Just a Little Idea

Stereotypes Realized

2012-01-05T23:43:00.001+01:00

In America we always joke about British mannerisms and tourists always want to go to a traditional pub or have "high tea" when in London, but the whole concept always seemed a little contrived to me. After all, those stereotypes are exaggerated, right? Wrong.

While in London a few weeks ago, I met up with some guys friends of mine and we took a walk around the big sights (the Eye, the Palace, the Abbey, etc). A few hours into this activity, the following conversation occurred and both men were completely serious.

#1: You know what would be nice right now? A hot beverage.
#2: You are quite right, I could use a spot of tea right now.
#1: I know exactly where to go! There is a lovely cafe on the fifth floor of this bookstore.
Me (jokingly): Oh yes, that sounds quite civilized.
#2 (seriously): Indeed.

What did we order? Tea and biscuits with jam and clotted cream.

To top it off, after meeting up with some other friends, we eventually made it to a pub called "The Snooty Fox". I love England.

Playing Crazy

2012-01-05T20:49:00.001+01:00

A few weeks ago there was a Japanese culture week in Frankfurt and I went during my lunch break. The school that choreographed the fight scenes in Kill Bill put on an awesome performance, including a Keystone Cops-style skit where two men were chasing each other and fighting over a package. It was absolutely hilarious!

*However* I wasn't with anyone and apparently laughing hysterically in public when your friends aren't around is an invitation to crazy old men. No less than three shriveled, red-faced, white-haired old men stopped really close to me and stared, grinned, and nodded at me during the performance. Note to self: watch comedy shows with at least one other person.

Nuclear Energy

2012-01-05T10:18:00.001+01:00

I was woken up by my neighbors this morning to be informed that I should turn my patio lights off. Apparently the other neighbors were complaining that having three lights on for a few days was "making it difficult to leave nuclear energy."

Ahhh Germany.

The Thief Among Us

2011-11-27T13:46:00.001+01:00

While I was in Spain, the lack of a computer or free wifi forced me to go out and buy some *gasp* pens and paper. I LOVE to buy notepads and pens, and I spend a lot of time trying to find the perfect set for whatever I'm doing.

At the department store's office supply seciont, I picked up a notebook and put it down immediately, unhappy with the cover. I moved over a foot and looked at a different group of notepads, picking a few of them up, too. As I was doing that, I noticed that one of the saleswomen had been standing at the end of my aisle. She didn't ask me if I needed help, so I assumed she was stocking something. I went to the next aisle to look at the other notebooks. The woman appeared again, this time on the other end. I ignored her and went back to the other aisle. She appeared again. I picked up a green notebook and moved towards the pens.

The saleslady moved to the cash register, which was by the pens, and she was now joined by another saleslady. They both kept throwing glances in my direction. When I disappeared around a particularly large display, one of them appeared behind me, acting as though the aisle behind me suddenly needed tidying. If they were trying to be discrete, it wasn't working. For 15 minutes straight the women kept shadowing me through their office supply domain. I actually started switching aisles more frequently just to see if they would follow me, which they invariably did.

I was curious as to what they thought I was going to do. Grab a handful of erasers and make a run for it? Stash a few Hello Kitty notebooks in my tiny purse to sell on the office supply black market to some five-year-old HK addicts? Apparently my orange sundress and flip flops gave away my secret identity as a master office supply thief. There's a new criminal in town and she's set on making off with reams of A4, off-white printing paper!

In the end I went to the counter and paid four euros for a green notepad and a set of pens. I could sense the disappointment floating around the two women as one begrudgingly rang me up and the other floated back to stocking one of the aisles. Maybe they thought they were going to be heroes that day, collaring a thief in their midst. Sadly, I turned out to be a simple, upstanding citizen who just needed some alternatives to a computer and the internet.

Whuuut??

2011-11-15T23:37:00.001+01:00

Check out the actual FARE on my ticket, and then check out the FINAL PRICE. Amazing.

Chanterelles

2011-11-13T14:26:00.001+01:00

Chanterelles are beloved in Germany and when they're in season, the markets are exploding with them. My California upbringing means I love light, simple food, citrus, and wine. So the below recipe was a perfect combo. This is also an excellent substitute for mussels/clams (and easier to clean!).

The picture is from Martha Stewart, the recipe is from Epicurious.com.

Watercress Orange Salad

2011-11-13T13:00:00.001+01:00

After failing to keep New Year's Resolutions for more than a few months and then giving up on them altogether for a few years, I've decided I need a new approach to life. We make New Year's resolutions because there are always things in our lives that we feel we could do better, or differently. But trying to keep a resolution for a year is impossible. The time frame is too long and we get bored, or forget, or can't remember why we thought the resolution was important in the first place. So I've decided to start smaller. I am setting goals that I want to achieve in 30 days. At the end of the 30 days I can keep going or I can stop, it doesn't matter. What matters is sticking to something for just a month - a small, manageable period of time.

Which leads me to question of what my first goals should be. After reading Jonathan Safran Foer's "Eating Animals" (a post on that coming soon!) and working on sustainability within a large company, I have been asking myself a lot of questions about my own activities. How can I work to make a company more sustainable when some of my own activities are not sustainable? How can I continue to eat meat when I know it contributes to climate change, hunger, global pandemics, and human rights abuses? There is always a need to balance what you should do with what you feasibly can do, but if I'm brutally honest with myself, I haven't even been doing a lot of what I could do relatively easily. The arguments about not having enough time or money to make those changes are just arguments - they're not reality. And the arguments that one person can't make a difference is also ridiculous. Ten years ago, asking for a vegetarian meal at a restaurant gave me funny looks. Today, I can open a menu and go straight to the specially-designated "vegetarian entrees". That was because millions of individuals made the decision to become a vegetarian and the markets responded. Now there is a need for consumers to say they want really sustainable products, not just greenwashed marketing, and I intend to be one (of the millions) who makes that demand.

So, my November goals are about changing the way I consume food.

November 2011
Month 1, Goals 1-3
1. Go back to being a complete vegetarian (no fish, no poultry, no meat)
2. Buy in-season produce, locally where possible
3. Buy groceries that have at least one of the legitimate "bio" labels

Germany and the European Union together actually have 10+ bio labels, but not all of them have an actual positive impact on environmental or social issues. I did some research and identified six that were not simply exercises in greenwashing and am basing my purchases on them. [For those of you living in the U.S., the "organic", "natural", "cage-free", and "free-range" labels have virtually no meaning whatsoever thanks to the USDA's conflicting mandate to protect consumers AND producers....If you're trying to make more conscious decisions, you'll need to find local third-party verifiers in your individual states. http://www.eco-farm.org/ is a good place to start looking.]

I also found an awesome calendar of seasonal fruits, nuts, and vegetables in Europe that not only identifies what's in season, but labels what is likely to be grown within Europe and what is likely to be imported. I also located two specific farmer's markets in Frankfurt that only include farmers/cheese producers from the state of Hessen. In reality, many of these farmers also purchase goods from other distributors and sell those products, too (for example, there is no way the current abundance of persimmons came from Germany...). I try to counteract that risk by checking the produce I'm interested in against my seasonal, European calendar.

The outcome after two weeks? A whole new repertoire of recipes, a healthier diet, and the knowledge that what I'm eating is sustainable for future generations.The goal timeline is for only 30 days, but it's already become apparent that this change is cheap and easy, so I'll probably stick to it in the long-run, too.

I found the recipe below while looking for something to do with my seasonal and locally-grown watercress. The picture and the recipe come from Food Republic, a treasure trove of recipes from a "Canadimerican" couple living in California (http://foodrepublik.com/).

I also added pumpkin seeds and radishes (also in season!), which complemented the rest of the salad quite well.

By the way, I *love* honey mustard but spend tons of cash testing out sub-par honey mustard dressing at the supermarket. This recipe is amazing and ridiculously simple to make, ending my search for the perfect dressing!

Hamburg! (2)

2011-09-02T19:48:00.000+02:00

The beach, Hamburg-style!

Followed by an evening at Zur Gondel, a restaurant on one of the many canals in the city. The food at the restaurant is outstanding and they do not skimp on the food. The service was a little grumpy and slow because they didn't have the right number of seats for our reservation (not our fault) and were then forced to move tables around and serve a group with three boys under the age of 15. Nonetheless, I would say a place definitely worth visiting. You can also rent boats and if you're extra-special, have a romantic dinner on the dock (see picture below). We also saw a guy come with his dog and a picnic basket to a boat he had arranged for earlier, where he was then waiting when his date showed up. Quite the romantic, sunset gesture... (http://www.bootsvermietung-dornheim.de/)

CUTENESS!

Can you tell Hamburg is the shipping capital of Europe?

Oh yeah, a ferry boat.

And a schooner.

ZUR GONDEL

Hamburg!

2011-09-01T21:42:00.000+02:00

Went to Hamburg to visit the fam, here's a select few pictures from the Alstervergnügen (Alster Fest) that I visited during my first day there...

This trashcan says "I wish I was a "müllionär"" because the word for trash is "müll" and for millionaire is "millionär". It's a play on words, get it?? Get it?? Of course, every time I see this picture I get that stupid song stuck in my head...

The candy is ALL PLASTIC. The real stuff is in the fridge and they just put out this crazy plastic copies to tempt you...yum...

This man told me he had the best sausage in Hamburg...I'll take your word for it.

This is one Schwarzwälder booth man asking the other to take a picture of him in his ridiculous outfit. Yes, even the salespeople thought they looked hilarious.

Chilling out on the Alster, whuuuuut

They had set up this zip line that took people back and forth so they could jump off this platform. Too cold man, way too cold.

Apparently it's a thing now to knit stuff and throw it on public spaces. I actually read an article about a year ago about a stealth knitter who had been putting stuff on statues and what a huge deal it was and such an artistic statement. I'm not sure how cool that artist thinks it is now that it's become mainstream...

The walk home...

Also a thing - I already posted pictures of this from my Frankfurt trip.You etch your romantic couple name into a lock, lock it on the bridge, then toss the keys overboard. Oh yes, it's just that corny. This particular lock is actually a memorial, and a much better approach to the whole lock thing, in my humble opinion.

Seminar I: Stuttgart (4)

2011-08-31T13:58:00.000+02:00

One of the places we visited while in Stuttgart is an association-like company that promotes investment and innovation in local industry, called "Wirtschaftsregion Stuttgart". One of their projects is working to promote e-mobility (electricity powered vehicles) and they had a series of e-vehicles in the garage for testing and promotional purposes. Below, Veit Haug, Director of Conception and Coordination, showing off the electric smart car and electric bike.

Seminar I: Stuttgart (3)

2011-08-30T13:30:00.000+02:00

As part of our cultural experience, we also took a hike through Stuttgart wine country, with this lovely lady as our guide. She was adorable and hilarious and it was nice to be out and about rather than sitting in a conference room all day.

Seminar I: Stuttgart (2)

2011-08-30T10:55:00.000+02:00

During the seminars we meet with academics, politicians, business people, and representatives of local culture/history to get a rounded view of the particular topic we're looking at. Since one of our topics included Bosch, and therefore BW, we had a chance to visit the Minister President's offices and speak with his chief-of-staff. The new Minister President is from the Green Party, an amazing development for a state that has been ruled by the CDU uninterrupted since 1953.

There are differing opinions about why the Greens won, but it is clear that the Fukushima nuclear crisis and the Stuttgart 21 project were catalysts for change. The Green's interpretation is that the citizens of BW were tired of being excluded from politics and were demanding more civil engagement whereas the CDU is of the general opinion that in the typical German fashion, the voters overreacted to the nuclear issue in Japan and the Green's took advantage of this fact. Both sides are likely to be somewhat right. The Green Party was formed as a result of the nuclear issue decades ago and in an international poll, Germans were ranked as the most reactive and more paranoid about nuclear energy. On the other hand, with the growth of the internet and easy communication, more citizens are aware of the policies their governments are implemented and they are not thrilled when they feel laws are implemented for political or monetary reasons rather than for the greater good.

The chief-of-staff outlined a new citizen engagement policy that includes discussions with stakeholders prior to the implementation of new projects and an effort to provide forums and areas where citizens can voice their opinions and provide feedback. Although I like the initiative, I sometimes question how effective simple "town hall meetings" are going be when considering bigger projects like Stuttgart 21. I think they will need a larger and more integrated program to really see impact citizen opinions and enhance engagement but nonetheless, I find this a very positive development.

These offices also have an in-house curator, and she's responsible for the management and development of the art and furniture within the building. We had a tour around the inside (I am not posting pictures because other people are in them), and it's interesting to see the influences from the different time periods. One room looks like Nixon may have chilled out there, whereas another looks nearly 200 years old.

MINISTER PRESIDENT'S OFFICES

Seminar I: Stuttgart

2011-08-29T10:03:00.000+02:00

As part of the Bosch Fellowship Program, we have three seminars during the year. They are broadly organized as "Germany - Federal," "Germany - State," and "Germany and the EU". The first seminar was "Germany - Federal" and included an introduction to Bosch and its home of Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The first few days we were in Stuttgart, learning about the Bosch Foundation and Bosch as a company. The Foundation building is next to the original house where Bosch used to live and has an amazing view of Stuttgart. Below, to the right of the grassy area, they also have a fruit orchard where employees can go during their break and pick fresh apples to eat.

What I really like about the Bosch company/foundation relationship is the way the funding for the foundation is structured. The foundation does not engage in corporate activity, but holds 92% of the shares in order to fund its activities. The voting rights for those shares are transferred to the Robert Bosch Industrietreuhund KG trust that then decides how to vote. This separates the business from the foundation, enabling both to make the decisions they think are best for their purposes. I think that's awesome.

View from the Foundation (the orchard is down to the right, you can see a few trees)

The funding structure

The Bosch House - Some of the furniture is original, but not all of it. The house changes hands a few times, particularly during the war periods, and it took a while for the company to buy the house back and locate some of the furniture.

The Berlin Hipster Pretention Phenomenon

2011-08-27T16:07:00.000+02:00

Due to Berlin’s reputation for being a party city, everyone goes there to, well, party. At the same time, Berlin is filled with Hipsters who pride themselves on appearing as though they got dressed in the dark in a thrift shop that hasn’t accepted any donations since 1985

Being a Hipster has become a pretentious phenomenon in and of itself before the Hipsters started controlling the clubs in Berlin. Originally intended as a counter-pop-culture-movement, it has since become the mainstream "cool club" to belong to. You have to take time to look like you didn't take time. You have to work hard to look disinterested. And you can only be into things while they're still outside of mainstream culture. The whole concept of "not caring" has been turned on its head, since now you have to care a lot to look like you don't care. (Generally speaking, of course. There are some people where being a hipster just comes naturally.) There was an awesome episode of Happy Endings about this last season, as well as this too-long-but-still-hilarious sketch from the Harvard Sailing Club.

Anyway, the Hipsters often control entry to the bars and clubs and take unbelievable pleasure in turning people away for whatever inane reason they come up with that evening. As a result, people often "go Hipster" in order to get into particular clubs. In other words, the Hipsters themselves have taken their counter-mainstream cultures and forced it to become mainstream in Berlin. Anyone who wants to get into a club assumes a Hipster persona, and the longer they stay in Berlin, the more Hipster they become for real.

I was turned away from some random bar for showing up in a group (they let people in one by one, but turned away anyone who was in a group of more than two) and turned away from Watergate because one of our people was too fancy (he was wearing a plain white button-up shirt instead of a t-shirt with some ironic graphic image on it). Berghain, the most famous club still in existence in Berlin, has a reputation for making people wait in line for up to two hours, only to reject them for no reason once they get to the door. (I’ve also been informed that Cookies also has the Hipster Pretention Phenomenon from time to time, but I think we got there early enough to avoid that issue.) Visiting Berghain, Watergate, or Cookies is worth it at least once just to see whether or not you can pull off Hipster Chic. Luckily, because it’s Berlin, every time you’re turned away, there are three more clubs right next door waiting for you to arrive.

As a result, whenever I go to these places, I just arbitrarily put on a random conglomeration of clothes without looking in the mirror. I know that the mismatching nature of my outfit, which would normally drive me crazy, will be exactly what I need to get past the doorman. I've even purchased a pair of ankle boots that I ironically wear in warm weather with a summer dress and mismatching scarf. If I want to go super Hipster? I put on my square, thick-rimmed glasses - something I ordinarily don't need outside of the classroom.

Despite the inherent irony and pretention that exists in Berlin Hipster culture, I love the influence it has had on the city - there's always some crazy art exhibit or underground club, people wear clothes that are interesting to look at, and no one gets stressed about life. Berlin lives in the now and the only question you have to worry about is, "How long is now?"

Eastern Comfort

2011-08-26T16:32:00.000+02:00

There is a hostel boat on the East Side of the river, called “Eastern Comfort.” Despite the crazy appearance of the boat from the outside - as well as its uglier sister "Western Comfort" - the inside of both boats are really quite nice. As it turns out, the hostel boat is run by an American from Seattle, who also throws a weekly “English-Speaking Party”. The goal of the party is to introduce Germans and other traveling foreigners to native English-speakers and spend the night speaking English. However, as the night progresses, it just becomes an international boat party with no particular language emphasis…

While I was there, a German man was speaking to one of my Spanish friends, and this is what he said about me (in all seriousness!), “Her German is fantastic, but her English is really strange. She should really work on that…” Whaaaaattt?? Last time I checked, my German was passable but the accent is funny and my English borders on perfection. *sigh*. This is why I have to constantly reassess myself and where I’m going in life…(just kidding).

We also spoke to a man from Burma. As he came over, he immediately said, “I’m really high, so I might say strange things.” We looked at him quizzically because he was pointing to a bottle of strawberry wine as he said this. “What?” “Are you really high or really drunk?” “Well, look at this bottle!! I’ve had almost half already!” Then we started laughing and asked if he had done any drugs, the mere suggestion of which shocked him. “No, no, no, no, no!! I drink but I do not do drugs!” Turns out what he meant to say was ‘really drunk’ – he didn’t understand that ‘high’ is only used for drugs. Then after I told him I was from California, he wanted to know where my parents were from. I looked at him quizzically and asked why he would want to know that.

“Well...isn’t everyone’s parents in California from Mexico?”

Sooooooo, if you’re ever in Berlin on a Wednesday, it’s definitely worth a visit!

Deutsche-Amerikanische Volkfest

2011-08-25T15:47:00.000+02:00

A group of the Bosch Fellows went to the German-American Volksfest (folk festival) last weekend, which was absolutely hilarious. The festival is in its 51^styear, and has over the years developed a “Main Street”-style “downtown”, which are basically food booths with corny facades that look like some horrible Disneyland knockoff (see pictures below). They also had a map of the U.S. that was missing a few states and a board up depicting “South Wyoming.” I have to say, North Wyoming felt a little left out…

Despite this, the festival was really fun. The beers (including some American beers) were affordable and the country music cover band was actually very talented. We also went on a rollercoaster, had frozen yogurt, and bought a Dr. Pepper. All in all, a lovely day in the sun.

We also ran into the same mustache club we saw at the international beer festival!! I immediately insisted that we take another picture together, so now we have two pictures from two different festivals with the same Berlin Bart (Mustache) Club.

Two of the men in our group also had the opportunity to get a "hands on" experience with a German-style bachelorette party. In Germany, bachelor/ette parties have lots of games involved that aim at embarrassing the bride- or groom-to-be. In this case, all the women wore t-shirts that said "Germany's Next Best Wife", except for the bride-to-be, who wore a shirt covered with hearts. Each heart has a price on it, ranging from 1 to 4 Euros. The bride then had to ask men if they'd be willing to pay for one of the hearts. If the man said yes, then he had to cut the heart out of the shirt with a pair of scissors and then pay the bride the price listed on the heart he cut out. So naturally, we made the men in our group do it. They each paid 4 Euros and cut a heart out of her shirt, with lots of giggling coming from both groups during the whole process. It sort of made my life.

A German company that delivers American drinks and sodas to your house!!

A questionable map of the U.S....

Little German Cowboys/girls experiencing the Wild Wild West

"Main Street, USA"

I *swear* I did not mean this picture to turn out like this!! I wanted a picture of this super-huge claw game...

South Dakota!

Am I an artist if...

2011-08-25T09:25:00.000+02:00

I photograph other people's art??

Our lovely German instructor, Stefan Endres*, arranged for a tour of the Baden-Württemberg office in Berlin. In Germany, it's very common for public and private companies to support or sponsor contemporary artists (in stunning contrast to the U.S.) and the B-W government is no different. They have an in-house curator who collects art from B-W artists and displays it in their building. Here a few examples that were on display during our visit.

The Nefertiti bust below has a slightly different history from the rest of the works of art. The original Nefertiti bust was discovered during excavations in Egypt that were funded by James Simon, a rich Jewish textiler who lived in Berlin in the early 1900s. Simon was a philanthropist, annually donating one-third of his income to the "benefit of poor people" (i.e. building schools, hospitals, etc). He co-founded the German Oriental Society and it was one of their excavations, funded by Simon, that discovered the bust. Although Simon was well-known in his time for his generous work and his contributions to the study of history and art, he had been relatively forgotten in recent times. As a response, B-W created a memorial in his honor outside the building and set a copy of the Nefertiti bust in their library to remind everyone of the contributions Simon made.

*highly recommended for people trying to learn German in Berlin: http://berlasco.com/en/

Hohenschönhausen

2011-08-24T17:21:00.002+02:00

Disclaimer: Sorry for the delays in writing, as my language classes come to a close and I prepare for our three-week seminar and moving to a brand new city, I haven’t had a lot of time to write. So there are a backlog of stories that you will now be getting a few weeks late!

Two weeks ago we went to the Stasi prison in Berlin, Hohenschonhausen. Formerly a smaller Soviet prison used to question and torture people, the prison was handed over to Stasi control after the formation of the DDR and they expanded the prison by adding several new buildings. The prison can only be visited by participating in a tour, and after the tour I’m glad that they require you to do that. Although the posted boards provide information, they are not nearly as informative as a tour guide – particularly one who been in the prison herself.

Our tourguide, a seemingly ordinary, middle-class woman, began the tour by discussing the shape of the buildings, the size and the number of people held there. At the end of the introduction she says, “And this is where I spent three years of my life. But more on that later.” And then walked off to the next building. Talk about a cliff hanger!

We found out the whole story later: She had been a journalist in the DDR and was already publicly critical of the politics and the country’s leaders. During a trip to Budapest, she went to the West German embassy to inquire into the possibilities of moving to West Germany. She said that she wasn’t sure if she’d been followed there or if one of the West German embassy officials reported her, but soon after that her family started being tailed and she was eventually arrested in her home and brought to Hohenschonhausen. She spent three years undergoing psychological strain as the Stasi tried to find out if she had been working against the government, with whom, and just generally trying to punish her for being a critic. After her release, she refused to take a job because she felt that this served the interests of the DDR, a government she had no interest in supporting. In that time period, anyone who “couldn’t” find work within 6 weeks (and everyone could, because the government gave you the jobs) was considered a societal problem and was thrown into other prisons with the “regular criminals” (i.e. thieves and murderers rather than political prisoners). So she then spent another three years in a different prison. She shared a cell with three other women, two of whom had been convicted of murder. After her release she managed to get her family to Munich where she reentered journalism.

The prison itself would not have seemed so creepy without someone like our tour guide to explain the various forms of physical torture utilized by the Soviets and the psychological torture used by the Stasi. I actually have a limited number of pictures because you just could not get the true sense of what had happened there through still photographs and because I felt strange taking pictures of torture instruments...

The whole day left me unsettled. I know that people are capable of inflicting pain and agony on others, but it is always astounding to me how easily the masses can be moved to behave in such ways. Although the majority of East Germans did not participate in these activities, a large number of them did, and did so against people they knew personally. Such behavior is not a uniquely German attribute either – similar incidents have been perpetrated around the world by a variety of groups and could happen again, anywhere. Having the prison there and giving such tours is important to remind us of how easily we can suppress our humanity and emphasize how important it is for us to continue to reflect on these events even as they disappear further into history.

Original Soviet building - Called the "U-Boot" because it was underground and had no sunlight, just like a submarine.

Newer additions built by the Stasi...

Outside in the courtyard of the prison complex...

P.S. this is not to say that all in East Germany was horrible - the Prison definitely highlights the worst of the worst in that time period. The DDR Museum shows some of the more day-to-day activities and highlights what was also positive, although that museum errs on the side of nostalgia. I recommend a day exploring both together, as the contrast between the two different places provides an interesting study of the multifaceted nature of the DDR.

Instant Noodles

2011-08-22T15:56:00.000+02:00

The plus side of Instant Noodles is that you can make them in your hotel room and have a meal for 1.25 instead of 10.00.

The down side is not being able to read Asian languages and ending up with their instant rendition of sweet n' spicy sour cabbage shrimp soup. Or something like that.

Gauklerfest

2011-08-21T12:31:00.000+02:00

Berlin is a city of street festivals, and last week was no exception. In addition to the International Beer Festival, there was also the Gauklerfest and the German-American Volksfest. Gauklerfest is another street festival, only this time it's focused on funny and crazy street performers. So in addition to the typical booths with crafts, beer, wurst and crepes, there were people walking around in crazy costumes and performing for your general entertainment. So, I pretty much loved it.

Card Tricks...

Please look behind the card tricks guy to the dashing man on the dinosaur...

True to Pied Piper style, after these rats were done performing, they started to lure the children away from the village...

Dried Fruit

Creepy handcrafted fairies for your home decor...

This man kept going around and posing visitors for pictures. Of course, the visitors all kept laughing, at which point he would point angrily and say, "Stop laughing! I'm a serious photographer here trying to make serious art!" At which point everyone would laugh even harder.

His angry pose:

View of the Dom, the Humboldt Box, and the East German Fernsehturm (television tower). Interesting story, the Fernsehturm was built by the DDR to prove their success and happiness to the world, and it's visibility across the wall definitely made it a central vantage point in the East. However, every day for a few hours when the sun shines on the tower, you can see a cross (slightly visible below) - an outcome not planned or wanted by the DDR. Berliners named this "Rache des Papstes", or "pope's revenge". Reagan also alluded to this phenomenon in his 1987 "Tear down this wall" speech.

Sangria

After we walked by this booth, we were looking at our hands and talking about what the different lines meant. Suddenly out of no where, the hand reader was right behind us. She steps in between the three of us, declares "alles falsch!!" (all wrong) and then scampers impishly back to her tent. It was hilarious.

1953 Uprisings

2011-08-18T21:00:00.000+02:00

As part of the Bosch program, we also get one-on-one tutoring. My tutor, Simone, liked to have sessions around Berlin where we could visit monuments or exhibits while having our session.

Below is a visit to the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus. It was constructed by Hitler between 1935 and 1936 to house the Ministry of Aviation and since 1999 the building has been the seat of the German Finance Ministry.

The mural below was created in 1950-52, made of Meissen pocelain tiles. Created by the German painter and commercial artist Max Lingner together with 14 artisans, it depicts the Socialist ideal of contented East Germans facing a bright future as one big happy family. In fact the mural's creation had been a somewhat messy affair. Commissioned by Prime Minister Otto Grotewohl, Lingner had had to revise it no fewer than five times, so that it ultimately bore little resemblance to the first draft.

The reason why we visited the site was because the area in front of the socialist mural later became, ironically, the site of the 1953 Uprising in East Germany. The uprising started with a strike by East Berlin construction workers on June 16. It turned into a widespread Anti-Communist uprising against the Stalinist German Democratic Republic government the next day.

Tourism Berlin (4)

2011-08-18T20:00:00.000+02:00

My lovely friend E from California emailed me last minute to tell me her travel plans had changed and she could come visit me for the weekend! 15 minutes later her train ticket was booked and within days we were cruising around Berlin with our cameras. Since E is an architect, our tours around Berlin focused on cool and interesting buildings, including Liebeskind's Jewish Museum building.

Paul-Löbe-Haus (where the parliament members have their offices) at night...

More Pics!:

Gendarme Markt

Paul-Löbe-Haus

Sony Center

Potsdamer Platz

Berlin Wall Exhibit outside of Sony Center

Liebeskind, Jewish Museum

E in action!

Ordnung muss sein...

2011-08-16T18:51:00.002+02:00

A commonly heard phrase, it's translated to English as "order must be." It refers to the German image of efficiency, organization and punctuality, and is happily used by Americans and Germans alike to describe stereotypical German behavior. I've always found the phrase funny yet irrelevant, as the Germans I knew best were chronically late, unbelievably messy, and tended to dance around their responsibilities rather than completing them in the most efficient manner possible. I used to say "Ordnung muss (nicht immer) sein".

Until, that is, I moved to Germany and wanted to get my mail delivered.

A stern and brusque woman, my landlady runs her building with efficiency, fairly but strictly ruling all within her domain. Except for putting my name on our postbox, which after three weeks of moving in was still missing from the front door. Normally I wouldn't care, but in Germany, Ordnung muss sein and if your name isn't on the box, you don't get the mail. Expecting mail from my bank, the local government, the tax ministry, and my friends and family, I was naturally anxious to put my name on the box. So after a few weeks, I finally gave up and simply put my name on a post-it note and stuck it on the mailbox on my way to school.

Imagine my glee when I came home four hours later to find that the sticky note had been removed and a nicely typed and printed sticker with my name now stood upon the box. That meant that sometime between the morning and afternoon, not only had she noticed the sticky note and removed it, but she had gone back to her office, typed up an official name tag, opened the cover, and replaced the old one. The simple incongruity provided by a little sticky note was enough to motivate my landlady into action and make me an official resident of the building. Now I know, if I ever want something, I just need to create enough incongruity to tug at the ole' German desire for order.

When it comes to the mail in Germany, as they say, Ordnung muss sein.

Pride cometh...

2011-08-13T23:36:00.002+02:00

I *love* to cook, but I always want my effort and costs to be proportional to the time it takes me to eat and the level of enjoyment I get from eating it. I stopped trying to make Vietnamese and Thai food at home because they required so much time and so many ingredients. By the time I buy chilis, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, hosin sauce, fish sauce, shrimp paste, coconut milk, tofu, vegetables and rice noodles and make the broth that is then used to make the curry, I could have purchased and eaten food at a Thai restaurant three times over. I appreciate the time and skill it takes to make such food now, and I'm more than happy to pay someone else for their culinary artwork.

WELL. Much to my dismay, my favorite types of popcorn (caramel, sugared, anything with a sweet coating...) all require an hour of baking after cooking. An extra hour?? Not only is that extra time that I have to wait, it's also extra time where I'm using energy to keep the oven going for a snack that I will likely devour within five minutes. Then I have a total flash of genius: Add the sugary coating before the kernels are popped. When I pop popcorn, the oil I use strongly flavors the popcorn. So, following this logic, the sugar (or spices or whatever) should, too. Completely pleased with my stunning culinary prowess and creative genius, I try it, thinking I've revolutionized the process of popcorn making. The result?

Plain 'ole, get it at your local fair or movie theater kettle corn.

Of course. My flash of genius was in fact a re-flash of genius expressed by someone a hundred years ago and then spread around the world. Hahaha. Oh well. It still tasted fantastic.

Volvo Rap

2011-08-13T11:55:00.000+02:00

I was walking down the street with a few friends when we noticed extremely loud rap music coming from somewhere. As we walked down the block towards the intersection, it became apparent that the music was coming from one of the four cars stopped at the red light but it was so unbelievably loud, we couldn't pinpoint the precise car it was emanating from. We reached the beginning of the row of cars...

Not the red truck...
Not the grey Opel...

The next car was a silver volvo sedan, the classic family car. Laughing, I turned to my friends and yelled, "What if the music was coming from the volvo?? That would be hilarious!"

Then as we were walking past the Volvo, the man in the passenger seat leaned out and the window and shouted, "It would be, but the it's not coming from us!!"

That made my day.

Please respond!

2011-08-09T21:34:00.000+02:00

I'm messing around with my photo system so that the blog doesn't take as long to load.

The idea right now is to post excessive amounts of photography in slide show format (see last post). Please let me know if you like this better, or would prefer to have the pictures all laid out. The alternative option is to post an entry cut, where you would link to a new page if you wanted to see whole post, including the pictures. I unfortunately cannot seem to figure out the HTML code for that...if someone shows me how to do it, that will be the third option!

Option 1: leave it the way it was
Option 2: Switch to slide shows
Option 3: someone shows me how to "cut" my blog post

International Beer Festival

2011-08-09T20:58:00.012+02:00

The world-renowned Oktoberfest is the Costco version of the smaller beer festivals that are hosted by every city (although they always have some different name). Berlin, being the capital and an international city, befittingly called their celebration the "International Beer Festival". Along multiple blocks (about a mile) the sidewalk was lined with booths selling beer from around Germany and the world. The grass area was covered with long benches and tables where people could sit to eat and drink, constituting the self-proclaimed "longest beer garden in the world". So basically, the best festival ever.

Two former roommates, both German, came to visit this weekend and to celebrate we went out to the Beer Festival, along with my two partners-in-crime from the Bosch program. We had the best time! We tried cherry beer, strawberry beer, and mango beer (definitely the winner of the bunch). We also listened to live music and took photos with British stag (bachelor) parties that were dressed in drag and with the German mustache club. (I kid you not, they grow their mustaches out so they have particular looks). Unfortunately, due to my desire to maintain anonymity for my friends, I won't be posting those pictures. However, please find some other IBF photo gems below.

Please note the beer hat...

No Bayerische were hurt in the making of this photo...

Stag Party...

Go here for interesting background on the use of the "budweiser" name:

Hamburgers are American dammit!

Stag Party...

I would like to note that Gyros are now a traditional German food (and expensive, too!)

Not pictured: Women in sexy nurse outfits. In case a mile of beer wasn't enough to draw the crowds...

Schwarzbierfleisch (Dark Beer Meat) from Thuringen. Not worth the hype. Or the price.

Tourism! (3)

2011-08-08T19:11:00.001+02:00

The East Side Gallery is an area of the Berlin Wall that was reclaimed as a positive place for artistic expression and the wall was covered in street art by various artists. I have been there twice now and walked down the wall and back again both times, so I've basically seen it four times. I *swear* every time I walk down, I see a new painting I didn't notice before. Here are a few choice pieces from my last visit.

Gourmand

2011-08-07T16:42:00.000+02:00

I have a teensy tinsy obsession with food, and I particularly love mastering one particular dish that I can then experiment with. Up til now I've played around with panna cotta, cupcakes, and grilled sandwiches. I've just discovered my new experimental love: popcorn! So stay tuned, since I might be posting some new recipes in the coming weeks.

Popcorn #1:
Rapseed oil and truffle salt
A tried and true classic

- Heat oil in pan
- Add kernels and cover
- Wait for corn to be popped
- Add a light sprinkle of truffle salt
- Inhale in five minutes and then look around to see if anyone noticed that you didn't share.

Donnerwetter nochmal!

2011-08-07T16:19:00.002+02:00

The summer in Germany has been less than desirable, so every time there is even a smidgen of sun, I try to do something outside. Last week I found a half day to go to Tiergarten, Berlin's version of Central Park, and sit in front of a small lake while I did my homework.

Cross-Cultural (Mis)Communication

2011-08-07T10:39:00.001+02:00

People have always told me that you can't really understand a culture until you understand the jokes in that language...I now wholeheartedly agree.

I went out last weekend with an American friend and we met up with an Italian friend along the way. As we were heading home later in the evening, my American friend and I started telling jokes. We found them almost uncontrollably funny, but at some point realized that our Italian friend had not been laughing along with us. Turns out he didn't get the jokes, so we tried to explain them to him. After a lengthy discussion of the history, meaning, and hilarity of these jokes, he still looked skeptical and simply said, "I understand that the jokes are funny but I still do not understand why."

Which was to us, of course, hilarious.

Frankfurt Pictures

2011-08-03T17:59:00.001+02:00

In the import section, this is what the U.S. contributes (baked beanz):

Wespe

2011-08-01T16:21:00.000+02:00

A yellow jacket just landed on my desk, right next to my hand. I have no idea how it got here (windows are closed since it's STILL FREAKING RAINING) and I had a brief moment of panic about a wasp in my room. Then I grabbed my water glass and ninja smashed it.

That's all. I just wanted to share my minor victory with everyone.

Ich bin ein Kubaner...

2011-08-01T15:58:00.002+02:00

So Saturday I had made plans to meet up with two separate groups of people, with the end goal of merging the two groups at a club in Kreuzberg. That did not happen. Instead, I went to meet up with the first group who called to inform me they would be an hour late, at which point I joined an "Abschiedsparty" (good bye party) for a drinks warehouse that was closing this particular branch.

Everyone spoke broken German (myself included) or Spanish (in which case I just stood there and smiled). It was pouring rain and the party was using a bunch of huge tents so they could grill outside while they ate inside. I initially asked if I could just stand under the tents while I waited for my friends. They said, "Sure!!" and we started talking. The Cuban, who had come over in 1987 as a guest worker to East Germany and then stayed after the fall of the wall, was grilling all sorts of fresh fish and meat that they had specially gotten for the party. He initially asked, "Do you want wine or beer?" And I was like, "no, it's ok. I don't want to crash, I'm just waiting for my friends. And then I'm going to leave." Five minutes later: "Wine or beer?" "no thanks." Five minutes later: "Wine or beer?" "No thanks." Five minutes later: "red or white?" "White please." The Cuban finally won and I accepted the glass of wine. (Although I do feel like free food and booze is winning for me, too.)

We talked about Cuba, guest working, and specially raised pigs that only eat acorns, and later I met a German who had lived in the U.S. for 10 years, and an Italian architect who had lived in Berlin for the last three years. All the wine was from the warehouse and they had opened only the best bottles. By the end of the night I had tried two whites and two reds, all of which were excellent. The food also was amazing and I ate a ton despite having had dinner already. Needless to say, I ended up staying for two and a half hours and had a ball...

It's funny how I had initially been trying to combine two different events but unexpectedly ended up at a third one instead! As I was trying to explain this whole situation to my friend on Monday, she put it best: "You seem to keep finding these events that will only happen once ever." What can I say? It's Berlin.

Gewalt im Strassenverkehr

2011-07-31T17:46:00.000+02:00

The district in Frankfurt where I stayed was in the middle between the Red Light District and the Financial District, close to the Central Train Station (Hauptbahnhof). It was also the first place in Germany that I witnessed a serious act of aggression, something I don’t really expect from the publicly reserved Germans. As I was leaving my hotel to head back to the Hauptbahnhof, I walked by a street market that was in the process of setting up. The street had been blocked off to cars but a man on a motorcycle, with a woman behind him, had decided the regular transportation laws did not apply to him (as motorcyclists are prone to do…). One of the vendors got into the street and stopped in front of the motorcyclist, telling him that he was not allowed to drive in the street. A yelling fight ensued where the vendor demanded he walk his motorcycle and the motorcyclist demanded that the vendor get out of his way. Suddenly the motorcyclist moved to the side in an attempt to drive around the vendor, and the vendor ran in front of him again. The motorcyclist kept going anyway and ran into the vendor without stopping! He pushed the vendor back several feet with his bike and it was shocking for me that the cyclist would be so willing to hit someone just to avoid pushing his bike the distance of one block. After that the woman got off the bike and the biker went off on his own with the vendor chasing after him and trying to take a picture of his license plate. *Literally* the craziest road rage I’ve ever seen – and I’ve been in and around traffic all over Istanbul and Los Angeles…

Ich mag Zucker soooooo gern...

2011-07-31T15:58:00.000+02:00

I traveled to Frankfurt for a couple of days to formalize one of my work stages, and while I was there I had an extra hour of time to walk around the area by my hotel. Around a fountain a small fair had set up with a crepe stand, flavored ice, a carousal, etc. Right as I walked by, two small children had just received their crepes from their father, who was in the process of paying. The older child, a boy, took a bite and then just as he pulled it away from his mouth, “plat!” the crepe fell on the ground. The younger child, a girl, had also taken a bite at this point. When she saw her brother’s crepe fall, she paused a quick moment and then with a mighty “plat!” dropped hers, too. Distracted by the falling of her brother’s crepe, she had failed to pay attention to her own. The two kids looked at each other and then furtively looked over to their father with intense fear on their faces. When they realized he was still busy with the crepe lady, they hurriedly picked up their crepes, dusted them off and placed them back on their napkins. As their father turned around, the children were happily munching away and watching the carousel horses go round and round as if nothing had happened...

Kokonuss

2011-07-29T15:49:00.000+02:00

Observation: You can't tell by looking at or smelling fresh coconut if it's gone bad or not. You only know after you take a bite and your mouth goes, "What the hell are you doing?!? This sh**s gone bad!"

Das Leben geniessen...

2011-07-28T21:03:00.001+02:00

While I was on my way to my appointment in Frankfurt, I came across this gem of a spectacle. The man was setting up an entire patio scene in a public fountain as Germans with quizzical expressions walked by...please note the fancy tea set - real porcelain, no cheap plastic or modern metal for this fountain dweller!

Tourism! Day 2

2011-07-28T20:59:00.000+02:00

Parisier Platz - Where the mimes go to redefine their lives...

And where the Tin Man has lived ever since the royalties from Wizard of Oz ran out...

Yes, it's true! You can rent a East German Trabi for only 40Euros an hour! Rent one today!

Oberbaum Bruecke...

Kid you not, the jugglers wait on the sidewalk and then run out and juggle during the green lights...

One of the restored paintings at the East Side Gallery, a collection of street art on a portion of the Berlin Wall...

Walking back on the other side of Oberbaum Bridge...

Riverside club in Kreuzberg (we're in the club, this is a restaurant patio on the other side)...

New York

2011-07-28T20:29:00.002+02:00

Forgot to post this picture before I left and just found it on my computer. Kids enjoying musicians in Central Park:

Bahn Musicians

2011-07-24T13:02:00.001+02:00

Since I've been spending the last few days sightseeing, I have passed more time on the U-Bahn (subway) than usual. In one day I experienced a boy with a trumpet playing "Tequila!", a group of three with a trumpet, tambourine, and speakers playing "hit the road Jack", and a man playing on his harmonica. They switch Bahn cars at every station and then play a quick song in between stops for tips.

What's so funny about this are the public reactions. The second someone pulls out their instrument and starts playing, the tourists immediately begin going "oh look!" and "how nice!" and pointing. The Berliners let out a collective sigh and roll their eyes, as in "not agaaaaaaaain...." By the third time, I could understand why Berliners who travel often might have that response.

Interestingly, despite the tourists' delight and the Berliners' dismay, when the musicians are done playing and walk around for tips, it's usually the Berliners who pull out a coin or two for their cup...

Cookies

2011-07-23T19:08:00.001+02:00

Continuing my test of Berlin's nightlife, I went to Cookies last week with Anna and Celia. I had already learned that arriving before 1am in the morning was taboo and will make you look ridiculous, but Anna and I were bored and headed over to the club at 11pm. Sure enough, we were the only two there...

We got to the entrance, and I kid you not, we were carded. CARDED. The partying age in Germany is 18, so that means the bouncer thought that we (mid-twenties) could possibly be younger than 18. I have never been carded in Europe, ever. Even when I was sixteen. I literally thought he was kidding until he was like, no, I really need your ID.

So we got there at 11pm and spent some time getting to know our bartender really well, since the place was totally empty and he had nothing to do. Around 1am Celia and her other friends showed up, as did the entire party scene and we danced ourselves silly until 4:00 in the morning.

During this 1am to 4am period, Anna and I went to the bar to get drinks. A guy turned around and started talking to Anna, so I started talking to his friend. For clarity, let's call him Jens. Jens was a German living in Sweden and we started talking about dating in other cultures. Jens was talking about his Swedish girlfriend and the cultural differences, when he asked if I had a boyfriend. I said, "no, I don't but Anna does." Jens looked at Anna and his friend talking, then looked at me, looked at them again, and then said - completely straight faced - , "My friend doesn't have a girlfriend either. Do you want to switch?" Flabbergasted, I said, "What?!" And he goes, "Do you want to switch? My friend is single, too." Completely seriously. I couldn't help laughing. The offer made complete sense - it had become apparent in this time that his friend wasn't getting anywhere with Anna. My statement confirmed that she was not interested in him, but he was obviously on the prowl and Jens was trying to hook a brotha' up. Despite this, his straightforwardness was so out of the ordinary for me that I was momentarily stunned. I ultimately said no, but I loved the fact that he had asked so directly.

Only in Berlin.

Oh and yeah, it was a tuesday. I went home, slept for three hours and then woke up and went to class.

Cookies
Friedrichstraße 158
10117 Berlin
http://www.cookies.ch/
Only open Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturday. Don't make the mistake of showing up on Friday!!
They also have Cream (get it, Cookies N Cream?!), which is a schmancy vegetarian restaurant. I'm hoping to go there also, but no set plans yet.

Tourism!

2011-07-23T18:00:00.000+02:00

Please note the gas masks...

Communist Clothing

2011-07-21T17:06:00.000+02:00

I am the new owner of a load of red laundry. Damn you communist red t-shirt spy and your sneaky ways of hiding amid other clothes!!

A conversation in the life of my brother

2011-07-21T15:50:00.000+02:00

As we chat online, the following two sentences occurred at the same time:

"i should just be a lawyer and get into a huge firm and not have a life but roll around in nice cars and designer clothes

i'm watching sumo wrestling on some random japanese channel"

Ostberlin

2011-07-17T19:41:00.003+02:00

So I always wondered about East Berlin before the wall came down, and immediately there after. I wonder sometimes about Cuba, too. There are stories and movies, but that's never the same as going yourself. Luckily for me, my new-found friends have a love for the party scene in East Berlin and I might not be able to travel in time, but I can do the next best thing!

We had intended initially to go to Watergate, one of the "hippest" clubs in Berlin according to published knowledge (I've recently discovered that there's a difference between published knowledge and underground knowledge in Berlin, but more on that in a later post). They wouldn't let us in because - get this - one of the men was too nicely dressed. Not underdressed. He was overdressed. And you want to know what part was overdressed? His plain, boring, white shirt. Because it was a button-up. Only in Berlin.

Anyway, we head further east to About Blank. East Berlin still looks like East Berlin, and it's as good as time traveling. We paid an 8 Euro cover because they had a special DJ performing, but it's typically free to get in. I kid you not, the front of the club:

The inside is pretty much the same. Sparse to no decorations or lighting, there is only one bathroom which is in questionable conditions, and the furniture may very well be left over from 1989. The music was also awesomely 1980s, with some jazz saxophone and electric piano mixed into the house beats. At the same time, the eclectic collection of people belied the feeling of being in 1980s Berlin. There were two rooms with bars and dancing inside, and the backyard had been haphazardly converted into a lounge area, sound stage and fast food stand (which served only waffles and french fries). The area was lit only with LED light strips in shades of blue and green, further adding to the aura of an underground club from a different time period. We danced and talked until 4:30am, at which point the rising sun suggested it was time to go home. The entire night had felt like a strange time trip, particularly apparent at one point when a girl walked by with parachute pants on. The contrast between people dressed like her, and people dressed in modern clubbing clothes, along with the hipsters, the underground clubbers, and the Schikimikis* was amazing.

While we were dancing, one of the Germans leaned over and yelled, "I feel like I'm in a club in East Berlin immediately 'nach der Wende'*". I couldn't have said it better myself.

About Blank
http://aboutparty.net/
http://www.myspace.com/aboutparty

*Schikimiki was originally slang for people who are famous for being party people. Like, Paris Hilton would be a "Schikimiki". However, this term has since been loosened to include people who go to clubs and bars dressed like people who are famous for being party people. Not impersonators, but in fancy clothes with fancy brand names and fancy hair, etc.
*"nach der Wende" means after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Literally translates to "after the turn"

Das Berliner Leben

2011-07-17T10:54:00.000+02:00

Question: How do you deal with food poisoning in Berlin?
Answer: Go to a club and don't come home until 5:30 am.

Question: How do you deal with coming home from a club at 5:30 am in Berlin?
Answer: Wake up a few hours later and go to an outdoor swimming pool.

Bar joke...

2011-07-13T19:57:00.000+02:00

Three Americans, a German, and an Australian walk into a bar...

Just kidding, there's no joke. I went to a bar with two Americans, a German, and an Australian and I kept waiting all night for us to create a punchline. Never happened, *sigh*.

Obst und Gemüse

2011-07-12T16:21:00.001+02:00

One of my favorite food things in Germany is how darn affordable fresh fruits and veggies are. I'm not necessarily talking biofoods, just anything that is not canned, jarred, frozen, dried, pureed or dehydrated. Pretend you get paid in Euros (like me). Then imagine that bananas are 60 cents/kilo, nectarines are 75 cents/kilo, tomatoes are 99 cents/kilo, lettuce is 50 cents/head, and cucumbers are 80 cents/large cucumber.

I spent a grand total of 4 euros on smoothies for a week (bananas, nectarines and soy milk). I spent another grand total of 7 euros on salad for a week (lettuce, cucumbers, vine-ripened tomatoes, salad dressing, feta). Add another 5-10 euros for dinner items like pasta, sauce and veggies, and I'm getting a full week's meal for 20 euros!! Then I also get fresh strawberries and coconut for snacks. I know that this changes with the seasons and the variety will be less in the winter, but it's still pretty awesome. I can't remember the last time I ate so many fresh fruits and vegetables.

I LOVE IT.

Let's just forget about the fact that I end up buying coffee and eating out for lunch nearly every day. I'll cut back on that. I swear.

Ich bin ein Japaner...

2011-07-10T16:02:00.004+02:00

Yesterday we decided to go to a bar called ArtBar71. ArtBar71 is a hipster hangout in Mitte which typically has an interesting scene for drinks later at night and always has some sort of art on display.

What "rode" by as I was waiting outside, a six-person bike:

We're in the middle of Fashion Week Berlin right now and the bar had been temporarily taken over by a Japanese art collective. Their exhibit was called "Toyko Comes to Berlin". The artists were all there, including a photographer, painter, and product designer. They had also taken over the bar and were serving champagne and Japanese Summer Noodles while they waited for the Catwalk after-party to arrive. Needless to say, a couple of Americans in jeans stood out in the crowd...

We tried the summer noodles, which I really liked. They were cold and served in a salty broth with spinach in small glasses.

The photography was focused on the alternative lifestyles in Japan, including several posed pictures of a man who was completely covered in tattoos. There were also photos that had been drawn over, including images of the destruction in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami. One picture depicted a destroyed city area, with a boat completely intact but positioned on top of a multi-level building. The artist had then drawn (with what looked like white-out-type ink) the image of someone with a rocket pack blasting towards the sky and away from the destruction.

A visual media piece showed various clips of what appeared to be Japanese businessmen enjoying a Japanese brothel. The paintings, sample below, took a street art/graffiti approach to traditional Japanese cartoon imagery. From what I could understand (which was not much), there was also going to be a live painting later that night by the same artist. All in all, the art was a conflict between traditional expectations of Japan and modern realities. The jarring images tended to highlight pain, discord, and loneliness, with fantasies about leaving or wishing for something different. The feeling I got personally was very similar to the discomfort I get from art produced by Germans and Austrians during the Weimar Period (i.e. Otto Dix and George Grosz), although the style was significantly different. I also felt like this art was a reflection more of the individual's wish to flee, rather than the condemnation of society that Dix and Grosz depicted.

The product designer we spoke to was very nice, but I have to say I wasn't all that into his work. He had designed various household items, include a bowl and utensils, that were very simple and plain. I didn't really see what he was contributing to design in general. To be honest, though, I also couldn't understand why UCLA's new logo cost $100,000, when it just looked like someone had taken the old logo and italicized it. I don't usually get modern design concepts...

For people into modern art, I highly recommend both this exhibit and ArtBar71 in general. The bar rotates work through fairly frequently and a lot of up-and-coming people have exhibited or performed (music) there.

ArtBar71
http://www.myspace.com/artbar71

Kronenstraße 71

10119 Berlin

030 20879998

Brandenburger Tor

2011-07-09T14:56:00.001+02:00

Kapstachelbeere aka Physalis aka Blasenkirschen...

2011-07-09T14:33:00.001+02:00

...aka Judenkirschen aka groundcherries aka gooseberries!!

One of my favoritest fruit is the gooseberry, a delightful little thing that is allegedly native to the Americas, but I have yet to discover fresh gooseberries anywhere in my local markets and grocery stores. So I usually block the memory of their existence in the States. When I got here, I immediately went looking for them in the supermarket but couldn't find them until today. The sneaky little buggers had been hiding behind a vegetable scale. WELL. I bought them. And ate the whole package in the amount of time it took me to write this post. I love these things.

Photo Evidence

2011-07-08T19:18:00.001+02:00

The weather has significantly improved and is now a balmy 80F, but to demonstrate the ridiculousness of my arrival weekend:

This is me freezing my ass off because I don't have a thicker jacket on...

And this is Jessica, about to put the new umbrella that she *literally* bought within the last 24 hours in the trash can...at least now it can commiserate about its pain with the three or four other umbrellas that are already in there.

Im Juli

2011-07-03T15:30:00.001+02:00

My first full day in Berlin went relatively well. I managed to get my travel pass, cell phone, and apartment deposit business completed relatively quickly. I did discover, however, that my current phone plan is ridiculously expensive, so once I run through the credit the phone came with, I’ll probably switch.

What I would really like to do, though, is file a complaint with the Berlin Weather Bureau. They apparently did not get the memo that it is JULY, as today was extremely windy, rainy, and in the low 20s Celsius. Not rainy because it’s humid, and not windy in the “breezy” sense. It has become apparent that the tenured bureaucrats at BWB have become lazy and no longer feel the need to follow the seasonal guidelines established in Nature Guide (versions 1.0 and 1.1) or the expectations outlined in the Development of Life, Etc., as discussed on pages 1, 42, 63, and 4332-4501. Therefore I fully intend to file a complaint, particularly in regards to the distress this has caused and its effects on my personal well-being. I will be filing for damages (highlighting the fact that I was attacked several times by flippant umbrellas and my colleague was forced to purchase two umbrellas within one day due to irreparable wind damage). I am seeking a settlement of at least three months of lovely, sunny weather plus financial damages. I am willing to forgo the financial damages if BWB will immediately provide the requested weather change as a good faith measure. Photographic proof of said events to come soon...

Kaffee und Kinder

2011-06-30T15:29:00.000+02:00

Having survived British Airways’ attempt to bump passengers to a flight leaving the next morning, I started boarding the plane only to discover that my seat mate was a boy of maybe seven or eight years old. His entire family had been separated, leaving him by himself on my row. Ordinarily I would have switched seats so the mother could sit next to him, but it was a seven hour flight and her seat was in the middle of the row, whereas I had the aisle. I figured I could keep an eye on him and make sure he was eating and buckled up and all that, and that would make up for my unwillingness to sacrifice.

As soon as we took off, we were served dinner. Due to some mix-up, I ended up with a “Hindu Vegetarian” meal instead of the “lacto-ovo vegetarian” that I had ordered. The entrée was a lovely curry with rice, but the side dish was an Indian-style, spicy granola-type thing and dessert was an unrecognizable white, grainy blob. The blob was actually quite tasty once you got past the appearance and texture, so all in all I was not disappointed in my meal. I also utilized the complimentary alcohol service in an attempt to drink myself to sleep for the rest of the flight. Karma, however, had a different idea in mind, clearly punishing me for my earlier unwillingness to move.

The child did not buy into the “sleeping during an overnight flight” concept. When the flight attendant came by with tea and coffee, the kid ordered a coffee! Clearly taken aback, the properly British flight attendant exclaimed, “excuse me!? What did you want dear?” “Coffee.” The kid was a straight shooter – no look of surprise, no indication that he was getting away with murder, which as I later found out he was. The flight attendant composed herself, took his cup and put coffee in it. Then the kid continues to watch Rango while drinking his coffee black, with no sugar.

After dinner, his mother comes over to check in on him. “Are you drinking coffee!?” [‘Drinking’ was really the wrong choice of words, since at this point the kid had clearly already ‘drank’ the entire cup.] “You know you can’t have coffee, what were you thinking?? Do not get coffee again.” I would have laughed, except that this now meant I was sitting next to a caffeinated eight-year-old. Sure enough, he was awake and messing around on his tv screen, or fidgeting around in his seat, or getting up to go to the bathroom, for the rest of the seven hour flight. The few times I manage to doze off, he managed to whack my side with an errant elbow or flailing foot.

I pride myself on being the type of person who will offer to move for families without being asked, since I know how aggravating it can be for parents and children to be separated. This time, however, I really, really wanted the aisle seat and had even made sure to reserve it online earlier in the week. Just because a total stranger neglected to plan well does not mean I should have to sacrifice my comfort. That being said, I will most definitely be switching seats in the future regardless of where I’m sitting. When you mess with Karma, she comes back and slaps you in the face.

The Sins of Our Luggage

2011-06-30T15:00:00.000+02:00

Getting to Berlin proved more challenging than expected. The last time I moved to Germany for the longer-term, I was going for school. Since I didn’t own any winter clothes (coming from California) and since I didn’t need any work clothes, the trip was completed relatively easily with two, perfectly packed suitcases. This time around, I stuck to two suitcases again. Only throwing in winter clothes and work clothes meant that the two suitcases were overflowing and overweight.

Arriving at Dulles, I looked around and quickly grabbed the insanely overpriced moving cart and brought it over to the shuttle. I had already plastic wrapped and taped one of the suitcases shut because I was afraid it might burst open in transit. What I did NOT expect was that the other suitcase would be the traitor, and that its treason would have nothing to do with the zipper. As I started to lift the suitcase onto the moving cart, I head a metallic *snap*! Looking around the side, I discovered that the stand on the bottom of the suitcase had broken off. On its own, a relatively small problem. However, since the wheels were still intact, I also couldn’t lean the suitcase against anything either. Whenever I tried to lean it on something, the wheels would start to roll and the suitcase would casually slide to the ground like a drunk hobo. Unable to deal with the issue at the time, I simply got into line and checked my bags. I would deal with their problems of obesity and public intoxication when we arrived at the other end.

Announcement

2011-04-06T19:53:00.000+02:00

I am a Robert Bosch Foundation Fellow for the 2011-2012 year!

I've known this since January but I didn't really believe it until this morning while I was looking at the sheet describing my apartment in Berlin. I'm moving to Berlin!! I literally squealed and did a little dance-y thing around my room and then my horoscope was all "you might have a very upbeat day." Correct Horoscope. Correct.

I'll be in Germany for a year and then who knows?? Turkey? Africa? New Zealand?

If I'm posting...

2011-04-02T23:31:00.000+02:00

...it indicates that i should be doing something else.

A new study shows that Coca-Cola is not as good at room temperature. A study of 1 graduate student in a library has definitely demonstrated that a room-temperature Coke is not as delicious as a cold one, contributing negatively to the development of weekend morale. Scientists suggest a cold beer or glass of wine may mediate the situation but until we make much-needed reforms to the library infrastructure, that remains a distant possibility. Researchers are urging Coke drinkers who will participating in full-day library trips to plan carefully so as to avoid aggravating an already-dismal situation.

White House Christmas

2011-02-24T04:01:00.000+01:00

Sorry, most of my photos sucked this is all I've got...

Book store

2011-02-24T03:54:00.000+01:00

My favorite DC used bookstore, go there!!!!

Capitol Hill Books
http://www.capitolhillbooks-dc.com/chbooksdc/
657 C Street SE
Washington, DC 20003
(202) 544-1621

Ahhhhh humor

2011-02-24T03:22:00.000+01:00

I went to New York in January for an interview and during one of my free days I went shopping. In the middle of a freezing cold, lightly drizzling, highly windy, miserable day, this was offered outside one of the jewelry stores I visited:

I'm Turkish!

2011-02-14T03:46:00.003+01:00

I was studying in a room today where a guy was practicing the piano (common lounge area). He's working through his songs and gets to the Turkish March. He's having some trouble on the last third so he keeps playing the song over and over.

Out of no where some guy walks in and goes, "Hey, I'm Turkish and I can play the jazz version of that song. Do you want to hear it?" The piano player goes, "yea" and the Turkish guy sits down and busts out this awesome jazzy version of the song.

Then he gets up, says, "that was made by a Turkish composer," and walks out of the room.

Random awesomeness.

Last Kayak of the Season

2010-12-29T16:09:00.001+01:00

I took these pictures a while ago, and realized later that some of the people in the photos are from my program...can you recognize yourself?

Karma

2010-12-20T22:20:00.000+01:00

SOOOOOOO, I was thrilled this morning because I knew that I would be finishing my final final, I would getting a new fridge and stove/oven, and I would get to just watch freaking tv while I clean the house. Yippppppeeee!

But Karma said, "Hey! No good stuff without something aggravating. Here you go, my gift."

So when the Sears people came today to replace the broken down oven and bring a new fridge (awesome holiday gifts from the landlady), they also managed to hit a pipe and cause a leak where our washer/dryer connects...ha. ha. ha.

Luckily I heard the dripping before they had gotten into their truck so they came back and temporarily fixed it. A repair person should come by in "48-72 hours" to fix it permanently so it's not actually that bad. Just aggravating. Danged Karma.

My Singing Debut

2010-12-18T03:56:00.001+01:00

I still have one more final. I procrastinated for a while and then decided, heck, if I'm going to procrastinate I might as well be productive about it. So I went to the gym.

At 8pm on Friday gyms are empty. *Apparently* people have better things to do on Fridays. So I'm on the elliptical for a little while when "Perfekte Welle" comes onto my iPod. I look around, there's still no one in the gym, so I start singing. Out loud. I LIKE THE SONG, OK?!?!

Anyway.

I'm belting out an awesome rendition of the chorus when I see movement out of the corner of my eye. What do I see but two guys walking through the gym on their way to their car.

I want to be clear here, I've ALWAYS wanted relatively attractive, close to my age men to walk into the gym so I can *finally* use the pick-up line: "Um, can you show me how to use that machine?" Instead it's always men who are at least 70. Thanks but no thanks.

So finally, FINALLY, two, relatively attractive, close to my age men walk through the gym on their way to go out somewhere and what do they find? Sweaty ole me, singing the chorus to a German song. Awesome.

Finals Madness continues!

2010-12-16T02:21:00.000+01:00

On my way back home from final #5, I saw a midget Elvis Presley. The Presley fro, the glasses, even the white suit. Only he was about 3.5 feet tall.

Explain this again, please

2010-12-15T15:39:00.000+01:00

Did I mention I have 7 finals? For 4 classes. Yes, that's right. Seven.

And I'M paying THEM.

A little dated?

2010-12-12T22:21:00.000+01:00

I was reading a book and I had noticed before that the cover was dated and the author looked out of our time, too, but I just wrote it off. Then there were some examples that were a little odd but I shrugged it off again. Then I got to the part that was talking about individuals.

"In understanding this, it is important to understand that everyone is egotistical. This is founded on a concept of individuality and the uniqueness of the individual. This must be accepted as a reality. This is why Communists are so bad with dealing with people. They ignore the concept of individuality and focus instead on the faceless mass of the "community.""

What?!?!

I finally gave in and took a look at the publishing date: 1956.

Figures.

Finals Hilarity Continues!

2010-12-08T20:25:00.000+01:00

So, I wishing last week I could be in a flashmob.

Apparently God is the person granting wishes this week because I am currently in the middle of flashmob RIGHT NOW about "dancing in the light of God."

I literally was sitting nicely working on my account project in the library when a group of people come in, apparently from class. The sit around talking when suddenly a drum starts, and a guitar starts, and suddenly people start gathering and singing. Flashmob! In the library! By a religious singing group!

Santa and 16 year olds, following by relative relations, and now a Godly flashmob!

Two times is a coincidence. Three times is finals hilarity!

It's a Small World...

2010-12-06T06:10:00.000+01:00

So, I'm currently (midnight on a Sunday) in my school library working on a final paper for my security class. I've just reached the second to last article I'm planning on referencing in my paper and I notice a familiar name.

Working on a hunch, I go to Facebook and look it up. Sure enough, in a database filled with millions of articles, I unwittingly pulled out an article that was written by my cousin-in-law. Of all the possible outcomes I could have had from that academic search, I pulled up the article written by a close relative.

Amaaaaazing.

It wouldn't have been trippier...

2010-12-05T06:10:00.001+01:00

...if I'd really been stoned.

So, I spent six hours straight sitting in front of a computer and working on a paper at which point I had only gotten halfway through. So I thought, I'm going to get cupcakes, durned it! I get my cupcakes and walk out to the nearest bus stop. And I see Santa. And then another one. And another one. And then some elves. Wearing slutty elf outfits. And sharing cigarettes.

As I slowly and cautiously approach the crowd of smoking, slutty Santas and Santa helpers - I kid you not - a sweet sixteen party turns the corner. About twenty 16-year-olds wearing matching pink shirts turn the corner and start giggling about the Santas. They stop at the first attractive Santa and start asking silly questions and generally being teenagers.

By the time I get to my bus stop, I'm holding a dozen cupcakes, in a crowd of Santas talking to 16 year olds on one side, slutty elves flirting with an extremely attractive police officer on the other side, and just generally bewildered. As the bus pulls up to the curb for me, I turn around again, just in time to see one of the Three Kings show up and start arguing with the bouncer about his ID.

Perhaps he should have tried bribing the bouncer with some Myrrh. Or maybe that's what I'd been smoking.

Damn the questions

2010-12-02T22:54:00.001+01:00

We were about to get out of class 25 minutes early when SOMEONE opened his darn mouth and asked a silly question that took up all the time. So yes. There are such things as stupid questions.

Ah, stereotypes playing themselves out

2010-10-05T01:17:00.000+02:00

In a move of hilarity, the Europeans in my course are acting according to the stereotypical behavior expected of them. The Brit is a Eurosceptic. The Germans and Spaniards are constantly fighting with her, and the Poles sit quietly putting in their two cents only when it is directly relevant to their personal interests. Love it.

Review: Restaurant Week!!! Cafe Atlantico

2010-08-21T02:57:00.000+02:00

Pork Cheeks with black beans, white rice, farofa, oranges
That little orange drop on the bottom left? The sauce of doom.

I'd never been to Cafe Atlantico before, and frankly I'd never heard of it either. Turns out it's an Latin-inspired fusion place led by Chef Katsuya Fukushima right in Chinatown. We sat outside and even had live music from an outdoor concert that was playing a block away. Thus far it has been the best place I've been to for Summer RW 2010. One restaurant remains in the running, and we'll see if it beats Cafe Atlantico out on Sunday.

Dominican Conch Fritters with jicama-avocado raviolis, passion-fruit oil

The Food
First Course: Dominican Conch Fritters with jicama-avocado raviolis, passion-fruit oil
I inhaled these buggers. They were large enough that I had to take two bites to eat one, but it was delicious. The avocado raviolis tasted a little like deconstructed guacamole (they were cold). I loved the idea and the execution was great. When you ate a bite of that together with a bite of the fritters it was delish. The inside of the fritters were unexpectedly slimy, which could totally throw someone off...like me. Luckily I liked it, but the texture takes some getting used to. My one issue was that I couldn't taste the conch, just the fritter batter (which was like cornbread. No complaints on that).

Second Course: Pork Cheeks
These were delicious! The meat came apart nicely, like a well-cooked pot roast. The black beans they were served on top of were fantastic, but I got surprised by a taste of super-spicy sauce they had drizzled on the side. SUPER. SPICY. I nearly finished my whole glass of wine then and there, hah.

Third Course: Warm Chocolate Cake with lime ice cream and banana mousse
Cake was fine, mousse was banana-y (I hate bananas) and the lime ice cream was awesome and creamy. I have to say though, what's with every restaurant serving options of either a thick chocolate cake/tart or mango ice cream? It's overdone and boring.

“Beetsteak” Tomato Salad with seasonal beets, yogurt, fresh herbs, sherry vinaigrette

My friends' dishes
“Beetsteak” Tomato Salad with seasonal beets, yogurt, fresh herbs, sherry vinaigrette
Nothing unexpected. The dressing was a little salty, but in a good way.

Salmon with peaches, lime, passion fruit, chicken jus
Nothing interesting. I have to say, salmon is probably the worst investment you can make at a restaurant. Unless you can't take a slab of salmon and fried it in a pan, or are health-conscious and there are no other options on the menu, it's not worth the purchase. It always tastes exactly the same and you could easily make the exact same quality fish at home.

Flat Iron Steak with summer corn, peach
Delicious, and it came with the absolutely most delicioso mashed potatoes.

Flat Iron Steak with summer corn, peach

The Service
Our Server checked in often, water was always refilled quickly, and management came by to to talk to every table. Excellent.

Overall
The food was all fantastic. I tried the conch fritters and the pork cheeks to try something new and unusual, and I was disappointed that the flavors weren't new or unusual. The conch may have been but I couldn't taste it. Regardless, it was still completely worth going and a place I highly recommend anytime of year.

Warm Chocolate Cake
Venezuelan chocolate flan, banana mousse
lime ice cream

Rating: 9/10
It lost a point because they served a totally unique protein (conch) and then covered up all the flavor and texture by coating it in batter and deep frying it. I could have eaten fried cornbread and it probably would have tasted the same. But like I said before, I highly recommend this over any other restaurant I've been to this week.

Cafe Atlantico
405 8th Street NW
Washington DC 20004
(202) 393-0812
info@cafeatlantico.com

Review: Restaurant Week!!! I Ricchi

2010-08-20T21:46:00.003+02:00

I went to I Ricchi two and a half years ago during the January 2008 RW. It left a very favorable impression last time, particularly because they were willing to give me two vegetarian appetizers instead of requiring me to pick one appetizer and one entree (with no veggie entree options). On top of that, all the food was fantastic. I was pleased to see that this year the entree menu included a vegetarian option, so when a friend came from out of town, I decided to give the place a try again. Mistake.

The Food
Overall, the few dishes left over from RW two and a half years ago were still amazing. Everything else fell disappointingly flat. I checked to see if ownership had changed, or if a new chef was listed as creating the menu, but not a whisper. It's clearly the quality of the recipes rather than the quality of the food, because the originals still tasted amazing. Whoever created the new recipes just missed the essence of Italian food (and fine dining) completely.

My Meal
Panzanella salad
I ordered panzanella salad because I've made it at home but never had the opportunity to try it in a restaurant. Apparently it's about 50% boring croutons with virtually flavorless greens and a bland balsamic dressing. Not what I was expecting.
Pasta with mushrooms, peas and cream sauce
The pasta was passable.
Chocolate tart with pear
The chocolate tart was a relic from years past and as thick and delicious as I remembered it.

Friend's Meal
Risotto with summer vegetables
The risotto is also a relic from the past (and delicious) but in a twist of obvious laziness, the vegetables were not in fact summer vegetables. They were peas and carrots and all the same vegetables that they used in their winter risotto. I have to wonder if they have them frozen in the back...
Round Steak with mashed potatoes and mushroom sauce
The round steak came rare (see below for more on that debacle) and strangely unflavored. My friend is picky about her food, so when she initially complained I thought maybe she just didn't like it because she didn't like that particular cut of meat. But no, I tried it and there was definitely something wrong with it. The meat literally tasted like someone had cooked it, completely unseasoned, in a brand new pan/skillet/oven. There was also a strange after taste to it like maybe it had once been soaked in a sauce but all that was left was some unpleasant residual hint.
Chocolate tart with pear

The Service
There were several complaints about the service. The first was our server, who was extremely awkward. She'd start to talk and then stop suddenly, like she was planning on adding something. We'd look at her, waiting for her to say more and instead she'd walk abruptly away. Looking at the other servers, this was clearly only one person who was inexperienced. I would have been fine with that but the head chef and the restaurant manager decided to implement other policies that contributed to an overall negative experience.

Substitutions. Now most restaurants do not allow substitutions during RW, and that's understandable. With the high volume of customers, you just don't have the time. However, my friend does not like mushrooms and mushrooms were on nearly every single entree. So we asked if they could just skip the mushroom sauce on the steak - we didn't ask them to substitute it for anything. When you get to that step on the plate, you just don't put it on. The answer was no. So we thought, alright, she can push it aside. Then my friend asked for the meat to be cooked medium instead of medium rare. Apparently, that was not an option either. Now I'll put up with sauces (you just put them aside), but if you're going to serve red meat (or seared fish, or anything else that could be raw for that matter), you let people choose. If you think you're going to be so stressed you can't deal with it, don't put it on the menu. Not only that, but the meat actually came out extremely rare. My friend was forced to eat around the edges where it was cooked and probably left a good 60% of the steak on her plate.

Then they charged for soda refills. $2.95 for a tiny glass of soda. In Europe that's ok and expected - in America it's not. If you're going to do that, then you let people know. Even fancy restaurants warn their customers before doing it.

My favorite strangeness of the evening though, happened befor the meal. They bring bread to the table at the beginning of the night and pour the olive oil and vinegar for you - only to leave and take the bottle of oil and vinegar with them! So we got a whole basket of bread and two tiny spots of olive oil and vinegar. Total waste of bread.

Overall
Overall, this was a huge disappointment compated to my last visit here. Either a new chef is creating some recipes that are sub-par, or the owner/chef Christianne Ricci has lost her touch. The originals were still delicious but the new stuff fell flat. The strange service and unwillingness to be flexible, even when the restaurant was only 1/3 full, completely destroyed any chance of me going back. I do not recommend I Ricchi.

Rating: 3/10
One point for the tart, one point for the risotto, and one point for nostalgia of times past.

I Ricchi
1220 19th Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036
P: (202) 835-0459
F: (202) 872-1220
iricchi@aol.com

Review: Restaurant Week!!! Sushi Taro

2010-08-19T20:22:00.002+02:00

UPDATE:
DCist.com wrote a review on Sushi Taro as well, and they get more gourmand-y in their descriptions than I do. If you want some pictures and a description of dinner, here's the link: http://dcist.com/2010/08/rw_madness_sushi_taro.php

It is that bi-annual time of year again: Restaurant Week! For one whole week participating restaurants in DC offer three-course prix fixe menus for $20 at lunch and $35 at dinner. My favorite event in DC. EVER.

This is my third year so there's the "tried and true" restaurants I've added into the mix of new places I'm trying out. Sushi Taro is one I haven't been before, and that's because they're always booked. Sushi Taro has a reputation for being a high-quality, highly-traditional sushi place. If you want to do a tasting at the bar, it's a $120.00 minimum order with reservations required. So you can imagine how people jump at the chance to try the basics for only $20 or $35. Luckily the horrific hot weather actually worked in my benefit this time, cutting down the number of diners willing to go outside in the middle of the day. I snagged a spot for lunch yesterday for myself and two of my girlfriends.

The food
Two of us ordered the restaurant week menu and the other ordered a fried chicken bento box.

The bento box: sashimi, tempura, and fried chicken; side of rice and miso soup. The sashimi was high quality, and the rice, soup, and tempura were normal. I loved the chicken. I loved it. If I wasn't stuffed, I would have eaten the whole thing. There's a caveat - it's dark meat. A lot of Americans hate the dark meat on the chicken and my friend is one such American (which means I got to try a piece she didn't want). However, if you like dark meat, that is one quality piece of chicken. Yum yum.

The restaurant week menu
First course: Three Box Tasting
1st Box: Sashimi
High quality fish but it didn't come with rice, which is highly unusual. I wasn't willing to pay extra for a bowl of rice so I eventually got overwhelmed by fishiness...

2nd box: Chikuzen-ni, grilled salmon, omelette
The grilled salmon and omelette (Tomago) were normal. The Chikuzen-ni was really good (but again, dark meat so not everyone is a fan). Chikuzen-ni is traditionally made with different vegetables and roots, and some of those were included in the box. I took an adventurous taste of Konjac gel, a thick gelatin made from Konjac (look it up on Wikipedia, the first picture of a gray slab with black dots on the left is what I ate). It is not to my liking.

3rd box: Shrimp and veggie tempura
Average.

Second Course: Sushi
Tuna, salmon, shrimp, eel, yellowtail, flounder
Salmon & avocado roll
I had never had flounder before and I've decided I'm not a fan. Not really a reflection on the quality of the fish. I liked the eel, shrimp, and salmon and avocado roll. The sushi was all very good and high quality but I was way too stuffed to finish it. I ended up sending most of it to my friend's office to share with her co-workers.

Third Course: Ice Cream
You could choose green tea or mango ice cream. We ended up with one of each. The green tea tasted exactly like the unsweetened powdered green tea you buy in Asian speciality stores and was practically rock hard. If you like the green tea or don't have a big sweet tooth, you'd probably like it. The mango was fantastic.

The Service
The service was ok. The server seemed like she was irritated by something else (not us) but was trying not to let us know that, but then it came across anyway, which made it extremely awkward. I also ordered green tea ice cream and got mango, but I'm not complaining after seeing the green tea.

Overall
If you want really high-quality sushi, this is the place to go. It's more expensive than your average sushi place, but afterall, you pay more for the good stuff. Their other dishes are all traditional, which I greatly appreciate. I'm tired of "Japanese" restaurants serving "Philly rolls," sickly sweet teriyaki chicken and other Americanized dishes. If I wanted that, I'd go to a fusion restaurant. However, some of their dishes were totally average, like the edamame and tempura. Do you really want to pay $6 for an average plate of edamame?

The service was strange but I want to say it was probably just an off-day for that particular server. I'm not holding that against them.

Rating: 7/10

Sushi Taro
1503 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036, USA
TEL : 202-462-8999

Moving

2010-08-04T16:12:00.000+02:00

I have a common name in Turkey, but I never knew anyone with it growing up in the States. So whenever I hear my name, I know without a doubt that I'm the person being paged. Well, I just moved into a new apartment in a condo complex, and it turns out that there's a nice little Turkish community here. I was at the pool yesterday and a toddler came in with her mother and grandmother. As it turns out, they're Turkish and the toddler has my name.

I'm lying out by the pool, reading some book for work, when suddenly I hear "Name! Don't go in the deep end!!" all in Turkish. I sit up suddenly, thinking, What? I'm not! I'm just reading! Then I realize these people only sound like my relatives. They are actually yelling at the toddler and not at me. Over the next 20-30 minutes, every time they called out her name I would start up suddenly. I just hope they're not at the pool every time I'm there...

Review: Hook DC

2010-08-01T21:58:00.004+02:00

Hook is a restaurant in Georgetown that specializes in seafood that is eco-friendly and sustainable. So naturally, I'm a huge fan.

The Service
Strange. The waitstaff is always very friendly, but extremely slow. I went once in January with my mom for dinner when the restaurant was packed, and then recently with my roommate for lunch when the restaurant was relatively empty. It's almost as if the service is intentionally slow, which in this case is not a good business decision. Additionally, the second time around the server never asked us how the food was and got easily distracted by happenings outside our window.

The Food
When I went in January with my mom, absolutely all the seafood we had was magnificent. The dessert was nothing special, but it still tasted good. Everything was phenomenal. When I went this last time, both the hamburger and the calamari were burned - and not in the tasty, smoky way. It was unpleasant. The mushroom cream sauce that came with the calamari was delicious and perfectly complemented the fried poached egg. The french fries that came with the burger were better than I expected from shoestring fries, with a soft texture on the inside and tasty seasoning on the outside. The tuna tartar was also good, although they could have served it with more sauce (wasabi and chili sauces were drizzled on the plate). Dessert was a raspberry tart with vanilla ice cream and peanut brittle. The tart tasted store-bought but the ice cream and brittle were fantastic. One major thing I appreciated was the fact that they carry authentic German white beers - it was the first time I've had the real stuff since leaving Germany.

Rating: 7/10
If I had rated the restaurant after my first visit, they would have a 10/10. But lunch was continually disappointing and the server never once asked us how the food was. I don't typically send food back because I don't want to waste it. In retrospect I should have been more aggressive this time. We might have had a better experience if they had re-made both the burger and the calamari. I will definitely give them the benefit of the doubt and go back again, because sometimes restaurants just have a bad day.

Hook
http://www.hookdc.com/
202.625.4488
3241 M St. NW
Washington, DC 20007

Review: Georgetown Cupcake

2010-08-01T21:32:00.001+02:00

Georgetown Cupcake is known throughout DC for its scrumptious...well, cupcakes. Their new show on TLC has no doubt boosted their name recognition, although the show itself is a total disaster.

The Service
Everyone who works in the front look like local college students and they're all very friendly. The one complaint I've heard (it's my friend's absolute pet peeve) is that they wear gloves in order to avoid contaminating the food, and then touch their hair with the gloves on their hands - completely defeating the purpose. I've never seen it and even if I did, it absolutely doesn't bother me. The line is also a total pain but avoidable. If you can, go before 11:45am.

The Food
The cupcakes that I like, I LOVE, with coconut, salted caramel, and toffee topping the list. However, they also have a lot of cupcakes that are boring at best, including cookies n' creme, chocolate coconut, and white chocolate raspberry (The last one is a total disaster. I shared it with four people and no one liked it). People who have told me they don't like Georgetown cupcake are those who do not like excessively sweet things or do not like frosting (or the first cupcake they tried was the white chocolate raspberry).

Front: Red Velvet and Cherry Blossom. Back: Coconut

Rating: 9/10
They lose the one point for those $2.75 cupcakes I bought and absolutely couldn't stand.

Georgetown Cupcake - Georgetown
www.georgetowncupcake.com
3301 M Street NW (corner of 33rd & M)
Washington, DC 2000

Review: Matchbox (Brunch)

2010-08-01T20:49:00.003+02:00

So, this is a little late in coming (say, eight months?) so I don't remember all the details.

The Service
Don't remember the service, which means it was not horrible. What was awesome, however, is that if they know you're in a group, they'll automatically divide up the food on the receipt by seats. So you get one receipt, but there is a different section for every person. This made life ridiculously easy.

The Food
I got the waffles with strawberries and a raspberry-lime whipped cream. The food was really tasty, but frankly the raspberry-lime flavor didn't come across at all. The whip cream was pink, and that was about it. My neighbor got "stuffed french toast." It was two slices of "french toast" made with french baguette with cream placed between the two pieces, so it's totally different than the french toast you'd expect. I could see that disappointing some people, but according to my friend it still tasted great. Rant for all restaurants: You charge us $2 - 3 extra to get fruit and then there is maybe 1 sliced strawberry or 4 blueberries on the plate. WHAT IS THAT?

Rating: 9/10
It's an easy, affordable place to go with friends and you'll get delicious food - even if it's not exactly what was described on the menu. There is a lot to be said about places that afford convenience when you go with more than 6 people.

Matchbox Chinatown

713 H St NW,
Washington, D.C. 20001

202.289.4441

http://www.matchboxdc.com/

Potato Salad

2010-07-15T03:49:00.000+02:00

This is being posted by special request. As a result, I don't have any pictures, sorry!

2 lbs red potatoes
1 cup mayo
1/4 cup Dijon
1/2-3/4 cup chopped red onion
2 green onions with tops, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
lime juice

1. Boil potatoes until cooked (time depends on size of potatoes, 15-25 minutes). Be careful not to overcook!! Chop cooked potatoes
2. Mix dijon and mayo together - I do this to taste. I actually use less mustard than they require
3. Mix all the other ingredients except lime juice together.
4. Add mayo/mustard combination a little bit at a time and mix. Taste after mixing. I never use the whole amount of the sauce that i made
5. Add lime juice to taste
6. Optional: Add small chopped pieces of apple or pickles (or both).

TASTE TASTE TASTE. This is one of the most imprecise recipes I have and it's always a little different. Sometimes I add piles of extra dill, other times I add extra salt and the juice from the pickle jar or vinegar. It's all about what you feel like at the time.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Muffins

2010-07-06T02:44:00.000+02:00

Ingredients
1 2/3 cups fresh strawberries
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions
1. Heat oven to 425F
2. Set up muffin pans with paper baking cups or grease just the bottoms of the muffin cups
3. Lightly mash strawberries in a large bowl
4. Stir in sugar, oil, and eggs until mixed
5. Stir in rest of ingredients
6. Spoon batter into muffin cups
7. Bake 15-18 minutes until light golden brown or toothpick poked in center comes out clean

These muffins are awesome!! However, they do NOT reheat well and taste best within the first couples of hours (4-5 hours).

I tend to put in more strawberries, but be careful because too many will make it too squishy.

Roasted Balsamic Vegetables

2010-07-06T02:28:00.000+02:00

Ingredients
2/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup minced onion
1 tablespoon fresh basil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt (I love sea salt, adds extra flavor)
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Use the tasty olive oil and vinegar, don't go cheap! I used cheap stuff one time and it just does not work. Same with pepper - freshly ground just has a flavor you lose when you buy the pre-made stuff.

Directions
1. Combine all the ingredients and mix well
2. Marinade vegetables for 3-4 hours
3. Grill vegetables. Continue basting vegetables while grilling

I make this inside the house with my cast iron grill skillet and it's one of my favorite winter things because it has a lovely toasty taste. I chop them up (while warm) and put them on top of a salad with lemon dressing. I recommend Annie's Naturals Lemon & Chive dressing.

Oh Life

2010-06-28T22:56:00.000+02:00

So remember how I got a concussion? Maybe I didn't write about it, I don't remember. As a result of the three blizzards we had, snow had piled up, melted, and then re-froze on the rooftops of DC. Then in February as I was walking home and minding my own business, ice fell off a roof and hit me - resulting in a concussion and a week of delirium.

Well, since then I've been wary of summer. When I heard that record-breaking highs were coming our way, I had to brace myself. Well, I'm happy to report that thus far no extreme weather has caused havoc in my life. No, no. Instead, the AC broke. During the middle of the hottest week ever.

The AC repair people came on Sat (broke on Wed night), but had to come back again today. Finally all was fixed. I am proud to announce that the apartment temperature has dropped to a cool 78 degree F in the last 20 minutes, the lowest its been in a week. YEAH. 78 degrees is the lowest its been inside.

Of course, I had the benefit of being out of town for four days, but my poor roommate and her dog were stuck here the whole time. Ew. I'm a little cautious right now, because the repairman left our landlady with an enormously large bill, but the temperature has still not dropped below 78F. We'll see if things improve over the next few hours...

There's a Bat in the Bathroom II

2010-06-10T02:25:00.000+02:00

So, animal control came and took the creature away. Turns out there's this little crack in between the wall and the sink. It's likely that the bat flew into the building from the top floor and made its way down through the wall and into our bathroom.

The lady said we were fine to keep using all the stuff in the bathroom since we hadn't touched the bat, and they called two days later to say the animal didn't have rabies. Really?! You waited two days to tell us that while we were using stuff touched by the bat?! (Actually, I didn't have anything it that cabinet...so really it was only my roommate who might have gotten some disease...)

We boarded the hole up with cardboard.

There's a Bat in the Bathroom

2010-06-01T12:33:00.000+02:00

No, I'm not writing a new childrens' book. There IS an actual BAT in our BATHROOM. It had to have crawled through the wall space because our windows and doors are always closed - plus I think we would have noticed a bat flapping its way in with us.

I've stayed in semi-rural and rural areas, I've gone camping, I've done all sorts of things, but of course you never get that awesome connection with wildlife anywhere else like you do you in Virginia.

We called animal control and they're on their way, so I'll update when we know more.

Well. This is awkward.

2010-06-01T12:29:00.000+02:00

I went to a baseball game a few weeks ago to mark the end of the year with my program. The second years had just graduated with their Master's, so the program paid for us all to celebrate at the game. It was really nice! We even got a "Congratulations on graduation!" announcement on the big screen.

At the end of the game, I ran to the bathroom before we started the trek back home. When I walked in, I saw a stall ahead of me that had feet in it, but they were extraordinarily large and facing the toilet seat. Just in case it really was a man, I went in a stall on the other side of the room. While I was relieving myself, this is what I hear,

high-pitched, girly: "Hahaha, oh my God, Becky. That's so funny."
Deep, tonal: "Um, you're in the wrong bathroom."
*pause*
other high-pitched voice: "No, YOU ARE."

Appethaizing. Or, it's a Thai!

2010-05-16T20:30:00.001+02:00

I went to two Thai places in Georgetown fairly recently, Bangkok Joe's and Bangkok Bistro. Bangkok Bistro is the hip and happening place that recently had Gabourey Sidibe as a guest. Bangkok Joe's calls itself a "dumpling house" and is situated on the lovely Georgetown waterfront.

Bangkok Bistro
Service:
Friendly and efficient

Food:
Overall excellent quality. I appreciate their menu because they added vegetarian versions of traditionally meat-filled foods, such as "snow white soup" to replace the chicken or shrimp in the Tom kha soup, or tofu pad thai with the vegan or vegetarian option. I ordered snow white soup, tofu panang and tofu pad thai. The soup was absolutely delicious, probably one of the best I've had. However, the tofu in the tofu panang was distractingly salty, which I just couldn't get over. The sauce was excellent, though. The pad thai was pad thai, nothing to write home about but not awful either.

Overall: 9/10
With the strange exception of the salty tofu, the food was excellent and worth what was paid for it, the service was attentive and the restaurant has a great vibe with huge walls that open so that the entire front of the restaurant is open to the street.

Bangkok Joe's
Service:
Efficient but not that friendly. They service tends to hang out in the back of the restaurant talking to each other and standing around. They're never smiling or friendly, either, even though they always get your food quickly. It's very strange. They've also brought out the wrong food before, and overcharged for what I've ordered.

Food:
The food is great! I got lemon grass soup, tofu panang and a "tomkhatini," which is a martini based on the coconut tom kha soup. The lemon grass soup was great, and the tomkhatini is a revelation. It's really the panang that I keep going back for, though. The curry sauce is thicker than those served in other restaurants, which gives it a truly creamy texture, and the flavor of the kaffir lime really comes through. My one complaint is that the dish typically comes with noodles, so you have to remember to request rice instead. The noodles have an unpleasant texture, almost like solid pudding or something. I really dislike that.

Overall: 9/10
The service has always been strange here, but the food has always been absolutely the best I've had in DC. I have dreams about their panang sometimes...

In the end, if I have a choice I'll go to Bangkok Joe's because I love their food so much, but both are really, really good. You can't really go wrong at either one. Only note is, I'm not sure the price is worth it at dinnertime, when a basic entree can start at $15 - they're typically around $10 at other Thai places.

Bangkok Bistro
3251 Prospect Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20007-3243
(202) 337-2424
www.bangkokbistrodc.com

Bangkok Joe's
3000 K Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20007-5109
(202) 333-4422
http://www.bangkokjoes.com/

24 hours

2010-05-13T17:27:00.002+02:00

'Twas the day before finals
And all through the college
Computers were clicking with students
Trying to prove their knowledge.

The library is nearly full
For the first time all year
And the caffeine is flowing
As the end is drawing near.

I sit staring at my screen
Thinking how I should spend my time.
Instead of writing my essay
I'm making up poems that rhyme.

Awake! I must work now
Or risk my degree.
I'll buckle down and write all day
Until I'm finally free.

In the meantime,
Stock the fridge with beer
And get out the tequila
Because the summer is nearly here!

Review: Ragtime

2010-05-03T19:36:00.001+02:00

We went to Ragtime for a quick dinner, and it has an atmosphere like TGI Fridays or Applebees.

The Service
Fast, friendly and efficient. Don't really know what else to say to that.

The Food
We ordered Spaghetti with Meatballs, Caesar Salad and Macaroni and Cheese. The Caesar Salad had wilted and black leaves mixed in, and the Macaroni and Cheese was mediocre. It came at room temperature, as if it had been sitting out for a while before they brought it. It's amazing what a difference something that simple can make. I think I would have enjoyed a lot more if it had been fresh out of the oven, or at least appeared as if it was. I tried some of the spaghetti sauce, and that was actually relatively good.

Rating: 6/10
It's a fun, affordable place to go with friends and order a ton of food and beer - my "small" salad filled a regular-sized dinner plate and the $6 mac and cheese filled a huge bowl. However, the food is what you'd expect as "bar food" not what they should be serving at a sit-down restaurant. It's not somewhere I'd go for culinary delights, but everyone inside was with friends and laughing their heads off.

Ragtime
http://ragtimerestaurant.com/
1345 North Courthouse Road
Arlington, VA 22201
(703) 243-4003

Review: Sushi Rock

2010-05-03T19:27:00.000+02:00

I ate at Sushi Rock and I have to say I was disappointed. They had been constructing the restaurant for the past few months so I was looking forward to trying it out once they opened. Since their theme is "Rock" they have a cool red/black interior design with rock music blaring and rock-themed sushi rolls.

The Service
The Service was interesting...I thought our waitress was hilarious, but my eating-mate found her off-putting. She was Japanese, so it was a little difficult to understand her accent, but she also made a lot of jokes about us drinking more during happy hour to bolster the tab and carding us for water. I literally laughed every time we interacted with her. At one point though, our water was late and she sort of rolled her eyes and whispered that the busboy tended to be slow about these things. It's my pet peeve when employees at restaurants blame each other, since it is the overall experience that matters, but she said it conspiratorially and laughing, so I didn't really feel like it was that malicious. Nonetheless, it was a little strange. And when I asked to get all the food at the same time, they still ended up bringing the appetizer first.

The Food
The food was overpriced without a similar increase in quality. The speciality rock 'n rolls (hardy har har) were minimally $12 each, so we both opted for the cheaper classics, ordering a cucumber roll ($6!!!), spicy tuna roll and salmon roll. I also got the agedashi tofu appetizer.

The tofu was fine but the sauce was rather flavorless. The cucumber roll was dry and uninteresting and apparently the other rolls were "fine". I'm more than happy to pay extra for sushi, but if I'm paying above the market price, I expect above-average quality, which we definitely didn't get.

Rating: 4/10
They got the 4 points for being fast and because I personally found the waitress hilarious. Not worth the investment.

Sushi Rock
http://www.sushirockdc.com/
1900 Clarendon Blvd
Arlington, VA
571.312.8027

Review: Eventide

2010-04-22T23:00:00.002+02:00

I went out to Eventide last night, and they are fantastic! The menu is pricier ($25-30 average for entrees) but of course you pay for quality and the atmosphere is great for an intimate dinner (romantic or with friends). Not as great for groups just because it's darkly lit and more personal, although they do cater to larger crowds.

The Service
The service was excellent, and they have a separate wine manager, which is always a plus. We arrived 15 minutes early, but they already had our table ready so we were seated right away in the upstairs dining room. With the exception of the entrees, which were delayed by 10 minutes, the food came quickly and the wait staff passed by often, unobtrusively refilling our wine and water glasses.

The Food
The chef was sending around a pre-appetizer concoction, which was a fried quinoa ball on some sort of cream, served individually on Japanese soup spoons. Then we got seared diver scallops for appetizer, beef tenderloin and risotto-style Farrotto (a hearty brown grain) for entree and a Sauvignon Blanc from Sonoma. Everything was fantastic! Despite not being a fan of risotto, I ordered the vegetarian Farrotto dish because I wasn't sure if any of the meats were environmentally-sustainable and it was unbelievably delicious.

I emailed the manager later, to ask about the meats on the menu and he answered immediately with this:

We pride ourselves in using the highest quality proteins and we make every effort to ensure that every animal we serve is sutainably raised, all natural, free range and local (whenever possible--there are just some animals that are local but don't meet our standards for quality.)

The goat, chicken and bison are the proteins that are assuredly local.

I thought that was an acceptable response, and I look forward to trying one of those dishes next time I go.

Rating: 10/10
Overall, an excellent experience and definitely a great location for a special occasion. I highly recommend them.

Contact Information
Eventide Restaurant
Eventiderestaurant.com
3165 North Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22201-4420
(703) 276-3165

Notes:
Their website says "smart casual, jeans are ok" but if you dine in the dining room and wear jeans, you will assuredly be the only one. Like me.

The roof is currently only open for drinks, but I've heard from others that you should not eat dinner up there once it opens for the summer because the roof menu is all small hor d'ouevres and not very filling.

A couple who had arrived earlier was apparently having difficulties with their reservation, which the woman was saying she had made online and received a confirmation for. So be sure to call ahead and confirm that they have your reservation

Review: Miss Saigon

2010-04-11T23:04:00.001+02:00

This is a Vietnamese restaurant in Georgetown and I was sorely disappointed.

The Food
I ordered the lunch special with fried rice, crispy spring roll and salad. When I went to choose the entree, I asked about the best option and he recommended the caramel ginger sauce, so I got that with tofu. The fried rice was bland, bland, bland! The rice was brown so there should have been some sort of sauce, but it tasted like nothing. The spring roll and salad were good but nothing outstanding. The entree was sorely disappointing. It was excessively sweet and the sweetness did not go with the sharpness of the ginger, which was just grated on top of the dish. To top it off, my $2.75 coke was mostly ice and they charged extra to substitute tofu for the chicken.

The Service
The service was great. The waiter was very attentive, and felt horrible about me not liking the ginger caramel sauce he recommended, so he actually comped my coke, which was very nice.

Overall: 3/10
The food was simply mediocre, and the 3 points are only for the waiter. There were a few other groups in there and their food looked like it might be better, but frankly, if you can't make a fried rice that tastes like something, I'm not really willing to try anything else.

Miss Saigon
3057 M Street, DC 20007
http://www.ms-saigonus.com/

Birthday Cake - Vanilla with Strawberries and Buttercream

2010-04-09T02:23:00.000+02:00

The cake is really good!

I am myself not a fan of buttercream, I find it too sweet, but this is really perfect if you want a no-fail recipe. That's why I made that second cake without the frosting, the cake is really great with any berries.

Ingredients
Cake Batter

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups self rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter, very soft
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions
Cake
1. Preheat oven to 350F
2.Grease and flour two 9-inch rounds. (the recipe calls for three, but then the layers would be very thin)
3. In a large bowl cream the butter until smooth
4. Gradually add sugar and beat until smooth and fluffy
5. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg
6. Combine the flours together
7. This is the most confusing direction: Beat in the flour and the milk/vanilla in an alternating fashion, in four sections. What this means is that you put in 1/4 of the flour, beat, then 1/4 of the milk/vanilla mixture, beat, then 1/4 flour, etc.
8. Divide batter among the pans and put them in the oven
9. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
10. Let them cool completely before frosting
Frosting
1. Beat everything together.
2. You can add more sugar if you want a thicker consistency, but keep in mind that it is already really sweet.

Variations:
So, the birthday cake has cocoa butter cream frosting per request of the birthday boy, but the original recipe is actually for vanilla. If you want cocoa, mix in 1/4 cup cocoa, taste it, and then add more if you want a stronger flavor.

I also mixed in chopped strawberries with the frosting I used to fill the birthday cake, because who doesn't love strawberries with vanilla and cream??

Review: Faccia Luna, Arlington

2010-04-03T20:34:00.001+02:00

The Service
The place was a disaster. Yesterday was my friend's birthday and he decided he wanted Italian. Since we had a group of 7 people, we called ahead of time to let them know we were planning on coming in around 7pm. They do not take reservations, but the guy on the phone told us to come at 6:45 to put our names on the list so we can get a table by 7pm. Fine.

So my roommate and I head over there to put our names on the list, and the place is completely crowded and it's a 45 minute wait! When I say, "why were we told it wouldn't fill up until 7:30?" I'm told "whoever answered the phone doesn't know what he's talking about".

Then we wait for not 45 minutes, but for well over an hour. In the meantime, there are other customers getting angry, too. At one point when I went to ask what was up, I heard the following conversation:
"How much longer?"
"Fifteen minutes"
"Did you just make that number up? You said 20 minutes half an hour ago"
"I didn't tell you that. Someone else did."
Excuse me? Blame games do not work when you represent the entire restaurant. You apologize and thank them for their patience.

Service continued to be ridiculous, and at one point I was told that a beer was a "white beer" ("like blue moon" - a wheat beer) and then they brought me an IPA instead. We also ordered a lemon drop martini, and got vodka with lemon in a martini glass. NOT the same thing.

The table was short a service, the waiter was slow and we were seated by the register and silverware/napkin area, so the restaurant employees were constantly pushing past our chairs. All in all, very disappointing.

The Food
The quality of the food was good. We ordered a pizza with goat cheese, spinach and chicken, and a pizza with goat cheese, mushrooms, eggplant and pine nuts. The quality of all the ingredients was good, and the toppings and cheese were delicious. Some of the crust was burned on the side, but not too badly to ruin the whole dish.

The pizza dough, however, tasted like Domino's. It was not special in anyway, and really detracted from the quality of the toppings.

I ended up having to leave early (because it took so long to get seated!!) but from what I heard the Tiramisu was acceptable but not phenomenal.

Score: 4/10
The continued horrible service, combined with acceptable rather than amazing food, resulted in their low score. I've always complained about service in DC, but it has NEVER been this bad. I was very disappointed, particularly considering that this is Arlington, VA, where people in the service industry generally tend to be better than those within DC proper. I would NOT recommend anyone going there, ever.

http://www.faccialuna.com/

2909 Wilson Boulevard

Arlington, VA

(703) 276-3099

Review: La Tomate

2010-04-02T23:24:00.001+02:00

This is an Italian Restaurant in Dupont Circle in Washington DC that I've always walked by and wanted to go in, and I finally did yesterday. They have a limited menu, so I actually had a hard time choosing what I wanted since nothing popped out at me. I finally settled on clams and linguini.

The Service
The service was haphazard. Someone brought out my silverware and napkin, another person my water, and a third person my bread and butter. It was strange, and I saw the same thing happening across the patio (I was outside). The outside area is nice, but not a single table is stable. Maybe they want it to be more authentically Italian.

The Food
My food came relatively quickly and the pasta and clams were high quality. However, and I know this is going to sound strange because it's seafood, but it was too salty. I know seafood is salty anyway, but this had too much. Like they made the sauce with the clam juice, steamed the clams with clam juice and then just for good measure, cooked the pasta in seawater. That being said, the other seasonings were quite good and the plate as a whole was flavorful. Just need to cut down on the salt.

The bread is really good, but the butter was hard and tasted like cream. Not normally bad, but it didn't go with the plain bread. It needed salt, and I actually would have preferred having the option of olive oil.

The Score: 6/10
I can't say I DO or DON'T recommend the place, I'd need to try some more of their dishes. And I'm actually willing to, because I am able to overlook inconsistent service if the food is good. Since the food was high quality and just a little too salty, I'm willing to go again and try a few other dishes.

http://www.latomatebistro.com/
1701 Connecticut Ave NW – Washington, DC 20009
202.667.5505 – telephone

Birthday Cake - Double Layer Chocolate with Raspberry Filling

2010-02-26T23:44:00.001+01:00

This is my all-time favorite cake recipe and I just made it again for my roommate's birthday. We've both been very sick and she got strep throat on her birthday. So of course, an awesome cake was in order to make up for all the other canceled plans...

Ingredients
Cake
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup baking cocoa powder (I love Ghiradelli's, $5.50 at Whole Foods)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs (room temperature is better)
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup boiling water

Frosting
1 block (8 oz) cream cheese, room temperature
3 tbs butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa powder
(beat ingredients together until fluffy)

Filling
Note: You can make your own filling to be super-fancy, and it is good to make it once so you know how this stuff works. But in the end, it tastes exactly like raspberry jam but costs twice as much money and time and just creates extra dirty dishes. Buy a jar of raspberry jam and tell people you made it yourself.

1 1/2 cup frozen raspberries
1 tbs cornstarch
2 tbs lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
(In a saucepan bring ingredients to a boil over medium heat and then let it cool)

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350F
2. Grease and flour (or use Pam baking spray) two 9-inch round baking pans
3. In a large bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients
4. Add all the wet ingredients EXCEPT for the water
5. Slowly stir in the boiling water. Batter will be runny!
6. Pour into pans and bake for 30-35 minutes
7. Cool for at least ten minutes before removing from pan. Let cakes cool COMPLETELY before putting in filling or frosting (or else they will start to melt into the cake and cause all sorts of structural problems)
8. Put one layer of the cake on your serving plate
9. Spread filling evenly on cake, put second layer on top
10. Frost cake

Enjoy with a cool glass of milk!

Bean Soup

2010-02-26T23:27:00.001+01:00

This is excellently easy and delicious, which makes it perfect for people with concussions and homework! It also has a thick chili consistency, so it's great for eating with a thick hunk of bread or shredded cheese and sour cream.

Ingredients
1 lb. bag mixed beans (your choice, I got a 15-bean mix from Harris Teeter's)
1 large can chopped tomatoes
1 1/2 teaspoons homemade cajun seasoning (see below for recipe)
1/2 onion, chopped
5 + 3 garlic cloves

Directions
1. Soak beans in water overnight. Drain and rinse
2. Put beans in a pot with water, there should be 1-2 inches of water above the beans. Add 5 whole garlic cloves. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 2.5 hours.
3. Saute onion and 3 garlic cloves (minced) in olive or vegetable oil. Drain excess oil.
4. After 2.5 hours add cooked onions and garlic, canned tomatoes, salt and cajun seasoning. Simmer for another 30 minutes.

Serve!

Notes:
-Do not add salt at the beginning because it will prevent the beans from getting soft.
-Do not soak beans for more than 8 hours, it affects their quality and consistency.
-Do not be deceived when you try the soup and it does not seem spicy! Cayenne pepper builds on spice as you eat, so you won't feel the spice until you're halfway through a bowl of soup.

Cajun Seasoning
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp white pepper (or substitute another tsp black pepper)
2-3 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika

Notes:
-If you use onion salt or garlic salt (I do not recommend using both) then do not put salt in the soup later. The mix itself will be very salty

Snow Signs

2010-02-16T06:23:00.001+01:00

That one bad day

2010-02-16T06:16:00.000+01:00

I seem to experience one really awful day near the beginning of every year. When I was eighteen, my car got totaled and I was on a train that hit a person. When I was twenty, I had a day of total insanity in the building where I was a resident assistant with people breaking into the womens bathroom and students throwing plants out windows. There are many more that will not be shared, but they happen nearly every year and they have always happened in January or February.

This year I believe it may have been today.

I should have known the day was off to a bad start when Georgetown announced that we would be having class on a national holiday to make up for the snow days. After not being productive until 1pm, I decided to head to school and work there. I got to the bus stop at 1:30, having dragged a bag of clothes I was going to drop off at the donation center at Georgetown. After 45 minutes, the bus still had not come. Suddenly a student walked up and announced that the Key Bridge was closed because they were bull-dozing snow off and therefore the bus was unable to get to us from Georgetown. Deciding against paying the cab fare, I start to walk, trudging through layers of slushy and icy snow to get campus. To add insult to injury, halfway through my 30 minute trek, it starts snowing. AGAIN.

When I finally get to campus, the donation bin is snowed out, so I dragged a bag full of clothes over for no reason and I have no where to put it. Then on my way to class I slam my hand against a door and burn my throat with coffee.

Exhausted after class, I decide that I am going to a Mexican restaurant to have a burrito and study. HOWEVER, on the walk over there, a chunk of ice falls off a building and onto my head. That's right. I experience an aerial ice attack. I was along a flat building with no eaves, but apparently some of the snow-turned-ice on the roof decided to fall down and land on my head. After an hour at home deliberating as to whether I should go to the ER or not, we finally decide to go.

At the ER, I wait nearly 30 minutes to get my room, and another 15 or so until the doctor comes. He is tall, thin, with long, black, curly, floppy hair. Total stoner-skater vibe. He starts talking to me about what happened and then asks me if I feel tired or have trouble seeing.

"Well, I haven't been sleeping a lot these past few days because I'm catching up on a lot of work so I don't know if that's a result of sleeplessness or getting hit on the head." He gets really concerned all of a sudden and says, "Well, you really need to get more sleep. That's a huge problem." Excuse me? I know it's a problem! I want to sleep, too! But I just had a chunk of ice fall on my head!!!!

Well, it all checks out and then he goes, "I need to get the supervising doctor to sign off on this and then you can go." This is usual in a teaching hospital, they do it at UCLA as well. The resident/student will check you out, and then a supervising doctor will come and check on you and compare their diagnosis with that of the student's. Well, when my supervisor comes in (40 minutes later), she says "Sorry you had to wait so long. My intern only recently told me you were in here."

I'm sorry, what?! He's an intern AND he forgot me? WTF mate. And then she looks me over again and says, "Well, you have a concussion (which was not mentioned by the intern), but it's not serious (which was noted by the intern). You can go home, just make sure your roommate checks in on you every six hours (not mentioned by the intern)."

All this is just lovely, and then the hospital that took three hours to give me two 10 minutes exams charged us $6 for parking! On top of which, we ended up driving around for 20 minutes when we got home because all the spots were taken or blocked by mounds of snow.

So all in all, I got today:
1. School on a holiday
2. A long walk with heavy bags and snowfall
3. A bag of clothing with nowhere to go
4. A hurt hand
5. A burned throat

AND

6. A concussion

This day has all the signs of "The Worst Day of 2010" but I can't officially name it that until January 1, 2011. Until then Karma, please, gimme a break!