After a nice experience of working from a McK office for a week I took the weekend with good spirits and some small plans. As always Saturdays are lazy and got up around 9.00am to answer a call from my mom and brother as we had to finalize the wedding invitation for my brother’s marriage in April. After a good 1+ hour discussion – on phone, on messenger, by email – we finalized the details and ordered for the prints.
At around 12 noon realized I hadn’t had my breakfast yet… so went ahead with the staple diet of couple of toasts and a cup of coffee. Coffee really awakened me to the fact that I had to wash my clothes… now that’s a kind of adventure. The apartment provides a washing machine to use, and it is tucked away somewhere in another block. It was more like a treasure hunt to find this machine and more importantly how does it work?! The machine is installed at the cellar of Block A of the apt. complex and the cellar had a eerie feeling when I walked into it for the first time. Lots of rooms and my key would open only those doors where I have access to.
Came back to my room to pick up the clothes, and headed for a 1 hour retreat under the ground. It was really funny to see the machine wash my clothes without water for around 5 minutes… I got suspicious that something is not correct as the machine did not use any water till now… and realized that the water connection has been closed just above the machine. Tried a couple of times before I opened the valves, and water started pouring in but it wasn’t in any mood to stop… got confused again but luckily the machine took the initiative to do its work properly.
With around 15 minutes to spare, the machine completed its work and went in for spinning and I wished the machine to have “hot air drying” capability as I could see only a few clothes line that too on the terrace of the garage behind my block. How in the heaven will clothes get dry when the temperature outside hovers around 0, continued with my treasure hunt to find another room under the ground which had clothes line under the ground and a machine which blows dry and “hot?!?” air. With a lot of questions in my mind, went ahead and spread my still wet clothes inside the room and waited there for sometime expecting a miracle to happen! All clothes dry in a couple of minutes!!! I had a big disappointment as it didn’t materialize.
Finally made a big decision to go back to my room and come after an hour to see if they are ready to be folded and dumped back into my wardrobe. Disappointment again! Finally after 4 hours inside the drying room, I got most of my clothes dry except a few which were still… wet in parts. Rest of the Saturday was spent indoors due to a menacing drizzle all through the evening.
Sunday
Woke up at around 9.00am with a determination that I would go out to take the tram ride suggested by Cia, today. So the day started briskly and I was out on the roads by noon and when directly to the stop where I have to take the tram. The weather outside was kind of chilly and my hands were getting stiff within 10 minutes of exposure. How can I take pictures when my fingers are not in a mood to move around? Fearing the worst, boarded the tram 3B which takes a circular route within Helsinki’s city center, paid the driver EUR 2 for the round trip and took a window seat on the left side of the tram. The ride took around 40 minutes to complete one round trip moving at the max of 4okmph. Got down where I boarded the tram, and went ahead to see the harbor which I had spotted from the tram and pretty close to where I stay. Clicked some pictures around the harbor with the fingers getting harder by the minute and holding the camera was a task in itself.
Strolled around the harbor area, it looked deserted for a weekend, and headed back to my apartment in around 10 minutes. On my way back an idea struck about having some good lunch at the nearest Indian restaurant to my apartment the Samrat. So, driven by hunger and the thought of good Indian food rushed to the empty restaurant, I was the first and only customer for them until the time I left that place. Went through the menu card with disbelief – you have to pay so much for our food outside India. With no other options but to have food, I went ahead and ordered the “Vegetable Thali” for whopping EUR 20!!! That’s nowhere a justifiable cost for 3 vegetable dishes, one naan, and a cup of rice. Well realized it is not worth the money given as the food was of the “ok” kind and not really a “wow” thing. Nothing to do or see, headed back to the apartment for the evening and now blogging the events for you.
More pitures here:
http://photos-by-sriram.fotopic.net
No comments:
Post a Comment