Summer Travels 2

12/06 Ulvik

woke up late for breakfast... but then again.. we were damn early for the bus for ulvik..
so spent quite some time having breakfast at the dining hall..
wished i could spend more time there though.. they got free flow milk!!! ermm..

walked to the bus station.. almost took the wrong bus...

the ride to Ulvik took almost 2 hours..ard there. cant really remember now..
passed through the mountains.. and the view is spectacular.. there was this great waterfall along the way and the bus driver even stopped for a while for the tourists to take some pictures...
nice fella i must say.. normal drivers will just zoom past the whole thing...

passed by different fjords.. lakes.. and mountains.. and more waterfalls of course...
these things may sound the same to you pple out there.. but trust me.. I still havent got sick of the environment yet.. i dont think i ever will...

anyway.. we reached ulvik and past the campsite we were supposed to stay in...
and mr nice bus driver offered to drive us back after the dropped the rest of the tourists!!
hes the best driver on earth...

the cabins we stayed in was quite new.. the keys were left on the doors...
whoever wanna stay will just go into the cabins and the owner will do rounds in the evening and collect the rent....
we went to walk around the Ulvik sentrum... its not a big place..
can walk from 1 end to the other in like 15 minutss? hahaahah
but its a nice little town... hardly any vehicles... nice view of the Ulvik fjord... and some plantations around the town...

we went to some hiking trail... and almost lost our way there...took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in the middle of nowhere...
went back for a late lunch and slacked in the cabin again...
dinner..
chit chat...
then planned for the next day..

damn.. i am becoming a tour guide....
planning all these with the rest giving me responses like "anything lor" pisses me off.
had to control myself before i erupt...
hmmm

Summer Travels 1

ok.. here goes.. 1 month after i uploaded the photos.. haah

10/06
Leaving Trondheim... I was a bit too tired from the previous night's dinner to feel anything..
well.. almost missed riccardo at the train station.. we were like waiting at the opposite platform for one another..
got to talk a bit to him cos the train was delayed due to cleaning and stuff like that...

the train ride to oslo was so much better than the bus ride.. it was comfortable... clean... and the view was awesome...it was still snowing at some parts of norway! in the middle of SUMMER..
not very heavy though.. but still... snow in june??????

reached Oslo in the evening... met Jiayi and her mum over there.. (J & M)
sure felt weird to be speaking mandarin after 6 months...
real awkward.. not that my standard of spoken chinese is very high in the first place...

we hopped on to the train headed for bergen.. but the plan was to stop at Voss and meet the rest of the guys there...
we had no idea where and when to stop... so... its gonna be a fun night..
slept a bit but woke up at 3am... of course its bright outside already.
no regrets waking up so early in the morning.. the view was fascinating...
frozen lakes...snow capped mountains... cabins in the middle of nowhere...
i was just sitting in the cafe and drinking tea all the time...
then this norwegian guy came along and we started to talk a bit...
passed by a place called Geilo... i got the impression that its a winter palace or something.. its just wonderful...

sitting in the cafe... looking at the snow... half frozen lakes... it suddenly struck me... j&m dont really have any winter clothing... they gonna suffer man.. hahaah


11/06 Voss

finally reached voss.. at 5+am.. everything is closed there... but the walk to the hostel was nice... fresh air.. no traffic to worry about..
the hostel was beside a lake... we had breakfast outside the hostel's dining hall.. the water was so still it formed a almost perfect reflection of the mountains...
spent the rest of the morning basking in the sun... waiting for the reception and the staff to start cleaning the rooms for us....

the staff was kind enough to store our lugguage for us and we took the chance to walk around Voss...
saw some rowers.. or whatever you call those pple rowing boats ( there was a competition that day)
we went up to this stupid museum.. which was open only from 1100-1400 everyday except monday... slackers...

went to get some food for lunch...and waited in the lobby area for those 2 to come...
only weekiat and derek will be joining us and they are coming from bergen.. cos elgin had some problems with his passport and couldnt make it out of spain..
was so afraid that they will be late or miss the train to Voss...
we went for a walk in the afternoon again...
as the 3 of us were walking up the slopes... i saw 2 chinese guys walking towards the hostel.. and i knew it was the 2 of them coming.. how many chinese do you see ard norway? haha

after they checked in.. we went to the town again... and bought some groceries... portable bbq pit.. hotdogs.. bread.. beer.. pasta and stuff...
plan was to head back towards the hostel for a bbq.. but as we were heading back.. we saw this open field just beside the lake and decided to have our bbq there..
the experience is just awesome...the sun.. lake... snow beyond the lakes...light breeze..
there were quite a few paragliders in the area...
Voss is actually a place for those outdoor sports pple as well.. can consider coming back next time to try these stuff..

spent the evening resting in the hostel... watching soccer... handball and the 6th sense on tv.. haha

Photos are Uploaded

took me 1 whole afternoon to load whatever pictures i have..
links are on the right hand side

there are some photos added into the previous folders as well... london.. oslo... cabins.. etc..

will have more to come.. as soon as i gain access to my frens' ftp sites...

Last 5 hours

Yeap.. I am sitting in the sch library.. with 5 more hours before I leave the beautiful city of Trondheim...

Finished my exams yesterday.. and as the paper was quite what I expected....
haha
hope to get at least a B... an A will be a bonus.. though all i need is a pass.. hahah

so we decided to go town after the exams for lunch and for us to close our bank accounts... and do some souvenier shopping..
the 4 of us... clemence.. riccardo.. ry and me were walking out of the Spectrum..
we were walking to town and told riccardo to meet along the river.. cos he need to go off to get his bike..

the 3 of us took a turn and went another way instead of following the river...and forgot abt the italian altogether.. hahaah
he ended up cycling up and down the river and waiting for us on the bridge.. opps
sorry cropo.. haha

anyway.. nothing spectacular about lunch.. only ry and i were eating.
just a Big Bite sub... and i bought quite a few stuff to bring home...
went past the Kristiansten Festning (the fortress) on the way home..
went to Rema1000 to buy 5 blocks of brown cheese each!!!
ahahah
the cashier must be thinking these 2 asian guys are crazy

went back.. packed my bags... and we went over to Steinan for a French dinner..
hmm.. someone else got french dog.. but i got french dinner.. hmmmmmmmm

it was sort of a after exams and good bye party/gathering... quite a few people were there..
some italians.. norwegians... germans -- actually only 1..franziska..
and basically the 4 AFL renewal team..
hahaha

clemence prepared some great stuff.. foie gaz (sorry .. someone correct my spelling here)
and some other french dinner stuff.. cheese.. banana cake..
and they were fabulous dishes..
with some french wine too!

there were actually quite a number of bottles of wine... ry and i bought a bottle there too..
so we stayed on.. talked... some of them started dancing...
nice party...very nice...
maybe can bring this culture back to sg huh.. haha
well.. maybe not with my class though..freq a bit off... hmm.. opps..
hah.. we'll see..

and so.. we left at 3.30 am.. and the sky looks like 6.30 am in sg... and thats basically the whole evening..

came to sch ard 9 this morn... took pictures... nice pictures... and started to update this blog here.. hah
wanted to get some NTNU souveniers.. but they didnt look so nice.. and they are surely overpriced..

its now 11am... and i will be leaving with the 4pm train...
so.. dont expect so many updates from now.. hahah
unless there is free internet all over in Bergen and Poland...

yeap.. thats all for now... i shall go back and enjoy this wonderful place before i leave...

Ha Det Bra!!

Pirbadet

8th June.. 1 day before my last exam...
went to Valgrinda in the morning as usual... but its like more of a routine than real studying there..
i am becoming more of a full time tourist and a part time student.. at least since the last exams..

going everywhere with a camera in hand... snapping pictures..
basically.. doing everything except studying...

how about last paper?
hmm.. its more of a project work.. and my group have scored very well for our term project..
therefore... i was quite confident of doing the final exam.. haha
and i only need 7% to pass the exam... translated into scores? need like 14 marks out of 100 for the final paper to pass....

heh..
ok..
so after going to valgrinda at 10 am
slack around...
read a little more of the notes..
go through the past year paper (mentally)
had a 40 min lunch at 12pm..
and by 3pm..
we were waiting to play ping pong....hahaha

then at 330pm.. we left.. what a studious day..
ruiyuan went home.. as he didnt feel like going to pirbadet..
so riccardo and i walked all the way to the pier...

Pirbadet is the indoor swimming pool in Trondheim.
its just beside the piers and a lane away from the fjord..
so imagine yourself swimming in a heated pool just beside the fjord...
looking out at the calm waters... staring at the hills opp...
shiok!
haha

i went to the gym for the threadmill...
this time i was more prepared..hahaha
covered 5km in 25min....(ok.. a bit slow.. but i havent been running much for the past 5 mths la...)
yeap.. so i was like facing the fjord... and running towards paradise... its quite a view...
with a cruise just outside the glass windows.. and the Monk Island a bit further.. and the water was wonderful

yeap.. after the run.. went for a swim... didnt really count the laps.. but after the swim.. my limbs were turning into jelly...
and the best part comes next.. the warm pool...

there are many pools in Pirbadet.. the normal swimming pool with the lane markers and stuff..
a diving pool..
a "jacuzzi" like pool
a baby pool
a wave pool and some slides...
hmm.. a lot huh...
other facilities are like the gym.. solarium (artificial sun tan)... suana..

all for 100kr entrance fee.. thats ard S$25... haha

well.. i went into the "jacuzzi" thingy.. warm water... and the water gushing out from below...
having a massaging effect.. and its just beside the glass walls.. so you can sit there.. enjoy the water.. and gaze out into the fjords...

yeap.. and ric and i went to try out the wave pool after that...
we saw the wave pool in action when we entered the place.. and thought that it will be nice to try it once..
the waves came at regular intervals.. meaning.. the operators/lifeguards will turn the thing on every now and then..
so we were waiting there.. hoping the operator will try do something..haah

the other pple in the pool were like 3 pri sch kids... and 2 of us.. a bit off...
we were looking like grown ups who couldnt swim and thus waddling in the pool with the other kids.. hahaah
then came the announcement... "hello hello... blah blah blah blah norsk"
and more pple started to jump into the pool...
shucks... they will make announcements to tell pple abt the waves and the 2 of us were waiting with the kids for so long... hmmmm

anyway.. the waves were great.. amazing even.. i have no idea how they did it..
the pool was slightly more than 1 m deep..
and theres some mechanism which generates waves almost 0.5 to 1 m high?
wow.. and everyone was bobbing up and down in the water.. laughing... and for me.. drinking some water..

then i realised.. the pool is actually constructed to simulate a beach.. 1 end of the pool is deeper and the other end is sloping up gently.. not in a linear way... but a curve thingy.. so its supposed to be the beach there..
cool..

we stayed in Pirbadet for like 3.5 hours? till 8pm when the pool close.. and by the time we changed and got out.. it was around 830pm..
haha
100 kr.. and i think its worth it..
its like once in a lifetime thingy after all.. and the place is real nice.. hahaha

oh.. did i mention that i had an exam the next morning at 9?
SEP rocks man...

Work Out Day..

5th June.. sunday...

Vidar -- my norwegian buddy.. suggested to go rock climbing instead of canoeing..
hmm..
though i would have preferred to canoe more than climb... i agreed... better than nothing to do..
so.. supposed to meet him at 11 am at the Dragvoll sports center..

i arrived at Dragvoll at 1045... walked ard the campus .. searching for the sports center..
2 rounds the campus later.. i still have no #¤&¤%&!¤# idea where the place is.. wanted to give up..
the building wasnt even on the map...

luckily i saw some signboard further out of the place... Dragvoll Indrettsenter..
hiding behind some bushes... sucks..

well.. paid 70 kr for a day pass... damn ex huh...
almost 20 sg to climb and stuff...
and i havent even touched this kinda stuff for like 4.. or 5 years?

tried the easiest wall of course.. went up and down up and down..
for like 4-5 times..
then my arms became like jelly oredi..
Vidar was still going strong though... think it is too easy for him or something...
and he wasnt feeling too well also..
sian... time to shape up myself.. hahaha

left the wall ard 2.5 hrs later... but instead of leaving with him.. i went to the gym instead...
must make use of the full day pass.. haha
and time to do some running also.. even if its on a threadmill...

i hate threadmills... running on them is like a hamster running on the wheel thingy...
but... i got not much choice.. the temperature refuses to go above 15 outside....

anyway.. i started jogging on this machine.. and planned to go non stop for 15min... and see how far i can go... then judged how much dist i can cover.. hoping its more than 3...hmm

but... another ger stepped onto the machine next to mine after a while.....
and when the 15 min reached.. i thought to myself..
siao.. cant stop running before she stops ...
so i kept going.. and going... for almost half an hour...
luckily she stopped... heh...

phew.. really time to get into shape.....

Fjords

I have been in Norway for about 5 months now...
and i have been talking a lot about how beautiful the fjords are and the landscape.. the clear waters... flowers.. and stuff

and more than 50% of the people will be like
"huh? what are fjords?"

hmm... everyone prefers history and literature to geongraphy in sec sch huh..
so...
i found something on the internet... those interested parties please feel free to follow this link and read something about it...
i think this article is a very good summary on what is a fjord...
but i think i have better pictures.. hahaah

http://www.ilstu.edu/~rjheitn/geo%20201/physical%20geography.htm

The Norwegian Fjords are long, deep, narrow, bending inlets which drain into the North and Baltic Seas in Northwest Europe. Many people think of the fjords as sea flooded valleys. Fjords are formed when glaciers melt in valleys and the resulting runoff meets the approximate sea or ocean. The longest fjord, Songe fjord, is about 200 km long and 110m deep. Formerly used for battle ground and Viking sailing expeditions, the fjords are now mainly an aesthetic and economic pleasure, as people from around the world come daily to see their remarkable beauty.

Norway is not the only place on earth that has fjords. Other well known fjord areas include Chile, Nova Scotia, Alaska, British Columbia, and Washington state. Many of these fjords came into existence in the same way, but it is believed to be that Norway's fjords might have been the first on earth to rise out of the Tertiary period and form on what is now the European continental plate. Unlike the Alps, and many other of Europe's great mountain ranges, some scientists believe that the formation of the fjords can date back to before the ice age (Mosby 410). Many global geologists consider Norway's fjords to be the oldest and newest parts of Europe. Newest, because it was the last part of Europe to be relived of its snow mantle, and oldest, because it has signs of the earth's original crust which has been amazingly kept similar to its initial shape and texture (412).

The climate within which the Norwegian fjords lie in is one of the most peculiar on earth. Despite having a third of its region lie in the Arctic circle, the diurnal temperature is relatively mild. Within 50 miles of the fjords during winter months, the temperature can usually be somewhere between 20 and even 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Summer months can see peaking temperatures in the 70's, but usually stay around 50 and 60 degrees. Like most other fjord regions, the Norwegian fjords experience a great deal of precipitation throughout the year experiencing an average of 6200mm per year (Mosby 473).

Here are some other helpful websites containing more information on Norway's Fjords:
These websites contain more in depth facts and statistics about the fjords from around the world.
encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Norway/Geography
www.gesource.ac.uk/worldguide/html/982map.html
www.geometry.net/detail/basic-n/norway-geography.html