Cookie travels

Before I continue with my travel story about our flight to Finland, here is one thing I observed during our twelve months of stay in this cold beautiful country, Finns are fond of pets. It can be dog, cat or horses, but mostly dogs especially in the city center. It is common for us to see Finns of different ages walking along the park or streets with their dogs.

We even witnessed a dog show at a park in front of the Orthodox Cathedral while we were touring Tampere, one of the many beautiful cities in Finland. I didn’t take some photos but my young sis did.

While most had pet dogs, my daughter’s Finn friend had two cute cats. We don’t have. I have enough pets in the house to take care of. LOL.

Anyway there is one Pet Blog I would like to suggest pet lovers take a visit. This pet blog features trendy products for dogs, cats and other pets. For instance, if you are looking for a new dog collar or a litter box for your kitty, this blog might be helpful. Featured in this site are feeders, dishes, beds, crates, leashes, clothes, natural pet food, toys, and more. Some funky ideas here too, so do take a look.

Yyteri sand beach, one of the popular beaches in Southern Finland, is a place to visit if you are in Pori, Finland. My parents and sisters who were recently on vacation in Finland were amazed by the sand dunes and wide coastal area of this beach. As we moved around the beach taking photos and enjoying the scenery, we noticed the kids having fun in the cold water while most adults can be seen bathing under the hot sun probably for hours. Sunbathing is not only done at the beach. I observed as we toured Tampere, another city in Finland which is about three hours drive from our place, people were sunbathing on the green grassy park. As what my Finnish friend told me, summer is quite short so they better enjoy it.

Beach or park, it doesn’t matter as long as there’s sun. Summer is a time to wear bikinis, swimsuits, swimming trunks and enjoy the hot sunny weather. There are others though who might find it awkward wearing scanty swim suits especially if they have flabby bellies. People who are figure conscious must have thought of ways to slim down before summer arrived. They must have tried sit-ups, jogging, aerobics, going to the gym, and other forms of physical exercise. There are also diet supplements available for weight loss.

Which one is the Best Diet Pill among the hundreds of diet pills sold in the market? A diet pills review and guide could be a good resource to start with. One website where you can get diet supplement reviews is at PricesExposed.net. With their Top 10 best diet pills review, you can compare the weight loss rating, benefits and internet price of the pill. You can also learn more about the product as you read the product description. Eventually, you can save a lot of money when you shop at PricesExposed.net. If you want faster results, you can join their ‘Four Days to Faster Weight Loss’ program via email. By receiving four emails in four days you will learn a combination of proper dieting, exercise and supplementation. Try it and see how fast is fast. Summer is almost ending. So before it ends, flaunt a slimmer you at the beach or at the park. I might see you around as I tour…

My family who recently visited us in Finland can’t help noticing the price of commodities in this Nordic region. Their comment: expensive! But still we shop especially for souvenirs, dine and taste Finland’s coffee. When we toured Helsinki, we sat down inside a shopping center for a cup of coffee and my dad was shocked at the price of their cappuccino. It depends on the coffee shop actually.

There’s another kind of coffee that travelers can try. This one is good for the health coz it has over 150 different antioxidants per cup plus a total of 200 active nutrients. If you take a cup of coffee which has the secret ingredient Ganoderma or reishi think about the following health benefits you can get. It will make you feel younger and alert, and also, reduces mental and physical fatigue, supports and modulates the immune system, and rejuvenates at cellular level. And unlike complaints from other coffee drinkers about lack of proper sleep due to coffee, this healthy coffee on the other hand gives you a good night’s rest, just what travelers need. What’s great about this coffee is, as a whole, it improves your overall performance for another day of walking and touring.

Isn’t it tiresome to tour a city by just walking? When I and family were in Helsinki, for a day tour, we walked most of the time. We started our tour at the historical center and then Uspenski Cathedral up to Sibelius Monument. In fact, my sis’ toes began to face some discomforts later in the afternoon. Blame it on too much walking and an uncomfy shoe. A comfortable shoe is really a great trip essential especially when on walking tour.

Blowfish Shoes emerges into the market with an array of casuals, sandals, and boots for women to choose from. Their new line of Blowfish Designer Shoes has already captured the market in Europe and Australia. Not to forget that in America, women are now enjoying the look and comfortable feel of Blowfish Women’s Shoes.

As I browse their website, blowfishshoe.com, for a casual shoe that is comfortable enough when walking around the street, I think I found one. How about sporting their black or dark brown Sweetart model as you tour the city? At a price of $39, this style is made of soft canvas uppers, with a button closure and an elastic rounded cuff for easy wearing on and off. The flexible rubber sole sounds great for walking. Nice shoe to buy.

We have been searching the city center for items our visitors wanted to carry back home as souvenirs of their trip in Finland. They already bought some but as we visited the shops at the 43rd Pori Jazz Festival venue, we found nice usable stuffs with Finland name on it. So those three times I visited the festival venue they were mostly for souvenir shopping with a bit of watching free open concerts at Jazzstreet Stage and walking along Jazz Street. There were a lot of items to shop here but our eyes were fixed on souvenir items.

- The first time our family walked at Jazz Street was with dad, young sis and baby Caite after a heavy Pizza buffet. It was a bright night time, a nice evening for walking. There was one shop selling Finland souvenirs so we bought some cap, t-shirt and moose magnets. There was also a shop selling Pori Jazz souvenirs but there was no Finland embedded on it so we didn’t purchase any. Had it included the name Finland we could have brought some small stuff…hehe.

- The second time I went to Jazz Street was to buy additional Finland cap my dad requested.

- And the third trip was with mom and two sisters. We went to the same shop we have been coming back for souvenirs. Obviously, the lady selling those items already recognized us so as we left her shop, she bade us goodbye with: ‘see you tomorrow!’ After visiting Jazz Street three times, no more tomorrow for me…

Finland caps and other souvenirs for sale

crocs can be purchased at 43rd Pori Jazz Festival, too

When we go on a road trip, we sometimes carry with us devices or tools to make our travel more relaxing, comfortable and convenient. And much more, it would be very nice if these gadgets are designed with environmental awareness in mind. Products you might need while you’re on the go during the cold season would be a heated travel mug with adjustable temperature control from 85F to 160F or a cozy electric travel blanket made of fleece to keep you warm and can make your seat warmer. It’s not yet winter time but then again it’s better to shop ahead or if you live in colder regions then it’s time to have one. These products are 12v powered thus uses less energy than traditional electric gadgets and eventually saves you money. These eco-friendly products can be purchased online at EcoGeek Living. A functional and eco-friendly travel gadget, why not?

Some football fans must be heading off to Geneva these days, among other venues, to cheer for their favorite team as they play in the Euro 2008 game. Today’s tournament is Group A: Czech Republic versus Portugal playing live at Stade de Geneve, Geneva. Which of these teams is going to move on to the quarter finals?

You can bring your thoughts to writing at the football picks message board of Addictsports.com, which has by far a number of members who like baseball and other sports . You can share with members in the sports forum whatever you want to say and discuss about your favorite sports, be it football, baseball, basketball, hockey, your favorite team, season, anything about sports. Enjoy talking about the sports you like and meet new friends here.

And by the way, if you are in Geneva, don’t forget to buy one of those Swiss chocolates before your flight back home. You can get it at the Co-op with additionally some good-priced souvenirs. It’s located on Rue du Commerce, takes about 30 minute walk from Cornavin train station.

Most parking spaces we’ve been to in Finland are in open spaces. For example when we went to Helsinki by road trip during our Christmas holiday, the place where we parked the car near the Olympic Stadium was a 24 hour parking area in an open space. So evidently there are no bollards to keep unauthorized vehicles out of the parking space. Entry was free for all. Although sometimes I could not help worry about security issues in these kinds of parking spaces but so far there are no untoward incidents, so I can say the environment is quite safe.

However, in parking spaces were you need to secure your parking area, a low cost method would be employing a parking barrier like the Round Post Top Lock Series by TrafficGuard, USA. This durable lightweight barrier can help control vehicle entry and exit in the parking area. The Round Post Top Lock Series is also a removable and collapsible safety bollard that can be locked at the top of the post. You a check the website for the benefits of using this product, the technical specifications and storage racks. A photo of the product can also be viewed at the website. And if you want to get the latest news and product updates, feel free to register.

Luggage is a very essential buddy for a traveler. The kind of luggage you need depends on what kind of traveler you are: frequent traveler, vacationer, business traveler, trekker, or a commuter. For any of this kind, there are luggages that can match your travel needs. To choose the right type of luggage there are luggage buying guidelines you might want to heed in order to avoid buying the wrong luggage and wasting your money’s worth. The most important aspect to take note is the luggage construction. We bought a luggage last year prior to coming to Finland and upon arrival the zip gave way. We didn’t check carefully the zip’s durability when we bought it so we ended up using it for once only. For a durable luggage, look for locked-stitched seams, big zippers, recessed wide-track wheels, fiberglass frames for lightweight, detachable and adjustable straps, a denier of 400 and above, and one with compartments for organizing things.

For our family travel or vacation we would usually carry medium-sized and larger sized wheeled upright luggage plus additional carry-ons. Our upright luggage is usually the soft-sided type. I’m not so much a fan of a hard-sided luggage coz it’s non expandable and slightly heavier, thus adding up to the baggage weight. I already find the 20 kg baggage limit not enough for the things to pack.

As I was searching for luggage, I found an American Tourister 2-Piece Upright Luggage Set at ShopWiki.com costing about 130 USD at Sears. This would be great for a short vacation. Easy to carry and has variety of compartments. If you are searching for anything and everything for sale, more products and better deal with a price comparison feature, drop by ShopWiki.com and you will experience how ShopWiki transforms online shopping.

For the active holiday goers who prefer a combination of beach and golfing, there’s an 18-hole course located by the famous Yyteri beach in Pori, Finland designed with diversified landscape: terrain, water hazards and beach dunes to make your golfing experience more exciting. Golfing season in this place lasts from mid April to December so there’s pretty much time.

For golfers who want to practice their swing before booking a day at the golf course, you can order the sport sensor Golf Swing Speed Radar Guns sold online at OpticsPlanet, Inc., one of the leading optics suppliers based in the United States. This company sells a wide selection of sport optics, tactical and military gear, microscopes, and designer eye wear.

What’s so special about this swing speed radar is that this gadget is equipped with a small microwave Doppler radar velocity sensor that enables it to measure the swing velocity of golfers, and also baseball or softball players so that players can develop and improve their swing performance. If you want to find that perfect golf swing, no need to search for an expensive golf swing analyzer coz this particular Golf Swing Speed Radar can also perform the same at a lesser price. Find out more about radar guns at OpticsPlanet, Inc. And test that perfect swing at the fairways.