176/356: Suit Up!

I am lucky enough that I have had a casual dress code at every company that I ever worked at. Of course there are some rules, but they are not very restrictive. This means that the suits that I own are gathering dust most of the time.

This week I decided to suit up and wear a full suit including dress shoes and a tie, to work. I must say, people were rather surprised to see me dressed like that. After they got over the surprise, I got compliments all around. I was a little surprised at the good reception to be honest. I expected more teasing. Now I am thinking that it might be worth to dress like that more often. I like getting compliments. But then I usually overdress a little anyhow so might not be the best idea to take it even further.

Sadly I don't have a big mirror at home so you can't see me in all my glory but the shot I attached should give you the general idea.

RAWR!

174/175/356: Onion Cake And Sputnik, Tequila Flavoured Beer

Onion Cake! Awesome!

Actually it is not really a cake but more like a pie or a quiche. Why is this special you ask? Let me tell you.

There is a yearly market in Bern which revolves around onions. For real. Interesting enough it is always on a Monday and starts around 5 am. That also means that I have never really attended the market. I pass through it because the bus that takes me to the train station usually goes through that road and does not on that day. So I have seen it but not because I went there on purpose. Why would I get up so early for a market? (they are all rather the same eh?)

So since onions are the theme of the market, the onion pies are the thing that everybody eats that day. You can buy it in a hundert different place but essentially they are all the same. It's not that I have never had something like that, but the first time that I had one one the day and because of the onion market.

It tasted very yummy indeed.

On the same day I bought "Sputnik" a Tequila flavoured Beer. I didn't have it until yesterday but I will but it in the same post because I have it both in the same picture.

I really enjoyed the taste but it wasn't much like beer. It tasted more like a soft drink. Not unpleasant though. I think I would have it again.

173/356: Chocolate Bar

You know you are getting older when you get up early after going to party the night before and you feel like crap all day. 

So instead of doing the awesome thing that I had lined up for Sunday evening, I just stayed in and ate a chocolate bar. Good thing I had bought it a few days earlier and left it lying around. A chocolate bar that tastes like cookies. So like chocolate chip cookie but in a chocolate bar. Not sure if that makes any sense. 

Anyhow, it tasted good and I was glad I didn't have to go outside.

172/356: Drum And Bass At Dachstock

Saturday went down as the day that I attended the first party at Dachstock and it was quite something.

Not only was it the first time that I went clubbing in Bern and the first time that I went to Dachstock (A club at Reithalle) but also the first time that I went to a drum and bass party. It was interesting.

I had a great time and the music was more to my taste than I would have expected. Still, I don't think I will start going to DnB parties on a regular basis. The sound is a little too much for me. I think I will stay with my usual range of electronic music.

I have been to Reithalle a few times now but I only really explored the place this time around. It really reminded me of a place called "Rote Fabrik" in Zurich that I used to frequent back when I was about 18. Ah good memories.


Party on I guess...

171/356: I Am Weak

I had big plans for Friday. It would have been such an awesome first. Instead school caught up to me and I had to prioritize that.

We did speak about our project and arranged who should do what but we had some beer while doing it and the cheap drunk I am, I was pretty tipsy by the time I got back on the train to Bern. As it happens when you have a little too much alcohol, suddenly McDonalds seems very appealing. Without much hesitation I gave in to the craving and went there. Good excuse I had too because they have Swiss weeks at the moment and served some stuff I have not had before.

I got myself a McGrischun and Röstifries. The Fries were, well, weird. The McGrischun was rather good.

Now to wait at least 3-4 months until I can allow myself to go again.

170/356: Dinner At "Blinde Insel"

I went to have dinner at "Blinde Insel" last night. I can honestly say it was a lot of fun.

What is "Blinde Insel"?
It is a temporary restaurant that comes to "Reithalle" once a year. You dine in complete darkness beeing served by blind waiters.

I went there with a few friends and I think everybody had a great time. At first it is a bit disorienting. I admit that I held on to my beer for quite some time. Just to have an anchor, something that I already had when I was still in the light.

They lead you in, in a row and once you are seated, you are not allowed to get up by yourself. You get a table number and the name of your waiter and whenever you need something you call both out loudly. They don't tell you what is on the menu but you are supposed to guess what you are eating. I was doing all right with what I was having in general (soup, mashed potatoes, peas etc.) but was not able to place the more subtle tastes.. like what exactly was in the soup.

And oh yes, that soup to begin with was quite a challenge. My tactic to not get everything on myself was, to put my face really close to the dish. Too close in fact. I ended up with the tip of my nose in the soup. After that though, I managed better than I would have thought.

There was a piece of meat for mains that we had to cut, that was also a challenge. I managed to cut three pieces of more or less manageable size. I am glad that nobody saw me jam it into my mouth. But then again, I don't think the others fared any better.

All in all it was really great to experience this and I can only recommend you try it for yourself if you are in Bern during the next few days. For obvious reasons there are no pictures from the dinner itself but I did take a few before we went in.

On a side note, I finally finished the 1000 piece puzzle.. took my long enough.... annnnnd of course I am missing one piece. Back in the box it goes. 

169/356: Cooking With Lentils

Today is not an exciting one but it amazes me that I have never done it before.

I cooked a meal with Lentils.

This is surprising because, contrary to many other people, I actually quite like Lentils. I had to do another easy one because I am STILL working on that puzzle. I feel like this will never end. But it has to, because the puzzle is still occuping my desk and if my desk is occupied, there are so many other things I can't do.

Because of this circumstance I decided to go home early today to finish that blasted thing. After that I am out for dinner. At a very special place. More about that tomorrow!

168/356: Melon Lemonade

After a "normal" Fritz Limo lemonade and the Fritz Limo cola, I opted for a Fritz Limo melon lemonade this past Tuesday. Besides it being the first time that I had that Fritz Limo, I am pretty sure that it was the first time that I ever had a melon lemonade.

The taste was actually quite pleasant. I do prefer a "normal" lemonade though. I love the taste of lemons. When I was a kid I used to take my chocolate ice cream with lemon ice cream. Sounds wird, but is very yummy!

On a side note, I am still trying to complete that 1000 piece puzzle. I hope to be finished soon so I can continue with life.

167/356: Donating for the Philippines

Today was the first time that I joined in for a "national collection day". I donated some money for the Philippines that are currently dealing with the aftermath of Taifun Haiyan which was the strongest tropical storm that has ever been measured.

I am not sure if it will give me bad karma to use this as something for my project or good karma because the project encouraged me to do something like this. Anyhow, I hope you find a few bucks in your pockets that you don't need and help some people that really need it right now. 

If you are Swiss, go here: http://www.glueckskette.ch/de.html 

If you are not Swiss, I am sure there is an alternative organisation in your country that is collecting. 

Oh and I would like to thank each and every one that helped the "Glückskette" to collect near to seven million Swiss francs today. 

Faith in humanity restored. 

165/356: Attempting A 1000 Piece Puzzle In A Day

Another suggestion from couchsurfing this last sunday.

Somebody sent me the idea that I could attempt a 1000 piece puzzle in a single day. I was instantly all for it, under the condition that she would help me and pick the most outrageous puzzle she could find. She agreed and so we sat down with the task at hand.

I'll admit to it right away, we failed. After 8.5 hours we had managed 582 pieces (yes I counted). I never knew how time flies once you commit to a little project like this. I also underestimated how much time is needed to solve a puzzle with a thousand pieces. Although we didn't manage to hit the goal, I am certain that this was the first time that I invested so much time for a puzzle.

Now I have a half finished puzzle sitting on my office desk that I need to finish before I can put my monitor and keyboard back on it. So there is no way around it, I need to finish it asap. I already managed some more pieces today. The goals is to finish it latest by next Sunday. Wish me luck.

 Look at that magnificent puzzle. Couldn't have wished for more.

 After about an hour we had all the edges

 I think this was after about six hours

This was what it looked like when we finished for the day... after eight and a half hours we just weren't seeing anything anymore. It was time to call it a day and head out for a pizza.

More adventures to follow!

164/356: Beer Tasting; Brooklyn East India Pale Ale

More beer, more american beer. Another pale ale, another good ale.
Nothing to see here, move on.

163/356: Poker Night

Huzzah, no more food but an actual activity.

Last Friday I had the first poker night at my place. It was the first time to use my chips and the first time that I actively organized a game.

I had a few people from couchsurfing over. Most I have never seen before but it turned out to be a really good night with lots of laughter and many chips changing hands. We didn't have many pro's and I think that made everything more fun. People weren't trying to show off their hardcore poker skills but just to have some fun.

I ended up coming in 3rd place (out of six). This is a result that I am really happy with because I have never been very lucky at poker. But more important, I met some really great people. I am looking forward to do something like this again soon.

Now follow a few pictures, I hope I am not offending anyone by uploading them.

 Discussing what you can and can't do was a big part of the night.

 Hemingway returns to the blog after a long absence. He was used to show who the dealer was.

Look at that gloating winner.

162/356: Beer Tasting; Duff Beer

This one has been a long time in the making.

I tasted a beer that might be the most famous beer in the world. I had a Duff. Made famous by none other than Homer Simpson. I have to say, it tasted exactly like something that Homer would drink. There is nothing crafty or special about the beer. It is your normal, 99 cent, corner store, run of the mill beer. Might even be a little worse than that. But that is OK, because it tasted so much like it should!

161/356: Heinz Hot Sauce: Green Japaleno

Wednesday was the day where I tried the Heinz Hot Sauce: Green Jalapeno. Because the picture is really bad, there will be no picture for this post.

The Hot Sauce is nice and I am glad that I tried it. I will probably get it again. It is not really hot though. There is one hotter from Heinz and I think I will get that one the next time. I am used to Tabasco and hotter and this one is not even as spicy as Tabasco. Still goes great with Pizza though.

160/356: Beertasting; St.Peter's Winter Ale

Winter time is a good time for my beer tasting. Why? Because winter/Christmas beers start appearing.
On Tuesday (again a late day at work) I went for a St.Peter's Winter Ale. It was a strong and good ale. I really enjoyed it.

This is probably the best beer/ale out of England that I ever had.

159/356: Green Tea And Chocolate

I am currently working only three days a week because I am at school the two others. For this reason I am working longer hours than usual and this makes it difficult to go for something exciting. I have been thinking about one or two things but they are way out of my comfort zone so I have to get used to the thought first.

So nothing exciting on Monday. I went for a a new kind of green tea and new kind of chocolate. There is not much to say about that so I won't.

158/356: Streaming On Twitch

It was a lazy Sunday and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I spent more time in front of the computer playing DOTA2 than I care to admit. Still I managed to do something new. I streamed the whole session to Twitch. Twitch is a streaming website that is dedicated to gaming and it's where I watch the DOTA2 tournaments. I am not sure if this is something that will pass but at the moment I enjoy watching that a lot more than watching any other sports and if I can choose, I will choose to watch some DOTA2.

So yeah, no picture but I am in game streaming for one game right now if you want to see what it looks like. Just click the first like in the post to get right to my channel.

game on.

157/356: Sneakerness Sneaker Bazaar

Due to the 5th birthday anniversary of Sneakerness there was a sneaker Bazaar at club Bonsoir here in Bern. Anybody that knows me a little better will not be surprised that I had to go but that it took me so long to visit such an event.
For those who have never been to my place. It will become instantly clear why I went to the Bazaar when you see this first picture. This is behind me right now:

I have a *slight* weakness for Nike sneakers.

It was cool walking around the Bazaar and eyeballing all the cool models that I would have loved to get. But I did put myself on a strict "no buy" rule before I went in. I bought three pairs this year and I think that is quite enough. Also, where am I going to put them??

I had a short look around but was gone again pretty fast. If you are not going to buy a pair, well there is not much to do. Anyway, it was cool to see it all and see all the sweet sneakers the people there were wearing.

Must.Not.Buy.New.Nike's.

156/356: Another Beer tasting; Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Another beer from America and another pleasant surprise. The Sierra Nevada Pale Ale tasted really good. I am really surprised how many good american beer I have tasted in the last few months. Compared to the other countries, the percentage of good beer seems to be a lot higher. And that from a country that is known for Coors and Budweiser.

Next post, no beer.

155/356: Beer tasting Goes On; Quilmes

Another day, another new beer, another bad picture. Please excuse my sloppiness.

This time around I went for a Quilmes, which is Argentinian. The beer was quite pleasant but nothing I would have to note down to have again.

154/356: Voting

At the age of 30 I have finally voted for the first time.

Considering that we vote on something at least every 6 months, this should have happened a lot earlier. I really have no excuse for not doing it any earlier. We are lucky to have such a direct democracy and I should partake in it more often. 

This time I am voting because there is a vote on a bill that I feel very strongly about. The proposition is, to only allow the highest salary in a company to be 12 times of what the lowest salary in that company is. 

In general I think it is a good idea and I could support it, if it wasn't just Switzerland doing this. The high salary's, especially the one the bill wants to battle, are the management ones. Those employs are usually on the global market and the salary is not that high because the company's enjoy paying them that but because the market dictates them. That is capitalism at work my friends.
If Switzerland gets this law, the company's in Switzerland will have a disadvantage compared to the company's in other countries. So what will happen? The big company's will leave Switzerland and settle somewhere else. Bye bye Google, bye bye Nestle, etc. 

So all this bill will do, is to make the unemployment rate higher. At least this is what will happen in my opinion. So I am voting no. Of course everybody is entitled to their own opinion but I feel like this is a very bad idea. 

More power to the people, go vote!

ps: if you want to know more about how swiss democracy works, go here. There is a nice little video there. 

153/356: Omnomns

In anticipation of picking up a couchsurfer on tuesday, I went to the grocery shop to get something new.

I ended up getting a sausage and cheese that I never had. I am glad that I picked those because both was really tasty. The sausages are made in the region and the cheese was from western Switzerland. Nothing exciting today but still a good pick

152/356: Buying An Esports Ticket

On Monday I did something I couldn't really picture myself doing just a few weeks back.

There is a game. This game is called DOTA2. I started playing it about two months back. Why did I start? Because I heard that the a game called League of Legends just broke the all time high of concurrent players. Both games are a new genre that is called MOBA. I thought if a game can attract that many players, there has to be something about it. As it happened DOTA2 hat just come out of beta so I gave it a spin.
Boy is the game fun!

Around the that time there was a big international DOTA2 tournament going on. The winning team walked away with a mind boggling 1,2 million dollars.. yeah let that sink in for a moment. One, point two, million US Dollars! The price pool in total was 2,5 million US Dollars.

I had never watched Esports before but since I had just started playing the game I was intrigued and I started watching the games of the tournament. I was hooked instantly. I spent the whole weekend watching one game after another and ever since I spend more time watching competitive DOTA2 games than I watch "regular" sports.

And I don't seem to be the only one. The tournament I am watching right now has over 30'000 viewers on the streams and that is only the English one (the Russian is just as popular).

You can watch these games on Dailymotion or Twitch. But what I did for the first time on Monday was, I got a ticket to watch the game in the game client itself. The benefit of that is that I have a small chance of winning in game cosmetic items and that it runs much smoother then when watching over the sites mentioned above.

I have spent about six hours watching the games so far and plan to watch many more until the finals in Sweden at Dreamhack in three weeks time. I think that is nine dollars well spent. 

I know, reading this with having no idea what a MOBA or DOTA2 or even Esports is, might be confusing. I suggest you hit google if you want to know more.. or just send me a message.

Now back to watch that game I have running on the second screen.

151/356: Brunch At Restaurant Marzilibrücke

I am not quite sure what I should think of brunch. On one hand I think it's a brilliant idea to combine lunch and breakfast on the other hand I always end up eating too. Also it messes with my eating rythem so I end up being hungry way too early again.

Anyhow last Sunday I was at restaurant Marzilibrücke to have brunch with some folks from couchsurfing. As you probably guessed, it wasn't my first brunch but it was indeed the first time I was at that restaurant. I don't regret going because the food was awesome and the people I met even more so. 

I will be going there again on a lazy Sunday!

 

150/356: Bionade

Sometimes it amazes me how fast time can go by if you have some things to do. 

I had a, what I thought would be quite an easy schedule on last saturday. Well I was wrong. the hours came and went faster than I could blink. So in the end I had to settle for a new drink. 

What you see in the picture was my lunch (got I am so embarrassed when I take these shots). The drink is called a Bionade and it was the first time that I had it. It tasted nice actually.

No time today, more stuff to do. Gotta fly...

149/356: Beertasting; Carling Lager On The Go

Back to beer tasting. I have been missing that to be honest.

On my way back from school on Friday, I grabbed a Carling Lager at the shop. I can't remember why exactly but I was in a hurry that day so there wasn't room for much innovation. I also had to hurry to catch the train so I didn't have much time to think about what beer I should get. I just grabbed one that I thought I hadn't had before.

About the beer itself there is not much to say. It is your typical, average, 500ml in a can. Nothing noteworthy and therefore no reason why I should have it again. An average picture for an average beer. How fitting.

148/356: Pommes Dürüm

Have you ever combined two awesome dishes and even though it sounded weird at first, it went better than expected? I am talking about stuff like the potato fries sandwich. People in the know will be nodding right now.

And potato fries are setting the scene for this one. I had a Dürüm Kebap with Fries in it just the last week. And I can say, it was awesome. Unhealthy maybe, but so good! Definitively something that should be offered more often. I have never seen this on offer before. Gladly the place that sells this is right next to my school in Basel. I will have many more opportunities to go there.

I will spare you the picture because that does not look as good as it tasted. Maybe next time!

Damn now I hungry again.

147/356: Fritz-limo

Another long day at work so another tasting in the evening. I had bought this lemonade the day before but never got around to drink it. Lucky me that I still had it. 

I already tried a cola from this brand earlier in the year and it was a pleasant experience so I figured I could try another of their product. These are special because can only get them at a shop that specializes in drinks. 

The taste was very good for a lemonade. Nothing that wow'd me but definitely worth the buy.

146/356: Tahin Helva Halva

Back to work on Tuesday for a very short work week. Exactly because of that short week, I did have to do quite some overtime. For that reason, there was not much time on Tuesday and Wednesday to try something new. 

On Tuesday I bought this Tahin Helva Halva thing. 

There is shelf for foreign foods in the supermarket and I just randomly picked this. It looked sweet and I read "cacoa" so how bad could it be? Only after I googled it when I got home, did I find out what it is. According to Wikipedia: 

Halva (or halawa, alva, xalwo, haleweh, ħelwa, hulwa, halvah, halava, helava, helva, halwa, halua, aluva, chalva, chałwa, " हलवा", "حلاوة", "חלבה","হালুয়া," "ܗܲܠܘܵܐ") refers to many types of dense, sweet confections, served across theMiddle East, South Asia, Central Asia, West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Balkans, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Malta and the Jewish world.

It was a really interesting experience. The texture was quite different from what I am used to. I liked it, but it a rather heavy sweet. From the looks of it, it can be kept for quite a while so I'll eat it slowly. 

145/356: Unintentional Visit to Brussels

For day Nr. 145 I had a few rather unplanned firsts.

On the night from Sunday to Monday it was quite windy in England. Some might even call it a storm. So my first first of the day came along when I tried to get to London Heathrow Airport with the tube. the tube didn't run because there was stuff on the tracks. So instead I took the express train. It got me there in 15min but at the cost of 20£ I think it is rather pricey.

When I got to London Heathrow, I received a text from Swiss Airlines telling me that my flight got canceled because of the wind. They had already placed me on a flight for 8pm. Since it wasn't even 10am yet and I didn't feel like wasting the day, I asked at the ticket counter if they could put me on anything earlier.

I was quite surprised when they had me on another flight within minutes. I ended up flying to Brussels and then onward from there to Zurich. I was glad to be able to be on that flight because it got me back to Switzerland at least five hours earlier.

So I ended up flying with Brussels Air for the first time. It was my first (short) visit to Brussels and Belgium. My first time at the Brussels Airport and my first time eating there. Sometimes something unexpected happens and I don't even have to work for these new experiences.

 fancy little train that Heathrow Express.

 Another shot of the train.

 Trying the new Airline. Nothing special to note here.

 Cloudy day and indeed very windy. It was a bumpy ride but short too, so no problem.

Just a shot of the terminal at Brussels Airport.

144/356: More Londoning

Sunday was again a day filled with firsts.

I ate at this really great take away where you can tell them what to put in the Wok for you. You can choose what sauce, what noodles, what veggies and so on. I then went on to go to a Primark for the first time. I had a little errand to run for my sister. Boy I was glad then that I had already eaten something.

Later in the day I met up with a couchsurfer to go see the 49ers play the Jaguars at Wembley. It was the second and final NFL game played in the UK for this year. As you might remember, I also went to the first one a month ago. The whole thing was again a great experience. I do have to say that the pre-game show was better the first time around. It was fun going with Akif because he didn't know how big a show around this event there would be and I think he was wow'd.

In between those things I am sure that I tried at least two new things but I think we can conclude that I have this day covered.

Yummy food, just off Oxford Circus tube station.

 A full Wembley is always a great sight.

 In anticipation of a great event.

 Waking to the the Wembley.

 Look at that glorious food they serve there! (never had this either)

Just before the game started.

oh yay, the jaguars also got one touchdown...