Markus Menno Jong's Blog (14)

Let’s Go Out to the Movies! Berlin’s best films, just in time for the 62nd Berlinale.

It is that time of year again…

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Added by Markus Menno Jong on February 10, 2012 at 3:00pm — No Comments

2012 - When the future begins

After…

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Added by Markus Menno Jong on February 7, 2012 at 12:31pm — No Comments

New Year’s Eve in Berlin can be quite frightening for Western tourists who were brought up with the history channel. For them the city was the scene of a bloody battle and brutal day and night bombing campaign. Nowadays at this time of year the din begins a few days before and through the…

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Added by Markus Menno Jong on December 30, 2011 at 3:04pm — No Comments

Berlin's best pizza

I must first start with a disclaimer. I am originally from New York City so I have a very specific idea of what constitutes the perfect pizza. That is not to say New York has perfected pizza. …

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Added by Markus Menno Jong on December 23, 2011 at 6:00pm — No Comments

The (in)Complete Guide to Berlin Nightlife

Thumping bass coming from behind a metal door with no name. Dodgy people hanging out in front of what looks like a grungy, crumbling, graffiti-covered factory. This is the stuff uninhibited, hedonistic dreams are made of. This is where unbridled orgies of excess turn into legend. This is the heart and…

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Added by Markus Menno Jong on December 8, 2011 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Berlin's best sushi

When one thinks of German cuisine, images of platters of pork sausages, fried potatoes, and saurkraut come to mind. The reality is not so far off though the above images are more associated with the southern German gastronomy. The city of Munich even offers…

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Added by Markus Menno Jong on December 2, 2011 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Flea markets and freedom

America is often called (mainly by Americans) the “Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.” Since brave tends to be a more subjective term, freedom is what I would prefer to focus on. When I arrived in Berlin in 1998 I was convinced, like many of my countrymen…

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Added by Markus Menno Jong on October 22, 2011 at 9:57am — No Comments

All that Jazz

When I was a child my father had a Glenn Miller vinyl box set with a painting of him and his trombone gracing the cover. I had never seen anything as enticing as this gold instrument with its long, smooth slide and shiny flared bell which rested so comfortably on his shoulder, making him more god than man. This dapper image of Glenn in his white blazer had burnt a hole in my psyche so in fifth grade when all the other…

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Added by Markus Menno Jong on October 22, 2011 at 7:00am — No Comments

Berlin's hidden History

The relevance of Berlin’s past 150 years in relation to where we are today as a society is undeniable. Much of its history is nowadays buried underground though some of it is hidden in plain sight if you know where to look. Take for example Hitler’s bunker, tucked away behind apartment blocks on Wilhelm Strasse just one block from the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Though the…

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Added by Markus Menno Jong on September 27, 2011 at 8:00am — No Comments

Berlin and her Hofs

Berlin has much love for its two kinds of Hofs, the first being David Hasselhof the second its architecturally unique barracks-style housing or as the Germans call it, “Hoefe” (courtyards). The former is the world famous Knightrider and Baywatch star who feels slighted by the Germans for not giving him…

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Added by Markus Menno Jong on September 4, 2011 at 9:30am — No Comments

Torstrasse, the new art and fashion mile of Berlin

Those of us who were here in the 1990’s remember Torstrasse as a dilapidated, run-down avenue dividing the historic district of Mitte from the then equally shabby residential district of Prenzlauer Berg. Back then the taxi drivers still liked to refer to…

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Added by Markus Menno Jong on August 15, 2011 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Berlin and her airports

Berlin is a massive sprawling city so it is perhaps appropriate for it to have had more than one major airport. When one looks back to the infamous Cold War blockade of Berlin in June of 1948 there were not enough runways in West Berlin for planes to land so during the Berlin Airlift the Allies were forced to get creative. In the French sector of northwest…

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Added by Markus Menno Jong on August 14, 2011 at 7:30am — No Comments

Statistics about Germany

Germany is a land with a wide diversity of dialects, cultural influences and landscapes in which history is notably in the making. The country itself comprises 357,000 sq km. (876 km north to south and 640 km east to west). The biggest mountains are the German Alps in the south; the Zugspitze at 2,962m and the Watzmann at 2,713m, along with the Feldberg (1,493m) in the Black Forest. The state of Mecklenburg in the north is known as the land of a thousand lakes and is the…

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Added by Markus Menno Jong on August 3, 2011 at 1:30pm — No Comments

DR. PONG AND KIM BAR

Grungy Décor

From the outside there is nothing special about Eberswalder Strasse 21. The wall size windows facing the street on the ground floor have been covered with plastic tarp from the inside so there is nothing for the casual passersby to see. Once you work up the courage to step across the graffiti covered threshold…

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Added by Markus Menno Jong on July 13, 2011 at 2:00pm — 1 Comment