Today it’s Marko’s turn to have a surprise birthday party, at Zetor, a Finnish-themed restaurant in central Helsinki.

A big gang of us gathered at a pub in Kruununhaka.

Eve & I watched a very good DVD yesterday evening: Twilight Samurai. It’s set in 19th-century Japan and is about a poor samurai. Eve loved the sense of the place and culture, and the wonderful scenery. For me, the best part was the portrayal of the main character, a man much more caring and down-to-earth than the samurai we normally see in films.

Yesterday evening we had our semi-regular board games evening, this time at our flat. Unfortunately, I was having so much fun I forgot to take any pictures :(.

Amongst the games we played were Six Nimmt!, Robo Rally, Finstere Flure and Spank the Monkey. (The last is a really poor choice of name for a very decent game, where the players built towers in a scrapyard and try to catch a monkey). My favourite was again Robo Rally – it’s a shame it’s no longer available (and horribly expensive on eBay).

Eve arranged for me a surprise birthday party after Mobile Monday 🙂

I’m at Mobile Monday, a mobile industry networking event that is held on the first Monday of every month. Lots of people making contacts; most only half-watching the presentations. Oh yes – free beer for all attendees 🙂

Restaurant boat Waiski in front of the Merihaka district of Helsinki. The concrete appartment blocks are depressingly ugly; Eve took me to look at a flat for sale there, but there’s no way I wanted that to be my home district.

This statue is on the shore next to Hakaniemi market square. It’s a gift from Moskow to Helsinki in 1989, one of a few such Soviet-era statues around Helsinki.

Every Sunday there’s a market at Hakaniemi, and with such beautiful weather today it was full of people. The red-brick appartment block at the back, with the round towers at each end, is where Eve & I live.

Pyhis & JyJy joined us at the pub.