Name: Jordan
Age: Young at Heart!
Bdae: 4 June
Sch: Singapore Polytechnic
Address: Pellonreuna 2, Jyvskyla, Finland
T o - P r o t e c t
what you like
T o - K i l l
what you hate
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Day 30, Mar 29, Temp -4 - 0C Lots of Snow!
Last night was the Best Night I had in Finland!! Met Antti and his close friend Joni (A great and funny "gay" guy LOL jk) at 6pm. We then hanged out at Antti's house playing card games and watching a very weird episode of the sequel "doll house". We started drinking cider and other stuffs and were having fun!:) I have to admit that I am in LOVE with Cider because they taste so GOOD!! I had tasted Pear, Pineapple, Apple, Cherry and Blue fruits and they are all FANTASTIC:D It tastes like a very fruity version of beer, absolutely my kind haha:)
Halfway Mikko popped in to join us for the night! He had just attended a party so i believed him to be a little tipsy already haha! Yeah usually people become violent when they are drunk but MIkko is otherwise: He becomes "gay" LOL! But they all say its how things work in Finland :D
I managed to taste their local liquor: Salmiakki (Liquorice), Lakka (Cloudberry), Minttu Vodka (Mint vodka), their local beers such as Karhu III and another brand which I have forgotten, Greppi Long Drink and of course not forgetting my CIDERS:D You may be thinking... Wah lao drink so much sure drunk one lah!! Well No worries, I was High but I certainly wasn't DRUNK! I know my limits one! However, I just kept going to the toilet cuz ya know... drinking.. liquids... pee... LOL:D
Then at around 1030pm we headed off to the Pedestrian Street where all the bars and clubs are located at! We arrived at the first one and there I met Mikko's Girls: Hanna (Girlfriend) and Aino (Sister) All of them are great people to talk to and they sure can joke! Also, I managed to meet the Trio's close friend Sanna Koskela. She is a nice person and she had apparently been to Singapore and is the first person I know who doesn't like that place LOL:) She's dead!
Coincidently, We met the group of exchange students from the University where this Thai guy hugged me LOL!! He wasn't there but his friends were. It was nice to see your own kind there sometimes hahaha! After spending about an hour, we hopped to another bar by the name of "Memphis" where Karaoke (Public) is avaliable lol! It was a lively atmosphere and I managed to catch one long drink there before security chased all of us out as they were about to close!!:(
All of us were high and excited! I didn't even get the chance to say bye to Mikko and the rest and Antti carried m on his shoulders and walked away and I was like,"ehhhhhh....ehhhhhhh...ehhhhhh" I don't know what that was, but it sounded like I had asthma LOL:D Joni, Antti and I then walked over to a nearby takeaway grill when Antti suddenly slipped on ice and fell LOL:D He laid on the ground whinning while I performed CPR to revive him haha! And then it started to snow very heavily but fortunately we were on our way back to Antti's house as it was too far for me to cycle back to Kuokkala! We ate supper and then Joni and Antti went to bed (On the same bed LOL) It seemed really gay as they were sleeping without their trousers on (only in underwear) hahahaha:) But its normal as it warms up the bed quickly!!
It was definitely a night to remember and it's also certainly not the last:D Im feeling a little weird (I think its a mild hangover) but I definitely enjoyed myself:D Cheers Folks... and Oh yah, Today is officially the start of daylight saving time for Finland so everyone must switch their watches to +1 hour... how interesting:D This means that the sun will rise andset one hour later!! This is done to moderate the irregular sun patterns here! Ok se ya again!
Anyway here is the link for the pictures taken last night:D Enjoy!
Its supposed to be almost Spring, and the temperature is supposed to get warmer, but why the heck are temperatures still dropping?!?!?! Hahahahaha. Cycling to work is much more difficult because the air is thin and your face is freezing lol. But Antti and my work mates all said that it usually drops so much as Spring is trying to fight for their days while mighty winter simply wont give up!!:D But I think Spring has lost its cool, and winter is finally losing HAHAHAHA:D
Day are getting longer, today the sun rose at 5am, an today it will be setting at 8+pm already:D This means I can stay out longer!! Anyway, this week has been a great week!! I was supposed to attend one of the exchange students gathering at "shaker", a cocktail bar, but last minute everyone couldn't make it so it was cancelled!
On day 26, I was attached to another work mate by the name if Maija (Mai-e-ya), And she turned out to be the sister of Liisa:D Maija is more out-going and is comfortable speaking in English so I didn't have any problems interacting with her at all:) She was relatively new as compared to her sister so we had so much fun woking together, trying to figure out what drinks had been taken from the minibar of each room, what rooms to clean etc etc!!:) Ended work at 1.30pm. I then went to meet Antti as he needed to go to Rajakatu (The biggest campus) to do some administrative stuff pertaining to his attachment in Singapore, and then have lunch there!! I sincerely think he is a good host here, although sometimes he doesn't know what he's doing hahahhahaha:D We went to Rajakatu to find out it was close, so was the cafeteria!! Crap, we then walked back to Keskusta and popped in to one of their fantastic pizzerias for pizza! 5.50 Euros for a meal that will last you THREE Full meals is a great deal!!:D We chit-chatted, then went to get my ice skates sharpened for 6 Euros, then off we went back to our apartments!!
Day 27, was another great day!! As usual, went to work to meet Maija, and another girl by the name of Suvi-Maria joined us! She spoke good English, and looked absolutely GORGEOUS hahahahaaaha:) She approached me to say hi and then we introduced ourselves! And then she said, " Im studying a psychology degree, so I know what you're thinking hehe:D It was a cheeky statement for the first time we met, but I melted away hahhahahahaha:D After work, I went back home, settled down and went to meet Antti AGAIN HAHAHAAHHA:)
He invited me over to his house for dinner, and then went to S-market to get some items that he claims will make me a MAN LOL:D Hahahaha Aiyah ayah before you start thinking wrongly, its not SEX hor!! Its just lots of Cider as thats what people drink here everyday hahaha! We walked down the beverage aisle and that guy just took and threw it into the basket... "Wow this one if good, you must try! Hmmmm this is not bad either, lets get both!! And Oh Oh Oh, You Must try this one, its goooooooooddddddddd!:D He was being a "man-maker" LOL!! By the time we headed back to the cashier, the amount of Cider we bought was ridiculous haha! Trust me... it was way too much for a Singaporean. But no worries, especially to my parents who are probably dead-worried I may get drunk and people will "spike" my drink, don't worry, I know my LIMITS!! And these people are not drinking hooligans, drinking here is a way of life and to get to meet people!
Then popped over to his house for dinner lol! I can see why Antti looks unhealthy hahaha! While the potato wedges and chicken were grilling in the oven, we had lots of sweets and potato chips as appetizers LOL:D But the meal was good and I enjoyed it very much!! We then watched the movie "taken"... Quite a thriller! And Antti switched the lights off and dimmed it until it had a totally different meaning LOL:D
Plans for today, get as much sleep as possible, then meeting Mikko, Antti and their friends for a night out Hoorah:D Se ya folks!
Kovski
alone in the snow...9:25 AM
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Day 25, March 24, temp: -4C- -12C windy
Hello Folks!! Sorry I didn't blog yesterday as I was tired from work, though it was only a few hours! I will merge two days of posts as nothing much happened yesterday apart from work!!:D And oh, yesterday's weather was -11C, bloody cold for March!
This morning, I woke up at 6.15am, made meself beakfast and then cycled off to work! As mentioned, it was freezing this morning and there were snow flurries... this made cycling hard as hell!! As the morning was windy, I couldn't understand why I was cycling against the wind + snow all the time!!! It was painful as the snow flakes hit me in the face like thousands of Gilette Mach 3 turbo razors slicing me up, it hurt pretty badly and I kept "squeezing/ crunching" my face to strain my face lol!!' By the time I arrived at my work place, my whoe face was so hard, I couldn't even SMILE!!!
But at least my face didn't become the grand canyon! I started my second day of work and met my two work buddies, Liisa and Heidi! They were both really fantastic people and were making weird "sounds" all the time haha! At first I thought they were students as they looked really young, but in actual fact they are working adults! As I will be in the housekeeping department for a few weeks, I look forward to working with them:) They are smiling all the time and never failed to answer my questions. At the end of the day, they gave me all the cans and bottles they found for recycling!!:D Over here in Finland, cans and bottles are money. One normal coke can can get you a 30cents cash back. a normal 500ml bottle can get you 40 cents singapore and one 1.5L bottle = 80 cents singapore! So yesterday from all the cans and bottles they gave me, I managed to get over 5 Euros cash in return:D
As I was promised one free meal a day, I had this impression that I would me given normal staff meals... And it turned out wrong, the manager of F&B (I forgotten his name but he is a really great guy!!) asked me what I would like for lunch, and the food items came from the menu itself!!! IT WAS FANTASTIC AND DELICIOUS:D
I start work at 8am and usually by 2pm im OFF:D Sometimes when we finish cleaning the rooms asigned early, I can even leave at 12nn!!! Its fantastic but im certainly hoping they will give me an allowance!
I then met Mikko and Antti today after work. We went Ice-skating and hockey LOL:D As I know nuts about ice hockey, I fell on my ass all the time:D But I give it up to Mikko and Antti who are fantastic players! But things got a little boring as they were playing among themselves hahahaha:D And Antti said I needed to sharpen my ice skates as I kept slipping all the time:D
Thats all folks for these two days, im definitely lookig forward for work tomorrow:D
Kovski
alone in the snow...8:35 PM
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Day 23, Mar 22 Temp: -2C- -9C
Hellooooo People!! Its me once again! Hahhhhhh im soooo Happy because I managed to go ice skating today. (Anyway I realised that there's an ice skating rink just behind my apartment... All these while i had been cycling 3km to Lake Jyvasjarvi just to skate:( Anyway I had the ice skating rink to myself today so I made full use of it to learn how to ice skate:D
While skating, I had this terrible phobia to fall on the ice:....( This morning I went online to try to teach myself how to ice skate and I came across thsi website on Ice-skating injuries. It said, " We had create this site to remind all ice-skaters on the danger of ice skating". In there, it had gross pictures of bones jutting out of flesh, X-rays of people's broken legs and wrists, horrific gory bruises and cuts... Man it was like SAW VI!!! Anyway, taking advantage of this sunny beautiful weather, I made my way out onto the skating rink!
I tried really hard for a couple of minutes... then I realised, "Jordan you must fall down onto the ice then you won't be afraid of it... ARE YOU BARKING MAD ASSHOLE?!?! What if you fall... get back up and then HEY My left leg is shorter then my right one.. and then OHHHHH I Lost my LEFT FOOT and Left Shoe!" Hahahahahaha what a Joke! Anyway, that was exactly what I DID!
In the most unnatural way, I fell forward!! And I always think that my hands were made of sand paper so if I used them to break my fall, I wouldn't fall flat on my FACE!! Ohhhhh Boy I was sooooo Wrong! When I fell, I threw my hands forward onto the ice and then "ahhhhhhh my hands slided against the ice like some salami sausage and I fell on my chest!!! Well it didn't seem so bad did it?!?! hahha but that wasn't the worse part... the worse part came when I started sliding across the rink... "Wahhhhhhh... here I went from Point A to B!!!" My vision was spinning and I went FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK during my journey haha! Pardon my vulgarities... I was frightened!
But I SURVIVED and started to have GUTS!:D And I think ive become "better (Didn't fall accidently, became more stable)" this time round with those ice hockey skates... but faster practice some more if not all the ice will be melting soon:.....(
Anyway, after skating for 2.5 hours, I made my way back home. Im not sure if im lucky or what but today is officially "dog shit day for me!" Why? Cuz never in my "happening" life have I ever EVER seen two different dogs shitting in front of me!! It may seem normal to dog owners but certainly not me!! While taking a break on the rink... this starhub dog ran towards my direction until he was a couple of metres in front of me... Then he aimed his ass.... "I stared on with my mouth open don't ask me why"... and everything suddenly slowed down as I blinked my eye.... "Bbbbbllllliiiiiinnnnnnnkkkkkkk" Once I regained my vision, that long piece of biohotdog just flowed out of his ass.... It was gross so I took a snow ball and snowballed the dog, he was SO RUDE!! Hahahahaahahaha
The other one was a bulldog and it was just as gross... But I didn't snowballed it's ass as he was Mr BuLL dog... Mr starhub was more fun to bully hahahaha!
That was all that happened today!! Anyway, newspaper say to +5min to yout sunset and minus 5 min from sunrise, this means that night is getting shorter!!! And I have to gear myself up as from tonight onwards the temperature will plummet to -13 for a few days.... Ahhh good luck to me!!
Kovski
alone in the snow...5:34 PM
Friday, March 20, 2009
Day 21, Mar 20, temp: -12C- 8C cloudy and windy
Today's weather was really really weird!! I woke up this morning... the sun was up, then I realised that it was only 5.30am!!!! Yeah the midnight sun is on its way now alright.. So I went back to sleep and made sure I woke up at 8!:)
Went to a supermarket called "minimani" and "inter-sport" Departmental store to look for my exercise wear.. if not im really going to be stuck at home growing plummer by the minute:D Couldn't find anything much as things cost the same as in Singapore, only they are in Euros!!:....(
Minimani is a moderate scale supermarket, and I came to found out that they sell the CHEAPEST PICK AND MIX IN TOWN, only 60 cents Singapore per one hundred Grams!! I couldn't resist buying so I looted 1kg full of Chocolates Home:D Arrhhhh Chocolates and Candy are cheaper than meals here lol!! Bought chicken today... it was on offer at 800gm for 5 Euros (SGD$10). Bought a few hangers to hang my clothes and then cycled back home!! I couldn't understand why I was sweating mad when I was cycling home, then I realised that the temperature had shot up all the way to 8C!!! 8C people, this was really WEIRD! Just this morning the temperature was a ridiculous low of -12, and a few hours later it was freaking 8C lol... But it was pleasant and the breeze felt really nice:D ha ha ha. and I heard there is a drought and frequent searing heat in Orlando right now. Ahhhh I feel so BLESSED LOL:D
Tried to ice skate today so I brought my skates along. However I was surprised when I got to Lake Jyvasjarvi as there was not a single soul there!! I was happy at first but suspected that the ice could be thinning because of 8C... So i carefully went to the jetty and made my first step onto the ice annnddddd... it felt good! The ice was smooth and the conditioned seemed good enough to ice-skate! I carried on walking, gained confidence and was convinced that I could ice-skate as I took each step down the rink. Then LO AND BEHOLD there was this FREAKING LOUD CRACK SOUND BELOW MY FEET!! I was like "F*** F*** F888!!!' Having watched movies of people falling into the icy waters, I turned slowly and made my way back to the jetty... step by step, "Oh man you're too young to DIE, you have a long way ahead of .. Ah I made it safetly haha!!" It was a freaky experience but I certainly hope to return to ice-skate soon:)
Thats all folks! And oh yah... I got my results back! It was nerve wrecking... when I saw the result on my email..." WHAT THE F*** OH MAN OH MAN!!!!" I won't put down my results here... but this was definitely the best results since my two years in poly hahahaha:D
Kovski!
alone in the snow...7:34 PM
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Day 18 & 19, Mar 17, 18 Temp: 2 & -9C
Day 18
Hello Folks! Im sorry for not being able to blog these two days as I had to attend to a number of events... Most importantly my interview! While I was halfway chatting with Vivian two days ago, I received a phonecall from my Job coordinator Susanna, " Hi Jordan, its me Susannsa... are you still at your apartment?" INSTANTLY I knew I read the time wrongly... so I said," Oh man, I read the time wrongly didn't I? It was supposed to be 12.40pm instead of 1.40pm?" And she replied," Nooooo its me im sorry. I gave you the wrong timing to come. Will it be possible if you get your ass (I added this in) here in 15 minutes?" "15 MINUTES TIME?!?!! Ok ok Il be there but il be a little late!!"
And there I went rushing... I got changed in 5 minutes (I usually take 15 minutes because of all the winter clothes and all) and cycled my ass down to Sokos Alexandra Hotel. Arrived a couple of minutes late and managed to meet Susanna and the Director of Housekeeping, I think her name was Anna. Anna knew little English so Susanna was there to translate. She seemed like a pretty nice lady and the environment seemed cosy and comfortable, even though it is the largest hotel in Jyvaskyla and they had a high standard of service.... The most fortunate thing is that I won't be stuck in Houskeeping, or duelling dragons/ merchandising like the previous few students who came and are in USA HA.HA. Considering my previous work background, they are able to rotate me around the hotel departments so il be doing Meeting and Conferences as well as Food and Beverage!! Il be starting this coming Monday and im really looking forward to this!!
I didn't manage to meet Antti as I was supposed crash his lecture and I missed it... So I cycled all the way to Prisma at Keljonkeskus to do some grocery shopping. Anyway, I have grown so addicted to yoghurt (They are very cheap and delicious) that im eating them almost everyday!! I bought a particular brand of Bananas and they SUCK (Rotted in two days). Therefore im changing to my alternative choice of fruits to..... erm.... CHOCOLATES as they are way cheaper than a few hundred grams of bananas lol:D Nahhhh I think il stick to better brands of bananas (Del Monte kind haha:)
What they sell at Prisma is comparable to Walmart, just that you pay everything in Euros!! And I finally realise the difference between white eggs and the brown ones!! Antti said that the White eggs came from the European Chickens and the brown one we usually eat in Singapore comes from the "nigger" chickens LOL, he's racist boy!! Today was also the first time I saw large frozen prawns on sale and was really tempted to buy. But I was afraid they would cost me 50 Euros... which is common here!!
Anyway, I cycled back home after doing my "almost-daily-grocery-shopping" and that was the end of Day 18!
Day 19 I met Antti today and we went to the Jyvaskylan University (A really cool campus) for lunch. I was almost on time when halfway up Kuokkalan bridge, my bicycle chains just fell out!!!! I was going to be late for sure... SO I did something I swear il never do it again... I took off my gloves and tried to fix the chains. This got my whole hands filled with muddy oily grease. Worse thing was that the chains still failed!!! Frustrated already, I pushed the bicycle all the way to then campus which was one one kilometre away! By the time I arrived, I couldn't feel both my hands so I ran to the toilet and soaked it under really really hot water... Was it successful? Hmmm, Im still typing with BOTH my hands so what do you think LOL?:D
We went for lunch, then afterwards randomly met a few guys from Thailand, South Korea and USA. They seemed really friendly but the Guy from Thailand was slightly tipsy as he drank too much to keep himself warm LOL:D And he got really EXCITED When I told him I was from Singapore and he went," OHHHHHHH AHHHHHHH, YOU ARE REALLY FROM SINGAPORE?!?!? HEY BROTHER COME HERE!!!! *AND WE HUGGED* And then we started talking about some local stuff and the other two guys were also great! And the American went, "Wow.... ************************************************************!!!" Don't worry, those weren't vulgurities but a series of interesting things foreigners say about us Singaporeans LOL! I will put them all on a list later!
Antti then took me around town on bicycle and we went shopping at the Pedestrian stree AGAIN! Somehow I have a feeling that Antti has some "Singaporean Auntie mentality in him LOL:D" We entered Sokos, the most expensive departmental store in town. And then I asked him," Why are you shopping here?! Things are so expensive here!!!" And then he took me further in and there was this GIANT Clearance sale where things were going for "10 for 2 EUROS" kind!!! I was laughing all the time as we were the only two guys in that whole area LOL:D Bu it was great fun!! I bought five tubes of toothpaste that will probably last me 3 World Wars and two large bottles of Dove Body soap hahaha! And Antti bought shampoo and body stuffs and took me to the hair care area where he showed me the shampoo he used... IT COSTS BLOODY 30+ EUROS!!! THAT WAS MADNESS! It was some dsigner shampoo that certainly didn't do his hair much good LOL jk!
They actually had plans to go out that evening but I think they needed to spend time with their girlfriends having left them for 6 months lol... Passionate Nights:D Thats all folks! Will blog again sooon!
Kovski
alone in the snow...9:04 AM
Monday, March 16, 2009
Day 17, Mar 1, Temp: 0-1C, Snow and Wind
Its snowing again... Just yesterday everything was melting and I could see the surface of the roads (Cycling was much much much easier!!!) And it only took two hours of snow for eveything to be covered again!!:...( But its nice and "mysterious". Everytime when it snows everything around me seems so silent and Serene:D Unfortunately, this means that I have to cycle on ice- kacang tomorrow:(
Today's Happenings:
I had to cycle 11km to school again today! It seemed as though I was going to cycle 1100km because of all the snow and ice on the floor. Fortunately, I left home in the morning at 9am and not everything was melting yet!!:)
I made it to school and realised that my attachment coordinator, Susanna had cnacelled the meeting as she had an obligatory meeting to attend to.... A WASTED TRIP!!!! It wasn't anyones fault as Susanna had tried her best ot contact me but was given the wrong number:( Anyway as I walked to my bicycle to prepare to cycle to Keskusta, I found 2 Euros on the floor Hehehehehe!!! That paid for my lunch and left me happy the whole day LOL:D "WHO THE HECK WILL DROP $4 HERE IN SINGAPORE?!!?!" I was reminded of an incident of an old auntie in Choa Chu Kang running after $2 across the road....$2 DOLLARS AND PEOPLE WERE WILLING TO RISK THEIR LIVES AIYOHHHHH!!"
I finally managed to meet Antti, who was badly burnt in Bali and he looked different (maybe because he was in his winter clothings and all haha) We went to attend a lecture on "Overseas living"... arrived there and it turned out to be tomorrow lol:) Took a short walk to Keskusta where Antti needed to buy some stuffs for is phone, and kept boasting about the departmental store "Anttila" (Similar to John Little in Singapore) that it was named after him LOL!! SO LAME:D:D
We did some grocery shopping at S-market before heading to his apartment for a tour... It was really nice, Exactly like a condominium unit... It was Fantastic:) I tried some weird dessert which apparently tasted Really Good!! Its like Milk Pudding with (Strawberry+raspberry+cranberry) Mixed jam YUM-MMY!! We left at aroud 5 plus as he needed to attend a lecture!
Went to S-market (The one in my neighbourhood) and spotted another dog (Starhub dog) being strapped to a lamp post... He was shivering badly!!! But I had seen the exactly same dog for the second time and knew exactly how he took revenge on his owner: He peed repeatedly on the handle and strap till it was soaked with his pee HAHAHAHAHAHA!! He did it three times in 2 minutes as I stood there and watch!! And the owner merrily walked out and grabbed the handle with her bare hands!!:) It was really funny... It was Doggy revenge hehe:D
Thats all for today folks! Tomorrow will be my job interview and I certainly hope they will give me an allowance to cover my expenses.. Fingers Crossed!!:D
Näkemiin, Kovski
alone in the snow...9:48 PM
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Day 15,14 March, Temp: 3C, cloudy
Im sorry guys I didn't managed to blog yesterday!! Only one major event happened yesterday: I ice-skated in FINLAND FOR THE FIRST TIME:D Hehe it was certainly an adventure, AT LEAST FOR A TROPICAL GUY LIKE ME:D (I KNOW YOU WERE GOING TO SAY SOMETHING NAT I KNOW IT!!! hehe:D) I didn't manage to take any pictures, YOU KNOW WHY!
But ice-skating brought me another surprise:) It gave me many opportunities to interact with the Finns:) Its true they look cold and don't smile very much. However, I tried greeting them and SUCCESS:D Every single person I greeted never failed to greet back with a Big Fat Smile!!! It was good feeling baby! Today's church was really interesting, I believe it to be a combined service. The elderly was performing song items and a traditional finnish dance (I believe) that was really interesting!! Heres the clip:D
Its really interesting to see the wide variety of Christian denomination practices. Lutheran was certainly a more personal and lively approach to christianity:D Love the service!
I went back after church, managed to clean the whole apartment and tidied my room. Next I picked up my ice skates and headed for the lake... To my disappointment, the lake was pretty crowded with people. Being a really bad skater, I felt really embarassed to step onto the rink... It was really weird but ive never felt like this before, maybe its because I was tired and alone hahaha:D Anyway I managed to catch some exercise by cycling to and from the lake back to my apartment!
Thats all folks for this great week! I hope things get better when Antti and Mikko comes back hehe! Il upload more pictures soon onto to facebook so do look back!!
Loving the Cold,
Kovski!
alone in the snow...6:58 PM
Friday, March 13, 2009
Day 14, 13 March 09, Temp: 0-1C, Cloudy
Good day everyone!! I made a very interesting observation today:) From Day one I arrived in Finland, I managed to see the Sun for two out of the 14 days! Its gloomy almost everyday and it has snowed 10 out of the total 14 days!! Spring seems to be on its way now and the temperature finally crosses over to 1C.
Just yesterday night, Johanna my buddy messaged me! She was apparently suffering from the "worst hangover of her life" after attending a fairwell Erasmus party for the European Union Students! "So have you studied for tomorrow's test?" And then I replied, "What test?!" One second later, "OH CRAP THE FINNISH HYGIENE TEST!!! I TOTALLY FORGOTTEN ALL ABOUT IT!!" Fortunately Johanna Reminded me if not I wouldn't have this morning to study! I cycled 8km to the School of Business and found out that all their "safety and hygiene handbooks" were on loan.
Realising this, I had no choice but to cycle another 8km to the other side of town (the hospital campus) to borrow the book. Fortunately, it was downhill all the way so it took me only 30 minutes. Managed to study for 90minutes before making my way back... Of course coming back to the Business campus was One Hell of a HORRIBLE RIDE! It was Uphill all the way and thus took me almost an hour!! I spent 80% of my journey on foot trying to push my bicycle uphill!:.....( Fortunately I made it on time and completed the test!!
Met Sudin at Gummeruksenkatu as he wanted to buy a pair of skates! I have finally found a skating buddy!!:D Unfortunately he couldn't find the size for his feet. So I agreed to meet him tomorrow and we shall go back to Sepalakangas to find his skates!!:D I shall take pictures of the whole place so do check back:D
Anyway heres the link to the pictures I took during my trip to Pereunka Resort!! Enjoy:D For those who have seen snow before, or living in a wintry environment: "SHUT YOUR YAP!" lol:D Im kidding only!
Well time seems to fly really really fast!! Its the 13th day already! Im not sure whether its a good or bad thing... It is good of course as I miss my family and friends, and Singapore Food:D
I cycled to the neighbourhood of Sepäläkangas, 11km from my apartment. This is the place where all the Gigantic Supermarkets, Electronic stores, Furniture, Motor and Vehicular Megastores are located. It was a pleasant ride:) The snow was melting so everything was kind of slushy, not very easy going:(
Today's Objectives: 1) Purchase an iron 2) Purchase a pair or ice skates 3) DONT BUY ANYMORE CHOCOLATES 4) Pay this month's rent 5) Come back before 3pm!
Managed to get to Nordea Bank by 10.30am. All their ATMs were in Finnish so I sought help from this counter lady who was kind enough to help me! They didn't have any "cash deposit machines" like what we have in Singapore, so I had to deposit my money over the counter!
Everything was settled an hour later. Now came the exciting part of today's itinery: 2nd hand store hunting!!! It is said that most European and American countries are famous for their 2nd hand stores... Having heard of this, I decided to check out some of the stores within Keskusta and Sepälä! Managed to locate one near the bank, along Gummeruksenkatu. Here I had my first surprise!! 2nd hand ice skates were going for 2 EUROS ONLY!!! It was Unbelievable!!! One of my principal lecturer told me that winter sports items are way cheaper than summer wear here in Finland, and it is even possible to get free ice 2nd hand ice skates sometimes:D
The first store had only 5 pairs of 2nd hand ice skates for sale... So I took a gamble and cycles all the way to Sepäläkangas, 8 kilometres away to visit a mega 2nd hand good centre! I have been there twice and hope to find my dream skates there:D As the temperature dropped, it was obvious that the meltwater was beginning to freeze again... It was HELL cycling uphill and over the thick layer of ice!! So I thought to myself," You better find those skates or else you can jolly well swim nude in the frozen during your free time!! After instilling fear in me, I picked up my guts and strength and successfully made it to the store!!
I spent two hours digging heaps of shoes and toured every aisle. It was a problem as the staff simply dumped their sale items all over the place so theres no such thing as a shoe area, clothes area, it was ONE GIGANTIC MESS!!:D But it was lots of fun, expecially when you find really weird items such as telegram machines, antiques and many many more items!! Towards the end of two hours, I successfully found a fine pair of ice skates:D and a Philips Iron!!
You can guess their costs but when I found out their actualy prices, I was the happiest man ALIVE!! That relatively new Philips iron only ost me 2 Euros (S$4) and my skates 5 Euros (S$10). IT WAS A FANTASTIC BARGAIN!! I will upload the pics tomorrow!! Had so much fun today!! Having gotten my skates, I can finally kill time by ice skating by the lake everyday:D starting from tomorrow!!
Got to go guys... will blog again tomorrow:D
Kovski
alone in the snow...7:44 PM
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Week II Day 12 11th March, -1C snowy and cloudy:)
Went to Vesala Forest Lodge with Johanna, Sanna, Paul, Sudin, etc etc (I cant remember names lol!) for the Erasmus Project (The European group of students I met the day before!) We had to form a team to challenge the rest! We played many games such as tug of war, Snow shoe Running and a very interesting game called Wellington Boots, where you are supposed to swing a boot and throw it as far as possible from in between your legs!! I SUCKED so bad at it but had lots of fun!!:D Had my first snow war with Sudin and Gang and made my very first snow ball!! YAY:D Thanks Natalie for all the encourgament hehehe, I made a huge one, about the size of your mouth LOL Jokes again:P
The whole thing ended at 3pm and Johanna sent us back to Keskusta (centrum). Cycled around town for a while as the weather was plesantly warm at -1C with snow flurries:D Tried to locate a second hand shop near the Scandic Hotel for my ice skates, but ended up in the neighbourhood of Sepälä, 4km off course hahahahaha:) Im good at googling Earth but not locating myself for Pete's Sake lol:D
Anyway back home... just in time to cook dinner! Today's menu was Rice with bakkwa, sunny side-up eggs, honey marinated chicken yum yum!! But before that... I had a hard time as I accidently dropped my cup of rice onto the floor... WHAT A MESS!!! The day before I had dropped a whole box of detergent power at my doorstep... Its not a butter finger problem, its more of a greasy oily finger problem:(
Cycling in the snow is really difficult but I have gotten used to it:D Thats all the happenings for today!! Anyway, I managed to learn a few words from yesterday's laundry experience:D Here they are!!
Erittäin Kuiva -- Very Dry Pesukone -- Washing Machine Kuivaaja -- Dryer Oottaa -- Wait
Others Oli hauska tutustua-- Very nice to meet you:) Olen Hyvää -- You're welcome! Mitä -- What
Im picking up more on the way:) Thats all folks!
Kovski Suomi
alone in the snow...8:24 PM
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Im Back!!!
Hello Ladies and Gentleman!! Its finally my second week in Finland! Alot of things happened this week... Don't worry, I keep it short and sweet!:D
I have sucessfully washed my first load of laundry:D It was a challenge because everything was in Finnish and you didn't know what buttons to press haha!! This also applied to the drying machine, I was to AFRAID that my clothes would catch fire:D But fortunately everything turned out well!!
Just a day before, Minna Junttila, my coordinator arranged for me to visit the Pereunka Spa Centre 25 kilometres from the City Centre. Its really a Fantastic Place, with a beautiful lake view and Lots of Snow:D:D However, I felt pretty left out as I was with a group of European Union students from Germany, Slovenia and Spain... As I was the only Asian on the Bus, I felt really uncomfortable and weird!!! I was totally struck down when one of the girl said to me," Sorry but this is not a Public Bus!" Immediately, I was like," HELLO!!! DO I LOOK LIKE A STUPID SUB-HUMAN ASIAN!!!!?!?!?!?!"
Nahhhhh, I didn't dare... I simply told her, " Im going for the same tour as you guys.. and I know this is not a Public Bus!" She became so embarrassed that We didn't talk to each other ever since! LOL:D Well of course things got better as I got the chance to meet some really nice people such as Elina, Minna, Doris of Germany, Pekka and many others!! They certainly made me feel comfortable!!:)
It has been snowy these past few days... and windy too!! Thats why it felt like -10 degrees celsius!! Snow is really really beutiful I must tell you, however it has its disadvantages!! It feels like flour and piles up on roads and EVERYWHERE!! It makes walking and cycling difficult!!! This was the major problem I encountered today as my bicycle got stuck in at least 50cm of snow, at Prisma Supermarket in Keljonkeskus (Keljo Centre), two kilometres away... The snow took me almost 30 minutes just to travel 2 kilometres!!:( It was really difficult but at least I got some exercise hehe:D
And oh yes... I FINALLY GOTTEN MY LONG-AWAITED FURNITURE... ALL FOR ONLY 30 EUROS ( It includes a Bed, mattress, desk and Chair.... SOooooo CHEEEEAAAAPPPPP:D Finally things are beginning to settle down!! Thats all folks... I have also posted pictures on facebook so do check them out:D Take care and miss you all!!
Hello Folks!! Im so so so sorry for not being able to blog cuz the internet port in my apartment was down. Thanks for everyone's concern but I have arrived safetly arrived in Finland!! I have made a video (I don't usually do this cuz its time consuming haha, But it was really a beautiful experience landing in Vantaa Airport... Therefore I have made this video of my arrival in Helsinki Vantaa Airport, to share my wonderful and fantastic experience with you all! Please, Enjoy:D)
Click on the link below to view the movie!!! (The quality is better in facebook!)
If for some catastrophic reason you don't have one, you can watch from below! Enjoy:D
I hoped you enjoyed the video... it took me forever to do it!! I will upload the tons of pics soon, after im done editing!! Take care folks and miss you all!!
