Sunday, January 29, 2012

Land Trip - Europe (Day 61-62: Porjus, Sweden - Oslo, Norway)



30 Sept 2011 (Day 61)
Still smiling as the images of the Northern Lights lingered in my mind. 

Went out in the morning to have a last round of Photoshoot.





(With the Ladies from America- Melanie & Danielle)
Was sad to leave the small village of Porjus after 3 days and 2 nights. After bidding goodbye to the 2 ladies, I went to catch a bus that brought me to a train station. Took an overnight train back to Stockholm. 

1 Oct 2011 (Day 62)
Hah, October already!

Arrived at Stockholm Central Station at about 11am. Went to MacDonalds and guess who I saw? Melanie and Danielle!! What a coincidence! They stayed over in Porjus for 1 more night and left Porjus this morning. The only difference was that they flew back to Stockholm and I took the train. And we met at the train station. How small can the world be?

I had no money to eat a meal so I ordered fries. 

Talked for quite a bit and off I went to catch the next train to Oslo, Norway!

Arrived in Oslo at 9pm. Quickly went to find the hostel, which is just 5mins walk away from the train station. Check-in, planned for the next day and slept. 

After meeting new friends in Pojus, MY LIFE WAS NEVER EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE....................................EEEEEEE............................EEVER, THE SAME, AGAIN!!!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Land Trip - Europe (Day 60: Porjus, Sweden - Part 2)



29 Sept 2011 (Day 60)
OMG! I've been traveling for 60 days already! Unbelievable!

Had the luxury of walking up later because I was still staying in the quaint village of Porjus.
(Cooking Breakfast)
After breakfast, I decided to explore the village a little bit more. More photos opportunities!

(Top of the hill!)


(I thought I could do a MV for "Earth Song" here.)


I went back to the house after one afternoon of taking photos. Just to give you an idea how I spent time during my 2nd day here, I had more than 1,200 pictures taken! Compared to the 500 pictures taken the day before.

I met 2 beautiful young ladies from the USA in the house as they booked the other bedroom. They are 2 fun-loving people with the same purpose of catching the Northern Lights in Porjus. It was nice talking to them and they told me that they had just graduated and will be traveling for the next 6 months! Cool..

We played card games to kill time as we waited till past midnight. The gals taught me to play 2 games that are apparently quite popular in the States. No gambling of course!

And finally, after hours of waiting and monitoring my laptop, we saw the Northern Lights!!! Suddenly, everyone jumped out of their seats and rushed to the window with our cameras and started snapping away. Then we braced the cold and went out of the house to get a wider view of the phenomenon.

Let me just tell you that it is definitely not enough looking at the following pictures, you have to go there to experience it! Enjoy:











Amazing!!! Don't you think? Many people have asked me what is the nicest thing that I've seen in my whole Europe Trip and I would always say, that of all the beautiful man-made monuments and structures, nothing compares to God's Creation.

I thank God for being able to witness the Northern Lights with my own eyes. And it wasn't even winter yet. I can only imagine how beautiful it will be in winter. 

Of course, Porjus is not the only place in the world that you can see the Northern Lights. Next time, I will go to a different place to see it! Simply can't get enough of it! Anybody wanna join?

Like I mentioned above, seeing the pictures is definitely not good enough, you have to go and experience it, at least once in your life. Seeing the lights dancing/moving in the night sky was something indescribable.  I was really happy and blessed to have seen it after traveling for 2 months. 

Slept super well that night, with a smile on my face....

I'll be checking out the next day in the afternoon, and I'll be heading to Oslo, Norway!!!

That will be a more than 24-hour journey. 

After experiencing the NORTHERN LIGHTS, MY LIFE WAS NEVER EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE....................................EEEEEEE............................EEVER, THE SAME, AGAIN!!!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Land Trip - Europe (Day 59: Porjus, Sweden - Part 1)



28 Sept 2011 (Day 59)
After 1 train ride and 2 bus rides, I arrived in the small village of Porjus, Sweden. Yes, it is a village! It is not even considered a town. There are less than 400 inhabitants living there as we speak!
(On the right: The house I stayed.)
I love this tranquil and beautiful village! An outstanding place to do nothing! Well, there are actually things to do there such as, trekking, fishing, Moose hunting, taking photos, and that's about it. In winter, there are more things to do, such as ice-fishing, dog-sledding. reindeer sledding, ice-skating etc.

I was cold and hungry, so I went to the only grocery store in Porjus to get some supplies to cook.
There was really nothing much to do here so I walked around the village and took lots of photos. I took more than 500 pictures in my first day in Porjus. I will only show you this much:
(Don't even know what I was taking photo with!)


(Just look at the sky...)

(I was bored, so I bought this helicopter)

Well, my purpose of coming to Porjus was to see the Northern Lights. And it is not an every night thing. Sometimes it appears, and sometimes it doesn't. The best time to see it is during the coldest months of winter. The colder it is, the higher the chance of seeing the Northern Lights. It was only autumn when I was there but sources indicate that there is a high chance that I could still see it.
So my traveling partner and I got our cameras ready and waited till the middle of the night. It was super cold and I was monitoring the sky activity through my laptop. There were several webcams set up in the area of Porjus and I was looking at it to see if there was any sighting of the Northern Lights. The owner of the house told me that the webcam will pick up the Lights faster than my naked eye.

For the whole night, I was walking to the window, looking up to the sky, walking back to my laptop, and walking to the window again. It was getting colder and colder, especially when I opened the window!

Finally, after hours of walking up and down, I caught a glimpse of the Northern Lights! It was a glimpse. Nothing more. The Lights were not very strong but bright enough for me to see. I was happy but I wanted more! Waited for while more but there was nothing more. Was quite disappointed.

I had 1 more night in Porjus and I prayed that I could catch more of it the next night. Went to sleep in the wee hours of the night. Hopefully, could capture the Northern Lights on camera the next day...

After spending 1 day in the small village of Porjus, MY LIFE WAS NEVER EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE....................................EEEEEEE............................EEVER, THE SAME, AGAIN!!!