Holland trip- Day 3

On our third day trip, we met up with Sjoerd’s parents who were happily brought us around. They were the most friendly and welcoming couple ever! After much discussion on trying to figure out what we wanted to do, we just ended up deciding to go to Kats, the rose garden as a replacement for the tulips that we missed out, Zierikzee and The Mill.

Upon arrival, we were treated with delicious apple strudel and a nice cup of hot coffee.

I even took a pic of their lovely home #^.^# 

As an avid fridge magnets collector, each of the family members has been collecting fridge magnets from different countries for years.

Posing with the couple at the entrance of Kats rose garden.

We were amazed with the large varied of roses in the garden O.o

More roses.

When nature meets art.

The artworks on display belong to the students whom compete for the modern art competition.

I just don't get Modern Art in the garden.

We knew time was short, so we set off for the famous bridge and tower scenery of Zierikzee.

 Closer view of the bridge.

Then we went on a walking tour of the town, through some quaint streets.

We drove past the storm control system, which is similar to hydraulic system. According to Peter, this system was part of a project which developed after a devastating flood in the 50’s and it took 20 years to complete in the 70’s. It is amazing to see the amount of engineering and hydraulics to ensure that the sea stays at bay.

We then went across the town and I took photos of a windmill and a mini playground at The Mill.

We eventually settled down for some tea breaks and further chit- chatting. 

Photo from top left to bottom right (Hot Choco + Cookie), Poffertjes (small, fluffy pancakes), Hot Mint Tea and Waffle. Apparently, hot mint tea is quite popular in Holland. It's usually served in a big glass, piping hot water with fresh mint leaves …I ordered waffle with loads of strawberries. Best waffle ever!

After the wonderful snacks, Peter took us on a walking tour on the beach before sent us off to the railway station. We were really thankful to Peter and Loor for taking care of us! We enjoyed our short visit so much, hopefully, they can come to Malaysia next year where we will be more than happy to bring them around  ^^

P.s: Tomorrow we are off to Rotterdam where we spent the day sight-seeing  

XOXO

sasycat

Holland trip- Day 2

On Day 2, we were left with a full five days to explore by ourselves because D was working on weekdays. Our starting point on the next day was Maastricht, one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands.

The Buffet Breakfast at the Hampshire hotel was good. I love the Croissant and milky yogurt.

Picture at the train station #^_^#

Cam-Whore on the train ^^

Welcome to Maastricht ^.^v

We immediately see beautiful flowers. And many old buildings along our way.

Views and Scenery of the beautiful Maastricht. All the pies looked good *yummyyyy*

Our first stop was a VVV, a tourist information office. It had everything from gifts and souveniers. To our surprise, they charged Euro 1.60 for a city center map. Ohwell, nothing comes free after all~

The ever ubiquitous “Golden Arches” with blend in old buildings design. I enjoyed watching the many street performers. One of the youngest team performance, i think. 

I love all of the old buildings. ( ^_^ ) All set up for the world- renowned violinist's Andre Rieu Maastricht 2013 Concert  (❁´◡`❁)*✲ﾟ*

Walking around town looking at the big churches ^^

Church Interior- dark and a little spooky, in my opinion. 

Best ice- cream in Maastricht ^^ 

They have about 20 flavours of ice-cream to choose from. But what is really impressive is their chocolate assortment.

My pick? Strawberry cheese and vanilla flavor. My all time favourite ^^

From the old buildings to the churches, we came across a serene park on our way to Basilica of Our Lady church.

Meet Marley (or similar name), the 60 year-old dog… We were taken aback when the owner told us that he’s 60 years old but knowing the fact that one dog year equals seven human years or more…It’s more believable~ According to the owner, he’s now deaf due to his age and it’s normal for dogs at his age to have hearing difficulties~

We hopped on a bus that took us around the outskirts of the city.

We were kind of hurried back on board for our next train because we were starving by the time around 5pm although we didn’t see enough of Maastricht. We missed the Maastricht caves and canal cruise. Ohwell, we will definitely coming back to visit this city if we were given a chance to visit the country again!

XOXO

sassycat

Holland trip- Day 1

I went to The Netherlands last weekend and it was such a pleasant surprise. It was a last minute decision and I’ve always wanted to follow D who has been there on a work trip. It marked my first ever trip to Dubai (transit via Dubai), as my first flight on a Boeing 777, also my first experience with Emirates Airline. 

The food was nice Xxxx I ordered pan-fried chicken with mashed potatoes ^^

After almost 13 hours flight, I met up with D and my mum-in-law at the Eindhoven train station. I took a train from Schiphol to Eindhoven and the train ticket costs EUR19 *faintsss* Before that, a random picture of me in the train #^.^#

We arrived at the hotel which is 10mins walking distance from the train station. Once i unpacked my luggage, we were starving and start hunting for food!!

It was already about 7pm but the sky was still so bright!!

Asian food maybe?

Nah~ In the end, we settled for a Spanish restaurant, Sizzling. One of the specialties here is the presentation of the food on hot iron plates so our dishes were served ‘sizzling’. The servings were so big, I could only eat half.

Since we were so full, we decided to walk around Eindhoven before calling it a day. We were lucky because the weather was great when we were there (18-20 degrees), so it's cool even though it’s summer.

More photos and entries to come! ∩__∩y

XOXO

sassycat

Taiwan trip- Day 6

Today we travelled up north Taiwan. We’ve heard that there are a few places worth visiting in north Taiwan and so, we ventured up to Jiufen- a hill town famous for delicious food, similar to our local Cameron Highlands and Jinguashi – an old gold mining town and hiking trails up to Mount Keelung to view east coast.

Look at the crowd and plenty of food stalls!~

With our pre- planned itinerary, we know how to get there but don't know which place is worth a visit and which place to visit first. In the end, we asked the Tourist centre in Taipei Railway station for the nice place to visit. They are very helpful and told us that we couldn't possibly visit all the places in a day (kiasu us #^.^#) They suggested we visit Yeliou, Jiufen & Jinguashi… Also recommended the bus to take us there and where to wait for the bus…

Try our tastebud on a slice of the 85C Bakery Café cake *yummy*

They are famous for their Sea Salt Coffee but we didn’t manage to try as we were too busy catching up with our delayed bus~

Japanese colonial houses.

We were listening attentively to the speech by the tour guide who brought us to tour around the Japanese-style homes…

The old village, rich in traditional decorative old teahouses... The result is a small culture park that reflects almost completely the old ...

Looking at the condition of their old colonial homes, I feel blissful that we are living in a much better state...

Some of the paintings and artwork we saw in the museum ^^

Had a bowl of ‘taufufa’ before heading our way to Jinguashi mining town~

Gold mining museum park entrance.

We were required to pay 100NT entry fees and wear a safety helmet before letting us into the Museum of Gold (featuring the world's largest gold nugget).

We were also given the opportunity to explore a former mine, which is similar to wax museum where they featured models of miners hard at work or eating lunch, complete with hilarious voice tracks.

We also saw haunting photos of Japanese mine inspections during the occupation *spookyyyy*

After the historical visit, we walked to nearby Japanese Shinto Shrine *holy look*

On our way up to the temple~

Finally, reach the peak after almost half an hour climb *sweats*

Of course the best part was lunch time!! Jiufen old street~

There is a lot of snacking, looking, shopping, and exploring to be done here. The old street is fairly long and narrow, with unique shops and art to be seen everywhere. A casual stroll along the street~

Jiufen springy glass noodle & dough balls（*^＠^*）

My favourite vanilla ice- cream doriyaki *yummmy*

The spectacular Jiufen hillside atmosphere O.o

As usual, some cam whore poses up on the hillside~

After strolling along the street, we were led to an open- air coffee shop on a hill, with a ramshackle wooden kitchen. The place seems to be the most popular in town due to its location.

Camwhore again  (❁´◡`❁)*✲ﾟ*

View at the top, overlooking Mount Keelung.

                                         

There are also plenty of cafes strategically positioned to take advantage of the stunning scenery.

Some retro-Chinese style cafés, tea houses, restaurants etc.

Anyway, Taiwan is absolutely beautiful with picturesque scenery and Taiwanese are generally very friendly people. If the next time I ever go back to Taiwan, I’m definitely going to the outskirts!!

XOXO

sassycat