Jumbo's new extension

This new extension was opened in Autumn 2005. At the far end is the Stockmann Departmental Store. The other main one is in Helsinki.

Jumbo-falls

This waterfall is on the first floor. It is the first thing that greets you if come in by the old entrance. People usually sit here to get cool and take a rest from their shopping.

Here's another view of the waterfall from the escalator. The hypermarkets Citymarket(on the left) and Prisma(on the right) are here. They are basically supermarkets selling everything from food to electronics.
The shop on the left on the second floor is Jalokivi Galleria

Jumbo by bus, car or bicycle

of cos if your live nearby, walk. On the left of the bicycle stand is the carpark area. Aleksi 13, KappAhl, H&M and Intersport are just a few of the 120 shops found in this complex.

Jumbo Week

Jumbo Shopping Centre at Vantaanportti is the second largest shopping mall in Finland. It houses nearly 120 specialist shops, two hypermarkets with unbeatable prices, plus a full variety of services in the light and airy two-storey mall. With 4600 parking spaces, it has the largest parking area in Scandanavia.

Jumbo pronounced 'youm-bo'by the locals. It is a borrowed word from English and the Finns do not use it in their everyday language. The only Jumbo many are familiar with here is this shopping centre and the Jumbo jet.

More Jumbo this week...

guess the ad...

This is an ad to buy a magazine. Are you able to see who's on the cover? Make a guess, answer revealed tomorrow.

BIG, size and taste!

This was taken just 2hours ago. It is a sunny day with clear blue skies. Took this from the car while on the expressway. Very attractive ad and it turned out well too. :-)

Pingviini(Penguin) is the brand name of the ice-cream. ISO koko ja maku! refers to BIG size and taste! Uutuus = New. And the flavour is SUKLAA(chocolate).

http://www.pingviini.fi/

where are the players?

This stretch of land is usually used by the nearby schools and other organistaions. I've seen baseball and soccer being played here. This was taken last Friday nite. It was quite late then so there were only a handful of skateboarders around. (in the far right hand corner of photo, too tiny to be seen). During winter, the land is covered with ice and it is used for skating. Keep a lookout for that in about 4 months time... ;-)

here comes the bus...

I thought the bus-stop ads for the past couple of days had been enough for now. So here's the main purpose of a bus-stop, to catch that elusive bus. I was glad that I managed to get my cam and adjust the zoom in time to get the full length of the bus while it was still stationary. This was taken in Vantaanportti, near JUMBO Shopping Centre. Jumbo is the largest shopping mall in Vantaa and the 2nd biggest in Finland. Keep an eye on this site for a series of photos on Jumbo next week.

SUPERNATURAL is a series that just started its run here on Monday, 21.8. Underneath the title, the words in red read KAUHULLA ON KAUNIIT KASVOT. Literally meaning, HORROR HAS BEAUTIFUL FACES. Keen to know more about the show, here's the Official Website

Athos - Luostarielämää Pyhällä Vuorella

I was waiting for the bus at the Tikkurila bus station when this ad caught my eye. Athos - Monastic Life on the Holy Mountain.The Tennispalatsi Art Museum in Helsinki is having a large-scale exhibition of Byzantine Art. The exhibition contains treasures and sacred objects of the Greek Orthodox Church dating back for over a thousand years. Mount Athos is a semi-autonomous community of Orthodox monks located in Macedonia, northern Greece, about an hour and a half’s drive from the city of Thessaloniki. Read more in the above link.

Hard Rock Hallelujah

is the song that won this monstrous finnish group Lordi their Eurovision Song Contest 2006. This ad was at the bus-stop. Lordi is performing together with other local talents and foreign talents like Kubb from the UK, Outlandish from Denmark and Darin from Sweden on 26 August. The event is being held in Kaisaniemi Park in Helsinki. Voice 96 is the radio channel sponsoring this event.

Mäkkäri

tat's the local slang, nickname, here for Macdonalds. This is the drive thru near where i stay. Go there once in a while.

Letter from Maple

19th Aug 06, 6pm

Hi, I'm Maple. How are you all? I'm fine. Feeling nice and warm. Summer seems to be very long this year. I'm not complaining, just happy to be still green. I have a couple of brown leaves but hopefully you won't notice them. Here's a picture of me.

Will write again soon.
with love, Maple

tiny dots...

dark skies and trees but wat are the tiny dots...? make a guess, answer will be revealed tomorrow...

after the rain...

today it rained for about an hour. here's a reflection of the sky in a puddle of water. Reflections are always so beautiful...

more photos in my new blog Finland Photos

Mika Häkkisen aukio / Mika Häkkinen Square

Mika Pauli Häkkinen is a famous Finnish racing driver and two-time Formula One driver's champion. In honour of his achievements, the square was built and inaugurated on 1.6.1999. It is situated in Martinlaakso, his birthplace and where he spent his youth. Mika Häkkinen is married with two children and now lives in Monte Carlo, Monaco.


Due to the finnish grammar rules: Häkkinen's is written as Häkkisen. In Swedish, it's Mika Häkkinens plats

hakkinen.com
Wikipedia Häkkinen
location of the square
Inauguration Ceremony: More photos(text in finnish)

staple away...

An old, worn out noticeboard near a bus stop. Still in use though. An ad by Helsingin Tanssiopisto (Helsinki Dance Academy) offering dance lessons for children and youths. They are being held at Tikkurilan Silkkitehdas. (Tikkurila Silk Factory)'

Here's another photo of the complete noticeboard.

apartment

A typical apartment building in Finland. They are usually 4 to 6 storeys high.

green acres...

is the place to be.. This stretch of fields is located near Vantaanlaakso. I like the different colour compositions, esp the yellowish green, it's so serene..

For those feeling nostalgic, here's the Green Acres Theme Song;-)

not dried up...

These are the Vantaankoski rapids in the Vantaanjoki river. The river continues it's journey to Helsinki and pours out into the sea. Helsinki DP has a photo. This old file factory was founded in 1890 and now functions as a restaurant called Kuninkaan Lohet(King's Salmon). For an historical insight of this place, click here

This was taken on the other side of the bridge i was standing. Rapids fishing is of the activities done here. Thanx to Sari for pointing out this scenic place in Vantaankoski.

dried up..

All shrivelled up due to a very hot and dry summer...

elvis is here..

and he is selling burgers in Tikkurila, ;-) Elvis also serves drive thru customers. The arrow points to AUTOKAISTA (DRIVE THRU) The small window is the serving point for drive thru customers.

Heureka silta (bridge)

This cable slayed bridge was designed by Matti Ollila in 1990. The bridge connects Tikkurila railway station to the Finnish Science Centre, Heureka. It is 112m long and the Keravanjoki(river) runs under it.

More info.. (in finnish)

Singapore celebrates...

Singapore celebrates 41 years of independence today.. here's the Singapore flag.. in Vantaa, Finland.. ;-)

friends for your furry friends...

I like how the white signboard stands out against the brick building. It's hard to miss this shop which sells supplies for pets. The name of the shop is Karvaisten Kaverit literally meaning Furries' Friends. Above the shop's name reads Eläintarvike = Animal Supplies. I don't have a pet so I've never been inside the shop. Alas, it was closed when i took this. However, the sign on the right informs that they sell food, frozen items, accessories, training equipment and care products. Everything you'll need for your furry friend... (even has supplies for horses) Here's their webpage.. only in finnish: Karvaisten Kaverit

optical illusion

View the photos clockwise. Starting with the front view(sorry a bit blurry..), I thought that it was a poster. So I moved to my right to get a better shot and they looked as though they were hung by strings. Moving further to my right, i got the third shot. The final shot reveals all.. it is actually supported by horizontal bars.
This piece of optical illusion is found at the entrance of the Finnish Science Centre, Heureka

ikea

Ikea in Vantaa situated next to the highway, Kehä III. This is the second Ikea showroom in Finland. The first one is situated in Espoo, a neighbouring municipality to the west of Vantaa. This was taken at 11.30am so the parking lot is still empty. It is open from 12 to 18 on sundays during summer.

roadsigns

As with most of Finland, road signs are in Finnish and Swedish. Swedish is the second official language of Finland. Myyrmäki and Kaivoksela are two areas in Vantaa. These are the Finnish names which are usually placed first before the Swedish names. Katsastus means inspection and here it refers to the motor vehicle inspection ahead.

glass building

Always found this glass building next to the highway Kehä III fascinating. There are two companies occupying this unique building, Masino and Sejotek.

no planes but...

caught something else... heard the sound of a plane but too late to get it on cam. Instead, there was a beautiful rainbow.. it had jus drizzled an hour before this shot..

cool day...

It was about 8pm and it was still bright and warm. Photo taken opposite Tikkurila, railway station. The building behind Aktia(a bank) is a shopping centre.

Martinlaakso power plant

Took this from a moving car. Not a bad shot since i managed to get the name of the place in the photo. At the bottom left hand corner reads MARTINLAAKSON VOIMALAITOS. Voima refers to power and laitos is plant. Martinlaakso is an area in Vantaa. Also, just behind the tree, the name of the company owning this plant can be seen.Are you able to see the company name??