Weekend Photos

Yesterday Arttu, his brother, his girlfriend, and I helped build a small "tent-like" garage for my MIL and FIL.

It was a warm day for mid-August, around 18'C, even though the wind could still be cool when it blew hard. We had a bit of a hard time while making the garage since the wind blew SO hard before we could put some stakes on the ground, so the four of us had to hold the four ends so that it wouldn't be blown away by the wind. Here's a pic of the garage once it was done:


If you notice the "white pole" on the ground, that was the fallen flag pole he he he...

And here we are posing in the garden:



This bug crawled on Arttu's brother's neck and when he flicked it away, he accidentally "severed" one of his antennas.


Lounging in the sun he he he he he he....


We didn't do anything much, just enjoying ourselves and talking. I understood well some of what they were saying to one another, including some jokes, so that was good practice, too he he he he he he he...;-D

Okie dokie, time to blog-hop again!!!

Bits and Pieces

Hey, guys!

I've been tired this week, so every time I come back home, all I want to do is SLEEP!!! The past few days were the worst as I could take a nap for 3 straight hours ha ha ha ha...and yet I still woke up tired in the morning.

Anyway, I haven't been writing about my trainings lately. Here are some more tidbits:

1. Two Finnish guys who came at different times actually thought I was a Japanese girl ha ha ha ha...One of them asked me what the Japanese word for "thank you" hi hi hi...

2. In the office we have a visitor book. In the book we have to guess the visitors' nationality. The first week I had my training, on the busiest day there were 96 visitors in a day (normally around 50-60 people). However, the number has dwindled considerably, since this week regularly there are only about 30 visitors.

3. A German couple came over today to ask for a person's address. The person used to work in the local tourist office. Apparently that person had made such a WONDERFUL impact on that couple. They came here to Sodankylä years and years back, since the first thing the woman said when she came over was, "Oh, my, you've got a new office now!"

Fortunately my senior was there, so he could help them locate that person who used to work at the office. The German couple thanked him VERY much he he he he...I hope they have a FUN meeting!

Speaking of making a difference through your work, I remember when I visited Singapore in 2000 with my Aussie friend. We went to a shopping mall and found a tourist info office there and the guy who was there was VERY professional. I was TOTALLY impressed (still am!) with the amount of information he gave us. He must've spoken to us for about 45 minutes. First he asked us where we came from and then he asked how long we were going to be there.

Then he gave us plenty of suggestions on what places to visit, WHEN would be the best time to visit them, and he even pointed to us all the cheap shopping places! MARVELOUS!!! I felt SO glad that we dropped by at the office. It was SO satisfactory!!!

Quite an inspiration for me!!! :-)))

Okie dokie...I'll blog-hop tomorrow, OK? I'm just going to relax right now and enjoy comics hi hi hi hi hi...Have a BEAUTIFUL weekend, friends! ;-D

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If you get up one more time than you fall, you will make it through.
- Chinese Proverb

The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.
- Ferdinand Foch

Another Tag: 6 Layers

Jeanne tagged me to do this, so here we go!!!

::START::

RULES:
1. Add your blog/s to the list. Feel free to add all your other blogs. It’s okey if you only post this questions in one blog as long as you answer them.
2. Get back to Me {YEN} and I’ll add your blogs to the master’s list HERE! Note that you are not ALLOWED to change the link of the here.
3. Copy from Start to End.
4. Tag as many friends online you know. But you don’t need to be tag in order to join.

Copy this Participants List: Me and Mine | Creative in Me | For the LOVE of Food | Little Peanut | Pea in a Pod | It’s Where the HEART Is | Around the World | SugarMagnolias | I Am Mommy | All About The Memories | Enchanted Play | Just My Scrap | Whats Up | Simply Me | Kitchen Deelite | A Mothers Horizon | In Depth | A Life in Bloom | Because Life is a Blessing | Digiscraptology | Joys iN life | Life is What we Make it | Photo Blog | Dancing in Midlife Tune | The Callalily Space | YOUR BLOGS

LAYER ONE:
– Name: Amel
– Birth date: November 29
– Birthplace: Bandunggggggg, Indonesia
– Current Location: Sodankylä, Finland
– Eye Color: Black
– Hair Color: Black
– Righty or Lefty: Righty

LAYER TWO:
- Your heritage: Indonesia, Chinese
– The shoes you wore today: Sports shoes
– Your weakness: I can be obsessed with things hi hi...
– Your fears: the unknown
– Your perfect pizza: thin-crusted pizza freshly baked from the oven with champignon mushrooms yum yum...
– Goal you’d like to achieve in life: To be pregnant (hopefully soon) and raise my kids and then study something and get a job and get our own house...just the regular goals he he...

LAYER THREE:
– Your most overused phrase on AIM: Don't use AIM
– Your first waking thoughts: Is it morning already? I wanna go back to sleep, please!!!
– Your best physical feature: Butt, thank you very much HI HI HI HI HI...
– Your most missed memory: Memories with my family and friends.

LAYER FOUR:
– Pepsi or Coke: COKE!
– McDonald’s or Burger King: McD. I TERRIBLY miss McD's hot chicken in Indo sob sob...
– Single or group dates: Single, of course.
– Adidas or Nike: Dunno.
– Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: LIPTON!!!!!!!!!!
– Chocolate or vanilla: Chocolate, esp. DARK chocolate HO HO HO HO...
– Cappuccino or coffee: Cappucino, Frappuchino, Mochachino he he he...

LAYER FIVE
– A famous person, dead or alive, would you interview: Can't think of anyone particular right now.
– Movie can you watch and say the lines along with the actors: Are you kidding me? I rarely watch a movie more than twice he he he...
– Name two of your passions in life : Too many to mention just two. Love life, family, friends, great food, a good night's sleep, peace of mind, etc. he he he...
– Least favorite time of day: Early morningzzzzz...

LAYER SIX
– Use hairspray or gel: None
– Your favorite meal: Chinese, Indonesian, Sundanese, Pizza, SEAFOOD, Frogs!
– Color is the inside of your head when you close your eyes: All kinds of colours ha ha ha ha...
– Listen to classical music: Sometimes.
– Ever said LOL in real life without thinking about it: Nope!

::END::

Soaps and Shampoos

Arlene tagged me to do this one, so here goes.

::start copy::

Some Rules:

1. You can include in the post a picture of your favorite soap or the soap you are currently using.

2. Please post this in the blog which you will add in the "blogs that joined." You can add unlimitted number of blogs as long as this tag is posted there.

3. Please link back to the person who tagged you and pass this tag to many of your friends.

4. If you have more than one blog, please post this to all of your blogs so your other blogs can be listed to the master list too.

5. Remember to come back here at DANCING IN MIDLIFE TUNE (pls. don’t change this link) and leave the exact post url so I can add you to the master list. :)

6. Tag as many friends as you can.


BLOGS THAT JOINED: Dancing in Midlife Tune - Aeirins Collections - BiznHoney - Vannie - Heart of Rachel - Hailey - YOUR BLOG

Soap Questions:

1. Favorite Soap: None. As long as it's fruity and fresh-scented and it's cheap and it doesn't make my skin dry HA HA HA HA...

2. Facial Soap: as long as it's cheap and it doesn't irritate my skin and it doesn't even have to be scented.

3. Body Soap: Same answer as the above hi hi hi...

4. Intimate Soap: I don't use any!!!

5. Laundy Soap: Anything as long as it's cheap ha ha ha ha ha...

6. Undies Soap: I have no separate soap for undies.

7. Baby Soap: Don't remember what my Mom used when I was a kid. Still have no kid yet, so I can't answer he he he...

8. Favorite Shampoo: Now this is interesting, 'coz usually I have to change shampoo every half a year or so. Why? Because once I use a type of shampoo too long, then I'll get dandruff or my scalp gets itchy. It's weird, I know. I also don't know why. Most of the time I use any type of anti-dandruff shampoo on and off (I change it every once in a while), but right now I'm not using any anti-dandruff shampoo. I'm using regular Pantene.

9. Favorite Conditoner: I don't like using conditioner 'coz it flattens my hair (no volume) and it makes it look "slicky".

10. Baby Shampoo: This one I remember. Mom used Johnson's and Johnson's he he he...

::End Copy::

My Survey: VT

Update on The Tickets

Well, well, well, it seems that we've reached a better solution rather than paying the extra 300 Euros to buy two plane tickets from Rovaniemi to Helsinki. I'm PLEASED that hubby didn't pay for the tickets right away. Instead, after listening to my screams and my angry expletives (yeah, I can be the devil Amel, too!), he browsed online for alternatives.

First of all, we went through the train webpage. However, turned out that there would be no train to Helsinki that day that would allow us to board the Tuesday plane on time.

Then we found out that the cheaper airline had a Monday flight and we checked up on the price and it was SO cheap!!! However, that meant that we had to stay one night in Helsinki, right? So hubby browsed for some hotels near the airport and he found out that he could use one member card to get a discount in one of the hotels.

You know what? The cheaper Monday tickets PLUS the cost of staying one night in that hotel is LESS than 300 Euros!!! So we've told the travel agent that we're not going to book those expensive tickets and we've already booked the cheaper tickets plus the hotel. ;-D

So we're going to stay at this hotel: Cumulus Airport Helsinki. Phew!!! Now everything's set, so let me blog-hop he he he...

Pssttt...last night I dreamt of one of the local delicacies in Indo that I've missed so much. I definitely am looking forward to going back to Indo in October HE HE HE HE HE...

The Good and The Bad

Well, I guess I'd better spill the bad news first, right? Found out last Friday that our flight from Rovaniemi to Helsinki in October wasn't confirmed. In fact, that particular airline no longer had flights on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (I guess because there aren't too many people having holidays to Lapland by then). We contacted the travel agent and today we got info that we could either cancel everything and get the full refund or we could be get the refund for the flight from Rovaniemi to Helsinki and they'd find us an alternative. The alternative flight means that we have to add €300.

I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO angry when I heard that. Imagine what we can use with €300!!! I wanted to kill somebody...or sue somebody. Yeah, all the devils in Amel have reared their ugly heads and all I wanted to do was S-C-R-E-A-M-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...I was amazed that hubby was so calm, though...As usual, his calmness was like a firefighter that doused my "flames of anger". I feel sad 'coz hubby has to pay extra for our trip, but then again it's better to do it than to cancel the whole trip.

We did try to find a cheaper alternative to go to Helsinki, but there's no other option. We can go to Helsinki by train, but it's not too much cheaper. Plus it takes a long time to go there, so it's still not a better option in many ways.

Okay, now I've let out some steam. Time for the good things in life he he he he...Our cabin trip turned out to be a HONEYMOOOONNN HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...In every way! *wink wink*

First of all, though, we had to work hard, or Arttu had to work hard he he he...My in-laws have decided to change the two single beds in the cabin with a sofa-bed in their living-room. That means they'll buy a new sofa-bed for their living room. R2 went there by tractor with his Dad while my MIL and I walked there. Then we started taking out the two single beds plus the mattresses. Then Arttu took the sofa-bed inside and after that my MIL and FIL went back to their house.

Arttu still had to rearrange the furniture and he had to chop some firewood and heat up the sauna. We had this joke while he was chopping up some wood that had some blue paint on.

Amel : Do you think it'll be burnt well, since there's still a coat of paint there?
Arttu: It can be poisonous, so I'd better burn it now so that we can leave the place and wait until it's heated up before we go in.
Amel : Poisonous? Really?
Arttu: I don't know.
Amel : Hmmm...well, if it IS poisonous, at least we're going to die together. How romantic!
Arttu: Indeeeeedddddddd!

HUE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE...After that we got back to my in-laws' for a while, then we finally got back to the cabin once the sauna was warm enough. Arttu went skinny dipping (literally he was just dipping himself for about 10 seconds since the water was COOOOLLLDDD). I didn't go since I couldn't handle it he he he he he...

Then Arttu lit up the fireplace inside the cabin and we had to wait before we could grill the sausages and hamburgers there. Since we were SO hungry already, we were munching on the chips we brought there hi hi hi hi...Munch, munch, munch...uuuuhhh so hungry!!! And finally we could eat the hamburgers and sausages. VERY delicious!!!

I won't tell the details about the rest of the night, though HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...Let's just say that it was beyond my expectation since I didn't expected anything like honeymoon HA HA HA HA HA HA...Here are some pics of the cabin:




Okay, time to blog-hop a little bit later. I'll blog-hop more tomorrow, OK? Mondays are always busy since I have to buy grocery, exercise, and cook when I finish work he he...

I'm going MIA!

FINALLY today has arrived! I'm REALLY happy about going to the cabin again. After all, today we're going to change the beds there. There used to be only two single beds there, so whenever we spent a night there, we had to cram ourselves on that little bed hi hi hi...We couldn't turn around at all due to the lack of space. Today we're going to have a Queen sized bed there HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO...

Plus it's the sacred place where Arttu informally proposed to me, so that place's always so special in my heart. *smiles*

So I'm going MIA until Sunday and who knows how tired I'll be then? But I'll try to blog-hop on Sunday, okay? ;-D

Take care, my friends, and hope you're gonna have a RELAXING weekend!

glitter-graphics.com

Question of the Day

Why is it so hard for women (I don't know how it is for men) to accept compliments about our looks, I wonder?

Surely there are good days and bad days for everybody, but why is it so hard to accept that other people's compliments may be really sincere. Plus beauty is subjective, so what some other think as "ordinary" may be deemed as "extraordinary" by other people.

Interesting, don't you think so?

Training Tidbits

Ayayay...I overslept. Haven't had time to blog-hop, but I'll do it tomorrow, OK? Started having a mild sore throat this morning, so I decided to take a longer nap today, especially since I felt SO tired when I arrived back home.

Let me write some tidbits of those people I meet in my current training place.

1. It's a small world after all!!! A Dutch couple came by and then the guy asked me, "Were you born here?"

I said, "Noooooooo, I come from Indonesia!"

He was nicely surprised. He said, "Really? I was born in Bandung!"

I was nicely surprised, too. I said, "REAAAAAAAALLYYYY? I come from Bandung, too!"

So we chatted for a little while. Turned out he moved back to Holland when he was a baby (didn't remember anything about Bandung), but he'd love to visit Bandung someday he he he...

Then they complimented my English HA HA HA HA HA HA...THANK YOU VERY VERY VERY MUCH!!! ;-D

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2. An old Finnish guy came by to the office. I don't know him, but it seems he's left some books at the office to sell to people (it's a book on the local Finnish dialect). Then he asked my boss where I came from (my boss was near me when he came by). He called me "pikku neiti" or "Little Miss" hi hi hi hi hi...

Then he said, "Very interesting!"

I was nicely surprised that he spoke English since he looked old enough not to know much English. And then he talked too fast in Finnish, but I think he said that I looked like a doll HUA HA HA HA HA HA HA...

Nobody's ever said that, so again THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH HI HI HI HI...I take that as a compliment!

3. A Finnish woman came by to buy some tickets to watch Luosto Classic concert (it's an outdoor concert in Luosto). Nobody else was there at the time, so I had to deal with her in Finnish. I'd picked up some of the phrases from my senior when he handled customers to sell these tickets HO HO HO HO HO...

Different from other customers who just left right after getting the tickets, she started chatting me up. She asked me where I came from and stuff like that. She said that my Finnish was good. Oh, THANK YOU SO MUCH for the encouragement!!!

I told her that it was still hard for me to understand if people talk too fast he he he...And the other nice thing about her was that she was all smiles! ;-D And she even wished me a nice summer! ;-D

4. It never crossed my mind that I'd feel my nationality being at stake before moving to Finland. Now I always remember that people here may gather a general impression on Indonesians from me, so I must be a good representative of my country. I don't want them to think badly about Indonesians. :-)))) After all, there aren't any other Indonesians in Sodankylä.

5. I realize one thing about working in this tourist info office. There are periods of time when nobody comes in, so that can be boring, as well, but I've met interesting people along the way he he he he...And more often than not, they're happy since they're on a holiday, so they're not hard to deal with HI HI HI HI HI...Plus, to make sure I don't feel bored, I bring a novel to the store, so I kill two birds with one stone: I can also catch up on my summer reading this way HI HI HI HI...

Mind you, I still dare not pick up the office mobile phone since I'm still not confident with my Finnish on the phone he he he he...but I've begun to be more proactive when there are tourists in the office. Before I didn't have the nerve to come near them and ask if they needed any help, since I wasn't really sure that I could help them HI HI HI HI HI...

Plus I've never been an outgoing person all my life, so even now I still have to push myself to come over and be proactive to them. It seems that life's teaching me to be more active in the "service" area, since I also had to confront customers in the other training place, the souvenir shop.

One time I felt REALLY pleased with myself for having pushed myself to be proactive. I noticed one Finnish lady taking the wrong brochure, so I took the right one and explained to her in brief Finnish that the one she took was the wrong one HE HE HE HE HE HE...I still had to gather courage and try to think of what to say before approaching her, though HE HE HE...

I had NEVER worked like this before all my life, so these two trainings have been SO valuable to me, even though at first I thought that they weren't suitable for me.

So THANK YOU, God, for having given me these opportunities!!!!!!!!!!

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