Happy New Year from Stockholm
We are on our way back towards Malaysia, but first we did a stop in Stockholm to celebrate the new year. We are enjoying a relaxing New Year's Eve at Elite Hotel Marina Towers, south of the city centre.
The day started with a walk along the waterfront followed by a wonderful hotel breakfast. After that we went to the SPA where I had a facial treatment. My skin feels so soft now. :-) We also spent some time in the gym before relaxing in the jacuzzi and sauna.
Now we are getting ready for a five course new year dinner, which will be served at the hotel this evening.
Tomorrow after lunch we are boarding a plane again. This time the destination is Dubai, where we will stay a couple of days before returning to Malaysia. :-)
Happy New Year from Stockholm!
Elite Hotel Marina Towers in Stockholm.
View towards the city centre.
Arctic Moose Farm
Yesterday we did a little excursion to the Arctic Moose Farm. The moose farm is located 20 km north of Överkalix. At the farm four mooses live. They are called Oskar, Sven-Gunnar, Ida and Elin.
At the farm we got a guided tour by Ola Rokka, one of the owners, who told us a lot about the king of the forest. He even told us about his dream, to ride on the moose Oskar. :-) We also got the opportunity to feed the mooses with apples and carrots. They don't have teeth in the upper jaw so it was no danger of getting bitten by a hungry moose. :-)
Hello little moose.
One carrot for the moose Oskar.
This beautiful lady is posing for a portrait photo.
Someone wants to give the lady a kiss, but she seems to prefer the delicious apple.
Here is one more carrot for you Oskar!
The males are fighting.
Oskar with his ladies.
Souvenir from the moose farm.
Christmas in the North
This year I'm celebrating Christmas where I was born, in the north of Sweden. After a 29 hour long journey from Borneo to Sweden, me and my friend landed in Luleå. We were on the same flight from Stockholm as my brother. My parents picked us up from the airport and together with my uncle the five of us went to Stadshotellet in Luleå where we had a delicious Christmas dinner. A perfect start of our winter holiday!
For my Malaysian friend it has been a lot of new impressions. This is the first time he experiences snow and winter, as well as a cold climate. When we arrived to my parents house after the Christmas dinner it was late in the evening, but the snow was perfect for making snowmen so we went out and built two new friends.
The days up here has been nice and relaxing. We have spent a lot of time outdoor enjoying the beautiful winter landscape. Some days ago my friend tried skiing for the first time and now he likes it so much that he wants to practice every single day. :-)
It looks like someone has got two new friends. ;-)
Walking around in the little village where my parents live.
Skiing
We have also visited my grandparents in Pajala. At my grandmother's place we had the second Christmas dinner for the year. As always she had prepared a lot of food.
My friend with the big owl in Pajala.
We have also baked a Christmas cake with pigs on. :-) I saw a photo on the internet and decided that I wanted to make my own version.
The pigs are enjoying a bath in the muddy bath tub.
My Christmas fridge magnet that I bought from Legoland Malaysia.
We are going to stay up here in the north for five more days, so we will have plenty of time to relax and enjoy the winter and the snow.
Christmas Holidays
The long journey to Sweden has just started. So in just 28 hours we will arrive in Luleå. :-) Hopefully everything will go smooth, without major delays. I'm looking forward to meet my family!
Me and the Great Cat of Kuching.
Colorful Christmas tree.
Fairy Cave
Here are som photos from Fairy Cave that I was visiting with my friend two weeks ago.
The Gingerbread Man
This cute guy was my dessert today. The taste was okey, but I have to admit that the Scandinavian gingerbreads taste a lot better. I'm looking forward to eat some during my coming Christmas holiday in Sweden.
On Friday I was invited to a wedding reception. My friend's sister got married. They belong to the Bidayuh tribe, but the wedding was quite modern, so I didn't observe any traditional details. It was an interesting experience anyway! I brought my camera and helped them to document the evening, so now I have some nice wedding photos to show you in the coming days.
This weekend we also had a charity event organized by the company. We had collected money that we used to buy wheel chairs, chicken pies, drinks, towels, water bottles and diapers for the residents at an old people's home. On Saturday we were visiting the home and sang Christmas songs for the residents and handed out the gifts. That was nice, they were all so happy and thankful!
Sunday was a relaxing day. We went out to look for a coffee machine and I found a nice black baby that I bought. So now we can enjoy fresh coffee at home or maybe a fresh latte for me. ;-)
We also visited Sarawak Museum were they have a dinosaur exhibition at the moment. The exhibition is presented by Petronas (Malaysia's large oil company) and since they have a lot of money they are able to make a nice exhibition, which they definitely have done. :-) The dinosaurs are models that are moving like robots.
A Little Piece of Norway
Today I have had an almost perfect Monday. I went to the gym after work for some running on the treadmill, then I came back home and had a shower. I reheated taco leftovers from yesterday for dinner.
It's really hard to find ingredients for making tacos here, so my parents bought them for me in Sweden and brought them here when they were visiting me, which means that tacos is a gourmet meal I seldom get the opportunity to eat! :-)
For dessert I had something even better! Norwegian chocolate! :-) My wonderful colleague Marte is here this week and she brought it as a little gift for me.
Advent Calendar
The countdown has started! The 19th of December we will start the journey to the Winter Wonder Land. Hopefully there will be a lot of snow in Sweden this Christmas.
