Bonn

As my last stop for my vacation, I came to see my friend Reina in Bonn. We first went to Dusseldorf to eat Japanese food where I was surprised to see many German kids dressed and walking about Immerman Strasse in the mananer of Harajuku kids (when did this start!?). We then went to Cologne and visited the big church and a flee market. It was nice to be in Germany again where I grew up when I was little. Tomorrow I head back to HK.

The Sartorialist in Stockholm

Funny thing. When I got to Nordiska Kompaniet, a department store in Stockholm I saw that Sartorialist was having a book signing. There was still time, so I got myself two Acne jeans before returning to the department store, and then I caught him right before he took off.

A signed book with my name :)



By the way, everyone looks so good in Stockholm that no wonder Sartorialist pops up there a lot. Stockholm people I met cannot stop talking about how they strive to not end up wearing rubber boots even if it is a minus 15-degree blizzard outside (and they are chemists and academics).

But I noticed one thing. Most finance guys in Stockholm had a Michael Douglas hair (in the manner of the movie the Wall Street, with lots of hair gel to keep the slightly bob hair all back), and many hipster guys had a HK hair (shaved on the side but leaving plenty of hair on top). Why is that!

Robert Mapplethorpe

We went to see Robert Mapplethorpe's exhibit at the Fotografiska. He's well known for his sadistic type work and lots of nude as well as still lifes (flowers mainly) that look like reproductive organs. It was the first time I properly saw a full exhibit of his, and interestingly I didn't feel it was negatively shocking. I have probably matured, but also somehow time has resolved what used to be vulgar to some?

On a side note, the African American posing in the photo was in a video 20-30 years later, and he looked exactly the same. He could be a true Zoolander character as an eternally super duper good looking model.

Photo credit: Fotografiska

Kayaking in Väjern and Tryggö

Today was kayaking day. We started from the quieter water and then adventured into the sea. Sea kayaking was so much fun, like (I would imagine) riding a horse!

It was a beautiful day, and I really enjoyed the rock formation where we landed and where we had our coffee, cinnamon buns, and sandwiches that we made with our sourdough bread.

In the forest and in the kitchen

In the forest near Hovenäset, we picked all sorts of wild berries (my favorite was wild strawberries) and chanterelle mushrooms, which we cooked later for dinner.




We also made bread (real bread). The cinnamon rolls, which I have fantasized of baking for a long time, were surprisingly easy to make.





The sourdough bread was easy too and super moist, perfect as dinner bread and sandwiches for our excursions later on.

Hovenäset

This week, I am staying in a little town called Hovenäset, at a very nice Swedish summer house.



The nearby towns are the most easily imaginable Nordic and Nautica life, with fabulous red boat houses and beautiful yachts. Smögen was particularly picturesque.



It is absolutely funny how Sweden has so much land and space, yet the houses are built very, very close to each other in many places. Cozy.

Stora Karlsö

Fårö

From Gotland's northeastern tip, we took a ferry to go to a small island called Fårö. It was even more serene than Gotland, and I loved the absolute antiquity and tranquility.

We drove past an ancient windmill,



through the tall wild grasses,



beyond the narrow road,



and reached the “Rauk” rock formations.

Visby cafes and shops

Apparently Visby has the highest number of cafes/restaurants per capita in Sweden. I was really surprised at the extremely high quality food as well as the local but sophisticated shops.

I really liked the sausage and sourkrout from Bolaget where we ended up going twice, right in the central plaza. Gamla Masters was also very lovely with a more mature crowd, where I had traditional Swedish meatball. For sweets, we went to Creperie & Logi which was a little busy, but made very nice crepe. For more casual dining, I highly recommend Wisby Deli on Sodra Kyrkogatan 16.

G.A.D. sells locally made furniture. I bought lots of textiles here, with super funky color. I also bought a lamb furball (literally!) from G.K.F.. It feels like you are spending time with a sheep. I will try to post it sometime.

Visby Old Town in Gotland

We flew from Stockholm to a small island called Gotland in the eastern part of Sweden. The old town of Visby was having a medieval party and we happened to land on the last day. I'm sure there was a mix of non-Swedish medieval otaku in the crowd, but people naturally looked and dressed medieval here. Many houses are super old and there were lots of church ruines for such a small town.

Summer in Stockholm

I've never known more than three Swedish people in my life, so it was funny to land in Stockholm, and think that most people around me were Swedish! I feel really lucky to get to spend a few weeks here this summer.