Berlin trip, Dec 2007 - A bit of Hong Kong in Berlin

We were greeted by this shop sign as we got off at Alexanderplatz.

Berlin trip, Dec 2007 - MINI by BMW

BMW is the parent company of the MINI and for some reason, I thought that the MINI has always been Deustche!

Not so, apparently. It used to be made by Rover and it was the most popular British-made car ever.

We walked past a MINI showroom on our way to Checkpoint Charlie. SP wants to check whether Valerie can fit into the car so we went in for a visit. We worked out that we NEED a Cooper S.

A MINI mounted on the wall. The flag of Berlin is showed on top of the car. Berlin Bear has been continuously used as emblem on the sigillum seal of Berlin from 1280.

The showroom also stocked a range of MINI merchandise. I saw some people parting with a good amount of their money for MINI T-shirts!!! Here is a toy MINI (in yellow) in front of a real MINI.

Back in London

I'm back in London. It has been a big rush over the past few weeks. SP and I are both glad that we are home. There are so much to tidy up/ sort out!

We won't be travelling until April, so I have plenty of time to catch up on my blog :-)

Berlin trip, Dec 2007 - The Berlin Wall (Berliner Mauer) and Checkpoint Charlie

The name Berlin has always reminded me of the Berlin Wall. I vaguely remember hearing about the fall of Berlin Wall one year when I was still small. It was on the day of my brother's birthday. I knew that this wall ran through an entire city and I was always amazed at how determined the people were to separate Berlin into two.

The Berlin Wall is a symbol of the Cold War, representing the separation of east and west. People were generally overjoyed when the wall start to fell in 1989 and they turned up with sledgehammers and other tools to help demolish the wall! Eventually, industrial equipment were brought in to remove the remainder of the wall and its million-plus tons of rubble!

In the year following the fall of the wall, Germany was officially unified and Berlin once again became the capital.

Nowadays, only several segments of the wall have survived. We were staying at the IBIS near the Ostbahnhof and it was only a few minutes walk from one of the three remaining long section of the wall, the The East Side Gallery. The East Side Gallery is an international memorial for freedom and it consists of approximately 106 paintings by artists from all over the world, painted on the east side of the Berlin Wall following the fall of the Wall.

This segment of the Wall is a 1.3km long. Standing in front of the wall, you will suddenly realise the fragility of freedom. These 4-metres wall has separated many families and friends into two totally different world.

The symbol of freedom against the symbol of isolation

Some comments from the Chinese.

Some more comments from the Chinese! I wonder who wrote on it first!

A short history on the Cold War.

Veni, Vidi, Vici. (arrghh. this is a terrible photo. I look half asleep here!)

The bottom line says "No more wars. No more walls. A United World.". The drawing look somewhat familiar to the logo of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Perhaps the artist get his inspiration from the Wall?

A few stations away, you can visit one of the most famous border-crossing - Checkpoint Charlie. Checkpoint Charlie was designated as the single crossing point (by foot or by car) for foreigners and members of the Allied forces. The name Charlie came for the letter C in the NATO phonetic alphabet, as it is checkpoint number three.

The Checkpoint booth is a replica. The original is at the Allied Museum in Zehlendorf.

There is a great open-air exhibition on the Cold War and the Berlin Wall near the checkpoint.

Replica of the famous sign at the former East-West Berlin border. "You are leaving the American sector"

Photograph of an American soldier. He is known as 'Charlie'.

On the other side, a photo of 'Sergey'. A Russian soldier representing the former communist country.

These days, Sergey has become a capitalist and he is willing to accept Euro for posing in photos. If you pay enough, he won't mind standing next to Charlie either!

During the long years of the Cold War, the US has put up Christmas trees at various points along the wall as beacons of hope and peace that the citizens of both parts of Berlin could be reunited. After the fall of the wall, the practice is continued as a symbol of freedom.

I have come into close contact to the German people during this trip and I have learnt about the impact of WWII and the Cold Way on the Germans. There are countless memorial and monuments around the city for freedom and peace. These people are constantly remained about the dark side of the history.

Nevertheless, after this trip, I have learnt a great deal more about other people's struggles in the past and I value freedom even more.

France trip, Nov 2007 - I want THAT oyster!

SP and I both love going to the French food markets. We had a great time at the Bastille market last time. This time round, we revisited the Bastille market but we also went to a different market near the Eiffel Tower - the Saxe Breteuil market.

It is only a short walk from the Eiffel Tower or the École Militaire, which is a rather exclusive area. It is definitely one of the posher market and the food are of very high quality. The market was very busy, crowded with very well-dressed people with their well-groomed dogs!

Fresh scallops

Truffles

Pumpkin!! Take it out of my sight!

Poor bunny. It's bunny season.

Coq that went into my Coq au Vin

Bresse chicken. Very fair price! I wish we could bring one home.

Parma ham

My share of the ham!

Our dessert. Little cakes which were made with real nuts. They have a good level of moisture and we can taste the nuts. Highly recommended.

Wild duck. It is both duck and wabbit season! Poor Bug and Daffy!

A whole foie gras for less than €30. We need to bring some home next time!

Escargot with garlic herb butter

We went around and tried different things. At one of the stalls, we saw some giant oysters. I asked the lady whether I could get one and she told me to pick my own! It was simple!

(1) Pick the type of oysters you want

(2) She opens it for you

(3) She shows you the opened oyster. Oyster this fresh warrants a big thumbs-up!

(4) Pose for photos! In 4 quick steps, it's that easy.

France trip, Nov 2007 - Snubbing the Michelin guide

Paris is supposed to be the foodie capital of the world. It has the most number of three Michelin-starred restaurants in the world. However, we has decided to stick with good quality non Michelin-starred restaurants this time.

We had a shortlist of the restaurants after 'extensive' research. But the research stops there. There are no notes to make, and no menu-deciphering to do. I was surprised with the simplicity of the menus. There were no long incomprehensible title for each dish, and we just ordered whatever looks good. It was the beginning of winter and foie gras and game was available almost everywhere. What a great time to be in France!

Scallops with a light vegetable sauce. The 'juice' is very sweet and the scallops were great.

Beef. A must-have in France. They know what we mean when we say 'bleu'!

Ordinary-looking mash potato, but it was especially good! Rich, creamy, not-to-starchy and aromatic! And they did it without adding any truffles!

Soup. I forget what it was....

These 'spring-roll's have shellfish in them. The sauce was very tasty and the crunchy pastry goes really well with the fleshy shellfish. It was so good that I almost ordered another one on the spot.

Mushrooms. It was pricey but I didn't expect the dish to be this big! They use good quality butter and garlic to cook these little fungi and it was very very satisfying. The smell was great too. I finished the whole thing by myself. The people from the next table saw what I had and copied my orders! hahaha.

SP's dish. Pigeon legs

My main. Duck confit. These are the crispiest confit that I've had. It is surely very fattening, but it was too good.

Pigeon breast.

Dessert - Grand Marnier soufflé! One of the signature dish at Chez Dumonet.

Close up of the Grand Marnier soufflé.

Oeuf Cocotte au Foie Gras. Great with toast.

Tasty onion soup.

Beef steak again.

Classic beef tartare. This one is a little plainer than the one I had in Provence. Still good.

Best to wash down the raw meat with some French wine! :)

This was the start of our battle for foie gras.... two thick slices weren't enough, and we had to order more! These foie gras were very fresh and taste nothing like the canned ones. The standard has risen yet again!

Foie gras with toast. Yummmmm.

Coq au vin.

Serving myself!

SP had steak AGAIN! This time, it's veal.

We bought a half-bottle of Château Desmirail, which is part of Les Grands Crus classés en 1855 (Troisièmes Crus/ 3rd growth), and had it with some fresh bread and a jar of foie gras. The wine was very good and so was the foie gras.