It's a cafe

The cafe is called Spoon and is located in Helsinki-Vantaa airport.

UFOs?

The mothership and the rest of the othe spaceships. Guess what is it... Find out more tomorrow.

Muddy..

Round and round

Moving ball in Helsinki University's Kumpula campus. Was at the library today.

Uunisaari 3

I like the reflections in the water. Very pretty.

Uunisaari 2

I'm having a cold and just staying put at home. Some shots from my stock photos. Taken near Uunisaari in Helsinki.

Messukeskus

Messukeskus is the Helsinki Fair Centre. This was taken yesterday when it was snowing. The lights are on here as this was taken about 3 hours later then the previous photo. It had stopped snowing by then. Today it is sunny and above zero and the snow is melting away...

Snowing

Such a vast difference in weather from yesterday. It was windy and snowing hard at 2.45pm today. This is a tram stop in Pasila. Just look at the pole deep in snow. Across the street you can see the exhibition hall Messukeskus.

Up in the air

Lucky shot ...

Flashback...

This was taken at 11.15pm. The weather was over 0 deg Cel till a couple of days ago. Only this morning was it about -3. Now just -2. These are mild temperatures compared to a much colder winter last year. Same day last year

Suspicion With A Reason 2

Suspicion With A Reason: "Selected scenes from unpublished and forgotten film noirs.. presented by Kristiina Spade"

Unusually Bright

Just took this from my window. It is 1520 now and it is not usual for it to be this bright now. Especially after the windy, stormy night we had last night.

Suspicion With A Reason sketches continue tomorrow.

Suspicion With A Reason

This was posted at Kaisaniemi metro. A series of sketches fellow this main sketch. Will post that tomorrow.

Helsinki's Best Chinese

This restaurant serves Malaysian Chinese dishes and has been around for quite some time. Whenever my friend is feeling homesick and wants some good food, she goes here. It was her treat today and we enjoyed our meal of Curry Duck and Claypot (mixture of veg, chicken and shrimps) Good meal at resonable prices.
If you look closely, you'll find a couple of reviews on the window that raves about how good the restuarant is.
Review (only in finnish)

Is this the longest...

Escalator located in Kamppi metro. There is another in Ruoholahti metro. Always wondered which of the two was longer... Finally looked up the answer instead of wondering...

"The longest escalator on the Helsinki Metro is at Kamppi metro station with a length of 65m, and a vertical rise of 29.7m, including 334 steps." More on escalators

This probably refers to the old escalator in the same location. Not sure of the length of this.

Seeing purple

Now you see purple...

Well another dark and gloomy day. I had a full day in school today from 8am to 6pm. After that, I had to go Myyrmanni shopping complex. It was 8pm when I was at this bus station waiting for my bus.

As I was positioning the camera (or rather my hp) to take a shot, I noticed this purple light when the camera was tilted at a certain angle. It was just at that specific angle.. otherwise it was a perfectly normal lamp post light.

And now you don't...

where's the snow?

It was cold, windy and dark today. No snow to cheer up the surroundings. Instead of posting a gloomy photo, thought I'll post something more cheery that I took last wed.

The bridge leads up to a small island called Uunisaari in Helsinki. There is a restuarant and sauna facilities. It was closed when i was there mid day. In summer, people like to go to the beach on the island.

Notice the reflection in the water. That's what I like about this shot besides the snow. It was a calm and quiet day.

Back to School

Start of a new semester and new courses. This course requires one to set up a server and do some testing. Not one of my favourite courses but it is mandatory.

Metro Line

Yes, the subway line is only these stations. The line runs only in Helsinki. It is called the Metro line and the vehicle is known as metro.

Missing...

It was a rainy day yesterday with +5C. Today it was +6C and drizzling. The result, no more snow. The view from my window just ten minutes ago, green grass and on the far left you can see some remaining snow...

See this playground covered with snow last year (11.01.2007)

Moving?

Need help moving? Then you would need to call this movers service, Muutolaatikko (Moving Box).

This van was parked near Martinlaakso train station in Vantaa. No, nothing to be moved from the passenger train station. The movers were probably on a coffee break at the nearby cafe.

CATs!

Can you spot the book on cats? KISSA KIRJA = CAT BOOK

Ice cream anyone?

I was at Kluuvi shopping centre in Helsinki and these ice cream cones caught my eye..

Something else beside these cones was interesting to look at too.. That's tomorrow...

Kuusijärvi lake

It was -2C yesterday and freezing cold. So I thought I'll go for a swim at Kuusijärvi lake in Vantaa.

Well, I didn't really swim, just had a couple of dips in the lake and rushed off to the nearby smoke sauna. My first attempt at trying winter swimming and it wasn't so successful. It was just too cold to be in the waters. But there were a lot of others who were actually swimming in the lake. They were like pros.. probably doing it for years.

As you can see, we finally had lots of snow the last couple of days.. finally...

Viking Line

At Helsinki harbour, this ship usually goes to Stockholm, Sweden or Tallin, Estonia. It was just leaving the harbour as you can see by the smoke...

Suomenlinna 5

Canons on Suomenlinna and the last shot of Suomenlinna.

Today was also the last day of official Christmas celebrations in Finland. This day here is called Loppiainen and people take down their Christmas trees. It is a holiday here but it didn't make a difference today as it is a Sunday. In Singapore when a holiday falls on Sunday we get the following Monday off. Is it like that elsewhere? Is this day observed elsewhere?

Loppiainen in English means Epiphany but it seems like it means different things in different places. Read more about it in wikipedia.

Suomenlinna 4

Inside the fortress..

Suomenlinna 3

Here's something about the fortress. Tomorrow, the building.

Suomenlinna 2

Another picturesque scene that I like. As you can notice, not much snowfall in Helsinki or in Vantaa. It was a black Christmas and New Year. This snowfall just came about 2 days ago.

Suomenlinna 1

I love the colours in this scene. As I was getting ready to take this shot, a little girl ran in and I felt that the 'scene' was ruined. But she seemed to have added more colour. What do you think?

The building (looks like a painting to me) is a church in Suomenlinna. This island fortress can only be reached by a ten minute ferry ride from Helsinki. I was there today with my mum and sis. Expect to see more Suomenlinna this week.

Suomenlinna is a UNESCO World Heritage site and popular with both tourists and locals, who enjoy it as a picturesque picnic site. Originally named Sveaborg (Fortress of Svea), or Viapori as called by Finns, it was renamed Suomenlinna (Castle of Finland) in 1918 for patriotic and nationalist reasons, though it is still also known by its original name. Read more in wikipedia...

Official Website

Happy 2008!

This was taken at Senate Square in Helsinki. The new year is always welcomed here. I took this at 9.30pm and the people here are watching a concert.
I didn't stay for the countdown instead welcomed the new year at home.