Discovering Sushezi, a Sushi maker that simplifies preparing Sushi at home for Maki-lovers

As you already know, I rave about delicious Vegan Sushi and Vegan Frushi...

I could eat it every day. And yes, I enjoy it so much, that I write Sushi with a capital letter...

[Easy-to-follow instructions of Sushezi

Image source: Sushezi.Com]

Unfortunately Sushi and Frushi can be either expensive, or time-consuming, or they can mess your kitchen up. I know a couple of places in Berlin where eating Sushi is less expensive than usual, but eating Sushi every day? It's tempting, but not healthy, at least financially speaking.

That's why this week I was so happy to discover the Sushi maker Sushezi, produced in New Zealand since 2007. Why I am discovering it only now?!

But I am digressing from this interesting Sushi maker...

Its motto is "Perfect sushi made easy" and looking at the pics preparing Sushi at home looks really easy and "dummies-proof". And the rolls are perfectly formed, regular and neat.

[Sushezi instructions - Steps #1. to #5.]

According to the instructions for using Sushezi & preparing sushi rice tips (downloadable in PDF format on the official website and included in the package) it's possible to use the Sushi maker for preparing Maki at home in 10 easy steps, with fillings of your choice. 

In my case, it would be slices of avocadoes, cucumbers, celeries, carrots, bean sprouts, tofu, bananas, strawberries, apples...

What about you? 

[Sushezi instructions - Steps #6. to #10.]

Sushezi website has a simple, elegant and user-friendly layout and includes five common sections: 

1. Home 
2. Instructions 
3. Other uses 
4. Where to buy 
5. Contact us

Unfortunately "Where to buy" is currently listing only stores located in New Zealand, but there are international distributors for Argentina, Australia, France, Israel, North America, Republic of South Africa, Singapore, Spain, Ukraine and United Kingdom. And I have also seen Sushezi on Amazon and eBay.

The website is announcing the forthcoming publication of its first Sushezi recipe book and meanwhile it suggests other uses for Sushezi: Ginger-nut Log, Lolly Cake Roll, Chocolate salami, Walnut fudge rooll, Basic biscuits...

But I think I am going to focus on Vegan Sushi and Frushi. After all I have to catch up years without eating enough of it...

Did you already know Sushezi? (and if yes, why didn't you tell me?!)

Or do you have another Sushi-making procedure? Let me know in the comments!

Previous post:

Waiting for home-made Vegan Frushi...

Tags: Sushi maker, Frushi, Sushi, Vegan, Maki, Sushezi

Are you tired of museums and clubs but you still want to enjoy Berlin? Try out these 10 places instead

People sometimes ask me which my favorite places in Berlin are.

This seems to be a very easy and innocent question, but it isn't.

It's difficult to only give one answer since one of the things that I love most about Berlin is that it is unruhig, unsettled. 

Streets and places change fast, restaurants open and close fast, clubs shine and die fast. Shops renovate and move fast to a new district. Trends come and go fast. 

Everything changes, the city changes, people change. And yet the atmosphere is quite the same.

By walking on the streets, you get the impression that the city is living fast and that everything is possible. Not only for the city itself but also for you. Being part of it is magical.

[The Turkish bath in the Schokofabrik

Image source: Hamam at the Schokoladenfabrik]

I decided to list ten of my favorite places in Berlin anyway, but since on the internet you can already find plenty of tips about museums, cool sights, theaters, art exhibitions, and clubs, this is another kind of list. The numbers do not represent a ranking, however.

If the world would be divided into good and bad people... on which side would you like to be?

After reading my post about the art installation "Before I Die", one visitor of the blog asked me yesterday what I would love to leave behind me when I will be gone. What I would love to achieve. What I would love to be remembered for.

It seemed the world was divided into good and bad people. The good ones slept better... while the bad ones seemed to enjoy the waking hours much more.

Woody Allen

[Woody Allen and Mia Farrow 

during the shooting of "The Purple Rose of Cairo"]

What do I want to achieve? I had to think about that, but after a while, the answer was somehow easy and natural to me.

How you can be better than Nostradamus: all you need is a positive self-fulfilling prophecy

Have you already had one of those days?

You wake up, you take a shower, you dress up and have breakfast and then you go to work, knowing that a hard day is waiting for you.

Knowing that some unpleasant tasks need to be done. Knowing that you will have a dreadful meeting. Knowing that a difficult conversation can't be avoided. Knowing that you will experience stress, anger, and maybe some kind of defeat.

You talk to yourself, in your head, and in an inner monologue, you repeat again and again, silently and yet really loud: "Today is going to be a hard day!" or anything like that.

I know for sure that I sometimes had some of those days in the past and I wasn't happy nor relaxed while going to work then. I already was defensive and anxious when walking through the door and those days were really exhausting.

[Ready to play with the assumptions
about your day, just like you would do
with a magic ball toy?]

In such situations, the experts talk about self-fulfilling prophecy:

"What I want to do before I die?" Candy Chang and John Lennon can help you answer that question

When does one realize that life is getting serious?
That one is becoming an adult, after all?

While getting older, I find myself confronted almost on a daily basis with: friends who are getting married, who are starting a family and having children, who are falling in love, who are buying a house or moving to another city or making a career makeover... 

I am not yet much confronted with death, but it happens sometimes to hear that someone I love just lost a friend, a relative, a loved one.

[Art installation Before I Die by Candy Chang

Image credit: Candy Chang.Com]

In the song "Beautiful Boy" John Lennon says that life is what happens to us while we are busy making other plans. Life is somehow difficult to be planned and we are used to thinking that we have a lot of time. We are used to saying: "One day, I will do this and that". We are used to taking a lot of things for granted.

A cool t-shirt, the secret of sarcasm and why smiling is the best option available to you and me

Wearing the right t-shirt is a way of life.

So what would your t-shirt tell about you?

What would a stranger on the street think about you, merely because of your t-shirt?

Yesterday one of my colleagues had this funny black t-shirt on:

[The motto of this t-shirt is: "SARCASM - 

Because beating the crap out of people is illegal"]

I found the t-shirt brilliant and a perfect fit for the guy, who is a very funny and friendly and yet sharp person, if he feels like it.

A little game against the little black cloud of negativeness

I strongly believe that being in a bad mood and bad vibes are somehow contagious. 

This is one of the reasons why I prefer to spend my time with people who are often in a good mood and who can stay positive and motivated even in bad situations. Negative people can somehow be toxic, for themselves and for their environment.

What do you do when you are sad or angry or frustrated, if you are being negative?

Most of the times, you keep thinking about how sad or angry or frustrated you are. And you talk to people to say how sad or angry or frustrated you are. And then you recall other situations that made you sad or angry or frustrated in the past. You complain about the situations, about you, about other people. 

Someone or something has to be guilty! Finding the guilty one slowly becomes the most important thing. Meanwhile, every minute you become even sadder or more angry or frustrated.

[Smiling a little bit more 

is "almost" always a very good idea...]

Your bad feelings are in the air, floating somewhere between you and the people around you, like the proverbial little black cloud of negativeness.

Don't say goodbye. Ever. Even if it is time for a goodbye, and you know it

I was seven years old when I saw Roman Holiday (1953) by William Wyler for the first time and I  immediately decided that saying goodbye to someone just sucks.

"Why do we have to say goodbye?" I asked myself.

[Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck 

taking a break during the shooting of Roman Holiday]

Almost thirty years after seeing the movie for the first time, I still have no answer. Not a good one, at least. Saying goodbye to someone important in my life still sucks.

Even if I know that it is just normal.

Even if it is the best thing to do.

Even if life goes on and we will be happy anyway.

Saying goodbye is too dramatic. Too painful. Too conclusive.

"See you later" sounds better, that's all.

Tags: Goodbye, Saying goodbye, Relationships, Roman Holiday

What to read next:

Charlie Brown's life philosophy about goodbyes

Visiting the blog for the first time? Aloha!

Where to start, if you are new 

Five easy tips for enjoying and improving your networking strategy

For a lot of people networking can be a nightmare: they consider it as something difficult, time-consuming, somehow dirty, self-serving or even worse than that.

I have to say that I totally disagree. I see networking as something funny, inspiring, useful for both sides and easy to do.

How? By believing that your life is made of people and the more interesting people you know and help, the better for you and for them.

In my opinion, networking is all about sharing: sharing knowledge, sharing ideas, sharing tipps, sharing motivation, sharing suggestions, sharing know-how, sharing contacts, sharing experiences. 

Networking is about spending time with people who can help you and whom you can help out. It is about making your life and their life better because of it. It is definitely about giving them something that they don't know/have and you do and about getting support and ideas from them.

Are you still not sure that networking is a good thing for you? 

Here you have five easy tips about networking, to start enjoying it:

#1. Believe that you are a wonderful person and that you can add value to the life of others. Never doubt it.#2. Go out and smile. Be happy when you meet a new person. Every person is a chance to enrich your life.#3. Focus on the beautiful character quirks of each person and don't judge them. You don't know how walking in their shoes feels like.#4. When you say "I would be glad to follow up" mean it. And do it: follow up.#5. Introduce interesting people you know to other interesting people you know. This way you will make their life more rich and valuable.

Are you ready to network now?

Did I miss something?

ps. The new post about "The little Prince" will be online next week on Monday!

Tags: Networking, Meeting new people, Networking tipps

What to read next:

Are you guilty of boring small-talk or absolutely biased questions? Try these three questions instead