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Shopping Night (Or: Shop ’til you drop in The Hague)

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Niki

Last night Marco and I went to Shopping Night in the Hague downtown area. The shops are usually open late until 9PM on Thurday nights in this part of The Hague. But for this special event, the shops were open until midnight. In addition, some stores were offering discounts which got higher each hour that passed, with the steepest discounts between 11PM and midnight.

Though Marco and I just went for the experience and the fresh air – we didn’t end up buying anything in the end.

The front page of the website says:

Ik had een favoriet jasje, knalkleuren en lekker gek, totdat ik op de tv zag dat een minister hetzelfde jasje droeg…

I had a favorite jacket, bright colors and quirky, until I saw on the tv that government official wore the same jacket…

crowds gathering in the main shopping areas

“Bus stop Glam bus” – free restyling. If you put your in the list for a certain time and waited, you could get a free restyling. Not sure what company was offering it.

just a pretty picture as night falls

In the main walking area, they set up a fashion stage. Models would come out and display the latest fashions that were available for purchase.

Shop ’til you drop!

Categories: Shopping, The Hague | Leave a comment

Window paintings (Or: Dutch children’s library)

Posted on June 27, 2013 by Niki

I decided to take a few photos of the windows at the library where I work. It’s a small library staffed by volunteers, after the much larger neighborhood library had to close due to budgetary reasons. But at least this way the children have somewhere close by to check out books.

It is a bit hard to see from this angle, but in the right window you have a large green ‘B’ (since the word for library in Dutch is bibliotheek). The B is made up of lots of smaller Bs – look at the top to see it best.

A few random Dutch words I learned today:

coloring page = kleurplaat

glitter = glitter (spelled the same, but with the hardcore ‘g’ guttural sound)

I must also admit that the window above does not convey the prettiness of the yards (tuinen) outside the window. Very green!

Categories: The Hague, Working & Volunteering | Tags: Art, Libraries | Leave a comment

Fireworks and Music (Or: King Willem Alexander visits The Hague)

Posted on June 21, 2013 by Niki

Of course, I still typed “Prince” in the title and had to change it to King. Willem Alexander and Maxima are currently visiting The Hague. I was able to see them as they traveled through Chinatown (which is at best a few streets at most). They then went on towards Grote Markt, where the city hall and library are. They were treated to some music in one of the plazas areas (the same one Marco and I went to a few weeks ago for Queen’s night).

Here are some pictures that I took as they were driven past. Luckily that area wasn’t as busy – I was only waiting around for about half hour and was able to get up front.

Chinatown demonstration for Willem Alexander

rehearsing before he arrives

fireworks for Willem Alexander in The Hague

Willem-Alexander has been spotted, so they light the fireworks…

Those little fireworks are amazingly loud. The first photo I took the explosions for the beginning of the fireworks were half that size. Above is the second photo. I couldn’t take anymore because after that everyone was too busy shielding their eyes and taking a few steps back – the explosions at the end were twice as big. Quite unexpected. I think my ears were ringing for at least 15 minutes…

Also a good picture for seeing the crowd behind, through the smoke. This was actually the calmer part of the route – the letter everyone got in the mail directed people towards Grote Markt street, which had much more spaces for folks (that was where the music was by the city hall).

Chinatown parade in The Hague for Willem Alexander

preparing for the King’s arrival – you can see the smoke from the fireworks

The blue sign in the upper right reads auto op slot, buit eruit! It means lock your car and take your valuables with you.

Willem Alexander and Maxima visit The Hague

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima (in red, not quite visible here)

It lasted all of about 30 seconds. Maybe 45 including the insane fireworks.

Dutch police – on bikes! (quite common – there’s a lot of places cars can’t go easily).

After that, that portion was over and the crowds quickly dispersed.

Categories: Culture | Tags: Fireworks | Leave a comment

Popcatepetl (Or: Mexican restuarant in The Hague)

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Niki

Yesterday I went with Marco’s mother for her birthday to Popcatepetl (nickname Popo, since they are smart enough to realize no sane person can pronounce that). I first blogged about the restaurant last year, but it seems like the service has been getting worse since then. This is my third time there since I have moved to the Netherlands and usually the problem is the service.

Granted, it was kind of busy for a Tuesday night and we chose to sit outside on the patio (with the ants, but that’s another story!) but it was still a bit too annoying for us. For instance, a couple came in about 5 minutes after us, and managed to get their food before we even ordered. Yeesh! The only thing we didn’t have to flag someone down for was the drinks when we first arrived. Total time at the restaurant was about 2 hours, 15 minutes, and we didn’t wait too long after finishing the meal to ask for the check.

The food was decent, though. Not spectacular, but decent. I had the nachos with chicken and she had the “Popcatepetl ensalada”, with a lot of different items: salad, bacon, chicken, kidney beans, olives, corn, avocado, a filled jalapeño pepper and some paprika.

chicken nachos (chicken is hidden in the middle, but there was enough)

Popocatepetl Ensalada

We both had a lot of leftover items on our plates that we had no interest in eating, unfortunately.

Categories: Food | Tags: Birthdays, Restaurants | 4 Comments

Warmth! (Or: Our two days of Dutch summer)

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Niki

The title is actually a joke. Marco always says The Netherlands receives two days of summer each year. And those days seem to be today and tomorrow.

The image is in Fahrenheit, though to be honest I have gotten used to telling the temperature in Celsius these days.

85F =29.5C

86F = 30C

71F = 21.5C

61F = 16C

All you really need to know is 20C = 68F. That can get you through most of the summer, anyway.

The one thing I haven’t quite mastered yet is the 24 hour clock. All clocks here are in military time, and even the tv shows are listed in military time. A 7:15PM show is listed as 19:15.

…Yes, shows can start at 15 after the hour, or 20 after the hour (etc). This is partially because there aren’t as many commercial breaks here (though the breaks they do have are longer), so it’s not as forced by advertisements. I do miss the more structured American method, though.

Categories: Daily Dutch living | Tags: Summer, Weather | 2 Comments

Festivals (Or: Tong Tong Fair 2013)

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Niki

A few weeks ago I went to the Tong Tong Fair in The Hague. It’s an Indonesian fair which takes place in the Malieveld area of The Hague (the same place as another festival we went to in May).

It was pretty good – I ended up buying a few things, including a stone box to use for my jewelry, along with some food items like dried fruit, kropoek, and a few Sambal chili-based sauces – triple hot, but we’ll see if it lives up to that name!

replica Indonesian house (front side only)

decorative bench near the entrance

display of various Indonesian foods used in the Netherlands

clever rice display (“rijst” in Dutch)

receipe for Soto ayam (printed Dutch is hard enough to read… this is pushing it!)

Soto ayam is a spicy chicken soup.

Categories: Culture | Leave a comment

Bakkerij Toebast (Or: Mocha cake)

Posted on May 25, 2013 by Niki

Another food related post… I know, I know! But this one is… just, sweet.

Here’s a slice of mocha cake from Bakkerij Toebast. Even the design of the plastic surrounding the slice of cake was quite well thought out. And yes, it tasted just as good as it looked…

I was actually a bit amused by the Mocca name plate on top, just in case you forget the flavor. I had a choice of this or apple pie. While I have grown a bit more fond of apple pie since I moved to the Netherlands (especially if the cake is put in the fridge for a bit to let the apples inside chill a bit) this choice was a no brainer. Lekker!

Categories: Food | Tags: Desserts | 2 Comments

Lekker! (Or: Turkse pizza)

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Niki

I had a meeting at the neighborhood library today. There was also Turkish pizza available – lekker! (yum). The pizza was from Restaurant Meydan in the Hobbemaplein.

The reason it is called pizza is because it resembles a pizza before you wrap it up. Mine was half of the pizza. Each box seems to contain three or four dough bases (with a thin sheet in between) so you do get a fair amount per box.

It comes with thin dough and a thin layer of meat. You can add knoflooksaus (white garlic sauce), a bit of salad (I should have added more!) and sambal (the red sauce). I definitely should have added more sambal, as it is nice and spicy. Though it was a bit messy, as it kept dripping out the end that I wasn’t holding. I had a napkin underneath on the table but it soaked right through. Easy to wipe up though.

Lekker!

Categories: Food | 1 Comment

New things (Or: Volunteer work)

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Niki

Last week I decided to volunteer at a small library within The Hague. I was a bit apprehensive about the idea, but I have already spent one day there and think I will fit in well. My Dutch has been getting better and better as the weeks go on and I really need more practice with that. This also gets me out of the house more. Currently I will work a few hours a day on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

The library itself is pretty small and primarily serves kids – newborns to age 12 – as well as their parents. There’s a lot of fiction books, from board books to books for young adults, and a small non-fiction section as well. They even have about 20-25 books in Turkish (as that is a need in the neighborhood) and a few shelves worth of NT2 books. Those books are used to help you learn and perfect your Dutch.

I spent the afternoon there this past Wednesday, meeting some of my coworkers. Generally you work with one or two other people during your shift. As its a pretty small library (only one main room), there is a fair bit of time when you have no patrons hanging around. Luckily, we received a shipment of 9 boxes of books, so we could spend an hour or two putting the books away on the shelf. My coworkers had a laugh when I said my first Dutch book was Dikkie Dik (just a random picture book with the star being an orange tabby cat). I still have it as I brought it with when we moved…

It’s pretty interesting to do this, as it’s 100% in Dutch. I understand my coworkers pretty well, but so far they have done a good job of simplifying their language a bit! I’m not sure that I want to stay within the library field forever (there is not that many opportunities for jobs in this sector) but for now it’s pretty fun to volunteer.

Categories: Working & Volunteering | 2 Comments

Cinnamon rolls (Or: Marco the master baker)

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Niki

Here’s what Marco decided to bake today. Cinnamon rolls!

If you’re Roger, you should be happy since that means you get to eat some during coffee tonight!

Categories: Food | Tags: Baking | 3 Comments