I have just returned from my 6th overseas trip this year, this time its Scandinavia. The whole trip brought me to three countries in total. First stop was Denmark followed by Sweden and ending with Finland. I was in a delegation consisting of people from various furniture disciplines representing Singapore.
It was quite an interesting trip for me as I have discovered. The Scandinavian companies that we visited were very closed off to Asia, especially China. They seem to have a lot of apprehension against Asia and especially about expanding their businesses there.
The trip was filled with visits to factories, retailers, mueums, institutions, fairs....etc. which was why its was so tiring. Good thing was the weather had been almost been perfect throughout except for a day or two. For me at least it was perfect as the cool weather suited me best. Some of the delegates find it cold, especially the women.
Denmark, was our first stop and the most expensive city of the three. Copenhagen is a nice clean city, there were many cyclist commuting to work and they have special lanes dedicated to them. I even got a chance to ride around when I discovered an unlocked hotel bike lying around. Food was really expensive there and our first dinner cost S$50 for a slab of ribs.
Sweden, the second stop was slightly cheaper in terms of living standards and we stayed in two really nice hotel and lodge. Stockholm was a really nice modern city littered with old and newbuildings and waterways. The Swedish meatballs were really fantastic!! So were the girls!!
Finland, Helsinki our final stop was a real surprise to me, all my previous thoughts of it was totally wrong. There were many older buildings compared to the others and was less clean, Naturally that translated to a lower standard of living. They use the Euro dollar though, so it's still expensive to us. The best thing that happened was finding a few hobby shops by accident. I bought some Zvezda airliners and vallejo paints and was extremely happy as I had bought nothing till that point and it was my last day before leaving for Singapore.
Overall, a very interesting trip filled with lots of moving around, extremely great but expensive meals, great weather, great people, great hobby stores. If I had to choose one to go back to, it would be Finland.
Enjoy the Photos.....
