Chapter XIII / Daintree National Park

I flew from Hong Kong to Cairns via Brisbane in order to meet up with two of my closest friends from college for a week in far North Queensland. 

I hadn't seen them for six months and nearly four years respectively, and it was superb to spot them in the arrivals hall at Cairns airport. We had each hoped to surprise each other from behind in the terminal, and after sending a decoy email directing them to baggage carousel two, I loitered in a cafe until I spotted them, at which point I crouched behind a variety of weary travelling parents and got about half a second of surprise before leaping on Tom and Tom.

En route I had enjoyed what tuned out to be the best view of the Great Barrier Reef:

We headed north in our rental car towards the World Heritage-listed Daintree Rainforest and the start of our weeklong adventure. 

Chapter IX / In which the Chinese train network yields some surprises

Part of China's wave of infrastructure investment has been channelled into a high-speed train network connecting many of the country's cities. Soon after arriving at Xiamen Bei ('Xiamen North') railway station, I could see that the traveling public had something to show for it:

Editor's note / In which a quick fix is found

I've become self-conscious at the time lag on this blog, since my latest post is about Tallinn, a city that I left more than ten days ago. The sluggish pace has been caused by equal parts procrastination and distraction, and has had the unfortunate consequence that I'm not publishing thoughts spontaneously but instead spending 'blog time' trying to remember what I did the week before last. I've been loath to simply 'skip' cities, for fear that I'd never come back to write about them and also for fear of jumbling the order on the blog, so instead I'm going to post a series of short 'placeholder' entries written in something closer to a stream of consciousness, and return to them later to add detail and edit. Vanity might prevent me from advertising these placeholders so if you don't see them on facebook you'll know why.

Chapter XII / Initial reactions upon landing in Australia

1. Broad sunshine bathing the tarmac, aka "It's good to be back" or "Winter? What winter?"

2. Australian delicacies, aka "I didn't realise how much I missed you"

3. Tony Abbott, the Australian Opposition Leader, aka "Trademark sh$t-eating grin":

Chapter XI / In which Hong Kong reminds why it's one of the world's great cities

I had another 30 hour stopover in Hong Kong, en route from Shanghai to Cairns and northeast Queensland. The highlight was a late night drink at Ozone Bar, the world's highest located on the 118th floor of the ICC Tower in Kowloon. None of my photos turned out but this gives you an idea of the vertiginous view:

Chapter X / In which Shanghai turns up the heat

From the Shanghai Daily on the morning of my departure:

"Shanghai has never seen four straight days with highs topping 40 degrees since 1873, when its Xujiahui observatory began recording temperatures, according to the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau." 

They went on to note "it was the eighth high temperature day this month" though it was not clear what temperatures qualify as 'high'. This contributed to a number of anomalies during my visit. The normally-busy Shanghai Sightseeing Bus Center apparently reported a big drop in passengers. The normally-popular tourist promenade along the Bund was empty. The normally-full parking lot was apparently empty. Even the normally-cool Marc Jacobs perfume pop-up next to the beautiful Jing'an Temple was apparently too hot to handle:

Chapter VIII / In which Xiamen puts on 'the wedding of a lifetime'

I had never heard of Xiamen until my friend François announced that it was to be the venue for his marriage to his fiancée Si (pronounced 'Sir'). But the four days I spent there were absolutely unforgettable.

Chapter VII / In which a Hong Kong monsoon makes for the briefest of stops

I had arranged to fly overnight from Helsinki to Hong Kong on the seemingly very popular Finnair flight AY61. (The only way to get a seat for less than €2,000 for this single flight alone was to buy a connecting flight from Tallinn; perhaps the Finns are trying to turn Helsinki into a travel hub for upwardly mobile Estonians?) 

The movie selections on Finnair are more appealing than they initially appear (the latter problem is perhaps due to their awkward menu system) and I squeezed three movies into the nine-hour flight: Side Effects, Identity Theft, and I Give It A Year. I'm wary of turning this site into a film review blog, so I'll keep this short. Side Effects is a well-composed psychological thriller starring Jude Law and Rooney Mara, reminiscent of Jude Law's earlier film Breaking and Entering, centered around the clinical treatment of depression. Identity Theft is a genuine feel-good comedy that left me smiling broadly and, unlike everyone else nearby in the cabin, untroubled by the persistent and violent screams of the child two rows behind. (He looked big enough to know better.) I Give It A Year I found uproariously, laugh-out-loud funny particularly in the first 30 minutes, and has the added bonus of Australian actors Rose Byrne and Simon Baker playing opposite each other as a Brit and American respectively. (His accent was a little more convincing than hers, but perhaps because the intrinsic difference between it nd their native Strine is larger.)

Despite taking a Zzzquil five hours into the flight after the third movie, I managed very little sleep until the last hour when I finally passed out, waking only when the wheels hit the tarmac. Nevertheless, itfelt great to be back in HK and I was able to repack and re-check my bag for my onward flight to Xiamen ten hours later (thank you Dragonair!) I took the brilliant MTR into the city feeling awake and happy, despite the rain and forecast of thunderstorms for the day (I had foolishly left my umbrella in my checked bag.) I learned that it's difficult to capture heavy rain in an image without taking a photo of a large puddle or splashing water onto the lens; my best shot is this one, but perhaps I should have taken a video instead. It really was very wet. 

I had a fun day wandering around Central, staying mostly dry and enjoying the heat and humidity. I had really loved Hong Kong on the one occasion I had previously visited in 2011, when I had tacked on a really fun weekend to a three-day work trip. It felt good to be back. 

Chapter V / In which the rain robs Tallinn of its chance to shine

One hour after arriving in Tallinn and still at its modern airport, I was not enthusiastic about my visit in Estonia. Whether it was the 30 minute wait for the airport-city bus, only for the doors to be closed on me since it was 'full', the grey brooding skies, or simply the fact that it was my first stop in which I wasn't visiting anyone, I was grumpy and mumbling curses under my breath like Mutley the dog. 

Fortunately, taxis in Estonia are very good value, so after a quick 20 minute, eight euro drive I was checking in to my charming room in a hotel in the old town. Undoubtedly part of its charm was imbued in the three flights of slightly creaky, irregular stairs at lay between it and the reception (when i asked for directions to the elevator, the receptionist pointed sardonically to the stairs), along with its lone small square window, located in the bottom left hand corner of the far wall. I decided that I was grateful for the novelty of sleeping in an authentic example of the 'Estonian attic style'. 

Having not slept as much as i would have liked the previous night, I decided to take a middle-of-the-day nap. After waking just after 1pm, I realized that was not only indulgent but also a bit foolish, since the clouds' brooding was now more sinister and threatened to wash out the walking tour of the old town I had planned. I set off nevertheless, along the cobbled streets and squares which reminded me of Belgium where I spent a semester living and studying in 2008. I had lunch at a delicious crêperie cafe off the main Vanalinn square, then ventured outside the walls of the old town where I saw a very impressive monument to a terrible (and relatively recent) tragedy:

The rain arrived in earnest in the mid afternoon, and since I had left my umbrella in the attic on the other side of town I followed two young people down a succession of ever-narrower lanes to the 'cool and untouristy' part of town, where I took refuge in the deep comfy seats, hot tea, free wifi and rich chocolate brownie of an excellent coffee shop. Whilst there I read in the local tourist magazine that Tallinn is "Europe's party capital" and boasts many excellent nightclubs. I carefully selected four for that evening but in the event, by 10pm the clouds were absolutely unloading rain onto the streets, and since it was a Tuesday, I figured this would probably dampen the locals' enthusiasm for going out in the same way it had dampened mine. So after an earlier-than-expected night, I awoke early the next morning and returned by taxi to Tallinn airport, to return to Helsinki for a proper look around.

Chapter VI / In which a chance encounter illuminates Helsinki

Flying via Helsinki the previous week en route to Stockholm, I spotted the lead news story of the day on the cover of the main English-language newspaper, the Helsinki Times:

I made a mental note for my return journey: Finns know how to party (or at least how to drink). Helsinki did not disappoint.

The next week I flew in from Tallinn on another overcast summer's day, and had better luck with the public bus, which deposited me in the main Rautatientori square. I had booked a simple room near the Botanic Gardens, and later when I used these to describe where I was staying to locals I was met with uniform blank faces, so they seem less prominent as the ones in Sydney, Melbourne, or Canberra, and this partly explains why I didn't actually go in during my 30 hours in Helsinki.

Before I had left Seattle, one of the loose ends I had to tie up was taking over my US work cell phone number, so that I wouldn't have to ask everyone to change my number in their phones. Unfortunately AT&T had thrown a large number of spanners at me in the 24 hours before I left Seattle, with the result that I had not been able to take over my number by the time I left Seattle. I decided to hang on to my work cell phone until I sorted it out, since as soon as I returned the phone, the contract would be cancelled and my number would be lost. During my hour at JFK I had the absolute pleasure of porting my number to Google Voice, which unlike assuming responsibility for it at AT&T took six clicks, ten minutes, and did not require multiple store visits, calls to their back office and to Experian, and emailing of identification. Unfortunately by this time I didn't have access to a mailbox, so I figured I would just drop it into one of our Scandinavian offices en route.

That explains in a roundabout way how I found myself in an elevator in Helsinki's CBD on a Wednesday late morning, boxed iPhone in hand. Exiting the elevator I passed three gentlemen about to take it back down to thr ground floor. Two steps on I saw the large sign announcing that the Helsinki Office was closed for summer vacation from 22 July to 2 August. In a stroke of immensely good fortune, one of the three gentlemen who had by now entered the elevator spotted me stopping dead in front of the door, and instead of hammering the 'close doors' button (or calling security), asked me whether I needed any help. It turned out that Donatello, Leonardo, and Michelangelo (I have given them ninja turtle names since I didn't check whether they were ok with featuring on this blog) were colleagues hard at work,in the office, notwithstanding the summer closure ("someone has to keep the lights on", Donatello joked) and were grabbing some lunch. I explained that I was also a colleague trying to return my phone, and when I politely declined their kind offer to let me in (figuring it would be hard to explain to the receptionist/mailroom colleagues in a note), they invited me to join them for lunch. 

Thus began a delightful "insider's guide to Helsinki". Fifty meters into our foodward walk I asked them whether they were all Finnish, and learned that they in fact hailed from Ireland, Turkey, and India, and were based in Helsinki, London, and Berlin. (Not the first time I've had such a conversation with colleagues over the last three years, and their own backgrounds made it easier to explain that I was an Australian who had moved from London to the West Coast of the US late last year.) We ended up sharing not a very fun lunch of middle eastern food, including some delicious lamb dishes. 

The afternoon brought rain, which scuppered my plans of taking Leonardo's tip and taking a boat to one of the scenic islands in Helsinki harbour, so instead I used the trusty NYT 36 hours guide to find a coffee shop, where I bought an oversized cinnamon bun (not as good as those from the Nordic Bakery in London, yet big enough to take half of it away afterwards) and read. After the rain had passed I wandered along the waterfront and spotted a visiting Japanese navy boat, a rolling piece of Melbourne, and a slightly controversial sculpture within 30 minutes of one another: 

For a moment I confused Finland with Norway and thought this ship had something to do with the 'axis of whaling'

Melbourne all the way down to the color scheme... No myki though

Controversial? 

I met Donatello and Leonardo for dinner that night (Michelangelo had flown home), at a great Mexican eatery run by Mexican expats who delighted in Helsinki's compact size ("I ride my bike to get around: it's great!") followed by drinks at the world's best cocktail bar ("A21") - which just happens to be in downtown Helsinki. 

Meeting these three new friends made for a *much* more enjoyable stay in Helsinki, not only because they had all sorts of local nous, but also because we had interesting conversations (and no, not about work!) Donatello had spent lots of time living in the US, and explained his take on the cultural differences between Americans and Finns. The US he said is a 'peach' society, in which it is easy to break through the surface i.e. meet other people and strike up a conversation, but rather difficult to get through the pip to reach the core (truly befriend them). Finland by contrast he dubbed a 'coconut' society, in which it is difficult to break through the surface but once you do, it's easy to reach the core (which is soft and creamy). Almost on cue, a group of Finns spotted Donatello and walked over to say hello! 

After drinks they turned in, and I decided to seize the opportunity presented by the clear night and went clubbing. After starting in a club where a foam party was in full swing, I made it to another bar full of jolly Japanese and Finnish sailors, well turned out in their uniforms but nevertheless making the most of their night ashore. The place was a bit like Gordon's wine bar in London - an underground warren of different rooms - and I was drawn to one room with quite a crowd listening to some live music. Two Finns in their 30s were pumping out hip hop in Finnish. The first looked as you might expect: shaved head, dark glasses, cocky expression, but the other was transfixing: he was sporting a very impressive 'mullet' hairdo underneath a baseball cap with large 'John Faulkner' glasses (apologies for the Australian references there), a grandmother knit jumper, a sternly serious facial expression, and Gangnam Style dance moves from left to right and back across the front of the stage. Not carrying my iPad I wasn't able to get a photo, recording or Shazaam grab, and I stupidly didn't ask the barmen or bouncers for the duo's stage name/s at the end of their set. Subsequent hours spent on Google searching for "Finnish hip hop duo" have been unsuccessful so far; if any of this rings any bells please let me know! All tips gratefully received. (Two weeks later I thought I heard the chorus bring played in a jeans shop in Cairns but it was in fact Counting Stars by OneRepublic.)

After being outclassed by some sailors on the dance floor I kicked on to a rooftop bar a couple of streets away, which I found purely by following a distant sound of voices and music. I met some more young Finns there and we had some good conversations about Finland's place in the world (I rattled off a pleasingly lost list of Finns I admired, from colleagues to F1 drivers and international lawyers), what made them most proud about their country (the lakes and not the F1 drivers), and Finland's reputed drinking problem which I had read about the previous week (exacerbated in their view by the boats that bring back Finns from Estonia armed with cheap booze.) I then went looking for the fsmed 'Aussie Bar' which has apparently turned into a popular franchise in Finland - only to be disappointed to rock up at closing time

Aussies as upside down people?

By the end of what was an excellent night, it was past 4am and so I had eaten some of the next day; by the time I woke up and ate brunch I had time for one last short stroll taking in the architecture in Helsinki, before taking the bus back to Vantaa airport and onwards to Hong Kong.