Day 2: Helsinki, Suomi (Finland)
1 May 2008
by David Ho
The island…
The boat…
The others… And, a mysterious floating creature… By the end of this post, some won’t make it off the island. Friends will part ways. Who remains on the boat? And who are the others? All that’s certain is, nothing will ever be the same again!!! Now, the producers of Lost may come after me with intellectual property laws or something... However, unlike them, I actually know the answers to MY questions, and HOW my story is going to end. Heh heh. Probably the biggest issue here is… Intellectual? Really? All people are is confused!
I’m rather un-enthusiastic about typing up what happened today. I didn’t really find Helsinki very interesting. Still, I’ll try my best to carry you faithful readers on to the next post. Plus you get to look out for all the answers to the above! (You just got to figure it all out for yourself)
The day started out pretty good, we had a buffet breakfast… That’s MY definition of a good start! Buffet breakfasts are good for 2 reasons. The first is breakfast, and the second is lunch. Enough said. Of course while you’re busy helping the poor boat people not waste food, make sure you are well equipped to pull this off. Wrapping your food up in tissue paper and your jacket, doesn’t really fall into the definition of well-equipped, but was what 2 of our buddies did anyway.
With lunch quite literally in the bag, we set off to explore Helsinki! First off, to where it all began. Suomenlinna! (I spelt it right on the first go, so klever!) Suomenlinna is one of the biggest island fortresses in the world. It was originally built to protect the Eastern parts of Sweden, but then in the 1800’s Napoleon and the Russians decided to take it. The Russians invaded and occupied Finland, and used the fortress to guard the shipping lanes. It was really quite a strategic piece of land, and it was this that helped fuel Finland’s economy which in turn helped Helsinki to prosper. It cost us a few Euros to get there by ferry, but I thought it was pretty worth it to go have a look-see. We spent half a day at the fortress walking around and seeing all that “had to be seen”, most of which isn’t very memorable. The only thing I can remember is me running around, up and down hills, onto cannons, walls… Basically anywhere I wanted to go. I also raced Yock Song up a hill in a bout of childishness, which really is a testament to how relaxed I felt there. Yock Song must’ve been pretty light-hearted as well, though we all speculated, (and I’d vehemently insist though he denies it) was because of reasons slightly more sinister than walking around an island. It turns out that all that energy I had was going to come in really useful, because we had to jog/sprint across the island back to the ferry point to catch the boat back to Helsinki. That makes it 2 for 2 days we were rushing… We made it without a minute to spare. Seriously, the other tourists right behind us didn’t make it.
Back in Helsinki, Debbie went back to the boat while we went off to see the Olympic stadium which looks like any other stadium. Olympic stadiums are white elephants, you build them, use them for one spectacular event, and then no one ever hears about it again, unless they’re tourist who find themselves with a travel pass with nowhere else to go. I’m sorry to say that there really isn’t much in Helsinki. Sure we went to city hall and a church that was supposed to be half carved out from a rock, but in terms of architecture there is nothing that really left an impression on me. If you want some more details, go look at Debbie’s blog.
Oh oh! The one highlight in Helsinki was probably the flying pig. Yep! A pig balloon was released and started its ascent to the heavens. That really left Carol in a fit of laughter. I never knew a flying pig could make her so happy…
We eventually got our bags from the ship, bought some food at a supermarket and went to the train station to meet up with all the others, where we would take an overnight train into Moscow! Somewhere that no-one that I know of has written about. Not Carol, not Debbie, nor Jian Feng… It would be unfair to say that the Russian experience started the next day, for it really began that night. Consider this for a bedtime “farewell”: “Goodnight, sleep tight, try not to think so much about the bed bugs, lock the door, and oh, stuff bits of cloth into the gap between the floor and the door so you don’t get gassed and robbed.” All I’m saying is, Russia is not the safest place for tourists, and we were going to be very careful.
Next: The imposing, the incredible, the irresistible… Red Square! (and other touristy places)
1 May 2008
by David Ho
The island…
The boat…
The others… And, a mysterious floating creature… By the end of this post, some won’t make it off the island. Friends will part ways. Who remains on the boat? And who are the others? All that’s certain is, nothing will ever be the same again!!! Now, the producers of Lost may come after me with intellectual property laws or something... However, unlike them, I actually know the answers to MY questions, and HOW my story is going to end. Heh heh. Probably the biggest issue here is… Intellectual? Really? All people are is confused!
I’m rather un-enthusiastic about typing up what happened today. I didn’t really find Helsinki very interesting. Still, I’ll try my best to carry you faithful readers on to the next post. Plus you get to look out for all the answers to the above! (You just got to figure it all out for yourself)
The day started out pretty good, we had a buffet breakfast… That’s MY definition of a good start! Buffet breakfasts are good for 2 reasons. The first is breakfast, and the second is lunch. Enough said. Of course while you’re busy helping the poor boat people not waste food, make sure you are well equipped to pull this off. Wrapping your food up in tissue paper and your jacket, doesn’t really fall into the definition of well-equipped, but was what 2 of our buddies did anyway.
With lunch quite literally in the bag, we set off to explore Helsinki! First off, to where it all began. Suomenlinna! (I spelt it right on the first go, so klever!) Suomenlinna is one of the biggest island fortresses in the world. It was originally built to protect the Eastern parts of Sweden, but then in the 1800’s Napoleon and the Russians decided to take it. The Russians invaded and occupied Finland, and used the fortress to guard the shipping lanes. It was really quite a strategic piece of land, and it was this that helped fuel Finland’s economy which in turn helped Helsinki to prosper. It cost us a few Euros to get there by ferry, but I thought it was pretty worth it to go have a look-see. We spent half a day at the fortress walking around and seeing all that “had to be seen”, most of which isn’t very memorable. The only thing I can remember is me running around, up and down hills, onto cannons, walls… Basically anywhere I wanted to go. I also raced Yock Song up a hill in a bout of childishness, which really is a testament to how relaxed I felt there. Yock Song must’ve been pretty light-hearted as well, though we all speculated, (and I’d vehemently insist though he denies it) was because of reasons slightly more sinister than walking around an island. It turns out that all that energy I had was going to come in really useful, because we had to jog/sprint across the island back to the ferry point to catch the boat back to Helsinki. That makes it 2 for 2 days we were rushing… We made it without a minute to spare. Seriously, the other tourists right behind us didn’t make it.
Back in Helsinki, Debbie went back to the boat while we went off to see the Olympic stadium which looks like any other stadium. Olympic stadiums are white elephants, you build them, use them for one spectacular event, and then no one ever hears about it again, unless they’re tourist who find themselves with a travel pass with nowhere else to go. I’m sorry to say that there really isn’t much in Helsinki. Sure we went to city hall and a church that was supposed to be half carved out from a rock, but in terms of architecture there is nothing that really left an impression on me. If you want some more details, go look at Debbie’s blog.
Oh oh! The one highlight in Helsinki was probably the flying pig. Yep! A pig balloon was released and started its ascent to the heavens. That really left Carol in a fit of laughter. I never knew a flying pig could make her so happy…
We eventually got our bags from the ship, bought some food at a supermarket and went to the train station to meet up with all the others, where we would take an overnight train into Moscow! Somewhere that no-one that I know of has written about. Not Carol, not Debbie, nor Jian Feng… It would be unfair to say that the Russian experience started the next day, for it really began that night. Consider this for a bedtime “farewell”: “Goodnight, sleep tight, try not to think so much about the bed bugs, lock the door, and oh, stuff bits of cloth into the gap between the floor and the door so you don’t get gassed and robbed.” All I’m saying is, Russia is not the safest place for tourists, and we were going to be very careful.
Next: The imposing, the incredible, the irresistible… Red Square! (and other touristy places)
Oh man, Helsinki really looked different without the snow. The Helsinki i knew was all white.... Interesting pics u have there and i am not guessing what that thingy was on the floor! Eew....
ReplyDeletehaha yeah it wasnt that cold when we went in May, we obviously didn't spend enough time in finland so didn't see much.
ReplyDeletebut that brown thing on the floor is actually.... brown whipped cream. we say this kid going around spraying it on the floor... hahaha!
p/s you've actually travelled ALOT - think you've been to all the places i went!
was it really whipped cream? I thought it was fake dog poo... How come you look shorter than Debbie? From the back you two look alike! FYI, i've mistaken Debs for Carol once or twice... We should have a record of that somewhere... Heh...
ReplyDeleteWhipped cream, i wont eat that for sure! I dont even eat the BIG FAT UGLY German sausage that looks like.... erh....u know what.
ReplyDeleteLOL, Carol. There is one place i have never been.... USA!
and i looonnnng to visit europe... when leh?
ReplyDeletehaha between the 2 of you combined i think you've covered the whole world...!
ReplyDeleteand aa: ..... no comment. bratwurst sausages u mean, they are quite nice, heh...
erh, i will leave them out.....cannot put one into mouth.
ReplyDelete