Sao Darly

After doing some shopping at the Bijenkorf and around Beursplein, I walked to Rotterdam Central Station to pick up my mail next to the station. Then it was a walk toward Blaak Station for some sightseeing at my favorite cube apartment and the harbor. I spent five hours walking around town including doing some grocery shopping at China Town.

The weather was nice and I had the entire day off so there was no point to lock myself up in the apartment when I can be out and be the best tourist that I can be.

I had an appointment with my dental hygienist on July 28, 2009. It was a quick routine visit and I went to de Bijenkorf afterward for lunch and a little shopping around the city centre. On the menu for lunch was Thai curry chicken sandwich and I had to try it out if nothing else it was a good opportunity to examine the ingredients. I have this habit of trying out the food and then later try to replicate it in my own little kitchen.

De Bijenkorf Department Store in Rotterdam has a restaurant so shoppers can enjoy a range of food from sandwiches, soup, and salad, to international cuisine such as sushi. At lunch time you can select a variety of sushi which is not cheap with 7 pieces for 10 Euros. It would have been a better dining experience if the restaurant would provide real chopsticks than the cheap throw away ones which is not easy for me to handle the big pieces of sushi.

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I sent my Panasonic Lumix TZ5 to Laos a few weeks ago because I wanted Aunt Kian to have a nicer camera to take pictures of Boun Loy Vanh for Grand-Mama. Aunt Kian was fond of my camera and didn’t like using the smaller Canon Ixus 800 that I gave to her and Bee Bee (Aunt Phone’s daughter) since it was too difficult for her to use. I thought I could wait until April to buy a new camera and had my eyes set on Panasonic Lumix TZ7 since I fell in love with the TZ5 version. Then a few days before Valentine’s Day I found out about a surprise trip to Berlin. I had no choice but to shop for a new camera to take on a trip with me.

So, last Thursday I spent all day looking for the silver Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 all over the city. By dinner time I finally bought everything that I needed, an extra battery, a camera bag and 16GB SDHC card. There was no English manual that came in the box and I had to do the best I could with the settings and hope for the best. It’s a bigger camera than the TZ5 and packed with more features but I still like the compact TZ7 and will definitely get one in the near future. That way I can be a bit more discreet when making photos and clips. The above are test photos that I made with my new camera after a long day of running around Rotterdam. I rewarded myself with dim sum and stir-fry noodles for dinner.

I was out shopping yesterday, trying to find a good deal on after Christmas sale. I didn’t buy anything except for food and added on more calories with an apple pie at Bijenkorf department store. It was crowded in the city center with people looking for a good bargain. At least there was a sort of carnival set up all over town to cater to young children. I did run into a sign that made me think of Nye and took a few pics for her. NYE stands for New Year’s Eve but to me it was like Nye talking to me in hidden language.

The sun came out on last Saturday and the trees were dropping the snow on the ground. I thought it was a good day to do some grocery shopping in China town, stocking up on some chili peppers and shrimp paste, as well as other essentials. I ran out of shrimp paste more than two weeks ago but didn’t have the need for it yet since I couldn’t eat any tum for awhile. It was a bit cold so I bundled up like an Eskimo and went shopping with Johan.

He had to do some Christmas shopping for his family and I was looking for a good bargain on winter coat and maybe an outfit or two. We went to my favorite department store, the Bijenkorf and shop and shop and took a break for some coffee and cake. I had green tea and coconut cake for a late afternoon snack. After getting more energy I went through racks and racks of clothes and found a white blouse and a pants set with matching blazer at 50% off. I decided to be good to myself and bought them.

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Last Saturday I had an appointment with a Travel Doctor for my second shot of Hepatitis A vaccine at Beursplein Shopping Center. The first shot I took was on 12/07/2006 and lasted only one year. Since I will be going to Laos again in the near future it was recommended that I go back for a follow up. It was a year and a day later for the anniversary shot but it was quick and painless for 60 Euros. Not bad since I won’t have to get vaccinated again for this type of vaccine until 25 years from now.

Afterward, Johan took me for my favorite illy coffee and some windows shopping at Bijenkorf Mall. I saw one denim skirt that I like but didn’t buy it since I didn’t really need one at the moment and would rather send my Grand-Mama the money that I could have paid for the skirt. There wasn’t really anything that grab my attention in the entire store except for one black dress (above on the left). When I saw it I was like nice I could wear it. But after I saw the price for 549 Euros I had to walk away. I could feed my Grand-Mama for a few months in Laos for that dress.

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My date surprised me with one dozen roses on Friday night when he picked me up for dinner at my favorite Chinese restaurant. He also gave me a card but I am not going to tell you what was written on it. I don’t kiss and tell you know.

What does red rose mean? Hmm….

Sample pics of the Dim Sum Menu

A walk after dinner. Bad idea to take pictures after a full meal.

A more natural happy me.

I like to take a walk after a good meal. That way I can feel less guilty about eating so much and hope I can shed a few calories. It’s very nice to walk around Beurs Shopping Center on a Sunday night because there is no one around. You can just look around and feel the night air.

Me doing the best tourist pose

De Bijenkorf Department Store

Behind is the ABN – AMRO Bank

Beurs World Trade Center

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It was about two years ago when I tried Dim Sum. Now I can say I enjoy going to a Chinese restaurant and order a dim sum menu. After all those years of tasting different type of Chinese dishes, I can say I prefer various dim sum treats, especially the sea food ones.

The menu starts with this:

Follows with this delicious sea food treats:

Then continues with springrolls and something else:

More of sea food treats:

If you’re not full yet, then this fried noodles will help you to the finish line:

Still hungry? How about these?

I think I’m full now but how can I say no to delicious ice-cream?