DD is a 20-year old granny cat that lives in Towner Road area. I was contacted by Cindy to help house-visit DD. This was because Cindy has just started work, and she was unable to do her regular feeding of DD. At 2pm to 3pm range, DD would rouse from her sleep and then look for food. But because DD was already very old (in cat years), she had difficulty lumbering over to the food area. In fact, when I first met DD, she was laying still and did not want to move at all. 

Over the past week, I have been making long visits to her. I would check if she was awake. I would then prepare her meals, and then using a small teaspoon, help and assist her with her eating. Initially, she did not eat much, but over the course of the few days, I could see that her strength came back, and she was definitely more energetic than when I first met her. 

Here's wishing granny DD all the best of health, and a long life! 

My Random Encounter with the Otters
I do occasionally follow up with news about the Singaporean otters, mainly via the Otter Watch Facebook Group. What seemed to be one family of otters have now grown into different families, each having their own territories and territorial disputes. Nevertheless, the otters in Singapore have grown into a national animal of sorts - and they do look adorable, which makes liking them even easier. 

Stopping by the Kallang River, and look what I found?!
So last week, during one of the evenings, while driving home from gym (at Millenia Walk), I decided to make a detour to take some 360 photos (my current hobby). To my surprised I saw a family of otters lurking around the water's edge. I got really curious and decided to move forward to have a closer look. 

The otters were all eating fish
My first observation was that the family of otters looked very well-fed. Almost every otter has his own piece of fish, and without too many natural predators, they were able to enjoy their meals without a worry. I decided to move even closer. Interestingly, they were not bothered by me at all - they were probably already well-adjusted to living alongside humans. 

I decided to zoom into one of the otters who was eating fish, and lucky for me, he did a few good poses. This shot was the otter almost finishing his fishy snack, before his sibling came over for the scraps. 

Tigger plays Fetch with the Sock 

The point about Tigger is that he's almost always initially wary when I return from a long trip. He's curious, and he would sniff, as if the only way to recognise me was my scent. He would scamper around uneasily. But this would quickly pass, and soon he would be back to his usual self.

This time around, it was obvious that Tigger missed me. It could possibly be a minifestation of what I wanted to see from Tigger. But there were telltale signs that he missed me. He stayed unusually close to me, and followed me around the house. He even entertained me with a game of fetch, which was something that he does not do often. (He has done this before as a kitten, but as with all cats, it really depends on his mood). 
​
Now, for as long as I could remember, Tigger has been sleeping on his little IKEA cushion right next to my pillow, on my bed. On that night I returned, he returned back to the same spot to sleep. It was kinda strange, cos we installed a webcam in the house, so I was sure that he slept elsewhere in the house, primarily at the bay window area of the spare room. What this meant was that, he only goes back to his usual sleeping spot when I was around. When I was not around, he chose to sleep elsewhere.

So on that night I returned, he returned to his usual spot to sleep. Now, instead of sleeping on his cushion, he leaned so close to me that when I turned off the lights, I felt his breathing on my face. Tigger was sleeping so closely to me that he's invading into my personal space. But I guess that's love? So that night, I slept, with Tigger really close to me. 

​Kirkenes, bordering Russia
Kirkenes is the capital of the municipality of Sør-Varanger. It is also the end stop for the Hurtigruten cruise, after which the cruise ship will sail back down to Bergen. Kirkenes has the privilege of being ice-free as a port-of-call even during winter, with all year access to the Barents sea. 

Exploring Kirkenes
My first impression of this small city was its close association with Russia. Kirkenes was heavily bombed by the Germans during World War 2, suffering almost a total destruction as the Germans retreated from the area. 

Crossing into Russia?
Kirkenes is only 17km away from the Norway-Russian border. There were tours that would bring curious visitors to the border, and then visit a small souvenir shop to buy some mementoes. However, at 700 NOK, it was very pricey hence I decided to save some money. 

​Eating cheap for dinner 
Since I have been eating really well onboard the Hurtigruten, it was time to eat simple and affordably. In the afternoon, we went to the REMA1000 supermarket to get some wraps, potato salad and sausages for dinner. An a bottle of fine organic Malbec! 

To the Edge of the World
To a certain extent, the trip to the North Cape is the culmination of all the highlights of the trip. More symbolic than anything else, this would have brought me from the southern parts of Oslo and Bergen to the northern edges of North Cape and Kirkenes. The North Cape is the northernmost point on the European mainland. At 71 degrees North, it is on the same latitude of Siberia and also the top of Alaska.

The Hurtigruten Richard With docked at Honningsvåg, a small functional port. A flock of seagulls were basking at the quiet pier area. We packed the buses and then it was a 40km journey towards North Cape, traversing the area of Mageroya.

Free-roaming Reindeers
Along the way, we passed the "northernmost beach of the world", a small sandy bay that look utterly unimpressive. I caught a reindeer grazing on the tundra plains. While the tourists stood up on the bus to have a good photo shot of the reindeer, the tour guide remarked, "don't worry, you should be seeing more reindeers along the way." 

True enough, there were more reindeers to be seen, grazing on the green grassy tundra. Apparently, all the reindeer in Norway are domesticated animals owned by the Sami farmers, who were indigenous to this region. 

Every family of reindeer farmers has summer and winter pastures, which they switch between to ensure that their reindeer have enough food. Early in the spring, before the reindeer calves are born, the herd starts to head for the coast. The animals spend the whole summer here under the midnight sun, and when autumn rolls around they begin the long trek back to their winter pasture farther inland. I understood from the guide that in a week or two, the Sami farmers would be guiding the herd back to the mainland. It would either be a 2km swim by the reindeer or through the specially constructed tunnel. 

At the Northern Most Already
A while later, we arrived at the North Cape. It was the usual photo-taking at the symbolic North Cape Globe. What was more memorable for me was the walk along the cliff at the edge of the world. It was yet another sunny day, and with the cool breeze, it was a great day for walking.

​I walked as far as time allowed, and standing on the edge of the world, I took all the sights in. I gathered some of the larger rocks and stacked them together. Now, I have created the northern-most rock deck! For world peace, perhaps. The overnight winds would destroy it in no time, in any case. 

The Northern City of the Northern Lights 
The cruise ship brought us all the way north to Tromso, one of the northern-most cities of Norway. We had a few hours to spare at Tromso, so we disembarked and decided to roam around a bit in Tromso. 

Located 400km north of the Arctic Circle at 69 degrees North, the small city of Tromso is also known as Norway's gateway to the Arctic. It's surrounded by chilly fjords and craggy peaks that remain snowcapped for much of the year. Even in this late summer, I could see some remnants of snow that's unlikely to melt away, since the temperatures would be dropping once again when summer ends.

To the Arctic Cathedral and the Cable Car
We walked through the town, and then crossed the iconic Tromso Bridge over to have a look at the Arctic Cathedral. Nearby, within walking distance, there was also the cable car that brought visitors up to the Fjellheisen, 421 metres above sea level for a small fee of 210 NOK. After the funicular in Bergen, I did not see a need to go up to another peak again, so M went ahead to the peak, while I waited at the foot of the cable car station and I read my Kindle book and relaxed a bit instead. 

The rain clouds started to gather, and as it started to drizzle, we made a beeline back to the cruise ship, and by evening time we were once again on our way. 

Arriving into Trondheim
It was a rainy day today. I supposed the rains have finally caught up with us as we arrived in Trondheim. The cruise ship would be stopping by at this City for 3 hours, and we would be skipping the organised tours to walk around the city on our own. 

Walking from the Hurtigruten to the Wharf Area
Trondheim is the third largest municipality in Norway. The key highlights, if you have got a few hours to spare, would be the colourful houses along the wharf area and also the Gothic Cathedral. Fortunately, everything was within walking distance and the cathedral was only 1.7km away from the Hurtigruten terminal, which was about 20 minutes of leisurely walking.

We joined the group of visitors who disembarked and quickly outpaced them, since their median age was probably about 60. We soon arrived at the canal area. What was nice about Trondheim was that it wasn't swarmed with tourists. We managed to find a floating platform where we can take nice photographs without having to jostle for space with other similar enthusiasts. 

Gamle Bybro​​
​There was an old bridge called Gamle Bybro that connected both banks, and if one went to the middle one could possibly take wide angle shots of the entire area. The river was flowing rapidly but without turbulence. This helped reflect the colorful houses, making the scene even prettier. 

Nidarosdomen Gothic Cathedral
From the bridge, it was just a short stroll over to the cathedral, Nidarosdomen. This Gothic-style cathedral was the most impressive cathedral that I've seen from the trip. It's towering high, and had the usual gargoyles and buttress supports. Due to the lack of time we decided to look okay the exterior and not pay the extreme fee. The Archbishop's Palace was just beside the cathedral so we took a quick look too.

​Then we walked down Munkegata towards Stiftsgarden, the small Royal palace of Trondheim. As the weather was turning bad we decided to return back to the ship.... Just in time before it started to rain. The rest of the day was spent on the cruise where I did some work. 

Waking up to a sunny morning in the Hurtigruten
The morning started in the cruise ship. I was naturally roused from my slumber by the alarm clock at 7am. Somehow I recalled the ship being rather turbulent early in the morning, and I actually wanted to rest a little bit more. But I decided to get up anyway, and then after washing up we went for breakfast. M wasn't feeling too good because he had a bad headache. It was so bad that he didn't eat much for his breakfast, which was unusual. Fortunately he wasn't in a bad mood.

Strategising while Travelling 
Weather-wise, it was another sunny day. I'm certainly not complaining, knowing that the good sunny days would not last long. Make hay while the sun shines. Post-brekkie, I found a cosy corner at the deck to do some work, while M nursed his headache in the room. I've been rather busy planning the strategies for the following two months, and while I am overseas there was still much to do. It's always more difficult when there's a need to strategize, and in formulating new strategies, there are no yardsticks and benchmarks. It's like swimming in the open waters. The wind, the current, predatory sea creatures.... They all could disrupt the best possible plan. Hence there's a need to think through the strategy, and then go over it yet again. The dynamic nature of market forces are such that if one is unable to catch the wind and ride the wave, one sinks. 

From Geiranger to Trollstigen to Molde
Soon we got ready for our 7 hour long day trip. The ship arrived near the bay of Geiranger, and we went up the zig zaggy road to stop by at a vantage point. The bus took us across valleys carved away by ancient glaciers. We reached a small canyon area and then entered a nice fjord valley flanked by sheer slopes with thick vegetation on both sides. It was worth the trip. We then crossed a channel via a ferry and then reached the main highlight. This was the Trollstigen, which was a high point overlooking several hairpin turns. There was also a glacier-fed waterfall that contributed to the magnificent scenery. As usual, photographs do not do this justice. 

I covered more details about this scenic route at the travel section of my blog. Click on the Read More button to get to that page directly. 

27 Aug 2019
Getting ready to board the Hurtigruten - Richard With
With most of Bergen sightseeing cleared, we got ready to check out of Bergen Bors. It was another sunny day at Bergen, and despite lugging along all our baggage with us, we stopped for a while at the foot of St Mary's Cathedral for M to head up to take a few shots. As usual, the cathedral was not open so there was no entry into the building. Fortunately, the cruise terminal was not too far away. Bergen is generally a compact city (at least where the important landmarks are).

We arrived at the terminal with a couple of hours to spare and decided to hang out at the cafeteria. Bought a ham and cheese sandwich and ate it with the leftover pate and potato salad. The apple juice was too sweet so we threw the carton away (wasted!) I then took the time to do some October planning while waiting for 4pm to board the cruise ship

Soon it was time to board the ship. 

Richard With​
The Hurtigruten ship Richard With was a fine modern ship, having undergone a retrofitting just a year ago, in 2018. It wouldn't be fair to compare it to Genting Dream (which was way bigger) but maybe compare it to St Peter Line Anastasia, which was part of the Baltic Cruise that I took in 2014. Richard With was spacious and had lots of seating areas with sockets to charge one's devices -- something definitely relevant in this modern day. 

I did some Wella work while waiting for dinner time. While we had an allocated table, the first evening's dinner was a buffet. And oh my they did have a good spread.... I guess I wouldn't need to use the instant noodles which we brought with us for this segment of the trip. 

Sunny weather in Bergen, Norway​
Today is quite a chillax day as we have seemingly covered most of Bergen already. The weather was fantastically sunny - it was the hottest day of our visit, such that I decided to get out with just a pair of berms and a tee.

Today was supposed to be museum day, so we went to the lake with the fountain, and then bought passes for Kode. Kode art museums collection is one of the largest museums for art, craft, design and music. It is divided into Kode 1, 2, 3 and 4. Kode 1, 2, 3 and 4 offers temporary exhibitions of art and design as well as extensive presentation of works by Edvard Munch, JC Dahl, Nikolai Astrup and many others. 

Forces - Drydal Kvaso Tingleff​ at KODE, Bergen
The current featured exhibition is themed: Forces - Drydal Kvaso Tingleff. One of the artists is a sculptor that does clay pipes, which looked really distinct, and nicer when painted a bright colour (otherwise it would be dull and dreary). We visited Kode 1 and 2, and since we were not feeling really hungry, I bought a pack of tacos and a bottle of salsa sauce (note: Medium spicy) as well as a can of watermelon cider and we sat at the bench overlooking the fountain and we had our lunch break there. 

Kode 3 and 4 were only hosting a small area for the exhibitions, and soon the museum tour ended. We went back to the hotel, and I continued with my writings.

There's actually a lot of do and write about; a lot of things to plan. There's always so much to do if we know what we want to do. And there's usually not enough time for all these. Having some time on the cruise boat meant that I could allocate (and dedicate) some time to what I enjoy and used to do, write and journal.