2 Years in Sweden

31 May 2019

Today marks my 2 years in Sweden. 1 June 2017 was the day I stepped on Sweden's soil. It has only been 2 years but I felt like I have been here forever. The main reason is because I can speak Swedish. I am able to carry out conversations now but working with the language is still a learning process. I don't have a problem reading Swedish documents in my job scope. At times, I cannot believe myself the stage I am in now. The rate that I pushed myself to learn the language and force myself to work with it. It is true, the saying that what does not kill you will make you stronger. I even wrote an article in LinkedIn describing my work experience in Sweden. I am aware that after the second year, nothing will seem too strange or uncomfortable for me here. I believe I have assimilated myself into the society (it helps that one is working in a Swedish environment). It is no longer stressful for me and I am very glad for that.

Besides that, I have been immersing myself with lots of activities, thanks to Kompis Sverige, which I am now a volunteer. I have been to a number of concerts and theaters. I have done activities which the locals don't do. Now, I have to keep looking for new activities to keep myself interested in the town. Not that I am bored with it. It is just that I have joined numerous activities that I need to do different things now.

So, there will be no more anniversary posts after my second year here. 

To celebrate my 2nd-year anniversary, my colleague took me to a beautiful restaurant by Lake Mälaren. It is call Mälarpaviljongen (The Mälar Pavilion). It was a sunny and warm day. I had salmon pudding for SEK119 / RM60 and a slice of cheese cake for SEK68 / RM34. Filling meal and I enjoyed myself! Here I am, posing with my cup of coffee.

Yay to my 2-years in Sweden. I made it!

My first run - Vårruset (The Spring Rush) 2019

29 May 2019

Today, I joined a 5km fun run - Vårruset (The Spring Rush). It is pronounced as vor-ru-set. I am so happy and excited because I am back running again! I have missed the running atmosphere, the crowd, the cheers and the medals. I did not join any runs in Stockholm because everything costs so expensive here. I mean, the running fees. For this run, it costs SEK325 / RM163 for a timing chip. I was not ready to pay so much for a 5km fun run. Can you imagine now how much it would cost for runs that are further than 5km?

I joined this run courtesy of my company. It was for females only. It was a charity run and at the end of the run, the emcee announced that the run managed to collect SEK3,5 million for the children cancer foundation.

At 5.30pm, all of us gathered at the lobby of the office. We got our running jersey and bib. On my bib, it states 'Du är grym' which means 'You are awesome'. We took the train to Universitet station (the red line) and there was a huge crowd there. Everyone was walking towards the venue which was in Norra Djurgården. Can you guess how many runners were there? It was a 2-day event and there were 16 500 runners! I was shocked!

Roslagsleden 5

26 May 2019

I am back home after a 21.8km walk. Today, a group of us hiked Roslagsleden Section 5. Two weeks ago, I did Section 3 and 4. Initially, we wanted to do Section 6 too which will come to a total of 42km but we did not have sufficient time and it rained during 3/4 of the hike which sapped out most of our energy.

We met at Danderyds Sjukhus train station (the red line) and took bus number 626 at 9.25am to Singö Handel. It was about a 45-minutes bus ride.

It was raining when we alighted from the bus. I took this photo because I thought the road bumps were unique. According to a friend, these road bumps are movable and will be removed during winter. I was prepared this time (it rained heavily during the last 3km back to the bus stop in Roslagleden Section 3 and 4) with the rain - I wore my rain jacket, rain pants, and used an umbrella too. Sometimes, I will close my umbrella in the forest when I walked through tight spaces but most of the time, the umbrella was above me. Yes, it rained 80% of the hike. Shoes were wet and socks were damp. 

During the first 3km of our hike, we had a difficult time finding the trail and was off-trail walking through the forest. Good thing I had my rain pants on, so the branches and high moss dirtied and wetted that pants and not my hiking pants (which were underneath the rain pants). 

Birka: Part 2 - Archaeological site, Lunch

25 May 2019

At 12.30pm, a large crowd waited outside the museum where the guide waited for us. We went to the archaeological site which is now a green pasture. It is hard to imagine that once upon a time, this was a bustling town where trade carried out and was once the capital of Sweden. All I can see now is beautiful nature. 

Here, the guide is standing on a mount of grave. Graves here are made up of multiple layers. 

Birka: Part 1 - Arrival and Birka Museum

25 May 2019

Today, I paid a visit to Birka, one of Sweden's UNESCO sites. It was once a Viking village, once the capital of Sweden and the first city of Sweden as trades were going on due to the Vikings. Just to make things clear, Viking is not an ethnicity, it is a job where one trades and conquers ships. As this activity is found mostly in Scandinavian country, it was associated to the Scandinavians. 

Birka, on the island of Björkö (literally: "Birch Island") in present-day Sweden, was an important Viking Age trading center which handled goods from Scandinavia and Finland as well as Central and Eastern Europe and the Orient. Björkö is located in Lake Mälaren, 30 kilometers west of contemporary Stockholm, in the municipality of Ekerö. Birka was founded around AD 750 and it flourished for more than 200  years. It was abandoned c. AD 975, around the same time Sigtuna was founded as a Christian town some 35 km to the northeast. It has been estimated that the population in Viking Age Birka was between 500 and 1000 people.

The archaeological sites of Birka and Hovgården, on the neighbouring island of Adelsö, make up an archaeological complex which illustrates the elaborate trading networks of Viking Scandinavia and their influence on the subsequent history of Europe. Generally regarded as Sweden's oldest town, Birka (along with Hovgården) has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993. A silver ring from a Viking-era grave in Birka is the first ring with Arabic inscription from that era found in Scandinavia. Source from Wikipedia.

We took a steam boat to the island from Södertälje. To get to Södertälje, we took the commuter train and alighted at Södertälje Centrum. The tickets for the steam boat ride were bought at Södertälje's tourist center. There are no online ticket sales. A return ticket costs SEK300. It was cloudy and windy that day. Brr..

Here is a brief history on the steam boat, Ejdern. It made its maiden voyage in 1880 and is still functioning well till today. We sat next to the machine room and could see the seaman shovelling coal into the fire where the fire will heat the water and the steam that is produced moves the ship. There were coffee, tea and cakes sold on the boat. My friend got a cup of coffee for SEK20 and it includes second round. 

Tastebud : Feyruz

21 May 2019

Lunch today is Lebanese food at Feyruz! It was a buffet lunch and the price is affordable for SEK125 / RM63. I would have expected it to be more costly because Lebanese food sounds exotic to me. There were more vegetables than meat. Varieties are lesser than an Asian restaurant, though. For dessert, there was Osmallieh on that day. It is a dessert that is served with cream and thread-like pasta. 

Tastebud : Saigon Baguette

17 May 2019

Today's lunch is Vietnamese food. I had lunch at Saigon Baguette, which is located on Gamla Brogatan 25, and just like its name, I had baguette. It is called Banh Mi in Vietnamese. I visited Danang, Vietnam in 2013 and the baguette is a street food which costed USD0.75 / RM2.25 then. So, 6 years later, it could be USD1 / SEK10? My baguette, as you can expect in all Swedish food, costs a bomb - SEK85 / USD8.80 / RM36.80. Yup, close to 8 times the price. 

The baguette is yummy with its crunchy bread and cucumber. There were slivers of chili but it is not spicy at all. It was filling for me. I saw that Vietnamese coffee was sold too but the price puts me off, and I doubt that the taste will be as good as the one in Vietnam. Vietnamese coffee is priced at SEK39 = USD3.90. Six years ago, the Vietnamese coffee that I had in Danang costed me USD1. Maybe it is USD2 now. 

The place had lots of customers that day. They were willing to wait (well, Swedes love to queue) for the food. The restaurant is not huge, so there were limited spaces to dine, hence, there were many take-aways.

Vasamuseet (The Vasa Museum) - as a Volunteer

15 May 2019

Today, I visited Vasamuseet for the second time but as a volunteer for Kompis Sverige. The first time I visited Vasamuseet in October 2018, I was part of the group from Kompis Sverige, and I listened intently to our guide and stared at awe at the almost-600 year old ship. 

Just a recap (copied this from my post where I visited the museum for the first time) on why the warship sank:

The ship sank minutes into its voyage (to a war in Poland) as it sailed past the royal palace and a slightly strong wind rocked it. Main reasons were - 1) it had 64 cannon hatches which are many for a warship and the cannons were very heavy. 2) The hatches were open to show the cannons to the folk but little time to close them and water went in. 3) Insufficient stones at the base of the ship to stabilize it.

The narrations were, of course, similar, but we did not touch a sample of the wood from the ship. This time, the guide, Emelie, pointed to a small model of the ship and explained on how each cannon weighed as heavy as a car. At the bottom of the ship were rocks to stabilise the ship. 

The guide showed us the boardgame that the sailors will use when they get bored on the ship, but they never got the opportunity to play it. The items the guide showed us were copies.

The guided tour was conducted for an hour from 6-7pm and after that, we stayed on till 8pm and explored the museum by ourselves.

Roslagsleden 3 & 4

12 May 2019

I have never heard of Roslagsleden (The Roslag's trail) until I saw this event posted in Meetup. So, I decided to give it a go. I have to say that this is a very beautiful trail! It is different from the usual nature trails that I have been. Previously, I was obsessed with Sörmlandsleden which I hiked 7 sections (the first hike was done in August 2017, and the last one was in November 2017) but there were not many hikes organised for this trail as one needs to take the bus further away from town and travelling takes time too.

We walked, in total, 31.6km and my legs were sore after that. The knees were aching for 2 days and I did an interval run on the second day, where the aches left but my thighs ache instead. I think aching thighs are much better than aching knees. 

We gathered in Danderyd Sjukhus station (the red line) and took bus 676 (a double-decker bus that has WiFi on board) which stopped at Brottby Trafikplats where a drizzle started. We took bus 667 and got off at Stora Karby. Here, Roslagsleden  section 3 starts. The trail is clearly marked with an orange neon sign that states Roslagsleden.

We alighted at Stora Karby and was greeted by a farmhouse. It was cloudy at the initial part of the walk and it became sunny again.

Touch Perception Experiment - The Karolinska Institute

10 May 2019

Today, I contributed to science in a touch experiment. I got to know about this from a post in Expats World Stockholm group in Facebook. I was mostly attracted by the free cinema ticket! Haha! 

This experiment is part of a PhD thesis (from the Brain, Body and Self Lab in The Karolinska Institute) on how temperature is related to eating disorder. For the first part of the experiment, I had to count my heartbeat without touching my chest or feeling my pulse. It is difficult. I closed my eyes to 'feel' my heartbeat. For the second part, the researcher touched my left forearm with a warm thermod and I had to identify the same warmth a couple of times. For the final experiment, the researcher put a fake forearm over my left arm and touched the forearm with 3 different objects and she touched my arm with the warm thermod. I had to identify the warmth that she initially touched me with. The researcher also asked me if I felt that the fake arm was mimicking my real arm. I gave her a straight no, because I thought the fake arm looked scary to me. I even gave a shout out of surprise when I first saw it, as I stepped inside the room, so no way, this can mimic my arm. 

Concert - Ethel Smyth's mass

9 May 2019

Today's evening activity is brought to me by Kompis Sverige. I invited my colleague to join me. She is here for 3 months only and I decided to bring her to the concert. This concert is a first-time for me too. After the break (my colleague bought a snack plate - a delicacy and cup of coffee for SEK55), a group of people walked to the back of the orchestra and belted out a couple of songs together with the orchestra, and also to accompany 4 opera singers that sang in the front. 

Here is a bit history of Ethel Smyth that I took from Konserthuset's website.

Ethel Smyth (1858–1944) was exceptionally talented and went to Leipzig, which was one of the most important music cities in the nineteenth century. Smyth came to be a highly acclaimed personality, both as a composer and as one of the leading individuals of the suffrage movement which fought for women’s right to vote in England. In recent years, some of her music has been performed at Konserthuset, but this is the first time the programme will feature Mass in D – a Swedish premiere! The magnificent mass is constructed almost like an opera and is simultaneously melodically tasteful and intricate, dramatic and expressively imagistic. For her efforts in England, Ethel Smyth was named Dame of the British Empire.

Theater - Stallet (The Stable)

6 May 2019

Volunteer duties today with Kompis Sverige - a comedy performance in Hotel Rival which is located a stone throw's away from Mariatorget station (the red line). It is literally a stone throw's away if you have got a strong arm. Just a distance of 200m. The performance entitled 'Stallet', which means 'the stable' in Swedish is about behaviour in a flock as in a group of your own kind where everything is stable. It is certainly a funny show and they lighten the atmosphere on how difficult and challenging it is to accept changes in a flock. I suppose this show is trying to tell us about the current situation in Sweden where the country is accepting asylum-seekers and the locals have to get used to this change, and accept new people into their flock.

The first act itself was the actors acting as birds flying in a group, and in swoop a new bird which gave the group a hard time to accommodate to the new bird (actor). But they eventually got used to it, and missed the new bird (actor) when the new bird (actor) left the group. 

There was a guest actor for the show which is the guy. He seems to be famous in Sweden. 

The end of the 90-minute show. And oh, I got some tips on how to avoid eye contact - stare at the ground when you walk or pretend to talk on the phone! 

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.