Buffalo Chicken Wing Hunt in Helsinki, Finland

After our initial Prague Buffalo wing hunt, which really wasn't all that successful, so needs to be repeated, we decided to attempt similar in Helsinki, Finland. Now, Finland is not known for its spicy food. Actually, Finnish people are not too keen on spicy stuff, but Helsinki is so international nowadays that it is not a problem to get some spiciness into your life.

Our first stop was the hip restaurant in the center (Kamppi) called Memphis. The chicken wings here weren't the real deal, however, the spicy dip that came with them was not bad at all. Otherwise, the wings were a bit too dry. The next place we went to was a typical American restaurant called Chico's. With that name, one would assume they would have great buffalo wings, however, big mistake. There was no sign of chicken wings on the menu and the burgers we ordered were little to be desired, so this is one is a no go.

Third try was the Southern Fried Chicken fast food joint in Kamppi again. Who else would know how to make some wings than this place. And it wasn't far from the truth. The chicken wings came already dipped in a spicy sauce which was not that bad for Finland, but it still left a bit more to be desired for the real Buffalo wings.

After the different restaurant dining, we decided to visit local supermarkets to see if we can make the spicy chicken wings we desire ourselves. Finland is actually known for having a lot of different already marinated meats available in the stores, so it didn't take long to find two different chicken wings packets soaking in delicious red spicy sauce. After about an hour in the oven, we were munching on probably the best wings we have had in a while. They weren't perfect, but were damn good. Especially if we can add some cayenne pepper and some Thai spicy chili sauce.

Our quest is of course not over yet, so stay tuned for more delicious spicy sticky wing stories.

Hang on now. Breaking news :). Just came across the finnish society of spicy sauces (in Finnish) and got the original Buffalo Wing Sauce from them, so will have to try it out. Will probably be the winner there.

Chinese English Courses

Most of us have heard the news about the massive English language efforts in China prior to the Olympics, how chinese taxi drivers had to go undergo and English course and the chinese government is even sponsoring the every day nation wide TV English lessons. In my mind, this is wonderful and I hope it is working as English is THE language to know (not French how it was perceived a few decades ago), but what I am about to show you are some examples, captured about a year prior to the ignition of the 2008 Olympic flame in the Bird's nest, of how neccessary the English courses are for the chinese population. Following are some signs we have had the pleasure to take pictures of during our wandering around the People's Republic of China.

To start you off nice an easy, here is an example of a pretty big and visible advertisement for an international arts school which was hanging in Xi'an on the train station (at least I think this is where it was - It was so long ago:).

The next item is one of a kind and the title of the following example is, I quote now "Touris Guide to Mingshan Scenic Area of Ghost City". Note the omission of a letter in the first word already. And under item 6 in the guide we find the following :).

Now we are getting to a bit more heavy stuff with a big poster advertising a tour to a wide audience (which is probably not English speaking to their benefit). See for yourselves.

The next sign, we saw in ChongQing, is even more prominent, but in this case, I might incline to a weathered condition where the connecting line might have just disappeared, but one never knows.

And finally, the most beautiful pearl at the end. Let's see if you can spot the real crab. Perhaps the Russian confused them :). We actually orded it and it was very very good.