Happy ever after in the marketplace

And the beautiful summer weather continued, which made me put on the jeans-shorts (hopefully not for the last time this year) and took a strole down to Nordenmarkt.

I love markets, can't get enough of them. The idea of having a chat with the fishmonger about the best way to cook mussels or sample an oyster. Or the smell of fresh bread and flowers, while spotting some nice antiques. 

This time they still had chantarells, oh heavenly! 

If I could choose I would fill our appartment to the brim with flowery boxes, old books and framed old pictures, and if you also dream of that perfect cookiejar (and finding cookies to fill it with) Nordenmarkt has plenty. 

Most of the food sold is organic and from Dutch farmers, so shop with a concience

A must is to stop for a freshly squeezed orange juice (1€ a glas) as the best pitstop on a market day

After I came home, I looked at all my treasures and couldn't wait to cook it all

And fresh sunflowers, although this bouquet weight like a 100 kg wich really tested my none existent arm muscles

And finally, the cherry on my cream of a day was the tuna steak with coriander-roasted potatoes with spicy mango chutney that I ate with my dear boyfriend. All in all a perfect day! 

Oh and of course, Nordenmarkts organic food market is open every Saturday between 9-16, products depending on season. 

Full moon and vodka buckets

Friday the summer was still in the Air and Hannekes Boom, everyones new darling in Amsterdam was throwing a full moon party, buckets included. I haven't had my vodka in a bucket since I went to the real thing on Koh phangan back in 2008, so I was up for the challenge. 

 But before we left for the night we cooked lovely mussles cooked in white whine, a good way to start any evening.

And of course some Tequila cocktails, something that has become a bit of a tradition when me and Lotte go out. 

The buckets did live up to our expectations, and sharing is caring right?? 

So back to Hannekes Boom, I went here the first time when I came back from South Korea in July, that time for lunch and not for vodka buckets. And I can understand why this place is Amsterdams new darling, located at the water just along the water where you can either a sunny day sit on their pire or in one of the sun-chair or take in the sun on the roof. Or just shake your ass inside the bar, and perhaps sipping vodka buckets?

http://www.hannekesboom.nl/

Latei - Everythings for sale!!

Ever since I came to Amsterdam I been amazed by the vintage/secondhand clothing, its not only available everywhere, but its also affordable and beautiful. I will get together a vintage guide one of these days for the best vintage-shopping. 

Latei is not vintage clothing, but a restaurant where all the furniture (that is second hand) is for sale. Do you like the chair your sitting at? Buy it! See a nice mirror hanging at the wall? Take it home! 

Genious idea for me who can combine my favourite activities, eating and shopping. 

This time I had the soup of the day, which was creamy peasoup and tasted great. This was served with wholegrain bread and butter making it more then a filling meal. But Latei also have great sandwhiches. 

With me, while I was escaping class for two hours was my sweet boyfriend. Also he is a big fan of Latei. 

It is also possible to go to Latei for dinner Thursday -Saturday, where they serve Ethiopian food. I have never had dinner at Latei, but I can imagine it is as good quality as its lunch alternatives. For a creative idea, good and friendly personnel (a lack of it in Amsterdam) this is a great alternative which just as Cafe Fonteyn is located close to the Nieuwmarkt.

http://www.latei.net/ 

Café Fonteyn

Opposite to what you might belive, café in Amsterdam does not refere to a café where you sit down for a coffee, although they most of the time do serve coffee and is being used as a café during the day. But it is mostly used to refere to a bar or a pub. Just as a coffeeshop might sell coffee, but that is never the main reason they are being visited in Amsterdam... 

Anyhow, back to Café Fonteyn. Located on the Nieuwmarkt, a place which most tourist at least pass by on their way to the redlight district, but it shouldnt be disregarded for that. There are loads of bars surrounding nieuwmarkt (a square). But I have found my favourite. I started coming there because it was convenient for me to have a pit stop for beer when I showed the redlight district to visiting friends. And what is more perfect then a place which plays great soulmusic and blues and is always packed with great people. 

I wouldnt recommend eating at Fonteyn though, although if your just after a snack their nachos with cheese will do fine. But the service for food is slow and a bit arrogant (which Amsterdam service tends to be) and the food is not worth it. So make it simple for yourself and order a beer or stop by for coffee and cuddle their sleepy bar-cat

 When we are at the topic of beer, if you wanna sample some real Amsterdam beer and take a break from the Heinekens you can order "t´ij" on Fonteyn which is a beer brewed in Amsterdam. Its quite similar to those good belgian beers (beware they are quite a knock-out if you have to many)

  http://www.cafefonteyn.nl/

Brix

Pre-Valtifest me, Leonie and Bibi decided to meet up at Brix to plot our outfits. This is where the base was laid for what later became "Family of forever 27" 

Brix is a restaurant in the "9 straatjes" or "the 9 streets" an area where you don't only have some of the best shops in Amsterdam, but also some of the best restaurants. 

So this time we decided to order some lunch to go with the creativity, and in my case I ordered a "tosti" or as it would be called in most countries "Crouque monsieur" aka a hot sandwich with melted cheese and some ham and tomatoes. It was a very fine example of a Crouque Monsieur and came with a pesto dipping sauce. 

Its not the first time I have come across Brix, last time I was here was when some friends from Sweden visited. Then we decided to have the tapas menue (Brix serves both big maincourses and smaller dishes). I had the Peking duck wraps and the Beef Sashimi and must say these were very delicious, and if I don't remember it wrong Brix also has very delicious homemade ice-cream. 

Brix also have live jazz on Mondays and Sundays which makes it a great stop for those wanting a bit more out of their restaurant visit.

The clientel is mainly hipsters and the beautiful people, but if this is not your cup of tea don't be afraid there is a cosy atmosphere that makes it a great place to lunch or have dinner with friends.

http://www.cafebrix.nl/index2.html

All in the family

This weekend it was time for one of Amsterdams finest festivals, Valtifest. What is the last festival for the summer, and for me a proper party before the rain takes over. At some point I will return with a proper Amsterdam festival guide. But since the season is more or less over, lets save that for another time.

Valtifest is an electro festival with a twist. Every year they come up with a theme. Last year it was "Its a religion" and this time it was time for "All in the family". These themes are free for interpretation and you can expect to see the most creative solutions.

 As partners in crime I had the excellent Leonie and Bibi with me or Janis Joplin and Amy Winehouse as they were for the day.

 After getting of the ferry all the happy festival goers rushed for the entrance

Our theme for the day was "Family of forever 27"and I got the portrait the ledgend himself Jimi Hendrix

It was 26 degrees and we were all frying in the sun waiting to get in

 Some snowwhites where taking a rest by the lockers

 An indian tribe danced along their totem pole

 A family of grapes

 We were showered in tiny little hearts that were blown out all over the festival

 Some guys saw the opportunity with their outfits to pick up a beautiful (what was most common outfit : sexy nurse aka sister) woman

 Wedding dressed couples walked around making the athmosphere very surreal

 Human twister, always a hit with the ladies

 The coolest granpa's that got to ride around selling afterparty tickets

 In between being amazed by all the outfits we did find time to see some DJs

And we found a frame that came very in handy for making nice family photos

Geef mij maar Amsterdam

Its 1st September and I'm back in Amsterdam. Blogging in South Korea didn't go as well as I planned, but   being back in the city that I have made my home for the last 3 years made me realize that I am going to take another approach.

This blog wont be about me (all though I will pop in pictures if I'm doing something fun), but it will be about Amsterdam. About the best bars and restaurants. My favourite festivals. Which park you should have a picknick in and I might throw in some other gems in between. So here we go again: AMSTERDAM

Hanyang University- Love in truth and in deed

Since I am actually here not only to eat kimchi and various Soju combinations, I thought I would show how my campus looks like. 

I am, for those of you who do not know, doing an exchange on Hanyang University for 4 months. The University is mainly famous for their Engineering faculty, but I must say the have a darn good way of teaching business also. 

So let the tour begin, when you get off at Hanyang University metro station the first building that meets you is the administrations building fronted by the Hanyang lion. As you see the grass is still yellow since spring has not really found its way over here yet. 

Here another administrations building at the main Hanyang plaza

Here we have the "88 stairs", due to student superstition it is believed that you can only walk on the red side of the stairs if you want to have A+. This might explain the relative emptiness on the blue side 

Paiknam main library, open 24/7 to bring out the study monsters in us. And is the largest of the libraries at campus

The business faculty (one of 34 faculties) were I am taking "Business communication - how to integrate social media in to your corporation"

Ahh lunch, best eaten in the Design Faculty which has always a great selection of dishes. 

The even better thing then their excellent kimchi collection is the view from the restaurant (located on the 7th floor)

If feeling a bit sleepy at a class, we have a sick amount of coffee shops (not the Dutch kind) to satisfy our caffeine needs. Maybe with some Dutch coffee?

The entrance to the women's dormitory, aka my crib. Were I share a fabulous 24 square meters with a Turkish girl (Will show you some photos at a later moment)

The dormitory is just next to the Han river, were the a bit more sporty exchange students like to run. I myself stick to walking and waiting for spring for now, maybe with a Gimbap?