Yuja Wang in London

About a month ago I visited London for 4 days (I know, I should have written about my trip much earlier on my blog… (^_^;). I went to Yuja Wang's piano concert accompanied by London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Hall. I don't know if you know her but she is AMAZING! A GENIUS! She played one of the most complicated piece by Prokofiev without any mistake!

Like Lang Lang, she is an extremely talented Chinese classical pianist who started playing the piano at the early age and studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and they also both studied with the same teacher - Gary Graffman - at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

When they start playing the piano at concerts, it's like you are under their spell and are mesmerized but at the same time excited and your heart starts beating fast! You can almost feel their energy they are putting into the piano...

Not only her virtuoso performances at the piano attracts much attention but also her very short dress and super high-heels! ;-) That's her style when she is playing at concerts. She draws lots of criticism with that but she simply explains: "I can dress in long skirts when I'm 40." :)

After the concert, Yuja must have been really exhausted but she took time for her fans to give autographs, take pictures and chit chat with them. Very likeable and nice, like a girl next door!

Somersby "Apple" promotion party

As already mentioned in my previous blog, thanks to coolbrandz, I got 4 dozens of Somersby bottles and organized a promotion party for my friends. The theme of the party night was "apple" so I prepared some food with apples and refrigerated the bottles.

 

 I hung some posters from Somersby...

 

 ...and handed the cool bottles as soon as my guests arrived.

 

I personally like this drink a lot. It's refreshing, sweet & fruity like carbonated apple juice but since you don't taste the alcohol you might risk drinking too fast & too much (well, that was my case... (x_x)).

People who like drinking alcopops or sweet alcoholic drinks in general, said that they loved Somersby. :D

And those people - mostly guys or girls who prefer to drink beer to alcopops, told me that Somersby is good but too sweet for their taste. 

So overall, I could say that Somersby is a typical ladies' drink (or a drink for anyone who have sweet teeth)! ;-)

Somersby is already available in many other European countries - they even have other flavors and light version :) - but not yet in Switzerland... Don't worry, you don't have to wait for too long, on 1 April 2014 the Somersby Apple Original will be launched in Swiss shops for the first time!

Thank you coolbrandz for letting us testing this awesome drink! 

I will definitely buy Somersby after the acutal launch!

Cheers!

Somersby - coolbrandz product test

Another fun product test organized by coolbrandz! This time I will be testing an alcoholic drink called SOMERSBY. It is a "refreshing apple drink with 4.5 % vol. alcohol from a combination of apple juice and fuit wine". 

Before the drinks are launched in Switzerland on 1 April 2014, we, the coolbranders are the lucky ones who get to try them in advance!

So, 2 heavy packages arrived last weekend. *excited*

Hello Somersby! What a nice package design!

I think I was supposed to get 1 case with 24 bottles of Somersby but I got 2 cases! :-O
I guess this is a mistake - I really hope the drinks are good!

I have planned a home party at my place on the following weekend (it's tonight, on Saturday) so that I can share Somersby with my friends but before that I just wanted to try one...

I placed 2 bottles - one for my sweetie & one for myself - into the fridge in the morning and in the evening we opened the bottles after dinner while watching a movie....

 

Mmmhhh, it smells like an apple juice and tastes like a non-alcoholic apple cider - kinda like "Apfelschorle" in German or "Süess-Most" in Swiss-German but less sweet! I couldn't taste the alcohol but I don't mind that at all. I definitely LOVE this drink!!!! Really refreshing and yummy! 

I think this drink will be popular among the ladies but maybe less among the guys... My boyfriend only drank half of the bottle and said it was too sweet for him. :-P So, I happily drank the rest of his bottle!

Let's see what my friends' gonna have to say about Somersby at my "promotion party" tonight!

I will keep you posted!

#somersbyswitzerland

#stayopenminded

Süskind Zurich

If you like perfumes and perfumed candles but don't want to buy mass products and smell like the mainstream, Süskind is the perfect store.

The perfumery of Mayumi Matthaeus is located at Scheitergasse 10 in Zurich Niederdorf.
Please also refer to the map and the surroundings on cityheat.ch: www.cityheat.ch/jetset.html

 In this lovely store you can find extraordinary perfumes and perfumed candles which you rarely find or don't find elsewhere in Switzerland. Mayumi, the daughter of a Japanese mother and Swiss father, who is also a mother of three children herself, helps you to find a suitable scent!

The flacons all look very extraordinary and there are many unique scents like rose with coffee, chocolates, ginger,... My favorite is "Roses Musk" from MONTALE Paris!

www.sueskind.ch

Scheitergasse 10, 8001 Zürich

+41 43 244 95 70

Mon - Tue: 11:00 - 18:30

Sat: 11:00 - 17:00

CityHEAT.ch

If you are new in Zurich or want to discover the places that you have to see but don't have much time, you need to download this free mobile app called "CityHEAT"!
It's a free city guide of Zurich where you can find a simplified map of Zurich and useful information such as where you can go shopping, where you can find deli-restaurants, clubs and bars, or some information around the lake - where is the best spot for swimming, where can you get an ice-cream or a cool beer in summer...
CityHEAT has currently 6 main topics:
CITY HEAT, LAKE HEAT, SHOP HEAT, TOWN HEAT, RICH HEAT and FOTO HEAT.
Under CITY HEAT, you can find a city map and the name of the important spots in the city.
Under LAKE HEAT, you will find information around the lake;
SHOP HEAT, as the name suggests, is all about shopping
and TOWN HEAT about the old town area.
RICH HEAT will lead you to shops with luxury objects, clothes, jewelries and watches - bling bling!
FOTO HEAT is still on construction - it will reveal later the best spots where you can take nice pictures with the perfect scenery in the background!

I really like the color of this page - dark-violet, -red, -blue and black. Very stylish!
Use your bar code scanner of your mobile phone and scan the bar code below or simply type in www.cityheat.ch and enjoy!

via www.cityheat.ch

Fork & Bottle

Yesterday, a friend of ours called and asked if I was up for late lunch but since my sweetie had a light meal just before, we decided to have dinner together instead. We asked google for a non-pricey, good burger or steak restaurant in Zurich and ended up at "Fork & Bottle".

It's an American restaurant with a nice outdoor seating and garden (must be nice in summer) which is run by Americans and located a little out of the way but perfect to avoid the hustle and crowd. The restaurant is also kids-friendly - they have a playroom upstairs and a little pony ranch outside. 

Beer lovers should definitely come here since they have a wide selection of craft beer, brewed in Switzerland and Italy. The dinner menu is on the small side but they are attractive and apparently changing every week or so: this week they had 3 different starters, pork ribs, confit of pork belly, 3 different burgers, fish and chips, chicken & leek pie, 3 different desserts and 3 different kids menu.  The prices are a little lower than Zurich average except if you order special beers - the cheapest they offer is CHF 7.50 for a bottle of 330ml and CHF 30.- for a 750ml bottle! 

When we arrived the restaurant at 6PM we were the first guest but other people arrived gradually and on the second floor there was also a private party going on. Most of the guests were English-speaking; families with little children.

 

As a starter, I had the famous "Spinach and Artichoke dip served with a basked full of Nacho chips" (CHF 14.-). OMG, that was reaaaaallllly delicious!!!! I thought dips have usually a mayo- or yogurt- or cream cheese base but this one was much better than any of them - it was melted cheese with spinach and artichoke - kinda like Cheese Fondue. :)

  

I ordered the "Black Bean Veggie Burger" that came along with hand cut fries for CHF 19.- . The homemade bun was very good but hmmm to be honest, the veggy patty wasn't my favorite... Maybe because of the "Chili jam" sauce which was slightly sweet. I had the same problem with the "Bacon Avocado Burger" at Holy Cow (please refer to my blog entry "Holy Cow! - a good fastfood burger in Zurich") which was served with "red onion jam". The burger itself was good but I didn't like the combination with the sweet sauce...

My sweetie and our friend ordered the "Classic Fork & Bottle Burger" (CHF 22.-).

The service is friendly, very attentive and likes to make jokes. :)

www.forkandbottle.ch/

mike@forkandbottle.ch

Allmendstrasse 20, 8002 Zürich

Tel: 044 201 18 17

Service: ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩                                Value for money:   ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
Food:     ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩                                Atmosphere:          ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Hero - Rhonda Byrne

From The Secret Daily Teachings:

"Most people only think to ask for health when they don't have it, but you can intend great health at any time. Use the power of your intention every single day and see yourself healthy and well. Intend health for you and intend health for others."
(by Rhonda Byrne)


Great news for all "The Secret"-fans: a new book from Rhonda Byrne is coming out soon!!!!! It's called "Hero" and will be available from 19 November 2013!
I'm soooooo excited!!!!!
If you wann know more about "The Secret" and all the other books from the awesome author Rhonda Byrne please check out this link below and my blog entry "The Secret - it changes your life"! You won't regret it, actually, it will change your life in a very POSITIVE way! ♡ ;)

www.thesecret.tv/hero/