Picnic at Zaanse Schans

Hello!

Zaanse Schans is very known and popular for its windmill and unique house architectures. It is very unique and eye catching. So here I am, visiting Zaanse Schans during the hot spring weather. Tourists from all over the world will visit this place to enjoy the beauty of windmills and see how the wind is transformed into several usages. There are also some museums and unique stores that sells the traditional things such as dutch wooden shoes, chocolate factories, cheese factories, and many more. 




In addition, if you visit in a good weather, you can bring your own foods and do picnic there! I visit Zaanse Schans when the weather is around 23 degrees and it was really hot, I could guarantee you that ice cream and cold water is all you need that time! But this is the perfect weather, when the skies are blue and the wind blows, you can see that the windmills are working while enjoying your food in the side of the lake. It was perfect. In addition, with this perfect weather, you could take great pictures too!

There are a lot of activities you could do in Zaanse Schans. Most importantly, leave before 4 or 5PM since all the windmills will stop working and people will start leaving after 5PM. So rather than being in the middle of the crowd, it is better to leave earlier. In addition, to enjoy the middle of the lake for a while, you can choose to go back to the starting point by using boat for only €1.00! If you don't feel like you want to visit the museums or you don't want to enter the windmills, you don't even need to pay to explore Zaanse Schans! The price for visiting each windmills are vary depends on the windmill that you are going to enter. But on average it costs €3.00-€5.00 per windmill. You can enter the wooden shoes factory and old Albert Heijn store for free too!

Zaanse Schans from the side.

Solo Trip to Dusseldorf

Hi there! This time I will tell you my experience to travel abroad by my own - yes, a solo trip to Dusseldorf, Germany. This is my very first time to travel abroad alone, literally for fun and shopping. I have been travelling alone out of town but never out of Netherlands alone. So here we go!

Actually travelling on your own is so much fun, since you can do whatever you want to do during the trip. You can rest on the way, or you can just enjoy the scenery. For an introvert such as myself, it is very helpful in recharging myself during the trip and be super energetic once I arrived. But the problem is I am direction blinded. Meaning, I am so bad in direction, not even in reading a google maps. Frankly speaking, I almost being left by my bus to Dusseldorf just because I could not find where flixbus is parked in Amsterdam Sloterdijk, and it is still the very beginning of my trip. In addition, I got lost several times in Dusseldorf, but so far, I enjoyed the time where I can stroll around. Important tips for a solo traveler (and a direction blinded like me): always have your charger and your powerbank with you. It is crucial!

First of all, I decided to go on solo trip since I was so tired with my thesis progress, so I decided to make a one day trip out of the country to enjoy new ambiance. I chose Dusseldorf since the bus ticket is cheap and it only takes 3.5hours from Amsterdam Sloterdijk, which is not bad. Second, expenses in Germany is way cheaper than Netherlands, so this is one of the best thing you could go to. Third, I want to go for shopping to several outlets where only Germany has and Netherlands doesn't.

Chashu Shoyu and Green Tea
@Na Ni Wa Noodles and Soups

Dusseldorf is very popular with its Japanese food, which I don't understand why. But I visited one of the most crowded restaurant, Na Ni Wa Noodles and Soups. I ordered Chashu Shouyu for €10.5 and Green Tea for €2.5. This is so delicious, trust me. The queue worth the taste. I ordered extra pork and that is why in the pictures it is full of pork. If you order the regular size, it only costs you €9.5. There are a lot of Japanese Restaurant around the area, if you have time, you could try the other restaurants. It seems legit and very attractive too!

After having your stomach full, now it's time for you to walk around the area. Since I want to know and explore more, I decided to walk around without using any public transportation. I did this because I want to know small things and look around - perhaps something catch my attention. I am so grateful that I decided to walk rather than taking public transportation because I ended up seeing little things, enjoying the birds chipped, listening to people singing and playing instruments, watching the ducks and swans swimming, and many more. Plus, the black swan is real. I saw it by myself. It is way too big and terrifying. I tried to come closer to take a picture, but I ended up terrified and take a blurry one.

There are a lot of things  you can see around Konigsallee. They have a lot of buildings, ponds, parks, and of course, many stores for you to do shopping! Konigsallee area is quite wide. If you walk a little further, you can see more stores that you might interested. In addition, they also provide you a lot of range of stores. From the branded and high end products, to the medium low end products that are still affordable. For you who missed the bubble milk tea a lot, you should visit Dusseldorf to get the Chatime since we don't have it in Netherlands!

Then if you want to get a peaceful mind and see the black swan in a close-up, you can visit the park named Hofgarten. It is so peaceful since you could do a lot of activities there and they provide you a lot of bench. In addition, just beside the park, you can see a lot of restaurants and cafes serving you beers and snacks to chill under a perfect weather.

Spring in Tulip Fields

Spring is on its way coming to Netherlands!
So Spring in Netherlands happened to start in the late March, but as people said, Spring in Netherlands is like riding a roller coaster - you never know what will happen next to the weather. Sometimes it is raining and windy, but on the other day you could expect a very very good sunny weather that is perfect for a walk. So make sure you always check your weather forecast before deciding what you are going to use on that day! 

Keukenhof, Lisse.

Enough about the Spring weather introduction. We should talk more about where to go during Spring! As The Netherlands is popular of its Tulip flower, it is a must for you to visit any tulip fields in Netherlands and experience the beauty of many kinds of tulips, including the colorful flowers that bloom and make your day! 

One of the most popular Tulip Field in The Netherlands is Keukenhof. Keukenhof is located in Lisse, one of the most popular places for the tulip fields with amazing views of lots of colorful tulips along the way to arrive in Keukenhof! Keukenhof offers the price ticket for €18.00 and they provide a very good services (including a very clean toilet and many refreshment places you can just chill around).


How to go to the Keukenhof?
Keukenhof provides a package ticket, where you can buy the ticket and bus ticket (round trip) for only €24.00, which is cheaper compared to buying the bus ticket and entrance ticket separately. But this is not from all cities. This facility is provided in Hoofddorp, Harlem, Amsterdam RAI, and Leiden. But worry not, you can just grab a train to those places and take the bus directly and it stops exactly in Keukenhof, so you don't have to walk that far from the bus station Lisse to Keukenhof - saving time, is it?

Alternatives of Tulip Fields in The Netherlands
The other alternatives that we could choose to go except Keukenhof is Tulip Field in Hilegom, Noordoostpolder, and Noordwijkerhout.

Nikita & Vivi

What to do in the Tulip Fields?
Basically you could do a lot of things. You can walk around and enjoy the beauty of the flowers and gardens, or you can find a good space to sit, relax and chill. Besides, you can also enjoy your lunch or snack time in some places since Keukenhof provides some restaurants and snack bars. They also provide cotton candy and ice cream too - which is nice during the hot weather. 

Keukenhof with Germany Buddy

In addition, come along with your love ones and take good pictures to memorize it. As the flowers bloom, your heart will bloom with the memories too, even if the flowers stop blooming. I am so lucky that I could manage to visit Keukenhof with my long lost friend in Junior High School. We've not seen each other for a long time and she's currently studying in Germany right now. It's perfect that she finally decided to visit The Netherlands during Spring time and we decided to visit Keukenhof together. No regrets at all~

Janji

Aku ingat betul janji yang kau ucap hari itu.
Janji yang kau lontarkan kala air mataku jatuh.

Engkau berjanji untuk hadir dengan frekuensi tertentu.
Namun kini kau hilang bagai debu.

Aku tak tahu;
Aku yang terlalu menuntut,
atau kamu yang lupa akan janjimu.

Yang aku tahu;
Kamu nyaman dengan hidupmu
Tanpa hadirku.

Ku rasa itu cukup bagiku.
Biarlah segala berlalu
dan dirimu akan ku kenang selalu.

Dan semoga kita masih dapat bertemu,
di lain waktu.

Rotterdam, The Modern City

It took me months to write about this city, not because I have nothing to say about this beautiful and modern city, but it really overwhelms me. Thinking about that this city becomes the most modern city in The Netherlands, like I have never thought that it becomes very modern because it had been bombed years ago. It amazed me, the fact that the city which had been bombed before becomes very modern, very unique, in which from the architecture, you could directly distinguish it and guess where it is, yes, the city of Rotterdam. The city where the famous Erasmus University is located. The city that is famous of their new colors and shades of architecture, yet this city did not lose their Dutch identity.

In some part of Rotterdam city, we can see clearly that everything is very modern, colorful, and new. But if you go to the center of the city, where you could see the uniqueness of the cube houses and their food market with the unique shape building are located, there it stands the strong church named Grote St. Laurenskerk. It tilts a bit, but it stands still throughout the bomb incidents.

Once you arrived in the Rotterdam Centraal (the station), you will see everything looks so different compared to another station. Then when you go out from the station, try to look around and see how each buildings stand tall and strong, very modern. In this city, you could see a lot of well-known companies such as Unilever, KPMG, and many more.

The first stop that I made is Cube House! They have a very unique of architectures, how they made the houses so colorful and unique. You can just walk around and see the surroundings, but if you want to take a look how the inside looks like, you can go to the museum and see the interiors and how everything is being organized inside the Cube Houses.

Cube Houses.

Not far away from the Cube Houses, you could see the unique upside-down-U-shape building. It is the Markethall, where the food stalls are there and you could choose whatever type of foods you would like to try. Plus, they have unique decorations right just inside. If you come inside the markethall, make sure that you look up and see the ceiling. Plus, see your surroundings, especially in the escalator, they made some timelines how Rotterdam changes in centuries.

Markethall.

 Right beside the Markethall, you could see the Ferris Wheel, where people queue in order to get the chance to take a ride and see Rotterdam in a higher perspective. Also, right behind the Ferris Wheel and beside the Markethall, there are a lot of stores they sell foods, books, souvenirs, and many more. Try to look for Pofferjes! It is one of the most popular Dutch foods hat you should try, and it is really worth to give a try!

Ferris Wheel.

 Lastly, pancakes! or the Dutch will say pannenkoeken! In order to eat pancakes, you need to search for Pannenkoekenhuis (or in English: Pancake House). I tried this pancake in the old pancake house in Barendrecht (around an hour from Rotterdam Centraal), and it is very delicious. It is an old pancake house, located in the Oude Maas (Old part of Barendrecht, where floods came so high; around the wall of the houses in that time). This pancake house has been there for more than 40 years, and they provide you a lot of range, either sweet or salty pancakes.

Pannenkoekenhuis.

All in all, if you have more time in Rotterdam to spend on, you could try to visit Euromast (one of the most popular tower in Rotterdam), Old Harbour (if it is not closed), and Erasmus Burg (or known as Erasmus Bridge). I did not get the chance to visit everything yet. But I have seen Old Harbour in a glimpse when I climbed up to the Cube Houses, and Erasmus Burg from the further when I waited for my tram to come. Erasmus Burg is very pretty at night in my perspective. So, don't miss your chance to visit this beautiful and modern city!

Tips and Tricks: Registration

After getting the house that you like and you are going to stay, it is time to prepare for the registration of new address. For the registration, what you need are your citizenship number or known as BSN (it consists of nine digits of number), your ID (verblifstitel), your rental contract, and forms that you need to fill the registration form from Gemeente.

First of all, you need to tell the landlord to give you the rental contract as soon as possible, because you can only register during workdays and if you are going to start your internship soon, you'd better register beforehand, so you don't need to take a day off from the company. Of course, bring your rental contract with you.

Secondly, ask your landlord to give you the form that stating they are allowing you living in their house and they will give you the form that you have to fill and also the form that they have filled with the copy of their ID. 

Third, make appointment with the Gemeente. Just google search the gemeente in where you are going to live, and you will find their website, and find how to make the online appointment. It is wiser to make appointment before you come, and fill out the form that mentioning that you are going to register and change address.

Lastly, you need to bring along your BSN and ID together with you during the registration process. Bring your passport just in case they want to check it. 

Pro tips, come earlier before your appointment time because you need to take the waiting numbers in the reception, and if you are lucky enough, you can do the registration earlier! Also, put everything in one file, so you don't need to find here and there and finish the registration faster since everything is in place. 

Tips and Tricks: Housing

Nah, the most important part after you know where you are going to work is finding a house to settle! So here are the important criteria that you need to know, so that you will find house that match your preferences but also fulfilling the requirements.

First of all, make sure that the house or room or studio that you are going to rent will be able to register you to Gemeente! It is important because you should always report where you are living to the local government. 

Secondly, try to ask around to your seniors or friends whether they know places that still can be rented with a cheap price or within your budgets. You can also try to find in facebook groups (and marketplaces) or with the property agencies in The Netherlands. But if you use agency, the chances will be lower since they need proves about your incomes, etc. and usually you will be harder to fulfill the requirements.

Third, think about the transportation costs. If you find a house that is cheaper in monthly payment, but your transportation costs becomes more expensive, you should try to reconsider that. Also, if your company pays for your transportation cost, usually based on the regulation in The Netherlands, it is only being reimbursed up to 22 km (or around €149.09) a month. Try to consider the pros and cons about this.

Lastly, if you are moving out and in, you can rent a van for around €55 per hour, or moving bit by bit by yourself (or with the help of your friends), or if it is close by distance, you can use uber van. Try to find alternatives before deciding.

It is wiser to move before your internship starts, so you can settle down, tidy up your stuffs, go on shopping for some missing stuffs that you might need to complete your staying in the new house. Also, you might need to go on groceries shopping so have some stuffs for at least your breakfast and dinner during your internship period. In addition, moving out and in will be very tiring, so by moving in advance, you can take a rest and explore your new city for a while before you don't have time to do so. 

Tips: Find the furnished housing, so you don't need to spend extra money to buy other furniture and you could allocate the money to somewhere else.