Altruistic Joy

We were in Turku only for one day, because we need to take a ferry from there to Stockholm. We met Ajaya's sister, Pratishta and her sister and one friend. They are very hospitable. Although it was the first time we met, we quickly became good friends and they even cooked Nepalese dinner for us that night. So sweet!! After dinner, they watched Indian Idol, so I joined in and it was the first time I saw the Chinese descent Indian guy hosting this season of Indian Idol. His name is Meiyang Chang and they told me he was a contestant in last season and was the top 5. Haha... It was amazing to see a Chinese speaking and singing in Hindi. He can't even speak Chinese. Haha... It was really fun to be with them in Turku. I hope they will come to Singapore one day and I will gladly be their host. :)

I felt the most exotic in Lapland (Finland) because I CROSSED the ARCTIC CIRCLE-HOORAY!! I come from Indonesia, which is in the Southern Hemisphere and now I have crossed to the Northern Hemisphere! I felt so excited about it. Thanks to Kirsi who recommended us to visit this place while we were in Finland. We took overnight train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi and it takes approximately 10+ hours. We took a taxi from Rovaniemi center to Santa Claus Village. It was our first and only taxi in Europe-too expensive!Haha.....

We were also at the Santa Claus Main Post Office where children post letters with their wishes to Santa Claus. It's so exotic to send postcards from there, I could not help but sms Ms Faridah to give me her address because I have forgotten to bring all my friends' addresses with me during this trip. Luckily, I have Ms Casey Goh's and Jolene's addresses in my mobile phone, so I was able to send them postcards from this exotic place. :) I sent to my family and myself too. :) Because I wanted to keep the stamp from this part of the world.

We also took photo with the Santa Claus and it was super expensive, 6 Euro per photo and you have to buy 5 photos at the minimum. But this was once in lifetime experience, the money is insignificant, so Jon and me spent 30 Eur together on 5 photos. Haha... I will give one each to my dad and mum to display in their offices. :) In fact, I think we spent the most money here, on souvenirs, postcards and stamps. But it was all worth it!

Here are the photos....