Walking through the dunes (Or: Enjoying the sun in Kijkduin)

Posted on September 14, 2023 by Niki

As mentioned in the last blog post, the weather was great all of last week. On Saturday Marco, Roger and I took advantage of this by visiting Kijkduin, a beach which you can reach with either bus 24 or tram 3. I am not a huge fan of buses so we went with tram 3 even though it was a longer walk.

Our first stop of the day was Wagamama. That is a British restaurant chain which focuses on Japanese-inspired Asian food. I didn’t take any photos of the food this time, but I did snag a photo of the artwork on the wall before we left:

Cute, huh?

After that we took a walk through the dunes. It was about a 45 minute walk. But considering it was a bit later in the day – after 6 – there weren’t too many crowds. Here is a photo I took of the pathway through the dunes, near the beginning of our walk:

I like how the path curved into nothingness. Pretty quickly more and more sand began to appear on the path and the concrete wasn’t always even, but it was a fun walk. We ended up at the tram stop for tram 12 (as was our plan) just in time to snag it before it started its route. The best part was by the time we got off that tram the sun had started to lower a bit and the sky subtly started to change colors as the evening set in.

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Pretty plates (Or: Tasty food by Umami in The Hague)

Posted on September 10, 2023 by Niki

At the moment the weather here in The Netherlands is gorgeous. It has been about 30C/85F all week, although temperatures will drop back to normal tomorrow. But Marco and I have taken full advantage of the situation trying to soak up some rays (including a visit to the dunes in nearby Kijkduin, but that is for another blog post).

Last weekend Marco and I went to Umami to celebrate Roger’s birthday with his family. It is an Asian fusion restaurant with five locations in the Netherlands. We previously went to Umami for the lunch service. Our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomachs then, since we ended up asking for a doggie bag.

This time we did the shared dining experience over three courses. Each course meant two plates for each person, so with six people we had twelve plates each course. Here are some of the photos I took:

I don’t remember anymore what the plate above was. Probably salmon? But you can get the tone of this restaurant just with that photo.

You would think the above picture is chicken, but nope, it is cauliflower. It came with cauliflower purée, asparagus, coriander oil and olive crumble. And it was just as delicious as it looked.

For dessert Marco had the matcha yuzu cake, which came with matcha ice cream, matcha sauce and raisins. It was a great way to end the evening.

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Standing watch (Or: Nijntje in De Passage)

Posted on September 3, 2023 by Niki

The newest guest in De Passage shopping area is Nijntje:

Nijntje is short in Dutch for Konijntje or “little rabbit”. Outside of the Netherlands you probably know her better as Miffy (Wikipedia). I took this picture on the first day, but if you walk past now you’ll see a sign that says if you take a photo with her and place it on social media you can win a package of Nijntje gifts worth around 150 euros. See also Instagram.

And, just as randomly, here is a photo of the lovely ramen soup I enjoyed earlier in August at Momiji Ramen:

This ramen featured a lovely spicy broth and minced meat. Delicious.

This should be interesting (although they don’t have any details yet): Disney to collaborate with Rijksmuseum to celebrate its 100th anniversary from nltimes.nl

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A grey, rainy day (Or: Walking through The Hague)

Posted on August 29, 2023 by Niki

On Sunday I went for a walk in the city centre, heading towards The Hague Centraal train station. Here are some of the photos that I took on that rainy, dreary day:

On Sunday there were flags honoring Ukraine’s Independence Day. You can see what flags were raised (or will be raised) between the years 2019-2023 by visiting denhaag.raadsinformatie.nl — click the second PDF at the bottom of the page.

The ever colorful gates of the Dutch Ministry of Finance, easy to spot if you visit in the weekend when the building is closed. (And no picture taken in The Netherlands is complete without getting at least one bicycle in the photo.)

And here is a good look at the dark and menacing sky. You can just see the NS logo (and thus The Hague Centraal station) on the left between the two flags.

After checking the weather for tomorrow’s commute, I have decided I will post this and go grab my umbrella so I don’t forget it. Sheesh!

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Cotton candy ice cream burrito (Or: You heard me right)

Posted on August 20, 2023 by Niki

Today was the last day of the Rrrollend food truck festival in The Hague. Marco and I went with his mother. Here is the craziest thing Marco spotted, although we weren’t crazy enough to try it ourselves:

That is a cotton candy and ice cream dessert burrito. My teeth hurt just thinking about it!

Marco’s mom had a meat pie while Marco had a katsu sando. That’s a Japanese sandwich with fried pork cutlets placed between white bread. You can also add lettuce and other condiments. Marco added pineapple reaper, a pretty spicy hot sauce. An earlier post I wrote about a restaurant called Umami has a photo of a katsu sando (see the last image in the post). And at Rrrollend I had a falafel pita. No photo though. It was messy but delicious.

Mom/Dad: We saw a stand selling Philly cheese steaks and we thought of you (I think that is what you guys bought at Smorgasburg).

After Rrrollend we went to the nearby Plein for another drink. I had a frozen cappuccino:

It was really good. Or as I told Marco and his mom: the drink was verdomde lekker! or stupidly tasty. It being served in a pretty glass helps as well of course.

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A moment of quiet (Or: De Passage and its flowers)

Posted on August 14, 2023 by Niki

It’s been a while, so I figured I would share a new photo of De Passage. It is an indoor shopping area in the shape of a triangle which connects parts of The Hague with each other. Hence the name “De Passage”. You can even buy a keychain or miniature momento.

This photo is taken near the end of the De Passage closest to the Gravenstraat, not far from the Grote Kerk.

How are things for Marco and I? We’re enjoying the brief but sunny weather (one day of around 26C/79F, before it drops back down again for a few days). Luckily the rain has let up the last week or so.

In other news:

Dutch and Belgian railways to double daily intercity trains to Brussels by 2025. This step makes sense — the Dutch train provider NS lost their monopoly on all other international routes (except for Brussels) so they want to focus on that route. Both articles are from nltimes.nl.

Automated study buddies: a quick look at Dutch language apps from dutchnews.nl (just for a fun look at how some Dutch words are pronounced).

Seals practise social distancing, aerial survey of North Sea shows from theguardian.com. As you might guess, it is likely to prevent spreading illnesses. Check out this other news article from nhnieuws.nl which shows the difference between the grey seals (who don’t keep as much distance) and the harbor seals who do.

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The writing’s on the wall (Or: Outside poetry in The Netherlands)

Posted on August 6, 2023 by Niki

Maybe it is a European thing, and not just a Dutch thing, but I always find it amusing (and cool) that poetry can even be found on the outside of buildings.

If you look to the left you can see it. The writing is on the wall indeed. For a bonus you can also see the bronze artwork “Ode aan de fiets” (Ode to bikes) on the right side. It was made in 1990 and symbolizes, well, all of the daily activities that happen on the bike, come rain or shine. The cutest part is that there is also a kid on the back, with their own mini umbrella.

In other news:

Amersfoort’s pissed off polar bear no longer pees at night from dutchnews.nl

‘Lego Grandma’ makes wheelchair ramps out of Legos in Germany from reuters.com (I know — it’s not Dutch and it’s from 2020, but it’s still a fun read)

Thrift store in Dordrecht found a python in its donations from nltimes.nl

Pathe’s second record week in a row thanks to Barbie and Oppenheimer from nltimes.nl. Marco, Roger and I watched Barbie yesterday at Pathé (it was fun!), but I don’t think I will be watching Oppenheimer any time soon. Roger and Marco might go see it, though.

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Fun in the sun (Or: Two weeks in NYC)

Posted on July 30, 2023 by Niki

My apologies for the lack of posting over here. Marco and I just got back from a trip to NYC. We met up with a lot of family members (my parents, brother, sister-in-law and their kids) for some fun in the sun. And a bit of rain…

Without further ado, here are some random pictures we took:

First off, here is the view from our hotel room at night (!!). Best view from a hotel room ever.
The Vessel at Hudson Yards. Lots and lots of stairs in this piece of art/architecture, although it isn’t open to climb at the moment. Read more at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vessel_(structure)
Statues by the waterfall at W 48th street, between 6th and 7th avenue. Read more about the hidden waterfalls in New York City here: https://www.businessinsider.com/hidden-waterfalls-parks-in-new-york-city-2016-7
Continue reading →
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Eating habits (Or: How they can change)

Posted on July 5, 2023 by Niki

Last weekend I had a day off so I decided to visit the Mall of the Netherlands. It is for the most part a very American looking mall, with dazzling store fronts and small food stands set up in the middle of the walkway. When it first opened I was surprised to see that the mall’s owner is Westfield. I found that particularly interesting considering I lived near a Westfield mall growing up in the US, so it felt like a piece of home.

For lunch I decided to go to the food court on the upper level of the mall. Technically I am European enough these days to want to write that it is on the 1st floor, but any American readers might think I mean ground floor if I say that… (Ground floor = 0 or “BG” for begane grond.)

After walking around looking at the options I chose Laffa, a place which serves Middle Eastern street food. I went for the falafel, which was of course delicious.

That made me realize that eating habits definitely do change, at least for the most part. I hate peas (still do), but if you grind them up or change the texture I am much more likely to appreciate them. I love falafel, I love roti bread.

Back when I was a kid I was mostly enjoyed chicken fingers. Heh. I still have a memory of scrapping spaghetti into a trash can when no one was around as a young picky eater, not realizing that it would be very obvious if anyone looked into the trash can or saw the marks on my plate. Obviously I was caught. For the record, I am still not a fan of spaghetti, but I do love penne. Growing up we called it mostaccioli.

Who knew I would move here and get to eat Vietnamese, or sushi, or Indian, or Indonesian, or Greek whenever I want. Of course, I still need to broaden my horizons a bit more. But it is a start.

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Remnant of the past (Or: Veteran’s Day, 2023)

Posted on June 25, 2023 by Niki

Yesterday was Veteran’s Day in the Netherlands, held every year on the last Saturday in June.

Veterans Day attracts 90,000 visitors in The Hague from nltimes.nl, which has some nice photos of the event.

Here is a picture that I took of a medical vehicle. I wasn’t able to get any good pictures of the parade, unfortunately. I was just passing through and most of the city centre had crowds 10 man deep. But the marching bands I could hear sounded great.

In other Dutch news: ‘It’s every woman, it’s us’: Rotterdam falls for British statue of ordinary black woman from theguardian.com. It is a pretty interesting statue. And I love the backdrop of Rotterdam’s Centraal train station in the photo.

Categories: Culture, The Hague | Tags: , | 2 Comments

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