The 5/2 Fasting Diet

I have never taken up a diet before and I don't feel the need to lose weight, but the 5/2 fasting diet has my interest because of the potential long term health benefits regarding reduced risk for cancer and heart disease, two of the major risks for western European men such as myself.  I want to live a long and healthy life as long as possible, as many happy years with my lovely daughter as possible.  

The diet was brought to my attention by a friend who lives in London last year, which I didn't think much of at the time as this friend is forever changing diets and food regimes. I don't have enough time to look in to all of them. Then last week a friend of mine here in Sweden mentioned that she too has taken it up after seeing a documentary film about it, which mentioned that the intermittent fasting may reduce the risk of dementia in later life.
I decided to watch the BBC film for myself and after watching the program I thought I would give it a go. The rules are simple, eat regularly for five days of the week and fast for two. Fasting does not mean a total avoidance of food but a maximum of 600 calories per day for men and 500 for women.
I fasted on Thursday and Friday eating two measly meals per day. I did not attempt to cook small tasty meals, but ate simply to get about 500-600 calories in me. Tomato and scrambled egg on a single toast, rice cakes with beetroot slices and not much else. I staved off the pangs of hunger with green tea. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be and I will be keeping up the regime.

Pen Pal Hopes

Since I updated my skype account, with a charming new photo of myself and my darling child on a sunlit shore, I have been the interested reciever of messages from people across the globe.

I say interested as I have been thinking it would be nice to have a pen pal in some distant land. The notion was sparked after I read that a friend of mine flew to Albania to meet his pen pal, I thought this was a very good thing to do, have a pen friend somewhere you know little about, become good friends, arrange a visit.

Skype seemed like a good place to start such a friendship. It helps that some skype users are not afraid of making that first contact, breaking the ice by sending a quick message of greetings - beware, some of these messsages are not in the best spirit of friendship, they are sent by spammers and webcam tarts.

However, one of these conversations amused me a bit. The opening gambit popped up on my screen, it was from a Rachid, from Morocco. I was intrigued. I have never been to Morocco, a place quite unlike Sweden or Britain. I wouldn't mind having a pen pal there...

Rachid: This may explain why some people commit suicide while they enjoy the material comfort money can buy. For example, look at Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam), formerly a famous pop singer who used to earn sometimes more than $150,000 a night. After he converted to Islam, he found true happiness and peace, which he had not found in material success.

Islam is way of happiness . please try read about it

This opening took me a bit by surprise. Rachid seemed to be some sort of Islamic missionary, out to save my soul from materialistic corruption. He has no need to worry about that, at the moment my limited means prevent me from buying all the pointless delights out there. But, missionary or not, this is not spam, the intentions are good, this is a possible pen pal opportunity. First things first, I had better put forward my opinions on the other wordly, all friendships must begin with honesty...

Chris: I'm not religious.

Rachid: why?

This is a complex thing for me to answer but, in the spirit of instant messaging, I tried to sum it up in one simple sentence...

Chris: life is too short.

Rachid: yes

Inexplicably, Rachid seems to agree with my views on the organised spiritual...

Rachid: that's right.

He confirms his agreement, after giving the matter a few more seconds thought.

I thought I had better put him at ease.

Chris: exactly.

This is my way of saying, 'give the matter no more thought, you are free'.

Rachid: my name is rachid

(handshake)

Chris: my name is Chris

(handshake)

Friendly formalities have now been exchanged, I am a step closer to having a pen pal.

Rachid: nice to meet you Chris

Chris: nice to meet you too

After this the conversation comes to a halt as Rachid goes offline. My hopes of a pen pal have faded as soon as they emerged.

Perhaps Rachid went off to think things over, re. religion. I wish him the best of luck.

Best Beer in The World - Ølfabrikken Porter

Ølfabrikken Porter is the best beer in the world.

There is no beer I know of that tastes as good or costs so little.
This costs 8 DKK from the shop next to my office, a wonderful bargin (considering a bottle of water costs 10DKK).

I wish all breweries were as good as Ølfabrikken.

Here is the description from the company (google translated from Danish):

Ølfabrikken Porter is a dark and strong porter, which is roasted without being burnt or bitter.
In the glass Ølfabrikken Porter is viscous and black with a creamy cafe au lait-colored foam. The aroma is intense with dried fruit, smoke and wine notes, leading to a sharp taste of coffee and bitter, dark chocolate, complemented by a large caramel flavor from brown sugar. There is added smoke malt, and it makes the beer decidedly smoky, and adds depth and complexity.
Ølfabrikken Porter was in 2006 awarded the year ølnyhed of the Danish Ølentusiaster by voting among its 11,000 members. That year was chosen on Ratebeer.com as one of 11 best beers in the world, out of more than 50,000 rated and thus the best porter in the world. The significant residual sweetness and fruit flavor makes this beer an ideal companion to desserts, which included chocolate, prunes and roasted figs, if served slightly chilled, that is about 8-10 degrees.

Trains

There is something nice about travelling by train, something civilised.

I was once a great fan of trains, buffet cars, ample leg room, red wine journeys on a Friday night. I loved them. They are even quite good for the environment. I once spent 5 days on a train through Russia and I had a good time. This was how much I liked trains.

However, all of these nice things do not exist if you are using trains to get to work.

If this is the case then trains are death. Slow, frustrating, agonising death.
I now hate them.
I like to think that in every country, even bloody Switzerland, my fellow train commuters hate them as much as I do.

May DSB, Skånetrafiken and any other person working on the Öresund train network fall into hell.

My favourite places in Lund

I have been in Lund for a while now and I feel the need to let everyone know what the best places are. In no order:


The Cathedral - Very big medieval church. Nice. The clock inside is interesting, particularly around 3pm.

Pub Vildanden - This is my local and it has one of the best beer selections I have ever known. It's a bit expensive but so are all pubs in Sweden.
They also sell tasty thin pizzas, which cost around 60SEK.
This is in the west of the city, about 15mins walk from the train station (4mins by bus, no.4).
Here's a map

The Library - A really nice library wih an excellent cafe. Read most of Europe's best newspapers and have a cup of tea and a cake. Makes most of the other cafes in Lund seem cramped and over priced.

Mui Gong Chinese/Vietnamese Restaurant, Kyrkogatan 21 - Great Dim Sum on the weekends. Really nice tea. Friendly service.
Here's a map

Kulturen - Great museum. Big, lots of stuff, interesting buildings, nice grounds. A tranquil haven in the heart of busy Lund. Well worth a visit. Free for students, children and old people.

Learning Swedish

I thought I would write a blog post for all those people out there who wish to learn Swedish. When I first decided to move to Sweden I didn't know where to start or where to look. I hope this post is useful to someone.

If you are a native English speaker Swedish isn't the hardest language to learn but, nevertheless, it is a new language and there is a long way to go.

If you move to Sweden you can enrol in a course for foreigners who want to study Swedish (to find out more go to your local library in Sweden). It helps if you have studied a bit of Swedish before, you might get to go into a more advanced class and pass quicker.

Below are some links that might help you learn Swedish:

For new beginners I recommend the Rosetta Stone course. This will give you a quick step into Swedish that isn't difficult. This is an expensive thing to buy but it is worth it if you have the money to spare. If you are broke I have heard you can download it with pirates or torrents or something.

If you already know a bit of Swedish you can try to use the Safir course. This course is very good but is takes a bit of effort and practice. This course is very useful for SFI students.

There is a good online dictionary to use:
Lexin

When you have searched a word be sure to scroll down the list and see the different contexts.

The Lexin company also have online pictures and animations. These are great if you print them off and stick them around the house.

Photoshop

I'm not very good at using photoshop. It seems to take ages to do the smallest of things, but there are a number of places on the internet where you can learn.

I found these video tutorials very helpful.