change is inevitable

The randomness that is my life - Jan 2013

2013-01-12T08:13:00.003-08:00

So I have not written on my blog for a while. Thought I would update any readers a bit about the goings on of my life in Berlin at the moment. ( I do get a few readers which is pretty cool -can see in the general stats)

It is a new year and so much has changed for me. I am currently living somewhere in a totally new situation else now with two very cool German ladies in a Berlin 'W.G', which has actually proven to be really fun so far. Well at least my German is improving as I have to speak German in the house although they both speak great English too . I was very blessed to find a nice big room for a relatively good price in a great area right over the road from my gym! It is also in very close proximity to my work. It is still horribly cold here, although not nearly the worst winter I have experienced so far since moving to Germany. For the past weeks it has been above 0 degrees so really not bad . It snowed once a while ago but that has already melted - otherwise it has been relatively warm which also concerns me sometimes as I wonder whether or not it is due to global warming, but if we survived the greatest apocalypse on 21.12.2012 and so many supposed others before that, I doubt we are going anywhere anytime soon.

Last night I went to a friend's mom's house and waoh! . what a nice apartment! It was like the Berlin version of the Gossip Girl apartment - very fancy indeed! So I had my first real strudel experience there - we had spinach and feta strudel as well as some cheese filled version for dessert which also had had apricots in it that I learnt are called 'Marille' in Austrian - also spoke about many other words for general food and fruits in Austrian which I found quite interesting - had no idea about the Austrian terms for food stuffs. We also played this cool board game called 'Goldgräber' in German which I found thoroughly amusing even though I lost terribly.

January has been good so far - been seeing loads of films which I don't do more then once a month usually but January 2013 has had loads of movies coming out that all have above 7.0 on IMDb, so I have seen four in various Berlin cinemas this month already and want to see more, but should probably wait till next month now as my entertainment budget is running low. January and December are killer months for money spending because of all the partying, eating and drinking over the festive season. Even if it is cold and miserable here in Europe a lot of the time, at least the Germans know how to party when they do decide to finally let their hair down, so it has been really great with the endless drinking of Glühwein, fireworks and Weihnachtsmarkts all over the place. And speaking of Fireworks, Berlin is like world war all over again on New Years. I was always too scared to venture out every year because it sounds like the end of the world, but I braved it this year, mainly because also as I mentioned, it was not nearly as cold as the years before so was brave enough to.go out and not freeze to death. I tell you, when I say it is mayhem I really mean it and as much as I tried to avoid getting hurt in the cross-fire, I ended up burning my thumb when I let of some raining sparkler - had no idea it would 'rain' out so many sparks and the Germans looked very unimpressed with me after I lit it. I was a bit of a temporary health and safety hazard. So the moral of the story is, do not drink Jägermeister and light fireworks- but like I keep also saying at least no one got hurt apart from me.

Here is a joke video made by Berlin comedian which is really how it is - no jokes!

Now I know that people that really know me think that I am a 'fun' drunk, but I know just as well that I would rather say 'crazy' as opposed to fun.
I actually got a bit nervous after almost losing a thumb so I am having a temporary break from drinking and in general will really aim to cut down or stop drinking spirits all together as they have never been good news for me. So I have stopped drinking and smoking since 01.01.2013. I was never a heavy smoker, but I want to stop as it is just another distraction and really not good for singing although my voice trainer claims otherwise, I am just tired of coughing while trying to sing and having this constant craving that comes with it. So, even though I do not see myself stopping drinking alltogether, I am trying to break habits in the 21 day cycle. I already feel way better and happier for stopping smoking, now just need to really focus on the exercise regime, but already improving in that department. Spiritually, I am also growing daily - really glad about what I have been discovering from the oldest, most famous book and all it's wonders. J.

Sadly with my 2 jobs, exercise regimen and entertainment schedule, I have not had much time for music, which is a real shame. So, although it might take a few weeks to months to get the right equipment and my computer sorted again, I can start making some mixes again soon and hopefully tunes again by March latest. Really also want to do more photography and some interesting courses in the next few months, and might as well buckle down while the weather is still rubbish because the summers are so short here and I really want to have a good summer in Europe this year!

Also want to help with the screenplay writing of our Soap Opera friends and I have been planning for ages although I have little screenplay writing knowledge and am not the best writer but we can not let our fears of what others think stop us from achieving our goals or we will never get anything done ;) But gosh ! - so many interests and plans, yet so little time. Wonder when they will come up with a wonder drug that will allow me to not need so much sleep and is not bad for you. Already have to work a min of 40 hours a week like most people.

I would like to tell you about my thoughts about the movies I have seen this year so far as I no doubt will be seeing more in the near future - just too many coming out right now. I will post a blog post about this soon - not that anyone cares .. lol

Also will post an extremely random story soon which I think is pretty funny.

Over all though, I feel 2013 will be a great year and I wish everyone reading this, an amazing year and life!

xoxo

Lee Chanel

2012-11-18T08:35:00.001-08:00

To truly live

To feel the wind in your face, arms outspread
Tiny cool droplets sprinkling on your face
Salty tears cried for years and years
To kiss a soul - not the lips, but a soul of a person
Who you believe reflects a true understanding of you
To look out across plains and watch eagles soar
To think of nothing
But wander in awe

To witness a shooting star out where no person remains
To hear waves crashing
To take deep breaths of sea air
And be the soul of the universe
To dream
To dare to care
To hurt, to marvel, to fear, to love again and again

To enjoy every moment
The Awakening
Enlightenment
The breakthrough

Where one understands finally what it means to truly live
The power, the glory, the edge of infinity
The Gift

To be Human in such vast expansion and to understand what it all means
Right just then

I search on and on again and again and again
forever and ever
Amen

Lecia Nel, Winter 2012 Berlin

Barcomi's Deli, Berlin

2012-07-25T03:56:00.000-07:00

Image from Barcomis website: - http://www.barcomis.de

There are a few places that offer outstanding food in Berlin, not many but more then most places I have travelled to in Germany, yet still less then Cape Town my hometown, in my opinion.

One of the best places to eat in Berlin however, is Barcomi's. There are two branches in Berlin, but one that I have not been to yet in Bergmannstraße near Mehringdamm.

The one we always go to is near our house is in Sophienstraße near Hackeschermarkt. The food is based on american style baking and deli food such as bagels and cheescake.

Image taken from http://www.afternoonteatotal.com/2010/11/barcomis-revisited.html

We always have the bread sampler which comes with some amazing Frischkäse (cream cheese) flavours like cheddar and olive or horseradish and capers.

Their tuna sandwich is also one of my favourites and should definitely be tried.

All their baked goods and cakes are really amazing too, though I mostly stay away from them these days due to their calorie content. They also have 10 different types of coffee beans to choose from, from exotic places like Tansania, and Costa Rica, Peru and Mexico.

If you get a chance when in Berlin, check this place out as all the food is really fresh and scrumptious. The one in Sophienstraße is also in a very nice and trendy location in a courtyard with nice shops in the area.

Here is an awesome article about the America expat behind the deli.
http://www.slowtravelberlin.com/2010/05/21/meet-the-locals-cynthia-barcomi

and another blog piece I like :- http://meganinberlin.blogspot.de/2012/03/barcomis-deli.html

I recently found a new store that I came across in the same courtyard the other day and I will blog about it in my next post.

xoxo

Lee Chanel

A Visit To Hamburg

2012-07-07T06:40:00.002-07:00

hafen hansestadt hamburg by manfred-hartmann

I had the pleasure of visitng another German city two weekends ago.

Up till now I have been to Magdeburg, the Spreewald, Munich, popped in for 10m mins in Dresden and now finally spent a decent amount of time in Hamburg.

I started to feel like an oddball living in Germany and going to all the European spots, but not going to any cities in Germany. So when I got the opportunity to visit Hamburg for €60 all inclusive, I took it.

I had spent an hour in Hamburg before, but only right outside the main station on my way to Denmark, but had never really had a proper visit.

I have also been to Liverpool in the UK and I find Hamburg very similar as it is a harbour city and has large historical buildings as well as rainy weather which was exactly as it was that weekend. My friend from England who I was with, told me that it is called the England of Germany because of the rainy weather. I think these pics kind of demonstrate what he means by that.. yikes!

It was really cheap to get there as 10 of us shared two schönes Wochende tickets, which allows a person to travel anywhere within Germany with up to 5 people on Saturday and Sunday for €40 with a 'Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket'. Why I have not used this opportunity more often is beyond me.. it is not with the super fast ICE trains though and only really makes sense if you are travelling fairly close by otherwise if you travelled to the other side of Germany you would probably spend most of the day travelling, spend a few hours and then have to return.

We arrived and missed our first appointment of a tour of the city hall due to getting on the wrong train and then having to catch a bus for miles. The transport system seems to be a lot less user friendly compared to Berlin.

We stayed in quite a cool hostel, but it was really far from the centre as it was the only one that was either not full on short notice or available for one night only. They had a full kitchen, a shower and bathroom in the room and a large flat screen tv to watch the football on which was really not bad for €30 for the night.

The tour around the city hall was very interesting and nice and short - tours can be so boring sometimes when they drag on way longer then my short attention span can handle. The guide was really good though and it was interesting to learn that Hamburg has their own unique style of governement unlike any other city, where the members are not just in politics full time, but part-time members who also have normal jobs and the municipal and legislative parts of the government are in the same building. The hall has a lot of tradition and was very fancy with it's marble pillars and ornate gold decor - not like any town halls from South Africa. The Hamburg people seem to be very proud of their traditions and like to think of themselves as British in this way.

On Sunday morning we got up really early and went to the famous Hamburg Fish Market, which judging by the name, I thought was a market selling only fish, but it sold a lot of different things. There was also one of those plant auctions which I love! I have never seen these in any other country but they are very lively and you can really get some good deals on plants.

It was pouring down so we did not spend that much time walking around outside at the market, we went inside and I was totally blown away to find a hall full of people at 08h30 in the morning! With bands playing, people drinking and football fans dressed up in their war gear ready for the game later on. We felt we had to do as the Germans do and had a fresh fish baguette and a beer for breakfast. It was awesome! I would highly recommend getting up early on a Sunday although I know it is hard to do - go to the fish market when in Hamburg!

We also went to a Hamburg's biggest cathedral which I did not like too much as it was a bit too kitch and old fashioned and we got into trouble for walking out mid-sermon. We also visited the famous St Pauly district where we made the mistake of going to a an italian restaurant in the heart of the tourist area (if you want good food, it is hardly ever a good idea to have food in any tourist areas) and it was really bad in terms of service. We tried to order off the menu and they guy said we could only order pizzas, then we tried to order still water and the guy said we could only order sparkling water and was very rude about it all.

We also went on a very cool ferry ride around the harbour which we were suprized to find was included in the price of the Schones-Wochende ticket too - bonus! Over all, I would recommend to check out Hamburg though I am not sure that I could live in such a rainy place, but still good to visit.

xoxo

Lee Chanel

Being Elmo

2012-06-29T07:27:00.003-07:00

I watched this new documentary a while ago and recently also screened it for others and they loved it.

When you hear about a documentary about the Muppets, you could never imagine how sweet this film could be.

One kind of takes for granted the people behind productions when they watch something so this really opened my eyes and reminded me that some people are so blessed to just have a burning desire for their life's purpose from such a young age.

If only we all knew exactly what we wanted to become from the start.

This film comes highly recommended and is truly adorable.

http://beingelmo.com

Enjoy!

xoxo

Leechanel

Ch, ch, ch, ch, changes

2012-03-07T13:19:00.001-08:00

I feel so inspired when I see people doing things like this to change the world .. it shows that it is the little people and not the big ones who are dealing with much larger man-made problems, can make an enormous difference if they stick together and persevere. The smaller yet life destroying awful acts of terror and abuse towards humanity get pushed aside and now with the internet and all the instant access to news and media we can really make a difference if we want to.

Check these 2 videos out for some life-changing inspiration:-

KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

There are no more excuses- anyone can make massive changes these days - now go out and change the world!

xoxo

Lee Chanel

What I do all day - Product Data Feed Blah

2012-03-07T12:44:00.002-08:00

I wanted to write a bit about what I do all day, well for work and the like, apart from I do by night. I currently work for one of the 3 top price comparison sites in Germany, Idealo.de, I work for the UK site - Idealo.co.uk as an Affiliate Manager, which means that I manage that the shops that are affiliated with our site.

It may not sound that exciting, but I love it as I look at online shops all day and measure how well they are performing for the most part. Apart from the cool stuff, there is also obviously some semi-boring stuff I have to do, like in any job. One of these things, is checking out excel spreadsheets that contain loads of products and the data from the sites which allow us to put the products with all their information on our site ie. product / data feeds. Basically, if the spreadsheets do not contain columns with certain information in them that we require, or have wrong prices / information, the shops can not be added to our site.

I recently had enough as I constantly have to chase the managers who then chase the shops to try to get them to change their feed, but it is to no avail as most of the time as no one ever changes much or even answers e-mails!!

I have thousands of shops backed up in my e-mail box with incorrect feeds when the shops could be on our website making money. I am sure that we would not be the possible affiliates that are having the same issue with this, so without this data being correct, the shops are only losing 'their own' possible profits when they could be making more by just changing this simple thing. Amazing how much time I spend on what I think is a fairly simple task and could be changed so easily.. if only they would just do it! Anyway, I created a document about all of the requirements that we need.

I decided to put it on this blog in case it comes up when people search and then perhaps they can also benefit from the information, as, judging from what I see, many shop owners and maybe even affiliate account managers or online marketing managers obviously do not have a clue about product data feeds and what should be in them.

To be fair, our site is quite harsh with the levels that we require as we have 'German Standards', but in the long term it makes much more sense to have the products well integrated the site instead of slapdash effort.

So, I created this google doc which I can share with all account managers and all of their merchants from the Affiliate Networks (well they have a slightly modified version) and for other shops who wish to list their shop with us directly on a cpc basis:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B47qyQ7GqvWRd0ZULUJfVi1UTFdEWVl2RHdhNWVLUQ/edit?pli=1

Download it and share if you like.

Lee Chanel

Happy Movie, Happy people

2012-02-14T22:39:00.002-08:00

So, I have been meaning to get back into this blog for a while now. I can be quite lazy, but this year is about to change that. I am getting more proactive in my community and doing things that I love. I used to feel so much more in 'Flow' as I like to call it (and as you will learn more about if you see Happy Movie), when I was a DJ back home and organizing events with Big Love, my company that specialized in promoting local talent and events.

It is not possible to be happy all the time, especially in my case as I am not one of those incredibly happy people by nature, but it is certainly worth trying to attain at all costs as it has been proven to keep you healthier and increase your lifespan.

There were some unhappy days back in South Africa, but in general, I think that I was very happy back home as my life was very busy and had a lot of purpose. It has taken me many years to get back to this place. Immigrating to a new country and learning a new language from scratch was no joke. Finding a job and having practically no money for a while in the first few years whilst I learnt the language was so incredibly tough. The first few years were of the hardest things I have done in my life so far. I have lived in Berlin for just over 3 years and am only reaching the point now, where I feel fairly well integrated into the culture and way of life.

I used to really be more in 'Flow' more often I feel in South Africa, and if anyone saw the Happy Movie which I organized a screening for last weekend in Berlin, they would know what I mean by 'FLOW' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_%28psychology%29, back into my life again. It is not an easy thing to do - to do things when you feel too upset or depressed to get up and do something.

Especially with this freezing and dark weather at the moment, it is really hard to get into getting up and doing things. I am a really big procrastinator as it is. I make constant lists and then never do half the stuff I want to do on the lists- most of this is due to the fact that I am not that happy, ironically. Saying that though, I am on a constant mission to better my situation, to find the root of my unhappiness and to eventually get back to the place I know that I am capable of reaching.

I have been to this place before and know that it is worth going after.

So, I was reading one of my blogs or resources about self-fulfillment and better life stuff I like to read (I think though I am not entirely sure where I found the information, but I can imagine that I found it there), when I came across this movie called the Happy Movie. It is more like a movement as they had even made a day about it calling it World Happy Day on the 11th of February.

As it turns out, the day before this, I did a talk at a school about South Africa for Mandela day that they had. They have it every year in celebration of Mandela's release from prison which happened on the 11th of February 22 years ago - in 1990. I had forgotten all the history and dates and this really reminded me and forced me to have another look at my south african history, which I would not have researched again if I had not had this talk to do.

Anyway, I did this talk on Friday which was already nerve-racking as I had to speak to a class, but it went very well and then I signed up to host a screening of this 'Happy Movie' on World Happy Day too, which was the following day. See http://www.thehappymovie.com/

I was expecting a few people and booked a small room at the back of a bar in Prenzlauer Berg called Cafe St Gaudy. I was very surprised at the amazing turnout that the film received! I was really impressed and I know that the film changed many people's perception and many commented about what a beautiful film it was.

I was so grateful to share the movie. There were 600 screenings in 60 countries taking place on that day and I felt so privileged to be one of them. I had already seen that there was no one hosting the movie in Berlin yet, so I took the opportunity and I was so glad that I did.

The idea was to get people to come to the movie and then we could discuss it afterwards, but I was a very nervous public speaker and at the end of the film, I could not get the volume to work in time to speak to everyone. I did however manage to get many donations for my favourite charity which provides clean water to parts of Africa that have no access to clean drinking water from what I did manage to say.

See: http: http://thewaterproject.org/

The screening went extremely well and I would love to host it again if I can. I will maybe aim higher next time, and host it at a larger venue maybe. Or maybe also host it at St Gaudy Cafe again. It is a very cute place - you should check it out if ever in Berlin. I will be hosting more screenings and discussions there so check out their site to stay updated on events: http://www.gaudycafe.com/

Have a Happy Day, Life, Year!!!

xoxo

Lee Chanel

Nelson Mandela School in Berlin

2012-02-12T05:46:00.000-08:00

This weekend, I put myself out on a limb on 2 occasions. I am not a great public speaker as I get really nervous. I know that you are probably thinking who doesn't? , but I really am bad - my voice quavers and I sound like I might cry. The reason I take opportunities like these, even though I torture myself to death doing it, is because I want to get over this fear as I am sure that I am still young enough and if I reach the success levels that I would like to accomplish in my life, I will have to get over my fear of public speaking sooner or later.

I had the opportunity to go to the Nelson Mandela School here in Berlin on Friday. A friend of mine's son attends this school and once a year they have a Nelson Mandela day celebration on the 11th of February to celebrate Nelson Mandela's release from prison in 1990.

I took the opportunity to go to speak to the kids about growing up in South Africa. I was not sure what to expect and initially pictured that I might have to speak to the entire school and perhaps guests also attending the day, but the day was thankfully just more for the students. I prepared my presentation the whole night before and got up at 6am to prepare the rest of it. I was only half finished just before I had to leave- I had only rehearsed once so was going to rely on the power point presentation to guide me.

We were late and went to the junior school looking for the class. We ended up in a kid's classroom with little girls of about 7. We were in the room 101 that we were told to go to, but no one knew who the teacher was that we were looking for. After asking many people, we finally realized that we were in the wrong building at the junior school instead of the High School. We found the class eventually.

I told them about growing up in a small and sometimes fairly racist town near Benoni, where Charlize Theron was born and raised. I also told them about Gold and Diamonds and moving to Cape Town and bit about Mandela and Robben Island.

My friend Joe accompanied me and they were also asking him about Norwich in England where he was from, making the whole thing a lot easier as he was with me. The teacher was very nice- married to a South African for many years, she could really relate to what I was saying. We stayed and had coffee with her afterwards. She asked me to come back in a few weeks to speak to her other class. It was really great to speak bout my country as a huge fan of Nelson Mandela , I even named my cat after him, and a big supporter of anything South African. I loved to have this opportunity to talk about my home to these German kids.

Preparing for the project forced me to reread about our South African History and remember the days of my childhood. One blocks one's past out, but I had to dig into it again and also relearn facts and dates that I had forgotten. I was pretty young at the time of apartheid and the end of it in my country- I was a teenager when it ended, so did not know the full story - though I did know most of it. I retraced my steps through my life.

I have to say that it really made me homesick and I started to think again if living here was the best choice I could have made for myself. Luckily, I will be returning home for a visit soon, so it is great that I will not have to be too homesick for too long.

I have to say that it went really well. I was not afraid of speaking to the kids as I usually get when public speaking and the kids were really nice, thanking me afterwards for my presentation.

I was reminded of my special home country - its beauty, power and amazing leaders from the past who changed everything with their compassion and humility. I get so sad when I think of Mandela and how old he is and how much of his life he spent locked up. He is 94 years old now and still the Father of Africa. Madiba meaning father in his native tongue Xhosa. Love you Madibs!

Amandla-awethu!

The other opportunity I had to get over my public speaking fears also came up this weekend when I screened a movie called the Happy Movie, which was also a great success. I will post about it soon.

xoxo

Lee Chanel

Lecia Nel's photostream

2011-06-13T07:10:00.001-07:00

Lecia Nel's photostream on Flickr.

Pictomplasma Festival in Berlin

2011-04-07T12:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I have to say that my attempts at updating this blog once a day have failed, let alone one a month, but I have decided to give it another whirl.. once a day (ahem, maybe), I will post something cool that happens in my life, ok well at least I will try. In the words of Miley Cyrus, the exhibition last night was "pretty cool".

We went to the Pictoplasma , which is a FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY CHARACTER DESIGN AND ART.

Berlin is really cool for this sort of thing. I have lived here for over 2 years and I often have so much to choose from in terms of arty events, openings, concerts etc that I just give up and stay home, but last night was one of the rare occasions where I actually made it to an event, but it was probably mostly due to the fact that it was in the area around where I live, so this made it dead easy to get to. In fact many of the coolest exhibitions were right in my street.

We wandered far and wide, covering the best parts first.. some parts of the evening were just plain weird. At one place, we rang the bell and I guy with an eye patch told us that the exhibition had already closed .. he was well, 'Berlin different'. The other places we couldn't find or were also already closed. The one place we did get to, we could only see through the window and it was in a very small place with creatures made out of cardboard boxes, not doing very much- occassionally blinking or moving across the floor.. the small guy on the floor did remind me of Futurama a bit, so it was not a waste of time.

The best parts for me though, were literally right outside my front door.. I should have known I lived in the coolest part of Berlin, judging by all the hipsters, but I finally joined them, and it was a pretty good party. Oh I forgot to mention, there was also a band playing outside the pretentious skate shop, which had no name and when I asked someone they told me it was the featured artist of the exhibition performing and I found it a bit difficult to understand the english name of the band, when pronounced by a native german, but found out that they were called 'Wood'.

I met an artist though, who's work I have see before, which was awesome!! I got a newpaper and some stickers with motivational messages. The guy was from Australia and told me that he has been doing art forever- he is originally from Australia, but now lives in New York. His name is Jeremyville. We almost missed the exhibition as it is was in a side room of a clothing shop- we only went inside because there were just so many people entering, leaving and lulling about inside and outside.

My friend and I raided the stickers, which he autographed for me, and we got a cool collector newpaper of his work, all for free!

Example of the stickers:

I took a couple pics too.. they had this massive canvas featured on the wall .. it had a lot of the kid's cartoon chracters in it, with a dark twist of real life fatalism and truth.

Here are some examples of the canvas:

xoxo

Lee Chanel

Losing weight & Tea

2010-12-29T13:04:00.000-08:00

So, 2011- A new year with new possibilities and new challenges and all things unknown as they are still in the future. Well, it is already the 6th of January and my aim for this year was to write a blog a day, but I can already tell that this will not materialize at all, so not really going to bother. I think a more realistic goal would be to write 1 a week, and if I can not manage that, then 1 a month, but for now I will aim for 1 a week.

As a woman in my early 30's, I have been struggling for ages to shed a few more kg's. I was huge after a year of being in Europe and was once very thin, believe it or not (for those that know who I am), but I guess I was also 18 then and didn't eat as much so that could also explain why I was thin. I am currently not huge, just 'healthy', which is not a bad thing, but still, I personally would like to be a bit thinner. I find it a bit unfair though as I do not eat that much and I also eat very healthily when I eat, for the most part. If I even eat like one pizza or a couple chocolates these days I gain 2 kgs- it really sucks. I did a diet/ detox last year which I found kind of cool called the Dr,Joshi Diet, which I can highly recommend http://www.thejoshiclinic.com/holistic.php - it was for 3 weeks and although I did not stick to it 100%, I still lost 5kgs which I have managed to keep off since then, but I can not go any lower than a certain point on the scale no matter how well I eat or don't eat, or no matter how much I exercise.

Anyway in the quest for absolute health and weight loss that I have been on for quite some time now, I came across a number of cool things, mostly by chance, but I am now trying them and seeing how they go in terms of how much weight I can lose and how much of a health benefit they have.. I am kind of like a health reviewer. I have been researching over the past while and have found out just how good tea is for you. I think people really underestimate tea.. it is really one of the best things for your body.. (especially herbal teas) and can assist with many body functions including the breakdown of fat.. Green tea, White tea and especially Oolong tea are really good for dieting. I just bought my first batch of Oolong tea as it is supposed to be the best for weight loss, but naturally it would be the one that does not taste the greatest.. but such is life.. I will drink fairly foul-tasting tea if it means it will help me lose some weight. Here is some info about Oolong tea and it's weight loss benefits.. http://www.oolongtea.org/e/health/04.html.

I have been drinking Oolong tea for 2 days now as one is supposed to drink 1 liter a day to see the benefits of it after 6 weeks. My friend at work and I are trying it for 6 weeks. I will let you know how it goes.

Also, recently someone at work brought in a Jasmine Tea Flower, which I had never seen before and I was totally amazed. A friend of his brought him some back as a gift from Asia. They look like alien eggs or something..

I put one in hot water and couldn't believe what emerged..

They make for great gifts, but are very expensive. If you get one, you should try it as it is an amazing tea experience. Also, if you get the chance and have an interest in tea, there is a great book I have listened to the audio book of called 'The Book of Tea' by Kakuzo Okakura to get a better idea of the culture and practices behind the art of tea.

Lee Chanel xoxo

Nearing the end of 2010

2010-12-12T04:51:00.000-08:00

I lost my Blog for quite a while, but I have been thinking about it a lot.. really want to Blog a bit- found it again by searching my e-mail inbox for it- not sure why I didn't think of doing that before.

Actually, the aim for 2011 is to do at least a blog post a day. A lot has changed for me in 2010, internally.. I am generally very angry inside, but I have been working on myself this year and have learnt to find a whole lot more inner peace, though I still fight with my anger a bit. I really believe that if one's soul feels unrest, you should really consider seeking a belief of some description- any one that preaches goodnss and light preferably, and you will find that things become so much better for you. Well, this is what has happened for me this year, which I think is a really great thing. I have realised that without exercise, I am also not as fulfilled as I could be to be at my best potential state. I have always been attracted to Yoga and have had the priveledge of doing Bikram Yoga over the past few years now although it is really expensive, but I really love it and can say that if I had the opprtunity, I would definitely do it all the time.

So, this coming year, 2011, I hope that I will somehow come across a method to do Bikram more frequently.. I am not sure how it will happen, as it is really a very high price which alo feels a bit wrong as it is totally a selfish thing doing it. It is making me healthy and changing me for the better, but what would it do for the rest of the planet? Well maybe the Universe will be good to me and provide an opportunity to do Bikram- this is really what I am hoping for. I have been so blessed to travel abit since being in Europe- last year we went to the South of France, which was freaking incredible!! as well as Barcelona, also absolutely amazing!! At some poit, I may go into detail about both these trips in this blog.

Also, I would love it if I could make more music in 2011 as I have been working with Carl Fremen on our dubstep project called 'Worm' for the last year. We are about to release our first 2 tracks on Carl's label 'Desert Plant'. So, really excited about this.. Really fallen more and more in love with dubstep and chilled out music in the past while.

http://www.myspace.com/wormdupstep

I have been well out of the loop in terms of my music career since I moved to Europe (I used to be a DJ in South Africa see: http://www.shejay.net/artistDetail.php?userID=3654 . But since leaving home, there is just too much competition to be a DJ here, and to be fair I have not really tried as hard as I could to get sets here- the clubs that have Drum and Bass nights in Berlin have really bad sound systems and the only regular night only takes famous people on that are really well known, although I gotto say that I am sort of relieved due to the bad sound sytem, though saying that, I have played on some of the world's worst sound systems in my time, so wouldn't say no to a set either. Just can't be arsed to go out to crap smoky clubs to meet people to get sets. But hopefully I will still be able to get my musical fix by making sets at home like I have been doing lately and producing whenever I can.

Here is an example of a dubstep set I made this year, which had had over 500 listens and 80 something downloads.. not bad for my second dubtep mix ever:

2010-02-21 dubstep mix by WORM DUBSTEP

It is really cold at the moment and due to the days being much shorter, we only have light from around 8 am till 16h30 at the moment, I will get much more done as the days feel so much longer in general, even though in reality the total opposite is true. The days in summer are extremely long too, but feel to pass by much quicker- I guess it has something to do with wanting to do more stuff due to the good weather then.. but then it gets dark around 11pm.. Europe is quite extreme this way. I have to say, I am loving the snow, although today, outside, the snow has melted and there is nothing but piles of grey sludge know as 'Matsch' in German. I am sure it will snow again though and I have to say I absolutely love the snow when it is all over the place and white everywhere.. it is truly gorgeous!

Pic I took on the way to work

They also have these amazing 'Weihnachtmarkts' (Christmas Markets) here, which is the stuff that childhood dreams are made of.. toffee apples, roasted nuts, 'Fladenbrots', cute little wooden things, ice-skating and funfairs. I would have flipped out as a kid.

So, yeh this is a bit about me and what I will be up to in the next while. I have been logging my ideas for this blog in a book on the meantime for quite some time, so hopefully will never run out of things to write.. I am not very good at sticking to routine, so may not be able to do one blog a day, but this could also be an excellent opportunity to work on some discipline.. I hope that 2011, brings good vibes for all.

Namaste.

I leave you with a Track of the day...

Lee Chanel xoxo

World Cup Madness is over- what now?

2010-07-14T06:28:00.000-07:00

I may live in Berlin for the moment, and really love this city with it's wide spaces, green trees and parks, it's multi-cultural, artistic coolness and it's melting pot of cultures, but there are parts here too that are tough eg. (although I have to remind myself whilst writing this, that I complain a lot about things that some would consider bloody luxury, so please excuse me)- I miss my home, South Africa, like crazy and this past soccer world cup really awakened this in me once again.. Not that I would be able to go back now, I think, actually know, that if I went back, I would be frustrated once again, like I was after a year or so, and will probably want to spread my wings and fly to another destination once again. This happened to me both times I returned home from America. Maybe it would be different if I went back to and lived in Joburg, as Cape Town (apart from it's political problems) is like living in paradise- as it is extremely beautiful, but because it is quite a small place and everyone knows eachother there, the politics can get quite intense, well, at least I found this. Also, in Summer, the few beaches near the city really get too packed.. o.k, now I admit, I must sound like an absolute snob!

Husband and I toy with the idea often though, and would love to go home to be closer to our friends and families. Some things would have to change first though, before we would decide to take the leap.

One- after spending a fair amount of time in Europe and seeing what it is like to have constant, really fast,cheap and uncapped internet, it wld be really hard to regress back to the slow, expensive and dismal state of our internet in S.A. I hear that bc of the recent World Cup, they improved the internet.

Two, if people would stop wanting to kill eachother because of lack of money, this would also help- Xenephobic locals wanting to kill eachother for the few jobs that are around for the less educated, black old school apartheid thinkers still not over the past and wanting to kill anyone who isn't white (Yes, this is STILL happening) and visa versa, and less priveledged poor people with no hope who will murder you for R10 or less.. if these things would change, it would make S.A a much more livable place. Though these are not really small issues to tackle as they are so old and deeply ingrained in South Africa's past.. it feels like the tallest,widest and deepest wall to get over.

Whilst living here, well, in Europe (and also saw in America) I see the sheer ignorance of some people that really have no clue about what 'Real Hardships' are about. They complain that the government doesn't give them enough money whilst they look for jobs, or some don't even do that. They live off the money. Now don't get me wrong, I do understand that life can be hard for everyone in different degrees, but in Africa, and I am sure it cld even be worse in India or some other countries, people are living on less than €1 a day- can you even begin to imagine this?

It is no wonder then, that they want to kill you for R10 (Rand- South African currency= less thana Euro) because that is literally survival money for them when they can't find a means to help themselves. In africa, people don't get any money from the government, and if they did, I think that it would be really tough to control as it is like suddenly giving candy to a 3 year old baby who has never had it before.. they will probably want more and more.. and this in itself could cause drama with toi-toing or riots for more money- pretty much what happens in Europe already, except probably with more violence.

I recently lived through a really good example of what I mean personally- and not to sound like a Martyr or Saint or anything, but I started a project in which I get african art made in South Africa by a local person lving there who moved there from Malawi and now sells hand made african beadwork on the beach. It went pretty well for the most part, but she was very bad at telling me how much to pay her for the goods and once I had paid her, she was always telling me that this was just not enough. So, the communication was really bad and I just could not giver her more money without losing money myself leaving me witha feeling that I had not really helped, yet I know that in fact I did and it was merely a case of her wanting more money as I did not pay her unfairly. In the end, I agreed to give her more money and after a lot of endless explaining, she is happy with the outcome, but I have lost a bit of money. I think this example could be the kind of possible outcome that would happen if there was some kind of social care system in South Africa. So, it is a really tricky one- not that our goverment even has the funds or structure to even consider such a thing as govermental funding for it's citizens.

During the world cup, I saw so much Unity and love between the South African people that I know is there between the people, but gets buried by hate from wrongs done to one another by a very small minority of people. There were so many bad things said and planned to take place as soon as the world cup is over. After seeing the people unite like that it would be a such a shame to go backwards again. The local people have threatened the foreigners to either go back to Zimbabwe or which ever other African country they came from or they will be killed and the white people vowed to get revenge as the leader of the white supremacy party from the apartheid era group was killed earlier this year. Both of these options sound like a very near step towards a civil war and or more bad international press.

I just hope that we can as a nation, rise above these things and unify like we did so well during the world cup as now we are at the same level as other countries in terms of international exposure. We have two choices now: revert back to our old school ways of violence, ignorance and hatred, or use this opprtunity to prove to the rest of the world who could invest in our country and improve our current state of affairs that we can be civilized and loving towards one another. We should let our african heart shine. I hope that we have seen what is possible and will improve together as one nation- most of us already really understand this and are living it, but some of us still need to learn to bring on the Ubuntu.

xoxo

Lee Chanel

A tale of a blow up pool in Berlin

2010-06-27T06:18:00.001-07:00

Up north, in Berlin, we are not blessed with the greatest weather all year round, but when it is good, like today, I really appreciate that I live here and not somewhere else, like London, one rarely sees the sun and in some countries, like further up north from here, there is literally very little sun for 1 month only in some parts. At least here, we have clear skies and hot days like today. It is a perfect day in Berlin, with just a light breeze. The weather report says 25 degrees, but it seems hotter. Anyway, not to brag, but my man and I pay out of our asses to stay in an apartment with a roof garden in the centre of Berlin and it is so awesome on days like this. I was writing this blog whilst tanning on the roof, but I had to come downstairs to watch England vs. Germany.

So, we have blown up the pool again. We bought it for the summer last year. It served us well last year. It is just so nice to lie in when it is really hot and look over the Berlin skyline. Around this time last year , and about 3 days after we bought the pool, I was at work, when I heard a crazy storm brewing up. The thunder was so loud it sounded as if we were actually in the thunder cloud. It was the craziest storm I have ever experienced.

Husband and I had been sleeping in the pool as we did not yet have a hose pipe to fill the pool up and the weather was so great the night before that we thought that we would sleep beneath the stars. Before I left for work, I asked him to please take the bedding that was in the pool out in the morning. When I hard the crazy storm begin, I tried to Skype and phone him to remind him to take the bedding out of the pool. He didn't answer for like 15 mins and then when he came back, he told me all about what had just unfolded with the pool.

When the wind picked up, husband heard a sudden 'Swish' sound coming from the roof, ran upstairs to find out what it was and found that the pool was gone.. clearly it had blown off the roof. So husband ran downstairs and could not see it anywhere. He saw no one but one guy sitting outside the african food store in our road. So he asked him, "Dude, have you seen a pool?" He stared blankly back at him and after a while replied.. "Ahh, yeh.. I did see a pool- it's in there." he said, pointing toward Kaffee burger- a famous bar in Berlin that has been around for bloody ages. And has seen even the likes of Madonna gracing it. So husband was like where? And the guy pointed him to the door of Kaffee Burger- as he opned the door- there was the pool, intact except for a few scratches, having a drink at the bar. I think the manager and staff were hoping to use it for a party coz they looked quite dissapointed when husband asked to have our pool back. He then lugged the entire 3x2M pool up the stairs by himself. I was pretty impressed.

So, this year, we decide to take the pool out again as the weather got much warmer again. So, we blew it up only to see that the bottom panel kept slowly deflating every time we blew it up.. we did the soap puncture test with no success- we found no puncture. Yet, it kept deflating. So we came to the conclusion that the air was escaping from the holes from which we blew up the pool.

Anyway, eventually we gave up and thought we would just make do with the 2 panels which still remained inflated. This held the water fine for about 2 days until one day husband was at home again and heard a rush of water which sounded like rain. When he went to see what was happening there was a wall of water gushing past out kitchen window. The phone rang a couple minutes later and it was the landlord concerned and checking that a pipe hadn't burst.. It was the bloody pool again which had just collapsed.

It has been lying flat upstairs ever since with bricks on it, but today husband was adamant to revive it and used some tape and super glue to fix the punctures. He also glued the air hole together, so I guess this will be the last time we will be using the pool.. I tried to tell him not to bother as I think it will not last long, but he insisted that it was a waste if we don't try to fix it. So it is upstairs now without water in it, looking rather battered.

I wonder what it will do next?

Laid Back » Berlin Street Art Safari

2009-12-02T14:52:00.001-08:00

Laid Back » Berlin Street Art Safari

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intro.. Burning Man/ Dreamtopia.. Berlin

2009-11-13T07:57:00.000-08:00

I am going to start my first entry with an art exhibition/ interactive performance art exhibition that I attended recently, which I absolutley loved!! I live in Berlin, and as you may, or may not know, Berlin is a melting pot of art, music, culture and events.. A perfect playground for a young and vibrant wannabe or established artists, writers, producers etc etc

I live right in the Mitte of it all, smack, bang in the centre of Berlin, and guess what? I never really go out.. I often sit and wonder what the hell is wrong with me? as I sit in the house all day and night, when I could be outside exploring the wonders of Berlin.

So, I ventured out one Sunday, come hell or high water.. I was so sick of being lazy at home and never exploring the turf that I took it upon myself to at least attend an art exhibition which looked really interesting called: Dreamtopia..

Here is the same info that I saw before I went, which totally sold me..

http://eplaya.burningman.com/viewtopic.php?t=23658&highlight=dreamtopia

http://berlin.unlike.net/event_occurrences/107152-Checkpoint-DreamYourTopia

I got my lazy ass out of the house and met with a friend and we took a train and afterward I was so glad that I did, coz it was a very memorable and even life changing experience for me.

So, we went down to an abandoned swimming pool in Wedding. A friend of mine has an office there, and what an awesome venue.. 2 large, empty abandoned swimming pools and plenty of space..so cool.

Anyway, when we got there, we tried to enter and were asked if we had passport photos?? When we didn't we had to get some from an old school photo booth for 2€ and we missed the first photo coz it starts like almost immediately after inserting the money.

We took a really random pic of my friend's arm and jacket bc we were not ready for the first photo and the guy at the door chose that one and cut it in half and attached it to a form. We were then allowed through to the waiting area where we could write our details onto the form which had many interesting questions such as age and then mental age.. and many other strange and interstingly fantastical made up questions .. Of course you did not have to answer them truthfully, for eg. my friend said mental date of birth: 0 b.c and I answered:- origin: Restaurant at the end of the Universe. On our way into the room, the very strange guy that registered us in the beggining slipped us some imaginary dream money and told us to hide it and not to tell anyone about it..

The room was very dream like already with many people sitting in front of a big pink skull and bones shaped gate with soft mysterous music playing in the background. We waited to be questioned about what we filled in on our forms which had a lot to do with our dreams.. and what we imagine and want from life..

We waited around for ages to be questioned and then, on our second attempt at trying to pass through the gate, we made it through to another smaller room, also blocked by another gate, where a man was again asking quesions, but at that gate, he was asking questions about our ideas about god and our ideas about dreams.. we waited for another 45 mins or so after already waitng for about 45 already, until we were allowed through another door.. we got through to a tiny room then with a crazy guy who also asked us many more questions about our dreams and told us that we are the masters of our dreams..

We then had to stand with our hands on our hearts and and say together into a microphone which was broadcast out of a nearby speaker that we were the dreamers and that we can shape our destiny as we hold the passport.. He then issued us with our dream passports and we were allowed into through 'the doorway to our dreams'. We climbed a ladder, slid down a slide and went down a dark tunnel where we then found a DJ playing techno or something of the like, and a bar, where we had a drink and chatted about how great the 90s were.

I must say, I have never been to an exhibition that left me with such a lasting impression. I have the passport now, and can make any of my dreams come true.. I like the way it made people question what they were doing with there lives and if they were truley following there dreams or not. I also liked the way it took the piss of the boundaries that are placed by humans on eachother by governements and bureaucracy and the necessity to conform in our every day lives.

I would recommend this exhibition if you get the chance to see it, or, now that I have told you about all of it and ruined the suprise, you could also just take heed to the msg that it is portraying and follow your dreams..

More info:

http://www.dadara.nl/checkpoint/index.html

http://dreamyourtopia.blogspot.com/

See pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/modart/sets/72157622781810992/show/

xoxo

Lee Chanel