the 'mah ree kee tah' is not our national anthem.
majulah singapura is.
but, as long as you know what im refering to, who cares really what the real name is, as long as everyone joins in the singalong and gives a hearty gusto rendition to the singapore national anthem.
i just got home from a great day out at Bakken, copenhagen's other amusement park (the other being atas tivoli) and its so kitschy and resembles a big pasar malam complete with all the pasar malam amusement rides. only, people speak danish, are danish and words are in danish. the danish singapore lunch was held at a chinese restaurant in Bakken SO, its a chinese restaurant straight out of a hollywood movie, with the token faux green pagoda tiles, token painting of chinese deities, artificial gilt-edged dragon heads annnd.. the danish waitress wearing a samfoo top. very original stereotype!
the people were very nice, esp ceri and her husband henrik (who gave us a lift all the way to Bakken which is in Klamenborg, far from the city and back). both of them are NOT in anyway singaporean, but ceri is the secretary of the club. and the only connection that henrik has with singapore, is that he's been there for 6yrs (4 living in katong, 2 at bayshore). amazing right. but the club anyway is made up of singaporeans and others who are married to singaporeans. they really werent there just for the free food. in fact, the 4 of us students are officially now 1yr members of the club because we paid 100kr to join it. otherwise we had to pay 100kr for the lunch anyway.
some singaporeans in denmark are now ex-singaporeans and identify themselves alot more with denmark then they do with singapore. some have been here for like 30 odd years, like this chinese lady whose kids now hold danish citizenship. she spoke to me in teochew and i actually responded! my grandfather would be so proud.
and then we had to sing the national anthem. BEST. i havent sung it since vj! btw, i took a shameless video of us singing the national anthem. so chui!
anyway more on singapore international clubs overseas. they are funded by SIF (singapore international foundation) and they do recieve annual grants to keep the clubs alive and for them to organize activities. however, there are some strict regulations: the clubs must function with a singaporean president (because they need an ic no. to send the grant to) and must conduct AGMs and vote democratically for office holders.
and must sing the national anthem at all meetings. (im just kidding) with a majority of people in the danish club not even from singapore, how can??!!
after lunch, we walked around Bakken and i sat for 2 rides. i'm a stor kyllinge (big chicken in danish) at heart, so when i go to amusement parks, i usually amuse myself watching people scream their heads off while they go round and round, up and down loop-de-loops. but today, i decided to throw caution to the wind and sat for one damn scary ride. i mean, i was here already right, i might as well try. thank God my specs didnt fall off mid way. i was thrown up into the sky and was like revolving very very fast. i appreciate it that sam was next to me and kept on talking and going 'shiok ah!', so that i remained sane and calm. i shut my eyes for most part, and when i did open them, the sky and ground were one. yelling and screaming also helps to get rid of excess fear and trembling. you know, typing this down still makes my stomach churn.
the very good thing about the ride was that i sat it and came back to earth alive. and now i can proudly say i did sit a ride (and one with kick at Bakken, otherwise very lau kwee.) the very bad thing was that my hot chocolate which i had before the ride, and some part of my lunch came out later. and i felt so ill that i got everyone concerned. and i had to pay 5kr (1.25sing) for half a cup of hot water.
stupidity costs.
now here are the pictures:
thats dillon holding up the poster for the national day gathering for the danish singapore club. ceri did it, and she was told its illegal to print stuff on the singapore flag. okaaay. isnt he cute! singaporean chinese mom and a swedish dad i think. his mom's kinda worried bt him having to do ns/ taking up or rejecting singapore citizenship at 21yrs. and in the background is kengsin, who's soci prof at CBS. an intellectual mind.
an example of the splash of colour and gawdyness at Bakken. but i like! and i like the stenciled fonts, hand painted banners, characters, lights. i just love kitsch.
the rutschbanen (rollercoaster in danish). its the oldest rollercoaster in the world? europe? scandinavia? i forgot. but its damn old. Bakken itself is 350yrs old. and this thing is made of wood.
Bakken resembles an old-school type of fairground. it wasnt a sunny day at all, very cloudy infact although towards the evening the sun deigned to show its face a little.
thats cuili lunching. see the dragon pillar behind her? me in my first car ride. it was a very easy peasy children's rollercoaster, but i still got a little unnerved. i suck! ceri on the polyps ride. sam and dillon fighting with ballpoint pens. sam carrying dillon. dillon is really very very cute! no idea what junjie and cuili are doing squatting. junjie diving into his icecream and getting it all over his nose, upper and lower lip. sam paying for his first ride. as you can see, Bakken doesnt have admission fee, but you have to pay for the rides individually. similarly u need to pay individually for rides on tivoli, but tivoli has an admission free of 75kr. like what kengsin said, Bakken is unpretentious, big, wide, open, next to the deer park and where people seem to have alot more fun and do what every crazy things they want to do. tivoli, on the other hand, is the more dignified, priggish cousin of Bakken.
if Bakken is a donkey, then tivoli is a stallion/unicorn/pegasus.
now, thats a very good analogy i must say.
but, as long as you know what im refering to, who cares really what the real name is, as long as everyone joins in the singalong and gives a hearty gusto rendition to the singapore national anthem.
i just got home from a great day out at Bakken, copenhagen's other amusement park (the other being atas tivoli) and its so kitschy and resembles a big pasar malam complete with all the pasar malam amusement rides. only, people speak danish, are danish and words are in danish. the danish singapore lunch was held at a chinese restaurant in Bakken SO, its a chinese restaurant straight out of a hollywood movie, with the token faux green pagoda tiles, token painting of chinese deities, artificial gilt-edged dragon heads annnd.. the danish waitress wearing a samfoo top. very original stereotype!
the people were very nice, esp ceri and her husband henrik (who gave us a lift all the way to Bakken which is in Klamenborg, far from the city and back). both of them are NOT in anyway singaporean, but ceri is the secretary of the club. and the only connection that henrik has with singapore, is that he's been there for 6yrs (4 living in katong, 2 at bayshore). amazing right. but the club anyway is made up of singaporeans and others who are married to singaporeans. they really werent there just for the free food. in fact, the 4 of us students are officially now 1yr members of the club because we paid 100kr to join it. otherwise we had to pay 100kr for the lunch anyway.
some singaporeans in denmark are now ex-singaporeans and identify themselves alot more with denmark then they do with singapore. some have been here for like 30 odd years, like this chinese lady whose kids now hold danish citizenship. she spoke to me in teochew and i actually responded! my grandfather would be so proud.
and then we had to sing the national anthem. BEST. i havent sung it since vj! btw, i took a shameless video of us singing the national anthem. so chui!
anyway more on singapore international clubs overseas. they are funded by SIF (singapore international foundation) and they do recieve annual grants to keep the clubs alive and for them to organize activities. however, there are some strict regulations: the clubs must function with a singaporean president (because they need an ic no. to send the grant to) and must conduct AGMs and vote democratically for office holders.
and must sing the national anthem at all meetings. (im just kidding) with a majority of people in the danish club not even from singapore, how can??!!
after lunch, we walked around Bakken and i sat for 2 rides. i'm a stor kyllinge (big chicken in danish) at heart, so when i go to amusement parks, i usually amuse myself watching people scream their heads off while they go round and round, up and down loop-de-loops. but today, i decided to throw caution to the wind and sat for one damn scary ride. i mean, i was here already right, i might as well try. thank God my specs didnt fall off mid way. i was thrown up into the sky and was like revolving very very fast. i appreciate it that sam was next to me and kept on talking and going 'shiok ah!', so that i remained sane and calm. i shut my eyes for most part, and when i did open them, the sky and ground were one. yelling and screaming also helps to get rid of excess fear and trembling. you know, typing this down still makes my stomach churn.
the very good thing about the ride was that i sat it and came back to earth alive. and now i can proudly say i did sit a ride (and one with kick at Bakken, otherwise very lau kwee.) the very bad thing was that my hot chocolate which i had before the ride, and some part of my lunch came out later. and i felt so ill that i got everyone concerned. and i had to pay 5kr (1.25sing) for half a cup of hot water.
stupidity costs.
now here are the pictures:
thats dillon holding up the poster for the national day gathering for the danish singapore club. ceri did it, and she was told its illegal to print stuff on the singapore flag. okaaay. isnt he cute! singaporean chinese mom and a swedish dad i think. his mom's kinda worried bt him having to do ns/ taking up or rejecting singapore citizenship at 21yrs. and in the background is kengsin, who's soci prof at CBS. an intellectual mind.
an example of the splash of colour and gawdyness at Bakken. but i like! and i like the stenciled fonts, hand painted banners, characters, lights. i just love kitsch.
the rutschbanen (rollercoaster in danish). its the oldest rollercoaster in the world? europe? scandinavia? i forgot. but its damn old. Bakken itself is 350yrs old. and this thing is made of wood.
Bakken resembles an old-school type of fairground. it wasnt a sunny day at all, very cloudy infact although towards the evening the sun deigned to show its face a little.
thats cuili lunching. see the dragon pillar behind her? me in my first car ride. it was a very easy peasy children's rollercoaster, but i still got a little unnerved. i suck! ceri on the polyps ride. sam and dillon fighting with ballpoint pens. sam carrying dillon. dillon is really very very cute! no idea what junjie and cuili are doing squatting. junjie diving into his icecream and getting it all over his nose, upper and lower lip. sam paying for his first ride. as you can see, Bakken doesnt have admission fee, but you have to pay for the rides individually. similarly u need to pay individually for rides on tivoli, but tivoli has an admission free of 75kr. like what kengsin said, Bakken is unpretentious, big, wide, open, next to the deer park and where people seem to have alot more fun and do what every crazy things they want to do. tivoli, on the other hand, is the more dignified, priggish cousin of Bakken.if Bakken is a donkey, then tivoli is a stallion/unicorn/pegasus.
now, thats a very good analogy i must say.
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