Happy moments of the day

The ever-dynamic cat-duo R&R (Rammu&Rascal). Or the Ritardos. Or Shit-Pots. Or Robert&Mammu. Or "GetDownFromThatTableNOW&Co." However the situation calls. Good children have (too) many names, or how does that old Estonian sayin' go. Robert chilling in new cat nest, which came from our resident Santa in Germany. I think he's in it right now, even... too dark to tell. Put the nest next to the radiator, and you can be sure that a cat or two will move in soon.



Autumn. Photos taken today in the park two steps away from our apartment. The white building is a school for little Swedish girls - Privata Svenska Flickskolan i Helsingfors. Amusing.

The highlight of my Thursdays for the past... five? weeks - strange Finnish pancake. I know I know, it doesn't look like much... but it tastes HEAVENLY. With jam. Or with raspberries and whipped cream... omnom.

The Person. Balances and cheers up. Has best quality medicines for cranky moods. Thank you :)

And very important news! I shan't be hatless this winter! In your face, Wind-trying-to-freeze-my-brain! This is the Wombat Hat, found and purchased yesterday.

A pair of new earrings always makes the world a better place. Especially such a cute and a little bit chubby pair of bronze dragons, I already named them Daniel (left) and Danielle (right).

World's most awesome Mammucat / Maailma ägedaim Mammukass

Here comes the world's most awesome Mammucat! Making use of the scratchy tree bottom box-house and taking a nap in there.



It was interesting to notice, that as long as there were some moving boxes still around here and there, these were the most attractive places for sleeping (and napping, and playing, and scratcing, and everything). But now that all the boxes are gone, Mammu has found that the scratchy tree apartment is quite a cozy place for a little nap ^^

On another note, I cannot but to show again the new "vauvas" I brought home from the shoe shop the other day ("vauva" - "baby" in Finnish). Maybe it makes me a materialist, but some boots are just too awesome to be left in the shop. (Even if the price takes you quite close to a heart attack...)


Otherwise, the week has been nice. It is hard-core autumn now here in Helsinki and it is so pretty! The track around the Töölö Bay (where I now run and walk and as of today, also Nordic Walk) is amazingly beautiful in all the different autumn colours. Today we also took a small detour to the outskirts of Helsinki Botanical Gardens.

Kitties got their nails clipped. They were a bit restless this time so Jan-Erik had to hold and belly rub them while I did the clipping. But clipped nails are better in indoors, that's for sure.

We have eaten delicious foods. I am enjoying reading a book over a long time. Yesterday we celebrated International Wombat Day.

Have a nice Sunday evening and wear warm clothes because winter is coming!

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Siit tuleb maailma ägedaim Mammukass! Kasutamas ära suurepärast kratsimispuu-kastmaja ja võtmas väikest uinakut.

Huvitav tähelepanek, et niikaua, kui meil vedelesid veel kolimiskastid siin-seal, olid need kõige popimad kohad magamiseks (ja väikeseks uinakuks, ja mängimiseks, ja kraapimiseks, ja kõigeks). Kuid nüüd, kui kastid on läinud kõige kaduva teed, on Mammu avastanud, et kratsipuu "korter" on päris hubane paigake magamiseks.

Ent rääkides teistel teemadel, ma lausa pean näitama oma uusi "vauvasid", mis ma ühel päeval kingapoest koju tõin ("vauva" on soome keeles "beebi"). Võibolla teeb see minust materialistliku inimese, ent mõned saapad on lihtsalt liiga ägedad, et nad poodi maha jätta. (Isegi kui hind korraks hinge kinni paneb...) (Tegelt oli uusi saapaid ikka vaja ka...)

Aga muidu ja üleüldiselt oli käesolev nädal kena. Helsingis on praegu ikka süva-sügis ja on väga kaunis. See tervisespordirada, mis meil ümber Töölö lahe vonkleb (ja kus ma jooksen ja kepikõnnin) on sügisvärvides hingematvalt ilus. Täna jalutuskäigu ajal tegime ka väikese kõrvalepõike Helsingi botaanikaaedadesse.

Kasside küüned said lõigatud. Seekord olid nad protseduuri ajal pisut rahutud, niiet Jan-Erik pidi neid hoidma ja kõhtusid sügama kuniks mina lõikusin. Lõigatud küüntega kassid on tubastes tingimustes ikka parem kui lõikamata küünistega isendid.

Me oleme söönud maitsvat toitu. Ma naudin jälle raamatulugemist, üle pika aja. Eile tähistasime me Rahvusvahelist Vombati Päeva.

Ilusat pühapäeva õhtut kõigile ja riietuge soojalt, sest talv on tulemas!

Carnival of Scary Stuff

Last weekend was quite eventful.

On Saturday, my parents visited our new flat. Some family members (furrier sorts) had to spend the afternoon under the bed, because omg! it's so scary when someone comes over! The result of the visit is a lot of tasty stuffs from Estonia (smoked cheese!, cheese curds!, sour cream!, candy!, chocolate!, lots of beer :D), and a bunch of good emotions.

(The following is not meant for the eyes of vegetarians!)

Jan-Erik cooked us the kind of Finnish-y food - reindeer meat with mashed potatoes and cranberry jam. Reindeer meat tastes a bit unusual, but not bad, and it is not the kind of heavy meat you'd expect (like moose or some wild animals).

(Ok vegetarians can look again.)

Before sending off my parents to the ferryboat we went to see the tourist attraction a couple of hundred metres from our flat called Temppeliaukio Church (Temppeliaukion kirkko) - a very unique looking building that is cut into the rock mass. It doesn't look like a church from outside, in fact, it doesn't look like a building at all - it's more like a giant egg buried into the ground (from a certain angle at least).

On Sunday was held the last day of Linnanmäki amusement park light carnival. It was funny being in the amusement park in the evening, when it was dark outside. After some calculations it was concluded that the last time I was in an amusement park was 10+ years ago. Probably 20ish years. After that I have been on kind of a Ferris wheel-like of a wheel in some god-forsaken place in the middle of complete wasteland in Latvia (it might have been Sigulda... not that sure anymore); it was some smaller sort of wheel, which was awfully corroded and looked like it was about to collapse any minute. To that day I have no idea what force made me climb onto that thing; it didn't have any safety barrier or anything. Being up in the air made me think of death (or at least lots of severe injuries) more than once, and after that experience I became generally fearful of all kinds of high and possibly unsafe attractions.

Naturally, there were no corroded and collapsing Ferris wheels in Linnanmäki amusement park, but the fear was still there. The very first thing we went on - surprisingly the huge big Ferris wheel (called Rinkeli) that had awesome view over the Helsinki - wasn't that scary. I simply hugged that metal pipe in the middle the whole ride and prayed for allmighties and everyone to spare me, but I didn't close eyes and was generally in quite okay shape once we made it back down.

After the next thing - Ketjukaruselli (chain carousel? click here) was a lot scarier. I sincirely believed that the chains will break and I will fly off to somewhere and have a horrible ending to myself.

As if that wasn't already enough, I let myself be lured to Mustekala, a giant Octopus-ride, where you were thrown to this side and that side and also up and down in great speed. At some point I had to close my eyes to maintain that little of the sanity I had left for that moment. Coming off from that one I solemnly promised never again! until...

"Oooooh you have to try the Rollercoaster!" said the little devil with Jan-Erik's voice on my right shoulder. I am not exaggerating when I say that my legs were literally shaking already when standing in the line (I saw that thing! it was huge and made horrible noice) and when inside the wagon, had to keep eyes closed 90% of the time. Truth be told, though, that 10% of the time I had them open, the view and everything from up there was absolutely breathtaking.

After that I had quite had enough of all the life-threatening stuff and insisted on a more peaceful kind of a ride called Coffee-Cup ride (Kahvikuppikaruselli). It was nice - on the ground, still quite speedy - perfect entertainment for children, elderly people and me. We also went on Ghost Train (Kummitusjuna - not very scary but still fun), a peaceful train on the air, which didn't make any sudden moves and rode through the amusement park (Maisemajuna), a funny track course that wasn't scary but maybe a bit more physically and mentally demanding (Vekkula), and a small indoors-rollercoaster Linnunrata (which could have been real scary but not if you have been on the big rollercoaster beforehand :p). Jan-Erik also went on a totally suicidal Kieppi, something that tosses you left, right, up, down, back, forth, and all that in great speed and with steep changes of direction - I was determined to not test parting with my dinner on that one, so I said firm "no".

Scary stuff.

And something less scary, some photos from the weekend:

Töölö Bay.

One, two, fail.

Many shades on one tree :)

At the amusement park.

The Ferris wheel.

A friendly pumpkin.

Hovercraft cat / Hõljuk-kass

Hovercraft cat is a very compact cat.

Compare:


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Hõljuk-kass on väga kompaktne kass.

Piu-pääuuuu.

Sigh, I feel like a bad mum who has forgotten about her baby (the blog) for a while.

Nothing astonishingly remarkable has happened. Just normal autumn life with different devourable foods, drinks, movies, series, shopping, walks in the dark city. And endless source of free entertainment at home called "The Robert & Mammu Show".

Here's Mammu again in the kitchen :p Got a bit closer shot this time. I have no idea why she likes to be in such a peculiar position, but when there are such chairs, she does it (already in my other flats she acted the same). Robert doesn't have that kind of funny signature poses, but he has started acting a bit weird in here, making funny sounds. Robert cannot really meaow like a normal cat, instead he either opens and closes his mouth with no sound coming out, or does some high-pitched "päu-päu" sounds (not very characteristic to cats). But now, when in play mode (that means running around, stalking, "hunting" different objects) he makes those very strange throat noises ("krrrr-prrr-krrr krh krrrh"), so we started calling him "exotic animal", as those noises are probably more suitable for the jungle environment.

Jan-Erik ordered a bunch of fancy cat food from Germany. Stuff with chicken, shrimps, tuna, in jelly and in non-jelly, jeez. The cats are already so spoiled :p If i was to try to feed them the food they used to eat in Tallinn, I'd probably see some middle fingers. But it's nice of him to do it. Usually cats get to start eating before we can :)

On Sunday we went to the movies. I would not do that in Helsinki unless I had free tickets :p The movie theatre ticket price difference between Tallinn and Helsinki, roughly (the movie theatres belong to the same international chain):

Tallinn: 4 € (weekday), 5.50 € (weekend), 4.70 € and 7 € respectively for 3D.
Helsinki: 10 € (weekday), 12 € (weekend), 12 € and 14 € respectively for 3D.



So yea. We went to see "Drive" with Ryan Gosling (who made a memorable role in "Lars and the Real Girl") and Bryan "The Heizenberg" Cranston. Good film, good music, good atmosphere, good wibe, only the plot was lacking a bit. Not good enough to give out 12 € for it though, come to think of it. I think that proportionally, that cheesecake we had earlier that afternoon in Pizza Hut was better than the movie. (It was a VERY VERY good cheesecake. Nom.)



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Nonii, nüüd ma tunnen ennast nagu ema, kes oma lapse (blogi) on unarusse jätnud.

Mitte midagi vapustavalt märkimisväärset ei ole toimunud. Tavaline sügisene vaikelu täis erinevaid maitsvaid toite, jooke, filme, seriaale, ostlemist, jalutuskäike pimedas linnas. Ning lõputult tasuta kodust meelelahutust nimega „Roberti & Mammu show“.

Esimesel pildil on jälle Mammu köögis :p Sain seekord pisut lähemalt pildistada. Mul ei ole õrna aimugi, miks talle selline veider asend imponeerib, aga kui läheduses on taolisi toole, siis pole sellest pääsu (juba eelmistes korterites käitus ta samamoodi). Robertil ei ole selliseid naljakaid signatuurpoose, kuid ta on hakanud siin veidralt käituma küll, nimelt tegema veidraid häälitsusi. Robert ei oska korralikult mäuguda nagu normaalsed kassid; selle asemel ta avab ja sulgeb suud nagu kala kuival ilma, et mingit häält kuulda oleks, või siis saab hakkama mingi kileda „päu-päuga“ (mitte eriti kassipärane). Aga nüüd, mänguhoos (st siis jooksmist, varitsemist, erinevate asjade „küttimist“) teeb ta mingeid kummalisi kurguhäälitsusi („krrr-prr-krr krh krrrh“), nii et me hakkasime teda kutsuma „eksootiliseks loomaks“, kuna need hääled sobituksid paremini džunglikeskkonda.

Teisel pildil on hunnik kassitoitu, mille Jan-Erik Saksamaalt tellis. Kraam täis kana, krevette, tuunikala, želees ja mitte-želees, appike. Kassid on juba nii ära hellitatud :p Kui ma prooviksin neile sisse sööta seda toitu, mida nad tavaliselt Tallinnas sõid, siis ma ilmselt näeksin nende poolt vaid keskmiseid sõrmi. Aga see on kena, et Jan-Erik nendega tegeleb. Tavaliselt saavad Mammu ja Robert oma söögi enne kätte, kui meieise :)

Pühapäev oli kinopäev. Ma muidugi Helsingis muidu kinno ei läheks, kui just ei ole tasuta piletid kusagilt saadud :p Kinoseansside hindade erinevus Tallinnas ja Helsingis, laias laastus ja umbkaudu (tegemist on sama keti kinodega):

Tallinn: 4 € (E-R), 5.50 € (nädalavahetus), 4.70 € ja 7 € vastavalt 3D.

Helsingi: 10 € (E-R), 12 € (nädalavahetus), 12 € ja 14 € vastavalt 3D.

Niiet, jah. Käisime vaatamas filmi „Ohtlik sõit“ Ryan Goslinguga (kes tegi meeldejääva rolli filmis „Lars and the Real Girl“) ning Bryan „Heizenberg“ Cranston. Hea film, hea muusika, hea atmosfäär, hea wibe – ainult süžee oli nõrgavõitu. Mitte piisavalt hea, et välja käia 12 € siiski, kui mõtlema hakata. Ma arvan, et proportsionaalselt, see juustukook mida sõime varem selsamal pärastlõunal Pizza Hutis, oli parem kui film. (See oli VÄGA VÄGA hea juustukook. Nom.)

See oli ennemuistsel aal, kui heeringas elas kuival maal / Old Herring song

Argh, again it is already keskiviikko (Wednesday). Weathers are getting colder now and it would probably be wise to dig out some warmer coats from the closets.

On Sunday (after having woken up at 6 am due to lack of sleep :p) we went to fish market called Silakkamarkkinat, in the port area. Silakka is a small herring-type of fish. Atlantic Herring, says Wikipedia. The market was full of different fish foodstuffs, and other foods. Everything looked very tasty, we ate cooked Muikku, another small fish. Those fishes are so small that you can eat them "with tail and horns", as we say in Estonia, so with heads, tails and bones, since the bones are so soft and small.

Stadin Silakkamarkkinat - since the year 1743

Patriotic carrots, and other stuffs

Sunday was an ideal day to cover Helsinki on bike. We saw much beautiful, colourful and autumny. It is still a bit difficult for me to get used to the fact that you can lock your bike in the middle of the city and go away for a day, and when you return, the bike is actually still there :p In Tallinn I think some "bike lovers" might take your bike, along with this huge metallic bike holder it is attached to.

But, moving on. At the weekend we made sushi makis. It was NOMMSOM. It is nice to cook in a big kitchen. Yesterday I made slightly spicy tuna pasta and Mammu got very excited. She's a big tuna lover and helped me "wash" the tuna can :p

Sushi pipes

Cut and ready maki pieces

I shall finish off now and promise myself that in near time I shall write about more interesting things, like the garbage sorting peculiarities in Estonia and Finland, or the differences in public transportation system.

For the end still some more photos of lovey autumny Helsinki port and centre area from Sunday.

Careful, camels on the road


Helsinki Cathedral

Homage to great art

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Ja juba jälle ongi kolmapäev. Ilmad on külmemaks muutumas ning oleks vist mõttekas otsida kappidest mõned soojemad mantlid.

Pühapäeval, peale kella kuuest äratust hommikul (kuna und lihtsalt ei olnud :p) läksime patseerima Helsingi Räimeturule (Silakkamarkkinat) sadamapiirkonnas. Silakka on selline väike heeringa-tüüpi kala. Turg oli pungil erinevat kalavärki, ja teisi toite ka. Kõik tundus nii maitsev, sõime küpsetatud rääbist, mis on üks teine pisike kala. Need kalad on nii väikesed, et neid võib süüa „koos saba ja sarvedega“ – kõige peade, sabade ja luudega, kuna luud on nii pehmed ja väikesed.

Pühapäev oli lausa ideaalne linnas rattaga ringi kimamiseks. Nägime palju ilusat, värvilist ja sügisest. Minu jaoks on ikka veel pisut raske harjuda faktiga, et siin sa võid oma ratta lukustada ja jätta kuhu iganes linna keskel ning minna ära terveks päevaks, ja kui tagasi tuled, on ratas ikka veel olemas :p Tallinnas, ma arvan, et mõned „rattasõbrad“ võivad võtta ratta koos kõige selle suure metallist hoidikuga, mille külge see pandud on.

Kuid liigume edasi. Nädalavahetusel tegime sushi makisid, mis olid i-me-head. Suures köögis on väga mõnus süüa teha. Eile tegin ma kergelt vürtsikat tuunikalapastat ja Mammu läks väga sapsi täis. Ta on suur tuunikalafänn ja aitas mul tuunikalakarbi ilusti puhtaks „pesta“ :p

Lõpetan hetkel ja luban endale, et lähiajal kirjutan mõnest natuke huvitavamast teemast, näiteks prügi sorteerimise erisustest Eesti ja Soome vahel, või erinevustest ühistranspordisüsteemis.

Lõpetuseks veel mõned fotod kaunist sügisesest Helsingist, üles võetud kesklinnas ning sadamapiirkonnas.