Mai loves her steamboat :)

I recently had a dozen of my  ‘less adventerous’ friends come over for a steamboat. When I mentioned the word steamboat to them they are all as clueless as when I mentioned Pierogi or Mate. If you are still thinking “what is steamboat”, steamboat is basically a broth soup (hours to make) that is placed in the centre of a table on top of a gas fire. The broth soup is used to cook the raw food that is scattered around the table. Steamboat is usually eaten when friends and relatives get together to catch up.

• Pierogi is a dumpling from Poland
• Mate  (yerba ma-te) is tea usually drank in South America, Brazil instead of coffee
• Steamboat is chinese style of food where you have all your raw ingredients nearby and you cook it in front of a portable stove in a pot of broth.

Here are the food I have for the steamboat:

• Different type of fish cakes
• Glass Noodle
• Homemade Wontons
• Chinese Cabbage
• Thin striped beef (designed especially for steamboat)
• Stuffed capsicums
• King Prawns
• Oysters
• Fish (Sea Bass)
• Clear chicken/seafood broth

The idea here is similar to fondue, you dip your food then you eat it :). Simple and nice. The more people the better.

Mai with bubbling steamboat

Steamboat

Early walk in Flam, Norway

Having arrived in Flam the day previous, I decided to take an early morning walk by myself . My walk took a good 2 hours return. I really enjoyed my walk along the train track as it was very quiet and misty - past river streams with the view of Viking style architecture, saw waterfalls and finally reached my final destination of Flam church.

Otterness Farm Museum - Flam, Norway - perching high off the fjord

After we got off the Fjords cruise from Gudvangen, we arrived in a really nice village called Flam. As you can see from my photos, Flam is all about nature, the serene scenic views & magnificent mountains. We decided to stay overnight in Flam to rest and also explore the beautiful villages.

I felt really energetic and decided to hire a bicycle and cycled my way to Otterness Farm Museum which is a Norwegian Summer Farm located on top of the hill. It took about 20 minutes bike ride, I decided to leave my bike on the bottom of the hill as I was not athletic enough to climb to the top of the hill with it :).

After a quick 5 minutes of really steep hill climbing, I arrived at the summer farm. What amazed me with this farm is that it is still a fully operational farm even though it is in a museum. The reason why they have it on top of the mountain is due to the fjords and majestic surrounding mountains, the top part will get the most sunlight which are essentials for farming. I managed to get a quick tour of the farm on how they operated and what each house was used for including the way the family lived, any interesting past characters and how they store their food to last them through winter.

The view from the farm is just amazing. You can see the fjords, again feels really magical. Not to mention the apple tress with apples everywhere. I had a glass of fresh apple juice while skipping the apple pies for my dinner dessert instead.

Your “Norway in a Nutshell” ticket entitles you to visit Flamsbana Museum which gives you a history of the train that travels from Flam to Myrdal with its challenges.

In the evening, I arranged for dinner in a traditional Norwegian Farmhouse in a nearby city of Underdal. Underdal is famous for its brown cheese made of the second curd of left over goat milk used to make Norwegian white cheese.

Prior to dinner, we were given a quick Norwegian cheese education as well as some tastings :). The famous cheese is the Brown coloured goat cheese in a square box. It looks like a caramel chocolate but it’s actually a cheese. It has different maturity and strength of taste. The farm house dinner was lovely as there were only two of us with the view again of the fjords.  After dinner we made a quick stroll at the Underdal village to check out their local and famous church. Underdal church is one of the smallest in the country as it only accommodates 40 people.

Having stayed the night previously in Bergen at a hostel in a very modest room, I decided to stay in a top class hotel Fretheim with the view of Flam and the water :).

Mai at fjord cruise, Norway

After exploring the city of port Bergen, I caught a quick train ride to Voss. Voss is where Scandinavian’s ski as it is full of mountains. In summer they do their Norwegian walk where you hold walking sticks to hike up the mountain. Once we arrived in Voss as part of the Norway in a Nutshell travel itinerary, we caught a bus to take us to Gudvangen. Every single trip that we have taken so far has had amazing sceneries. The trip from Voss to Gudvangen is also very interesting as we would be on a bus in a narrow winded road with huge waterfalls in between everywhere.

We had a quick break to stretch our feet as soon as we got off the bus and arrived in Gudvangen. As I looked around Gudvangen, I realised this must be the home of Trolls. Trolls are everywhere (the statues of them at least :)). I also managed to see the cafe with its roof covered with grass to provide insulation during winter.

After a quick stretch, we boarded on our ship to cruise the Fjords which will take us to Flam. Cruising the fjord was one of the highlight of my trip in Norway. This is the place where I truly believe God exists. It is just simply beautiful. On the boat, we sailed and explored Aurlandsfjord and into the Naeroyfjord (UNESCO/World Heritage) which is one of the narrowest  fjord in Europe. Surrounding the fjords are massive mountains which I cannot explain with words - I shall let my pictures speak for themselves ! My travel partner thought the houses were miniatures - it was just that the mountains were HUGE.  I decided to go on my ‘hermit mode’ and just put on my classical musics from my ipod and enjoyed the view. I feel like I was in heaven, truly….

Mai with Bergen city, Norway on the background

Bergen is one of the UNESCO (World Heritage site) famous for its shipping port and cute wooden houses. It is really a beautiful city. I arrived really early in the city - thanks to my overnight train from Oslo. I could not check in to my hostel (Jacobs apartment). If you are not aware, EVERYTHING in Scandinavia is very expensive. A very modest 1 single bedroom will cost you a good AU$200-$250/night (approx US$180-$235). Let alone the cost of alcohol. If you are thinking of de-toxing, its probably a good idea visiting Scandinavia as the price will resist you from drinking - a standard Gin and Tonic costs AU$20 (US$18). Having said that, being sober is essential to making the most out of your travel experience :).

I spent most of my morning and early afternoon around the Fish market. I know it sounds bizarre but being in Norway it is almost a given that you sample their fresh seafood, especially Salmon. I also saw some whale meat being sold which sunk my heart (yes, Im against the Japanese killing whales). I managed to take fresh Scandanavian wild Salmon Caviar for my dinner party (with a little bit of bargaining as always). The fish market has existed since the 19th century. As it is today it is a great place not only to buy seasfood but a great place for tourists to buy local handicrafts and handmade souvenirs which are more than just trolls and vikings.

Norway is famous for its knits. I managed to break my credit card balance by acquiring a couple of unique handmade knits by local artists. You do not really have to spend that much cash, you can always buy their beanies which are also beautiful. However, as this is Scandanavia, it is slightly more expensive than your average shopping.

On my way to spend time in the Bergen House and the fortified walls overlooking the sea, I walked past cute Bergen wooden houses site which is also a world heritage (UNESCO). These houses commonly get the fire brigade busy as they are often on fire. I witnessed this later in the early evening from my evening stroll. They do not use firetrucks but fireships instead which I found quite interesting.

Early afternoon, just a quick 5 minutes stroll from the fishmarket, I decided to catch a finocular up the mountain to get a bird eyes view of the whole city. I also managed to spend a good hour up the mountain to enjoy their national park.

In Bergen, there are plenty of things to see and do. One of them which I decided to give a miss is their Aquarium since I have a very limited time in the city.

We went to visit Knosesmauet located in a district called Klosteret. What is unique about this site is, it’s full of claustrophobic style wooden houses close to each other and cute doors half my heights. The locals call this area being a fire combuster as they are all made of wood and its not uncommon if one house caught fire, the rest of the districts are in a big inferno. I really enjoy strolling around here as you get the cute wooden houses very close to each other with the backdrop of Bergen harbour/sea. We went back just in time for dinner and party with the rest of the hostel occupants and hoping we could wake up for our morning train to Voss to continue our Norway in a Nutshell trip.

Oslo

Having ended up at Scandinavia for work, I decided to take this opportunity to explore Norway, Olso further. Oslo is the capital of Norway. I have to admit, it is not the most beautiful looking city but it is a starting point for my Norwegian Adventure - Norway in a Nutshell.

“Norway in a nutshell” is organised by the local train company to allow visitors to explore major cities/places in Norway in as little as one day. The trip can start in Oslo (the capital) and end up in Bergen or the other way around. You can also get a return ticket. Since I have a few days to spend I decided not to do it in one day. The trip allows you to stay for number of days in the major places. Mostly the price you pay covers all the transportation costs (see below)

I spent a whole day exploring Oslo and then caught an overnight train at midnight and arrived in Bergen at 6am. You can chose to have a sit down ticket but I wanted to reserve my energy by taking the sleeping berth carriage. I stayed overnight in Bergen and then caught a train to Voss. Once I got to Voss, I caught a bus to Gudvangen and then started my boat trip to explore the beautiful, majestic and magnificent fjords for a good 2 hours. I then arrived at Flam which I ended up staying overnight. In the morning, I caught a train from Flam to Myrdal to witness another beautiful nature scenery and a majestic waterfall. Then from Myrdal I caught a train back to Oslo.

The trips provides constant amazing sceneries (as you can see in the pictures of my Norway trip).

Anyhow, I explored Oslo by visiting:

• Norwegian Parliament (built in mid 1800) - which is decorated by the local artist
• Explored the park of the Royal Palace (where Norwegian King and his family reside)
• Also passed the Oslo University
• Aker Brygge - an interesting steel constructed building (used to be an old ship building ground) full of restaurants/cafes and shops
• Oslo City Hall (Radhuset) - a really odd looking building maybe because it’s built in 1950s
• Statue of Franklin D. Rosevelt overlooking the water - Eleanor Rosevelt flew all the way to dedicate this statue to him
• Akershus Castle and Fortress - it has a beautiful harbour view and the surroundings are simply lovely

I took a leisurely pace by visiting couple museums, had a long lunch in a nice cafe, absorb the city life before making my way back to the central station for my overnight train ride to Bergen.

My first flying bill - it's worth every cents :)

I had my first instructional flight today :)! Yay!! I was told by many pilots, this will be something that I’d remember forever - the first flight!

First of all, I was glad I spent the hours studying/revising what I have learnt and prepared. Prior to being on the aeroplane, my instructor sat me down and he asked me questions on what we learnt the other day by going through the effects of primary control and their effects as well as ancillary controls. All these would be what I would put into practical on my first flight sitting on a student pilot seat. After a half an hr briefing, we went out to the aeroplane.

We did our pre-flight inspections, I had a bit of petrol and oil in my hand due to that. I still tried to get myself familiarised with the routine and finding out what is where.

We then hopped on the aeroplane and did some more checks on the inside of cabins - to ensure lights, instruments are all set. My instructor made me do couple radio calls - which at the moment meant nothing to me but I did it anyway. I had mixed feelings (nervous since I will be in an unfamiliar territory and excited).

My instructor made me stir the aeroplane towards the runway which I found it very tricky as I was controlling it with my rudder pedals instead of the control column (the joystick :)). It took awhile to get used to but I still haven’t mastered it :(. My instructor helped me and told me it was ok since it’s afterall only my first flight. More radio calls, tuning to weather, wind speed etc then we put the engine power to full then we took off. I WAS FLYING - on the AIR!!

Everything I learnt all gone, went up the roof. I was more fascinated by the views :)! My instructor looked so busy. I thought being a woman I would be really good at multi tasking but in this particular situation, it’s really tricky! You have to listen to radio, responded to calls, looked at the instruments, control the aircraft, so many things!

My instructor asked me a couple of questions but I couldn’t answer them which I found quite odd since I answered them correctly half an hour ago in the classroom/ground before we took off. Once I calmed down, it alot better. Suddenly, everything I learnt made sense. My instructor demonstrated couple effects of aircraft control and I had a taste of it. He then handed over the control and got me to try. I could not wipe the smile on my face. I felt so excited it was so hard to concentrate but I managed to do some training.

We did roll left/right, pitch up/down, yaw right/left, made corrections on attitude, spotted couple aircraft using clock directionals for my situation awareness being on a shared airspace. I played around with the trim wheel, by first ensuring I have the right nose attitude by holding my four fingers in the cockpit rim to the horizon, then adjusted my attitude, held it once I got the correct attitude then roll the trim wheel accordingly to hold my attitude. I know all these probably makes no sense to some of you  - I was trying to re-live my experience. I was also very glad that my instructor was there otherwise I’d freeze.

When we finally landed, we did more checks and I was really tired but happy. I have just completed my first trial instructional flight :)! My instructor debriefed me and he gave me more homeworks. This means more studying  to prepare for the next flying lesson and more revisions. I guess I’ll have something to read up on while waiting in the airport lounge for my upcoming weekly business trips :).

Roger, you are NUMBER ONE!

A BIG Congratulations to Roger Federer for winning the French Open 2009 at Roland Garos! I stayed up to watch this game and what a game it was!!! I don’t think I could have handled another 5 setter. Seriously if Roger was a cat he definetly would have used up all his 9 lives.

I was on the brink of going crazy when I was watching the Juan Martin Del Potro game so it was a releif that Roger was able to close to game out in 3 relatively easy sets.

I really think the monkey is off his back now. My prediction is that he will win the Winbledon 2009 Championships & the US Open. He may even get his No.1 ranking back!!

As for the question if he is the best player ever? No contest, Federer is the best bar none

GO ROGERRRRRRRRRRR

Flying materials/books that help a student pilot like me :)

Before I was allowed to be flying in the air, I required a couple hours of ground lessons. First of all, I had to purchase a training manual book, a Basic Aeronautical Knowledge book for student pilots, and a visual terminal chart. These books will help me understand the theory of becoming a pilot (understanding aircraft, aerodynamics, aircraft control) as well as  preparation assistance for my General Flying Progress Test.

There’re a lot of physics, calculations, new jargons that I had to get a grip on. These includes being able to understand the theory of lift, units of measurements, and lots more. My head almost exploded but I quickly got my head around it :). After couple hours of ground lessons with my instructors, I managed to take away things that I needed to revise such as:

• Theory of Lift (what causes aircraft to fly)
• Where and What - terms of parts of aircrafts which in effect I can control and help the plane to fly and where it’s located
• Primary controls of aircraft (Elevator, Aerolorn, Rudder), their primary and secondary effects as well as ancillary controls.

All the lessons today will be used for my next flying lesson - I will actually be on a plane for my first instructional flight trial test where I will get to apply what I have learnt and get a taste of what effects they have.

Before I left, I was educated on a good airmanship - respect the aeroplane, respect the use of airspace (being aware of others while on the air), and who has a right of way  when you encounter another aeroplane

I managed to get a pre-flight inspection lesson by being outside getting familiarise with doing checks prior to flying (there are 2 dozens of things to do) - guess you have to do this as we cannot stop once we’re on the air if anything occurs :). I managed to climb up the aeroplane wing to check for fuel gauge and my hands were full of grease!!

You really have to have the brain and passions to be a pilot. Thus, it challenges you in all aspects of your personality, endurance, etc. I met couple other students pilots, they all are really passionate about flying - all wanting to be a pilot since 7 years old (this include my instructor) while mine came a lot later in life :).

I have booked for my first instructional flight in couple days thus I’d better do some revisions!

Wish me Luck!

Cessna 172 - my soon to be training aircraft

• Being on a passenger seat on commercial airlines on numerous occasions (Check)
• Achieving a gold frequent flyer status (Check)
• Pursuing an armed robbery in a stolen white BMW high in the sky in a Victoria Police helicopters (Check)
• Taking a helicopter ride from Nice airport to Monaco instead of a taxi (Check)
• Catching a helicopter when the river’s flooded for white water rafting at shotover river, Queenstown NZ (Check)
• Being on my ex-company’s private jet (Check)

So what’s my next step???? To fly on my own of course I’ve decided to take my Private Pilot License (PPL) as a natural progression to my passions for travel.

The first step was to choose which flying school to do it with. I had a few recommended to me by my social circle of mates but in the end I applied to the one closest to home. I went to visit the schools nearby and had a chat to couple of them. Finally I’ve decided on one :).

Second step was to apply for my Student Pilot License (SPL) by submitting some forms to CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority). This will take about 1 month but it does not stop me from starting my lessons.

I have also been reading up on a couple of flying books and magazines, mostly written locally in Australia, to get me familiarise with what I’m getting myself into :).  Flying involves a lot of planning which I know I’m good at. I’m really excited, it reminds me of my first time learning how to drive a car.

I have my first lesson in few days which will involve learning what is in the cockpit - Really looking forward to it. There will be lots of ground times before my first flying solo.

I personally think if you can ride a bike, you can certainly fly an aeroplane :)!! If it’s a bit unbalance, you correct it! Let the journey begin!