Europe
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The Explorer
The Story Begins
I’ve been traveling before I realized I was traveling, that is when I was 2 months old. I was born in the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta. However, I am originally from West Sumatra, – located on the western part of Sumatra Island, almost 2 hours by plane from Jakarta, or 30 hours by bus or car across the fifth biggest island in the world named Sumatra, then take a 2-hour ferry to land on Java Island, it’s not finished yet. Still, there’s around 3 3-hour road trip to reach Jakarta city.
After 2 months of giving birth, my mom brought me back to West Sumatra by plane. It was my first flight experience, and I only heard my mom’s story, of course, I can’t remember anything from my first flight since I was still a newborn baby.
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Hageslag, Drop and Dutch
Besides Raw Herring, the Dutch have another unique concept of bread. Meanwhile, the rest of the world eats bread topped with peanut butter, jam, Nutella, butter, and slices of tomatoes or bacon, honey, or salad. The Dutch eat bread topped with Hagelslag.
What is HAGELSLAG??
Choco sprinkles is called hagelslag in the Netherlands. And don’t be surprised, eating bread with sprinkles is not only in the Netherlands. Indonesia and the Netherlands share a special relationship during their colonial interaction for centuries, so, it also applies in Indonesia.
In Indonesia, we don’t call it Hagelslag, but we call it Meises derived from the muisjes word in Dutch which means little mice. Little Mice?? The Dutch named it. Sounds weird, huh?? It’s Dutch, by the way … If it’s just normal and not weird, then it is not Dutch, Whooopsie!!!!
However, I have a unique hagelslag experience in this Dutch/Indonesian way. When I moved to Singapore to continue my studies in 2004, I became so confused, how come it seemed so hard to find Choco Sprinkles in supermarkets or grocery stores, especially in the Bread or Breakfast section? I had to ask the shopkeeper then they led me to the baking aisle, not too far from the flour, chocolate chips, cocoa, and sugar.
I found it funny, so, only in Indonesia and the Netherlands we can find sprinkles on the bread section along with jam and Nutella?? Even Germany, the closest neighbor doesn’t have this habit, they have their version of eating bread. Outside Indonesia & the Netherlands, people use sprinkles for ice cream, cake, or donuts, For Indonesian and the Dutch, we eat sprinkles with bread and butter for breakfast or meal.
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The Art of Eating Raw Herring
I used to be a semi-vegetarian for a few years where I only ate fish and chicken, I avoided eating red meat as best I could, I felt better back then. In 2015, I’m thinking of being semi-vegetarian again, with no more red meat. Since I moved back to West Sumatra, where red meat and Rendang are everywhere here, I just couldn’t resist…. Yeah, it’s just my excuseAs a Pisces, I like to eat fish and am a big fan of seafood, Sushi with raw salmon. Sometimes, I feel like a cannibal with that. Eating my own ‘species’. Okay, okay forget about the zodiac because in the Chinese horoscope, I’m into 4 legs group.
When I heard the Dutch have a unique cuisine related to fish, it intrigued me a lot and I put this on my-to-do list in Holland. It called ‘Hollandse nieuwe, “new” raw herring’.
In my country, Indonesia, we have ‘gorengan’ for snacks. Gorengan is oily food and of course, it’s not highly recommended to eat every day, In the USA or McDonald’s, they have Burger which is a very high-carb kind of snack, I like the Netherlands with its healthy Omega3 Snack.
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Funny Signages on the Road
Discovering ‘awesome’ texts and graphics while traveling abroad might be one of my favorite activities. My Visual Communication background teaches me to be aware or critical of typography, logo, mascot, or whatever object I meet surrounds me.
I see simple things closely and love to analyze them, secretly critiquing café menu, signs, billboard, ads, or whatever catch my eye. I collect some catchy signs and feel guilty if I never share them in the blog sphere.
Most of this collection I found in the Netherlands, Germany, and Singapore a few years back. Are you similar to me or us?? Do you happen to love capturing ‘funny’ signs on the road? Let’s join the club.
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Delft-a-Day: How to Do Delft in 24 Hours or Less
Hello Vermeer
I’ve finally been to Delft before I left The Netherlands. As an art lover who’s not foreign to a famous Dutch painter in the 17th century named Vermeer, it’s just like a pilgrimed journey for me! I wrote an essay about him on my Survey of Art subject ages ago, it was the first time I admired his girl with a pearl earring painting.
Vermeer is known as the master of light, with its camera obscura method of painting in positioning composition and perspective effect.
Girl with a pearl earring 
Vermeer’s painting.
Delft is a city with a fascinating history, known for its connection to famous figures like Vermeer and Van Leeuwenhoek. Fun fact: Vermeer, the renowned painter of “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” was born and raised in Delft. So, if you’re an art lover, you’re in for a treat!
But Delft is not just about the arts. It’s also home to the world’s oldest microbiology lab, thanks to the brilliant scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. Imagine walking in the footsteps of a pioneering microbiologist while exploring the city. Now that’s a unique experience!
Raw Herring
In Delft, I tried eating a typical Dutch fish. It’s called haring fish. On my Enkhuizen trip, I had eaten a smoked haring which I liked so much, but this time with all my bravery I tried to eat this uncooked fish. Can you imagine, it serves without cooking, it’s just fish and garlic on it.
Rondvaart Delft or Delft Tour
Aware that I couldn’t spend much time, I decided to embark on a canal tour in Delft, namely Rondvaart Delft. Please have a look at their website if you want to explore the canal in Delft City by boat. The website: Home – English – Canal Cruises Delft (rondvaartdelft.nl) .
You don’t need to worry about the language barrier, these two tour guides are bilingual, and they explained the history of Delft City and the canal in Dutch and English. It felt like I was brought to the golden age of the Netherlands. The boat ticket cost me around 6 euro for 1 hour trip.
Tour Canal Guide While guiding us in the boat, they described the history of Delft, from Vermeer to Antony van Leeuwenhoek, and Herring Fish. During the Delft canal tour, we passed the father of the microbiologist house, van Leeuwenhoek. Another interesting story from their story I’ve heard was, long before; there was an old tax system in Delft that Delft people had to pay taxes for how many windows they had in a house. Meaning, more windows and more money to spend on government tax.
So based on our guide stories, there’s one stingy Delft resident who made a hidden window in his house, in the time of explaining, one of these Dutch guides pointed out some windows attached to a hundred years of Delft buildings. It was great to get an instant knowledge about Delft in an hour of canal tour. Passing the canal, they also showed us some copies of Vermeer paintings, and when we passed the Vermeer painting’s view, they showed us the differences between now and then. Unbelievable, not much difference between the real one versus hundreds of years of Vermeer artworks. It’s like stepping into a real-life Vermeer painting, this city is amazing, Ik Hou van Jou Delft.
Anyway, interestingly, we also passed TU/Delft students who were having a good time in the canal. They were smiling, greeting us, and even cheering us with the beer. It was August when orientation periods started at many Dutch universities.
Getting to Know Delft
Delft is a city filled with narrow alleys, charming canals, and picturesque streets. Oh, and did I mention the blue ceramic? Delft is famous for its Delftware, the beautiful blue and white pottery that has become a symbol of Dutch craftsmanship.
The weather was great, the sun was shining… I DO love Delft. You must put this city on the list when you visit the Netherlands. On the market here, I found many interesting Delftware and miniature souvenirs, seriously, it’s interesting I don’t mind shopping for kind of these mini souvenirs, it doesn’t cost that much, only around 0.50 cents to 5 euros, thus buying miniature don’t give much space in my luggage.
Streetlight in Blue Pottery I met an Indonesian woman who owned a souvenir shop that afternoon, it’s just cool, and then we spoke in Indonesian. We had a basic conversation such as asking how long I’ve been in the Netherlands, when I’ll be flying back to Indonesia etc. I bought some of her souvenirs to close our conversations. Leaving her souvenir store, I smiled at myself, The Netherlands, and Indonesians are everywhere here.
Full of History
Since I’d only spent a few hours in Delft, I’ve not seen quite much, but I need to share what I’ve captured during my short time. This picture is Nieuwe Kerk. I think it’s the tallest building I’ve seen in Delft, it just reminds me of Dom Tower in Utrecht. It was built in 1398 and completed in 1496. Wow, 100 years needed to build this 75-meter church tower!! Located on the Delft market.
Nieuwe Kerk At first, I noticed there was something wrong with this church. Every time I captured images of it, I couldn’t get sharp vertical buildings. It’s always lean vertical building instead of straight images.
getting lost in the charming alleys.
Dutch royal families were buried here.The latter, I know the problem. The problem is not in my eyes or camera; however, the church tower is lean by default, stop blaming my eyes. :D. The clock at the top of the church has incorrect Roman numerals, they made ‘I’ in Roman instead of IV.
Anthony van Leeuwenhoek and Vermeer were buried in this Oude Kerk. Amazing, this church is 800 years old. I miss this old city atmosphere, in every city of the Netherlands, we’ll hear the church knell rings every 15 minutes. It’s enough to give some melodies in my ear while staying here, I don’t need an iPod to plug my ears with music, I enjoy the sounds around me.
Not far from The Prinsenhof Museum, I found the Indonesia Museum. How cool is it that my country is thousands of miles away from the Netherlands, but I found traces of my country in this foreign country.
Let’s talk about the Nusantara Museum. Now, “What’s so special about a museum?” Well, this is no ordinary museum. The Nusantara Museum is a hidden gem that will transport us to the vibrant world of Indonesian art and culture. Get ready to be dazzled by beautiful artifacts, intricate exhibits, and a truly immersive experience.
Yay, there are many Indonesian traces here. Again, unfortunately, I didn’t have much time to enter what to see inside the museum. The museum was GESLOTEN when I arrived. Delft, I will be back to see you again…
When you visit Delf, make sure you have your camera or phone fully charged and ready to capture all the Instagram-worthy moments. Ah, the hidden gems of Delft! While the canals and iconic landmarks may steal the show, there are plenty of secret treasures waiting to be discovered in this charming Dutch city.
Typical Delft Canal
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Indonesisch Restaurant
Over half a century has gone by, since the separation between fatherland and motherland, nasi goreng, gado-gado, kerupuk, sambal, tempeh, kecap and sate are quite familiar in the Dutch society, it is already part of Dutch cuisine. This is one of the positive thing of colonialism for me.
As today’s generation, when I was in the Netherlands and seeing pieces of my country in The Netherlands makes me feel like home and I love Holland. One factor why I put the Netherlands as one of my favorite countries in the world, because I don’t feel foreign in a foreign soil.
During my 3 weeks in The Netherlands, I captured some Indonesisch restaurants scattered around the country, and based on resources I got over the Internet, we’ll see, there are hundreds of Indonesian restaurants in The Netherlands.
It’s just nice to see pieces of your country in someone else’s country, isn’t it?? I feel so, it makes me feel at home. Well, I love traveling, and I don’t mind staying or living overseas for a very long period or the rest of my life, I didn’t experience culture shock at all when I first stayed In the Netherlands, I enjoy living in a multicultural environment, it makes my life more colorful. I didn’t feel homesick at all when I stayed in The Netherlands, but one thing I miss when I stay far away from my home country is the food, my Indonesian food.
From my experience living with multicultural friends, I do love tasting a variety of food, such as Indian, Japanese, Turkish, Vietnamese etcetera. I love food from all over the world, as long as they are not into bizarre food i.e., snake soup, animal testicles, monkey’s brain (reminds me of one of the episodes in the Indiana Jones movie) I don’t mind consuming ‘normal’ food from all over the world.
For me, every country has its unique taste in food, from its smell, looks, and whatever I can’t describe in a short sentence. However, from all of the food I’ve known in the world, Indonesian food is the best for me I always miss it wherever I go. Why?? The answer is easy because I grew up with Indonesian food, hot and spicy kind of food… It’s the best taste in the world. When I had dinner with my Western friends, I enjoyed watching them look so scared when I was so brave eating some chilly paddy or chili pepper, Eating these chilies, it’s like a Superpower for me!! I can do what you can’t do!! yes, eating hot and spicy food….
In this entry, I’ll share with you guys some Indonesisch restaurant photographs I captured during my short visit to The Netherlands… Genoten!!
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Excursion to Rotterdam
Free Train Ticket
As part of this summer course, we had the opportunity to visit Rotterdam. We embarked on Utrecht Centraal to Rotterdam Centraal which took approximately 40 minutes by train. Our meeting point was Utrecht Centraal, I had been queuing to buy our train ticket at the ticket counter with my Spanish housemate who was also my classmate. I stood behind my Spanish friend, standing straight and waiting for my turn to purchase my train ticket. Once my friend had done with his ticket errand, he shifted, and I replaced his position.
I talked to the ticket officer ‘Same as him, to Rotterdam, please.’
The ticker officer observed my face at a glance and asked: ‘Are you with him to Rotterdam?’
I replied ‘Yes, we’re together.’
With a nice smile he said while handing me a ticket ‘Here’s a free ticket for you.’
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Cinema Experience in the Netherlands
In The Netherlands, watching movies in the cinema has an intermission. To be honest, I received a bit of culture shock when I had my first cinema experience in Utrecht city.As a person who lives in Jakarta and Singapore, I’m used to massive cinemas, with big studio rooms and widescreen. In this city cinema, the building is very humble with neon lights, City is the cinema’s name. Look!! What a classic look!! Especially, with bicycles parking there, it feels like I was brought into 80ish movies.
