Thursday, January 31, 2008
A month have passed since i came to Finland.
And... I am still surviving. :)
School here is rather stress free. Haha. Don't have any homework, no test to study for... But now there are 2 projects to be done.
For this period, I only have two exams which is in March. But I have to start studying soon because for the sake of holidays and i have a paper either on the 3rd or 4th March. And maybe one paper on 7th March.
Anyway, we have booked the flights and accomodations for our winter holidays:
19 Feb- Lappeenranta-Tampere (Another town in Finland). Camping a night at the airport to catch the early morning flight.
20 Feb- Tampere-Bremen (Germany).
21 Feb- Bremen-Paris (France). The flight cost only 10 euros!
24 Feb- Paris-Barcelona (Spain).
26 Feb- Barcelona-Venice(Italy).
28 Feb- Venice-Rome (Italy).
2 Mar- Rome-Helsinki-Lappeenranta.
So February gonna be really short here!Labels: Finland
10:18 PM
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Sunday, January 27, 2008
Saturday afternoon was spent at Anttila and shopping for groceries!
Cooked dinner and had alot of after dinner treats. From ice cream to chips to biscuits to drinks.
Drink was special- Glogi. We bought it at the supermarket without knowing what it is. And when we took the first sip, it was ewww. Hahaha. But we managed to finish the whole thing.
I searched it on yahoo and it says that it is a spicy Christmas drink from Scandinavia. It is a spiced sweetened hot wine.
Anyway, there were fireworks today! Nice! Gillian gave me a shocked when she went "Eh, fire fire." Hahaaaaaaaaaaa.
After that we went to house party. Someone birthday today and the dinner is on Sunday's night.
Dinner was nice.
Our first Ice Cream here.
Fireworks! The view from the apartment!
At the house party. Shisha...
Labels: Finland
8:37 AM
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Friday, January 25, 2008
Let me show you some of my dinner... The dinner that i cooked with my friends here! Btw, we don't know how to cook. It's our first attempt cooking all the dishes but the food still turn out fine! Maybe some not, but mostly are still nice! But our cooking are improving bit by bit and day by day! Hahaha! Cooking is really fun but not when it comes to washing up! :D
This is our very own Yoshinoya! It's mince beef with carrot. The rice here is horrible though. Eww.
Macoroni with hotdogs and carrot. Although i'm not a fan of macoroni but i just have to eat it!
This is another version of Yoshinoya... Mince Pork with Broccoli.
The Broccoli was too soft so it look like baby food.
But this was really nice.
This is chicken wings with cabbage and carrot.
This is Potato Cutlet with rice. We had a hard time frying but it tasted ok.
This is our Fried Eggs (with ham, cheese and onions), Curry (with potato and carrot) and Pratassss. 
This is marinated pork with cabbage and carrot. Finally we tried a new brand of rice and it taste better now!
YAY!
Labels: Finland
3:21 AM
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Thursday, January 24, 2008
This week didn't had lesson on Tuesday as lesson was cancelled. But we still went to school to settle some admin stuff and paid up my rent for 2 months! So money gone... After that, we went Prisma to buy groceries. At night, we cooked curry that we bought back from Helsinki. That night we had quite a feast. We had curry, prata and eggs. Curry was kinda horrible because it's too salty! So we added alot of water to it! And from 1 pot we ended up with 3 pots! That was the longest meal that we ever cooked here! Hahaha.
Yesterday (Wednesday), we had no class so we went out to shop and in the evening we went to Sammonlahti Church. Its the only English speaking group in Lappeenranta. The pastor was kind enough to give us a lift to the Church. First time we travel by car here! So cool. They just started the whole thing yesterday but there were quite a handful of international students attending the open bible study. The Church is nice too. Took photos there as well.
Today (Thursday) went to school for just one lesson and after that went to the guys' apartment to plan for our Winter Break Holiday. My Winter Break is on the 25 February- 29February. But we gonna leave a week earlier so that we can travel around to more places. For now, we decided to leave our little town here on 19 February to Tampere (Another town in Finland, heard that its a very beautiful place). From there we will head to Germany (Bremen), France (Paris), Spain (Barcelona), Italy (Venice and Rome). Hope our plan will go well and we will not be too tired to travel around.
Winter here is getting colder! And it will get colder in February. It's a good thing that we are going to escape to the warmer countries. Excited!
Spring, come!!!Labels: Finland
11:49 PM
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Sunday, January 20, 2008
We woke up at 4.30am in the morning, walked half an hour to the train station at Lappeenranta. It was snowing heavily while we were walking... Walking in the snow is not fun at all!
Armed with only a map, we took the first VR at 6.35am to Helsinki! We were welcomed by rain and strong winds! The temperature was about 3 degress but the wind was very strong! Super cold...
We walked around everywhere by foot. Kept getting drenched but my outer coat is my life-saver!
Although it was a tiring trip but all of us had fun!
Helsinki is really happening! How i wish i live there instead... Lappeenranta is seriously a quiet town!
Helsinki Train Station!
We went SHOPPING first because it was too cold outside!
Labels: Finland
8:25 PM
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Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Helloooo!
Today i have no class so every Wednesday will be a FREE DAY for me!
I woke up real late today at 12pm.
I just had cereal for breakfast at 3pm. Lolx.
Anyway, yesterday i sort of finalized the modules that i wanna take. But still need approval from S'pore side. Im currently taking only 3 modules until 7 March.
The number of hours per lesson here is killing me! It's 3 hours at one go! There's no tutorial here. Just normal classes. THEY DON'T TAKE ATTENDANCE HERE ALSO! Haha! But i will say that the system here is VERY flexible which is a good thing. :)
Even though today is a FREE DAY, i still have to do housework! Just sweep my room awhile ago. Suppose to do laundry this morning BUT overslept so erm, doing this evening if the washing machines are not occupied. Cooking dinner tonight as well. So many household chores! I really can't wait to go back home! Haha!
There's a house party again tonight at 9pm at someone's flat. Attended my first house party on Sunday night. It was a last minute thing. Actually i don't wanna go but my roommate came to fetch all of us so we have no choice but to go. All the students there are international students, mostly from Russia. That day was a Russian guy birthday and also their Russian New Year. So they were like celebrating and all that.
I have one assignment on hand. Have to search for a newspaper article and talk about it for 5 mins! Lolx. That's for English Conversation. I don't even know if that module will be approve because it's learning English. If not i have to take a really really boring 3 hours class that is on Monday at 8AM! Argh.Labels: Finland
9:20 PM
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Sunday, January 13, 2008
Today weather was about 3 degrees and it was very difficult to walk on the road because the snow melted and it's very wet and slippery.
We went to PRISMA (the huge hypermarket)! We had lunch there and stock up on a whole week of groceries!
My birthday treat. Thanks to Gillian, Mariana and Jerald.
In Prisma- The whole row of sweets and chocolates that makes you feel that YOU HAVE TO BUY SOMETHING!!! 
So i got myself a DARK CHOCOLATE!
Heartshape makaroni.
By the time we bought our groceries, it was 4pm and the sky was dark and misty...
Day time are really short here.
Labels: Finland
1:28 AM
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Saturday, January 12, 2008
Today i attended my first class... Business Negotiation! And my goodness... its so so so boring! Its learning ENGLISH. Im thinking of not taking this module.
Now the school is in their 3rd period and they offered us 6 modules but i can choose to go for only 3 modules and do another 3 modules in the 4th period. But now there's a little problem with the modules that i want to take. Anyway, hope that it will be solve on Monday.
Photos of the school that i took today.
The school is small!
Weather are good these two days... 0 degree! I wore 1 layer less today!
Labels: Finland
4:43 AM
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Friday, January 11, 2008
01.12.05
"Life is a carousel: Sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down, and sometimes you just go round and round."
10:44 PM
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Wednesday, January 09, 2008
I turned 19 today. Can't believe im this young. Haha.
Today was Home Sweet Home. This morning was snowing quite heavy so decided not to go out.
Anyway, thanks for the birthday wishes.
GLADYS-
Thank you for being the first to wish me at 1200 (S'pore time) by sending me an e-mail even though we were chatting on msn. Let's go eat chocolate cake and buy gifts when i come back. Im really glad that our birthday falls on the same month! :)
GWEN-
Thank you for being the first one to SMS at mid-night (S'pore time). You still can celebrate my other birthdays with me! AND I DROPPED YOU AN E-MAIL YESTERDAY! YOU STILL HAVE NOT TELL ME WHO! HAHA.
RACHEL (My ex-retail IC)-
Although you won't be reading this, i still wanna say thank you for the SMS.
Anyway, i miss Sunday A. I WANT GO BACK TEAM A!!!
SERENE-
Wow. Suprise me at 1200 in the morning (MY TIME!). Although i fall asleep already, i still saw the message this morning. Thanks alot! So touched that you make the effort to wake up at 6AM!
JEAN-
Wow. Another suprise at 1200 in the morning (MY TIME!). Thank you for typing out a BIRTHDAY SONG FOR ME! Im also touched that you woke up at 6AM! I MISS YOU! SHINE AT YOUR WORKPLACE!
VERA-
Thanks VERA! Miss you too! Study hard too. Im going to meet my teacher in school tomorrow! I want to go to school. Im getting bore here!!!
JUSTINE-
Thank you for the SMS as well! Im getting used to the lifestyle here already. Infact, im getting a little bore! I spent my whole afternoon watching movies online! HAHA! LOVE YA.
LOUISA-
Thank you for typing out the BIRTHDAY SONG FOR ME and the wishes as well! Also, thanks for all the encourging words and messages so far! LOVE YA.
Ailing-
Thank you for remembering my birthday all these years! HAHAHA.
Minghui-
Thank you for the SMS! Miss you too and i replied your e-mail!
MUM-
THANK YOU FOR THE E-MAIL. I WISH YOU ARE HERE WITH ME!!! AND WHERE IS MY ANGBAO??? WHAT ABOUT DADDY? LOL.
AUDREY-
THANK YOU FOR YOUR WISHES IN MSN. AND ALL THE WEB CAM! HAHA.
AUBREY-
THANK YOU FOR DRAWING ME A BIRTHDAY CAKE IN MSN ALTHOUGH ITS UGLY. OOPS. =X
And to the rest that wish,
Devina, Yuri, Siok yee, Kelly, Sijia, Shao Ni, Jace, Fads, Jasmine, Sandar, Isabel, Seewan, Huiyi, Huiru, Chunyin, Huiwen, Hazel, Angeline, Stella and others... Sorry can't name all. BIG THANKS!
To Mariana and Gillian who wish me first thing in the morning! Love you girls and i hope we can have CRAZY FUN here! Thank you Andy and Jerald for coming over to the apartment to wish me as well.
Also that day at the airport, thanks guys for the cake and the card! I really like the card alot! Its yellow also!!! My favourite colour! :)
To Catherine, Monica and Aunt Rosie-
THANKS FOR THE ANGBAO!!! NEVER EXPECT IT. :D
Oh yes, i also have Birthday present from school as well. Hahaha. Mr Fuan called me but i didn't pick up! I was wondering why he call me?! I dropped him an e-mail and he told me that i received an award for outstanding performace in TEP. I want to laugh can?! Haha. My whole group got the award!
SO... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, ELEANOR!!!
Time to cook rice! Yes, rice for dinner today. Have not eaten rice since i come here! HAHAHA! I MISS CHINESE FOOD...
I should be happy this year because i have 30 hours of birthday. YAY! :DLabels: Finland
11:04 PM
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Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Today was LOVELY!
Nice weather. It was snowing when we went out. But it's not THAT cold. -9 degrees.
The streets are pretty. Covered with snow! :)
Finn drinks alot of kahvi (means coffee in Finnish). More coffee per person is drunk in Finland more than anywhere else in the world. 
After we done our groceries shopping
We have no idea what the words are. But we had fun writting on the snow.
Healthy Dinner?
Labels: Finland
4:59 AM
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Sunday, January 06, 2008
Today we went out to walk walk again. Weather was very cold today. It was -10.8 degrees this afternoon. I have not use any heat pad or toe pad so far (trying not to rely on them).
I bought a snow boots from Anttila at 17.90 euros!
Had lunch today at this shop. I think i am going to get sick of all this food! Here they only sell pizza, kebab or burgers!
Kebab with fries for 5.90euros! Super filling. Don't need dinner.
Stock up groceries again.
These machines are common in Finland.
The time here seems to pass much slower compared to Singapore! Every time around 4pm here i will already feel sleepy and feel like sleeping! Here is quite boring. No television to watch. Okay, i'm going to watch Attention Please online now. Continue from where i stopped a few months ago. And i have not finish watching Romantic Princess too! Haha!
Labels: Finland
2:24 AM
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Saturday, January 05, 2008
Third day here. Kind of getting used to the weather already. But today was really cold! I hope school starts soon. Im not really enjoying myself here. Everyday is the same routine. We still need to get some stuff done and clean the house! HAHA! Today i finally web cam with mum and sister! Okay photos! I finally took photos of the apartment this morning!
The view from my room at 8.20am this morning.
My room. Quite spacious! My bed is on the right.
Kitchen.
Our meals table.
This is how the apartments looks like from outside.
This is my block. Huopatehtaanleatu 4A 6/1.
Isn't the background nice?! :)
We walk around the town again.
I like this Simpsons. Cute!
Had our lunch at the pizza and kebab shop... SAIMAAN.
Isn't the Pizza huge?! Five of us shared the 2 huge pizza which cost 25 euros.
After that we went to the Smart Supermarket to grab food for dinner and stock up our food supply. We cooked for the first time today.
Potatoes.
Spaghetti sauce... Our dinner. Cooking is so much cheaper! This meal cost us 1.20 euros per person. And there are still some left overs! HAHA.
Labels: Finland
3:53 AM
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Friday, January 04, 2008
Today's my second day in Lappeenranta.
I have more or less settledown abit.
This afternoon we went out to have a walk around the neighbourhood town. We went to the bank. Suppose to deposit my bank draft but i didn't bring along the school letter so i have to go back tomorrow morning to open the account. And i have to pay like 35 euros for the procedure! At first we were trying to look out for a bank and we somehow saw a word that is like a bank so we decided to went in and ask if its a bank. HAHA! The bank over here looks different from the banks in Singapore.
After that, went around searching for traveller's adapter. So that i can use it to charge my laptop, hangphone and camera. I think it is better to get them in Singapore than get from here because we had quite a hard time searching for it. Those that we found were not suitable.
Anyway, i realized that for this trip i did not bring alot of things over. I was thinking of just getting them from here. But i think it would be better to buy them from Singapore. Especially FOOD. Like instant noodles! This can help save some money. Also things like kitchen utensils. We used a knife to open a can of tuna for brunch today as we didn't have a can opener! Lolx. Okay, nvm. Next time i will know what to do if i were to travel. Audrey, ask me for tips okay. Muahaha.
Actually wanted to go to the supermarket to get some food stuff so that we can cook dinner but in the end was quite late by the time we get the stuff that we needed.
These few days are free days for us here until school starts on next Thursday, 10 January.
Photos again.
This was taken outside my apartment. Today was another cold day. It was negative 9 degrees.
SAMPO is a BANK! And we didn't know. So we went to the other bank that is furthur away.
dna is Finland telephone service provider. Went into the shop and took a look at the handphones. They are the same as Singapore. I don't think its cheaper although Nokia origin is here. I think its more expensive here. Sorry Aubrey boy, i can't get you a phone from here. Haha.
Mostly they sell pizza and kebab over here.
This was my dinner. We da bao it at some grill stand. The guys came over to our apartment for dinner today. This burger alone cost me 4euros (SIN8.40). Expensive right?!
Labels: Finland
4:57 AM
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Thursday, January 03, 2008
Hello everyone!
I HAVE SAFELY ARRIVED IN FINLAND, LAPPEENRANTA!!! :)
The city here is really beautiful and peaceful. The snow makes the city even more dreamy! :)
My journey here all the way from Singapre was not an easy one at all. It was a long long long jouney. Flight to London was 13 hours long and transit time at London was 5 hours! SUPER BORING! And from London to Helsinki was about less than 3 hours.
AND JUST AS WE ALL THOUGHT THAT WE CAN FINALLY CHECK INTO THE HOTEL TO GET SOME REST, MY LUGGAGE DIDN'T APPEAR! AND TWO OF MY FRIENDS GUITARS WASN'T THERE AS WELL. THIS SUCKS! :(
this was really a heartattack for me. Get me all worried about my luggage! ALL MY CLOTHES ARE INSIDE! I didn't had any winter clothes with me. So went to check with the counter and all they told me was that my luggage and the two guitars are probably on the next flight which was 9PM! And they didn't have any information about my luggage. So there wasn't any confirmation at all! That time was like 5pm. SO WHAT TO DO? WAIT AT THE AIRPORT FOR 4 HOURS. Wait and wait and wait and FINALLY MY LUGGAGE CAME! Thank God!
When we stepped out of the airport, the coldness and snow welcome us! I was pretty excited and thrill to see snow for the first time in my life! HAHAHAHA! Took a bus at the airport to the hotel but the bus don't drop us at the hotel so we have to walk quite a distance to the hotel. THAT WAS REALLY PHYSICALLY DRAINING. It was snowing and the temperature was below 0 degree (i suppose) and i have to drag my 25KG luggage and carry my backpack. I almost died. Most of us almost died. The weather was freezing cold and the snow make it even harder. When we finally reached the hotel, we put down everything and showered. That was THE BEST feeling as we didn't shower for more than 24 hours! Hungry and tired, we just went to sleep anyway. It was a good sleep though. I slept for like 5 hours.
We had to get up early this morning for breakfast. We had our very first meal in Finland! This morning was it snowing again. This time we decided to take a Taxi to take us to the Train Station. No more walking, its crazy to walk with our luggage and in the snow. We bought the tickets and boarded the train (they called it VR) exactly at 10AM (we almost missed it!).
Finally after 2hours plus, we arrived at Lappeenranta. A school in-charge came to meet us at the train station and she called a Taxi for us to take us to our apartment. The weather here in Lappeenranta is colder than Helsinki. It was -5 degrees this afternoon. No wonder it feels so cold!
The taxi dropped us right infront of our apartment. My street name is Huopatehtaankatu. (Katu means Street). My apartment is on the second floor. 4 people sharing an apartment with 2 to a room. My roommate is away (I think she went travelling... I am sharing a room with a girl from China). My room is quite big. But not in the best condition... Lol! At least i have a decent bed, a study table (with internet cable- this is very imporatant) , a closet and a bookshelf. The basic stuff that i need to get by... HAHA! We have a toilet, kitchen as well as a little table to eat our meals. Not to forget the balcony! But now that it is winter, not too good to go out to the balcony! HAHAHA! Well so everything is good for now! The view from my room is very pretty as well. The streets are covered with snow. :)
Today unpacked everything and then the tutors came to bring us and walk around the neighbourhood. They sort of orientate us around the city, showing us the supermarket and stuff! The town is big but very little people on the street! Awesome in a way!
My day time and night time are all screwd up. I think i have jet lag. And over here, the sunset at about 3pm. So most of the time it is DARK. Very gloomy because of winter. But i don't mind because i don't like the sun anway! Hahaha!
So today was a tiring day. But at least we finally reached here and more or less settle down abit. Althogh the thought of having to do everything myself made me feel like going home already.
Anyway PHOTOS! Took me so long to upload them...
Home
Before leaving to the airport.
At the terminal 1 departure hall
Cutting my birthday cake. It was really a pleasant suprise! Thank guys! 
The card is really nice! Very unique. :)
On the plane
At London, Heathrow Airport.
Last photo before we go our separate ways!
Group Photo! There were 15 of us on the same flight. 10 of them are going to France, Nice.
In the airport during the dreaded transit time...
This is a chewable toothbrush! I took this in the toilet. Lolx. First time i came across such thing!
Helsinki Airport
THE PLACE WHERE I WAITED FOR MY LUGGAGE FOR 4 HOURS!
King Arthur Hotel
This is the view from my hotel room. 
The hotel room is kinda big. Its for 4 people. I think the hotel is very expensive. Consider the fact that we checked in late. Paid like 36 euros just for a night. SIN $75.60 per person.
THIS IS WHERE WE HAD BREAKFAST THIS MORNING! OUR VERY FIRST MEAL!
After breakfast at the lobby.
While waiting for the Taxi to come. All wrapped up because it was seriously freezing! 
In the Taxi. Btw, Taxi meter starts at 5 something euros if i am not wrong! (1 EURO = 2.10 SIN). Spotted McDonalds!
The train station.
FOOD!
We went to KKK Supermarket to get Bread, Margarine, Eggs, Milk, Tuna, Soap Powder, Shampoo and toilet paper.
AND THE SUPERMARKET HERE DON'T PROVIDE PLASTIC BAG! HAVE TO PAY FOR THEM! I THINK I READ IT SOMEWHERE BEFORE BUT I FORGOT ABOUT IT!
We had instant noodles and bread for dinner today! Wanted to eat something good but in the end we walked the wrong place and it was too cold to walk out to grab food so we just settle for this!
Mariana, Gillian and i had a good laugh over dinner time... Don't know why Mariana kept on laughing and laughing. The funny thing is Gillian used hot water and told us to put the eggs inside which apprarently the egg won't get cook at all! We wanted HARDBOIL EGGS! And for that we actaully have to boil it for quite some time! Lolx.
So we decided that when school starts, we are just going to da bao our dinner from school because cooking is just too troublesome!
Labels: Finland
3:51 AM
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Our first Ice Cream here.
This is another version of Yoshinoya... 
This is chicken wings with cabbage and carrot. 
This is our Fried Eggs (with ham, cheese and onions), Curry (with potato and carrot) and Pratassss. 
This is marinated pork with cabbage and carrot. 
We were stuck in this shop for an hour plus!
The Three Smiths.
Helsinki University. 
Senate Square. 
The building behind us is Helsinki University Library. 
Love the background!
A fun shot! This was taken with self-timer! I wonder why we all squeeze together when there is so much space?! HAHAHA! 
A second fun shot. This time we space out a little! Lolx.
Inside the Cathedral.
Their so called Chinatown. They sell asian food products there! But it ain't cheap at all.
PRATA! We bought back PRATA and Curry Powder! 
My burger and coke. Long time since i drank coke. So the coke is precious! Lolx. And they only have ketchup here. No chilli. I love chilli! 
My birthday treat. Thanks to Gillian, Mariana and Jerald.
In Prisma- The whole row of sweets and chocolates that makes you feel that YOU HAVE TO BUY SOMETHING!!! 
So i got myself a DARK CHOCOLATE! 
Heartshape makaroni.
They use blackboard in classroom. This classroom is really small!
The international office that only open on Wednesday.
Outside view of the school.
The main entrance of the school.
That round thing is a water tank. 
After school shot.
Street performance!
We have no idea what the words are. 
Kebab with fries for 5.90euros! Super filling. Don't need dinner.
Stock up groceries again.
I like this Simpsons. Cute! 
Isn't the Pizza huge?! 
Potatoes.
Spaghetti sauce... 
This was taken outside my apartment. 
This was my dinner. We da bao it at some grill stand. The guys came over to our apartment for dinner today. This burger alone cost me 4euros (SIN8.40). Expensive right?!
After breakfast at the lobby.
Before taking the VR.
In the train to Lappeenranta. 
I got a prepaid card today. This can only be used to make local calls. But sms can be sent overseas as well.