Day 5: Oslo - Stockholm

Salam,

As I already fully recharged for the day, I start my morning super early. I packed all my stuff and check-out at 7.30am and leave the bag in the luggage room as I told in the previous entry. Then I went to the Oslo S, that's the same station I arrived yesterday and bought the 24 hours ticket for NOK90. This is pretty cheap compared to the HOHO bus ticket or the Oslo Pass. But if you bought the Oslo pass you are able to enter few of the museums for free. I am not much of a museum-lover so I am very happy to skip those. hehe. save money. 

The tram and bus system are pretty simple to understand plus the way I always travel with not much of planning made it super easy to go around. I just look at the map, find one stop that is furthest reachable by the ticket then get on the bus! and tadaaaahhh.. you are there. If you are one of the 'planning' person..you are going to hate travelling with me. haha. 

The view from the Oslo S.

Some IT  building. Cool. 

One of the train station I stopped by because I took the wrong bus. haha. oh well..people make mistakes. 

The People Museum.

this is one big melon!!! 

This is at Bygdøy. One of the places that you need to visit if you are in Oslo. All sort of museum situated here. plus this view!! 

And this..

Then I got hungry and get this 'pide brød' for NOK15 and have my lunch by the sea with the birds. The bread taste ok but it was almost 30cm in diameter and i managed to eat only quater of it then the rest i feed to the birds. haha. after that, i took a ferry back to the Rådhuset (City Hall) for NOK50 and spend the whole evening taking wonderful pictures of these. 

The ferry ride.

Few of the boats and yatch and ships at the Aker Brygge area. 

Oslo City Hall

There's just too much nudity in the city..sigh..

Now it's sea, ships and sunshine. superb!! 

The Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art. The location is superb! 

The view from the museum. Great isn't it?

It's a Snow White Cake! crazy! 

Can you spot the person so heavenly swimming down there. Well that's the museum right there. hahahaaa.. something we don't get to see everyday. 

After the museum, I walked around the area to go the the next destination which is the castle. 

The Akershus Fortress with the castle. 

Isn't it great to have the chance to live here in the castle. The view is to die for. 

The castle.

Next to the Castle, there is the Armed Forces Museum which is free but by the time i get there it is already closed. bad timing. huhu. 

Then i continue my walk to see the Opera house as people said the view is spectacular there. but then i saw this. Doesn't this remind you of the Grand Budapest Hotel? 

this is the Norwegian National Ballet and Opera. all that in marble! superb!! love it! 

oh yeah, this is dedicated to all Hard Rock fans out there. hehe

Before I headed back to the hostel for my bags, i saw this protest at the Parliament building. Not sure what it was about as they were speaking in Norwegian. 

So that's all..my one day trip in Oslo. In short, it is an expensive city but won't do much harm to the pocket if you know your tummy well. hehe

Total expenses: NOK175 

Peace and out~

Day 4: Dublin - Oslo

Salam

The flight to Oslo from Dublin took less than 2 hours but remember, Oslo time is one hour ahead of Dublin time. So my flight arrived at Oslo Rygge Airport at 9.25am. The ticket that I bought a month earlier cost me £22. 

The airport is somewhat like our own LCCT or less. They don't even have money changer so we need to either bring the NOK ( Norwegian Krone) or draw from the ATM machines. From what I saw in the airport, there are lots of backpackers spent their night there and from what I heard from a girl I met there, the guards won't say anything as long as you don't block their way. So feel free to sleep there. Plus they have free Wifi too. wink wink..

The information counter is at the arrival hall and they speak limited English. But with a little effort I managed to get the information on how to get to the city centre. The cheapest way and fastest too I supposed is the train. Cost NOK117 which include bus transfer from the airport to the train station and from the Rygge Train Station to the Oslo Sentralstasjon.

Look at that! I am so happy to see this! the trees the water the train. 3 elements that can really make me happy. ( to my future husband..please take note. hehe) 

This is the view the moment you stepped out of the station. The 'me' or 'we' thingy there looks kinda interesting right? The weather is quite nice, not as cold not as warm..just nice. So after google-ing the direction to my hostel, I decided to walk there since it looks kinda near in the map. ( nope. not near. took me 20 minutes. bad google!) 

The name of the hostel is Anker Hostel. Nothing to to with any horror..haha. Nice hostel even have luggage room if you planned to check-out early in the morning but did not want to bring the bags together just yet. Exactly what I needed. Cost me NOK230 for a bed in 10-bed all female room. great price for the quality of the service. plus there's a tran stop about 50meter from the hostel front door. Very convenient. So i spent the whole evening recharging my energy ( sorry, too tired already. i know i know..i wasted most of my time sleeping..huhu) because I know tomorrow I will be walking and going places the whole day. I woke up later in the evening to meet the other girls in the room. They are all solo travellers just like myself. This is what I love about staying in hostel. I get to meet new faces and share stories and information especially about the best spots of Oslo. Then I went to dinner with this one girl which then I learn that she too love travelling alone. The dinner that night cost me NOK128 and  we stopped by at the shop to buy water because I excidentally dropped my bottle somewhere earlier and one small mineral bottle cost me NOK33. huhu. this is almost RM16 ok!! Trivia: Norway is one of the most expensive country in the world. So, again..be prepared. Luckily i have my serunding. haha. Oh I forgot, i bought one bunch banana with just NOK8. That's is weird. I know. haha.

Another new face I met in Oslo. 

To the left is the hostel, and that's the tram station on the right. See. Super near right? hehe. love this!

Oh, before i went to the hostel, i bought the ticket for Stockholm for NoK259.

So, that's the end of the first day in Oslo, not much. So wait for the second day. haha. 

Total expenses: (plus the bus ticket to Stockholm) = £22 + NOK742 

Peace and out~

Day 3: Dublin

Salam,

I know i am waaaay behind schedule but oh well i will try my best to update the blog as soon as possible. So currently I am on day 12 and updating for day 3 is pretty much against my 'short term memory lost' issue. hehe. 

The hostel I was staying does have a nice kitchen that allow us to cook and luckily I brought maggi ( yes of course it's from Malaysia hehe) and have them together with my favorite Old Town White coffee (yes, that's also from Malaysia). There are some others too but I only get the chance to talk with these couple from Mexico and London. They are in Dublin to attend some conference. They did told me that they are presenting their company and they are trying to promote this medicine for cancer which I found very interesting. 

Since staying in Glasgow, strolling has become my favorite thing to do especially anywhere near water. So, I start the day by strolling near River Liffey. I just love the idea of going around the river and see faces of morning people jogging around the city. 

Lovely isn't it?

The Dublin Custom House

The Famine Memorial

Trivia from Wikipedia

The Great Famine of Ireland is memorialized in many locations throughout Ireland, especially in those regions that suffered the greatest losses, and also cities overseas with large populations descended from Irish immigrants. There are more than 100 memorials to the Irish Famine around the world.

The Jeanie Johnston Tall Ship

This somehow remind me of Glasgow Tall Ship Museum..gosh I do miss Glasgow.

This weird looking buidling is the Convention Centre Dublin or CCD. Cool right. But what i think cooler is the locks beside the buidling.

To see this, early in the morning just made my heart goes ooh la la..just my way of keeping calm I guess hehe. water..

Then I walked a little bit around the corner to look for a coffee shop then i saw this. Bord Gáis Energy Theater which situated near the Grand Canal Dock.

I bought a cup of Cappucinno and sat on a bench while enjoying this view of The Grand Canal Dock. Lovely right? 

And also around the corner, there is this. Do you know what this is? It was U2 former recording studio!!! there are lots of graffiti of U2 fans around the world who came all the way here to show their support. And there are walls around the area which now has become one of the tourist attraction that are full of writtings and pretty drawings of U2.

I'm not a U2 fan so this does not meant much for me but i guess if you do this will made you feel that you need to come. Do tell me if you feel that way ok. hehe. Oh from what i heard, they say they are building U2 tower behind the walls. That's a great news for all U2 fans out there isn't it? So do come here before they tore down this wall, who knows your writting will become a part of U2 museum in next 50 years.hoho..

After the morning stroll, I went back to the city and join the walking tour which included in the price of the HOHO ticket. Walking tour is a great way to experience a city you visit because there are some places are not reachable by any means of transportation and walking can show you a different perspective of things. 

They are few places the walking tour covers but I will only share few which I really find interesting.

This is taken in a bar which was once a church. Weird? well not to them. 

this is only reachable by foot and this is situated in Temple Bar. Cool area with food stalls and actor's studios. Definitely worth a visit.

Then we went to Dublin Castle, oh yeah that's the tour guide. ( the one wearing cap). He definitely know the Irish history by heart. Amazing! 

Then the tour guide brought us to The Trinity College which is such a great place to visit. When we arrived at the area, there were lots of people queuing to get in the Library and to visit the Book of Kells. Since they charge some entrance fee for that, I decided to skip the Library and the book. Sorry bout that. hehe. But I'm sure it does worth a visit.  Plus, the library is also a film location for Harry Porter, you know the Hogwart library. It's here!!! So do get in the library and please do share the picture with me later ok. 

oh yeah..talking bout filming, there are also these people filming for some video clips i guess. but i can't recognize the artist. haha sorry. 

My trip in Dublin ended well, with not much difficulties I did manage to end my first solo trip destination safely. I went to wait at the airport around 8pm just because I don't really want to travel around when it is dark. My flight the next morning is at 6.15am and staying at the airport means I can save the hostel money for anything else. Good idea eh? hehe. 

In short, I think Dublin is a great city to visit. But if you are planning to visit, bear the fact that they do love to stare at us. It is either they stare at me because I am just too cute, or just because I look like a lost kid, or just because they love to stare. haha. but that is the fact. Oh and the weather is quite cold. If you think Malaysian rainy season is cold, just bring and wear those thermal undergarment that you bought at Universal Traveller. You need it. Yes! even if you come here during summer. hahaha. Oh and it always rain here too. So be prepared. Umbrella won't dont the trick, bring waterproof jacket. That's definitely going to help. A lot! Trust me.

Cheers!

Expenses: Coffee €3 + €1.05 to print the boarding pass for the next destination. 

Nope. No eating out since I still have my Day 1 bread and serunding. hehe. 

Peace and out~