Finally Audioboo is available for Nokia devices.
All posts by chivacongelado
Normal
A meaningless word we use all the time that reflects our own experiences and expectations. Depending on your background, skiing on the frozen sea, earthquakes, millions of people or none around you, and an infinite number of things can be “normal”.
The challenges for all of us are understanding that my normal might or might not be your normal and vice versa and coming to terms that what is normal is not necessarily what is right.
Fatherhood
The lack of posts lately has a very simple reason: I became a father two weeks ago. Feedings, diapers, sleepless nights, and peaceful moments show I’ve joined what a friend of mine calls “the happy insomniac’s club”. There are plenty of things that have already happened, and an unimaginable amount more in store, but it’s all worth it.
Our music collection has contributed to the mood, with lots of stuff from Cri-Crí, Finnish children’s melodies and classical music, but the little guy seems to also like the heavy rock we used to listen while he was still in the womb.
Even José Alfredo Jiménez seems to have a song for the occasion ;).
Napapiirin sankarit en français
For some strange reason the French trailer made me want to watch the movie much more than the original Finnish one. 😉 Maybe Finnish cinema is finally taking over the world?
End of the decade
The 2000’s were the years that started with the menace of Y2K, gave us 6 years of Bush, the Argentine peso crash, 9/11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the terrorist attacks in Madrid, London & Mumbai, the bomb in Myyrmanni, wars in Chechenya and Georgia, the Asian tsunami, the floods of Tabasco, Katrina, protests in Ukraine & Thailand, two stock market crashes, wars in Liberia, Congo and Somalia, the Jokela & Kauhajoki school shootings, the drug war & ended with the Haiti earthquake.
However, they also gave us the rise of the rest of the globalized countries and the formation of the G-20, the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka, the rescue of the Chilean miners, the spread of mobile communication, the fast adoption of broadband, the dramatic reduction of poverty in certain areas and the improving availability of basic sanitation in many others, though you won’t see that in the news ;).
The country where I was born has seen ten years of democracy, but also ten years of disorder and lack of statesmanship. The country where I have lived for most of this decade has experienced more change than some of its people would like, it’s showing itself more to the world but the world has also arrived in numbers to its shores. It’s not a homogeneous as it used to be.
Ten years might be a short time in geological or astronomical terms, but teenagers become adults in that time :).
Finland country brand report
Finally finished reading the book-long document (also a summary here). In short it recommends that to enhance the country brand of Finland, its people should focus on 3 strengths based around the idea of sharing Finnish practicality and problem-solving worldwide:
- The most functional country in the world. Functionality: Finland to be developed into a Silicon Valley of social innovations
- Drink Finland. Nature: Let’s make the lakes drinkable and serve organic food
- Teachers without borders. Education: Finnish teaching protection force in peace work
One of the most interesting and exciting aspects about the whole report for me was, to be frank, how action-oriented it is. While it does have a significant current state analysis study behind it, most of its recommendations are actionable now, and they encourage public discussion of their findings and recommendations at their website.
Would definitely love to see this approach taken up by more countries. I can think of at least a couple that need a little bit of polish.
2010 in searches, videos, trends, status updates, blogs
- The year in search was dominated by the World Cup, but other events were significant according to Google’s Zeitgeist. Most of this trends were also mirrored in Twitter.
- YouTube seemed to be all about quirky humour and Justin Bieber. The usual, really.
- Facebook status updates, being more personal, showed the emergence of new acronyms but also mirrored the trends of the “global events” we al followed this year.
- Blogging is maturing as contributors realise they can have an influence, but the gulf between personal and professional bloggers is becoming wider.
Proper Mexican food restaurants worldwide
As you probably know if you read this blog, one of my passions is food, especially of the Mexican kind. Unfortunately, most of the Mexican food you find outside of North America is not really Mexican, so I make a point of testing Mexican restaurants when I’m traveling to make sure they are more Mex-Mex than Tex-Mex so that I can recommend them to friends.
You can find an abridged list after the map below (they’re listed by how far away they’re from Finland, with the first being the farthest out).
- Viva México, Singapore, Singapore. Pretty decent decor. Indian & Pakistani staff wearing Mexican dress. Some of the items in the menu are Tex-Mex as that’s what people know so far away from the land of nopales, but the chef is from Oaxaca so he can recommend what to eat. I had caldo tlalpeño and chiles en nogada when I was there and they were very good (photos). From what I hear, they have to import a lot of the foodstuffs, even the rice (kinda funny as it’s in Asia).
- Fonda de la Madrugada, Tokyo, Japan. A restaurant in a huge basement, descending those steps transports you from Harajuku to an Hacienda. Mexican movies shown in a corner. The chef was Mexican, even if the owners weren’t. The staff speaks Spanish and Japanese (few things cuter than a Japanese girl in a huipil), but no English. While it’s not the cheapest place to eat out, the food was absolutely worth it: we had guacamole, caldo tlalpeño, enchiladas and even carnitas a la michoacana (photos).
- El Mexicano, Shanghai, China. Small place slightly out of town. Mexican owners. The pollo en salsa verde was not great, but the tacos al pastor more than made for it (photos).
- La Palapa, New York, USA. A restaurant that wouldn’t be out of place in Coyoacán, even if the portions are American-sized. Their quesadillas were to die for (photos)
- Tehuitzingo Deli & Grocer, New York, USA. The best taquería I’ve been to outside of Mexico City (no wonder as it’s smack in the middle of Puebla York). Once you get inside past the grocery part of the locale, you will reach a small corner of heaven in Hell’s Kitchen. Tacos de lengua, pastor, chicharrón or suadero, sopes, quesadillas de flor de calabaza… all washed down with a Pacífico (photos).
- Rosa Mexicano, New York, USA. You realise the Mexican food market in NY has matured as they’ve gone from Tex-Mex to Mex-Mex to haute cuisine Mex. A selection of tequilas that will leave a connoisseur drooling, their arrachera & shrimps plate was very good and worth the price tag (photos).
- Barriga Llena, Madrid, Spain. Part of a mature Mexican-owned chain in Spain, the food is close enough to its origins and the sense of humour is a breathe of fresh air.
- Ándele, Barcelona, Spain. I used to visit Barcelona every year for work, and I always tried to visit this small place. The tacos are quite OK and they also sell Mexican foodstuffs and tequilas (indispensable if you live far away like me).
- Anahuacalli, Paris, France. This is the only one I haven’t visited of the restaurants in this list, but everybody I know and trust who has eaten here recommends it. The founder has lived in France for 40 years.
- Mestizo, London, UK. Mexican-owned as well. Also a little bit pricey, but the food was excellent. We had ceviche, tacos al pastor, pato en mole con ciruela, tamales, pozole, flan & crepas and it was all good (photos).
- Taquería La Neta, Stockholm, Sweden. For a while the closest source for proper Mexican food, this taquería was opened in 2009. Their menu is simple: tacos and their relatives, but the results are excellent as they have their own tortilla-making machine (photos). Mexican-owned.
- Café de Nopal, Helsinki, Finland. Recently opened. I just wrote a review about the place. They offer a “comida corrida” lunch every weekday with a choice of two/three main courses and brunch on weekends (photos). Mexican-owned.
Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad! Hyvää Joulua!
Authentic Mexican restaurant in Finland: Café de Nopal
When a Mexican moves abroad, one of the first things he or she misses is the food (obvious if you’ve read this blog for a while or know me personally). The Mexican food supply in Finland is very limited, so obviously many of us have had the idea to open a proper restaurant here where we could show our Finnish brothers what and why we long for: real tacos, sopes, tortas and other far-away delicacies.
Nobody had had the guts (and the knowledge) to do so until now. A couple of friends opened Café de Nopal in Lönnrotinkatu 9 a few days ago and my prayers have been answered ;). In a few days I’ve already had avocado soup, lentil soup, gringas de pastor, tacos dorados, chile relleno, flan, pan de elote and Chiapas coffee. The taste was good enough to remind me of Mom. I guess I’ll continue visiting often.
Update 8.10.2012: Café de Nopal has now become Cholo, Street Mexican kitchen. Great authentic Mexican food as well, slightly different concept