18km walk to Saltsjöbaden

5 May 2019

Today, I joined the Meetup group again for a hike to Saltsjöbaden (pronounced as 'salt-hwei-ba-deng'). We met at Henriksdal train station at 9am. It was a 18.6km walk from Nacka till Saltsjöbaden. We took the train back at Saltsjöbaden station at 3.15pm. It was 8 degrees and it went up till 11 degrees. I did not want to take any chances and wore a down jacket and my hiking jacket. I sweated under those layers but at least, I did not freeze. 

We hiked up a few slopes and although it was tiring initially, but I got the hang of it after a few warm-up sessions with the slopes.

We saw two deer too. They were just staring back at us. I am sure they are used to seeing many humans. 

Our first pit stop by one of the many lakes that we stopped by.

Tastebud : The Meat Grill & Bar

3 May 2019

It is South American food for lunch today! I randomly selected this restaurant called 'The Meat Grill & Bar' from 'Restaurants near Vasagatan' list. It was a 3-minutes walk from my workplace. I have seen this place many times and I thought it was high-end food as it was located in a building that looks like it charges high rent. I checked its website and found out that it has a lunch menu! All the food in the lunch menu costs SEK110 / RM55.

I took chicken burger that comes with very soft fries. Besides a piece of chicken fillet, the burger has fried shallots and chips in it too which made the burger crunchy. The bread was slightly grilled which gave it the crunchy sound. The lunch menu includes a salad plate from the salad bar and a bottle of tap water which was shared between me and my friends. I did not particularly enjoy the fries, as I found them soft. I would say that it is an affordable meal as such prices are only for Asian buffets in town. 

Day's Trip to Gysinge

1 May 2019

It is Labour Day today! It is a public holiday! In Sweden, it is a public holiday because it is May Day, in conjunction with Valborg/Walpurgis Day. My partner decided that we should drive out of Stockholm. We started the drive at noon and got back by 10pm. It was cold today too. The days had been warm for the past two weeks and the temperature has dropped again this week. It was between 8-10 degrees. 

He chose to drive to Gysinge which is a 2.5 hour drive from Stockholm. This is our route that I took from Google Map to give you an idea on where the places are located. He could have used a different road.

Stockholm -- Ingbo Spring Water -- Färnebofjärden National Park -- Gysinge -- Stockholm.

First place of interest - Ingbo spring water and flour mill. The waters were clear and one can even drink the waters (cups were provided) but I did not dare to drink it.

Inside the red house is a flour mill. 

Valborgsafton (Walpurgis Night) 2019

30 April 2019

Every end of April, there will be selected areas in Sweden that build a bonfire (called as 'majbrasa' in Swedish - pronounced as 'mai-bra-sa') to welcome spring. These are selective places to ensure controlled burning. This year, the two public places are in Skansen (this one needs an entrance fee) and Rållis Park (the informal name for Rålambshovsparken). I was lucky that there was a bonfire near my neighbourhood. It was a 2km walking distance. Not too bad. This was my first time seeing the bonfire. I missed it last year because I was away for a short getaway to Dalarna. I also missed the part on how the bonfire was lit up. My partner informed me that kids throw candles into the pile of sticks and voila, the bonfire is up! 

A bit of history on this special day. The history behind Valborg - to celebrate Saint Walpurga, a nun in Germany who studied medicine and battled “pest, rabies and whooping cough, as well as against witchcraft." She was canonized on 1 May. They celebrated her on this day with a bonfire and the fire also scares away the witches. 

As I was approaching the place, I could hear singing and I saw a stage where the singers were singing classical songs to welcome spring. There were lots of food stalls, game stalls and apparently, lots of drinking session as the next day is a public holiday. All these were managed by the Scouts.

This is a manual carousel that is managed by the Scouts too. Kids sit and the Scouts run around the long branch and the kids gradually move up as the rope twists itself around the branch and the kids get down as the rope untwists itself. Pretty cool! I have never seen this before in Malaysia.

We were there from 7.15pm to 9.15pm. I found it amusing that as I stepped one foot away from the set-up boundary (for the fire), I felt cold. It is as if the heat is controlled. Maybe that is how it is with dry air. Next year, I will definitely get there 15 minutes earlier to see how the fire starts.

Culture Night Stockholm 2019 - Part 2: Bergrummet (The Mountain Room = Toy Museum)

27 April 2019

The evening walk continues from Strindberg Museum to the Toy Museum. I was informed that this museum relocated from Västerås. Apparently, this is the biggest toy museum in North Europe with no Internet available under the mountain. It is not an actual mountain but it is located under a hill, a very small hill. There is WiFi, though. Entrance fees cost SEK140, so I am happy to be able to enjoy this without a fee on Culture Night. However, it is free if 3 generations come on a Tuesday.