Bavaria

INTERMEZZO

One will find the real Berlin in hidden court yards, the local Beijing in the deepest corners of the hutongs, in Tokyo you have to look up.

The whole day we have been walking the streets of Tokyo. Akihabara, Roppongi, Shibuya. My eyes hurt, too much impressions. Before yet another deep dive into the night we decide to take a time out. Intermezzo. A look at the many high rise buildings and a couple of minutes later we find ourselves on the  seventh floor of a nondescript building. A bowling center, here? One story higher part of our group is challenging the locals for a round of table tennis.. Playtime

-Matt.

MUNICH

A cold and windy ride to Munich. Two TT's tailing each other. After a little hour we are ready to sniff up some culture at one of the many museums in the Bavarian capitol. It is busy in the Pinakothek der Moderne. Silently the visitors walk from one section to the other. They cross the big round atrium as they move from Picasso to Warhol.

We decide to start at the temporary exhibition. It is all about wood. A forgotten material in a world of big buildings. The immaculate and finely detailed models show the potential of nature to span amazing arches in todays architecture. A range from Japan to Europe and beyond. Laser cut, computer customized.Inspiring. Great displays with a lot of warmth. Worth a visit.

Of course there is much more. Loosely painted graphics, colorful installations and heaps of master pieces. A journey back in to art history. Before we leave we have to take a look in the basement of the complex. The area below sea level is the industrial design department. An over dimensional Ikea Expedit filled with design classics is one of the big attractions. Sit down in one of the spacey rocker seats to chill out and stare at furniture, bikes, bob sleds and cars. Pinakothek sunday, let it be your pick of town.

-Matt.

FISH WITHOUT CHIPS

It is the end of the year and damn have I been lucky. A business trip to Tokyo, the big jackpot,  a long awaited dream becomes reality. We are here to visit the local motor show and in the meanwhile will enjoy everything that crosses our path. Four days and three nights lost in translation. I better talk about hours instead of days because we suck out every minute we can as night and day blend into a fantastic and exhausting cocktail flavored with sweet Japanese blends.

As a starter, let's talk sushi. Fish without chips for a change. Raw, but refined. Our evening meals as a stabile reference in a hectic, jet lagged parallel universe. Three dinners, three locations, three atmospheres. Somehow we immediately feel at home at the Gonpachi. No wonder the restaurant figures as the hot spot for Tarantino aficionados. Kill Bill has been heavily inspired on this place. Traditional, wooden, without the blood splattered bodies, but with great sushi.

Our second stop is more minimalist, a nondescript and ultra compact cookery in the Roppongi district. Think of your bamboo cutting plate at home and extrapolate it to a restaurant. Silently and with great care the master and his assistance slice and dice fish and rice into a wonderful orchestrated Gesamtkunstwerk. We feel good and very Suntory to take another dive into the city of lights.

 Our last pick of town is a spontaneous one, somewhere in a dark alley in Shibuya. This time we get as local as we can get. We order, well, a bit of everything. A blind date with Japan, surrounded by unreadable menus.

-Matt.

CHRISTLUM

The end of the year and the beginning of the season. Our tradition is kept alive once again. Before the holidays start we hit the snow, knee deep this time. Curving the slopes of Christlum on and off piste. The weather conditions are sub prime, but the snow is close to perfect this day. Grippy, deep, prepared. Some jumps here and there and most of all biting the dust every other minute. More of this as soon as possible. Thanks to Uli for his sort of water resistant capturing device.

-Matt.

SUSHI SATURDAY

A cold saturday some weeks after the Tokyo experience. A Japanese evening at home starts early. Get the fish when it's still fresh in the morning. The rest is all about improvisation and inspiration. The result after a good hour of modeling taste as good as it looks. Some Sake and you are ready to roll. Campai!

-Matt.

VISITORS VIEW

2011, a look eastbound. Three times this year I have travelled to Asia. Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo. New impressions, food for the mind and a hard disc full of images. Read my visitors view on our newly found sister blog called Carfreax China. Enjoy!

-Matt.

MUNICH

I have been here before. A couple of months ago the Haus der Kunst in Munich was the starting point of the Pass Masters '11. Back then it was the setting for a rainy breakfast, today I come back for some culture. A mellow "indian Summer" sunday. No car culture, or maybe a little bit? 

We start with the Goetz Sammlung, located in the revamped basement of the complex. Video installations in tight rooms that once functioned as bomb safe hide outs for the locals. One short movie after the other, surrounded by thick concrete walls.

The reason we are here is the main exhibition upstairs. Carlo Mollino. Architect, dandy, furniture designer, inventor, photographer, alpine junkie and speed freak. A room full of original sketches, prototypes and pictures. No cameras please. Nevertheless very inspiring. Downstairs in the foyer the vehicle is a fusion between motor cycle and car. An architect joining the 24 hours of Le Mans. Somehow a da Vinci of the 20th century. Go visit!

On our way back a final look at the Eisbach surfers. Locals looking for the ultimate cut back, riding an endless perfect wave. 

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

A second visit to Ingolstadt's clock work, the Museum Mobile. Another look into the history of Lamborghini, beyond the icon cars like the Miura and Countach. There are a some rare prototypes from the early days and a bunch of strange leftovers from the nineties. I clearly remember my first days in Ingolstadt. A year before Audi had acquired the Italian brand. These were the days Outlook did not exist and the polaroid was an quick and dirty medium. I got hold of a stack of square formatted pictures of the dead born Diablo succesor, a car straight from the bio-design age.  Big bubbles accompanied by late Gandini squared off wheel arches. A dead end street, who knew? The Murcielago took another direction, inside out.

Gallardo, Reventon, Aventador. The path would have been very different if those flash colored sculptures would have seen the light. These days they look out of place in the museum. Studies that never happened. Unfinished business. Nevertheless a piece of "Zeitgeist", a part of history. An end of an era and the beginning of a new one.

GOING LOCAL

The Waldorf Astoria comes with a great view and wifi. Another day before the hectic of the car show starts. I zoom in and out on google maps and realize that this city has no limits. A look at the glossy city guide put together by my employer. Places to see in Shanghai. Something cultural would be nice for a change. Let's go local. Ancient temples and a relaxing atmosphere in the midst  of a changing city. 

The Yu Garden should be in walking distance. I follow the road signs and get lost. Yes this is a garden, but not much Yu is going on. I look at the guy who has some glass bottles filled with turtles as I hear a voice beside me. "In Chinese culture the turtle symbolizes personal luck and health. The goldfish you see over there stands for financial wealth". "You are looking for the Yu Garden, it is around the corner, follow me, I am a cultural teacher, very important". Surprised somehow I follow the guy who gives me a turbo charges lecture in local culture. "Holland, Rembrandt, van Gogh, very interesting, Chinese painting black and white, no color"." Follow me, I show you garden". Walking through narrow streets the guy paints a picture of the foreigner within minutes like Yoda. "Very independent you are, creative indeed, cultural given".

Before I realize I sit on the first floor of a tea house, just above a shop with tourist stuff. Equipment is put on the table within seconds. Chinese culture lands on textile with a few strokes. "Very original, no copy". No color indeed. A customized tourist program or a friendly gesture from a local or ? I am still mixed up, but believe in the latter. A couple of minutes later I enter the Yu Garden, packed with a drying painting, accompanied by a bunch of Brazilians. Nevertheless one will find peace within these walls. Beautiful details and 700 hundred years old. A piece of Shanghai that survived the cultural revolution. An hour in tranquility and then out on the streets again. Should I grab a tea? The Starbucks is situated in a Yu Garden style building next door. I refuse to be part of the Disney tour, stick my painting deeper into my bag and dive into the late afternoon action of Shanghai.

WALK AROUND

The multi lane streets that swing along with the Bund are empty. I have limited time here so where to go? Taking a taxi somewhere is easy, on every corner a ricksha stops to ask the tourist with the camera if he needs a ride. Cheapy, cheapy. Thank you, I will take a walk around. Workers clean the street and meticulously reposition plants. Ancient brooms. The contrast with the sky scraping buildings can't be bigger. Everything here is build to expand, a scale beyond imagination. New York must have made a similar impression a century ago. After a long walk and dozens of architecture pictures I decide to take a look what is behind the clean walls of the boulevard. 

I am struck by yet an another view on Shanghai. A business man has his Passat hand washed in front of a wrecked house, chicken on the pavement. A photo opportunity for the book. Too close to press the button. I am still trying to find the comfort after a guy started to shout at me after aiming the lens at him earlier this morning. Do I feel safe? Obviously this not a vavela in Rio. This rough part of the city must be one of the many Chinas where things present themselves in a strange mix, a clash of times. Worn out places and lively streets. A social fabric spread out in between concrete blocks. An Audi A5 parked next to a rusty bike.

After a while I am more relaxed. When the streets get narrower the intension rises. The guy in the flash blue ski jacket becomes part of Shanghais street live were everything happens outside. People playing games, carts filled with food, action, shouting and laughing. Guys in business uniform return home to there dusty neighborhood, grabbing some food on their way. The streets filled with endless piles of stuff. Empty cardboard boxes, a family somewhere will enjoy a new television set. Will this "China" still be there in five years time, witnessing the accelerating speed at which things change here? 

I return to the hotel and finish my book, a guide to China. I have seen so little, but experienced so much. A point and shoot tour with my camera, trying to find words is not easy. China is hard to grab, no place for quick judgements. A cocktail which ingredients are changing everyday. Happy hour.