Exchange in Finland: 2 weeks of travelling

16th May

Xiao Hui and I left Oulu for Tampere to leave our belongings with Li Xing, who would be in his hostel till the end of May, when we would return to collect our stuff. He came down to the train station to pick us up, and we took a bus to his hostel.

In the late afternoon, we took a bus to the airport. It was the most budget est airport I've ever seen in my life. There was only one gate, for arrivals and departures. This airport is located beside the nicer looking Tampere Airport, which is used by Finair. The one we used was for Ryan Air.

We met an interesting Finnish guy at the airport. He was taking the same flight as us to Stansted Airport. He studied in Malaysia for a brief period of time, so he went to Singapore for holidays before. He told us he hopes to find a job in Singapore. Such a coincidence, I also want to find a job in Singapore.

On the plane, we played Uno. He actually brought it along with him. Then we exchanged particulars before leaving the plane. But apparently, he isn't on Facebook.

Xiao Hui and I spent the night in the airport. There were bodies everywhere!!! People were just sleeping on the floor, on the seats, everywhere...

17th May

The next day, we took a stuttle bus to Victoria Road. It felt so good to be travelling on the left of the road once more. There were fields with yellow flowers on our way there. Once we arrived, we decided to head straight to Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately, we could not find our way there, so we asked others for help. A passerby led us to the Palace, and we chatted with her on the way. She told us the tap water in London, though safe to drink tasted like snot water'. Very honest of her.

Next up was St Jame's Park. Beautiful beautiful beautiful. The air was fresh and cool, there were blooming flowers, tall trees, many different types of birds and squirrels and a small lake to top it off. I could spend probably more than 2 hours wandering around the park.

Sadly, it started to drizzle.. But that did not dampen our mood. We headed to the Big Ben next.

My first (of many) shots of the Big Ben

The Big Ben just looked awesome. So much details, so much effort put into it.

The winds in London were extremely strong. I wouldn't say the weather was bad, because it wasn't very cold, nor was it hot. Just stop drizzling, and bring on the winds! We went past the Big Ben and stopped by the London Eye where we purchased a ticket for a ride tomorrow morning.

Trafalgar Square

Covent Garden Market

We also passed by Leicester Square before reaching the hostel - St Christopher's Inn Village. The hostel was nice, but the staff were not friendly, and there were no warm showers. So it was icy cold showers every night. That was a real turn off for the hostel.

After taking a short break in the hostel, we set off for the Tower Bridge.