East Eats West

Handmade leather bags from Berne

In a small shop in the historic town of the Swiss capital, Berne, three ladies have been producing for over ten years handmade leather bags. Obviously all bags are only made to order and one can choose between different sizes, colors and linings. The leather comes from Germany and no toxic substances are used in their production. The founder of the shop, Fiona Losinger, is a trained saddle-maker and so are her co-workers. The best thing about buying bags from her is that not only are the bags of  superior craftsmanship and individually designed, the bags are also considerably cheaper than any high street fashion label. 

Visit her website here: http://www.fionalosinger.ch/index.html  

Soon to be discounted Porsches

Picture: Hehehehehe, no, I am not a Porsche (but a Ruf car)!  

Ever since Porsche seemed to have wrestled mighty Volkswagen to the ground in October last year and then consequently stumbled itself, things have deteriorated for the iconic sports car manufacturer. Not only did the acquisition of VW fell through, also its sporty cars hit a speed bump with sales apparently 25 percent lower than the year before. Some models like the Cayman and Cayenne even face bigger drops in demand. Walking by the nearby Porsche dealership seems to prove this point. Probably the best time to buy a Porsche will be November this year when all the leased cars by bankers will hit the market.

Flight for quality

After years of booming luxury goods market and ‘entry-level luxury’ the party has suddenly stopped. With the financial and economical crisis, consumers have become more value-conscious and ‘recreation-shopping’ has lost its appeal. According to Newsweek (6/13 of April 2009) consumers around the world “are trading excess for excellence, superficiality for substance”. There is a “flight to quality”: people buy less often but better quality. The author of the Newsweek article “A few good shirts” comes to the conclusion that now is the best time “to get rid of all that cheap, trendy stuff you don’t actually use” and go for quality, like a bespoke suit or handmade shoes. According to the Financial Times (11/12 of April 2009) the tailors of Savile Row saw a pick-up of business in the recent months: Huntsman, the oldest tailor on Savile Row, saw its business increase by 12 percent in 2009.The believe that “a desire for quality” are the reasons for this upswing. I fully agree. Read the Newsweek article here: http://www.newsweek.com/id/191499 

PS: With the cheap flights to London and a very low pound now is the best time to do some shopping at Savile Row or Jermyn Street!

A print magazine for the discerning reader

 

When was the last time you loved a print magazine so much that you wanted to re-order it (one eager reader even built a shelf in the library for the copies)? I am sure that not many magazines have their own little market where ardent readers sell and buy past issues. The Swiss “Du” culture magazine is such a rare exception. Since the re-launch by the new publisher, Mr.Oliver Prange, and with a new editor-in-chief, Mr. Stefan Kaiser of former GDI Impulse magahine fame, the magazine has achieved a quality level that surpasses all of its competitors by light-years (for example “Intelligent Life” magazine by “The Economist”). The quality of the print of “Du” is so high that I simply adore just touching the magazine! Isn’t that how a monthly magazine should feel like: a pleasure to hold and look at, sometimes to collect and have it displayed on the living-room table? “Du “also features visually outstanding cover designs and the magazine draws from a wealth of high-calibre writers. So give your senses a big favour: instead of reading the for-free commuter newspapers get some valuable information from some outstanding people and read “Du”. Read about other high-intellect magazines here: http://easteatswest.typepad.com/east_eats_west/2008/01/the-good-things.html

And order "Du" here: http://www.du-magazin.com/

Hunt for an emergency exit seat

Singapore Airlines has been voted again and again the best airline and I think deservedly. However, flying economy is still a bothersome affair for tall guys. But since 2 months ago, one can get an emergency exit seat online for an extra 50 USD. Or if you feel lucky you can still try to get one when checking-in (better be early).

Rolex at a premium?!

Normally the best prices for Swiss watches can be had in Asia, Malaysia in particular. So I got very excited when I read in a Swiss newspaper article that luxury Swiss watches were selling at a heavy discount in Asia due to the financial crisis. I was surprised to learn that the new Rolex GMT-Master II is selling with a 1000$ premium according to a Rolex shop assistant in Malaysia

and I realized that the foreigner 'bonus' also applies to Swiss watches.

Fat is the pharma industry’s and your friend

Before the Americans had Osama bin Laden they were fighting another ferocious battle: fat. The reasoning was simple: if you eat too much fat, you will get fat. Easy, isn’t it? Well, not really. A few weeks ago I attended a presentation by book-writing German doctor Günter Frank. He thought that the Americans are wrong with their fight against fat, as they are wrong about the enprisonment of mates in Guantanamo. According to a meta-analysis of over 16.000 medical studies, only 27 out of those 16.000 plus hinted at a slight relation between eating fat and being fat. Medically speaking, eating fatty food doesn’t make you fat. According to Dr. Frank being fat or slim has more to do with genes and that not everyone digests food as effectively as fat people (they store the energy better than other people). Or put the other way around: thin people are thin because they digest food badly and therefore they eat more (sounds logical). And the second reason for being or getting fat is stress. If you tell children that they get fat if they eat burgers, they will start to develop eating disorders because of stress. So eating only vegetables and high fibre food might work for some persons, but not for everyone: if you are thin it makes sense to eat a burger with French fries. Dr. Frank thinks that the hunt for fat has more to do with the pharmaceutical and nutritional industry creating fear so that people buy their ‘light’ products than with nutritional science. Healthy people are bad for the health industry as they are bad clients! This is at least good news for Burger King!

You can buy Dr. Frank’s book here: http://www.amazon.de/Lizenz-zum-Essen-Gewicht-Stress/dp/3492050743/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231700582&sr=8-1

Read this blog entry for more controversial nutritional information: http://easteatswest.typepad.com/east_eats_west/2008/12/eat-healthy-and-die-younger.html

Meeting with my feet

Picture: Even orange socks do not distract a master shoemaker!

Should you ever have visited a Chinese foot massage parlour you are surely aware that the soles of your feet can tell a lot about you and a person skilled in foot reflexology should be able to tell if you are healthy or not. Nevertheless I was a bit surprised when Béla Bálint, the young master shoemaker, concluded after carefully feeling and inspecting my feet that my feet are still very flexible and nimble and that they only tilt a little. This information clearly cheered me up after sitting and standing for three hours while my feet were measured by the master shoemaker. The whole process of measuring my feet will in the end create a last that will be the model for my new bespoke shoes. For the next step Mr. Bálint will input all the information into a CAD program that will create a 3D model of my feet. This will then be the starting point for the lasts (lasts are wooden models of your feet). And if everything goes according to plan I shall have my new shoes in April. 

For more information about Bálint shoes read my previous entry: http://easteatswest.typepad.com/east_eats_west/2008/02/bespoke-shoes.html

Eat healthy and die younger

  Picture: This Austrian original Kaiserschmarn might be good for you! 

With the holiday season approaching many people worry about gaining weight. And often people promise to start with dieting and excersice after New Year. Udo Pollmer, a well-known German nutrition scientist begs to differ. At a recent presentation he convincingly reasoned that body weight or fat content in humans is mostly determined by body type and stress, not food intake. The more stress, the fatter people get. I am sure you know a thin person who can eat a lot and not gain weight or a fat person who only eats a little and does not shed weight. According to Udo Pollmer this is explained by the fact that a thin person does not use food efficiently and therefore needs more, in contrast to a fat person. In an experiment, thin, normal and fat rats were put on a diet and a treadmill. The thin rats died after two days, the normal rats after a week or longer and the fat rats continued to live. The reason: body fat! Udo Pollmer argues that in general humans should not eat healthy, e.g. lots of fibres. One should eat what one likes, including sausages, beef, burgers and sweets. And sport should be done out of joy, not because of “health benefits”. Udo Pollmer also argued that many thin endurance athletes who eat healthy food actually starve their bodies. Because of this the body then releases opiates that generate the famous runner high.Udo Pollmer wrote several books among them “Wer gesund isst, stirbt früher”: http://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_ss_w?__mk_de_DE=%C5M%C5Z%D5%D1&url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=udo+pollmer

Tailor-made shoes for a better health

Picture: Béla Bálint, proud maker of handmade shoes to measure. 

Man is not made to walk on concrete. But we city people have to. This leads to deformations of feet and joints. With inappropriate and cheap shoes on your feet it makes things worse, joints get worn out too fast and bad posture results.  At latest by the age of sixty, 80 percent of all people have deformed feet that lead to back problems. So what to do? The answers are traditionally tailor-made shoes by an ancient shoe-maker from Vienna, Bálint. The Bálint family originally hails from Siebenbürgen (Transylvania). They have a shop in Zurich which is currently run by their son Béla Bálint. He is a somewhat trained podiatrist and makes tailor-made shoes that are not only stunningly beautiful but good for your feet. And should you now think that tailor-made shoes cannot be a bargain, think again: if you buy an ill-fitting suit your health will not get damaged. In contrast, you spend more than twelve hours a day with your shoes on and an ill fitting one  will ruin your feet and eventually your health. Visit their website here: http://www.balint.at/