Weinachtsmarkt Berlin

Alot of people who have lived in Germany at some point always seem to rave about Weinachtsmarkt (Christmas markets). I'm not there yet, I mean, I don't really see the interesting thing about it apart from being able to order flavoured popcorn and getting a crepe but I don't know, maybe I'll get into it next year. We came across one in Berlin where you had to even pay to get in...yah not for me but let's see, never say never I say

The best way to see Berlin's monuments

We are at the in-laws for the Christmas and New Year's break and even though I have been here more times than I care to admit, I still have not seen alot of its monuments and notable buildings. We came across this chocolate store as we went on a bit of an evening walk and they had some amazing lifelike chocolate models of some of Berlin's famous buildings! All can be seen in the comfort of a heated store with a delicious chocolate smell, my kind of sightseeing!

Fassbender & Rausch
Charlottenstraße 60
10117 Berlin
Tel: 030 2045-8440

a little but alot of Christmas treats

Getting ready for the Christmas break...

Homesickness is not a good feeling

So we are meeting up with some friends of mine before we all head off for the winter break. The girls decided we should meet up at an Australian cafe. I hadn't thought much about Australia, it was always a passing thought here and there, I have also been avoiding looking up Australian newspapers online and tv shows about Australia, but it wasn't until the host of the cafe greeted us with a New Zealand accent (ok it was close enough) that I suddenly felt a pang of homesick in the pit of my stomach. Awh must avoid this place for a while yet I think...

the state of our cellar

One of the things that I'm loving here in Germany is that most apartments and houses have a cellar or a storage area. It's great for when you are moving and cannot be arsed opening the last few boxes of clothing or whatever and it's bad because sometimes because you can't be arsed, then one day the thing you want, a mixer, a pillow etc is hiding under a pile of boxes so you can't find it, you go out and buy new ones then all of a sudden you have two of something...or everything. So today we spent our Saturday going to Ikea and buying some storage boxes and setting up some sort of shelving unit. I'm not sure if our cellar is looking better or worse but meh at least we had a crack at it.

Nima

Nima was one of the first stores I found when I had just gotten here in Frankfurt and got lost while trying to find for a supermarket (I was 5 blocks over). This store has amazing little things one would need for the home. They don't have alot of stock so once something has run out, it may not be there again. Since then I've been coming here quite a bit. I guess you can say it's the equivalent to Chick Mart in Kemang.

Nima
Koselstraße 57
60318 Frankfurt

knitting invasion

I'm seeing more and more of these around town lately, maybe I will get into knitting one day but for now, it's quite nice to see that even the trees are snuggled up for the winter.

the colder it gets...

You know it's getting colder and colder in Germany when shop keepers are starting to sell their meat products outside...

designer's vending machine

I was at Hauptbahnhof (main train station) this morning and came across this design based vending machine. The vending machine is filled with stuff that graphic designers have made like little purses or graphic T's. Love it!

A soft opening

I received an invite to the opening of a new hairdressing salon near where we live so I decided to pop in and check it out. It was quite a serious event, lots of tall pretty women in leather dresses walking importantly from one side of the room to another and many older single women with their branded handbags and jewelry. I wasn't dressed so flashy but did bring my cream and gold clutch (bought from a seafood restaurant in Bali) and they were going ga ga over it hah! It goes to show, I suppose, that you don't need to have expensive things to have taste.

random acts of kindness

Got out of the shower this morning to find this on the table. The husband knew how much I hate raisins in my cereal so he picked them out one by one from my cereal bowl. Ok the husband might not be the most romantic person in the world (and he did made a bit of a mess) but this one made me go oooh how sweet!

richtung Berlin

After a grueling couple of days skiing we are on our way to Berlin, hmm at this rate I would pay to have a weekend alone with the husband.

St-Anton's world class slopes

So that's me at the back, wearing all black. And in front of myself is our instructor in the all-green. I think he had already a few schnapps in his belly but I can't be sure. Drink or no drink he still skied better than I did. We did a full day lesson as I have never seen snow before and neither have I ever seen ski equipment, let alone try it on a mountain before. The instructor was a local Austrian who grew up on these slopes so I'm guessing he was well experienced. After showing us how to walk up a hill and slide down about 5 times on a flat bit of the mountain, he declared that we should try it out on the real slopes. At first I thought it was because I was such a fast learner that I should be able to tackle the real slopes but I think he was kind of bored and just wanted to ski. So all we did was go up and down the slopes, following him and making a "schneepflug" formation with my legs. After a gazillion times of me falling over the mountain, some hills, on the escalator etc we declared after 3pm that the lesson was over. Funnily enough by the time the last 15 minutes of the lesson was to end, I pretty much got the hang of it.

meanwhile back at the Mooser

So after a day of no skiing for us, we headed to the Mooser for a catch up with the rest of our crew. With some tacky European music blaring in the background and a crowd made up of perhaps 95% men we enjoyed the famous (or infamous?) bar after a day of taking in the sites. If you are ever in the Austrian Alps be sure to check out this bar - and if you are a chick, it's probably the best bar to go to because you really don't need to dress up at all, I mean, everyone is anyway in their snow gear and sweating up a storm.

a wintery roadtrip

We are on our way to "the Alps" (omg!) and it will be my first time seeing snow!! I've had an exhausting week and not really looking forward to the all-adventure weekend but very excited to be seeing real live snow nonetheless!

Good morning Tel Aviv

The morning view of the Tel Aviv coastline...wow I'm definitely jealous!

Good evening Tel Aviv

The husband is in Tel Aviv at the moment (how lucky!) and this picture alone made me want to go there...sigh

Sunday brunch

We were missing a bit of the Jakarta lifestyle today after the events of last night and decided to go for a brunch, Indo style. The result was, well a little disappointing. We picked a (what we thought) quiet place near Zeil and ordered a brunch menu to the equivalent price as what we would pay for a brunch buffet at the Meridien in Jakarta and well this is what we got:

How sad :( (wow ok now I sound spoilt) but on a sadder note we ate it as we watched a marathon going on in front of our eyes. The finish line was close to our cafe so we stuffed our faces with food while watching tone-bodied athletes run right passed us. It made me feel motivated and ashamed at the same time.

Marken Gala 2011

I don't mind the occasional dinner functions here and there, but coming from Jakarta and its many dinner events, it gets a little tiring so tonight was a welcome change. Don't get me wrong, after a crazy few months, there is nothing I would love to do tonight than to curl up on the couch in my trackies on a cold winter's night but a chance to dress up a little was also a nice reminder of our former life in Jakarta.

We were invited to a Marken Gala at the Alte Oper where the big brands of the world come together and celebrate their brands (I'm told). And as far as we understood, it was where the socialites and celebrities of Germany come together and mingle. When we attended an evening similar to this in Jakarta, the women always dressed so glamorous and over the top, with big hair and sky-high heels. I was always so underdressed but this time it was the complete opposite. I still cannot get over the fact that the women here in Germany don't wear make-up (or very little), even to events such as these.

Even though we didn't win anything, we enjoyed a little dinner and dancing nonetheless so a great night all round!

Tailoring in Germany

As we are having an event coming up that requires the husband to wear a tux, and as we are no longer in Jakarta and have no access to Mayestik or a tailor. We hunted down a tuxedo store in Mainz and ordered one. While they do have a tailor on call, they were only required to make adjustments, as I suppose to custom make one would be beyond expensive. So first comes the tux, then the shirt and of course a bowtie! I mentioned to the salesperson (pictured here) that men are expensive (contrary to the saying). He laughed and said that the only reason the husband is buying all of this is to look good for me, so therefore, women are the more expensive gender. Men and their words!

A frosty morning

This is what I face just about every morning recently, frosty skies and the chilly fogs. Hmm don't know if I'm going to last the winter...

Some words to think about

Festivities in the Altstadt

After a full on week with my parents' last weekend (they left Sunday evening) and starting an internship the following Monday, it has been quite the wild ride for us so far and there are no signs of slowing down. So now, while the husband is busy at work, I will also be busy at work, then language classes in the evening. I was so proud of surviving this week, we celebrated by going for a walk to the Altstadt and came across a town festival.

So this is increasingly becoming a common sighting in Germany, "Schwein" and "Sauerkraut". I'm a little bit relieved we ended up in Frankfurt so we can have a beef sausage when we want to but the majority of the food here in Germany pretty much contains some form of pig products or big chunks of ham or bacon.

60318 Kaffeebar im Nordend

We managed to drag ourselves out and about today just long enough for a coffee and a cake (the husband a coffee and myself the cake)...well we walked outside for a good 10 minutes to be exact before we stopped by a coffee place. Upon ordering, they had just made a batch of smoothies and asked whether I wanted to order some as well but as it was already freezing outside (well by my standards anyway) I declined before ordering my brownie. To my surprise a couple of glasses of nectarine smoothies came to our table along with my slice of brownie.

This place looks usually quiet, I suppose they don't really have the space Harvey's has across the street but the unexpected (friendly) service was really a treat, because you know, it's rather difficult to find a cafe where the staff are like, nice to their customers here so when you come across one it's kind of like finding love; you gotta hold on to it for dear life! So perhaps this unexpected Kaffeebar could just be our new little hang out place.



60318 Kaffeebar
Am Friedberger Platz
Koselstr. 2
60318 Frankfurt am Main

Trading Hours:
Monday
07:00 - 11:00

Tues - Thurs
07:00 - 18:00

Friday
07:00 - 00:00

Saturday
09:00 - 18:00

Sunday
10:00 - 18:00

Sweets for my sweet

One of the most fascinating things about Istanbul is the amount of sweets they have. The extent of my knowledge on Turkish desserts are pretty much limited to turkish delights...Cadbury's turkish delights to be exact. So whenever we walked past a sweet shop I couldn't help but take pictures of the sweets on display. I wish I could try them all but I was afraid of having my teeth decaying so I guess pictures are the next best thing.

Grand Bazaar

We are at the Grand Bazaar and it is definitely not what I expected. The things that you can find here are both antiques and new. Above is one of many stores selling antique coffee pots and serving trays. There are many other markets around Istanbul that sell spices, clothes and old books but we decided to spend the day here because it was just so big. By the way the jewelry here are amazing to check out!

Blue Mosque

After a very short and intense trip to Paris, we are now in Istanbul. Today we visit the very crowded Blue Mosque. I would have thought it would be grandeur but I think compared to some of the mosques in Malaysia, it was not what I expected. There were way too many people inside the mosque to really enjoy it, and perhaps because there was so much foot traffic, the interior was not so well maintained. The queues were unbelievable, it was hours and hours of waiting, people pushing in, too many crowds and a fight broke out between two Turkish tour guides who then brought their entourages along for the fight. All in all Istanbul had a far better weather than some of the other cities we visited but the people were just a little too aggressive in wanting you to buy things which is something I just don't like in general. Lets see what else Istanbul holds!

Ladurée

Some macaroons for the husband...

Oui heart Paris!

After a quiet couple of days in Frankfurt I'm off with the parental units to Paris! I'm rather excited to show them around. Paris is a city like no other in Europe and for anyone who has been there, well, you know what I mean.

Mainz

The husband took some time off work to join us to Mainz and we found it quite quaint. Even though Mainz is about an hour away from Frankfurt I cannot really picture myself living here, well ask me that in a year or so and maybe I will change my tunes, but for now Mainz will just have to be a weekend destination.

Windmills and day tours

Second day in Amsterdam and my parents are already bored. I can understand, they are coming from Indonesia and have only ever visited Jakarta and other bustling asian cities so compared to that Amsterdam is quite tame. I thought that booking them for a day tour would be the solution so at least they have something to do but my dad being a very old school Indonesian just wanted to do his own thing and completely ignored the time constraints, so when the tour guide told everyone that we had 20 minutes at a particular sight, he felt that it didn't apply to him. In the end I still think it's a good idea for the parental units to go on a day tour because at least the transportation and sights are taken care of and an itinerary is already laid out for the day so I would organise it again.

Clogs, cheese and tulips

After seeing the husband only one day my parents are off to Amsterdam for a little visit. The rain was something that we did not anticipate so we couldn't do so much but we did go for a little walk around the town.

The other half of India

A restaurant area of a hotel

Like most countries where the difference in classes are apparent, India is no stranger to that. Here are some images of how the other half lives.