Sommartid

This morning when I got up, I lost a whole hour.  Literally.  Pete has moved all the clocks in the house one hour ahead while I was sleeping.  No, he hasn't gone mad.  It's just that now it's sommartid or literally translated, summer time.  It's daylight-savings time. 

These days, the sun comes up earlier and goes down later.  So we are getting more and more light.  In winter, it was the opposite.  Starting from the end of summer, it gets darker and darker.  In winter, we would get as little as 7 hours of light a day, so we would turn the clock back an hour. 

So now the time difference between here and Singapore is back to 6hours.  Singapore is 6 hours ahead.  I am glad for the time change.  It makes it easier remember what time it is back home.  But most importantly, it's a signal that warmer weather will be upon us soon.  It was snowing a bit yesterday so it might not be that soon.  One can hope, anyway. 

Easter buns

Pete's mum invited us to her place for Easter yesterday.  Like I've mentioned in my last post, the food served is the same as in Christmas, minus the Christmas ham.  Also, this time, his mum did all the cooking.  For Christmas, because there were a lot of people invited, we all chipped in to prepare the food.  Since I didn't have to cook anything, I decided to bring something with us.  I was originally thinking of bringing cupcakes or a layered cake, but I happened to watch The Great British Bake Off Easter Special and Paul Hollywood, the tougher and harsher one of the two judges, showed how to make hot cross buns.

I decided to bake those instead since it is Easter.  An Easter-themed dessert would be more appropriate, wouldn't it?  Pete has never heard or seen hot cross buns before, so I had to explain to him what they were.  I haven't seen them here so I don't think they are available.  I have seen those back home but I have never tried those.  I have never baked them before either, but I know there are raisins in them.  And cinnamon.  How can you go wrong with raisins and cinnamon in buns?

I first tried to jot down the recipe and instructions while I was watching the show.  It wasn't easy.  I think I missed some of the measurements for some ingredients and most importantly, I missed some of the tips for shaping the buns.  I always wanted to learn the proper way to shape bread dough.  I was a bit miffed at myself, especially when I only remembered that I could probably find the recipe online after the show.  I could have focused my attention on the program and not worry about writing down the recipe.

Anyway, I checked up on the recipe yesterday morning and luckily I decided to start on the dough an hour in advance.  Usually bread dough needs only two 1hr long proofing but this one needed three.  And the dough was very sticky and wet, especially with the addition of the chopped apples, not a typical ingredient in hot cross buns.  It was tedious since there's the extra proofing, adding the raisins and apples, making the paste to make the cross and a glaze to make the buns look lovely and shiny.  I was very tired after making them but they gave off such a delicious aroma while they were being baked.  And once I brushed on the glaze, they looked so yummy.

When I compared the recipe I hurriedly written with the one online, there were some differences.  In the show, Paul Hollywood didn't mention that the dough needed to proof three times.  That was a major difference.  If I hadn't checked the recipe earlier, I would have been an hour late.  But the good part about online recipes is that some websites allow comments from readers.  I always read through those first to see if the recipes are really any good.  The comments for this recipe were quite good.  Most of the readers were happy with the recipe.  However, they did say that the baking time was shorter than the 20 mins that was stated in the actual recipe.  I checked mine and they were done in 15 mins too.

Apart from that, the recipe is really good.  It's not too difficult, only a bit time consuming.  But that's how it is with bread dough.  Time is a very important ingredient for bread dough and this one produced a very soft bun.  It's still nice and soft even the day after.  I am chomping at one now as I type!  The only thing is that the very dry air here hardened the glaze and made the tops hard.  But with a couple of minutes in the oven, it's nice and soft again.  Oh, and Pete's family at yesterday's Easter lunch loved them as well. 

Spicy Cravings

This coming weekend will be a long one.  Here, Easter is one of the major holidays.  The school kids had this whole week free, right till next Monday.  For us at SFI, we only have Friday and next Monday off.  Since I usually don't have classes on Thursdays, my holiday started after class yesterday.  The thought of the many days off from school had me thinking of food, what else?

The last couple of weeks, we haven't been well.  Pete had been terribly ill for more than a week and so I had to cook foods that are gentle on the stomach, like chicken soup and I even cooked bubur, or rice porridge in English.  Once I ate the porridge, I was transported back to my childhood.  I remember how my mum used to cook that for me when I was ill and couldn't eat much.

Anyway, after days and days of non-spicy foods, I now crave for the spicy flavours of the food from my home.  I did cook something very Malay last Sunday, Ayam Masak Lemak.  It's a chicken dish cooked in a spicy rich coconutty gravy.   We had it with plain rice and boy did that hit the spot!  Pete enjoyed it as well, so now I am thinking about more spicy dishes to cook.

Another reason why I seem to be craving spicy foods is that the food that is served during Easter here is almost exactly like Christmas.  There would be meatballs, potatoes, pickled herring and mini sausages.  We have been invited to his mum's place for an Easter lunch so we will be having our fill of those.  I don't mind the food but I was hoping to try something different. 

So I guess I will either cook something I know or try some new recipes.  Even though I cook a lot when I was back home, I never used to cook traditional Malay foods.  My mum is such a great cook that I just let her do all the cooking.  I would cook other dishes such as pasta, roast chicken, stews and other simple dishes.  I used to think that the traditional dishes are very complex, needing so many ingredients and rempahs, or spice mix.  And I have to admit the rempah making process scared me a little.  I never thought I could learn to cook them.  I didn't have to, back then, since my mum was there to cook for me.

Now that I am here, I regret not learning more from her.  When I first moved here, I did crave for a taste of home.  I used to rely on instant noodles that I brought with me, but they soon ran out.  I realised had to cook those dishes myself.  Luckily, I did manage to get her to teach me some of my favourite dishes.  But I didn't have much time to learn before I had to move here.  When I first tried out her recipes, they turned out reasonably well.  They did taste of home and so I cooked more and more dishes.  The more I cooked, the less intimidating the spices got.  What was important was that it gave me the confidence to try out other recipes.  So I search the internet for recipes, especially for the dishes that I miss.

By now, I have tried quite a number of dishes, including roti prata.  I even tried to do the flipping of the dough to get it as thin as possible to get crispy and flaky prata.  I don't think I would have tried making those if I hadn't moved away.  Just like many other dishes that I have cooked.  And there are many more that I do want to try now.  The only limit is the availability of the ingredients.  It took quite a while for me to find taucheo, or salted bean paste here to make mee siam.  So, I would keep my eyes peeled next time I go to the Asian groceries stores.  Maybe the ingredients are all here and I only need to have sharp eyes to spot them amongst the crowded shelves.

My pantry now is getting more and more well-stocked.  I have a growing collection of whole and ground spices.  Luckily Malmo is full of Chinese, Thais, Arabs and Indians.  Spices are easily available and not too expensive.  I can also find some very Southeast Asian ingredients such as the taucheo that I mentioned.  Slowly, as I try more and more dishes, I would have more and more sauces and ingredients on hand, which would only open up more possibilities in the kitchen.

Luckily Pete has reasonably adventurous taste buds.  He has enjoyed most of the food I cooked.  So far, he only doesn't like beehoon.  But that is fine.  I can try to substitute it for other noodles.  And it's not like he will refuse to eat it, it's just that he doesn't really fancy it.  Let's just say that means that there'll be more for me. Yay!

So, back to my current craving.  It's my day off today but I wanted to take it easy.  I cooked chicken briyani.  It's not as difficult as it sounds because I cooked a dumbed down version of it.  Also, I didn't have any briyani spice mix so I just used curry powder.  I chanced upon this recipe and so I made it one day and it turned out good.  So that was what I cooked today.  Easy, simple and spicy.  A great way to start my holiday.

My Class

As you know, this year I have got new classmates. Before I started in this new group, Group 1, I have heard stories about the people there. Some of my previous classmates were in Group 1 before they switched. They told me that they didn't like the group because the people there were very noisy and chatty. They told me that there are many Arabs in the class and they like to speak Arabic to each other.

Having been in this group since January, I would say that they are a chatty bunch. They do speak Arabic in the class a lot. A lot of the times, it's because they are trying to help each other understand what was being taught. That's totally fine. I do that as well. I some times ask my English-speaking friends to explain some words to me and vice versa.

However, they do like to chat a lot about other things as well. And they are loud. It's perfectly fine to chat about other stuff during the breaks but sometimes, when we are discussing something in Swedish, they would speak to each other too, but in Arabic. Worse is when they do that when the teacher or someone else is talking. I find it very distracting. I want to hear what is being said in Swedish since I am bad at listening, so I would try to strain out the other voices. The teacher doesn't really shush them. I really hope that they would. The two usual teachers that we have are too nice to ask them to be quiet but I really hope that they would realize that only one person should speak at a time, preferably in Swedish, and that the rest should respect the person who is talking.

Having said that, it's good that I have friends that speak Arabic. First of all, they welcomed me very warmly, especially when they find out that I'm Muslim. They would come over and talk to me during the breaks. I am also sitting with two other Arabic ladies. They are chatty and they would talk to me all the time. That's good since I can practice my Swedish with them. They don't speak a word of English so Swedish is the only way for us to communicate.

After three months of school, I wouldn't say my Swedish is getting very much better. But I am getting more and more comfortable at speaking it. At first, I would not say much since I'm very conscious of my bad Swedish. Plus, I don't know many words to begin with. But my teacher says its fine to make errors. We are all learning and the only way to get better is to practice it. So, as I learn more and more about my group mates, I am practicing my Swedish. It's still quite bad and I am so slow when I speak it since I have to stop and remember the correct words, but hey, it's a start.

I still have a long way to go so I will practice it more. It's one thing to read Swedish books and do the grammar exercises. To apply what I've learnt, is another. I just need to be a bit more thick-skinned and speak in my bad Swedish more. Luckily no one has laughed at me yet. Hopefully, soon I would be able to speak more confidently and correctly.

Something to look forward to

Before I started school, every day seemed just like the day before.  I enjoyed not having to wake up early every morning, of course, but it did get boring after a while.  The days just seemed so long, especially when married to an early riser.  He gets up at 5 but I don't get out of bed before 7.  Even then, I didn't have much to do - just the normal everyday chores.

Now that I have school, the days are more organised and purposeful.  I spend four hours a day in the classroom and sometimes it can be quite mentally draining.  Having to learn and memorise new words is quite tiring.  But it feels great when I understand more and more of what I read and hear.

However, having said that, the best part about going to school is that it makes me look forward to weekends.  After all the hard work in class and at home studying, I feel so great after my Friday class.  I feel so liberated.  No school for two days.  Two whole days of doing absolutely anything I want.

Take today, for example.  I am sitting on the sofa in the middle of the day, enjoying the sunshine from the warmth of my living room (it's still cold outside).  Pete is lounging out beside me, trying to keep his eyes open, but failing miserably.  We are both taking it easy after lunch.  I have cooked a traditional Malay dish which we will have again for supper.  I have finished with the laundry and changed the bedsheets.  So, I have the rest of the day to do anything at all.  I think I will do....nothing. 

Apologies...

I have to apologise.  I am so sorry for neglecting this blog.  I have been posting very regularly last year when I first moved here.  But now, ten months later, I don't post as much.  I guess I had lots to write about at first when everything is new and different.  Another reason could also be that I had a lot of free time.  Those were the days before I had to go to school four times a week and before I had to start planning my new business.

These days, my hours are quite full.  It seems like I have lots to do every day.  I think most of the time goes to learning Swedish.  Even after coming home from school, I would do my own reading and studying.  I have been borrowing books from the library to supplement my learning.  I also try to read the free newspapers and magazines sent to the home.  Pete also helps me out with my reading.  I would read aloud and he would help me with my pronunciation and translation.  It's not easy.  We could take an hour just to get through a few texts.

When we're not studying Swedish, we would be discussing our business.  We have had to write a few business plans and discuss the budget, marketing and other aspects of business.  We are currently finding location for the business so we, or rather Pete, has had to make lots of calls and emails to realtors and other companies.  We have also had to view the locations which could be in the outskirts of the city.  I never knew it was going to be so difficult to find a nice, suitable location.  But I guess it's better not to rush and make impulsive decisions.

To relax, Pete and I also like to watch tv series.  We have quite a few series to catch up on and sometimes we would be tired out by the Swedish and business discussions, so we would get comfy on the sofa and just watch tv for awhile.  We have even figured out the tv schedule and work our chores around the timetable. 

On top of reading Swedish texts, I also try to catch up on current affairs, mainly about the going-ons in my home country.  Sometimes there are lots of news to catch up on and I go to a few online news websites and blogs.  It could take quite awhile to read all of it, and before I knew it, a couple of hours had passed.  Then, there's the daily cooking and cleaning routine.  Oh and the games.  I do like to play some games on my ipad as well.       

That's how my days are like.  It has been quite routine these days, so that's another reason I don't have much to write about in my blog.  I also haven't been baking much these days so I don't have recipes to share yet.  I will try to write more and regularly, though.  I know it's not fun to check out a blog and find that it hasn't been updated.  So, yeah, the blog is back.   

The best year

I must have jinxed it big time since the days after my last post, it snowed and the temperature dropped to -9C for the past few days.  No chance of chucking aside my winter jacket yet.

Anyway, that's that about the weather for now.  The more important event that happened yesterday was our very first wedding anniversary!  I really can't believe that it has been a year already.  I remember last year so vividly - the few months leading to the wedding were very stressful.

 It was really hard to plan a wedding when the other person was thousands of miles away.  There were lots to discuss - dates, outfits, food and location for the wedding dinner.  We had to plan everything through our FaceTime chats and countless of messages to and fro.  On top of that, the cultural differences made everything doubly hard since we both had different visions of how a wedding should be like.  It took a long time to explain to him how the Malay traditional wedding looks like, but in the end, we got everything sorted.

I did feel quite overwhelmed sometimes since he wasn't with me during most of the preparations.  He could only come over a week before the wedding.  However, with help, especially from my amazing family members and friends, we managed to pull it all off.  The wedding went smoothly and I think the guests were quite happy and well fed.  I was mentally and physically drained that day, but once we both were officially married, I relaxed and simply enjoyed the moment.

The year after the wedding, though, was one of the hardest I have had to face.  It was not difficult to say goodbye to Pete after our short honeymoon.  He had to go back home while I had to stay and sort stuff out before I moved to Sweden to join him.  I would see him in less than two months so it was manageable.

I didn't really have much time to say goodbye to my family and friends though.  The weeks flew by too fast.  I tried to spend as much time as I could with my family and closest relatives.  I tried to eat as much local foods that I know I would miss as I could.  I also took the time to pass on my recipes to my sister and mum, and learn my mum's recipes.

The last two weeks before my move, I had lots of friends to meet.  It seemed like I was out every night.  I never knew that I had so many friends. It felt like it was impossible to meet up with everyone, and I did miss meeting some.  Oh, and the packing!  There were lots that I wanted to bring with me but travelling alone meant that I had limited capacity so I had to leave behind lots of stuff.  I only had to bring what was important to me.  That was the hard part.  In the end, I had to be ruthless and only brought the stuff I needed.  I was lucky to have the foresight to start bringing my stuff over the last two times I visited Pete, so I didn't have as much to bring with me this time.

The scene at the airport was really tough to relive, even now, so I would skip that part.  Once I got to Sweden safe and sound, there were more things to cope with.  But our first priority was to spend time together.  With long-distance relationships, the time that couples like us got to spend together physically was very limited.  Although we became a couple for two years before we got married, we only spent a total of about two months together.

The first few weeks were great.  We were never far from each other and we would do everything together.  There were lots to do too, like redecorating the apartment, planning a wedding lunch for his family, getting the paperwork done and working on the garden.  However, we had some tough times.

Pete has been living on his own for most of his adult years and on the opposite side of the spectrum, I have never lived on my own.  And again, being brought up in two totally different countries make our experiences and expectations very different.  Something basic like throwing rubbish is done differently from what I am used to. I guess it's not hard to imagine how it was at the beginning.

We both had many things to learn about living with each other.  I had to learn about how things are done here.  He had to learn how to live with another person in the apartment.  It wasn't easy sometimes, but with every disagreement we had, we learn more and more about each other.  And that is a truly important thing.

Some of the most important lessons we have learnt is that we should never take each other for granted and that we could always talk with each other to figure things out.  I would say that we now understand each other even better but of course there would always be something more to learn.  But that's marriage, I guess.  Like everything else, it's not perfect.  We are both not perfect, so naturally our marriage isn't perfect.

What we could do is to always work on it to make our marriage as happy and fulfilling as we could.  We both agree that respect and love are the foundations of our relationship.  And that makes me so thankful.  I still get up in the morning every day, utterly grateful to God that both of us, from two opposite ends of the earth, have found each other.  Two of us with similar values and interests have managed to chance upon each other in an obscure website and take a leap of faith to promise to grow old together as husband and wife.  And here we are, one year in, happy as ever and in love.  May this be the first of many...    

Jinxed it

I discovered the fastest way to drive away the sun: blog or post on facebook about it.  After my last post here, the day right after that, the sun didn't shine as bright.  That would have been fine if it wasn't windy.  That night after the post, the wind was so strong it kept on rattling our bedroom and kitchen windows.  

I thought that it would stop the next day.  It didn't.  In fact, it kept on blowing hard.  The windows kept on rattling the whole day.  When I looked out the window, I saw the trees and bushes being blown by the wind.  At times, they looked like they would be blown right off the ground.  

I was not spared.  When I was on my way to the bus stop to go to the supermarket, I had to brave the wind too.  And boy, was the wind strong!  At times, I felt like it could literally sweep me off my feet.  It really was that strong.  After shopping, Pete and I were at the bus stop and the wind got my teeth chattering.  

Because of the wind, the temperature has also been falling.  I was hoping to lose the thick jacket and other extra layers.  But I still can't.  It is still too cold.  Sometimes, the wind could be so biting cold, I still had to wrap my scarf around my neck and up to my nose to stay warm.  I don't enjoy walking when the wind is blowing, especially when it blows cold, dry wind into my nose and throat.  Pete and I wanted to go on our walk yesterday, but the wind spoilt our plan.  

After days of grey skies, finally today, the sun came out and shone so nice and brightly.  Such a fine day.  I could still see the trees and bushes moving in the wind, though, so I know it was still windy and cold outside.  But the sun made the day look so beautiful.  I took a photo and posted on my facebook page.  Within the hour, the sky turned grey again.  I jinxed it.  Again.  

The inching spring

Finally, today, the temperature went up to above 5C.  In fact, it has risen to about 8C now.  The sun has also been shining all day.  These days, it starts to get bright outside as early as 6.30 a.m. and by the time I leave the apartment, it's so nice and bright.  It is still a bit cold in the mornings so I can't leave without my thick jacket though.

But the sun does a lot for my mood and the mood of the people here.  As I walk to school, I look around me, enjoying the sun and peaceful walk.  This is not possible weeks ago.  I would hunch down, trying to keep warm and keep the cold, strong wind away from my face and walk as briskly as I could to get indoors.  Now, in the mornings, the kids also get more active and are practically skipping to school.  I even see some boys on their in-line skates as they make their way to school.

The day gets warmer and in the afternoon, it gets warm enough to stay for more than 5 minutes outside.  You can feel the warmth of the sun and you don't have to bundle up so warm and tightly.  Today, I even saw some kids playing at the playground in front of the apartment.  The kids only had a thin jacket over their t-shirt, so I can imagine that it wasn't cold.

This is great news for me.  That means that spring is inching along.  The trees and bushes are still bare for now, but I am hopeful that the leaves would start budding soon.  Pete's sisters have been telling me that they love spring.  They think that spring is the most beautiful of season.  They love to see the trees and plants getting green and flourishing right in front of their eyes.  If that is true, the nature-loving me would love it.  Last year, I arrived well after spring had kicked in.  So, to be able to see how nature transform the bare, brown trees and bushes into luscious, vibrant greenery with my own eyes would be awesome.

Teaching and learning

The last few weeks have not been so great in school.  The theme that started last month is Occupations and Jobs.  I do like it that we would be taught according to themes.  I felt like it is great since we would be taught in a more systematic and organised way.  Also, this theme is a good choice since it is very applicable to us.  After all, most of us would like to find jobs here and it's important to know Swedish since it's the basic requirement for most jobs here.  

Before this, the lessons were not quite well-planned.  We seemed to be taught in bits and pieces - whatever the teachers have planned for the day.  This time, the teachers said they have planned to teach according to this theme.  So, when I heard about the theme, I was quite happy.  In my mind, I thought they have planned the lessons together so we would be taught systematically.

However, it has been four weeks since the beginning of the theme and I have not learnt as much as I wanted to.  We have had to write our CVs in Swedish, write letters to employers and practice answering interview questions.  Sounds good, right?  However, we had to flounder about when we were doing those tasks.

The problem is that the teachers did not teach us the proper vocabulary before we started on the tasks.  I expected to be taught the words first since those words are new to us.  The words are also not used in every day conversations so it was really tough.  I had to depend on Google translate all the time, and you know how some words and expressions can't be translated directly. I pity the rest of my classmates too.  Some have never written a CV in their life, to write one in Swedish is double the difficulty.

Then there are the texts that we had to read and understand.  Some of the texts were easy and some are so tough, I had to look up every third word.  We had to discuss some questions in groups, however without knowing suitable words, our discussions were a bit superficial.  It was really tough knowing what to say but I couldn't say it in Swedish.  I couldn't even use English since not everybody in my group knows it.

I don't have anything against the tasks. I could see the benefits in doing them.  What I needed, what we all needed, was to be taught the vocabulary first and how to use them in sentences.  Without the words, it would be nearly impossible to do the task well and to achieve the objectives of the lessons.

I do wish that the teachers could plan the lessons better.  Having done countless of lesson plans in my 16 years as a teacher, I get even more frustrated when I know that we could have been taught better and more effectively.  It's not just me that thinks this way, though.  Today, we were given a particularly difficult tasks to do.  The whole class had a tough time and then finally, someone brought this up with the teacher.  It led to a discussion about what we felt about the lessons and how we were taught.  The good thing is that the teacher is keen to hear us out and know what sort of help we needed.

Out of the four teachers who teach us regularly, the best has been the leader of the team.  However, she doesn't teach us.  She would only cover the teachers if they are sick.  The newest teacher which joined us this year is the most ineffective, a sentiment that is shared by all in the class.  I did try to help him by telling him how I would like to be taught.  I even wrote out a lesson plan and shared it with him.  Yet, he didn't take up any of my suggestion and he continued to be unprepared for lessons.

After the discussion today, the teacher said that she would let the others in the team know and hopefully there would be changes to the lessons.  She did say, however, that the test for Course C, which I am in, is quite tough.  I am worried somewhat about that, however, I know that with proper systematic teaching, I would be able to do it.  Let's see how it is like in the weeks to come.  I hope the teaching would improve because I am willing and ready to learn.  It will be a shame if the lessons and ineffective teaching puts me off my learning.

House & Home

Yesterday, I had another peek at the Swede's lifestyle.  Pete and I had tickets to House & Home expo, the biggest in Sweden.  It was held near the new mall, Emporia.  Pete's sister works in a tile company.  The company had a booth in the expo so she got free tickets for it.  The expo ran from Thursday to Sunday.  We played badminton on Friday so we decided to go yesterday instead.

We knew it was going to be crowded since it was the weekend so we went there early.  But, even though we were there at around 10, there was already a crowd at the entrance.  Masses of people were standing outside the revolving door.  The door wasn't exactly the most efficient in getting crowds of people inside.  Every so often, because there were too many people, someone would accidentally trigger the sensor and the door would stop for awhile.  After a few minutes, we were haven't managed to move even an inch forward.  I was so cold since it was very windy, but luckily, a side door opened for people with tickets.  That was us!

Inside, there was another long queue to buy tickets and at the coat room.  We were happy to skip both queues.  We headed straight into the exhibition halls.  It was huge.  Just like the Expo back home.  For a minute, I felt like I was back at home.  I used to go to a few with my friends and family but this one is very different.

The first section we saw had booths promoting hot tubs, jacuzzi and pools.  A quick glance next to this section were booths for tiles and roofing.  There were also booths for heaters and fireplace, flooring, stairs and windows.  Basically, you can find anything you need to build your own home.  All under one roof.

There are also stuff for areas outside your home.  There were many booths that sold seeds, bulbs and seedlings.  These booths had quite a lot of customers, indicating how popular gardening is here.  I also took the chance to buy a few packets of seeds for my garden.  I picked up some new seeds such as pumpkin and butternut squash.  I wanted to get some bulbs to plant flowers but I don't know which to get yet.  There were a lot of varieties that were sold there and they were so beautiful.  But Pete and I wanted to concentrate on planting stuff that we can eat.  So, we walked through without buying any.

I also saw some companies that design home gardens and I love their designs. They gave me some ideas for my own garden, if I have one in future, that is.  Some booths had furniture and accessories for the garden too.  Looking at them, I am reminded of my parents.  I know they would love the stuff there.  They spend a lot of time every day at their garden so I know they would go crazy if they were here.  There was also a small section where they sold kitchen gadgets and tools.  I bought a set of three reusable non-stick baking mats since I bake a lot.  I wouldn't need to buy the disposable paper ones any more.

All in all, I enjoyed myself there.  Although it was crowded, the most crowded place I gone to since I have been here, it was manageable.  We had room to walk without bumping into other people.  It's not too noisy even though there were a lot of people.  There was even a small stage next to the entrance where a live band was playing.  Pete said that there are other expos held here each year, even an erotic one.  That would certainly be an eye-opener for me, wouldn't it?