Journal no. 3

it took less an hour to fly from Helsinki to Stockholm.
the view from the plane was great - a lot of lush greenery and gold yellow farm land.
we arrived at 8am and my friend was already there waiting for us. :D
Arlanda's arrival section was small and grey.

we waited around a single luggage belt, where we entertained ourselves by wondering who these hall-of-famers were.

my friend bought us to buy the Stockholm Card, for 5 days of unlimited travel and free entry to various museums and attractions.
it's very worthwhile to get this card as a tourist, although it's pricey - 1095 SEK - SGD 194! i spent countless hours planning where to go based on the sights covered by the card.

then we took a taxi to my friend's house. at the taxi area, she diligently asked them for their fixed fare and the 3rd person's quote was reasonable. i think it was 470 SEK, which is mind blowingly expensive - SGD 83.
she herself took several buses to reach Arlanda, which was near her workplace.
we could have taken a bus (105 SEK) or train (260 SEK) to Stockholm central and transferred to another bus, but that wouldn't be very convenient, so she recommended the taxi.

it took 30 min to get to her parents' place, which was an apartment on land between a river and sea.
i must say that the apartment was adorable and beautifully decorated. my friend and her parents have added wonderful touches to their home, with details like framed watercolors of scenery, cute wallpaper, color-coordinated place mats and sofa throws. it's like IKEA but 100 times more cosy.
but i have to respect their privacy and thus don't have many photos here.

 my friend took us for a nice stroll along the river to a mega mart to buy groceries for lunch.
new potatoes are very popular during Swedish summers because these are local baby roundish potatoes only available during that season. prices fluctuate greatly according to demand and supply.
my friend simply boiled them unpeeled in salt water until tender.
and we also got smoked salmon with dill, mustardy sauce and some salady veg.
mustardy sauce was mostly sweet and creamy, which was enjoyable with the deep yellow potato flesh or fatty salmon.

this is the view from the kitchen window of their glass veranda overlooking the river.
Swedes value the precious sunshine and thus have large sun-facing windows like this.
the thermometer on the coffee table read 40 deg C. and we saw someone swimming in the water.
my friend confirmed that people love swimming since they are surrounded by water and Swedes are taught swimming and life-saving skills while in school.

after lunch, we had to call the Airbnb person to pick up the keys for our accomodation.
there was a problem because we delayed calling to confirm the meeting place and when my friend called him, he decided to meet to the central station instead of Ragsved, the station where the place is, 15 minutes further south of Stockholm central.
i thought he would walk us to the place and show us around, but my friend said that he wasn't worried about us being lost since we had her, so we would meet at Central.
but in the end, it wasn't that great an idea.
he took some time to find us at the station, and we almost didn't find the apartment because of my badly-drawn directions.

i chose this Airbnb place because we had the whole apartment to ourselves, it was SGD 540 for 11 nights, and apparently 15 minutes from the city.
but, the apartment was pretty far from the train station (15 mins) and uphill, and in a meh suburb.
the train station opened to a squat and small shopping complex, park area, and then various apartment blocks. many migrants live out in suburbs like these so there were many Turkish mini-marts around.

another thing is that the doors within the apartment block aren't numbered, so the guy told us to find the place by going down 1 flight stairs, the first door on the left.
instead the main floor of the block has a list of occupant names. i think the doors are supposed to have their names listed on it, or something. i don't know their system.

the place was compact - large sunny living room, kitchen opposite that, little hallway and toilet/shower at the end of the hallway.

 this was the kitchen.
looking in from the main door.

looking from the sofa bed toward kitchen and hall.

the hallway had wardrobe space for bedding and clothes, but were full of the guy's stuff.
his wifi was given to him by a Russian friend or something, without any password needed.
my mom was freaked out by the sofa bed and opted to sleep on the floor. lol.