New Haircut

Went to Frisør Phuong to get my hair cut on Tuesday. Amanda's dorm mate (a local) said he has a good reputation for cutting Asian hair.

Maybe only in Denmark.

His methodology seem a bit outdated, I haven't had the razor been applied to my hair for 5 years, and never in the manner in which he employed.

锅盖头. Not happy Jan!!

Strawberries with Oreo and anything creamy ©

It combines two aphrodisiacs in one orgasmic bite.

I was totally craving strawberry tarts for the last couple of days, and I was seriously contemplating making them yesterday. Heck I even bought a punnet of strawberries and mascarpone. But due to my laziness and a fundamental lack of resources to make the tart shell, I ultimately decided to not go down the traditional tart path, and opted for a cheat's version.

Now I know people have been making these strawberries with cream on top of a plain biscuit thing for ages, but have it ever been tried upon an Oreo biscuit? I did a simple Google search and came up with no match, so I'll assume I'm the first and will copyright it here and now as I broadcast this culinary delight for the first time.

Strawberries with Oreo and anything creamy ©
1 serving makes 2

Ingredients
1 Oreo biscuit
1 strawberry
Mascarpone/whipped cream/custard

Method
(1) split the Oreo in half, make sure there are some icing on both sides
(2) spread on desired amount of the creamy thing you have/want
(3) top off with half a strawberry (depending on size)

Stepping back in time

This wasn't on my go-to list, but Naho wanted to go somewhere else rather than spend a full 5 days in Prague (which ultimately, was a good decision), so we included Budapest in our itinerary as well.

The moment I arrived, I felt as if I've stepped back a decade or two. To start off with, the train ticket seller didn't have their own computer, and they wrote everything! When we stepped outside of the train station, there was construction everywhere. Not to mention, as we walked to our accommodation, some of the clothing stores reminds me of the uncool clothing stores in China (they use the same models too). And when we finally got to our accommodation, the building reminded me of the place that my grandparents use to live.

Buddy...what can I say? Not much to say, other than it reminded me of the Shanghai I left, not that it a bad thing. Budapest certainly has its own beauty.

Group photo from Buda/Pest overlooking the Danube (I think) and Pest/Buda

The Best Preserved City

I've heard many good things about Prague before I came - mostly how beautiful it is. And it didn't disappoint either. It was a treat to just wander along the meandering streets admiring the buildings that have withstood the test of time. The food was also hearty and very affordable!

The highlights of Prague definitely had to have been rowing on the Vltava River and clubbing til the wee hours of the morning. The rowing was Kengo's idea, and initially Heeyul and Kengo rowed us. But I was itching to have a go too, it looked so fun!! At first both Naho and I rowed, but I was way too strong for her, so I kicked her off the rower's seat and assumed captain's position!! It was tiring to row, but so very very fun!! I groaned so unwomanly though, like a woman in labour! I think during that moment I realised that I'm not ready to be a woman/lady yet (#I'm not a girl~ Not yet a woman~ All I need is time~ A moment that is mine~ While I'm in between#). I still very much enjoy being a care-free girl/tomboy without a care for womanly appearance/behaviour. Anyways, I'm so happy to report that in the days ensuing I suffered from no aching muscles, which must mean that I'm strong and fit!!

I like this photo. Behind me, you can see Naho, perched perfectly at the bow of the boat like a real lady. Do I detect a touch of passive aggression there? No, not at all! I only have the greatest respect for Naho-san, and I wish I could be more like her with her good behaviour. 唉！做日本女人不容易哦！

Me emasculating the boys - yet they look quite pleased :P

I don't know where I heard this, but apparently Prague is quite renowned for its nightlife. We went to the Karlovy Lázně, the biggest club in Central Europe. It has five storeys and each level is a different musical style. The dance floor was like a ditch or an unfilled swimming pool, and there were many people dancing at the edge, which was a fine view that Heeyul particularly enjoyed :P Anyways...a lot of people and very high even until the early morning. The funny part of the story was how we walked in the rain without umbrellas for an hour looking for the club, and of course, we also had to walk back to our accommodation in the rain, AND how none of us brought any money so we had to look for ATMs to withdraw cash.

Wet and oily from rain and sweat

Other good memories of the journey:

• getting a compartment to ourselves during the Berlin-Prague leg of our journey, putting our MP3s on speaker phone and singing along
• Naho and I getting a private room on the first night due to an error in the reservation, then Kengo falling asleep on our floor, instead of going to his dorm, after one too many funkily flavoured beers [think banana, sour cherry, nettle (I thought it tasted like eucalyptus), coffee]
  

The Happiest Place in the Happiest Country

I don't know anyone who didn't play with Lego as a child. I certainly spent many happy hours building, taking down and rebuilding those bricks. I still remember how I stumbled across the toy. I was out with my grandma in a department store. I don't know what attracted me to the tiny box but I was determined to have it. Grandma was more than hesitant to get it, given it was a toy we had never encountered before, and more importantly, it was 60RMB for a tiny box!! But me, being the pampered princess that I was, pressured and pressured until Grandma relented. And it snowballed from there: my cousin and I had so much fun with that tiny box that soon she bought a larger box; then a little later my parents bought me a big box from Australia.

So it's no exaggeration to say that I was looking forward to the Legoland excursion with great anticipation. I was going to have more fun than on the swings at Den Gamle By. To be perfectly honest, it didn't unleash that huge burst of excitment of the Den Gamle By swings did, but it certainly did evoke much happy nostalgia.

Legoland wasn't how I expected...although I didn't know what to expect in the first place. I suppose it's just like any other fun park albeit with a younger target audience (let's not get started on the amount of toddlers there were) and with a lot of models (animals, houses, people, Egyptian mummies) built out of Lego. There were many rollercoaster rides that took inspiration from the Lego series previously released, but they mostly were not very scary. But still, all in all, it was a great day. Perfect place to unleash and reconnect with your inner child. It nearly meets my elevated expectations for funness: 9.5/10

The place has a real aquarium with real sharks, manta rays and Lego scuba divers and submarines

Kengo wasting his money. He also wanted us to get our faces painted like gorillas
It's a Lego lion!!

I can speak Danish

I've been in Aarhus for two weeks now, can't believe it, time has flown by so fast. So far I've really enjoyed my time here, living by myself and the freedom that comes with it and making new friends!

The last two weeks of "intensive*" learning have been quite packed, after our daily morning classes we were arranged to attend lectures on Danish politics, Viking History and Hans Christian Andersen, or visits to the Old Town and a museum.

The excursions were great fun! Especially Den Gamle By (their Old Town museum). I went twice (that should explain why I have two different outfits in the photos), first time with my normal group, the second time with Amy and Amanda. The second time was much funner, because we went on what you may call old fashioned rides, like swings with boat-shaped seats, and a boat where we have to pull ourselves across the water. The swing was particularly fun, us twenty-and-up year olds were having more fun than the little kiddies for whom the swing was actually designed for. In fact we loved it so much we went twice!

Most Danish kids are blonde

The awesome swing (unfortunately there isn't a good photo of me)

The ARoS museum definitely wasn't as fun as Den Gamle By, but I enjoyed the exhibitions, unlike Amy who practically raced through the place. That day I did two quite illegal things, first (and the more exciting/significant) was getting to the museum, I sat behind Tang's bike (I don't really know how to say it in English, it's 他荡我). His friend said he was a good rider; he's Chinese too, so I felt assured knowing he has probably had ample practice at 荡ing someone back home ;) But it's dangerous, cos we didn't have any helmets. Still...we flagrantly disregarded Danish law in downtown in broad daylight. BOOYAH! Rebels we are.

Yesterday was the last day of our Danish crash course, Destination DK. I got a certificate, which says I am able to understand and participate in everyday language. If that means saying Hej, Hej Hej, Tak, Sel Tak and describing to the Aldi man the Danish word for butter**, then yea! I can understand and participate in everyday conversation with a Dane~ ANYWAYS~ we had a little brunch party to commemorate the two weeks we had, everyone brought a dish from their own country, like the Spanish brought Tortilla, the Poles brought sausages, pickles and dumplings with white cheese and potatoes (Pole food was the best ytd)... I made scones with another Aussie chick who happens to live above me.

Tortillas, roll cake with nutella, Polish dumplings, "German" bread and cheese, Polish pickles, and last but not least my scones!

*our teacher was a very kind lady but she really didn't teach us much. She concentrated so much on numbers, which in her opinion was hard, but neglected everything else. We didn't even properly learn the alphabet so as to help us with pronounciation. Heck I don't even know how to greet people other than Hej, Godt Dag and Hej Hej.

** Me: Excuse me do you have butter?
Aldi Man: is it an American...[hand gestures to form a large rectangle]
Me: no, [thinks] smor?
AM: smor?
Me: S-M-O with a line through it - R
AM: oh smurr!

小天堂

When we were young, my cousin and I shared a bed. She would sometimes talk about a room we can call our own. She called it Little Heaven (she's always very creative like that, like that time when she would philosophically say, "wasting your time is wasting your life".) I don't think she said it because sharing a room or bed with me was a drag, but more because of that romantic notion of having one's own room and bed, and where you can prance around in the abundant space.

So this is my Little Heaven in Aarhus. I'm not living in a dorm, it's like a studio apartment with its own kitchenette and bathroom. I'm lucky I don't have to share anything. The previous occupants left me a lot of things so I don't have to buy anything. I had so much pots and plates I even had to throw out some! The last one even left a huge selection of tea and night pads!


On the first Sunday after we arrived, a welcome dinner was organised for us. It was funny how all the Asians sat at one table and everyone else sat at the others. Amanda, Amy, June and I sat amongst those Asians.

Yesterday there was a Speed Meeting thing ("like Speed Dating but without the kissing" - June) and my DKK classmate Ken couldn't be bothered to go back home after class, cos it's so far away so he asked if he could come to my place instead, since my place was within walkable distance of the school. That one guest increased into 3 further self-invited guests.

Here we are eating pizza on the floor:

The chick squatting in the middle is from UTS. I met her at the Welcome Dinner, she's absolutely hilarious - she entertained my guests.