Aalborg, Denmark

det er svaert

2009-12-31T17:04:55Z

jeg tror, alle er svaert...

man kan ikke forstar...

jeg forstar godt, med moskae ikke alle manneske...

jeg er glad.

SUSeco

2009-11-28T09:42:30Z

i think i like the sound of this, makes you ponder over 2 issues....very value loaded issues though...i should be getting back to work really....

Cities are like humans

2009-11-25T16:12:20Z

A city is just like a human. You may think of it as 2 systemic components:
1) taking inspiration from the blood circulatory system: we can try to introduce some form of cycling of the metabolic throughflow

2) taking inspiration from our digestive systems: some things just cannot be recycled and becomes wastes to the sinks provided by nature

while 2) has been the more common target by technocrats for improvement, 1) has received less attention. How can Singapore improve on 1)?

the path towards sustainability is a challenging one.

quite an interesting stanza...

2009-11-13T21:04:13Z

Remember, life is short,
break the rules, forgive quickly,
kiss slowly, love truly,
laugh uncontrollably & never regret
that made you smile

Love-hate relationship

2009-11-10T21:12:06Z

I guess i've been having several love-hate relationships, with Aalborg for instance and also with my status as an international student. It is amazing how cultural differences can be such a wonderful yet vexing thing simultaneously.

This page has been gathering cobwebs....guess that might be the case for a while....

hej hej!

My bachelor's pad in Aalborg =)

2009-09-05T09:37:30Z

my bike! its 2nd hand but its serving me well so far!

my room!

my "cloakroom"

my kitchen!

my personal bathroom! no sharing required! yoohoo!

still trying to settle in, but its been pretty good living alone so far... =)

serenity...

2009-08-12T21:35:23Z

have the courage to change the things you can,

and the wisdom to accept the things you can't change.

wasser, agua, shui...

2009-07-22T20:18:10Z

Freshwater - Our Limited Global Resource

2009-07-09T16:39:49Z

Use water wisely. Don't let this advice fall on deaf ears.

Solar- The future of our energy

2009-06-30T21:54:35Z

Within 6 hours deserts receive more energy from
the sun than humankind consumes within a year.

Dr. Gerhard Knies
Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the DESERTEC Foundation
Member of the German Association CLUB OF ROME
(Deutsche Gesellschaft CLUB OF ROME)

Preoccupied

2009-04-26T22:57:16Z

Yes its a lame excuse not to update the blog, but things here in Hamburg have been keeping me really busy. I took a short break yesterday morning and headed out to a bazaar. Many interesting discoveries during the visit, and i'm amazed at the things that they sell at the bazaar...

hopefully i find time to upload some photos here...but it takes such a long time to upload the photos...ha...i'm lazy...

Readings, readings, readings

2009-04-19T17:57:21Z

What i learnt from Sustinable Human Development Readings today:

"We will never fix our governments just by getting "better" people, because good people cannot make bad systems work unless they change those systems."

Goerlitz & Wittenberg & (Juliana)!

2009-04-05T20:10:54Z

Goerlitz is located on the border between Poland and Germany. I'm so glad i made a trip there. Apparently the recent Oscar nominee "The Reader" had some of the filming done there. By the way, its a great movie and i thought that Kate Winslet was quite good with her acting in the movie!

Goerlitz has many nice and colourful buildings. I was just admiring the architecture there.

This was a posh cafe place which was too expensive for me (poor student) to visit! :)

Beautiful view from Goerlitz of Poland. =)

Just crossing a bridge brought us over to Poland!

Polish strudel! It was really cheap. For a gigantic huge chunk it cost me only 1.50euros!

My travel companions for the day: Juliana, Christoph and Angst!!! haa....

We finished off our trip to Goerlitz with a sumptuous dinner at Kartoffeln Haus which literally means potato haus. Its really delicious traditional german food!

Wittenberg (Martin Luther)

My travel mates to Wittenberg, from left Monica 1, Monica 2 and Jean (my neighbour) and of cos Juliana was there with me as well!

The beautiful city centre of Wittenberg! with some construction work going on of course...ha

the schlosskirche where Martin Luther was buried and his 95 thesis was engraved onto the doors as seen here.

Wooden figurine of an angel in a church. Quite nicely carved out. Wittenberg was nice, but the company i had on this trip made the trip even more memorable. :)

Thanks!!!

2009-03-12T15:18:33Z

i thought really hard about who could have sent me a package...to my work address to add....

It was a pleasant surprise! thanks Mandy for baking me the wonderful and delicious presents!!!

thanks olaf...

Chemnitz and Halle (March 2009)

2009-03-08T23:12:41Z

weather in Leipzig is unbelievable...it snows often!

Chemnitz
Thanks to Helge who brought me to Chemnitz, i wouldn't have found the motivation to travel there alone with the terrible weather...

Karl Max...

near the Marktplatz in Chemnitz...like the architecture?

Das Siegertsche Haus am Markt

Petrikirche...

Halle...it was great to finally visit Alex in Halle!

Leipziger Turm in Halle...

Streets of Halle...somehow i got the feeling of being in Stockholm! =)

Beautiful Marktplatz!

Moritzburg! great museum!

Friedrich (4months), Uncle Alex (ancient) and Uncle Alex's twin sister Juliana (Friedrich's mum)!

movie night at Alex's parent's house....here's Alex and his sister-in-law..

Halle at a glance....

the coolest car i saw in Halle!!

I hope to be back in Halle for another visit!!!

Viking Age Bjørn Nørgaard.

2009-02-24T20:02:14Z

The day a Swiss guy cooked asian cuisine for me...

2009-02-21T15:57:30Z

My housemate Jean is from Switzerland. Young and talented, and also a pretty good cook as well! Yes, HE was going to cook ASIAN food for me on this night!

"Asian Food"! Swiss-style of course! It tasted good! And i must say, i'm surprised Jean eats rice once almost every other week. As for me, i'd be happy with my pasta! have had too much rice while in sg already...ha

Jean also invited 2 other french friends. They were both really friendly. one travelled to Malta, and the other travelled to Turkey recently! I would really like to go to Turkey one of these days! Malta is also a small little interesting island! hopefully i get to drop by Malta as well!

Jean is also musically talented! he serenade us with a few of his favourite musical pieces....well and here, he's trying to let his french friends have a go on his violin...i was hoping they wouldn't spoil the little violin..it costs 5000euros..

Cool...

2009-02-20T17:01:25Z

Current love

2009-02-14T22:23:53Z

Yes, this is my current love.

wonder what's the price in SG??? can anyone check it out? =p

Questions

2009-02-08T21:41:34Z

yes, i used this photo in my blog before.

Questions:
1) Why am i doing this? Is it worth the effort?
2) Are the germans innately similar to Singaporeans or perhaps its the other way around?

Leipzig....Ostdeutschland

2009-02-06T21:22:11Z

finally, german bread again! one of my first few breakfasts in Leipzig.

more proper pasta, and less of my strange east-west fusion pasta....

i didn't need any pushing to stock up on all my favourite snacks (i.e. junk). Of course, how could i not get the Halloren chocolate? Thanks for introducing that to me Alex!

my room...

my kitchen...

my toilet...

How Halloren chocolates look like!

a parting photo of my room again. =0)

Barcelona Ultimo Dia (Last day)

2009-01-31T10:01:15Z

Throbbing headache for the past 2 days. Symptoms of unwillingness to leave Barcelona?

so what did i do for my last few days in Barcelona?

had the privilege of eating Josep's crepes which were much much better than the last time he made them...

of cos, i had to go and have Josep's fav kebap at Sant cugat...good recommendation although some veggies would help!!

the unforgettable, juicy, delicious and caipirinhna filled buffet!!!!!!!! Thanks Juliana for taking us there! although i was just that tiny wheeny bit late! =) Incidentally, all 3 beautiful brazilian gals are in the photo!!

and how can i miss eating my favourite churros con xocolate negro again? this time i went for 150g!!! don't be jealous jeannice and eunice!!! haa....

oh well, hope to do some more stuff today for the last time, perhaps i'll head to the beach later to see it for the last time though it must be freezing cold....more updates later on....

discrimination

2009-01-28T14:09:19Z

Perhaps it exists in a place like this when it shouldn't. I guess its only human nature to be a little racist. Only reminds me that humans are humans, and are falliable.

Getting things out of one's system is important, otherwise it could have dire consequences both psychologicall and physically, which my Egyptian friend would testament to.

Should we take things so hard, and compare everthing against our prinicples and values? Afterall, weren't they created by ourselves as benchmarks, rather than achievements to be made in actuality? If things don't materialize, then seek comfort in the learning process, for nothing is lost, if we can only learn to appreciate the process rather than just the end product.

End products - the pluralism of values in everything seems to be conveniently ignored too often, when we mercilessly allow ourselves to be subjected to social norms that only teaches us to value ourselves by the sheer (perhaps meaningless) number of successful conquest of "End products".

rambling, rambling...

End of Semester 1

2009-01-28T01:00:19Z

Fought some battles in this first semester.

Won some, lost some, some results are pending.

Although it didn't end on such a fantastic note, i suppose it had been on the whole an enjoyable learning process, although learning and enjoyable seldom goes together for me.

I will miss the friends i've made at UAB, and the passionate professors who have made an impact on my learning. Passion, something i seek in the work i do, in the life that i lead.

cheers.

Updates

2009-01-10T21:26:29Z

Did some shopping in London for my family and myself, so not contributing to Barcelona's economy during their current winter sale.

how trains in Madrid look like when i visited in 2008...

class discussion where we sit around, exchange ideas and free expressions are encouraged...

the land of the Chupa chups! you have to try this when you get there! They are all of this size in Spain eh.

There is a rule that if you want to do well for Ecological Economics (1 of my study modules here), you have to eat what's in the photo here first.

The Catalan University experience will not be complete without some form of protest. ACHTUNG: Participate in it if possible at ur own risk.

Carnivorism towards rabbits are a norm here.

For summer, seen nearby Via Laietania in Barcelona, should i or shouldn't i?

Crema Catalan, which is a traditional dessert here in Catalunya. You have to try this when u are here. most restaurants offer it!

my crappy cooking - pasta with mushrooms. I like mushrooms. Did i mention having collected fresh mushrooms from the nearby mountain for consumption? haa...getting back in touch with gathering food from the wild.

View from our study room at the University. I didn't "photoshop" in the rainbow. Neither did i find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. =p

Espardenyes...traditional catalan footwear...i might just get this...

my latest favourite from demano.net. Have a look at it. Great designers.