Oslo Sightseeing

I was in group 2, so we met at 11.45am outside BI for a guided tour.

The first stop was Vigeland Sculpture park. It was very interesting. The trip was very fast-paced and enriching.
The second stop, Holmenkollen Ski Tower. We were there for 20 minutes to take pictures. It’s breathtaking.
and Lastly, the Oslo Opera House. We were guided by a very friendly and insightful visual artist. The main auditorium awed me with it’s grandness.
Oak, one of the primary material for the auditorium is said to reflect sound pretty well (does not absorb sound) thus make it an excellent choice. The darker oak in the auditorium contrasted with the lighter oak in the foyer. The darker oak is chose for the auditorium such that when a performance commences, light dims and this will make it easier for the audience to direct their attention on stage.
We went to many other rooms like the ballet room, costume rooms and the set (just behind the stage). We saw tutu’s ballet shoes and many other interesting costumes.

Day trip to Jerbanetorget Oslo’s Central Train Station

Activated my student card and took the T Bane (For Singapore, it'll be the Mass Rapid transit) from Nydalen to Jerbanetorget.

Karl’s Johan street.

Weather’s cool and this may be the first time I’ve seen so many people in Oslo. There were interesting buskers along the street, ranging from some ‘Gold color man' to 'Mickey mouse’ (two in fact). Personally I loved the duo musicians. There’s one on the violin and one on the organ. They provided wonderful and cheerful music which lighten up the whole street. I really wanted to give them some kroners as a form of support, but I guessed 1 kroner may come in handy for the coming days!

Going further down the street, we reached the Royal Palace. Yes. The King of Norway is inside the palace. I had an amusing time with the Norwegian guard. He's really huge and tall. And after obliging visitors with pictures, he performed some drills outside his station.

I can only watch in amuzement by how disciplined he is.

The current king and queen is King Harald V and Queen Sonja respectively.
The heir apparent will be Crown prince Haakon and he has an older sister Princess Martha Louise.

Takeoff and Landing

After the checks, I saw the testing of the ailerons and flaps. AY082 took off at 2350. There was a live video of the takeoff taken from a front camera. I was sitting on the left side. Check again, yes, the lights on the left wing was red.

The personal entertainment system was activated shortly after the takeoff. And on the TV selection, I saw the big bang theory selection. How familiar is Sheldon Cooper and the gang. Halfway through ‘the pants alternative’, dinner was served. There came curry chicken.

The economy cabin was cold, so I layered myself with a long sleeve. After finishing another 3 episodes, I took a nap. As the seat beside me was empty, I had the luxury of curling up my legs on the next seat to sleep.

After waking up, I lifted the window panel. Following the Finnair logo on the wingtip, I was introduced to the beautiful dark blue sky decorated with stars.

The transfer at Helsinki-Vantaa was a little rush. But I still managed to visit the Moomin’s place while carrying two heavy big bags.

My plane landed in Oslo at 0755 (Oslo time), or 1403 (Singapore time).

Money Changer

Rates at Crante's (People's Park complex) which the most popular money changer in Chinatown offered the following rates.

1SGD to 0.565Euro
1SGD to 4.26NOK

1 新币换 0.565欧元
1 新币换 4.26挪威克朗

A savings of 7.41SGD relative to the rates of the other money changers available there.

Goods prices

On the CNN money website, (4 June 2011)
1 Singapore dollar (SGD)= 4.34 Norwegian Krone (NOK)
Typical goods prices given by the BI guide, (after conversion to SGD and rounded up to nearest cents).
奥斯陆物品的价格（新币）

Typical goods prices in Norway

Coffee: $5.50

Sandwich: $12.70

Chicken (1kg): $22.70

Eggs (pack of 12): $6.80

Grill sausages (1kg): $12.70

Beer: $5.80

Cereal: $5.70

Toothpaste: $6.90

Shampoo: $9.20

Orange Juice (1L): $4.60

Milk (1L): $3.20

Loaf of bread: $4.60

Hot lunch: $10.40

Flying with Finnair

FINNAIR, the flag carrier of Finland, will be flying from Singapore to Helsinki on 30th May 2011 onwards.
They had a promotion then on the 5th May 2011, thus, I paid $1211 on for the return ticket from Singapore to Oslo.
I’ll be transiting in Helsinki for an hour before catching the connecting flight to Oslo.

AY082
SIN-HEL
新加坡－赫尔辛基 (芬兰）
Aircraft type: A340

AY651
HEL-OSL
赫尔辛基 (芬兰)—奥斯陆 (挪威）
Aircraft type: A319

The total journey is estimated to be 14 hours and 35 minutes (Inclusive of transit time).
I’m very happy with the air fare that I’ve found. I’d say that this is the reward after several weeks of work, monitoring prices from different sites.
One tip: Monitor the fare prices at www.zuji.com and visit the parent airline website.

The School

I’ll be attending the International Summer Program organized by the BI Norwegian Business School from the 25th June to 22nd July in Oslo, Norway.

The topic I’ll be doing is Intercultural Management- A Scandinavian Perspective.

From the recent updates, there’ll be approximately 90 students representing 32 different Nationalities from different continents.