Christmas Cookies!! :)

Last Sunday, Steffi, Stephy, Christiane and me made yummy christmas cookies! Well...nothing more to be sad, except that the cookies were really yummy...and for those back home, maybe...just maybe one day I'll bake some at home too...heh....

See the cute little reindeer cookies! Yummy!

And I even made a star cookie!! took a little more effort using a knife to carve it out...but...it was worth it. ;)

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The days are counting down towards my departure from Aalborg. Everytime I think about it, I just can't believe how fast it was. I remember Gordy telling me on the day I left Singapore..."Don't worry...just enjoy your time there...before you know it, you'll be back...five months would pass really fast...". And I din really take his words seriously then...but how true was he. It's hard to imagine that after spending 4 months with these friends, I might not even see them again...hopefully we'll keep our 3-year pact. But it's just weird thinking that today we're living in the same house, and then tomorrow, I'm living miles and miles away on the other side of the world.

Sigh....

Oh well....Good and Bad. Can't wait to be home too...miss my parents and sis, YC, ninjas and the ODAC kakis and all my friends back home....I'll be back in 25 days! :)

Amidst the stress, we can still have fun!

Christmas at Aalborg is really a very hyped up one! Already at the beginning of November, the entire main street and the shopping streets are lined with lit trees and beautiful christmas decorations like the ones shown in the picture.


Guess the lighting of the city compensates the early darkness of Winter. Apparently the city spent about 750 000 euros on the lighting alone! This really tells us the importance of celebrating Christmas, held by the Danes. But the whole atmosphere in town is very very christmasy right now. :)

On the 1st of December was "Christmas Night" in Aalborg. All shops as well as the Christmas market were opened until 10pm! It felt sooo good to shop at night. On normal days, the shops close at 5pm, sometimes 6pm, and then the city is totally empty till about 11pm when the party animals start to roam the streets. But today, the city was beeming with people and their family, carrying lots of shopping bags. And the marching band making its rounds along the shopping streets, playing various christmas song and bringing cheer. It felt really magical...made me wish that christmas would come real quick.

This is the christmas market. Din get to take a proper picture of the whole place cos it was so crowded. But I will do soon. The market has these small little shop houses lining the pathway on both sides. And they're all selling their christmas ware...and christmas wine (glogg) is so NICE! It's like wine boiled with cinnamon sticks and almonds and raisins. :) And Santa has a little house right in the christmas market where you can go and write your wish list to him!Managed to catch Santa in action that day! The kids were all sitting around him and asking him lots of questions. And they were all really excited to get to see and talk to him. It was really cute. :)

And there was also a carousel!!! And it costs only 5 kroners! so all of us decided to relive being a kid again.


It was a really nice day out. Especially since I haven stepped out of the house in almost a week due to the project that I need to complete. So, finally being outside was such a thrill for me! I was so overjoyed! Almost ecstatic...

And what better way to end such a beautiful evening than a good cup of coffee in a cafe with relaxing and enchanting ambience and the company of wonderful friends. :)

Fint!

What is the difference between being best friends and being lovers?

A friend once asked me this question, which left me pretty much in a "thought-pool". I don't find it interesting or thought-provoking, because I am in doubt of my own relationship [there is no doubt :)], but rather because there are times when several friends have approached me with the same situation and I am at a loss for words.

To me, I believe that it is possible for both to happen concurrently - a guy and a girl can both be best friends and lovers at the same time. So to me, I find it rather difficult to differentiate the two. It is only when someone else starts to ask this question that I begin to think about the various possibilities for such a thing to occur. But seriously, is there anything to definite between the two? I believe the line is drawn very finely and it takes a lot of precision to divide the two into totally separate components. Beause both are very much alike. But then again, if you look around you, there are people who are best friends with each other for many many years, but they never get together because they feel that their special friendship might be compromised...but would it? There are people who are in a relationship but start to question whether they are really in love with that person or that they are just best friends. So how would they know exactly? Or will they never know...

Some people say that intimacy is the component that separates the two. But is that the only thing? What else is there is draw the line? Maybe the answer is relative...

What do you think?

A Sigh among the Laughs

So many things have happened over the past week that has caused me to sigh. Disorganised and inconsistent information from the University pertaining to my project work has seriously caused me more problems than good. Professors cannot make up their minds on what they want to say...and in the end, different professors inform us differently about how the project is supposed to go...It's madness. And this is not the first time that it has happened. Sigh. Really can't wait to be back at NUS actually...would rather have a system which is stressful but which works and you actually learn something from, instead of a system which is so slack and relaxed, yet is so disorganised and incoherent. Bleah....

And I guess after living with each other for a couple of months, there is bound to be problems within the house. Sigh...not too good living in a place where there is disharmony. dun like the feeling...

Guess life is never all uphill, there has to be a downhill at some point of time. As they say "Life is never a bed of roses".

The arrival of JuleManden 25.11.06

Two days ago, there was a big welcome party at the fjord to welcome the arrival of julemanden, or more famously known as Santa. He was due to arrive at Aalborg at 11am at Hoennerkajen, by a ship from Greenland. At the place of arrival, there was a sledge prepared especially for him with two horses to drive it. Lots and lots of people with their kids turned up at the designated place despite the heavy rain, we included. It was really dreary, especially for us cos we were getting cold and wet just standing there under out umbrellas waiting for him. The Danes on the other hand were all well-prepared, coming in their full water-proof suits and big rain jackets. Amazing how they manage to get use to such a weather.

A mother and her kid all ready to receive Santa, dressed in their "santa's best" outfit. :)

A Danish band trying to entertain the crowd whilst awaiting Santa's arrival. Poor people were all drenched to the bone and still had to smile and play to keep the crowd occupied.

Finally!! *honk honk* announces the arrival of Santa. Can you spot him waving to the crowd?

It was SO difficult to get a decent picture of Santa. This was the best clear picture I got of him as he was giving out presents to the kids. I wanted one too....... :(

An eager and excited kid eyeing as Santa walks by...if only they knew the truth about Santas.... ;)

The Eiffel Tower and its Views

There's too much to say and show about Paris to cover it all in 2 posts. And with Blogger only allowing me to post max of 5 pictures per post, it's even more irritating, but I shall be patient. :) The Eiffel Tower has 3 viewing points - the first level, the second level, which cost 3 euros, and the highest point, which costs 11 euros. Basically, the second level is high enough to see most of the scenic stuff, so I chose that option. But....

There were two queues up to the Eiffel Tower. Well, in actually fact, there was one super long queue as shown in the picture, where you can take the lift up to the first or second level, and one with virtually no queue at all, where you have to climb all the way up to the first or second level. Looking at the queue and contemplating the time I would have to spend in it, I chose the "shortest" queue.

But it was worth the effort. Along the way up, I was able to see the different levels of scenic views. Yeah...but it was really tiring (been a while since I last exercised).

The view at the second level was beautiful. This is a view of the park just next to the Eiffel Tower. Looks like some architecture student's project model. :P
More views of Paris... :) With the sun setting on the left, can you see the Eiffel Tower on the right?

Me and the Eiffel Tower. :)

Paris was really wonderful. Except for the language barrier, I might choose to go back again. And the weather there was a stark difference from that of Denmark - 14 degrees!! WITH SUN! gosh...I miss the sun so much. We hardly get to see, let alone feel the sun, here in Denmark....all I am able to feel is the dreaded wind and cold. But a good thing is that rashes are not resurfacing, so I guess that is a good sign. I just hope that when I head back to Singapore, they would be GONE for sure. :)

More Pictures of Paris

This is the ever famous Lourve. The musuem looks reall really enormous from the outside - 3 large panelled buildings. I don't quite fancy museums anymore so decided not to go in. The famous painting of Mona Lisa is inside.
This is Angelina, Jia's favourite place. :) It sells really good pure hot chocolate. And when I mean pure...it really is pure. I am not quite a chocolate-lover but that was good. Too good for me thought. heh. Bro, you'll love the chocolate there! :) And the French desserts are quite mouth-watering too!! And the place was rather cosy, could just sit there and talk all day long. Too bad I was there for 2 days so I din quite have that kind of time.

And finally...what would Paris be without the Eiffel Tower! It's like "Been there, done that" kinda thing. I wasn't too excited visiting it anyway...thought it was quite over-rated...but I was pleasantly surprised. It was an amazing piece of architecture. And I was surprised that it awed me so. It was very majestic.

Trip to Paris 13.11.06 - 16.11.06

After the wonderful birthday weekend, both Jas and I took the 5-hour train ride to Copenhagen, where I took a flight to Paris and he stayed for a couple more days on his own.

Paris was really wonderful! Not quite what I expected it to be. Most people said that you can either love Paris or hate Paris. Well...I guess I love it! :) The entire city centre consists of rather old buildings dating from centuries ago (perhaps). And I love the feeling that cities with old buildings give you. Jia was my perfect tour guide. She's taking this course in architecture in Science PO in France so she was able to give me a brief background and description of the various attractions and monuments in central Paris. On the first day that I was there, we walked from 10am to 10pm and covered almost the whole of central Paris. It was amazing how we did not feel that tired...it was only until the next day that the soreness in our legs set in. Haha...

My tour guide!! :) No...she's not lost...she's just trying to get her bearings right... :P

This picture somehow looks very Winter Sonata-ish. Jia! I think i know why...it's your jacket...think the girl wore something like that in the show.
Notre Dame in flesh. The church is very majestic and grand. If I'm not wrong (correct me if I am, Jia), Notre Dame was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Notre Dame in French means "Our Lady of Paris". This is also the seat of the Archbishop of Paris.

For more information...click here
This guy according to Jia, has been outside Notre Dame for years and years. And he is always the one who feeds the little sparrows. It's amazing how the sparrows are not that afriad of him and trust him so much that they just flock to his hand to eat.
The back of Notre Dame. Mysterious, don't you think?