Market place of Kauniainen as a backyard |
Friday, November 1, 2024
How to recognize a Finnish backyard
Sunday, October 20, 2024
Nature destinations in the capital area of Finland
During the summer and Autumn I have visited four nature destinations inside the capital area. In Finland you can find nature reserves inside the urban areas which are worth visiting for tourists and locals. All the destinations listed below can be easily reached by public transportation.
Autumn view from Kasavuori |
Kasavuori is a nature reserve in Kauniainen. The name means mountain in English but in fact it is just a hill 66 meters above the sea level. In the highest spot you can find a view over the highway leading to Turku. The forest is mostly pines and spruces but you can find also trees with leaves.
The Glims river |
By the river of Glims there is a path following the river surrounded by trees all the way to an old house museum with some farm animals. The 3 kilometers long path starts from the recently renovated old mansion of Träskända.
The view spot in the central park of Espoo |
The wooden path in Laajalahti |
Villa Elfvik is an old mansion surrounded by a forest where you can find cafeteria and exhibition about Finnish nature. The mansion is inside the nature Reserve of Laajalahti which is by the sea. The area is especially interesting for bird spotting and you can find a bird tower on the shore to look over the bay.
My previous suggestion to visit in the capital of Finland: Roihuvuori
Monday, September 2, 2024
Reading list 2024
Below listed the 23 books that I have read since publishing my previous list. I have highlighted 5 books which stood out the most in my opinion.
Bregman, Rutger - Humankind: A hopeful history
Casanova, Giacomo - Elämäni tarina 7 - 8
Diaz, Hernan - Luotto
Epstein, David - Range how generalists triumph in specialized world
Foster Wallace, David - Tennisesseet
Herrera, Yuri - Kartellin trubaduuri
Ibrahimović, Zlatan - Adrenaliini: ennenkuulemattomat tarinani
Itkonen, Juha - Ihmettä kaikki
Itkonen, Juha - Teoriani perheestä
Kahneman, Daniel - Noise: A flaw in human judgement
Kwik, Jim - Rajoittamaton: päivitä aivosi, opi nopeammin
Manson, Mark - Kaikki menee päin helvettiä: nurinkurinen kirja toivosta
Manson, Mark - Will
Mykkänen, Erkka - Sellainen mies
Pilecki, Witold - Vapaaehtoisena Auschwitziin: vastarintaliikkeen solouttautujan uskomaton tarina
Pulkkinen, Riikka - Raja
Pöppönen, Hannu - Nippu pesoja ja muita kertomuksia Argentiinasta
Saahko, Lotta-Sofia - Koti kulttuurien välissä
Siltala, Juha - Keskiluokan nousu, lasku ja pelot
Torkki, Juhana - Dion prusalainen onnellisuudesta
Torkki, Juhana - Plutarkhos mielen tyyneydestä
Vahvanen, Pekka - Kone kaikkivaltias: Kuinka digitalisaatio tuhoaa kaiken meille arvokkaan
Ypi, Lea - Vapaa: kuinka kasvoin aikuiseksi maailman luhistuessa
Friday, August 9, 2024
The king's oak and The great field
Street view from Kuninkaantammi |
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
The most expensive house of Kauniainen
Listed house |
Saturday, June 29, 2024
Lunch or beer
In Finland having a lunch buffet during the workweek is common practice. Emploeyrs are allowed to give a lunch benefit of 13,5 euros per workday for their employees which often determines the price of the lunch. The lunch price also includes also a drink but if you want to have a beer with your lunch which is not common in Finland you have to pay for the beer almost 10 euros. For example celebrity cook Kape Aihinen has critized the buffet culture because serving lunch doesn't bring much income to his restaurants. He explained that main reason for him to serve the lunch is to be able to offer work for his employees also during the day and keep them that way more satisfied. Aihinen mentioned also that a great sommelier is very valuable for a restaurant. My conclusion is that lunch is cheap and beer is expensive for the consumer. Which makes selling alcohol profitable business and selling lunch very low margin profit business.
Friday, May 17, 2024
J Balvin in Helsinki
Encore |
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Returning winter
April 20th in Espoo |
Thursday, March 14, 2024
Investing in real estate occupied by squatters in Spain
I listened a podcast episode by Wall Street Wolverine where real estate investor Pau Antó explains how he deals with squatters also know as "okupas" in Spain. Many people consider owning property very risky in Spain because the local law protects the habitants of the residence. I wrote for example blog post about it called "how to live for free in Spain". Still Antó has invested in real estate properties which were occupied by squatters. He classified squatters in three categories: squatters who see occupying a residence as a right, squatters who do business by occupying residences and squatters who do it because they don't have any other way to find a roof on top of their head.
Antó explained how you have to negotiate with the squatters before you invest in the property. Often you need to pay the squatters some thousands of euros to make a deal with them. You have to be able to trust their word, because legal contracts don't weigh much in their case. In Barcelona there is a valued neighborhood with good location called Grácia, where some buildings have been occupied for years and would interest investors. Still reaching a deal with squatters has been impossible and the buildings remain occupied. For example buildings where there are living squatters from different ethnic groups makes negotiating complicated. For the landlards Antó adivces to always have an insurance in case the tenant doesn't pay the rent.
Sunday, February 25, 2024
Does eating in a lunch buffet help muscle gain?
Last year on March I went to InBody body composition analysis. 9 months later on December, I went to the same analysis to see the results. I kept my training regime the same as before the 1st analysis but I started to eat more by eating in the lunch buffet 3 times a week. Eating enough to gain mass has been a challange for me. The result was that I gained weight 2,5 KG. My muscle mass increased 0,6 KG and fat mass increased 1,7 KG. Which means that the rest of the difference was water. During the 9 month period I would have liked to have longer training sessions. I felt that it would be nice to train more. Basically I ate too much or I should have trained more in order to avoid gaining fat mass. My conclusion is that gaining muscle mass is tough.