Zoku

My parents gave me and Stefan a Zoku ice pop maker when we were in Ohio. It's a great way to make a quick refreshing treat - especially when we are dealing with a sweltering summer and no air conditioning. We can make 9 ice pops before refreezing the unit.

The Zoku is pretty neat, but I will pass my own trial and errors along, so there aren't any frustrating experiences for anyone else.

- Don't attempt to make your own ice cream or sorbet with it. What will happen is it won't freeze properly and the stick will slide out leaving your tasty treat stuck behind until the whole thing melts.

- Don't twist the little orange lifter too tight or your stick will break entirely when you try to get it out. (Thankfully we bought extra sticks)

- Whatever you make must have a bit of sugar so it freezes properly, but fresh juices seem to work alright, so they can also be healthy.

There's another ice cream shop I'm looking forward to checking out near Rosenheim and they have really funky and obscure flavors like: asparagus, roquefort, weißbeer, eel, and mustard. We had a manchego ice cream in Tokyo and it was divine. I am planning to make Radler pops (beer with lemon soda), lemon basil, and blueberry.

Happy Mother's Day!

We spent Mother's Day at the biergarten once again. I guess it's becoming a bit of tradition even, since we've been every year that I've lived here.

The weather even cooperated, too! That was nice after a drizzly week. A little sunshine for the mamas - and those that are remembering theirs.

I'll get to celebrate my Mom for a full 2 weeks when I get to see her next month. I'm already looking forward to her hugs, fantastic foods, and simply spending time together. See you soon, Mom!

In other 'mom' related things, I'm really anxious to see the new documentary 'Babies'.

I'm probably one of few people that's not baby crazed (I think toddlers are more fun), but this movie looks so fascinating.

They follow 4 babies through their first year in various places around the world (Tokyo, San Francisco, Mongolia, and Namibia). Seeing the different ways of rearing children has to be interesting!

Check out the trailer - I promise you won't regret it!

Moms are amazing! Hope you had a great time remembering yours.

(Babies poster courtesy of Focus Films)

Railway city maps

Be still my little heart.

I cannot look at these maps without drooling. They are from 0 / 0 (Zero per Zero), and now I think I need them all - framed in a little corner of our apartment. They were designed by two Korean university students.

The illustrated maps and subway networks are just striking. The difficult part is that the fronts and backs and both gorgeous... how do you choose which side to display?

I'm sure they are also very useful for travel purposes.

Available cities include:
Barcelona
Hokkaido
Tokyo
Osaka
Seoul
New York City