Do`s and Don`ts of Paris

AAAAH. Paris. The middle aged women`s guilty pleasure. The Mecca for many chefs and to other artisans. It is also said to be one of the most overrated places also. Where you wait in line one whole day. A place where the waiters and waitresses are rude and nothing actually works there.


"If you go to Paris you have to see the Notre Dame from the inside and be at the top of the Eiffel tower" WRONG. no you don`t have to. You can do other stuff than wait in line during your stay.

"They can`t speak or understand English" Wrong wrong wrong. Its a major city so they kinda have to know how to speak English. Paris has so much to offer and the people are very nice there. If they are rude I would look at the mirror first. Just saying.


"The food is good but overpriced" Wrong again. It`s relatively cheap but hey I come from Finland we have money to through around. But if you can get a three meal course and a wine bottle for 40-50 euros I`d say it is a fair price. Also food trucks are optional too. Just stay clear of the crepe carts. They are fancy looking but can easily be disappointing.

But the food is good. You can find yourself some good traditional seasonal french cuisine such as Cafe constant. There I ate seasonal asparagus for starters and for main course had the most amazing calf's tongue. For more modern interpretation of food there is the Pascal restaurant (Pictures below). There I ate a delicious chevice with mango. Main course was john dory topped with chorizo and asparagus pyre and for dessert......Don`t remember what is was called but it sure as hell was delicious. And if your on the lighter side, the salads are good almost about at any place....Yes even the places next to the huge tourist places have good salads. What makes them so good? Well because they have huge amounts of meat in it.

 Now if like me you love to drink beer (Who does not) I suggest you go to Sacre-Couer seen below. Just buy some good non french beer (preferably from Germany, Britain or Belgium) and just sit on the ground and watch the sunset and the great view. Also if you are too lazy to go and buy beer first there are local aid workers who are happy to sell you beer (cash only)......I bought my beer from the store.

Other great idea is to go to the Canal Saint Main during a warm night. The canal is filled with students and has many good bars and clubs where locals go to.

At the end of the canal is a great market selling from shits to diamonds....just make sure its real diamonds at first not glass shards. For example I found old cameras and suitcases and all other weird stuff. You can also buy and Ipad for just 50 euros. That it function is only for you to find out.
At this canal I ate maybe the best sandwich of my life so far. It was filled with fresh vegetables and brie cheese. The bread was freshly baked from sourdough. Simply wow. The place was called Ten belles.


Last thing about this amazing canal is one of the coolest cafes I have ever been to. The Le Pavillion de canaux. It`s like a house....No, it is a house. So basically you can go buy a coffee and a bagel and go eat and drink them in a bed or maybe even in the tub. Cool aint it.

Now if your feeling already the great need to do as the real Parisians do, I suggest you go beside the Seine. Where exactly? Anywhere, cause there you can find some great street food. The tables have chess boards drowned to them so you can even play games while mingling. Don`t know where you'll find the pieces for chess, but looks cool.

This may come as taken, but gonna suggest it anyway. The war museum. You don`t have to be a war monger to like big guns and cool medieval swords and amours. The Louvre itself is enormous and takes at least two days to see it all plus the waiting in line. I recommend you the war museum since it has shorter or no line at all and the price was cheap, around 10 euros.


 Now for those like me who love to cook there is a small, but big store named E. Dehillerin. You may have heard of this if you have watched Anthony Bourdains series Layover. Filled with your basic cooking tools like the chefs knife to the most weirdest thing like the infamous Duck press.

Finally a thing for the lonely, single and adventures people, there is the red light district. Filled with...well I don`t need to tell what and for the movie lovers the original Moulin Rouge.

Helsinki gone wild after dark

Helsinki is one of the cities that does not sleep. Bars are packed with people every Thursday to Saturday. The beers and drinks might be sometime pricey, but are usually worth it. Finnish peoples mouth start moving after a couple of beers and they like foreigners.

For bar or club recommendations there are many to give. There are for example Sir Eino at esplanadi where the picture above is taken and for the traveling 20 year old who wants more of the club scene, there is NAMU at the railway station. There is also Tavastia near the mall Kamppi, where they play live rock music and one of my personal favorites O'malley's torni what is Helsinki's best Irish pub with sometimes live music played. There are many clubs that are meant for the recently turned to age and young people and then there are those with age limits to 24 years and over to keep unwanted young people out. I work as a bartender currently at a bar/pub/club called Kaarle XII. Its a huge place with many different bars with different musics played. There is even a room where the tables are meant to be danced on. Very pricey for your average Finn also, but every Thursday and most often on Saturdays it's guaranteed to be packed with people from all ages. I mean like over thousand people.

Don't be afraid of the drunken behavior of Finns. We drink beer during the weekend like its water. It's part our way of life. But be assured we don't bite. You might be invited to someones summer house even, but before you ask the next day the date when to visit, ask if they still remember. Finns change there personalities after few beers.

After your night out if you don't stay until 4 am you can have a chance to eat one of the greasiest and the most satisfying binge drinking snacks ever. We call these snägäris. There are many kinds, like bread filled with meat and rice with optional extra fillings or fried fish with chips. Good place to find these places are at the railway station.

So If you enjoyed the bar culture in Germany, the pubs in Ireland and the raging discos and clubs of Amsterdam or Barcelona Helsinki wouldn't be a bad choice..

Give it up for DUCK BREASTs

Duck Breast could be the filet mignon on your table. Its juicy. It's cooked medium, It's delicious, It even goes great with just simple salt and pepper. It's also low on fat and has lots of protein so a great meal to cook if your into healthy lifestyle or staying fit. It's also the best date night food. It's guaranteed to make a good impression on your date.
Cooking it maybe be tricky. You don't want to overcook it. Here is how you do it.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. You season it with salt and pepper. Don't be shy when you season it. Put it on a cold pan skin side down with no extra oil. By putting on a cold pan you render out the fat. Add a crushed garlic. Ass the skin side starts to get nice a brown and the fats start to melt out turn it to the other side and let it cook for a while. 80% on the skin side when you cook on the pan. After that put it in the oven for 6 to 10 minutes skin side down. Put the pan in or on a tray, but make sure whatever you put it in on in the oven make sure it's preheated. After it's cooked slice it up, but not too thin slices and there you have it. One of the beast meals to help you get lai.....I mean help you impress you're significant other.

What kind of place is Milan

 So I was in Milan. Beautiful city yes. Lots of stuff to see like the Duomo. Lots of fashion shops that sell......well....clothes. As for food. Well know i know why there all the models stay skinny, there are no restaurants. The few restaurants we found had some good dishes, but nothing mouthwatering. One restaurant served me dry wiener schnitzels and a boiled potato. I wouldn't feed that to a dog. I found some decent looking family restaurants or trattorias from the internet, but me and my friends did not make there when it was open. Restaurants usually open up at 9 pm since locals eat quite late in southern Europe.

The most coolest things. To see in Milan for me where the shops. It's not everyday you can go to a Ferrari shop with a real Ferrari F1 formula on display. If you are into fashion Milan would be a mecca to you. Every brand from cheap to bill gates prices are there. It's nice to see some jewelry and watches you can only dream about......

One thing saved my vacations still. The world fair. I didn't even know that it was in Milan or it was on this year. The theme was sustainable development in the field of food production. The most coolest thing was Italies glowing mushroom. Well it played some epic themes like Hans Zimmer style music. Go now while it's on.

Does anything matter when you've got Hot Wings

Hot wings. Hot wings. More hot wings. Even a vegetarian should admit that a chicken died for something good and remember my fellow readers. If your significant other doesn't like these bad boys i would reconsider putting a ring on that finer unless it's holding a hot wing. As equally important as the chicken itself is the sauce. My personal favorite is the Asian zing for its simplicity and hotness.

Now you might be thinking why a drumstick. Well the reason is why not.

The deep frying is easy. First heat the oil on a skillet to 160 degrees.Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Dip the chicken first to wisped eggs and then coat them with cornstarch. You can ass some herbs to the flour like thyme. Deep fry them for 5 mins. Don't put too many in the oil once since they need to have space to move there. After they are deep fried lay them on a paper and add more heat to the oil. Deep fry them again for 1 minute and there you have it.

Here's the Asian zing recipe
2 tbl cornstarch
3 tbl rice wine vinegar
dl of corn syrup (or any other syrup you have)
2 tbl lemon juice
1/2 dl soy sauce
1/2 sriracha
ginger for taste

Mix the ingredients together and bring them to simmer and voila. Goes well with other things.

Three Filling Tortilla

Tortilla. One of the great Mexican foods that are known for their chilies, food in a wrap and intestine cleansing aspects......Well this did not have luckily the last mentioned aspect.
My tortilla had only three fillings. Guacamole, Salsa, stewed beef shoulder and if your into it like my mom crem fresh. For those who used ground beef instead of slowly in the pot or oven cooked meat WAKE UP.
Oh and by the way if you are wondering how my tortillas are so nicely round shape it's because they are bought from a local convenience store. The reason for this can be I was too lazy, I already ate the ones and couldn't get a picture or that a bird flew from my window and stole them is for you to deiced.

For the salsa i made a simple Salsa called salsa roja. It may mean something in Spanish, but since I don't speak Spanish I'll let you translate it as you feel fit. I boiled four tomatoes in a pot for ten minutes. After that i blended them with half a chili, some salt and two garlic cloves. There you have a good salsa.

For the Guacamole a used a quick recipe where I used three avocados rest of the chili I mentioned earlier(By that I mean a half a chili), some salt, one limes juice, two garlic cloves and some fresh coriander. Mix them all well with a fork and there you have. A Lazy mans guacamole.

Enough of these vegetarian stuff, know for the meat. Cut about 750 grams of beef shoulder into even chunks. Season them with salt and pepper. pan fry them until all sides are brown. This keeps the flavor inside them when you roast it. Put them in a pot and add 2 dl of soy sauce and 2 dl of water. For the water I would use the pan used to fry the meats with. Slowly pour water on the pan and with a spatula take all the pieces of meat that may have gotten stuck on the pan while frying the meat. Make sure the meat is covered in the liquid. Add one sliced chili there and one star anise. Put it in the oven for 5 hours at 125 Celsius.

Ingredients
750 grams of beef (I used shoulder)
2 chilies
 four cloves of garlic
3 avocados
4 tomatoes
fresh coriander
one limes juices
Star anise
2 dl soy sauce

Why come to Finland....? This is why

Finland. A country that has a record of coffee drinkers per capita. We are know for our phones and race car drivers. But these are not the reasons to visit Finland. This is why.....Now you should look at the pictures.....

Finland is a country of crystal clear waters. That is why it is estimated that very fifth Finn has his or hers own summer cottage or a families one. These pictures are of my parents cottage. For my recommendation and as to why should you should come to Finland on a holiday are these cottages. They are very much in contact with the nature and it's more relaxing then your average city or beach holiday. 

It would be ideal to rent a cottage in the sea or lake side. Finland has a wide selection of lakes and there is no lake better then the other. All have their unique traits.

For the question what to do in this cottage is simple. Relax, fish, swim in the cool yet warm waters, rent a boat and just wander around the lake. Grill great foods (Finnish produces are during the summer very tasty because of the constant sunlight). Go to the sauna and if you are here during the winter, go dipping yourself into the ice waters. 

Finnish summers are also very warm and sunny, but not too hot. The summers are very pleasant. Not saying the winters are not either. Winter brings activities such as cross country skiing and other winter sports.

Finnish law also gives you the write to go berry and mushroom picking if you are just reasonable distance away from any settlement.

Finland has good restaurants also in the countries sides towns and villages. The restaurants usually use vegetables of the season and the the most fresh fishs you will ever see.

Best of all is the quiet. After a cool break from the sauna drinking cold beer on the lakeside with a undisturbed tranquility. So what are you waiting for.