Taxi please!

There is something with me and taxi drivers, it seems they are extra fond of me. I don't know why, but something fishy is going on. I have written about it before, taxi drivers in this city seem to recognize me. Not all, but some, and when they do they tend to remember also where they picked me up and where they dropped me off.

It has happened that taxi drivers have asked me out. Freaky!

But yesterday's taxi driver was nice. He understood that I was hungry, so he offered to call a restaurant - run by his relatives I assume - and order food for me and then we could stop by and pick it up on the way. I rejected the suggestion but I really thought it was sweat. He seemed generally concerned.

(I came home late after a business trip)

Another day in paradi... No, wait, Paris!

I pay for myself when travelling on business but it is not bad to be able to do so in the wonderful city of Paris... Oysters on the menu, how could I resist oysters? And clams... How many times I have oysters this month? A few... I have produced my share of empty shells...

Unfortunately there will not be as many trips to Paris, France now, I suspect, as my dear friend H who has lived there for a couple of years is on his way to move back to Sweden. Poor guy... Well, OK, I should not project my feelings onto other people ;-) I am sure he will have a great time back in Sweden. But it sure is odd... Life in Sweden changes when one is away too, it is not just the person leaving that changes. For us it feels like things should always be the same, it's like a summer house that you leave. There may be some traces of mice when you come back in the spring but you expect all the furniture to be where you left it and the unread books to stay where they were. And it all IS the same. But for Sweden, I assume things will have changed. You can never go back to the Sweden, or the country in general, that you just left.

But to you want to?

I want to go back to Paris though, if for nothing else for more oysters ;-)

Pssst

I am a bit worried as I have lost too much weight lately. My BMI etc is perfect but for me, it is too much and it has gone too fast. So I am trying to get back into the habit of cooking proper food - the food in the canteen at work is getting worse and worse and life is to short to eat bad quality food.

So I appreciate tips and ideas and some cheering over the blog. Serious tips on good healthy food. I am not going to eat junk food just to gain weight, I am no actor who has to get bigger for a role. I want to eat healthy and tasty. I will try and share food tips from time to time as well. Cheer for me!

Good thing with me and cooking is that when I do cook I always cook too much - growing up in a big family does that to you - so there are always portions that can make excellent lunch packs. I'll be able to turn this around.

Carrot and Ginger soup - Friday's dinner

Had a fabulous Carrot and Ginger soup Friday. It was not just tasty but also very beautiful in it's yellow/orange colour. Here is some sort of recipe. It is not completely accurate, I never use a recipe except for inspiration so it is difficult to tell about it. I am so used to cooking that I go on smell, look, feel and taste ad know what to add. But here are some instructions:

Carrot and Ginger soup

Ingredients

Garlic - I used two cloves but let taste decide. Fresh garlic tastes more.

Onion - I used red as that was the only one I had at home. One onion was what I used.

Ginger - fresh, about 2-3 cm.

Orange - half an orange

Carrots - a bunch

Water

spices

broth - I used ready made but you can cook your own of course

olive oil

• Chop the garlic and the onion, as well as the ginger.

• Cut a bunch of carrots into little carrot coins.

• Put a pot on the stove, turn on the heat, and heat up some olive oil. Put the ginger, the onion and the garlic in the pot and fry it slowly until the onion looks see through and has started to get a bit of a surface. Careful. Remember that you can't see when oil is hot, it's not like butter. You don't want to start a fire!

• Put the carrots in. Wait a minute or two. That's just to let them soak in the

• Add water so that it covers the carrots. Perhaps a bit extra too.

• Add some broth if needed, or some salt. I prefer vegetable broth. If you have the dry ones you obviously need more water, if you have the fluid you need less. But that goes without saying if you just use commn sense. Common sense is a good thing when cooking.

• Taste, add the spices you need - salt is what I normally use.

• Let the carrots simmer for a bit until they are soft . 20 minutes or so... Remember to try and make sure you

• While the carrots are boiling slowly, press half an orange - lime or lemon juice would also do, if you don't have an orange - into a glass or directly into the mixing bowl of a blender.

• When the carrots/ginger/onion soup is finished boiling, i e when the carrots are soft, pour the whole mix into the blender, together with the orange juice (directly from the fruit, no sugary artificial stuff, please!), and mix it.

Pour the soup back in the the pot and heat it up again, make sure it is really hot. Taste and add salt if needed, and some freshly grounded black pepper.

Serve with a splash of natural yogurt or creme fraiche, sour cream or something similar in the middle, or use a vegan alternative. It's just supposed to be a little bit.

Freshly baked bread is also yummy with the soup.

Enjoy!

PS! The whole affair is easy and quick, don't be afraid to try your way through. You can easily add more orange juice, more spices etc in the end and it is cheap, healthy and utterly GOOD!

Let me know what you thought about it, once you have tried! There are a billion recipes of ginger and carrot soup, I suspect, so if you are curious but need more precise guidance, why not google it?

I see traces of Sweden everywhere I go, how odd...

Look at this picture. Look at the colour of the bridge, look at the ship in front of it, look at the type of bridge, look at the water... It reminds me of something, but what?

Actually it was quite obvious to me when I came down to Penn's Landing in Philadelphia. This area is adjacent to the old town, as you can see it is down by the river. I was out running in the morning when I found it and I had to get back later to take some pictures.

If you have never been you can't spot it but if you have been to Gothenburg (Göteborg), Sweden, you should be able to tell; Gothenburg harbour. The bridge is longer in Philadelphia and the ship is smaller, and the cars have automatic gears but other than that, it reminds me so much of Gothenburg; Älvsborgsbron (Älvsborg bridge), and the ship would be Viking, in Gothenburg. If it would have been Gothenburg the ship would have been a bit further away but not much.

It's very interesting! There seem to be traces of us everywhere...

New York report coming

I will write more about my NYC trip but not now, I came home today and I am a tad tired... Went home for a shower and then straight to work, and after that to the shop getting food - fridge was almost empty... Promise to myself; More home cooked, avoid horrible canteen at work, I am wasting away, there I only eat the absolute minimum to survive as the quality has gone down dramatically...

Anyhow, travel tips will have to wait but they will come, rest assure!

Dave Matthews Band

To my surprise I found myself at a Dave Matthews Band concert today, Sunday. I heard about it from some people I chatted to when I was down in the historical city of Philadelphia, they mentioned they were going in Saturday.

The gig was in New Jersey, right across the river from Philadelphia's Penn Landing., so when I came up to New York I went online to read more about it. Turned out that there was a gig also on Sunday and Sunday I didn't have any plans, so I decided to go down and check it out. Took a ferry from Penn's Landing over to the concert, ran up to the theatre, and yes, they actually had tickets. Splendid! Brilliant concert, but I must admit that seeing DMB without the special person who originally introduced me to the band - well, not as in face to face but as in their music - was a bit odd, I always thought that if I was going to see them live it would be with him. But well, life sometimes takes unexpected turns I guess.

Loved by some

The train between Philadelphia and New York City is excellent, takes about 1.5 hours (or even quicker if you chose one of the express lines. I am on Amtrack. Septa, the New Jersey rail company can be used too but with more stops and a more difficult route (but the cost of the tickets is also considerably lower).) and gets you straight into the city, hassle free.

Also I love taking the train, it relaxes me, for a while you are sitting there and you can't really go anywhere - so you read, sleep, chat with people if that is what you are up for, play a game on your iPhone, or work a bit - not me though, I'm on holiday. There is an electrical outlet at every seat too so one CAN really work if one wants to.

Anyhow, on the train to New York City I find myself sitting close to a young guy with a dog. On the back of the dogs collar it says "Therapy dog". No idea what it means, except that the dog can go on the train. The little one is an overweight bulldog (English bulldog I assume, certainly not a french one, they are tinier). The owner puts the dog on the seat next to him. I think in my head "well, should dogs really be on the seat" but then I decide it isn't my job to tell him to put the dog on the floor, it doesn't bother me and the conductor will say so if it is needed. They check the tickets of everybody anyhow.

And yes, when the tickets are checked the owner is told that the dog can not be on the seat, so he lets the little one down - unfortunately where there isn't that much space as the man in front of the dog has leaned his seat backwards. The owner could have switched seats with the dog, but I guess he wants his space too.

When the owner of the dog falls asleep the little one, who has been lying more in the aisle than below the seat, sees his chance. He escapes... Across the aisle over to me... All of a sudden I feel a warm body pressed against my leg, buffing trying to make space. I am sitting there, peacefully, reading my book, with my backpack at my legs. I move a little to the side to make room for the little one. The owner looks up,but when i tell him it is OK he goes back to sleep again, and the remaining way my legs are warmed up by the warm dog. Very nice. He just lies there peacefully and seem to enjoy some human contact. From time to time I bend down and scratch him between his ears. Cute...

Veal

Yesterday I had the most beautiful veal you can imagine! I like mymeat rare, and that was what I got (as I specifically asked for it). When I came in the kitchen was about to close so I placed my order very quickly and it was a hit. I knew I wanted meat and I picked the
first I saw on the menu. Served with a sauce and with dried parma ham,
that married perfectly. Additionally I had fresh potatoes. Very nice!

Matched with an excellent light Pinot Noir from Domain Lurton, from 2006. Don't understand why the menu only specifies the grape and the producer though, and not the name of the wine... But that is a totally different issue...

Food was anyhow excellent!

Again at Lacroix in Philadelphia by the way, been here sightseeing today. Not in the restaurant obviosly, but in the city. More about that later.

Ginger in drinks

On Sunday my friend A took me to this fantastic little restaurant north of New York city, where we had drinks and a meal. I started with a ginger martini. It sounded a bit weird when it was suggested but it was magical, grated fresh ginger made that drink get to the toplist. Originally I had wanted to try what another customer had, a sour apple martini with fresh green apple in it, but then ginger was mentioned and of course I could not resist it. I LOVE ginger, in all forms and shapes. And it was a real treat!

Today I am at another place, down in Philadelphia and guess what, they have a ginger drink too, ginger gimlet. No fresh ginger but it works OK also with the ginger syrup. But fresh would have been better.

Think I see a trend here! Ginger! My kind of taste!

(by the way, how come American drinks are always less alcoholic than European? It's not bad, just different. Perhaps because this is a country depending on cars so people want to be able to have one drink and then still drive? Don't know...)

Yummy!

No potatoes for tiny me, the potatoes turned out to be pommes duchesse, or croquettes made with creme frais, which doesn't work well with someone lactose intolerant. The chef replaced, or substituted as they like to say, with apple. Worked remarkably well with the cured ham!

Very interesting to see where this is going, they surely have ambitions in this place. Started with a "tomato soda", which was on the house. Must have been green tomatoes, because the little drink/starter was completely green. And yummy!

For dessert, a magnificent Sauternes, Monbazilliac, Domain du Petit Paris from 2005. Gooooood!!! And matching the wonderful sorbet!

If they could now just stop the air condition from being so strong. I am so cold!!! I don't understand how people do it. Skimpy little dresses? Not for me, not in this climate.

Silly, it was easy to get happy

Who can be sad with a glass of Champagne, Cuvée Lacroix, Paul Goerg, a Blanc de Blanc, in front of her???

Waiting for an excellent dinner too, decided yesterday to head down to Philadelphia to see a bit of the city - there is quite a bit of history here that I want to see more of - and lo and behold, there is a restaurant festival going on, with plenty of good options - well worth every penny. Actually the menu -3 course - is just slightly more than a single glass of champagne...

For starter; Cured Pork Loin, with potatoes and Parmesan.

Main course will be trout, with tomatoes, black garlic, palm heart.

And most likely sorbet for dessert, all at Lacroix at the Rittenhouse Hotel. Fancy fancy :-)

(On the other hand the rest of the hotels on this trip have been bonus point nights etc...)

I'll let you know how it went!

Not a good day

Today is not a good day, it is chilly and I have way to much on my mind. But that doesn't hinder the fact that the museums were nice etc. Not sure if I will be doing that much blogging the next couple of days but we shall see.

Oh, the offers I am getting...

When I was in New York the last time, I got some interesting offers... I guess that is a risk you take when you get a prepaid phone number, someone else may have had it before, someone up to something...

Seems the person who had this number before had an interesting sex life at least... Just received a new message, from someone (on a UK number, actually, so the person who I originally thought was pulling my leg last time is obviously innocent). This time it is from someone who just came back from Greece (holiday???) and want to meet up for a little, hmmm, intimate meeting. I am very tempted to just answer something silly but I won't, I'll behave and just tell them they have the wrong number... And I will be waiting to see if I get some more interesting messages.

The number I have only works in US and Canada so I have no clue if there has been messages sent while I was in Europe. Pity, it could have been fun :-)

(Pre paid cards from Sweden works abroad too nowadays, but obviously the technique in US has not gotten that far...)

Sleep? I don't know her

One would think that my body is sympathising with my friend who just had a baby - I am sleep deprived today. Woke up a billion times during the night, just like many with newborns do. No babies here but that doesn't help much. I still haven't slept. Will be a strange day today, I guess...

PS - Hunters point

By the way, Hunters Point are probably the best for cooking, very meaty. A bot too meaty, you had to chew them while the others just sliiided down into my tummy. Yummy. Hunters Point oysters I'd cook, perhaps grill

Today's menu

Today's menu: Gazpacho with Main lobster. F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S!

And now: oysters. I know oysters are supposted to be first but I don't
care.

Mystic River (Conneticut)
Bluepoint XL (Long Island)
Windy Bay (Alaska)
Hunters Point (Washington)

Yummy!!!

Oyster Bar at Grand Central station. Love this place!

A lunch box

The poor little woman next to me on the plane has her own lunch box, a little box of pills.

She also has a bag the has in her lap, like it was a baby that would die if she didn't hold on to it...

Not to mention the whole routine around traveling, little pillow inflated, earplugs in, and so on, and so on. Her husband is in the seat in front of her - I'm assuming they couldn't agree on who should take the aisle seat? But they are constantly communicating except when she is asleep - she is pulling at his chair, he tells her about the film and so forth. Luckily she sleeps a lot though.

Me? I'm happy where I want to be, at the window where I can sleep - which I did immediately after boarding... Woke up in time for food though, only to fall asleep again after. I don't mind flying :-)

And by the way, the champagne is cold, dry and free - just like Churchill liked it... ;-) Or well, not completely free of course, I paid for the ticket.

Air France - language issue

How surprising! All these years when I've been going to US now and then, most of the time privately but sometimes on business. The questions are always the same: What are you going to to there, how long are you staying, business or pleasure - and where are you staying, as a non-US citizen/resident you have to let the authorities know your address while in the Stated.

In the beginning it was just the immigration that asked the questions, then it moved to the airline, and now you have to declare it 72 hours before (no spontaneous visits here...), preferably via the web.

How surprised I got at CDG airport in Paris, Flying out, when the only question was "May I see you return ticket".

The only question I never received before... Wonder if it was just easier for them to ask that question than the whole list - no need to worry about languages...

(and how do you show a return ticket when you travel on an e-ticket? Luckily I received a print when I checked in. Well, I guess I could always have showed her the email, thankfully I have it on my iPhone. But don't expect me to start printing e-tickets, then it's not an e- ticket anymore...)

Hiking

On Sunday I am going on a hike with a friend. The plan is to go up north and go for a day hike. My friend is very worried that I will not have the right kind of shoes. Personally I don't understand what the worry is. It I am going for a longer hike where I will be away for days I can understand the whole shoe issue but for one day? I have said to her that I will bring my outdoor shoes which I know are comfortable. Yes, it is a pair of running shoes, but the grip is very good. And quite frankly, the hiking routes I have seen in US so far - not that I have seen a lot of them - have been easy enough not to worry about any shoes. Not when you are out for one day! But maybe I am wrong this time... Last time I was in NYC the hike I went on didn't even make me warm, it felt like we were mainly waiting and the route we took was easier than the shortcut I took for 7 or so years as a kid, going home from school... After all I AM Swedish and even though I nowadays happen to be a city person I have had my share of tree climbing, mastering boulders, looking out for snakes. Then again I guess the problem in US may be that not enough people use the paths - there may be trees and branches in the way. Or?

We shall see. I will use my running shoes frequently. I will use a pair of hiking boots once during this trip. I am not going to over pack, and have to drag loads of lugguage around - I am not going to be staying in just one place. Chances are that it is hiking boots that will have to stay at home, and by the way; Worst case I can always turn back and find my way through the tracks... I have a feeling that the area will be pretty well organized as everything else having to do with nature in US, it is not like in Sweden where anybody can go out anywhere in the forest, the forest may belong to someone but everybody has the right to spend time there (but not destroy anything, also not to hunt etc - but berries and mushrooms are free for everybody to pick, if you pick for yourself and your own need). Hence the "forest hiking" in Sweden is far less organized.

It will be interesting to see how it goes...

Terribly sorry

Appologizes to all you Americans out there, I said a swear word in my posting about the differences between the east coast and the west coast. I said train... ;-)

I am learning the differences between East and West

Slowly I am starting to learn the differences between east and west. Not the easy ones, like where the sun sets, that one I knew already, growing up on the west coast of Sweden, where the sea helps you knowing where west is. Also not between Asia and Europe. But the difference between the American East coast and the American West coast.

I have spent a lot more time on the west coast than I have on the east coast, namely in California, as I have friends and family on that side, and the climate fits me well as well. Most of the time that I have spent on the east coast I have been on business, so I haven't really done that much outside of meetings etc - especially not touristy things. I also (used to) know far more people on the west coast than on the east coast, and I love to visit friends when I travel - not for the whole trip but for parts of it - so when I am in the States it was in the past more natural to go west. OK, the whole of US is west of Europe, I know, but you know what I mean, FAR west...

Anyhow; I have always known that there are some differences between the East coast and the West coast, California is in a way a country of it's own (with a huge economy, second biggest in the world or something like that - at least it used to be until the crash), and I think many can sign that statement.

On Wednesday one of the big differences between the east coast and the west coast became apparent to me... Distances. In California the distances are vast, the cities are few, and you can drive long stretches between cities and you mainly see cows and fruit orchards, and some small villages here and there. Then again around the cities the density in population is quite remarkable, not to mention the density in cars... So you have well populated spots and then empty land, and in the populated areas you have traffic jams - try to get into San Francisco on a busy day... I have only done it when I had no deadline, I don't want to imagine how stressful it could be with tired and hungry kids in the car or a deadline to meet... Anyhow, in California people are married to their cars. The distances are long, and I have known people who would drive for around three hours to meet up with friends, only to drive three hours back in the evening, to get home and back to work the day after. Three hours may be a bit extreme, but a few hours per way and still make it home the same day is not unusual, in my experience.

And then on Wednesday I spoke to a dear friend who just moved back from Düsseldorf to US, to the East coast (New York). As I am going over and will be there the coming week, I will of course visit her too - she is one of the main reasons I decided to go to US again so shortly after I was there. I never planned to spend the whole holiday with her but chunks of it -after all she has to work, and I love to see things on my own as well, I don't want someone to be with me all the time... However an opening came up and Tuesday-Wednesday we decided to do something - a two day trip somewhere. While chatting about it and trying to chisel out what we want to do - somewhere outside the city, preferably upstate, and I would love to be close to the water - she asks me again about my schedule. I haven't got a very firm one but I have a few things that I want to fit in so Tuesday morning to Wednesday evening is what would be suitable. And this is where the east/west kicks in.

"Well" she says, "Well, I need to know your schedule, because we can't go too far away".
"We can't drive for four hours to get there, then we would just be in the car".

I sit there as a question mark, what does she mean, four hours drive is nothing, and not if you spend the night (and there are no cranky kids in the car, and none of us has any). I mean, after all we are talking US with long distances... And that is when it REALLY hits me! That is why I have friends further down along the coast that hasn't been in NYC (even though they like the city) for years and years, even if the city is only a few hours away and there are even trains. On the east coast that IS quite a distance while, being born in Sweden - we also have quite a long drive especially if you are up north - and having visited California many times I personally consider the cities of the American East coast to be very close together... It is my perspective that is different than the perspective of the people on the East coast. But then again my perspective is not quite as extreme as the Californians. I am somewhere in between when it comes to how far I would be OK to drive in one go...


OH, by the way; The difference between the east coast and the west coast is the same as between the Swedes and the people from central Europe and UK. Many Germans and Brits are shocked when I say it takes me 40 minutes to get to work. It is what I am used to, but to them it is like I am going to another planet when I go to work...

How I plan my travel

How I plan my travel? That is an easy one! I think about what I want to eat, or a restaurant I want to go to, and then I plan around that... Right now I am into seafood and especially oysters so on Saturday I will be in NYC having oysters at the Oyster Bar at Grand Central Station... Love the bustling environment in a train station and when you on top of that get fantastic food and a setting you recognize from the films, life is good!

By the way, if the thought of raw food scares you, skip eating the oysters raw and go for for example oysters that have been gratinated, or chose another way that they can be cooked. Just don't avoid the oysters, because it is heavenly! You are missing out if you do! Although I never understood the American habit of putting Tabasco or other strong sauce on the oysters, then the taste disappears. Oysters should, if you ask me, be served with lemon or possibly a vinaigrette - and at the Oyster Bar you actually get that - as well as the strong sauce that is so popular in US. So you can choose yourself!

By the way, if you are hungry the Oyster bar has various soups as well... May be good to know!

Autumn has started

Autumn has started, I am wearning a watch today!

Now I am complaining - don't read if you don't want to hear complaints

WARNING! This is not my usual positive post, this is a complaint. I will be back with observations etc later but now I have to get this out of the system!

I do not like Microsoft, I really really don't. I use their products still, at least some of them, but what I really don't like is their inability to communicate. For a long time I have been trying to reach them to get rid of a news letter they send to my office address. The subject is
"Security for Home Computer Users"

And let me repeat what I just said: To my OFFICE address. My OFFICE address. And "Security for Home Computer Users". Hello??? Something is not right here...

Unsubscribe you say: Tried that. Doesn't work. Either the mail bounces - when I send it back to them with "Unsubscribe" in the title as I am supposed to - or I can't log on. You see, you can log on to "update your profile". Except with my office address I don't have an account at Microsoft... And when I try to log on with one of my Hotmail addresses - yes, I have those too, for different purposes, one that I use in the blog and another one that I use when signing up for different lists which could potentially cause spam - none of them are connected to any Microsoft mailing lists, nor to my office address.

Trying to find a Microsoft mail address on their website? Forget that, they don't want spam I guess... And trying to ask for help via any of their forms? Forget that. They just tell me to follow the instructions in their spam message. Yes, I call it spam as there is no way to get rid of it, it seems. Got the latest today: "Security for Home Computer Users: New Microsoft site offers latest online safety information"

I have also tried to call them, they refuse to talk to me, or tell me that they can't help and address me to the website. When I am even able to get to them that is, because of course it is very difficult to find a phone number to them... Don't know how many hours I have spent trying to get rid of this %&¤¤#= (ugly swearword) newsmail that I really really really don't want, and especially not to my office address.

Can I report them? After all spamming is illegal in the Western world, is it not? And it doesn't matter if I originally signed up myself - don't know if I may have or if they started to send through some address they bought or got somewhere - as long as I can't cancel the thing I certainly consider it to be spam. Frustrates the hell out of me! And it has been going on for YEARS!

I am caught in Catch 22. For YEARS they have been bugging me. Let me put it like this:

I have left Windows behind and switched to Mac last time I got a new computer at home. This was one of the reasons.

I have abandoned Microsoft Office at home - I now use Open Office.

Whenever I can chose another supplier I do.

I am now writing about them here.

I am certainly not going to help them gain more customers!

If anyone from Microsoft happens to read this: I wouldn't mind if you contacted me so that we can get this sorted out. This is ridiculous!!! I DO NOT WANT YOUR NEWSLETTER FOR HOME USERS!!!

(Did I mention that I work in IT. Hence I know how to unsubscribe etc. From normal newsletters etc that is. Not from Microsoft's obviously...)

Out out and away

Travel planning like mad, heading to the East coast again soon. Oysters and other sea food is on the to do list. Just hope KLM doesn't lose me on the way again, or destroy my suitcase so that things starts to fall out... No, positive thinking. I am sure they will deliver me on time :-)

And there are a few days left, still! But soon you will be able to read more travel reports in the blog, and I will also update you a bit on the latest trip, or at least that is the plan.

Cheers

Sorry, but who did the translation???

Düsseldorf Airport, Terminal B. There are plenty of English/German speaking people, especially in Germany. Plenty of people who could have helped with the translation. But maybe strange translations are just a gimmick for airports, to keep people amused, while waiting in long lines? What do you think?

About the text: Take a bowl? Isn't it more of a basket? Or a box? It is a square grey little "bowl", and has nothing to do with what I normally think of as a bowl, a round little thing to for example have liquids in. Or crisps (chips for those who prefer American English).

And "inlay the objects"? I am pretty that it normally says "place your items in the (box/basket/whatever)" or something similar. "Inlay the objects" I never heard at least...

Lost in translation...?

(Sorry for the poor picture quality, I was in a hurry and only had the mobile available for picture taking...)

Out travelling

I was travelling the last weekend. When my brain has stopped smoking I will come back and tell you some about it. Let me just put it like this in the meantime: I am not best friends with the airline that I was flying with... I was so upset Friday evening that I think smoke was actually coming out my ears. And it is not often THAT happens, let me tell you... So, until later. I don't believe in writing a long posting while I am still a bit upset, it just gets ugly and it is not fun to read. Soon I will be able to see it from the bright side though, in fact I already started, but I need to get over it fully first...

A

The dig...

They are digging in Düsseldorf. I am fascinated by these digs. A new underground line is on the charts, which means there is even a purpose for the digging. Great. Except I learned this week that it is supposed to carry on for six years??? Can that really be true? SIX YEARS? Not with open holes in the ground, I hope? I really keep my fingers crossed that six years is the total time that includes also the finishing of the line, the stuff they can do in the tunnels once the tunnels are there...

Good thing I am not allergic - hello Starbucks!

I am using the bathroom at the local Starbucks. I go there now and then for coffee, not to the bathroom but to Starbucks (well, it does happen that I go to the bathroom too but not with the coffee...). Anyhow, entering the bathroom. And while I am in there I hear a strange sound, it's like something breathing out. A puff.. Of something. I wonder what it is, but only for a while. A very very short while. And then, when it gets hard to breath, and the stench of perfume is killing, I realise what it is. It's the machine you see here, releasing a heavy perfume into the air. A perfume that is probably supposed to be an air refresher but the air is anything but fresh, it is so heavy that I feel sick almost immediately and feel that I just have to get out of there, to get some air. I am choking. Really.

And I am not even allergic...

(Please Starbucks, if anyone reads this; It is not a good idea to make your customers nauseous - NOT good for business. And someone who is allergic could actually have a pretty bad reaction... Go easy on the perfume)

Flu?

Beginning to thing that the flu has really struck, because the trains are so empty.

And then I realise that the schools have started so it's probably just that students and teachers are now on the same train, the train I'm not on...

Don't leave me alone with a pen...

See... I can't be trusted.
Disadvantages with being left handed...
Arm gets in the way of what I wrote. No wonder I use the computer much of the time...

Japanese food - ONE more issue

Japanese food? I realised I have one more issue. But that is not related to restaurants but to the supermarket... That is understanding what I am actually buying, because the text is not always available in any language I recognize.
Who knows, perhaps I am eating soap when I was hoping I was eating something healthy and very popular Japanese food...

Well, it's like I have said before: Be adventurous...

And normally you can guess depending on what else is in the same part of the shop. As long as you then keep it in a good place in your home you should be fine :-)

What is YOUR favourite food city?

On the new blog "Brilliant Spread" which I am following (hello Amanda!) one of the themes is "What is your favourite food city".

While I don't have ANY of the fabulous picture the blog author on Brilliant spread has on her blog I am anyhow curious. But I don't just want to know what your favourite food city is - it is difficult - but I would love to hear tips about different things - and perhaps different restaurants - to try in different cities.

I'll go first; If you are in Düsseldorf, what you can't miss is Japanese food. We have a huge Japanese population here and that is reflected in the food. The quarters around Immermannstrasse, not far from the main station, are the Japanese quarters. Full of Japanese shops, including supermarkets, and restaurants. I always check so that there are Japanese people in there, so that I don't get stuck in a tourist trap but I have actually never seen a tourist trap around Immermannstrasse, at least not among the Japanese places.

Avoid: Japanese in Altstadt, "old town". Old town is good for meeting up for a drink and people watching but all the food, except possibly Fischhaus, an excellent fish restaurant, and possibly a few more (that I am not familiar with) on a weekday, not a weekend, are restaurants that are more adjusted for tourists than for the "real" people, real Japanese and those of us who want some authentic Japanese food in this case. Those of us who have been around a bit. Not that I have been to Japan but I have been to Japanese restaurants and being served by Japanese in many cities....
So; Avoid Altstadt. There is nothing wrong with the food there but it is adjusted for tourists and German. Thai food that is a bit to tame, Korean that doesn't have a lot of spices, Spanish tapas the way they would taste anywhere in the world. I e not very exciting... Not when we can get the real stuff!
If you want a hamburger or a German sausage you will find excellent in Altstadt though, food that fits people that are a bit tipsy they surely know how to make. But that was not what this posting was going to be about.

When it comes to Japanese on and around Immermann strasse; There is not just sushi, the Japanese kitchen is extensive. Some of the food may seem a bit "odd" to some of us, but I swear; If you don't try you are missing out. Big time! Time to think out of the box. Skewers with chicken hearts for example. Excellent. Cod liver. Octopus. Various vegetables. And so forth. There are sushi places, there are noodle bars, there are Japanese grills, where they prepare the food while you watch it, and so forth.
Be adventurous.

And you know what? The Japanese places are GREAT to visit alone as well, because often you can sit by the counter and watch the chefs work, and you don't feel lonely. You may be approached by a shy Japanese who wants to practice their English (or their German), and in general; You will enjoy if you just keep an open mind.

Found, for example, a new Noodle bar on Saturday, an excellent lunch place. They make everything from scratch, including the noodles, and still you get your food pretty quickly. The name? My Noodlehouse, you find them here: http://mynoodlehouse.de/

I only have ONE problem with Japanese food... Knowing how to eat it - at least in some cases. But in a place full of Japanese I just watch and learn. And you know that Sushi you are allowed to eat with your fingers if you want?

I just want to hug them!

Would that make it better you think? These sad people. Or grumpy. Not sad as in pitiful but as in sad, full of sorrows... Sometime I think Germany collected everybody who is sad and put them on the trains, just like the Swedish government seem to have collected everybody who is miserable on the underground (subway for you American readers) in Stockholm.

Some days I feel the need to just run up to some people and give them a hug, see if it would help.

Normally I just smile big. Makes some smile. That is good. Puts some out of balance. And THAT is fun! It's a win-win situation... :-)

(mailblogged)