As promised, here is the video from the red carpet premiere of The Hangover Part II, straight out of Berlin, Germany. I’m so in my element doing things like this. I was born for the red carpet events, live for the craft that goes into being entertaining and in the entertainment industry. #HappyTweet 
Last night’s red carpet event was awesome. I can’t believe how quickly it went. I’ve been building that event up for almost three weeks now and just like that it was over. When the guys and girl arrived on the red carpet the crowds went mad, especially for Bradley Cooper. Ed Helms was a great sport, he gave me some good sound bytes, as did Ken Jeong and Jamie Chung. She is beautiful too! I’m sitting down with all of them tomorrow again in a more intimate and less noisy environment, so if you have any burning questions you want answered, holler. Love letters and virtual bras can be sent to the following email addi: JOKES!
So today I’ve spent most of the day editing the video and doing some other work. Being a Virgo, I strive for perfection and I’m pretty chuffed with what I’ve produced. I will share the video tomorrow morning. I then decided to get some fresh air, what with it being 27 degrees in Berlin today and all. So off I went to this cool sports store called Karstadt, where I had some goodies to buy for my little cousin. It took me an hour to walk there, but I strolled through the park, along the high street, past the Berlin Zoo and the little side walk cafes. I stumbled across a couple having a little lunch break in their car if you know what I mean, which was awkward turtle.com. I scurried off and upped my pace a bit. After that I saw some of other shops and I felt the need to go in and see what they had on offer. Needless to say the European summer fashion isn’t quite me, so my bank balance will remain in a happy, warm and fuzzy place for now.
I now find myself blogging, tweeting, checking FB and catching up on the latest entertainment news. Cheryl Cole has been sacked from X Factor America according to TMZ? Kim Kardashian‘s hubby-to-be blows 2million on an engagement ring? Look she’s amazeballs but seriously, 2 million? That’s just dumb! I also read an interesting article about the 15 most bicycle friendly cities in the world. Berlin is most certainly one of them with the amount of cyclists I saw today and big up to the Mother City for being on that list. Cape Town has had a good year thus far. Tripadvisor’s number 1 travel destination and now one of CNN’s most bike friendly cities. Nice and I trust capetonians and their bikes more then I do when they’re driving their cars! JOKES! Love you Cape Town.
So tomorrow is a big day. I’ll keep you posted with the interviews etc and don’t forget The Hangover Part II opens tomorrow. Click here for show times in SA.
Don’t forget the movie releases in Nu Metro theatres around the country this coming Friday. I saw it today and I loved it. If you enjoyed the first one, there’s enough plus more to make you enjoy the second.
So we arrived in Berlin at around 10:50 this morning. After clearing customs, I quickly made my way through to the Ritz-Carlton in Berlin, which is my home for the next three days. It’s awesome because it’s very close to the venue for tonight’s big premiere. It has been pushed back slightly because that little thing called the ash cloud has caused quite a big of commotion on this side. Berlin-Tegal airport was closed from 11 to 2pm. I’m not sure if it’s now open, but we’ll see later I guess. Above you’ll see some pictures so far. There will be loads more from tonight. Stay tuned, I’ll bring you those as soon as I have them ready.
So it’s with great delight that I can tell you I’m currently sitting in Istanbul on this Wednesday morning en route to Berlin, Germany. I’m traveling to the city exactly six months after my last trip, only this time I’ll be covering The Hangover Part II. The movie releases in SA this coming Friday, as well as other parts of the globe. Later on today I’ll be heading to the red carpet premiere and on Friday I’m sitting down with a few of the cast members to discuss the new offering. Stay tuned for more details on the movie, the big Berlin premiere and my experience in between. Right now, I’m bushed. Had a descent flight on board Turkish Airlines, but as fart as sleeping goes, that hasn’t happened. Next stop, Berlin Germany!
The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project was one of the biggest undertakings the brand had ever attempted. Fourteen cities around the world were involved in this campaign. Each would swap night life elements from their countries with one other nation. South Africa was selected to swap with Germany and the hosts cities, Cape Town and Berlin were off the hook. I traveled to the German capital to catch all the action- from a braai, to an informal hair salon, a banging musical performance by Gazelle, the Germans were in for a treat. Have a look at the video above.
Smirnoff gave one lucky South African the opportunity of a life time. To win an all expenses paid trip to Berlin for the Nightlife Exchange Project. Paul Machelle was the lucky person who won the competition and he took his awesome gf Sindi Mathebula along. This marked their first trip abroad and this is what they had to say:
“Bags packed. We printed the itinerary one last time. Hit the Gautrain from Sandton to the airport. Arrived at OR Tambo, anxiously waited for Brandhouse Brand Manager, Lizzy Kronk to meet us for the very first time! Bit worried she might not be as hip, and maybe uptight. Only quite contrary to discover. Checked in and boarded the Lufthansa Airbus (German airline) to Frankfurt. Goodness what a massive beast. World-class airline with extraordinary service. Food on the plane was fantastic, great entertainment on board with touch screen monitors (movies, music, documentaries and TV).
Eventually landed in Frankfurt after an eleven hour flight. Routine security checkin and then we boarded to Berlin. We landed in Berlin at about 08:30 am (local time). Smirnoff shuttle picked us up from the airport to the Grand Hyatt hotel (freezing as hell…!!!) What an extraordinary hotel- Grand Hyatt Berlin- impeccable service, totally professional and extremely professional and hospitable.
EXPLORING THE CITY
Freshened up to hit that club scene. We went to Felix VIP- hottest club in Berlin. Clocked in our cloaks, got loose and hit the dancefloor… International DJing at it’s best! The next day we took a tour to Berlin with a Trabi (1960 model car). Continue reading
Months of preparation have gone into it. Ideas have been creative and now it’s time to share those ideas with the rest of the world. The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project is here. Gazelle will be representing SA in Berlin and I’ll be there to catch all the action. To those who will be lucky enough to experience this, a world-first, enjoy it. Feel free to share the experience and exchange with the rest of us! Would love to hear what is crackening in your city tonight.
On Twitter, the #tag is #SmirnoffNEP. Get involved!
Each room in the Hyatt is fitted with a blackout curtain, which in my opinion is one of the greatest inventions. It serves it’s purpose, but damn when my phone rang this morning I thought I still had at least four hours to go until I was supposed to wake up. Nope it was just after eight, so I dragged myself out of bed and headed down to meet the others for breakfast. Lizzie is a champ. She’s organized with the hostess at Vox (breakfast restaurant at the hotel) a cake for Paul’s birthday. I’ll get that picture shortly and I will post a pic. What a nice idea and at this point I must say the Germans are some of the friendliest people I’ve met in a long time. They’re willing to help out where they can, they offer good advise and they’re interested to know more about our country. I love this.
After breakfast we collected our warm clothes and headed down to the reception area. Our Trabant cars were waiting for us in the front. Initially when I saw we were going on a tour in these cars, I thought it would be similar to a tour bus. You know, where we all squeeze into one car and the tour guide says “If you look to the right, you’ll see…” we all subsequently look and take pictures and the locals stand on the side of the street thinking, bloody foreigners. I’ve never done either, it’s just what I’ve heard happens. Ha.
Woohoo, I’m here! It’s a little cold I won’t lie, but having said that it isn’t unbearable and the city of Berlin has treated me well so far. Before I elaborate on what we’ve been up to since arriving in the city, I must just backtrack slightly. First of all I must say I’m so impressed with how functional and world class our public transport system is becoming. I caught a cab to the Gautrain station in Sandton and within half an hour I was at the airport, ready to kill some time as I waited for my flight to Frankfurt. I met up with my fellow travelers ahead of our flight Paul was the lucky one chosen as the South African winner to attend the Berlin leg of the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project. Accompanying him on the trip is his girlfriend Sindi. Lizzie, who is the Brand Manager for Smirnoff Triple Distilled & Black is also traveling with us. We boarded our Lufthansa flight at around 7pm. Having spoken to several of my friends before departure, it became clear that Lufthansa wasn’t the preferred airline to use, but I was pleasantly surprised. The service was fantastic, the plane was clean and it’s one of their new additions to their existing fleet. Their choice of in-flight entertainment was really good. Over 100 cds; a variety of hit TV series like Modern Family, Two and Half Men and 30 Rock to mention a few. The choice of movies was great too: Inception, Grown Ups, and Killers. There were loads more, but if it weren’t for me being so tired, I probably would’ve watched more. Now of course I would notice this, being an avid follower of entertainment, but also on the flight was actress and acclaimed dancer choreographer, Lorcia Cooper. I didn’t get a chance to speak to her, but I would presume she’s got a little project lined up in Berlin. If that is the case, then big up to her. Another South African success story.
We arrived in a cloudy and cold Frankfurt in the wee hours, cleared customs and boarded our next flight to Berlin. It’s kind of like flying to Durban, short and sweet. Continue reading
