What can I say about Stockholm and Copenhagen?  Let me put it as simply as possible, I just love Stockholm and Copenhagen.  Both cities have very friendly blondies who speak perfect english.  They certainly rank among my favorite cities in the world.  Well, that probably doesn't say much 'coz I haven't been to many.  Let's see: Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, New York, New Orlean, Las Vegas, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Paris, and Siem Reap (a town really).  Stockholm and Copenhagen are definitely up there with Paris and San Francisco. 

I have a stop over in Copenhagen to see a good friend, Andreas.  We decided to meet in front of Tivoli (which is like a Danish version of the Disneyland except that it has existed long before Disneyland).  Well, as it turns out, Andreas was slightly late.  As he is a very fun tease, I am not letting this opportunity off.  So I said to him, "It took me 15 hours to fly here to meet you, but it only takes you 15 minutes of cycling time to get here, and yet you are late!!!!"  I am of course not really angry with him as I simply adore him.  He came up with some lame excuses about the clock in his kitchen being inaccurate! :-)  Then we decided to cross the street to park his bike.  Then the most amazing thing happens.  As he was looking for a place to park his bike, I heard someone calling my name from behind.  I turned around and I saw Marcelo Sanchez, another economist graduated from Berkeley a few years before me.  I haven't seen him since he left Berkeley.  He has moved to the ECB and I have moved back to Singapore.  Yet, now we see each other again, in Copenhagen, two hours after I arrived in Copenhagen and one day before he was going to leave Copenhagen.  What are the odds of that!!!!  Andreas of course got very happy and suggested that I should thank him for being late, for otherwise we would have missed each other.  Oh well, I guess he is right!

After some catching up, Marcelo and his friend splitted with us as they were still doing some project for the ECB that day.  Then Andreas pulled out these printouts from his bag.  Guess what?  They are locations where you can find free lunches in the city.  He suggested that we should go to find these free food in the city.  I have to tell you something about Andreas.  Beside being a good friend and funny, he is a smart guy and he has two master degrees in Economics, one from Copenhagen university and another from NYU.  This is too good an opportunity to pass up.  So I said to him: "Shame on you! Two master degrees in economics and you still believe in free lunches!"  I am of course not serious.  But I will not pass up any opportunity to tease him 'coz he is such a good sport.  Milton Friedman is of course one of the great economists of the last century who famously said that "there are no free lunches."  The modern statement by Robert Lucas is of course that "there shouldn't be a $500 bill on the side walk."  Of course, both of these statements do not imply that one should never find any opportunity of free lunches.  It only means that one should not expect free lunches systematically.

Andreas insisted that there are free lunches in the city and suggested that we go look for them.  So we got to one of the locations, which give out free samples of the product as promotional effort.  Unfortunately for us, we were too early.  So they asked us to come back later.  To cut the long story of free lunches short.  We never did get any free lunches that day.  But I did get a free lunch the next day.  But I will tell you that story later.  Of course, to do justice to Andreas, we weren't looking very seriously and so our failure to find free lunches that day is not irrefutable evidence that "there are no free lunches."

Then Andreas very kindly showed me his city.  I think we started out in the main square of the city – Radhuspladsen, which is next to the city hall and a fountain called the Dragon’s Leap Fountain (turns out that Andreas didn’t know the name of the fountain).  Then we walked up Stroget, the main shopping street in Copenhagen that is closed to traffic.  Stroget is a great place for people watching.  I love it.  Then we moved from one square to the next.  Andreas tried to explain the orientation of the city to me.  But we don’t have a map and I am seriously jet lagged.  So I probably don’t remember half the things he told me.  We saw Christianborg, where the Danish parliament is, along the way.  He showed me Copenhagen university at some point.

At some point we got to Nyhavn.  This is perhaps one of the most photographed place in Copenhagen.  It is next to a canal with boats and lots of nice bars and restaurants on the sidewalk.  And then I learnt something interesting about this place.  On the left side of the street are the nice bars and restaurants.  That is where the rich people sit to have their beer.  On the right hand side of the street is the canal bank and the canal.  That is apparently where the poor students sit to have their beer, which is bought from the convenient store nearby.  I thought that was a really funny idea.  I thought it is a good analogy to the great Danish society.  Of course, you have rich people and poor people in Denmark, but it is also a very equal society.  It’s like the rich people on the left hand side of the street and the poor students on the right hand side of the street.  You can tell the difference but there is only one narrow street between them.

Then we wandered off to have some famous Danish hotdog.  I learnt that Denmark is famous for hotdogs but Germany is famous for sausage.  To be honest, I cannot appreciate the difference ‘coz hotdogs are simply sausages in buns and there is nothing special about the buns.  But Andreas insisted that the two are distinct.  Now in retrospect, this reminded me of George Akerlof’s nut bars and milk bars example when he taught us the Modigliani-Miller Theorem.  The hotdog – sausage version of the story would be: some stands insisted that sausage should be sold with the buns because that is what customers like.  Other believe that sausages should be sold separately with the buns because that is what customers like.  If M-M theorem holds, of course, it doesn’t matter whether the stands sell the sausages independently or together with the buns ‘coz the customers will automatically repackage them.  Anyway, if you don’t get the joke then just forget about it.  It’s an insider joke to anyone who has taken George’s class.  (Note: the hotdog – sausage version of the story of course doesn’t work as well as the nut bars milk bars example ‘coz it is harder to repackage the buns and the sausages).  The long digression is just an elaborate argument on why I don’t see any material difference between hotdogs and sausages.  It’s this nerdy economist’s joke.

Then we went to see the biggest fraud in Copenhagen – the little mermaid.  I knew from my travel guide that the statue of the little mermaid is a fraud.  But it wasn’t until we walked all the way there that I realize how big a fraud this is.  There is almost absolutely nothing in a one mile radius.  Then first you see a big crowd of people.  You looked and looked and you saw nothing except the people.  Then after some serious effort, you see this little mermaid statue right next to the shore, surrounded by people and more people.  It is ridiculous!  We sat down and had a little chat about the meaning of life.

Then we walked to the Queen’s palace.  We saw some royal guards, who look quite cool in their furry hat.  Andreas told me that while his girlfriend visited him, his girlfriend asked one of the royal guards whether she could take a picture with him and the guard gave a stern “no” as answer.  I guess these guards take themselves quite seriously.  I can even give you some psychological reasons why this might be so but I won’t.  In any case, I thought the guard must be thinking, “Woman, take me seriously ‘coz I am not your toy!  I am the royal guard to the queen.”

After that we wandered back to the main square next to the city hall ‘coz there was supposed to be the pride parade in Copenhagen.  So we jumped up some benches to see some parade and floats.  It’s really quite small in scale.  As far as I remember, there were only 3 floats altogether, very small scale compared to the annual pride parade in San Francisco at the end of June.  In any case, it was fun.  One of the drags was really tall.  I felt as if he/she is almost as tall as me while I was standing on the bench.

Then finally we are off to some food, not free.  We went to the famous Riz Raz, just south of Stroget and we feast on a Mediterranean-Style vegetarian buffet.  It is decent.  But when it comes to food, nothing really compares to the choices and the low prices of food in Southeast Asia.  I thought I should get Andreas to visit me sometime and show him what we are capable of when it comes to eating and shopping.  After that, we went back to my hotel (which is in the red light district, about 15 minutes walk from Tivoli and the central station) ‘coz I am getting quite tired now.  The hotel borders on the Frederiksberg (an upscale neighborhood) but it is more in the red light district in Vesterbro really.  But it is really ok ‘coz it is not like what you think.  We rested for a while and we came out for a beer, I think.  This is when my memory becomes a bit murky.  I tried the Danes’ preferred beer.  Sorry to inform you, most danes actually prefer Tuborg, not Carlsberg, which self proclaims to be probably the best beer in the world.  I am quite embarrassed for Carlsberg whenever I see that ad.  I like the ad.  Mind you, it is not a bad beer either.  But it must be insane to claim itself to be probably the best beer in the world when it is not even the preferred beer in its own country!

The next day, we met at my hotel at 11am.  We walked towards the city center, had a coffee/tea.  Then Andreas has to go to his friend’s Frederik’s birthday party at the beach.  The beach is about half an hour away by bus, north of the city, in a place called the Charlottenlund Strand.  Andreas said I could come along and I would like to check out the beach in Copenhagen and so I tagged along.  We got there and we met his friends, all Danes.  I thought his friend Frederik looks like Wolverine in the X men, with the beard and all.  And there was a barbecue (a free lunch)!  At this point I got quite embarrassed.  I thought Andreas was going to go there and say happy birthday, give his present and in half an hour we would be out of there.  That’s what Andreas said anyway.  I didn’t expect a barbecue.  There I was, the only Asian, clearly doesn’t belong and free riding on the free food!  I didn’t even buy a separate present for him.  I thought his friends must be thinking, “Who is this Asian who is eating our food!”  It’s rather embarrassing situation.  Of course, they were all very nice about it.  And Andreas didn’t know anybody there other than Frederik.  But I manage to strike up a conversation with a very nice couple - the guy was in the army with Frederik.  His girlfriend was reading this book “Angry White Men” by Roger Moore.  I happened to know a few movies by Roger Moore, including “Roger and Me.”  I think I know almost everything there is to know about his movie “Bowling for Columbine” even though I haven’t seen it because I have read a lot about it.

There I was, ultimately had my free lunch in Copenhagen, but feeling quite embarrassed.  Economists should be jumping up and down for the opportunity to free ride, but I don’t really feel good about it.  (I am a shame to economists everywhere!  Note: George Akerlof once said that few economists would admit the possibility of money illusion, i.e., some economic decisions are based on nominal instead of real variables, because they thought they would have their licenses (as an economist) taken away should they admit to such possibility.  Feeling ashamed when I was enjoying a free lunch is a sin at least as great as that in the book of economists).  In any case, all the people there were very nice about it.  It’s my own psychology that is not letting me off.  So after some barbecue and some home brew beer (really great stuff!  I have sort of brewed my own beer twice, IN A COUNTRY WHERE THAT’S LEGAL!), and after some game of wood blocks throwing, Frederik opened his presents.  And he apparently made some speech about women in Danish.  There was this particular gadget that captured a lot of attention and interests.  It’s a gadget that operates on batteries.  There are 4 holes on each side.  Each person is supposed to put a finger in one of the holes.  Then one person presses a button and a poor soul will get an electric shock!  How fun!!!!!  Who would have thought of such a device!!  He kindly offered me the game.  I really didn’t want to play.  It’s irrational to want to get an electric shock with .25 probability.  But after eating the free lunch, I felt that I had to contribute something.  So I put my finger into one of the holes and prayed.  I feel like silence of the lamb!  Halleluiah, my prayer was answered and I didn’t get the shock.  Instead, the nice guy who talked to me got it.  The shock looked quite serious.  But no long term damage was done, I was sure.

Overall, it was a very nice experience.  In the sun, by the beach, having barbecue and the wonderful home brew beer.  But if I had known that there was a barbecue, I would have bought a separate present.  Of course, being the good Asian that I am, I took some pictures of the beach.  But I was quite worried while I was doing that ‘coz there were many women were sun bathing topless on the beach.  God forbids, I don’t want to be seen as that pervert Asian guy taking pictures of half naked women on the beach, on top of being the strange Asian guy who was eating their food!

Then we took the bus back to the city.  Then Andreas brought me to Kongens Have (the King’s Garden) and showed me Rosenborg Slot (a castle).  But we were too late and the castle was closed for the day.  So we laid on the grass in front of the castle for a while.  Then we set off for a coffee.  Then we went to see the Black Diamond.  After that, Andreas showed me a really cool place in the city.  It is a swimming pool inside one of the canals!  It’s really a wonderful place to spend a lazy afternoon.  The sun, the beach, and the blue sky.

Then we walked back to the city, passed by Ny Carlsberg Glypotek, an art museum I think.  Then we set off to find some dinner.  We searched and searched and searched.  Time has passed until all that is known has passed out of knowledge, then we finally settled in this “Italian” restaurant.  Let me just say that it is not even trying to make good food.  By all accounts it is a tourist trap.  We came out of the restaurant, walked a few steps and found many restaurants that have cheaper buffet that looked better.  Then we head back the bar Obelix on Vesterbrotorv to have a beer and have more serious talks about life.

The next day Andreas has to work.  So I tour the city some more alone.  I walked up to the Frederiksberg Alle and saw a garden.  Nothing exciting.  I probably didn’t walk far enough.  Then it rained and so I took the bus to go to the main square.  I then walked up Stroget.  I thought of checking out the Erotic Museum, but the entrance fee is really steep, something like DKK90, which is more than S$20 (Note: 3.8 Danish Kroner = 1 Singapore Dollar, 6.5 Danish Kroner = 1 US Dollar).  So I decided not to go in.  Afterall, I have seen the sex museum in Amsterdam and I thought it was pretty lame.  So I continued to walk to see the Round Tower.  I walked up the tower and took many nice pictures and saw the bridge from Denmark to Malmo, Sweden.

After the round tower, I saw on the bench in Stroget and just people watch.  Unfortunately it started raining.  So I hid inside a MacDonald and waited for my appointment with Andreas at 4:30pm at the Dragon’s Leap Fountain.  I was getting really tired from too much walking and the jet lag finally set in.  I was dying to lie down but I have to keep my promises.  So I sat aimlessly in the MacDonald for an hour.  Finally the rain stopped.  I came out to the main square to wait for Andreas.  I thought of going into Tivoli but Andreas said that he would go with me.  So I thought I should wait for him.  Then it rained again.  I couldn’t go anywhere ‘coz it is like 10 minutes till our meeting time.  So I took out my umbrella and sat in the drizzle on a bench by the square.  I felt lousy.  I was really dying to lie down.  The sores under my feet were bothering me.  But I have to persevere.  Afterall, this is the last time I would see Andreas in probably a long time.

Then finally the time came and Andreas showed up.  We met, had dinner in a Thai restaurant in the red light district because it is the best Thai restaurant in Copenhagen according to my lonely planet guide (it was decent).  Then we went back to meet Casper.  I wanted to see Tivoli before I left.  So Andreas and I went into Tivoli.  Met Casper for a beer later.  At 10pm, I couldn’t hold on any longer.  They very nicely walked me back to my hotel and we said goodbye.