East Eats West

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!

 

Expats are leaving Zurich

According to the latest numbers eight percent of the people in Zurich are German expats. They work in banking, hospitals, hotels or as bus drivers. With the economic boom of recent years the Swiss economy was taking in foreigners in big numbers. But now with the downturn some of them are being let go. One clear indication for this trend is the sudden increase in apartments for rent in Zurich. Most of the apartments now coming on the market are multiple bedrooms and rents starting at 4.000 Swiss Francs, an indication that the expats now leaving actually had very well paid jobs.

Congratulations Zurich!

Picture: Zurich lakeside. 

This weekend I tried to explain to visiting Germans why Zurich has become such a popular destination for expats in recent years. After discussing the pros and cons we came to the conclusion that Zurich is just a very convenient place to live in. While this does not make for great advertisement from a tourist perspective, for expats it makes all the difference. Zurich offers all the amenities a big city has but without the hassle of big city, like endless traffic jams. As to proof my point Monocle magazine ranked Zurich in the July/August edition as the most livable city in the world. 
 

Crispy Peking Duck in Zurich

 Picture: A rare sight in Zurich.

On my recent trip to Singapore friends invited me to an amazing Chinese restaurant that specializes in Peking Duck, the famous Chinese roasted crispy duck. So I was wondering if I could find some mouth-watering Peking Duck in Zurich. Luckily I did. The best thing to do in order to find any particular Asian dish is to ask a local, this is what I did. I asked a Chinese waiter in a restaurant and he pointed me to “Naga Sui” restaurant in Zurich. The restaurant is an upmarket Asian fast food place run by a Malaysian and a Swiss. They offer Peking Duck à la minute, meaning that you do not have to order it one day before (should you get this immediate craving). And boy is the duck good! It comes with the traditional sweet brown sauce and thin tortilla-like rice paper wraps. Yummy! Here is the restaurant's website: http://www.nagasui.ch/

PS: I introduced some friends who lived in Beijing to the restaurant and they agree that the duck is first class.

Dolder Hotel won Wallpaper best hotel award

The Dolder Grand Hotel in Zurich, redesigned by Sir Norman Forster, won the prestigious Wallpaper magazin Hotel of the Year Award. Rumours have it that it is still almost empty and this might be a reason that they lowered the day spa rates somewhat to 250 CHF a day. Not exactly a bargain but manageable!

http://www.thedoldergrand.com/en/day-spa-specials/

Almost a private spa

 

Picture: The reflection pool at The Dolder Hotel in Zurich

It used to be the hotel of celebrities and kings until it closed down for renovation for four years. Now it is back with a stylish annex by Sir Norman Forster and a new massive spa. The Dolder Grand Hotel promotes itself as a city resort and with the spa it truly lives up to this. We recently spent ten hours in the less than one year old spa. The highlight of the spa is the reflection pool and the aqua zone with bath tubs full of warm black pebbles and a snow-room. The spa also boasts over twenty beauty treatment rooms and private spa rooms. The spa has two big pluses and one major drawback. The two pluses are the very attentive and friendly staff and the privacy and quietness due to the lack of guests. The biggest drawback is the hefty price of a minimum of 450 Swiss Francs per person. Is it worth it? If you sit in the outdoor Jacuzzi with a view of the Lake of Zurich or snooze in the pebble-filled bath tubs, you will easily forget about the price. Particularly if you spend ten hours soaking as we did. So the answer is yes.

http://www.dolder.ch/