Day 1: Singapore - Helsinki
- Check in counter 9, paradise inn dinner, last minute money changing to euros, panasonic camera that slipped out of my hands due to lack of stock, gate 41, and off we fly to helsinki.
- Food and entertainment on board was fantabulous. Macaroni and shrimps in tomato paste, cookie, bread, cake, water, juice, coffee, tea, red wine, white wine. Then the next meal was breakfast: Egg, wedges, broccoli, mushrooms, yoghurt, juice, bread. It was overwhelming and all I thought was my budget airline days are over! Finally something decent and a damn good start to our trip.
- Watched: Elephants and water, My super ex-girlfriend, Rio (partial) and listened to Korean pop to sleep as the relaxation was just someone talking you into imagining stuff which was even more disturbing while you are trying to sleep.
- Arrived Helsinki at around 7am local time
- Looked for bus and baggage lock took almost 3hrs but we got to lock both our big luggages at €5 per day.. If we left it at the counter it would be €5 per piece per day.. Money saving!
- The leg of our luggage broke off due to heavy handling of the aircraft and we lodged a complain but it wouldn't help throughout our trip since they couldn't get it fixed on the spot. So our luggage is now hurt but plastered to prevent further damage... You should see the bright orange tape.. Lolx.. It looks cute...
- I was so tired I slept for a brief moment on bus 615 on our way to town that costs €4. The yellowing leaves and clear blue sky's fascinated me but made me realize that visiting Europe is nice but to stay long here for studies or work might not work out for me... It made me realize how much courage you need to be on foreign land and how lonely I will feel if my family weren't here with me.. I love solitude sometimes, just to cope with the hustle and bustle between work and family to give myself some quality time with myself but not always...
- Walked almost 20 mins to Hotel Finn and checked in. The red and black interior made it a really chic and tasteful place. Everywhere smelled like it was ikea due to the parquet floor. They had one room prepared and so we dragged our tired bodies in and lied on the 2 beds - 606. The weather was chilly so we opened the windows... Bright sun shone into our room but it didn't feel hot and sticky but warm and welcoming...
- Not long later, our second room was prepared... This room smelled of ikea once again as everything interior was from ikea. Nice layout and more spacious than the first room - room 616. I still smell ikea at this time while I am typing my daily diary... Lolx..
- We rested for a while longer then got to wash up to set off into our Helsinki adventure... We didn't get to clean up during our flight..
- Walked to market square, bought some berries at €4 and the gentleman didn't want to give me my change and said byebye but i said no byebye and smiled before he turned to get me my change acting dramatically saying that I gave him big big cash (i must say isn't he a bit old to play such tricks? And it is not funny at all... What was the big big money for? And I do understand English but not baby language.. But all in all it was in good cheer) and had lunch: reindeer plate €10, pancake €4, salmon soup €6, coffee €2, hot choco/kakkao €3 settled for us five.. And the ladies serving are really nice and pretty. I felt like a kiddo buying ice cream because I not only look young amongst them but also had to spell out what I wanted item by item.
- Walked towards some viking ship and took photos there, then an old street near Viking lane that was quite deserted.. Then to uspenski cathedral and Helsinki cathedral in senate square. People were covering the steps with rugs and seated on them. I think it would be to touristy to climb and sit on the rugs to take photos so I didn't do it... But I took it in the background. It was a really beautiful and colorful sight. And with the cathedral in the background it feels a most sacred at that time. I joked about getting sunburnt as the sun was up and it shone so brightly on the cathedral and rugs they were blinding. Then Min suggested I do the Eskimo look with my hood on so that I can sort of copy misery bear and try to be emo as I would not have the chance to dress with hood in Singapore. Worth thinking about...
Dad helped Min and I to take photos but totally cut off the cathedral in the background so we were so tickled that we gave up on asking him to retake...
- Shopping at Halonem departmental where ko bought his tux for €50, H&M €15 shorts and ko's acrylic faux fur hat €15, and then Stockmann supermarket where we got bananas over the high price of bananas €1.55 for only like 6 bananas (a lost €3 per kg), milk €0.85 x3, yoghurt €3.25 x2, cornflakes €1.65. I can almost say it is both our Dinner and next day's breakfast and if course I paid for them...
- Then we head back to our hotel (home sweet home) and started munching our way first into yoghurt then added cornflakes and berries that we bought. Drank milk and then was told to rest before we explored the night life... But I slept through my handphone alarm and by the time I woke up was 12am local time... So here I sit warmly in my bed typing away and thinking of what adventures I would experience tomorrow...

Signing off at 2.25 local time... Night