Ersatz Oktoberfest ...

Tonight I enjoyed an impromptu evening out, thanks to friends and the Helsinki Social Club.

The latter organisation had manage to arrange vouchers for free beer and pretzels at Rymy-Eetu, a German bar in Helsinki. My friends had managed to get some of the vouchers and texted me just as I was leaving work. Half an hour later I was stein in hand, with the only slight disappointment being that rather than a litre of a delightful German brew, it was Koff, a very ordinary Finnish lager. But without doubt, worth every penny (or Euro cent) that I had paid for it. And the pretzel, soft, salt crusted and still warm from the oven, helped soak up just a little of the beer.

After around half an hour, the oompah band began to play. It was the first time I had seen seven Finnish men in lederhosen and, though they were entertaining, I wouldn't recommend that they give up their day jobs.

I sought escape in the men's bathroom, but even there I was not safe. Instead of piped music, a loop tape was playing useful phrases in German, then their Finnish counterparts. So, "ein bier bitte" is "yksy olut, kiittos". Though I have not done so well in my language studies here, that one, at least, I knew in both languages!

The photo, by the way, was taken on my new Nokia N8. I've been using it for a couple of weeks now, it's the best phone I've used so far and we just started shipping them today. Just in case I needed another reason to celebrate over a beer!

How to lose a loyal customer ...

Over the last month or so, we have had two separate incidents which have made us think hard about why we choose to do business with particular firms. Both cases caused considerable upset at the time to me and my family, but with different responses they have led to rather different outcomes for the companies concerned.

The first was at the start of our family holiday, probably the last we will take for some time with our daughters, as they respectively prepare to get married and go off to university next year. We organised this through James Villas, a company we have used several times before. We arrived at our villa in Umbria to collect the keys and were given an unexpected demand for 500 Euros as a cash deposit, which we knew we did not have to pay as James Villas had already charged us a non-refundable breakage charge.

The owner was very difficult to deal with, claiming to speak no English, so we spent two hours on the phone to the local rep and her boss and trying to get anyone from James Villas in the UK to resolve the issue. We finally got access only after the domestic partner of the local rep spoke to the villa owner. Apparently the local James Villas reps knew that the owner was (in their words) "a mental case" but continued to put their customers at risk by placing them in the villa.

The second was my daughter's recent eighteenth birthday party. We organised this in a local village hall and contracted with The Naked Grape, our local wine merchants, to run a cash bar for the evening. We've used Naked Grape for around 8 years, since we first moved here and, as with James Villas, have regularly recommended them to friends. Sadly, we arrived at the hall for the start of the party to find no bar had been set up.

In the case of the holiday, I wrote to their founder and chairman, James Needham, whom their website claims is "still at the helm" of the business. We got a badly written letter two weeks later, from a junior person, not really accepting any failure on their part and offering vouchers for £200 against a future holiday. So, an offer that costs them nothing if we never use them again and represents less than 2.5% of the cost of the holiday. When I pointed this out to them in further correspondence, their customer relations supervisor replied "in this instance I am unable to offer any further gesture or recompense. I am sorry if you remain dissatisfied and we are unable to restore your faith in James Villa Holidays". So am I, though I am prepared to offer them a gesture. I shall never use them again, nor recommend them to anyone I care about. Reader, beware.

By contrast, The Naked Grape's response was immediate and effective. Despite having been working themselves all day at the Alresford Show, they came to the hall, setup a bar and did not charge us a penny for the drinks consumed. Such customer service is rare and deserves recognition. Mark and Simon have worked hard to build up their business, now with shops in Alresford and Four Marks. They don't stock anything which they haven't tasted and specialise in good value wines from small producers and family estates. Before this incident, I regularly recommended them to friends and am very happy to continue to do so.

It seems that James Villas think they are big enough that they don't really have to take customer complaints terribly seriously. But in today's world, where I can get great deals online and quickly research reputations, they really ought to think differently. At least for one customer, they have made a big mistake. If you are reading this, Mr. Needham, you can take me off your mailing list.

Tonsorial timewarp ...

Today was haircut day. This is my first weekend back in Helsinki after two weeks of holiday with the family in Italy and likely to be my only chance for a few weeks to attend to the barnet, as next weekend I shall be back in the UK for my daughter's eighteenth birthday.

In Helsinki, I have my haircut at Salon Nadem, at Kolmas Linja 1 in Helsinki. A colleague recommended Nadem when I first moved here and I have been going ever since. Originally from Tunisia, he married a Finnish girl and has built up a busy little business in the Hakaniemi area of the city, which is also home to a wide range of "ethnic" shops. For the Asian community, these shops offer a range of spices, vegetables and Halal meats which allow them to keep culinary contact with their roots. For the Brit, they offer such rare treats as Bird's Custard Powder and tins of corned beef, not easily sourced from the regular supermarkets. But I digress.

I am usually greeted on entering Nadem's place with "hei, English guy!" I don't book an appointment, so though occasionally there is no-one waiting, more often, I'll need to sit and wait while he finishes up a couple of previous customers.

The clientele is very diverse, from English speaking foreigners like me, through ranks of other nationalities as well as native Finns. Listening to him chat in a mix of English, Finnish, Arabic and French (Tunisia was a French protectorate from 1881).

I also enjoy my time in the chair. Having never been a fan of fancy hair salons, I enjoy the simplicity of his set up. From the moment the cape is fastened around my neck, I am transported back to my childhood and memories of schoolboy haircuts. The earliest I can recall was in the barber's shop at the railway station in my home town of Bognor Regis. I would sit on the board resting across the arms of the barber's seat, in order to get me to a height to prevent back pain for the tonsorialist, then while he was fixing the cape, my Mum would give the instruction "a Boston please and not too much off the crown".

Sadly, I can find no Internet reference to this particular style, though the modifier was designed to avoid my double-crowned hair from sticking up, which would now be considered quite stylish.

Today's cut tends to be rather faster (there being rather less to remove) and rather simpler; number 3 clippers at the side to keep the hair shorter. My reasoning being that it is harder to see the grey when the hair is seen end-on. And, compared to the hairstyling of other family members, rather less expensive at €15.

But after it all, I am reminded of the old chestnut about "what's the difference between a good haircut and a bad one?" Surely you know the answer? "About two weeks."

Hockey on horseback ...

Last Sunday was Father's Day and I was back home in the UK to see my family, including having lunch with Dad, Mum and my sister. We met in Midhurst, a small market town in the West Sussex countryside and had a very pleasant lunch at Seven Fish.

After lunch, at Dad's suggestion, we went to watch a polo match at nearby Cowdray Park. It was a first for Stephanie and me, though Mum and Dad had been many years before. Dad noted that the last time he was there, it was possible to get closer to the action (curse those modern health and safety rules). He recalled that he had been close enough to hear the Duke of Edinburgh, then a keen player himself, swearing.

We were able to drive in and park close by the edge of the playing field; I reversed the Land Rover in to the space so that I was able to open the tailgate and provide seating with a windbreak for two of us! But the weather was kind; a bright sunny day with a few fluffy clouds and little wind, so it was perfect for watching the action.

We were there to watch the Midhurst Town Cup, played between "Silver Spring 1870" and "Salkeld". Each team has four players, there are also two mounted umpires on the field. Here you see one of the players executing a back pass. As my regular readers will know, sport and me are not best friends, so I think it best that I forego any further attempt to explain the game, but instead I refer you to the Hurlingham Polo Association web site has a great explanation of the rules and regulations of polo.

However, one element which may be familiar even to those with only a passing knowledge of the game is the half time audience participation. A pitch invasion is then positively encouraged, unlike football in which such behaviour is somewhat frowned upon. This is for the stamping down of the divots - the pieces of turf kicked up by the ponies' hooves. Those who have seen the film "Pretty Woman" will remember the announcer's advice to "avoid the steaming divot"! The last picture shows my mum and sister indulging in this public spirited activity.

But, dear reader, I do realise that you may be thinking that this is all very interesting, but what does it have to do with Finland? After all, the blog is supposed to have a Finnish flavour. Well, as we wandered around the few stalls selling merchandise, we came across Hoads of Horsham, there selling wonderful outdoor bean bags and hammocks made by Fatboy. A Finnish company. And how we spotted them in the first place was because of their (Finnish) Marimekko design parasols. So, that's alright then!

A working weekend ...

This has been my desk for the last two evenings, as I am running the lighting for the first four shows of the Finn-Brit Players' production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the Q-Teatteri in Töölö. It's the story on which the 1988 film Dangerous Liasons was based and our talented director and cast have created a very watchable performance.

It's my second time on the lighting desk, back at the same theatre, so it feels very familiar. In the picture you see the ADB Tango 48 control desk, which is hooked up to the various lights within the theatre. During the rigging process, the levels for each light for each change, together with the transition time, from zero seconds for a fast blackout to seven seconds for bringing the house lights up or down, are set and then programmed into the desk's memory. Altogether, there are more than seventy changes during the play.

During the show, it is theoretically straightforward to move to the next scene by press the red button, outlined in yellow tape on the picture. On top of the deck are my notes, which tell me when during the action to make the next change. And most of the time it works, though sometimes pressing the button doesn't actually seem to work. It doesn't happen often, but just enough to keep me at a high level of tension throughout the 3 hours that the show runs (including an interval).

However, the cast and director are being kind and have only made gentle suggestions on how I could improve things, there has been no shouting so far! It has been great to be involved with this production, though it has fired my desire to get back on stage; I have not done so since I moved to Finland three years ago. Perhaps I will try my hand at the next auditions.

Taking a break ...

My apologies for my rather poor performance in updating the blog recently, things have been rather busy over the last few weeks. However, last weekend saw our annual city break with friends Graham, Barbara, Jim and Linda and our destination this year was Barcelona, capital of the Catalan region of Spain.

I have been visiting Barcelona each February for the past five years, to participate in the Mobile World Congress, one of the biggest trade shows in our industry. So, for me, the city felt more like a workplace than a leisure destination. Fortunately, this weekend reset that feeling and I am now a convert to the many delights of this city.

It's going to be hard to do justice to the weekend without writing loads, so in the interest of brevity, I will list our main activities with links for those of you who may also want to visit.

Friday - I arrived in time for breakfast, only 12 hours after Blue1 were supposed to get me there (the letter of complaint is next on the to do list after this post). We took the red route on the Bus Turistic to get our bearings. Tapas and Sangria for lunch in the Bari Gotic, then to the Sagrada Familia and Casa Mila (two of the most famous Antoni Gaudi designed landmarks in the city). Dinner in a harbourside restaurant at the port.

Saturday - up and off for the blue route. Stopped off at Parc Guell for more Gaudi design, then the Blue Tram and funicular railway up to Tibidabo. Walked back down to the bus and home for a rest before dinner at Les Quinze Nits, great food at very good prices (though you need to queue for around half an hour to get in).

Sunday - walked down the Ramblas in the rain, great Tapas and Cava for lunch at El Xampanyet, exploring Port Vell and then back to meet up with ex Round Table buddy Ian, who was in town before heading off on a cruise. Dinner at Les Quinze Nits again, was just as good.

Monday - walked to the funicular railway up to Montjuic, then took the cable car to the castle at the top. Back for a very long and excellent lunch at El Xalet (where I had a dinner with my former Motorola team in 2005) next to the Olympic diving pools on the side of Montjuic. Walked back down the hill taking in the Olympic stadium, Poble Espanyol and through the Fira de Montjuic without all of the paraphernalia of Mobile World Congress.

Tuesday - a stroll around the city before lunch at Tapa Tapa at maremagnum, overlooking the sea. Back to the hotel, then off to the airport and home.

All in all, despite the worst efforts of Blue1, a great weekend with great friends. I can't wait for next year's!

Splendid China ...

I have just returned from a longer than expected trip to China and Hong Kong. The trip has given me material for a few blog posts, so this first one will cover my trip to Shenzhen, for meetings of the Mobile Manufacturers Forum (MMF) as I am the chair of their Communications Working Group.

We travelled to Shenzhen from Hong Kong by bus, crossing Shenzhen Bay and seeing hundreds of these rafts, apparently a pearl farm. After crossing the bay, we crossed through Chinese immigration and were soon at our home for the next few days, the Intercontinental, inexplicably a Spanish themed hotel in China. The sight of the porters, dressed as gauchos complete with pink long socks and cowboy homes, seemed rather incongruous.

Our hosts in Shenzhen were one of the MMF member companies, TCT mobile, a joint venture between Alcatel and TCL, who are based in Shenzhen. After our work was concluded, they kindly organised a visit to Splendid China, a "folk culture village", or theme park, showcasing the different regions and cultures of that vast country.

Unfortunately, rain prevented us from walking around the park, but we got to enjoy the show, which featured a range of dancing and singing acts. After the show we enjoyed the second of the two Chinese meals on our trip, which were quite different from those I've experience in the UK or USA.

The scale of Shenzhen was staggering. A population around twice the total of Finland and with massive manufacturing facilities. One employer has a factory complex with a workforce of around 300,000 people; more than half the population of Helsinki, with dormitories, cafeterias, shops; in fact everything that an average town would have on one campus.

It was a fascinating trip, but by the time we were due to return to Hong Kong, we were already aware of the Icelandic volcano and that our flights back, mainly to Europe, might be a little disrupted.