I love Apple

I love Apple! Everyone should get one!

Got the latest iMac a couple weeks ago and am simply amazed by all it offers.

Leave my blog alone!

I know Martin is a popular name, but would people kindly stop harassing me to give up this blog address? And stop trying to scam my login details too!

tonight i went to my friend björn's 30th birthday party.. i was a little under-dressed but - oh well - i was one of the youngest there.. I don't think any of us under-30's really dressed the correct way. after björn's party we decided to go to WONK which is a really horrible dance club in malmö.. we ended up staying until well after they closed and had a wonderful time there, meeting up with a friend named Lars who we haven't met in what feels like years. Martin and I hope that we will see Lars again sometime soon as he is very happy about what seems like everything.

I bought Björn a 4-set of Boda Nova glasses.

Bombs away!

Today I applied for my Swedish citizenship. I have no clue how long it will take for them to get back to me. But I hope that everything was correct and that they will contact me soon saying "welcome to sweden".. ;)



In another story, my server was acting up, so I went out and bought a new fan for it. It seems to be working much better now, and its a lot less noisy!!!

Dinner tonight

I'm prepareing dinner for tonight and this is what we're having:

FIRST WINE:
2002 Oak Aged Bourgogne Blanc by Georges Desire of Cote d'Or France
STARTER:
Extra old english stilton and broccoli soup with roasted walnuts
SALAD:
Lolla rosso, frisèe, lambs lettuce and wild rocket leaves with fresh
mozzarella and herbs in a cranberry vinaigrette sauce with warm cashews
MAIN WINE:
2002 Jacobs Creek Shiraz Cabernet of Australia
MAIN COURSE:
Gammon join with apricot and orange glaze served atop a tower of mash
decoarated with freshly made honey mustard circle
DESSERT:
Cappuccino cake with homemade vanilla ice cream and raspberries

Partying in London

Last night Kim and I met up with Karl at G-A-Y bar and went to Heaven. We danced and had a lot of fun. Kim even met someone named Eric. Well I think that's just great, I hope things work out with them but you never know. OH and finally we were at a place that took VISA. So when I was at the bar, guess what happened? DECLINED! hahah. Well I called the bank this morning and they think it was a communications issue. But it's just my luck, as you read when I complained about G-A-Y not taking visa. Good lord!

Today we are going to meet up with Babs and Annika and maybe go to the Swedish Church.

Last night

Kim took me to a club called G-A-Y at the Astoria. It was not the first time he took me there. With his promise of visa acceptance broken we danced and mingled with the people who were generally happy and enjoying themselves.



But the visa incident did not throw the whole night off, because Kim and I danced to every hit from the 6o's through to the 9o's on the two large dance floors. Kim found someone who he found very interesting named Todder as seen her in a stock photo:



The night was ended with the 456 Bus to Marylebone and our return to the Manor of Jevington at Wallace Court. On the way back to the manor we saw a quite violent looking automobile accident involving a tipped over van. Hope everyone survived, as we got a good laugh out of it. Teehee.

London

I arrived yesterday in London without incident. The only problem was that when I tried to catch the coach to London they only took cash, so I had to take the train instead. (I really wanted to try the bus on this trip!



I was very tired but I still had time to go with kim for fish and chips.



The place we went to was rated #1 in London by several newspapers. It was quite ok, even if I didn't eat the chips too.

Today, so far, Kim is still sleeping. I should be, but i'm not. Last night I was mostly tired because I woke up so damn early, so I shouldn't repeat the sins of yesterday, literally.

TV with Joakim

I know that normally I don't encourage the watching of television, but yesterday Joakim and I started watching season four of queer as folk, a really interesting look into the world of gay life. While I don't agree with everything it says, i'm sure there are truths to a lot of it.



Tomorrow I fly to London to visit one of my best friends, Kim Berg. Should be very interesting!

HAMSTERS

Today I bought two siberian dwarf hamsters! Yeah, a bit crazy, but oh well. :)

Here is their cage:



Here are they:



And here they are again from a distance:



I need to think of names!!! Contact me if you have any ideas!!! :P Thanks!

Martin

The Pope

Well yesterday the Pope died which is quite a tragic event for the world, because, even if you aren't religious or catholic for that matter you have to respect the accomplishments of the man. Someone who ended communism in eastern Europe, brokered the first peace in the middle east and countless other benefits to mankind should be admired by all.



Even though the night started off poorly, what with the Pope dieing and all, I had promised Joakim that I would go out with him to dance. We went to Wonk in Malmö and generally had a good time. Earlier in the day I saw Joakim playing at the Malmö Symphony Orchestra. He plays counter-bass and quite well too! The concert was entitled "Vienna after Beethoven" but was only Mahler. The conductor had flown in from Vienna specially for this event.

In the evening I sat home with Martin and watched a DVD (The Butterfly Effect) and then the first episode of "Desperate Housewives". Interesting show. Good movie. :)

Joakim over

Yesterday my good friend Joakim came around to just sit and talk and drink some wine and chat and stuff. It was a lot of fun, we finished off two bottles on our own and he contacted some friends of his, one in Spain and one in London.

Busy Wednesday

Ouch, today looks like it will never end (and it's my day OFF work!)

I have to:

Open a Canadian $ Bank Account in Copenhagen (and i'm sure it will be easy)
Buy a patio furniture set at Netto (CPH again)
Figure out how my Danish taxes work (they don't come in english)
Pick up a package (or two) at the Post Office
Go to IKEA and buy at least two other kinds of wine glasses
Plan a meal for this weekends visitors
Organise summer vacation to Dublin and Paris
Organise a trip to Germany (liquor run)

I'm sure as the days events unfold I'll have more to write about each. As for right now I am going to start getting ready for the day!

Yesterday I picked up a beautiful 2000 St Emilion Grand Cru on sale - incredible! The day was full of meetings, but I managed to get through it.

It's a dark and misty thursday, this morning I had a problem opening my bike lock, which ultimately jeopordized my timeliness to work this morning. With some he-man like strength I toyed with it until it eventually jimmied open. Following this I hopped onto the train, which was slightly busier than usual -- a lovely girl sat next to me, asking if the train went to the central station. I smiled, and replied that the train did in fact go to her station. At work things were cool and relaxed, lunch was an odd melange of curried meatball and rice -- i stuck with the salad bar, thankfully, as many people felt a bit ill afterwards. The day proceeded much like normal, except for one point where I trained a new employee from Norway. Tomorrow will be my favourite as part of our training will take place with a cold beer in hand. Fridays are my favourite days, the last day of the week. This weekend is, of course, the trip to Norway (Norge) -- the anticipation is mounting!

I'm just getting ready to go for a haircut, later today I have to go to class - I have the day off work thankfully! I've been making a soup which looks quite nice, but not much more today (other than a little shopping at Netto).

# posted by Martin @ 1:53 PM

Over the weekend I was in Poland with Martin, Martin, Thomas, Sören, Thule and Michael. It was quite the adventure, and my first trip to the polish republic.

We took the boat from Ystad to Swinoujscie, which was quite fun. Aboard the boat there were so many nice things (read: alcohol) to buy in the duty free. We all got a bit drunk from the sea air and landed in Swinoujscie early the next day.

I have to comment that I thought Poland was a beautiful country, you can really tell that it used to be communist run, but in a couple of years they can paint all the buildings and it will look just like western europe. We had a good walk through the city and to the markets, which were really intended for Germans. The people there spoke Polish and German, barely any english -- but everything was cheap, so it was ok.

I definetly want to go back, it was a great little weekend away from Sweden.

# posted by Martin @ 1:41 PM

Just to recap from all of what was written before. In 2002 I moved to the south of Sweden, a town called Malmö, which borders the Danish capital city, Copenhagen. Since I have arrived here, I have been met with many different challenges, and to each of them I have "stepped up to the plate" and won.

The first 6 months of my stay in Scandinavia were noted mostly by the attendance to Swedish classes (first with private classes, followed by government classes). I met a lot of nice people along the way, and my reception into the country was rather warm.

Around 6 months into my stay I found a job, quite remarkably, working for a big scandinavian telephone company at their head office in Copenhagen. The trek to and from work is much like that of my journey between my office in Toronto and the suburbs where I lived. The most exciting part of working in denmark is a thing called Fredagsöl (Friday Beer). Every Friday at 4:00pm the employees all head down to the games room to relax with free beer.

I have been travelling quite a bit, through Sweden, to Norway, Denmark, Ireland, England, Poland, Germany... but there are many places left to visit.

# posted by Martin @ 1:31 PM

After a long time away from Blogging, I thought it would be fun to start up the old habit.

# posted by Martin @ 1:00 PM

Today I have been frantically trying to find some cheap flights to Stockholm. I am very upset not to find any. Kathy Lam at Flight Centre has done a very good job, and I will probably take the flight she suggested.

I also visited the Swedish Consulate about moving to Sweden. It's exciting -- I am allowed to live with my Irish Citizenship.

Today I also received a Nokia 3390 in the mail. I will try it out and I have 30 days to finish my evaluation.

This isn't fair. I am so tired. Tor is leaving for Sweden. I am here... alone in Canada once again.

I am listening to Mylene Farmer - Dessine-moi un mouton. I will try to fall back asleep and maybe rest some more, but knowing me, that is highly doubtful to happen. The new GAP lines are released today, so I can check out the sales tommorow after work.

# posted by Martin @ 6:01 PM

Ok.. I just got home!! Dinner went well.. everyone liked it. I went to St Lawrence Market to get the produce and meat and dairy. Then I went to Sen5es to get the dessert (yumm!) Bruno raised the Swedish flag over the balcony as we dined in the open-air. Afterwards I cleaned the dishes (yes, I learned how to do dishes very quickly!) And then we sang songs, we played games (Black Magic, Going to a party.. etc). Just little fun stuff -- and it was fun!! Then we played hide and go seek until the early hours of the morning. We talked, we laughed.. we had a good time. Jesse and Bruno are both a whole lot of fun. Tor really liked them too! I am always happy when I have new friends that live nearby and are very wonderful!! I am also glad they liked my dinner.

Today is the day! I am cooking for Jesse, Bruno and Tor tonight. I am so scared. At the current moment I am praying the rosary. Wish me well, please... This is my menu:

1.

roasted garlic tomato soup with goat cheese crouton

1998 saint emillion

2.

thai glazed pork tenderloin encrusted in toasted sesame seeds and natural pan jus with creme-rosemary mash of potato

1996 chateau carbonnieux

3.

belgium white chocolat mousse pyramid

1997 late harvest vidal icewine

# posted by Martin @ 3:31 PM

YESTERDAY:
Went out with Karen to see Pearl Harbor. Afterwards we went to Tony Bullonis (please don't blame me, it was Karen's choice!! hehehe... sorry Karen, it was great -- just because you were there!) I had a tomato salad with basil and onion. She had the seafood pasta. Jens and Joseph met up with us and we walked to 7West. I had a caeser and a long-island-iced-tea. Jens gave me some cool gifts of chocolat from Germany! (he came on Wednesday and returns this Sunday!) Victor called and was coming down to meet them, but I had to take the 2243 train home.

After work I went to chinatown to find more of those delicious candies. Bought four packs and then went along Queen Street to go back to the subway. I stopped at Caban and bought some glasses and some rosemary... then I went to Much Music and saw Destiny's Child. I saw Stevie inside hanging out with the girls... and Io went around the side, where I met SUGA BAY BEE!!!! I asked her for her autograph and she signed THIS. Wow. I was so excited. I told her that she was my favourite celebrity and she laughed!

YESTERDAY:
Went to Eric's after work. We saw Boys and Girls and ate Pizza (double cheese, pepperoni and mushrooms). Eric is always a lot of fun to hang out with!!!! And he lives very close, I am certain we will do it more often!! =)) Afterwards I left, and saw Destiny's Child being airlifted into the radio station accross the street (they were doing a 20:00 interview). I walked down to Yonge Street and stopped by the Bubble Tea cafe and got a honeydew green tea with milk and bubbles (tapioca).

Not a big day, but had a nice time -- and thats what its all about.