I always joke there's 3 zones in Europe: Western, Eastern, and Nordic.
It's always been my aspiration to make it up there so when my dear travel buddy in crime Nancy was going on a Scandinavian tour trip, I decided to join in.
Why I decided to go to Finland, it's just all about timing. If you've been reading my blog, Nancy and I have probably traveled to more than a dozen countries. We plan and budget our trips accordingly. Since Nancy was on limit time and I was even more limited on time with school, our schedules just happened to work out well during her stay in Finland.
I didn't know much about Finland before I went but I did see a Japanese documentary on Finnish people and history and there were many strikingly similar aspects. For example we both cherish being naked in public hehe. Or to put it in nicer terms Japanese people love a bath and Finnish people love a Sauna. We also have a lot of pride and have a love for seafood. But most of all we share the love for Moomin, fictional trolls which were created by a Swedish Finnish children's author and its animation was produced and shown in both countries. I grew up with Moomin so I thought it was a universal character in many parts of the world, such as doraemon or pokemon. But to my surprise, it's only known in a few handful of countries such as Sweden, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. But more on the Moomin hoarding to come later.
I parted out on a Thursday after my classes. I might've mentioned it in a few of my entries but if you travel more than 6-7 times overseas, I definitely recomment getting the Priority Pass card. For mine it came with my credit card but having access to these lounges will not disappoint you, especially in this day and age where in-flight services are very rare. I treated myself to some finger snacks and beer while I did some last minute research on my travel itinerary.
After a comfortable 3 hour flight, I arrived in Helsinki close to midnight. From there I took the bus and arrived at a flat, not far from the center of the city. We decided to do a AirBnB and it was by far the best experience. Nancy greeted me with open arms and we were again reunited for another adventure.
When I arrived in Helsinki end of November, no doubt it was freezing cold. I woke up the next morning needing some coffee. After attempt at making coffee from a coffee maker failed miserably, I made my way to a corner shop to grab some pasteries and a cup of joe. The man in the shop greeted me with immense enthusiasm and flawless English which really made me feel warm and welcome. Finnish people throughout the trip were incredibly wrong and deeply caring. It may be a cold country but the people are certianly very warm.
At about 9am, the sky finally turned to a gloomy grey from pitch dark so we made our move outside. Helsinki is a compact city so we hit the main spots within a couple of hours.
After that it was of course, moomin time. Nancy and I hoarded the shop, which I assume is very typical of the Asian tourist that comes to Finland for the sole purpose of moomin.
As we finished our shopping and about to head out for late lunch it started snowing heavily. Nothing made us more happier than seeing the snow fall from our window while we slurped on pho. Eating pho in Europe may sound quite funny but when you are overseas desperate cravings do creep up to you.
