Eateries and Drinkeries V

It seems like I am going full gusto with all the places you can go out for. Go out people, take your friends along, smile a while, spread happiness. Be happy. I know. None of this easy. Never has been, never can be. Don't think too more about it now, just plan your next outing.

Schwarzes Cafe: One of the most delightful that the west has to offer, you can get delicious mouth watering cakes, along with satisfying pots of coffee. And White Tea, yes, if you are willing to spend 4,50 Euro for this. It also has all day breakfast, where they serve avocado. And, as if, all this weren't enough, it's open 24 hours a day!

Going up east from the Zoo, you come to the lovely Oranienburger Strasse. Other than the occasional prostitutes that you see roaming around, this is also a hub of Mitte Nightlife. Remember this is Mitte, so prices are high, and people are much more posh.

Hummus and Friends: Another nice place, with lush interiors, and with the motto, "Make Hummus Not walls". Actually, for a place in the Mitte, this is rather moderate priced. I had the daily soup, which was quite nice, though lacking a little bit of salt. But, try this out by all means.

Mogg & Melzer: Ever heard of Pastrami? Well I hadn't, so maybe it is worth checking out here. It's a way of wine-drying beef before the times of refrigeration. This place has an interesting pastrami sandwich to offer, in a very cool, Mitte-like atmosphere. The building I think is distinctly East German with some particular tiling patterns. Be careful, pastrami can be a bit chewy, but even with the big sandwiches, you can eat them in a piece without spilling things on your clothes.

RMCM: Was considerably confused to label this properly. In any case, this is really a very cozy place with nice couches and live music after nine. Then it can be quite loud. The walls are full of autographs from different music bands. A home and museum for music.

Zosch: A very local kneipe, with live music at night. Was there only rather briefly, for a Gluhwein, which was perhaps not the best idea. Other than that, it is a nice place with lively atmosphere. Lively by Mitte standards. Give it a try. As a friend and I sat outside, sipping Gluhwein, two Americans (from the USA) were arguing loudly about the rights of pulling down a building. And we sat there in the wind, trying to make some forced conversation.

La Premiatta Ditta: A tiny little Italian place, a restaurant. You might have the danger of coming out with you clothes smelling of cheese. I imagine the food must be decent, even though a friend complained that the Lasagne was not heated properly. But she was given a free glass of wine in compensation. And you'll have only Perroni beer if it comes to that.

Saint Jean: A super-posh, and super-retro gay bar, this place is just in the ecke of Weinmeisterstr. The looks of the guys who come here are very different, nearly with toned bodies, and less clothing even though it might be cold and raining outside. A very different feel of the gay life in Berlin. Somehow when we were there it was super crowded due to the rains outside. And yes, if you don't have much money try only going for the beers. The cocktails must be very nice, they are aimed at more like 9-10 Euros.

Tadjikistan Teehouse: This is a place you have to go, and give a try even if it is slighly expensive. A tea house, where you have the option of sitting on the floor. They have food as well as a variety of other drinks, besides tea. We had the Russian samovar tea, which is a huge pot of hot water and a pot of very strong black tea. In addition you get different kind of sugar, backed buiscuits, dried lemons, ginger, rum filled raisins and shots of vodka to rinse your mouth before trying out something of a different taste.

Having given you a good survey of places to go in the Oranienburger Strasse and neighbourhood let me touch on two more places before pressing the exit button.

Geist im Glas: This one is truly in Kreuzkoelln, right on a small side street off Kolumbiadamm. One of the best places to have brunch in Berlin (arguably). They have three main options (at least on the day we went): cheese biscuits and sausage, american pancakes with Dulce de leche (a form of thick condensed milk, see here), and Huevos Rancheros (a traditional Mexican style breakfast). Since we were three people, we could sample all the three dishes. Delicious. If you haven't eaten here, you've definitely missed something. And cocktails -- they have wonderful cocktails! I had a coffee chocolate cocktail, heavenly. You should go out and check for yourself.

Cafe Bilderbuch: We end after coming back to the west again, at Schoeneberg. This delightful huge cafe has a wondeful atmosphere. A very unassuming place, it seems smallish from the outside until you go in to find an absolutely huge ante-chamber with lots of cozy couches, sofas and even a piano. Delightful coffee, tea, other drinks and some good variety of cakes and other food. If you have a rainy afternoon, or a cold afternoon to kill, or enjoy, go there. You won't regret it!

And now having counted a full ten places, I will say bye!

Eateries and Drinkeries IV

Again, it has been quite a while, and methinks the time is perhaps right to put up a list of places that you can amuse yourselves with.

Zu Mir Oder Zu Dir: A cozy bar in the "baby boom" district of Prenzlauer Berg. Slightly removed from U Eberswalder Str., this is a world of its own with people crowding to find a place inside. It is lush inside with sofas and stools to sit. Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you are a smoker) it is a smoking bar, so be prepaed for your clothes to smell of smoke days afterwards.

Chilees: Burgers, korean style. They are generally good, but hard to compare with the BBI (Berlin Burgers International) in Neukoelln. But then again, here you will get interesting Korean burger creations. Definitely worth a try!

Szimpla Kaffeehaus: If you want to try out a stout beer brewed with coffee, don't forget this place. I had been searching for this particular kind of beer for ages, ever since I got introduced to Elysian Split Stout in Seattle. Apparently it seems like Hungary has it all. A wonderful Hungarian craft beer place, this also had delicious cakes, which tempted me.

Hamy Cafe: Such delicious Vietnamese food at this price is difficult to find elsewhere. A small-ish show just off Hermannplatz, serves the most delicious Vietnamese food, along with exotic drinks. A food and a drink will leave you poorer by only about 8 Euros!

Roses: A lovely gay bar with very colorful interiors. Is definitely going to keep you wow-ing. Nice crowd, but they don't have dark beers, be forewarned!

Drei Schwestern: Inside a castle-like building, the arched wooden interior boasts of a castle-like dining experience, along with German food for dinner. For the weekend brunch, you can get a wonderful English breakfast.

Z-Bar: Tucked in Torstrasse, this place will definitely leave you with the feeling of wanting to come back for more. A quaint little place with nice lighting, and yeah, movies that you can watch. But, we just leaned against the glass windows and talked. And admired the dim lighting.

Cafe Lux: Another cozy little cafe in Neukolln, has the perfect atmosphere to keep you talking for hours and hours at an end.

Neta: A small place, but serves wonderful Mexican street food, notably burritos. You can choose your own burrito recipe.

I thought for a while about the 10th place, but keep it empty purposely. And Berliner, or an ex-Berliner reading this article should fill it in.

Models

The other day I had a funny thought, which is perhaps true, but perhaps not. But since it is just a thought, I'll expound it. It has to do with models. If you are quite the purist mathematician, there is, perhaps not any place for models: mostly comes from some basic assumptions, and then you build on these assumptions using other assumptions to make a theory, and even prove a couple of lemmas. Physicists would ideally like to proceed that way, but lack both the rigor and the patience, so in many cases they take the short-cut way and build models. These models are supposed be peek into the many complicated things that are quite unworkable with "first-principles" theory, something the physicists like to do call assumptions that do not stem from first principles. Anyway, models are more often used by biologists and chemists, because they want to model things like complicated molecules and chemical substances, organs, nerves, genes or perhaps even the brain. Even the economists and financial analyzers at banks keep making models of the economy in order to maximize profits.

 If you have read on till now, you'll realize that model is essentially meant to be a simplified version of some grand thing we are always trying to emulate. In that respect, it suddenly occurred to me that films, books, poems and songs, and art of course, falls in the same category. They are just models. Models that seek, in some way or the other to mimic the eternal complicated fabric, or the string-net condensed phase of what you call Life. Life, as we know it, is tremendously complicated: human beings are emotional, they kill, they love, they become rulers, the forbid others to eat beef, or to have sex with the same genders, they find tribes, which they call Religion, the make trains, they try to understand the Nature, they are complicated. Animals are simpler, but still they have own traits, own habits. So, when something is captured on film, like the break-up story of a couple, or the hunting habits of lions, whether be it a romantic drama or a documentary, these are all models trying to emulate something complicated -- more often with creativity and inspiration rather than not.

  A simple thought, but this unifies a lot of different things. I felt happy.

The TeaTails

"So there you go, welcome to the real world.."

For a moment I do not know what to say. I had been fearing that this was coming, but the way my Friend had replied to my messages had kept my suspicions at bay. Really, why else would you just travel to Budapest to work when you had an office in Berlin? You must have been having fun, in addition to being idiosyncratic, I had reasoned.

Not that I care. Or maybe I did, and still do, just a little, a hard lump which refuses to dissolve...

My Friend has just quit his job. Well, not just. I am just getting informed about it.

My Friend has just finished explaining to me why.

"So, what now?", I ask.

"..I work full time for my dream project. To find my own company."

"Oh,.." I breathe in sharply, "that is cool? " I can't really stop being optimistic irrespective of the situation.

"Not via the same channel though ..., that isn't going to work..."

"okay...", I hopefully paused.

Truth be told, I don't understand a bit about how companies work. Or how to start them. It is just that I never thought about it.

".. but it can equally well fail, you know, and then I am left with nothing.. "

 Of course I see that, I am not so naive. But I don't say that. 

".. I am sure that you are going to succeed..", I say.

"... I am not so sure about that, eh..", my Friend cuts me in.

 It puzzles and annoys me. Why be pessimistic if you are starting a venture? You need lots of hope and inspiration to see it through. 

" Well, at least I am sitting with the CEO of a company, drinking beer. Something I have always wanted to. Something so exotic.."

 "You've had beer with me before..."

 "Not while you were the CEO..", I smile.

 My Friend makes a face showing that this is nothing exotic.

Oh my, I wonder silently, rather annoyed, this isn't how I had imagined the meeting to be going. Meeting with this friend is always mysterious. I even prepare my replies in my mind beforehand, but every time I meet this friend, everything becomes topsy-turvy. And it never helps that we meet once every couple of months even though we live in the same city.

"So, what do you want to drink next?", he asked.

 We had just finished a beer in a cute-looking bar, a cute-hipster look, which is a default in Berlin.

"I dunno, maybe another beer?...No wait, it is a disgrace to get only beer here. I will get the long island coffee".

 My bad habit comes out always I see chocolate or coffee. Thank God, it is at least alcoholic.

"okay good, I will buy you one. I will get a gin and tonic", he states.

 There is a guy at the bar already, asking the Bartender a lot of questions about teas infused with syrups and liquors. We listen in to the conversation. He wants to have an idea what the white silver needle tea actually is, in the concoction "Silver Linings".

 "Does Cointreau go well with this, I wonder...", we hear him asking the Bartender in German.

 The Bartender is not German, her accent makes it obvious. I can easily detect these things now. She is even from an English speaking country.

 The speciality of this bar is that it makes alcohol-infused-tea, a place in the Bergmannkiez. And the one alcohol infused coffee, the one I am going to drink.

 "You're a fussy customer", my Friend suddenly chimes in, the moment the Bartender turns around to make the drink. I can see Guy smiling mildly, and own up.

 "What are you getting?", I see the Man replying.

"A gin and tonic, infused with tea of course..."

 The conversation continues for a brief while. The spark in the Man's eyes tells me that he is interested, even though Someone is waiting for him.

 The Man has just asked for a glass of orange juice as the Bartender brought his drink.

 "well, another simple juice, and then I am gone..", and he talks more, without throwing any glances at me, ignoring me completely.

  I stare on, I cannot say anything meaningful, I always fail to come up with something clever to say in situations like this.

 The Guy finally leaves, and my Friend gets the drinks.

 "So, how was Budapest?", I ask lamely

 "Oh, it was wonderful. There was so much to see, it was so wonderful.."

 "Did you go into the Buda castle?", I ask, drawing on my visit last year to make some intelligent conversation.

"No, not really. I didn't manage to do the sightseeing, I was working there as well..."

 Seven days in a completely new city and no sightseeing, I wonder to myself. Did you even fuck, I want to ask.

"oh? did you have good internet connection?"

"well, I bought a phone 4G SIM, and used the connection there, it was all right".

We go on, lamely making conversation, not enjoying any of the tea-tails the place offered, but each of us lost in our own world of tea-tales. I can see from the eyes that my Friend is thinking of so many things at the same time. Me too. But we are speaking of things so far removed.

 "you know, this is difficult, the real-world.."

 "I know..", I say lamely.

 And where were you living all this time, I wonder. But I know that my Friend knows. From what I know, my Friend did not have a very smooth life. Even after coming to Berlin.

 But I know what a real- life can be. Really, I know. Trust me. While my Friend had been trying to burn job prospects, I have successfully burnt out my personal life and happiness in the past year. But my Friend is relentless: "you have to meet more people. you are just not doing enough...", I was told the last time, ".. people are not unreasonable, you know."

 "But they are..", I insisted.

 "..you just have to meet more people. you are not doing enough..."

 "but I did, I do,..", I defended my comment.

 "Just how many people did you meet?.."

  And so the conversation had run, several months before. Before I had left for a month long trip to the Far East. The convinced shaking of another person's head had done nothing to improve my street smartness. None of these conversations had helped. At the end of every conversation, my Friend got to know more and more about me, but, in return, I only got to increase my knowledge incrementally, about things that did not count.

  My Friend has no idea how hard I am trying to get into the real world. For a long time, I lived in a fairy land, full of the mystery of quantum mechanics, and protected by strong boundaries (which some call geekiness -- we liked to call it intellectualism, and passion for research). Strong feelings, strong dedication to forwarding the frontiers of human knowledge, probing into the Mind of God. Until last year. When all Hell had broken loose. But that is another story.

 The tea-tails finish.

 "Hey, want to try something different?", I ask suddenly, pointing at the empty glasses, cutting my Friend in the middle of a comment on how my Friend's ex-boyfriend used to like fruit teas and my Friend used to hate them.

 My Friend looks up: "what?"

 "Shots? But this one is on me.."

  I have an idea, suddenly, very much like my physics realizations, which come at single instants of time. I recall a short film on YouTube which I had seen long, long ago. I don't even remember it fully, but the idea, the seed of the idea -- it is there in my brain.

 "okay"

 "Sit here. I will get them. Any preference?"

 "hmm... Tequila"

 I get them.

 "Six shots?" My Friend eyes me questioningly, when I come back, stopping to play with the mobile. 

 "Yes. Three for each of us... maybe a bit more for the loser," I say.

"Why loser?", my Friend asks, puzzled.

"Because we play a little game for the shots with three statements..."

 I can see my Friend's eyes open fractionally wide.

 "What game?"

 "You tell me three things about you, one of which has to be a lie, and the other two complete truths. I have to guess the lie. And one of the statements has to involve the both of us, whether the truth or the false one, it doesn't matter. If I guess correctly, you have to drink a shot. If I cannot, then I will take a shot. Same for you. We alternate."

 My friend flounders for a while, thinking. Finally, I see the shoulders shrugging assent.

"You go first..", I hear.

From nothing, the tea-tales suddenly become the centre of attention. The background noise in the cute-hipster cafe has gone up, cocooning us both in a comfortable cushion of i-am-not-listening-nor-do-i-care.

 "okay", I hear myself saying, "First: I got an extension on my job, now I can live in Germany permanently. Second: I missed my breakfast today.."

 "what, what kind of statement is that?", my Friend interrupts.

 "well, either a true or a false one..", I smile

 "okay, go on,.."

 "finally, remember the first night we spent bar hopping, getting completely drunk? That has been the night I enjoyed the most in this city."

 I stop, and look at my Friend. My Friend looks away.

 "You had your breakfast today. You picked up your broetchen from that shop like you do every day."

 I push a shot glass in the direction of my Friend. I see the shoulders droop a little, but the shot is gone in a single gulp.

 "What is the lie then?", the eyes shoot a persistent glance at me.

 "Your turn. If we survive the end of this game, we will disclose the truth. Not until then. " I say.

 I sense the dissatisfaction, the supressed snarl that tries to come up on the face. But my Friend looks at me and says nothing for five seconds.

 "Okay, my turn then. First, North Sea was really fun. I just told you it was boring so that  you will not feel bad", the eyes are not looking at me anymore, but are drooping down.

 "Second, my sister is quitting her job to help me with the effort for the project and the new company. Third, the company offered to pay me handsomely, if I decided to skip with the startup, but give the idea to them."

 The eyes are defiant again, looking at me.

 "Well, your sister loves you, but she cannot risk losing her job". I finish. "At least that's what I think".

  Another glass is suddenly empty, and the eyes are not flickering any more. I had my Friend's full attention. Nothing else is going to interfere with our tea-tales until the end.

 "The ball is back in my court, then", I start. "First of all, remember that guy who broke up with me on WhatsApp, after sleeping with me? He wrote me the other day. He wants to meet up, and would like to be together again. He wants to give it another shot. I refused him. Second: My father is not doing well, again. He is back to the hospital. Third: Remember the last weekend when I visited Amsterdam? I didn't want to, I only did that because you went without me to Budapest and to the North Sea. I did not enjoy Amsterdam in the least".

 The genuine confusion in my friend's eyes was apparent. We were silent for a long time.

 "How did you refuse him? What did you say?", broke the background buzz.
A candle was glowing on our table, and both of us were staring intently into it.

 "I told him that I am hopelessly in love with someone else".

 Again silence, only broken by the cheerful but indifferent mutter around.

 " I don't like this game...", I finally hear my Friend say.

 "Well, we are playing it, nevertheless. Let's not be cowards and leave it unfinished, okay? As you said, welcome to real world", suddenly my voice is much more firm than I intend it to be.

 "The fact about your Amsterdam trip", comes the meek retort.

 I push another shot glass in the other direction. No resistance this time, another gulp and it is gone.

 "Okay, then two more to go. Let's see if you miss this time.  The first one: Remember the time when we took a walk through Schoeneberg? We passed right in front of my ex-boyfriend's house. I wouldn't have been able to do that had you not been with me. The second one:  You are really the best friend that I have in this city who is not just interested in sleeping with me. Third: I was out on a date yesterday, where I enjoyed a lot".

 My turn to stop and think. Two out of three facts about us. I am clearly not prepared for this. I think for quite a while. Most likely one of them is not the truth.

 "Well, I am guessing the second one. You have a better friend than me?", I say but I am very unsure now.

"Yeah, right, very right..", my Friend smirks, and I am offered a shot glass with a firm hand.

 I drink it up. My first shot. I am happy and dismayed at the same time. The second one is not a lie. So I do matter, in some small unimportant way, I still do. Maybe the Schoneberg business is a lie.. Or, there was no date yesterday. But I don't have more time to dwell on it. I have to think. This is the last round. Stakes are higher.

 "First: I am seeing someone, and I like him, and he cares for me. In some way".

 I again see the dawn of uncertainty in the eyes looking into me. What was the lie last time?

"Second: That night we went to the Sudblock, remember? The next day you asked me if I was alright, and I said yes. Remember?"

 My Friend nods.

 "I was not alright. I was upset, very upset. I went running just to forget everything. It sounds very dramatic now, I know, but it wasn't back then, I promise you. I was very jealous, and annoyed. I was jealous that the guy with the bag slung on his shoulders started dancing with you. He put his hands around your shoulders and started dancing. I was jealous because every time we have met, and have gone out, I have tried to touch you, hug you close, but I never gathered the courage. I never dared, after you told me you told me that you viewed me only as a friend. I did not want to lose our friendship. But I was hopelessly in love with you. And all you told me was to meet other people. And I got annoyed because I couldn't do that, I can't go to a stranger and start flirting. I could never do that. But I could have loved you. Truly."

 I stop. I am reeling under the pressure of what I have just said, I cannot believe that I said all this. I don't know what to say next. My Friend is looking at me.

 "You have another one to go."

 "Yeah, I ... well, I still feel butterflies in my stomach when I meet you."

 "Listen", my Friend starts, "I don't want to guess which one is a lie. As I said, I don't like this game anymore; especially it is not a game anymore. We will go on hurting each other like this. And I don't care about the lie anymore. But, since we started, let's just see it through. I will give you my three statements."

 "First: You know the first night we met. It was the most enjoyable night I have had. But you know, this is the real world. Good things happen only now and then. Second: Look, you have been special as a friend. Most of the good friends I have had, had to be made through their bedrooms. You have been a rare exception. Third: I could never care any less for you, but at the same time I cannot fall in love with you. Such is my curse. I hope you will understand it some day. And I have known that you have been in love with me for a long time. It hasn't been easy to keep meeting with you knowing that every time we met you would probably fall in deeper while I cannot give anything back. But in not meeting you, I would have hurt you even more. And I couldn't bear to be like the dickhead you described to me once who hurt you badly in Switzerland."

 "Now the game is over. I have told you, you are welcome to guess, but I don't want to find out the lie. So, I will just get going..."

 He gathers up his coat and looks into my eyes, deep and unblinking. He does not ask him to join him, and I sit in my chair mesmerized in thought. He bends down for his goodbye hug against my body which is largely lifeless now. However, he pauses before leaving me, and brushes his lips momentarily against my cheeks holding them steady for a single breath and pressing in lightly. Technical terms call it a kiss.

 "Let's be in touch ...", he whispers in my ear, drinks up another shot and leaves...

 There is a single unfinished shot lying on the table. The muttering around goes on, unabated. This is Berlin, you do not get noticed for heartbreaks or hopes, for everyone is carrying their own.

Birthdays and Toothless

It is two years since I wrote the entry, "Birthdays and Bridges", which is why I choose to write this blog entry rather than confiding my thoughts to my diary. Ah yes, yesterday was my Birthday, which did not go well. No, it didn't. The best thing that happened on the day were the Toothless videos, so I decided to name the entry after him.

It didn't start out being bad, though. The biggest mood-killer was the fact that, after a period of several months, my Dad had to re-admitted to the hospital, because of this very low platelet counts. Naturally, you can't be happy when you possess the knowledge that your Father is only being kept alive on medicines and he has had to be admitted to the hospital. I can't tell you how helpless it feels, because there is nothing you can do, but just hope and hope and hope that the worst doesn't come to pass. But then what is the point of postponing the worse things farther and farther in time? I don't know, but try: try to be an optimist and feel like an pessimist. It ain't easy! And I like some other experiences, you have to feel this one yourself.

And then? I was unhappy because for a long while no-one wished me. Of course my Birthday wasn't advertised by Facebook, because I didn't want it to be. Does social life exist Facebook? It does, from the most unexpected quarters. Ayona wished me at midnight, Sabine wished me, Arnab remembered during the phone call, Christian wished me later in the day, and then Titir, and finally Xavi. And my Parents, of course.

For a while, I was thinking selfishly, and wondering how come not any other people remembered my Birthday? People who would usually make it a point to wish me? I thought of several answers, but since the question is just an idle one anyway, I will not make it too much of a point to write down my thoughts.

The workday was was like it always is, but the fact that my dad is in the hospital did not make it any exciting. Then there was the German class, which I wish wasn't there. But then again, it was nice that it was there, so that I could get through the day fast. I cooked after I came back, and watched Toothless videos.
I wanted to work afterwards, but the tension took it's toll and lulled me into the dreamworld.

Maybe it would be nice if I spend the day with somebody. Maybe with the Special Someone. But, as of now, my definition of the Special Someone is rather confused. Do you think I am transitioning? From the south to the north? Maybe? I don't know, --- I would probably know if I probed enough, but I don't want to do it now. Things are happy enough, in other aspects, so it doesn't matter. I just don't want to hurt anyone, and don't want to get hurt anymore.

I don't have pictures to add this time, because I didn't take any. Not for my blog anyway.

But, just in case, such that I don't forget or lose track I wanted to refer to two blog/magazine writeups which I found rather interesting, and thus would want to keep a record. This first one is a potrait of  how crazy Berlin can be, especially when you try to be normal, and how there is a tendency to become a part of that craziness.

 The second one is much more special, and only for a certain section of the society. But it does point a fact, almost point blank, like a slap in the fact: something that I wouldn't really bring up, even though I realize it all the time. There you go: another craziness!

Eateries and drinkeries III

Since it has been quite a while since I've written anything about food, I'll give it another shot. And this time, maybe I'll list and recommend places based on districts, now that I have quite a feeling of what of Berlin lies where.

 I will start with my favourite district, that of Prenzlauer Berg. There is a rather new German restaurant which has come up there, called Pefferbräu. It is directly opposite the U-bahnhof Senefelderplatz, and on the top of the terrace. A semi modern place, by which I mean a terribly modern place, but has the decors indicating a touch of shabbiness, which seems to be the defining characteristics of the neo-Berlin establishments. They brew their own beer, so it is higly recommended to go for one of those -- if I remember correctly, I had a dark beer from their collection, which is not terribly large. The same is reflected in the food menu, a few food items, but extremely delicious and served in the right amount not to make you overfull. The food here is of the more fancy type, served with grace, rather expensive (prepare 15 euro and above for the main courses) but tastes superb! If I haven't stated already, this is a trendy German restaurant, so go there if you're looking to eat German food in style.

 Another time I was at a Japanese restaurant in the neighbourhood, with (what a co-incidence!), a Japanese friend of mine. The restaurant is called Marubi ramen restaurant, but very surprisingly the people who run it are not Japanese, but rather from Shanghai and other parts in China. So, it was somewhat strange to see my Japanese friend ordering food in English in a Japanese restaurant. Even though this very cheap (the usual dishes cost around 6-8 euros), the quality of the food was quite decent. I mean, not exceptionally good, but good considering what you were paying for it. As it turns out, Kollowitzplatz is one of those gems in Berlin, where you can find restaurants and bars endlessly, and never grow tired of exploring any of it, and never hesitate to go in one, since you know that the food will always be decent.

 The neighborhood also has a whole lot of bars, out of which some are highly recommended. Some of the really cool ones are Scotch and Sofa. There's another one called Cocktailbar 55, which I don't think has a webpage, but has a whole book full of delicious cocktails, again highly recommended. Just walk down the Kollowitzstrasse away from the Scotch and Sofa and you will come across the bar to your left. There is another one in between these two, and in the same side as Cocktailbar 55, but neither Google nor other sources of internet want to reveal it. But then, that is Kollowitzplatz -- literally full of places to eat and drink.

  Not next to it. but not very far either is a Vietnamese place, called Si An that I went to on a Sunday. This blog already says a lot about it, so I will stop giving my own opinions. The food was pretty good, although the waiters a bit brusque, and only a few beers on offer. But you go for the food, that is very recommended.

 Another handful done, so I'll conclude now. More in my next!

 

Two languages, one artist and two decades

Since I don't have time to write too involved an entry, I will do a short one, based on the little things I found out today. It's about NENA, the German singer. If you don't know who that is, click at the Wikilink given at the end of the article. Since the aim of the blog is more about the songs, I'll skip her details.

 All you need to know that Nena is a German singer who had her first international success in the early 1980's. One of the wonderful songs (at least a one that I like so much) is the one called "99 Luftballons". The song is perfectly ordinary, but starts with a wonderful romantic opening line:

 "Hast du etwas Zeit fuer mich,
   Singe ich ein Lied fuer dich,
   Von 99 Luftballon auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
   Denkst Du vielliecht gerade an mich
   Singe ich ein Lied fuer dich,
   Von 99 Luftballoons ... "

 A terribly romantic set of lines, in my opinion. How many people take time to sing you songs of Hot-Air Balloons? And then, she did it again: she wrote (well, she was in a band at that time), and sang the English version of the song, which incidentally doesn't translate word for word. This perhaps reflects what original composers do when they are faced to translate a version of their song. The sounds and the tone of the English song is similar to the German one, which you can listen here.

 The next decade(s) were not particularly successful for Lena, apart from the Berlin concert, where she performed a song, the title of which means "Miracles can happen". A miracle did happen: this song performed for the "Konzert fuer Berlin", resulted in the German re-unification a few months later.

 Now, she has had a comeback, with a more mature stance. She made accolades for herself by resinging her old songs, which resulted in a major hit, but also coming up with new songs and albums which are a big hit in the German speaking countries of Austria and Switzerland, besides Germany. You can listen to one of the recent song here, where she has partnered with another British singer Kim Wilde. This is an interesting song to watch since the old version (of 1984) is also available and you can see it here.

 It is quite interesting the change that the artist has had, not only in her looks, but also in her style, way of looking, and singing. She exudes much more maturity and elegance, as does Kim Wilde. All the videos were a pleasure to watch, and listen to. Another of my favourites is here, and I think this belongs to the new songs that she wrote recently, titled as "Besser gehts nicht".

 Actually, I fully came to know about Nena only today. I did find her accidentally while searching for Lena, another german singer, who won the Eurovision award recently. Of course, I would confuse the L and the N, an alphabet apart, and keep getting different songs. 

Random and more Organized thoughts

Some people are more productive than others, don't you think? Well, you don't have to think to agree, you just have to see.

As usual, I was applying the argument on myself. And precisely about this blog. It's been a long time since I wrote here, and constantly keep blaming myself for not feeling myself up for it. It's not that I don't get material to write, I think lots, come up with arguments while I walk, or stare out blankly from the S-Bahn as it rushes to take my home. It is just that most of the time, these thoughts seem too stupid to write them down.

 I think it was yesterday, and then immediately had a counter-argument: I would say: So What? Most of the very fancy things ever, or the esoteric things ever, have been written by people in a frenzy... you just need to write it convincingly to get people ga-ga over it.

 So shall I try to write randomly? I won't make sense, though, so if you keep reading the text, you'll just have wander along with me.

 Today, I was rather full with a heavy lunch, so I just sat chewing a bread-rolls, and moistening the bread with yoghurt. And I thought what if I would put this on the FB (obviously not me in the first person..) and see what (some of) my friends write on the post. Imagine a post saying: "... Looking forward to a pleasant time, Sarah took some bread, and some Joghurt from the fridge, and sat chewing on the bread and wondering what her perfect life could have been.." But the idea I had was more interesting, rather then people potentially liking it. or judging me to be mental. It was in my vague hopes that people would read it, and then get back me asking questions about Sarah. And then through all these answers. I would create a new character for her.

Immediately, I decided against it, since I wasn't sure if drawing attention to my current state is such a good idea.

If however, you are reading this, and want to leave a comment about Sara, please do so. She did complain to me about her lack of 'Character'. It is so much more fun when you see comments from Unknown Person.

A slice of America in Berlin

  Switzerland is not Germany, and Germany is not the US. Why I am making the progression is basically because of a culture shift that happens. Of course, culturally Switzerland and Germany are more similar than they compare with the US. When I say that the US is perhaps the most friendly among the three, it becomes clear what am I referring to.

 Of course, any of these regions are pretty big, and the level of friendliness is different depending on where you are. Even then, Berlin is traditionally supposed to be very open among all the cities: it is a different Germany, as is often called. As I have been living in the city for some time now, I am a little qualified to speak about it, always being careful as not to generalize too much.

 While Berlin is supposed to be very open, at the same time, people outside and inside Berlin have sometimes called the people to be very direct, even arrogant at times. That is how some of my (German) friends described Berlin to me. Personally, even though I have several German friends, very few of them have actually grown up in Berlin. Those who have, perhaps don't really make a good statistical ensemble. Anyway, too many perhaps, lets get on to the business with the Pizza Slices?

  One fine day we planned to get together at my place for a pizza and a movie. An innocent plan soon gave way in my head to a house-warming party which I'd been wanting for half-a-year now. But, that was more of a surprise, so I had go and get the pizza (and uh, we needed food; I wasn't really planning for cooking for 10 people). Then, I found this place in Kreuzberg which made pizzas the American style (at the New York style), and a huge ones --- the ones that would cover three or four usual ones.

 Huh, I ordered this online, and was unfortunately the only one as well going to pick it up. And with those two absolutely huge pizzas with me, it was an effort and also a thing to come back home. I can safely say that on the way back home, I did get the most attention, perhaps ever, in a long looong time. Remember that I was using the party metro (the U12) and the party tram (M10) and passing through the party capital, Warschauer Str. And there were a huge number of young people around. There was a guy at the Warschauer Str. station, who just shouted out "Pizza", the moment he set his eyes on the pizzas! :) And I could make out people remarking about pizzas all around me. What fun! Finally, close back home, there were a group of three, who even remarked on how big the pizza was, and how much they cost.

 The incident was not big, or long, but it does tell a lot about the Berliners. Seemingly reserved, they can be open minded, they are willing to make an effort to make conversation. I don't know exactly why, but I was sweetly reminded of the over-friendly people from the US after this incident. I think it was quite sweet!

The Cat and the Dragon II

The Cat was in a very malevolent mood. It discovered that the Drachen had eaten all the nice roasted fish that the Cat had bought from the market the day before. The Drachen absolutely adored fish, and the Cat knew that. To be honest, the Cat being a Cat, never liked fish that much though. So why had the Cat bought the fish? In all honesty, the Cat wanted to make the Drachen a special dish of roasted fish spotted with beef jerky. And would watch the Drachen smack the Drachen's lips with pleasure and twitch and roll over with happiness. And now all that remained was the beef jerky.

Yes, the Drachen had been very bad.

The Cat, being the Cat, always knew a way out.

That night when the Drachen tiptoed back into the pouch, the Cat could sense that the Drachen was hungry. But the Drachen was scared to ask the Cat for food, knowing for sure that the Drachen would be very much scolded for stealing the food. The Cat, the Drachen thought, would forget by the next morning; and anyway, in the morning the Drachen would eat the huge bowl of chocolate flavoured cereal. And thus the Cat would be very happy, and forgive the Drachen.

What the Drachen did not know was that this was a part of the Cats devious plan. All throughout the night, when the Drachen was sleeping, the malevolent Cat covered the beef jerkys with a thin coating of chocolate...

You can imagine the Drachen's annoyance: who of us would not be annoyed to have gone to bed with the hope of having a delicious sweet breakfast next morning only to be shocked by the extra saltiness of the beef jerky! The Cat had not only coated the jerkys with a thick coating of chocolate, but had soaked the jerkies overnight in a strong brine solution: strong enough to make any one's teeth week. With a roar, the Drachen flew out of the pouch in the morning.

The black Cat watched with a smirk on its face...

Finding Neverland

  It proves not to be easy to write about my school life at The Future Foundation School. I mulled over how to start about it, for several days, and nothing came to my mind. Not that I was thinking about it all the time, (unfortunately I have to worry about other pressing things at the moment!), but still it proves to be very difficult to start. Thus, I decided to make it very spontaneous. This isn't the first time, though, I lay recourse to spontaneity in my writing. I used to do it for a long time when I used to keep a diary, and also now when I write my blog. But then those are different, they are not meant to be read by people by people who knew me long time ago.


   Now that I have written a paragraph, I already feel good about the momentum. Things pop up in my mind. Maybe a biography would be good? That's what a part of my brain suggests. That's simple, another part of my brain says: you were admitted to this school quite a while ago, when you were in class 2. And here I get a loud ping from the prefrontal cortex of my brain (oops, I do seem to have forgotten my biology lessons, but then I am not a professional biologist, so I needn't be ashamed! I just had to look up this term from Wikipedia, in case you are wondering). One of the earliest memories tell me that the first time I was sitting in the class, for some reason I decided to sit the other way round, so that I was facing the back of the class, rather than the front. Why? I haven't the faintest idea, that must have seemed right to my brain, but I am pretty sure that I must have been made fun of because of that! That's what kids do!



  I have many more memories of that time, but then this space, or any space for that matter, is not enough. Some memories are too entwined with others, some memories are quite choked, and prejudice tells me not reveal others. Anyway, I have a very clear idea of what the school was: it was green, it was small, it was close. Not that any of these are necessarily good or bad, it is just that everything has its own advantages and disadvantages. So, there we were, all huddled up in the Assembly Hall at 7:50 am, and sang our Morning Prayers. We belonged to different school houses, and my house was 'Divine Mother'. I still remember the lovely rivalry we used to have with the house 'Sri Aurobindo': I guess school houses were created to achieve excellence via healthy competition. Most of the times, the house 'Sri Aurobindo' would win, whether be it in the Annual Sports, or in the Quiz Competitions. Well, it was Sri Aurobindo Ashram after all! I believe these houses are all called differently, after colors. There used to be House Captains in charge of managing the different houses, and if I grew up enough to be one of these people. I hope I did make my House proud!



 I remember the first time and the last time I acted in a school play (they aren't identical; the last time was in a more philosophical play about the Ascent to Truth, a mighty complicated job, but not without peals of laughter, if you get my meaning!). The first time was in Class 2, when I had to play a ball-dance scene in either Cinderella or ... no, it indeed was Cinderella. Of course, I wasn't the main prince. That would have involved too much attention, and I was terribly shy back then. I think I was shy for a long, long time. Many of my teachers noticed that: it was pointed out in multiple occasions. I was shy of performing well, getting the attention. Of writing well. Not literature anyway, just writing with my hand. My language is sloppy, and my style too free-spirited. Except perhaps writing research articles. But thanks to all these feedback, slowly as I grew up, I was able to overcome this to some extent.



 This brings me to the subject of my Teachers. I consider myself really lucky in that respect: I don't know how good a student I was, but most of the teachers were absolutely excellent. I can't really compare them with others, because I've never had other private teachers, or for that matter, I never managed to change schools. But then, even now that I look back as a grown-up, I feel that I couldn't really have done better. Now, must say something about my Teachers.



 I remember that I was way too much taken with books and studies, and too little sports. That wasn't the best thing: I am still envious of my friends who, for example, learnt how to swim in their schools. But then, we never had a swimming pool in our school, so I shouldn't be complaining.   What else? Well, there is so much: some things I did in my school have clung to me so much that sometimes I forget from where I got them. I still begin the paragraph by leaving a bit of a blank space in the first line (and if my prefrontal cortex serves me right, I was taught that in my third class in the English course), I still know how to use a Transferred Epithet. While I forget how to distinguish a canyon from a gorge, I know how 'Sisters Must Help Each Other'. In case you are left wondering what it actually, try Googling it. Try it, before reading on. I did try, and it did not give me anything meaningful. But I still remember this being taught in a Geography class as a clever way of remembering the Great Lakes in the proper order from west to east: Lake Superior, Michigan, Huron, Eyre and Ontario.



 So there you go: while many memories may become vague, some memories will always cling to you. That's a part of growing up, a symbol of how much the environment that you grew up affected you, influenced you, made you what you are. I am certainly proud of that. Not that I always speak about it, but it is there, deep within me, something that has shaped me irreversibly in the way that I am.



Perhaps this is why I was having so much trouble to remember what to write: so many things to write about that it is hard to put them in words. And it didn't help that after I left school, I wasn't really in touch with the school. I know many of my friends who were in touch: but then I wasn't much in touch with many of my school friends either.



 It is useless to wonder why it was that way. At the time I left my school, it was changing a lot. And I guess, because I wasn't a part of the change, I still remember the school before the change. At that point, I still remember agreeing with many of my friends that it was difficult to visit the school, because of the changes it was undergoing, and we were not a part of it. I never felt at home in the new school. But, at least, whatever be the reason, there is the part of me which still retains the memory of the school as it was: all preserved in my prefontal cortex, and to a lesser extent in the diaries.



 Having said all that, lets remember that nothing about the change was meant in a bad way: any change is inevitable, whether desirable or not. If you are familiar with the Second Law of Thermodynamics, you must know that Entropy must increase. I realized it long back, now that it is almost 13 years since I left my school (and more well-versed in Physics than I was back then): I have nothing other than loving memories about it. Memories about a land, far far away, hidden in time, visited by fairies and apparitions, which does not exist any more, but only in memories of certain people... so the story starts!

Eateries and Drinkeries II

Its time again to recount the culinary adventures that I've shared with friends. Going to places alone is not really my plate of food, so I like to do it with friends!

okay, with which one should I start? Perhaps the Mustafa's at Mehringsdamm U Bahn stop. This is one of the very well known Doener places in Berlin. I was out with a friend drinking craft Beer at Hopfenreich, about which I have talked about in the last post. Actually, after this, we went to an Irish Pub, next to the Friedrichstadt Palast: if I am not too mistaken, its called Oscar Wilde. Mmmhmm, how very appropriate! Anyway, after that we went to Mehringsdamm. I had the chicken gemeuse Kebab: it was certainly the best that I have had in Berlin. But I wonder if it is worth all the hype it gets. I mean, there are like hour long lines for this every day. But just our sweet luck, we went there at quarter to two, and therefore only had to queue about 15 minutes. In the freezing weather, however, I have to admit, the waiting wasn't that nice.

 In the later weeks, I was told that there exists another branch of Mustafa's in Friedrishain, close to the Kaisers' at Warschauer Strasse S-Bahn.

 Well, so much for Kebabs. Let's move on. There is the exotic "Chutnify" that cannot not be mentioned, a paradise for authentic and modern South Indian food --- namely Idlis and Dosas. All my friends were delighted to be at this place. While they served traditional dosas, they also had dishes, which I would call modern, like when the filling of the Dosa is made of keema, or minced meat. It is a small place, so if you plan to go there in the evening with more than four people make sure to reserve a table.

 The next stop would probably be a Turkish, which was the weekend when Jyoti visited me. We went to the Doyum Grill and Restaurant near Kottbuser Tor. While I will not tell you what it was like (hey, you have to try it out yourself!), you can read more praises here. If you go here, try the Adana Kebab. This is the only one I've had here, as per the recommendation in the blog, and am willing to come here week after week to try the meat that is charcoal grilled on the outside, and yet sufficiently juicy and succulent inside.

Then there are two places at Potsdamer Platz that I've tried. The one inside the Sony Center, which is more a kind of a multi-cuisine place. With Jyoti around, we tried the flammkuchen. It was quite okay I think, not particularly memorable but better than many other places I've had Flammkuches at. The restaurant was fancy, but the prices were actually quite decent. The other place was the Amlas, the Indian restaurant, again close to Potsdamer Platz, where we went to after watching a Berlinale movie and to celebrate Miguel's birthday. Again, I think the Indian lived up to its average spicy food, but it was lacking the extra bit that made up the elegance of Chutnify.

 The next one which deserves a special mention is the Restaurant Serrano. Located to the west to the Tiergarten, close to Wilmersdorf and Charlottenberg, this serves Peruvian cuisine. The food was good, but rather expensive. I had a dish which was corn-fed chicken breast with a yellow chili sauce, walnut and parmesan cheese and blue potatoes, and was really delightful. This was one of this upper class restaurants where you can take your dates to impress them, the food is expensive, but good, the quantity is measured, but enough that it will just fill you, but maybe a bit more wouldn't have hurt. And the Peruvian beer (which unfortunately came bottled, not brewed there directly) had an interesting sweet sour taste. Given that I am very dangerously into foods with a sweetish taste, I consumed two big helpings of the beer. Oops!

 Rounding up the food discussion, I must mention the brunch places. The first one we tried the Datcha. Lots of people already praise this place, so I need not give you an additional link. The brunch, however, is particularly renowned! Suffices to say that we went there on a winter's noon for brunch, and I had to wait for almost half an hour for a place for two. So better go in advance, also given the fact that you cannot reserve for the brunches. The food is really worth it, all kinds of fresh salads with delicious cheese, fish, meat, veggies, filled papricas. Maybe also a Russian tea to settle your stomach. The brunch is help-yourself, and one can stay till 4pm, eat as much as you like, and the food is always replaced and very fresh. A comparable brunch place is the Schiller Cafe. The food is again very fresh with a wide variety, and they had the most delicious Berliners (Pfannkuchen) that I've ever had. Try this, it is highly recommended! And if it's not enough, they have a burger shop next doors, which I've heard is also quite good.

 Among the couple of Bars, that I can recommend, here goes the list. Definitely try out the Djungel, if you haven't. This is in Neukoelln, somewhere close to the Weserstrasse. The interior decor is quite striking, but as you'd expect: in a jungle. Unfortunately I never got to enjoy the ambience too much. Another one nearby is the Silverfuture, another pretty cool place with the hip (not hippy) atmosphere where you can see people of all age groups, and also LGBT. Going all the way up to the north Prenzlauer Berg, there is Cafe November,  not too far from Chutnify. It is a cool place, a bit on the quieter side, and while the lentil soup looked appetizing there, someone complained that it was a bit cold. Then there is Dogma Bar, not far away. This is bit more flashy bar, with more youngish people, nicely and trendily dressed. Perhaps not unlike the one on Kastanienallee, but then Prenzlauer Berg is sufficiently gentrified. A club across the corner is Horns and Hooves, on Danziger Str. and it is quite an interesting place to be (even though it means paying an 8 euro entrance fee), with a bar, a dance floor, a magic show, and sometimes live concerts. Another lively place is the Mon Plasir, on the Pappelallee, which makes fairly decent long drinks (all around 4 or 4.50 euros). Ah yes, they even have sand on the floor trying to mimicking the Bahamas.

 I think I will leave it at that. Hopefully this has enough to keep you running about for a few days at least!

New Movies

What about a quickie about some movies? I know that I have a bad (?) habit of juggling words in different places, but hey, why not? It can be quite fun.

So before I go into these different movies, I must say that usually I am a flexible person, and I won't call a movie bad unless I really don't like it. So among the movies that I watched last week, none of them were bad, on the contrary, they were quite good. But having said that, if you are looking at it from a critic's eye maybe you are not impressed either. Why did I watch these movies? Let me describe the movies first, and then I'll explain.

The first movie is What a Man. I had watched this movie before, but without subtitles, and though I understand German fairly well, it was nice to watch this one with subs, since I could appreciate the movie much better. This is a movie about relationships, more like a comedy-drama. Now before you start decrying this whole class of movies, remember that how much 'no-nonsense' type we may pretend to be, sometimes you can be in a difficult situation where you don't know what to do. Some people might say, that has never been the case in their lives, and in that case, I'll reply that they have been lucky not to have to deal such issues. They haven't come, but it doesn't mean that such cases won't turn up!

Anyway, I am deviating from the subject under discussion. The movie is about a school teacher, Alex, who's in a relationship with a model, Caro. Alex is quirky, too nice, and at the start of the movie Caro is frustrated with him, because he is not 'manly enough' for her. She cheats on him, and throws him out of her house, and he goes to live with a childhood friend, Nele. Now, Nele has had feelings for him, but she also has a boyfriend, Etienne, at the moment of the movie. However, they are not too happy in their relationship either. So, Nele takes a lot of care of Alex, and the rekindle their romantic feelings for each other, but are too scared to admit it (even after sleeping together one night), since they are afraid it might ruin the friendship. Then, there to escape her feelings for Alex, Nele decides to fly with Etienne to China, where he works for an NGO. Alex meanwhile realizes that he cannot live without Nele, and overcomes his fear of flying to go after his sweetheart. There are some subplots, but this is the gross story.

Whats interesting about the story is that it is something thats ageless and timeless. You can set it anywhere and it would be a good story (even if not the best one) But the fact remains: these are things that we have to deal with our everyday lives. Various points arise:
a) if this is so mundane, why do you have to go and watch it in a movie?
b) such happy endings do not happen in real life, only in movies
c) ...
You could think about a lot of objections, but I won't respond. I didn't see this movie to raise objections, I saw it because it was a German movie (with nice actors/actresses), and I wanted to improve my listening skills, as well as my understanding of the culture. And it was totally worth it.

The next movie was also a one by Mathias Schweighoefer, called "Russendisko". It is a comedy-drama, set in 1990, about three guys who come from Moscow to Berlin, after the fall of the Soviet Union seeing no hope in Moscow and thinking of a better life in Berlin. The plot is extremely simple and straightforward, but what made the film attractive to me was the initial set-up in Berlin in the 1990's. One could see how Berlin became the cool place it is now. You could see the city squats, especially in the eastern parts, where most of the movie was set. You could make out the city struggling to come out of its stupor with simple people doing simple stupid things, havingno idea that by the two decades the city would become a political, cultural and creative powerhouse ofthe world.

I am going to be quick now and move over to the third one. This one was actually special, since it was  made by some time amateur filmmakers, and completely shot in black white. It's called "Dr Kettel", and is about a doctor who goes helping ordinary people in Neukoelln, after the failure of Germany's health care system. The plot is quite interesting, and sometimes the events that occur are a bit symbolic. It seems like this is a personal topic affecting the director in some way, since he dedicates the film to his father, who helped people who didn't have money for medical treatment and lived in Kreuzberg/Neukoelln. Its actually a smallish movie (80 mins), and is probably worth a watch if you are not doing something very important!

Eateries and Drinkeries

While 'Drinkeries' is no proper self-respecting English word, I'll still go with it. With all the revolution in the English Language going on around the world, I think it'll survive the understanding.

So, since a couple of months I've moved to Berlin. While it's still true that because of various issues at various facets, I'm still struggling to establish a normal life here, I've begun to enjoy the city tremendously. Here, I'll focus on one particular aspect, as mentioned in the title.

 One of the first interesting places I've been to was a Sri Lankan restaurant around Boxhagener Platz. Here is the link. It turned out to be refreshingly nice restaurant, true to the universality of the South Indian spices. If I still remember correctly, I had "Appes", which are like Dosas but are shaped like a bowl. Would definitely recommend it. It is a small place though, and when we went, we even met a waiter from Bangladesh, who was working there for his last day.

The next restaurant I enjoyed the food was at an Italian place near Ostkreutz/Boxhagener Platz. That one of the crazy neighbourhoods in Berlin which is absolutely jam-packed with cool restaurants and bars. The place served really GOOD Italian food. Further down the memory lane, we land at a Burger place in Panierstrasse, which is again another neighbourhood (in Neukolln) filled with wonderful places. You can check out the BurgersInternational here . You can see how 'lacker' the burgers look, and take it from a person who can identify decent food, that they were absolutely superb! I would love to go there again and again. Note that it is a small place, often very crowded, and you might have to be outside. And, as you see, the burgers are huge, so be prepared to open your mouths wide.

When Christian, Lewis and Sofia were around for a weekend, we were mostly visiting Christmas markets, but there was a Vietnamese place on Sonntagsstr. @ Ostkreutz which was quite nice, and the Aussie Burger at the restaurant of the Adina hotel was quite tasty. Another super cool cafe is Cafe Hilde at Prenzlauer Berg. Check out the cool baked goodshere. It is a relatively big cafe with a nice decor, and a very cozy atmosphere. The muffins and hot chocolate were especially good. Speaking of Cafes, the one you shouldn't miss at all are Cupcakes Berlin. I don't know about the coffee there, but given the quality of cupcakes I've had (read: terrific), I would go there again and again. Actually, I had got some cupcakes (hmm, its not Muffins, that's American! Even there was a British lady at the reception) as a surprise for Sabine's birthday. And these muffins we had at Standige Vertretung. This is a place which I still have on my list. We went to this place for a drink, and it was so crowded that we couldn't go in --- admittedly on a Saturday evening. The speciality of this place is Cuisine from Koln, as Julia told us. Actually, we went there after having dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Friedrichstrasse (well, Mittelstrasse actually), called Ishin . Unfortunately, I don't exactly remember what I had, but it must have been a Don, with some meat.

Okonomiyaki

And speaking of Japanese places, another place at Prenzlauer Berg comes to mind, where Hana took me, and we had Okonomiyaki (see the picture). It is a delicious salty Japanese pancake, and even someone like who does not like fish, liked it very much! The restaurant is here, and for a more extensive review of the place you can read more. Shortly after the Okonomiyaki lunch, we visited the another cool chocolaterie and cafe in the area, in the very French fashion, Mon Plasir. If you go there, make sure you try the Macarons, and coffee, of course. Try whatever you want, I bet you won't be disappointed.

Coming back to more recent times, the first time we started doing 'informed' restaurant hunting, we went to Babel in Kastanienallee. A delicious Lebanese place, if ever there was one. Food was around 8-9 Euro, a lot of it, very good quality and extremely tasty. Again, it is a small place, and can get really crowded at times. In the neighborhood, there are two places that I need to try: one is a South African place called Cape Town, and another a South Indian, called Chutnify. We did try to go to Cape Town last Friday, but it was closed for some unknown reason, and Chutnify turned out to be a small but extremely popular restaurant, so no places were available for the whole evening. To take a hit, we went to Savanna . However, I wouldn't recommend this place too much, although you can get exotic dishes here. I had ostrich, while Miguel had Antelope and Hana zebra. To me, Ostrich and Antelope seemed fine, but I won't be trying Zebra. The quality of the food / meat was good, but the cooking wasn't superb, and the dishes generally expensive (even for traditional meat like chicken/lamb). Among the cereal dishes, one can choose rice, or couscous, or fufu. The latter is made from the root of some trees, and I wouldn't recommend it -- it was basically tasteless. Rice or couscous would have been much better. The African Beer Dju Dju was quite nice though, even if a bit expensive, and it comes in different flavors, much like the Berliner Weisse.

This is the men's bathroom, I'm sure you can tell!

Finally, some 'drinkeries'  before finishing this off. One of the really cool places I've been to in terms of quality and atmosphere has to be Hopfenreich. It has the largest number of craft beers I have seen available in a single place. Another place in Perenzlauer Berg, close to the Kulturbraurei, whose name I can't recall or find out from Google, but it was a very comfy place, with a particularly cozy nook that made for perfect drinking and conversation. And this is a classic example why these bars please me so much --- they have an atmosphere of casual decay and disdain, nothing is very polished, but stuck with old posters of a bygone era. Things look worn out, there are mysterious boxes behind curtains draped across big windows -- as if no one really cares if they get stolen or not, and no one cares what people think. It is this decadence that lends an aura that is quite difficult to conjure else where. In contrast, the bar/club An einem schonem Sonntag im August , has quite a different atmosphere. Often with (live) music, the seating places are arranged more like steps, and more carefully dressed people as well as smart, but casually dressed people come here. Quite recommended. Yes, and the bar at St Oberholz. Its quite a big place, but is more than the ordinary restaurant/bar as you can read in the blog. Besides having cool beer, they have a clever way of distinguishing male and female toilets (see the pic). And they have free WiFi, so a good place to work as well.

I think I'll close now. Quite a mouthful of places that I've listed. They look good, and hopefully there will be more in the future to come. In a phrase, Berlin is a foodie/drinkie's sublime paradise.