Scandinavia-the round up

So Wednesday morning, we woke up to an empty driveway.

The 6-week-old car vanished overnight. And the gate was closed. As if it had just popped down to the shops.

After we managed to close our mouths, I got my first entry into a Malaysian police station. My parents were at the counter with a lady living in the next street who was also reporting a stolen C-RV. Another 3 had gone from another suburb. Clearly it was a syndicate, filling an order.

The possibilities began to click through in my mind about how it happened: they'd definitely hacked our gate's remote control lock, because there was no damage...we were lucky they didn't come in..how did they find us?..maybe they paid off someone at the dealership?..maybe the salesman is part of the syndicate?...crooked police? Basically anything that might be a plot twist in airport fiction, is a plausible possibility in Malaysia.

And it's here I begin to be wistful for Scandinavia; that rare combination of being a place you would want to go and a place that's safe to be.



View Larger Map
The route: Anti-clockwise on the Blue line for 2 weeks with the tour. Then Pink line on my ownsome.

With the exception of Oslo which has seen better days, from the beginning in Stockholm, right around the landmass, and over to Denmark, I was only ever in danger of offending locals by misusing the words "Scandinavia" and "Nordic" (oh yes, there's a difference)

Rudolf's posse spotted scoping a joint

All the time I gawped at new bicycles left unsecured on the street, potted plant arrangements left unvandalised, and struggled to spot so much as peeling paint, let alone graffiti. There's a level of civic consciousness that's astounding. It's like Japan; safe, expensive and culturally homogenous but with more trees, less people, slightly less fish and a lot more reindeer.

Sure, as a tourist it's unlikely "historic crackwhore den" would be included on the Copenhagen city tour, but as a comparison, in San Francisco you can't go the two blocks from your overpriced tram ride in Market St to the statue in Union Square without passing at least 4 homeless people panhandling, 3 of them with AIDS, 2 junkies cursing...

"And ooonnne crazypersonmuttering toooo themmmm...sellllllves".

It was just really relaxing to not-worry about maintaining a vice-like grip on my bag, to not-worry about security in the hotel rooms, to not-worry about drivers going through zebra crossings, to not-worry that my bag would be stolen when I went to the toilet.

Maybe it's just because I was there with Malaysians, so given our exchange rate, no one would want to steal from us anyway! But for a place that often looks the stuff of fairytale, my favourite part couldn't be photographed.

I'll be doing a run-through of the different stops on the route in the following days. It won't be blow-by-blow, I promise. I know you can't be arsed to read that, but more importantly, I can't be arsed to write it.

:)

The Farewell-UPDATED

The wireless here is working in theory, like NATO. However no one seems to know the password and connecting it directly by cable doesn't seem to do the trick either. I've also just realised that the bung CD drive on my laptop got forgotten in the final rush, and that it remains..bung. Where are my geeks when I need them!!!

If I was in SF, where top-quality uber-geeks grow on trees, I'd make dinner or bake something and somehow my IT woes would be fixed by evening's end. Anyhoo, that's a big long-winded excuse for no pix today cos I still haven't figured out how to transfer them from my laptop to this PC.

In lieu of those, I decided to bust out the Paint app on this PC and totally impress you with my mad drawing skillz.

So,..
the wonderful Yen organised a gaggle of our friends to go to all-you-can-eat-and-drink shabu shabu and sake in Japantown. They weren't stingy neither. As soon as a platter of meat disappeared into the pot, another would miraculously appear in its place. Same went with the sake and the Sapporo beer. It was as close to the Hogwart's Great Dining Hall experience I've ever had.

Accurate rendition of our table

It was pissing down like a mofo outside, but inside it was steamy goodness all round and we were just one of many raucous groups of young Asians badly handling our alcohol. Also I got a big scrapbook of all the trips we went on and everything *sniff* good times..

Then, we were off to Fillmore Karaoke for some awesome 80s hits. Unfortunately we didn't realise they don't serve drinks in there. How does one do karaoke without alcohol??? The mind boggles.

So the wonderful Yen and Yee stepped in and smuggled the sake in our car into the room, where we promptly refilled our "water" bottles.

Amazingly accurate rendition of our karaoke suite

What my in-depth illustration lacks is our particularly rousing renditions of Air Supplies' "I'm all out of Love" and the time where I broke it down for Vanilla Ice's seminal piece of genius "Ice, Ice Baby". As I said, mad. skillz.

Then finally came time for us to turn off the George Michael. Not because we had no love for him, only cos we now had no voice left. And I did my farewell speechy thing. Which I totally was planning on not crying through.

Accurate rendition of farewell speechy thing

Oh well, it was a good plan anyway.

UPDATE: Strikingly real as my illustrations are, you don't really need them, but the boring ol' pix are here.

That was some naughty and here's the nice

My first real Christmas tree!

Christmas here has been a real treat. It's kind of like visiting the set of a Christmas movie. Something starring an adorable yet feisty child star (before the meth years) who teaches a grumpy, cynical stranger to love again.

Having never lived the northern hemisphere life before, it's weird to be bundling up in scarves and boots and gloves because it's really bloody cold. Not (as in Oz) because it's an awesome fashion opportunity (although it is).

Then there's the tree. The tree! A real fir can be had for a mere $20! (The pumpkin patches set up on corners for Halloween just switch right over to trees after Thanksgiving). So charming to have that Christmas tree smell, and fairy lights glow in the house–not just in shopping centres.

I hate to say it, but it really does feel a lot like Christmas!

Thank you to my readers, all three of you. Hope wherever you are, something charming and magical happens. Hope you get what you wished for. The two things I want aren't sold in shops, but I'll keep wishing them anyway.

Merry Christmas!

Turkey Day 07

Hot on the heels of the Halloween shenanigans, came Thanksgiving dinner–another American tradition I shamelesly pulled out of the freezer and reheated for a quick cultural snack. Also, Yen's away and I get the kitchen to myself. w00t! Unfortunately, she also took the camera with her *booo* so I had to rely on a late-coming guest's camera :(

The guests:

I hosted a bunch of Thanksgiving orphans for this–all manner of foreigners, away-from-homers and such.

The menu:
Most of the traditional things–turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, roast vegetable medley, stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy, I was fine with. I drew the line though, at the really "traditional" things like green bean casserole, which looks like this:

And can be made with these:

That's canned green beans, canned mushroom soup and packaged fried onions, kids. Sounds delicious, huh?? It's not entirely bizarre because America is one of the few places where the food tradition was still being created during the industrial era. Either that, or the pilgrims have really, really bad taste.

I can be such a food snob because I'm on my moral high ground, from being such an eco-shopper. The turkey was petite and organic, and most of the vegetables and fruits were from the farmer's market. Most everything else I got from Safeways, but organic. How much do I love California??

Due to the sad state of affairs with the camera though, not many pix to choose from. But, here's the view of my two, yes, TWO homemade pies! Sweet potato to the left, was ..*meh*..(though it got the thumbs-up from the locals) and my trusty apple pie already demolished in front.

No one died or even spat into their napkins, so am declaring it a huge success. Hoorah!

Missy Higgins! W000t!

Aussie singer Missy Higgins was in town last week, so we went to see her over at Cafe Du Nord in the Castro. We looove Missy. Her music is kind of like a happier Sarah McLachlan. To see her show in Australia, we'd be in an audience of thousands. Here, it was more like 150. Better view for us!

There were two warm-up acts before she came on. The first was Katy Steele of Little Birdy, which is quite a well-known band in Australia from my lovely hometown of Perth. She was just there by herself, but her stage presence is quite riveting. With her straight white blonde hair, it was very Debbie Harry.

The second act was an excruciatingly boring American girl. Too much time on hair, not enough writing decent songs. It was more prolonged warbling than singing. I even, at one point, crouched down, so my feet would hurt less from my heels. I was sooo unconcerned about seeing the performance. Just holding my place until the real act came on. I didn't mean to be so ghetto, but dude, I was ready to chew them off at the ankles!

Finally, Ms Higgins came on! It was truly a miraculous set. Gorgeous lyrics and tripping melodies, hampered only by Miss Number One Fan behind me. She knew every word to every song (of course) and insisted on singing it loud as can be (of course). I was soo close to turning around, slapping her one, and reminding her I paid to hear Missy, not her. I didn't (of course) because I'm classy like that.

Also, she was bigger than me.

B-day celebrations II

So after our joint dinner, we did some drinks... I did a spin on a dance pole.. you know, the usual. Then we walk up the street to find another bar. As we're walking a few blocks away, we pass a "Thailand Health Spa Massage" place. Some of the guys wanna go in. Fine. My sister and I wait outside. That's when this guy starts talking to us.

He's younger than his paunch suggests, and dressed like a bouncer–blue shirt and oversize leather jacket. He seems a bit sketchy at first because he talks a lot and fast. Anyway it comes out that he's shore police. It's fleet week-the navy is in town on shore leave-and it's his job to make sure no one gets arrested.

Basically, he explains, the navy has 20 personnel in the downtown/North Beach area where we were, and 30 in the Castro (gay capital of the world, if not the universe). They ask the (real) police to call them if any of their guys gets arrested, as they've been given expense accounts exactly for bail-type expenses...

That's not all that's involved though, he explains. There's much reconnaissance to be done beforehand. The extent of which he displays when the boys emerge from the massage place. They despondently report the lady in there looked aunty-ish.

Our shore policeman explains that they were sent to SF some time before the fleet arrived to scope out all the "places of interest" and find out where the best are, what they offer and at how much. Apparently Thailand Health Spa Massage still tries to keep the facade of a reputable place. Once you get led inside, that's when you can choose from a "menu" and make a few coded requests.. who knew!

Aah the might of the armed forces of the most powerful nation on earth...

Hard Partying

So amazing what hours of primping can do...for other people. We, on the other hand, rolled out of bed like this.

Partying in SF is not so much entertainment as an endurance test. Firstly, no matter what weather it's like near your house, or how cute your new dress is, a cardigan/jacket/both is required to brave the squally winds and b*tch of a fog in the city. Then there's the inordinate stress of finding the place. As head non-driver, I am constantly struggling with different retarded GPS systems. After that whole palaver, there's driving round and round for a park. Shouting and cursing at every godforsaken imbecile who takes one ahead of us. Then, finally, after the stars have aligned and a human sacrifice made, a space is found and the whole car erupts in a self-congratulatory cheer.

Mind you, we're still two blocks from the place. There's still picking your way through the unusual streets–here a posh new office block, there an alley populated by various homeless people and surly old security guards (is there any other kind?). Once accomplished, belly up to some bar small enough to fit into the private rooms at Zouk.

Aaah San Francisco. How much do I love thee?

Summer in the Bay

Hello my lovelies,

Oh how I've sucked at posting this month! Mucho sucketh. I promise I've been busy and not just bone-arsed lazy. Well, mostly anyway. The thing is, it's summer now. Apparently that's a cause for celebration. In Australia, there is vicious amounts of sunshine, causing one to have a guarded respect for it; all Aussies know the dangers of skin cancer. Here, however, copious amounts of mostly weak sunshine makes walking about fun, and makes all food taste better on a paper plate.

On the 'travel' front, I've been over to Half Moon Bay twice. I use the quotes because it's not really out of town, though it does feel like it.



Just 15 minutes west from us, and on the coast south of San Francisco, is the little town of Half Moon Bay. It's cute like the way you imagine American seaside towns to be. Even though there's only one road through the hills to it, causing huge bottlenecks at peak times, people still commute from there. Once you get over the hills it's no longer a suburb in the Bay area but a country-style escape—market gardens and flower farms and such. I guess I can see why some would think it's worth the hassle.



The photos above are from the front garden of a lovely and bizarre antiques shop in town called 'Half to Have It', which is bursting at the seams inside with all manner of vintagey goodness. Those birdhouses above are made in China though, muahaha.

Meanwhile, we were also quite chockful of activities in the 'Sitting on a blanket outside' category. Actually Yen and I have become quite pro at packing a picnic.


First up was the radio-sponsored 'Summerthing' concert at Golden Gate Park, featuring the musical stylings of Everclear and Smashmouth. They should have called it 'Remember those guys from the 90s?'


Yen, me and Yee striking a pose—you really got to entertain yourselves whilst waiting for a song you recognise.


Next up, 4th of July fireworks. There was no national anthem or music of any kind actually. The fireworks were big, but kind of random. What's up with that? Also there seems to be a much shorter minimum distance from crowd to firework. I was stoked to be right under the exploding sky, but the jury's still out on my hearing.


Then a trip out to Tomales Bay, north of the city, for cheap oysters by the water. It takes either one and a half or two and a half hours to get there, depending on whether you Google the right place or not(!) Suffice to say the long and windy car ride left me unsociable. I am only smiling here because they have oyster knives in my back.


Finally, the piece de resistance, the Stern Grove festival. It's a concert series held in a large-ish umm ..grove..in the city. We saw Lavay Smith and a New Orleans jazz band, and the SF Symphony Orchestra here. Because it's a smallish space, you have to go early to stake your claim on some real estate and watch a lot of shirtless men before the music. Awesome.

My most exciting news is this most rubbish picture. I know you can't tell, but I had a cut and colour as a hair model for the first time ever. Being skint will do that to you. I wasn't sure whether I'd have to start wearing hats afterwards or not, but both my trainee stylists did great jobs. They were at big name salons, so they had very good seniors supervising them. It takes longer than it might usually, but it's so worth it. Colour was US$30 and cut US$15. Bargain, no?

Actual conversation:
Me: Hi, can I make an appointment for a cut and colour?
Apprentice: Is it virgin?
Me: Excuse me?
Apprentice: Is your hair virgin?
Me: Ummm. Yeah, it's uncoloured.
Apprentice: Ooh great. it's really hard to find virgin hair.
Me: I see...

The post that nearly got away:

Here's a bit of a round-up of the things that I've been up to as of (kind of) recently:

Took a trip out to the Google Campus in Mountain View to partake in some top-secret paid user study for Blogger. OK the study isn't so top secret, but what they asked me is, so my lips are sealed there. Suffice to say there's heaps of cool things going down for Blogger. Woooo. Also I scored two juices and some snacks from the waiting room. Booya! Every trip to Google is delicious. Pictured is the seating area servicing some of the 14 free restaurants on-site.

Took a trip to Palo Alto, near Stanford to get some dinner. Ended up at Cafe Del Dogge a home, nay headquarters, for coffee snobs. It's part of an Italian chain, so things are pretty damn...Italian..inside. The baristas for one (good) the menu for another (bad). I'm no good with coffee after dinner so I got a hot chocolate. Even my friend the ardent coffee snob and Italophile, who's been there heaps, managed to get confused amongst the three kinds of hot chocolate and ordered the above. Looks good right? Tasted like...well, gooey 70% dark chocolate. Looks a LOT better than it tastes. Call me an infidel, but dark chocolate is a culinary deal breaker for me.


Other strange but more potent drinks to be found at RoHan Lounge, where we went for some birthday drinks. What it lacks in curb appeal it makes up for in atmosphere inside. The music is a nice level for conversation and the bartender was cute (OK not so much an objective view, but still). Being a fusion kind bar, the drinks are Asian-themed. I can't fault them cos they had a drink named after me, which was nice of them to do. The Ming totally kicked my butt though, so I guess I should be proud that even as a mixture of beverages I am strong.


And finally, here are some banana crumb muffins I made. They kicked ass if I do say so myself. The crumbs on top are basically sugar, butter and cinnamon, so deliciousness is guaranteed. A few steps to fatty-boombah-ness is probably also guaranteed, but what's life without some luxurious baked goods.

This is more like it

We went to hike Land's End on Saturday. I'm not usually a big fan of hiking, but the SF spring weather, which is like air-con with sunshine, makes it a pretty civilised experience. Only time I felt trail-rage (hiking-based road rage) was when joggers passed us effortlessly with perfectly manicured pooches in tow. Meanwhile, I was so out of breath that I had to reduce my Snarky Comments Levels to all-time lows. Nature has no appreciation of irony.

The Pacific lookin' pretty-

You know you're in San Francisco when...

...your cute welcome cake says "Welcome to the Bay Area", because REAL San Franciscans know that "San Francisco" only means the city bit and does not include all the bits around it. OK, geography lesson over, unless that's the kind of thing you're really into.

What a difference a month makes

Bugger me. I've been here for a month already.

I know, I know. What the hell have I been up to that I couldn't be arsed to put up a few pictures and some smart aleck comments about the Americans. What could be easier!

It's been, shall we say, fantastic. Other people, when they leave one country for another, they may just take a direct plane there. Those people have no imagination and probably do sudoku for fun.

Here's how I did it:

First, after finishing work at Chinese New Year, was the farewells. They were fun, bittersweet, but mostly, immensely calorific. Coming on the back of CNY celebrations there was a fair bit of gorging on everything in sight.

Then, there was Sydney, where I got to hang with my fave little guy David and my aunt and uncle. Then I did some bbq-eating with my old roommate and met up a uni friend.

Then, home to Perth and more Aussie goodness–catching up with all my favourite Perthians. Can't get more Aussie than this pic. Also I had an interview at the US Consulate for a visa. I just about gave myself an ulcer over the interview, which, as is my luck, turned out to be nothing at all.

Then, back to Singapore to look one last time at this godforsaken chair that style forgot, and poof! Just like that, a chapter in my life over.

I spent a few days in Tokyo to break up the trip, staying in hip Shinjuku with my ex-colleague and his gf. We went to bars that baffle me still–one involved ping pong balls. My host mum, who recovered from serious illness just one month before, came to town to take me round. She out-walked me at the Imperial gardens (above) which, really, goes to show how useless I've become fitness-wise.

..and I made an entirely useless trip to Odaiba, an island off Tokyo. Useless cos I didn't know in order to get home I had to leave exactly 30 min from getting off. I did get to see Puppy *the World, though, which is a shop where you can rent dogs to walk around the island. I would have gone with Pups for Pounds as a name, but that's just me.

And finally, hoorah, hoorah. Home in SF, where I've taken up my position as house elf for Big Sis. The cherry blossoms were kind enough to come out to welcome me.

We've been on one road trip since I got here. No points for guessing where :p It's not something you really do in Singapore, and I've got quite the appetite for it now.

Other than that, it's been a buffet of day-to-day fun things. I've met all of Big Sis' SF 'family'. They're a great bunch and a big part of feeling settled here. I was Miss Apprehension about the move, but I think it works out for the best. It's perhaps been a tad tooo fun cos the jobsearch only just got started, heh.

The time wasn't mis-spent. Now that I've had some time for things to roll around in my head, something has clicked over and I'm sure what I want/don't want to do. Which, for me, is nothing short of a bloody miracle.

Some housekeeping:
I'm not feeling the design at the moment, but don't want the plain white, so I'm gonna leave it first, k?