Couch-Surfing in Hamburg

And before I knew it, it is the mid-sem break. Where did the time go?? For this break, I spent the 10 days on a whirlwind trip through Germany, Netherlands and Belgium

We didn't know the accommodation in Hamburg would be so limited and demand so high. So as every first year economics student would know, lack of supply with excessive demand will move the price upwards. To unacceptable values for us. Especially considering how expensive Amsterdam and Brussels already were. So we decided to try out a new and unfamiliar concept (for me at least...although we were all virgins when it came to it): Couch-Surfing.

We arrived in Hamburg sans one third of our travelling group: Amanda had not received her Eurail ticket on time because the delivery guy came to her dorm during the two hours of the day when she was in class. She arrived in the evening when she arranged for her ticket to be delivered again. Unfortunately, then she realised that she had been sent the wrong ticket for the region of Austria instead of Benelux which is where we were going. You could tell she was very stressed about it all, but she put on a brave face and forced a laugh at her misfortunes. That's such an admirable quality of her.

As mentioned above, we were all virgins when it came to couch-surfing, so the fact that the host took us out for the two nights we stayed over was quite a shock to me. Especially the first night when he took us to trivia at an Irish Pub (the topic was on the most famous German movie made, The Boat). You can smoke inside pubs in Germany. The smoke was so strong that my chest hurt from breathing all that carcinogenic air. I really felt like I lost a few years of my life that day.

There isn't such a thing as a free lunch, but if I'm putting my comfort and health at risk in exchange for free accommodation, then I'd rather pay a grossly inflated price for a hostel. Not to mention, after sightseeing the whole day, I'd rather have an early night in, especially if I have to get up early the next day to catch an early train. So yes, couch-surfing was an interesting experience, and I don't particularly regret having done it, but it's not terrain I'm eager to explore again any time soon.

Hamburger scenery: a bench in the Inner Alster; funky building; funny advertisement

Hamburger food: potato pancakes with apple sauce and currywurst

Århus' First Crimson Blush

On a good day, I end up with melted marshmellow on my face and hair

I won't hide it, I have not been feeling all that great lately. But yesterday, the clouds parted (literally) and for the first time in a long while, I felt (emotionally) invincible again.

Sitting in my 8am Trade and Environment class, the cloudless, light blue sky was so enticing I couldn't wait to get out into the sunshine. After a week or so of cloudy, windy and sometimes rainy weather, today was too good a day to be trapped indoors. So after lunch, I went with my neighbour Gabby to the Botannical Gardens to study. It was difficult to concentrate though, as my mind was elsewhere, my eyes would glaze over the text of my book and fail to transmit meaning into my brain. Then I would just look up and revel in the surrounding greenery and the odd tree with golden leaves.

Autumn is beautiful

At night I went to a bonfire at the beach organised by a guy I met on the bus to/from Skagen with Gabby and Kengo. We cooked sausages (or as Americans call it, dogs) and marshmellows over the fire. The marshmellows were caramelized on the outside and slightly gooey inside; when I tried to pull it off the branch, it would stretch like melted mozzarella cheese, and then almost instantly harden like candy in the cold northern wind. It was hard to get it in my mouth with the marshmellow strings flapping unpredictably with the wind; later I found bits of melted marshmellow stuck fast to my face and hair! Eating highly processed foods on an unsterilized dead branch? Good stuff!!

There was a small hitch on the way home. You see, to reach the beach we had to walk through the Riskov woods, which is pitch dark when the sun goes down, as it is unlit by lights and the trees block the little moonlight available. Although we had a torch to find our path, it is the sort of setting horror movies are build on. I psyched myself slightly by commenting how this was the perfect place for murders to take place. Coincidentally, just as we were nearing the last leg of the woods walk, we see two bulky figures sillouetted against the road lights that signalled the edge of the woods. I was scared but Gabby said to keep walking. I hardly dared to look up as we walked, but when I did, I noticed the two bulky figures stood stationary in the middle of the path and distinctly remember hearing "woohoo" (like the sound owls make). It was like they were trying to freak us out! Finally when we about 5 metres away, I see a little white dog walk around figures (it was like...the biggest tension breaker) and then Kengo shone his torch on their faces...it looked like an old couple. WTH? WHO GOES ON WALKS IN THE WOODS AT 10PM?! Nevertheless *phew* possible death averted!

no photos of the bonfire yet...

Moon Festival

I got myself invited to a Chinese dinner party for the Moon Festival. I hence scored myself to the best Chinese meal I've had since leaving home.


We made 团子, even though it is not traditionally eaten at this time. We made the glutenous rice skin ourselves!! Tasted just like store-bought 团子 :)

Tang's 隔水鸡 was the most highly anticipated dish, and certainly did not disappoint! Beautiful flavour and very tender - just like restaurant. Random chick's joke about Tang and his dish: "做鸡很辛苦的!" Then everyone laughed long and hard about it. I get it, but to double over? Must be the cultural divide.

Creme de la creme

Where two tides collide

Last week, we went on another Studenthus organised excursion to the northern-most point of Denmark: a town called Skagen near Grenen where the Baltic Sea meets the North Sea.

First stop was the town called Skagen, where we were forced into a gallery/museum, lest we suffer the cold outside! We did walk around the town for a little while, and I made an important discovery: the origins of the watch brand Skagen. The Skagen watch boutique is the biggest and nicest store in the Stagen town!

Quotable Quote:
[Upon arriving at the Museum and seeing it was all about art]
Marcin: (unimpressed) It's just paintings!
Me: ...um yea?
Marcin: I want something interactive!
[a while later in the children's room, we find an easel and crayons]
Marcin: now this is what I enjoy! something interactive

Second stop was Grenen, where we had to walk for approx 20mins along the beach to reach the northern-most point of Denmark. As the video shows, it was a grey day (although thank the Lord it was not also a wet day) with gusty wind. SoOoOo cold!! As the video will also show, it was a rather unspectacular site: no mingling of different coloured sea-waters, no spirals... its greater significance lies in the imaginary line geographers have drawn.

After being subject to such brutal weather conditions for 90mins, we were so relieved to return to the shelter of our old and dirty bus, and laid back into our seats glad for the environmental stability that air-conditioning offers. It was 5:30pm and we were ready to go home. But we had not been relaxing for more than 10mins before we pulled into yet another car-park and heard the driver over the intercom, delivering the news that we must weather the cold and wind for another 1.5hrs.

As reluctant as we were to leave the comfort of the bus, our time spent at Råbjerg Mile turned out to be the most rewarding item on the itinerary. Råbjerg Mile is the largest sand dune in Northern Europe, although in the ad for this trip, it was touted as the only desert in Europe... As one can imagine, we climbed the slippery and steep slope of the dunes only to risquely run back down again. The best moment was when our beloved friend Gorilla ran down the first slope at full speed, then at about the mid-point where the sand texture changed from being firmly packed to light and fluffy, lost his footing and fell hard and flat on his face, and then purportedly rolled (I didn't see the 2nd part as I doubled-over with laughter from seeing him fall like a child). He came down with sand on his face and in his mouth, and (shhh! don't tell anyone this) sand in his undies!

Yes, seeing Gorilla fall over was the highlight of an otherwise disappointing and lackluster day. I laughed about it for the rest of the trip (albeit the remaining 4 hours of the trip) and even when I got into bed, had a perverse giggle about it. XD

Katsu Curry

In order to start dieting, I need to purge my fridge of fatty goods first

Like cream, mascarpone cheese, white chocolate. And this means a feast. An unhealthy feast.

Last week I got sick, and on my sick bed I thought long and hard about the foods I want to eat. Strawberry tart with chocolate custard is one of them (of course, you know from one of the last posts, that morphed into strawberries with Oreos), as well as strawberry cake, spinach and cheese pizza, 红烧肉 and 葱油饼.

Last weekend I made pizza. Homemade pizza. Everything was homemade from the dough to the tomato paste. I look forward to making it again, as I want to perfect the dough and the spinach and cheese flavour.

Spinach, garlic and cheese; olive and mushroom, with homemade tomato paste

Then on Monday, Amanda and I went for a walk to Løvebjerg (the sad thing is, hanging out in supermarkets has become my favourite hobby these days, there is 4 in my vicinity...) and we found super cheap chicken thighs and beef mince. Since my arrival at Århus, I've only cooked actual raw meat once, and that was because Amy was handling the meat, I have an aversion to raw meat, but hey survival calls for meat, so I'll get over that. ANYWAYS...due to that haul, I made cheese burgers on Tuesday


Yesterday was strawberry cake day - I want to make it for Heeyul and Hyeri to thank them for helping/taking care of me that night I got more than a little drunk. But the official day will be next week; yesterday was the test session. Originally I was going to serve the cake/muffin/cupcake with white chocolate ganache, but the cake was already sweet enough without the super sweet and creamy ganache.

Hmm...I don't have photos of the two muffins. These are the ones that turned out more attractive but were deemed to be too sweet. Btw - doesn't it have the cutest colour? I made it with frozen strawberries.

So I feel super fat these days. And perhaps with just cause given I've caught myself with my fly down (um TMI?) more than once this week! I know that I gained weight during my July travels, and I doubt my menu and recent bout of sickness where I ate Strawberries with Oreos has helped. So I want to start eating healthier again, but not when I still have a bowl of white choc ganache, cream and mascarpone cheese [and I won't even count the two bars of butter (I have been rather obsessed with butter these days), cheddar and mozzarella I have stashed in my fridge]. Oh what to do? Cook more unhealthy food!! XD Today I made creamy chicken and mushroom pasta, then with the white choc ganache, more cake. keke. Now I only have the mascarpone cheese to worry about - what can I make with it?

Last but not least, I want to share my new baby with everyone. This is not the one that I wanted, but Denmark is so expensive and this was on sale for less than half price!