Visions blur

We're in the midst of a typically cold blustery autumn, but you know what, it can still be quite beautiful. The grey skies and falling leaves... makes me feel like curling up in a ball.

I'm coming to terms with the fact certain things will never change. And that it is not my fault, and that even if I'd have done all these things differently, the outcome would have still been like this. But, all the same, things could be worse.

Russian Summer Trip Pt 2

Part 2 of my trip in Russia this summer.

So I left off at the Moscow-Irkutsk flight. Landed at about 5 am in Irkutsk, I was tired as hell.
I will post a bunch of photos now.

This was a little village full of dachas by Baikal. It was really foggy that day. I took the boat from Irkutsk there.

The next photos are from Arshan, on the trail to the Sayan Mountains. And yes, I did make a terrible joke about going Super Saiyan there. There are many Buddhist prayer ribbons tied to trees.

The amazing sunset I got to view from the window of the hotel we stayed at.

Arshan was beautiful and interesting. One thing that intrigued me is there are also tons of dreamcatchers decorating the town, including in our hotel. And one tourist shop had a rather cheesy velvet painting of an obviously Native American man (I think he was even wearing a war bonnet) with a wolf and an eagle. It got me wondering if people there feel some sort of kinship with Native Americans. 

Also, the bus ride to and from there is SO bumpy. I nearly threw up. Like I said before, I get car sick in no time and bumpy roads make it that much worse. It was terrible. Crazy swerving mountainous roads. And then when we started to re-enter the city, there was a moment where the bus nearly collided head on with another vehicle...

Now some pics in Irkutsk. 

Kazan Church in Irkutsk

Pictures at the dacha.

 In all, it was an awesome and unique time. Visiting Russia is unforgettable.

Russian Summer Trip 2016 Pt 1

So, I've finally decided to sit and write down my experience in Russia in July. It was a really interesting journey. 

I first took an early bus to from Tallinn to St. Petersburg...That was an ok experience, I guess. I really don't like long car/bus rides because I'm prone to car sickness/nausea if I can't get out for fresh air and walk around often. I think I've been like that since I was about 5 or 6. Anyway, there was a ridiculous amount of passport checks, I don't even remember now. 3 or 4? I think most of those checks were from officials who would board the bus and walk through to look at everyone's pass. Also, the actual border guards seemed to have a bit of a surly attitude. I think in every country I've been to, border guards I encounter seem unhappy. 

I finally arrived in the early afternoon. Dumped all my stuff off at the hotel booked for 1 night, and looked around the city a bit. Looking back, it's hilarious that I thought people in St. Petersburg were kinda bad at driving, because in Irkutsk, I discovered people were about 1000x worse on the road - I wouldn't ever want to drive there in my life, I had more than 1 scary experience I'll mention later. Nevertheless, that was one of my first impressions. I also noticed how the girls there dress impeccably. Ok, I saw some questionable and tacky style choices too, but there was also an incredible amount of well dressed, elegant women in St Petersburg. I felt like a wallflower for sure at times (actually...don't I feel like that all the time?). I suppose that sounds like a superficial observation, but it was something that really stuck out to me. Just amazing style and beautiful ladies, lol. 

Some pics:

Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood

Triumphal Arch near the Winter Palace

Palace Gates

I also had time to go look at the Museum of Soviet Arcade Games with a friend!

Hmm, what else did I get up to in St. Petersburg...well, I went in a grocery store to buy food, as you do, and I tried a Russian brand of sirok I forgot the name of. And I came to the realization Russian sirok is absolutely the best and so creamy. 

So then I rested, blah blah blah. You also have to register your location at a hotel in Russia, it's kinda complicated. I had help with that.

Next day it was time to go to the airport in St. Petersburg. While waiting for the flight to Moscow, I ate at this cute restaurant called Kamchatka with a retro Soviet decor gimmick going on. Think vintage Cheburashka toys, old Nevalyashka dolls, etc. Kitschy but cool. Actually, I don't even remember now if that restaurant was in St. Petersburg or Moscow airport? But it was cool. i only have 1 pic from it. 

The flight from St Petersburg to Moscow was uneventful, except there was a tour group or something of like 20 older folks in their late 50s - mid 60s who were very loud! They didn't speak Russian very well either (not that I can talk…I also suck at speaking Russian) and they kept begging this flight attendant to take their trash when she didn't even have a trash bag to carry all of it. She gave them a stern look and said in English, "Yes, I heard you." LOL! After that, transferred from Moscow to Irkutsk in economy class on Aeroflot. It was a pretty long flight and I started to feel claustrophobic and panicky and like I'm gonna DIE. Don't know why but claustrophobia has been a recent problem for me on planes. I used to be able to tolerate flying because of the window views! Although flying always hurts my ears…Now I just feel trapped and start to sweat and feel stressed after a while!

CAKE. This whole meal was actually really good. 

I'll wrap this post up at that and continue later with what it was like when I landed in Irkutsk and everything I did and saw!

Photos from the ferry back in July

As I wrote before, I took the ferry to Stockholm back in July. I didn’t really get any good photos but I thought why not make a post anyway. For my own records, lol. 

Also, I remember I forgot a bag on the boat and the security guy was soo rude when I went back to get it from the lost and found. I probably wrote this already in a post. But jfc he was a scary big guy with a bad attitude and seemed so annoyed by me, for what? 

 

I got a haircut today and other stuff

Yesterday I got a much needed haircut. My hair wasn't in awful shape but it was looking a bit fried on the ends from too much dye (for the record, I decided to quit dying my hair a few months ago and just let my natural hair colour come back).

Actually, she cut it shorter than I originally wanted but I like this more. And I think this cut softens my bone structure and frames my face better than long or medium hair. Anyway, I have never had hair this short before. I did have a lob in 2011 or somewhere around that time so it's been a while. I had very long hair up down my back until Oct 2015, then I cut it and had a medium haircut which grew out past my shoulders and now...I have this.

Now, on to some other things. Tonight I'll take the ferry journey to Sweden to see my aunt. I'll then arrive in Stockholm in the morning and have like 7 hours there. Then I'm gonna be baaaack here the next day, but the travelling doesn't stop there. Nope, next I will take a long bus ride to St. Petersburg THE NEXT DAY. So I'm a busy bee. It will be my first time in Russia, and I will DEFINITELY be making lots of videos for that trip of all the cool stuff I'm sure I will see.

Visiting Piusa and Võru, in Southern Estonia

This past weekend I ventured into southern Estonia on a short road trip. Estonia is not a very big place as you might already know, and reaching one end of the country starting from Tallinn doesn't take a long time. It was about 3 1/2 hours driving time to Piusa from here - it takes a similar amount of time to get to Narva (around 3 hrs) in the east or to get to the island of Saaremaa in the west. I set out at around 9 am Saturday and arrived in Piusa that afternoon.

I first stopped at the visitors' center of the sandstone mining caves. It was hot as hell down there (by my standards, because I wither in the heat despite having grown up in NC), like 21 degrees C and there isn't the Baltic sea nearby to keep things cool and windy. Now, about the caves - I have to say I liked the looks of them, but it was a bit underwhelming since you're not allowed to actually go in them due to risk of collapse, only to see the very entrance. So you get a short glimpse with a guide and then you're ushered out. That's fine though, since the nature surrounding that area is lovely and there are great trails for walking, hiking, photography.

So after that I spent the night in a rural hotel owned by a small family. Their property was beautiful, with a big pond, surrounded by the forest. Plus, they had a cute little dachshund dog that was slightly overweight and a bit grey in the face. Aww. But I don't have a photo of him.

Sunday morning I checked out and drove to Võru to walk around and whatnot. It's a pleasant little town with a small beach by Lake Tamula. There is a local museum about the history of Võrumaa county and the Võro culture and history, all housed in a little grey building with a colorful mural on the side. Admission was only 2 euros, and I was the only guest in the museum the whole time. The old lady working the front desk was very enthusiastic and friendly and told a lot about the history of the town.

The first level consisted of some cool contemporary art from the region, while the rest of the museum gradually took us through their history, from some ancient skeletons (from the bronze age I think it was) and onwards. I was really quite inspired by the beautiful antique things on display there from different periods of time. Dusty old books, farming equipment, instruments, clothes, household items. 

 Catherine the Great 

Various photos from the museum:

A local artist was inspired by rice paddies during their stay in South Korea. I like these pillows.

 

Animator is a small god, God is a big animator

I have loads of other pics too but I'm lazy. Anyway, after that I drove to Tartu and stopped to eat, then went back home to Tallinn. All in all it was just a peaceful weekend of cool sights.

I feel real.

 I feel so alive.

Yes, that’s the North Korean flag. No, it doesn’t belong to me and I didn’t choose to put it there lol