Gonna leave Manchester and London till a later time to blog about!
So people have been asking where exactly is Maastricht. I don’t exactly know where it is? Wiki told me its a capital of a province named Limburg, located in the Netherlands. Its located somewhere near Amsterdam, Holland… Brussels and ..hmm. But anyway, its a beautiful place that I would say, underrated.
Spent my remaining days there because Gerald had classes to attend. Phew, thank God the shops were not like UK’s where it mostly closes at 5/6pm. So after a good afternoon nap on the day we arrived at Maastricht, I went for a walk in the city while the brother had classes from 6-8pm and did “window shopping”, was trying not to spend money (yet) because my goal of this trip was to not buy anything on impulse with regrets after and btw, I came here almost everyday because it was really a shopping haven. Zara, Bershka and all the different local brands.
Day 1:
I could really get used to the life there. Weather is really good despite the light rain which happened quite frequently. Convenience is pretty decent, about a 15 minutes walk will reach you to the city where the supermarket is also located at. It’s not as convenient as Singapore but hey c’mon, the weather here is outrageous man. No such nonsense as rush or peak hour as well, there are actually more bicycles than cars. The locals there really enjoy cycling, they.are.practically everywhere.
Shops in the city
This was my 1st meal in Maastricht. Brother introduced me to this “Durum Kib” ,”Durum” = “Kebab” and “Kib”= “Chicken”, which was super good! This cost $4.50 but the portion was really big.
Dinner was back at my brother’s hostel and this meal was prepared by his friends, which are now mine too! Home-cooked food are always the best and they really did a good job.
Day 2:
Both my brother and his roomie, Joey had classes in the morning so I had all the morning to myself. Had a really good rest and only woke up at 11am. It was Vesak Day back in Singapore so I spent about an hour skyping Weixiang before I decided to go for a jog since I had nothing to do. See, I could really get used to the life there, not even 24 hours there and I took the risk to run.
But careless me being careless, forgot to turn off the stove before I left the room (I was boiling water) and only realized it after 20 minutes of slow jogging, it was really hard breathing. I swear I had a panic attack and immediately sprinted back to the hostel as fast as I could. Ok, not sprint but like literally ran non-stop for 10 minutes, which got my sweat kicking.
And when I went back……………………………………….. I realized I turn on the wrong stove #storyofmylife.
Bathed and off again I headed to the city to meet the brother who has FINALLY finished his classes and meetings. It was Friday and their “market” was open so kor took me to try some of the amazing snacks in Maastricht.
This seafood stall sells a huge variety of seafood finger food. All the fishes looked super appetizing, maybe not here in this picture all thanks to my lousy Iphone camera.
I love fish so I may be biased but this is really ….. worth probably another 23943284 tries and it still wont go wrong. Batter was really crispy and the fish is just so moist. Not really a fan of tar tar and mayonnaise thought but it really tasted well with the fish.
I was telling my brother that it is really easy to propose there because flowers are so cheap, not to mention pretty too! I wanted some but…. it wouldn’t be practical.
Next up: Belgian Waffles
It was 2 euros for a small waffle, quite pricey but it was worth the try! Didn’t like it initially because the flavor was quite new to my taste-buds but slowly enjoyed it all the way till the last mouth of it. You can choose from a couple of toppings and I totally would have chose a scoop of ice cream if I knew before my waffle was already 3/4 gone.
Went window shopping after again! Really enjoyed myself just strolling along the streets catching up with my brother and visiting the different unique shops in Maastricht. Hollister was an exception because they were having a sale, I think we stayed for almost 2 hours because the Wongs being the Wongs just couldn’t decide about getting which pieces, as always and usual.
Dinner time and the rest came to find us. Italiano for the night because the famous Thai restaurant they wanted to bring me to was full. This is another favorite of theirs so we settled our order pretty quickly. All of us were really hungry.
So yup, no pictures of food because lighting was bad but these are the bunch of nicest friends that accommodated to my stay while I was there. Joey, Jacjac and Zhi Yan on the left. Me, Gerald (my brother), Malcom and Kristie on the right!
Went back to the hostel after to have our daily fruit snack. Turned in early because I was really excited for shopping the next day and wanted to be all energized!
Day 3: Roermond
Kor’s alarm rang at 6:45am and I actually woke up and got ready (enthu much). Meeting time was 8am and I was probably the earliest because Joey and Kor only woke up at 730am and Jac Jac winning the title, at 745 am! Still, we managed to prepare our own breakfast before heading for a good day of shopping. Ham and cheese for Joey, Gerald and I.
Roermond is a shopping outlet and it only opens at 10am. Us being the kiasu Singaporeans, decided to take an early train so that we could reach Roermond by 930 ish and allowing some time allowance for walking.
Seriously too much good buys that we only had lunch at 4pm :
Special Limburg burger for lunch. The sliders were something like luncheon meat but way way tastier. It was so yummy with the sauces, I practically shut myself up at one corner to enjoy it.
Fritters (Fries) was a must they said, so a large one for us! We chose a sauce that was quite chapalang and it tasted amazingly good. I want to go back so badly……
And here’s us after 10 hours of shopping. 1 word: SATISFIED
So the highlight of the day wasn’t shopping when we saw this while walking back to the train station..
It was a 360 within a 360 degree ride and which you can see, is quite high. Kristie, Joey, Kor and I decided to take the ride. After all, #YOLO #YOLO #YOLO. It was 4 euros per person for a 4 minutes ride. For some reason while we were up there, we couldn’t stop laughing, which leads to us not being able to scream. It was super cold and windy but the ride was really good. The scary part was the 360 turn within your seat, especially when you’re facing down while you’re all the way up the sky. Felt a little groggy but really, thumbs up to this.
Durum Kib (Chicken Kebab) for dinner again followed by heading to a nearby pub for some final soccer match of a season.
Day 5
Woke up and prepared breakfast but mostly were done by awesome Joey!
Just look at the eggs! I am not a fan of eggs if they are wet. So I don’t really eat Eggs Benedict, Half boiled eggs or Scrambled but these, seriously …..was damn good. Joey must have cooked his heart out. I saw him standing at the kitchen for at least a good 20 minutes with the eggs, stirring and stirring.
After a super heavy breakfast, I knew I couldn’t waste the day away. It was a Sunday and they warned me that the shops in the city would be closed. I went ahead still because I knew the supermarket were open and I needed to buy some snacks back from friends and family.
Thank you kor, for this amazing trip you have planned for me despite your busy schedules. Thanks for doting on your sissy so much yet asking for no returns.
I am really blessed because I know of people who aren’t exactly close to their siblings as I am. Well, my brother and I weren’t exactly close in the past. He doesn’t talk to me (I think he hates me), neither does he acknowledge my presence in school or wherever. My cousins and childhood friends would probably understand what I am talking about. Whenever we fight, he’ll always takes the rap and Daddy always beats him, instead of me. I probably didn’t know what “guilty” was then but that was how I always felt. I would always sob when I’m sleeping because I feel the pain he feels physically and emotionally (after getting beaten). Despite all, I have always loved him and feel extremely happy when he talks to me, even for a sentence. I always feel comfortable talking to him.. maybe because he seem to be able empathize my feelings and make me feel like a better person at the end of the day.
My brother has always been my role model, especially when it comes to how he excels in school consistently and how he is able to be so thrifty yet at the same time getting the best things out of the amount he spends. Sad to say, I am a complete opposite from him, ha ha ha. We got closer during secondary school days and even closer when he enlisted! Maybe distance really makes two closer? I’m just so thankful that this trip made us even closer. See why I said this trip was valuable? Such bonds, you can’t exchange with money.
Thank you Lord, for blessing me with such a humble and sophisticated sibling, one who loves me without condition or asking anything in return. Girls reading this, he’s single 🙂
Everything Worthwhile 