Short Tourist Visit: some tips

I personally think that Stockholm is not the best city to visit in Europe, but one of the best to live in. This does not mean you won't enjoy visiting Stockholm for a short time. In comparison to cities in Italy and France, Stockholm definitely falls short in terms of culture, history and food. I recommend very strongly (as someone coming from a tropical country) to visit Sweden only in July and August. These two months you can rely on good weather - good in the sense that it will be sunny and warm (above 20 degree Celsius), though again, in the evening the temperature can drop again to around 15C, so it is just best to bring a jacket everyday no matter the season. All other months are basically winter to me - bleak, cloudy, windy and cold (around 10 degree Celsius average). It does not rain as much in Stockholm, but it can be quite windy. I think this is why IKEA thrives in Sweden, because people put so much emphasis decorating their homes, making every part of their home cosy. Indoor is where Swedes spend most of their time in.

A Swedish friend once told me, "A good Swedish girl always brings a jacket with her everyday". 

Stockholm in the summer is one of the most beautiful places to be. You'll see the Swedes swimming in the lakes/seas and sunbathing on rocks like seals or any open grass in front of their apartment buildings.


Some information that may be helpful on your trip:



Get an SL card: http://sl.se/en/ 
SL is Stockholm's public transport card that you can use for trains, trams, buses and ferries. Very useful if you want to travel much around instead of relying by foot. Tunnelbana / T-bana = subway, pendeltåg = commuter train, spårvagn = tram, färja = ferry, buss = bus.

Drottninggatan
Drottning means queen, gatan means street. Drottninggatan (the "queen's street") is the main shopping street in Stockholm. It's a long street from Hötorget area all the way to Gamla Stan (the Old Town). If you need to buy toiletries, medicine without prescriptions, etc: find any "apotek" or pharmacist. If you want to buy Swedish food, go to Hemköp, a large supermarket found at the basement of Åhlens department store. This is all within reach from T-centralen subway station.

Slussen
Slussen is the gateway to the hip area of Stockholm, i.e. Södermalm. The view from Slussen overlooking Gamla Stan and all the waters around is always nice.

Panoramic view of Stockholm
The best panoramic view of Stockholm (and, free of charge) can be captured along Katarinavägen (near Slussen), Monteliusvägen (near Slussen & Mariatorget) or Skinnarviksberget (near Zinkensdamm).

Djurgården
You can take a ferry from Slussen to Djurgården, where you'll find Gröna Lund (amusement park), Skansen (open air museum) and many other museums. This is also the place for a nice nature walk by the water, following the tram track to Waldermarsudde.

Museums and Churches
The National Arts Museum (National Museet) is close for renovation for quite some time now, so I won't recommend it until it is open again. The City Hall is pretty good (Stadshuset). I like comtemporary art too, so I'd recommend Moderna Museet and Fotografiska (make sure you spend some time taking a coffee break at the cafetaria upstairs with wonderful view of the waters). For old churches, I like the German church (Tyska Kyrka), Storkyrkan (the church where royal weddings are held) in Gamla Stan. The London St Paul Cathedral-style churches like Hedvig Eleonora Kyrka in Östermalm are also nice. I think the best way to take in the beauty of a church is by listening to a classical concert inside those churches.

Stockholm free walking tour: http://freetourstockholm.com/
This is a free 2-3h walk that relies on tips and led by local people. There are three routes: the new city (The City Tour), the old city (Gamla Stan) and the south city (Södermalm). They offer very different things, though I would recommend Gamla Stan tour followed by Södermalm.

If you have only 1-3 days in Stockholm, just travel within the city centre, there's already plenty to see. I personally don't find Drottningholm (the residence of the royal family) to be that exciting. They have a nice garden that is only nice to visit in the summertime. Other than that, the palace is quite far from the city and not much else to see when you get there.

Melodifestivalen, Eurovision, Kalle Anka

There is one thing that Swedes would not admit, and that is how crazy they are about Melodifestivalen and Eurovision. It is a long standing tradition of song contest in Europe. Some prominent Eurovision winners from Sweden are ABBA and Carola. I have to admit that I enjoy watching it myself. It is really just pure entertainment on otherwise trashy stuff on TV, and with watching Eurovision, you also have the added value of learning other European countries' musical preferences. The country that hosts Eurovision also tends to advertise their country for visitors in a humourous way.

Lyrics to Petra Mede's song, the host of Eurovision 2013 in Mälmo, Sweden titled Swedish Smörgåsbord speaks of some interesting Swedish things including "cold" people, playing chess with Death (reference to Ingmar Bergmans's Seventh Seal), nursing daddies and a list of "made-in-Sweden" stuff.

I've had the privilege that the past three years I live in Sweden, Sweden was winning Eurovision twice (in 2012 with Loreen and in 2015 with Måns Zelmerlöw). How it works: Melodifestivalen is the national Swedish song contest and the way it works (voting system, semi finals, final) is very similar to Eurovision. Melodifestivalen precedes Eurovision, in the sense that the winner of Melodifestivalen will be sent to Eurovision in that very same year (yes, Melodifestivalen in February and Eurovision in May). The song contest differs from American reality show like Idol because every participant (mostly already established singers) sticks to only one song throughout the whole contest. This makes it easier for viewers to get hooked onto the song as opposed to the quality of the performer. Have you noticed that when you listen to a song for the first time and after you listen to it several times, your impression on the song changes? It's the repetition that counts.

Another Swedish thing they do on TV during Christmas time is Kalle Anka. Every year on December 24th at 3pm, half of Sweden sits down in front of television for a family viewing of the 1958 Walt Disney Presents Christmas special, "From All of Us to All of You" Or as it is known in Sweden as Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul (Donald Duck and his friends wish you a Merry Christmas). I grew up in Sweden as a child and my father recorded this show and brought it to Indonesia. It's only when I came back to Sweden as an adult that I realised that this was actually a very Swedish thing.

English international church & Persekutuan Kristen

Here are some options for English-language international churches in Stockholm:

Immanuelskykan (location: city center) (pronounced "Immanuel-sheerkan"), or the Immanuel Church: http://www.immanuel.se/international/, for the English language congregation (it's not bilingual). There are also Swedish and Korean services at the same time but on different venues.

New Life Church (location: Alvik): for bilingual English and Swedish language service. Good if you wish to learn some Swedish or have a Swedish spouse.

Hillsong Stockholm (location: city center and Märsta). The service is only in Swedish, but they provide English translation on headseats/speakers. Make sure you join an English speaking Connect group to know people more personally.

There are other churches and fellowship groups. I present only the ones I have attended myself. 

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Setahu saya, tidak ada gereja khusus berbahasa Indonesia di Stockholm. Anda dapat ikut persekutuan Kristen PRII Stockholm (Persekutuan Reformed Injili Indonesia di Stockholm): http://prii-stockholm.blogspot.se/ (juga same dengan http://www.grii-stockholm.org/). 

Swedish restaurants

When you're in Sweden, of course you want to get a taste of the real Swedish food. Surprisingly there are not that many authentic Swedish food restaurants. The Swedish street food has been taken over by American-influenced hot dogs, Middle Eastern's kebab that also sells burgers and pizzas, and more recently, Thai wok and Japanese sushi. Swedes love fish and healthy food (and no deep fried!), which explains why sushi corners are everywhere around the corner!

Unfortunately, being an Indonesian means very likely that you will dislike Swedish food. For us it is either too creamy, too salty or just bland.

If, however, you insist on trying Swedish food, just stick to IKEA meatballs (I am serious!) because it is cheap and good enough. There are two IKEAs in Stockholm area and none of them is located in the city centre. One is in the north, a short busride from Jakobsberg pendeltåg station (IKEA Barkarby) and one in the south, within walking distance from Skärholmen subway station (IKEA Kungens Kurva).

There have been more and more restaurants that try to be creative in their food flavour and presentation using local Swedish products. I can recommend Smörgåstårtariet, Lilla Ego and Speceriet. Table reservation is highly recommended if you want to eat out in a good restaurant in Stockholm.

Asian supermarkets and restaurants that suit the Indonesian palate

There are several Asian markets in Stockholm. I usually go to Oriental or Hong Kong Trading. Both are located around Hötorget. So far I only found Indomie and other Indonesian products in Hong Kong Trading, but they have recently changed owners and the Indonesian products supply seems affected by this change.

There is one Indonesian cafe/bistro called Erna's Bistro (the owner, Erna is Indonesian) near Gärdet subway station. A new Indonesian restaurant just opened in January 2017 in Solna, it's called Restaurang Jakarta, and the owner, Fiona, is Indonesian. I have tried Restaurang Jakarta and can vouch for its authenticity.

Food that suits Indonesian palate is perhaps Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, Mexican and Middle Eastern food to an extent (more Turkish, maybe Lebanese, for Persian, only the meat skewers and rice).

South American food would also sit quite well with the Indonesian palate. I can definitely recommend Supper close to Rådmansgatan T-bana station.

Asian restaurants that I have tried to be acceptable:

Tjabba Thai for their fried red tilapia (it's like Indonesian gurame goreng) and stir fried water spinach (a.k.a. kangkung). Located at the far end of Drottninggatan, past Hötorget.

PhoBun and Eatnam if you crave for Vietnamese spring roll and beef pho, located near Rådmansgatan and Odenplan, respectively.

Shogun for the best dim sum in Stockholm, located near Gamla Stan.

Chopsticks and Tang for good Chinese buffet, both located close to T-centralen and Åhlens.

Chili Masala for Indian food, located close to Solna pendeltåg station. The owners are Pakistani, but they also have a good and large selection of vegetarian food.

Long Term Stay

VISA (for Indonesians)

For long term stay

(WARNING: This was valid in 2010-2011. It may have changed by the time you read this post.)
When you apply for visa to Sweden for reasons such as studies or employment (spouse visa doesn't apply here), make sure you state the date for entering and leaving as at least ONE YEAR EXACTLY, NOT EVEN A DAY LESS. For instance, just put the date in the form as 1 June 2014 until 1 June 2015, even though in reality your flight is from 4 June and you're not even sure yet when you leave Sweden. This matters because when you have the visa to be less than one year, you cannot apply for personnummer once you are in Sweden. Any further extension of visa after you enter Sweden can be done in Migrationsverket. 

PERSONNUMMER

Personnummer is like the Swedish social security number. It starts with the yymmdd of your birthdate, followed by four digit number. You get this number by going to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) and this is where your visa date period matters. You need personnummer for so many things in Sweden and without it, you don't really exist in Sweden. Of course, you can get by without a personnummer, but life would be inconvenient.

ID kort

The Swedish identity card (ID kort) is optional, but again it makes life easier because you don't need to carry your passport around whenever it is necessary to show valid ID (legitimation). You apply for ID kort to Skatteverket after you have a personnummer. The thing is, there you must show proof of transfer to their bank account giro, no cash accepted. They will however accept international transfer. Just make sure you have the proof of transfer and wait for at least a day or more until the money is in. They will tell you to come back another day when they check that the money is not yet in. A residence card from Migrationsverket is usually not accepted as valid ID because it does not contain your personnummer. 

SFI

SFI stands for svenska för invandrare or Swedish for immigrants. When you have personnummer, you are entitled to have Swedish course for free at the kommun you are living in. If you want to study in a kommun other than your kommun, you need to first get the permission from your kommun. For someone with a university degree and proficiency in English, I would say it takes about 6 months full time to complete level C and D. With a university degree, you can also opt for Swedish course at Stockholm university, and it's called svenska som främmande språk. It's better structured and has better quality of teaching from what I heard (never attended it myself). It is a university course, which means that it is only offered during the two Swedish teaching terms: Höst termin August-December (HT) and Vår termin January-June (VT), and you need to apply in advance, whereas with Sfi you can apply no matter when. You can also change schools for your Sfi if you're not happy with the quality or environment. I did it in Folkuniversitet near Rådmansgatan tunnelbana (subway green line) and I was happy with the teaching. Knowing Swedish helps to understand public announcement as well as understanding the words' spelling and their correct pronounciation. 

Bank ID for internet banking

From your respective bank, you get a keycard and a card reader in order to do any internet transactions. Another useful thing to have is BankID which you can use to log in to websites of myndigheter (authorities) like Skatteverket to access official documents such as personbevis (population register) or declare your taxes. You do this by plugging the cord that you should obtain together with the keycard into your computer, then you install the software for BankID from your bank's website (instructions are mostly in Swedish, google a lot or just invest your time in Sfi). Another way is by installing Mobil BankID app on your smartphone. Most bank personnel in Sweden are helpful and easy to communicate with online and offline, so take advantage of their service if you're not sure how this works.

Housing is extremely difficult to find in Stockholm
I'm sorry to say this, but housing in Stockholm is nearing-hopelessly difficult to find. The best way is to get a Swedish connection, be it through work or study or friends/families, or be on the housing queque as long as one year in advance before you move to Sweden. Even then it may take a while before you can get something more than 6 months to rent. It is easier to get rent for 1-3 month period but who really wants to move once every 2 months? Just be patient, keep searching and always be aware of potential scams. Never pay anything until you see the apartment yourself. For more information, I can recommend this blog: moving2stockholm.