home

i'm home after a month. n it feels good.

i had felt so refreshed and inspired yesterday after the stroll along the baltic coast.

but the plane ride back was terrible, and i feel like i'm falling sick :(

n now i feel like crap.

n i've decided not to publish my hand written journal entries which i had kept while i was travelling (written in addition and with greater depth n intimacy than my blog).

but i suppose if anyone still insists on reading the entry, i really won't mind.

bleh. nvm.

readership on this blog must suck.

mina olen lill

i m sooo in love with estonia now. estonia rocks my socks! haha. mina olen lill, btw, is i'm a flower in estonian. haha. so cute.

i'm staying for a day in tallinn, estonia, n the day has been great. tallinn's a really wonderful place. at least its old town and precincts.

estonia's really a cute place. for those not so geographically inclined, it's a small east european country surrounded by russia in the east, and is separated from finland in the north by the sea. and tallinn's estonia's capital. it's located on estonia's northern coast, and is a mere 100mins away from helsinki by ferry. tallinn's old town is fyi a UNESCO world heritage site and is one of northern europe's best preserved medieval town. it is, in my opinion, an extremely charming and quaint place.

tallinn is sort of like a breath of fresh air, cuz finland (n the rest of the nordic states, or so i've heard) is dead boring and has an extremely tame nightlife. yet it retains alot of the european sophistication and modernity that russia so sorely lacks. the mood here is more relaxed and livelier, and the atmosphere is just so much full of life. i hadn't planned to stay for the night actually; but the moment i got here, i was just so attracted by wad the city has to offer and decided to stay for the night - n 1 night is simply just not enough!

i had this enormously huge roasted pork knuckle ala estii for dinner just now. it was so huge that to almost finish it is already an accomplishment (the waitress says most pple barely eat a mouthful). it was really nice. but i really couldn't finish it and was SO full afterwards. tried all the usual local delicacies too. nothing is really that spectacular or special here i suppose (except maybe its liquor vanna tallinn).

i had gone to a local swimming facility with sauna and the experience was great.

i had gone clubbing too. the nightlife here is vibrant n exciting, yet intimate n cozy - just the way i like it. small places just have such advantages. but of course, i had refused all drinks from strangers lest i get drugged and my organs sold on the last night of my trip! n, cuz it's mid summer's now, i managed to get quite good pictures of the mid summer night after the clubbing (at around 1? i still have a day of touring to do tomorrow n really can't afford to skip the sleep. n i'm not wasting the money i spend on the hostel here.).

the hostel here, btw, is great. i love it here too. it's more happening and friendlier than many other places. at least i don't feel the racist pinch.

o. most importantly, things here aren't all closed for mid summer's! that's the biggest most important difference btwn here n finland (n the rest of the baltic states). the pple here aren't lazy. n they know how to enjoy themselves properly.

n the girls here are all really cute and blonde! haha. n somehow most of them look rather alike. gorgeously alike. really, the finnish n russian girls cmi compared to the estonian girls. well, as for the guys... er. nothing noteworthy.

so sad i'm leaving this place so early tomorrow morning. like as if anything will b open in helsinki n there'll b anything for me to do. hmpf :(

removes pity enhances pride

the nightlife here in helsinki stinks. or maybe it's just too early. or maybe it's just the mid summer holiday period. over here, apparently, mid summer is HUGE like nobody's business.

and due to the stupid mid summer festival, almost ALL the michelin star restaurants (and those that r good n expensive enough) are CLOSED. like for a week. i had gone all over the city searching for a good dinner (i m willing to pay cuz according to my dad i'm spending too little) and everything's closed! the finns are so lazy i really wonder how they still stay so rich...

with much difficulty, i finally settled on a over priced but still not bad finnish restaurant and had a reindeer stew. i was really famished by then. 

fyi, i'm now at 'the biggest night club in scandinavia'. bleh. it's taken me lots of guts. good thing nothing bad has happened to me yet. i'm just here to check out how the gay scene is like here, given that scandanavia is one of the few places in the world most tolerant of gays n such. besides, they provide free internet access. apparently helsinki's supposed to b completely wired up with free wi fi n internet access n such - just that each spot with free internet access has very limited number of computers. 

as i've said, the night life here is disappointing. the gay night club is almost empty, and its 2nd floor and dance floor are closed. n it's not really that gay anyway - lots os guys with gals r hanging around now.  

mid summers suck. 

back to helsinki

i'm staying at this school-turned-summer-youth-hostel place now. n they've got cheap n good internet access here - something u don't find that readily in this part of the world :D this youth hostel's very cute though, with all the children's things. the receptionist is also a(n) (older) student from the school and he really reminds me of someone in m5.

i'm at this little town of kuopio now, n there really isn't much to do (their star attraction, the world's biggest sauna, only opens on tuesdays n fridays, n today's thursday). i don't really feel like going to museums today. i had gone up a tower on a hill that overlooks the entire area (with magnificent views) though. i have had a wonderful morning, but somehow i'm just overwhelmed by an immense sense of sian-ness now. i'll b heading back to helsinki on train in abt an hour's time. then maybe i'll go clubbing/ pubbing later in the night. hey, tonight's midsummer's night - i had better spend it partying n not sleeping.

i actually had quite a few drinks last night already. i tried some of the more traditionally finnish drinks (like vodka with cranberry juice, vodka with licorise, finnish beer koff,etc). n i got a little tipsy. alcohol is expensive here though. 22 % tax.

i had a wonderful breakfast of finnish pancakes with fresh cherries and fresh strawberries from the market. the berries in this part of the world's really good. n i also had this fried fritter stuffed with minced pork n egg - it's a local delicacy and the queue of the stall was really long. they also sell this finnish speciality of fish and pork fat baked IN a loaf of bread. the smallest portion is more than 1kg and i had gotten one (~19€). i'll have to heat it up myself in the microwave b4 i can eat it though. i hope it doesn't disappoint.

burnt, sore n tired

i just came back from a kayaking trip in the finnish lake district yesterday. boy, was it tiring. i feel so sore n exhausted that i think i can fall sick anytime. but it was a very good trip.

the kayaking route's called oravarietti (squirrel) trail and it's also an aquatic nature trail. the total distances is 57 km and it traverses lakes, rivers and rapids. it took me abt 17 hours spread over 2 days to cover the trail; i had spent a night at a cottage (which had very good finnish sauna - including the cold dip in the river) in the wilderness.

the weather was rather merciless. on the 1st day it was raining real bad, so i was cold and wet. to complicate matters, i didn't bring enough food - just 6 musseli bars, 2 bananas n some chocolates for 2 full days of intense activity. n on the 2nd day, eventhough there were sporadic sessions of heavy rain, the sun was bright and strong (thus the sub burns), yet the wind was strong n chilling too.

nevertheless, i found the kayaking trail most fulfilling. it felt great to b all alone in the vast expanse of wilderness; there was no one else in the area, at least not anywhere i can see. n the nature was great. i saw wild swans, families of ducks, swimming beavers, flying fish, damsel flies (mating), dragonflies, lots of plants (trees, reeds n funny aquatifc species) and ever a fresh water sponge. i thought it felt quite magical to b paddling into the reeds and see many the damselflies and dragonflies all fly away. n of course, the mosquitoes were huge n relentless. their stings actually hurt, n the biten area really itches like crazy. n insect repellent didn't work on them.

i really ain't the outdoor sporty sort, n now my back, shoulders and arms are aching like crazy. i wonder how long i'd need to recover. n it isn't exactly very condusive to recover while travelling, with all the early mornings n late nights n jam packed schedules.

anyway, i've had a slow n leisurely cruise on a pseudo steam ferry ride through the lakes from savonlinna to kuopio. the journey's 172 km n it took the ferry 10.5 hours. the scenery was not bad. but i suppose once i've experienced the lake so intimately as i have been while kayaking, little would really wow me know.

bleh. i haven't had anything hot n substantial for 8 meals already. so craving for good n hot food. shall go for dinner n a drink now. n maybe get some good rest tonight :)

alone

i'm travelling in finland alone now. haha. so happy n exciting. i was scared initially though.

i've finished my blitz of st petersburg in 6 hours (half a day is still better than no day at all, right?). n i daresay, st pete is really a nice city. too bad i couldn't stay for long. n unfortunately, the tour was also one of my most disastrous ever. but nvm...

finland's great too. i love it here.

almost everyone speaks english! :D that's a very good n important factor.

helsinki's rather charming too. plus it looks mroe modern n developed than any russian city - it has that european scandinavian air of modernity and sophistication that russa so sorely lacks. quite alot of its road are cobbled, n i think that's very cute.

travelling from russia to finland on train rocks. customs n immigration is settled onboard the moving train. how cool is that? ur immigration n custom officers actually come onboard to do their stuff. train ride from moscow n st pete also rocked. or rather, maybe it's the 1st class with service (free food, free beer) that rocks.

finland has got its own alternative to macs, called hesburger, and i just tried it. hmm. not bad actually. quite interesting.things in finland are just so expensive though, including fastfood. y must the euro b so strong?

anyway, i shall b leaving helsinki to the finnish wilderness n rural villages tomorrow. with any luck, i will b kayaking through finland's many lake, rivers n canals for 2 days 1 night. n then take a 12 cruise through the lakeland.

paedophilic homoerotica

the russian museums suck.

i visted the state history museum and the pushkin museums today. both are supposed to be world class institutions. i even queued up with 40 minutes in the hot sun (moscow btw is realluy bloody hot) just to get into the museum to buy the tickets for the pushkin. they were both just so boring and disappointing; it was more of a chore than a pleasure touring them both.

sigh. so disappointed. i really dunno whether should i visit the tetrakov museum. it's supposed to b another world class art museum too. i'm just not too sure abt the quality of the museums now. maybe it's just because i've already got very high standards from all the good museums i've visited before.

the pushkin has got lots of plaster casts of sculpture masterpieces, and lots of them r greco-roman in origin or in style. i've noticed how gay all of them look. some of them were outright gay glorified gay porn (or wad i can already consider gay porn). n a number of them even have paedophilic themes. hmm... i wonder y none of the guys r portrayed with an erection...

today's tour of moscow has been rather disappointing generally. besides the museum, we had visited lenin. n he really looked bad. he looks as if he's rotting. mao tze tung n ho chi minh both look better than him. also, despite doubling our touring ration of water to 1 litre per person, we still ran out of water real fast and became dehydrated again. it's really just so hot n dry here.

one good thing that happened today is that we r done with souvenier shopping. we've got out 1. matroushka doll, 2. CCCP (USSR) t shirt, 3. fridge maget and 4. chinese tourist book (for my parents). i'm still comtemplating whether to get some soviet posters or not though.

dehydrating in moscow

yay. i've completed the trans siberian, per se. the trans siberian technically starts at moscow n ends at vladivostok. n so i've completed all 9288km of it. rocks. i suppose my few more hundred of km on the train to st pete n then to finland would b just for fun, to add to the mileage. haha.

bleh. moscow is surprisingly hot. i'm really not used to it, after near freezing temperatures in ekaterinburg. n the wind here is so dry it practically sucks up all the moisture in u. i had underestimated to strength zapping ability of the weather here and was thoroughly dehydrating towards the end of the day. really sucks.

interestingly, the last stop b4 moscow was this city that is based on the glass makign trade. they make really pretty glassware there. n the workmanship's really quite fine too.

anyway, moscow's great. nothing reaks of more big metropolis than moscow in this part of the world. we've visited the kremlin, red square n st basil's cathedral (THE iconoclastic building that SCREAMS russian - the red building with the colourful domes) today. shopping's great here too, though we haven't seriously started. haha.

bleh. moscow's really huge, n i fear it'll b really tiring touring it. we r all dead beat after today's short tour.

singapore's not in china

the worst thing that u can do on a freezing and windy morning when u'll b touring rather intensively, is to gulp down lots of diuretics, like tea, and then gulp down even more water, to force start pressure diuresis and natruisis. n then u'll b wanting to pee like crazy for the rest of the day. since u'd feel like peeing all the way (but can't really find a toilet that easily), u'd think u'd better not drink any more water. in the end, the pee in ur bladder would get so concentrated, the salts precipitate, and u get ureteric collic - laccerating from from loin to groin, and even to the tip of the penis and scrotum.

sucks.

i'm falling in love with russian guys - the r just so absolutely gorgoues n dead cute. too bad most of them don't speak english. my guide today was a cute 22yo russian guy. haha.

it seems that i've been busy making friends in this city - the russians here really seem to b very friendly. i've gotten acquainted with this 4th year medical student (their course is 6 years) from the ural state medical academy. yup, made great friends, n learnt much abt their medical education and healthcare systems.

yekaterinburg's a nice city. not too big to b intimidating, yet big enough to have a certain buzz. we went to the place where the last tzar and his family were killed (a gigantic church is built there now; the family's cannonized btw), and where their bodies were dumped (it's a large monastaric complex there now). n we also went to the asia-europe border, among other highlights of the day.

gosh. i really hope i could have stayed on longer in russia on my own. if not for the russian guys...

i love the railway

i had just crossed over from siberia into the ural mountains on train #9, the 'baikal'. it was a 3 day 2 night affair that brought me from irkutsk, to yekaterinburg, travelling more than 3700km. i have now only 1800+km more to cover before i finish the trans siberian railway proper - the one that starts at moscow and end in vladivostok 9288km away.

the service on the 'baikal' is really very good. it's much better than the 'rossiya', the only non stop service from moscow to vladivostok. the 'baikal' only travels btwn irkutsk and moscow though, so it's a shorter service, a service of exceptional quality nonetheless.

i had really gotten accustomed to life on the train - the relaxed and idyllic lifestyle of doing nothing really productive and lazing around almost for the entire day. it's really a luxury. and i don't think i'll ever get tired of the expansive landscape, of endless forests of trees, rolling over hills for as far as the eye can see, or of steppes littered with pretty colourful flowers. i'm missing the agreeable lifestyle and the scenery already :(

anyway, yekaterinburg's a city right next to the asia-europe border, so i'm technically still in asia now. it's also the city where the last czar and his family got assasinated. and where boris yeltsin is born and raised.

we hadn't arranged for any transport from the train station to the hotel here, as the agency insists that it's really too short a distance for them to arranged for something. interestingly, when we enquired the rates from the taxi drivers loitering outside the station, one of them demanded 500rub (sgd30) - for a approx 2+km drive. crazy.

we then went around asking for directions and abt public transport, and got quite a bit of helpful responses. unfortunately, eventhough we had gotten onto the right bus, we had boarded it in the wrong direction. and it seemed that no on in the bus or on the streets spoke any english at all. you'd b surprise how friendly and how helpful people can be, even at this part of the world. i'm really touched and impressed at how good the russian people are, esp when u don't speak any russian at all (nothing intelligible anyway). we finally found our hotel after quite an adventure.

our hotel's quite charming really- shaped like a sickle if u can see it from the top.

bleh. i really ought to start planning my finnish trip instead of blogging.

orgasmic beauty

i've learnt that u really don't need to b rich to travel. u can b a retired italian farmer or a swiss railway controller and still b able to travel round the world to the most exotic of places. or u can b a jobless, homeless german and travel round the world indefinitely. but i fear i may start to suffer from travel fatigue. nothing can really stop u, except urself, i suppose.

n i've realised how orgasmic beauty can be. we were at this cliff out in the wilderness looking out into the lake, and it was just so beautiful i really felt like having an orgasm there n then. really, i've never felt like that before. i think everyone should experience such beauty at least once. we even managed to see TWO eagles at the cliff. one of our guides has lived on the island all his life, n he's only seen solitary eagles twice. it was really spectacular.

fyi i just returned from the siberian wilderness. we were on this island in the middle of the world's deepest lake. the nature over there was just fantastic. n i had a very good time with all the hikes and excursions. it's a really very biologically interesting place actually, with lots of microclimates and endemic flora n fauna. despite not having running water and a proper sewage system, living standards there are still pretty alright, and the people there were extremely warm and friendly.

in fact, i've been making so many friends on this trip. i've been talking to americans, swiss, italians, germans and russians, and making friends with all of them. they all seem to b really jolly and amicable, and are all very very well travelled.

bleh. i'll b heading back onto the train tomorrow for another 3 days 2 nights. i'm heading to this city with the last czar and his family were imprisoned and killed. it'll b 2 whole weeks of travelling for me, come tomorrow. n so far i think travelling can b really invigorating and inspiring - i feel so refreshed and recharged now. i just hope it can stay this way till i get back.

o, btw, my name will b 'йинг лианг' on russian. haha. cool playing with the russian keyboard. and dexter would b 'декстр' (which is easy to spell in cyrillic - it'll sound the same as dexter). haha. at least i can read the cyrillic alphabet and create sounds with them. i'm still very limited in practical russian though and can only grapple with the very basic.

and a new friend found

i just alight from train #1, the 'rossiya', after a 3 day 2 night (57h) journey that brough me from the russian far east to russian siberia. i'm now at irkustk, a city near the world's deepest fresh water lake, lake baikal, just north of mongolia.

it was getting rather boring on the train, and 'war and peace' is just sooo long. food from the restaurant wagon on the train just seemed overpriced, so we didn't eat there; we've been surviving on biscuits, instant noodles, and wadever junk the rural peasants bring to sell at the platform when the train stops. the junk, fyi, ranging from siberian dumplings to pork paddies and mince meat puff, are really quite delicious - it's really fortunate i can stomach these not-so-hygeinic foods.

the scenery along the journey has been magnificently marvellous though. it's pretty much the reason y we're on the train n not on the plane, huh? rolling tundras, sprawling conifers in taiga, and swathes of larches interspersed with little orange flowers were whizzing past us as we were glued to the window. we could also see snow capped mountains far far away in the distance. n occasionally, we would cross a roaring river with it's tumblings rapids along its meandering course. it was particularly beautiful today when we were travelling along the edges of the lake - the reflection of the forests, the mountains and the sky on the clear blue water of the lake was just so very pretty.

anyway, the highlight of the train journey, i suppose, was me befriending this 20 yo russian sailor who was also in the same wagon as me. he's heading home somewhere near kazan from vladivostok (where the russian pacific fleet is based). it's really quite amazing how we became friends - neither spoke the other's language. there was alot of gesticulating and guessing i suppose. haha. phrase books helped minimally, while the half past six translation of a fellow passenger who is studying english in school was marginally helpful. with his acquaitance, before i knew it, i had befriended everyone at the back of my wagon. the sailor's called alexander (or sascha) btw. haha. it's really nice to make friends with the russians- they r really cordial and warm. alexander even invited me to drink with him. haha.

fyi when i smsed joshua to tell him abt this happy incident, he replied with: 'gay time...'. haha. if anything gay happens to me on this trip, i'd b sure to tell the whole world abt it. so don't worry ;)

i'll b off to the lake tomorrow for 3 days, and i suppose will b pretty much out of contact with the world again.

~.~.~.~.~.~

in retrospect in photos...

in khabarovsk

i'm now in another russia city abt 800km away from vladivostok. it's called khabarovsk and it's pretty near the north of china. the weather here is surprisingly HOT. it's almost as hot as home, n the stupid sun just wouldn't go down, so it's gonna stay bright and hot for a long long while.

i should b happy that it isn't freezing. there's finally some sun shine and short sleeves during this summer trip.

we did the city tour today and i thought our guide was quite good - informative and entertaining. n i entered a russian orthodox church for the 1st time today. their churches are GORGEOUS - much much prettier, ornate nd intricate than either the catholic or protestants ones. many beautiful paitings of icons are all over the place and the hall's much more opulant. and the churches don't have benches - worship is done sitted on the floor.

the city is cleaner and more organised than vladivostok. i think i prefer it here.

anyway, the train ride was fine yesterday, though i didn't sleep very well...

this cute russian guy was supposed to share our compartment with us, but the carriage attendant had shown him another compartment, so he wouldn't feel so uncomfortable with the 3 of us. *shrugs* just lost an opportunity to get to know the locals better...

oops. the internet centre lady's closing up and she's chasing me away. will blog more tomorrow!

~.~.~.~.~.~

in retrospect in photos...

khabarovsk train station. one of the best natural history museums in the russian far east, this non-descript red brick building exhibits not only the natural richness of the russian far east, including plant and animal specimens (n many exotic ones), but also documents the anthropological and cultural diversity of indigenous tribesmen and migrant russians, while not forgetting the influential historical development of the last couple of centuries, including the civil wars and world war 2.

our first time entering an orthodox church. our first of many 'lenin squares' in russia. many cities have lavish squares in their centres for their soviet military parades.

i found khabarovsk particularly pleasant because of its riverside promenades that give it a very relaxed feel. many families would bring their children out for an evening stroll, while youths would engage in a multitude of sports from soccer to (beach)volleyball to blading along the riverside.

all aboard!

i'm gonna go onto the 1st leg of my journey on the train in abt an hour's time. we'll b travelling from Vladivostok to Khabarovsk. the journey will take abt 12 hours - the shortest of all of our train journeys.

today was basically spent wasting our time away. we did go visit this underground fort which i think is really cool. it puts any of the british forts in singapore, underground or otherwise, to shame.

we tried sending things back to singapore at the post office. i really hope they'll reach singapore though. i sent kailiang's birthday card too. haha. i'm giving the card a 3 week allowance to make its way back to singapore.

bleh. i think i'm a little tired.

~.~.~.~.~.~

in retrospect in photos...

the imperial insignia above the word 'vladivostok' at the train station.
a map of russia showing the route of the railway, starting in moscow and ending in vladivostok...
with an obelisk to commemorate the end of the world's longest railway after 9288km.farewell to vladivostok and our guide anna, as we board train #1, 'the rossiya'.
the russian post postoffice in vladivostok, right across the street from the train station. 'twas quite an experience sending off our 1st postcard in russia, where hopefully someone would know where singapore is.

sigh

we went off to this extremely ulu place right at the edge of lake khanka, which straddles across the border of both russia and china. it's sooo ulu, the guide hasn't been there b4, n we sort of got lost along the way; we had to keep asking for directions. and even many of the locals don't know the way there.

the place has no running water (their drinking water comes from a well n is sort of sandy) and has toilets reminiscent of that in yunnan when i visited the place with tchs in 2002. haha. the toilets sure brought back fond memories of yunnan. o yes, n the wind was howling all the time and it was very cold. but it was a very pretty place, nestled within the woods.

the owner has a 4 dogs - a dalmation, a blakc medium sized one, and 2 little brown ones. n i think they r so cute! the dogs would frolick around the place and prance among the trees, and they seemed so happy. bleh. i suppose i've got a soft spot for dogs.

anyway, we had goen to the lake to go bird watching. but apparently, there were some administative cock ups, and we can't go onto the lake, which is a protected nature reserve. so we travlled hundreds of kilometres for naught. bleh. i feel so cheated by the agency.

i felt very sad and disappointed leaving the place, not jsut becuz i didn't see the birds, but becuz i'm missing the nice quiet environment and the dogs already. i think i would have a pack of dogs if i were to have a big enough piece of land.

somehow i've been rather troubled, worried and a tad depressed today. don't really know y. my parents are surprisinglu optimistic and jolly, which isn't that bad.

joshua passed his driving with 12 points today and he smsed to let me know. i'm glad for him, but the thought of driving's accentuating my sucky mood.

~.~.~.~.~.~

in retrospect in photos...

we were freezing our butt off right at the edge of lake khanka with its unobstructed howling winds. the environment was very peaceful though - forested and pleasant.we had one of my best meals ever. we had koi right from the lake, flame-grilled with tomatoes, onions and sourcream. plus other misc russian country stuff.we had also gone to see a siberian tiger (or amur tiger, as the locals call it) reproductive farm, run by this esteem zoologist. really pleasant man, and really majestic (and cuddly looking) tigers.

BAD NEWS!

here i m in vladivostok in the russian far east, freezing my but off. it's supposed to be summer and pretty warm. well, it's around 10 degrees in the day. and it's been raining, with the wind n all. the pple here think 25 degrees is very hot already.

freezing my but off isn't exactly the worst of news. the worst thing is that there's some stupid mistake in my visa and i won't be able to visit st petersburg and complete my russian extravaganza. the russians are very very strict abt their visa, and the stupid embassy messed up my departure date. so now i'm supposed to leave russia on the 16th like my parents. and there's almost completely no posisbility of extending the visa.

sigh. i'm really very sad. i was looking forward most to st pete. esp when i'm on my own. no more hermitage. no more peter n paul fortresses. no more marinski. no more hanky panky with cute russian guys/gals! boo hoo!

*shrugs* i'll b heading to finland though. which means i'll have abt 1 week + to tour finland now. which means i've got to do some emergency planning asap. maybe i'll be able to have some hanky panky with cute blonde scandinavian guys/ gals. but they seem so much more tamed than the russian! no fun.

well, at least now i don't need to worry abt getting drugged and my organs sold - finland's supposed to b even safer than singapore.

sigh. it's really all my own fault - i've got only myself to blame for not checking the visa correctly, which is really quite a surprise given the thoroughness i thought i had subjected everything in the trip to. i really did check the visa. and it just didn't sound off my alarm then.

really too bad too sad. i'll go sleep over it.

~.~.~.~.~.~

in retrospect in photos...

nothing screams more vladivostok than vladivostok itself spelt in cyrillic and splashed onto the port building of this proud pacific port city. up till the collaspe of the soviet union, vladivostok was these secret navy base of the mighty russian pacific fleet. it's less of a secret now, but still an important naval defence asset and more importantly now, the leading importer of 2nd hand cars from japan in russia.

riddled with forts and defence formations, vladivostok still retains many of its military traditions (one of the earliest defence points for the russian far east was set up here), and still fires a cannon shot every day at 12 noon.

before planes came into fashion, the only other way to get from the rest of russia to vladivostok was by train, at the very end of the trans siberian railway. with so much distance to cover, much of it impassable and unbelievably harsh, railway was the only way to keep the empire together. and here i m at the historical vladivostok, at the start of my trip.

fly fly away

yay! i'm leaving for the airport in a few minute's time :)

we'll head to bangkok on budget 1st, before flying to vladivostok in the russian far east. if all goes well, we should be in vladivostok by tomorrow afternoon.

boy, m i starting to miss home already!

20 hours and counting down

hello!
welcome to my trans siberian blog :)

joshua's afraid that i may be kidnapped during the trip.
n my parents are afraid that i may be drugged and my organs sold.
n my sister's paranoid abt talking to strangers n taking candy from them.

so to allay everyone's fear, as suggested by jon tay, i shall b starting a blog to record my activities, when i do come online.

i shall of course, still post a complete account of my trip on my opendiary blog, but only after i've returned home and settled down.

i'm now 20 hours away from departure and m counting down.