5 things that make me smile : Rovaniemi/Lapland 2014

This year's christmas was snowing in Finland! 

I can't be more happier since last year we didn't get any of it (in here we called it "musta joulu"  lit. means black christmas). 

But we got a lot more of snow since we (me and husband) traveling to Rovaniemi - Lapland. It was -25 in there and it was my first time to go here, so it was exciting. 

We went to a *small version of ice hotel* and Santa claus village also (that they claimed it is the original Santa Claus). The entire trip took 3 days 2 night. I must admit it was too short! ;)

1. The scenery on the road
White, white, white everywhere! Everything are frozen solid also. We went with car and it took *only* 8-9 hours drive (ouch!my butt >_>).

2. This super cute - alaskan husky sled trip
They are so cute, fluffy and really friendly. I was hugging and petting almost all the dogs. I want to take them home! The ride was fun and super cold when they running really fast. I could felt a thousand needles prickling my face Ö_ö

*Fun fact - the guide said that they only use siberian husky and alaskan malamute usually just for advertising purposes...uhm..ok :p

3. The color of the skies was awesome
It was breathtaking seeing those skies changing color every time. And seeing the northern light in there was really nice experience. I could say that I unlocked one of my life achievement, yay!

Unfortunately I didn't catch the photo of aurora since it was hard...well next time :p

4. This trip with snowmobiles to the frozen forest
Not the most pleasant ride since it was super freezing cold, super bumpy ride since I was in the backseat :p

Nice experience driving around Lapland's frozen forest. Its almost dark at that time but the scenery and color still fabulous.

5. The speciality stuff from Lapland
Tried reindeer meat stew, I finally found the handmade Kuksa cup (Lappish wooden birch cup), We stayed at really nice cabin and I got my own reindeer's antler also* :p

*Reindeers shed their antlers occasionally, so there's no harm for retrieving these :)

5 things that make me smile : 29072014

Here in Helsinki we have a really HOT weeks.

We have over 30 degree Celsius with the sun shining brightly more than 12 hours.
Oh please don't throw shoes to me, i know for some country 30 degree are normal lol. I have been living in Indonesia and i know this *hotness* is normal in there.

But in Finland its really rare opportunity to get this hot. Though many of the Finns (the Finnish people) are rejoicing for this (you can spot the beach are super crowded) i'm not really keen for this since i like coldness more. Though honestly the half-naked-six-pack-guys strolling in the streets are ok for me...whooopss! *hubby-stare-at-me*.

*Ahem*, anyway I try not to complain too much since the summer is short in Finland. Soon the autumn come and the cold-darkness is here (People who live in Finland will understand this). But hey what I am blabbering about, let's just go straight to these pics that i took recently in my daily life :)

1. Japanese cherry blossom's trees in Helsinki. 
When my teacher said there is a small Japanese garden in Helsinki i was thrilled. She said they have this sakura trees blooming on this day (spring) so i went there right away after school, dragging my husband also.

2. Museums! 

A visit to a museum is always a good things.

3. Flowers, flowers, and more flowers!
This is called "lumipallo kukat" literally translated "snowball flower". My parent-in-law's have this cuties in their backyard and it is huge. The entire plant is bigger and taller than me in comparison. I think it is really cute and they all look like a perfect snowballs that i want to hug it ( not that i can hug a plant for real, they'll be dead crushed :p )

4. My corner - update
I have been trying to make my "working station" in the corner more comfy and green. I have a bit hard time to find a perfect plant for it since in this corner the window is quite small. I decided this ZZ plant is the perfect one (it have a "balls" that act like a water reservoir in the roots). I've been told that shopping malls and hotels often have this inside since it is really strong plants.

I found some thrifted whimsical wine bottle ( can you see there is a small grape shape inside? ), an unique vase and reindeer figure from IKEA ( that i think it looks like something from minecraft...probably :p ).

5. Gift from Indonesia
My dear friend sent me this tote bag from Indonesia. How cute is this? and it is a one of a kind since it is a handmade. She bought it from this talented person here and sent in to Finland. It is for my belated birthday gift since she was really busy but i appreciate it. Love this so much thank you! :D

welcoming the 2014.

Finally I decided that is better to organize 1 blog only. So i merge my old imajinasimaginatia blog together with my main one salvadorkatz. You can still see my old posts from the imajinasiimaginatia in here also.

For this Christmas 2013 i made some drawing so i can print my own christmas card. After i sketches and doodling ( and tons of glögi and piparkakku - gingerbread ), here is the final result. I am really satisfied with it. 

I drew some small "goodies" in a rounded wooden ornaments and sent it together with the cards.

I love taking photos for hobby and last year 2013 I decided also to bought new camera so i can maximizing my hobby. I felt with the current point&shoot type camera ( its a pocket camera ), i didn't get 100% what i want in my photos. 

So I pick Fujifilm X100S ( that break-popping-my-original-budget-ouch ) after pestering my old co-workers and photographer friends ( and long hour stalking the internet ). I haven't use it for long time but i'm quite satisfied for now. 

I move my photo gallery to flickr since they changed the design to my taste, neat, professional looking and easy to navigate. 

Here is the link http://www.flickr.com/photos/salvadorkatz/

This photo is one of the result also for using X100S,