Getting ahead of the pack

After 7 days of formal schooling in Singapore, I'm getting a little worried.

Today, Estelle brought her English language worksheets home. She not only learnt about pronouns (like female = she, male = he) but had completed a cloze passage: this is when she had to read a short story and fill up the blanks with helping words. Looking through the list of new words she will be learning, one of them is 'exasperation'. I am exasperated she is learning this word at Grade 1.

I'm happy to say that she had all the answers right. At this point, she can quite easily cope with the English exercises. Many thanks to her teachers at ICEC who have helped her so much!

So what am I worried about?

Do all 6 or 7 year-olds in Grade 1 already know how to read? If they can't read - and I don't mean simple words like cat or dog but stories - they can't do their English worksheets at all. Pitching the level this high, it is little wonder Singaporean parents send their children to prep schools months before they start Grade 1.

How much flexibility are the school and teachers giving to students who are not up to mark to catch up with the syllabus? I'm furiously resisting tuition. But if Estelle can't cope in time to come, I may have to change my mind. I hope and pray I don't have to.

Since we came back to Singapore 2 months ago, we caught up with old friends and long-lost friends whom we have not seen for a decade (or more). For those with children, when they learnt the school Estelle is going to, their responses range from "Wow, congratulations, that school is really hard to get into" or "Well, good luck!" The school does not achieve glowing results through fun and games.

Our friends ask which school she is in and how we gain entry. For the record, we submitted the necessary forms online and were chosen in a balloting exercise. We learnt that our friends sacrificed to get their children into the school of choice. We heard real-life examples of parents who spent tens of hours "volunteering" to serve the school, some paid premium real estate prices to live near the school, and others paid (one told me he spent S$1,000) to join the school association. The highest "donation" I've heard of was... S$200k.

I am thankful we got things easy. If we were living in Singapore and didn't get in the school, we'd probably blame ourselves for not trying harder. I am grateful we didn't have to think about Plan B. Truly grateful.

In Finland, and in other Scandinavian countries, children are not expected to have learnt to read, count or write when they start Grade 1. Children play all day before 6 years old. Some children are obviously ahead of their peers, but the rest are given ample time and opportunities to catch up.

In Singapore, we pride ourselves as a meritocratic society where the ability and talent gets one ahead of the game. Egalitarian Finland, on the other hand, believes that everyone is equal regardless of economic, social or political status.

The Singaporean system exalts the educated and wealthy; the Finnish society helps the less abled, sometimes at the expense of the better-off.

People living in Singapore are urged to excel in the rat race; the incentives to move ahead are limited in Finland.

Merciless meritocracy vs forgiving egalitarianism.

The complete argument should be multi-faceted and would reveal that each society has its pros and cons.

I wish for my children to shine in their strengths and allowed to grow where there are weaknesses. Where is my perfect world?

Moving out and moving on

Tonight is our last night in Finland. By tomorrow this time, we'll be on a flight to Singapore via Frankfurt.

Yesterday, I watched as the movers pack our belongings into cardboard boxes. Clothes, bed linen, toiletries, kitchenware, books... Our worldly belongings were then loaded into a large Evergreen container, bound for the Helsinki port.

We took pictures of the nice guys who helped us move. I'm too drained to pull out the wire from my luggage to connect the camera to the computer. You'll see them another day.

The house we called home the last one-and-a-half years was cleaned and back to its original condition. There is no longer trace that we were ever present. The refrigerator looks strange without the children's drawings and little magnets. Our bedrooms are bare and devoid of our presence, our smell.

Snow fell softly as the container and the trucks drove off.

Although we have moved several times already, this time is especially poignant. We made many friends during our time here and we feel so welcome. A part of me wants to come back, actually a part of me can't believe we are really leaving. We made some good friends late into our time here but real relationships take time to build.

So heippa Suomi. We will miss you.

Comes and goes

Snow came early this year.

Last Wednesday, we woke up to a scene of white. Temperatures had been near zero for a while now so the kids are already wearing winter gear. On this day, they switched from rubber galoshes to snow boots.

We love the snow. On the way to school, they talked about making snow balls, snow men, snow angels and hopefully some sledding too.

More snow fell that day but temperatures were rather warm. By warm, I meant 2 or 3ºC. The snow soon melted and we didn't have much left by Saturday.

It didn't matter anyway because the kids fell ill last weekend. Estelle started with a fever on Friday evening and then Jules on Sunday morning. The daycare centre has 3 confirmed cases of H1N1 by today, I'm told.

We went to the clinic this morning. My request to be tested was declined because apparently there is only one laboratory serving the Greater Capital region (meaning Helsinki and its nearby suburbs). It was expected to be swarmed with samples anyway so it seemed that only more severe cases will be tested.

Do we or do we not have the swine flu? Doesn't matter as long as we recover, the doctor advised.

We have 5 days left in Finland. The meteorological station has forecasted at least 10cm of snow by tomorrow morning. We still have a chance!

Spot on

Every evening, my kids would have a selection of yoghurt, fruit and some biscuits for dessert. I think they have as much fun trying out different foods as I have buying them.

Tonight, I bought a new Paula yoghurt (as shown above). Two new flavours are introduced this week: strawberry or peach in milk yoghurt. The kids were really excited.

Jules: Mummy, do you know why the yoghurt has a picture of a cow?

Me (thinking): Because yoghurt is made from milk which comes from cows?

Jules (answering anyway): Because cows have spots.

By the way, Estelle loves the strawberry Paula but Jules had some trouble finishing it. He prefers the chocolate flavoured ones... What colour do you think are the cows?

What do you get...

... when you put together snow and a couple of cars?

Loads of fun.

But seriously, any of these situations are possible in winter and it's no laughing matter.

We met with an accident last winter when our car spun out of control one morning on our way to school. The car slid and spun 180º and before we knew it, we had hit a lamp post.

Thank God we were all alright. The window on the passenger side (my side) was shattered and the door dented. My heart leapt to my mouth, not daring to scream lest I scare the kids. We were all quiet for seconds afterwards.

Then Jules broke the silence. "Mummy, your window is broken," he announced, as a matter of fact.

I don't like accidents. One can never be too prepared for an accident. That's why the term 'accident'. Still don't like them.

PS Woke up to -1ºC this morning and HG had to scrap ice off the car. The Farmer's Almanac predicts a cold winter (for the US) this year, contradicting global warming warnings. We'll see.

Watch out, autumn is here

You don't want to crash into one of these.

This is a taxidermal specimen of a moose. Also known as an elk, there are about 150,000 of them living in the forests in Finland. Apparently, just about 30km away from home, we might be able to encounter one of these.

Here in Finland, between six months and two years after passing the driving test, one has to take what-is-called Phase II driving lessons. Phase II consists of an approximately half-hour drive with an instructor so he/she can point out areas that need improvement, and a 6-hour course at the slippery tracks.

Three weeks ago, I spent 6 hours at the slippery track driving centre. After an hour of briefing on the day's programme, the class of 6 took turns slipping and sloshing on oiled roads. One by one, we drove our cars around strategically-placed obstacles. Instructor-of-the-day Merja reminded us many times over the walkie-talkie: "Winter is coming very soon. The roads are going to be slippery."

After the driving session, Merja brought us to the "Safety House". More like house of driving horrors. We went through a maze of exhibits relating to traffic accidents. Mr Moose here and a badly-crumpled car was the first scene to greet us.

Mr Moose and his friends like to venture out of the forest when the day turns dark. This week, the sun rises at around 7 am and sets at 6.30 pm. They don't realise that at 7 pm Human Time, the night is still young and the highways are buzzing with vehicles. Statistically, the highest rate of accidents takes place between 6 pm - 7 pm during winter months.

The specimen in the Safety House stands at over 1.8m and weighs more than 250kg. According to Merja (a well-built lady who referred to me as "the small girl"), this was a young moose - it's just about 4 years old. A typical moose can grow taller than 2m and adds bulk on its body as it ages.

Should a car crash into a moose, the bonnet will hit its legs, thus smashing its huge body against the windscreen. The force of impact will easily cause lethal injuries to those in the front seats.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This morning, we woke up to 4ºC. The highest day time temperature reached today was around 9ºC. Looks like we are bidding the teens goodbye. First snow fell in the north of Finland yesterday and we are expecting sub-zero nights later this week.

I haven't update the blog for 2 weeks because I've been nursing a bad flu. I showed symptoms like headache, high fever, muscle aches, fatigue... Is it, dare I say it, swine flu? I didn't see the doctor or got tested. Thank goodness I've recovered after plenty of rest and some analgesics. This couple of weeks felt so long, but I was floating in and out of sleep so time flew by in a blur.

The good news is: I'm back!

Before I close this entry, I want to share with you another exhibit from the Safety House.

An axel turns this car 360º on its side to simulate an accident situation. The students, including myself, experienced the importance of safety belts as the car turns and we also learnt to climb out as the car is upside-down. I'm thankful I'm agile enough to climb out easily and pray that I will never have to do it in real-life.

I commented that it's a good thing I'm not pregnant, otherwise this would manoeuvre would have been very difficult. Another student, Kevin's eyes grew large. I noticed a child seat in his car so he probably has a family he's concerned about.

Autumn is here and the roads may be icy and slippery before winter arrives. Got to drive carefully.

Ripe for harvest

Autumn has arrived.

Temperatures this week barely scratched 20ºC and goes to about 12ºC in the night time. Skies were overcast and showers come down every other day. My potted plants are practically flooded.

The most significant difference is the daylight hours - the sun rises after 6 am and sets at around 8 pm. This timetable feels like the regular routine in the tropics where there are even amounts of day and night. Very soon, the balance will be tipping (more like lunging) towards darkness.

Now that rainy season has come, it's the time to pick mushrooms. Yellow chanterelles are apparently tasty and expensive, and easy to identify. Others look similar to familiar ones like button mushrooms (champignons) but are actually deadly. In this tough economic climate, it seems that more people are foraging in the woods to look for food. Tragically, some lives are paid in exchange for free food.

Our landlord is a gardener so we have a wide variety of plants in our little garden. We've had some tiny but sweet strawberries. Over the past weeks, the apples on our trees have turned red and today, we harvested some more.

Yummy apples from our own backyard. Gorgeous.

Learn by playing

This week marks the beginning of Helsinki Design Week where all things related to Design are presented.

Last year, I found out about the Design Week pretty late so the only event I attended was the Design Market. Designers and companies from around Finland took part in a "warehouse sale" where they sell off overstocks or items from previous collections. The event was held at the Cable Factory in Helsinki, which used to be an abandoned factory which has since been turned into offices and working space for hip companies.

I guess this is kind of like the 798 Dashanzi arts district in Beijing or downtown Waterloo Street in Singapore. Maybe the urban planners thought artists may be inspired by the past. Or maybe, they just can't find other less premium property to give away. Anyhow, old buildings are now "in".

So I was looking though the programme to see what other events I can take part in. There seems to be lots more organised this year, and the range is much wider too. When I checked the website over a month ago, many events were still not unconfirmed. Todays' programme looks very comprehensive.

There are several events I am interested in. The Design Market this Saturday has already been marked on the calendar and I am determined to buy something this year. I'm not sure about the furniture - they look really cool but I'm not so hot about the prices. I'm hoping to attend at least one of the conferences.

Then I came across this seminar on architecture and design education Kulttuuruareena Gloria. It sounds a lot like my Interdisciplinary Product Design workshop, until I clicked on the web link and found out about Arkki, the School of Architecture for Children and Youth. In keeping with the Finnish culture, children are taught architecture through play. Looking at the video presentations, it's amazing that kids in their pre-teens are working with architecture plans and building pretty complex models. Above all, they are having lots of fun.

Here is a video of a Hut Building Camp held during summer time.

Hut Building Camp for Kids from Misty Friday Films on Vimeo.

Classes start for children as young as 4 years old. This would have a really good course for my kids and I am sure their lives will be very much enriched. Whether they will finally become architects is besides the point.

Unfortunately, we can't commit to their attendance until they are 18 years old. Secondly, I suspect the classes are conducted only in Finnish, which puts us at a great disadvantage. If we want to live in Finland in the long term, we really should be learning the language. But we only have short term plans here, which excludes us from fully benefitting from what Finland can offer.

The kids' kampong father thinks building those tree houses are chicken feet, while their mom reminisces those happy RR days building teepees and other structures. We hope our kids will develop a love for nature, and find their place out of this sanitised and air-conditioned world.

Working for a living

Yesterday, I chanced upon this article on the Finnish broadcaster YLE's website. It features a fresh graduate Liu Tianyan in the tough job market.

I met Tianyan last autumn while covering a university-linked event. He was the President of International Student Organisation (Tsemppi) at the University of Helsinki and at that time, was pursuing a Masters degree in IT. He seemed like the sort who excels academically and busied himself with student activities and part-time work at a software company. He was good-looking and presented himself well.

Tianyan is Chinese. His family came to Finland some years ago. I remember his father was a diplomat and his family left when the posting came to an end. He chose to stay on in Finland partly for the free education and also because he wanted to be with his girlfriend, who was Finnish.

In Singapore, students with this kind of record seldom have trouble getting a job. Most times, they would have received offers even before graduation, sometimes even several to choose from.

Last autumn, Tsemppi arranged a get-together for students concerned about life after graduation. At that time, the economy had not plummeted so the students' anxiety seemed, to me, just normal for people preparing to enter a new phase of life. Things took a turn for the worse by Q4 and as time went by, joblessness of young people below the age of 25 became a social problem for governments worldwide.

Soon after that Tsemppi event, I dropped an e-mail to a professor from NUS who had helped me land my first job. Hearing those students made me realise I got things easy, so I'm grateful.

All these years, I have also kept in touch with my boss from my first job, who had been a great mentor, continually offering sound advice. As I come to the end of my summer course and we talked about intellectual property protection, I'm reminded that my ex-boss tried to persuade me to take up a second degree in law since the IP law is a lucrative, not to mention respected, profession. I turned down her best of intentions because I didn't really want to go back to school. Did I regret my decision? Not exactly because it wasn't what I want to do, but in view of job opportunities, I am probably more employable as a patent lawyer than as a writer.

At this point in my life, I am blessed that my family and I can lead a good life even though I am not contributing to our household income. I am happy I can spend time with the children and do things I like. Many other families out there can't have this luxury.

But I won't likely remain like this. My team mate from the summer course could tell that I won't be staying at home long, even though we've only known each other for 2 weeks.

I am in transition. The past 5 years feel like a long transition. Now that the summer course is coming to an end (tomorrow!), I wonder where life brings me next.

Back to nature

Last weekend was a hectic one.

The family woke up at around 8.30 am and we rushed through breakfast and attire changes so that we could reach the centre of Helsinki by 10 am. We arrived at the pick-up point at 10.15 and thankfully, the bus hadn't left yet.

About 40 minutes later, we arrived at Finland's Nuuksio National Park. No more sounds of traffic, just lapping waves on the shores of the lake and bantering of students.

I began the day with canoeing. My partner was a software developer from Switzerland and he related funny stories of his visit to Malaysia's Taman Negara. One night, he and his friends heard a loud crash on their zinc roof and everyone went rushing out. They'd thought a bomb had gone off but it was actually just a durian. He said he wouldn't have minded durian if it wasn't so pungent.

We canoed along one end of the lake, taking in the greenery and quaint summer cottages situated along the coast. Such peace and serenity.

After working out the arms, it was time to stretch the legs. We took a hike along rocky paths, which our guide said were formed as the glaciers receded after the Ice Ages. We climbed several hundred feet to look down at the pristine lake, 7 km across, beautiful.

This is my first time hiking in a coniferous forest, which I find a different experience from a tropical one. Humidity was low so I hardly perspired and we didn't encounter pests like mosquitoes or leeches. Instead of damp dead twigs and leaves, the forest floors at Nuuksio were carpeted by blueberry shrubs. There were blueberries everywhere. We didn't have lunch before the hike so many of us were kind of hungry. The berries provided some relief.

I guess I have some experience with berry picking this summer so I munched on them as I walked. Some of the other students were hesitant to eat the berries. We also spotted mushrooms along the way - mushroom season is on the way. Our guides said they were edible, if you were looking for special effects. Ah ha...

We finished the day with sauna and BBQ. The lake was open for swimming. It must have been exhilarating but I'm not a good swimmer, so I won't risk my life.

HG brought the kids to join me later in the afternoon. I saved some sausages and tortilla for them; I think they have gotten the hang of Finnish BBQ.

At some point, I want to bring our kids camping. We bought a tent from Ikea and placed it in the garden. They played in there for a while, but they moved out when the bugs moved in. Oh well, we tried.

Opening the door of knowledge...

... is tiring.

Today ends the second week of Helsinki Summer School. If we had thought the pace of last week's course was "just right", it picked up speed from Monday. We've had workshops and hands-on projects almost every day.

The students didn't really know what to expect as we begun the course, each given a broad outline. According to the programme, each day was described by a one-liner. Yesterday (Thursday), for example, was to be a two-worder: PD6 workshop.

It turned out to be the most intensive project we had to undertake, thus far. After a 1-hour introduction-cum-briefing, we spent the next few hours working on our assignment, finishing off with a prototype and presentation. Man, most of us were totally exhausted by the end of the day. We were rewarded with a BBQ, sauna and pool afterwards, for whoever cared to stay behind.

Again, I'd say that I learnt lots in the past 2 weeks. I met with many experts who were so willing to share their knowledge and threw myself into the assignments and learning from my team mates and classmates.

I have a very good team - enthusiastic, serious, knowledgeable and fun. We have built up excellent team spirit over the past few days, playing and working together.

The Summer School has organised an outing to the Nuuksio national park tomorrow. I tried to offload my place since I'm pooped and would have preferred a lazy day at home. It turned out that several of my classmates have signed up for tomorrow, meaning that those who are interested to go are going. Went to the supermarket after class today so I'm equipped with makarras, tortillas and possibly marshmallows.

I'm praying the rain will hold tomorrow. Daddy HG will be spending quality time to bond with the kids while I'm off to the wilderness. Should be fun.

What's the big idea?

Today is Day 4 of my Summer School course and the topic covered was idea generation.

How does one develop a good product? First of all, we start with a good idea. Or rather a whole lot of good ideas and pick the best one, or two, among them.

The class went through some drawing and idea generation exercises. I found the two workshops particularly intense because each team had to generate as many novel ideas as it can within short periods of time.

I enjoyed today's class very much since we spent less time listening and more time working out our cognitive faculties. I'm also happy that I can power up and get into the flow very quickly.

Thus, I am happy to announce that my team came up tops with the most number of ideas. Not bad for an official stay-at-home mom! Sshh... nobody in my class knows.

Yesterday, I went on a dragon boat safari on the seas around Helsinki. Enough participants from the Summer School came to fill up 3 dragon boats. We took about an hour to go from the Canoeing Centre around Seurasaari and back again. I've had guy friends (one of them is my dear husband) complain that their female friends tend to sit back to enjoy the "wonderful sea view and breeze" while they paddle like crazy during canoeing trips. Well, I really enjoyed rowing!

Nearly a week after I've started school, I realised that the competitive streak in me never went away - it was just latent. It's been a while since I've felt so challenged, so motivation levels are running at all time high.

Still, I have to remind myself that my classmates come from different backgrounds and live in various circumstances. Being over-zealous will, quite definitely, backfire on me. Besides gaining some hard-core knowledge, this course is also about learning to get along and work with others.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow!

Moon, class and Jules

We kinda know that the season is changing because the sun finishes its shift around 10.30 pm this week. I chanced upon a full moon tonight at 11.30 pm.

Today is officially my first lesson at my course. I think I have learnt a lot already, on the first day, about product development.

I was late because I couldn't find the venue - Aalto Design Factory, and was driving around Otaniemi (one of Helsinki's high tech region, quite like Silicon Valley) for over half an hour.

After a tour of the facilities, each student took turns to introduce themselves, their background, what they think are good and bad qualities of product developer, and companies or products they appreciate.

Again, it's fun to hear from everyone. Apple was an oft-quoted company and looks like it has many admirers.

After lunch, our lecturer Mr Kalevi Ekman gave an introduction to the process of product development. I came to the course thinking we'll be taught how to design new and innovative products. Then I learned (but really, it should be obvious) that there is much more involved and a lot more factors to consider before simply saying "I want to design a new product".

Besides getting lost in Otaniemi, today is also a challenging day because Jules has fallen ill. He awoke this morning to a slight fever (37.5ºC) so we decide to keep him at home. When I called during lunch, HG told me he had puked several times and not eating or drinking much. He couldn't retain any inputs.

Times like these really make me think about giving up pursuing what I enjoy and instead stay at home to fulfill my maternal responsibilities.

But I have a supportive husband, whom I have to learn to trust to take care of the household while I am away.

Jules hasn't rejected any food since dinner. He didn't eat much either but better than nothing. His fever is now hovering between 38.4 and 38.8, unfortunately.

I have a long day tomorrow. The class will meet at 8 am for a couple of industry visits and scheduled to end 5.30 pm. Just now, I read some pages from my textbook - rare! I'm looking forward to tomorrow and pray that Jules will be better when he awake.

Back to school

Summer holiday is over. The children started school this week. Their daycare centre was closed for one week and we missed 3 days before that when we took a cruise to Sweden.

The kids were very excited to go back to school. Finland starts the academic year in autumn so the kids went back to new classes. They are excited to see their friends again, and seem keen to make new ones.

But I am also referring to myself. Today is the first day of Helsinki Summer School where I have enrolled in a course.

Back to school after more than a decade. I'd thought I'll be the oldest student but it seems that I have a companion in Esther, a girl from The Netherlands. I may have dwelt on my agedness too much because she had to tell me that both of us are actually still young!

During the welcome ceremony today, the course coordinator announced that 60 countries are represented among the 360 participants, starting from Albania to Zambia. The largest representation came from China (40), followed by Germany (37) and a wide array of students from all continents (except Antartica). Seems that Finland has just around 10 students. Only 1 from Singapore... moi.

My course held a briefing today so I had a glimpse of my classmates. There's a German, an Italian, a Venezuelan, a Japanese, a Finn, a Swedish Finn... I didn't catch all their names and nationalities.

It's always fun to meet people from other countries and cultures. Everyone is different... unique.

I have a Chinese classmate who spoke fluent Finnish. Initially I'd thought he is studying in Finland and has taken Finnish lessons. It turned out that he is from Beijing but had lived in Finland when he was a young boy. His primary (elementary) education was carried out in Finland and he returned to China 8 or 9 years ago. He didn't use Finnish afterwards until he arrived in Helsinki 2 or 3 days ago. Amazingly, he spoke Finnish and to me, he spoke like a native. He claimed that he isn't very good but I believe that he just needs some time to "warm up". It's like someone had turned on a switch in his brain and he speaks Finnish all over again.

I'm sure I'll meet more fascinating people the next 3 weeks. Besides meeting new people, I also hope I can follow the course and learn something useful.

Celebrating family ties

The last couple of weeks felt like a whirlwind holiday. Together with our parents, we covered three countries - Finland, Sweden and Estonia - in 13 days. Whew!

Using Finland as our base, we took a 3-day cruise to Stockholm and a day-trip to Tallinn. Compared to holiday tours boasting 8 countries in 14 days, we travelled at a more relaxed pace. We spent more time shopping, going back to points of interest if needed and rest when we were tired.

Stockholm is a great shopping destination although we only had time for Gamla Stan and the area around T-Centralen. Shopping in Finland gets a little boring after a while because there are only a handful of brands and they are duplicated around town. In the homeland of H&M, I am re-acquainted with some favourite high-street names. I tried on a TopShop denim skirt which proclaimed my size but I couldn't pull them beyond my knees. Blame it on the good food my mother-in-law had been preparing over here.

I sailed away from Stockholm with only a book bought at a second-hand store - The Accidental by Ali Smith. Too bad we didn't have time for the Ostermalm district where there are many hip boutiques and cafes.

Tallinn Old Town from a high vantage point

Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia is about 2 hours by ship from Helsinki and is a popular destination among Finns, especially during summer time.

Tallinn's Old Town, a UNESCO heritage site, is a beautiful medieval city fortified by thick stone walls. According to this history brief, only 20 of the original 66 towers are left. Good enough because they are wonderful samples of ancient architecture that have withstood the test of time. Nearly 800 years after they have been built, the city walls and towers are still as tough as ever. Outside of the Old Town, remnants of Russian architecture stand starkly.

HG and I visited Tallinn about 8 or 9 years ago. This trip brought back many memories for us as we revisited the various locations. There's the Flower Street, McDonald's restaurant, Fat Margaret Tower, and the Artist Path where local artists display their works on old city walls. As I looked at the painted scenes of Tallinn, I'm reminded of the ones that still hang in our matrimonial home in Singapore.

One of these towers is nicknamed Fat Margaret. Guess which?

Tallinn's Old Town is very much a tourist haven. Almost every lane is lined with souvenir shops selling fridge magnets, old-styled Estonian apparel, pottery and amber accessories. It was only in our last hour in Tallinn that I stumbled upon a little shop selling hand-made clothes and jewelry. Sigrid Valgma studied industrial design and made jewelry as a hobby. Earlier this year, she turned her hobby into a business. She didn't abandon her major because she told me she built the furniture in her shop herself. You can click on her name to view her gallery of products. The work of her partner, Kadri Siirman, can be viewed here.

I bought a ring made of white jade, freshwater pearls and glass beads designed by Sigrid. I am very pleased with my purchase because I'd really wanted to buy a unique piece of local art.

Our visitors left today. I think they enjoyed their first trip to Europe very much, experiencing new environments, seeing different people and lifestyles, walking on cobblestones, trying out new foods... and of course, spending precious time with their grandchildren.

We are back to our usual routine... starting with a major clean-up tomorrow.

Strawberry fields

Strawberry fields don't last forever; strawberries are fruits of summer.

I received an sms just after 6 pm today from one of Estelle's classmate, Holly's mom.

"Hi, today seems good to pick strawberry. Would you like to around 6.30-7pm?" she asked.

I replied: "My husband is not in. I don't have GPS..."

Since we live rather close by, we arranged to meet somewhere (actually, it's the Nokia office since my knowledge of Espoo is limited), then their car led ours.

I've picked apples, pears and peaches on the outskirts of Beijing. This is my first time picking strawberries.

At farms like these, visitors are typically allowed to eat all they can on-location. Visitors can bring their own baskets or containers and are charged according to the weight of fruit collected.

The farm is just less than 10 km from our home. We are thankful for friends with local knowledge! We arrived after 7.30 pm and had only half an hour because the farm closes at 8 pm.

Nevertheless, the kids had lots of fun running around the large field. We ate as we picked and had a pretty good harvest. The strawberries were very sweet.

During the 5-minute walk from the field to the weighing station, our yield dropped 20% as the kids munched along. Good thing anyway, since we pay 80% less than what we would have.

In the next 5 minutes between the farm and our car, our stock had nearly halved. We had some more for dessert tonight...

So we now have a good reason to go down to the strawberry field again next week. Summer is short in this part of the world - we have to enjoy while it lasts.

PS Do you realise it's really bright for past 8 pm? These two pics were taken on the way out.

A cloudy night

We woke up to a bright and cool morning. I opened the back door to be greeted by a light 16ºC breeze. Nice.

The clouds built up after lunch. We had planned a picnic at Kaivopuisto this afternoon but had to settle for some drinks and snacks at Carousel Cafe because the sky was displaying dark shades of gray.

Rain drizzled down around 7 pm. In spite of the heavy clouds, there was no downpour. Maybe later tonight; I hope so because my garden desperately needs some watering.

Today's picture was taken just before 11 pm. Darkness has not yet fallen. Compared to previous summer nights, it looks as if the dimmer is on.

Even as the sight of lit street lamps remind me of the normalcy of day and night, I also remember that this level of brightness comes on as early as 3 pm during winter days.

From the equator where the sun rises at (about) 6.30 am every morning and sets at (about) 6.30 pm every evening, pole living proves that the world is different to different people.

Quite like the story of the blind men trying to describe an elephant, isn't it?

Daylight in the night time

I captured a beautiful sunset from our bathroom window tonight.

Can you guess what time it is?

The weather was great today. The clouds moved away to show off the sun in all its glory.

When we picked the kids up school today, they were playing outdoors and had shed their jackets. Seemed that the teachers brought out benches, colouring materials, mats and books outside and all the kids have been out after lunch. Temperature was hovering above 20ºC and warmer at places where the sun shone.

After dinner, we went out (again) to play with the neighbours. Our neighbour's boy (the one with the thick earthworm) was running around in singlet and shorts. Our kids had some sleeves to protect their shoulders, if this helped.

These days, the kids sleep after 9 pm while we usually go to bed around 1 am, after we've caught a few minutes of Wolf Blitzer. What's the diff - like the hours preceding him, it's all about Iran anyway...

I took an early shower today. 11.30 pm. That's the time I caught today's sunset.

Catching the sunset

Do you know what time it was when this picture was taken?

Make a guess.

Midsummer is the longest day of the year, also known as the summer solstice. Astronomically, the summer solstice falls on 24 June. In Finland, Juhannus is a national holiday that is celebrated on the Saturday that falls between 20 and 26 June.

On Friday (19 June), shops will open at 8 am and close at 1 pm, and remain close on Saturday. Long queues at the supermarket can be expected on Thursday evening and Friday morning. I have already prepared my battle plan to conquer the supermarkets Thursday.

Finns celebrate Juhannus by lighting bonfires. Seurasaari, an island in Helsinki, is the annual site for bonfires, dances and traditional costumes. We hope to catch a Juhannus celebration this year, whether at Seurasaari or elsewhere.

During summer in the upper northern latitudes, like in Helsinki, the sun sets at around 10 pm and is up 3 am. Some people have trouble sleeping and their body clocks go topsy-turvy. I've read suggestions like installing thick dark-coloured curtains and sticking those black garbage bags to windows to block out the sun.

The Toh family just sleeps. ZZZ... zzz... ZZZ... zzz...

The kids go to bed at around 9 pm and wake up at 8 am the next day. If the little ones cooperate on weekends, which they usually do nowadays, we all get up at 9.30 am. A real treat for parents with young kids! Estelle looks forward to weekends because "I can sleep for as long as I want".

So, have you guessed what time it is?

12.30 am. Serious.

This is the midnight sun. Further up north, the phenomenon is more obvious where day light is turned on even at midnight.

I'll be taking more picture over the next few days. Stay tuned.

Helsinki Samba Festival

Last Saturday was Helsinki's Samba Festival, part of the Helsinki Day celebrations.

We were treated to beautiful costumes, loud music and a great atmosphere of fun. The parade lasted around an hour and half - some people left halfway thinking all floats had passed. The last item was the Sambic band and supported by a troupe of dancers, who looked like they were members of a fitness club.

The weather on Saturday was excellent. We were greeted with chilly winds and later bathed in warm sunshine. I think we got a suntan!

Our kids enjoyed a great, unblocked view of the parade on top of a electrical mains box.

Helsinki is really wonderful in summer.