sets/72157623214084718/

Paris:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexxis/sets/72157623119507219/

kinda wish i was home right now.

千八百七十： London

In London now!

Staying at my sister's place, today I went to St Paul's Cathedral & Westminster Abbey after working in the morning. Saw the London Eye & Big Ben as well. :)

It was snowing this morning, but stopped snowing when I went out & then started snowing in the evening when I reached Westminster. I thought I saw a snowflake & it's full six sided shape. A cute stranger hugged me on the street after failing to get me to donate to some Every Child cause (I said I was a tourist). A school girl asked me how to get to Mile's End & being a noob to the tube, I whipped out my tube map & helped her out. :) Heard the bells chime in Westminster Abbey & the Big Ben also chimed at 5.45pm. I ate a doughnut + a chocolate chip cookie for lunch - total cost being 1.03pounds. hehe, being very thrifty. Ate Thai food for dinner yesterday & Malaysian/Singaporean food for dinner today. hahaha.. it's what my sister wanted to eat, I won't complain.

Big Ben chiming at 5.45pm

The London Eye

sleepy already, I think i'm having jet lag.. good night! i think tomorrow I'll head to the Palace area for a look at the guards.

千八百六十九： sick

hit by the flu virus i think because -
Ryo's dad was sick during NY & we visited his place
& Ryo also has the sore throat caught from his subordinate who's having the flu.

I think I overate potato chips, oranges & chilli (my mom's) last week while not drinking much water as well... :(

headache & sore throat now, feeling quite yucky, and fever i think.. and i got to go out to the laundry shop + supermarket later :( it's so cold nowadays i can't bear to step out of the house..

千八百六十八： Pre-Travel Shopping List

Gotta shop this weekend for necessities for the London trip!

Must buy -

• Gloves
• Earmuffs
• some heattech undershirts + leggings
• somemore socks
• some お土産 for friends I'll visit?
• Iphone cases for my sis

got my England & Paris guidebooks, how exciting!! my first trip to Europe! :D

千八百六十七： First working day 2010

it seems like everyone is sick... I didn't feel too well this morning myself.. maybe it's back to work blues :(

some pictures representative of new year in Japan for me i guess:

my first おみくじ of 2010 : 凶！！

our おせち （new year meal).

my new year shopping :)

went to the gym after work today, tried to run more than 5km in my new shoes, managed a 6.82km. I think the long gap between the last time I went running had to do with the lack of stamina.

Hope i feel less tired tomorrow.

千八百六十六： 6.5

Just realised that my blog has been around for 6.5 years.

千八百六十五： New Year Resolutions

1. Run alot more. Working out at home do not help me get rid of fats on my thighs.
2. Find more time to myself & work less. Need to get a better work life balance, esp when working at home you lose track of time & just work work work until no night no day. I want to start doing more craft stuff, learn to bake / cook better food, and trying very hard to keep in touch with friends in SG.
*edit* resolution to knit/crochet a red & white checked muffler for myself this year at least. saw the girl in Nodame Catabile drama wear one and it looked so cute.
3. In accordance to Keeping in Touch with friends in SG, i guess I overdid it for some people, so I'll try to keep less in touch with these people who feedbacked.
4. Keep in touch with Family more.
5. Save up money for D5000. Last i saw, it was 80000yen. Hopefully some waiting will drop it's price.
6. Clean up the house regularly instead of doing it during the yearly spring cleaning.

千八百六十四： Happy New Year

Immediately after Manami went back, YY came over from SG so took her & her family around osaka's main shopping area. walk until leg aching, was fun though to meet up with YY & catch up.

Tues & Wednesday & today was spent doing spring cleaning, clearing finally all the cardboard boxes from the time i moved in from the house. phew. what a relief to get rid of the boxes.

wanted to get a few more boxes today but didn't see anything nice at Ikea/Nitori so gave up. Wanted to get a coffee table on sale but the store was closed also, being NY eve. in the end, went directly to Ryo's parents' place for dinner & 年越しそば, then just nua-ed around playing DS & then heading to 西宮神社 to have our 2010 初詣 at midnight. The trains are running through the night tonight, to cater to the temple crowds. Prayed for a good 2010 for all my friends & family, hopefully 2010 will be less painful than 2009 was with so many changes. my おみくじ was a 凶 though, abit sad that my luck started off bad for the year :( luckily Ryo got a 大吉 to ward off my bad luck i guess.

Lunch at In laws' place tmr with maybe some 初売り shopping. Thinking if i should spend any money on 福袋、maybe will check out the shops at Hankyu Nishinomiya tomorrow. Some of the offers on the stores look quite good.

Happy New Year everyone :)