Snapshots of February 2013

I can’t believe it’s March already! I’m 1/4 into the year and it feels as if my year just started. Here’s a look at how I spent February 2013.

Here I am at the Helsinki Airport in Finland with my new found favorite Angry Bird Soda.

Arrived at one of the world’s coldest airport and the capital of Lapland, Rovaniemi. I loved how they decorated the baggage carousel with all the arctic animals.

I visited the Snow Hotel and this was my dinner there. Traditional lappish food of open fire salt smoked salmon. I was fattening myself up to face the extreme cold weather.

It was time to get some action and I took crossed the arctic circle using reindeers! In fact now I have an official reindeer driving license valid for 5 years which I probably won’t be needing in Singapore. But off to Napapiiri I go!

Right on the Arctic Circle lies the Santa Claus Village where the official Santa Claus lives. All the letters that you write to Santa also gets delivered here!

A look at my Watsons haul which I brought along for my travels.

Just visiting the arctic circle wasn’t enough so I headed another 3 hours north to chase the northern lights.

Everywhere is white. My cabin is located in the middle of a forest reserve surrounded by lakes and the nearest “minimart” is an hour’s drive away.

It’s a up and down hill walk in thick snow for every meal if I don’t want to cook in the log cabin so I need to eat my fill each time!

When I say thick snow, I mean thick snow. In just 3 days, the snow is 45cm thick.

Went to another ice village to visit another ice hotel but I’m only taking a nap and not staying overnight because even though it’s warmer then outside, its still not warm enough for me.

I had fun on the snow mobile! It’s best for speeding across frozen lakes!

I tried my hand at ice-fishing as well. It’s such an endurance sport!

My first time walking in snow shoes and I think I’m a natural!

Another sport for the winter days is cross country skiing. It keeps me warm even when the weather is -30C.

My pack of huskies are gorgeous! They are incredibly strong and these aren’t even the huge ones.

The highlight of the trip was definitely the aurora borealis! This is not the nicest photo but probably the most memorable because it was the first time I spotted it. The photos taken on the subsequent nights are nicer and I’ll blog about them in time to come.

Flew back to Helsinki and took a bus to Turku, Finland so I can be in time for Lunar New Year lunch cooked specially by Celeste.

My next travel stop was Stockholm, Sweden.

I love all the swedish architecture and this is the magnificent gold room where the nobel prize winners would dance after their Nobel dinner.

Here’s the typical meatballs and potatoes you get in Sweden.

I was utterly pampered on Valentines Day as I spent the celebration on an ice-breaking cruise.

The scandinavians love Hello Kitty as much as I do! The famous cat can be spotted all over in the supermarkets.

Played baby sitter to Celeste’s kids and fell in love with this cute little pumpkin.

Here’s the other baby sitting charge. Xavier grows so much each time I see him.

Off to Copenhagen then to London for a short stay!

When I finally got back to Singapore, all I wanted was to spend more time with my two little furkids. Poor babies haven’t seen me in a month!

Attended Watsons Beauty Day Out and can’t wait to share with you all the awesome new products that got me all excited.

My candy colored wedge from Bata’s Spring Summer collection. If you have not already done so, please “like” my picture on the Bata Singapore FB page! Click on this link to get there!

My sister surprised me with some sweet treats!

I finally had my first yu sheng at the end of the lunar new year with Sushi, Daryl and my godson Leo.

Got road blocked by the Chingay procession on the way home so I had front row seats all the way.

Rapheal came back to Singapore and we had our tradition of heading to JB for lok lok and putting up our wishes on the Kong Ming Lantern.

Stocked up my fridge with Hello Kitty Mineral water cause it is cuter and cheaper then Evian.

Ended my Feb with this huge ass dinner after a day of excitement at the Universal Studios, Singapore with Andrew and Grace.