Fazer Chocolates

Yummy assorted chocolates from Fazer.

Happy Easter!!!

Mämmi is a Finnish traditional Easter dessert, a malt porridge which is baked in an oven. It is made of water, malt and rye flour and is dark brown in appearance.
more info and photos in wikipedia

Mailbox again

Here's the smaller version of the mailbox from themeday. It is made of metal. This mailbox is emptied at 9am every morning (mon-fri). The one before is emptied at 1600 on weekdays as well. No mail is delievered on Sat or collected on Sat.

The mailbox is found on house that functions as an cafe. Thus the owner's own mailbox (the green one) is also seen here.

p.s. A letter usually takes about 3-5 working days to reach Singapore. So I guess the service on both sides are fast and efficient.

prison break craze...

it's gd to be back posting.. here's the finnish version of prison break.. PAKO means Escape. first season dvd collection. first season ended it's run here in finland last month. not sure when the scecond season is due in finland. instructions for the prison break crane/duck is available here

mustikka piirakka, mini blueberry pie

green marbles

Indoors today, munching some sweet jellies. "Green Marbles" = "Vihreitä Kuulia". Another yummy goodie from Fazer. here are fazer chocs

Finland's Independence Day

Today is Finland's 89th independence day. It has become a tradition n Finland to have these Independence Day Candles.
Learn more about Finland's declaration of Independence here

Something Finnish 6: light up

Here's a candle holder which was a gift from hmmm.. can't seem to remember who. :(

The roots of Iittala date back to 1881 when a glass factory was established in a small village by the name of Iittala in southern Finland.

Iittala’s breakthrough occurred in the early years of modernism and functionalism in the 1920s and 30s. It was among the first companies to make the transition from creating decorative settings and dinner sets to progressive Scandinavian design. Iittala’s designers included the modernist trailblazers, Kaj Franck, Alvar Aalto and his wife Aino.

Sad to say, the response has been quite lukewarm for the bits and pieces quiz. Is it hard, uninteresting or no time? Your feedback is apprecitated. Thank you!

Something Finnish 5:comfy

Finlayson has a rich heritage of manufacturing quality textiles since 1820. Even today, Finlayson Oy textiles and Familon bed concepts add a touch of luxury to private homes and public premises.
First Finlayson factory located in Tampere, check the photo in my summer finland blog.

Play and Win Bits and Pieces Quiz.

Something Finnish 4: yummy

One of my favorite Finnish chocolate is Fazer's dark chocolate with 70% cocoa. Oy Karl Fazer Ab is a family business founded by Karl Fazer in 1891. The French-Russian café has grown into an international group of companies.

Wanna receive something finnish, guess some photos and win

Something Finnish 3: somewhere to travel

Play and Win Bits and Pieces Quiz.

This is the electronic travel card for travel on buses, trains, metros and trams. It is a fixed price and is not dependent on the distance travelled. The fare is 1.80€ per trip for travel within Helsinki and Espoo. It is 2.07€ in Vantaa. When travelling from one region to another(regional fare), e.g. Vantaa to Helsinki, it is a fixed price of 3.10€ per trip.

The above are adult prices and monthly fare uploads are possible on the cards as well. For example, a month's internal fare is around 40€ and for regional is 79€.

Something Finnish 2: something pretty

Marimekko Corporation is a leading Finnish textile and clothing design company that was established in 1951. The company designs, manufactures and markets high-quality clothing, interior decoration textiles, bags and other accessories under the Marimekko brand, both in Finland and abroad. Official Homepage

The one above is a sling bag. Is this brand available in your cities?
Remember to stop by and play Bits and Pieces Quiz.

Something Finnish 1: something fishy

This item kinda looked rather fishy, the first time i saw it. In all my years living in this world (which is more than 2 decades), I've never come across a can opener like this. It seems it is a finnish design. It might be small but it works as efficiently as the other convenential can openers.

Play my Bits and Pieces Quiz, and win yourself something finnish but not maybe not this 'fishy' item. ;-)

nordic walking on skates

This was taken yesterday afternoon. It was sunny and the temperature still hovers between 15-18 degree celsius. Here the man has taken Nordic Walking to another level by moving about on his skates.
Nordic Walking or "ski walking" is a sport consisting in walking with modified ski poles. Nordic Walking evolved from an off-season ski-training activity known as ski walking to become a way of exercising year-round. It has been practiced for years as dryland training for professional nordic skiers. It is quite popular in Finland (where it is known as sauvakävely, "pole walking") and has become an exercise activity of many.
Nordic Walking info in wikipedia

moose ahead..

I know no one likes road signs but this is something new for me which i don't get to see in Singapore. The sign warns drivers that they might be mooses crossing ahead. This is often true during autumn and early spring in places where it is forested.
This sign is along Kehä III which is now lined with commercial buildings and less forest. So it is rather unlikely that there might any ahead and i do not hope to see one. Mooses often become victims of roadkill.

Are there animal warning signs like this in your country?

land of saunas

Finland is the land of the sauna and the Finns are a nation of sauna-enthusiasts. Finland has a population of 5.1 million and 1.7 million saunas — one for every three inhabitants. The sauna is considered an age-old Finnish feature, although it is not a Finnish invention and certainly not the private property of the Finns. Read more...

The above is an electric sauna found in the basement of a block of apartment. Residents have to reserve a weekly time slot (usually an hour) to use it. Here you see the shower room and the hot room of the sauna. Nowadays, apartments have their own individual saunas. sauna by the lake in my other blog.

Also read more in
The Finnish Sauna Society