Duration: 3rd October 2010 – 9th October 2010
Once again I was back in Finland after 7 months since my last visit in March early this year. This trip was indeed “special” and tiring where I have been spending most of my days on the road (car/taxi), in the air (airplane) and above the sea (cruise ship) undergoing several new experiences.
This journey was in fact not as smooth as the previous one where I unfortunately missed one flight and lost my baggage! Upon arrival in Amsterdam for transit, there was a terrible crowd at the check-in point and I have been queuing for almost 2 hours while my transit time was merely an hour. There were lots of people facing the identical predicament of missing their flight in Schiphol that morning. I was then force to board on the next flight 3 hours later. While arriving in Helsinki, I waited long for my baggage but not being able to spot mine at the collection point. After checking with the service counter, they promise to locate my baggage and to deliver it to the hotel once they found it since there are 2 more flights coming from Amsterdam that evening. The receptionist at Rantasipi Hotel was so helpful in following-up this case with the airport, providing me with the necessities and etc. I was so glad to be able to receive the baggage from the airport late that night as it was urgently needed before my departure to another city the day after. I manage to take a walk around Hyvinkaa that evening enjoying the wonderful breeze and the scene of falling leafs during autumn. The overall view was so different compared to winter.
Being in Helsinki on Tuesday evening, we took our dinner in a typical Finnish Restaurant about 8 minute’s walking distance from Scandic Continental Hotel where we get to taste the local delights. We departed from the office in Espoo at 12.30pm on Wednesday and headed to Olympia Terminal for a cruise trip to Stockholm-Sweden. The sunshine accompanied by cooling wind was fantastic at the open air cafe- Robert’s Coffee while we waited for the remaining team members to arrive. The foodstuff on the ship was scrumptious and some are fantastic. Most of the people purchases tons of alcohols in the ship as it was tax free and definitely cheaper. We enjoyed watching the ship departing from the coast of Finland on the deck with a glass of drink, however the strong wind almost blown me away. We have had a buffet dinner that night while chit-chatting in the restaurant before we call it a day.
After several hours of meeting on Thursday morning, we proceeded to the center of the old town of Stockholm to have our lunch. The weather was rather disappointing as it was raining since the morning. We visited the Royal Palace of Stockholm- Kungliga Slottet, Europe's largest and most dynamic palaces! The Royal Palace of Stockholm is His Majesty The King's official residence and is also the setting for most of the monarchy's official receptions. The palace is a daily place of work for The King and Queen as well as for the various departments that make up the Royal Court. The palace is built in baroque style by the architect Nicodemus Tessin and is formed as a Roman palace. The palace has more than 600 rooms divided between seven floors with a state apartment facing the city and smaller living rooms facing the inner courtyard.The entire old town was wonderful having fantastic view. However, we were cheated by the taxi charging us differently for 3 taxis from the same location.
Spending 2 full days on the ship was not easy due to the wave which makes me seasick. In addition, having the challenge of calculating the time for different GMT (from +1 to +8) was rather confusing. We spent most of our time in the conference room immersing in debates and discussions. The meetings and brainstorming sessions was really killing me and makes me feels like jumping off the ship vanishing into the deep blue sea as being the idiot among 10 other professionals round the table. =.="
It was another disaster for me needed to start my journey back to Malaysia boarding on a 15+ hours plane in a dreadful condition where I still feel the ground and buildings around me moving as if I was still on the ship (where my head is spinning round and round…). Though it was a good experience but I guess this might be the first and the last time for me to spend my days on a cruise ship!
