Round and Round

The London Eye Spin.
Absolutely exhausted after a whole day of going round and round the city. I flouted my only-one-museum-a-day rule today because of the horrid weather. The National Gallery was followed by the British museum, fortunately with a nice dim sum lunch at Chinatown in between. I think tomorrow, it is time to take it easy.

Action Painting

Today was spent visiting the Tate Modern and walking around Covent Garden.
The visit to the Tate allowed me to re-visit the Jackson Pollock pieces which were the inspiration for this photo. Just that in this case, the medium is still. Anyhow, boring art aside, it was fantastic walking around with Matt and just talking and catching up on the past 10 months. And of course the weather in London was typical, wet. It rained the whole day and stopped only as we got out of Chorleywood station.
Oh yes, Watford is playing in the premiership next season. Brilliant! FYI Matt was born in Watford Hospital and so he supports Watford FC whose home ground is located next to the hospital.

Farvel

Goodbye Skejbygaardskollegiet.
Many Thanks to Erika for the wonderful farewell dinner that she made for me last night. Dinner was of course, fantastic French food with good wines. After dinner, we sat around and chatted for hours. Despite the casualness of the converstaion, I could sense a certain finality lingering in the air. Everything dragged on, dinner, dessert, post dessert coffee and rightfully so. If I had my way I would stay till it was time for my flight. I got back home at about 4 this morning. Yes, home, for just a few more hours. I tried to sleep but it was impossible to do so in spite of the generous servings of wine I had just before. How can one sleep in a place that now seems so empty. And yet I look upon it with a certain fondness. I stood in front of my big window for one last time. It was a cold and wet morning, just like the ones that first greeted me last July.
So, everything has come full circle. Just like it should.

The Road Home

Embarking on the slow and long road home.
My exams are finally over and now begins the long road home. Like I've said before, Home is really an elusive concept, for me at least. Of course home is where the heart is but what if the heart likes to roam? In a way, I feel like I have many homes and in a way my journey Home will take me through all the places I call home. Tomorrow, I leave for the UK where I will be staying at Chorleywood and then moving to Ireland for a wedding and then back home to Aarhus. From Aarhus I hope to explore the country that I've called home for the past 10 months before catching my flight back Home, Singapore, on 13th of June. Thus, the long road home to singapore will take about 4 weeks. I think its a nice end to this eventful journey. I must say that I've learnt so much more than what 10 degrees could impart to me. I received the best kind of education, the kind that you can only received outside the classroom. Unfortunately, the kind that is not really appreciated nor required for getting a job in Singapore. I know that during these 4 weeks I wil be asking myself this question, how do I measure my exchange stint? By the number of boxes and bags that I've filled after one year? By the number of friends I've made? By the number of countries I've visited? By the number of times I've been awed by beautiful landscapes? By the number of times I've learnt something new? By the number of times I've crossed paths with another culture? By the number of days spent away from home? or By how much I've changed?

Nothingness & Being

An empty room filled with memories.
It seems even the sun has packed up and moved on too.
A chapter's end brings a new begining; the long road home.

Princes Street Rush

Princes Street Rush, originally uploaded by -jammy-.

Test Test Test
This was supposed to be a test post but I think it looks good so its gonna stay.

Sorrow

CRW_5096-01_1, originally uploaded by traffickjem.

Saying goodbye to the neighbours
The walking trail behind my place leads past a tiny farm where there's a herd of highland cows/ hairy coos. I think they look really cute, especially the little calves. When I first saw the little calves I almost mistook them for bears. The herd disappeared during winter and reappeared in March and they seemed to have doubled in numbers too. Well, I suppose there's probably not much to do during winter except to "keep warm". I really like the location of my place. 20 minutes from downtown, 15 minutes from University and a short walk away from the "countryside". I wouldn't even call it countryside proper. Its not like my apartment block is surrounded by farmland and barns. Oh yeah and I did say goodbye to my human neighbours too. Most of them responded to the "please help yourself to the stuff outside my door" sign.
At this point, I would like to add that I am proud to be an Arsenal Fan. I think they played bloody well with just 10 men, showing true grit and determination. And I am glad that Fatty Liu's prediction wasn't completely accurate. 1 goal is a narrow margin.

Tired

Making a cup of well deserved tea after a long day of cleaning and scrubbing. I spent 4 goddamn awful long hours cleaning my room for tomorrow's inspection. The last time I was that intimate with a toilet bowl was in BMT. Now the room is spotlessly clean and I am absolutely exhausted. I think we should make cleaning a Law School TAF club activity.

Reflections

I will move out of my flat in 6 days and every opportunity that I have to savour the view is seized. In the midst of all this packing and attempts to study, I manged to do some real thinking. Thinking about important stuff, like whether I should replace my 3.5 year old 6.3mp Canon 300D with a 30D or just buy the goddamn Leica M series that I've been dying to have since I first picked up a camera. And yes, I've even shamefully toyed with the notion of getting the Leica Edition Hermes series camera. I know that getting a film camera seems a bit retrogressive but photography is an art (of sorts) and art is never logical. That's the beauty of it. But of course a digital camera is more practical and some point&shoot cameras now have more megapixel than mine and of course the shutter count on my aging 300D is another issue blah blah blah. As of now, I have yet to come to a conclusion on this important issue, but I've managed to conclude some other trivial points in the process...
1. That Home like many other 4 letter words is an elusive and broad concept. Often spoken of but rarely defined.
2. That the utilitarian/pragamatic freak in me hates long silences on the phone or skype because it defeats the whole purpose of skyping or phoning.
3. That we only cherish the things we are about to lose.
4. That my insecurity is manifested in the numerous photos that I take of the places I love.
5. That points 3 and 4 just sceam Memento Mori.
6. That everything is a delicate balance, kept in check with the right touch. Just like pottery, too much pressure and the clay warps. Too little pressure and everything splatters. I think all potters have to fight the human urge to over control their medium. Harmony. Going with the flow; to suit the clay's delicate nature.
7. That everyone is now talking about pupilage, internships and that most vulgar "C" word, career. A clear indicator that exchange is coming to an end.
8. That although my days on exchange are numbered, at least the days are getting longer.

Jammy and the Sushi Factory

Yanis eyeing the plate of sushi. We told him that he could not eat the sushi until he was able to do so with chopsticks, thus saving enough sushi for the rest of us. So, instead of studying I spent the whole afternoon rolling sushi and watching wasabi virgins experience their "first time" with the asian mustard. I must say it was quite a teary affair.
More photos here
Photos from pubcrawl and picnic here

May's flowers

April's showers bring May's flowers.
Have I mentioned that we have been having fantastic weather of late? Well I might have mentioned it only a few hundred times. My walking trail is now filled with the scent and sight of flowers blooming and even the hairy cows in the pastures seem to have doubled in number. I will miss this place. I've been walking the same route for the past 3 days, hoping that I will get tired of it but I don't think my master plan is working.

Blinded

The early morning light streaming through my blinds.
You can have too much of a good thing. The sun now rises at about 4.30 am and gets bright enough to wake me up at about 5.15am. Now this is all fine and dandy if you sleep early, but absolutely horrible if you slide into bed at 4am after a night of pubcrawling.
P.s. Check out the latest addition to my links. Life. Transplanted. Sorry Agent Jared for the super late addition!

Waiting

Patiently waiting. Luxor Train Station, Egypt.
I love the raw feel of the Holga. A refreshing change from digital.
The past few days can best be described as somewhat similar to waiting for a train to arrive. You stand at the platform, knowing that your train will come in 8 minutes, but every 30 seconds you glance at your watch, perhaps trying to break the routine of pacing along the platform; unwittingly creating another. Don't get me wrong. I am having a ball of a time. But in a way, it is like living on borrowed time, with an expiry date in sight. Yet if everything would last forever, we would cherish nothing. Such is human nature.

Sleep

In 10 days I will see my brother again.
For the past 9 months or so, this is the mental image I have of him.
Sleeping non stop from Singapore to Copenhagen. Well, to be fair, he did wake up to eat but he then went straight back to sleep before they could even clear his plates. I always chuckle when I think of this. Ah... 10 days.

Blue

Window of opportunity.
It's blue on my side but maybe it is greener on the other side.
Today was really a blue day quite simply because I tried to do some studying. I confined myself indoors and tried to read at least one chapter of the bloody EU Law textbook. Alas, it was all in vain. The day was wasted sleeping and being deep in thought; which is the stage just before one actually dozes off. However, somewhere in between, I managed to consider some heavy stuff like the nuclear standoff between Bush and Iran, the recent elections in Singapore but more importantly, my happiness.
I wondered how I could be so happy here, without my car, having to bus everywhere, without a maid to do everything for me and living with such high prices and sometimes crappy weather. With all the intelligence that I could muster from my pea size brain, I came to the conclusion that the best things in life are free, and for everything else, there's Mastercard. But this is more than just some tacky saying like C'est la vie. There is some truth in this statement, yes, even the Mastercard bit. A couple of days ago I was talking to my friend online and he asked me how I get around in Denmark since I don't bicycle. I told him that I bus around or walk. He asked if I was sick and tired of busing around and whether I missed driving around in a nice car. Instinctively I said, No. I can almost imagine Stephane in the background going "Ca va pas no!" But yes, that was the truth.
I don't miss having an expensive piece of Italian engineering transport me around. I am and have been, for the past 9 months, quite happy walking around or having an old piece of scandinavian engineering move me and 40 others around even though not quite to my doorstep. Something is wrong isn't it. Car v. Bus? Bus over car? In Singapore the car would get a strong mandate over the bus any day and I mean stronger than 66.6%. I admit that I will probably not be quite as willing to bus around Singapore as I would in Denmark. Maybe the sweltering heat is one factor but I think that the most significant factor is that I would be happpier with a car than without. Why? Because I have been conditioned to believe that in order to be happy, one has to be well of. Because years of Singaporean education have honed me to seek the top job so as to maximise my income. But for the past year all that programming and all those material items have been removed. And I begin to appreciate the more important things in life. Which brings me on to a study done by the BBC on happiness. Britain is wealthier than it was 50 years ago but happiness is on a decline. Now the British government has a duty of care to ensure that the happiness of the population is preserved. I wonder if such a system will work back home?
So, after all that rambling, the point I'm trying to make is not that wealth can't make you happy. The point i'm trying to make is that only now, yes, only now do I realise this fact. I wonder how many of us really realise this truism.
Just One more month and I will be home and perhaps by then I will forget this lesson. Or more likely, perhaps by then I will still remember this lesson but choose not to heed it, as I rejoin the rat race. After all, for everything else there is always Mastercard.

Risskov Strand

Beach eye view of things.
Today was spent lazing by the beach. I love these kinda days at the beach, arriving just after noon, lying on the sand, listening to the waves, munching on some snacks, taking in the sun and then perhaps indulge in some "sport" like frisbee or volleyball. These days really remind me of summer and it is fitting that I seem to have come full circle before I leave. Dinner was of course BBQ sausages and pork with our tiny little instant bbq pit and then it was back to more lazing around, talking, drinking, laughing and just enjoying the good weather. We waited till the sun started to set at about 9pm and then made our way back to the car. If only everyday could be like that.
More photos here

Moesgård

Mosegard in spring. This has got to be my favourite place in Aarhus.
With the visit yesterday, I have now seen the woods in all four seasons; what a privilege. Yesterday's walk was probably the best thus far and I would definately say that the woods look spectacular in Spring dress. The entire forest floor was covered with tiny white (wood anemone) and yellow (yellow star of Bethlehem) flowers. The sun's warm glow was soften by the newly sprouted canopy and the song and chirps of birds filled the air. I walked the longer route yesterday, past the now familiar watermill, down the stream, by the paddocks, stopping to enjoy the solitude, stopping to climb on a tree to rest and listen to mother nature breathe. I wandered around the woods till I lost track of time, until I finally reached the sea. On the beach, I plonked myself down by a big boulder and just stared out into the open sea. A million thoughts filled my mind yet were simultaneously drowned out by the sound of the waves rushing to shore. A strange feeling. The usual clarity was absent, instead replaced by an unfamiliar but comforting void; perhaps a mental equilibrium of sorts. I was rewarded with a sighting of dolphins swimming along the shore. This was the first time I've seen dolphins along Mosegard beach and most probably the last. I waited till the sun began to set and then headed back through the woods for the long road home, uncertain if I was feeling happy or sad.
More photos here

My Europe

Finally took down the big map that has adorned my wall for the past 8 months.
It was a birthday present from the Aarhus gang. Looking back, it was a really great birthday that I had and I guess I'm really lucky to have friends from Singapore and from Aarhus to celebrate it for me and with me.
I wish I could roll up the map intact instead of having to pull out every "friend" and every flag.
Every country that I've been to is marked by a Singapore Flag or a "friend" if I do have a friend from that country. The heart is of course Austria, where the architects of this wonderful present call home.
Home... I'm almost home.

Jus

Members of Jus, the Aarhus University Law Club, all lined up to support their rowers.
Today was the big inter faculty race which involves rowing a raft/boat/float across the university lake, gulping down a beer and then rowing back to the other side. The team with the most runs wins. All the faculties had a theme. Theology's theme was death and their boat consists of 2 "Deaths" rowing a "dead" person across the "river styx". Upon reaching the other bank, the "dead" person would rise up, gulp the beer and pop back onto the raft again, resuming his "dead" posture. Law came as jocks and cheerleaders and their entrance was complete with a high school marching band. Political science came as team USA with the full ensemble of Bush, Nixon and secret service agents. The folks from the Engineering school were dressed as builders and had a huge construction truck, surprise surprise. It was really super fun just hanging around laughing at the drunk guys and girls trying to paddle across the tiny lake in their costumes. I think the entrances by the teams were really more spectacular than the race itself. The sun was out in full force today and it really felt like summer, minus the bald trees. I gues this is the last major on campus party before the exams kick in. Anyhow, too many beers = not many good photos, but I think they give the general impression. More photos here.

Ginseng Sunset

The sun going down on me.
The dismantling of my room has finally begun and if the weather holds up, I only have 15 sunsets left from my window. The weather has been on its best behaviour the last couple of days, perhaps in a bid to sabotage the packing process. I have been constantly hampered by the desire to spend as much time as possible outdoors instead of indoors where bags and boxes need to be filled. With the need to pack, the walks have grown longer, the soccer games are more frequent, the beach has become nearer and there seem to be BBQs every evening.
Indeed, the past few days have been filled with procrastination and a good serving of sorrow. This sorrow reached a new high or low (depending on what kinda person you are) when I brought down my big suitcase from the top of the cupboard, where it has been lying in wait for the past 9 months. That was the equivalent of lighting the fuse on an explosive charge. There is no turning back. I dusted it off and with a heavy heart opened it up and in one of the compartments I found the 2 big packets of Ginseng that mom had packed for me. Yes, the Ginseng that I have been "consuming weekly" as per the monthly phonecalls home. That has been the only light moment thus far; where I actually laughed out loud. Now, I have to either finish up the 2 packets of Ginseng within 15 days or bring them home and explain to mommy dearest why they are still intact. Choices Choices Choices.
But that is not the purpose of this post. Of course there is a greater message apart from Ginseng and Sunsets. This is not some snowy blog. This is serious stuff. The greater message is that this whole series of events has taught me the lesson of self reliance. That through this low period the best that one can do is to do the job at hand, and do it well. There is no point crying out for attention, for help, for comfort. There is no point doing social accounting to see if you are indeed suffering from a reliance deficit. Attention given does not equate to potential attention waiting to be returned. You may have been there for others but it doesn't mean that they will or have to be there for you when you need it. And that doesn't mean that they don't care. It just means that you have to do the bloody deed yourself. Besides, what is the point of calling out for attention when your situation was not noticed in the first place. The reasoning behind the attention you receive then will only be guilt or pity.
So, I dare say that I have learnt my lesson and that I've learnt it well.
Tomorrow the sun will rise and hopefully more of my stuff will either be in a box or in my bag.

Framed

Everything has to be framed in the right context.
Frame it in the wrong context and the beautiful picture is ruined.
If only framing was as clear cut as black and white.
But even black and white are bridged by shades of grey.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Darling!

Der beste Autofahrer...

The best driver, is always the one in the passnger seat.
Finally uploaded all the photos from my road trip. They're all on flickr. Lazy to link em all so just click on the flickr badge.

The sun was out in full force today and I went for one of my quiet long walks. I walked passed the dog training ground and saw another sheltie. I felt a tinge of saddness, knowing how happy Liz would be here. And how happy I would be if she was here with me.
But I will be home soon!