Exploring the Land of the Midnight Sun

I grew up in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. I guess this community is typical for many other communities in Manila: you have your concrete house and around your property you have a big fence. And the house has bars in front of the windows and in front of the door to make sure that intruders can't get into the house. In Norway, it's the exact opposite. All the curtains are open and passer-by can see what's inside the house through the big windows.


This was a little shock for me and houses just have a little hedge between the neighbors and people are not very worried about people breaking in. But it was quite a change for me to come from the big city of Manila to the little Stavanger and see all this.

But I have to add that I have not experienced any crime yet in Stavanger. I know Norway has a low crime rate. Police here do not routinely carry guns. They do have guns though. Crime is mostly limited to theft and vandalism. Single women should have no problems, although ordinary street sense is advised after dark.

I also got to drive quite a lot in Stavanger together with my husband and son. The roads in Phil are in pretty good shape but (as always in big cities) there is a lot of traffic work. There is always some part of the road that are being modified or improved. But the highways (or freeways) are big and the speed limit was a 120 km/h but most people drove faster. And lots of people are being killed in traffic each year. Sad but this is the reality way back home. People signal if they would like to pass you by flashing their lights. In Norway, driving is generally easy as traffic is calm, and most drivers are disciplined and law abiding, although moderate speeding is common on highways. Norwegian roads are among the safest in the world due to extensive training of drivers, low speed limits and strict enforcement of rules.

The Norwegian police is generally very strict on all kinds of aggressive driving, such as risky overtaking. The police also control traffic from unmarked cars. According to Transparency International, Norway is one of the countries with least corruption. Police and other authorities can not be bribed, travellers are strongly advised against attempting in any form of bribery.

There is a growing number of roundabouts in Norway.

So if you miss the road, it's always easy to go back, unlike in Manila or Makati, if you missed the road, you'll just feel sorry for yourself because you need to turn all the way around just to go back.


Pedestrians expect you to stop for them at marked crossings and you may be fined if you don't. This rule is strictly enforced.

Talking about cars, in Phil there are people that put petrol on your car while you just stay in the car. In Norway, you have to do everything yourself, this was another new thing for me.



1/2 liter of mineral water is more expensive than 1 liter of gasoline in Norway.


You have to clean your own car using the facilities in the car wash shop but of course it's not for free.




Here in Norway gas stations make more money selling normal groceries and hot dog and they can hardly fix your car anymore compared to my own country, it was the car that was in focus. People would fill gas on your car, check the water, and clean the front window and so on.



Hitchhiking in Norway is best on the the routes from Oslo-Trondheim (E6), Oslo-Kristiansand (E18) and Kristiansand-Stavanger (E39). However, near the cities these are now motorways and it is not possible to stand at the road itself. Hitchhiking is not that common in Norway. If hitchhiking is ever safe, it's pretty safe in Norway, however it's difficult to get a lift and it may be very slow.

If you drive around (and outside) Manila you will see that there is a gap between the rich and the poor. On one hand you have the people described above with the house and their big fences and on the other hand you have “squatter towns” right outside town. People try to make a living in different ways of course. It is very common to see kids running around cars at traffic lights trying to sell different items. Walking around Manila, for sure someone will come up to you and asked you for money. In Stavanger, I've never seen even one beggar yet on the road asking for money but I saw one outside McDonalds looking for food on the trash can but he's not a Norwegian, it looks like he's from Middle East.

Stavanger is the fourth largest city, the third largest urban area, and the prettiest city in Norway. Commercially important due to the oil business. The wooden, cobbled central area is one of the most charming places in Norway. Home to one of Norway's medieval churches, you can also visit Iron Age homes, stone age caves, and sites where the Viking kings used to meet at Ullandhaugtårnet. Stavanger is where Erik the Red was born.

Talking about malls: my husband also took me to different malls in the area. I think Mall of Asia in the Philippines is huge at least compared to the Norwegian standard. We have lots and lots of shops and like the American malls we have our food court and cinema. And our malls open Monday to Sunday from 10am until 10pm. Opening hours in Norway are better than they used to be according to my husband, though many smaller stores still close early on Saturday (1 PM or 3 PM is typical) and nearly everything is closed on Sundays.

All the doors in different establishments like the malls, are all automatic. My son finds it interesting because everytime he passes a sliding door, it will open automatically.


Less staff are working inside the supermarkets of Norway. Seldom you see salesmen walking around to assist you on what you need. You can't even see a bagger who will put all your groceries in the plastic bag, instead you have to do it on your own.


Grocery stores (particularly in the cities) have long opening hours frequently until 10 or 11 PM on weekdays. You'll often see opening hours written as "9-21 (9-18)" on doors, meaning 9 AM to 9 PM weekdays, 9 AM to 6 PM Saturday. "McDonalds" and "Burger King" is also an option. The grocery market is dominated by a handful of chains covering most of Norway: Rimi, Rema 1000, Kiwi, Prix and Bunnpris are low price shops with a narrow selection of items.

Coop, Ica and Spar have wider selection and better quality at a slightly higher price; Meny, Mega and Ultra have fewer shops and higher prices.




Filipinos love to eat out because everything is affordable unless we eat in a very cozy restaurant. Unlike in Norway, eating out is expensive, with fast food starting from 50 kr and sit-down meals in a decent restaurant nearly always topping 200 kr or more for a main course. So, for a cheap quick snack Norwegian-style, look no further than the nearest grill or convenience store, which will dish up a sausage (pølse) or hot dog (kjempegrill) in either a hot dog bun (brød) or wrapped in a flat potato bread (lompe) for around 20-30 kr.



When it comes to beers or any hard drink, we can buy it at any malls, shops and stores in the Philippines. And if in the middle of the night, you're thirsty of beer, you can go to any 24/7 convinient store like 7eleven. In Norway, all alcohol with a volume percentage of under 4,75% can be sold at regular shops. This means you can get decent beer all over the place. The price varies, but imported beer is usually expensive (except Danish/Dutch beers brewed in Norway on licence like Heineken and Carlsberg). Shopping hours for beer are very strict: The sale stops at 8PM (20.00) every weekday, and at 6PM (18.00) every day before holidays (including Sundays). Since the sale is decided in the local council, it may vary, but this is the latest times decided by law. This means the beer will have to be PAID before this time. If it's not paid, the person behind the counter will take your beer, and tell you "Sorry pal, too late!". On Sunday, you can't buy alcohol anywhere except bars/pubs/restaurants.

For strong beer, wine and hard alcohol, you will have to find a Vinmonopolet branch. Vinmonopolet (English: The Wine Monopoly), commonly shortened to Polet, is a government owned alcoholic beverage retailer and the only company allowed to sell beverages containing an alcohol content higher than 4.7% in Norway.


The state shop have a marvellous choice of drinks, but at mostly sky-high prices. Vinmonpolet is open until 5PM (17.00) Mon-Wed, 6PM (18.00) Thu-Fri, and 3PM (15.00) on Sat. Each city, there's only 1 or 2 Vinmonpolet.


This review of Norway is a summary of the places I visited in the southern part of this country. This is based on my own impressions after staying here for one month. Well, I hope that I have been able to describe a little bit of Stavanger and Norway in general and the life here through this review. So there are still many, many things to see and do in this great country.