Paris in motion

Small car good, big car bad

This is true at least in busy European cities like Paris.

In Helsinki, like in Paris, when a strip of road on the side is designated for parking, it's just that, a strip of road. Quite unlike in Singapore where each parking lot is marked clearly on the ground. This means that as long as your car fits in the lot, go ahead and park.

In this case, as long as the car fit and it did not disrupt traffic flow, park it.

Thus, small cars like the 2-person Smart or Mini are very popular. Large or long MPVs tend to be quite rare but I suspect finding lots in suburban or rural areas are less difficult. We also spotted a large Humvee with a Middle Eastern/Arabic licence plate parked outside a luxury hotel.

My mother-in-law saw the Smart car when she visited us this summer. She thought that this model wouldn't sell in Singapore where cars are a status symbol - the bigger the better.

But some families need an MPV since grandparents and children (and sometimes maids too) are huddled into one car.

We have a Mini - a seat for each of us. Just nice.

I wuz here

Jules and his family joined the rest of the over 32 million tourists to Paris each year. According to Econovista, Paris' promotion department, the city is the world's most popular tourist destination.

We visited many sights in Paris over the past 6 days. We checked in at the necessary attractions: the Eiffel Tower, Lourve museum and palace, Pompidou Centre, Panthéon, Notre-Dame, Jardin des Tuileries. We also went shopping at the famous Galeries Lafayette and admired its beautiful stained glass ceiling. As we strolled through the city, we also saw countless wonderful churches, opera houses, museums and other buildings whose names were too insignificant to feature on our tourist map.

We rested our tired feet at cosy cafés and munched on delectable sandwiches and pastries. There was the organic market where we snacked on fig and nut bread, muffins and even a piece of freshly rotisserie chicken. We headed to Paris' specialty street for crepes and apple cider. Our children savoured steaming bowls of wakame udon. Japanese was one of their favourite cuisine and the last time they had it professionally done was back in March.

I made time for a haircut, having had 6 inches snipped off. Ala Audrey Hepburn in the Roman Holiday, my friend tells me. Why go all the way to Paris? Because it is cheaper in Paris than Helsinki...

HG also had his hair trimmed. I noticed the hairdresser didn't speak English although her colleague helped to translate his requests. What do you think is the result?

Although we had more time this round, there are still sights I wish I could have visited. Like the Musee d'Orsay, the Bastille, Montmartre district and Little Vietnam where another friend has sourced a list of good restaurants. Do you know you can get the nicest baguettes outside France in Vietnam? I can imagine the reverse is true: one can get very good Viet food outside Vietnam in France.

Our lives and resources are too limited. I can't get enough of Paris. I'm thinking of going back already but I also want to visit other parts of France, Sweden, Britain, Japan, Korea... and the list goes on!

Can't wait to go to the next destination to stamp my mark "MZ wuz here".

D'amour Paris

Paris is lovely.

There is Disneyland in Paris so that's the excuse to make a trip with the kids. This is also a holiday for the adults where we can see, eat and shop.

Paris is best explored on foot so we walked, and walked, and walked. By Day 1, we had walked along Avenue Charles de Gaulle, all the way from La Defense to the Arc du Triomphe. That's a spectacular 4 km. I'm so proud of my kids.

In an interesting twist, we spent 2 days in Paris with two Japanese classmates of mine from the Helsinki Summer School.

Memi is partly based in Paris where she is taking a year off work to tour Europe. Yuta is taking a 3-day break in Paris before going home to Sendai in Japan.

Many Asians visit Paris for the luxury shops. Louis Vuitton along Champs-Élysee feels more like a market than a high-end boutique. Conversations in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese and Korean were exchanged along crowded counters. Handbags filled the display shelves and counters on the ground floor of the boutique, which basically means that these are the cash cows of the brand.

Looking at the H12009 results of LVMH, Louis Vuitton's parent company, revenue fell across all categories (wines and spirits, perfumes and cosmetics, watches and jewellery, and others) except fashion and leather goods. Thus, the outlook for this sector is brightly positive. Double-digit revenue growth was registered for the first half of the year, with strong momentum in Asia, Europe and Middle East. LV thanks its Japanese clients who have been purchasing abroad (like Paris) due to the strengthening yen and not to mention, what it calls "exceptional" support from its Chinese clientele.

As for us, we thank LV for letting us use their washrooms.

I resisted buying a designer bag. Since this is my second visit to Paris, the temptation has weakened.

The most fashionable item I bought from Paris is the French edition of Vogue. The delicious jambon (ham) baguettes have been digested. The beautiful sights are captured in our minds and camera.

More show-and-tell will come in the next few days.

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.

Change is the only constant

The children's grandparents are here to visit, so we have been busy sightseeing, including places we seldom/never visit.

Last week, I brought them for a nature walk around Villa Elfik. The folks enjoyed the fresh air, tranquility and greenery. We spotted many species of birds and even a fox. We also noticed some large piles of poo - according to the information board, a species of hairy cattle live in the area. Unfortunately, other than their trails, we didn't see any specimens that day.

Over the weekend, we went to Market Square to browse the stalls. On Sunday, we visited the Botanical Gardens near Hakaniemi. The last time the kids and I visited the Gardens was 2 years ago when we were staying in an apartment nearby. Some plants looked familiar while others were new and fascinating. It was really refreshing to come again.

Last Wednesday, we took a 3-day cruise to Stockholm. This is our second trip in 2 years. With our parents, we revisited Stockholm's Old Town Gamla Stan. They were impressed by the strong and sturdy walls, the gates and even doors. My mom thought the palace guards (especially the one watching the front gate) were very handsome. These fair-haired, blue-eyed Scandinavians are rather good-looking.

Although we were in Stockholm just 2 years ago, Gamla Stan feels kind of different. This time, I noticed more glitzy brand shops, like The Body Shop. There's also a Ben and Jerry's, but it might be already there the last time since the whiffs of freshly-made waffles smelled familiar.

I mentioned my observations of Gamla Stan to my neighbours and they seemed pretty surprised. At the same time, we weren't too taken aback either. The invasion of large shop fronts is part and parcel of global branding. Starbucks at the Forbidden City in Beijing, McDonald's in Tokyo, and endless examples in modern cities like Singapore and Shanghai.

Here in Helsinki, Wayne's Coffee shop used to be our favourite little coffee joint when we first visited 9 years ago. In those days, we used to love to pop in for their hearty soups or soft muffins and a hot cuppa. It was cool place to hang out.

Today, Wayne's Coffee is all over the place. There are now outlets at shopping complexes in the suburbs. Not so thrilled with Wayne's nowadays. Maybe it's time to throw out that blue mug we bought yonks ago.

We'll be visiting Tallin in neighbouring Estonia tomorrow. I wonder what changes await us after our last visit 8 years ago.

Look out for the next instalment of MZinLalaland.

PS Everyone please give a round of applause to welcome my new follower, ~Sal~. Also join me in congratulating her on successfully re-embarking the journey to parenthood. Need some maternity clothes from H&M?

Nothing to do - how blissful

In Finland, May 1 is called Vappu Paiva. The Finns celebrate Vappu with colourful balloons, preferably filled with helium, pom-poms, streamers and lots of drinks. The kids had a party in school and had their faces painted. You will see Jules' Spiderman/Optimus Prime Transformer-inspired art in the video and Estelle had her hair coloured purple too.

Over the long weekend last week, we took a short trip to Hanko. Hanko is a seaside town west of Helsinki, over 120 km by road. 

We see the name "Hanko" almost every day because we travel on the highway that leads to this little town whenever we send the kids to school. It didn't occur to us to find out more about this place until our friends suggested our families do something together.

We set off from our home in Espoo at around 4 pm and arrived in Hanko at 6. Our apartment at Villa Lundmark was great - neat, equipped and tastefully furnished. 

Hanko used to be a spa town and many large villas were built in the 1800s. In later days, rooms in the villas were segregated into smaller apartments, much like the one we stayed in. As such, we could enjoy the experience of living in a villa with modern facilities like electricity, shower/toilet and kitchen - some things we take for granted in modern life.

We arrived on Thursday evening and set out to paint the town red on Friday. We wondered if we chose a wrong time to come. The streets were empty and shops were closed. Our friends from China thought that Hangzhou was tranquil but Hanko took "quiet little town" to the extreme. Not surprising, since the population of even a third-tier Chinese city often exceeds that of Finland's.

There are several restaurants along the coast but only a handful are open. One of the activities recommended by the Hanko tourist guide is "check out the new menus of the restaurants as they open their doors again". More will open as the crowds check in. HG thinks the town will probably be quite busy in summer when Finns raid the beach in search of a spot to worship the sun. 

We walked along the sandy beaches and climbed little granite mounts. Since there is little else to do, we simply walked around town and took in the sights. Besides interesting buildings, like lighthouses and villas, statues and monuments are scattered around town, many of which are testaments to Hanko's military past. 

Villa Orman has a cafe serving drinks and pastries as well as a second hand bookshop, something I'd very much looked forward to. The small section of English books had some obscure titles. The gem I unearthed is the Good Housekeeping Electric Casserole Cook Book. It has a collection of recipes, from soups to stews to desserts, for slow cookers, also known as crock pots. 

"Cooking with an electric casserole has all sorts of advantages but there's no doubt it's a new technique to master," goes the foreword. Funny because crock pots aren't fashionable nowadays. Published in 1978, this book is truly a sign of the times. I bought it because I want to try out new recipes on my own little crock pot, a wedding gift that I've now found extremely useful.

Hanko welcomes visitors to do nothing - how blissful. A simple life, indeed.

We visited Santa Claus

We really did. In Rovaniemi in northern Finland.

Rovaniemi is part of Lapland, which is an area at the Arctic Circle that is shared by Finland, Sweden and Norway. Santa Claus "lives" in Santa Claus Village and this is where letters and parcels addressed to the Man in Red will end up.

There is the Santa Claus Post Office where mail gets a special Santa's head stamp.

There is also the Santa Claus Office where one can seek an audience with the Man himself. At the entrance, an Elf showed us a catalogue containing a list of gifts we can purchase for Santa to present to the kids. We should be careful not to let the kids see us give orders.

Hmm... we ain't gonna pay €18 for a stranger to give a stuffed reindeer to our kids.

We then went through some exhibits and finally reached the Upper Room where the Old Man sat. After some small talk, we took a photo and said bye-bye.

Photography indoors not allowed. So we gave in to an 11R snapshot complete with Santa certificate at €25. No thanks though to €36 video footage.

Our kids were quite excited to see Santa Claus but they weren't so thrilled that they went speechless. We didn't bring any drawings or letters and the kids didn't have special requests. It was more like a "been there, done that" episode.

Estelle and Jules enjoyed Rovaniemi for 2 reasons.

Top of the list is the snow. They loved the snow slides. Jules started and ended each try with "Woo-hoo". Each of them went again and again.

They made snowballs and carried one each wherever we go. HG called them 七龙珠. They swept snow off fences and benches. They observed their footprints in the snow. Estelle sat on fresh snow and laughed at her bum print. We had a snowball fight while waiting for the bus.

The next best thing that we tried was the husky sleigh ride. It was a mere 500m but the speed and turns around corners were exciting.

We stepped into the sleigh with hesitation but the kids asked for more when we were done. Unfortunately, we ran out of money (cash only and €70 per ride for all of us) and the 2km route was inaccessible because snow was melting. It was 1ºC that day - too warm for the North Pole.

The kids loved the husky ride so much they chose husky stuffed toys as their souvenirs. Not elfish hats or Santa magnets, just huskies named Mini and Husky.