review
If you have yet to read part 1 of my journey, head over before you read this :)
Continuing from before, when we got off the train at Flam, there was about an hour to spare before the boat was scheduled to depart. I spent that hour getting lunch (which proved to be difficult when you're travelling with ALL your belongings for 10 days - see This Post) and running around taking pictures of the surrounding.
THE CRUISE RIDE
After a not so satisfying lunch, I was more than excited to go on this cruise ride. It was the most anticipated part of the journey for me! Plus, it just happened to be a gorgeous sunny day, what a better day to go on a cruise! I stood near the harbour and spent half the time looking up as the area was surrounded by the tallest mountains, and the bluest waters.
Since it was not a typical touristy harbour, it meant that it was not as crowded too; apart from everyone that was on the tour.
Since it was not a typical touristy harbour, it meant that it was not as crowded too; apart from everyone that was on the tour.
15 minutes before the departure of the cruise, I went to the entrance and started queuing. This turned out to be a good move as up on the deck of the cruise, there were chairs laid out and getting up before others meant that I could choose where I wanted to sit to so called get the best view.
Eventually the deck was filled with people no one was sitting down anymore, everyone was standing and snapping away with their cameras. Being right by the rails meant that I could get the best view and I did not need to avoid the heads of people way taller than me.
As the boat pulled away from the port, I got to see a more macro view of the mountains and houses at the foot of it. To imagine I was there a tiny speck of dust amongst the colourful houses, compared to the huge mountains around.
The cruise ride was the most emotional I felt during the journey.
My thoughts hopped from "Omg I can't believe I'm actually seeing this right now", awe and wonderment, to "I wish I had someone here with me to share this with", mildly lonesome.
The cruise took us through one of Norway's most famous fjords, the Nærøyfjord, stopping at islands along the way. The islands had more or less the same feel to them - houses with colourful roofs clustered at the foot of the mountain or in the valley. We were also accompanied by seagulls during our ride, they circles around the cruise ship and flew beside us struggling against the wind.
I spent half the journey on the deck watching the seagulls fly and staring out into the vast waters and massive mountains, letting the sun rays (and extremely strong winds) hit my face.
Eventually, it got too cold, and I felt as though my fingers were about to freeze and fall off. I decided to head into the cabin, and grab myself some food. The cabin had tables and chairs where you get a decent view without having the wind in your face. So I stayed inside for a little bit since I managed to get a seat by the window, had a hotdog bun and some hot chocolate. Before heading on the deck again to admire the view before we docked at our arrival port.
THE BUS RIDE
It was as if cruising through fjords was not sufficiently marvellous, the last part of the tour was a bus ride. The part I refer to as my road trip with 40 other passengers.
As you could have guessed, after blue waters and green mountains? You get another stretch of snow covered land!
As you could have guessed, after blue waters and green mountains? You get another stretch of snow covered land!
On this bus ride, I sat right at the front behind the driver, because I figured he'd have the best view. But the view although magnificent wasn't the highlight of the bus ride.
During the ride, I sat beside this lady who had difficulty with walking. Her husband carried her up the bus, and since the nearest seat was beside me, she sat there, and he had to seat somewhere behind because he felt bad that we, the people around, wanted to give up our seats. I started talking to her, and was so shocked that she took the entire Norway in the Nutshell tour. I found it incredibly tiring to move from one transport to the other, much less her.
But she was so cheerful and appreciative, she kept talking about how beautiful Norway was, and the way she talks about her husband and the way he cared for her, was one of the truest forms of love i've witnessed in real life.
I have a personal issue with disbelieve when it comes to love and marriage, but what I saw proved to me that genuine pure love can exist between humans. Even though we're far from perfect.
There was a last part which was a train ride on The Bergan Railway again, but by that point, I was more than 10 hours into the day and seated by a dirty window. My camera had over 500 images, the battery was almost dead, I had maxed out more than one SD Card, and I desperately needed to pee. Everyone slept on that train ride, but instead of doing the same, I just stared out and soak in as much of the view as I could, and thought to myself how incredible the entire day has been.
Lugging a suitcase around 4 different forms of transport to get from Oslo to Bergen (when it could have been a straight train ride on The Bergan Railway) turned out to be way more tiring than I had expected, but for that experience, it was worth it.
Never could I have imagined seeing so much beauty of the world in one day. I was reminded of how wonderful God is, I had such a nice time marvelling at the wonders of nature, and just taking a step back to ponder about my life whilst seeing enjoying one of the best views i've ever had my entire life. It was beyond, and I'm so glad I did it.
Summary: Norway in a Nutshell TourIf you read both part 1 and part 2 till the end, thank you so so so much.
+ Recommended if you don't have a car and have insufficient time to spend in Norway, yet you want to get see and experience the most of its natural beauty
+ Tickets come in a nice neat book, there were guides at each stop, and transition from one mode of transport to another was effortless
+ One of the best days of my life
- You could probably get deals if you booked each ticket on your own, so if you have the time and are up for it, you could definitely adopt the itinerary and book your own tickets for each leg of the tour
This journey meant a lot to me, and I just wanted to be able to share it. If you didn't read the text, I hope you enjoyed the pictures and that Norway is now on your list of countries to visit!
I would go back to Norway in a heartbeat. In fact, anywhere in Scandinavia. If I could visit it the region again, I would without a doubt.
Norway in A Nutshell = Perfect Views (Part 2)
1 June 2015 Nærøyfjord, Aurland, Norway
Page 46 of 70. Damn. I should really be studying right now, but my brain is not absorbing anything. Instead I'm in a pretty chatty mood at 11.55pm, so I'm going to pre-write this for when I'm too busy to blog (i.e. hell week of examinations - happening as of NOW).
One of most memorable moments during my solo trip to Scandinavia was during the Norway in a Nutshell Tour I took from Oslo to Bergen. The thing about the scenery in Norway is, its pretty hard to get to the beautiful landscapes without a car, or MULTIPLE stops in different cities. Since I had only a short amount of time in Norway, I decided to go with this tour offered by Fjord Tours AS.
It isn't as much of a tour as a booking service where by they pre-book your tickets and route for you from one place to another (in my case Oslo to Bergen), but there is no tour guide or the likes of that.
It wasn't the cheapest, but since I was traveling alone, and was unfamiliar with the country, I decided that a pre-planned route was the best option.
The route was split into 4 different segments, and that in my opinion, gave me the best mix of experiences that I otherwise wouldn't have had should I have attempted to sort out my travel route myself.
Beware: This is going to be a post FILLED with photos. I narrowed it down from 500. I deserve a pat on the back. I was literally snapping non-stop the whole time, because
1) IT WAS TOO BEAUTIFUL, and
2) I couldn't seem to capture whatever I saw as best as I wanted. The scenery in Norway is something one should see for themselves.
THE BERGEN RAILWAY
I woke up early in the morning, and made my way to Oslo's main train station by 8.15am to catch the first leg of my tour; a train from Oslo to place called Mydral on The Bergan Railway.
The night before, my hostel mate was telling me about how beautiful the route was for The Bergen Railway as she took it to Bergen 2 days ago. Needless to say, I was a bundle of excitement despite having to haul myself up at 6 in the morning. The Bergan Railway is said to be of Norway's 2 scenic railway rides.
I was lucky that my pre-assigned seat was right by a window - all the photo opportunities! The guy seated next to me had to walk through the cabin to find another free window seat, which he did, but came back later because its occupant came on the train at a later stop.
Anyway, for the first 20 minutes there I wasn't seeing anything special, and was pretty bummed. Then, after leaving the industrial and urban area of Oslo, IT HAPPENED.
The train went by the most beautiful scenery, the sky was an incredible shade of blue, and we saw mountains, lakes, rivers and greenery. My mouth literally dropped when the landscape first came into view. And of course being typical tourists, everyone clamoured to the nearest window attempting to get the best shot (Thank God for my window seat!)
The train ride not only took us through landscapes with luscious green mountains and deep blue waters, after a few minutes, instead of reflections of mountains in the waters, we started to see ice-covered partially frozen rivers and suddenly, it was as if winter came, and we saw snow capped mountains creeping into view.
I was amazed by everything. I literally thought to myself, "Wow, this is beyond incredible!" and I was not even half way into my journey. There are no adjectives to describe the effect the changing landscapes had.
"Beautiful" does not suffice.
As the train passed by the snow covered mountains and various ski lodges, we were greeted by friendly smiles and an occasional hand wave from the skiers below.
It baffles me how the scene can change from clear skies, green trees and blue waters to snow covered hills. I felt like I was watching a movie, where titled - Norway: Sights from Spring to Winter.
THE FLAM RAILWAY
After getting off The Bergen Railway, I just had to cross a platform and hoped onto another train - The Flam Railway, 2nd of Norway's Scenic Train Ride Routes.Unlike The Bergen Railway, The Flam Railway was a little more old school. It looked like a vintage 1940s style train, that you'd see in the movies. The interior layout was too unlike the conventional trains that we're used to seating today.
The best part of it all? The windows could be opened! This mean that I could stick my hand out and touch the icicles that were formed on the side of the mountains we passed by, and also, it meant that I could stick my camera out for better photos.
After we passed by snow capped mountains and winter wonderland with The Bergen Railway, it was back to valleys, waterfalls, and green trees. It is indeed a spectacular route.
The only slightly disappointing thing was that the train ride on The Flam Railway was a lot shorter than that on The Bergen Railway, and we kept going through tunnels which meant it was rather difficult to get proper photographs without having it being cut off.
Nevertheless, the view offsets any negatives.
Even though the first 2 parts of the tour were trains, the views were surprisingly different. I thought going on both the Bergen Railway and Flam Railway would essentially mean the same thing, but I was wrong. I loved that the design of the trains are different, the routes are different and the sights are completely unique to each railway route.
That is the beauty of Norway I guess. There is something special and something to marvel at in every corner.
The sad thing about train rides is although the views are STUNNING, you don't get to stop and savour the moment/capture a perfect shot. But the landscape changes within such a small time frame is something I thoroughly enjoyed. It is like your eyes are being bombarded with all this perfection your brain struggles to capture mental images of everything!
Not to mention, this was only half the route! Stay tuned for the 2nd part of the trip where I go on the most amazing Fjord Cruise - the view was just. INCREDIBLE. I was so tempted to take another cruise through a different Fjord, but my budget didn't hold up unfortunately - woes of a university student.
Norway in a Nutshell - Perfect Views (Part 1)
30 May 2015 Norway
I think the Tower Hill is probably one of the most touristy place in London. The Tower Hill tube station exit is always teeming with people, and visitors scurry to the Tower of London to see the field of poppies, following that, they typically head for the tower of London and attempt a #selfie.
Poppies that hold such significance in the hearts of not just the british but many around the world.
A constant reminder to us to be thankful for having the luxury of living in peace.
It should also remind us that there are other people in other parts of the world that don't have that luxury, and are facing torment and hell everyday. For that, we ought to be kind, we ought to count our blessings, and we should help as much as we can, in whatever way we can, because every little effort counts.
The sun is starting to set really early in London, and the rain keeps coming. From my pictures, London looks kind of grey and sad doesn't it?
Nevertheless, I still think it's beautiful. There is something special and attractive, about the melancholy it exudes at dusk, with it's overcast skies and light drizzles of rain.
After a nice evening walk, we headed to Burgers and Lobsters, near Green Park, for dinner. Honestly, I think the food is overhyped. Its nice - fresh, juicy lobster that comes right out of its shell, but it is not a "must visit".
That being said, the service was FANTASTIC. Fungyee and I got a lobster to share, because we're small eaters (and we wanted dessert). Instead of serving one portion on a platter, the waiters got the cook to separate it into two portions for us, serving one with salad and and another with fries. And of course they were nice enough to check back to see if the food was to our liking, despite us ordering a lot lesser than an average customer.
Nice to know they do care about their patrons and that the restaurant places an importance on good service.
Poppies that hold such significance in the hearts of not just the british but many around the world.
A constant reminder to us to be thankful for having the luxury of living in peace.
It should also remind us that there are other people in other parts of the world that don't have that luxury, and are facing torment and hell everyday. For that, we ought to be kind, we ought to count our blessings, and we should help as much as we can, in whatever way we can, because every little effort counts.
In the previous post, I mentioned about my friends visiting in London.
Knowing that Fungyee loves flowers, I suggested that we should visit Tower Hill whilst she was here. We had a nice walk along the River Thames as well, and whilst wandering around tower hill, we found a nice secluded spot for photos with the Tower Bridge.The sun is starting to set really early in London, and the rain keeps coming. From my pictures, London looks kind of grey and sad doesn't it?
Nevertheless, I still think it's beautiful. There is something special and attractive, about the melancholy it exudes at dusk, with it's overcast skies and light drizzles of rain.
It is nice to be able to see London right before it gets dark. Definitely a good way to unwind after a day in school.
Talking about school, having to spend more time in school on exchange than what I usually do at home, does have a way of driving you insane! I'm so going to take advantage of every chance I get to leave South Kensington to explore London/rest of England/Europe, and do things that typical exchange students to when their grades don't affect their GPA ;)
That being said, the service was FANTASTIC. Fungyee and I got a lobster to share, because we're small eaters (and we wanted dessert). Instead of serving one portion on a platter, the waiters got the cook to separate it into two portions for us, serving one with salad and and another with fries. And of course they were nice enough to check back to see if the food was to our liking, despite us ordering a lot lesser than an average customer.
Nice to know they do care about their patrons and that the restaurant places an importance on good service.
If you happen to be in the area, and are craving burgers or lobster, go ahead and pop in.
I must say, eating out (and shopping!!) is not something I do often in London, since I rather much save the money to fund my traveling escapades, but the full portion in Burgers and Lobsters is huge it is worth the price.
An Evening in London - Tower Hill and Lobsters
10 November 2014 London, UK
Despite having my birthday fall on Halloween, I never really had any elaborate celebrations for it, neither have I attended any halloween parties. You would think being born on the 31st of October would give me a free pass to any halloween party, but i've never been into celebrating halloween.
This is because,
a) I don't do spooky/gore/horror very well - nope i've never watch a horror film, and I will never
b) Halloween isn't that big in Singapore, at least not when I was younger.
So, while many londeners (and people around the world) dress up, paint their faces (I must say some of their self painted scars and wounds were so real. Props to them!) and head for parties, I had a nice quiet dinner with 2 of my favourite people from school, who just so happen to come down to London to spend some quality time with me.
(btw, to my other classmates - thank you for the midnight surprise and the cake. No wonder Jerald refused to let me go to sleep!)
The Bleeding Heart is a nice french restaurant located in Holborn.
According to the New Yorker, it is "Bleeding hard to find, but worth it." And it is true. It was pretty confusing trying to find the restaurant, but the bleeding heart bar is pretty prominently located, so the waiters at the bar were really nice and directed us to the restaurant.
I was so excited to finally go for a fancy dinner after having self-cooked meals for so long (not that I don't enjoy cooking with my friends).
Stepping in and being greeted with "Bonjour" and "Mademoiselle", plus waiters saying "Bon Appetite" after every course is served, really brought back memories of Paris. The whole ambience was amazing, the food was good, and the company was definitely the best part of my night.
Jerald and I both got wine. He got White wine and I got Rosé, and of course, they were both tasted pretty good. Not that I have any form of knowledge of how to judge the quality of wine, but my palette was very very happy with what was served.
Our starters, mine (top) and Jerald's (bottom)
Fungyee's Sea Bass and Jerald's Halibut respectively
This is because,
a) I don't do spooky/gore/horror very well - nope i've never watch a horror film, and I will never
b) Halloween isn't that big in Singapore, at least not when I was younger.
So, while many londeners (and people around the world) dress up, paint their faces (I must say some of their self painted scars and wounds were so real. Props to them!) and head for parties, I had a nice quiet dinner with 2 of my favourite people from school, who just so happen to come down to London to spend some quality time with me.
(btw, to my other classmates - thank you for the midnight surprise and the cake. No wonder Jerald refused to let me go to sleep!)
The Bleeding Heart is a nice french restaurant located in Holborn.
According to the New Yorker, it is "Bleeding hard to find, but worth it." And it is true. It was pretty confusing trying to find the restaurant, but the bleeding heart bar is pretty prominently located, so the waiters at the bar were really nice and directed us to the restaurant.
I was so excited to finally go for a fancy dinner after having self-cooked meals for so long (not that I don't enjoy cooking with my friends).
Stepping in and being greeted with "Bonjour" and "Mademoiselle", plus waiters saying "Bon Appetite" after every course is served, really brought back memories of Paris. The whole ambience was amazing, the food was good, and the company was definitely the best part of my night.
Jerald and I both got wine. He got White wine and I got Rosé, and of course, they were both tasted pretty good. Not that I have any form of knowledge of how to judge the quality of wine, but my palette was very very happy with what was served.
That evening, I was having a meat craving. So I went for a duck and chicken starter, and suckling pig for mains. Jerald, who loves seafood, went for a lobster and avocado salad for starters, and both Fungyee and he got Fish for their main course.
Before our starters arrived, we were served some smoke salmon on a crispy toasted biscuit. Which was REALLY good. Like a burst of flavour in your mouth. All three of us loved it.
On a completely different note, the heart shaped lights in the ceiling left really nice heart shaped reflections on our plates!
Jerald swapped his starter with me halfway through the course because I realised finishing a whole meat starter would result in me being unable to finish my suckling pig. That is not the way it should go.
Our starters, mine (top) and Jerald's (bottom)
I actually think the portion was big enough for an afternoon snack, or even a main course. But disclaimer - I'm a small meals many meals sorta girl, I had to skip lunch that day to make sure I was hungry enough during dinner.
The waiters were really nice and kept checking with us if we were enjoying our meal, which made me feel warm, welcomed and at home.
I remember bubbling with delight upon the arrival of our main courses - the smell of the roast on the suckling pig was divine. It has been ages since I've had suckling pig, hence the joy.
I wished the skin was crispier and less hard, but the meat was nice and tender, and to my surprise, it really blended well with the apple sauce.
I've never really like mixing my salty and sweet when I'm hungry - it's just an unexplainable preference. But I thought the slight sweetness from the apple sauce balanced very nicely with the suckling pig.
Fungyee's Sea Bass and Jerald's Halibut respectively
I liked how they served the sea bass with something like a potato puree instead of regular mash potatoes. It was called saffron pomme mousseline. I thought pomme means apple in french, but I swear it tasted like potatoes. Regardless, it was different and I liked it!
Dinner ended off with complimentary madelines dusted off with icing sugar. Oh how I miss having croissants and madelines!
On a whole, we had a really good time, and a great meal. It wasn't cheap, but the ambience and good service made it an A-worthy experience.
Disclaimer: I wish my meal was sponsored, but no, I was not. Opinions are entirely my own. Ok, Jerald settled the bill, so technically I did not pay for my meal.
Birthday Dinner @ The Bleeding Heart, London
9 November 2014 Bleeding Heart Yard, London EC2N 8SJ, UK
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