Dibley Doo: 4/1/07

It was a brilliant trip. A much needed holiday, away from the hustle and bustle of Manchester, into the frosty arms of Finland.

Having to see ENL, a familiar face from home, meant pretty much alot to me. Home, practically meant people from Singapore whom I knew well enough, and well, MSC.

My first impression of Helsinki city, was no less then a OMG; This city actually works! There were no tramps, the police were ACTUALLY doing their duty, and the city was spick and span, spotless, fascinating, just like the first impression Singapore would cast on most of you.

My journey had been well.. slightly short of pleasant considering that i had to take an hour bus journey to John Lennon airport, a 2h45mins plane from Liverpool to Tampere-Pirkala airport, and a 2 hour bus ride to Helsinki city. So much for saving money.

Helsinki city, the capital of one of the most efficient, and incorruptible countries in the world. Home to Nokia, Santa Claus, and of course, the Northern Lights, the name of the country itself conjured some sort of magical Narnia like world that is practically immortalised in white crisp snow.

Well, unfortunately for me, there was no snow. Its' spring time.

And it couldn't have been better.

The weather was perfect for my entire stay. The sky was immaculately blue, decorated with a thin spread of ice-bearing cirrus clouds. You couldn't have had it any better.

Yet strangely, there were loads of ice cubes floating around the harbour, and well, as you can see, the lakes were frozen over. It wasn't that cold, i swear, but it was brilliant, being able to see ice, and enjoy its subtle beauty, and not yet freeze to death.

Finland, well, is very much like Singapore in many ways. Both countries are frighteningly efficient, and well, history on both hands, do not play a major gigantic role in establishing the countries identities. Both countries only managed self-governance in the 20th century, Finland a good 45 years before Singapore. Yet, the key difference is that the Finns, had their own culture, psyche and most importantly, language, unlike the mish mash influences as in Singapore.

We visited Suomelina, the fortress island charged with the protection of Helsinki only recently decommissioned, and also boasts to be a UNESCO heritage site. There were plenty of charming buildings on the island fortress, and of course, the considerable amount of forts left standing to testify the importance of the Helsinki port as was trade on the waters of the Baltic.

On the streets of Finland, there was a certain distinctive air to it. Not quite Russian, and yet, not quite Swede either, and neither was it Dane. And for some strange reason, you can quite easily fall in love with it.

On the 3rd day, I went to Tallin, the Capital of Estonia. I actually went alone. Because somebody, was silly enough to have booked the entire thing, realise only much much later that he didn't have his passport with him because he gave it to the Russian Embassy for his visa to Russia. Oh brilliant.

But anyhoo... On the way to Tallin, I sat in the pub for on the ship for about a whole 3 hours listening to a band play Finnish songs, and watching middle aged Finns dance to the tunes. It was all very much enchante, and it was very sweet. So many times there were displays of affection between dancing couples. Which made me think.. Where would I be when I am their age!? Ha.

Even though it was pretty noisy, I actually managed to get some much needed sleep on the boat, since me and ENL spent a good part of the night up, not doing anything naughty, nor drinking.. but talking.

Very much like Gazimagusa where I had lived for a short while long long ago, Tallin had an Old city, and the normal city. The former refered to locally as Vana Tallin(i.e Old Tallin in Estonian). I had the liberties of staying in a spanking clean and wonderful hostel called Vana Tom along Sauna road (Bookings available through Hostelworld. I'm doing this because I got a discount).

Old Tallin, was filled to the brim with old and beautiful buildings. There were buldings of every imaginable Continental period, Gothic, Swede, Renaissance, Baroque, Empire Style, Soviet, and even modernistic buildings.

Most of the time, you are caught wondering around the old city, marvelling at the beautiful buildings, all white washed, all nicely painted, and well maintained. It was like a fairy tale city.

But wander long enough, and the cleaniliness and pristine of the old city ACTUALLY gets to you. I was left wondering if the rest of Tallin actually looked anywhere near, and if Old Tallin was, just a tourist trap!?

Well, one thing for sure, the streets were paved and lined with tourist shops, and they actually had a Mcdonalds in there. I hate McDonalds.

By the end of the day, I was certain that it was all a tourist trap, and decided to venture out off the beaten track into the real Tallin. And it was a beauty.

Just imagine a city trying to recover from its Soviet past, at the same time, modernising at the pace of its brother EU countries. A city caught in the centre of the emerging capitalism, and yet at the same time, its rich monumental buildings, are intertwined with older wooden houses that testify its Russian Empire past. That was the Tallin I saw.

That evening, I actually went for an Estonian Sauna in one of the public saunas. It was strange being surrounded by naked men who didn't speak a word of English, and were all curiously interested in this strange foreigner who dared venture out of the comforts of the tourist zone. Looking past all that strangeness, the Sauna was blooooody revitalising. I walked out feeeling so daaamn goooood. it was like.. aaaaaaaahhhhhh...

The next day, I ventured out into the suburban city of Tallin, hoping to find out how do Estonians really live! What I saw was charming, in my opinion, much more beautiful than what Old Tallin ever had to offer.

I went to the central market of the sururban area near Viru Keskus, and bought myself some estonian wild honey from a sweet lady who let me taste ALL her honey (for which i was very grateful, and rather blissful from the overload of her wonderful Mesi). Tasted some kind of Estonian Kimchi made of cabbages, and some other vegetables pickled to the point of unidentification. I must say, I wasn't at all a big fan of the dish, but well.. it tasted, kinda like a very sour coleslaw...

The shops there sold normal everyday items to the Estonians, everything was cheap, but it was a strange and eery reminder of the Sunday morning markets that I used to religiously go to when I was in Cha'ah, Johor visiting my grandmother. No fancy schmanzy stuff, but just plain old what you need, what you get stuff.

Onwards, I returned to Helsinki, and spent the rest of the evening chatting with ENL's erasmus friends who were a great amusing bunch!

The next day, we visted Seurasaari, an island park just strangely 20 mins away from Helsinki, and yet looked as if it was in a world of its own. There were nordic walkers, and joggers alike, and also.. the hypnotically cute squirrels that weren't afraid of you.

I wanted to catch one to hug it to bed.

Spent some time rambling around the round, and some time in the really relaxing cafe ontop of a hill.

On my last day in Scandinavia, ENL brought me to Nuuksio

National park, which was supposed to be the highlight considering I had been going on and on about wanting to stay in a log cabin and spend some time in the Finnish outdoors! Though the plan did not materialise due to various reasons.. We still had to head out of the city to get some good clean air, and stare at some rocks. I really needed my dosage of nature at that time.

I just simply cannot describe how beautiful Nuuksio was. Just look at it for yourself and drool to death.

The bad thing about Nuuksiopaa was that the buses were erratic enough for me to miss my flight back to the UK. We had walked to the other end of the park and waited 1.5 hours only to be told that the bus does not service that stop anymore (then why is it on the map and marked!?), to rush to the next bus stop 4km away, and the scheduled bus did not come, and only managing to get up on a bus 4 hours after emerging out of the nature park. It was disturbing, harrowing, and very worrying to have been stuck out there in the cold, without anyform of communication, or assurance.

This would be the only black mark on my fairy-tale like holiday. Rarr!

Being back in Manchester made me appreciate alot of the things that I have here in Manc, the friendly locals, being able to converse comfortably in English, and having the liberties of smiling and talking to anyone on the streets. The strange thing i have come to encounter in Finland was that the local psyche was abit warped. The Finns aren't very friendly people at all. Universally, when you are being smiled at, you would return the smile. This did not happen throughout my entire trip in Finland. When opening a door, or giving way to a lady, you would expect the very least, a smile, or a word of thanks, but strangely, the Finns would choose to pretend you don't exist. While trying to hitch hike our way out of the Nature Reserve, none of the cars actually stopped. I have been told that in other European countries, I probably would have gone very very far if I do even bother hitchhiking.

It was very strange to be in this society that was on the surface quite unwelcoming. Especially when I had arrived from a country where everybody was a Luv, Hun, Dear or Darling.

It was indeed more strange to arrive back in the Manc, and actually be so pleasantly treated by the mere strangers that I meet on the way back to my room, and the warmth that I am greeted with by the staff of my hall. Then, it really felt like home.

Theres nothing wrong with the Finnish psyche I must say. I haven't seen enough of the world yet to pass a judgement on why the psyche of the Finns have evolved in such a strange manner. Yet it leaves me very puzzled, especially after meeting ENL's very very warm friendly and talkative Erasmus friends from Southern and western europe.

This trip has spurred within me, a desire to visit Sweden and Denmark, to be assured of the natural beauty that would greet me along the Scandinavian region, and to also visit the souther European countries like Spain, Italy and France, to first hand experience their warmth, forthcoming, and friendly attitutes.

Going caving tommorow!