Duration: 27th February 2010 – 13th March 2010
Finally, the day of my trip has arrived where I will be on my way to Finland! A total of 15 hours journey alone across the land of Asia and Europe, with 5k+ miles and 30k feet above the sky boarding on KLM Royal Dutch Airline was consider a pleasant one. The supper (Lamb rice, pudding, corn salad and butter bun) was nice but I was rather exhausted to even finish them before I fell into a deep sleep. The breakfast was a typical European one (omelet, sausages, hash brown, bun, fruit and yogurt + orange juice).
The sky was dark when I boarded on the airplane in KLIA, and it was still dark after 12 hours journey when I arrived at Amsterdam. =.= The transit in Amsterdam was rather rushing where I only have less than an hour to get across the extensive airport to the next terminal. And I finally get to see the sunny bright sunrise above the clouds on my second flight.
Upon arrival at Helsinki, the land was covered with snow! It was all white! After collecting my luggage and gotten on a taxi, this is where an embarrassing incident occurs. I walked to the left front seat of the taxi forgetting that it was the driver’s seat in Finland instead of a passenger’s one (hope I will not repeat this mistake again during my next visit…lol). The scenery was awesome with real Christmas tree covered with snow. The snowy ground makes the roads look endless somehow. The weather was freezing cold as it was an extraordinary long winter this year but fortunately, the temperature was now at -12°C rather than the -25°C a week or two before my arrival. The snow was thick and some of the roof even collapsed.
After checking-in the hotel and dressing up thickly, I took a walk downtown to get my lunch and to feel the ground. Most of the Finns in this small town do not speak nor understands English. This constitute a hard time for me on the first day upon my arrival where the restaurant in the hotel was closed. Most of the shops seem to be closed either and almost all fascias and signboards weren’t in English. Finally, I found a pizza shop along an alley. Alas, the shop keeper does not understand English and the menu was all in Finnish! This predicament was finally resolved by a phone call made by the shopkeeper to his co-worker who understands a little English. Finally I get my order with much pleasure and starting to get back to the hotel while my toes were freezing immersing in the snow. After taking some pizza, I almost slept through the day due to jetlag.
The first day of March is a new day for me in the office of Hyvinkaa. My bosses and colleagues were kind and nice however still feeling the pressure working with a group of professionals from different countries around the world. The week goes on with more meetings and trainings for sure with the team members. The weekend was spent in the city of Helsinki visiting the churches, shops, bars and any other places of interest. The typical Finnish food includes milk, ham, cheese, bread, potatoes where I almost took all these stuffs in every of my meals. The living cost in Finland was almost the same as in Malaysia however for Malaysian; we need to pay 4.7 times more. A normal lunch in the cafeteria would cost €5.70 but when converted into Ringgit it was more than RM25. The cold and dry weather causes my nose to bleed consecutively for 2 weeks, and my lips cracked for sure. The chocolates which I bought melted once I arrived back in Malaysia as the temperature was almost 40°C different.
Though this blog should have been posted at least 5 months ago after my return, but due to various reasons, it was delayed until this day. As this post acted as a remembrance marking my first step onto the ground of Europe, thus gonna complete this first one before my next visit to Finland again.
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