To die for..

Croissants in the Lufthansa Senator Lounges!  Anyone had croissants and sparkling wine for breakfast? Heavenly!

Happy birthday me…

Okay this may sound quite sad but I’ll post it anyway…

Had a nice birthday lunch (insalata rucola, lasagne al forno and espresso) in Sagrantino (Berlin), one of the best Italian food I’ve had in Germany so far.

Dinner was in Sila Thai, a very upscale Thai restaurant in the middle of Dusseldorf…

So, happy birthday me – a solitary birthday.

Brüno – ze new fashionista

This was too good not to post… Credits to GQ Magazine, pictures too!

Hey, Brüno, I recently started collecting unemployment. Any style tips for someone on a tight budget?
Times are hard, but if you shop around und are prepared to vear some things twice before throwing zem avay, it is still possible to look good on a clothing budget of about $20,000 a veek. Ich mean, obwiously you vill need a bit more zan zat if you are planning on leaving ze house.

Dear Brüno, is it okay to “manscape” down there?
It’s more zan okay; it is most essential. Be careful if you do it yourself, though—yesterday ich tried to self-wax mein arschenhaller und glued meinself to ze bed. Manscaping ist important, but not as crucial as getting regular anal bleaching. If Brüno didn’t get his schmutziger arschenhaller bleached twice a month, his shtinker vould resemble Dizzy Gillespie during a trumpet solo. In Austria anal bleaching ist considered so important zat it’s paid for by ze state. In fact, you cannot run for office if you don’t have a vhite arschwitz. Indeed, ex-chancellor Kurt Waldheim vas elected on ze back of a prishtine anus. Zere are added benefits to getting ze bleaching—on my last session, mein beautician, Klaus, found ze long-lost head of a David Beckham action figure up zere.

Dear Brüno, where should I be putting my iPhone? The wife says the belt clip is totally out, But it looks like a tuna sandwich in my pocket. Anyplace else?
Vhat ein stupid question. Keep it in your assistant’s pocket, obwiously.

Dear Brüno, I am all in favor of protecting the animals, but what is reasonable? I won’t wear fur, but do I need to give up my leather jackets or shoes?
Ich vant to make it clear: Brüno ist totally against vearing fur—it’s too expensive und high-maintenance. I mean, vhy don’t giant pandas have a label on zem saying zey’re not machine vashable? Regarding shoes und jackets, if you vant to be ein Leatherboy, zat’s fine.

Dear Brüno, if forced to choose: Dolce or Gabbana?
Gabbana. Dolce is bald, so zere’s no hair to grab hold of.

Dear Brüno, can men wear heels? When and why?
Of course. Some guys look great in heels—ze singer Pink, for example. Alzo, mein last boyfreund, Diesel, vas a genuine Pygmy only three eight, so ich made him vear heels so he could give me plow jops mitout me having to bend mein knees.

Dear Brüno, I am shocked by the cost of jeans these days. I saw one pair that retailed for $700—how is that possible?
Zat’s ze great thing abaus ze recession—stores are cutting zeir prices.

Dear Brüno, how can I get some “Efron hair”? Or at least some “Pattinson hair”?
Ich vouldn’t bother getting a Zac Efron hairstyle right now, cos ich am about to change mine and he’s certain to copy me again. In terms of grooming, ze only thing he hasn’t copied me with ist getting his ballensack pierced—vell, he hadn’t had it done ze last time ich saw him.

Dear Brüno, how would you define “Obama style”?
Firstly, ich vant to say zat I find Obama an inspiration—it gives me great hope zat, after years of struggle, someone can at last get to ze White House, despite being incredibly hot. On ze other hand, it’s slightly disappointing that he needed zat beard, Michelle, to help him—but vone shtep at a time. In terms of his style, he perfectly bridges Serious und Sexy…Oval Office und Oval Orifice.

Dear Brüno, my wedding is approaching and I am desperate to impress my bride. What is appropriate groom’s attire for a Labor Day nuptial?
If Brüno vas about to be married to a voman, I’d be vearing a noose.

Dear Brüno, when I walk into a fancy designer-clothing store, the sales clerks are brusque and intimidate me. Is there anything I can do to be treated better?
You sound like ein “normie” to me—I’m glad zat high-end stores are trying to keep ze likes of you avay. Vhen I go to a store, ze first thing I look for ist ein vheelchair ramp—if zey’ve got one, I won’t go in. Ich find zose mongoloidische guys such a downer.

Dear Brüno, lately I’ve been digging this French guy Sarkozy’s look; who’s on your list of the best-dressed world leaders of all time?
Zere is one thing wrong mit ze way Sarkozy looks—it’s zat accessory beard called Bruni who follows him around everyvhere he goes. She’s about three feet taller zan him! It looks like he’s dating a post-op trannie! He either needs to start vearing platform shoes or push her round in a vheelchair or send her back to ze agency. Vhile I’m on ze subject of badly dressed leaders, please someone lock Nelson Mandela up again so ve don’t have to keep looking at zose hideous flowery shirts!

Dear Brüno, who are the other best-dressed world leaders of all time?
JFK. Obama. Castro. Timberlake.

Dear Brüno, what do you sleep in?
In reality, ich sleep in a seaweed body wrap under a Zac Posen Navy-Cut Nightshirt. In mein dreams, ich sleep naked in a giant reed basket drifting slowly down ze Nile, cradled in ze arms of Daniel Radcliffe.

Dear Brüno, what’s your feeling on getting your teeth professionally whitened?
If people vant to pay for it—zat’s up to zem. Personally, ich have never had to pay for it, und ich prefer it on ze chest to ze mouth, anyvay.

Dear Brüno, what is your definition of “creative black tie”?
Okay, off ze top of mein head—a yellow Adrienne Landau printed chinchilla rex rabbit newsboy hat, worn mit ein Cynthia Steffe blue-violet velvet cadet jacket over a Cavalli back-belted chunky oatmeal sweater vest on top of a Cacharel gala shirt in silver, matched mit John Varvatos stretchtwill-brocade sailor pants over Stella McCartney patent snakeskin monk shoes offset by Costume National elbow-length leather gloves, und to accessorize, maybe a rudraksha-bead twenty-two-karat white-gold Neil Lane Infinity Pendant. Simple. Timeless. Classic.

Dear Brüno, my nostril hairs are constantly poking out of my nose, and I’m always having to trim them back with tiny scissors. I’m afraid if I stop trimming them, they’ll continue growing until they’re ridiculously noticeable and flagellating out of my nose. Should I continue to trim, or is there a better solution?
Brüno was the first Austrian ever to have chemo purely for ze purpose of hair removal. It really is ze perfect solution for unvanted vhiskers—und not only zat, ze weight-loss benefits due to ze womiting it causes are amazing! If you’re struggling to find a doc who’ll give you ein prescription for zis, call min—you can find him in ze Vienna Yellow Pages, his name’s Oskar Mengele. He does other services, too—he just gave mein godson Florian lipo for his sixth birthday!

Dear Brüno, my wife and I have planned a Mediterranean vacation. I have never been there before, and I’m unsure about proper beach attire. Your advice?
Nine years ago, ich vas on holiday in French Polynesia, collecting shells on ze beach at sunset in a buckskin thong, vhen I caught ze eye of zat beautiful Pygmy Diesel, who vas vorking at ze Schrager spatel ich vas staying at as an oil boy. Within zwanzig minutes, he’d stolen mein heart, mein vallet, und alzo ze contents of mein kugelsack.

Dear Brüno, I’m a big believer in a “uniform”—wear the same clothes day in, day out. If you had such a uniform, what would it be?
Sadly, the glory days of ze Austrian uniform vere sixty-five years ago. Zis season’s vardrobe essential, thanks to Madonna und me, is ze “Little Black Child.”

Dear Brüno, the United States military is constantly trying to update its battle gear in the field. Are there ways you would modify the current uniform?
In mein country it’s verboten for ze soldiers to shtup each other—as ein result, to keep ze cravings at bay, over 80 percent of ze Austrian army vear Dickorette patches as part of zeir uniform. Army uniforms have to change; camo zese days ist ein total nicht nicht. I mean come on, it hasn’t been on ze runvays for over fourteen seasons now! For spring-summer 2010, ich vould put ze U.S. Army in bright pastels und slogan T-shirts, stuff like “Soldier Boy” or “Shoot Me from Behind.”

Stockholm

Greetings from sunny Stockholm! It’s my first time to Stockholm in summer, it’s truly different than summer in other European cities further down south.

As you can see, clear sunny skies with spots of clouds by the water front. Don’t be fooled!! The temperature hovers around 10 – 12 degrees celsius with wind chill bringing it further down to 7 – 8.

Overall, the city has turned lifely! Updates soon! Cheerios!

Intergalatic travelling space cowboy

Hafen_1_DRI, originally uploaded by cohens27angels.

This blog is going to take an intermission again – the cowboy is going on an intercontinental journey commencing Sunday.

Updates soon! Buon lavoro e weekend

Linguine con gamberi

An intermission from intercontinental travel.

An easy, simple dish to make, takes about 20 minutes…

Take 100g – 125g of dried linguine per person, and put to the boil with a generous pinch of coarse salt. What we want to do is to drain it about 3 minutes from al dente indicated on the pack and finish cooking it in the sauce.

In a separate pan, sauté some freshly chopped garlic with olive oil until soft, but not coloured over medium low heat. Increase the heat and put in one seeded chopped chilli, and the prawns.

Stir gently until the prawns are cooked, and pour in about 50ml of white wine per person and continue to stir until the alcohol has evaporated. Next, pour in some stock made from the shells of the prawns and simmer very very gently whilst waiting for the pasta.

Some chopped parsley (flat leaf variety) and halved cherry tomatoes (mix of sweet red ones and tangy yellow ones) would be nice at this point.

Drain the pasta from the cooking water and transfer it into the sauce. Turn the heat up and continue cooking until remaining al dente time is completed. At this point, stir in the remaining chopped parsley. Most of the sauce would have been absorbed by the pasta by now, and whatever remainder you have in the pan would have been thickened by the starch emanating from the pasta. Season to taste. I personally do not like black pepper with my seafood but it’s your choice.

Serve piping hot!

Croatia – The Mediterranean as it once was

Croatia extends from the furthest eastern edges of the Alps in the north-west to the Pannonian lowlands and the banks of the Danube in the east; its central region is covered by the Dinara mountain range, and its southern parts extend to the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Croatia borders Slovenia and Hungary to the north, Serbia to the northeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast. Its southern and western flanks border the Adriatic Sea.

This was my first visit to the country. Croatia is not yet a member of the European Union, as such maintains an exclusive border with its neighbour Slovenia which I travelled via train to. Let’s leave that for the next post.

I only had little time to wonder around the capital city, Zagreb to catch the sights. As it was late winter, the weather was truly unforgiving with bouts of sudden blizzards and intermittent sunshine in between.

Zagreb does not have an underground train system and as such, the tram remains the main mode of public transportation. I stayed at the Westin Zagreb, located in the heart of the city with easy connections via tramway to most of the city.

The hotel itself has seen better days but I must say that it has been very well maintained. I got upgraded to their “Westin Guest Office” upon check-in, which was essentially a junior suite. Here are a few pictures of the room.

A view of the living area with a peek at the bedroom, separated by sliding doors.

There was complimentary high-speed internet access throughout the hotel – the presence of a proper working desk and working chair really helped as I was on a 2.5 week working trip.

The bed, as with all other Westins that I have stayed in, featured the Heavenly Bed with a firm pocket spring mattress with a plush top. That’s my suitcase at the foot of the bed. I have since purchased a similar mattress for my own bed at home.

The bathroom had a huge standing shower featuring the Heavenly Shower, with amenities. The whole bathroom was clad in Italian marble, with heated floors and mirror.

More on Zagreb next…

IST-ZAG (Turkish Airlines TK1449)

Istanbul was fantastic although the weather wasn’t.  I felt that I had to come back once more to explore the city in a more thorough manner as I rarely made my way around much.

Anyway, it was time to move on to Zagreb, this time on Turkish Airlines once more.

I arrived at Ataturk Airport, check-in was a breeze through the business class counters – however the economy lines were choc-a-bloc. The benefits of the Star Alliance Gold status were truly appreciated.

After check-in, I headed to the lounge of Turkish Airlines to grab something to eat as I was starved. The lounge itself was one of the largest and most spacious lounges I’ve ever set foot in.

I must admit that I loved the idea of natural light in the lounge and airport. However, the interior left me a little perplexed – a current mix of neo-classical fittings and Scandinavian-style furniture.

Overall it was nice and before I realised, it was time to board the 737-800 headed for Zagreb.

The 2-hour flight and meal service was uneventful.

Landing in Zagreb was a shocker for me – no aero bridge, so we were all bussed to the terminal.

More on Zagreb in the next post…

Its amazing

It’s amazing how good quality ingredients cooked in a simple way produce sublime results, complementing each other in texture, flavours and colour.

I think this is the essence of slow food, in my opinion (although this whole meal was made in 30 minutes).

Broccoli, potatoes, some really good Parmigiano Regianno and a good piece of Wagyu (okay not entirely Japanese) striploin simply grilled with a sprinkling of salt.

Wagyu striploin with broccoli and mashed potatoes with parmigiano reggiano.

Away again!

I’m away once again, and it looks like another long-haul trip is coming up end May.

More updates soon! Cheerios!