Berlin: Day 2

Since Carina had a packed day full of seminars,  I was on a solo excursion on my own. She dropped me off at Dima's and from there I walked along the riverside to enjoy the fall colors and then to the East Side Gallery. It's always surreal and weird to be an observe such an historical site in front of you. I've seen it in countless documentaries, textbooks, and news coverages but when you're actually there, it's as if you can actually feel the "history" looming in air. It sounds cliched but I have no better words to described it.

I then stumbled into Central Station to have a bite at none other than Berlin's Famous Currywurst!  It's basically a grilled sausage topped with ketchup and curry powder. Don't forget the side of fries! The ketchup's a bit sweeter than the normal Heins so it goes well with the curry powder on top. Frankly there's much better food to eat in Berlin but this seems to THE must-eat item in town.

Curry Wurst Express 
at Hauptbahnhofs Station
Open: usually 8:00 -23:00 (including Sunday!)


Took a quick stroll around the Berlin Cathedral and into the DDR museum which shows how life was on the West-Soviet dominated Berlin side. It's quite an interesting contrast looking at the everyday life of West Berlin, a country which obviously no longer exists!

DDR Museum: 
Address: Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 1, 10178 Berlin Germany
Phone: +49 30 847123731
Open: Monday to Sunday : 10am - 8pm Saturday : 10am - 10pm
Fee: 7 Euros (discount for children, students, seniors) 

The day can't end without shopping. I stopped by at the Tiger shop, a Finnish version of IKEA but only household items. It was big news when it opened in Osaka last year and I've never been. The stationary is so cute wish I bought more for souvenirs. Good thing I'm going to Finland this week to stock up on more!

TIGER Trading GmbH
Wilmersdorfer Str. 117
D-10627 Berlin

I then headed to Arcaden in Potsdamer Platz to do some shopping for winter clothes. The thing that sucks in Switzerland is chain stores such as IKEA, Claires, McDonalds all have a higher sticker price than the rest of Europe. Hence getting out of the country is definitely shopping time for me. I got a worker's jacket at H&M; lightweight perfect for traveling and also good for layering in cold winter.

Wilmerdormer Arcaden
Alte Potsdamer Straße 7, 10785 Berlin, Germany

Phone:+49 30 2559270

Hours: 10:00 am – 9:00 pm

One last stop at the blinging Kaufhaus des Westens aka KaDeWe to window shop some beautifully expensive items. It reminded me of Isetan in Japan, a department store I dearly loved during my days in Tokyo.

bling bling caviar!

yummy antipastas

Christmas decorations already

Kaufhaus des Westens 
Address: Tauentzienstraße 21-24, 10789 Berlin, Germany
Open: · 10:00 am – 8:00 pm                                 
Phone: +49 30 21210


Now that I'm a poor graduate student, I couldn't afford to shop till I drop but definitely a good day walking and looking around this beautiful city!




Expenses:
One day ticket -6.3 €
Lunch - 4.5  € I got a curry wurst and fries. They've forgotten my order so went up to complain and they got my a free drink.
Bathroom - 1  € (bathrooms ain't free in this country. The good thing to use in the Central Station is that you get a 0.50 € coupon for eating at one of their restaurants)
Museum - 4  € (EU student discount)

Berlin: Bread

As I mentioned before, I'm a very pro-rice person. But I have to say the bread in Germany was so good I ended up eating lots of it during my stay. Best of all it's available everywhere from metro stations to corner shops to cafes it was the best way to grab something when you were on the constant go. And did I mention cheap? A sandwich will cost you no more than $3-4!

 普段は圧倒的なご飯派ですがドイツのパンは予想以上においしくてびっくり！なぜか体質的に漂白したパンはあまり食べられないのですが、ドイツは全粒粉のパンが主流だったので安心して食べれる☆　しかも駅の売店やパン屋も市内にはコンビニ並みにあるので小腹が空いては食べてました。しかもサンドイッチが１個２００-４００円なのでお手軽なんですよー。

さすがパンの国ドイツはパンに乗せるチーズやスプレッドも豊富。しかもオーガニックが多い♪

 

 

一番のお気に入りはルッコラとカテーチーズ（？）のペースト。フライトがLCCだったので液体物は持ち込めなかったので自分用お土産に持って来れなかったのが残念！

チキンカツっぽいサンドイッチ

プレッツエルの間にバターとハーブのペーストが。うまかった！　（１８０円なり）

Berlin Day 1

It's been about 2 months since I've settled into Switzerland and I've already gotten the travel bug itch. Since  our department had a random semester break, it was the perfect timing to go to Germany.

This was my first time there and knowing only about 5 sentences and 10 words in German, it was interesting start. First of all, unlike Switzerland and Cambodia, wifi and internet access is extremely limited in Germany. You can't even buy a prepaid SIM card unless you have a German ID. Hence I had somehow made my way to the U-bahn station that I was supposed to meet up with my friend Carina in late afternoon so the plan was to do a little tourist things prior to that. Instead I spent the next hour looking for a cafe with free wifi.  Fortunately, my internet connection addiction (as R calls it) radar has led me to the right cafe.

I have to note that I am a rice person but bread in German was so good I spent literally 90% of my meals with rice. Best of all it's whole wheat (I get sick if I eat too much white wheat for some reason) and best best of all...it's cheap. At least much cheaper than Geneva where a small baguette will cost you about a horrendous $8. I ended up just staying at the cafe, doing more research for things to do in Berlin and also getting some schoolwork done.

Carina picked me up after her seminar and to her new apartment late afternoon. It was a hearty reunion. We both worked together during our time working at Life and Hope Association so it was a 6 month reunion. Since we were so rushed and busy when we left, we never got to say our proper good-byes so this reunion was much needed. Our other ex-coworker Laura joined in from Munich as well. She's leaving to go back to Cambodia again indefinitely in December (she got a job at a university there) so this was a perfect time for a reunion.

With Laura's two other friends in Berlin, off we headed to a drag queen shows and a few beer to chill out. A good first night of laughter and catch-up talks.

On a side note, check out this liquor that Dima brought over. Wine from Crimea! Tastes like port wine but apparently it's used during baptisms. Oh the things you can find in Berlin.... we're off to an interesting start!

 

 
Expenses: 
Water (at airport): 2.7€
Transportation from airport to city: 3.2€
Open baguette and 2 coffees at a cafe:  5.8€
Dinner (kebab): 3.5€
Drag Queen Show: 10€
 

初ドイツ！

学校が学期休みに入ったのでお隣のドイツに行ってきました。
カンボジアで一緒に働いていた友達が二人たまたまベルリンとミュンヘンに住んでいるのでベルリンで再会することに☆

プライオリティーカードを持っているのでちょっと早めにチェックインしてVIPラウンジでこれからの旅の資料（毎回旅に備えてばっちりリサーチします　笑）を復習するのが毎回旅に出る前の「儀式」となっています。

ジュネーブ空港のラウンジは小さいけど充実。早朝のフライトだったのでビールは我慢をしてコーヒーとクロワッサンやビスケットをつまんでいざ出発です♪

Halloween in the Land of the Alps

In this age of globalization, I had foolishly thought the Swiss don't celebrate Halloween. Well, not the students. I had to cobble together a last minute costume to attend a Halloween party. I must say I didn't do too bad...dressing up in a multicolored hula outfit.  College parties, ah the one thing I've missed dearly, I had a blast!

 

 

 

Thanks for a great night everyone!! xx

Lunch Panel

The best things about Geneva is that you can attend a lot of conferences, seminars, and panel exhibitions of well known professors and professionals from very respectable and relevant fields. It's especailly great for a student who has a very flexible schedule.

This time I had the privilege to go to a brown bag panel meeting on topic of preventing natural disasters through climate change mitigation. It was hosted by the Geneva mission of Japan and had various specialists and country representatives discussing the subject. The different perspectives were very interesting and really intruiging, especially having been a victim and victim family of the tsunami in 2011. The only down side to it was that the representative from Japan was absolutely terrible. He couldn't speak English at first of all and he's the first secretariat. Second of all, why send that kind of person to a panel discussion? I almost wanted to stand up and speak on behalf of him. But in any case, the best part was that the lunch was catered by the Japanese representative organization hence it was sushi. In a city in which a simple sushi platter can cost over $30, I stuffed myself with however much my tummy can take!