Friday, January 31, 2014

239/356: Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 and Yoga

Two new things on this day.. I should really be wiser by now. Instead of doing two new things, I could spread them out and replace one day where I would just try a new beer... ahh I will never learn.

Today is Friday. Nearly 5pm to be exact and I am still sore (this is Wednesdays first). Weirdly, different muscles are sore to the ones that were sore yesterday. I guess you could say that the first was an absolut success.

Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 is a workout "game" for Xbox (Kinect). It tracks your body while you do exercises which it tell you to do. I have had Nike+ Kinect for over a year now and kinda started to get bored with it. That was one reason why I got Fitness Evolved. The other one was the fact that I have wanted to try Yoga for a while now but haven't managed to find a beginners course here in Bern. So I googled which workout "game" (it's not actually a game) has Yoga and Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 turned up in the search.

I went home, downloaded it and went right to work. An hour later I felt great. I didn't feel like I was all that exhausted but I can tell you now that I must have done it right. I am not sure if there is a bigger variety of exercises than in Nike+ Kinect but because they are different, it feels fresh. Also the presentation is a little more interesting in Nike+ Kinect.

I only did an 8 minute Yoga workout and lots of other things so I can't say for sure what I am feeling today. I will go back and do another Yoga workout in the days to follow. It kinda WAS relaxing. I would have loved to do one today but I have a rule that I wait with working out until my muscles are not sore anymore.I am away for the weekend so it will have to wait a few more days. I look forward to the next session though.





238/356: Secret New Thing

Today I did something that I have never done. For some reasons I can't talk about it on the blog. I hope this will be the only time that I have to pull this.

I do have witnesses though that this first did happen... yes yes it is all very mysterious. If you want to know more, send me an email or pm on facebook or something.


237/356: Ratatouille

Vegetables can be so tasty!

On this past Monday I decided to make myself a meal that I have never cooked before. Because latley I try to eat less meat, I decided to try make a Ratatouille. The good thing about is, that it doesn't need many ingredients and is easy to make (as it turns out). I had to make a few compromises on the spices because, oddly enough, the grocery store didn't carry the one's I needed. Still, it turned out to be great. I really enjoyed the taste.

I find it incredible how many tasty things you can cook with very little effort. So many things I have tried during this past 237 days and almost all of them turned out to be very good. Usually I just browse some recipe sites on the internet and then decide on whim what I want to make. So far I have yet to be dissapointed.

 Take all this....

 .. and turn it into this.

236/356: Dungeons And Dragons

Loved this one!

Dungeons and dragons ah what a great memory from simpler times. I used to play it somewhere between 14 and 20. I always loved to play it but somehow it faded out of my life. I don't think there was a specific reason, it just happened.

Over the last few months I have been getting a bigger and bigger craving to get back into it. Mostly I blame the web comic TableTitans. And after I watched a few PAX live games I know that I wanted to get back into it. I didn't know anybody playing it so I did what I usually do in that situation. I asked around on couchsurfing. As I had hoped, I found some people to play with pretty fast.

These people never played before so before getting all the necessary stuff, I decided to get the "Redbox" starting set. It contains everything you need to play one game. After I got it, I organized a date and we got to play last sunday.

Oh it was great. Even though I was a bit rusty and we probably didn't use all the rules the right way, it was a blast. The group was successful and I think my DM premier for the first time in about ten years went pretty well. I see many things that I can improve for the next time but just the fact that everybody agreed that there would be a next time, is a win for me. I hope I can get a regular group running for games every 3-4 weeks. Maybe I can even motivate somebody else to DM after I have DM'd a campaign.

We ordered the necessary books and as soon as I am sure we have time, I will start organizing the next game date. I am already excited about it.. now I just need to come up with a good story arch.

Roll a D20.

ps: if you read this, you live near me and you are interested to join. let me know :)


235/356: Focus Water

Not to sure what this Focus Water is trying to be. Maybe it is an energy drink, maybe it's supposed to be a fancy water or maybe it's just your regular soda. I liked that they list all the nice healthy things inside on the side of the bottle. As always with things like this, I am not too sure if it will do me any good or not. The companies are crafty about this stuff.

Anyhow, it wasn't entirely unpleasant. It was less sweet than I was expecting. Also it tasted less artificial than expected.  I guess I liked it. Still, I am a fan of just drinking water most of the time so I will probably not get it again.


Wednesday, January 29, 2014

234/356: Baking Brownies

This is one of the first's I am really glad I did.

I baked brownies last Friday and today (Wednesday) I am still eating them. I didn't get the ready to bake stuff at the grocery store but store but took the time to look for a good recipe and I think the result speaks for itself. Naturally they didn't turn out perfect on the first try but they taste really good and that must be the most important point.

I went wrong with the mixture somewhere and they turned out a little too moist. The difficulty was that it's an american recipe so the quantity was in cups and I am not used to that. Also too my shame, I still lack some kitchen gear in that department. To my defense, my kitchen really has no space for more things.




233/356: fi-GA Energy Drink?

I am not sure if this is supposed to be an energy drink or not. The Guarana in it would let you guess so..

I was sick that day and just had to grab something. I didn't really pay any attention to what I was having. I just wanted to get the first done. It's these days that I question my project. Why should I do force myself to such a behavior? But then the next day when I feel better, I am glad that I am still going. Also now I am coming up on the last hundred days so there is no way I am stopping now.


232/356: Beertasting; Chopfab

Beer!

Who doesn't love beer? 
This one is from Globus and as a general rule, any food that comes out of Globus, usually has a very good quality. It is the same with this beer. There is not too much information on the label so I can't say much about it but I was really pleased by how it tasted. 

Yeah just catching up now.. not saying much.. a few good one's a head. 

Sunday, January 26, 2014

231/356: Kimchi!!!!!

Oh my, have I longed for Kimchi.

The titel of this post is a bit misleading. It's the not the first time that I had Kimchi or Korean food but the first time I went to the restaurant Arirang. Well it is also the first time that I was able to get Kimchi in Switzerland.

I have been looking for a place to have Kimchi around here for a long time and have failed to find something. Even my planned to get it brought here from Korea failed. So when on Tuesday night I decided that I wanted to try a new restaurant, I googled Bern and Korean restaurant. To be honest, I was surprised to find one.

I went, I ate and I was delighted. The food was really good but the main attraction was the little Kimchi side dish. It tasted just as good as I remembered. It wasn't the best Kimchi ever but the restaurant is run by a Korean family so they know what they are doing.

Also, Kimchi is a very personal thing for Koreans. Every family has their own recipe so it will probably never taste the same when you have it.

So in conclusion, the restaurant was good, I would recommend it and I will go again.



230/356: Beertasting; Schwarzer Kristall

I discovered that my favourit beer producer makes an awesome beer that I have never heard of.

I was invited for dinner at a friend's place and she offered me a number of beers. Of course I jumped at the chance to try something new. I picked "Schwarzer Kristall" by Appenzeller Beer. I picked it because that brand makes my favorite Swiss beer (Vollmond). As mentioned above, I was not dissapointed. Another really good beer from them.

It is a dark and strong beer with a really pleasant taste. Now I just have to find a place where I can buy it because I want to have it in my fridge.


229/356: Beertasting: Giraf, Danish Beer

Right, I am really trying to only try new foods and drinks but I am now on day 229 and there are not many things left that I could do during a busy winter workday. Maybe I am too lazy, maybe I am too busy with my life to really think about fancy things but it seems I just can't think of too many things. I still have a few things on my list (yes I have a list) that I really want to do but they are better to do in spring. Hang in there, interesting things to come.. hopefully.

For this day I have a "Giraf". Which is a danish beer. I enjoyed it quite a bit but it is one of those standard beers that, if you didn't have it with a label on it, you probably couldn't tell it apart from any number of other beers.


228/356: Hematogenas

A few days back I accompanied a good friend of mine to the Russian shop here in Bern.

On one hand it was very interesting to see what kind of products it carries and on the other and I have found a place I can go to if I am out of ideas what new thing I could try next.

She picked up a few Hematogenas and let me try a little. Hematogenas is a kind of candy that is rich in iron. So not just candy but actually good if you are missing a little of that stuff. I really liked it. I am sure that I have had something with a similar taste before but for the life of me, I couldn't tell you where or what it was.

I loved this new thing because it's one of those things I would have never come across if not somebody else would have offered it to me.


Tuesday, January 21, 2014

227/356: Cooking Green Beans

Even though I was sick, I had to eat something.

And since nobody else was there to make something for me, I had to make myself something. I went for some green beans and bacon which I had bought on my way home the day before. This is one that I myself can hardly believe it is a first. But it is true, the first time that I cooked green beans.

All in all it turned out well but I could have cooked them a little longer.


226/356: Innocent Fruit Smoothie: Pomegranate, Huckleberry And Açai

Sick. Again.

Keeping this project up always starts to feel hard when I get sick. Try doing something new when you are coming down with a fever. But there I am. The rules are, I can't miss a day, for any reason. So on my way home from work I went buy the grocery shop real fast and grabbed an Innocent fruit smoothie.

I really like the fruit combination in this smoothie. I especially like that they added Acai. I got to love that fruit when I was in Brazil last January.


I had hoped to get better sooner with something as this healthy.. not sure if it made any difference though.

225/356: Buffalo Tropical Vitamin Drink

Back to tasting sodas.

After managing two days in a row with a little more effort, I had to resort to the easy ways again. I tried the Buffalo Tropical Vitamin Drink. I have to be honest with you though, I don't expect anything that is a packaging as bright and flashy as this to have very many vitamins. Still, it tasted better than I had expected. Nothing so good I have to get it again but still.


224/356: Cemetery @ Zentrum Paul Klee

I went for a walk

To the cemetery right next to the Zentrum Paul Klee. Yeah, was there for the first time. I think I will come back during the day and when the weather is nicer, it must have a really nice view. I also realized that I have never been to the Zentrum Paul Klee and that I should go some day. 


223/356: Soboro Don

After quite a while, I went back to make a new Japanese dish.

I love the Japanese don (bowl) dishes. They are usually very fast and easy to make. Great for a weeknight. I keep discovoring more of these and I can't get enough. To make these I had two challenges though. I needed an onsen tamago and minced chicken meat. Seems it is not easy to find minced chicken. I had to do with chicken pressed into burgers. I am pretty sure it wasn't the best quality meat I could get but I had to do with what I found. Making the onsen tamago was not that hard either but took some time.

Onsen tamago are eggs that are poached inside their shells. I needed to "boil" the eggs at exactly 60-65 degrees Celsius for thirty minutes.  Although it proved challenging to find the right temperature on the stove, the most difficult part was to get it out of the shell in a piece. As you can see from the pictures, I failed on that part. But the second egg already went much better.

I really liked the soboro don and if I can find minced chicken that I don't have to question the quality of the meat, I will make it again.



222/356: Bianca La Cazzosa Pomplemo & Fragola by Abbondio

I am coming back to the start of the blog. Hard to believe I started this last June already.

I have had already tried the Classico by Abbondio. So this time I went for a different taste. It was grapefruit and strawberry. A very good combination if you ask me. I enjoyed thoroughly and that there is a pin up girl on the bottle had nothing to do with the decision to get it.


So yeah, haven't quite got the camera on the new phone figured out yet but I hope to have done so soon.

221/356: Latvian Food (Aka Buckwheat)

Buckwheat, I never had it... actually I have seldom used the word so I had to look it up.

I was lucky enough to get a full Latvian menu cooked for me. The buckwheat was just part of it.
The tastes were quite different from what I am used to but really enjoyable. I really liked the food. There was (as stated) buckwheat involved. The also some minced beef and sour cream. That all came with a sauce on the side that was made from cream and Latvian cheese, which I am told, is quite unlike the cheese I am used to.

I enjoyed it all a lot. And on top of it all I also had very enjoyable company.



On a side note I would like to mention that I finally got over myself and bought that new phone I was talking about. Expect the quality of the pictures to be better from this point on. I think you can already tell from the pictures above.

220/356: Gams Pantli

right, let's catch up on some blogging. I am falling far behind again. Not good, NOT GOOD!

I had a Gams sausage for the first time. Ignore the bottle on the picture, that is something for a later post. If you don't know what a Gams is. This is one:

picture stolen from naturpixel.ch

The Sausage was good but nothing spectacular. In fact I was expecting a little more. Since this has happened quite a while ago and was nothing interesting, I will not waste more time on this post. Here, have a picture:





Thursday, January 16, 2014

219/356: Restaurant Beaulieu

We had our kickoff for 2014 in the restaurant Beaulieu.

Lucky for me, I have never been to that restaurant. This means that I had my first for that day in the dry.
Compared to food I had at the Kickoff 2012, this time it was really good. I have had better but when you have to cook for fifty people at the some time, there is only so much you can do.

I will not post any pictures because I am not sure how my co-workers would like it.


218/356: O! Go Coconut Water

This day was the first time I had the O! Go Coconut water. I did not like it. So I am not buying it again.

Also the first time I had those minced beef filled things. They were pretty yummy! might have them again.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

217/356: Café Sattler, Bern

After a few days of tasting things, I am glad that I was able to change it up a little.

It was my first visit to the Café Sattler here in Bern. I am also really glad that it got shown to me because the atmosphere is really nice. Other than that.. well the coffee was good but I didn't have any food so not much more I can say other than I enjoyed the company I had.




216/356: Ktipiti Extra

I am not actually sure what I ate today.

Yes I know what the ingredients are (I checked before I bought it) but I am neither sure where it comes from or if the name on it is a brand or the name of the dish. As I am too lazy at the moment to research it. I will just leave you wondering. It is cheese with other stuff mixed in. I assumed it is meant to be eaten with bread so that's what I did and the result was pretty good. It's just a bit much for one person, also it could be a bit spicier.


215/356: KOKS Energy Drink

Another energy on the list for today.

I went for a drink called "Koks: Pure White Energy". Koks is actually another name for cocaine so the titel is very fitting I guess. I am pretty sure there is no cocaine in the drink itself though. I am also fairly certain that it is one of the best energy drinks that I have ever had. It wasn't as sweet as I am used to with energy drink. A very pleasant surprise!


214/356: M Classic Fruit Fun

Right

This was neither fun nor do I believe for a second that there is a lot of fruit in it. It was a sugary drink with a hint of fruits. So yeah, I am not going to spend more time on this first. I will finish the post as fast as I had drank it.


213/356: Chilli Addict Hot Sauce

After I had a very pleasant experience with one of their hot sauces a few months back, I decided to try another one.

This time around I decided to go a few steps up on their "spicyness". I went from a five to a seven. To be total honest, I can't really feel a big difference. I am a little dissapointed. Also in general I liked the first sauce a lot better. It is more to my taste.

Next time I will go to top of the scale. Let's see if a ten is actually going to do something for me.




212/356: Coffee At Restaurant Albis Haus

I had arranged to meet with a long time friend in ZĂĽrich. When I arrived there the weather looked better than expected so we decided to go for a coffee place with a view. We went to the restaurant Albis Haus which, as it happens, is run by friends of my friend. 

Although the weather soon got worse again, the view was nothing short of spectacular. No matter if you want to eat something or just have coffee. This is a really nice place to come. 



Monday, January 6, 2014

211/356: Granini Apple And Kiwi Juice

After a great evening I was tired and had no energy to do something big.

So instead I grabbed what was lying around from the evening before and that was a Granini; Apple and Kiwi Juice. I liked the combination but it was a bit too thick in consistency for me. I do like some pulp in my juice but this was a bit too much.


I know there is a lot of food and drinks going on at the moment and I am actively working to change that. Naturally I can't do extraordinary things every day but I will try very hard to do so on the weekends at least. Stay tuned!

210/356: NYE Dinner Party

What a night!

To get this out of the way straight away, until I finally remembered I should probably take some pictures, it was way too late. So I am sorry to say that this will be one of the few posts without any pictures.

For NYE I organized a dinner party. I arranged it because I felt like it was exactly how I would like to spend my NYE. A good dinner with some nice people. I have seen the expensive dinners, the overfilled clubs and the standing around in the cold waiting for something to happen. I am over it.

I organized the dinner over couchsurfing and ended up with many people who I had met before. To cut a long story short, it was a really really nice evening and I really think it was the best thing I could have done for new years eve.

This is on the blog because it was the first time that I organized a dinner party, the first time I actively organized something for new years and the first time I cooked for six people.


209/356: Lativan Candy

Back to some usual business.

The monday following the ice skating I had a few types of Latvian candy for the first time. I phrase it like that because I had had one right before I went on the ice.. not very clever of me. Still, each one was different so each one was something new. By now I have eaten them all.. some may say finally, and I have to say that they were all good. Need to see where I can get more of those!


Friday, January 3, 2014

208/356: Ice skating on the Bundesplatz

A day after the exhibition I got to do another cool thing.

Sunday marked the first day in about ten years that I went ice skating. What made this special was the fact that the ice rink is on the Bundesplatz which is right in front of the Bundeshaus. All of you which are not aware of what the Bundeshaus is, it is the seat of the Swiss Parlament.

I am not sure how long they have been doing this but this and last year they built a temporary ice rink that will stay there about two months. It is really cool to be able to skate right in the heart of the city. Also you only pay the rent for the skates and the rest is free. So if you bring your own skates, there is no cost at all.

Just before I arrived there (with some couchsurfers) there was a downpour of rain so we were divided if we should really go on the ice. It looked like you will be soaked if you fall just once. Because we were unsure, we decided to go for a hot chocolate first. There is a tent right beside the rink where you can have food and drinks.

As it turned out, they cleaned the ice after a while so of course we decided to do what we had come here for. We rented some skates (only 7.50.-) and proceeded to test our skating skills. I was quite surprised how well it went in my case. Considering the fact that it had been quite while since I stood on skates.

I can happily report that we had no broken bones or other major injuries. I think we were on the ice for about an hour when fatigue started to set in and we decided to go for another drink before we parted ways.
Being the dumbass I am, I had three other firsts that day which will not count because I had already done one. Considering I spend way too many days just tasting stuff, I should be more careful not to do so many things in one day. Oh well, sometimes it just can't be helped.






just kidding...

Thursday, January 2, 2014

207/356: "Gezeichnet" at Kornhaus Forum

After a few days filled with tasting stuff, I can finally write about something a little more exciting.

Last Saturday was the first time I went to an exhibition at the Kornhaus Forum here in Bern. I have been wanting to go for a while now because they have had many interesting exhibitions on photography. Sadly I have somehow managed to never go see them (shame on me). 

I was glad that I went to see "Gezeichnet". It is an exhibition with newspaper caricatures looking back on 2013. The exhibition had 200 caricatures from around 50 artists. Some of them were really cool. On one hand they made me chuckle, on the other it made me ponder what happened in 2013. 

The exhibition wasn't very well visited, at least at the time I was there. This was especially surprising because it was free and it was a Saturday. I hope there were more people there at other times because it really deserves some attention. 

I am sure I will make it more often to the exhibitions at Kornhaus Forum.