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October 06 NewsA double hungry ghost month (apparently due to a lunar leap-year - it happens each 13th year) has been replaced by the Mid Autumn festival month with its moon cakes and lantern festivals.
It is actually very festive here in Singapore these days, as lanterns decorate most of Singapore, Little India is lit up to celebrate Deepavali (hindu festival), and Geylang and Malay Village is swarming with people breaking fast after sunset (Hari Raya, or Ramadan, is currently celebrated in the muslim community).
And I am stuck inside studying.
Yes, I have again become a student. I will again sweat over books trying to understand what it all means, while the enclosing deadlines for essays and reports are looming ever closer and the stress level increases every day.
Why and What, I hear you ask.
Well, for the What first; I have started a BSc (Hons) in Applied Psychology with Derby University. It is through something called eLearning, and as the name suggests it is 100% online study (some of the exams has to be sat, but can be done at a British Council, and I do have to visit Derby once during the course, but I recon that can be done without too much suffering..).
Then for the Why; Well, I've been travelling and living around the world and I find myself more and more curious about why people act the way they do and think the way they do. I've also found myself with a lot of spare time on my hands here, so I thought I'd give it a go.
It's a part-time program, and I can decide how many courses I want to take each semester. I also pay only for the courses I take, so I reconed I'd might as well give it a go.
And aquired knowledge is never a bad thing, even if I decide it is not for me and quit after a while.
I must admit to being very nervous and having some problems getting back into the whole studying thing again, though.. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
There is nothing else new, really. Which is why I haven't posted much here lately. We're living very relaxed, normal lives.. I don't suppose you're at all interested that we bought an extra carton of juice yesterday, or the fact that my bread baking has been less successful lately (I'm suspect it might be because I keep the flour in the freezer now).
A few things of interest perhaps:
Went for a weekend to Kuala Lumpur a few weeks back. Walked around a little, saw the Petronas Towers, went up the telecommunication tower.. But mainly we stayed in a very nice hotel and spent a lot of time just relaxing and enjoying it.
Erik found out that his cholesterol is very high, so his diet has had to change a little. Also, he's stopped smoking (ghasp!, I hear.. Yes, it's true! He's been completely cigarette free since Monday (5 days!)!). We've also started taking Omega 3 and antioxidants.
Hopefully it's because of his chemo last year, and they will check it again in a few months to see how it's going.
That's about it. Now I'd better get back to my books.. I've got a 700+ page in Social Psychology waiting for me.
Have a great autumn (yeah, right!) and don't forget my birthday ;-) July 31 Hungry Ghost MonthAs promised, here is some more information about the Hungry Ghost Month: Da Jui, or commonly known as The Hungry Ghost Festival, occurs on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month. Da Jui seeks to pacify the ghosts of strangers, the lonely, the wondering and the uncared for. According to the Chinese mythology, the gates of hell will open in the seventh lunar month. Spirits and ghosts are allowed to roam the earth and find the comfort they desire. Chinese street operas (wayang) will be staged to entertain these "guests", and it is believed that the front rows of seats would be taken up by the spirits and ghosts and so they would be left vacant. The seventh lunar month is considered the most dangerous month of the year. It is during this time that the souls of the loved ones live close to the alive. The souls can take up different forms, appearing as snakes, moths, birds, foxes, wolves, tigers and so on. They can appear as beautiful men or women to seduce the living. They can possess an individual by entering the body and cause illness and mental disorders. Ancestral spirits that are well fed and well cared for will bring good fortune. Souls of those who died on their own, like in accidents such as drowning or even suicides, are denied entry into heaven. These souls search for other souls, even the innocent ones, to fill up their posts in hell. Special attention will also be given to the "hungry ghosts" and the "lonely ghosts" as they have no living descendants and can easily get bad-tempered and destructive during their "vacation" back to Earth. To prevent them from doing any harm to the living or the dead, the Chinese would use lanterns to distract them, or make sacrifices and burn "hell notes" or "paper replicas" for them to use in the underworld. This is done in a safe place outside their homes (to prevent them from coming in) to "bribe" these disturbed souls. So you can tell that not only ghosts, even humans will benefit from this "vacation". The Chinese have over the years become paper-mache craftsmen. They fashion complete wardrobes, cars, airplanes, furniture, money and other necessities of life out of paper, and these folk art forms are burned as offerings. This act of offerings gifts to the ghosts by burning such paper replicas generally takes place on the pavements and is quiet a colourful scene. Everyone is constantly on the lookout for ghosts, as they can take on human form at will during this time. One way to spot a ghost is to look at their feet, because it is believed that their feet never touch the ground. In China during the late summer, swimming pools and beaches are empty, the roads are uncrowded and no one seems to want to go outdoors after sunset. Weddings have been postponed and important business deals have been re-scheduled. An aura of fear and caution has engulfed the entire country. In Singapore, it being a more modern and culturally diverse country, people are less fearful (the pools and beaches are definitively not empty) but most of the traditions around the festival are still observed. So expect to se plenty of little fires where people burn their offerings, as well as little “altars” with food and incense sticks. Found in the middle of the "Ghost Month", the Chung Yuan Festival is one of the most auspicious days. Huge spreads are set out in the temple courtyards, common corridors and even at homes. They are overflowing with sacrificial offerings of meat, fish, vegetables, canned foods and alcoholic beverages. Tall bamboo poles with hanging lanterns are erected at the temple gates to guide the ghosts to the banquets inside, and Chinese operas are performed non-stop to entertain the ghosts while they "dine." After the banquet is finished, the temples are filled with "tou teng" which are containers filled with rice and topped with symbolic evil-dispelling objects like knives, umbrellas and mirrors. It is still a mystery how the Hungry Ghost Month came about. Taoists believe that the month honors the birthday of Yenlo Wang, the Demon King. Buddhists believe a legend about a man named Mu Lan who travelled to Hades to visit his recently deceased mother. She was evil and selfish on Earth, and when Mu Lan arrived he found her hungry and tormented. He tried to feed her, but the food turned to ashes every time it touches her lips. When he returned to Earth, Mu Lan asked his Buddhist master if his mother could be saved. The monk replied that she could only achieve salvation if Mu Lan could prepare food and drink offerings for all lost souls, and if all the monks and nuns chant and pray for her. Word of warning for the Hungry Ghost Month: During the seventh lunar month, be advised to be home early, preferably before dark. Look out for "white circles" on the floor and do not step on any incense or sacrifices. Try not to marry during this period, and no one should go for long or dangerous journeys, like sea voyages. And do not offend the dead. July 25 Finally..I know, I've been incredibly lazy lately. No excuses. Just pure laziness.
Anyway; I've started adding some of the pictures from my summer holiday, so at the moment you can enjoy looking at the beauty of Northern Norway (Helgeland).
More will certainly follow.. Won't it?
Also due to my excessive laziness, not much has happened in our lives here in Singapore lately. Most of our friends have been back in Norway so the social scene has been rather quiet.
This is sure to change as they are all due to return shortly (school starts again next week).
There are also some exciting events coming up here in Singapore.
Firstly, the Hungry Ghost month starts today which means staying out late might get very spooky indeed (more on this in a later entry). Secondly it is Singapore's National Day on the 9th August (Hurrah!), and thirdly my family is coming over to visit next week. It's my dad's 60th birthday on the National Day so that should be a great day of celebration. I can't wait to show them around Singapore!
But more on all of this as the events unfold.
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Jeg har bestemt meg for ikke å oversette det jeg skriver heretter. Hvis noen synes det er litt dumt og gjerne vil jeg skal fortsette, så er det bare å sende meg en melding. Kan ikke love at jeg gjør det likevel, men det er nå verdt et forsøk .... ;-) May 24 Summertime!The "season" is over and it's time for a break. The expat community is preparing for summer, which generally means that the wives and children go home for a month or two and the husband stays behind. He gets to join them for a few weeks, or perhaps a whole month if he is lucky. That's what long school holidays and short company leave does for a family..
We're not so different.. I'm off "home" today, and Erik will join me in about a week's time. We're staying away until the beginning of July, when we'll both be back here. It's a little early; I think we are the first ones to leave, but with a school reunion and a 60th birthday to celebrate the choice was easy.
Quite a few things have happened since I last wrote. All good, fortunately.
First off we went to Vietnam for a few days during the Mayday break. It was a really good experience. A truly fantastic country!
We went only to Ho Chi Minh City (former Saigon) this time, but we will definitively go back to see more.
The people were warm arnd friendly, with a great sense of humour.. I never saw them lose their temper even in the worse traffic jam.. And we saw a bad one (we arrived in the middle of a thunder storm and the streets were completely flooded. Not a good thing when a few million motorbikes are trying to get home..)! The just laughed and waited patiently. That would not have happended back home...
Visiting Saigon was quite an experience.. There was still a lot of buildings to be recognised from the time of the war, and the scars were still visible some places. We didn't see it ourselves, but were told that outside of the city there are large areas still devastated from the napalm and Agent Orange used during the war.
It is still hard to imagine what it must have been like at the time. It is such a modern city, despite its apparent sleepiness. There were new coffeeshops set up everywhere, fancy boutiques, trendy bars, and the hotels could rival any major city.
And the people does not seem the slightest bitter. That was probably the most amazing. We saw several American tourists being welcomed with big smiles by the locals. Young people speak English, wear clothes with the American flag on it, and listen to American pop music. Perhaps it is all a facade, but I choose to believe it is not.
I could rant on forever about the great markets with their colourful people and produce, the great bargains to be found, the food, the drink, the spas, the tours... But I think you should go see for yourself.
After getting back from Vietnam there's been a few celebrations amongst the Norwegians here in Singapore (and elsewhere for that matter).
The 7th May was confirmation Sunday. We were lucky enough to be invited to Trine Lise's celebration, who is the daugther of our friends Åse & Tom. Trying very hard not to remember how long it is since it was us wearing the white gowns, wondering how much money... I mean, how many presents... I mean, reflecting over the seriousness of the moment.. ahem..
The church service was followed by a very nice dinner with speaches and songs, and we finished the evening by watching football before retiring way too late.. But at least Arsenal ensured their place in the Champions League next season..
More will follow later. April 14 Happy Easter!I haven't written much lately, simply because there's not too much to tell..
We've been busy with the usual, everyday stuff. Hanging out with friends, watching football at the weekend, working out (not that it shows or anything..), shopping, planning travels..
We've finally started to travel again. Erik's been so busy with work lately, that we haven't been able to go anywhere. Two months completely without travel is pretty unusual for us!
First, I went to Johor Bahru for a day of shopping with my girlfriends. JB is just across the border in Malaysia, and the prices are a lot lower than in Singapore. Watch out for my new designer bags, levi's jeans, and t-shirts that are a little bit too small (Asian sizes...)!
First weekend in April we went to Bintan, which is an Indonesian island just 45 minutes by boat from Singapore. Great place for a weekend break; Beaches, sunshine, cheap alcohol and cigarettes, and not much else to do than relax.
A few days after that, I went to Bangkok with my friend Kari. Just us two girls, and you would think that would have been all about shopping but we actually did some sightseeing as well. And we ended up not buying much anyway.. We're not shopaholics, and I think we were a little overwhelmed. There is so much stuff, so noisy, dirty, polluted, and so chaotic. But very interesting, and actually very charming. I like Bangkok.. Inspite of it seediness, its tragedies, and its poverty. And the food is fab! It's Thai-food, after all. And, compared with Singapore anyway, it is very cheap!
I will definitively go back there. More time is needed to get to know the place properly, and with it being so close to Singapore and the airfare being so cheap I don't think it will be too long..
Next up, however, is Vietnam. We're off to Saigon (Hoh Chi Minh) in a couple of weeks, and I'm very excited!!
At the moment it is Easter. In Singapore it doesn't mean much, just a day off (today) really. No Easter decorations in the shops and in town, and no "Easter food" in the restaurants and shops.
The Norwegians here talk about it a lot, though. They all seem to miss going skiing.. Not me, though! Not at all! As far as I'm concerned, this Easter in the sun (although it's actually raining today) is perfect!
I've created two new photo albums: Bintan and Bangkok.
Happy Easter!
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Jeg har ikke skrevet mye her i det siste og det er rett og slett fordi det har ikke skjedd noe spesielt.. Bare vanlig hverdag.
Vi har vært travelt opptatt med vanlige ting; Tilbrakt tid med venner, sett fotball i helgene, trening (ikke at det har hatt noe synlig effekt..), shopping, reiseplanlegging..
Vi har endelig begynt å reise litt igjen. Erik har hatt det så travelt på jobb etter jul at vi har ikke vært noe sted. To måneder uten reising er ganske uvant for oss!
Først dro jeg på dagstur til Johor Bahru med "jentene" for å shoppe. JB er rett over grensen i Malaysia og alt er mye billigere enn her i Singapore. Perfekt for å handle "designer" vesker, for eksempel...
Første helgen i april dro vi til Bintan, som er en Indonesisk øy bare 45 minutter med båt fra Singapore. Et perfekt sted å dra på helgetur: Vakre strender, solskinn, billig røyk, billig alkohol, og ikke mye annet å gjøre enn å slapp av!
Et par dager etterpå dro jeg til Bangkok sammen Kari. Bare oss to jenter, om man skulle kanskje tro at det ble en ren shoppingtur, men vi fikk faktisk med oss en del sightseeing også. Vi endte faktisk opp med å ikke handle noe særlig.. Vi er ikke så veldig shoppefanatikere, og jeg tror nesten det ble litt for mye. Det er så mye "greier" i Bangkok.. Så mye bråk, så skittent, forurenset og kaotisk. Men det er også en veldig interessant by, og faktisk ganske sjarmerende. Jeg liker Bangkok.. på tross av alle tragedier, fattigdom, og skjebner man ser hele tiden.
Og maten er jo helt fantastisk! Det er jo Thaimat tross alt! Og billig!
Jeg skal helt klart tilbake. Kun et par timers flytur til en billigpenge gjør det ikke akkurat avskrekkende.
For øyeblikket er det påske. Her betyr ikke det så mye, bare en offentlig fridag (langfredag) egentlig. Ingen påskekyllinger i butikkvinduene og ingen påskemat på restauranter og i matbutikkene.
Nordmennene her snakker ganske mye om det. Det virker som om alle savner påsketuren på ski.. Det gjør ikke jeg! Snø, kaldt og ski er ikke noe for meg. For meg er en påske i solen (selv om det regner her i dag) helt perfekt!
Jeg har lagt til to nye fotoalbum: Bintan og Bangkok.
God Påske! March 23 Spring - VårSpringtime, and in Singapore that really doesn't mean a lot. The weather is a little warmer and a little less rainy, some new people have arrived, and some "oldies" are talking about moving home this summer. That's about it. I'm not complaining, but the changing of the seasons is one of the few things I miss here.
Since the last update, Erik's been having a check-up at the hospital and everything still looks good. Even the insurance company has finally decided to pay our massive chemo-bill, so all is well on the medical-hospital-front.
As you have probably already noticed, I've added to new photo albums; One from the Ladies' lunch at the Norwegian Seamen's Church, and one from Christian's 50th birthday party.
The Ladies' lunch is a bi-annual event with a theme, and this time it was India. The decorations was Indian-style, the food was Indian, a lot of the ladies wore Indian clothes, and the entertainment was.. well.. Indian-themed. Sort of..
The food was great and it was fun to see all those colourful Indian dresses. And the entertainment was really good.. Very funny and a little scary.
One of our "new" friends, Christian, was 50 last week and there was a big party to celebrate the fact. It was an excellent party, and I think everybody had a good time. We managed to keep the hosts up until about 6am, for which we are not at all sorry.... ;-)
We are really fortunate to have got so many great friends here!
Erik's been busy playing football every weekend. The team, Buona Vista Saints, was in the Mini League (5 teams) and almost managed to get to the final. If only the Brits had beaten the Belgians... As it was, I think they ended up 3rd, which isn't so bad.. Just look at the photos!
That's about it for news about what we've been up to. In the weeks ahead we're planning to travel a little; Bintan for a weekend, a few days to Bangkok, a trip to Hoh Chi Minh in Vietnam, a "guy's weekend" in Phuket, and then home at the end of May/beginning of June. No wonder we're always broke!
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Det er vår og i Singapore betyr ikke det så mye. Været er litt varmere og det regner litt mindre, noen nye mennesker har flyttet hit og noen av de "gamle" har begynt å planlegge å flytte hjem til sommeren. Men det er det hele.. Ikke for å klage, men årstidene (og spesielt våren) er noen av de få tingene jeg savner her.
Siden jeg sist skrev en oppdatering har Erik vært til legen for en "check-up", og alt ser fremdeles bra ut. Til og med forsikringsselskapet har endelig bestemt seg for å betale den gigantiske cellegiftregningen vår, så alt er vel på sykehus/sykdom/medisin-fronten.
Som du sikkert allerede har lagt merke til så har jeg lagt til to nye fotoalbum: Ett fra Damelunsjen på Sjømannskirken, og ett fra Christian's 50-årsdag.
Damelunsjen er en halvårlig begivenhet med et tema, og denne gangen var det India. Dekorasjonene var indisklignende, maten var indisk, mange av damene kom i indiske klær og underholdningen var.. en slags indisk..
Maten var kjempegod og det var gøy å se alle de fargerike klærne. Og underholdningen var kjempebra! Veldig morsom og litt skummel..
En av våre "nye" venner, Christian, feiret sin 50-årsdag forrige helg, og festen sto i stil til det runde året. Ingen skal påstå at 50 er gammelt! Det var en super flott fest og jeg tror alle hadde det kjempefint. Vi klarte å holde vertskapet våkne til ca kl 0600! Ganske godt gjort, synes vi.
Vi er skikkelig heldig som har fått så mange gode venner her nede. Det betyr mye og vi setter stor pris på dem!
Erik har spilt fotballkamp hver helg i det siste. Laget, Buona Vista Saints, var med i "The Mini League" (5-lags liga) og kom nesten til finalen. Hvis bare britene hadde slått belgierene.. Det ble visst 3. plass, og det var jo ikke så ille egentlig... Bare se bildene!
Det var visst det hele når det gjelder nyheter herfra. I ukene framover planlegger vi å reise litt: Til Bintan en helg, et par dager i Bangkok, en tur til Hoh Chi Minh, en "guttetur" til Phuket og så hjem i slutten av mai/begynnelsen av juni. Ikke rart vi alltid er blakke!! |
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