RAHMA RESTAURANT

Rahma Ravintola is the biggest Somali restaurant in Helsinki. It is located at the heart of Itä-keskus. It’s about 100 meters from the Itis shopping centre.

Rahma’s food is delicious and affordable. If you haven’t tried Somali foods before, then it is about time. Visit Rahma.

One of my favourite Somali foods is Samusa. It is on the top right-handside. It is absolutely delicious!

Lemon and banana

Maxamed Xirse is hiding behind the counter. He is a cool gentleman who likes to serve customers. I like his attitude toward work.

As you can see, Rahma is a clean restaurant. This section is reserved for the ladies.

This is the entrance of the restaurant. And it is for the gentlemen.

I adore the colour of the seats and tables. And the wallpaper. They’re friendly colours.

This is the playground for children.

Rahma ravintola is everything. It offers social life, playground and delicious foods and tea.

When will you visit Rahma?

Axmed Bahjad

WHEN I WALK, I EXPERIENCE…

I am an early person. Therefore, I walk early in the morning. I experience the nature surround me.

The grass is wet. The trees are waving side by side. The air is fresh.

I can only experience that when I walk.

Axmed Bahjad

DECISION TO WALK ALL THE STREETS IN HELSINKI

IN THE BEGINNING…

I don’t need tools, money or something else before I make a decision. Why? This is pivotal for walking and any other endeavours in life.

Therefore, decision is the beginning of any journey.

ONE day I was walking in Pajamäki park, Helsinki. It was Ramadan and thus I was fasting. I was going to the city centre. And I entertained the idea of walking every single street in Helsinki in my mind.

I had to postulate to myself to walk all the streets in the city. After all, I’ve been walking 14 to 20 km a day in every day.

The idea was passed as a positive and beneficial, and inspiration, so I started it the next day.

Important life lessons: Decision is crucial for our lives. Successful people, in the eyes of the society, make decisions daily and faster. And they rarely change their decisions.

IN THE MIDDLE…

I fuel my decision in this part because a good decision isn’t going to work unless I set it on fire. I remind my reasons. If I complete my walking, I will strengthen my willpower and decision making ability.
In addition to that, I am an honest gentleman since I am going to do what I said I was going to do.

IN THE END…

I think about what I should include in my notes. I notice the smallest details in my environment. I even notice a four year old boy complaining to his parents about the hot whether and he was going to walk in Finnish. I don’t need to understand the language, I must read the context.

CONCLUSION

In truth, my walking project is about the process rather the destination. I focus on what is going on in my mind. For example, after I reached the decision to walk all the streets in Helsinki, I protect my mind from the discouragers—both internals and externals.

FOCUS ON THE WORK

I have a philosophy. I lead a life of routine. I wake up at the same time and do the same things. For example, I pray at dawn and sleep 30 minutes. I take a shower, brush my teeth, drink three glasses of water.
I pack my backpack and hit the road at 7 A.M.

I start my week on Friday. I walk at 7 A.M. till 12P.M. and I join the Friday sermon. After the prayer, I read a book.

And in the evening at 19h or 21h I start walking toward home which will take me an hour. In this journey I reflect on my daily activities.

LIFELONG LEARNING

Walking is my meditation. I do not mean by that in the traditional sense. I define my own mediation a time where I gather and entertain new ideas for my business and studies. Thus, I always have news or improved ideas.
For me, walking is a good way of learning. For me, it represents the university of the world. Where else can I find all sort of people, buildings, colours and lifestyles than the streets?

ATTENTION TO DETAILS

I am pretty sure that my skill to attention is God given gift. And I have used it daily to see as much details as possible.

One of the great things about walking in the city is to notice things; nature, people, architecture, business, fashion, style, signs, different, colour, size, novelty and so on.

There are three things I look for:

People—fashion, style, mood, trainings, education, personality and character.

Nature— I adore trees, flowers and lakes. I spend a great of time to notice the differences in seasons, and the growth period.

Architecture— Finnish buildings are different from the other Europeans. I read in Finland: book that the earlier Finnish architects had wanted to differentiate from their colonial in the western border.

The most buildings are in accordance with the time of the building. They tend to be narrowed and triangle.

ROAD SIGNS

Public signs motivate me. They are great communicators. They are easy to direct and guide the public. They are always ready to assist me with pleasing mentality.

Lesson to take away: I learn two things from the road signs: be communicative and be brief.

THE FINNISH LANGUAGE

I think the future of learning is in the streets. I loathe the classroom because of the curriculum is conducted.
I therefore decided to learn Finnish in the streets and reading books.

TOOLS

Now I have made my decision. I am going to walk lots of streets. Accordingly, I must have the best tools that available if I am the best walker in Finland.

SHOES

Let’s start with the shoes: I wear Skechers. These shoes are comfortable and they assist me to reach my goals.

TRACK SUITS

I wear track bottoms. I must not mention the name of the company of these companies because I don’t want to advertise the bottoms I’ve paid my own for well-off companies.

One thing I can share is track bottoms are cool for walking. Now I am designing and tailoring my own clothing.

Axmed Bahjad

HELSINKI IS A GORGEOUS CITY TO WALK AROUND

I WALK every day! It is my passion. And I am now walking every single street in Helsinki. Therefore, I know a great deal about the city.

WHEN I walk, I talk with people about walking, the Finnish language and everyday life. Further, I explore Helsinki which is a gorgeous city. The nature in and around it is tremendous. Consider the lakes, the sea, the forests and the parks. How about the bony and triangular architectures? Furthermore, I clean the rubbish on the streets though I don’t get paid for it. Why? I want to improve it better than I found it.

I WOULD highly recommend that people ought to walk to explore and observe, to think, to get fit, to meet, to search for business opportunity.

IF WE don’t walk, then we let Helsinki down. After all, it offers us wider footpaths, nature, small solid rock mountains and quiet and clean streets. If we merely know the city centre or familiar with the buildings and tourists venues, we waste the efforts of the city planners and sustainers.

HISTORY OF MY WALKING

I USUALLY get asked a common question whether walking is an exercise which I’ve started to walk round Helsinki City. My story is beyond the gorgeous streets in the city. 

I STARTED walking at the young age. There was a good reason why. When I was young 7 year-old, there was a war —if that is the right for it because there was a dictator who’d been butchering his own people. And the people were defenceless. 

TO THAT END, we had to leave the city for the countryside in order to hide. We had livestock. Our father had been a hard worker, so he’d build lives in the city and outside. Did he know there was going to be a dictator in office?

I THINK my father had the foresight to see what come may or should I say he wanted his children to experience both worlds.  

Thanks to my father and the Almighty Allah for our livestock in Haankidiile. 

IN THE COUNTRYSIDE, we had to walk for 15 to 20 kms to seek peaceful area which was far away from the bombardments of the cities and towns. 

THE USE of walking is for self-discovery. We walk when we want to change our thoughts: inspirational, character-making, life-shaping books are the main thing.

 

Axmed Bahjad

ILTALEHTI ON MY WALKING

Yli 4500 kadun urakka – Axmed Bahjad, 36, haluaa kävellä jokaisella Helsingin kadulla

Kävelemistä rakastavalla Axmed Bahjadilla on kolme syytä siihen, miksi hän haluaa kävellä jokaisella Helsingin kadulla heinäkuun loppuun mennessä.

https://www.iltalehti.fi/kotimaa/a/2c0cf0d8-8505-4e90-915d-d17872e22361

 

Axmed Bahjad

WHAT KIND OF SHOES DO I WEAR WHEN WALKING?

I usually get asked by people: “what sort of shoes do you wear?” In these photographs, I am wearing a pair of my favourite walking shoes: Skechers. 

They are comfortable. Cushy. Breathable. Nicety. 

On Tuesday, when these photographs were taking, I walked 29km. I was cool with it!

         I could walk another 30 km journey!

 

Conclusion:

In order to walk a long distance, I need to have supportive shoes. I can assure that     Skechers will make your journey smoother. Get a pair of Skechers. And start walking today. 

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Loa Tzu.

 

Axmed Bahjad, the voracious walker. 

MIKSI KÄVELY?

Törmäsin Axmedin kävely/kaupungintutkimisprojektiin Iltalehden tekemän jutun perusteella ja kiinnostuin heti, kun luin hänen tekeillä olevasta kirjasta. Mielestäni jo itsessään Suomen kaupunkien kadut, taideteokset, maamerkit ja ihmiset ovat loistava aihe kirjaan, mutta erityisen kiinnostavaa on se, että tämä projekti on ulkomaalaisen miehen käsialaa.
Toivon todellakin, että paikalliset kustantajat tarttuisivat tähän hienoon tilaisuuteen saada tuoretta näkökulmaa meille niin arkisiin asioihin, joihin tuskin kovin moni paikallinen ihminen edes kiinnittää huomiota liikkuessaan kaupungilla. Tälläisen kirjan laajempi huomio herättäisi varmasti ihmisten horroksessa olevaa kiinnostusta omaan ympäristöönsä ja arvostusta siihen kuinka kaunis ja historiallinen kaupunki Helsinki
on.

-Emjay

 

Emjay is an excellent artist. If you are  unfamiliar with the work of Emjay, it is time you ought to check out, buy and follow Em on Instagram: @emjaygraphics.

Thank you, Emjay for your kind words.

 

Axmed Bahjad

 

WHY WALK?

“It’s your road, and yours alone.
others may walk it with you,
but no one can walk it for you.”

― Rumi.