Culture Night Stockholm 2019 - Part 1: Tessin Palace's Garden, Strindberg Museum

27 April 2019

Culture Night is here again! Free entrance to most cultural places - museums, theatres, opera, culture schools, churches. It depends if these places open their premises to the public for free. Photography Museum still requires a fee! I have heard great reviews on Photography Museum and I have not gotten the opportunity to step inside, mainly because I don't wish to pay for the fees yet. Culture Night starts from 6pm to midnight. Stockholm was bustling with people that evening! 

We went to 3 places. The first place on the agenda was Tessin Palace's Garden. I have never heard of this place before. One has to queue up the day before to collect the ticket to enter into the palace. Without the tickets, one is only limited to the garden. I did not find anything spectacular in the garden except that the garden has lovely tulips.

The Tessin Palace (Swedish: Tessinska palatset) is a baroque town house located in Gamla Stan, the old town in central Stockholm. Located next to the Royal Palace, it is facing Slottsbacken, the major approach to the Stockholm Palace, and flanked by two alleys, Finska Kyrkogränd and Bollhusgränd. The mansion was constructed between 1694 and 1700 by architect Nicodemus Tessin the Younger. The building was inherited by Tessin's son Carl Gustaf Tessin who had to sell it in 1750 for financial reasons. The palace later became property of the crown and has been used as residence for the Governor of Stockholm and later Governor of Stockholm County. Source from Wikipedia.

Tastebud : Relais de la Gare (third time)

26 April 2019

French food for lunch today at Relais de la Gare. This is my third time here. I am on a mission to try all of its dishes on the menu. Today, I chose steak tartare - raw beef served with egg yolk, cubed beetroot, caper (a type of plant that is native in the Mediterranean) and onions. The 4 dots are mustard sauce and the green round plant is a caper. SEK163 / RM81.50.

It is my first time with steak tartare and I had an inkling that it was raw but I did not expect it to be entirely raw. Surprisingly, it did not taste anything weird. I stared at my plate for a while wondering loudly how should I eat this and I got pointers from a diner who sat next to me. Mix the egg yolk in the meat and then blend the other ingredients in gradually.

Strangely enough, it did not taste anything at all. It felt odd to be eating raw meat. I went back and googled about this dish. There were some reservations about raw meat containing bacteria. However, there are many articles that state that this dish has the least possibility of food poisoning as only high end restaurants with high standards of hygiene serve this meal. Then, my sister told me that symptoms of bad bacteria i.e. E.Coli will appear after 3 - 4 days. So, I kept a watch on myself. Thankfully, I am really thankful that I was alright, but the product of the food digestion did not smell very pleasant. 

I am definitely not trying this again!

Cherry Blossom Flowers and Ulriksdal Slott

22 April 2019

Today's activities - Walk to Ulriksdal Slott (Ulriksdal Palace) and along the way, to stop by at Kungsträdgården to see the cherry blossom trees.

The cherry blossoms are out and it is time to pay them a visit! This means that it is spring! Last year, I went there on 1 May 2018 and this year is 8 days earlier but only half of the trees have bloomed. They are the same flowers but they are still as pretty as ever. Kungsträdgården was crowded. The flowers bloom for 10 days only and wither as soon as the weather gets warmer. 

Drama: Förlovningen (The Engagement)

16 April 2019

I watched a play last evening at Dramaten (The Drama) formally known as Royal Dramatic Theater, Sweden’s national scene for spoken drama with my friends from Kulturkompis. The last time we met, it was to watch Opera. This is our fourth meetup. During our first meetup, I was informed by the group leader that we meet 4 times within 6 months. The first time - Millesgarden and the second time - Hallwy Museum.

We watched the play inside a small theatre which was behind the huge theatre. The small theatre was built in 1945. I have officially lost count of how many plays I have been to within this one year and I am very sure there are more theatres that I have not stepped inside yet. 

We watched a 1 hour 45 minutes play entitled ‘Förlovningen (fur-lov-ning-en)’ (The Engagement). Can you see the title of the play? It was so hilarious. The audience was laughing a lot including me! It was about a man who was to be engaged and has an affair with a night club singer (who has admirers in a form of a general and legal clerk). The man was caught in the end but his new wife forgave him because she sees her new husband as a man now as he has had other women and not just a childish boy. 

Tanzanian Film Festival

13 April 2019

Volunteer duties with Kompis Sverige - watch a Tanzanian film, fashion show and performance from its local artistes and enjoy its local food. The event was held in a school hall. 

The event started with a speech by the Ambassador. Then, a 1 hour and 15 minutes film that depicted about staying to your culture although you are in a new country - the film was about Tanzanians living in Sweden who try to balance out their culture and Swedish culture. 

The film is a product of a one-man show by a Tanzanian actor, Issa who moved to Sweden 5 years ago to his wife (the lady in blue) and he wanted to continue his acting career in Sweden. It was difficult for him and he produced the film solely - equipment, editing and directing.

Look at their colourful accessories! I was very tempted to ask how much each costs.

We were treated to sumptuous local food. A lady noticed I filled my plate twice and she commented that the food must be nice. I said it really is and asked her who cooked them. She said that it was herself and a few friends who cooked at home.