Become a child again...

It was a day...

21st March:

Yup...This is the main motive for coming to this “ulu” town at the top of the world. It is a place where everyday is Christmas day. Always wanted to visit Santa’s village ever since I came to know about its existence. Oh well, a childish dream ya...haha...Oh well... But the point is, it is a dream that came true after all these years =P

Marina drove me to Santa’s Village which was about 8km away from the city of Rovaniemi. It is a site located at the official border of the artic circle. (The artic circle boundary shifts by a few metres each year, depending on the position of the sun. Technically, there isn’t a fix boundary for it. But the official line/marking of the boundary is located here...So ya...)

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Santa's Village: At last!!! Felt damn high when stepped out of the car...Woohoo!!!

The village was quite commercialize by now. Kinda expected it. A necessary move to boost tourism, if not it will not survive alone in this “ulu” part of the world.

There weren’t many tourists around, as I reached quite early. (Marina had to work...so ya...haha) And it wasn’t the peak season (usually December) for tourism here. So I got the whole place to myself...good for photo takings...haha

Most of the Asian tourists here were from Japan (Mostly) and Hong Kong (Some). Think these are the richer countries around Asia or something, as the situation is the same back in England too. (Most Chinese restaurants open by H.K. people...)

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Santa Claus’ Main Post Office: Possible to get the exclusive Santa postage chop when you send stuff out from here. Too bad I’m not really a person who remembers address of my friends...Arghhh...So only manage to send 2 postcards home. Also in here, you will get to see the letters sent to Santa from different parts of the world. Pretty cool to see what children from different part of the world wanted to tell Santa, and what were they wishing for...All the workers here were dressing up as elves...Damn cute!!! Manage to take a pic. with one of them. *wink wink* =P

Letters from Singapore: One of the largest piles around. Think Santa is quite popular among children back there ;)

Directional & Distance Post: Located outside the post office, which points to different countries. This particular one shows Santa do know where Singapore is. And it’s moment like that makes me realize how far I am away from home...sigh...

Boundary of artic circle: The row of pillars (top-left pic) outlines the boundary. Actually there is an official line marking on the ground, but it was covered with snow when I was there. Managed to dig up a small portion of it through some melted snow though (top-right)...Too bad of my friends were there with me, or else we can jump, somersault or crawl etc to pass this line together. Think that’s what the kids usually do...haha

A certificate to certify I’ve crossed the artic circle...

Santa Claus Office: Strictly no photography allow in here. Hate it when such rule exist. Anyway, the “real” Santa is in there spending a few minutes with each visitor from all parts of the world. The decorations are quite fairy-tale like...Well, it is a fairy-tale place from the start...haha :)

"Real" Santa: A pic. with the “real” Santa. Actually paid a bit just to take this picture...Decided to as I don’t know when I will visit this part of the world again...so ya...Decided to give him a hug too =P

Anyway, Santa can speak different languages. A bit of each…A bit of Chinese (Ni Hao, Gong Xi Fa Cai etc)...Kinda expected it as he need to entertain all the visitors. But I was surprise he truly knows about Singapore, even telling me he was actually there last year for the official opening of some event at Novena Square. (Yeah...he can name some exact places...Wow!!!) Think Santa has also been comercialize with biz contracts around the world...haha...So there we were talking a bit, crapping a bit...(Asked if his beard is real...haha)...Really fun and interesting talking to this old man :)

Continue to wander around for a while. Saw this huge speaker, located at the middle of the village (top-left pic.), that plays Christmas melody all year round. Yeah, it’s always Christmas here...A happy place :)

Saw the “Christmas World Road” (top-right pic)...the starting point of the long journey for each Christmas ya...

Stroll through all the souvenirs shops (Bottom-left pic)...Typical Christmas stuff...Maybe I am not a shopping person, so not really interested in all these...bleah...

Decided to try "Reindeer Stew" (Bottom-right pic) for lunch. It was reindeer meat serve with mash potatoes, jam and pickles...Not use to the strong meaty smell...But still it was a new experience...

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It's never too late...