Walking around Den Haag in search of the train station

From Mauritshuis we followed the signboards towards Station Centraal.

Like many other European cities, Den Haag also has a cafe culture. Since it's summer, lots of place offer alfresco dining.




We got a little bit sesat... but that's the nice thing about going on your own, we discover new things, new sights.

City skyline in the background

We know that we're in Nederlands when we see canals...

Eventually we saw the tram lines and we knew that the station was nearby...

Finally... Station Centraal

A common sight around Nederlands... bicycles, bicycles everywhere!

Mauritshuis

I wanted to visit this museum because it houses the famous "Girl with a Pearl Earring" painting. I'm not an art connoisseur... and if not for the movie starring Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson, I wouldn't know about it pun, hehe...

Before datang, I had done some research and discovered the Museumkaart pass which gives you access to all museums in Nederlands untuk selama setahun. It costs about 35euros... mahal tapi lepas kira-kira, it will be cheaper to buy the pass instead of paying separate admissions. Plus, the thing boleh guna setahun and we can pass it to Faz when we're done with it.

The museum isn't very big. It was previously the home of a rich merchant. Dia donate the house together dengan segala harta to jadikan museum.

Johannes Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl Earring

Rembrandt, Self-Portrait

Peter Paul Rubens, Old woman and a boy with candles

Johannes Vermeer, View of Delft

The building itself is an artwork. Rich decor... grand staircase... velvet walls. Tapi cannot take pix inside so nothing to show.

View of the museum from outside

Spent about 40 minutes exploring the museum. Next destination... Delft. But kena cari train station dulu...

Around the museum

Den Haag... Binnenhof and more

"Betul ke you all nak pergi jalan ni?" asked Faz. "Lan... these girls are hitting the ground running... nak pergi Den Haag and Delft" she told her hubby. Azlan just looked at us like we're a bunch of crazy women.
"You all tak penat ke?" he asked.
"If we stay in, we'll fall asleep... and nanti get jet lagged. We might as well go jalan2 and see the place" I explained. "Don't worry... we've done this before" I assured him.

You see, we've just landed at Schipol airport that morning. Azlan picked us up and after some clever manouvering, we managed to put in all our suitcases and bodies into their car. I had to peluk the stroller all the way to Den Haag, hehe. Actually, Skinner and I wouldn't have minded at all to take the train and meet them there, but they insisted and we managed to somehow squeeze everything and everyone in.

After taking a shower, minum teh, makan biskut Albert Heijn yang sedap... I told Faz that we want to go see the city and after that head for Delft. Good thing that it was summer... the days are long. After some instructions regarding the tram system, belek peta and and instructions on how to buy ticket... "You should get the Strippenkaart, that's cheaper" was their advice... off we went!


Den Haag is the proper Dutch name for The Hague. It isn't very big... the 3rd largest city in Nederlands after Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Den Haag is actually the actual seat of government (the parliament is here) but it is not the official capital of Nederlands... you tell me, am confused myself. The Queen lives and works here... yes, Nederlands has a royal family, known as the Oranjes.

Those of you who are familiar with international judiciary system would know that Den Haag is also the seat of the permanent International Court of Justice (alaa you know... the place where Malaysia and Singapore will go to fight over Pulau Batu Putih). There are many other international legal organisations that are based here.


Since it was already noon, Skinner and I decided that we'll be very focused and visit the key sites je. Some of the places I wanted to see were the Mauritshuis and the Binnenhof. So with the aid of the guidebook, we explored the city. Nasib baik lah juga ada banyak sign boards :)

The first thing I saw as we got out of the tram station was this... it's a restaurant. Quirky name ;)

Guided by the signboards, we went in search of the Binnenhof (the parliament). Sambil jalan tu, we heard bells and chimes ringing in a musical tune. Rupa-rupanya it's tanda menunjukkan waktu. Throughout Nederlands, the clock towers don't just go "dong... dong... dong...". Instead, they chime a tune... very nice :)




[You can listen to the tune - click on the file below. Tapi silly me had recorded it in portrait mode... so the image is "terbaring" ;p]




The streets of Den Haag are cobbled and narrow. You can feel that this was once (and still is) a rich and thriving city.



We finally found the Binnenhof. But before that, we had a makan stop kat McD dulu, hehe... lapar lah. I have to admit, rasa under-whelmed bila masuk the courtyard. The building was actually quite plain. No grandeur... no glittery decoration. OK lar, the place was big.





During the flight, I read an article about a father and daughter team yang always try to take interesting travel pix using a souvenir local to the place. So I tried the same with a postcard, hehe...

Next we walked around the building, then baru lah nampak the grandeur of the place. It sits next to a kolam... cantik rupanya :)

Moi seeking direction from a statue... patutlah sesat, haha!

First stop... Holland

For the next 5 days, we'll be exploring Holland... or as they call it here, Nederlands. On the evening of 5 June, we'll be flying off to Edinburgh.

5 days to see the whole country? Sempat ke?? Well... the plan was to visit Amsterdam (of course), Den Haag, Delft, Haarlem, Zaans Schans and kalau sempat, slot in Leiden and Alkmaar as well. A very ambitious jam packed itinerary, planned with the aid of the ever dependable DK Witness guidebook and Fodor's travel forum.

But along the way we made some changes... dropped Haarleem, and went to Volendam instead with Faz and her family. And tak sempat pun pergi Leiden and Alkmaar.

Too bad that we just missed the tulips season. So gambar postcards je lah...



Holland is famed for its windmills...



Dairy products... (kita semua kan kanak2 Dutch Lady? ;) )



And to produce all that yummy chocolate, cheese and milk, we need cows!

Holland, Scotland and Belgium... here I come!

I've been planning this trip for a long time. Ever since Marni and Dzeelfa left for their postgraduate studies in the UK and Faz moving to The Hague.

Admittedly these destinations were never really on my radar... but since they're all there, what the heck, I might as well. And boy am I glad that I did :)

At first, no one was interested to join me. So the harapan pun terkubur je lah. Then one day Dzeelfa emailed to ask "Uji, you jadi datang kan masa Easter? Kita jalan2 pergi visit Marni". Apa lagi... my hopes were resurrected. Checked my work schedule... alamak, cannot go during Easter. Someone was due to give birth and the earliest I could go on leave was in early June. Darn!

So we planned the trip for June... both Dzeelfa and Marni were not on holidays at the time but being PhD and specialist students, their schedules are quite flexible. And so we planned... emailed to and fro. Planned the dates, places to visit, they had to figure out how to "ponteng" (or rather reschedule, hehe..) some classes etc. Everything was proceeding smoothly.

Then the bombshell came... "Uji, am so sorry. Afraid that I can't join you. I'm coming back to Malaysia instead. We jumpa kat tanahair" was the email from Dzeelfa (or lebih kurang macam tu lah). Oh no!!!

I still wanted to go on the trip, even if Dzeelfa can't make it. Pergi sorang pun sorang lah. Matta Fair was on... so I beli my return ticket KUL-AMS on Malaysia Airlines. Itupun beli on the last day... sambil tengah shopping kain dengan Mama kat Petaling Street, nampak ada travel agent at the corner of the street. Once I've bought the ticket, there's no turning back. Europe... here I come.

I don't mind travelling by myself. Have done it several times. Each time I go on work related trips... always try to squeeze in a day or two to see the place. The most recent were to London, Sydney, Seoul and Melbourne. And a few years back I did the most adventurous thing... taking a train down from Switzerland to Milan to meet a friend whom I've only interacted via email (looking back that was quite a risky thing... but alhamdulillah all went well).

But travelling alone ain't as much fun compared to when you have travel partners. Sometimes there are just things that you wish you could share with someone... an amazing piece of art, breathtaking view, funny stuff... senyum sorang je lah bila travel alone. Plus, kat those other places, it was more of *di samping itu* kind of jalan-jalan and the trips are usually quite short... sehari dua je. But for this trip it was going to be more than 2 weeks. Can I survive for that long on my own? OK lah... not entirely on my own coz when in Scotland I'll be spending a few days with Marni.

Then out of the blue, I got an sms from Skinner, "Uji, this year jalan pergi mana? I'm itching for a holiday". Bagaikan pucuk dicita ulam mendatang :) Told her about my plans... the dates, the trip, the schedule. Skinner has been by travel buddy for a few years now. We've made numerous trips... to Bali, Istanbul, Rome, Paris. And we had great fun each time... and lots of stories to reminisce upon :)

So to cut the story short... Skinner *begged* her boss for a long cuti and bought her (more expensive) KUL-AMS air ticket. I made arrangements for everything else... the intercity flights, accommodations, car rental. *Buat muka tak malu* asking Faz if we could stay over at her place during our Holland jaunt. Planned the trip itinerary with the help of several guidebooks and tips from Fodors.


Our departure date was Thursday, 31 May 2007. The flight was at midnight. Both of us kerja siang tu. I made plans with Skinner to jumpa kat KLIA terus since I was not sure what time I would get off work. Takut terlambat if nak check-in kat KL Sentral. For the same reason, I decided to check-in during lunch time. So the night before I had packed my bag and bawa pergi office the next day.


Kebetulan Faz pun was flying back to Holland after bercuti kat KL. She's travelling with her son Amir. So kita memang plan nak travel sama-sama. Around 9.30pm she called me "Uji, where are you? I tengah nak check-in ni". Told her that I was still at home and she got a shock. Then I told her that I had already checked in and will meet her at the departure lounge. Skinner called me while I was on KLIA Express... her nephews and nieces sent her to the airport.

I sampai airport ngam-ngam time nak boarding. Tapi still sempat singgah kat Body Shop to get some supplies since they were on sale ;) KLIA had just introduced the *no liquids on board* rule, lama lah sikit nak pack the cleanser tu. Met Skinner and we rushed to the gate... tinggal segelintir je passengers yang belum board the plan, termasuk lah the two of us. Belum apa-apa dah berpeluh-peluh, hehe...

Faz must have been wondering *mana lah perempuan2 ni* coz she loudly cried out our names when she saw us in the plane. Nampak relieved muka dia, hehe.
"Hi Faz" I said, "This is Skinner. Where's your son?"
"Tu hah..." Amir was playing kat bawah seats, hehe...
"OK... see you later. We're right at the back" I informed her.

It was an uneventful flight... I watched Wild Hogs and slept most of the time. Woke up in time to watch the sun rise... cantik betul!

And 13 hours later, we arrived in the land famous for its tulips...