Author Archives: Niki

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About Niki

I run the blog http://www.lifeinthehague.com

This is a parking spot, right? (Or: Accidents in Utrecht)

Posted on May 10, 2021 by Niki

Check out this accident in Utrecht by a student learning to drive:

It was the usual case of hitting the gas pedal instead of the brake. Opps! The driving student hit a small speed bump and then a bike rack. This caused the car to launch into the air and land onto another car (which was luckily unoccupied at the time).

This week’s vaccination goal is 1 million–the first time we will be over 1 million. See also the government’s corona dashboard in English. There will also be another press conference tomorrow. However, whether or not the planned relaxation of corona measures for step 2 will go ahead won’t be decided until next Monday. If the green light is given, measures would be relaxed from Wednesday, May 18. Think of things like re-opening zoos, amusement parks and gyms. Of course, we are most definitely not out of the woods yet.

A few doctors decided to set up a website today (prullenbakvaccin.nl in Dutch) to let people know when they had left over vaccines that would otherwise be thrown into the trashcan. The Dutch ministry of health is decidedly not happy with them. People can search for and sign up right before the time slot to receive them, although it is still possible that the vaccine will not be available when they arrive. See more at the NOS live blog (in Dutch). There are only a few location choices and I don’t expect the website to get very far. Interestingly one of the locations earlier today has already disappeared.

Let’s see if the website is still available tomorrow…

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When does air equal water? (Or: A riddle for you)

Posted on May 9, 2021 by Niki

Last week Marco picked up some pancake mix from the local grocery store, Albert Heijn. The brand was Pondan, an Indonesian company.

I was slightly confused when I looked at the back of packaging to see what extra ingredients were needed (top left with the red arrow):

What? I need 100ml air? How does that work?

And then my brain kicked in and my eyes started working. Air in Indonesian is water in English. How confusing!

But I must admit I love the fact that most packaging is not just in Dutch. Usually you see Dutch and French, because the two main languages in Belgium are Dutch and French. My contact solution bottle has 10+ languages on it. It’s so different from packaging in the United States. For logical reasons of course, but it still is something that makes me pause sometimes.

Categories: Everyday purchases, Food | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Lights above the Netherlands (Or: Elon Musk’s satellites)

Posted on May 8, 2021 by Niki

Mysterious lights above the Netherlands turn out to be satellites from Elon Musk) – nos.nl, article in Dutch. The satellites are part of his Starlink project which aims to put 12,000 satellites into low orbit by 2024 so that everyone in the world can have fast internet. (Nice goal, but wow, space is already really crowded!)

And another space-related article: Chinese rocket’s chaotic fall to Earth highlights problem of space junk from the guardian.com. Experts have no idea where it will land – anywhere in the southern hemisphere is currently a possibility. You can follow its path from orbit.ing-now.com. They predict it will crash in the next 12 hours. Its current speed as it spins around the earth is 26,183km/h (17,518 mph). Yikes! Oh, and did I mention this rocket is about 100 feet tall and weighs 22 tons? Here is hoping it either burns up in the atmosphere or lands in an ocean somewhere.

Today’s dinner menu? Saté with rice and peanut sauce, pickled peppers/onions and kroepoek. Saté is the one meal Marco and I made in America for my family (we stowed away the most important ingredients in our suitcases). Tasty stuff.

I can relate to this:

Hopefully in June I can go to the library and check out (physical) books again!

Categories: News | Tags: , | 2 Comments

Fridays and lattes (Or: Turmeric in your coffee?)

Posted on May 7, 2021 by Niki

Today’s photo is of a turmeric latte that Marco ordered last week at FOAM restaurant in The Hague. Check out the vibrant colors:

And of course I had to be boring and order a sparkling water. Next time I will look at the menu faster, but I was busy taking a photo of the “this table is reserved” spoon!

In other news: Naturalis (a museum in Leiden) was named as the European museum of the year for 2021 (naturalis.nl, in English). I have never been there, but considering Leiden is only 15-20 minutes away by train, perhaps I should consider it. Once things calm down a bit, of course… One of their most prized assets is the T-Rex skeleton named Trix.

Netherlands in 9th for EU Covid vaccines; 6.1 million shots estimated from notices.nl. But keep in mind the Dutch minister of health wants to be administering 2.5 million vaccinations per week by the end of this month (!). Hospitals will be responsible for up to 500,000 shots per week (article from nos.nl in Dutch). This was always part of the plan but it will be interesting to see if they get enough workers to be able to pull this off.

Happy Friday, everyone!

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Keeping up with Dutch (Or: Podcasts and audio books)

Posted on May 6, 2021 by Niki

In an attempt to hear even more Dutch during the day I’ve been listening to a lot more Dutch podcasts. I’ve still got my favorites that I have been listing to for years, including Echt Gebeurd (=Really happened, where people tell true stories of things they have experienced in front of an audience).

I also have public transportation themed podcasts in Dutch (Spoorcast, De Podcastcoupé, Luisterruit). Or some newer ones: Lang verhaal kort (Long story short) which produces a 5-7 minute episode every weekday about one important news item from that day. Or something completely different: Bankplakkers (literally someone who doesn’t get off the couch). It’s about pop culture and what to watch on all the various streaming services. That one is generally 50-70 minutes long, so I usually listen to it during work.

I also downloaded an audio book from the online library app (link in Dutch). I chose Matt Haig’s “How to stop time” in Dutch. It is about someone who looks like he is 41 years old but he has actually been alive for centuries. Based on the blurb I do think it will turn into a romance novel, which I’m not a fan of, but hopefully not too much.

And today’s read, about The Flower Bike Man in Amsterdam:

Categories: Learning Dutch | Tags: , | Leave a comment

My favorite color scheme (Or: Water pitcher by Blokker)

Posted on May 5, 2021 by Niki

You know how as you get older you want to purchase new cups, plates or bowls because they look pretty? But you realize that would be silly because you have perfectly fine tableware at home (especially tableware that you also think is pretty)? And then you don’t buy it, because it isn’t logical to buy yet another cup just because it looks pretty.

If I could start over (and no Marco, I don’t want to start over! I like what we have too!), I would go with this color scheme:

It is a water pitcher by Blokker. I have no interest in buying a water pitcher, but I’ve seen this color theme with cups at other stores. Every time I see it, I love it.

Categories: Everyday purchases, Shopping | Leave a comment

Embassy #242 (Or: The Canadian embassy in The Hague)

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Niki

There are a lot of embassies in The Hague. Apparently I was wrong to guess that the Canadian embassy is #242, as of course there is a Wikipedia page for listing how many embassies there are. There are about 120, 125 embassies in The Hague apparently!

Here is the Canadian embassy:

It’s right next to Plein 1813 which I blogged about a few days ago.

In random news: Dutch researchers are training bees to detect coronavirus from nltimes.nl. Although if you’re into animal welfare (or insect welfare, in this case) I recommend not clicking on the link.

And: Over 30% now have coronavirus antibodies, blood donation agency says from dutchnews.nl. It’s based on random sampling for about 2,000 donations per week for some months now. Although herd immunity isn’t achieved until 67% (at least).

Categories: The Hague | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Fun in the sun (Or: Eating on the terrace)

Posted on May 3, 2021 by Niki

On Sunday Marco and I spontaneously booked a reservation for FOAM restaurant here in The Hague. That’s the same restaurant where we get FOAM at home meals on Fridays. I had resisted making an appointment earlier in the week as it was forecasted to rain, but the sun was out in full force Sunday morning so I said we should give it a try. We got a seat on the terrace outside at the front of the restaurant. (Here in the Netherlands you are currently only allowed to eat outside on a restaurant terrace, not inside the restaurant.)

Of course even with beautiful blue skies we managed to get a short burst of rain twice. We looked up and realized there was a tiny grey cloud amidst a sea of blue and white. It was pretty strange. Luckily everything was dry again after a few minutes.

I just loved the ‘this table is reserved’ spoon so I had to take a picture of that:

I decided to have a flatbread with white bean hummus, parsley pesto, red cabbage, eggplant and more. Here is a look before I snapped up the last bite:

And Marco had a ‘no queso quesadilla’ with black beans, sweet potato and a spicy tomato jam:

I do think that might be the next thing I try on the lunch menu. The next time the sun decides to show itself!

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Plein 1813 (Or: A lovely view from tram 1)

Posted on May 2, 2021 by Niki

Plein 1813 is a monument commemorating the victory over Napoleon (denhaag.com, in English) and the end of the French era in the Netherlands. It’s a beautiful monument, surrounded by seasonal flowers that are replanted throughout the year in different colors. Traffic flows around both sides of the monument, providing a lovely view if you are taking tram 1 to Scheveningen.

Here is how it looks from Google Maps:

You have to love the symmetry.

Categories: Culture, The Hague | Leave a comment

Early morning shopping (Or: It still feels weird)

Posted on May 1, 2021 by Niki

Early morning shopping was on the menu today. Early morning being in the city centre around 09:00, when shops were just opening and practically deserted. I didn’t go to any “popular” stores as that would be the epitome of silly. For example, here was the line at Primark around 09:30:

Note that this is a double line that starts on the left side, goes to the right, snakes down the side of the building and wraps back around to the entrance (the door directly in the picture is the exit in corona times). But it won’t be the first or last time I take a photo of the line outside of Primark. It is always crazy long.

I went to Blokker and Xenos – both were practically empty. I then went to Hema, which was a bit busy but doable. I did take a photo of the smartphone cases at Hema as I thought it was a cute display idea:

Those hands would also make for great models for drawing.

I did end up buying a few minor things – a few dish cloths, a new loofah, a spicy ginger tea and a small bag of jelly beans for Marco – but nothing too special. But still, it was weird to be back in “non-essential” stores again. Oh, and I randomly saw a coworker who I’ve spoken with once (!) in the last year. That was strange too. We had a short conversation in Dutch and then parted ways again.

Categories: Everyday purchases, Shopping, The Hague | Tags: , | Leave a comment

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