Näytetään tekstit, joissa on tunniste poland. Näytä kaikki tekstit
Näytetään tekstit, joissa on tunniste poland. Näytä kaikki tekstit
torstai 3. toukokuuta 2012
sunnuntai 4. maaliskuuta 2012
lauantai 3. maaliskuuta 2012
Warszaw's two sides
So these photos are from Sunday night when me and Laura went out with my dad who happened to be in Warsaw on a work trip. I really love Warsaw's protean-ness! It's crazy how much of a ghetto some parts of Warsaw look during the day time. All the grey, concrete and ugly 10-storey apartment houses (just like my relatives' homes!). But during night time it's a complete different story... The city has awaken and become a super modern metropolis with all it's flashy lights and amazing architecture. I love how contradicting Warsaw is.
I kinda wish I would have some photos from day time Warsaw (like legit, actual Warsaw) so that you could compare how an ugly duckling blooms into a beautiful swan. But here's the night photos any ways:
Culture Palace. Five years ago when I flew to Poland to see Red Hot Chili Peppers, I had to cry in order for my dad (he was in Warsaw too) to stop and realize what I meant when I told him "I am scared of heights - I don't want to go to the top of that building with an elevator." Luckily, I didn't have to go. Today would be a complete different story though - give me heights - I wan't adrenaline !!!
The view from my dad's hotel's room... See the shape that has been formed with the lights !
It was quite hilarious when me and Laura where in my dad's hotel room: "omg look they have SOAP! AND TOWELS!!" "I'm taking all the shampoos and conditioners.. wtf a sewing set!" "Hey I found a notebook -set, i'm taking it!". We both concluded that it's pretty clear we aren't used to staying in hotel rooms ;D Dirty backpackers.. But, I would choose hostel 99,9% of the time (unless I would like some privacy).
Dad wanted to show us the MOVIE theater in Złote Tarasy (shopping centre). The movie theater consists of 3-storeys, a nice lounge/lobby (above), a very exclusive fancy bar and what not. Talk about modern and thinking outside the box..
Also another thing were Poland is more advanced than Finland (or at least the marketing is way more advanced) - train time tables via Maccas. "Enough time to eat" Sponsored my McDonalds. And this was situated in the metro/train tunnel... 
Hotel Mariot Bar with dada. 
Who says you can't flashpack a bit if dad's paying : D 
I would never buy this at home :D
Bombky! If you head to Poland, buy yourself some respectable, beautiful hand-made Christmas balls. They are made of -something breakable - and give a special feel to the Holiday with their un-plastic-like appearance. We have a coupe of BIG AZ ones. We even have a millenium 2000 -ball !
I kinda wish I would have some photos from day time Warsaw (like legit, actual Warsaw) so that you could compare how an ugly duckling blooms into a beautiful swan. But here's the night photos any ways:
Culture Palace. Five years ago when I flew to Poland to see Red Hot Chili Peppers, I had to cry in order for my dad (he was in Warsaw too) to stop and realize what I meant when I told him "I am scared of heights - I don't want to go to the top of that building with an elevator." Luckily, I didn't have to go. Today would be a complete different story though - give me heights - I wan't adrenaline !!!
The view from my dad's hotel's room... See the shape that has been formed with the lights !
It was quite hilarious when me and Laura where in my dad's hotel room: "omg look they have SOAP! AND TOWELS!!" "I'm taking all the shampoos and conditioners.. wtf a sewing set!" "Hey I found a notebook -set, i'm taking it!". We both concluded that it's pretty clear we aren't used to staying in hotel rooms ;D Dirty backpackers.. But, I would choose hostel 99,9% of the time (unless I would like some privacy).
Dad wanted to show us the MOVIE theater in Złote Tarasy (shopping centre). The movie theater consists of 3-storeys, a nice lounge/lobby (above), a very exclusive fancy bar and what not. Talk about modern and thinking outside the box.. Also another thing were Poland is more advanced than Finland (or at least the marketing is way more advanced) - train time tables via Maccas. "Enough time to eat" Sponsored my McDonalds. And this was situated in the metro/train tunnel... Hotel Mariot Bar with dada. Who says you can't flashpack a bit if dad's paying : D I would never buy this at home :DBombky! If you head to Poland, buy yourself some respectable, beautiful hand-made Christmas balls. They are made of -something breakable - and give a special feel to the Holiday with their un-plastic-like appearance. We have a coupe of BIG AZ ones. We even have a millenium 2000 -ball !
tiistai 28. helmikuuta 2012
One Night in Waszaw
Soooo we went out with Laura so that we could actually catch up and discuss everything that's been happening in the past year :) We weren't really able to do that with all our relatives around ;) It was actually my first night out in a month since I'm having a "Sober Fest" with my mate all the way till end of April (we picked that day on random) with the exception of my Poland trip :) The next morning we agreed with Laura that going out had been pretty lame if it weren't for that other person... SO i'm actually excited in keeping up with my sober life. Feel so much better: not wasting any money (what money? everything's going to my savings account anyways :D) and being able to focus on school and working (and gym too, soon) and doing things that actually matter and are healthy to you. I had a same kind of pause when I came back from Australia (5 months without getting wasted). I'm actually shocked how people don't realize what they are doing to themselves and their lives. Though, it must take a lot to admit when one is drinking his/her life away... I know i'm not a saint myself, but jesus christ with the shit that alcohol causes and people just don't seem to realize that all their problems spur from that substance... And don't even get me started with how this idiotic Finnish drinking culture sickens me to my stomach (nowadays seems like no one wants to meet up unless it involves having to crawl on all fours and vomiting all over yourself). OK, enough of this rant :D ...And back to one night is Warszaw (that really just makes me seem like a hypocrite right now ;) )
PS: don't judge... I was bored and I started playing around with Photoshop... I hardly ever edit my photos - and there's a reason for it ;D
So we got a cab and drove to the street Iwo, my Polish mate I met wind surfing nearly 5 years ago in Sopot, had recommended us.
We had noticed this one club was packed with people but we decided to head to somewhere quiet first so that we could catch up :)
It was pretty funny though, some Polish people came to ask us where this club was and I instructed them there :D Local.. right.
I was so stoked about my long island ice tea and so bummed that little miss Melanie wasn't there with us, so I decided to text her in Netherlands.
"How much tip do you reckon we should leave? Man, I'm a backpacker... I don't tip!" (we left tip, ofc :D)
Then we went to check out the club (in our winter coats - don't wanna pay before you know you wanna go ;) ). We decided it was aiiiight and stayed. 
..And watched this male stripper.. Question: DOES ANY ONE YOU YOU FEMALES THINK (silver latex) THONGS ON MEN ARE SEXY? I would _really_ like to know if there is really anyone that actually thinks so :D 
At this point we had figured this club was horrid and wanted to go some place else
David Guetta Energy Drink, really? : D
..Decided to have some before heading to the cold
(World of Alcohol) All hail Poland, Germany and all you other countries for your free market policy in alcohol. Though, this would never work in Finland.
We went to this Siltanen-like place that was packed with all the Polish hipsters (oh lord). Spotted a "hipster" (the only hipster thing about him is his fugly mo) and wanted a picture with him. - and he tried to kiss me !! FUCK NO. 
Coming back home at 4am.
We weren't really that drunk - just bored!
AHahahahaa :D After the next night (when dad took us out for some beers/cocktails) there had appeared a note on this door (this door is to the apartment houses) in Polish "please close door delicately" - yeah.. i guess we MIGHT'VE slammed it a couple of times during 4 am ...
Why do Polish doors have so many damn locks?! 
Laura's gonna kill me :)
Laura made us some drunken munchiez - pierogi!
Next morning.... 
...I'm only kidding - I actually felt SUPER! "LOVE Polish hangovers - they're so tame!"
Laura fell off the bed when we were tying to watch hangover-Jersey Shore :D 
Derp.
maanantai 27. helmikuuta 2012
Warszaw Old Town
I love love love old towns... and Warsaw's one isn't an exception. I've been here before but since I vaguely remember the visit, I asked my aunt whether they could take me and Laura there to see it. Although our toes were nearly blue, I still enjoyed walking though the town and listening to my cousin (who LOVES history) explain about the scenery. Too bad I forgot all the details by now, so I'm not going to write about that stuff anymore, although planed... But let the pictures do the talking:
PS. Beautiful buildings like these always make me wanna study architecture !
[gallery]
PS. Beautiful buildings like these always make me wanna study architecture !
[gallery]
lauantai 18. helmikuuta 2012
Warszaw, Poland
Oh how it feels good to be back in Poland! :)
Poland is like a second home to me (due to my roots), however, I don't consider myself to be a Pole at all - its only because of my blood that I could say I am half Polish.
...Nevertheless, I usually come to Poland once a year because have family and friends here. The last time I was in Warszaw, however, was five (!) years ago. I flew here for a couple of days before heading to see Red Hot Chili Peppers in Chorzow. And after that when I've come to Poland, it's the coast I've been windsurfing, not forgetting about last years Heineken Open'er -festival in Gdynia :)
So Warszaw, nice to meet you again. I was shocked to see that they had built a whole new terminal ! It was pretty modern and I even bumped into Halina there, this girl I used to go to Polish classes with in elementary School with (we hated each other back then but it was so nice to see her now!!). It was my couz Laura, who landed from Paris to the old terminal, the ghetto-ish terminal that was painted with a red winey color. :D
Babcia and Dziadek (Granma and Granpa) came to pick us up and it was so nice to see them! And it was so weird how it DIDN'T feel weird at all to see Laura! It was like we would've never left Australia and one of us would've only popped out of the room for a second and come back instead of not seeing each other for a year!
Melanie wasn't able to come because she would've been flying on stand-by and she can't afford to miss her class on Monday. We were a bit sad but we figured that we'd meet her somewhere else, the THREE of us :)
Although the terminal had been renovated, nothing had changed in Babcia's & Dziadek's appartment. The only thing that jumped in my eyes was a Mac -computer :D Dziadek told me they don't have Internet and that the computer is only for photo viewing (Dziadek does photography). Keeping up to date aren't we!
As we were watching through the photo albums, Dziadek pored me, Laura and himself an apparative of some berry vodka/liquor my Aunt Małgocia had made. It was really really really sweet/strong but good anyways. It was interesting looking at the photos from Babcia's & Dziadek's youth, our parent's childhood (also from the time when they lived in Pakistan) and our dads meeting our beautiful moms. It was the first time I saw these pictures... Dziadek also had pictures of him in Jakarta, Indonesia sometime in the late 70's (?) and he told me that he had photos from BALI in Małgocia's place and that we could view them later. I'm pretty thrilled seeing HOW MUCH Bali has changed (for the worse...).
What I love about Poland among the people is the food. AAAA Babcia had made us some tomato soup <3 And some Indian Chicken Curry (just like dad!). At this time Kondrad, out one year older cousin had joined us and it was just so nice to eat together and talk about random stuff. We were wondering with Laura, that how long was it from the last time our WHOLE family from dad's side saw each other (=my fam, laura's fam, kondrad's fam and babcia & dziadek)? Apparently some 15 odd years ago during Christmas... We think with Laura that we should gather up the family together for Christmas. It would be amazing...Of course that would mean that also I should start hanging around at home during Christmas instead of where-ever-in-the-world. But we NEVER see each other because all our family is so scattered around the world... Finland, Poland, Canada (not even talking about mom's side of the family)..
Later on Małgocia and with Maciej (my aunt's husband, I don't even know in Finnish what Maciej is to me.. is there a word? :D) and my cousin Adriana (how the hell is she already turning 18 ?!) came to get us and we left our bags at they're super cozy home that hadn't changed one bit <3 We had been making a grocery list with Małgocia because we wanted her to teach us some Polish specialties! (Of which I'll upload videos later)
After grocery shopping and us watching/filming what Małgocia was making in the kitchen, we drank a bit more of tea, ate bread with biały ser (white cheese) and talked about the culture differences in Poland vs. Finland/Canada. For instance, the power distance that you see here is incredible... You have call everyone "Pan" (=Sir) or "Pani" (= 'Lady'/Mrs.). If you fail to use this with a police man, you'll get fined. (Like dad once did when he got a bit frustrated :D) Adriana and Małgocia also told us, how you are not aloud to smoke even if you are in high school ! If they catch you smoking, they'll drag you once to a psychologist to figure out the reason for your lung-tormenting. And guess who pays for this appointment? The government... "What a waste of tax money", like Laura said.
Anyhoo, i'm gonna go wake Laura up now. How lovely it was to wake up here <3 Had my typical Polish breakfast: tea, bread with pasztet ("pâté") and yogurt (:
PS. Laura can kiss her "I'm not gonna gain weight during my exchange semester" goodbye after all the krówki, pączki and other pastries we will be consuming here :D
Poland is like a second home to me (due to my roots), however, I don't consider myself to be a Pole at all - its only because of my blood that I could say I am half Polish.
I love this photo of Babcia :D
...Nevertheless, I usually come to Poland once a year because have family and friends here. The last time I was in Warszaw, however, was five (!) years ago. I flew here for a couple of days before heading to see Red Hot Chili Peppers in Chorzow. And after that when I've come to Poland, it's the coast I've been windsurfing, not forgetting about last years Heineken Open'er -festival in Gdynia :)
So Warszaw, nice to meet you again. I was shocked to see that they had built a whole new terminal ! It was pretty modern and I even bumped into Halina there, this girl I used to go to Polish classes with in elementary School with (we hated each other back then but it was so nice to see her now!!). It was my couz Laura, who landed from Paris to the old terminal, the ghetto-ish terminal that was painted with a red winey color. :D
Babcia and Dziadek (Granma and Granpa) came to pick us up and it was so nice to see them! And it was so weird how it DIDN'T feel weird at all to see Laura! It was like we would've never left Australia and one of us would've only popped out of the room for a second and come back instead of not seeing each other for a year!
Melanie wasn't able to come because she would've been flying on stand-by and she can't afford to miss her class on Monday. We were a bit sad but we figured that we'd meet her somewhere else, the THREE of us :)
Our dads in Pakistan trying to impress a girl
Although the terminal had been renovated, nothing had changed in Babcia's & Dziadek's appartment. The only thing that jumped in my eyes was a Mac -computer :D Dziadek told me they don't have Internet and that the computer is only for photo viewing (Dziadek does photography). Keeping up to date aren't we!
As we were watching through the photo albums, Dziadek pored me, Laura and himself an apparative of some berry vodka/liquor my Aunt Małgocia had made. It was really really really sweet/strong but good anyways. It was interesting looking at the photos from Babcia's & Dziadek's youth, our parent's childhood (also from the time when they lived in Pakistan) and our dads meeting our beautiful moms. It was the first time I saw these pictures... Dziadek also had pictures of him in Jakarta, Indonesia sometime in the late 70's (?) and he told me that he had photos from BALI in Małgocia's place and that we could view them later. I'm pretty thrilled seeing HOW MUCH Bali has changed (for the worse...).
What I love about Poland among the people is the food. AAAA Babcia had made us some tomato soup <3 And some Indian Chicken Curry (just like dad!). At this time Kondrad, out one year older cousin had joined us and it was just so nice to eat together and talk about random stuff. We were wondering with Laura, that how long was it from the last time our WHOLE family from dad's side saw each other (=my fam, laura's fam, kondrad's fam and babcia & dziadek)? Apparently some 15 odd years ago during Christmas... We think with Laura that we should gather up the family together for Christmas. It would be amazing...Of course that would mean that also I should start hanging around at home during Christmas instead of where-ever-in-the-world. But we NEVER see each other because all our family is so scattered around the world... Finland, Poland, Canada (not even talking about mom's side of the family)..
Later on Małgocia and with Maciej (my aunt's husband, I don't even know in Finnish what Maciej is to me.. is there a word? :D) and my cousin Adriana (how the hell is she already turning 18 ?!) came to get us and we left our bags at they're super cozy home that hadn't changed one bit <3 We had been making a grocery list with Małgocia because we wanted her to teach us some Polish specialties! (Of which I'll upload videos later)
After grocery shopping and us watching/filming what Małgocia was making in the kitchen, we drank a bit more of tea, ate bread with biały ser (white cheese) and talked about the culture differences in Poland vs. Finland/Canada. For instance, the power distance that you see here is incredible... You have call everyone "Pan" (=Sir) or "Pani" (= 'Lady'/Mrs.). If you fail to use this with a police man, you'll get fined. (Like dad once did when he got a bit frustrated :D) Adriana and Małgocia also told us, how you are not aloud to smoke even if you are in high school ! If they catch you smoking, they'll drag you once to a psychologist to figure out the reason for your lung-tormenting. And guess who pays for this appointment? The government... "What a waste of tax money", like Laura said.
Anyhoo, i'm gonna go wake Laura up now. How lovely it was to wake up here <3 Had my typical Polish breakfast: tea, bread with pasztet ("pâté") and yogurt (:
PS. Laura can kiss her "I'm not gonna gain weight during my exchange semester" goodbye after all the krówki, pączki and other pastries we will be consuming here :D
lauantai 4. helmikuuta 2012
Bought plane tickets
Me n Laura
I don't think i've told you guys this but I bought plane tickets only two days after arriving home from Bali. One of the first things my dad said to me after my parents came to fetch me from Helsinki-Vantaa, was that LOT was having a massive discount on plane tickets to Warszaw and that I should buy one. So no, I am not flying anywhere exotic - just to plane ol' Poland.
@Whitsundays
Actually all our family members are going to Poland - everyone's just going in separate times ;) I'm leaving first, a month later my brother's gonna visit the mates he made during his work placement and then in April my parents are going for a week (
..and la-la-luke
These 50€ return tickets could not have come any better time! We had been talking with my couz Laura that we should go visit babcia & dziadek (granma & granpa) together, now that she is doing her exchange in Paris and isn't situated on the other side of the world in Vancouver.
Three girls - one bed
So I scheduled my flight exactly just a month after my arrival, on the 17th of Feb. I'll be gone till the 23rd and seems like we will be staying at my aunt's house which i'm not complaining about (although would've been cool to rent a flat/or smthng) SINCE NO TENGO DINERO !!! hahahaaaaaaa. I have something around 100€.. woop woop. Oh well, we are experienced backpackers and spending nil is what we do best (as if).
Mel, Me, Dom & Laura @ some big az rock
AND you know what's sweet ? We will have the reunion of the DIRTY LITTLE HAMSTERS! Oh yes, little miss Melanie will be joining us too <3 We've been meaning to meet up, now that Laura's on the same continent, so when it happened that me and Laura bought our tickets, we just figured - why wouldn't Mel come and meet us too ! I can't wait for us three to be back together again.. It's been a year and a month since we saw all together the three of us (Although I did stay at her place in Amsterdam during summer) :) Melanie is actually one of the reasons why I would've also preferred renting a flat - I can just imagine Melanie in the kitchen cooking for us three (and me and Laura doing the dishes :D) 8)
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