Since doing another blog about my trip would be a lot of work, I've decided to just copy my review from WhereIsAIF? I'm lazy, I know. Long read, btw.

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The One About Utrecht

I've been home from The Netherlands for almost 2 months now and this is the first time I will be blogging about my trips. Lakas talaga ng AIF.. Hehe.

I was sent to work in Utrecht by the bosses last year and I must say: this was the most rewarding experience of my life. But wait, where is "Utrecht" anyway? When people talk about The Netherlands, one place comes to mind, Amsterdam (baby!). No one ever really cares or knows about Utrecht. Come on guys, marijuana is ALSO legal here. Hehe.

Utrecht according to Wiki is.. the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the north-eastern end of the Randstad, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands, with a population of 300,030 in 2007.

So anyway, enough Wiki stuff, back to my story.

This is the Dom Toren. Will get to that in a bit.

HOME: When we first got there we spent the first week at a hotel. Four corners at approximately 150EUR a day. NOT for me. Enter, Oudegracht 238C. This was our home for the past 8 or so months. Not too shabby huh?

Sala

Closet

Kitchen and Bed
I was actually supposed to get another apartment but opted not to because the previous tenant reported that he would get locked inside the apartment from time to time. I certainly DID NOT want that so I asked Diane if I could bunk with her. Best part was that we were able to save since the rent was divided by 2! ;)

TRANSPORTATION: This is the land where bikes are a must, simply because owning a car is way too expensive. But who needs a car anyway?

You can find second hand bikes for as cheap as 50EU. I purchased my own bike but only got to ride it a few times because I couldn't ride it in the cold of winter and I kept falling off (2 accidents in a month). I got this for 180EUR. Ain't she pretty? =)

<3
It's so embarrassing to fall off the bike in the NL because the Dutch people were born to bike. They can ride the bike while holding a baby! Two babies even! Biking with no hands. Seriously. If you don't have/want a bike, it's also OK because there's the central station. You can take either the bus or the train to go anywhere you want, without the fuss. You can get tickets from the kiosks at the stations or online (http://www.9292ov.nl/). Yes, it's that easy. You just have to learn a few of the Dutch words such as arrival (aankomst), departure (vertrek); and you're all set.

Railways


@ The Utrecht Central Station

ENTERTAINMENT: Concerts left and right, what more can you ask for? Just be sure to check out the sites ahead of time to get tickets because they run out pretty fast. Ticket prices range from 20-200EUR. I used to think that the Dutch only know 2 genres: Trance and Hip hop. Glad to be wrong about that. I realized that the Dutch really like music and they are almost always ahead in terms of this. Well, compared to the Philippines anyway.



Rihanna, Jason Mraz and John Legend

Movies, on the other hand, are way too delayed (usually about 2-3 weeks); but we don't complain since you can Torrent everything nowadays. Ticket prices vary from 5-15EUR.

If you're into sports, the skating rink is a bus ride away and you can easily rent a hall for football or basketball. If you're into sports wherein you can still drink, there are billiard cafes and bowling alleys everywhere.


Skating @ Vechtsebanen


SHOPPING: In Utrecht, Thursday is "shop day". Stores would be open til about 9pm and the streets are packed with busy shoppers. As for the other days, stores are only open til about 5pm and on Sunday, everything is closed; unless it's December. Clothes are pretty expensive especially if your salary is Philippine based. The worst part is that Holland has 4 seasons while the Philippines has 2 (warm and warmer, hehe). I think I brought home about 5 coats, which I probably won't use again after a long time. Hassle. If you're into remodeling your home, there are a lot of home furnishing stores which offer unique finds but know that it'll really cost you.



PLACES TO SEE: A couple of blocks from our apartment is the Dom Toren. (I think Dom might mean 'stupid' and Toren is 'tower', haha). One gloomy Sunday, we decided to climb the 465 steps to the top, it was so damn tiring but definitely worth it. Here's the view from the top.


Dom Church: The tower used to be part of the Dom Church, and was built between 1321 and 1382. Part of the church collapsed in 1674 the Dom tower became a free standing tower.


Canals. The canals are lined with restaurants which offer everything from Thai food to tapas to yoga. It's nice to just sit there sometimes, watch people and boats go by.

The Canals

Museums. My biggest regret about living in the Utrecht is not being able to visit the museums. I only got to visit one museum, the Miffy (Dick Bruna Huis: http://www.dickbrunahuis.com/) one, and I loved it.


Enjoying the interactive movie.

Miffy (or Nintje as the Dutch would call her) is very popular in Utrecht.
I hate the fact that when you know you're going to live somewhere for a while, you put off exploring the place and then you realize that you've seen nothing yet when it's time to go. And you know what's even more annoying? The central museum area is just two blocks from our place, PLUS the office gives us allowances for these trips. Tsktsk. Maybe next time.

Bars. Utrecht is not Amsterdam, that's for sure. So finding a chain of bars/clubs is somewhat impossible. I've always wanted to go clubbing but never had the chance since nightlife is pretty dead in Utrecht. But no worries, Amsterdam and Den Haag is less than an hours train ride anyway. You can go there if you can't settle for a night at home, beer in hand. Beer prices are surprisingly reasonable (for me) because they have a lot of variety to offer. There's this one bar, Cafe Belgie, whose bar list is posted on the side wall. I think there's about a hundred or so beers listed there. To get the best one, do some research first or ask the bartender. After all, bartenders should know everything about booze. Personally I like Stella Artois or Hoegaarden or just your typical red wine.. =)

Rose beer: pink and sweet

Coffee shops. No, they do not serve coffee here. Just 3EUR sticks of happiness and maybe even some brownies. HAHA.


Cafes. Now this is where they serve coffee. Lavazza, Illys and whatnots. One of my favorite Utrecht cafes is Coffee Company (which is right along our street as well) maybe because of its cozy interiors and chewy chocolate chip cookies. Oh, they have wifi too, and free postcards! =D


DUTCH SPEAK: One thing I like about Utrecht or the Netherlands is that (almost) everyone knows how to speak English. During those 8 months, I made an attempt to study the Dutch Language. I failed miserably, of course, but I did get to learn a couple of phrases. Lucky for me, some words are actually close to the English langauge. "Good Morning" is simply "Goedemorgen" in Dutch. Close, but not as easy to pronouce. How to say "I love you"? "Ik hou van jou", pronounced as "Ik how van yo".. Sabi ko nga e, "Mahal kita" nalang.

FOOD: I hate/hated Dutch food. Everything on the menu was either deep fried or smothered with mayonnaise. I've also recently discovered that the canteen food being served on the 4th floor of our office building might be made out of horse meat + other meats. It's called Frikandel. You might want to check it out next time. It looks like this..

Image from: http://www.frituurbeer.nl/frikandel.jpg
HHmm, what else.. Belgian Fries. NY Pizza. Salads at McDonalds. No gravy at KFC. Drinks with gas/fizz. AND, snotty servers at Burger King. The definition of fast food and good service is always being put to the test in Utrecht; quite annoying sometimes.

Patat (Served the way I like it. MUSTARD!)

Chicken Terriyaki Pizza (No time to eat? Get a pizza.)

Ice cream @ Venezia Ijssalon
I don't know why but restos serving Asian cuisine usually costs more. Maybe because Asians have to eat hahaha. Just give the Dutch some Patat (Fries) and a beer and they're good.


Almost every Friday, my officemates and I preferred this tiny Chinese restaurant called Tai Soen. This is our happy place, where fried pork buns and sweet iced tea (no fizz) is served. Gawd, I miss it.. =) During the weekends, there's also our occasional lunch/dinner wherein the host volunteers to cook for a group of about 10 people. I miss that too. When we feel like treating ourselves to some real food we go to Gauchos for bottomless ribs. We're never afraid to get our hands dirty. ;)

There's probably a lot more things to discuss but I'm going to cut it short. No one would want to read a ten page blog about Utrecht anyway. All in all, I think that Utrecht is a pretty nice place to live in. It's a lot quieter than Amsterdam (not a lot of tourists), plus you can find almost everything. Some people wouldn't call this home, but it has been mine for most of 2008. One thing I realized is that, home is really where you make it.