Sydney calling

An ancient Chinese proverb says that even a journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step.

I'm about to do this first step, cross the big wide ocean, enter the unknown.

For the last seven years my world has been comparably small. I arrived in London-Heathrow in 2005 to embark on a 1 year MBA programme at Lincoln university and after graduation I settled in London quite comfortably.

Although the UK is only a mere 1.5 hrs away from Germany, it seemed like a daring venture at the time. A different country, a different culture, a different language.

Even today, many of my conversations start with "In London..." or "In Germany..." meaning that I'm still aware of all the various nuances.

Soon I will be able to add a whole new dimension to my perspective. Asia-Pacific, the final frontier!

My visa is arranged, my job is waiting, my flights are booked. All I need to do is to make that first step towards that new chapter of my life!

Wish me luck!

Royalty in the house!

With "royalty" I actually mean "knight" and with "in the house" I mean "in the house next door". But anyway... It doesn't take away from the fact that SIR IAN MCKELLAN, aka Magneto, aka Gandalf was attending a Q&A session at the cinema next to my house to discuss his latest Middle Earth adventures with the audience.

I was very tempted to buy a ticket to the event. After all, Gandalf is the coolest wizard ever (sorry Dumbledore...). But then I dropped the idea. I had already seen "The Hobbit" and 30 mins of Ian didn't seem to justify sitting through another 3hrs of Bilbo (not that I hadn't enjoyed it the first time around... It was just very...long).

Plus I already had the chance to see him on a stage a few year ago in "Waiting for Godot" at the Theatre Royal in Haymarket. My friend even saw his "royal jewels" in another play, when he stripped naked in front of the audience.

Anyway, I'm digressing. I guess I was just so impressed that a Hollywood actor would come to an independent cinema in Whitechapel. Apparently McKellan lives in Limehouse, Tower Hamlets, and therefore supports the community through charity events like this one.

Apocalypse now

If you knew the world was going to end today, how would you spend your last remaining hours on earth?

It's a valid question, because according to the Mayan calendar, the 21-12-2012 marks the end of civilisation. It's not the first time that doomsday has been predicted, and so far they've all had a fail rate of 100%. But it doesn't stop people around the globe from end-of-world-paranoia. People in Russia and China have reportedly been stockpiling dry food and candles, parents in Utah are keeping their kids away from school.

So the question - hypothetical or not - is how to prepare or the end? Go to the nearest church? Go to the nearest liqueur store? Tell your partner how much you love them? Tell your boss what you really think of them?

We decided to take it easy on doomsday: with a large pizza and a bottle of wine for lunch and some hot mulled wine in the afternoon.

Unspectacular? Maybe! Enjoyable? Definitely!

Hark! The herald angels sing...

The pre-Christmas season can get quite hectic sometimes... Shopping for gifts, hunting for the perfect party outfit, organising the trip home, catching up with everyone. Not to forget all the parties, drinks & dinners...

I'm not complaining, it's just that sometimes it's nice to have a break from it all.

An evening of classic Christmas carols in the Royal Albert Hall was just a perfect opportunity to sit back, relax and get into the Christmas spirit.

One New Change

This must be London's best kept secret... An empty shopping centre in central London the weekend before Christmas.

One New Change is a new development located on Cheapside, right outside St. Paul's Cathetral. It's got all you want from a shopping centre - cafes, restaurants, the typical high street fashion brands...

But the best thing is - like the rest of the city - it's completely dead at the weekend. I was wandering through the shops earlier and there was hardly a soul in sight. Sometimes I wasn't even sure whether the shop was open or not, because I couldn't see anyone inside.

It was such a welcome change to the usual frenzy in Westfield and Oxford street and I managed to snap up a few fantastic pieces from the Banana Republic sale.

Happy Third Advent

Happy Third Advent everyone!

So Long, East London!

London always portrays itself as a city of diversity, but sometimes I think people are even more homogenous here than anywhere else in the world.

If you are a professional between 20 and 40, you're likely to be surrounded by clones of yourself - at work and in your free time. Everybody goes to the same bars, eats in the same restaurants, dresses in the same type of clothes. Skinny jeans with 40? Not a problem, because at heart, we're all 25.

It was therefore not too surprising that this year, our company Christmas Party was held at Cargo, an ueber-cool night-club in Shoereditch. As a true Londoner I probably shouldn't rave on about it (because we are too cool for even the coolest venues), but I really was in awe about the vibe of the place and the design, which was unmistakably Hoxton.

Will there be places like this in Sydney? Undoubtedly!

But still..., East London! I will miss you!

We're gonna party like it's 1996

I was in charge of organising the Team Christmas Event this year and after a popular vote, we decided to go bowling.

It's funny how in an ueber-cool city like London, with endless entertainment options, we reverted to something quite old-school and retro.

I guess there's a certain nostalgic charme to bowling, particularly in the venue we chose. It was based in Queensway and the decor looked very 80ies - it had a bar in one corner, and karaoke rooms and arcades in the other.

The place revoked images of children's birthday parties and college nights out - paper hats, gift bags, party food consisting of chicken wings and potato wedges. Happy times indeed.

But in true London style, the group moved on to a night club in Chelsea afterwards (by that time I was already back home and fast asleep) to rub shoulders with famous actors and TV celebrities. I guess the simple life is not for everyone...

The Marylebone Project

I really like Christmas. I like the lights and the sparkle, I like the excitement of buying and receiving gifts and I like the fact that people make the biggest effort to reunite with their families.

However, in the midst of all the shopping and partying, it's very easy to forget that the Christmas season is not a happy time for everyone.

Images of perfect lives are on display everywhere, and people who have had a tough year might feel lost and lonely if they compare this perfection to their own lives.

Bobby Schuller, one of the pastors I occasionally follow on TV encouraged his ministry to be unselfish and to reach out to those in need. Now, this is certainly not a new message, but for some reason it resonated with me this time.

There are so many people out there who have been less fortunate. Maybe they've made bad decisions in life, maybe they have just been unlucky. Reality is that everything we have, may it be health or financial security, can be as easily lost as it is granted.

I therefore decided to follow the charity appeal of the Marylebone Project, an organisation that looks after homeless woman in London. They asked for presents with useful things like socks, scarfs, bubble bath, notebooks, etc.

I went out to Westfield yesterday, to get those things, and because I couldn't fit everything into one box, I made two gifts.

Hopefully this can contribute to making someone's Christmas a little bit brighter.

Happy Second Advent

The British don't really celebrate Advent, hence they don't sell Advent wreaths, hence I had to make my own.

Last week, I had a bit of an accident with my candle holder, which I had bought for 1 Euro in a Chinese shop in Berlin. The candle holder had the shape of a porcellain angel, but it must have been some cheap industrial waste material, because the entire thing went up in flames when it got in contact with the candle.

Needless to say that it caused a bit of a scare with the fire alarm and the smoke in the flat, so this week, I've replaced the candle holder with a solid metal version.

Breakfast with love

When I did my Christmas shopping yesterday, I came across this adorable heart-shaped frying pan. It's perfect for adding a bit of fun to the breakfast table.

I made a fried egg on toast this morning, but I think you could also use the mould to shape pancakes, roesti or even mashed potatoes.

Happy Sunday everyone!

More Instagram Wall Art

I decided to make some more personalised photo canvases, using some inexpensive Primark pictures as a base.

These three are made with some laser prints from our Portugal holiday and mod podge. Easy!

I simply love these pictures. The first one shows the amazing resort we stayed in. Because it was off-season, the hotel was really quiet, and we had the pool and the beach to ourselves.

The second picture was taken in the centre of Lagos and the third one shows our two silouettes in the sand close to Ponta da Piedade.

Happy memories!

Fusion gone wrong

I know I wrote a favourable review about Naamyaa cafe the other day, but I'm taking it back. The second visit was just such a let-down.

Don't get me wrong. I like the concept of so-called fusion cuisine, but not everything that is fused together works.

This was especially true for the Thai salt-fish spaghetti I had. They were so salty, I couldn't eat more than a few bites (and normally I love salty food). When I mentioned this to the waiter, he just shrug his shoulders and gave me a look that implied "it's your own fault for ordering something called salt fish".

It's a shame, because we all had such high expectations of Alan Yau's newest restaurant. It was a good reminder though that fancy is not always best. Most people just want something quick, comforting and reasonably healthy to eat.

Southbank Centre Christmas Market

I always find it a bit strange that people move to London, only to complain about that things are not exactly the same as back home.

The Southbank Centre Christmas Market for example is often criticised for not being 100% authentic German, but to be honest, I think they are doing a great job each year, transforming the Queen's walk along the river into a Christmas scene.

There are lots of wonderfully lit stalls, selling Gluehwein, ginger bread, toys and gifts and whilst you might not find regional specialities like Schupfnudeln there, the choice of different types of sausages is quite good.

I thoroughly enjoy going there each year and it's strange to think that my next Christmas will probably be on the other side of the globe, BBQ-ing in shorts by the beach.

Instagram Wall Art

You might have noticed - I love my instagrams. I take 99% of my photos with my phone and on the rare occasion that I have "normal" photos, I still crop them into squares afterwards.

I have so many beautiful instagrams from my recent holidays and since I didn't want them to just sit on my hard drive, I came up with this little Sunday afternoon project to display them in my home.

I think the easiest way to show off instagrams is to mount them onto a canvas. I wanted to get nice photo prints initially, but I couldn't find an instant photo shop nearby, so I decided to simply print the photos at home and cut them out with some scissors.

I then glued the little squares to a blank canvas - et voila: my personalised piece of wall art. I made three of them and put them up above the kitchen table. This way I can admire them over breakfast and dinner. A simple way to display some of my favourite memories.