La Vie en Rose

Right now everyone is complaining about the weather and I really cannot understand why.
It's foggy, it's cold, the sun is only coming out randomly ... it is beautiful. Every morning I look out of the window and I am stunned by the view of the fog crawling up the hill and lingering in our garden. When I see the little dewdrops (in french they even call them "goutte de rosée") on the roses, spider nets and well, just anywhere, I cannot hold myself from grabbing my camera and enjoy all the details through my lense.
Sometimes I really envy kids - I come to that conclusion especially in these little moments of bliss. They enjoy another way of looking and discovering, when every little detail leads to a feeling of happiness and satisfaction - isn't that the real beauty of life? In these moments I sometimes start regretting that everything in life has to happen so fast. We run to the subway, hurry into the office, drink our coffee without really tasting it, just so it will keep us awake and trample down the only flower blooming on the mid of the pavement on our way through the gray city.
As much as I love cities and happening places, it's these little moments I miss most at the end of the day and which make me smile when I daydream about them.

foggy days have a beauty on their own :)

spiders build their nets anywhere they can...

... even on roses

morning dewdrops

did you ever observe that the outside reflects upside-down in a waterdrop?

beautiful like a pearl necklace

Boba song

Every time I hear this song it makes me smile and saves my day :) 

And with all the cups of Boba I drank up till now I bet I will get "some glory and fame" too! haha (i should!)

I first heard about Anthony Neely while watching a movie on my flight to Taiwan - called "The Soul of Bread" (very cute movie I have to say ... makes me wanna annect the kitchen and start baking heaps of bread).

Then going to Karaoke, a friend sang a song of him and I was like: "Hey! I know that guy!" (leading to total silence in the room and someone asking "Personally? Really?" haha -__-).

Well, finally I stumbled over an article of TucTo talking about how interesting it is to see stars before they got famous (I agree! - check here) and providing the video above. Ever since that song is playing nonstop in my head.
And maybe it will in yours soon as well ... ;)

Christmas coming?

Why does this picture remind me so much of Christmas?

Akihabara, Tokyo

Hello Kitty Air =^-^=

I knew it from the very first moment I saw the aircraft standing outside the window - this must be it! My plane to Japan! Which other destination could have Hello Kitty as their airplane theme? ^^

here comes my luggage

Not only was the outside Hello Kitty - the whole interior was too! Sadly I forgot to take pictures of all the cute seat covers, cutleries, eating boxes etc.
So, if you wanna fly with Hello Kitty - book your seat on the next Eva Air flight to Tokyo ;)



Speaking of Hello Kitty - if you ever get stuck on Taoyuan Airport or just have some long hours of waiting to fill - you can relax at the Hello Kitty lounge ...

... or do some last minute souvenir-shopping at the cute Hello Kitty store.

Right after seeing some interesting art exhibitions or relaxing in the (free!!) massaging chairs ... life is good.

Journey to Japan

When I wrote my last blog entry I would have never imagined that some months down the track I would go and visit Japan myself. Life flies by so fast and sometimes we cannot tell in advance where it will take us.
Sadly, there were no cherry blossoms left when I came to Japan, not even Fuji-san showed his so often pictured famous white crown. Instead, I was struck by heat, humidity and occasional rain ... and the kindness of Japanese people helping me to find my way around.

I spontaneously followed an invitation of a friend to visit her in Tokyo and prolonged my stay in Asia by ten days. I know, ten days is far too short to say anything about a country or even a city as big and varied as Tokyo. It is just enough to take a glimpse at the culture and people, look at some places and think to oneself: "I definitely want to come back." That phrase was going through my head nearly every hour or so when i discovered another new face of Tokyo. The feeling not to have enough time to get the best of it kept following me around and after returning to my home-country it hardened to the deep belief that this first trip to Japan was just a test journey that will be followed by many more.

Thinking of Japan, so many things popped up in my head: The old traditional culture with Kimonos, Geishas and Samurais; Cherry blossoms floating through the air in front of Fuji-san; Fukushima and the fear that still creeps around in Europe because of it; People weeping over the perfect bowl of Ramen; Office workers going to nomikai with their collegues and celebrating social life; Manga characters and cosplayers dressed like they came right out of a Manga; The beauty of the perfect cup of tea that can make one forget all the sorrows and hardship in life... There are so many images related  with Japan, I have to admit I didn't know what to expect after all.
Japan is immensly divers and going to Tokyo alone showed me that even in an array of small areas one can find so many different faces and cultures of Japan that it is impressive and way beyond anything I ever was able to imagine about this city. Although I was a little bit scared by the Japanese language, I managed to get along well by myself, even ordering food and minor necessities turned out to be possible with my few Japanese phrases and the help of some nice Japanese people.

As a follow up to this entry I will upload some pictures from my trip and try to reminiscate on my travels there, my favorite spots, etc. This might take some time as I took too many pictures and even just looking through them adds up to some hours. But I am sure I can pick out some nice ones to share and maybe inspire you to book your next flight to this amazing country. I am sure, no matter what your interests in life are, you can find them there.

Setagaya Park

Today in the morning I had this sudden desire to go and see cherry blossoms. I guess that could be a side-effect of seeing all this beautiful pictures of the cherry-blossom-season in Japan and Korea. After some research I found this nice little park - designed by the Japanese landscape gardener Ken Nakajima.

It is beautiful! It is very tranquil and I was able to relax immediately after arriving. I would have loved to sit down and just enjoy the view for many hours :)
The park contains a little pond (with lots of fishes^^), a Japanese tea house (that is not in use I think), cute little bridges and some stone sculptures - and most importantly I also found some cherry trees.

How to get there:
Take tram 37 to the station Barawitzkagasse  - walk straight into the direction the tram is going - you cannot miss the park :)


Setagaya Park
Hohe Warte 8
1190 Wien
http://www.wien.gv.at/english/environment/parks/setagaya.html

nom nom nom

ohhh looking at the picture now - i forgot to take off the sticker ... at least everyone will now know immediately which bubble tea this is^^

I couldn't resist and got myself a yummy Matcha Smoothie today! I didn't regret it!! Ahhh - so nice! Now it only needs to get a little bit warmer outside ... the sun was already out today but the weather is still cold and windy. Come on April, do your magic and let us have some nice spring days finally! :)

@ baburu, Schottentor, Vienna

Aming Dim Sum Profi

Aming Dim Sum Profi. Did you ever hear of it? If not, do not worry - it is still considered an insider tip in Vienna. After visiting and having a feast of delicious food there I really do wonder why. Maybe because the outside doesn't look that impressive, leading you to think of a common noodle shop more than of an authentic Chinese restaurant. Also the very simple interior could mislead the common guest who is used to overly in chinese artefacts covered places who claim to be Chinese restaurants. If you are searching for "Fisch mit Bambussprossen und Pilzen" (fish with bamboo shoots and mushrooms), "Hühnerfleisch süß-sauer" (chicken sweet & sour) - dishes that are very common in most of the Chinese restaurants in Vienna - then you definitely entered the wrong shop. Apart from chicken feet, pig's ear salad and century eggs you can also find nice variations of Dim Sum, different main and side dishes with meat, fish or vegetables and noodle soups. Who still is able to eat some dessert after has a nice choice of Chinese dishes such as dumplings with red-bean paste or sticky rice dumplings filled with sesame in soup. (writing about it I am getting hungry again ^^)

Well, we were only two people, so our choice was limited but here you find some pictures of the food we ordered.

Noodle soup with squid, as far as i understand are the noodles handmade (if i am wrong, please correct me ^^) and the soup comes with lots of vegetables, a nice broth and is heavily topped with thai basil . Everything goes together well, tastes very nice and  the portion is big enough to completely fill up one person (so you should come in a big group to be able to try lots of dishes).

We also had crabs in ginger sauce with vegetables.  The crab came in nice pieces with its  shell already being crushed slightly to make it easier to get to the soft parts. Finally we ended up being sticky all over, gladly licking our fingers clean from the yummy sauce ... but we still would have loved a bowl of lemon water to wash the hands afterwards. 

Dumpling filled with nuts and sprouts.
Heaven.
There's nothing else to say :)

If I am dreaming of food tonight, I want to dream of these dim sum dumplings. They are called the king dumplings and are filled with shrimps. The shrimps come in whole pieces but have such a delicious taste to it that we ordered a second round of dumplings immediately.

This is the place to go if you want to have a nice dinner out with delicious and authentic Chinese food, friendly service and moderate prices (if not to say cheap). I definitely will come back again - and that hopefully more than once! :)


Aming Dim Sum Profi
Rechte Wienzeile 47
1050 Wien

mo-sa 11am-10pm
sun 12pm-9pm

https://www.facebook.com/AmingDimSum

a nice window view

I like how they decorated their shop window :) it would make me wanna go inside and look out for books or utensils if i would study medicine ... but somehow, i don't really know if i want to see a doctor in the next couple of weeks now ... reminds me of  "doctor death" somehow ... haha :)

a sunny day at the Zoo Schönbrunn

SOHO

Soho is a very nice and hidden away lunch canteen - if you ever get the chance: visit it! It's really worth the trouble of finding it. Because it is also a little bit hidden away - and even if you found the sign you still will have to figure out the door that leads to the right place.

I was pretty lucky - when i looked out for it, they had placed this cute arrangement near the entrance, making it easier to find.
Soho is placed near the National Library (or at its backside to be correct), right next to the House of Butterflies at Burggarten.

It's interiour is inspired by UK design featuring lots of Union Jack flags and down-to-earth looking furniture. It is a very cosy place and has only opened during lunch hours (and a little bit before and after). Still it is not overly crowded, the people eating there seem to work somewhere nearby and the prices are more than friendly :)
The food itself is also very acceptable - though there is a limited choice of two dishes, one vegetarian and one meaty dish.
Tickets for the menus can be bought at the bar and come in different shapes, like for example a heart :)
Drinks have to be bought additionally at the bar - everything is self service.

Everyone who is getting hungry while wandering through the inner city or after relaxing in the Burggarten at lunch time - i can highly recommend you to go there and enjoy the experience! It is just a pity the canteen is not opened for longer - it closes its doors already at 4 pm. 

PS: if you have some problems to find it right away - keep walking straight from the House of Butterflies (also called House of Palm trees) even if it looks like you are walking directly into a dead end. You can find Soho at the left - it looks like a gangway to a place for delivery and so look the doors. Very big and white they all look the same - it is the door on the left - right next to the Soho sign - if you hear some plates clatter - that's the place ;) 

SOHO 

Neue Hofburg

1010 Wien 

opened from 9am to 4 pm

kitchen is opened from 11.30 am to 3 pm 

my second visit to 'Les Gourmandises de Miyuko'

Yes, I came back again and i brought company :) I couldn't resist to come and try the cakes and get a second impression of this little coffee shop. Well, I wasn't disappointed but quite far from the great impression of my first visit. My friend ordered the chliine Kafi-Tratsch - so we got a piece of cake of our choice and a little praliné. I loved the chocolate praliné. The cake was not really of my taste. My friend chose a cheese cake with blood-orange flavour and for me it just tasted too much like cheese. I have to say though that i never really have been a big friend of cheese cake either .

I got myself some tea which came - very cute! - with a tea-clock, so i won't forget when to take out my tea-leaves.  Nevertheless the tea turned a bit bitter after a while and i didn't finish it at the end because of the changed taste. 

Miyuko is quite inspired by Japanese Mangas. There is a huge pile of all different sorts of Manga books one can read if getting bored  - and also the walls feature nice manga-like drawings that make the place look friendly and kinda cute. 

The cakes on sale are all home-made .

I personally like the table and wall painting at the entrance the best :) 

click here for my first post about Les Gourmandises de Miyuko.

a sunny morning in Zürich

Platzspitz 

statue facing Zürcher lake

Zürcher Lake

Botanical Garden

Neumühlequai along the Limmat

people enjoying the sunshine with view on the Zürcher Lake

Café Henrici

The Café Henrici is a nice and chill-out coffee shop in the old town of Zürich. It seems to be always full and is highly frequented by young and hip people - meeting up for a good cup of coffee, nice and yummy cake and a long chat. 

Its walls are covered with paintings which seems to be a trend at Cafés and Restaurants around Zürich. The first time i saw drawings like this was in the Café Zähringer.

on the right side of the picture you can see one of the waiters of the Henrici -  very nice and friendly! :) 

we first ordered the cream-raspberry-roll - it tasted really yummy! The waiter  recommended us to try the Viennese Apple Strudel first though ... coming from Vienna only 1 day ago I had to decline ... especially as my mum had made some awesome apple strudel only some days before... nothing could have topped that taste ;)

very yummy - the Flammkuchen

we also couldn't resist to order the chocolate cake which was really really chocolaty  =]

It is a very nice Café to relax and casually meet up with friends - it seems always to be full of people happily chatting away. If you search for some peaceful time-out be warned - silence is not on the menu there ;) As the Café gets full and empty seats become scarce, people will share their tables with strangers until even the last spot is filled.



Café Henrici
Niederdorfstraße 1
8001 Zürich
http://www.cafe-henrici.ch