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My Favourite London Restaurants: As a self-confessed lover of good food, here are some of my favourite restaurants in the big smoke....

ZUMA This is an absolute treat and comes in handy to show off when I have friends over. Always a winner for food and atmosphere. Have been known to spend the odd night down there in the kitchen learning from the pros...	LUNDUMS Due to the not so great organisational skills of Claus Jensen and myself, it was a long wait before I experienced this Danish jewel in South Ken. It's like someone's cosy and tastefully decorated living room with friendly staff and a cracking menu - found it hard not to order the complete list!	AUBAINE Breakfast venue where I also buy my bread. Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day and I just love fresh bread. Its not German schwarzbrot but then how many German restaurants can you find in London? These guys are doing a great job.	J SHEEKEY This one is all about fish but in a true English environment. Don't worry, I won't ever be tempted into prawns again. Red mullet when you go there (being German it had to be the mullet for me didn't it...)	FIFTEEN I went there recently for the tasting menu and was blown away by the taste explosions they kept serving me. Big fan of good old Jamie Oliver (doesn't take himself too seriously) and always looking into his cook book which has yummy dishes with everyday ingredients.	DAPHNE'S The Italian Job - unfortunately very posh and sophisticated so most of the time I'm not dressed the right way to go in spontaneously, but for this food I don't mind getting out my Sunday best.	NANDOS The quantity option with the lads. Here you don't talk because you are constantly loading up with chicken and rice. Who needs cutlery when you have clean hands. Get in there!

A friend made me a compilation CD recently which is now my iPod playlist. This is what’s on it…

Say Hello – Deep Dish

Mr Brightside (Remix) – The Killers

Town Called Malice – The Jam

Suspicious Minds – Elvis

Born of Frustration – James

Made of Stone – Stone Roses

I Think I’ll Call It Morning – Gil Scott Heron

Sunset – Kate Bush

Grapefruit Moon – Tom Waits

Always on my Mind – Ryan Adams

Pocket Full of Money – Jens Lekman

Hoppipolla – Sigur Ros

Things that the Germans are best at... I was flicking through a German magazine called Stern and they had this classic article listing all the things that the Germans excel at, so I thought I'd share it with you....

X-rays - in no other country will more X-rays be done than in Germany	Baking bread - on average, us Germans eat more than 80kg of bread a year!	Separating Rubbish - we're apparently the best at dividing our trash up into different categories for recycling. Well, we would be - it involves organisation and efficiency. No blurred lines!	SMS - we send more text messages than anyone else in the world	Speed-walking up the stairs of skyscrapers - the world record holder is a guy from Steinach	Walking backwards - untouchable at this apparently	Bombing - I mean in swimming pools before you ask, and our women are especially good at his by all accounts

Cherry stone spitting - we can spit them further than anyone else. In the men's category, a bloke from Cologne holds the world record at 19.56m. We hold the women's record at 12.92m as well. I tried this with my friend Michael Rensing from Bayern Munich but I only got 6.72m. More practice needed.	Fireworks - we have more firework displays than anyone else	Charity-giving - we're the most generous when it comes to giving money to charity.	Tax rules - we're the world leaders. We have 100 main rules, 96,000 different sub-rules and over 5000 guides in how to do your tax return!
See what we contribute to the world??!! Where would you be without us!!

VOLZY'S GERMAN PHRASE BOOK

If you're going to Germany for the World Cup, here are some phrases that you may find useful...

Wo kann ich mir meine VokuHila Frisur blondieren lassen? Where can I get my mullet highlighted?
	Wo kann ich die neue David Hasselhoff CD kaufen? When is David Hasselhoff's new album out?
Ich brauche einen fruheren ruckflug? Can I change my plane ticket for an earlier departure date?
	Kann ich meine sandalen ohne tennis socken tragen? Can I wear my sandals without socks?
Wo ist die Currybude? Which way to the curried sausage stand?
	Mir juckt's in der Lederhose My lederhosen are a little itchy
Was ist dein Lieblingswitz? Can you tell me your favourite joke
	Was heist das du hast keinen? What do you mean you don't know any?
Kannst du meine aermel abschneiden Please can you cut the sleeves off my denim jacket
	Wo ist der pool? Ich will meine handtuecher hinlegen Which way to the pool? I would like to put my towel down.
Ist der Linienrichter russe? Is the linesman Russian?
	Habt ihr Elfmeterschiessen geuebt? Have you been practicing penalties?
Die Technick ist super aber ich haette lieber einen Fiesta I know the engineering is good but I'd rather have a Fiesta
	Mein Trabi ist kaput! My Trabant has broken down!
Wo gibt es fisch und pommes? Is there a fish and chip shop near by?
	Wo kann ich einen Tee trinken? Where can I get a cup of tea?
Kann ich HP Sauce haben? Can I have some brown sauce with that?