I got my $3000 le

Apparently, NUS finally did some thing... haha, they put in $3000 into my POSB account le. =) It's nice to get "free" money.

About previous post: just ignore it... people have their ups and downs... just wanted to record a "down" in my blog for a change (and to express how I feel)... who said that a blog must always be filled with sugar and candy?

I always dui4 bu4 qi3 Yvonne on this trip

Title speaks for itself. Sick of myself.
*in a feeling-like-puking-my-brains-out mood*
NB Do not comment on this post

€5 Sweden trip and a church mate!

On Saturday, I left for a trip to Stockholm, the capital of Sweden… and I just came back today (Monday). It was cool because I only spent €5 (i.e. $10) to get there and back by a ship!!! Cool huh? Haha… but we only spent 7 hours there, because it take 16 hours by boat… haha so most of the trip was spent sleeping on the ship.`But it was great because the ship’s cabin was just like a star cruise type of cabin! (and for such a good price!)

Our ship: Gabriella

The cabin for 4 people (two upper bunks)

Sunrise from the boat... at 9 am, haha.

Anyway, at Stockholm, the scenery was beautiful. We walked around the “old town” area and I felt like I was in a world different world… because they had streets that I’ve only seen movies. Very sweet and quaint =)

The ISE gang in Sweden

The Finland gang + Ping Yong (one of the twins) - Daryl (the photographer)

This is actually a famous street in Stockholm... it's the smallest street

And interestingly… Stockholm has a lot of these types of statues everywhere… haha, and most of them are naked! Hahaha.

Singaporeans! (The whole Finland gang of 7, and 4 others from Sweden)

One thing that I thank God for is that I discovered that Ivan (one of the Singaporean guys who is also studying in Finland for his exchange programme) is also a Christian! And God is good… because before the trip, I decided to go to this particular church which I felt was not bad because I have listened to their sermons online. And when I was talking to Ivan, I found out that he went there once before and that he will continue to go to that church too! So just like that, I have a church mate, so I don’t have to feel so alone when I go to church!!! Haha. Sweet.

Anyway, I’m tired and sleepy, so don’t really feel like blogging… haha.

Snow, Snowman, Snowboots

Did I say that it snowed like crazy previously? I’m wrong… today showed me the real meaning of “snowing LIKE crazy”. It snowed heavily the entire day, and the winds were so powerful! I was walking to the bus stop when one huge gust of wind came, and it moved me a bit!!! (And I’m heavy! Gosh… ) Basically I was walking with my eyes half closed the entire time because it was snow frenzy day. But, it was beautiful. The entire place was more white than ever before… and you almost cannot differentiate between roads and sidewalks.

So, three crazy people, namely myself, Yvonne and Daryl, decided to build a snowman. Haha. Here are some pictures of it! (Btw, the white circles are falling snow)

And I also bought a pair of boots today because the other pair was getting a “crocodile sole”. And it’s not mine, so it’s not very nice to keep gluing it back and using it. Anyway, it’s the January sales (they have sales in Jan) so I managed (with a lot of effort because the sale was ending and many of the good stuff have been bought) to find one pretty, cheap, practical and comfortable pair! It was on 50% so it cost me €27 (i.e. S$54) which is cheap for a pair of boots. And the sales girl was so nice cos she said “I’m so happy for you” when I finally found my boots… because she saw me go in and out of the shop many times trying to find a good pair!

I traveled alone for the first time

Today I traveled alone for the first time into unknown territory… armed with only a map and my mouth. Haha… but the people here are quite nice so it was almost without at problems that I found the place (I was going to the Doctorate of Immigration) with only those two “weapons”. Buuuuuuut, my hands were totally “gone” by the time I reached the place!!! They were cold to the point of pain, and yet ironically at the same time they were so name that I almost could not move them! Griefs… haha… conclusion: I cannot walk about in less than -10c without double gloves.

Everywhere was white and beautiful because it snowed like crazy yesterday… I tried to take a video if it… but when I watched the video… it just looked like a show with bad reception (cos of the white stuff all over the place).

So instead of a video, I think it’s more appropriate to describe the snow by saying that it felt as if I was inside one of those glass balls where you shake it to have the snow effect. Haha.

And one more thing, I fell down for the first time today… hahaha! It wasn’t a butt-fall… more like a knee-fall… not a serious one fortunately, more like an amusing one! Hahaha.

Anyway, here are some pictures from today’s trip:

On the left is my student card from my school here (which is Helsinki University of Technology)... the picture's in black and white, haha, so I find that it looks very appropriate for an obituary! Funny, in a morbid way. On the right is my Finland "EZ Link Card". It also works by tapping it, Finland is a high tech place when it comes to their transportation! Look at the next picture to see the interior of one of their trains! (And this is an older train... the newer ones are even nicer).

Here's a picture of one of their Metro stations. I like the station name.

Haha... and this station has a really unique lift...(you can't see it in this picture, but behind the glass is where it will travel) the lift travels side ways... following the angle of the escalator down!

I took this picture from inside the train... and the white thing you see there? It's not land... it's the sea!

Goodness, I do bathe here

Haha, today I was chatting to Linny when she asked the famous question: “do you get to bathe there? Is it very cold?” Haha, this question has been posed many a times since I’ve arrived. So I’m going to write about it now… haha!

I do bathe lah! Haha… my room has a heater so it’s like around 20 plus degrees all the time. The toilet has a larger heater, so it’s the warmest in a toilet. It’s very nice to bathe here because the water can be adjusted to a very hot temperature, which feels fantastic.

My clothes are hanging on the heater... haha (that was before I had housemates)

As a side note, the water can also be adjusted to a freezing temperature. I always drink cold water here because, like Singapore, I can drink the water straight from the tap. So it’s like my own water cooler from the tap! Haha.

~Rakastan sinua kovasti~

-10 degrees and Saunas

Today it finally hit -10 degrees! Haha… but when the sun rose it went up to a "hotter" -8 degrees. Anyway, I decided to take a walk out to experience something that I’ve never experienced before! Haha, it was very cold, but it got quite nice after a while… cos I think I’m in love with the weather here and there was nice fluffy snow everywhere (and of course, because the sky was clear and there were no torturing cold winds). But I think if i stayed out longer I would become frozen.

Anyway, here is a picture of a sauna house near my place. Sauna is a great tradition here in Finland, and normally the people will be naked while they do the sauna.


And then after they feel warm and toasty, another tradition is to jump into the freezing sea. Yup! You read it correctly! Haha… they will do that!!! And if the sea is frozen, they will dig a hole to jump into the sea. I have no idea how it feels like… but I’ll try it when it gets warmer in Spring! Haha… but I’ll wear my swimming suit lah. I’m not so bold. Hahaha.

They will run down this "lane" and jump inside the sea! But normally there will be these wooden planks placed there so that people can run towards the deeper part of the sea.

Other than that, I also visited church which is very near where I stay… too bad it’s services are in Finnish. Anyway, this is what it looks like. Quite pretty! Haha.

the exterior

the interior

the book of Genesis in Finnish

And to end off totally irrelevantly, I bought more food stuff today… one item that deserves to be mentioned is the broccoli. I walked up and down the same place for a long time… haha deciding whether or not to buy a bunch of fresh broccoli worth €1 (i.e. S$2). I think the sales people thought I was mad. But finally, haha, I bought it! Later when I got back to my place and put the groceries into the fridge, I felt as if the fridge was not cold at all... haha.

The Eternal Coolness of an "Air-con" Room

That title is supposed to imitate the movie title “The Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind”. Haha… ok lame, I know. Anyway, my point is that I’m beginning to really like the cold here. (Especially if there is no wind). I like my room which feels like its air-conditioned 24/7. And I love the air outside, it’s so fresh and cool (although it’s going towards cold… it’s starting to go below -2 degrees).

Actually before I came, I thought everyday I would wake up with sinus, or a runny nose. But I’ve not had any except for the morning after I arrived. This would sound gross, but I think my mucus is dry from the dryness in the air here! Haha, that sounds so weird right?

Other than all that about the wonderful air, I’ve discovered that I actually love cooking! Hahaha! Although I cook very simple things… but at least I’m finally cooking (and still learning) and I’m enjoying it. Haha.

This is a picture of what I cooked for dinner yesterday and today… looks very similar because the ingredients are the cheapest things I can get so I always eat the same or similar things for dinner. Looks like nothing fantastic, I know, but hey, I’m new at this and it tastes great (looks are deceiving, ok? Haha).

It's melted cheese on top, in case you are wondering. Haha

From left: Pasta with tomato sauce, ham, meatballs, chicken, veg, egg.

FYI, in case you cannot figure out what I cooked (haha!)

A short “Thoughts” post

Today I had two terribly boring lectures… so I spent a lot of time thinking about the people back home. Haha. Then now as I’m typing this, I’m still thinking of people. Haha, duh.

So anyway, I really hope that when I go back, I’ll have my “joy aura” back. That’s my spiritual wish (I don’t want to use the word “goal”… haha, feels too goal orientated if I used it) for this year I guess. =) Oh ya, I’m almost finishing Matthew! So cell group: I’m being accountable! Haha.

And I want to thank Jeremy Foo for what he said! I’ll steal his words and say that “It warmed my heart!”

And I want to add that I’m finally using my name “Hope” here. Haha… feels weird actually since it’s not really a name name, but who cares? Haha

This is going to be an “anything that comes to my head I will write” post

Yups, so yesterday was the first day of school, so called. Haha… cos in the end we had to walk out of a lecture! So embarrassing! What happened was that the course that we are taking only starts lecture the next week. So the time slot for this week’s lecture was taken up by another course! It was embarrassing because there were 4 of us… and all Asians… the ONLY Asians there… so it was pretty obvious that we did a stupid thing. The bottom line was that in the end, I didn’t have any lectures yesterday! *pengz*

But the lecture theatres are seats are cool!

The chairs are folded when not in use

Then after you sit down, you pull the table towards you

So the table has a joint such that it can move forwards and backwards

As I’m typing now, I hear a lot of sounds from above. You see, the walls (and ceilings) here are very thin I think. Cos I can hear his walking sometimes when he walks heavily. And I can hear him shifting his stuff. And I can hear him flush. Haha! And once, during the first week of January, I think he held a mini party… so I was hearing terrible techno music at night! (I managed to make out one song by the Vengaboys. Terrible night) By the way, I just heard some talking! That's a first... normally I don't hear talking... are the ceilings getting thiner? Griefs!

Ok and to end off, yesterday I sorta learnt how to make baked pasta from my Italian housemate. Haha.

More snow and shopping

Yesterday we went to Leppävaara… it’s a like a shopping district. It looks quite pretty and all those ‘escalators’ behind me are actually travellators. Haha. Cool huh.

And I bought my first top from Finland! I love it a lot and it costs €7.45 only… (only in terms of in Finland. Haha, cos that’s actually S$15 which is ok in Singapore) And I also saw this really pretty jacket that I liked a lot… but it’s €50 (i.e. S$100) so all I could do was to take a picture of it. Haha.

Anyway, before we left my ‘home’, I got Yvonne to take a photo of me with the snow… haha, and a video below… but the resolution dropped after I uploaded it… so the snow is not obvious… *shrugs* haha.

a wuliao video of the snow. hAha

Suomenlinna - the Sea Fortress of Finland

Yesterday Yvonne, Daryl and I made a trip to an offshore island known as Suomenlinna… it’s very near Helsinki – only around 10 minutes on an extremely slow boat (so as you can tell, it’s very near, haha).

Again, it was a super beautiful day. Why? Because it snowed!!! Yes! Finally! Hahaha… I get to experience my first snow falling from the sky =) What’s even more beautiful was that after the snow, the sun was out shining pretty strongly! So it made the view complete. Haha. Words are not enough, so let me let the pictures do the talking… haha.

See the SNOW! Daryl and I infront of the city centre railway station

At Suomenlinna!

I'm pretending that I'm going into the water... lame, I know! haha.

More snow!

Inside the fortress - see Yvonne at the back. haha. Cute pic hor?

The board reads "Don't throw first stone. Beware of weak ice".
I have no idea what the first sentence is trying to say. haha.

Isn't it so pretty? (As in the view. HAhaAhA... but feel free to say that I am too. HahaHa!)Anyway, it was pretty cold there too cos the winds were very strong.

See the sunset!! So lovely! And guess what? It was only 2.30pm. Haha

And actually yesterday I witness two things that I would never have seen in Singapore I think. Haha. First we happened to be around when some big shot arrived at some embassy. Hahaha. It’s so vague right? Try to figure it out from this picture ba…

The other thing that happened was some kind of rally in the city. Not many people (fortunately, if not I would have been a bit scared) were rallying la… maybe around 20 or 30. They were playing something loud from a portable CD player and they had some banners which wanted some political freedom or something like that. Then beside it was the f word… hmmm, I think it was kinda weird to add that word. Haha. But anyway, there were A LOT of police vans around… I think we saw like 6 or 7… just parked around to stand by for any problems. Cool huh? So efficient and protective. Haha.

But anyway, I’ve heard non-stop that Finland is a pretty safe place. I think it’s cos the people here are very honest and humble! Payment for their public transport is almost completely based on integrity and they do pay. Haha… if it’s in Singapore the transport company will go bankrupt liao. They are also very orderly… on the escalators, all of them will stand on the right side (cos here they drive on the right unlike Singapore). But of course there are also bad stuff happening la… on one of the days, we again happen to witness a fight between two people in the city… it was pretty bad cos the guy was curled up in pain on the floor from the punches of the other guy. And later when we walked pass the place… we saw some blood stains on the floor… griefs!

Oops, I typed too much! haha. Anyway MELISSA please read this: Thank you for your jacket! HAha... I think the red makes me look chirper... although it really is shedding feathers. (Edelene: your grey one is great too, don't get me wrong. Haha. Just that it doesn't make me look chirpy. Haha)

Today's a beautiful day Part2

Today's a beautiful day

Last night it rained like crazy… then this morning was the most beautiful day I’ve seen in Finland since I’ve arrived. The sun was magnificent! The air was fresh! People were moving around! I had a fantastic view from my room =)

Talking about my room… today I took some pictures of my room. Haha, so this is what it’s like:

The entrance to my block

My desk and the beautiful view

My very comfortable bed area, wonderful for quiet time because of the table lamp... very cozy

The kitchen area

And today my housemate arrived! haha... cos she's on one year SEP, so she's been living here for a while already. The other girl also, so I'm the newbie here. Haha. She's from Belgium, I don't know about the other girl though, cos she's not back yet...