Norway: the Naked Sculptures

Norway, September 2010

We embarked the Crown of Scandinavia before 5 PM from Copenhagen and arrived in Oslo the next day around 10 AM.
We made our first stop at Vigeland Park, the world's largest sculpture park made by a single artist Gustav Vigeland. There are more than 200 sculptures in bronze, granite and wrought iron.
Each sculpture have different story about journey of human life from birth to death. Gustav sculpted only nudes to make his images universal, not bound in time or class by their clothes.
It's a very beautiful park, definitely a place I'd love to revisit in the future.

waking up to a beautiful sunrise through my cabin window

Crown of Scandinavia, our cruise ship

Running man with a boy on his back

Vigeland Sculpture Park

amazing sculpture details

17.3 m high, The Monolith

The Monolith is composed of 121 human figures rising towards the sky. This is meant to represent man’s desire to become closer with the spiritual and divine. It portrays a feeling of togetherness as the human figures embrace one another as they are carried toward salvation

Oslo city

The next day we headed to Bergen by coach. It was a 7 hours long journey but with breathtaking scenery, I'd say it was worth it.
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway after Oslo. It's a pretty historic city surrounded by mountains.
To get the best view over the city, I went to ride the famous Floybanen (funicular). It took me up to the top of Mount Floyen, 320 metres above sea level.
Another main attraction in Bergen is the 900 years old wooden buildings,next to the Fish Market. It's listed on UNESCO's World Heritage site.

scenic roadway from Oslo to Bergen

stopover in Voss for lunch

Bergen view from top of Mount Floyen

journey on the Floybanen 

Cheers

 the old wooden buildings, important icon of Bergen

buildings along the harbour front

Anyway.....I'd like to wish you all Merry Christmas!!! Share the spirit of peace and joy on this occasion with your loved ones :)

Mc Donald's in Bergen

Denmark: Love at First Bite

Denmark, September 2010

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark. And Denmark has been said to be the world's happiest country. So whenever you feel sad and want to be happy just go to Denmark, hehehe :p
Well I can't really judge if it's true though.....I was there for 2 days only. But I did feel comfortable walking around in Copenhagen. It felt like really easy to blend in.
The weather was nice with beautiful blue sky. The people and environment were friendly too.

beautiful Copenhagen

Christianborg Palace

Christianborg Palace

Royal Library garden

St. Nikolaj Church & Frederick VII Equestrian Statue

the Marble Church

guard outside Amalienborg Palace

cute coffee bar

hot dog at Copenhagen City Hall

This hot dog is super yummy. It was love at first bite and I kept craving for this. It's quite simple actually, instead of hot dog bun, they use french baguette and long sausage. Then you can add ketchup, mayonaise and mustard to your liking.
Everytime I see a hot dog stand, me and my sister would run to get some. I think I've had like 8 hot dogs in 2 days. That's not too many, right ?
And because of this I ignore the Hans Christian Andersen statue, I was too busy munching my hot dog.
Sorry Sir, I forgot to take your picture. Maybe better luck next time.....when you decide not to stand next to the hot dog cart :D

the little mermaid at harbour front

 private yachts

Tivoli Garden, the oldest amusement park opened in 1843

Rosenborg Castle

the Gefion fountain

Sailor Quarter

board on the overnight cruise to Norway

China: Survived the Dengue Fever

China, July 2010

The route was Indonesia - Singapore - HK - Yunnan - HK - Singapore - Indonesia.
It was supposed to be a fun holiday but the nightmare started just 1 day before departure date. 
I was diagnosed with dengue fever. I don't know why mosquitoes seems to love me too much. In 2009 I've also got dengue fever and typhoid fever that I have to stay in hospital for 9 days.
My doctor strongly advised to cancel my trip. But my stubborn Dad said that I've survived before and I will too this time :p

So there I was jetting off to HK  through Singapore. Then another nightmare came when we were in the airport, my sister started to feel sick. Later on we found out that she has also caught dengue fever.
Cool !!! my family starting the holiday with combo 2 dengue fever victims :(
So as soon as we arrived in HK, we were rushed to hospital to do another blood test. Then both of us had to stay on bed rest, until the day we were scheduled to fly to Yunnan.

Arriving in Yunnan, our condition were getting worse that we couldn't walk from suffering the bone and joint pain. At some point we couldn't breathe and feeling nauseous. So most of the times we sleep in the bus while others were doing sightseeing with the group.
Here are some pictures I managed to take when I was feeling better........

old town gate, Dali

Black Dragon Pool, Lijiang

Xinhua street, Lijiang old town

beautiful ancient town

Impression Lijiang show under Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

Mom & Dad, the ropeway to Yak Meadow

tiny cabins without glass window, you can feel the wind and rain.....quite scary I would say

White water river, Lijiang

the dengue fever victim tried to smile :p

some Grannies playing Mah Jong

Stone Forest, Kunming

I didn't have any pictures of Hong Kong, unfortunately. But I was happy to stay at Swissotel the Stamford Hotel in Singapore. The view from our room balcony was breathtaking.

Singapore night view

Singapore day view

sunset in Singapore