All Entries

Sweden:

Stockholm
-Some SEP thoughts
-(Farewell)
-Flemingsberg (Flottsbro, Roger's home)
-(Last few days)
-(Modules)
-(Officially Winter)
-(Royal Palace Visit II)
-(Life in Lappis)
-(City Hall dinner)
-Djurgården (Skansen)
-Gamla Stan (Royal Palace, Nobel Museum)
-Gamla Stan, Skeppsholmen
-Mac, Cars, dinner w Roger
-Skarholmen(IKEA), (Bicycle)
-(KTH), (Stadion)
-(Farm behind Lappis)
-Odenplan, (Capoeira)
-(Stockholm uni), T-centralen
-(Arrival), (City Termainalen)
Other cities:

Uppsala
Gothenburg
Kiruna
-(Iron ore mine)
-(Snowmobile, Dogsled)
-(Icehotel)

Norway:
Bergen
-Mount Fløyen
-Grieg's Museum
Flam
Oslo
-(Nobel, Vigeland)
-(Arrival)
Others:
Oslo-Bergen NSB train
Bergen-Flam Fjord Cruise
Flåmsbana

Finland
Helsinki

Estonia
Tallinn

Belgium
Brussels
-(Mini-Europe)
-(Oasis Concert)
-(Arrival)
Bruges
Ghent
Leuven
Antwerp

Czech
Prague
-(Wenceslas square, Old Town Square, Charles Bridge, Prague Castle)
-(Museum of communism)

Poland
Warsaw
-(Old Town, Lazienki Park)
-(Ghetto, Uprising Museum)
Krakow
-(Wawel Castle, Jewish memorial, Schindler Factory)
-(Wielieczk salt mine)
-(Auschwitz)
Katowice(transit)

Russia
St Petersburg
-(Russian folk dance)
-(Catherine's Palace)
-(Main sights)
-(Arrival)
Moscow
-(Kremlin, Red Square)
-(Ukraina Hotel, Metro)

Singapore

Stockholm: Some SEP thoughts

Sweden trivia:
Sweden has never been occupied by a foreign power, at least not since Gustav Vasa united the country in the 16th century. Neither did she experience any bloody civil war.

I never saw any commuters sleeping on trains & buses!! Nobody seems tired! In S'pore, most of the time i see students or working adults dozing off on MRT, buses etc

Stockholm has a quite an impressive public transport infrastrucutre. All the buses and trains arrive at their stops at a specific time everyday. If u wanna get from pt A to pt B in the least amt of time, u can use this website. U just have to tell the system the time of arrival or departure, origin and your destination. The system will immediately tell u how to get there and what buses and trains to take at exactly what time. This efficient public transport planner ensures that u do not need to spend more than a minute waiting for each train or bus.

Reflections:
With less than 5 months for my exchange period, it was quite hard juggling travel and studies. Sometimes, I had to study while on the train/bus ride when I tour other countries. Special thanks to Henry too. Without him, I wouldn't be able to complete some modules.

Being far away from home made me realise some things:
-Nothing beats a good workout
-Even though I usu listen to English songs in S'pore, whenever I hear chinese song from my laptop, it made me think of home. It's always like this isn't it? Seeking the big unknown out there yet craving for the companionship & comfort of your own home.

I am glad and thankful that nothing screwed up. After all, a lot of things can go wrong on a seemingly simple exchange: not able to map the module back in NUS, failing the module(Most courses offered in English are Master's programme and they had quite a high failing rate), falling sick, travelling plans going awry, misplacing your passports...

Gandhi said "I do not want my house to be walled in on sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any."