Enjoying Nature in Hovik

On my last day in Oslo I decided to explore the area around David's apartment before my flight back to London.

I left the apartment at about 12.30pm and walked down this road:

There was a school there and kids were playing in the park; must have been their recess time.

Soon I reached this clearing

and saw a body of water behind the trees.

David had earlier explained that I need to walk through the trees to get to the hiking trail. So I thought this must be it.

There was a signboard but I didn't understand a word as everything was in Norge.

Behind the trees was a small marina with lovely boats.

The surroundings were quiet and peaceful. Whenever I find a nice peaceful spot, I love to sit still for hours listening to my breathing and just enjoy the gift of 'being'.

But this time I had a plane to catch so I had to continue my hike.

Soon I reached this path

and sat on one of the bench to admire the scenery.

A lady with her dog came walking along the path. Her dog that was not on a leash took a liking to me and came bounding up to me seeking a pat on its head.

The lady rushed to pull her dog away from me and quickly tied it to a leash. She didn't even apologise that her dog made my clothes dirty, but I didn't mind cause the dog was a cute fella.

I didn't get a chance to snap a pic of the dog, but here's a pic of the lady dragging her dog away. Poor thing, it was just being friendly.

Later when I related the story to David, he said that Norwegians are so stuck up that they won't apologise when something like that happens.

Anyway, I continued my hike along the edge of the water.

I noticed that the sand was black, which reminded me of the black sand in Langkawi. The water was equally black.

Then I walked back into the woods. I was not afraid of getting lost because I just needed to follow any of the paths that have already been paved, and I would eventually reach the main road.

In my last post about Oslo, I mentioned that the Norwegians are great boating people. They are also great lovers of the outdoor. That's why you can find lots of opportunities for outdoor activities like hiking, cycling and boating.

In fact during this hike, I met a few people from all ages and walks of life who were hiking in the area. Some of them were bringing their pet dogs for a walk, couples were jogging in the woods and some were just hiking as if it were their daily routine.

The Norwegian lifestyle is very different compared to the sedentary lifestyle of the Malaysians. While they love the outdoors and have an active lifestyle, Malaysians just refuse to walk anywhere. Even when it comes to parking also must park right in front of our destination. No wonder obesity is rising in the country!

When I was in Oslo, almost all the Norwegian men and women I saw were slim, fit and gorgeous! This is what having an active lifestyle does to you.

Now back to my hiking story ...

I saw houses and more sceneries like these:

After spending much time exploring the area, I realised I need to get back to the apartment to get ready to go to the airport.

I saw this opening along one of the path which led to the main road.

The path opened up to a futsal court. I had to snap a pic of it cause the sky was so blue!

When I reached the apartment, I told David that his apartment is surrounded by lovely landscapes and that he should spend more time outdoors. But he said he don't have the time as he is busy with work. By the time he reaches home, he's so tired and stressed he just wants to sleep.

Well, I thought spending time outdoors is one way of releasing stress. But what to do, as the Malay saying goes,

"Kalau hendak, seribu daya; kalau tak nak, seribu dalih"

If I were living there, I would make frequent trips to drink in the sights of the lovely natural surroundings of Hovik.

And then I'll be slim, fit and gorgeous as the Norwegians! Lead an active lifestlye is what I wanna do!

Inactivity on This Blog Thanks to FarmVille

I've not been been updating my blog actively these past few weeks. Previously I was very rajin (hardworking) and posted an average of 2 entries per week. Now one entry per week also susah (difficult) to do.

Well, my absence on Blogger is because of one thing - FarmVille !!!

If you don't know what FarmVille is, then you must be a Facebook (FB) virgin. This game has been on FB for some time but only lately I've found the time to learn the game.

In this game, I am farmer in-charge of my own farm. I need to plant trees, vegetables and flowers as well as rear poultry to earn gold coins and point to move to the next level.

What makes FarmVille addictive is that I am able to flex my creative streak and do all sorts of things in my farm.

I'm learning to plot my land carefully so that when the plants are fully grown it comes out as a picture; something like crop circles. My first attempt was to plant a shape of crosses within crosses using eggplants, daffodils and bell peppers. And it turned out perfectly!

Part of the challenge of FarmVille is to choose plants according to their colours and harvest time. You would want to choose plants that have the same harvest time and matching colours.

Some of my 'neighbours' farms, are so pretty with a full collection of decoration items like a bird bath, gazing ball, bales of colourful hay, various kinds of topiary, hot-air balloon and the list goes on. To get these item you would need to have good 'neighbours' to send them to you. Alternately you could buy them using the gold coins earned from your harvest.

Sounds interesting? You bet it is!

So pardon my lack of updates on this blog for the time being. Things will go back to normal once this craze of mine dies down.

St Paul's Cathedral - A Tough Climb to the Heavens

St Paul’s Cathedral is one of the famous buildings in London.

When you step into this Sir Christopher Wren masterpiece and marvel at its magnificent architecture, be prepared also to heed the challenge that the Cathedral holds for all who dare – to climb to the top of its famous dome.

View of St Paul's famous dome from the Millennium Bridge

Now … to me, this climb made climbing Batu Caves in Malaysia look like a piece of cake.

Let me tell you why.

The climb from the Cathedral Floor to the topmost part of the dome which is called the Golden Gallery can be divided into 3 levels:

1) Climb from Cathedral Floor to Whispering Gallery (257 steps)
2) From Whispering Gallery to Stone Gallery (376 steps)
3) From Stone Gallery to Golden Gallery (528 steps)

That’s a total of 1,161 steps, which makes St Paul's Cathedral the highest and toughest religious man-made structure I've ever climbed to date!

(Note: Click here for illustration of the 3 levels)

By the time you reach the Golden Gallery, you would be 85 metres from the Cathedral Floor and definitely out of breath.

I would love to show you the lovely interiors of the Cathedral, but photography is not allowed inside.

Anyway, if you’re wondering why do they call it the Whispering Gallery, it’s because when you whisper against one wall in the Whispering Gallery, whatever you say can be heard 32 metres away on the other side of the dome.

So be careful if you want to use profanities here. At the Whispering Gallery, the phrase “the walls have ears” is literally that.

What made the climb difficult was not only the sheer number of steps, but something else. We had to pass spiral staircases, low doorways and narrow passageways like these

Watch your head, John!

Another narrow passageway

Would be difficult to climb if you're horizontally challenged.

John is definitely not claustrophobic

The narrow passageway above made me feel like I’m in an Indiana Jones movie where the booby trap has been triggered and the walls were closing in.

As we were reaching the Golden Gallery, I saw this hole in the floor

When I looked closely, I realised the hole is directly on top of the dome and looks down into the middle of the Cathedral.

The ring where the blue tarpaulin is is the Whispering Gallery. The tiny brown thingies in the middle of the photo are chairs for the congregation. That's the view from 85 feet!

When you reach the Golden Gallery, you'll be rewarded with a bird's eye view of London. You get to see

Tate Modern and the Millennium Bridge that leads to it

The River Thames and the London Eye. Can you spot the Houses of Parliament in this photo?

I also saw this obelisk-like structure surrounded by buildings and thought it looked cool.

Later I found out the obelisk-like structure is called the Paternoster Square Column in Paternoster Square, which is situated beside St Paul's Cathedral.

If you visit London, I don't think you'll miss St Paul's Cathedral and its dome which is one of the biggest in the world. After all, it has been on sitting on this site since 604AD, majestically and silently looking after the city of London.

The official St Paul's Cathedral website has a beautiful description of it: "St Paul’s is not only an iconic part of the London skyline but also a symbol of the hope, resilience and strength of the city and nation it serves. Above all, St Paul’s Cathedral is a lasting monument to the glory of God."

To me, St Paul's Cathedral is a gentle reminder that the search for God is sometimes not easy - just like climbing to the top of St Paul's dome.

Boat Ride in Oslo

David was supposed to take me bike riding to Bergen. But he hurt his back a couple of days before I got to Oslo. So in the end we decided to cancel the trip as the 489 km journey on a bike to Bergen through bumpy and winding roads would make his back worst.

Instead we went boat riding in the fjords near Hovik.

We left the apartment towards the later part of the morning. I put on my riding gear,


hopped onto the Honda Goldwing


and zoomed off. Of course I didn't ride the bike myself cause I don't have a motorbike license. I just hung onto David's tummy and pretended to look like a hot biker chick.

Soon we reached the marina where there were rows of different types of pleasure boats.


Luckily there's a special name where you dock lovely boats like these. Otherwise it would be sacrilege to call a place like this a 'jetty' because to me, the word 'jetty' conjures images of dirty ships and sampans floating on equally dirty water.

We met up with Richard who was the one who invited us to ride in his super cool speed boat.

Soon we were on our way.

As we headed out towards the fjords, the boat ride was so bumpy that I had to hang on for dear life.

I remember the last time I had a similar bumpy boat ride was a couple of years back when I was in Sabah. I was travelling in a small boat from Manukan Island to Kota Kinabalu during the monsoon season. It was drizzling and the weather was dark and stormy.

The waves were strong and huge and were banging onto the boat in a head on collision. Even the scariest rollercoaster ride is nothing compared to being in the middle of nature's fury.

By the time I reached Kota Kinabalu jetty my body felt like someone had taken my organs out, kicked them around a bit and put them back into my body again. I was completely drenched and my cellphone was wet and spoiled.

Anyway, enough about my boat ride story in Kota Kinabalu. Let's continue about boat riding in Scandinavian Norway.

The Norwegians are great boating people. Many people own a boat here - wheather it's a sampan, a kayak, a speed boat, a catamaran, a yacht or even a luxury cruise liner.

Their great passion for boating is probably due to their viking heritage; think Hagar the Horrible cartoon strip.

Because of the fine weather and being a Saturday, many Norwegians were hanging out with family and friends on their boat.

Some took the opportunity to go kayaking:

I like this yacht cause it reminds me of the movie Mamma Mia!:

I also saw many beautiful houses like this one:

There were also pretty houses on the hills overlooking the fjords:

I saw this sign (guess why it intrigued me) and asked Richard what it meant. It means to go slowly. I couldn't help chuckling to myself.

After almost 2 hours riding in the boat, we reached Aker Brygge where we had a late lunch before heading back to where we started.

I didn't take any photos at Aker Brygge cause I left my camera in the boat. What to do ... by the time we reached Aker Brygge it was already 4.00pm and we were starving. So the only thing on my mind at that time was food.

Nevertheless, I'll leave you with a picture of me camwhoring on Richard's lovely speed boat.

7 Eating Habits to Lose Weight

I had wanted to lose weight since as long as I can remember. But living in Malaysia where nasi lemak, roti canai and char kuey teow are in abundance has made it an almost impossible task.

Don't get me wrong here. I'm not some bum who don't exercise and laze around all day. I go to the gym regularly and do cardio workouts on the treadmile. Apart from that I am active and walk almost everywhere as I don't have a car. However all efforts were futile - my weight remained the same because I have stubborn body fat.

There were times my weight went down a bit but then up it went again as I was on a yo-yo diet.

Moreover I put on weight easily. If I eat rice for lunch and dinner consistently for 1 week, I can put on something like 2kgs. So I have to really watch what I eat.

The turning point came a couple of months back when I was at Pavilion and saw a promotion by a certain slimming company. What attracted me to the booth was the free body fat analysis.

When the lady explained my readings, I was horrified as I didn't know my body had so much stubborn fat - almost double the percentage of a normal person.

I realised I must do something to address this problem. I figured that since I had been exercising all these while with no change in weight, it had to be the diet. After all, I had not taken my diet seriously all these while.

After 1 month of following these 7 tips diligently, I lost 2.5 kgs permanently. You might think it's a small figure, but it's a huge accomplishment for me since I have stubborn body fat and I put on weight easily.

Here are the 7 tips:

1) Stop eating when you're full. But please don't waste food by ordering only the minimum portion or share it with somebody else.

My ex-boss kept her slim figure by not finishing her food everytime she ate. I felt bad seeing her throw food away when there are millions in this world who go to bed hungry every night.

2) Always be a little bit hungry. This is difficult to do if you like to gorge yourelf at each meal and only be satisfied if you're full to the brim.

If the hunger pangs get worst, eat fruits. You don't want to end up having a gastric problem.

3) Avoid carbohydrates and fatty foods - eat whole meal bread instead. I found this the most difficult tip to follow. During the 1 month diet, I got up early to prepare lunch which consists of steamed carrots and long beans with oyster sauce and sesame oil. Sometimes I would add a hardboiled egg.

But if I'm too lazy I would buy 2 dishes from the vegetarian stall in my office foodcourt.

4) Eat a light meal for dinner - Soup and fruits are the best.

A light meal is important for dinner because you'll be hitting the sack soon and you don't want fat cells growing in your body as you sleep.

5) Keep a daily calorie quota. If I had eaten a nasi lemak for lunch, then I'll eat a salad for dinner because the nasi lemak would have taken a bulk of my calorie quota for the day. So if you want to have a nice meal all the time, you've got to ensure that all your meals have an equal low calorie count.

6) Weight yourself daily. By doing this you can gauge if your diet is working and learn more about your weight. If you see the scales tipping to the heavier side then you know your diet is not working and it's time to change it.

I used to weight myself in the morning and in the evening. I learned that I am lightest when I had just get up from sleep and I can weight up to 1kg heavier after a heavy meal.

7) Indulge yourself in a gorging escapade, once in a blue moon. You must do this to keep your sanity. Otherwise you would curse yourself for putting your body through so much torture.

Losing weight is never easy and I struggled in the first few days. But determination and will power did it.

Now my body feels light and I feel comfortable slipping into anything I wish to wear. The feeling is tremendous!