The start, or the end?

I have my last exam in exactly 13 hours. After that, I shall have no more academic life in Sweden. My holiday starts. I'll need to put the finishing touches to the 20day adventure that I'll be embarking on. And I'll have to start packing for home, sending back heavy down jackets and winter clothes.

So is this a start? Or the end? I know its both.

This will be a start of a new life, a new beginning. A life full of Adventures and lessons learnt, a life full of excitement and fun, a whole new start when I return to Singapore. It is also the end. The end to this short exchange in Sweden, the end to a relaxing life, the end to the warm strangers who eventually become friends, the end to outdoor classes, the end to being self sufficient.

I love living on my own, its much simpler, you'll be able to do anything when and how you like it. Its about making your own decisions and living by it. I guess this time away from Singapore really did do something good for me. I've grown up.

The Adventure continues in exactly 16hours from now.

The Independance

The thing about living all by yourself is that you will somehow learn independence. You will learn that no one will do the laundry for you, no one will plan your timetable, no one will cook for you. If you feel like eating pizza, then you'll have to go google for a convenient recipe, and do it yourself. If you feel like having a homemade banana cake, you send an sms back home to your sister to send over your mum's banana cake recipe and bake it yourself. There will be nobody to tell you what you can and cannot do, what you should and should not do. You are your own boss. And I like that. The Adventure continues whilst planning for a 20 day trip around Europe.

Things Changed

The as we know it, is in a state of increasing entropy. And it constantly changes every day, every moment. The sun no longer sets when it supposed to. Its now 6 in the evening, but it looks like its 3. The days are getting longer and warmer. Kinda like how the day is so long, and there are always so many things to do. My life as I know it, similarly, has also changed. And I would like to think that it just got better. I would like to think I got stronger. I would like to think I've become better at managing time and priorities. I would like to think I am in control of my shy-ness. I would like to think that I can take up any kind of dares without having the 'paiseh' feeling. I would like to think that I will go back home, and find that I am different. We'll see how. The Adventure continues at Zhe Bin's place for a round of drinks.

The Start of The End

When you know that you are heading back to sg in 2mths time, you are in the middle of very mixed feelings. On one hand, you are missing home and the familiarities that it brings, on the other, you still haven't got enough of europe yet. Thats me. There are so many future trips to europe that i see myself doing, like a month long cycling and camping trip, eating out of field kitchens, sleeping in tents and exploring every countryside, wedding shoot in the lesser known places of europe. There's more. Its just not seeded in my mind yet. I wonder how my family is doing at home, i wonder how it feels like to windsurf with my mates after a 6 month hiatus. I wonder who will be at the airport to receive me. Maybe i don't want anybody to pick me up at the airport, cuz sometimes its nice to be alone, independent, talking to random strangers, playing a game of blackjack with teenagers on a school excursion to Gent. This is life. The Adventure continues whilst on a train from antwerp to amsterdam.

Brugge, Belgium

Just tried stoofvlees. Its soft and tender lean beef stew hot crispy chunky fries. The best thing to eat from a road side stall. Also, the chocolate factory struck me. Do you know that a long time ago, cocoa beans were used as currency? And it was drank like coffee before sugar and milk was added into it, before finally becoming solid chocolate? And cocoa was used as an stimulant and medicine. There was even a time that chocolate was banned in church. Maybe last time it was a drug that the rich indulge in. Now we get it as a snack. Maybe one day tobacco and cocaine would be eaten as a snack. Social norms are powerful. The adventure continues in amsterdam. Where prostitution and soft drugs are a socially accepted norm.

The Adventurer's Recipe.

The receipe to enjoying a long backpacking trip.

1. Don't stinge on food.
Don't go to an expensive restaurant and choose the cheapest food, rather, go to the supermarket and buy the best ingredients and cook a healthy and appetising meal.

2. Have breaks in between travels.
Instead of just rushing from places to places in the town or city, have some days which you can just sit at a cafe and drink hot white choc and watch the world go by.

3. Have at least 7 hours of sleep each night. This will make sure you have enough energy to rush to places the next day. Travel in the day if you can, although it wastes day time, you'll get your rest for the next day. If possible, travel no more than 5 hours at one go. It will make your trip less tiring and more enjoyable.

More cardinal rules will be added as The Adventure continues.

Un-mainstream

I think i'm not mainstream. I like the old, i hate the new. I like abandoned and dilapidated houses, but i hate mansions and grandeur. I like walking up a trail to devin castle and climbing over the wall for a self declared free entry, but i hate going to places with herds of tourists storming churches and yaking away in spanish and french. I love taking busses and trains, but i dislike air travel. So now, if the sky doesn't clear up, i'll probably have to travel by land all the way back to linköping. On a train to the Tatras mountain range. The Adventure continues.

Prague.

A very beautiful and scenic city. Though extremely touristy, the sights are picturesque even in the morning fog or the intermittent rain. Bridges a plenty, old streets every corner. Something that i always wanted to capture on my camera. I always wonder why i dun like to buy souvenirs, maybe its because i think its a total waste of money, maybe I'm just selfish. But i'll still send out home printed postcards though.

Bus Journeys.

Bus journeys are always a time to watch the world go by. Before the bus leaves, there are people sending others off, there are yet others who excitedly load their baggages onto the bus, knowing they will le going to someplace new. There are yet other frequent travellers who find travelling a chore, going for yet another business trip or two. Me? I just like bus terminals and busses. Its nice taking a short trip during the day, watching cars and fields and streets pass you by. Its just a bus ride, some might say, but its a journey, a ride that sets you thinking, giving you time and space to rest and reflect, before another adventure kicks in. The adventure continue after this bus ride. Vienna.

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the best. Great place for cyclist, nice cool bikes all around, nice sweet pastries all around. Danish pastries rawks man. Only didn't try the smorgasbrod. And diem't go to many places. And malmo's rut and rangers is the best hostel so far man! Nice clean rooms and beds, and a super neat kitchen man!

Bye paris.

Thanks for the smells of my primary school, the wonderful town of Provins, the rain that comes down every single day, oh and that one occasion of hail. Thank you for also the delectable but expensive pastries, the countless bauggettes that i never got sick of, the pain au chocolat that had been my favourite since young. Thank you also for the mass at st joseph's church, which make me remember how my dad used to scout for churches when we took a family holiday. Thank you for letting me remember the times that i secretly never wore the underwear that my mama used to wash in the sinks on our trips to malacca. Merci bouku

Inner Peace.

Train rides are peaceful. I'm only talking about long distance rides out of the city, not the metro. You sit by the window, with the sun shining onto your outstretched feet, and you watch the world whizz you by. Just like life, there are stretches of green fields that go on for miles, with an eagle soaring above it. But there are also areas where there is just bushes and shrubs, brown and boring, just like how life can sometimes be. You get to see small settlements along the way, sometimes an old run down town, sometimes an industrial village, sometimes a small chicken farm. This is how life should be. An adventure.

Its a Roulette

I've been thinking. What makes 2 people stay together? I think a month long backpacking trip will tell. I just saw a couple alighting from the rail in paris. The guy says left, the girl says right. The guy stood his ground, and the girl followed. It made me think for a moment. I guess rotational leadership is the key to a successful relationship. Both parties need to let the other take the lead, and even if it means walking the longer route or the wrong way, knowingly. If there are two leaders, there will be no followers and just two solo travelers. Followers must have leaders and leaders must have followers.

Paris.

The heart of france. In every city, the sights and sounds are what others distinguish the city by, but for me, i get a feel of the city by its smells. I'll tell you what paris smells like. In every corner you turn, you will be greeted by a myriad of smells. Pain au chocolat and fresh crossiants from the nearby bakery, followed by stale urine when you pass by an underpass in the metro, the familiar kind of smell that i remembered from my old primary school. A colourful experience is the word to describe my stay in paris. Sun, rain, hail, gust, cold. All within a day. Rude awakening by a fat asshole who chose to sleep on the shaky bed frame as me. Entertainment by a string quartet in the metro station. Accordion artiste playing wonderful tunes on the metro. Eating plain baguette to keep hunger away. Climbing across restricted access to get pictures of the gloomy effiel. The adventure continues. To versaillie now.

The Dream Adventure

I had a Adventure, while I was sleeping. It was an exciting but scary at the same time. In the dream, my heart was racing and my adrenaline was pumping, I was running, and killing and doing so many crazy things. The Asian Adventure begins.

It started out with a simple mail to my old house down at Marine Terrace. I had received a stack of letters that was mailed to me. But this stack of letters were different. They were bundled together and handed out by a guy at the corner where 2 lines of shops meet. And it was strange, because the guy who gave out the letters reached into an envelope with cash, and handed each one some when we received our bundle of mail. I soon came to realise that it was a money laundering syndicate. But anyhow I went on my way and opened my bundle, and to my surprise, there was a similar envelope with cash inside! I was scared and happy, running all the way to my flat. The first person I met was my maternal Grandma, and told her about it, she gave me a worried look and told me to throw away the money since the money is tainted and will bring problems to my doorstep. I thought otherwise and opened the envelope and destroyed the envelope. I was prepared to lie my way through if ever there was a knock on the door. I handed my mum the money, paying her back what I had owed her for my overseas exchange trip. I remembered massaging my Mama's knee as she complained that it was aching. I also remembered looking at old photos of her when she was much fatter.

Now comes the exciting part. Somehow or other, the people that received their bundle of letters had to be on a ferry that made a trip from Changi beach to Bedok jetty, and in it was the runner of the big money laundering syndicate. I was a wreck of nerves throughout the boat ride. What if they realised that they forgot to take out the envelope of cash from my bundle? What if my lie fell through? Any thing could happen on that ferry, and I would have nowhere to run. But thankfully, the boat docked and all the passengers got out. I was about to rush out and run but my cool headed side told me not to arouse any suspicion. Apparently there was a coffin on board, and it had to go back to the docks somewhere in Changi beach. Some guy handed me a slip of paper to pass to the boatman, as much as I wanted to reject it, but I swallowed my adrenaline and acted normal as I headed to the front. As I did so, the ferry started to move off!! I was trapped yet again! But I knew that it was heading to Changi Beach ,where I could alight and take a bus home.


Soon after, the ferry morphed into a small sampan, and there was just me, the boatman, the runner and yan jie. Don't ask me why, but there was yan jie, sleeping like a log like he usually does. The sampan took a turn into a very strange and desolate calm stream. There were junkyards on either bank, with tonnes of scrap aluminumon either side. And the boatman, being a scrooge that he was, drove his sampan into the tyre w alls so that a little scrap aluminum will fall into his sampan so that he could re-sell it. All was going well until I saw a figure in the distance, moving. It was no human, and moved it jerky motions. As the sampan drew closer, it was a junk robot who was moving on its own, it was a scene straight out of transformers. My logical mind told me it was something plausible, junk cpu's still storing their past memory, and with their inbuilt AI, they start to think like humans, and build their body together. They start building other robots and programming with AI too, this species grow and evolve, and soon have a society of their own, living entirely on scrap material and fuel.


The robot had a childish appearance, something you would find in a child's play pen. But this one was yielding a toy missile, with a red and white cap which made it look rubberish. "Zoosh!" Suddenly that same missile was fired and it missed the boat by a narrow inch. I was still thinking it was made of rubber when it exploded upon contact with the stream. I turned my head to see 3 more similar missiles zipping past my head, it was then that I realised we needed to run. The boatman tried his best to avoid these missiles, but we were hit by one! I wanted to get out and run but he held my arm and told me it wasn't a wise thing to do. I pointed him to the herd of ill fitted war machines that were walking in the stream towards our location and he jumped out. Yan Jie was sleeping as usual, even the explosion and the sinking sampan didn't wake him. I gave him a jolt as the sampan drifted to the bank. He sprang up and we ran.


There were more scrap machines on the bank. These ones had lesser AI built in, but they were also programmed to kill. They held the 3 pronged spear and came charging at us. The spears, although made of plastic, could be potentially harmful. We snatched the spears and thrust them into the bots, short circuiting them instantly. As we ran, the robots got further and further away. We eventually caught sight of Bedok Camp II, and there were trainees outside the camp.


I felt good to be back home. But turning back, I could still see the bots lingering in the distance, waiting to pounce on anyone who had a brain, a brain that created their species.

I Feel Lost

Its kinda unexplainable cuz lost isn't a feeling that an Adventurer should feel. He can be lost, but he shouldn't feel lost at all. There is always something planned, somewhere to go. Not that I have nowhere to go, or nothing to look forward to, but I just feel lost in all the stuff that I have on going. There are hostels to book, places to read up on, money to save, money to earn, letters to reply, exams to check out on, toilet bowl to fix, flights to book, room to clean, clothes to wash, new dishes to experiment. There is just so much interesting and exciting stuff to do!

But receiving an expected mail in my letter box today made me happy. I was happy to know that I still had friends who bother to sit down for 5 mins and write a letter to me. It was more than I can ask for. So, I've decided to take some time off planning all the trips to sit down for 10 minutes and write a post card or a letter to everyone that I owe letters to.

Oh, forgot to mention, I cooked beef steak yesterday and beef with leak today. 2 of my friends said that it was the best oriental beef they have ever tasted. I wonder if it is better than my mum's beef. Oh but it was almost as tender as my mums. And definitely of a different taste, cuz my secret is in the kiwi that I put in.

Just restored my fridge to life. Its sad to open a fridge where you can't just pick off something and just munch on it. Went to buy some cheap cakes and chocolates to revive it. Then I realise that I'll be leaving for Berlin soon. I think it the food will finish in time.

The Adventure continues with a morning run at 0930 tomorrow. Jag ska springer i morgon.

Light My Fire

So we went. With 2 boxes of matches and some charcoal, we walked to a campfire pit just next to the forest. With the hope of a big bon fire and warming our hands to the fire, we built a fire from firewood. It was a concerted effort between me, yoseph and si hui. We started from one match with some kindling and lots of fanning and blowing, and viola! We had our fire going strong. Yoseph's huge huff and puff and si hui's vicious fanning turned embers into crackling flames. Was surprised that we could start a fire with matches and leftover charcoal and firewood. I guess there has to be a scout in my somewhere.

Here we made hotdogs and corn and marshmallows. It was a simple meal, with simple close friends. There was much to talk about or rather gossip, and soon it was sunset and the stars came out. Its just like a clip from a show. It was really an Adventure to be behold.

Learnt something from yoseph today. Love speaks 5 different languages. Gifts, Touch, Acts of service, Words & Quality time. It made some stuff clearer to me. Enlightened.

And I also realised that it pays to be kind to others. Cuz I'll be studying for an exam tomorrow, and Si hui volunteered to cook for me! How zai is that.

I can still smell the smoke from the camp fire in the woods. Think its stuck in my hair. Or the hair in my nostrils. Whatever. It was fun.

The Adventure continues while I study the whole of the next 2 days.

My Atlas, My World

I just realised that Europe is big and vast. I don't think I will be able to set foot in every country, but there will be many many firsts. My trips are somewhat planned, but my budget is not. This is how I like to spend my money, or how I usually spend. I save a whole lot by scrimping and saving, then splurge it all on something that I really think is worth it. The last spree was my camera of 3k plus. This trip is the next. I will return to home penniless, with not a penny on my back, but with smiles and memories that money can't buy.

Been cooking alot recently, from belgium chocolate mousse to banana cake, from chicken cordon bleu to garlic fried kuskus. Been hanging out alot with friends over dinner, its like a bonding sessions where we htht and pour things out and gossip. Sat down for tea at a cafe. Been to Flamman to have burgers and beer. Been at Si Hui's place for dinner and learning swedish with her swedish neighbour until like 2am in the morning. Been slope sliding and snowman building. So many firsts, and yet more to come.

The Adventure continues tomorrow where yoseph, sihui and me will have a bbq in the snow. I will go to the recycling room to take some junk wood for firewood. This is fun. This is Life. I will live it well. No more shadows of pasts, no more "what if's". Its "what next". Jude is back.

New faces, interesting people

In the course of a week, I've met a few interesting people, it made me reflect on where I am in life. Starting with the latest first, a person I met just an hour ago.

His name is Gregor, and he is the MD of a branch in a company called IonBond. Its a company that does deals with coatings on metals used for manufacturing. He said something very striking: "Everytime you come to point where u have to make a decision to whether to try or not to try something, pause and think, 'Will you regret not having done it?' If you do, then just go ahead with it, despite the odds. If its something that you wouldn't regret not doing, then don't." So far in my life, I've only regretted not doing one thing, and it was in SJI some many years ago. After which, I've been living with no regrets. I think thats how life should be. His company has also a very peculiar biz model. They practically get by from day to day without any plan for the next month or next year. I was expecting a company of that size to have some plan for the "future", but no. They have a truck that goes around to their clients to see if they have any parts to coat, and if they have, IonBond will have work to do for a few days, if not, they wouldn't have anything to do. Its quite stressful Gregor says, but this is what makes his job interesting. I was thinking about my photography. He said he didn't think of becoming a MD when he first started, he just loved his job as a technician and the titles and position just came along. Maybe I have to just love photography and not think about making profit everytime.

The previous person I met was actually a person on a Flickr page that I've been viewing for quite some time! I met him at the library when I was asking the librarian if they knew where is the nearest photo studio is. I sat down and he helped me search out some photo studios that he knew. I was intending to go look for some work there, and the good thing is, the Swedes only get married on saturdays!

Before that, I met Claire, someone who has 'been there, done that'. Everything that you've think its cool and interesting, she would have already done that, maybe not windsurfing thats all. But from her, I realised that there are so many things I've yet to do, so many things that I've yet to accomplish. I'm still a jack of all trades, but never a master of one. I would like to be a master of some, someday.

Just came back from chasing the sunset, something I like to do every once in a while. But today, it was more than the Adventure I had asked for. I fell on hard ice twice whilst cycling to catch a nice sunset. And I got stopped by 3 police cars because I was taking a sunset over the military airfield. Too my surprise, they were so nice and understanding, they just deleted my pictures and copied down my particulars. At the end, I still asked them if they knew a better place to take a sunset.

Oh well. The Adventure continues on saturday at Kisa. Prob my last snowboarding trip.

The Hang of Things

I've begin to love living alone, love doing things all by myself and having only myself to answer to. Love planning trips and itineraries to Paris, talking to people at the weekly church  potluck, going for mass and getting inspired by the sermon, seeing snow, going up a hill to snowboard down.

Snowboarding is easy. Falling down on the snow is even easier. Its like windsurfing to me, I can do it week after week and not get sick of it. Yesterday at Kisa, I finally got the hag of snowboarding, the trick is to be brave(as claire said) and put your weight on the front foot and steer.

Its a kind of experience that only windsurfing can equal. I'm happy and contented. Thanks to Claire and Eugene for all the tips and to Olof(my swedish friend who drove us there) for showing me how a jump should look like.

I guess I'll be back to Kisa at least once before the snow melts.