by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 27, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
We did so much today! But you kind of have to because there’s so much to cover, it’s impossible to do everything. Our morning was spent on a traditional Japanese cooking course where we cooked, among other things, wagyu meat (and ate it). A train ride away we found... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 26, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
Akihabara was our first stop. This area is famous for lots of character shops, electronics and arcades. We tried a couple of retro games, like dance dance revolution. Asakusa was next up, with the lots of little stores, and we visited the samurai and ninja museum and... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 25, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
Seizo, our companion for the day, took us crisscrossing the city today. First to Meiji shrine, then to the shopping area, Asakusa, and its Buddhist temple, Sensoji. He taught us the rituals to clean hands and mouth, and offer a 5 yen coin for luck and bow. And... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 24, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
The downside of arriving early in the morning is that hotel checkin is in the afternoon, so our tired faces and sweaty bodies spent the first hours exploring the nearby neighborhoods which included the imperial palace east gardens and Tokyo station. The gardens are... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 23, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
Early, early in the morning we took off to Copenhagen with the first flight from Sola, and continued on to Tokyo on a 13 hour flight. A meal, a few movies, a moisturizing mask (both of us), and forty winks later, it was already Saturday and we were welcomed to Japan... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 22, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
Very last day to get ready for Japan. Everything is packed and the cats have received a last kiss. Except the black flash, who still sits patiently and hisses under the stairs. 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 21, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
Trying to switch to Tokyo time has been a complete failure, waking up closer to noon the last few days… We went into town after a rummage through our house to find things for our travels. Terry’s son and girlfriend (his son’s, Terry doesn’t have an extra girlfriend as... by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 20, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
Another night at the theater, this time at Rogaland theater at the play “Smokefall” or “Tåkefall”. I understood that there was some symbolism at play but I have to admit that it did go over my head a bit. However, the scene with two twin brothers fighting inside the... by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 19, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
Riksteatret is in town (or at least in Sandnes) with “Bonnie and Clyde”. I swooped a ticket, especially curious about seeing the Farmen winner in the flesh doing what he does best. The show was good, more music focused than story focused. My favorite was the burlesque... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 18, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
Spending (too much?) time with my parents while in Norway has led to watching many more tv programs, and among them are Farmen. Even though my parents left for the cabin today, I still felt compelled to watch the finale of Farmen today. It was fun to see that the... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 17, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
Another day of literature and lectures starting with a talk on the Norwegian author Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. It was held by one of the professors I had during my Nordic literature study at the University of Bergen last year, which was what drew my attention. He was also... by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 16, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
http://adriatico-stavanger.com (I doubt this blog has a large enough audience for anyone to care about unmarked advertising – and if anyone does, it’s now on the record that I’ve received a free apple juice at Adriatico but not as compensation for mentioning the... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 15, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
This week, the library is celebrating that it is 175 years since the famous Stavanger author, Alexander Kielland, was born. The week is filled with lectures and activities with tighter or looser ties to Kielland. I attended a talk by Monica Isakstuen. I read one of... by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 14, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
We got up early to go to the cinema. Not for a movie but to watch the reporter Fredrik Græsvik, who previously worked for TV2, talk about the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Maybe not what you’d have in mind for a romantic Valentine’s date, but a great talk... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 13, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
I had two webinars to watch – one Terry joined, the funny one with Steinar and Cathrin Sagen, but the quiz was less popular. I ended up forming my own quiz team “Solo” and still managed a defensible score in the end. Terry helped remotely with a couple of... by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 12, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
I was lucky enough to score some tickets for the sold out performance “Tollak til Ingeborg” on Finn, and we all went to watch this dark story by Tore Renberg. 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 11, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
Trivandrum to Doha – 4 hours, and Doha to Oslo – 7 hours. Middle seat. ‘Nuff said. I thought the unwritten rule was that the middle seat gets both armrests, but on the last flight I didn’t get an arm rest or leg space. The poor sleepy fellow next to me had... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 10, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
One last day of meditation, yoga, Ayurveda food and drinks, swimming and lounging, massage treatments and walking about with a muddy face mask and a tea towel on my head wearing a green robe while eating dinner. And all week we’ve been seeing eagles circling above,... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 9, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
After meditation and yoga, most of the women spent their last day here up in the local shopping street. It’s a mix of both touristy and local shops. I was lucky enough to bump into our group leader on the way there and she guided us to the most amazing shop filled... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 8, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
The hotel offered a free taxi to Kovalam, the closest town. The catch was of course that we had to stop by the Fabindia shop. I went in with the intention of not buying anything, but that was easier said than done. I found a bright pink dress and ear rings and bought... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 7, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
The backwaters of Kerala brackish water canals that cover large parts of the state, home of many plants, birds and people. We took a boat tour through the canals today, and spotted a bright blue Kingfisher bird, several types of eagles, and a camel (a very... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 6, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
Another day of treating our bodies and minds to some rejuvenation treatments. Most of us are going through “purgation” tonight, a castor oil treatment, so this’ll get interesting. Yikes. Wish me luck. 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 5, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
As a gift from the resort, our group received a spices, tea and a sari that we wore during this evening’s entertainment: a cultural dance show and traditional Kerala dinner served under the open sky. 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 4, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
We have a fairly set routine at the hospital resort and I thought I’d write about what a typical day looks like. What time each person does yoga or has treatment is individual but this is my typical day: 6:50 wake up 7:15 group meditation at the yoga shala 8:00 yoga:... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 3, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
Other than our resort, there are two nearby resorts in the same family that we went to check out today. To my delight, the closest houses 7 domestic cats, and I was let in by their carer to play and pet them. I suspect this will be a daily activity. From our resort,... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 2, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
We were allowed a few hours of sleep before attending an introduction to Ayurveda by one of the doctors. I’m tempted to put “doctor” in quotation marks but these are actually licensed Ayurvedic medical practitioners by the government in India, and Ayurvedic treatment... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Feb 1, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
Early up and off to Gardermoen airport before the birds woke up with my friend. First a stop in Doha and then to Trivandrum in India. And I was lucky enough to get the middle seat (but my friend was kind enough to switch with me on the second flight). But no more... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Jan 31, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
During the day time I cleaned my friend’s apartment as a thank you for letting me stay and washed her and my woolies, especially to surprise her with a newly washed and clean sweater that my mom had knitted for her that had been in the laundry basket waiting for... by Katrine Sivertsen | Jan 30, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
Since both my siblings live in Oslo with their significant other, I took the opportunity to say hello and have some tea with them, and hand over some early birthday gifts. I am very happy to have my lovely family, and appreciate that we spend time together. 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Jan 29, 2024 | Blog, Katrine
Right next to Bogstadveien in Oslo is a building with a door with a staircase leading down to the only Bikram studio in Oslo. You can recognize it by the distinct smell of wet dog as you enter, similar to many hot yoga studios around the world. If you can get past the... 