Edge Technologies

Karibien 2012

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 23:00:00 +0100

I will make another trip to Latin America from March 18th to April 10th 2012. This time, I will visit Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean. The trip will include big cities, beautiful beaches, rainforests, national parks and pretty waterfalls. As usual, I have made a blog for the trip.

[Blog, Caribbean 2012] [Photos from the trip]

Thailand 2011

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:30:00 +0100

I spent two weeks in Thailand from November 11th to December 6th together with Rattikan. First we visited her aunt and uncle in Aranyaprathet, which is a city in the east of Thailand near the border with Cambodia. Afterwards, we travelled further to Siem Reap in Cambodia, where we visited the temples of Angkor Wat - regarded one of the wonders of the world. Next stop was Koh Chang back in Thailand, which is an island with beautiful beaches and plenty of monkeys and other exotic animals. We had a small safari in the jungle on the back of an elephant, and I also had the chance to swim in the river together with an elephant. We spent the last four days in Bangkok, where we stayed at a 5 star suite at Lebua at State Tower Hotel (known from the Hangover 2 Movie). The hotel offers extreme luxury as well as a sky bar with a panoramic view of the city.

[See the photos from Thailand]

China 2011

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 10:42:33 +0100

I was in China from May 11 to May 27th together with two colleagues from SINTEF, Henrik and Gøril. Our first destination was Shanghai, where we took part in a workshop on mobile robotics on Friday 13th. In the weekend, we went sightseeing at "The Bund", where the impressive skyline with Shanghai's many skyscrapers can be admired. In the evening, most of the façades are converted into gigantic displays with video commercials. On Monday, we took the fast train to Hangzhou to participate at the conference 3DIMPVT 2011 (3D Imaging, Modelling, Processing, Visualialization and Transmission). Hangzhou is situated next to the Xihu lake. The lake has nice promenades, parks and green open spaces around it, and it makes a pleasant area for a stroll. After the conference, we travelled eastwards to Xian to see the famous army of Terracotta warrios that was discovered here only around 30 years ago. The army consists of over 8000 statues, every one with unique clothing and facial features. It was built over 2200 years ago to protect to toom of emperor Qin Shi Haung. Our last destination was Beijing, where we visited the forbidden city and also took part in a 3 hour, spectacular hike on the Great Wall of China from Jinshanling to Simatai.

[See the photos from China]

Brasil 2011

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 22:34:25 +0100

It is time for a new trip to South America. This time I will travel together with Kurt, and we are planning a dedicated trip to Brasil. The trip will contain beaches, big cities, carnival, hiking in Chapada Diamantina national park and a visit to the Iguazu falls. As usual, I have made a travellog where I will post images and stories from my trip.

[Travel blog, Brasil 2011] [Photos from the trip]

Mexican Wedding

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 21:16:00 +0100

I did another trip to Mexico in July, this time to participate in the wedding of Arturo, whom I shared an apartment with when I was living in Mexico in 2005. I stayed first a few days in Mexico City where I also visited some friends of me, before I travelled to Guanajuato to take part in a small stag party for Arturo. While waiting for the wedding, I spent some fun and relaxing days at the beach in Puerto Vallarta by the pacific coast of Mexico, where. The wedding started with a ceremony in pretty La Basilica de Guanajuato. Unfortunately the groom had a nervous start due to the late arrival of the bride. She was stuck on the motorway due to flooding, and the priest had to start the ceremony without her. Luckily, she came running up the church floor just in time to get the ring on her finger. Afterwards, there was a great wedding party with food, drinks and lots of music and dancing. Even if I could only spend two weeks in Mexico this time, it was a pleasant reencounter with my Mexican friends, the town I used to live in and lots of delicious Mexican food.

[See my photos from Mexico]

Paris 2010

Tue, 25 May 2010 12:39:00 +0100

I spent a week in Paris from 16th to 23rd of May to participate at the conference 3DPVT 2010 (3D Data Processing, Visualization and Transmission). The conference lasted from Monday to Thursday, but I decided to stay in Paris until Sunday to do some sightseeing. During the conference I stayed in a hotel in the Latin Quarter, close to the charming and lively Rue Mouffetard. For the weekend I decided to move to a cheaper hostel in Montmartre. When I arrived to Paris on Sunday, I was received by a really nice girl from Paris that I met via CouchSurfing. She took me to the gardens of Luxembourg for a picnic, where we enjoyed red wine, baguettes and a variety of french cheese. I also participated in several other CS events, which was great for making friends with several parisians. As opposed to earlier trips to my Paris, where I mainly moved around by metro, I used the new city bikes to explore the city. In the weekend I travelled to Versailles to see the overwhelming castle of King Louis XIV.

[See the photos from Paris]

Long weekend in Belgium

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:03:53 +0100

I travelled to Brussels on the 8th of April to participate in a meeting in an EU project. I chose to stay there for the whole weekend to do some sightseeing. On Friday I travelled to Bruges, which is a pretty medieval town with fine architecture. I went for a boat trip on some of the towns many canals, I climbed the belfry (which is listed as UNESCOs World Heritage) and I also visited the chocolate museum. This museum was in deed very interesting, and I got to know everything about how chocolate has been harvested and consumed from the aztec ages in central america and up to now. Saturday and Sunday I walked around in Brussels, which has a nice mixture of ultra-modern skyscrapers (like the EU parliament and the EU commission building) and charming old buildings from the 12th century (on the city's Grand Place). I also visited the Cantillon family brewery, where they produce the beers Gueuze and Kriek, among others. This beer is made in a very special and traditional way. In stead of adding yeast and letting the beer ferment in steel tanks, this beer ferment due to micro organisms found naturally in the wheat and malted barley. I came home to Trondheim on Sunday with my bags full of delicious chocolate and a nice assortment of beer.

[See photos from Belgium]

Travel Blog 2010

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 23:25:07 +0100

My last adventure trip went to USA and South America and took place from 16th of January to 3rd of March this year. This time I was accompanied by my friend Tommy on part of the trip. As usual, I have created a separate travel blog where I have posted news, updates and photos from my trip.

[Travel blog, Latin America 2010] [Photos from the trip]

Japan 2009

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:37:37 +0100

I spent a few days from September 30 to October 12 in Japan. First I participated at the ICCV conference (International Conference on Computer Vision) in Kyoto - a very informative and interesting conference where I met fellow researchers within my field from all ower the world. After the conference I stayed for one extra week in Japan to do some sightseeing. In Kyoto there are, for instance, 17 temples which are listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites. One of them is completely covered in gold - an impressive sight. I also ate a lot of sushi, ramen noodles and various other exotic meals. After spending about a week in Kyoto, I proceeded by high-velocity train to Tokyo. I explored Tokyos many districts by the metro, visited the biggest fish market in the world, did all-night-long karoke and went for electronics shopping in Tokyo's Electric City, where eight-floor buildings compete against each other in the use of neon lights. From Starbucks in Shiboya, center of Tokyo, I watched one of the world's busiest pedestrian crossings. When the suburbs are included, Tokyo has 35 million inhabitants. Despite the huge amount of people, the city is relatively nice and clean, extremely modern and with a great transportation system. All in all, Japan was a different but exciting and exotic experience.

[See my photos from Japan]

Lofoten

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:30:10 +0100

I spent 4 days in Lofoten in Northern Norway last week. On Saturday I attended the wedding of my friend, Roger and Silje. The ceremony was in Buksnes church in Gravdal, with a following party at the fishermen's house in Ure. Since I arrived a couple of days before the wedding, I spent one day hiking in the mountains in the Vestvågøy region. On Friday, I rented a car and explored some of the villages in Lofoten, such as Stamsund, Nusfjord Reine and Å. We had sunny and warm weather every day, and the the wedding was also a big success. Congratulations to Roger and Silje, and thank you for inviting me!

[See photos from Lofoten]