Day 144 My last day in Helsinki

My last day in Helsinki. I was supposed to meet Julie for a kahvi at m-bar, but my ankle was so swollen and painful that I could only hop with my right leg and cannot land on my left, so I had to call it off.

I was packing a lot, also weighing my luggage, so far, my big luggage is about 25 kg, 5 kg overweight, argh... why is everything overweight? Me, the suitcase, my other suitcase, and did I mention, me. It would be funny (in a mean and sad way) if the airline had to charge extra for an overweight person.

Andy arrived in Helsinki last night, and we decided that we would eat together at Ida, so I don't have to walk around. Edit came and joined us as well, because Edit has an internship in Hong Kong this September, and she wanted a bit of advice from us (she calls us HongKongees)

We ate some of the Slovakian sausages and smoked cheese. Amazing stuff. We were all satisfied at the end of the meal.



I am quite worried about getting to the airport tomorrow, since my ankle is still hurting quite badly and I have 2 suitcases and multiple hand luggages to bring. I think I will call a taxi.

Goodnight Helsinki, sweet dreams.

Day 142 More sightseeing in Bratislava!

Today was an extremely pretty day in Bratislava, the sky was blue, sun was shining as brightly as it should...

Barbora decided that we should pay a visit to the castle in the suburban area in Bratislava.

(Photo: We were so lucky that Barbora was driving us to the castle, or else, we would need to take the bus and everything, which will probably take an hour to get there.)

(Photo: The castle from down the hill.)

(Photo: Across the water is Austria! Bratislava and Austria are really close!)

(Photo: And of course, I couldn't hide my excitement.)

(Photo: Then Barbora took me to the city centre. This is taken from the tower high up.)

(Photo: Juraj brought along his skateboard, but he was too tired to skate, so Vladiko showed me some tricks! I was a bit worried because he was wearing sandals.)

(Photo: Our dinner with the Sedova family. Thai curry and Kung pao.)

After the dinner we were extremely exhausted, but Barbora persuaded me to "grab a beer" in the city centre and go back and sleep. Turned out, we didn't just "grab a beer"!





I met up with Barbora and Vladiko's friends, they are all very cool! It is such a pity that it was my last night there and couldn't talk more.



We crashed at Becky's place after the drinks, because we were all too tired to go back to Barbora's home and Becky's place is really near the city.

Day 141 Vienna!

Today, we woke up really early in the morning for a day trip to Vienna. The train ride from Bratislava to Vienna was only for 1 hour or so, so we decided to take a day trip there.

(Photo: Free-riding in a Vienna tram to the city centre.)

(Photo: One of the famous shopping streets in Vienna.)

(Photo: Inside the South Tower. We walked almost 150m up the stairs.)

Maybe because the night out yesterady was too tiring, we were so exhausted by mid-day in Vienna that we sat at a cafe and didn"t want to move.

(Photo: This cafe is one of the oldest cafes in Vienna!)

We then had lunch at an Asian restaurant, which is near the market place. Amazing green thai curry and sushi, with good price as well!

(Photo: We then walked around the market place.)

What a day what a day... so tired!

Day 140 Bratislava, finally!

I have been extremely interested in the country of Slovakia and in the city of Bratislava, ever since I befriended Barbora.

So after much anticipation, I am finally here in Bratislava, Slovakia!

Early in the morning, we took CD, the Sedova"s family dog for a walk near the woods.

(Photo: We were walking and CD was playing in the mud.)

Then we had a really good home-cooked lunch of pasta with mushroom white sauce!


After the meal, we went for some sightseeing in the city.

(Photo: The famous communist bridge.)

(Photo: The castle.)

(Photo: At the parliament.)

(Photo: Some cool graphics on the wall.)

Then Barbora and Big V took me to the Slovak pub for a Slovakian dinner.

(Photo: Garlic soup.)

(Photo: Fried cheese.)

(Photo: Then we met up with Barbora"s friends in one of their hangout places! It was very near the market square.)

Day 138 Exploring Budapest on a bike!

After a long day yesterday of getting lost finding the hostel, exploring the bars and pubs in Budapest, and finding our way back to the hostel, we decided that today is the day which we will explore the beautiful city of Budapest on a bike.

(Photo: Getting ready for the long bike day. The hostel rented bikes to guests for about 8 or 9 Euros per half-day, which I think is a bit expensive for Hungary. Nevertheless, we were just happy that there were bikes for rent in the hostel.)

It was however, a national holiday in Budapest, so not much tourist attraction sites were opened.

(Photo: The Budapest Synagogue, closed.)

(Photo: The Budapest Church, this is not closed, so we went in and took a look at the pretty interior design.)

(Photo: The view from the Chain bridge linking Budapest.)

As you can see from this photo, the sky was getting really gloomy. And about 2 hours afterwards, it started to rain heavily! Luckily we reached the hostel.

(Photo: Yep, and so there we were, consuming alcohol in the hostel reception, which conveniently, is a bar.)

Day 137 First stop: Budapest, Hungary

Today, I begin my last Europe trip here on exchange! We set off to the mysterious city of Budapest, with Barbora, Vladiko and Daiko!

Plane ride was reasonably comfortable, we flew by Finnair, and were offered food and drinks. The plane was not as full as I imagined, there were quite a lot of empty places left.

(Photo: Sunny weather)

(Photo: Vladiko and Daiko picked us up at the airport by a car, and we set off to the city centre and to our hostel to drop off our stuff.)

(Photo: we passed by the chain bridge, it is a famous bridge here in Budapest!)

(Photo: we had some bread, green chillies and some Slovak dry sausages for dinner.)

Day 136 One of the last nights in Helsinki

After the Suomenlinna sun-bathing fail, we went out for drinks, it was Barbora's last night in Helsinki!



After chilling and drinking on the roof of Kiasma, we decided to go to Jenny Woo's, a hetero/gay-friendly bar.



(Photo: look out! weapon of the night!)

Day 134 Amusement park & pasta mixed couscous

I am trying to get as sun-tanned as possible, because I don't want to go back to HK looking sickening white (after all these months hiding behind long sleeves clothes and gloomy weather).

And what's a great way to get sun-tanned? the amusement park of course.

(Photo: So here we are in the amusement park, the rides in the park are very concentrated, you don't need to walk like miles and miles to another ride, and the other great thing about it, no long queues!)

(Photo: EPIC FAIL! it was supposed to show 25 degrees Celsius, but nope, it showed 2 degrees Celsius!)

(Photo: Yep, that'd be me, trying to get all the sun shining onto my arms as much as possible!)

(Photo: The flying swing.)



I had really great fun at the amusement park! But no great day can end without a pasta mixed couscous dinner.

Barbora has too much food left still in her home, and I was invited to go to her place and eat up her food. Because she still has pasta and couscous left, she decided we should have couscous and pasta with mushroom white sauce.

(Photo: Delicious! but I was so full afterwards...)

And on my way back home, the train got delayed because a fight broke out on the train. Apparently, these people were a bit intoxicated (by the great poison, alcohol), and was fighting because someone flew a look at someone. The fight broke out less than 6 steps away from me, and I saw the whole process of fist throwing, and leg-kicking. Intense.. intense... and the train was delayed for about 15 mins, because the conductors were trying to throw those people out. Phew, but I got back home safely!

Day 133 Getting all the souvenirs

Counting down my exchange days now... still 2 more days to go, and I am off to Budapest, Bratislava and Vienna, then back to HK.
In a way, I am looking forward to the cool places I am going to visit and going back home, but on the other, going back home is like going back to reality, I can feel already that there are heaps and heaps of stuff waiting for me to deal with them. aargh.. that, I am not looking forward to.

Today, I tried to buy all the souvenirs for the family and friends. After a quick lunch with Barbora, Chloe and Julie, and a two-scoop Ben & Jerry mint chocolate and chunky monkey ice-cream, we headed off to the market square and to the K-supermarket.

Here's what we got, lots and lots of liquorice candies, because these things aren't popular in Hong Kong, and I thought everyone back home would like to taste it. I tried finding SIsu, but couldn't locate it in the grocery store.

(Photo: Souvenirs...)

I also got some Fazer chocolate, under Barbora's recommendation, I got the mint one, I don't know if it's any good though.

The jam as seen in the photo, is some sort of Finnish specialty, I think, we got it in the market square, and for a good price too!

I felt really like a tourist today, hunting for souvenirs, and stressed out about what we need to get for people.