The air con started giving problems when we returned from Finland.....even though it's blasting air, it's not cold at all.....
At first, we thought the problem was a gas leak...and after topping up the gas, it turned cold again but only for a day before the problem comes back....
oh dear....how to survive without air con in this weather?!
Will be checking out and flying back to SG today....😞
Did snow toboggan in the morning and had great fun sliding down the snow slope with the green plastic sled. The uphill climb was a chore though and I could only did it 3 times before calling it a day from exhaustion.
Will miss the nice snowy scenery while back in SG....
i have not seen so much snow in my life till now. Think I got enough snow to last me for a long time.
The snow are so deep...to my knee...
Not sure what this was...guessing it was a playhouse?
The snow flakes that fell are shaped like frozen crystals ❄️, so pretty!
Good bye Nellim! Good bye winter wonderland!❄️❄️☃️
The first activity of 2017 was the Husky safari. So excited to be able to ride a husky sled coz the last time I was in Alaska, din get the chance to do it.
The dogs were all v excited when they saw us and can't wait to start running. The atmosphere was v chaotic with the dogs barking and getting aggressive with each other. We quickly hop onto a sled and immediately the person untied the string and off we go. Previously we were given a 5 mins briefing on how to handle the sled. There is only braking by stepping on the metal piece. As for steering, there's nothing much we can do as the dogs are in charge of that.
Hubby was in charge of driving the sled and I was sitting inside. I tried to swop position half way with hubby but the dogs were so strong that even though I had both legs on the brake, they can still move!
It was so fun, what an experience to be able to drive a husky sled! There were 5 dogs pulling our sled. The first two dogs are the like the leaders who are in charge of steering the direction. The last 2 dogs are like the power booster who provides the main force of pulling....omg...these 2 dogs are v strong and a tug from one of them can actually jerk the sled forward even though the brakes are on.
The dogs just wanna run and run. The moment they stop, they start barking at each other and getting restless.
The weather condition that day was v foggy. Sometimes, the fog is so thick we can't see anything else except whiteness all around us....haha...so exciting
It was total darkness by the time we returned to the husky farm. Daytime was so short....one of the sled at the back got problem as the dogs start fighting and got tangled in the strings so the guide needed to go back and save them. It was a v memorable experience to us, truly magical and fun day.
First activity of the day 2 was snowmobiling.
It was my first time driving the snow mobile. At first, it was fine when I drove it on the lake. Once I got off the lake onto land, It became harder to drive it as it require a lot of strength to maneuver the handles. I flipped the snow mobile twice and had to wait for the guide to come and rescue us as its impossible for us to flip it back coz the snow mobile weighed more than 100kg.
Think this is like some extreme winter activity for me as I was super shag out after this. We actually drove 50km north using the snow mobile through some narrow winding path. Considering we are just beginners, I find it an incredible feat for me.
Everywhere around me was a vast expanse of white. Feel like a magical winter wonderland experience.
Midway stop for a lunch break.
I'm glad we persevere and managed to get through it to the end.
By the time we reached our cabin, we bath and immediately collapsed on the bed from exhaustion. In the end we missed the tin melting program.
Dinner was quite a sumptuous feast. I like the salmon as it taste v fresh even though it's been smoked. Next activity is snow shoeing. Although I have hear many ppl complaining about how tough it was, I decided to go ahead with it as I don't want to regret not doing it. I have never done snow shoeing before so might as well give it a try.
In the end, many ppl dropped out of the activity and there were only 4 person left including the guide. It was dark and snowy. Actually it was not as bad as what I heard from others as we only walked for about 20 mins across a lake to a small clearing within some trees and set up campfire. We met a very nice New Zealand uncle who helped us with the snow shoes and he was v helpful and even help set up campfire for the guide. No luck with the aurora because of the clouds despite v strong aurora activity as the sky was reddish color. Spend most of the time chatting around the campfire while the snow fell softly and gently around us, until we looked like snowman....haha ...Quite a magical and memorable last night of 2016 for us. I was glad I went for the snow shoeing despite warnings from others and despite me being physically tired already from the morning snowmobiling. I guess I learnt something on that day and that is the more others said it is hard, the more u have to do it and overcome it.
Lastly, we marked beginning of the 2017 with fireworks. Happy New Year 2017! 🎉
Touched down at Ivalo airport and it's snowing gently. It's really quite fun to be waking down to plane under the snow, what an experience!
Everyone have to walk down the plane across the runway to the airport. Luckily it's just a short distance. The airport was v small and we waited quite a while before our luggages come out.
The journey was about 45mibs by bus to the hotel. There was quite a lot of people with us about 20, and the hotel needed a bus to ferry us.
We were served a traditional Finnish drink called Golgi which is like a warm sweet berry drink with a cinnamon taste. Nice!
our room was made of wood, it smell v new, think it's just newly built.
The sun never rises here at this time of the month. So it's darkness 24 hrs. Pic was taken at around 3-4pm.
First activity of for the day is Aurora Camp. It's pitch dark and snowing like a blizzard when we set out. No luck with aurora with that kind of weather coz the blizzard is so bad u can't see anything else.
Pit stop at a hut for a hot drink.
Every one was huddled around the fire inside the small little hut. It's v smokey and I felt myself being smoked alive....
My unsuccessful attempt at making at snowman in the dark. There was a family who made a human size height snowman in less than 5 mins.
First dinner meal at the hotel.
Arrived at around 6am local time and the sky remained dark till after 9.30am.
Took the Finnair City bus outside terminal 2. Platform 10 is just located outside the entrance of the airport. Hardly anyone was waiting for the bus. We were the first 2 passengers on board. Single trip ticket was 6.30 euros.
Took about half an hr to each Hesperia Park where my hotel Scandic Park Hesperia is located.
It was around 8am when we reached the hotel. The receptionist asked whether we wanna paid an extra 40 euros to check in earlier as the official check in time is 12pm. Dont see the point of paying 40 euros just to check in a few hrs earlier. Waste of money since we can deposit our luggage at the hotel and just walk around first.
Resting at the hotel and drinking something before walking to the railway station area which is about 15 mins walk away. The hotel lobby was quite big and spacious.
Bought some coffee from the hotel food section.
Passed by this place on the way to the railway station.
large shopping mall where we spend a lot of time browsing the food section in the basement. A good place to buy some souvenirs and foodstuff to bring back home.
The central railway station.
A skating rink nearby. This is the brightest it can get in Helsinki now. Sun will set at around 3pm.
The Ateneum also known as the Finnish Art Gallery was located just opp the railway station.
It was quite a small Museum so we finished seeing everything in about 1-2 hrs time. Was glad to learn something new there.
There is currently an exhibition featuring Amedeo Modigliani. The distinct characteristics of his art is the way he incorporates cubism into his drawing of people's faces. Next time I see his artwork, I can surely recognize it. It's v unique and distinct.
hubby need to get his hard rock tee shirt at the HRC Helsinki store. He has been collecting HRC tee shirt from all over the world.
finally check into the room at around 3-4pm. Totally burnt out and exhausted as I can't sleep on the 12 hrs plane ride journey.
The room was quite nice. They have a mini fridge, air dryer , electric kettle inside the room. It was spacious and comfortable.