Sit Down And Pay Attention!

Great ad from deutsche bahn this morning. All those little red seat
covers on the bikes outside my gym??? A campaign to promote the one
day train ticket for all of bavaria. For 20 euros, you can ride
wherever you want all day on the db rails. I assume that price
includes a bike pass as well... Wish i had arrived some 30 min earlier
so they would have put a seat cover on my bike too!!!!

Manam

The problem with a lot of ethnic food here in Germany is that the cooks try to adapt it to the tastes of the German palate. Namely (often, not always): bland, salty, heavy, meaty. So once in awhile you come across a real AUTHENTIC place and you get really happy because the original flavors all burst out at you. And in such places, you don't care if you're sitting on a tiny little wooden stool in a tiny space with 10 chairs with your coat on the floor behind you. You are focused instead on the kitchen behind the counter where the cooks are chattering in their native language, sauteing the dishes on the spot, and pulling other amazing things out of ovens or steamers, etc. The menus are generally short and provided in the native language (and english/german), there is a secret special of the day that is not on the menu which they will offer to you if you are nice, and you find that when you leave the place, you want to keep it to yourself.

Yes, well, some people have big mouths. ;-)

I've been wishing for a great Thai place around where I work and finally there is one. Manam apparently opened up about 6 months ago. It's a hole in the wall (as my mother would call it), crushed into a little corner of a "hinterhof" (parking yard in this case) just off of Rosenheimerstrasse. The guys who work on the second floor in my building discovered it one day about a month ago and apparently have been keeping it a secret. But Ranjith came and grabbed me for lunch today and then we grabbed another 4 people and traipsed over to the little place, crossing our fingers that it wouldn't be crowded with the Thai lunch crowd that is apparently frequenting the place.

I had my favorites: a green papaya salad (didn't beat the amazing green papaya slad I had the last time I was in Singapore, but it was really really really good - although be careful if you don't LOVE garlic...) and some green curry with squid. We were all trading bites of each others' dishes and I can tell you the pad thai was great, as was the steamed fish with lemongrass and coconut that Ranjith ordered.

Looking forward to Monday next week - Mallorie and I agreed we'd go again.

Bavarian Breakfast

To say goodbye to our guests this morning we fed them a traditional Bavarian breakfast: Weiss Beer, Pretzles, Weisswurst, and sweet mustard. Gerd REALLY enjoyed it. Here are the before and after photos - before two beers and around 3 weisswurst and....after.

Snow is Back

And spent the day at the lake. Thankfully in warm saunas for a good
portion of the day. Where i was not allowed to take photos...

...although I took ONE. A very decent one where no naked bodies can be seen. From the upstairs floor of the facility you can look out onto the lake. There were a whole variety of saunas to visit - even a crazy one outside on the lake. They had transformed a boat into a sauna. So you go sit in it and it is set to 90 degrees. The boat rocks back and forth in the waves as you sit there in sweat. Afterwards a lot of people jump in the lake, but I was not that brave...

Before going into the place, we walked around Tegernsee a bit freezing our butts off in order to REALLY want to go into the sauna.

Feeding our Brains

In order to distract ourselves yesterday from our somewhat sore heads and flagging energy, we headed over to the museum district to check out the new Museum Brandhorst and afterwards to the Pinakothek der Moderne, where we spent an hour looking through the product design galleries.

The first photo is a picture of an electric water boiler from France, made at the turn of the century. Looks a bit different than the one that I received as a Christmas present this year. ;-)

I liked the BMW motorcycle from 1928 - somehow a cross between a bicycle and a motorbike.

The green room was interesting - a room brightly lit with these green lights. Your eyes play a trick on you when you are inside of it - the white walls outside look pink when you are standing in the room. But the green light didn't fool the camera...although there is a bit of a pink tinge to the white.

Finally - we called it quits when we saw Gerd and Delphine collapsed on the steps towards the end of the day. ;-)

Headed out for Afghani food last night, which our guests enjoyed a lot.

Today: off for massages and sauna near Tegernsee and then...probably...ethiopian food for dinner.

And then one more day of vacation...ouch.

Happy New Year

We had a nice evening last night with Gerd and Delphine. Started the 6-course southeast asian tasting menu at around 7 and finished at around 10:30. Goal: tasty and attractive food that was not rich but still very enjoyable and which would leave no one too tired to move afterward. Goal accomplished. But...everyone is a little bit slow this morning...effects of champagne and wine. :-)

Today, the plan: museums. Tomorrow: spa/massage.

Cats didn't seem too disturbed by the fireworks last night, but we were surprised that they were so loud and prominent here - I guess we have never been in Munich for New Year's, although that seems almost inconceivable.


1st Course:
Scallop and Mango Spoons with Thai Basil

2nd Course:
Water Pepper Leaf wraps with coconut marmelade

3rd Course:
Banana flower and duck breast salad with star fruit and pomelo

4th Course:
Granny smith apple and lemongrass sorbet

5th Course:
Rice flower and tumeric crepes with lemongrass shrimp

6th Course:
Coconut flan with longan, pomegranate and physalis

Had Enough Of This Country

I mean...how much is a person supposed to deal with? Time to learn to build an igloo or something. I have on three layers and am wrapped in a down comforter and am sitting next to a heater...doing powerpoint slides. Will be happy when Wednesday evening rolls around and I can just stay in bed under three comforters. lol.

YES! THE THERMOMETER SAYS -18!!!!

Jack Russell

I think he's a Jack Russell terrior? Anyway he was pretty cute. I want
to take him home with me. Not sure if he would get along with Sammy
and Sophie though.

Winter Arrives

It snowed last night - an inch or two - and now Munich is a winter fairy land...at least until the sun melts away the powder.

And to celebrate...

Yesterday I was reading the reviews of the best iphone applications of 2009 (according to Apple) and ended up buying one that looked like fun - a panorama photo creator. And it works really well.

So I rode over to the gym on my bike through the English garden and tried it out. I need some practice, but playing around for now.

Great Sushi Found in Munich

It does exist. Mallorie and I found it at the lunch table for 8 euros. Amazing. Salad, Soup, Sushi (well, Mal had tempura), little scoop of ice cream for dessert. Perfect.

It was Mallorie's 1-year anniversary with Sapient. :-)))

Doesn't she look happy?

You think I am gonna tell you where this place is? NO WAY. My secret. ;-)

(Mitani, over on Rablstrasse near Rosenheimer Platz. Place was FILLED with Japanese people...)

Göreme

Was just having lunch at the favorite Pide place around the corner from us and rather than take the Pide to go, we decided to sit down and eat it there. Much better - then it is piping hot - fresh out of the oven. And they gave us tea while we waited for them to bake the Pide.

Most people in fact, just go to the place to pick up a Pide and take it with them. But if you venture inside and sit down to eat, you'll see the rather crazy model they have built up near the ceiling of the place in Turkey called Göreme.

I haven't been there yet, but have seen photos from friends who have been there. It is this city that has been built into natural volcanic rock formations.

It was an ancient Christian hideout - which can be seen by the elaborate churches built inside the mountains....


I think this place is definitely worth a visit. I wonder how cold it is in Turkey this time of year.

Pizza by the Meter

I keep passing this place on the way to my favorite afghani
restaurant. Today i stopped and chatted with the chef about his
amazing looking pizzas. He let me taste one and it became immediately
clear where I will be eating lunch tomorrow.

Past Life: Afghani

I think I must have been an Afghani in a past life. Ranjit, Arnab, Beate and I just got back from a super delicious lunch. The Brazilian place down the street from work closed some...4 or 5 months back - much to everyone's surprise and dismay. But, the afghan restaurant that is next door that is only open in the evenings decided to open up a lunch kitchen as well and took over the former Brazilian nook of a restaurant. The owner/cook/waiter served us and recommended dishes for us. He called the little place his "Pilot Project" and I assured him I would be back every day. :-)))) Very very yummy.

Now off to Dresden for the weekend, something tells me we won't be eating Afghan food there....