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Chinese New Year in The Hague (Or: 2025 edition)

Posted on February 1, 2025 by Niki

The Hague celebrated Chinese New Year today in the city centre. This holiday is always celebrated on a Saturday in The Hague, although Chinese New Year was on Wednesday this year.

We are now in the year of the snake, in case you’re wondering.

I was in the area this morning while they were setting up for the event. Here is a photo of the rooster:

Here is the snake (the star of the show this year!):

Here is a photo of the rabbit, with the Nieuwe Kerk (new church) in the background:

As you can probably see from the photos, it was a very sunny day (one of the few sunny days this month). And finally, here is a photo of what I think is a dog…:

And in other news, Dutch supermarkets want to print labels in English to combat rising prices from nltimes.nl. The supermarkets argue that the Netherlands labels could be accessed via a QR code. I don’t think I agree with this one. English is indeed everywhere in this country, especially in the larger cities. However not everyone can speak it, especially the older generation. The local expat store, Kelly’s Expat Shopping, posts signs saying Dutch labels are available on request, but their target market is obviously English speaking.

It will be interesting to see what happens with this one.

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January (Or: Hurry, before it is to late to buy your chocolate Easter eggs…)

Posted on January 26, 2025 by Niki

It’s January, so Albert Heijn has started selling chocolate Easter eggs (Who needs Valentine’s Day anyway?):

The yellow ones are white chocolate, blue is milk chocolate and red is dark chocolate. The ones on the right side are mixed bags – for example, the purple ones are a mix of praline eggs.

Some noteworthy upcoming events in The Hague:

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Amazing Oriental stuffed animals (Or: Who knew snakes could be cute?)

Posted on January 19, 2025 by Niki

Did you know 2025 is the year of the snake? (Almost. Chinese New Year is 29 January.) The year when you were born determines zodiac sign you are, for the most part (travelchinaguide.com). Mine is pig/boar…, which means you can probably guess what year I was born.

In The Hague we are lucky enough to have some Asian grocery stores. The biggest one is Amazing Oriental which has a few stores in the city centre. I took this photo of this year’s commemorative stuffed animal:

If you spend 30 euros you can get one of these, while supplies last. The supply only last a few weeks, so it is better to get them while you can if you’re interested.

Kudos to Amazing Oriental for making snakes look cute, too…

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Holiday lights on New Year’s Eve (Or: By the statue of Johan de Witt)

Posted on January 1, 2025 by Niki

Last night I took a few pictures of the holiday lights by Steltman Jewelers, with the statue of Johan de Witt (English Wikipedia) in the foreground.

This was taken a bit after 17:00, as darkness was falling, but before the Netherlands turned into the warzone they are known for on New Year’s Eve. If you don’t know what I mean, check out this four minute video from last night’s fireworks in The Hague, but make sure you turn down your sound first! Or check out the bonfire and (legal) fireworks celebration held in Scheveningen on Monday. It should have also been last night, but it was moved forward a day due to high winds last night.

Here is a close up of the holiday lights:

Happy New Year’s! Have a great 2025.

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Feminine products available for free (Or: At The Hague’s library)

Posted on December 29, 2024 by Niki

Some months back The Hague’s central library made some changes to their bathrooms. Previously, only the bathroom on the 1st floor was open to the public, and you either had to show your library card or pay a small fee of 50 cents to use it. That is quite common in this country, with cafés and restaurants being one of the few exceptions.

Earlier this year, the library opened up bathrooms on all of their floors for free There was much rejoicing, since it also meant you didn’t have to go back down to the 1st floor just to use it. I usually go to one of the bathrooms on the higher floors, though. The first floor bathroom can be a bit crowded because it is the first one you come across if you use the escalators.

A few days ago, I used the one by the first floor and noticed the library’s generous supply of feminine products:

You don’t often see this offered for free in The Netherlands (as far as I am aware anyway). it’s a great initiative.

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Christmas decorations (Or: Spotted at the Mall of the Netherlands)

Posted on December 25, 2024 by Niki

Did you know the Mall of the Netherlands is quite busy in the week leading up to Christmas?

Of course you did. And so did I. But somehow I still went for a few hours, before I made a strategic retreat to the tram… aka, fleeing from the crowds.

Here’s a look at one of the Christmas decorations:

This decoration was outside of the America Today clothing store, which is a chain found in The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg. (Those three countries also go by the term Benelux which amuses me whenever I see it. Read more at Wikipedia.)

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Singing in De Passage (Or: Christmas choir, 2024)

Posted on December 23, 2024 by Niki

A few days ago I came across a Christmas choir performing in De Passage (a shopping area in The Hague’s city centre):

They were singing for Artsen Zonder Grenzen (the Dutch branch of Doctors Without Borders). And, as things go in this modern day, they even had a QR code as well where you could donate – see the paper at the bottom of the image.

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The Hague’s coat of arms (Or: Christmas decorations)

Posted on December 18, 2024 by Niki

At the crossing of Venestraat and Gravenstraat, near the Grote Kerk, you can find a Christmas decoration in the form of The Hague’s coat of arms (well, at least the stork):

And here’s a close up:

Venestraat (the street the camera is pointed at) also has some nice Christmas lights above the street. It’s pretty nice to walk along it as the sun sets.

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Bijenkorf’s Christmas tree (Or: 2024 edition)

Posted on December 15, 2024 by Niki

Marco was kind enough to take some photos of Bijenkorf’s Christmas tree for me earlier this week. This is a Christmas tree which starts on the 1st floor (2nd floor if you’re American) and goes up to the 4th floor. It is an interesting design this year:

And here is a close up of the ribbons hanging in the tree:

If you are interested, you can also see Bijenkorf’s Christmas tree in 2023 and 2022.

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A bit of holiday cheer (Or: ‘t Goude Hooft decorations)

Posted on December 13, 2024 by Niki

Additional Christmas decorations have been added to ‘t Goude Hooft since the last blog post I wrote:

And here is a close up:

It has been looking pretty festive in the city centre these last few weeks!

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

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