Amsterdam's biggest flea market

I love me some old things, so I was delighted when one of my friends suggested a girls' day out at the the IJ-Hallen flea market in Amsterdam Noord. 

Held in a huge warehouse in the old shipyards of the NDSM-Werf (or wharf), it has over 500 stalls selling second-hand items, making it the largest flea market in Amsterdam. The IJ-Hallen flea market is held on the first weekend of every month and costs €4 to get in. Sometimes, they will have a second market day focusing on certain kinds of goods; this March, it's toys, miniatures, dolls and dollhouses. 

The IJ-Hallen is not nearly as atmospheric as, say, Les Puces de St-Ouen in Paris, but it has its own unique vibe being in a huge industrial complex where ships were once built.

Click "read more" for the full IJ-Hallen thrifting experience, plus our finds for the day!

10 things that are more fun in the Philippines

Inspired by the recently launched Department of Tourism campaign, I looked through two years worth of photos (without the help of Google, all of them are mine) to come up with my own list of things that are more fun in the Philippines. I've put up only 10 here but the possibilities are endless.

Can I just say, this was so much fun to do? Can the Negative Nellies out there please give it a try? It's better for your heart and your wrinkles, I promise. Although may find it difficult if you are devoid of humor—a rather rare and life-threatening condition for a Filipino.

But wait, there's more!

Year four

Marlon and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary with five days in Boracay. Holing up in our own little world is just the kind of thing marriage gives us license to do, without setting off a wave of wagging tongues!

Financially, 2011 has not been the best year for us—although we were prepared for that when we made the decision to move to Europe. So, no gifts this year. But just out of curiosity, I looked up a list of traditional wedding anniversary gifts. We've never followed the traditions (year three, leather = missed opportunity!) but upon seeing that year four is supposed to be fruit or flowers, I suggested that we share a Boracay favorite to mark the occasion. 

Yep, for our fourth anniversary we gave each other mango shakes from Jonah's! Slurping them in the shallows, under the sun, was absolutely perfect: another great memory to add to our growing list.

 Then Marlon made me funny things out of sand...

like a perfect white sphere carved with our initials...

an "Angry Birds" inspired effigy of Rogue (a.k.a. "Angry Cat")...

... and the silliest gift of all, a "love lump" in the sand. I told you this was a low-budget anniversary!

Thank goodness for Boracay's spectacular sunsets. Instant romance! Libre pa!

We both love, love, LOVE Dos Mestizos and make sure we have at least one meal there wherever we're in Boracay. So we didn't even consider any other restaurant for our anniversary dinner. Aside from their scrumptious paella, we also love their ostras fritas (fried oysters with aioli).

And don't even get me started on the bread pudding. My mouth is literally watering at the memory.

We decided to hoof it all the way back to our digs in Station 1. After walking past the perya atmosphere of Station 3 (all I can say is: not for me), I heard a familiar voice at Bom Bom Bar. Hello, Armand!

I've known Armand for years but was my first time to see him perform a full set.  In fairness nag-enjoy ako. He sure knows how to spread good vibes. And his songs are catchy. #proud

So that was our anniversary. Simple and sweet, but filled with all the things we love to enjoy together: travel, food, music and each other's company. I couldn't ask for more. 

Beach bummed

As of June 21, summer has officially arrived. You'll have to excuse me for not blogging about it earlier, because it's been pretty hard to get all worked up about it when it's been gray and rainy for the first two weeks of the season. 

I check the weather forecast obsessively (being appropriately dressed for the weather can spell the difference between bliss and misery), and after the seemingly unending doom and gloom, I was ecstatic to see sunshine and 27℃ forecast for last Monday... the hottest it's been all year!

I've been reading about Amsterdam's city beaches, which are basically man-made patches of sand strewn around the city. Now Amsterdam's not by the sea, so the "beaches" are actually beside canals and rivers, thereby satisfying the basic beach requirements of sand and water. But others, like Strand Zuid, have no sand at all... and the "beach" on top of the NEMO building has sand but no water! 

Coming from a country of beaches (without the quotation marks), I found this all very... curious. Apparently, the city beaches are intended to give people without the time (or money) to go on vacation the chance to still enjoy summer at the beach. And with the weather being so changeable from day to day all the time, planning a proper seaside vacation can really be iffy. That I can definitely relate with. So I figured: why not give the urban beach a try? 

Bright and early Monday... uh, afternoon, I hopped on a tram to Centraal Station, then on the tram 26 to the man-made island of IJburg, which is the next big up-and-coming residential development. 

IJburg and the other nearby islands definitely deserve their own walkabout/photo safari. Being new and man-made, the islands feature modern city architecture vastly different from what you'll find in Amsterdam. Definitely interesting, but what I saw reminds me too much of our Asian megapolises. If I wanted brand spanking new and cemented, I would just go home... or back to Singapore. I like the greenness, narrow streets and history of Amsterdam too much to move out here. But who knows, the still-low property prices of IJburg may make me eat my words some day.

On that island is Blijburg, which from everything I've read so far is hailed as Amsterdam's best city beach. A "nomadic" beach that has changed addresses several times, Blijburg came into being as a by-product of the construction of the island and its buildings, and will continue to relocate until the construction of IJburg is completed.

I've read a lot of things about Blijburg's "great vibe", which actually made me look forward to getting there. So apparently, "great vibe" means "transplanted from a backpacker's memories of the 6 months they spent bumming around Southeast Asia (mostly Thailand). Quaint little beach shacks? Check. Fluttering neon-colored pennants? Check. Zen-inspired chillout bar? Check. Oversized Buddhas? Check, check, check... six times over.

So, let's talk about the beach.

Bergen aan Zee

Marlon had Thursday and Friday off the week we got back from Paris (they celebrate the Ascension here, who knew?). So it seemed like a good idea to squeeze in a quick getaway to the beach. We picked Bergen aan Zee, a seaside town a short train and bus ride from Amsterdam, and booked an overnight stay at a small hotel in town.

By the time I got back from Paris, I was so wiped out from keeping up with the Glee Club (and Mimi, and the frenetic city itself) that packing for another trip and getting on another train was the last thing I wanted to do. If we hadn't already pre-paid for the hotel, I would have happily skipped this trip. But because we'd already spent the money, we decided to go anyway, leaving after lunch on Thursday. 

Bergen is a picturesque town with a relaxed vibe, and markedly upscale as I could see from its restaurants and boutiques. It's full of old, pretty one- or two-story houses like these. 

To get to the beach from our hotel in the center of town, Marlon and I would have to cycle some 4 kilometers... which would have been fine and dandy with me if we didn't run into the problem I always seem to have in Holland. Which is finding a suitably me-sized bicycle.

With no children's bikes available at the hotel and the only bike rental closed for the Ascension holiday, there was nothing left to do except strap our beach blanket onto the rear rack of Marlon's rented bike, hop on, and cling to my huffing and puffing husband for the next 4 kilometers. The bike ninjas of the Netherlands may scoff at this mileage, but for two relative noobs like us, it was no joke. If I ever had any doubts about Marlon's love for me, he sure proved it with this bike ride. 

Still, it was a beautiful day and a pretty ride. We passed some huge and stunning summer homes, no doubt belonging to obscenely wealthy residents. Tall, lush green trees lined the bike path, cooling and shading us on the way.

I'm beginning to get used to the look of Dutch beaches: grassy dunes overlooking long expanses of sand and shallows. But in Bergen, I saw these for the first time, rows and rows of them harboring sun loungers and stretching for miles along the beach.

I don't know what they're called, aside from advertising space. But when the staff at the beach restaurants started packing these up at 6pm, it became all too clear what their function was: to block the wind. Which was damn strong. And cold.  Marlon and I didn't last longer than 15 minutes on the beach without them. Mapapamura ka sa lamig!

Searching for shelter from the wind, I was drawn to these bright yellow wicker cabins for rent. 

They're sort of like big rectangular boxes with cushions, armrests wide enough to hold drinks and small plates, and large drawers underneath for your beach stuff. Most importantly, they make an excellent barrier against the wind.

The colorful lining inside makes for pretty pictures too!

After we'd had enough of huddling (and cuddling) against the wind, we decided to bike back to town before it got too dark. Poor Marlon was so tired that we ended up walking a full third of the way back. After a surprisingly good dinner in the center of town, it was back to our little (and I mean really little) room at the Hotel Marijke.

I thought the trip would tire me out, but our quick seaside jaunt recharged my batteries. Then again, I wasn't the one who had to pedal away with my extra weight. Maybe I need to ask Marlon how he felt about the trip! I'd love to go back to Bergen, though. And next time, I'm bringing my bike on the train.

5 days, 7 beaches

Warning: you may experience beach overload!

With five full days in the Algarve and 22℃-25℃ temperatures forecast for most of our stay, I had made beach-hopping our top priority. On the southern coast of Portugal facing the Atlantic Ocean, the Algarve is blessed with over 150 beaches. And they. Are. STUNNING. 

After having seen seven of them (and not even the ones the guidebooks say are "unspoiled" and "paradise"), I must admit my braggart's pride in our Philippine beaches was taken down a few notches. I'll speak a little more humbly about them from now on, knowing that there are beaches like this in the world! 

As I've mentioned before, our warm waters and year-round beach weather is probably all we've got over beaches like these. Because stunning rocky cliffs, crashing waves and endless stretches of golden sand aside, the water was ice cold. I got used to it by our third or fourth day and was even frolicking in earnest by our last morning. I'll say one thing about the Atlantic Ocean... it sure ain't the Pacific!

I loved all of the seven beaches we managed to visit, though I liked some more than others. Here's the rundown:

1) Praia da Rocha in Portimao was the very first beach we saw, on Easter Sunday. I'd forgotten my suit in the little town of Estombar where we were staying, a 30-minute drive away, so we'd had to double back. Then we got really hungry and detoured for lunch, after which followed a long fight for parking that made both of us impatient and cranky. When we finally came up to the edge of the cliff and saw Praia da Rocha for the first time, I almost fell to my knees.

I mean, seriously. How gorgeous is this beach?

We excitedly made our way down a long flight of cement steps to the beach, which was filled with Portuguese families and English retirees alike, hanging out in little beach bars, sprawled out on the golden sand, or cooling off under the shade of the many huge rock formations on the beach, like this one.

Yes, that's me in my Winner Retro Bathing Suit #1. I would never have posted this photo if I didn't love this bathing suit so freaking much. I got it on a last-minute shopping spree, literally less than an hour before I left for the airport, at a vintage store on the Prinsengracht. It reminds me of Liz Taylor and fits uber perfectly! 

2) Meia Praia in Lagos, one of the biggest bays in Europe, was our destination for Day 2.

This is Boracay-level sand we're talking about... and there's a 4-kilometer expanse of it.

It's gorgeous, but there's not much to see except endless sand (mala-desiyerto) and the white buildings of Lagos and Alvor (the neighboring town) shimmering in the distance.

And you can also see a little bit of Winner Retro Bathing Suit #2 ;)

3) Ponta de Piedade in Costa d'Oiro near Lagos is not strictly a beach, but for breathtaking sea views, this tops the list. An old lighthouse is perched on top of a range of cliffs that rise up to 20 meters (over 65 feet) out of the ocean.

Standing at this lookout point, you can feast your eyes on a spectacular, nearly 360-degree view of the ocean and cliffs.

While we were enjoying the view, this little old man with a fishing rod started walking down the edge of the cliffs to the ocean. The path is steep and rocky, and probably no more than three or four feet wide. Can you spot the super lolo?

You can also take a very long flight of stairs down to the Grottoes, where you can hire a boat and explore all the sea caves and rock formations along this part of the coast. It seemed like a fun prospect, but I didn't want to deal with all the steps coming back up.

Besides, I had already set my sights on a nearby target...

4) Praia do Camilo is a small, sandy cove five minutes from the Ponta de Piedade. We drove by on the way to the lighthouse, liked what we saw... and vowed to come right back. "Let's just run and take a quick look at the lighthouse, then get back here asap," I remember agreeing with Marlon. Hah! Ponta de Piedade was definitely more than a quick look. But we did end up coming back to this tiny cove.

You can walk from end to end in less than two minutes (and I have short legs). So we crossed the rocks at the end of the beach...

And ended up in another small sandy hideaway sheltered by the cliffs.

We found a natural sinkhole, far prettier and much less freaky than the big ones in the news...

And a cave whose mouth framed the beach perfectly.

Great things can come in small packages. Praia do Camilo remains one of my favorite beaches of the whole trip.

5) Praia da Falesia in Albufeira was our most convenient beach trip. We simply had to take an elevator from the garden in the Sheraton Algarve, where we stayed (thanks, Ate!) and take the resort-made boardwalk to the beach.

We saw lots of windswept (and I mean windswept) pines and other trees along the way.

Here, we were pampered with shaded loungers and towel service. And I thought we'd left our life of luxury behind in Singapore! It was definitely a nice change.

It was a long stretch of beach, like Praia da Rocha but without the rocks. 

6) Praia do Tunel in Albufeira is just a short walk from the narrow alleys of the old town and the main tourist hub which is the praca (plaza).

This was the most unique beach walk for me. You stroll along a long, whitewashed promenade lining the cliffs, until you get to the very end of the bay and are rewarded with this panorama.

There's also an elevator that goes right down to the beach. Marlon and I decided to skip the sun-worshipping that day and just headed back to the old town after soaking up the view.

7) Praia Sao Rafael between Sesmarias and Albufeira was our last beach before we bid the Algarve goodbye. It's located in what seemed to be an affluent neighborhood, so it had its own resort-quality paved parking lot, beach bar, shower and toilet facilities, and even its own logo. 

It was also small and cozy, like Praia do Camilo. Marlon and I had decided that these small coves were more to our liking. Somehow they end up having more to see and explore... more character.

By this time I had already gotten used to the icy waters of the Atlantic, so this was the beach I enjoyed the most. Huge crashing waves can be fun!

If I can only keep coming back to beaches like these, maybe I won't miss home too much! ;)