DEN HAAG 2026-06-10
Dutch travelog, part 1.
Despite being 2 years without a job and feeling guilty on spending money on frivolous things, I decided to book a trip to the Netherlands in June. My time with RAV was coming to the end which meant one more pay check, so I figured why not have one last hurrah before it's all doom and gloom for the foreseeable future?
I also discovered recently that my cousin, R, is still living in the Netherlands. I thought he'd move back to the US, but he told me he plans on staying in Europe indefinitely. We would save money by staying with him, food is a bit cheaper in NL compared to Switzerland, so my guilt subsided and I became more excited as I planned our travels.
Our trip was one week long, from June 10-17. I sacrificed one day of German class, as I forgot that classes ended on the 11th.
Travel day
Our flight was at 12:10, so we left the house at 7:30 because Daniel and I like to get to the airport really early so we don't feel rushed. Here's Boba bidding us farewell in her usual spot:
I don't know if it's because we're traveling within the Schengen area*, but I was delighted that we no longer have to put our liquids into a separate bag. I still had to do this when I traveled to London, so this time I was extra prepared and had a Ziploc bag of my liquids ready the night before. Security was a breeze and we didn't even encounter passport control.
* "The Schengen Area is a system of open borders that encompass 29 European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders." (Source)
We usually eat something light at the airport. It's pricier, but since it's a short flight, that means we don't get food on the plane (just water and Swiss chocolate). I had a salmon cream cheese sandwich and orange juice (my go-to drink) at Marché and wrote a blog post there.
The flight was only 1 hour and 30 minutes. I didn't even take a nap! I played Tomodachi Life and made the Cabbage Merchant from Avatar the Last Airbender. Since I had time, I even customized his home and turned it into a cabbage trolley, haha.
Then the drink cart came by and Daniel immediately ordered for us, thinking it was free. It was not, but we already ordered so we just paid. At least they had Miró coffee!
This was a cup of filtered coffee for €3.80, which isn't bad at all. I would've paid double in Zürich.
It was cold and grey when we left Lucerne and we were met with sunny skies in Amsterdam.
Arriving in Den Haag
We took the train from the airport to Den Haag Centraal. The train we had wanted to take was cancelled due to a lightning strike! So we waited another 6 minutes for the next one.
In the Netherlands, you can just tap in and out of the gates with your phone (if you have an NFC wallet), and we were both boggled by how this new technology worked. We got checked on the train, and I was confused as to how the conductor would check since I didn't have an actual ticket. But he just tapped the back of my phone and it was done.
The train ride felt long as it was crowded and hot, and I was grossed out by how dirty the train was (I'm spoiled coming from Switzerland and before that, Hong Kong). When we finally arrived at the station, we were greeted by strong winds (I had warned Daniel about the windiness), and made our way to my cousin's place.
First stop: Uniqlo HEMA
R's girlfriend, S, was home, so we dropped our stuff off first. Daniel had wanted to go to Uniqlo since he didn't bring pajamas and thought he'd just buy some there.
We had planned to eat at a Chinese restaurant for a late lunch, but it was already past 16:00 and my cousin was going to make us dinner around 18:00. So S showed us a café nearby. Our first meal was a toastie, which is the thing here.
First meal in the Netherlands: A scrambled egg, cheese, and tomato toastie from House of Tribes. (And an iced Americano).
S pointed us towards the shopping area and we made our way. We were about to head into Uniqlo until I spotted a HEMA. I've only been to HEMA in Frankfurt and I know they have Miffy stuff there, so I wanted to check it out.
Lo and behold, it was Miffy galore! There were so many things, including a World Cup collab lol, but a lot of items were already sold out. Since it was our first day, I decided to wait until at least Monday to buy my Miffy things, because then I could window shop throughout the coming days to decide what I want, and I figured I'd probably buy other things too.
Finally, we went to Uniqlo. I bought a T-shirt from their collab with Cecilie Bahnsen and a pair of rather expensive underwear. (I didn't know how much until I was at the till. They better last me at least a decade!)
While shopping, I went upstairs to look for Daniel. He told me that they don't sell mens' pajamas here, and that he got laughed at for even inquiring about mens' pajamas. I was in such disbelief that I went searching for them, and completely forgot to tell him about the matcha vending machine in the corner:
The matcha and coffee vending machine at Uniqlo Den Haag.
So yeah, Uniqlo in the Netherlands only sell pajama sets for women but not for men. I had to look this up, and according to my search, Dutch men are practical and just wear any old t-shirt and shorts and don't bother with pajama sets. Or they sleep entirely naked. (Feel free to correct me.)
A home-cooked dinner
We headed back to R&S's at 18:00. R made us Beef Bourguignon, except he used pork (and an entire bottle of red wine) so it was way tastier than the one I had in Paris. We chatted and caught up until bed time. R and S go to bed early, like around 22:30.
The best "beef" bourguignon I've ever had.
Also, I must mention their dog, Luca. I first met him in 2021, and he was still as rambunctious as ever. His breed is "American Eskimo," and he was rescued from a puppy mill so he has a lot of anxiety. In fact, his ears are always flattened, so sometimes it looks like he doesn't have any ears. :\ They only perk up when he hears the doorbell or something unfamiliar. Daniel really took a liking to him.
Since we're further up north, the sun sets around 22:00! This is slightly disorienting, because we always think it's around 19:00 but it's much later.
Sunset from R's window. They live on the 19th floor of a 40-story building!
That's all for day 1! Or more like, day 0.5? Travel days usually don't count as a full day.