A Place called Home

Suddenly, I am just overwhelmed with the warmth of a home. They say "Home is not where you live, but where they understand you. A home is built with love and dreams." Perhaps in the coldness and darkness of the winter in Umea, a sudden twinge of loneliness swept me. I longed for the warmth, laughter, understanding, joyous and sharing moments with my family and loved ones. I guess I am seeking for a home with warm love and dreams. It doesn’t matter if your family is miles away in another continent. It doesn’t matter if your friends are busy with their lives or away. It also doesn’t matter being a nomad since where one lives is of no importance. But it matters where you can be understood, loved, cared and belonged. It matters where the place are built on the basis of unconditional love, dreams and hopes. It matters when you know there is someone who will care, accept, understand and love you for what you are. "Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to." You just know that the place u can call a home-not a house, mind you, where you feel just right. I seek for my home.

Christmas Candle Light Dinner

Missed the last CNY and Christmas reunion dinner with my loved ones made me felt really grateful having spent a nice, memorable candle light Christmas reunion dinner with my corridor mates in the cozy kitchen of Block 9B in Alidhem. .Swedish crackers, sausage, meat balls,cheese, salad, 'glogg', boiled ham, Swedish 'sushi' (herring in mustard),black granite Shiraz and Swedish liquor were placed for our savouring. The dinner went well with nice chats (mostly in Swedish though;)) along with the tradition Swedish 'bottoms-up' with the 38% alcohol liquor in between meals. It's rather funny to see Swedish being talkative during parties while they are drunk, in contrast to the steroptype of typical Swedish being reserve and quiet:) Nonetheless, the night amazingly went by with a rather cozy and merry mood along with the Christmas songs played in the midst of our laughter. I have retired early,however, despite the fun, I guess due to the alcohol. Haha..an excuse for me to sleep early-I don't wanna get hangover the next day, despite the invitation of going to Corona after drinking. Nonetheless, it was a great dinner!My first typical Swedish Christmas Dinner with my lovely Swedish mates.:)

Heaven is a place nearby (Lene Marlin)

One of my favourite song. Specially dedicated to MSPME 2006/2007.Cheers.

Nobel Prize in Sweden

Today is the award day for the Nobel Prize winners. This award is given every year on the 10th December in memory of the Alfred Nobel's death anniversary, the creator and also the contributor (94% of his total wealth= SEK 31 million) [Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize#Alfred_Nobel.27s_will]. Being close to the venue(Stockholm and Oslo) where this award are presented to the 'noble' people globally, and also witnessing the grand event on the TV over here in Umea, somehow makes me wanna mark this day in my blog.This day reminds me of the great works of great people towards the betterment of our society. The Noble prizes consists of the prize in Peace, Economics (we have met Prof Eric Maskin, one of the Nobel Prize winner who visited Umea University a few months back), Medicine, Physics, Chemistry and Literature.Ironically, this award has been transformed from a traditional local Swedish event into a renowned international events.Ha, I do marvel at the extend of pulicity media can do today. It makes me think though; what genuinely motivates people to make great contribution to the society: sincere inner desires or mere awards and recognition? Also, has the world really becomes a better place for each human being on the earth to live in? Honestly,I am still wondering...

Ginger Cookies in the making

P, our host picked us up at the Aildhem Centrum for the ginger cookies baking session. We were warmly greeted by A and P's daughter, C. We had 'Glogg'-the Scandinavian version of mulled warm red wine,a typical traditional drink for the Swedish during Christmas.Almonds and raisins were also mixed with the beverage. It was indeed an excellent 'welcome drink' for me as it warmed me up from the cold, and it tasted especially superb in the warm, cosy kitchen of P, despite my empty stomach. Oh yeah, we also had traditional Swedish Saffron buns with the shapes of cats (well they were supposed to look like one at least;)). Pretty delicious and a perfect complementary to the 'Glogg'.We made ginger bread after the "brunch"(for me),and we had great fun.A,B,A, I,C and P ; all teamed up to make ginger bread of many different shapes: Love, star,man, angel,pig, moose,women and lots more. Then we started baking and decorating them with M&M candies and sugar cream. All in all, it was really something being able to immerse into a Swedish family, baking Swedish ginger cookies.Our day was capped with a nice dinner (toasted bread with seafood toppings, cabbage soup with meat balls, Julmust (another Swedish typical drink during Christmas-the taste is like cola+beer) and Swedish waffle.. Ah, we also played the compatibility game before we called the day off.Speaking of A, she's just so cool.Being probably in her forties or more, she has an amazing collection of music!!Anja and I saved some songs in my USB including some Swedish ones for our listening pleasure.Also not forgeting Christmas songs to keep me company during the festive season:)We also chatted with 2 of P's daughters and it was really interesting to learn about Swedish social welfare. Honestly, I am amazed by how Swedes are taken care of despite the high taxes. Additionally, I've grown accustomed to the warmth and generosity of this family.Oh, did I also tell you that A lent me her 'super warm waterproof' red trousers, to keep me warm during my coming trip to Kiruna? I am speechless-I just love this family: warm hearted, nice,kind, friendly and open.

Keiko Matsui - Light Above the Trees

One of the best piece I've ever heard.It touches my heart.Hope you like it too!Cheers.

The (Almost) Last Supper with Fi

7th Dec 2007.

We had a farewell dinner with Fi today, before she leaves for Stockholm the next day. H,N,V,E came from Marieham and B,I,B,P and M from Alidhem also joined the crowd to bid Fi a good farewell. We had "chi-kut-teh" (haha....with my last packet of the spices-never thought that it could be so priceless since we can't get that in Umea.So, I was really glad that I shipped it all the way from M'sia through Edinburgh and Milan to Umea.It has come a long way,across the oceans and continents, so it is indeed a treasure!;))I must thank YM for packing that for me before I left for Europe a year ago).Thanks YM!Also,M,P,V and H shared their specialties. Several things happen these few days. Some unfortunate events befall F. Also, at this moment of time, I am pretty sure that many of us are in the crossroads of making important decisions in our lives. Nonetheless, I for one believes that things do happen for (a) reason(s).I guess one just gotta be tough and hang on there to face the challenges ahead. Also, life experiences has taught me that life is a cycle. Bad moments will never last forever and are meant to be a test of faith.Yet happy and the best moments should always be cherished as you never know how long it will last (though I try to be optimistic). Frankly, I am trying to live up to that philosophy: "Live the Moment!"-ha..reminds me of Toru, a Japanese trainee whom I've met 5 years ago in Macedonia.

To cap this day, I came across an amazing piece of music by Keiko Matsui at the youtube.So, hope that you enjoy it.