This Is My Station

Traveling is like flirting with life. It’s like saying, ‘I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.’ (Lisa St. Aubin de Teran)

The last of my Belgium photographs…

One of the most beautiful churches I’ve seen ever. This is Basilica of the Holy Blood in Bruges, Belgium.

Originally used for flour, Laura says.

What a coincidence!

The original Godiva store!

Jet lagged.
Oh mama!
Haagen-Dazs ice-cream was everywhere in Japan! I bet my Japanese friends and students would love this cafe.

An Inside Look At A Belgian Supermarket

Guys, we have a winner! This Belgian supermarket is unreal. Mainly for two reasons. One, they have testers. But not just any old testers. Testers that are in every supermarket section, changed daily and refilled to keep full during all shopping hours. Yes, you read right. Amazing, isn’t it?! Second, and probably most important, they don’t use plastic bags. Instead, they have a unique trolley system to “bag” items at the cash register. You’ll see both as you scroll down under…

I found the exterior of the shopping centre quite strange. There are no signs of this place being a supermarket. Nil. Zero. Laura says they save on advertising etc this way.

Unlimited snickers! So dangerous!

Raw cashews.. nomnomnom can have these instead.
Cheese and olives! Oui!

Call me Captain Obvious but mandarin…
Grapes 
And cherry tomatoes in the fresh produce section.

These are to do with Belgian culture. I’m sure you’ve heard of Belgian fries (NOT French, Laura says), well, these are some of their hundreds of sauces! Including bucket-fulls of mayo! Erghk!

And here is Laura’s dad’s bottom kindly showing us the 0-plastic check-out system. So. The clerk takes the items from your trolley and puts them into another trolley. (I found this interesting as the clerk would be reaching and bending while customers just stood there -not necessarily a bad thing, just an observation.) After that’s done, the customer pushes the other trolley out of the supermarket where they’re then free to unload their groceries straight into their car, bicycle or personal bag.

Vegetarian Food In Europe

Apparently California is the place for vegan and vegetarian food but compared to NZ and Japan, Europe is pretty good, too. Mostly Belgium and Switzerland though not so much Spain and France. Here’s a list:

Moon Food (Brussels, Belgium)
This place is completely vegan. There are two buffets, one cooked and one raw. You fill your plate then pay as according to weight. This is also the case for the next two places (Hiltl and Vert). Moon Food was probably my favourite restaurant. The interior is so pretty! Wooden and minimalistic. I wished so bad to be living and working in Brussels just so I could take my lunch breaks here. EVERYDAY. Laura also loved it and she’s not really into vegan.


Raw pizza. 
Raw Lasagna

Hummus (I can hear Oz singing the hummus song)


Featuring zoodles (zucchini noodles), raw felafel, guacamole and slaw.




Hiltl (Zurich, Switzerland)
According to “Guinness World Records” Hiltl is the first vegetarian restaurant in the world. The company was founded in 1898 by Ambrosius Hiltl and is now run by the fourth generation of the Hiltl family. It offers around 500 dishes and includes, in addition to the à la carte restaurant and Hiltl buffet, self-service and takeaway, a bar-lounge, a club, a cooking studio and a shop. The interior is really extravagant. White with hanging chandeliers. Definitely a place to take your mother. Some also do breakfast.

Featuring edamame salad, dahl, lentil salad, mango and pineapple.

Vert Attitude (Geneva, Switzerland)
Probably the most expensive but rightly so. The food was of the highest quality and delicious. Only problem, the lighting isn’t good for an Instagram-worthy image (hehe)

(Obvs not my photo – my plate, which is not pretty enough to post here contained broccoli salad, carrot salad, guacamole, lentil salad and dahl dal or dhal)

Greenway (Ghent, Belgium)
Both vegan and vegetarian options: wraps, burgers, salads etc. But it’s a chain so it’s not THAT great. But it’s good still. It has a Subway vibe like it’s cozy and colourful but it’s not a restaurant.

Maison Blunt (Zurich, Switzerland)
Just had a soy chai here but it was goooooood. Also the interior, very moroccan very cute. Free wifi (no password), comfy couches and many vegan and vegetarian options (some meat dishes too shhhh!).

Others:
These I did not have the time, stomach-space or money to try out. But, they’re on my list. Maybe you’ll get to try them on my behalf:
Qibi (Geneva, Switzerland)
YOGIFOOD – The Power of Raw (Geneva, Switzerland)
Avalon (Ghent, Belgium)
Dolma (Brussels, Belgium)

The Brussels Waffle

I’ve eaten a lot of things this Europe trip. Like, a lot. My jeans can attest to that. But even with the tighter jeans, I am glad and grateful to have been able to consume so much deliciousness. Especially when there are literally billions going without food every day.

I ate in Spain, France, Switzerland, and Belgium (Italy and Greece will have to wait for me and my future husband).

Food is just incredible in this continent. This is because, the majority of our favorites derived here: fries, waffles, pizza, crepes, etc.

Though I can write pages upon pages listing the delicacies I gobbled up here, only three of these have actually blown me away. As in, whoosh and into dreamland where my only wish of my sparkling fairy godmother was that my real mother could also taste this or that.

1. Ham, cheese, and lettuce French baguette.

2. Brussels waffle topped with strawberry and Nutella.

3. Handmade pistachio macaroon from a local market.

Forget Spanish churros, Belgian fries or Swiss chocolate. Forget cheese, olives, paella. Godiva? Lindt? Who needs them! My three, those are the ones I vouch to never forget. If I could marry one, well, let’s just say I’d have to first change gender, second religion and third, get used to pampering three women.

Do we really want to travel in hermetically sealed popemobiles through the rural provinces of France, Mexico and the Far East, eating only in Hard Rock Cafes and McDonalds? Or do we want to eat without fear, tearing into the local stew, the humble taqueria’s mystery meat, the sincerely offered gift of a lightly grilled fish head? I know what I want. I want it all. I want to try everything once. (Anthony Bourdain)

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Belgium Equals Bricks

Really, I have never seen so many bricks! And not your regular bricks but these tiny tiny teeny ones. So far, I have visited Brugge and Ghent. Today, we will sight-see Brussels and tomorrow, I will fly back to Switzerland.

Laura and her family have been so sweet to me. Speaking of sweet, my very first Belgian experience after arriving was being driven to one of the world’s largest chocolate factories. It was 9 or 10pm and all we did was park outside and sniff. I kid you not, that’s all that was required. We didn’t have to taste any. We didn’t have to go in. For I have never ever smelt anything so sweet and delicious. If only you were there. #chocolateminusthecalories

Last night, I found myself feeling homesick again. I messaged my mom and called my special friend and then I felt better. Though I couldn’t quite articulate my homesickness. I don’t know, something to do with continously being on the move. Though these days, every day is literally an exciting adventure, I still find myself longing for familiarity and routine. You know when you go on a holiday and nearing the end of it, you kinda can’t wait to go home and get back into the everyday? Well, it’s kinda sorta exactly like that except I’ve been travelling for 2 years (hehe). Yeah yeah I know, first world problems.

This morning, I came across a Simon de Beauvoir quote which perfectly describes it, this feeling of contradiction: “I am awfully greedy; I want everything from life. I want to be a woman and to be a man, to have many friends and to have loneliness, to work much and write good books, to travel and enjoy myself, to be selfish and to be unselfish… You see, it is difficult to get all which I want. And then when I do not succeed I get mad with anger”

Behold, the bricks: