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

A Patrizia Pepe wool coat in Rose

Posted on by cheryl

dsc00829.jpg

  • An A-line cut wool coat in rose, by Patrizia Pepe.
  • Sea-shell earrings in gold lustre.
  • Grey cotton opaque tights, Lindex
  • Purple suede boots, Biscay, by DUO

Here’s an example of an Italian sized and cut wool coat from Patrizia Pepe – a find in Sweden for the petite framed woman (ref. DN). I think I would have preferred a solid red colour, something more primary toned, rather than a pink rose coloured version of this coat. But I had a difficult enough time to find myself any red toned coat in Sweden this season, so this will do nicely. The clean lines and the shorter cut of the coat is what I appreciate most in this coat.

Silk Stockings

Posted on by cheryl

After having enjoyed an evening watching the 1957 movie Silk Stockings with Cyd Charisse and Fred Astaire, doing a number of fantastic dance scenes amongst their “cold war” banters, I got inspired to go out and look for – silk stockings.

Nothing brings as much glamour to your party wear or daily outfits as a nice pair of stockings. In the above picture, I paired a vintage brocade skirt with a pair of festive looking stockings with gold glitter thread. Since the fun ones could be quite pricey, I will share a little secret with you if you happen to be around Gothenburg; that is the little lingerie shop called Rebecca Underwear at Södra Larmgatan 13, Göteborg.

goldglitter1119-033.jpg

Vintage black and gold brocade skirt
with Lycra black with gold thread stocking, by Kunert

Asta, the helpful and friendly lady at the store, took plenty of time helping me pick out some festive stockings, since Christmas and New Year’s are along the way. I also wanted to know what’s in store this season. There was no messing around with pricey items or stockings, she brought me straight to the REA (sale) box filled with sized XS / S stockings; sizes which she said hardly sell in Sweden.

I was absolutely delighted because I find it fairly difficult to find Asian sized and cut clothing here in Sweden. The only brands that fit my frame here are Italian made and cut items. Asta told that she imported mostly Italian brands, so it seemed I was destined to buy a few stockings at her place!

I came back home with several half priced buys, including the pair by Kunert above and this bordeaux net stockings by Le Bourget, Paris.

rednet_1120-017.jpg

Bordeaux net stockings with gold glitter thread, by Le Bourget Paris.

I have thus far, been a mighty fan of Wolford, in fact, I have a similar looking pair to the Kunert’s black tights with gold glitter thread from Wolford:

wolford1120_31.jpg

Versailles black and gold glitter tights, by Wolford

On a regular basis, both Kunert and Wolford are in comparable price brackets, but since there was a sale ongoing, I clinched the Kunert pair for a third of what the Wolford is currently costing.

Construct and texture wise, the Wolford version has a much subtler gold sheen to it, is softer to the touch and is much more sheer to the eye. Whilst the pair from Kunert is less sheer, thicker to the touch and due to the lurex gold metallic threads, brushes against the skin when wearing, a feeling perhaps some may not find too comfortable.

Still, a major minus on Wolford here is how the soft luxurious pair really doesn’t take much before snagging and pulling (some snags can already be seen in the picture above). It is so gossamer delicate that almost anything will cause the material to pull; and you’re sadly out of a pair of festive stockings even before you step out through the door. Kunert’s version is much more durable in that I hardly found any snagging after wearing twice; so Kunert’s are definitely more price worthy!

That a Wolford pair of stockings snags / tears on me before I even get a chance to wear them out the door is not a one off experience for me. Considering the hefty price I would personally stick to their string bodies and skip their stockings.

So if you’re out for parties this upcoming season, why not go for a gold / silver threaded stocking to your liking at your local shops? And if you’re in Gothenburg, try dropping by Asta at Larmgatan 13, for a few pairs of patterned stockings in your liking for that little bit of festive glam! And it doesn’t need to be top price for top quality, as I have experienced.

Today’s outfit: DVF festive

Posted on by cheryl

 

dsc00868.jpg

  • Sequinned top by Diane von Furstenberg (DVF)
  • Black patent leather belt by Ann Taylor
  • True Religion jeans
  • Black silk satin stilettos by Aldo

Sweden is known as “The Land of the Midnight Sun” for that during summer in the north of Sweden, there may hardly be any night. In the past summers, I’ve had the opportunity to sit and witness the sun barely touch the horizon and then go up again. While that is a most amazing thing to watch and romantically sigh over, the downside is winter where in the north of Sweden, there can hardly be any day at all. Sun rises at about 8 am and goes down by 2:30 pm.

But with the dark, comes a sense of festivity as well, that Christmas is around the corner. The stores start to put out their Christmas decorations, the theme parks light up with Christmas cheer and a thousand watts of lights blaze merrily each night for children and adults alike to gaze in amazement at its beauty.

The top I have on today is rather, festive. A pre-festive festive feeling perhaps? Well, whatever electric that’s in the air right now, I’ve caught onto it!

Annual Antiques Fair in Gothenburg

Posted on by cheryl

dsc00897a.jpg

Me in a curio stall at the Gothenburg Antiques Fair. On the shelves, the Swedish ceramic artist and studio Tilgman’s ceramics, much defining Swedish homes from the 1950s.

Over the last week, Gothenburg held its annual antiques fair at Svenska Mässan, a large convention hall for just such events. We thought we’d spend some time there browsing the ins and outs of antiques. Continue reading “Annual Antiques Fair in Gothenburg” →