Up & About

It's going to be another weekend & my feet were getting itchy again :P On Thursday, I went straight to Skeppsholmen (the ship island) after work to catch the sunset. We have passed the day with 12 hours day & 12 hours night, so from now onwards the day will get shorter & shorter than 12 hours. That's why i decided to see as much of the sun when i still could.

This is a cute little mini cooper-like boat. It looked small & chubby among all the sail boats around it.

Sunset from Skeppsholmen... simply breathtaking

Then on Friday, my feet got itchy again, so i went to Kungstragarden (The king's garden) for a stroll. I came across a Jewish Church with body guards around it. To know what's going on inside, i acted like a tourist and asked them whether i can go in. The guard told me sternly that there's a Jewish ceromony going on & tourist were not allowed to enter. Haiz, i shall try my luck again next week! :P I carried on my stroll & came across this beautiful park...

Beside the park, there was a building called "The China Theatre". I was surprised to find something so chinese there so i walked across the road & checked it out.
The interior of the theatre was beautifully decorated, with a strong oriental touch to it. But apart from the name & the interior design, nothing else is chinese. The theatre showed only swedish drama, not even english ones. There was music from the 20s playing, the ambience was perfect. Even this photo has a "花样年华" feel to it!

I continued walking from Kungstragarden to Gamla Stan (the old town) and suddenly an idea struck me: why don't i walk the whole of Gamla Stan (which is an island) & see what's around it! Hehe... so walked around Gamla Stan i did!! These were the photos i took:

A statue at Gamla Stan (The old town)A sweet little souvenir shop well-decorated. Ah yee & mummy, why don't you guys open a shop like this one day? Then you can spend your whole day "officially" making handycrafts . :-) I bet you guys can do a better job than this!See? The dolls were smiling so happily!3 little gnomes in the shop. I like the one in the middle, sleeping soundly...Ah Jie, do you want one of these dolls? They looked very pretty right? (they are quite cheap) I just hope that they are not "made in China".Or maybe one of these?? There were so many dolls & soft toys in Gamla Stan to target the tourists. So you can make your pick!

The stroll on Friday was very fruitful. Now i can tell others that i've walked the whole Gamla Stan! muahaahahaha :D

Yesterday, the weather was so nice. A bright, shiny sun & some breeze... just nice for an outing! After going to the Bergshamra library to get a membership card & borrowed some books, Sriram, Ruiwen & I went out for an expedition to check out what's around our hostel. We were so happy when we found a path leading to another side of the big lake we know. This side definitely has more to see!

Sriram & Ruiwen testing the water

Sriram & I looking at some boats passing byLying down... not really sleeping. With the sleeping habits i have, i'll probably roll into the waters in no time if i doze off.Nice weather is really precious here. That's why we were always in goo mood whenever the weather is nice.The woods beside the lake looks just like in Lord of the Rings, isn't it?This is super funny... I think it looked as if Sriram & ruiwen is shooting a wedding photo. The problem is, Sriram was pointing to one direction & Ruiwen was looking the direct opposite! Hehe...

Now comes a full documentary of Alison falling down...

I wanted to climb up a tree at the lakeside...

Successful!! Now smile & pose for the camera...

Come down slowly... slowly...

Slopshhh *^%@#$@!! Slipped & down i went!

Ruiwen giving me a hand

Woops, slipped & down i went again!

Ruiwen held on to a branch, come on, get up get up!

Phew! Finally!!

Now that was scary...

I had moss all over my pants... see?

Hehe... it was a fright, but luckilly i didn't get any bruishes or scratches. :P Shall be more careful next time lar! Throughout the whole process of falling down & getting up, do you know where is Sriram?? Haiz, he's busy taking the photos. Thanks to him now i have a 连环照 for me to remember. Actually i would like to take this opportunity to compliment Sriram as a very creative photographer... cuz when i was standing around with the afternoon sun behind me... Sriram had a funny idea...

I should act like an enlightened soul...

Or as if i'm spitting fireballs!! Kame-kame-HA!!

Hehe... it was nice to spend a whole saturday afternoon out with the guys... now we know what kind of places we have around our hostel. Kungshamra is such a cool place!! Hehe... love it more & more each day :-)

Danqi in Stockholm Part II

Now, the second part is a long long Sunday which we spent in a the Gronalund Trivoli. It was a theme park, but not exactly like the one you get in Genting. It has a classic touch to it, everything here didn't look as hype as Genting, but it sure made us feel like we were in a fairy tale!

Waiting outside at the entrance... actually we were deciding whether to go to the Skansen open air museum or the theme park, and we chose the latter. Thanks Qi for the entrance fee! :P

First and foremost. we went to Pettson Findus' World. Pettson Findus is supposed to be a cat in a fairytale.
These 2 photos were taken on our way out of the theme park in the evening. We didn't take any photos of Pettson Findus when we first went into his house, so we thought we should do that before we leave!

Me & my symbolic sunflower in Pettson Findus' house.
Me & some cute mushrooms. Danqi said it looked like i was waiting for something for too long until mushrooms started to grow there!
Funny chickens in Pettson Findus' barn. They were drinking tea, reading newspapers, & sleeping upside-down!

A couple in swedish traditional clothes came walking by on stilts! Throughout the 8 hours we spent in the theme park, we met a lot of cute characters in customes. At the end of the day, i started to wonder whether they were the same people, just changing the customes from time to time. Why don't you be the judge and tell me whether they look the same!

Everybody look at this... Penang Curry!! Unfortunately, not many know what Penang is, that's why we didn't see any customers there... Qi was the only one in fact...

The Spook House!

This is a play about Mumin (the white monster) and his friends in the woods. The play was a great fun because it interacted with the children & made them very excited!
I was determined to get something from the theme park for souvenir (without paying much), so i decided to try my luck in the games. Wanna know what's the results??
Tadah!! Muahahahaha, i tried 3 times, & managed to get 2 funky ties. Not bad eh?

I got a tie with "super swede" on it, while Qi got a pink shiny one with "stark", which means "strong".

We went around the theme park to decide what rides we would like to try. This was my choice...

Both Qi & I tried it out. It was fabulous!! The ride was situated just beside the waters, so when I was flung into the air, the view was magnificent! The afternoon sun, the strong breeze, the glimmering waters, and people laughing just below you. This must be what an angel would have felt...

Then, we tried out a strange house that must have been made by a crazy genius...

First of all, the stairs moved! The left & right steps of the stairs moved in rhythm, so we had to stand on a step & waited for the other side to come down, stepped on it, then let it bring us up. The house was so strange that for the stairs that didn't move, they were slunted & in odd shapes. The whole house made us felt as if we were mad!!!

Qi walking through the floor that moved right & left.

Me in the rolling tube... felt like a hamster...

The laughing mirror house was the last we went to. We took at least one photo in front of every mirror. This was one of the photos. Hehe... long body, big butt, & short legs... how do we look??

A nice photo of the sunset at the theme park... a day ending like this is a day worth living!

Danqi went back on Monday. I went to send her at the central station. I gave her a brooch as a present & she gave me a sweet hot water bag.
I was very touched, cuz i really didn't expect her to give me a present. She had given me a lot during her one week stay here-- she gaved me the courage to leave my curtains open at night, she taught me so much about living in europe, she brought me around more than i brought her around, and most of all, she opened a door for me. A door that showed me how to make my one year here worthwhile. I didn't see as much of Stockholm & the life here until Qi pointed them out to me, & i'm determined to make the best of it!!

As for the friendship that was put to test, i think it's as solid as it was 2 years ago. Both of us changed, but Qi is still the old Qi i loved so much! :-)

Thanks a lot, Qi!