It was a snowy day when we left Rovaniemi for Helsinki. We had to take a domestic flight from Rovaniemi to Helsinki and the weight limit for check-in luggage was 23kg and cabin luggage, 7kg.
It was very stressful trying to keep to the weight limit. Most of my group tourmates didn't have such a problem as they didn't carry a DSLR-like camera, a flashlight and a tripod (damn me). The tripod alone was about 1.5kg.
The night before we left for the airport, I left behind our bedroom slippers, a few tops, a pair of ski gloves and a tonne of heat packs at the hotel to lighten the load and make space for my potential purchases.
our Helsinki hotel
Our tour manager took us to their Orchard Road shopping belt to familiarise us with the area about 5 to 7 minutes' walk away from our hotel. I think that's a plus for Chan Brothers Travel. It only makes sense to put customers in areas where they can do some shopping on their own. My previous experience with another tour company was very poor. The hotels were always in some ulu places such that there was no way for us to shop on our own.
Stockmann is the equivalent of Paris' Gallery Lafayette. It is a shopping mall with branded boutiques in it. I read that the Louis Vuitton outlet was small compared to the standalone shop along the street so I didn't check it out.
We were taken to a restaurant near Stockmann for lunch. It's full of quaint and quirky decor.
Mushroom soup for a change. A bit sour though.
Salmon as the main course. Decent but forgettable. By then, we had had quite enough of the fish-chicken-pork rotation. The Indian tour mate's mother requested for something else which didn't suit her palate. In the end, she settled with a salad.
After lunch, we were given a highlight tour of Helsinki by a UK-Finnish tour guide.
The Rock Church
The tour manager kept telling us that we would be going to The Rock Church. It sounded very spectacular. I think most of us, if not all, was underwhelmed by its exterior.
"Huh? So it's a church that is made of some rocks?"
The tour guide said that the church is of a great significance to Helsinki: the architecture, the history, the faith, the light. When you sit at the top of the church, you will understand why people wait for years to get married in this church!
Wow, you wait for a venue to be available to get married! Must be something.
The church interior
The soldiers were preparing for their Independence Day.
According to the guide, Finland's Independence Day is not celebrated with cheers (like the United States). It's a day that they remember as 'the day many people died for the sake of Independence'.
If I understand correctly, the church wall is made of granite. The beams above allow large amount of natural light to come in.
We went up the second floor and it did look quite beautiful from the top. If there isn't a more beautiful church, yes, I can understand why people want to get married there. It's like how brides wait to get married at Chijmes.
After that, we were taken to a small park with this special tree sculpture in the middle of the park. It was conceptualised from a musical instrument.
I think most of us were fatigued by then. The park didn't look very special from the outside. It took some persuasion to get us down the coach. It's more like a 'come also come already. Just go lah' kind of resignation.
The tour guide told us that the best selfie is taken right under the tree, with the camera facing bottom-up.
I guess if your face is slim, it would look very nice. Mine wasn't.
Our last stop was a huge cathedral which we unfortunately was too late for the entry at 4.30pm.
Below the steps beneath the cathedral was the Christmas Market. It was getting chilly and we were tired. I was tempted to visit the Market but I wasn't sure how to get back to the hotel which was an eight-minute walk so I followed the tour guide back to the hotel.
It was about 5pm when we reached the hotel. The tour manager took me to the nearest K-Supermart to buy my blueberry juice I was craving. She also recommended me to try a Fazer drumstick ice-cream in which a chocolate stick hides within. Seeing that she so strongly recommended, I tried it.
My mother was exhausted. I told her I would go to the Christmas Market since it's still early. I didn't want to waste the day. My mother wanted to follow but I felt that it was too tiring for her so she should rest. She fell asleep soon after.
I put on my down jacket and stuffed two hand warmers into the pockets and started my eight-minute walk with moderate confidence, trying to recall the bus route from the Christmas Market.
Then I walked past Louis Vuitton.
I decided to ask for an appointment for Sunday, the last day I would be in Helsinki.
It turned out that the store only started operating on Sunday recently so a booking on the website did not work.
I managed to book an appointment at 12pm, the opening hour.
When I walked out, I continued my journey to the Christmas Market.
At one point, I felt I was lost and I asked a resident for directions. She pointed me to the big Christmas Market while telling me that she was going to the small one as it was newly opened that night. We chatted a bit as we made our way to the markets. When she knew I was from Singapore, she said she had been to Singapore twice. "It was too hot," she said. I replied, "And here is too cold!" She laughed and agreed.
I shopped around the small one anyway and found that it was mainly foodstalls so I decided to move on to the big one, remembering the direction the resident pointed me in earlier on.
Tried this. They are some fudges in different flavours, but basically all sweet.
My takeaway was: It's an ang moh pasar malam.
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