NORTHERN ANGLE

CHRISTMAS 2012

2012-12-25T00:28:00.000+01:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

WORKING ON CHRISTMAS EVE

2012-12-24T17:00:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago, I was tempted to trade my shift today. I was worried about how I am going to survive the Christmas dinner. I am glad I did not do it.

I started my day at 3am. Coffee. Wake up. Changed clothes. Wake Up. Put on make-up. Wake Up. Coffee again.. Placed the dinner in the oven. Went to work. Everyone I met was in holiday spirits, colleagues and passengers alike. Everyone was greeting everyone with a smile. I saw a lot of my colleagues prancing the duty free area, probably buying some last minute gifts.

The whole shift was not as hectic as normal days. I drove home at 2pm. The house was empty except for Max-the-dog. Checked the oven and went for a walk with Max-the-dog. I enjoyed the walk as much as he did, I think.

Then I had the most wonderful nap until I felt wet on my face. Max-drool.

PREPARING FOR CHRISTMAS

2012-12-23T22:30:00.000+01:00

It is the 23rd of December. Most homes had their decorations up weeks ago. As usual, we are late. Even my daughter´s Christmas calendar is a day late. My youngest daughter, Tatyana, has been nagging me prepare the decorations weeks ago but there was always something to be done or some errands to run.

Every year, my husband and the kids go to the forrest and cut a tree. We don´t buy. In my years in Norway, we bought a tree twice. The first Christmas we spent here and last year, it was a gift from our eldest daughter (technically, this does not count). This year, Tatyana and my husband got a nice tree. Then I decorated it with her. We had Christmas songs, we sang them, we danced. We had fun.

I love Christmas.

GOODBYE MS. DEL

2012-08-16T03:06:00.002+02:00

Ging Del Espiritu Santo Lopez

Ms. Del is one of my dearest teachers at Our Lady of Grace Academy. I found out through an old friend that she passed away.

May you rest in peace Ms. Del. Your kindness will live on in our hearts.

NORWAY WINS GOLD

2012-08-11T23:59:00.001+02:00

Of all the games this Summer Olympics (2012), I followed the handball tournaments. I knew that the Norwegian National Team in handball had a chance to win the gold. I must admit that I was disappointed in some games, almost losing hope that the Norwegian team would end up with maybe bronze. In the end, they got the Gold.

The Montenegro National team, which ended up with silver, is surprisingly very good. They played well and they were a worthy opponent for the gold. Spain went home with Bronze.

( I didn´t know there was even a sport called handball until I moved to Norway 12 years ago. I started liking it when my eldest daughter began playing it.)

UGNAYAN´S MAIDEN AIRING

2012-07-07T11:32:00.005+02:00

Today is the first airing of Ugnayan on Filipino online radio station, Pinoy Radio Nordic catering the needs of Filipinos in the Nordics. Our guests, Coring Vasala from Finland, Jojo Jensen from Denmark and Leonore Vintervoll and Luz Bergersen from Norway, made the first airing of Ugnayan very lively. Our station manager, Sonny Laragan, as usual, is a very moderator and host.

I do not have any broadcast experience. I think that it was the last thing I would have thought of doing. I am having fun coordinating with the Pinoys all around the Nordics. I am still the same, though. Still anti-social. So Ironic, for someone working with people.

TATY TURNS 11

2012-06-30T09:48:00.001+02:00

Another year. My youngest daughter, Tatyana, turns 11 today. I do not wish big things for my girls. I do not wish for her to be a hot shot lawyer or become a well sought doctor (not that it hurts if they become one) . I just wish she would continue being a righteous person, kind and open to new ideas. She is already this way. I have nothing to complain about. I have never heard anyone say she misbehaved in any way. She is respectful and eager to listen.

My girls are wonderful and I am very proud of them. We are probably doing something right, then?

... AND I COMPLAIN AGAIN

2012-06-28T20:44:00.000+02:00

This is DEFINITELY not an advertisement for Statoil! I have actually been boycotting the station for years now. They are always a few øre (norwegian cents) from other gasoline stations. I know that if I used Statoil, I would save a few 20 kroner every time I have fill up the tank. Assuming that I fill up the tank twice a month, I save 440 kroner a year.

Enough of the talk about how I save from not using Statoil.

We went to Sweden today today to do our usual monthly shopping. Before the border, I saw that the gasoline at Statoil costs 14,35 Norwegian kroner per liter. After crossing the border, the cost of gasoline is 14,35 Swedish Kronor. Since 1 NOK is 1.16 SEK, we decided to fill up the tank in Sweden but not at Statoil Sweden.

Yes, still on boycott.

The state owns 67% of the company. Still, they charge more than other gasoline stations. Get the picture?

10 KRONER

2012-06-27T22:11:00.000+02:00

10 kroner shirts

It is a fact that Norway is an expensive country. Ever since I moved here, I seldom go to a shop and buy the things I like and leave. I seldom buy designer clothes for myself. The only time I do all these is when I am NOT in Norway.

Today, my eldest daughter and I went to the recently opened outlet store in Jessheim because I saw that they are selling motorcycle equipments and I want to know the prices. My youngest daughter and my husband need new helmets and I was surprised how cheap they were. We went around the store and found a lot of other cheap items. I could not help but buy some shirts and paid 160 kroner! Yes 9 shirts! (3 of them were 3 for 99) I have never heard of Grizzly or New Wave but they will look like they are not 10 kroner when used with the right accessories.

My brain wandered after I bought all the shirts. How much is it to produce a shirt when the shop can sell it for 10 with a profit?

ANOTHER CRAZY SUMMER

2012-06-25T14:30:00.000+02:00

Summer at work is special, that is a mild description. It is crazy. On the picture, you can see our big smiles and let us hope it will stay that way even when it is almost chaotic because of the large number of passengers in front of us day after day. We had the taste of it this weekend.

Oslo airport, although architecture wise, a beautiful building does not have the practicalities of an airport. The information screens are so small, passengers cannot find them even when they are almost everywhere. Instead of us, taking care of our own passengers, we are walking information desks. And yes, there is no information desk on the departure area. During the summer, the baggage belt stops or it goes too slow. This results to accumulation of passengers in front of the counters. Then, we have the security counters to get in to the boarding gate. 2 words: not enough.

The main airport of Norway is too small for the number of passengers that it is accommodating. The good news is, the airport is being developed continuously. Terminal 2 is going to be built, hopefully, soon.

If you are traveling this summer, make sure that you have ample time to check in and to go through security. You would not want to start your vacation with stress. If you are traveling in the morning, be at the airport 3 hours before departure. Then, you would have time for coffee or duty free shopping before going on board.

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You may find the developments of Oslo Airport Terminal 2 at www.oslt2.no

TEST OF STRENGHT

2012-06-23T20:45:00.000+02:00

Biking from Trondheim to Oslo is truly a test of strength. This arrangement is in 5 different distances. Trondheim - Oslo 540kms. Dombås - Oslo 350kms. Lillehammer - Oslo 190kms. Gjøvik - Oslo 135 kms. Eidsvoll - Oslo 60kms. The first arrangement was held in 1967.

If you know the Norwegian terrain, then you understand how difficult it is to bike from Trondheim to Oslo. Every year, I watch them go by and I admire everyone who joins year after year. I could hardly bike 3kms. on a flat asphalt.

The weather agreed with the bikers, thank goodness!

More information on this event can be found on their website: http://www.styrkeproven.no/

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PS. It is midsummer eve. Our swedish neighbors are celebrating it right now. We were joking about this celebration. Are they celebrating because we are now going towards winter?

CESAR GUARIN IN NORWAY

2012-06-18T21:34:00.003+02:00

I got a forwarded e-mail this weekend. I just would like to share with you. Please click on the photo and it will lead you to his present itinerary.

They are currently trying to reach the $200,000-mark (P8,676,266)(quoted from the Philippine Embassy site).

For your information, through running, Guarin raises funds for their organization which helps less fortunate children.

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Greetings from Global Run team! My name is Joon Malicse, Project Manager of Global Run: An Ultramarathon with a Mission. We are based here in the Philippines.

We are very excited to let you all know that our first Filipino global runner and the “Father of Ultramarathon” here in the Philippines,
56-year old Cesar Guarin, is on a quest to finish his solo run around the world and become the first Filipino (and Asian) to do so. The mission of his global run is to strengthen the relationship between our country and the host countries where he will run by promoting bilateral sports tourism in partnership with the Department of Tourism. His run serves as a tribute and a way to personally thank all the Filipinos abroad and the Norwegians for their valuable contribution in helping our country’s economy and for enriching our cultural heritage.
He is a veteran distance runner with decades of experience running around the world when he started his global run stages: Stage 1: Zamboanga – Baguio run (2,251 km.), Stage 2: New York – San Francisco run (4,960 km.), Stage 3: Madrid – Paris – Brussels – Bonn – Zurich – Rome run (3,756 km.), Stage 4: New York – Toronto run (1,272 km.), and just recently, he finished Stage 5: Melbourne – Brisbane run (2,053 km.) last October to December 2011.

He is now preparing for his Stage 6: Finland – England run (2,338 km.) and his most challenging global run stage of all,

Stage 7:Middle East run (2,279 km.). This stage stands out not only for its terrifying distance, but also for the intense heat, rough terrain and blinding sandstorms it throws.
His fame and experience in long distance running led him to mentor the first Filipina to run across the Philippines and USA, Joy Rojas and the famous "running priest", Fr. Robert Reyes who ran a 40-day, 1,195 kilometer Visayas leg ultramarathon.
He is scheduled to run Stage 6 in Europe from May 27 up to July 14, 2012.He will start in Helsinki, Finland en route via Stockholm (Sweden), Copenhagen (Denmark), Oslo (Norway), Edinburgh (Scotland), and finally finishing in London (England). The total distance of the run is estimated around 2, 338 kilometers! To accomplish this of this one-of-a-kind “mother of all distance running”, he will run 45 - 60 kilometers per day for 2 months straight (usually resting only on Sundays or when there is an event for him). He is, by far, the only Filipino runner (and Asian) who holds the record for having the longest distance run.

It is with this noble intent that we would like to ask for your support in lifting the pride of Filipinos all over the world by informing local Filipino community organizations there and by supporting the Global Run project. We would like to get in touch with you and your organization again as we progress in our plan to help our Filipino runner finish his run to pay tribute and to give honor to Filipinos around the world and to strengthen sports tourism between Philippines and Norway.

For more information about this project, you can check our Facebook page by "liking" our page: The Global Run. You can also visit our website: www.theglobalrun.org.

We are excited and looking forward to meeting our "kababayans" ....

Mabuhay kayo lahat!

Joon Malicse
Project Manager

LAUNCHING OF PINOY RADIO NORDIC

2012-06-14T19:24:00.000+02:00

Pinoy Radio Nordic is an internet radio playing ONLY Original Pinoy Music. (Pinoy- slang for filipino) It is a 24 hour radio station serving primarily the Filipino community in the Nordics - Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Iceland BUT anyone around the world are welcome to listen.

After the success of Pinoy Radio UK, Sonny Laragan, the managing director of Channel Philippines Network Ltd., decided to put up Pinoy Radio Nordic.

It was not so long ago that Sonny Laragan and I bumped into each other in cyberspace. Two months ago, I think. We have not seen each other for about 2 decades or more. He immediately told me about his idea and I was more than excited to help him out. It is quite wonderful to "somehow" bring the Philippines to the North. I do not go home to Manila as much as I would like to and having a radio station like this is like going home.

Today´s launching went well. We had the Philippine Ambassador to Norway, Denmark and Iceland, Deputy Chief of Mission to Finland, and some community leaders in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland and Finland.

I have high hopes for Pinoy Radio Nordic. I should have, I like coordinating :)

MYSTERIOUS

2012-06-11T20:26:00.000+02:00

My husband came home from his walk today and told me he took some pictures while walking the dog. This is one of the photos. I told him that the forrest looked so mysterious. He told me that if I went right away, I would see and feel it too. I took the already-wet-and-dirty-max-the-dog and saw the fog that seemed to be coming out of the trees.

Some things cannot be bought with money.

NORWEGIAN OPEN SANDWICHES

2012-06-08T20:54:00.000+02:00

Norwegians think that I eat too much rice. Well, I think they eat too much bread but if the table looks like this, who can resist their open faced sandwiches (Smørbrød in Norwegian). When this was served at the birthday celebration of my husband´s uncle, I could not resist but taste everyone. There were egg with anchovy, salmon with scrambled eggs, bree (soft cheese) with grapes, shrimp salad, ... I am sure I forgot the others. I will blame my forgetfulness on my over eating.

When we say "sandwich"... it should mean 2 slices of bread with a filling between them. So, we cannot actually use the term open sandwich. Smørbrød if translated directly to English is Buttered bread. What would we use then? Bread with a topping? My brain cannot philosophize right now, I am too full, I hardly can breath.

WINTER HAS NOT LEFT

2012-04-09T16:49:00.001+02:00

We came back from the cabin today. Snow is what greeted us and we thought we are done with it. I just hope that this will be the last time we will see the snow this season. It is allowed to hope!

A BRIEF REUNION

2012-04-08T00:08:00.000+02:00

Charles Ravndal is probably one of the few blogger friends I have kept over the years. I even attended his wedding in 2009. It is a shame that I see Charles and his partner, Odd very seldom. They live in Bergen and it is quite far away from where I live. Charles and Odd had a few days off this holy week so they visited Odd´s folks in Fredrikstad, which is not a long drive to where our cabin is. I am so glad that they visited us.

QUEUE ON A MAUNDY THURSDAY

2012-04-06T12:37:00.000+02:00

We left early for Sweden yesterday, unusually early. We thought that it would be a good idea to do some shopping in the morning before the traffic builds up. On our way home, we were met by a long line of vehicles on their way to Swedish border. It was probably more than 5 kilometers of slow traffic. We got really lucky.

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Every Maundy Thursday, a lot of Norwegians drive to Strømstad to party and get drunk. It is quite usual to find a 10 meter (or more) queue in front of the Systembolaget- liquor store. It is expected every year that quite a number would spend the night in jail. On this day, I am sorry to say, it is almost embarassing to be a Norwegian in Sweden.

3 MONTH OLD PUPPY

2012-04-05T23:54:00.000+02:00

Max turned 3 months yesterday. I have never in my life had a pet which doubled its weight in a matter of 4 weeks much more tripled its weight. We were at the vet a few days ago and he weighed 17 kg. We got him last February 29 and he weighed 5,7 kg at that time. I knew from the start that Max would eventually be around 70 to 100 kg but I did not anticipate that he would be growing radically right before my eyes.

DEAD TIRED

2012-04-04T00:17:00.000+02:00

We have decided to spend the Holy Week at the cabin. We took Max with us, ofcourse. This is the first trip of Max to the cabin. It takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes by car from Jessheim to Skjeberg. For a (little -- sarcasm) puppy, it could be very tiring. I almost felt sorry for him when he went to bed. He was snoring like a big dog!

IN MOURNING

2012-03-12T20:10:00.000+01:00

I have not turned on the computer the whole weekend. I was working and too busy with housework. I took a quick peek before I went to bed and a friend who lives in Texas sent me a message on Facebook and told me that our childhood friend passed away.

I do not know if I would be able to get myself to delete all the e-mails we have sent to each other from 2004. I have been reading them again and again last night trying to find the slightest clue if she has ever told me that she was ill. Nothing. I was meaning to call her the last months. I kept putting it off because of the little things I have to do. I feel bad that now, I would not be able to talk to her.

I met Gigi Samson in 1974. We were just 5. We were not friends until we were 6. We were together in a lot of activities in school. I think that we loved the same things, reading, writing and music. Those were the base of our friendship but it blossomed into something wonderful. We have not seen each other since our university days. The last time I saw her was at the University of the Philippines when we were both waiting for the UP Ikot jeepney. She found my blog in 2004 and it was like we picked up our friendship where we left it off.

We have shared a lot of things to each other. Some of our secrets went to the grave with her. Hers, I will take to my grave. It will be impossible to replace her in my heart. I lost a confidante. I lost a sister.

May you and Je rest in the hands of our God.

PLAY DATE

2012-03-06T21:22:00.000+01:00

My friend, Michelle, came over today with sweet little Toby (a tibetian terrier). It was suppose to be a play date but Max-the-dog was as usual, too lazy even to say hello. Both of them just had their afternoon naps. The mommies ended up discussing (or gossiping? I can´t really say) about almost everything under the sun.

I do not have so many filipino friends in Norway. I, therefore, appreciate Michelle very much. I have a filipino friend who I can discuss much-more-than-the-weather-forecast with. I am sorry to say that I meet a lot of fellow filipinos here who either have nothing good to say about another person or who feels superior than everyone else. Maybe, I am not trying hard enough to find anyone.... maybe.

PS. Hinnah, another friend, came (to probably see Max-the-dog and not me). There goes three women "discussing."

Photo borrowed from Michelle´s Album

AFTERMATH OF TERROR

2012-03-05T21:27:00.000+01:00

When my husband got sick of cancer, we met a couple at the Radium Hospital (the cancer institute of Norway). They became very good friends. After the treatments of my husband, we stayed in touch for awhile but then we just drifted apart for some months until I called her 2 days ago. Through her updates in Facebook, I read that her son is in the hospital. I thought that he got hurt because of a sports accident. I called her to wish them luck on an operation. I did not realize that he got shot on the day a lot of kids got massacred in Norway on 22nd of July.

Until now, I still could not believe that the massacre happened in Norway. Let alone, a son of a friend got shot in the head and is still suffering both physically and psychologically. Now, he also has to face the man who shot him in the trial proceedings.

from dt.no

LAZY LIKE MAMA

2012-03-04T22:40:00.000+01:00

The last few posts has been about our new dog, Max. I cannot help it. He has been the source of our laughter the last few days.

I grew up with dogs and cats but I never had a pet as this little St. Bernard. When we took him home last Wednesday, the first thing we did was to show him his bed. We thought that he was very tired after the long drive so we let him rest. When he started exploring his new environment, he came across the (open) door to the kitchen. I thought that he did not know what to do because the flooring is about 8cm higher than the living room area. We got to a conclusion that he has never seen steps or stairs in his short life.

Whenever we take him outside to do his "potty" things, he takes 5 steps and sits. We have to carry him if we wanted to take him at the edge of the forest or we wait until he is ready to walk. Sometimes, he lies down in sheer protest to walk, I guess. He plays at the terrace afterwards. 5 minutes or less. He would ask to come in. You would think he would explore or play inside. NO. He goes directly to his bed and sleeps.

He is a baby. I get it. I just have not seen a puppy that is not almost "devilishly" playful. I guess Max-the-dog is in the right family.

PS. Max-the-dog is officially potty trained 2 days after we got him.

FRUSTRATION

2012-03-03T15:00:00.000+01:00

Just two years ago, I could fill up the tank of the Opel Sedan for 360 kroner. Today, I filled it up and I payed 585,77 kroner. I use up more than 2000 kroner a month to use a car. This is ridiculously expensive for us living in an oil producing nation

The government encourages people to use the collective transportation. I am not against using it. In fact, I love the feeling of just sitting down and being transported to my destination. Unfortunately, I have to walk 10 minutes to the bus station to get to work. Buses go every hour. If I miss the bus, I will be late. If I take the earlier one, I lose more than an hour of my time.

Price of unleaded petrol

This week, this is not the only thing that I am frustrated about. Work too. I expect that the next week would be of less thwarts and anxieties.