Ich liebe schokolade (BERLIN)

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Check out these chocolate sculptures! A candy shop is more alluring - almost a treat in itself - when it's designed with goods displayed like works of art - or craft - versus a retail shop for gobble-it-up consumerism. Fassbender & Rausch Chocolatiers is located not far from Checkpoint Charley in Gendarmenmarkt near Stadtmitte.

 Kaiser Wilhelm Church

 Reichstag

 Brandenburg Gate

 women's shoes 

(heels are always more delicious than pumps)

Fassbender & Rausch Chocolatiers logo 

(quite possibly the biggest chocolate shop in the world)

chocolate, chocolate everywhere 

Berlin Wall

(the West never looked so sweet)

that's Thank you in Germany

Gifts from the heart

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My Christmas gift to me

it's personally signed!

& my New Year's gift to me

...because sometimes you just can't wait for others to do nice shit for you.

I admit, I cheated with both. They were carefully packed and set aside but, oh well, I do likes to have my cake and eat it too. Robby Robinson's memoir was supposed to be my New Year's gift but after meeting him in person and touching on a few topics I couldn't hold off on cracking open the cover and reading what he had to share about his trials with Weider et al. as well as experiences in Europe. I paced myself so that The Black Prince still wound up being my first book of 2015.

In regards to the Kentucky bourbon, well my downstair neighbor and her babies expedited that appointment with Jim Beam. If there was ever an elixir the doctor ordered! I can understand why some men turn to the bottle. This was my first time tasting the Black style. I'm partial to the original recipe (white label) but, having already tasted the Honey one, I wanted to try this new double-aged brew. Not bad; honestly, though, under the circumstances, it could've been black&blue for all I cared because - hello! - I needed me an early sip or two.

While shopping at Wal-Mart

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While shopping at Wal-Mart (or is it Walmart, now?) this holiday season I came across this gluttonous concoction. 

check out the other product I saw on Wal-Mart shelves

You all know how much I dig sweets. I like bacon, I like maple syrup, and I like homemade cookies (especially when they're a lil burnt round the edges and crunchy,crunchy) but no - hella no - am I curious to eat maple bacon cookies or frosting. That sounds like a good Canadian joke, if anything. Yo, Betty C., what's next: a stuffed turkey pound cake and gravy flavored egg nog??

just be thankful 
it's limited edition

Homemade sweetness

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Like to have my cake and eat it too. Never understood the stupidity of that cliche putdown.
After the surprisingly low finish at the Mr Playas de Rosarito we went out for dinner. Come dessert, I asked the waiter if the pay de queso (cheesecake) was New York style. His reply, New York style?, was answer enough for me. But by then I already had the taste in my mouth; so during the week I gathered the ingredients - eggs, cream cheese, sour cream, pie crust, sugar - and baked my own pie!

It turned out hellayummy-yum good. Another DIY success!

All done from scratch, minus the pie crust which I lined with granola for a whimsy of  crunchy nutriction, and then topped the layer of sour cream off with toasted coconut. Calories, schmalories.

eat your heart out PacMan

...because these abs 

are here to stay!

Mint chocolate peanut butter granola protein bars

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Or Protein Bars Redux, for short.
Unlike my first attempt, I substituted granola for uncooked oats (not instant oats!) and added more honey and less milk & peanut butter to make them just that bit thicker (consistency) and less gooey. The 11/2 cups of whey protein powder probably amounted to 90-94 grams of protein; and cut into 12-14 pieces. Also, this time I put them in the refrigerator to accelerate the cooling process -- because, baby, sitting the pan out on the kitchen table was taking too long for my tastes. It may be worth knowing that stirring by hand works just as well as employing a hand-mixer. And easier to clean up afterward.

Whether from individually wrapping each square in aluminum foil (and storing in Tupperware) or using oats - AND NOT CONSUMING THEM FAST ENOUGH - I noticed mold starting to form and ended up throwing out the last three or four bars. 
This time I used plastic wrap! 

Am liking this batch a whole lot more.  

Funny sign in Tijuana

Gotta love the spelling

Hot, hot, hot in Baja

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The past few days have been very, very sweltering in Baja California. At last!

Can't drink enough water. And I just love to hear the jingle of the ice cream truck. Two scoops of Thrifty ice cream for 15 pesos. Man, that's less than $1.50...which doesn't even buy you one scoop in U.S.! Oh it's no 'guilty pleasure' either; when you have a six-pack like this and workout like I do, then, yes, it's alllllllll good.

Loving it.

Homemade protein bars

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True to frugal form, I made my own protein bars yesterday. It was a no-bake recipe - and didn't require a blender either - but, in the end, I popped them in the oven to harden the consistency (plus I like things crunchy!)

I don't have money -- up for grabs

Among the ingredients was pure honey - straight from a honeycomb! - whey protein powder and oatmeal. This was my first time ever buying oatmeal because I don't like the stuff (yuk!); next time methinks I'll use less of it or, better still, granola instead (because it's crunchy!)

I've always loved working out but have never been a fan of fancy gym stuff - expensive memberships, designer clothes/gym bags, supplements, pre-/post-/extreme (or, worse, Xtreme) drinks, "special" waters, steroids and other drugs - for the simple reason the shit strikes me as a stupid money-grab. And I don't have money up for grabs. Hello!

Supplementing is important, especially with protein, but it is not the end all-be all. That would be dedication, proper training and nutrition. I sure as hell am not one for going broke over protein. By making my very own stash of  protein bars I: 

1. save money 
2. know exactly what ingredients are inside
3. create my eccentric favorite flavors
4. acquire a new skill of resourcefulness
5. have a sweet & muscle building snack 

 now the hard part: waiting for the batch to cool 

one, two, three...a nutritious treat for my muscles

@TWPTilden

Enjoying espresso

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Ahhh nothing like enjoying espresso at home. Fast, delicious, and, most importantly, a helluva lot cheaper. 

many thanks to my German friend 

for sending the coffee

Even I diet -- for fun

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About two weeks ago, days shy of Halloween, I decided to shake things up and challenge myself to exercising control over what I eat. Just a test; to see what the physical effects would be (as well as will power) as I always eat anything I please...and I am pleased to eat ice cream, chocolate, french fries, fried chicken, cookies, onion rings, cocktails, wine, hamburgers, etc. 

In addition to avoiding those tasty goodies - including Halloween! - I also avoided cardiovascular exercises (the ones meant for sweating off fat) but still regularly swam for flexibility and breathing control.   

As you can see from the above Before and After snapshots my physique achieved noticeable definition and actually got a little bigger (at least, to me, I appear slimmer in the Day 1 poses). Incidentally, my body weight didn't change significantly - nor was it my aim; just wanted to see if I could make it through 'zero cardio + food restrictions' - but I'm sure that owes to the fact of fat converting into muscle. In the Day 1 pics my small waist shows clearing in the high-cut bathing suit/posing trunks; by Day 14, though, I only had the gym shorts on hand and they cover the waist more.

 Here I am barely flexing. With the smallest of tensing my muscles really pop out. I don't even know what's the name of those round ones to the side of the armpits!

The lighting is harsh, I know, but damn I still

have a lot to smile about. Dieting for fun is, well, fun! 

Metropol Hostel (Berlin)

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In a word: great.
It has taken me way too long to write about this hostel in Kreuzberg. i've stayed here on two separate visits to Berlin - each for extended days - and it is the best value around; low rates, 10% discount on your future stay, free luggage storage and a bar with reasonable rates.

Metropol Hostel is in Kreuzberg right off of the Merrighdam u-bahn stop (subway). Staff are some of the friendliest, coolest, most knowledgeable workers I've come across. They try to get you the cheapest rate for your stay. Reception is open 24/7. 

wi-fi but the signal is so poor and unreliable as to make usage nerve-wrecking

In the Commons are two flat screen TVs, a Foosball table, lots of sofas and tables and about four or five computers (for a fee). There is wi-fi but the signal is so poor and unreliable as to make usage nerve-wrecking. At best it is slow but most often the damn connection is simply "not available". This is the one irritating and infuriating aspect of Metropol. TIP: right across the street is a n all-night Internet cafe and call shop which also sells cold drinks and snacks.

Bed mattresses are comfortable (I believe they charge 3euros for linen; obligatory). And be sure to wake up for the free breakfast! The all-you-can-eat spread includes warm rolls, cold cuts, yogurt, fruit cocktail and sliced tomatoes and cucumbers (staple of Mediterranean breakfasts) along with tea, coffee, cocoa, juice, milk and cold water.

I will be definitely booking here again.

Metropolhostel-berlin.com

Fresh Sub, an alternative to Subway

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Just found a new sandwich shop and, let me tell ya baby, it is da bomb. Oh yes, yes y'all!
I like Fresh Sub a little better than Subways because 1) they're less expensive and 2) just as tasty (and 3) they have a meal special with beer...or you can order champagne or an espresso. Fountain drinks are so '80s). Also, the cost of extra ingredients isn't a rip-off either like that other place. Hello!

 the bread looks like cardboard...but is actually tasty

 hey, it made a new customer out of me!

Dorset, Minnesota has a baby mayor

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I've never been to Dorset but it's tiny mayor sounds like my kind of guy: ice cream, fishing, taking long walks.
I love to eat ice cream. I eat it all over the world! I hate fishing but, hey, two out of three ain't bad.
Read how this real town wound up with a mayor who is all of four years old -- literally.

(USA TODAY article)

 

my favorite food

 



I eat ice cream because I'm not on a hunger strike (STUTTGART)

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It took me forever to finally reach Stuttgart. Certainly felt that way. I was a day behind in my thinking. What, today's Tuesday not Monday? Lack of sleep will do that to you.

I just secured an apartment and saw an ice cream truck and thought to myself, Why not? Dammit I've earned this! I was going to buy irrespective of my personal favorites offered but, as it turned out, they were on the menu. Of late I'm inclined towards the blue ice cream which goes by several names but is best marketed as "Smurf". (Like Gargamel I've always been curious to eat those little things.) Instead of a measly cone I went big time and bought a wundertute, which clumsily translates as "wonder bag" (as a bag is a container). Doesn't it just look, well, wonderful!

  wundertute ist wunderbar!

 

In sharp contrast was a hunger strike nearby. How near? Close enough you could hold a spitting contest -- and probably win. According to the banner they're going two days strong. I don't know the agenda of these starving people but I'd make for a mighty poor disciple had my group pitched tent near an ice cream stand (or pancake house/burger stand/pretzel vendor, etc). As I had no pangs of guilt I happily devoured my three scoops of ice cream  (two of "engleblau" and one of cookies) topped with whipped cream under a drizzle of chocolate syrup. And took pictures of them. 

refugee hunger strike beside ice cream stand

 

 but no one appears to give a damn 

how can you rise when you don't have energy?



USA Hostels (San Francisco)

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Now here's a spot to choose when staying in San Francisco! USA Hostel San Francisco is a super clean hostel with a good amount of bath facilities (some are separated e.g., showers from toilets), social space and friendly and organized staff. No attitudes did I encounter. During my stay the lobby and corridors were getting a minor make-over so it should look even nicer now.

It is obvious that care went into structuring the basement to accommodate people traffic as well as encourage socializing. Certainly folks were on their laptops (FREE wifi) - myself included - but a majority were not at any given point. Guests were actually talking and laughing with one another -- like in the olden days when man rode horses and carried six-shooters and women, dresses.

The hostel has a quiet corner for reading...that is so thoughtful!

There is a nice pool table on one side of the room and foosball on the other; a general eating area on one half of the room and the bar, opposite; a movie room with cinema-esque seating, laundry room and, get this, a reading room. The hostel has a quiet corner for reading...that is so thoughtful!

As for the dorm rooms, a private reading lamp (honestly, it doesn't disturb the other people in the room) is installed above the headrest along with a tiny shelf and two working power outlets. I slept wonderfully. When the room became a bit stuffy, as is wont to happen, we cracked open the window, which led to a shaft and the brick wall of the building next door...so no view (but also no noise), or turned on the wall fan. Right outside my room was a bathroom but inside the room we had a sink and mirror, and a closet in addition to the individual lockers (which come equipped with two working power outlets in each).
 
Like its sister hostel in Hollywood, an immense kitchen is stocked for public use. Unlike other places with cute but inadequate space these kitchens are made for commercial use, including more than one huge refrigerator. How professional is it? Think "Gordon Ramsey" without the asshole divo. The FREE pancake breakfast is the best spread I've ever had a hostel offer. Guests (try to) cook the pancakes themselves - I'm surprised at how many girls are downright clueless & clumsy in the kitchen! - from the loads of batter prepared by a hostel employee.

McDonald's has class abroad

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Here's a classy McDonald's.  The restaurant chains outside of America are unbelievably sleek and stylish. Most are decorated like adult restaurants - often with the atmospere of a mid-range cafe - but this one in Schoneberg near Zoologischer Garten looks rather upscale with its chandeliers, wood floors, leather sofas and faux bookcase.

Definitely makes for a more pleasant and digestive eating experience. And you don't feel fast-food cheap! 

The ones in America are, plainly, too kid-oriented and, I suppose, family-friendly.

thank goodness there's more than currywurt in Berlin!

yes this is an actual McDonald's eating room

Thrifty ice cream in Mexico

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Now there's Thrifty ice cream in Guadalajara. I saw a sign for it back in May when I rode through Tepic but it was faded and I figured it was an old signage that the store owner never bothered to take down. Guess I was wrong.
In Guadalajara, though, there's this shop smack in Centro on Ave Juarez (see pic) and, at least, one other in the mall, La Gran Plaza. Dairy Queen's Blizzards had some competition for my money while I was in town!

I had my first taste of Thrifty ice cream in Los Angeles where it's sold in Rite-Aid pharmacies. Back then it cost 99cents. Now I believe it's a $1.98. Besides being tasty I like the signature big block shape scoops of Thrifty ice creams.

4th of July B-B-Q in Hollywood

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Fourth of July bar-b-que at USA Hostels Hollywood was no token picnic. The owners pulled out all the stops. There were plenty of burgers, hot dogs, and chicken kebabs on the grill; watermelon and plums, salads, pop, potato chips, and - oh yeah - apple pies! Plural. I went out and bought some vanilla ice cream to make mine a la mode. Hello!
After a tiring day of experiencing hot sunshine, fake tans, and bodybuilding at Muscle Beach I made sure to fill my belly. Had seconds. Had thirds. I loves to eat! 

This was, hands down, the BEST spread I ever enjoyed at a hostel. It was bigger and better than I imagined it would be. Big ups to the entire staff for showing (foreign)guests how we party like its 4th of July! 

Delayed flight from GDL to LAX

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Delta flight from Guadalajara was delayed -- by four hours!
This I learn whilst already in the cab en route to the airport. The company called my Mexican mobile to inform about the flight's delay; it just wound up actually being twice the estimated time. I guess it was due to the sudden intense downpour that hit the city minutes after I got into the cab.

Seriously Delta?! I am sure you can afford to spend more than $8usd per customer

As a token, Delta issued a meal voucher to Wings. Great! I was starving like Marvin but didn't want to exchange any more currency. Its value was $100mxp.
Check-in was hassle-free. (Actually, check-in in most terminals outside of the US and UK are hassle-free and, thankfully, TSA-free...Western powers still suffer with that paranoid white superiority chip on their shoulders. Who knew?) Turns out the one-hundred pesos was just that: a token. Not even enough to buy an order of oh, say, wings! Seriously Delta?! I am sure you can afford to spend more than $8usd per customer. I certainly spent far more than that for the plane ticket -- and, maybe, six to eight different tax fees. In case you are wondering, I ordered a soup. Big fukin' whoop.

Once the plane did take off the flying was easy breezy and we landed in LAX well after midnight. The flight was fine, by the way. I think I remember getting a coffee on board. Since it was the wee hours of the next morning - but still hours before check-in time - I 'slept' in the terminal and went to my hostel in the morning proper. Am not one for sleeping whilst sitting up but I probably dozed off for a good twenty minutes throughout the night. Hello Independence Day (from Great Britain)!  

(Still I give Delta big marks for remembering that antiquated ideal of customer service. They phoned to give me an update on the status of the flight - in second-language English - and a token meal voucher and the counter reps were friendly as well as professional.) 

Blizzards in Guadalajara (Mexico)

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One of the things I most look forward to if I need ever be in Guadalajara is going to the indoor mall La Gran Plaza where they have a Dairy Queen in the food court. Like so many business icons of Americana, this company's hard times - or complete bust - back home has not meant the end-all death nail. Dairy Queen, along with Blockbuster Videos, Best Buy, Woolworth stores, still supply to a demand abroad (I remember meeting an English girl who thought Woolworth was a British company). I always wolf down a blizzard (or two) -- precisely because they are so hard to find! I allow myself to be a little gluttonous. McDonald's McFlurry and Burger King's BK Storm, both rip-offs of the Blizzard ice cream, just don't cut the mustard.

 the stuff of 

sweet childhood memories 

 testing out my new 

camera's zoom feature

I suddenly have a hunkering 

for a large milk shake