Paint the sky with stars.

Saturday, January 19, 2013 Y 5:36 PM

As monday came, our first official lesson started..but since it was the first day..
it was pretty slack day..we took pics for our id cards, a tour around the sch campus..
and then a short start to our lessons..end of the day, they brought us to visit and tour university of oslo,where some of our weekly extra lessons will be at..

the lesson schedule was evday morning, 9 -1245pm..
the course was like a mix of mgmt,biz,marketing,etc..
but from the Scandinavian point of view..
like role of culture in consumption and marketing,comm styles,leadership models, in norway and other scandinavian countries..how is it different as compared to other countries, like how culture may affect biz styles,marketing, etc..

Then, every tues and thurs, there's extra lesson at university of oslo,which was on the norwegian life and society..
learning about some history of norway,the arts,music,literature,politics,edu,language kind of stuff..
first week the timing was super out of place, at 730pm-930pm..
ending so late, but everytime we end lessons,the sky would still be so bright,and the sun was only going to set,didnt seem that late..
that was the 'fun' thing..because it always seemed so early when it was alrdy late..
then second week on, thankfully the time was changed to 215-345pm..
so meaning,evday was quite free after noon, except for tues n thurs..
so, it meant free time for us to go 'tour and explore'..
and free wkends, meant short trips to nearby places..=))

4 weeks program,the first 2 weeks was more lessons,lectures, then there was a quiz in week 2..
then the last 2 weeks,was more on presentation related stuff,to prep us for our group presentations..
we also got an 'excursion' to tour one hotel, Radisson Blu, and a company visit to one of their big telecom company,telenor..
and the visit to telenor was quite an interesting one..
free lunch which made us happy as long as we dun have to cook,but it was sandwich again..haha.

the super big and nice looking company that was by the sea..what a nice place to work at..and that location used to be an old runway!

and so,of course the presentation was related to Radisson Blu, and we had to do 2 presentation at the end of each week..tgt with the quiz, that was how we were graded..
and that was more or less what we did at sch,in the one month summer prog..
not very hectic,but still had tests n presentation that kept us busy..

the first week there seemed so long because was trying to adapt, missing home, food, etc..
but after that the remaining time passed super super super quickly..and one mth was soon over..
because we had a really great and fun time,esp those short wkend trips..
they also had film prog arranged for us each week,but we were too lazy to go down to uni of oslo just to watch some film..and so we didnt go any..haha.

and on some wkends,there were prog arranged for us too..
so on the first official week's wkend,sat was a day trip to Oscarborg Fortress..
had to go onto some island,so we took a ferry over..
rmb tt early morn,we were standing queueing just by the sea,and the weather was really cold and alittle drizzling..
rly felt like winter kind of weather,think it was below 10deg,and we only wore one thick jacket w tshirt clothing beneath..so we all stood there shivering tgt..so funny..
and tt seems like the coldest day, because we could breathe out those white 'mist' like when in super cold weather..and we were so 'excited' and kept playing w it..and it was supposed to be summer!

on the 'fortress island'..
it was like an island,like firstline of defence,where they would smhw defend mainland when it was war!

the cute little house like thingy,dunno what its for..

haha.super cold crazy rainy weather.but tts the weather in norway~ and loving the coldness..

Norway!!one of my dream dream countries to go~ a dream come true~ =))
so cold, hide my hands and pulled the sleeve long long..haha

lunch provided~~ =)) but its a wrap = 'sandwich' again..haha
pic w kelly from macau,one of the great fren i made from the prog..
even though we only spend such a short time tgt,it felt like we were frens for v long!doing so many things tgt, cooking,gossiping,shopping,travelling tgt!
rly glad tt i got to know her,and a pity we're 'seperated' aft the prog,back to our own countries.. if only we were from the same country.. =(

then we took the ferry, and island hopped to another island~ pretty little island..
santa island!!!

almost wanted to skip that days excursion cause was so tired and have to wake up so early..
but luckily didnt..because..
that day was the day we went to the santa claus house!!

was so excited when we heard that we'll be going there..even though xmas, was like half yr later..

always saw on those travel progs,when they go finland, norway,etc..always have those santa claus villages,which always looked so nice,and it was one of the places i always wanted to visit..
and if they didnt brought us there, i would hv wanted to go check it out on my own..

~30/06/2012~

santa house!
even though it didnt look as big and grand and 'chrismassy' as i always thought..
and it wasnt winter,so no snow covered surroundings..if not it would be perfect!
but the interior made it felt like it was xmas!and will just feel happy inside with all the xmasy decor!

one day,i must go back norway,when it's winter and xmas season!
even though,their winter would be crazy cold..since,it was alrdy cold when it was summer!
bec it would definitely be much more nicer than spending in spore..those xmas mkts~

a white xmas,someday..

the interior was rly 'chrismassy'..and rly brightens up ur mood..xmas just always seem to make one feel so happy! XD

too bad it wasnt xmas yet, so mr santa wasnt there~

but the super nice xmas stuff made me excited n happy and went on the first sourvenir spree~ =))

happy w the early xmas loots~

the small little village place was super nice..

it was smhw like a 'fairytale' place,cux the houses were all so nice,and the place was v small,clean and peaceful!

thought if only i can live there when i retire, how nice would it be..

and the flowers infront of the house,were super huge rose look alike!

my dream house in white~

early early xmas presents! and the shop ppl still wrapped them up so nicely, i didnt bear to open them to pack in my luggage and ended up w bulky luggage..

the small flea mkt on the island..

coffee in the pretty alley of the coffeehouse,after halfday of touring..

then,after that it was time to go back ah..and since we took the ferry,the way back we took a one hr bus back..quite cool ah,how the 'islands' can be connected back to 'mainland'..
and the bus ride back was a great one w pretty scenery on the way,pity was on the bus and cant stop n take pics..

only got this one pic my fren took..it was a whole big patch of yellow flowers..
super super super pretty!
the pic dont rly do it much justice,it was much much nicer!
we said wanted to go back on that bus ride again,but never had the time again!

and earlier that week, after our lessons,we already started running about,exploring places..
shall let the pics do most of the talking..

~ 27/06/2012~

some of the places at the city centre..

pretty fluffy clouds~
one of the rare nice nice weather tt day tts y we chiong-ed out after lessons and decide to go to the islands..and also our one mth travel concession even included the ferries...

nobel peace centre we said to go another time, but didnt have time again!haha

Aker Brygge~

one of the popular meeting places in oslo, for dinning,shopping etc..

thought if seemed abit like our clark quay..except ours not as nice.. =p

the place to take those island hopping ferries and fjords cruises..

pretty glorious summer day..

And the story of the 'meh mehs' start..
the pair of sheeps belong to one of the macau guys..
and from tt day, we smhw started taking pics of the meh meh at the places we visit, diff cities, diff countries..

So, we were trying to take a shot like this..
the wooden things were actually over the railings, so he actually had to climb over..
after done taking the pics, he climbed over took the meh meh, and was about to climb back over ..but he decided to throw the meh meh over first then climb..
but somehow, the chain on the mehmeh got tangled smhw w his fingers,and in a mess, it fell into the water, the sea!

and that was the start of the crazy things we did, thousand miles away from home..

wanted n thought of ways to get the meh meh, but just couldnt make it ah..thought it was like so near yet so far,such a pity..

and we all stood there and helplessly look at it 'float' away..

and we followed in the direction the meh meh floated away in..

and came to this sports sch..
and saw the extended 'path' thingy nearer to where meh meh was..

and so....we decided to ask one of the already topless guys to...save the meh meh..

which was so embarrasing..saving a softtoy??

but still the nice guy agreed and immediately took off his shorts and did these...

and my girl friend was like in the 'guy crazy' mode already..some more the guy was in hot pink undies/swimwear?haha

still did a super nice jump in!

can see meh meh floating there!haha..

and we were all laughing like crazy at this happening, this scene..

and the girl friend cant resist not taking a pic w the shuai looking, muscular guy in hot pink!haha.

what a crazy funny memory to add on to our story in norway..

with the wet meh meh that was successfully rescued back!

the 'mission impossible'~

and we really laughed and talked about it almost the whole day after that!

the norwegian folk musuem tt was closed and we cant visit and again said still got alot time, can come again to this pretty island..but again, no time left.. =(

the pretty little 'provision shop' randomly on the streets..

selling flowers and even watermelon, super huge!

since the museum was closed, so we randomly toured the island and walked ard..

amazing weather,amazing view,scenery..that put a =)) on ur face..

pretty place to picnic..if spore's like that, i would always go on a picnic~

esp if the weather was so good..like in aircon room..

pretty weather = pretty pictures~

almost 12am!! but it was still soo bright tt day~~

~28/06/2012

tom yum soup lunch~

almost evday after our lessons, cooking and lunch tgt~ =))

and that day weather was not bad too, so we thought of going to sognsvann lake to have a little pinic before going for the afternoon lect..

one of the v few days that can wear just bare shorts out..

kelly's giraffe and my mickey in norway ~ XD

see bread again~~

the water was super clear and clean~~

people were even swimming even though the water was super cold!

there was like a path around the lake to walk, like a circle, so we decided to walk one round..

and chanced upon this pretty patch of white little flowers..

the place was also a good place to jog,pretty scenery and there were so many ppl jogging ard..

playing w the feather~haha

pretty pretty scenes along the way, and the sun started to come out too..

everywhere in norway, there are so many many pretty little mini diff types of flowers like this..

love this pic!because of how so qiao, there was just this bit of sunlight on my face! =)

rly pretty scenery!like those lakes in movies!and seemed like it was my first time going to a pretty and 'authentic' lake like this?

almost the whole lake in view..

and one day we got to see the bee up close and realised they are 'mao mao', 'hairy' or 'fur' or what..

so cute..spore bees like dun have ah..nv seen upclose in spore..maybe the bees are scared of norway cold weather too! =p

because the lake was so huge, the one round around the lake took quite long,and we also stopped and eat and play and took so many pics..ended up we were going to be late for lect..

still had to run abit to get out and take the train..

Univesity of Oslo is located in this pretty quiet neighbourhood place - Forskningsparken (or rather is the t-bane station stop name,haha)

And this train station stop is abit like douby gaut, where u can change to some other coloured lines..

Our hostel is near to both Nydalen and Storo, so there's two colour lines (blue and orange,line 4 and 6), so from Nydalen, if we want to go Sognsavann, we can take either 4 or 6 to Forskningsparken and change to the green line 3 to get to Sognsvann, but of course must go the correct direction,like in spore..

And other stations like Majorstuen, Nationaltheatret, Stortinget, Jernbanetorget (Oslo S), etc are stations where almost all the lines go pass and so can change to other colour lines at these stations..

And these few stations are actually at the town area, like orchard, somerset, etc..

So us staying at Nydalen is actually super near and convenient..and it was a quiet and nice little neighbourhood with a shopping centre and supermarket nearby too!

Oh, and a 'cool' thing my fren figured out, the dark blue line 4 that comes from town and go to Nydalen then Storo..From Storo, it'll 'change colour' and become the light blue line 6! haha

I wasnt very good at the changing of trains etc, so always follow frens can le..hahax..only until when i was there alone then i rly understood how it worked..

In our one mth there, we mainly travelled only the 'central parts', the 'circle' in the middle of the map..

We only ventured to sognsvann and also furthest is Frognerseteren which is the place we went for the hike..another post on that long hike..

The train was quite 'pro', because Frognerseteren is like v high up, like mountain area already.. and that train line 1 also goes to Holmenkollen which is the ski arena that is also v high up..

Its like imagining our mrt going up the mount faber and even higher?

its rly high up,where we can rly look down and see the oslo city area..

so amazing ah, how the tracks were built and go round the steep small mountain areas..

Oh, and Ulleval Stadion stop is a stadium place..

and bro said Manchester united will play one of its pre-season friendly against Norwegian Club Valerenga on 5th aug..

asked me to go watch..but i was still in rome so couldnt 'help him' watch Man U play live!

the rest of the lines, we didnt get to explore..

we got the monthly pass which means we can travel as many times ah, but we didnt, should have used one day and ride around and enjoy the scenery!next time! =P

And Gronland is the place where we discovered to get cheaper groceries..

and the first time we went, he brought me there and we didnt know exactly where..

so had to go around the whole place, walk one big round then found the correct area..

and it became one of our next most visited,fav place to go, grocery shopping! its like there are small supermarkets, or those small market shops selling veg,meat, everything..like a big market place..

and surprisingly, alot of the shops have asian owners, got chinese, viet looking ppl..

AND, we found oyster sauce there!!!which was the best find in norway!! =))

and alot of nice food stuff, that was not as expensive..that allowed us to cook our big feasts tgt..

and we even surprisingly had good buys, super cheap bananas and mini honeydew that was super sweet and cheap!rly rly cheap comparable to spore or cheaper..

haha..somehow we were so 'price conscious' in norway, cause things were way way more expensive than all our home countries..not just us, but everyone even the caucasian,european students were also complaining..

and so we always ended up very happy when we bought cheap groceries!feel so auntie..but it rly was too crazy..haha..a bigger loaf of bread for almost $8sgd?? even though i'm missing that bread now, cant find it in spore..its rly nice..price for quality? =p

even though, the place is quite 'messy' cux its a place where there are alot middle eastern ppl, africans..so we were told to be careful..but thankfully it was ok and nth happened..

but we were happy there was such a place for us to grocery shop!

the t-bane map for oslo..seems relatively small..