Flowers by the Paleistuin, The Hague (Or: A bit of color)

Posted on September 22, 2024 by Niki

A few weeks back Marco and I walked through the Paleistuin while waiting for a dinner reservation at Niko, a Japanese restaurant. I took a photo of some of the flowers at the Paleistuin (=Palace Garden).

It was a just a bit of colour to break through all of the green. I think it is a bit too late in the year to see lots of different colors at these gardens, unfortunately.

Here is a look at some of the food we had at Niko:

Above is a salmon dish – and my favorite photo.

Above is an eel dish. I am not the biggest fan of eel, but in small quantities it’s fine. The cucumber underneath was de-li-cious, though, after soaking in that awesome sauce.

Above is a beef tartare dish. I don’t like anything with egg that still looks like egg (cooked or uncooked), but once someone else stirs it in I’m fine with it. It was pretty tasty, actually.

Roger’s mochi dessert. If you have never had mochi, this might be an interesting article to read: Trying and failing to describe the texture of mochi.

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

Rainbows (Or: Rainy day at the Peace Palace)

Posted on September 16, 2024 by Niki

Check out this photo I took of the Peace Palace (Wikipedia) last week:

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

Dutch news in easier language (Or: Not just for foreigners)

Posted on September 9, 2024 by Niki

NOS, the Dutch public broadcaster, has launched a new daily news broadcast at 17:00 called NOS Journaal in makkelijke Taal or “NOS news in easy language”. In 2021 they started a weekly news channel on YouTube and now they are changing to a daily format. It will be shown on television at 17:00 as well as on YouTube. They will focus on three topics per broadcast, with each broadcast lasting about 5 minutes, give or take.

It’s quite similar to their Lang verhaal kort or “Long story short” podcast which I have followed for years. The podcast has episodes every weekday, about 5 minutes each, describing one topic. Each episode ends with a short summary so you can be sure of what you just heard.

Here are some news articles about the new service NOS is offering:

NOS Journaal in Makkelijke Taal van start from nos.nl (in Dutch)

Dutch broadcaster launches news bulletin in easy-to-understand language from theguardian.com

The nice thing is the service isn’t just aimed at foreigners – it is also aimed at residents who don’t have the required language skills to follow the news, or the elderly, or similar. The NOS also has a daily news program for children and/or teenagers (NOS jeugdjournaal) but as you can imagine, that is a different audience than the one they are trying to serve with this version.

I don’t need this “easy news” service anymore, but it would have nice when I first moved here. However, the article from The Guardian mentions the letters the Dutch government sends and how hard those can be to read. I agree wholeheartedly as I find most of the letters I receive from the government annoying to read. They are too longwinded. Just get to the point already. A lot of my coworkers who don’t speak Dutch well enough yet will bring the letter to the office and ask around for help translating them.

Categories: Daily Dutch living, Learning Dutch | Leave a comment

In De Passage (Or: Hat Exhibition Chapeau!)

Posted on September 5, 2024 by Niki

The hat exhibition “Chapeau!” has returned to De Passage in The Hague’s city centre:

De Passage is a covered shopping area first opened in 1885. Insane! That makes it the oldest shopping area in the Netherlands.

More than 20 years ago a hat store in De Passage closed, but the stock was never removed from the upper area above the shop. In 2020, 3,000 hats were found. In 2022 (and again this year), 2,000 of those hats were put on display. This is the same spot where they display the Christmas tree every year.

Read more at the official website in Dutch or English.

Categories: The Hague | Tags: | Leave a comment

Neon Neighborhood Map of Chicago (Or: Another completed puzzle)

Posted on August 31, 2024 by Niki

Okay, the title makes it sound like I do puzzles all the time, but that isn’t the case. I tend to take too long to finish one, so I lose interest for a while and it sits in its puzzle “briefcase” (bol.com) under the couch for way too long.

Also note this post refers to the older version of the puzzle, with weirdly shaped pieces and no accompanying printout to show you how it looks. I purchased it in Chicago some years back from the Transit Tees store, but the puzzle they have on their website looks a bit different now. In a good way, as there is less black in their version than there is in this old version.

With that being said, it was a pretty fun puzzle to put together. It showcases all of the neighborhoods that make up the city:

Continue reading →
Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Almost December already? (Or: Kruidnoten spotted by Albert Heijn)

Posted on August 24, 2024 by Niki

Kruidnoten spotting is a tradition / sport in The Netherlands. The earliest I have spotted them is August 1, although this year I haven’t seen them yet. Marco did, though, and took a photo of them at a local Albert Heijn earlier this week:

I am sure if I went to the local Jumbo grocery store (pronounced Yumbo) I would find them as well. Although I don’t see them offered online quite yet…

Kruidnoten are a confectionery to celebrate the December 5 Sinterklaas holiday. Personally I am waiting for the gevuld speculaas, which is a cake with almond paste inside. It looks like this (laurasbakery.nl). Yum!

Categories: Food, Holidays | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Punselie’s stroopkoekjes (Or: Gone… for now?)

Posted on August 18, 2024 by Niki

Recently I read on omroepwest.nl that Punselie’s in Gouda would (at least temporarily) stop producing stroopkoekjes (=small syrup cookies) at the end of this month. See also the message on the official website, in Dutch, which says they hope to be producing cookies again in 12 months after they find a new location and secure new machinery.

Oven from world famous stroopkoek to be turned off: “Difficult and emotional” (article in Dutch at omroepwest.nl). It’s possible if you were on a KLM flight that you were served one of these. The linked article mentions that these were very popular on flights back in the day, but that the company lost a lot of revenue after 9/11. These days the cookies are only sold within the Netherlands because the machinery used to make the cookies is too old to be certified for sale outside of the country.

The cookies are pretty good. They are pretty small*, which isn’t a bad thing when you just want a cookie with your “after dinner” coffee. The ratio of cookie to syrup is also a bit more even here, so they are a bit less sweet than the bigger stroopwafels you can get on the street or in the store. All in all, a nice treat!

* The size of the cookies is given in the name right on the box, with the -je ending: stroopkoekjes. Adding -je (or -jes for the plural) to a word makes a regular sized object small. So, stroopkoekjes is small syrup cookies.

Categories: Everyday purchases, Food | Leave a comment

Robotic servers (Or: Dadawan in the Mall of the Netherlands)

Posted on August 12, 2024 by Niki

A few months ago a new restaurant by the name of Dadawan opened in the Mall of the Netherlands. They bill themselves as “Asian fast food” although there are fusion options. But more importantly, they have robots…!

Okay, okay. The robots generally just bring you your drinks, not the food. But still, it’s a first for me. It was good food as well, although I oddly had a craving for – and went for – a hamburger at the Asian fast food fusion place. It was good, and not so large that it was messy. It wasn’t the best hamburger I’ve ever had, but it hit the spot. If that makes sense.

After you grab all your drinks, he prompts you to send him back to the starting point. Although he’ll go back automatically after a few minute or two if you don’t press anything.

And of course the joke on the screen was “Rice to meet you Leidschendam!” (Leidschendam being the name of the town the mall is in).

And yes, I just called a robot a “he”. Chat-GPT is also “he” for me.

Categories: Food | Leave a comment

Tour de France Femmes (Or: Coming next week to The Hague)

Posted on August 6, 2024 by Niki

On Monday, August 12 the first stage of Tour de France Femmes will start in Rotterdam and end in The Hague. The neutralized start is at 12:15 with the expected arrival in The Hague around 15:33. Here is a look at the route posted on The Hague’s website. It skirts the city centre on the far right side, riding past the HCM Westeinde hospital in the top right before turning left again, heading to the beach.

Here’s an image from the official Tour website to show you just how flat the Netherlands is… woo boy, we go from 10 meters height to 8 meters, after 123 km (76.5 miles) of racing. Or maybe I mean that we are just low and close to the sea level? That is the meaning of the Netherlands after all (=lower countries).

Yep, the Netherlands is very, very flat and/or low…

Here is a look at the banner at The Hague’s city hall. Ignore the construction – there is a project going on to finally replace the stones around the city hall and main library.

Here is a prettier look, albeit from the side.

I probably won’t attend in person as I need to work, but I’ll try and follow it online since it will be cool to see the racing going through the streets of The Hague.

Categories: The Hague | Leave a comment

What summer needs (Or: An ice cream cone from the Ijskabinet)

Posted on July 31, 2024 by Niki

What do you do on a warm summer evening? You go get ice cream, of course.

The Ijskabinet (literally “ice cabinet”) is an ice cream store in The Hague’s city centre, across the street from the Buitenhof/Hofvijver. They have been there since 2019 but this was our first time.

I knew I wanted a cone, but I quickly opted for a decadent chocolate cone. Then they asked if I wanted sprinkles, and I said yes, thinking they meant the sprinkles would be on top of the ice cream. Nope…

Apparently that meant sprinkles on the cone itself (Lekker! Tasty!).

I got coffee flavored ice cream and Marco got two scoops: yoghurt and lemon meringue pie. Mine was great and hit the spot. Marco liked his as well, although he said the lemon meringue pie flavor could have been stronger.

Ijskabinet does not have a working website, but they do have an Instagram page. I get the impression that the flavors change day by day, so you just need to walk in and see what they have. There is ample seating outside because it is right next to the statue of Johan de Witt which has nice seating opportunities at its base.

Categories: Daily Dutch living, The Hague | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Blog at WordPress.com.