Poem - "Så Bra"

"Så bra at norge er en velferdsstat.
Vi har nok penger til skole, shopping og mat.
Olje tyter ut av ørene på folk,
selv om det er alt folk egentlig vet om oss,
bortsett fra isbjørnene som går i gata da.

Så bra at Oslo er en velferdsby.
Vi tyner ut gryna til de som har kyr.
Bønder, vi bryr oss men har egentlig ikke tid.
Sitter heller på hytta og spiser brød med sild.
Hei, du som sitter der oppe i en sky, fy.

Så bra at byen vår er så fin og ren,
slikker vi gata kan vi få barnet ditt pen.
Bobla vi lagde har for langst sprekt bort,
la oss rydde vekk rotet, og det temmelig fort.

Så bra at barna våre har ipader nå,
hva skal man med kritt når jeg har skritt-tellern på.
Måler vår lykke med emojis og smil,
rydder vekk høsten med ansiktets tvil.
La oss våkne, trenger ikke mer å få."

- Mera J




Dedicated to:
F, N, E, S

Do you ever take things for granted?

Do you ever take things for granted?



I guess we all do.

Stereotypes of women

It is kind of strange how stereotypes work. I have asked a range of people if I should die my hair dark or blonde. This has been over the span of 6 years. In Singapore, generally people think I have natural blonde hair.  This is of course, very hard for my friends in Norway to believe. How can they think my hair is natural, when I look so asian! In Singapore, they would say: How can a white girl have dark features underneath?

Then you have the other people in Vietnam, who ask:
Why are you using tanning lotion and not whitening lotion? Why are you so dark? In Singapore, and South East Asia in general,  big manufacturers are making millions of skincare products - and you have a wide range of whitening products from all the major beauty brands. Then - the same brands are carrying tanning lotion in places like Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

The new generation
I grew up in the 90s. When I was young, I thought I looked asian. Moving into Singapore, people perceived me as a "white woman" or "Ang-moh. I guess I had periods where I was very blonde. I Have a lot of mixed friends, they all experiment with haircolours. It is perfectly normal to want blonde, blue, dark, pink, or green hair. I dont think you should be judged by your haircolour or whoever. We all have rolemodels, and we all have women we look up to - there is nothing wrong with changing the way we look, even if it IS often.

One of my best friends is Half british and half asian. She sometimes looks brazilian to me, but she can also look very caucasian or sometimes very asian. I also have tons of other female friends who are mixed. I also have an asian friend in Singapore with green/ blue/ purple hair. As I mentioned - I think it is important that we women have the freedom to do whatever we want with our looks - without being frowned upon for their/our decision making.

Defining Beauty
So how do you define beauty, when the opposite ends of the world wants to look like both another, advertisements in South East Asia show slim, caucasian women, and Advertisements in Scandinavia sometimes show darker or tanned women with more curves? For us Scandinavians, the new beautiful is being healthy, no matter what shape you are.

I would say it is a everlasting subject to discuss, you can not define beauty. You can not let others define who you are. You should not look in the magazines and try to be someone else. You are who you are, and each individual is beautiful in their own way. As cheesy as that may sound.

Last, I want to share with you a video my sister showed me yesterday,:



Lyrics

Put your make-up on
Get your nails done
Curl your hair
Run the extra mile
Keep it slim so they like you, do they like you?

Get your sexy on
Don't be shy, girl
Take it off
This is what you want, to belong, so they like you
Do you like you?

You don't have to try so hard
You don't have to, give it all away
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try
Yooou don't have to try

Oooh

Get your shopping on, at the mall, max your credit cards
You don't have to choose, buy it all, so they like you
Do they like you?

Wait a second,
Why, should you care, what they think of you
When you're all alone, by yourself, do you like you?
Do you like you?

You don't have to try so hard
You don't have to, give it all away
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try so hard
You don't have to bend until you break
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try

You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try
Yooou don't have to try

Oooh

You don't have to try so hard
You don't have to, give it all away
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try
You don't have to try

Take your make-up off
Let your hair down
Take a breath
Look into the mirror, at yourself
Don't you like you?
Cause I like you

Songwriters
DIXON, ANTONIO LAMAR / EDMONDS, KENNY BABYFACE / CAILLAT, COLBIE / REEVES, JASON BRADFORD

Published by

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Xoxo, till we meet again.



Pssst. Shout out to my HK sister, Serene Eversmann, BB, The crowned, and my lil sis Camille.

The Definition of Kos - Part 1

The Definition of Kos

So what truly is the definition of Kos? Lets look at the synonyms in the Norwegian meaning of Kos :

Synonymer  behag , fornøyelse , glede , harmoni , hygge , idyll , komfort , lykke , lykksalighet , metthet , ro , salighet ,tilfredshet , trivsel , velbefinnende , velbehag , velvære


Basically comfort, satisfaction, happiness. These are 3 key words you experience when you visit kos -
Friendly people, comfortable and safe areas, happiness.
Which are not what everyone would believe about this tiny greek Island. Greece in general has been generalized several years for being a charter-area for young tourists to party and elderly sun-burned people of the north. Well, apparently, Kos has gotten rid of the first batch of people mentioned - simply by removing the biggest nightclubs they had and turning it into a more family-friendly island.
My family has never been a big fan of these "charter" places as we classify it as in Skandinavia - simply because its word is often asscosciated with a negative state of mind. Well- forget about all that. At least for the month of June - because this month is nothing but quiet and "tranquille" as the French would say it!

Kos being one of the most popular destinations in Greece- was awfully quiet for the reputation given - in the month of June. Being greeted by a lovely cab driver who was nothing but friendly and helpful  -we were amused on the rocky road on the way to Tigaki Beach where our hotel was.

Whoever we met along the way - hotel owners, cab drivers, restaurant owners, random people working in shops - The whole culture in Greece seems to be suprisingly friendly, open and humble - given the Greek government debt crisis (also known as the greek depression) you would maybe believe they would have a melancholic vice about them - but it was rather the opposite!

Matching pants for the plane

View from the hotel

Beach life

The beach in Tigaki is amazing - you would think it would be stuffed with youngsters and european party-tourists or Charter Tourists as we call them in Norway - but the beach is spacious, clean and there is plenty of space everywhere. 

Food, Food, Food!

I can not stress you enough to eat tons of freshly picked olives - they are all around the island and alot of the restaurants also have backyards with freshly grown greens such as spinach, tomatoes, chili.. I almost ate the greek salad every day !
Try different cheeses, such as the Saginaki which is a greek cheese that is grilled to perfection. Yum, I could eat greek food every day! Just try not getting hungry looking at these pictures:

Bourboni, ranked as the 3rd best restaurant according to Tripadvisor in Kos By- Check it out if you are near the Pier in Kos Town! http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g189444-d3211665-Reviews-Barbouni-Kos_Dodecanese.html

,

Swordfish

Beetroot Salad

Falaffel starters and fish nuggets

Tomatos and cheese





Donkeys. The staple icons of Kos Island. So cute.  

Oh Man. Way too cute ! I want to bring you home

 Kos Town

Again - being the center of the island you would believe it would be more busy then it was during this part of summer! Kos town consists of cyclers, boats, tons of restaurants, amazing spices to buy, sights to see. The blue water clearly set the vibe for the environment all around the Island. You can take a small red "train" around town to get a overview over what you can visit.

The Indoor market in Kos Town Square has to be reckoned with during your stay - you will find it hard leaving the place without buying any of the fresh spices or amazing variations of olives!

Try the fresh corn on the streets if you want a snack - or amazing icecream desserts at the local joint. You can go on a one-day boattrip to various of places - some even promise you will spot dolphins! Most of the boats are privatly owned and will fit a small amount of people - which gives it a personal touch.

 Prettiest and best sister in the world!

 The Indoor Market

Olives. Olives. Olives. All sorts of Olives!

So retro! Love this ice cream kid, can I have one in my room?

Greek pastries. Tell me about it!

Greek youghurt toppings ! Hello. You have to have greek youghurt in Greece! Duh.

This is actually a Croissant. Yes!

The Kos Town Castle
Located in Kos Town, the kos town castle was built by knights templar and is one of the biggest attractions in Kos Town. Go there and visit the ruins, see the old canons, and get a great view over the city of Kos!

Salt Lake Stables in Kos

I would deeply recommend Salt Lake Stables in Kos if you want to go on a horseride. They have stable horses for any experience level, and also groups for people with mixed abilities.

They also have a transfer bus that picks you up before the ride at your hotel and takes you home again. Salt Lake Stables is near the beach and you will also get to ride along the Salt Lake in Greece, which is beautiful during the sunset.

Please go to their website to reserve a spot on one of their trips ! 

http://horsesnsheep.wix.com/saltlakestableskos

Photo By Dad

Photo By Dad

Photo By Dad

´

Bordrum
Bordrum is a port city of Turkey, and is named "the french riviera of turkey" where all the "rich people" of turkey go for their holidays. Bordrum is filled with tourists of all sorts, and also those who cater to the touristy crowd - street food stalls, market places and such. In all honestly I could say it is like greece but ten times noisier! Although, we did hop on a tour-guide bus which guided us through 5 landmarks, and ended up in a gold-jewellery center where there were a bunch of salesmen trying to persuade us to buy jewellery.

Photo By Dad

Photo By Dad

Part 2 will come soon =) Hope you enjoyed reading about Greece, Kos town and my experiences there.

Xoxo, 

Merah