Celebration!

My birthday falls on a weekday this year so Pete and I decided to invite his family today, a Sunday, to have a small, simple lunch. I wasn't really keen on doing anything special - just some simple fare for the adults and kids to enjoy.  I didn't want to cook the spicy dishes that we Malays would have on such occasions since I didn't think the kids could handle it.  Instead I decided to cook chicken wings and drumsticks.  Which kid wouldn't like them? 

I wanted to have a bit of Singapore in the food, though, so I marinated the chicken wings in turmeric and a bit of chilli powder and fried them.  I also made jemput-jemput udang, or prawn fritters.  I wanted to make fried beehoon, which are vermicelli noodles, but I couldn't find them in the neighbourhood stores.  I had to substitute it with egg noodles. I also roasted some drumsticks, made mashed potatoes and coleslaw for the non-spicy choices.

One of Pete's sisters very kindly made a smörgåstårta, the Swedish sandwich cake.  It's a fragile thing and she successfully brought it here after an hour's drive.  It looked so beautiful and tasted great.  The dill that was on top of the cake as a garnish even came from my mother-in-law's garden! 

So, once everybody - two of Pete's sisters and their five children, and my mother-in-law - got here, we started eating.  I thought I didn't cook too much, but in the end we did have plenty left.  I guess I'm just like my mum.  She would cook more than what was needed, but for us, it's better to have too much food than too little.

I find that parties here are a bit different than those I'm used to.  Back home, most of the time, the food is served buffe style.  We would put all the dishes out on a long table and everybody help themselves to anything they want, however much they want.  Then guests would either find a seat somewhere or simply stand and eat, while chatting with friends.  

Here, or at least in Pete's family, the savoury food would be served first, also buffe style.  But usually, we would take our food and sit at a long table, with napkins and cutlery neatly laid out.  Then, after everyone has had their fill, we would clear the table and put the kettle on to make tea and coffee. Those would accompany the dessert - mainly cakes or cookies.

We did the same today.  After the main dishes, I put out the sweet stuff - tiramisu and Swedish chocolate balls which I made and some cinnamon rolls and almond fingers that we bought. The kids, being brought up on Swedish chocolate balls and cinnamon rolls, had their fill of them.  I, don't know about the others, thoroughly enjoyed the tiramisu. I used to make them often back home since that was my family's favourite.  This was the first time I made it here and I would be making them again for the simple reason that the mascarpone cheese and whipping cream are cheaper here. And that I love them.

Apart from the food, the company was great.  I enjoy talking to everyone.  I did try to speak in Swedish but I switched to English when I found I was taking too long to find the proper Swedish words.  I also had fun playing with the kids.  Time really flies when you're having fun and I didn't realise how soon they had to leave.  That's the downside of living far away.  But whatever time we got to spend together was great.

Oh, they also got me some very thoughtful gifts.  I got a gift card from one of my favourite malls, a lovely wicker basket for picnics, a purple scarf, a set of four candle holders and a cake carrier.  Everything that I needed and wanted.  In fact, they asked me for my wish list two months ago!  I didn't really tell them what I wanted since I didn't want to trouble them, but they seem to know what I wanted.  Maybe they paid careful attention whenever we talked or maybe Pete told them.  I don't know.  But I do know that I feel so blessed to be here.  Not only am I married to an awesome guy, I also got to be a part of an awesome family.  Life is swede :)

Here is summer

We have been having real warm, beautiful, sunny days for almost a week now.  The sun has been shining throughout the day and it gets so warm in the apartment that we have had to use the fan and open the windows to let the cool wind in.  Days like these, it's much better to be outdoors instead.  It's very windy here and this is the only time I appreciate the strong winds.  As Pete and I go on our walks, the winds cool us down, even as the sun bore down on us.  As a result of being outdoors, I am finding my tan again.  Pete is also getting some colour on his skin, though most of it is on the back of his neck.  

Yesterday didn't start out too well, though.  It had been raining in the night and the rainy continued to drizzle in the early morning.  The day was cloudy, wet and grey and the winds were chilly.  Pete and I had plans with our friends.  We planned to join them on a dive that day.  They live in a town just outside of Malmö but they would drive here to dive sometimes.  We were to go with them and sit by the beach as we waited for them while they go into the water.  I guess you can say that we were to be a sort of safety team just in case something happens.

Luckily the weather cleared up and we continued as planned.  They picked us up and away we went to one of the city's dive spots.  The view was breathtaking - navy blue sea, rocky beach, and the Öresundsbron, the bridge that connects Sweden to Copenhagen, just in the distance to our left and the Turning Torso, another of Malmö's attractions, on our right.  It was very windy there but the sky was clear and the sun was shining.

Our friends suited up in their gear and after checking all equipment, they got into the water.  They planned to surface 45 minutes later so Pete and I spent the time walking among the rocks and sitting and chatting, while enjoying the view.  Back home, I have always enjoyed views of the sea whenever I go to the beach.  Living in a small island means that the sea and the beach is never far away, so sitting there and looking out in the water comforts me.  It made me feel like back home, except the view was different - I was looking at the shores of Denmark and not Malaysia.  The best thing is also that I was enjoying the view sweat-free, unlike back home, in the tropical heat.

Soon, our friends made it back safely.  They got out of their wet gear and packed up.  Understandably, they were ravenous so we had lunch and then back to our place for dessert and coffee. It's very nice to be outdoors and hang out with friends on such days.  We didn't have to worry about the rain or snow and we could stay outdoors for as long as we wished.  Summer is here and I do hope for more of such days.   

A real test

Last Friday, one of my teachers said that he had something to tell me - I was going to sit for the National Exam for Course C, the one that I have been taking.  I know that I was due to take the exam some time this month but no one had told me anything more about it.  Then, out of the blue, I was told that I was going to take the test in four days.  Interesting.

Anyway, he then told me a little more about the exam. There was going to be a few components to the exam: reading comprehension, listening, writing, speaking and conversational skills.  He also tested me a bit to give me a sense of how the speaking component was going to be.  He asked me to talk about a specific topic and I talked about it as best I could.  His assessment was that I had the vocabulary but lack the confidence and hesitated a lot.

I took the opportunity of the weekend to help me prepare.  Pete and I spoke Swedish much more.  I wish I could say we spoke only Swedish but that didn't happen.  We would start of speaking it but would fall back to English when I have trouble understanding him or expressing myself in Swedish.  But since I sort of knew how the exam was going to be and what the examiners would be listening for, I knew how to prepare myself.  I tried to remember the grammar rules and brushed up on my vocabulary, trying to memorise descriptive words such as adjectives and adverbs.  

Pete and I would have conversations in Swedish and he would give me topics to talk about.  I would also ask him to help me with new words.  There are still many words I haven't learnt.  Something that we did was to point at things around us as we go on our usual walks and say the name in Swedish.  That was very helpful.  I only wished we started it earlier.

I also did a lot of written practice on grammar from books I've borrowed from the library.  My fingers were sore after hours of writing and my eyes got blurry.  Two days of trying to cram all the grammar rules, which is so much more difficult than English, into my well-worn brain.  It wasn't easy.  I still had lots to learn and remember.  I know I wasn't good at speaking yet but I was confident of the reading and comprehension part.  I think I was even worse at listening to someone talking.  Some of them speak so fast and by the time I find words I recognise and translate them, I would have lost the whole meaning of the sentence.

So, this morning, I was a little nervous as I walked to school.  In class, I had to wait a little before the other teacher came with the exam papers.  I got a bit more nervous then.  Once I stepped into the exam room, I tried to calm down and focus.  I was the only one taking the exam.  The rest were not ready yet, so I felt a bit alone.  

We started with the reading comprehension component of which there were two parts. I managed quite well and got my confidence back.  I was given 50 minutes for each part but I finished within 20 minutes. Then, I had the listening test.  I had to listen to some conversations and news and answer some questions.  That was really tough. The people on the CD were talking too fast so I had to listen for key words and tried my best to keep up with the speech.  I was a bit downtrodden after that.

I had a short break after that.  I sent some messages to Pete to update him on my progress and he assured me that I would be ok.  And I was.  When I got back to the room, the teachers have scored those components and out of all three, I only made one mistake.

Then, I had to write a descriptive text.  I was given 45 minutes for that.  I took more time for that since I had to make sure the grammar and spelling were correct.  I wasn't too happy with my writing since I forgot some words that I needed but I tried to find other words instead.  Then, I was finally about to face the components I dreaded - speaking. 

I was give a choice of two topics.  My choice was done based on my vocabulary and so I spoke to the two examiners.  I was really hoping that they would understand what I said and that I didn't make too many mistakes.  They seemed to understand me and laughed at appropriate parts.  I took it as a good sign.  

Finally, it was the last component. For that, they had one of my classmates into the room.  I was supposed to have a conversation with her about a topic.  Again, I had two to choose from.  That was not as nerve wrecking. Having her there, and she is someone I like and enjoy talking to in class, made me feel at ease.  And soon, it was over.

The teachers told me that I wouldn't get my results so soon.  They would decide on the preliminary grade but it would have to be endorsed by the principal and that would take a couple of weeks.  But I was just happy to have finished it.  They asked if I wanted to continue to Course D and I do.  I still have lots to learn and I don't have any jobs lined up for me as yet, so I would continue to study.  

As I walked back home, I thought about the exam that I had just completed and I think I made it.  I felt relieved and shared the news with Pete.  A few hours later, my teacher sent me a message that I got a B! I was thrilled.  Not a bad result for a few days of cramming!

The case of the missing pumpkin plants

Why are people so mean?  

Pete and I went to the garden yesterday and got a rude shock.  Two of my beautiful butternut pumpkin plants have gone missing!  Instead of my green, thriving plants, there were two empty holes, so glaringly obvious in my pumpkin patch.  At first I thought rabbits have eaten them up.  But Pete pointed out that the whole plants were gone, roots and all, so that must mean someone must have dug them up and took them.

Why would they do that?  I was so furious and upset.  I am so sad because I love butternut pumpkin so that was why I planted three of them.  And worse is that it's too late to start planting more to replace the missing plants.  So sad.  On top of that, the rabbits have found their way in again and have had a jolly good time wiping out most of my peas.  They have even attacked the sugar peas, which they stayed clear of before.  

That was it! I got so upset, I started hacking and ripping weeds off the ground.  The poor weeds had no chance.  I whacked everything I could find.  I used all my anger to clear most of the weeds that I have left at the back of the garden.  I didn't clear them before this since they were at the back, and hence not in the way of the vegetable beds.  But not this time.  Only my four lavender plants were left at the end.  They did put a bit of a smile on me since three of them are clearly growing bigger and bushier, and some flowers are starting to bloom.

As I was taking a break, I saw that my mother-in-law's gate was open.  That started my mind working - the pumpkin thief! He/she must have gone in through that gate.  We put a latch on ours and even without, it was a bit tricky to open since it fits tightly to the rest of the fence.  And, of course, after taking my pumpkin plants and perhaps my mother-in-law's rhubarb, said thief wouldn't have bothered to close the gate after looting our garden.  And that was how the rabbits found their way in to decimate my pea plants.

That brought about another wave of frustration and more weeds fell victim to my anger.  Thanks to my rage-driven efforts, I managed to clear a lot of the weeds that have grown too big for my liking.  I went home tired but still sad and upset.  This made me paranoid and I now worry that I might find some other things missing in future.  What are they going to take next?  I worry and dread going to the garden and finding something else gone.  Why are people so mean?

Special guests

On Wednesday, a good friend of mine came to visit, if only for a few hours.  He was travelling around Germany and Denmark with his family and made time to drop by Malmö.  Pete and I arranged to meet him and his family at the train station in town.  I thought we could walk a bit around town and then head to the park for a picnic.  Luckily the weather was good.  We have been having warm, sunny days for most of last week so rain was due to fall any time, but it held out.  It wasn't too grey nor too cold so it was a nice day to walk in town.  

It was really great to see him and his family again.  We've been friends for at least 12 years, I think, and we hang out quite often so I do miss hanging out with him and the rest of the gang.  We had lots to talk about.  The last time we met was at the airport last October when I went back to Malmö, so yeah, we had loads to catch up on.

We strolled through town and then to the park.  It was a bit too warm at first, so we headed to the park for some shade.  We found the perfect place, some benches and table just beside a playground.  The kids immediately headed for the swings, of course, while we, the adults chatted.  We were soon joined by another of our friend and her family, who drove for 3 hours to get here.  It really was great fun.  We talked and laughed, while the kids quickly became friends and played together.  

Then it was time to eat.  I cooked lots of food.  While designing the menu, I was thinking that my friend would be sick of hotel and restaurant food.  Home-cooked food would work, I thought.  Also, since he and his wife studied for several years in Australia, I thought it would be nice to bake an orange poppy seed cake for dessert.  My hunch was right when he sent me a message the morning we were supposed to meet - Could you fry some chicken, Malay style, please? My daughter has a craving for it.

So I had quite a task that morning.  I baked the cake, made the Malay favourite, epok epok, roasted some honey glazed chicken drumsticks, cooked Swedish meatballs, fried the requested chicken drumsticks and coleslaw.  Lots to do but I enjoyed it.  I wanted everyone to find at least one thing they could enjoy.  And I think they did.

The day passed much too quickly.  The kids became tired as the evening wore on.  It was time to leave.  Pete and I walked with my friend and his family to the train station.  They were staying at a hotel in Copenhagen which is about 20 minutes away by train.  It was such a pity they didn't have more time here.  There's still more to talk about and more places to bring them.  But I guess it's for another trip.  For now, whatever time that we got to spend together, it was priceless.

The hills are alive with the sound of...panting

The last couple of days have been absolutely lovely in terms of the weather.  The sun is out early and it looks so nice and bright when I wake up at 7. The wind has also been kind - not too strong, not too cold.  Because of the National Day that fell on Thursday, we had a long weekend - so we had a lot of time on our hands.

The garden has taken up most of our mornings.  We went there almost every day to try and keep the weeds under control and to plant some more stuff.  But we don't have to stay there long.  We were usually done after 1 hour or so.  That left us lots of time to do other activities outdoors.

We haven't been going on our walks the last couple of weeks since the weather had been dreadful - so wet and windy.  We have bought a football so we could run around and exercise a bit but we haven't had the opportunity to do so, until this week, that is.

Since the days have been so nice, we have managed to go out and play football.  There's a huge football pitch nearby so we headed there with our football.  There were even small goal posts that were perfect for us.  Since there were only two of us, we played one-on-one and it felt so good to shoot and score goals.

I used to play football with my friends back home, usually with the guys, so I am familiar with having to dribble past guys or getting tackled. But Pete is so strong!  I find myself flying every time, he tried to get past me or to get the ball off me.  And he kicks with such power that I get stung if I try to intercept his ball.  But it's all fun and he does try to not kick too hard.  And it's really fun to run and roll around on the grass.  

Apart from playing football, we also have been enjoying scenic walks around the neighborhood. The area near the garden is being developed into a huge park with a lake.  It's still has a long way to go, but there are currently trails for walking or jogging.  The trail starts just beside our garden and goes up and down some slopes.  It makes for a nice, mildly challenging walk.

If we weren't up for the long walk, we could just run up and down the hills.  That was what we did this morning.  After working at the garden, we did some laps up and down the hill.  It's tiring, of course, but since its not too hot, and the skies so nice and blue and the grass so lovely, soft green, it was really one of the nicest way to exercise.  We were panting, of course, since we haven't been exercising regularly but if the weather keeps up, this could be our daily thing and maybe we just might get fitter.

Wascally wabbits!

I thought we have done as much as we could to keep those pesky rabbits out but somehow they managed to find their way in.  Pete checked our fence and the chicken wires but they are all still sturdy.  He also checked his mum's side of the garden and plugged all the holes.  However, we did find some small holes under the fence.  Those rabbits have dug their way in!

What did they do? They have eaten most of my pea plants!  The peas should be nice and tall and should be ready to flower in a couple of weeks but because of the rabbits, they are stunted and I have even lost a couple of plants - the rabbits decimated them completely so my lovely rows of peas have empty holes where the plants should be.

what's left of the pea plants

I can understand that they enjoy nibbling the pea shoots and tendrils at the top of the plants.  I thought they only target the peas but I found out that they have started eating my broccoli and cabbage leaves as well!  The healthy, luscious, green leaves have been nibbled away and now there are only two or three leaves left on each surviving plant.

Argh! They are such pests!  So Pete and I spent time to plug the holes with whatever scraps of wood that we could find to keep them out.  I also planted some new cabbage and lettuce plants in one of the planters.  This time, I covered the planter with a planting cloth to keep animals and insects out.  Hope it works.

All weeded out

Last week was just dreadful - cold, windy and wet.  Temperatures weren't too low, if its not windy, that is, but most days, the sun was behind the clouds, peeking out only for a few hours in the afternoon. But what's dreadful for us, is actually good for the plants in our garden.  Since I couldn't go to the garden during such wet and windy weather, I could only imagine how beautifully the plants would grow.  I also had a very strong feeling that not only our cultivated plants would do well in such weather.  The weeds would thrive too.

The last time I was in the garden, I was very pleased with myself.  My vegetable beds were clear of weeds.  But I wasn't able to go back there because of the rain and every day, I worried about the state of our garden.  When the weather finally cleared up last Saturday, Pete and I set off for the garden early.  My heart sank.  Weeds were growing wild and competing with our precious plants.  A row of dandelions had taken hold of the back of the garden where I planted lavender.  Worse, the flowers have all gone to seed and I know that their amazingly mobile, durable and plentiful seeds would have been scattered all over our garden.

I checked all our vegetable beds and I could see that I had a couple of hours of hard work ahead.  Weeds were growing everywhere - tiny ones that looked like they have just started germinating, those that are a couple of cm tall and those fast-growing vines and grass.  The carrot bed was almost over-ran by the tiny ones and I knew I had to spend a lot of time there since they were growing among the slow-growing carrots.  

I had to work methodically and be focused or else I'd just be overcome by a sense of hopelessness.  I started with the smaller vegetable beds and where the weeds are bigger so I could take out my frustrations at them and rip them up in anger.  That's quite a handy technique and soon I filled my pail with weeds.  I yanked out about 3 pails' worth of weeds from the potato bed.  And I still wasn't done there.  I had to leave some for another day since they were a bit difficult to get to.  

Then I moved on to the pumpkin patch.  There weren't too many weeds there.  The winter pumpkin are doing very well.  The leaves are big and green and they look healthy.  The butternut squash didn't look too good.  The bottom leaves looked a bit white and frost-bitten and are still small.  Hopefully they would get healthier when the weather gets warmer.  I had been cultivating two more pumpkin and cucumber seedlings.  After clearing the weeds, I planted them.

The next job was weeding the carrot bed.  These weeds were a pain.  They were tiny and very, very numerous.  I suspected they were tiny dandelions in the making.  I sat there and painstakingly plucked each and every baby weed.  I didn't know how long I was there but I kept at it until I was aware that my body was aching.  I took a break and looked at the rest of the garden.

I got another heartbreak when I went to the pea and bean bed.  The pea plants that were growing so well the last time I saw them were barely peeking from above the planter.  The rabbits had nibbled at them and so instead of tall, strong plants were all short and stunted.  Damn rabbits!  They didn't touch the beans or other plants.  The choosy monsters aimed for our pea plants instead.  Sigh. 

Pete went to look for holes where they would have broken into and found a big one over at his mum's side.  We had some chicken wire left and used that to block off the hole.  Hopefully that would work or else I would have to give up on planting peas.

It wasn't all bad news that day.  We found that the strawberries are growing well.  The rhubarb too.  Also, the flower seeds that I planted are growing well too and weeds have largely stayed away from that bed.  Also, surprisingly, lettuces have started growing where we planted them last year!  We haven't planted anything at that spot but I could clearly see the familiar leaves popping out from the ground.  There was also some zucchini plants growing at last year's bed too!  Amazing.

That day, we spent three hours in all, weeding and watering and repairing the fences and wind-shelter.  Even then, I could finish getting rid of all the weeds.  When we reached home, we discovered Pete's neck was sunburnt and my entire left side of my body was aching because I was leaning on my left arm as I picked the weeds with my right hand.  I really hoped the weather would get better and better so I wouldn't have to wait too long to weed again.  It's better to go every other day, at least, so that I could get the weeds under control.

And my wish was granted.  The start of the week has been great.  Going back to the garden on Tuesday, I finished picking whatever weeds I missed that other day. And the chicken wire helped.  The peas are growing well again.  Hopefully the pesky rabbits won't find another way in.  I already have weeds to worry about, I don't want to worry about the wild rabbits too.