Everyday purchases

Albert Heijn (Or: Barcode scanners for self checkout)

Posted on January 26, 2013 by Niki

Today Marco and I went to the Albert Heijn in Rijswijk. This location was actually “Albert Heijn XL”, meaning that it is a pretty large version with more variety in stock. One of the perks that this store has is the option to do self-checkout using a barcode scanner.

Albert Heijn barcode scanner

green beans (brand name), applesauce, and potatoes

To do the self-checkout you first need to pick up a barcode scanner near the front entrance. You scan your bonus card and one of the many scanners available (50 or so) lights up to let you know which one to grab. You then take it and scan each item that you put into your basket.

At the very end of your shopping you go to the self-checkout area and place the barcode scanner back into its holder and scan your barcode. It then takes the information from the scanner and charges you that amount. Afterwards you pay and bag your stuff (but it is not like America where the weight of the bag is checked). The last step is scanning your receipt, which if successful will allow you to exit the self-checkout area and be on your way.

And you don’t even have to wait in line!

Categories: Everyday purchases | Tags: | 2 Comments

Boeken (Or: Selexyz bookstore moving into De Slegte)

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Niki

For some months now it has been known that a new Apple store would be moving into The Hague – the largest Apple store in the Netherlands, in fact, even larger than Amsterdam. They would be taking over space from another well-known bookstore that goes by the name of Selexyz (pronounced something like sa-leks-yas). They would be moving into the De Passage, a shopping area I have blogged about occasionally.

That store, in turn, would be moving in with another bookstore, De Slegte. I don’t visit that bookstore that much, partially because they have a lot of books but nothing that seems to interest me particularly.

When I visited De Slegte, most of the stock was already gone – it was probably only about 20% full:

empty shelves at De Slegte in The Hague

Of course, there were still some books available, but it was definitely a very small amount:

preparation for the move at De Slegte in The Hague

Of course, the most interesting thing is this:

As part of the terms of its lease with ASR Vastgoed, Apple will prohibit the decade-long tradition of displaying a large Christmas tree in the rotunda of the shopping arcade because it will block the company’s retail storefront.

Boo! No more Christmas tree in De Passage?!

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Eleventh day (Or: My first smartphone!)

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Niki

So I have finally advanced into the world of the technologically able by getting an iPhone 5 for Christmas (Marco’s present to me!).

iPhone 5 screen

Note the “Vodafone NL” at the top (Vodafone being the provider). Woot.

To be clear, I have never had a smartphone (or had a true need for one, honestly). In December 2007 mom and I went to a Verizon store and I purchased a prepaid Samsung phone. It came complete with keys that only had abc, def, etc – which made texting fun (read: slowwww).

But it only cost $15 a month – and technically it only cost $15 a month because that was the minimum amount you needed to add to the account to prevent your surplus from being wiped out and being set back to $0 (which happened to me twice – didn’t trust auto-pay). Otherwise I could have gotten by with less. It was more of an emergency type phone until the last half of 2012 when I began to use it more.

At the moment I am not even sure where I left that old phone in this place. It doesn’t work anymore anyway – there’s no service out here because I didn’t schedule anything with Verizon. But I knew in advance that this would be the case, from my first trip visiting the Netherlands. I can still get access to texts and phone numbers, though.

The main reason I wanted to make a jump to the smartphone is a need for independence – mainly Google Maps. I already have an iTouch which has served me well over the years, but it only has wifi and I need to be able to wander the Hague at will as it’s obviously much larger than Pearl River, New York ever was. Using Marco’s map app on his phone is what proved to me that I could survive in the Hague, as I did when left to my own devices for a week last summer (he had to work that week).

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Fourth day (Or: Christmas around the Hague)

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Niki

I am still not quite out of the eastern time zone yet… suffice to say Marco and I woke up quite late again. Both of us thought it was much earlier in the morning than it actually was when his alarm went off.

After lunch we decided to go out for a bit to see the city, and also to pick up some stamps for Christmas cards and go to Albert Heijn for some more provisions. My new second home!

Along the way we stopped at El Passage (The Passage) and looked at some of the stores. We also stopped to get a picture of the Christmas tree that they set up in the center:

Christmas tree in De Passage in The Hague

If you look up at the top you can see that the area is technically enclosed (there is material above the other hallways which prevents rain getting inside).

While we were there, we stopped at Selexyz, a bookstore I always manage to drool over and enter because, hey, I am a librarian after all.

Christmas decorations in a Selexyz bookstore

a shot of some of the Christmas decorations in the Hague Selexyz bookstore

As you can see in the background, they have the “cliché” of using books to make a Christmas tree. At least they wrapped them! It seems that this particular store will be merging with De Slegte down the street, which is a secondhand book store. Should be interesting…

Along the way, Marco secretively led me to the stroopwafels vendor and bought me a nice hot stroopwafel. A large size too. We then toured the area looking at phone shops to buy me a phone, though at the moment we are still browsing.

When we got back we had dinner. Greek seasoned chicken stuffed into pita bread pockets, with potato bites on the side. Later on in the night, we watched Iron Man, a first for me. It was particularly enjoyable because I turned on the Marco commentary track to help me understand all of the little comic book references. ;p Our snack during that was a little bit of chili cheese Fritos chips (from America – smuggled from my parents’ hometown) and Bolognese Lays brand chips, an Italian flavor — see the Dutch selection of Lays brand chips.

All in all a fun night!

Categories: Everyday purchases, Holidays | Tags: | 2 Comments

Third day (Or: Setting up for Christmas)

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Niki

This morning Marco and I woke up early (ish!) as we wanted to call IND before the wait times increased. It is 10 cents per minute, so… But when Marco called at 9AM he heard a recorded message that the IND had technical difficulties and to call back later. Long story short, he was able to get a hold of live person after 11AM or so.

As it was the Christmas holidays, the next available appointment was January 11th at 9AM. A bit longer than we had hoped for, but oh well. Apparently since we live in the Hague we don’t need to visit city hall to register there – it is all combined with the IND appointment.

After breakfast Marco and I met up with Roger outside of the Hema, although we first went to Kruidvat (a store like CVS or Walgreens in America) and Xenos, a high end thrift store. Finally, we made a stop at Hema to pick up the Christmas tree that Marco ordered, as well as some extra Christmas ornaments and hooks.

Afterwards we went back to our place (!) to watch some random tv (wrestling and tv shows). At the end, Marco and I started to put the Christmas tree together. We mostly finished it sometime after Roger left for the night, although Marco wants to wait another night before letting me take a picture since he is a bit of a perfectionist about such things it seems. 😉

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Browsing (Or: European and American shoe sized compared)

Posted on August 26, 2012 by Niki

On my last trip to the Netherlands, I quickly found out that the sneakers I bought for the trip just weren’t going to cut it. I go through shoes pretty fast, unfortunately. So Roger took me to a few shoe stores in the Hague, but not before I looked up my shoe size in European terms.

Since I wear a 7 1/2, I figured that I should probably look for a 38. After a few shoe stores, I was able to find a basic white sneaker that didn’t seem too horrible for my feet. Of course, the pair only lasted a week or two after I got back to the States, so it wasn’t the best quality in the world. But I think I only paid €15. (Incidentally, I went clothes shopping with Marco later that week, though I didn’t know my shirt size at all. I ended up with another 38! Bought the shirt at V&D in the Hague.)

Also a random fun memory from that shoe shopping trip: Roger and I went and got Burger King and brought it back to eat. It was nice and quick to order, so that won out.

But back to the shoes… I went to the mall yesterday to get new sneakers. I was pondering getting more black sneakers for my work outfits, but decided against it for now. Marco recommended that I get some new pairs and bring them over unworn to NL so I know I have something that fits. I am starting to think it’s not a bad idea at all.

For the record, I hate shoe shopping. Anything that takes more than 5 minutes of browsing and trying on shoes annoys me. But there’s really only a few styles that won’t kill my feet, so it shouldn’t take that long at all.

Categories: Everyday purchases, Friends&Family | 4 Comments

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