Hibernate Me

It's well and truly winter here so I intend to spend much of January in hibernation. That means if you don't hear from me for a while, please don't be alarmed - I will be having the time of my life with Mad Men season 3, Woody Allen and the plethora of English language books I purchased in Berlin. I'll still post stuff here though - I'll just be avoiding other aspects of the internet. Here's a nice photo of some birds I took near Gandan monastery the other day after I went for my second ever stack on the ice. Consider it my photographic interpretation of the year ahead. Or just a pretty picture. More Berlin pics here with photos of New Years Eve in -30 on a frozen square to come soon. Шинэ жилийн баярын мэнд хvргэе.

I Ate This In Berlin #2

My expat friends living in Berlin say they are BIB* when they get home after being out of town. I am now BIUB# after spending a week IB^. (I am currently working for an NGO. Acronyms are becoming my life). I had a lovely time with the beautiful Ria + Chris and ate + drank many delicious things.

At a delightful xmas market we drank glühwein with Harriet. Not too much though - spewing warm red wine is no fun for anyone.

We drank Russische hot chocolate (go for one part cocoa and 17 parts vodka and you're on your way. Hello Moscow).

Christo gave a duck a bath before roasting it for xmas lunch. That duck sat on my knee in the train on the way home from the market. It had a bony butt. Its mother should have told it to eat more.

I saw these in the local booze shop. Of course I purchased them. Wouldn't you?

*Back In Berlin

#Back In Ulaanbaatar

^In Berlin

I Ate This In Berlin #1

I am in Berlin, Germany this week. It is like being on summer holidays, only there's snow instead of sand and glühwein instead of sangria. The temperature is an almost tropical 3°C as opposed to -45°C in Ulaanbaatar. I came here excited by the prospect of lots and lots of fresh vegetables and fruits from mystical islands. Instead I got currywurst.