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1147 days ago
A double hungry ghost month (apparently due to a lunar leap-year - it happens each 13th year) has been replaced by the Mid Autumn festival month with its moon cakes and lantern festivals. It is actually very festive here in Singapore these days, as lanterns decorate most of Singapore, Little India is lit up to celebrate Deepavali (hindu festival), and Geylang and Malay Village is swarming with people breaking fast after sunset (Hari Raya, or Ramadan, is currently celebrated in the muslim community). And I am stuck inside studying. Yes, I have again become a student. I will again sweat over books trying to understand what it all means, while the enclosing deadlines for essays and reports are looming ever closer and the stress level increases every day. Why and What, I hear you ask. Well, for the What first; I have started a BSc (Hons) in Applied Psychology with Derby University. It is through something called eLearning, and as the name suggests it is 100% online study ...
1214 days ago
As promised, here is some more information about the Hungry Ghost Month: Da Jui, or commonly known as The Hungry Ghost Festival, occurs on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month. Da Jui seeks to pacify the ghosts of strangers, the lonely, the wondering and the uncared for. According to the Chinese mythology, the gates of hell will open in the seventh lunar month. Spirits and ghosts are allowed to roam the earth and find the comfort they desire. Chinese street operas (wayang) will be staged to entertain these "guests", and it is believed that the front rows of seats would be taken up by the spirits and ghosts and so they would be left vacant. The seventh lunar month is considered the most dangerous month of the year. It is during this time that the souls of the loved ones live close to the alive. The souls can take up different forms, appearing as snakes, moths, birds, foxes, wolves, tigers and so on. They can appear as beautiful men or women to seduce the ...
1220 days ago
I know, I've been incredibly lazy lately. No excuses. Just pure laziness. Anyway; I've started adding some of the pictures from my summer holiday, so at the moment you can enjoy looking at the beauty of Northern Norway (Helgeland). More will certainly follow.. Won't it? Also due to my excessive laziness, not much has happened in our lives here in Singapore lately. Most of our friends have been back in Norway so the social scene has been rather quiet. This is sure to change as they are all due to return shortly (school starts again next week). There are also some exciting events coming up here in Singapore. Firstly, the Hungry Ghost month starts today which means staying out late might get very spooky indeed (more on this in a later entry). Secondly it is Singapore's National Day on the 9th August (Hurrah!), and thirdly my family is coming over to visit next week. It's my dad's 60th birthday on the National Day so that should be a great day of celebration. ...
1237 days ago
Just got back from 7 weeks in Norway. Pictures & stuff will appear soon.
1282 days ago
The "season" is over and it's time for a break. The expat community is preparing for summer, which generally means that the wives and children go home for a month or two and the husband stays behind. He gets to join them for a few weeks, or perhaps a whole month if he is lucky. That's what long school holidays and short company leave does for a family.. We're not so different.. I'm off "home" today, and Erik will join me in about a week's time. We're staying away until the beginning of July, when we'll both be back here. It's a little early; I think we are the first ones to leave, but with a school reunion and a 60th birthday to celebrate the choice was easy. Quite a few things have happened since I last wrote. All good, fortunately. First off we went to Vietnam for a few days during the Mayday break. It was a really good experience. A truly fantastic country! We went only to Ho Chi Minh City (former Saigon) this time, but we will definitively go ...
