Berlin...Food

I've been eating a lot while I was in Berlin so I must at least publish some of the nice food that I 'unshamed-ly' took pictures of (even after weeks of interval) :$
Typically German food are saltier (at least to my taste) but their hams & sausages are really, mmm....yum yum. As much as I enjoy the food, not everything is to my taste. Tried a special crepé in market with Eierlikor (some sort of liquor) which makes it taste bitter...:( The one contains Nutella (chocolate & hazelnut) tasted very nice though :)

Café Kranzler caught my eye immediately when we drove by Berlin city centre one of the days. Strategically located in the heart of city, on the second floor where one can sit back & enjoy the hustle bustles of the city while sipping coffee (that's exactly what I did, lol). Smoked salmon bagel, coffee*2 (an ordinary one & a chai tea) and a piece of Sachertorte...simply the best way to spend a late afternoon after hours of tiring walking around the city :D




I was brought to Greek food which is slightly 'German localized' for dinner on one of the days. Normally I don't particularly fancy Greek food but the salmon wrap & chicken wrapped spinach in creamy chesse sauce with rice taste nice except they tasted slightly on the salty side. Most important thing is: I get to try the famour Berliner Weiser (a drink with beer & fruit syrup, a little sour but very soothing) and I can't stop sipping them througout dinner.


Some of the Chinese restaurants in Berlin serve really nice Chinese food as well (at least the ones that I've been brought to are all nice). Not that they're 100% authentic (but then again, what is really authentic in this globalized world?) and are tailored to local taste but I'm still pretty amazed with the quality considering it's a European country.

I cannot bring myself to take any Chinese food pictures. Don't want to make others thinkin that I'm a Chinese girl from 'jungle' who never see proper Chinese food before, so no pictures on the cryspy aromatic duck or the mongolian BBQ dinner that I ate :p A new thing is that all of the restaurants serve a small glass of plum wine upon customer paying the bill, nice!

A specialty that I'd deem as 'definite must try' if you visit Berlin is the 'German Tapas' @ Schnitzelei. Some of the more famous typical German food serve in tapas style (total of 18 different types) & they have English menu! 3 of us ordered 9 tapas, finish it within minutes & continue with another 6 tapas... my favourite?? mini savoy cabbage roulade with bacon sauce!

Berlin From Top

Like previously mentioned, Berlin holds so much stories within her and the stories continue...I have a 'Berlin from air trip' in a single day.

It starts with taking a ride in Europe's fastest elevator to Postdamer Platz No. 1, 100meters above ground level with panatomic view of Berlin where landmarks such as Brandenburg Tor, Reichstag, TV Tower, the Jewish memorial & other attractions are easily recognize (visual aids are available to help tourists 'recognize' the famous landmarks).

Pic: Postdamer Platz No.1 (picture taken from air ballon ride later the day)

Pic: Views from 100m at Postdamer Platz

Coming down from Postdamer Platz, me & my friend proceed to take up teh 285 steps challenge up the Berlin Vitory Column (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegess%C3%A4ule) which are not so difficult actually. Standing on top, you feel like you're in the 'center' because the column is placed in the middle of a 4 lanes roundabout.

Pic: Views at/from Berlin's Victory Column

I've wanted to take the Berlin air ballon ride since day1 when I found out the info from the tourist booklet but due to bad weather, I've missed the opportunities 3 days in a row (it's located near to Check Point Charlie, so I actually went through Checkpoint Charlie 3 times in a row, that's why I don't find CPC so interesting anymore). However, just when I thought I'd never get to take the ride during this trip, I spotted the balloon in the air (which means it's in service) from top of the Victory Column!

Quickly hurried myself down the stairs, me & my friend rush to the air balloon site, worried that the service might stop due to strong wind / rain (it started drizzling a little). The goddess of luck is finally on my side this day. Manage to take the ride, 150m above ground level, in the air, with 360degree panaromic view of Berlin right underneath my feet. The 'balloon pilot' wanted to show me the attractions locations but accummulating my morning Postdamer Platz + Victory Column's 'Berlin from Top' experiences, I can pretty much figure it out myself (surprised the pilot though, lol)

The views are nice from top, gives you the 'overview' of Berlin. I like the balloon ride the most. Aside from the excitement of 'flying' in the air, the panaromic view from the balloon is actually the best. When I'm in the Platz or at the column, certian angle of Berlin is always missing. Well, one just have to be lucky with the weather to take the balloon ride :)

Bread Baking

I haven't been updating the blog as frequent as before since I moved into my new apartment (or to be more accurate, since Berlin trip). Now that I have the whole place by myself, I can basically do whatever I want, so I start with 'messing up' the kitchen, i.e. cooking. Well, shopping for ingredient + tools + cooking + 'evaluating the end result' can really take up a lot of time.

I used to cook when I was studying abroad & away from home, way back then but I never bake before in my life. So, first try: bread baking!

Purposedly bought an electrical hand mixer to ease the mixing process but found out at some point, human hands are more useful than machines (or perhaps I'm just not good at using the tools, lol).

Ingredient shopping was not difficult with a friend's help (else I really need Danish-English translation), followed the Danish encrypted instruction and tada...my first oven baked bread is 'born'. Slightly more 'solid' than it should, I still need to figure out what went wrong, but the bread tasted really good (especially when it's piping hot), yum yum :)

Unfortunately the bread is really too much for personal consumption. Still have some left overs which I have a good plan on how to put it to good use. More about 'how to utilize left over breads' next time ;)

Berlin...here & there

A lot of buildings or landmarks in Berlin are in 'pairs'. For instant, there are 2 TV towers (one for former west & another for former east) & 2 'World-clock'. I told my friend I've been to TV Tower, and I was asked which one...kind of interesting.

Checkpoint Charlie which was once the American sector crossing point (now just a small booth in the middle of the street) is another famous attraction. Nothing fancy but something unique to Berlin, same 'visa stamping' & photo shooting service for tourists are available at small fees. Almost right next to the 'checkpoint' is Museum Haus am Checkpoint, some exhibitions & amongst them, stories of how the old East German people trying to escape to the West are shared. It's pretty hard to get a picture at Check Point Charlie with minimum tourist snapped, they're everywhere!! Actually, technically speaking, I'm a tourist too, lol...

Tonnes of 'Berlin wall' pieces are for sale in almost all souvenir shops along the street. Consider the fractions of the wall started 'being sold', say 10years back (not to take into account those that has been 'stolen' or still remained), with such high tourist volume, the whole wall (maybe more) could have already been sold out! I seriously doubt the 'genuinity' of these 'wall' pieces.

Fancy some experience driving in old East Germany car with no side mirror, 1 speed wiper & not so spacious interior car seats? Well, your desire can be fulfilled by renting one (limited colours) & 'enjoy' the ride :)

Berlin wall which once separate the country into 2, the biggest fragment that is still left are at East Side Gallery where thousands of artist were invited to paint on the wall (some really classic pictures are almost gone due to erosion & vandalisme); at the Topography of Terror (where the Gestapo used to interogate political 'criminals'); and there's another one at the north according to my friends (but I'm not sure where exactly).

There're so much more that I wanted to share about Berlin (at least : Berlin from air, Pergamon Museum, KaDeWe, Heide Park & the food that I've enjoyed in Berlin) but I really don't have much time nowadays (since I start to 'engage' in cooking experiments)...there's always hope though ;)

Brandenburger Tor

I was just about to add the pictures below into blog entry 'Berlin - First Contact' & realize apparently I wrote that I'll blog separately on Brandenburger Tor, so here it is. Unfortunately after almost a week's return from Berlin + work, the once vivid admiration when I first glanced at Goddess of Victory (from the back though, lol) is beginning to fade...

Anyway, Brandenburger Tor it is still the most impressive & significant landmark in Berlin. Perhaps it is also because of it's significant status in Berlin & beauty that it survived under the communist East Germany government's hand. The 'remains' of the wall can still be clearly seen right on the street. Personally, I think this is a good way of remembering the wall, not so exaggerating yet noticeable.


The traffic has been blocked from going through the gate & tourists can now safely 'flocked' the area in front / limited at the back of the gate. Naturally, a lot of tourist oriented activities are 'created' (see pictures below). I got a 'visa' to the East Berlin for 3 Euro, lol...More souvenirs? There are lots of souvenir shops just a hundred meter away from the gate, all the way well spread along Unter den Linden ('the street under trees', nicely named because the street is really 'shielded' under rows of trees).


A lot of embassies (eg: US, France) are build arund the gate & 100meter away locates the well reputed Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin. My friend told me there might be possibilities to spot some celebrities here (especially during movie festival) but maybe all the stars are now more keen to spend their holidays in 'no-man' islands away from paparazzi ;)

I like it there because of the environment, think it'll be really romantic towards sunset. My friend said a new train/underground (I forget which one exactly) station will be built near the gate to ease tourists, perhaps too much traffic / pedestrian flow by then :s

Flea Market...Rain...Meatball

Requested my friend to bring me to flea market, wanted to see how Berlin flea market is like, because I always have the silly thought that a market is the best way of representing the locals life. This time, in Berlin, I experienced how colourful (sometimes even clashing colours which are not necessarily nice) clothing can be, also found some very interesting art works, antiques etc & a lot of Russian stuffs.


Unfortunately the weather is not so co-operative, it started with drizzling & then the rain became heavier that we have to take shelter in a nearby Burger King (they serve nice cappuccino ice-cream with chocolate chips though). I'm surprise to learn that they don't have free refill policy in Berlin (usually it only happens in Asian countries ;). Towards the end, we got tired of waiting & decided to just go 'home' instead, after a nice Nutella (hazelnut chocolate) crepe & a not so nice liquor crepe from the market.

I read about Berliner Hackfleischbällchen (the meatball) from the tourist handbook and expressed my desire to try it to Susi. So she made me Berliner meatball for dinner (so touched) which to me tasted okay (much better with BBQ sauce though) but she said the meatballs are tasteless (probably the cook is always more strict towards his/her own cooking). Her justification for the 'meatball failure' is because I made her nervous by taking her picture cooking in the kitchen, lol...

First Sunday (and first rainy day) in Berlin went pass quietly with both of us 'resting' at home...I enjoyed the meatball as well as Susi's great company :)

Berlin - First Contact (2)

'continued...

Took the underground to Friedrichstr. and instantly like the area where modern & historical buildings blend together and filled with outdoor café & restaurants along the river side (absolutely nice in summer time), second to Brandenburger Tor :)


Palace of the Republic (Palast der Republik http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palast_der_Republik), the West call it 'The Show Off Building', search for it's old pictures on the Internet & you'll know why. The building was formerly the East government building, now there are only ruins left...
Berlin Dom is under maintenance during my visit...it's 'topless' ;)

Just walk around in the region & you'll find besides many museums well worth seeing, there are also numerous small shops of souvenirs, applied arts and antiques (mostly Russian stuff...gas mask anyone, again?). Walk through the little alleys of the district and feel yourself 'transferred' into a different era, at least that's what I felt :)

Then of course, dinner time. I was brought to a small cosy movie themed restaurant for German food (my request). Picture starting from top left (clockwise): 'Black forest' noodle with pork slices in thick mushroom sauce, curry wurst, grill thin pizza with spinach & feta cheese (ok, this is not originally German), Einsbein (pig knee '咸猪手') with sauerkraut & the cover of 'German encrypted' menu. Everything tasted good except the menu :p

Berlin - First Contact

Berlin has a very comprehensive public transport system, some of the trains & stations are really old but still well functioning. The only downside with the old trains is the carts doesn't not interconnect... My first train stop is at the 'gigantic' Hauptbahnhof station which consists of 5 storeys building & so many shops / eateries, looks more like an airport to me, I feel so small...
Right outside the train station, the traffic light caught my attention, yes, the traffic light. Former east Berlin has funny traffic light 'man' which is so popular among the tourist that there're special souvenir shops and even a restaurant themed on Ampelmännchen (traffic light in German).

Ampelmännchen products range from typical tourist souvenirs (key chain, postcards, fridge magnets, ear-rings, necklace pendants, T-shirts, umbrella) to weird CDs featuring 'train station sound in the morning' etc and jelly gums in Ampelmännchen man shape. There are even areas in western Berlin where broken / aged traffic lights have been replaced with ones that feature the cute traffic light man.

Germans have quite good sense of humour in 'nick-naming' some buildings...like the press's beach (not really a beach but the press usually sit back & relax by the river side after interviewing politicians at the nearby government buildings), the washing machine (which is actually the federal chancellery), the pregnant oyster (the Congress Hall)...

Pic: The Press's 'beach'

Pic: The 'washing machine' (my friend says everything is round inside...she wrote a letter to the relevant party & tried to get me in there for a visit but we have to wait half a year, oopss...)

We walked to the nearby Reichstag (Parliament house), wanted to go to the glass Reichstag dome for a 360 degree view of Berlin landscape but just the long queue (circled in red in picture below) scared us away...instantly we reached to mutual agreement: next time!

Pic: Reichstag with long queue to the dome

So we continue walking towards the well-famed Brandenburger Tor (which is my favourite attraction in Berlin, will talk more about it in a separate blog) & then the Jewish Holocaust Memorial. The memorial is a relatively new attraction built in the memory of all Jews killed during the Nazi time (http://www.scrapbookpages.com/berlin2002/JewishMemorial/index.html).

Honestly, I think it's a little creepy to walk among the stones (some are twice or even more? my height) & don't feel quite safe as there're no visibility at all at some locations, anything could happen without anyone knowing. My friend told me the authority has to hire guards to petrol in the memorial area to ensure pedestrians' safety.That's the first part of my day1 first 'encounter' with Berlin which I think is long enough, hehe...well I have a long & interesting first day but I can't wait till everything is 'reported' to post the blog, so, the rest will be continued in next blog, hopefully soon...

Stefan & Susi

I have the nicest friend in the world who met me at the airport upon my arrival in Berlin, kind enough to accommodate me for a week, rush to pay all the bills, bought me a tour guide book (in English), find out attraction details, spend time touring me around despite working days & even get me a Germany SIM card to ease communication.

In Germany, surprisingly quite a number of people still don't speak English. My guess is they understand but are not really fluent with English so they try their very best to avoid speaking English (purely based on personal experience).

A lot of restaurants still don't have English menu (especially if they're not located near tourist attractions) and the waiter/waitresses definitely don't speak much English. The only one that I encounter (so far) that speaks English is in Haagen Dazs. Funny guy...when I asked 'Can I have this please'; he said 'Yes, you can have everything including me', lol...

So I'm glad to have my friends as 'translator', when they're not with me, I carry a small yellow English-Deutsch dictionary for 'emergency' purposes. Stefan & Susi also serve as my tour guide providing explainations. Susi is sort of the group entertainer, provides her funny stories that'll often make me laughing uncontrollably, she's so cute. Will try to share her stories when I go back to Copenhagen (& have the time), it's too funny to be kept by myself.

Here's a picture with 3 of us in front of the famous Brandenburger Tor:-

Portobello Antiques Market

Portobello market 'wakes up' as early as 6am, unfortunately I don't wake up as early. Anyway, reached there at 9am & the crowd is almost as big as Oxford street.

Antiques are very subjective, they could be very valuable to some but just junk to others. I have no idea how to judge if it's real antiques (but the price surely makes them seem like one) so my trip is merely for eye-opening purpose.

On top of antiques, designer accessories (which are gorgeous but also very expensive), funny gadgets (even gas mask are sold), cloths, leather bags/jackets, vinyl records, food (exotic instead of English, funny) etc can also be found along the very long stretch street.

The walk was an enjoyable one, despite the hot weather (yes, surprisingly there's no rain at all in UK the whole week I was there) & painful feet. Even the bargaining process differs a little from the normal market bargaining that I'm used to back home (M'sia). Wish I have more time... efinitely want to go to Copenhagen's flea/antiques market to compare how things differ within Europe.

Anyway, I'll be flying to Berlin for a week's holiday beginning tmr. So again, not so frequent (or maybe even none at all) updates during this period & will resume when I come back. Berlin is caling for me, can't wait...

London - shopping, theater & 'Ben'

Been so preoccupied with house moving lately that I haven't even have time to organize & share my short trip in London. Perhaps I should write something before the good memories fade...the pictures are not really good, taken from my phone. Camera 'died' (battery!!!), so...:(

My first stop in London (after searching hours for accommodation) is Oxford street - shopping! Sales is on everywhere but unfortunately, they're not necessaryily cheap. £395 with 70% discount still cost a lot for a pair of reasonably nice high heel to me. Instead I got myself a pair of cheap flat shoe at only £8, wahaha...

Pic: sneak peek of Oxford street (where it's always full of people, everywhere)

I was walking in London until I can't feel my feet & my toe was bleeding due to excessive walks (friction between 'heeled' shoe & toes). It was only 'discovered' by my friend during a shoe try. Took a picture of it but my foot is just too embarassing to show publicly :$ Anyway, aching feet provides good justification for frequent coffee breaks & I found Nero coffee worth visiting (and revisiting, lol). I like the white chocolate coffee personally.


Big Ben ('Ben')+ WestMinsters + London Eyes + River Thame...I, erm...I 'photographed' with them, can't blame me for not visiting all these attractions. I'm under time contraint pressure, only have 2days in London... and being a very shallow girl, my priority is of course set to shopping & theatre, visiting these attractions simply will consume too much time. Oh...and the weather was really really hot, I can't risk getting sun burn, can I? (blame the weather, lame excuse, I know, recently learnt from a friend, lol)


How can I miss the chance to catch a play in London right? So, a trip to Leichester square where most theatres are housed & a £20 ticket brought me to Buddy Holly. Honestly, I have no idea what the show is about when I bought the ticket, just for the sake of catching a play but it turned out good. In fact, I was enjoying it so much that I hate to see it finish. I must catch another play some other time, not necessarily London though ;)

Pic: Buddy Holly show

Pic: Playboy pink limo in Leichester square

A funny side story: I was with London map, trying to find my way around, standing at a cross road looking absolutely lost & then a woman with address in her hand walked towards me & asked for directions to the address. At that point, I suspected it might even be a candid show & started looking for hidden camera. Perhaps she thinks I have better chance figuring out (since I have map). Gladly, I'm capable enough not to let her down & managed to show her the way :D

Another interesting place that which deserves a blog by its own is Portobello antiques market. Next blog.

'home' sweet home

Finally, dilemma's over, I resolve to an optimum solution to fill up my living room - IKEA's Klippan couch (perhaps even only at half the price, second hand). Denmark has a rather comprehensive second hand resell website which pretty much covers everything from household items to cars, wines. One can even get free stuff...old B&W TV, free soil, waste wood, anyone?

Initially was thinking of buying a new couch but since a 2years old second hand identical IKEA couch only cost me about half the price (I have to buy new couch cover which adds up the price), why not? However, the purchase will be on hold until I come back from a week's holiday in Berlin. Hopefully the couch is still available when I come back.

Received 'donation' of a 14" TV (I know, I know...the size! but it's donated, I couldn't ask for more). Probably should opt for something else in a longer term - 40" flat screen HD TV maybe?? Just kidding. Also received a 3G wireless modem on loan (for 2 weeks) until I get my own Internet setup in the new apartment.

So I'm moving in officially! Been driving & enjoying the Audi (despite my lousy skill) since last Thursday (to & fro some furniture shop etc)...now that I have to leave company house (which also means leaving the car), somehow I feel rather reluctant, sob sob...

Anyway, I really like the new apartment...maybe because I finally have a place of my own where I can call 'home' (temporarily) in a foreign country. Again, no pictures until I get the couch, which means most probably 2 weeks after this post. Stay tuned.

Handy-woman

Took me 3 days to finally get the new apartment 'up & running'...I officially qualified myself to be a certified maid (cleanse every single corner of the apartment); handy-woman (drill & install curtain bars) & 'carpenter' (assembled IKEA beds, tables & chairs).

Got a few cuts & bruises, made some measurement mistakes & bought the wrong stuff (which are not expensive, luckily) but also learn a lot. If there will ever be next time, I'll definitely 'sub-contract' the house moving task out. The feeling of driving back in the middle of the night (to old house while the new place cleaning is in progress) on a freakingly quiet street & feeling my aching arms is not so good.

New place is good now except...there's no Internet (yet). It might take 2 weeks for Internet service to be available upon deciding which Internet service to take up, which I haven't made the desicion yet...Hopefully something will work out, else, my posting rate will just reduced...


After all the hard work, I reward myself with some sushi take away. Not much variety in the sushi take away shop but surprisingly, it tastes good, even better than chain shushi restaurants in Penang. Pricy though. A set of various sushi like this costs DKK150!


Some of my colleagues have visited my new place & they have 1 common comment: you need a couch! So...maybe I shall give in to their comments and buy a couch (hopefully by this week) & fill up the currently rather empty living room. Then again, what's the use of couch if I don't have a TV set right? I'm really in dilemma, not sure if I should invest in couch + coffee table + floor mat + TV (well, one leads to another) considering this might be only a 2years stay...sigh