Watching An Unexpected Journey the second time

My mum is one of the few who haven't watched all The Hobbit films (yet).

So when I came to stay with her, I made sure she had the DVD for An Unexpected Journey (2012) and settled down to watch it with her. We had to split the film into two because of its length, but we finally finished the second leg last night.

And I must say, I liked it better the second time round.

The first time, I had watched it in an amazing cinema hall in 3D HFR (High Frame Rate) on the wishes of R. At the time, I thought, "Wow, cool, new technology, should be fantastic!". And then I saw it, and it looked so strange and "puppet"y. So I was thrown off by the strange look of it and didn't pay much attention to the storyline and script.

Watching it again on DVD (couldn't be poles apart, really, the DVD quality and my mum's speakers are so bad that I had to repeat some lines to her so she would get the story), I could at least enjoy the acting and the story better. And I surely did.

I was so impressed with Gollum, even the first time I saw it in the cinema. Just the way he made you hate him and yet love him at the same time. That is absolutely amazing. Really, kudos to Peter Jackson and the Gollum team.

My favourite line in the film has to be from Gandalf in reply to Galadriel's question, "Why the halfling?":

Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love. Why Bilbo Baggins? I don't know. Perhaps because I am afraid, and he gives me courage.

And in half an hour, you see his "small act of kindness" that eventually saves Middle Earth, although that scene is a lot more powerful when you look at it with hindsight.

Bilbo Baggins also gives me courage. Seeing his innocent and courageous nature pull through no matter what situation makes me realise that you are never too small to handle anything.

I just love how inspirational this story is!

And the music! Really, really good, as usual. I'm so in love with the Misty Mountains song that the dwarves sing in Bilbo's house. And that it was turned into a proper track for the end credits is super sweet. I'm going to have it on repeat for the rest of the week now!

If you have Spotify, treat yourself here: Neil Finn – Song Of The Lonely Mountain

REVIEW: Stroom Rotterdam

Yesterday, March 7, was mine and Rik's third year anniversary. We usually don't celebrate it because we always forget about it until it's past, but somehow we remembered it this year. So we decided to use Rik's Bongo that he got for his birthday, which offered a main dish for free at any of the participating restaurants. There were only 5 in Rotterdam, so we chose Stroom, who said that they were the hippest lifestyle hotel/restaurant in the country.

Well, when I read that description, I was already scoffing, because no one says that about themselves and is actually telling the truth. But, everyone and everything deserves a chance to prove itself.

True enough though, when we pulled up in front of the restaurant, the logo looked like it was made for an electrical appliance shop - so Stroom means electric, and the building is an old electric company or factory, but it doesn't mean that an electrical shop logo will fit a "hip lifestyle restaurant".

Even worse, the interior felt to me like a cafeteria, and not the hip, artistic type cafeteria. It really felt like a cafeteria on the ground floor of an office building, with all the echos and the cheap furnishings. I should add that Rik actually didn't have the same impression at all as I did, so don't take my word on this.


What we did both agree on though, was that the service was pretty much "meh". Sure, the waitress came without having to be called, and she knew what the dishes were like, but there wasn't much friendliness or "hipness" about it. Oh, I should also mention that Stroom says that they are inspired by the Australian social dining experience. Well, I have been to Australia about ten times now, usually to Melbourne and Sydney, and I wasn't reminded of it at all while I was at Stroom.

Anyway, the service wasn't outstanding but it wasn't abysmal. What was really disappointing was the food on offer. Our Bongo said we were entitled to one main dish each. So the waitress told us that it could be either a fish with potatoes, or Chinese chicken. And if we wanted to order something from the menu, it would cost us an additional € 5 per dish. So we looked at the menu to see if there was something more interesting... but there wasn't. In fact, there were only around 5 items of € 25 and 5 of € 15 to choose from. Our Bongo was worth € 17,50 per person, so of course we weren't going to order a € 15 + € 5 (of our own money) dish with it. Effectively, there were only 2 dishes we could choose from for "free" or 5 dishes at € 30. Which is a lot of money for eating in a cafeteria with cheap furnishings.

So I ordered the fish and Rik ordered the Chinese chicken. He asked the waitress if it came with rice; which Chinese dish just comes with meat alone, right? And she said, no it doesn't come with rice, it comes with fries.

Yup, fries.

When the dishes came, they even looked like cafeteria food. I really couldn't believe that a restaurant which charges € 25 for main dishes and € 7 for plain soups could have this standard of food presentation. It looked terribly weird to see pieces of chicken in black sauce and vegetables just sitting smack in the middle of a large plate. Something was missing. Oh yes, the rice.

My fish dish came with potatoes and celery, all chopped up and poured onto my plate like I was eating a children's meal that was already cut up and mixed together by my dad. Did they think that I didn't know how to use a fork and knife? Come on, no self-respecting restaurant serves a meal of fish, potatoes and vegetables all pre-cut into pieces and pre-mixed on the plate.

At least the restaurant was quiet enough to chat and have a nice time dining. If you can ignore the cheap surroundings and the disappointing food (Rik was even still hungry after the meal) that's overpriced, then you may find it alright. But I really would advise against it. If you want similar fusion food with great service and at the same price level, I would recommend Citroen on Kop van Zuid, a small and cosy restaurant with great atmosphere, upbeat waitresses and delicious food.

Pilkington's in Den Bosch

We had a belated Valentine's Day this year. To celebrate, we took a day trip to Den Bosch, one and a half hour's train ride from Rotterdam. I didn't know what to expect at all, so as always, that's the best way to be impressed.

Den Bosch is a very pretty town with a nice town centre with all the shops and cafes clustered in one area. The perfect structure for a tourist.

The most famous landmark in Den Bosch is the St John's Cathedral, the most outstanding Catholic cathedral built in the gothic style in South Holland. It sure didn't disappoint! I snapped many photos with my phone, but unfortunately, after taking a series of action shots of Rik jumping down huge ledges by a piece of water, my phone decided to reset itself once again.

The only photos I have are the ones I sent my mum and sister to make them jealous of us being in Den Bosch, hahaha. Sometimes jealousy is useful! So all I can do now is to write about Pilkington's, the English tearoom (although it calls itself a restaurant) we stumbled upon right next to the cathedral.

Very popular place, so I'd recommend making a reservation. We were lucky that the couple by the window were just leaving when we entered. In fact, that was even the best table in the restaurant. You have a view of the cathedral, and it's much quieter and more spacious than towards the back, where you have a nice view of the garden, but it's much busier and cramped.

My cream tea consisted of two scones and a pot of tea, and cost a reasonable € 6,50. Very pleased with that! I don't think I would've enjoyed it as much if it were more expensive.

If I ever go back to Den Bosch, I'm pretty sure I'd like to go back again :)

PHOTOS: Rotterdamse Museumnacht

I think most of my intelligent readers can pretty much guess that that means: Rotterdam's Museum Night.

Museumnacht is one night a year when participating museums, big and small, organise special exhibitions and shows from 8pm till 2am. People who attend have to buy a 'passe partout', the all-entrance passport, to access all these museums.

This year was my first time to the Museumnacht and I was really excited about it. The passport cost € 14 and there were 50 museums participating. So in 6 hours, I'd better know exactly where I want to go.

I'd heard that a few people weren't happy with the passport this year being a blinking LED button badge because it was so environmentally unfriendly for just one night. Why not just a normal paper ticket? I tell you why. Because Museumnacht is only once a year and it should be SPECIAL. There will always be waste. So why not put this inevitability to some sort of good use? I am really quite an environmentalist for the common person - I recycle all my paper, I make an effort to keep glass aside for the special bins and I turn lights off and don't use water more than I need to. But sometimes, just sometimes, for a special occasion, I think we deserve to enjoy ourselves and splash out on something fancy.

Besides, I think the blinking LED badge helped to lessen queues and bring people together for one night. Biking around the city, seeing people marching along with blinking green lights, was really very cool, like we were all in one gang, with one purpose. And at the museums, all the staff had to do was look for a blinking green light, so we never had to stop and queue up.

Okay, so I'm ranting a lot about this, but it's because I think that sometimes environmentalists ask for a bit too much.

Anyway, the first place we visited was the Arminius, an old church which I believe has been converted into more of an event venue. It still looks like a church though, so I'm not too sure about what I just said. Maybe just forget this whole paragraph.

The entrance to the Arminius. All participating venues had a green light shone on the entrances, which I think was a great nod to the concept.

Outside the Arminius, the Rotterdam Archive Council were serving free 'crisis soup'. They apparently, conveniently, just discovered this recipe in their archives and had made it for participants. I didn't really like it, but I appreciate the gesture. Who would refuse free soup?

Inside the Arminius was an installation about NL waiting for the next king. The country has been ruled by queens for a few generations now, but after the current queen, it will be her son who becomes king. So this couturier guy and another artist/curator woman decided to imagine the water land with a king. At least that's what the booklet says, although I'm not sure I could relate that to the installation. It was very beautiful nevertheless. Anything set in a church is bound to be awe-inspiring, and this didn't fail.

All the headless dolls were a little creepy but very cool.

Next stop was the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen. It's a very famous museum, especially amongst the arty ones. Embarrassingly, I admit that I haven't been to see their exhibitions, but I have indeed been into the lobby, the bookshop, the play area, outside the restoration lab and inside their amazing library. Contrary to how it sounds, it's actually quite a huge area, with some art pieces as well, which made me think I had actually seen everything (what a noob).

I wonder how long she stayed like that.

Schrobbenmaster's idea of taking a photo.

Success!

Then onwards to the NAi, the Nederlands Architectuurinstituut. Or with the same initials in English, the Netherlands Architecture Institute. Bet you guessed that already though.

It was pretty crowded at the bar area where there was really good club music being played by a live DJ. And this really cool thingy in the picture above. It's not obvious here, but it's actually a kind of 3D video projection from the phone. It's like those Sith guys in Star Wars communicating with each other through some projection. It looks really cool.

Some exhibition on Dutch-made inventions.

Some Dutch rubbish bins.

Do you know Bob Ross? Apparently he's very famous here. To me, he is so uncool that he's cool. He's this white guy with a kind of small afro and he had a TV show teaching people how to paint in watercolour. He had such a slow, soothing voice and would describe things so... quaintly. Oh, what the heck, here's a YouTube link.

I digress, but anyway, this photo above is of the Bob Rush masterclass. I'd wanted to join it but this guy was so not Bob Ross. Maybe the clue is in the name?

Then a hop, skip and jump to the Kunsthal, where I'm proud to say I have indeed been before. It's an art museum. There was a band playing there called Roosbeef, who Schrobbenmaster wanted to see. And I do agree, their music was really good. Here's a link and I would recommend you guys click and listen. Such an improvement from the terrible folk music most Dutch people love.

After that, we headed to the Sonneveld House to watch another band. We had to wear plastic covers over our shoes to protect the interior which is from the 1930s.

It wasn't my kind of music and I was kinda bored and wanted to roll my eyes, but if you dig that sort of music, then I think it would have been pretty good. They're called Yes Please.

We decided to head back and stop at a few venues on the way, one of which was Het Schielandshuis, which was showing work clothes and denim, and had a very nice arty market in the attic, except that I didn't want to spend money, and those markets are never really as cheap as you would expect. Very good club music though.

And lastly, we went to Laurenskerk, just across the road from our place, who was exhibiting something about food. Except we were there at 1.30am and there was only this left.

I'm always drawn to rows and columns of books.

Some display on world celebrations. This one here is Chinese New Year.

All in all, it was enjoyable and really nice to be part of a big Rotterdam thing. I think I would definitely go again next year just for the atmosphere and for the chance of discovering something amazing.

Bruxelles 2012 - an extensive review of Max Hotel vs. Chic and Basic

Happy new year boys and girls!

I have been so slack with posting and one of my new year's resolutions is, no, not to blog more regularly, but to only post what JUST happened, meaning I will stop back-blogging from now on. This is to help future me, when looking for old posts on certain dates.

So, my first trip of the year was on the first weekend of the year (pure coincidence), and it was to Brussels with Yelleh Belleh.

Did I mention that she's here for an internship at my office in Amsterdam? Yep.

So we took the train down to Brussels for a very affordable price of € 34,20 each return. And I found a hotel online called Max Hotel, which looked like the Chic and Basic I stayed at in Madrid. I really loved that hotel and was excited to have found a similar offering in Brussels.

Looks like the hotel review will come first. Here goes...

The Max Hotel people call it a new kind of concept of urban hotel for a reasonable price at a great location. This is very true, as it was on a main street parallel to the main shopping street of Brussels, and only a 10-minute walk (if you know your way) to Grand Place, the main square.

Because this hotel concept was so similar to Chic and Basic, I couldn't help constantly comparing the two.

First impressions
When you first enter the premises of Max Hotel, outside the main doors, you're faced with two machines to check in and out. I found this super cool, as all your booking details are in the database and all you have to do is enter your booking number and insert your card for confirmation.

At Chic and Basic, it's just like a normal hotel with a small check-in desk and a friendly Spanish dude to help you out. I think both ways suit me just fine. The human touch is pleasant and welcoming, but the machine method is just super cool. Unless something goes wrong and you're stuck outside the doors till the hotel guy sees you from the CCTV.

The room
At Max Hotel, the room was much larger than Chic and Basic's. It was pretty much like a standard sized hotel room in a standard 3 or 4 star hotel. The bathroom was also very nice and reasonably sized. Chic and Basic's bathroom was nice and modern, but the weird thing was the sink being in the room itself. It looked weird, but it was nice for watching TV while brushing my teeth and washing my face :P

So first impression of the room at Max Hotel was good. Until I discovered there was no safe to keep our passports in. Something which Chic and Basic had. Okay, never mind, not such a huge inconvenience (although I really like having a safe in the room).

We gave our feet a rest (we had only checked in at 3pm, after walking for 4 hours in the city) for about 10 minutes, then freshened up and headed out again.

The amenities
All the amenities in these kinds of hotels are never located in your room. In Chic and Basic, it was in the lobby and in Max Hotel it was on the first floor in a sort of lounge area. The big difference and winning point for Chic and Basic is that they were all free - coffee, tea, chocolate powder, cinnamon powder, all kinds of powder for your drinks, biscuits, cookies, milk, boiling water... in Madrid, I would get ready in the morning (or evening) and head out, picking up a coffee and biscuit for the walk to Baker Jo's hotel up the road. At Max Hotel, you have to pay for everything. I was quite disappointed at this discovery.

Even more disappointing was that they don't provide little shampoo and shower gel bottles to guests. You actually have to buy those two at the vending machine on the first floor for € 1 each. I guess we should just be thankful that bath towels were provided *rolls eyes*. Oh, and there is no free WiFi either. You have to pay for that per 24 or 72 hours to use in your room. For us who were only staying less than a day, and out of the room most of the time, it wasn't worth it.

The night
While we were out, we smelt so many waffles around that we just had to find a good place to have one. Unfortunately, we chose the wrong shop. The waffles were mushy and way too sweet and dripping with too much chocolate sauce. Yelleh Belleh even stained my scarf that she was borrowing, with chocolate sauce :( I hope it comes off.

We'd also decided that we needed to have Belgian chips. So at 7pm, we bought a bag of chips to share. And that was our dinner for the day, as we weren't hungry anymore. Being Malaysian, we were worried that we'd get hungry later on in the hotel, so we thought of getting cup noodles for the room. "But," I wondered aloud, "Does the hotel have boiling water?". We figured that they had to provide hot water to make tea, but in the end, we couldn't find any good cup noodles, so we decided to be strong and go without food (because we didn't want anything else).

The next morning
We had bought a little shampoo bottle from the Max Hotel vending machine because the convenience stores were selling the full-sized bottles for way too much than was appropriate. So all prepared, I stepped into the shower, and got a pleasant surprise in the form of a rain shower. How luxurious!

So, we get a rain shower, but we don't get free shampoo and shower gel. I just find that too strange. Sure, most people don't like hotel shampoos and would rather use their own, but we're talking about a cheap and easy hotel here, where either half-on-a-budget travellers or one-night travellers stay. We people are not super fussy about shampoo, really. I'd rather have free amenities than a rain shower any day.

Okay then, on the other hand, say you are really fussy about your hair and body and don't care about them not providing shampoo and shower gel. I realised, while rubbing the € 1 shampoo into my hair, that the shower area is WAY too small for a rain shower fitting. The rain was just everywhere and was getting into my eyes, and there was nowhere to step away from it, except by going back out of the shower area. I had to switch from rain to normal shower head mode, which was attached to the wall at a lower level. That solved the problem, but it didn't take away the basic inappropriateness of having the rain shower.

In conclusion
It sounds like I have a lot of complaints about the Max Hotel, but in reality, I did like it. My conclusion is that it's convenient and affordable and very comfortable to stay in. I just find that some of the things they did were useless and would have been better replaced by other basic things. I don't need such a big room, or a rain shower. What I need in place of those things is a safe, free amenities and free WiFi. In that department, Chic and Basic really wins top place. I still love it loads and would look for a Chic and Basic wherever I go.

Kuala Lumpur vs Rotterdam

Since I'm leaving KL soon, back to work in NL, I've been thinking of the pros and cons, yet again, of both places. Have they changed from before? Maybe slightly. But it's always good to take stock of your feelings and impressions every once in a while to see how you truly feel about something.

Naturally, the winning statements mean that the other city has an absolute lack of those.


10 wins for Kuala Lumpur

1. My family
2. Malaysian food (my faves: roadside nasi lemak, wan tan mee, chicken rice, Hong Kong dim sum)
3. My dogs
4. Sunny, cheerful weather
5. Huge choice of restaurants and cafes
6. Huge and better choice of clothes and accessories
7. Opening times till 10pm, 7 days a week
8. Lots of product brands to choose from
9. Affordable English fashion and art magazines
10. Very well-designed restaurant and shop interiors

10 wins for Rotterdam

1. Fast internet
2. Online shopping
3. Bicycling
4. Pim
5. Trustworthy police
6. No sweating just from getting out of bed
7. Living in the city centre
8. Earning in euros
9. Shop assistants know their products
10. Everyone is more equal financially and there is less pretentiousness and superficiality

3 votes against Kuala Lumpur

1. Potholes
2. Overpriced items (ie. European prices at Malaysian salaries... wth?!)
3. Traffic jams and aggressive drivers

3 votes against Rotterdam

1. Cold and distant people
2. Super high tax
3. No drop-ins at the clinic when you're sick

Koopavond in Dordrecht / Shopping and tapas dinner in Miró, Dordrecht

I wonder how you pronounce the ó in Miró, Spanish-style?

Last week, I felt the urge to do some shopping, so I asked CaroBrasilia if she wanted to shop on Friday evening, when Rotterdam has its koopavond (evening shopping). She already had a massage booked for that evening (lucky girl!) so she suggested Thursday in Dordrecht instead. She used to live there and knows the place pretty well. As I've never been, I said sure!

Dordrecht is only 20 minutes away by train, so it was easy. Except I boarded a train earlier (the signboard said it also went to Dordrecht) and then got paranoid and spent the whole ride trying to connect to the NS website and then gave up and went back to the NS app to double check the route of this train.

I did end up in Dordrecht safely *phew*, where CaroBrasilia picked me up by car and brought me into the city centre.

After lots of shopping and doing girly things in girly shops I never walked into before because I was always with Schrobbenmaster, it was time to have some nomnom.

Now this is one of the points in the day I hate the most - deciding what to eat! Especially in a strange city. It's not like KL, where there are cafes/restaurants/coffee shops/hawker stalls/mamaks everywhere and where everything is at least decently tasting and affordable. Over here, you have to check the menu if there's something you might like, then check the price range, then walk away and find another place which is more affordable. And if you feel like a certain cuisine, it might take you ages to find it, if you even do find it.

So I was quite relieved when after wandering and stumbling around for 10 minutes, we found a tapas restaurant called Miró, which looked quite artsy and authentic inside, and whose prices were of the normal kind.

I have to say one thing I feel pressured about in this country is that once you sit down, the waiters/waitresses expect you to know what you want to order for drinks. So I end up ordering ice tea or mochaccino (depending where I am), when I sometimes want to check the menu for something interesting (damn I shoulda ordered sangria). On the other hand, when I do pick the menu up and go through it, I realise that the only nice and affordable thing in it is the ice tea anyway.

Okay, so restaurants in NL are not bad when it comes to quality of food, but seriously... the number of choices of food and drink can really be improved.

The restaurant looks pretty unhappening from this angle because of where I was sitting. Behind me the tables were occupied, I swear. And by the time we left after dinner, the bar was filling up. I kind of would like this place to be in Rotterdam. A classier, more relaxed version of a restaurant/bar than I've seen here.

I really like the interior and how they've achieved the concept of portraying Miró's ceramicist/sculptor/painter character. I would really like to have been part of this restaurant's development :) Somehow, Spanish restaurants always seem to retain their warm and authentic character even when they've been clearly designed by designers.

All the service people in Dordrecht seem so nice! They were helpful in the shops, and here, the waitress offered to take a photo of us both when she saw us taking photos of each other.

But I hate how they still cheat you into ordering food that you never ordered. After ordering, they'll go, "And do you want bread with that?", and me, thinking that it's the normal bread they serve before meals, goes "Sure!", and you later find it on your bill, costing the same as the other tapas.

Long live Due Tonino, who serve the MOST AWESOME bread ever FOR FREE.

Schrobbenmaster mentioned later how much I smell of garlic. Hehe.

We ordered gambas (of course!), patatas bravas (of course!), some fish filet (on the right of the photo) and some chicken skewers because we didn't know what to choose for the fourth dish. Or should I say fifth, since the bread was actually (unknowingly) our first dish.

After dinner, CaroBrasilia drove around the old city centre and showed me the most awesome houses with high ceilings and incredibly awesome bookshelves. My iPhone decided to hang on me so I have no pictures, but trust me, Dordrecht is worth a visit at night, since you can look into people's amazing homes and look at the light reflecting on the water, making me feel like I was back in Venice.

I'm hungry now so I'm gonna make myself some early lunch.

REVIEW: Boom Chicago in Amsterdam

Last Wednesday, Schrobbenmaster and I went to watch Boom Chicago in Amsterdam. I had been feeling quite culturally barren since coming here, as musicals and stage shows are all in Dutch and I don't particularly feel like "working" to enjoy a show. So I asked Schrobbenmaster if there was anything at all that I could enjoy in English. He then described Boom Chicago as a show by Americans, basically taking the mickey out of the Dutch.

How could I pass up something like that?!

So we looked online (I love how you can get anything online here) and reserved a Burger Deal (Burger + show) for last Wednesday.

Boom Chicago has a permanent address at the historic Leidsepleintheater in the heart of Amsterdam. After the show, the bars around it were filled with people and lights and tourists, and everything looked really cool. Gotta go back there for some nightlife action soon.

We arrived right on the dot of our reservation at 18:30. Picked up our tickets at the box office and went into the performance/dining area.

All pictures were taken with the iPhone, and we all know it doesn't ever deliver when it's even slightly dark. My fault for not bringing a camera with me. They were also meant to be tweeted, which is why I didn't shoot horizontally.

Anyway, although we pre-ordered and paid for the Burger Deal, drinks are not included, as it always is in this country.

The room/hall is really nice, dark, old and woody. Like those old-time cabaret shows in America that they showed in Funny Girl and the film version of Chicago (never saw it onstage).

I was so friggin hungry, so was absolutely THRILLED to get an American-sized burger and fries (were more like chips but just as awesome). Not as thrilled to get an Amsterdam-sized drink though. Especially as it had to last 4 hours till the end of the show (I'm such a stingypuss, I know). But, seriously, check out the size difference of the plate and the drink!

The show we watched was The Best of Boom Chicago, but... I do have to say I was a little let down by that claim. Most of the show was improv with suggestions from the audience, a la Whose Line Is It Anyway, which is all fine and amusing and all, but whatever happened to the dissing of the Dutch? The few parts that I genuinely giggled and enjoyed myself, I have to admit, were the parts that they did things related to the Dutch. Not necessarily insulting them, but even acting like them, or mocking certain behaviour that outsiders find uniquely peculiar.

On the whole, it was okay to pay €29,95 for the show, it was still enjoyable... but it just wasn't as enjoyable as it should have been.

I think I would actually have enjoyed Upgrade or Die! more, as it would be something else I can relate to quite well, being a semi-nerd myself. Well, something cultural for next month!

Coffee breaks in Rotterdam II

I forgot to post about this place yesterday amidst all the internet going haywire and dying on us in Amsterdam. During the Netherlands match. I suppose you can guess why it died :)

Urban Espresso Bar on Pannekoekstraat (website)

I actually forgot the name of this place, but one thing I love about NL is that you can find anything and everything online, even a small cafe such as this. Well, it's small, but it's trendy. I've even seen people sitting outside in drizzle at this place. Which is ridiculous to me, but I dunno, maybe their showers aren't working.

The name of this street is also really cute, if you haven't noticed it yet from last year's 'Word of the Day's. Pannekoekstraat means Pancake Street. And awesomely, there is a pancake restaurant right on the corner of the street. Never been there though.

Anyway, at this cafe I had a 'Rijk Chocolade Taart', which means Rich Chocolate Cake. Not many places have chocolate cakes, so I jumped on this immediately, of course.

It looks yummy, doesn't it? It was just okay though. I know I've been spoilt by Alexis' awesome awesome oh-so-awesome Chocolate Cinnamon cake, but I can still tell when another chocolate cake is good or not. I would definitely order this again, but only because there's nothing better around.

Schrobbenmaster had an apple tart, which he really enjoyed. Also, he finally got his wish for lemon tea, which isn't to be found in many places here. Apple tart though, you can find absolutely everywhere. I'm not a big fan though, as I find that the apple can be either too sweet or sour sometimes. I'm more a fan of the pastry part of tarts. I love it when bakers get the right texture of pastry. Which is why I'm also quite picky with my egg tarts. But of course, sigh... being here, I have to suck it up and eat whatever quality of egg tarts I can find.

To end, here's a really cute picture of Pim.

Coffee breaks in Rotterdam I

Sometimes eating out is too expensive (and the quality of food not as hoped) but we wanna head out on a nice sunny day. So we go for coffee and cakes. Here are two places - besides Bagels n Beans - that we go to once in a while.

Mockamore on Korte Hoogstraat
Very trendy place, sometimes with queues coming in - doesn't say an awful much about the place though, since as you can see, the door is right next to the ordering counter. The coffee and service is just normal, but prices are pretty steep. One would only go there for the trendiness and cosy look of the place. However, there are loads of cafes that look like this in KL anyway, so, nah, I'm not gonna be hanging out very often here.

Cappuccino on Korte Hoogstraat
I really like the look of this place. It looks posh, and while it could easily go wrong and look more like a wannabe bar, it does succeed very well. Always very packed and it is worth the steeper prices and smaller portions of drinks just because the ambience works.

It's not really this dark in there ;)

Look at my chocolate-flavoured cappuccino!

So nicely presented! The chocolate chunks were tasty too. It's almost like a snack instead of just a drink. I like!

Not very busy at work today, so I'm working on my next post already... photos from a birthday party I attended on, well, the 1st of May.

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Wow, the internet of the whole office just went down, causing my post to be halted on its way to blogger. Thank goodness the whole thing is still here (I think). And that's why I disappeared off MSN for so long, apologies, frachely!

And this whole internet going down thing is due to... the World Cup!!! So many people are watching live streams via internet that it just couldn't take it. Wow. At least it gave us an early day home :D