The 4 seasons....errr...2 seasons

To be exact, 2 seasons caught on record! I was here before durign winter, in February. Now, i'm back in Mid Summer. I took some really nice shots around stockholm back then. Now, i managed to capture the same scenaries, only under a spanking new season, Summer!

Exhibit one, the river!
Winter:

Summer:

Exhibit 2, the tree:

Winter:

Summer:

Moral of the story: Trees, like super models are best seen naked, during winter!

Exhibit 3, the church!
Winter:

Summer:

Finally, the city hall lawn.
Winter:

Summer:

Okay...catch you all later!

Swedish Summer

No sane person would travel to Sweden for business in end June and the entire July. Why? because no one works :) . Yeah, i learnt that the hard way yesterday. It was mid summer break. Next to christmas, this is the next biggie. Except for transportation, nothing else is alive! No food, not even fast food. Dont even think about shopping complexes as they are closed throughout the weekend.!

Almost every soul around stockholm, whom havent left the city, would congregate at Skansen, the heart of the swedish mid summer festivity. In short, the Midsummer celebrations are one of the highlights of the year, and at Skansen it lasts for three days. They make garlands of flowers and raise the maypole together with Skansen Folk Dance Team, fiddlers and perform ring dances. It is followed by singing, music, games and dancing round the maypole. In the evening there is a folk dance display and dancing on Skansen's outdoor dance floors. Okay, as usual, i'll shut up and let the pictures talk! If you cant listen, crank up the volume!

Summer flowers from the lawn are picked up and made into head bands. Everyone does it! We too, me and my colleagues Zurina & Tock Keong. Our friend Ida, a malaysian, married to a swedish, came along with us and helped us.

Once everyone had made their girly headbands, they congregate in this open area where a traditional pole erection ceremony takes place. It's supposed to be done culturally by ancient farmers those days. Before the pole is erected, it is decorated with summer flowers from the garden.Everyone will cheer and chant some swedish term....sounds like ooooovuaiii.... oooovuuuuaai ....while the native family slowly brings the pole up to erect position.

Now the pole is up, here's where the fun starts. It's dancing around the pole for hours. NO NO..not that kind of pole dancing you pervert! This is the traditional pole dancing around the skansen pole.

Some of these dances were so funny. I've uploaded one of it on you-tube. Go ahead and watch it.

>> Video removed as it severely degraded the performance of this blog! , stupid blogspot >>

It was funny & fun. How better to express summer if not for the bird, bees and the flowers?

This one was taken by the riverside.

His royal higness...again!

Next project..to take before and after shots. I took some pretty nice shots during winter. If you didnt see them, try this link. I'm revisitting some of these places and will show you a comparison of winter and summer, hopefully from the same spot.

Thanks Yahoo Mesengger!

My sister is so funny ....just before i left to Stockholm..the last 2 weeks have been hectic...i've been going into office late....at 11am to sync up with the Swedes...and also leaving work late. Whatever leftover time, i've been busy meeting friends and catching up! So my sister doesnt see me around teh house as i'm only back after she's asleep and i only wake up after she leaves for work..hence she realised..the only way to communicate with her brother is via Yahoo mesengger ....this was our first conversation in a few days! ..she's so funny! :D

Now with Yahoo, communicating with your siblings could never be any simpler ...so go get your Yahoo and start chatting

First family wedding, done! Next ....

This is probably whats playing in the minds of my parents. All the months of preparation work has finally come to D-DAY. We've finally completed my brothers' wedding on 3rd of June, with my sister in law, Malar. They are happy, i'm sure :) , and the rest of us are still recovering from fatigue coming from all the pre-wedding & post-wedding activities, not to mention the wedding & reception itself. I cant imagine we have to go through this twice more for my sister and me. Beleive it or not, the word elope has crossed my mind a dozen times over the last 3 weeks! Some very brief pictures, straight to the point!

Brother Siva tie's the Thaali (holy matrimonial "string chain" with some gold stuff) on Malar neck, to basically tell the world SHE's MINE!!! muahahahahahaha! . Culturally you're married after this event, though tons more ceremonies takes place before the Thaali is tied. Legally in Malaysia, you're only husband and wife after official registration with the government. Those pictures arent interesting enough for this blog :p.

Siva puts the red pottu (red dot as many say) on Malar's forehead. In indian culture, wearing the red pottu is a symbol of healthy matrimony. Young single girls usually do not always wear red pottu or wear very tiny red ones. The norm is black or colourfull and stylish ones.

Here's another cute picture of my little nieces(Janani, Keerthana, Bhava & Sangeetha{hidden} ) leading the way with candle lid flower plates when Malar walks into the hall for the final Thaali tieing ceremony, with her entourage of family members.

Arent they cute ;) .Okay, lots of small things happen after this, which i'll skip. We had excellant lunch at the temple and headed back to our house (groom's house).

Three married ladies will then bless newly weds at the doorstep and the bride will step into the groom's house for the first time, right foot in first. She then goes all the way up to the prayer alter and light up the lamp, a symbol that the incoming daughter in law will light up the house, taking over from my mum :) .

Then comes the getting to know session, not that these 2 need it.....since it's a love marrige! They sit and feed each other milk and fruits, chat and wait till the bride's side comes to pick the couple up, where they will spend the first night at the bride's home! Here's a picture of the couple with my family and Malar's younger sister, who accompanied her to our house.

From L-R, Priya (Malar's sister), Gowri (My sister), Me (Duh!), Dad and Mum, seated are the couple(obvious aint it).

A few hours later, Malar's dad and aunt came to pick the couple up. I carried his luggage and showed him the way out.....with great happiness, OUT YOU GO :) ! Not that they'll be far. Their marital home is just 2KM away. So i can expect them often for food & babysitting :D .

Finally, more room at home. I wont get kicked out of my room anymore, or SO I THOUGHT! Am still living in the guest room :( , since they have not fully furnished their marital home. That night, we had a brief reception at my place for overseas bound relatives and friends who are returning the next day.

On sunday, 4th june, we had a wedding reception at the KL Lake Club, hosted by Malar's family. Here is a picture of the couple cutting the wedding cake.
I'm lazy to post other pictures, have 700MB of them. Okay, here's a professionally taken picture of the couple, care off Laakshya bridal photography, brickfields. See what technology does these days!

Throughout the wedding, me and my sister werent any short of "you're next" remarks! It seems everyone out there wants to have a say in getting us married, and NOW! Some even extended my brother's wedding invitation to families with single children for us to meet and "get to know" on that very day. I dont see why these people are in such a hurry to pressure us. We're in the midst of finishing the current wedding, cant they wait till it's all over? Looks like some things have not changed with the indian community.

Anyway, once it's all over, i had a good chat with my sister in law(cousin's wife) from singapore. We always had really good conversations on the topic of marriage and relationships. She left me with the following note that i fully agree with:

Marriage is not about just living together as man and wife. Marriage is about living together as loving friends!

If just the old folks understood the importance of the above statement, they wont be putting so much pressure on their kids to tie the knot, so they can feel relieved of a job done!