Friends&Family

Marco and I recently returned from the United States, visiting my parents (whom I hadn’t seen in three years – stupid pandemic!). It was a great trip, just like old times. We were definitely limited in what we could do thanks to the pandemic, but there were face masks and hand sanitizer everywhere. I was presently surprised to see how many people were wearing face masks compared to the Netherlands. It was definitely night and day. My poor hands are in need of some TLC and location after using all of that hand sanitizer (which we also have at all Dutch stores, but since my main outingias just going to the grocery store and back I don’t need to use it as much).

It definitely wasn’t easy to get into the US; there were a lot of hoops to jump through and many forms to fill out. I could get in as a US citizen however Marco only got in because we were married. Thanks to a warning from a colleague we did bring out marriage certificate, and it did get asked for. We got tested to enter the US and tested to get back into the Netherlands. It is debatable whether we needed that second test as the rules changed while we were there, but since the airline asked for it to be uploaded it was definitely a case of ‘better safe than sorry’. There were health forms and test result printouts and quarantine declarations for the Netherlands and more. You don’t have to quarantine if you are vaccinated, but you still need to fill out the form saying you are not quarantining because you are vaccinated. I had a whole folder full of papers to show…

I didn’t sleep much on the way there or the way back, but that was to be expected. Ironically we booked premium plus tickets on United Airlines to make sure we didn’t have anyone directly next to us, but most of Economy Plus and Economy were empty so it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. When I went to the bathroom I saw a lot of people in Economy stretched out on 3 or 4 seats trying to sleep. We didn’t have too much jetlag after landing in the US – the flight arriving at 18:00 probably helped as we only had to stay awake a few hours. I also have to give some credit to the shower at the hotel as the water pressure was wonderful.

Here are a few photos. I didn’t take many as it just wasn’t that kind of trip.

Unfortunately it was quite a bumpy flight back to the Netherlands, at least in the first half while we were still over land. It was raining all day where we were, with a bit of lightning at O’Hare on top of that. It was fine in the end, but there were times the flight attendants had to buckle in (including them pausing the meal service for a while). But we got back in one piece. We slept in a bit this morning but I think we are all good to go now!

Check out this photo of Japanese ramen:

This photo is from March 2019 and it was taken in Tokyo. Not by me, though. Roger and Marco visited Japan for a week and a half. I stayed in the Netherlands because I wasn’t sure what my work situation would be like, and let’s face it – I wanted the boys to have some “guy time”.

I have heard the story many times by now. Marco and Roger were actually looking for a different restaurant which was highly rated by another friend, but they didn’t find it so they went to this one instead. When they entered they needed to use a machine to order their food, which meant they needed help on how to use the machine. It was their first day in Tokyo and all. It was kind of funny considering they were the only two customers at that time of night. Once the worker helped them figure out the machine they ordered and he took the ticket it spit out. Although learning how to use the machine probably proved to be valuable knowledge for other restaurants.

While ordering they were asked how many noodles they wanted. I believe the choices were 300 grams, 400 grams or 500 grams. They ordered 500 grams without realizing just how much that is, which you can see in the photo. But I am told it was worth it! The dish above is Tsukeman (English Wikipedia) or “dipping ramen”. You dip the noodles into the broth and then eat them. Marco tells me the broth was quite spicy and stronger in taste because it is meant for dipping. At the end you ask for water to add to the broth and then eat the leftover broth.

Here is hoping they can return to Japan next year!