#Typical Amsterdam food

[micheltaanman-blog]

Amsterdam cycle route along typical Dutch food and drinks

[in-daddy-price-we-trust]

All I Wanted - Part 2

summary: when you are kidnapped discovered by TF141 they can't help but fall in love.

pairing: 141 x fem!teen!reader (platonic)

warnings: mentions of child abuse, drugs, canon typical violence, kidnapping

Part 1 Part 3

AN: Here it is! The Long awaited part two !!

Hope you enjoy this just as much as part one !!

Price POV

This was not what they needed right now. When 141 first heard of a potential weapons trade for El Sin Nombre going down in Amsterdam, they couldn't wait to get on the field.

The suspense was killing them as they waited for the right moment. They knew at this point that trying to stop the deal would be more hassle than worth. So the plan of waiting for their food to come to them was a better solution.

Price stalled however when he saw her step out. No way this was who they were after. No one in a cartel would go about wearing over-pink clothes. It was stupid. Even more so when she started shooting back, with a pistol as well.

"Ghost, move in," the static of the radio crackled before a grumbled copy sounded back. Price watched as Ghost snuck up behind her, his feet silent as he kicked her knees in and knocked her out.

"Well done Ghosty," The Scotsman, Soap, cheered over the comms, making his way down to the evac truck they scheduled.

She sat in-between him and Ghost. "No way she's with Nombre," Gaz announced after a few minutes of silence, "She's a child!" A hum left Soap's throat. 

"That's why we integrate her, Nombre or not, we can still use her to our advantage," Price concluded, sending the group back into quiet before she awoke.

-

Gaz was right. She was a child, barely reaching 16. Guilt hung heavy in his heart as he thought back to her crying. Cheeks red with tears and eyes puffy. 

He dragged a hand down his face, muttering a 'Jesus Christ' under his breath at the discovery. Eyes flicked across the room, every single soldier in that room seemed to suffocate in the amount of tension.

With a heavy sigh, Price spoke again. "How about we make a deal?" her head shot up at the words, a mix of emotions slathered across her features. From here he could tell she was picking apart his words.

"You, stay with us and get a place to stay," Price's eyes drifted to his team behind her.

"But - you have to help us catch our guy," The words cemented in her brain, slowly nodding along to them. It couldn't be worse to what she was used to, can it? Worse case scenario, she runs away again.

"Okay," it was final, "But I need to get my gear first."

-

The drive was quiet. The radio played some random pop song that she muttered the lyrics too, fingers drumming on her thighs. 

The boys seemed glad she accepted the deal. Although it may be the fact she was a minor and by the sounds of it, partaking in crime activity. Of course, this wouldn't be as different but at least all expenses were paid for by the government.

The car lulled to a stop, pulling up in front of the hotel. The door slammed shut before Price even registered her unclicking her seat belt leaving him to race after her.

A smile graced her lips as she greeted the lady at the front desk, who then proceeded to side eye Price. He would too if he saw a teenager going up to a hotel room with a 40-something-year-old man.

The pair continued to be silent in each other's presence, even when her fingers slipped together pressing and pulling on each one as a sort of fidget. The lift dinged at the second floor, Price hot on her heels to the hotel room. She muttered the number continuously under her breath, 105. 

Number splayed in gold, she struggles to get the keycard from wherever she managed to store the thing, like seriously, where did she put things? 

The door pushed open to the room. The white linen sheets still a mess from when she woke up this morning. What caught his eye was the absurdly bright duffle bag that sat on the middle of the hardwood floors, from where he stood he could make out the top of a pink sniper. 

'Jesus the girl knew how to stick to a theme, that's for sure..'

Diligently she picked up the weapons she managed to slide into nooks and crannies. Picking up stray plushies along the way. Price tried to help, but whenever he tried to pick up a cuddly brown bear he'd get holes burnt unto his head. So he eventually dropped it, opting to stand near the door.

Before long she came up to him, bag over her shoulder and a determined look in her eyes. The trip back to reception was awkward. The same tense atmosphere seemed to follow like a shadow. The lift dinged again, the robotic voice announcing their arrival.

She marched over to the receptionist, explaining she was checking out early (even though there was still two weeks left) and saying if anyone needed it to let them have the room for free. The soft spoken words melted the workers heart, promising to do as told.

-

Your POV

Price was awkward. Maybe the commanding aura around him clashed with yours of innocence. But - you both knew yours was fake. To some extent at least.

"Why did you make a deal? - with me?" It was a genuine question. The want of appreciation and validation flooding through your veins.

His eyes flicked down to you, noticing you already looking him in the face. He huffed a laugh at it. Soft, warm. "Well - I'm not just going to toss a kid out on the street, am I?" It was the truth. Voice of honey and liquid gold washing over you. Clouding your brain.

"Thank you, Price."

-

"Doll, wake up for me yeah?" a hum fell past your lips as you stirred awake, rubbing your eyes.

"Are we back already?" voice hoarse and scratchy, a yawn coming from you mid sentence.

Price chuckled at you. 'Glad someone finds this amusing.' 

"C'mon love - I'll show you to your new room and you can have a kip in there, kay?" His voice was soft, almost like the words would make you shatter and crumble like glass. Though it worked, pushing you out of the passenger seat of the car and onto the (now) familiar gravel plaza. Pink mary janes dragged behind you, sleep seeping into your bones.

That was soon rushed out of you when Mohawk appeared in front of you and Price. "Hi lassie, names Sargent John Mactavish but Soap is fine!" He beamed, pearly whites flashing down as you appeared wide eyed at him, stunned at the sudden (and quite frankly, loud) appearance. He threw a hand over his shoulder, pointing at the other figure you completely missed, "And that's Gaz." It was the shorty of the group, giving you a sheepish wave and a sympathetic smile at the loud Scot.

Price placed a hand on your shoulder, a slight apology maybe? You found yourself staring up at him before speaking, "Uhm.. thank- thank you Soap-?" cursing yourself for stumbling over your words. The nicknames getting caught on your tongue at its strangeness. "What kind of name is 'Soap' anyways?" He laughed at that, full belly laughed. Sort of high like a bell, although pleasant.

"M' Afraid I can't tell ya that, confidential," It was spoken with a wicked grin plastered across his face. The smile contagious and making the pink bands of your braces show. "Why don't Gaz and I show you to your new room?" A glance to Price and his nudge of the head allowed you to accept the offer, Soap instantly grabbing the bag from off your shoulder and pulling you along, going on to ramble about his hometown in Scotland.

-

taglist: @urfavsunkissedleo @greenkiki @daryldixonh0e @elijahssuit @theunknownartistsworld @rafaelacallinybbay @cycy-nicole @romanticizedillness @thedeluded @blueoorchid @guiltyconfessions @r3dc4ndy @unnoticed-human @crazyfandomist @jaymum @chb-7 @chromslover @connierk690 @lilpothoscuttings @darkfaethedestroyer @cptg00s3 @elvyshiarieko @8-29pm @howlerwolfmax @minkyungseokie @tapioca-marzipan @cinnamoroll-things @kittythebloodykiller @thicc-plum @phoenixmistycal @marytvirgin @eddiesbitch83 @dwkfan

[mlem-wooloowoo]

To elaborate on the tags I wrote earlier today:

In case you don't know, some dozens of activists from Extinction Rebellion sat around the wheels of private jets in the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, and after weeks and weeks of "food smeared on famous painting which is actually protected by a glass" and "activist glued herself to a museum door" this is the first action that feels right to me.

First of all, museums are not a place typically connected with climate change, nor should they be. Museums provide beauty and leisure to everyone who wishes to pay a very small ticket, whereas in the past this privilege was exclusive to rich people. In a sense, museums are democratic. What the activists did was put unnecessary stress to museum workers, build a less trusting environment inside museums and hide from public view some incredible works of art that are public property for everyone to see. It felt wrong, it felt like a pointless marketing stunt, which does not point to climate change in any meaningful way.

Now the problem with climate change (with which I mean to say: the lack of effective regulation against human activities that cause climate change) has much to do with the opposite of what museums try to do. Essentially, the lobbying against climate change regulation boils down to this: a group of extremely rich people who profit from making our planet unfit for human life (and, incidentally, from exploitation of workers) wish to continue doing so, since they are so wonderfully rich that they will have means to survive anyway. (Of course I'm oversimplifying things but please bear with me, I'm trying to get the point across).

Museums make beauty available to everyone. Corporations and CEOs wish to make that beauty available only for them, and if they can't, then nobody will be able to benefit from it. The pattern is simple: limited resources that should be equally distributed among all human beings are hoarded and made artificially scarce by people who waste them, without any care for externalities or any empathy for other people. This sounds like the exact opposite of a museum.

Private jets are the perfect symbol for this! Rich assholes who can "afford" private jets feel like they have a right in polluting as much as they wish, since they are not concerned with thoughts about the "fair share" of everyone's limited resources.

So in short, stop smearing potatoes on paintings. It's boring, it does a bad job at communicating what you're angry at. Consider instead: blocking private jets, protesting in front of oil company buildings, vandalizing yachts.

Good job, activists from Amsterdam!!

[imachaoticghost]

Book of Karma : Prologue

Masterlist

Word count : 1, 058 words

Pairings : none, gender fluid! AFAB! gn! reader

TW: Canon typical violence, may be OOC, canon divergence, reader is referred by their "persona" Athena, reader is referred twice as a girl, no beta we die like men, gun mention

The steady stream of people flowed, some walking quietly, some hurrying, some standing, and all going about their day, oblivious to anything else. Oblivious to the sniper watching them, to the rifle pointed at their heads. It made me chuckle, how unaware they were of their surroundings. With a sigh I stood and put the rifle in its case, opening the roof door and sliding down the stairs’ railing. After all I was bound to be nothing but a child they said. In my previous 17 years of life I had never had fun; it was my time to catch up on that. I was set on making the most of my new found freedom. I wasn’t about to let anyone tell me what to do.

But once I reached the end of the spiral stairs my giddiness faded to be replaced by a simple stern expression. I pulled my hood over my face and fixed my long wig underneath it, thinking about how I would soon have to move again. I was always either running from The Program or the authorities. I found it to be such a shame; Amsterdam was quite the beautiful city.

I was walking calmly when something, or rather someone, caught my eye. A tall blonde man had just walked past me. To anyone else it would’ve seemed completely normal, nothing about him stood out to people. But to me he was a nightmare, a tall, handsome, dangerous nightmare. To me he meant that the Program had already caught up to me, a lot sooner than I thought. I may not be good at remembering people, but I had made sure to never forget their faces.

The gears started turning in my head as I started making a plan, if I ran now I would look suspicious. I hoped he hadn’t actually noticed me, but mostly that he was here for another mission than catching me. So I kept walking towards my current safe house.

On my rush home I ended up hitting what I thought was a wall in the middle of the street but ended up being just a muscular man. When I looked up to apologize I noticed the bucket hat and the kind smile, but also the dog tags hanging from his neck. And when I looked back down I noticed the gun on his hip and military stance, confirming my suspicions. I quickly marked him as a threat in my mind: Bucket hat man: Level two threat.

After finally apologizing I looked back at my feet and kept walking towards the safe house. I finally reached it and slammed the door open, throwing my rifle and bag on the floor and taking a deep breath. I then rushed to open my laptop and buy a ticket to Berlin, picking one of my fake ID’s. If I wanted to move, I had to move quickly. I grabbed my bag and threw my clothes and food in it.

Once the ticket was downloaded I snapped my laptop closed, took another deep breath, slid one of my guns in the inside of my waistband, put my laptop in my bad, grabbed it all and left silently, leaving an empty house in which, seemingly, no one ever lived in.

The team sat in front of Laswell, all with different levels of attention but at least some. “Your mission is to retrieve The Reaper alive before-” She checked the file and grimaced, a gender fluid shape shifting (AN: we all know we’re shape shifters) target was the last thing they needed, with them already being an elite spy it made the task more difficult. “…they…fall on enemy hands, in this case Russian. Our Intel says they’ve been spotted in a plane to Berlin; let’s hope they’re planning on staying there. It also says that they move every four days, so you need to be quick. As far as we’re aware they have stayed always in European and Asian continent.”

She threw the file on the table, sliding it towards the Captain. “Name: Unknown, presumed: Athena Noctet, Age: Unknown, Gender: Fluid, Sex: Female, She’s an administrative ghost. The only thing we have about them is a presumed name, but even that changes every now and then. They’re a headache, and you have the honour of trying to catch them. Alive.” She insisted on that point. They needed the Reaper alive no matter what.

When he opened the file he was amused by the amount of emptiness in it. There was no image and a hell lot of unknowns. He was also amused by the amount of censure on the translated Russian document. They talked about birth and modifications but any detail on it was blacked out. He flipped more papers on random information until he noticed an envelope of pictures. He emptied it on the table for his team to see and immediately recognized the face of the girl he bumped with in Amsterdam, when he was following the blonde Huntsman.

“They look young” He noticed.

“Don’t let their appearance fool you. They might be young but I can assure you their mind is well beyond their age.” She warned.

He continued flipping through the pictures, they were mostly security footage or drone pictures and their face was generally covered. Apart from a signature amused smile always plastered in their expression. In one they were sitting in a café in Paris, a cap over their eyes. In another one, still in the same place, they were raising their drink towards the camera in a sort of mocking greeting.

Two other pictures caught his eye. One where they were at a party, luxurious and revealing dress on and hands all over an older man’s body .One of her hands was deep in the man’s pocket and in the next image they stood proudly, waving the wallet they had taken to the camera. The second one was the only one where they were dressed in an expensive suit, hair cut short, makeup accentuating their masculine features but still the same sharp cat eyeliner. If Price didn’t know better he would think that this picture had no reason to be there with the others, but the glint in their eyes and the smile they wore only belonged to them. Their fluidity was bound to be a problem.  

[urfellowrabbitkid]

hehehe hiiii this is my list of lyric changes in live performances of michael (all gathered from concert recordings on youtube), there are almost definitely even more changes that i havent seen yet but these are the ones ive found from my phase of watching over 30 live performances of michael on youtube

lines like ‘im sexy’ replaced with ‘you’re sexy’ , other ‘i’ statements replaced with ‘you’ sometimes

‘sticky hips’ part of chorus skipped over sometimes idk why tbh

‘it’s close now’ sometimes replaced with ‘you’re close now’

at pinkpop performance ‘it’s close now’ was replaced with ‘so pink now’ .

typically in the second ‘so come and dance with me’ section, the last ‘so come and dance with me’ is replaced with ‘so come all over me’ . sometimes this does not happen, and sometimes it also happens in the first ‘so come and dance with me’ section. less common tho

in their first US show performance of micheal, the final ‘so come and dance with me’s of each section are replaced with ‘so break a [unintelligible] with me’. might say hall or wall?

sometimes says ‘micheal you’re dancing, you’re a beautiful dance-whore’ instead of ‘micheal you’re dancing like a beautiful dance-whore’

music for life 2017 performance of micheal he says “this is what i am, your favourite man” instead of “i am a man” in the bit right before the main chorus bit (he said “i am a man” earlier however). TRNSMT festival 2018 he says your favourite man also, says it first time and fhen second time says “spectacular man” im thinking these lyric changes are common in the more recent performances of it?

earliest recorded performance of it it is quite literally not possible to tell if there are any lyric changes however it’s possible the come and dance with me change was included

2022 just like heaven fest performance he says either “this is what i am / yes, such a fine man” or “this is what i am / you’re such a fine man” in the first chorus. in the second chorus he sings “this is what i am / i’m an ice cream man”

rock n heim 2013 says ‘because’ in beginning of main chorus (‘because you’re all that i see [etc.]’)

spancirfest 2023 he says “this is what i am / banana (?) toast man”. seems to be part of a general trend in more recent performances where he says a food instead of just ‘a man’.

2010 mexico performance he sings “stubble on my sticky hips”, possibly deliberate, possibly just a mispeak. may happen in other performances too?

2018 kyiv performance sings ‘flamboyant man’. also sings “you’re all i need” first verse instead of “you’re all i see”

according to alex’s twitter, he makes up new lyrics each performance.

YOU'RE A SAINT FOR THIS AND ALEX KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING

we've been blessed by this list thank you

i'm going to check later what he did at paradiso amsterdam live cause i have it on cd but i remember that there were some changes

so come all over me change is my favourite thing ever fr😭😭😭

[disneyprincemuke]

I have a few!

top 5 video games

top 5 foods from your culture

top 5 f1 tracks/races

top 5 places to visit

I LOVE THESE QUESTIONS OK LETS FUCKIN GOOOO DAWG

icl i mostly play valorant, but i also typically play overwatch 2, i used to play animal crossing and sometimes roblox is fun when i reach my wits end playing valorant,, and that's actually all

I LOVE THIS QUESTION HELLO I LITERALLY EAT FILIPINO FOOD ALL DAY EVERY DAY sinigang, adobo, filipino style beef steak, lechon kawali and tinola and as a bonus, bibingka <3

of course my top will always be singapore (it's the only one i can attend and the concert lineups always SLAP bro, japan, melbourne bc sumn always happening there fr, zandvoort and miami

WORD,,,,, manila, amsterdam, and i quite liked london when i went, new york, and indonesia

[msclaritea]

Five Guys was founded in 1986 by Janie and Jerry Murrell. Jerry and the couple's sons Jim, Matt, Chad, and Ben were the original "Five Guys". The Murrells had a fifth son, Tyler, two years later. Today, all five sons, the current "Five Guys", are involved in the business: Matt and Jim travel the United States visiting stores, Chad oversees training, Ben selects the franchisees, and Tyler runs the bakery.

The first Five Guys was in Arlington's Westmont Shopping Center. Buns were baked in the same center by Brenner's Bakery. This location closed, in favor of another in Alexandria, Virginia, at the intersection of King and North Beauregard Streets, which closed on September 21, 2013.

More followed in Old Town Alexandria and Springfield, Virginia, making five locations open by 2001. Their success encouraged the Murrells to franchise their concept the following year, engaging Fransmart, a franchise sales organization. Former American football player Mark Moseley, who had gone to work for Fransmart after his football career, played a key role in Five Guys' expansion and went on to become the company's director of franchise development after it ended its business relationship with Fransmart. In early 2003, the chain began franchising, opening the doors to rapid expansion which caught the attention of national restaurant trade organizations and the national press. The expansion started in Virginia and Maryland, and by the end of 2004, over 300 units were in development through the Northeast. Over the next few years, the chain rapidly expanded across the entire United States and into Canada, reaching over 1,000 locations by 2012.[needs update][citation needed]

The first location outside North America opened in the United Kingdom in July 2013, in London on Long Acre in Covent Garden. The chain now has more than 150 restaurants in the UK. Five Guys also has locations in the Middle East and has continued to expand in Europe. In late 2017, Five Guys opened its first restaurants in Germany, with a branch in Frankfurt and another in Essen.

Five Guys, one of the top three burgers in the U.S., opened its first Korean store in Gangnam, Seoul, at 11 a.m. on June 26, 2023 with a countdown shout. As of 2024, there are a total of four branches in Seoul.

Five Guys Enterprises has several affiliated companies that are not part of a consolidated group, but are under common ownership. Five Guys Operations was founded in 2012, Five Guys Holdings was founded in 2007. Five Guys Foods UK Limited was incorporated on March 12, 2013. FGE International, FGO International BV, and FG Coöperatief U.A. are based in Amsterdam. FGH International C.V. is located in Bermuda.

Five Guys had a 39,900 square feet (3,710 m2) headquarters in Lorton, Virginia, overlooking the Occoquan and Potomac Rivers, that was specially designed to convey the corporate brand. According to the architect, "The lobby mimics the typical Five Guys restaurant with red and white tile, tall tables, Freestyle Coke machine and signature peanut boxes." In 2023, they moved their headquarters to a new location in Alexandria, Virginia.

On September 24, 2020, the first Five Guys location with a drive-through window opened in Surfside Beach, South Carolina. The franchisee retained it from the former business in the building in light of COVID-19 pandemic safe practices.

In September 2021, Five Guys opened their first location in Australia. The chain also has plans to expand into New Zealand. In November 2022, Five Guys announced the relocation of their headquarters to the Carlyle neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia.

Five Guys has received numerous awards in D.C. area publications, including "Number 1 Burger" by Washingtonian Magazine for seven years.[citation needed] The former US President Barack Obama is reportedly a fan, buying lunch for himself and his colleagues at the Washington Five Guys branch in 2011.

[jfouler]

mun faves!

tag 10 people you want to know better

favourite colour(s): maroon/magenta but like not the really bright magenta. also yellow n orange but i like all colors. they are all special to me as an artist- [chokes]

song stuck in your head: this eternal banger

last song you listened to: eaten alive by wolves . im on a narcissist cookbook kick and also, very jamie song.

3 favourite foods: any pasta dish rly - ravioli. also i love dark chocolate, my chocolate has to be as bitter as coffee or i won't want it pff. then curry maybe? in general...

dream trip: very typical but i would love to pay a visit to japan for a couple weeks. my runner ups are italy or amsterdam netherlands bc i LOVE a walkable city

anything I want rn: a day where i dont have to do Anything <;/3

tagged by: @natterghast :D tagging: guys... you know i can't do these things i'm an old man... gestures vaguely at anybody reading this. you.

[wild-penguin]

My apologies if I recall incorrectly, but are you Dutch? Or live in the Netherlands? I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind suggesting some delicacies, dishes, street food, little bits and things like that, that are a must to have and try while there, if you don’t mind.

You are correct!

My favorite is something called kibbeling with ravigotte sauce. Its fried pieces of fish, literal heaven.

Other things you should try are stuff like Bossche Bol, Zeeuwse Bolus and Tompoes. Those are some popular pastries. Jan de Groot is like a whole thing, people will travel to Den Bosch from wherever in Holland to get a Bossche Bol there.

Cheese obviously haha. Old Amsterdam maybe. Edam or Gouda.

Poffertjes = mini pancakes.

Oliebollen is deep fried dough we usually eat at new years.

Personally I hate these but its very Dutch: bitterballen and haring. Raw salty fish and like deep fried balls filled with liquidy flowery meat.

Typical Dutch dinners: hachee, stamppot and snert. Hearty dinners for the winters mostly.

For sweets and cookies Stroopwafels, drop and hopjes.

There's also so many great chocolateries for bon bons. But the ones I know are only local which im not going to disclose ofc 🫴 but keep an eye out for those

Furthermore, Heineken? I hate Heineken but there's loads great beer places esp around the South or Belgium. And ofc coffees are superb most times anywhere in Holland.

Im not sure if im missing anything ⚘️

[titos-taste-test]

Hazelnut Kitchen Restaurant

53 East Main Street

Trumansburg NY 14886 USA

http://www.hazelnutkitchen.com

Dinner on Friday 10/28/2022

We were on a trip to explore NY State’s Finger Lakes Region.

We tried this restaurant and were blown away!

We didn’t have reservations and the dining room was full so we were fortuitously offered seats at the bar which overlooked the kitchen. We basically got dinner AND a show.

You knew you’d be up for a formidable meal just from the bread and butter given to start. The butter was topped with beautiful edible flower petals.

The menu was interestingly divided by the size of the portion/plate: small, smallish, bigger, biggest.

We started with what we called a salad that will change your life: the badger flame beet salad, horseradish crème-fraiche, seed cracker, trout roe and dill. This salad was a delight for both the eye and the palate. The fiery orange-red color of the “badger flame beet” was something I’d never seen. Flavour-wise, it was a deconstructed borscht!

Next course was the honeynut squash risotto with feta topped with crunchy pepitas. We called it creamy risotto with a sparkle crunch.

The kitchen staff obviously heard us ooohing and aaahing about the food and gave us a taste of the chicken liver profiteroles, tamarind caramel and pickled delicata. Profiteroles are typically associated as a dessert. Paired with chicken liver sounded a bit gross BUT throw your predetermined thoughts out the window. This combination was completely yummalicious.

Our main course was the whole fried black bass, ginger scallion sauce, carolina gold rice and crushed cucumbers. Cooked to perfection, flaky and just LOOK at that impressive presentation! I am well practiced in taking apart whole fish but can see how such a dish might be intimidating for those less experienced.

To top off dinner, we tried the ice cream sandwich made with Vietnamese iced coffee ice cream and Dutch stroopwafel with espresso caramel. Having travelled numerous times to both Amsterdam and Vietnam, I was entertained by the successfully inventive mashup of flavors and cultures.

Tasty surprises came even with the bill in the form of house made caramels.

Notes I jotted down in my phone as we ate:

Happy dance food!

I am not going to brush my teeth because I want to keep that taste in my mouth forever. 😁

Original, well thought and inventive food combinations that simply worked.

Watching the chef cook in the kitchen with his staff: genius at work.

Highly highly recommended.

This restaurant’s food is a triumph in Trumansburg.

Bravo Chef Matt Hummel!!

#trumansburg #hazelnutkitchen #NYS #fingerlakes #fingerlakesregion #badgerflamebeet #chickenliverprofiterole #blackbass #vietnameseicedcoffeeicecream

[micheltaanman-blog]

Amsterdam - Typical Dutch - Haring eten

[in-daddy-price-we-trust]

All I Wanted - Part 1

summary: when you are kidnapped discovered by TF141 they can't help but fall in love.

pairing: 141 x fem!teen!reader (platonic)

warnings: mentions of child abuse, drugs, canon typical violence

Part 2

A/N: this is like my first fanfic in a while, and first on tumblr (yay!) any tips and tricks would be so helpful!

this also plans to be a series but posting might and will be inconsistent, thank you in advance!

You always had a difficult life. Being abused by your parents up until you ran away at 13. After you ran away, you got in with the wrong type of people, promises of hope and money, food and validation was all they needed to say to get you hooked in their business of organised crime. Some good came out of it however, they gave you a home and how to defend yourself. They taught you how to shoot a gun and the best place to make someone bleed. They taught you nothing else mattered except them, they became your new family.

You were 15 when you were tasked with transporting a couple crates of weaponry and drugs. The organisation you joined knew you well enough and practically raised you to be the strongest you were. So one cargo ship to Amsterdam later, you find yourself in a rotting, metal warehouse, wearing pink apparel, pink puffy skirt and a white hello-kitty shirt. A baby pink cardigan is draped over your shoulders and over-the-knee white knitted socks. A chrome covered knife strapped to your thigh.

“Zus, how much for it all?” he stood across from you, a cigarette lit between his lips taking a long drag as you assessed his question. His black, slicked back hair elongated his face and the three piece suit almost made this deal professional.

“How much are you offering?” was all you said as a small smile graced your lips, ‘the higher the offer, the better’ you remember being told before you left. They weren’t the best weapons but they were definitely worth at least a couple K.

“25”

a grimace, “80”

a growl, “40”

a hum, “55”

“65. Final offer,” his teeth were bared, almost like he was sweating already.

A sinister, sweet smile stretched across your face, “Wonderful, and how are you wanting to transfer that?” out of seemingly nowhere you pulled out a notepad and pen, writing down the bank details before you gave him a pointed look, “You have one week to transfer the money, or I will have your head.”

His face paled, almost embarrassingly so. For how innocent you appeared to be, you knew how to handle yourself in these situations. You turned to walk away, the sound of baby pink mary janes clacking against the concrete as you bounced towards the rusted metal doors, sliding them open as you looked back at the man one final time, “It was a pleasure doing business with you,” and leaving.

You were good at your job. It was easy, for the most part. Gather intel, pass forward that intel. Transfer somewhat illegal items from one holder to another. So it comes to you as a bit of a surprise when you exit through the dusty doors when a bullet wizzes past your face, luckily just missing you. Swiftly pulling out the hand-gun out your waistband and shooting in their direction. You wish you had your sniper, but it was left in the hotel room you managed to stay at.

As you shot in the direction of the fire, you failed to notice someone sneaking out behind you, kicking your knees in. Dirt caked your socks as the grip on your gun became loose. Acting as quick as possible, you flipped onto your back, retching the knife from its holster. Before you could act, black invaded your vision as you felt pain shoot from your head. Shit.

-

White light invaded your vision, a grumbled swear leaving your dry lips at the pounding in your head. "Jesus Christ," your wrists hurt, rubbed raw by the shitty metal handcuffs they strapped you in, "Whose bedroom did you get these out of? Couldn't even afford good quality cuffs?" fell out of your mouth before you could think to stop it. No one reacted.

It was a van, you could tell that much. The interior white with small wooden benches lining it. Two men sat on either side of you whilst the other two sat across. From what you could make out, another pair sat at the front, driving to this unknown destination.

Maybe you should have been more scared. More begging for them not to hurt you. Four big, burly military men could definitely kill you much easier than you kill them.

They studied you like you studied them. The one on your left was most likely the oldest, a fisherman's hat upon his head and mutton chops-moustache combo was the dead give away. He had his eyes closed and arms crossed across his chest, legs spread wide.

You couldn't make out the one on your right quite as well. A black balaclava with painted white skeletal teeth paired well with the upper half of the skull mask he wore. He seemed to be in a similar position as grandpa, although he had an ankle resting on his knee instead, head tilted back against the cool metal of the van.

The two across from you seemed younger. One had a darker complexion, his eyebrows furrowed in a thoughtful expression. He was smaller than the rest but no doubtfully as strong.

Lastly was the man with a mohawk. His eyes bore into you the most, not so angry and more trying to figure out who you were. Breaking you apart and putting you back together with his eyes. Childishly, you stuck your tongue out at him. His face morphed into one of slight surprise before rolling his eyes and looking towards the front.

It was quiet. The hum from the light ticking like a clock in your ear. Trying to gauge where you were and how much time had passed, your foot started tapping on the floor.

"Stop," A gruff voice said suddenly making you jump before mumbling a sorry at the skull-faced man. It was quiet again. It numbed your senses, sending shivers down your spine. Gravel sounded under the tires before voices outside sounded, signalling your arrival.

The doors pulled open, sunlight shining in. As mohawk and shorty left, skully pulled your arm to tug you along out with him, a short yelp escaping past your lips at the action.

You tripped over your feet, pins and needles shooting up your legs from sitting for so long. "Can you be gentle?" you spoke as you found your footing, "Please?" it was tacked on at the end for at least the tiniest bit of sympathy.

Skully looked down at you as he continued to drag you towards what you hoped was a five-star hotel with bed and breakfast. At least your death would be a quick one.

The halls blurred together until you were sitting in a leather chair in someone's office, back to the door, although you felt the looming presence of the men behind you. Mutters were heard outside before the door clicked opened, footsteps and a click again.

Gramps stood in front of you, leaning over the dark stained oak table. He had a file in his hand, putting it on the desk before sliding it over to you. "What do you know of El Sin Nombre?" it wasn't as much of a question than you'd like but an order for information.

Your mouth was so dry it felt like you swallowed cotton. As much as you wished to answer him, you look at him with furrowed brows and a confused expression. It took you a couple minutes before words formed in your throat, "Who?".

He didn't enjoy that answer. One of his hands slapping on the desk as he seethed, repeating the question again as if that would change your answer.

"I don't know who that is! I can't help you," you felt that burning sensation under your eyes as you desperately tried to convey your emotions. Tears meant weakness, and that's the one thing you didn't want to show to your captors right now.

Pairs of eyes hammered into your head. You felt like a child again, staring down at your toes being told off for not doing the dishes or not being quick enough to grab a beer. You braced for the hits, the punches to your ribs as you made promises that fell on the deaf ears of your mother and father.

"Price," A voice sounded behind you, soft and comforting. An accent coated the words that flowed through the air you didn't pick up on. The more time passed the more your eyes stung, tears slipping past your defences. Shoulders shaking as you try to curl into yourself, strings of "I don't know" and "I'm sorry" being nothing more than mumbles.

The room grew cold and quiet as you sobbed. Footsteps couldn't be heard over your own cries, so when an arm wrapped around your shoulders, you jolted. Expecting this is where you get hit. Bracing for the impact and sting they usually brought with them.

Instead, the arm pulled you into their chest, hugging you close and stroking your hair, along with shushing you softly. It only made you sob harder. When was the last time someone hugged you like this? Sure, you got the occasional pat on the back for a job well done, but never an embrace like this.

Time passed through your fingers like sand, not knowing how long you sat there for before you calmed down. The arms didn't pull away until you did, cringing at the wet patch you left on the man's shirt. Speaking of, you looked up to see mohawk looking down at you, eyes soft and an equally soft smile. "Y're alright now lass?" his accent leaked into the words, a curt nod allowing him to pull away and stand up again.

A heavy sigh sounded above you as you dragged your eyes up to meet who you presumed was this 'Price' figure. "What’s your name?"

Gears turned over the question in your head, thinking of an answer. Technically, you lost your name when you left home, gaining a couple new names at the gang.

Your silence was taken for an answer. "What are you doing in Amsterdam?" this you could answer.

"A business exchange. I'm just the messenger, I don't know any of the customers - I promise! - I just get the money and dip. I promise I can't help you-" you were hyperventilating at this point.

"It's alright sweetheart, deep breaths, calm down for me, yeah?" Price's voice was gentle now, seemingly not wanting the same thing to happen.

"Can you tell us where you're from? Who you work for?" He asked once he saw you calm down.

"Uhm- I'm from England. And I don't really work for them but I'm a doberman. They're some organisation that took me in," you weren't really interested in going into full depths of your life with these complete strangers.

Although, you felt the gazes lift off you and onto Price, his own eyes looking back at his men, a million silent conversations happening right above your head. Price inhaled sharply before he asked his last question, "How old are?"

"15." The air knocked out of his lungs.

[rabbitcruiser]

National Windmill Day

Drive out to windmill country, or read up about the history of windmills and how they can provide clean, sustainable energy by harnessing Earth’s natural power.

Most people love them because there’s something absolutely bucolic about their squat structures and the gentle creak of their fins as these wooden structures spin in the natural wind currents. Of course, that describes the old fashioned kind of windmill. The newer, modern versions take on some different characteristics, of course.

Windmills have been around for a very long time, since the time when people first realized it was possible to harness the power of the wind to perform work and provide energy. Ever since new innovations have been made with the ability to utilize the never-ending source of power that windmills capture.

National Windmill Day commemorates the origins of the windmill as well as how it has helped to shape technology and industry from the past and into the future. It’s time to learn about and celebrate National Windmill Day!

History of National Windmill Day

The idea of capturing the power of the wind to perform work isn’t new and, in fact, it goes back far further into history than most people would suspect. Since then, its use has sprung up in multiple cultures throughout the world.

Heron of Alexandria, who lived in the first century AD, was the earliest person known to have harnessed the energy of moving air to perform work, using a very primitive device to power, of all things, a musical instrument: the organ. The people of Persia also developed more traditional windmills, though they had a different orientation than the ones most people typically think of when hearing the word ‘windmill’.

Some historians think that the Persian models were the inspiration for the vertical models that were developed later on in the middle ages. The evidence of one of the oldest windmills that remains today can be found in Weedley, Yorkshire, England and is said to have been built in 1185. As is commonly depicted in media, these machines were used primarily to grind grain, and have been for many centuries since that time.

Recently though, at least in the last 150 years or so, there’s been a growing movement to use windmills in another fashion entirely. The power of the wind can be harnessed to turn giant wind turbines which in turn generate clean, and virtually unlimited, renewable energy.

Windmills have been around for a long long time, and while they may seem like primitive tech, they’ve moved into the world as hope for a clean future. Along with solar, bio-fuel, and fuel cells, windmills are working to save the environment.

National Windmill Day Timeline

644 AD First reference to windmills

Beginning as horizontal mills with woven reed blades that radiate from a vertical axis, these first windmills are built in Persia.

11th Century AD Windmills are used for food production

In the Middle East, windmills are used to help produce food and the ideas are then taken to Europe by merchants and crusaders.

1300s Windmills are used to drain water

The Dutch people of the Netherlands realize that the water from their low-lying areas can be drained using windmills.

1600s Windmills are introduced to the New World

When the Dutch colonize New Amsterdam (now called New York City), they bring their windmill designs with them

1887 First large scale power generating wind turbine

Charles F. Brush builds a huge 60-foot windmill with a whopping 144 blades in Cleveland, Ohio.

How to Celebrate National Windmill Day

Learn More About Windmills

Well perhaps to first thing to do is start by reading up on the topic of windmills. One of the best things that can be done to celebrate the day is to get more educated on the history of windmills, to begin learning how they’re helping us today, and even to share that information with others. As one of the fastest growing sources of energy in the world, it’s worth learning more about!

Here are some interesting facts about windmills:

The first modern version of the wind turbine was built in Vermont, USA in the 1940s. Its success was not long lived due to war shortages and the next time a windmill would rival it in size would be in 1979.

Hawaii, USA hosts the world’s largest wind turbine, which is the height of a 20 story building and its blades are the length of a football field.

Offshore wind is particularly effective. In Europe, one offshore wind turbine (located in the water) can power more than 1500 homes.

Read Don Quixote

Famous (or perhaps, infamous) for his mistake in thinking that windmills are giant monsters, Don Quixote bravely rides toward them to do battle and, of course, eventually gets knocked off his horse. This is just one of the many beloved and memorable scenes in this classic novel by Spanish author, Miquel de Cervantes, published in 1606.

Visit Holland for National Windmill Day

While not necessarily the first place to house windmills, Holland (now known as The Netherlands) has a long history with them as they were the first place to use them to move water from low lying lands. In fact, the second Saturday and Sunday in May (because one day just isn’t enough!) are celebrated in Holland as “National Mill Day”, which is called Molendag in Dutch. This is a day when 950 windmills and watermills will open their doors to the public for visitors to see their inner workings first hand and learn more about them. Plus, many of them will also host fun events for the local community and tourists alike.

Whether in Amsterdam or throughout the rest of this country filled with canals and waterways, the windmills are stunning. It’s even possible to go on a bike tour of the mills to visit some of the most beautiful, iconic and picturesque mills in the world!

Those who find other countries in Europe to be more accessible can celebrate National Windmill Day in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland and other countries, where it is often referred to as National Mills Day.

Watch Some Windmills

For those who happen to live in an area that has a single windmill or a whole windmill farm, it might be fun and interesting to go out and watch them turn, turn, turn… (Are we the only one hearing that song now?) More and more communities are dotting them about the landscape as a sustainable source of power. As you gaze upon and contemplate just how important these are to a bright, pollution-free future for our children, enjoy watching their soothing motion and consider their history too.

National Windmill Day FAQs

How do windmills work?

Wind turbines use their large blades to collect kinetic energy as the wind flows over the blades to create “lift”.

Do windmills make noise?

Windmills do emit a characteristic noise, mainly generated by the movement of the blades, but the noise is generally weak.

Are windmills renewable energy?

Wind is an emissions-free source of energy that has fewer effects on the environment than many other energy sources.

Do windmills create electricity?

Yes! Wind turns the propellers of the windmill around a rotor that, in turn, spins a generator to create electricity.

How much do windmills cost?

The standard windmill costs around $2-4 million with another $40-50,000 in per year in operation and maintenance.

Source

[mlem-wooloowoo]

Ho postato 4.735 volte nel 2022

Sono 38 post in più del 2021!

28 post creati (1%)

4.707 post rebloggati (99%)

Blog che ho rebloggato di più:

@caffeinateddiscoverer

@timemachineyeah

@marzipanandminutiae

@thisgirlshouldbeworking

@eosphorusss

Ho taggato 784 dei miei post nel 2022

#dracula daily - 94 post

#birbs - 36 post

#puntastic - 33 post

#goncharov - 32 post

#fave - 8 post

#youtube - 6 post

#lovely - 5 post

#every day i wake up and i'm grateful i was born in europe - 5 post

#[tumblr] - 5 post

#my beloved - 5 post

Longest Tag: 134 characters

#but the hype around deep learning has pushed totally incompetent people to use vast amounts of power to make up for their incompetence

I miei post migliori nel 2022:

#5

Me, seeing something mundane but puzzling, which I cannot really explain: hm.

Abraham Van Helsing, who lives rent free in my head: and what do you make of it????

42 note - Postate 30 settembre 2022

#4

Imagine receiving the Dracula Daily email and waiting for 2 hours to open it because you need time to read it properly but it's literally shorter than a tweet.

84 note - Postate 26 maggio 2022

#3

Today's xkcd

174 note - Postate 26 luglio 2022

#2

To elaborate on the tags I wrote earlier today:

In case you don't know, some dozens of activists from Extinction Rebellion sat around the wheels of private jets in the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, and after weeks and weeks of "food smeared on famous painting which is actually protected by a glass" and "activist glued herself to a museum door" this is the first action that feels right to me.

First of all, museums are not a place typically connected with climate change, nor should they be. Museums provide beauty and leisure to everyone who wishes to pay a very small ticket, whereas in the past this privilege was exclusive to rich people. In a sense, museums are democratic. What the activists did was put unnecessary stress to museum workers, build a less trusting environment inside museums and hide from public view some incredible works of art that are public property for everyone to see. It felt wrong, it felt like a pointless marketing stunt, which does not point to climate change in any meaningful way.

Now the problem with climate change (with which I mean to say: the lack of effective regulation against human activities that cause climate change) has much to do with the opposite of what museums try to do. Essentially, the lobbying against climate change regulation boils down to this: a group of extremely rich people who profit from making our planet unfit for human life (and, incidentally, from exploitation of workers) wish to continue doing so, since they are so wonderfully rich that they will have means to survive anyway. (Of course I'm oversimplifying things but please bear with me, I'm trying to get the point across).

Museums make beauty available to everyone. Corporations and CEOs wish to make that beauty available only for them, and if they can't, then nobody will be able to benefit from it. The pattern is simple: limited resources that should be equally distributed among all human beings are hoarded and made artificially scarce by people who waste them, without any care for externalities or any empathy for other people. This sounds like the exact opposite of a museum.

Private jets are the perfect symbol for this! Rich assholes who can "afford" private jets feel like they have a right in polluting as much as they wish, since they are not concerned with thoughts about the "fair share" of everyone's limited resources.

So in short, stop smearing potatoes on paintings. It's boring, it does a bad job at communicating what you're angry at. Consider instead: blocking private jets, protesting in front of oil company buildings, vandalizing yachts.

Good job, activists from Amsterdam!!

394 note - Postate 7 novembre 2022

Il mio post numero 1 del 2022

I think that we should start declamating the molecular formula of active ingredients when thinking about taking meds.

Aargh, I have a terrible migraine! I need some ibuprofen, C13H18O2!!

511 note - Postate 19 agosto 2022

Guarda ora l'Analisi del tuo anno 2022 di Tumblr →

[rivkahelisheva]

1/10 ramble, nearing mikvah

Hi! there’s nothing quite like Yigdal sung by Yasmin Levy. (Morenika by Mor Karbasi is a close second. Does anyone know of any songs in Judeo-Portuguese?)

I’m trying to figure out at this point in my conversion process if I’m going to be a kippah wearer or a full-time tichel wearer once I’m done. I do want to wear one of the two full-time, as both make me feel connected to my faith and also very studious and ready to hit the books.

I typically wear this really pretty triangle scarf from Portugal to cover my head when I go to the synagogue, and sometimes even out in public. Every time I put it on, I think of my ancestors, once again, wondering what their kippot and scarves might have looked and felt like. Lost to time, I suppose.

Any female and/or non-male kippah wearers out there have any thoughts on their own relationships with kippot?

I got myself a very pretty Magen David/Torah scroll necklace, as my rabbi has given me the green light to wear a Magen David this far into the process. however, I’m going to wait till the day of my beit din/mikvah (which is soon, I’m freaking out!) to wear it, though - I think that’ll be really special to have my mom put it on me since I can’t fumble around with necklaces on my own to save my life. I can’t stop thinking about my mikvah. We’ve already planned to go get Spanish-Cuban food afterward, which is fitting given my ancestry. 

One of my cousins says our family arrived in Cuba via Amsterdam and Jamaica, which tracks given Sephardic migration patterns. They’re mostly in Havana now, but I haven’t heard back from my cousin in quite a while. I hope she hasn’t forgotten about me, and I hope my family had a good Chanukkah.

Ten days till my last required service for conversion, but I have so many more Shabbat evenings and mornings I’ll be attending. I really love the synagogue I’m converting with, so much - I can’t wait to be a full member of the Jewish community there and at my university’s Hillel. I’ll probably do Pesach with them or invite one of my friends over and figure something out myself, by which time I’m sure I’ll be a Jew. 

Man, it’s been a wonderful process and I’m glad I’m at the point I’m at, but the Jewish journey is truly just beginning. 

[imariejoyce]

First time traveling in Japan...

Memorable Experiences, Itinerary and some Travel Tips..

It was Thursday morning, and we got up early to ensure we arrived at the airport on time and didn’t miss our flight (not to mention the excitement of heading to Japan for the first time!). The flight from Amsterdam to Narita was over sixteen hours, so I packed my E-reader with a few ePub books to keep me occupied. However, in reality, I spent most of the flight watching movies and catching up on sleep. 😅

We arrived at Narita Airport around 9:30 am. Since it was spring, the weather was ideal for our month-long vacation in that beautiful country. I was truly impressed by how clean and organized the airport was, from the smooth immigration lines to the restrooms equipped with built-in bidets (which I definitely want to have when we get our own house).

I'm traveling with three Dutch people, and as expected, I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up with their pace, especially since I'm a short Asian woman who's not exactly the athletic type. Haha!

When we arrived at the hotel (which was really small, typical of hotel rooms in Japan), we quickly dropped off our luggage and headed out to enjoy some authentic ramen at a nearby Japanese restaurant. It was delicious and inexpensive; I couldn't help but compare the prices to our favorite ramen spot in Amsterdam. lol. The taste was almost the same, though, so it's still worth it whenever I'm craving some creamy ramen soup back in the Netherlands. 😊

This vacation had been postponed for quite a while due to COVID-19, so preparing for it was quite an experience🥲 . It was initially planned for 2021, but with all the health measures in place globally, we had to delay. We even faced flight cancellations just three weeks before our trip to Japan, which ended up making the plane tickets more expensive than usual.

Our itinerary is pretty intense, especially for someone like me who has moved past that phase of cramming everything while on vacation. Haha. These days, I prefer to take my time and truly appreciate the places or landmarks rather than just snapping a quick photo and rushing off to the next spot, while it was fun, it’s not my style anymore. I've been there, done that. So, this vacation is definitely a challenge for me. 😅

I’ll also attach our itinerary here so that anyone reading this can get some ideas, but as I said—this is a pretty extreme itinerary for most people, especially for a typical Asian traveler 😅. I'll also share some tips at the end of this blog to help you prepare if you're traveling to Japan from the Netherlands or anywhere else in Europe.

This was the first time I traveled for a month with my boyfriend and his family, and I quickly realized how important it is to consider a few key factors when planning a trip to Japan—especially when it’s your first time traveling with others. Since it was my first experience sharing accommodations with other people, I didn’t get enough rest after those long days of walking (which for me is about 30k steps per day—poor little feet 🥲).

I was constantly thinking of the noise I might be making, whether it was going to the bathroom or worrying about snoring, which meant I often woke up in the middle of the night. The lack of good sleep left me feeling exhausted in the mornings, and with another packed day of activities ahead, the fatigue from long walks and sleepless nights really started to build up. 🥲

If you’re traveling with others for the first time, especially on a long trip like this, it’s important to think about what you want to do, where to stay, and how to ensure everyone is comfortable—something I learned the hard way! 😅

For the rest of our stay, I was mostly exhausted, but I have to thank all the amazing food for helping to compensate for my tired feet and lack of sleep. It was definitely a test of our relationship at times—I even considered flying back to the Netherlands or booking a flight to the Philippines. But my boyfriend was great at addressing my concerns and calming me down after a few breakdowns along the way! 😆

I truly consider Japan as one of the best countries I’ve ever visited. I definitely want to go back, but next time, I plan to create my own itinerary and book separate hotels for the entire stay. I’m even thinking about returning solo if time allows, as Japan is one of the safest places in the world to travel alone.

As promised, here is the itinerary of our month-long trip in Japan: Japan itinerary.

And here are some travel tips: 

The JR Pass is definitely worth considering if you're traveling for a month and have a busy itinerary that takes you from Tokyo up to the north. It's valid for a maximum of 21 days and currently costs 100,000 yen. However, I recommend calculating the costs of your planned trip in advance to determine if the JR Pass offers better value compared to purchasing individual tickets for each destination. For us, given our packed schedule, the JR Pass saved us some euros.

https://www.digital.go.jp/en/services/visit_japan_web-en/ ->You can also register on this site to bypass the customs line at the airport. The site offers a wealth of information about traveling in Japan as well. :)

Japan Travel App is also handy to have. It is something like NS or 9292 here in The Netherlands which is use for transportation. 

If you're interested in visiting TeamLab, be aware that they have two separate branches: TeamLab Planets and TeamLab Borderless, each located in different areas. We found TeamLab Borderless to be more impressive than TeamLab Planets. :)

Kyoto is always a delightful city to visit, especially for its temples. However, it can be quite tiring trying to see them all! :) My favorites include Koko-en, Otagi Nenbutsuji Temple, and Jonangu Shrine, as well as the lovely Nara Park.

If you're into games and Harry Potter, Universal Studios is definitely worth a visit! :)

Besides the Atomic Bomb Museum, Hiroshima is also famous for its okonomiyaki, so make sure you try it while you're there. :)

Nikko is another lovely city up north. The Oku Nikko Hike is a must-do, and I think you'll really enjoy the waterfalls.

We visited Hakodate primarily for the Cherry Blossom park, but in the autumn and winter, there isn’t much else to do. Still, it’s a great place to enjoy some sushi!

For Noboribetsu, the Dai-ichi Takimotokan hotel offers a fantastic onsen area and is the largest onsen facility in Noboribetsu. It’s a bit pricey, but worth the experience. The Mt. Usuzan Hike is also worthwhile, though the sulfur smell can be strong; the volcanic scenery is impressive.

Sapporo was my favorite—it’s like Tokyo but less busy. The food is delicious and affordable. If you like dried fish or seaweed, visit the Nijo Market for it and their fresh fish and enjoy a meal with their sashimi.

Pack light! We traveled to Japan with just one checked-in luggage and a backpack each. By the time we returned to the Netherlands, we had an additional checked-in bag and a new cabin bag 😂. The food and souvenirs are very affordable, and with tax-free shopping available almost everywhere, it’s tempting to pick up a lot of souvenirs.