marry me a little...

Marry me a little,
Love me just enough,
Cry, but not too often,
Play, but not too rough,
Keep a tender distance,
So, we'll both be free.
That's the way it ought to be.
I'm ready!

Marry, me a little
Do it with a will.
Make a few demands
I'm able to fulfill
Want me more than others, not exclusively.
That's the way it ought to be
I'm ready!
I'm ready now!

You can be my best friend
I can be your right arm
We'll go through a fight or two
No harm, no harm
We'll look not too deep,
We'll go not too far.
We won't have to give up a thing,
We'll stay who we are.
Right?
Okay, then, I'm ready!
I'm ready now!

Someone,
Marry me a little,
Love me just enough.
Warm and sweet and easy,
Just the simple stuff
Keep a tender distance
So we'll both be free.
That's the way it ought to be.
I'm ready!

Marry me a little,
Body, heart and soul
Passionate as hell,
But always in control.
Want me first and foremost,
Keep me company.
That's the way it ought to be
I'm ready!
I'm ready now!

Oh, how gently we'll talk,
Oh, how softly we'll tread
All the stings, the ugly things
We'll keep unsaid
We'll build a cocoon of love and respect
You promise whatever you like,
I'll never collect...Right?
Okay, then I'm ready!
I'm ready now!

Someone...I'm ready! I'm ready!
I'm ready!

evoul still lurks...

Friday, 29th September 2006 – 8:26pm Oslo time

Firstly, to the person who posted a comment on my previous blog entry and signed off as “window people”: YOU, FREAKY MUCH! Scary sia, post comments like that…

Oh, and secondly, I need to clarify the type of performance which I went for last night… It wasn’t a cabaret… More like a mini-musical with two actors… It was a really nice performance… The woman sang very, very well and she didn’t overdo her expressions and the lyrics were awesome!!

The show basically depicts a cycle of love, with a cynical twist… It starts with a girl getting a love letter and going all mushy, soon he proposes, she accepts and they get married and after a few years, the marriage becomes stale… They try to make it work, but it all falls apart and the end result: *divorce*…

Parts of it were in Norwegian but it was mostly in English… I understood bits of the Norwegian though… Hehe… I especially loved the song she sang just before her wedding… “Marry me a little, love me just enough… I’m ready for you now…” So sweet la…

They plan to tour Europe and I think it’d be awesome… Nice show la… Special thanks to Morten for getting me the tix! =)

Ok, so hell week is over and I get to relax… The written exam yesterday was doable, but the essay part of it reeked!! I wrote crap la… I hope I don’t get penalised too much for that… I was the last one to hand in my paper and after I submitted it, dear old Astrid started talking to me… And she talked *A LOT*… She even drew diagrams of forests on the blackboard for me to see… Don’t ask why… But at least I know she’s cool with me…

But I think remnants of hell week are here to bug me… The window people have not yet come to glue on the last piece of wooden panelling on my window frame… Why?!! It’s just a small piece of wood that you need to glue on and you said you would do it today!! So why have you kept me waiting? Sigh… I decided to clean my room anyways… I couldn’t stand it, walking around the floor which felt all ‘cementy’…

And here’s another smidgen of bad luck: my *EVOUL* lamp has stopped working! Yes! And the best thing was, I went out grocery shopping and it decided to stop AFTER I came back and not before… I mean, I could have bought a new lightbulb at the supermarket right? Sigh... Lucky for me, there's another lightsource in my sink compartment, but still quite dark la...

I just hope all this EVOUL-ness will stop soon…

asraf gets new windows...

Thursday, 28th September 2006 – 12:06pm Oslo time

Today is the last day of hell week and it seems to want to give one hell (pun intended) of a whopping before letting me go seek my solace in the weekend!

There was a sign on my door which indicated that the windows in my room would be replaced this morning at 8-freaking am!! So I had to wake up earlier than usual to make sure that I would be awake and in a socially-presentable state before opening the door to the window people…

So I dragged my sleep-deprived arse out of bed, showered and got changed… The window people came promptly at eight and proceeded to do what they had to do… It was really interesting watching them work…

First they removed my old panes and they did it with so much ease I imagined that I could have accidentally removed them myself while doing the cleaning! Then they ripped off the window frame… The two burly Norsk window people were quite amusing… One of them kept saying “Oh shit!” with a very distinct Scandinavian accent when he dropped things and when he accidentally put a dent in my wall… Hehe…

Then they fixed on the new window frame and proceeded to fill in the gaps with silicon and whatever other window stuff that they brought along…

All the time though, I was getting a bit edgy cos I already promised to meet up with Thomas and other big Norsk boy for a study group meeting!! And I didn’t want to ask the window people to hurry for fear they might just fling me out of the window and let me fall nine storeys down to my death…

So I waited while they fixed on my new window panes which were total coolness!! Each pane had three latches so I have the option of letting the pane hinge from the left, right or centre… Cool hor? Can switch positions any time… Plus, these windows have aluminium frames… That means no more silverfish and no more rotten wood shavings on my sill… More importantly, better insulation during winter!! Yay!

But of course, very messy sia… I so dread the amount of cleaning I will have to do once they’re done… They’re still not done cos they need to put in some panels on the window frame to make it more secure… But for the record, they are trying to make as small a mess as possible… They even have a tiny broom and dustpan to scoop up the debris after they do some drilling or whatever else these window people do… Thanks for making my life a *wee* bit easier, oh big, burly and scary window people!

Oh, after installing the new panes, one of the window people said they will come back after one and a half hours to finish with the panelling… Hence, I decided to run to school and meet Thomas and the other big Norsk boy for our discussion…


I arrived about 15 minutes late (I ran like mad) and they had already started… I explained to them the situation and they were both cool with it… So we started with the discussions and it was kinda good cos we tried to discuss about the essay assignment that she assigned (pun!) to us, but not so good cos we were got a little stuck with it…

The topic for the assignment was only to be discussed during lecture in a few weeks time and I think that made it harder for us to really try to decipher the theories which we had to critique… Once again, where is Mr. Suhaimi when you need him?!!

I couldn’t stay long but we did manage to discuss a few possible directions we could take while attempting to write the stupid essay and set out the agenda for the next meeting…

The other big Norsk boy (I forgot to ask for his name!! Sooo bad!) was amusing cos he had difficulty expressing his thoughts in English… But he was nice and had a very corny thing going on about him… Like when I said I needed to go, he was like,

“Time to get your Windows fixed eh? Well, that’s the thing about Microsoft…”

I would have given him my super *WTF* look, but I just laughed la… I guess that’s just Norwegian humour? ;pp

So it was another arduous and @#$%-ing cold run back home… @#$%-ing freezing cos it

started raining… Did I mention that I hate the @#$%-ing rain in Norway… No? Well, for the record, I hate it when it @#$%-ing rains in Norway… :)

Yup, so here I am again in my room, waiting for the panelling to be installed and so wanting to take a nap but I can’t cos the stupid table is on my bed (in order the keep the window area clear)… Sigh…

Hell week is proving to be such a bitch… I have my Norwegian written exam in the evening and only after that, I think, can I truly be happy… Hehe… Especially since I got a free ticket to watch a cabaret performance at the theatre museum… ;p

Latest update at 2:38pm:

They're still NOT done!! And a window person told me they will come back *TOMORROW* morning to finish it!! Argh! My room will have to be in a freaking mess until tomorrow!! Why, window people? Why me?!!

Thomas Ha(r)dy Mirza...

Tuesday, 26th September 2006 – 8:18pm Oslo time

Hady is the new Singapore Idol! Yay! Obviously I have not been following the season, but I think he totally deserves to win… In fact, Jonathan deserves to win too… But I guess the better man won, even if he’s only a *bit* better… Hehe… Christine, don’t cry hor? Go and look for Jonathan in school and try to console the poor boy… Maybe he’s in need of some LURRVVVE… ;p

Anyways, this is *HELL* week for me!! Like real hell one… I have my paper due tomorrow and after I submit my paper, I have my Norwegian oral exam… And on Thursday, I have my Norwegian written exam! *cringe*

I have not been sleeping much these days as in addition to these major occurrences, I also have my regular dose of homework and readings and preparations for my new fad--- study group meetings of course…

I was supposed to have a study group meeting with the two big Norsk boys from my history class today… So I was at the designated meeting point quite early… The first big Norsk boy came and we sat down together, making small talk while waiting for the second big Norsk boy to come… He did come soon enough, but to apologise to us for making a mistake with his schedule… He actually had to go for class and our meeting was hence re-scheduled to be on Thursday instead…

So first big Norsk boy and I decided to hang out a bit… I first asked him questions about our class and our essay assignment which was dues next month… And then we started talking cock… His name is Thomas by the way…

Thomas has a profound interest in Asian history and I have to say that his knowledge is really, really impressive, especially when it came to ancient Chinese history… I was malu to admit that I was half-cheena when his knowledge about the history was so much better than mine!! Like he remembers the chronology, the different ethnic divisions and the duration of each empire so well!! *kowtow*

He also learnt Mandarin for about a year and he tried saying a few Mandarin words to me… I could understand them!! Amazing that I could understand them and amazing that he seemed to be using the right tones… Not that I would know if he was using the wrong ones… Haha… My tone recognition abilities are super bad la…

He then bitched about the China-Chinese accent (even ang mohs notice the difference!) and we bitched about our lecturer who *still* keeps reading bedtime stories to us during class and we bitched about how the textbook was written… My, my, such bitchy boys... Hehe…

But it was really fun chatting with him… We talked about so many different things and he was really interested to know how I felt about being in Norway and he also wanted to learn a lot about Singapore and how we manage to maintain good inter-ethnic relations in our society... We actually chatted for more than two hours (oops..) and then it was back to the real world… He had to go run some errands and I of course, had to finish up the remnants of my translation exercises for my Old English class…

We went our separate ways and I felt so glad to have met such a nice new friend…

This comes as a shock to even myself, but I shall say it…

I actually like living in Norway now… ‘o,0’

paper blues and Xuxa...

Sunday, 24th September 2006 - 11:47 Oslo time

I am working on my paper right now... It's due on Wednesday and it's a five-page paper which should be a piece of cake, but somehow I'm dragging my feet through this one... Dunno why also... No inspiration to write la...

To get some inspiration, I started thinking happy thoughts and somehow I started thinking about Xuxa... I remembered that I loved watching Xuxa when I was a kid... Her show had a nice party-like atmosphere, her songs were catchy and her games were silly but fun to watch... But after looking at her opening song now, I think her clothes were kinda too pornographic for a kids' show, no? I dunno... Watch the clip and comment...

The link ====> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84KGCJgvcXQ

Today was the first day of fasting for me... It went on quite uneventfully... It doesn't feel like Ramadhan when you seem to be the only one experiencing it... Oh well... :)

Happy Birthday Nurul!!

Here's a special birthday shoutout to Nurul!!

Happy 23rd!!

Which Nurul?

Nurulhuda bte Ma'mon... The one from Anderson JC who went to Titian Minda with me and who is now a student in NTU... Yes, the one whose mom treats me as her godson... Hehe...

May you be blessed with good health always!! =))

back from the crypt...

Friday, 22nd September 2006 – 11:47am – Oslo time

TGIF! Woo hoo!! *massive booty shake*

Haa… Anyways, Astrid, our super old Crypt-Keeper Barbie Norsk teacher came back yesterday!! The poor thing was out for about three weeks due to pneumonia… Welcome back from the crypt, Astrid!! =))

The lesson was really 'heavy' as she had a lot of things to revise with us, but it was good… We even had a mini teaparty cos she brought in mugs, tea, hot chocolate, coffee and lots of little pieces of chocolate for us to indulge in!! She’s such a sweet Barbie…

We’ve been having substitute teachers whom taught us the bare minimum and with no clear plan… I don’t blame them for that of course… They have their own classes to worry about… So it was a good, good lesson… We’re back on track and I’ve decided to sign up for the next phase of Norwegian classes… So it means five more weeks of class with my classmates!! Yay!

It’s pretty scary though cos our exams are next week… I hope I can pass! *fingers so crossed*

This weekend will be really crazy for me… I have a paper to write, an exam to prepare for and tonnes of homework to discuss with *two* study groups!! And I still need to research for stuff Aunty Evelyn can do while she’s here… Oh well, at least it’s better than sitting around doing nothing…

a birthday shout-out and more...

Thursday, 21st September 2006 – 2:26pm Oslo time

First and foremost, I’d like to wish my good pal and ex-recruit, Chen Liangcai a HAPPY 23rd BIRTHDAY!! May you get ridiculously disgustingly good results every sem (as always) and may we be in the same class again soon so I can do group project with you!! Hoho…

Anyways, I had history class earlier today, super yawnfest again… I seriously don’t know why I even bother to attend lessons… Oh well… After class today, this guy approached me and asked if I wanted to form a study group with him and another guy… Another study group! Yay!! Of course I said yes cos I *lurve* study groups and the guy who approached me was kinda tall and big-sized, so I didn’t want to risk incurring his wrath… In fact, the other guy is rather big-sized too… I’m only up to their knees, so I really should put in effort in this group cos they could easily use me as a soccer ball anytime… So at least there’s a good thing coming out from all the yawning one goes through in history class…

I just chatted with dearest Aunty Evelyn!! Hi Aunty Evelyn!! Haha… Not sure if you’ll see this… Really looking forward to seeing you here! Remember to dress *warm*… ;p

Oh, here’s some juicy goss from the corridors of Sogn… The walls in my hostel are thin, the doors are of low quality… Loud sounds easily penetrate through our walls... In fact, any kind of sound penetrates the walls easily... So you would know if someone was having a party or if they were talking on the phone…

The toilet cubicles are outside the bathroom… I was taking a dump… My floormate was in the shower… He was alone in the shower but he didn’t know I was right outside attending to my ‘business’… Then I heard the sound… That repetitive sound which got progressively aggressive and faster… It was such a loud sound!! So loud I could hear it… And my floormate was producing his own sounds too!! I wanted to run, but I wasn’t done… I am so traumatised now… And he is embarrassed… Haha!! Next time, please check your blind spot… ;p

and then, there was light...

Wednesday, 20th September 2006 – 9:12pm Oslo time

When life really gets you down, you usually grin and bear with it… But sometimes, you just crack and crumble and collapse… And when times like these come, you turn to your friends and you turn to God… Thank you friends and thank you God… =))

I woke up this morning to see a huge, grey lump of cloud in the sky… It wasn’t very nice, but the sun was coming slowly, but surely from behind it… The bright, beautiful sun shone with might and cast a halo of bright gold around the offensive being… It somehow beckoned to me and made a promise that behind every ugly obstacle lies an object of great beauty…

Hehe… Today was quite hectic… I had to be in campus earlier than usual cos I had an appointment with one of my professors… I wanted to borrow DVDs from him… We like to share our porn... ;p

Then I went to the library and worked on some old English translation exercises and after I had enough, I went on to watch one of the DVDs… It was not bad… Hehe…

It was then Old English class followed by a lunch appointment with Lindsay… We went to the library to source out some reading material… The photocopying machines in Norway are really brutal… Somehow, the green light from the scanner is more piercing and potent than in the machines in Singapore… My eyes are still hurting from all that green light exposure… Why is green constantly proving itself to be a disfavour to me? :((

We had Norwegian class today!! And dear *OLD* Astrid left us a note… So sweet hor? She said in the note that she will be back to see us tomorrow… So nice… But she also gave us some homework to do!! *EVOUL*, *OLD* Astrid!! She’s living up to her Crypt-Keeper Barbie identity sia…

I actually joked that we should plan a surprise party for her and hopefully trigger off another heart attack so that she’ll be away again… But we didn’t want to risk killing that poor woman… She may be old and evoul, but she’s still our beloved Crypt-Keeper Barbie teacher…

Class was fun, lots of laughter… It’s quite sad that it will all be over next week… I *lurve* Norsk class! A few of us who live in the same student village walked back home together just now… It was fun and the dreary weather wasn’t so bad with all the conversations and jokes… It was so much fun that I forgot to buy my groceries on the way up… Haha…

PS: Special thanks to Yateeee!! You know what you did… Hehe…

quick relief...

Monday, 18th September 2006 – 2:40pm Oslo time

My Intro to Old English classmates have decided to form a study group of sorts and we meet every Monday to discuss the answers for the translation exercises due in class for the week…

We had our first meeting today and I am so thankful that someone came up with the idea!! It was really helpful cos everyone brought in their own set of skills and when our powers combine, we produce good answers!! Yay!

I love study groups… Study groups are *goooood*…

Life’s getting better now… =))

cutting corners...

Sunday, 17th September 2006 - 8:00pm Oslo time

I cut the corner of my mouth while I was flossing the other day... The cut isn't very deep but there was a bit of blood... The cut is in the process of healing and because of that, it hurts when I try to open my mouth too wide...

Now I have to take small mouthfuls of my meals and it hurts to laugh out loud... I miss laughing out loud... Taking small mouthfuls is so dainty, it isn't fun...

to Christine Chen Huiqing aka Mrs Sang Kook...

Thanks for making feel better!! Really appreciate all your advice, o wise one... Hehe...

Wish you were here, but since you're not, I can't wait to be back in Singapore and we can take modules together!! =))

Miss you guys lots and I am always reminded of you when I put on lipbalm every morning...

PS: The gorgeous Ms Chen (Song Hae Gyo) is on the left.

mein deutsch ist nicht so gut...

Saturday, 16th September 2006 – 9:30pm Oslo time

I went out to town today to run some errands and after I was done, I went for a short walk… It was dark and cold and gloomy but still ok la… Then suddenly, this man approached me and asked me if I knew where this (I can’t remember its name now) café was… I told him I wasn’t so sure but he could try the Carl Johans Gate area as there’re a million cafés in that vicinity… I offered to bring him there since I had nothing else to do…

He told me that he was from Germany and that his English wasn’t that good… So I tried speaking to him in German… Hehe… It was not bad… We understood each other although many times I had to answer him in English as I understood what he was asking, but had to idea how to answer…

I am now officially inspired to brush up on my German before my Zurich trip… Hehe…

new and improved?

Saturday, 16th September 2006 – 10:51am Oslo time

Ok, so due to *popular* request, I’ve here some recent pictures of my room…

Here you see my bed with the new comforter and pillows... I actually made my bed for this photo, so appreciate it! ;p

Here're my new curtains, plain and simple...

And here's the evil, evil light in my room!! I *hate* it!! It hangs down so low that everytime my hands are raised when I put on or take off my clothes, I will hit it! It's bloody annoying!! It's evil and annoying and I'm putting its picture here so the whole world will know what an annoying thing it is! Shame on you lamp!!

Anyways, here's a *very* important message to all my friends out there: I will *not* be using my handphone anymore... The bills have been ridiculously high even after I cut down on usage and mommy dearest is not very pleased with that... Hence, all future correspondance will be via the internet ya? Thanks! :))

something to ponder about...

Friday, 15th September 2006 – 10:24pm Oslo time

I was chatting with my friend Yang Hao when he suddenly asked,

“Are you pissed with the pope?”

It wasn’t a question that you would normally expect so I asked him if there was any reason I should be angry at the pope. He asked me to click on this link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14846353/?GT1=8506

And so I told him yes I was, especially after I read the speech in its entirety… I feel that he should be more responsible when making such potentially-offensive remarks, especially since he is in a position of great global influence…

People may argue that he’s just quoting someone else and those words are not his own… But why use a quote to illustrate a point if you don’t believe in it? He was trying to illustrate his point by using that quote and by doing so, negative implications were made…

To make things worse, he’s an academic!! Couldn’t you have quoted something else?

This whole thing can be summed up with an army saying: Don’t try to stir shit if you can help it.

Not sure what it means? Ask any Singaporean male who’s been through NS in the army… Hehe…

boo!

to Siti Hajar Zainuddin... you *know* what you did! tsk tsk...

*gives Hajar the disapproving look with my now-not-so-ostrich-eyes*

kasi balik mata aku la! hmph!

oink oink!

Friday, 15th September 2006 – 1:32pm Oslo time

I almost ate pork!! Ooops… I was out grocery shopping yesterday and one of the things I usually buy is instant mashed potatoes… So I was at the shelves where they had these products and I thought,



“Since I always buy the regular-flavoured ones, why not try a different flavour this time?”

So I just grabbed a green packet (instead of the usual yellow) and carried on with the rest of my shopping… When I got home, I was sorting out my groceries when I saw the mashed potatoes… I wanted to see what flavour it was when to my horror, I saw “med skinke” which means “with ham”… Bleargh…

So it was kr15 down the drain…

Moral of the story: green; even though it’s a great colour, it's not *ALWAYS* good…

quick shout-out...

to Reza: Thanks for letting me use your written work as an article contribution!! It's a well-written piece and I really hope that it will get published... And of course, I'll send you a copy... :)

to Danny: Very sorry that I have to rush you with your plans... I do hope you understand my situation and of course, you can make it over...

to *someone*: I feel like such a big jackass!! Sorry I made you look bad in my previous blog entry... I can't believe I was having such selfish, childish thoughts which were laced with so much paranoia!! I'm so, so sorry and I will never pass judgement on you again until I hear the whole story... Thanks for being my rock... :)

hospitalised!

Thursday, 14th September 2006 – 1:58pm Oslo time

I’m pooped!

I had to wake up *really* early this morning as I had an appointment at the hospital… There’s nothing wrong with me (much to your disappointment); it’s just a mandatory chest x-ray that all new Norway arrivals have to go through…

I had such a hard, hard time getting out of bed cos I stayed up late last night thanks to *someone*… Anyways, I managed to get up and getting to the hospital was easy, but finding the right building was pure unadulterated hell!!

I had a map on hand, but the buildings in the map were labelled with letters of the alphabet while the actual buildings were NUMBERED!! Yes ladies and gents, it’s another mind-boggling instance where Norwegian logic rears its fugly head…

I tried to apply my (already shitty) topo skills on the map I had by taking bearing from the sun, but it kinda backfired and I got totally lost… I went into one of the bulidngs and sought help from a nurse, but that stupid barbie bitch must have been having her period cos she refused to help and told me to look for the admin building… If I knew where the admin building was, I would have gone there, right? Biskut!!

I ran around some more and after awhile, I went into another building and approached the nurse on receptionist duty… This one was old, and I guess menopausal and was hence more helpful and less PMS-sy… She showed me how to get to the right building and I got there, 20 minutes later than my scheduled appointment time…

I apologised profusely while I was getting registered… Thankfully, there wasn’t a queue (the advantage of having early morning appointments) and my turn came up after a few minutes of waiting…

The nurse who took my x-ray was on a sugar high of sorts… Which was good cos she was nice and friendly, but not so good and even freaky cos she was overdoing it… She reminded me of one of my speech and drama instructors from secondary school, Marianne… Marianne was somewhat on a perpetual sugar high and her “heigh ho routine”… Well, it will never be forgotten by those of us in her class…

I was done soon enough and had just the right amount of time to make my way to uni for my history class… Let’s just say it was a super huge yawnfest…

I’m pooped!

oops... again... ;p

Tuesday, 12th September 2006 – 1:58pm Oslo time

I was getting ready to take a shower earlier today and I got all my stuff out, like my shower cream, razor blade and so on… I usually lock my room whilst I’m in the shower but somehow, I couldn’t find my key… So I searched for it in my room… I searched high and low, but I couldn’t find it… I got flustered and annoyed cos the replacement fee for a lost key is kr300 and when you’re in Norway, every krone counts…

After awhile, I gave as I was running late for class… So I dejectedly made my way out to the shower and guess what? My key was in the keyhole in my door… Heh…

*sheepish grin*

sneak peek...

Cookie monster strikes a pose on my new comforter... It looks like my blog, doesn't it? =)

Ikea-ing again!

Monday, 11th September 2006 – 7:11pm Oslo time

I’m glad to announce that today’s Ikea trip was more successful! Yay! Lindsay and I had better luck today and we managed to get the bus which brought us to the bigger and nicer outlet at Slependen (we were at the Furuset outlet on Saturday)… But it was funny when we got there cos we kept going the wrong way! Haha… We actually took almost 15 minutes to get to the right part of the store… Hee… That’s what I call the ‘blondifying’ effect of Norway (and to make matters worse, Lindsay is already blonde! Heh.)…

Although I didn’t manage to find the pillow that I wanted from the other outlet, I found not one, but TWO which suited my fancy and were very nice… Lindsay was kinda against me buying the second one cos she said it didn’t match my comforter cover (she is so Reza in this aspect), but I argued that it would match my curtains… Haha… Anyways, it didn’t matter… I loved the pillow… It’s got nice cushy duck feathers in it…

And what do you know? My new pillowcase and comforter cover matches the design layout of my blog! Hehe… How cool is that? ;p

We also managed to find tonnes of vanilla candles! Yay vanilla candles! I also picked up some clothes hangers and was looking for stick-on clothes hooks, but couldn’t find any…

We then left and while waiting for the bus started talking about food… Lindsay asked me about what kinds of food we had in Singapore and I told her all about it… I think I grossed her out when I said that we eat ‘ta huey’ (tofu) for dessert cos she’s had bad experiences with it… Well, I guess they don’t have nice tofu in the U.S… Pity… :)

We decided to stop discussing about food when we both started getting hungry… Haha… The bus-ride home was really scenic; we were moving by the coastline quite a bit and the fjord is absolutely breathtaking…

We got back to town and went to the mall to find a new schoolbag for myself… The one I brought from Singapore suffered a tear and the hole got bigger and bigger, so I had to buy a new one… As expected, the bag was really expensive… In fact, the price of that one bag is equivalent to the amount that I spent on both my Ikea trips! And it’s not even branded! But I guess I’m paying for quality… The bag’s design is somewhat like a Deuter bag; it even has a rain-cover! And the design is great! Especially since there are green patterns on it… ;p

Then it was back home for the both of us as Lindsay had a four o’clock class to attend… All in all, it was a great day for shopping!! Especially since there were no crowds to bother us…

I had some time before my next class so I decided to wash the new covers plus some other dirty laundry that I had… It was pretty annoying cos when I got to the laundrymat, all the machines were in use and so I had to come back after about half an hour… I managed to get a machine and dumped the stuff in and came back after an hour to get the stuff and dump them into the dryer…

Now I’ve always had issues with the dryers here and today was no exception… I set the dryer to ‘Extra Dry’ as usual and came back after an hour… My stuff were still very wet!

I don’t understand why they can’t let us decide how long we want the stuff to stay in the dryer instead of having all these weird and random pre-programmed stuff… Like for example, there’s an option to blow cool air into your clothes for 20 minutes… Erm, why do you actually need that? There’re tonnes of cool air outside the dryer! This is just part of ‘Norwegian logic’ which I can never comprehend…

Hence, I had to set the dryer to ‘Extra Dry’ again and am now hoping for the best…

Sigh… Sian la…

PS: I have stuck the sign of *EVOUL* on my neighbour's door! muahaha!

the crud-cleaner...

Sunday, 10th September 2006 – 1:08pm Oslo time

So today marks the last day of 'Vaske-Uke' for me… I got up early this morning and started to do the ‘major’ chores, i.e. the kitchen, the main hallway and the bathroom…

The kitchen was *GROSS*!! It really was *GROSS*!! I don’t spend a lot of time in the kitchen cos I don’t cook that much, so I never realised how full of crud it was! I had to scrub the sink a million times before it started to reveal its true shade of metallic silver... It was was mad!

Then I went on to do the floor which was, as expected, very gross as well… So after about half an hour in the kitchen, I left it sparkling and smelling of lemons…

It was then time for the hallway… This wasn’t too hard cos it wasn’t very dirty… I just had some trouble with a wine stain, that’s all…

I was done soon enough and headed to the bathroom… It was actually kinda easy; the stains were not very stubborn and I had it (and myself) cleaned within 40 minutes! Yay!

So ‘Vaske-Uke’ is almost over for me… The fun part will come tomorrow when I get to post the sign of *EVOUL* on my next-door neighbour’s door… Hehe…

Now I’m so tired from the cleaning, I think I’ll just clean my room TOMORROW… ;p

totally Ikea!

Saturday, 9th September 2006 – 6:32pm Oslo time

Today was Ikea day! Yay Ikea! I met up with Lindsay and we took the train to Jerbanetorget where the free Ikea buses would be… Guess what? We got to the bus-stop just in time to miss the bus! Bleah…

So it was a half-hour wait before the next bus came… But it was ok, since Lindsay’s really nice to chat with… Then the bus came and it was off to Ikea!!

The store, like any other Ikea outlet, was huge of course... Lindsay had to get a cheese slicer, so we went to get that first… Then it was time to get my stuff! Hehe… I mostly had to get bedding materials, so we headed to the ‘Bedroom’ section… We found pillows and there was one which I really liked (and was within the price range), but it was out of stock!! Sigh… So I just got a comforter which was filled with duck feathers!! Cool eh? I told Lindsay that we don’t really use comforters in Singapore cos it’s so bloody HOT all the time…

Then we went to look at pillow/comforter covers… They came in sets which was cool; not cool cos I don’t have a pillow yet, but it’ll be cool when I get one… So we saw the cheaper ones and there were ones which I liked, but they were OUT OF STOCK!! Like, what wrong here? The only cheap ones which were in stock looked like granny panties… Sigh…

We then went to the curtains section… It was pretty surprising that they didn’t have a wide selection of curtains to choose from, but I managed to get a set for only kr20!! That’s like super cheap!

We were basically done but we decided to look around some more and I wanted to buy some scented candles and I was aiming to get vanilla, but yes, they had to be *OUT OF STOCK*!! Damn unlucky la…

Since it was so depressing to wallow in my bad luck, we decided to leave after getting some cheap snacks from the café…

We were in the city centre and Lindsay suggested that we try to look for scented candles… Alas, there was no improvement in my luck… They had lavender, orange, lemon, but no vanilla!! And of course, there was a whole slew of unscented pretty candles… But I don’t want!! :(
Lindsay and I then went around town and since we were so close, decided to head to the palace… We then walked around a bit and I finally took a picture with a guard!

Yay!

According to Lindsay, he’s the cutest one on duty today… Not that it matters… Apparently, we're supposed to observe some distance, so I wasn't allowed to stand too close to him...

Then we took a picture with an Asian guard! Yay! An Asian royal guard guarding the Norwegian palace… How cool is that?

Anyways, Lindsay and I plan to go again to Ikea on Monday, hopefully to the other outlet and hopefully where they have more stock! Our class on Mondays has been postponed for the next two weeks, so we can go! Hehe…

a post long overdue...

ok, I'm heading to Ikea with Lindsay soon, but I have to do this before I forget again... My dear friend Nurul just set up here own website/mini fashion line!! Yay Nurul!! She's one talented and cool chick, so do take time to visit her site... More importantly, buy clothes from her!! Haha...

In the words of Tim Gunn: "Make it work," Or more appropriately, make her work! ;p

Here's the link people:

http://newrule.wetpaint.com/

Enjoy! :)

legal eagle...

Friday, 8th September 2006 – 4:57pm Oslo time

Today was D-day for me… I got up, got dressed and headed to the city centre and to the immigration department… I didn’t get lost this time, thank goodness… I arrived, took a number and waited… And waited… And waited… I read Virginia Woolf’s ‘To The Lighthouse’... And waited… I looked at little Barbie trolls playing with their moms and dads… And waited… I went out to buy a sandwich and a nice bar of white chocolate for lunch; walked around the area for a little bit… And then I waited again…

*FOUR* hours later…

Ta-daah!!

I’m not an illegal immigrant anymore!

Oh, and today marks my first month here in Oslo!! Congratulations, Asraf!! One down, four more to go!

After living here for a month, here are some of the things I’ve learnt:

-a stack of photocopied readings is more expensive than a weekend camping trip in the woods

-there is no equivalent for the word “Please” in Norwegian

-water from the ‘hot’ tap is unfit for human consumption; drink only from the ‘cold’ tap

-some people put their clothes in the dryer but still want them to come out a little wet

-Norwegians are the biggest consumers of instant pizzas in Europe

May the next few months bring more enlightenment to me! :)

oh, it's so *BIG*!

I know there’s some lunar thingy going on tonight and don’t know if I can see it here but look what I saw outside my window!! It’s the bloody moon! And it’s so bloody HUGE!! I’ve never seen the moon this big before!! My goodness… It’s HUGE!! It’s really huge… Sorry if you can’t see it in its full magnificence... My digicam can only zoom up to four times… Hee….

jeg kommer fra singapore...

Thursday, 7th September 2006 – 9:03pm Oslo time

History is OUT! Norwegian is so, definitely IN!!

I had my pre-colonial South Asian history class earlier this morning and the professor bored me out of my brains!! She was READING from some decrepit, yellowed pieces of paper she was holding almost the throughout the ENTIRE lesson!! Yes, she read!! She even had to read supposedly natural expressions. Here’s an example:

“Although I would have to caution you not to think that… blah, blah, blah…”

Yes!! She read the line above… She had to refer to paper to know that she had to say that! She also distributed handwritten notes (which looked like she wrote them 2 minutes before class started) with very poorly-drawn diagrams… It’s just a reflection of how professional she is and how disinterested she is in sharing her passion (if any) for history!! Like, engage us please?

And I know it’s his-STORY, but that doesn’t mean you read to us like we’re some pre-school kids during storytime…

Ugh! Where's Mr. Suhaimi when you need him?

Anyways, Norwegian classes are getting more and more fun!! I think it’s cos my classmates are a great bunch… Here’s a tribute to them:

Astrid: She’s the matriarch of the class, aka the teacher… Astrid looks like Crypt Keeper Barbie [read: she OLD!]… She’s been ill lately and we’ve only seen her three times!! I actually miss her and so do some of my classmates… She may be old, but we still love her! Come back soon Astrid!

The girls…

Audrey (France): She’s the one I get along with the best… She’s a super cool tough chick who’s definitely no pushover…

Clara (Australia): Love her accent! Norsk and Ozzie…

Kasia and Kasia (Poland): Yes!! There are two girls called Kasia in my class and they’re both from Poland!! Déjà vu much? But they’re both very nice and it’s fun talking to them, especially when they lapse into their fit of giggles…

Katrin (Germany): She’s like the smart one… When no one knows what the bejesus the teacher is talking about, we ask Katrin…

Blandine (France): Blandine is great for being… Blandine!! She is like the most gorgeous girl in my class… Think Jodie Foster but with darker hair, more refined features and a sexy, sexy accent!! Sigh… And she has an amazing smile la…

The boys…

Julien (France): The official joker in class… I love sitting next to him during language lab lessons… He never fails to crack me up!! Joke of the day from him:-

Teacher: I don’t really like it if students mumble.

Julien: But we don’t like to mambo!

Hehe...

Sebastien (France): He speaks Norwegian with a very heavy French accent, it sounds mangled, but I love it…

Pierre (France): I remember him for sometimes having these outbursts when an idea strikes him… It somehow breaks the monotony in class and we all just start laughing…

And of course…

Asraf (Singapore): You always need a token Asian, and that’s when yours truly comes in!! Heh…

There are other people in the class of course, but I’m not gonna list all their names here… Just the memorable persons…

And if you noticed, my class is very “French-ful”… I just lurrve it when they start talking in French… They sound so nice!! They’ve inspired me to take up French again… Viva la France!

asraf makes a comeback...

Wednesday, 6th September 2006 – 8:46pm Oslo time

I was caught in the rain!! *brrr* Super, super cold!! I can’t feel my nose and I’m as red as a beetroot!
And it’s supposed to be SUMMER!! Hello?!


Anyways, after yesterday’s nasty incident in class, I licked my wounds and spent the whole night working on TWO translation exercises… It’s actually harder than it looks… I almost tore my hair out, but I managed to finish them before I went to bed…

So we had Old English class again today and guess what? He (i.e., the *EVOUL* one) asked if we’ve done the second exercise and out of the whole class, only TWO people did it (including moi of course)! It was such a triumphant moment for me when he said:

“Oh, you did it? You must have been that glimmer of light hiding beneath the bushes all this while then,”

Woo hoo!

He even praised me for submitting very neatly done assignments…

Back at ‘ya bitch! ;p

defining myself...

asraf angullia -- [adjective]: Full of bees 'How" will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

asraf gets a rude shock...

Tuesday, 5th September 2006 – 6:45pm Oslo time

I just got back from my Introduction to Old English class and I had such a BAD time! We were given a learning kit where there were oral exercises which we could do based on an audio CD… There was also a book where you could practise grammar drills and stuff like that… I didn’t realise that there were translation exercises at the back of the book though and that we had to do them and submit them to the professor…

So I got a rude shock when he told us to turn to the back of the book and started asking people to read out their answers… Naturally I didn’t have any and told him that I wasn’t aware that the exercises were at the back of the book (I knew there were gonnna be translation exercise, but I thought these exercises would be assigned by him)…

His reaction was:

“Well, you have to prepare these exercises before coming to class and if you’re going to fall behind too much, you might as well drop it,”

Ouch!

I felt that the statement was very unfair and too judgmental!! I have NEVER before in my two years plus in university forgotten my homework and the first time that I actually do, I get *THAT*?

Life’s such a bitch…

an evil way to end the day...

Monday, 4th September 2006 – 8:42pm Oslo time

I just got back from Norwegian class when to my greatest horror, I saw the sign of *EVOUL* on my door:

I’ve been attacked by ‘Vaske-Uke’!! Well, for those of you who don’t know, I live with six other floor mates and every week, there will be one person on cleaning duty, i.e., ‘Vaske-Uke’… So when it’s your week to do it, the *evoul* ‘Vaske-Uke’ sign will be pasted on your door… Cleaning duties include making sure the rubbish bins are properly lined and that other common areas such as the toilets, bathroom, kitchen and corridor are clean! Sian la!

‘Manic Monday’ by The Bangles is playing in my head right now… Sigh…

the lion rears its (ugly?) head...

Monday, 4th September 2006 – 5:29pm Oslo time

Today was like any other Monday I suppose; I woke up in the morning, got myself to class and participated in class discussions. My professor asked me a few questions about how gender roles are regulated in Singapore and my response was that Singaporeans are mostly very passive and that we sometimes receive ‘instructions’ from the government about our roles.

The thing is, I almost said: “That’s how they do things over there one,”

I kinda managed to stop myself and wondered what would happen if I actually did.

After the class, I went for lunch with my American friend Lindsay and one of the topics we broached on was the price of petrol. Lindsay explained her exasperation about the rising prices of gas back in the US and that it shot up to less than a dollar per gallon to more than three dollars per gallon in just a span of a few years.

My reaction was to be: “Wah lau! Siong sia!”, but I stopped myself after saying “Wow…”

Then I went to get some groceries and went to make a phonecall to the police station to clarify matters about my permit application. A man promptly picked up my call (thank God!) and while talking to him, I almost said:

“I dunno la, they settle already or not,”

Thank goodness I managed to stop myself in time.

Am I a bigger ah pek than I thought I was?

get a hole of yourself!

Sunday, 3rd September 2006 – 3:18pm Oslo time

I’ve been cooped up in my room all day because the weather is not very kind right now… In fact, it has been unkind since last night… Last night was the first time I saw lightning and thunder in all my weeks over here… It was interesting to experience a rainstorm which is similar to what you get in Singapore… It kinda made me feel like I was home again… Haha… Right… But of course, the fact that it was damn bloody freaking cold made me realise than I’m still in beloved Norway… Oh welll…

I tore my blanket in the morning by accident!! Can you believe that? I was trying to lumber out of bed when one part of my blanket got caught on my knee and another part on my foot (I was in a rather odd position) and when I moved, *riiip*!!! Now my poor blankie has a hole in it… Not a big one, but it adds to the whole “miserability” of my bedding items… Anyone wants to donate some pillows and a comforter?