24 May 2012 – Bye-bye for now Linn & James

Tomorrow they head home to SC/USA but am consoling myself that Sep is not that far away and here is Olai!! Has been a fantastic week with the weather on our side. Yesterday a shopping morning in Sandvika and photo moments in the area at Bærum Rådhus/City Hall designed by Magnus POULSSON

L&M are great-grand daughters of the renowned architect Magnus Poulsson (their paternal grandmother’s father) who designed Oslo & Bærum Rådhus + many well-known buildings in Norway.

Their paternal great great-grand father JohnHALD/I was the first director of Ullevål University Hospital; great-grand father, JohnHALD/II director of Martina Hansen’s Hospital; grandfather, JohnHALD/III built up Tromsø’s Orthopedic department; father JohnHALD/lV, a neuro-radiologist at Rikshospitalet. L&M will have much to learn about and from their extensive families.

Lunch with Ellen and the last time we sat out there for lunch was when John/L&M’s grandfather was still alive (6 Jun 2008). It was also a beautiful day like today and he said the most touching thing, ‘Amy, you know that we worked very hard to get this glorious weather to welcome you’… he died Aug 2008 age 85.

Shopping at IKEA on the way back to OSL and was caught in an awful traffic-jam. Poor James, he was so good and no complains from him in spite of the jam in a non-AC car. Appreciations to B for the use of his car.

22 May 2012 – Now

Nationaltheatret is under renovtion and the summer weather is teasing us with its early arrival.

But how long will that last?? Am just happy for Linn & James with this glorious blue sky when Norway is at her best! Banking and grocery shopping made easy with the sunshine when bringing a 10 months baby out!! As long as it will last during their stay, there will be no seasonal affective disorder/SAD 🙂

I am a contradictory mess but I see it as my prerogative to change my mood like the weather – Shirley Manson

21 May 2012 – Nesøya 59°52′N 10°32′Ø

App 30mins drive east of OSL center and  across a bridge near IKEA is Nesøya, a small island on the OSL fjord. An area of 3 km² with a pop of app 3,500 in the municipality Asker. The island is known for having a number of celebrities and members of the Norwegian financial elite among its residents with a nature reserve on the eastern part.

Glad to see that the farm is still there but is it necessary for so many Drive Carefully Children at Play signs?? Lost count of the many speed bumps on this island!!

When we were living here in the 1970s, there was a gravel road leading to the house. On both sides of the road, were only a couple of houses. Today it is a fully paved road with many houses on both sides.

Was fortunate to live in this house when the HALD family was then living in Tromsø. It was and still is a beautiful 3-levels house with a lovely garden. After L&M grandparents moved back, they extended the house and built a play house in the garden.

Appreciations to Ellen & Cathrine (L&M’s aunt) for a delicious lunch where 4 generations gathered. Ellen was in Tromsø for 17 May and Cathrine accompanied her back to Nesøya and to catch up with Linn & James. First meeting with Cathrine was Christmas 1968 when she was the age James & Olai are now! Today she is a proud mother of 5 with her eldest age 18, the same age I was when I first met Cathrine!!

Delicate wild flowers dancing in the rays of sunlight on this first glorious summer day. Sooo thankful to my family and friends.

With the view of the top of Kolsås from Øverbergveien and nostalgic memories to end a Sun visit on Nesøya…

Nostalgia is a file that removes the rough edges from the good old days – Doug Larson

20 May 2012 – in OSL

Is efficient and on time but expensive. Living centrally has its + and that town is within reach by foot, my usual means of transport within the area! Oslotrikken, the OLS Tramway started in 1875. Today it is 131.4km/81.6mi with 6 lines and 99 stops and a great way to get to the downtown area. All the lines on the system go either through downtown, or, more rarely, terminate there.

It is operated by OSL Sporveier with a daily ridership of over 100,000. Above pix is a historic electrical tram. The price of a single tram and bus ticket ride in the OSL area is NOR30/over S$6.

The other means of public transport are buses, T-bane/subways, trains. The cabs here are very expensive and it must have been over 30yrs ago since my last cab ride here! Waaaay out of my budget!! Eplains where and when the long distant walking started, during my stay in Norway 🙂

Flytoget/express (efficient and frequent) train to the airport takes app 20mins with 1 stop and cost NOK170/app S$36. The cab will empty your wallet -over NOR1,500,/app S$350! Gas here is NOK14/S$3 per liter! L just told me that in SC/USA, it cost US$3.8/S$4.8/NOK 23 per gallon. 1 US gallon = 3.78liter.

M wrote an interesting article on SIN public transport last year titled: SIN Transport System – Advance but it is Sustainable! She is certainly in advnace with her article, as this year the MRT system in SIN is showing signs of wear and tear!!

About 60 percent of the oil consumed daily by Americans is used for transportation, and about 45 percent is used for passenger cars and light trucks – Sherwood Boehlert

17 May 2012 – and Two Grandsons

Wed: food in the fridge and flowers on the balcony ready for Norway’s National Day, third 17 May in Norway since moving away in 1985!

Thu: a grey early morning heading into town to catch the Airport Express. Pix above were taken before 0800hrs. Will not even attempt to be near this area when the parade starts, especially with 2 grandsons under 1yr!

United Airlines from Newark was half hour ahead of schedule but the service (acording to Linn and I too have exprienced the bad service from US airlines ) was terrible. Poor mother and baby! James is adorable and in spite of his lack of sleep was in good spirits on the train and subway back into town.

It turned out to be a beautiful day and our lunch was the tradition Norwegian smørgårdsbord with our favourite foods, Norwegian smoked & marinated salmon, shrimps, roast beef, potato salad, assortment of cheese, fresh figs wrapped in Serrano ham and for dessert home-made ice cream with fresh blueberries and strawberries and kransekake (delicious cake made from almonds, icing sugar and egg whites) usually served on special occasions.

The babies enjoyed their American baby food brought by L and napped while the two sisters exchanged baby tales!! Grandmother is contentedly happy to have her family together this 17 May. It has been nearly 30yrs ago we celebrated a 17 May together in Norway. Appreciations to M&B for putting us all up.

I have no country to fight for; my country is the earth, and I am a citizen of the world – Eugene V Debs

Those who are not familiar with 17 May and are interested plx check:

http://amylamsg.com/2009/05/17/17th-may/

http://amylamsg.com/2011/05/17/national-day-2011-in-norway/

16 May 2012 – The University of Oslo/UiO

Founded in 1811, formerly Kongelige Frederiks Universitet/The Royal Frederick University  is the oldest and largest U in Norway. One of northern Europe’s most prestigious U, it is frequently ranked among the world’s top 100 U. Previous home to five Nobel Prize winners and the only U to host a Nobel Prize ceremony. The building is located centrally on Karl Johans gata the main street, also used as a concert hall and for the dissertations of a Doctor of Philosophy PhD and just a minute walk from the palace.

The only faculty in the old building is Law and the rest are out at Blindern about 3 subway stations from the Nationaltheatret stop where the old building is located. Was inside the old building for a concert some years ago and the interior of the U assembly hall, Aula contains a monumental room decoration by the painter Edvard Munch with the Sun, History + others but the two mentioned are impressive.

Celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2011. Was there after the Jul 2011 bombing and shootings to pay 1min silent tribute to those who were killed.

http://amylamsg.com/2011/07/29/when-the-nordic-world-stood-still/

Today UiO is under covers for cleaning and renovations. Covers printed with windows and doors to match the building is a new site for the eyes. B told me that is how it is done in Germany too. Certainly looks much better than just the usual boring plain covers, especially when it is on the main road in the center of town!

There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people – Howard Zinn

14 May 2012 – fire, parades, lawyer, recycle-plant & lunch!

Fri: awoken to the sounds of sirens with a fire truck in front of the window. Fire and a lot of smoke from the neighbouring block’s chimney were the reason. Thank goodness nothing serious and things were under control within a few minutes.

En route to the lawyer and was fortunate to run into the marching bands with flag bearers from various countries including Ireland and USA marching towards the City Hall ( probably 17 May rehearsals! ). Even the cool drizzle did not stop the kids from nursery and pre-schools from being in the audience 🙂

Horses trotted elegantly down the cobble-stone road by the National Theatre (under renovation). Interesting coloured-glass windows by the staircase at the lawyer’s office at Prinsens Gt. Solveig has been my lawyer for nearly 30yrs!

Sat: first experience to a re-cycling plant on this beautiful day. Emptying the house and driving the last few loads to this location where the car with everyone and everything was weighted at the entrance. Well-organized system with all the different bins clearly marked. After emptying the load, was re-weighted to calculate the stuff unloaded. A 30yrs old house did add up to many Saab loads of junk. 700NOK/S$150 for 1 ton!

Sun: Yummy Norwegian smørgårdsbord at M&B’s apartment with their friends, Ida & Arne, Julia & Harald on Mother’s Day but not celebrated here. Much appreciations to M&B for the lovely lunch, putting up with me, helping with the sales of the house and all the work involved before, during and after the sales.

Listen up, you couch potatoes: each recycled beer can save enough electricity to run a television for three hours – Denis Hayes

13 May 2012 – Happy Mother’s Day!!

What a Mother’s Day present and sure am glad that I have been on it a couple of times!

http://singaporeinformation.org/2012/05/09/singapore-flyer-sold-for-s304-million-as-mothers-day-present/

Mica, tkx for sharing the joke below and it is people like the guy below who can afford to buy the SIN Flyer 🙂

Never under-estimate a Chinese

A Chinese man walks into a bank in New York City and asks for the loan officer. He tells the loan officer that he is going to China on business for two weeks and needs to borrow $5,000.

The bank officer tells him that the bank will need some form of security for the loan, so the Chinese man hands over the keys to a new Ferrari parked on the street in front of the bank. He produces the title and everything checks out. The Loan officer agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan. The bank’s president and its officers all enjoy a good laugh at the Chinese for using a $250,000 Ferrari as collateral against a $5,000 loan.

An employee of the bank then drives the Ferrari into the bank’s underground garage and parks it there. Two weeks later, the Chinese returns, repays the $5,000 and the interest, which comes to $15.41.

The loan officer says, ‘Sir, we are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a multi-millionaire. What puzzles us is why you would bother to borrow $5,000? The Chinese replies: ‘Where else in New York City can I park my car for two weeks for only $15.41 and expect it to be there safely when I return.’

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools – Douglas Adams

11 May 2012 –  59°55′43,572″N 10°43′0,12720″Ø

Majorstuen is known for its vibrant downtown, especially its shopping area and has several elegant townhouses from 1880-1890. An important public transport junction in Oslo, where all metro lines, three tram lines and five bus lines operate. It is served by Majorstuen station, the nearest station where M&B live and just one station from the center!

The neighborhood was named after a well-known public house which was located on the east side of Sørkedalsveien. Dating from the 1700s, the house was named for the Major Michael Wilhelm Sundt (died 1759), stue/cabin, house with one single room. It has long been discussed, Majorstuen and Majorstua – stuen is when stue is treated as a masculine, and stua is a feminine word. The original pronunciation was -stua, but since Danish was the only written language in Norway well into the 19th century, the name was written -stuen (Danish common gender inflection).

The station was opened in 1898 and the original station building was built in 1916.

A pigeon coop & sculpture by the track! Majorstuen school is a primary and secondary school and was designed by architect Bredo Henrik Berntsen (1877-1957). The first phase was completed in 1908.

The Colosseum Kino is the largest cinema in Northern Europe and the largest THX cinema in the world. It is distinguished by its large spherical dome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colosseum_Kino

Baker Hansen***$$ bakery chain in Norway. Expensive but nice ambience, especially when the weather is good enough to be sitting outdoors.

Junction of Valkyrie Gt and Jacob Aalls Gt

So very nice to catch up with Ellen (L&M paternal grandmother) on Wed and Ingrid on Thu. These people crossed life’s journey path over 40yrs and 30yrs ago and are some of the people who brighten my stay in Norway!

Say what you want about aging, it’s still the only way to have old friends – Robert Brault

8 May 2012 – and the Briskeby area

Today at 1415hrs Piggsoppgrenda 6 at Kolsås/Løkenhavna, Norway  was sold, thus tieing up this inter-section in life. Tomorrow will be another new day for more experiences in life’s journey 🙂

http://www.finn.no/finn/realestate/homes/object?finnkode=34572583&reference=2012%2F4%2F27%2F3%2F345%2F725%2F83_1217717725.jpg

Briskeby is an area located in OSL. It is mainly a residential area with some commercial activity, especially along the Briskebyveien. Attractive and expensive neighborhood just around the corner of the Castle and Frognerparken.

Uraniborg kirke/church is situated on Uranienborghøyden behind the Castle. The Church was designed by Balthazar Lange and was consecrated 1886. Built with a sober Gothic feel, decorated with frescoes of Enevold de Thømt and stained glass Windows by the artist Emanuel Vigeland. In 1930 the Interior got its present design by architect Arnstein Arneberg. Above 4 pix credits to various sites.

It is now a cultural monument and under more works and cleaning.

Another beautiful day exploring around the Briskeby area with many interesting and charming buildings including where Johan SC Welhaven/1807-71 lived. Poet and literary critic, his first major poetic achievement was Norges Dæmrin. A good number of poems inspired by folklore and folk poetry. He also wrote some hymns and was a professor in philosophy at The Royal Frederick University in the 1840s Christiania!

An interesting brown house has motives from the viking time and stave church. The red one has a lovely white window arch with birch tree and a lovely flowering magnolia tree by the entrance, blooming to welcome the occupants 🙂

Street and park trees provide tremendous benefits to cities – Gavin Newsom