At first glance it may seem that summer vacation trip means idle repose, but in truth time is never enough. And more so if your destination has bountiful attractions.
During my Norwegian trip, I had trouble even finding time to download my photographs, much less get enough time for replying emails. None of this is surprising, given the country's magic with so many never-to-be-missed experiences. Devoted as I am to the stamina of runners, I wasn't running that often in Norway. I didn't even fill my suitcase with running shoes.
Granted, this wasn't an excuse not to run, I told myself before dinner today. It was then I found the unique experience of running in Norway. Along a spectacular running route on the seaside, I came to the entrance of a tunnel with a warning sign of "no cyclists allowed." I had no idea what to expect inside the tunnel. If that's not the 24.5-kilometre-long Lærdal Tunnel (the longest road tunnel), I figured, it should be okay. Road tunnel conditions are generally good in Norway. I also heard about the dedicated air treatment plant removing dust and nitrogen dioxide. I ran into the tunnel without hesitation. With each step I was taking charge of the situation. Except, of course, it was nothing like that.
After a few minutes, vehicles rushed by, the whooshing sound of which being amplified inside the tunnel. There was a momentary sense of suspense as I could not even hear my panting because of those noises. Traffic wasn't heavy but the acoustic effect was enough to make me feel like Nemo tumbling inside a washing machine. I picked up my pace, trying to recover from the panic. Under these circumstances I decided the best course of action was to come out of the tunnel as quickly as possible. Mustering my remaining strength, I heaved my body forward at full throttle. As I glanced around the tunnel, I spied nothing but SOS call boxes at regular intervals. The greatest myth of tunnel is that it cuts short your travel time. In fact, time moves more slowly because of monotony - five times more slowly if you run, seven times more slowly in case you aren't sure the length of the tunnel. And the tunnel seemed to go on forever, man. There time didn't move forward at all. It just hung. So I had stacks of time to wonder how much the tunnel was shorter than Lærdal Tunnel. Maybe not much. Well, I never found out the answer; I decided to return after 10 minutes or so.
Upon completion of my run, my running apps recorded an average pace at 1.5 minutes per kilometres. Whew. I quickly discovered that such unbelievable record happened because the GPS wrongly tracked my distance, as if I was running up the mountain and not through a tunnel.
I blushed and chuckled at my embarrassing PB.
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
Thursday, August 9, 2018
Mountain
An important rule of travel, according to the longtime Lonely Planet editor Don George, is this: if you don't pack your sense of humour with your sunscreen, sooner or later you'll get burned.
Put most simply, anything unexpected can happen in your journey. That's just the way of the road. If you want to help yourself - and perhaps more importantly your children - seek the fun and not-so-funny encounters on the road, you should remember your metaphorical protective screen.
We have the recent opportunity to bring our daughter to Norway, an outdoorsy country. One of our adventures was riding mountain bikes at the top of Mount Fløyen. Whew! That's quite a daunting task for us, the first-timers.
I reminded myself, after my recent reading of The Yes Brain Child, we're supposed to neither bubble-wrap our children nor minimize their feelings. The sweet spot or Goldilocks balance might not be easy to find, but my bottom line is that it's impossible to "spoil" my daughter by giving her lots of love. I wanted her to assert herself and face the challenge of the bumpy (half gravel, half paved) mountain track, and then discover how strong and capable she really is. My job and that of my wife, however, remained to walk with her through the difficult moments. The truth was, we literally walked when she thought she could not handle the slope. With time, she was hopping back on the hard-tailed bike with more courage and composure, and finished the trail with an "I did it!"
Put most simply, anything unexpected can happen in your journey. That's just the way of the road. If you want to help yourself - and perhaps more importantly your children - seek the fun and not-so-funny encounters on the road, you should remember your metaphorical protective screen.
We have the recent opportunity to bring our daughter to Norway, an outdoorsy country. One of our adventures was riding mountain bikes at the top of Mount Fløyen. Whew! That's quite a daunting task for us, the first-timers.
I reminded myself, after my recent reading of The Yes Brain Child, we're supposed to neither bubble-wrap our children nor minimize their feelings. The sweet spot or Goldilocks balance might not be easy to find, but my bottom line is that it's impossible to "spoil" my daughter by giving her lots of love. I wanted her to assert herself and face the challenge of the bumpy (half gravel, half paved) mountain track, and then discover how strong and capable she really is. My job and that of my wife, however, remained to walk with her through the difficult moments. The truth was, we literally walked when she thought she could not handle the slope. With time, she was hopping back on the hard-tailed bike with more courage and composure, and finished the trail with an "I did it!"
Tuesday, August 7, 2018
Bergen
For lovers of statistics, Bergen is one of the wettest parts of northern Europe, receiving a rainfall of 80 inches every year.
That's quite a lot to put up with. The thing was, I'd just travelled from Oslo, which gets only an average of 30 inches of rain annually. Before I came to Norway, luckily, I had taught myself a local mantra of Norwegian folks: Det finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlige klær (it rhymes, I was told). In short, there's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.
It makes sense, doesn't it, that we'd want to control only what is within our control? That's also the essence of having a mature prefrontal cortex in our brain, capable of flexibility and adaptability.
That's quite a lot to put up with. The thing was, I'd just travelled from Oslo, which gets only an average of 30 inches of rain annually. Before I came to Norway, luckily, I had taught myself a local mantra of Norwegian folks: Det finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlige klær (it rhymes, I was told). In short, there's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.
It makes sense, doesn't it, that we'd want to control only what is within our control? That's also the essence of having a mature prefrontal cortex in our brain, capable of flexibility and adaptability.
Norway
What's the best book to spend time on during our travel? My tip: pick a travel guidebook and turn to the last few pages. That's where they have resources like suggested reading. Choices include travelogue or literature from the country you're travelling to.
That's how I came up with the idea of borrowing a short novel Out Stealing Horses, written by a gifted Norwegian author Per Petterson.
At first glance it may seem that Trond Sander, the main character of the story, is doomed after losing his wife and sister in the course of one month - one from cancer and another a traffic accident - but in truth the old man is working out his way at the age of sixty-seven: to lay his hands on the house and do most of the work himself, makes his own dinner and overestimates his appetite, thus allowing extra portion to his only companion dog Lyra.
This is heartbreaking by my standards, far too tough. I didn't cry. Instead, I told myself how lucky I'm every morning I woke up with my wife and daughter next to me in this captivating Nordic country. And who would not?
That's how I came up with the idea of borrowing a short novel Out Stealing Horses, written by a gifted Norwegian author Per Petterson.
At first glance it may seem that Trond Sander, the main character of the story, is doomed after losing his wife and sister in the course of one month - one from cancer and another a traffic accident - but in truth the old man is working out his way at the age of sixty-seven: to lay his hands on the house and do most of the work himself, makes his own dinner and overestimates his appetite, thus allowing extra portion to his only companion dog Lyra.
This is heartbreaking by my standards, far too tough. I didn't cry. Instead, I told myself how lucky I'm every morning I woke up with my wife and daughter next to me in this captivating Nordic country. And who would not?
Friday, August 3, 2018
Nature
What would the results be like when you test children's accuracy in naming a set of picture cards showing common species of plant or wildlife? How does the result compare with another set of cards, each featuring a species of Pokémon character?
If you have kids aged eight and above, you should know the answer. If you don't - like those from a Cambridge research group - you might have to conduct a research to find out that children score far better at naming Pokémon species.
Let's face it: in many ways kids are now growing up in a digital world, but not in a forest. I'm not against the daily, here-and-now challenges of meeting Jigglypuff or Pikachu. That's not the point at all. Instead, we should remind our children the natural beauty at the same time. That's one of the reasons we pick Norway as our summer vacation's destination this year. We might not get the chance to meet the elk or lynx, but that is a magnet for great outdoors.
If you have kids aged eight and above, you should know the answer. If you don't - like those from a Cambridge research group - you might have to conduct a research to find out that children score far better at naming Pokémon species.
Let's face it: in many ways kids are now growing up in a digital world, but not in a forest. I'm not against the daily, here-and-now challenges of meeting Jigglypuff or Pikachu. That's not the point at all. Instead, we should remind our children the natural beauty at the same time. That's one of the reasons we pick Norway as our summer vacation's destination this year. We might not get the chance to meet the elk or lynx, but that is a magnet for great outdoors.
Sunday, July 22, 2018
Marine
Much as I revel in outdoor activities, I must confess that I am not amphibious, and mostly stay on land.
When my friend recommended a marine science camp, I didn't hesitate. Wouldn't it be a good idea to learn something new with my daughter? The backpacks, after all, are quite the same as those for hiking; we simply needed to buy a pair of water shoes for each of us in the family.
We learned new techniques like kayak and dragon boat paddling in a basin-like inner harbour. The water was somewhat murky and didn't look exactly like a mirror. We tried snorkeling but didn't have clear view. It's hard to believe, however, that we saw much more in the same place at night. Remarkably, sea life was dazzling to see after dark - with flashlight. Shining a light through water off the pier showed us loads of aquatic animals. We didn't simply find mangrove crabs or shrimps; we learned about new species like spotted scat. That isn't an uncommon fish, but it's new to a novice like me.
To further unlock the mystery of underwater world, we were taught to scoop up a bucket of seawater and watch under magnifying glass. That's how we came to meet copepods, one of the most abundant animal plankton in the ocean. The whole experience of their apparition seemed surreal. Those tiny, shrimp-like crustaceans, with a teardrop-shaped body and large antennae, introduce us a whole new world.
I saw my daughter excited by the magical appeal of marine life and I knew she felt elated.
So did I.
When my friend recommended a marine science camp, I didn't hesitate. Wouldn't it be a good idea to learn something new with my daughter? The backpacks, after all, are quite the same as those for hiking; we simply needed to buy a pair of water shoes for each of us in the family.
We learned new techniques like kayak and dragon boat paddling in a basin-like inner harbour. The water was somewhat murky and didn't look exactly like a mirror. We tried snorkeling but didn't have clear view. It's hard to believe, however, that we saw much more in the same place at night. Remarkably, sea life was dazzling to see after dark - with flashlight. Shining a light through water off the pier showed us loads of aquatic animals. We didn't simply find mangrove crabs or shrimps; we learned about new species like spotted scat. That isn't an uncommon fish, but it's new to a novice like me.
To further unlock the mystery of underwater world, we were taught to scoop up a bucket of seawater and watch under magnifying glass. That's how we came to meet copepods, one of the most abundant animal plankton in the ocean. The whole experience of their apparition seemed surreal. Those tiny, shrimp-like crustaceans, with a teardrop-shaped body and large antennae, introduce us a whole new world.
I saw my daughter excited by the magical appeal of marine life and I knew she felt elated.
So did I.
Sunday, July 15, 2018
Love
The birth of my daughter, Jasmine, has changed my life in ways I cannot express. The moment Jasmine came into our lives, neither my wife nor I has allowed ourselves to be our top priorities. There's so much we want for our daughter, so much we talk about our daughter, so much we stand up for our daughter.
Being a parent is not about who brings up the smartest kid, owns the biggest house, or throws the most lavish birthday party. What really matters, dare I say it, is love. I was reassured that's the true answer when my daughter came home from his summer camp this weekend.
Soon after her excursion, my daughter would share with us her story of kayaking, dolphin watching, sand castle building and even television broadcasting. As we talked more about the camp activities, our conversation switched to the topic of her classmates.
"Our camp leader asked if this is the first time we're away from parents - if we don't count going to school. Some of us said yes," Jasmine continued. "Only thing is, I just reckoned quite a lot of my classmates said hooray to have been out of the radar of parents. They don't love their moms or dads. Unbelievable."
"Mind-boggling," my daughter kept repeating, apropos of dislike about parents. "That's almost as unbelievable as finding a kid who hates ice-cream."
I don't know the answer to my daughter's question, but I know very well I will continue to work hard on being the best father and husband I can be.
Being a parent is not about who brings up the smartest kid, owns the biggest house, or throws the most lavish birthday party. What really matters, dare I say it, is love. I was reassured that's the true answer when my daughter came home from his summer camp this weekend.
Soon after her excursion, my daughter would share with us her story of kayaking, dolphin watching, sand castle building and even television broadcasting. As we talked more about the camp activities, our conversation switched to the topic of her classmates.
"Our camp leader asked if this is the first time we're away from parents - if we don't count going to school. Some of us said yes," Jasmine continued. "Only thing is, I just reckoned quite a lot of my classmates said hooray to have been out of the radar of parents. They don't love their moms or dads. Unbelievable."
"Mind-boggling," my daughter kept repeating, apropos of dislike about parents. "That's almost as unbelievable as finding a kid who hates ice-cream."
I don't know the answer to my daughter's question, but I know very well I will continue to work hard on being the best father and husband I can be.
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