The Insignificance and Vulnerability of Simplicity

Saturday, October 6

Helsinki
Pre Wedding Preparations

Arrived Helsinki at 1 am
GMT+3 (Singapore time 6am)
So technically speaking,
We went without sleep for an entire day.

Arrived at the airport like a zombie,
We saw an equally zombified Don.
He was trying to get the airport taxi services for us.

Taxi services cost 50 Euro for an half an hour trip.
We went straight back to Tuuli's dad apartment which we would be putting up for the next 6 days.

The sky's still dark when we reached the apartment.
Dumped our luggage and went straight to shower.
Not without an irony,
Don asked us to go to bed fast cos it's getting "early".
The sun's coming out out 3am.

After 7 hours of sleep..
Felt good to be woken up by Don..
Havent really seen my brother for half a year..
It had been so long since he woke me up for work after he bathed for school.

Tuuli's parents will be picking us up at 1130am.
We had no idea what the plans were.
Don was giving us weird stares for constantly asking him what the plans are.

Nevertheless,
We met Tuuli's parents, Illari and Tuija for the first time.
Not surprised how Tuuli got her genes..
She got parents with classy and supermodel looks.
We cannot thank Illari enough for giving up his apartment for our 6 days of stay.

We headed straight to Don and Tuuli's wedding venue for some preparation work.
And we saw this for the first time.

Ravintola Seurasaari (Restaurant Seurasaari)

A quaint restaurant which was established in 1873 located among the greens on Seurasaari island.
Very well conserved.

And there is a beautiful Seurasaari bridge with height 3.3 m that connects to the island.
Only service vehicles and Seurasaari personnel are permitted to cycle on the island.
Otherwise,
No cars allowed and all visitors have to walk in through the forested area to reach the restaurant.

Because we were "personnel" of the bride and groom,
We were allowed to drive through this bridge.

-picture taken from the web-

Unloaded the stuff
Illari ushered us to the cafe and asked us to choose whatever we wanted for breakfast.
It was on their bill.

Vegetable croissant and Munkki (Finnish doughnut)

During breakfast,
Ming and I kept asking them what time we were leaving the restaurant..
What are the plans thereafter..

Dad was supposed to meet us straight at the restaurant to give Don a surprise.
If we left early,
Dad would definitely be stranded.

We finally spilled the beans to Tuuli.
An elated her actually conversed to her parents in bullet Finnish that even Don could not understand.
It ended that her parents had to change some plans.
Illari and Ming would go to the airport to pick Dad and bring him straight to Tuija's apartment.

But before all that happened,
They had a rehearsal with Don's best man trying to get the music right.

Then it was sorting out the decorations for both the restaurant (for the wedding dinner) and the cafe (for the post wedding supper).
They were not allowed to do much changes to the restaurant.
But they were allowed to create a Bali ambience in the cafe.
We could only start decorating on the wedding day itself as there would be another event that evening.

After all's done,
I checked out the premises..

>

The restaurant was beautiful on its own..

Both inside and outside

We took a walk into the woods by the lake with Tuija and Tuuli..

Pure detoxification of the mind and soul :)

Duckilings come out to play during summer..

Seagulls pecked the grounds

Sneaking a shot with the bride to be..

Mother and daughter

Mothers of the bride and groom

*****

Thereafter
We took Tuija's car back to her apartment.
Met Tuuli's sister, Vilja for the first time.
And then Illari pulled up with Ming and their secret guest hurhur.
The expression on Don's face, classic :)

Tuija served us wine and sparkling juice..
And some smoked salmon on rye bread as appetizers while they prepared lunch.

The parents :)
(Tuuli's dad is a mix between Richard Gere and Harrison Ford)

The apartment was a cosy one.
Very Ikea infused.

Lunch was healthy and sumptuous.
No fried stuff, no red meat.
Everything was boiled.
We had a different type of rye bread with cooked salmon and scrambled eggs.
Then it was boiled baby potatoes with pickled Herring and salad with cashew nuts, dried rasberries.

Did not manage to take photos of the food..
Cos I was ushered into the sitting area before I could grab my camera.

It was nice seeing the parents click right away.
The Finns are people who aloof on the outside.
But warm up to you quickly once they know you better.

They share life experiences without showing off..
They share real knowledge, not hearsay.

Dessert was a satisfying home made pie with yoghurt ice cream.
Tuija made this :)

Tuija and Vilja have two cats..
One just like to stay posed on the shelf.
The other playful one is just like a dog who often snuggles up to people and loves laying on Don's shoes..

Imagine when I open the door to the toilet..

*****

After Tuija's place..
Don drove us to the supermarket to grab some stuff for dinner and the next few days of breakfast.
The area had a cluster of huge supermarkets side by side for you to choose your groceries.

Merchandizing is definitely better because you see more goods than human beings.
Chocolates are cheap, real cheap.