Skellefteå is the southern entry into Swedish Lapland. Half the population inhabits the country side. The next door to wild salmon rivers, hundreds of lakes, dense forests and miles and miles of coastline. The other half dwell in a modern city, a seamless transition from urban to rural defining the good life in the subarctic.
I was in Skellefteå for two weeks for business purpose. It was my second time. I made this video just for fun. This is absolutely non-scripted and unplanned. There are too many footage I took which make me hard to choose. This video was produced during flight transit in Istanbul for 5 hours. I hope you enjoy it as I enjoyed filming it. Don't forget to subscribe and follow my other social medias! Thanks, no hate just love.
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I was content and excited at the same time to share with you my recent business trip in Skelleftea, Sweden. It was my second time to be there and indeed it feels like home. Unlike last time, everyone especially my co-workers were excited to welcome me in the office. And I did not depended on their help, so it feels more meaningful to me. Honestly, I had no idea that I have this opportunity again. Thanks to my awesome manager who made this happened. I hope there will be next time! But until then, I will work hard for what has been given for me. Syukur
The plane departed (KUL-IST-STK-Skellefteå) on Saturday night and I arrived on Sunday noon. So It was almost 24 hours journey in the air. I took the shuttle bus which costed me SEK60 (approximately MYR30). I could not take my eyes off the scenery. It was a bit different and warmer than last time. The spring was coming. So I could see the greens was starting to come out little by little. The snow was melting and getting thin. The skies was exceptionally blue and bright. I just love all of this! I was blessed. I took as many photos as I could. It was a bit special because I purchased a new camera, so I really utilized it during this trip. That was one of the reason why I decided to produce more video and be more active on YouTube channel. These are some pictures I took on my way to the hotel.
This time I managed to secure my stay at Scandic Skellefteå Hotel. It was my target at the very first. I heard the renovation was done recently prior to my visit. So I thought it could be nice to stay there as it was strategically located. It took me 10 minutes walk to the office and it was situated at the centre between the town and bus station. I think it was a great idea and there was no doubt! However the room rate could be over-priced depends on the seasons and it was not cost-friendly for budgeted traveler, obviously. Not only the interior of the hotel but I just love my room. It was minimalist designed and sophisticated. Let me show you around the hotel area first.
It was so lovely, isn't? Let's take a look on my room then... The room was so nice and comfortable. Considering the room price, there was one thing I feel disappointed with. There was no water heater.
When I first went to the office on Monday, of course I was still jet-lagged. However, my manager and co-workers were really helpful and welcome me cheerfully, so it helped me to forget the awfulness. I was so grateful to them because they were so chill and understanding. The training started on the next day. I even brought them cookies from Malaysia and let them taste the instant noodle or we called it "Maggi". Unexpectedly, they liked it. These were selfies I took at the end of working hours. To celebrate the long day that I survived (kinda ritual that I believe to go on). This was how my office in Sweden looked like and the view from my windows.
In this trip, I brought a lot of preserved food with me because the cost was too expensive especially when you were eating out. A set of burger can cost you SEK60-70 (approximately MYR30-40). I even brought the rice cooker and the rice. It lasted for a week, then I need to dine out for the second week because I ran out of food. It was 10 minutes by walking from the hotel to the office. I was so surprised the fact that it was already daylight as early as 4am and the day turned into dark around 9pm. The day felt so long but I enjoyed every bit of it. I dedicated an hour after work everyday to have light walk or grocery shopping. It turned really sunny as days went by. The warmest was 14 Celcius when I was there. I took a lot of pictures and footage for my video. It was random and I took it as I think it was beautiful. I used my camera and phone too.
I was wondering what should I do on weekend. The fact that I traveled to Lulea on Sunday, I still can't believe it. Because it was random and spontaneous. I made a video on my one day trip to Lulea. If you want to watch it, you can simply click here or you can read my post about Lulea. The other spontaneous thing which I did was getting around Skelleftea with a host. Do you ever heard about Couchsurfing before? Couchsurfing is a global community to share our life, our world, our journey. Couchsurfing connects travelers with a global network of people willing to share in profound and meaningful ways, making travel a truly social experience. I was in Couchsurfing since 2015 but not really making use of it. Actually, it was easy and convenient to use. With Couchsurfing, you can stay with locals in every country on earth. Travel like a local, stay in someone's home and experience the world in a way money can't buy. So I met Camilla. She is a tall lady and works as nurse. She was so inspiring and I learnt a lot. We talked about many things including travel experiences, future, the community, foods and what life has bring us until today. I was comfortable with her and we found few similarities we shared together. I spent few hours with her on Saturday and getting around the city like a local. I could not thanked her enough with her kindness and openness. Because I know well, it was not easy to accept stranger and befriend in a day. Despite, we enjoyed the day and had so much fun together. I brought her instant "Nasi Lemak" for her to taste it. She cooked me lunch and we had apple pie. It was not bad at all. After that, we walked around while sharing things accompanied by the serene views. I wanted to apologize because I made her my model and asked her to take my picture.
It was a really great experience and came back to Skelleftea was unexpected. I wish I can experience summer season for the next time so I can have more outdoor activities. Perhaps travel to other nearest cities like Umea or Happaranda. I know this is too long for a post, however I really hope that you enjoy reading it and appreciate the beauty of this small town through the pictures that I took. Until next entry. By the way, I would like to tell you, new video and next post will come sooner than expected because next weekend I'll be going to Tioman Island for my first dive trip for this year. I am so freaking excited! See you real soon...
