July trip
2/7 - Bruges-Antwerp

*This post was supposed to have some photos in it, but thanks to the incompetence/stupidity/laziness of a French Internet Cafe staff member in Nimes, they have been lost for eternity*

*Ark*
1710-2, 1753
This is in the shape of the Ark of the Covenant

*Pulpit*
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1713

*Organ*
1891

Below the explanation about the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament: "Shall we let outselves be filled with the presence of Jesus? Why shouldn't we remain here in silence for a short while?" I've seen similar exhortations in the rest of Continental Europe. Probably another translation artefact.

*Fountain in front of City Hall*
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*City Hall*

I then went to the Rui Huis, but it was even more popular than the Last Supper, since it was booked till October (whereas the Last Supper was only full till August). What is the Rui Huis, you ask? Basically you get to walk through 1.6km of old Antwerp - underground. You get a special suit and boots, and you can smell the sewer stench from the entrance. Unfortunately the website is in Dutch and isn't very informative to boot: http://www.ruihuis.be/.

*Steen*
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Shipping museum. Formerly a fortress, then a prison for Antwerpens (and only Antwerpens).

*Docks*
Note the woman mounting the man. She then lay on top of him and they made out.
The Use-It guide said you hadn't been to Antwerp till you had dangled your legs over the docks, but I noticed no one was doing that - it was a long, long plunge down. I dangled mine until just before my knees, and then scrambled to my feet.

"Emery et cie" was a shop that sold bathroom tiles and similar things. It also provided free public toilet services so you could go in and see (and use) a model toilet. What a novel publicity tactic.

I was sitting on a bench and watching the triathletes. One guy was topless except for his bra (heart monitor). He has a lot of hair on his lower back. I think it was more disgusting than if hair covered his whole back, since attention was then drawn to the small of his back. Meanwhile some other men were wearing half-singlets - cut off at some point below their breasts. They looked like tank tops.

"Frituur Max", according to Use-It, was "one of the last fanatical advocates of fries in bags instead of boxes". I was wondering what they meant by this - it turned out "bags" referred to paper cones. It's so much more fun eating them from cones, albeit slightly messier, and you can fit more (maybe this explained the slightly higher price - €2,20). Sauce cost another €0,60, so I carefully squeezed a bit of various types of sauces. I asked for a container for more sauce but the irascible woman said I'd have to pay €0,60 more. Bah. In the end I had barely enough sauce to last me till the end. The frites were good, but I still prefer freshly-made fries, like those served by Mannekin Pis (a Belgian said it was a Dutch chain and not a Belgian one, and indeed I saw none in Belgium) or Hank's in the Utrecht Vredenburg market (the current blog header picture) - these are moister inside and taste fresher and more natural.

The cheeky Use-It guide had marked the red light district as a romantic hotspot and I was bored, so I went to have a look. Fittingly for the city of Rubens, there were some Rubenesque ladies in the windows. The place wasn't as commercialised as Amsterdam - almost everyone walking through was a lone male, though there was the odd male couple or group. The only women I saw looked like they worked there. Meanwhile a police car crusied slowly through the place every now and then,

*Figurine at the corner of a building*
Below it was a closed-down Indonesian restaurant. This was along 'straat zonder racisme'. Gah.

At an Antwerpen internet cafe near my hostel where they charged 2 cents per minute (€0,50 minimum), the terminals also had an interface to order a cola, hamburger or one more food item. Hah! I was annoyed though that the counter to tell you how long you had left contained ads. Wth. It was also the second internet cafe in a row where IE hated my Hotmail and I had a problem with the javascript.

Mosquitoes bothered me that night. Not since Singapore had this happened to me.

July trip
2/7 - Bruges-Antwerp

*This post was supposed to have some photos in it, but thanks to the incompetence/stupidity/laziness of a French Internet Cafe staff member in Nimes, they have been lost for eternity*

I wanted to wake up at 6:30, but I couldn't get to sleep the night before. Rather, I tried to get to sleep at 10:30, but this Canadian in the next room was talking so loudly to 2 British girls (who were somewhat softer), and it was so hot that I only got to sleep at 2+. In the end I still got up reasonably early and went to the Crown Plaza; my hostel's reception only opened at 9 anyway.

*Dice, semi-manufactured dice*

*Small coin hoard*
Philippe II August, 1180-1223

It looked like the medieval foundations were built on and around. Finds were also displayed. The spot where Charles the Good was murdered wasn't marked, though.

*Jan Breidel, Pieten Deconinck*
I have no idea what this was.

It occured to me that the Begijnhof in Bruges would've been perfect for a romantic hotspot, but it wasn't marked as such on the guide. Aww.

It was Sunday, but there was a huge flea market stretching from the train station to the tourist office. One stall had cheap DVDs (<€5 - including normal stuff that I'd heard of) and also this strange show called "Dirty cop no donut" with the tagline "A girl, 2 guys and a gun". At another stall there were swords and helmets with coifs.

In Antwerp, I saw a sign advertising an "Interdenominational healing and annointing conference" and "Wild fire weekend - the deep secrets of success".

*Teniers plaats*
Pedestrian square

I arrived at my hostel just before noon, so I first made my way to the Rubens house. Admission was free for residents of Antwerp. Bah.


*Rubens House*

I was very disappointed - there were almost no labels (those that did exist didn't date the works), no explanations and photography was not allowed. Even if someone had the audioguide he wouldn't know about everything, since much stuff was not labeled (not even with an audioguide number). Apparently the place was in a mess because they were rearranging their exhibits and they apologised for the inconvenience. I'd rather they gave discounted admission than apologise - not giving information about works was one thing, but I didn't even know the *name* of most of them. Hell, even The Annunciation had no audioguide commentary - unforgivable! In contradistinction, the Nationaal Museum van Speelklok tot Pierement is offering a 50% discount on admission while it is shifting the permanent collection back after the end of the Royal Music Machines exhibition.

I only saw one of the Rubens women on canvas, in Neptune and Amphitrite. I was somewhat disappointed.

Someone complained about the lack of airconditioning in the guestbook. Heh.

To add insult to injury, the toilet was €0,30. The gardens and courtyard were nice though.

*Gardens and courtyard of Rubens house*
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*Poster for ABBA musical, with facial hair drawn on the members on the glass*
This was probably the one which was playing in Utrecht. I doubt there're 2 traveling Dutch performances.

This East Asian man was playing the violin along Meir. He had a printout with his program in front of him. This must be the first time I've seen such a thing.

I saw a lot of familiar chains in Flanders - Blokker, Kruidvat and Hema. I almost expected to see an Albert Heijn.

*Statue of Rubens in Groenplaats*
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Groenplaats is not green.
On that day there was the Antwerp Iron Man event, and this was Transition Area 2 (Bike-Run). The whole place was full of barriers. I couldn't even get close.

I bought a Coke in a McDonalds for a caffeine boost. A sign on the ground floor said the toilet was for customers only. When I went up to the second floor, despite holding my cup, I had to pay €0,30 for the toilet; maybe €0,30 doesn't even cover the cost of stationing someone there, so only customers can have the privilege of paying that nominal fee to use the toilet. I was offered a sweet from a basket when I exited, but still. They should try a new concept - make people pay €0,01 to use rubbish bins and fine them if they litter the streets.

I then went to the cathedral.

*Onze Lieve Vrouwe Kathedraal*
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The largest Gothic church in the Low Countries. So I wonder where the largest church in the Low Countries is.

The cathedral had the first representation of the circumcision of Christ that I've seen.

*Our Lady of Antwerp*
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16th century
When I was there the background was a painted canvas with a photograph of the chapel rear printed on it. They were renovating the back of the chapel.

*Madonna with Child*
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1350. Master of the Maasland Marble Madonnas

Moral hazard tea light! <- I think in writing this I had some musing about how tea lights are left out and people can light them without paying.

*Rubens - Assumption of the Virgin*
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1626

*Choir stalls*
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*Cupola*
With Schut, Assumption of the Virgin. 1647.

*Rubens - the Descent from the Cross*
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1612

These people are very hardcore. About the Schyven Organ, 1891: "Typically symphonic timbre and its exceptional poetic melodious tone". It's for 19th and 20th century works. Meanwhile the Metzler Organ, 1993: "Distant positioning of the organ pipes and its precise 'touch'". It's intended for Bach and French contemporaries.


Travel tips:

- Don't wear a waist pouch. It's easy for you to be pickpocketed and you look silly
- Chinese food is cheap, and Turkish food (kebab stands) even cheaper. Not as cheap as eating bread in the park, of course, but at least you've something real to eat
- Bring spare batteries if you have electronic equipment
- Use a packing list. The Universal Packing List is good.

I needed to use the toilet in Utrecht but I didn't want to pay, so I decided to use my museum card, which granted me free entry to 400+ museums in the Netherlands. I walked to the Nationaal Museum van Speelklok tot Pierement, but my museum card didn't get me free entry - there was a €3 supplement for the Royal Music Machines exhibition.

So I walked down to the Centraal Museum. I didn't have €1 for the locker, so I had to change my €10 note for lots of coins. And then I finally got to use my free toilet (yes!)

***

Eloquent fanmail I got:

"Subject: U suck

u fuckin muggy porn-deprived bastard! - Ur Mother"

This was on Diary of a Chinese High Boy - archived

***

Shianux:

"in Singapore, the implied meanings of what you say can also be taken into account
so saying that durai was on first class implies that he is spending lots of money

you're not implying anything
you're DIRECTLY saying that he's not creative

ironically its safer to just say things directly
because when they imply, they can imply anything they want
if you say "j00 sux0rs", I doubt they can find anything to imply"

Today, I was in Carrefour shopping for ingredients when my spider sense tingled. There was a promoter selling nuggets, and as we all know chicken nuggets have been on the scene for years, offering their suspect blend of reconstituted chicken meat (perhaps a few grades above that in chicken feather sausages) and palm oil. Yet, there was something about these nuggets so I moved in for a closer look.

Lo and behold, there was a big sign saying "Non-halal". Could it be? I looked at the packets and they said "pork nuggets". The meat of the gods had finally been made into nugget form.



I was excited enough, but the nuggets were on offer - 2 packets for $5.80, so I promptly took 2. A short while ago I prepared some and was so enthused that I typed up this blog post instead of saving it for another day/merging it with another.



These pork nuggets are really good stuff. The top ingredient is pork fiber, which is why they're so firm inside. Even better, there is NO PALM OIL in them - instead of this wretched artery clogging substance, they use the healthful and flavorful sesame oil. One might also note that there is less sesame oil than pork fiber, soy protein, flour and sugar. The cherry on the cake is that it is made in Singapore. I feel patriotic.



If I had one word to describe the nuggets, it would be - wah. Usually, when you toast chicken nuggets the oil oozes out readily, yet these pork nuggets released no visible oil onto the foil-covered surface of the snack toaster tray. The meat is also very good quality - even if it's not real meat, it's darn close to the real thing.



The only disadvantages are that there was a touch too much pepper for my taste, and that in 8 nuggets, I found a small piece of tendon in one (but then, that's the price of using real meat). Also, preparation is slightly protracted - even after microwaving the nuggets for a minute on high heat, they needed 3-4 5 minute cycles in the snack toaster to be done (though this might have something to do with the lousy appliance, which automatically turns off for periods sometimes).

Those used to chicken nuggets might be disconcerted by this product since it is firmer and less oily. Yet, I believe that this is a mark of culinary distinction in contradistinction to run-of-the-mill chicken nuggets.

I heartily recommend this product, which can be found (at least) at Carrefour Plaza Singapura. While you're there you can also enjoy REAL bacon in the Carl's Jr outlet there (it has the most ang mohs of any fast food chain I've seen in Singapore).

July trip
1/7 - Bruges

*This post was supposed to have some photos in it, but thanks to the incompetence/stupidity/laziness of a French Internet Cafe staff member in Nimes, they have been lost for eternity*

Nice Bruges pictures: Bruges pictures - Europe stock photos, fine art prints by QTL

I was under the impression that the Memling Museum provided information about the medieval hospital it used to be, yet 90% of the space was devoted to medieval art; the first storey had a hall with information on the hospital from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries, but there was nothing about the medieval hospital except for a few medieval paintings with nuns in them and a computer providing information on the medieval hospital. Yet, this computer had a horrible interface which was hard to use and very confusing - it presented a few paintings of the medieval hospital and you slowly and with much difficulty dragged an onscreen magnifying glass over the paintings with your finger. When the magnifying glass hovered above areas of interest, it lit up and you could touch it for more information which would then call up an expanded box, blocking part of the painting. It was then hard to dismiss this box. I wonder which cock designed it.

The Memling museum was quite expensive - €5 concession and €8 full price. Though there was nice stuff like the St Ursula Shrine. The ticket also granted admission to the potterie which was very smart of them since it gave extra perceived value at little cost to them, the potterie being on the other side of town.

I then went back to Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk (Church of our Lady). Part of the church required payment, but amazingly the Michelangelo was free.

*Pulpit*
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16th century. Jan Antoon Garemijn
Comment on Flickr: "All cathedrals in Europe were impressing . . . to the point that they weren't impressing anymore. As a fellow hostel mate from Australia said, "It's the ABC effect . . . you know, Another Bloody Cathedral.""

*Relic of the Holy Cross*
Mid-18th century, Bruges
There're so many relics here. It spoils the market.
I was thinking of a way apologists would explain the proliferation of relics, including 2 heads of John the Baptist, enough Holy Nails for up to 10 crosses, multiple Holy Prepuces (foreskins) and enough drops of Mary's milk to stock a dairy. Then I remembered the fishes and loaves. Another might be something similar to transubstantiation. Some would consider these suggestions seditious, but it is seditious also to suggest that most of these relics must be fakes (or, to some, that relics even exist, and to most monotheists that other monotheists are right). So really, there's no way to escape and everyone can just go to jail.

*Mausoleum of Mary of Burgundy*
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1502

*Mausoleum of Charles the Bold*
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1562

*Tomb XIII*
1300-10
Excavated in choir in 1979

*Memorial statue of Louis de Baenst (Jr) and family with the Virgin*
15th century

There was an urn with the heart of Philip the Handsome. Wth. There was also the tomb and coffin of Mary of Burgundy. I almost didn't see them because they were hidden under the mausoleums and I had to squat to look under them, and even then I couldn't see the tomb.

In a supermarket:
500ml Coke - €0,85
250ml Coke - €0,69
250ml Fanta - €0,75
Gah.

*Lace making (Picture and Video)*
It started in the 16th century. This woman started at 8 and at the end of July she turned 86. She had a piece of paper with the patterns on it: she poked pins into the paper and then threaded the thread around it.
I read that nowadays all lace making is done in Asia.

I was sitting in an alcove. I'd made sure it was dry, but thne I smelled a familiar scent. I got up, but I think I was too late.

*Belfort from courtyard*
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I tried looking for the Elf in the Belfry, but I couldn't find her.

*Courtyard of Belfort*

Public toilets in Bruges are €0,30. Perhaps it is true that generally things get more expensive as you go North in Europe.

I then went to the Begijnhof. It was very nice with the shady trees, and quiet except for the stupid tourists ignoring requests for silence.

*Begijnhof*
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There were some swans in the canal near the Begijnhof. Their feathers were incredibly fine.

*Swans around Begijnhof*
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someone: its just a stupid swan
Me: better than a stupid cat
someone: you're evil

*Street: Oostmeers*

It was damn hot in Bruges. I was thinking that I'd die in Rome.

Bruges was a little fake, but it was nice fake. It was so touristed that there were signposts pointing to hotels, and under the icon of the bed there were stars indicating how many stars the hotel had.

I felt like rabbit stew for dinner, so I looked at the recommended restaurants in Let's Go. One was this joint called "Hobbit" - it was expensive but had unlimited spare ribs for €14 (no rabbit though, IIRC). Another was my hotel's restaurant - it was cheap and guests got a free beer with dinner (the man at the checkin counter the previous night explaining this to me and saying I couldn't change the drink expressed his regret and said he didn't drink beer either) but they didn't have rabbit. The man at the hotel suggested another place but there the rabbit alone was €25 - my reservation price for dinner was €20. So I went to the markt - there were 3 adjacent joints which were all about as crowded. In the end I chose the one which had a €19 3 course set dinner including rabbit (the rest were marginally more). This was a bit extravagant, but I'd had no breakfast and had had that awful samuraisaus frieten for lunch. The place didn't serve tap water, unfortunately ("we have everything except tap water". Bloody hell. I should've asked for Root Beer) so I asked for a Sprite. In the end I was given a medium sprite (500ml) for €4. Grr.

*Performance artist*
This guy was dressed in a monk's robe, sunglasses and sneakers and was standing on a stone seat in the Markt and striking a pose. Every now and then he'd shout something (like "Hallelujah *insert pop-culture-influenced phrase*"), as he would when someone donated money to him. I donated and got a UFO shaped communion wafer with a different colour on each side. Inside there was a white sweet-sour powder.


Travel tips:

- Travel when you're under 26 and/or a student. It's cheaper since you get discounts.
- Summer is safer. There're bigger crowds and it gets dark later. Yet, crowds and the lack of a sweater means you're more prone to pickpocketing.
- Keep your friends close and your belongings closer. Be mindful of where your valuables are. Have situational awareness. Is there a crowd? Are there people coming close to you?
- Don't put your wallet in your back pocket (this must be one of the most stupid things any traveler can do)
- Backpack if you're strong enough. It's more convenient and easier to transport over distances
- Plan ahead - beware of public holidays. For example Greek Easter is a week ahead of normal Easter