FOR YEARS, a traditional and popular way to greet the New Year in Helsinki has been to spend it under the fire-blazing sky in Senate Square. Also, the speeches and fireworks are accompanied by a spectacular light installation that uses the Helsinki Cathedral as its canvas. Lux Helsinki will also be presenting its lightshow creations at Hesperia Park, on the Finlandia Hall, the Olympics Tower and the Helsinki Music Centre.

Those who are prone to an epileptic seizure from rapidly changing and strongly coloured lights – or simply prefer to stay indoors – have a decent amount of excellent alternatives.

Aiwei Foo is an artist and designer from East Malaysia. She studied and worked in Singapore before landing in Helsinki for her master’s degree in Fashion and Clothing at Aalto University’s School of Art and Design.

Where do you live?

I currently live in Herttoniemi, Helsinki.

How long have you lived there?

Since September 2011.

Otto the rabbit has lived among chickens all his life, and you could say he’s been influenced by his surroundings.

OTTO, a pint-sized rabbit, lives with a flock of chickens on the island of Velkua near Naantali. Being a helpful sort, he even pitches in with childrearing, parking himself on top of any nest eggs that need incubating.

“I don’t know if he’s imitating what he sees the hens doing, or if it just feels pleasant to have a nice warm egg under him,” says Otto’s owner Ville Kuusinen. Other chickenesque aspects of the bunny’s behaviour seem to settle the question, however. When outdoors, Otto has learned how to climb onto a low perch alongside his friends from the other species.

STILL haven’t got all the Christmas gifts? No worries, there are still some Christmas markets left in this last week before it’s time to take out the pots and pans to prepare for the belly stretching Christmas Eve feast.

Along with grocery shopping and laundry, shopping for children’s clothes is one of those monthly chores that most parents do without. Never fear, help is at hand.

D&J Elit is a monthly children’s clothing club that aims to make everyday life that little bit easier for parents by removing that time consuming need to go shopping for your children and giving you more time to spend having fun with them instead.

FINNS AND LUXURY are two words that are rarely used in the same sentence, but this may well change, considering that the past decade has seen a rise in demand for luxury property. But what about the current economic situation? Despite the economic gloom, sales of luxury properties in France and UK are rising, according to up-market estate agents and auctioneers. What is the situation like in Finland?

According to architects Kaius Meskanen and Sini Koivisto, the owners of LIFESTYLE Architecture & Design, their train of work has not been affected by the economic turmoil so far.

IT’S 24 November, a typically autumnal November evening in Helsinki, and I’m standing in the chilly rain waiting to be let into Finland’s newest temple to fashion, a coveted location on Pohjois-Esplanadi, tucked into a blessed little alcove between Stockmann and Louis Vuitton. It’s opening night at Manglani.

A record number of visas were granted to Russian voyagers to Finland this year.

THE INFLOW of Russian tourists to Finland continues apace. 960,000 visas were granted to Russian citizens last year, a figure that looks set to be topped before 2011 comes to an end. The Finnish consulate in St Petersburg granted the bulk of the visas last year – some 75,000 – with around 60,000 being granted in Petroskoi. The number of visas granted in Murmansk, not far from the northeastern Finnish border, is growing steadily. About half of those coming into the country are daytrippers and are here mainly for a shopping spree.

A NEW DAWN has settled on G.W. Sundmans, a restaurant that you pass when coming from the Kauppatori outdoor market. Following an innovative collaboration between the restaurant’s new head chef, Matti Jämsen, and restaurant chief, Anne Immonen, Sundmans has brought itself into the 21st century while still respecting the traditional character of the space. The modern aspects pop out in the form of sleek, new tableware designed exclusively for the restaurant by the designer Pekka Paikkari, as well as new electronic devices. Also, the restaurant’s interiors and table settings have been renewed. “Everything is planned right down to the smallest detail,” explains Immonen.

ESPOO’S ENTRESSE library and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (Ifla) have cooperated to create the world’s first video calendar of banned books. Ifla is participating in the initiative through its Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (Faife) international programme for intellectual freedom in libraries.

The initiative has earned widespread international attention, and is considered pioneering in many ways. Entresse produced a calendar last year of books that have been banned in Finland.