Hi Owl

I found a perfect gift to any child (or an adult): a hobby-owl (keppipöllö).

Just like you can ride a hobby-horse, you can fly with the hobby-owl. I cannot imagine a child who would not want to have a gift like this.

I made this discovery from We Got Beef's Christmas Market and it is made by Nora Helsinki. 

Copenhagen Tivoli Christmas Lights

Christmas in Tivoli is one of the year's highlights in Copenhagen.

This year's theme was Russian and Scandinavian Christmas.

Brilliantly planned area with extensive light decorations and lots of activities to choose from: one could just stroll around and enjoy the athmosphere,

take a ride in amusement park

shop Christmas stuff at handcraft stalls

  

or have a warm glögg.

A great place to get into the Christmas mood!

December Stuff

Well, it is that time of the year again: Christmas.

The whole year has gone really quickly, especially December. And as we got snow in Helsinki already in November it is going to be a long cold winter.

The first month with white snow and beautiful lights is quite OK, but after freezing several months and trying to survive of slippery streets and snow fallings from the roofs it gets pretty frustrating. 

So therefore it is so cozy to sit inside and enjoy warm glögg or coffee every now and then.

Now it is December and the Christmas shopping keep everybody buzy. Outside Christmas markets can be quite a challenge when the temperature drops below -10 degrees C, but it is nice to look around the arts and crafts at the stalls.

And then it is time for a glögg if you start to freeze too much. 

Books are essential part of my Christmas break as I usually do not have that much time to read or concentrate on reading a book. Therefore I love to visit the book markets and try not to buy any more books as I already have too many unread at home.

So nice to get a short Christmas break before stating a new year.

Ursula Martinez: My Stories, Your Emails

Ursula Martinez is a British writer, performer and cult cabaret diva. She is best know for her Hanky-Panky macig striptease act and overall mixing nudity with comedy. Out of interest I went to see her My Stories, Your Emails performace at Korjaamo.

 

The first half of the performance was about short and funny stories about Ursula's family and life and the second half was about the messages she had received from strangers after Hanky Panky live act was recorded and published in the internet.

The show took about an hour and Ursula was a funny character with witty humour, but I though the act was somewhat lame. Just laughing at other people and their accents is not sufficient plot for a show. And yes, there was nudity included, although I though it had nothing to do with the performance itself. Blah!

Fine Dining At Nokka

Restaurant Nokka is located in a charming old red-tile building in an idyllic Katajanokka area.

It was chosen as the Best Restaurant in Helsinki by the food critics of Finland's leading newspaper Helsingin Sanomat so I was tempted to go and check the menu. On a Saturday evening the restaurant was fully booked so table reservation was needed. Portions on the menu were named after the place where they come from, which was a nice idea.    

As Nokka is specialized in local food we chose selection of Finnish farm delicacies as a starter. All small portions had a perfect blend of basic Finnish food flavours and they were extremely tasty. 

I really like reindeer, but do not eat it that often so that was easy choise for a main course. The portion was named Salla after a place in Lapland where the reindeers are from.

And the crown for the tasty dinner was a delicious Bûche de Noël as a dessert. So rich and so good!

Excellent service together with gorgeous food and a great company so definitely worth its price!

Muse In Helsinki

I was a bit worried about Muse's gig ending up to the list of "2012 cancelled Helsinki gigs" due to Matthew Ballamy's broken leg. Previous three concerts in Sweden and Norway had been cancelled, but Muse did play in Helsinki on 10th December - YIPPIKAYEE!

Matthew Bellamy was limping a bit, but he moved around the stage quite a lot and actually came near to the audience.

Once again amazing light show and stage effects.

 

This was my 3rd Muse concert and I am definitely going to see the next one in Helsinki in July 2013.

Saturday Brunch in Töölö

Trattoria Sogno is another great brunch place in Töölö besides Korjaamo. Restaurant is located in the the same premises that the legendary restaurant Motti use to be. Besides lunch and dinner Sogno serves really nice and sophisticated Saturday brunch.

You can choose between two alternativies: fish or meat plate. In addition to the plate, a tiny glass of healthy-tasting yogurt, a delicious chocolate cake, a special coffee and one glass of juice was included in the price. 

As the size of the plate was not huge (totally enough for me) so there were also side dishes, such as poached egg and muesli for an extra price. The plate itself was just right: small portions of many tasty things such as scrambled eggs, bacon, pepperoni sausage, parma ham, foccacio, potatoes, olives, melon, cheese and salad. 

I really enjoyed the fine tastes, beautiful presentation of the food and the interiors of the place. As a feedback I would wish that there was unlimited amount of regular coffee included in the brunch. Overall very positive experience and here I want to come again!