Thursday, December 16, 2010

Gostilna Livada, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Livada - they excel in serving big groups. Crowdfooding.

Aleš Muha - Project Manager at A-Soft, calls Horjul his hometown, surname has Czech roots, Tadej's brother, about to graduate at EF, worked for NLB investement banking arm, was Head of IT finance at Lek and SLA manager for Sandoz group, and now serves as BPA at Viator&Vektor. His blog combines cycling + gourmet, has 6 years old daughter, is reading in parallel The creative manager and Female brain (what?) books, will one day have his own F1 team and bike shop with best mountain bikes for symbolic price. For friends.

A-Soft, B-Soft, C-Soft ... all together now ...

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Evergreen, Smlednik, Slovenia

Evergreen behind the green. Great restaurant and lounge. Especially for avid golfers. Diners kind.

Igor Koščak - Head of direct Sales at Infonet Media, has roots in Canada, lives in radomlje, Peter Koschak is his uncle painter, graduated at FM in Koper, worked for Manpower, before he was snatched by Leo Oblak's Infonet. Avid tennis player, had same coach Breskvar as Boris Becker, recently read Armchair Economist and will probably be sales trainer even for free as that's what he likes to do and is very good at.

Dino Ivan Tot - CEO and partner at Media Lab, the company behind 1naDan, Slovenian Groupon wannabe, born and raised in Rijeka, Croatia, lives in Ljubljana as he moved to Slovenia because of study, graduated at FRI and about to finsih Cotrugli EMBA, still has Totalia IT consulting company and was never employed, likes fishing parangal, plays squash and tenis, avid skier, currently reading Gladwell's outliers and will keep spawning new businesses in his life.


Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Čajnica Cha, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Cha - A very popular and very nice tea place in Old Town. Recommended. Much.

Violeta Bulc - enterpreneur, promotor of innovation and the power of personal development at Vibacom, her company. A lot is written about her, so I need hat much less. Citing fruits of her efforts and thoughts her: Vibacom, InCo movement, Aktualno.biz and Violeta Blog. Recently intervied (also) by Žiga and will soon give TED Talk at TEDxLjubljana. Evolution in Leadership. Indeed.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Maxi 2000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Maxi Restaurant 2000 - amusingly described by InYourPocket Guide: "A vast underground filling station for budget-conscious city slickers such as construction workers, Korean businessmen and of course the obligatory sprinkling of students"

Miha Mesojednik - newly appointed Tivoli Software Sales Manager for IBM in Slovenia, grew up in Šujica, EF graduate with Masters from FDS, worked for MIBO komunikacije and Cisco, hard core mountain biker with his Canondale, during winter does spinning under Primož Štrancar guidance, currently reads IBM Tivoli related books, will soon be ITIL V3 certified, met Lance Armstrong in Person in Las Vegas and is about to read his books. One day he will travel a whole lot more (e.g. revisit Maldives), help those needed in high level sales management approach and once cycle through Tour de France Track. Endurance is the name of the (sales) game.

Aleš Koprivnikar - Rational Tech Specialist at IBM Slovenia, used to call Stangerske Poljane near Šmartno pri Litiji his home, FRI graduate with Masters looming around the corner, worked for Adacta before joining IBM Software Group, loves to ride his Suzuki V-Strom - did 10.000 km this year, plays squash and visits TEDxLjubljana events, recently read Gerstner's Elephant Can't Dance (review by Rational Tech colleague) and now reads Three Cups of Coffee. One day he will also travel a whole lot more and try many new things - I bet some of them close to racing.

CEE region is where we are. Raiffeisen follows our step. Yellow and strong. Running on strong software.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Elevant, Tallinn, Estonia

Elevant - a realy cool place. India, yes, with a nice touch. A total recommendation. To me. And from me. If it is bossanova you are listening to right now, then it's probably performed by Japanese, if the rhytms are Asian, they are created by some London genius of Indian origin, and the hip-hop is obviously mixed by DJs from Vienna.

Triinu Hommuk - Software Sales Manager at IBM Estonia, born and raised in Tallinn, played piano 13 years and then made a radical departure to study at TUT and work for IBM where also her father worked, sometimes have joint family concerts with her singing mother, worked also for SEB bank, walks her Labrador/German Sheppard mix Sebastian, does local merchandising for celebrities on tour, recently for Sting and soon for Kylie, owns and rides Estonian horse Eedu, although already had a bad horse inflicted injury (not Eedu), is reading HOw to raise a Puppy and is part of Laulan Sinule band since recently. One day she will raise a herd of horses and get really good in photography.

Mihkel Loderaud - Software Tech Specialist at IBM Estonia, Tallinn native and Arvo Part's neighbour in the seaside cottage, TUT gradate, used to work on SAP monitoring in IBM and later as Rational software specialist, was exchange student at Sedbergh School in UK through Soros Foundation scholarship, played rugby there, now does Kung Fu Wing Tsun, a rare female created branch of martial arts that used to be hidden behind closed doors, reads Murakami's Kafka on the shore and Content Analytics Redbook, recommends Murakami's Norwegian Wood and Discogs.com, did The Wilson Run and will one day do a lot more kite surfing while also be active on the other side of movie/music consumption line. Mobilizing Creative Surplus.

Nowhere in Tallinn. Tallinn is special if you are properly guided. Thanks.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Azur, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Azur - trattoria with pizza as they like to call themselves. A very nice place that draws business lunchees from nearby Tehnološki Park. Recommended. Even for busy business lunch.

Daniela Bervar - Country manager for Slovenia at Cotrugli Business School, born and raised in Maribor, her grandfather Marijan being a renown plastic and reconstructive surgeon from VMA alumni that also operated on Tito and is lecturing on novel approaches in his field, she used to work in PR for CMT and Laguna, did business events moderation, has IB Diploma from Druga Gimnazija Maribor, was part of a show on Radio Salomon known as Lady D and had a business show on TV Paprika, was also involved in student politics and singing, walks her dog Bacon, is reading Ana Karenina and Putin's Russia, recent Cotrugli EMBA graduate, working on her PhD thesis under Dejan Vercic's supervision, later sees herself in politics and will one day create a fund that would support talents she would encounter. Supporting encounters.

Gostilna Rožna Hiša - down the road from Azur. Next time.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Pizza Pub, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Pizza Pub - A nice pizza and business lunch place close to new business offices development. Targeted audience. Worth a visit. But not their website. Design by Borchy. Design?

Nataša Sedlar - Ph.D. student and researcher at Social Medicine Institute at SAZU, currently researching work related stress, grew up in Bohinjska Bistrica, was PR lady at BEST, though not a tech student and is part of project Message in the bottle. TEDxLjubljana organizer, recently read Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational, likes Behemot bookshop and will one day be totally devoted to science and will invest in various institutes. Forever.

Risotto with chicken wings. My first ever. Unlikely combination. In a pizza pub.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Čupiterija, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Čupiterija - Hijo de Puta, 100% original. A must see when in Ljubljana old time. Surprises' in store for visitors. Service was phenomenal, tables wiggly.

Danijel Vovčko - Sales Rep for mid market customers at IBM Slovenia, based in Ljubljana, about to move to Radomlje, worked for Modri Val family business, MojeDelo.com, Steinbach's Intex pools and was significant contributor that we have supercomputer #2 at Arctur now. Serious biker, off road and street, likes to do sports in silence and solitude, is reading and likes Armstrong's It's Not About the Bike. A lot more sports and easy cruising travel - one day. Fly-fishing reveals a lot about person's personality - as noted by Božo Dimnik in Playboy.

Erik Hočevar - Sales Rep at IBM Slovenia, based in Ljubljana, about to move to Krtina, worked for Siol, NLB and In.Life, plays tenis, a lot, his girlfriend used to be semi-pro player, used to play accordion, still does guitar and drums, mostly with White Rose rock band, about to read Vsa življenja Igorja Bavčarja and would like to one day graduate also at SAE. Fine tuned.

Very interesting and imaginative sink in men's room.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Little Italy, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Little Italy - looks great from the street, from afar and by the name. Very cold inside, not only due to bad weather and lack of heating. They don't make you feel warm. The soup does, luckily. And interesting conversation makes you forget the coldness of the place.

Igor Pauletič - CEO of FrodX, Enteprise 2.0 consulting and research company (Frod is poetic for wise, experienced, old, mature), based in Kranj, founded CIS, sold to Mikrocop (known for Arhiviraj.si) where he served as board member, before launching FrodX, playing golf in Gorenjska liga with 25 HCP, many times with Matej Lavric, Nokia N97 was his last Nokia, now he's on Samsung's Android, one day he will do a lot more fly fishing as you can really know one through this "sport". Many French names in Bluekiwi.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Oranžerija, Mengeš, Slovenija

Oranžerija - a very nice and popular place in Mengeš, close to elementary school. Symbolic for the gathering that night - B class of 1990 of that school. They are proud of their garden.

Andrej Škrlep - raised and rooted in Mengeš, wood-craft professional, managing his company Silvatica - father already left the company to his son, but still lingers on the website :), supplying mostly pharmacies with a-la-cart furnishing, 1 year old daughter and spends unconventionally lot of time with her, parallel reader, among other books Alenka Rebula, used to play tarock (tarot) a lot, did not go far with piano lessons, but still plays pipe organ, got his skipper license from Bojan Franko, who set to sail around the world, but stopped in America - so Columbish - and loves sailing with him since. One day he will just sail and sail. And sail.

Polona Razpotnik (u.t.b.k.a. Zalokar) -lives in Moste, manages a small bar adjacent to a supermarket called Pikapolonca, after her mother moved to Sarajevo to pursue business interests, did a little bit of casting business, but prefers and loves the housewife and mother part of her life, 3 daughters, plays basketball, walks dalmatian and mountains, loves and is very good at cooking for friends, recently read Mende Nazer true story Slave, will soon make a deep dive into history books and thinks Vale Novak couple have the "bestest" recipes in the world. One day she will combine intensive travelling with leaving and cooking in a mountain hut.

Tatjana Cvrtila Ložar -Lives in Trzin, teaches English in Kamnik high school, has 2 years old twins, likes to travel a lot, also with the twins, latest trip was to Fuerteventura, is brilliant in baking cakes and sweets, also publishes recipes on kulinarika.net, recently read Muca Copatarica, is supporting children through Worldvision and will one day full devote herself to support underprivileged. Tatjanavision.

Civil weddings as opposed to animal weddings.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Mongolian BBQ, Budapest, Hungary

Mongolian BBQ - widely known, real McCoy self service BBQ, pricey, yet worth it. Wanna get stuffed, come here. Occasionally with dolls playing on iPad. Recommended. The place. The iPad. The dolls.

Brad Buff - WW Sales Leader for WebSphere Application Infrastructure, grew up in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, is now based close to RTP in North Carolina, was with IBM since graduation, worked in many departments, last 12 years in Software Sales, back in 1990 he was managing the team trying to put Cisco software on IBM hardware and had one of first IBM PCs in RTP. 4 kids, coached and refereed soccer games, has UNC basketball season tickets, loves to watch old movies on TCM and the likes, read Lord of The Rings 20 years before it came as a movie, is now reading Let The Great World Spin, abundant wealth would let him fix kids lives, give more back to Lutheran Church and maybe run for also school board. Many beneficiaries.

The 3 secrets of Mongolian BBQ in Budapest.

The secrets revealed. Bare naked. Up for grabs. Again and again.

You don't want to get your tie stained here, you want to get it cut. Why half measures? :)

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Mongolia BBQ Kranjčeva, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Mongolia BBQ. Two locations in Ljubljana and most probably spreading further. With a reason. Come and see. Recommended.

Boštjan Pilej - Key Account Manager turned Social Media Community Manager at Pro Plus, key force behind Osvajalec.si, fostering Twittering an FB-ing in his media house, diligent Facebook infringement notice sender, reading Economy of Sex and The Search, forward looking iMac and iPad protagonist.

Igor Adamič - Web Content Manager at Pro Plus for their plethora of sites: http://moskisvet.com/, http://cekin.si/, http://zadovoljna.si/, http://golfportal.info/ and others. People get the content they ask for. And deserve. Same goes for government. Ministry of nude. Reading Pravni Vodnik po Internetu. One needs to know the safe side.

iPad - right sized for restaurants. Content is king. Traffic is queen.

Snow-white and the Fish Dwarfs. Chinglish. Chlovenian.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Rustica, Prague, Czech Republic

Rustica - Italian Ristorante near Hlavni Nadrazi. Spinch "radiators" were very good. Really, really good. Recommthumbs up.

Anna Borovska - Telco Solutions Manager for IBM in CEE, grew up in Kosice - where the only known marathon was happening in Czechoslovakia times, needs to visit restaurant Mediterran to check the wines, used to work for APP, company bought by Ness, then KPN Consult and Telefonica CZ before joining IBM. Is a wine connoisseur, is reading Nobel Prize Laureate Sigrid Undset's Saga stories. One day she will travel a lot and help people in need.

Vodafone tie policy. You don't were it. As a visitor you leave it on a tie-hanger at the reception. Cute.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Zavarovalnica Triglav - Verovškova, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Zavarovalnica Triglav corporate offices at Verovškova. With a canteen. Sometimes closed off for event attendees only.

Andrijana Zrinji - Compliance officer at biggest insurance company in the country, born in Belgrade, raised in Radeče, switching with Ljubljana mandates adaptation, was inspector at DURS, worked for Ilirika BPH and is now also making sure that SEOnet reflects reality. Used to be Yoga instructor, is founding member of Toastmasters Slovenia, parallel reading Bogdan Novak's Lipa zelenela je and Why Women Should Rule The World. One day she will travel a whole lot more, do fantastic photos and combine helping children in need and wellness business.

FT interview with Akbank chairwoman Suzan Sabanci Dincer. Interesting.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Ljubljanski Dvor, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Ljubljanski Dvor - pizzeria with long tradition and perfect location. Last time inside, this time outside.

Jan Bajerski - WebSphere Connectivity portfolio Community of Practice Leader for IBM in CEE. Warsaw native, Gajdzica was his peasant ancestor with big library and ex-libris, WUT graduate, worked for IBM GBS on PeopleSoft integration project for TP, Ultramarathon runner, Puszcza Kampinoska among them, he also did 100km Kierat in mountains in 22 hours, has 3 kids and will one day do tour around Mount Blanc while spending more time with his kids.

100. Biggest selection?

Mother taking the young. Child labour?