Showing posts with label Bjugn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bjugn. Show all posts

September 29, 2017

Glimpse of Supermarket in Norway

Whenever we travel, we always go to a supermarket or convenience store so we can buy foods and drinks. It is cheaper than buying snacks or drinks in tourist spots area. Visiting supermarket is a learning experience too because you can see a glimpse of their lifestyle. You will notice the similarities and difference from your home country. 




During our summer trip in Norway, we’re a frequent visitor of the supermarket. We usually go with my mom before or after her work, weekends or holiday. There are 4 supermarkets in Ørland, there is REMA 1000, Europris, Extra Coop and Bunnpris. If you are Asian, you can also go to Asiamat, I already blog about this store here.



Their supermarket is small if I will compare it to our grocery stores in the Philippines. But since I live in the province, hindi naman siya nalalayo sa size ng supermarket sa amin. Hehehe! 

12 Things I learned during our supermarket trip

1. The opening and closing time of the supermarket varies so even you are working, you can go to the grocery. Just like my mom, sometimes if she needs flowers in the office, she can go to the supermarket. There is a grocery store that is open as early as 7:30AM and there is a supermarket that is open until 10PM. 



2. Malls are closed during the holiday so make sure nakabili ka na bago magholiday. Bunnpris is open even on holidays, nakabili na kami dito ng holiday. 

3. Just like in Japan, there is no bagger so you need to pack your own grocery. 



4. Plastic bag is not FREE, you need to pay for that or just bring your own bag to save money. 

5. Grocery carts are so cool too, I saw a grocery cart where you can put your baby while shopping. There is also one grocery cart that you need to put NOK10 so you can use it, You need to return the cart so you can get your NOK10 back. It is a nice way to discipline people to return their cart. Hindi tulad sa Pinas na may kumukuha ng grocery cart sa parking. Check the video.






6. If you want to buy bread, you need to slice and pack it by yourself. 



7. There is no wet market here so most of the kinds of seafood are already cooked like shrimp and squid. 




8. Most of the fish are already cleaned and sliced according to your needs. 




9. They are selling fresh herbs too as in nakatanim pa sa small pot. 



10. Their grocery stores have an app where you can check the sale, discount, or freebies. Sometimes you will also receive flyers in your mailbox regarding the sale. 

11. Not all stores are giving the receipt, siguro para tipid sa paper. Before we went back to the Philippines, I bought pasalubong and after I paid my stuff, I asked my mom, 

Me: Ma, bakit ako wala resibo? 
Mom: Hiningi mo ba? Tinatanung niya kung gusto mo ng receipt para iprint niya. 
Me: Ganun, hindi ko naman siya naintindihan e, di naman English! Hehehe! 

That is the problem if there is a language barrier, I remember our Japan experience, the cashier is saying something about the plastic bag and I asked for two pieces. (sign language) Then I was shocked when I saw my receipt, may bayad pala yung plastic. Sana pinagkasya ko na lang sa isang bag. Hehehe! 

12. You can also withdraw from the cashier, let say your total bill is NOK200, then you will use your ATM to pay, bayad ka ng sobra then yung change ibibigay sayo.

We also visited two supermarkets in Bjugn, you can check our experience here. How about you, do you like going to the supermarket?

July 14, 2017

Bjugnfjorden in Norway

When I was planning for our Summer in Norway trip, I really wanted to do the “Norway in Nutshell” tour in Bergen, Flam or Oslo. It is the famous tour if you want to see and experience Norway in very limited time. You have the chance to ride the train to see different scenery and boat to appreciate the beauty of Sognefjord or Hardanger Fjord

But Oslo, Flam and Bergen is very far, we need to take boat and plane from my mom’s place just to start the tour. The package tour is not cheap too so I just told myself, maybe next time when we have enough savings for that. 


Little did I know that Norway has so many fjords. According to Wikipedia, Norway has 1,190 fjords. Aside from Norway, you can also see fjords in Alaska, Iceland, New Zealand, Greenland and other countries. 

What is Fjord? 

A fjord or fiord is a deep, narrow, and long body of water with steep land on three sides, it is U-shaped inlet surrounded by mountains. It was formed by glacial erosion. 

Even though we did not experience Norway in a Nutshell tour, our trip to Norway is still worth it because we saw other fjords too like Trondheim Fjord and Bjugn Fjord. If you’ve been following my Norway series, you noticed that we frequent Bjugn because this is near Ørland. It is more or less 30 minutes drive so my mom allots time to tour us after her work. So far we have visited Vallersund Farm, Angel of Peace and Lake in Teksdal. 

Read: Vallersund Farm
Hiking at Angel of Peace
Teksdalsvatnet

Anyway, we went out for a walk in Bjugn. I noticed that there is no sign from the parking lot so I asked my mom kung paano niya nalaman yung pupuntahan namin. She said, she learned this place from her colleagues. Who would ever think that there is a hidden gem in that narrow road.

Watch the video here 



While walking you will notice some artwork in the trees and there are also benches where you can rest if you are already tired. My son always sits on the bench, pagod lang peg lagi. 



After several minutes, I was surprised to see the view. Wow! Just wow. There are waiting shed and picnic table where we ate our snacks. Yes, we always have baon. Hehehe! 




The fjord is really stunning, though my picture does not give justice because it is against the light and pagabi na rin. But I’m happy to see this beauty.

July 04, 2017

Teksdalsvatnet Norway

On our day 16 in Norway, my mom decided to visit Teksdalsvatnet in Bjugn Kommune. This is the third time that we went to Bjugn, the first time was when we went to Røros and the second time was when we visited Vallersund Farm and hiked to Angel of Peace.  At that moment, kami na lang ni Ethan because hubby was back in the Philippines.

Read: Angel of Peace in Vallersund
Vallersund Farm 


Bjugn is a coastal municipality so there are so many places that we can visit like the lake, sheltered coves, mountains, beach and many more. We’ve been to farm and mountains before so for a change, we went to Teksdalsvatnet or Lake in Teksdal.

Vatnet = Lake


The weather was still cold but we enjoyed the cold weather of Norway. Travel time is more or less 30 minutes since there is no traffic.You can already see the lake from the parking area. There are tables and benches so you can have your own picnic.


My mom said, we can also do fishing here but we just need to pay a fee. We did not try that anymore since we already experience fishing. But if you just want to visit the lake, you can stay here for FREE.

Read: Fishing Adventure in Norway



The lake is so peaceful and you can really relax and unwind. We just sat beside the lake and appreciate the beauty of the nature. My son enjoyed creating ripple by throwing stones in the lake. How I wish, we have this place in the Philippines, pangmuni-muni. Hehehe! We visited Lake Pandin in Laguna but there is a fee for that.

Read: Lake Pandin and Lake Yambo


Watch the video here.


After an hour, we went for a walk, you can walk around the lake but since we have a kid in tow, we did not finish it. We went home because it was dinner time already.

May 15, 2017

Angel of Peace in Vallersund Norway

When we started walking in Bruholmen and hiking in Lerberen mountain, my son kept on saying, “I’m tired” and my mom will just say, “madali lang ito, aakyat pa nga tayo sa Angel of Peace and Kopparen”.


She even set a date for that, if you remember my previous post, I mentioned that on day 10, the weather forecast is rainy so my mom said that we will just visit Vallersund Gård but don’t forget to bring the overall.

So after doing our groceries in Bjugn Sentrum, we went straight to Vallersund Gård. At the parking lot, I put on my overall because my mom told me so, mahangin daw at lalamigin ako. Then we visited Vallersund Farm.

Then on our way back to the parking lot, my mom said, “Akyat na tayo sa Angel of Peace”, nandito na rin lang naman tayo and hindi pa umuulan”

Me: What! Baka abutan tayo ng ulan.
Mom: Hindi, saglit lang yun mga 15 minutes hike lang.

As if we have a choice noh? Hehehe! So off we went to see the Angel of Peace on top of this mountain in Vallersund.


The first several minutes, okay pa ang paglalakad, picture picture pa. But the time came, that I was complaining already.

Me: Malayo pa ba? sabi mo 15 minutes lang. Kanina pa tayo umaakyat.
Mom: Malapit na.
  

Surprisingly, my son was not complaining and he was enjoying the hike. I’m the one who kept on saying, Ethan, wait for us. Dahan-dahan lang at baka mahulog ka. And in my mind, wag niyo ko iwan. hehehe!




My mom even waited for me because I was really dragging myself to go up. I’m not a very active person and college pa yung last hike ko so hirap na hirap talaga ko. In addition, I’m afraid of heights tapos ang hangin-hangin pa, takot na nga ko, nilalamig pa ko. Lol

Buti pa anak ko, feel na feel pa ang "I'm on the top of the world"

After 48 years of crawling, (yes, gumagapang talaga sa takot) hehehe! I was able to see the Angel of Peace. The Unite Hope Angel was created by Lehna Edwall and it was given to the people of Vallersund in the year 2009.

The angel sculpture was part of a worldwide art project to spread love, light, and hope to all. You can also see Angel of Peace sculptures in Vanuatu, Australia, Mali, Canada, Peru, Hawaii, and Russia. So even, though I was so exhausted, I still feel proud to see one of the Angel of Peace in the world.

We wrote our names in the logbook and am happy to say that I conquered this small mountain in Vallersund. But I told my mom, last na ito ha, ayaw ko na umakyat ng bundok. Pang Lerberen mountain lang ako.


We place our stones here because my mom told me so. After this, we went down the mountian, kung pwede lang na gumulong na lang ko pababa sa pagod.


On our way to the parking lot, it started to rain. I was thankful to God because we already finished the hike before it rained.

Me: Sabi mo, 15 minutes hike lang but it took us more than 1 hour, (round trip).
Mom: Mabagal kasi tayo pero 15 minutes lang yan.


Waah! I felt deceived. After our hike, my body was in pain and on our way home, nakatulog talaga ko sa pagod. Then after we ate, I slept again. My family was laughing at me. I said that it will be my last mountain, quota na ko.

After few days, my mom brought up the Kopparen hike because her friends were inviting her to hike. I immediately said no. She was convincing me na kahit half lang daw akyatin namin but I said "Ma, hindi ko pumunta ng Norway, para umakyat ng bundok." hehehe! Now I realized that I’m getting old and I need to have an active lifestyle. My mom is more active than me.

Watch the video here.

May 14, 2017

Vallersund Gård Norway

Since it was not raining yet, my mom decided to go straight to Vallersund Gård after doing our groceries. Vallersund Gård or Vallersund Farm is situated in Bjugn Kommune. It is a small Camphill village that takes care of the people who have special needs. 


There is a Fram-school here where young adults with learning disabilities can learn new skills. They teach gardening, organic farming, and other sheltered workshops that will help and develop people with special needs.



Sayang lang because it is not yet summer time so hindi pa namin nakita na may mga tanim yung farm. This place has its own store where they sell organic and environment-friendly products and their own products from their workshops. They offer almost all the basic things that people need in their everyday life so they do not need to go to the groceries. Unfortunately, we haven’t visited the shops during our trip.




Vallersund Gård is part of the national protection plan for historical buildings and is considered an Eco-village because 


1. They have a large windmill that covers their energy needs. 



2. They use a heat pump which extracts energy from the sea to warm the houses. 


3. They have a biological purifying plant that treats wastewater before it goes back to the sea. 

This is the sea lion made by artist Astrid Dahisveen. 


You can also see the “Angel of Peace” on top of the small mountain of Vallersund,

Read: Angel of Peace in Vallersund Norway

May 13, 2017

Bjugn Norway

On our day 10 in Norway, my mom was on leave and she planned to visit the Vallersund Gård in Bjugn. But the day before our trip, the weather forecast is “rainy” so she was contemplating whether to go or not. After our breakfast, she decided to pursue our trip in Bjugn and advised us to bring our overall. 

We’ve seen Bjugn before when we went to Vanvikan Ferry Port, puting-puti pa ang mga daan sa snow. Check the video here. But after 4 days wala ng snow. 

This is Bjugn Kommune, it is situated on the fosen peninsula. According to Wikipedia, fosen is a traditional district in Trondelag, each district is dominated by coastal cliffs, forested valleys, mountains and lakes. 


The municipalities are Osen, Roan, Bjugn, Rissa, Agdenes, Snillfjord, Hitra, Hemme, Frøya, Åfjord and Ørland. Bjugn is also surrounded by fjord, Bjugnfjorden, and Stjørnfjord, I’ve seen the stunning view of their fjord, during one of our hikes. Check the video here


In Bjugn, there is an indoor multi-use ice rink which is called Fosenhallen. This was used to host the World Junior Speed Skating Championships in the year 2014. There are 6 churches within Bjugn Kommune, so far I’ve only seen one, kita siya sa daan





First time ko makakita ng bus nila dito. :)

Anyway, we went to Europris and Kiwi store to buy some food and pasalubong for my in-laws. Well, sad to say, my husband has only two weeks of vacation leave so he cannot stay long.


Slice your own bread

My mom was looking for shrimp for our dinner and I was surprised na cooked shrimp na pala dito, sa boat pa lang daw niluluto na yung mga shrimp. 



And they served it cold, as in malamig na shrimp, lobster, smoked salmon with bread and mayonnaise for our dinner.

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