Born in the vibrant city of Singapore with a unique Eurasian blend of Portuguese and Chinese heritage, my journey has taken me from the bustling streets of Singapore to the serene and open landscapes of Sweden. My educational pursuits in Singapore culminated at tertiary level with two separate Master degrees, after which I embarked on a new adventure in 2002, moving to Sweden. In Sweden, I pursued with deep interest, the knowledge field of applied linguistics, particularly corpus linguistics research methods, earning a doctoral degree from one of northern Europe’s largest universities, the University of Gothenburg. I currently work as Project Manager, focusing on EU and international projects, at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, at the Division of Bioeconomy and Health, Department of Agriculture and Food. My office is located in Mölndal municipality. Mölndal, known also as the Valley of Mills, is located about ten minutes by bus ride from the city center of Gothenburg to the south. If you’re ever traveling south from Gothenburg to Malmö, whether by train or car, you will likely come by Mölndal municipality. In these pages at cmariec.com, you’ll find my lifestyle musings on culinary and travel adventures from Singapore to Sweden, and from when I lived and worked the Arctic City of Tromsø (2018 to mid-2022). SINGAPORE | SWEDEN | NORTHERN NORWAY Life in Singapore Pursued all academic interests in Singapore, of which the post-graduate years were founded in two separate disciplines. In 2000, graduated with two separate Masters Degrees: (i) Master of Science in Information Studies at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore (ii) Master of Arts in the English Language at the National University of Singapore (NUS). In 1999, represented the Republic of Singapore at the Miss Universe Pageant in Trinidad and Tobago. With this came a variety of film, educational TV, media, and ambassadorial work for the Singapore Tourism Board. Life in Sweden In 2002, moved from Singapore to Sweden in order to pursue a PhD in Gothenburg, where a number of international corporate head offices were located that all had a substantial business presence in Singapore and also Asia in general. In 2009, graduated with a PhD in applied critical linguistics from the faculty of humanities at the University of Gothenburg, with a cross-disciplinary thesis entitled, Swedish management in Singapore: a discourse analysis study, looking particularly into the concepts of assimilation, integration and hierarchy, at top management levels of Swedish-Asian corporations in Singapore. 2013, as research fellow at the Centre for International Business Studies (CIBS), School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, researching the future implications of increasing Asian-Swedish cooperation within the field of international business. The project is entitled Gothenburg in Asia, Asia in Gothenburg, funded by the Anna Ahrenberg Foundation. The project is aligned with the 400 years anniversary of the city of Gothenburg in 2021, and falls under the broad category of Kunskap Göteborg 2021 initiated by city representatives of Gothenburg, Göteborg & Co, University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology. 2015, was granted the Flexit post-doctoral scholarship by Bank of Sweden Tercentennary Foundation (Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, RJ) for a three year project together with the Swedish-Swiss multinational enterprise ABB. From 2015-17, the research will take place at ABB Corporate Research Sweden HQ in Västerås, and at CIBS during 2017-18. The research focus of the project is how new technologies are perceived and accepted by users and customers, using linguistic methods of data analysis. More information can be found at RJ’s website, at Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ) Felxit 2015. Life in Northern Norway (2018-2022) 2018, late summer. I acquired new work as Market Scientist at Nofima. Having moved to the county of Troms in August, I’m currently enjoying myself, exploring the island city of Tromsø. From the 1900s, this city became known as Paris of the North due to how the people of Tromsø were exceptionally stylish and sophisticated in contrast to the fishing village preconception that many might have of a city located in the Arctic Circle. In my years in Sweden, I have known Sweden to be called the land of the midnight sun. During the long summer mights, it was beautiful to sit and watch the sun’s languid pendulation between east and west, touching the horizon out at sea before going up again. Northern Norway takes this languid pendulation of the sun to the extreme. It is not only known as the land of the midnight sun, but it is also the land of polar nights and the northern lights. This is my new adventure. And in these lifestyle blog pages, you’ll find my personal thoughts, insights and musings. Cheryl Marie Cordeiro | PhD MSc MA ACADEMIC REFLECTIONS | CV LIFESTYLE BLOG

Culinary couples: Singapore and Sweden

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Appetizer at Buko Nero, a blend of rucola and pomelo

Buko Nero, Singapore

Type in the words Buko Nero in a google search and you’ll find a long list of reviews, mostly enthusiastic and positive, on this small and personalized restaurant in Singapore, located along Tanjong Pagar Road.

The restaurant with a seating capacity of not more than approximately 25 persons or 6 tables, looks literally as its name suggests, a ‘hole in the wall’. It’s an easy location to miss, being situated amongst the larger bridal boutiques and pubs that line the stretch of shophouses along Tanjong Pagar.

What makes this place special is the fusion of Italian and Asian flavours that lace most dishes they serve. The fusion of flavours perhaps being a reflection of the background of the Italian husband and Singaporean wife team, Tracy and Oscar Pasinato. Continue reading “Culinary couples: Singapore and Sweden”

Meeting ‘Rocky’ aka Martin Kellerman at Bokmässan, Göteborg

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Today’s article in DN, about Rocky being turned into a film made me remember my meeting with the soft spoken creator, Martin Kellerman at the Swedish Book Fair at Swenska Mässan in Göteborg in September 2007. There among about one million visitors drifting from one pile of books to the next, were indeed a few highlights. At the Kartago publisher bookstand I found Martin Kellerman, the talented cartoonist and creator of the Rocky comic strip.

One thing I had noticed was that quite a few Asian girls in his comic books are drawn as birds. I couldn’t help asking Kellerman how come? Martin just laughingly told that he really didn’t know why any of his figures turned out as they did.
Continue reading “Meeting ‘Rocky’ aka Martin Kellerman at Bokmässan, Göteborg”

Common footwear in Singapore

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The flat sandal

Even before I landed in Singapore this time around, most girlfriends of mine who were in Singapore often spoke about getting their manicures and pedicures done. Pedicures these days are considered almost a must for the well groomed woman in Singapore and you need not be a tai tai (a Chinese term for women who married well and need not work) these days to have your toes done. At SGD$12 – $17 (ca. 77 SEK) per pedicure session, it isn’t considered by many women to be all that a pocket blowing hobby to indulge in or make oneself happy. Continue reading “Common footwear in Singapore”

Meeting with Anthea Chan of ‘Perfect in Black’

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Seated in Anthea’s Perfect In Black shophouse along Kim Yang Road, Singapore

It was the usual sweltering afternoon in tropical Singapore, still I couldn’t hold my excitement as I anticipated meeting Anthea Chan, creator and owner of the label Perfect in Black. I have previously shown some of her fashion show pictures from last year’s Singapore fashion festival, by Kevin, and I couldn’t wait to see her latest collection in real life! Continue reading “Meeting with Anthea Chan of ‘Perfect in Black’”

Love Letters

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Homemade Love Letters

The Chinese New Year is upcoming and Singapore, having more than 70% of its population as Chinese, is gearing up.

This year will be the year of the Rat. The Rat in Chinese mythology is not an unhealthy pest but the symbol of perseverance and wealth. Known to be resourceful creatures, if one sees rats, it means that food is aplenty and nearby.

In the Chinese zodiac the Rat is actually also the name of the first year in the cycle with the Ox coming next. In a Chinese fable this is explained by at the time the Yellow Emperor was settling how to name the years in the calendar he was uncertain about in which order the animals would come so he suggested the animals to settle the matter themselves by swimming over a river.

The Rat being the smallest animal, approached the largest animal which was the Ox and asked to ride on its head, over the river, so it wouldn’t drown. The Ox said okay and the Rat took a seat between the Ox’s horns. On approaching the other side of the river the Rat simply jumped off from the head of the Ox onto land, thereby winning the race. The Rat’s clever cunning has thus been well known since. All characteristic traits signified by the Rat in the Chinese Zodiac is also thought to rub off on those who are born in the year of the Rat, which are 1900, 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996 and 2008.

The Wikipedia has it like this:

Being the first sign of the Chinese zodiac, rats are leaders, pioneers and conquerors. They are charming, passionate, charismatic, practical and hardworking. Rat people are endowed with great leadership skills and are the most highly organized, meticulous, and systematic of the twelve signs. Intelligent and cunning at the same time, rats are highly ambitious and strong-willed people who are keen and unapologetic promoters of their own agendas, which often include money and power. They are energetic and versatile and can usually find their way around obstacles, and adapt to various environments easily. A rat’s natural charm and sharp demeanor make it an appealing friend for almost anyone, but rats are usually highly exclusive and selective when choosing friends and so often have only a few very close friends whom they trust.

One of the traditions I have with my parents is to bake traditional cakes – whether Christmas or Chinese New Year – mostly to give away as gifts to friends and relatives. I spent this day baking hundreds of these small, light and hopelessly brittle pancakes, rolled and folded them into small envelopes – Love Letters. If you are not familiar with Love Letters, they taste similar to Chinese fortune cookies, perhaps sweeter. The secret ingredient is rice flour, but don’t tell anyone.

Cheryl

Meeting up with Anders Thorsell

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Portrait of Cheryl at the east coast of Singapore, Wednesday 16, January, 2008.
Photo: Anders Thorsell, FFAgency, Sundsvall, Sweden

If there was a place for me to visit in Sweden next, then I’d like to visit Sundsvall, because Anders Thorsell is the second interesting person I know of that has a relation to that small and somewhat off the beaten track city of Northern Sweden. The first being the founding father of the Swedish East Indiaman “Gotheborg” project, Anders Wästelt, which I have told about earlier.

Anders doing some sight-seeing on his own, visiting the Singapore Tiger Brewery

Portrait of Anders at the Tiger Brewery in Singapore, Wednesday 16, January, 2008. FFAgency, Sundsvall, Sweden

An established writer and frequent traveler with a photography agency of his own, he’s in Singapore for the third time now. Anders was in Singapore last in 1999, touring with the Miss Sweden Universe 1999 contestants and we barely missed meeting each other then. He found a taped interview of me and, well, as they say, if you’re fated to meet, then you will. And this time around, I promised to bring him around.

I absolutely enjoyed having a walkabout with Anders. A sincere and very pleasant guy to work with, it was fun to show some of the sights and sounds of Singapore to someone that has seen so much of the world. As for his travels stories, I think those are best told by himself in his own blog.

Cheryl

Suburban kampong

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Suburban Singapore

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A plot of land in the midst of high rise apartments in Singapore

Being a tourist in most countries often means that one doesn’t get the opportunity to explore local living. You’re scuffled around to designated shops that work on tourist commissions, famous landmarks that everybody goes to see and take pictures, and you find yourself even eating places ‘for tourists’. Continue reading “Suburban kampong”

Green turtle neck to rain

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Sitting cozy in a green turtle neck and grey skinny jeans

It was a rainy Christmas this year in the south of Sweden, which was somewhat alright for me since the patter of the rain on the glass windows reminded me of a tropical Christmas. The temperatures outside are just about 1 deg. C very far from tropical temperatures. Indoors, an open fireplace keeps us all warm.
Continue reading “Green turtle neck to rain”

Swedish Christmas Julbord Buffét 2007

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The Christmas Julbord buffét at the Sjömagasinet restaurant, Göteborg, Sweden

As the Christmas season rolls in, most restaurants in Sweden begin to offer a smörgåsbord of delights, known as the Julbord or the Christmas table. This line of buffet consists of traditional Swedish Christmas foods such as herring preserved in a variety of marinades, the marinades of which are as inventive as the chefs are themselves. Last year, we tried herring marinated in Coca-cola, by a chef called Mikael Sande, as one of the more unusual / eccentric dishes to the Christmas buffet.
Continue reading “Swedish Christmas Julbord Buffét 2007”