Chapter 5: Drinks. Where to drink?

"I am willing to taste any drink once". James Branch Cabell



Hey-hey, my dear friends and strangers, who just stopped for food and water. Yesterday we've visited some of my favourite restaurants and today we going to see the bars and coffee houses I love.

I'll start with "Billy Wilder's Bar" right on Potsdamer Platz ( here is the link: http://www.billywilders.de/ ). You can find either classical, or other different cocktail here. What's really good about this bar is atmosphere at first place and barmen at second. Quality of cocktails is very high here, price is rather high, but not cosmic. If you'll order "Classic Margarita" here you can be sure they'll serve it with salty edge, not with sugar. If you know how cocktail should be made or served you won't regret to come in here! What I absolutely love about this bar is that I can spend here lots of time being alone. You know, just drinking your cocktail, reading or writing something. Nobody really bothers you, you're safe here. This place is absolute winner among all the bars in Berlin I know.
Ok, next place we'll visit would be another cocktail bar and it's called "BR 101" ( here is the link: http://www.br-101.com/).This is a great small bar in Prenzlauberg close to Alexander Platz. I think there is only one good reason, why everybody including me like this place. Answer is prices. Cocktails are very cheap in here and I have to admit good. They mix good stuff. There is no other food except nachos, so you can visit this bar if you're really into drinks this night. The atmosphere of Brazilian music and candles is just good for girl's night or boy's night, or just to collect all of your friends . I even celebrated my Birthday at here once!

Ok, I am done with alcohol stuff, so, let's visit some of my fav coffee houses. If you want to try good coffee or interesting sort of tee, taste some home-made cakes and pies - "Barcomis" ( the link: http://www.barcomis.de/index.php) is the best place. It's kind of hard to find though, but once you've been there you'll never wish to forget it exists. Just wonderful, special in summer when you can seat outside and enjoy the view. This very calm place!









Let's get some coffee at "World coffee" in book-store Hugenduble. Take some nice book, caramel machiato and enjoy the silence of these big store. Atmosphere is amazing... Among the books. I have nothing more to say, you just have to visit it if you'll be in neighbourhood.
If you are fan of elegance and high society, but lots of tourists also you can have your cup of coffee in KaDeWe (http://www.kadewe.de/), on the 6 floor. First, this place if for people who are ready to pay 3 Euro for small cup of cappuccino and, second, you go there for atmosphere, not for coffee. However, coffee there is pretty good, but what's even better there are "Lenotre" cakes etc. They are expensive, but so impossibly delicious...!

If you know, what it means to drink a good, very good hot chocolate you need to enter another door. And this time it would be a door of "Winterfeldt Schokoladen"(the link: http://www.winterfeldt-schokoladen.de/). Best chocolate in the town - no joke! You can also buy chocolate from different countries in here - very nice place. I believe you going to like it!

Ok, these were just few places I visit a allot. Enjoy you time!

Sincerely yours,
Lady Svetlana

Chapter 4: Food. Where to eat?

"I met a keen observer who gave me a tip:'If you run across a restaurant where you often see priests eating with priests, or sporting girl eating with sporting girls, you may be confident that is good. Those are two classes of people who like to eat well and get their money's worth.'" A.J. Liebling (columnist)

The supper time is coming soon.So I decided to talk about my favourite places in Berlin before you'll feel hunger. Maybe you'll visit one of these places. I don't want to do my Top 10 or something like that, that's why I just make a list of places I visit a lot. I love all of them!

Ok,let's get started. I want to open my list with most elegant restaurant I've ever been. It is "Reste Fidèle"( Bleibtreustraße 41, 10623 Berlin, Germany. You can visit it in evening.). Sorry, I don't have much pictures from there, but I'll show you my dessert, sorbet :-) Best part, ha?
First, what I want to let you know and I think this is important - it is expensive restaurant. And, I guess, this would be exactly the reason why I am always so sceptical when we come to places, which belong to this category.When you pay a lot - you expect a lot. I think it's pretty fair. Well, this place worth it to leave there money. "Reste Fidele" is a good combo of charming atmosphere and delicious food. Every dish is made with love and care, looks like a peace of art. They serve amazing sea food and best French wine. Interesting thing is that Monsieur Mira Vranje - owner - cater his clients himself. There are waiters, of course. But he likes to make sure everybody are happy. He is very interesting person to talk - he knows a lot. Seems like this restaurant is just like a child for him.
Resume: if you have money to pay, if you adore old French songs, good wine and delicious see food, if you want everything to be perfect - visit Monsieur Mira Vranje. He'll be very glad to see you.

But we'll better keep going. Let's visit some Thai restaurant and this would be "Papaya am Kleistpark"(Hauptstraße 159, 10827 Berlin). I am really sorry I don't have any pictures of this place, but I am sure you'll get your inspiration after you'll read this :-)
"Papaya" is very good for your regular lunch or supper. It works out for both. It is pretty small, but comfy. What catches your eye is that there are orchids everywhere. Not just orchids, but different kinds and colours of this flower. They serve all drinks with orchids also. I absolutely love it! I think I've already tried almost everything they have on menu (and it is pretty big) and I did like every single dish. I am curry fan! But you already know that. What keeps surprising me every time I go there is "week special" part, which you'll surely find at the first page of menu. They have very interesting dishes, but for limited time. So, you better try something! There are not lots of noises there, people speak to each other quietly. So, you sit there, listening to the music, drinking your Thai-coffee (better than any "Starbucks", believe me) and enjoying spicy dish. Meal there is amazing, very tasty! Prices are just normal there, I would say middle-category. They have very cheap stuff also.It depends on how monstrous your hunger is, hehe

Let's get some Sushi-Food. I think there is not that much to describe, because, surely, many of you know how sushi look like. I've been to many sushi-bars in Berlin, but found only one that happen to be very cheap and tasty. It is "Akiko Sushi" ( here is the link http://www.akikosushi.de/) in
Berlin-Steglitz. This is really good place, very small one though, but still comfortable. People who work there do care about clients, that's for sure. You also can order sushi and come to pick up your order. So, if you want to visit this place be there already at 12! It's hard to find a free table, except you're the lucky one! ;-)

Next place on my personal list would be "Ixthys" (Pallasstraße 21, 10781 Berlin). I told about this place so much that I think all my university mates already were there. Well this is a good place. You, surely would go there not for the atmosphere, but delicious Korean food. Very small room with just few tables. There are only two ladies, who take orders,cook the food, prepare the dishes and serve them.It's not hard to figure out they own this place. Menu is pretty small. What is really weird and at the same time nice about this bistro are walls. They are decorated with passages from bible. And you sit there, waiting a little bit longer than normal, drinking you coke or tee (there is no chance to buy any alcohol there) and reading these passages. Somehow, you feel yourself calm and relaxed.People almost don't talk there out loud, you can hear only somebody's whispering. I put a picture of the noodles with meet and some vegetables and egg. Very delicious! Surely, best Korean food in Berlin.


Ok, what's next? This is Tony Roma's ( the link: http://www.tonyromas.de/) right on Potsdamer Platz.
This place is great not because it's so central only. You can try the best ribs in town. Of course it's going to cost you, but it worth it to pay. They serve American food: ribs, burgers etc. Restaurant is huge, consists of two floors. They have good drinks.
Portions are big, so you better don't order too much. Love this place, because when I come there I feel I am welcome. Isn't it the best feeling? I
would suggest this place for family lunch or business meeting - suites perfectly! Waiters are just golden there, same as in Monsieur Vranje's restaurant they know every single answer on any of your questions :-)

And, finally, we've come to Italian Food. Please, come in "Opera Italiana" in Charlottenburg (here is the link: http://www.opera-italiana.com/, you can find all information about this place and see the pictures). Not everybody know about this restaurant, because it's location is a little bit hidden. Actually, it's just opposite Charlottenburg Palace. So, after nice lunch or dinner you can take a long walk in the park of Charlottenburg Palace. Well, as all Italian restaurants, this one gives you a family feeling as you just came at good friend's place and his whole family welcome you warmly. It is pretty expensive restaurant too and that's because the quality of food is very high. There is also pretty loud here...What should I say? Italian temper! :-) Best Lambrusco and pasta, anyway.

Oh, this place is the last in my list. And somebody would say it is funny even mention it, because it is not a restaurant and hardly bistro...However, they serve best grilled meet! It's called Pasha Grill 5, just on the other side of the street, right in front of my house. If you want to visit - write me, I'll explain you how to get there, because I don't even know the exact address. This bistro has only 4 tables, it's Turkish. It is incredibly cheap. Yo can get a grilled meat plate with potato or rice and salad, and sauce for 6 Euro only. Very tasty! The place itself is rather nice and even comfy, clean also. We eat there very often.

Wow, that was a long post! These were places I visit a lot and love them for their food and atmosphere. Hope, it was somehow helpful for you. The only thing I have to do now is to wish you "Bon Appetit"! :-)

Sincerely yours,
Lady Svetlana.

Chapter 3: Food. What to eat?

"High-tech tomatoes. Mysterious milk. Supersquash. Are we supposed to eat this stuff? Or is it going to eat us?" ~Annita Manning

Champ-champ-champ...oops! Sorry, guys, I just had my lunch! Was delicious :-)

Anyway, hello to you and welcome to another discussion of a day, which is about what to eat. Ok, I'll start. I love cooking, which includes backing also. I know, life is so fast and chaotic, sometimes you don't even have a minute to say hello to your mother...So, cooking! Gosh, who has time for that? And even If you have the day off you're trying to fill your free time with TV, internet (like you don't check your facebook-profile every 5 seconds using your IPhone), some dates with friends, drinking, going out with your gf/bf etc. The question is do I have to waste my time trying my mom’s recipe or not? Of course you have to, because it worth it!

Let me sketch a picture quickly. You’re at home alone, nobody trying to distract you or make you to do something: school is far away and work...forget about it. Well, even if you have your mates or family at home you can be in the kitchen by yourself. OK, follow me. You’re in the kitchen alone having your free space just for yourself and nobody else. I always turn on the music, such as smooth jazz or salsa, meringue, bachata. Don’t know why, but it makes me feel calm and relaxed, so I can create. Telling you the truth, I’m not a fan of any recipe, because even if I’ve got one – I still modernize it and improve, so at the end you get something different :-) I believe this is the best part of it!

Think of different kinds of food: fish, meet, vegetables, some fruits, cakes, muffins... What would you like to eat now? Decided? Good, you can start!

Cooking books are good stuff. If I don't like using somebody's recipe it does not mean you cannot use them! Do it. Sometimes you can find great stuff there. For Ex., I am a big fan of Jamie Oliver. This guy knows everything about food and how to please everybody around with a good meal. He is my big exception - I use his advices a lot!

Ok, let's check, what did I cook for my lunch?

This is a salad, which great author is, actually, my beloved brother. His cooking always yummi! :-) he's a talent! Well, this salad consists of red oranges (they saying these oranges are good for making fresh pressed juice only, but, exactly because they are so juicy they just have to be used for salads), green olives, Parmesan cheese (any kind of Parmesan-like cheese would be good here),pomegranate ( absolutely love this thing, it's a winner for any dish) and a little bit of parsley. You can use just an olive oil as a dressing ( but don't forget that the quality of any oil is very important; buy bottle a good one and use it just for salads, not frying).

What do you see in here is meet - chicken and veal. It's called "shashlik" on Russian. I think this would be a really long story telling you how you have to prepare this meet before you'll actually start cook it. So, I won't, hehe ^^ If anybody wishes, I'll post the recipe later. It is very tasty, anyway.

And of course, the bottle of nice wine has not be forgotten! I know that meet and red wine make a perfect combo, but white wine is not worse. Bottle of Pinot Grigio was just right for my family-lunch.

Ok, I shared just some things we've eaten this day. It was more... :-) I just wanted to give you an idea, what's my lunch can look like.

About diet! I don't do any diets, never did and I, guess, never will be. I eat everything I like - no exception and I truly believe it is good. Choosing a food you don't like or even hate won't help to improve your health at all! You have to enjoy your meal and only then you can say it was healthy. Ok, what to do with all those calories? - you'll ask. Don't eat much: make your portions smaller.If you're always hungry try to not eat fast food all the time. Drink a lot of water, I mean any kind of water. You know, tee is a "water" too.. It is good for your skin and health, generally. Create some new dishes to make your menu richer.

If you are a starter - try to buy some simple food for your dishes. Make sure vegetables and fruits you're choosing for are fresh and might taste good. You can ask a shop assistant - sometimes they tell you the truth. Don't buy stuff delivered from other countries, if you see they don't look very appetizing. Don't be scared to try something new also! It is an exiting adventure to explore the world of food and spices! ... About the spices. Smell it first, close your eyes and try to image, which of your dishes it suites the most. Use your imagination and intuition. They help a lot! :-) I am biggest fan of thai-curry in the whole planet, I think. I put it everywhere and with everything.

Ok, my beloved readers, I wish you an exciting cooking and to have a good evening! Enjoy your journey.

Sincerely yours,

Lady Svetlana.

Chapter 2: Dating. What to do...?

"I don't know the first real thing about the dating game. I don't know how to talk to a specific person and connect. I just think you have to go to person by person and do the best you can with people in general". Jason Schwartzman





I've been planing discussion on this topic for a long time. So, let's get started, shall we? First of all, it would be good to define the word "date" or "dating". I found very interesting page in internet, it's called "urban dictionary" (here is the link: http://www.urbandictionary.com/), where people just write their own definition of words, any words. I believe you can find any word there.
You can find something like that:

dating 1. To see someone. 2. To be with someone. 3. To be "together". 4. The action of doing any sort of various activities to gain acquiantance with someone romanically. I am dating Mike, he is a lot of fun. by Alicia Aug 18, 2003

or like this one:

dating
	socially acceptable form of prostitution. meeting I spent a $30 for a movie, before the first base. A $50 for lunch, for the second base, and a $70 on a romantic dinner before we cut to the chase. by azim & gleb Dec 29, 2004

or even like that:

	dating
	A pointless waste of time... defined by massive usage of cologne and/or perfume, awkward sweaty hand-holding, and feelings of puppy love that usually dissolve in a few weeks (or less) "we're dating, and, like, he, like, is picking me up in 10 minutes!" "wow, you, like, smell, really, like, strong!" by h_diddy Aug 17, 2003

You can find a lot more than that!If you like :-)

I understand the word "date/dating" more like seeing each other or meeting somebody, getting to know each other better, have a nice(or not really) conversation with opposite(or not always :-) sex.
What are your definitions on that word? Would love to read them!

Ok, we're keep going. Actually, the reason why I've raised this topic would be different books, which were and still are written by many wise authors. Books like "Tips and Triks for girls/guys", "How to prepare yourself for a date" etc. Well, in the age of 14 I've red all those books, because I thought they'll give an exact idea of what to do and how to act. You know what I think now? Rubbish! This all is rubbish!
All these advices such as " you need minimum three or more hours to prepare yourself for a date" are just so... silly. Why in the world I would spend three or more hours to get ready? Ridiculous! I believe in taking care of myself: my body, my skin, my face. I have my every day routine: washing my face, using mask, scrub, cream etc. I need one hour in the morning to put a make-up, do my hair ( I have huge fantasy for all kinds of hairstyles, sometimes they are pretty complicated to do) and finally to get dressed. I think you do realise that as a total fashion freak I can't allow myself to put some jeans on, pick some t-shirt and "done". No, new day brings me a new inspiration! I know it would sound kind of arrogant, but I love to feel myself as a peace of art every day. Best feeling in the world!

So, I have to consider that in the evening, when I know I have a date or I'm attending a party/event, with other words, when I know I am not at home, I believe I'll take a shower, refresh my make-up a little bit (what takes me 2 ticks) and choose a nice dress. What I want to say is that I don't need three or more hours to get ready.
About the date itself: I believe everything what you need to be concentrate on is being yourself. Gosh, if you absolutely adore a classical music and the person you date is in love with heavy metal, you don't need to try show you fictional interest about that. It won't work out anyway. Just image that he's going to take you to the concert and you'll have to listening to this music for couple hours. Horror... The best way to find out if your union would work is relax and try not to talk about sex only ;-) Otherwise you'll know how amazing he/she in bed is, but neither about spiritual, nor physical world.

Smile is the best positive thing in the world - remember that. So, relax, listen, react, talk and smile!

Sincerely yours,
Lady Svetlana.

Chapter 1: Introduction

"If I go to university, I'm going to read what I want and listen to what I want and I'm going to look at paintings and watch French films and I'm going to talk to people who know lots about lots" (An Education, 2009).

I think this a great quotation. Loved it.



So, hello! We didn't really meet and of course, because of my bad manners I didn't even introduced myself. Well, good morning ladies and gentlemen! My name is Svetlana and I am 20 years old. I was born in Russia, then moved to Ukraine. My childhood and teenage-time were just as incredibly good as anybody can imagine.Of course getting away from the fact that every person thinks differently and has his/her criteria for good or bad, let's say my childhood was just perfect for me. I was very happy.When I was 13 years old my father decided to move again and this time Germany was waiting for me. Hello, Berlin!
My school-time in Berlin, in Russian Embassy School, was hard and interesting. Sometimes I was happy, sometimes I cried. I loved travel anyway and never regret parents took me to some new place. I would love to move again, but this time to London and, finally, stay there forever. Back to school-topic. I really loved that time, because felt myself proud going back to where I used to be - Russia.When I first came in my class, we had Russian language lesson. Gosh, I still remember how funny it was! We were discussing some grammar and I...I could say everything on Ukrainian, but no word on Russian. In my old school we had both languages of course, but Ukrainian was stronger than Russian. Grammar is just the same, but everything has their own names...So,it was funny how I could actually give the right answer speaking on Ukrainian while my teacher tried to translate what I was saying :-)




I don't want you to get bored reading my biography.Of course it was a lot more than that! Anyway,I'm studying at HMKW (Hochschule für Medien, Kommunikation and Wirtschaft). I know sounds complicated, but this is a private university - nothing more than that. I'm studying Journlism and PR, wish that one day I'll write for fashion magazines. Of course, my dreams were always more than that. No, don't get me wrong - I like what I'm doing. Just, the thing is that I have not only one dream!

Ok,dears readers,last thing on my list would be my hobbies if you're curious enough to keep reading. I am a biggest film fan in the world. So, I can watch up to 10 films per day :-)I know it sounds totally crazy, but that's just who I am. Apart from that I am in love with make-up and fashion. I spend lots of time reading British and Japanese authors; adore travelling, dancing and singing. I'm a writer: I write everywhere and at any time, that's why I always carry my Moleskine notebooks with me. They are so practical - love them!

I guess, it was enough for this time. You got to know something about me and,maybe, one day I'll get to know something about you - would love to hear you little stories anyway!

Have a good day and smile, smile, smile ( 'cause that's what I always do)

^^

Sincerely yours,
Lady Svetlana.