was great.
We arrived in the morning and left our backpacks in the dungeon-like luggage store in the youth hostel Van Gogh (where Van Gogh used to work).
The rain didn’t dampen our mood and we walked through the cobblestone alleys and joined the throngs of people with colorful umbrellas in town. My senses were assailed by all forms of sights and sound and smell… ahh… I love those Belgian waffles. That was the first stall (of a variety of stalls) we stopped at. Cream, chocolate, strawberry, regular waffles… I’m just drooling again at the mere thought of it. eating something warm and fresh in the light drizzle was a plus point too. The ‘Waffle Maker Girl’ had this cute hairdo, and Zak tried to convey to her how lovely her hair is. But she spoke French and I’m not sure whether she got his meaning since she smiled and gave him a paper tissue.
The chocolateries gave out samples of yummy belgian chocolates that by the end of the day, I was stuffed with all sorts of chocolates. Can you imagine being a kid in a shop full of all sorts of chocolates, all kinds of shapes, being offered small plates of white, dark, milk chocolate…? Even I was excited. Audrey told me that she felt like she was in some enchanted place, things were surreal. And of course, I bought a few boxes (you didn’t think I was just stuffing myself without buying anything?)
Had my first taste of escargot. Some of the guys wouldn’t even touch them, saying that they’re not eating any snails.
All along this one street: seafood restaurants displaying huge lobsters, oysters, prawns, other things in shells which I don’t know the names of…
Mostly, it was a walk around the town, catching all the scenes, sampling food, taking pictures, searching for the Manneken Pis. The Grand Place with baroque guildhalls, splendid Gothic town hall was really breath taking. I wanted to take in as much as I can. I want to remember the place. There were little cafés everywhere. I savored the atmosphere as long as I could.
We went back to the hostel for a while, got the keys to our rooms. Me, Nat, Lemon and Dyna in one room, all the way up on the third floor (no lifts). The guys on the ground floor. Just as we reached our floor, 2 European guys reached their room opposite ours. They smiled at us.
“if you need anything, just come to our room. We’ll help”
Ack! Scary. And they just kept looking at us as we fumbled for our keys. The toilets were outside and when I went out, they had their door opened and called out to me. but I pretended not to hear. By then, we decided that if one of us wanted to go out, everyone will go out. So, while I was doing my business in the loo, the other girls were outside, pretending to look into some interesting looking shrubs. Told the guys that we were going out with some other guys tonight and couldn’t possibly go out with them. And they shut up right away. Good thing they had no idea that our guys weren’t as tall or buff as they are. We told the guys about the 2 and they decided to accompany us at all times, going up to our room, going out, everywhere. I love having personal body guards.
That night, we went to The Grand Place, the most beautiful theatre on earth… Plaisirs D’hiver. all aglow with lights, music, santa clauses. We watched as Julie Dumilieu Quintet performed Xmas songs. I love the light show especially as they followed the rhythm of the music. At times, bubbles were blown in the air. I had another waffle 
. I think that if I were to stay there longer, I might balloon up like crazy.
the Christmas Market had all sorts of handicrafts, all colourful stuff, too expensive for me. but nice to watch.
Everything was lovely. If only we had more time to explore…
That night, us girls talked long into the night. I get to know more about Dyna (I’ve only met her once). We took turns showering downstairs, near the guys’ place. Too paranoid to shower on our floor.
Great place Brussels.
