the search for new fruits goes on, this time aided by the fruit section of local semi-fancy supermarket!
granadilla was lovely. on the inside, it looks and tastes a lot like passion fruit, which was a surprise!
the sweet pepino on the other hand, was a bit of a disappointment – it tasted of honeydew melon, but very mildly and not as sweet. perhaps it wasn’t ripe yet? oh well… the search continues!
after the clouds cleared out on sunday, we made our way to the thai park. the park would be a very normal (and boring) park, if it wasn’t for the the thai community, who gathers here weekly to mingle. the whole thing reminds us so much of the filipino ladies in hong kong!
anyway, as you can probably imagine, it wouldn’t be a gathering without food! happy to feed all nationalities, the ladies there have their tiny gas cookers and thermo boxes ready, smiling at the curious passerby.
here’s what we had yesterday:
clockwise from top-left: baozi, pink lotus buns, crispy slices of banana fried in coconut flakes and amazing pad thai made on the spot!
it was all so good… and the baozi! i almost couldn’t believe my eyes (or my luck!), i’d been missing them :) all of this while laying around in a towel, enjoying the sun and the laughter of our nearby neighbours, buzzing in a language we didn’t understand… it was perfection, the perfect afternoon.
berry farms are a thing in berlin (in germany?) – but i fear they’re the kind of thing that would never catch on in my home country. i can imagine the puzzled voices of my family members: you drive to a farm, pick your own fruit, and then have to pay in the end?! why would you go through all that trouble, when there are so many strawberries in the supermarket?
eheh, the portuguese are nothing if not practical. despite the imaginary raised eyebrows from my family members, we’ve gone berry picking twice now, in a nearby farm, and it was lovely. the first time strawberries were in season, and we brought home a few kilos which we ate and turned into rhubarb-strawberry jam (everyone at home raved about it!). the second time, a week ago, i was hoping to catch some raspberries, but they were all gone… so we brought blueberries instead.
we don’t eat fruit very often, so berries feel like a treat – and getting them from a farm makes them somehow even more special. plus, the advantage of picking the fruit at its ripest (and tasting it as you go along) is very nice. i don’t think i ever ate strawberries as delicious as the ones i picked there, in early june.
now that i am looking at this post, i realise that it berry picking doesn’t look that exciting – you probably wouldn’t do this if you were here on your holidays… but these little things are part of the reason why i like “living abroad” so much, versus “visiting a country”. it’s all in the details!
organising a tea swap has been on my list forever… i really like discovering new teas, and am always on the look out for new flavours. i like almost all tastes, except maybe strong green teas… and i’m not even so sure about that, since i recently discovered that i quite like matcha. i’m definitely open to surprises!
lately i’ve been collecting them, setting some aside for the purpose of swapping. so, how’s up for some tea exchange? i’ll send you some, you send me some, everyone is happy! :) nothing fancy, just some sachets or loose tea that you like or find interesting. leave a comment below, if you’re up to it! i think i can take up to 5 people, all places full now! don’t worry, if all goes well, i’m up for a second edition!
finally! after months on the prowl, we’ve tasted the elusive taiyaki! we’d been looking for this particular stall of fish-shaped cakes on the street markets for such a long time that i’d already given up hope of ever catching them… and then on a cloudy sunday, in the middle of nowkolln’s flohmarkt, there they were! 
we couldn’t resist the red bean one… it was a good choice. the taste was so familiar and yet so hidden in the back of my mind… it was like being swept by this wave of asia-longing! can’t believe i used to get annoyed when i mistaked red bean for chocolate on croissants, and now look at me, reminiscing of it… *sigh*