Hungry me

Hi Fam! As promised last week, this post will be fully dedicated to food. I hope you’re having a great week so far, and that everything is working in your favor. At this time, I am still looking for a house, and I hope that there will be an opportunity for me to move out soon. I hate not being able to cook for myself.

Unlike I promised, I have been unable to taste the miso soup. This weekend has been quite hectic (my Saturday did not go as planned, nor did my Sunday for that matter). After a few hours of searching on Saturday, I managed to buy a new desk lamp. The one I bought is less plastic and has a more industrial & mature feel. I love it!

But, I promised to write about food. (Got to make good on those promises). So here we go! On Sunday the 20th, we headed off to the van Gogh museum. Unlike what we usually do, we actually sat down at the museum and had a pretty good lunch. I ordered a lot of things, and each of them tasted amazing.

Our lunch at the van Gogh museum on Saturday

I started off with some chicken wings in soy sauce, and then I took a bite of my favorite person’s apple turnover. I’ve got to admit, the apple turnover is definitely one of the best ones I’ve had till date. If you have any suggestions for other places which serve amazing apple turnovers, please let me know! The chicken wings tasted like my grandmother’s recipe, so I was really pleased. The final thing I had, was a fish sandwich which featured dill. I know that some people are not a fan, but to me, it’s like a match made in epicurean heaven.

A shelf with a lot of sugary drinks at Eichholtz Delicatessen

After the museum, we made way to the American store (that’s pretty much what we tend to call it). A quick Google search, however, revealed that the store is actually called Eichholtz Delicatessen. This store has the most amazing things. For example, this shelf. I know that anything that holds sugar isn’t good for you.. and my own motto is not to buy anything that has aspartame, stevia or any other artificial sweeteners. It’s also the reason that I usually stick to regular Coca-Cola. I’m also that person at the store who starts reading the label to determine what type of sugar I am consuming and if I want to ‘risk it’ or not. I’m also pretty weak to crisps, and this store sells ‘Walkers: Worchester sauce’. This time, they were even out of stock! (Hence, no pictures).

After this mini haul, we realized we were pretty hungry. By that time, it was almost 6 P.M. In the end we decided to end our evening at Ramen Ya. This time I did not manage to finish the entire bowl, but that was because I had eaten a lot during lunch. Sometimes I have a donut before heading back home, but dinner had me so full I decided to opt out of it.

Karaka-men for me

And veggie ramen for my love

We did end up at Starbucks, where I ordered some Earl Grey for my favorite person; and some Strawberry green tea for myself.

Strawberry Green Tea at Starbucks, one of my new favorite teas!

What are your favorite foods? Let me know in the comments! For a link to my previous post click here.

Fun at the museum

Hi Fam! I hope you’re having a great week so far. This week I have another uncommon update. So far, I am still commuting from Alkmaar, but the search still continues. I can’t wait to have my own home, with a bed I can sleep in and a kitchen I can use.

This week I’ll be bringing you a short travel update, whereas next week will be a food fest. I hope to see you for that post as well! It’ll be going live on October 30th.

Last Thursday, I read something on chronotypes. It appears that everyone has a set sleep-wake rhythm and that it differs from person to person. For me, (I know you’re legally not supposed to do this) but for me, it’s a combination between a Dolphin and a Bear. (The bear is truly me though, the Dolphin is due to circumstances).

As you might remember, I was going to a museum as a birthday present. Because I overslept on Monday the 24th (my birthday), we ended up not going at all. This weekend, we decided that it would be a great idea to go instead. So on Saturday, I got up at 7 A.M. to be in Amsterdam by 10. Our destination: The van Gogh museum.

The van Gogh museum is located at the Museumplein in Amsterdam. It’s close to the Rijksmuseum as well. I really liked the exhibition they had in the basement, which was a combination of Laval & Gauguin’s work. I learned that it was also possible for painters to share a painting. At 13:00 we received an announcement that there was a free workshop in which you could paint something in van Gogh’s style. My favorite person suggested that we share a painting, and I actually ended up having a lot of fun! This is what we looked like while we were working:

This was the painting we were working on, at the Van Gogh Museum last Saturday

I was really happy to use some of my art education, since I knew that some of the paintings would become even more beautiful when seen at a distance. The style is called pointillism and I really love what they have done with some of the paintings. I somehow managed to get a picture in, before the security guard politely told me to ‘please stop’. The rest of the museum was incredibly beautiful as well. There is a part where you can see a lot of van Gogh’s self-portraits, and if you look closely, you can see that he experiments with different styles. Another thing I loved, were his paintings of flowers.

This was the painting I was talking about:

My favorite person asked me why we all have to start with still-life arrangements. And that that is one of the reasons why he didn’t pursue art in school. (He’s amazing at drawing). It’s a really good question, and I never really thought about it. The reason I think that people have to start with still-life arrangements; is that it teaches you to look at items in a different ‘light’.

The main things you have to keep in mind are:
1. Where is the light coming from?
2. The distance between the items
3. The entire composition

In a way, it lays the groundwork for everything else you would like to paint. It’s not fun, it’s not sexy, but it does teach you something about light and shadows, and the distance between items.

After the museum, we wanted to walk back to the station. On our way there, we found a store named ‘Deshima’ it’s kind of an organic ‘way too expensive’ store, but I had miso soup cravings and I wanted to buy something new. I also bought Kombu and dried daikon. I might try making traditional miso soup if I don’t forget to buy tofu cubes. I also got a free pumpkin, since I spent more than 20 bucks at the store. Isn’t it a cutie?

The new pumpkin

The selection of Fanta

I also bought two cans at the American snack store, close to the Flower Market in Amsterdam. The shelf was massive, and I was tempted to buy a lot ‘just to try’. Eventually, I settled on lemonade 7-up and a dandelion & burdock root drink. The latter tasted a little like watered down Pepsi, not really my thing. Another thing I bought, was instant Ice Tea, I have yet to try that one!

This week I am reading Thinking, fast and slow by Daniel Kahneman, and The Culture Map by Erin Meyer. The latter reminds me of some of the books I read while in University. It’s a good reminder and another way to not forget about certain types of communication across cultures.

I’m wishing you a good week ahead, and I hope you enjoyed this post. Did you have any art classes in high school? Let me know in the comments. As always, you can send me a DM or an e-mail if you prefer. For a link to my previous post click here.

Pizza and Uniqlo

Hi Fam! I hope you’re having a good week so far. This week I’ll be writing about all of the exciting things I did a little over a week ago!

On the 28th of September, the Uniqlo opened in Amsterdam. My first contact with the store was in 2012, back when I studied in South Korea. On a snowy morning, I headed off to Gangnam, and I found this 5-story store. It’s kind of what happened when I first entered the Kyobo bookstore or the Daiso in Korea. It’s a love affair that never really ended.

So you can probably imagine how excited I was when I found out that the Uniqlo was coming to The Netherlands. Last year, we went to Antwerp twice once in January and once in July, just so I could buy some things at the Uniqlo there. I really love the way their pants fit (finally pants that fit tbh). And I love their heat tech line as well.

After work, I headed off to Amsterdam and went on my first ‘haul’. There’s really no other way to put it. I bought a lot of basics, such as work pants, two sweaters, a scarf, and socks. I have to say that all of them are currently in use and that I have zero regrets about anything I’ve bought the past 10 days.

Uniqlo at Rokin in Amsterdam

The result of the haul

With two full bags, I then realized I was pretty hungry. So my favorite person and I walked around for a few streets, before deciding we would like to have some pizza. We ordered a basic pizza Margherita and a pizza with mozzarella and pesto at Pizzaria La Piazza in Amsterdam.

Pizzeria La Piazza in Amsterdam

Pesto Pizza

On Sunday, I headed off to one of my mum’s oldest study friends. She’s selling her farm and we wanted to visit one last time before it gets sold. Of course, we will be visiting her in her new home as well. It was really nice to sit in her kitchen and to hear them talk about what they are planning to do.

One of the things I’ve always loved is to go into the barns and to meet the cows. The youngest one was almost 2 days old. Absolutely adorable. Since she was a little shy, you can see how she’s carefully backing away as I try to get her to come near me. (Some of you might recognize the picture from Instagram a few days ago!).

The barn

The baby cow and I

So in summary, this week I visited the Uniqlo and I visited one of my mum’s oldest friends. I had a really good time and it felt really nice to reconnect with nature in that way.

When’s the last time you felt connected to nature? Let me know in the comments or send me an e-mail or DM! For a link to my previous post click here.

Wagamama, Sea Palace and my birthday

Hi Fam!

I hope you’re having a great week so far. This week I will be updating you on some major changes, and I hope you’re willing to continue this journey with me. For one, I am no longer commuting from and to Almere, but I am still on the lookout for a rental house!

At this point, I have found a temporary home to commute from. The people are lovely, and I am grateful that I get to go to work from there. For the ones who are interested, I ended up passing my IT exam after all, (I can’t believe it either). This means that I now know a lot more about my current job and the way that the company would like to structure their service desk. I do think it’s because of the self-care I had on Thursday when I went out to eat at Amsterdam Zuid. I guess it’s called Katsu Curry for a reason! I loved how quiet Wagamama was, and the plating was sublime.

 

The Katsu Curry

Wagamama at 17:00 on Thursday

Last week, I missed my weekly update, and for that I am sorry. During the weekend, I made my way into the kitchen once more. I even used the oven, and things didn’t turn out as bad as I anticipated. I baked two brownies and two cakes, for the celebration of my 27th birthday on Sunday. (My birthday was on Monday, and I ended up taking the day off). Despite me not telling my co-workers it was my birthday, it was raining happy birthday all day. Really cute!

 

 

dav

The second birthday cake

As a surprise, my favorite person took me out to dinner at Sea Palace in Amsterdam. On our way to Amsterdam, we missed our train, so we had to make an extra stop at Schiphol. While there, I bought a book on travel writing, since I travel a lot now! Because Sunday had been so much fun, I overslept on Monday. Initially, we had planned to go to one of the museums I had on my bucket list, but because we were late, we headed off to a Church instead. It’s actually close to the American Book Center in Amsterdam, and I was definitely impressed!

Another thing that impressed me as well, was the restaurant we ate at. Usually, we head off to either Vapiano’s or a restaurant that isn’t as expensive. At the entrance, they had koi carps, and that’s something I haven’t seen since the 90’s! The ceiling was beautiful and the interior was tasteful as well. We took a spot by the window, so we could see the boats with tourists float by.

This is what we ended up ordering:

 

Sichuan style noodles

Rice, vegetables and pork belly

The view from the restaurant

The dessert I got because it was my birthday. I loved the way it looked!

1. Noodles in Sichuan sauce
2. Fried rice, vegetables, and pork belly
3. The view from the restaurant
4. The birthday dessert I got (so cute)!

In summary; I’ve managed to pass my ITIL exam! I’m no longer living in Almere, and I went out to dinner (twice!). Once at Wagamama, in Amsterdam Zuid and the second time at Sea Palace in Amsterdam. Next week I’ll be updating you on what happened last Friday, and where I went during the weekend. Hope to see you then!

As usual, you can reply to this post, or send me DM on Instagram. If you prefer to send an e-mail, just click here. For a link to my previous post click here.