It's strange how patriotic one becomes whilst away from home.. was watching the Singapore-Malaysia match and i must admit that it absolutely touched my heart to see so many red shirts cheering their compatriot on.. kinda reminded me of the last time i made a trip down to the National Stadium. Not only that, i'm also impressed by the fighting spirit displayed by our fellow countrymen on the pitch. Of course, one thing for sure.. I am overwhelmed by the fact that we beat Malaysia! ;)

Nothing much to blog about lately.. it's been just school and dorm for me... so just some random pics to keep you guys updated... Miss you guys back at home!

Check out the sheer number of bikes parked outside just one building of my school premises... comparable to that of any typical bike kiosk in Singapore.

A typical classroom setting within my school
The lecture theatres here are really small and cosy unlike those in NUS.
There's even a clothes rack for us to hang our jackets in every classroom or LT.
This is really interesting.. you can find a room in every building equipped with one whole panel of microwave ovens for us to heat up the food we bring from home or purchase from the cafeterias within the campus.

The layer of snow is almost as thick as the table top already.

And lastly, just to let you guys know that i'm surviving well cooking my own meals! =P

For the first time this winter, the streets of Linkoping were covered with snow which came pouring for several hours amidst the weekend shopping spirit... it was genuinely a beautiful sight with unblemished white snow everywhere.. adds a belated xmas spirit to the place indeed... but it gets really irritating once you find that the snow comes blowing at you from all directions while you're trembling out in the cold..

Downtown shopping was real fun.. havent had such retail therapy for some time.. realised that there is actually cheap clothing in Sweden.. Visited the famous Linkoping Cathedral finally.. it really looked majestic and holy on the outside while the inside gives an absolutely solemn feel.. it is supposedly the tallest landmark in Linkoping since the buildings here are a maximum of only 5 storeys high...

Grocery shopping seems to be the "in" thing for me now.. kinda do that like almost everyday... comparing the prices of groceries sold at different supermarts and doing shrewd calculations to go for the cheapest bargain.. that's basically part and parcel of the life of a student studying abroad i guess.. alright, time for some pics...

My fellow NUS friend, Alan Frosted water puddle: A prelude to the snow..

The famous Cathedral:

Inside the Cathedral:

Snow- covered pedestrian walkways

Even the pigeon is taking shelter under a bench from the blistering cold.. haha

How do you differentiate the road from the walkway?

The street with the so-called "Mr Bean" lights

Crazy Alan fulfilling one of his fantasies by savouring an ice-cream out in the snow

The snow got so bad that we could hardly make out what's shown on the board

They say that cloudless days are usually much colder cos there's a lack of cloud cover to trap the heat ... i can very well testify to that man... today seemed to be the brightest and sunniest day ever... but somehow it feels very much colder than the rest of the mornings..

Headed back downtown today.. kinda like a photo-taking and shopping day... LOL.. went to check out H&M finally (under the orders of lr) and the stuff there were like REALLY CHEAP... going at like 50 to 70% discounts mostly... and i couldnt resist but got myself a Tee only...costs me only 10SGD... dirt cheap!

Linkoping National Library

Linkoping Train Station

Cathedral Downtown

There you have it.. H&M for you, LR

My Only Acquisition

Dinner was simple... we just bought frozen pizza from the grocery and heated it up at my dorm's kitchen.. Kinda like a routine nowadays to cook dinner at my place since my kitchen is the cleanest of all.. =) Just last night we cooked a HUGE pot of mushroom and chicken rice with scrambled eggs.. Kinda like the first proper home-cooked meal we had for some time... but it's really easy to prepare.. think we should just try to modify the recipe to suit other ingredients... Anyway Martin introduced us to a new swedish drink called the Glögg which is consumed together with raisins and nuts.. pretty good the taste.. a lil' like ribena... haha

Tasty Mushroom and Chicken Rice =)

School's starting tmr... kinda still in the holiday mood man... Oh well registering for modules' such a pain in the neck! =(

Imagine running in the early hours of the day with a surrounding temperature of only 5 degrees celsius.. the feeling of having cold air beating against your face whilst running and yet not a single drop of sweat at all after that is absolutely brilliant.. Well that's what i did exactly... ran to and back from campus which is like 2-3 km away... guess i'll try to keep up with this regime as and when i can afford the time...

Anyway, had an enjoyable time at Martin's place last night... he invited most of his current and previous exchange students to his apartment down town... Martins's apartment was even more spacious than our dorm.. and he had like a HUGE collection of pirated DVDs and a variety of game consoles like the antique Nintendo, PS2, Gamecube etc.. coupled with his newly won 42" Flat Screen TV... Well, each one of us had to prepare a dish.. kinda like potluck in singapore... I was in charge of making Swedish meatballs under the careful guidance of Martin... and i had to say it was a good first attempt.. i kinda grasp the secret recipe... Laughter and music filled the night and i gotta know a couple more new friends...

My Masterpiece..

Before
After
The Feast
Me and Bjorn (the Clown)

Peter and me

Checked out the Mac at campus and the Burger King down town.. realised that the normal meals here usually cost around 50 Kronor (equivalent to around 10 sgd).. the Burger King here charges 5 kronor for the use of its washroom!! However, it's pretty cool when you get to play Gamecube for free.. And to justify my previous post on the Swedish being environmental friendly... they actually clear their own trays into bins for different materials.. And over at the grocery store, we spotted a machine meant for collecting recycled cans or bottles... Apparently, the people here pay a higher price for the beverages at the grocery store but they do get reimbursed as long as they bring the used containers down for recycling... COOL stuff! =)

Recycling Bins at BK

Free Gamecube within BK

He's recycling his containers and getting money out of it!

Ready-made Swedish Meatballs at 19.90 Kronor(cant beat the homemake ones!)

出前一丁 in Sweden??

Snowy Linkoping

It finally started snowing today!! i got up at 9 today.. kinda adapting to the timezone finally and wanted to go for a run... To my pleasant surprise, i saw frost on the grass and the vehicles parked outside my dorm... i reckoned that it had started snowing last night but had stopped by the time i woke up.. anyway today's gotta be the coldest day since i came over.. only 2 degrees here... waited with Martin outside the Hemkop for Yaozong and Junli for nearly an hour... strangely, the sun was shining for the first time yet it was freaking cold out here... so cold that when we spoke, we could see smoke coming out of our mouths... Anyway there was this crazy little high school girl wearing just a tank-top despite the freezing temperatures..

The Mail Vehicle

Carpark Ticketing Machine

First Ray of Sunlight

Absolute Madnesssss

Checked out the prices for a haircut in Ryd... it costs a bloody 255-285 kronors for just a haircut.. depending on the time of the day... RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE!!! think i'm just not going to cut my hair till i get back to Singapore...

The Barber Shop at Ryd where I stay

After settling all the paperwork and stuff, we headed down to ikea again to do some shopping... finally got the rest of the stuff that i needed... tried out the sausage at ikea too... darn cheap... just 5 kronor.. but maybe i should cut down on sausages soon.. been having way too many this week...

Rotating Entrance of Ikea

Back at Stora Torget, it was turning real dark and suddenly, it started snowing real heavily (or at least it was heavy for me) ... we were feeling really shivery though we had our down jackets and gloves on.. we had our Linner (Lunch + Dinner) at a eatery down town... this eatery served mainy kebab, burgers and pizzas... the servings were unusually large and we kinda struggled to finish our food.. The burgers were like those that you get from Carl's Junior in Singapore.. Absolutely HUMONGOUS!! I'm switching to KETCHUP nowadays cos i cant seem to find any chili sauce in the eateries.. =(

Yaozong and Junli

Martin and Me

Check out the Patty!