Underneath the cherry blossom tree

All I have been hearing about recently is Japanese cherry blossoms. It may be a coincidence or it may be my friend Marc, who has been travelling East, bringing back wonderful snacks like cherry blossom flavoured chocolate and cupcakes with cherry blossom icing (a very faint flavour actually, cherry blossom, but that aside). It may be the lovely Hiroshige book I got with its beautiful cherry blossom woodblock prints, or the Hokusai exhibition I went to. Pale pink seems to be the new black.

Hiroshige's cherry blossoms

Nestle's cherry blossoms

I'm not the only one under the spell of the cherry blossom tree. Not one, but two sets of friends have been travelling to Japan recently, fervently hoping to catch the blossoms in their full blooming action - which only happens one week of the year, apparently. One of my mates sent me daily pictures of her and her man, smiling goofily under a variety of pink flowers. I have to admit, I got a little jealous.

Then the opportunity presented itself. Not to go to Japan, alas. But to see a real live Japanese cherry blossom tree in action. Yes, Berlin has its own cherry blossom trees and the petals were clinging on for an unnatural amount of time due to the cold snap. Lucky me, having an extra week to catch a glimpse!

A Grand Day Out with Slow Travel Berlin

Today I went to A Day of Creativity, Culture and Cuisine organised by Slow Travel Berlin. And for the first time since moving here I truly felt like I belonged... It was like everything I've been doing sort of came together in this event. There were loads of people I knew, Like Pilates teacher Renate, the Berlin Pop choir people, Nick the musician and Katie from Hudson's, as always in her chef's whites and serving up delicious morsels of something or other. The purpose of the day went right over my head (something to do with sustainability, slow life and good food, with some photography and music thrown in for good measure, I think) but the air was buzzing and the organic soup was flowing. Happy days.

I attended a photography workshop by the wonderful Katrina James of I'll get you my pretty. She took a little group of us out into the streets of Kreuzberg to - shock, horror - take pics. We all want to be photographers but who dares to actually go out there and take the shot? Katrina, that's who. Even though I only had my point-and-shoot camera with me, I took some shots that made me happy. Most of all, the workshop reminded me how much I love photographing stuff, and how much there is out there worth capturing on film. Or rather on pixel. 

Drink a lot: Ankerklause, Kreuzberg

When I was in Berlin last year, scoping out the place as a potential place to live, I was mesmerized by Ankerklause. A beacon of warm light, perching on a bridge half over the water of the canal: it's a place you cannot walk past on a cold winter's night without going in for 'just the one'. The bar has a patchwork collection of rooms, all with a nautical theme and fish painted on the walls. 

Heartwarming in winter, it's great for summer too, when the plastic covers of the 'balcony' are rolled up and you'll be sipping your Bionade outside, looking out over the water. Even the tables out front are a strangely relaxing place to sit and watch the world go by, even though you're sitting almost IN Kottbusser Damm, perhaps the least relaxed street in the whole of Berlin.

Drinks range from my favourite white beer du moment (Schneider hefeweizen dunkel) to a cup of Nesquik, from mojitos to organic white wine. It's the kind of place where you start with a coffee after browsing around the Maybachufer market and find yourself still sitting at the end of the afternoon, having moved on to beers and getting slightly hungry. Not to worry, because they serve food too. The selection's predictable (burgers, nachos, chili con carne) but the quality is good - I loved the plateful of potato salad, mustardy and with just the right amount of chopped pickles, for just €2. I have a feeling I'll be coming back again and again and again...

Ankerklause, Kottbusser Damm 104, 10967 Berlin, +49 (0)30 6935649, open Monday from 4pm, Tue-Fri from 10am, ankerklause.de

10th Berliner Bratwurstmeisterschaft

Bratwurst. Germany's most celebrated food. No matter what the event, somewhere there will be someone grilling sausages to serve to the hungry masses. Yesterday, the event revolved around the food itself. It was the 10th Berliner Bratwurstmeisterschaft. Yes. Yes. Yes. It was time to vote for the best sausage in the city, in the county, heck, there was even an outer region category (with only one contender. They won). I was most excited, though, about the 'creative' sausages. Marzipan and chilli sausages. Pumpkin and mango sausages. Orange and cinnamon sausages. Some where blackened and finely ground in their skins (the spinach and cheese ones), some were too big for their rolls and chunky (the apple and coriander ones).

Apple and walnut sausage

Mackerel at the market

I bumped into the cutest little street market today, on Schönleinstraße (corner Boppstraße, right outside the wonderful Hudson's) in Kreuzberg. It consisted of just one greengrocer's, one baker's, one of those little coffee carts, a flower stall and two people from Ostsee selling freshly grilled fish. I sat on the pavement in the sun, eating my mackerel sandwich. What a way to start the weekend.

Makrelenfilet im brötchen, €3.80

Schönleinstraße Saturday street market

Drink a lot: bubble tea

When it comes to food trends, there's hardly ever a real scoop to be had. We've been having tiny fits over things like cupcakes, ecological eating and balsamic vinegar for years, and believe we're well ahead of the game when 'discovering' new variations on the same old themes: think whoopie pies, farmers' markets and cider vinegar respectively. Ooh. Exciting stuff.

So you can imagine my delight when a Whole New Trend unfolded itself right under my nose. You see, my 'kiez' (neighbourhood) has suddenly exploded with bubble tea shops. The tiny little shops are tucked away between Neukoelln's kebab sellers, one euro shops and the Turkish supermarkets, so I have to be forgiven for initially thinking bubble tea was Turkish. A drink to be enjoyed, perhaps, with your nargile. Totally wrong. As soon as I saw someone come out of a shop holding the actual drink, I realised: it's an Asian thing. (Stepping in and looking at the people - unmistakeably Asian - behind the counter also helped...)

The Asians like their sweets mealy, artificially coloured and highly processed. In shops and coffee places all over Asia, you will find things like crustless sandwiches in cute shapes filled with a sweet paste, chocolates flavoured with the faint taste of cherry blossoms and brightly coloured 'tea' drinks with bits of jelly suspended in them. And that's where the bubble tea comes in.

Bubble tea is a tea-based drink, sweetened by a syrup of your choice and as many different flavours of tapioca 'pearls' (chewy balls made of cassave flour and boiled) or jelly bits as you can stomach. Rainbow jelly, passion fruit, green tea, yoghurt, aloe vera, lychee or mango. It doesn't sound that appealing so far, now does it? The ingredients are shaken, cocktail style, over some ice, strained into a 500ml plastic beaker and sealed. You then get to stab your straw through - extra large to accommodate the sucking up of the balls and jelly bits.

I doubt there is any tea to be found in this drink, and of course it is highly processed and seriously unnatural. Needless to say I wasn't expecting much, flavourwise. However. My jasmin green tea, green apple drink with lemon jelly floaties tasted refreshing, jasminey and not too sweet. Even the jelly bits were palatable, nice even. I loved the fact there are no conventional 'bubbles' in bubble tea - i.e. no carbonated water. Soda drinks make me burp (sorry) and really, how natural is drinking a can of Coke? I may have found a great alternative to the ubiquitous Club Mate for upcoming hot summer days.

Maybe it's time to say goodbye to that widely accepted food trend of 'natural' foods. All hail to the additives. After all, the Asians seem to live long and happy lives on them.

British Brunch Things I have happily adopted during my time there (and hope to never forget)

Suddenly, this week, frying myself some simple fish fingers (all very sustainable and proper), chopping capers and a gherkin for a makeshift remoulade and toasting a bio brötchen for lunch, it hit me. Living in Britain for eight years has freed me from the Dutch Days of Bread. You see, the Dutch eat bread and bread only, twice a day, at least six days a week. Board an average commuter train at 8am and you'll spot them, the businessmen, expectantly opening their lunchboxes (yes, the Dutch businessman carries a lunchbox, I kid you not). Inside you'll find sandwiches. Nothing too spruced up, just sandwiches, sometimes as many as eight of them, for breakfast and for lunch. Of course there are many different toppings for sale, from cut meats to chocolate sprinkles, from jam to coleslaw. But it's still a sandwich.

I can't tell you how lucky I feel to have escaped this fate. Although I would never become a businessman, let alone one carrying a lunchbox, living in Holland means it is hard to escape the Bread Brigade. You need a few firm beliefs up your sleeve. Like: bread is not the be all and end all, no matter what the Voedingscentrum (Food Standards Agency) says. And a selection of quick alternatives to replace your Daily Bread. For me, they are:

1 fish finger butties, as described above (I know, it's a buttie, so there's bread in there somewhere, but it's only serving as a base to serve the remoulade and fish fingers on, not my whole reason for existing)

2 porridge with mashed banana and maple syrup stirred in

3 pancakes (also work well with mashed banana, but if you don't want to feel like a toddler in the morning, you could try blueberries, sugar and cinnamon, or bacon and maple syrup instead)

4 lentil and tomato soup, preferably with a bit of goat's cheese in it

5 smoothies! Frozen red berries, yoghurt, milk, some granola maybe... delicious