Willy in Sweden

On the X2000 train from Stockholm to Lund.
A day- trip in Stockholm is all I can say. Just walking, walking and more walking non-stop for 6 hours to see all the sights that a tourist should see. A pity that I couldn’t visit the attractions and know this city better.
Had a wonderful buffet for SEK79; cheap according to the Swedish standard. Seems like it’s the fishing season. Saw many anglers by the canal connecting the sea and the river. I was lucky enough to witness someone pulling up his catch from the icy waters.
Nothing much more to say. Perhaps I was walking too fast to allow my thoughts to crystallize.

I’m on the train from Boden to Stockholm now. It’s going to be another 12 hours before I reach. Remember the five HK friends I met? We visited the Ice Hotel together today. The Ice Hotel was totally cool and amazing. Surprisingly, though it was a freezing -10 degrees Celsius outside, I couldn’t feel it at all; I even took off my gloves. Inside the hotel, it’s -5 degrees Celsius and it felt really comfortable.

I met many many Asians today. Firstly, a group of five Hong Kong students – all from business school. It seems like all the Hong Kong people I have met are all from business school. Two Japanese law graduates who are having their graduation trip. They have been as unlucky as I am: they have failed to see the northern lights despite staying up for two nights. Well, perhaps they are more unlucky than me. And Dion, who is an Aussie. He is sleeping now. So I must keep this typing short to avoid disturbing him.
I went to the LKAB iron-ore mine today. Just like the Sami culture trip, I was the only non-Swedish person. This time, no English for me. I joined a Swedish-speaking tour as it’s the only one available today. But luckily, I was given an English guide booklet to read as the tour was being conducted.
The souvenirs were some iron-ore pellets and piece of iron-rich rock. Amazing stuff: magnets actually attract the very ordinary looking rocks.
I am going to stop here cause I am sleeping for two hours and waking up at 0000 and, hopefully, see the northern lights.

I just returned from the dog-sled trip to see the northern lights. And very unluckily, I didn’t get to see the glowing aurora. The group size was small: Stefan, Claudia and me. I didn’t expect dog-sledding to be such a hands-on experience. I was thinking that when I was ferried from my hostel to the starting point, a group of polar dogs would have been there waiting for us. But no no… The guide went around the kennel to pick dogs for the trip and we are actually involved in holding onto the dogs and tying them to the sled.

I was sitting at the front of the sled and the feeling was incredible. Have you seen small pieces of stone fly up when a car is moving very fast on a road with big debris? The same thing happened to the sled; and I experienced the small pellets of ice hitting my face. The bumpy snowy and icy cross-country track made the experience felt like a mini roller coaster ride. There would be occasional stops to let the dogs rest and their breaths were the only thing I could hear in the silence around me. The wind was super icy and I don’t have a scarf around my face. My lips and face felt like they are on the verge on cracking in the dry -15 degree Celsius air.

The check-point was a nice warm teepee where we had some cookies and coffee. It was very enjoyable hearing the guide, Stefan and Claudia talked about their travel experience in Finland. Oh yah, the guide was a Finnish and he was complaining how the Swedes stole the idea of the sauna.
At first, the dogs sounded very miserable; they were howling. But later I found out that they are very, very friendly and their howling and barking were voices of energy and enthusiasm. Well, if they have been very angry with human, they would have bit me when I hold them on the leash and pat them on their backs. The polar dogs who pulled the sled were dogs of character. They are very smart and obedient but they can have some temper too. For example, there was a particular dog, Igloo (her body was totally white), who always bark non-stop and disturb the other dogs. But when the guide shouted her name, she would look very guilty and stop barking (not for long though).
Molly was the lead dog of the sled. Her memory is very good and I was amazed at how she could suddenly make a turn at a corner and steer the whole sled towards another direction. She loves human touch too. I remember that I was giving her a hug at the end of the trip and when I was leaving, she let out a “doggy” sigh and look at me with those big beady eyes. Molly was hurt in a fight recently and she had to stay in an indoor cage. I heard she was not harmed physically but psychologically.
Though I didn’t see the northern lights, the whole interaction with the polar dogs made the trip worth. I love dogs!

The Sami tour was great. The reindeer farm, where the visit was, felt extremely cold due to the strong wind blowing. Nils-Anders, who is a Sami and owner of the farm, asked if I got enough clothes after seeing my legs shiver. He further explained that due to the cold weather, he has to wear 2 layers of long-johns, 1 pair of trousers and 1 layer of reindeer-hide outer pants. And here I was wearing only 1 layer of woolen long-john and 1 pair of jeans. The other visitors were Swedish but since I was there, Nils-Anders spoke in English sometimes. But I thought it was very kind of Lars (a fellow visitor) to translate for me most of the time when Anders was speaking in Swedish.
Feeding the reindeers was fun. They are not very tall animals and, therefore, not very intimidating. They are shy at times: a slight wave of the hand will send them away. They feed on some kind of moss. I had them on my hand and they just crowd around and nimble at your hand.
Next, we entered the teepee. We sat around a fire and on reindeer hide. Some reindeer meat soup and bread was served. Anders said that the front of us is Hawaii (there was a roaring fire) and the back of us is Greenland (you can hear the cold wind blowing through the slits). He told us some culture stories. Like not peeing into a fire (it is believed to cause impotence) and pointing a kettle towards the back of the teepee while its content boil. He also shared some of his thoughts on marriage, and perspectives of life.
The Sami cultural interactions really added value to this trip. I wanted to know something about the aborigines of Lappland; not come here and go back with memories of fun activities only.

# posted by William : 5:00 PM  0 comments

I thought I would sleep after the night of unrest but my eagerness to go the Sami tour kept my mind awake. Just had a shower (after more than 24 hours of non-stop traveling and a sleepless cold night) and feeling very refreshed.

I didn’t leave the grill house at 0400, the place was too crowded. I left at 0230 Wandering about for 10 min before I found the seemingly “perfect” place to stay for the night. It was a wooden tunnel at a playground. I tried to sleep but it was just too freaking cold. And the initial thought about a tunnel being a good place to stay was wrong. I got some protection from the wind initially but the wind through the tunnel is terrible. Can you imagine squeezed into a one-meter long play tunnel, curled up like a dried shrimp and thinking whether you will survive without freezing into an ice popsicle? I woke up after tossing for 20 min. Then I found another wooden house at another playground. Better? Yes! I got shielded from all directions but it was still too cold! I decided to go to STF hostel to try my luck. This was at 0330 and sub-zero temperature in the street of Kiruna. It was locked. I thought I could try to get indoor. But not too bad… There is a small space prior the hostel’s entrance (Picture below) and so I stayed. It was better than the playground but it was still very very cold. My feets were bitten by the cold air; even two layers of woolen socks and snow boots were no match for the freezing temperature. I made the best use of the situation: there was an electric supply socket; I plugged in my laptop and watched some Chinese drama. Quite an experience to watch drama in this cold.
I was lucky; I heard the sound of a taxi’s engine and had a feeling that something is going right for me. This was at 0530. A couple walked to the door and opened it from inside. The door of the hostel, actually, wouldn’t open till 0900 but this couple who checked out at odd hours had actually helped me! And yes, I am finally in a warm place after more than 3 hours in the cold. I thought I could get some sleep but the plot of the show kept me awake. End of the cold ordeal.

Nope, I didn’t sleep at the bus-stop. Soon after 2200, I was disturbed by a drunkard; he asked me for cigarette and money. I reckoned that it was rather unsafe even though I am in Sweden. I went back in the direction of the steak house which I patronized earlier. I was hoping for a better place to spend the night. I was lucky: the steak house is opened till 0400 on Fridays. With the electrical supply free to use in this place, I plugged in my laptop and here I’m typing this blog entry.
There are many youngsters around me now. They look bengish and lianish with all the piercings and loud conversations. I think the clubbing scene in Kiruna is pretty hot, so many people still walking on the streets. I thought the street will be empty after mid-night.
The time now is 0115, the lady-boss told me that drunkards will come at around 0200 and the situation might be tough to handle with these trouble-makers around. I feel a bit threatened now. What will I do after the steak house closes at 0400 later?
It’s getting more and more crowded in this place. I think there are about 20 people here.

I will be away in Kiruna and Stockholm from this Thursday night to next Tues night.

Man, it really is tired after cooking for the whole of yesterday: I slept till 11 am today. Nothing productive actually; as usual. Just like every Sunday: I did some hand-washed laundry and sweeping of the room. Isn't it weird: the window isn't open but there is always some balls of dust in the room after a few days. I don't even have this much "dust-balls" back in my PGP room. I remember reading that dust composed mainly from very small bits of human outer-skin "shedding"; if this is true then my skin must be shedding extra hard in Sweden.
FM 933's Internet radio is quite jerky back in Singapore and I rarely listen to Internet broadcast. I came to realise that the Internet in Lund is very fast; very very fast. I transferred a 400 MB video to my friend in Sparta (not another country; another student accomodation) and it took like 3 min! And I thought Internet radio wouldn't be as jerky as in Singapore bah. Yup, it's pretty smooth. Like now (0520 in Singapore), I think no one is listening to the Internet broadcast and the sound is very smooth. In the afternoon, I think there are too many listeners and the sound is a bit jerky with occasional streaming error. But whatever, it was enough to satisfy my thirst for Chinese pop and to keep in touch with the lastest songs.
It has been another day of planning for me. Travelling with Songning in June-July, and it has been decided that I am planning for the Switzerland-Spain-Germany leg of the journey. It's amazing how much time I can spend planning all the transport between countries and in a country; 5 full hours surfing around. Actually, it's quite boring and fustrating to see that the budget airlines don't service certain cities: it totally screws up the whole planning. For example, I was planning to fly from Munich to Copenhagen and there was no budget airline! Darn, got to replan almost everything. Then, got to find out the cheapest flight somemore. It's ridiculous how much the airlines can differ and on different days. Well, now that everything is done: I am quite proud of the results. Nice, cheap flights with smooth connections. Now, lets hope the airline companies and railway services don't change schedule at the last minute.
Going to Kiruna this coming Thursday and doing some last minute planning. My transport is settled but the activites are in a mess. Thinking of joining some tour group for dog-sledding and Lappish culture visit; let's hope they reply this last-min person quick.

Isn't it such a coincidence: My German lab partner, Stefan, is the BF of my Canadian neighbor, Marie? It's amazing that I got to know them in such different manner and in the end, we are all connected. Stefan is really fast, huh!? In a matter of less than a month, he has managed to court Marie.
I finally cooked for some of my neighbors today. I think they are not used to my style of Chinese food; it's just a feeling. But, the sweet and sour pork still wins over their taste bud. Then, it's not difficult to understand why Caucasians always associate Chinese food with sweet and sour pork...
They wanted me to go to a Nation (student-run Clubs) for party; but I don't have a membership to one. Ok, I don't want to waste the money for a membership to a Nation; furthermore, I am not a party person. In the end, we just crossed the road and have a pre-party at Block F. How happening is the pre-party? Actually, nothing much. Just a laptop playing music through a miserable tiny speaker blasted to "full" volume (it can get quite difficult to hear someone though).
The whole kitchen was almost filled completely with French-speaking students. And there, I met Vanessa, who is an Aussie. We are so glad that we understood each other in ENGLISH. I really dun understand the meaning of party. Just getting intoxicated in some noise-polluted place. It's not so bad in Lund; at least pple can't smoke indoors. The smoke at Zouk chocked me badly (I was organizing a party for KEVII DnD Comm).
Drank some Vodka. According to Marie, Stefan and Chris, you're not supposed to taste Vodka but to drink it in a gulp. Huh?! Me:"Then what for?" Stefan:"To get drunk!" I can't imagine why someone would want to get drunk. I got a terrible hangover the last time I drank wine on a flight to Vietnam: throbbing headache and all uncomfortable. I was still in control of my behavior though. Ok, or maybe I wouldn't get drunk afterall. Because, before I get drunk, I would have knocked out.

Just wanna post about my impression of the laboratories in Kemicentrum since it was my first time doing work in the place.
The laboratories that I am working in is new! Very new. In fact, we are the first batch of students using this lab. However, this doesn't mean that it's good. I will elaborate. Firstly, the lab is clean... very clean, however, it's disorganized. Well, compared to NUS, it's very disorganized. The used glasswares in the lab are placed randomly; though there is a corner for clean glasswares. The solvents are in a mess: placed all over different corners in the laboratories. The small apparatus like dropper, pipette filler... are also all over the place. People just use and don't put them back to its original position. I don't blame them; there is no original position in the first place. Chaos is rampant.
Stefan, my German lab partner, told me his home university's labs are worse. I can't believe it. A course lab and is in a mess? I can understand the chaos in a research lab, but a course lab MUST be kept clean and organized. By this standard, the Chemistry course lab in NUS is really top notch. Keep up the high standard!

Somehow, people are streaming over my place for dinner. Initially, I was expecting 7 people for the night; another 4 came in the end - it became another big dinner that I have to prepare. I am very flattered to have people want to come over to enjoy my cooking; but PLEASE tell me earlier so that I can prepare enough food.
Chicken rice was on the menu. The rice is easy to cook; cause I bought a bottle of chicken rice mix from Amsterdam. The chicken is the one that made my job a bit more difficult. I think most of us have ate boiled chicken that is rather tough: overcooked. And we have eaten chicken which are rather bloody: gross. The key is to cook the chicken such that the breast meat and thigh meat are tender simultaneously and also not too bloody. Actually, I think a little undercooked chicken is the key to the texture.
The chicken was not boiled at high temperature; but was simmered below the boiling point. When I was chopping the chicken (another not easy task for me; it's my first time chopping a chicken), the interior carcass was still bloody. And I thought to myself: it's undercooked! Don and Sharmaine also told me to cook the chicken again. But the chicken was already soaked in ice water and re-cooking would make the chicken tough. I gave it a shot: I cut up the chicken and debone it (it was quite easy to debone actually). Yup, the meat near the bones were still a little raw but, overall, the chicken is medium, which is actually very good standard (I think) for a first-time-chicken-rice cooker.
The table enjoyed the chicken. Cyrus said that the chicken is very delicious as it's very soft. Yup, that's the reaction I want to get. Janice and Sharmaine exaggerated that I could open a 杂菜饭 store since I was cooking different dishes one after another with quite good standard (Actually, my aim is to explore as many recipes as I can and let my friends enjoy their meals). Another dinner success and may more come...

Today was the last day in the Netherlands. Time for more museums.

I started with the Anne Frank Hus. Quite expensive entry of EU7 but definitely worth the money. The house of Anne Frank was the hiding place of her family and some other business associates of her father. But the hiding place was betrayed and everyone was sent to the concentration camp. She didn’t survive. But Anne’s flair for writing left her legacy and the history of Nazi’s occupation through the eye of a girl. The house has been preserved and the emotions when I was in the house are overwhelming. I could literally feel Anne Frank’s presence by watching the videos and actual room decorations. At the end of the tour through the house, there is a video room which plays controversy scenes depicting contradiction to the human rights to religion, speech, press and privacy. We, the tourist, of the Hus is to vote for whether a scene is right/wrong in our opinion. And that are some really tough decisions. I remember that was a clip on Afro-Americans singer singing some anti-homosexuality lyrics and they were slammed by the homosexuals. Why? Don’t we say we have the right to speech? Why are the singers being slammed? This museum really made me reflect on the issue of discrimination, our human rights and democracy.

The next two museums are the Allard Pierson Archaeological Museum and the Amsterdam Historisch Museum. Very hard-core historical relics and exhibits. I got kind of sick of the Historich Museum after walking around the complex for 45 min. The archaelogical museum was more interesting. It exhibited relics from Egypt, Cyprus and the Greece. Very the like the British Museum: nothing Dutch just like the British Museum is nothing British.

The final museum is the Electric Ladyland – Museum of Fluorescent Art. Very psychedelic and it fits the druggy nature of Amsterdam perfectly. I was the only visitor there and was given a private 30 min tour of the small gallery. That’s a lot of time for a small room of artifacts. But, this is the most elaborated tour I have ever had. Almost every item was described by the museum director, Nick. Photography would have been impossible as exposure time would range from 10s of minutes up to an hour. So I just took of picture of the director. The website of the museum has got very cool pictures of the place and art work.

I made a visit to the red-light district and decided to risk it to take back some pictures (photography is definitely not welcomed in that alley). It started raining once more and it sucks totally. I was wet, hungry, lugging my backpack and hiding in some corner with my 12X zoom camera to take some shots of the place. Not a pleasant experience.

The next place to take some night shots was the street leading to the Amsterdam Centraal Station. This is not an easy task. The rain was hitting down and the wind is super strong, again (the light-weight tripod cannot stand steady in the wind!). I had to hold down the tripod with my hand. But alas, I got a decent shot of the place. Perfect!

Nothing interesting all the way to Malmo Centraal Train Station. I met Chris (known also as Bonus) who happened to be traveling from Hamburg to Lund. He lives in Delphi Block E. So happy lah! We arrived at the station at 0000 and the train to Lund wouldn’t leave till 0100, we decided to take a bus back to Lund but darn, we saw 171 zip by us. We thought the bus would come at 0050 and waited till 0115… still no bus. We flagged down a cab instead. That set us back by SEK125 (~SGD 30) each. Chris introduced me to Rock music and I must say Rock sounds good. Maybe I should try it. Chris is an interesting person. He told me he wanted to set up a radio station in Hamburg, Germany and I could feel his emotion for Rock music.

Nothing beats a cab. We reached Delphi at 0145 very comfortably.

Den Haag is where the parliament of Netherlands sits so, naturally, I expect it to very well-maintained.

The VVV Tourist Information counter was shifted from the station to the city center but I had no problem finding it. Signs were almost everywhere to guide tourists to the counter. The Binnenhof, the parliament complex, is next to the counter and it was very convenient to get there and bask myself in the courtyard of the majestic building.

I hopped onto the tram to the Panorama Mesdag which houses the oldest 19th century panorama painting by Hendrik Willem Mesdag. This panorama painting has got a very special significance in a visit to Den Haag, because the painting is a scene from the Scheveningen beach in a page from history. And later, I was going to visit the actual beach live! It’s expensive to visit the small gallery but this one panorama really made my day. I bought a quiz for EU0.25, answered the questions and even won a prize for it. Even though the prize was a piece of brochure of the panorama painting, it meant a lot to me. Mesdag was a brilliant painter: his scenes of the sea struck my emotion hard. The storms, the life of fishermen and the ship-wrecks along the old days of Scheveningen beach… This is the first time I could really feel from the painting.

The next visit was to the Museum of Communication. Modern art is not my cup of tea. The Dutch-only explanation made the visit to this museum worse. Following, I made a trip to the Peace Palace which is now the International Crime Tribunal. Well, too bad there is a special event going on and visitors were not allowed. Photographs from outside then…

Next, I went on to the Museon, which is like a science centre. Great for kids but not for me. But interesting enough, there was a wild-life photography exhibition going on and I enjoyed it. Some other more interesting stuff are the exhibits of extinct animals replicas. It was really enjoyable seeing the Dodo bird in a life-size replica. It looked really silly and funny. Didn’t spend much time in the Museon…

The GEM/ Hague Museum of Photography was the next stop. Being a photography fan, how could I miss it?! Too bad, the gallery is being prepared for an exhibition and, again, no visitors. Sigh, a bad day for tourist in Den Haag.

Finally, I made my way to the coastal area. It started to rain and very strong winds blow. It was so strong that I had difficulty walking up a slope. Originally, I had wanted to visit the Museum Beeldenaan Zee but the price of EU7 for the small gallery really put me off. So I made my way to the beach instead. Beautiful beautiful sunset! The waves were huge and the sea breeze was super strong. Took lots of photographs. Come here during summer and it would be even better.

Dinner was at KFC. Tell you: this is the best KFC I have ever tasted; so much better than in Singapore. It was ok-priced at EU1.70 for one piece chicken. The original flavor was very rich and the crispy flavor was spicy enough to rival any KFC branches in Singapore. Perfect!

The night was spent touring the infamous red-light district in Amsterdam. Ok, it wasn’t that sleazy at all. Loads and loads of tourists were touring the place and I think the whores didn’t have lots of real customers and were just exhibits for tourist. They were knocking on the glass panel attracting attention of the passers-by. Live nude and sex shows abound the street.

Got a 1-for-1 beer at the hostel's pub (last nite in The Netherlands)...

(08/02/2006 Wed nite in the bed @ Stayok Stadsdoelen Amsterdam. Manual transcripted notes only in pen and paper.)

Yesterday night was not a very good night even for a heavy sleeper like me. Perhaps I was too excited to explore Netherlands. Fell asleep after tossing (sorry abt disturbing the neighbor below my double-decker bed) for 30 min, which is pretty unusual.

I woke up at 0645 to wash-up and everything. Breakfast starts serving at 0730 in the bar-cum-restaurant. It was a buffet: cornflakes, hard bread (it’s not a derogatory statement, the bread is meant to be hard), normal bread, cakes, hams, cheese, juices, coffee, tea, hot chocolate… I had a super-full breakfast just to prepare myself for skipping lunch later. I grabbed a small packet of honey so that it can give me an energy boost later in the afternoon. I met this Korean gentleman at breakfast, which I have no way of recalling the name. He was also traveling alone and just when I thought he was going to leave, he turned and gave me a traditional Korean mask keychain. Man, I was so disappointed that I didn’t bring my Merlion keychains with me. If not, it would have made a perfect gift exchange.

I had wandered off around the neighborhood yesternite while I lost my directions; I knew the place quite well already. I wasted no time heading back to the Amsterdam Centraal Station through all the small back-alley short-cuts. Since this is my first day-trip in Netherlands, I was prepared to be not so ambitious to explore a big city; so I choose Haarlem. I had about 20 min to wander around before the train for Haarlem arrives and I walked round the station’s shopping mall. This is where I walked into the pharmacy and saw a tin of Nivea cream selling for only EU1.99 (SGD4); I brought mine for about SGD6 at ICA, Lund. And I thought Amsterdam would be expensive.

Once I left the train station, I could feel the difference between Haarlem and Amsterdam. Haarlem train station was quiet, very quiet for a Netherlands’ train station. There were less cars than in Amsterdam. According to the guide book, the station is supposed to be an Art Noveau building dating 1908; I couldn’t spot anything archaic about the station, except, maybe, the stained glass. It might have been boring for some people, but I think I’m going to be surprised by the culture offered by Harleem. I went straight to the VVV Tourist Information Counter just on the right of the station when I come out, bought a map for EU2 and started myself on the wrong side of the town for the monument walk. A kind middle-aged gentleman on bike stopped and helped me with the map. I could feel the genuine friendliness of him; unlike people in Amsterdam who are always walking so quickly. There are very few marijuana “coffee shops” and you can read the history of the town from the cobblestone pavement.

The first major stop was to the Grote Markt, which is like the major square of this small town. I was taking some shots of the Gothic Sint Baro’s Church when it started raining. And I thought this rain would last. Wrong! This was the first time I will experience the unpredictable weather in Netherlands. The rain lasted only 15 min with strong winds. Even though it was 7 degrees Celcius, it felt very cold due to the rain and wind (Luckily my Marmot rain-jacket is always on me). I dropped my map on the wet cobblestone pavement and it turned wet and a little dirty. I had originally planned to visit the De Hallen Musuem Complex but the price is a little too steep for the small art gallery; skipped it in the end. I was a little disappointed that the Church was not opened; the interior would have been amazing. After this, I totally ignored the map and ventured in the town. Went to this windmill (how could I miss a windmill in the Netherlands?!) called Molen De Adriaan and then to the oldest museum in Netherlands: Teylers Museum, which I think is worth the fees of EU5.50. Lots of art work and science history stuff.

The Bakenesserkerk Church was another beautiful church which I passed by. No entry as the Sint Baro’s. The last museum is really a hard one to find: the Fran Hals Museum. A couple saw me walking up and down the streets of Haarlem and finally stopped me to give me the directions. See: the people in Haarlem are really kind people. This museum is another cannot-miss. It was originally an old folk’s home then an orphanage and then finally a preserved building for the Fran Hals Museum. Just a little background: Fran Hals is a famous painter during the “golden” age of Haarlem. The gallery in one of the exhibition halls was lavishly painted and depicts the transformation of Haarlem in history. Very very beautiful. Too bad photography was not allowed.

Yup, that’s it for the day at Haarlem. Dinner was at a Chinese restaurant near the Haarlem station. I ate fried vermicelli with chicken for EU9. A bit expensive but decided to try anyway. It’s now 1700, still early for night-life in Amsterdam…

I toured the Sex Museum which is 5 min walk away from the Amsterdam Centraal Station. The idea of the museum is to trace the history of sex in different culture and history. I don’t think pornography is the idea but it is one of the themes in the museum. The exhibits are displayed in a straight forward manner and mannequins are used frequently. Real historical, cultural artifacts and documents are also on display and they really add value to the museum. But if you haven’t watched pornography, you might be in for a shock and I suggest: maybe go somewhere else. The price of EU2.50 makes it one of the cheapest and most-value-for-money (3 stories of exhibits!) museums in Amsterdam.

The next stop was the casino where I lost about EU5 on the roulette. It was an eye opener to see how much people can gamble. One personal lesson: gamble can never make you rich but it can entertain. Oh yah: the drinks are free. So even if you don’t play, go in and grab a drink from the attendants who are walking around with trays of drinks (A 500-ml Coke is expensive in Amsterdam: EU1.50).

Went back to hostel quite early: 2130. Had an early nite after writing this entry and the previous day’s.

(07/02/2006 Tues nite in the bed @ Stayok Stadsdoelen Amsterdam. Manual transcripted notes only in pen and paper.)

The journey to Copenhagen, Denmark and then to Amsterdam, Netherlands was filled with travellers' tales.

I am quite a blur person when it comes to reading the train schedule listing on the TV screen. So when I reached Lund Central Station, I scrambled to find out the way to Copenhagen. Now, Copenhagen is not written "Copenhagen" in Swedish so I had to find Kastrup, which is the name of the international airport in Copenhagen. After buying the ticket, I suddenly remembered that I forgot to bring my moisturizer. Not that I am vain, but my heels crack after long walks and the area around the mouth area gets really dry and scaly if I don't moisturize. So since there is abt 20 min to the arrival of the train, I went to ICA to get the cheapest Nivea cream. Later, I will know that Amsterdam sells Nivea cheaper than in Lund. Sucks! Wasted a couple of dollars this way.

So, I waited at platform 2 for the train. To make sure that I am not on the wrong side of the station, I asked a gentleman to know whether the train goes to Copenhagen. But the board didn't say anything about Copenhagen so I got a negative answer. I sensed that I will have to make a transfer at Malmo Centraal (not a typo) Station (and yup, I have to make a transfer.)
On the train, I met a German couple. Well, we didn't really talked but they were travellers too. So I kind of followed them, hoping that they are going to Copenhagen. They were rather unlucky actually. They were travelling on Scanrail and had not filled in today's day on the pass. So the unreasonable conductor slapped them with a fine. I don't know who's fault it is actually. The couple argued that it have always been the conductor who fill in the date; but the conductor told them it's not his job to do the filling in. And on the Terms and Conditions on the pass, it is mentioned that it's the passenger that must fill in the date of travelling. So well, black and white wins. The couple had no choice but to pay. They were out of cash and paid using credit card. The lady was like saying:" I hope this card doesn't work with his stupid machine". Perhaps, the couple has had meet many good conductors along their journey that offered to fill in the dates. Or maybe, this is just a bad day for this train conductor and he just slapped them with the fine.

We got on the train and then there was an angry voice making an announcement in Swedish. The train carriage which I was in was filled with non-Swedish speaking people so we just looked at each other. Then a gentleman by my side translated: This section of the train is not going to Copenhagen, go to the other side. And everyone just scatted to the other side of the train. Then in the middle of the ride, the train got a technical problem and stopped for 15 min. Urggh! It's now 1830, I have had a flight to catch at 1930 and I have not checked in! The couple was worse off, they have a train to catch at 1855. They can't miss that one cause they have already missed a train on Saturday. Bad day for them. That's how we started talking, they asked me for the time and we talked.

The plane was delayed due to the snowy weather for 1+ hour. I slept all the way on the plane and reached Schipol International Airport @ 2230. It was scary being in a country where I have heard racism stories with all the shops closed and the streets empty. I walked alot before finding the hostel. Along the way, I met an Afro-Dutch who looked, obviously like a bad guy. He offered to help me with the way but in a very rude tone. Luckily I didn't accept the offer. I witnessed just a few min later that a man was demanding money after helping a couple with directions. I wandered off into the red-light district and found a police officer (There are actually many police on patrol in amsterdam). He directed me on the map. Met another two guys (one asian and one afro-dutch), they were the last to help me with the directions to the hostel (fellow Asians are very friendly in foreign land).

I made it @ 2330 to the check-in counter of Hostelling International (just before the receptionist knocked off @ 0000). The dormitory was dark since all the neighbors had slept. I was afraid of making too much noise. I took a powder bath, brushed my teeth and took to bed.

(07/02/2006 Tues nite in the bed @ Stayok Stadsdoelen Amsterdam. Manual transcript in pen and paper.)

I will be away in Amsterdam from tonight till Thursday night. Will post the pictures when I return.

This morning, I jogged with Alec. In the previous session, Alec came over to Delphi to meet-up with me; this time, I jogged over to Sparta to meet him. The route was around some neighborhood houses and the park. Once again, I was breathless pretty soon; maybe I have not acclimatized to the cold yet.
The afternoon was spent shopping around Lund Central. Today is the first Saturday of the month so most of the shops have extended opeing hours(normally, shops close at 2 pm on Saturday; today, shops close at 5 pm). It was quite an interesting walk, we explored some shops which we have never got the time to enter.
The evening was very interesting. Junyi, Kaixin and Charlotte came over for dinner. So Alec, Don and I cooked dinner. There were rendang curry, some super expensive oyster sauce bak choy (S$10 for 4 small heads of the vegetable!?) and the infamous roast pork (烧肉). The roast pork was literally on fire. The fat dripping from the roasting pork gave off lots of smoke when in contact with the hot metal oven surface. Don was checking whether the pork was cooked when a small cloud of smoke emerged from the oven's door. Not much of excitment, right?! The next moment, the whole corridor was awaken from their activites by the ear-piercing fire alarm. We did not think much since we thought the small amount of smoke couldn't have activated the fire alarm. Wrong, wrong, wrong! We are the culprits. The alarm was deactivated after 5 min by some unknown guy and I was super embarrassed. I entered the historical records of Delphi Block H Corridor 1 by activating the fire alarm while cooking.
That brings us to another question: why wasn't the alarm activated in Sparta when our rice was smoking freaking badly?
Anyway, the rendang curry was super rich, the bak choy was crispy and the roast pork's taste was authentic. Another dinner success!