Trip to Scandinavia. 3rd - 13th June 2008

My first trip abroad on a tour group. Stories here and there I hear but I am there only for my holiday so why bother with these.
I thought writing about my holiday on a daily basis would be nice but I was never in the mood to write when I was there so I'll just post some pics.

Changi Airport, Singapore
Here's a pic of the holiday makers and the entourage that sent us off. I usually go off quietly so this is like those rare occassions when people actually see me off. Well of course, it's not just me. hehe...


Coppenhagen, Denmark
Next one: me at the airport in Coppenhagen. All smiles and looking forward to a good time in Europe. Well, I wasn't quite prepared for the trip, not doing much research, getting ready only at the last minute. Well when I travel, I to put aside some creature comforts and make do with whatever that I manage to lug in my luggage. Maybe skip some showers also. Make the best out of the situation I'm put in and then I can enjoy my holidays. Smiles again :))

Straight from the airport, we had a tour around the city. Not the best time for a tour but what the heck. Of course, since we were already at Coppenhagen, we had to visit dear Miss Little Mermaid. Look at her face. Like some Damsel in Distress.

Anyway, from there we went to visit a place near the parks. It's like a castle. I don't remember what's the name. There were guards there but they couldn't talk on duty so I left them alone.

And here is a small pic of our tour group. Our leader, Cik Ghulam was not in the pic. He was taking the pic with another of the participant, Zailani. That's the hotel that we stayed in in Denmark. There was a train staion nearby. We took the train at night to Tivoli, one of the attractions in Coppenhagen. We didn't go in though cos the price was kind of high and we arrived only an hour before closing time so, no point entering.

Well, it's ok that we can't go into Tivoli. The rest of the guys had a feasting good time shopping at Hard Rock Cafe. Me, I just walked around Hard Rock Cafe and maybe went in for a while. The sales person there was a guy from Malaysia.
Apparently, none of the sales staff in the Hard Rock Cafe stores are local, except maybe in London. In Coppenhagen was the Malaysian, then there was the obnoxious American lady in Oslo (how did she end up in service) and the sweet young Swede in Oslo. I bought a T-shirt from her.

Helsinki, Finland

Next stop: Helsinki Finland. Check out what was there behind the hotel that we stayed in. Nice, isn't it. Very peaceful. There was no room in the hotels near the city center so Cik Ghulam had to resort to this. But it was not all bad. I only saw the lake in the morning before we left. The previous day, I went cycling with Ajin aka Johan, my cousin. The scenery there was beautiful with the woods. And the weather was cool. If only it doesn't get dark. By the way, night was like at past 11 there. Thank goodness the rooms in the city centre were all fully booked. That was an afternoon of recreation.

The next day we visited some parks and an old church in Helsinki. I took time to just sit on the grass and read a book. With the cool weather, a sit in the park was real splendid. I could just sit and not get all sweaty like in Singapore. After the quick tour around Helsinki, we went for lunch before taking a cruise to Stockholm. The weather was starting to get cold but not so cold, that I had to get myself a Cardigan. I only needed a long-sleeved T-shirt but all their long-sleeved Ts were made of thick material.

Check out what I took at the cruise!!! The real thing was magnificent. It was sunset at I think 11 or so. The sun was setting so quickly. I had to rush down to my room at the first sight to get my camera and this was all I could capture. Sigh...

Stockholm, Sweden

When we arrived in Stockholm on the 6th of June, the nation was preparing for their National Day or their Flag Day. It was a day of celebration. They were releasing blue and yellow balloons (that's the colour of their flag) We joined in the celebration witnesing the Change of Guards and before that we went to I-dunno-what's-the-name-of-the-place. hehe... It's like a park and there were like preparations being made for a concert, probably to be held later in the night. In the evening, after dinner I went off on my own after we went to Hard Rock Cafe. Ajin and the girls bought some T-sirts and went back but I carried on with my walkabout in Stockholm. My walkabout was stopped short when Ajin messaged me saying that they needed the ticket to get out of the station. I was holding on to it and I had to make my way back to the hotel.