Eleanor

Embracing 2009!

2009-01-01T14:11:00.003+08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Have a blessed 2009! :)

Blogging @

http://eleanorang.livejournal.com/

Jakarta on 07.06.08-11.06.08

2008-06-12T23:25:00.006+08:00

Hi, i am having 2 weeks of term break now! :) :) :)

I had spent a good 5 days in Jakarta!! I just came back yesterday evening! All i do there was shop shop shop and eat eat eat eat... Thank you Mariana for all the delicious food and for bringing me around to shop!! Heehee... Love you JellyJelly... :P

It was a good break for me, away from all the school work... Ever since i came back in May, i had been so busy with school that i hardly had time for leisure. So i had a really good holiday there. :D

Now my laptop is playing songs from BetterDays by Sidney Mohede. I got the CD from a christian CD shop in indo and it's much cheaper than if i get in from S'pore! It cost around 8bucks and it's original! :)

"All we need is Love, Hope and Faith to bring us closer to our Better Days..." SidneyMohede

Back home and getting used to life once again.

2008-05-30T10:21:00.003+08:00

I am getting used to life back home once again... Im no longer missing Finland as much as i did...

It took me at least a week to adjust. When i just came back i was so stress every single day and i had a hard time sleeping but now i guess everything is back to normal. :)

Well, this week was another busy week in school with ICAs and next week will be a busier week with even more ICAs! SO STRESS!!! Hopefully i can understand whatever that i need to study as i have already missed out on those lectures...

Okay, i have an ICA later so gotta study!

The verse of the month:
Philippians 4:6-7
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thankgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Life is stressful since i am back in S'pore!

2008-05-24T21:35:00.004+08:00

It has been almost a week since i came back! I still remember last week this day i spent the day walking around and shopping in Lappeenranta!!

Ever since i came back, life is so stressful! I have to adjust to school and catch up the 3 weeks of lessons that i have missed! Furthermore, i still have jet lag! I can't seems to fall asleep at night. I can only sleep like at 2am or later. And then the next morning i have to get up at 7am for class! I hope i will be able to adjust real soon!!!

Anyway on Thursday, i finally met Shirleen, Huiyi and Darren in school for lunch! It was nice to meet them after not seeing them for so long!!! And i also finally meet Mariana again! Haha! And we went to look for Mr Tan (the teacher that is in-charge of sending us to Finland) and the best thing was he didn't even recognise us! This was what happened that day when we went into his office!

Mari and I: Hi!
Mr Tan: Hi, what is it regarding? (He said something like that)
Mari and I: Err....
*Before we could say anything, he continued*
Mr Tan: You all look familiar, i taught you all before right??
Mari and I: No! *Laugh*
Mr Tan: You too looked like sisters leh.
Mari and I: *Laugh again*
Me: We just came back from Finland!
Mr Tan: OMG!!! You all look so different!!

HAHAHAHA! ;p

He said we looked different in the photo that i e-mail him because we were all puffed up in our winter wear! Lolx. He told us that we have to do a presentation on our experience in Finland to the school's director on 5th June together with the students who went to Paris for exchange!

Well, now i am looking forward to the 2 weeks of term break in June! :D

Back home in S'pore!

2008-05-20T18:55:00.005+08:00

I am back in S'pore! :D

Touched down yesterday at around 5.10pm!

Thank you to those that came to the airport! Much appreciated! :P

My flight was 16 hours long, including the transit time, 18 hours! Before that i took a bus from Lappeenranta to Helsinki Airport and the journey on the bus was 3.5 hours! So imagine the long journey back to S'pore! I was so exhausted that i slept from 1am to 3pm!!!

Tomorrow i will have to go back to school! DAMN SAD! :(

And the weather in S'pore is SO HOT...
The day that i left Lappeenranta it was 9 degree and raining! Mariana said that the sky is crying because we are leaving... Hahaha!

Okay, i gotta go and pack my luggage now and sort out stuff...

Goodbye Finland!

2008-05-18T01:55:00.012+08:00

Moi!

Today is my last day here in Finland and it's also my last time blogging in Finland!!

Today i went to walk around the town for the last time and i did some shopping as well. Yes, i may complain about how boring and uninteresting this small town is but then again, i like the peacfulness and quietness of this town! Today we also went to Altun Kebab for dinner to eat their kebab and fries for the last time!

How fast time flies!! 4 and the half months has past! But i am really glad to be on this exchange programme and i never regret coming to Finland!

The beautiful memories will always be kept in my heart. I thank God for all the things that has happened here and for all the friends that i get to know here. I don't know if i will ever meet them again... Hopefully someday somehow in some parts of the world we will all meet again!Kittos to all... And hopefully one day i will visit Finland again! ;p

I'll be flying back tomrrow and arrive in Singapore on Monday at 5.15pm! Well, i can't describe exactly how i am feeling now... But i know for sure that i will miss Finland and everyone!

Scandinavian Trip 2008!

2008-05-16T05:46:00.005+08:00

I am back from my Scandinavian trip on Tuesday night! This time i took a bus from Helsinki Airport all the way back to Lappeenranta instead of coming back by VR. The bus ride was about 3.5 hours which is much longer than coming back by VR. But it's ok because we get to see other beautiful city. The sky was very beautiful on that day! I am amazed! God had made this world beautiful. :)

My trip to Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen was a pretty relax one. We cruise from Turku to Stockholm and this time the ship was more stable compared to the time we cruise to Tallinn. We had fun on the ship by shopping in the stores and playing cards in our cabin. We paid only like 10 euros for the cruise for 4 person! Isn't it such a good deal? ;p

We reached Stockholm in the morning and we spent the day at the Old Town. Stockholm is a beautiful town. It's really nice there especially the Old Town where there is a whole stretch of shops... And around noon at the Royal Palace the guards change their duty. The soldiers are really cool with marching and all that. Like a military parade. :)

But the unfortunate thing is that my camera got stolen in the Hostel! It's too long to explain it here. Just sad that my photos taken in the cruise and the my first day in Stockholm are gone! The video of the soldiers are gone as well! Sigh! At night we decided to look for a police station to make a police report! We had to ask people where the police staion is located as we do not know where... We met a really nice and helpful couple who walked us all the way to the Police Station. However the police station was close! But thank God, a police came along and he told us to take the train to the HQ that is open 24/7. I waited half an hour for my turn to make a report and then finally head back to the Hostel.

The next morning, woke up and spent another day in Stockholm and we took an overnight bus to Oslo. Oslo is really an expensive city! Like 1 McDonald meal cost around 8 euros! I don't like it in Oslo! The people are not friendly and we experience a really bad service when we order food at one of their fast food store. I remembered that we were all so lazy to even see the attractions like going to the the Viking museum or even their famous Park. We only walked around the City Centre... It was really boring in Oslo! The next day it was a public holiday and all the shops were close!! So we just visit the fortress in the morning and spent the rest of the day walking around... Finally at night it was time to leave! Oslo is really disappointing!!

We took an overnight bus to Copenhagen and along the journey the sky at was so beautiful!! I feel happy by looking at the sky!! I should have taken a photo of the sky but Mariana said that the camera won't be able to reflect it and it's only meant for our eyes to see! Well, at least i saw something nice in Oslo! :D

We reached Copenhagen in the morning and this time we stay in a Hotel instead of a Hostel. Initially we were supposed to stay in a 32 people Hostel but we decided to forgo our deposit and booked a Hotel instead. I am glad we did as we could check in immediately, showered and slept a little before heading for the attractions! When we were in Copenhagen, it was a public holiday as well! It was Pentecost Sunday and all the shops were close!

So we decided to go to Guinness World of Records Museum and The Mystic Exploratorie. Both museums are interesting! Guinness Museum has alot of interesting facts while Mystic is very interactive! We can "catch our shadow" by standing against the white wall and when the lights is on, we stand away and our shadow remains there! Another interesting thing is that we can change our head with the person that is sitting opposite us! We had to align our eyes and control the lighting! It was so funny!! I also sat on the electric chair which was quite fun. Imagine electricity going through your body!! I really had a fun time in the museum! After that we walked to Nyhavn and took photos there! It's their famous canal in copenhagen! It seems like Venice to me! We visted Rosenborg Castle as well! The park there is beautiful too!

We wanted to go to Tivoli Garden at night (a theme park) but it was quite late and we were afraid that we have to queue a long time for the rides and so we decided against it. But i am glad that we didn't go because it was cold at night! We had to walk in the cold to search for food!! We decided to eat ramen at Wagamama (a Japanese restaurant)... It's nothing fantastic but it's our first Japanese meal after so long!! The next morning was spent buying souvenir! We had not much time as we have to fly back to Helsinki in the afternoon so it was a rushing morning for us! I wish i had more time in Copenhagen!!! I didn't get to see Danish soldiers!!

After visiting the other scandinavian countries, i still like Finland the best!! It's so peaceful, clean and safe compared to the rest! It's probably a nice place to stay but not a very interesting place to holiday. Anyway, I am gonna leave here soon and be back home!! :)

The link to my trip photos:

Stockholm:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=116911&l=8f418&id=874370102
Oslo:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=116916&l=fcc79&id=874370102
Copenhagen:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=116922&l=703d5&id=874370102

St Petersburg Trip!

2008-05-07T06:48:00.005+08:00

I am back from St Petersburg yesterday evening!

The trip was good because of Julia, Yan and Lisa! They met us at the metro station and showed us the way to our hostel, bring us around the city, took us to lunch and dinner and showed us the way back to the metro station. I guess without them this trip would not be so enjoyable.

Well Russia is beautiful at night! On the third night, we girls went to see the bridge open. The Palace Bridge had already open when we reached and we witness the other bridge open at 1.35am! This trip was tiring as we walked alot and the weather was really hot but through this trip got to know Martina and Daniela better and also Isabel's russian friends. Martina and Daniela will be going back to Germany on 10May and we will be travelling tomorrow. It's sad when everyone is leaving... I hope someday we all can meet again. :D

Today, 6May was Mariana's Birthday and German girls came over to our apartment to exchange photos and we celebrated Mariana's Birthday as well. Had cake, vodka and we played poker! It was a great time with them and i hope Mariana you had a great birthday here in Finland! :)

I am really tired now and i will be travelling again tomorrow to the Scandinavian! Actually, I am so lazy to travel! I have not even pack yet. I just did laundry today and i have to pack the clothes in again!

Some pictures of St Petersburg here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=114436&l=47f23&id=874370102

Greetings from Russia!

2008-05-05T04:29:00.003+08:00

Privet!

I am in Russia,St Petersburg now and today is my third day here. I am in my hostel waiting for a bridge to open at 1.35am. Yawn...Tired!

We have been doing sight-seeing these few days... Museums, Cathedrals and Shopping! The weather here is super hot! I hate the sun! It's too bright and the sun doesn't set until 9pm!!! It's also quite dusty here... So I can't wait to be back in Finland!!! Hahaha!

Anyway, we have tour guides here because Isabel's russian friends met us on the day we arrived- Julia, Yan and Lisa... They are really nice to show us around. And Julia has been showing us around these 3 days! Feel really grateful for their hospitality!!!

Okay, i got to go now!

Poka!!

Traditonal Vappu Brunch!

2008-05-02T05:08:00.006+08:00

Today is May Day! In Finland it's called Vappu!!

Everyone here is like partying and celebrating Vappu on the eve.. And today everyone is out in the fortress having pinic. It's like a traditonal here to have picnic on May Day.

Today we went to the fortress around 1pm and it's already filled with people. All of a sudden, the dead town seems to be so lively! I have never seen so many people in Lappeenranta since i was here in January!!

Anyway, the picnic was fun today! :)

Photos are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=112868&l=1ceca&id=874370102

I am happy because it's SPRING!

2008-04-30T03:35:00.007+08:00

I am happy because spring in Finland is so beautiful!

Today is a rather productive day as we managed to settle our Russia Trip stuff. In the afternoon, we went to the travel agent to collect our passport as our visa to Russia is done. Then we walked to the train station to get our 2 way train tickets to St.Petersburg.

After getting our trip stuff done, it's time for shopping! We went Seppala, H&M and Jim & Jill. I need a jacket because my bubble jacket is too thick to be worn now! But i didn't see any really nice ones... But then again i will still need to get one before my trip!

After shopping we were too lazy to cook dinner so we went to eat at Altun's Kebab. We were all so full after dinner and we decided to walk to the habour as we heard that the habour is now open. We went there some time back in January when the water is frozen. Now it looks completely different... The place is really beautiful!

Hot fuge Sundae at McDonald! =p

Beautiful habour!

We walked to the fortress as well and I climbed up to the railway track! It's a short cut to get home! Home is just behind!!

I am so in love with Spring! It's just so beautiful!!! It's just like living in a movie. :)

Spring Trip 2008!

2008-04-28T05:04:00.004+08:00

Today we had a road trip to Luumaki which is about 30 minutes drive towards Kouvola from Lappeenranta. We went there by a mini bus that sets off from our school at 11.30am.

We had a tour in the woods to fortifications system in Luumaki. The fortification line was build in early 1940s and it's over 1200 kilometers long! We had a nice walk in the forest and we visited authentic wartime dugouts, bunkers and a large cave that was used as a wartime hospital! It's kind of interesting to go into the bunkers as it is really dark inside and i have to bend down to get in there. At least you can see how the soliders lived during the war!

We had camp fire in the forest as well... I had fun grilling sausages over the fire. I felt like some cave man! HAHAHA. But i really enjoyed the process of it because i have never cook in a forest before!

The highlight of the trip is to climb down a cliff!! I was really excited about it because i have always wanted to do something like that! But when i got up to the top of the cliff and looked down, i got kind of scare! I was really nervous while waiting for my turn to go down! At the start, i really can't go down because the guy that is supporting the rope said that my position is wrong so i really don't know how. After a long while, i finally managed to get down slowly and in the middle of the cliff i stared to scream uncontrollably! Lolx. My hands were trembling when i reached the ground!!! But at least i am proud of myself because I DID IT! :)

I tried archering too. But i only did it for awhile because there wasn't much time left! It's a pity because i think it's really fun!

It was a really awesome spring trip! Victory! :D

This is the link to the photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=111649&l=ad662&id=874370102

I will miss Finland.

2008-04-25T20:29:00.006+08:00

I AM FREE!!! Today was Alliance and Partnership Exam and this is the last exam for this period. And English Conversation on Monday will be my last class then i won't have to go to school anymore!

How fast time flies!! I am going back to Singapore SOON. Part of me can't wait to go back home and part of me can't bear to leave... In the past 4 months, i have learnt so much, experience so much and seen so much... It has been such an exciting adventure for me! I am glad that i have survived the harsh winter and now that spring is here it is so much better. I can wear lesser layers of clothes and enjoy the sunlight! The day light is so much longer now. Even at 8pm, it seems like it is only 6pm!

I will sure miss Finland when i go back!!! The first thing i will miss is the weather! Singapore is too warm!! I will miss the food... Altun's Kebab, Karelian pie, stuffed cabbage, lunch at school's canteen (they serve different food everyday), banana yogurt, cinnamon biscuits, cinnamon buns, cinnamon cakes and all the home cook dinners! I will miss the people, the crazy times, the bible study class, the snow and maybe my apartment. But of course i miss my bed in Singapore! It is so much more comfortable than my current bed!! I will definitely miss travelling around Europe!

But then again, all good things come to an end. I will visit Finland again. Some day...

It is 7 days to Russia, St.Petersburg!

12 days to the Scandinavian!

24 days to Singapore!

Mugging Logistics overnight!

2008-04-17T23:06:00.004+08:00

I am glad that Logistics exam is over today!! :)

The whole night was so stress because i only started studying yesterday morning!!

Studied until like 5am... Sleep and got up at 10am to study again...

Took photos to stay awake!! HAHAHA!

Mariana's artwork. The hamburger is ME! And the rest is my family!! LOL!!

Now we are left with one presentation and one exam and my studies here will be over! :)

22/04/08: Cross Cultural Communication presentation

25/04/08: Alliances and Partnership Exam

Cruise to Tallinn!!

2008-04-15T23:51:00.013+08:00

Cruise to Estonia, Tallinn!!

On Sunday night we cruise to Tallinn from Helsinki with 23 other international students. The journey there was about 3 hours. The ship set off at 9pm and reached Tallinn at 12 mid-night. We can choose to go out or stay on board. We chose to stay on board because once we go out we can only go back at around 4pm. I feel a litte sea sick on the ship because the sea was very rough and it's difficult to walk on the ship steadily.

And so we had a mini cabin party inside the Bulgarian girl's cabin with drinks and chips. It's a mini seven people party. We chatted and chatted until around 1am and went back to our cabin while the rest continued to have party elsewhere. I slept at around 1am and then wake up 3am to chat. I could hardly sleep at all because i feel really uncomfortable and my head's like spinning badly! I think i finally fall asleep only at 4am. I woke up at 6am to shower as we have to leave the ship at 7am!

From there, a bus took us to have breakfast at Reval Hotel Olumpia. After breakfast, we started to explore the city... The buildings are so ancient! It's a beautiful medieval old town... We also went into Tallinn's best cafe! We had a good 6 hours for sight seeing and shopping! I think the time is more than enough for me because the town is rather small and there is nothing interesting to buy from there!!

Finally, we made our way back to the ship at 4.30pm. This time i was really tired so i slept and woke up at 7pm. By then, i can't wait to be back home so that i can sleep!! From Helsinki we boarded the bus and after 3 hours bus journey we finally reached Lappeenranta!! Oh no... i think i am getting lazy to travel around!!

Photos 13.04.08- 14.04.08!

In my cabin.

Having a mini cabin party.

Our ship!

Tallinn Town Hall. The most well-preserved medieval town hall in Northern Europe!

Strolling through the cobberstone streets!

Viru Gates. This gate was built in the 14th century.

Isn't the sky beautiful?

Look at the steps we have to climb!

Narrow walk way.

Under the tree!

Cheese!

In the middle of the circle!

Goodbye Tallinn!

Fun day around Lappeenranta!!

2008-04-10T08:16:00.006+08:00

Today had amazing race around Lappeenranta...!!!

Despite the heavy snow we had a fun day running around! Yes, weather had gone crazy...

Anyway, our team name was Huopatehtaankatu (the name of the street where we are staying at and there is 6 us in the team (Varun, Mariana, Gillian, Jerald, Isabel and I). We started from school at 3pm and by the time we reached back school it was almost 8pm! The weather was freezing cold today and we have to walk around in the cold. After the fifth station, we drive around in Varun's car.

There were 8 stations to be completed. We had to answer questions to some quiz, play pool, sing KTV and some other running games. Of all the station, the one that i like the most is the station at a pub where we have to choose a song and sing! We sang "My heart will go on...". Infact more like shouting!! But it was good. :)

We didn't stay in school to find out about the results as it was too late and we were all tired. But it's the fun that matters!!

And we had leftover beers that we bought to bribe.

No more snow?

2008-04-08T23:42:00.003+08:00

No more snow? The snow is starting to melt...

Today and the day before it rain! The rain is cold! This is the second time i experience rain here. The first time was in Helsinki. I rather it snow than rain because rain makes my outer coat really wet!

Today we went to the travel agent to apply for visa to Russia, St. Petersburg. Our visa is the cheapest! It cost 45 euros while for the German girls it's 50 euro and for Mariana from Indonesia it's 58 euro. And the woman told us that they might give us furthur discount.

After that we went to the Gospel Cafe for some pastry and then to the supermarket and headed home. The internet was down yesterday night and could not do any work at all. So it kind of sucks. At least i have completed my Alliances and Partnerships home assignments and case study on Sunday! :)

Tomorrow we will be having something like amazing race around Lappeenranta that is organized by our school. I hope it will be fun! :D

Hello, it's April!

2008-04-03T03:58:00.006+08:00

I don't know why. Ever since daylight saving, time seems to be passing so fast! Time is running out! There are assignments to do, presentation to prepare and exams all in April! And next weekend will be going to Estonia by cruise with other 24 international students!

I must mention Varun here. He is such a nice person that we met over here. We planned with 3 other german girl to go to Russia in May and yesterday he took us to the travel agent to find out about the visa application. After that in the evening, he also came to our flat to advice us on the mode of transport to take and accommodation.

Varun not only helped us with the Russia trip, he also helped us to draft a travel route to Sweden, Norway and Denmark in just 2 hours! Amazing right! We stared with no plans and we ended up with another trip to go! Then around mid-night he still came to our flat to help us with the booking of the transportation and accommodations. He also make sure that the cost is kept to the minimum. We were really touched and thankful for his helpfulness!

For this Scandinavian trip i will be going with Mariana and Gillian only. I pray that we will have a safe journey and we won't meet any crazy people. We have met crazy people in Rome. Lolx... But Jerald might be joining us though.

April April April = Busy Busy Busy.

Thank you God for everything; the good times and the bad times. Thank you for seeing me through the past 3 months. Thank you for the sunlight these days. Making this winter easier to bear. :D

Daylight saving!

2008-03-30T23:46:00.004+08:00

It's time for daylight saving!

Finland is now 5 hours behind Singapore instead of 6 hours!

Spring is coming soon! Can't wait.

Anyway, i have loads of assignments to do and exams are coming up in April! Gonna be busy for just a few more weeks and that's it!

Okay, time to prepare dinner!

Trip to Lapland, Rovaniemi!

2008-03-24T21:23:00.013+08:00

HAPPY EASTER!

I am back from Lapland, Rovaniemi yesterday night! Today is Easter Holiday so we don't have school!

The journey to Lapland is a long long one... We travel there by VR so it took us 14 hours plus to get there. And to make it worst, there was no more seats left on the train on Thursday so we have to stand for like 11 hours plus when we change train. But we just sat on the empty seats and get up when the seat belongs to someone. I have to change my seat twice but Thank God that at least i can still find an empty seat. However throughout the whole journey it was rather stressful for us and we could hardly slept. I manage to catch about 4 hours of sleep though.

Finally, we reached Rovaniemi on Friday morning at around 8am. The weather was freezing cold! Since it's up North, we expected it and at least we came preapred. We find our way to Guesthouse Borealis but we can only check in at 2pm as the rooms were not ready yet. So we just left our backpack there and went to walk around the city center. But to our dismay, all the shops were not open because it's Good Friday! So we feel like we were in a zombie town!

We went back to the Guesthouse and rest at the eating area. By then all of us were really tired and really low in our spirit. Then we got a phone call from a China man that we met in Lappeenranta train station. He was talking to us on the train and he told us that his friend knows Santa Claus so he helped us to find out if he will be around. He told us that Santa Claus will be around so we decided to go to Santa Claus Village on Friday.

We went there by bus and the ride there is around half an hour. When we reached, at least our spirit got lifted up. It's really beautiful there and it started snowing as well after we took photo with Santa Claus. For the first time, i actually enjoyed the snow. Really nice! The admission to see Santa Claus is free. But we have to queue up just to take photo with him and we paid like 30 euros for 5 postcard. So each of us took 1 postcard photo. For the first day, we only went to Santa Claus Village as we were really tired.

On Saturday, we went shopping at the City Center in the morning and we then we decided to go to the Zoo- Wildlife Park Ranua in the afternoon! The bus ride there is like 1 hour and it's really expensive to travel around in Finland. The bus trip to and fro cost us 26.90 euro!

We reached the Zoo around 3pm and we started exploring the igloo that is at the entrance of the Zoo. I climbed into the little hole just for fun! And there are ice sculpture displays as well. Nice! The zoo is unlike Singapore's zoo as it is really big. Due to winter, some animals were taken away so it was not in sight. I saw owl, hawks, birds, raven, polar bear, wolf, wolverine, deer, moose, fox, musk ox and reindeer. Some animals were cute. We walked about 2.5KM in the zoo and by the time we covered everything it's already 4.50pm and we could not buy anything from the souvenir shops as they were already close. And we have to wait for the bus that comes at 5.45pm! It was terrible waiting in the cold for the bus to come! My toes went numb despite using toe heat pad that day!

We then had dinner at the train station restaurant as it was too cold to walk elsewhere for food. In fact, we had dinner at the same restaurant for both night!

The trip to Lapland was rather disappointing as we expected so much more! We wanted to try some winter sports but it was too expensive! But anyway, the trip was a good getaway for us!

Photo time!

Friday, 21.03.08

At Santa Claus Village

We spotted SINGAPORE!

Saturday, 22.03.08

Outside our guesthouse in the morning.

At Wildlife Park, Ranua-Lapland

And we had reindeer kebab for dinner.

Sunday night on the VR!

It was a long jouney back.

WITH MY CRAZY TURTLE!

This is a video that i took outside Santa Claus Village!

Banana Yoghurt is a to-die-for!

2008-03-19T03:39:00.002+08:00

MY DAILY DOSAGE...

MY NEW FOUND LOVE FOR BANANA YOGHURT WITH REAL BANANA!!!

IF ONLY I CAN BRING ALL THE BANANA YOGHURT BACK TO S'PORE!!!

What a boring weekend!

2008-03-17T00:11:00.005+08:00

The weekend is so boring!

I didn't go to Tampere in the end because on Friday night we went to a Birthday Party and by the time we came home it was around 1 am. We have to get up at around 5am if we were to go to Tampere so we decided to go another time instead.

Staying at home for two whole day is so BORING! Internet is my only source of entertainment and i can only watch movies to kill time. And maybe read Alliances and Partnership notes. Other than that i have nothing to do!!!

The climate here is strange as well. Spring suppose to come soon but apparently there are days where it still snows and the temperature still fluctuate between zero and sub zero. However, daylight are longer now. The sky used to turn dark around 4.30pm but now it turned dark only around 6.30pm.

Now it's 6.22pm here. The day is finally over and i am going to prepare dinner now! At least there is something for me to do!

4 DAYS TO LAPLAND! :D
At least that is something i can look forward to!

Period 4.

2008-03-14T23:24:00.004+08:00

Period 4 commence this week and i have 3 new modules. Out of which i have to go to school only for 1 module and the other 2 modules are virtual- Alliances and Partnership and litterature- Customer Service and Marketing Logistics. So for this period i only have school on Monday (English Conversation continued from period 3), Tuesday and Thursday (for Cross-Cultural Communication. I love this class!).

Today i went to school for International Marketing Management Exam. There are a lot of time for Exam here! We have like 3 hours to answer 5 questions! But of course we can leave the room once we are done. And i used pencil for Exams! Here in Finland, everyone uses pencil. Today Exam was okay. Last Friday was my Human Resource Management paper and that is probably one of the worst paper i ever did. Out of 6 questions that came out i only studied for 1! Just hope for the best.

Last Thursday we did our HRM presentation and the lecturer commented that we speak too fast! But he said that our content was good. Hopefully we did well. The results for the International Marketing Management case study that i did with Mariana was out. The project is 60% of our overall grade. And we got a grade 5 for it! 5 is the best grade here. So we are really happy! Heehee.

So the weekends are here and we will be taking the VR to TAMPERE tomorrow morning! For shopping and sight-seeing!

We will also be travelling up north to Lapland, Rovaniemi to spend the Easter holiday! CAN'T WAIT FOR LAPLAND!

Europe Trip!

2008-03-04T05:58:00.034+08:00

I am back in Finland!

Europe is awesome!

Travelling around the world is so amazing.

I am truely amazed.

Every City has its own beauty and there are so many places to explore and discover!

Some photos to share:

20.02.08-21.02.08

In Germany, Bremen.

The buildings are so ancient and unique.

Beautiful City.

SCHNOOR Street.

They have alot of nice cakes and pastries!

Heavenly!

Cosy hostel and Baileys Irish Cream.

21.02.08-23.02.08
In France, Paris.

The Eiffel tower and the Louvre are my favourite attractions in Paris.

In Louvre museum.

Near Notre Dame.

24.02.08-26.02.08
In Spain, Barcelona.

Sagrada Familia!
It is a cathedral that will never be completed.

Awesome Fun at Park Guell.
Love it there!

At Casa-Museu Gaudi.

Port Vell at night.

26.02.08-28.02.08

In Italy, Venice.

Venice is my favourite city! It's really beautiful there. We can travel only by boat there.

Our hostel is like a princess palace.In the morning breakfast is just at my doorstep!

St Mark's Square!

Night shot before heading back to hostel.

28.02.08-02.03.08
In Italy, Rome.

At Fontana Di Trevi!
The most famous fountain in Rome!
Make a wish and toss the coin over your left shoulder!

At the Colosseo! My favourite attraction in Rome.
It's indeed an architectural wonder of the ancient world!

So beautiful at night.

Basilica S. Pietro! The largest church in the city after St. Peter.

At the top of Castle Sant' Angelo!
Awesome view!

Some scary people along the street at night.
Lolx.

CHEERS to the end of our tour.
We made it! :)

Paris is Love!

2008-02-24T01:45:00.004+08:00

I just came back to the hostel.

Today we had an amazing day.

In the morning we took the Metro and went to visit Notre Dame- A gothic Cathedral in Paris. Inside the Cathedral it is very magnificant! It can hold 9000 worshipper at one time! Also, there are candles offering. This is the first time i came across such things. Interesting!

After that we walked along the whole stretch of souvenirs stores. All the shops are selling almost the same things like cups, magnets, keychain, postcard, t-shirts, jackets, etc... But the prices kind of varies from different shops.

Behind the stretch of souvenirs shops there are more shops! I saw Chinese Food and seafood today! Since we started our holiday, we have been eating western kind of food like pita and fries. All of us are getting sick of it. But we were not hungry at that time so we didn't ate anything there. We took the metro to Arc De Triomphe Etoile- It's a monument in Paris and the arc honours those who fought for France during the War.

Before we get to see the building, we walked along the stretch of shops and the things there are all high end products! So we can also see and not buy! By the time we saw the Arc, i realized that we can get to the top of the Arc. However, we were all too lazy to climb up because we have to climb up 284 steps if we were to get to the top!

We decided to have lunch and guess what? We had McDonalds for lunch! Lolx... This is the first time i had McDonalds in Europe and that day the first night in Paris we had KFC for dinner. After lunch, we continue walking around the streets.

I feel that there are some strange people on the street and it can be quite scary. Like that day near the Eiffel Tower, there is this woman who approached us for donation and of course we just walk away. Today there is this crazy guy laughing on the street. Okay, it's just weird.

Lastly, we went to the Galeries Lafayette and there is all the high end shopping. All the branded goods. But inside the shopping mall it's beautiful!

Today we walked alot again. Tired.

Have to sleep early tonight. Gotta get up at 4AM!

Leaving Paris tomorrow.

Goodbye Paris.

Hello from PARIS!

2008-02-23T17:12:00.003+08:00

HELLO!

I am in Paris now.

In Oops! Hostel.

I just had breakfast and i am using the free internet connection here.

We arrived in Paris on thursday night.

Before that was in Germany, Bremen. Bremen is a beautiful town. The buildings are so unique and special. Very ancient! I love it there except that the air is not very good. Hahaha! The weather there is also nice, not very cold! The people are also nice and friendly. Although most of the words there are in German we manage to get around. Another thing is that the chocolates and alcohol are CHEAP in Bremen!

Paris is nice too. But to me, it's not as special as Bremen. Yesteday we went to the Eiffle Tower in the morning. We climbed up 382 steps to the first floor! That's really killing my legs. Lolx. Good exercise. HAHAHA. Then we took the lift up to the top which cost us €6.80. The view from there is breathtaking! It's rather cold up there as well.

After that we had lunch at a store nearby. We had some fish pita with fries... It was really yummy. The people in the shop are also nice and friendly. After lunch, we took the metro to Lourve.

Since yesterday was Friday, admission to the museum is FOC for youth under 26years old. We can go in for free after 6pm. So by the time we reached there it's just nice for us. The lightings are very pretty! Anyway, in the museum there are alot of paintings that have the 3D kind of effect! I don't really know how to appreciate them actually. Haha. But one of the famous one is the Monalisa Smile painting. And when we saw it, it was just a small painting and we were like okay... what's the big deal about that? Hahahaha!

Well it has been rather tiring to travel from places to places.

NOT ENOUGH SLEEP...

Okay, GOODBYE FOR NOW!

AWAY FOR WINTER HOLIDAYS!

2008-02-19T05:34:00.007+08:00

Hello dear ones!

This will be my last post in February.

I am leaving Finland tomorrow for my Winter Holidays!

I spent yesterday evening packing my backpack. Amazingly, my backpack is big enough to contain everything that i need. Tomrrow after school will be doing the final packing and off we go! :D

Today my International Marketing Manangement lecturer told us that we can also choose to take the Exam on 14th March. This is good news to me because the Exam is actually on the 4th of March which is like 2 days after i am back. This means that i will have time to preapre for the paper! God is indeed good. Yay!

I have Human Resource Management Exam on 7th of March and i am taking my notes with me. There is a whole chunk of notes to chew and digest. Actually i wonder if i will have the heart to study...

I pray that my trip will be good.

GOODBYE ALL!

I will be back on 2nd March! :)

Warm sauna in freezing winter.

2008-02-16T04:16:00.009+08:00

It's 10.15PM now and i am feeling so sleepy. Earlier in the evening, we went down to the sauna room for the first time. In Finland, sauna is like part of their culture and basically their necessity. Anyway, it was good.....

Today there is a drastic change in temperature. It was -8 degrees and so we put on our scarf and wore LJ for our bottom before leaving for school. The cold is still bearable except for the occasional strong wind that blows!

After school we went shopping again! Shopping has became a norm for us. Haha! And... I bought stuff for my trip again! Note to Mum: I'm not on a shopping spree but i really do need them. Haha.

It's 10 more days to Winter Break. But for us it's 4 more days! Haha! Well, i can't wait to get over the trip because packing for the trip alone is stressful enough. I have to squeeze 13 days of clothes, basic necessities and food into my backpack! Imagine that! Plus notes! I have to study for the Exams during the trip. At least i have completed the two projects! I better get down to study tomorrow. I must be discipline.

Anyway, weekends are here!

E.N.J.O.Y! :)

At Skinnarilan Hovi.

2008-02-12T01:06:00.001+08:00

On Sunday, 10 February, we had a Chinese New Year and Outdoor Day at Skinnarilan Hovi. The event started at 12pm and there were about 70 students there. A bus came to pick us up at the City Center at 11.30am. It was a challenge for us to wake up at 10am that morning as we all slept at around 6.30am because we stayed up to play poker cards. We are so horrible!

Anyway, we paid 5 euros for the entire day of activities. When we reached, we had lunch and they divided us into 4 groups so each group can take turns to try out all the activities for the day! My group started off with skiing! The unfortunate thing was the snow was not thick enough on that day and it was quite slippery to ski. I fall thrice while skiing as it was quite slippery. Poor Mariana fall more than 10 times as she was really scare. Still, skiing was very fun. But my muscles are all aching now. Lolx.

After skiing we went sledding! That was very thrilling! I sledded down four times! The first time I sledded down the slope, I got scratched by twixt and the second time I banged into the tree trunk and hit my back. That really hurts man. The third time, I sledded down with Gillian and we both kind of get “thrown off”! The fourth time I went down with Gillian again and we could not really stop. Despite getting hurt here and there, I feel that it is still worthwhile to sled!

Next, we went to the Games station. We played many games and one of them was ice hockey. It was quite difficult to control the small little ball but it was really exciting to play. The other games we played were physically draining.

Our last station was Snow Sculpting. For that we have to roll snowballs and collect alot of snow. We did a rat because this year is the rat year. However, it turned out to look more like a mouse.

After that we went into the house to rest. Some went to do sauna while we went to take photos by the lake. The lake is beautiful. We could not try ice fishing at the lake as the layer of the ice was not thick enough! How disappointing! Hopefully, we can get to try that someday.

After all the fun-filled activities, we went back into the main house and dinner was served. The dinner was prepared by Chinese students. We get to eat duck, dumplings, beehoon, spring rolls and tang yuan. However, our portion was rather pathetic.

After dinner we had some games like we have to go around filling in the names of people and play bingo. After the games, we went out to sing a B.I.N.G.O song and we walked around in a circle. Then the night was ended with fireworks. Fireworks were quite nice and it was the first time I saw how they set up the fireworks.

All in all, the day was good.

Some photos to share:

The main house.

Before entering the house.

Lunch table.

After skiing shot...

Before we sled.

My first try.

Gillian and me down the slope.

Ice Hockey.

Our rat.

Beautiful lake.

We did a S'pore Flag and the other international students did theirs.

We had hot chocolate.

Dinner table.

When we have nothing to do after dinner.

After dinner shot. :)

2008 Lunar New Year!

2008-02-08T02:59:00.001+08:00

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

We don't have any celebration for Chinese New Year here. Just prepare dinner as usual after school. Our Chinese New Year dinner was easy to preapre; rice, grilled chicken and bake potato. Nothing special but it was nice!

On Chinese New Year's Eve we cooked Keow Teow soup for dinner which was absolutely yummy! After dinner we decided to pop by the guy's apartment and we went to a house party. Stayed there for awhile and we decided to go to Diva with the rest. On the way to Diva, we played with snowballs! Throw and throw and throw! So fun! =p

Anyway, by the time we reached the club it was almost going to 12am (CNY DAY!). It was student night and the school sort of organise the activity so we paid like 2 euros to enter the club. The interior of the club is very big and nice! There wasn't much people yesterday! It was a good thing! We found some place to sit and their sofa are really confortable! To me, the club looks more like a cafe.

In the midst, we walked like 5mins to another club just to take a look. It was freezing cold to walk without our jacket as we left our jacket at Diva. We have to pay 2 euros just for the jacket service! We don't have to pay to enter the other club and it was packed to the max! So we toured one round and went back to Diva.

There is only a few of us left at Diva as the rest went to the other club because they prefered it there! So we just hang around and left at 3am. On our way back, we played with snowballs again and we climb up the snowy hill. That was a fun thing to do!

That's our Chinese New Year!

PHOTOS!

We replaces noodles with keow teow. You know they say that noodles have to be long and uncut. It represent longevity and long life!

Cheers for the LUNAR NEW YEAR!

At DIVA!

We were sitting on this really comfy sofa!

The Lavian couple on the dance floor!

Snowman! We saw this while walking to school!

Our Chinese New Year Dinner!

Winter Weekends...

2008-02-03T19:52:00.001+08:00

Today woke up at 1pm and outside was snowing heavily... and the winds was blowing so strongly! The temperature was -2 degrees.

The balcony floor covered with snow!

Our dinner!
Yesterday (Saturday) after spending half a day doing project, we had a house dinner together; 5 of us and my roommate. Each of us cooked something and we ate together.

Had fun playing poker cards until almost 3am... Lolx!

Our source of entertainment...

Church of Sammonlahti.

2008-02-01T23:59:00.001+08:00

In Church of Sammonlahti...

Pastor Minna's daughter... 2 and a half years old. She's shy.

But she's so adorable! Finnish baby!

Just went down to the laundry room and dump all the clothes there and have to cook dinner soon... Gonna cook Rosti and sausages...

Anyway, the weekends are here!!!

Have to do our reports!

-International Marketing Management

-Management and Organisation Behaviours

Goodbye January and welcome February!

2008-01-31T22:18:00.000+08:00

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!

Crazy Saturday.

2008-01-27T08:37:00.001+08:00

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!

On my dinner table!

2008-01-25T03:21:00.000+08:00

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!

Mid-week stuff.

2008-01-24T23:49:00.001+08:00

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!!!

In Helsinki on 19.01.08.

2008-01-20T20:25:00.001+08:00

Today 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!

We were stuck in this shop for an hour plus!

The Three Smiths.

After lunch, we decided to brave the rain and strong wind and visit their Historic Centre.

Helsinki University.

Helsinki Cathedral.

This is perhaps Finland's most photographed and recognisable building.

Senate Square.

Im standing at the top!

The view from there is awesome...

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.

Chinatown...

Their so called Chinatown. They sell asian food products there!

PRATA! We bought back PRATA and Curry Powder!

Free Day.

2008-01-16T21:20:00.001+08:00

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.

Half a day at Prisma.

2008-01-13T01:28:00.001+08:00

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!

Lunch at Hesburger! Their very own fast food restaurant.

My burger and coke. 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.

By the time we bought our groceries, it was 4pm and the sky was dark and misty...

Day time are really short here...

Sneak Peek of South Karelia University.

2008-01-12T04:43:00.001+08:00

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!

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.

Weather are good these two days... 0 degree! I wore 1 layer less today!

Life is a carousel.

2008-01-11T22:44:00.000+08:00

01.12.05

"Life is a carousel: Sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down, and sometimes you just go round and round."

Lovely weather! SNOW!

2008-01-08T04:59:00.001+08:00

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! :)

Street performance!

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

But we had fun writting on the snow.

Our Healthy Dinner (HAHAHA)

Shopping in Finland.

2008-01-06T02:24:00.001+08:00

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!

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!

Living in Finland.

2008-01-05T03:53:00.002+08:00

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.

Lappeenranta town.

2008-01-04T04:57:00.001+08:00

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! Expensive manx! At first we were trying to look out for a bank and we somehow saw a word that we think is a bank so we decided to went in and see if its a bank. HAHAHA! Seriously, the bank over here looked very different from the banks in Singapore.

Then we went around searching for traveller's adapter! I need it to charge my laptop, handphone and camera. I think it is better to get them in Singapore than 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 didn't bring a lot of things over. I was thinking of just getting them from here. But i think it would have been better if i got them from Singapore. Especially FOOD. Like instant noodles! Hahaha! 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 4euros (SIN8.40). Expensive right?!

In Finland.

2008-01-03T03:51:00.002+08:00

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! WAITED AT THE AIRPORT FOR 4 HOURS. 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 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 and i have to drag my 25KG luggage and carry my backpack. I almost died. Well 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! Hahaha... We were hungry and tired but we just went to sleep anyway. I slept for like 5 hours.

We had to get up early this morning for breakfast and had our very first meal in Finland. This morning was 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! When we reached the train station, we bought the tickets and boarded the train (they called it VR) exactly at 10AM (we almost missed it!!!).

Finally after more than 2hours, we arrived at Lappeenranta. A school in-charge came to meet us at the train station and she got a Taxi for us to take us to our apartment. The weather here in Lappeenranta is much colder than in Helsinki. It was -5 degrees this afternoon. No wonder it feels sooooo cold!

The taxi alighted us right infront of our apartment. The street name that I'm staying at is called 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 =p) , 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 meal 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 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 really tiring day. But at least we finally reached here and more or less settled 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.

Before taking the VR.

In the train to Lappeenranta.

Our ticket cost 32 EUROS! So ex!

The journey was about 2hrs 20 mins.

I got a prepaid card today. This can only be used to make local calls. But sms can be sent overseas as well.

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!

Last entry in 2007.

2007-12-31T16:30:00.002+08:00

I've finally finished packing my luggage and its soooo full and heavy! I wonder if it exceeds the weight limit! Im gonna fly off tonight at 10.55pm!!! Will be flying to London first. The flight to London is 13hours 55mins long! (REALLY LONG EH) Then it'll be 7 hours of transit time there before the flight to Finland, Helsinki.

Feeling more anxious than anything. I don't even know how to put how I'm feeling into words...
Mixed feelings i guess???

Anyway, its New Year's Eve today! 2007 had been GOOD. May 2008 be even BETTER!

Happy New Year in Advance everyone!

I will see you all NEXT YEAR! :D