About the splendour of the Norwegian mountains

What the guide books say are all true.

The Oslo-Bergen train ride is truly an ultimate experience. It cuts across Norway from right to left, into impassable mountains, skirting right beside lakes, ghosting past desolate towns, and at altitudes of over 1000m, the train glided past sweeping icy landscapes. It was completely incongruous, that even in the summer heat, the ice in the mountains seemed to remain untouched.


























These two young men were quite remarkable for the fact that they were very tall and secondly, they slept throughout the 6hr 30min train ride.





This train ride has been absolutely spellbinding.

And the best part was, I was able to revel in this with the company of my wife. That's the icing on the cake.

About hot buffalo wings

It's been a sensational couple of weeks so far.

Each day, I look forward to putting on my army No. 4, meeting my fellow officers, meeting and planning, setting directions for the battalion.

It helps that we have a group of officers who gel together. There is a good mix of youth and experience. We are led by some veteran NSmen. They have served many in-camp trainings and have a wealth of experience. Just being with them gives me a great opportunity to learn from them in the ways of management, leading, and blazing the trail forward.

There's also a good number of young officers, many who are still pursuing their studies in the various universities. They are enthusiastic, bright and keen.

Where do I stand? I think I'm in the middle! I've done more in-camp trainings than the young officers but far less than the veterans. For example, my direct superior, who is in charge of recruitment in an international insurance company, has done about close to 8 in-camp trainings.


Today, we were able to finish our training early, so a few of us decided to head to a secluded area of Seletar Camp to have our dinner. We had heard of this restaurant located in the Youth Flying Club that serves really good buffalo wings. So we herded ourselves into our cars and drove to that eatery.

And so, we glanced through the menu and were perplexed by the different 'levels' of buffalo wings that were available. So we clarified with the waitress what those 'levels' meant.

She laughed and said, 'The levels represent the different intensities of the chillies in the wings.'

Ah.

There was Level 1 up to Level 20. And then there was the 'Chef's Challenge'.

We discussed amongst ourselves and the bravado in us almost went to our heads. Our boss said he wanted to go for the 'Chef's Challenge'. I concurred with him, confident in my ability to tolerate even the most spicy chilli.

I can finish numerous chilli padis in a single dish without blinking.



Anyway, we decided to take it slow and start safe by ordering Level 2.

The wings came and we ate them without any major problems. The wings tasted a little salty, but otherwise we were good to go to the next stage.

The waiter then delivered Level 4 buffalo wings.

This time, one of the officers started downing cup after cup of ice water. We were all laughing at him.

But he, being brave and all, said he would go up to the next level.



While waiting for the Level 6 chicken wings to arrive, all of us were breaking out in perspiration already.

Even at Level 4 the burning sensation was radiating through our skin.

It was mad. My superior starting imploring the waitress to turn up the power of the air-conditioning.

The waitress chided him gleefully, saying that the air-condition was working perfectly well, and that it's him who can't take chilli! But she was kind enough to bring a fan and turn it on.

I was still doing very well. Our boss kept muttering, 'Let's go for the Chef's Challenge, everyone!'

Nobody took any heed of his words. They were all too busy wiping their foreheads and fanning themselves.

Level 6 buffalo wings finally arrived.

This time, I took the wings apart and ate it, thinking that it'll be a piece of cake.



It's strange how some food can have a delayed effect on your tastebuds.

After finishing that wing, my tongue started to burn.



I've never ever ever had that sensation before. Not for as long as I can remember!

I looked desperately for the iced water. I think I downed 3 full glasses of it, just to quench the invisible fire that was melting my tongue.

The officers around me were like trying to put out the fire in their mouths after they finished their wings. Apparently we almost had an emergency at our table.

It was extremely hilarious and completely unbecoming of a SAF officer. C'mon, we're supposed to be cool and in control.

The only person who still remained cool was our boss. He HARDLY took a sip of water, even though he had also finished his wings. Amazing.

He offered to order Level 8 but we waved our hands at him frantically.

Needless to say, they were all drenched in perspiration now.

Even for me, I think I had reached the threshold of my chilli tolerance. It was utterly hot. Even though I didn't perspire that much, my stomach felt as if it was being baked in an oven. An unending heat was engulfing my tummy from within!

Our boss had a good laugh at all of us.

He challenged us to try Level 8 when we come next time.


That's a horrifying thought. But I think I'll be game to try!

About the land of the Midnight Sun

I knew where we wanted to go, once we had disembarked from the cruise ship Crown of Scandinavia.

We needed to get to the train station so that we can book our seats on that train to Bergen.

So we spoke to the train staff and realised that we had to make changes to our plan. Our original intention was to stay two nights in Oslo and then make a day's journey by train to Bergen. We reach there in the late evening, spend one night there, and then catch the first train back to Oslo.

This itinerary, I realised, could very well have made our whole journey irrelevant. A few hours in Bergen would have deprived us of the time and space needed to view the spectacular sights that Norway is renowned for - its majestic fjords.

So I had a word with my wife, made a few calls to the youth hostels in Oslo and Bergen, paid for the train tickets, and voila! Our plan is now perfect.

After making the changes, I would spend just one night in Oslo, and have much more time in Bergen. And we're glad we made those necessary changes.

Anyway, we were still very early, so we decided to roam around the city centre before checking into our youth hostel. We found a luggage storage facility in the train station and chucked our bulky bags in there. We were glad to be rid of those weights.






After that, we proceeded to the tourist information centre to get more essential information, such as public transport information and a good map of central Oslo. This is the tourist information centre:




From there, we walked down the bustling main spine of Oslo city. It was already swarming with hordes of people. This street, Karl Johan's Gate, is the equivalent of Singapore's Orchard Road:






Along the way we took some pictures of the menu placed outside a chinese restaurant. Maybe you can take a look at the prices and gape at the high costs.






It could be due to the hot weather that might have driven these young men to strip and ride a horse. Queer but hilarious!




Further down the street there was a day market, and the bread on display looked really irresistable. It is as if these golden bread loaves were fit for gods.




Along the way, we took a breather at Hard Rock Cafe, and enjoyed a ice-cool vanilla milk shake:




Here's the City Hall:




Here's the tram that works very efficiently in the city centre. We took one of these trams to a famous park that is the home to countless sculptures of human beings, the work of one man whose ashes are kept near his masterpieces.




Anyway, while waiting for the tram, my wife took this picture of this giant and me, being very lanky myself, find myself looking very ordinary beside this man.




Here are some of the sculptures. It's in the emotions etched on the faces of these humans. They seem to convey a whole gamut of emotions - happiness, struggle, sadness and joy.








Along the way, plenty of youths were laid out on the lush green grass in the wide open parks, some content to relax, while some were playing a sport.




We were quite exhausted by then, and we decided to head back to the train station to retrieve our backpacks, then walk to the bus terminal to catch the bus to our youth hostel. Our youth hostel is located 8km outside the city centre. This wasn't ideal, but I was left with no choice as all the hostels with the best locations were already fully booked. Nevertheless, we were still happy, as the hostel was located in a very peaceful part of Oslo and it was a pleasant environment to get much rest!

It may come as a surprise to many, but even late at night, the sky is still bright. In fact, it never gets dark, and that's because in summer, the comforting light of the sun never recedes. By the early hours of the morning, the sun rises again. Norway is located far north in the globe and in the upper reaches of the country, the sun literally never sets during the summer.











Breakfast was a very simple affair, with bread, butter, cereals and hot drinks:






After a hearty breakfast, we checked out of the hostel, took the bus back to the city centre, to take the train to Bergen.






Finally, we were about to embark on a 7-hour train journey, from Oslo to Bergen. Never did we expect that this train journey, claimed by travel guides as one of the most scenic in Europe, would be so breathtaking, as the train brought us along lakes, ice-swept landscapes and white mountains.

It is fitting, then, to end off with this thoughtful and positive quote that was written on this fence in the Oslo youth hostel.

About the sea journey to the lands of the Norse gods

Before I can even start on an entry on Oslo, I think the Copenhagen - Oslo journey itself deserves an entry of its own.

While planning for this whole trip (with the laptop in front of me), I was mulling on what would be a great way to travel to Oslo from Copenhagen with my dearest one.

Of course, we could take the plane, where it'd be cheaper and faster. We could also take the train, but it would take too long, since Norway and Denmark are separated by the sea and there is no land bridge connecting these two countries.

Finally, I settled on the ferry service that plies between these two cities. I thought that a ferry ride would make the whole experience richer (though it was very expensive - over a thousand dollars just for the two of us!). Budget is important, but experience is priceless. And so, without any further delay, I promptly booked a pair of return ferry tickets.

And so, after spending a night in Copenhagen, we were due to depart for Oslo. At 4pm (Denmark time), the giant cruise ship Crown of Scandinavia set sail for the overnight sea journey to Oslo, the capital city of Norway.




We captured some photos as the ship departed from the terminal:










Dinner was not too bad. Our initial fears that we would be eating bread again proved unfounded, as we were offered some offerings of warm food - pasta and meatballs were my favourite. Nothing that is close to Asian food, of course, but we were still able to enjoy dinner tremendously. Everyone around us seemed to be sipping copious amounts of wines and beer, and when the waiter came to our table to recommend his choicest wines, we politely declined. We would love to drink of course, but the wines were priced out of our wallets! We had skyjuice and we were more than pleased with that, of course.

Sitting next to the window made the experience much more memorable.






My dearest needed a hairdryer, so she asked the Info Desk for help in this area, and they had one hairdryer to loan us!




Our accomodation on the ship is nothing to shout about. While booking the return tickets for this trip on the internet, I had simply booked the most economical tickets, not realising that the cheapest tickets meant rooms with NO windows! We had a good laugh about it!




The next day, we got up and really looked forward to a hearty breakfast!





The coffee and tea were great and having eggs, sausages and hash browns on my plate was worth rejoicing! And nope, I didn't touch any bread at all.

The ship was very large, with ten levels. Many of the levels are set aside for bunks, while there was one level set aside for cars and tour buses, but there was a duty-free shop, numerous bars and cafes, a LAN gaming shop, a cinema and a deck that commanded a view of the sea. It's a pity that the ship did not have a gym.






We were due to arrive at Oslo at half past 9 in the morning. As we moved into the vicinity of the city, we could see countless sailboats on the gentle sea. It was clear that the Norwegians were really enjoying the summer weather.








It was with great anticipation when we breathed in the fresh air of Oslo. Nope it wasn't cold at all. It was truly pleasant weather - right in the peak of summer in northern Europe. We were all set to continue our journey. Next post!