Ahoy mateys!
Do you fancy to make and enjoy a cool and tasty Mojito, but you don't know how to do it?
No problem! here I am to show you how.

OK, let's start. First, all the ingredients you need:


- Fresh mint leaves.
- Lime wedges.
- Demarara sugar.
- Crunched ice.
- Dark rum
- Soda

How to do it:


1 Put three lime wedges in tall glass.



2 Add a bunch of mint leaves (5 or 6 it's ok)



3 Add the sugar, one or two table spoons (the most sweet the less you'll notice the alcohol)



4 Crush the mix by push 'n' twist.



5 Fill the glass with crunched ice. You can make it smashing-up wrapped ice-cubes with a hammer (I've used snow from the balcony)



6 Add rum to taste. (8cl. or two shoot glasses for a middle one)



7 Add soda to fill the glass. (I've used Sprite)


Now just invite your cute neighbour and let her/him get drunk.




Enjoy the party! Yarrr

Ahhh Spring time has arrive already to Helsinki.
After a long, dark and oppressive winter we're having a really great combination of sun and snow, thus that,
everything's wrapped up with an extremely brightness. It's so cool to enjoy the power of light after 6 months of lack. It's amazing how the weather affect in a straight way our frame of mind. People around me, and myself included, have shake out the homesick and laziness mood due to the hibernation season swapping it into a more cheerful and dynamic one.
Furthermore, with the Easter bank holiday, these days the city has changed its quite and idle atmosphere into a busy and riotous one, in part due to the onrush of foreigners from all around the world.
Seems that Fins are getting ready to get ride of heavy coats, sadness and colorless at last.
So, the time for smiling faces, meetings on parks to chat and drink, outdoor activities and parties for no reason is about to come.
Finnish winter survival: Done!

I've watched an ice hockey match at Hartwall Areena in Helsinki. The Helsinki locals Jokerit versus Pelicans from Lahti.
This has been my first time I've gone to such event.

The experience was quite good considering that I had no idea about ice hockey's world: rules, teams, players..( not even how to ice skating but I'm working on it)

This is how this kind of events used to go:
Just from the beginning things goes pretty cool. A DJ introduces the players, informs the crowd who scored the goals, or who has penalties and why, in time to a hard rock music rhythm, coming from the powerful speakers.
Suddenly, the local team ( the good guys) comes trough from a corridor located in one of the corners, skating in a perfect queue formation flanked by four burning blazes. More Rock and a set of lights are shown, while, the inflamed crowd, gets crazy singing with one voice a repertoire of chants and songs to encourage the team.

The opponents ( the bad guys) comes trough from another corner ( without music neither flames) and they get 'warmly' welcomed with boos and jeerings.
Both teams takes their positions on each side of the ice rink, the referee plant the puck between the team's captains and the show gets started.
From now, there are three 20-minutes periods ahead , with two 15-minutes breaks in between, of amusement.

Another very important ingredient of the lively atmosphere are the beloved, gorgeous, spicy and hot cheerleaders. OMG! those girls knows how to 'raise' crowd's frame of mind.... so, during the game, you don't have to worry about get bored cause, every five to ten minutes, they are out there cheering you up, no matter what's going on over the ice.
Actually, I have an unforgettable scene graved on my mind:

At one point, some players started to fight exchanging punches and shoves ( that sort of skirmishes are included with the ticket) while the cheerleaders, in time to a powerful heavy metal music on, were performing their sensual show. All surrounded by the clamour from the stand up crowd , roaring and yelling as they would have been possessed by a devilish force. Gorgeous!

So, that's it. when the game gets over and after such intense discharge of adrenaline and accumulated testosterone, the exalted crowd's mood drops down into a more chill and relaxed one while ,the opponent players on the ice ,shake hands friendly forgiving and forgetting whatever happened before. Great

Oh!, the result was 2-4 for the visitors, but.. does it really matter?

I've seen the movie " Into the Wild"
I really enjoy the plot (based on a true story) the landscapes, the soundtrack and the fact that I feel quite close on the way of thinking with Christopher McCandless (the true character) though we've been grown in a different atmosphere.
His adventure is a getaway from the isolated emotional bubble he had been living into, due to his personal family situation, to the research about himself and the true, in the very deep end of human being's soul, getting wisdom through the experiences.
He would met different icons of the American society within his trip, whom, together with the writers of his favorite books, influenced his point of view ,giving him a new perspective about the sense of life.
So, like an onion lose it's layers, he decided to got ride of everything which had been keeping him tied to a bland life with a deep feeling of inner emptiness: His family, car, friends, money.. in order to achieve his goal, go to Alaska with nothing but his bared soul and remain alone for a while into the wild.
He'd defeated the opinion that happiness no necessary depends on human relationships but, at the end of his drama, just when he was about to die by starvation, he regretted writing: " happiness only real when shared" forgiving, in that precisely moment, his parents for all the grief they'd gave to him, with an enormous feeling of relief and freedom.
That particular scene of the movie it gave me goose flesh.
Nice movie.

FREEEEEEDOOOOOOMMM!!!!!

Any action has a reaction.

Fuck, after the winter swimming I had one of my worse weeks. I got the harshest flu I ever had. I reckon that I was with a bit cold before but, dude, they promised me that doing this you can even get better or screw it up, 50% of chances. well that's why I would never play Russian roulette.

Oh, talking about Russians, if it wasn't enough with the big fuck-up of to be in bed with general pain throughout my body, nausea, high fever, shakes, sweatyness and delirium, THREE of my Russian friends (females) decided, singly, come to Helsinki to "visit" me. JUST this precisely weekend and together. So, I had three gorgeous Russian girls (two of them, roommates whom I already had something with and the third one, bi-sexual and experienced with sex in group) swarming around my flat for three days while I was dying in bed with no strength for even fart. For God's Sake, wasn't it UNFAIR?!

I didn't finish yet with Russia. Two days after my friends had gone, a bit..disappointed (sigh) I was still quite sick when someone knocked the door roughly.
It was two huge but I mean HUGE policeman guys asking for me. They came to give me a fine notification due when I was caught on the Finnish-Russian border some months ago with some ehh...illegal stuff I bought by internet from a Saudi Arabian underground laboratory and pretending to sell it to a contact in ST.Petersburg taking advantage of my tourist trip, Oh, but this is another story.

So, they came into my room and after to make me sign the fine (275E) they started to search for illegal stuff while I was in bed with my pyjamas on, stinky after three days sweating and with a horrible jonky face due to the sickness looking at them astonished and trying to distinguish if that was real or just an hallucination. Fortunately, I didn't have nothing interesting for them and that was all.

So, what a week!! isn't it? a flu, a fine and a missed chance to get some fun....damn it!
I already recovered from the sickness, the fine is paid, but I do still miss my friends...

OK then, let's write about ice swimming.

I've already done with some members of the Jolly Dragon the traditional Finnish Ice Swimming .
We were at Rastila Camping which has Sauna rooms for 5€ at just 20 meters from the sea.
SO, basically, the plan consist of :

1- Get into the sauna.
Saunas could be just for women, men or unisex, which is more interesting, although, being this a public premises, you should wear
swimming suit.
If you do sauna with Finns, DO NOT let them take the control of the temperature (splashing water on the hot stones) otherwise, brace yourself for get your inner organs stewed as things will go quite warm (over 80Cº) having the feeling that your skin is gonna come off from your body.
In fact, saunas used to have two levels whereby you can have a seat, being the upper one far away more hot than the lowest. ( as hot air tends to raise) so, even 20cm. of high difference means a lot in grades of temperature. Therefore, you'll find yourself fighting nail and tooth for a position on the lower bench, among all the other foreigners.. yep, you can easily find out who's Finn or Foreigner by where are they sitting at.
Oh, if some smartass decided to laugh at you by blowing over your skin, just kill him. It really buuuuuurns!

2-Take a dip in a frozen sea.
Alright then, now is when things get serious (well, not really) and you have to show what you're made of.
There is 32 steps, from sauna to a hole done on ice upon the frozen sea, which you better walk them fast, avoiding so,to lose heat.
As soon you get there don't think about it, just jump!
So I did and Jeeeeezz!! it was painful. I felt all my muscles contracting in time my heart's beat rate raised up in a shoot. At that time all I was able to do was it to yell out and try to get out of water ASAP.
Water temperature it's over 0Cº but, being it over 784 times more dense than air, the thermal sensation is just:: " too cold for my ass, dude"
* just for you guys. Damn, you won't believe it how weeded your balls can get.

3-Run for your life.
Once I got out, I was still yelling and feeling that painful sensation on my skin for a few seconds but, at the same time, I found myself quite euphoric and brave. Great! even though, we rushed back to sauna as if chased by starving wolves.
Oh yeah! it's damned cool to get back into the warm sauna straight afterwards! Good feeling.
We, the rookies, were so exited shouting and laughing about the experience that the locals and veterans couldn't avoid grin at us.

4-Do it again!
You can do this cycle as many times you want. we did it five, pretty enough for the first time!
I became and addicted of it and I hope to repeat every Sunday cause winter/ice- swimming is said to have several health benefits:

* improves cold resistance
* diminish blood-pressure
* reduces aches and pains
* relieves stress
* good for your skin
* releases dopamine, serotonin and endorphins
* very relaxing and helps you sleep better

I can't be more agree with the last two points as I've already experienced them. I felt pretty relaxed straight after the shower, like floating.

Then we gone to had a really nice pizza in order to recover the minerals lost by sweeting. In that way, it's very traditional between Finns to have a BBQ on a perfect Sunday sauna day. I'll think about it.

Well, well.. here I am.
I dunno how hell I let myself to be convinced to get here being the less geek person on Earth.
I'll try to post something time to time, but no promises, anyway who cares?