Norway-Oslo Day 2-7th Feb 08

Happy Birthday Jia Ying! (Dated 7th Feb 08)

Itinerary for the day:
1) Small Village Town (can't remember the name)
2) SkiMuseum & Holmenkollen Jump Tower
3) Akershus Fortress & Castle Tour
4) Resistance Museum
5) National Gallery
6) Natural History Museum

Departure: 1900 hrs @ Oslo Gallerian
Mode of Transport: Coach to Oslo Torp Airport
Flight: 2220 hrs Ryanair to London
Arrival: 2320 hrs @ London Stansted Airport

We started the day early at around 8pm as we set off to this small village in the suburbs. Apparently we got information from Kim's friend in Bergen that this is a small town where there are lots of red houses amidst the snow and they are either shops or cafes or restaurants.. It was a long journey there & I thought it wasn't that a good trip because when we reached there, none of the shops were opened but I guess it's the process that matters because we saw lots of beautiful sceneries on the bus journey.. Indeed the scenery was like what her friend described. We wanted to make snowman there but we were running out of time so we gave up.

FYI, snow knowledge! there are 2 different types of snow- Dry & Wet ones. The dry ones are really hard & they prick your skin. You can't make snowman with this kind of snow because they will not gel. They look like large solid pieces. The wet ones are the one people use to make snowman. They are soft & look like they are in powder form. But because they are wet, they gel together more easily so people use them to make snowman! After snowing, you will feel warm if you have one of 2 types of snow but I can't recall which one is it. I guess it's the dry one if I am not wrong!

All the red houses behind me are either shops or cafes ..

Catch the beautiful Sun!

The highlight of Norway was really at the Ski Museum & this Holmenkollen Jump Tower! The Jump Tower is the place where the Olympic Winter Games will be held so remember the photos I post & if you ever tune in to Olympic, see if it's true?! The journey there was another long one but the scenery was once again mesmerizing! We took a train right to the ending stop where we alighted and had to walk downhill to reach our destination. There were lots of teenagers & youths with their snowboards & skiing equipment on the train & the moment they alighted, they put on their equipment & off they go down the snow! It was amazing! Sad that we didn't have any of those equipments but Kim & I made a pact to go skiing when we are back in Stockholm!

The whole area was covered in SNOW! (the wet ones!) If you see facebook, you would have seen Kim uploading the image of me lying in the snow! How I felt at that moment was something beyond words & only experiencing it yourself will make you understand! It took us almost 45 mins before we reached the ski museum & at certain point of time, we thought we lost our way & we discussed about our return route. Going downhill wasn't anything difficult but imagine if we had to walk uphill back, I guess both of us would most probably just stretch out our hands & ask for help from the cars that drove past us! haha...

Catch the photos but I am not too sure if I will be able to load the video..

The winding road covered in Snow~~

At the top of the hill!

Catch the kids playing with the SNOW!

Houses along the way.. I wonder if anyone stays there!

Lots of cars drove past us..Guess they are all on their way to ski!

When we finally reached the Jump Tower, we thought the hard days were over but to our horror, we need to climb up the endless flight of stairs!! I can't be bothered to take any pictures because all I wanted to do was to concentrate on getting up the Jump Tower! The stairs were really STEEP!! But the view from the top was definitely worth that little sacrifice though!

The Holmenkollen Jump Tower!

The view from the top of the tower....

Through the glass panel from the other side of the tower! Our return trip wasn't that bad because we could walk downhill to another train station but the scenery wasn't that nice and the road was much more slippery because most of the snow had melted. I landed on my butt once & now I've got 2 blue-blacks! haha.. But to be honest, this place isn't that really tourist-friendly because there were not much road signs to give directions & we had to find our own way by ourselves! This video shows my path downhill & how I walk in the snow.. haha..

As a result of the long walk, we missed the guided tour at the Akershus Fortress & Castle at 1pm in English.. As Kim had to catch a train to Bergen at 4pm, she left after reaching the fortress & I went to the resistance museum first before attending the guided tour at 2pm. We have been facing each other everyday for the past 1 mth & has been so used to that lifestyle but we had to part ways this time round. haha..

The resistance museum displayed the Norwegians' fight during WWII & how it was captured by the Germans on 9 April 1942. Germany to Norway was like Japan to Singapore. I didn't manage to complete the whole tour but merely glance through them.. For those interested in history & war-stories, that place will be the perfect venue to visit! Some displays----


Supposingly, the tour at 2pm was supposed to be in Norwegian but it so happened that there weren't any norwegians around and there was just this 5 typical Hard-Rock Style guys from Australia so they requested the tour guide to have the tour in English & she Obliged! So happy! The castle & fortress represents the last hold of Oslo, Norway! If it's been captured, it would mean that Oslo has been taken. It's the place for functions held by the royalties today & no one lives there actually. The castle looks eerie inside and you can see all the prison cells, secret tunnels etc etc.. But I always like looking at castles & fortresses because they are things that date back thousands of years or centuries back.. It's definitely something Asia doesn't have much except China & India! The tour was quite fun seriously with those 5 Aussies making fun of the tour guide from time to time... HILARIOUS!

The Castle Wall

Glass painting.. Castles are always decorated by them.. I don't understand why!

The Grand Hall in the Castle

The castle outline

View from the Castle in the Day.. But not at the same spot though! After the castle tour, I just went to two other museums the National gallery-display of art pieces & the historial museum since it was just beside the national gallery.. haha... I just had time to kill so I need to find some places to visit right! hehe.. Ok but let me tell you "beating the system" game once again before I move on.. People who know me will know that I am one who loves going around the rules instead of following them.. I feel bad because I teach Kim to do that too ..hahaha... :(

The Oslo Pass is valid for 24 hours from your first usage. The personnel at the first museum u visit will stamp the date and write down the time of visit so it will be valid until the next day at the same timing. Our first visit was at 1130am on 6th Feb 08 so it SHOULD have expired by 1130am on 7th Feb but what I did was to take my blue pen and changed the 1 to 7 so it becomes 1730 and I have 6 extra hours to use the card! I guess many people will do the same thing as me just that I don't know them yet! haha.. Entrance fees are expensive, food is expensive, shopping is expensive so we have to find a way to save on transport right! haha.. but anyway, the train system in norway is rather flawed! You don't have to pay when you enter the train station neither do you have to when you exit.. You just buy your ticket and the staff will conduct random checks! If you are always lucky & never faces any checks, basically you can don't buy any ticket and travel for free! It involves a risk because if you get caught, i heard the penalty is a serious one!

To talk about the National gallery- It's basically an art museum! I never like art but i thought maybe I should check it out and see if i have any hidden interest.. I found out that I AM REALLY NOT AN ARTISTIC PERSON! haha.. I see lots of people standing in front of an art piece, in deep thoughts, looking like they are really trying to understand the message the artist is trying to convey.. But to me, art pieces are just paintings of sceneries.. I don't see any latent meaning.. That's how poor I am ! haha..

After the museums, I just went to Hard Rock cafe to buy my tee and I realise I should stop buying HRC tees wherever I go if not I will really go BROKE in a month's time.. haha... But that tee's special cos it has 71 on it! As usual, I bought my Magnet for collection & of I headed to buy the most valuable meal in norway- cheeseburgers! I am not a beef person before coming to Europe... But after being here for a month, i am indulging in beef almost every other day... I don't have a choice & I kinda fall in in love with cheeseburgers... :)

Went back to the hostel, get changed & set off to the airport & LONDON!

Norway-Oslo Day 1-6th Feb 08

Happy Birthday Chin Cheong! (dated 6th February 2008)

Date: 5th February 2008

Departure: 2230 hrs @ Cityterminen, Stockholm

Destination: Oslo, Norway

Mode of Transportation: Coach, Swebus

Date: 6th February 2008

Arrival: 0600 hrs @ Oslo Gallerian

We decided to take the Swebus rather than the train because it's the cheapest option and it's a night bus so we could save on one night's accommodation and fully utilise the next day, 6th Feb 08. Something funny to share: there's a toilet on the bus and halfway through the journey, I badly needed the toilet and there were no stops around. I went to the toilet but I couldn't even stand properly because the bus was simply too jerky! I tried so hard to balance myself before I could sit down and pee! I wonder if it had been a guy, what would happen to him?

The moral of the story: Never visit the toilet on the bus when it's moving!

We reached Oslo rather early in the morning and as usual, all the shops aren't opened yet so we decided to first find our hostel and leave our bags before we set off to the tourist office and get the information we needed! It was raining so we were drenched by the time we reached the hostel as we kind of lost our way and frankly speaking, the Norwegians ain't that friendly.. It's like when we wanted to ask for directions, many a times, they just walk past you without any eye contact at all!

After leaving our luggages, we headed straight to the tourist office & fished out all the necessary information and planned our itinerary for the day:

1) Oslo City Hall

2) Kon-Tiki Museum

3) Royal Palace

4) Vigeland Sculpture Park

5) Winter Walk-Akershus Fortress & Castle

6) Chinese New Year "Reunion Dinner" (Kim & Me) @ Lofotstua

The first stop wasn't too bad since every city's City Hall has its own uniqueness.. The interior design is much like the one in Stockholm, with the grand hall being used for functions & banquet. FYI, all the nobel prizes are handed out in the Stockholm CH every 10th December and the most prestigious Nobel Peace Prize is given out in the Oslo CH on the same day.. The walls of the CH are decorated with paintings of Norway's history from the Ice Ages to Viking Age, WWII till the present. We were quite lucky to be able to see one of the minority groups of Norway(from the North) while we were there as it was one of their festive day and a big group of them were in one of the function rooms having breakfast! They've got nice costumes!

Wax Display of the Norwegian kids in minority costume~~

I love this Painting! Totally!!

After the CH hall, we headed straight to the Kon-Tiki Museum. It's one of the MUST-VISIT museums in Oslo because it depicts the story of this Norwegian guy who found this island near the coast of the European continent and his team of 5 sailors and him decided to sail from South America to that coast to prove to the world that the wooden boats of South American origin are capable of sailing to Europe! Not only that, he completed quite a few other sea expeditions! It's the display that's nice I thought. hehe... That's the whole thing about Norway, lots of sea-related exhibitions.. I guess it's because of their Viking History!

Next up was the Royal Palace but we mis-read the opening hours because the royal palace is not opened to the public during winter! It's only opened during Summer because that's the time when the royalties go on holiday! But anyway, the palace is almost similar to the one in Stockholm (same colour-yellow and design). We wanted to catch the change of guards but the weather was freezingly cold and the rain further dampened our spirits to stay. So off we headed to the Vigeland Sculpture Park!

There's a love-&-hate relationship when it comes to this place! Why would I say that? Let's talk about why I hated it! It was raining and this place was covered in Snow & melted ice! Putting it in another way, it should be that there's always a love-&-hate relationship when it comes to SNOW! You love it because it's beautiful--imagine walking along this small path covered with Snow with your background being totally WHITE! How picturesque that image would be! BUT at the same time, you have to be extremely careful because you are always one step away from a FALL on your BUTT! Some description about this place: The whole park is full of sculptures of naked men & women! haha.. Apparently, they call this ART! I don't deny that the sculptures are really very beautiful & gives you a lot of room for imagination! See the photos & you will understand!



After the visit at the sculpture park, we still had a few hours before the winter walk at 5pm so we decided to go SHOPPING! hehe.. We went to this famous place, House of Oslo where they sell all the Made in Norway products but as usual, all of them are SUPER EXPENSIVE! The best thing about this place is the supermarket though.. haha.. First, I must say I am NEVER LIKE WHAT I WILL SAY FOLLOWING THIS SENTENCE IN SINGAPORE but when you are in NORWAY, when everything's 50% mark-up on costs, you behave exactly like ME! There were free food samples in the supermarket so Kim & I tried everything that was available! haha..

Sidetrack a bit: let me tell you a story first.. A girl followed her "friends" to Oslo without planning any of her itinerary with them or by herself. When she reaches Oslo, she never even bother to ask if she could join them & simply just sticked to them! She does everything at x 10000 SLOW speed & when at one of the tourist attractions, she was at least 500m away from them all the time. When the bus back to the city came, her 2 "friends" rushed up to the bus and expected her to follow. She did not because she didn't even see them boarding the bus. The 2 "friends" were stunned when the bus drove away without her, leaving her alone at the bus-stop but there was no way to go back. They felt guilty but none of them had any urge to go back to look for her. They sent her a SMS to give her directions & the meeting point of the next programme. Why did that happen? If you ever find yourself in that girl's shoes, reflect on yourself..What had you done to incur the wrath of others? If you are SMART, you will know who are the characters in the story....

Last destination before our reunion dinner: Winter Walk to the Akershus Fortress & Castle. It is a tour organised by the tourist office & because we got the Oslo Pass-a travel pass that gives you free entrance to 55 museums & free public transport (we bought it 24hours for 176NOK~S$50/-).. I wasn't able to take much photos because the sky was dark by then & the fortress didn't have much lightings.. The tour guide was hilarious! It's supposed to be a ghostly tour as she will tell us the various ghost stories in the Castle so from time to time, she will scream suddenly or make some ghostly sounds & Kim & I were totally laughing at her! But she's a good guide! She's rather old probably in her late 40s or early 50s but she walks SUPER fast & though it was raining, she didn't have any umbrella, cap or gloves with her. She could walk and talk at the same time effortlessly! Initially, both of us were still following her guide but after an hour or so, both of us started to drift away & all we wanted was for the tour to end quickly so that we can have our warm beverage & go for our dinner..

The Fortress~~

Night view from the castle! remember this scenery because I will post the same thing when it's in the day! So compare & contrast!
Finally! At 730pm, we reached the place where one of the tourist office staff recommended for good FISH! We knew food in Norway would be expensive but we felt we should give ourselves a good treat since it was CNY in Singapore that evening & we had missed our reunion dinner! The meal costed me 170 NOK (approximate S$50/-) but it's definitely the best FISH I'd ever had in my life! There wasn't any stink smell at all & the fish was really FRESH & SOFT! The boss of the cafe was very nice as he explained to us the different kind of fish in English then chit-chatted with us like where we came from, the various places to visit etc etc.. He even changed our vegetables away to give us French Fries! haha.. If anyone of you wants to go to Oslo, I would STRONGLY RECOMMEND you to go that restaurant to DINE! see the photos:

Restaurant Name- Lofotstua

Kim & her Coalfish in Cajun Sauce with fries, boiled potatoes & mushrooms

Me & my Coalfish in home-made gravvy with fries, boiled potatoes & bacon

Kim's dish under the microscope

My food under the microscope

I have seen the photos my family members posted on CNY & how I missed those times.. But don't worry, I pampered myself to good food too & it kinda made me feel better though it burned a HOLE in my POCKETS! haha..

End of the 1st day.. we wanted to watch DVD back at the hostel but we were really tired! My feet, having being soaked in the snow, ice & water was totally numb! A long day but a fulfilling one :)