Category: Misc

As of this May, visitors to the Finnish capital will be served by Tourist Information at two new locations. Tourist Information will focus even more on digital services and face-to-face interactions. Other seasonal services for visitors will also begin at the start of May.

In addition to Helsinki Region Tourist Information at Helsinki Airport, tourist information services will be available at the Central Railway Station and inside Stockmann’s department store beginning this May. The main Tourist Information office that has been located for the past fifty years on the Esplanade will move to the ticket hall of the historic Central Railway Station. The current office on the corner of Pohjoisesplanadi and Unioninkatu will remain open as normal until Sunday 22 April.

In addition to the new office at the Central Railway Station, a MyHelsinki service point will be set up inside Stockmann’s department store in the city centre. The new service point will offer digital services for finding information, as well as maps and brochures.

The new locations will open in May. During the move, Tourist Information services will be available from Virka Info inside City Hall.

“Visitors rely on the internet these days to search for information, so the needs for traditional tourist information services have changed. At the same time, personal recommendations and face-to-face interactions are still a vital part of the visitor experience. Our new locations will help us serve visitors even better in the places where they are most likely to have questions,” says Laura Aalto, CEO of Helsinki Marketing.

Personal recommendations also digitally and courtesy of Helsinki Helpers

Helsinki Marketing has taken major steps in the development of digital services for visitors. The award-winning MyHelsinki.fi website serves visitors in six languages, and all the content is based on local recommendations. In addition, services for Chinese visitors are also being developed in collaboration with Tencent, one of the world’s biggest digital service providers.

Visitors to Helsinki in summertime are also served on the streets of the city by the Helsinki Helpers in their easily identifiable green jackets. This year they will begin their season already in May. In addition, tourist information will still be available in the historic centre of Helsinki during the summer season at the convenient Info Container by the Market Square. The Info Container will serve visitors next to the Havis Amanda fountain starting from Thursday 3 May.

Tourist Information premises on the Esplanade now available to new tenants

Following the move to the Central Railway Station, the Tourist Information premises on the Esplanade will be available to new tenants. The Tori Quarters commercial district is currently looking for a suitable business for the premises, which occupy a prime location in the historic city centre.

“The Tourist Information office on the corner of Pohjoisesplanadi and Unioninkatu is without doubt one of the most attractive premises in the city centre. The location welcomes visitors coming from the Esplanade Park and Market Square to the historic Tori Quarters. We are looking for an attractive business that could further enhance the diverse offerings in the Tori Quarters for locals and visitors alike,” says Peggy Bauer, Operative Director for the Tori Quarters commercial district.

The TMW pop-up bar that has become one of the most popular hotspots among the festival’s visitors in the last four years will again open its doors at the centrally located Design and Architecture Gallery. Renard Coffee Shop will offer a quality coffee from Scandinavia’s top micro-roasteries and culinary duo Raba Peet will take care of the taste experiences.

Keit Lillemäe, one of the founders of Renard Coffee Shop, a small coffee bar with a big spirit that operated near Telliskivi Creative City until January of this year, promises to create a lovely meeting place for the festival’s visitors: “TMW has always been a very inspirational festival for me. This time, the expectations are especially big and challenging. Together with my sister Kadi Maidre as the culinary duo Raba Peet we promise that nobody shall leave the cafe with an empty stomach.”

In addition to the pop-up bar, there are 25 eating and drinking spots in the TMW restaurants selection which offer special TMW menus carefully crafted by their head chefs as well as special offers to the owners of the festival passes.

Among others, the restaurants presented include the pre-eminent plant-based restaurant Von Krahli AED, healthy vegan buffet BlissTray, cozy cake shop & cafe Ristikheina Kohvik, brasserie restaurant and Golden Era-style cocktail bar Tabac, creative “fusion-confusion” restaurant Kolm Sibulat, coffee pantry KOKOMO and a unique beer shop TapTap at Rotermann Quarter, restaurant Korsten, Armastus ja Hea Toit based at the Tallinn Creative Hub, and restaurant Sfäär with rooms inspired by the aesthetic universe of Estonian artist Tõnis Vint.

As part of the TMW and in cooperation with the Estonian Refugee Council, there will be cooking workshops followed by dinners “Let’s get to know each other!” held in the demo kitchen at Balti Station Market. Knowledgeable nutritionists can participate in sustainable brunches by Korilase Köök and fans of the Latin American kitchen can join home dinners “Taco night with Mexicans”.

All TMW 2018 passes include special offers at the TMW Tastes restaurants. Clients of festival’s presenter Telia get a 20% discount on all pre-sale tickets and passes.

The project “Let’s get to know each other!” is financed by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and the Estonian Ministry of the Interior.

Additional information:
tmw.ee/festival/tastes

Musiikki on etenkin nykyaikana paljon enemmän kuin pelkkiä säveliä. Bändien ja artistien ympäriltä löytyy yhtä sun toista oheistuotetta aina erilaisista fanituotteista nimikkojuomiin ja toimintafiguureihin. Onpa joistakin aikojemme merkittävimmistä yhtyeistä ja legendaarisimmista artisteista tehty elokuviakin. Aivan oma lukunsa ovat musiikin ja bändien maailmasta tehdyt pelit, jotka ovat hieno tapa tehdä kunniaa loistavalle musiikille.

Kitaran varteen Guitar Hero ja Rock Band -peleissä

Hyvin toteutettujen pelien siivellä pääsee paitsi maistamaan aitoa rock-tunnelmaa, myös nauttimaan suosikkiyhtyeensä musiikista. Pelit voivat myös tarjota mahdollisuuden olla tähtenä bändin riveissä – tällainen peli on esimerkiksi todella suosittu The Beatles: Rock Band. PlayStation 3:lle, Wii:lle ja Xbox 360:lle vuonna 2009 julkaistu peli pitää sisällään 45 The Beatlesin kappaletta, joita pelaajat pääsevät soittamaan sekä laulamaan yksin tai porukalla. Rock Band -pelisarjaan kuuluu myös samaan henkeen kasattu laatupeli Green Day -yhtyeestä.

Klassikkobändit mukana kolikkopeleissä

Myös netin kasinoilla on useita musiikkiaiheisia videokolikkopelejä, joita pelaamalla pääset sukeltamaan esimerkiksi Motörheadin ja Guns N’ Rosesin maailmaan. Kummatkin pelit ovat nettikasinoalan valmistajajätti NetEntin käsialaa ja ne on julkaistu vuonna 2017.

Asennetta näistä peleistä ei totisesti puutu – taidolla toteutettua Guns N’ Roses -kolikkopeliä pelatessaan voi miltei tuntea olevansa mukana jollakin yhtyeen legendaarisista ja ylistetyistä keikoista eikä Motörheadin nimikkopeli jää vertailussa huonommalle sijalle sekään. Riippuneekin ennen kaikkea omasta musiikkimausta, kumman pelin puikoissa on parempi meininki!

Peliseikkailua rankalla heavy metal -mausteella

Perinteisempää seikkailupeliä kaipaavat metallin ystävät nauttivat taatusti vuonna 2009 julkaistusta Brütal Legend -pelistä. PlayStation 3 ja Xbox 360 -konsoleille julkaistu strategia-seikkailupeli on Double Fine Productionsin kehittämä ja sen ääniraidalta löytyy 108 kappaleen verran metallimusiikkia aina Judas Priestista Ozzy Osbourneen. Pelissä vilisee myös genrestä tuttuihin legendoihin pohjautuvia hahmoja, jotka ovat tunnistettavuudessaan todella hauskoja. Ääninäyttelijöinä toimivat hahmojen esikuvat, muun muassa Motörhead-legenda Lemmy Kilmister. Pelivalmistajan mukaan huippusuositusta pelistä on vielä jossain vaiheessa luvassa jatko-osa ja sitä moni heavyn ystävä odottaakin kieli pitkällä kuin Gene Simmonsilla konsanaan.

Two Finnish special two-euro commemorative coins will be released in 2018. The theme of the special commemorative coin released in the spring will be Finnish National Landscape Koli and the autumn’s special coin will pay tribute to Finnish Sauna Culture. The launch of nine five-euro commemorative coins in honour of Finland’s National Landscapes is also in the works.

Finland’s national landscapes symbolise the Finnish character and have a generally recognised significance in Finland’s national culture, history and perception of nature. The total mintage of the special two-euro commemorative coins paying tribute to Koli National Park in North Karelia will be one million. Mint of Finland is also planning a 2018 release of nine commemorative coins themed around Finnish national landscapes. The nominal value of each base-metal commemorative coin will be five euros.

The first special two-euro commemorative coin to be released in 2018 will share its theme of Koli with the opening coin in the series of five-euro Finnish National Landscapes coins. In the summer of 2017, Mint of Finland coordinated an online poll in which the Finns voted for nine of their most beloved national landscapes to be featured on the commemorative coins. Koli National Park received the most votes in the poll.

The obverse of the Finnish National Landscapes Koli commemorative coin depicts the view from the summit of Koli, while the reverse bears an image of the map of Finland. The commemorative coin is designed by Erkki Vainio (obverse) and Mari Metso (reverse) on the basis of a photograph taken by Juha-Pekka Järvenpää.

The maximum mintages of commemorative coins released in the Finnish National Landscapes series will be 3,000 proof-quality coins and 15,000 UNC-quality coins per release.

The mintage of the Finnish Sauna Culture special two-euro commemorative coins released in the autumn of 2018 will be one million. The special commemorative coin is designed by Erkki Vainio.

Special two-euro commemorative coins can be obtained as change in regular circulation or purchased from the Mint of Finland online shop, www.mint.fi, and from retailers. Finnish National Landscapes commemorative coins will be available from the Mint of Finland online shop and the mint’s retailers.

Monet meistä ovat oppineet pitämään itsestään parempaa huolta. Uudet urheilulajit puskevat läpi yhä useammalta suunnalta ja trendejä seurataan silmä kovana. Kaiken pöhinän keskellä on joskus helppo unohtaa se, mikä urheilunkin päätavoite on: hyvä ja terve mieli. Vaikka pitkän päivän jälkeen onkin helppo pyöräyttää Netflix päälle ja vaipua viihteen uumeniin, kannattaa silloin tällöin myös harkita kunnon henkisen verryttelyn hyviä puolia.

Kuinka pitää mieli virkeänä?

Kun puhutaan aivoista, täytyy muistaa että niitä voi lähteä haastamaan mitä erilaisemmilla tavoilla. Joillekin integraalilaskut tuottavat vaikeuksia, jotkut eivät saa piirrettyä edes tikku-ukkoja suoraan. Mitä osa-aluetta itse haluaisit kehittää? Jo läppärin äärelle istuttaessa vaihtoehdot ovat rajattomia. On milloin vain mahdollista napsauttaa selaimelle näkyviin shakkilauta ja alkaa vääntämään kättä henkisesti tai vaikka ratkoa sudokua.

Tänne olemme koonneet muutaman ehdotuksen hyvistä tavoista pitää aivot tiukilla!

Kirjan lukeminen

Jos ei satu olemaan kilpailuhenkisellä tuulella, kirja on hyvä tapa pitää mieli hereillä. Netti on pullollaan monenlaisia palveluita, joista voi ladata mieluista luettavaa. Lukeminen vaatii vain uppoutumista, mikä voi olla jopa rentouttavampaa kuin vaikkapa videon katsominen, vaikka se aktivoikin aivoja aivan eri tavalla. Lukeminen auttaa muistia, lisää tietoutta ja parantaa sanavarastoa.

Palveluita löytyy niin maksullisina kuin maksuttominakin. Esimerkki maksuttomasta palvelusta on readanybook.com, jossa pääsee lukemaan kirjautumisen jälkeen haluamiaan teoksia. Toki kirjan lukeminen onnistuu muuallakin kuin netissä. Suomesta löytyy kiistatta yksi maailman parhaimmista kirjastojärjestelmistä, joten maksamilleen veroille kannattaa ehdottomasti käydä hakemassa vastinetta muutaman kovakantisen verran.

Pelaaminen rahalla

Usein ylenkatsottu puoli korttipeleissä, tuuripeleissä ja veikkauksissa on niiden analyyttinen vaativuus. Ne ovat loppujen lopuksi aina todennäköisyyslaskentaa. Pelit toki vaihtelevat hurjasti taidon ja tuurin välillä, mutta on varmaa, ettei löydy yhtäkään huippupelaajaa, joka istuu aivot nollilla ja luottaa tuuriinsa.

Kovimmat pelaajat kokeilevat monia erilaisia pelistrategioita ja onnistuvat tekemään pelaamisestaan jopa melko tuottoisaa. Voisi kuvitella, ettei vaikka pelirullissa ole juuri taktikoinnin varaa, mutta esimerkiksi suomalaiset kasinot tarjoavat monia erilaisia bonusvaihtoehtoja, joita vertailemalla voi saada hyviäkin etuja netissä pelatessa. Laskelmoivaa ajattelua tällainen hupi taatusti kehittää, mutta kohtuus on hyvä pitää mielessä.

Fiksu keskustelu

Moni ei koe foorumeilla notkumista kovin kehittävänä, mutta se riippuu täysin siitä miten aikansa siellä käyttää. On vaikea uskoa, kuinka monia erilaisia keskustelupalstoja netistä voikaan löytää. Yksi suurimmista keskustelusivustoista, joka on hyvä mainita, on Reddit. Sieltä löytyy alafoorumeita kaikesta maan ja taivaan väliltä.

Monet eri harrastusporukat, fanittajat ja kirjoittajat kohtaavat ja tuovat ajatuksiaan esille juuri heille tarkoitetuilla nettisivuilla. Kiinnostaako autot, poliittiset ilmiöt, astronomia, oluen paneminen tai metallimusiikki? Kaikille näille löytyy tuhatpäinen foorumi niin suomeksi kuin englanniksikin.

Ajankohtaisista asioista keskustelu, tiedon hankkiminen ja itsensä ilmaisu ovat kaikki aivoja vaativia tehtäviä. Löydä siis itsellesi sopiva sivusto ja pistä parastasi! Trollien välttely, argumentointi ja luova kirjoittaminen kehittävät niin monia henkisiä taitoja, ettei niitä kaikkia tänne kannata edes listata.

Lopuksi

Aivot toimivat kuin lihas. Käyttämättöminä ne rapistuvat sitä nopeammin mitä vanhemmaksi tulee. Ne tarvitsevat haasteita tai ne surkastuvat. Jos olo on väsynyt, saamaton eikä luova ajattelu suju, ongelma saattaa olla vain verryttelyn puute. Kuten fyysinenkin liikunta, aivojumppa voi parantaa muistia, luovaa ajattelua ja vähentää ahdistusta.

On tärkeää olla ottamatta aivojumppaa liian vakavasti ja muistaa nauttia ajastaan. Jos ajatus stressaa liikaa, voi löhöily silloin tällöin olla ihan hyväkin ajatus. Kuten liikunnassakin, lopullinen tavoite on aina pitää itsensä terveenä ja onnellisena!

On June 15th, Finland took part in the celebration of the “World Tapas Day”. This International Day is an occasion to celebrate the Spanish culture and gastronomy in the whole world, through one of its more emblematic dishes; the tapas. More than 600 restaurants from over 30 countries offered Spanish tapas to their customers around the world.

For the celebration of this International Day, The Spanish Tourist Office in Finland has counted on the assistance of Mikko Takala, one of the most relevant influencers on the international gastronomic scene. His assistance has been a guaranty of the quality and high level of the restaurants participating in this International Day.

On this year’s “Tapaspäivä” in Finland, 36 outstanding restaurants of Helsinki, Tampere, Turku, Rovaniemi and Oulu offered tapas and other dishes of the Spanish cuisine and, in many cases, offered special dishes of fusion cuisine.

On June 14, as a special event, a contest took place among 19 of the restaurants participating in the Tapas Day, in order to choose “The Best Tapas of Helsinki”. The contest was organized in the venue of the cooking school, Kokkikoulu Espa, and it counted on the sponsorship of the awarded wines of the Catalonian region of Empordà.

The jury was presided by Mikko Takala and also formed by Sauli Kemppainen, a renamed chef and author of gastronomic books, who is working in one of the most exclusive Restaurants of the city of Berlin, and Susanna Vuori, the head of a new bakery brand in Punavuori. She is a highly skilled baker and patissier, and has worked in various Michelin-starred restaurants in London and Paris.

The competition in this contest was very hard, and so was the work of the jury. Finally, the results were:

Second Honorary Award: BasBas & Staff wine bar (Tehtaankatu 27-29)

WINNER OF THE CONTEST: JORD (Kortteli, Urho Kekkosen Katu, 1)

Bus operator Savonlinja celebrates the 100th birthday of Finland with a stunt of its own. On June 7 2017, a specially equipped sauna bus will start off on its journey to drive across country. During the long weekend, the sauna will be hot and steamy from beginning to end. The entire endeavor will take 100 hours.

During the 1000+ kilometer trip – from the South Coast all the to the Norwegian border up in Lapland – the occupancy rate of the sauna will be very high indeed. As the bus makes stops in key Finnish cities along the way, sauna-lovers from all walks of life will board the bus: performers, city representatives, business people, students, journalists… And also regular citizens who won their sauna slot via a Savonlinja competition.

All participants have ID cards that they use when entering and exiting sauna. The idea is to maximize the minutes spent in the sauna during the trip. The custom-made “sauna-on-wheels” can comfortably fit four people at a time.

The host during the entire weekend will be Finnish superstar Ville Haapasalo.

The Long Hot Sauna is guaranteed to add some serious heat into the centennial festivities in a very patriotic way. After all, ‘sauna’ is the only Finnish word that has spread around the world and become a part of our common, global vocabulary.

For more information visit: www.pitkäkuumasauna.fi (in Finnish)

YLE will deliver live coverage of X Games Norway 2017 on YLE2 and will stream all event coverage live on Yle.fi., as well as live and on demand coverage on ESPNPlayer.com across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Fans can watch the action live on YLE2 from Wednesday March 8. Check local listings for more information. All the action will also be available on ESPN Select – the new channel from ESPN Player which features live events from a wide range of sports. Events will be available live and on demand, allowing fans to watch the action at a time that suits them.

As the world’s premier action sports competition returns to Norway on March 8-11, the event features top athletes competing in eight different disciplines over four days for the second time. Taking place at the Hafjell ski resort, the winter games includes snowboard, ski and snowmobile events, with more than 70 competitors, among them several Olympians.

After successful competitions at X Games Oslo 2016, X Games will host Women’s Ski and Snowboard Big Air finals for the second time in Norway. The Norway X Games will also feature Snowboard and Ski Big Air (Men and Women) and – new to the event – Snowboard and Ski Slopestyle (Men and Women).

TOP WINTER SPORTS ATHLETES SET TO FEATURE

The biggest names in winter sports are set to take part in the games – including Norwegian X Games medalists Stale Sandbech, Markus Kleveland, Silje Norendal, Johanne Killi and Øystein Braaten. The world’s top ski and snowboard athletes will compete, including six-time X Games gold medalist Mark McMorris, 12-time X Games medalist Jamie Anderson, two-time defending Ski Slopestyle gold medalist and Big Air silver medalist Kelly Sildaru and X Games Oslo 2016 Ski Big Air gold medalist Henrik Harlaut. For the full list of invited athletes, please visit www.xgames.com.

Two Finnish riders received invites to compete at X Games Norway 2017 – Snowboarders Enni Rukajarvi and Roope Tonteri. A two-time medalist, Rukajarvi holds the distinction of being the first rookie to win Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle and the first female Finnish athlete to medal at an X Games event. Tonteri competed in the Big Air event in Oslo 2016 with a 13th place finish. He competes on the Air + Style tour and earned a big win at the FIS World Cup Big Air event in November.

Over 30 saunas throughout Helsinki have signed up for the event, including saunas in private homes, residential saunas in apartment buildings, rooftop saunas at hotels, and even tent and portable saunas. Helsinki’s new sauna culture will also be represented by Löyly and Allas Sea Pool.

“Locals have been very enthusiastic about opening up their saunas for others to enjoy. The first Helsinki Sauna Day proved the popularity of sauna gatherings, especially during the cold time of the year,” says Jaakko Blomberg of the social innovations group Yhteismaa ry, the organiser of the event.

In March the event attracted large numbers of locals and visitors who were keen to try different saunas. Some of the sauna sessions for the forthcoming event in October are already fully booked, but there are also several saunas participating that do not require bookings in advance.

“Helsinki Sauna Day has attracted a lot of attention outside Finland, so we expect many sauna fans to visit Helsinki especially for this event,” Blomberg says.

“Sauna marathons are also popular during Helsinki Sauna Day, when you can hop from one sauna to the next from morning till night,” Blomberg adds.

The sauna has traditionally been a social gathering place among Finns, yet most of the saunas in Helsinki these days are in private use only. Many people would also like to enjoy a sauna more often if they had the chance.

Helsinki Sauna Day is representative of Helsinki’s communal urban culture. It also offers visitors the chance to try a truly local experience – a combination of excitement and peace that is unique to Helsinki

“Our city is made up of shared experiences. It’s been great to see how enthusiastic locals have been about taking part in this new event – not just as sauna-goers but also by offering their own saunas for others to enjoy. Local residents deserve a big thank you for this!” says Tia Hallanoro, Marketing Communications Director at Visit Helsinki.

Stepping in a casino is always an amazing experience. You can pass in a few seconds from suffering heavy rain over your head to a world of glamour with smart adventurous people, beautiful women and the excitement to gamble for a big win. In the end, is not life just a continuous gamble?

The most clear example is a poker table, where everybody famous or not are equal against each others, just having their chips, cards and wits to compete among each other. You may find yourself surprised to find that for example the World Champion of Football Table, Billy Pappas, made the final table in the World Series of Poker main event in 2014, ending 5th. Who could imagine that the same guy that could put you into shame playing foosball at a bar at night can be also one of the best poker players in the world? Pappas has been considered for the past decade one of the best football table players all over the world, being his favourite table to compete the American Tornado, and partnering often in doubles competition with another legend of this funny sport: Tony Spredeman.

And that is the beauty of the casinos, you can be a hardworking person during the day but when you come in, it is about your attitude and your smartness when playing the game what makes the difference. In the end gambling is just the ultimate challenge for a person that tries to improve every day. There are no bosses breathing on your neck and telling you what to do, you are responsible of your actions and decisions. And if you do not feel like playing, well, you can just always chill out, observe the interesting atmosphere and array of characters around you and wait until you feel the luck gathering again around you.

However, not everybody has the free time or the opportunity to go to a real casino or visit Vegas for a weekend escape. Thanks to the new online era, this is not a problem anymore if you want to test your luck, your ability and your skills against both software controlled games or other real opponents that play online all over the world. You just need a computer or a smart phone or tablet and Internet connection, and a world of entertainment, challenge and potential victory opens in front of your eyes. One of the best sites if you want to give a try to online gaming is Online Casino Ireland that provides a very nice and comprehensive guide into the world of online casino sites.

Enjoy the fun, play smart and decide what are your limits in the amount of time and money you want to dedicate to gaming. What other hobbies can provide you both entertainment and the opportunity to leave with your pockets more full of profits?