9/30/2011

What: De taart van m’n tante (hm, The cake from my aunt sounds a bit dull)

Where: Ferdinand Bolstraat 10

Why: the best place for de-li-ci-ous cakes in Amsterdam! **Try the Zweeds Prinssengebak or their Chocolate Slutt Pie**

Happy: Definitely!Their cozy interior, the collection of amazing cakes exposed in their store, and the friendly staff: all the ingredients for a perfect afternoon tea.

Familiar name: The man behind De taart van m’n tante is Siemon de Jong, the confectioner from the tv-program Taarten van Abel.

A long blogpost – The Angry Vs. The Happy list (China Edition)

Since you know how fond I am of my happy lists, I decided I should dedicate one to our trip to China. (Shame on me for not writing anything about that already). Though, China didn’t always made me happy. The first email I sent to my friends and family back home started with the sentence: Do I like China? I find it hard to answer that question with just one answer. So, that’s why this time there’s not only a happy list.. but, also a ‘angry’ list! Let’s kick off with the negative one right ;)

1. Okay, maybe this is a bit more our fault since we totally underestimated this as a potential problem, but: why doesn’t anyone in China speak English? For instance, without the name of your hotel in Chinese for the taxidriver you’re totally lost. Asking for directions, wondering what kind of meat is inside your noodles (bullfrog? Snake?), asking if you’re room is ready.. forget it. *Deep sight*
2. Angry list China Edition  a.k.a. the things in China that I didn’t like
3. Their manners. Spitting, gurgling, farting, burping, sweating, smelling, scratching and any other dirty verbs ending with –ing. Constantly! Everywhere!
4. The way they drive. One hand is either holding a phone or is pressing the horn, the other one is either stirring or using the handbrake (why is that anyway?). They pass fully loaded trucks while we’re approaching a hill or a dangerous bend in the road and I just close my eyes. Seriously, do Chinese people have the infinite life, without us knowing it?
5. I just love my breakfast. And I also really need my breakfast. But nooooo I do not want rice, pork chops, pickled vegetables, smoked fish, seaweed or any other inappropriate food as the first thing I eat in the morning. I’m not totally a culture barbarian, so I tried some dumplings, sushi, sate and even some of their ‘delicious’ hot orange juice. But nope, it’s not my cup of tea.
6. Okay, this may sound really rude and bad, but why are there so many Chinese! And why do they always want to visit the same things at the same time? They clearly don’t mind waiting in long, long, long lines (since they’re obviously used to it), but I don’t! When we’ve visited the Forbidden City, I really wanted to make some pictures of the beautiful temples and squares. Think again, when you take a picture, it’s almost 90% filled with Chinese people and hey isn’t that little dot the top of a temple..  Great photo!

Hmm, I could go one with this list for a little while, but that’s not the right state of mind. So let’s move over to the positive side okay? (I just had my first yoga lesson, so I’m totally into this *homm.. positive thoughts and feelings.. hommm*)

Happy List China Edition  a.k.a. All the things I loved about our trip

1. Without any doubts the number one on my happy list, the moment I caught my breath again after a heavy climb and realized: I’M STANDING ON THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA! The view was so awesome and it was just the two of us (well, at least for a while) standing there, jumping up and down, taking pictures.. Amazing.
2. Going back to Hong-Kong to find out that the sweet and sour pork at Spicy Crab at the Temple Street Night Market was still so good.
3. The hours I spent at the back of our motorcycle, watching hills, dirt road, villages, markets, people, water buffalos and palm trees passing by. With the sun in my face, the wind running through my hair and my arms tightly wrapped around my boyfriend.
4. The Taichi lesson in Yangshuo. Even though it was early in the morning, it was already so warm, we slithered through the room. It was really intense, but it was so much fun. And the way your body feels afterwards, so flexible and relaxed.
5. Sitting underneath a palm tree, drinking milk out of a coconut, listing to the sound of the waves and feeling the hot sand between my toes at Hainan Island.
6. The view from the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai
7. The moment we’ve finally fixed ourselves two train tickets from Beijing to Shanghai (Train? Shanghai? Tickets? Anyone? Help!)
8. The great restaurants we’ve had dinner at. The delicious Thai food in the French Concession, the amazing Indian food at Yangshuo, the tasty (and expensive!) Chinese food at Ghost Street Beijing, the great vegetarian restaurant and hmm.. the Italian restaurant with an actual Italian chef in Sanya.
9. All the times we’ve laughed our asses of because of all the silly things we saw and heard and the wrong English translations (A rape sandwich?).
10. Like I said, our trip trough China wasn’t always that fun. There were many struggles, problems and difficulties. But being together, fixing those problems together and still being able to laugh about it afterwards is what totally made my vacation amazing. Thank you J

M & C = LOVE

Well, this is not really a regular post. This is actually an ode. An ode to one of the best things in the world. Milk and cookies. Cookies and milk. Milk. And cookies. I like both of them separated, but I just looooove them together. That being said, I’m gonna put on my favorite t-shirt and eat some BFF’s.

Such a great discovery

Ten to Three Bakery, Aert van Nesstraat 24, Rotterdam

I seriously wanted to do a little dance of joy when I walked past this store a little while ago. As you may know, I’m a really big cupcake fan, so whenever I find a store filled with these treats my heart will just beat a little faster. And not only did all of their cupcakes looked amazing, their interior is great as well. It’s extremely cozy and cheery and reminded me of a fairy tale. I decided to try one of my all time favorites: a red velvet cupcake. Phenomenal! I must say, I did had a fair share of cupcakes in my life, but this one absolutely belongs in my top 5. And you know what also made me really happy and excited about this place? The way they perfectly gift wrap your cupcake. They put it inside a little box and in a small paper bag, both white-pink stripped. Cute! And you just pay €2,25 for a Classic Cupcake and €2,75 for a Specialty Cupcake, which in my opinion isn’t expensive at all for what you get.

It’s sad (or maybe it’s a good thing, actually) that they only have a store in Rotterdam, since I would be their regular customer. And what about their concept ‘Cocktails & Cupcakes’? For €9,50 you get a cocktail and two mini Classic Cupcakes. Match made in heaven, isn’t it?

I sure can’t wait to go back!

Happy List V

Even though the weather isn’t perfect, there’s still so much to make you happy right? These are my moments..

1. A big pile of fine magazines and travel books (plus a comfy couch and lots of green tea!)
2. Having spaghetti with tomato sauce for lunch ánd dinner
3. My grandparents visiting me in Amsterdam (granddad wore his safari jacket, since Amsterdam is some sort of exciting jungle for them ha-ha)
4. Buying overpriced but totally delicious macarons in Paris
5. Still being absolutely in love
6. The combination of puff pastry, tomato and mozzarella out of the oven..  Need I say more?
7. The thought of our trip to China getting closer and closer (we’re leaving this Monday! Aah!)
8. Spending a couple of days in France, just drinking wine, eating cheese en doing nothing. Perfect!
9. The enormous fireworks next to the Eifel tower on Quatorze Juillet (oh, and the overload of man in uniforms in the streets because of the Défilé)
10. This might get boring, but: eating cupcakes! (hello.. they were pink with colored sprinkles..)

Did I already reached ten? Damn, there are so much more happy moments to share! Well.. next time then. There’s only one I’d still like to highlight, that makes me very very happy:

* My debut as an editor at P.C. Hoofstraat.nl! *

Hole in the wall

I recently read about this art project in Paris by Juliana Santacruz Herrera. And I think it’s great! She fills holes and cracks in the pavement with brightly colored knitted pieces. Sadly I haven’t run into one of these small street art patches yet, but it must be funny to accidentally 

walk over it.

Photos from Flickr

And you know what’s funny, while doing some research on this artist, I found about another artist called Jan Vormann and his ‘Dispatchwork’. This German man travelled through the whole world during 2007 until 2010, visiting cities like New York, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, St Petersburg and Rome. His mission was to rebuild the crumbling walls of monuments and buildings. With Lego. Yes, the toy you (probably) played with as a child. His colorful reparations attract a lot of attention from by passers. For instance, in Berlin, he filled the gun holes in the walls from the Second World War.

I like street art a lot (that is, if you don’t count ugly ‘I was here/kill this/fuck that/love you’- graffiti), mostly because it’s fun to just run into it. When you go to a museum, you expect to see art. When you’re just wandering around in a big city, you don’t.  

Cupcakes in Amsterdam #3

The Darling, Runstraat 4, Amsterdam

Yes, another favorite is born! This boutique located in the Nine Streets in Amsterdam is a little girl’s dream coming to life. The combination of vintage and new items in the shops looked great, but I must admit I had my mind set on just one thing: cupcakes and tea! So we sat down at a cute table upstairs and looked around. Even if you’re sad, down or grumpy, you can’t leave this place without a smile on your face (well.. maybe men can ha-ha). And we order tea and cupcakes, a vanilla- and a rose flavored one to be exactly. Not only did they taste amazing, they looked fabulous as well. The Darling gets her cupcakes from The Queens of Tarts, which have their own atelier in Amsterdam.
Don’t miss this spot when you’re shopping!

Photo: The Queen of Tarts.nl

Photo: Iphone.. Sadly forgot to bring my camera

Photo: The Darling.nl

The perfect giftshop

& Klevering, Haarlemmerstraat 8, Amsterdam

Close to the Central Station and just at the beginning of the atmospheric Haarlemmerstraat, you can find &Klevering, one of my favorite stores to buy gifts.

They sell a wide range of great cookbooks, pretty crockery and cooking utensils, my favorite tea (Mr. Jones), delicious soaps and other body treats from Marseille, really cute gifts for kids. And it’s the perfect place for contemporary design pieces for your interior. You can find all different renowned brands, but they sell their own collection as well. It’s funny, because only after we bought a &Klevering presse-papier in a small boutique in Paris, I found out about their store nearby my home.

There are two more shops located in Amsterdam, one at the Jacob Obrechtstraat 19a and the other on the Staalstraat 11. And they also have a webshop.  See some of my favorites below..