Weight Woes...Sorta

Tuomo bellyaches: So I weighed in this morning at 206.8 lbs (93.5 kg), down by .4 lbs (180g), missing my 10 pound milepost by .4 lbs. Boo hoo hoo, ooh hoo hoo...

At least now I know for sure that the scales at the gym are more reliable...

I guess the reason why I'm feeling a bit frustrated is that the weight has been coming off so slowly. Admittedly, it didn't exactly pounce on me overnight either, but I feel desperate about weighing at least less than 200 lbs. At the same time, nor is there any self-imposed deadline by which I have to fit again in my 34" jeans, so I have to do some serious self-reflection on why I'm so adamant about being at my "ideal" weight (whatever that us). I guess one point of frustration is that I have a closet full of dress pants that I'd like to start wearing again on a regular basis and not only on days when I don't feel particularly bloated or when I think I can wing it by pulling in my belly all day long :-) They do fit me better now than way back in December when I had to wear them to two job interviews, and man was I in pain, so that's better than nothing...!

Besides, not that the path ends at reaching that ideal weight: that's when it really starts because this time, I'd really like to keep my weight at check and not to have to rejoin Weight Watchers ever again, even as a lifetime member...

Next week is going to be particularly challenging with our friends Nicole, Sean, and Nate coming over for a week as our first (summer) guests. Sean and Nate are annoyingly slim, in the sense that ostensibly they seem to be able to eat anything in sight without any effects on their waistlines. I guess this week will then have be a week of damage control. Maybe I'll sneak to the gym a couple of times on my way to or from work for a thirty minute cardio workout...

Yeah right, and pigs will fly :-)

CNN News Item of Inspiration

Tuomo writes: So there is life after ESC... but what am I to write about? Hmmm... Oh I could always yammer on the topic of weight loss: I haven't said a word in weeks! :-)


After almost three months I haven't even lost my first 10 lbs! How frustrating :-( On one hand, there have been two trips that have jeopordised all efforts. Then there's been the issue of not going to the gym or doing any form of exercise. As Dave pointed it out, my previous stints at Weight Watchers have been most successful when I've gone to the gym. I've been going to the gym pretty regularly (as well as paid attention to my daily points except...) for the past two weeks, so I expect to see some results... like NOW! :-)

Last week, i.e. after one week of exercising (circuit training) and possibly thanks to a salty supper, I actually put on weight - 0.2 lbs, or 90 grams! This week, the scale in the bath room didn't budge showing 208 lbs (i.e. weight gain) until yesterday when it showed 206.4 (i.e. wight loss). This is the weight the scale at the gym has been showing me since Tuesday - admittely while I'm totally in the nude (not a pretty site!). At home, we've come to the conclusion that our Weight Watchers brand scale is worth diddlysquat because we gain and lose weight as we move the scale around - or even shift our position!

It's going to be interesting what the verdict is going to be tomorrow morning. I'm so close to losing my first 10 lbs - and my second golden star, which I didn't yet earn last week... But then we didn't stay for the meeting anyway, so that made me feel better about the .2 lb weight gain :-)

Those who know me know that I'm very easy to get excited about things. The same holds true for documentaries, articles, reports, what have you on weight loss. Today while getting the house ready for the first guests of the summer (!), I was watching CNN (nothing else going on on TV between 10am and 4pm...) and a segment on a guy who has lost more than 100 lbs. His story made me feel good about losing weight and got me refocused on the positive aspects of weight loss. If he could do it, then goddamnit losing 20 more pounds can't be impossible - just challenging :-)

Also check out this guy's blog in the side bar!


So wish me luck with tomorrow's weigh-in. I had two samosas for dinner, and I'm sure that with all the fat and sodium (but they were oh so yummy!!!) all my efforst for this week were pretty much ruined... or maybe not... Stay tuned!

Eurovision 2008: The Day After, or the Jetsam and Flotsam

Tuomo writes: The party's over, time to wrap things up and start thinking about next year...

Thank goodness there's the Internet and message boards; I used to be so depressed the day after Eurovision with no one to discuss the results and speculate - until I got to college and found my ilk... And now I got to blog about this... It was worth growing up :-)

A couple of words on the results, starting with the Top 10:

1. Russia (272 points) Поздравляем! Apparently a dog-and-pony show with pyrotechnics isn’t enough these days: you need an ice skater too :- I still think Dima put on a better show in 2006: even the song was better than this one without a refrain...
2. Ukraine (230 points): No surprise…
3. Greece (218 points): No surprise…
4. Armenia 199 points: No surprise…
5. Norway (182 points): Norway the best Scandinavian country in 2008?! This song is starting to grow on me, but I still fear that at any moment the lyrics will turn into Christian rock…
6. Serbia (160 points): Sure, the host country always does well…
7. Turkey (138 points): Well of course :-)
8. Azerbaijan 132 points: So close behind Turkey. Go figure :-)
9. Israel 124: I still can’t believe this, but oh well…
10. Bosnia-Hertsegovina (110 points): As Dave put it (and he can be picky, so his word carries a lot of weight here!), the most original performance and a fun song, too. Besides, Finland gave this one 8 points (3rd best) in the semi-finals voting... Did the chicken get to run around on stage, too?

And then last but not least a few (hopefully well and wisely) chosen words on the others:

Latvia: 12th?! Oh and guess what: 12 points from Ireland. Quelle surprise! Thank goodness all the other mock entries were either eliminated (Ireland, Estonia) or placed lower than this (Spain). Let’s hope this nips the trend at its bud NOW. No more funny ha ha numbers, please. Ever.
Sweden: 18th?! This uber-produced, perfected and bleached beyond recognition number placed 12th in the semi-finals but made it to the finals only thanks to jury votes (instead of televotes) – and bumped Macedonia (10th) in the process. All along, Sweden was supposed to be such a shoo-in to the Top 5. Oh the irony of placing 18th. Oh and 18th last year too with 51 points vs. 47 points in 2008.
Romania: 20th?!? What’s wrong with you people?? :-(
Finland: 22nd!!! And not last… Dang! Let’s hope this puts an end to Finns believing that one can’t lose with heavy rock (“Hevillä ei voi hävitä!”) – BECAUSE YOU CAN! Try rock like Turkey… or bringing hunky javelin throwers à la Russia. And maybe have Ransu or Ti-Ti Nalle sing for Finland :-)

Now, honestly - what am I going to blog about next…? :-)

Good Evening, Bonsoir (3/3)

Tuomo & Dave write/écrivent: Here are finally the results of the Langley jury for the final – what a task! Voici enfin les résultats de la vote de Langley pour la finale – quel travail!

United Kingdom: one point; la Rouyaume-Unie: un point
Finland: two points; la Finlande: deux points
Turkey: three points; la Turquie: trois points
Sweden: four points; la Suède: quatre points
Bosnia-Herzegovina: five points; la Bosnie-Herzégovine: cinq points
Greece: six points; la Grèce: six points
Iceland: seven points; l’Icelande: sept points
Armenia: eight points; l’Armenie: huit points
Ukraine: ten points; l’Ukraine: dix points

And finally… our twelve points from Langley B.C. go to (drum roll)
.
.
.
Romania! Et finalement nos douze points de Langley B.C. pour La Roumanie!

Thank you very much, have a nice evening everybody, and see you next year! Merci beaucoup, bonne soirée à tous, et à l’année prochaine! :-)

Eurovision 2008: Results of the 2nd Semi-Final

Tuomo writes: First of all, congratulations to all the songs from the second semi-finals that made it to the finals. Once again, here's a quick commentary on today's/tonight's results (in order of performance); note that I/we haven't seen any of the performances live either:

Iceland: Yayy!
Sweden: Duh! :-(
Turkey: Whew :-)
Ukraine: Duh!
Albania: Ok...
Latvia: Tonight's WTF HTH :-(
Croatia: OK...
Denmark: This one fell in the category of Bubbling Under, so glad to see that it made it to the finals. Now, will we witness some serious nordisk samarbete on Saturday night when, after so many years of one or more Scandinavian countries missing, all are together again on the same stage...? :-)
Georgia: Ok...
Portugal: Really?! HTH? Though good for Portugal. The competition does need more diversity: just say no to glambots :-)

Totally saddened by Switzerland's failure to pass; apparently he had forgotten how to sing :-(
And no Hungary either... Dave's intuition was correct... Too Disneyesque I guess...
No Bulgaria. Macedonia. Or Belorussia. Oh well...

De gustibus non disputandus est :-)

Interesting Links on Eurovision Voting

Tuomo writes: I love ESC to death - I could spend hours listening to the songs and reading on trivia, but still there are people who have elevated ESC into a science (or seen something scientific in it to study). Good for them! :-)

I just came across two websites that I have to read more carefully myself, but I thought I'd share them immediately with any of my/our readers (what... 5? 6?). Derek Gatherer (how appropriate!) has done a study on ESC voting patterns. His study has corroborated our worst fears and come to the conclusion that there is a voting block, commonly referred to as the Balkan Block, but wait - there are in fact several others!

To read and - gasp - learn more, click on the two links below:

1. Comparison of Eurovision Song Contest Simulation with Actual Results Reveals Shifting Patterns in Collusive Voting Alliances
2. Eurovision Song Contest Predictions for 2008

And don't tell me you all have already read this and that it's old stuff for you! Then why wasn't this triv... I mean... information shared with me?! :-)

Good Evening, Bonsoir (2/3)

Tuomo & Dave write/écrivent: Here are the results of the Langley jury for the second semi-final; we have to say it was a difficult task to come up with tonight’s points. Voici les résultats de la vote de Langley pour la deuxième demi-finale; il faut avouer qu’il nous a fallu beaucoup de peine à ranger les points de ce soir:

Turkey: one point; la Turquie: un point
Albania: two points; l’Albanie: deux points
Belorussia: three points; Biélorussie: trois points
Macedonia: four points; la Macédoine: quatre points
Bulgaria: five points; la Bulgarie: cinq points
Sweden: six points; la Suède: six points
Iceland: seven points; l’Icelande: sept points
Hungary: eight points; la Hongrie: huit points
Ukraine: ten points; l’Ukraine: dix points

And finally… the twelve points from Langley go to (pregnant pause)
.
.
.
Switzerland! La Suisse: douze points!

Thank you again, have a nice evening everybody! Merci de nouveau, bonne soirée à tous! :-)

Eurovision 2008: Serbia

Tuomo writes: Last but not least is Serbia, the winner of 2007 Eurovision! Serbia will be represented by Jelena Tomasević, featuring Bora Dugić, and the name of the entry is Oro:

Here or

In 2007 fembots, in 2008… this?! Hasn’t Serbia submitted this ballad before? Wasn’t this again about longing after the one and only love of one’s life (2004, 2005, and 2006)? Are the Serbians not capable of submitting a fun, uplifting Eurovision entry? Not that this has prevented them from being successfully in the Top 10 from the get go (placing 2nd, 7th, and 4th correspondingly) :-)

While Finland plods on thinking that havey metal and Teräsbetoni is the way to go… a trend that we disapprove of and ope will in 2008 :-)

Eurovision 2008: United Kingdom

Tuomo writes: After decades of being one of the few countries (with Ireland and Malta) to be allowed to sing entire songs in English, the language of international pop culture, the star of the United Kingdom has waned a lot since the mid 90s. The nadir must have been in 2003 when the UK joined the zero points club hosted by Finland and Norway! Oh well the only way is up, even for the United Kingdom who, as one of the Big Four, doesn’t have to lift a finger (i.e. qualify through semi-finals) to be in the finals. And by the way to be fair: the same applies to the other three Big Four…

In 2008, the United Kingdom introduces Andy Abraham and Even If:

Here or

Positively the most ambitious, most professional ESC performance by the UK in years! Good job: I loved this!! But will it win? The UK will be performing second on Saturday, that cursed position that - to date - has failed to generate a winning song...

Eurovision 2008: France

Tuomo écrit: When I started learning French, there were no such things as an Internet, youtubes, message boards, let alone support groups. All there was li’l ole geeky moi who desperately wanted to learn French. Every year I would therefore look forward to the Eurovision song contest for musical language material in French (remember – no MP3 files to go around in any language…). At best, there would be France, Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg with entries in French; at worst, there was just la douce France. With the help of subtitles in Finnish, I tried to decipher the original French and sing along as well as I could. To this day, I think the best way to learn to pronounce any language – a language like French in particular – is to sing, so I guess I was intuitively on to something… Or could it be that this argument somehow circular :-) Beuf, qu'est-ce qu'on peut y faire...? :-)…

In 2008, France sends in Sébastien Tellier and Divine:

Here or

Mon dieu: Jesus sings Pet Shop Boys :-) A pleasantly bizarre performance à la Cirque du Soleil kinda way that only the Francophones can successfully pull it off. Which is also one of the reasons why I remain a Francophile after all these years :-)

M'enfin... Sauf que je ne suis pas convaincu que cette chanson soit même en français… Je l’aime malgré tout mais je n’en comprends pas les paroles. Anglais? Français? Ou même Occitan? Ou c’est peut-être seulement moi qui après toutes ces années en Amerique du nord sans contact (et hélas effort) quotidien n’arrive plus à comprendre… À l’aide!!! :-)

Eurovision 2008: Results of the 1st Semi-Finals

Tuomo writes: First of all, congratulations to all the songs that made it to the finals. Here's a quick commentary on today's/tonight's results (in order of performance); note that I/we haven't seen any of the performances live yet:

Israel: I'm surprised... We had this on our Bubbling Under list.
Azerbaijan: Well duh :-)
Norway: I still think this is like two day old oatmeal. As Dave put it, nice melody, awful lyrics.
Poland: This instead of Slovenia?! :-( I'm appalled...
Bosnia-Herzegovina: I'm surprised that Dave loved this... It's groing on me too though :-)
Armenia: Well duh :-)
Finland: What the BWAAHMP?!? :-) HTH, or How this happen? So the testosterone driven 14-year-olds across the continent got their act together and televoted en masse as I has suspected... Well, good for Finland! Though clearly this is sending the wrong message to Finns and Finnish teenagers in particular :-)
Romania: Thank goodness!!!
Russia: This song is in a dire need a distinct refrain. As it is now it just sounds flat from the beginning to the end
Greece: Well duh :-)

So Slovenia didn't make it. I'm forced to push forth my lower lip as I sulk on this. Not happy :-(
And Belgium didn't make it either. We both thought it was cute with its klezmer sound...

Oh and thank heavens that neither Estonia nor Ireland succeeded in their attempts to sabotage the competition! Mwahahahaaa :-)

OK on to the second semi-finals, which I suspect will turn into a proverbial bloodbath with more than just 10 good candidates running for the remaining 10 slots in Saturday's finals...

Good Evening, Bonsoir (1/3)

Tuomo & Dave write/écrivent: Here are the results of the Langley jury; voici les résultats de la vote de Langley:

The Netherlands: one point; les Pays-bas: un point
Azerbaijan: two points; l’Azerbaïdjan: deux points
San Marino: three points; Saint-Marin: trois points
Bosnia-Herzegovina: four points; la Bosnie-Herzégovine: quatre points
Belgium: five points; la Belgique: cinq points
Greece: six points; la Grèce: six points
Andorra: seven points; l’Andorre: sept points
Armenia: eight points; l’Arménie: huit points
Slovenia: ten points; la Slovénie: dix points

And finally… the twelve points from Langley go to (pregnant pause)
.
.
.
.
.
Romania! La Roumanie: douze points!

Thank you, have a nice evening! Merci, bonne soirée! :-)

Eurovision 2008: Portugal

Tuomo writes: We've come to the last semi-finalist, Portugal!

For the longest time, ESC victory for the geographical outliers of Europe, Norway, Greece, Finland, Iceland, and Portugal, remained elusive until Norway broke the mold in 1985… then Greece in 2001… then Finland in 2006. This leaves Iceland and Portugal as the last western European countries that still have to dream of an ESC victory. Iceland came in pretty close to that dream in 1999 placing 2nd when That Bitch Whose Name Is Not to Be Said Aloud took home the award. Portugal, however, has placed only 6th as its closest to winning (1996) so Portugal needs to work hard to win. Or make it to the Top 5 – which, incidentally, Finland hadn’t made it to until winning in 2006! :-)

In 2008, Portugal is represented by Vânia Fernandes and Senhora do mar:

Here or

Again for fear of the wrath, this time of a certain Lusitanophile, I’ll just say that Vânia’s performance will probably “grow on me" … and that Portugal needs to continue to work hard… or geto ver the fact that Fado, as heart-twistingly fascinating as it is, does not quite work on teh ESC arena:-)

Eurovision 2008: Macedonia

Tuomo writes: I don’t care what Greece wants this country to be called, but here’s Macedonia, Tamara, Vrčak & Adrian, and Let Me Love U/Vo imeto ljubovta:

Here or


(In Macedonian here)

Once again, better in the original Macedonian: leaves something for the imagination. Not that I wondered too much about this one – at this stage at least. Maybe later in the gym :-)

Eurovision 2008: Cyprus

Tuomo writes: People complain about how the Balkan Block has taken over the Eurovision Song Competition tipping the balance of top ten countries in favor of the newbies, i.e. east European countries and the Balkans in particular. Well, lemme tell ya, everything pales to the game of “Douze Point Footsie” between the old school countries of Greece and Cyprus. Talk about neighborly fraternization when year after year these two countries would spare their highest points for each other – though admittedly this has become less blatant in course of the more recent years…

In 2008 Cyprus brings forth Evdokia Kadi and Femme Fatale:

Here or

Oπα! Bring on the bouzouki! And electric guitars, oh my…

In 2007, the entire song was in French (too bad it didn’t make it to the finals), this year just the title. Just wondering if this is going to be in Greek or English? No matter what, Cyprus – provided that they make it to the final along with Greece (duh!) – will get the token 12 points from Greece…

From me, 12 points for bringing hot men on stage… For the rest of performance, I better hold my tongue for fear of the wrath of certain Hellenophiles… and say no more than that this was quite original :-)

Eurovision 2008: Malta

Tuomo writes: Gone are the days when Malta’s preview video would invariably feature an Air Malta aircraft shown taking off, taxiing or otherwise idling as a back drop for the performer(s). Talk about product placement! :-)

In 2008, Malta is represented by Morena and Vodka:

Here or

Cheesy with a Russian twist – and in not a fun way either :-(

Eurovision 2008: Hungary

Tuomo writes: The year Hungary entered the big happy Eurovision family (1994) with Estonia, I thought that this would be an opportunity of a life time to corroborate the myth that Finland's lack of success was due to the language. When Hungary ended up placing 4th (but Finland 22nd and Estonia 24th out of 25), maybe it was just a conspiracy against Finland after all irregardless of what we submitted... Or maybe that Finland was truly bad, as we came to witness when Estonia got to participate again in 1996...

In 2008, Hungary brings forth Csézy and Szívverés/Candle Light:

Here (in Hungarian) or

NooOOOoooOOOooo…! Don’t perform in English – it just falls apart, especially with lyrics like I will fly tonight – how boring...! Otherwise a pleasant traditional Eurovision ballad. Sok szerencsét!

Eurovision 2008: Georgia

Tuomo writes: Last year’s debutante Georgia, who did quite well by placing 12th (5 higher than Finland!), is next with Diana Gurtskaya and Peace Will Come:

Here or


Beautiful, harrowing, easy listening for Saturday’s final… but not a Eurovision winner 2008. Or I may have to eat my shorts :-)

Eurovision 2008: Denmark

Tuomo writes: And now, everybody’s favourite Scandinavian country, Denmark (with two wins, in 1963 and 2000), Simon Mathew, and All Night Long:

Here or

Hvordan siger man “snooze fest” på dansk? :-)

Eurovision 2008: Bulgaria

Tuomo writes: Next in line is Bulgaria, one of the more recent Eurovision participants. In 2008 Bulgaria is represented by Deep Zone & Balthazar and Take Me Away:

Here or

Whoaaah a Kylie Minogue wannabe partying to a hip hop riff – or whatever this genre is (I’m so getting old …). Starts ambitiously, then slows annoyingly down and then sorta trots till the end. I guess I kinda like this one… Cool facial tattoos though :-)

Eurovision 2008: Croatia

Tuomo writes: Oops! I just realised earlier today that the first semi-finals is tomorrow (Tuesday)! Thanks to dragging my feet after my return to Canada, I can only blame myself for having 12 more countries to "review." As a result, the remaining countries will have to suffer from limited reflection and will be subject to a quick and potentially curt reviewing, for which I apologise in advance...

So withour further ado, the next in line is Croatia. Croatia plucks a special chord in Dave's and my ESC hearts. Way back in 1999 when Dave had his ESC baptism of fire Maria Magdalena was Croatia's entry that year, and we both fell in love with its dramatic spell...

In 2008, Croatia showcases Kraljevi ulice & 75 Cents, and the name of the entry is Romanca:

Here or

This is so 1970s that it was… almost... not funny. I was almost expecting a JAT aircraft to appear any minute...

How Does Your Garden Grow

Tuomo writes: The first really warm days of summer have finally arrived, with temperatures on Saturday up to the high 20s C (high 80s F). That means that we've scoped a lot of hot men parading around shirtless - and others (bless their hearts) who shouldn't... :-)

Thanks to the good weather we've been able to focus on the exterior of the house, or to be more precise, our porch and front garden. Our porch looks has bleeding hearts, choleas, and a begonia in tall pots. As for the trees and bushes that came with the original landscaping, they have been blooming and thriving quite well. However, we felt that we had to try our hand at landscaping (and discovered first-hand why grass is good is great at preventing erosion) and expand the growing area by creating two lobes on which the following plants were planted (in no particular order):

• Two red dragon weeping Japanese miniature maple trees (acer palmatum dissectum 'Red Dragon')
• Goldfingers (potentilla fructicosa)
• Princess potentillas (potentilla fruticosa 'princess')
• Robb's wood spurges (euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae)
• Evergreen spurges (euphorbia characias wulfenii)
• Cushion spurges polychroma (euphorbia epithymoides)
• Sea thrifts (armeria maritima 'rubrifolia')
• Butterfly blues (scabiosa columbaria)
• Catchflies (silene schafta)
• Dwarf variegated boxwoods (euonymus japonica 'microphylla variegata')
• Azalea exburies (azalea 'exbury hybrid')

Various body parts may be aching or sunburned, but we are very satisfied with the fruit of our labour. Why don't you come over and see it all! :-)

BTW, for more on the origins of the nursery rhyme that the title of today's posting alludes to, click here.

Home Sweet Home

Tuomo writes: So I’ve been back to Canada for almost two weeks now. The weather has sucked ever since though it’s supposed to be super nice this coming weekend (long one too – Victoria Day - woohoo) with temperatures in the low 20s C (low 70s). On the day I left Helsinki (May 2), it was quite warm and dry in Helsinki – 18C (65F) – whereas in Vancouver it has been rainy and only 12C (54F), so go figure… As always when traveling westwards, jetlag was easy to overcome so that by the fifth night Dave was in bed before me!

Packing my things was a bit of a challenge because not only was I bringing back some of mom’s birthday presents with me (the clothes were too small) and other purchases (books and CDs) but also a boatload of stuff that mom had decided that it was time for me to take with me. I was sure I would be penalized at the airport for excess luggage; it turned out that I had only 33 kg (72 lbs), or one kilo (2 lbs) too much. I had to stuff that excess kilo in my carry-on there-and-then, which was also certainly over limits! I wanted to pay a penalty, but the friendly check-in person told that if my luggage weighs too much, the loaders may decide not to move it at all, so carrying that extra kilo on my back wasn’t that much of a hassle, I guess! As a result, my Roots backpack resembled more a pregnant squirrel (!) than a backpack.

Keep in mind that it was warm on that day, and Finns don’t believe in A/C, at least not that early in May! On top of that, I was wearing my leather jacket because who knows how much my luggage would have weighed if I had packed it in my it. A week earlier the jacket had been appropriate, but now with the weather being warmer, it was too much. Needless to say, I was sweating bullets, so so much for traveling looking fresh and fabulous. Fortunately, while I had to lug my Pregnant Squirrel around for the rest of the day, I wouldn’t have to deal with my luggage until YVR…

While I was waiting for my flight to London-Heathrow (LHR) to board, I talked to Tytti for the last time. On my way to the airport, she had texted me telling that she had purchased her plane ticket to come see us in Canada for two weeks in June. This was great news because her stay would overlap with Pexu’s and Timo’s stay in early July – yayyy! Poor Langley has no idea…! She sounded very excited about her trip to Känädä, especially when her itinerary will pretty much trace mine, except that she’ll have more than two hours to transfer terminals at LHR. Smart move if I may say so!

My flight to LHR was on flight BA 6079, operated by a Finnair (AY839 ) Airbus A320 (OH-LXG; picture not mine). I have to say I love flying on Airbus 320s because not only are they an inch or two wider than 737s, giving them an air of more space, but Finnair also keeps the display screens down while taxing so that you can have a view forward. We pulled back exactly on scheduled time of departure 2:05 PM, and approximately ten minutes later we were taking off towards the northeast over Tuusula, “The Langley of Helsinki.” After a sharp veer to the left, we headed towards the west, flying north of Hanko, Stockholm, and Ålborg towards the North Sea. Lunch was served practically within the first 30 minutes of flight. This time I have to say I was more pleased with the meal, spinach and ricotta lasagna, probably because it was still fresh and had not been heated for too long unlike on my way to HEL. I purchased two Finnair Embraer 170 models, one for Tuukka and one for myself, and I would have bought a Moomin umbrella too if they hadn’t run out of them. Boo, hiss…

Having a window seat has its disadvantages, like when you gotta go, you have to bother your fellow passengers. On this flight I was lucky because I had seat 10A and no one occupying the B and C seats. Queen of Sheeba, as the Champagne Lady battle cry goes! At any rate, over the North Sea, I noticed a plane approaching ours, and for the first time ever (I think) I was able to identify not only the model (Boeing 767) but also to which airline it belonged to (American Airlines). It passed us above and behind us, so it must have just taken off from Amsterdam because it was picking up altitude and coming from the south or southwest. Pretty cool and creepy at the same time – thank goodness Dave wasn’t there :-)

On approach to LHR, since we were a bit ahead of our schedule, we had to circle once (?) somewhere over northeast London. After that, the Captain turned off the IFE making it impossible to determine whether we were circling or just flying around the heavily congested airspace around and over London. Besides, flying in the clouds made it impossible to determine visually based on the sun what we were doing. At any rate, we approached LHR from the east approximately 10 minutes ahead of schedule. Considering that I had exactly two hours to make the up-and-down transition from Terminal One to terminal Five, I thought this was a good omen. However, the gate where we were supposed to park was occupied so we ended waiting for more than 15 minutes on the tarmac. Fortunately the Captain had left the IFE display screens down so that I had the pleasure of observing taxiing aircrafts from multiple vantage points. Gotta love LHR for that!

Once we were parked, it was a mad rush for everyone off the place; imagine the Pamplona run of the bulls but in the aisle of an A320! First it was an endless hike along the winding corridors of Terminal One. Remember that I was wearing my leather jacket AND carrying a Pregnant Squirrel on my back. Oh and a bag of goodies that I had bought in Helsinki tax free and on Finnair… All of this made the trek to the Terminal Five shuttle bus comparable to the Bataan Death March. To add insult to injury, there were no windows to catch a glimpse or two of airplanes. Fortunately once on the shuttle bus, which didn’t leave immediately but almost ten minutes later, I was able to rearrange my belongings, and dab a drop of sweat or two off my brow – a traveler comme moi does have to keep up that air of fresh and fabulous at all times!

At Terminal Five, it was up a flight of escalators (or was it two, I can’t recall) and another trek along an endless corridor until I got to a place that seemed to function like a place of triage (“You? Bangkok.. over there. You? Rio… This way please. You? Nairobi… Turn around and go to another terminal.”). A valuable word of advice for anyone traveling through LHR (wink wink, nudge nudge): keep your passport and boarding pass at hand AT ALL TIMES. At my “triage” path I had to show not only my travel documents but also ask questions about my address and my immigrant status in Canada (!?). However, unlike when entering the States by air, the lady who punched in my info in the computer was all smiles and friendly, and actually responded to my knee-jerk “Have a nice day”! I almost wish she really was as delighted by this standard North American form of bidding farewell asI thought she was… :-)

Up another flight of escalators, and I found myself at a place that I have to admit was the worst episode at LHR: the security check line. The line seemed endless, but in the end went surprisingly smoothly. Once again, I did not have to take out my laptop, but I did have to take off my shoes and belt – and still something beeped! It must have been my wrist band that normally doesn’t set off any alarms. And guess what – I was sweating bullets again!

Let me tell you something. Terminal Five is not just huge – it is huh-YOUGE! After the security check point and rearranging my belongings, I got the first true look at the new and infamous terminal. From where I stood, I could see shops till the horizon – and this was just the uppr level. Downstairs was the waiting area for flights leaving from Terminal 5A and even more shopping. It was like a hair under an hour to the scheduled departure time for my flight to YVR, so the departure gate hadn’t been posted on the monitors yet, similar to what they had done at Terminal One on my way to HEL.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the luxury to peruse the numerous stores because moments later the departure gate in terminal 5C was announced. This meant that I had to go down a flight of escalators and get on a shuttle train. I still find this part a little confusing because I am still under the impression that the trains run to virtually anywhere and that if you don’t pay attention, you’ll end up in Sussex or something and consequently miss your flight. Somehow I made it to the right platform (and not for high tea in Sussex) meaning that I had to go up another flight of escalators. (Hmmm… I feel a song coming up) to the main level where all departure gates are.

I love British Airways (BA), and I know that LHR, which BA has virtually no control over, is run by BAA. I had asked the check-in lady in HEL if it were possible to be upgraded to Economy Plus, but she told me that I’d have to do that in LHR. Since there were still a good 20 minutes till boarding, I went to the BA service desk to see if I could still be upgraded. This is the conversation that followed with the BA (or possibly BAA) agent (more or less verbatim):

ME: Hi, I’m on the flight to Vancouver, and I…
STAFF: Yes, your flight is Gate **, but they haven’t started boarding yet.
ME: Ah yes, I’m aware of this. What I wanted to know is if it were still possible to be upgraded.
STAFF: Oh I’m terribly sorry, sir, but we don’t deal with money or booking issues. You’ll have to go back to the main terminal to that, but I'm afraid you won't have time for that [turns on her lip gloss at full glare].

Now that was helpful, wasn't it?! I don’t know what to think of this episode other than what a dimwitted twat she came across as, I mean in the way she approached my inquiry. So not only no upgrade, but I was also made to feel stupid for not having realized that of course to get an upgrade I should have acted earlier in the main terminal …

So now we’re a full 747-400 worth of passengers waiting to board a 9 hour plus flight in what I think was a ridiculously small area. The best part was that I knew that we’d have to go down one more flight of escalators (what’s up with this?!) because we were too high in the terminal just to sashay onboard our aircraft (G-BNLL; picture not mine). And sure enough, though the boarding began from the back of the aircraft, the way the gates were organized and how the passengers were lined up, it was not a very speedy process. Fortunately I had been assigned a window seat (37K in front of a bulkhead) next to a lovely couple, who had just flown in from Barcelona and their two week Mediterranean cruise. Scheduled departure time at 5:10PM came and went, and there were still passengers boarding. All things considered, we pulled back 35 minutes behind schedule, which also meant that we had to wait some extra time to actually get the permission to pull back and start taxiing towards the runway; interestingly we passed by OH-LXG that had not left LHR yet, so I got one last glimpse at the aircraft that had brought me so far. In the end, we took off 55 minutes behind schedule towards the west.

Our nine hour flight began quite low first to the west, the sharply turned towards the northeast (I guess to avoid the airspace above Luton), and before picking up altitude and heading then to the northwest over western parts of Scotland and Vattnajökull in Iceland (unfortunately covered by a thick layer of clouds) off to central Greenland and easternmost parts of Canada over Baffin Island. It probably says something about the size of Canada when it took a bit over half of the nine hour flight to reach Canada’s shorline and then the rest of the flight was over… Canada! Despite the clouds over Iceland and parts of Greenland, the weather conditions during most of the remaining flight time were excellent so that I could see some dramatic geographic landscapes over Western Greenland and real icebergs – not just ice floats but icebergs! – floating in the Davis Strait. Lemme tell ya: there ain’t nothing up in the northernmost parts of Canada – just flat and covered in snow! It wasn’t until we had reached northern Alberta or thereabouts that the landscape started changing. We finally reached the Rockies, and I think this was the best view I’ve ever had of this majestic mountain range. Sometimes I wonder if I would have been happy as a geologist… Too bad by the time we started our descent that clouds appeared and covered pretty much rest of the flight over the Lower Mainland all the way to YVR.

Despite my disappointment thanks to the dimwitted agent in Terminal 5C, I still have to say I lurve British Airways very much. After a round of drinks (gin and tonic pour moi thankyouverymuch!) and a bag of pretzels, served Economy Class promptly, we were served dinner, which for me was pesto chicken; this time none of it dripped on my shirt. A bit over an hour before arrival, we were served a snack. This consisted of delicious triangle sandwiches and a stick of juicy pineapple - but much to my disappointment: NO CLOTTED CREAM. Clotted cream, served on my previous flights to the US with the pre-arrival snack, had been one of the selling points for me when I booked my flight to Finland. So what am I going to do now if I can’t rely on BA to get my does of clotted cream every once in a while?!? I’m forced to wonder what Virgin Airways or BMI serve on their flights, if they do serve clotted cream, and most importantly when will they start serving YVR? Only kidding: my love for British Airways (except for their ground agents perhaps) remains as strong as ever… :-)

I have to admit that with a thought given to healthy meals by airlines, I find it strange that this time and age both Finnair and British Airways did not offer an artificial sweetener in addition to sugar with any of their meals; fortunately I was prepared and had brought my own stash of Splenda. Another thing that I thought was seriously strange was the fact that immigration forms were not distributed until after the snack. My experience on previous crossings of the Atlantic has been that these forms have been distributed quite early in the flight and oftentimes even before the first meal. I guess the fact that Canadian customs and immigration forms are nowhere as intimating and nerve-wrecking (let alone the actual process at the airport) as the corresponding US forms might have something to do with this…

We broke through the clouds over Surrey, so that I was actually able to identify Dave’s work place and the huge flag pole near I, meaning that we were approaching YVR from the eastt. Thanks to the heavy clouds, I couldn’t see any of the Rockies that rise to the north of Vancouver, but I got to see Route One (Trans-Canada Highway) from the air. After some 10 minutes it was touchdown time, and a couple of minutes later we were docked and ready to get up and stretch our stiff legs. Ironically, I saw that there was an Air New Zealand 767 at YVR; now Auckland would be a killer destination – in more ways than one!

Immigration was a breeze despite the long lines. After a short wait at the luggage carrousel, I was able to pick up my prized luggage, and I passed customs without a hitch. All this within an hour after touchdown! I was expecting just Tuukka to be there to pick me up, but Mika was there too – and so was Dave!!! By this time, I had been up for over 22 hours, but I was still going strong – until we got in the car… that’s when the ocular screen savers began to feel heavy. Although I had initially expressed a desire to grab something to eat before hitting the hay, but by the time we got to Langley and I had done some unpacking, I was way too tired to do anything else than getting some shut-eye (none of that for me during the flight – I was too busy cross stitching!) and in a horizontal position around 9PM, 24 hours after I had woken up in Helsinki. Curled up to Dave...

Ahh home sweet home indeed :-)

What I Miss about Finland

Tuomo writes: Now that I'm back to Canada, it is time to reflect on things that I'll miss about Helsinki and Finland:

* Rye bread
* Beverages such as Jaffa, Lonkero, siideri, sima
* Fazer Blue chocolate
* Ice cream and other dairy products - loaded with Points...
* Mämmi (for better or worse)
* Learning new idioms and expressions in my native tongue such as mokkula “blackberry” or tuunata “to fix; to upgrade; to pimp”
* Cool bars and clubs such as Hercules or Baker’s Champagne Happy Hour: a flute of champagne for one euro = 1.56 CAD/USD! (Limit 4/person/round – guess how many flutes I had!)
* Fabulous shopping at Stockmann, Akateeminen kirjakauppa, Kiseljeff Centre, etc.
* Fabulous – yet expensive – design wear, e.g. Marimekko, Aarikka, Iittala, etc.
* Fabulous cafes and other places to sit down and chitchat over a cup of coffee: Café Engel, Café Fazer, Strindberg, Ekberg, and Esplanade just to name a few
* Cool free papers such as City, Papper, Sixth Degree, and Voima
* A functional, no-fuss public transportation system - except for the electronic tickets
* Ridiculously easy access to outdoorsy activities
* Men who jog or bike in spandex gear in public ;-)
* Prices with taxes and service included
* Consequently, being able to figure out the exact change in advance or splitting bills without a hassle
* Water that allows soap to lather and rinse off without a lot of scrubbing
* Long days e.g. May 1st sunrise: 5:18AM; sunset: 9:18 PM – and it only gets better for another month or so!
* Fabulous conversations with my friends on topics ranging from ancient datives and translation theory to and gossiping on human relations over an omenasiideri (or two)
* My folks – whether I admit it or not...