Showing posts with label Sodankylä. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sodankylä. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Splendid Sodankylä
Was bored since I couldn't do anything much, so went for a walk along the river bank and took some photos and one video. I combined the video with the one from last Christmas and added a song and some quotes.
Thursday, June 05, 2014
Do You Miss Your Hometown?
I've been talking to some expats around the globe about this topic. I've been asked this question many times by random people and my answer these days is "no". I remember one day a customer showed a confused face after I gave that answer. But I meant what I said. No kidding. This is my home now.
Maybe some people who have so many attachments with their home country do get homesick, but I can't say that I do feel homesick these days. Don't get me wrong! In the beginning I did miss my home country, especially my family and I most definitely missed the food (at that time Finnish food felt so bland). I also missed the comfort of being in a familiar place, of having a clear safety net, of having a set of friends, of having a job. Things like that.
As time goes by, however, life in this small village has changed me. What I find "normal" has changed. Case in point: I still remember very clearly when I came back to Indo and got frustrated because they couldn't queue properly in public toilets. In Indonesian public toilets, one just needs to stand outside whichever toilet booth one wants to, so it doesn't follow any queueing order whatsoever. So tough luck if you're standing in front of the toilet booth where the person inside is taking a long dump. I was really shocked at that time by the amount of frustration I felt. I am getting too used to life here that what I found normal when I still lived in Indonesia feels abnormal and can even feel annoying.
Another case in point: people here sometimes ask me if I have children, but they rarely ask follow-up questions. In Indonesia, even strangers you just meet won't hesitate giving their opinions concerning stuff like that. I have a friend who has decided with her husband to only have one child and one of her yoga students (an older mother) scolded her for that particular decision, saying that it was bad to only have one child bla bla bla bla bla...This person isn't even a close friend of my friend, mind you!
These days I can't even get used to the crowds anymore. Being in a crowd in very small doses is tolerable, but not in big doses. I have grown to love having so much space between myself and other people. There's a kind of stillness that doesn't exist in the big cities, the kind of relaxed attitude that is just dear to me. No traffic jams, thank you very much. I've also talked to some people who were born in small villages. They've also told me that they can't stand being in big cities because they're so used to this kind of pace and space. Their senses get overwhelmed with the noise and the crowd and the traffic jam.
glitter-graphics.com
Other than that, my taste buds have changed, so the only thing I can possibly miss is my family and friends. Nothing else. I've been wondering why it feels easy for me to unattach myself from my parents. I get along much better with my mom, but I can't say that I had a difficult relationship with my dad, either (it could get a bit rocky sometimes but not all the time). My mom helped smooth out our relationship by being the bridge between us hard-headed people and I can even say that I have a better relationship with my mom compared to many other people with their moms, but I have no problem leaving her and my dad and my brother (my brother and I have a good relationship) behind. But anyway, it sure makes my life here easier. I think if I'm too attached with my home country (the people or food or whatever it is), it will make it harder for me to live here.
If you're an expat (or even someone who's living outside of your birth city), how much do you miss your hometown?
Maybe some people who have so many attachments with their home country do get homesick, but I can't say that I do feel homesick these days. Don't get me wrong! In the beginning I did miss my home country, especially my family and I most definitely missed the food (at that time Finnish food felt so bland). I also missed the comfort of being in a familiar place, of having a clear safety net, of having a set of friends, of having a job. Things like that.
As time goes by, however, life in this small village has changed me. What I find "normal" has changed. Case in point: I still remember very clearly when I came back to Indo and got frustrated because they couldn't queue properly in public toilets. In Indonesian public toilets, one just needs to stand outside whichever toilet booth one wants to, so it doesn't follow any queueing order whatsoever. So tough luck if you're standing in front of the toilet booth where the person inside is taking a long dump. I was really shocked at that time by the amount of frustration I felt. I am getting too used to life here that what I found normal when I still lived in Indonesia feels abnormal and can even feel annoying.
Another case in point: people here sometimes ask me if I have children, but they rarely ask follow-up questions. In Indonesia, even strangers you just meet won't hesitate giving their opinions concerning stuff like that. I have a friend who has decided with her husband to only have one child and one of her yoga students (an older mother) scolded her for that particular decision, saying that it was bad to only have one child bla bla bla bla bla...This person isn't even a close friend of my friend, mind you!
These days I can't even get used to the crowds anymore. Being in a crowd in very small doses is tolerable, but not in big doses. I have grown to love having so much space between myself and other people. There's a kind of stillness that doesn't exist in the big cities, the kind of relaxed attitude that is just dear to me. No traffic jams, thank you very much. I've also talked to some people who were born in small villages. They've also told me that they can't stand being in big cities because they're so used to this kind of pace and space. Their senses get overwhelmed with the noise and the crowd and the traffic jam.
glitter-graphics.com
Other than that, my taste buds have changed, so the only thing I can possibly miss is my family and friends. Nothing else. I've been wondering why it feels easy for me to unattach myself from my parents. I get along much better with my mom, but I can't say that I had a difficult relationship with my dad, either (it could get a bit rocky sometimes but not all the time). My mom helped smooth out our relationship by being the bridge between us hard-headed people and I can even say that I have a better relationship with my mom compared to many other people with their moms, but I have no problem leaving her and my dad and my brother (my brother and I have a good relationship) behind. But anyway, it sure makes my life here easier. I think if I'm too attached with my home country (the people or food or whatever it is), it will make it harder for me to live here.
If you're an expat (or even someone who's living outside of your birth city), how much do you miss your hometown?
Monday, June 03, 2013
3BT: Random Days
1. Didn't need to worry about the funeral bouquet after all. Showed them to MIL including the note that we'd write down on the card and she approved them both. She even choked a little when reading the note, so today I ordered it and turned out I only had to pay after the funeral. Ha!
2. Amazingly HOT HOT HOT days for the past week. It's unbelievable it can be this hot this long at the end of May already. I'm sure it's an exception and it won't happen often, but I'm enjoying it.
3. Riding my bike at full speed and sweating so much even though I only put on a tank top and shorts. YIIIHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
4. The portable air cooler that we bought last year proved to be even more useful this year for our upstairs bedroom. :-D
5. Rain!!!! After such hot days the rain comes down to quench the trees and grass in our yard - free water YEEEEEEEEEESSS!!!! :-D
6. Excited about going back to work tomorrow with a little hint of nervousness 'coz I hope I remember everything I need to remember hi hi...the brain always works a little more slowly at work when it's just got back from holiday LOL!!!
glitter-graphics.com
7. Found cheap black shoes for the funeral (all of my black shoes are winter boots and all of my summer shoes are sneakers!) as well as a cheap black bolero at huuto.net to accompany my black dress. :-D Now I'm all ready for the funeral!
8. Thankfully we brought R2's wedding outfit here along with the black shoes, so he doesn't have to buy anything for the funeral.
9. After talking to someone, I realize even more than before that I've met so many nice, supportive people here in Sodankylä and again I'm SO THANKFUL for them and their support.
10. Skipping lunch and eating ice-cream instead he he he he he he he hehhh...
11. Making watermelon, banana, grape, and blueberry juice. Yummy! :-D
glitter-graphics.com
2. Amazingly HOT HOT HOT days for the past week. It's unbelievable it can be this hot this long at the end of May already. I'm sure it's an exception and it won't happen often, but I'm enjoying it.
3. Riding my bike at full speed and sweating so much even though I only put on a tank top and shorts. YIIIHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
4. The portable air cooler that we bought last year proved to be even more useful this year for our upstairs bedroom. :-D
5. Rain!!!! After such hot days the rain comes down to quench the trees and grass in our yard - free water YEEEEEEEEEESSS!!!! :-D
6. Excited about going back to work tomorrow with a little hint of nervousness 'coz I hope I remember everything I need to remember hi hi...the brain always works a little more slowly at work when it's just got back from holiday LOL!!!
glitter-graphics.com
7. Found cheap black shoes for the funeral (all of my black shoes are winter boots and all of my summer shoes are sneakers!) as well as a cheap black bolero at huuto.net to accompany my black dress. :-D Now I'm all ready for the funeral!
8. Thankfully we brought R2's wedding outfit here along with the black shoes, so he doesn't have to buy anything for the funeral.
9. After talking to someone, I realize even more than before that I've met so many nice, supportive people here in Sodankylä and again I'm SO THANKFUL for them and their support.
10. Skipping lunch and eating ice-cream instead he he he he he he he hehhh...
11. Making watermelon, banana, grape, and blueberry juice. Yummy! :-D
glitter-graphics.com
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Preparation Before The Funeral
In Indonesia, usually Christians in my city Bandung tend to have the cremation or burial of their loved ones a few days after. The family would usually rent a room (or two if they think there'll be so many guests) in a funeral home and the casket and the body will be laid there for three days. On day three in the evening there'll usually be the "closing of the casket" ceremony after a sermon and then the next morning the casket will be brought to a cremation place or burial place.
During the three days of "open house for guests", the family members will be ready to accept the guests from morning till night (because soon after the death is found out, they'll immediately contact a newspaper to put an ad about the details of the funeral and where you can visit the family and pay respect to the deceased). The family members usually provide drinks (water) as well as snacks (sweets, peanuts) and fruit (usually oranges). Guests will come along with a gift of money, pay their respect, talk to the family members present there, and then go back home. The whole thing is a tiring event for the closest family members especially.
If the deceased is buried, on the fourth morning usually only the closest family members and their relatives will go and escort the body to the burial place. And afterwards usually the closest family members (the wife/husband of the deceased) would treat them lunch.
Because my dad was cremated, they had arranged a specific date and time afterwards to bring the ashes and spread it to the sea, so my Mom and bro rented a car and a driver to take them there (Bandung is in the middle of Java island so it's rather far from the sea).
glitter-graphics.com
Here in Sodankylä apparently it's a whole different thing, even though I suppose things can also be done by request, but still...The funeral will be held on in a few weeks. Can't be done any sooner because the church is fully booked. Before the funeral, the church will ring the church bell on June 5th eighty times (the age of the deceased), so I'll be listening to that later on.
So we'll have a funeral service at the church, then the funeral will commence, then we'll all go to a certain place to eat. The option to eat depends on the family members: either to serve only coffee and sweet bread/cake or to serve those after serving a main course. MIL will have to talk to the catering service about what she wants.
On Wednesday first of all we went to buy the casket, then we went to church to book the funeral service. Because MIL hadn't booked any burial spot, we went there to look at the empty spots so that MIL could find a good place for FIL and herself (so she booked two plots because she wants to be laid to rest next to FIL).
glitter-graphics.com
After that the funeral home director had prepared FIL and laid him down in the casket, so we went there to say our last goodbye. MIL then proceeded to put on FIL's socks, covered FIL's face with a kind of face cover that was already provided, then the three of us (me, MIL, funeral home director) put the casket lid on top and then put some screws on them. Then along with BIL we lifted the casket on to the back of the funeral home director's car. MIL sat next to him in the car, whereas BIL and I followed it with his car (R2 had work whereas BIL and I were still on summer holiday). Once the casket was put in a cooler, we went back home using BIL's car.
MIL still has so many things to think about...writing down the list of people who may come (if no more than 28 people, then we'll be able to use the small chapel in the cemetery area - but if there are more than that, we must use the church), the menu for the guests after the funeral, then what kind of hymns to sing during the funeral service, ordering the tombstone, sorting out FIL's stuff etc.
Anyway, MIL seems to be doing better today. Calmer. Yesterday she was still understandably shaky, esp. in the morning. Anyway, preparing for things like this makes me think of my own mortality. What kind of ending do I want for myself? I'd rather have the cheapest and the most practical kind available - cremation if possible, though I'm not sure one can do it here in this village. Oh well, when the time comes, it all depends on whoever is available to take care of it. :-)
glitter-graphics.com
P.S. I've been browsing for flower wreaths/bouquets for hours 'coz apparently over here family members and guests would bring flower bouquets or wreaths to church. I've visited two flower shops here to find out about the models and prices, but basically speaking they can do pretty much anything per request (provided that they can get the flowers I want, because up here in the north the choices aren't as many as the south), so I really need to think of at least the colour combination of the flowers so that they can help me with the type of flowers. I also have to think of what to write on the card that'd go along with the flowers. It ain't an easy task, I tell ya (because I've never been to a funeral here and I don't really know the customs)!
During the three days of "open house for guests", the family members will be ready to accept the guests from morning till night (because soon after the death is found out, they'll immediately contact a newspaper to put an ad about the details of the funeral and where you can visit the family and pay respect to the deceased). The family members usually provide drinks (water) as well as snacks (sweets, peanuts) and fruit (usually oranges). Guests will come along with a gift of money, pay their respect, talk to the family members present there, and then go back home. The whole thing is a tiring event for the closest family members especially.
If the deceased is buried, on the fourth morning usually only the closest family members and their relatives will go and escort the body to the burial place. And afterwards usually the closest family members (the wife/husband of the deceased) would treat them lunch.
Because my dad was cremated, they had arranged a specific date and time afterwards to bring the ashes and spread it to the sea, so my Mom and bro rented a car and a driver to take them there (Bandung is in the middle of Java island so it's rather far from the sea).
glitter-graphics.com
Here in Sodankylä apparently it's a whole different thing, even though I suppose things can also be done by request, but still...The funeral will be held on in a few weeks. Can't be done any sooner because the church is fully booked. Before the funeral, the church will ring the church bell on June 5th eighty times (the age of the deceased), so I'll be listening to that later on.
So we'll have a funeral service at the church, then the funeral will commence, then we'll all go to a certain place to eat. The option to eat depends on the family members: either to serve only coffee and sweet bread/cake or to serve those after serving a main course. MIL will have to talk to the catering service about what she wants.
On Wednesday first of all we went to buy the casket, then we went to church to book the funeral service. Because MIL hadn't booked any burial spot, we went there to look at the empty spots so that MIL could find a good place for FIL and herself (so she booked two plots because she wants to be laid to rest next to FIL).
glitter-graphics.com
After that the funeral home director had prepared FIL and laid him down in the casket, so we went there to say our last goodbye. MIL then proceeded to put on FIL's socks, covered FIL's face with a kind of face cover that was already provided, then the three of us (me, MIL, funeral home director) put the casket lid on top and then put some screws on them. Then along with BIL we lifted the casket on to the back of the funeral home director's car. MIL sat next to him in the car, whereas BIL and I followed it with his car (R2 had work whereas BIL and I were still on summer holiday). Once the casket was put in a cooler, we went back home using BIL's car.
MIL still has so many things to think about...writing down the list of people who may come (if no more than 28 people, then we'll be able to use the small chapel in the cemetery area - but if there are more than that, we must use the church), the menu for the guests after the funeral, then what kind of hymns to sing during the funeral service, ordering the tombstone, sorting out FIL's stuff etc.
Anyway, MIL seems to be doing better today. Calmer. Yesterday she was still understandably shaky, esp. in the morning. Anyway, preparing for things like this makes me think of my own mortality. What kind of ending do I want for myself? I'd rather have the cheapest and the most practical kind available - cremation if possible, though I'm not sure one can do it here in this village. Oh well, when the time comes, it all depends on whoever is available to take care of it. :-)
glitter-graphics.com
P.S. I've been browsing for flower wreaths/bouquets for hours 'coz apparently over here family members and guests would bring flower bouquets or wreaths to church. I've visited two flower shops here to find out about the models and prices, but basically speaking they can do pretty much anything per request (provided that they can get the flowers I want, because up here in the north the choices aren't as many as the south), so I really need to think of at least the colour combination of the flowers so that they can help me with the type of flowers. I also have to think of what to write on the card that'd go along with the flowers. It ain't an easy task, I tell ya (because I've never been to a funeral here and I don't really know the customs)!
Friday, August 03, 2012
The Autumn Leaves
Autumn has shown its colours for the past few weeks. This year autumn has come very gradually, unlike other years when it just sort of whizzed by so quickly. It's exquisitely rare! :-D
The other day I went to a flea market downtown and I took some pics of Kitinen river as well. I found a pair of nice curtains that cost only about 7 Euros and a book. Yeah, I'm really weak when it comes to books HA HA HA HA HA...
Anyway, here are some of the pics I took:
There are several flea markets in Sodankylä and this is one of them. The two bikes outside are for sale. :-D Do you notice anything particular in this photo? No? Look at the next photo then he he...
Tadaaaaaaaa....yeah, they hang these on the outside wall of the building ha ha ha ha...
And here are some pics of autumn colours...:-D
The other day I went to a flea market downtown and I took some pics of Kitinen river as well. I found a pair of nice curtains that cost only about 7 Euros and a book. Yeah, I'm really weak when it comes to books HA HA HA HA HA...
Anyway, here are some of the pics I took:
There are several flea markets in Sodankylä and this is one of them. The two bikes outside are for sale. :-D Do you notice anything particular in this photo? No? Look at the next photo then he he...
Tadaaaaaaaa....yeah, they hang these on the outside wall of the building ha ha ha ha...
You can see Kitinen river bridge farther away...
Here's another view of the river...and yeah, you can see how the water "changes colour" 'coz I took the photo when it was a bit cloudy...and that's my trusted bike! :-D LOVE it SO MUCH! :-D I can put plenty of things in my bike's bags and keep my balance well even in winter he he...
I saw this busy bee on the bushes (which were located on the right side of the above pic). There are plenty of flowers nearby. :-D
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Wednesday, April 04, 2012
End of March Photos
Yep, not going to ramble about anything today...just wanna show you some photos I took last Saturday. Here they are...
It was snowing heavily during the afternoon...but then the sun was really persistent. It was peeping in the background. Quite a sight, actually. To see all the snow and the vague sun. :-D
These two photos below were taken about 15-20 minutes later, after the snow stopped falling. :-D
It was snowing heavily during the afternoon...but then the sun was really persistent. It was peeping in the background. Quite a sight, actually. To see all the snow and the vague sun. :-D
These two photos below were taken about 15-20 minutes later, after the snow stopped falling. :-D
Don't you think that from this angle, it resembles the tongue of a snake? :-D
Thursday, May 05, 2011
Spring Pictures
Yep, haven't taken too many pics lately 'coz the weather's been bad (it's been snowing lightly for the past two days though it melted right away), but finally it's sunny today so I went out to take some pics. Here's a pic of my fave tree in the whole village:
The bad thing was that the sun was against the camera, so I had to move to the other side...
However, I think that the tree looked better from the other side, but oh well...
Look...soon the leaves will start to sprout!!! :-D
Here are some pics of the river near the tree from different angles:
As you can see, over here the grass isn't green yet 'coz it's been around 0'C for the past few days, but I guess sooner or later it'll start to get greener and greener. :-D
In the pic below, the sun was hiding behind some clouds. That was why the river isn't as blue as in the other pics above.
Just playing around with the above pic HA HA HA HA...
Trying out inverted black and white style:
Hope you enjoyed the picssss...:-D
The bad thing was that the sun was against the camera, so I had to move to the other side...
However, I think that the tree looked better from the other side, but oh well...
Look...soon the leaves will start to sprout!!! :-D
Here are some pics of the river near the tree from different angles:
As you can see, over here the grass isn't green yet 'coz it's been around 0'C for the past few days, but I guess sooner or later it'll start to get greener and greener. :-D
In the pic below, the sun was hiding behind some clouds. That was why the river isn't as blue as in the other pics above.
Just playing around with the above pic HA HA HA HA...
Trying out inverted black and white style:
Hope you enjoyed the picssss...:-D
Sunday, May 09, 2010
Theory of Relativity
When I lived in Bandung, due to the traffic jam and the fact that a kind of public transit (that I used frequently 'coz I can't drive a car nor motorcycle and it's not safe to ride a bike in the streets) called "angkot" could stop anywhere for a long period of time whenever the driver wanted to get more passengers, it usually took a long time to get from one place to another, even though Bandung is far smaller than Jakarta. Especially over the past few years ever since they built a highway from Jakarta to Bandung, many people who work and live in Jakarta come to Bandung to relax during the weekend - thus causing more traffic problem.
So, when I still lived in Bandung, it was pretty normal to travel by "angkot" for 30-60 minutes just to reach one destination (even if this travel time should be only half or one third or one fourth of the actual travel time were the roads clear of traffic and if the "angkot" didn't stop too often along the way).
Now that I've lived in Sodankylä for a little over 3 years and we have always lived near downtown changes everything. Now a 30-60 minute ride by car seems like such a hassle, 'coz over here there's no traffic at all and I'm used to getting to a place in a short amount of time.
So when we went to Crete, we were in a very lazy mode. We could have visited many more places by bus, but we just didn't feel like "wasting" so much time on a bus. And I've just realized one more phenomenon...in Crete there are so many mountains all around the place, whereas Sodankylä is far more flatter. Yesterday when we drove back home from my in-laws' place, I felt something that I felt when I first moved here: the VAST stretch of the sky (esp. when we passed by two HUGE fields on both sides of the road) - it almost feels like a blanket surrounds us. Funny how our perspective changes once we've been to different places.
Anyway, to cap this post, let me show you how much snow there's still left around my in-laws' place.
The ground in some parts are still SO wet:
Just posing he he he...the temp. was around 6-10'C yesterday and the sun was shining, but it was SO windy and the wind was cold.
So, when I still lived in Bandung, it was pretty normal to travel by "angkot" for 30-60 minutes just to reach one destination (even if this travel time should be only half or one third or one fourth of the actual travel time were the roads clear of traffic and if the "angkot" didn't stop too often along the way).
Now that I've lived in Sodankylä for a little over 3 years and we have always lived near downtown changes everything. Now a 30-60 minute ride by car seems like such a hassle, 'coz over here there's no traffic at all and I'm used to getting to a place in a short amount of time.
So when we went to Crete, we were in a very lazy mode. We could have visited many more places by bus, but we just didn't feel like "wasting" so much time on a bus. And I've just realized one more phenomenon...in Crete there are so many mountains all around the place, whereas Sodankylä is far more flatter. Yesterday when we drove back home from my in-laws' place, I felt something that I felt when I first moved here: the VAST stretch of the sky (esp. when we passed by two HUGE fields on both sides of the road) - it almost feels like a blanket surrounds us. Funny how our perspective changes once we've been to different places.
Anyway, to cap this post, let me show you how much snow there's still left around my in-laws' place.
The ground in some parts are still SO wet:
Just posing he he he...the temp. was around 6-10'C yesterday and the sun was shining, but it was SO windy and the wind was cold.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
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!!!
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.
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.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Bandung, Singapore, Sodankylä
Having lived in Sodankylä for around 1,5 years and THEN go back to the big cities, I find myself feeling new emotions.
Let me share some statistics first so that you get a better idea, OK?
Sodankylä - population density: 0.8 inhabitants per km².
Bandung - population density (2004): 14,976 inhabitants per km².
Singapore - population density (2008): 6,489 inhabitants per km².
In 2000, I went to visit Singapore for 6 days. Back then I still lived in Bandung. When I was in Singapore back then, all I felt was AWE since the country was SOOOOOO clean and everybody was SO swift and efficient.
Last October, when I went to Singapore, at first I still felt the awe about the cleanliness and the efficiency, but after some time, I felt that they were all SO rushed! After 2 days, I wanted to yell, "Calm down, everybody! Why are you all in such a hurry? Why don't you stop and smell the roses?"
I just felt agitated by the fact that everybody was such in a hurry to go here and there, especially around the MRT area. Boy oh boyyyy...
You should understand that here in Sodankylä, the LONGEST queue at the supermarkets here is probably ONLY SIX people at one go. Usually when I go to any supermarket, there are only 2-3 people in front of me...and the supermarkets aren't even big!!!
So it seems that I'm getting used to living in a small village, since even when we went to Rovaniemi last Saturday, I felt slightly frustrated already when we tried to find out where we could park the car and for how long we could park it there. It reminds me of the time when we went to Pori last July and R2 and I went downtown on our own. We had to turn round and round and round and round just to find a parking space that fit our schedule.
It seems to me that in big cities, it's SO easy to lose time since there're more and more people, less space, more traffic jams, so it DOES make sense that people are more in a hurry in big cities...it's really getting to my nerves after some time. I felt SUCH a relief when we got back to good old Sodankylä.
What's the point of this post? Nothing. Just to share my experience he he he he...R2's second brother went to Tallinn in Estonia the other week and he said to us, "There were SOOOO many people there and I felt choked. I felt as if I wanted to shoo those people away since I had so little space!!!"
I understood his words completely. We're too used to having so much space here in Sodankylä that the big city overwhelms us if we stay there too long. In each place we stay, there are good and bad sides. But it's funny to know that I used to think I wouldn't survive in such a small village since I was used to the city life filled with malls and plenty of theatres and factory outlets...I'm GLAD I can really fit in here, not just for my sake, but also for R2's sake...since if I'm unhappy here, it'll make him unhappy, too. :-))))
Let me share some statistics first so that you get a better idea, OK?
Sodankylä - population density: 0.8 inhabitants per km².
Bandung - population density (2004): 14,976 inhabitants per km².
Singapore - population density (2008): 6,489 inhabitants per km².
In 2000, I went to visit Singapore for 6 days. Back then I still lived in Bandung. When I was in Singapore back then, all I felt was AWE since the country was SOOOOOO clean and everybody was SO swift and efficient.
Last October, when I went to Singapore, at first I still felt the awe about the cleanliness and the efficiency, but after some time, I felt that they were all SO rushed! After 2 days, I wanted to yell, "Calm down, everybody! Why are you all in such a hurry? Why don't you stop and smell the roses?"
I just felt agitated by the fact that everybody was such in a hurry to go here and there, especially around the MRT area. Boy oh boyyyy...
You should understand that here in Sodankylä, the LONGEST queue at the supermarkets here is probably ONLY SIX people at one go. Usually when I go to any supermarket, there are only 2-3 people in front of me...and the supermarkets aren't even big!!!
So it seems that I'm getting used to living in a small village, since even when we went to Rovaniemi last Saturday, I felt slightly frustrated already when we tried to find out where we could park the car and for how long we could park it there. It reminds me of the time when we went to Pori last July and R2 and I went downtown on our own. We had to turn round and round and round and round just to find a parking space that fit our schedule.
It seems to me that in big cities, it's SO easy to lose time since there're more and more people, less space, more traffic jams, so it DOES make sense that people are more in a hurry in big cities...it's really getting to my nerves after some time. I felt SUCH a relief when we got back to good old Sodankylä.
What's the point of this post? Nothing. Just to share my experience he he he he...R2's second brother went to Tallinn in Estonia the other week and he said to us, "There were SOOOO many people there and I felt choked. I felt as if I wanted to shoo those people away since I had so little space!!!"
I understood his words completely. We're too used to having so much space here in Sodankylä that the big city overwhelms us if we stay there too long. In each place we stay, there are good and bad sides. But it's funny to know that I used to think I wouldn't survive in such a small village since I was used to the city life filled with malls and plenty of theatres and factory outlets...I'm GLAD I can really fit in here, not just for my sake, but also for R2's sake...since if I'm unhappy here, it'll make him unhappy, too. :-))))
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Autumn Photos + Pets
Went to my friend's house today armed with my digicam ha ha ha ha...since I'd be walking past the river, I thought it'd be a good idea to take some pics near there, so enjoy these pics!!! While I was at my friend's place, I also snapped three pics of her pets hi hi hi hi hi...
First pic: a three-coloured tree.
Well, too bad it went cloudy when I went to the bridge near the river, but I hope these are clear enough.
Note to Michelle: If you want me to send you the original size of one of these photos, just tell me, OK? ;-D I've resized all of these he he he he...
Pay attention to below's pic, everybody. The yellow X mark is to show you where my friend and I sat on a certain day on Midnight Film Festival. The other fuschia X mark is to show you where some people dived in naked into the super cold water (click on the link to read the post I wrote) hi hi hi hi hi...
As comparison, here are some pics of the river taken last year (June 2007):
Next pic: Fluffy sleeping funnily hi hi hi...
The last two pics are of Dexter the dog and two cats. ;-D Note that we had to tinker with Dexter's eyes in the below pic since he had red eyes due to the flash. :-(((( His original eye colour you can see from the last pic he he...
First pic: a three-coloured tree.
Well, too bad it went cloudy when I went to the bridge near the river, but I hope these are clear enough.
Note to Michelle: If you want me to send you the original size of one of these photos, just tell me, OK? ;-D I've resized all of these he he he he...
Pay attention to below's pic, everybody. The yellow X mark is to show you where my friend and I sat on a certain day on Midnight Film Festival. The other fuschia X mark is to show you where some people dived in naked into the super cold water (click on the link to read the post I wrote) hi hi hi hi hi...
As comparison, here are some pics of the river taken last year (June 2007):
Next pic: Fluffy sleeping funnily hi hi hi...
The last two pics are of Dexter the dog and two cats. ;-D Note that we had to tinker with Dexter's eyes in the below pic since he had red eyes due to the flash. :-(((( His original eye colour you can see from the last pic he he...
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