adventures of the winter bandits

writing this on a lazy sunday afternoon
(and continued writing several times) 

That was our 18-day itinerary for copenhagen, iceland and oslo
As you can see, we had no plans for oslo because we’re lazy and tired and decided to go with the flow at Oslo.
And, we also did not camp out in Iceland as fel is quite the urban metropolitan who hates all things natural, sightseeing is one thing, and living in it is another haha.

How oh how i missss to travel , reflecting back during covid times now.

This was the most intense period in my career, and I had decided that TOP was in Sep/Oct as planned, and booked the flights to be in Dec/Jan, but all hell broke loose when it did not TOP, and I still travelled as per my plans, and boss said you can come back anytime when I call you right? (jokingly)
I came back to follow up in early Jan (like I boarded a super fast speed train) and only TOP till I came back in 20+ Jan. (and my first and most memorable TOP ever)

Copenhagen 

Decked in our dr martens / timberlands and kanken bags, we arrived and are ready for our holiday. I was definitely kidding myself when I said I’m not afraid of cold weathers…. (when I was younger) I was wearing at least 5 layers (and 2 heat techs in the 5 layers to keep myself somewhat warm), with an outer jacket with all the necessary scarf, beanie and thick gloves and socks + heat pack 

In the cold, I was super inactive while on the other hand, fel is super active, with only 2 layers of clothing… 
I kept wanting to sleep, while fel is ~at my normal energy level~ in Singapore. 

Mornings pretty much looked like this, ahh pretty blues 

Typical Copen mornings consisted of fel cooking, while I donned my inner cat-woman outfit ready to brave through the cold. 

We went on to travel in Copenhagen style – in bikes. 
The bikes were definitely too tall for us, I wonder if they purposefully chose taller bikes for us, such that we have to jump off the bike seat to that space in between the seats and the handles, to come to a complete stop everytime we stop (ingenious idea / or could be that Im thinking too much). The kerbs at the side of the designated cycling path was my best friend and at the perfect height to place my feet while stopping before the traffic light. 

We rode to many places in the cold weather, and was actively exercising but not perspiring unlike in our equatorial motherland – a small movement can earn a free bucketful of sweat. 

Some of my favourite places 

The circle bridge in Copenhagen – caught it amongst the mist and its Vikings mysteriousness 

The architectural dream library – black diamond  

Pulled out one of the drawers at the old bibliotek and realised its all handwritten letters from the past 
Sadly, a true art form that is lost now 
And, I bought a tote bag from the library shop : ) 

Stopped by this dainty little breakfast shop opposite the building we were visiting. 

Did not try to get in, but admired it from afar in the cafe – A children’s hospital Rigshospitalet by 3XN 

Breakfast platter that is much needed from all that cold cycling – and with hot chocolate! 

Made a little pit stop at Superkilen but it was raining heavily and we left swiftly.

The conception of this playground and its amalgamating cultures felt honest and wholly heartwarming – Superkilen / BIG, Topotek1, Superflex

We were travelling towards CopenHill by BIG but by the time, it was getting dark and it started raining heavily. It was hard to see on the bikes lest to travel on it. I was getting increasingly frustrated and wanted to turn our backs on CopenHill if it took another 2 hours of cycling. I think I almost teared (or a little bit inside) when fel insisted on cycling there. We stopped and parked our bikes at some bike racks and decided to take shelter and rest at the nearest place. 

Little did we know, and we found ourselves at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and coincidentally, the school of architecture. (lucky or fated?) There was a Works + Words Biennale 2019, not sure if we could even view the exhibition but we walked right in and the receptionist gave us the brochure, so we went along with it : ) 

The placement of everything – is everything. 

being nerds, we spent about 2 hrs there reading and admiring all the works in the warmth all in exchange for CopenHill  

– 

We stumbled upon this little kindergarten, and I must say, it is my favourite building in Copen. With its quirky forms, use of colours, materials, cladding, bricks, glass and everything, it brings me so much joy. How adorable that there are the parking lots specifically for the strollers, apparently, did not cater enough for the number of babies and there were illegal parking of strollers everywhere. (could be a fine in sg haha)  
There were even little windows made just for the kids’ height. 
Regrettably, I can’t decide whether to shoot in portrait or landscape. 

And my best photo of the building is blurred 

Aarhus

We were considering whether to rent a car or take the train, and we took the train instead. I forgot how long was the train ride but it was about 6 hrs total for a to and fro, which took up half the day. But it was sooo worth it to see the rainbow panorama (inspiration of my thesis) in real life. 

This was the view from walking towards it from the train station and I got really excited. 

Located at the top of the aarhus museum, it is amazing to convince someone to fund and build this spectacle. 

The name ‘Rainbow Panorama’ is simplicity itself – by Studio Olafur Eliasson who also build the Circle bridge 

Looking outwards in contemplativeness – yellow 

The blue zone 

The world in purple reminds me of Grudges by Paramore. 
‘Strange how we found ourselves exactly where we left off’ 
‘Why did it take us so long to stop holding on’ 
‘We can’t keep holding on to grudges’ 

Other exhibitions – this elephant one felt quite icky, though have been figuring out whether the projections are from projectors (nowhere to be found) or just gigantic tv screens? 

Tricked fel into posing with this – hehehe and told her that it looks damn good from the other side : ‘ )
She may or may not have told me the same words in the photo after …. 

Also experienced some of James Turell’s madness – was incredibly lucky as we did not do enough research and look out for the other exhibits there. (oops) Happiness is really a free gift. 

After the tiring trip to Aarhus, and failing to sleep on the train, we arrived back at our airbnb in Copen. I slept so. much. in the airbnb, and forbid fel to go out to get groceries, cause it was already dark and might be dangerous. She went ahead anyway, sneaking out when I was in deep sleep (!!), and when she came back, I did not notice she left, but noticed the bags of groceries. I was too tired to reprimand her, and continued with my nap, while she prepared some food : ) 

The next day, as per the plan, we wanted to visit Malmo, for IKEA to try their meat balls but we decided to forgo Malmo and went to the National Aquarium Denmark instead : ) (lazyyy) 

The Blue Planet – featuring some sexy curves from 3XN (almost thought it was by Zaha Hadid) 

I spotted a danish Dory fish 

Almost forgot that I had short hair then 

– 
It was always a dream to work in Copenhagen some day but it might be too cold for me. 

– 
Till next time! 
I would definitely reminisce on Iceland and Oslo when the travelling bug bites again : )  

conquering life (one step at a time)

hello there, my old little space.
I thought I’ll pay some attention to you, after reading my fellow bambi’s blog
Lately, I have been reading my old posts and they felt sooo cringe.
I’ve got to accept my present and my embarrassing past as well, unfortunately, i get to reread them here and remember all the good/bad things

I was on leave for 2 days, and had just ended my 3 day stay-cay at mbs.
Left my phone on airplane mode, to let my hair down, to turn myself into a tourist wandering around the place with no worries. In fact, I found out that tranquility can be easily found submerging in a hotter than usual tub. I think everyone should go for onsens more often and find that peace too.

Turns out that there are urgent work matters to reply to, and so I had been working a little here and there on Monday and Tuesday. And, actually I do not mind working, it does help when I am in a peaceful environment, nothing can bother me or upset my day. The thing about leave is that when I am enjoying myself I tend to reflect more, on my current mindset and my well being, and how I can improve that.

For starters, I had just paid for my classes, and for a moment, it felt real. Like I should refocus, concentrate and work hard on it. But it faded just as fast as it reminded me

My current mind is going all over the place, with everything I had on my plate.
And they seem to not interact at all, and is this a good thing?

This is my continuous sequel of fantastic beasts and where to find them (lol), more like multitudinous passions and what to do with them.

Updates on my life at this moment:

1. Fell down (not a bad one)

I used to roller blade quite often, and got pretty scarred by some majorly big falls and tumbled down a ramp. Now I am trying to regain some confidence, but it has been tough.
I know falls are pretty common when it comes to blading, and the start was tough, trying to relearn all my stops and do it perfectly, tried to go through as many man holes and bumps as possible, and that included jumping with skates on someone’s chalk-drawn hopscotch at the basketball court.
I think two weeks ago, was feeling pretty confident and was travelling at full speed down the ramp, but I utilised all different stops, that did not even slow me down. I grabbed the handrails to break my fall, and thankfully, I just got a bruised arm, and I did not tumble.

YES, great job to myself there, knowing that I did not hurt myself, and better yet, did not hurt the oncoming traffic consisting of humans and cyclists hahaha (that would have been a disaster)
So yea, pretty proud of myself there, but wow, I vow to conquer that ramp some day, and that, is a tall order.
And a very longgggg term goal.

2. Hitting it (more frequently)

I have been drumming (since my mum threw away my drum set when I was in uni) and got a shock of my life when it wasnt there anymore. AND I got a new one recently. (hehe)
I felt sooo goddamn rusty. A musical instrument requires practice, and I used to be able to play on demand (lol), like every song, just listen to it for 2 days figuring out the rifts and the basic beats, and go along with it. (okk, not that on demand)
But with anything and everything that I want to balance in my life, I am so busy….
Lol so prolly just gonna prac with my sticks on my pillow, and tune it frequently. I don’t want any complains from my neighbours so am going to strategically only play it after work hours between 630pm – 8pm, and get back to work.

I have to say that the timing of this purchase was impeccable, when I just got the new set, bambi II got herself new keys?!?!?!

T e l e p a t h i c or what

Hahahaha.
Ok well, thats all for today

Hope my future self is proud of these small tumbles and tribulations.