In collaboration with Ritz-Carlton Okinawa
I’m sitting in a big bungalow-like Lounge with high ceilings and glass walls that have been opened to let in the nature surrounding the hotel. An incredibly warm and pleasant wind is blowing behind my back while I watch the different shades of spectacular blues of the ocean under the hill. I’m sipping an ice-cold local Orion beer. This, my friend, is paradise.
In collaboration with Ritz-Carlton Okinawa
I had been to Tokyo for three times without ever going further than an hour away from the city. Why? Because there is just so much to do in the best city in the world. Still I had always wanted to visit other places in Japan, like Kyoto, Osaka and a destination many don’t even seem to know about – Okinawa. Japan is a special country in many ways. One of the reasons is that you can ski down pristine powder snow on the mountains of northern Japan in the morning and end your day at the southern part of the country, while drinking a glass of cold champagne on a paradise island in Okinawa. There aren’t many countries that can offer the same.
I love bars, cocktails and all kinds of drinks, so finding the best places to enjoy these is a personal goal of mine. All of my friends know that it will probably be me who decides where we drink, because I just happen to know the best bars in Helsinki. There are a lot of great ones to choose from depending on what you like, but I’ll try to make the choice easier for you by telling you about my favourites at the moment. There are many cocktail bars that didn’t make the list, but are still worth a visit – they’re just not the places I happen to visit often. And I have to admit that I still have a lot to see, taste and experience in Helsinki. Without further ado, I give to you my favourite cocktail bars in Helsinki.
*Photo from Ritz-Carlton
When: October 2016
Where: Okinawa, Japan
Length of stay: 7 nights
Room booked: Premier Deluxe Room
Price per night: 57 000 yen (approximately 490€ at the time)
Travel companions: My wife
Status / collaboration: Ritz-Carlton Rewards Gold / Collaboration (after arrival)
When planning our upcoming honeymoon, I wanted to figure out a way to combine city life with some paradise relaxation. Our all time favourite city Tokyo gave us the needed shopping opportunities, neon lights and big crowds, but Okinawa was the right place to sit back and enjoy the sun and the sea. And for such a special occasion the hotel had to be the best of the best, which is the Ritz-Carlton Okinawa, because how else could you make paradise even better? By slapping 5 stars on it!
Helsinki, the capital of Finland, has been seeing a lot of new restaurants come to the scene especially in the last few years. Because of this each day there is a new one opening and an old one closing down so favourite lists like these may change really quickly. Even so, here is a little list of my favourite Helsinki restaurants to eat at. Enjoy!
*Picture from restaurant webpage
Shinjuku, with Park Hyatt Tokyo in the background
Do you have any of those dream destinations that have been in your mind for years? Maybe you haven´t managed to go there yet because you haven´t had the time, money or opportunity or maybe you have already fulfilled your goal of getting there. Whatever the case may be, you at least probably know that a dream destination can be an obsession that takes hold of you and won´t let go, until you do something about it.
When: April 2016
Where: Berlin, Germany
Length of stay: 3 nights
Room booked: King Junior Suite
Price per night: 230€
Travel companions: Fiancée, my parents, my big brother, his wife and their 0,5 year-old daughter
Status / collaboration: HHonors Gold / no collaboration
I visited Berlin for the first time in April 2016, when we arranged a surprise trip for my father in honor of his retirement. Because I wanted to take the reigns regarding the actual arrangements, it’s no surprise that I chose a hotel that seemed like one of the best ones in Berlin. Actually I realized that Berlin is full of great hotels with relatively low prices, but as it usually is with these things, I got more and more excited browsing the hotels, so the final price wasn’t the cheapest possible.