Self-pick potatoes (3rd time)

13 September 2025

It's that lovely time of the year again to do my favourite activity - to pick potatoes! I have done this activity 2 times (2023 and 2024), so this is the third time. The price has increased from SEK13 to SEK15 per kg for the first 100kg and SEK8 to SEK9 for 100 kg and above. This year, we picked 32kg waxy (fast) and 46kg starchy (mjölig) potatoes = 78kg! Now, all the potatoes are in the basement, cold and dark. Hopefully, they will last us to winter. I just checked our local grocery (Willy's - an affordable grocery store) website and the price for loose waxy potato costs SEK18,90 per kg and starchy costs SEK17,90 per kg. So, it looks like we had a good price for our self-pick potatoes!

The weather was perfect too - sunny!

A tractor goes around the field to pull up the potato plants so all we had to do was pick the potatoes from the ground. We remove the damaged and green potatoes for the farmer by putting them in the provided pails and empty the pails in the provided baskets that are put around the potato field.

Here is me crossing over the potato field from the waxy potato field to the starchy potato field. There were deep furrow lines made by the tractor so there were lots of high hops between each furrow line. It was fun because the soil is soft.

Weighed the waxy potatoes first. Last year, we filled up a sack with potatoes to the brim of the sack and it was too heavy to lift the sack up the trailer that transports the potatoes to the giant weighing scale. So, we filled the sack to a 2/3 of the sack and it was easier to carry the sack. 

Both waxy and starchy potatoes on the scale! Starchy potatoes in the red sack. Waxy potatoes in the yellow sack.

Archipelago - Rånö: Weekend camp

30 and 31 August 2025

The search to experience islands on the Stockholm archipelago continues. Today, my friend and I went to Rånö (Rån island). She wanted to camp and I convinced her to choose Rånö. There is a dedicated camping spot on the island plus there is a water pump. 

We took the 10.25am Waxholm boat from Nynäshamn (south of Stockholm) to Rånö, and the fare is 104kr for zone 3. The boat ride took us less than 1 hour. There were so many passengers on the boat and most of them got off at Nattarö, the first stop. This boat is smaller than the boat I took to Finnhamn last month. Lesser seats on the bottom deck and there is a small room on the upper deck but it gets very noisy very fast when people start talking as it is a closed room. There is a small cafe on the boat and the price is the same as on the boat to Finnhamn. There is one toilet on the boat.

It was a cloudy day. It was about 16 degrees and I know that I was going to be very cold, so I had my gloves on me. I should have brought thicker gloves though. What a huge difference from when I was in Finnhamn and Ingmarsö at the end of July where it was very hot. 

We arrived at Rånö at 11.15am. There were only 4 persons that disembarked from the boat. Us and two other girls. I suspected that there were not many tourists on the island as the sole restaurant on the island has already closed for the season. The grocery store is opened but for two hours only on Wednesdays and weekends after the summer season. 

The camping place is a 1km walk northwards from the jetty. It is an easy trail to get to the spot. The sign is clear and one cannot get lost. The island is smaller than both Finnhamn and Ingmarsö. 

The designated camping place. Unlike Finnhamn where it costs SEK120 per tent per 24 hours to camp, it is free here and maximum number of nights to stay here is 2 nights.

There was no one in sight. So, we had the opportunity to choose wherever we want to set up our tent. My friend brought her tent and we set it up. Then, we had our own-brought lunch on the rocks in front of the tent, with a view of the waters. I had sausage and vegetable pasta that I made the day before. It can be eaten cold so it is a perfect camping food.

After lunch, we took a walk on the Stockholm Archipelago Trail (SAT) that is clearly marked by the yellow, white and blue tapes along the way. We had our tea break along the way too with a view of the waters.

We walked the upper half of the island and that took us about 2.5 hours. Then, we headed back to our tent to prepare for dinner. My friend brought her camping stove and we cooked potato, lentil and carrot soup. I brought hard-boiled eggs so the only thing we needed to do was to peel the shell off the eggs. We had bread with us too. It was delicious with hot soup and bread to dip in it. 

After dinner, we were back in the tent. We chatted and drew each other. The next day, we cooked the same soup for breakfast. It rained while we were having breakfast. We cleared up under the rain. When we got back into the tent, the rain stopped for a while and rained again. When it drizzled, we started to pack and tried to dry off the tent as much as we can. We took the 12.37pm boat back to Nynäshamn arriving at 1.30pm. Also 104kr for the return boat ticket.

It was a lovely short weekend to camp at a new spot. I got to know my friend a little more and I got to enjoy peace and quiet in the nature.

Tastebud : Non Solo Bar (3rd time)

19 August 2025

After our Indian vegetarian meal, we went to a cafe where we could sit longer and enjoy our chat. The Indian restaurant, Saravanaa Bhavan was starting to get noisy as more customers walked in. Same as our previous dining experience in June where we ate at Chuan Tapas, we went to Non Solo Bar again as this place has places to sit indoors. Plus, it closes at 11pm. It was packed outdoors and I was impressed by the other customers' perseverance to sit outdoors with a temperature of 16 degrees without sun.

Previously, we shared a keylime pie but there was no pie today. So, I had a piece of coconut pastry dipped in chocolate SEK39. It was quite hard and I am pretty sure it contains a lot of sugar. And an alcohol-free pear cider SEK64, just like the previous time.

Tastebud : Saravanaa Bhavan

19 August 2025

Today, I had an Indian vegetarian meal for dinner. I did not find the taste to my liking as I thought it was bland. Probably because I had similar meals in Malaysia and they were tasty. Plus, Indian vegetarian meals in Malaysia do not cost a bomb...

This restaurant, Saravanaa Bhavan has branches in Malaysia too. We shared a small dish of rasa vada SEK79 and I had aloo gobi with rice SEK169 while my friend had ghee onion rava masala dosa SEK149. Just like in Malaysia, the the dosa is stuffed with potato and onion and served with coconut chutney, tomato chutney. However, the dosa is too paper-thin compared to the one in Malaysia where it is thick. 

Rasa vada is lentil doughnut served in rasam soup. Rasam is spicy lentil soup. I used to have rasam for free in some Indian restaurants in Malaysia but the rasam soup here costs SEK55! My aloo gobi dish has cauliflower and potatoes in onion cream sauce and comes with rice and a small serving of salad. 

The food is good here but it is not in my recommendation list or a restaurant I want to go back to unless I have no other options. 

Rasa vada.

Ghee onion and potato dosa.

Aloo gobi.

Tastebud : Ikea restaurant

28 July 2025

After a long hiatus, I got to eat at Ikea restaurant again. I have only eaten at Ikea twice since I moved to Sweden 8 years ago. Mainly because Ikea is far from where I stay and public transport takes about an hour. 

Today, I had a fish plate SEK99. Fried fish fillet with potatoes, sweet peas and a slice of lemon served with remoulade sauce. Remoulade is a French word. The sauce is made from mayonnaise, herbs, mustard and caper. I am satisfied with my portion. Also, I had a slice of cheesecake with berries SEK39. Very affordable meal! Many people come here to eat as it is so affordable. My glass of raspberry drink is included in the lunch set too. As I am an IKEA member, I could have gotten a cup of coffee for free.