1-15. Pictures from the Narita Temple and the gardens near the temple.
16 - 22. Views of Japan from my hotel window.
23 & 24. Me near my hotel on my walk.
25. Tomoyo and I at the Ikebukuro train station.
Puss och Kram,
Alice
xo
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Pictures from Japan
Japan Pictures!!!
1-15. Pictures from the Narita Temple and the gardens near the temple.
16 - 22. Views of Japan from my hotel window.
23 & 24. Me near my hotel on my walk.
25. Tomoyo and I at the Ikebukuro train station.
Puss och Kram,
Alice
xo
1-15. Pictures from the Narita Temple and the gardens near the temple.
16 - 22. Views of Japan from my hotel window.
23 & 24. Me near my hotel on my walk.
25. Tomoyo and I at the Ikebukuro train station.
Puss och Kram,
Alice
xo
The Last Stop - Japan
My last stop before returning to Aus was Japan. But before I get to Japan I'll quickly fill you in on my last night in Sweden, the flights to Japan and finally my time in Japan before rounding it up with the flights home. Enjoy
So to thank Martina and family, I treated them to a meal at a really nice restaurant (completely organic and locally grown food that was in season - mum would have been proud) that we just happened to stumble across. It was nice to get the chance to have the whole family together on my last night. Then for dessert we headed home to have strawberries Åsa had marinated in Cointreau and lemon juice and ice-cream. It was awesome. God I miss their strawberries. After that Pontus, Martina and I settled down and watched the Bourne Identity. So at 1am I finally headed to bed, finished packing the last bits and pieces and crawled into my bed for the last time.
At 4.30am I was woken up by Martina and so my day began. I was finally beginning my journey home. I packed in the last things and loaded my luggage in the car. Poor Pontus really didn't cope to well with the early morning and looked like he was sleep walking. It was an effort to stay awake. At about 5.15am we piled into the car, Martina driving, and headed to the Gothenburg airport where I was to catch my connecting flight to Copenhagen. After checking in at the self check in desk and checked in my luggage it was time to head to the doors and say goodbye to Martina, Lars, Åsa and Pontus for the last time (for a little while anyway). It was a little sad to see them go but don't worry, I'll be back!!
My flight was on time leaving from Gothenburg which was nice (can't say I'm a huge fan of delays. Delays = waiting = BORED ALICE!!!). I arrived in Copenhagen at about 7.30am which left me almost 4hrs to transfer and wait. I did get a little shopping done and I bought a NEW CAMERA!!! Finally, after a delay of about an hour, I boarded the plan and made my way to London. Unfortunately due to the storms we were required to circle the airport for about 20mins then we had to land in the middle of the storms which resulted in quite a bumpy landing. So after transferring terminals and checking in again for my flight to Japan I settled down for what I was hoping would be a 2hr wait but as was the way with my flights, and as a result of the storm, my flight was delayed by 2hrs. So many of the flights were cancelled due to the flights and the news was full of stories of rescues from the flooding that was occurring throughout England. I still believe their having troubles. Ah you have to love the weather over there, rain, rain, rain and hey have some more rain!!!
After delays in London, I arrived in Japan about 2hrs later than expected. My flight from London however was upgraded to a seat in the world travelers club section, meaning I had more leg room (I was actually at the front of the row so had heaps of foot room) and was impressed to find that the British Airways flight had movies on demand (which it didn't have on the way over). So I amused myself with Meet the Robinsons and a little bit of the movie Zodiac (I finished watching it on the plane back to Sydney). I also managed to get about 12 hours sleep. Most of the time I spent doing good knows what, but soon enough the 12hr flight was over and I was in Japan. The only complaint I do have for the flight was that, because the plane landed in the middle of the storms at London, somehow (I can't quite work out how) but the floor in front of me was completely wet and so I have to cover it with an extra blanket given to me by the flight attendants. I didn't want my socks getting wet. There was also another wet patch conveniently in front of the toilet. I'm hoping it was also from the rain and not someone who just couldn't quite make it!!!
Once I arrived in Japan I had about a 30min wait for the shuttle bus to the hotel. It was so nice to get to the hotel and have a shower because after 3 flights, I wasn't smelling or feeling all that great! I then decided to go for a little walk to stretch the legs before coming back to the hotel and falling asleep at about 5pm. I did wake up later at about 9.30pm to check my emails to confirm my plans for meeting up with Tomoyo the following day. Then it was back to bed.
At 11.15am the next morning I woke and hurriedly got dressed so I could make it to the train in time. I planned to meet Tomoyo in Tokyo at 1pm and it was a 1 and a half hour train ride to get there. I was very impressed with myself that I managed to navigate the trains, evening changing trains at Nippori, and arrive in time (right on 1pm). Tomoyo was there waiting for me. She hasn't changed much since I last saw her in 2000. We went and had lunch then she took me to hit the shops. I did my shopping for some more pressies and then we did a little looking in shops before it was time for me to leave. It was really good to be able to spend 4hrs with Tomoyo. The train ride back took over 2hrs as the main train didn't run express (like it did on the way to Tokyo) so stopped at all the little stations along the way. I finally made it back by about 7pm and went and had dinner then went to bed at about 9pm. Unfortunately my jet-lag meant I woke up at about 2.30am and couldn't sleep till about 7am. So at 5.30am I got bored and got up and had a nice relaxing bath. Then at 8.30 I went and had breakfast then went back for a nap.
On the Monday it rained. Typical of my whole trip really! Apart from the rain it was really humid and overcast everyday I was in Japan which is some of the worst weather you can have. I hate humidity. Anyway I'd arranged to meet up with Shoko and her daughter Migumi, who mum and dad stayed with when on exchange with the school to Japan. I checked out of the hotel at 11am then had to chill out in the foyer for an hour before the arrived. They took me to see the Narita temple, which I'd seen when I'd come to visit Japan with the school in 2003. They also took me to have Japanese noodles for lunch which was fun. We arrived back at the hotel at 2.45pm which was just in time for me to catch the 3pm shuttle to the airport. The next wasn't till 7pm and my flight was due to leave at 8.20pm.
When I arrived at the airport i did a quick change into warmer clothes for my arrival back to Aus and then waited to check in. However after 10mins waiting the board with flights and times and stuff was updated and I found out that my flight to Sydney had been delayed by and hour. This would have been fine except for the fact that I was booked on a 9am flight from Sydney to Melbourne and as it was I had 2hrs to go through customs, collected my bag, check back in and transfer from terminal 1 to 3 and with the delay, it was leaving only an hour to do all this. So I went to the Qantas desk and asked if I could arrange a later flight but the woman assured me I'd make it. So I boarded the plane and headed for Sydney. We landed on the ground at 8am and by the time I'd disembarked it was 8.10am. I then raced to get through customs, which in the end took me only about 20mins. I made it to the transfers desk by 8.35am where i told the woman which flight I was transferring to and she kindly told me there was no way I'd make it as the transfer bus was still 10mins away and then it took about 5mins to transfer between the terminals. Thankfully they had already automatically transferred my to the 10am flight so there had been no need for me to rush at all!!!
I finally boarded the plane to Melbourne and was on my way. I can say that I was lucky enough to be on the same plane as Kate Ceberano and her daughter. They were in business but I caught a glimpse of them and then saw them when I was getting off the plane. Mum met me at the airport which was nice and took me to the apartment where I showered and we did a few bits and pieces (I moved some stuff into college) before we headed home so I could pack some clothes and more stuff to move back into college and also to see the family, and dad's new toy, the flat screen TV. It was nice to see everyone and I caught up with some family friends at home as well. And I can tell you the new TV is great to watch footy on!!!
So now I'm back and back into uni already :-( But my holiday was awesome and I can already see improvements in my Swedish :-) And I will definitely be heading back there whether on exchange for 6 months in 2009 or to live for a while once I've finished my degree. Either, watch out Sweden because as Arnold Swarzenegger says "I'll be back". That's for sure. So till then akta dig och vi ses. Oh and TACK!!!!!
Puss och Kram,
Alice
xoxoxoxoxo
So to thank Martina and family, I treated them to a meal at a really nice restaurant (completely organic and locally grown food that was in season - mum would have been proud) that we just happened to stumble across. It was nice to get the chance to have the whole family together on my last night. Then for dessert we headed home to have strawberries Åsa had marinated in Cointreau and lemon juice and ice-cream. It was awesome. God I miss their strawberries. After that Pontus, Martina and I settled down and watched the Bourne Identity. So at 1am I finally headed to bed, finished packing the last bits and pieces and crawled into my bed for the last time.
At 4.30am I was woken up by Martina and so my day began. I was finally beginning my journey home. I packed in the last things and loaded my luggage in the car. Poor Pontus really didn't cope to well with the early morning and looked like he was sleep walking. It was an effort to stay awake. At about 5.15am we piled into the car, Martina driving, and headed to the Gothenburg airport where I was to catch my connecting flight to Copenhagen. After checking in at the self check in desk and checked in my luggage it was time to head to the doors and say goodbye to Martina, Lars, Åsa and Pontus for the last time (for a little while anyway). It was a little sad to see them go but don't worry, I'll be back!!
My flight was on time leaving from Gothenburg which was nice (can't say I'm a huge fan of delays. Delays = waiting = BORED ALICE!!!). I arrived in Copenhagen at about 7.30am which left me almost 4hrs to transfer and wait. I did get a little shopping done and I bought a NEW CAMERA!!! Finally, after a delay of about an hour, I boarded the plan and made my way to London. Unfortunately due to the storms we were required to circle the airport for about 20mins then we had to land in the middle of the storms which resulted in quite a bumpy landing. So after transferring terminals and checking in again for my flight to Japan I settled down for what I was hoping would be a 2hr wait but as was the way with my flights, and as a result of the storm, my flight was delayed by 2hrs. So many of the flights were cancelled due to the flights and the news was full of stories of rescues from the flooding that was occurring throughout England. I still believe their having troubles. Ah you have to love the weather over there, rain, rain, rain and hey have some more rain!!!
After delays in London, I arrived in Japan about 2hrs later than expected. My flight from London however was upgraded to a seat in the world travelers club section, meaning I had more leg room (I was actually at the front of the row so had heaps of foot room) and was impressed to find that the British Airways flight had movies on demand (which it didn't have on the way over). So I amused myself with Meet the Robinsons and a little bit of the movie Zodiac (I finished watching it on the plane back to Sydney). I also managed to get about 12 hours sleep. Most of the time I spent doing good knows what, but soon enough the 12hr flight was over and I was in Japan. The only complaint I do have for the flight was that, because the plane landed in the middle of the storms at London, somehow (I can't quite work out how) but the floor in front of me was completely wet and so I have to cover it with an extra blanket given to me by the flight attendants. I didn't want my socks getting wet. There was also another wet patch conveniently in front of the toilet. I'm hoping it was also from the rain and not someone who just couldn't quite make it!!!
Once I arrived in Japan I had about a 30min wait for the shuttle bus to the hotel. It was so nice to get to the hotel and have a shower because after 3 flights, I wasn't smelling or feeling all that great! I then decided to go for a little walk to stretch the legs before coming back to the hotel and falling asleep at about 5pm. I did wake up later at about 9.30pm to check my emails to confirm my plans for meeting up with Tomoyo the following day. Then it was back to bed.
At 11.15am the next morning I woke and hurriedly got dressed so I could make it to the train in time. I planned to meet Tomoyo in Tokyo at 1pm and it was a 1 and a half hour train ride to get there. I was very impressed with myself that I managed to navigate the trains, evening changing trains at Nippori, and arrive in time (right on 1pm). Tomoyo was there waiting for me. She hasn't changed much since I last saw her in 2000. We went and had lunch then she took me to hit the shops. I did my shopping for some more pressies and then we did a little looking in shops before it was time for me to leave. It was really good to be able to spend 4hrs with Tomoyo. The train ride back took over 2hrs as the main train didn't run express (like it did on the way to Tokyo) so stopped at all the little stations along the way. I finally made it back by about 7pm and went and had dinner then went to bed at about 9pm. Unfortunately my jet-lag meant I woke up at about 2.30am and couldn't sleep till about 7am. So at 5.30am I got bored and got up and had a nice relaxing bath. Then at 8.30 I went and had breakfast then went back for a nap.
On the Monday it rained. Typical of my whole trip really! Apart from the rain it was really humid and overcast everyday I was in Japan which is some of the worst weather you can have. I hate humidity. Anyway I'd arranged to meet up with Shoko and her daughter Migumi, who mum and dad stayed with when on exchange with the school to Japan. I checked out of the hotel at 11am then had to chill out in the foyer for an hour before the arrived. They took me to see the Narita temple, which I'd seen when I'd come to visit Japan with the school in 2003. They also took me to have Japanese noodles for lunch which was fun. We arrived back at the hotel at 2.45pm which was just in time for me to catch the 3pm shuttle to the airport. The next wasn't till 7pm and my flight was due to leave at 8.20pm.
When I arrived at the airport i did a quick change into warmer clothes for my arrival back to Aus and then waited to check in. However after 10mins waiting the board with flights and times and stuff was updated and I found out that my flight to Sydney had been delayed by and hour. This would have been fine except for the fact that I was booked on a 9am flight from Sydney to Melbourne and as it was I had 2hrs to go through customs, collected my bag, check back in and transfer from terminal 1 to 3 and with the delay, it was leaving only an hour to do all this. So I went to the Qantas desk and asked if I could arrange a later flight but the woman assured me I'd make it. So I boarded the plane and headed for Sydney. We landed on the ground at 8am and by the time I'd disembarked it was 8.10am. I then raced to get through customs, which in the end took me only about 20mins. I made it to the transfers desk by 8.35am where i told the woman which flight I was transferring to and she kindly told me there was no way I'd make it as the transfer bus was still 10mins away and then it took about 5mins to transfer between the terminals. Thankfully they had already automatically transferred my to the 10am flight so there had been no need for me to rush at all!!!
I finally boarded the plane to Melbourne and was on my way. I can say that I was lucky enough to be on the same plane as Kate Ceberano and her daughter. They were in business but I caught a glimpse of them and then saw them when I was getting off the plane. Mum met me at the airport which was nice and took me to the apartment where I showered and we did a few bits and pieces (I moved some stuff into college) before we headed home so I could pack some clothes and more stuff to move back into college and also to see the family, and dad's new toy, the flat screen TV. It was nice to see everyone and I caught up with some family friends at home as well. And I can tell you the new TV is great to watch footy on!!!
So now I'm back and back into uni already :-( But my holiday was awesome and I can already see improvements in my Swedish :-) And I will definitely be heading back there whether on exchange for 6 months in 2009 or to live for a while once I've finished my degree. Either, watch out Sweden because as Arnold Swarzenegger says "I'll be back". That's for sure. So till then akta dig och vi ses. Oh and TACK!!!!!
Puss och Kram,
Alice
xoxoxoxoxo
Thursday, July 19, 2007
My Last Days As A Swede!!!!
I am now into my final countdown, in hours, (only 12hrs to go until I fly out of Sweden!!!) until I leave Sweden - for now!!! My last couple of days here have been quite relaxing really. I've finished all my shopping, I've packed (and managed to still be 3 kilos under the weight limit) and I've even had a chance to see the new Harry Potter movie!!!
Tuesday arvo Martina and I headed into town so I could hit the shops and finish off my lats minute shopping. And I have to say, I did it all in 30mins (I think that's a record! It impressed Martina). The city was really busy thought with lots of teenagers roaming the streets in sports uniforms as the Gothia Cup is currently being held in Gothenburg at the minute. For those of you who don't know what the Gothia Cup is, it is the worldest biggest soccer competition for teenagers. There are teams from countries all over the world that compete (I can't say Australia's one of them though). Martina even took me past the place where they hold most of the games and it was crowded. Anyway once my shopping was done we wandered around the town, looking at shops, before it was time to head to the cinemas to meet Lars, Åsa and Pontus who were joining us to watch Harry Potter! And I must say, loved it!!!
Then Wednesday Pontus took me to Liseberg, which is very similar to Dreamworld in Aus. We piled into the car (Martina was driving) and headed off at about 11am however when we got to the park Pontus realised he'd left his wallet with his entry card at home. So back we went. Second time round Åsa'd realised she'd left her wallet at home so after dropping Pontus and I off, back home they went again. Third time lucky!!! Pontus took me round the park, taking me on all the good rides which were a lot of fun. They're all very similar to the rides at Dreamworld. Anyway once we'd done everything, which was about 4.30pm, we left Liseberg and headed home. That night we went round to Anna and Anders' (friends of the family) place for dinner. We had Elk (which was debated as to whether it was in fact Elk or whether it was Moose). Anyway it was a very nice meal. I must admit that Elk or Moose or whatever it was tasted very similar to beef. After dinner Martina and I watched Mr and Mrs Smith on their big screen (ahhh it reminds me of home!!!). Despite mixed reports I quite enjoyed it. It was a good laugh. Once we got home, I settled down to watch some of the footy dvd's from the past couple of weeks that dad sent over to us. Oh I miss footy!!
Today I haven't done to much. We made one last trip to the summer house (no one was there so we didn't stay long) then as I have not yet seen an Elk during my stay, Martina and Åsa took me to Slottsskogen, which is a park where they have Elks. They are quite funny looking creatures. They have really big noses and ears. I forgot to bring the camera along so alas, I have no pictures of them but if you really want to see one just visit http://www.laganland.se/ElkPark_1378.html and you can see on for yourself!
Tonight I am taking the family out for one last meal together before I leave on a plane at 6.45am tomorrow morning (boy do I hate early mornings!!!). It's also a chance for me to have an early celebration with Martina for her 18th birthday, which is on the 9th of August (not too far away now!!).
And that is all from me and my trip here to Sweden. Please keeping checking my blog as I still have to add another blog with my trips to Japan. Fun times they will be (and no doubt busy). I am hopefully going to catch up with a couple friends of mine which will be nice. I do hope you have enjoyed reading about Sweden and have enjoyed the photos (some of them really capture the people here in Sweden I think ;-)´ ). It really is a beautiful country and I highly recommend it as somewhere you should visit if you're ever in this neck of the woods or before you die!!
I'd also like to thank Lars, Åsa, Martina and Pontus for putting up with me for the past 4 weeks and for showing me all they could of Sweden in the time I was here. I have many great photos (thanks Lars!!!) and memories of this trip, so thanks.
So that's all from me at the minute until I reach Japan. And I'll be seeing you all very soon. Hope you are all well.
Puss och Kram,
Alice
xoxoxoxoxo
Tuesday arvo Martina and I headed into town so I could hit the shops and finish off my lats minute shopping. And I have to say, I did it all in 30mins (I think that's a record! It impressed Martina). The city was really busy thought with lots of teenagers roaming the streets in sports uniforms as the Gothia Cup is currently being held in Gothenburg at the minute. For those of you who don't know what the Gothia Cup is, it is the worldest biggest soccer competition for teenagers. There are teams from countries all over the world that compete (I can't say Australia's one of them though). Martina even took me past the place where they hold most of the games and it was crowded. Anyway once my shopping was done we wandered around the town, looking at shops, before it was time to head to the cinemas to meet Lars, Åsa and Pontus who were joining us to watch Harry Potter! And I must say, loved it!!!
Then Wednesday Pontus took me to Liseberg, which is very similar to Dreamworld in Aus. We piled into the car (Martina was driving) and headed off at about 11am however when we got to the park Pontus realised he'd left his wallet with his entry card at home. So back we went. Second time round Åsa'd realised she'd left her wallet at home so after dropping Pontus and I off, back home they went again. Third time lucky!!! Pontus took me round the park, taking me on all the good rides which were a lot of fun. They're all very similar to the rides at Dreamworld. Anyway once we'd done everything, which was about 4.30pm, we left Liseberg and headed home. That night we went round to Anna and Anders' (friends of the family) place for dinner. We had Elk (which was debated as to whether it was in fact Elk or whether it was Moose). Anyway it was a very nice meal. I must admit that Elk or Moose or whatever it was tasted very similar to beef. After dinner Martina and I watched Mr and Mrs Smith on their big screen (ahhh it reminds me of home!!!). Despite mixed reports I quite enjoyed it. It was a good laugh. Once we got home, I settled down to watch some of the footy dvd's from the past couple of weeks that dad sent over to us. Oh I miss footy!!
Today I haven't done to much. We made one last trip to the summer house (no one was there so we didn't stay long) then as I have not yet seen an Elk during my stay, Martina and Åsa took me to Slottsskogen, which is a park where they have Elks. They are quite funny looking creatures. They have really big noses and ears. I forgot to bring the camera along so alas, I have no pictures of them but if you really want to see one just visit http://www.laganland.se/ElkPark_1378.html and you can see on for yourself!
Tonight I am taking the family out for one last meal together before I leave on a plane at 6.45am tomorrow morning (boy do I hate early mornings!!!). It's also a chance for me to have an early celebration with Martina for her 18th birthday, which is on the 9th of August (not too far away now!!).
And that is all from me and my trip here to Sweden. Please keeping checking my blog as I still have to add another blog with my trips to Japan. Fun times they will be (and no doubt busy). I am hopefully going to catch up with a couple friends of mine which will be nice. I do hope you have enjoyed reading about Sweden and have enjoyed the photos (some of them really capture the people here in Sweden I think ;-)´ ). It really is a beautiful country and I highly recommend it as somewhere you should visit if you're ever in this neck of the woods or before you die!!
I'd also like to thank Lars, Åsa, Martina and Pontus for putting up with me for the past 4 weeks and for showing me all they could of Sweden in the time I was here. I have many great photos (thanks Lars!!!) and memories of this trip, so thanks.
So that's all from me at the minute until I reach Japan. And I'll be seeing you all very soon. Hope you are all well.
Puss och Kram,
Alice
xoxoxoxoxo
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
US!!!!
Ok so here are the last of the photos from Norway. They're of all of us (Åsa, Lars, Pontus, Martina, Christian, Susan and Christian Magnus) at different times and of course, we're all looking our best. Hope you enjoy.
Puss och Kram,
Alice
xo
Puss och Kram,
Alice
xo
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