Chef wannabe : Christmas food 2020

24 December 2020

Today is Christmas eve! On this day, the Swedes celebrate Christmas. 

We prepared the food that is mostly found on a Christmas buffet - Christmas ham (I have no idea why is it called Christmas ham when it is just normal ham), limpa bread (made from sourdough), anchovies gratin (also known as Janssons frestelse), kale soup, brussel sprouts, meatballs, prince sausages (short sausages of 5-7cm in length), cheese, boiled potatoes, hard boiled eggs topped with shrimp salad, pickled herrings (we got 2 free jars from a local food store), cured salmon, beetroot salad and fruit cake. 

Christmas project - Wooden box filled with cookies

23 December 2020

For this year's Christmas, I came up with an idea to make a wooden box and fill it with home-baked cookies that are usually eaten during Christmas. Well, actually it was not my idea. I was flipping through a food magazine and the arrangement of cookies was in a box. I asked my boyfriend what is the box made of. He said that it was just plywood and it is easy to construct. So, that is how our project got initiated!

This is our Christmas present to 4 families. 

Recycling Center

24 October 2020

Today, I made my maiden visit to a recycling center. In Swedish, this is återvinningscentral. Sweden's recycling system is one of the advanced ones in the world. It is cultivated in a kid's upbringing to recycle. So, it becomes natural to them and as adults, they are aware of what items are recycled or incarcinerated. I am amazed, impressed and I hope that this can be emulated to many countries. Is it possible? 

In each neighbourhood, the common recycling bins are available within walking distance. Printed materials, packaging, plastic, metal and glass. Now, for items such as electronics, ceramic, huge plastic items, bicycles, prams, chemicals or anything that cannot be recycled in the recycling bins, one brings them to the recycling center. The recycling center is managed by the municipal. One is expected to drive here considering the bulky items a person is recycling. There are probably buses available but one has to walk to the center. It would be difficult to carry these items in a bus, though. There are designated parking spaces for vechicles that have recyclable items. For vehicles that carry nothing, they have to park at another spot. 

The chemical waste is the first container one sees. Chemical waste such as paint, medicine or anything that is poisonous to the environment and human. Next, one drives to the next containers to dispose other non-chemical items. Here, there are 6 categories - metal / scrap (for e.g. bicycle, pram, iron), wood, landfill (for e.g. plastic), combustible and another category which I do not remember. Examples of items that fall under the respective categories are stated on the signboard. Or one can ask the staff that is patrolling the area. The staffs ensure the items are recycled in the right containers. There are even separate containers to recycle lightbulbs and batteries. 

Wellness allowance : Footcare

20 October 2020

As an employee in Sweden, one of the optional benefits that an employer can offer is an annual wellness allowance. This non-taxable allowance can reach to a maximum of SEK5000 which is about RM2500. The employee can use this allowance for sports or massage or any activities that are approved by the tax authorities that can contribute to an employee's well-being. There is a whole list of it. This is such a great benefit that shows how much work-life balance is emphasised here. 

Last year, I used my annual allowance to buy a gym card where I could swim and gym. I could also use the sauna, or whatever facilities offered by the gym. This year, I dare not visit the gym due to Corona and so, I decided to utilise my wellness allowance for footcare as I did not have to be in close contact with people. My toenails have not been in the prettiest condition due to my running and hiking activities. I did lots of that before I moved to Sweden. Most of my toenails have died and regrown. I have a toenail that has a double layer so, I decided it is time I visit a nail therapist to fix the nail. Sometimes, it gets too tight in my shoe because of this thick toenail. I did not know that a nail therapist has a specific education and the therapist that I went to is a qualified one.

For my 30 minute medical footcare with Friska Fötter (Healthy Feet), I got a footbath, filing and clipping of my toenails, removal of dead and hard skin that was preventing the growth of my huge toenail, and foot massage. It was suppose to be a 50-minute footcare, but as I did not have any serious nail and foot conditions, the footcare was a short one. The session costed me SEK810. Otherwise, it would be SEK650 if this is not a wellness allowance. The difference was due to tax. Yes, I did mention above that it is a non-taxable allowance, but what I meant by that is that I do not get taxed from it. The employer 'pays' for the tax in the allowance. 

Lingonberry picking

19 September 2020

Picking lingons can mean only one thing - summer is gone! Lingonberries appear during autumn and they do not make much mess as compared to blueberries. Blueberries leave stain on your fingers. I do not enjoy picking lingonberries as much as picking blueberries, as there are not much choices to do with lingonberries. The only thing I am aware of is lingon jam. Lingonberries are very sour and has to be added with lots of sugar, at least half the weight of lingoberries when making the jam. I have got lots of lingonberries in the freezer now and to make space for frozen food, I need to make lots of jam!

Apple picking at random houses

10 September 2020

Autumn season is here! The common fruit during this season is the apple! Most folks have apple trees in their gardens. So, we decided to help these folks by plucking their apples. An apple tree can produce so many apples that the owners are not able to pluck all these apples, resulting in the apples falling to the ground and rotting. Not a pretty sight. 

We walked around the neighbourhood and knocked on random houses that have gorgeous, round and red apples. We did this a couple of times, and each time, the owners welcomed us and even offered us bags to carry the apples. Of course, we brought our own bags. Each time, we plucked about 20 apples each and there are still lots of apples on the trees. I am very happy with my free apple stash! 

Warehouse visit

This year, I have picked up a new skill. Well, I am not very skillful yet but I have learnt how to use the tools and understand bits and pieces of the subject. I am talking about carpentry and building works. In Sweden, it is very common to have the locals building their own summer cottages, installing pipes and lights. Basically, most of them are very handy. And this is made possible because there are websites available to guide these builders on the right measurement and safety guidelines with no charge. 

I have been visiting the warehouses in Stockholm - Bauhaus, Hornbach, Bygg-Ole to buy roof tiles, pipes, steels, planks, screws, and anything you can think of to build or fix a house. The plus side is I get to learn lots of new Swedish words or maybe old ones that have the same meaning. For example, fjäder can mean both feather and spring. I got confused when I was told that we are going to buy fjäder to support the fixture and in my head, I was wondering how can a feather do that. Haha! 

The warehouses here are so large that cars can drive in and park next to the items. They carry the items either on the roof of the car or with a trailer. It is common to see trailers around here. The trailers are attached to the back of the car. If the items are carried on the roof of the car and are longer than the car, a bright flag has to be hung at the end of the item so that the driver behind the trailer can estimate the distance. I am amazed by this. I have never been to a warehouse in Malaysia and I do not even know if such warehouses exist. 

Cycle to Lovön

The cycling trip continues the following week. This time, we cycled to Lovön, a much shorter distance than our first cycling trip to Tyresta National Park. The route has lesser uphills. I am glad we chose this destination because Lovön (ön = the island) is scenic and has very large blueberries. I was disappointed that we did not bring huge boxes to store the blueberries. 

This is a 2-day cycling trip. We camped near the waters on Lovön. The first day had a distance of 38km and it took me 3 hours and 45 minutes. The next day was way shorter - 19km and it took 1.5 hours only! You can imagine how surprised I was that I was home so quick. Haha!

  

22 July 2020

At 11.45am, we started our ride towards Ekerö kommun. We decided that we will have lunch along the way. We cycled past Drottningholmslott, one of Sweden's UNESCO World Heritage. It is a palace and the garden is open to public. 

Cycle to Tyresta National Park

Summer break has started. I had a plan for my summer holidays but everything is cancelled because of Corona. So, it is just Stockholm for me for my summer break. For this summer break, the plan is to do a cycling trip. I bought a bicycle in April and I cycle to work from May onwards. I invested in two cycling bags which can be attached to my carrier. These cycling bags will contain all the items I need for my cycling trip. It is not a multiple-day trip. I am not an experienced cyclist, so I do not have the stamina to cycle multiple days. 

This is a 2-day cycling trip to Tyresta National Park. The plan is to camp in the national park. Thankfully, the national park is spacious enough to accommodate several campers. I am very paranoid when I am within close proximity to humans now. 

On the first day, the distance is 47km and there were a couple of uphills and downhills. It took me 4 hours 18 minutes to ride the distance. Gosh, the uphill ride burnt my thighs! I did not understand why there are uphills. Won't it be easier to flatten the ground? Gradually, I found out that there are pipes underground. 

On the second day, the distance is 42km and it took me 3.5 hours. I was thankful it took lesser hours and also, we took a different route.

Tastebud : Veneto Pizzeria

20 June 2020

After 3 months of not eating out or taking away, I took the courage to walk into a pizzeria (Veneto Pizzeria) and bought a pizza. There were customers sitting there but with a distance. I stood with my back against them and stared at the plastic shield right in front of where the cashier is located. Delicacy pizza for SEK104 - Honey, walnut, rocket leaves and air-dried ham (which was very salty to me). Overall, it is yummy. It is nice to not need to cook although dinner was already prepared.

Camping in Björnö nature reseve

30 May 2020

Today, we drove to Björnö (pronounced as 'b-yorn-er) and camped for a night. Björnö is directly translated as björn = bear and ö = island. We did not see any bears. This place is a well-maintained nature reserve with LOTS of campers. I had a panic attack when we reached the parking lot and I saw the number of cars. We walked away from the other hikers and found a spot in the nature reserve that has no other people. I felt relieved. 

It was very sunny and occasionally, windy. So, I got myself a light tan before I got chilled. Hence, the reason I am wearing a wind breaker. We had vacuum packed food for dinner. Easy and quick to cook. Just add hot water and wait for 8 minutes. Food is ready.

Random cycling in Kista - 21km

21 May 2020

I got myself a bicycle last month and invested in the proper equipment - helmet, cycling gloves, a cycle stand (I did not know that cycle stands did not come with mountain bikes. I suppose people who uses mountain bikes have their bikes lying on the ground in the nature. Very different from city bikes), changed the easily-removable screws to tools-required screws. I have been cycling to work ever since. We are not encouraged to travel by train to avoid the spread of the virus, unless you are an essential worker i.e. without them, the society is unable to function. 

As today is a public holiday which is Kristi Himmelsfärdsdag, the 40th day after Easter i.e. the day Jesus went up to Heaven, we took the opportunity to cycle around. It was a lovely sunny day. We cycled around Kista, Husby and Tensta which has a beautiful neighbourhood. Cycled past a farm and saw some livestock. So heartwarming to see that. In Swedish, the bicycle is also known as iron horse (järnhäst pronounced as 'yarn-hest') and we saw wooden horses where I took a photo with them! We saw paragliders on top of a hill which was a pain to cycle up. I ended up pushing my bicycle up and down the hilltop because it was too steep for me. 

Camping at Siggeforasjön

30 April 2020

As tomorrow is 1 May 2020 which is a public holiday, we decided to camp in a nature reserve on 30 April. We know that if we do it the next day, there will be more folks. We drove to Siggeforasjön where we walked about 100 meters to the camping spot. We were lucky to see a huge bonfire across the lake where the Swedes were celebrating the beginning of spring which is known as Valborgsmässoafton. Due to Corona virus, this bonfire celebration is cancelled in most areas to avoid the crowd. However, across the lake was a proper camping spot so I guess the owners of the camping spot built a bonfire for their campers. We hiked a bit around the area. It has a proper trail. We did not build any fire because the wood was wet. 

Camping in Hosjön

25 April 2020

An overnight in Hosjön for the weekend. Pronounced as 'hoo-hwen' which means The Ho Lake. The place is named Ho as there are birds that made the call of Hoo Hoo. It was a bit frightening initially but we got used to it. This place is part of Upplandsleden trail which we did not explore. I was surprised to see there is an outdoor toilet (in Swedish, this is called utedas). Of course, this is not the type of home toilet. This is the toilet where you can see all the other human waste inside. It does not smell, though.

We drove there on a Saturday and left on Sunday. We just wanted to have a taste of nature and smell fire again. We were very lucky that there were no other campers except for a group of 4 students who cycled there and camped next to us but with a good distance. They did not sit with us by the campfire, thankfully. As there was a small jetty nearby, they sat there and had their dinner. We sat by the campfire, had our dinner, and poked at the embers. 

Living in paranoia in 2020

In December last year, a new strain of virus became uncontrollable from a live animal market in Wuhan, China. It affected the people of Wuhan, and gradually to China, and today, it is a pandemic. This virus is deadly for those with underlying health conditions and for the elderly. There are some cases where teenagers and adolescents are affected too. First, it causes the throat to dry up, resulting in cough, gradually with a fever and one will experience headache, muscle aches, diarrhea and loss of smell and taste, finally affecting the lungs where one finds it difficult to breathe, and in the end, death. The name - Corona or CoViD 19 (Corona Virus Disease 2019).

It is a nightmare. You can catch the virus if you are close to the person, just by breathing the same air and of course, you catch if it the bearer coughs at your face. Or if you touch a surface that has the virus. The virus can survive on a surface for a couple of hours, depending on the type of surface. 

In Sweden, the locals are advised to keep a distance, avoid unnecessary travels and do not gather in more than 50 people. As of today, there are 428 death cases in Sweden, most of them are the elderly. Do you know what I see outside? A couple of ignorant people who cannot keep a distance, teenagers hanging out and hugging each other, shoppers who stand too close to me... oh my god, I feel like shouting at them to keep a distance! Where have they been living? Shut in their own bubble? As if they are invincible. That number increased drastically after a lot of the locals came back from northern Italy (from their ski trip) during the mid-school holiday. In Italy, the virus was spreading uncontrollably. 

I started working from home on alternate weeks from 16 March 2020. I am paranoid when I leave the house. I am afraid when I walk to the train station, take the train and walk to work as I know I will be meeting people. I stand in the trains and face the doors that do not open. I have my back against people. I have a 2 meter distance from anyone when I wait for the train. I am stressed when I am in the shopping mall to do grocery shopping. Just yesterday, I had to make a mad dash out from a shop, with half of my face covered in my sweater because a bunch of ignorant adults were at the entrance of the shop chatting 2 meter from each other but people have to walk between them, obviously inhaling their air! Some selfish walkers in the nature reserve or pathway hog the entire space and I have to make my way out of the path to avoid them. Interestingly, a majority of them are Swedes. 

I do not understand how the oblivious people think. Don't they read the news at all? Some commented that they are not in the risk group. 

There is no limited movement or lockdown control in Sweden, so there are no movement restrictions. So, they are outside, enjoying the sun and longer daylight hours. Schools and daycare are still open. Kids, in general, are not affected by the virus. So, the kids can carry the virus and may infect the teachers who infects their family members, and the chain of infection is long. There are limited test kits in Sweden. So, tests are being done to severe patients i.e. those who can hardly breathe. For those who carry the symptoms, they are required to stay at home and recuperate. You are admitted to the hospital if you cannot breathe. 

In Malaysia, there has been a movement restrictive order since mid-March to limit the number of people being outside and in contact with one another. Today, there are 61 deaths in Malaysia. I prefer the movement restrictive order to control the situation and not to burden the hospitals. 

The world is so different today. There are more home and food deliveries now. People realise that the important professions are shopkeepers, cashiers, doctors, delivery man, bus drivers, taxi drivers, train drivers, nurses, teachers, rubbish collectors and the ones who keep the society moving. Not the economists or athletes or actors or singers or models who are being paid a lot. How they take freedom to be outside for granted. 

A race to find a cure is ongoing. There are no answers to how long this will go on. This year is just unbelievable. It is as if Mother Nature or the Earth is purging as much as it can to recover. 

I have not eaten at any restaurants since a month back. We cook and bake a lot at home now, trying a lot of recipes. No activities with anyone. Reading and watching movies at home. I still have my weekly driving lessons. We go for walks during weekends early in the mornings to nature reserves to avoid the crowd. We need the sun, fresh air and exercise. 

It is Easter this weekend. I really do hope no one will gather for this event. 

What will become of us now? 

Tastebud : Hot Sweet Thai Wok

11 March 2020

Thai food for lunch - pad guay teow i.e. stir-fried egg noodles with chicken, at Hot Sweet Thai Wok. Lunch offer for SEK95 that includes miso soup, soft drink, coffee or tea. It is a big portion of noodles. The salad was not very appetizing but I ate it anyway. It is edible. 

Tastebud : Grill

9 March 2020

Team dinner at Grill! Very colourful interior design - we were seated in the 'library' section, so we were surrounded by books. The section next to us was 'circus'. I love team dinner because it means, the food is not paid by me. Yahoo!

For drinks, I had mocktail - brooks ale (lemon, elder flower and ginger taste). There were lots of ice, so the drink is obviously very cold. SEK58.

For the main dish, I had lamb with pearl onions and bundled carrots (in Swedish, this is called knippmorötter and it means carrots sold in bunches and straight out of the ground to indicate freshness. Well, aren't all carrots straight out of the ground? Or maybe they have a green house somewhere and the carrots are freshly pulled right before cooking?). It is served with rouille (sauce that consists of olive oil with breadcrumbs, garlic, saffron and cayenne pepper) and potato gratin. SEK320. I think it is expensive because the lamb portion is small. I was full mostly from the potato gratin!

Hike from Edsbro Centrum to Grindstugan (Rimbo)

8 March 2020

Happy International Women's Day! I celebrate this day by signing up for a hiking activity to train my legs. My legs have not had sufficient exercise since last summer. Well, that is mostly because I am not a fan of walking in the cold. Not much of help especially when I am eating and not exercising as much.

Today's hike is from Edsbro Centrum to Grindstugan in Rimbo. We took the bus 676 at 8:10am from Tekniska Högskolan and switched in Söderhall Trafikplats to bus 639 at 8:50am to Edsbro Centrum direction towards Hallstavik. We arrived at Edsbro Centrum at 9:27am. Yes, I woke up at 6:30am for this hike. Just 30 minutes later than my usual workday. We took the 3:41pm bus from Grindstugan bus stop and alighted at Tekniska Högskolan at around 5pm. 

It was a muddy hike as we walked through farm roads. My pants were so muddy. Well, it was the muddiest among all, and I wondered if my footsteps have problems. We went off the trail occasionally because our organiser enjoys doing that and this time, I got slapped only once by the branch. Phew. The distance was not recorded so we were unsure of the distance, although I guess it is probably around 20km. 

Tastebud : Wang Sushi and Dumplings

5 March 2020

Today, I had lunch at Wang Asia. I do not usually buy lunch during workdays as I bring my lunchbox from home. This is my first time in this Chinese restaurant that serves a mixture of Japanese, Thai, Korean and Chinese meal. I had a salmon poke bowl for SEK120. It has salmon, mango, salad, avocado and rice underneath. Miso soup, coffee and tea is complimentary.

I felt healthy that day. Haha!

Getting my driving license

This year, I decided to get a driving license. Although the public system here is very reliable, I decided that with a driving license, I am able to drive out of Stockholm or anywhere in Europe. I have heard how expensive it is to get a driving license here. Some paid close to SEK60K or some as low as SEK20K, so I decided to be financially secured before I could invest in a driving license.

Here is a summarised version of a driving license application:

1) Decide if you want a driving instructor from a driving school or your personal instructor (family of friends that have to go to a Tutor Course for 3 hours and be approved)

2) If go for driving school's instructor --> buy the driving course package. Very easy. 

3) If personal instructor:

a) Go for Introduction (tutor course) with personal instructor. If instructor has taken the course, you go alone. A registered personal instructor has a 5 year validity to teach students. 

b) School registers your name and personal instructor's name in Swedish Traffic Administration (Trafikverket) system 

c) Do eyesight test in a traffic school or optician. Get the eyesight results. Post to Trafikverket. 

d) Do health declaration on the same system 

e) Personal instructor includes your ID number in Trafikverket system that you are the student

f) Wait for approval letter from Trafikverket (for both student and personal instructor) 

g) Obtain approval letter  after about a week. Student has 5 years of driving probation period.  

h) Start driving lessons  

i) Do Riskettan (Risk 1) course. Compulsory to pass.

j) Do Halkbana - Risk 2 (Skid pad) i.e. driving on slippery roads. The tyres of the car are specially made to stimulate slippery roads. Compulsory to pass.

k) Register for driving test - Theory and Practical

l) Obtain driving license.

I googled up a few traffic schools and chose St. Göran Trafikskola as it is close by. 

The school offers a driving course that costs SEK13 200 that include 10 driving lessons (1 hour and 40 minutes each), driving books and an eyesight test. Or you can buy them individually which I did. 

For individual options, a driving lesson costs SEK1 290 (if you choose to have a private instructor, you can take this when you are confident enough to drive and would like to ensure that you are in line with the driving rules here), an eyesight tests costs SEK100 (this is the cheapest. Optical shops offer this service for at least SEK150), 2 driving books (theory test and for practical driving) for SEK500 (I bought 6 books (theory, questions for students, road signs) from Blockett for SEK300 - scroll down to see the photo. They are not the same books but they have the same function. There are a few publishers with different types of driving books.)

Tastebud : Hongkist

5 March 2020

Today's dinner is courtesy of my colleague - Hongkist! They serve Hong Kong food. The food we had were so tasty!

For starters, we had chicken dumplings SEK74, prawn toast with sesame seed and mayonnaise SEK79. I thought it would be similar as the prawn salad that we have in Stockholm but it was mashed potato meat and fried with sesame seed. 

For main dish, we had duck in plum sauce SEK179 (this is so good! And it is not those typical fried duck meat that they serve in most Chinese restaurants in Stockholm), Szechuan beef with vegetables SEK149 and Singapore fried rice noodles with vegetables SEK135. They come with rice. 

For dessert, I took passion fruit mochi (Ice-cream wrapped in a sweetened rice confection) SEK39.