Hoonio

02/06/2018

Büro-Party nach Domain-Kickoff am Mittwoch. First team dinner with Klarna, on one of those Oktoberfest style long tables. Just as colleagues seems to approve of my value😌 (at Holzmarkt25)
https://buff.ly/2JnYQNn

29/05/2018

Wird die Temperatur im Sommer noch heißer? I have to agree that the global warming is a serious matter.

I feel like being in a green house both at work and home. Suppose this is the downside of living in the loft, but I believe I get more wind from top of the building. Well, this temperature is somewhat ideal so I wouldn't complain. For the worse to come, I should rearrange my furnitures so that I expose myself to more wind from the couch, or a hammock on the balcony? (at Berlin, Germany)
https://buff.ly/2KYYom7

28/05/2018

Großartige Kunstwerke von anderen Londoner-Berliner
*Art

The more spazieren I do, I am amazed how diverse large this city is. Went to this other side of Kreuzberg where the architecture seems to be in completely different style of its own. The weather has been perfect this weekend as usual, but I realize I have to make most of my time here. As I still hold a list of places in London which I have not managed to visit, better start exploring other districts before I consider traveling abroad. (at Berlinische Galerie)
https://buff.ly/2IT4a8f

27/05/2018

Der Himmel ist immer so blau.


One of the nice things about living in the loft is that I often get to take time look up on the sky, plus I get no neighbor peeking through the window from above. All kinds of restaurants & shops I can ever think of within the reach, in this relatively quiet neighborhood, the life here almost feels perfect, yet I don't seem to have mastered how to find peace with myself. What am I still chasing after is yet a question to be answered, only interferes with true appreciation of the present. (at Hoonio Berlin)
https://buff.ly/2LzpUYs

26/05/2018

Zeit wieder gesund zu werden!


Another month end approaching and with my first full salary on its way, I feel like my life in Berlin is finally coming together. It's taken me two whole month, but now I feel like I can enjoy more of what this city has got to offer. Today I finally signed up for a gym membership, the online subscription which lets me try out various facilities in the area. It's always a big step to go back to exercising in regular basis, but I eventually got to close the ticket that has been held on the queue for way too long. Started with my visit to a boulder club on the way back from work, conveniently located midway. Somewhat crowded, seems like a popular choice of leisure in Berlin. It's been 4 years since my last attempt in London, but wasn't so hard as I had dreaded. So many other activities I can do around the neighborhood, ranging from fitness club, swimming pool, yoga to krav maga. Cannot wait to try them all! (at Boulderklub Kreuzberg)
https://buff.ly/2ILQnjH

21/05/2018

Potsdam, meine erste Inlandsreise von Berlin
🇩🇪

Had my first domestic trip from Berlin. Though there are dozens of places I'd like to visit in Germany, I came to realize I'm not that fond traveling, rather prefer to stay home or in the city to spend somewhat uneventful weekend. Maybe I'm just tired of traveling for the time being. Well, I only recently moved into a new place where I can have a total comfort which I haven't enjoyed for awhile. (at Schloss Sanssouci)
https://buff.ly/2IA9P2C

19/05/2018

Feels like ages ago when everything still felt foreign in London, full of excitement at a new job. Good times (at 25 Canada Square)
https://buff.ly/2k8vjcl

18/05/2018

Ceviche, pisco sour y pescado a lot macho, und ihre Hand, yumm😋


So what happens now? Another quiet day at work as many of my colleagues are off to Stockholm for a presentation. Nevertheless I'd fired up through the day so I can leave early for a dinner with Anna. I just somehow brought it up while chatting with her the night before, and we are on our way for the first dinner. After some shopping, we travelled to Schöneberg to try the Peruvian food I'd been craving all week long. There's actually another one on my way back from work, but the weather has not put me in a mood for ceviche all week. After two pisco sours, we headed back to Nollendorfplatz Haltestelle, to part with a kiss, then when our lip unexpectedly met, 🎆 What should I do in this long, royal wedding weekend? (at Pisco Perú Restobar)
https://buff.ly/2k4toWf

15/05/2018

Hundert Tage hintereinander! Ein Prozent Inspiration und neunundneunzig Prozent Transpiration.

Persistence always pays off. Once I fill the daily routine with various tasks and put myself on autopilot for awhile, the magic, easily done. Learning Spanish seemed to work well while traveling through South America, but there's always room to grow. As Peter Thiel puts it, 10x the effort, then notice the impact. Took me more than 30 years to understand the secret sauce and believe in myself, aber naja, nie zu spät. Habe viel mehr zu tun in diesem Jahr.
https://buff.ly/2KZPaqA

14/05/2018

Ich möchte wissen... wer ist der Vater der Kinder?🤔 After all, it's a mating season!

Spent the morning catching up with the overdue lecture videos on global financial crisis I was. A few insightful lessons I would like to reiterate. Like federal reserve, one cannot attain everything, every logical decision entails tradeoffs through prioritization. As happened in a series of quantitative easing, how does one know whether to allocate resources too much or too little? Will I be better off over-investing or under-investing? The fed's thinking process is to go with the choice with less costly implication if they were to be wrong. Well, I'm not currently in a crisis mode, but definitely something to reconsider when it comes to choices in regards to health or relationship matters. So applying the lesson (sofort), do I want to talk to her more often or less?💬 (at Böcklerpark)
https://buff.ly/2IhZj05

Ich möchte wissen… wer ist der Vater der Kinder?🤔 After all, it’s a mating season! Spent the morning catching up with the overdue lecture videos on global financial crisis I was. A few insightful...

12/05/2018

Hmm, interessante Nacht


I don't know where to begin nor what to write about last night... In short, went out to see a kind of singing contest, and met a bunch of people.. interesting people😅 Somehow managed to get up after four hours of sleep so my day rhythm is not fcked!🙌 (at Rauschgold)
https://buff.ly/2G8cAq3

10/05/2018

Einer meiner Favoriten in Berlin


Last night on the way back from Stammtisch I stopped by Dussmann to pick up some books to provide myself with a variety of learning tools. The two different approaches proved to be helpful in improving my Nihongo and Español in the past: manga and bilingual books. It seems as though learning each language requires a different approach. Daily repetition using the mobile learning app may have been helpful for Spanish for instance, but sometimes it gets me more confused when it comes to German, possibly because as I would put it, a common German word can mean ten different things, for each there are ten other words to describe the same thing. For such complex relationship between words, together with abundance of irregularities of the frame, I figure the next best solution is reinforcement through exposing myself to as many media as possible. The hardest part is always getting started, once I get in rhythm, time will be on my favor. (at Dussmann das KulturKaufhaus)
https://buff.ly/2FZmc6h

09/05/2018

Ein anderer schöner Tag. Immer etwas neues zu sehen in Berlin!
🇩🇪

Went to another stammtisch today, this time the one hosted by the volunteers from Duolingo. It was nice to talk to those who are more or less at the same level of fluency as I am (A1 I suppose). This meet up was comprised of people mostly from places other than Syria or Turkey, which gave me further insight into expat life in Berlin. Today at work, I spent some time reading about the Berlin blockade and as a result, Berlin Airlift in the end of 1940s. How much effort British-American forces put into retain this piece of land during the cold war era and a new generation of youngsters came to settle here for their own motives. More history I learn about this city, I feel privileged to be part of it whilst another era is about to begin here once agsin. Someone asked me of my view in Brexit today. Although I haven't given much thought about how it would impact my future, I soon came to appreciate that it is one of the primary reasons I am here at this moment. Regardless of what happens in the world surrounding, after all, it is down to individuals how to take into one's own opportunity. (at Reichstag)
https://buff.ly/2KLAYRK

08/05/2018

Jeden Tag ist es so schön😍


On the first commute from my new home, it is so pleasant to be able to walk leisurely for fifteen minutes in a quiet morning. Wish I could spend every minute chilling at home but I'm sure I will get plenty of time for that. A lot to happen this week, not to forget another public holiday coming up this Thursday. As there is only a handful of people I know in this city of 4 million, I suppose I should take every opportunity to socialize with new people. (at Hobrechtbrücke)
https://buff.ly/2KJ3Daj

07/05/2018

Die beste Küche aller Zeiten


Zweiter Tag im meinen neuen Haus. Spent the weekend cleaning the house, went for a grocery for the first time in Berlin, still amazes me Howe cheap everything is. Also practiced my Geiger for two days, so far no complaints. While there seems to be two other tenants at each end of the corridor on the floor, good thing that there is no apartment unit across the hallway. The building is usually silent makes me wonder what the neighbors are up to. Berliners don't seem to bother closing the curtains, wonder if they even installed any. Looking down into the courtyard from the top occasionally, the scenery reminds me of the film, lives of the others. Although I believe there are no Stasi nor Gestapos nowadays, having watched so many movies & TV series dealing with antagonizing Germans, I often feel like living in the city of the past times, but I can only wish that history sometimes doesn't repeat itself. Now that I have some lone time to spare, started watching Babylon Berlin. Yet based in another time period during the turbulent times of Weimar Republic, provides further insight into the history of Germany and the actions take place in Berlin! The city so full of unique history, one doesn't get tired of Berlin. (at Hoonio Berlin)
https://buff.ly/2KJ4iZ0

05/05/2018

Meine süße neue Wohnung!


Finally!! After 6 weeks living in Berlin, I moved into my own flat, a cozy studio on the loft, newly refurbished. New place for everything from flat, office, job & country. Everything is in place now and I'm ready to rock n roll. Having just moved in late at night, the place feels strange still, but it will soon be my beloved home. Looking forward to all the housekeeping to do this weekend! (at Sanderstrasse 4)
https://buff.ly/2FJOXEd

03/05/2018

Meine erste Deutsch stammtisch. Was für ein ganz produktiver Tag war heute!


It's my sixth week here in Berlin, and things are slowly getting in order. Now I have a daily routine in place, which I am able to follow at ease, for the progress is increasingly noticeable. I started watching video lessons on Moocs yesterday, done some coding after work which yielded a minor release on one of the staging servers, and today I finally went to a German conversation lesson run by Erik, which is likely to be the first & last. Not only I was surprised at myself for being able to keep up with the group conversation, it has given me confidence to possibly take this to next level. I also appreciated how much English literacy helps to understand the German language after seeing the Syrians in the group confused on the grammatical aspects I have previously considered somewhat obvious. Most importantly I have found another person I look forward to having further conversation in German, the one that doesn't seem so dumb as implied by her alias. I am pretty close to a completion of the course on Duolingo app with which I spend about an hour a day during commute, I expect to hit the tipping point soon once I supplement it with Pimsleur audio set & more real life conversations with actual humans.

Deutsche spreche, schwere Sprache, aber es ist noch kein Meister vom Himmel gefallen! (at Neue Nachbarschaft // Moabit)
https://buff.ly/2jpZnA5

02/05/2018

Erste Mai in Kreuzberg
So voller Leute


Went to check out the May day fair in Kreuzberg with Erik & Brigitte today. Historically this day has seen violent outcomes between extremists, especially in the late 80s but nowadays it has become more of a street festival akin to London Marathon or Notting Hill Carnival. Had beers in plastic cups and hotdogs from the street parlours. Ooh, also tried one of many bike sharing systems on the way to/from Kreuzberg. In Berlin, there are multiple companies competing for the bike rental market, I have seen at least 4, unsure what benefit there is for consumers to have 4 choices of bikes because the one I signed up for (Deezer Nextbike) is nowhere to be found in Moabit area. Anyways, it's quite convenient here that I don't have to return the bike to the proper station in racks. I can literally abandon it on the street as long as it's locked. Most residents seem to own the bikes; nevertheless, there is also the joy of cycling through this beautiful city: fahrvergnügen! No wonder why the city is flooded with bikers. (at Oranienplatz)
https://buff.ly/2rfWGnU