lilbro's surprise for me!

Me and Dani's gift
Originally uploaded by CruisAir

A few days ago, early morning, I was just up, the door bell rang and the postman had a small package for me: a gift by my beloved lilbro! He had made a book with all the photos of our trip to Japan and he gave it as a gift to me and on that mentioned morning it arrived! Just like that, as a surprise, isn't that fantastic?!

I am so happy, it is really beautiful, thank you so much lilbro! All the wonderful memories come back to my mind and it makes me extremely happy to think of all the good times we had, it was a fantastic trip and this book is a perfect way to remember it and share it with others! Looking at it makes me want to start planning the "sequel" with you lilbro. I wish I could share it here with you, my readers, but one can only really appreciate the efforts he put in it and the beauty of it when taking it in your hands and physically turn the pages.

I have shown it to several colleagues already and they all liked it very much! But their appreciation is nothing compared to mine. I am so proud of my lilbro, of our trip, of the book and I am truly thankful to you for showing me so much of that beautiful country Dani. Without you, I would never have seen all the beauty this country has to offer.

In moments that I feel a bit sad without really having a reason I can think of our trip and look at the book and all the beautiful memories come back and the warmth of love and harmony comes back and wraps around me like the warm blanket that I sometimes need. You haven't told me but I know it's a very special book, a magical gift to me.

Thank you, a thousand kisses and hugs, my beloved lilbro! That's by far never enough to thank you for it, but I hope you accept it as a first down payment on my debt ;)

My trip with Dani to Japan: a video summary by Dani.

Today, I would like to share a video with you. It is very precious to me for several reasons: my lilbro Dani made it and it is a beautiful and stunning summary of our vacation in Japan. In my eyes, he captured the true spirit of our holiday: the harmony between us, how we enjoyed the exotic destination, the beauty of the country and its people, how we had fun, how we laughed, how we enjoyed to discover all the things we came across daily! He managed to put all our excitement and joy into this beautiful short video. When I watch it I do remember all the moments, all beautiful emotions I associate with the images come back and I really do enjoy that. It feels like reliving the holiday with Dani again. I hope you all like it as much as I do. Please enjoy.



Thank you Dani, my beloved lilbro, for making this wonderful video. It's a gem and a wonderful surprise you gave me.

It makes me very happy.

Here, have a million dollars.

"You have to give away a million dollars."

Wow. That's easily answered you would think, right? Well, at least I thought so in the first instance. But then, when I started to think about the details I couldn't exactly figure it out. Of course you start thinking "I have to give to charity". After all, people look at you and your answer and most probably expect that. But then it get's difficult: what charity? But then again, what do I care about others? It's my money supposedly and I can decide what I do with it.

Suppose there are no restrictions in how I give away the money:

What I knew right away was that I would split the amount: Of course I would give some of it to my parents. Then another part would go to my friend Katja. Many years ago I made a deal with her: should I ever win the lottery I would give her part of that. I made the same promise to my lilbro, he would get a significant (bigger than Katja's) amount as well. I would also make sure a small part would go to my ex Klaus, he is a great guy but always short of money. For him a monthly transfer of a certain amount over a longer period would be nice. Then, of course I would make sure there is a big amount for my hubby. I would want him to have a financial safety net. A little is left now for charity. I don't exactly know what charity it would be but I think I would like it to be some gay project. I would have to investigate what kind of gay projects I would consider worthy receiving some money. So I wouldn't save the planet, environment, kids or animals with it. No, it should be something to help other gays.

So, here's how I would split it up:
Mom and Dad 200000
Katja 100000
Lilbro 200000
my ex 100000
my hubby 300000
charity 100000

Well, it's definitely not spectacular but I like the idea that I could give some money to my loved ones. They are dear to me. I could see the money go to a good cause and not disappear in an anonymous giant charity organization.

Suppose this split up of the money and giving it to family/friends would not be allowed:

I can see this alternative: I would set up a trust that gets the full amount. The members of the trust who decide what charity receives money from it would be (guess who) my mom and Dad, Katja, lilbro, Klaus and Jelle.

So this would be my million dollar spree. How would your's look like?

Trip of a lifetime: going to Japan with Dani.

Dani and me in a typical yukata provided by our hotel during our stay.

Beginning of March I had the privilege of taking a trip to Japan with my beloved lilbro Dani. Let me give you a short trip report of our holiday. I can summarize the overall impression of this trip in one word: unforgettable!

A few months ago we had the idea of making a short visit to Japan. After all, it's Dani's passion and if you know him you know how much he loves the country, the language, it's culture. When going to work I passed a small advertisement stand at the airport which was of the city of Tokyo where I picked up some info material, amongst it a flyer of the Tokyo Anime Fair. Around this event we would eventually build our little trip which ended up being two weeks long. ;-) We also soon decided this would be a trip just for the „brothers“ that we are, the soulmates, without our beloved hubbies. They would stay at home this time.

Dani and Sera saying Goodbye at the airport in Madrid

I had been to Tokyo in 1987 for the first (and last) time but I barely remembered something of the city. So I gladly enjoyed Dani's planning for our trip, trusting his expertise as he had been to Japan two years ago – anywhere we'd go would be new for me. Dani's plan would bring us to Kyoto, Okinawa and Tokyo from where we would make excursions to several places of interest for us.

Dani onboard the Lufthansa Airbus in Business Class

So, on a friday morning, I left Amsterdam and flew to Frankfurt where I would check-in at the Sheraton Hotel right across from the terminal building, store the luggage and proceed straight to the next flight, one from Frankfurt to Madrid where I would pick up my lilbro in the afternoon. We both returned to Frankfurt the same evening and stayed at hotel. The next day, saturday, our Lufthansa flight would take us to Osaka (of course we travelled in style in business class) and from there we took our first train ride during this fabulous holiday to get to our hotel for the next days, a traditional japanese Ryukan in Kyoto.

One of the Shinkansen trains we travelled on.

From our base at Kyoto we made fantastic and very interesting excursions with trains (either local or one of the many variants of the Shinkansen) to Nara, to Hiroshima, to Osaka, to Miyajima and to Fushimi. These places were all different and yet so fascinating. If I had to name a favorite, it would be really difficult. For some reason I tend to like Fushimi very much, I can't really tell why. But Miyajima was also very beautiful and it is also considered to be one of the three most scenic spots of Japan. On the other hand, very impressive was the visit to Hiroshima. It touched me deeply, especially our visit to the museum dedicated to the memory of the desaster that hit the city with the deployment of the atomic bomb.

Me in Hiroshima.

After a few days we continued our journey by plane and headed a little over two hours south to Japan's „Hawaii“, to Okinawa. Here, a mild, spring like climate awaited us (after the winterly temperatures of Kyoto). We stayed in the islands capital Naha, which to me seemed like a smaller version of Honolulu, a little more modern, cleaner yet a little less beautiful. Unfortunately, to see Okinawas beautiful beaches, you better don't stay in the capital but rather head north on the island where many luxurious resort hotels can be found. We did get our fare share of natural beauty though on a self organized excursion to one of the closer outlying islands, to Tokashiki


Grotere kaart weergeven

Here, we found beautiful crystal clear waters on white sand beaches and water as blue as you'd always dream of a South Pacific sea would be like. We rented a bike and drove from one side of the island to the other and had a brilliant day on this remote, deserted spot. The weather was nice too and we managed to get a sunburn that day.

Dani in Naha, Okinawa.

After our few, relaxing days on Okinawa we again took the plane and headed north again and flew to Haneda, Tokyo's „city“ airport. In Tokyo, we again stayed at a Ryokan, the typical japanese style hotel. Of course as one can imagine the city is so large that it takes days to get at least a first impression of this fascinating metropolis.

Dani and me at night in Tokyo.

We walked through the most famous and interesting districts, at day and night, like Akihabara (where we looked for some electronic gadget bargains which in the end we didn't find). Of course we managed to visit the beautiful Ghibli Museum, a visit I can really recommend if you like the movies of Miyazaki!

Dani and me at the Ghibli museum.

We went to Shibuya and also Shinjuku, we went up on the Tokyo Tower, payed visits to Roppongi Hills to enjoy the spectacular views from the top of Japan's highest building at night, we walked through the center along the Emperor's Palace and of course payed a visit to the Tokyo Anime Fair which was very interesting to attend to! Of course we had a drink one night in a gay bar and Dani even introduced me to a gay sauna, my first visit ever – how exciting!

We visited the Tokyo Anime Fair.

Also from Tokyo we used the Shinkansens and went a little south to Hakone where we spent a wonderful day and enjoyed spectacular views of Japan's sacred mountain, the Fuji-san. We made a sightseeing cruise on Lake Ashi, rode the ropeway and took different trains and buses around the Hakone area. We concluded our day with a relaxing visit to a big and beautiful japanese Onsen. We were impressed by the beauty and the more begged for such an institution in our own countries. One can't describe the pleasance of having a relaxing bath while socializing with your friend, enjoying the soothing effect of the water and calmness on body and soul.

Another excursion took us north to Sendai and a little further to Matsushima, considered one of the three most scenic spots of Japan. We again were very lucky with the weather and enjoyed a beautiful sunny day at this gorgeous spot on the northern coast of Japan. We took an enjoyable little boat cruise around the bay of Matsushima and before returning to Tokyo paid a very brief visit to the city center of Sendai, a city that surprised us how big and clean it was. We somehow had expected a much smaller city up there in the north. Again we returned by the reliable Shinkansen in a two hour ride back to Tokyo.

During our visit to one of the three most scenic spots of Japan, at Matsushima.

Our trip to Japan ended much too soon unfortunately. We spent lovely days at all places. Dani and I got along very well. To me it felt as if I knew my lilbro for ages. I truly enjoyed his company day and night and now, being at home, I can honestly say I miss him very much – in a good, pleasant way of missing your buddy, your true friend, someone you really love and very much look forward to seeing him again real soon if possible. To me, this was a very special trip, certainly an unforgettable trip of a lifetime. It was an honour to spend it with you Dani, I feel privileged to have been your travel mate for this memorable journey. From the bottom of my heart, I deeply thank you for being that special friend that once again you proved to be. Thank you for taking me with you on this journey. I will cherish the precious memory in my heart.

All comes to an end, eventually: we are checked in for our return flight in Business class again to Munich. A kind ground staff of All Nippon Airways offered to take this shot of us at Narita airport, one day before the terrible crash of the FedEx plane that a day later would turn the airport in a chaos.

Thank you Dani, for all you did, for the great times, the wonderful holiday, for the little brother you are to me. A million kisses and just as much hugs to you, beloved lilbro. Still, that wouldn't be enough...

Happy Valentine's!

Today, a week ago I had one of the most beautiful moments of my life: I was at the Mamma Mia musical in London, they sang my absolute favorite song of all time "Dancing Queen" and I was there with my Jelle and Dani and Sera and then my beloved lilbro Dani and I started singing out loud this wonderful song together! I was soooo happy and it's a very precious memory now, one I will cherish for all time.



Thank you Dani, Jelle and Sera for making this such a wonderful moment, I owe you my deepest thanks. A million kisses to you.

I love you guys. Happy Valentine's day.

Unforgettable visit

My very special birthday cake, candles blown out already after I made a wish

So on Friday was my birthday and as I had said before I would go to London to celebrate it!

To summarize it shortly: it was the best birthday I've had. After we all had arrived in London and checked in at our hotel I was in for a big surprise: Dani, Jelle and Sera had organized a birthday cake for me and they entered the room with it, singing "Happy Birthday" to me! Now that I think of it it does bring tears of happiness to my eyes... it was really so beautiful, at that moment I felt the luckiest person in the world! Thinking back of it, I am happy again! I was there, with my hubby and my most beloved friends celebrating my birthday for the first time in many years. Since a long time I did not bother to celebrate this day. I accepted that my parents would congratulate me but I never felt like celebrating it with somebody. But this year was different: some things in my life have changed and therefore I also wanted to celebrate my birthday again. I opted to make it special and asked Dani and Sera if they would come with me to London to see Mamma Mia together! When they said "YES!" that was the biggest and most beautiful gift for my birthday already! I was so happy that I had the chance of celebrating this (non special 42nd) birthday with them and my hubby Jelle.

The same night we had a very nice meal in an asian restaurant (and my chopstick capabilities are terrible... how am I gonna survive a vacation in Japan...?) and after returning to our hotel we took a piece of my birthday cake for dessert ;-)

Jelle, Dani, Sera and me

The next day, Sera's good friend Marisa joined us and we strolled leisurely through London, did some shopping, met my flickr friend Bernie finally for the first time which was really great fun! He is as nice in real life as he is on flickr and I am really happy I have had the chance to finally meet and see him "live". 

Me and Bernie

Later on we also met Dani's friends Leo and Matt. And then, in the evening, we went to see the musical of Mamma Mia! I had seen the dutch version of the musical some years ago and did like that a lot. But I was very eager to see the original language version here in London and I must say it was really great!!! The performance was fantastic, the live orchestra and the cast performed so stunning well, it was pure pleasure to see them play and hear them sing! 

Sera, Marisa, me, Jelle and in the front Dani (photo taken by Leo).

Dani and I were constantly singing along and in the end when they start playing the full song of Dancing Queen for everybody to sing along there was no stopping us anymore. It gave me shivers of joy and excitement to sing out loud and together with my beloved lilbro the song which is one of my all time favorites! That was soooo much fun, I was happy, really really happy!

Jelle, Dani and Marisa

On Sunday we visited Camden Market which I enjoyed a lot. It is so diverse, I saw lots of funny t-shirts (though I didn't buy any) and we had some fabulous food in one of the food stalls there. We then made our way down to the Thames to have a look at the London Eye and that concluded our activities in London for our short but oh so worthwhile visit! We had to go back to the airport where we both caught our planes back to Amsterdam and Madrid, sadly, both were delayed (thanks a lot, Easyjet). 

Once again, this was a memorable, very special incredible weekend for me and I want to thank Jelle, Dani and Sera for making it so wonderful. It was awesome guys, thanks a lot to you. Many kisses to you and lots of hugs. I can't thank you enough for making me so happy and spoiling me so much. From now on, my birthdays will never be the same again... 

Thank you.

First of all let me apologize to you that it has been quite a while now since my last post. But for me the christmas period was  kind of busy and I also did not always feel like posting something. You all probably know the feeling that there is something to say but you don't know really how and in that case I rather prefer not to say anything than something stupid. I asked my lilbro for some tips on how he always manages to write something, with the precision of a swiss clock. So I will try to use those tips in the future. 

However, I would like to thank my beloved lilbro for something beautiful he did to me. I feel very honoured and at the same time even a bit ashamed as I feel I did not deserve it: he awarded me the "I love your blog" prize! Thank you so much Dani, it means a lot to me. But let me assure you that I don't think I deserve it but I appreciate what you express with it to me. That truly made me happy, so thank you once again. I felt very insecure and - as I said - a bit ashamed and actually did not really know how to react, whether to ignore it post wise or comment on it. In the end, as you now can read here, I decided to express my appreciation publically. I usually don't like these chain-things and I still don't really know how to react and what to do with it, what the appropriate way to react would be. So, all I can say is thank you very much I guess. I know and understand why you gave this prize to me, Dani, and that truly makes me happy and very proud and thankful.

A very tender kiss, my lilbro, for being the way you are and doing what you do to me.

Congratulations to all other awarded winners who truly deserved their prizes, I am happy for you. Hugs to you all.

P.S.: I hope to soon post more often again. In the meantime, why don't you check my flickr pages where I post regularly about me and my life in pictures?

Project Grandpa, continued.

Alright, so you may have seen these photos before ;-) But that's simply because they are not mine but I have 'borrowed' them from my lilbro's flickr stream. I especially like the second one, by the way.

So, what's this post about? Simply put, the makeover of yours truly. :-P Yes, I am still busy to get a little more modern look and I gladly use the help of my beloved lilbro. So during the weekend break of my training at Zurich I went down to Madrid to visit Dani and Sera. We again had a great weekend and as you may have read in his post as well we did some shopping. Unfortunately, time was very limited but Dani nevertheless tried to squeeze in as many shopping opportunities as possible in such short time. And as you can see, we were successful! Don't you like my more modern look now? I do in any case, I really feel much better (in german they say "Kleider machen Leute") and it was much fun to do the shopping with him. I look forward to continue that as this seems to be a long term project... Also Jelle likes the new look of his boyfriend. ;-) Dani had sent him the pictures before I returned home and Jelle could have a look personally last weekend when I first wore the "new look"- items for our visit to the cinema. It's amazing, a "little" change (it seems) to your clothing and you feel better, more self assured maybe. At least it felt comfortable. So, during the next weeks I will have to add more items to my wardrobe and I can't wait to go shopping with Dani again, a whole afternoon (don't you dare to plan anything else in between... hahahaha).

I really regretted that Dani wasn't in Zurich the last evening I walked through the lovely shopping streets together with my colleague Gaby because we came across a great shoe shop, they had lots and lots of great and cool sneakers and I really wondered which one Dani would have chosen for me... ;-) You all may think it seems crazy that I do not choose my own clothing. But I like to rely on Dani's advice as in my eyes he has a good taste and knows what suits his bigbro. Those who know me personally have seen the result when I choose my own and as a result I rely on lilbro's advice now... hahahaha. Honestly, if you let me choose my own stuff, I go for the "safe" but boring style. I guess I simply don't have that gay fashion gene... :-)

Besides our shopping it was a great though short weekend. We went to two family birthdays which I both enjoyed, we met our wonderful friend Alex for a drink in Callao and we had a nice dinner on friday and a just as nice lunch on sunday!

I definitely always eat too much when I'm with Dani and Sera, you guys simply know to enjoy life ;-) Besides of the good food, Dani also spoiled me with a movie of 'Sex and the City' and the first season of 'LOST', YES!!! I was speechless, he always surprises me with such things though it's not necessary at all. The greatest gift to me simply is his friendship. Thank you so much lilbro for everything, I truly enjoy all your gifts but remember they are not necessary ;-)

Before we headed to the airport on sunday because I had to return to Zurich to attend the second half of my training there, we visited Jose and Miguel who were receiving their first visit of family at their new house. It was my first look at their lovely new house too and I really enjoyed the visit too (even though we were not really able to communicate as my spanish is very very very very modest, to say the least...). :-)

Anyway, at the airport Dani dropped me off and we parted after another great weekend. Thanks again, lilbro for the fabulous time I had once again, kisses to you and Sera. Looking forward to see ya again soon! :-)

P.S.: If any of you has suggestions for my "Project Grandpa", feel free to drop me a line ;-)

A grandpa-ish hug to ya'll (no worries, it's definitely not contagious...sigh) ;-)

Thank you for the music, Sera!

The other day when Dani, Sera and I were at Sera's house before we would go over to Dani's place and while Sera was getting ready, Dani and I listened to some music on Sera's iPod. Suddenly Dani played a piece of music that I knew for so long and didn't know what it was. So immediately I got excited because I wanted to know what it is but when Dani told me what Sera's iPod claimed it was I knew it wasn't the right title. But god bless modern technology: I asked Dani to use his iPhone's smart app Shazam (which Jelle recommended to him, just for the record... :-D ) to listen to the music (and occasionally lilbros do obey their bigbros wishes) and within a few seconds it returned the answer and I finally was able to download this wonderful piece of music! I think I know it from my childhood as the opening tune to some famous Radio Luxemburg show (back then, RTL was a very popular radio station in the Cologne/Rhineland area but broadcasting on FM from Luxemburg, it even had cult status especially amongst the younger audience - at that time, Germany did not know any private radio or tv but only public stations so RTL was a popular alternative to the dominant public Cologne based WDR).

So thank you so much Sera for bringing back this wonderful tune and with it some great childhood memories. May I present it to you? Here it is:



Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra - Love's theme

If you want to know more about the song, there's even some wikipedia info on it! So much for the seventies, welcome back to 2008!

Kisses to Sera and Dani, hugs to you all. ;-)

Updated, pictures included! Going to Madrid: 28 Cumpleaños Dani

Korean Air Airbus 330
Originally uploaded by CruisAir

Today, I want to give a short trip report about my trip to Dani's birthday.

On Friday, after a very short night because I simply stayed up too long (say, til' around 1.00am...) and after my early shift that started at 05.00 in the morning I was able to catch a plane to Madrid.
As you know, I like airlines and planes and if possible I try to fly as much as possible on different airlines and aircraft and different routes... (and you thought YOU were strange, huh?...).

Anyway, coincidentally, this trip was special: first, it was my 700th flight ever! The honour for taking me safely to my destination goes to Korean Air. I took their flight KE925 which started in Seoul and made a stop in Amsterdam on its way to Madrid. It was a nice and pleasant flight. I was a bit disappointed though that I did not have personal inflight entertainment which I had expected on a long haul aircraft. The catering though was pretty good, a warm (!) meal was served for the two hour flight which was a bit delayed (because the aircraft already left Seoul too late). All in all, I would rate the flight (despite the warm meal) behind the recent LAN Chile flight from Madrid to Frankfurt.

The second reason why this trip was special was THE reason to go anyway: my beloved little brother would turn 28 on that weekend and it meant a lot to me to be there with him and to celebrate. As I said before, Dani is very important in my life for a trillion of reasons. Therefore it was a true highlight to be there and personally congratulate him.

When I arrived on Friday, I "amused" Dani a lot: I guess he thought I was retarded because I couldn't find where he was waiting for me but I swear, the signage at Madrid's T1 is terrible and will lead you anywhere but your destination! My god, it took many calls to him to get directions before blond me finally found him patiently waiting outside... did I mention that I even sent him to T4 in the first place, assuming my plane would arrive there...? And did I mention I told him I would arrive after only a one hour flight...? My god, it must have been my sleep shortage that day... and I even work for an airline but all I did and said that day was simply, ehm....retarded :-D

Dani, Sera and I went to a gigantic mall on Friday evening. They invited me for dinner (I'm never allowed to pay, I seriously have to talk with you guys about that!) at a very good asian buffet restaurant where we had a great dinner with lots and lots of food!

Saturday, Dani and I did some shopping for the evening when some friends would come to join the celebration. Dani prepared a quiche in the afternoon (another of his "famous" recipes) which was really good! We made sandwiches and cheese/ham/tomato sticks and had the usual party ingredients like chips, nuts and that kinda stuff.

In the evening, his guests arrived and it was truly a really nice night! We laughed and talked a lot and I was simply very happy to be there when it turned 12:00 and my lilbro turned 28!

Dani got some really nice presents and I think he loved them all. It made me soooo happy to see him happy too!

Me and Dani wearing one of his presents he received

After opening all his presents and even more laughs and talks we went to a totally packed Irish pub close by for a final beer and we all went home after that. It really was a great birthday celebration, I loved it!

On sunday, after we slept long we had lunch with his friends

Jose and Miguel 

and his mom at a very good chinese restaurant! After that, Dani and Sera met some friends to go to a theater show while I met with Alex to have a drink which was very nice. After it, we met again and went home to conclude another wonderful evening at Dani's cosy home!

I had a great time, it was awesome, sensational, brilliant and simply fun to join Dani for the first time on his birthday and I guess I can call myself a really happy man to have a friend like him! Thank you, my beloved little brother, for the wonderful time again and being the friend to me that you are! I am so lucky, so happy, so blessed.

Feliz cumpleaños, Dani!

Today, my beloved Dani, the man who during time became my best friend and who I dearly love, for being the "little brother" I never had but always wanted, for being the true friend one always desires to have, turns 28:

Feliz cumpleaños, querido Dani

With all my heart dear lilbro I and also Jelle wish you all the best for your birthday and the new year in your life. I hope it will bring lots of beautiful things to happen in your life. May your love to Sera blossom as never before, may you always be healthy, may all the dreams and hopes you have come true - if I can be of help of any kind you can count on me, always. The greatest gift I can give to you is already with you since long. It's getting bigger, more precious and unique with every day. What more can I add, except for my extra special and sweet birthday kisses and the most tender hugs your bigbro can give you.

A fresh new look, courtesy of Dani

May I proudly present my new blog design to you? 

I am pleased to announce that with immediate effect the look has been changed to a new template that was kindly designed and installed by my beloved and very talented lilbro Dani! 

Since quite some time I wanted to change the look of my blog and bring up the first design change since I started this, not quite a year ago. I was trying to establish a three column design but I don't have a clue about these things if it's not drag & drop... So my lilbro kindly offered to help me and now came up with this splendid new design! I especially love the header which Dani designed for me as well. It's pretty cool and I love the resemblance in style with Dani's own blog.

I don't plan any further changes to the cruisair blog content, I am quite happy with what I have on it now. I might fine tune one or the other sidebar item but in general I have what I wanted.

I love it very much, I hope you all do too, lets give him a big round of applause (and I promised him something else as reward...hehehe)! Many many thanks Dani, I appreciate it so much - besitos! 

Hugs for all of you.

Exclusive: Making a cheesecake with Dani

I proudly present to you the exclusive photo report of the "Making of" of Dani's famous Philadelphia Creme cheesecake! 

On a recent visit to the Master of Cheesecakes himself, Dani-chan treated us to a very exclusive insight view of the making of his famous cheese cake. I can assure you that the cake was as delicious as it looks on the photos! Try it out yourself. Of course there's nothing above the  real original one but only few lucky ones get to taste him, er... it.

Let's start with the recipe, here's all the ingredients you will need to prepare it.

Also, this photo shows already the first step, the crunched cookies in the form that is used to make the cake.

Follow the recipe along and have a look at Dani's expert moves.

Again, if you don't know exactly how to crunch those cookies, here Dani shows you en detail. Let your imagination inspire you in the crunching process... ;-)

The cheese and other ingredients as per recipe (of course, mind the pronounciation...) have to be mixed and heated up.

Dani demonstrates how simple and easy this can be accomplished.

Some special powder thingie (hey, have a look at the recipe yourself, why do I need to do all the work?) needs to be mixed with milk and stirred perfectly before it can be added to the warming up cheese.

Make sure you mix all the stuff real good, don't leave the oven and prevent the milk/cheese mix to get burned! 

As you can see, it is really easy if you follow the expert's tips!

If all is heated up well, stirred perfectly together you can then poor the fluid milk/cheese mix into the prepared form.

Mind you, what you see here is a variation of the original recipe. Don't get surprised that the crunched cookies will float up -

 later you will see it won't be a problem for the finished cake, in contrast - it's the desired effect (well, hey, what do you think, here are the experts talking and cooking and showing!).

After the cake has been put into the fridge for hours (look at the recipe for the recommend time) you simply turn the cold and stiff cake with the form upside down - but don't forget to put a plate under it so you can place the cake on it... ;-)

Now, another creative part in the process of making the cheese cake starts: you have to decorate it! Again, use all your imagination. Our expert chef suggests - as you can see - a strawberry flavour element which gives the cake a wonderful red color. Other known variations (tried by your's truly himself) are a yellow jam, like peach or orange or such. That all depends on your personal taste. But that's the fun part, you can use whatever you fancy, isn't that great?! After it, you put some sliced almonds (or nuts, hey there's the creative variation again...) on top to finish the decorating process.

Guess what? You're done.

Put the Nespresso on, have a seat and enjoy!

Tadaaa! Our proud Dani, the cheese cake expert, with the final result!

Let me tell you, it was as fantastically delicious as it looks. 

For cheese making courses please contact the chef himself, new trainings start each month and training classes are kept small in order to assure very personal attention to every participant! Apply immediately, I can only highly recommend his trainings - they are fun, excellent and delicious, what else do you want?

A cheesy hug to you all. :-P

Thoughts.

No, nothing happened. But every now and then I fight with some feelings that are bothering me. I have to write a few words about it to get rid off it - well, I wish that would work like that... ;-) What I will write about does refer to my friends in general and is not referring to a specific friend. 

A great exception though is Dani who is always there for me (be it by phone or chat or email or even in person or by his thoughts and even though he doubts that himself!). Also Franc is calling me and chatting to me more or less regularly and Katja who calls and visits a few times per year. I'm not being polite here, that's the way it is and how I feel about you. So guys if you read the following, it's not about you. ;-)

While I try since months to build up new and rebuild old friendships, find new friends, become more social I sometimes feel I make no efforts at all. You see, I sometimes call people (the least of my means of communication that I use I must admit), I more often send SMS, I once in a while send emails and I'm available for chat many hours of the day, more or less. But often enough, nothing happens. Of course I do know and understand people live their own lives and I know often enough the reason why people are so busy with their lives (e.g. new found loves)... but still, that does not prevent me from having that lonely feeling that I wanted to get rid off. So, sometimes I feel a bit sad that there are ten people present in the chat program and not a single one is interested in chatting to me. Of course I can pick any of them and initiate it myself, but friendship to me is a two way thing, isn't it? I'd sometimes love to be surprised by a warm email, a nice chat or SMS or even a call. To get the feeling one of my friends thinks of me... Jelle just said to me, maybe it's now paying back to me what I did to my friends years ago... well, maybe... but I don't really believe that. I know, I am impatient. This all takes time (a long time actually) but sometimes I'm really frustrated by things around me and then speaking to a friend could make all the difference. Jelle also mentioned to me that the fact that many of my new found friendships are "only" virtual make it maybe less serious friendships but I don't agree with that. Of course you can have superficial virtual friendships but I consider the "real" virtual friendships that I found good and serious ones. Nevertheless I try to make those virtual friendships "real" friendships by trying to meet the (usually) men and get to know them personally. The best of all friendships to me then develops when I speak, chat, listen, call, SMS, visit, see the one as much and regularly as possible - that luckily happened with Dani. Naturally, it's a logistical problem in real life to meet regularly if you do not live in the same city, I understand that. Finding more friends in my own city therefore would be an advantage but I haven't figured out yet how I want to do that. 

Don't get me wrong - I am happy with the friends I found. I just miss your contact, I guess I'm in need of a lot of attention and unfortunately I cannot get it as much as I want to. I do enjoy regular chats with some of you, like Russell and Alejandro. It's really a pleasure to turn to you and speak. But that doesn't replace "real" friendships and that's what I miss. For example, for me it's important to have something to look forward to in my life. Some event to live up to, well, look forward to. Like going to meet someone, going on a vacation, meet with a friend, go watch a movie, have a coffee, eat dinner... to be honest, there is nothing at the moment or in the near future that I can look forward to. Sure, there is a training in November that I have to follow for two weeks in Zurich. But to be honest I am a bit "scared" about the thought, being away from home, the possibility to contact someone by computer, being on my own, knowing nobody, being cut off from MY world. I'm not too shy to speak to the colleagues there but I know I will feel lonely and that's certainly not an idea I am looking forward to. Of course there is the plan to make a day trip with Franc some time soon or go to see a movie with him, but nothing fixed yet. All these things (and probably a few more) add to my overall feeling and I hope that explains a little why I sometimes can feel really down. 

I am glad I wrote a few words about this. Honestly, I feel better. But most of all it helped speaking to a friend. Thanks lilbro for lending me your ear once again. 

Lots of hugs and kisses to you all.

P.S.: Dani, you know why I exempt you from the above? It's very simple. Don't forget that we are in contact very very often. You always try to say at least a few words to me as you often know how important it is for me. You often respond to emails I sent you. You do that despite the fact that you are very busy these days and don't get treated well either but still you manage to think of me and show your support to me. So for that reason don't worry if you not always answer every SMS or email - the things you do are so much that they easily compensate for what you think you lack to do (which you don't). I do feel guilty that you probably feel a certain pressure from me, that I make your life just a little more complicated than it could be. But maybe it becomes a little easier when I tell you that it's sometimes that simple smiley from you that makes all the difference for me, the "virtual" kisses you send or the hugs you give or that friendly, cheerful comment you make or just that smile and your laugh I can hear through the telephone that make me smile too, cheer me up, make my day! 

I honestly appreciate all you do, as you said yourself, that's what friends are for and I am most fortunate that fate brought us together.

Needless to say, I try to be just that for you too. Maybe that's the reason why I call you more often than you would normally expect. I am probably just trying to compensate for lack of other (direct) communication. After all, I am interested in your life as well and I want to hear what happens to you too. I know there is a difference of some kilometers between us and somehow I strive to bridge that distance. So bear with your bigbro ;-) 

P.P.S.: it really felt good to hear Sera's voice, I was very happy to hear him say "Hi" in the background! Please tell him he always has a very positive effect on my mood too!

P.P.P.S.: Damn mobile phones! :-)

Bello por dentro...

...vello por fuera! :-P

This is the first result of my "Project Grandpa" - Dani, Jelle and I went shopping in Madrid to look for some more modern or contemporary clothes for me... of course and as usual Dani as well as Jelle found nice t-shirts except for me, typical! But then, one evening in Chueca we passed a sex shop (!) and they had at least this nice shirt for me! So finally, the first step is made - for future developments watch my flickr space (there's even a special set!)... ;-) 

I'm curious to see the results during the coming months... hehehe

Any suggestions from your side? I welcome your inspirations while I await the next shopping tour with my mate Dani, who's not only my best friend but also personal adviser in this giant project... :-D

A hug from grandpa.

P.S.: Sorry to those who already saw this on flickr - I liked the idea so much so I decided to make a blog post of it too. ;-)

Compiling.

"Compiling" © xkcd

I swear this came up randomly! With a special dedication to Dani... :-P

Happy Birthday!

© danoliverm

It's Sera's birthday today and Jelle and I extend our warmest and sincere wishes to him: Happy Birthday Sera! Many kisses from us! Hopefully you'll get lots and lots of tasty chocolate bears (at least as big as the one in the shopping window in Berlin). ;-) Many happy times for you together with your hubby Dani! Lots of love from us!

Guido and Jelle

Home away from home.

I am on vacation.

Since the beginning of this month I'm off. Yay. I enjoy it a lot, despite not going to far away places. Usually, Jelle and I like to go to far off places and travel around the world. We also had planned something pretty weird this time - flying the A380 - but it would have cost us too much money in too little time. So we cancelled that in order to do it some other time when we have more time to enjoy it and when we can afford it. But this time, there was no money for this luxury. So we more or less stay home. But of course that can be nice too and frankly, for the time being I am enjoying it. Doing nothing, no obligations, no early shifts, sleeping long and enjoying the day. Only to return to work end of next week, woohoo!!!

Nevertheless, we have been away in this vacation. Hooray! My lilbro Dani invited us to come visit him in Madrid and spend some time with him. And man did I enjoy it! Dani did his utmost to make this visit extra special as it was Jelle's first time ever to visit Madrid. So Dani showed us around everywhere and we now know all the in's and out's of that fantastic city! Jelle immediately fell in love with Madrid! He loved it just like I already learned to love it long before him. The best though of our trip was simply to be and spend the time with the best of all friends, my Dani - there's nothing more beautiful than to enjoy such a friendship that we share!

So we headed for Spain on the second of this month. We took a plane to Frankfurt (which had a "bad" start as our colleagues did not arrange for us to have a meal during the short flight - no big deal but still, we are paying for that and it often happens to us. It's a little effort to arrange that yet some colleagues just don't care... a pity...). 

Me, on the flight to Frankfurt

From Frankfurt, we went to Bilbao. We stayed in a suburb in a Novotel and though the weather could have been nicer we enjoyed the city. It was well worth the trip, strolling through the nice center, 

Jelle in Bilbao's city center

the old town, the famous Guggenheim Museum. We even took a train (yeah, we like trains and planes and ships...) to the countryside just to see the surroundings of the city.

Jelle pointing to the train we wanted to take for a short ride

On the fourth, we went to the airport again to take a Spanair flight to Madrid. The Bilbao airport architecture is quite interesting so I enjoyed taking some photos of it before we headed for the gate. Jelle decided to have a wine before take-off while I only had a coffee and we could not believe our ears when we paid: together it was less than 3 Euros, in an airport restaurant - and the wine was even cheaper than my coffee! That's simply amazing! Our flight to Madrid was eventless, we got seats right at the check-in in Business class and the flight turned out to be pretty empty. Good for us. ;-)

Handsome lilbro Dani right after we met again

Then we arrived in Madrid and I could almost not await to see my lilbro again! I really looked so much forward to see Dani!!! We had planned our arrival into Madrid for the early afternoon, about the same time that Dani would finish work. As Dani had to attend to some business at short notice in the northern part of the city it became quite convenient to meet there before his appointment. Of course we were all happy to see each other again and immediately started chatting endlessly... ;-) Unfortunately, we were not complete as Sera was not with us as he was still on vacation in his village in southern Spain. The plan was for Sera to join us later during our visit to which I was also looking forward! 

Alex, Dani and me in Madrid's center

Later that day we met Alex, a friend of Dani, with whom we had some pre-dinner drinks and later Sera's sister Rosa joined us and we all went to a fabulous and very popular restaurant place in the center of Madrid where we had a truly excellent meal! And we all liked the receptionist of the place who was a hottie... :-) It was a true pleasure to meet Alex, as I had heard about him already but had not met him before. He perfectly speaks german too and it was fun and very enjoyable with him. I am glad to have met him. 

Alex (junior) and iPhonero Dani

Seeing Rosa again was a blast, she is such a sweetheart, very funny and it was truly awesome to meet her again as the last time I saw her was during Orgullo gay. I wish she would've brought her brother too... ;-)

We were staying at Dani's house and my lilbro insisted on giving us his bedroom for the night but after lengthy discussions we could convince him it was not necessary at all. ;-) We were really fine with the guest bed in his 2nd bedroom, it was simply perfect and I did sleep very well during our stay. In fact, I felt at home immediately. Dani made us feel so comfortable! Staying at his house did feel like staying at my own house, Dani has the gift of making you feel extremely comfortable in his presence.

Poor Dani still had one day of work ahead while we were able to have a long sleep and instead of going into Madrid we decided to stay at Dani's house, relax, enjoy ourselves and have a nice cup of coffee in the sun in the small bar downstairs at his house waiting for him to arrive home. Little things like that can be so enjoyable and great, it truly felt like a vacation in the most luxurious resort on earth ;-) In the afternoon, unfortunately for him after some overwork, Dani arrived home and we were ready for the days ahead together, yay! Later the evening we met with Dani's mother and aunt and went to the village's local yearly fair where the highlight was a concert of the fabulous "La 5a estación" - we had a great night with with fabulous music, food and friends! I enjoyed it sooo much, really!

Natalia of "La 5a Estación" during their concert in Valdemoro

The next day Dani took us (well, I had seen it already on a previous visit with Dani) to Aranjuez where we had a brief stroll and after returning we were invited by Dani's mother to a real "codido madrileño" which to me was a true culinary delight! I really loved it and it was such a great gesture of her to invite us and specially prepare this meal for us, I am so thankful for that! Juan Carlos, one of Dani's close friends, had joined us for it too and we all had a wonderful lunch together. After that, we devoted the whole afternoon and evening to Madrid itself. We went to Park Retiro and leisurely walked all the way from there through the city center, Dani showing Jelle all the beautiful sights his hometown has to offer! We had great weather and it was such a great day. 

Jelle, Dani and me posing in front of the Royal Palace in Madrid

Later in the evening we met Juan Carlos again. He took over the sightseeing part from Dani and explained the sights we visited together while the sun was setting over Madrid. What a beautiful evening, we had a great time and - you guessed it - we enjoyed a very good meal altogether and later went to Chueca to enjoy the bustling nightlife of the city! It was great for me to see Juan Carlos again, I really like him and he is such a pleasant company!

Juan Carlos, me and Dani with Madrid's evening skyline

For Jelle and me it was such a fascinating thing to sit in the center of Chueca, after midnight, outside in a street cafe and have a drink. Everything was so full and we almost did not get a table, unbelievable but such a great and fun atmosphere. Jelle and I agree that this is the ideal place for us, the life takes place much later and we truly prefer that above our "sleepy" Amsterdam ;-) We absolutely loved the atmosphere in Chueca and Madrid in general, as I said before Jelle truly loves the city now!

Jelle in Chueca

Dani did not rest and took us to a famous street market the next day where we tried to do some shopping. I am in urgent need of revamping my outfit, modernize myself a little. After all, my lilbro things I'm a bit grandpa-ish and I think he's right... ;-) So the aim was to find some nice things in the afternoon and of course Dani and Jelle found some nice stuff but of course I didn't!!! Luckily, Dani promised to take me for "real" shopping next time so I can really update my clothes. I'm looking forward to that, lilbro. ;-) Later that day we met Alex again together with his boyfriend Alex (yeah, "junior" and "senior" as they are referred to by their friends...) ;-) for a quick drink in the center. 

Me and Alex (senior and junior) :-)

In the meantime, Sera had returned from his vacation and finally joined us in the evening and we spent great quality time together, Dani and Sera and Jelle and me!

Sera and Dani, after we had breakfast

The next day Dani suggested to go see Toledo and we spent a beautiful day at this gorgeous medieval city. It was a very nice trip and a great day we spent there. 

Me and Dani with Toledo in the background

Later in the evening we were treated once again to a culinary highlight, Dani took us to one of his favorite restaurants, in the heart of Chueca! It was such a great place, very cosy with outstanding service, friendly staff, delicious food and perfect atmosphere. Rosa, Sera, Dani, Jelle and I truly enjoyed this treat and I felt very privileged that my lilbro did bring us to this place with so much atmosphere and quality! 

Me, Rosa, Dani, Sera and Jelle at Dani's favourite restaurant in Chueca.

On the way home we ended the night once again in the heart of Chueca with a drink way after midnight out in the open amongst so many other people there, oh how I love Madrid and it's nightlife!

Sadly, our days in Madrid ended and we had to leave, heading home again. Dani and Sera had to return to work but our days with my lilbro in Madrid were fabulous! We watched a movie, bought lots of music CD's and some DVD's, we found some nice clothing, we went to a concert, we made some nice trips to the surroundings, had great food, met wonderful people, we enjoyed each other's company and I truly loved being around Dani and Sera and had the time of my life, once again, thanks to my lilbro! Honestly, I can't wait to go back to see him again ;-) I also hope to welcome them a.s.a.p. here in Amsterdam again... Please lilbro, come visit us again!

Me, Dani and Sera at Dani's home on his couch on the last morning of our visit.

Many, many thanks to you, dear lilbro, you have made our stay with you such an extraordinary experience! I can't express my gratitude well enough. A load of kisses and hugs to you, Dani. 

I look forward to return to my home away from home - your house. There is no better hospitality than that of true friends, the ones that become family. Like my little brother.