East Eats West

Gentlemen, custom-made bicycles and beer

I do not believe in destiny, I believe in connecting the dots. And this weekend many dots got connected at the first Gentlemen's Run in Zurich. Let me explain. During winter good friends of mine stayed in my apartment. As a little thank you they left me an old Swiss military bike. I tried it recently and realized it had some technical problems. The bike mechanic then told me that repairing the bike would not be economical so I sadly parted with the bike. But the bicycle bug bit me and I started looking for a new bike to roam the city. At the new bicycle shop Stilrad in the Viadukt I came across my dream-bike: a German Schindelhauer aluminium bike with a carbon-belt drive. Just perfect for whizzing around the city! While looking at the bikes a man approached me an invited me for the first Gentlemen's Run in Zurich. The Gentlemen's Run has nothing to do with running, more with cruising around town on a bicycle while wearing cool vintage clothes. It is all about style, not speed. And having a beer while on the way. About a hundred gentlemen and a few ladies showed up and we cruised around Zurich, sometimes earning spontaneous applause by tourists and bystanders. I couldn't have wished for a better re-introduction to bicycling, bravo!

Website: http://gentlemensreport.com/gentlemens-run/

The best Peking Duck in Zurich

Picture: Yummy Peking duck can now be had in Zurich as well (here a Beijing restaurant).

The fastest way to finding good Asian food in any city is to ask the locals. This is what I did and I was referred to the very low-key but very yummy Chinese Hot Pot Restaurant on Goldbrunnenplatz in Zurich. The cook is a Chinese from Malaysia and he offers great food for a measly sum (by Swiss standards). Among my favorites are the homemade Chinese dumplings (dim sum), the superb Peking Duck (using ducks from Germany because they have less fat) and the typical Chinese fare like Schezwan beef, sweet-and-sour chicken or Chinese noodles. We took several Asian friends to the restaurant and they all agreed: the Hot Pot restaurant has the best Chinese food in town (MFG is not used in heavy quantities). Address: Birmensdorferstrasse 222, Zürich. Phone: 044 450 30 31.

 

Solar-powered plane first time in Zurich!

Picture: The Solar Impulse prototype plane landing at Zurich airport.

In 2003 Bertrand Piccard, a Swiss adventurist, had the idea to fly around the world in a plane powered by the sun. Seven years later his prototype plane landed at Zurich airport. The authorities closed the airport down for about 20 minutes so that the plane could land safely without interferences from other planes. The plane, which weighs as much as  a car and has four 10 horsepower electrical engines, landed without making any sound, which was in stark contrast to the noisy jet-planes starting before. Seeing the plane land with about 50km/h right in front of my eyes was a highlight of 2010!  
 
 

 

Bollywood Summer Party in Zurich

 

Invasion in Zurich of German blondes

With the upcoming elections the right-wing conservative party chose to attack the over 30 000 Germans working and living in Zurich. The party is afraid that the highly-qualified and very well-integrated will take away potential jobs in the recessions. If that really is true is hard to say, but what I can personally vouch for is that Germans take away eligible Swiss bachelors from Swiss women. At work, in the sauna or the gym or among my friends, more and more Swiss men prefer to opt for German blondes (and brunettes). I am sure in the eyes of the right-wing party this is only a thinly-disguised attempt to slowly invade Switzerland! The party better move fast as I already know quite a few Swiss men who are already married to German girls! 

Rare tea and wild chocolate tasting

Picture: tea-cups reading for Chinese tea tasting at Shui Tang's. 

Wine tastings are very common and bringing an exquisite bottle of wine to a dinner-invitation is a must. Well, not for me as I do not like wine (I like tea and beer). Arguably tea is much older and more common than wine so it has a much richer history (the Chinese have been drinking tea for millennia). And should you think tea-bags when you drink tea, you sure have to learn a lot. While tea hardly goes along with a standard Western meals, one can easily pair tea with chocolate, as we found out at a chocolate tasting at a local tea shop by the name of Shui Tang. The chocolate that was sampled was made of wild hand-picked cacao from Bolivia. A representative of Reichmuth von Reding, a specialist Swiss colonial goods importer, explained the long and burdensome journey of wild Latin American chocolate. He gave us samples of different truffles, some with ginger, others with cumquat-fruits and some with almonds. Then the owner of the tea shop served us two Chinese tea varieties, one smoked and the other one a slightly sweet Oolong. Particularly the strong-flavored smoked variety was a pleasing combination with the slightly bitter and sour chocolate. Should you be interested to learn more about tea or chocolate, best thing is to visit the quant Shui Tang tea shop in the old town of Zurich and start a lively discussion with the very knowledgeable owner.

Or you can order the premium quality chocolate here: https://www.rvrtee.ch/

And should look for some high-grade Japanes and Chinese tea, visit Shui Tang's website: http://www.shuitang.ch/

Picture: Where high-quality tea meets exquisite Asian interior design. 

  

Young Swiss book-binder

 Picture: Handmade with passion and care in Zurich.

In the age of financial crisis traditional handicrafts are in high demand again. Luxury labels were able to stick an eye-watering price-tag on any mass-produced good. Those days are not gone but these days they are far and few between. Consumers are more discerning nowadays. They spend more time comparing and assessing the quality. And locally made products are back in favor again. One of my favorite shops in Zurich that sells well-crafted colorful jewelry boxes and hand-made book covers is run by Beatrice Wetli. She recently took over a book-binder shop in the old-town of Zurich. She is still very young and beams with creativity and enthusiasm. My personal favorites are her colorful jewelry boxes and hand-made notebooks with personal imprints. You find her shop at Froschaugasse 20 in Zürich.

Here is her website: http://www.beawet.li/

 

Movie-making in our office

Picture: Our offices transformed into a movie-set (courtesy of www.tagesanzeiger.ch). 

Martin Suter is among the most popular Swiss writers and soon one of his more recent books will make its appearance as a movie. His books take a close look at the lives of wealthy professionals in Zurich and Switzerland. The characters are lawyers, top managers and bankers. Now his newest book, “Der letzte Weynfeldt”, is currently being made into a movie. The book tells the story of a wealthy art expert at an international auction house. The story takes place in Zurich. One scene from the movie was recently shot in the office I work in. It took the two actors and thirty staff one day to shoot a three minute excerpt of the movie. The office of our CEO, which has a wonderful view of the Lake of Zurich, was emptied and refurbished with art-deco furniture and modern paintings.

The Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger covered the movie-making in an article (in German): http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/kultur/fernsehen/MartinSuterVerfilmung-in-Zuerichs-edelsten-Wohnungen-und-Bueros/story/11893973 

And should you feel the need to be an extra one day, you can sign up here: http://www.statisten.tv/

Elephants in downtown Zurich

The first time I saw elephants roaming around on city streets was in Bangkok a couple of years ago. They were used for begging and were a bit of a tourist attraction (apparently the authorities wanted them banned). Nevertheless, seeing five adult Asian elephants walking around Zurich was a novelty even for me. The elephants apparently do this every year as they are part of the Swiss national circus by the name of Knie.

Overhead airplanes

 Picture: A family having a close look at a landing airplane at Zurich airport.

Since 9/11 airport security around the world has been beefed up. In Heathrow for example it is virtually impossible to get close to a plane without authorization, be it while they are parked or while they are landing or taking off. Even the runway is widely fenced off and clearly off limits. But there are a few locations where airplane enthusiasts still can get a close, in fact a very close look at landing planes. At Zurich airport one is allowed to stand at the very end of the runway. This means that planes directly fly over ones head, 100m above your head that is. The airport authority even put up special parking spots with fast food joints lining the area. So airplane enthusiasts gather every weekend with their binoculars, cameras and walkie-talkie. The walkie-talkies allow them to listen in on what the pilots are saying to the tower. Flying is nice but seeing a plane land so close up lets you realize what a marvel planes are!

PS: I am sure that you are aware that every Swiss soldier has a proper assault rifle in his cupboard. With planes flying in at about 100m it would be easy to hit one with the rifle. Scary thought!