kiruna: wading in the deep freeze
i can't blog properly, not with bob singing in the background. if you dont know what i'm talking about, you should just click on this right now. (i'm sorry bob, you're too much of a celeb now!)
anyway, kiruna is indescribable. other than the fact that its extremely cold, -20degs and below, its extremely amazing because all you can see for miles and miles is just plain white powdery snow. every living and non-living thing this north of the planet is covered with snow.
your hair goes white from ice crystallizing on it if you stand outside for too long. kiruna city itself it kinda like any other city, just that its snowed under. and it has the world famous icehotel to boot. but between you and me? it isnt much to hoot about. its obviously novel and amazing, but i really wouldn't to pay 1170SEK (something like 270SGD) to freeze in the icerooms. even the reindeer hair that they let you sleep on kind of stinks. and the absolut icebar is well, just a bar made of ice. and they give you nifty little glasses made of? ice! u never guessed it.
then again, if you've got so much snow to lose, you might as well do something pretty with it, right?
we took a tour that brought us 10km north of the city to catch the northern lights, which was nothing less than magnificent. the damn tour practically isolated us in the middle of nowhere with NO ELECTRICITY. it was firewood firewood firewood all the way. but, it was definitely great going with a big group, comprising shuz, jo, sam, alf, bob and jo's friend janice. we dogsledded, sat in a snow mobile, ate reindeer penne twice, had a bbq inside a bbq hut (makes sense because u really dont want to bbq in the open), trudged in kneelength snow just to get to the log cabins and got treated to alot of singing. by bob, of course. and we hung out with very weird kiruna hillbillies. too much of snow really addles your brains, i'd say. and there was also this american dude who tried to charm us girls with his rendition of ah-niu's 'dui mian de nu hai' and some chinese rap. here, in kiruna!
i cant explain how beautiful the northern lights were, unless you see it for yourself and really, im not sure if you want to do what we did and head north. even the pictures, which are in alf's hands, because only his camera didnt fail, doesnt do it much justice. you really have to see it to experience the entire majesty of the lights. but it was indeed magical, and we were blessed to be able to watch it anyway.
of course, the other highlight of the trip, thanks to bob, was watching the unbeatables 2! imagine us going all the way to kiruna, and we succumb to sbc channel8. well done us. :) we watched it everwhere we could. in the hostel, on board the train... lapping up the retro music, the not-so-nifty-anymore card tricks, the likes of gambling king and queen, zoe tay and li nanxing. can i add that its how wasted they never got together in real life? sorry, i digress.
i didnt take much photos this time, mainly because i wanted to keep my hands in my pocket and because my camera sort of froze if it were out in the open for too long. enjoy anyway.
a night time picture of the icehotel
watching unbeatables in the hostel!
my queenly throne. hurhur.
the huskies, mei!!!
the expanse of sky and snow
too much snow makes alf a lonely person.
more snow.
sunrise on snow.
big pictures like these take excruciatingly long to post. here's the collage.
me standing at kiruna c station// the tracks covered in snow// pictures of a typical kiruna pasar malam// reindeer parts// heading to the icehotel// walking in a real winter wonderland// sam trying to sled// inside the icehotel// shuz, bob and me in the icebar// looking through the ice// one of the suites in the icehotel// trying to plaster my face to the ice// sam and me freezing our butts// check out the depth of the snow!// excited shuz// kiruna environs// sitting on the snowmobile (but you cant see that)// inside the cabin// a very blur picture of the reindeer (evidence of a frosting camera and condensation on the lens)// sunrise!// my shadow// small sam and smaller shuz
that is the end of my kiruna trip.
anyway, kiruna is indescribable. other than the fact that its extremely cold, -20degs and below, its extremely amazing because all you can see for miles and miles is just plain white powdery snow. every living and non-living thing this north of the planet is covered with snow.
your hair goes white from ice crystallizing on it if you stand outside for too long. kiruna city itself it kinda like any other city, just that its snowed under. and it has the world famous icehotel to boot. but between you and me? it isnt much to hoot about. its obviously novel and amazing, but i really wouldn't to pay 1170SEK (something like 270SGD) to freeze in the icerooms. even the reindeer hair that they let you sleep on kind of stinks. and the absolut icebar is well, just a bar made of ice. and they give you nifty little glasses made of? ice! u never guessed it.
then again, if you've got so much snow to lose, you might as well do something pretty with it, right?
we took a tour that brought us 10km north of the city to catch the northern lights, which was nothing less than magnificent. the damn tour practically isolated us in the middle of nowhere with NO ELECTRICITY. it was firewood firewood firewood all the way. but, it was definitely great going with a big group, comprising shuz, jo, sam, alf, bob and jo's friend janice. we dogsledded, sat in a snow mobile, ate reindeer penne twice, had a bbq inside a bbq hut (makes sense because u really dont want to bbq in the open), trudged in kneelength snow just to get to the log cabins and got treated to alot of singing. by bob, of course. and we hung out with very weird kiruna hillbillies. too much of snow really addles your brains, i'd say. and there was also this american dude who tried to charm us girls with his rendition of ah-niu's 'dui mian de nu hai' and some chinese rap. here, in kiruna!
i cant explain how beautiful the northern lights were, unless you see it for yourself and really, im not sure if you want to do what we did and head north. even the pictures, which are in alf's hands, because only his camera didnt fail, doesnt do it much justice. you really have to see it to experience the entire majesty of the lights. but it was indeed magical, and we were blessed to be able to watch it anyway.
of course, the other highlight of the trip, thanks to bob, was watching the unbeatables 2! imagine us going all the way to kiruna, and we succumb to sbc channel8. well done us. :) we watched it everwhere we could. in the hostel, on board the train... lapping up the retro music, the not-so-nifty-anymore card tricks, the likes of gambling king and queen, zoe tay and li nanxing. can i add that its how wasted they never got together in real life? sorry, i digress.
i didnt take much photos this time, mainly because i wanted to keep my hands in my pocket and because my camera sort of froze if it were out in the open for too long. enjoy anyway.
a night time picture of the icehotel
watching unbeatables in the hostel!
my queenly throne. hurhur.
the huskies, mei!!!
the expanse of sky and snow
too much snow makes alf a lonely person.
more snow.
sunrise on snow.
big pictures like these take excruciatingly long to post. here's the collage.
me standing at kiruna c station// the tracks covered in snow// pictures of a typical kiruna pasar malam// reindeer parts// heading to the icehotel// walking in a real winter wonderland// sam trying to sled// inside the icehotel// shuz, bob and me in the icebar// looking through the ice// one of the suites in the icehotel// trying to plaster my face to the ice// sam and me freezing our butts// check out the depth of the snow!// excited shuz// kiruna environs// sitting on the snowmobile (but you cant see that)// inside the cabin// a very blur picture of the reindeer (evidence of a frosting camera and condensation on the lens)// sunrise!// my shadow// small sam and smaller shuz
that is the end of my kiruna trip.
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