When the lowland, the christmas market and sugar waffle were on the agenda ..

Lowland, Den Haag,

Been trying to round up my squad for ages... and I finally cracked the code! The magic word is... Indonesian food! And I’m talking authentic stuff, not that Chinese takeaway or whatever the Dutch folks call ‘food’... nah, nope, nah, we ain’t eating that garbage! Let’s get the real deal, fam!

his girl woke up at 4 AM, caught the 5 AM bus from Ireland, and made it just in time for her 11 o’clock flight to the Lowlands. Then she bravely hopped on a one-hour train from the airport to Den Haag—all for food, and of course, to hang out with us! Dedication level: 100

Pic alert: It's called Otak Otak—a grilled fish cake made from ground minced fish, tapioca starch, and spices... Honestly, you are SO welcome to wake me up at 2 AM for this little treat. Can't get enough of this goodness!"

Pic, Tahu petis , fried tofu with spicy shrimp sauce , you eat them with block rice ( lontong)

Pic time: Mie Ayam—seasoned yellow wheat noodles topped with diced chicken and veggies. You can eat it with soup or without, but this one tastes AMAZING with freshly made noodles from scratch. Absolute comfort in a bowl

Pic, Here we go with Empek-Empek Kapal Selam and Es Campur! The Empek-Empek is a savory delicacy made of fish and tapioca, served with a rich sweet and sour sauce called kuah cuko (vinegar sauce). Sometimes, locals add yellow noodles and diced cucumber to balance out the tanginess. And then there’s Es Campur—a sweet, refreshing bowl filled with coconut meat and milk, rose syrup, jackfruit, fermented cassava, and a little bit of durian magic! A perfect combo of savory and sweet!"

Pic, fried pangsit , like crispy chips , you eat them with mie ayam .

Pic, Palace Noordeinde, this Palace used as our King Willem A office , he used to live next door.

Pic:Above and below: Het Binnenhof—a beautiful complex where the magic of Dutch politics happens! 🇳🇱 It’s home to both houses of the State General of the Netherlands, the Ministry of General Affairs, and the office of the Prime Minister. A place where all the important decisions go down.

Pic: The Prime minister office, we called it cornee office .

Pic, Maurits house, is the Royal museum, housing paintings and royal arts.

After our late-night sightseeing in Den Haag, where the seat of the Dutch government and the International Court of Justice are located (one of the most important courts in the world, no biggie ), we hopped on the train back to Eindhoven. My overly tired friend is crashing at mine this weekend, of course! And, naturally, I had to take her to see our famous UFO—told her the aliens left it here to spice up our otherwise boring town!

I can‘t help myself to try this IPA but as the man behind this MAGA statement , this beer taste like horse pis.

"What do you do on a sunny Sunday arvo? Well, you head to the Christmas market in the cute little town of Valkenburg (check out my older blog for the deets ). My friend had the best time meeting the sweet St. Nicholas, aka Sinterklaas, and his helper Black Piet. But, it was a bit weird seeing Sinterklaas and Santa Claus together... like, come on, Santa, you’re jumping the gun! You should wait until Sinterklaas heads home on December 6th

Tried the mulled wine on this freezing cold eve.

I never tired to visit this beautiful gate .

Valkenburg Entrance , really fairy taleish

Santa tried to steal Sinterklaas fame , not cool Santa ! So not cool .

After a good dinner we went home and resting , we have been coughing the whole night and really need a good night sleep.

But before we hit the hay, we decided to try out this awesome app called TooGoodToGo for a cheap dinner—just €4.99! It’s such a cool app; it lets you grab food from restaurants, supermarkets, and bakeries that would otherwise be thrown out at closing time, all for under €5. You just show up about 10 minutes before closing, and boom—you get whatever’s left! It was my first time using it, and to be honest, I felt a bit embarrassed at first. But when I saw tons of other people doing it, and how grateful the owner was, I could go home and enjoy my meal in peace.

Het Grote Mark Square , i love to come here for a bite and drinks.

I love this alley , so colourfull.

You know its nearly christmas when the nutcrakkers displayed to attract touristt 🤣

Finally, the day ended with my friend and I going our separate ways—she headed off to catch her flight to Brussels Airport, and I took my bus back to Eindhoven. It’s been another wonderful weekend, my friends. See you both in Lisbon!

Den Haag, Eindhoven, Valkenburg, and Antwerp , Nov, 23rd to 25th.