Espoo – d.x.l on the road

2017年8月25日2017年8月31日

Baby in Finland – Nursing while shopping

We have been living in Espoo for almost three months. Now I know a little bit more about those shopping centers, especially how to take the baby to shopping!

First of all, traveling with a baby in pram/stroller is free on buses (and other HSL public transportation). So, just board the bus through the middle door. Those large shopping centers are well served by public transportation 🙂

Secondly, look for the door open button to make life easier:

Now while you are inside of the shopping center, look for the nursing room when it’s necessary. Be confident that there is a nursing room! Just ask for directions. Here I will show you the nursing rooms in these shopping centers: ISO Omena, Sello, AINOA/Stockmann, IKEA Espoo, and Kamppi (Helsinki).

ISO Omena probably has the best nursing room. It is located on the first floor, close to the children’s clothing shops, right beside the children’s playground. Push the button to open the door, and you will see a very big room. There are stroller parking, lockers, table and chairs (for bigger kids), a big sofa (for breastfeeding), and kids’ restrooms. The nursing room is always occupied, almost constantly being used. In fact, the playground outside is also one of the best, and is very popular!

Sello is another popular shopping center in Espoo. The nursing room is also on the first floor, and in the children’s area (see photos). This nursing room is not big, although it’s quite popular. You can do everything you need to, but the room itself is not as fancy as the one in ISO Omena. For example, there’s no sofa.

AINOA/Stockmann is in Tapiola. It’s supposed to have two nursing rooms, but we could only find the one in AINOA side. It’s a bit tricky to find the nursing room. The tip is to find the children’s playground, which is beside the second floor of H&M. The playground, or rather the rest area, is huge and fabulous! We saw fathers were taking care of kids (while mothers were shopping?). Then, follow the signs to the nursing room, on the fourth floor. The room is warmly decorated. Although there is no sofa either, the chairs there are very comfortable for breastfeeding.

Then, IKEA Espoo. After you enter the building, take a right. And you will see the information desk and the small playground. The nursing room is on the opposite side of the playground. The room is not big, but it’s lovely and very IKEA (my feeling). The red box on the wall is a changing station (diapers available). The pretty IKEA chair is perfect for breastfeeding! There’s no kids’ restroom.

Lastly, the Kamppi center in Helsinki. We have used the nursing room there several times, because we often transfer at Kamppi bus terminal. The nursing room is on the third floor, where you find children’s clothing shops. Different from nursing rooms in other shopping centers, the nursing room in Kamppi is located inside of a store! So look for the sign on the window, go into the store, and you can find the nursing room. It is a small room, but “luxurily” decorated. There are diapers, towels, and even baby cream/lotion. Outside of the nursing room, there are two love seats and breastfeeding pillows! How thoughtful!

I am not afraid of taking my baby to shopping any more, because I know I can care for him just like at home.

2017年8月7日

Feel Finland – Weekend on an island

Finland is known for its thousands of islands, which are ideal places to escape from modern city life. Finnish people, or finns, are known for their coolness. I don’t think they are cold. They are simply cool – do not bother others, and do not want to be bothered. Chinese people often say: The unique features of a local environment always give special characteristics to its inhabitants. I think finns are part of the Finnish nature.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Fortunately, we had the opportunity to enjoy a typical Finnish weekend.

Around 8:50 am, two friends (one of which is Finn) and we met at the Kinvenlahti pier (in Espoo). The 9 am ferry was already there. We purchased the tickets (5 euro each), and boarded the ferry. The ferry has two floors. The top floor is open air. The bottom floor is inside. The ferry stops at many islands. Our target was Gasgrund! It took about 90 min. Although 90 min sounds a bit long, it’s actually a pleasant journey. After all, we came out to enjoy our time. This particular ferry does not have coffee, but some other ferries do. I do not know how many islands we passed by, but almost every island has one or more houses. What a life it is to own a vacation house on an island! In some aspects, I feel I will enjoy Finnish life – I don’t mind to be isolated at all.

Soon we arrived at our destination – Gasgrund Island. Nothing extraordinary, but who asked for it? The point is: we are on an island; we are surrounded by trees and water. The wood storage is right in front of us, and the shelter is only 20 meter away. The shelter is well equipped for BBQ. Actually, it looked like somebody just used the fire place. So our friend just needed to add wood to it. While the wood was burning, we took the time to walk around the coast. So peaceful!

After we came back from a short walk, we started to prepare food. Our friend is clearly professional! Look at her BBQ! We prepared chicken and asparagus, which are also tasty 🙂 The dessert was chocolate banana! It’s really delicious.

Different from the BBQ in US, it’s much quieter and natural in Finland! I liked that the wood was used for BBQ. Before we left the island, our friend threw in a few more wood to keep the fire. Finns do not talk much, but they are very considerate. Everything is in good and unspoken order.

2017年6月8日

Feel Finland – The first week in Espoo

So it’s already a week. Although we are still getting used to the life here in Espoo, I think we always learn the most in the first week.

Espoo, with no more than 300,000 population, is the second largest city in Finland. It is only 10 km away from Helsinki, the capital and the largest city. Our apartment is in west Espoo. It is furnished, which helps a lot in terms of settling down. We are also glad that the markets are just 5 min walk. Two markets: Alepa and K market. They are not that big, a little smaller than Carrefour City and Simply in Grenoble, France. However, we can get pretty much everything we expect: food and home essentials. To get asian food and more home supplies, we will have to go to asian markets and large supermarkets. There are two supermarkets in the shopping mall that is 1 km away. Yes there are shopping malls here in Finland, similar to US. The two supermarkets are K supermarket and Lidl. Lidl is cheaper, same as in France. We have not yet tried it – we will. The living cost in Finland seems high. The rent is high; food is expensive.

The bus is costly as well – 2.9 euro for a single trip! Luckily one can purchase a long term pass, i.e. ~55 euro for 30 days. D just went to make a such bus card yesterday, and was told to wait for a week to receive the card. I have not yet tried the public transportation here. But I heard that the buses are quite on time, and can get you almost everywhere you want. One of the bus stops that are close to our apartment has several bus lines. In addition, with a baby in a pram, one can travel in public transportation for free! We really need to get a pram then!

Espoo bus — The close-by bus stop has several lines

It is early morning now! 4 AM to be accurate. The sky is pink ~ almost sunrise time. Since we are getting closer to summer solstice, the day is longer and longer. It will be like 19 hours the longest. Have you ever seen a 11 PM sunset? People here seem to enjoy the long daylight very much. After all, it’s much better than the long darkness, isn’t it? 🙂 Although the sun is up for long time, it’s definitely not hot here. In fact, it’s still cool – even a bit cold. Let’s see how hot it can be in July and August.

As you know, Finland (and other Nordic countries) is known for design. Design is truly everywhere in life. Even the apartment buildings are like art. I always like Chicago for the architectures, so I was immediately attracted by Finland. Once I get a pram, I want to take our baby to get around the town. The sky is so blue here; the air is fresh; plus we are so close to the ocean! We should enjoy the daylight before it’s gone.

Espoo ocean — Ocean is less than 10 min walk from our apartment