: 6–12 : RTW : 7–12 : 1–6

		Fri 29.12.2006	Tampere, Finland. I haven't been doing much else since yesterday than watching my babies... :) (This is pathetic I know, but check out the video.)
		Thu 28.12.2006	Tampere, Finland. Today I got the first fish into my aquarium!!! :D Now there are 5 tiny Bronze corydoras swimming around my 210-litre fish tank. They are just about 2 centimetres tall (or should I say long), but they are very energetic and lively constantly snooping around their new home.
		Thu 28.12.2006	Tampere, Finland. Back in Tampere! Today I saw our old home for the last time, since the deal was finalised today. It was our first home together! I really liked it, but of course I like the new one better. I still can't help feeling a bit nostalgic...
		Mon 25.12.2006	Oulu, Finland. After all that eating it is about time to go for a walk. Riksu walked with me to Intiö cemetary to visit my Dad's grave. I miss him.
		Sun 24.12.2006	Oulu, Finland. We went to Oulu to my mom Tuija and her Renne for Christmas. Renne's son and his family joined us for Christmas Eve. Renne's grand-daughters Iiris and Elle still believe in Joulupukki so it was necessary to get one. :) I can't remember the last time there was one!
		Thu 21.12.2006	Tampere, Finland. I left a note in the janitor's mailbox on Tuesday and today I woke up hearing a strange noice on our front door. It was the janitor (or one of his people) changing the name tag on our door. Yippee!!
		Tue 19.12.2006	Tampere, Finland. The only thing that was not moved on Saturday was my precious piano. It weighs about 240 kg and it's not small, so I figured it's better to pay somebody who moves pianos for a living rather than make your friends brake their backs, brake the piano, and then hate you. Well, the piano movers (only 2 of them!) carried the piano half a floor down, packed it in a van, drove 1 km to the new place, and then carried it for 4 floors up in just 25 minutes! And the piano remained intact. I say, that's money well spent! :)
		Mon 18.12.2006	Tampere, Finland. It's still strange to wake up in the new home. I like it but it's strange. But I absolutely love the fact that I now have a little office at home! :)
		Sat 16.12.2006	Tampere, Finland. We moved!!! :) We started around 9 o'clock in the morning and finished by about 14. I was in charge in the new end and Riksu in the old end. Thanks to our friends Peesis, Nöpö, and Riku+Aku, the whole thing was smooth and quick. And nobody broke anything. :) Peesis and Riksu had a shared agenda for making it on time: Their annual poker game among friends was to start at 16.00, so we had to finish before that. I was happy to be left alone in the new home and unpack in peace. My friend Anna came to check out the new place later in the evening.
		Fri 15.12.2006	Tampere, Finland. We are supposed to move tomorrow and there's still A LOT of packing to do...
		Sun 10.12.2006	Tampere, Finland. It seems that I am able to eat an endless amount of joulutorttus. It's a flaky pastry baked with plum jam, and you eat it around Christmas. I love them since they are not too sweet for my taste. Joulutorttu and cold milk....mmmmh... :)
		Fri 08.12.2006	Tampere, Finland. If you visit New York City, you have to go to Strand Book Store. In my opinion, it's the best bookstore in the world. They have both used and new books. You can easily spend 3 hours in there, and you still would not like to leave. Like it was not enough it's a great bookstore, they offer this unique service: they sell books by the foot! So weather you want to fill up your wall books chosen by the looks or the content, this service works.
		Wed 06.12.2006	Tampere, Finland. Today we celebrate the Independence Day of Finland. My celebrations were cut short, though, since I had to spend the day in Copenhagen. I (together with my colleague Anssi) had a meeting with a professor at CBS. I was very interested to meet him, so I took the early morning flight from Tampere-Pirkkala airport and flew back home the same night.
		Fri 01.12.2006	Tampere, Finland. Who doesn't love salmiakki? At least I would probably not survive without my weekly share. Riksu decided to spice up the evening by making a delicious pancake treat. I assure you it's big enough a reason to love him! :)
		Thu 30.11.2006	Espoo, Finland. I have been dreaming about my new fish tank the whole week. I have been surfing a lot, in order to learn more about possible fish choices. I was quite a fish enthusiast years ago, so I am not starting from the bottom. But they have new species in stores now, and of course I would like to try out something new. At least there will be a pair of Cichlids (kirjoahvenet). In the past I've had Fire Mouth Cichlids (tulisuu). Now I am considering either T-Bar Cichlids (sinileukakirjoahven) or Bolivian Rams (rusokirjoahven). Swimming in the middle water there will also be a school of Flame tetras (punatetra) or some other tetras. I have always loved Corydoras fish, so I will get them for sure to swim in the bottom. At least Skunk Corys (kaarimonninen) are on my list, and possibly Bronze Corys (kuparimonninen) or Panda Corys (pandamonninen). Then of course there need to be some guys who eat algae. I've never had Parotocinclus jumbos (katinkultamonni), but they seem nice and go together with the fish I've been thinking about. The plan is to build a South-American aquarium. I have also spent a considerable amount of time this week working on fish articles Finnish Wikipedia...
		Sun 26.11.2006	Tampere, Finland. Went to see Babel with Riksu and before that had a wonderful dinner at Nanda Devi. Best Indian I've ever had in Finland! The movie was good but not as good I had thought it would be.
		Fri 24.11.2006	Tampere, Finland. When I was in Kyoto in February I fell in love with one TV commercial. I had realised that all commercials look like they were designed for children, because they are so "Kawaii" (that is cute in English), but Hana Koala was the cutest of all, so I had to look up the ad on YouTube. If this doesn't cheer you up, nothing does! :)
		Fri 24.11.2006	Tampere, Finland. As I was walking home from the railway station, I noticed that Viherkala (an aquarium store) had moved to our neighbourhood. I have had several fish tanks in the past and I'm going to have one now that we move to the bigger apartment, so already for a while now I have been planning what kind of a tank to get and so on. The store was closed already but I ended up staring at the window for 15 minutes or so...
		Sun 19.11.2006	Tampere, Finland. We went to Antti's for Saturday night, since he threw a house warming party. The party was nice, but Sunday morning was a bit painful, since we had to start cleaning our apartment straight from bed. We had found out when already at the party that there will be people (possible buyers) coming in on Sunday to take a look at the apartment. Crap. Well, the good thing was that they were interested. :) The bad thing is that ALL OF THE SNOW IS GONE! What kind of a winter is this supposed to be!?
		Fri 17.11.2006	Tampere, Finland. I saw a car that made me feel really nostalgic. I believe we had the same car in early 1980's. Mom, can you confirm?
		Thu 16.11.2006	Espoo, Finland. There are several restaurants all around the TKK campus. For some reason I have not been to Dipoli for lunch for almost two years! It was nice for a change.
		Mon 13.11.2006	Tampere, Finland. I've been working on my book catalog at LibraryThing. There are some cool visual representations available, for example the tag cloud. It of course keeps updating itself as I keep adding more books to my catalog. :)
		Sun 12.11.2006	Tampere, Finland. On today's Helsingin Sanomat they told about a virtual Culture Gallery. It says on the site: "It is a digital showcase of contemporary creators from Finland." Check it out. (If you really get excited, visit Finnish Design Shop.)
		Fri 10.11.2006	Tampere, Finland. I had to try out the thing Matti L mentioned in his comment on Thursday 2nd: Take a look at my bookshelf at LibraryThing. There's not much there yet, but my plan is to update it bit by bit.
		Tue 07.11.2006	Tampere, Finland. Two-room apartment (48 sq m = 516 sq ft) for sale in Kaleva, Tampere! More information available here.
		Thu 02.11.2006	Espoo, Finland. I came accross a cool site on Kaukomieli blog: If Amazon sucked like our old OPAC. Probably many of us who frequently use OPACs such as HelMet, TAMCAT, TEEMU, or PIKI are asking the same question: Why is it so hard to find something on library databases but so easy on Amazon? The usability of the OPACs can be compared to an experience as if a Windows-user had to start using MS-DOS all over again...
		Thu 02.11.2006	Tampere, Finland. Today the trains were back in business and I was able to get to Helsinki.
		Wed 01.11.2006	Tampere, Finland. The plan for today was to be on my weekly Helsinki visit, but the snow messed up the plans. First of all, it was pretty difficult to get to the railway station. The actual problem then was that there were no trains because of the excess snow on the tracks. So I walked back home. Better luck tomorrow morning, I hope. (If you are interested: the current snow depth according to Finnish Meteorological Institute.)
		Tue 31.10.2006	Tampere, Finland. We were invited to visit our new home. The couple who live there now showed us the places and explained about the renovations they had done in detail, which was very useful. It was already snowing when we walked there, but on our way back home (our current home) it felt almost impossible to walk with all that snow coming down. Well, I hope this snow is going to stick and not melt away. It's officially winter now! :)
		Mon 30.10.2006	Tampere, Finland. Today we bought the apartment we found one and a half weeks ago! Yippee!!! :) We were not up to any celebration, but wanted to have a better dinner than normally on Mondays, so we made Thai chicken-noodle-soup. A hint for anybody who needs to handle chili: DO NOT PICK YOUR NOSE OR TOUCH YOUR EYES the same night. I know better now...
		Sun 29.10.2006	Tampere, Finland. The weather today must be among the best days the whole autumn. There's a drop of snow on the ground, the sky is clear, and the sun is actually shining. I had already got used to the idea of not seeing much of sun anymore this year. Riksu got the idea that it's the perfect weather to take some photos of the building, since we will start selling this apartment soon. We also went for a nice Sunday walk and explored a little bit our soon-to-be neighbourhood. That means YES, we finally found ourselves a new home a little more than one week ago. We will probably get to move in in mid December. The new apartment is only about 500 m away from our current home. :)
		Sat 28.10.2006	Tampere, Finland. You can't really beat a Saturday night like this: At 6 PM we had a nice dinner at our local restaurant Coussicca with Riksu's parents Helena and Antti. Then at 8 PM started Cesária Évora her wonderful gig at Tampere Hall. After that, Riksu and I walked to Tullikamari to see Don Johnson Big Band. There were several other bands playing tonight as well, and the gig was sold out, but thanks to my cousin Juuso, we got in. What a night!!! :) (Sorry about the quality of photos...they were taken on my Nokia 6230i.)
		Sat 28.10.2006	Tampere, Finland. I woke up and saw the ground covered in snow! Yippeee!!! :) (Not much, but still.)
		Fri 27.10.2006	Helsinki, Finland. Three days in Helsinki, mostly at TKK. Today, finally back home to Tampere.
		Sun 22.10.2006	Tampere, Finland. I joined Milla and her daughter Lumi and visited the playground near by. Lumi didn't mind the rain but was happy to run around and try every piece of playground equipment there was to try. I believe she found swinging best. :)
		Tue 17.10.2006	Berne/Zürich, Switzerland. We spent a very productive day at University of Berne. In the afternoon, we took the train back to Zürich. We didn't have a direct flight back home but had to change planes at Copenhagen.
		Mon 16.10.2006	Zürich, Switzerland. I hopped on an airplane with my colleague Anssi in the morning. The destination was Berne but we had to fly to Zürich and then take a train. The purpose of the trip is to meet with my thesis advisor, who is a professor at University of Berne. And by the way, this is the first time I actually enter Switzerland and not just change planes at Zürich airport! My country-count now adds up to 33.
		Sat 14.10.2006	Tampere, Finland. It was time for our typical Saturday afternoon which means cooking together. We very often prepare fish as we then are on "common ground". (Riksu is a carnivore and I am "nutrion-challenged".) We both thought that today's cooking came out pretty well. :)
		Fri 13.10.2006	Tampere, Finland. There was an interesting post (again!) on Maurelita's blog: the vote for New 7 Wonders. Most of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World are gone, so I believe it makes sense to vote for new ones. It was especially fun to vote, since out of the 18 candidates I've seen 8: Angkor in Cambodia, Christ Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Statues of Easter Island, The Eiffel Tower in Paris, The Great Wall of China, Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, The Statue of Liberty in New York City, and Sydney Opera House in Australia. Although our RTW trip ended just 5 months ago, thinking of the wonders make me wanna take off again right now! Which ones get your vote?
		Mon 09.10.2006	Tampere, Finland. Advertising agency Bob Helsinki has once again renewed itself. At least their homepage blew my mind today. :) (If it doesn't look like Google Image Search anymore, take a look at this screenshot of October 9.)
		Sun 08.10.2006	Tampere, Finland. Our godchild Saana was baptised today in Aitolahti church. In the church terms, I am not really a godmother as I don't belong to the church. But I will be there for Saana as long as I live. I will try to make her feel as good as my own godparents Ulla and Veijo have always made me feel. :)
		Sat 07.10.2006	Tampere, Finland. On Friday Riksu was out and Milla came to spend a classic girls' night which in our case means lots of cheese, salad, and red wine. Every bite of course accompanied by endless talk about everything there is to talk about, especially food, travel, husbands, kids, music, travel, food, wine, and what we used to do "when we were young", whether it all took place in Lyon, Jyväskylä, Congo, Portugal, or Nice.... :D
		Thu 05.10.2006	Espoo, Finland. I started taking a class on futures studies. So far it seems interesting, although its scientific value might be questionable... But after this course I at least know what they are talking about and if I ever want to know more about it. :)
		Tue 03.10.2006	Helsinki, Finland. My grand-aunt Tetti had prepared one of my favourite dishes for me: nettle crêpes with lingonberries. She know I love them, and it seems I really do, since this is not the first time I mention them in this blog... (see 05.11.2004 and 15.12.2005)
		Mon 02.10.2006	Tampere, Finland. Not only the trees bloom in autumn colours but my cooking too! :)
		Thu 28.09.2006	Helsinki, Finland. I woke up at my grand-aunt Tetti's in Töölö, looked out of the window, and saw the beautiful autumn colours. I love autumn!
		Wed 27.09.2006	On a train from Tampere to Helsinki, Finland. Today one year ago I flew to Boston to spend a few months at as a visiting PhD student at MIT. I realised I have actually been through quite a lot in one year: August 14, 2005: Dad dies. August 29, 2005: I get my Master's degree. August 31, 2005: Dad's funeral. September 27, 2005: I fly to Boston for the fall. December 11, 2005: Back in Finland. December 23, 2005: We finally buy engagement rings although we got engaged already in the summer. (And today Riksu turns 30.) January 3, 2006: We take off for our RTW trip. May 21, 2006: We come back to Finland. July 29, 2006: We get married. I become Mrs Helminen. ...and life goes on. I hope this year will not be as hectic. (But I'd still like it to be a little hectic! :D )
		Tue 26.09.2006	Tampere, Finland. Since we have not yet paid for the new apartment, we don't have keys. The real estate agent was kind enough to let us in the apartment in order to measure the rooms, so that we can go on with planning for the renovations. About 30 minutes later the agent calls: The seller of the apartment, an old lady, has died! The deal is off! This is absurd. So there goes our apartment. Crap.
		Mon 25.09.2006	Tampere, Finland. I passed by kids on their PE class and they were playing pesäpallo. I've always loved it! Why nobody organises pesäpallo for grownups?
		Mon 25.09.2006	Tampere, Finland. I love autumn! It is no doubt my favourite season. I love being able to wear jackets and neckerchiefs and real shoes (not just flipflops or sandals). The best part are the autumn colours.
		Sun 24.09.2006	Tampere, Finland. I got to know Mane last year at MIT. The last time I saw him was December 9, 2005 when we were having a farewell dinner in Boston. I was glad to noticed that when he visited us today, nothing had changed. :) Riksu, however, saw him for the first time. So far he had known him only through his blog. Mane has one of these cool foldable bikes, see the photo. :)
		Sat 23.09.2006	Tampere, Finland. Riksu decided it is time to clean the windows. It sure is about time since the windows have not been washed since he moved in in December 2002... But I am no-one to talk – the only time in my whole life I have cleaned a window was in 1990 in home economics class. :)
		Fri 22.09.2006	Tampere, Finland. Our washing machine broke down! Grrrrh... Now we need to use the shared facilities in the laundry room of our building.
		Thu 21.09.2006	Tampere, Finland. We have been trying to buy a 2-bedroom flat for a while now. FINALLY on Tuesday this week, the seller accepted our price proposition. Today I went to see the 2-week-old Saana and on my way to the bus stop I took some photos of our "future home". :)
		Sat 16.09.2006	Tampere, Finland. There was a piece of text written by my friend Mane on today's Helsingin Sanomat (unfortunately only available in Finnish). He tells the story how it is. And I couldn't agree more.
		Mon 11.09.2006	Philadelphia, PA, USA. The paper that I wrote together with Katja Hölttä-Otto won the best paper award at 18th International Conference on Design Theory and Methodology (DTM)!!! How cool is this?! This certainly puts some pressure on the second paper I am going to write... :D The title of the paper was "Identifying Customer Needs – Disabled Persons as Lead Users" and you can read it here. And if you are interested, the previous winners of the award are listed here.
		Sun 10.09.2006	Philadelphia, PA, USA. I flew to Philadelphia on Saturday to attend the ASME 18th International Conference on Design Theory and Methodology (DTM). On Sunday I had time to see the city a little bit and get over my jetlag.
		Tue 05.09.2006	Tampere, Finland. I frequently follow Maurelita's blog. Today she wrote about a cool metro site and I of course had to try it right away. Unfortunately some metro icons were missing: Bonn, Cologne, Bangkok Metro, one line in Kyoto, and one line in Kuala Lumpur. And I've been to Valparaiso and Turin but not ridden on the metro. A more important thing that has to be added here even though without a photo: Today in the morning a little after 5 o'clock our godchild Saana was born! :)
		Mon 04.09.2006	Helsinki, Finland. Once again in Helsinki. Today it was a quick trip as I went back home to Tampere the same night.
		Sun 03.09.2006	Tampere, Finland. I spotted a great site on Mane's blog: NYC Subway Google Map Hack. Try it!
		Sat 02.09.2006	Tampere, Finland. Saturday is often the day Riksu and I cook together something that challenges our cooking skills. We found a great recipe in Hans Välimäki's Koti keittiössä cookbook. Unfortunately we were not able to get zander so instead we used common whitefish. We managed to destroy the looks of the fish fillets (they broke into pieces) but the taste however was good... I think we did the best job with the tomato vinaigrette (made of tomatoes, herbs, garlic, and white wine vinegar). The recipe is here, although it is in Finnish.
		Fri 01.09.2006	Tampere, Finland. My friend Mari's baby is due tomorrow, but since Mari is still in one piece, she asked me to go see a movie with her. Volver was good, I would give it 4 stars on my scale. I am a huge fan of Pedro Almodóvar, and Volver is guaranteed Almodóvar material.
		Fri 01.09.2006	Tampere, Finland. I rarely eat rolls of any kind, but I've found now a brand I really like: the toastable Fazer Paahtosämpylät rolls (they contain 19 % of rye). I still prefer rye bread but these rolls are nice for a change.
		Wed 30.08.2006	Helsinki, Finland. After I left my apartment I went to my brother's. Juho needs more room, as his studio (he's renting though) is almost as small as mine, but the view is so nice he doesn't really want to move that much after all... :)
		Wed 30.08.2006	Helsinki, Finland. On my weekly visit to Helsinki, I also had to pop by my studio in Taka-Töölö, since my current tenant was leaving and another one moving in. I hadn't been in the apartment for about year, so it felt a bit strange. This tiny studio was my first real home, so there are always a lot flashbacks whenever I go even near the building. And I liked the neighbourhood. This time I took several photos of the apartment, so next time I need to put an advert on the internet, I can upload pictures too.
		Fri 25.08.2006	Tampere, Finland. There are two concepts I've always loved: libraries and marketplaces. I visit Sampolan kirjasto (= Sampola library, branch of Tampere City Library) about 3 times a week. I love bookstores too but libraries are even better: whatever interesting book/CD/DVD I find, I can take it home for free! :) By marketplaces I mean those that sell fresh vegetables on market squares during summer-time. Today I went Tammelan tori to buy raspberries and cloudberries in order to have some in the freezer for the winter.
		Wed 23.08.2006	Virrat, Finland. I wanted to spend a couple of days in Tetti & Eki's summer cottage in Virrat now that it still feels like a summer. Nothing can beat a wood-heated sauna and swimming in a lake!
		Mon 21.08.2006	Tampere, Finland. I saw once in Hanna's blog a fun tool for counting the countries you have visited. The maps sure have changed since last year! :)
		Mon 14.08.2006	Tampere, Finland. It was exactly one year ago when my Dad Tasi died. It's weird, it feels like it was years ago, not just one year. But sometimes it feels it was last week. Or yesterday. I miss him.
		Sun 13.08.2006	Tammisaari, Finland. My uncle Timo had invited us and cousings to spend the weekend at his summer cottage in Tammisaari. My brother Juho was there, too. The weather was nice, company was good, there was a tennis court, sauna, and enough to eat and drink – can you really want more from summer weekend?
		Tue 08.08.2006	Tampere, Finland. I went to see Wong Kar-wai's first film called As Tears Go By (1988) at Niagara movie theatre. I liked it a lot, although it shows only little of his talent that has become obvious through his later work. I am a big fan of Wong Kar-wai, but unfortunately I have not been able to see all of his films on a big screen, and I would not like to see them on a DVD, but as the old pieces are rarely shown (same applies to all films more than 6 months old), I need to start thinking about watching them on a TV screen. My recommendations here.
		Sat 05.08.2006	Norway/Finland. Although our actual honeymoon trip took place already in the spring, we wanted to go somewhere just for a couple of days. We both have always been interested in seeing the Arctic Ocean, so we decided to head North. On Wednesday Riksu and I took the train from Tampere to Oulu. Early on Thursday morning we took my Mom's car and started driving up to Lapland. Our route was: Kemi– Rovaniemi– Sodankylä– Ivalo– Inari– Utsjoki– Nuorgam– Varanger Peninsula. The same night, after about 900 km, we where there. We stayed the first night in a tent, but it was a bit cold (night temperature about 4 Celsius degrees. On Friday we drove around (driving is the best way to see everything), but as it was too cold to sleep outside, we drove to Kirkenes and took a room in a motel (Norway is expensive!!!). On Saturday morning we started driving back: Kirkenes– Sevettijärvi– Inari– Kittilä– Pello– Tornio– Kemi– Oulu. On Saturday night we were back at my Mom's. That's 2000 km of driving in 3 days, but we enjoyed it. Distances are loooooong in Lapland, but it's nothing to complain about when you can: Enjoy the view, listen to the radio, and have long discussions with your new husband. :)
		Sat 29.07.2006	Pirkkala/Tampere, Finland. We got married!!! There were only 10 guests: Riksu's parents Helena & Antti, brother Juppe, his wife Riikka and daughter Hilda, my mother Tuija, her spouse Renne, my brother Juho, and Tetti & Eki. We were joined in marriage by a judge and it all took place on Helena & Antti's backyard in Pirkkala. Juho and Juppe acted as the official witnesses. After the wedding, we had sparkling wine, coffee, and cake. Later in the afternoon we went to have a wonderful 6-course dinner at Restaurant Näsinneula on top of Näsinneula Tower. Great view, unbelievable food! In the evening we hooked up with some friends for more sparkling wine. :) I am Mrs. Helminen!!!
		Thu 27.07.2006	Tampere, Finland. I went to have lunch in a Thai restaurant with Riksu. I thought the chicken tasted really weird and I was happy there were not too much of it on my plate. Riksu goes for a second round, comes back, and announces: "Just to let you know, you just had pork!" No wonder I didn't like the taste!!! Well, it was my first bite of pork since 2000.
		Thu 27.07.2006	Tampere, Finland. I love all the fresh vegetables in summertime. But you need to stay alart with peas!
		Wed 26.07.2006	Tampere, Finland. Katja's mother Helvi came to stay with us for one night, as she had a ticket on Ryanair from Tampere to London on Thursday morning. There was no chance she could have gone straight from Oulu to Tampere-Pirkkala Airport, so it was better she stayed with us for the night.
		Sat 22.07.2006	Tampere, Finland. Riksu, his parents Helena & Antti, Riksu' brother Juppe and his wife Riikka and daughter Hilda, and I drove to Helena's brother's summer cottage (not so much a cottage but a villa I believe) for the annual summerparty. It was a lovely day and a lovely party. And Hilda of course wanted to take a dip in the lake. :)
		Wed 19.07.2006	Tampere, Finland. I went to try on my wedding dress in The Cloth House, so I needed to walk through the centre of Tampere. The best part of the city centre are the old factory buildings, at least I think so.
		Tue 18.07.2006	Tampere, Finland. This spring on our round-the-world trip we got to experience many different cuisines. I like many kinds of food but Thai and Vietnamese are definitely ones I really love. Today I saw coriander in the supermarket and decided to try out a Thai chicken-noodle-soup. Actually I'm not exactly sure, if it turned out to be more Thai or Vietnamese, anyway it was DELICIOUS. :)
		Thu 13.07.2006	Munich, Germany. On Wednesday I flew to Munich for a user innovation workshop. I got an invitation to this thing last year when I spent the autumn in MIT. It was nice to visit Munich as I had never been there, but of course it was even more interesting to attend the workshop and meet all the people that matter in the field of user innovation. I saw wonderful presentations and actually gave a presentation myself too.
		Mon 10.07.2006	Tampere, Finland. I went to have lunch on Tammelan tori, which is one of the famous marketplaces in Tampere. On summerdays there are always a lot of people there buying fresh vegetables or just enjoying the atmosphere and the weather.
		Thu 06.07.2006	Tampere, Finland. Näätä = Abu = Katzen is again staying with us for a few days. I don't like cats but I LOVE this one. :) It's always fun to have a cat for a couple of days when the Rokala family is away. His previous visits: 24.03.2005, 25.03.2005, 26.03.2005, 05.05.2005, 07.05.2005, 10.07.2005, and 23.12.2005. In 2004 he was photographed exiting sauna in his home at Rokala's.
		Wed 05.07.2006	Stockholm, Sweden. Some of my Eurobonus frequent flyer points were about the expire, and I had to use them for something. So I booked flights Tampere to Stockholm and back. I left in the morning and flew back in the evening, which gave me about 10 hours to explore the city. Too bad my sandals started hurting my feet, and in the end I was not able to walk anymore... So I popped into an internet café and surfed for movie theatre locations and what was on, and took myself to see The Da Vinci Code. I hadn't read the book, so I found the film thrilling. I was quite exhausted when I got home but still happy about my day in Stockholm.
		Sat 01.07.2006	Tampere, Finland. The girls threw me a bachelorette party! (It was the second one already, since not all were free on the same date. Lucky me!) The day was very nice and tasteful. Tasteful literally as there were three occasions to enjoy the taste of good food: lunch picnic, cheese&wine, and a lovely dinner. In between I got to relax in massage and herb spa, and to drink a lot of sparkling wine... :)
		Tue 27.06.2006	Virrat, Finland. Katja and I went to visit my grand-aunt Tetti and her spouse Eki in their summer cottage Virrat for a couple of days. Too bad the weather was a bit chilly and rainy, but it didn't stop us from swimming and fishing. :)
		Fri 23.06.2006	Pirkkala, Finland. It's time for a Midsummer party! It's almost a tradition already to spend the Midsummer with our friends at Riksu's parents' house in Pirkkala. The Eve contained regular stuff: flag raising, cava, a huge dinner, and staying up until very late. Pretty much the same picture as last year. :) In fact, Riku served the exact same dessert as last year, but we don't complain, as it's delicious!
		Tue 20.06.2006	Oulu, Finland. I've enjoyed my stay in Oulu soooo much. A regular weekend with friends: NGO (Never Grow Old), 45, and Torinranta. Today I took the train back to Tampere but still managed to meet with Marja and visit my Dad's grave before I left.
		Fri 16.06.2006	Oulu, Finland. On Wednesday 13th I took the train from Tampere to my old hometown Oulu. I love Oulu in the summertime mostly because of the endless sun. In June the sun sets for about 2 hours but it's still not dark, it feels more like it was only cloudy. Katja is visiting her native country and of course her parents here in Oulu, so it is quite wonderful to see her for a change, although over the past 12 months we've been seeing each other exceptionally much: July 2005 in Oulu, October 2005 in Eagle-Vail, November 2005 in Boston, and March 2006 again in Eagle-Vail. :)
		Tue 13.06.2006	Tampere, Finland. The weather's been very nice, so people are trying to get their white winter skins transformed into a more summer-like colour. I was walking home and passed by Sorsapuisto park, where there were dozes of people sunbathing.
		Mon 12.06.2006	Tampere, Finland. I was walking home from the railway station and found myself laughing out loud when I saw an ad of Särkänniemi adventure park... Unfortunately only a Finn can get this joke.
		Sun 11.06.2006	Tuusula, Finland. On Saturday it was the baptism of my cousin Venla. In Finland it is a tradition also to give the child a name in the same ceremony. Riksu and I stayed the night with my aunt Tupu's in Tuusula. Since we hadn't seen each other for mounths, we ended up eating, drinking, and talking until 6 o'clock in the morning, which caused us all to be quite tired on Sunday... Well, the weather was nice, so we spent the whole day just chilling in the backyard. Not bad. :)
		Fri 09.06.2006	Espoo/Helsinki, Finland. I needed to meet with my professor at my lab in TKK. It was pretty nice to see my colleagues for the first time this year. Let's see what will happen to my non-existing career: will it be about studying for a PhD or will I get myself a "real job". After just a couple of weeks back in Finland I have no idea what I want to do. I hope to figure it out during the summer...
		Mon 05.06.2006	Tampere, Finland. I was going through some old papers and came accross a nice piece of music from 1985! :) I never evolved much as composer but became quite a piano player thanks to Oulu Conservatoire. I gave it up in 1993 when I realized I don't have enough time for both piano and tennis.
		Sun 04.06.2006	Tampere, Finland. I love the view from our bedroom window: lilacs and sky. I wonder if we are still living here when it is time to start feeding birds like I did two years ago.
		Fri 02.06.2006	Tampere, Finland. I helped my friend Anna put up some flowers on her balcony. Not that I have that much more experience in flowering, mainly it was just a good excuse to spend the day together.
		Thu 01.06.2006	Tampere, Finland. My friend Saul had been to Tokyo and found a building that has MY NAME on it! How much fun is that?! :D Wonder what it means... I know it is not Pakistan International Airlines, The Prison Industry Authority, or Philippine Information Agency.