So I'm supposed to tell you about Japan, I think, but I'm going to skip ahead to Scandinavia. Well, technically not Scandinavia, I learned today. Apparently, Scandinavia officially only refers to Sweden, Norway and Denmark, the 3 countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula, but it is often also used to refer to the region plus Finland and Iceland. So I was technically in Scandinavia, cause I did spend one night in Stockholm, but the trip was centered around Finland. Get ready, cause I'm on a 3 hour layover which has now become a 5 hour layover due to a delay, so this may be long. Or just skip to the music at the end. Either way.
Anyway, from Germany I was planning to go to Helsinki and visit my friends Lie and Sanna, who just moved back from Singapore. I was talking to my friend Mathias, who lives in Stockholm, and invited him to join. He had quit his job, and as it turned out the first day of my trip was the last day of his job. So he convinced me to fly up to Stockholm for the night first, and then take an overnight boat to Helsinki from there. Who can say no to that? So I flew to Stockholm for a Friday evening with perfect weather, which we then spent outside drinking on the terrace with some of Mathias's ex-colleagues. After that, we had dinner at a nice restaurant to celebrate Mathias's freedom, then a drink at one of the top 50 bars in the world, which is around the corner from Mathias's house. Whenever we used to hang out when he was living in Shanghai, we often end up back at my apartment just listening to new music and talking, which is what we did this time too, but at his apartment for the first time.
Saturday morning the weather stuck with us, so we went for walk for a couple hours around town, then Mathias had to pack up before we got on the boat since he was moving out that day also. So it was walk, pack, kebab pizza (maybe Scandinavia's best contribution to the planet, and I haven't even had the one where they make it with french fries on the pizza. Right? That in and of itself is enough reason to visit Sweden.), coffee and people watching, and then a boat ride. And boy, was it a boat ride. I had asked the other Swedes I met about it, and was told by literally everyone that it was just a party on the ocean full of Finnish white trash. And that is exactly what it turned out to be. Now just to be clear, this is like a proper cruise ship I'm talking about, not just any boat. 12 stories tall, with night clubs, casinos, restaurants, bars, a duty-free shop - everything. We got on the boat around 4:30 then went up to the deck to have a beer and watch the scenery as we sailed through. While we were having out first beer of the evening, a very friendly, very drunk Finnish man (who I will call Dave because he had the name Dave embroidered on his jacket) came to talk to us. He was not very good at English, but he did his best to drunkenly tell us all about his favorite sports, all his tattoos (and even some he doesn't have yet but wants), and how most Finns don't like Swedes (which Mathias confirmed is true, the two have a US/Canada style rivalry) but he does. It was a great time. Dave's bravery in speaking to the foreigners in poor English emboldened another nice Finnish man who could barely speak any English, so instead he sang us My Heart Will Go On from Titanic. It was a beautiful moment which I wish I got on video, but which will live on in my heart forever. All this before 6pm, and before finishing even 2 beers. Although they had all managed to finish much, much more. It was also Mathias's 10,000th day on the planet, so we also went to buy champagne only to spray off the deck for a good Instagram post (although there was enough left for us to drink as well). The drinking continued into dinner, and then after dinner at the night club, where they had an entire Vegas style dance show and live band playing all night. We met a woman and her mother headed back to Finland, so we spent a while with them. I got to dance with the 60 year old mother while Mathias got to have his ass grabbed by the daughter. I definitely think I won that round. And then, of course, more drunk Finns making friends with us until 2am when we finally went to sleep for like 4 hours.
All this and we hadn't even made it to Finland! But that's ok, cause then we did make it to Finland where we spent half our trip recovering and the other half drinking more. The first day was recovery. We did take a walk for a couple hours after napping, then went to the sauna and took another nap, and then went to a great Finnish restaurant for dinner (it's called Sea Horse. Check it out if you go) before going to sleep earlyish, cause the next two days were the real reason to be there. May 1 is International Labor Day, and a public holiday in many countries, and in Scandinavia they celebrate the day of the student as well, which welcomes Spring and involves lots of drinking outdoors. In Finland, April 29 is party day and May 1 is family day, and we took part in both. On the 29th, we spent the morning on a walking tour and just exploring the city a bit more, because it was a beautiful day (unlike the rain we had thus far experienced). And then around 4, the drinking started. We met Lie, bought a bunch of stuff at the liquor store and went to sit in the sun on the steps in front of the main cathedral, where we spent the next 6 hours talking and drinking. And of course meeting some more drunk Finns, because they are very friendly people, especially when they're drunk. Which in my experience is always. The place slowly filled with people until the entire square was full, including 3 public busses that had been rented by students as party busses and set up with a volleyball net in between and a group of students who brought their instruments and played pretty freaking great instrumental covers of pop songs. Good times. And then, we had a Hesburger (which is Finland's version of McDonald's, so you can guess what state we were in mentally), and then went to a club in Kallio, which is the hipster neighborhood of Helsinki. Until about 3am. Luckly our only activity on May 1 was brunch with Lie and Sanna and her family at 1:30pm, so we got to sleep in. Which was good, because Sanna has 8 and 10 year old kids, who were on a sugar high after lunch and just wanted to play with us. It took lots of energy, but was actually super fun. Also, they're 8 and 10 but speak perfect Swedish and English. They know how to say bedrock in English. I'm not even sure I know that word in Chinese, and I work in foundation engineering. Plus they can talk some serious trash in English while playing video games. Very impressive kids. But that meant we were dead at the end of the day, so we ate a burger, went to the sauna, then slept for 11 hours. 11 hours. That is insane. I rarely sleep more than 7 or 8. On the rare instance where I'm very tired it might be 8.5 or 9. But 11? I haven't done that in years. Which tells you it's been a long few weeks with heavy drinking. I need a drinking break after this. Which I will kind of do. I'll do 5-day dry week. Which for me is something to be proud of. Then maybe I can do a dry month in June? We'll see. If I don't have visitors it might actually be possible.
So that brings us today, where we just wandered town a bit more and went to a really nice restaurant with Lie from lunch called Farangi, which is Southeast Asian food opened by two Finnish chefs that are apparently kind of famous. It was delicious. And now I'm in Istanbul waiting for my flight to Shanghai. Overall, great trip. Helsinki is a nice enough town. Nothing amazing, but nice and small and easy to see in just a few days. And very different from Stockholm. But regardless of how Helsinki is, it's always great to see Mathias. We were neighbors in Singapore, but then actually became friends when he was in Shanghai for 6 months like 3 years ago. So we actually haven't spent all that much time together in the grand scheme of things, but there's just something about that guy. I'm super comfortable with him, can talk (or not talk) for hours, and just always have a great time and find him really fun and interesting. I actually find myself talking with him in a way I used to talk to people when I was young and naive and interested in people, as opposed to the old grouch I am now. And somehow even more open with him than with friends I've had for years. So I'd say I consider him a really close friend, which normally would take much longer. But he's a great guy. It's strange, there are not many people like this in my life, but I think it's a good thing. It's too bad we only see each other every couple of years, but I'm already looking forward to the next time.
Now if you've made it this far you will be rewarded with music. First up is Olli, a Finnish artist who I coincidentally found a few weeks ago. Right in time for the trip! He just put out his second EP, Little Deaths, which is quite nice and interesting. A lot of it is really chill, like the first half of the song I'm playing for you, Horse Aquarium. But then Horse Aquarium picks up really nicely afterwards. Which is a big part of the reason I picked it for you. Although I'm not 100% sure how these bandcamp mini-players work, so it might just continue on to the rest of the EP after playing Horse Aquarium, so if it does, lucky you! Now I just need to go give his first EP a listen.
I wasn't planning to share Twin Shadow with you in the same blog post as Olli because there's no real connection between the two artists or between Twin Shadow and Scandinavia. Not that I'd really know, because I know very little about the man and Wikipedia isn't working in Istanbul (thanks government, I guess?) and I don't feel like taking the time to google and read a bunch of articles. But I'm guessing there's no connection. But then Twin Shadow released his 3rd album, Caer, the day I flew to Stockholm, and I absolutely love it. Although my favorite song is not even a song. It's just an interlude, called Rust. But it's so good. I have thus far been unable to listen to it without repeating it at least twice, and I'm pretty sure it will be one of my favorite songs of the year. So get ready for a damn good minute and a half.
So good. So beautiful. I absolutely love it. And I'm not even a huge Twin Shadow fan. I mean, there's a couple good songs on the older albums, but nothing even close to as good as this track. And definitely no album as good as Caer yet. But it's not only Rust. There's plenty of fantastic stuff on this album. I actually had trouble only picking two songs for you (not including Rust. That song would even get its own blog post if necessary). But the other clear standout was Runaway, which I also think is really beautiful.
Now I don't want to give you the wrong impression about Twin Shadow. He does not make slow music. He makes very much upbeat music. And very much 80s throwback music. Which is maybe why I didn't love him before, because it was fun but not amazing or new or whatever. But this time it is. And I have to play you something upbeat. Also because I can't just have 4 songs on the blog all of which are super slow and chill. So here's Too Many Colors. I picked it because it's maybe the most upbeat of the other tracks I really like. In fact, when I first heard it, I liked it but thought maybe it was too poppy. I mean, this song is verging on Robyn's Dancing On My Own. Which is actually a great thing. So here it is.
Anyway, from Germany I was planning to go to Helsinki and visit my friends Lie and Sanna, who just moved back from Singapore. I was talking to my friend Mathias, who lives in Stockholm, and invited him to join. He had quit his job, and as it turned out the first day of my trip was the last day of his job. So he convinced me to fly up to Stockholm for the night first, and then take an overnight boat to Helsinki from there. Who can say no to that? So I flew to Stockholm for a Friday evening with perfect weather, which we then spent outside drinking on the terrace with some of Mathias's ex-colleagues. After that, we had dinner at a nice restaurant to celebrate Mathias's freedom, then a drink at one of the top 50 bars in the world, which is around the corner from Mathias's house. Whenever we used to hang out when he was living in Shanghai, we often end up back at my apartment just listening to new music and talking, which is what we did this time too, but at his apartment for the first time.
Saturday morning the weather stuck with us, so we went for walk for a couple hours around town, then Mathias had to pack up before we got on the boat since he was moving out that day also. So it was walk, pack, kebab pizza (maybe Scandinavia's best contribution to the planet, and I haven't even had the one where they make it with french fries on the pizza. Right? That in and of itself is enough reason to visit Sweden.), coffee and people watching, and then a boat ride. And boy, was it a boat ride. I had asked the other Swedes I met about it, and was told by literally everyone that it was just a party on the ocean full of Finnish white trash. And that is exactly what it turned out to be. Now just to be clear, this is like a proper cruise ship I'm talking about, not just any boat. 12 stories tall, with night clubs, casinos, restaurants, bars, a duty-free shop - everything. We got on the boat around 4:30 then went up to the deck to have a beer and watch the scenery as we sailed through. While we were having out first beer of the evening, a very friendly, very drunk Finnish man (who I will call Dave because he had the name Dave embroidered on his jacket) came to talk to us. He was not very good at English, but he did his best to drunkenly tell us all about his favorite sports, all his tattoos (and even some he doesn't have yet but wants), and how most Finns don't like Swedes (which Mathias confirmed is true, the two have a US/Canada style rivalry) but he does. It was a great time. Dave's bravery in speaking to the foreigners in poor English emboldened another nice Finnish man who could barely speak any English, so instead he sang us My Heart Will Go On from Titanic. It was a beautiful moment which I wish I got on video, but which will live on in my heart forever. All this before 6pm, and before finishing even 2 beers. Although they had all managed to finish much, much more. It was also Mathias's 10,000th day on the planet, so we also went to buy champagne only to spray off the deck for a good Instagram post (although there was enough left for us to drink as well). The drinking continued into dinner, and then after dinner at the night club, where they had an entire Vegas style dance show and live band playing all night. We met a woman and her mother headed back to Finland, so we spent a while with them. I got to dance with the 60 year old mother while Mathias got to have his ass grabbed by the daughter. I definitely think I won that round. And then, of course, more drunk Finns making friends with us until 2am when we finally went to sleep for like 4 hours.
All this and we hadn't even made it to Finland! But that's ok, cause then we did make it to Finland where we spent half our trip recovering and the other half drinking more. The first day was recovery. We did take a walk for a couple hours after napping, then went to the sauna and took another nap, and then went to a great Finnish restaurant for dinner (it's called Sea Horse. Check it out if you go) before going to sleep earlyish, cause the next two days were the real reason to be there. May 1 is International Labor Day, and a public holiday in many countries, and in Scandinavia they celebrate the day of the student as well, which welcomes Spring and involves lots of drinking outdoors. In Finland, April 29 is party day and May 1 is family day, and we took part in both. On the 29th, we spent the morning on a walking tour and just exploring the city a bit more, because it was a beautiful day (unlike the rain we had thus far experienced). And then around 4, the drinking started. We met Lie, bought a bunch of stuff at the liquor store and went to sit in the sun on the steps in front of the main cathedral, where we spent the next 6 hours talking and drinking. And of course meeting some more drunk Finns, because they are very friendly people, especially when they're drunk. Which in my experience is always. The place slowly filled with people until the entire square was full, including 3 public busses that had been rented by students as party busses and set up with a volleyball net in between and a group of students who brought their instruments and played pretty freaking great instrumental covers of pop songs. Good times. And then, we had a Hesburger (which is Finland's version of McDonald's, so you can guess what state we were in mentally), and then went to a club in Kallio, which is the hipster neighborhood of Helsinki. Until about 3am. Luckly our only activity on May 1 was brunch with Lie and Sanna and her family at 1:30pm, so we got to sleep in. Which was good, because Sanna has 8 and 10 year old kids, who were on a sugar high after lunch and just wanted to play with us. It took lots of energy, but was actually super fun. Also, they're 8 and 10 but speak perfect Swedish and English. They know how to say bedrock in English. I'm not even sure I know that word in Chinese, and I work in foundation engineering. Plus they can talk some serious trash in English while playing video games. Very impressive kids. But that meant we were dead at the end of the day, so we ate a burger, went to the sauna, then slept for 11 hours. 11 hours. That is insane. I rarely sleep more than 7 or 8. On the rare instance where I'm very tired it might be 8.5 or 9. But 11? I haven't done that in years. Which tells you it's been a long few weeks with heavy drinking. I need a drinking break after this. Which I will kind of do. I'll do 5-day dry week. Which for me is something to be proud of. Then maybe I can do a dry month in June? We'll see. If I don't have visitors it might actually be possible.
So that brings us today, where we just wandered town a bit more and went to a really nice restaurant with Lie from lunch called Farangi, which is Southeast Asian food opened by two Finnish chefs that are apparently kind of famous. It was delicious. And now I'm in Istanbul waiting for my flight to Shanghai. Overall, great trip. Helsinki is a nice enough town. Nothing amazing, but nice and small and easy to see in just a few days. And very different from Stockholm. But regardless of how Helsinki is, it's always great to see Mathias. We were neighbors in Singapore, but then actually became friends when he was in Shanghai for 6 months like 3 years ago. So we actually haven't spent all that much time together in the grand scheme of things, but there's just something about that guy. I'm super comfortable with him, can talk (or not talk) for hours, and just always have a great time and find him really fun and interesting. I actually find myself talking with him in a way I used to talk to people when I was young and naive and interested in people, as opposed to the old grouch I am now. And somehow even more open with him than with friends I've had for years. So I'd say I consider him a really close friend, which normally would take much longer. But he's a great guy. It's strange, there are not many people like this in my life, but I think it's a good thing. It's too bad we only see each other every couple of years, but I'm already looking forward to the next time.
Now if you've made it this far you will be rewarded with music. First up is Olli, a Finnish artist who I coincidentally found a few weeks ago. Right in time for the trip! He just put out his second EP, Little Deaths, which is quite nice and interesting. A lot of it is really chill, like the first half of the song I'm playing for you, Horse Aquarium. But then Horse Aquarium picks up really nicely afterwards. Which is a big part of the reason I picked it for you. Although I'm not 100% sure how these bandcamp mini-players work, so it might just continue on to the rest of the EP after playing Horse Aquarium, so if it does, lucky you! Now I just need to go give his first EP a listen.
I wasn't planning to share Twin Shadow with you in the same blog post as Olli because there's no real connection between the two artists or between Twin Shadow and Scandinavia. Not that I'd really know, because I know very little about the man and Wikipedia isn't working in Istanbul (thanks government, I guess?) and I don't feel like taking the time to google and read a bunch of articles. But I'm guessing there's no connection. But then Twin Shadow released his 3rd album, Caer, the day I flew to Stockholm, and I absolutely love it. Although my favorite song is not even a song. It's just an interlude, called Rust. But it's so good. I have thus far been unable to listen to it without repeating it at least twice, and I'm pretty sure it will be one of my favorite songs of the year. So get ready for a damn good minute and a half.
So good. So beautiful. I absolutely love it. And I'm not even a huge Twin Shadow fan. I mean, there's a couple good songs on the older albums, but nothing even close to as good as this track. And definitely no album as good as Caer yet. But it's not only Rust. There's plenty of fantastic stuff on this album. I actually had trouble only picking two songs for you (not including Rust. That song would even get its own blog post if necessary). But the other clear standout was Runaway, which I also think is really beautiful.
Now I don't want to give you the wrong impression about Twin Shadow. He does not make slow music. He makes very much upbeat music. And very much 80s throwback music. Which is maybe why I didn't love him before, because it was fun but not amazing or new or whatever. But this time it is. And I have to play you something upbeat. Also because I can't just have 4 songs on the blog all of which are super slow and chill. So here's Too Many Colors. I picked it because it's maybe the most upbeat of the other tracks I really like. In fact, when I first heard it, I liked it but thought maybe it was too poppy. I mean, this song is verging on Robyn's Dancing On My Own. Which is actually a great thing. So here it is.
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