Helsinki, the capital of Finland is where we experience the city vibes after visiting the medieval town of Porvoo and meeting Santa Claus and his reindeer at Lapland (northernmost region of Finland) near the Arctic Circle. It may look like an ordinary capital with plenty of modern buildings and busy streets but our impression of it is more towards a peaceful, cool, introverted and quiet city. Well, this sounds boring but there are actually many hidden gems within this beautiful city giving us a relaxing, friendly and comfortable feeling as we explored it. As we wandered along the streets, we learnt to appreciate the tasty local foods, the friendliness of the Finnish people and the incredible details of the  architectural works! 

Yakitori is a type of Japanese skewered chicken grilled over charcoal fire and seasoned with sauce or salt. Nowadays, some of them are also grilled with other types of meat, tofu, mushroom or seafood. In Japan, yakitori is usually paired with alcoholic beverages or liquor as a side dish. It will surely be quite costly if you are having these as a main meal to fill up your stomach. 

While exploring the Petaling Jaya (PJ) area for food recently, we came across Omulab which has a similar concept to the famous Japanese style omurice in Kyoto, Japan. From what we know, the famous omurice in Kyoto is so popular that it is compulsory to make a reservation to visit the restaurant. Since we didn’t have any plan to visit Japan yet, we will just try this Malaysia’s version of omurice first. 

Apart from trying the new or popular foods in Singapore, we are always scratching our heads for places to visit. In our recent trip to Singapore, we were glad that we found some fun surprises around Marina Bay and they are all impressive regardless whether it is in the day or at night. Most importantly, there are NO ADMISSION FEES! 

Keong Kee Herbal Soup (强记补品) has neither a fancy concept nor an air-conditioning dining environment but they definitely have the best Chinese herbal soup in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Besides serving the customers with a bowl of warm tonic soup and the taste of home cooked dishes, they also relive the olden day’s memories of the Kuala Lumpur folks. 

The northernmost region of Finland called Lapland is the home of Santa Claus as well as the place for people to hunt for the Northern Lights (or Aurora Borealis). There are actually many exciting activities to do there such as taking the reindeer or husky ride, experiencing the midnight sun, ice floating, ice fishing and many more. During our autumn visit, we enjoyed watching the colorful and beautiful autumn trees along the road trip, as well as visiting Santa Claus and had a quick chat with him! Well, these were more than enough for our 2 days at Lapland.