Tartu - Riga - Vilnius - Kaunas

Kaunas, Lithuania



Hitchhiking out of Tartu was a complicated affair, few cars drove such a long distance to Riga and there was little reason for border-crossing on a week day. It took me a total of three rides to Riga but fortunately i didnt have to wait long for 'em, the first ride set me back for 20 minutes waiting time and a nurse picked me up, she was visiting her mom in Elva which is only 20km away. Second ride was a farmer who got me another 10km and the third ride was immediate, i havent even set my backpack down when this lovely latvian couple stopped for me.

there was little english spoken between the two of them but we got along just fine, we stopped half way at a local coffee shop and they bought me coffee and tit-bits, talk about some fine latvian hospitality.

Got in to Riga just after dark and i let Edgars cooked me some vegetarian meal. The five of them in the house are all vegans which pretty much means say good bye to fats. But damn, the dude can sure cook a fine meal even without animals involved. I kinda like Riga and her old town, though the city is twice the size of Tallinn and have more stuffs going on, which i dont particularly care for. I was there for the people and not the place, and i cant stress that enough, european cities do look alike after a while!

we celebrated Elina's name day (it's something they do here in this part of the world) and made three large Pizzas, from scratch. It was really fun cooking with the folks as it reminded me when i used to make pizzas with mom, but i bet you havent tasted brocolli pizza before, it's brilliant! We had some to drink and toasted and made merry and it's all good fun, good food and good company.

I then moved on to Vilnius, by hitchhiking, of course. Got a ride in 10 minutes and such a joy ride it was. Picked up by two latvian Illustrators who didnt take much time to convince me to have a go at their merlot. So two stopovers, two bottles of wine (the driver didnt drink) and two joints later, we arrived in the capital of Lithuania pretty happily, if i may add.

met up with Griedrius and Viktorija and we went back home for some more boozing session. Tried this Lithuanian herb liquor that tasted just like medicine but with good effects, though i cant say the same when i got up the next morning with a major hangover. I let Vik made me a good cup of tea which she claimed it's her special remedy, and it worked miraculously. Oh yeah, did i meantion? i slept in a massive WATERBED in my own room! cant tell you how much i wanna invest on one when i can.

Vilnius is a pretty little thing, set to be the european capital of culture next year, the city is driving in full throttle waiting to impress. At night, we cooked pasta and washed down with wine and beer and checked out a local bar. Justin joined in later when he got back from Tallinn and we had a go at his Shishah and Whiskey collection. Fantastic end for the night.

Good times are often shortlived, hitchhiked to kaunas today which wasnt all that challenging, it was a well used route and it's only 100km apart. Arturas's mom cooked me this awesome Lithuanian meal which consists for the most part potatoes and fats and eat with soured cream. She was quick to suggest that it's a fattening meal but i loved it! and for the record, there are no fat people here in the baltic states, at all.

just came back from the cinema and we watched Max Payne for free (connections, connections...), it was a mediocre film without much of a storyline and i got rather restless after a while, you can only take in that much shooting at one time, you know.

the journey continues...




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Brocolli, tomato + onion
mushroom, olives, tomato + aubergine
Mushroom, gherkin, onion, garlic, olives + tomato

Helsinki - Tallinn - Tartu

Tartu, Estonia


Helsinki is somewhat a more toned-down version of the Nordic countries, sure she's developed and all that but lack the exuberance and warmth that are greatly enjoyed by its southern counterpart, think Madrid, Rome or Amsterdam.

people go about minding their own business and wont stop to mingle on the street if they can help it, it's way too cold to say 'how do you do' i'd imagine. And since i desperately wanted to leave the euro-spending country pronto and head on to the baltics state, i didnt even check out the night scenes in Helsinki.

instead i let Arto cooked me a three-course gourmet in his house. The european men have since ceased to amaze me with their cooking ability. It seems they can just whip up some food out of thin air like Jamie Oliver effortlessly, it is also because eating out simply costs too much! Leave no tips at the table and the waiter will offer a 'dont come back again' politely.

I took a three-hour ferry ride to Tallinn next and fell in love with the estonian capital immediately. What's not to love of a country with 1.4 million citizens? No longer will you walk on the sidewalks and risk holding up a hundred people behind you because you're a slowass, or queue for ages to get in to a good bar and for once Service is noted!

Responsible for Skype and Kazaa, the ppl here are technology savvy indeed! fellow estonians were boasting to me of their e-tax, e-education, paperless hospital, and simply everything being digitalized, i havent the heart to tell them the malaysians are such too, albeit not always up to standard and poorly maintained.

So we went to this Italian restaurant where food is served a la 'Marche' whereby a smart card is given and our orders being stored in it, and no, we dont have to wait for our food to be called out, as Davide excitedly pointed out to me, we were given a vibrator which goes off when our food is ready, how 'smart' eh? i think i still prefer placing order a la 'SAKAE' and table service, tyvm.

but Tallinn really is a charming baltics city with her old town very much preserved and church spires dominated the skyline. We went to the local bar at night and hangout with a bunch of italians on the italy vs montenegro match. Italy of course won the match effortlessly so it wasnt that thrilling. As Mirje's sister is coming to KL for a job placement, i was busy answering her neverending questions, is healthcare up to par, how's the nightlife in KL, is it safe walking down the street? i can only assure her that KL is very much the metropolis everyone thinks it is, minus the cold wind and the charming old town.

So i attempted to hitchhike out of Tallinn to Tartu. and as luck will have it, with God's blessing, a car stopped for me just under two minutes after thumb's out. Mario is a tattoo artist who was eager to show me his designs upon me finished telling him my story. and he wanted to come to malaysia after i told him our Iban tribes have tats all over their body and they use traditonal techniques. What a way to promote good ol´malaysia eh?

we went back to his house en route to Tartu and his mother wanted to give me a gift! i was asked to choose anything i like from her shop which sells bric-a-bracs and collectibles but kindly turned her down. i cant ask for free rides and free gifts at the same time! apparently any non-estonian speaking people are well-liked here.

Got in to Tartu without any incidents and i hooked up with Tonu, geologist and curator for Museum of Geology, so it's not a surprise when i tagged along today on a cross country excursion over estonian coastline collecting rock samples. It was kinda fun though i can tell you right now im no rocks expert.

Will go to Latvia tomorrow.



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Ferry ride and boozing in Turku...

Vasteras - Uppsala - Stockholm - Turku

Turku, Finland


Alright, im gonna make an effort to post a blog once a week.So I left Vasteras for Uppsala for some great student parties. Uppsala is known for its city campus and the whole town is vibrant with student energy, it made me miss Varsity times! I crashed at Sebastian's place for two nights and one night at Nicklas'. It's good to have friends around as i save heaps on accommodation, an average of €20 a night. So Nicklas hosted a party because i was coming and he sent some 180 facebook invitations to his sophomore-year friends in which about half turned up. It was also to be a joint housewarming party with Daniel and Peter as the three of them moved in to the new apartments some few months earlier but didnt get around to hosting the obligatory party.

it was a huge success, people came bearing loads of booze even when there were free beers and wines offered. I got to see Mattias and Anders again and we talked bout the good old times in New Zealand. The boys have also invited me for a winter skiing trip in february in which i might consider going! I also met up with ex-uni mate Jian before i boarded the train to Stockholm, and what with him and Sebastian enticing me with the great student life in Uppsala i might actually consider taking up a free course in the Uni here! I love Sweden and living here for a coupla years doesnt sound too bad at all!

I made my way to Stockholm and stayed with Goran for three nights. This capital city is just as beautiful as advertised, albeit a little larger than my ideal size of Uppsala and are more crowded and filled with immigrants like most other capital cities that it doesnt feel very swedish anymore. Dont get me wrong though, i love Stockholm and the abundant water ways and parks and bridges are just brilliant. I love the concept that the city is built on islands and mainland and the surrounding archipelago and woods, it's like you are getting both worlds of urban lifestyle but at the same time nature is just right at your doorstep, definitely one of the most liveable cities in the world.

from here i embarked on a 12-hour ferry ride to my current location of Turku. The ride was amazing, and considering that i only paid €10 for it, it was a major bargain! i spent some time at the deck admiring the beautiful scenery and crisp sea breeze, some other time doing duty-free shopping on board, a quarter of the time napping and the rest of the time playing Wii -Supermario World!

Upon arriving at the port, Alex brought me to this remarkable rock concert in town, we met up with Reto and Julian and had an amazing time with the band. Yesterday we went to the bar for billiards and i totally sucked at the game. Was supposed to get on to Helsinki today but my host persuaded me to stay for the weekend for some parties, and since Julian invited me to hitchhike together to Helsinki on Sunday, i
said yes! no harm saving some €25 for the train ticket. That's if we're successful.

well there you go, a full record of my travel to date. Pictures later...




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Vasteras, Sweden


I know i know i know, im a terrible blogger and updating my blog seems to be the last thing on my mind! So much had happened over the past week that i dont know where to begin. So here it comes...

After Paris ive taken a train to Lille, the TGV ride burned a hole in my wallet, it cost me €40 for a journey of 200km! such a rip-off. My plan to hitchhike didnt work as i couldnt find a strategic spot to hail potential drivers, and they all drive at crazy speeds on the motorway.

Met up with David and Anthony in Lille and we spent three days drinking French wine, beers and listened to french music. David is a musician and Anthony is a theatre director, and the mates that hung out with us are of similar variety: painters, artists and the like...so it was all good fun in a very artsy way...

i then continued on to Bruges, arguably one of the most picturesque town in Europe. Every angle and corners in this village is postcard perfect and it is filled with endless canals. Johan and I, along with two of his friends, formed a team in a local quiz contest. Everything was written in dutch but i still managed to contribute - mostly on hollywood showbizz and travel questions.

and who in his right mind will not love Belgium? the country must have the most varieties of beer when you consider its size and population. And no, it's not just the quantity im talking about, but the quality. Fancy having a beer with 9% alcohol and tastes superb!

from there i made my way to Brussels where i stayed with Rafael for two nights. The same story followed where i tried more belgium beers and some very good belgium meals.

After that i crossed the border to Rotterdam where i met up with Archie, one of my best travel mate in Australia. And when you get right down to it, Holland is not all about the tulips, cheeses and windmills...i had the best time in Amsterdam with Thomas and Rene where i had my first magic mushy. Mind you, this mushroom is like no others you've taken before. It is not tasty but you'll love it. enough said.

from Amsterdam i made my way back to London where i caught my flight to my current location of Vasteras. Sweden is amazing when you try to take your mind off the cold weather. The countriside is lushed with greeneries and colorful leaves coat the area into an artist's canvas. I'm falling in love with Fall.

will make my way to Uppsala tonight to meet up with team sweden, my best friends in New Zealand. They are having a party for me!

Later.



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