Uppsala's "China River"

No, it's not in reference to a real river!
Last night we were on the hunt for something to eat and had a craving for Chinese food.  We walked by the Golden China (or something like that) and it was quite small on the inside and we need a bit of space because of a single stroller and another child in a back-pack carrier.
We continued to walk around and YAY - the older one fell asleep in the stroller! FANTASTIC.  He's the most difficult in a restaurant and doesn't eat a wide variety of food - so this was great that he fell asleep first.

Then we came to the dilemma.  Do we choose "China Garden" or "China River"?  And they are beside each other!
Well, China Garden's menu looked fairly small - it was mostly a buffet restaurant from the looks of things.
So we looked at the menu of China River which was in English as well as Swedish and the prices seemed fair and walked in.  They also have an all you can eat buffet but it wasn't really what we wanted anyway.
Our youngest was on the brink of falling asleep so we tried to set him down in his carrier and of course, he woke up.  We bounced and jiggled him while ordering our food and when our wonton soup came (it was tasty and not available in JKL - except one restaurant and that has too many vegetables for my husband to eat) - the little guy was screeching a storm.  So the waiter put our soup down advised us to be careful as it was super hot and then said, "Let me."
He scooped my little banshee up and took him for a walk and said for us to not worry and to eat our soup while it was hot.

Uh - WOW.
So I quickly ate my soup as fast as I could - the husband finished his first and went over to take our baby back from the waiter (gosh I felt horrible but so relieved I could eat soup without burning him or me!) and they chatted a bit then the food came out.
I know what you're probably thinking if you're not used to the kindness of complete strangers - "How dare you give your child to a stranger - just so you can eat in peace for all of 3 minutes?!"
Well, I figured if he didn't want to hold my kid - he wouldn't bother offering and he obviously wasn't too busy because it was near closing time and he seemed very nice (and he was!).  Turned out he is a parent too of a 5-year old and remembers those awkward screaming phases during "date night".
Remember, in Finland, the thought of stealing a child is absurd and is rarely (if ever) done.  So I imagine this same philosophy is quite similar in Sweden.
Well, the food was delicious and they even had dumplings!  Not fried golden brown to the point they are tough to chew - but lightly fried....and tasty!  (This isn't something found in JKL as far as we know...well, maybe the Japanese version gyozas?  But that's it.)
We were so happy, although there was a serious fight for the 11th (and last dumpling)...odd numbers - how awful!  So we cut that sucker in half...and the baby gave me the evil eye for my share... 
(The dumplings are found near the back in the rice and noodles section...NOT in the appetizers section like I would have thought!)

Anyhow, the service was wonderful and we chatted with the waiter and found out that he's waiting for his second baby girl to arrive.
We didn't know if we should tip or not, because in Finland you don't and I never thought to ask anyone about it before coming here.  But I felt it was necessary because that was a great act of kindness - taking someone's screaming child and attempting to soothe and rock them to sleep so the parents could eat a bit in peace and quiet.
He was very humble and thankful for the tip and I felt great afterwards.

So if you ever go to Uppsala, Sweden - definitely check out China River...beside the China Garden.

Team Spirit??

Finns are very passionate about their hockey...I doubt it's to the extent of this:
http://sports.ca.msn.com/other/photos/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=29139655

The above link is a photo gallery of what happened last night in Vancouver, British Columbia - Canada.  Why?  Because the Vancouver Canucks team lost to the Boston Bruins.
Nobody thought the Vancouver Canucks would make it to the Stanley Cup Finals (it's "THE" thing to win for the hockey teams in the NHL - there's no 2nd or 3rd place) - so it was a huge deal...same goes for the Boston Bruins I guess.  As it's been 39 years since the Boston Bruins were able to claim the Stanley Cup as their own for the year.

I guess the hockey rivalry between Canada and the USA is similar to that of Sweden versus Finland.  When Finland won the World Hockey Championships against Sweden (I think that's the appropriate title - but perhaps I'm wrong - I'm not a huge sports fan) - there was lots to be happy about - but I didn't hear anything about riots in Sweden...and I'm sure there wouldn't have been riots in Finland if roles were reversed either.

Here's a list of all the Finnish hockey players in the NHL.

The really funny (well not really) thing about this is that on the Boston Bruins team - there are SEVERAL Canadian players (Brad Marchand is from Hammonds Plains, NS AND IS ONLY 23 years old!)...so you'd think Canadians would be happy that Canadians (some anyhow) kind of won the Stanley Cup!...and not think to tip police cars, catch them on fire, fight the cops and each other and vandalize property...
Can you imagine calling an insurance company and saying, "Oh my car was smashed to pieces because it was parked downtown and it was trashed in the riot because we lost a hockey game..."
My husband pointed out a good point too..."I wonder how much that game costed Vancouver...." 

Oh Canada....how embarrassing...where's your team spirit for even making it to the finals and for the CANADIANS on the Boston team?

Sweden Part 1!

This is about my trip to Sweden via Turku from March 13-19th, 2011.


To get to Turku from Jyv�skyl� - we took a train that was an old one.  Unfortunately the one we had didn't have a family compartment (like a small room on the train with a door) like we did on the newer trains to Helsinki.  So! Of course the train is a very boring place to be for a 16-month old little boy...and with 5 teeth coming in at once - it was hard to contain the screams.
It takes about 3.5 hours to get there but with the various stops and people boarding and leaving - it took about 4.  Well shoot me now - is what I was thinking by the time 20 minutes passed.

FINALLY! We get to Turku and it's a bustling city.  It originally is the capital of Finland - then Helsinki took over in 1812 (Thank goodness for Wikipedia).
The population is approximately 175,000 (JKL only has about 80,000-100,000).
However, we didn't get off the train in the city center...nope.  We got off at the very end of the line....at the harbour!  Our hotel was a 5 minute walk (Seaport affiliated with the Best Western) and that hotel was in front of Viking Lines.  Where we would be taking our ferry boat to Sweden the next night.
NIGHT?  Why of course.  The ferry is 10 hours long thanks to all these little islands off the coast of Sweden that are in the way of a more direct route.  There's one that leaves early in the morning or one that goes over night.  We opted for over night as it guaranteed us some sleep prior to hiking around Stockholm.

Now before I go on about the awesomeness of the Viking Lines (hello buffet!)- let's get back to Turku.
Turku reminded us very much of Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Why? Because it had a huge harbour, lots of boats and the cold to the bone weather associated with living near a harbour.
Bonus of living in Turku?  Well if you are Swedish - all the street signs are labelled in Finnish on top and Swedish beneath.
The buses are a heck of a lot cheaper as well!  It's only 2,50� per person and if you have a child in a stroller....IT'S FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  In JKL - we pay 3� a pop, the ticket received is good for 1 hour and you still pay if you have a stroller.  Oh and the ticket on Turku buses are good for up to 2 hours!  BONUS!
As well, there's a bus on the outside near the rear entrance that you press and it opens the door for you.  So if there's a huge line up in the front - slip in through the back with your pram.
The #1 bus is the way to go as it takes you to downtown within 5-8 minutes (I haven't actually timed it but we tried to walk and it was quite far) or directly to the airport if you need to fly.

Now...the hotel.  The Seaport was a very spacious and nice place.  We got there pretty late in the evening, around 8:30pm and had had nothing to eat and didn't think of asking when their restaurant closed.  We were given a room very close to the reception desk (bonus as we had a sleeping child in a stroller and quite a bit of luggage).  We tried to walk downtown and didn't make it - so we walked back and the bar was still open around 10pm.  The kitchen - was not.  So we were stuck with starving or eating some chilled sandwiches and bottles of pop that came to over 15�.  We opted for the latter.
The breakfast buffet on the other hand was PHENOMENAL!
Here's what was included (if memory serves me correctly):

• Eggs (packaged stuff but not as bad as cadet camp stuff)
• toast and all the meats/cheese/veggies for a sandwich
• yoghurt and cereals and fruits for toppings
• porridge/oatmeal
• meat balls and mini sausages (like mini hot dogs)
• juice, coffee, tea, milk

Not too bad of a spread!!  V�in� himself ate about 3-4 hefty sized portions of eggs and a few meat balls and bread himself!

We did a lot of walking around Turku that day and found a nice market that sold wonderful kinds of things!  Like bear meat!  (Unfortunately on our way back we didn't have enough time to pop in and try and get any for our trip home)...
We didn't get to go into Turku's Castle as it was closed that day (of course).  And no Finns do not have a monarch.

**Please note because Turku is a city by the harbour - the sidewalks were quite icy (for mid-March remember) and bumpy...and parts were very thick with slush - so if you have a stroller with smaller plastic wheels and not the air-pumped ones...it can be difficult maneuvering around.**

Part 2 to come !! (Sorry this took so bloody long to get online).