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

Malted oat cookies and the concept of Flow

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Malted oat cookies.
Text and Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro 2013

Sunday afternoons are the perfect occasions for reflection and relaxation and my favourite occupation at such times is to bake something. Maybe to enjoy with the afternoon fika at home or maybe to share with my office colleages by Monday depending on the amount of damage control needed to let the remainder look good.

Today my thoughts as always covered a wide circle, making pit stops at such seemingly disparate topics as the ASEAN countries free world trade negotiations, the ongoing election in Italy and the joint Volvo Geely research centre that is being planned, ongoing events that in part shape the world we are all living in.

The common denominator was the question of human innovation and motivation, as covered by Professor of innovation knowledge, Bengt Järrehult in a recent article. As I see it, nothing is given and we are all part of the process in which we all create the future together, step by step and by our own choices.
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The Cordero | Cordeiro affinity to islands

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Do You Sleep?
Text and Photo © A Neikter Nilsson, JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro 2013

Judging from the numerous books launched by Eurasian authors on their heritage and family history, it seems that the Eurasian community in Singapore has a general strong interest in research on genealogy, which in itself makes for interesting study due to a mixture of cultures, ethnicities and even traditions in cuisine.

The Portuguese with their sense of inherent adventure, had close ties to the East India trades already in the early 1600s. It is probably these factors in combination that landed the Cordero / Cordeiro family in East Asia in the first place. The genealogy of the Cordeiros can be traced from the highlands of Andalusia in Spain during the Medieval times, to the autonomous archipelago of the Azores of Portugal (ca. 1600ff), right through to Macau (ca. 1800ff) and then to Singapore during the early 1900s. To that extent, one could argue that the Cordeiros have flown flags of many colours, the most prominent (for the older generations of the family) being the vibrant colours of Portugal.
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There is [increasingly] no spoon

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“De río arriba Guayas” (upstream of the Guayas River) is where these Arríba chocolate bars originate. Ecuador’s lowlands produce some of the richest cacao on the globe, an heirloom of sorts for the country. Grown only in Ecuador, these chocolate bars are a seamless confluence of floral notes and fruits, jasmine and orange, just barely laced with a smoked earthen timber.
Text and Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro 2013

Admittedly, I like broad sweeps and this is going to be one of the broader that I take. But please bear with me. We’ll eventually be back to the chocolate. Promise.

First we will need to go back a little bit in time to a scene in the 1999 movie, The Matrix, where a little boy flexes a spoon, bending it at will. He then looks up and says, “There is no spoon”.

Now, that is a point of view I will try to demonstrate that is increasingly worth being considered.
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Capriccio for Carolina – classical notes that rock your soul

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It isn’t that my interest in the field of fashion has waned over the years since I began my blog in 2007 thereabouts, but rather, a percolation of ideas had resulted since then with regards to fashion.

In previous years, I would experiment with fashion styles, fabrics and designs, today having perhaps settled into a general theme that evokes a frame of mind in terms of style and dress, I am more intrigued by the innovative processes of design in itself. I have little qualms mixing and matching fabrics and designs according to context of situation, not in the least, accounting for the weather conditions, and am also apt to carry an extra pair of shoes with me if and when possible – an idea I was introduced to as a form of social etiquette for formal Swedish dinner affairs, when people are expected to have proper indoor shoes that haven’t touched the (what I think are charming) cobbles of the streets outside.

So what captures my attention these days in the field of design and fashion is a sense of the creative. To that extent, I’ve been following behind the scenes, the New York and London Fall RTW collections, whilst at the same time, searching for new classical notes for my playlist.

There are a few designers that inspire me, Carolina Herrera being one of them. I’ve been a fan of Herrera’s collections for several years, where in enthusiasm for my summer in Barcelona 2011, I even packed in luggage to Montjuïc El Xalet, a clean pleat, black Carolina Herrera dress for IESE IFP’s closing dinner.

Following-up on her Fall 2013 RTW, I was this time around, floored not just by the clothes (her signature balance between conservative, long elegant lines and sultry femme), but the absolute soul rocking music!
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Valentine’s Medley 2013

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To the sounds of Rhiannon,
in an emerald green qipao / cheongsam, St. Valentine’s Day 2013, Sweden.
Text and Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro 2013

This year, the girls thought it a wonderful idea to triple celebrate in Sweden, ushering in the Year of the Snake whilst at the same time, celebrating St. Valentine’s Day that which is also my birthday. I couldn’t myself have thought of any better than this.
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PS Café Ann Siang Hill, Singapore

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Heart of Chinatown at Ann Siang Hill, Singapore.
Text and Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro 2013

I have an affinity for quiet corners in today’s current targeted 7 million inhabitants Singapore. And whether explained by quantum theories of alternate realities, or on a less philosophical level, simply taking the time to find that quiet spot during peak hours in the heart of bustling Chinatown, PS Café at Ann Siang Hill is an utterly serene and cosy meeting place.

Ann Siang Hill is the name of a one-way road located in Chinatown in Singapore. Situated immediately inland of the old harbour, it is today one of the more authentic areas that remain of old Singapore, right at the heart of where all trade of the olden days of this developing city would have taken place.
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The ambassadorial role of Miss Singapore title holders

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In a recent article in Urban of the Singapore Straits Times (by Joyce Chua, 18 January 2013.)I was given an opportunity to expand on my own experiences as being a Miss Universe Singapore winner.

A recurring question I get is what goes on behind the scene after that the pageant is won, after the crowning ceremony on stage, after the stage lights have dimmed and the TV cameras shut off. Most people probably expect the answer to be, incessant and non-stop partying for a whole year. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your disposition, that is not really correct. Instead, that is when the ambassadorial role of any Miss Singapore title holder begins.

The double portfolio

Till today I feel that the modern purpose of beauty pageants remain undefined. There are at least two aspects built into the structure of most beauty pageants, the entertainment front and humanitarian efforts, of which the public is more familiar with the former but see less of the latter. From this double portfolio comes numerous international opportunities and public relations efforts that begin immediately after the winner has stepped off the stage.

The ambassadorial role of Miss Singapore title holders

A few years ago I was invited to Penn State University to give a talk on my experiences of living outside of Singapore. At that time I had the pleasure of exchanging ideas with Ambassador Ashok Kumar Mirpuri, Singapore’s current Ambassador to the USA. His main point and experience from representing a comparatively small nation in the US, was reflective of my own, being that Singapore is listened to, when and because we are successful. Even as a small nation, Singapore experiences as large problems as any country. It is both vulnerable yet seemingly resilient to the processes of globalization, so to the extent that we are successful, the world is interested in what we do.

Any representative bearing “Singapore” in her title, is necessarily a reflection of our country and an investment in Singapore’s international public relations. An attractive young woman bearing the title of “Miss Singapore” will be sought after, spoken with and listened to. Whether we like it or not, whether Singapore uses it or not, she will have an ambassadorial role.
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