Feeling Poor in Norway

If you think New York is expensive, go to Western Europe. If you think the Euro is way too strong, go to London. If you think the pound is outrageous, go to Norway. The Norwegian Kroner is king. Some items listed below are outrageous but then again, others were oddly cheap (though these were the super saver economy book in advance tickets).

• Bacon cheeseburger at a TGI Fridays-type restaurant - 147 NOK = $29.15
• Big Mac (according to the Economist's Big Mac Index July 2007) - 40 NOK = $7.93 - most expensive in the world!
• .5L of beer (about 1 pint) - around 50 NOK = $9.91
  
• Unlimited one-day public transport pass in Oslo - 60 NOK = $11.89
• 20 minute train ride from airport to Oslo city center - 160 NOK = $31.73
• Flight from Bergen to Trondheim (1 hr flight) - 205.20 NOK = $40.70
• Train ride from Trondheim to Oslo (6 hrs) - 199 NOK = $39.46
  

Cost aside, Norway is a very beautiful country (with lots of beautiful people!). And I loved catching up with Ida and meeting her friends and family.

Supermarket Finds

Norwegian brown cheese (Fløtemysost) - picked up some when I visited Ida in Norway. Delicious on bread with jam.

Red radishes - never bought these before in my life but figured i'd try them since they were on sale for .59 euros. I added them to my Chinese cucumber salad. Crunchy and delicious!

Wholegrain mustard - high quality at only .80 euros for 335 grams (roughly 11.8 ounces)! What a classy deal.

Albert Heijn (Dutch supermarket brand) cous cous mix - not bad! I made it according to my friend's recommendation with ground beef and scallion. Then added cucumber, red and yellow peppers, and tomatoes at the end so they were still mostly crunchy. It's also great with feta. Very fresh and yummy!

Bobotie - South African dish that my friend cooked for me. Can't wait to try it when I'm IN South Africa!

Jetsetting

Haven't had time to write because dj, ezb, dr.cf were in town, and then we went to Berlin. I loved Berlin - cool vibe, full of history, and affordable. Tonight, I'm off to the land of exorbitant prices - Norway! Going to visit Ida, my high school's exchange student who I haven't seen since we graduated. More when I get back...

Willpower and Tinnitus?

An article on willpower in the Times today is so true for me. I only have willpower for about one activity per day. Need to start on that willpower training by getting offline...

I think I may have developed tinnitus. Wikipedia says it's "the perception of sound in the in the absence of corresponding external sound(s)." It's kept me up for a couple of nights in the past two weeks. One night, I had to listen to my ipod while in bed to drown out the tinnitus so that I could sleep. Odd thing is that I don't hear it when I'm sitting up right. Hopefully, mine's just stress-induced and will go away...Otherwise, I may have to look into some of the new therapies discussed today in the Times.