The Life and Travels of Mrs Suvi

This week you and I need a treat, so we have arranged our coffee date at a café. Perhaps I will have a fresh juice as our office has been swelteringly hot and I need something cool. Do have a coffee if you prefer and maybe something sweet.

The first week back at work after summer holidays has just flown by. I’ve been quite active despite spending so much time at the office. On Friday hubby and I went biking around Otaniemi. We used to live in Otaniemi, at the campus, for seven years a long while back. It’s such a lovely area by the sea – students really have it good! There’s a really great bird tower and cycling route too.

On Saturday I went swimming at the outdoor pool and later to the Street Food Carnival in Suvilahti. These events are a lot of fun and great opportunities to sample different kitchens. I tried so many things that I must write a separate post about it all.

Sunday hubby and I visited Sipoonkorpi National Park. There are many great outdoor areas in the Helsinki area of which Sipoonkorpi is one. We did the Sotunki Kalkkiruukki Nature Trail. At first I thought it was quite dull as the trail was a wide gravel road. But it became more challenging as you went along. We took the wrong way at the end but thankfully realized and managed to navigate back to our car.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many lingonberries in one place! From the looks of this, I will predict it’s going to be a great lingonberry year.

On Monday I returned to work after five weeks of vacation. It was great to see my colleagues after such a long time and hear what they’d been up to this summer. In the evening I was so tired – waking up early needs some getting used to. I decided that some uplifting was needed and dug up Karoliina’s blog post for her open sandwiches recipe. I suggest you visit her blog not only for the recipe but to see how these sandwiches are supposed to look! I made some adjustments as I can’t eat avocado, didn’t have quinoa or dill and wanted to use rye bread for the salmon. The sandwiches are delicious and my family can vouch for that.

On Wednesday I had another blog meet up. I have met such wonderful individuals through my blog, it’s so fun! Stephanie from Malaysian in Europe is finishing up her stay in Finland and will soon be moving to Germany. Too bad we didn’t meet earlier, as she’s been here for almost a year.

Stephanie and I were lucky with the weather which was sunny, with a little cooling breeze thrown in for measure. We met at this cute café Kuppi & Muffini. As I’d just had Brooklyn Bakery’s cupcakes at the Street Food Carnival (they are perfect by the way), sadly I must say I wasn’t so excited after tasting these. The cupcake at the café was a bit dry really. We had some fresh juice to go with it as it was too hot for coffee.

After the café we went “jalan jalan”. That’s Malay for going on a walk in case you are wondering. Actually I should’ve named this blog Jalan Jalan Cari Makan which means going walking looking for good food. I can still change it, hey!

It was so great to meet Stephanie, she’s so sweet and has many adventures awaiting her, hopefully some in Finland before the move and later abroad too. We plan to meet up again before she leaves, maybe at the International Food Market if I’m not sailing then. If that sounds interesting to you – it’s on Saturday the 13th August at Vanha Kirkkopuisto (Ruttopuisto) from 2 to 9 pm.

Stephanie mentioned that she’d enjoyed the Chinese food at Restaurant China, so I stopped by on my way home for some take out. China is actually the oldest Chinese restaurant in Finland, it’s been here since 1973. I remember going there as a child with my parents. I don’t think I’ve been in 20 years or so. Before, Chinese restaurants never had these round tables in Finland. It’s nice that they have them now, but usually only one or two. I guess they take too much space, as restaurants are usually quite tiny in the city center.

The food was quite tasty actually. I love tofu!

I have been struggling with finding new books but now finally finished not one but two which managed to keep my interest till the very end. The first one is A House for Happy Mothers by Amulya Malladi. The novel tells the story of surrogacy from the view of an American woman and an Indian woman. I won’t spoil it for you, so I suggest you try a Kindle sample and see if you like it!

The other one is Clare Mackintosh’s I Let You Go. It’s not an easy one to read, as the story makes you feel all kinds of emotions. The book begins on a rainy day when a mother and child are walking home from school. The unthinkable happens and the child is run over by a hit-and-run driver. I didn’t feel the grip of the book during my Kindle sample but as the book had such rave reviews, I decided to buy it anyway. Thank goodness I did! I’m now reading my second Mackintosh novel, as I greatly enjoyed her style of writing and keeping the reader out of the loop till the very end.

How was your week? Have you read any interesting books lately? Join the coffee share community at Diana’s blog with your own post or drop me a line in the comments below! Also, If you like linkups and challenges, check out my Saturday Statues challenge and join in!

xx