POSTED ON: Saturday, February 22, 2014 @ 5:12 PM | 0 comments
The weekends are here!! Been in Stockholm for more than a month now. Quite a few things to share with you guys so I'll blog in a numbered format and keep things short for easy reading!
#1
We celebrated Chinese New Year at Grace's place with a hearty 'reunion' dinner. Chef Grace cooked up a storm and the highlight of the show was Singapore's famous Chilli Crab. It was my 22nd birthday that weekend too. Grace baked me a cheesecake and Blanche bought me a strawberry tart from Lindquists Konditori (:
#2
Booked my tickets to Paris/Switzerland with Grace and Denmark/Germany with Robin. So excited! My daddy has confirmed the date he's coming over to Stockholm too and we'll be travelling Europe together I CAN'T WAIT!!
#3
First exam in Stockholm this Wednesday. There are so many readings and individual assignments to do but thank goodness there aren't any projects for this module. I think I prefer my modules this way as compared to those in SMU.
Modules here are pretty short as compared to those we have in Singapore. The universities here split up their semester into either two or four periods so we take our exams after studying the mod for about 5-6 weeks? And then we move on to the next module. Less things to worry about so we can focus on one subject at a time, but not sure if I get to learn more this way.
#4
Took a ferry and visited the Vasa Museum on one of the weekends and I really loved the old ship. It was made out of wood and simply so grand. The little island there housed a few other museums too and a lovely park. Definitely going back there in Spring. Ended our day with dinner at MBQ restaurant. Had a good time with the SMU peeps (:
#5
As mentioned in the previous post, the Swedes are avid coffee drinkers and hence there are many cafes around for them to get their coffee fix. So far I've only been to one cafe and I absolutely love it.
#6
In desperate need for new nail polish, MUST get my hands on some when I head out later today!
Probably some pastel colours this time!
Take care and drink lots of water everyone! (:
Love,
Lorraine
Hello Stockholm
POSTED ON: Tuesday, February 18, 2014 @ 5:43 AM | 0 comments
A little late for this photo but thank you all for sending me off at the airport.
I really miss you guys truckloads ♥♥♥
Here's the view from my bedroom window. A lovely sight to wake up to every morning (:
It's been exactly a month since I've arrived in Stockholm.
Life here is good, and I love how transport is so convenient and cheap ($100 per month for a card and you can have unlimited bus and train rides everyday). I shall start my first Stockholm post with "5 things about Stockholm", which is probably in contrast to Singapore whether I actually realise it or not.
#1
People here walk really fast. I always thought Singaporeans walk pretty quickly, especially those in the CBD areas as though they are rushing to war. But oh my these Europeans walk even faster, even when we're walking together in a group. People usually slow down when they're walking in a group right? I am half walking and half jogging to catch up with these angmo friends of mine all the time. And when I'm walking around alone, the whole world just overtakes me along the streets. Ain't nobody got time for long strolls here...
#2
Pets are allowed on public transport. Food is allowed too. They even have vending machines at the train platforms and I barely see cleaners hard at work or anything. Despite all these, it's so clean everywhere.
Picture credit: Chen Yen Yu
#3
Little streets like these everywhere. I love these streets and their quaint little shops.
Much better compared to the same old shopping centres we have in Singapore that are pretty much the same island wide.
#4
Food here is extremely expensive. Oh bother, everything here is expensive.
A McDonald's meal in Singapore costs around $5, and the same meal here costs about three times as much. Same goes for things in the supermarket and shoes/clothes/accessories etc.
Back in Singapore, I never had to worry about my expenses. My daddy gave me enough to spend every month and most of my meals were taken care of by my parents. Here, I have to cook my own dinner every night and of course do my own grocery shopping every week. And it really sucks that everything is so expensive and I barely have anything left to spend on other things like clothes/shoes/bags/accessories.
Note to self: however poor I may be, I WILL NOT FREELOAD OFF ANYBODY.
#5
The Swedish people here love coffee. At any time of the day, you'll see people carrying a cup of coffee as they hurry along on the streets. Someone told me these guys drink an average of 6 to 7 cups of coffee per day? I don't think I even drink that many cups in two months.
The weather's getting better, the snow and ice is almost gone and we're experiencing more sun now.
Ending off with a pretty picture of Stockholm.
Picture credit: Cindor
Stay safe everyone (:
Love,
Lorraine
Adventures in Europe
POSTED ON: Thursday, February 13, 2014 @ 10:45 PM | 0 comments
Been in Stockholm, Sweden for about a month or so and I've kind of settled down here. So I'm back to updating the blog, less of nails/nail polish for now and more of my exchange experience in Stockholm. Hope you'll enjoy reading my posts anyway! (:
To start off, a photo of the two bottles of polish I've purchased in Stockholm within the first 4 weeks. The one on the left is Maybelline's new nail polish range called ColoRama. The polish is Bubblicious, a bright hot pink polish with a really glossy finish. I bought it for around $8 and for that price, the formula is great and the brush is wide enough for easy application. Guess I'll purchase the other colours from this collection soon.
The one on the right is from H&M for only 10SEK which is approximately $2. The formula is acceptable and the brush is pretty small but I guess I am satisfied with the quality given I only paid $2 for it. I'm not sure if it's because of the different formula here or the dry weather but these polishes dry pretty quickly so no manicure mess for me!
*****
Left sunny Singapore for a six month long journey of adventure and self-discovery. Definitely not easy for someone who never had to worry about mundane tasks like settling my own meals, washing and ironing my own clothes/bed linen and even wandering around on my own in a foreign country with barely any English signs.
We bid goodbye to our dear Singapore on 11th Jan and Blanche, Grace and I flew off to our first holiday destination in Finland. The little town of Rovaniemi was lovely. We visited the Santa Claus Village, met dear Santa, sent some postcards back to Singapore from Santa's Post Office (with the help of Santa's little elves), went on husky rides and reindeer rides and even had a taste of some reindeer meat (I'm sorry!).
I love the Santa Claus Village!
Yeah I wish I was even capable of building such a huge snowman!
We headed further up North to Ivalo where we checked into our Glass Igloos for two nights! See the sled at the side? We were sliding down the hills and crashing into heaps of snow all day long with it (:
No sign of the Northern Lights but the beautiful scenery and a snowmobile safari was good enough for us!
Snow angel!!
So we bid goodbye to Finland after a week full of fluffy snow and friendly locals, and we're off to Sweden.
Layout: The grey bunny hops away ★ Ever since: 2011
I have a fetish for unicorns and whales, I live in Narnia. Do not fret, dear friends, for I have candy for all of you. Okay, you get the point. About you, wish list, your gallery, Tagboard here.
Do not remove credit, for I have a dragon that can eat you up. Thank you!
POSTED ON: Saturday, February 22, 2014 @ 5:12 PM | 0 comments
The weekends are here!! Been in Stockholm for more than a month now. Quite a few things to share with you guys so I'll blog in a numbered format and keep things short for easy reading!
#1
We celebrated Chinese New Year at Grace's place with a hearty 'reunion' dinner. Chef Grace cooked up a storm and the highlight of the show was Singapore's famous Chilli Crab. It was my 22nd birthday that weekend too. Grace baked me a cheesecake and Blanche bought me a strawberry tart from Lindquists Konditori (:
#2
Booked my tickets to Paris/Switzerland with Grace and Denmark/Germany with Robin. So excited! My daddy has confirmed the date he's coming over to Stockholm too and we'll be travelling Europe together I CAN'T WAIT!!
#3
First exam in Stockholm this Wednesday. There are so many readings and individual assignments to do but thank goodness there aren't any projects for this module. I think I prefer my modules this way as compared to those in SMU.
Modules here are pretty short as compared to those we have in Singapore. The universities here split up their semester into either two or four periods so we take our exams after studying the mod for about 5-6 weeks? And then we move on to the next module. Less things to worry about so we can focus on one subject at a time, but not sure if I get to learn more this way.
#4
Took a ferry and visited the Vasa Museum on one of the weekends and I really loved the old ship. It was made out of wood and simply so grand. The little island there housed a few other museums too and a lovely park. Definitely going back there in Spring. Ended our day with dinner at MBQ restaurant. Had a good time with the SMU peeps (:
#5
As mentioned in the previous post, the Swedes are avid coffee drinkers and hence there are many cafes around for them to get their coffee fix. So far I've only been to one cafe and I absolutely love it.
#6
In desperate need for new nail polish, MUST get my hands on some when I head out later today!
Probably some pastel colours this time!
Take care and drink lots of water everyone! (:
Love,
Lorraine
Hello Stockholm
POSTED ON: Tuesday, February 18, 2014 @ 5:43 AM | 0 comments
A little late for this photo but thank you all for sending me off at the airport.
I really miss you guys truckloads ♥♥♥
Here's the view from my bedroom window. A lovely sight to wake up to every morning (:
It's been exactly a month since I've arrived in Stockholm.
Life here is good, and I love how transport is so convenient and cheap ($100 per month for a card and you can have unlimited bus and train rides everyday). I shall start my first Stockholm post with "5 things about Stockholm", which is probably in contrast to Singapore whether I actually realise it or not.
#1
People here walk really fast. I always thought Singaporeans walk pretty quickly, especially those in the CBD areas as though they are rushing to war. But oh my these Europeans walk even faster, even when we're walking together in a group. People usually slow down when they're walking in a group right? I am half walking and half jogging to catch up with these angmo friends of mine all the time. And when I'm walking around alone, the whole world just overtakes me along the streets. Ain't nobody got time for long strolls here...
#2
Pets are allowed on public transport. Food is allowed too. They even have vending machines at the train platforms and I barely see cleaners hard at work or anything. Despite all these, it's so clean everywhere.
Picture credit: Chen Yen Yu
#3
Little streets like these everywhere. I love these streets and their quaint little shops.
Much better compared to the same old shopping centres we have in Singapore that are pretty much the same island wide.
#4
Food here is extremely expensive. Oh bother, everything here is expensive.
A McDonald's meal in Singapore costs around $5, and the same meal here costs about three times as much. Same goes for things in the supermarket and shoes/clothes/accessories etc.
Back in Singapore, I never had to worry about my expenses. My daddy gave me enough to spend every month and most of my meals were taken care of by my parents. Here, I have to cook my own dinner every night and of course do my own grocery shopping every week. And it really sucks that everything is so expensive and I barely have anything left to spend on other things like clothes/shoes/bags/accessories.
Note to self: however poor I may be, I WILL NOT FREELOAD OFF ANYBODY.
#5
The Swedish people here love coffee. At any time of the day, you'll see people carrying a cup of coffee as they hurry along on the streets. Someone told me these guys drink an average of 6 to 7 cups of coffee per day? I don't think I even drink that many cups in two months.
The weather's getting better, the snow and ice is almost gone and we're experiencing more sun now.
Ending off with a pretty picture of Stockholm.
Picture credit: Cindor
Stay safe everyone (:
Love,
Lorraine
Adventures in Europe
POSTED ON: Thursday, February 13, 2014 @ 10:45 PM | 0 comments
Been in Stockholm, Sweden for about a month or so and I've kind of settled down here. So I'm back to updating the blog, less of nails/nail polish for now and more of my exchange experience in Stockholm. Hope you'll enjoy reading my posts anyway! (:
To start off, a photo of the two bottles of polish I've purchased in Stockholm within the first 4 weeks. The one on the left is Maybelline's new nail polish range called ColoRama. The polish is Bubblicious, a bright hot pink polish with a really glossy finish. I bought it for around $8 and for that price, the formula is great and the brush is wide enough for easy application. Guess I'll purchase the other colours from this collection soon.
The one on the right is from H&M for only 10SEK which is approximately $2. The formula is acceptable and the brush is pretty small but I guess I am satisfied with the quality given I only paid $2 for it. I'm not sure if it's because of the different formula here or the dry weather but these polishes dry pretty quickly so no manicure mess for me!
*****
Left sunny Singapore for a six month long journey of adventure and self-discovery. Definitely not easy for someone who never had to worry about mundane tasks like settling my own meals, washing and ironing my own clothes/bed linen and even wandering around on my own in a foreign country with barely any English signs.
We bid goodbye to our dear Singapore on 11th Jan and Blanche, Grace and I flew off to our first holiday destination in Finland. The little town of Rovaniemi was lovely. We visited the Santa Claus Village, met dear Santa, sent some postcards back to Singapore from Santa's Post Office (with the help of Santa's little elves), went on husky rides and reindeer rides and even had a taste of some reindeer meat (I'm sorry!).
I love the Santa Claus Village!
Yeah I wish I was even capable of building such a huge snowman!
We headed further up North to Ivalo where we checked into our Glass Igloos for two nights! See the sled at the side? We were sliding down the hills and crashing into heaps of snow all day long with it (:
No sign of the Northern Lights but the beautiful scenery and a snowmobile safari was good enough for us!
Snow angel!!
So we bid goodbye to Finland after a week full of fluffy snow and friendly locals, and we're off to Sweden.
