Leaving Drinks - going to the USA

Unfortunately we are going to say good bye to our Manager, who was only a short time at B4F. However, she made such an impact, that you just can't forget about her. With tears in our eyes we farewelled this special lady and enjoyed a couple of drinks as for Janine are waiting bigger adventures at eBay.

Being accepted into the Leadership Program the next two years she will rotate and travel around the US and other parts of the world. What we will most miss about her, the energy, the vibe, the laughter, the drive, the courage, her being loud.

Good luck and lots of success and adventures for your future - stay safe

Big 40th coming around - Happy Birthday

I'm wishing a very Happy Birthday to my big brother, lots of love, happiness, contentment, health and a bit of luck. I hope you enjoy today and the company of your family and friends. I also hope you love the little (or big) surprises we organised for you. I guess all involved did a great job. On the other hand you surprised us (me) with your emotions when I handed you that little extra gift, which by the way l thought you will love very much, and I was right. It's perfect!

Anyway, the big 40th is right here and lots of milestones have been reached, big ones and smaller ones. I hope when you look back in time that you will smile and think only of the great moments and achievements and that you would do it all over again, no regrets.

You can be proud of yourself as we are proud of you, having two beautiful children that love you very much. You are there for them each and every day watching and guiding them in order to grow up and succeed. Lets get on with life and whatever it is throwing at you and have a blast. Remember, life is not just about working but living.

Happy Birthday Thomas

x o x



Culinary adventure through Berlin Friedrichshain

The beauty about working for eBay is that a lot is done on team building exercises and therefore ones every quarter we are finding ourselves on the streets of Berlin. Todays adventure was about food and a little bit history of Friedrichshain, one of many districts of Berlin.

We started with having Berlin's famous "Currywurst", if you ever come to Berlin you must have one of these. That was the first stop, nine more places before we will finish our culinary journey. We had lots of different cuisines to try, from German to Austrian, to Turkish followed by some chocolates, cakes and desserts. We basically covered all bases. In between we listened to some stories which took place here in Friedrichshain and had plenty of time to chit chat about work or else.

Thank you eBay for yet another lovely day with the team & lead

brands4friends (eBay) Fulltime Contract

Just to give an update on my progress in regards to my job, I finally have been offered a fulltime Contract with Brands4Friends which will come into effect on the 1st of April, and no....it's not one of those  April fools. It feels great after 1.5 years being a real part of the eBay family.

We've bought a house - first chapter

Being back in Germany for just over a year I've started looking for a permanent place to settle down. After a couple of months trying to get into the property market with a little bit of patience and endurance we finally found a house that suits our needs.


With a lot of imagination and I would believe a massive amount of time, capable hands and a bit of cash this will be a beautiful place one day, to be exact we have 6 months from start to finish, hence moving in. That was the ultimative goal and lots of pressure.

Well, to cut a long story short we've got the keys in March and here we go our little nightmare turning slowly into a beautiful pearl has just begun. From the pictures I post I'm totally with you agreeing that this doesn't look "pretty" at all but wait till you see more.


Before we could even start turning this project into a place to live we had to rip it apart, leaving just the walls and roof then slowly patching it back together, but we are far from it at this stage.
So let's see what progress we make in the coming weeks and wether or not we organize everything in time to get it done in just 6 months.


Why the pressure, because the 4 weeks holiday for 2017 are already booked and guess where we are going....of course back to Australia which was HOME for the past 12 years of my life.


To be continued...

Paris Sightseeing

As this is not my first time in Paris, I actually know what exactly I'm going to check out again. Maybe in all that time, like 15 years on, things have changed but to my surprise Paris looks pretty much the same.

The weather was just wonderful, winter is definitely over and we had lots of sunshine. Walking through the streets of Paris of course the Champs Elysée a must do, some delicious food on the way, lots of coffee and macarons in gorgeous little street cafes, what else can I ask for.

We pretty much did what all tourists in Paris do sightseeing and some more sightseeing. Well, the special occasion and the main reason to come to Paris was the wedding, which was the absolute highlight of that trip.

Lets get married in Paris

Who would have thought that I will ever go to Paris to attend a wedding. This is what you normally watch on TV in a movie, but how often does it happen in real life? Well, my friend Sasa who I met in Perth a couple of years ago, who is part of my very close circle of friends decided to celebrate the wedding in Paris.
 

So I planed my trip to Paris spending like 4 days in Paris the city of Love, doing some sightseeing and of course celebrating my friends special day in style. The venue the Shangri-La Hotel near the Seine and from the balcony the view of the Eifel Tower, breathtaking!

The guest list included people from around the globe. It was great to be able to speak English which I missed a bit over the past year, here I had the chance. I can say most of the people I met I will probably never see again however that night belonged to us and we exchanged interesting conversations, some laughter and some serious topics as most people came from the US.

From start to finish it was the best wedding I ever attended, well organised and executed, the cuisine a dream, the service just wonderful. Sasa & Buzz, it was a night I will never forget and being part of your special day meant a lot to me. The bride was just beautiful and I finally got to meet the man in Sasa's life, now her husband.

I can't thank you both enough for letting me be a part of your special night, to celebrate love and happiness. It was a perfect wedding....like a fairy tale just magical.

Congratulations

Merry X-mas to everyone around the world

Another year is coming to an end and around that time families and friends come together to celebrate Christmas. So I'm heading to woop woop to celebrate Christmas with my parents, brother and niece & nephew, how special this will be, surrounded by your loved ones. All presents are wrapped and we are on our way.

This Christmas will also be the first time I ever attempt to roast a duck, like the typical Christmas dinner. The bird is already in the freezer and is just waiting for me to take out and get started. I'm looking forward to how it will turn out. The backup plan however is, Mum is preparing goose & duck drumsticks, in case I fail...not going to happen!

Well, it's time to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, lots of love and happiness.

Going to Prague...

As for my birthday nothing special was planend apart from a lovely dinner at a Brazilian Restaurant. It was decided to go to Prague followed by going to Switzerland to visit my brother and nephew & niece. Just after crossing the border to the Czech Republic considering the heights it was all of the sudden so foggy, I could not see further than fifty meters afar. As fast as the fog came so fast it was also gone...and the weather turned clear and sunny to get to the destination, the Rohan Boat Prague hotel.

For the next couple of days lots of sightseeing was planned and so we booked a tour, by bus, on foot and on the boat all in one day. At the end of that day being exhausted describes my wellbeing only mildly. However it was just wonderful to do the tour, hearing about the history and how well looked after the old city is kept. I was really impressed of how clean everything looked, unlike Berlin....sorry.

Other than sightseeing, food was of course on the list to try out, traditional Czech food which I remember from my first trip to Prague 20 years ago. So I had to try "Knödel" again and I had those every day different ways. If you go to Prague or Czech Republic you just need to have those Knödel. To top it off a Thai Massage was on the list, which I spontaneously decided to walk in, considering how much walking was done the days before. 

To sum it up, it was a brilliant getaway marking the occasion, fantastic hotel inclusive people, service and food. Prague is so worthy to be visited, such a brilliant place.

My first European holiday - Spain

After more than a decade I'm finally going on a holiday within Europe, not visiting anybody but just enjoying a holiday to relax, refill my batteries and also enjoying some soccer as the European Championship is happening at the same time.

So, lets go to Spain! Ok, Spain consists of a big mainland as well as lots of islands and the one I wanted to visit is the tiny island of Menorca, the island next to the party island Mallorca. After a comfortable flight I arrived in the morning in Mao which is on the East Coast and I had to travel on the bus to the West Coast which only took an hour, that's how big the island ist, roughly 60 km from the east to the west.

The hotel was a bit disappointing as well as the food that was served, however I could go just anywhere to find delicious food and gorgeous beaches with white sandy and turquois waters. Did I mention I brought my own beach umbrella to Menorca, to protect myself from the sun, because "nothing is healthy about a tan", this phrase still sticks, Aussies will know it!

Exploring the island via car and bicycle was a great idea, and let's be honest catching a Taxi is so affordable to get around, why hoping on a bus! I was swimming up north, downs south, on the east and west coast, did some snorkeling and enjoyed fabulous beaches delicious food and enjoyed treating myself like a princess.

At the end of my stay there was a big festival called "Sant Joan" in Ciutadella, the 2nd largest city of the island, that was celebrated for the past 500 years or so. People from around Spain travel to Menorca for this special occasion and the main attraction are dancing horses as well as horse & knight competitions which take place each year.

After 10 days the holiday was coming to an end, and what can I say....what a fantastic trip, lovely people, gorgeous food, lots to offer for everyone there is something. All I can say I have no hesitation to come back here for more or recommend it to others.

Spirit of Instanbul Festival

I'm interested in any culture, especially food, people and their stories. So this event "Turkish Night" was just perfect for me to pay it a visit and it was so worth it going. I induldged in Turkish food other than the German way of Döner, had some "Raki" a alcoholic Turkish drink and enjoyed Turkish beats & music played by a DJ. On top of the entertainment was a Live act planned and the star was Frida Gold, not so Turkish but still great, fantastic night including food, people and atmosphere.

The end of winter is near

What a beautiful last winter day we had. No snow anymore, blue sky with a couple of clouds and the sun is shining. Well, the winter is almost over and I'm so welcoming the spring season where nature comes back to life.

So let's go outdoors and enjoy this weather, riding the bike or just walking along the river whatever you feel like, there are plenty of places worth exploring.

First Visitor - New Apartment

It took a couple of months to furnish the apartment and finish it in time for my first visitors other than my parents. The reason for the catching up at my new place was a trip to Berlin for a motor bike show at the Mercedes Benz Arena. Who was visiting, my long time friends Nancy and her boys.

After a nice afternoon hanging up at the apartment spending some time together, we had to leave for the exciting night out. As I know my way around Berlin I just took Nancy and the boys all the way, dropped them at the entrance and then left, going for a nice walk at night all the way to a restaurant where I had a lovely dinner.

Thanks for visiting and have fun at the show

6 Day Berlin - Velodrom

When you get free V.I.P. tickets to go to see a race, who am I to say I'm not interested. I collected the tickets and after work I was on my way to the Velodrom an indoor track cycling arena that can hold up to 12,000 people.

Anyway, I wasn't sure what to expect as it was the first time attending an indoor cycling race but from the beginning I was pretty impressed with basically everything. It was not just the races and there were plenty of those with international participants, even an Australian made it to the 6 day race here in Berlin. I'm not sure how important this event is for cyclists but the arena was packed with spectators and fans.

Making my way to the inner part of the arena, the VIP section I enjoyed fancy drinks, food, great entertainment and watched the races from there. Later on I made my way to the stands and followed the different types of races and liked it even better from up there. Like I said before I enjoyed myself and would probably come back again as it was a fantastic night.

Happy Australia Day

To celebrate Australia Day my way in Berlin (working) I bought lemonade and biscuits of course Australian made and shared the Tim Tams with my workmates. 

Dressing with an Australian shirt and scarf walking into the Aussie shop in front of my work place with work mates...was fun...as I taught them to say "Aussie Aussie Aussie...oi oi oi" which we did. Even the Aussie bloke in the shop had to laugh....I might go there more often just to speak English.

Anyway...I was back in Perth in my thoughts....also checked Facebook a couple of times but hey, I'm here working and that got my full attention.

Happy Australia Day & stay safe

Australian Café = delicious coffee

If I could only remember the place I had this delicious coffee. I googled it and found the place however trying to remember now where it was and the name of it, damn.

This is an Australian Café in Berlin and the coffee is made by a Australian barista. Why it is so important that a barista makes the coffee, because you can taste the difference.

It can't be too hot and not too cold (lukewarm piss), the frothing of the milk is super important, not too much foam and not just pouring hot milk, the right combo and the coffee is will taste like a dream.

So, in order to get great coffee you'll just have to find an Australian Café, and don't go to STARBUCKS - they know nothing about great tasting coffee, oops....sorry.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Another eventful year comes to an end and around this time we should be grateful for what we have and think maybe of others that aren't so fortunate.

Merry Christmas to everyone - Let's toast to another eventful, healthy & Happy New Year

Berlin - Brandenburg Gate

The Brandenburg Gate is probably the most recognised and famous symbol of Berlin as it divided the East and the West in the past. No longer is there a wall that is dividing Berlin and these days you just simply walk through the gate and there it is - the most beautiful Christmas Tree of all Berlin.

I guess its that time of the year, Christmas markets, carols by candlelight, mulled wine (Glühwein), lots of sweets and hopefully some snow.

Wishing everyone a magical and peaceful Advent Season

Team X-mas Dinner

This is my first Christmas Dinner with the B4F-team I've been working for for almost 6 weeks. It feels like being part of the team for more than just a short time, so hanging out with mostly girls I was actually looking forward to.

We ended up having fondue, note to myself and others....it actually can be dangerous, who would have thought. Well, next time I'm bringing an apron. Anyway, it was a brilliant evening with lots of laughter and getting to know each other from a different perspective.

A Day at the "Neues Museum"

Living in the capital city means there are plenty of choices when it comes to leisure time and how to fill it. This Sunday I decided to check out the Neues Museum. It's almost winter over here which limits the possibilities considering the cold weather.



The Neues Museum on Berlin’s Museum Island is part of the world heritage. It houses the archaeological collections of the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection, the Museum of Pre- and Early History, as well as works from the Collection of Classical Antiquities.

Looking at all the treasures from different cultures which are hundreds if not thousands of years old is impressive and hard to comprehend. What was actually possible back then and how well preserved those exhibited items are, unreal.



There is just so much to see and explore that a day alone is just not enough and I will definitely come back for more....maybe next time it will be the "Altes Museum".