Ski Tripping

Of course being in Norway, I had to try the requisite Norwegian sport: skiing! For most of the winter season, hordes of locals hit slopes near and far from the city, taking weekends trips for alpine skiing in the mountains or flatter lands for 20- 100 km cross country tracks. So I aimed to try this northern equivalent of a surfing weekend in La Union (which means a carpool + equipment + accommodations + Friday after work drive).

However for a foreigner who doesn't have any skiing equipment, experience or a cabin in the mountains, this type of weekend takes quite a bit of planning and expense. First, the cabin reservation months (!) in advance which I did through the very user-friendly Skistar site. On the site you can also book equipment rental, ski lift passes, cabin cleaning (so they don't automatically ) and lessons. My friends said I could do all of that on the spot though, and they would give me skiing tips so I tried to rein in my travel-planning obsessiveness. I also rented cars at Avis (a whole other story), borrowed skiing clothes, collected payments, went grocery shopping for meals, wine shopping for drinks (you have to catch the vinmonopolet before it closes at 6pm)...all of this and we hadn't even started the weekend yet.

The ski resort we went to is in Trysil, and its one of the most popular ones in Norway. Its about 4 hours from Oslo, including the Friday rush traffic and the grocery stop. We were lucky that weekend (or so I was told), with sunny skies, decent snowfall, and the temperature between -5 to -10 degrees celcius most of the day.

The cabin was surprisingly pretty, with a small fireplace, big living room and dining space, and a even a sauna...perfect for a getaway of 9 people.

Generally life in the cabin was about cooking, chatting, drinking, party games, although some guys were brave enough to take an outdoor dip in the snow in their underwear and run back to the sauna. I only got my far as dipping my feet in before I gave up.

And the skiing? Well that was much harder then I thought it would be. I thought it would be like ice skating with longer skates...but it was really heavy skis aimed downhill. One friend was nice enough to babysit me for most of the first day, she spent a lot of time picking me up from a fall...



Its tough to get up from a fall on a slope because you need to push yourself up and not start sliding down. And learning how to apply brakes is a bitch! I kept on trying to will my feet to cross and do that "wedge" thing but generally to avoid hitting people, equipment and structures at the bottom of the slope I would just make myself fall. To think that the thing I was most worried about was freezing - actually I was sweating like mad! But then towards the end of the session I was so proud of myself for not falling in longer stretches and doing some proper stops. Yay me!

I think one of the best things about being in a ski resort is the general atmosphere of cheer and friendliness - such a contrast from the more "grey" mood of the city. Its like a tropical beach resort vibe -- without the tropical beach. Oh and all those hot guys at the after-ski party. Shame we didn't stay that long.

I did not have a ball waking up the next day, with what I felt was a badly twisted knee and needing to hoist myself down from the top bunk bed. I gave up on skiing the 2nd day, brought myself to the Lekvagten (Emergency Room) the day after (no major bones broken!) and limped for the rest of the week. My winter sports spirit hasn't died however --- I think I'm ready to try snowboarding next!

Its an Apps World

I'm on my 3rd unit of the iPhone4 now. The first drowned in a toilet and was unsuspectingly replaced by the Apple service center (hurrah for warrantees!). The 2^nd was stolen at 4am in a dodgy club in Bangkok, and now we're at number 3. I've never been lucky with the iPhone, even my jailbroken 3G version eventually lost its wifi capability and had a pathetic battery life, but of course I couldn't complain because it was jailbroken (hence learning the value of warrantees). I was traveling when I lost my 2nd iPhone4 and had to use a Nokia C3 for a month before I could get the next incarnation and then I remembered what it was like to have a life without internet and apps. But now I'm back in Apple world. I still have issues at how it is as a phone, but there are really some apps that make it so convenient to live your life. I'm not an apps junkie so I don't have a ton in my phone, but here are some that I use quite often.

Navigating Norway

Maps because I'm always lost even in this small city, Yr.no for more or less accurate weather reports, even for other cities (the first thing I check when I wake up in the morning!), Trafikanten for public transport schedules and iTranslate to figure out the Norwegian ingredient names when I'm grocery shopping (also useful for quick email translations!).

Travel

Kayak to indulge my travel fantasies ("How much would it cost to travel there this weekend?); Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor ("What would I do when I get there?").

Memory Tools

I can never remember things so I really like the cheesily-named iPeriod to remember that time of month. I found a new app called Springpad which links to a web application and Firefox widget to save notes, bookmarks and recipes (better than opening my laptop to check on bookmarked recipes when I cook!). I also have ShopShop – for the weekly trip to the supermarket of course, Another interesting memory tool is Keeper, to save my multiple usernames and password to all the sites I've signed up for. Now if only I could remember all those sites!

Random

Astrology updates from Susan Miller (I always get the monthly updates on time!), Drync Wine to remember all the fabulous vintages I've sampled, Foursquare for location tips even in unfamiliar territories.

I don't have much of Games since I got too obsessed with Sally's Spa, but I will welcome any other app suggestions!

Breaktime

The view from behind my desk.

I suddenly remembered that it was possible to post to my blog by sending an email. So I really have no excuse to be away from this space for so long. As long as the winter has been actually. I cheated a bit by being away from Norway for almost 4 weeks through December & January. But as type this the snow is still falling hard to the ground outside my office window and though its pretty, I'm beginning to feel like its too long!