Shopping

Souvenirs (Or: Way more Delft blauw then a person ever needs)

I recently went to Xenos to look for chocolate chips for baking. I didn’t find any, but M&Ms from Albert Heijn did just as well in the end. While wandering around I came across what I call the souvenirs/Delft blauw section:

Souvenir items at Xenos in The Hague

It is of course much cheaper to buy these items here than in a souvenir shop. I try to keep that in mind when we visit other countries. Always try and find the discount stores as it is possible the same souvenirs are there.

Some items are pretty cool too. At the bottom left there are some The Hague mugs with drawings of some of the more famous spots in the city. We gave one to my sister-in-law when we visited for Thanksgiving.

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New rule in the Netherlands (Or: No more free plastic bags)

As of January 1st, Dutch stores are required to charge for plastic bags. Here is an advertisement at the tram stop:

Advertisement in the Netherlands for "no more free plastic bags"

Advertisement in the Netherlands for “no more free plastic bags”

It basically says “You (will now) pay for your own plastic bag” and underneath in small letters “your own bag, better for the environment”.

I think it is a good law change. Marco and I almost always have extra bags with us (I have one at work in my drawer and one permanently stored in my backpack) so there isn’t much effect on us. I did find it funny to go to Action (a “dollar” type store) as the sign said the charge for one bag was 3 cents. We don’t even have pennies in the Netherlands — thankfully! I wish I had taken a picture of that sign.

Most stores have had signs up for a few months now, so it shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone.

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Yet another try for Spuistraat 19-20a (Or: SoLow XXL)

Spuistraat 19-20a used to be a bookstore by the name of De Slegte. Many years ago, that is – Marco used to get his used textbooks there. Then a few years ago it was taken over by another bookstore, Selexyz. Then last year or so it became Paagman’s, yet another bookstore. See a pattern yet? Then Paagman’s moved to Lange Poten… So that particular location seemed rather cursed.

In early May a new store moved in – this time a SoLow, a discount store. It’s pretty decent, with a mix of normal discount items and random items that they just happened to get in stock that month.

SoLow XXL in The Hague

XXL is definitely the correct term – it’s pretty large inside. I do recommend giving it a look if you live in The Hague. It is also good to check out for Halloween costumes as well closer to October.

Here’s a bonus picture of the neighbor’s cat napping in the garden:

Cat in the garden

 

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De passage (Of: Nu 2x zo veel Passage)

It’s not too much longer before the addition to De Passage is open… That is a shopping area that connects a few important shopping streets together. It’s been quite annoying to have it under construction as of late, since that meant having to walk a detour to get where you needed to go.

De passage construction The Hague

But as of 18 September, it will be open again! Above you can see someone hard at work on the finishing touches. In the distance is De Bijenkorf (a retail store). I also have a lovely image of De Bijenkorf at Christmas time.

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

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…

Shopping Night 2013 The Hague 4

crowds gathering in the main shopping areas

Shopping Night 2013 The Hague 3

“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.

Shopping Night 2013 The Hague 2

just a pretty picture as night falls

Shopping Night 2013 The Hague

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!

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Media Markt (Or: BTW-free sale)

The annual sale that Media Markt holds (tax free, or a 21% reduction in price) ended yesterday. This is the sale Marco used last year to get his refrigerator tax free. We went a few times to look at washing machines and sound systems. As you can imagine, the place was a madhouse on Saturday (although this picture was taken a bit earlier in the day when it wasn’t as crowded).

Mediamarkt btw free sale

The savings on big ticket items were pretty substantial (a €600 item would cost only €500), but it was amusing to see toasters for €22 discounted to €18 or so…

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Saturdays (Or: Megastores and Warung Mini)

Today was a pretty fun-filled Saturday, although I definitely started to drag by the end of it. At 1PM, Marco’s mother dropped by. All three of us went to Megastores in the Hague, which is a larger sized mall. As the temperature has been dropping a bit, it was nice to find that it was an indoor mall. Most of the stores in the mall are furniture stores, although you can also find Dutch staples like Hema, Kruidvat, and Xenos (a thrift store of sorts).

escalators in Megastores in the Hague

Kind of interesting – this mall uses flat escalators rather than step escalators. It’s a bit of a steeper incline, but otherwise it works.

The first store that we went to was Woon XL, which was an Ikea-like store. Complete with routes to follow (arrows on the floor), various room design displays, pencils to fill out your order card with, a back area to pick up larger items, and a cafeteria at the end. We picked up a nightstand and a medicine cabinet, although we have to figure out how to get the latter up on the bathroom wall.

crazy rug in Woon XL in the Hague

A crazy looking, huge rug with stuffed animal-like objects stitched onto the top. Good luck finding anything if you drop it in this rug. Seriously… what were they thinking?

Afterwards, the three of us went to a few other stores to look at perspective washing machines and also to McDonald’s to split an order of chicken nuggets.

Aldi store in Megastores mall

Just for mom – an from-afar look at an Aldi store (since my parents also have Aldi stores near Chicago where they live). You can even see the carts in the front, presumably also requiring a coin to release them. But I am not sure.

By then it was time to go home. As we walked up to the front entrance of our apartment, we spied Roger who had arrived just before us and was waiting in the foyer by the mailboxes. So the four of us went upstairs together.

Dinner was from Warung Mini, a Surinamese/Indonesian restaurant. I had Rijst kerrie lams groenten – which was a large container of lamb in curry sauce, with vegetables, and a large container of white rice. The lamb in curry sauce was so good – perfectly spiced (but not spicy). Dessert was a baked banana (bakabana).

Categories: Food, Shopping, The Hague | Tags: | 3 Comments

Streets (Or: Wandering through the Hague)

It’s been a crazy day, but it’s nearing the end. I will say the most random thing of the day was learning to use the JAWS screen reader to help a student find scholarly articles. The craziest was confronting another bus passenger (from a nearby psychiatric hospital, no less) about the laws of momentum and perhaps he would like to hold on to his cup of coffee, rather than letting it spill all over the floor?

Perhaps I’ll make a cup of koffie (coffee) later. But it’ll be straight – the only time I add anything is when Marco is around and we make french vanilla coffee. Yum, vanille suiker (vanilla sugar).

Marco was kind enough to take some pictures of some places in the Hague that hold special or fun memories for me.

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Categories: Food, Shopping, The Hague | Tags: , | 2 Comments

Albert Heijn (Or: Glad I don’t need to ship yellow mustard in)

The grocery store of choice near where I will be living is Albert Heijn. Although it’s nowhere near the typical size of an American grocery store (maybe 12 or so aisles) it works for most things. The store itself is on the lower level, with escalators allowing access from street level. When the escalators are functioning of course; one time they were broken for about 5 weeks straight. I considered taking a picture of the negative comments a customer left on the official “We’re sorry” note but didn’t…

Entrance to Albert Heijn via escalators

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Spuistraat (Or: Quaint Claustrophobia)

The most striking thing about the street Spuistraat is how many phone stores there are crammed into a tiny little space. T-Mobile, Vodafone, BelCompany, the Phone House, and more. There’s even a Burger King at the very end.

When I visited this past summer (2011) they were in the middle of renovating the street. While they were doing the work overnight to prevent inconvenience, during the day the streets were covered with cardboard and other materials to prevent shoppers from walking on the streets themselves. A bit odd to walk on.

Spuistraat in Den Haag (December 2010) - at a relatively quiet time

Random things I learned:

1. Most shops close at 6PM, except on Thursdays when they stay open until 9PM.

2. At first I was confused because Spuistraat had an H&M. And then I was told H&M is a European company which made its way into American malls.

3. The streets get rather claustrophobic with the crowds of people walking through them.

4. Don’t wear red and step into Kruidvat. Otherwise someone will assume you work there and start speaking to you. In Dutch. (It was my first day alone, so it was a bit nerve wracking.)

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