7 Priceless Experiences Meme

Angela May tagged me to do this meme. Since I've lived in Bandung and now I'm living in Sodankylä, I guess I'll write 7 things about both places.



Seven Priceless Things About Bandung:

1. Lots of varieties of FRESH food and spices everywhere. Fresh veggies, fresh meat, fresh fruit, fresh seafood. And if you go to a traditional market, you can bargain!!! Lots of malls and factory outletssssss!!! And lots of resto and food sellers!!! Oh, and the beautiful part is that malls and factory outlets are open even on Sundays. On Saturdays and Sundays malls are open from 10 am till 10 pm. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!!!

2. You can find pretty cheap beauty salons with AMAZING offers: creambath (1.5 hour full head, neck, arm, and back massage), facials, haircuts, hair coloring, highlights, etc. Price ranging from €3-50 (hair coloring may be expensive if you have VERY long hair).

3. The tropical weather (summer all year round). You don't need any winter clothes. You can get out of the house and wear tank tops and capri pants all year round. The mean temperature in Bandung is around 25-33'C.

4. "Wonderful" traffic where you can find assortments of death-defying drivers, jaywalkers, rickshaws, and street vendors. And traffic jams everywhere!!! Plus you'll find mounds of garbage in some places (Bandung's recently having garbage problem). Plus you'll find lots of garbage here and there: people don't throw garbage in the garbage cans, so the city is dirty.

To see pics of street vendors, go here: Street Vendors. (in the middle of the page)

Below is a photo of rickshaw (becak) in Bandung, taken here: http://wina108.multiply.com/photos/photo/33/16



5. When it's near Lebaran Day (Muslims' Biggest Holiday - the "victory days" after the fasting month), you'll find yourself not wanting to go out at all as everywhere people flock around and traffic jams get worse and worse and worsseeee. Yet on Lebaran Days (usually two days), the city suddenly becomes SO empty. All those people go back home to their villages to gather with their families and relatives.

6. The sound of adzan (Muslim's call of prayer) is heard everywhere as there are many mosques all around the city. You'll hear this sound a few times a day. If you live very near to a mosque, then you'd better be able to sleep like a dead man during the nights.

7. During fasting month, you'll hear lots of noises outside the streets and alleys when the Muslims make rounds to wake one another up to have early breakfast (usually at around 4 am) before they start a LONG fasting day (no food, no drink until around 6 pm). You'd better get used to the noise! ;-D

Click here to see pics of Bandung (there are some traffic pics and traditional market pics, too): Life in Bandung and Bandung City Homepage.

*** According to Wikipedia, the population density in Bandung in 2004 was 14,976/km² (5,782/sq mi)



Seven Priceless Things About Sodankylä:

*** According to Wikipedia, the population density in Sodankylä in 2003 was 0.8/km².

1. NO TRAFFIC JAMS!!! I've been here 5.5 months and I've NEVER seen any traffic jams and I've NEVER even heard any car horn. YIIIPPPPPPIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!

2. Berries, berries, berries everywhere! I eat A LOT of berries here. I LOVE berries!!! And you can go berry hunting too in the forest!

3. Temperature is the opposite of Bandung. The worst temperature in this village was -53'C (gladly it doesn't happen every year!!!). This year the worst temperature was -35.5'C back in February and the hottest temperature was around 26'C sometime last month.

4. SAUNA!!! You can't come to Finland without experiencing sauna. It's one of the greatest inventions for a cold country like this.

5. Beer, beer, beer! People here party like crazy and they party TO get drunk. It's insane, actually.

6. Women rule. I've heard lots of people saying that Finnish women are very independent women and there are also SO many women working in the parliament. There're so many female ministers and hey, Finnish current president is a WOMAN!!!

7. Snow and Santa. Naturally you can find lots of snow here. You can find lots of winter activities being offered by travel agents. And in Rovaniemi, you can meet Santa all year round. That's his official house!!! Click here for further info: Santa Claus' Village.

Oh, and one more thing I forgot about Sodankylä. MIDNIGHT SUN in summer!!! Come here in summer and you'll never see the sun set below the horizon!!!!! ;-D

I'd love to tag Frasypoo. Would LOVE to hear about India!!! ;-D