By the way,
there are pictures of my Helsinki home on protected side. In case, you're interested. 
Month: July 2008
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Vacation came and went
I can't recall when was the last time I had a full vacation from work. I've had somewhat shattered work history in the recent years that I haven't had the chance to enjoy full vacations in a while. Though, I have to remember that my recent employers have been quite flexible regardless and can really overlook the fact that I was able to spend the two weeks in Thailand in February...
Anyway, This time I had 10 days off. During that time I spent some time at home in Turku, visited hubby's sister and his parents, went shopping, spent some time with mom, attended my grandpa's funeral, saw Iron Maiden live in Tampere, got my head spinning in Särkänniemi amusement part, suffered from half paralyzing migrane type headache and made it back to Helsinki -- just to come back to work today. So, all in all, I think I managed quite a lot in relatively short while.
Granpa's funeral was far more emotional event to me than I dared to anticipate. It came to me as surprise to get so emotional after not having been that close to him. But in the end we're (were) tied by blood and I cannot ignore that.
About halfway through the Iron Maiden concert it struck me as almost weird that I was able to have fun after having buried my grandpa a mere 20 or so hours before. But the show must go on...
The concert itself was great. Iron Maiden certainly knows how to give a good show. But I also enjoyed both of the warm-up bands: Lauren Harris (daughter of Steve Harris, the founding member of the Maiden) and Avenged Sevenfold.
Cati's on her holiday at my mom's. It was easiest for all of us because we would've made a bit dull detour from Tampere to get her on Sunday. Besides, I think mom enjoys having her as company now. We'll pick her up this weekend.
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This book I'm reading is EXCELLENT!
Maarten Troost's Travel Tips for China
1. Food can be classified as meat, poultry, grain, fish, fruit, vegetable and Chinese. Embrace the Chinese. If you love it, it will love you back. True, you may find yourself perplexed by what resides on your plate. You may even be appalled. The Chinese have an expression: We eat everything with four legs except the table, and anything with two legs except the person. They mean it too. And so you may find yourself in a restaurant in Guangzhou contemplating the spicy cow veins; or the yak dumplings in Lhasa, or the grilled frog in Shanghai, or the donkey hotpot in the Hexi Corridor, or the live squid on the island of Putuoshan. And you may not know, exactly, what it is you’re supposed to do. Should you pluck at this with your chopsticks? The meal may seem so very strange. True, you may be comfortable eating a cow, or a pig, or a chicken, yet when confronted with a yak or a swan or a cat, you do not reflexively think of sauces and marinades. The Chinese do however. And so you should eat whatever skips across your table. It is here where you can experience the complexity of China. And you will be rewarded. Very often, it is exceptionally good. And when it is not, it is undoubtedly interesting. And really, when traveling what more can one ask for. So go on. Eat as the locals do. However, should you find yourself confronted with a heaping platter of Cattle Penis with Garlic, you’re on your own.
2. To really see China, go to the market. Any market will do. This is where China lives and breathes. It is here where you will find the sights, sounds and smells of China. And it is in a Chinese market where you will experience epic bargaining. The Chinese excel at bargaining. They live and breathe it. It is an art; it is a sport. It is, above all, nothing personal. If you do not parry back and forth, you will be regarded as a chump, a walking ATM machine, a carcass to be picked over. And so as you peruse the cabbage or consider the silk, be prepared to bargain. The objective, of course, is to obtain the Chinese price. You will, however, never actually receive the Chinese price. It is the holy grail for laowais--or foreigners--in China. Your status as a laowai is determined by how proximate your haggling gets you to the mythical Chinese price. But you will never obtain the Chinese price. Accept this. But if you’re very, very good, and you bargain long and hard, and if you are lucky and catch your interlocutor on an off day, you may, just may, receive the special price. Consider yourself fortunate.
3. Travelers are often told to get off the beaten path, to take the road less traveled, to march to a different drum. You don't need to do this in China. The road well-traveled is a very fine road. The French Concession in Shanghai is splendid. The Forbidden City is a wonder of the world. So too the Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an. Indeed, the Chinese say so themselves. There is much to be seen in places that are often seen. And yet... China is not merely a country. It is not a place defined by sights. It is a world upon itself, a different planet even. And to see it--to feel it--means leaving that well-traveled road. And China is an excellent place for wandering. From the monasteries of Tibet to the rainforests of Yunnan Province and onward through the deserts of Xinjiang to the frozen tundra of Heilongjiang Province, China offers a vast kaleidoscope of people and terrain unlike anywhere else on Earth. This may seem intimidating to the China traveler. Will there be picture menus in the Taklamakan Desert? (No.) Is Visa accepted in Inner Mongolia? (Not likely.) Still, one should move beyond the Great Wall. And if you can manage to cross six lanes of traffic in Beijing, you can manage the slow train to Kunming.
4. Hell is a line in China. You are so forewarned.
5. Manners are important in China. How can this be, you wonder? You have, for instance, experienced a line in China. Your ribs have been pummeled. You have been trampled upon by grandmothers who are not more than four feet tall. You have learned, simply by queuing in the airport taxi line, what it is like to eat bitter, an evocative Chinese expression that conveys suffering. This does not seem upon first impression to be a country overly concerned with prim etiquette. But it is. True, hawking enormous, gelatinous loogies is perfectly acceptable in China. And a good belch is fine as well. And picking your teeth after dinner is a sign of urbane sophistication. But this does not mean that manners are not taken seriously in China. It’s just that they are different in China. And so feel free to spit and burp, but do not even think of holding your chopsticks with your left hand. You will be regarded as an ill-mannered rube. So watch your manners in China. But learn them first.
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Thank you all
I truly appreciate your condolences and remembering me and my grandpa in your prayers even though I'm not that very religious myself. Though now that the initial shock has worn off I'm quite okay with my grandpa's passing. I know the feelings of sadness and all will come back in his funeral on the 18th. But that's okay.
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This past week, I haven't meant to be MIA. It's just that on many occasions that I've tried to come to Xanga, my laptop freezes. It does that on certain pages and it's extremely annoying. So, I'm in the market for a new, better laptop now. It's though matter of funds to actually acquire one.
On other new, I'm still liking my job of nearly three months. Things are at times hectic and I've got more than my share of things to do. But yeah, this is how I like it -- even though I'm sometimes clueless of what it is that I'm supposed to be doing.
Oh, couple of weeks ago hubby and I went to the Korkeasaari Zoo in Helsinki. We, of course, took plenty of pictures, but hubby's been better at getting them online for all to see.
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