So we finally found the time and strength to drive up to Stockholm over the weekend. =) It was Ascension Day on Thursday and jw was off on Friday, so we had a good long weekend to spend travelling to and fro and having fun times in Stockholm.

Along the way, we stopped by to take pictures of the yellow flowers. I still don't know what flowers they are, but there were a whole bunch of them beside the road. Jw says they only bloom for a very very short period, so in the blink of an eye they might be gone. Well, definitely must take pics then! =p

Stockholm was like a dandelion town, well at least, we think they are dandelions. Not only do we see a whole lot of them in parks, every day when we walk around town, there will be dandelions floating around in the air too. Lots and lots of them. 高飞的蒲公英！

We stayed in Nordic Sea Hotel and that was where the Absolut Icebar was located. Cool huh? =) Yeah I was looking forward to the visit. Though it wasn't as big as I thought it would be, it was still a good experience for all of us. And it was definitely great to meet up with Johannes, Fredrik and Marcus there. All my Jap coursemates whom I've known over the span of the past nine months. Way cool! It was also nice to finally introduce jw to them, whom they all love cos' he's really a good sport and nice chap. =) We treated them to drinks and I guess it wasn't quite the norm here from their reaction? But well, it's just our way of saying Hi and welcoming friends. =)

Although the entrance fee was a teeny expensive, 190sek for non guests without online booking and 150sek for hotel guests, it was still worth it for a first time experience. It's one of those things I feel that you should do at least once in your life. Even if you don't go back again, at least it's Been There Done That. =)

We hung out at Chaplin after we decided to escape from the cold at Icebar. Hee. It was good old fun just talking and listening to people singing karaoke. I think it's really nice to make friends from different parts of the world, because there's just so much differences in our cultures, beliefs and traditions and it's nice to learn more about the world. Sure hope we will keep in touch even though I might not be able to continue with my Jap classes next term.

Here's the new blue top that jw bought for me. Along with one of my favourite skirts from S'pore. Hee. My friends all said they couldn't tell I was preggie if they had not known, and well, I wasn't too upset by that. Hee. But now that 3 months have past, I guess it's gonna be obvious pretty soon. I hope so too.

One of my aims of coming to Stockholm was to look for Jap restaurants. I so wish Karlskrona had one. Sob. Anyway, we found this Jap restaurant near our hotel which was run by Chinese people. So well, it wasn't that authentic but good enough. We ate yakiniku don and jw had a whole plate of 15 sashimis which I was tempted to eat but didn't. Boo Hoo.

The next day, we went with Johannes to this ramen shop called Kimama. They said it was the only ramen shop you can find in Stockholm. Luckily they told us about it, if not we would never have chanced upon it. And guess what, we walked a good 1hour from Tivoli all the way to Kimama. Haha. I guess it was pretty good exercise for me and jw and bb.

After dinner, we went to Gamla Stan to meet a few others for a chill out session. Well, I had juice for the whole of tonight because I felt bad for drinking the Absolut Summer yesterday. Well well. Juice is boring but it was still very nice to chat with the rest, oh and we got to know a new friend named Kaori! She's a Japanese who's working in Stockholm now. It's fun to meet Asians here. =)

This is Thomas-san who is very good in Japanese. I can never quite grasp what he says in class. Haha. He's quite mature for a 20-year-old guy and it was fun talking to him and all the others. All nice people!

I wore a top that I bought from Tokyo on the third day. Oh my favourite hat was bought from there too. Hee. Jw said I looked abit like Japanese. Haha. Pseudo Japanese maybe. =)

And woooo, I finally got the chance to eat sushi!! OISHII!! This was mama-sushi that Johannes told me about, specially meant for preggie gals like me. Hee. It was fresh and really good, probably also cos' I haven eaten sushi for soooo long. Hehe.

Jw and the black & white monkeys at Skansen. We chose to go to the zoo instead of the other museums or palaces. Haha. Guess moving and alive things interest us more. Luckily we had the same interests. Keke.

This little black bear cub just looked so cuddly and adorable.

We not only saw mooses in Skansen, we also saw one when we were driving back, right beside the road. Woho. First time. So the signs that always say beware of moose crossing are for real. Jw said a moose can weigh 450kg and can easily crush a human being. Scary.

We took pictures with the tamren too. Hee. Reindeer. Didn't get to try out reindeer meat in the city in the end though we heard that it was one of the best things to eat here. Hmmm. Hopefully we will get a chance to next time.

Taking a short stroll at Gamla Stan before meeting Rieko Sensei for dinner. Gamla Stan reminds me alot of Montmarte in Paris, and jw said some angles also reminded him of Brussels in Belgium. Well. Whatever it is, they are all our sweet moments spent together.

We ate the Schnitzel at Stockholm's allegedly oldest restaurant, Zum Franziskaner. It was expensive but yummy. Luckily two of us shared one portion cos' it was sooooo huge! I loved the peppery baked potatoes that came with it. Delicious!

That's dear Rieko sensei! She is sooooo kawaii and nice! So happy to see her in person finally! She really makes a very very nice teacher. =) and friend. Glad she was happy to meet us too. To quote her words, she has 'never met a guy in sweden as nice as jw'. Wahaha. Yeah he was really gentlemenly to us at Bamboo City, getting fruits and sushi for us, and also taking the initiative to foot the bill, to top up our tea etc. But well, I think quite a handful of Singaporean guys are lidat? Maybe it's just different culture. She was so amazed and kept saying we are a very nice couple. Hee. That's good to hear too. And I like it when my friends love my hubby. They always do though, no doubts bout it. He's such a charmer. Wahaha.

All in all, we had a great trip to Stockholm. I told jw that we were suey but heng in some ways. Meaning unlucky but yet lucky. Why?

1) We damaged our car window barely 10 mins after setting off. It was spoilt and couldn't be wind up for the whole 6 hours trip, and we were stuck with the cold wind, esp poor me. Lucky thing is the hotel people helped us to fix it before we checked out, and oh, it rained abit on our way back but not on our way to Stockholm. Lucky RIGHT?

2) I dropped my pendant on the third day. It was a diamond studded pendant, one of my only two nice pendants, that jw bought for me years ago. Somehow the chain got stuck to my bracelet unknowingly and it was till jw saw the chain hanging loose when we were in a convenient store that I realised it, but well, the pendant was already gone. BOO HOO. Amazing thing was the next day we walked back to town again, and I remembered bout the pendant and told jw I was going back to the shop to look for it. He was full of disbelief. Haha. But guess what, just 5 seconds stepping into the shop, I saw my pendant lying there staring at me, as if waiting for me to pick it up. Lucky, right?

3) Lastly, we were at the casino on the third night when someone won the Caribbean Stud jackpot of 4.8million sek. Just like that. A young swedish guy. He was there 10 mins before us, and he got a royal flush hand and there he was, 4.8million richer. WOW. We never did bump into a jackpot before, not at Caribbean, and it was the talk of the night for everyone at the tables. It did occur to us, well, why not us? Haha. But just a flashing thought. Some things are just meant to be, and others not. We lost at the casino on the end, but we had such a fun time and looking at each other, we already have the most priceless treasure in the world.

At least, that's what I think. Haha. So I don't crave for anything else now. Well, except for a healthy BB to be born into the world. Hee. Till the next update. Mata!!