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

IEGA - korean restaurant

Searching for some nice lunch last week i finally entered this Korean restaurant near my place. I have to say, I wanted to go there quite some time already - and as it turned out it was a good decision :)

I ordered Deolsot Bibimbap - which is rice coming in a burning hot stone pot, topped with various kinds of vegetables, an raw egg and spicy chili paste. I was surprised about the vegetable toppings as they were very untypical for this dish, but the combination was truly tasty and left a feeling of spring in my mouth. (as you can see on the picture they added veggies such as broccoli or red cabbage)

The dish normally is served with Miyeokguk - a seaweed soup, but came here with a Japanese Miso soup, which is more often given to Sushi or Maki. It still complimented the dish nicely and i can recommend to have a Miso soup there for everyone else who wants to go there  :)

IEGA Lee & Kim

Spitalgasse 1

1090 Wien

the lovers

I like how the lovers on the right side interact with each other - so cute :) looking to the left i wonder if those are envious women watching over them or some kind of  governesses.

The couple turns out to be Cupid and Psyche and I find that their love story is pretty nice.
Psyche is said to be the most beautiful girl on the island she lives on, making all the men around her falling in love with her beauty immediately. Once she goes as far as to say that she is even more beautiful than the goddess Venus . Of course Venus doesn't like a comment like that, being very vain herself, so she sends her son Cupid to hit her with one of his arrows in her sleep. The plan is for Psyche to fall in love with any thing or beast she sees after awaking.
But Cupid falls in love with her himself and plans to marry her. After long fights with Venus (where no one on earth falls in love anymore because Cupid refuses to work his magic) he is allowed to do so, but only if over a certain period of time Psyche is not to see him, but only be visited by him in the dark.
Of course some envious sisters have to enter this story as well, talking Psyche into lightening a candle at night to see her husband at least once. (That part of the story remembers me a lot of another fairy tale where a girl marries an ice bear who only turns back into a human at night and she is not allowed to see him that time as well.)
Of course Cupid flies away and Psyche is left back on Earth alone.
To regain her love and the consent of Venus she has to fulfill 3 nearly unfulfillable tasks and finally is given ambrosia and with that immortality by Zeus and the consent to her marriage with Cupid.

So nice!
I bet the two women sitting on the left are her sisters.
Well, the writing on top of them gives no hints on who they are but merely the name of the architect - and that is a great one: D. Bramante


for more details check:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupid_and_Psyche
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donato_Bramante

hidden roads

Hitting the hidden roads in Vienna can be quite a relevation. Some blind alleys have the nicest houses with little gardens in front. Nevertheless, construction seems to be everywhere ... as is spring and some signs that leave me to wonder ;)

This sign says: "Passage is forbidden for the public!" 

Still, lots of people go in and out without seeming to care... or maybe they all live there?

"Please knock!"