delft: old netherlands charm

Delft is one of my favorite towns of the Netherlands. I imagine it to be what Netherlands was like 100 to 200 years back. It think it small and quaint and neighborly compared to the Hague. The two times I went there, I always have this light, airy feeling in me. I could not help but love it, even if it is just the town center that I always visit.

It is known for its pottery, inspired by Chinese ceramics. With Holland's intricate canal system, may trade ships would often pass by the country and thus leaving a lot of different world traditions in its doorstep.

My first trip to Delft was with the Pinoy mafia with an almost complete attendance. It was a lazy Thursday afternoon, with every one having some free time on their hands. And oh, we had a free tram ride ticket from the ISS too! We figured, if we were to use our tram tickets, might as well use it for the farthest it can go which was Delft.

So our little sojourn to Delft began!

We we went down near the technical university and right where the open market stalls were. It looked much nicer and merrier than The Hague's own open market. We could not help but be lured by the beautiful colors of fruit and flowers, clothes and chocolates. With our 30 minute market time, there were people with boots, bread and chocolates.

Those strawberries may be small, but they are sweet and succulent. Yum!

Go wild with chocolates! The dark chocolate and the coffee chocolate just bring melt-in-your-mouth goodness. Who cares if they convert to almost Php200.

Just to let people know what Delft is about, an indescribable monument covered with pieced together Delftware ceramics.

Our purpose for this trip was to see Oude Delft or Old Delft. While Ikea was probably a few stops away, we were still new, was in occasional state of giggly disbelief that home was halfway across the globe and wanted to absorb as much of Europe's charm as we can, so our stop had to be old part of town.

The Nieuwe Kerk or New Church was where the House of Oranje-Nassau was buried after the Spaniards captured the original Royal burial grounds in Breda. Prince Wilhelm and Queen Wilhelmina, along with other Dutch royalty, were buried in its hallowed grounds.

More interesting for us was the 356 steps we had to climb up to have a spectacular view of the city. All of us actually paid three euros to suffer loss of breath and tired legs to go up. Despite that, of course we had to pose for photos and pretend it was a breeze!

With our resident athlete, Risa, going up seemed no bother at all. She was as beautiful as ever.

I would say the three euros were very much worth it after experiencing the magnificent view from above.

After we got down, we just had to take a breather and prayed we did not leave anything valuable in the tower because we're not sure if we would go through all the trouble for it. :P

We also went to the Oude Kerk where the reknowned painter of the "Girl with the Pearl Earring," Johannes Vermeer was buried. Delft was his hometown, and like most famous painters, his genius was hardly recognized by his fellows when he was still alive. ("The girl with the pearl earring" can be found in Mauritshuis in the Hague. His other works can be seen in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.)

Farther down town, we found a section where they sold many kinds of flowers. It was just splendid to see all those potted plants in different hues of the rainbow scattered all over the street making the place more vibrant and romantic.

We stopped for coffee at one of the Lonely Planet's guidebook to Netherlands recommendations, Kleywegs' Stads Koffyhuis. It was known for its pannenkoeken or pancakes and its famous Delft Leaning Cup coffee. The drink contained coffee, chocolate, milk foam and cinnamon placed in a leaning cup, much like the Oude Kerk's tower. I got that one and the group shared a couple of pancakes. We wanted the full Kleyweg's experience for less the cost. :P

It was after five when we finished our coffee break. We saw a boat tour and wanted to try paddling through the canal. Rino and Chris successfully talked the person in charge to give us a discount. Since the paddle boat has to be returned by six pm (which was less than an hour's rent), he gave us a few euros discount to use it.

So we paddled nicely along the canals and through the tunnels. It was definitely not easy and getting the paddle boats back before 6 pm was a challenge but we made it!

It was several months before I got back to Delft, but it was as pleasant because I shared the wonderful Delft experience with the hubby that time. :)

All in all, I would find pleasure in going back to Delft again. Maybe to visit Ikea this time and finally get to experience their Swedish meatballs and cheesecake again. But immersing myself in Old Europe through Delft was such a wonderful experience, there is nothing I can say about Delft but magical. :)

Fat Kee: All rice!

For Asia, rice is staple. A meal is hardly complete without it. You can even say that rice is probably the tie that binds Asia, not ethnicity nor culture.

So when you are in a continent where rice is just for certain occasions, a satisfactory meal is often made in your own kitchen. But of course, there are days when you just want to have a good meal prepared by someone else for you. So what would be a place with rice, cheap and easy enough to find? Why a Chinese restaurant, of course!

For the Pinoy mafia in the Hague, there is no other Chinese restaurant but FAT KEE! Sure, we tried a couple of other Chinese restos at times (forced by the fact that Fat Kee was full), but it could not compare to the satisfaction of a Fat Kee meal. Ah... my mouth is watering at the mere thought of it.

Mixed vegetables with cuttlefish. Our compromise meal with B, who did not eat meat.

Fat Kee was the mafia's go-to dining place. We went there when exams finished or when essays were submitted or when we had a guest or when we were just hungry and were too lazy to cook. It came to a point when we were there every couple of weeks, whether complete or partial attendance.

The crowd favorite, roast suckling pig!

We ate there too often that we even know the numbers of our orders already. Now I forget everything except 133 for the roast suckling pig, which was standard fare. Knowing the numbers of our orders became essential because our Tagalog-Bisaya-English-Ilocano are pretty useless in a place that speaks Chinese and Dutch.

Our other usual orders would be roast duck, salt and pepper chicken, steamed fish and mixed vegetables with cuttlefish. I'm sure there are several others we would try, but those listed are just too yummy to forget. Of course, we cap the msg/salt-laden meal with Coca-Cola.

The Pinoy mafia's last meal together for 2008 before every one parted for their Christmas vacation. No food was wasted in this photo shoot.

It was like ritual that after bombarding the waiter/waitress with our order and the food would arrive, one would exclaim... "ang dami naman!" "It's too much!" Yet every time, the plates would be clean of food, maybe a bit of sauce or stray vegetable left behind, but generally wiped out. We may be little people (well except for C and B) but our stomachs are as big as our hearts. :P

We would leave Fat Kee with stomachs happily satisfied by a pleasant meal but what truly spices the food up would be the stories, the laughter and even the bickering that occur on the table. While most other people would quietly enjoy their meal, our big round table would be filled with boisterous laughter, loud voices and crazy banter.

Ah, dear Fat Kee... you always do rice to the occasion. :)

photos c/o Maricar