I just relocated in Dubai a couple of weeks ago to join my hubby who works there.. but sorry no, I'm not writing about Dubai yet... I tagged along with hubby to Finland coz he has to attend a training. Lucky wifey... hopping on an airplane again, so soon.. I feel so blessed... plus.. we're going to Sweden and P-A-R-I-S too! Ahhh... suweeeeet life....

We're in Helsinki, the home of Nokia mobile phones. My impressions of the place — it seems to be very quiet, peaceful, charming and hmmm… very orderly. And of course it’s beautiful, it’s Europe (though not as amazing as Italy)… It was my first time to ride a Volvo taxi with a Finnish driver who politely carried our heavy luggages (quite a change for a Filipino like me!). I heard the taxis here are only either Volvo, BMW, or Mercedes Benz!!! Well, I guess it's just right.. taxi cabs here are more of a luxury... we had to pay 33 Euros for a 20-minute ride to the hotel. The cab drivers must be earning a lot. ;-p

I like the people here, they’re very friendly!  It’s so cold at 8ºC (especially to me, who has super poor threshold for low temperature).  Good thing I brought moisturizers with me coz my skin was drying up really bad. People here seem to be very careful drivers… cars and trams pass on the same narrow cobblestone roads, that’s something new to me… And I can't imagine anyone being in an accident coz they all drive sloooow, hehe. 

We’re staying at Sokos Hotel Torni - a cozy hotel in the city centre, for 11 days… I’m on my own from 8:30am-5:30pm while RJ attends his training, so I have plenty of time to explore the city. I haven’t explored much though coz I’m… uhmm.. “direction-challenged”, haha! I’m supposed to hop on a boat today to check out the Helsinki Zoo, but I decided not to go out after having a bad case of lactose intolerance last night from Café Java’s (their local Starbucks) tall glass of Javanese Mocha. Good thing though, coz at least I was finally able to start this blog! Will post pictures soon! It’s my first time to use my Holga 135 lomo camera, so I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll be able to get a few good shots that I can share too with you.

Meanwhile, here are the Helsinki Tourist Spots and tour programmes that I looked up:

National Museum of Finland

Seurasaari Open-Air Museum

Helsinki City Museum

Suomenlinna Sea Fortress

Old Porvoo

Korkeasaari Zoo

Linnanmäki Amusement Park 

Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art

Mannerheim Museum

Sea Life Helsinki

Temppeliaukio Church