Chef India Express Take (-a-way) Two…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Back in early October,  I had my first taste of Indian food made here in The Hague by British Indian chefs who have come over to The Netherlands to start a UK style Indian restaurant.

Last time, they were a little disorganised but I really enjoyed the food,  so when by chance various kid play-dates ended up being extended to kid dinner invitations, and our fridge sported the ” probably  would have been advised to have done the grocery shopping yesterday”  kind of empty shelf look, we opted for an easy meal rather than have Himself sprint to the supermarket for emergency supplies.

Having skipped lunch and thinking that a wrap for Euro 4,- would not be very big at all,  we thought we would go for a wrap each as entrée and to have one of the meat dishes for Main course.

Himself thought the lamb sounded tasty and unusually for him,  didn’t fancy much spice so ended up with:
Naan wrap with Tandoori Lamb Seekh Kebab - Euro 4,–
Chef India Special Lamb Karahi  (mild) –  Euro 8,50
Fresh Garlic Naan – Naan with garlic and butter- Euro 1,70

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

I’ve just realised that I didn’t get photos of Himself’s meal…  the Lamb  Karahi and the Naan bread are the same as I had the first time I tried this place so photos of those are in the previous review, the wrap was almost gone by the time I asked to get a photo.

Himself’s verdict  was that he really liked the Lamb Karahi and the Garlic Naan, but that the wrap he ate because he was starving hungry rather than really enjoyed. He did share a bit of his wrap with me and I loved it so much that I simply can’t understand how he could fail be to impressed.  He said that  he thought it didn’t have enough flavour, but I on the other hand thought it had heaps of flavour and am looking forward to ordering one for myself when we next decide to have an easy meal again.

Years ago when we were choosing curtains for the house, Himself was going though the pattern books saying “this one is nice, that one is old fashioned” what he actually meant was “I like this one, I don’t like that one” and ‘old fashioned” had nothing to do with it.

I’m starting to think that Himself’s taste buds work on the same principle,  if a taste suits his particular preferences then it’s ” got flavour” and if it doesn’t, then apparently it hasn’t. It would certainly explain many comments culinary around our table at various times.  For example: Himself doesn’t love potatoes and so if I make a stew with potatoes in it he often says it could do with more flavour even though I always deliberately add extra herbs galore and it would  also explain how he thinks that plain boiled spaghetti (that he adores) on it’s own sans sauce, herbs or cheese  is “flavourful”.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

I on the other hand really fancied something spicy so ordered:
Naan wrap with Tandoori Chicken Tikka - Euro 4,–
Chicken Tikka Masala - Euro 8,50
Fresh Garic Chilli Naan – Euro 1,80

Since Chicken Tikka is made with a creamy sauce it’s not a dish that comes in various heat varieties so that’s why I opted to try out a garlic chili Naan… and yes, with all those freshly chopped green peppers… it was definitely fiery enough to satisfy a heat craving.

We stuffed ourselves on this, we didn’t need to eat it all but it tasted great and we made pigs of ourselves. One wrap in it’s own would make a great lunch, for dinner I might even be tempted to skip the main dishes and go for two wraps instead.

It’s annoying that they are still disorganised (the delivery of the order was late, but to their credit they did phone us to tell  us that they were running late, something that no Dutch take-a-way has ever bothered to do).

I would like it if someone got their website into an intelligible state, it’s  still sporting the Latin sample text and ordering on-line doesn’t appear to work, so you have to phone your order though… for a new take-a-way these days, and competing with other places where ordering on-line is made easy, that’s something they should be giving some priority to.

We will be back… hopefully they can only get better organised as time goes on. If you are a local in The Hague here are a few links:

 http://www.chefindia.nl/ and my first review: http://kiwidutch.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/22767/

May I have This Dance Please Madam…?

Today’s post is a simple photographic post. I was out on one of my ‘walking tours”  summer before last, camera in my pocket as usual, when this little pair  of frogs in a shop window caught my eye and then, naturally enough, my camera lens.

They stand in a ballroom dancing pose… a Foxtrot? a Quickstep? … a Tango maybe?

I’ve just finished watching “Strictly Come Dancing” on the BBC, (The UK version of “Dancing with the Stars“)… I don’t even believe in or celebrate Halloween, but I do believe that these two dancing beauties have bewitched me completely…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

You know You’ve “Arrived” when One Owl beats Four Lions…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

I think that this doorway probably is one most photographed doors in The Hague, and for good reason.

It’s located on the building that stands on the corner of  Kneuterdijk and Hoge Nieuwstraat, directly across the street  from the building in this post:  http://kiwidutch.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/new-458/.

This door was made when you could  “make an entrance”  into a building in grand style,  it said something about the building, not just the address you were going to but that when you got here that you had indeed,  ”arrived”.

And what an arrival… this grand doorway is recessed a little back from the pavement, but surely it’s beauty arrests any passing eye that processes  a love of detail, texture, architecture and ornament.  If it doesn’t, then I venture to declare that the world is blind indeed to the skill and craftsmanship that produced wonders in stone-masonry.

Every time I see this door and stop to look yet again,  my first dilemma is not knowing where to look first.  Your eye is drawn up, down, left and right as one detail after another grabs your attention.

The door itself is quite beautiful in it’s own right with decoration galore  from carved wood, wrought iron and decorative panels  to scroll-work and brass plates…. … but there is still so much to see…

The two sets of fierce lions placed on the outside columns usually get my first detailed attention, the lower set are in gray and the upper set are in white.

Then you notice the wrought iron and surrounding decorative bits both in the door and around it,  but invariably your eyes are drawn to the little owl that stands upon two bound volumes, peering down with his knowing eyes from his vantage point in the semi circular cartouche  at the top of the door.

There’s a Latin inscription set around him, but alas I am no scholar of Classical languages, so whilst this little bird sits on his books of knowledge, I can only enjoy in blissful ignorance.

I drink in this door, the photos do not do it justice. One day when I’m mobile I will be back and I am sure I will find new detail to photograph next time too…

Not bad for a humble door fame eh…?

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Unnatural Days and Nights…

It’s that time of year when it’s still dark when I get to work in the morning and the evenings are getting noticeably darker at an ever earlier time.

When I came across  this photo of house boats on a canal  in my archive,  I was reminded that  we  have the second half of  the strange twice yearly ritual of changing the clocks approaching this weekend…

Ugh, I never remember if it should go forwards or back and I detest it,  whatever it is.  Forget having an extra hour to sleep in as a sweetener for half of it, Murphy’s  Law always dictates that I’m wide awake those days anyway, same as I am on my days off, (even if every other  working day, the alarm almost gives me a heat attack  because I was far far far away blissfully dreaming  in the land of nod).

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Extra hour or not, the kids are always badly out of sync and get all bitchy for at least 3-4 days afterwards and I have to constantly re-think the new time-zone times if I need to telephone New Zealand from here.

Most of the time it’s easy, a straight 12 hour time difference, 10:00 a.m. here is 10:00 p.m. there (the same day) or 9:00 p.m. here is 9:00 a.m. there (next day). But Daylight Savings Time makes a total mess of it all.

Depending on if  it’s us going forwards or they going back (or worse, not changing their clocks at the same time at all, the time difference can be 10, 11 or 12 hours, and Yes, I have been guilty of trying to ring someone at 8.00 a.m. on a New Zealand morning in order to catch them before they go to work and find instead a groggy, shocked voice on the other end telling me that yes, they were asleep because it’s actually only 6.00 a.m.  in New Zealand.

My  hearty congratulations to Russia for abandoning these ridiculous time changes from 2010…  They already scraped three of their 11 time zones and merged them into neighbouring ones to make a more manageable nine time zones (“managable nine time zones“:  Now, that’s an oxymoron if ever I heard one) and last year common sense ruled and they decided  not to make it even harder than it already was and scrapped Daylight Savings Time changes throughout the whole country. Bravo!

Now all the rest of the world has to do is to have the same lightening strike of common sense and follow suit.  (sigh) If only dairy cows could vote, I hear they detest Daylight Savings Time as much as I do.

.. Well, not Russian cows, (obviously) their milking schedule will be forever more … on time.

Room for a Bit More? Go On, Squeeze It In!

Living in a European city, you think you have probably seen it all when it comes to leaning or odd shaped buildings. I was looking though a folder of previous year’s walking tour photos  and this one caught my eye… talk about squeezing in an extra room or two at the top… talk about skinny rooms… makes for an extraordinary roof line  though doesn’t it?  The two streets meet at an angle here so so could get a view of the “back side” a little bit too.

These buildings can be found on the corner of Anna Paulownastraat and Piet Heinstraat and it’s not really clear if it’s all one building  (or as I think it is, two buildings) Either way, it’s quirky… I like quirky, How about you?

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The Blessed Lady who stands in Elandstraat…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The Catholic Church known by it’s official and less official names”  ”De kerk Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Onbevlekt-Ontvangen”  (Our Blessed Lady of the Immaculate Conception)   “Elandstraatkerk” (Eland Street church)  or “Elandkerk” (Eland Church) is situated opposite the Elandplein (Eland Square) in The Hague’s  Zeeheldenkwartier.

I found several websites that had information on the church,  but only in the Dutch language, so I’ve made a translation of some of the Dutch language Wiki information and put the link to the website below if anyone is interested in reading the origonal.

It was built in 1891-92 by architect  Nicolaas Molenaar because the smaller, “ Teresia van Avilakerk”( Teresia of Avila Church) had grown too small due to rapid population growth in The Hague during the 1800′s.

The city was growing  outwards in the direction of the Zeeheldenkwartier, so this is where it was decided that the new church should be built. The area being built on was a former peat polder  (low-lying, reclaimed land) that had Paleis Noordeinde to the Laan Van Meerdervoort, The Beeklaan and Noordwal as it’s perimeters.

in 1877  Father Marijnen of the Teresia van Avilakerk bought the site from Sophie van Sachsen-Weimar, the only daughter of King William II. In 1878  a tempory church and vicarage were built and on the 5th June 1978, the tempory church became an independent parish church.

In 1890 there were plans to build a new church designed by the same architect. The new church, designed by  Nicolaas Molenaar (Sr.)  is in the Neo-Gothic style and inspired by the Notre Dame  in Paris.

The two western towers are 72 metres high  each and the church is 60 m long. There are 66 stained glass windows dating from the end of the 19th century and on the outside of the western entrance there’s  a staue of Maria of Immaculate conception, donated in 1893 by the conference of  church women.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Huge clocks were placed in each tower and in 1892 a parishioner donated an angelusklokje ( a special clock that rings twice a day to bring Catholics to mass)  In 1928 these were replaced by four other clocks but the Protestant people living in in close proximity to the church didn’t like the bells, so after complaints it was decided not to ring them during the singing of  the Te Deum.

The Rose window broke in a severe storm,   a bomb falling  in Da Costastraat  broke a few windows, but happily this was the only World War II damage that the church sustained.  The angelusklok was replaced in 1949.

After the war the building needed repairs and the klockstoelen (clock seats?) were in such bad shape that artificial sound of bells were played until 1992 when they were repaired.

The Franssen organ was installed in 1906

The organ is encased  in  a Neo-Gothic sculpted housing against the west wall and is about  10 metres high (about 30 feet) . The organ was restored in 1973 back to functional playing order and again repaired in 1986 but  underwent  full restoration in 2010-2011.  Since 2004 the organ has been listed as a National Monument.

Elandstraat 194 —  2513GX  — Den Haag.
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elandkerk

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Don’t get your Knickers in a Twist…

In my last post of my virtual retro tour of Circus Renz, I give you a photo series of just a few of the human performances… again, the photos were taken with a point-and-shoot camera with the flash turned off as not to distract,  but I prefer to say that it gives “atmosphere” to the photos rather than to say that they are not all in perfect  focus. Some of the acrobats looked like human elastic bands… could you do some of these moves?

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

… night has fallen whilst we were inside, so we stream out of the tent afterwards, towards home with two excited but tired kids…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

If You Think YOUR Butt Looks Big, …Then Check out this Elephant Sized One!

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

You, dear Reader are hitching a ride on a virtual tour of a circus visit that Family Kiwidutch made last year… Circus Renz is a “classic” circus, so yes, there are animals…

I mentioned the double edged ethical sword that that presents in yesterday’s post, and since I am no further to getting off the fence than I was yesterday,  let’s put the debate aside and enjoy the show.

I took all of the photos with a small point-and-shoot camera and with no flash, so apologies if the photos are less than clear.

The clown that entertained a rabbit, pig and a goat to “afternoon tea” did have us laughing, because the animals turned the tables and made the clown the butt of the jokes during the whole routine.

The tigers were caged (obviously for the safety of the viewing  public) and the horses did the usual stuff, but it was the elephant that stole to the show for us.

In a tent as big as large as a “Big Top” you don’t immediately get a sense of how amazingly large these beautiful creatures are, but when at one point he (or she?) swung around, we were treated to a close up of an elephant sized bottom and XXXXXXXXXL  it  most certainly was.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

When the Circus came to Town…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

For most of us, the circus is a place where you go as a kid, or as an adult with young kids. I don’t know if when my kids are grown if I would go to one any more or not.

Little Mr. has since a tiny baby, a strong aversion to loud noises and things like big bands have him covering his ears, in tears and begging to go home.

Therefore we have been reluctant to take him to any performance or show where we could safely predict the high possibility of that one of us would be left standing outside the entrance, with said child unwilling to go back inside five minutes into the show.

As much as I love my kids, shelling out one or two hundred Euros for a special family excursion that two out of the four of us don’t get to actually see, also rankles financially so until now I have stayed at home with Little Mr.  whilst Himself has taken Kiwi Daughter out to the theatre etc with friends.

The extreme irony is that for a very small human being, Little Mr. is capable of emitting the sort of  decibels  in tantrums and play that you would not have thought possible from such a small package of humanity:  and although he appears to be totally immune to his own loudness,  one trumpet, brass band or stage with a band during the local street fair has him running for cover in any opposite direction as quickly as possible.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Last year, with him finally showing less fear and successfully having gone to (and fully sat through) a Theatre experience , Himself suggested that Little Mr. might be ready for his first excursion to the Circus.

It’s autumn and we manage to get Saturday tickets to Circus Renz for the whole family quite near the front, and since it might have been a while since you have been to a circus, I have decided to make a few posts so that you may join me on a virtual tour.

Circus Renz  is a “klassiekcircus” (classic circus) so there are animals in the performances, something I have reservations about, (wild animals on show for entertainment? hmmm) however there is a display board in the entrance tent that informs the public about the care and treatment of the animals in various “classic” circuses and a website, (Dutch language only) that discusses and documents information and incidents that have arisen.

In one case, “Bella”, an elephant in a different circus, got an infected foot and a vet who specialises in the treatment of wild and exotic animals was called to treat her, it appears that all of the treatment was common sense and straight forwards apart from him having to make speedy calls to his drug supplier for an urgent delivery because (naturally enough) he didn’t carry enough antibiotics in his usual stock to treat a 4000 kilo (8800 lb) animal.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The site has various vet reports and assessments of the animals conditions and treatment, all good it seems, and since you would only have to ask your own local professional animal welfare officer about what they have seen from people around your own back yard who abuse, neglect,  abandon their cats dogs, horses etc, I can see that this coin definitely has two sides.

To my mind, any animal, domestic pet or otherwise, in a loving, well cared for situation can be  a happy animal and any aminal, domestic or otherwise who is neglected and abused is not. It’s still a thorny issue…  the performance bit at least, but it’s also been proven that animals in captivity suffer from boredom and like interactive activity, (and for many their natural habitat has been ruined by Man) so I at least, will sit on the fence reserve judgement for now.

The Herman Renz Circus has several little vehicles that they obviously use when they want to make short trips around town, one of them is a tuk-tuk and one is a little car, there’s a trailer with a carousel style horse on it as well, and all three serve as promotional advertising for the circus.

Little Mr. thinks that the car with the elephant on the top would be the ideal  thing for him to take home, Kiwi Daughter however is more enamoured with the horse. Dream on kiddiewinkles…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Before you enter the Big Top proper, there is a very large “foyer” tent, where Little Mt gets his car “fix” on the central carousel ride and they browse the sweets and treats around the perimeter  (It was a “no”‘  to the sweets, but they both score a hand held fibre-optic light thingy that flashes different colours).

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

We are early and the Main tent looks empty when we go inside but fills up quickly  literally minutes before the performance starts…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

How much has changed at the High End of Prins Willemstraat?

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Another post from my archive series of Billboard photos.

I took these when the Haags Gemeentearchief (the Hague City Council Archive) put up billboards around the city to celebrate their 125th anniversary a few years ago.

The billboards were placed as close as possible to the locations depicted so that people could compare the “old” and the “new” surroundings.

The text reads “Hoge Prins Willemstraat met rechts de Badhuisstaat, foto P. Oosterhuis, circa 1865”  (translation: High end of Prins Willemstraat with Badhuisstaat at right, photo P. Oosterhuis, circa 1865″

From what I can make out, all the buildings on the right hand side of the photo appear to be gone.

It’s difficult to make out the buildings on the left because the trees obscure the view,sadly the old trees are also gone, but a few newer younger ones are dotted around further up in the street in the present view.

Let’s compare the present day view from the same spot. The corners of the Badhuisstraat is now dominated by some boxy soulless concrete square buildings, there’s a tram-line on the Prins Willemstraat,  and a flower stall on the intersection of the two streets.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

View on the opposite side of the street (behind the billboard view)…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)