A Whiter Shade of Pale: Scandinavian heaven

You know its Autumn when you see yellow maple leaves on the ground you tread on.

Hmm... Where did THAT come from?

The path which we took to the lake.

The sun rose at 8am and it made everything coated with frost or dew glisten in the light.
The morning air was crisp and sharp to breathe in.

This was the lovely lake which Ivy & company stays really close to.
It has a family of ducks living there.
There was a log cabin nearby as well to complete the postcard image.
Then we realised that someone was selling (overpriced) cookies, when the aroma of freshly baked cookies wafted over.

You have an island in the middle of the lake.

Seagulls

Vigeland (Sculpture park)

Fields coated in gold.

The main plaza with all the sculptures of human bodies in various shapes.

Impressive and thought-provoking.

The lake in Vigeland, near the museum.

This is the museum which we had our crash course in Oslo's history.

Then, we continued our journey to the fjords.
We walked past big houses which looked straight out of glossy luxury magazines.
Then, across the road, there is a steep staircase down to the fjords.
I want a yacht too. Haha.

The viking museum was located right next to the sea.
So there were a couple of ships docked in front of the museum.

a Viking Sunset?
I miss the sea!

To say that I've travelled to Oslo, Norway would have been a misnomer. I have merely commuted to Oslo, had a fabulous stay and commuted back. This trip had been very different from my earlier one, although Oslo reminded me very much of Munich. WH & I both felt that we have stayed at Ivy's abode for a week, when we have only stayed for 3 days & 3 nights. It was a comfortable home stay with most of my favourite people.

Unlike in Munich, where i was running around trying to see sights, there were less things to do in Oslo, unless you wanted to travel around Norway to see their gorgeous landscape. The city was well integrated into their natural terrain, and its always a pleasure to look at the mountains, spotted with their alpine houses; the valleys with the rolling meadows & grazing ewes; the sea and the personal yachts docked at the fjords. The views in Oslo are amazing- the parks are spacious and covered in crisp golden leaves. The mountains are surrounding the city and the sea is just at your doorstep. During the weekend, the most crowded place in the city is actually the PARK. Everybody is there, especially dog-owners. The Vigeland became somewhat like a dog-social club and we saw all breeds of exotic dogs in less than 2 hours. Some dogs were wrapped in exquisite mink fur, some were wearing cute clothes, some were allowed to roam around freely.

Although the people seemed reserved, most of them were really helpful when we asked them for directions. Because all of them took English as their second language, their english is really good compared to other places in Europe. Oslo seemed to me like a really quiet city because we never heard the usual background noises of the traffic & non-stop human voices. Most of them speak in hushed tones and we usually find ourselves being the most boisterous people around. Haha. Only on Monday night, when there was a football match involving the national team, we saw many of them decked out in their national colours and their "norge" scarves, all drifting towards the ulleval stadion to catch the match. In the train, some of them were ruddy-faced post alcohol and they were laughing and chatting loudly. So WH & I decided that they were only 'normal' after some alcohol. haha.

The Kringsja T-Bane Station.
This area is generally populated by students.

Well, no place is perfect, including Oslo. For all its high-classed image, the transport system springs as much surprises as a magician. Trains can be cancelled arbitarily and you wouldnt know what happened until the end of the day. Sween almost missed her flight home because of that. It's a huge inconvenience for the residents who stay further away from the city centre. But these people love their nature so much, even being further away isn't a big problem. In fact, Ivy & friends were all living in prime location, because their house is a mere 5 minute walk from a lovely park with a lovely lake. Plus, they get natural spring water from their taps! Even basics and necessities have been transformed into luxuries.

At the fountain near the Oslo National Theatre

Since everything are luxuries, the prices all around Oslo reflected that high standard of living. Looking at price tags made me cringe continuously. Everything was ridiculously high-priced. To the point that our friends mostly stay at home and occupy themselves with grocery shopping, cooking, washing up and laundry! Alcohol, cab fares, food are extremely expensive. I'm too used to UK's cheaper price tags on alcohol and i expect beer at every social setting. So when we were there, WH & I missed our beer very much!

This is the cheapest grub you can find on the streets.
It's sold in a convenience store called Narvesen, its somewhat like 7-11.
19 kroners = 1.9 GBP = 4.2SGD

It isn't too shoddy.
You get to choose from many different types of hotdogs and toppings and sauces.
I don't think I'll ever get bored.

The one on top is my cheese hotdog with sweet pickle jelly,

with fresh onions on top and then dizzled with yummy mustard.
The one below is Wh's one with prawn mayo & chilli sauce.

Anyhow, it was a really great experience, to be in a country like Norway. In fact, it is my first time experiencing a proper autumn! England's autumn is awful. So i finally got my chance to kick around in the dry autumn leaves and roll around on the field under the warm sunshine. I also experienced the wet weather part of fall weather - we were caught in the rain & strong winds on Monday. Everyone was struggling to walk against the force of the wind! That was rather fun. We were in a coastal city after all.