Singapore

So yea, I went to Singapore as well after I finished my stay in Malaysia. That was like a continuation of my extreme shopping in Malaysia.. I stayed with Felicia, my friend from the first trimester here in NZ. One night was also spent with my friend Regina, who was here on the same program as Feli. Singapore was totally awesome. I didn't know much about any Asian countries before I left, so I wasn't sure what to expect. What I had in store was some really hardcore sightseeing and shopping. ^_^

We went to some clubs the night i arrived, and I must say, clubs in Singapore are much more elaborate than clubs here. They go all the way, offering the full clubbing experience. I was a bit too tired from my bussing all day, so it was a short night. I went to the Changi Chapel and Museum, which was the thing that I requested was put on the itinerary before I came. It was good and interesting. I know now that we were lucky to be occupied by Germans during WW2 and not by Japanese...

Then we went to see Regina dance. It was sooo good!!!! I loved it! There was 9 pieces, she danced in 4 of them. I felt like a regular pirate, stealing shots of her and the dances when she was performing. I got some good shots of the bollywood dance, and I filmed the last piece. Hmmm this is a public blog... maybe I shouldn't admit it openly. Anyway, it was good as.
I went to Sentosa Island with Regina, in spite of the fact that she had a really sore throat and could not talk much. Poor thing. I enjoyed Sentosa, but it was a tad too touristy for me. Not in that sence, I know that a lot of places in town are touristy, but it's not made entirely for tourists. Like Chinatown, which is a huge tourist magnet, I loved it there. BUT: My subject is tourism, and for that I like to see all sides of a place. ^_^ Chinatown was good for shopping. And eating!

there was so much that I did that It's hard to remember all the things that I did there...

UPS:

Going to the Geylang district with Feli and her dad, and eating a fresh Durian. It was actually really good. At the same time I felt that I got to see the private and hidden part of Singapore, the place where Singaporeans go and tourists stay away from. Feli said that the district would be destroyed by hordes of tourists. She is absolutely right.

Regi's dance. And meeting the families. I went to stay with Regi's family for a day, and it was nice. She lives in an apartment just oposite IKEA.. It was a nice place with a shared swimming pool and the lot. :)

Shopping like mad.. getting a new handphone that I like more and more each day.. :D I guess Feli had to rest up after taking me shopping all the places.. Bugis village, Chinatown, the IT mall, Little India, several shopping centres..

DOWNS:

Feli's mum got sick when I came back from Malaysia, and I did not get to talk to her very much. I also felt really sorry for her, and there was nothing that I could do, or nothing that I knew of that I could do to make her feel better. Feli sais that she felt bad because she did not get to take me out to dinner. I don't really think that she should feel bad when it is something that is completely uncontrollable. Thank goodness that she is all fine again now.

Missing out on seeing a Chinese temple. They are so beautiful, from the pictures that I've seen and I drove past quite a few of them.

Realising just exactly how much money I spent.. *LOL* The good thing was that I had allocated enough funds for it.

The good thing about most of the downs is that I can make up for them next year. :)

that's all I can come up with.

Malaysia

Malaysia was the start of my wild shopping spree, and it was good to catch up with Jo again! I arrived in KL after a day with lot's of melting and freezing.. I arrived in Singapore at abt 6:30 am and was picked up by Feli and her mum. Spent half a day with Feli and then took the bus to Malaysia. Jo lives in one of the suburbs, about 30 minutes from KL, depending on the traffic. Malaysia was a huuuge difference from home. I felt the cultureshock when I arrived there, I'm soo not used to be a minority, but whenever we had lunch or dinner in her town, I was. Strange feeling, but also a good feeling in a way. We spent loads of time eating and shopping, her parents are the sweetest parents on earth, as they took us wherever we wanted to go, basically. We all went to Melaka, which was one of the more touristy cities there. I liked it a lot. We went to the old portugese fort, we went ard town shopping for a while and then Jo's parents took us to a Baba-house. That is a restaurant that cooks food that has it's roots in both Malay and Chinese cooking. It was sooo nice! Best food ever. We went to the night-market where I bought loads of stuff, and returned home late as. :)

Jo took me to Batu Caves, which is one of the Hindu sacret places in M'sia. It was coool. (But not cold at all! We completely melted!!) There was a Huuge gold statue there at the entrance of the cave, and the steps were steep as. About 280 steps, so dixon street times 2. After going into the caves we went ard the stalls, bought bindi and some other stuff. Then we headed to KLCC for some shopping (of course). ^_^ I got to see a lion dance one of the days, which was cool cause I've never seen one before. They were good, and now that I've seen one, I'm supposed to have good luck for the rest of the year. Whee!

I had durian for the first time in my life, and thought it wasn't as bad as the rumours that I've heard. The smell isn't that intense, and it tasted ok. And I didn't feel that my fingers smelled either after I had washed them, but definitely, my breath did smell like durian! hehe. Other than that Jo's parents took us to a wide variety of local restaurants, and I have tried so many things that I really can't remember the name of... food is probably very important to the Malaysian society. :)

3 things that freaked me out:

- Traffic!! I've never experienced it worse. everyone drives like maniacs, and we saw some motorcyclist get squashed between two cars on the motorway, just in front of our eyes when we were trying to get a cab. YIKES. Memorable was also Jo's mum's highspeed carchase after a guy hit her side-mirror on the road to a shop.

-Squat-down-toilets! Ok, really it's silly. It's just that I'm not used to them, have never seen any in my whole life, but they were a fright when I really had to go.

-Spiders! We saw some nastily big ones at the butterfly park. Man...


3 things that I L-O-V-E loved:

-Shopping! Never before have I ever been in such a heaven for shopping. Shoes! My favourite thing to shop were really cheap there, I bought 3 pairs. Shawls. Yum.

-Seeing and interacting with a culture completely different from what I'm used to. Awesome. The many different costumes, the many different kinds of ppl, the strange rules and all that.

-FOOD. All the yummy food that I tried. My gosh.

Malaysia was definitely one of the best holidays I've ever had in my entire life, that inspite of the fact that my stomach was kinda upset some of the time. It didn't hinder me too much though, have seen a lot, and spent heeps too much money. Ah well. It was worth it.

Singapore I'll do tomorrow, I have to do my readings!!

Amsterdam

When I was travelling to Malaysia and Singapore, my airplane was delayed out from Oslo because of snow on the runway, and as a result of that I had to stay a whole day in Amsterdam! At first I felt like it was the end of the world, but after a while I realised that it wasn't all bad. I wanted to stay in Amsterdam for a day on my way back next summer, but the ticket I bought wouldn't allow a stay that exeeded 24 hours. So, having this in mind, I spent the day in Amsterdam, walking around and taking some photos. What really struck me was that it seemed that everything that isn't allowed at home was allowed in Holland. Prostitution, magic mushrooms, cannabis.. even death aid is legal there. I expected the red light district to actually be a district, but it wasn't. everywhere there was red lights and prostitutes posing, which to me was a new and very strange sight. well, at least I got somehting out of my delay. Now I don't have to do the hardcore sightseeing when I return there in December, I can go to the places that I didn't have the time to go to when I was there now. All in all, I liked Amsterdams. The canals were beautiful, so was the architecture. And so many bikes!!!! If u click on the picture u can see them all in more detail.

MALAYSIA, SINGAPORE and NZ, Here I come!

Soundtrack: Fat Freddy's Drop - cay's crays/this room

I've got today to pack, and then tomorrow I'm off!

WUUHU!!

I honestly cannot remember what I went online to do. I've been reading my dear friends' blogs, soon I will see them all again, and it makes me so happy that I get a stomach ache. Hehe.

Luckily, my toothache went away again, but I think it was a VERY clear sign, I should go to a dentist. Somehow I'll muster up enough courage to get through it. My x's mum is a... hmm.. homeopath? Anyway, a kindof doctor, but they use herbal remedies instead of drugs and stuff. She told me to take Bach's flower remedy, something called rescue remedy, and said that it will help with the anxiety. I hope it will. :) I'm happy that we have kept in touch, all though her son is a jerk. ^_^

Everyone: check out Fat Freddy's drop. They are amazing. :)

Neways, won't be blogging for some time now. I'll catch up with u all on the other side of the planet! Lotta love.

more rants

...at least I'm not saying that I'm satisfied by feeling that way towards Muslims. The more of them I meet, the better I understand them. Tom has made me undestand a whole lot more, he is one of the kindest persons that I know. And I'll continue to change my view of things along the way, I just need time and opportunity.

I don't want Norway to turn into an arrogant nation who don't care about the values and views of others, but I do agree with our prime minister. He sais that as long as the government is the most important protector of the freedom of speech, it would be completely wrong for the government to issue an official apology for what has happened. It does NOT mean that we agree with the view of those that printed the drawings!

I must say, that it hurts me more to see my flag burned, I haven't done anything. What the militant groups in Gaza and other Middle-eastern countries are doing now, is exactly the same as was done when those drawings were published.. They make all Danish and Norwegian people angry at all Muslims by burning our flags, when really it is only the millitant groups that are behind the burning...

And I'm upset with the editor of the Christian newspaper here in Norway who printed those drawings, because when asked, he said that he would never print such drawings of Jesus. That means that he thinks he is better than others. I mean that we have to show respect to earn respect.

I dunno why this matter has upset me so much...

I guess the moment that we see ourselves as perfect is the moment that we've gone astray.

old pictures

My mum presented me with these pictures today, asked me if I would like to hang on to them. DOH! They are so great! I can't believe how little I once was... They are taken when I was about 8 months old, and I was still wearing that pillow thing around my waist and hips, cause I was born ass-first into this world. I sure know how to make an entry...

My dad took these pictures, and developed them himself in a darkroom at the school where he worked. And now, almost 25 years later, they look as though they are maybe 100 years old.

Being 25 is a kinda confusing age. one day I got a direct mail ad for wrinkle reducing cream! My mum laughed her ass off, and said that she thougth it was intended for her. BUT, it had MY name on it! And the next day, when I was getting on the bus, the driver asked me if I was a full fare or half fare. So, he actually couldn't tell whether I was over 16 or not... From one extreme to the next.
I dunno if I'm yawning or burping at this picture.. hard to tell. :)

It feels nice to be loved by ones parents. :)

sad

So many things have been going on now lately... now that finally the strike in my airline is dying down, another thing has popped up. Some ppl in a newspaper in Denmark and Norway published some charicature pictures of the prophet Mohamad, as a part of a discussion about freedom of speach. Apparently it has upset the whole Muslim "terror network", who now have threatened to kill Norwegians and do suicide bombings of Norwegian targets abroad. Even here in Norway, the publisher of the newspaper has received about 20 murder threats! It's insane... And it doesn't improve my view of Muslims. I see them as barbaric, without control of their feelings, and kinda stupid ppl who act with violence because they don't know how to engage in normal interhuman activities. I know that this view is VERY wrong, but I just can't help but feel this way sometimes. They kill innocent people in the name of their God... They abuse women in the name of their God... And all the while we're supposed to excuse them because they don't have the same opportunities as the western civilisation? I'm not just talking about the Christian newspaper who printed those drawings, that was a really stupid thing to do. They should have realised that the Muslim world is not ready for such a thing, and that Muslims would react the way that they did. Apart from this business, there are a million other examples of how Muslims use violence to support their agendas. I dunno... what has become of the world?

My stepdad is a Muslim. He is very dear to me, and he would never do something crazy like using violence as a way of achieving something. He is a good man. I know a lot of Muslims who are good people, most of them are living in the western world. I think it is time for "the rich world" to start sharing wealth. That would probably make a lot of problems go away.

Still, it feels sooo strange to be hated with a passion. It feels strange to see the Norwegian flag burned, and see people shouting: Die Norwegians! And to think that our countrymen will perhaps be killed abroad because of this thing...

I'm bored now. I almost have no work this week, and as it is the last week before I go I'm restless and dreaming about travelling.. The strike is fading out, most airplanes are in the air now and I shouldn't worry too much about getting to Amsterdam, which is good as. :) Less stress... Funny how easily I get stressed.

Oh Jo, if you are online, could you email me your phone nr? And when will you be back in KL?
To all my Chinese friends: Happy new year! hope the dog will treat you all well. Celebrate hard.

breathe in.. breathe out

Soundtrack: Briskeby - Joe Dallesandro

I dunno.. The strike in SAS is getting to me. I thought it would only last for one or two days, but now it has been five days and they are still not any nearer a solution... I'm not flying with them next time, they have officially lost me as their customer. I'm flying Norwegian from now on, no more SAS, they simply cannot be trusted. They put airplanes in the air that haven't had their safety checks, if there are few customers they cancel the flight, and now the pilots are striking... Norwegian is really benefiting from all the chaos though, most people are saying that they want SAS to be sold off by the state. I kinda agree....

Apart from that, I got one shorts today, and it doesn't look totally awful. It's not great either, but it is definitely better than the ones that I tried on the other day! :D

So now I'm on my way to work. I'm going to work the entire day tomorrow! From 7am to 8pm! I'm gonna be whasted, but since it is one of my last days at work I don't mind too much, I'll have until next friday to rest, that should be enough. :) MOOLAH!!!

shorts...

Today has been a kinda down day... I have been trying on shorts, and realize that I look absolutely horrible in them. My legs are ugly as, and white as, and I really don't want to show them. Which is kinda bad, when thinking of that I actually will die if I don't wear shorts when I go to Sing and M'sia... *sigh* It's too late to get a tan before going, and I also cannot loose 30kgs before going, so I am doomed to look like shit. Girls: get some really good sunglasses before I arrive, cuz I promise that looking at me will be like looking straight at a white as billboard in the sunlight.

I'm annoyed by Stafford who have ignored my email. No info on our roommate.
There will be better days ahead though! Today is just a bit down. Das ist alles.

Meeting my dad to go for dinner today, it'll be good. :)

storms!

Fuck I hate blogger.
I just wrote a LONG AS post, and now it's all gone. And I have no time to write it again, cuz my time is up. :'( Anyway, here are the pictures that I posted, they are all that I have time to upload now. *sigh* It's storming like crazy outside, and I have to be at work in one hour. For some reason, I didn't quite think of the possibility of storms when I signed up for this job, but so far it has not been that bad. Ppl up north are adviced to keep inside because of the strong winds, here where I live it's not that bad. But it's a bit hard to balance trays of food when I have to focus on keeping my own balance as well...

Doing fine with German, now I'm doing verbs, which is not that fantastically fun, but at least I'm good at it. Hopefully some day my German will be equally good as my English...


Ok, I really have to dash off now... Stupid blogger!

Bergen

I went to Bergen with my mom yesterday and did some shopping. :) It was good, got stuff that I needed for my trip, and some cool new music. Wuhu!
Well, not a lot going on lately, still working and making the days pass with German language. Got my offer of study, so at least things are going as they should. :)

Zz

Soundtrack: Youth pictures of Florence Henderson - Yet we continue

Seems everyone are updating their blogs now... I can't bring myself to do that. Too much work, and I still like the looks of it, so then stuff it. Nice bloggie. :)

My second day off, and then tomorrow I'm embarking on another 4 days of work. It's a bit on and off, on average I've got about 27 hours a week, still I wish it was more.. I've got to stop spending money now and save them for my holiday instead! I got the best shoes ever, they're Ecco shoes and I got them real cheap, like $120! So I couldn't resist... but that will be the only pair of shoes bought here now. (hopefully... there is another sale starting tomorrow, and I'm a sucker for ecco shoes..)

Now here is a few thank-yous:

Thanx heaps for the Xmas card Loic! It was cute as. I hereby promise that if u take me to a French restaurant in Welli, I will eat snails. All though the thought of it makes me wanna gag...

Thanx for the lovely card from Thailand, Trong, Jo, Feli and Regi! I really liked the card, so good choice. :) Can't wait to get down to see you guys! and cool as that I get to see the body piercing thing! It is what I think it is isn't it? lotsa ppl that put sticks and stuff through their skin to prove their love for a god or something? Man, it'll be the best holiday of my life.

Thanx for the Narnia card Trav! but, I thought u had 4 names? I must have got it all wrong then.. Ah well.

Wanna travel now..

Well, I thought I'd show some more pics from my surroundings.. The boat in the picture is the place where I work now, and the fiord in the background is the one that I cross about 16 times every day. Well, working in a kitchen is pretty all right though, I like it a whole lot more than cleaning floors. :) Gonna miss the ppl there when I go, they are really nice. but then I have a lot of nice ppl in Welli that I miss now, so the trade will be fair, I guess. :D

Then this picture is the picture of an old farmhouse close to our house. You know how kids always make up ghost stories and find houses that are supposedly haunted.. Well this was our haunted house. It was said that there was a kid that got stuck in the mud under the house, and then he drowned cause the mud sucked him in. And it really was muddy inside the house, so it was perfect. Actually, this house still gives me the creeps. I now wonder what the farmer thinks about it, you can't see it but his house is just behind this house. I guess it's used for storage of hay and stuff... hm.

Days are ticking by slowly. I'm working quite a lot now, and that's sweet as. I don't mind. The weather is finally becoming milder, which sucks, cause I really wanted the water to freeze properly. There has been ice on it, but not strong enough to walk on. Or rather, strong enough to walk on, but not to trust. Oh well, I haven't been able to find my iceskates anyway. ^_^ I did find my rollerblades though. I'm having an internal battle with myself whether I should bring them or not. Mostly my mind is not here at home anymore. Tried to get some info from Stafford house about our mystery roommate, but they had only just started allocating flats... I'll try them again in one week. Too curious to wait.

Loooong time no see

This is gonna be a hard post to write. there is this guy sitting next to me and he is chewing gum with a passion to make as much noise as possible, and it's driving me nuts. If I only told him to shut his mouth, I wouldn't have to listen to all that noise, but then he would think that I'm only picking on him because he's black. And anyhow, I wouldn't tell anyone else to shut their mouths even though they were white, I guess I REALLY don't like confrontations... So instead I vent my fustration on you guys. It's a complicated world...

I've had a good Xmas with lots of snow and an average of -10 degrees. It was absolutely perfect. :) We travelled to Trondheim at the 21st, and reached our destination hours later than planned because of the conditions at the airport in Oslo. Crap airport, they close a lot because of bad weather... My Grandmother was really happy to see us, and I wish in a way that I was able to spend more time with her during the year. I'm gonna be a good grandchild now and write letters and send her pictures and stuff, I know how much she appreciates that, so from now on: Dicipline! (Or whatever it's called.)
Got lots of nice presents, and mostly didn't get anything I didn't need. Sweet as. :) I'm now in the process of planning my return to lovely Welli, and I will be back there at the 20th of Feb. Whee! after a super duper trip to Singapore and Malaysia. I can't wait! But I know I have to.

I have to get serious about my studying though, I've been lazy as all holiday. So today It's back to studying and no more lazing about! I'm only making it worse on myself by not studying German, so I want to finish the book before I go back in one month.
Ah well, I have to run now before my brain overheats and explodes because of all the chewing being done next to me. Catch ya later!

All the Xmas stuff

Soundtrack: Trinityroots - All we be

I've done most of the Xmas shopping now, feels pretty good to be done with all the gifts for all my people, and now it's all about the cards. I've sent out quite a few already, but not the "special ones". I have to go somewhere in Norway to send them, and I really hope that I can manage it now that I've been talking so much about it... Hehe. Would be a bit embarassing if not...
I don't think I've ever spent this much money on sending cards.. I'm up to about 40 dollars now, just for cards and stamps. whoa. I guess that is the price you pay for having good friends all over the world - in that sence it is a price that I am more than willing to pay! :)

Ah well, guess I have to run. More updates soon!
Should try to post some pictures...

blablabla

Soundtrack: Leftfield - Swords

I had a good day at work today, just been walking around daydreaming to myself and ignoring the old grumpy men that I make food for. Today's shift of people was extraordinarily grumpy, usually they are very nice, but these men must be of the kind that feed off other people's energy. Anyway, I didn't care much about them. Meeting Odny yesterday was great, finally I have someone of my crew here at home.

I watched the Nobel Peace Price Concert on Sunday, this years winner is the IAEA and their General Manager Mohamad ElBaradei. Well earned. All honour to them, and may they always be here to protect us. ElBaradai was really moved when he entered the stage at the end of the concert, and he said: "As long as I am alive, I will never fail you." What a wonderful man. :)

Quite a large fright

Soundtrack: buena vista social club - el cuarto de tula

Geeta told me that her friend that studies BTM last year said that HGL was leaving for Germany. WELL, Geeta, thank goodness your friend was wrong! He is only on a research leave. ^_^

Still working, cannot wait to meet my friend Odny today! Finally!

Now 25

Well, my birthday wasn't much. I worked till 4, and then was completely exhausted. Went home, ate cake, and went out to eat dinner with my dad. And that was it, really. Got nice presents, from Trav I got Emily Dickinson's complete works, from Feli a cute ass little mirror, from mom and Rex I got a diamond ring (yikes!) and from my dad I got an A-plan! wuhu! no more wallets for me, I'll now appear super organised wherever I go! ^_^
My brother forgot all about me, or couldn't be bothered to call. So much for family love.

Not being able to post pictures on my blog is annoying me. To be able to I have to go through a long series of different things, I have to get it on my thumbdrive, then put it on my other computer to get it on a floppy, then go to the employment office to use a crappy computer to write the post, and then go to the library to put the pictures on. Bah. So that is why my blog is boring.
And Tarz, thank you for waking me up yesterday at 9am so I wasn't late for my bus, I forgot to put my alarm on, but woke up when I dreamt that u were waking me up. Weirdest thing ever! Must be some Maori magic or something..
Feli, Jo and Regi: soon I will have planned when I'll be arriving and all! Wuhu!!!
Greg: u better read my blog from now on!

I've done all my xmas shopping, and can now relax until we go to Trondheim for the holidays. They have snow! Wuhu, white xmas, here I come. Here it is as usual. When it snows, it only stays for 1-2 days and then it's gone again.. grr. But anyway, I'm planning to send cards to those of you that I think would enjoy it, from a very special place. hihi, not saying more now.

Love to all.

I still need addresses!

Soundtrack: Goldfrapp - Strict machine

And that goes for ALL of you, cause I left my address book in NZ. No address, no xmascard. That simple!

Not much news, still working and nothing much happening. Looking forward to eating cake tomorrow.

Trav! I opened the present, a million thank u for the book! I was stunned. :D
Feli, tanks for the lovely mirror! It was so cute!
Hugs to you both.
I opened them today cause I won't be home till late tomorrow. :) Any excuse is good enough. I'm surprised that I got any gifts in time, having such a bad rep myself, hehe.