Michi Photostory

Røros is one of the popular tourist spots in Norway, you can reach this via car, train, bus, and plane depending on your location. It took us more than 6 hours just to reach Røros. We travel by road, sea and railroad.

Car - Ørland to Vanvikan 
Boat - Vanvikan to Trondheim 
Train - Trondheim to Røros 


My mom lives in Ørland Kommune so going to other places is not that easy because you always have to consider the schedule of the ferry boat. As I mentioned in my previous post, Ørland is almost surrounded by water such as Norwegian sea, Trondheimsfjord and Stjørnfjord so most of the time people need to travel by boat to reach other places. It is either a passenger boat or RoRo. I guess, it is like living in Visayas, if you want to go to other provinces you need to ride boat or airplane.


There are different seaports within the area so you just need to check their schedule. When we went to Røros last Holy Week, we left as early as 6AM so we can catch the 8AM ferry boat in Vanvikan port. It is more than one hour drive from the house but we did not notice it because of the beautiful scenery.

Watch the video here.

We can ride the ferry boat in Ørland too but just to be safe, we went to Vanvikan para hindi kami magahol sa oras. From Vanvikan port, we ride the ferry boat to Trondheim, travel time is less than 30 minutes.

Ørland to Trondheim is 1 hour ride
Vanvikan to Trondheim is 25 minutes


From the port, we walked to the Trondheim train station. It is a long walk especially if you have luggage with you. We waited at the lobby then at 9:20AM we went to the boarding station for our 9:45AM train ride.



We rode trains in other countries but this is our first train ride in Europe so I’m a little bit excited. My mom only bought the standard ticket so we don't have a table at the middle. If you want coffee, there is a small coffee vending machine inside the train.



Travel time from Trondheim to Røros is 2 hours and 30 minutes. The travel time is so long but I enjoyed the ride because of the stunning view, ang ganda talaga, pangpost card. Habang tumatagal, paputi ng paputi ang daanan.

Watch the video here.
 Finally, we reached Røros train station. From here, we just walked to our holiday apartment.


Read: Ålbyggården in Røros Norway 

The following day, we took the 4:30PM train ride. At Trondheim seaport, we rode the ferry boat going to Ørland, the travel time is one hour. Then my stepdad and sister picked us up at the port.

Train - Røros to Trondheim 
Boat - Trondheim to Ørland 
Car - Ørland to home

When we first visited Kuala Lumpur, we stayed in Sky Hotel Bukit Bintang because we wanted to see Petronas Twin Towers. The hotel is not really near the twin towers but we still manage to visit it by walking. It is located in the heart of the city and very accessible to public transportation.


But whenever my husband goes to KL for a business trip, he always stays at Saujana Hotel and Resort because this is near to his office. This hotel is far from the city center, it is more or less 30km away from the city center and the twin towers. Travel from Kuala Lumpur International Airport is more or less 1 hour depending on the traffic.



Saujana Hotel and Resort is a five-star resort style hotel that is located in a tropical forest with lakeside view. Forest talaga because my husband always sees squirrels, monkeys and monitor lizards within the resort.

Malay “sejauh di sana” = “as far as the eye can see” 




It does not have a high rise building but they have 250 rooms on their four storey building. Sa laki ng resort, they also have two adjoining 18-hole championship golf courses.




My husband went back to Kuala Lumpur last week and as usual, his company booked a room in Saujana Hotel and Resort. He was not excited because he doesn’t like the pillows of this hotel. Nahihirapan siya makatulog sa tigas so I always tell him, magbaon ka na lang ng unan natin para malambot. Hehehe!

He stayed in this hotel for so many times already but last week, hindi na siya nakatiis. He mentioned to the hotel staff about his pillows problem and the staff provided feather pillows. May malambot naman pala sila na unan, maybe this is only available if you stay in an upscale room pero dahil standard room lang kay hubby, matigas na pillow. hehehe!

Room and Bathroom

The room and bathroom are spacious.




The room includes free buffet breakfast but for dinner, my husband eats at Kogetsu, a Japanese restaurant inside the resort. Foods are just okay.






The hotel has a golf course, swimming pool, spa, fitness center, and sports area.




Saujana Hotel and Resort may be far from the city center but I think this resort ideal for business and pleasure, so if you are looking for a staycation in Kuala Lumpur this place is for you.

Read: DIY Kuala Lumpur City Tour
Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur Hotel

The Saujana Hotel Kuala Lumpur
Jalan Lapangan Terbang SAAS,
40150 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan,
Malaysia

If you will search for “The World’s Best Cake” you will learn that the world’s best cake is in Norway. You will be surprised because the name of the cake is indeed “The World’s Best Cake” or “Verdens Beste Kake”. I heard that this cake is also considered the National Cake of Norway and it is a Norwegian Classic Cake so if you attend events, you will always see this cake.


I had my first taste of this cake when I first visited Norway, I asked my mom what is the name of the cake and she said: “Favoritt Kake” or Favorite Cake in English. Okay, so when people ask me what is my favorite cake, I will say “favorite cake”. Baka sabihin pilosopo pa ko. Hehehe! Anyway, it is now known as “The World’s Best Cake” or Kvæfjordkake.

My mom always bakes a cake every weekend. They have a fellowship every Sunday and she always brings food and cake for potluck. She knew that I like favoritt kake so she baked it and she said to me “Kumuha ka agad nito kasi pagkaserve nito, nauubos agad”. Waah! So I said, magbake na lang ng iba, dito na lang yan cake sa bahay. So I baked rainbow cupcake to replace the cake. Hehehe!

If you are following me on Instagram @michisolee, you already see this cake. The World’s Best Cake is a layered cake, there is sponge cake, meringue with almonds and vanilla cream. There is a different texture on each layer of the cake and every bite is heaven.

I watched my mom in making this cake and my only contribution is putting the chopped almonds. Hehehe! Effort din sa paggawa ha because you have to mix three different batters/cream. First, she prepared the batter for sponge cake then put the meringue with almonds on top. Bake together.



Cut into half and spread the vanilla cream on the side of sponge cake. Top with the other half of cake. That’s it!


Indeed, it is the “The World’s Best Cake”. If you don’t believe me, try it and let me know your experience. Happy eating!

Some of you already notice how simple the life here in Norway, specifically here in Ørland Kommune or Ørland municipality. I find the life here less stressful, people save more time because there is no traffic. Most people work within the community so traveling is not a problem.

My mom works at 8AM; she can wake up at 7AM, leaves at 7:45AM and she can reach her work before 8AM whether she drives the car or rides the bicycle. But my husband who works in the Philippines wakes up at 5AM, leaves before 6AM to avoid the traffic and hopefully he arrives in the office before 8AM. Imagine if there is no traffic in the Philippines, less stress sa tao. 



Lerberen



Anyway, on our Day 9 in Norway, my mom was back to work but after her shift, she invited us to walk again. Yes, my mom likes to walk and hike so napapasubo ang mga legs ko dito. Hehehe! If you remember, we already visited the Lerberen Folkehelsepark but this time, we visited the other side of the Lerberen mountain. It was just a short hike compared to the first one. When you see this sign, you can either go to the left or right. 



Read: Lerberen Folkehelsepark 

We walked to the right and left directions to see the different view. We wrote our names again in the logbook.





My mom also showed us a secret hideout where soldiers hide during the war daw. 




It is really nice to see to see the view from the top, ang sarap lang magmuni-muni kung hindi malamig. Hehehe! 




Watch the video here

Hovdetåa

After that, my mom drove us to Hovdetåa. She just went here because it was their activity at the nursing home so grannies and grandads walked to Hovdetåa. Those who can’t walk were in the wheelchair. They no longer went down to the beach kasi mabato na. 



If you’ve been following my Summer in Norway series, you will notice that there are so many places where you can swim. The only problem is, it is too cold, maninigas ka lang sa lamig. Hehehe! Ørland is almost surrounded by water such as Norwegian sea, Trondheimsfjord and Stjørnfjord so most of the places that we’ve visited have a seaview. 



Even the houses that we’ve visited, they have their own view of the sea. Whenever I blog, I can see the mountain, sea and flying seagulls from the window. For sure, this is one thing that I will miss if we go back to the Philippines na, mamiss ko yung view ko sa room. 

Watch the video here 




Hovdetåa is a nice place to visit, you will feel relaxed just looking at the fjord and hearing the calming waves of the sea. During summer time, you can now enjoy the water. Since it is too cold for us, my son just enjoyed throwing stones and looking for unique stones or shells. I told him not to pick stones or shells because I have no plan to bring it home. But you know kids, my son still picked one small white stone. Hmmm…. 

In the Philippines, every Holy week we only have four days of vacation but here in Norway, the holiday starts on Holy Thursday until Monday so they have 5 days off from work. So my mom has one more day before she goes back to work.


April is the start of the Spring season but for us, it feels like winter sa lamig. Hehehe! My mom took advantage of the good weather so she went out to clean the garden with my son. I was watching them from the kitchen window and it looks like my son was enjoying picking the dry leaves and then he started cutting the grasses. After several minutes, I saw him in the swing. Then after a few minutes, he went inside and he said to me, “hirap maggarden”.


My mom shared with me what my son said in the garden. While my son was busy cutting grasses. He told my mom, “You know, you should buy a lawnmower so it is easy to cut grass”. lol He was having a hard time cutting grass using the scissors so nagsuggest na bumili na lang ng lawnmower. My mom just laughed and she said, she has a lawnmower in the garage.

Rusasetvatnet 

After lunch, we went to Rusasetvatnet. It is one of the recreational areas and one of the largest restored wetlands in Ørland Norway. It used to be the primary source of drinking water in Ørland before it was shut down in 1981. The place is good for walking, running, cycling and even bird watching. It has Ørland freshwater at the foot of Rusasetfjellet where you can see wildlife and fish.


They are developing the area to connect Brekstad, Rusaset, and Austrått. Once the restoration is finished, you can go fishing in the Dala River, Balsnes River, and Stamford River. My mom mentioned to me that we can walk up to Austrått so it means there is already a footpath that was developed. But since we already visited Austrătt before, we did not go there anymore.

Read: Things to do in Austrått Noway



One thing I noticed here in Ørland Norway, is it is not tourist-friendly. What I mean is there is no English translation in every place that we’ve been to. I saw flyers and brochures at the seaport but there is no English version of it. For someone like me who doesn’t know the language, it is hard to get the information I need. Parang mas mahirap pa dito kaysa sa Japan.