Scandinavia (Almost all of it...) Adventures... 2/2

16th Oct 2007, Tuesday, Narvik -> Fauske

Only have about half a day in Narvik today... so main aim today is to do some trekking up the longer mountain trails up Fagernesfjell... But before that... we have to go for our FREE breakfast!! haha... well, to my pleasant surprise.. the breakfast was very good... it's quite like those breakfast you will have at hotels(Narvik HI Hostel shares the same building as another hotel...) except the fact that there are no waitress around to serve you and you have to clear your own plates... but that's ok... the most important thing is.. the breakfast was good.. haha! bread with ham and cheese... and also scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon... :D

Along the upward urban trek... we can across the mountain cable car..(which is closed sadly...) and a school... kids here must be damn healthy... have to climb the hill everyday... lol =X

due to the absence of exercise for so long... i was quite tired after that short climb... :(


On the way up...


Narvik School!

With the climb... my body got heated up and for the 1st time after so long.. i sweat!!! wahahahah... well, i remember reading somewhere regarding the gulf stream that keeps Narvik's temperature from plunging down(despite it's high latitude)... Anywayz, after reaching the top of the trails, we took a short rest and i suggested to continue on further in... that's when it becomes more like trekking.. haha! well it's kinda muddy all around...


the muddy road up...

After sometime... i was thinking it's not really quite safe to continue... the terrain is changing and there appears to be more big rocks and alot of grass which is seemingly harmless, but actually are hiding large holes which you can fall into... so i decided to turn back... However, manage to take a few picture while i'm up there.. :)


Halfway up...


At the end of my trek..


Mountain side view...

After the trek.. we made our way down...(me almost losing my way... wahahahah) Well, glad that there's no accident this time.. =X quite an interesting trek.. though it was a really really short one... but at least have a bit of fun la.. hehe~~

On our way back to the bus station... we drop by the Tourist information to see if we can get hold on any nice postcards... when we are there, the very helpful lady was talking to us and she intro us to this Norwegian version of 'dried fish', seems similar to our salted fish... when she took one out.. it really smells.. haha... but according to her, if water is added to it, it'll expand and it's colour will change from brown to those kind of white colour we see in cooked fish... interesting eh?? haha.. she didn't add water to it though... it is expensive.. =X

While waiting for the bus... we went to explore areas around the bus station.. and came across this large pyramid shaped silvery thing... was wondering what it is.. but there's a plate at the bottom.. with words written in the opposite way..(ie: when seen from the reflective silvery thing, you can then see what is written) On it is was written "For Fred og Frihet" 1st thing i thought was this is for some person called Fred of something... haha.. but with the help of the translation tool, it actually meant "For Peace and Freedom"... well it suddenly make sense... since Narvik was actually conquered by the Nazis during WWII...



Anyway, we are taking bus to Fauske... somehow this bus ride reminds me of those i took in China, where the driver will be practically driving in a totally dark road at times... at high speeds... lol... Deja vu eh? =X... one interesting thing would be that to get from Narvik to Fauske, the bus actually took a ferry... lol, yeah was quite surprised cos didn't expect it.... was kinda shocked when i see the bus enter the ferry...(wondering where they taking me to sell.. LOL =X)



The bus took us to Fauske.. where we waited about 30 mins for the train to Trondheim to come...

17th Oct 2007, Wednesday, Fauske -> Hell -> Trondheim

From Fauskem we took a train heading towards Trondheim.. however we will be stopping enroute at Hell... yeah.. i mean it... Hell.. i'm going to Hell.. =X

just stopping by for the novelty of it... it's a rather small town... with only a population of 352... lol... Click here for more information on Hell! ok i'm joking... it's here la...

The train ride to Hell was a tedious one.. cos it takes 8+ hours.. and unlink the Kiruna train ride... we don't have a couchette... meaning we have to seat for 8+ hours... damn shagged... :(



Next stop, Trondheim! Trondheim is the 3rd largest city in Norway... After Oslo and Bergen... It used to be the Capital of Norway and was founded by the Viking King Olav Tryggvason in 997. It is famous for being a Harbour... and also for being rainy...

In fact, it rained pretty much the whole day when we are there... so it's quite... demoralising.. lol... but well.. we still managed to do a bit of exploring...

1st stop, the Old town gate... Locals refer to it as the "Bridge of Happiness" and claim that your dreams will come true if you wish for them fervently as you walk across it... yeah i did make a wish...........

ok i lied.. i made alot of wishes... wahahahaha!


Old town Bridge...

However, the wind was strong, and the rain was beating on my face... quite a bad experience... haha... so hurriedly we walked across the bridge to see the Bicycle lift...

Designed to assist bike riders in their ascent of the steep hill, this mechanized conveyor belt (most of which is concealed underground beneath a metal-edged groove in the pavement) hauls bicycles, with their riders, up a steeply inclined stretch of a scenic bike path. The cost for 15 minutes of continuous operation is 100NOK (30+SGD), which you can pay by inserting coins into the machine's coin slot.

Well... as most of you guys can guess... no one actually use it... haha.. just too expensive to use la...(even for the Norwegian) People tend to just get down and push their bicycle up... =X

Our next stop, the Nidaros Domkirke, Trondheim Cathedral... However, enroute we pass by the Thomas Angell's Hus. It was originally built in 1770, and extensively restored according to its original design in 1903, this was conceived as a retirement home for indigent widows. Later, its venue was expanded to allow widows to cohabit with well-recommended widowers outside the bounds of traditional marriages -- a liberal 19th-century trend of which many Trondheimers seem appropriately proud. There's a pleasant garden in the building's interior courtyard, but hours of visitation are erratic(according to online sources) and we are lucky that the gate was unlocked when we are there... haha... just really a stroke of luck.. but well, it's not really something that is so magnificent anyway.. =X

Continuing with our tour... we head on to the Nidaros Domkirke, Trondheim Catherdal. It is quite a magnificent Cathedral, and i have to say that it is the most grand one i've seen so far... It is also said to be Scandinavia's largest medieval Church... If you think the exterior looks grand enough, wait till you enter and see the interior... it's astonishing... haha... i would have went for a guided tour(which cost money) to fully understand this Cathedral... However, as there is a Funeral going on later... all tours are cancelled that day.... sigh............


Nidaros Domkirke


Nidaros Domkirke(Side)


The West Front... click for more info

After the breath taking self tour on the Nidaros Domkirke, we carry on to the Torvet, Trondheim's most prominent traffic circle... in the middle stands the Trondheim Torg, a soaring granite column. At its top stands a statue Olaf Tryggvason, founder of Trondheim. Markings on the pavement, tracking the seasonal direction of the sun, define the column on which he stands as the world's largest sundial...


Trondheim Torg

After seeing the viking king...(ok i can't see him cos he's too high up there... -.-)
we continued to the fish market for some salmon burger~~ haha... the burger was pretty nice and fresh... but it's texture felt like fish cake like texture... so i guess something was added... but well, it's pretty cheap.. 55NOK... quite rare in Norway... lol!

That sort of ended our Trondheim trip... the rain is still going on... and we are waiting for the next train... towards Bergen!!



The train we are taking will be an overnight train... and there are no couchette left... only Sleepers... cost quite alot.. :( but well... it was quite high class la... still got key card one... well on the bright side... i had a god night's sleep after sometime... :)



18th Oct 2007, Thursday, Trondheim -> Bergen

Met with Chiao Luan and Weixian (CL & WX) in Bergen... Bergen is the 2nd largest city in Norwaym after Oslo... Bergen is famous for being the gateway city to the Norwegian Fjord... indeed, we are here for the Fjords! haha...

We waited at the Station for a while... cos it's cold outside and you can only check in at 9am.... lol... but well, after we reach the hostel, it seems that we have to wait till 12pm b4 we can check in as the previous tenants have not checked out yet... :(

So we decided to just visit the Tourist office to see where we can go 1st... This Tourist information is rather large(as compared those in Narvik etc)... The lady recommended us some places to go and that got us started for our journey of the day... Our 1st stop is the Bergenhus fortress, enroute we will pass by(as said by the tourist officer) some 18th century wooden houses... and some careful observation would reveal that some of the houses seems kinda crooked and doesn't seem all that steady... haah! but i'm sure it's safe...*cross fingers* =X

The Bergenhus Fortress seems like quite a nice place... some of the buildings are built during the 1200s, but most of those that we see are actually built during the 19th century... well, along the way we saw a lot of kids(seems like kindergarten age...) they seem to be on excurison... and it's quite funny to see a whole group walking along the streets... haha..(with a few teachers of course) Anyway, we saw them at one of the open field in Bergenhus Fortress... kinda nice eh... miss excursions? =X



Next stop, St Mary Church, as recommended by the tourist office... When we 1st got there... we were kinda disappointed... cos in contrast to the Trondheim Cathedral... it kinda pales in comparison... haha... but well... this building is from the 12th century and is Bergen's oldest building... so.. not as grand.. but you can feel the difference after you enter the church...




After visiting these few places, we went back to our hostels to check in.. and we bought some tuna and decided to have lunch back in our hostels... and that's when we realize... the hostel give free tea!!! wahahahaha... being the typical Singaporeans... all of us had our fair share of FREE stuffs.. :)

Next stop, the Fantoft Stave Church... Saw pictures of this church quite frequently... from magnets to post cards... so i think it should be quite a famous Church... This Church is very different from the few i have seen... it kinda don't look very Caucasian... haha.. and one of them commented that it looked kinda Thai actually.. lol the original Church was built in 1150 and was moved to Fantoft(hence the name) during the 1800s and was burnt down in 1992 and finally rebuilt(an exact replica) in 1997...

We were kinda lost at the start... kinda went the wrong way... and wandered into someone's yard...(lucky we were not prosecuted! haha...)

Did a bit of running around to take photos from different angle.. and being the curious me.. i actually climbed to the other side to see if i can get a better angle.. which well.. it's kinda blocked by trees... haha...


Stave Church


Way back...

After visiting the Stave Church, we took a bus back to the city... and started to climb up Mount Floyen...

the journey up was another tiring uphill climb... (what's with so much climbing.. haha) Kinda similar to Narvik... just that this mountain has more developed pathway up... there's this tram that goes up the mountain(like Hong Kong's Peak...), but we decided to walk up and take the Tram down... Along the way... as we got higher.. we get to see better view of Bergen... it was a nice view really...


Halfway thru...

When we finally reach the top.. view was quite stunning!!(and cold!!!! brrrr) like the view there.. especially when we are there at almost sunset... nice... haha... can see alot of joggers there too... seems like people here will also be very healthy eh..

We also saw a playground at the top... and me and CL decided to try some childhood fun! haha.. swing~~~~ it really feels different swinging at mountain top... looking at the sky... feeling the coolness(or coldness)... so niceeee.... :)



After that.. we took a tram down... and yeah.. it's dinner time!!! However, the things here seem to be pretty expensive...(ok it's ex everywhere in Norway..) and we manage to find a shop with... well, reasonable pricing... we decided to try... the fish!! haha.. i had fried Salmon.. and yes it's delicious... haha... CL and Ant had cod fish and apparently it is very very salty... CL ended eating it with sugar.. =X

Here's the pic.. they looks nice though.. =X



18th-19th Oct 2007, Thursday/Friday, Bergen -> Flåm -> Voss

We left Bergen in the early morning for Flåm... Flåm is situated at the inner end of Aurlandfjord... To get to Flåm, we have to take the Flåmsbana... The line is 20.2 km long. The top station Myrdal is 865 metres above sea level, while Flåm is by the fjord at sea level. In order to manage the climb up the mountainside, the line twists and turns and has twenty tunnels to gain altitude; even so, the steepest incline of the railway is 1:18, the third steepest adhesion railway in the World. Like most of the other operational railway lines in Norway, Flåmsbana is a standard gauge (1435 mm) railway and electrified.

The scenery at Flåm is really amazing... haha... i didn't think it would be that good... and well i guess i'm wrong... coupled with the bright and sunny weather... even when i look at the pictures now.. i really felt that it stood out so much!!


Stunningly beautiful

I really liked the photos taken where the snowcapped mountain had it's reflection in the water with green/brown mountain beside it.. the colour is so vivid.. haha


See what i mean?

We decided to wander around and follow one of the trails to Brekkefossen Waterfall.. However, in the end due to time constraints... we didn't manage to reach the waterfall.. :(



We rush back to take a ferry... yes... ferry ride to Gudvangen and then finally a bus ride to Voss.. where we'll stay for the night...

The ferry ride was... ok... scenery was nice.. but wind is too damn strong.. haha.. and there's alot of erm, Japanese around... and kinda noisy actually.. hehe =X... it would be nice to just take the cruise with your loved ones...(with no one being so noisy around you of course..)



After the ferry ride and bus ride... we finally got to Voss... kinda tired after a whole day of activity so we quickly walked to our hostel... it's quite a distance away though... :(

Well, one good thing that happened is that we got extra discount for our room... hehe.. ok.. it's not a very good thing but... we are entitled to 15% discount cos we have HI card... then the receptionist was calculating... and it appears that it's very hard for her... and after we have calculated the correct value for her... she did another 15% discount from that value......... well... we didn't cheat her... we just didn't tell her that is wrong... =X

the room was very good... comfy and nice.. though a bit far from the city center... but well.. we got quite a discount.. so no complains.. =X



Well... i slept pretty much as soon as i finish showering.. haha.. was kinda tired la.. =X and another long day tomorrow ma... hehe...(now everyone knows i sleep alot! =/)

20th Oct 2007, Saturday, Voss -> Finse -> Oslo

Woke up early today too... another early train ride.. haiz... had our quite nice complimentary breakfast(yay! free!!) at the hostel... then off we head to Finse.. just a short 40mins away...

Finse is at 1,222m is the highest station on the entire Norwegian railway system. Since there are no roads to Finse, the railway provides the sole means of transportation to and from Finse. During summer, however, it is possible to walk or cycle to Finse.

WX said that there's Glaciers here but well, i don't think i saw any... haha... but weather was good and at Finse... we managed to have our 1nd round of snowman building... and... snowball fight!!! haha!!! i was quite good.. i feel.. hehe... though i tio 'head shot' by CL...(didn't expect it ma..) but well.. it's quite fun.. but we were playing around a muddy area... so after we have depleted the snow.. the mud appears and... yeah... it get a little messy... =X



After hours of snow fun... haha... we continued the long long train ride to Oslo... we bidded WX farewell halfway through the journey.. and well.. slept through the rest of it... ehe...


Finse...

Oslo was just a stop over as we are planning to take a cruise from Oslo to Frederickshavn(in Denmark)... I was busy walking around Oslo trying to get rid of my Norwegian Kroners... since i won't be coming back anytime soon... and exchanging it back to DKK would be quite stupid.. so shop around for souvenirs lor..(or food!) hehe

well.. thought we were early at 1st.. so we walked around a bit.. and got to a pretty junkie area... see alot of those Norwegian Ah bengs and Ah lians... =X don't really have a good impression of Oslo... cos it's too expensive... and i find that of the Scandinavian capitals, Oslo is the one with the most junkies... hehe...

We ended up kinda late for the Ferry... so we ran there... yes ran... cos we are scared we will get left behind.. till Someone told Ant(who is infront) that the ferry won't be leaving so soon... phew.... really sweat like hell this time... :(

However, when we enter the Ferry.. to our surprise... it's actually a Cruise! haha.. and we got a cabin for ourselves!!! so cool!! and it cost us only 75 SGD!! so cheap... =X Cruise for 75 SGD leh... well it's pretty much like a cruise ship.. there's restaurant.. casino... bar.... etc etc... CL went to buy her perfume..(i went to smear some on myself..wahahahah) and we bought a Baileys to drink.. hehe... Ant drank very little.. followed by CL.. and i drank the most and soon, i'm floating around.. =X



21st Oct 2007, Sunday, Frederikshavn -> Skagen -> Cph

Last day of my 10 days trip... we are going to Skagen today... At Skagen, you can find Grenen, the northern-most point of continental Europe... in addition, this is where the two parts of the North Sea, the Kattegat and the Skagerrak meet and this makes for turbulent seas and strandings... As the train station lady in Denmark told us.. u can see the 2 seas 'swooosh... swoooshh....' LOL! and it's really true!!! haha... u can really see the 2 waves clash to each other and u can seldom see it anywhere!

It's a really nice place to just have a leisurely tour and walk along the beaches... But in my oppinion, there's just too many tourists... haha... u see the “Sandormen” (”The lug worm”) bringing loads and loads of tourists into Grenen... and well.. it kinda make this picturesque place too... human?? haha!!


Grenen



Initially we planned to visit the Church in Skagen that is overwhlemed by sand dunes... but as we are pretty tired(in particular me and CL...)... we decided to call it a day... and took a leisurely walk..(though it start to drizzle..) back to the station... where we realised we missed the train and have to wait anoter hour for the next train.. we had lunch at a rstaurant near the station...

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Over the trip was a very eye opening one... though it was kinda rush... i always liked leisurely tour... but i'm really glad i got to see the stunning scenery that Norway have... to play with snow... it was fun! haha.. to experience a different culture... travel in train... now.. time to rest... and recharge myself for my next trip!!! haha!! :)

Kelvin

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Now playing: Missy Higgins - Going North
via FoxyTunes

Scandinavia (Almost all of it...) Adventures... 1/2

Ok.. i heard complains that i haven't been updating... haha... yeah just came back from my Scandinavia trip on monday... then got projects and stuffs... so busy clearing that.. then after that slack a bit and... hehe.. too lazy to start... whole 10 days of journey to type down!!! damn xiong ok??? :)

Anyway i'll start now.. maybe will split it into 2 posts... see how it goes ba...

Photos for the overall trip will usu be posted at the end of the section... and usually i will only display paranormic pictures... :D

11th Oct 2007, Thursday, Copenhagen -> Stockholm

Start of my 10 days journey... 1st stop... Stockholm... since i have gotten my Scanrail pass... took a supposedly 5 hours train up to Stockholm from Copenhagen... this train ride was quite a tiring one... heard alot of Danish(or sweddish) announcements along the way... and the train stopped and slowed down on many occasions... in the end... we only reached Stockholm after a 7+ hours ride... the train was delayed for a whole 2+ hours... crap... so was kinda late when we finally reach Willy's place..(in KTH) and we haven't had our dinner... and the supermarkets are closed... :(

But well.. at least we are staying with friend... so.... he offered us food he had in the fridge for us to cook... hehe... not bad! :)



Ended the night after talking a bit.. bathing, unpacking and checking mails.... long day tomorrow!!! exploring Stockholm~ :)

12th Oct 2007, Friday, Stockholm

Started this supposedly long day with a supposedly leisurely walk to the metro station... well after walking for some distance, we realise that it wasn't such a leisure walk due to the pretty overwhelming wind... wind in Stockholm is quite strong i must say... -_-

1st thing that caught my eye at the train station..(ignore yesterday night.. i was sleepy.. hehe)


What are you hissing about?? wanna Hiss together?? =X

ok.. lame one... but well, starting lame makes my day easier ok?? lol

The train system is pretty much the same as Denmark... except that Denmark is more 'open'.. u have to do the 'clipping' of the card yourself.. but in Stockholm you have to go through a station officer... bought this 8 trips card at 160 Kr...(cheaper than Cph...:() looks more.. erm.. outdated than Denmark.. hehe...


Started with a rainy day... went to the tourist info(standard procedure) to get some maps and info 1st... then decided to head for The Royal Palace, Kungliga Slottet, 1st... Quite a grand palace, coversquite a big land area... but didn't go into the museum...(it cost money.. and i'm pro free tours.. hehe) we are trying to catch the change of guards.. which is at 12 pm... so since we are there earlier... so we decided to walk around 1st...



1st stop within the area of The Royal Palace.. the Storkyrkan... Stockholm Cathedral... Most famous thing within this is the statue of Saint George and the Dragon... this statue dates back to the 15th century... and it depicts Sweden's struggle against evil..(Denmark) For the full story of St George and the Dragon click here... For info on this statue, click here...


St George and the Dragon


Explanation

This Church is quite a grand one(not the most grand though) with quite a bit of mural paintings here and there... a few interesting statues(like St George and the Dragon) and also a painting called "The Parhelion Painting"(original is lost.. but the the one showing is also painted in the 1600s)


The Parhelion Painting

Since i don't usually visit Church in Singapore... it's quite an eye opener for me.. Afterall, Churches are an important part of life in Europe and many part of the culture can be found there...



After the visit, we realise it's time... and we headed off for the change of guards(COG)...


i think this is asking dog owners to take care that dogs don't shit inside the Church.. =X

Change of guards was... ok... haha.. didn't really felt that is was very magnificent... maybe cos it's just a normal day...(not weekend even) Not really alot of people there... but i saw rainbow there~ haha...


Don't the lady seem to enjoying the rainbow? =X

tried my 1st paranomic shot here.. hehe...


Looks ok la... got rainbow leh~~ haha =X



After the COG, we continued on to Gamla Stan, the Old street of Stockholm... supposedly a good place to do some shopping(for souvenirs..) the street do look like those olden days kind of street... with quite some gradient at certain points... and not to mention.. lots of shops selling souvenirs around.. but... sorry guys.. really to ex to buys things back... =X(Warning: Scandinavia is expensive!!!)

Had Lunch at this place called Cafe Art... quite good.. think we spent 69 SEK and had a very nice meal... Curry Chicken Potato~~~ it was nice... and considerably cheap!! 10+ SGD... good bargain i felt...



After Gamla Stan... we decided to go towards the Stadshuset, Stockholm City Hall.. saw from Lonely planet that there's a tower we can go up to view the Stockholm Scenery... but unfortunately.. we are pretty late.. so it was closed.. :(

The City Hall itself was ok i felt..(since i never got to go in.. think must pay... lol..) but the scenery outside was quite nice.. we reach near sunset... and yes.. it was a good timing i must say... Happy trigger time!~~~ :D



And here's a few paranomic shots i took... :)
i really dunno where this place is......... =X

Left view from city hall...

Right view from city hall....


After visiting the Old City Hall.. we went to have dinner... saw this entry about a Food Court called Kungshallen... FOOD COURT IN SWEDEN!?!? haha... decided to check it out... and we are pleasantly surprised... it's really like food court in Singapore.. haha.. think along the line of China Square Food Court... haha... it sells a variety of food... different kind of cuisines... and i had pizza... with Drinks..(drinks are expensive in Europe) for just 70SEK!! haha... and when i saw pizza.. i dun mean those kind of personal pan... it's like those family size pizza we have in SG... OMG... so happy... and so full!! =X

After dinner... since it's late.. and we don't club... we decided to rest early tonight... so we headed back home~ hehe... after washing up... wanted to write a postcard home... but i was too tired... lie down on bed and fell asleep almost immediately... LOL =X

13th Oct 2007, Saturday, Stockholm

Since we only have half a day in Stockholmn today...(leaving Stockholm on a train at 16.58) Initially wanted to visit Skansen and Vasamuseet... but as we spent quite sometime in Vasamuseet... and also, i realise i left my long sleeve tee at Willy's place.. i have to go back and get it!! crap! :(

Vasamuseet is a maritime museum dedicated to the Vasa ship which sunk on it's maiden voyage in the 17th century... the ship was almost fully intact when salvaged... It was quite magnificent.. seeing a 17th century ship right before your eyes... reading about Sweddish way of life during the 17th century... and going through some of the methods they used to preserve the ship and also not forgetting... archaeological methods to identify the skeleton found on board... they actually manage to create a face out of the skeleton.. lol... well to a certain extent.. that part looks pretty eerie... =X

Since we are kept a distance from the Vasa, it's hard to take photo of it, unless with longer exposure time... so.. some photos might seem a bit blur.. cos my hand is not like a tripod u know.. LOL...



Well this is the 1st Attraction that we paid to go... had student price!! haha.. so nice... and well.. it's quite an eye opener...

After the museum.. we went to have lunch again at Kungshallen.. haha.. one last time at food court ma.. =X then i raced back to KTH to get my long sleeve tee... after i reach Willy's place, i realise to my horror that the main door is locked... OMG... and i can't call thru to Anthony(my Danish line cannot call out to SG line) and i don't have willy's Number... LOL.. but luckily i saw someone walked pass and he let me in after knowing i'm Willy's friend.. :)

After a mad rush to and fro..(i bought a single ticket and it covers transport within Stockholm for 1 hr.. so i have to rush to and fro in that hr........) everything's set.. and we bid Stockholm one last goodbye... and headed off for the 17+ hours train towards Kiruna.. within the Arctic circle...(how cool is that?!?!)

14th Oct 2007, Sunday, Stockholm->Kiruna

17 hours train ride is nothing fun... haha.. couple the ride with a crying baby..... it's called unearthly torture... sigh... but thanx to my ipod.. i'm able to not go through the torture!! yay~ =X



before we went to sleep... i was a little hungry so asked Anthony to go to the cafeteria for some food... wanted to eat a baguette for 40SEK... but we saw this Reindeer with bread which cost 10 SEK... wanted to try that.. but apparently the waitress thought we wanted the Reindeer meal..(with mash potato and some berry jam) and it cost us a bomb!! :(

After the extravagant dinner... we went back to sleep.. couldn't really get to sleep.. so was just watching out the train window...(might just catch aurora u know.. whahahah)

Finally after a grueling 17 hours ride..(ok it wasn't that bad... since we get to lie down and sleep.. lol) we finally reach our destination.. Kiruna.. an old mining town in the arctic circle...

1st impression when we stepped out of the train is that... everywhere is snow.. haha... really snowy... and i couldn't resist it but scope a handful of snow to feel it... haha... 1st time touching snow ok...?? well... it's a little like crushed ice.. very very fine though... maybe a bit like the snow ice desserts u can find in SG.. lol... well that's the initial excitement... after walking a bit.. we realise... walking on pure snow is hard... due to the layer.. u have to use quite a bit of strength to pull yourself out of it..(think mud.. just cleaner)

Wanted to buy the train tickets for our train tomorrow to Narvik... but the station looks closed.. As it is a Sunday(Practically everything is closed on Sundays in Europe..) so we thought that we will just come by tomorrow to buy the tics before we go... and so we started to try to navigate to the hostel... seriously.. it's quite confusing at the start... esp everywhere is white and u hardly know where u are facing etc... haha.. but we made it in the end..(or i wouldn't be typing this... lol)


Yellow House~

However, checking in only starts at 2pm... and we are like... 3 hours early?? luckily.. we saw 3 other Asians there too.. apparently they are gonna check in to this Hostel too... They are from Thailand and will be staying for 2 days... so after some chatting and putting down of our things etc... we decided to go and find some lunch together...

sadly... as i've said.. Europe practically shuts down on Sunday... so yeah, we can't find anything to eat..so we settled with buying bread with ham and potato salad(it was nice!) form the ICA Supermart... After buying the food and having our lunch(on the bench outside the hostel), the Thais started to roll balls of snow.. and it kinda struck us to build snowman.. haha... and yeah so we started... with one.. then 2... then one last small one.. happy family! hahaha... Well since it's the 1st time i've ever tried building snowman... it's quite an interesting experience... lol



Time flies.. especially when you are enjoying it.. haha.. soon it's 2pm.. and all of us checked in... and well, we are neighbours.. haha.. the hostel isn't running at full capacity(since it's off-peak) so it's nothing surprising... The hostel was quite nice.. very well equipped.. and it even have a bath tub!!! haha...



After checking in and settling down... we decided to explore Kiruna together... haha.. See i'm so friendly! :D Anyway, since most places are closed... we went to the FREE places... lol... 1st Stop: Kiruna Church...

It's a pretty unique building... It's one of Sweden's biggest wooden buildings... not too bad from a mining town...



After going to the Church where we just explored the areas around it(since tours are mostly closed till winter..) and well... i had the honor of seeing Anthony run like no tomorrow.. LOL =X

After a little exploring.. it was getting dark so we decided to head back for dinner and rest for the day... and hopefully i'll be able to see mysterious light glimmering in the sky....

sadly... the night was very cloudy... and well, i dozed off pretty soon.. haha! woke up at 3am.. but well.. cloudy still... so went straight back to bed... sigh... 1 night down... no aurora... :(

but anyway, here's the paranormal for Kiruna...


Kiruna Church Head on


Kiruna Church Sideview


View from Kiruna Church


Kiruna Mine

15th Oct 2007, Monday, Kiruna->Narvik

Last day in Kiruna... The train that leaves to Narvik will leave at 10.44am... so we decided to visit the Tourist information 1st to ask about the train tickets, and to walk around after that... it turns out that the train tickets are to be bought on board... so well.. alot of time wasted walking here and there for the train tickets.. =/

We walked towards the town hall after that.. since we have time... haha...


Welcome to Kiruna~ Ironically we only see it on the day we are leaving.. haha!

One thing to note about snow... nice to see, fun to play... but when it starts to melt... it's a killer!!! lol.. the floor become ultra slippery... and it gets so wet and dirty... muddy.... lol... aftermath of the snow!!! ewwwwwwwww~



Soon it's time to bid Kiruna farewell.. but fret not.. i'll be back for Aurora in December..!! wahahahah... =X

Train ride to Narvik was a visually pleasing one... with snow covered mountains... Vast lakes, impressive views of valleys and experience the trains climbing up and down the mountain..(i can feel it due to the pressure difference... you know? the sensation in your ears??)



Here's a few paranormal i took while the train stopped halfway..(think waiting ot climb up the mountain..)





Narvik is a city situated in the innermost part of Oftofjord...(I'm insde a Fjord!! lol) 1st stop, checking in to our hostel... HI Hostel in Narvik~ The room wasn't ready yet when we reach so we left our bags at the counter and head off to explore Narvik..!! It would be almost mandatory to drop by the tourist office... the people there are very helpful..(love their service) so we'll just drop by the Tourist Information to ask for advise... There's supposedly quite alot of activities here but since it's off season now... most of it is closed... but one good thing about Scandinavia is that... the trails etc are free.. =X haha... and you don't need to any permit to trek it... so i suggested that maybe we will just follow a trail.. and maybe trek further and see how far we can go b4 we have to turn back...

1stly.. the lady at the tourist info suggested for us to visit the 5000 year old moose carving... so.. why not?? 5k years leh!!! haha... so we started our journey... at a few instance i was thinking if i went the right way... cos to get to the carving.. it seems that u have to pass by someone's back yard... so weird.. haha... but anyway... we got to it... after a little bashing thru some vegetation... but well... it was... ok... haha... a carving loh... =X... we then moved a it higher up to have a view of the 'lake'(it turns out to be the sea...)


Near the 5000 years old Moose area...


on the way to the 'lake'

After the carving... we decided to move towards the 'lake' to have a better view of it... after some walking.. we reach the place.. it was quite nice.. to see the very vast lake and with mountains as background... here's a paranormal on it



I also tried taking some pictures... like this one...


Trying to mimic little Mermaid... hehehe =X

Well... unfortunately there was an accident here... I was taking pictures and suddenly i heard a 'Poooom' sound and when i turn over i saw a splash of water... =X apparently Ant fell into the 'lake' and his camera got submerged in water... so..... we head back to hostel... for him to clean up and change his jeans maybe... before continuing...

After cleaning up, we decided to try to take a trail maybe up the mountain... but well, we realise we walked the wrong way... haha.. cos at the end... we reach this part where there's a gate... and u have to cross the TRAIN RAILS to continue... well.. i still wanna live... so... didn't proceed further... and even worse.. we pass by 2 cemeteries on our way there... argh! =/

The sky is getting dark... well as most of you should know.. when you are nearer to the poles... the day/night get shorter in winter/summer... it's only 6 plus pm and it's almost dark like 8 or 9pm in SG... so we decided to call it a day and drop by the Supermarket... and bought 2 pizzas..(again) to eat as dinner... things are pretty ex in Norway... a very simple meal will cost maybe.. 20+ to 30 SGD.... sigh... so eat the thrifty way loh...

Our hostel actually have a balcony... i was thinking it might be good that we can lounge there(with windbreakers..) and wait for the Aurora... but unfortunately.. the sky was still pretty cloudy till i dozed off(again!)... well.. no luck with the Aurora 2 days in a row... sigh... better luck hopefully in December...... *Prays to Guan Yin Ma* hehe...



Kelvin
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Now playing: Missy Higgins - Sugarcane
via FoxyTunes

What do u do when u have inconsiderate container mates??

What do you do when you have inconsiderate container mates who don't wash their utensils after using??



1st, you put up a general notice...



When things don't get better... it was left there.. no one bothered to clean up for them..........

till one day... someone cannot stand it anymore.............. it was cleaned up!


Tada!!!

and of course... have to put up another notice as a WARNING!!!!!!!!



LOL... serious sia...

PS: It's not me who clean it up... another nice person... i would have done that if it was left till tomorrow... lol

Kelvin

Helsingor & Rosklide trip...

29th September:

Woke up damn early today... about 6 plus ba... Cos its gonna be a long day for us... planned a one day trip around Denmark... haha... quite excited about it.. 2 main highlights of the day... Krongborg Castle at Helsingor.. the castle that inspired Hamlet by Shakespears and the Vikings museum in Rosklide...

Helsingør (Elsinore)

1st Destination of the day... Helsingør, in English it's known as Elsinore... From here, u can actually see Sweden's Helsingborg... Read more about this place by clicking on the link! :)

The journey for the day started off with this...


The 24 hour ticket!!! haha... it's kinda stupid cos a 2 way ticket to Elsinore will cos is 130 bucks while a 24 hour ticket is only 110 bucks... haha...

Journey from Lyngby to Elsinore takes about... 30 to 45 mins.. it's pretty fast considering that it is quite far away... Quite like the trains in Denmark.. it looks new... and they have LED display which shows which station u are at and which station u are approaching... there's even dots to show ur proximity to the next station.. ie: the lesser the dots the nearer u are... Singapore should adopt this system man! haha...

1st impression when i reach Elsinore... it's a very beautiful town... hell, even the train station looks like some kind of castle like building... haha! the streets are those old medieval kind of streets... and as the other parts of Denmark are... u can almost see no tall buildings.. and any tall buildings there are will be some historical buildings... HOW NICE!!

Since we reach pretty early.. and we realised that the toursim office is sitll closed till 10.30am... we decided to walk around the town 1st... there's a large network of wide pedestrian street (cars will pass by sometimes too!) which alot of smalls stalls around... and also we passed by a few pastries shops... omg.. the pastries looks damn nice!!! haha... one more objective of the day then.. TO EAT DANISH PASTRIES!!! hehe...

After walking for sometime, we realised it's already 10.30(time flies..) so we went to the tourism office... to get some maps and maybe advice on where to go... Well as expected from our research.. it's the same few places to go.. hehe =X



After walking for some time in the ultra strong wind...(yes it's really strong!!! for a moment i can't move forward lor!!! =/) we finally is near the Kronborg castle!! It's a really nice castle... the view from far is damn nice... a castle just by the sea... haha.. no wonder Shakespear decided to write Hamlet.. hehe( Shakespears was inspired by this castle to write Hamlet, in fact Hamlet was supposed to take place there!)

Here's the photos~

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Get your own

From Kronborg, u can actually see Sweden... on the opposite shore is Helsingborg.. As this castle is by the sea.. the wind there is also super-duper-ultra strong... phew.. what's with the strong wind in Denmark sia.. LOL... but i must say... nice scenery there...

Here are some paranormal pictures i took.. :) not very nice but i think it's a bit better...=X


Krongborg Castle... from afar...


Krongborg from the side...


More of Kronborg...


Kronborg Square...


View of Sweden from the Castle..

After having a happy trigger session of my camera... haha.. we decided to walk back to the town... on our way.. we drop by a part which is like a protruding part of Elsinore... and saw this statue..



Don't know what it is about... tried to research online but to no avail... =/


Anyway, we continued on to the next attraction, Church of St. Mary...

After some walking... we finally reach the place... however, it seems closed and we can't seem to find the main entrance... haha.. saw a door and we just open and go in.. =X

Well, it's quite a simple Church... nothing much really... maybe becos today is off season so really quiet.. hehe... in you guys are interested can read about it, just click on the link! Tried taking a few photographs.. but that place damn dark.. cos it's all enclosed place like dat... and it's quite eerie there i tot... like those kind of horror movie like dat... and maybe one scene can actually go into the movie "The Omen".. hehe.. =X



After the Church.. it started to rain so we carried on to walk the other parts of the town... but as it's raining.. so we decided to just go and buy our lunch(Danish pastries) and go back... However as Anthony read somewhere that there's a very nice ice cream stall somewhere there.. so we decided to look for it!! and this is what we found...


The ice cream stall~

And this is what we got!


Danish Ice cream!!

haha...see clearly and there's a WHOLE LOT OF WHIPPED CREAM on it.. haha! i went in and asked for the ice cream and the stall owner asked if i want whipped cream.. i hesitated and she said "you should have it, it's the danish way!"

haha... glad i did.. it was quite nice... with the cream and some fruity syrup.. yum yum!!!


Here's me with the ice cream!! :D


Group photo!

After the treat.. we hurried over to the train station to catch the train to Rosklide.. for the Viking museum..which closes at 5pm...



Well got onto the train... which saw a word Rosklide on it.. so we just boarded it.. after taking the ride for about 1 hr plus... a train conductor came up and while checking our tickets.. asked us where we are going.. we told her "Rosklide" and she said something in English but we couldn't catch much of it.. but heard something like "Glamso"... she left and we were pretty much lost(literally and also lost with what she told us)... Luckily.. a very nice guy walked up to me and asked me where i'm going.. i told him "Roskilde" and he told me that we are at "Glamso" now.. and have to take a backward train to Rosklide... OMG... -.-

Well.. the journey back will be about at least 45 mins.. and it's already 4 plus then.. haha! there goes our Vikings Museum.. but nonetheless.. i'm really glad for the Danish guy!! they are really so helpful! :)


We got off the next stop... and waited for the train back... An American girl was lost too... haha.. same mistakes.. cos apparently the train didn't stop at Roskilde but passes by it... :(

the train back was here and we boarded it(after asking for help) and after boarding the train.. we realise, to our horror.. that the train is spoilt and we have to wait for another one... talk about bad luck eh!!! =/


Changing trains...

After some changing of trains and stuffs... we finally reach Roskilde...


Fianlly after a long journey... :)

Roskilde Cathedral is our 1st stop... quite a nice Catherdral.. towering and vert prominent... haha... seems like Buildings in Denmark like to use red bricks for thier structures... We then carried on to the vikings Museum... though we knew it's closed.. just wanted to see if we can see any viking ship etc there... however.. it was kinda disappointing for me as i'm expecting something magnificent.. but the ships were... errm... normal? haha...

on the way there we saw a sign... "Fiskeri og badning forbudt"... wonder what it means??? haha

It means... "Fishing and bathing prohibited"... =X



On our way back to the train station... i decided to eat the Danish Pastries i bought... :)


Danish Pastries anyone?? :)


Yum yum!

The pastries is also full of whipped cream.. haha.. went into the shop and asked for something Danish.. =D

quite nice though.. the chocolate was ok.. the crust is superb!! haha!


After that.. supposed to go back to Elsinore to see the night scenery of Kronborg... but i was really quite tired.. so decided to go home.. hehe =X

On our way back... we took a double decker train!!! haha.. so cool!!! then we enter.. happily go to the 2nd floor.. and to our surprise, it's empty!!! wahahaha... so we happily joyfully gracefully took out all our stuffs and started eating... and... then... the conductor came... and we realised that it is a 1st class seats... LOL!! but well.. at least we sat there for a while.. here's the pictures!!! :)



One thing about their trains.. so nice one... all got those table for u to eat etc... hehe...

Well.. that concludes my long trip for the day... walked alot.. seen quite alot... can't wait for my next travel... haha!! :)

Kelvin