Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Chapter 326 - Norway (Part II)
I'm just gonna post some more pictures, without much commentary this time round (since there isn't that much to comment on really... ;p)

Lots of sailing ships moored at the piers. After all, Norway used to be a Viking capital of some sorts right?


Flags! If someone could help me "decode" the message?


A (naked) statue watches time goes by. The brick building in the background is the town hall....

One of the colourful cannons at the Fortress. Annoyingly, I went there THREE times, and on all three occasions, it was closed, even though the published times said it was open. *growl* That's one thing I guess about travelling off-season in Norway - except the off-season is for 9 months in a year.

Officers from the Naval Staff College.

A Greylag Goose. Apparently, it's supposed to be pretty obvious what lens I used for this shot. (it's a 500mm Catadioptric/Mirror lens... if it makes any sense to you... )

The Town Hall. This main hall is where the Nobel Peace Prize is given out every year, in gloomy December - makes you wonder why they chose December as a time really. I was imagining something else though, since I'd have thought putting chairs out will be quite unglam, plus there's no proscenium, or elevated seating. But it's apparently what they do...

One of the meeting/conference rooms in the town hall.. For stately conferences of course... ;p

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Posted by yellowlemonie at 1:48 PM | 0 comments
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Chapter 325 - Press Release
A spokesperson from Kenny's Union told the press today, that with effect from today, Kenny will require a compulsory break everyday from 6-8pm.

It is understood that direct sunlight falling onto his work desk is the main cause of the decision. When interviewed, Kenny said, "This is unacceptable work standards, and on the long run, will result in lower efficiency as well as health issues, such as... urm... sunburns. As a result, I have no choice but to resort to such drastic actions as taking a break during this time".

With the period of daylight of increasing over the next two months, it is certain that this problem will become exacerbated. The next best course of action seems to be moving the office to a "better" location. No comments were received on this.

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Gosh. I feel like an old man today. My ENTIRE body aches from the sports played yesterday (which includes frisbee, captain's ball and floorball), including places where I don't think I even used - like my chest, and my ass butt, and my neck of all places. How the hell would i have exerted my neck? Well, I guess those neck stretches that we used to do in PE, and in track & field weren't useless then. Oh, and I also walk with a limp like Doctor House now. :)

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Posted by yellowlemonie at 10:24 PM | 2 comments
Friday, April 25, 2008
Chapter 324 - Knock-not jokes
OMG. It took me SOOOOOOO long to get this one.

"A termite walks into the bar, and asks "Is the bartender here?"

(you'll have to scroll to the end to get the answer if you didn't get it... Got this one from Class 95's Morning Express)

And while I was searching on the net for what it was meant to be, I found other bar jokes:

"A hamburger walks into a bar and the bartender says, "Sorry, we don't serve food in here."

"Two peanuts walked into a bar, and one was a-salted."

"A string walks into a bar and asks for a drink. The bartender says, "We don't serve strings in here"
The string goes back out and ties himself up and frays his ends. He then walks back into the bar and asks for a drink.
The bartender says, "Hey, aren't you that string that was just in here?"
The string says, "No, I'm a frayed knot".

And in case you haven't got the first one yet. It might help to break it down.
"A TERMITE walks into the bar and asks, "Is the bar-tender here?" Termite, tender bar - get it?

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Posted by yellowlemonie at 1:10 PM | 4 comments
Chapter 323 - Oslo, Norway
Photos from Norway! Some of you might have already seen it up on Facebook, but at least you'll get the full commentary this time. (nearly).

It seems I don't ever seem to start my trips on very good notes - I was drunk slightly less sober than usual on my December trip, and this time, I was slightly less awake starting on Norway, having been packing till 2am, and then catching a bus at 7.30am. Well, at the time I booked my flight, 9.30am kinda seemed like a reasonable time - except when you factor in the check-in plus travel time...

Anyhow, day 1 in Oslo started with me trying to find a hostel - thank goodness there was ONE space at Anker hostel - which btw, is pretty much the ONLY hostel in the middle of Oslo. The others are all kinda far away. After sorting that out, I set out to explore the city, and my first stop was the Royal Palace.

I hadn't known or checked out anything on it (many thanks to my Lonely Planet guide arriving only the day before), so I wasn't really expecting much. But by some stroke of luck, I managed to get there in time to watch some guards parade - it wasn't the change of guards parade though, because that happens at 1.30pm, and I was there just before 2pm. I must say though that the drills were kinda rubbish - in the words of the sergeant majors back home - the drills were "HORRIBLE!", "like bird shit falling to the ground." & "my grandmother can do better than that!"

And honestly, I don't really see the point of it as well. Here're the photos anyway.

The bugle which they brought out, but never used. And their helmets! Such annoying feathers they had, which kept getting blown onto their faces. They'd die of itch/tickle if they were to do NDP man...

The marching contingent. Another of the unwarranted, superfluous part of the "ceremony". I think they just marched to the end of the drive and back. But of course, it gives me an opportunity to take photos, so I shan't complain. ;p

The officer marches by. If only the officer was just slightly more to the right, we'd be able to see the soldier in the background saluting with the gun.

Barren trees. Spring doesn't arrive in Norway till late April.

At the pier where you could get fresh seafood straight from the boats. I'm not sure how fresh it really was though, cos there didn't seem to be too much business.

Boats moored at the pier.

A sea gull takes a break from the gusty winds. This should be a juvenile Great Black-Backed Gull. (or just a juvenile common gull. the former sounds more impressive though, so i'm sticking with that.)

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Posted by yellowlemonie at 11:08 AM | 0 comments
Monday, April 21, 2008
Chapter 322 - break time
It's time for me to take a break. My head is swimming with terms like superconductivity, penetration depth & critical currents and my stomach is swimming with hula hoops (it's a potato snack). I much prefer the latter though. 

More House?
Posted by yellowlemonie at 11:43 PM | 0 comments
Chapter 321 - Differential Diagnosis

House (the TV series) is now my official dinner time entertainment. It's so incredible. If I'd watched it when I was little, I'm sure I'd have become a doctor. ;p And for the record, I'm watching it off DVD.

I've just checked out Hugh Laurie (Dr House)'s biography on Wikipedia (here) and I must say he's led quite an exciting life. He went to Selwyn College, Cambridge (they share the same boathouse as Churchill), and was an oarsman - and a darned good one at that, having won the National Junior Championship (coxed pair), and was awarded a BLUE status when he rowed against Oxford in 1980 (they lost by five feet - i.e. DAMN close). 

Not inspired yet? Go watch it for yourself then. (I've got lots of catching up to do - I'm only halfway through Season 1, and it's up to Season 4 at the moment...)

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Posted by yellowlemonie at 8:41 PM | 0 comments
Chapter 320 - Next stop: Space
Anyone wanna accompany me to space? Well, actually, I'd be happy if anyone will fork out USD$3500 for a space tumble for me... ;p Check out this article from Discover and discover space travel for every budget!

PS: be sure to check out the video.. i can't seem to embed it here...

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Posted by yellowlemonie at 4:30 PM | 0 comments
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Chapter 319 - Writer's Block
Hurray! I've actually started writing my essay - 500 words down. (2500 to go), although I've hit a writer's block now (creative juices have dried up!). But hey, they say getting started is the hardest bit. ;p

Norway pictures coming up soon!

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Posted by yellowlemonie at 6:43 PM | 0 comments
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Chapter 318 - Zerotasking
I am zerotasking at the moment, having just gotten back to my room. And it seems I didn't actually have much time to write posts while I was away at training camp either.

I shall be having some coffee, while panicking about how I shall complete my essay this weekend....
Posted by yellowlemonie at 11:58 AM | 0 comments
Monday, April 14, 2008
Chapter 317 - Radar Silent... No more
I thought I was gonna need to go "radar silent" for this week (i.e. no internet access), cos I'm away in Molesey at a training camp, but it seems that there's now wireless here. Hurray! So it looks like I could do some work (hopefully), and get connected to the world - although I'm not sure they go hand-in-hand. ;p
Posted by yellowlemonie at 7:07 PM | 0 comments
Friday, April 11, 2008
Chapter 316 - Deutschland
Kenny is currently in Schaffhausen (Switzerland) today, and went across the border to Germany as well. The weather hasn't been all that great after one day of sunshine in Geneva, which quickly deteriorated to snow and rain.

I shall post some shots from today first, before I get round to processing my Norway and Geneva shots (the Geneva trip was soooo cool! Going to all the UN organisations at Geneva was uber exciting)

Mr Rodney Wong, whose hospitality I'm imposing on at the moment. He's working for FARO in Schaffhausen atm....

One of the small outlets from the big falls

A very thirsty duck!

Bubbles! This shot is considered abstract by most standards I think... But I like it nonetheless....

The bridge which leads to the fall, eventually....

The Rhine Falls in its infinite glory. Of course the small size of this picture doesn't quite show you the scale of the falls - if you click on it, you can see humans on the outcrop on the left side, which gives you an idea of how massive it really is....

From the Rhine Falls photo album.

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Also, I found out today that my DVD drive can be made region free - after three years of waiting! Hurray. That means my drive can finally be unlocked from Region 4 and I can play more DVDs on my laptop. =) Thanks a million to ben11. The solution is here if you have an old Powerbook G4 with a Matsushita super-drive like mine....

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Posted by yellowlemonie at 10:41 PM | 2 comments
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Chapter 315 - "Whirled Peas"
Try and interpret the title first. =)

My last day in Norway before I fly off to Geneva tomorrow. The weather seems to have cleared up (FINALLY). I couldn't have had worse weather yesterday when I forked out close to £70 for a "Norway in a Nutshell" tour, which really is a nice way of burning a hole in your pockets.

The title was from a postcard I saw at the Nobel Peace Centre and another one included:

An eye for an eye,
turns the world blind


I'm sure I've had that before, but it's still refreshing to see it again. Almost missed the Nobel Peace Centre, cos it wasn't yet in my edition of the Lonely Planet - but well worth the visit, and my 55Kr (£5.50/SGD$16).

Otherwise, it was a fairly idyllic day, having arrived in Oslo from the overnight train from Bergen at an unearthly hour of 6.10am. I'm kind of just slacking in an internet cafe atm, although slacking kinda involves money too, but I guess it's the cheapest compared to other stuff I could be doing. (I think having a coffee costs as much as internet for one hour). Good thing I shall be getting my laptop back in Geneva, thanks to Lukas! So till then, have fun!

Oh, and Happy (belated) Birthday Kenny!

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Posted by yellowlemonie at 5:09 PM | 0 comments
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Chapter 314 - Nor(th)way
Day 5 in Norway today, although it feels like I've been here for a much longer time. In any case, it's been snowing (like proper snow) since I've arrived in Tromsø - which isn't a good thing at all, cos snow = clouds, and clouds = no Northern Lights. It's soooo disappointing, having come all the way here to be hampered by bad weather. Although I can boast that not many people will have come as north as I have (I think I'm at latitude 69 degrees North - higher than the Arctic Circle)

I'm catching a flight to Oslo tomorrow evening, and jumping on the overnight train to Bergen right away. I think i've got some lovely pics. Will post soon when I get the chance to upload my photos.

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Posted by yellowlemonie at 5:04 PM | 0 comments
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