2009 Winter Holiday 5 : Oostende

On the way to Bruges train station, drizzling.

On the night of 16.01.09, we discussed and decided to head to another nearby town/city because we think that we have seen Bruges. So we decided to explore Oostende, a town famous of its beach and harbour. Although in the beginning I was still thinking whether I should linger in Bruges because I still miss the Pasta Presto a lot :P

Oostende Train Station

The next day, we walked to the Bruges Train Station. Never had we knew that it was so far away from our host's house. We walked and walked and to make things worse, it was drizzling. Was it then a good idea to visit Oostende which is only about 10minutes by train on a rainy day? And one thing interesting was that the train tickets will be cheaper on the weekends, especially if you are buying a return train ticket. I don't really remember the exact amount but it was only something like €3.2o during the weekends instead of the original €4.60.

"The waiting fisherman's wives "

The port stretching long across

But with God's grace, it was all sunny at the moment we stepped on the ground of Oostende. And just right in front of the train station was this "The waiting fisherman's wives ". It was said that the women were awaiting their husbands who sailed off to the ocean. Just nearby, yatches were parking and can easily be seen.

St.Petrus and St.Paulus Church

Then we headed straight to the St Petrus and St Paulus Church. Then we headed to the beach. We saw the port stretching long across. That was so beautiful. Lots of people with their fishing rod awaits for the fish to hook on. Weather was so good, wind was rather strong, the breeze forced us to leave the port somewhere like after 30 minutes.

Alive fish, still jumping

Then again, we searched for the Belgian Fries. Yummy!!! One thing was very good about Belgium --- Very very safe. The school children about 10-20 was only guided by one teacher and yet they are allowed to run free around the city. That was amazing to me. I mean in general, in Malaysia, if the same were practised, I believe the policemen would have tonnes of kidnapping cases to solve.

As we stroll along the harbour around 3-4pm, there were a lot of stalls selling seafood. The seafood cocktail is 3€ per plate. And it looks really really attractive. And they also sell bowls of mussel soup, 1.50€. I bought the cocktail and was thinking that after finishing it, I would go for a soup.

The Cocktail I bought, 3€

But YIKES!!! The cocktail was superbly lousy. I should have gone for the soup!!! The whole cocktail thing was very unfresh and tasted like those frozen seafood just rinsed once with hot water. Then after being exposed to the wind, it got so cold and the prawn was hard. Right beneath the seafood, it was like half the plate (or maybe 3 quarters of it) was filled with shredded carrots. I felt so cheated by it!!! Especially when it wasn't tasty as it seemed to be. And after the cocktail, I lost all my appetite for the soup whch I still think would be thousand times better than the cocktail.

On the way to Municipal Park

After the yucky seafood meal, we went loafing around and visited the Municipal Park and then we headed back to Bruges. Oostende is a beatiful small small town. But it doesn't really have much to offer unless you are of a beach-lover.

2009 Winter Holiday 4 : Bruges

Where I can still see green during the winter in Bruges
The place where you can get Bruges transport map for free, travellers' map 0.50€

Soewhere near Kruispoort ( Not only Netherland has windmills :P )

Bruges, or Brugge, whichever you like is the next destination, 15-18th January 2009. We took the rails as usual, somewhere about 11am, and within 2 hours, we were there. And just a reminder, there is only one rail station in Bruge, unlike Brussels which has Brussels Nord, Brussels bla bla bla...

The details online, of course you can have dozens. One common one is of course the WikiPedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruges

We (as lucky as we had been) have a host there in Bruges. They are a married couple whose husband, Fil, came to the railway station and picked us up. He even cancelled all of his appointments for the day, just to pick us up and walked us to every single street in Bruges. In the evening, he even cooked Spaghetti for us as dinner.

He showed us the narrowest lane in Bruges, Beguinage (Begijnhof---the locals pronounced it as Be-Hey-Nov), bought us coffee, introduced us the local cuisine etc etc, and also the unbelievable cheapest spaghetti that I have known in EU countries --- 3€ per BIG plate.

Belgian endive / Chicory

I still remember a vegetable/herb that he told us about --- Belgian endive. The locals called it Chicory. They normally use it to make a salad. Chicory looks very similar to the Chinese cabbage, but is much smaller and slightly harder, even in texture, and perhaps not as leafy as it seems. For me, it has a little bit of bitterness, very very mild though.

A type of Flemish Dish

The 3€ spaghetti is very cheap and very big portion. And the place (Brasserie Medard) is fully booked especially during the lunch break. The plate of spaghetti ,I think for an average eater, can be shared among 2 person, or maybe 3. You can't believe it when you eat it. They have 2 varieties, vegetarian and meat spaghetti. But the owner doesn't allow sharing, meaning you can't order one plate when there is 2 person. And NO take aways. But I think that will be a waste of food, because we seriously couldn't finish it.

Extraordinarily big portion and cheap spaghetti

But just right opposite the 3€ spaghetti shop, is another Pasta Presto shop that is also very cheap, and the portion is just right, 2.95€. Very delicious too. You can choose different types of sauces to be eat with. But with that pasta take away, you are not allowed to eat in. Weird, isn't it? One doesn't allow eating in, and the other no take aways, hmmm...

The yummy yummy pasta, 2.95€

As we walked in Bruges, we accidently found the Chinese Take Away that Fil mentioned, the one that has Babi Panggang. And many of them thought that Babi Panggang (roasted pig) is actually Chinese words. But it is not. Babi panggang is a Chinese dish but this is in Malay language (Babi =pig, Panggang = roast). We initially thought it was a Malaysian Chinese, but she is from Hong Kong.

Saw the Babi Panggang?

The fish market is also one of the attractions. But during the winter, there isn't much stall opened (I remember only seeing 2-3 stalls on 14th January 2009). During the summer, I believe it would be flooded.

The fish market in winter.

The few winter-remaining stalls in fish market

The Beguinage is something like a convent, where the Sisters stay, is very famous. Most of them is in Belgium. One of it is in Bruges, and others can be found in Leuven (Belgium), Gent...

And as usual, Belgium cities each has its own beautiful Town Square. At the side of it is Toyo Ito's (a famous Japanese designer) piece of work --- Toyo Ito Pavillion, that costs 2 million €.

Toyo Ito's Pavillion

Around the Burg Square in Bruges

Town Square

City Hall

There are some other interesting things to do in Bruges. One of it is Canaling, but we didn't manage to as it was winter, and the river is still slightly frozen, and the canaling centres are all closed. And Fil told us, the week before our arrival, the locals can even walked on the frozen water.

See the ice on the water?

The bicycle is a common way of transport

It is also a good place if you like to cycle around and enjoy the fresh breeze of Bruges. Bicycle renting is a very common activity for the tourist. However, weather that day didn't look nice for us to travel *sigh*.

There is also the shopping streets in Bruges, one of the main ones is Mariastraat. Shops in Belgium in general close early (very early, I think), most of them closed at 6pm. I wonder when they close in the summer. From my point of view, it's not very convenient, especially for people who work and tourists. And after my sight-seeing in Bruges that ended up somewhere in the 5-6pm, I didn't manage to shop. But glad that I grabbed myself a dress just before my lunch, and that's the only shopping I did in the whole trip of Belgium.

For chocolate lovers, Belgium has the famous Belgian chocolates. From the famous established chocolate franchises to the local-favourites home-made chocolate shops. And for more, Bruges has 2 chocolate bars to offer (or maybe more, hehe).

Just some information :
Markets
Wednesday (8 a.m.-1 p.m.) on Market square (food)
Saturday (8 a.m.-1 p.m.) on 't Zand square and on Beursplein (food and non food)
Sunday (8 a.m.-1 p.m.) on Ten Briele (food and non food)
Fish market : Tuesday through Saturday, every morning.
Flea market : along Dijver and at Fish market: Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m. (15th March-15th November)

Some websites for planning --- http://realtravel.com/da-1028-belgium_attractions

Bruges is a nice city of travelling.

2009 Winter Holiday 3 : Brussels

EU Headquarters

Yeah, Brussels --- Capital of the European Union! We went there for a day trip. Not too bad. But well, it was our second visit if we consider the day we arrived Brussel Charleroi Airport as the first visit.

The wide sky was clear, no birds singing in the air, but nothing to complain of, as long as it doesn't rain "Belgianly". We first wanted to visit the Mini Europe. But sad to say, the worker told us that it will be closed till 20th March, and even the Brupack was closed. We headed to the Atomium, yet AGAIN, we weren't able to climb to the top, as the gate was closed/locked.

The Atomium

St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral

We first saw the St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral. But I think we were more attracted to the wooden "cow" or "bull", whatever you call it. We headed forward to the Town Square. Looking at the people holding the Belgian Fries, we were getting really hungry. We bought and were given extra sauces! Wow, maybe we are indeed pretty, we have been offered help to take a picture together.

The Town Square is the meeting point, there we met fellow Malaysians students of MMA and had a short nice chat. And we also met with a single traveller from Brazil with whom we helped each other taking photos. What is interesting is that Brussels is a small city where you will kept seeing each other at the main tourist spots especially when during the winter, travellers aren't as packed as it was to be in the summer.

The Guild Houses

The Fellow MMA Malaysian Students wih me

At the Manniken Pis, again we met with the tall Brazillian guy. We were foretold that we will be extremely disappointed when we saw the Manniken Pis, therefore we did not put high hopes in it. But this tall guy was very very very disappointed by it, and before he left, he came up to us and told us, " If you want to see something big, go Brazil!!! Everything in Bazil is BIG!!!" I can't stop laughing silently, the look on his face was so cute! And yeah, I know Brazil have something big. Just look at this Brazillian guy! He indeed is tall; Mannikem Pis is indeed small!

The tall Brazillian guy with Oi Ling in front of the tiny Mannikem Pis

On our way to the Royal Palace, we accidently found what we assumed the Jannikem Pis. Not many know about it. But we were told by a guy in the train. And when we were bck to our Berlaar's host, he told us that there is another "Dog Peeing". Maybe future travellers can try and search for that, hehe.

The assumed Jennikam Pis

Tasty Belgian Waffles

There were several stalls selling the mouth watering Belgian Waffles. By the look itself is tempting. And never forget to ask for the hot one, then you will get the fresh hot waffles.

The next spot --- Royal Palace and at its opposite is the Royal Park which doesn't look a single bit royal during the winter, especially when the sky was rather gloomy.

Royal Park
Royal Palace

What we hadn't do was to visit Brussels during the night (Picture is taken by our host's sister of Wroclaw). And fellow travellers, if you are interested, according to her, there is a red light district there somewhere...

2009 Winter Holiday 2 : Belgium --- Brussel - Leuven - Berlaar

After the long journey for this Wizzair flight, I am finally on the land of Belgium. It's a chilly morning. We bought the tickets for the shuttle bus from the Brussel Charleroi Airport-Brussel Nord, 13Euro single-way/return 22Euro (valid for 3 months, I think). It took about an hour. In Brussel Nord, we bought a GoPass, 46Euro (for youths under 26 years old, and valid for a year). Time-table for the rails can be checked online through http://www.b-rail.be/

Berlaar --- a small town

As previous post had mentioned, I am fortunate to have found hosts in all the cities that I am visiting. The first host is a family of 5, in Berlaar, Antwerp. We have to catch train to Leuven and switch to Berlaar. I was rather excited, or should I say rather nervous. But not as worried, because this family had hosted 2 friends of mine before this, at least I know it is safe. But it's my first time staying in stranger's house, so still I am...

When we just reached the station, a Belgian guy approached and introduced himself. I was initially stunned. But soon, I am back to myself, recalled of his picture that I have seen online. We went to his house. They are a very sweet family. At the same time, there are other 2 surfers like us, a Canadian single mother and her 7-month-old baby girl, Jasmine.

The Welcome note

We were very delighted to see the printed copy of Malaysian flag and our names on it, stating "Selamat Datang Jacklyn Goh and Oi Ling". That was so sweet. It was rather good weather. After resting for a moment, we took a small walk to the centre of Berlaar.

The sky is getting cloudier then. And that was when my newly bought umbrella came in handy, hehe. Belgium has not been snowing for 12 years of winter. But rain is just a very common visitor, even during the summer. We took a long walk down the street. Found GB Carrefour, LiDl, and a few more supermarkets. Berlaar itself is a small town, people there are generally friendly.

Belgium rainy weather

Saint Peter's Church in Berlaar
We then head back and had a nice Belgian dinner with the family. Belgian fries with different sauces (I think I like Cocktail :P), salad, carrot. The 3 kids are amazing. Though we don't understand each other language-wise, we played. Yeah, they speak Flemish. The kids showed me pictures, we danced and played. They are so cute!!!

After the kids were sent off to bed, the parents introduced us to their traditional game --- Sjoelbak. It was an interesting game. I am very happy for having the opportunity to play that, hehe. And I think I scored fairly well :P.

Sjoelbak board game
The next day we headed to Brussels for a daytrip (next post). And then we have to rush back to Berlaar, because we have to cook a dinner for the family with the Canadian mum. We missed the train by just several minutes, and darn! We were late for like 30-40minute from the original plan! Fortunate enough, the eldest son had a game at school, otherwise these early-bed kids would have to be hungry for a while.

We had prepared a vegetarian meat, some Chinese flour frying pieces, rice. Canadian baked some oat cake. It was a nice meal. And that was the first time I was exposed to using the dishwasher.

The stay there was sweet and nice. Experiencing the Belgian life with Belgian family was a whole new something for me.