Greece photo albums! :D

Here are the links to my Greece photos on facebook. Take note that I have ALOT of photos because of my greed to capture everything. :D

Athens:

Part 1 - http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150181497651615.307262.667646614

Part 2 - http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150181506911615.307264.667646614

Santorini:

Part 1 - http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150181636121615.307300.667646614

Part 2 - http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150181655431615.307305.667646614

ENJOYYYYY! :D

Greece madness

So much to be updated and yet I'm still slothing around like nothing's happening. The fever is giving me reasons to sloth around though. A call to the hospital and the very nice nurse informed me that a check-up will cost me 960 SEK (almost 200 bucks !!) and so once again, I relied on self-medication because it is cheaper and 200 bucks for JUST checking is really too exorbitant, especially after what happened in Athens.

Greece was honestly the best experience ever, both good and bad.

The photos of the views and monuments will be up soon on facebook, so I guess I shouldn't disclose anything here.

What I wanted to blog about was what happened during the trip, especially to let people know about the strict rules of the United Kingdom.

Basically though I'm already a Singaporean PR, I am still an Indonesian and hence still possesses the green Indonesian passport.

Having this passport is like major troublesome because of the treaties that the Indonesian government has yet to do with so many countries. Even with my Schengen residence permit, I still cannot enter United Kingdom.

THIS IS BECAUSE UNITED KINGDOM IS NOT UNDER EUROPEAN UNION. Please take note of this. United Kingdom, along with Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore and 50 odd more countries are part of the COMMONWEALTH NATIONS because they were previously under the British colony.

Therefore entering United Kingdom with an Indonesian passport equipped with a Schengen residence permit still requires a VISA.

However, I was told that a transit in United Kingdom will not require a visa because I will never leave the airport. Which is the reason why I agreed to a return flight to Stockholm with a transit at London.

Then the rude Greek lady at the easyjet counter told me that I cannot travel to UK because the plane stops at UK and it is not a connecting flight to Stockholm. My flight back to Stockholm was Ryanair and not easyjet, and therefore these two different flight companies cannot assure UK that I will not travel out of the airport. THEREFORE SHE CANCELLED MY TICKET.

Thank God I found a connecting flight using airBaltic through Riga, Latvia. If not, I will be wandering around Athens ALONE with a dead iPhone.

This was a major scary experience and so to other fellow Indonesians with Schengen residence permit, remember to have a visa to United Kingdom, and if you are transiting at UK, make sure your flight is a connecting one, and DO NOT purchase 2 different tickets from 2 different companies.

FML but I came back safe and sound so 200 euros well spent. =S

Academic exhaustion

In 2 days, I completed 4 assignments. I'm tired, hungry and always peeved.

Going back to NTU will be a major blah, with all the stress coming back.

BAH.

In the mood

Have been completely in the zone for blogging, churning out post after post everyday. School's ending real soon and the workload is piling up ONCE AGAIN, which is the exact reason why I'm heading to school's library later to atone for my sins.

Yesterday's dinner was rather homely and very heartwarming. I had two types of curry, perkedel (or bergedil in Malay), carrot cake and chocolate mousse. Definitely a fail after 3 days of banana diet, but it's good for the mind so YEEEAAHHH.

Gotta thank Sophia and Emery for preparing the food!:D And wang too for his world-famous chocolate mousse.

THE FOOD. YUMMEH.

Outfit of the day! :D gotta love spring/summer because I can finally let my legs breathe! The weather was crazy yesterday, reaching a peak of 24 degrees Celsius. Can you believe that just last week it was snowing?!

More spammage coming up tonight! or tomorrow! :D

ASOS haul! :D

Eve told me that my ASOS order has safely reached her house! :D YAY! And these are the stuff that I ordered 2 weeks back.

Contemplating on whether I should get some more or not. HMM.

Mega Haul Post! :D

Today I went all out to shop! Summer is coming and the weather here is definitely getting better, so everything is pushing me to spend, spend, spend!! :D

As expected I went crazy in H&M, all the colours made me so dizzy!

First of all, I got this leopard-print tee for 129SEK. The print is very very faint, and the tee is very sheer. So much ventilation is a change from the bulky winter wear. OHYEAHSUMMER.

This was an impulse buy. Probably because of the price. Nothing special, but I do like the earthy colour.

No, this sweater is not as thick as it looks. I'm sure it will even be okay for Singapore's weather. Very thin material with asymmetrical cutting. Good for tucking in printed shorts! :D

The following two are the same designs but with different prints. Once again rather sheer and very suitable for tucking in into shorts!

I saw Song Ji Hyo in a recent episode of Running Man (or was it one of the past episodes? I keep rewatching till I lose count of all the episodes.) and she was wearing a similar shirt, and I was surprised to find it at Lindex! I think it was 149SEK.

From Topshop for 100SEK. A bargain, especially when the original price is 379SEK. Cropped tops like this are long enough for tucking in! And yes, I'm very into tucking in shirts into my shorts right now!

149SEK from H&M. Floral for summer is always in! :D

99SEK from BikBok. I'm still wondering if this will make me look fat or not. But I will heck and still wear because IT IS SUMMERRRR.

BEST PURCHASE OF THE DAY.

Leather shorts from Topshop for ONEHUNDREDANDFIFTY SEK! :D It was down from 1099SEK (wtf).

It was the last piece, and it was my size. How can I not buy?!

Some random belt from H&M for 10SEK and nude floral leggins from Topshop for 40SEK.

Summer = sandals. So of course must get some gladiators! 149SEK from H&M!

Some recent OOTDs! :D

:D

Things I See Online That I WANT

The first thing I do when I touch down is to make myself comfortable on my bed and ORDER THESE.

Or if you want to buy for my 22nd birthday I also don't mind. I'm not pantang at all! Can buy shoes for me one! :DDDD TEEHEE.

The Joy of Being Alone

A few nights ago, I couldn't get to sleep. No matter how hard I tried to calm my nerves down, the anxiety keeps invading my mind. After tossing and turning for umpteen times, I finally adjusted my pillow parallel to the wall, and rested my back on it. I knew something was not right inside me because usually I would fall asleep within the 10-minute boundary. I have never done self-reflection for so long in my life before. That night, I fell asleep at 5:30 am despite wanting to rest at 10:30pm the night before. It took me 4 hours of deep thoughts before I answered my every anxiety.

To my friends here, I may come off as being too sensitive. When someone does not ask me out for an occasion, but instead goes out with another person, I get fidgety and wonder if the reason to that is because I'm not an approachable person. Whenever things like this happen, I blame myself. This repeating process of self-blame kills my ability to be rational. I get very afraid of people's judgment and I get terrified when I'm neglected.

That is the crux of the problem. I hate being lonely. The nerve-wrecking thing is that despite hating being all alone, I have a problem with making myself look friendly to others. I don't like to club, which already makes me the outcast of the norm, but hey, I'm not ashamed of this habit, instead I'm quite proud that I still stand by my rules. When I meet new people, I hate being stuck in an awkward moment, but I don't really know how to make conversations stay alive. I may seem chatty and bubbly to my close friends, but in actuality I have a problem with socialising. I'm comfortable talking with my good friends, but talking to a stranger makes me sick. In my mind, the stranger has 2000 pairs of eyes staring down at me when I speak to him/her. I'm absolutely sure that it is a mental problem.

The vibe that I give off to strangers is a solitary one. To them, I prefer to spend time alone and to enjoy my surroundings alone. Nobody understands that when I walk faster than the others, or slower than the others, a mental struggle is happening within me. I don't know whether to throw away my fears and risk being ridiculed or just walk on with my head held high.

I admire people who are able to do things alone.

Even to my new-found friends, I seem aloof and somewhat withdrawn. I tried my very best to change this outlook, but those trials made me feel extremely pretentious. My mind tells me to mingle, but my heart knows I will not enjoy it if I force it. Hence, I keep leaving myself at limbo situations, which is why I doubt myself so much.

I know I have friends who tell me that I'm fine the way I am and that I shouldn't think too much about what people who doesn't know me think about me. I know I have friends who will listen to my every word and not ignore me or interrupt my conversation. I also know that I have friends who will never fail to sms or call me to ask me out if they have going-out plans. But the problem is, these friends are not here.

I am not saying that the friends I make here are rascals. I am grateful that I have them here to at least listen to my woes and to make my exchange a more enjoyable experience. I just happen to be extremely salient at inculpating myself for everything that has gone wrong and I feel guilty that I cannot let them see the real Fitrina because of my inner struggles.

Self-reflection that night proved to be a bit more successful than previous attempts. I have decided to live with this eccentric trait of mine. This may sound cheesy, but before I want others to love me, I have to love myself and so I have to stop the self-mutilating blame game.

Being alone is not a bad thing after all, being lonely is. So the maxim of the day will be being alone beats being lonely, and so I shall make my life better that way.

A plan is in progress

I always wonder why even with a dwindling appetite I feel fatter in Sweden. I guess the cold weather locks my body in an auto-defense mode where it tries to conserve all the fat molecules that I have to protect my internal organs.

What a load of bullshit for a girl who likes to look as thin as possible in photographs. I am happy that my internal organs are well-protected, but isn't it time to let them loose for the coming spring and summer?! I have started exercising every single day (in amounts so meagre compared to in Singapore with my easily-accessible gym, but still I'm doing something) and cut down even more on unhealthy stuff.

Then I found out my favourite vegetable, the mighty broccoli, will cause bloatedness if eaten too much. ALAMAK. Try to be healthy also got repercussions.

So this weekend, I'm on a strict detox plan. Only banana and water:

• Bananas are good for your heart and nerves.
• Bananas are good for your kidneys and bones.
• Bananas can act as mood enhancers or mild sedatives.
• Bananas are good for your blood.
• Bananas are good source of dietary fiber.
• Bananas contain resistant starch. Increased resistant starch consumption can increase fat burning and decrease fat accumulation.

Let's hope I feel better on Monday! :D

The heat kicks in

Nothing about Stockholm is warm. Today we had snow early in the morning, and may I stress that today is the 3rd of May? I think Mother Nature forgot that it was supposed to be spring in Stockholm. It's like WINTER all over again. I dread going out tomorrow because there's going to be HEAVY SHOWERS. what the fungi, seriously.

Anyway, on more serious academic matters, I have decided to stop being unorganized and start making my to-do list again, too many things to do, too little time!

1. AK1213 reflection for seminar 2 (400 words by May 12th) (DONE)
2. AK1205 reflection for seminar 3
3. AK1205 seminar assignment 2 (1000-1500 words by May 5th) (DONE)
4. ME2026 research for group project (by May 4th, 2pm) (DONE)
5. AK1213 final individual essay (800-1000 words by May 6th, 8pm) (DONE)
6. AK1204 readings to prepare for final essay
7. Email AK1204 professor about possible topics for final essay
8. AK1205 final essay (2000-2500 words by May 31st)
9. Get McNeill's book from Nymble on Friday
10. AK1204 seminar assignment (either May 17th or May 19th)

OHEMGEE