Michi Photostory

My mom knew that my son wanted to experience snow and since we cannot predict or control the weather, she planned to have a weekend getaway in Røros. She knew that there will be snow in Røros because of its location. But we were lucky that we were able to experience snowfall during our second day in Norway, just a few days before we went to Røros. 

Watch the video here.  
Read: First Snowfall Experience


Røros is a popular tourist spot in Norway, one of the favorite winter and Easter destinations. So it is unsurprising that there were so many tourists by the time we arrived. It took us 6 hours just to reach this place, we traveled by road, sea, and train. 

Read: Trip to Røros Norway
Video: Trip to Bjugn to Vanvikan Norway
Trip to Trondheim to Røros Norway via Train


From Røros train station, we just walked to our holiday apartment. We stayed in Ålbyggården which is just beside the Røros Church and graveyard. The house has two bedrooms, a fully-equipped kitchen, one toilet and one bathroom.


Read: Staycation at Ålbyggården in Røros Norway

After leaving our luggage at the apartment we had lunch at Peder Hiort Marthus, the restaurant serves pasta, pizza and other local and international meals. 


Read: Peder Hiort Marthus

Then we started our Røros tour, the town is already a living museum so there is no doubt that it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage. We explored the town by checking the different art galleries, craft shops, stores, old timber houses and buildings, and of course, the famous Røros Church. 



Bergstadens Ziir 


Bergstadens Ziir also known as Røros Church, the church was built and completed in the year 1784. It is a symbol and pride of the mining town. It is one of the top ten churches and one of the largest churches in Norway with a seating capacity of 1600. Unfortunately, we were not able to get inside the church because it was already closed. Entrance Fee is NOK50.

Sleggveien


The houses in Sleggveien road show the social history of the mining community. The top five houses were on the top of the road, where the day laborers, craftsmen, gypsies, and other people who have no permanent work and no land to farm lived. Some of these houses are open to the public during the summer season, it was April so it was closed. 

Fun in the Snow 

Of course, we enjoyed the snow. For someone who lives in a tropical country, seeing snow makes us happy. Even the freezing cold can't stop us. We do crazy things like my mom and son ate the snow. Waah! Watch the video here. 

We made our very first snowman, (tiny snowman). I just realized that it is not easy to make a snowman. 

One of the dilemmas of living or migrating to another country is the church. If you are Christian, it is a big problem especially if you are moving to a non-Christian country. You don’t know where are you going to attend Sunday service.
Norway is considered a Christian country so they have an Evangelical Lutheran Church in each municipality or city. But sad to say that only a few people go to church so I was not surprised if they only have a small church.


Some people I met there are atheists, yes, they don’t believe in God. In fact, according to Wikipedia, only 12% of the population attended church services every month and it is one of the lowest church attendance in the world.

I cannot blame these people because if you live in Norway, there are so many benefits that you can get from the government. If you get sick and you need to be confined or operated, there is no payment for that. If you lose your job, you will still receive your salary for one year. If you are sick, you have sick leave with pay even if it takes a year. If you have a baby, you have up to one year of maternity leave with pay and fathers have paternity leave with pay too. Your babies will receive a monthly allowance from the government up to 15 years old (correct me if I’m wrong). Kids can study for FREE until High School and they have a student loan so kids can even study abroad.

And with these benefits, there seems to be no reason for you to pray and call on God because the money problem is not a big issue. I hate to admit it, but there are times when life is so comfortable and we don't have any problems, we tend to forget to call on God. Indeed, too much comfort can kill our spiritual needs.

There are situations in life that will stop us from pursuing God, but we need to keep pursuing intimacy with Him no matter what. We need Him more than He needs us.

 “God doesn’t want something from us, He simply wants us” - C.S. Lewis




My mom is a Christian, last year she started a group called Fosen Internasjonale Kristne Fellesskap or FIKF. She wanted to reach out to those people who are lost, who are seeking God, and who want to know more about Jesus.

Description of the group is “A group of foreigners who believe in God. To seek The Truth From God's Words. To grow, bond together, be creative, and have fun. Be active in our spiritual life and social life. Be a resource in the community.”

This is not a church but more of a Bible study group where they study the word of God and connect with other people. It is open to different nationalities who speak and understand the English language because that’s what they use. Since not all are fluent in the Norwegian language especially those who are new residents.


So during my summer vacation in Norway, my son and I could attend their fellowship. Sunday is a busy day because my mom cooks food and bakes cake for a potluck and we leave the house around 3:30PM to prepare the venue (Activity Center) for the 5PM fellowship. If the venue is not in the Activity Center, we can leave several minutes before 5PM. :)

And because of this, I was able to meet different nationalities but most of the members were Filipinos. So if you know someone who lives in Ørland or Bjugn Kommune, let them know that there is FIKF group where they can attend.


“It is in small groups that people can get close enough to know each other, to care and share, to challenge and support, to confide and confess, to forgive and be forgiven, to laugh and weep together, to be accountable to each other, to watch over each other and to grow together. - Dr. Gilbert Bilezikian” 

We went to Pangasinan last weekend and on our way home, I asked my husband if we could eat our lunch in Pampanga. There is one restaurant that I want to try and he agreed to me, but when I searched for it, closed pala sila ng Monday. Waah! So I told him sa Abe’s Farm na lang ulit so my in-laws can also visit the place. 

We’ve been to the farm, two years ago. Ito yung tipong, sasadyain mo talaga kasi hindi naman siya malapit sa NLEX. Hehehe! But since we liked their food and place, worth it ang biyahe. 



We were surprised when we arrived because the restaurant is almost full so we were not able to choose a good table. Since it is already past 12NN, we immediately placed our order. While browsing the menu, I noticed that they already increased their prices. 



We ordered Paco Fern Salad P165, Gising Gising P265, Bulalo P345, Grilled Liempo P260, Rice is P55 per cup, Sikreto ni Maria P175, Turon Saging with Ube P95 and Leche Flan P95. (+ Service Charge)





I ordered grilled liempo because we liked it but when they served the liempo, I was a bit disappointed. Ang nipis na ng liempo nila parang bacon sa nipis (almost) and 3 pieces na lang, ang layo niya sa dati namin order, check the photo here. 



Well, that’s the only disappointment. We were satisfied with the rest of our order. It was my first time to try the Turon and it was good, pero sabi ni hubby, manipis na daw siya, dati mataba daw yung turon. Hehehe! 



So if ever you will visit Pampanga, you can add this in your itinerary. This is not just a restaurant, they also offer accommodation and spa services. But if you want to try their food without going to Pampanga, there are Abe restaurants in Metro Manila. The one that we always visit is their Alabang Town Center branch, check our experience here.

 Abe’s Farm Resort, Country Cuisine and Spa 
98 Livestock Village,  
Barangay Ayala  
Magalang, Pampanga  

Business Hours: Open daily, 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM  
For overnight accommodations, pre-booking is needed  
Contact: Phone: + (02) 506-8140 Mobile: + (0917) 808-5187  

Read: Abe’s Museum

Two weeks ago, my husband told me that he has an event on June 10 and he was inviting us to come with him, okay daw yung event na yun. Day before the event, I told him that we will not go with him, ang dami ko pa gagawin na chores sa bahay. I need to finish it before going to Pangasinan. Maulan pa, so siya na lang. 

But he insisted that we should come, i-Google ko daw ang “Manila Mini Maker Faire” so I searched for it and according to their website, “Maker Faire is a gathering of fascinating, curious people who enjoy learning and who love sharing what they can do. From engineers to artists to scientists to crafters, Maker Faire is a venue for these “makers” to show hobbies, experiments, projects. We call it the Greatest Show (& Tell) on Earth — a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity, and resourcefulness.” 

I also watched the video in Mind Museum page and when I saw that there are inventions, I let my son go with him because next year, they will have Robotics subject na. At least now, he will get an idea. So last Saturday, they went to Mind Museum to attend the Manila Mini Maker Faire.



There is no entrance fee so according to my husband, ang haba daw ng pila sa registration. My husband and son stayed there for almost 5 hours and I was glad that my son enjoyed the event. Let me share the photos of the activities that he tried.

Airplane from tissue roll

And because of that event, my husband took home 2 Free Mind Museum tickets. Yey!

There are several activities and attractions that you can do in Røros depending on the season and your preferences. I have researched the different activities that we wanted to do but unfortunately, it was not available during our visit and some activities need a reservation which I did not know.


So we ended up visiting a museum. The town Røros is a World Heritage site so if you want to know more about the rich history of it, you can visit the different museums. There are 7 museums that you can choose from and each museum has a fee so we just chose Smelthytta Rørosmuseet  or Smelthytta Røros Museum because that is the nearest museum from our holiday apartment.

1. Smelthytta
2. Olavsgruva
3. Bergstadvandring
4. Doktortjønna
5. Sleggveien
6. Bygningsvernsenteret
7. Besøkssenter Nasjonalpark Femundsmarka

Smelthytta’s building is built on the top of the ruins of Røros Copperworks last smelter which was burned in the year 1975. It is a museum where you can see different exhibitions related to Røros Copperworks’ history, 19th-century clothing and how the mining society and people who lived here developed.

Watch the video here

Entrance Fee 

Adult NOK100
Student and Senior NOK80
Kids below 16 (with adult) FREE

I like to buy a souvenir kaya lang ang mahal. :)

Once you enter the museum, you will see a cafe and souvenir shop. There is an egg painting activity for the kids but unfortunately, they ran out of eggs already so no painting activity for my son. But the staff gave him a piece of paper, a word hunt game that he needs to finish in order to receive a prize. It is a nice idea so kids will enjoy the museum.


There is an English guided tour at 3PM but we did not wait for it because we don’t want to be late for our 4:30PM train ride back to Trondheim. Thanks to the free use of Audioguides that gives us the information that we need. You can choose Norwegian, English. German or French language.


We did not waste our time and we started exploring the museum.



What I like about this museum is, aside from photos, they also have video clippings where you can see the transformation of the town. I just hope there is English subtitle of the video.





I also love the diorama or models of the mines, smelteries and technical installations that were used before. Most of the models are moving, it is like watching a mini skit.




The museum is very informative, it gives you more information on how they produce copper and I bet you it is not that easy. So if you are going to Røros, don’t forget to include a visit to the Museum in your itinerary, your NOK100 is worth it.


By the way, my son finished the word hunt game with the help of the guardians (lol) and the prize is two unique stones. :)

A few days ago, my mom was asking me if I already blogged about our Røros trip and I said no, hindi pa tapos but I posted a video on my YouTube Channel. Honestly, after our summer vacation, I don’t know how and where to start my Summer in Norway series. I have 5000+ photos in my album and it is really hard to choose photos.

I don’t know how travel blogger do it because it is really an effort to blog about the experience sa dami ng pictures. Hehehe! But don’t worry, matatapos ko rin yan series na yan so I can start our Iceland trip series too.

Moving on, I mentioned in my previous post that I’m nursing colds and cough and as far as I know bawal ang sweets sa may ubo. So I’ve been drinking tea with honey these past few days to calm my cough. Pero I can’t control myself so I still I ate chocolate again yesterday, ang hirap magpigil kung nakikita mo chocolate pagbukas mo ng fridge. Hehehe!

But you know what, I just read an article that, “The Best Cure for a Cough May Actually Be Chocolate”.  According to the article, chocolate can calm coughs because the theobromine suppresses coughs better than codeine. Cocoa also relieves irritation or inflammation. Oh di ba, nagpigil pa ko, pwede naman pala. Read more about it here.



Anyway, when we went to Norway, my sister gave me pasalubong from Sweden. When I saw the brand of the chocolate, I immediately remembered that a reader commented in one of my posts that Marabou is almost similar to Freia chocolates. My husband ate the Marabou Japp and he said okay lang ang taste.

It was only yesterday that I tried the chocolates, yes, inuwi ko pa siya sa Pinas. Hehehe! I ate the Marabou Mjőlk Choklad or Milk Chocolate. True enough, the taste is close enough to Freia but a little bit sweet. I’m happy to add this chocolate in my IKEA list. I always see this in IKEA but I only buy the IKEA chocolate but since Marabou chocolate taste is close to Freia, pwede na ito.

P.S.

Freia KVIKK LUNSJ is a Norwegian chocolate, it is similar to popular KitKat chocolate.


PEZ is a brand name of peppermint candy from Austria. I'm not familiar with this candy so I have to Google it because I don't know how to put the candy in the free pocket dispensers. Since my son is not fond of candy, I'm the one who tried this. hehehe! Now, wala na ko refill na candy. :(