I am back from
Copenhagen!!
Well, seems that the photo option for Blogger is not working at the moment, so it will be a while before I can post pics from the trip, I guess.
Wanted to blog about the week before I left for Copenhagen, but I guess I'll write about Copenhagen first.
The more I read about Copenhagen, the more excited I got..and there really was a lot to see over there!
But getting there was a real challenge...first, it took me 3h 28 min to get to Berlin-Schönefeld and I had to umsteigen (change trains) THREE TIMES!! Ugh. And although EasyJet promised fuss-free, fully-automated check-in, those with suitcases (and there were a lot of these people) had to queue up to check in! And it was chaotic, because they had several flights! Raymond was also cutting it very close man...thankfully I was able to check in first...instead of panicking and waiting for him to show up.
Then, there turned out to be a delay...of at least 1 hour..but apparently you only get compensation if the delay is more than 2 hours..hmm..anyway, we had to stand and wait in a terminal that was sauna-like. I pondered the EasyJet philosophy of having fast turnaround rates while watching a lonely figure loading up a Airbus A316 all by himself (well, ok, the other guy was in the cargohold) and later, when some guy came over and simply looked on as the first guy continued to load the suitcases piece by piece...also, I began to not wonder how come my suitcase got badly damaged.
The flight was fine...no turbulence, thankfully. The pilots looked kinda young though.
Copenhagen Airport wasn't bad at all, except for the exceptionally LOOOOONG queues at the toilets. Admittedly, this toilet queue problem isn't limited to the airport...almost everywhere I went in Copenhagen had excessively long queues for the toilet. I wonder if this is because people here drink a lot of liquids or if there aren't enough toilets for the number of people here.
We managed to find the bus to take relatively easily...the hostel wasn't hard to find either. I attribute this to my not bad map reading skills...haha. The hostel was quite lively...but I am not into lively. I like QUIET...especially where I have to sleep, especially after spending the whole day among throngs of tourists and citizens...but oh well, I couldn't afford the price of silence. We had 2 beds in a 14-bed dorm...it was noisy man...and the beds were quite creaky. Raymond slept below and made the bed shake quite violently on occasion, when he tossed and turned. But oh well...AND!!!! The whole place only had 2 toilets and 4 showers for nearly 80 guests..like erm...HOW ON EARTH is that supposed to work out? Plus, toilets and showers are only cleaned once a day...which leaves the toilet quite digusting. It's not the staff's fault...it's all the often not very considerate young people who stay there. Plus, the toilet was choked up the first evening I was there. I almost wanted to throw up at the sight...and some people actually still used it without reporting it to the reception. Well, I must say that the staff are super friendly, but man...the cleanliness in the toilets is something I cannot compromise on.
Raymond and I went to Tivoli the first night, because it was open till quite late. We didn't go on any of the rides cos it was too expensive...but the park itself was quite nice...ate something like a hamburger with pickles and mustard...it was sooo good! Ok, maybe the fact that I was starving and that the guy at the stand was cute really influenced my judgement. But I think Danish fastfood really isn't bad at all. Raymond had some huge slushee thingy...was quite colourful and tasted very artificial. My feet and legs were beginning to swell by the end of the day, so we went back...but not before I bought a postcard from a stall which also was manned by a cute guy. Haha...oh! And there were tons of toys hanging all over...soooo cute!
We went back to the hostel to plan what we wanted to see the next day, or over the next 2-3 days. It was quite a logistical nightmare, considering how many places there were and our different interests as well. Ok, so the original plan was to go to the National Museum, then head over to the longest shopping street in Europe, then go to Amalienborg Palace (where the royal family lives)..then go on a Canal Tour. In the end, our plans were kinda different.
We got up early the next morning and had to go find Raymond some coffee cos he's not a morning person...the cafe latte was quite nice at Baresso..Raymond liked his cappucino as well...since I don't drink coffee...like maybe twice or three times a YEAR, I must say that I've drunk more in these 2 weeks than I usually drink in a year. After that, we headed for the National Museum...we actually walked there, I think.
We were supposed to go on this guided tour of the museum, but it turns out they didn't have that tour on Saturdays, so we went on the tour of an authentic Victorian-style apartment instead (i.e. not reconstructed by a museum)...it was really cool...found out quite a lot about the style of the period..the guide was quite a funny guy. He told us how the telephone didn't have a real purpose...cos only about 20 families had telephones at that time and they all more or less stayed in the same street...the phones, like practically everything else in the rooms, was a conversation starter...guests were obliged to start the conversation. If the host initiated the conversation, it would seem like he was bragging..so the guest had to say, for example, "That's a nice telephone you have.." Host: "Yes, thank you. Would you like to hear more about it?" etc etc and then conversation would start. The guide also told us about women not being allowed to use the toilet during parties...the only way women could go to the toilet was if they fainted...and they'd be carried home, where they could use the toilet...but once they left a party, they weren't allowed to return. Aiyoh...and they also could only drink if a man toasted them. Hmm.
Then we went back to the National Museum briefly (it was a short walk away) and looked at an exhibition about Denmark from the 1600s to 2000. It was not bad, but my eyes were getting tired from reading...and Raymond was hungry, so we walked quickly through the rest of the exhibition, which was really only one of MANY...and headed to Stroget (it's actually an o with a slash across the centre), the longest shopping street in Europe. We had lunch at a place serving Danish food. I had a Smorrebrod (please add the slashes to the "o"s) with roast beef and pickles and fried onions...oh it was heavenly...I am officially in love with Danish mustard! I bought 2 bottles at the airport with the remaining Danish crowns I had. Then we continued walking down the street and I saw that Triumph was having a sale...although Triumph is quite expensive, I decided to just have a look...while Raymond waited outside...and I hit paydirt! Been wearing sportsbras for so long cos I still hadn't found the right bra-size...until that day...have made a lot of mistakes and I own many ill-fitting bras...but this time, I really found the right size. How can I tell? Well, you just have to check...if you lift up your arms and the bra comes up with your arms, then the band is too loose...if your boobs are being squished and they spill over, then the cups are too small...and believe me...try the bra on...some salesladies will try to convince you to buy something that doesn't fit very well (which is why I have bras that are 2 band sizes too big and 3 cup sizes too small) just to make a sale...and also, people like to think they are right...but not always...and well, this particular bra felt PERFECT...realised that the bras I bought on eBay are one band size too big and one cup size too small...but it's not TOO bad...but now, I am super happy that I have found my real size. Unfortunately, it's not something you can find easily in shops...will probably have to rely on eBay most of the time...and most look like armour or those granny-types...ugh, so unglam and unsexy. And man...I have only found 12 articles on eBay...ah well...I guess I'll mostly have to stick to sports bras. The problem is that my band size is kinda small...ugh...buying bras is sheer misery for me. But anyway, it was 70% off, so it only cost 10 Euros...can you believe it?? Even in Singapore, it's practically impossible to get Triumph at that price...and this is the higher-end stuff!
Haha...anyway, it was already past 3pm by then and the Palace closed at 4pm, so we decided to go on the Canal Tour instead. And boy, there was this really really CUTE guy selling drinks...I managed to take photos of him..I seriously hope I wasn't drooling man! He looked really delicious! *sigh* but these are all just fantasies. Anyway, the tour was excellent because since we didn't have a lot of time to see all that we wanted to see, the tour enabled us to see some of Copenhagen's famous sites, at least from a distance. We saw the Church of Our Saviour with the spiral staircase on the OUTSIDE of the tower...and the Royal Library, which is called the Black Diamond...and Christiania, freetown of the soft drug pushers...we also saw Amalienborg Palace from a distance...and of course, the highlight of the trip, the Little Mermaid statue! I love boat tours!!
Then it was kinda late and not much else was open, so we decided to go to Museum Erotica, which actually wasn't particularly interesting. I'd seen some of the stuff in the other 2 exhibitions I've seen on eroticism or sex already. Raymond complained about the curatorship. Ok lah...in any case, the most annoying thing was really the stupid videos...I mean hello, there is no point in having the video repeat exactly what all the wall panels say...it's only distracting and has no added value (haha, sorry, am spouting stuff I learnt in one of my seminars about the use of multimedia).
After that, we went for dinner...I had chilli con carne..not bad, but not spicy at all. After that, we went to Tivoli again cos there was a big band concert...we just sat there for a while until we got tired and took the bus back to the hostel.
There was this really really annoying show-off guy in our room...he told 2 younger finnish boys to stop reading and go out to party..."It's a Friday night...all these Danish girls dress up for you and you sit here reading?? You know, I write a diary and I would KILL myself if I ever spent a Friday night at home reading" and so on...he kept talking big...and it annoyed the hell out of me...like a 14 or 15-year old might brag like this, but he's TWENTY-FOUR!!!! I will tell you the rest of the story if you want..but shall not bore you if you're not interested.
The next day, we planned to either go to Elsinore (called Helsingor in Danish)..for the uninitiated, it is where Hamlet is set...OR to the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde. When we got to the central station, I absolutely couldn't find an info counter even after walking around like 3 times! Finally, I realised that the people providing info were actually dressed like security guards.
So we took the S-tog to some weird place, then changed train in order to get to Roskilde. When we got there, we walked all the way to the bay, where the Viking Ship Museum was. We decided to go on the boat tour (haha, second in 2 days) where you actually have to row your own boat...but that was at 2pm..and it was about 11am then..so we walked around and looked at the outdoor exhibits. And time passed really quickly..but I really liked the exhibitions...as in the texts weren't too long and they were simple...and I loved the whole outdoor concept! Although people might wonder why they bother with reconstructing the ships and tools, I realised that it's a very good way to figure out how things worked previously...and I was also fascinated by the view of the fjord. Walked around and sat down occasionally...then went for lunch at some kiosk. I had no idea how to pronounce the stuff, so I just asked for a hotdog with fried onions...haha...and the mustard...mmm...yummy! The pickles were great too! Fabulous...
Then we took some photos and soon enough, it was time for the boat ride! The sailing part was super cool...and honestly, I was majorly impressed by how much skill and instinct that sailing required...it's something my fragile mind cannot deal with. However, while I really enjoyed that part, I really really HATED the rowing. The lady in front kept whacking my oar and also...although everyone was supposed to be following the lady in front, they all developed their own, albeit more or less stable, rhythm...pity the lady couldn't follow them...and once I nearly lost the oar cos of her..it was traumatic...but other than that...it was quite a nice ride. Afer that, we went inside the museum to see the 5 ships they managed to rescue...and ironically, it's the ships that the people thought were not sail-worthy and wanted to get rid of them by recycling them as barricades for the fjord that were saved from being burnt or thrown away. Oh, the guide was a very excitable girl who kept hopping from one foot to the other. She was really cute...haha.
After that, my legs were killing me...and we rushed back to the train station, where I was hungry and so both of us got a hotdog each. Then we got back to the hostel, changed into our beach stuff and left the hostel by around 6.10pm...it was around 6.45 by the time we got to the beach...the good news was that many people were going home, so the beach wasn't so crowded. It was an artificial beach, probably, but the water was far better than in Sentosa...it was so clear...and once you get past the silly stones and stuff, it's a fabulous feeling to be standing there and letting the waves sweep past you. But, I have to admit that it was quite cold. Had to walk around for quite a while before I could really get into water above my knees...but it got better and I walked into chest deep water...didn't swim much though...cos I hate drinking salt water. Raymond got his butt wet and insisted on going back to his towel and sitting down. After a while, it got kinda boring and also a bit too cold to be hanging around in the water...so I went back to shore and wrote some postcards...but the colour on my highlighter pink bikini ran...so erm...there were pink stains here and there. I'm just happy that I didn't stain my dress, because it was a new one from H&M and it's gorgeous...Angeline picked it out and I like it a lot. But my white bag now has pink stains. Wonder if I can wash them off.
After talking and eating IKEA oat cookies, we went back to the hostel because it was getting cold and it was going to rain. Thankfully, the rain wasn't heavy and the hostel wasn't too far from the bus stop...so we got back in one piece. Wasn't long before we went to sleep...
The next morning, I woke up slightly earlier to pack. We planned to dump our bags at the airport and head over to Malmö in Sweden, which was just a 35 minute train ride away. I was super excited...after 1 1/2 years of learning Swedish, I was finally getting to go to Sweden...erm, but I forgot like practically everything I learnt...so...at least we had English to rely on.
The first thing we did was to buy tickets for a boat tour (haha, yes, 3 times in 3 days!) and then we took a short walk and changed money because the tour was due to start an hour later. Although I couldn't understand the words, Swedish sounded more familiar than Danish..haha...I love the way it sounds. :) I took a lot of photos of silly stuff and Raymond insisted that I only liked all these things because it was Sweden...hmm...as if! I really like all these little details.
While queuing up for the boat ride, Raymond was like "Hey..cute guy!" But since I couldn't see his face, I couldn't tell. Raymond said he was helping me...hmm..right.
Anyway, there was another guy...our tour guide...whom I thought was cuter than the one Raymond pointed out (we got to see his face eventually..he was wearing white underpants with green stars...haha) and Raymond's theory was that our guide looked more like Figo than the other guy...and Raymond thinks Figo is ugly. But overall, he declared that the guys I called cute really were cute...haha...see, I do have good taste...well, in terms of eye candy anyway. Anyway, while Björn (our guide) was giving the tour in Swedish, all I could understand was "on your left", "on your right" and adjectives like "big"...haha...so useless! But his English was good...and the jokes were quite funny, even if they were probably memorised. I love boat tours..ok, have mentioned it a lot already...haha.
Anyway, after the tour, we went to look for food...but before that, we made a detour in a bookshop so I could buy a Swedish book and a CD...I am serious about improving my Swedish man! Well, let's just hope I stick to my plan to revise Swedish during the hols. I have a paper and a project to complete as well, among other books to read. Then we had lunch at a restaurant serving Swedish food. I quite liked it...I tried beetroot for the first time...not too bad.
After that, we went back to the train station...and tried to spend the rest of our Swedish crowns. We both had double scoop ice cream..I had vanilla and cinnamon apple...the vanilla was excellent and the cinnamom apple was pretty good too...tasted very Christmassy. But we still had left over money, so we decided to buy more food...potato chips and Kanelbullar (cinnamon rolls, which are supposed to be typically Swedish). Then we ran to the train which would take us back to Copenhagen.
The Oresund (add slash) bridge was quite spectacular...probably more so by car...because at some points, all you see is water and more water and some sailing ships...it's simply gorgeous! Too bad we also spend quite a lot of time in tunnels. Blah...but the view is really excellent. Ok, then tried to buy stamps, but there wasn't a post office at the airport...can you believe that??? So I bought stamps from 7-Eleven...and ended up paying 3 crowns extra on all the postcards I sent...and I have no idea if they'll get to the destination because I don't have the A Prioritaire stickers...oh well, we'll see if anyone actually gets my postcards.
After that, we tried to spend the rest of our crowns again...bought postcards, water, dinner for Raymond and I suppose that was all...still had some remainders..but it's ok, I guess. :) Actually, the whole trip was very very costly...we paid 4 Euros for a coffee sometimes...and 4 Euros for a burger and stuff like that...I spent about 429 Euros on the entire trip...oh my goodness...I am going to get a heart attack...have to stop buying rubbish...my 9-day trip in June cost about 500-600 Euros in total...I really have to be careful...I can't even earn this money in a month even if I tried...ok...well, will have to be more thrifty in future. But at the very least, I really had a good time!
The train ride back was just as traumatic...except even worse cos this weird guy tried to convince me to spend the night with him or something...he was super weird...I'm glad he was headed for Meissen instead...ugh...
I'm just glad to be home though...am going to stay over at Steffi's place tomorrow...we're going swimming...yay! Must wake up early and pack!
