wrong on so many levels
amazing how many thai-chinese-vietnamese-sushi places you can find in Oslo.
tulip bulbs & temporary passports
Observations about Schiphol airport, in Amsterdam:1. They sell tulip bulbs in the gift shops.2. All announcements in the airport are terse threats to the people late for their flights, who must “come to the gate NOW or we will offload your luggage immediately”3. Under no circumstances, not even your grandfather’s funeral, will they allow you to board a plane heading … Read More
pom & arvo
…words I wouldn’t have known without having an Australian officemate.
holmenkollen
the ski jump the metro stop
butterflies at aker brygge
aker brygge is a fancy schmancy place–all except for the back end, which faces several warehouses. but now even these have been camouflaged with some pretty coverings:
thinking in norwegian
A common difficulty for Norwegian learners is to distinguish between the different “thinking” words. Using the right word for the right context is not always easy–at least if you’re worried about offending people. jeg tror = I think, but only in circumstances for which you are uncertain about something. for example, “I think he is 32 years old”–implying that you … Read More
hiking from frognerseteren
Last weekend we did something very Norwegian: the Sunday hike. We took the T-bane all the way to the end stop of Frognerseteren, with the aim of hiking to Sognsvann (about 15 km). On the way there we stopped for coffee at the cabin at Skjennungstua, where–amongst the sea of Norwegians in their fancy hiking boots and colourful goretex jackets–we saw … Read More
bún chay (with tofu) at Lille Saigon 1
the wonderful bún at Lille Saigon 1 (not to be confused with their competitor Saigon Lille Cafe up the street–a splitting of ways apparently caused by some nasty divorce). but really, what could go wrong when you combine rice vermicelli, pickled carrots & daikon, fresh cucumber, fried onions, bean sprouts, peanuts, tofu fried with lemongrass, and sweet/spicy fish sauce? nothing. … Read More
pastéis de belém
One of the highlights of my trip to Portugal was a visit to Antiga Confeitaria de Belém, considered the mecca of portuguese egg tarts. Normally you can get custard tarts in any Portuguese snack bar by asking for “pastéis de nata”, but the best ones are to be found at this bakery, served warm out of the oven, and specially … Read More