Back to Singapore

Finnish summer is waiting for me. Yes, it is lovely here, but I also want to be in Finland when it is sunny and warm!

Just a short visit to the Singapore food court (they call them hacker here), having my favorite fish soup...see on the side of the globe!

Photos

Today I decided to buy my own internet card, 35 ringets for 24 hours. Here are the photos of geocaching, swimming and the palm trees. This grandious hotel has nice circled swimming pool, also an Olympic size one, but I prefer this Asian style circle one.

Malaysia is rich with its palm trees and palm oil. People use it for cooking here. My favorite palm tree is the one that looks like a fan, it is the showing the way -tree.

Geocaching with palm trees

Sometimes I think I have three homes - one in Asia, one in Finland, one in USA. I am happy whereever I am. Palm trees, small and tall show the way along the path around this hotel. Today was a time of geocaching. Palm trees were not used this time, instead GPS gadgets, to find treasures. Besides the quiz that the teams had to solve, I found two golfballs. Going to take them home as pasalubongs (souvenir gifts). I learnt that it is interesting to open and see what's in them.

One of the my homes in Asia has been in Manila, Philippines. Me and my Filipino colleague Remy were thinking of the time in Karuhatan, Valenzuela, and all the people we knew. Like myself, also Remy had got married in the old chapel in the compound.

Holiday Resort Johor Le Grandieur

I took a bus from the Singapore airport to Senai airport in Malaysia. That means you need to cross a border. This time the customs was not that easy. They were suspicious of my passport. Later on I learnt that in Malaysia, your passport needs to be valid for 6 months after entering the country. Mine was less.

Anyway, I passed the customs, and with my colleague Arleen waiting for me at the bus stop after the customs, I was able to find this place called Palm resort Johor Le Grandieur. And great and grand it is, or grabe in tagolog, as my friend Arleen sighed after seeing the palm view scenery from our balcony. (photos to follow later)

What makes this place so 'grabe' is the hugh open halls, marmory floors, giant palm trees - and a big swimming pools - the other one round, the other one regtangle like an Olympic pool. At the arrival desk you get cool welcome: a cold towel soaked in mint leaves and icewater. What a refreshing feeling on the face!

Airport life

Life at the airports can be fun. In Helsinki, I went to the Finnair Spa. Besides the traditional Finnish sauna and steamroom, I enjoyed the Brethelbath (with needly twigs on the floor) and the rcok sauna, where you sit on hot rocks.

At Changi Airport in Singapore, there is a swimming pool on the roof of the terminal one, where you can take shower watching the airplanes go. I stayed at the Transit hotel, and conveniently got to use the swimming pool before and after my overnight stay.

So, airports have treasures in them! (photos later - at Changi I could not get my laptop to connect to the internet and am using the public computer now).

Eila