Avenue Q

I just watched this about a week ago and I have to say it's probably my favourite musical of all time. It's like Sesame Street for adults and I just love how they've sort of put all these naughty themes in a sanitised, cute-sy environment - there's an element of forbidden fruit (you know, like nuns in churches) in it that makes it so appealing. To me at least.

The puppets are also so incredibly lifelike in terms of expressions that I really have to take my hat off to the master puppeteers.

The only problem is that I've got this darn song stuck in my head that just won't go away while I'm working!!!! And believe it or not, I'm trying to do some serious work.

It's called "The Internet is for Porn" - I can't do the song justice by setting out the lyrics, so I have to direct you to YouTube where you can find clips of the song. I couldn't stop laughing! The interplay between this sweet young girl called "Kate Monster" and the old pervie called "Trekkie" is just so hilarious.

This is my favourite part of the song:

=================
TREKKIE AND GUYS
The internet is for porn!
KATE
Gross!
TREKKIE AND GUYS
The internet is for porn!
KATE
I hate porn
TREKKIE AND GUYS
Grab your dick and double click
KATE
I hate you men!
TREKKIE AND GUYS
For porn, porn, porn!
(harmonizing) porn, porn, porn, porn
KATE
I?m leaving!
TREKKIE AND GUYS
Porn, porn, porn, porn
porn, porn, porn, porn
KATE
I hate the internet!
TREKKIE AND GUYS
Porn, porn, porn, porn
================

Terrorist in training

Pics of Copenhagen

In contrast, the weather in Copenhagen was beautiful!

Here are 2 of my favourite places in Copenhagen: Nyhavn, and Christiania (hippie-land)

Pics of Latvia

This is what I remember of Latvia - freezing Baltic weather

Ahem.

Where art thou God???

Thank you!!!!!

The world is at peace........

I have been...a....bad.....BAD.......boy.......WEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeee

The smell is distinctive - like burnt herbs - similar to when chinese medicine is being boiled. I'm THIS close to buying one.

Copenhagen

Its an amazing place. About a gazillion times better than Oslo. There are just so many things to see.

I'm now in the middle of the "Freetown of Christiania" - its simply out of this world - stuck in the hippie era. I'm sitting in a cafe and there are these 2 kids looking really stoned, smoking what is certain to be marijuana.

Another 2 less stoned looking ones are also smoking a joint.

The expression on their faces as they inhale makes me want to burst out laughing - its the sudden look or calm and contentment, and then they just look up in the sky as if to say "thank you God!" followed by a period where they just sit there and stare blankly into the air, yet almost deep in concentration, as if they were about to solve the General Theory of Relativity or something. It is so hilarious.

Omg I'm on week 6 of my wine course. It's about champagnes. I'm only on champagne no.2 and I'm already quite drunk....by the end of the night who know what would happen

Bugger I'm drunk after my wine tasting and need to send out some
drafts tonight. Howwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Freezing in Oslo

I picture of when I felt like I stumbled into Narnia. That's my bag in the foreground, semi encrusted with snow. There's snow snow snow everywhere

Troll

Isn't he adorable???

Bought him in Oslo.

And then I sent a picture of it to my boss saying: "You might grow old and deaf, but hopefully will never end up looking like this."

To which she replied something to the effect that if she ever looked like that, I should hire someone (at my own cost) to take her out of her misery...

And then she told my colleague to tell me that I made a "career limiting statement" and that I was rude and impertinent haha

I thought about sending a further message: "Is that before or after I ensure that I've been named as a beneficiary in your will?" but thought the better of it...

I've yet to think of a name for this troll.

I've got 3 others. Equally cute haha

Amazon

I've been ordering non-stop from Amazon.co.uk.

Part of the reason is because it's just too easy to do so. I mean, I'm buying things that I wouldn't ordinarily have bought. Urgh.

Another part of the reason is that when I'm bored I just go to the website to browse. And that usually ends up with me buying something.

If they come to Singapore I might be their biggest fan...

Spring!

Spring must be upon us. I see the first sign of flowers blooming. I guess that means that the coat will soon no longer be necessary. It must be at least 15 deg today when the sun was out and it felt quite hot.

I'm quite excited to see the flowers in bloom.

Gentleman's cloakroom

It's not a toilet. It's not a washroom. Among the upper crust it's a "Gentleman's Cloakroom". I just found that out in this wonderful store in Picadilly called Fortnum and Mason.

I can just imagine an English saying it. "Clouwwwwkroooom".

The store's really great - it's everything English and targetted at the very high end shopper. I love everything in it but can't afford it.

It's got this subtle character that's so much in contrast with the brash American culture. I love the store, and I absolutely want to be an upper crust English gentleman!

Guess I better work hard and make more money when I gey back to Singapore!

KFC

The KFC in London must be one of the worst in the WORLD. I never thought I could find fried chicken disgusting. But it is. Why did I even bother?

That's my first and last foray into fast food in London.

Shit I hope I don't get addicted to getting drunk and clubbing.....

Wow my virgin clubbing experience in London!

The girls seem to be a lot more approachable in London clubs. Not as
stuck up as they are in Singapore. Or maybe I was drunk. The guys were
asking for tips haha how ridiculous. I told them its the bracers. It
makes me geeky and therefore adorable.

Its fucking exepensive though. The bill's coming roind on Monday. I
expect the night out to be costing me some 120 pounds...

Still, it was fun and its not something I could've done on my own.

Met a few Singaporean peeps. We're going karaoke-ing soon!

Gosh I just did something I hadn't done in a long while. I was so
tired (or had too much of a lunch) that I went to sleep in the
toilet...

Perfect London

London's really lovely at night. I'm just up the street from St Paul's Cathedral. The way it'ss lit up just gives London this historic character that you just don't find in many other cities. Certainly not at night.

The temperature is 13 deg. It's perfect for a walk with your coat on. The combination of the warm body with the cool air against your face instantly wakes you up.

Gosh can I gush any more?

The only thing that would make it even better, is if the pound were to suddenly drop another 30 per cent...

So. My £17 salad. Does it look tasty? Well it wasn't.

Curiosity killed the cat

This is stupid. While I was getting my coat in the changing room I was suddenly struck by a curious desire to see what everyone was wearing, and since there was noone there I looked through all the coats and what material they were made of. There was a French Connection one which looked crappy. Then there was this nice one where you instantly refognised quality. I flipped over the label and it said Hugo Boss. Bah. Then I looked for the material and it said Cashmere Wool. Bah x 2.

And then I felt the coat. And it felt nice.

Bah x 3.

And now I want one.

Bah x 4.

Norwegian Food

It sucks paying 17 pounds for a glorified salad.

WHY CAN'T I FIND SOMEWHERE SERVING FRESH SALMON, REINDEER OR ELK?????

I have hence concluded that Norwegian food sux and tt I can't wait to get back to London to eat proper food.

This is crazy! Its so cold that ice is starting to form on the surface of the SEA where the boat is moored!

"Are you a singer?"

Me: "Well, not really. I sing in a choir, but that's not really singing is it?"

Haha

As I sit on the train passing through the snow filled woods, I feel as though I'm in that scene in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe where the children make their way through the fur coats and end up in a world filled with snow. Snow, snow and nothing but snow in a forest of branches and barren trees.

Uh-oh, a whole bunch of sled-ists just got on the train with all their sleds. I must be close to the ski jump. Hopefully I can do some sledding!

Oh, and I think the counter girl (to whom quip 2 belongs) must have taken a fancy to me - she offered to let me use the office laptop to check my emails and also promised to search for some markets for me to visit tomorrow. She's part of the theatre group performing on the ship. Maybe I'll get lucky harharhar.

I must offer my apartment in Singapore for accommodation.

Black Norwegian originally from Somalia. How exotic is that? I must take a photo.

Quip

Quip 1

Me: "surely there must be some market where you know, Norwegians go to shop for local produce?"

Reply: "hmm, no, not really. Norwegians are very boring. We just go to the supermarket. Everything's there."

Quip 2

"When we see people from Asia we are stunned for a moment - I don't really understand why they come to Norway on holiday. To me, its so boring!!! We all want to go to Thailand and Malaysia - our idea of it is like Paradise! "

Oslo part I

I don't think I can recall a time where I've been so cold before. We landed in the middle of nowhere by Ryanair (which was surprisingly comfortable given the bad rep it has) and took 2 hours to get to central Oslo. By the time I checked in etc it was 2 pm and I'd been awake for 12 hours, rather tired.

It was a bright sunny day. But the temperature was -1 deg. And it was snowing rather heavily.

It may sound like fun but I assure you its not. It seems that everywhere you walk snow gets into your eyes and condenses on your spectacle. Its so cold that you want to put your gloves on, which is a bit of an inconvenience if you have to fumble with maps etc.

I'll talk about the city and post pictures etc later. Right now I want to describe my bed. Its surprisingly comfortable. The room is a cabin on board an ex-car carrier ship, which is moored just off the harbour across the national opera house. The window's open so you can sort of hear the gentle waves outside. Also, the window can't close tightly so a little bit of the breeze gets in.

Under my comforter I feel like a polar bear. All I want to do is hibernate because its so nice and warm and comfortable. I've had 11 hours of sleep but all I want is more.

My brain tells me that I've flown all this way I should get out there and see the rest of beautiful oslo.

The bear in me tells me to stay in bed. And look for salmon later for lunch....

Blue blue sky

I stepped out of my gloomy apartment to be greeted by a bright sunny
day with clear blue skies. What a rarity in London.

The stark contrast between the naked branches awaiting Spring against
the sky was surely picture-worthy, and made me kick myself for not
having brought a camera with me. I have resolved to carry my pocket
Ixus everywhere from next week.

As with everything, nature has a way of balancing itself. So while the
day is going to be sunny and bright, the night will surely be
bone-chilling without the clouds to keep in the heat.

Not boding well for my 3 am walk to the bus station tomorrow.

I can't wait for Oslo!

muaks muaks

So yesterday, my ex-roommate insisted that I greeted her European
style; that is, with a kiss on the left cheek and another on the
right.

I must say that was a weird experience.

And then of course we had to say goodbye European style too.

And then she made me practice on a colleague.

I'm sure it must have been a funny sight. But well, when in Rome, do
as the Romans do.

Fun fun fun

Right. What a productive evening. No work the whole day so I researched my France trip. At 5 I went to the gym, ran for 20 mins (I actually RAN! Wow) did some weights etcetc. Gathered my stuff at 645. Stuffed my face w a premade sandwich. Its now 7 pm. I'm at a wine course. Week 3 - other white wines of the world.

At 9 I'm off to a colleague's drinks party.

I don't know if I want to go back to boring Singapore!!!!

Rice and potatoes

The angmoh's kinda cute.

I've always thought I liked rice. But I suppose I could get used to potatoes.

Karaoke

Hurhur it seems 2 of my colleagues (one chinese, one angmoh) are into Karaoke too. We've promised to set up a session soon.

The angmoh gets high on singing.

VC peeps: that sounds like Jianhao and Shixuan don't you think?

Except these 2 are girls. What fun! Woohoo!

The latest entry into my err very limited list of things I can make: Peanut Butter, Banana and Jam sandwich!

It is a real treat - creamy, sweet and filling. In my cost cutting measures I walked home to fix myself lunch.

I also have a bunch of chicken cubes very yummily fried, which is going to form my dinner, before I head out to my wine course and thereafter drinks at the pub.

Not really sure if the sandwich is very healthy though. But boy it tastes good.

Coupled with a glass of wine. Over lunch.

How sinful!

Refund!

YESSSSSSSSSS

 

so it seems I wasn't so idiotic after all.

 

==========
Hi!

We now see that there has been some kind of technical error here. We have now refunded the changing fee of 34.60 GBP. This should be on your account within two weeks.

Please accept our apologies for this error.

Med vennlig hilsen/Friendly regards/Mit Freundlichen Grüssen
Per
Norwegian kundesenter

=======================

This fat guy next to me is bloody spillling over to my seat. Argh. And what's worse he has a pint of beer in his hand. Shouldn't he go on a diet???

Ok well I've gotten over the initial shock that I've been an utter spendthrift. As my colleaue says, I'm such a stingepot in Singapore anyway, and there's nothing to buy or do there -- I should spend freely while I'm here on a 4 month holiday of sorts.

And so, this is the life. I'm here at a pub next to Picadilly Theatre. Grease starts at 730 pm. Its 7 pm. What better way to pass the time than at a pub next door with a pint of cold beer on a cold, chilly London evening. Ahhhhhh..........

Although, as if to balance my expenditure, I packed my lunch to work, and ate dinner at home before coming here.

I'm absolutely appalled. In less than *1 month* I have spent 1800 pounds. AND THAT EXCLUDES THE COAT THAT I BOUGHT.

Quintessentially English

I like this shot. Happened to get it by accident. Bus moving in front of the Big Ben.

FOOD

I really miss some good Chinese homecooked food right now:

I'm doomed. All those lovely pictures of Norway with blue skies etc and beautiful green luscious parks and cobalt blue lakes.

Am I going to see them on my trip to Oslo next weekend.

Well. Having just visited the weather forecast, it seems that:

1) I'm going to freeze to death (Max forecasted temperature next Saturday: 1 degree)

2) I'm probably not going to see anything (current weather: heavy snow)

It seems I'm going to need to go shopping to buy some gloves.

Begging

I'm shocked to see able-bodied people in the prime of their youth, begging for money on the streets of London. One was reading a book as she was begging which means that she's hardly stupid.

I can't understand - why can't they go to work? Do they have no dignity?