Bulgarian Trip #1

Going back to work after holiday is never easy. This time was especially tough 'coz I started working again by doing something completely new, something that I had received some training prior my holiday but never really got any chance to have some real practice yet. I was a bit worried about it, but thankfully my coworkers helped me, so I wasn't completely lost. Still the first day was tough and my body was very sore after the first shift was over ha ha...The second day went better and I'm thankful that today was a free day 'coz I have two weekend shifts. :-D

Anyway, let me share a few photos of our Bulgarian trip. As I had stated before, we were pretty lazy travellers this time, so we didn't really roam too much. Here are some of the things I bought:

1. A fleece jacket.
2. A pair of jeans at around €20 (at least I don't have to shorten them - in Finland I can get them cheap on a discount as well, but more often than not I have to shorten them and shortening a pair of jeans the last time around cost €10/pair).
3. A pair of relaxing pants.
4. A few types of body butter that cost double in Finland. I LOVE body butter!!!
5. A pair of polarized sunglasses at €18. 
6. Half a dozen bottles of chili sauce (local and Indonesian brand LOL!!!), emperor's rice AKA ketan hitam, Indomie (Indonesian instant noodles), and chocolate. 

We had a full-body massage twice at the hotel we stayed in (it's called Relax Holiday Complex & Spa). It was GREAT. :-D The bad thing was that there was only one masseuse, so we couldn't have the treatment side-by-side, but it's still cheap compared to the same kind of treatment in Finland (in Finland it can cost double). It cost around €30/person/hour.

I also tried billiard for the first time in my life (it cost around €2/game) he he...they had a pool table and a gym and sauna and Turkish bath in the basement floor, but we only tried billiard a few times. I laughed so much the first time I tried billiard 'coz I often miss hitting the white ball ROFL ROFL ROFL...but it was fun anyway!

Here are some pics:

Arttu's first taste of local beer on the beach nearest our hotel. We decided not to stay in a hotel directly across the beach, so in order to reach the beach (esp. the central part of Sunny Beach), we had to walk a few kilometres. I ordered a glass of fresh orange juice in the bar below that cost only €1. :-D VERY cheap!!!

Below is a sneak peek of one of the 5-star hotel along the main part of Sunny Beach. If you wonder why the photo angle is strange, it's because I didn't dare get inside the area 'coz there was a guard standing in front of the gate, so I only took pictures from above the bushes on top of the gate surrounding the hotel.

Me trying billiard for the first time in my life. Yep, that pillar next to me was quite annoying indeed he he he...

This car was parked in the yard of the nearest Zora supermarket. :-D

Found this butterfly while walking towards the beach area...

Posing in front of this Buddha statue in front of the Chinese resto. We tried eating there once and the food was quite good, but rather pricy. No wonder the place never looked full! However, the service was VERY VERY quick!!! We ordered two dishes and in about 5 minutes we could start eating already (even though I did hear the cook prepare the dishes in the kitchen). The fastest service ever in our entire time in Bulgaria!

I just thought the colours looked nice 'coz it's rare to find buildings with this colour in Finland he he...

While walking towards the beach from our hotel, look what happened below!!! We ran out of sidewalk!!! But just keep on walking...the first time around I felt a bit giddy walking there 'coz I was a bit afraid a car might hit me or something he he he...

 

A half moon and a full moon. The first beach photo was taken in the middle of the centre of Sunny Beach, whereas the second one was taken nearer our hotel at the end of Sunny Beach (actually closer to Sveti Vlas area).

We also went to an Indian restaurant once, which was again very empty. Why? I suppose it was quite expensive, as well. In my opinion, the food was OK, even though R2 thought it was great, but I think I've had better Indian food. I can't stop remembering the lovely Indian food we had in Vienna or in a small resto in Helsinki he he...

R2 swimming...the water was cool! :-D

OK, I think this is enough for now. I'll continue sharing some more photos later on. Have a blessed and relaxing weekend, people! I'll have a busy weekend at work ha ha ha...

Helsinki vs Sodankylä

1. I found out that -26'C in DRY Sodankylä feels BETTER than -13'C in MORE MOIST Helsinki (esp. when it's windy, too). Why? Because in Helsinki it felt that the cold air just seeped inside my jackets straight into my bones. Even R2 said it was cold!!! So I'd rather have cold weather in Sodankylä 'coz at least the coldness stays "outside" your body provided that you have enough layers of clothing.

1st pic: There are some Christmas lights left in Helsinki.

2. One thing I forgot about the big cities is the travel time to go from one place to another (plus the cost to travel from one place to another). Here in Sodankylä whenever I have to go "downtown", it takes but a few minutes (either walking or by bike) he he he he...

3. LOVE the fact that there are so many bookstores in Helsinki with an incredible collection of books (including English books) HA HA HA HA HA...whereas in Sodankylä there's only ONE small bookstore. Ahem.

2nd pic: More Christmas lights downtown Helsinki.

4. In Helsinki, everywhere you hear English and different languages spoken daily, whereas in Sodankylä you'll hear mostly only Finnish. They're definitely two different worlds apart!

5. Went to two museums in Helsinki (Kiasma Art Museum and Tennispalatsi Museum). In Kiasma they displayed contemporary art and we felt that many of them were way too contemporary for us ha ha ha...but we were both SO impressed with one particular art form.

This art form is located in one corner of the huge display room. The corner is VERY dark and it's an L-shaped. So from outside, you can't see anything but a plaque stating the title of the art form, the artist, etc. Anyway, the title of the art is: Foam. Then you have to walk inside the L-shaped corner (which is REALLY dark - I had such an ominous feeling when I entered) and then about 2 metres ahead of you there's a huge screen. When I entered the site, the screen showed a round-like figure (which is actually a red balloon) and some foam (like when you've spread some foam to shave a guy) and then you notice someone starting to shave that round-like figure, but before you realize what it's about, the balloon pops out (obviously) with a LOUD bang! I was SO shocked ha ha ha ha ha...so I told R2 about it and told him to go see it. And he was also SHOCKED by the loud bang HI HI HI HI HI...

We both agreed that it was the best display in the whole museum, though we also like two others. The other one is a gorgeous picture which I can't describe (believe me, it's just GORGEOUS!) and the other one is a replica of a WAVE. It's SUPER cool! :-D

In Tennispalatsi Museum there are two displays, but we went only to one of them. It displayed mostly Russian paintings. I LOVE many of them, though I found that there were too many melancholic faces portrayed there. In some pics they look SO real (like photos instead of paintings) so that we had to get as close as a few centimetres away to find out whether they were paintings or photos HA HA HA HA HA HA...We just had to make sure!!! ;-D

3rd pic: Light display which changes colour every errr...few minutes or so?

6. We also went to watch Avatar 3D movie in Helsinki, but alas...something horrible happened. My eyes couldn't take them. The special effect of the movie was such (hard to explain, but those who've seen it must understand what I'm talking about) that 10 minutes into the movie, I started feeling dizzy and SUPER nauseous already! I had to shut my eyes for almost the rest of the movie (which was about 2,5 hours long, imagine that!) so that I wouldn't puke. Note: Even R2 said that in some scenes he felt a bit dizzy 'coz of the way the movie was made.

I wanted to go to the toilet to puke, but we were sitting in the middle of the row and I didn't want to bother other people. So the only trick I could do was just shut my eyes - the nausea subsided only after 45 minutes of doing this, can you imagine that? It felt like a HORRIBLE case of sea-sickness. Ugh!!!

I wonder if anybody has experienced something like this? Or am I just the weird one out?

7. What did I buy in Helsinki? One Finnish novel on a discount (only €2), one Finnish Exercise book, and some chocolate he he he he he...

4th pic: The Indian food we had at Tandoor Resto in Salomonkatu (near the Tennispalatsi Cinema). We had lunch buffet for €8.50 each - the red meat is chicken and that's the BEST thing ever! ;-D

OK, I'll blog-hop either later today or the day after today 'coz I'll be busy tomorrow. My new passport is done and the Indo Embassy employee even sent it to our hotel the same day, can you believe it? I'm REALLY impressed and thankful for their help! ;-D But tomorrow I have to go to the police station to move my residence permit to the new passport and I need to cook and clean up the apartment, as well.