26th June, 930am - ROAD TRIP
Writing from the very shaky backseat of the rented car. Yes, forgot to mention, but Julian rented the car in Stockholm to drive to Copenhagen. It's a red Volkswagen station wagon, and its name is Ugh. ( The letters on the licence plate ) Currently me, Julian, Jordan and Sophia are on the car, having just left Greg and Wiki at the hostel, and are on our way to a town called Malmo, where we will cross over to Copenhagen.
Yesterday, 25th June, was one of the most fun days in Stockholm. We drove the car up to a little island named Vauxholm. Amazingly, Ugh fitted us all in, though one person had to sit in the boot, and the backseat was always very squeezed. Still, the journey was so fun! We made our way first to Gustavberg, where we stopped by this marvellous lake for lunch.
The place had very few people besides us, so we were free to play around and create all the havoc we wanted! After we played around a bit, we just sat on the log benches, lazing around. Julian, Jordan and I did this threesome thing where Jordan leaned on Julian, and I leaned on Jordan and we fell half-asleep in that pose. ( Sophia has that photo somewhere, will get it somehow ) It was so soothing and comfy that I could have slept there for all eternity, but we, sadly, had to leave.
Is there something about seclusion, that makes people more wild, more willing to shed their former inhibitions? In Singapore, where you are constantly surrounded by people and kaypohs who will stare at you if you do something out of the ordinary, you are always on your guard. You always keep a higher level of self-consciousness, and you're more careful of what you're doing in public.
In Stockholm, perchance, they don't have that same self-consciousness that we do. That constant need to keep up with the Tans. Stockholm is so sparsely populated as compared to Singapore, so maybe their people are literally given more space to live and grow as they wish. After all, if your nearest neightbour is miles away from you, how would you know if you have anything to compare with him? You don't have this in Singapore, 'cos when so many of you is cramped into 1 HDB block, you will always know what is up with Mr Tan next door. Or even Mrs Lim the floor below.
Maybe that's why when we come on holiday, or go to the place with more space, like Stockholm, we lose the feeling of those prying eyes constantly on us. We lose the feeling of being watched by everyone and the feeling that we have to compare ourselves to others. Our walls come down, and then the person inside emerges. The real person, rather than the one we want the world to see.
Which is why I'm getting a bit of holiday blues now, because what will happen when we have to go back to Singapore and all those prying eyes again? Having had a taste of this freedom, how do you go back to living without it? Surrounded by ugly concrete blocks instead of the rolling green fields I am now passing, the clear blue skies, and the gulls screeching overhead? How will we behave as persons towards each other? Will we keep our former walls up? Or will we remember that one all-too-brief moment, when we let the real persons inside step out and make contact? So unsure of this now.
Freedom, thy name is Gustavberg.
All along I've felt something fey, something wild in me, starting to emerge, since I graduated. A need to break away from the tiresome social conventions that hang upon me. Here I feel it more keenly. So easy to lose yourself in this immense continent and never come out again. To make dalliance with the sprawling forests of Sweden and never again be seen.
But enough for now. Some walls must come down. I continue to Vauxholm.
( Much later )
finally can start writing about Vauxholm. It's now about 1030, and I've just spent the last hour staring at the countryside, stoning away, and going through a lot of rubbish in my head.
Anyway, from Gustavberg, we took Ugh down to a port, where we drove him up onto a ferry. It was so cool! I got to drive him for that leg of the journey ( cos Greg kept stalling at the lake, so I took over ) and well... let's just say there were a lot of nervous people in the car during that leg of the journey. The road was a winding curving, trunk road all the way to the ferry terminal, and when we finally reached the ferry safe and sound, Julian asked me if I wanted to drive some more, holding the keys out.
"You trust my driving?" I grinned, holding my hands out.
He hesitated, and then "NO!" before grabbing the keys back. Damn.
So we took 2 ferries across and he drove us to the island of Vauxholm.
It's a cute little island town, and I really love it. My strongest impression of Vauxholm now are the abundance of colourful flowers ( it being midsummer ) the constant sound of the sea, the gulls, and the overwhelming sense of peace and settlement. If not for the winters, Vauxholm would be a place I would seriously be tempted to settle in permanently, it's such a charming little Swedish town. Greg took us up a little cliff path, and when I stood at the top and beheld the grand lake beneath me, suddenly I didn't want to leave. I watned to stay in Vauxholm forever, have a little house with a garden full of flowers and a dog for my own.
Of course, once again, not to be.
It seems to me that of yet, Sweden is the country that has held the most attachment to me so far. I love the lakes, the gulls and the wonderfully cool weather we've had so far. It also helped that we didn't go to a lot of touristy places like we did in London and Paris. Someday I would like to come back here. We'll see how it goes. Now onwards to Copenhagen.
Additional pix:
Yesterday, 25th June, was one of the most fun days in Stockholm. We drove the car up to a little island named Vauxholm. Amazingly, Ugh fitted us all in, though one person had to sit in the boot, and the backseat was always very squeezed. Still, the journey was so fun! We made our way first to Gustavberg, where we stopped by this marvellous lake for lunch.
Us at Gustavberg
The place had very few people besides us, so we were free to play around and create all the havoc we wanted! After we played around a bit, we just sat on the log benches, lazing around. Julian, Jordan and I did this threesome thing where Jordan leaned on Julian, and I leaned on Jordan and we fell half-asleep in that pose. ( Sophia has that photo somewhere, will get it somehow ) It was so soothing and comfy that I could have slept there for all eternity, but we, sadly, had to leave.
Is there something about seclusion, that makes people more wild, more willing to shed their former inhibitions? In Singapore, where you are constantly surrounded by people and kaypohs who will stare at you if you do something out of the ordinary, you are always on your guard. You always keep a higher level of self-consciousness, and you're more careful of what you're doing in public.
In Stockholm, perchance, they don't have that same self-consciousness that we do. That constant need to keep up with the Tans. Stockholm is so sparsely populated as compared to Singapore, so maybe their people are literally given more space to live and grow as they wish. After all, if your nearest neightbour is miles away from you, how would you know if you have anything to compare with him? You don't have this in Singapore, 'cos when so many of you is cramped into 1 HDB block, you will always know what is up with Mr Tan next door. Or even Mrs Lim the floor below.
Maybe that's why when we come on holiday, or go to the place with more space, like Stockholm, we lose the feeling of those prying eyes constantly on us. We lose the feeling of being watched by everyone and the feeling that we have to compare ourselves to others. Our walls come down, and then the person inside emerges. The real person, rather than the one we want the world to see.
Which is why I'm getting a bit of holiday blues now, because what will happen when we have to go back to Singapore and all those prying eyes again? Having had a taste of this freedom, how do you go back to living without it? Surrounded by ugly concrete blocks instead of the rolling green fields I am now passing, the clear blue skies, and the gulls screeching overhead? How will we behave as persons towards each other? Will we keep our former walls up? Or will we remember that one all-too-brief moment, when we let the real persons inside step out and make contact? So unsure of this now.
Freedom, thy name is Gustavberg.
All along I've felt something fey, something wild in me, starting to emerge, since I graduated. A need to break away from the tiresome social conventions that hang upon me. Here I feel it more keenly. So easy to lose yourself in this immense continent and never come out again. To make dalliance with the sprawling forests of Sweden and never again be seen.
But enough for now. Some walls must come down. I continue to Vauxholm.
( Much later )
finally can start writing about Vauxholm. It's now about 1030, and I've just spent the last hour staring at the countryside, stoning away, and going through a lot of rubbish in my head.
Anyway, from Gustavberg, we took Ugh down to a port, where we drove him up onto a ferry. It was so cool! I got to drive him for that leg of the journey ( cos Greg kept stalling at the lake, so I took over ) and well... let's just say there were a lot of nervous people in the car during that leg of the journey. The road was a winding curving, trunk road all the way to the ferry terminal, and when we finally reached the ferry safe and sound, Julian asked me if I wanted to drive some more, holding the keys out.
"You trust my driving?" I grinned, holding my hands out.
He hesitated, and then "NO!" before grabbing the keys back. Damn.
So we took 2 ferries across and he drove us to the island of Vauxholm.
Welcome to Vauxholm
It's a cute little island town, and I really love it. My strongest impression of Vauxholm now are the abundance of colourful flowers ( it being midsummer ) the constant sound of the sea, the gulls, and the overwhelming sense of peace and settlement. If not for the winters, Vauxholm would be a place I would seriously be tempted to settle in permanently, it's such a charming little Swedish town. Greg took us up a little cliff path, and when I stood at the top and beheld the grand lake beneath me, suddenly I didn't want to leave. I watned to stay in Vauxholm forever, have a little house with a garden full of flowers and a dog for my own.
Of course, once again, not to be.
It seems to me that of yet, Sweden is the country that has held the most attachment to me so far. I love the lakes, the gulls and the wonderfully cool weather we've had so far. It also helped that we didn't go to a lot of touristy places like we did in London and Paris. Someday I would like to come back here. We'll see how it goes. Now onwards to Copenhagen.
Additional pix:
Jetty at Vauxholm
2 Chinese beggars at the train station. Guess who.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home