Pattaya

After having visited Bangkok, Cha-Am, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, Krabi, Phi Phi Island, Phuket and Pattaya, I have to say that Pattaya is best, maybe not a paradise, but a kind of Disney world for retired men: wonderful food, weather and women, and everything at bargain prices!

Thailand visit winter 2011

I left Finland 14th of November on a Finnair flight to Bangkok. I arrived in Bangkok the next morning 15th. Then I tried the new train that leaves from under the airport and goes to the city center. Then I traveled one stop with the sky train to Victory monument, where I took a van to Hua Hin. I stayed 3 days in a guesthouse there. I had the penthouse room, fifth floor, with a view over the sea and Hilton hotel on the other side.

Then I moved to Cha-Am, staying one night in Casa Papaya, and then changed to the Cha-Am Little Shop & Resort, where I stayed almost one week.

I had a meeting with Helena and Pekka in Hua Hin, and I also met Markku there.

In Cha-Am I met Baaba, Make, Reetu, Jussi and Pariya.

Then I returned to Bangkok and took a train to Chiang Mai. The journey took 12 hours, and the first 3 hours you could imagine you were travelling in a boat, because the flood water was seen everywhere.

I stayed in Chiang Mai almost a week, in Chiang Mai White House Guesthouse. I really liked it there, it was cool and even the streets were clean.

December 2nd I took a Thai Airways flight to Phuket, stayed one night in On On hotel there.

Then I took a boat to Phi Phi Islands, stayed also there only one night.

And this morning I came with a boat to Krabi Town, and I am staying in Krabi Nature View Guesthouse, with a beautiful view to the river. And I met Jeff from Kansas, who is staying in this same guesthouse. Jeff has a red sailing boat on the river near by.

Here are some photos from this trip.

My home is my castle

I am selling my home. I have a small house on a land of about 2000 m2. I tried to sell it, but there were not so many interested people, so I thought that maybe the lot is too big and expensive, and so I asked the plot to be divided to two building-sites. So now I have one lot of 1200 m2 and the house on it, and another empty lot of about 800 m2. I can sell both of them, but I´d prefer to sell the smaller piece of land first.

Sailing in the archipelago of southern Finland

Last week I was sailing in Airisto, an area south of Turku town. My friend, Jan-Erik, had rented a Bavaria 34 sailing boat and asked me and an other friend of his,Lasse, to come along as"gasts".

We started Monday morning by car from Helsinki and were in Kasnäs at about noon. After a short introduction to the boat we were ready and out at the sea.

Our first destination was an uninhibited island of Björkö, were we spent the first night, sleeping in the boat. Fortunately there were 3 cabins in the boat, thus each of us had a cabin of his own!

After a good nights sleep we plunged in the morning to the sea to have our morning swim.

Then we walked round the small island, or actually round an inner lake that was situated in the middle of the island. The scenery was very beautiful!

Then we sailed to the next island called Aspö. There we visited an old church that was quite near the harbour. The door was open and we went in to the empty church. There was an American organ there, and Jan-Erik played a few melodies with it, before we went away. It was raining, and the strand cafe was closed, so we lifted the anchor and hoisted the sails and continued to the next island, Nötö. It was still raining, but we decided to walk to the old church of this island. This time the church was about half a mile from the harbour, and as we were returning to the boat, in the yard of one small house, we saw a man with a scythe, and he started heaping abuse upon us and said he has got enough of the tourists here, and he made the impression of being a little bit dreadful. But later we heard that he was just a harmless village madman. We had the super in the boat and slept away soon after that.

Next morning the rain had went away and we sailed in bright sunshine to the island of Berghamn and after only anchoring there for an hour, had our lunch in the boat.

From there we sailed to the island of Stenskär, where we stayed for the next night. There were four other sailing boats there. We went first to the highest point on the island to see the fine scenery from there over the sea. And after that we went to the sauna that was available there.

We bought bread and fish from the little shop there and had a very good super.

After morning swim we sailed to the island of Helsingholmen, where we had coffee and coffee bread and had a long discussion (in Swedish) with the old man and his son, who were the only folks that were living on the island. From there we sailed to the island of Tunnholm, and it was our last overnight stop. We bought some handicrafts from an old lady, who lived there with her man, who was a fisher. And of course, we went again to the highest point of this island to see the magnificent scenery there. And then early to bed and early to rise!

On our last morning we had of course first morning swim and then breakfast, but then when we were ready to hoist the sails happened something that surprised us all. The rope or line with which we were supposed to hoist the mainsail, had escaped by accident to the top of the mast.

What to do in a situation like that? We had no other possibility but hoist Jan-Erik in a boatman chair to the top of the mast to bring the end of the line back to the deck.

After that special incident we sailed to the island of Högsåra, to the Kejsarhamnen, a harbour that the Emperor (Tzar) of Russia and his family had visited in their time. From there we walked to the other side of the island to Grandma´s Cafe and had a lunch there.

Then we sailed back to Kasnäs, left the boat there and drove back to Helsinki.

August 2011

Last saturday, 6.8., I was in Sipoo/Sibbo listening to good music in Kalkkiranta Jazz Festival.

It was first time in the festival´s 19 year history that it started raining at the time of beginning.

But fortunately the rain lasted only to about the half time.

First performers were Ruuskanen & Railio, two women with piano and violin, and this time they had a third lady with them playing the bass. They were very good!

Second performer was the pianist Iiro Rantala. He is the artistic director of the festival.

He played this year very nice music that he had composed himself: "Lost Heroes".

And last but not least to the scene came a 12 manned big band called Dallape. It has the same name as an old famous Finnish big band from the twenties (1920) and thirties (1930). Band´s vocalist is Sami Saari who seemed to enjoy very much that people started to dance in front of the scene. And I have to admit that the band played very good "old jazz".

Springsummer 2011

You can call this season now in Finland a late spring or an early summer. I can´t see any snow any more from my kitchen window. Only the trunks of birches shine white emphasizing the green colour of their new leaves. The green grass in my home yard is also a small miracle, just a few weeks ago the yard was covered with white snow, and now it is full of green grass and soon I have to start cutting it.

The photos show how it looks like now in my yard and my home street.

My bike, my boat and my car

Last spring I bought a motorcycle, Yamaha Virago 535. I had been dreaming about a bike of my own since I saw the movie "Easy Rider" in the end of 60´s. When I was young I had not enough money to buy a bike. And then when I had money, I bought a car, because it is much more useful here in the wintertime. But now I had enough extra money and time, so I bought it. I thought it would be easy to learn to drive it. But it wasn´t! You change the gears with your left foot and operate the clutch with your left hand, and the coordination between them must be smooth.

Of course I learned it, but it was not smooth, and I did not feel safe riding the bike. That´s why I decided to sell it, however.

Last summer I bought a boat, an old Coster type sailing boat. I did not sail with it, it was just transported to my backyard, where I dismantled it for the winter. Now I should reconstruct it´s rig again, but I am not sure, if I remember how it was built. And I don´t have any mooring or pier place for her yet.

And I also bought last autumn an old car, Beetle VW 1303 S/1974. Everything was fine then, but yesterday, when I tried to start it, nothing happened. When I inspected the motor, I am pretty sure the problem is in the fact that there is no current to the startmotor and no fuel to the carburettors. A guy who has been specialised in Bugs, is coming tomorrow to see it.

My home street in winter

The street where I live looks now like this. In the forest at the end of the street starts a ski trail that I have been skiing almost every sunny day. People in every house on this street have changed since my childhood. Every one of these old, large plots have been divided, except mine. And even I have thought about dividing my plot to two building sites, before selling it.

Kalle and Kaisla

I met today my older son Kalle (Carl) and my granddaughter Kaisla. Kalle is 29 and Kaisla 1 year.

Together they slided downhill with a sledge on the snow in the yard of Kalle´s mother in Tuusula.