(Almost) Perfect Weekend, A Sad Goodbye, My Favorite Cylon, and the Cutest Thing in Berlin

I attended a two day meeting at our contractor Siemns, oops Nokia-Siemens after their merger. I had no internet access, and couldn't update my blog. I guess this thing is getting addictive, my mind was full of things to write...

So lets start with the (almost) perfect extended-weekend I had last week. Long time ago, I and Diego, defined the "Articles of a Happy Life for an Unattached Young Male" -I can give the link to those interested. Last weekend was a manifestation of the articles. On Friday we started at a cocktail bar, Nachbar, then Refik's dorm room, and ended up in Matrix - one of the most lame clubs in Berlin in my opinion, as usual for a night when we are high on alcohol. But it was one of the best nights in Matrix. Then on Saturday we gathered at my apartment and cooked Manti - Turkish dumplings filled with meat served with garlic yogurt and red pepper fried in butter, my favorite dish by far:


- which was followed by a Pro Evolution Soccer Tournament which ended with my 9 games to 1 game winning ratio (8 wins came in a row):


We opened up Sunday with a American Brunch at Route 66 on Parisier Str. The weather was unbelievable, which filled me up with euphoria. I decided to celebrate the coming of the Spring with Artichokes - my favorite vegetable by far:


I combined Artichokes cooked in olive oil with French shallots and crawfish. Usually I don't combine crawfish with onions, but shallots are milder and went very well. I tried a sauce with broccoli and yogurt, but was not satisfied. I'll try it with a cheese based sauce next time.

The extended weekend ended up with a great win from a weird league game played on Monday which we won 2-0 in Ankara against a team who had always been a tricky opponent. I won't talk about the game as I fear from nazar, but it was great to see the same enthusiasm and passion about the championship in the eyes of the players. Another great thing to observe was that the Ankara supporters has gotten more passionate. This after-game video shows why:



This weekend also marked the end to one of my longest relations with a piece of electronic equipment. My Creative Zen Touch, who served me perfectly the sat 2.5 years, died suddenly from a battery failure. As the batteries are internal, it would mean I had to send it back to get it fixed which would cost a lot as the guarantee ran out. I was not sure if I should go ahead and buy a mp3 player or wait up for i-phone. Lack of a soundtrack of my life hurt me a lot and I went on and bought a 2 gb philipps Go Gear player. It's slim, the controls are easy, the display is colorful. The sound quality is not as good as Creative. So here is my last goodbye to my great Zen, who stood by me during one of the most stormy times of my life:


The third season of Battlestar Galactica is beyond description. I am downloading the episodes one by one and watching them 2 times to enjoy. Third season meant the Number 3's played by Lucy Lawless, aka Xena, get more air-time. She has definitely taken my favorite BSG character from Kara Thrace, I guess this picture from the episode Collaborators explains why:



Lastly I want to spread the word about Knut. I don't like using feminine adjectives like "cute", but I guess Knut is the definition of that adjective. He is the first baby polar bear to be born in Berlin Zoo, and was rejected by his traumatized mother after birth. He survived after intensive efforts of the zoo personnel, and gaining weight rapidly. It was only a few weeks ago that he had his first public appearance. Here is a youtube video of the cutest thing in Berlin: