Since the start of the new
millennium, I've been taking the airline that is A Great Way to Fly countless time.. in fact I would say all the time except 1 time when i flew Qantas for uni, and 1 time with the airline where Everyone Can Fly (Air Asia) to Bangkok in 2006. And now, I've taken my virgin flight with The World's Favourite Airline to London, followed by Finnar to Helsinki. My BA flight was alright, thanks to a major part that I took a sleeping pill which knocked me out for 8 hours. The shows were alright, I watched the entertaining Enchanted. Supposed to be flying the Flying Kangaroo, but it was delayed. The seats were reminiscent of budget airlines', but with personal TVs. Yea, they were small can cramped, and all the angmos looked like their intestines are going to be squeezed out! Food was ok, since I've had the worst expectation for the airline. The crew, however, were amazingly friendly. Though the hardwares were lousy, the softwares were not too bad.
Heathrow was an amazingly big yet small airport. With 5 terminals, and moving between them required buses, I would expect a seriously spacious terminal. But while I was at the departing lounge, there were only a few shops and limited seats. Was a little disappointed though, but it was Terminal 1, so maybe the long haul terminal might be better. Finnair was up next. This Finnish airline surprised me. The seats were budget similar, but the crew were fantastic! They were warm and personal, amongst the best I've seen so far for sure. Thankfully this royal Finnish treatment didnt stop there.
Took a cab to my packpackers' inn, but took 1 hr to reach cos driver went holand. It was when I entered my dorm that I realised today could be a day with many 1st, potential my most number of significant 1sts in a day. 1st European airlines flights, 1st European destination since 1997's Instanbul, 1st hostel stay since 2003's Great OZ Trip, 1st snowy winter trip since 1997's XingJiang trip, 1st time I lose something during a trip. Yes, that i will elaborate later...
The temperature here was good today, after 5 straight days of snow storms. clear blue skies with chilly winds blowing, i did a walking tour of the small city center. I still haven not had a European vibe yet, but perhaps I'm still affect with the time difference. Well, after the walking tour, I headed for a true blue finnish tradition: The Finnish Sauna. The 1st shock b4 entering was seeing 2 naked men in towels sitting outside the main entrance to cool down. I soon realised that this was only the tip of the iceberg. The sauna is a traditional Finnish sauna (link to be provided soon) with many steps. 1st, you strip to nothing and go to a public shower area where u clean yourself. Then, u walk for the sauna to heat up yourself until your uppermost tolerance level. Then you come out to cool down, and relax with a beer. I must have done this process at least 4 times, sitting amongst totally naked Finnish men numbering to around 30 arms almost touching arms in the small 'area styled' sauna. The feeling of liberation got more intense as I joined them guys to cool down with only a towel, outside the shopfront. There sitting on the pavement with snow by my side and pedestrians walking, it was a difficult feeling to describe. But it was truely a great feeling. The most awkard part soon came when I went for the Finnish scrub.. This lady just came into the men's shower room and, amongst the dozens of naked men, she began scrubing one a a time. who!
After 2 hours, I left the wonderful place filled with the memories of friendly Finns whom I've managed to miggled around with. Little did I realise that I have left my watch there at the sauna! Guess I will have to call them to see if they have it at the counter b4 i return for another great session!
(photos to be uploaded soon)
