Woopsie

Kind of lost track of time and forgot to update the blog, so I’ll post a recap as soon as I come back from my trip to the Flemish Ardennes with the boyfriend (which will normally be on Monday afternoon or so).

Toodles now!

Gigpig Boogie

Today was pretty uneventful, unless you count the fact that today’s Belgium’s National holiday thingie. I don’t really care much about these types of days as I’m not very patriotic (hard to be patriotic when your parents aren’t from the country you were born in and are still living in).

That doesn’t matter how, because there are more important matters to think about… Like the fact that MY BEST FRIEND IS COMING FOR A SLEEPOVER TOMORROW. I stil knew that I had a coffeedate with her and that she was sleeping over, but I completely forgot the implications of that. It meant a panicked clean-up of my bedroom, as good as I could manage it considering my pig of a little sister is the one who I’m sharing said room with.

I managed though, I think.

And I also almost forgot that I’ve got those tests for school to do tomorrow! At 10 o’ clock in the morning, ack. That means I’ll have to get up at 8, at the latest. Probably an easy thing for you early birds out there, but as I’ve already said:

I’m not a morning person.

La Vie En Rose

Brussels is pretty scary by night, but I love it by day. Then it’s a bustling city with mobile transport that’s easy to use and, more importantly, Schleiper is open at day. Schleiper is an art store, my favourite one to be precise. The one in Brussels has a lot of things, including crafting supplies. It’s just about the only place where I can find so many stamps, punches, papers and etc. Especially the papers make me giddy, because I love their patterns.

I didn’t get to buy too much too, because I had only half an hour till closing time. I had forgotten that they keep different hours during the summer vacation, but no harm done. And in the end, it was better for my wallet anyhow (the first time I went to Schleiper in Brussels, I spent about €90 on art supplies). I bought some cardstock, some more glue, some 3D adhesives and some more stuff. I forgot, lol, and I’m too lazy to check my bill.

I experimented some with my new materials, but didn’t get anything succesful out of it sadly enough. I shall have to think of something good though, because my boyfriend’s birthday is next Monday.

Normally that wouldn’t pose a problem for me but, seeing as how we’re leaving for his chalet in the Flemish Ardennes on Friday, I’ll have to make up something soon. And making a card is the least of my problems, I still don’t quite know what to get him. But I’ll have something, that I’m sure off.

Dance Anthem Of The 80’s

I had a lot of fun with Gwen yesterday! As we’re both rather punctual, it was a race to see who got there first (she did, ten minutes before I was going to). It had been a while since we last saw each other and we missed each other’s birthdays, so there was the exchange of gifts to get through. Gwen bought me a book with IQ puzzles (I love puzzles) and a book on psychological research. I bought her that book I mentioned in my Manic Monday post, plus tickets to see the new Harry Potter film.

We had some time to kill before the show, so we went for some drinks and caught up with each other. Then came the dreaded waiting-in-line before they checked our tickets and let us enter the cinema. They’d redecorated and refurnished the whole building since the last time I went there, but popcorn stands are never hard to find.

I tried out nachos, and Gwen was rather astonished that I’d never eaten them before. I don’t know about other places, but in the cinema they serve them with some type of cheesy sauce that’s really fingerlicking-good.

The movie was fun, I enjoyed the beginning of it the most, though I was really disappointed by the lack of a good battle scene. Like with most of these cases, the book was better than the film in my opinion. And on a side note, but don’t shoot me for this, I rather disliked Dumbledore in this film. He was all “manipulate Harry” and rather blasé about Harry spending time in the cupboard at the Dursley’s instead of having a room like a normal person.

Anyhow, we went to get some food after the film eventhough we weren’t very hungry. Got some chicken yakitori. We were planning to get some mojito’s (they’re still running the mojito commercial in the cinema and it always makes me want one) but decided not to because of the late hour. Gwen and I both had work to do today, though the poor girl had to get up a lot earlier than I did. I ran into a spot of trouble with the public transport (or rather a lack thereof) and had to hitch a ride with my father.

To anyone who’s ever planning to visit Belgium, Brussels in particular: Never be alone in Brussels after sunset. It’s creepy and scary. Those who live in or nearby Brussels like I do, or who have prior experience with the city, know what I’m talking about.

Dum Dum

Dum dum didi dum, dum dum duuuuum… I’m going out with Gwen tonight and watch the new Harry Potter movie, whee. My mother just called on the phone and said that people are already waiting in line to buy tickets for the late night viewing (which we’re going to ’cause Gwen had to work till 5pm today). I was smart and booked tickets online, though. Haha, take that!

Have to go now though, bus is gonna leave in 10 minutes or so and I don’t want to be late for my meeting with Gwen. It’s been a while since I last seen her, you see!

Money, Money, Money

… Must be funny in the rich man’s world, right?

To get money, one must either work or win the lottery. Since my parents haven’t won the lottery yet, they work. They have a Chinese restaurant, to be precise. A restaurant that can get quite busy and which thusly require us to help out.

To summarise: Hongske had to work today and is knackered out. See you tomorrow!

Manic Monday

Monday. Likely voted the most-hated day on the globe. Nevermind that it’s summer vacation, it’s Monday, so you have to get up at 9 o’ clock in the morning for an appointment with the student guidance. For the early birds out there: I’m not a morning person and my normal wake-up-time is at 11am, earliest. Probably has to do with the fact that I usually don’t go to bed till 3 or 4.

Had to go to Leuven and I hitched a ride with my mother, who had to be there for my little brother’s dentist appointment. My little sister Fong decided to go with me as well, so we could have another outing in Leuven.

Before going to my appointment, we had some drinks on the terrace of the Erasmus first and enjoyed the sun while solving some puzzles. After that it was off to the student guidance thingie (I don’t know how to properly translate it into English, but in Dutch it’s called ’studentenbegeleiding’). After talking for about 45 minutes, the decision was made that I should come back next week and do some tests. One set to see if I’m actually compatible with university (if not, I’ll have to do something that’s mentally less tasking) and the other to see what’s wrong with my study method and how to help it.

After the appointment, Fong and I went to do some shopping, though quickly decided to split up at some point. She went to see clothing stores and to buy make-up, while I holed myself up in De Slegte again, to purchase some more books. I bought “The Nanny Diaries” by Nicola Kraus & Emma McLaughlin. It’s a really nice book and it pulled me in despite the first person perspective way of writing. Normally I don’t quite like that type of writing style, but it rather fit this book. I got rather caught up in it and before I knew I was at the end and damning Mrs X for being an ‘uptight Manhattanite mother’ and basically unknowlingly ruining Greyer’s life. Poor boy.

The other book I bought is a Dutch book called “Een avond in Japan”, which means “A night in Japan”. It has images of Japanese woodcuts and tells of the festivals and other nightly activities that occur in the afforementioned country. While I’m not that interested in the eastern country, my friend Gwen is and I bought this book for her as a belated birthday present. She’s going to study Japanology next year, hehe. Speaking of Gwen, I also bought her two tickets to see Harry Potter this Wednesday. That’s a surprise though, one I hope she’ll enjoy very much.

Whimsical

I’m pretty whimsical when it comes down to my blog’s layout (this is my second layout change in the past 7 days). The good thing about this is the fact that I usually add more content when I change my layout.

So, ta-da, an ‘About’ and ‘Links’ page.

Sunny Day

I went out with my little sister today, we decided to go to Leuven and shop some. Our definitions of shopping differ some, though, I think. My little sister’s definition of shopping seems to be hurrying from clothing shop to clothing shop, while mine is “calmly checking out some book shops and have some coffee at nice café’s”. Needless to say, we saw more books than clothes.

First stop was The Foodmaker, a place where you can sit back and take a breather from the busy 21st century life. It’s the ideal place to enjoy a cup of coffee (every student’s favourite beverage aside from beer), unless there’s a gaggle of giggling girls sitting some chairs away from you. Luckily, we didn’t encounter too many of those during our brief visit.

Fong, my little sister, who’s enjoying a cup of cappuccino and a chocolate-chip cookie.

Next, we visisted some bookstores and (after she persuaded me) some clothing stores as well. Visiting clothing stores usually means that Fong squeals over anything remotely cute on display and that I give the clothes a cursory glance before I exit the store to wait outside. The sales season started the 1st of July and is going strong till the 31st, so I prefer not to get drowned in the mass of teens and mothers. The latter always seem to be accompanied by babies in strollers, afforementioned strollers never failing to get stuck in the escalators and thusly blocking the line up.

In one of my favourite bookshops, De Slegte (a store that sells second-hand books and publisher rests), I found two interesting books. One is a spiral-bound score book with some Chopin sheet music for beginners and advanced ones. The other is a book on architecture, penthouses in particular. It’s pretty neat to see how creative people can get with just one floor of space, and sometimes even more.

One of the last stops was The Grasshopper, a shop where they sell all kinds of toys for little (and not so little) children. I have to admit that it makes me want to have one of those little buggers myself, if only to get a chance to buy some of that stuff. They even have little yellow helmets for the builders-in-making. And miniature cooking sets, complete with downsized cereal boxed and milk bottles. Too cute.

Last stop before getting on the bus home, was De Dry Coppen. It’s a coffeeshop-meets-bookstore, and you can read the books before you buy them. They serve good coffee and delicious home-made pie. Downside of the place was that it’s really quiet in there, so I couldn’t take any pictures because I still haven’t figured out how to turn of my phone camera’s clicking sound. The solution came in the form of a quick sketch, the subject being my little sister again.

Can you even make out what all thoser lines are supposed to present?

Not the best of sketches, I’ll have to admit, but it’s better than a stickman figure.

Tutti Frutti

I love fruit, especially sweet fruits, so you can imagine my delight when mother came home with lychees! Fresh ones (or rather, imported ones that weren’t canned) taste a lot better than canned lychees, though they are a bit less sweet and a bit more bitter. The last part is most likely because fresh lychees still have their pits and canned lychees usually have added sugar to make them even sweeter.

Lychees, like any other fruit, are messy when you have to peel them. They’re sticky but also very juicy which makes peeling them a fingerlicking job.

(above) Juicy lychee in the middle of the peeling process.
(below) One before and one after peeling.

I love the fact that underneath that rough and semi-hard skin lies a soft and sweet fruit. Mmm, off to get more lychees now.