Carole in real Life 烤肉现实生活中

For about 6-months, I’ve been adding to my morning routine a little 15-min stretching session. I tried my share of online yoga classes during COVID but I realise that what I really liked was stretching and that doing it just 15min in the morning was providing a good rhythm and start for my day. I liked it so much that I even hosted a small outdoor stretching workshop when I had a weekend with friends in France over the summer. At first, I always stuck to the same video and later realized that a little bit of variety wouldn’t be the worst. I fell into a Youtube rabbit hole and here is what I came back with.

Gaylyn Lareese – 15 min full body flexibility stretch routine for dancers: stretches for open hips and arabesque. Thou Geylyn is one of the YouTube in this list with the fewer followers (yet) and I had no idea before watching this routine what an arabesque is. This routine is my favorite because it is very professional (you can definitely see Gaylyn is a professional dancer), very educative (I learn the difference between an active and passive stretch) and Gaylyn made the effort to share the music she uses on Spotify, which is convenient for when you want to stretch without looking at a screen. The flip side of taking stretching from a professional dancer is that some positions in part 2 are advanced but surely awe-inspiring. What better day than today to challenge yourself? Positions that are in no other videos: Graham 4th stretch, reverse graham 4th stretch, modified pigeon stretch, assisted back attitude. 

Mady Morrison – 15 Min. Full Body Stretch | Daily Routine for Flexibility, Mobility & Relaxation | DAY 7. This is the first stretching video I found and the one I watched so many times I probably know it by heart. It was probably recommended by Youtube due to location as Mady is a German yoga instructor. Very good and relaxing, in the stretching-without-talking style, so you don’t need to understand German to enjoy.

Growingbananas – Full Body Stretch | Mobility Routine for Flexibility & Relaxation. Also a stretching-without-talking video, a bit more dynamic and sporty than the one above. Pop songs lover will love this one.

Toni Mitchell – 13 min. Full Body Stretch Routine For Tight Muscles| Beginner Friendly. This stretching routine from fitness-enthusiast Toni starts with voice instructions but is then only music and the usual timer beep. I personally enjoy the tune she picked and the everyday-life feel with the kitchen background. 

Arianna Elizabeth – Yoga for RUNNERS | 15 MIN POST-RUN Stretch | Beginner Friendly! Guided stretching session with smooth background music and voice, no timer beep. Arianna is a yoga teacher and you just feel like being in a private session with her. 

Tom Merrick – 15 Minute Beginner Stretch Flexibility Routine! (FOLLOW ALONG) Guided stretching from Tom the British bodyweight warrior.

Emy Wong – 20 min Full Body Stretch for Flexibility, Reducing Bloating, Pain Relief & Recovery ◆ Emi ◆  If I felt that the Toni Mitchell video had an everyday-life vibe, it is even more true of this influencer Emy stretch routine shoot in a corner of an apartment with – I assume – her mum passing by at minute.

Yoga with Kassandra –10 min Morning Yoga Stretch for Beginners – Energy Boost Yoga Perfect for right after waking up, this video is a follow-along video. I like that she asks to pick one word as your intention for the day. Kassandra has a very soothing voice. In this stretching/yoga routine, I liked the recline pigeon pause and later then standing pigeon pause, as well as the floating tabletop.

BONUS: An entertaining, challenging, and inspiring video to stretch for front splits from blogilates – 15 Minutes Deep Stretch for Splits.

Enjoy and happy stretching!

This week I spent one night and two days at Coconat, a workation place in Bad Belzig, 1h30 away from Berlin. I’ve heard of the place a few months earlier when I was researching coworking and places for retreats in Brandenburg as I was brainstorming ideas of what to do with the farm my partner bought earlier this year in Herzberg (Elster).

About my stay

Finally, I was offered a short stay there for my birthday by my dear entrepreneur friend Irene – who was looking to try it as a place to do focus work and off we drove on a sunny autumn Wednesday morning. We arrived around lunch when the communal meal was being set up, did our covid self-tests, devoured our plates of gorgonzola-spinach pasta, and got a nice tour of the property by Adriano.

During my stay various area of Coconat were booked for corporate/institute workshops: the university of Dortmund, Global Diplomacy Lab, just to name a few. Through the connection of one of the American co-founders of the place, many American companies book the space for retreats.

We met Dr Kerstin Schulenburg during our communal lunch who told us about the community she is building close by, how they are using sociocracy and that she recruits interested parties through her website cohousing.de.

Later at dinner, we made a friend from Hamburg who was staying for “only 9 days” as she proceeded to explain that her roommate had been at Coconat since April. She introduced us to her interest in circular economy and recommended us to take the guided tour of the “Alpenhaus” of Beelitz Heilstaetten, an abandoned sanatorium now taken over by nature.

About the place

The place used to be a hotel for weddings(1), it has 4 buildings: the main building with several rooms for coworking (the library, the laboratory, the salon, the garden room, the cafe) and the sleeping rooms. Another closeby fully renovated building hosts the communal kitchen which closes on Saturday to be used as a pizzeria (they have an outdoor oven), a yoga space, and other local businesses like a massage room or a video editor studio. With an intention to integrate the local community with the visitors of the space, Coconat calls for local initiatives to add services to the place. Coconat also has a small sauna and a pond to swim in during the summer months, and a very large garden. Currently, the place can host about 60 people in 19 rooms (18 “private” family rooms – including four beds) and one dorm room). People can also camp outside (in summer) or come with a camper.

What’s next?

Two other buildings are a work-in-progress: one will host an additional dedicated co-working space and Fab Lab and the barn will be turned into a workshop for local handcraft (particularly woodwork apparently).

There is also an old S-Bahn wagon that will soon be turned into additional coworking space.

My thought-download

Spending time here allowed me to take a step back and connect the dots between several ideas that started floating in my mind recently:

• our farm project
• been introduce to the emerge podcast (which happened to have a conference in Berlin this month)
• reading “The Future We Choose” by Christina Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac
• the Klimatstreit / Fridays For Future in Berlin on Oct. 22

While I came here looking to experience the place as a cool-new thing to try, I’ll leave after a short 24h-experience feeling like Coconat is just the visible tip of the iceberg of a much bigger movement. This movement already going strong in Germany is well-represented by the Zukunftsorte network, but the trend is also picking up since COVID in many Western societies (thanks to the wider adoption of remote-work): living megalopolis cities and dynamizing the countryside.

I already loved Berlin because it feels so different from other capital cities like Paris, London, New York, Beijing… When I first step foot in Berlin I asked my friend if it was a holiday weekend because there was nobody in the street on a Saturday afternoon (and no it was not a holiday). Berlin is a city that feels breathable, community-oriented and very artsy. I believe a big contribution to this model is the german urban policy(2). Germany has several layers of polycentric urbanization: as a federation, each Lande (state) has their own capital, there are often not one large city in each state but a group of similar-size cities (Rhine-Ruhr cited as the best example hosting Cologne, Dusseldorf and Dortmund), and the city itself usually have several vibrant city centers (in Berlin we commonly say that people from a certain Kiez (area) never leave the Kiez).

Pushing this model of decentralization further why not see some of these large cities create several mini-hubs in the countryside? It would fit the description of ” The World We Must Create” (chapter 3 of The Future We Choose) and is an inspiring next step.

(1) https://een-bb.de/fileadmin/temp/EEN_Erfolgsgeschichten/20200909_Erfolgsgeschichte_COCONAT_DE.pdf

(2) https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/urban-rural-and-regional-development/urban-policy-in-germany_9789264173194-en

Other references about German urban policy (non-curated)

• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305900610000747
• https://sciendo.com/article/10.1007/s13147-011-0090-6

Berlin is an exciting city so I often have friends visiting and decided to finally compile a list of my top recommendations.

To do

Teufelsberg – The former American listening station to spy on the USSR during the cold war. Ideal to visit on a good weather day but if you are into urban art and abandoned buildings, it is also worth doing on a cloudy day. It is a bit outside the city and you will walk through a park/forest for 30min before reaching the station turned street art gallery but once there you can chill at the beer garden and enjoy the view of Berlin. My recommendation would even be to take one of the tours in English and if you are lucky you will be guided by a former spy who was working at the listening station (He explained that his job was closer to an office job than to a James Bond movie but it was still great to hear about the place from someone who knew it inside out). You can contact the place there but tours have been suspended until further notice due to COVID-19. While being in the West side of Berlin take the opportunity to check out the Schloss Charlottenburg (from the outside) and the Berggruen museum a small and underrated museum that still hosts pieces from Picasso, Matisse, Klee and Giacometti. The most interesting thing about this museum is the research it supported about the provenance of its own pieces in the context of the 2nd World War and art stolen by the Nazis. The museum hosted a temporary exhibition in 2018 described here pointing out the difficulties of tracing the origin of art and with the intention to restitute any piece that would have been stolen. I randomly watched Monument Men the day before going to this exhibition and it was perfectly on point. A nice place for dinner in the area is Funky Fish, one of the rare good seafood places in Berlin.

Boros Collection (aka the Bunker) – In the middle of town walking around Friedrischstrasse you might bump into this impressive bunker and wonder “what is that and what is it doing here?” Well, it was a bunker during the second World War, then it was turned into a club, and more recently bought by Christian Boros who made his fortune in advertising and invested in Art. He opens his private gallery to the public every Friday, Saturday and Sunday and only 12 ppl are let in for 90min. The collection is modern art and both the pieces and the location are quite impressive. Book long in advance.

Hoffmann Collection – Similar to the Boros collection, the Hoffmann Collection is a private gallery opened to the public only on Saturday. It welcomes even less visitors that the Boros Collection, is much less publicised and can only still be visited until 2022. I heard of it because my best friend who works in Culture had arrange for us to visit it during one of her visit to Berlin and it was a blast. The visit finished in the living room of the owner and we could exchange a few words with Ms Hoffmann. It was a very unique experience.

Dark Matter is a permanent exhibition of light installations from Christopher Bauder that just opened in 2021. Christopher Bauder was the artist being the Lichtgrenze (“light border”) from 2015 to recreate the delimitation of the Berlin wall for the 25th anniversary of its fall, and the temporary exhibition Dark Matter (see pictures here). The location is in the outskirt of Berlin so while being in the area why not dropping by the famous Berlin club Sisyphos. They sell tickets on Wednesday for the upcoming Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Like most Berlin club they are open 24h so if you are not a party animal you can also enjoy a day-dancing experience in this large indoor + outdoor venue. You can also enjoy a nice meal or drink along the Spree at Hafenkueche and enjoy the nice riverside walk back to the S-bahn station Rummelsburg.

Kraftwerk is an old power station, a huge concrete hangar turned art space for temporary exhibition. If there is anything going on there at the time of your visit, it might be worth checking it.

To eat

Einsunternull (Michelin) Nice, classy and delicious dishes focusing on high quality ingredients. I was there for a team event at lunch but it seems that they only do dinner now.

Tim Raue (Michelin, featured in Chef’s Table season 3 episode 5) Haven’t tried yet but it is on my bucket list.

Shiso Burger – my confort food in Berlin. Order the Ebi burger. Weirdly enough they open a branch in Reunion island.

W der imbiss – I always thought it was sri lankan food but it turns out that they describe themselves as vegan/vegetarian/salmon dishes influenced by Indian, Mexican, Californian and Italian cuisine…. what matters is that they are delicious!

Liu 成都味道面馆 Nudelhaus Spicy Chengdu style noodles, very authentic… I’m mouth-watering just thinking about it.

House of Small Wonder (for Brunch) This is the cutest place to start your weekend and have a delicious breakfast, cake or japanese lunch. They don’t take reservation and it will get full so go there early bring a book to stand in line. This is the sister restaurant of House of Small Wonder from New York.

To have a great coffee

Ben Rahim and take the chance to wander around the 8 courtyards of Hackersher Markt and the “Dead chicken” alley.

Bonanza Coffee Hero and wander in Mauerpark.

To have a drink

Klunkerkranich – Despite its impossible-to-pronounced name, this bar offer a very chill ambiance in a very original location. It is located at the top floor of a shopping mall but you need to access it by lift to the parking lot, than walk the way up to the last floor. As Berlin has mainly short buildings you have a pretty amazing view of the whole town and a beautiful sunset view.

After being absent for more than 18 months (well I did update my last post on January 2014…) it is more than time to blog again!

Many things happened during that time, and not one month passed by without me thinking: “Damned I should really go back to blogging”.

But I didn’t. Because of time and failing inspiration. Still I have a list of things I definitely would want to write about:
– The difference in start-up culture between Beijing and Silicon Valley
– Top 10 things I did in California
– Organizing Makathon and the Maker movement
– What inspired me to become a Data Scientist
– Top 5 mistakes you’ll do when moving to Berlin…

But today I just want to introduce my new self and give a little bit of background on what happens in the last 2 years:

Last year I turned my life around. After a year in Silicon Valley (SV), travelling back and forth every 3 months, I spent Christmas holidays 2013 in Paris with friends and family and realized that… it wouldn’t be that bad to come back to Europe.

At that point I had spent 7 years outside of Europe. And to be completely honest, if I had any good prospect to get a package “awesome job + working visa”, I would have stayed in SV. But I didn’t want to stay at all costs. I wanted to switch career. And I wanted to find a company I was passionated about. Yes, my new dream was to join one day Facebook Data Sciences team. But I knew that would take time. So life pushed me out of the USA and I wonder “where would be the most fascinating place to be for a free-thinker and techie person in Europe”? I asked around and everyone pointed me to Berlin.

April 2014 I set foot in Berlin and found everything I was expecting to find when I first arrived in San Francisco:
– a strong creative vibe everywhere in the city,
– kick-ass infrastructure and transportation system,
– open minded people who don’t try to make you fit in a mould,
– a vibrant grassroot tech scene with friendly community (where sharing is more important than competing).

After 10 months here, meeting like-minded people, old friends, new friends, switching my career into my new passion of Data Analysis and Visualization, joining one of today’s most exciting tech company in Berlin… I can say that heureux qui comme Ulysse a fait un long voyage (happy like Ulysse coming back from the Odyssey).. it feels good to be back home.

Quick overview of the Messaging app market:

• WeChat – 300 millions (launch in Jan 2011)
• WhatsApp – 250 millions (launch in 2009, estimate $20 million revenue per month)
• LINE – 200 millions (launch in June 2011) ($30+ million revenue per month)
• Viber – 200 millions (launch in Dec. 2010)
• Tango – 130 millions (launch in Sep. 2010)
• KakaoTalks – 100 millions (launch in Mar. 2010; $30 million revenue per month)

Do you see it? The 2 latest comers in the games are already #1 and #3 in users. Wouldn’t you be scared if you were Whatsapp?

And even scarier, these 2 Asian apps are supported by 2 monsters of the Internet: Tencent (WeChat) the leader in China – and #1 internet global internet company is market cap – and NHN (Line) the leader in South Korea.

We are all prepared to the typical VC question: “What would you do if Google/Facebook go in your market?”.
Well, here’s a new one… What would you do if the Google of China AND of Korea go in your market, at the same time and very aggressively?”

With a limited team of 45 and no intention to develop further their monetization model – Jan Koum specifically said he was not interested in developing stickers – I don’t see any outcome for Whatsapp than selling to Google or Facebook. And selling fast before they lose more ground in USA and globally and that the company value start depreciating.

Moreover Whatsapp faces the competition of another strong Silicon Valley based Messaging app, Tango, in the race for acquisition. Whatsapp has a strong hold globally (see cool pictograph here) but Tango already start his monetization transformation, becoming more social and game oriented. That is why Whatsapp has to act fast if Jan wants to get the best prize for his 4-years-old company.

Rumors said negotiation as been going on with Google for a month…But I would think that Facebook will be more willing to give a better valuation. They have the money and are in need of a great social mobile app much more than Google.

What I am expecting is that it shouldn’t be long until an acquisition news come by…

[Update from Jan. 2014 : http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/19/facebooks-19-billion-whatsapp-acquisition-contextualized/ ]

Some cool articles:

As Google acquisition rumors grow, is WhatsApp really worth a billion dollars? (VentureBeat, 8 April 2013)
WhatsApp knows about stickers and Asian chat apps. It doesn’t care about them, and it doesn’t have to. (TheNextWeb, 8 August 2013)
Korea’s Kakao Talk becomes the latest Asian mobile messaging app to pass 100 million users (TheNextWeb, 2 July 2013)
Viber founder: ‘People should be concerned about privacy’ (Thegardian, 30 August 2013)
With Nearly 200M Users, Messaging App LINE Is Gunning For The U.S. (Forbes, 12 July 2013)
WhatsApp Surpasses 250 Million Active Users (WSJ, 20 June 2013)