Weekend encounter with Hoi An, Vietnam

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I haven’t been so excited over a new place for some time. A short, girls’ weekend trip to Hoi An, Vietnam turned out to be one of my best holidays this year!

Squeezed into 1-seater trishaw, the driver cycled us on a 1-km trip to the town market
Squeezed into 1-seater trishaw, the driver cycled us on a 1-km trip to the town market

What I like most about the whole trip is Hoi An’s unique personality. It is a quaint little town, with lots of colours and personality while still maintaining the same kind of peace and calmness that the residents enjoyed over the decades.

So pretty and quaint, how can you not fall in love with Hoi An?
So pretty and quaint, how can you not fall in love with Hoi An?

Hoi An is a coastal town, in the south central coast region of Vietnam. The nearest airport is Da Nang, where AirAsia flies direct from Kuala Lumpur that takes about 2 hours 55 minutes. From the airport to Hoi An, it’s about 40 minutes car ride. Some visitors opt to stay in Da Nang and make a day-trip to Hoi An, others like us, make Hoi An our permanent stay for the trip.

Hoi An, declared as  UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999, is a very walkable place. The main streets of the heritage area are closed for traffic in the afternoon until late evening, making it easier for visitors to either cycle or walk to explore the town. It is recognised as an exceptionally well-preserved small-scale trading port, which was active from the 15th to 19th centuries, both with Southeast Asia and East Asia and the rest of the world (Source: UNESCO website)

Hoi An is picturesque, both in colours and its simplicity.
Hoi An is picturesque, both in colours and its simplicity.
VIew of the Hoi An village from the wooden Japanese bridge, which was built in the 18th century.
VIew of the Hoi An village from the wooden Japanese bridge, which was built in the 18th century.

Locals still lived within the old town, although it’s obviously visible that a majority of them are the elderly generation while young ones have moved to bigger cities to work and live.

An elderly lady having her morning walk next to the river in Hoi An.
An elderly lady having her morning walk next to the river in Hoi An.
Local traders set up their stalls by 8AM every morning.
Local traders set up their stalls by 8AM every morning.

In the morning, Hoi An’s peacefulness is only hammered by the honking of motorbikes and bells of cyclists. Once the sun sets and dusk awakens, the town is transformed into a bustling place where locals gathered by the river, chatting and having supper together; or listening to old folks performance. Lanterns are lit on the street, while locals gathered near to the river to watch a local musical play.

One of the best ways to explore Hoi An and its surroundings is to rent a bike and cycle around.
One of the best ways to explore Hoi An and its surroundings is to rent a bike and cycle around.
Hoi An at night is bustling with activities, whether for locals or tourists.
Hoi An at night is bustling with activities, whether for locals or tourists.

We stayed at Little Hoi An Boutique Hotel & Spa, which we booked via agoda.com. We had a slight hiccup when we arrived as the airport transfer was late by 40 minutes and when the driver finally arrived, he had the wrong name on his signage. Nevertheless, the reception at the hotel was quick to respond upon our arrival, and appeased our annoyance with their warm hospitality. Over the 3 days of our stay, the staff went their extra mile in their services, whether it was to ensure our local breakfast was well explained, or to offer guidance on where to go.

Food wise,  Hoi An offers many varieties, whether it’s local cuisine or typical Vietnamese dishes or international options. Like good ol’ Malaysians, we went on our own food tour, trying out local dishes and street food. Because of Chinese influence historically, Hoi An popular street food also has a taste of it, such as cao lau –  noodles with pork and greens (super yummy!); com ga (chicken rice) and white rose (shrimp dumpling).

And of course no visit to Vietnam is complete without trying banh mi – Vietnamese style sandwich. Following Tripadvisor’s tip, we tried two highest rated banh mi stalls in town ie. Banh Mi Phuong and Banh Mi Queen Mdm Khanh. Both are good, altho’ we probably preferred to the first simply because it’s more spicy (most Malaysians enjoy spicy). The banh mi ranged between 20,000 to 25,000 dong each.

Cao lau, a Hoi An street food that is popular among locals.
Cao lau, a Hoi An street food that is popular among locals.
Banh Mi Phuong, made popular after Anthony Bourdain visited it in one of his food travel escapades.
Banh Mi Phuong, made popular after Anthony Bourdain visited it in one of his food travel escapades.

On our last evening, we decided to splurge a bit and head to Morning Glory, the popular restaurant in town. It’s best to make a reservation, otherwise like us, you’d end up like us having to return after 45 minutes to get a table – we had left for another restaurant but only found out they don’t serve local dishes so we had appetisers and returned to Morning Glory. The name morning glory, if you didn’t know, is the name of a purple wild flower. In Vietnam, they actually use the plant in their dishes. The young leaves and stalks of morning glory are often used in salads and spring rolls. This Morning Glory restaurant, founded and owned by Ms Vy, who also owns a number of other restaurants and cafes in Hoi An; serves gourmet Hoi An and Vietnamese dishes. The food is not bad, but services may not the best as they’re generally very busy. The meal, comprising of 1 appetiser, 2 main courses and 1 bottle of mineral water cost us about 20usd for 2 persons.

In between meals, we did what girls do, we went to the spa! Palmarosa Spa, highly recommended on Tripadvisor deserved its rating for their warm hospitality and services. We went back twice – that’s how much we enjoyed the sessions there. Although we did overhear one Aussie guy who complained that his masseur did not put in enough pressure on his aching shoulder.  So I guess not everyone goes home happy.

Three days two nights passed by quickly, but it was the kind of relaxing weekend that I was aiming for for this trip and I’m glad that Hoi An met the expectations. This is definitely a place that I’d recommend to friends. There are more to Hoi An than the ancient town, as beaches are also nearby as well as other surrounding attractions but that will be for next time!

A Nordic Road Trip – Part 2

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This is a continuation from the previous post on our Nordic road trip. If you didn’t read that earlier, you can find it here.

Here’s a recap of our itinerary:

Day #1: Drive to Oulu, Finland ~ 5 hrs ~ Overnight in Oulu

Day #2: Drive to Kiruna, Sweden; passing the border towns Tornio, Finland and Haparanda, Sweden ~ 5 hrs ~ Overnight in Kiruna

Day #3: Drive to Tromsø, Norway ~ 5 hrs ~ Overnight in Tromso

Day #4: Drive to Brensholmen (~1 hr) to take the ferry (~1 hr) to Botnham, Senja, Norway ~ Overnight in Senja

Day #5: Drive to Gryllefjord (less than 20 minutes from Hamn i Senja) to take the ferry (1 hr 40 mins) to Andenes, Lofoten, Norway ~ 3 nights in Lofoten

Day #8: Drive to Mokenes (~ 1hr 20 mins from Ballstad) and take the ferry (~ 3-4 hrs) to Bodo, Norway ~ Overnight in Bodo

Day #9: Drive to Haukipudas (~ 9 hrs 30 mins) ~ Overnight in Haukipudas

Day #10: Drive home (~6 hrs 30 mins)

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in the island of Senja; it’s calm and peaceful, and best part, not crowded at all even though it’s summer. Hamn i Senja, where we stayed the night, is an attraction by itself. It’s the largest resort in the island and right along the Senja National Tourist Route. It fitted our plan perfectly. At the back of the resort is the wide Arctic sea. It’s chilling to watch the view but the cold is worth it.

Hamn i Senja is the biggest resort in the island; not the cheapest but the view is amazing
Hamn i Senja is the biggest resort in the island; not the cheapest but the view is amazing

We had limited dining options as we didn’t want to drive for too long as we’ve already driven for hours earlier so we ended up having dinner at Hamn i Senja itself. Before dinner, we took sauna at the resort and after being bodily warmed up, our stomachs were growling with hunger. Since it’s Sunday, the restaurant offered dinner buffet instead of ala carte. It included fresh salad, pasta bolognese, potatoes and a fish dish. Not exceptional but taste pretty good!

The next day we continued drive on the remaining part of the Senja National Tourist Route, which ends at Gryllefjord and where we could take the boat to Andenes, Lofoten.

Safe and sound boarded the boat that leaves Senja for Lofoten
Safe and sound boarded the boat that leaves Senja for Lofoten

Facts of Senja National Tourist Route  

  • Road: Fv. 86 and fv. 862 between Gryllefjord and Botnhamn on the island of Senja in the county of Troms
  • Length: 90 kilometres

The boat journey was a longer trip – 1 hour and 40 minutes. When we arrive to Andenes, I only realised it’s over 4 hours drive to Ballstad, where we’re staying. The Lofoten National Tourist Route only starts from Fiskebøl to Å, and Ballstad is a bit out of the way. And since we took the afternoon boat, by the time we arrived to Lofoten’s Andenes, it was almost 16:00 and didn’t leave us much time to spare in between to linger and make pitstops.

Finally at the start of Lofoten National Tourist Route
Finally at the start of Lofoten National Tourist Route

Facts of Lofoten National Tourist Route

Facts

  • Road: E 10 between Fiskebøl and Å in Lofoten in the county of Nordland
  • Length: 166 kilometres

There are 11 stops recommended on this route but we only managed to see one of them, which was Torvdalshalsen. It was a windy evening when we arrived and the breeze was a bit too cold for my taste but the view of Vestvågøy island was quite satisfying despite the rain. We passed Eggum on the way but it was getting late and we were tired so we skipped it. Did hope to revisit but didn’t manage to.

Driving through Lofoten islands, I began to understand why this is popular tourist attraction. The scenery is amazing even without stopping at all the viewpoints. On the coastal roads are fishing villages with colourful houses.

As Lofoten is a big area, there are several recommended villages for visit. They include Henningsvær, Nusfjord, Tind, Sørvågen, Moskenes, Reine and Hamnøy. While there are many fishermen cabins available rent, we decided on Solsiden Brygge due to the recommendation on the Visit Norway website. The price was quite reasonable as the cabin was equipped with kitchen and that means we could save on food also. We stayed 3 nights here as we wanted to linger a bit in Lofoten.

The fishing cabins at Solsiden Brygge in Ballstad, Lofoten
The gloomy weather when we finally arrived at Solsiden Brygge in Ballstad, Lofoten
Day after, a bright sunny warm summer day welcomed us
Day after, a bright sunny warm summer day welcomed us

We arrived to Solsiden Brygge about 21:30 and fortunately, the manager has read my message and kept the room for us. True to Scandinavian culture, the cabins are furnished almost IKEA-liked. After a good night’s rest, the next day we woke up and it was a sunny day, and we got a nice view of Solsien Brygge – the night before it was slightly gloomy due to the rain. There are several boats docked at the jetty. The owner of the fishing cabins still goes out with his crew to fish, aside from running the guesthouses.

I started our laundry while Blue Eyes made friends with some kids playing in the area.He brought them for a drive on his car and in return for his favour, the children’s grandmother came and offered us coffee and cakes! They live in one of the cabins, as one of the kids’ parents work here while another runs the cafe at Solsiden. In fact, the cafe owners are expanding their home in the building right next to our cabin.

There was a huge mountain fronting Ballstad and we noticed people going up. We asked the innkeeper for directions and packed lightly our bags with water, hot tea and snacks. We weren’t sure of the trail so we had a bit of challenge at the bottom of the mountain, trying to find our way. But soon we were on our way and it’s quite a climb up. The innkeeper had earlier said it would take about 40 minutes to reach the top but we definitely took more time. The mountain was rocky for most parts from the bottom but as it gets higher, there are more plants on the ground.

A walk worth the journey with such a view before us on the Ballstad mountain
A walk worth the journey with such a view before us on the Ballstad mountain

Upon reaching the top, where ferns are growing everywhere, we found there are still several rocky peaks that we could climb further. Blue Eyes picked one and we set on our way.  Finally, we reached the peak and could settle down and have our tea and snacks. The satisfaction of having overcome a challenge! And the view that stands before us is so perfect that we couldn’t ask for a better day, a better mountain to be.

As we prepare to walk back down, we saw a Norwegian couple picking some orange yellow berries. We were curious to know what berries they were so we asked them. They are gooseberries (my first, never seen one before this!) and the couple said they’re really tasty and expensive to buy from the shop due to its limited supply. Conversation continued between us for a while and after finding out that we’re staying at Solsiden, they recommended us to try the cafe and order bacalao.

Found wild gooseberries growing on the Ballstad mountain; was told that they're one of the more expensive berries
Found wild gooseberries growing on the Ballstad mountain; was told that they’re one of the more expensive berries

We parted our ways and Blue Eyes and I started our own hunt for gooseberries. They have a sourish taste but quite nice to eat. Going downhill was much faster than going up, partly because we could see the trail quite clearly. We went to the shop and stock up on food for our stay here and went home, tired but happy. After an early dinner, went to the cafe to check it out. I ordered a red velvet cake plus latte while Blue Eyes had a chocolate drink. The cake was the best velvet cake I’ve tasted so far. And I loved the huge cup of latte. Great meals in my trips are the best highlights, and this is one of them :)

The next day, we decided to complete the drive along the Lofoten National Tourist Route. Although we will drive through this the following day on our way to the pier for our boat to Bodo, we decided to do it a day earlier so we can spend more time lingering at some places of interest. I also wanted to see Reine, as it was once voted the most beautiful place in Norway.

Unfortunately the weather wasn’t for us as it started to be grey and dark, as we drove further away from sunny Ballstad. By the time we arrived to Reine, it was drizzling. We parked the car and went to the nearby cafe to have coffee/tea and cakes. The cafe was quite pretty with English style furnitures in pastel colours but the drinks and food weren’t as memorable as the night before.

Reine is not a huge fishing village. Fishing cabins are mostly in red while others are colourful homes. We took a stroll around the village and watched the boats speed off to the fjords. There were also a group of divers preparing for their dives. Must be cold to dive in this waters under this kind of weather.

We arrived to Å and it was raining quite heavily by then. After making a stop to buy postcards, we headed back to Ballstad. After a nice warm shower, we headed to the cafe for bacalau. It was a huge pot of stockfish (made from cod) with vegetables in a spicy broth. Really yummy! It’s also my first time having dried cod fish. (Bacalau I found out later is a Spanish word for dried salt cod) I was too stuffed to order coffee and dessert but I went to see what’s on the pastries table anyway.

The next day, we packed and got ready to drive to the pier at Moskenes for our boat ride to Bodø in the afternoon. This is the longest ferry ride that we have in this whole trip – more than 3 hours. It was raining in Bodø when we arrived. We checked into our hotel in the city centre and went to look for food – found Burger King in the nearby mall.

One of the sights in Bodø is to visit the Saltstraumen, the world’s strongest maelstrom. Blue Eyes had been here before when he was a kid and he remembered seeing the maelstrom. The natural whirlpool happens every 6 hours when the tides from opposite directions flow through the narrow sound. Read more here. We arrived slightly past 20:00 but it wasn’t too late to see this natural phenomenon. We stood on the bridge watching the maelstrom below and later walked next to the river to have a closer view.

This basically capped the end of our trip as the next day, we drove for almost 9 hours back to Finland. We stopped in Haukipudas and stayed the night before driving the following day back to Hämeenlinna. A long but satisfying 10-day drive to Norway.

In case you’re interested to plan a similar trip and want to know the budget, here’s a brief breakdown of our basic cost for 2 pax and 10Ds/9Ns:

F&B: 480 Eur

Petrol & parking: 560.27 Eur

Ferry trips: 198 Eur

Accomm: average 100 eur / night / 2 persons

Here is a lil’

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A Nordic road trip – Part 1

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I used to assume that Finland was one of the Scandinavian countries but it wasn’t, as corrected by Blue Eyes (definition found here) – Scandinavia is comprised of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Instead, Finland is one of the Nordic countries, along with the Scandinavian countries and Iceland.

Since I had not been to any of the Scandinavian countries, we decided to take a summer road trip to Northern Norway in July. Blue Eyes had been to Northern Norway twice prior to this and he liked it a lot. He kept saying how impressive the landscape was. So within less than a week, we decided to pack our bags and head to the north.

Depending on where your final destination is, there are several options of driving to Norway from Finland. Here are 2 options that we considered for the trip:

1. Drive through northern Sweden via Tornio, Finland and Kiruna, Sweden.

2. Drive to Vaasa, Finland and take the ferry to Umea, Sweden and drive through Sweden to Norway.

On one of the pitstops, we found a church and took a walk
On one of the pitstops, we found a church and took a walk

It is possible to drive to most northern part of Finland that borders Norway and cross the border from there. It depends on where in Northern Norway you want to go as it is quite a huge area. We chose option #1 as we wanted to go from Tromso to Bodo, Norway and thought it might be a good opportunity to see a bit of Sweden, since I’ve never been.

Our road trip itinerary looked something like this:

Day #1: Drive to Oulu, Finland ~ 5 hrs ~ Overnight in Oulu

Day #2: Drive to Kiruna, Sweden; passing the border towns Tornio, Finland and Haparanda, Sweden ~ 5 hrs ~ Overnight in Kiruna

Day #3: Drive to Tromsø, Norway ~ 5 hrs ~ Overnight in Tromso

Day #4: Drive to Brensholmen (~1 hr) to take the ferry (~1 hr) to Botnham, Senja, Norway ~ Overnight in Senja

Day #5: Drive to Gryllefjord (less than 20 minutes from Hamn i Senja) to take the ferry (1 hr 40 mins) to Andenes, Lofoten, Norway ~ 3 nights in Lofoten

Day #8: Drive to Mokenes (~ 1hr 20 mins from Ballstad) and take the ferry (~ 3-4 hrs) to Bodo, Norway ~ Overnight in Bodo

Day #9: Drive to Haukipudas (~ 9 hrs 30 mins) ~ Overnight in Haukipudas

Day #10: Drive home (~6 hrs 30 mins)

First city in our summer road trip - Oulu, the most populous city in northern Finland
First city in our summer road trip – Oulu, the most populous city in northern Finland

The drive across Sweden wasn’t very memorable; our accommodation in Kiruna in particular wasn’t hospitable at all despite being one of the top rated places to stay on Tripadvisor. But as soon as we crossed over to Norwegian side, the landscape changed almost immediately. Huge mountains sprung out of nowhere and huge rocks piled next to the riverbank. Colourful houses perched on top of those rocks, and sound of strong stream coming down from the mountains.

Cloudy and rainy day in Tromso
Cloudy and rainy day in Tromso

It was raining when we arrived to Tromso. We already expected that weather might not be favourable so we took the rain in our stride. After checking in, we went to look for food and found a cosy seafood restaurant – Kaia – fronting the wharf area. Prices in Norway are at least 30% more expensive than Finland. For example, a steak dinner in a restaurant cost about 24 euros, in Norway it’s about 30 euros or more.

This is why we try to save some cost by packing our cooking equipment so we can cook along the way by taking advantage of Norway’s many rest areas – travelling by trailers and caravans are popular. Some of the rest areas even come with a great view. I’ve not done this before but Blue Eyes had some experience so he planned our meals – canned mackerel, canned ham, pasta, pre-cooked soup, pickled cucumbers, tea bags plus packets of salt and pepper.

Our cooking supplies and equipment during the road trip
Our cooking supplies and equipment during the road trip

After a restful night in Tromso, we drove to Brensholmen, where we took the ferry to Senja. Senja is less in demand versus its bigger sibling, Lofoten. But I read some pretty good reviews of the island online and decided “Why not?”. Finding accommodation in Senja wasn’t easy in summer, as firstly, summer is a popular season. Secondly due to its less popularity, it means there is less number of accommodations to choose from. In the end, I found Hamn i Senja had available rooms, and we took the cheapest option (which wasn’t cheap at all, sigh!).

The route therefore became simpler, as we could take the Senja National Tourist Route at ease as our accommodation for the night was along the way. Btw, I think it’s a brilliant idea for the Norwegian Tourism agency to develop such routes for tourists, as they’re convenient and helps in planning, plus they really have great views that take your breath away!

Drive along Senja National Tourist Route
Drive along Senja National Tourist Route

There are 2 recommended rest areas – Tungeneset and Bergsbotn, plus several others along the way that we stopped to enjoy the view. There are also hiking options for travellers, but we didn’t have enough time to attempt them – maybe one day we’ll get to do it :) It is truly humbling to stand and witness the masterpiece of the Creator. The weather in Senja was surprisingly sunny and blue skies greeted us as soon as our ferry docked. We’re very fortunate as we had expected rainy days in our trip and were prepared for it, and found out we didn’t need it :)

Blue Eyes doing his signature hand stand at Tungeneset, SENJA
Blue Eyes doing his signature hand stand at Tungeneset, SENJA

The 2 panoramic viewpoints offer a different experience. At Tungeneset, it feels closer to nature as we could walk on the huge rocks right next to the sea. It’s calm and peaceful as there are lots of space to roam and explore. Bergsbotn, on the other hand, offers a broad view of Bergsfjord on a huge viewing platform. There are many visitors like us that stopped by to take photographs and therefore we had less private moments to enjoy the view by ourselves. Having said that, it is a gorgeous sight :)

Btw, I decided to split the post on this road trip into two; no particular reason except I wanna post something soon, and to finish writing all the details in one post would take some time – considering that I already took days just to write this *sheepish grin* So please do return and watch this space for Part 2 :)

Turku, oldest Finnish city

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In June, on spur of the moment, we decided to visit Turku, the oldest city in Finland. I’ve never been to Turku (and a lot of other places in Finland!) but have heard quite a bit of the city. It used to be the capital before it was moved to Helsinki. Nowadays, it’s an important port city for the country due to its close proximity to Sweden. In fact, it’s very popular to take an overnight cruise ride to Stockholm from Turku. Naturally, the city also has one of the most number of Swedish speaking people compared to other places in Finland. Note that Swedish is the second national language of Finland and every child studies the language at least for six years in their education period.

Aura River, flowing through the city of Turku
Aura River, flowing through the city of Turku

On the weekend that we happened to visit Turku, we found out that the Medieval Festival was happening. Just the right time to get to know Finland – err, maybe not, considering everything was in Finnish. Anyway, we visited the festival and had a nice stroll through the market and tried the various so-called traditional cuisine.

Turku’s river flowed through the centre and along the riverbank, there is a strip of shops, cafes and restaurants. It might seem common in other European cities but there are not many places in Finland that I know of, which have such lifestyle, not even in Helsinki. I wasted no time checking out which cafe to visit and found on Tripadvisor that it’s recommended to lunch at Mami.

The place was packed and the terrace dining area was full, fortunately we managed to find a table indoor and ordered our set lunch. Food was good and the atmosphere was elegant. We had wanted to have dessert, but the service seemed a bit slow and none of the waiters approached us so we decided to skip it for tea later.

In the evening, I wanted to check out this French restaurant, Le Porc that was highly recommended on Tripadvisor but lo and behold, when we arrived, we found out that it’s no longer in business. Urggh .. so off we went to try to find food at almost 9PM, where most kitchens are almost closing. Fortunately we found Vaakahuoneen Pavijonki, which was next to the river, and although service was bad, the food was pretty good (or maybe we’re just hungry).

My "accidental" dinner - butter fish with fries. So simple but so yummy!
My “accidental” dinner – butter fish with fries. So simple but so yummy!

The next day, we headed to the Turku Castle for a visit. Some of the Medieval Festival activities are held in the castle so there are a number of people, plus a wedding that was being held there. Due to the festival, there are free guides available to bring us for a tour and an elegant lady, Helena came and offered to bring us around. Thanks to her, we had a chance to learn a traditional Finnish dance as well as listen to a shepherd girl played self-made flutes.

Before we left Turku, we visited Tinta, a wine place that is along the riverside. We initially sat at the terrace but it started to drizzle so we moved indoor, which was a really cozy atmosphere with bottles of wines on shelves against the wall and two barrels served as table near to the counter. We took the table next to the door and while having our drinks and dessert, we watched people passed us by.

Choc cake with coffee while watching people passes by @ Tinta, Turku
Choc cake with coffee while watching people passes by @ Tinta, Turku

Blue Eyes suggested that we drive further to Naantali, one of the oldest towns in Finland. It’s also a popular tourist attraction due to the beautiful islands surrounding the town. It is also home to Moomin World theme park. Moomin is a popular Finnish cartoon based on old folks stories. We arrived to Naantali in the late afternoon and had a nice walk along its coast. It’s indeed a quaint little town with beautiful houses up on its hill. Numerous cafes and ravintola (Finnish word for restaurant) are found along the coast. And of course many boats and yachts docking at the jetty.

Summer brings many boats to Naantali
Summer brings many boats to Naantali

Naantali  is quite good for a weekend getaway. Not too big but there are enough activities to keep people occupied. It’s also calm enough to just sit in the cafe and simply enjoy the scenic view around.

Warm days in Finland

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Now I know I have a lot to update on the blog. I’ve been quite a bum in the last couple of months, ever since the warm days hit here. Can’t blame me, you know, considering that I’ve been deprived of warmth since December and spring didn’t arrive to Finland ’til April! So I gotta make my days worth and enjoy them to the most. I also have another excuse – I started intensive Finnish classes in Helsinki and the two-hour journey by train (two-way) plus the four hours class, by the time I reach home, I’m usually dead tired and not very inspired to blog  *sheepish grin*

Ok, enough with the excuses.

As the weather started to get warmer in May, we spent more time in the outdoor. The Linnapuisto (literal translation Castle Park) is just steps away from the flat so we often find ourselves having picnic there by the lake. Blue Eyes’ so-called “new” knee has been recovering very well and after 1.5 months on crutches, he finally ditched the two sticks and started walking on his own, albeit slowly.

Spring has arrived and fresh greens are found everywhere in Hämeenlinna
Spring has arrived and fresh greens are found everywhere in Hämeenlinna
Simple picnic - beer, cider and homemade sausage buns
Simple picnic – beer, cider and homemade sausage buns

Matias and Chienting came to visit one weekend in May, and we decided to have a day out on the road. Jarmo joined us also and the five of us ended up driving to Petays Resort, which is a holiday destination surrounded by the Vanajavesi valley. After that, we headed to Lepaa, the campus ground of a local polytechnic. There, they produce their own wine as part of their agricultural activities. We took a break in its cafe and sat down for tea and ice-cream while enjoying the sunshine.

Boys enjoying the sunshine by the lake at Petays
Boys enjoying the sunshine by the lake at
Petays

As summer reached its peak in July and with Blue Eyes’ knee gaining strength, we also started trekking in the woods and stumbled upon wild berries there. I particularly enjoy the blueberries as they’re so good with yogurt and honey. We also received an invite from Blue Eyes’ neighbour, an elderly lady, to join her for raspberries picking at a nearby farm. It was a sunny evening and there were so many ripe raspberries. We brought home 4 litres of berries and for the next one week, we had fresh raspberries for breakfast. I also made for the very first time my own jam with the raspberries. Btw, the shops here sell sugar especially for jams. They’re called hillosokeri, literally means jam sugar. Have I ever mentioned that you can buy anything from the shop here? *wink*

Blue eyes filling the boxes with fresh raspberries
Blue eyes filling the boxes with fresh raspberries

There was also the annual Finnish House Exhibition, which was in July that we visited. The exhibition attracted thousands of Finns to visit every year, as the locals seek for interior design ideas while various providers promote their goods ie. furnitures, landscaping, flooring, etc … It’s quite an eye-opener for a foreigner like me to see the exhibition myself. Btw, the new houses on display are actual homes of families, who have agreed to put them up for viewing in exchange for discounts on some of the homes’ furnishings. But apparently, there’s still a public discussion on whether the discounts are worth it considering that after thousands of people have thronged the homes, the owners need to spend some money to fix them up.

In July, we also made a weekend trip to Turku and Naantali, both places that I’ve not been before. That will be a separate post (promise to do it before summer ends!) later, so watch this space.

So here are more views of spring/summer this year.

Awesome Albania

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(A delayed post on our trip to Albania in spring, April 2013)

Blue Eyes’ involvement in weighlifting photography brought us to Albania in spring. The European Weightlifting Championship 2013 was held in Tirana, Albania for the first time and Blue Eyes’ best friend, Tom was again representing Belgium. As we’ve not been to Albania before, we decided to arrive several days earlier before the competition to see a bit more of the country.

Albania boasts of two UNESCO World Heritage sites, which include its oldest towns of Berat and Gjirokaster. Both places were heavily influenced by Turkish culture, as they were once part of Turkey, and these are reflected by the Ottoman architecture that still exist until today.

White streets and buildings, reflecting the Ottoman era
White streets and buildings, reflecting the Ottoman era

We arrived to Tirana first and stayed the night before departing for Berat. We had booked a flat in Tirana via Airbnb, our sorta go-to site whenever we’re staying more than 3 days in a place. Airbnb offers travellers like us the option of renting directly from houseowners, and for the cost similar to backpackers (or sometimes hotels), we get a cosy flat to ourselves. Anyway, our host in Tirana, Klodi is a postgraduate student in Germany and to help us with our stay at her flat, she has her sister to help out. Nora is a 20-something Albanian, and she and her husband help Klodi whenever there are visitors renting her flat.

Nora guided us the next morning to the bus station for our journey to Berat. While  cities and towns in Albania are well connected, finding out the schedule of buses or furgons (local term for minivans) is not always easy as there’s no formally published information. At least not in English. The bus to Berat stopped many times along the way as it picked up passengers on the road. As a result, the trip took longer than expected – more than 3 hours!

When we arrived to Berat bus station in downtown Berat, we walked less than 10 minutes to Hotel Mangalemi, where we’d be staying the night. The hotel is the top rated accommodation on Tripadvisor and usually such ranking also means quite high cost, but considering that it’s still spring and not the peak tourist period, we got our double room for 30 euros per night, including breakfast (what a deal!).

Green door, Yellow jacket
Green door, Yellow jacket

As we arrived to Berat in the afternoon, we didn’t want to waste too much time looking for a restaurant so we decided to just have lunch at the hotel. And what a pleasant lunch it was! The kitchen serves mostly traditional Albanian cuisine, which is Mediterranean style. Blue Eyes took the eggplant in tomatoes sauce while I had the grilled chicken skewer with rice. We savoured our every bite, definitely one of our best meals in Albania!

After lunch, we carried our full stomach up the hill towards the historical Berat Castle. According to UNESCO website, the castle’s origin dated back to the 4th century BC although most of it was built in the 13th century. Berat is a historically militarily strategic city, which has been designated as a museum city by the Albanian government in the 1960s. The castle and its area, about 100 hectares, are currently home to a village of 100 households. Imagine having your home right in the middle of the castle, with huge stone walls! Quite unique isn’t it? As we climbed the hill, we breathed in the scenic view around us. The weather was kind to us too as it was a sunny, blue skies day with temperature ranging about 21C. Just perfect for sight-seeing! It cost 100 Leke (1 euro = 139 Leke) per person for the entrance fee.

The castle walls and its village took us about 2.5 hours to complete, and during the walk, a local villager met us and started sharing anecdotes of the place. We didn’t know if he’s offering us a guide or just trying to be hospitable but he’s such a comical fella that we didn’t try to stop him. We offered him beer as our sign of appreciation and he joined us for drinks at the terrace on top of the castle. As we approached the exit gate, he asked us for money for his “tour” and while we’ve appreciated him for offering interesting stories, I wished that he had been forefront with his intention so that I can at least have a chance to say “no”.  We gave him some money anyway.

Next day after breakfast, we caught an early morning furgon to Gjirokaster and it took us about 2 hours to arrive. We found furgons to be the faster mode of transport as its smaller capacity than the bus means it stops less to pick up passengers. So long the minivan is full, it keeps going.

Walking through the historical castle, which was an important military fortress for rulers in the past
Walking through the historical castle, which was an important military fortress for rulers in the past

Gjirokaster, located in the Drinos river valley in southern Albania, has many outstanding two-story houses that were developed in the 17th century. There is also a bazaar, an 18th-century mosque and two churches of the same period (Source: UNESCO website here). From the furgon stop, we arranged for a taxi pick-up to our accommodation on the historical part of town.

We booked our accommodation at Kotoni B+B for 25 euros a night. The Kotoni house is 220 years old and 3 generations of Kotonis have lived in the building. The current Mr. Kotoni started the B&B business in 1991, soon after communism ended in the country. He and his wife lives upstairs while downstairs have been converted into rooms for travelers.

Mrs. Kotoni showed us the little shortcut from their place to the castle, which is about 4 minutes walk. We decided to have breakfast first and from Tripadvisor, we decided to check out this restaurant Kujtimi, which was also recommended by the Kotonis. I took some mussels while Blue Eyes had a chicken dish. They were flavourful but not memorable. The meal was inexpensive as we paid 1,400 Leke (~10 euros) for 2 persons.

We head towards the castle after lunch. According to UNESCO website, Gjirokastra was developed by major landowners. Around the ancient 13th century citadel, the town has houses with turrets (the Turkish kule) which are characteristic of the Balkans region. Gjirokastra contains several remarkable examples of houses of this type, which date from the 17th century, but also more elaborate examples dating from the early 19th century.

Blue Eyes having a spring walk in the castle
Blue Eyes having a spring walk in the castle

In comparison, I liked Berat castle more as it felt cozier and the lil’ village was an unique touch. The Gjirokaster castle is bigger and has a clock tower, a huge square where they hold concerts in summer, as well as a museum. We skipped the museum as I’m not a fan, and decided to just sit on the high castle walls and watched the world below us. One interesting observation we made was the number of men sitting at cafes at almost any time of the day. There’s seriously hardly any women in sight! In fact, I got some stares when I was walking with Blue Eyes around 8-ish to buy some groceries at a nearby shop.

Another observation is the huge number of old models of Mercedes found on the street. Albanians apparently loved the German brand, that aside, apparently many were also sourced illegally into the country (articles here and here). Blue Eyes noticed that many buildings were incomplete, ie. construction seemed to be half-way done, similar to the ones we’ve seen in Peru. Nevertheless, many of the unfinished buildings are already in use ie. there are occupants living there. If the theory goes, the unfinished buildings could possibly be due to avoid paying the full taxes for completed buildings. Didn’t get to ask the locals, so no way to confirm this.

We counted at least 8 Mercs were parked on this street in early morning
We counted at least 8 Mercs were parked on this street in early morning

Next day it was time to return to the city and we took the furgon to Durres to visit Tom during his training. Durres is the beach area that is within 45mins from Tirana and it’s an attraction for both locals and tourists as it’s easily accessible from Tirana. However, we read that it’s advisable not to swim in the sea as the water quality is doubtful (see here).

In the following days when Blue Eyes stayed at the competition hall for his photography, I took time off to visit the city centre and checked out several key sights. Most of the significant historical sights are within the city centre area. The Skanderbeg Square is pretty much the centre point. It was named after the national hero Skanderbeg. From there, I walked along the Bulevardi Dëshmorët e Kombit (aka “Boulevard of the Martyrs”), where most of the sights are located. The other end of the square is the Polytechnic University and where Mother Teresa Square is located.

The Skanderbeg Square is surrounded by historically significant Albanian buildings
The Skanderbeg Square is surrounded by historically significant Albanian buildings

There are many cafes and restaurants in Tirana and while we didn’t try all the ones recommended on Tripadvisor, we did however have dinner at the Steakhouse at Taiwan, the name of a commercial building in the centre of Rinia Park. My review of the restaurant on Tripadvisor is found here. In addition, I had a number of coffee sessions in the city, sitting at different cafes people-watching.

We also cooked in the flat and bought grocery from the supermarket and local grocers. Local fresh produce is abundant and oh, so cheap compared to Finland! Found out that Albania is famous for its olives. We tried some while dining out but I didn’t find it much different with olives from elsewhere. Having said that, we got a bottle of olive oil for home :)

Albania, like many others, has been highly misunderstood. There may still be reasons for its mafia reputations but the country itself, or at least the parts that we’ve been and seen, is beautiful and unique. It has good ingredients for tourism boost – affordability, beautiful nature, friendly people and delicious cuisines. Now if only more people take the off-the-beaten road :)

Learning Finnish dishes

StickyEurope, Finland, Food, , , , , , ,

Blue Eyes cooks quite a bit and he takes over the kitchen on certain occasions. One thing that Finns like is using the oven to make their meals. Oven food is easy, not messy and usually is a one-pot dish that can be eaten for at least two days. Saves the time in preparation as well as cleaning up.

I’m not particularly good with using the oven to cook, except for baking. It’s partly because I didn’t grow up in a household that used oven. It’s more a stir-fry and steaming kitchen that I grew up in. Quite a typical Chinese home I believe.

A popular and common Finnish oven dish is makaronilaatikko, which literally means macaroni in a box. In reality, it’s macaroni baked in a pan. The macaroni is usually mixed with spiced minced meat, and it’s baked in cream, eggs and cheese. In Blue Eyes’ case, since he doesn’t eat cheese, he uses bread crumbs as topping instead.

Finnish style of baked macaroni, except Blue Eyes' version doesn't have cheese.
Finnish style of baked macaroni, except Blue Eyes’ version doesn’t have cheese.

Blue Eyes is from Joensuu, in the eastern part of Finland. It’s close to Karjala, and this is where the dish karjalan paisti originated from. It’s basically a beef stew cooked in a pot. Lots of herbs were used and the stewing took two hours in the oven. Blue Eyes prepared this dish on one cold winter day and by the time it was ready, I was dead hungry. The meat was super tender and the sauces were delicious.

Finnish version of the beef stew with herbs, cooked in perfection for 2 hours.
Finnish version of the beef stew with herbs, cooked in perfection for 2 hours.

Being in this part of the world, salmon and tuna are popular as they’re aplenty, whether from the sea or lake or river. I’ve never been a fan of salmon as I find the fish a bit too “fat” for my taste. But like the saying goes, when in Rome, be like the Romans. So I’ve bought salmon and cooked it pretty much like how my mom prepared fish back home – frying it on the pan.

One day, Blue Eyes decided to show me a different way of cooking salmon – baking salmon in a smoked bag aka lohi savustuspussissa. Quite a mouthful to say in Finnish but it literally means salmon in a smoked bag. Here, one can find almost anything pre-prepared. Mothers are busy people, can’t afford to spend too much time in the kitchen so there are almost everything available to reduce the cooking time. Smoked bag is one of them. Can easily get one from the supermarket.

Now the salmon should be cut to resemble a butterfly before it’s seasoned with salt and black pepper, and other additional herbs desired. I only know how to cut fish fillet into slices, not a butterfly so Blue Eyes did the honour of showing how. After that, he dished the salmon into the smoked bag, put it on the warm grill and flip it every 15 minutes and half hour later, it’s done! The smoked salmon can be eaten with rice, or potatoes, or salad. Quite a pretty dish!

Salmon in the shape of butterfly, smoked in a bag over a grill.
Salmon in the shape of butterfly, smoked in a bag over a grill.

Now Easter has come and gone rather quickly but it’s a huge celebration here in Finland. Aside from the religious meaning, it’s also sort of a milestone that spring has arrived and that it’s time to start the spring cleaning, pack the winter clothes away and bring out the shorts and dresses. Easter meals are usually associated with Christian symbols ie. lamb and eggs.

Blue Eyes chose to make a lamb meal (since he doesn’t eat eggs!) and it’s a stew cooked in a pot with the oven – did I mention that Finns like their oven food? *wink

Blue Eyes put in so many different types of fresh herbs that I lost count but the ones I remember are mint, parsley, thyme and basil. The pot needed to be in the oven for four hours so that the lamb would be nice and tender when it’s cooked. It’s a freaking long time to wait for dinner but it’s worth it when the smell filled the kitchen as we dived into the awesome meal. Had it with a glass of red wine and it’s a nice closure to Easter (until next year!).

Easter meal was lamb that has been stewed for four hours - that's called dedication!
Easter meal was lamb that has been stewed for four hours – that’s called dedication!

 

Baker wannabe

StickyEurope, Finland, Food, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This is perhaps quite a delayed winter post, since we’re now in the middle of spring, and have a lot more opportunities to be out and enjoy the warm, sunny weather. Nevertheless, I’ve been wanting to write on my baking adventures here so today is the day to do it :)

When I first arrived end November, I had a hard time adjusting to the lack of sunshine and the long darkness for most part of the day. And being cold outside, I wasn’t too keen to go out daily. So I ended up spending a lot of time in the kitchen, cooking and baking.

When it comes to baking, I’m the first to confess that it’s not a natural talent. I learned the basics of baking from my mom, who used to bake lovely butter cakes for me and my sister when we were growing up. I don’t remember when baking stopped at home but mom hasn’t baked for a long time now, and I didn’t pursue it til’ four years ago when I moved from journalism to corp communications. I had more time in the evenings after work and I ended up using the time to bake. It’s also motivated by the fact that two of my close friends, Jules and Lynn baked too, and when we sat down to enjoy the goodies on the table, it always gave me a warm feeling to know that I was enjoying their their loving baking.

So anyway, I have one or two fool-proof baking recipes that I always return to. They are my banana muffins and chocolate brownies. But given the amount of time I had in winter, I decided to be adventurous and try more diverse baking recipes.

One of my fool-proof recipes - choc banana muffin
One of my fool-proof recipes – choc banana muffin

I was also craving for some Malaysian snacks that were previously easily accessible but now almost impossible to find it here. So the only way to fulfill my cravings is to make them myself. And seriously, it ain’t as easy as they looked. I gained new respect for the aunties/uncles selling goreng pisang and all sorts of kuih-muih by the street back home! How they managed to bake such great goodies takes amazing skills!

Dec

As Christmas was fast approaching, I was inspired to bake some Christmas cookies. I found an easy shortcake recipe from Taste Australia and decided to give it a try. The first batch came out rather brown and tasted overburned, but fortunately the following two trays were just nicely baked. It’s my first time to bake own cookies for Christmas and it’s thoroughly satisfying to have them during the season. Baking won’t be fun if it’s not shared, so one jar of cookies was saved for the Christmas party with my Malaysian friends in Tampere while another jar was for our visit to Blue Eyes’ sister’s place on Christmas Eve.

Getting ready for Christmas!
Getting ready for Christmas!

Jan 2013

Come January, winter days became slightly easier as the days started to be longer. Instead of seeing the sun only at 10am, it started to shine at 9-ish and it lifted my mood quite a bit. So I baked a bit more, often beating the batter on the dining table next to the window so I could enjoy the sun. One of the things that Finns like a lot is cinnamon and its version of cinnamon roll, aka korvapuusti, is a popular snack.

Coincidentally, I too love cinnamon rolls and I urged Blue Eyes to teach me how to bake them. He found a recipe online and we started a Saturday afternoon baking. It wasn’t as difficult as I imagined it to be although the time spent was more than I expected – 30 mins waiting for the dough to rise. The results were 24 freshly baked cinnamon rolls and oh, the kitchen smelled heaven! One of my most memorable baking experiences here!

Finnish version of cinnamon rolls
Finnish version of cinnamon rolls

I love to bake when there is an occasion cos’ it means others could enjoy some goodies too. Blue Eyes had a doctor’s appointment in Tampere and I took the opportunity to bake some zesty lemon cupcakes and bring over for some friends. The nice thing about lemon is it gives a rather different taste than sweetness. And the recipe I used which incorporated sour cream gave a lightness to the cupcakes. Also, the yellow is just such a happy colour! :)

A happy dessert!
A happy dessert!

The following week, we had a visitor coming over and it’s just perfect timing as I’ve been wanting to try out the apple strawberry crumble cake recipe on Taste Australia. I love crumble. There’s something about butter melted with some oats over a nice cake. It’s sinful but oh, so satisfying! I consoled myself that it’s an apple strawberry cake, so technically it’s a healthy dessert :)

Served with a scoop of ice-cream, it was so yummy!
Served with a scoop of ice-cream, it was so yummy!

Feb 2013

This was perhaps my most difficult month in Finland so far. Partly because I was terribly homesick. While friends and family back home got busy preparing for Chinese New Year, I was stuck in winter white place without no notion of the festivity. I missed my pei pa duck, siew yoke and lou sang! So to ease the homesickness, I decided to bake some peanut cookies. It’s not my favourite CNY cookies but its recipe seemed to be the simplest. Boy, was I wrong! It took a lot of time as the toasted peanuts need to be grind and since I don’t have a grinder, I had to grind it by hand. I was dead tired after grinding some 100g of peanuts. But the cookies turned out buttery and yummy, and I was glad I managed to bake them from scratch. And yes, I felt less homesick too :)

Who would have thought freshly baked peanut cookies could taste so good?
Who would have thought freshly baked peanut cookies could taste so good?

March 2013

It’s Easter month and it’s a big celebration here in Finland. I did some baking in the couple of days leading up to Easter, and they were all my favourite desserts. For the first time, I made the first Malaysian snack ie. sesame balls with red bean filling. It was a strange thing to crave for, but I guess it’s also partly because the recipe on kuali was so simple. I used the pan instead of the wok, which was a mistake cos’ the balls came out a bit squared. But it tasted good and brought back some good ol’ memories of growing up in Kuala Lumpur.

Some were a bit burned but I still finished like 4 balls in just minutes.
Some were a bit burned but I still finished like 4 balls in just minutes.

Some of my Malaysian friends from Tampere were coming to visit one day and I decided to attempt Jamie Oliver’s bread and butter pudding. I love bread and butter pudding. One of my favourite dessert. Especially when the custard is buttery and sweet. As I had dark bread, I decided to pair it with chocolate. The colours might be weird if I were to do the usual bread and butter with a brown bread. Besides, if I failed, at least it’s chocolate, and no failed attempt could make choco bad.

Turned out yummy and moist, like how I like bread & butter pudding
Turned out yummy and moist, like how I like bread & butter pudding

And finally for Easter, I decided to make my second foolproof recipe ie. chocolate brownies. I must thank Lynn for showing me how to bake brownies. She bakes the most awesome chewy brownies! I haven’t gotten to her level yet, but I think mine is quite decent too. For this particular version, I included some crushed almonds into the batter to split the choc taste a bit (I didn’t want to buy walnuts cos’ they were expensive!) and top it with icing sugar after it’s out of the oven. The best way to eat brownies? With a scoop of vanilla ice-cream of course!

Quite a perfect dessert for Easter
Quite a perfect dessert for Easter

April 2013

Vivien, who is currently based in Switzerland, came for a visit. It was so much fun to have a familiar face and someone to share with, and the girls’ time was awesome! It so happens that Vivien enjoys baking too and she shared a marble cake recipe with me, which we tried it out together one Sunday afternoon. I always thought marble cake is a tough one to try but Vivien made it really simple. And I love the baking smell of the oven!

Great turn out for a first attempt!
Great turn out for a first attempt!

May 2013

Spring finally arrived. Though it’s supposedly the last month of spring, to me, it only started to feel like spring in May. The days are warmer (in the teens!) while fresh green grass are growing from the ground. Trees too started to sprout branches and I finally got to wear shorts out!

I was somehow inspired to bake my own bread after visiting my Taiwanese friend in Tampere. She shared that it’s not a difficult skill to tackle. I also remember that Jules always bakes organic bread for her kids and it felt somehow healthier to have our own bread. There’s half a pack of bread flour lying in the cabinet anyway. I tried a simple multi-grain bread recipe found on the BBC Food website and I started work. Unfortunately I left the bread a bit too long in the oven and it came out hard :( Was still able to cut them into slices to try the texture. Not exactly the best tasting bread I’ve ever had but it’s an achievement that I did it. Not sure if I would try it again though.

My first time baking bread!
My first time baking bread!

And finally yesterday, I made my second Malaysian snack ie. onde-onde. Back home, this is usually a pandan-flavoured ball stuffed with gula melaka. But since I couldn’t get pandan and gula melaka in Hameenlinna’s Asian shop, I decided to skip the former and substituted the latter with muscovado sugar. I halved the ingredient portions as I’ve learned that Blue Eyes doesn’t eat a lot of desserts and I always ended up finishing them. Very bad for the waistline, and overall for health of course. I must say, my mat salleh onde-onde (my friend Vivienne called it that cos’ it’s white instead of the usual green, hehe…) tasted very close to home. I can say it won’t be my last time making this :)

The plate was empty within minutes :)
The plate was empty within minutes 🙂

Watch this space as one of these days I plan to blog about my cooking adventures here :)

Happy Mother’s Day (Spring’s here!)

StickyEurope, Finland, , ,

Happy Mother’s Day!

And what great weather greeted us this Sunday :-) The parks start to sport a freshly green, while sprouts of leaves are growing quickly every day. It’s hard to imagine that it was dark and grey couple of weeks ago.

The weather in the last one week has ranged around 15-17C during the day while evenings were slightly below 10C. Although there were couple of days of rain but the sunny days were warm and nice.

Yesterday, I was able to wear my dress and flats out (without any additional layers!) for the first time in six months! The big deal is not the dress but the fact that I didn’t need to have another layer over me. Gosh, it felt so good. So light, so free!

On the same day, I wore my shorts out to the nearby park and sat down for coffee. Imagine that I had to have at least two layers of clothes on every time I had to throw garbage bags outside the flat, now, I can go out in shorts! Woohoo!

Our friends, who are celebrating Mother’s Day at Aulanko, invited us to join them for tea on this special day. It’s a great weather to be out. The last time I visited Aulanko, it was two years ago during winter. It was very cold and the forest was covered in snow, hence this time round, the view that waited for me is very different indeed. We went up to the Aulanko tower to watch the view from the top, and I could see the clear water Aulanko lake, as well as vast spread of pine trees surrounding the lake.

 

 

Bucket list: Aurora Borealis – checked!

StickyEurope, Finland, , ,

You know the saying, the best things in life are free? Well it seems that this holds true for Northern Lights when I saw it on Sunday evening. Ironically, I was here in Finland back in December 2010 and went on a road trip to Lapland with friends, with the hope of seeing the lights but it didn’t happen. In fact, over the 4 days we were in Lapland, the dark skies were as clear as it could be, while we stood freezing on our toes (it was -25C!).

So when Blue Eyes saw his colleague’s FB status that aurora borealis was over Hameenlinna’s skies and suggested we go and check it out, I was doubtful (my usual pessimistic self speaking..). Even if indeed the Northern Lights are hovering on our skies, it might be impossible to see them considering that there are many street lights around the flat.

Blue Eyes decided that the lake area might be a good position to wait and see if we could catch a glimpse of the lights, as it’s darker and less disturbed by street lights. We stretched our eyes to the darkest point and tried to see if the lights were indeed in the skies. Slowly we saw a line appearing and it grew larger and larger, and became rays of green over the dark skies. And soon it disappeared and reappeared again, moving invincibly.

Taking photos of it wasn’t easy. We didn’t have a tripod with us so Blue Eyes had to find a place to put the camera and set the timer with the right shutter speed to capture the moment. He made many attempts and only few came with decent sharpness and exposure. Still, good thing we managed to capture the moment!

Blue Eyes said if the skies had been completely dark, we could watch how the lights danced in the wind. But hey, who’s complaining? Considering that this was happening almost at our door’s steps, I’m counting my lucky stars that we caught glimpses of it!

ps: Found out the next day that the lights were seen in many parts of Finland on Sunday. The news piece here.

 

Spring or not?

StickyEurope, Finland, , , , , ,

So it’s almost the middle of March, which technically should be the first month of spring. Day is longer and warmer, more sunny days, birds chirping and the ground starts to spurn into life. NOT YET. At least not in Finland. Believe it or not, it snowed (?!!) today after a week of hiatus and once again the ground is covered by snow. And temperature in the past 2 weeks have averaged around -8C with one evening at -20C!

It’s winter still, except less gloomy and darker. And that makes A LOT of difference. If I have to choose between gloomy dark winter days and sunny winter days, I’d choose the latter anytime cos’ the former is seriously depressing. The looooong winter months actually don’t surprise me as it’s pretty much the same when I was in Vilnius, Lithuania 10 years ago. The thing I didn’t expect, probably, is the fact that I’d relive the experience (of long winter) again.

But to count my blessings, the birds are indeed chirping and the sun is out :)

So last week we were mostly in Joensuu, the city where Blue Eyes originates from. Blue Eyes had work appointments and I tagged along. Joensuu is situated on the eastern side of Finland and according to Blue Eyes, people are generally friendlier there. The city is a lot bigger than Hameenlinna and it has a university campus too. I took the opportunity to take some shots of the city during one of the sunny days. Here are some of them:

Finnish winter sport – sledding hill

StickyEurope, Finland, , , , ,

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to engage in a favourite Finnish winter sport – sledding down snowy hill or pulkkamäki in Finnish. It’s most likely the pre-requisite sport to snow boarding cos’ if you haven’t played this when you were a child, it’s unlikely that you’re gonna be the snow boarding champion in the future ;) But seriously, almost every Finnish child would have played this one time or another during their childhood; it’s that popular!

I’m not a fan of speed and height so this game is hardly my cup of tea. Nevertheless, as the saying goes, when in Rome, be like the Romans … so I gave it the benefit of a doubt and joined my jolly good friends on their Saturday adventure. Pulkkamäki is usually played by kids but Blue Eyes has made it an annual winter activity for himself and friends. It usually begins with brunch at his place and after some amount of alcohol, they would proceed to a nearby hill for the game.

Initially I was a bit wary of having too much drinks before the game, but I eventually found out that the alcohol element was quite important as it gave me the courage to take the plunge and sled down the hill.  The guys were kind enough to start off with an easy slope ie. one that is wide, without trees and not very steep. I went down couple of times to get familiar. The idea is pretty simple. Sit down on the sled and let gravity do the work. To change direction (if needed), just use whichever side of the hand that you want the sled to turn. Simple as that. Or so it seems.

The guys soon went ahead to the ‘challenge’ of the day; the other side of the slope that has many trees around and much steeper than the earlier one. I looked down with much apprehension. Part of me suggested that perhaps I’ve had enough for the day. The mischievous me wanted to experience the slope. The guys had a few rounds and finally said that they’re wrapping it up with the final sled so it was my last chance to jump or not. I decided to jump … or sled down.

I got stuck three times. The second time, when I attempted to continue with my journey, the round sled turned and I went head down first! It’s obviously very dangerous as my head could hit a tree in front without knowing but I didn’t know how to turn myself around. Fortunately I didn’t hit any tree (thank God!) and I arrived down the hill safe and sound :)

I’m not sure if I’ve overcome my fear and want to try out other hills for pulkkamäki but this experience has been ‘wild’ indeed in my books. I survived!

So here is a short clip of my adventure:Pulkkamaki

CNY, what CNY?

StickyEurope, Finland, , , , ,

Now before the Lunar Year celebration comes to an end – for those who didn’t know, Chinese New Year (CNY) celebration lasts for 15 days – I thought I better blog about how it was for me. On days running up to CNY, they were rather gloomy personally. Reason being, it didn’t feel like CNY at all in Finland! Obviously since there are so few Chinese here in the first place. No Chinatown even in Helsinki. And back in Malaysia, I could read from all the Facebook posts that my friends were gearing up for the new year – shopping for new clothes and CNY accessories, packing for that trip back to hometown, planning where to have reunion dinner and of course, how many lo sang they’re gonna have.

Lo sang, btw, is a popular tradition unique to Malaysians. Lo sang basically means mixing (lo in Cantonese means to mix) a dish called yue sang, which is a combination of fresh colourful vegetables like carrots, grapefruit, ginger and capsicums, and fresh raw fish ie. salmon topped with plum sauce and sesame seeds. The idea is to mix all the ingredients in a group, raising them as high as possible, signifying that the new year ahead will have many high points/peaks. While I hardly call yue sang my favourite CNY dish, the communal take of the dish has always been more meaningful to me than the dish itself.

So here I was, in Hameenlinna, with no scent of CNY at all in the air. It didn’t help that this is the second consecutive year that I didn’t celebrate CNY at home. I’m missing the food, plus the familiar faces that I usually enjoyed. What a bummer!

Nevertheless, the prospect of CNY brightened up when I received an invitation to an open house by my Malaysian friend in Tampere, who’s celebrating CNY for the first time in her 11 years living in Finland. Compared to her, I probably shouldn’t complain *wink* The open house would be on the second day of CNY ie. 11 February, which was a Monday, as that’s her ‘off day’ from running her restaurant – she owns and operates Borneo, a Malaysian ravintola (Finnish word for restaurant), in Tampere. Will blog about her and the restaurant in another post :)

Freshly baked peanut cookies, in odd sizes
Freshly baked peanut cookies, in odd sizes

To get myself in the CNY mood, I decided to attempt to bake peanut cookies, a common CNY snacks. In the past, I’d never imagine myself baking peanut cookies for CNY since I always buy various cookies every year. But I guess there are some changes that I might need to get used to. My friend, Ping shared the recipe with me – she actually baked her own peanut cookies this year! – and I thought it was quite simple to follow. I didn’t have plain flour* so I used baking flour instead. Unfortunately that meant the cookies dough rose during the baking and they turned out bigger than expected. Oh well, at least they tasted almost the same :) Initially I thought of baking at least two trays, but after grinding the peanuts by hand (I broke the blender weeks ago and we haven’t found a replacement!) for an hour, I decided one tray was all that I had energy for.

Two days before CNY eve, I spring cleaned the flat as per usual practice at home. And for the reunion meal, we decided to have it at home with 2 simple dishes and rice. On first day of CNY, we invited two friends over for dinner. Dishes include tofu (beancurd) with minced meat, stir-fry mix veges, roasted chicken wings and fried wontons. We managed to visit the Thai-Asian shop the day before so I had some supply of wonton skins and popiah wraps. They’re considered a ‘luxury’ for me since I don’t get to visit the shop very often due to its distance from where we lived. Dinner ended with ice-cream martini with longan as dessert! So satisfying!

Partying the Msian way, with plenty of food on the table
Partying the Msian way, with plenty of food on the table

Finally on Monday, I got all ready for the open house. Blue Eyes had to remove his wisdom tooth on the same day and he came back with a swollen right cheek. Too bad, he probably couldn’t enjoy dinner much. The party was awesome cos’ most of the guests were Malaysians and we obviously were excited about celebrating CNY together in a foreign place. The theme colour of the evening was red, which is the auspicious colour of CNY, and boy, was I happy to see so much red in one night! Dishes were aplenty and familiar to the taste – thank God! We had braised duck, popiahs, sambal tumis seafood, roasted chicken, dhall, stir-fry noodles and best of all, we had yue sang thanks to the super fantastic Jo! Must say, the yue sang tasted better than a lot of ones that I’ve had at home :) We ended dinner with some red bean soup and CNY cookies – besides my peanut ones, there were cornflakes and almond cookies!

All in all, not bad CNY I must say, especially considering the fact that most of the 5 million of Finnish population didn’t celebrate the Lunar New Year :) So here to the year of the Snake, may we all have better health and greater success in whatever we do! Kong Hei Fatt Choy!

* one of these days I’ll blog about how the Finns categorise their flour so stay tuned ;)

Brown Eyes in Finland

StickyEurope, Finland, , , , , ,

Moi! Greetings from super cold country called Finland!

Me, Brown Eyes, am now here and have been here for the past two months. This is not part of the RTW trip as that has ended for me in March 2012. Much has happened since – I took on a full-time job, I quit that job and now I’m here in Hameenlinna, Finland, where Blue Eyes is based.

Evening walk by the famous Hml castle
Evening walk by the famous Hml castle

There is still uncertainty on whether I’m staying here long enough to find work or that I’d return to Malaysia and continue the rat race, but I decided that regardless of the uncertainty, I shall blog about my experiences here. After all, I’m no Finnish and observing the Finnish culture from my perspective could be interesting ;)

Hameenlinna is a nice city to live. It has a small population of almost 70,000 people and is quite a historic city as it was once occupied by the Swedes royalty. The city lies in a strategic location between two major Finnish cities, Tampere (about 45 minutes by train) and Helsinki (about 50 minutes by train). That makes it a good option for businesses to operate and professionals to live, if they wish to stay away from the more expensive city like Helsinki.

Hameenlinna’s city centre is set by the town cathedral, which stands tall on the edge of the marketplace. Rows of offices, shops and restaurants are dotted around this area. On a good sunny winter day, the cathedral glimmers in its glory. There is a popular Thai ravintola (Finnish word for restaurant) called Sa-wa-dee, which Blue Eyes like to frequent. I saw a Chinese ravintola also but have not visited the place yet. Unsure if I want to as I’ve found that Chinese cuisine outside of Malaysia/Hong Kong is usually not my cup of tea. Most of the time I ended up more disappointed than satisfied.

When I first arrived end November, Finland was hit with its first snow storms in this winter. Temperature fell to -15C and it was heavy snowing for that weekend. The following week, temperature fell below -20C and the coldest day I had was -25C! But God has been much kinder since then as I’ve enjoyed warmer days above 0C and so far, in the last couple of weeks into 2013, winter temperature has been mostly ranged between 0C and -10C. February especially has been a surprise so far, as I was told that it’s the coldest month but so far, I’ve had quite warm days of around -5C.

Anyway, as my first entry on my stay in Finland, here are some of the snapshots of Hameenlinna (Hml):