Archive for category london

London Cafeterias 50s & 60s

Posted by Volker in london on 29/10/2009

This is a classic and 8 worthwhile minutes to watch.

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London Underground Strike

Posted by Volker in london, personal on 10/06/2009

Amateur Transplants! You made my day!

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Hidden Treasures London

Posted by Volker in london, personal, restaurant review on 02/06/2009

A dirty Martini, or as Hawkeye in Mash says, a dry Martini that can be declared as a disaster zone is the perfect way forward. I did not know that Cocktails and Cocktail bars originated in the US, see blog about Dirty Martinis. The Savoy seems to be a very popular destination for that.

Now, last week I have been to a place that is known as “The Duke“. A gem in London, even the Times Online wrote about it. That is the bar, the famous one, where Ian Fleming got his inspiration for James Bond having his Vodka Martini – shaken, not stirred. I prefer Gin Martinis myself though ;-)

Going there with a few (male) friends is an amazing way of relaxing after a hard day’s work. The friendly waiters with experience of handling and making great Martinis make you feel welcome. A discrete atmosphere, similar to a Gentlemen’s Club where you only want to take your best friends. Not any friends, just the best, the ones that truly deserve your company and the company of the Duke.

I mean, even Wikipedia refers to St. James as the area of Gentlemen Clubs. Not surprising as you find Jermyn Street close by with its fine suits, shirts and shoes, toiletries and of course pipes, cigars and other things for the pleasure of a real gentleman. Also, the Ritz and Buckingham Palace are close by, so you are in best company.

London – what a beautiful city. Every district has its own charm. You walk from Kings Cross down to Holborn and you think you are going from one town to another. From Covent Garden to Hammersmith, from Paddington to Victoria. Yes, I truly love London and its hidden treasures!

PS: for the world’s best bars, visit the website Worldsbestbars.com!

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Sunday Column (12)

Posted by Volker in Sunday Column, food, job, london, personal, restaurant review on 17/05/2009

Time seems to fly quicker and quicker. It has been a few weeks now that I know about finding a new job and the input I am getting from conversations is good. But, so far I have nothing to report…..to the public anyway. But I keep you posted once there are new developments and progress. I have a couple more meetings next week, so keep your fingers and toes crossed.

This week was all about Social Media and Search Marketing. You read about my Inbound Marketing strategy and about the Social Media Summit. Next week I am going to review Viadeo and hopefully find time to write more about personal development and coaching. Also, I give you my views on telemarketing.

On Monday I went to York for some meetings. Tuesday I was booked all day with further conversations, meetings and discussions about my future. See above, I let you know if there is anything to report.

Wednesday I met a friend after work who I haven’t seen for a while. He was in London for an interview and although I only saw him for about 20 minutes before he had to catch his plane, it was so nice to see him. It so makes a difference to see people face to face! The night ended in a work night out before the summit with a few pints too many for a school night – at least for my liking.

The summit, see above, went well and finished with a great networking amongst the speakers in the Albannach in London. Not only do they have a fantastic Whisky collection, they also know how to make a very dry Martini, using Beefeater 24 :-) As Hawkeye in M*A*S*H used to say “I’d like a dry martini, Mr. Quoc, a very dry martini. A very dry, arid, barren, desiccated, veritable dustbowl of a Martini. I want a Martini that could be declared a disaster area. Mix me just such a Martini.”

mash

On Friday I had some meetings with my staff in London before enjoying a well deserved weekend. Starting with the finale of the season of NCIS. A sad and interesting end that will give hope for a “new beginning”. I guess it is another 6 months until the next season comes out.

I also updated my CV to find the right Business Development position in London – so if you hear anything, please let me know. I think a start up or a branch of an existing company that opens an office in London and looks for someone to build their sales and marketing team is what I would truly enjoy. Check out my Linkedin Profile for references!

Also, we went baby sitting with our neighbours, I had a great back massage and good food all weekend. Fingers crossed the weather is nicer next week so that I can do some stuff in the garden. Rainy, cold and windy it was. However, after watching the new episodes of NCIS on Sky, I am tempted to get Sky now too…..it saves me waiting for 6 months ;-( (see above).

Let’s hope for a successful week, hopefully more face to face interviews – partly with some bigger companies that offer interesting opportunities. Maybe, it won’t be a start up after all…more soon.

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Update in pictures

Posted by Volker in Baby, diy, family, garden, house, london, personal on 16/05/2009

I thought I relax your eyes from reading about my life with some lovely pictures :-)

Now, let me explain all of them a bit:

1) That is the first dead mouse our lovely kittens brought home.

2) You remember we are renovating. We managed to paint half the stairs today, so fingers crossed we finish them tomorrow.

3) Our strawberries and real Scottish Thistle.

4) I was writing about my veggies a couple times before, they are growing like mad now.

5) Back last summer we planted wine. It is coming along fine now. Along with the dill next to it and I can spot a ginger tail :-)

6) and 7) is a view over our “end of garden fence” to show you what it looks like. Allotments in Beckenham.

8) My wife Jenny…..in front of our wee house and with a wee man inside her ;-)

9) This is our dining room. We finally turned it 90 degrees and removed the old dirty Ikea carpet we got for our old flat.

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Sunday Column (10)

Posted by Volker in Sunday Column, job, london, personal on 03/05/2009

What a week this was!

It all started normally with a “normal” Monday which was just that: a Monday with all the highs and lows of a day. Due to my continuous knee pain I cannot go to the gym but will see a doctor about that next week again.

Tuesday the news was broken to me and my colleague that our company closes down the London office. Whilst I was given the option to go to York to work in our head office, this is not a good option for me. However, I will wait for the exact information to find out what package will be offered before I make any final decisions.

So from Wednesday it was all about tidying up my CV and sending it out to my network and contacting some Recruitment Consultants. It isn’t really the best time to be on the hunt for a new job. The economy is in a recession, our baby on its way, and it was my Birthday this week too. But, I guess there is only one way: forward; and I am confident to come out of it stronger than before.

Thursday and Friday were pre-booked holidays. It was my Birthday and I celebrated into it with my neighbour down in the Tapas Bar in Beckenham. Out of my Birthday was celebrated with my friends of my Tai Chi class.

On Thursday itself I finally found myself a nice new jacket which did not need any alteration. So it was all good. My wife took me to the Mandarin Oriental in London for a lovely lunch. That was fantastic and brought back all the lovely memories of our honeymoon. Thank you so much for the day.

Friday & Saturday: My Leibfuchs Volker from my German fraternity Franconia Darmstadt came up to London for his stag night. I arrived home again on Saturday night, after a pub crawl and London night clubs…..not really used to that anymore. Neither the boozing nor the late nights. But it was really enjoyable and I hope Volker and the boys enjoyed it too. They seemed like they did ;-)

Today I am chilling. Obviously polishing my CV, preparing things for the anticipation of next week. With the bank holiday tomorrow, this gives me plenty of time to be in top shape again on Tuesday.

Here is what I looked like today at our Sunday stroll through the park:

Volker Ballueder

I somewhat think it is going to be an exhausting night.

So, if you read that and have a position or know someone who does have a position as a Business Development Director or Manager, with responsibility for people, e.g. Head of Sales and Marketing or Team Leader in a larger organisation, please let me know. This position should be based in London. I am more than happy to look into country manager positions to start up a new VC backed company or helping a company to launch in Germany. So please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you and have a lovely Sunday night.
Volker

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Night out in London town

Posted by Volker in food, health, london, personal, restaurant review, wine on 25/03/2009

I know, whilst I am more the “settled down” type, who isn’t really in heading out in London, a good friend of mine and fellow MBA graduate likes to show me around in London now and again to point out new places.

Here we go: Banburi – a nice little Thai restaurant that reminded me of Wagamama a bit. More the atmosphere than the food, because the food at Banburi was great. The calamari as a side dish and the monk fish green curry was excellent. Summa summarum only £35 for 2, including a glass of wine :-)

Afterwards I could be convinced – ok it didn’t take much – to go for a glass of wine. As you know, I am familiar with wine bars in London, and just off Oxford Circus you can find one of the Davy’s places called Chopper Lump.

I had a nice French wine (I know, hard to admit ;-) ), a mixture of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Tannat. Not exactly sure what it was called but it is their weekly offer, “Pelleut” or something similar.

Overall, a very nice evening. Thank you L. and hopefully see you soon.

Any recommendations for good food places are always appreciated :-)

Volker

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Wine Bars London

Posted by Volker in health, london, personal, restaurant review, wine on 17/03/2009

I was reading my Decanter wine magazine about wine bars in London. Not long ago I was looking for some and couldn’t find any. Thinking of Heidelberg and nice cellars with huge kegs and nice food – but not in London.

As you might have noticed I write a bit about wine, my favourite ones are red. Just earlier on I ordered Yalumba, The Menzies, Coonawarra, Cabernet Sauvignon 2004. The 2005 was recommended by Decanter but I couldn’t find it :-( £25/bottle.

Anyhow, the 2 recommended places are:

Vinoteca – 7 St. John Street, London, EC1M 4AA.
Looking at their wine list, it seems to be definitely worthwhile a trip over there.

The 2nd one is Terroirs at Trafalgar Square, 5 William IV Street, WC2N 4DW.

Jamie wrote about it in his blog about wine.

Nothing of course can compare to the oldest wine bar in London, Gordon’s wine bar at Charing Cross. Unfortunately too many tourists and always busy but definitely worth a trip if you have not been.

And, Ebury Wine Bar also serves excellent French food! Roasted Garlic with Pitta Bread and a nice wine list. Not far from Victoria a nice place to take your wife for diner!

Catering for all occasions: Davy’s Winebars. The one at London Bridge, Skinkers, is the one I most often visited.

There is another one just off Leicster Square, downstairs. Unfortunately I don’t remember the name but I am sure it is Cork and Bottle. They have most of the Yalumba selection there to try.

Just off the Strand is another place. Between a bistro, wine bar and gastropub. However, I really don’t remember the name for that one.

As you can see, over the last few years I came across a few good places to drink wine – even or particularly in London. It is one of those cities, where it takes time to find the hidden treasures.

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Jazz, Cigars and a nice Steak

Posted by Volker in food, london, personal, restaurant review on 06/03/2009

Hello,

I was confident I have mentioned the Boisdale before in my restaurant reviews for London. But could not find it. So here we go, we have been for the 3rd time last weekend:

The Boisdale in Belgravia, established as a cigar and food place – and drinks of course – still has a terrace where you can smoke fine cigars.

I guess the “gentleman’s club” atmosphere combined with Jazz, an extensive and expensive selection of whiskys from around the world plus a fine selection of cigars make this place just special.

And, if you have a look at their food menu, this Scottish Cuisine restaurant serves an amazing selection of good food, nice fish and my favourite: plain steak!

So there is not much more to say. Amazing, highly recommended restaurant. If you go for steak and a nice bottle of wine, e.g. the Tannat grape from Uruguay, then make sure you take enough money. For the food itself it is not a bargain place but the atmosphere really does pay off!

Enjoy.

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Tracy Chapman

Posted by Volker in london, memory, music, personal on 16/12/2008

Hello,

My best ever present was a concert ticket to Tracy Chapman.Thank you to my wife!

Tracy has always been around since I know Jenny and I did not find out until at a friend’s party that the singer of “Fastest Car” was actually female. Sorry Tracy :-)

I went out and bought all her CDs a while back, we are talking years now, and keep up to date with her newest releases.

tracy_chapman

What surprised me at the concert is, given she has been on stage for 20 years, that there are few older people. Whilst there were a few older folk, a good few my age (middle age?!), the masses seemed to be (drunken) teenagers and early twenties. However, maybe my perception of younger folk changes as we are getting older :-(

Overall a great experience. Sitting in the Apollo in Hammersmith enjoying live music from a lady that has affected my life for more than 5 years now.

Thank you Tracy. Lets hear more!

Volker

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