Una Ragazza on Shop: Buying the Message

I like words. I like what words can do better than actions can (think: getting out of an unpleasant situation). I like my job that’s about words. Boggle and Scrabble are my favorite childhood games. I like a good message.

I like writing postcards. Postcards are my preferred travel souvenirs. You send a meaningful picture and expound on the place or image while sitting at the local town square or perched on a mountain top. You may ask, “But if you send the postcards, you end up with no souvenirs at all for yourself.” Thankfully, I solve that issue by sending my favorite postcards to Un Ragazzo.

I really like posters.

In the last few years, I’ve found myself drawn to propaganda posters. It all started when I got lost in a busy alley in Hanoi and stumbled upon a colorful store with posters produced by the Vietcong during the Vietnam War era. Inside, I found many fascinating images, including a poster of the face and upper torso of Ho Chi Minh with a peace-loving dove in the background, made entirely from stamps. In a way, the little poster shop became a museum of sorts as I read the accompanying messages meant for the Vietnamese people during the 1960’s. I eventually purchased a colorful poster of a peasant girl hard at work in a garden, captioned as follows, “Do not grow opium plants.”

Put a stamp on Uncle Ho

Vietnam war-era poster: "Do not grow opium plants"

During my last few trips to China, I’ve also sought out posters from the country’s past decades in museums, galleries and shops. I often wonder about the artists behind these posters, their motivation and circumstances. Were they firm believers of the art they were depicting? Or, was propaganda art a lucrative business? Were these given away for free to spread the message? Where were they put up -- around the home, on shop walls or in public places?

Vietcong support in China

In speaking to a museum worker in China, I learnt that, similar to the way religious art was financially backed by churches in ancient Europe, what I coin “red art” was heavily patronized by the authorities. Contrary to my belief that the posters were distributed free of charge to encourage their use every where, they were actually sold by Chinese publishing houses to the general public, who would buy them during special occasions and festivities to decorate their homes, since entertainment such as television was not yet commonplace at the time.

Earlier this year, I chanced upon a beautifully preserved poster depicting a ballet scene from the Red Detachment of Women (红色娘子军), which originated as a pre-Cultural Revolution-era play about the women of Hainan Island who resisted the nationalists destroying the communist based on the island. Foreigners who know this ballet will recall it as the ballet performed for President Richard Nixon during his 1972 visit to China.

I was struck by the poignant memory the poster scene evoked, and felt I had to buy it. The plan is to frame and hang it in my wrought-iron, military-themed bedroom. I’m actually curious about the reception it’d get from visiting friends and family.

An original 1970 poster of the ballet, Red Detachment of Women. Once revered, then despised. Now, a showpiece in my bedroom

Click on the image above to watch an excerpt from the Red Detachment of Women

The magic of red

Lest anyone thinks that I’m implying propaganda is solely the work of communist governments, the first propaganda poster I own actually came from the U.S. Food Administration -- the predecessor of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) -- encouraging prudence in food consumption during World War I, and a French newspaper promoting readership.

A WWI message by the U.S. Food Administration

For those who grew up in Singapore in the early 80s, you will remember the “Two is Enough” campaign to encourage Singaporean families to “stop at two” children. That was the first time I saw a propaganda poster. I remembered having a strange feeling in my stomach when I first saw it, only because my willful parents had stopped at three instead.

"One umbrella and a single apple: not enough, even if both are girls"

What was the first propaganda poster that you have ever seen in your life?

(Some pictures taken from the Internet)

Little Pixy Boots: T'is the Season to be Plucking

Whoa, I apologise for being MIA for a while. It's been a busy few months for me and I've been flying back and forth Singapore, UK and Norway. Anyway, this post is about *play* so I decided to focus on the popular berry-picking season in summery Norway!

Berry berry, quite contrary

Late July til mid-August is the best time to pluck berries in Norway, although if you travel up north you find that the berry-plucking season extends to as late as September. Recently Viking Man and I had great fun going up a mountain to try our luck with blueberry plucking.

A lot of Norwegians take blueberry plucking very seriously. Others take it as a nice leisure activity with the reward of juicy berries with rich Vitamin C and antioxidants at the end of the day. Many also take it as a excuse to exercise (or å trene) in fresh outdoor air, give their legs a good stretch or go out with someone they fancy in a group date (this applies to many young adults).


Usually the best places to pick blueberries is higher ground on a mountain forest (fjellskog in Norwegian). Usually the best places are low mountain plateaus around 800 - 1200 metres above sea level, which provide nice gradual slopes which are very conducive for blueberries to grow. One new thing I learnt yesterday is that blueberries (blåbær) grow in the same kind of terrain with other berry types like tyttebær (mountain cranberries) and markjordbær (wild strawberries). One of my favourite native Norwegian flowers grows in abundance in this mountain terrain too, but I don't know its name. Would be good if someone lets me know :) I had it in my wedding bouquet.


To our disappointment, we were a little late for blueberry plucking - either that or we chose a mountain too popular for plucking. Most of the blueberries were gone and the sight of blue-stained leaves and no berries isn't pretty. A lot of Norwegians nowadays like Viking Man, prefer to use a berry plucking device ("berry picker") that allows one to pluck berries very quickly but berries come along with leaves, branches and crushed berries, which I dislike. Maybe I'm old-fashioned and picky, but I like to hand-pick my berries despite the slower pace and juice-stained fingers at the end of the day. The berries I get are cleaner and I derive more enjoyment from it. Using a "machine" reduces the tactile and visual enjoyment, I feel.

Anyway, while looking for a picture of the berry picker, I found a nice blog on berry picking in Sweden, where apparently not all the blueberries are plucked yet! Lucky her. I'm envious! There's a picture of the berry picking devise on her blog.

Since there were few blueberries for us to pick, we picked more of tyttebær (mountain cranberries) instead. They ripen about 3 weeks after blueberries so we came just as they are ripening. Some of them are not that red yet because we were picking on the east side of the mountain where the cranberry bushes get less sun.

A lot of the tyttebær were red on one side and white on the other. I find it amazing that the fruits require sunlight to ripen. Look at the pretty little cranberry flowers too! Sometimes when we chance upon a patch where pluckers have not been too, I get a little obsessed with getting as many as possible.

Tips on berry picking:

1. Wear dark old clothing - long track suits are suitable, as well as cotton yoga tights with a dark jacket. Wearing a dark t-shirt and bringing a long-sleeved jacket is good because it gets cold on top of the mountain.

2. Wear rubber boots or summer mountain climbing boots that support the ankles. Berries tend to stain a lot so it would help not to wear fashionable white canvas shoes! Most paths are rocky and muddy, so thicker soles and waterproof material are better protection for the feet.

3. Bring a backpack or sling bag. Keep your arms free from carrying anything. If you bring a bucket and berry pickers, then make sure they are brightly coloured so that you don't "lose" them while you wander off to better pastures.

4. Mosquito repellent - helps to keep the mozzies away!

5. Sunscreen lotion - helps prevent sunburn in case there is strong sunlight.

6. Sunglasses - they come in handy while driving to the mountain.

7. Many snacks! Bananas, "kvikklunsj" (chocolate bars for energy), apples, yogurt etc. In our case, we also brought yummy dried bean curd from Taiwan ("Naughty Spicy Dried Bean Curd").

Picture by Katie the hungry traveler http://katie-thehungrytraveler.blogspot.com/

8. Plastic bags! Clean plastic bags are useful when you are picking berries - sling them over your lower arm or wrist while putting them into the bag (if you are hand-picking), then transfer the berries to the bucket. It's much easier than carrying the bucket around. Plastic bags are also useful as trash bags, because where are you going to discard all those banana skins and plastic wraps? Not on the Norwegian mountains of course. Actually, I must confess that Viking Man did discard banana skins in a hidden corner of a blueberry bush, claiming that nature will take its course to decompose it. He was careful not to fling it anywhere in sight though. I didn't prepare any plastic bags beforehand, so I had to use my tissue packet to stuff all our trash in it.

But as a tool, plastic bags are useful, according to my two meagre years of cherry plucking experience!

9. Gloves - optional. I personally don't care if my fingers get (blood)stained or not, but blueberries can leave quite a purplish stain on your hands. This year I brought a pair, but found them to be more of a hindrance than help. I didn't use them and they kept dropping out of my jacket pockets. I wouldn't bring them the next time.

10. Waist pouch - optional. Bring this if you didn't bring a backpack! But if you are bringing a bucket, make sure that it is not so cumbersome that you cannot climb a mountain with it.

11. A small book on mushroom picking. If you are lucky, you might find that the mushroom season is starting just when the berries ripen! We saw a few mushrooms but didn't dare to pick them in case they were poisonous.

Enough chattering... time for photos :)

Kolsås (or Kolsaas) was the mountain we climbed and I forgot to take a photo of it, so this is from the internet. It is in the municipality of Akershus, west side of the Oslo fjord, near the city of Sandvika. It's a place where the wealthier would live, and has a few farms around the mountain. Along the way up, we saw many signs that explain the geological history of the mountain and rocks. Apparently there is a rare type of basalt lava only found in Antarctica and Iceland on top of this mountain, with a rather unique white speckled appearance after it is cooled. Wish my geography teacher Mr. L.A. Gomez was here! He would explain everything to me much better.

Signs were in Norwegian, though.

The path crossing the farm that we took to get to the mountain.

We were rewarded with a beautiful view of the Oslo fjord and lowlands after 1 hour of climbing.

We only managed to pluck this much because we began our journey in mid-afternoon and the sun was going down after 4 hours. To ensure an enjoyable trip, try getting up early and traveling in the morning for the picking. Trust me, once you start, you won't stop! There's something about berries; maybe it's greed or some other primeval instinct that makes one want to gather all the berries the eye can see.

Two of our small blueberry pickings. The leaves are stained by blueberry juice.

The progression of the tyttebær - from flower to ripe berries. I've added Norwegian coins for scale - 50 øre, 1 krone, 5 krone, and 10 krone. The 20-krone coin is missing because I didn't have one at the time of photo-taking. 1 krone = 100 øre = SGD 0.22. The 50 øre is like 5 Singapore cents for us.


Even though mountain climbing was hard work, the satisfaction of snacking with a view is rewarding. Make sure that if you are intending to pick the whole day, bring along a matpakke (lunch box) too, so that you can enjoy your sandwich while sitting on the cliff.

I feel so good! One can see the slalom (snowskiing) slope in front of me.

Have fun,
pixy

Lady J on Play: Taking a Walk on the Wild Side

Being born and raised in Singapore in the late 70’s, ‘kampongs’ (local term for village) were slowly starting to phase out to make way for new development largely due to Singapore’s rapid expansion, the emergence of tall buildings started to take over the land occupied by the villages. This was probably one of the reasons why I remained as a ‘City Girl’ and the only jungle that I’ve been familiar with is the ‘Concrete Jungle’ where tall buildings and sky-scrapers ruled.

I remembered vividly when the plane landed at the airport in Geneva, I was half-expecting to find a vibrant city. Some of our friends who’ve been here raved about the beautiful landscapes. Silly me thought they were referring to pretty buildings set aside the natural mountains in the Swiss Alps. When our taxi drove us to our temporary apartment, I looked around our surroundings and marvelled at the quaint architecture, excited about the prospects that the new city had to offer.

The first couple of days in Geneva, J and I took time to explore the famed tourist sites of Geneva. Half a day was all we spent to cover sights like Old Town, the Flower Clock and the Jet D’eau. We even had time to check out the Patek Phillipe Museum as we had too much time to spare. As we slowly started to settle into our new lives in Geneva, I was bored with the famed shopping belt of Rive and wanted desperately to explore other parts but I didn’t know where to start.

One of Geneva's most recognised landmarks - the Jet D'eau

On the other hand, J had already took the road less travelled and started to explore the other sights of Geneva through his weekly runs. Starting first with an exploratory run through the park near our place before running further to the lake. On one of his runs, he proudly told me that he actually ran to the border of France, all within the 40 minutes of his running routine.

Feeling a little sore that I had been lazy, preferring to just head to the familiar sights in Geneva, I sought my friend’s - L's - help to explore some nature sites. L had also recently relocated to Geneva around the same time as we did but she has been far more adventurous in exploring the city.

A date was fixed for us to go on foot to explore one of the many green parks that Geneva has to offer. I was kind of nervous for I’ve never been much of a walker but yet I had wanted to go out and play - basically to see all that luscious greenery that Geneva has to offer. The weather was sunny and perfect for our little walk around the park.

Enroute to Parc Eaux Vive

We headed to Parc des Eaux Vives on foot and as we entered, I felt like ‘Alice in Wonderland’ stepping inside another dimension that I’d never seen. Lush greenery surrounded the compound and there were different groups of people just basking in the sunshine and having a good time in the park. I know that Singapore has several green parks but I’ve never been to any of them. I’ve never been an outdoor person and my playground usually comprise of a series of shopping malls where I can meandered the floors or tiny lanes at ease.

I see young adults lying on the greens taking full advantage of the sun and doing a little tanning on the side, parents and their kids playing badminton on the greens, an elderly couple just sitting by the benches talking to each another and dogs running around freely. My senses were suddenly awakened by this scene and the lovely flowers that lined the pavements of the park. The weather was pleasant making it a relaxing walk around the park.

The luscious green fields

It then struck me as I wondered hard on why it had taken me so long to actually explore a park for it never occurred to me that I could actually have fun at the park. I guess one of the main reasons why I never bothered exploring parks back home is largely because of the heat and the humidity. I didn’t want to be drenched in perspiration or end up with unsightly bite-marks from the mosquitoes or sand-flies on my legs.

Here in Geneva, the sunny weather -- minus the horrid humidity that we’ve been used to in Singapore -- made all the difference in making my park experience more enjoyable. I didn't break into a sweat even after my 1.5 hours of walk.

After this ‘green’ epiphany, I started to be more aware of my surroundings and develop a new-found appreciation for nature. I'mnot going to turn into a hiker overnight but we’ve definitely been doing more exploring of the neighbouring cities with awesome panoramic views. We’ve been real lucky to be given an amazing opportunity to be in Geneva where the scenic backdrop for nature is ever-changing and I should be doing more to seize this opportunity when I’m heading out to play.

Taking a step back and honing a new-found appreciation for nature