May Day celebrations

May Day celebrations in Helsinki on the eve of May Day. Find out more how it is celebrated in Finland here.

what is she doing?

This was taken on Friday morning. The train track is behind the lady with the green bag. But she was not looking out for the train instead she was facing the sun. She was smiling and looking up towards the shining sun. Something that I would never understand if I have never moved down here to Finland. ;-)

Song of spring

another fine day

clear blue skies

Today was nice and warm; totally opposite from yesterday. I've learnt to appreciate these days as they are hard to come by here.
After the long dark winters, one hopes for nice spring weather but the occasional rain spoils it. When a day like this arrives, I really do stop and take time to 'smell the roses' which I have never done back home in Singapore. ;-)

Spot the snail?!

The day started out sunny but in the afternoon we had rain again. :( And all the snails are out and about when it is wet.

'holy' ad

This is actually an ad (1st part)!!! Any ideas for what? Some guesses please... will reveal the 'answer'(2nd part) on sunday.

Veininmylly

Veinin-mylly(Veini's Mill) situated in Tikkurlia. This is an old mill built in 1935. In 1988 it became a cafe and still operates as one. It can be rented for special occasions as well.

what's on?

what's on at the Silkkisali Theatre.

Animal Clinic

Eläinklinikka (Animal Clinic) in Myyrmäki. Notice the wet pavaments. We've been having rainy days the past 3-4 days. Feels more like autumn weather than spring.

orange and yellow

This bus was parked at the bus stop. The driver wasnt around; no idea why it was there. The bright colours against the forest background was wat made me want to take a photo. But unfortunately, the zooming on the view made the photo turn out smaller. This was taken with my mobile camera.

Renovations

Renovations at Martinlaakson Neuvola / Kivimäen Hammashoitola. See previous post.

Martinlaakson Neuvola / Kivimäen Hammashoito

Neuvola is a clinic for children and hammashoito is the dentist. Even though they are both located at the same place, they have different area names. Strange. Anyway, it seems to be under construction now.

Took a closer look at the stuff they were disposing off, more on tat tomorrow..

Travel Fare

Here in Finland, bus/train fares are fixed regardless of the number of stops. The fares vary for different regions. This fare reader is used in Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo and Kauniainen.

1 is meant for travel within a certain region (internal journey).

2 is meant for regional travel (e.g. from Vantaa to Helsinki).

3 is whole region. (three zone extended regional ticket)

L is extended region (two zone extended regional ticket)

If one has a monthly travel card, there is no need to press the numbers. They are meant for people who pay for single trips with farecards.
Travel Card and Prices

There is of cos the traditional method of getting a bus/train ticket if one dosen't have a farecard. Just get it from the train conductor or bus driver by paying cash.

Spring flowers

Noticed these flowers on my way home today.

wat is this?

the label is a clue to wat this is...

FULL

With 4600 parking spaces, Jumbo has the largest parking area in Scandanavia but in the above shot, the parking area P1 is FULL and in P2 no. of lots VACANT is 1.

This was taken 1st day of Hullut Päivät sales.

windy

the past couple of weeks has been vey windy in Helsinki and Vantaa. look at the flags..

Why i like Finland...

Today was a beautiful sunny day. Clear blue skies against the greeny. Open spaces and nature everywhere... :-)

Shopping Carts Here

'Place Shopping Carts Here. Thank You.' I took this shot because of the small juice packets on the otherwise clean parking lot. The green is apple flavour and the orange is orange flavour. Not sure what the pink is.. could be strawberry??

cloudy skies

This is today at about 7pm. The sun, hidden behind the clouds compared to the clear skies yesterday.

setting sun

The setting sun at about 8pm today.

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

Easter eggs

Preparing for easter...

train home..

Another busy time for trains in Finland when people are heading home for Easter.

Bottle and can return

Recycling is very common here. These machines are operated by the supermarket. Here you can return the bottles and cans and the machine prints out a receipt which you can use to pay for the purchases made at the supermarket.

40 euro cents for 1.5litre soda bottles

10 euro cents for beer bottles, 330ml

10 euro cents for cans (I guess)

Click the label to see how else Finland recycles. Almost everything recyclable is recycled here...

sand truck..

This was two weeks ago when the truck was clearing the sand pebbles left over from winter.

wet stop

This was taken yesterday at a Tikkurila bus stop. It was not a rainy day and the surrounding area near the stop was dry. I don't think the bus stop was cleaned on purpose cos the water was like all over the place. where then did the water come from? Or maybe it was a rushed up cleaning job...??

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.

Theme Day: A Public Mail Box

It's theme day again. I missed the last one. So glad to have made it to this one on time. Jus the normal standard sized mailbox here in Finland. There is also a smaller version to this which is half the size.
The one here is found next to a small neighbourbood building of shops. I wanted to say shopping centre but that conjours up images of a big fancy place which it is not.

64 other Daily Photo sites are participating in the 1st April theme, "A Public Mail Box", please use the links to below to visit them. Due to time zone differences and other factors, the theme photo may not be displayed until later if you are viewing early in the day. VANTAA is no.35

1 (London (UK) ) -2 (Grenoble (France) ) -3 (Rotterdam (Netherlands) ) -4 (Greenville SC (USA) ) -5 (Hyde (UK) ) -6 (Villigen (Switzerland) ) -7 (Albuquerque NM (USA) ) -8 (Mazatlan (Mexico) ) -9 (Montréal (Canada) ) -10 (Stayton OR (USA) ) -11 (Shanghai (China) -Jing ) -12 (Arradon (France) ) -13 (Sequim WA (USA) ) -14 (Newcastle upon Tyne (England) ) -15 (Seattle WA (USA) -Kim ) -16 (Bastia (Corse) ) -17 (Minneapolis MN (USA) ) -18 (Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) ) -19 (Joplin MO (USA) ) -20 (Sharon, CT (USA) ) -21 (Cottage Grove MN [USA] ) -22 (Houston, TX (USA) -Candice & Megan ) -23 (Singapore - by Keropokman. ) -24 (Guelph, ON (Canada) ) -25 (Menton (France) ) -26 (onte Carlo, Monaco ) -27 (aples, FL (USA) ) -28 (Kyoto (Japan) ) -29 (Tokyo (Japan) ) -30 (Aliso Viejo, CA (USA) ) -31 (Cape Town (South Africa) ) -32 (Jakarta (Indonesia) ) -33 (Kitakami (Japan) ) -34 (Tel Aviv (Israel) ) -35 (Vantaa(Finland) ) -36 (Guadalajara (Mexico) ) -37 (Auckland (New Zealand) ) -38 (Nelson (New Zealand) ) -39 (Tuzla (B&H) ) -40 (Brussels (Belgium) ) -41 (Anderson, SC (USA) ) -42 (Lubbock, TX (USA) ) -43 (John, Melbourne, (Australia) ) -44 (Stavanger (Norway) ) -45 (Tenerife (Spain) ) -46 (Stockholm (Sweden) ) -47 (Boston, MA (USA) ) -48 (Not Strictly Seattle, Susan ) -49 (New York City, (USA), Ming the Merciless ) -50 (Paris [Eric], (France) ) -51 (Ampang (Selangor) ) -52 (Sydney (Nathalie) Australia ) -53 (ailea , HI (USA) ) -54 (Manila (Philippines) ) -55 (Sydney (Sally) Australia ) -56 (Cork (Ireland) ) -57 (Saarbrücken (Germany) ) -58 (Saint Paul MN (USA) by Carol ) -59 (San Diego, CA (USA) ) -60 (Mexico [POLY], (Mexico) ) -61 (Budapest (Hungary) ) -62 (Singapore (Singapore by Zannnie) ) -63 (Madrid [Dsole] (Spain) ) -64 (Nottingham (England) ) -65 (Bandung (Indonesia)) -