01 Living in a freezer is pretty cool actually (literately and figuratively), the first step in learning to embrace it is through practising their local winter sports. As crazy as it sounds, Ice hole swimming is really popular with the Finns and it is REALLY EXCITING AND INSANELY COLD.

the water is actually warmer than air but ONLY FOR A SPLIT SECOND did it felt warm, after that it was mostly just pins and needles.

02 As opposed to SG, Sunlight is very precious here, only 6hours a day from 930am to 330pm

This is how it looks like at 4pm

03 Salmon seems to be THE ONLY fish here

I grilled this!! YUMMY :D

04 Carbonara that i grew up eating ISN'T the real Italian Carbonara
the ones we eat are creamy like:

this was my version ;) looks good aye??

oh and i was saying....the authentic Italian one has NO CREAM like:

i have yet to try the AUTHENTIC one though, perhaps my Italian friends would want to cook some for me? :D

05 Angmohs are not all crazily high and friendly, they are humans like us too

06 Beer is cheaper than Coke in europe

07 In fact, alcohol is MAD CHEAP in most parts of europe, especially east europe (3euros for a 750ml bottle of Vodka)

08 On the issue of alcohol, Finland has a really strict rule on public drinking, no one is allowed to drink in public! you probably have to get high at your own apartment before heading to the clubs

09 Partying is fun but NOT every night and NOT WHEN YOU STAY AT A HOSTEL NICKNAMED "CLUB 16"

10 While i'm freezing my ass off and struggling hard not to slip, girls here wear miniskirts and sashay down the snow clad pavements in their stiletto heels

sexy huh?

11 Internet connection is slightly faster than back at home AND there is FREE WIFI almost everywhere. (the school has it, the city centre has it, the postoffice has it....) One can bid goodbye to data plan!

12 Koreans have the fastest (or one of the) internet connection in the world, they can download 1Gb within a min!! (even their cell phone data is faster than the internet connection here?)

13 Italians are super PRECISE and PARTICULAR about their food proportion/cooking time/seasoning.... and they can go on debating about it

my first pasta cooked by the REAL ITALIAN (Alessandro), it was DELICIOUS :)

14 Talking about Italians and FOOD, they are DO NOT have instant food back at home (it's probably an insult)

15 On the note of instant noodles, i LOVE korean instant noodles!! (they call it ramyun), that was the first asian meal i cooked! I also managed to have them cooked by my korean friend, Won Seok.

This was my version

this was Won Seok's

the chef!

this is apparently the most popular korean ramyun now, dont be misled by its seemingly innocent outlook, it is actually pretty spicy! but i like it too :)

16 One more thing about the Italians is their LOVE FOR COFFEE, and by coffee they mean Espresso (in our terms) not the coffee we drink (they do not consider that coffee, it's an insult), oh and like how babies must have milk, the Italians must have their Italian coffee everyday.

17 Angmohs are not ALL towering in height, there are those shorter than me too. (but of cos, some are really tall, like the Germans)

Sven, German friend

18 Cycling is fun but combining that with cold winter wind constantly bashing at your face/fingers is as good as taking the fun away :( My fingers totally didnt feel like mine at all, even only after a short 2km cycle.

19 House brand goods are cheap and can be of good quality too.

Pirrka and Atria are all house brands

20 School meals are really cheap and buffet style (take all you can with one tray) @ only 2.45euros!

yummy finnish salmon soup!! <3

Labels: Finland, Oulu (Finland)