4:57 AM
Phil says that i'm almost a quarter of a century old! haha. that sounds reli old eh.. time passes so quick!
Hannah baked me a reli dense rich flourless chocolate cake!!
and packed me a bday goodie bag =)
Thanks everybody for the lovely cards and pressies! =)
had sooo much cakes and chocolates the last few days that i'm seriously gg to burst out of all my clothes!
oh well..one life, take your tummy to its limits! hehe =)
~gone in a moment..
3:53 AM
Visited Santa at his home all the way in the Arctic Circle last wkend.. we took a 3hrs flight to Helsinki, then immediately hopped on the overnight train to Rovaneimi.. it was a 10hrs train ride.. good thing we paid more for the sleeper train though.. Jing and I had a cabin to ourselves... it was so very comfy!!
Sleeper train from Helsinki to Rovaneimi.. our cabin + our own lil sink..
and then we arried at Santa Claus Village ~ Santa House!
BEEEG Snowman!! look how tiny we are next to him =)
Reindeer Sleigh.. poor reindeer.. it looked reli annoyed and tired!
we then queued up to meet Santa himself =)
at Santa's Main Post Office.. everybody's busy writing postcards and mailing them out for xmas..
pretty xmas tree + presents that're not meant for us..
look! Singapore is
9334km away from Lapland!! haha.. Singapore's actually well-known and important enough for them to have a special sign post dedicated to us!! =)
see the blue line above? cross over and Voila!! u've crossed the Arctic Circle!! =)
the wkend that we're in Lapland happened to be he opening ceremony of the xmas season in Lapland as well.. so there was this performance about the elves in search of the missing key.. and Father Xmas (Santa) himself of coz.. it's quite crappy reli.. but nobody's complaining!
and then the best thing happened.. it started snowing heavily!!!! woohooo!! the snow made everything seemed even more magical! we were so very very happy =)
snow snow snow...
and then we left Santa Village and took a bus back to Rovaneimi for dinner.. at the Northern most Mc Donalds! (havent had a meal at Mac's in like 5yrs!! but we were kind of desperate for food and it's the Northern most.. so.. )
after a reli boring Mac dinner it was time for yet another overnite train ride back to Helsinki.. (yes.. Lapland's so very far away!) but this train back was even better! we booked the cabin with ensuite shower!! haha. it's reli cool actually.. we had a cabin on the upper deck!
this is the setting for the sink + toilet..
when u pull the entire movable wall forward.. secure it over the toilet bowl.. and u use the newly created compartment for showering! ahhh.. intelligent design & engineering.. everything in the small tiny space!
btw.. the beds are reli comfortable! a million times better than the rubbish hostels (+ bed bugs) and my own creaky bed + sunken spring in tonbridge!
arrived in Helsinki early on SUnday morn and we were greeted with rain.. and more rain.. it was quite warm though.. 4degC!
Helsinki looks kinda like Singapore.. buildings + departmental stores everywhere.. (just that everything costs a million times more..)
the main railway station..
the Town hall (i think)
at the Helsinki bay..
view from above..
the main shopping street
and coz everything in the shops were in the range of hundreds of euros (plus it's raining).. we started feasting instead.. =) wat better stuff to spend ur money on than food! hehe
we wanted to try finnish food.. so we had my bday lunch at this (relatively more affordable) restaurant..
smoked reindeer + venison on rye bread
white fish + carrot puree + an entire heap of buttery potato mash!!
the food was oh-so-divine =)
afer that it was shopping for finnish chocolates! =)
and that about sums up our Finland trip.. it wasnt as cold as expected.. we had like 5 layers beneath our coat and the temperature never did fall below 0degC! and so we survived =) Helsinki's not a place for the budget or average traveller to be honest.. nothing there for u unless u're filthy rich!
end of magical Santa fantasy.. back to rainy, flooded tonbridge..
~gone in a moment.. 
this is the setting for the sink + toilet.. 
