Weekend in Berlin ~ christmas markets and Japanese okonomiyaki X3

Last weekend I visited my friends in Berlin! My friend Lau and I love christmas markets but we are quite alone with this passion, so I decided to come along and we went to some Christmas Markets together in Friday.

The weather was cloudy and windy but quite mild for this season and we were lucky to have no rain when we were outside. We started our round trip at the 'Gendarmenmarkt'. It's a nice plaza and there was a kind of antique markets, so they had very nice stands^.^

I also liked the christmas lights in the trees!

christmas market 'Gendarmenmarkt'

Most interesting were the stands with funny christmas tree bowls. They had nearly everything: cakes, cats, soccer balls, melons, Buckingham Palace, Eifel Tower, dinosaurs, mushrooms u.v.m. and shiny and glitering colours. I loved the Japanese looking strawberry cake X3

so cute X3

For warming up a bit Lau and I had a soup for Lunch. One stand sold different kinds of healthy soups and we chose the pumpkin-mango-sweet potatoe - soup which was super delicious!

soups with bread and oil

Afterwards we took the train to Berlin-Charlottenburg. First we stopped by the J-Store for making purikura as always XD (I have no photos, but Lau blogged the purikua --> Lau paint the sky with stars)

The we checked the stands on the 'Wilmersdorfer Straße' before going by bus to Charlottenburg Castle where a great Christmas Market was held. The Castle would also be enlightened by night. We strolled around the place and there were also very nice stands. The coolest was the one selling 'voodoo puppets' with TV series characters like The Simpsons, Star Wars and many others XD
We also longed for something sweet to eat and drink this time. While Lau preferred 'Quarkbällchen' (or in Berlin it's named 'Qaurkkeulchen') I had a crêpe with Nutella (Nought and hazelnut creme) and Baileys *_* that's the best combination!!
Afterwards we had a Hot Baileys! I've never seen it before but it was super delicious! It's also a good idea to warm it up at home on cold days X3 (I like to have a bottle at home *hehe*)

hot Baileys (for me without cream)

We also enjoyed the castle illumation. The colours were changing every few minutes and christmas greeting were spotted on the main castle building in different languages^^

Charlottenburg Castle in blue

After seeing all the lights we returned to 'Alexanderplatz'  where some more christmas markets are situated. We walked the Red City Hall; the christmas market was already much more crowded and more 'typical german' with many food and drink stands. But the ferris wheel was enlightened in a nice way^^

TV Tower Alexanderplatz

Ferris Wheel

At last we strolled a bit over the market at Alexanderplatz and had a last drink. I finally had a Lumumba again and we found Lau's favourite drink: a Lambada (cocoa with amaretto)
We were sitting opposite to a big department store which was also enlightened with christmas greetings and pictures from different countries. There were also greetings in Japanese and Korean this time^.^

"Merry Christmas" X3

Then it was time to go home XD

~*~

The next day we met our friend Kiki and went to an okonomiyaki restaurant for lunch together^^
It was my first time there. It is a nice little restaurant where you can choose from three different versions of okonomiyaki and different toppings (like cheese, spring onions, bacon and so on).
While Kiki and Lau had a classic okonomiyaki, I tried the one with soy-sour topping. It was okay but the classic versions tastes better (the third version was a Korean style okonomiyaki with spicy Kimchi by the way) and I must say that the ones I ate in Japan tasted better^^; (though these were also made by a Japanese)

okonomiyaki & green tea

the menue

the interior

the entrance

Atferwards we wanted to try out the Matcha Café 'Mamecha' but by the time we arrived there it was full and other people were already waiting for a seat. So we had to leave and went to a 'normal' Café for having cake & coffee.
I had a Latte Macciatto with hazelnut and a 'Zupfkuchen'. It tasted great but the waitor was such an idiot... >.<

coffee and sweets X3

But we chatted a lot and returned home when it was already dark.
I really like Berlin for its many nice places. Next time I have to try out the Matcha Café for sure!
And next time will be: Silvester!
So Gals, I'm coming again soon^o^

MegaMangaConvention (MMC) Berlin and J-Store with Purikura

Hello everyone!

I have almost forgotten my trip to Berlin on the first weekend of Oktober to visit the MMC with my friends. The conventions takes place every two years and it was always fun to go there. Of course we wanted to do some Cosplay again as well^^

I visited the convention on Friday and Saturday though the event was also opened on Sunday.

On Friday my friends Lau and Kirschu wanted to wear their GALS! Cosplays again so I decided to join them. We did it on the book fair in Leipzig for the first time but back then I wasn't too happy with my GAL-Character. So I changed this time and became Aya Hoshino. With Lau as Ran and Kirschu as Mami we weren't the whole group but it was so much fun nevertheless.

But first we decided to visit the J-Store in Berlin-Charlottenburg. Since a few month ago the J-Store owns a Purikura machine now and like every good GAL we wanted to make some XD

J-Store entrance

interior

purikura machine

The machine is quite modern and has good functions, backgrounds and dekos. And because of the convention is was 1 € cheaper than usual^o^

Because of this side trip we arrived a bit later at the convention but the line for entrance was still very long^^;

At the inside our first action was taking lunch *lol* The Catering of the MMC is really good. They sell many Japanese dishes, this time even the Crepe Station (a Café in Berlin selling Japanese style crepe) and an Onigiri shop had their stands there. Lau and Kirschu decided for a crepe while I took Onigiri^^

Crepe Station

Onigiri Stand

my Onigir with mushroom & pumpkin

Strengthened we went outside again to take some photos. It was great weather outside and we had much fun! Of course we got some curious looks from the citizens walking around the place *lol*

me & Lau as Aya and Ran

Of course we also met some other friends and chatted a lot. It was a great day!

But Saturday was even better! Our friend Kiki was also coming to the convention and together the four of us became the Visual Kei Band Golden Bomber again^o^

We wore our Memeshikute Outfit again which we had worn on the book fair in Leipzig 2012. But it was so cool. Of course my Make-up was really attracting views^^: One man in the metro said I had eaten a clown, ha ha.

But before we went to the convention we stopped by the J-Store again. Of course we had to make some purikuras as Golden Bomber as well! The shop owner even recognized us when we entered the shop, that was great! XD She wanted to take a picture of us:

Golden Bomber in the house XD

At the convention we really rocked it XD

We met our friend Fluff who took pictures and videos of us. It was so funny, we joked around, did some dance practise or just didn't want to do *lol*

Inside there was a special photo corner where a photoraph took pictures from you before a special backround and if you liked the pics he printed them at once (one pic = 1 €). Each of us took one picture, it was really cool - like a real photo shooting with Golden Bomber^^

This was my favourite one:

hanging on the sofa XD

So we had a great convention and thanks to my people doing cosplay was as great as ever!

This year it was my last convention, next will be the book fair in Leipzig in March 2014^^

See ya!

Japanese feeling in Berlin

Hello everyone^__^/

Last weekend I went to Berlin to visit friends of mine. Because in Berlin you find everything I searched the internet for some asian culturel events. So I got to know about the museum of asian arts. I used my free friday for a visit because my friend where I stayed had to work this day.

Fee was 6,- € but not only for the museum of asian arts, the whole complex consists of three museums (also a european and ethnology part), so it was okay. The other two parts weren't so interesting, just sculptures without any intesting information, I was a bit disappointed about it.

But the asian exhibition was quite nice^.^

One floor was about Central Asia (mainly India, Nepal, Afgahnistan), here are some impressions:

Nepal exhibition hall

India exhibition hall

On the other floor were Chinese, Japanese and Korean paintings and pottery exhibited. Everything there looked so beautiful! I was really impressed. It was also contemporary art but if I hadn't known I had expected it to be very old. It is still very traditional^^

Here are some impressions:

Chinese folding screen

Japanese folding screen

Korean pottery

Japanese wallscroll

Japanese sake set

Japanese pottery

Pottery

The best was an imitation of a traditional Japanese tea house. A tea ceremony is sometimes held in the museum. It looked great:

outside view

view in the inner room

So I can say the museum for asian art is worth a visit^^

But my Japanese culture trip wasn't over yet. After my visit to the museum I met up with a friend and we decided to have dinner in an Udon restaurant which I haven't known so far. The 'Susuru' is a modern restaurant which only sells Udon noodle soup and some starters like edamame and Gyouza.

We took a serving of edamame together and for the main dish I chose Ebi Gyouza Udon. It was served with Wakame (sea weed), spring onions and Shitake (mush rooms) besides of course some Ebi Gyouza. It was really delicious!

salted edamame

Ebi Gyouza Udon

inside the restaurant

The next day my two friends and I planned to go to another Japanese restaurant for dinner^.^

It is called 'Makoto', it is mainly a Ramen restaurant but it also serves some kinds of Yakisoba and Donburi (and of course some typical starters). I was really looking forward to a Donburi because I love this Japanese dish so much. Just some delicious cooked vegetables and meat on a bowl of rice, there's nothing better X3

So I decided for 'Tori-Katsudon', breaded chicken with omelette on rice. Sooooo good!

Tori-Katsudon

I can recommend both restaurants. Both restaurants can be easily reached from 'Alexanderplatz'. The prices are also normal (6~9 Euro).

They are as good as the restaurants in Duesseldorf. So I'm happy to know good Japanese restaurants everywhere I go X3

Japanese Crêperie in Berlin

Hello everybody^^/

Yesterday I met with Lau again because we wanted to go to a Crêperie which sells Crêpes in japanese style here in Berlin. So we met at the station 'U Eberswalder Straße' and walked down the 'Pappelallee' to get there.

It is a nice little shops with just a few tables but very comfortable. I liked it at once. Like in Japan crêpes replicas were put in the shop window, that was cool^^

the shop from the outside

The choice of crêpes is also great, I could hardly decide XD

Choice of the day became a strawberry cheesecake crêpe (really with a piece of cheesecake inside X3). But I cancelled the cream >.< so the waitor asked if I would like to have something else for a substitute. So I got also some chocolate sauce on it X3 (and in the end I got the crêpe 50 Cent cheaper, so nice!)

Along with it I drank my beloved Matcha Latte X3 but they had also other cool drinks like Ginger Latte or Raspberry Latte (which Lau chose).

Strawberry cheesecake crêpe with Matcha Latte

the counter inside the shop

At least I can say that everything was delicous, the atmoshere is nice and the Café ist very comfortable. The prices are good, the waitor was very kind and courteous, so it was worth the trip^^

Unfortunately there's hardly something else interesting around there, so the location is a bit bad.

I also took a flyer from the crêperie where you can see most of the crêpe variety, the address and a little location plan^^

front & back side of the flyer

Bye bye!

Asia in Berlin

Hello everybody!

Since sunday I' staying in Berlin because of my master studies.
Yesterday I met up with my friend Lau to stroll a bit around the streets. And even here we found many stuff concerning Japan or other asian countries X3

First I asked her to show me the store 'Neo Tokyo', it's a shop which sells German Manga and Animes but also japanese and korean CDs, magazines, artbooks and some clothes and little merchandise. It was nothing special but I wanted to be there just once.

Neo Tokyo store

After that we went for lunch to a nice vietnamese restaurant. It looked pretty good and there works a really cute waitor (the main reason we went there XD).

vietnamese restaurant 'Good Morning Vietnam'

I forgot the name of my dish but it consisted of tofu, sweet potatoes and vegetables (paprika, onions, carrots and caulitflower) in a spicy sauce with curry and coconutmilk and of course some rice. So delicious!

my lunch with a glas of lotus tea

From there we went via 'Hackescher Markt' and passed by some ohter good looking korean and japanese restaurants. This area was quite nice X3
In the 'Hackeschen Höfe' we found a shop which sells stuff from Japan and China by accident. The variety of things was quite good: tea, tableware, bento boxes (X3), clothes, fans, wine and some other stuff. They also sell some Yukatas and they were exactly the same as in the Kyoto Handicraft Center! So I also found the Yukata I had bought there O.o
Really interesting.

japanese/chinese shop in the 'Hackeschen Höfe'

Lau also wanted to show an asian supermarket nearby. I was quite impressed because you get nearly everything so it's not like the asian supermarkets in my area. This one also offers many japanese and korean stuff for example the okonomiyaki or tonkatsu sauces I can only buy in Duesseldorf (but there weren't any things with matcha *sniff*)

asian supermarket near the station 'Hackescher Markt'

So I got a bit jealous^^'
We also bought a little snack there. It's called Kanom Pea. It is a Thai dessert consisting of a kind of flaky pastry (made with coconut milk) with a sweet mung bean filling. It was quite delicious but also made us very sated (we ate three pieces each).

Kanom Peas

Because today was a japanese holiday I also wanted to make some japanese dish for dinner. So I prepared everything for Yakisoba. It was my first time to make it but I think I did pretty well^^ (but I forgot to take a photo >.<)
So it was again a day full of memories from Japan and I also tasted some nice food from other asian countries.