Beverages

Recently while grocery shopping, I decided I should try juicing something called terong belanda, otherwise known here at Dutch eggplant. It is a relative of a tomato and is known as tomatillo in other parts of the world. The Dutch apparently brought this gem to Indonesia.

It turns out many people urge removing the skin before doing anything with this "fruit," so I did as recommended. A quick blanche in boiling water followed by a quick ice bath and the skins slip right off.

The fruits can be reddish, yellowish, orangeish. I picked a package which was mostly red. It turns out, the yellow/orange ones are less bitter. I didn't read that until later.

The juice resembles a thick beet juice in color due to the seeds not the skin. You add water to thin it. I mixed my terong belanda juice with some green apple and lemon. It was quite tart so I needed to add a smidgen of honey. When diluted properly, it was a good tasting drink. However, the package I bought made 2 liters plus of juice. If I buy them again I'll buy a smaller package.

Another drink item is blue peaflower tea. The flower is apparently originally from the Ternate Islands of Indonesia but culinary use has spread across SE Asia and also Africa and even the Americas.

This makes a fabulous iced tea. I don't care for it as much hot. It is suggested to serve it iced with lime juice added. What's really cool is that once brewed the tea is blue. Add a healthy splash of lime juice and the drink turns a lovely lavender shade. Pretty! While I have a source for this tea here, I don't know that I'd be able to find it in the US.

Out and About

IMMIGRATION AND PASSPORTS

A bit ago we had to visit immigration to renew our KITAS residence permits. This place has an extremely small parking lot. Pak Oky dropped us off and worked his way around the building in the large line of cars who also could not park on site.  He picked us up later. We arrived super early as traffic was on our side that day. While we waited outside, we observed the greatest workout we've seen. Disclaimer: Don't try this at home. There are certain people who get to park anywhere even if there is no parking. Over and over people parked in front of the building. Mind you, they were doing this even though all of the spots were full. How? There was plenty of staff to literally push the cars around to allow previously parked cars to exit and new cars to park. With each departure, multiple cars—not just 1 or 2 cars— were pushed back in a series, the car wiggled out of its spot and another car pulled into the spot. Sometimes the driver was with the car or the parking lot helpers had the keys and actually drove the car, but mostly it was just pushing the cars around.  Remember one other time we couldn't find a place to park and Pak Oky pushed a car aside?  Everyone leaves their cars in neutral and without a parking break. It was very interesting to watch but is not a recommended method of strength training as far as we are concerned.

We recently visited the American Embassy to renew our passports.Neither was expiring any time soon, but we've filled them up pretty well.  Our new passports will automatically have 50 pages.  We had to make an appointment for the two of us. I should have read all of the fine print on the website and I would have left some items in the car. At the entrance we had to relinquish our cell phones, the 2 thumb drives and the phone charger I had in my purse. I'd left my tiny leatherman tool in the car but hadn't thought about the "electronics." The knife was apparently no problem. Once past security we took a seat in the American Citizens Services section and waited until they opened. They are open for passport and visa items from 12:30 - 2:30. We had a 12:30 appointment.

When called, we had our photos all ready, gave them our current passport, waited while they did some "research" and once cleared, paid the fees, got our current passports back and were on our way stopping to pick up the "electronics." It takes about 2 weeks to process the passport. Yes, if you are applying within the US it can take 6 weeks. When we get the email that the passports are ready, I will go back with both of our current passports. They will cancel the old ones at that time and give the old ones back to me as well as the new ones. This visit does not require an appointment however you must visit the Embassy in the window of 2:30 - 3:15 daily. I was very surprised there is only a 45 minute window each day for this process. I will have to draft a letter from B giving me permission to pick up his passport so he can sign it. Once we get them back we will have to change our passport numbers anywhere they are recorded  and also get our KITAS information switched to the new passports. Much red tape. (Late breaking news:we received an email they were ready 1 week and 1 day later. P went to pick them up and we are ready to convert our KITAS to the new passports.Further update prior to actually releasing this post: we had the KITAS information switched to the new passports but apparently we will need to now carry both passports for each of us. We are still checking this but it appears we will have to do it. It is a rather thick bundle of passport. B thinks we will only have to do it the first time we leave the country. My "friend network" says we will each have to carry both of our passports until our KITAS is renewed again next April! Not a happy thought.)

INTERESTING SIGHTS
I thought this tree was interesting. I see so many trees being cut down around town. Hope this one gets to stay.

The saga about the alternative "taxi" methods here continues. I snapped this photo of two GrabBike drivers. These are scooter taxis which you can book online. It's the same as Go-Jek scooter taxis. Some of these companies even provide a helmet to the passenger. We don't use the taxi scooters.

An interesting palm in front of our building.

On a recent day in May the morning started out with a super hazy sky.

Back to Amsterdam-6 Miscellaneous

For lunch one day we headed to the Pancake Bakery. The ad for it said that is is "undoubtedly the best known and most preferred pancake restaurant in Amsterdam." It's a very small place located near the Anne Frank house. It claims to have over 100 different sweet or savory pancakes and omelettes on the menu. Even the building itself was interesting— a 17th C warehouse— and nostalgic. By nostalgic I mean a long, narrow restaurant, very dark with low ceilings and slippery floors. It definitely had character. Syrup of some kind in a giant cup.Yep, you dish it out with a large wooden spoon.

What's a Dutch pancake? Well, these are not like an American pancake or a puffy baked German pancake or a French crepe. Our "family pancake" is mostly egg and cottage cheese. These are thin but delicate. These Dutch pancakes are perhaps between German pancake and a French crepe? They are thin with a high egg content and very LARGE.

Mine was a ham and cheese pancake. A pancake topped with ham and cheese. B had a sweet pancake for lunch. (B note: pancake. Stroopwaffles, chocolate, banana, chocolate sauce and whipped cream- Yum!)

We had dinner a couple of times at the Chinese restaurant called the Sea Palace. It's a floating restaurant very near our hotel. This is said to be a copy of another floating restaurant in Hong Kong. However, legend has it that during planning, the engineers failed to take into account the difference in salt content of the water in Amsterdam and the weight of the people. As a result there was a buoyancy issue. If you believe the stories the restaurant cannot fill to planned capacity or it starts to sink. Beyond the history, the food was excellent.

We decided on Italian one night and I ordered a calzone. I didn't expect one quite so large! And the way they draped sauce over it, to me it looked like a lobster.

I got to have Dutch pea soup a couple of times— Yum! The tomato soup is excellent as well. One evening I had a "typical'" Dutch meal of white asparagus, small potatoes and ham.

Here's a new one for me: sparkling iced tea. I had this twice and have since had made it at home. Quite good and tastes a little different. Iced tea elevated to a new level.

More photos of Amsterdam... This appeared to be a private yacht! Wow! Even a helicopter pad!

We even saw horse drawn carriages. Notice, though, how the buildings in the background lean a little. Typical Amsterdam.

 Ship we toured at the Maritime Museum.__________________

An attempt at a photo to capture bridge arch within bridge arch, etc. Oh, well, difficult in a moving boat.

This was the most adorable car I've seen. It's called a Twizy, seats 2, is electric and apparently you can park it where you park bicycles and small scooters. I love how the doors open—up!

Back to Amsterdam-5 Tropen Plus

Our group went off in two directions one day. B and I headed for the Tropen Museum and "De 9 Straatjes" (aka the 9 streets), a multi-block shopping area with tons of small shops.

First, the 9 streets. We had perhaps the most interesting cherry pie I've ever seen . Looked a little like a pretzel on top, studded with rock salt but still a very nice cherry pie. (As the fork in the pie indicates, one had to kill it first :) ). You stood up around tiny tall tables to eat and there wasn't really any room. My paper plate was on a ledge and the pie slipped off the plate after a few bites. Pie finished.

I bought a pretty scarf and a pair of funky bamboo socks. Mostly, we just window shopped. along the way we did find a camera shop. BH and DH had broken the filter on their camera and were able to get a new one at this shop later.

In the sequence of events, the Tropen Museum came first. We took the tram and off we went. The building was built in 1926 to house the Royal Institute of the Tropics. Today it is still a leading facility for research in tropical hygiene and agriculture. The museum has a huge collection of colonial artifacts from Africa, India, Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and Central America. The galleries covering Indonesia were particularly of interest to us. There was lots of materials from Papua/New Guinea.

At a very interesting exhibit, I learned that when Dutch families were stationed here, it was the duty of the wives to communicate with the family back at home. The ladies had special stationery, a writing area and spent significant time drafting letters to let everyone know about their lives here in Indonesia. Back then it took months for letters to pass back and forth and often groups of letters would arrive all in a large batch. I continue that tradition by writing this blog and very often I create entries all in a bunch. Just like the old days, except delivery is practically instantaneous.

Also on this day B and I visited a quilt shop located at, get this, Nieuwezijds Voorburgwai 99. Even the Dutch abbreviate it to NV. I include some directions just because it's so interesting to try to pronounce it: South on Prinsengracht toward Westermarkt. At Westermarkt, turn left and continue on Raadhuisstrat. Turn left onto NV. Go about 180 meters to find the shop. I bought some tonal pale off white fabric (2-3 meters), a couple of packs of small squares of delft blue and white fabrics and a set of bright solid squares as well. I will do something with the blue and white I'm sure. The bright solids will go with all of the bright Bali Batiks I find.

Back to Amsterdam-4 Rembrandthuis

Rembrandt van Rijn lived in this home from 1639-1658. In this house he set up his own studio. His paintings were a success and he had the largest studio in Amsterdam. In 1642, a year after the birth of his son, his wife passed away and business went downhill. He had painted Nightwatch and those depicted had paid good money to be included in the painting. Some were upset that they were not front and center but had become background people. Orders for paintings, mostly portraits as they were very popular, drastically declined. He had more issues in his personal life and in 1659 declared bankruptcy. His house and his extensive art collection (he himself was a collector) were auctioned off. Rembrandt moved to another part of Amsterdam.

He did continue to paint, draw and etch. The etchings here at the museum are some of the finest ever done. He did get some additional commissions. Between 1663 and 1666, a plague epidemic killed his family and he died a year later.

We all really enjoyed this museum as well as the house itself. Included are many of Rembrandt's etchings, period pieces of furniture re-creating how the house was when Rembrandt lived there and even a recreation of the student studios. Rembrandt had a huge collection of "stuff" to be used for paintings. Everything from stuffed animals, to large seashells, crystal, to swords, plaster casts of human hands, feet, legs for students to study (and far cheaper than getting live models)... all sorts of stuff.

No pictures allowed, naturally, so no photos here inside. We could take photos of the outside of the building. It's the one with the red shudders.

The building was built in 1606. And this is the door Rembrandt used at the time. Today this door is blocked and you enter from the museum on the left of the house.

Our plan was to next visit a very old cafe, "famous" for how the building leans and also famous for views of a canal.The Cafe de Sluyswacht is a 17th C former lock keeper's house on the canal. We'd planned to have lunch there but they weren't going to open for another hour. You had to get at just the right angle to see how it leans. We'd seen buildings that lean more. Perhaps this is the only leaning cafe?

Rembrantplein- a square near the Museum. A statue of Rembrandt was erected there in 1876, In front of Rembrandt are multiple statues depicting the painting Nightwatch. There were too many people to get a good photo of this scene so I borrowed this one from the Internet. The statues were added to the square in 2006 on the 400th anniversary of Rembrandt's birth. The cast of Nightwatch traveled for a few years and then returned to the square.

Back to Amsterdam-1

We recently spent some more time exploring Amsterdam, The Netherlands with friends— BH and DH from Kentucky. We all had a great time!

It was a little chilly for the first part of the trip with lows in the upper 40s and highs around 60. Later in the trip it warmed to a pleasant 75 or so for a high. And... no rain even though it was predicted. We needed the rain jackets we packed to keep warm.

We stayed at the Doubletree by Central Station. It's a more western style hotel and the rooms are somewhat larger than typical European hotel rooms.

There is a Sky Lounge Bar on the top floor which apparently is a huge draw for young folk looking for an evening at a bar with a gorgeous view. The view was nice. We went up there late one afternoon to look out the windows.

Just as we did on our trip last year, we traveled everywhere by foot, tram or bus. It was nice to just be able to walk and walk for a change. Because this was our second visit, it was slightly easier to deal with crossing the multiple lanes for cars, bikes, buses, and trams. We saw this sign early in our visit.

In case you can't read Dutch, it explains that much of the transportation system was going to be shutting down during the day on 4 May because that night the King and Queen were going to be attending ceremonies at Dam Square in honor of Remembrance Day. This honors those lost in WWII. Most of the transportation goes through Dam Square and so, it was to be shut down. There were alternative routes for our travels that day even if less convenient.

As for activities, our first activity was a canal cruise to introduce our friends to Amsterdam.

We visited the Rijksmuseum and the Dutch Resistance Museum again. At both we saw things we'd missed on our last visit: at the Rijksmuseum, a large area with ceramics, silver and jewelry. It is a huge place and it really difficult to see everything in only one visit. The Dutch Resistance Museum has so much history. It was worthy of a second visit for us. Here are just a couple of amazing tidbits.

The number of people in hiding during WWII grew to more than 300,000 during 1944. Many people in the resistance were also in hiding. At the time, The Netherlands was densely populated so it seems impossible that so many people could have been living in hiding. Those in hiding also needed access to food, ration coupons, forged identity papers and money. Many small groups were formed that organized help for those in hiding. In 1943 the National Organization for Aid to Those in Hiding was formed. It was a vast network of regions and districts.

This was a very commonly used bicycle of the time. I wonder about the tiny front wheel.

Immediately after some labor strikes, everyone had to turn in their radios. The Dutch were not susceptible to the National Socialist propaganda. The Germans were afraid that English broadcasts might provide instructions in the event of an Allied invasion.  Under threat of severe punishment, about 80% of the radios are turned in. BUT, thousands disappeared under floors or in the backs of cabinets. People cobbled together all sorts of simple receivers so they could keep listening. Also, within a year, 150 new illegal newspapers appeared containing radio news.

Here's a photo of some homemade pencils.

After the museums, we did lunch and a little shopping. At some point we found some metalized fabric lined hot mitts for the kitchen. Most of the kitchen mitts you find these days are lined just with quilted fabric and the size of the mitts is huge. We brought a pair of proper mitts with us but they had long been in the "camping equipment" because they were so worn out. There were even small holes in them. We bought a pair locally, but Ibu Tin and I both agreed that they were not well insulated.  Most of the ones I've located recently seem to be for barbecuing, and made for very large hands. On this trip to Amsterdam we found mitts properly lined and for small hands. Yay! We also found the cutest little salt/pepper shaker set. We had purchased an inexpensive set but the plastic had cracked so we needed to replace them. Another great find.

Back to Amsterdam-2 Bag and Purse Museum and Alkmaar

Bag and Purse Museum This was really interesting and not just for the ladies. Lots of history was presented along with the bags and purses. In addition, the museum is the former home of an Amsterdam mayor and was built in 1666. A really cool house!

The oldest "bag" in the museum dated from the 16th C. It was goat leather. It was organized with the oldest bags on the 4th floor. As you worked your way down, the bags got more and more modern.

To name just a few interesting bags:  one was the size and shape of a dachshund, one looked like an chocolate sundae, one looked like a cupcake.

I appreciated the older items much more than the most modern items which fell into a category called street couture.

For me, the most interesting displays discussed something called a "work bag." There was a time when every respectable woman was expected to spend her free time on fine needlework. The lady's "work bag" was indispensable. She kept her needlework and sewing materials in it. The "work bag" was often taken on visits and it was not uncommon for the ladies to work on their items from their bags while taking tea together.

From the 1770s onwards, the most popular "work bag" was a flat rectangular bag that closed at the top with a drawstring. They were mostly made of satin and were embroidered or decorated with ribbons, foil and sequins. The bags could be purchased already decorated or decorated by hand by the owner.

The ladies in my group, Needle Nomads, continue this tradition. We all have some sort of "work bag." This is mine:

My friends do have little thread cutters on a ribbon, a small pair of scissors, a needle book or case, etc., but I haven't seen anyone I know wearing one of these:

On the left is a chatelaine dating to about 1740 (from Amsterdam). Made of silver. On it's right is a chatelaine made of polished steel and gold decoration and dates to the early 19th C ( from England).

These must have been heavy!

Alkmaar
There are certain traditions that have been going on for a long time in The Netherlands. One of those traditions is a cheese market. These have been going on for centuries and continue today (but perhaps only for tourists).

Our group decided to take the train from Amsterdam to Alkmaar to observed the Friday morning Cheese Market in the quaint village of Alkmaar about 40 minutes north of Amsterdam. After the train was a walk to the center square for the festivities. The Cheese Market here has been running since at least 1634, possibly earlier. I don't know what the schedule was back then, but today it's held on Friday mornings. This is where cheese sellers would bring their goods and buyers could sample the cheese and make purchases. I would say by the size of the cheeses, buyers would mostly be wholesalers today.

Did we enjoy the Cheese Market? The short answer is no. The layout makes it impossible for anyone to see much of anything despite the fact that there was a giant video screen showing the proceedings. Part of the problem was the number of tourists all trying to watch the events. The other issue was that the square wasn't built for an audience. The area surrounding the center square actually slopes away from the square itself making it especially difficult for folks to see.  The photo above was copied from the Internet. We could not see anything like this. Maybe we picked an extremely busy time of year due to the Keukenhof event, but I don't think I would recommend this activity. There are other towns that also hold a Cheese Market, so maybe a different one would have been better.

Did we enjoy Alkmaar? Yes, definitely. It was quaint. We had cold drinks in the sun at a nice cafe, we shopped in some shops. D introduced me to a brand of shoe called Romika. I bought a pair! We enjoyed browsing in a store that was a blend of a hardware store and a kitchen store.One of us who had been craving ice cream enjoyed a cold treat.

Back to Amsterdam-3 Keukenhof

At this time of year, Keukenhof Park is open and this was a must see on any list. Now, I know why. Wow and wow!

Some park history first. Keukenhof means "kitchen garden." The park dates to the 15th C when a countess gathered fruit and vegetables from the woods and dunes for the kitchen of a castle ( 1401-1436). Another castle, Keukenhof Castle, was built in 1641 and the Keukenhof estate grew around it eventually covering 200 hectares (almost 500 acres). The castle gardens were re-designed in English landscape style in 1857 by the same duo who designed Vondelpark (see previous Amsterdam trip information). In 1949, 20 flower bulb exporters conceived a plan to use the estate for a permanent exhibition of spring flowering bulbs.The park opened to the public in 1950 with 236,000 visitors that year.

Today, Keukenhof Park is open for 8 weeks annually. It is an international showcase for the Dutch horticultural sector and still emphasizes flower bulbs. Some stats: 7 million bulbs, 100 bulb companies, 500 flower growers, 800 tulip varieties. All of this sits on 32 hectares (~80 acres) of flower gardens plus separate flower shows of orchids, tulips and lilies. One source said it was the most famous and largest flower park in the world.

The easiest way to visit the park is actually to do a bus tour. We walked to the tour office,and were led on foot to the loading area for the buses. On the way to the park, we stopped to visit some fields of blooming flowers

On arrival at the park we were turned loose to visit the park on our own. We were to be back on the bus at a specific time.

The bulbs are all planted the previous autumn, overwinter and bloom in the spring. We learned there are only 30 gardeners who do the planting. All of the bulbs are dug up in summer. We aren't sure if the dug up bulbs are then sold or stored and re-planted. We tried to get a clear answer to this question but weren't successful.

Aside from seeing all the great flowers, you could buy all kinds of bulbs and we were offered a free bag of dahlia bulbs on our "tour." We declined the dahlia bulbs as we were pretty sure we wouldn't be able to bring them into the country anyway. Our tour guide said they used to give away free tulip bulbs but tulips don't do well in hot, humid climates and they got complaints from guests.

B recognized our tour guide as soon as he saw her. I needed to hear her speak for recognition to set in. It was the same guide that led our tour of the windmills, etc., at Zaanse Schaans last year. She had a very distinct pattern of speech and it was instantly recognizable.

The overall theme at Keukenhof this year was the Golden Age. Some of the types of gardens at Keukenhof included: Inspirational, Delft's Blue, Romantic, Sensory, Beach ( including frittilaria), Vintage. When I saw it I commented that I thought the plant was something called frittilaria. Don't ask me how I knew that, but I did. I don't understand labeling this garden as Beach. Hmmm. I'm not sure I understand the Golden Age designation either. It doesn't really matter, though, the place was gorgeous.

There was also a windmill. You could climb the interior stairs to a platform where you overlooked a field of blooming flowers. Pretty.

Lastly, there was a calliope. We walked past it on the way to get some hot chocolate ( excellent by the way) and it was still working. After the hot chocolate it had closed down for the day. 

For those of you who can't see enough flowers, here are two videos of more photos. The second one is just orchids. Same reminder as always: you may not be able to see the videos on small, handheld devices.