As mentioned before, it's been sweltering hot in Oslo for days now. This means it's too hot to sit inside (29 degrees inside at the moment), and too hot to sit outside to. It's even getting really hard to get a good nights sleep.
So, what's better and more refreshing than something nice and cool to drink. And the flavour of the moment - actually an all time favorite - is WATERMELON JUICE! Honestly, who can resist a glass of ruby red, sweet, ice cold & refreshing juice. And it's not even difficult to make! You just need watermelon, lime, apple juice, ice cubes & a blender. Now, here's how to do it:
Fill the blender with layers of ice and watermelon, squeeze over half a lime and throw in a splash of apple juice. Blend, and serve in a tall glass. Refreshing!
p.s. a splash of vodka instead of apple juice (and a little sugar sirup if you need it sweeter), and you've got a party!
Ouch, ouch, ouch! Hours upon hours spent on a miniature beach (not the sort of sandy beach you find down south, but just enough sand & mud to make the ground soft enought to lie & tread upon) left me a light shade of lobster.
I just missed the boat the rest of the gang took at out to Hovedøya by a few minutes - courtesy of Ruter aka Oslo Sporveier (I suspect that the public transport company regularly changes their name to throw of ta bad reputation). Luckily there was another boat 15 minutes later, though this one took me on a fjord-cruise, stopping by on 4 other islands before we reach the one where I was heading. The long way round, but nice scenery! No reason to complain, 'cause I had a great time lazying in the sun from 11 to 5:30pm, now that's a lot of sun in one day! Had a lunch barbecue around 1pm, and I even went swimming!!! Pretty darn cold to begin with (I was literally screaming!), but very nice and cooling.
Guess I can't say this enough, a very nice day indeed! My only regret is not 1) applying sunscreen more liberally, and 2) not covering up. I don't like being sunburnt, especially not on my back (NB! Note to self). Ouch, ouch!
Late afternoon spent on the grass by the Munch museum hanging out with F & friends. Actually, Tøyenparken must be an undiscovered pearl. It's a lush, spacious park with hardly any people there, quite unlike Sofienbergparken. The park sort of made up of many terraces on a hillside, a beautiful view of Oslo's skyline and the mountains beyond, and best of all, there's sun almost until 10 pm! Only catch is that there aren't any public toilets easily accessible.
Finally, the evening ended with a few beers at Traktøren, a homely pub in Sofienberggata, merry conversation accompanied by Michael Jackson's played cronologically on repeat. A good choice to enhance the mood, and a nice tribute.
Now, in honor of my beautifully colured back, I'm rounding off this post with a tribute to the colour pink!
Happy Friday! Wow, the weather has been ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS in Oslo this week. Close to 30 degrees & sunny every day so far. Does that mean summer's finally arrived? I hope so. But, I've been working day (and night...) almost every single day, so I hope the good weather will stick around a bit longer. I'm desperate for some colour this year!
So, what does the weekend bring? Today I've got the whole day off, and I'm actually going to take time off too. So rather than hanging out at Blindern in the sweltering heat, I'm off to the islands with friends! Yeah, a chance to get some rays on my pitifully deprived body - ha, perhaps even fry until lobster-red just to catch up what's been lost the last few days. No, just kidding - I would never do that! Too much sun is bad for the skin in so many ways, and I'm not going to sabotage myself on purpose.
Else, nothing much planned this weekend except ice cream eating big time, and perhaps a drink or two to chill with in the evening. Working both Saturday evening & Sunday morning, so taking it pretty easy this weekend.
Instead of continuing working, as I should have, I 'accidentally' started the party early by turning the computer lab into my own private disco. So right now I'm at my desk, headphones on, rocking to the music. Not an efficient way to spend the last hours before I take off, but definately very enjoyable!
Friday, oh happy Friday! This one should be a good one!
At the moment I'm in the computer lab up at the university (home, sweet home). So far today I've been to Vinmonopolet to find something nice to drink tonight, and been hunting high & low for a birthday present. Yes, I'm going to a party (Thanks Siggi for changing shifts!). Erle turns 28 - happy birthday, gorgeous! - and is hosting a fabulous birthday bash this evening! Likely to be quite a few familiar faces there, thus it's a great chance to catch up with friends, and guaranteed to be great fun!
Else, I've been photo-documenting my doings today through cellphone photos of horrific quality - should actually post them all the same, though that's got to wait until later.
Oh yeah, and I bought a "teach yourself"-like course in Japanese today. You can say I was inspired by my good friend (and fellow blogger)Marte, who's planning on refreshing her Russian this fall. Man, talk about giving me a guilty conscience for forgetting all the Japanese (which isn't that much in the first place) I learnt! The rest of the weekend is less wired for fun. I'm going to be at work from 4pm - closing time the three next days. But I'm not complaining. I don't mind working evenings at D/S Louise, especially during summer & if the weather is nice 'cause that means I'll be finished by 11 pm. And if the weather isn't nice, well, that's not bad either. There's always something to do to make time go faster.
Now, it's Friday and it's 5.30 pm. I'm planning on being here a few more hours, but let's kick of this weekend with a groovy tune all the same. Today's mood enhancer is a song from the Norwegian band, Datarock:
I popped into Nordli on my way to Blindern after work, and ended up doing a bit more "paper shopping" than I planned (in fact, it's the 2.time in 2 weeks I've been book-shopping. Need to get a tighter grip on that wallet of mine).
Two more glossy-paged, picture-filled books of questionable worth of knowlegde, have found their way into my steadily increasing collection of books. As if my bookcase isn't cramed enough already; "How to"-books, paperback novels & short-stories, school books, travel guides, language books...and loads, loads more! Tonje might just find me buried under a pile of books, and clothes (?), some day soon!
Now, the real reason I stopped by today was to buy a travel guide for Helsinki. I've decided to go there the first weekend in July to visit Jeni. She's working at the embassy in Helsinki this summer, and it's a great opportunity to hang out with her before she heads back West + check out the Finnish HQ . However, instead of a little guide book (strangely enough they didn't have any guide on Helsiniki, only the whole of Finland. Sort of surprising'cause I was pretty sure Lonely Planet would at least have an encounter's guide to the city. Hmm, reminds me, I should probably check on the net to see what I find), what I ended up coming out with was to completely different books - they have nothing whatsoever to do with Finland! Books about Japan. Japan ... need I say more? I just HAD to have them!
Well, as I'm now trying to do some work in the computer lab, I find myself rather distracted by my new books. I love Japanese culture & fashion - it's sooo POP-culture, and thus totally fascinating! Tokyo-fever has struck me hard! I long to look at the colourful pictures and insightful texts, but in the meantime I'm wasting time blogging. There's no good conscience for the wicked today. Not surprising since I'm lacking in both work ethic & consentration today.
Here's three songs about Tokyo for you, curtosy of Pizzicato Five & Youtube.com. Enjoy - I'm gonna go home now!
The quality is so-so, but you get the drift. Take me away to Tokyo ... now!
Taken back in August 2007 during a holiday in Hong Kong (enroute from mission completed in Aceh (aka fieldstudies)), this photo never seizes to amaze me. The bright lights & bold colours (though tweaked a bit to eliminate the strong, white light from the lampposts) is an endless source of inspiration & fascination. I guess it caters to my wanderlust - yes, I'm feeling the travel bug coming upon me again!
And of course, as you already should know, I'm sort of hung up on big cities & NEON-LIGHTS!
Howdy! Not much flingin' (aka unrestrained behaviour) planned this evening. I'm at work & feeling dead tired - and I'm only 1 1/2 hours into the skift ... puh. Well, at least I've got a box of I.F.A. (licorice) & a half eaten slab of 70% dark chocolate stashed in my bag. That's bound to make the evening easier. Really, I shouldn't complain. the restaurants quiet at the moment & I'm surfing the net.
So, what does the weekend bring? Only loose plans so fra, as usual. Need to get a bit of work done, though not on my thesis. And rumour says T & I are going shopping for material at Grønland tomorrow. I need to make an underskirt for the white dress I bought two weeks ago. It's too see-through to wear without pants or tights underneath. I'll be living in it this summer - it's incredibly comfy & pretty & airy & romantic... - all good things in a summerdress.
Don't really feel like partying this weekend, so I'm hoping for some nice and quiet evenings watching a good movie, a trip to the cinema (haven't done that in a long time) or just chilling at a cafe-come-restaurant somewhere with a glass of wine. The good life. Besides, I really shouldn't stay up too late either, 'cause I'm back in the "grotto" again on Sunday morning ready for duty!
It's no surprise, but yes, it's Monday again! Man, time surely does fly when you are having fun, and this weekend was no exception even though it was a lot less action-filled compared to a few previous ones. That was a good thing.
Friday came and went with a bit of studying in the daytime at home. Not really a success as I'm utterly unable to study outside of the study hall or the library at Blindern (so, the TV can be distracting, but all the mess I should tidy up is actually even worse!). Luckily, the first fun of the weekend was to commence that afternoon with a birthday dinner party at Petrus in Helgesensgate - less than 2 minutes from the flat! That "restaurant" or pub - the Norwegian term would be "kro" or "bule", I guess - has a funny take on food. You can basically do a world tour cuisine-wise; fish 'n chips = UK, hamburgers = USA, nachos = Mexico, curry = Thailand & India, probably something from the Middle East or perhaps a dish with a Russian twist, before you're back in Europe again with some pasta in Italy ... there's probably much, much more... Anyway, the birthday was nice and I got to meet most of the crowd *F* hangs with (some "old" some new), but I'd had a long week and around 10 pm the beckoning of the comfy couch at home too strong to resist. There the last hours of the day were spent watching Ratatouili - so cute!
Saturday I slept in just a little and met up with a two longtime friends from Mandal for lunch at Skansen at one. Had fishshoup (something I crave really bad once in a while) which was tasty but a little too thin. On this particular Saturday it was Musikkensdag so tunes in various styles (and of various quality) could be heard throughout the streets of Oslo. We accidentally "attended" a concert - or two - all throughout lunch. I say accidentally 'cause we ended up sitting at the one cafe (at least I hope so) in the city that was situated in the middle of 2 concert scense. One at Christianiatorg, the other at Kontraskjæret - not an experience I recommend. Pretty much felt like I spent most of the rest of the afternoon running away from the bands (yeah, I even woke up to the sounds from a marching band performing in Sofienbergparken). Window-shopping and coffe followed next, before I met up with Tonje & Jr to wander around town. I was so sure I'd collapse as soon as my body hit the couch, but somehow I was able to meet up with the "lunch" gang for drink in the evening. Even hit the dancefloor with AC at Kaos in the end. The music was rockin' when we got there, but as it shifted so did our mood and we ended up going home long before our (usual) time. Just as well.
Sunday was definately a day for sleeping in. Can't even remember how long I was in the realm of Morpheus, but it was definately nice. Fried egg-sandwiches & sausages for brunch to build up energy ;) before the rest of the early afternoonhours were spent doing absolutely nada. Headed for Veitvet just before 5 for a BBQ with my first friends at Blindern: Mari, Marte & Linda (Karianne couldn't join us unfortunately). Quite some time has pasted since we met up last time, so it was great to catch up again. Not to mention of the beautiful appartment Mari's living in (green with jealousy!), and the d.e.l.i.o.u.s. feast of a BBQ we had. Truely the best of the year!
Some very sad news too. My highly-beloved Grannyis in hospital. The last I heard was that she was found unconscious at home and it might have been a stroke, but there's been no news from Mommy Dearest since yesterday. Counting that as a good thing, and I dearly hope she'll be okey. I really hope so.
A pretty, blue dress - just what every girl needs to have in their closet. Translation: "Every girl" of course meaning "me" and "need" naturally meaning "desperately want".
The perfect outfit for a day in the city, either your hanging out at your favourite café, laying underneath a tree in a park reading a book, dinner with the friends on a late afternoon, checking out the latest exhibition at a local museum, enjoying a saturday shopping adventure or on a hot, hot date!
Now, how long was it till payday?
Hopefully mine from Benetton (kr 930,-) - oh, so chic! -
Time for a photo-post again! Technically I should have posted it yesterday, but I forgot to take my memory stick with me to work. Posting a photo a week turned out to be too much work, and would basically have turned my blog into a photoalbum as I necessarily don't have that much on my heart. Not only is it difficult to find the time to update "Photo of the Week", it's aslo quite hard at times trying to find photos that are worth while showing off. Hmm, yes, that's basically what I'm doing, though I really do draw inspiration from them throughout the week. Besides 52 weekly posts a year seems like way to many to me. Thus, I've decided to blog a "Photo of the Week" every other week (I decided against monthly updates as I think that's a bit too seldom). Now, back to business.
This week's photo was captured on holiday with mommy dearest in Barcelona two weeks ago. It's taken from our hotel-room window (Silken Diagonale Hotel), and it's of the Torre Agbar, a skyskraper (144,4 m tall) which houses a Barcelonian water company. Monserrat(a mountain near Barcelona) is said to be the inspiration for the tower, which was designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel in cooperation with the Spanish firm b720 Arquitectos, and was completed in 2005. I remember reading somewhere that the Torre Agbar is the most daring addition to the skyline of Barcelona since the building of La Segrada Familia commenced, and I must say they are right. Towering 144,4 metres over the ground it definately stands out, and is very visible form as soon as you get higher up in the city. I find it to be very similar to the "Gherkin" in London (aka Swiss Re Building; 180 m tall), though it's more beautifully decorated with it's "plated surface in shades of reds & blues. An even though the area surrounding it seems to be characterised by being "low", it definately does not stand out like a sore thumb. A few times a week (Friday to Saturday, according to the company's website) the tower is lit up during the evening, and it looks totally stunning! Ah, I wish I could have seen it...
In deed I am! Finally. Well, at least that's how I feel. It's been quiet here for quite some time (in spite of my two so-called obligatory weekly updates) and it's moostly due to lack of words on my behalf, but also because I haven't had neither the time nor the energy to write anything whatsoever. Besides, I've been in need of a holiday from my holiday ;). Yes, the Barcelona-trip with mommy dearest (best b-day present ever!) has been completed, and I SURVIVED. In fact, the 4 days we spent together in one of my all-time favorite places in the world were absolutely fabulous & definately enjoyable. We did a whole lot of sightseeing and quite a bit of shopping (we are after all Lemley's you know), and that without more than a hint of bickering! I'll be back later with an update from the trip - with photos!
Last day of pentecost today (2.pinsedag), and I'm at work. Sort of got mixed feelings about that. The good thing about working is that today's a bank holiday so we get double-paid, finish up early and it's dead quite here now, but it's definately a downer that the weather is simply superb today - we're talking close to 30 degrees & sunny - and days like this should be spent in sitting in the sun eating ice cream (and not in a hot cellar office where nothing happens - maybe I should scream for ice cream?). Well... I'll survive, and I'm sure there will be more days like this to come over the next 2 months (I'm basically begging for it!). Besides, it won't hurt to stay out of the sun for a day as both Saturday & Sunday were spent soaking up rays at St.Hanshaugen, and I'm amazed a got a tan. Though admittedly it's only a slight one it mostly consists of shades of light to dark pink as this old bod hasn't seen much sun the last couple of years. For example, my right arm has a very interesting & "pretty" (NOT!), broad dark pink, "band" running up it - don't know how I managed that...
Signing out for now - hope you all have a wonderful Monday!
Reiseglad frøken som er i overkant opptatt av mat, drikke og strikking. Når hodet må tømmes, vil du finne skriblerier om alt og ingenting i mitt lille univers.
