That's it.... it's almost the end...

The exams are over. I passed. Happy? Maybe yes, maybe no. How nice of some people who want me to fail the exam just so that I can extend my stay by one more month to take the re-exam in January. Right now, you must be thinking "yeah yeah, go ahead and fail it. Miss the lessons back in Singapore." But I guess, it's not more of the wanting you to fail the exam for real. I was just saying that it was nice of them to wanting me to stay.

*Farewell BMC*

*Goodbye Universitets Bibliotek*

After the oral exam, had a mini celebration with Gudrún at this Irish Bar known as The Old Bull. It was a fairly nice pub to chill out in, one that I never thought I'd step in ever. The ambience was fantastic, and there was this table filled with customers whom I assume are from a choir group as they were singing Christmas carols as they're drinking and they sang fantastically well!

*The Old Bull*

*Nachos and Red Wine*

*Gudrún and I*

*A gift from Gudrún*

Came back home and hung out with my neighbours at the corridor because everyone is leaving within this week. It's kinda sad that everyone is dispersing so soon already. But 天下无不散之宴席. Like what I have told Gudrún, which she also agreed, at the bar earlier, "This semester has really been a dream. When I go back, it'd be back to reality... the harsh reality."

*My Belgian neighbours - Pieter-Jan(L) and Tim(R)*

*With Amie from N. Carolina in the U.S.*

I'll be leaving town for a week. I will be heading to Kiruna to freeze myself off! Woohoo.... Till then, vi ses!

Saint Lucia's Day

Nothing much to say except that the Saint Lucia's Concert was really excellent. Basically St. Lucia's Day is observed to usher in the Christmas season. Street performances as well as the traditional Lucia concert takes place every year on December 13th. Lucia buns made with saffron together with the hot wine (Glögg, it is called in Sweden) were served along the town square while we were on the way to the Grand Hall. Never have the streets in Lund been so crowded before ever since I arrived.

*The street procession*

*Us at Lucia's Concert*

*What are they doing?*

The evening was filled with excellent voices and pieces from the pianists in the University's Grand Hall, and I really think this concert was much more worth attending than anything else. No regrets buying the tickets for it.

*Lucia is the one with the candles on her head*

So in the concert, as per the traditional Swedish Lucia celebration, Lucia comes in with her maids and candles, bringing the light of hope in the dark winter. Girls are dressed in white and equipped with candles. St. Lucy is also known as the patron saint of those who are blind according to what I've read online before. Here are some videos of the concert but I'm so sorry for the poor quality since I wasn't using a proper video camera.

The Opening of the Concert (Song: Santa Lucia)


Welcoming Lucia


Three of the many songs they sung




The Closing of the Concert Part 1 (Song: Santa Lucia)


The Closing of the Concert Part 2 (Song: Santa Lucia)

One and a half hour of songs to mark St. Lucia's Day, perfect, and I really loved the opening and closing song, "Santa Lucia". 4 hours after the concert has ended, the tune is still playing in my mind, making me unable to really concentrate on what I'm supposed to do (study!).

This is a better quality video of Lucia and her maids singing Santa Lucia.

And the girl who plays the role of Lucia, some say that she would be elected because she is one of the prettiest girl around in the town? Lucia was indeed very pretty when I saw her up close. Well, I'm not sure, but I'm really glad that they did not use battery-operated candles on her head, which some places do. It was real candles with real fire.

*Lucia*

*My classmate, Charlotte, was involved in the concert too*

Well, that's about it I guess. St. Lucia's seems to be the last day for everyone to gather together before they disperse back to their respective hometowns for the festive season. Soon, Lund will be a deserted town once again, and most probably with only Asians around since the Europeans are all heading home for Christmas.

The Last Day in BMC...

A sad day, it has been, at my last day in BMC today. We had our last final presentations today followed by a short summary by Hakån, the Professor who is overall in charge of the course. The next time I go to BMC would be for the Exams on Monday, and only a few of my Swedish course mates will take the exam on that day since they can choose between taking it in December or January.

With all the final goodbye hugs coming, I seriously found it hard to contain all the emotions within me, but somehow I still did. It just reminds me of what I saw half a year ago in NTU Canteen 13, where I saw the Exchange students giving their final goodbye hugs. This day has arrived just too quickly even though I have already foreseen this day coming half a year ago.

During the final PBL Discussion yesterday, I had to ask this question to my prof.

Me: Hakån, when would I know my result, just in case you decide to fail me and I have to retake it in January?

Hakån: Don't worry, you will know it immediately after your oral exam in the evening on Monday. Or you can always invite me over to Singapore and I can let you retake it in a bar or maybe in Raffles Hotel.

Filip: Hahahaha, you're really bent on failing him.

Me: ..... ha ha.... okej...

*End of conversation*

My coordinator, Miriam Hansson, is also retiring on this Friday and it was another sad goodbye in her office.

Urgh, what a depressing week for me. And to top it off, the preparation for the Exams is driving me nuts. The questions from the past year papers are really too interesting and difficult that some of us couldn't answer them at all.

Something to look forward to though, Saint Lucia Day is just round the corner. It's actually tomorrow rather, and I have bought the tickets to attend the concert in the University's Main Building. A pity that I don't feel like going for the Christmas Concert tonight at the Lund Cathedral since I really want to finish as much work as possible before St. Lucia's.

Good luck to me.

Random Entry from Universitets Bibliotek (UB)

I'm right now stuck in one of my favourite libraries ever (I've never liked a library so much before) reading up on Alzheimer's Disease. Not that I wish to, but everyone gave me the honour to be the Chairperson for the last PBL Topic for the semester - urgh, how sickening. Just when I thought I could rest after the presentation that almost made me schizophrenic.

Jag vill gå till julfest med många många julmat också !!!

Walking to the library earlier on has been great. Many plans were made along the way with the people walking with me... I hope things work out great!

Final presentation down....

Finally, my final presentation is over. There was a huge relieve of burden after everyone clapped their hands. I really love the topic that I was presenting on because I really found it very interesting, to be able to enter the world of the Schizophrenics (not that I became mentally ill) but at least know or hypothesize what is going on inside their brain. On the other hand, it was kind of sad that it's over already... just like that.

What really are remaining are the final lecture on Alzheimer's Disease, my final research proposal, the written paper, and the oral examination (no it's not a dental check-up), and that really is it, end of a pretty enriching semester. If I were to say that I really look forward to the holidays, I would be a liar, really.

But many challenges lie ahead still, the kind of new courses that I'll be reading back in Singapore, accustoming back to 29 deg C (yes I am already complaining that 7 deg C here is WARM), etc...

I was very happy that my classmates were finding out more about Singapore from me and saying that they might want to come over to Singapore to study (maybe for exchange?). That would mean I MIGHT get to work with them once more as well as getting them to know more of my friends in Singapore too!

So far, only 1 person guessed correctly that I'm from Singapore. Guess who........... He's the caretaker of the building that I reside in now. He came up to repair my broken tap, and immediately he guessed that I'm Singaporean from the way I spoke. Smart!

The christmas feeling is here already, the decorations are all up, and christmas gifts are aplenty in shops. I personally bought a container of traditional Swedish gingerbread cookie which tasted pretty nice. I hope Christmas here would be a blast! (And may time stop on Christmas Day haha kidding).

*Lightings are up*

*That's an ice-skating ring with no ice. It's plastic with some chemical on it*

*Christmas Tree outside Biomedicinsk Centrum*

Oh, and 1 more thing... I don't know who this is from, but since it's in my letterbox, it has to be for me right? Whoever it is from and for whatever reason it is, you're welcome! =)

*Only a few people know that I have a presentation actually*

I made a trip down to Malmö a few days back to look for some Asian shops with Huimin. And we were so busy wow-ing at the long-time-no-see Asian food stuff that I forgot to take pictures of them. Urgh. But anyhow, we bought stuffs back for steamboat dinner! Woohoo.. can't wait for it. And I bought some 汤圆 for myself too of course since that was what I went to Malmö specially to get to satisfy my craving for it.

*On train from Malmö back to Lund*

*Peanut 汤圆*

*Sesame 汤圆*

*Red Bean 汤圆*

Dream Destinations Conquered : Vienna and Prague

I'm back from my trip to Vienna and Prague with Yicui and Pooi Fun. It really was a dream come through for me, because Vienna and Prague are on my list of dream places to visit, and considering that I am doing both cities together in the same trip, albeit tiring.

The end of this trip also meant that I am one more step closer to the end of my exchange semester already. I guess this is my second last trip (the last before my exams) before our ¨graduation trip¨up north to Kiruna.


*Austria*

Vienna - the city of music and plays indeed....

Buskers, such as the Korean lady who actually had her piano transported, were performing right in the middle of the streets of Vienna. The wonderful sounds of the clarinets, accordions, and saxophones transformed the normally busy street into one with a classical feel to it.

*Wonderful street musicians*

We had the chance to catch Romeo and Juliet on our 2nd evening there. Kind of disappointed with the 1st part of the performance honestly, but I was determined to stay through all the acts since it was my very first opera and I felt the want to watch the whole play. Sorry to the two ladies who got bored but had to stay with me. To make things worse, we wanted to get really cheap tickets and so we bought the standing seats tickets which costs 3.50 Euros. Come to think of it, the tickets for the seats are just not so worth it because of the disappointing play. But it definitely was a good experience.

*Opera House*

*Romeo & Juliet*

*Queuing up*

*with lotsa food*

*Inside the Opera House*

The next evening, we headed to The Kursalon (a splendid building in Vienna built in Renaissance style) where pieces after pieces by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Strauss Walzerkönig (King of Waltz) were performed by virtuoso musicians accompanied by superb opera singers and enchanting ballet soloists. A new goal in life for me - to catch one Wiener Philharmoniker performance right here in the city of music with my family! The monument of Johann Strauss could also be found in the park behind The Kursalon. Although not much of Beethoven was covered in our trip, we had to pay a visit to the moneument of Beethoven as well, which was just across the road.

*The Kursalon*

*The Stage*

*Beautiful room*

*The musicians*

*and their pianist for the evening*

*Johann Strauss*

*Buddies HAHA*

*Beethoven*

*and us*

*Open-air ice-skating ring nearby*

Vienna wasn't just about music and plays only....

The cheese sausage bun (it's called Käsekrainer) is shiok and I had like one for each of the 3 days in Vienna. We went to Café Sacher Wien in Hotel Sacher as well where its famous Sacher Torte, an exquisite chocolate cake with a thin layer of apricot jam, is being served. Besides having Sacher Torte, we had an apple strudel as well together with warm drinks for our breakfast.

*Käsekrainer*

*Sacher Torte*

*Apple Strudel*

*Nice*

Stephansdom (St. Stephan's Cathedral) is Vienna's most instantly recognisable building with a romanesque and gothic form . It is standing on the site of a church which dates back to 1144 and its most striking features are its gothic spire and tiled roof.

*Stephansdom*

And as usual, there were museums and this time, we visited Mozart's House, where Mozart used to live with his family when he was in Vienna, as well as the House of Music, where we had the chance to play conductor to a virtual orchestra.

*Mozart's House*

*Nice but expensive*

*The virtual band & their conductor*

Lying between Vienna City Hall building and the Burgtheatre in the heart of Vienna, Wiener Christkindlmarkt (Vienna Christmas Market) had not been a letdown either. The traditional Christmas Market uniquely embraces the spirit of Christmas. Trees are adorned with radiant red hearts, angels, lanterns and other delightful ornamentations.

The whole concept of the market just gets you into the christmas mood with wide-eyed youngsters jostling for positions at the toy stalls, while adults delight in a vast array of enchanting Christmas tree decorations, traditional wares and gifts for all generations. And a bite to eat can be found in the shape of gingerbread, candyfloss and other typical Viennese specialities such as the baked potatoes. My personal favourite was this warm alcoholic drink called Hot Wine. I presume it is just red wine which is warmed up with various kinds of spices, the girls didn't like it but I love it lots.

*At the Christmas Market*

*Great food*

*A cup of Hot Wine*

*Beautiful decorations and lightings*

All is not quiet inside the City Hall building itself, where children get to design their own present as well as baking their own cookies in Wiener Adventzauber (Magic of Advent in Vienna). One cannot fail to marvel at the Christmas Workshop inside City Hall, with thousands of tiny hands industriously baking cookies, and making christmas gifts.

*Inside City Hall*

*Cookie baking*

*Design your own gift*

We also made a new Korean friend while staying at Wombat's Hostel in Vienna and we had dinner with her on our first night there at a cafe serving typical Austrian food.

*Our new Korean friend, Ji Yeon*

*Beef Goulash*

*2 dumplings with sausage and sauerkraut*

We visited a town that was off the city centre in Grinzinger. It is here that you can view the vineyards during the summer time, a pity that it is winter now. However, we managed to catch a sight from the top of the hill over Vienna.

*The quiet street of Grinzinger*

*Bus stop*

*us*

*The vineyard which was supposed to be full of grapes in summer*

*Flowers for Mozart*

*They use his name for everything*

Our final stop in Vienna was Schönbrunn Palace. From the exterior, Schönbrunn Palace is a remarkable baroque ensemble. From the interior... well we didn't see the interior because we were rushing for time and I guess it wasn't worth it anyway. I am tired of palaces and museums. The weird thing was that there was a motor exhibition in the palace that day with displays by the likes of Bentley, Porsche, Maserati, and many more. The monument of W.A. Mozart could also be found within the compounds of Schönbrunn Palace.

*The treble clef*

*Mozart*

*Good buddies as well*

*Schönbrunn Palace*

*The Bentley and its owner*

That very afternoon itself saw us flying to Prague where the capital city of the Czech Republic awaited us. So let's Czech it out!


*Czech Republic*
This city is infamous for its pickpockets and the very thought of it kind of brought us to a high alert mode. The city centre of Prague itself were full of casinos, erotic sex shops, clubs and dangerous-looking individuals. However, do not be fooled by this menacing façade because Prague is definitely one beautiful city on its own. The nightlife of the city was filled with colourful lights everywhere and buildings looked really impressive with the widely-used light effects from spot lights, the city is alive in the night! At dawn, Prague proved to be even more charming.

Traditional Czech food consists of lots of pork, especially pork knee, and one traditional side dish is the dumplings. Dumplings here aren't those that are wrapped in yellow skin with meat within. Dumplings here are basically just huge pieces of bread-like food.

*Traditional Czech Food*

The Old Town is jam-packed with plenty of people heading for the various shops that could be found there. It is basically a shopping district and there was an abundance of food stalls around on the streets, and this is where I found my favourite Hot Wine once again! I really couldn't give it a miss. Other than the Old Town, we visited one landmark in the New Town as well, and it is known as the "Ginger and Fred" dancing building.

*The Astrological Clock*

*one of the longest escalator I've ever taken*

*Metro*

*The National Museum*

*The "Ginger and Fred" dancing building*

Prague Castle, situated on top of a hill, is where the Kings and Presidents of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic had their offices. Within the Castle compound are the Basilica of St. George, the Basilica of St. Vitus, the Old Royal Palace, as well as the Dalibor Tower (where it once functioned as a dungeon for prisoners, especially political prisoners). We also had the opportunity to climb up 287 steps to the top of the tower of the cathedral. It was tiring indeed and some people had to paused halfway to catch their breath. Right at the top, an impressive panorama of the entire city awaited us. Other than that, I didn't really enjoy the Castle very much.

*A Church inside the Prague Castle*

*Guarding the Castle well*

*Take the Challenge*

*View from 287 steps up the Church's south tower*

One of the reasons why Prague was a dream city for me to visit was the Charles Bridge that crosses the Vltava River. I remember when I was in JC, I saw this TV programme in which the host brought the home-viewers to the Charles Bridge where about 30 different statues were erected there and one of them was that of St. John of Nemopuk.

A little history in a nutshell... John of Nemopuk was the confessor of the Queen of Bohemia and when the King ordered him to divulge the Queen's confessions, he chose to remain silent. At the behest of the King, he was thrown into the river from the spot where his statue stands today on the Charles Bridge. Legend has it that if you make a wish while touching the little golden man falling from the river in the sculpture below the statue, your wish would come true.

During the night, Charles Bridge is a quiet witness of medieval times. But during the day it changes its face into a very busy place. Painters, owners of kiosks and other traders compete for the attention of numerous tourists crossing the bridge. This is also where most people have their pockets picked.

I have never thought that I would one day actually step foot onto Charles Bridge. On our first night in Prague, we visited Charles Bridge but I kind of didn't dare to walk through the tower that guards the bridge for I simply couldn't believe that Charles Bridge was just right in front of my very own eyes. When I finally walked onto the bridge, I felt a gush of emotions running through me and I simply had to slow down my pace to admire every part of the bridge. We visited the bridge again the next afternoon to attempt to capture some pictures which we couldn't in the night, as well as on our last day in Prague to catch the sunrise. And Charles Bridge was indeed enchanting at dawn.

*Tower guarding Charles Bridge*

*Charles Bridge*

*Jesus Christ?*

*St. John of Nemopuk*

*Touch the falling man on the right and make a wish*

*Charles Bridge at dawn*

*Yicui, Pooi Fun, and I on Charles Bridge at dawn*

*Sun is rising*

*My personal favourite*

We ate at this Chinese restaurant too. Even though the servings were small, they were extremely tasty - probably because we haven't eaten 煮炒 for a long time.

*Soup*

*Fried Bee Hoon*

*铁板豆腐*

And the lady serving us was very kind to us, so I shall help her to advertise a little... For anyone who is or plans to go to Prague and happens to see this blog entry, please do try out the food at:

Jin Yan Jiu Jia
锦宴酒家
Štěpánská 57, Praha 1
Tel: 224210299
Opening hrs : 1100 - 2300

That's all for my latest updates. It's time to start on my report for my exam, and my final presentation and start mugging for my final paper too.... What a low blow to such a wonderful 6 days in Vienna and Prague.