Yesterday Marco, Roger and I saw Suicide Squad at the local IMAX movie theatre (Pathé Spuimarkt). Afterwards we visited the Rrrollend Food truck festival by Malieveld, close to Centraal Station.
And what delicious food! Here’s a look at some of the photos I took. First, a look at my Asian Chicken bowl from Roll or Bowl:
Last month I posted my reading list for th first half of 2016. So far, July is going even better! I have read about 560 pages (around 18 a day, but I have a hard time sitting down and reading on a daily basis so it is much more varied than that).
Here is a look at some of the books I’ve read in Dutch (or am reading) this month:
1) Never let me go (Laat me nooit alleen) by Kazuo Ishiguro (English | Dutch), a dystopian science fiction novel which follows the lives of three students at a boarding school. But these students (and their classmates) are in fact clones, raised for the sole purpose of providing organs to others once they graduate.
2) The guest cat (De kat) by Takashi Hiraide (English | Dutch), a short book (~160 pages) about a cat who visits a young, work-at-home couple on a daily basis. Free to come and go as he pleases, the cat quickly becomes the centerpiece of their lives, even though he is only a guest.
3) Player One (Speler een) by Douglas Coupland (English | Dutch). I just started this one. It follows four people at airport bar over 5 hours as a worldwide disaster begins outside — Karen, who waits on a perspective internet date; Rick, a bartender who no longer drinks; Luke, a pastor who fled with his church’s savings; Rachel, who has trouble connecting with others; and a mysterious voice known only as “Player One”.
4) The Dog Stars (De Hondsster) by Peter Heller (English | Dutch). I haven’t started this one yet. “Hig somehow survived the flu pandemic that killed everyone he knows. Now his wife is gone, his friends are dead, and he lives in the hangar of a small abandoned airport with his dog, Jasper, and a mercurial, gun-toting misanthrope named Bangley.” Hmmm….
And on to August!
Yesterday we celebrated Marco’s birthday at Little V, a Vietnamese restaurant. This was our first time going to Little V for lunch and it did not disappoint. I ordered an ‘eenpansgerecht’ or ‘let’s throw everything into one dish for ya’, with beef and chicken.
My drink was an awesome looking (and tasting) lemonade made of rose water.
And as a blog post bonus… a week ago I made lemon cookies! That is of note because I don’t really do the baking in the house. But this time I chose the recipe, did most of the work, and Marco was my assistant! (For the first time ever.)
The recipe was really good and I followed it exactly. Next time I would probably use less sugar, but I don’t have the sweet tooth I used to have so there is that. They were awesomely chewy (honest to goodness chewy!) and the lemon favor shined through perfectly.
See the recipe at Oh My Foodness (in Dutch) – including a very helpful video for people who don’t ever bake. Like me. See also her general recipe list.
As my last post suggested, Marco and I visited the Rijksmuseum a few weeks back. Here are some of the photos I took. First, a guitar made in the style of delfts blauw:
Now look at the picture again, but this time focus on the top of the guitar. That is a bit unnerving!
More delfts blauw:
A painting illuminated from the back with lights:
And finally, a look down at the Rijksmuseum library:
I’ve always loved taking photos of spiral staircases. Pretty!
From a few weeks back, when Marco and I took a day off to visit Amsterdam:
Note the “I am Amsterdam” art installation (climbable at your own risk!). Besides the Rijksmuseum we also visited the American Book Center, an English language bookstore, and Eichholtz Delicatessen, a great store for American (and international) candy and snacks.
Yesterday Marco and I made two sorts of ice cubes:
On the top you have coffee ice cubes (just make coffee and let it cool, then put it in the freezer). The other is chocolate and agave syrup ice cubes (1/4 cup agave syrup, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, and two cups water — receipe taken from here).
And no, I have no idea why the middle three ice cubes are lighter in color. Weird!
Above: the chocolate/agave ice cubes.
Above: The finished product. Yum. I can think of some ways to improve it (and add texture) but for a first try it was pretty good.
Earlier in the year I upgraded my library card to the ‘Sterpas’ (Star pass) and decided to start reading more Dutch fiction. The upgrade wasn’t required but I do like keeping a book for four weeks instead of three. I am pleased to say I have read 2,468 pages since the beginning of the year, at a rate of around 13 and a half pages per day. I tend to prefer psychological novels (at least in Dutch). For this type the emphasis is on inner thought and reflection rather than on outward dialogue (Wikipedia: Dutch | English).
Here are the books I read in the first six months of the year, in order:
Vonne van der Meer, De avondboot – 302 pages. It’s actually book two of the Eilandgasten trilogy.
Vonne van der Meer, Laatste seizoen – 192 pages. This is book three of the Eilandgasten trilogy (I’ve linked to the entire work above). I don’t believe it’s been translated into English — only into German, unfortunately.
Robbert Welagen – Het verdwijnen van Robbert, 160 pages. A pretty intriguing read – a man decides one day to get up and leave his old life, without warning. The title translates to “The disappearance of Robbert”.
This is a friend’s other cat (the first one making her way to my blog last month). Happily lying in the sun…
As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I recently signed up at Sanquin to donate blood (read more about the company here). In the last blog post I covered what the differences were between donating in America and donating here in the Netherlands, but I will just add that after going through the full experience (not jut giving a bit of blood for them to run safety checks on), the actual process of drawing blood is exactly the same. And painless, though I do get the needle phobia!
One fun thing though – since it was my first time donating I received a cute little gift. A card with some more information and a key chain with my blood group on it.
And here’s a better look at the key chain:
Cute!
Oh, and this time I did everything in Dutch, because I rule. From the questionnaire to the short visit with the nurse to a 20 minute conversation with the person drawing my blood. NOTE: When I went in the first time to draw a bit of blood for the tests, I did ask for a questionnaire in English to confirm the questions were pretty much the same as what they ask in America. If you’re new to blood donation and Dutch isn’t your first language, I’d definitely recommend going with English the first time around. But still, go me!
A few weeks back Marco, Roger and I went to Pathé Spuimarkt (the local movie theater) to see X-Men: Apocalypse. Marco was pleasantly surprised to see a newly installed frozen Fanta machine.
One of his favorite treats when visiting America is ICEEs (a type of frozen slushie). Of course ICEEs are even better than Fanta’s frozen drinks, but when you’re not in America you take what you can get!
Life in the Hague 