I've been to Hollywood, I've been to Redwood, I crossed the ocean for a heart of gold...

Things I learned while in Berlin:

1. There are quite a lot of Vietnamese people in this city. And proportionately, there are a lot of Vietnamese restaurants. Monsieur Vuong was my favorite; the nouveau fusion cuisine didn't bother me at all, as it was super fresh and tasty, a lovely yummy treat. I'm going to copy his delicious nut and soy smoothie. J'adore.

2. I have no proficiency for the language. Absolutely none. It was quite embarrassing rather.

3. I've never seen so much dyed hair concentrated in one city before: vibrant shades of hot pink, animated purple with bleached stripes (with a purple ensemble, 'natch), throbbing blood orange messiness with goth/punk attitude. The fashion sense is fantastically bad. Wow, so horrific, it's actually quite brilliant!

4. I know I'm generalizing here but German girls look like lesbians; they almost can't help it. They're prolly not I'm quite sure but they definitely exude that je ne sais quoi sensibility... Jens knows all about this... "A Postcard to Nina"

5. The beer is quite good. So is the wurst.


Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park. The pièce de résistance is the monument by Soviet sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich: a massive monument of a Soviet soldier with a sword holding a child, standing over a smashed swastika. You see, this memorial was not to honor the East German population but rather for the many Soviet soldiers who suffered at the hands of Germany. The Soviets liberated the Germans from the Nazis, hells yeah!

There are a lot of styles going on here which says a lot of what kind of propaganda they were trying to transmit: working class ceremonial, Neoclassicism & Art Deco, and socialist-realist Postconstructivism. Remarkable and outrageous.





One of the 16 sarcophagi. Pretty cool craved stone relief I have to admit.


I love the layout; even the trees leading up to the memorial seemed to be weeping. This dude is so my Heart of Gold. Just look at him: so focused, full of purpose, well suited (nice flannel), well protected, and in my age group!


Big headed Ernst Thälmann and his strong fist.


Dear Dean in Kreuzberg


Humana, the 4-story thrift shop in Friedrichshain. Just massive. The craziest fabric blends I've ever encountered. There was a sale; most things were only 1.5 Euro!!! Sadly, my mental hives which I usually get at these sort of "vintage" establishments started its attack and I walked away empty-handed...


Henne, best fried chicken in all of Europe. Almost missed the flight back to London but well worth the wait...