Not starving in.... LONDON

Bom dia!

I planned to write about the food I ate when I was in London a while ago, but I never made it up to now...

Let me present to you: Restaurants I went to when I was in LONDON!

There is no chronological order... 

I'll also link the places I went to, but I didn't eat out all the time for I also cooked a lot at home... and here's proof :) 

(This is me cooking the German dish "Spätzle mit Geschnetzeltem", which is basically the "Spätzle" noodles with diced chicken in a cream sauce)

We went to "Janetira" before clubbing, when we met Dom's friends!

I didn't take a picture of my food (although it tasted really good), because I just had a tiny dish.. I wasn't hungry the time we went there

Here you can see the food (a bit blurry, sorry!) you get in the "Tiger Tiger" club, if you book a table. The club is pretty nice and near Trafalgar Square. We had the salami pizza, chicken wings and quesadillas, as well as nachos with guacamole, sour cream and salsa sauce.

Those were DELICIOUS pizzas we ate in the "Strada - West India Quay" in Canary Wharf
Domi took the pizza "Vesuvio" and I took the "Cotto"... SO GOOD! (although it doesn't look very nice in the picture..)

This was my yummy dish when I ate in the Cuban restaurant "La Bodeguita" with Domi and his flatmates Carlos and Isabella.
I had "Salmon Latino - Grilled salmon in a rich spicy tomato sauce topped with prawns and served with rice and cassava chips". This was the first time I had cassava chips, and I LOVED IT!!!

Domi and Isabella had "Steak Pimienta - Sirloin steak in pepper sauce, served with rice, potatoes and hot vegetables"

Carlos had a typical Cuban dish "Cazuela de Mariscos - Seafood stew served with rice and fried green plantain"

These are the Phô soups, when Dom and I ate at "Phô" in Westfield mall in Stratford.
Phô is a typical Vietnamese dish and it tastes really good!

Dom's soup (at the back): "Pho Bo Combo" - with steak, brisket and meatballs
My soup: "Bun Tom Hue" - hot and spicy tiger prawn soup
(To be honest, I liked Dom's soup better though...)

Our burgers at "GBK - Gourmet Burger Kitchen" Soho.

I had "Avocado Bacon - Avocado, crispy bacon, house mayo, relish, salad"

Dom had "The Taxidriver - American Cheese, onion ring, cajun relish, smoked chili mayo, dill pickle, salad, brioche bun"

This was at "Walmer Castle"

Dom had a chicken curry, and I had "Pad See-Iew - flat rice noodles stir-fried with choi sum, carrots, bean sprout, egg, light and dark soy sauce and white pepper" with "Goong", which means Tiger Prawns.

This was at "Yokoso", which is a restaurant right in the building Dom used to live in.
The waiters and the atmosphere there were SO NICE!!
We had an all you can eat, and seriously: What you see here is all we ate, and we COULD BARELY FINISH!
I can't believe it.. normally I used to order HUGE dishes, and I'm good in "All you can eat".. but that night was... I don't know.

However: The food tasted amazing!

The second time I was there, we went to....:

...ok this was my little snack while I was waiting for the arrival of the shuttle in Luton airport
I forgot the name of the burger, but it was one of the "special" burgers they don't have all the time..

This was my dish, when Dom and I walked through "Bloomsbury" (and Clerkenwell for that matter..) at "Hare&Tortoise".
The food was not too good, and I was very hungry.. so that was not so nice.

I ordered "Yaki Udon - wok fried smooth white udon noodles with prawns, squid, char siu pork, naruto, crab sticks, Chinese mushrooms, carrots, onions and bean sprouts" (at least I think so... cannot remember eating all these ingredients haha)

Dom ordered "Beef Chilli & Black Bean Lo Mein - stir-fried beef with onions and peppers in black bean sauce, with a touch of chilli oil, served with steamed noodles"

This was when we went to "Wahaca" in Canary Wharf. We ate here twice: Once with Isabella and Carlos, and once just Dom and me. These pictures only show what Dom and I ate.. the other time I had exactly the same dish, so nothing has changed for me haha
By the way: THIS IS MY FAVORITE PLACE TO EAT!!

These are our appetizers:
"Tender, marinated chicken Taquito - with shredded lettuce, Lancashire cheese and fresh tomato salsa" and
"Black Bean Tostada - special re-fried beans topped with avocado salsa, crema, Lancashire cheese and fresh tomato salsa"

This was my dish: "British Steak Burrito"

Dom's dish: "Marinated Grilled Chicken"

This was the food Isabella prepared for New Year's Eve!

Roasted potatoes, apple salad (which I couldn't try, due to my apple allergy), ham and a nice mix of pepper bells, tomatoes and onions, as well as nachos

I hope you now have an inspiration where you could go out to eat when you're in London!
Most of the restaurants are affordable and I can really recommend the "Wahaca" restaurants, which you can find all over town, and also "La Bodeguita", which is near Elephant&Castle!

ENJOY YOUR MEAL!

x J.

"Ain't No Sunshine" - Catharina Geiselhart

Liebe Leser,

Diesmal schreibe ich einen Eintrag auf Deutsch, über das kürzlich erschienene Buch "Ain't No Sunshine", geschrieben von meiner Pariser Freundin Catharina Geiselhart.

erhältlich für gut investierte 14,95€ vom Schwarzkopf&Schwarzkopf Verlag

Zunächst der Klappentext:

"Lena und Julian sehen sich an der Fontaine Saint-Sulpice zum ersten Mal. Eine romantische Gegend, ein magischer Moment. Im Café de la Mairie kommen sie sich näher, aber als Lena im Hinausgehen Julian ihre Handynummer zuruft, notiert er sie falsch.
Die folgenden Wochen sind geprägt von den Unsicherheiten und Zweifeln der beiden. Lena: Warum ruft er nicht an? Hab ich ihm nicht gefallen? Julian: Hat sie mir absichtlich eine falsche Nummer gegeben? Will sie sich über mich lustig machen? Jeder denkt an den anderen, während er weiter seinem Leben nachgeht.
Obwohl die beiden Studenten auf dem Campus unwillkürlich nach einander Ausschau halten, führt erst ein Glücksfall sie wieder zusammen. Sie tauschen ihre Handynummern und Adressen aus. Von nun an wollen sie nichts mehr dem Zufall überlassen. 
Sie werden ein Paar und ihre Liebe entwickelt sich: Es gibt Hochs, es gibt Tiefs, da sind Eifersucht, Streitereien, kurze aufgeregte Trennungen, aber immer versöhnen sich die beiden wieder. Nach drei Jahren Zusammensein sind sie überzeugt, füreinander bestimmt zu sein. Die Hochzeit wird geplant, das Hochzeitskleid gekauft, doch vor dem Fest muss Lena noch eine letzte Examensprüfung hinter sich bringen. Julian und Lena verabreden, sich nach der Prüfung zu treffen. Aber Julian kommt nicht.
Stunden später erst erfährt Lena, dass er auf dem Weg zu ihr mit dem Auto tödlich verunglückt ist. Die Zeit der Trauer beginnt für Lena mit Zorn, Wut, Ablehnung und Hass. Zuerst kann und will sie an seinen Tod nicht glauben, dann zieht sie sich immer mehr in ihre Einsamkeit zurück. Einige Monate braucht sie, bis sie den Schmerz zulassen kann, fast ein Jahr, um Schmerz und Verlust zu bewältigen. Dann erst dringt allmählich wieder Licht in ihr Leben.
Im Parallelstrang der Geschichte macht sich Cupido, der Gott der Liebe, seine Gedanken über Gesellschaft und Liebe. Als Julian stirbt, kann dieser ihn sehen und mit ihm sprechen. Er bittet ihn, für Lena einen neuen Pfeil zu verschießen, damit sie wieder glücklich wird ..."

Wie ich feststelle stimmt ein Teil des Klappentexts nicht wirklich mit dem Inhalt des Buches überein, aber gut, habe es nur von amazon.de übernommen...

Da ich den ganzen Charme und Inhalt des Buches nicht vorwegnehmen möchte, werde ich versuchen so grob und gleichzeitig detailliert wie möglich meine Eindrücke nach der Lektüre zu schildern:

Als ich das Buch im Januar von Catharina geschickt bekommen habe, wollte ich sofort drauf los lesen, jedoch standen mir zu dem Zeitpunkt noch meine Klausuren im Weg, die es erst ein Mal abzuarbeiten galt.

Pünktlich, letzten Donnerstagnachmittag als ich im Zug nach Paris saß, schlug ich dann endlich neugierig das Buch auf und begann zu lesen...

Wenn man den Klappentext liest, dann erwartet man -meiner Meinung nach- etwas ganz anderes als die Geschichte, die man wirklich mitverfolgen darf.

Das Buch wird euch inhaltlich auf jeden Fall überraschen!

Die Sprache des Buches ist keine simple "Bridget Jones"-Sprache, oder etwa die der Sophie Kinsella Romane, weswegen es mir zunächst schwer fiel mich durch die ersten Seiten durchzulesen. Es kam mir -um ganz und gar ehrlich zu sein- einfach zu "hochtrabend" vor, für das, was ich mir von der Geschichte erwartet hatte. 

Ja, aber was hatte ich denn erwartet?

Ich dachte es wäre eine schöne, simple Liebesgeschichte, wie man sie kennt. Wie die typischen Mädchenbücher, die man damals als Teenager gern gelesen hat.

Was ich hier serviert bekommen habe war jedoch ein Buch mit intellektuellem Hintergrund, was für den intellektuellen Touch den es an sich hat jedoch leicht verdaulich war. 

Es kommen nicht nur Lena und Julian darin vor, sondern auch diverse Persönlichkeiten der französischen Geschichte, die heutzutage in Paris in Form von Statuen zu bewundern sind.

Jedoch spielt auch ein kleiner Liebesgott eine große Rolle, und der Leser lernt während des Buches die Liebe nicht aufzugeben, und auch etwas über die Rolle, die die Liebe über die Epochen hinweg spielte.

Man muss den einzigartigen Stil der Autorin Catharina Geiselhart unbefangen auf sich wirken lassen.

Hochdeutsch, Songtexte, Umgangssprache und philosophische Zitate gehen hier Hand in Hand, und sorgen im Wechsel der Sprachstile für manch witzige Passage, in der man wirklich lauthals lachen muss.

Catharina malt mit ihren Worten ausgezeichnet die Emotionen der Charaktere, sodass man sich sehr gut in diese hineinversetzen kann.

Da ich ja nur im Zug gelesen habe (bis auf hochgerechnet insgesamt 30 Minuten in Paris, während ich gewartet, oder mich ausgeruht habe), durften mich die Leute also auch teilweise dabei beobachten, wie ich richtiggehend an mich halten musste, um nicht laut loszuheulen.

Nichts ändern konnte ich jedoch an meinen geröteten Augen und Tränen in den Augenwinkeln, sowie der laufenden Nase, aber ich hoffe einfach, dass die Leute daran merken, wie fesselnd und ergreifend das Buch ist (ist jetzt auch nicht nur zum Heulen, also nicht, dass ihr das falsch versteht)!! 

Da hab ich doch eigentlich wieder ganz gute Werbung in der Öffentlichkeit mit meiner Emotionalität gemacht hahahahahaha

Aber zurück zum Buch!

Gut gefällt mir auch, dass man etwas über die Lebenseinstellung der Pariser Jugend, und deren Elterngeneration erfährt (welche ich für sehr realistisch beschrieben halte), sowie über einige Ecken von Paris und Deauville.

Wer dieses Buch ein Mal anfängt zu lesen, der wird es nicht mehr aus der Hand legen können! Ich persönlich habe das Buch in weniger als 12 Stunden gelesen... :)

Ihr bekommt es auf Amazon: HIER KLICKEN UM DAS BUCH ZU KAUFEN 

Dort findet ihr auch meine Rezension, wo ich eigentlich noch gerne mehr geschrieben hätte, aber ich habe Angst, dass die Leute dann keine Lust mehr haben die Rezension zu lesen, und das Buch dann vielleicht nicht mehr kaufen wollen. Habe mich so kurz gehalten wie möglich!

Es ist auf jeden Fall mit viel Witz, Intellekt und Liebe geschrieben worden, und das liest man aus jeder Zeile heraus.

LEST ES BITTE EINFACH SELBST! :)

x Eure J.

I'm Happy For You!

Dear Readers...

...do you ever have this urge to reach out to people you didn't have anything to do with for a long time, just because you feel happy for how their life turned out to be?

I do!

For instance: There is one guy among my Facebook friends, who was in my class in elementary school.
He used to be -sorry (in case he should read it), this isn't meant to be rude- a "wild child", who used to do whatever he liked and was rude sometimes (but usually only to people who were treating him unfair).
I remember one afternoon, when I was at home after school, when suddenly our door bell rang and it was him asking what I was up to. Then we played the "new" smurfs computer game I had, and we ate ice cream. After a while he went back home.

Today, this guy is a dad and married already, and I am honestly so happy for him, although it is really none of my business!
I don't know what happened between elementary school and... well after elementary school, for I still don't know what he's doing now, but looking at his pictures with his new little family makes me really happy for him! I kind of want to reach out again and say: "Hey, I know we haven't had any contact since elementary school, but I just wanted to say: I'm really happy for you!"

You think this is weird? I don't know... I don't think so.

Obviously, I didn't think it was a good idea to go through with it and really write him, for I feel it's none of my business, for we haven't kept in touch ever since. I mean we weren't even that good friends in elementary school either, but I'll never forget that afternoon, for it was the day I learned, that he wasn't the wild child he pretended to be. He was actually very polite and had good manners! And I guess, thanks to his good heart, he found his "reward" in his own little family.

It's always nice and actually feels good to think "good thoughts".
And I'm talking about honestly feeling happy for other people, and not the "Ohhhhh, how niiiiice (screw you!)"

Thinking happy thoughts is a true joy for your soul, and gives you positive energy! 
...at least that is what I experienced!

You should try it :)

x J.

Don't give up on bad days!

Dear readers,

I'm sure you all know those days, which just don't start right! It's like the whole world (or at least a huge part of it) is against you, and you don't know why, for you just woke up from a good night's sleep and were actually ready to start your day right... but it didn't work out.

There were two of such days for me this month!

The first day (actually it took four days, but it was only kind of Murphys-Law-ish on the last of the four days...) was, when my cellphone suddenly stopped working.
I couldn't call, be called, text or go online anymore, and I didn't know what happened!
I turned on flight mode, and put it back to normal and everything, but nothing happened.

Then I went to buy a new sim card, for I was so upset with the situation, and I was ready to cancel my contract with my mobile provider and the moment I took out my "old" sim card, I decided to push it back in one last time... and TADA: It suddenly all went back to normal, and I even had five bars!
So I was like: What just happened? And I already bought the new sim card!

I then wrote my friend about the incident, and she told me, something similar happened to her mom, and they were able to return the sim card... so I went back to the shop (it was just half an hour after I bought the card..) and they really gave me my money back!

This made me so happy, for it was a complete turnaround for my not so nice day!

Another day like that is today!
I'm up since (only) three hours, and I was ready to start my day happy and well rested with a nice shower...
Standing in the shower I noticed: Well, there is no hot water coming out of the shower head, and I thought it might kick in once I was showering for a longer time... but it didn't.
However, I cannot just go outside unwashed, so I really pulled it together and took a really icy shower. It was so cold I even forgot to use conditioner, for my head really hurt from the icy water.

Then I noticed: My heater doesn't work either!
So I was basically shivering once I stepped outside the shower and I didn't know what to do.

Every once in a while I checked the taps to see if there was any hot water, and suddenly it got at least lukewarm (which felt pretty "hot" to me after the icy experience...). I then decided to eat my breakfast first and drink some hot tea to warm up, before I call the property management to see what is going on here.

After my breakfast I again checked the taps and suddenly there was really hot water coming out of all of them. I then brought out my trash and saw the car of the property management driving out of our yard so I ran back in and suddenly: TADA my heaters were back to heating my place up!!

What I learned is: Don't be mad about a day which seems to go all wrong, for there is always a big chance it can turn around to be a good day in the end!
And if we didn't have such days, when we don't know what to do or why everything seems to go wrong, then we couldn't appreciate the good days as much!

Don't give up on a bad day, for it might just turn out to be a good day that overslept!

x J.

Finally found you!

Dear Blog Readers,

I solemnly inform you: I finally found a second sport I like!!

My past considering sports is actually pretty sad....

It all began in kindergarden, when I went to children's gymnastics.

My mom recently told me this story -which actually made me feel sorry for my kindergarden-self haha- that I only went there twice or four times at tops.

After a few lessons, our gymnastics teacher came to my mom and told her, that she noticed I was always looking so sad during gym class.

My mom then asked me, if I was even enjoying myself there, when I confessed that I was really unhappy going to gym!

HAHAHA isn't that sad? A little kindergarden child (= ME) confessing being unhappy doing sports hahah

Then:

I tried playing tennis when I was still in elementary school.

There was a free trial, and I remember how I met someone from my elementary school class there, so I didn't feel all "alone". However, once we started off "playing", or learning how to hold the tennis racket and how to hit a ball, I only remember the trainer telling me, that I was doing it all wrong... ALWAYS.

So I immediately quit, feeling embarrassed and not motivated at all (for he didn't tell me I did it all wrong in a nice way, but rather in a "better stop showing up here" way).

Another thing I remember trying was volleyball.

I have two talented cousins playing volleyball, so I thought that maybe it runs in my blood. Let me tell you: It DOESN'T!

Again, I went there (I think I was about 15 years old) for a trial session, and there was the team, that was playing there all the time, and my friend and I. Then it turned out -surprise, surprise- my friend was a natural, and I was the untalented (just like with tennis). And again, the trainer was really rude about it, telling my friend how awesome she was, and to me he was like "nice try".

So I never showed up there again, not wanting to hinder the team.

Another sport I tried was kick boxing, for a good friend of mine used to be the German champion (if I got it right) and I wanted to see how it is.

The reason I didn't show up again after the trial here was because it was SO EXHAUSTING!!!

I was so tired, I couldn't even handle the thought of really doing this sport for a longer time..

However, don't think I've never done a single thing since I was born...

Things I enjoyed were 

- Ballet, which I did from 4 to 6 I think and again from 16 to 17

- Hip Hop, 

- Ballroom Dancing (which is my favorite so far)

- Rock'n'Roll

- Salsa 

- "SchwitzFit" [also called "Power Fitness" in other universities] which is like aerobics, but also training certain muscles (e.g. by doing push-ups, sit ups etc.), which I did with a lot of my friends from 16 to 18 I think. I also really enjoyed this a lot!!

- Going to the gym

...Yesterday, I went SKIING for the first time with a friend, and we both enjoyed it so much!!!

I mean: I honestly LOVE SKIING!! It is the only sport, where I can really clear my head and focus on what I am doing... SKIING!

It's also a really intuitive sport: You just start and you kind of already know what to do!

We even did the piste for advanced skiers and ENJOYED it!!

I never thought this would be something I enjoy this much! Now I totally get, why everybody's so crazy about going skiing in their holidays!

BUT: MY WHOLE BODY HURTS NOW, although I stretched after I came home last night.

Still: It is totally worth it!!! I can't wait to go on a real ski vacation! :)

For everyone who didn't try skiing so far: YOU DEFINITLEY SHOULD!

x J.

P.S.: Just because I am (or was) not very talented in doing sports, I still enjoy watching sports! I am on FIRE whenever it's soccer world championships or european championships season! Otherwise, I also really enjoy watching my cousin play Basketball in the German Bundesliga.