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The Royal Darwin Hospital and the 2002 Bali Bombings

The Yummy Lummy Cooking for one podcast
The Yummy Lummy Cooking for one podcast
The Royal Darwin Hospital and the 2002 Bali Bombings
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I originally wrote this on 12 October 2012, the tenth anniversary of the 2002 Bali bombings and I had it on the Old Yummy Lummy blog. I thought I should update the post a little and bring it over to my current blog. I’d welcome comments and feedback.


This post is not like my regular food posts. Today I’m recalling the memories and experiences from October 2002. This post is by no means a complete recollection, I don’t want to bore you with minutiæ, it may not even be the highlights, it’s more likely the things that come to mind as I write. I’ve decided against including clinical images. I realise most readers of this blog prefer to see food rather than burnt and traumatised human flesh.

Saturday night 12 October 2002

I attended a dinner meeting of the then Australasian College of Health Service Executives (now the Australasian College of Health Service Management). It was a good night, I spent time with my friend and colleague, Dr Len Notaras plus many others. [That had been a good year. On 20 May, I accepted Len’s encouragement to act as the Executive Director of the Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH) while maintaining my role as Supervising Pathologist and Director of Pathology for the Northern Territory Government. ]

That night in Kuta, Australians, other foreign nationals and the local people of Bali and Indonesia were enjoying a night out. Map http://goo.gl/maps/ZHdGP

While we slept in Darwin bombs exploded in Kuta. In the end, it’s thought 202 people died and another 209 people were significantly injured.

Sunday 13 October 2002

That morning the news services reported on the bombings. There was not a lot of information about the health needs that would be required for the people injured. A young man who was slightly injured managed to catch a flight from Bali to Darwin and he presented to the Emergency Department at RDH. He provided the first insight for us on what happened. Later in the morning I was receiving telephone calls that we needed to meet at the hospital because Darwin may be used as an entry point for the survivors who needed acute critical care.

My best friend, Dr Len Notaras, AM

Dr Len Notaras was meeting with Clare Martin, the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory who was in communication with the then Prime Minister of Australia, Hon. John Howard. Len provided reassurance to the CM and the PM that patients could be brought to Darwin and we would look after them.

Australian Defence Force reserves are amazing

At Richmond, RAAF flight crew were departing in a C-130 to pick up some of our doctors and assess the situation in Bali. The initial thinking was there would be a scoop and run operation of walking wounded (as opposed to stay and play). The early information was vague and inaccurate. We had a general surgeon (Dr David Read) and an anæsthetist (Dr Sue Winter) take satellite telephones with them from the RDH. These two doctors were reservists and full-time staff specialists at RDH. With our RDH telecommunications devices, we were able to collect raw information from the field. Such information proved invaluable and much more accurate when compared to information from official sources.

Getting together at the Royal Darwin Hospital

In the early afternoon, the hospital executive including senior clinical leaders met to discuss how we would manage patients being flown across. We didn’t know how many patients nor what condition they would be in. We called in a lot of staff, being careful not to call in into work the entire staff knowing this would be a multi-day campaign and we were conscious of fatigue. Many clinicians, pathology scientists, professional officers, administrative and general duties staff volunteered to help. I have memories of garden staff coming in to move equipment and patients as we decanted patients and equipment around the hospital, to the collocated Darwin Private Hospital and to home.

The RDH Boardroom which acted as our command and control centre. It’s not like the modern day room we have in the Australian Government Department of Health (Health).

Moving patients out to make space

We agreed to decant the two general surgical wards on the second floor, we got all the patients in the hospital in the know and many agreed to go home or somewhere else. We decanted the less sick patients who needed to stay to an old vacant cafeteria area. Some patients we had to force to stay, they wanted to leave to allow their place to be taken by a bombing victim. By the end we had discharged 100 patients to make room and to free up staff.

We moved high dependency patients to the co-located Darwin Private Hospital. We were lucky, we only had one patient in our Intensive Care Unit. We were lucky, Darwin was hosting a meeting of anæsthetists that weekend. We were lucky we had a reasonable amount of time to prepare.

Like any other hospital, despite making bed space available, we still had patients presenting to the ED to be seen. I recall one of my pathology staff fell from his bicycle and needed attention in the ED at the time. A young girl swallowed a fish that went down the wrong way and ended in her airway. She needed urgent attention while the ED went about quietly and calmly preparing.

By the evening we had the second floor clear, the medical wards had also reduced their patient numbers, the ICU had a single patient and we had kitchen and support staff in to keep the hospital going.

Accurate information makes all the difference

Throughout the night we received calls from Dr David Read and Dr Sue Winter who had flown to Bali with the RAAF. We were on the telephone with DFAT and other agencies. The then NT Minister for Health came through at 2100 ACST and she did a walk through with Len and me. We knew in the early morning the first flight would come in and then over about six hours we would receive all the patients. We knew some patients were also being flown to Perth. It was spooky walking through the empty surgical wards of a silent hospital.

During the evening a burns and critical care team from Adelaide arrived to assist. The team from the Royal Adelaide Hospital worked seamlessly with our staff. We had local General Practitioners volunteering to help.

Food, money and letters

It became known across Australia what we were preparing for and over the next thirty-six hours what we were doing. The news spread across the world. Within Australia, Australians were calling us and sending us food. One lady from Adelaide sent up a heap of pies by an overnight courier. Another lady rang a local Darwin pizza shop and sent pizzas.

In the weeks following I received letters from school kids from around the world. A bloke in Texas sent me hundreds of US dollars in notes and coins in an envelope.

Monday 14 October 2002 Bali bombings

The patients arrive

Over the Monday morning and early afternoon, four flights of RAAF C-130 Hercules flew in and brought patients to us with burns, trauma and high speed shrapnel and blast injuries. I remember the smell of the patients, the burnt flesh. I remember how they looked, the most severely burnt patient had no ears, lips or nose. I thought one patient who was being wheeled in in front of me was dead. Then his arm moved and I knew he was alive. He did not survive. I was in the ICU before he died. His bed was gushing with fluid that was coming away from him. We later learnt he wasn’t Australian, he was Greek. Our ICU team were able to make contact with his family in Greece. They were told in his last hours a hospital chaplain held his hand, spoke, sang and prayed with him as he died.

Surgeons and physicians working together in perfect harmony

If you’re medically or nursing qualified, the most fascinating and invigorating and spirit enhancing thing was watching specialist physicians, surgeons and their trainees along with other medical practitioners and registered nurses working together. I mean truly working together. The traditional medical referral system was halted for a day or so. Surgeons worked their science and art wherever they could. Debridement and fasciotomies were being performed in wards, corridors and operating theatres. Physicians were working as metabolic teams. They didn’t know their patients, there was no time and many of them were too sick for a relationship with their doctor. We enlisted medical students to ferry pathology results and assist in other very useful ways. The pathology and radiology areas were run ragged.

What about pathology, the heart of medicine?

I made time to visit Building 13, my building, the Pathology Department at RDH. My close colleagues in the laboratory, my friends were working frantically. Results were needed by physicians to stabilise and resuscitate patients. The hæmatology, chemical pathology and blood transfusion laboratory scientists were working around the clock.

An infection control and prevention nightmare of epic proportions

Over the days my speciality interest in Clinical Microbiology was needed. The hospital in Bali did a great job but they ran out of supplies and equipment early. To keep cool and to find relief, many patients before the burns took over were conscious enough to cool themselves with water from wherever they could find it. The water wasn’t always clean. Some patients were sitting in water. Bali is replete with multi-antimicrobial resistant bacteria. The patients’ burn wounds were being infected before they left Bali. We spread multi-drug resistant bacteria around Australia as we transferred patients around the country. We had introduced an infection control nightmare. I struggled to stay on top of that plus everything else. Fortunately, Darwin has the highest concentration of infectious diseases experts in the universe.

Rack, pack and stack

After all the patients arrived, the job was to assess, resuscitate and for the severe burns patients transport to a burns unit in another state.

With colleagues in Health in Canberra and the connections we had with the ADF, senior clinicians from RDH arranged for a milk run around Australia to transport burns and some trauma patients around the country. We did our best to place patients in their home state or territory. That couldn’t always happen. Their clinical needs were paramount. Some patients managed to get direct flights into Brisbane and Adelaide via other aeromedical evacuation (AME) services. I recall with some happiness seeing the Brisbane team arrive and recognising a senior staff specialist from the Princess Alexandra Hospital come and retrieve a couple of patients.

I can remember so many inspiring stories from the days and weeks afterwards. We had visiting dignitaries from within and without Australia. We received updates from burns bosses in the other Australian centres about the patients we shared, those summaries were shared with staff so they knew the destiny and outcome of the patients they got to know briefly but intimately. The cooperation amongst the burns units around Australia was great. There was a lot of information sharing between everyone.

Back to pathology

It was about that time I applied to become the permanent General Manager of the Royal Darwin Hospital. I remember the feeling of being turned down. May to December of 2002 was the most meaningful period of my career. I’ve done lots of other things and done things I’m proud of. The proudest career moments though for me were sharing time with everyone from Royal Darwin Hospital. Working with the best hospital staff anywhere on earth. I’m conscious that most people think their workplace, especially if it’s a hospital thinks where they work or where they trained is the best. I just know what I know and I’m happy with that thought to last me forever.

While I wish I had been appointed the permanent General Manager, it was good to return to pathology and move on to do things like chair the Public Health Laboratory Network, become vice President of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, and chair the board of Proficiency Testing Australia.

Mr Howard, OM, AC inspired the NCCTRC with Dr Len Notaras

Since then the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre has been established. I was there when it began and now I work in the Australian Government Department of Health and part of my job (from 2007 to 2012) was the administration of the funding agreement associated with the NCCTRC. I work with my friend and colleague Dr Len Notaras, AM just like I did when I was in Darwin. The icing on the cake has been the contract between the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane and the NCCTRC. I did the bulk of my medical and specialty training at PAH. It is fantastic to see them working together. RDH and PAH are my two favourite hospitals, the hospitals that built my career, the hospitals that made me the person I am, it is such a good feeling knowing they have a working relationship around trauma.

War and disaster conference 2012

Last weekend (remember I wrote this originally in 2012) from Thursday evening to Saturday evening I found myself in Darwin for the NCCTRC’s war and disaster conference. I had the best time. We had a dinner with Hon. John Howard, OM AC speaking about the Australian Government’s experience at the time of the first Bali bombings. The new Chief Minister Hon. Terry Mills spoke too. Kamahl was there too to entertain us. Len Notaras’s wife, Robyn Cahill also sang at the dinner. On the Friday we had a clinical symposium for the RDH and visiting PAH clinicians as well as some special guests like Dr Mark Little from Cairns Base Hospital. He spoke about the evacuation of the Cairns Base Hospital for Tropical Cyclone Yasi. On the Saturday we had a Clinical Conference which I spoke at. I also did some media. Here is a short clip of an interview. I’ve been told other aspects of what I said were reported elsewhere http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-04/bali-bombings-doctors-warn-on-disaster-response/4295686?section=nt

You can’t get more Australian than a barbecue

Back to 2002. Move the clock forward four weeks and we had a barbecue. There was some criticism given the nature of most of the wounds were burns. We thought about it and agreed that the best way to thank the entire hospital was to hold an event revolving around food and letting everyone have some down time. A barbecue was still the best option. So in mid-November, Len and I and others from within the NT health bureaucracy arranged a huge staff barbecue. I cooked meat and happily fed the hungry. I remember Rodney, one of our groundsmen coming back four times. I remember that night arranging for platters to be delivered and for Len and I to walk through every ward and to speak with and share food with everyone on night duty.

The staff barbecue. I cooked lots of meat.

Honoured

Move the clock forward a year and some of us were included in the special 2002 Bali bombings investiture. I thought long and hard about it. Was I worthy. I wasn’t sure. I decided to agree to accept membership of the Order of Australia. Afterwards there was criticism. How did people get chosen? Why only so few? I queried whether I should relinquish my membership. I spoke with people close to me and I was reminded by so many that I represented the hospital, the people of RDH. Whenever I look at the lapel pin in my jacket or sign my name with the post nomials, I think of the victims and I think of the people at RDH. I try not to always think of the same person but to think about everyone I can remember from that time.

Move the clock forward and what have we done? We have the NCCTRC. We have the Office of Health Protection. We have the National Incident Room which I used to manage (2007 to 2012). We have national health emergency preparedness plans for mass trauma and other events. We have evolved. We have grown.

Inside the Aileen Plant National Incident Room.

Importantly the relationship between Australia and Indonesia has grown significantly. The relationship between Darwin and Bali has blossomed. The relationship between RDH/NCCTRC and Sanglah Hospital is fraternal and now involves regular staff exchanges. The relationship between the people of Bali and Australia has become intimate in so many ways. Whatever the motivation was for those responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings on 12 October 2002, the result has been a development of preparedness and response from the health sector and a closer bond between the peoples of two countries and two cultures.

Gary

Some extra reading

War and Disaster

Bali Honours List Below the list of the individuals honoured by Australia for their contributions in the response to the October 12, 2002, tragedy in Kuta, Bali.

In Honour of Some Heroes of this War (please read to acknowledge them as many have not)

The Darwin Hospital miracle

Full list: Bali honours

Sanglah General Hospital http://sanglahhospitalbali.com/v1/index.php

Map http://goo.gl/maps/dLw9v

Tidying up my on-line presence

Hello there, I need to tidy up my on-line presence. I’ve been thinking for a while that I should disentangle my various social media accounts and look at trying not jumble everything together.

To that end, because I’ve recently started playing with video and posting them to YouTube I thought I should have a clean channel for the food videos. Of course, it isn’t that easy, YouTube has rules so, for the time being, I can’t get a customised URL.

So in the meantime, I’d really appreciate you visiting http://bit.ly/YummyLummyYouTube and taking a look around and subscribing. Thank you so much.

Yummy Lummy logo and text

 

I’ll be keeping my main channel for other things. Again, I would love if you could visit http://bit.ly/GaryLumYouTube, take a look around and subscribe there to. Thank you very much.

Work presence

Some readers know that I have work accounts for Twitter and Facebook. I try not to do anything on them apart from the odd retweet and share. I use those accounts to follow work-related Twitter and Facebook feeds. I also have a couple of websites for ‘work’ related stuff. They are at http://drgarylum.com/ and https://garydavidlum.com/  Please visit these sites and check them out.

Gary trying to be a better photographer

I really enjoy photography. My interest started when I built my own laboratory in the rumpus room of my parent’s house in 1981. I had an Olympus OM-1 and adapted it to shoot through my microscope. When I was working in Darwin I shot clinical photographs of patient’s wounds, especially their feet if they had diabetes-related foot infections. Back then I shot with a Nikon F90.

It’s not just the shooting of a photograph but it’s also the ‘magic’ that happens when I transfer the digital information into software and play around with it. I am just in awe of how clever people are when it comes to designing and manufacturing the hardware and software for digital photography from cameras through to the computer. I spend a good portion of my free time viewing YouTube videos on photography.

My social media accounts for photography and basically nonfood material:

Twitter http://Twitter.com/garydlum

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/garylumphotography/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/garydlum/ is my general all-purpose account and https://www.instagram.com/garylumphotography/ if for nonfood photography

Website http://garylumphotography.com/

My food accounts

If you’re reading this, then you know about http://YummyLummy.com  The name came from a friend at work. At primary school, I was called all manner of things from awful racist names through to the innocuous Lummy Bummy. My youngest brother was called Yummy. I suppose if he ever becomes a food blogger we will need to discuss whether I hand over the name Yummy Lummy to him (or not!).

Website http://YummyLummy.com

Twitter http://Twitter.com/Yummy_Lummy

Instagram http://Instagram.com/YummyLummyBlog

Facebook http://Facebook.com/YummyLummy

Snapchat

I’m also trying to learn Snapchat. I like that it has various funny filters and the short videos can be saved to my iPhone’s camera roll and then uploaded to Instagram.

You can find me at garydlum

Final words

While I’d love a follow/like on all these accounts, please pick and choose and make contact. If you choose one please make it Yummy Lummy on YouTube 

Thank you so much.

It’s been a fun week

School reunion

Well not quite. It’s been a fun week thinking about the primary school I attended, viz., Stafford Heights State School is celebrating 60 years of teaching primary school students this year. A reunion event is planned for September. Facebook is being used to share the love and information. It’s been really interesting seeing a lot of old photographs from school including sporting team photos and others. I’ve been added to a Facebook Messenger group for people who attended from 1971 to 1977. It’s been a lot of fun catching up with some people who I have not seen or spoken with for around 40 years.

I wrote a couple of pages of memories which got a few people chatting. One of the things I mentioned was the first girl I kissed and girls I had a crush on at school. Then there were my memories of playing hockey, cricket and rugby league. It’s not surprising as we all get older than some of us have a few medical complaints ranging from bad knees and shoulders, deafness and sight problems.

Stafford Heights State School Photographs
Stafford Heights State School Photographs
Stafford Heights State School Photographs
Stafford Heights State School Photographs
Stafford Heights State School Photographs
Stafford Heights State School Photographs

Snapchat

A friend at work revealed she’s on snapchat and she likes surreptitiously snapping butt cracks (aka coin slots) at shopping centres. We’ve become friends on snapchat so it’ll be interesting. If you want to connect on snapchat my user name is garydlum

Food

It’s been a ‘bad’ week in food. I’ve really overindulged in chocolate and junk food.

Charity Chocolate
Charity Chocolate
Sweet and sour prawns with noodles
Sweet and sour prawns with noodles
Fried egg on Brioche raisin toast
Fried egg on Brioche raisin toast
Fried egg with quinoa rice and vegetables
Fried egg with quinoa rice and vegetables
Cheesy baked chicken Maryland on sweet potato and brioche raisin toast with potato gems and vegetables
Cheesy baked chicken Maryland on sweet potato and brioche raisin toast with potato gems and vegetables
Baked cheesy chicken Maryland on a bed of crispy noodles with chilli chives and avocado
Baked cheesy chicken Maryland on a bed of crispy noodles with chilli chives and avocado
Italian meatball sub from Urban Bean Espresso Bar
Italian meatball sub from Urban Bean Espresso Bar
Pan fried salmon fillet with diced avocado, chilli, spring onions and chives in a maple syrup dressing
Pan fried salmon fillet with diced avocado, chilli, spring onions and chives in a maple syrup dressing
Giant coffee
Giant coffee
Pearl couscous with a fried egg
Pearl couscous with a fried egg
Leftover KFC chilli quinoa congee in brioche raisin toasted sandwich
Leftover KFC chilli quinoa congee in brioche raisin toasted sandwich
Surf and turf slowly cooked oyster blade steak with prawns and crunchy quinoa rice and vegetables
Surf and turf slowly cooked oyster blade steak with prawns and crunchy quinoa rice and vegetables
Potato pie
Potato pie

On Friday night I wanted something quick and simple. I even made a video.

Socks

A friend dared me to wear mismatched socks and see if anyone notices. No one did.

Star Trek socks
Star Trek socks

Lake Ginninderra

Saturday was cool but not cold and the air was still. The local wildlife was out and about.

Lake Ginninderra
Lake Ginninderra
Sea Gull on Lake Ginninderra
Sea Gull on Lake Ginninderra
Pelican on Lake Ginninderra
Pelican on Lake Ginninderra

Public art in the Woden wind tunnel

I really like the Canberra public art. It complements the street art nicely.

"The Fragment" with street art
“The Fragment” with street art

What I ate and did this week

Thanks for visiting. Please check out the rest of Yummy Lummy. I’d love it if you shared this site with your friends.

It’s been a good week. A busy week but a good week. Yesterday an election was held to determine the Australian government. Unlike the previous election when the conservative coalition (Liberal Party and National Party) won convincingly, we still do not know which party will govern and who our Prime Minister will be. Under our ‘caretaker’ conventions, a new government, the 45th government, will not be sworn in until the result is clear. Counting will resume on Tuesday so we will continue to wait. Last week I mentioned how I voted early to avoid crowds and queues. I had thought I may attend a polling venue or two to check out the sausage sizzles and cake stalls. It was interesting to read on Twitter how many people went for a #democracysausage Twitter was pretty cool in that when #ausvotes was used a little character of a sausage on a piece of white bread would appear in the tweet.

Yesterday a Facebook friend and I were discussing VLOGging so I had a go. I’m sorry about the volume changing midway. I’m not sure if I’ll do more, but it was pretty easy. My only problem is that the upload speeds I get with Telstra ADSL is pretty slow and it takes hours to upload a short video to YouTube.

Gary Lum mullet
Gary Lum mullet

Friday was a funny day (funny in a good way). I turned up to work (Fridays are my clinical duties day, I’m an Honorary Visiting Medical Officer in ACT Pathology at The Canberra Hospital) and noticed my laboratory coat was hooked over three hooks. I thought that was a little unusual. I continued to my work area and then I saw an old photograph from my Facebook profile on a whiteboard. It’s an old photograph that had been altered by a former work colleague in 2010. A mullet had been added and my head was put on another person’s neck. It looks pretty funny. As I continued I found copies in all sorts of unusual places, behind doors, on doors, in draws, under keyboards, on staplers, and you guessed it behind my laboratory coat. It’s nice to be considered by my work mates as someone worthy of having fun.

I don’t have a heap of food photographs from this week. I was a little unwell early in the week and didn’t feel like eating much or photographing my food.

Toasted pulled pork with cheese on raisin bread
Toasted pulled pork with cheese on raisin bread
Salmon and avocado
Salmon and avocado
Woden wind tunnel subzero morning
Woden wind tunnel subzero morning
Cheesy potato gems with caramelised onions and spring onions
Cheesy potato gems with caramelised onions and spring onions
Toasted slowly cooked oyster blade steak with cheese and a pear
Toasted slowly cooked oyster blade steak with cheese and a pear
Good morning Woden wind tunnel subzero morning My ears hurt
Good morning Woden wind tunnel subzero morning My ears hurt
Chicken Maryland with the last of the leftover pulled pork and avocado plus chilli, spring onions and caramelised onions
Chicken Maryland with the last of the leftover pulled pork and avocado plus chilli, spring onions and caramelised onions
KFC with vegetables
KFC with vegetables
Lake Ginninderra on Saturday 2 July 2016 Google Nik Collection HDR
Lake Ginninderra on Saturday 2 July 2016 Google Nik Collection HDR
Lake Ginninderra on Saturday 2 July 2016 Google Nik Collection
Lake Ginninderra on Saturday 2 July 2016 Google Nik Collection
Pelican on Lake Ginninderra on Saturday 2 July 2016 Google Nik Collection filters
Pelican on Lake Ginninderra on Saturday 2 July 2016 Google Nik Collection filters
Cold leftover KFC
Cold leftover KFC
Crispy fried ramen noodles with garlic prawns, chilli and caramelised onion
Crispy fried ramen noodles with garlic prawns, chilli and caramelised onion
Frost around Lake Ginninderra
Frost around Lake Ginninderra
Toilet block on Lake Ginninderra. What happens if I need the dunny. I have IBS.
Toilet block on Lake Ginninderra. What happens if I need the dunny. I have IBS.
Frozen leaves on Lake Ginninderra
Frozen leaves on Lake Ginninderra
Fog on Lake Ginninderra
Fog on Lake Ginninderra
Frozen faeces on Lake Ginninderra
Frozen faeces on Lake Ginninderra
Reflections on Lake Ginninderra
Reflections on Lake Ginninderra
Misty morning on Lake Ginninderra revealing colours of the lake.
Misty morning on Lake Ginninderra revealing colours of the lake.
Lake Ginninderra Sunday 3 July 2016
Lake Ginninderra Sunday 3 July 2016
Smashed avocado on pumpkin seed roll with black pepper and lime chips and balsamic vinegar
Smashed avocado on pumpkin seed roll with black pepper and lime chips and balsamic vinegar
KFC chilli quinoa congee
KFC chilli quinoa congee
Fluff and Nutella treat
Fluff and Nutella treat

I hope you had a good week and enjoyed some fine food.

If you’d like to see more please follow me on Twitter here and here, on Instagram here and here and on Facebook here and here.

Helsinki, Finland

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I’ve just spent three nights in Helsinki, Finland for a work meeting. This is my first time visiting continental Europe. I’ve been to England twice (for work) but never to the continent. As I prepared for the meeting I took a look at where Finland is on Google Maps. I didn’t quite appreciate how far north it is in comparison with England. I recall watching a documentary on World War 2 and learning some history of Finland and its relationship with Sweden and Russia. Helsinki is in the south of Finland, can you imagine what it would be like if the capital was in Lapland. Being summer, the sun set well after 10.30 pm and it never really got completely dark. The sun rose before 4 am so I was grateful for curtains not that I was asleep after 3.30 am. The room I was in had a view of the water and the reflection of the low sun on the water produced a lot of glare that beamed straight into my room. The weather was very similar to Canberra at the same time. Early morning was <10 °C (I note Canberra was ‘enjoying’ some subzero mornings) and the maximum temperature was about 18 °C. It was like being in Canberra with extra sunlight. That’s not a good thing. Like Canberra, it was very dry. We all know how much I dislike the weather of Canberra. I don’t think I would like a Finnish winter. The cold dry darkness would be inhospitable and the snow would depress me.

I flew to Helsinki via Melbourne and Singapore. It was a pretty long trip. Because of the flights schedules I ended up with some time on the day of my arrival and the day of my departure to walk around a bit of the Helsinki CBD.

I’d been told that Finnish cuisine has a high seafood content and that I might also be able to try some reindeer. Regular readers will know my love of salmon. I wasn’t disappointed. I had salmon at least once every day in Helsinki and also became fond of pickled herring. I love whole baked salmon. It is just so moist and full of flavour. Whole baked salmon beats baked salmon fillets hands down. It would be great to bake a whole salmon but it would be hugely expensive and even I would have trouble eating a whole salmon at once. Friends and even my mother told me about rollmops but I never saw any. The best I could do was put a bit of gherkin between two pieces of pickled herring to make my own sort of rollmop. I don’t know that I could eat a lot of pickled herring in one sitting, but a few pieces for breakfast was really good especially with a poached egg and Hollandaise sauce.

I also got to try reindeer. It was cooked very nicely (medium rare) with a juniper sauce which offset the flavour of the reindeer nicely.

I also got to try some pike-perch which I assume is more perch than pike. It has a delightfully delicate white flesh which flaked really nicely.

Apart from proteins, I also drank my fill of lingonberry and blueberry juice. Who knew egg butter is a thing!

I was expecting the coffee to be good, but it was more akin to American and Canadian coffee.

Helsinki is a really nice city. I saw no homeless people and only a few people begging for money. The streets and buildings are all clean and I get an impression that Finnish people are very neat and tidy. I’m guessing the social welfare system is second to none and unemployment is minimal.

The city is about 150 years old, so it is about one and a half times older than Canberra. The buildings, especially the larger ones are beautiful. There are also some magnificent places of worship. They are quite architecturally beautiful.

The other revelation is the taxicabs. They are so clean and the drivers are friendly, neat, clean and they do not smell of really bad body odour. They also speak excellent English and know where they are going without referring to a GPS device and relying on a customer for directions. A trip from the airport to the CBD will set you back about €30.

While in Helsinki I stayed at the Hilton Strand Helsinki. This was the recommended hotel by the meeting organisers. I found it to be an excellent option. The staff are all friendly and helpful. The breakfast buffet was very good and the restaurant served very nice meals for lunch and dinner. I did not try room service because there is an associated €10 service charge. The Wi-Fi was fast and reliable with good upload capacity if you’re backing up files to a cloud service.

One the subject of currency, euros are quaint looking notes and the coins are nice and solid. I like them more than Australian coins.

As part of the meeting we spent one night socialising at the Design Museum which was really interesting. The Finns are very proud of their designers. A significant portion of the museum is currently dedicated to the designer of the ball chair, which in my opinion is a most uncomfortable and impractical chair. This designer, viz., Eero Aarnio, also developed a pony chair for children and the bubble lamp. Again I’m not sure why these designs are awarding winning. I prefer function over form especially when it comes to posture and maximising comfort and efficiency.

On another evening, meeting participants dined in a floating restaurant which isn’t a boat. This was quite nice and gave me an opportunity to meet new people. I learnt quite a lot about Holland, Denmark and Norway. The word is Scandinavia can be seen in two weeks with good planning.

So I shot a few photographs of food and some of the things I found interesting as I walked in the CBD.

Coffee with my passport

QF795 CBR to MEL Cheese omelet with sausages
QF795 CBR to MEL Cheese omelet with sausages
Almond croissant with pineapple juice in Qantas First Lounge MEL
Almond croissant with pineapple juice in Qantas First Lounge MEL
Crab and vegetable savoury pancake on QF35
Crab and vegetable savoury pancake on QF35
Toasted beef, mushroom and fontina sandwich with crème fraiche and rocquet on QF35
Toasted beef, mushroom and fontina sandwich with crème fraiche and rocquet on QF35
Baked chocolate, wattleseed and almond tart with date cream on QF35
Baked chocolate, wattleseed and almond tart with date cream on QF35
Roast pork with black bean, chilli, garlic, chives, tofu and noodles on QF35
Roast pork with black bean, chilli, garlic, chives, tofu and noodles on QF35
Port Keats from QF35
Port Keats from QF35
Ice cream in Singapore Qantas Club lounge
Ice cream in Singapore Qantas Club lounge
Meripaviljonki Ravintola Floating Restaurant
Meripaviljonki Ravintola Floating Restaurant
Helsinki public art
Helsinki public art

Bicycle rack

Hilton Strand Helsinki
Hilton Strand Helsinki
Transformer cow
Transformer cow
Pepsi Max and biscuit in Helsinki
Pepsi Max and biscuit in Helsinki
Steak and salad
Steak and salad

BRO restaurant menu BRO restaurant Bread from BRO BRO restaurant

Alder smoke reindeer roast from Kemijärvi, juniper berry sauce, shimeji mushroom, fennel butter brussels sprout from BRO Restaurant
Alder smoke reindeer roast from Kemijärvi, juniper berry sauce, shimeji mushroom, fennel butter brussels sprout from BRO Restaurant
Canapes at the Design Museum
Canapes at the Design Museum
The Mushroom at the Helsinki Design Museum
The Mushroom at the Helsinki Design Museum
Hilton Strand Helsinki room view
Hilton Strand Helsinki room view
Vegetable tartlet with morel cream and asparagus caviar at Meripaviljonki Ravintola Restaurant
Vegetable tartlet with morel cream and asparagus caviar at Meripaviljonki Ravintola Restaurant
Roasted pike-perch with spinach quinoa, grilled asparagus and lobster sauce at Meripaviljonki Ravintola Restaurant
Roasted pike-perch with spinach quinoa, grilled asparagus and lobster sauce at Meripaviljonki Ravintola Restaurant
Chocolate ganache with rick salt and caramel plus vanilla ice cream at Meripaviljonki Ravintola Restaurant
Chocolate ganache with rick salt and caramel plus vanilla ice cream at Meripaviljonki Ravintola Restaurant
Chicken breast and meat balls
Chicken breast and meat balls
Bacon and eggs with Hollandaise sauce and egg butter
Bacon and eggs with Hollandaise sauce and egg butter
Salmon, pickled herring and pickles
Salmon, pickled herring and pickles
Pickled herring, smoked salmon, poached eggs, with Hollandaise sauce plus crispy bacon and potato on buttered toast
Pickled herring, smoked salmon, poached eggs, with Hollandaise sauce plus crispy bacon and potato on buttered toast

Helsinki

Firefighters
Firefighters

Helsinki Helsinki Helsinki Helsinki

Beer garden
Beer garden
Pansies
Pansies
Performance art in Helsinki
Performance art in Helsinki
Public art in Helsinki
Public art in Helsinki
Performance art in Helsinki
Performance art in Helsinki

Helsinki

Polka dot trees as part of a public art installation by Yayoi Kusama
Polka dot trees as part of a public art installation by Yayoi Kusama
Public art and pubic art in Helsinki
Public art and pubic art in Helsinki

Design museum

Hors d'oeuvres including wild boar pâté and salmon
Hors d’oeuvres including wild boar pâté and salmon
Surf'n'turf with salmon, prawns and beef plus a slider. The salmon ceviche and Skargen was great.
Surf’n’turf with salmon, prawns and beef plus a slider. The salmon ceviche and Skargen was great.
Meringue and sponge cake dessert in Helsinki. This was better than Pavlova!
Meringue and sponge cake dessert in Helsinki. This was better than Pavlova!
Pressed beef neck, celeriac purée, herb butter and spring vegetables
Pressed beef neck, celeriac purée, herb butter and spring vegetables

Cloud porn coming into Singapore

Have you been to Helsinki? What did you think? If you haven’t, would you like to visit?