Going down the Childhood Memory Lane - Legoland Billund, Denmark 2nd April 2011

Back in 2011, I had heard that Malaysia would be the next honourable host of every kid's dreamland (a.k.a Legoland). My friend told me it would probably not happen. I had read reviews and comments that it must not be missed since Legoland originated from Denmark and I was just a train ride away from there! So, I went ahead and planned a trip to Legoland in Billund, Denmark.

Well, it is not exactly a place that is easily reachable at any time convenient to you unless you drive if you are coming from the Copenhagen or other cities. Otherwise, you should take a look at the train and bus schedules. They do not frequent as much as the trains and buses in Copenhagen. Yes, you need to take a train and then change to a bus, which will take you directly to there should you depart from Copenhagen city.
Families with kids are advised to either drive there or stay over at the Legoland hotel which is just within walking distance from Legoland so that there is no hurry to meet the bus or train schedule. If not mistaken, there is also a multiple entry ticket which covers a number of days' visit in case there is not enough time for a day's visit.

Lucky stars were bestowed upon us. We managed to get a 50% discounted entry ticket to Legoland because it was the opening to welcome spring (in April) after a long winter break. Additionally, we also got a 50% discount on the DSB train ride! Double yay ;) because the train fare was not cheap especially for weekend rides. The tip is also that, you should get your tickets online. We went to the ticket booth and the tickets were not discounted!

It would have been perfect if the weather was better. The sky was gray and it actually rained hence making it a challenge to produce nice photographs. Anyhooo.....we still snapped away :p

Gee,....was that really me??! I looked funny...Anyway, the main focus here is Legoland! Notice the crowd?

There was a miniature land which featured many renowned architectures or historical buildings.

Giant crab in Sealife Aquarium. Notice the spherical observation room behind the giant creature? You could crawl below the aquarium and emerge right in the spherical room to take a close look at the crab and a photograph with it :)

Cooking Experiments

It is indeed true that people will learn to cook or "leech" on people who can cook if you find yourself living in place where eating out is utterly costly or what is worse, you could not even get the food you crave for despite you are willing to pay the ridiculous price.

While London has many eateries that served Malaysian or Singaporean food, there is close to none in Copenhagen. There is one restaurant by the name Nam Nam which is said to serve Malaysian/Singaporean/Indonesian food. We had tried the dishes there. Unfortunately, it lacked of authenticity (though some of my friends said otherwise) and the dishes were at cut-throat price.

Prior moving to Copenhagen, I could cook but I seldom did since mom was the Lady of the Kitchen :p
I never was a good cook but somehow I turned to be a "good" (thank you for the generous compliments to those who had bravely eaten my experimental dishes) cook after staying abroad alone for three and a half years. A special thank you is also extended to my dearest Tina, who I befriended in Copenhagen. She taught me how to cook and frequently invited me to join her for home-made, hearty meals. I miss those days!

My last cooking experiment in a foreign land was none other than "Nasi Lemak", the proud specialty of Malaysia. Well, I took some shortcuts as I didn't get some ingredients from the Asian store - I couldn't find "belacan" for the sambal and I was too lazy to fry the anchovies. Nonetheless, I was satisfied with the result. So were my guests ;)

Now, here I proudly present the evidence of my experiments!

Tauhu isi (stuffed beancurd) - The appetizer. Beancurd that is stuffed with your preferred choice of meat and/or vegetables. Trying to be on the healthy side, I stuffed the beancurd with cabbage and carrots. Yeah, I know. It didn't look that appetizing but oh my, it tasted good. One of the favourites for that day! :)

Nasi lemak à la petitelass - lemongrass chicken, spicy seafood, stir fried cabbage with carrots and finally served with hard-boiled egg and cucumber.

The bowl of red paste located in the middle of the table was the home-made sambal :)

Flashbacks - Copenhagen March 2013

The increasingly warm weather in Jakarta makes me miss the cold (most of the time, freezing) weather in Copenhagen. Although the haze situation here is nothing compared to Malaysia and Singapore, I could smell the presence of the annoying air pollutant.

About 3 months ago, I was in a place where it was still snowing in March!! And now, here I am, melting away at a constant temperature of above 30 degree Celsius.

Blame it all on global warming -.- and we are contributing to it -.-"""

Perhaps it is not such a bad idea to start meditating and have these pictures being the focus during the meditation. It could make me feel cooler? Nej? Hehehe.

Little Mermaid in snow in MARCH! :) The sea right where the Little Mermaid's home is, is said to never freeze despite extreme cold weather in the country. I had never seen it frozen in my 3 and a half years stay in Copenhagen. Neither had my friends who had stayed even longer.