BY KES - FOR A LITTLE BIT MORE FASHION, LIFESTYLE, DESIGN, ARCHITECTURE, LIGHTING, ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY

SWEDISH SPECIALTIES

Randomly stumbled across a little food store in the neighborhood and look what I found? Swedish råkost and a large collection of Absolute Vodka. But that was not all, I also found Cinnamon!! Finally I will be able to eat oats in the morning like I always do and skip the terrible jam I've found in the supermarket.

Being in a foreign country surely makes you feel so extremely Swedish all the time. Sometimes I think I should only eat Chinese food, but in the end it's some sort of security and comfort to eat at least breakfast according to your routines. My stomach is pretty messed up anyways. Eating the cheap street food almost every day for lunch, I just try to not think about gutter oil and that kind of stuff. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like to see any kitchen in this country. A bad day I just want to go to Subway or some place where you can actually se every ingredient that will be in your food.

The exchange student life in China,

Jenny

2015-11-01 @ 14:00:12 Permalink EXCHANGE Kommentarer (72) Trackbacks ()

CANTON FAIR ASIAS LARGEST B2B FAIR

First of all, let me introduce you to the subject of this post. Canton Fair is Asia’s largest B2B fair. The fair is held every year in three intense phases. The fair started last week and the first phase included mostly electronically products like microwaves, dishwashers and motorbikes and so on. This time it was furniture in the centre of attention. I was in heaven. Älvsjö Stockholmsmässan, släng dig i väggen!

The Canton fair is first of all very very huge. It’s kind of hard to grasp how big it is. But I would say maybe the Stockholm fair times 20. Row after row of things. All the things you can possibly imagine. Throughout the hole period of the fair I think you will be able to find almost every kind of product you have ever seen in your entire life. The understand of the three words “Made in China” kind of jumps at you while browsing the stands, and it becomes quite obvious that this country is the largest manufacturing country in the world. What about the first phase? Actually I got very excited when I understood that lighting would be a big part of this phase. Although, I kind of got a little disappointed of the supply. I wasn’t really impressed of anything basically and my take of this is that although the display was huge and you could se extremely many light fixtures, is was kind of a mess. No red thread so to speak. Kind of chaotic and most of the things were quite lame in terms of design. The largest part of the lighting hall was showing of LED bulbs, and although I really took my time browsing the rows of bulbs as well I didn’t find anything that I haven’t seen already or that I believed in. Although the lights were not super exciting, to be able to visit this place was enough. I was actually amazed of how international it felt and I can easily see myself visit this place more times in the future. Basically it followed exactly the same routines as the furniture fair in Stockholm. I felt at home instantly. Did a little show of barging with the people in the showrooms, and got loads of catalogues and business cards. After the lighting section, I simply went on and browsed around the fair.

The second phase started today and this time furniture were in the centre. Since I was kind of disappointed of the first round I didn’t have the same expectations this time. But this time I instantly got a smile on my face while walking into the home decorations section. Paradise. Still, 99% of the products are shit, but if you have the eyes of an eagle you are able to find really nice things. I kept thinking to myself “Why am I not a fulltime interior buyer traveling the world yet??”. I kind of wanted to be it for a long time now, should I just go for it? Sometimes there is too many interesting opportunities in front of you you simply feel overwhelmed. One thing is for sure, I have a feeling that this is not going to be the last time I visit this fair, it’s simply too much of a passion of mine.

Hope you enjoy my photos!!

Love Jenny

2015-10-23 @ 16:27:00 Permalink LIFESTYLE Kommentarer (1) Trackbacks ()

MY NEW HOME IN GUANGZHOU

I’m a little ashamed that I haven’t written almost anything the last month, for all of you who want to follow my adventure you can trust my Instagram (@jwinbom). I will upload pictures way more frequently on my Instagram, but as everything seems to fall into place I guess I will have more time for the blog.

The first month in Guangzhou has passed so quickly, I can’t even understand it. Although it seems like I just arrived in this city, a lot of things has happened. I have an apartment, I have started to study and made a lot of new friends. China is starting to feel like home. I have even signed up for a gym and after a couple of classes I already have some local friends there. Feels really good to have friends outside the exchange student community as well. I’m also so thankful for my group of amazing Chinese study buddies. Patrick, William and Jasmine are my angels. They will help me whenever I need it. Like the yesterday when I went to the pharmacy because I have a cold. With some simple English words and a lot of body language its not always so easy to get what you want. At least I could send pictures of everything when I came home and they could tell me what everything actually was. Now I know the area where I live pretty well and I'm also able to get around the city with the metro. We eat at restaurants most of the time since it's the cheapest opinion. We have several really good Dim Sum restaurants in our block but you can never really be sure what you order. Every meal is an adventure, slowly we pick up some words and gain experience. The bad experiences is clearly outnumbered by the good ones in the end and I am so happy to be able to get to know a totally new food culture.

I have just finished all my homework for the coming week after the holiday and tonight we are going to catch a flight to Bangkok, Thailand. My flat mate Johannes is already there because his girlfriend is doing her exchange semester there so we plant to meet up with them after a couple of days in Bangkok. I’m so excited, its been five years since I went to Bangkok and its going to be so much fun to se what has happened to the city since last time! I hope this cold disappear really fast now, Alejandro is currently making a super spicy lunch to scare away the viruses. I really want to be able to enjoy some Thai massage and have energy to be out in the city all day long. Hoping for the best!

Cheers,

Jenny

2015-10-03 @ 08:05:43 Permalink EXCHANGE Kommentarer (1) Trackbacks ()

GUANGZHOU

The last couple of days has been quite intense. The last day in HK was really nice and Marla and I went to buy tickets for the train to GZ and went sightseeing in the Kowloon area of HK. We visited a famous temple but the one thing I will remember the most from that day is when we met an older man just outside in the park. He stopped us and started talking to us asking why we would bother visiting the temple. He was a really nice man and he was so curious about the western world. His English was good due to the fact that he had spent a lot of years teaching English so we were able to have a good conversation. He told us a lot of gossip about China and asked a lot of questions. When I told him I was from Sweden, he made me tell him everything I knew about the Vikings, and all of the time he would ask if I wa proud of my ancestors... All in all he was such a nice guy and this actually made me remember the best thing about traveling, you meet so many interesting people with all different backgrounds.

To go to GZ was not a big problem. I find myself always making me do things the most difficult ways of some reason. I normal person would just take a cab to the train station, by me, I took the metro. Thinking I was clever and saving some money, but after that adventure I wouldn't recommend it to anyone! Bringing a lot of luggage through he metro system of HK, changing lines two times and then have to walk for a long time through several tunnels ... No I wouldn't recommend it even to my enemies. But I got there just in time and meet Marla at the gate.

The journey took two hours and you were able to get quite good food on the train as well. We were supposed to meet our buddies at the station but the hadn't told us where to go so the first mission was to find wifi. Luckily enough we found it at Starbucks on the opposite side of the entrance. When we got hold of them and they found us at the cafe, Jasmine told us she had seen us at the station and recognized my pants from H&M!! Later she told me that she had been to Stockholm this summer for a summer course so she was so excited to meet me and that what why she had spotted me at the station.

Our buddies took us to the hotel, showed the campus and took us to a nice restaurant for dinner. In the evening we bumped into Alejandro who just had arrived to the city. The last couple of days we have been getting to know the area, visited the different institutions, bought public transport cards, Chinese SIM cards, booked doctor appointment for health check and started the hunt for an apartment. The later on is by far the most difficult one but we wouldn't have been able to do any of the steps without our buddies.

Not being able to speak is by far the most annoying thing. You feel so stupid all the time, but I pick up new things everyday. The fact that you easily understand that they try to fool you and rip you off but not being able to speak up your mind is extremely irritating. We have to put all our trust to our buddies, but I'm sure they are trying their best, although I can tell they are not used to negotiate with business people. Right now I will tell them in English what I want them to say and then just hope they understand what I said and that they actually say it. It puts us in a very shaky position to get a good deal. Also the standards of apartments vary a lot. After a couple of days of looking at pretty much only shitty apartments full of dirt and cockroaches I'm quite tired of this and I hope we will find something in the end of this week. Luckily enough I think that at least or buddies are slowly starting to understand what we would like. My fathers colleges brother has been very helpful during this time and a couple of times I have been able to call him so he could have a talk with the agents to try to negotiate price and get them to know what we are looking for. What would you do without contacts?

Tomorrow we will go to the doctor for health check and then continue the hunt for an apartment.. Wish me luck!

2015-09-09 @ 17:00:32 Permalink EXCHANGE Kommentarer (1) Trackbacks ()

HOLLYWOOD ROAD

Hollywood road is a paradise for an interior, art and antiques lover like me. It's a bohemian street with a lot of street art in the alleys and the street is filled with galleries. As I've told you before, HK likes to put things in the same category together. On this street you will find amazing jade, stone and metal works together with modern art. Here and there your can also find nice restaurants and bars. If you walk the Hollywood road to the east you will end up in SOHO.

Jenny

2015-09-06 @ 07:54:21 Permalink EXCHANGE Kommentarer (0) Trackbacks ()

HONG KONG HEAT

Since the weather is going to change to thunderstorms I didn’t want to waste the second sunny day and the chance to hang out by the amazing rooftop pool at the hotel. So that’s what I did. But first I enjoyed a lovely breakfast at the hotel as well. Pancakes, fruit, omelets, spring rolls, toast, yes my apatite had come back aging after a day of stomach ache.

I spent all morning by the pool but by lunch I decided it was enough, and I went to Causeway Bay in the east part of HK. Finally there I thought to myself if I was a idiot who wanted to walk around in the crowded streets a hot day as this. Ironically one of the first shops I see is IKEA. Surprised to se an IKEA in the middle of a city and just because it is IKEA of course I had to check it out. It was the smallest and most crowded IKEA I’ve ever visited, and I felt so nostalgic when I came to the food store in the end. But I didn’t buy anything because I don’t really miss any Swedish things, yet. After the short visit at IKEA I went to Victoria Park. To be honest, it was not too much to see except for the fun part of watching people.

I new the yacht club was supposed to be quite close to the park, so I walked to the harbor, but they were building a lot down there so I ended up on quite narrow passages and quite suspect roads, when I finally saw a sight about the yacht club I was so hot and tired I just wanted to find my way out of this mess and find a nice café for a cold drink.

Next on my list was the exhibition center, which is HK’s answer to the Sydney Opera house if we talk in terms of architecture. To be able to get there I walked on a road that only had interior design shops. Kitchen shops, bathroom shops, light shops, flooring shops and so on. Its quite funny because I’ve realized that HK is quite often organized so the same kind of shops are at the same place. When I finally reached the exhibition center I was quite disappointed about the architecture but I found a great art exhibition.

Now I’m back at the hotel and I can certainly see that I have been out in the sun, I’m close to a tomato… Next time I need to put on double sunscreen.

Jenny

2015-09-05 @ 13:57:11 Permalink EXCHANGE Kommentarer (1) Trackbacks ()

SUN IN HONG KONG

Another great day to tell you about. First of all, it was the first day of sun in HK. Finally! I got so happy so I had to go up to the top floor and see the pool area for the first time. It is amazing! But I was so hungry I had to find something to eat and then I went out in the city. I had arranged a meeting with my father’s college at the stock exchange and decided to try the metro for the first time. I’m amazed how clean and fresh it is, and it was not too complicated to understand how to buy tickets and so on. Now I think I will go with the metro a lot more and not risk my life walking in some streets…

It was very easy to find the building and I couldn’t help but notice that the clothing store to the left was incredible nice, although quite expensive. The lobby was exclusive and the people in the entrance super helpful. I got to the right floor and my fathers college greeted me in the entrance. So fun to see him and he gave me a little tour and talked about what was going on at the moment. I also got to say hi to another swede working there, all of them told me it was obvious I was Håkans daughter. Everyone was so friendly and gave me some advices for my journey.

After the visit I went to some stores and coincidently I bumped into Marla who also was a little early in the city. We had decided to all meet up and go together to the island of Lantau. Marla and I had a fabulous lunch at the Landmark Galleria and for desert we bought some macaroons from Ladurée. But the mission of today was to go to visit the Big Buddha of Lantau. So we met up Lauréne and Kelly and took the metro to the island. At the island we were able to take a cable car up in the mountain. The view was breathtaking and it was obviously a very good choice instead of taking a bus. (It also got me thinking a lot of skiing…) When we finally came up to the top we walked a lot of stairs to finally reach the main attraction, the Big Buddha. We also visited the monastery Po Lin with the thousand golden Buddha’s. It was a little touristy, but I would definitely recommend going here. The nature and views over the islands around HK was amazing and it felt good to see something else than crowded streets and skyscrapers. By the time we got down from the top, we were really tired and took the metro home to central. When we were finally there we were also very hungry and decided to take the first restaurant possible, and we ended up at a pretty decent Italian place for some pasta and red wine. All in all, a very good day!

2015-09-05 @ 12:40:29 Permalink EXCHANGE Kommentarer (0) Trackbacks ()

DR. SUN YAT SEN & MACAO

So after a lovely night out with the girls last night, I slept in for quite a while. Missed the hotel breakfast so I went out in the street to see what I could find. Luckily enough I found a bakery not to far away from the hotel. They had a lot to choose from but I left with mango pancakes and a coconut bread, both were delicious! Whiteout really having a plan, I strolled down to the harbor. Just by the river bank they have a memorial park of Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the revolutionary person who is a little bit of the reason why I’m going to GZ. I’m going to study at his university. It was a very pretty spot and families were playing around in the grass around the big statue of Dr. Sun Yat Sen. I was thinking by myself, wondering why all of these people were out in the park playing on a Thursday.

I walked by the bank, until I arrived at the Ferry terminal for boats to Macao. I thought for myself, why not? And jumped on the next ferry. It took one hour and it was freezing cold because of the air conditioners. In Macao I could just walk from the terminal into the city. It resembles Las Vegas quite a lot, and looks quite dull in the bright light of day. Although the colonial buildings from the Portuguese era looked very pretty in their bright colors. When I finally got into the city center that’s when I understood it was a public holiday for the Chinese people. A lot of smaller shops were closed and some blocks were all empty of people but when I came into the touristy parts it was totally crowded. People everywhere! After fighting myself through some tight alleys of people I needed a break and found a little Starbucks. It felt silly, but sometimes you just need something familiar and peace. So with a cup of chai latte in my hand I could sit down and relax a little bit.

After the little break I had some new energy and went out in the town again, now the darkness had fallen and the city looked a lot more fancy. Thousands of Chinese people were now accompanied by thousand of led lights. It was like a circus. Fun to see, but felt quite done with Macao and all the people so I decided to go home again. Back at the ferry terminal, the economy class tickets were sold out until 23:00. So if I didn’t want to wait for 3 hours, I had to pay a premium price ticket. This was of course due to the fact that the place was packed with Chinese people on public holiday… It was not a hard decision to make, I paid the double price for a ticket and got to board a ship within 30 min. During the boarding procedure two Dutch guys approached me telling me I looked so confused. They seemed quite nice in the beginning telling me a lot about HK and so on, but when I told them I was going to GZ to study they begun talking a lot of shit about the place and bragged about their fancy banking jobs in HK. Hopefully it wont be as bad as they say, but I cant help but wonder…

Jenny

2015-09-03 @ 20:07:50 Permalink EXCHANGE Kommentarer (2) Trackbacks ()

FIRST DAY IN HONG KONG

My first day in HK has been wonderful. Although very very rainy! I've strolled through the centre lf HK called Central. All the way to the Hongkong Park and then I went all around higher up in the mountain and without looking at the map I was able to find myself home to my hotel. But I can honey tell you I became happy when I saw the massive building with huge text on the side. I don't live in the centre of the city but everything is close by anyways.

It's facinating how fast you adapt to a new place. I've only been here for one day and I already feel quite comfortable. I guess it's only the climate that will take some time to adjust to, after only a minute or two you are all sweaty and you wondering why you bothered taking a shower.

In the evening I met up with two French girls, Laurène and Kelly, for dinner. We went to a Chinese place and tasted three courses together but to be honest, it was the worst meal I've had in a long time. Luckily the company were better. They are super cute both of them and Kelly even have a sister living in HK, the perfect guide! After dinner another student came to see us, Marla from Germany. She was also so sweet and we went to a place called Ce La Vi, a club with a rooftop bar on the top. The view was incredible! So much fun to get to know some fellow students already! Later Kelly's sister came to see us as well and we realized we were in the same age. When I decided to go home Kelly's sister and her friend walked me almost all the way home.

Everything becomes so easy when you travel, you become friends with people in an instant and everywhere you go people are nice and helpful.

Now I have to decide what to do with this day! I've slept too long! Haha, but i needed it. My feet are already soar after all the walking yesterday.

Jenny

2015-09-03 @ 06:42:25 Permalink EXCHANGE Kommentarer (1) Trackbacks ()

IM FINALLY IN HONG KONG!

The journey to Hongkong was definitely long. The first flight to Doha and I didn't came a long as friends. Although the plane was a brand new Dreamliner and the food was pretty good as well as the entertainment system. I watched the movie Wild with Reese Witherspoon, thought it resembled myself somehow. Heard a lot of good things about this movie but it didn't live up to my expectations. Didn't sleep well, maybe a couple of hours and woke up with a tremendous pain in my neck.

When I finally came to Doha I was so relieved and excited to see something new. It was really cool going down in the dessert just by the sea in the morning. It was a yellow fog over the airport and the sun was glittering on the sea. When I finally got to step out of the plane the heat was instant! Like a sauna! Well inside the airport I was dasseled by the beautiful architecture. Went to buy water and started to wait for next flight.

The flight to Hongkong was longer, but I guess I settled into the mood of the traveler. I listened to a lot of podcasts and played games. Watched the movie Child 44 but it wasn't really worth it. Got a little bit of sleep this time as well, thanks to the forex cushion I got from Trixie. Altogether when I finally came to HK I was so tired and exhausted I just wanted to go to the hotel as fast as possible.

Went to take out money from the machine and didn't realize the numbers was all backwards so I put it the wrong pin tree times in a row without notice. Talk about panic! It was such a relief when j finally saw it and was able to take out some cash. In immigration I missed a document, but after answering some questions and filling in some documents I could pass. Took a taxi to the island, it actually took a while to drive into the city so I got a little worried that the driver was going in the wrong direction. Of course he didn't speak a single word of English. In the last corner he was starting to say a lot of things and I couldn't figure out what, but I guess it was something like we are almost there now. The entrance of the hotel was marvelous! All gold and glitter! Finally here! The room is nice, but I don't know about the promised harbor view. It's pretty many skyscrapes in front of it. But I don't mind.

Now I have had my first breakfast at the hotel. So hungry and it rains a lot so I decided to just go for the easiest way. Pancakes and fruit served the purpose and now I have to decide what to do. Let's find that guide book. Hope they have something prepared for a rainy day like this!

Jenny

2015-09-02 @ 07:58:28 Permalink EXCHANGE Kommentarer (2) Trackbacks ()

SUN YAT-SEN UNIVERSITY

Some pictures of the campus of Sun Yat-sen University. Looks so beautiful! Really excited to go there now!

Jenny

2015-08-18 @ 15:55:55 Permalink EXCHANGE Kommentarer (1) Trackbacks ()

SKULTUNA NEWS

The greatest news this season is that Skultuna is launching their most favourite products in copper. Love it! The pots and candleholder gets a new colour, and I can promise you that this will be a success and this years Christmas present.

Jenny

2015-08-17 @ 15:46:37 Permalink INTERIOR Kommentarer (0) Trackbacks ()

VISA: CHECK!

Two weeks to go! Can hardly understand that I'm about to move to the other side of the world, to a country I've never been to before. New tastes and flavors, another language and culture. An adventure.

I have worked my last day in the store and now I have two weeks to prepare myself and the people around me. Finally got the time to pick up my visa at the visa centre. While waiting I found myself all caught up in the Chinese conversations at the counters. Its truly an amazing language. Can't wait to get to know it better!

Jenny

2015-08-17 @ 09:35:18 Permalink EXCHANGE Kommentarer (0) Trackbacks ()

HOTELS: CHECK!

Time for a little update about the preparations. I have finally booked hotels in both HK and GZ. This feels so good since it has been something that kept nagging in my mind. First of I booked the hotel in GZ. We are a bunch of students who already got in touch with each other and we decided on a hotel really close to the university for the first week. Hopefully we will manage to find a shared apartment during that time. Feels great that we will all be living in the same place in the beginning so we can hang out and get to know each other.

But before heading into the mainland of China, I will do my own little trip to HK. A little bit of acclimatization before the real adventure can begin. But boy was it hard to find a decent hotel in that city?! I have been searching a lot the last couple of days, and I can tell you there is a lot of hotels to choose from. Although I have never in my life seen so small hotel rooms before. Seems like they could pretty much charge anything for these cubes. When I finally new a little bit more about what and where, I started to read the recommendations, and that’s when I panicked. Ants, cockroaches, dirt, unsafe areas, broken things, un service minded people… well all of a sudden I realised that I had to pay almost the double price in HK to get something clean and safe. I surrendered and booked a hotel my good friend Niklas recommended a couple of weeks ago. It is a well known hotel chain and it is located pretty close to the centre of HK. Could not be better, hopefully.

First picture is from the HK hotel and the second one from GZ, but i guess they have photoshopped them both a lot..

Jenny

2015-08-16 @ 19:56:00 Permalink EXCHANGE Kommentarer (0) Trackbacks ()

SHIT IS HAPPENING

So because I have ants in my pants and the prices are just getting higher and higher, I finally booked the ticket. The ticket to China. So excited. My welcome package from the university has not yet arrived, but I might as well book the ticket anyway. Decided to go with Cathy Pacific Airways since they have their major hub in Hongkong and they seem to have pretty good reviews. The journey will take 17h and I need to change plane in Doha, another country I've not yet been to... Well now that is done and that is actually a relief. Time to start preparing!

Since the thoughts about China was still on my mind, I decided to open my Chineasy book. I've always hated to not know everything from the beginning so I will have to really focus now and make sure I have fun with this. Learning a new language is never easy, but I mean, Chineas!? That's so complex! New figures and sounds at the same time. Today I have learned a few basic characters and how you combine them to make new words. Up until now it is pretty fun! ✌️

Jenny

2015-06-30 @ 21:17:00 Permalink EXCHANGE Kommentarer (0) Trackbacks ()