The Eve Before The Inevitable

Yin and I went back down to the lake last night, except it was earlier and therefore slightly darker than the previous evening. The moon was full and we spent a lot of time howling at it. It made the vista of Tampere on the other side of the bay that even more magnificent and it nicely rounded off a perfect trip.

The four of us (Yin, Hiru, Rekaze and I) had spent most of the evening in the bar drinking Tuplapukki and laughing as if we had known each other for years. The banter was great and we ended up playing Alias - a word definition game that was remarkably hard in Finnish (even with Hiru providing English translations) - and a lacklustre game of Trivial Pursuit.

It was also karaoke night and Hiru did another turn on the catwalk, on the catwalk yeah, he shaked his little tush on the catwalk. Or something like that. I didn't have the confidence to give it a go so just got drunk and ate one of the most delicious cheese/tomato/onion wraps that I have ever had from a late night takeaway. The atmosphere in the bar was typically Finnish, with many Finnish songs being played/sung and couples dancing to the catawauling. To be honest, most of the singers were excellent and soon a good atmosphere had built up. The highlight was everyone singing Volga, Volga in gutteral tones whilst stomping their feet on the ground.

The evening had started off sedately, with Hiru playing Desperate Housewives, the video game. He was a right bitch in it (which I think it is the point) and it is quite clear that it simply uses The Sims template. I have always been interested in The Sims so perhaps I will invest in one of the games to break my 12 year video game playing duck. It was certainly fun watching him play it and egging him on to be controversial.

I managed to get my flight home today after a plane arrived out of Finnair. The hassle of flying is irritating as it took me, point to point, 14 hours to get home (including the two hour time difference). The food on the flight was excellent and contrary to everything that is perceived airline food to be. This was the first food I had had on a plane since 1995 so perhaps standards have improved since then (as back then they were awful) but either way my green vegetarian steak with a weird smingey chutney was most agreeable.

Apart from that, the trip home was largely uneventful. There were plenty of duty free huskies to buy at the airport, plus many husky T-shirts, but I had already spent too much in Finland (it is a very expensive country) so I refrained from making more purchases. After all, I had bought five plushes and two furry masks already. Still, it's good to see that the Finns are as husky mad as I am. Wheee!!!

The baggage handlers at Heathrow are excellent as after walking four miles to the passport control and baggage claim, my bag was whriling on the conveyor belt as soon as I got there. This allowed me to get the Underground train swiftly and my train back home at Kings Cross with no waiting whatsover, making it a speedy return home.

It was a great trip to Finland and it was great meeting some of the Finnfurs. I am very much looking forward to meeting them at EF and I must thank them for their excellent hospitality.

Sadly, today was the last day of my eight week vacation as tomorrow I am back at work. I am not relishing this and, although I really shouldn't complain what with the time off I have had, that just makes the feeling of forboading about tomorrow ever stronger...

Lupe's Cheese Watch
In addition to the three excellent cheeses that I mentioned in a previous LJ entry, on Saturday, Hiru and I bought three more. These included a smoked cheese, a wine cheese and a bouncy cheese. The first was a typical slice of Bavarian smokery except it was made in Finland whilst the last was a little bland. It was, however, both moist, crumbly and rubbery all at the same time, which made for an interesting taste experience.

The wine cheese was something I had not been prepared for. Apparently, it's a common practice to brush cheese with red wine in Finland and this added a rich depth to the flavour and made for one fine gastronomic delight. Sadly, we didn't have any wine to go with the cheese so I could not appreciate it's full palate, but the addition of fruitness was a welcome added dimension to this strong cheese.

I also tried two cream cheeses there. It is common for them to add fruit to cream cheese and I tried one with oranges in it. The zesty tang when combined with the creaminess, added another interesting angle to the lactose experience but I prefered the traditional garlic variety. On fresh traditional Finnish rye bread (the weird brown bread that we rarely get here), it was delicious. It was a shame that I left the rye crackers (and the full bottle of vodka) at Hiru's...

Today's Lupe Shoot
In a local toy shop we saw a teddy bear for all the plushphiles out there. It is one where you have the carcass of the bear and you add your own stuffing. The box urged you to "stuff your bear with love and care"

The Eve Before The Inevitable

Yin and I went back down to the lake last night, except it was earlier and therefore slightly darker than the previous evening. The moon was full and we spent a lot of time howling at it. It made the vista of Tampere on the other side of the bay that even more magnificent and it nicely rounded off a perfect trip.

The four of us (Yin, Hiru, Rekaze and I) had spent most of the evening in the bar drinking Tuplapukki and laughing as if we had known each other for years. The banter was great and we ended up playing Alias - a word definition game that was remarkably hard in Finnish (even with Hiru providing English translations) - and a lacklustre game of Trivial Pursuit.

It was also karaoke night and Hiru did another turn on the catwalk, on the catwalk yeah, he shaked his little tush on the catwalk. Or something like that. I didn't have the confidence to give it a go so just got drunk and ate one of the most delicious cheese/tomato/onion wraps that I have ever had from a late night takeaway. The atmosphere in the bar was typically Finnish, with many Finnish songs being played/sung and couples dancing to the catawauling. To be honest, most of the singers were excellent and soon a good atmosphere had built up. The highlight was everyone singing Volga, Volga in gutteral tones whilst stomping their feet on the ground.

The evening had started off sedately, with Hiru playing Desperate Housewives, the video game. He was a right bitch in it (which I think it is the point) and it is quite clear that it simply uses The Sims template. I have always been interested in The Sims so perhaps I will invest in one of the games to break my 12 year video game playing duck. It was certainly fun watching him play it and egging him on to be controversial.

I managed to get my flight home today after a plane arrived out of Finnair. The hassle of flying is irritating as it took me, point to point, 14 hours to get home (including the two hour time difference). The food on the flight was excellent and contrary to everything that is perceived airline food to be. This was the first food I had had on a plane since 1995 so perhaps standards have improved since then (as back then they were awful) but either way my green vegetarian steak with a weird smingey chutney was most agreeable.

Apart from that, the trip home was largely uneventful. There were plenty of duty free huskies to buy at the airport, plus many husky T-shirts, but I had already spent too much in Finland (it is a very expensive country) so I refrained from making more purchases. After all, I had bought five plushes and two furry masks already. Still, it's good to see that the Finns are as husky mad as I am. Wheee!!!

The baggage handlers at Heathrow are excellent as after walking four miles to the passport control and baggage claim, my bag was whriling on the conveyor belt as soon as I got there. This allowed me to get the Underground train swiftly and my train back home at Kings Cross with no waiting whatsover, making it a speedy return home.

It was a great trip to Finland and it was great meeting some of the Finnfurs. I am very much looking forward to meeting them at EF and I must thank them for their excellent hospitality.

Sadly, today was the last day of my eight week vacation as tomorrow I am back at work. I am not relishing this and, although I really shouldn't complain what with the time off I have had, that just makes the feeling of forboading about tomorrow ever stronger...

Lupe's Cheese Watch
In addition to the three excellent cheeses that I mentioned in a previous LJ entry, on Saturday, Hiru and I bought three more. These included a smoked cheese, a wine cheese and a bouncy cheese. The first was a typical slice of Bavarian smokery except it was made in Finland whilst the last was a little bland. It was, however, both moist, crumbly and rubbery all at the same time, which made for an interesting taste experience.

The wine cheese was something I had not been prepared for. Apparently, it's a common practice to brush cheese with red wine in Finland and this added a rich depth to the flavour and made for one fine gastronomic delight. Sadly, we didn't have any wine to go with the cheese so I could not appreciate it's full palate, but the addition of fruitness was a welcome added dimension to this strong cheese.

I also tried two cream cheeses there. It is common for them to add fruit to cream cheese and I tried one with oranges in it. The zesty tang when combined with the creaminess, added another interesting angle to the lactose experience but I prefered the traditional garlic variety. On fresh traditional Finnish rye bread (the weird brown bread that we rarely get here), it was delicious. It was a shame that I left the rye crackers (and the full bottle of vodka) at Hiru's...

Today's Lupe Shoot
In a local toy shop we saw a teddy bear for all the plushphiles out there. It is one where you have the carcass of the bear and you add your own stuffing. The box urged you to "stuff your bear with love and care"