Nope, Netherlands, not this time either

It seems as if I've written about the Netherlands a lot recently (or once, but considering that I rarely post any more, that could count as a "lot"), so here's another post about the country since I took a recent trip there again.

I love visiting the grocery stores in the country, especially because they're open on Sundays, which German stores are not. However, not all of them are open; some of the German-owned stores don't join the fun (like Lidl or Aldi). Albert Heijn and Jumbo aren't spoil-sports, though, and we perused their aisles with glee on a Sunday.

The snack aisles are many and plenty, full of exotic chips with Thai and Indonesian flavoring. Plus there are some exotic offerings inspired by the USA -- or, as this popcorn says, "inspired by the USA recipe," which doesn't really make sense from a grammatical point of view. I guess they're trying to avoid calling it "American" because there are other countries on this continent. Or maybe not.

The biggest issue is that this is not a typical concoction for popcorn for us. I'm assuming it's similar to kettle corn, which we do have, but it's not always available. Typical popcorn for a US American would be salty and butter-flavored.Germany seems to also think that we have salty-sweet popcorn and I can say that even that kind of "American" style popcorn doesn't even taste like our kettle corn. More common than kettle corn, but less common than regular popcorn, would be caramel corn, but I have rarely seen that here. Oh well. It's another case of not quite getting our food (and it goes both ways).

The Dutch get in on getting American food wrong

"American" week at German grocery stores evokes strong emotions for me, including the desire to laugh, cry, be sick, or when I'm feeling adventurous, maybe even try it sometimes. There are usually very few things that I do want to try, though, because it's either food I wouldn't eat even when I'm in the US or it looks disgusting. I had yet to participate in "American" week shopping in another country, though, so during a trip to the Netherlands this winter, I perused their display for their take on what we eat.

This one landed a solid nee (no) for me: some sort of "American" sauce for fries.

Based on my non-existent knowledge of Dutch, but with the ability to somewhat decode the ingredient list based on my knowledge of English and German, I determined that it has canola oil, mustard, something from corn (a thickener?), vinegar, sugar*, and lots of preservatives in it.

Is this typical American food? Well, the preservatives would almost have me thinking so but as far as what it would probably taste like, I can give a resounding no. And thank goodness for that!

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*I would like to continue ranting a bit. Yes, American food and condiments add sugar. However, for German food, I'm always shocked/disgusted by just how much is added. I can't even eat most of the commercially prepared sauces, soups, or spaghetti sauces here because they taste almost as sweet as candy does and it's very off-putting for me. I am wondering if this Dutch sauce would be as sickeningly sweet as the German ones?

The Dutch and peanut cheese

One of the joys of living in an international environment is that one learns about other cultures, and sometimes this includes learning about those cultures' food. I know someone who's Dutch and after a recent trip to the Netherlands, he brought back some delicious Dutch snacks.

I received three different types of Gouda cheese, including old, middle, and young. I liked the old the best because it's more pungent and flavorful. I also received stroopwafel, which has two cookie-like crusts with a caramel-like filling inside.

I was most delighted by the jar of peanut butter that he brought back. It's like a lovechild of creamy and crunchy peanut butter; it's mostly creamy in consistency but has little bits of peanuts, the best of both worlds.

Even better yet is what the Dutch call peanut butter: pindakaas, which means "peanut cheese." Another Dutchman told me that at the time when peanut butter was first being marketed, the word butter was protected and only meant butter. Therefore, the Dutch decided to call it peanut cheese because it was a savory topping. That's an interesting justification.

Stroopwafel, peanut cheese, and a lovely mountain of Gouda

Falling to pieces in Amsterdam: the mannequin edition

I'm a little bit obsessed with mannequins, especially when they look as if they've been through the wringer. It just always strikes me as odd that a store would put a beaten-up mannequin in the window. It doesn't seem to be the best way to display one's goods.

In Amsterdam, I saw a mannequin whose hand was taped on, in least artful way possible. Hmm...

Mannequins gettin' down in Weesp, North Holland

We stayed in Weesp, a suburb of Amsterdam, during our 4th of July trip. Weesp is a beautiful old town and we spent some time downtown. I saw these mannequins in one of the storefronts. It seems that they were so excited about the sale in the store that they fell to pieces!

The mythical turducken...or, what IS this thing?

I saw this bird THINGIE in Amsterdam and I would very much like to know what it is. I would imagine that it's not a turducken (hehe), but it looks like a goose with mallard duck feathers. Duck, duck...goose?

So far, no one I've asked (including a real, live Dutch person) has known what it is and I'm too lazy/not exactly sure what to Google. If you know what it's called, post in the comments.

I do know, whatever it is, that it had a strict "no paparazzi" rule; it was ticked off when I was taking pictures!

At First I Saw These Guys and Was Confused, Then I Saw Their Leader...

First off: this week's blog entries (or lack thereof!) are brought to you by the Letter E.

E is for exams. I am finishing degree #3 THIS WEEK. Yee-haw. I will soon have my life back and will be able to read for fun and volunteer again after a year of devoting a large amount of my free time to studying.

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Anyway, on to the blog entry that the title references (which is modeled on those ridiculous titles of viral cat videos like, "I Thought This Video Was Going to Be Dumb But I Clicked on It Anyway Because I Was Conned by a Stupid Title Like This Yet Again" -- what IS it with those titles? I get suckered into them every time even though I think they're ridiculous).

When we were in Amsterdam, we ran into tons and tons of stag and hen parties. I saw a bunch of guys sitting around Dam Square wearing gnome hats and drinking beer. I love gnomes so I thought it was interesting, but I wasn't sure exactly what the hats had to do with anything.

Okay, later picture when they put on their beards, too. You get the drift.

About 10 minutes later, their friend dragged the groom back to the group and all was illuminated. We had a good laugh at the concept (but not at the rough shape the groom was in).

Poor Snow White seemed to be struggling.

The apples were a nice touch.

Biking hardcore in Amsterdam

In Amsterdam, bikes are all over. They're parked out in front of shops, they're being ridden all over, and they're even in the canals (oops). There are kids, adults, adults with kids, adults with adults, and even people with dogs on bikes.

We saw many interesting combinations, including the mother and son below. He was standing up behind her on the bike. I just about had a heart attack for him, considering that he wasn't wearing a helmet. Heck, I only saw a few people wearing helmets the whole weekend. It must not be an Amsterdam-ish thing to do.

I used to avoid wearing a helmet while bicycling myself. I'd never ride my horses without a helmet, but biking I would leave it off. However, I recently saw a guy catapult himself head over his handlebars and under his bike right in front of my face when he tried to brake too hard, and I now wear my helmet.

The anger & frustration of the suburban trains to Amsterdam

[Here's a website with some good information about the issue I'm writing about below. I had done some quick research into public transport before my trip, but apparently not enough and I wish I had read this first! Keep in mind that this article is about using the trains outside of Amsterdam. At the Centraal Station in Amsterdam, we had no problems buying tickets for transport within the city at kiosks where we could use our credit cards or pay with bills.]

During our trip to Amsterdam, there was one absolutely aggravating issue: using the suburban trains to get into the city center. We stayed in Weesp, a suburb that was a short 17 minute train ride to the center. The town itself was adorable and our accommodations pretty much perfect. However, getting to Amsterdam put us into a rage.

Why is that? I've traveled plenty of other places and have never had such an issue. I've even been to Amsterdam before, in 2008 and had no problems then. This time, though, it was a frustrating experience (I'm getting grumpy all over again, just writing about it!).

It was awful because of the system for buying tickets. Imagine this: we've finally arrived to Weesp and have to pick up a friend at the Centraal station in Amsterdam. We are equipped with cash in the form of bills as well as our giro chip credit cards that work in Germany (but are from an American bank - with the chip, that's all that matters, at least in Germany). It's 11 p.m. but this shouldn't be a problem because of our cards and the cash, right?

Oh no, my friend, it was a major problem. Here's why: the train ticket machines would not accept bills! There were no change machines around. Okay, so then we tried our credit cards with the chip. We were denied; the machine only took Dutch PIN/Maestro/V-Pay. Cruuuuuud! It was also 11 at night and it's a suburb. What would be open to get change? Well, we lucked out: there was a small bike kiosk and the guy was kind enough to give us change. If it weren't open, we would have been hosed.

So, we get the change and try to buy a ticket. The whole thing was confusing; it appeared that we had to buy some sort of card for 7,50 euros. Ah, that seemed reasonable! My friend chose that option, thinking it was a travel card for the duration. It then told her that she had to put in 20 more euros. What the heck!? At that point, we were going to run late so she just put in the total amount, in change only. She wasn't happy about having to shove almost 30 euros' worth of coins into the machine, and I don't blame her at all.

We later found out how this worked (and it's still crummy, in my opinion): the card she got is called the OV-chipkaart. It's possible to either have an anonymous one (like what my friend bought) or one can buy a personal one with the owner's photo and lost card protection. The latter option is more likely for Dutch residents. The card itself is a non-refundable 7,50 euros and there must be an additional 20 euros of credit on it. If my friend wanted to turn in the card and get the remaining credit (less than 30 euros) off it, she would have been charged 2,50 euros for the "privilege." Oh, and if you don't have a Dutch bank card, you better as heck have a boat load of change to buy the dang card at the machine.

The other option we later found was the single-use cards, which were more reasonable. For 3,20 euros, I bought a one-way ticket from Weesp to Amsterdam Centraal. At the time, I had a printed ticket. I later found out that a few days after our trip ended, the system was changing over to single-use OV chip cards (enmalige chipkaart) and that there would be a 1 euro surcharge on each single-use card purchased.

The whole thing was entirely frustrating and the system is not at all friendly to people who are not going to be using transport very often (i.e. the hordes of visitors to Amsterdam). I think that the worst thing is the payment situation; the machines won't take most credit or debit cards and there are no change machines. If the train office or stores aren't open, how is one to get change to buy tickets? Many of the stores around the trains aren't always amenable to giving change, either; on our second day, we went to the convenience store in the train station in Weesp and they refused to give us our change from our purchase back all in coins. I understand that they need the change too, so it's extremely frustrating to have to scramble for coins to pay for train tickets.

The Netherlands are otherwise pretty cool, but buying train tickets outside of Amsterdam is an exercise in frustration.

Restaurant Review: Eat Mode, Amsterdam

Eat Mode Pan-Asian Restaurant
 Zeedijk 105 - 107
1012 AV  Amsterdam
T: +31 20 3300806

Opening hours: 12:00 - 23:00hrs
Free wireless internet for customers

When we first ventured forth into Amsterdam, our initial stop was in Chinatown to find a bite to eat before continuing our adventures. My travel mates C. and J. were enthralled by Eat Mode and their hamburger with buns made of fried ramen noodles so we stopped in.

Both ladies ordered the burgers. I order the udon noodles with stir-fried udon noodles. My dish was quite large and filling for less than 8 euros. It was fresh and tasted good, topped in dried seaweed strips.

Both of my friends were pleased with their hamburgers, which were about 9 euros with a side of sweet potato fries, dipping sauces, and a small side of salad for garnish. C. said that the hamburger tasted fresh and like a decent cut. They both liked the fried ramen noodles that served as the buns and said it tasted like typical ramen. The sweet potato fries were great; they were very fresh tasting and fried up to perfection (I tried one :). J. also enjoyed a melon-orange juice and liked its fresh, intense taste.

The restaurant offers a little bit of everything: Chinese, Thai and Japanese food; hamburgers, pho, and more. I'd say that it's a jack of all trades and master of none, but the food is decent enough and reasonably priced despite the restaurant's tourist-heavy location.

Back from Amsterdam

For the 4th of July, some friends and I took a trip to Amsterdam for the weekend and rented a house in the suburbs. My brain turned into German mode (yay!) since all four of us speak German in some capacity (I'm the weakest link) in our international group of two Americans, a German, and a Dutch guy. I think we confused some other train passengers as we talked in a mix of German and English but it was a great way to work on my language skills. If I did this all the time, I'd be significantly more fluent. It's just funny that a trip to the Netherlands yields more German speaking.

Anyway, more posts about the trip will follow of course, when I have time. Until then, here's a short story of something that happened to me on the Amsterdam tram: I was in a tram seat and there was a handle on the wall between my seat and the passenger seat facing mine. There were also straps to hold above. As some other passengers were boarding the tram, a gentleman faced me, grabbed the handle on the wall and held the back of my seat, basically "straddling" me! He wasn't touching me, but it was extremely awkward, for sure. I thought that maybe he was doing it just as people were boarding to give them room but as the tram started, he was still there and I couldn't take it any more. I said, "excuse me, but could you please give me some  room?" and he complied, standing closer to his family and holding a strap from the ceiling. I don't think it ever occurred to him that doing such a thing would make someone uncomfortable!

Let op! Indeed

Since our Dutch friend visited, I'm feeling very Dutch. Well, I am Dutch in my mishmash of American heritage; in fact, my grandparents were from the Old Country.

In the spirit of all things Dutch and wonderful, I bring you this picture from Eindhoven as I drink some lekker Dutch hot chocolate my friend brought for me:

Caution (or "attention;" I don't know the subtleties of the Dutch language)!! Not for cyclists.

C was with me on this trip to Einhoven. We really liked "let op!" because it felt like we were yelling at each to "let up," which would make sense in English when telling someone to stop doing something.

Okay, that's enough Dutch. I now need to switch back to German because very soon it will be final exam time for my current class and I really must study.

Pass auf! Acht auf!   (It's not quite as fun in German)

Seen in Eindhoven, Netherlands

When I was in Eindhoven in the Netherlands, I noticed the logo for Seats and Sofas. The logo includes a sofa with the American flag and the tagline "a giant take-away."

Oh my. Is it giant because everything in the US tends to be bigger, including our sofas and the buns that sit in them?

December's Adventure: Day 6, Valkenburg NL & Brussels

On Thursday morning, we packed up our bags, retrieved my car, and made our way to what I call the "chicken strip" of the Netherlands, a narrow projection of land between Germany and Belgium. Our destination was Valkenburg; we were to visit the Christmas market in the city's caves.

We parked up the hill from the city at the parking lot for the Holland Casino (Cauberg 28, Valkenburg). I think it was about 7 euros to park for the day. The casino is at the top of a very steep hill so it might not be suitable for everyone to walk up and down it to get to town.

We found the Gemeentegrot at the bottom of the hill. It is one of the caves and we bought combo tickets to enter that cave and the second cave, the Fluweelengrot (the Velvet Cave). As we entered, we realized that this is no German Christmas Market. Well, of course, as it was the Netherlands, but...the Christmas markets in the caves were very disappointing. Pretty much everything was cheap quality and most items weren't related to Christmas! I felt as if we had descended into an underground flea market, almost as cheesy as Traders' World is. 

One of the only true Dutch things we saw in the caves was stroopwafel, which are thin, round waffle discs filled with caramel. There was a vendor selling fresh ones so we each had a tasty waffle, hot off the grill.

The other cave, Fluweelengrot, was no better. In fact, it seemed as if most of the vendors were repeated. My cousins said that they were glad to have gone to the beautiful Christmas markets in Germany first; if they had first impressions from the Valkenburg markets, they would have been concerned about the other markets.

I have heard that on the weekends, it's unpleasant in the caves because it gets so crowded that it's hard to move. I have a colleague who said when he was there, police were walking through the crowds, reminding people of pickpockets. I'm glad that it wasn't insanely crowded when we were there because the caves are a little claustrophobic as it is.

Exiting the market, my cousin D said that she had to satisfy a craving she gained from a previous trip to the Netherlands: Dutch soft serve ice cream. She said it is amazing and delicious. I needed no prompting (ice cream is my favorite treat) so we found a snack shop. I was totally amused by the snack shop we visited; it served Asian snacks, Dutch snacks, ice cream, and even döner!

We each had a cone. Oh my goodness, was it ever good! It was so rich and creamy. I don't know what the difference is from regular soft serve; all I can guess is that it has a higher fat content or something. Anyway, I highly suggest getting a vanilla cone for those passing through the Netherlands. 

Walking off the ice cream we ate, we visited more of the town and found very expensive restaurants. After a disappointing and salty dinner of ravioli, I suggested we pack up and make our way to our next destination: Brussels. 

On the way out, we reflected on our visit to Valkenburg. The Christmas markets in the caves are not recommended at all. However, if one were passing through the area, she might want to consider visiting the caves during their regular opening season. There are tours through them, either by foot or by train. The caves were mined by Romans looking for building materials and there is interesting artwork inside.

 This snowman is so embarrassed by the cheap junk for sale in the caves that he's trying to hitchhike out.

Entrance to the  Gemeentegrot.

 This was one of the few booths that had Christmas stuff, and even then, it was cheap Walmart-style stuff.

 It's 007 Santa!

 Somewhat creepy artwork, yes?

 I didn't understand this one. I don't really care if Santa Claus likes hot showers!

Eindhoven, Netherlands trip: GLOW festival

This past weekend, my friend and I visited the Eindhoven and the GLOW festival. We met up with a group and spent lots and lots of time walking (my feet are still grumpy about that).

We drove up and it took about 3.5 hours. I would have preferred to take the train but with connections it was at least double to triple the driving time so we just drove. Our hotel was outside of the downtown area and parking was convenient and free.

After dropping off the car we walked to meet up with the group in front of Sint-Catharinakerk, or Saint Catherine's Church, a neo-Gothic Catholic church completed in 1867. Our tour leader showed us some windows in the sidewalk in front of the church. Underneath were some bones! Apparently they were found during excavations. Or at least, some bones were found. We were told that the bones on display are not real; the originals are being studied throughout Europe because of the supposed immunity of medieval Eindhovians from the Black Death (plague).

As we continued to tour the city, it was striking how much the Philips company (which has made everything from lightbulbs to medical equipment to widescreen tvs) has shaped the city. Originally, there were a bunch of small separate towns clustered around the original city. In part through the efforts of Philips, these towns were combined into a larger Eindhoven. Many neighborhoods were built by Philips for its workers. It's hard to find something in the city that Philips hasn't influenced, either from its original construction or through its sponsorship, such as the Philips Stadium.

Along the way I saw a cafe that I dubbed the crazy cat lady cafe. I'm not sure what's with all the cats but I don't think it's sponsored by Philips.

We stopped for a break at Brownies & Downies. I read on their website that the founder worked with people with Down's Syndrome and wanted to create a cafe that would help them with job skills through training. I think that to someone from the US, the name combination for a cafe is a bit unusual. I am not sure how it is perceived by the Dutch. Anyway, I just had a mineral water so I can't personally comment on the food, but my friend had a cheese sandwich with greens and said it was one of the best sandwiches she has ever eaten. She also ordered mint tea and was pleased to see that it was made with actual fresh mint leaves. The cafe itself is cozy with white walls and blonde furniture and wooden floors.

Following the cafe stop, we walked through the main shopping area. It was a strange mix of building styles, to the weird white geodesic ones...

...and the De Bijenkorf, built in 1969. The funny thing about this one is that it was meant to look as if it had four floors. However, the top floor is empty. It's actually possible to see through the windows and see open space. I like the strange emerald color of the building.

The next stop was the Effenaar, a music venue. The new version, built in 2005, is on the left. The club originally started with squatters in the former Van den Briel & Verster linen factory, the remains of which is the single brick wall. The squatters arranged live music and eventually formed made the building into a music venue.

Our group got creative at our next stop: the Berenkuil. This is an area where graffiti is welcome and encouraged. We broke out the spray paint and created a huge mural. Here is the small contribution from P, C, and me:

None of us are that artistic. Our creation is LBC: Lion Cat Bear with the double rainbow mane. 

After our artistic endeavors, the group split for dinner. I was hoping to eat Indonesian food as it's hard to find where we live in Germany. Those hopes were dashed as we walked quite a bit out of our way and instead ate somewhat disappointing takeaway falafel as we rested our tired and sore legs.

Look at these crazy vending machines we found! Ok, the pictures aren't good quality, but it's possible to buy a range of creeeepy fried food, mostly meats, from a vending machine. Many items seemed to be tube-shaped fried meat. Delicious...or maybe not.

Later, we enjoyed the light displays for the GLOW festival. More about that will follow...

The international potted plant incident

I may or may not have been involved in an international incident involving a potted plant* and a Dutch hotel. If I had been involved, it would have been purely accidental.

This alleged incident may or may not have involved accidentally knocking down the poorly placed plant in the lightweight, inappropriate, and dangerous plastic pot when trying to access the hotel. The incident might have also involved much horribly embarrassed giggling and desperate attempts to right the plant and to scoop up all of the potting material, all the time mindful of the incriminating security camera.

Things may or may not have been worsened when the perpetrators returned to the scene later to find a group of men in work pants standing around and talking in the hallway. An additional man was wearing lederhosen (shorts), which was extremely odd since it was not in Germany. The alleged perpetrators may have burst into uncontrolled laughter that might have made the men self-conscious even though the laughter was about the plant and the small amount of potting material left next to the plant and not about the men.

All of this may or may not have happened.

And then I may or may not have dreamed that night that I was in class and there was a pile of potting material under the desk. It may or may not have been the result of a guilty conscience.

*and by plant, I mean a houseplant that is legal in all countries, just to be clear.