Welcome to...
Helsinki
with Beyondjazz ambassador william 
Introduction:
Its not just cool here, its also bloody cold.
Clubs / Clubnights:
The best club in town, or if you like the only real club, is Rose Garden. Unfortunately, for the visitor it can be a bit hard to find out about because it doesn't advertise that much and its also quite hard to find. Its on Iso roobertinkatu 10, or 'Iso roba' as the locals like to call it, but the entrance is off the main street. You should see a massive neon sign to svengali, a dodgy gentlemans club sort of place. Follow this into the inner courtyard, and on the left will be a chilled out doorman, and on the right your average meathead sort of guy. Don't take the right door! If you are visiting town and don't know whats on, its usually a pretty safe bet, though sometimes they can play very boring house if you are unlucky.
MBar isn't a club, but its like a music bar and they have pretty good dj's there. A good place to chill out cuz you can surf the web or read the magazines, and they have nice sofas and stuff. Dj's are playing most nights from around seven to late, and its always free. Its part of the Lasipalatsi at Mannerheimintie 22-2. More info at
www.mbar.fi
Liberte is a new place opened up in Kallio (kolmaslinja 34), the place where lots of students and drunks live. This is good because there is lots of cheap beer, though its not so cheap in Liberte. The club is nothing special, and has a sort of hippy/crusty vibe, so you will feel at home if you have long flowing hair or dreadlocks. But there is the odd good night on and its a good place to know if you get too plastered in Kallio and feel like going dancing, but cant be arsed to get a cab.
oujee (pronounced basically ohyeah) is another little music bar. Its pretty tiny, but is a pretty nice place to listen to djs spin some tunes, and have a few drinks. Its sort of a good example of Finnish cool. They have in theory a tiny dancefloor, but dunno how often serious boogie action takes place. Check it out at Uudenmaankatu 28. The bar next door is ok too.
There are some other clubs too which sometimes have ok stuff, but it really varies. You can check out whats going on online at places like
www.klubitus.org (click on kalenteri) and
www.accesss.org.
Record Shops:
The best shop I reckon is Lifesaver (www.lifesaver.net) at Laivurinkatu 41. Its just near Viiskulma (five corners) which is where the five corners quintet got their name from. Just round the corner is also Eronen at Laivurinrinne 2 (www.dubjazzsalsa.com) and Digelius at Laivurinrinne 2 (www.digelius.com). So if you want some records just head down to Viiskulma and you should find something to please you. There is also disndat which is inside the Kaisaniemi metro station (www.disndatrecords.com). Just pretend you are gonna get a metro, and just before you go down the escalators on the left there it is with orange doors. I haven't been there for ages though, dunno how good it is these days.
City Magazines:
www.city.fi ,
www.nojesguiden.fi are the two main ones. Of course they are in Finnish! I think City maybe has an english version in summer, though its sort of a joke and is just for the tourists really. Don't stress, Finnish is easy! Klubit = Clubs, Baarit = Bars. Ok Finnish is one of the hardest languages in the world, but as an international traveller you will be able to manage something, maybe.
Info Sites:
www.helsinki.fi/eng/
Weather:
In winter it can be very bloody cold, up to -30. Even if its only zero prepare in Helsinki for the odd gust of super freezing wind which will freeze your cheaks off. It's also dark most of the time, or cloudy. But the snow is very cool and there is usually plenty of it, so if you aren't used to snow you won't realize about the cold for a while (if you have sensibly brought your thermal underwear). As your mum would say, you should wrap up warm when its this cold, and really this is good advice.
In summer it can be like any other northern european city (if you are Finnish and dreaming), although its rarely gonna get beyond 30. But the sunlight is very groovy, because it stays light very late, and all the Finns have gone mad because of this and spend most of the time getting pissed it seems.
Food:
I quite dig the nepalese restaurants, which is sort of like indian but they often serve it on silver trays which is so kitsch and great! Its not too expensive because a chosen dish comes with rice and other stuff. Most of them are ok.
For more traditional food the only places I have tried are Tori on Fredrikinkatu, which is very good, and Hima&Sali (lunch only I think) inside the KaapeliTehdas (Cable Factory) in Ruoholahti, which is usually pretty good.
Transport:
Bus 615 from the central railway station goes all the way to the airport and back. just stay on to the end both ways. Transport here is excellent, it is extremely rare for anything to be late (though sometimes buses and trams can be a couple of minutes early, so watch out!), and cancellations almost unheard of.
Do's:
Have a Finnish sauna. You can have one in the sauna bar, Eerikinkatu 27 (www.saunabar.net).
Contacts:
william
