Vappu / Wappu Sima Factory

My sima factory for Wappu has been operating for this year. The Wappu evening is on Thursday, 30th April, it's the summer season - or actually proper spring - opening for Finland. At the same time my Dutch friends celebrate the Queen's day, enjoy!!!

It is actually very easy to make (ssshhhhh, don't tell the ones who enjoy mine, let them think it is difficult...). Or perhaps it is easy only when you have the skills!?!

If you are somewhere outside the reach of fariinisokeri, the particular type of brown sugar, you can check an option for brewing at youtube:

...and a bit more original version:

To get more background about the festival itself, you can check my old posts.

This is also one source for Wappu info: http://wappu.fi/

Hauskaa Wapun odotusta - Looking forward to the fiesta!

Adios España...

...hasta la proxima año!

So sad, so surprising after 3 titles in a row. Spanis team is about to be dropped out from the qualifying games in Football World Cup 2014.

Gotta say that both Holland and Chile deserved their wins, congrats!

So now focus is on Brazil - and Belgium until they are kicked out in quarter finals ;o)

Saludos!

It's Vappu - Wappu - Walborg so Cheers(!) - Hölökynkölökyn - Kippis - Skål - Terviseks!

Today is Wappu, the evening of 1st of May - Hauskaa Wappua!!!

In Finland it is THE carneval evening, night & day of the year when people get together. At Midsummer most run away to their summer cabins, the Independence Day in December is somewhat holy day which I wonder a bit, Christmas is Christmas, and at New Year it is damn too cold to celebrate outside, and Easter is also during winter/spring season without festive history - vice versa...

And of course have a great Queen's Day ...woops, have a great King's Day my Dutch friends!!!

I don't want to repeat myself so check out my previous Vappu - or Wappu posts from here;
http://withlovefromtheworld.blogspot.fi/search/label/Vappu

...and since there is quite high increase of alcohol consumption during Wappu, let's give it a serious thought...

If you have ever wondered why you feel smart after a few beers, read the scientific explanation below.

Some of you have already seen this on Facebook by AsapSCIENCE and/or some other site...

CHEERS!

HAUSKAA WAPPUA!!!

Red Face Day - Vappu, May 1st

There will be maaaany red faces in Finland after today. The sun is up with a clear sky, it is the very first summer-like day in Finland after the looong winter. Temp in the sun already at 09:30 am was +18C.. When you combine that with the carneval style alcohol consumption we had yesterday all over and tend to have on May 1st, the red face coctail is ready!
http://www.iltalehti.fi/uutiset/2013043016965446_uu.shtml
http://live.hs.fi/Event/HS_seuraa_vapunviettoa

Today the Ullanlinnanmäki at Helsinki will be packed with drunk picnic people!
http://www.iltalehti.fi/uutiset/2013050116966007_uu.shtml

What surprised me a bit this morning, was the B-section's front page of Helsingin Sanomat, that had the King with his orage people all over. Still, the Queen's Day will not be the King's Day...

Have a great Vappu - Wappu - Walborg day - where ever you are!

Vappu - Wappu - Walborg in Finland, Queens Day in Holland

Long Live the Queen - and as of today, the King of Holland!

Many thanks for the spectacular, or should I say fabulastic, festival in Holland - the Queen's Day on April 30th! I've enjoyed it only once while I can say it is veeeery much worth the visit. I believe even more today as the power in Holland is going to a King after over 100 years of Queen power.

Long Live Wappu, Vappu, Walborg!
Yes, the patio is clear from the snow for vappu bbq or what ever we choose to use it for. Also the standard stuff is ready.

We have about +10C in Helsinki area, rainshowers during the day and right now the sun is with us. Still some snow in the corner of the yard so natural cooler is ready :o)
Bucharest has got over +30C, enjoy it!

For the old stories about the Finnish carneval of the spring, check out the Wappu stories...

Kirkasta Wappua meille kaikille!

Oh Belgium, I miss your peculiarity - Belgian omituisuuksia

There are good things in Belgium, but apparently the beer, wine and fries are only half as good as the ones in Finland. Or what could be the reason for me paying twice as much vs in Belgium for a 0,5 liters pint of Hoegaarden, 16 cl of house red wine and a small bowl of fries?


I paid in a Belgium style bistro restaurant Belge in Helsinki 8,50 Euros for the beer, 7,80 for the wine and 6,60 for the fries. In a similar place in Brussels it would have been somewhat half the price. Perkele.

Millä kielellä Belgiassa - Belgian language?

Well, not all things are in place in Belgium - even though they recently stopped collecting more days for their world record of we-don't-have-a-government-in-place -time. Big part behind that has been the language barrior and wanna-be-different -culture connected to it.

But what is the language they speak in Belgium, in addition to French?
Here is an article from Finnish newspaper about the language that is Dutch, not Flemish. I claim - and so do most non-Flemish people - that "Flemish" is just a dialect of Dutch. The Flemish people don't use their throat sounds as harsh as the Dutch do and some words are a bit different, but still it does not make it a different language. Or does it?

Hmmm, should they now change the name of "French" spoken in Belgium into "Valloon" language...?

Should we in Finland change the name of Swedish language that is spoken here into "Coastish", as majority of the Swedish speaking areas locate by the coast...?

Battle Mannerheim vs Litmanen

I have seen today two somewhat documentary or autobiography movies, one partly and another fully paid by us, the Finnish taxpayers via Finnish broadcasting company YLE;

• "Kuningas Litmanen" about football player Jari Litmanen

• "Suomen Marsalkka" about soldier and president of Finland Carl-Gustaf Mannerheim
  http://www.suomenmarsalkka.fi/
  

Let's talk about the Marshal first;

It sucks!

The storytelling does not have any clear clue and it goes on for the full 41 mins without any real drama to the viewers.

Looking at ti from a quality point of view, as a movie even I can see it is low quality - and my view is supported by the media reviews as well as it can be seen in the "Making the..." documentary. Perhaps there is a link with the output and the fact that the local producer started his career in this project as a driver. Yes, the man who was the taxi-man for these Finnish guys.

On top, the ones who have studied the history more, have pointed out multiple errors in the fact telling - and honestly I was not able to find anything new from the historical or person point of view. To me that was the biggest dissapointment.

What was this then all about?

Please someone smarter tell me!

...the only motivator I've seen is that the YLE producer Erkko Ego-grower Lyytinen tries to boost his career - and ego. He says we should see the character Mannerheim from another angle. Unfortunately I was not able to link enough as there were too many contradictions and at the same time the content was very weak.

Enough of that, watch it and make up you own mind.

Kuningas Litmanen - King Litmanen;

I recommend it to all who are even a bit intersted in football or sports!

This movie lasted for almost 2 hours and when it ended, I felt like "gimme more, keep it coming...!". When the man himself goes to the places he has lived his football life and is interviewed about things he has never spoken about earlier, there is a clear additional value.

All of us can go to Youtube to watch the goals.

It is not often that you hear players like Xavi, Carles Puyol, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Danny Blind, Ronald and Frank de Boer, or Steven Gerrard talking such positive about another player. Litmanen played his biggest successesin Ajax in Holland, followed by not-that-great periods in Barcelona, Spain and Liverpool, England. He also did visits to Sweden and Germany.

My son is a young BIG football player and a fan, watching the world class players and knows a lot about them. After the movie I asked him "Did you know Litmanen was that good?". He said "No I didn't!".

Go and see it!

It's Culture Time - Football and Dance...!

The EuroCup 2012 in Football is on in Poland and Ukraine.We have already seen few surprises; Greece that was expected to be the weakest link played 1-1 with Poland, while the BIG BANG was from the red and white Danish dynamite that took 1-0 win against top 3 winner favorite Holland! I didn't see that coming...

Italia's Balotelli failed bad in his premium chance to score, while the substitute for him, Di Natale, scored a great goal against Spain only few minutes after he came in. The joy was short as Silva beautifully served Fabregas. For some reason the coach took Silva to the bend right after...

Great game with 1-1 result, but not as great as my son's game today ;o)

It has been a pleasure to follow him and the team develop in the hands of a great coach and supporting team. Today their good work was awarded with a rise to a higher league. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming games in the tournaments and the league.

Since life is not only sports, one should balance the culture with music and dance. Or what do you say?

...not bad at all.

By the way, who said a country boy is not pretty in pink...?

Snow & BBQ in Finland - Shame in Holland!

Oh boy, it's snowing again, flakes size of a stamp. The temp is a bit above zero celsius - the freezing point - so it is not likely to make the ground more white, but I can tell you it doesn't help the 20 cm of snow melting away from the patio. On the other side of the house the lawn is already clear from snow, as it gets a bit more sun during the day.

So the spring is coming. I guess. At some point. Somewhere.

By the way, if someone is wondering on the other side of the big water how much is 0 Celsius in Farenhait, check it out from here;
http://www.metric-conversions.org/temperature/celsius-to-fahrenheit.htm

As we are in Finland with a bit shorter winter than in some other places, we can't be too picky with for example bbq weather. Therefor last weekend at Easter the bbq was on! Many times.

It was good. Very good!!!

...now the few uptight Dutch reading this are already thinking "Duivel, vertellen!"...
And I will.

Finnish top newpaper Helsingin Sanomat had an article on Wed 11 Apr about a drug league that had been busted in cooperation with Finnish, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish authorities. At some point in the process they decided that all of the busted ones would be taken to the court in Finland.

As part of the pack was decided, that all sentenced ones - the convicted drug criminals - would be handed over to Holland for re-evaluation of the sentences. I bet no-one, and I really mean no-one, thought the outcome would be what it was. Here are the numbers and reasons behind the sentences;

• Organization leader "M1", 1560 kilos of hashish
• In Finland centenced for 13 years in prison
• In Holland the conviction was milded into 4 years in prison
• Organization leader "M2", 500 kilos (assisting)
• In Finland 13 years
• In Holland the judge evaluated that 6 months of prison already taken in Finland is adequate = he was released upon hand over
• Practical organizor "D", 1560 kilos (assisting)
• In Finland 8 years 6 months
• In Holland the judge evaluated 1 year 9 months already taken in Finland was adequate
• Practical organizor "J", 500 kilos
• Was not brought to Finland due to illness
• Dummy organizor "A", 910 kilos
• 4 years in Finland
• Recently convicted, still open what will happen in Holland
• Dummy organizor "W", 647 kilos
• 2 years in Finland
• Same as "A", let's see what happens
• Courier = truck driver "E", 225 kilos
• 9 years 6 months in Finland
• Will not be handed over to Holland as he was captured in Finland. This makes him the BIGGEST loser of the whole chain, as he will not get the much, much milder conviction based on the Dutch courtroom evaluations.
• Receiver & main operator in Finland "P", 225 kilos
• 9 years 6 months in Finland
• Same as "E", will stay in Finland and can & should not expect any change as a Finn

 I don't know if this is fair or not, but that's the system - like it or not.

Still, have a great weekend!!!

PS I still need to get you some stuff from the long gone Lapland trip.
PSS I was in the movies recently, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and picked a fantastic line from there;
"If I want your opinion, I will give it to you!"

It's Wappu - Vappu in Finland, the Queen's Day in Holland and 10.000 visitors!

Firstly, I would like to say I am veeeery happy to thank you for a BIG milestone you have granted me: 10.000 visits since January 2010. ISO kiitos luottamuksesta - BIG thank you for the confidence - Gracias por su visita - Tack för besöket etc.!!!

Tomorrow is THE carneval evening of the year in Finland. I seem to have been pretty good in writing about Vappu, Wappu or what the heck you wanna call it every year since I started the blog. You can check them out from here.

Part of Wappu fun is the decoration and funny clothes or items in the outfit. Or what do you think about the following...

For the ones enjoying the fabulous Queen's Day, have a blast and do not fall into the canals! Even though they are more clean than the water in the market place dock in Helsinki during the Wappu.

Eli Helsingin Kauppatorin Kolera-altaassa ei ole kovin mukavaa uida vappuna. Kuulemma. Näin on yksi sitä kokeillut henkilö referoinut. Vai mitä tykkäätte tästä Wapun jälkeen otetusta kuvasta...

Please do take care of the trash during the carneval both in Finland and Holland - Helsinki and Amsterdam, as I HATE to see our port looking like above!
...sorry J!

Hauskaa Wappua - Have a great Queen's Day!

Stay tuned, I'll try to post more stuff along the way. Keep dry - from outside - and have fun!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you...

...to the 3 brave persons who bothered to say what they think, highly appreciated!

Let's see if we can double the opinions by Sunday eve since I prolonged the reply time. If I'd take the traditional controller-approach, I'd just publish that 66% of my readers think the new layout is better than the old one, and nobody says they do not care. Sounds good, hah!

Does it really matter to me what the outcome is?
Well, not that much since I am also amusing myself here. I guess I am the most frequent visitor on the page so it's ok that I have some decision power.

My loyal reader gave me feedback about the tag list that has become enormous. True, it is looooooooooooooong but on the other hand I have no clue if anyone is using it. Other than me since I've used it to find links to some old stories I have been referring to.

Be brave and say what you think about the lay-out, if not for any other reason but to let me know you exist ;o)
----
Football World Cup is facing the grand final this weekend. I am very pleased to see Holland and Spain playing in the final - even if only 50% of them are on my top favorite list. Still, if it goes to "wrong" way I am not that sad since thanks to the time spent in Holland for work and pleasure (including Queen's Day) - and not least to the Dutch friends, I will not cry if the trophy is taken home by the team in orange.

Gotta say the bronze game is not that much of an interest to me, other than I wish the winner comes outside of Europe.

Viva España!!!

Shortest way to Eindhoven?

Dear Dutch friends,

In the name of Valentine's Day, could you please help me out to find shortest route to Eindhoven so I can make it on time for a date? I can see the road signs, but since I'm not on wheels I could use an alternative route too.

PS I love the down-to-earth approach that you guys have for conquering space from the sea!
PSS If you think this is a joke, check out the source  ;o)

Dutch Lunch

Have you ever been in Holland for a meeting and had a lunch in the meeting room?
Well, unless you are a BIG fan of bread, I suggest to have a heavy breakfast.

Dutch do eat a lot of bread for lunch. Many bring their own sandwiches and milk bottle that they pick up from their bags at lunchtime. That means before 12 o'clock - right after Finnish &Swedish finish lunch and French & Italian start planning it.
Hence their meeting room lunch order is similar; Bread, milk and if you are lucky some juice and an apple.
Are the sandwiches then filled properly to make them tasty and filling?
Nope, they are plain: one slice of cheese OR ham, not both. And definitely no veggies like salad.

Earlier a Dutch colleague who had the authority to make decision was frustrated when we had delicious, healthier sandwiches (also dark bread) with proper fillings like salmon. There was also tomato, cucumber, salad etc to bring some flavor.
Of course the man calls the assistant and complains about the sandwiches and next day we get the plain, dry Dutch specialties...

These pics I have taken myself while having one of the meeting room lunches;
Yes, they are bread rolls with one slice of ham OR cheese, milk and juice.
And here is a delicious selection of bread to choose from.

Bon appétit - or better to say Smakelijk!

PS If one of the Dutch colleagues read this, just let me know via comment box and next lunch is on me!

Amersfoort in Holland

Amersfoort is 750 years old good size town about 40 min drive (without traffic) east from Amsterdam in Holland. It is situated well in the middle of the country and hence they have there multiple companies from different industries. Since it also has got 2 train stations it is easy for people to commute from nearby towns.

I said the driving time "without traffic", since it can cause annoying delays. A 1:45 hour journey between BRU and Amersfoort has taken up to 3:30 hours from me and that is not even bad.

Back to Amersfoort - It has got a very nice old town centre with canals (of course, it's in Holland), narrow allies and squares surrounded by multiple restaurants. Actually there seem to be as many restaurants than there are shops, and I can tell you there are quite many shops.

One could imagine to do at least some shopping while staying there many nights per week for few months, but no!

There are two reasons for it;
1. Long working hours;
Twice we have been thrown out from the office by security since they were going home...

2. Shops closed;
All shops close by 1800 latest, except on Thursdays when some of them are open until 2000. It is nice to see you have good sales and all, but one gets annoyed when seeing them only closed for the 5th time.

What do people then do in the evenings?
80% of people are home doing nothing and 10% in these restaurants. Since there are so many restaurants, they all feel empty with only handful of people.

One strange thing is that many restaurants do not accept credit cards at all! Nowadays I find it very rare in Europe, but it still exists.

Ah, you still wonder where is the rest 10%? Either cycling or camping ;o)

Wanna hear about Dutch lunch?
Their favorite lunch is sandwiches with milk. Normal filling to the sandwich is to have only plain slice of cheese or ham, not both. And definetely no green stuff (salad etc.) In between. Then they even love to have as a "dessert" a sanwich roll without filling, but some nuts or seeds in the bread...

I can tell you it is no joke for someone to run 3 day training with such lunch, particularly if you are on low-carb diet.

Well, luckily the diet is not a strict one, particularly for the weekends - otherwise I would need to drop my pizza, candy, beer etc.

And that is a NO GO!

======

Interested to go? http://www.amersfoort.nl/

I love basketball!

I love to play basketball. I love to watch games live and on tv. I love to watch my kids practices and games. I love to play with them - as long as I can beat them. I even love to teach other kids to play and have patience to explain the game to "beginners" (even adults). So I think it is fair to say I love basketball!

I am also a fortunate man; I have a family that shares - at least partly - my love to basketball.

Due to minor medical reason, I am not able to play myself at the moment but I was today able to convince my family to drive with me 1.5 hours to Den Bosch in Holland - to watch a basketball game.

The game was the first semifinal of Dutch basketball league between Eiffel Towers from Den Bosch and Hanzevast Capitals from Groeningen http://www.hanzevastcapitals.nl/

Why there, don´t they play ball also in Belgium?

Yes they do, but not in Brussels for the past few years after BRU team ran out of money... We have been in local league games and national team games in quite many locations and it was actually quite nice to drive to a new city, walk around the centre, have lunch, check out some shops (yes, shops were open in Holland since it is the first Sunday of month) and then head up to the arena.

The best buy was 1/2 kilo of licorise, just like filled Panda one you can get in Finland!

I was told earlier that you can do in Den Bosch - or formally ’s-Hertogenbosch - nice boat trips in the canals. You rent a boat, steer it yourself and get around at your own pace. You can of course take some snacks on board and enjoy hopefully good weather. Dutch way for such snacks should be cheese, salami and beer :o)

I have done the boating once in Leiden, where it was excellent fun combining a tour at the lake and city canals. There you have many terraces that you can stop by...

Back to b-ball;

The level of the game is pretty good compared to other European bigger countries. Of course high number of non-local players increase the level, but teams are professional and arena at least in Den Bosch was quite good. Like you can imagine, there were not that many people in the audience but the small number of people were fairly loud.

Some court side arrangements were not working as you could expect in pro sports but all and all it was again a pleasent experience.

Except;

- We didn't have a chance to chat with the guy who was the key reason for us going to that particular game.

- "Our" team lost, but it is best out of 5 games so they still have time.

Someone might be interested in ticket prices: Adults 12,50 Euros and kids under 15 yrs 5 Euros. During the regular season prices are a bit lower.

PS Many thanks S for arranging the access!

Another view to Maastricht

Welcome to Maastricht - Example from a local hair dresser

Apparently Maastricht has been an important location as of the Roman time. This bridge is from 13th century

At the river bank there are typical Dutch houses

As always, the river is also used for transportation of material and people

For transportation, the local taxi is quite cool. Just like the town hall at the background.

But in real the locals use bicycles to go anywhere

Hence the parking lot is also busy - yes they are bikes at the river bank.

This guy though parked his tractor at the end of backyard

Poor guys ran out of bricks and had to put a piece of metal to fill the hole

There are several interesting buildings, this one is from a corner of shopping streets

And it has got interesting decoration

Some also have good imagination with the windows

Guess what´s on the sign above the water; "Not drinking water"

Yeah right, click on pic and see if the sign is needed...

However, if you happen to drink it you better run fast to this guy who´s got his reception just around the corner

There are so many other snapshots to show, but you better go there yourself and check them out!