she told us d walk to her place is about 20min. on a normal day, that would be fine. but with more than 20kg worth of bags on each of us, that is tooo long! we took more than 30 mins cos we were walking so slowly fr d bags. we are however, glad to know she lives in a small house (we dont have to climb any stairs to get in!!). our couch is an air mattress in a separate room on d 1st floor (which is level 2 for us). 1 of us can also slp in d living room couch on d ground floor if we prefer. i took d room upstairs. eve wants to take d living rm (so she can be close to d computer n tv n avoid d stairs! haha). d stairs is a bit hazardous. it's small n steep steps can be rather dangerous esp in d night.
we had a quick n simple dinner of toasted ham n cheese sandwich courtesy of our kind host. after dinner, we took a quick walk and to see d town at night. it's really quiet as all shops/attractions closed by 5 or 6pm but the yellow/orange lights really compliments the old Stone buildings/structures. we went back, looking forward to see the town in daylight.
both of us didnt slp well cos it was soooo cold! d heater went off automatically and we didnt know how to switch it on. so we had to endure d cold for d night.
after breakfast, we head to d Belfort. we each got a Cyclo3 ticket which gets us into 3 museums (including d Belfort), 1 day of bicycle n a free drink at 1 of d museum. there's 366 steps to get to d top of Belfort where we can get a paranoma view of d town. d steps were narrow and steep and it goes round a pole. as we gets closer to d top, d stairsway gets narrower.
i thot i was gonna pass out n die many times during d climb (yes i need to exercise a lot more than i did)! having ppl going up n down d narrow stairs makes it even more challenging than it already is!
when i finally reached d top (yeah! i actually did it without passing out!!), d view makes it all worth it! it's d highest point in d city and u can really see d whole town from there. did i 4get to mention that there's 16 bells of different sizes (for different tones) at d top of d belfort which make musical chimes each hour. it was playing when i was near d top. i can actually see d mechanics that makes d bells work. pretty impressive that the bells have produced music since d a few centuries ago.
we didnt do very much as it was already pretty late and we were quite tired from d climbing (weak, i know!!). so we just went to check up on trains to Antwerp, went to d supermarket, had a very cheap dinner coffee + soup n bread, then head back. we chatted with Anouchka and watched her favourite show, the Australian "Home & Away", with her. i cant believe i'm watching Australian soap in Belgium!! i dont even watch it in Australia! we went to bed, after finding out how to switch on the heater. so no more cold night! yippie!!!!!!
d road to Damme was beautiful! u can see trees, grass, wild flowers, n little houses along d canal n of cos beautiful reflections of d clear blue sky!! the ride was mostly enjoyable, except for d swarm of flies on n off annoying me.
Damme's known for their pancakes so how could we miss out on that!! we started looking for a nice cafe/restaurant to have pancakes once we got there (ard 2pm). as we were looking at d menu at 1 of d cafes, this cute boy came out n started speaking to us in English. we decided on this restaurant n sat outside d patio so we can be in d sun (unbelievable i know! in Singapore we usually run away from d sun!!). d young boy say he will inform us when he is making d pancake so we can see how he makes it. we decided to move indoor as some roadwork was going on n it was quite noisy. we went in just in time to see him making d pancakes. his quick moves tells us that he is an old hand at that. i ordered a pancake with ice cream n some kind of sweet alcohol. d ice cream was wrapped in d pancake and with alcohol poured on it. d pancake was flaming when it's served so it looked really cool! it tasted really yummy too!
we headed off after d pancake cos we wanted to try to visit a museum b4 it closes at 5pm. we didnt manage to make it to any museum cos we were distracted along d way by sceneries n other stuff. we ended up doing a canal tour instead. we were d 1st to board the boat but it filled up really quickly. at 1 point i was thinking if more ppl came on board we would sink!! we didnt of cos... (that was juz my drama queen moment).
d canal cruise is a really nice way to see d little town. with explanation of buildings n people, it made u appreciated the history of d town more. of cos by now i couldnt remember much except that in the earlier centuries (13th - 15th), u know how rich a family is by the windows of their houses. they had something called Window Tax. the more windows a house has, d more tax to pay. n if the owner has no money to pay d taxes, the government will seal up a window. that is why some of these old houses have windows that's sealed up. another i remembered is that Belgium has more than 250 different beers. to a non beer-drinker like me, there's only 2 kinds: d nice 1 and d not nice 1... i'm sure a true beer drinker will say otherwise...
that aside, d canal cruise was really nice. we went to Begijnhof after the cruise. d Begijnhof is a quiet area where d Benedictine Sisters stay. d compound has a huge daffodil garden, which makes Begijnhof a hot romantic spot. i really enjoyed d peace n quiet there. we went into d church n d Sisters were all there doing their prayers. we left d church pretty quickly and d prayers were over shortly after. we saw all all of them walking off to a particular house. there's isn't many of them now, about a dozen n they r really old. they smiled at us as they walked pass us. they look like very nice grand mothers u want to have.
before we head home, we had dinner at this Italian restaurant near where we stay. d restaurant seems to be run by true italians. most of them have a tummy and look like they came off the Godfather movies! d pizza is really nice! thin crust n generous amount of toppings!! that's what i call a good pizza!
we still have our bikes til 5pm so we went around on it as much as we didnt. but it's much faster and saves us a lot of time. anyway, there's a market every wednesday at d Grote Markt so it was nice to be able to catch that b4 we leave. it's a fresh food n flowers market so it smells really good there! i bought a nice roast chicken leg for dinner... was sooo happy! i love roast chicken n havent had a chance to eat that since i got to Europe. so i was extremely happy n so looking forward to dinner!
we then head to Groeninge Museum, where it's full of Flemish paintings. d paintings are nice to look at but i think i would appreciate it a lot more if i do fine arts.
then it's off to Church of Our Lady which is just nearby to see d infamous 'Madonna & Child' sculpture/statue done by d great Michelangelo. d precious statue is surrounded by glass panels to protect it. we couldnt really get a close look at it cos there was like 2 metres of space from where we can stand and d statue. but i guess that is enough?
we ran off quickly to Heilig-Bloedbasiliek, where d blood of Jesus Christ (Holy Blood) was left in a scroll/capsule like thing. d Holy Blood is only on display each day from 2-3pm. a priest will hold the blood in his hand n every1 who wants to can go touch d scroll/capsule n be blessed.
we return the bikes (finally!!!! no more bumpy ride n painful butts!!) and head to the Grote Markt area once again for a mussels lunch. hmmm.... i like d mussels in Brussels better. maybe we picked a bad restaurant.
after lunch, we walked around a bit more before heading home. we passed by this big ice cream shop with long queues so we decided to join d queue! d ice cream is really yummy n d wafer cone taste so fresh n nice! happy n satisfied, we head home to pack n get ready for Antwerp.
[fast forward]after about 1.5 hrs on d train, we got to Antwerp. our host Yuri met us at d train station. he lives 5 min walk away from the Centraal station n on d top floor of d 5-storey building. he is really into Asian stuff so we had lots to chat about. he has been practising Taichi for 6 yrs so i can ask him almost everything about it! he also likes Asian films n had watched quite a number. we feel like we're in Asia! we spent d night talking about films n drinking tea n talking about what we do (did) for work. feels like a great start for Antwerp!
d apartments along d river bank are really nice thou! i was walking along the river n thinking "i wanna stay in that apartment" many times!
nevertheless, i had a gd time in Antwerp becos of my host Yuri. he is probably more Asian than a lot of the Asian i know! he like Asian food, is into Asian films, and has been practicing Taichi for 6 years! we spent so much time talking about Taichi cos i have been interested but didnt really get into joining a school. we also discussed about films we like and would like to watch.
Yuri also loves to cook so he cooked us a nice vegetarian lasagna (he's really into organic food and is 90% vegetarian). yummy!!
but the highlight of our trip has to be d Taichi class. Yuri's master was unable to make it and since he is d eldest disciple in Antwerp, he is taking over d class! he actually lets us join d class for free! we did some breathing and warm up exercise and d class did the form, which we only did a very small part. then he was teaching us Pushing Hands, which is pretty fun but difficult! d session ended with him practicing his broad sword. very cool!
after d Taichi session, we head back to his place to have dinner. Yuri was invited to spin at his friend's pub/club later that night. oh, i 4got to mention he also DJs for fun (he has a full set of gear!).
his friend, Izzy, owns d club/pub. it does private parties more cos of its small n cosy size. Izzy mixed a drink for each of us and boy were they stroong! eve was always trying to add more ice n soda to her drinks so it's like her glass is always full!!
we met another CS host at d club who took us to another pub/restaurant for drinks. we had planned to leave pretty early d next day but we didnt think that was gonna happen cos we only left d place around 3am!
we need a good sleep and i know we will have it thanks to d alcohol n d long day! guess we wont be leaving in the morning now....
we finally left around noon and had our final Belgian waffle while waiting for d train. we got off at Rotterdam as planned and stored our luggages in a big locker. after walking around for about 30 min, we only saw big tall buildings and a realy really big/loooong sea port! we got bored n decided to head to Kinderdijk, where we can see d most windmills in Netherlands! Kinderdijk is about 1hr away by bus and the bus doesnt run very often. we were set on heading there thou so we waited for d next bus, which was about half an hour.
the hour bus ride passes pretty quickly (especially when u dozed off!). there were some nice sceneries to Molenkade so it was cool. when we finally reached Kinderdijk, it was almost 6pm. most of d visitors are already leaving and the shops are all getting ready to close. we had a quick browse n coffee b4 heading to d windmills area.
it was freezing cold n bloody windy! but i still took sooooo many photos of the windmills! it was almost near sunset so d skyline was nice too! i cant really explain or describe d sight so here they are in photos.
we didnt really stay long cos we need to get to Den Haag b4 it gets too late. with d bus ride and train ride, it took us almost 2 hours to reach Den Haag. we took d tram as instructed by our host Yorien. as we got off d tram, still trying to figure which direction is d right direction, we heard "u are just on time ladies!". i was pretty happy she came to picked us up at d tram stop cos we would have gone d wrong way and we were real hungry by then! so she brought us to her home, which is a nice 2-storey apartment on d top floor of her block (only 3rd floor actually). we are to sleep on d top floor, which is kind of d attic/living room. we chatted over dinner with Yorien. she suggested us going to Keukenhof tomorrow (Sunday) as she can drop us off on her way to meet her friends. we decided to accept the free ride and head to bed pretty early.
when we got to d entrance around 10am, it was already waaaaaaaaay PACKED!!! ok, a bit of background on Keukenhof. it a huge garden full of flowers, apparantly the world's largest flower garden with about 7 millions flower blubs are planted annually. it's only opened like 2 months in a year between march and may. u can do an internet search for more info.
so, that explain why there were HUGE MASSES of people at the garden. we were expecting to spend about 3 hours in d garden. but after we got in and saw d actual size of Keukenhof, we knew there was no way we will leave in 3 hours!
there was soooooooooooooooooooooooooo much flowers!!! (much becos we cant count them any more!!!) there's flowers of all colours and all sizes! especially d tulips! i think there are more than 100 species of tulips in d garden alone! it really is amazing to see so many flowers blooming at d same time! words really cant describe what i see. gotta thank my friend amy who strongly recommended the garden to me. we took soooooooo many photos there and i think i'd never seen so many species of flowers at 1 time.
there's a lot of creativity in the container used for planting the flowers. so it was all nice to see. here's some more photo...
yes we both went crazy with d photo taking (eve's camera went dead b4 we even left d garden!)
after 6 hours at d garden, we left n head to d nearest train station for home. Leiden is about 1 hour by bus and is d birthplace of the famous artist Rembrandt. there's Rembrandt everywhere! we spent a couple of hours walking around town to try n soak up d artistic feel in d air... i think it didnt work cos i still cant paint or draw to save my life!!
we figured we had enough for d day by then n head back. ready to rest our feet and have a gd night's sleep.
i joined this wonderful project called Couchsurfing. this is a community of people who offer their couches/spare bed/floor for anyone in the same community. so u search for someone who can offer to host u and u write them a request. if d person accepts u, then u r sorted for that place. but this is not a place for free lodging. be prepared to interact with d host and spend time with them and even cook for them. me n eve did that and it have been a whole lot of fun so far! met all sort of people, d coolest n most fun people! some of them were great chefs too!
a friend introduced it to me some time back so i decide to try it on this trip. of cos there's some mishaps along d way but nothing so bad that makes me wanna stop doing this. never regretted joining this!
many of my friends think i am mad to be doing this. but i'm sure many will join this after i finish this trip! i'll also be an experienced couchsurfer by then! haha...
so... actually i dont know if any1 actualy reads my blog becos no1 leave any messages or comments... i might just be talking to myself after all!?!
anyway, now i think couchsurfing is d coolest way to travel! Couchsurfing ROCKS!!!!!
anyway, she was pretty excited about us cooking cos 1) she gets to eat food from a different country, 2) she has some1 cooking for her so she has food when she gets home from work. we head to d city to walk around a little. was really a quick walk as we need to buy d stuff we need fr d Asian Supermarket then head home to cook cos Hilgien has to go work out after dinner (most of our hosts has such healthy lifestyle that we feel ashamed of ours!).
this is d 1st time we r cooking for a host so it was quite exciting for us too! eve is making soup and stir fry vegetables n i'm making curry chicken. Hilgien was home before dinner was ready. but she was extremely happy to see us cook. she says it's d 1st time ever that she come home to d smell of food in her kitchen (since she moved to this apartment). she was taking photos of us cooking n all.
she was very happy with our dinner n told us we are most welcomed to stay another week as long as we can cook for her! i wasnt too happy with d curry as i bought packet curry paste n it didnt taste very good n it was a tad bit too watery! but it was acceptable i guess. n d most important thing is my host enjoyed it!
Hilgien dropped us at a beach near her place after dinner. d beach was fairly quiet with a few joggers n dogs walkers. we managed to watch d beautiful sunset. awesome!
o yes, i made a new friend in d city today. he's really cute and i fell in love with him immediately. here's our photo.
Delft is know for Delft Blue, d porcelain ware. there's everything made from porcelain. cups, plates, all kinds of containers, little ornaments, u name it, they have it! it was really tempting to buy all these well made n beautiful stuff but i knew it would be a nightmare for me to carry them on d trip. so i resisted and didnt buy any!
d main area we went to is d market square, and 2 churches. i've been to soooooo many market square n churches on this trip! i swear i cant recognize each of them by now. all d market squares n churches are all in a blur! except maybe d Old Church here cos it's d only church so far with a wooden ceiling.
we walked around d market square n visited almost ALL d shops there. i only bought a calender cos it was easy to carry. (i knew if my mum was here she probably would buy a whole suitcase of stuff!)
anyway, we left Delft ard 6pm. today it was Hilgien's turn to cook! she said she will cook us a typically Dutch dish after work. it's a winter dish called Stamppot. it's potatoes mashed with some kind of vege/herbs that is only available in Netherlands (i really cant remember d name of that!), n sausages. u eat it with pickles n preserved onion. it is pretty tasty n very filling!
we were chatting ard d dinner table after dinner. waiting for d food to settle in b4 dessert. Hilgien decided to invite her neighbor over for a chat cos he's been wanting to meet d surfers at her place. so Richard came over n we chatted about lots of things. he is quite interested in Chinese stuff and we ended up looking at some Chinese herbs over d internet n teaching them some Chinese words.
it was quite a fun evening n i really enjoyed it! a good last night in Den Haag.
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