TRAVEL - Have your diner in restaurant Loetje aan 't IJ in Amsterdam

If you ask an Amsterdam where you can eat the best steak in Amsterdam, the answer is guaranteed " At Café Loetje in Amsterdam South" Now they have eight restaurants in the Netherlands: Amsterdam South, East Amsterdam, Amsterdam North, Amsterdam aan de Amstel, Overveen, Laren , Bergen and Gorssel.

Cafe Loetje and Loetje aan 't IJ

For over 30 years the name Loetje is famous in Amsterdam. They began as a neighborhood cafe in Amsterdam South. I worked for years in that neighborhood and went there once a week to eat a steak . In the past the "gulden" was a good value to life for us in the Netherlands, the Euro came and everything is expensive, even food. 

Why is it special? Delicious beef tenderloin. If you are a meatlover then you know when a restaurant use real beef tenderloin or cheap. In the real beef are not so many tendons and cuts easily. The steak they bake it 2 minutes on one side and 2 minutes on the other side and you have the perfect steak provided you have purchased the real tenderloin. Tenderloin is expensive so not everyone can afford it.


Loetje aan 't IJ is located on the Wharf Quay in North Amsterdam, in the area of the Amsterdam Marina. Nearby famous places are the IJ halls, the IJ canteen, NDSM Quay, the Botel, etc.

The beautiful building in which they are is very futuristic and I must say the area on that Saturday was, aware the sun, very picture worthy.

Menu

I've known the menu from Loetje for over 20 years, I know what they have on their menu and I was curries what Loetje aan 't IJ will have. Are they have the same as Cafe Loetje in Amsterdam and Amsterdam East? The answer is Yessss

We haven't taken a starter because we could not wait to eat steak. Delicious homemade fries and fried mushrooms and the meal was complete.

See below pictures of the dishes that we have taken.

Photo 1 : Beef Tenderloin "De Roode Waard " ... you really need to eat this dish, as delicious well seasoned chicken livers were there.

On picture 2: Schnitzel

On picture 3: the famous Steak Tenderloin a la Loetje ... actually a la Paula because my glasses fell on the plate...

Drinks

Eating a good piece of meat and drinking good and tasty drinks....Loetje knows this. They have good semi-dry white wine ...just try it

Dessert

Lovely lovely lovely !! Try the cheesecake, creme brullee and chocolate mousse. I'm in love

When I now look at the pictures I start salivating because the food was great. The drinks were good but most of all the service was very good !! That is not common in Amsterdam, but here they know what hospitality is . Friendly waiters , funny , fast and very very neat ! They are a good example for the most restaurateurs in Amsterdam. Chapeau to Loetje aan 't IJ.

My rating - Opinion

I give them a big 10 because we were basically on the waiting list for 45 minutes but they arranged that we've got a table in 10 minutes. How good is this regulated !! If you want to go to the restaurant, you will also notice on for example the Saturday night it will be very busy on the assembly line. Even when we left at 9 am flocked customers inside. This is a very good sign for a restaurant. I'll be coming back but when the weather is slightly warmer. Of course we're going to reserve in advance because we noticed that it is a popular restaurant.

A lesser side note : why small bowls when you're with 5 people ? The scales for large groups may be slightly higher because you have to buy everything separately. But otherwise I'm super happy.

I'd say "Go eat once at Loetje aan 't IJ or at one of the eight restaurants that they have ."

Regards Paula

PERSONAL - 25 april National Holiday of the South Moluccas

I had always the intention not to write about my personal opinions, situations or political statements. Today it's different for me. Today it's April 25, the date that the Moluccan people stand still in the Netherlands with the fact that their parents , grandparents, aunts and uncles were transhipped from the Moluccas by the Dutch government to stay in the Netherlands for three months and then returned to the Moluccas .

Where is the Moluccas ?

The Moluccan a Melanesian - Austronesian population that is indigenous part of the island set the Moluccas, which are part of Indonesia since 1950 . After the termination of the Dutch government of Dutch East Indies, many South Moluccan who had been a professional soldier in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) brought the government to the Netherlands. Some of them live together in Moluccan neighborhoods.

The Moluccas archipelago (South , West, East and North) is a part of Indonesia since 1950. My father was born on the island of Saparua, in the village Ullath 

The reconstructed ancestral home of our family in Ullath

KNIL soldier

My father fought in the Royal Dutch Indian Army as a soldier fighting for the Dutch flag. Because of the fighting he therefore received a bullet in his body but happily he survive it. He has seen and experienced things that results in nightmare at older ages. He didn't had psychic guidance above many other KNIL soldiers and never in his life told the Dutch governement said "sorry we let you down and we have let you pay for your journey. I'm sorry you never got recognition what have you done for the Netherlands" My father deceased in 1995 without recognition and without acknowledgment .

The then Dutch government promised an own free state The Republic of the South Moluccas .... .... PROVIDED....the Moluccan must help the Netherlands . Why are they playing with people and promised thousand things, used them and after that give them a kick?

He was 18 or 20 years old when he came to a decision, he had to choose between the Dutch or Indonesian flag (read: passport). My father wanted neither one of these two (he was rather stateless than be part of these two countries). He chose for the promise they made, go for three months to the Netherlands as it was promised by the Dutch government. He didn't want to stay in the Netherlands, he wanted to go back to Indonesia where his mother, two sisters and brother were still alive. His father was beheaded in the war against Japan by the Japanese which my father as a 18 year old boy and the eldest son of the family became the head of family. He had to bring money and/or food insertion so that the family could survive the rough times during the war. In the Netherlands, he was with one sister and one brother and two uncles who where the brothers from my grandmother and my grandfather.

The woman in the middle is my grandmother with 2 of her daughters and 1 uncle in the village Ullath during the war between Indonesia and Japan

Why do I recall April 25?

• For my father who fought for the Dutch flag
• For my father who is not afraid of violence and gun
• For my father who had nightmare from the war and never accompanies this. Sweaty wake up and relive the war.
• For my father, who suddenly discharged as soldier from the army KNIL during his voyage to the Netherlands, and that he had to pay his trip by himself. All the army status he had to delivering on the ship.
• To my father who did not quite with the Netherlands and the Dutch people... unfortunately.
• To my father who lost his father very young, because the Japanese have decapitated him. Where the grave of my grandfather I do not know.
• To my father who finds that the Netherlands have plundered treasures, herbs, animals, etc. etc. from the Moluccas (and other Dutch colonies) and that they afterwards always proudly spoke about they "hero status". How shaming is this
• For the 1st generation Moluccans who suffered here in the Netherlands and who have never received recognition for their heroic deeds and for their commitment to the Netherlands. Treated very badly and on arrival were dropped in the old concentration camp where Jews gassed or have lived. I was born and raised in one of the concentration camps.

I recall April 25 because 65 years ago the Moluccans were transferred to the Netherlands. 

• We were and are not refugees
• we were and are not foreigners
• we were and are no stupid browns benefiting from Netherlands precisely because we integrate us well in the Netherlands.

What do Dutch people know about Moluccan people?

Moluccans are generally associated with the train hijackings in the 70s but I have noticed that most Dutch do not even know the history of the Moluccan ! They do not know WHY we're here, HOW we got here , WHAT did the Dutch in Indonesia and the Moluccas and most importantly WHERE is the Moluccas ...

My message to the world and espescially to the Dutch people " Netherlands, know...read....rewrite your history, the story of the Moluccan doesn't shows in your history books"

Greetings Paula

BEAUTY - My favourite lowbudgetproducts from the month April

Today it's Sunday and it's time to write about the most favourite lowbudgetproducts I usually used in April.

What is low-budget ?

For me, these are products below the € 10. And I almost still check each item how much it cost and if it worth in my opinion. Nowadays I do not buy mascara, eyeliner, pencils, lipsticks or any products above € 5 , = because I think it is too much for the product. An eyeshadow palette that cost around € 9, = is reasonable to buy it because there's mostly more than 6 colors inside the palette like for example the palette from I Heart Makeup.

With my blog page I initially focus on the low-budget products, I think it is safe to continue to do so wherever possible. Lately we heard in the media that the youth or children are very font of many bloggers and vloggers and they also want the products the bloggers and vloggers shows or reviewed on their blogpages and or YouTube channel. The youth and children sometimes forget how much money women spent on makeup or clothes, and in the meanwhile they can not afford it. The media agencies receive assignments from the big make-up and beauty companies to promote their products and therefore they give free products to bloggers and vloggers ... ofcourse this is logical, but it is not good for our wallets. In the past I worked for two advertising agencies and knows how all this things works. It is not just the "Dutch people" itself in terms of the gain or loss of a company. Poverty in the Netherlands is increasing more and more but those companies do not care. Maybe I'm working on a kind of SILENT advertising but I've tried to avoid as much as possible, but It's not possible not to do some advertising because the cheap low budget products also cost money. From each product where you make a picture from with your camera and on your blog page, is advertising! So basically we do it all. The one buys his products by himself without a sponsor or company sending all the products and the other has only sponsored products. But we all do the same... ADVERTISING for large companies. And the companies get their fame and very important the MONEY... AND YOU?

But I was writing a blogpost so I will continue because I have fun with blogging and most of all making the pictures and I do not need blogging for living. The common period I have to use another camera and perhaps you can notice it the next time.

Primer

Now I discovered the primer from Max & More so I've used it continue. It feels good on my skin and it does it work. No glow on the t-zone of my face and it covers very good.

The make-up stays very good on my skin.

Concealer

Nowerdays the sun shines very heavy (even when the weather is not warm in the spring) so that's why I use less or no foundation. Mostly I use only a concealer and a colorcorrector to cover the dark circles under my eyes. The concealer palette from Catrice is a good lowbudget product I use. The orange colorcorrector I used as Vimi Joshi (mua MAC cosmetics) adviced in her youtube movie. Just check the mobie below.

Settingpowder

Because I don't use a foundation, I use the loose powder from E.L.F. to set the concealer. This loose powder has the famous yellow color. I've used the settingbrush from Real Techniques to set the concealer with the setting powder.

Facepowder

I've set the concealer with the loosepowder but the rest of my face I used the compact powder of Etos (a dutch drugstore). Ofcourse I choose a color who is likely my skincolor because I don't use a foundation.

Blush

I don't use a highlighter with this weather but a light subtile blushcolor. The blush Defining Blush from Catrice is my favourite of this moment because its give you a healthy glow. Don't use too much because it have to looks natural.

Eyes

Because it is Spring I will use soft till nude (for dark skins ofcourse) colors. I blend the eyeshadows on my eyelid because it has to looks smooth. In the arcade arch I've used the contour color of the contour palette from Max & More. The eyeshadow is from Essence Happy Girls Are Pretty. With the eyeliner and mascara from Max & More I completed the look.

Actually, I wrote a very unusual blogpost because, I wrote about beauty but also about societal things because sometimes I've worse at bloggers or vloggers who touting products as low-budget while the products still costing around € 20, =. For some people who can't spend too much money, it's not low-budget but actually very expensive. Come with a good story when something is low-budget. A brand like L'Oreal, Maybelline, Max Factor , etc. is not always lowbudget but it's more a drugstore product and that's not the same as lowbudget. Or am I the only one who thinks this way?

Greetings Paula

Lifestyle - This items you have to throw away by time

Since I wrote an article about how to using baking powder, I started to clean everything at home. I tried to remove the toughest stains, but this does not always work.

Meanwhile, I was checking what you need to replace regularly in the kitchen and in the bathroom.

Kitchen sponge

Replace it every week. Why? The more you use the dishwashing sponges the more millions of bacteria can cause a health hazard and food poisoning . Even if you are using the latest cleaning techniques such as wet sponge stop a minute in the microwave to kill bacteria, it is no reason not to replace your washing sponge frequently.

Pillows (bedroom and living: inside pillows)

Replace every 18 months. Why? Old pillows absorb all sorts of nasty things like fungi, dead skin cells and dust mites , which can cause illness and allergies. You would cushions can wash every month by a shot glass of bleach to stop at the laundry in 18 months. Just be careful that you have to put the pillows 2 times to centrifugation and whip it up well so they still stay in shape.

Scrub Gloves or -spons

Replace every three months - but in the meantime you have to wash it with super hot water and let them dry, preferably outside (bacteria die when freezing temperatures) .
Why? loofahs are a breeding ground for bacteria and fungi may contain organisms that lead to skin infections.

Your Bra (of course for the ladies ... )

You should replace them preferably every 6 to 12 months - you can use the extensibility and last longer by turning them regularly.
Why Older bras offer less support that can lead to back pain and can even cause skin discomfort (striae )

Dried herbs

When? If they are kept airtight most herbs must still be replaced after one year. Dried whole (unground) spices are generally 3 years. TIP : Attach a label with the date set out what the expiration date (this is usually stated on the bottle or bag)
Why? Herbs and spices are not "bad", but they lose their flavor (a major disaster if you love good cooking )

Your toothbrush

When? Every 3-4 months or sooner if the bristles are frayed after use. Children's toothbrushes should perhaps be replaced before earlier.

Why? The biggest reason is because older toothbrushes are less effective in the cleaning of teeth, but also bacteria and other micro -organisms evolve with time. There is not really any clinical evidence that these microorganisms are harmful to you , but still - nasty.

Beauty Products

2-3 months: mascaras, scrub and masks (not dry), nail file and shower punching or sisal gloves.

6-12 months: liquid eyeliner, liquid foundation, concealer, anti- acne products, eye cream, face wash and serum

1 to 1.5 years : lip gloss, eye shadow cream, face cream  in jar), sunscreen, soap bars, shower gel , eyebrow gels

2 years: eye and lip pencils, lipsticks, nail polish, powder eye shadow and blush , powder foundation, body lotion in a pot, scrubs in a pot,

3 years: shampoo and conditioner, body lotion pump, perfume, hair spray .

Here's why: Expired beauty products can caught a whole range of problems including inflammation , rashes and allergic reactions, which can really cause serious problems 

Eyelash curler

When? At least every twelve months, but usually it is recommended to buy a new one every six months. The pads in the curler you have to replace every three months.
Why: The changes over time perceptible and noticeable in use as the eyelash curler loses its precision and performance as you continue to use.

Nonstick kitchenware

If you should replace it is better to do it every two years, but if the pan full of scratches then you should immediately stop using the pan or baking pan.
Here's why: Older pans have more chance of poison substances released by the individual components of the metal.

Now go to your bathroom or kitchen and check all your gear and replace if necessary. On to the next project.

Do you have more tips for me for stuff who quickly have to be replaced or need to be renewed? All tips are welcome by post your comment below this blog post.

Regards Paula

FOOD - Just see what she's doing with dough

I 'm totally in to the baking. Pastries, cakes, casseroles, etc. etc. But there are some things I still want to learn and that is for example to make various figures with dough. This movie from youtube from Aneka bentuk roti (bread) allows a woman to see what she does with bread dough. She conjures up the finest and most creative forms .... and she does it very quickly. The photos are used from various Indonesian food blogs.

Source: www.justtryandtaste.com



Check the website from ncc.indonesia.com where you can find lots of recipes for bread. 

This is a very short blog post but I in the common weeks I will try the bread forms and I will write a blogpost about the recipes.

Enjoy watching!!

Regards Paula

BEAUTY - Review contourpalette Max & More

I think I'm not the only one in the Netherlands who wrote about this contour palette but...... I have a dark skin and I'll be the first who's try and write about this product. Read my review about this contour palette of the dutch budgetstore Action which is super low-budget.

The package

The palette is packaged in the famous Max & More color. Black and black. In itself very chic. The packaging indicates what's inside. A color for the contour, a bronzer, a shape color and a highlighter. An oval mirror with a right plan outlining what you can do with the various products and where to use it on your face. I think that's a positive thing from Max & More. What strikes me is that the pots are big. Most contour palettes that I have seen are in small pots, but Max & More has fairly large pans.

The Colours

The contour color is dark brown, who falls a little bitgrayoin my dark skin. I made a picture but it was not good enough to place it. The bronzer is a lighter shade of brown that is nothing compared to my skin. For me in terms of color more powder. So ... the bronzer for me is not done .

The "shape" color is a light pink white color and on my face it's a bit too white. The contour color and the shape color is not good on a dark skin.....pretty bad I must say. It is a matte powder so you get a white haze. Not done for me. The highlight powder on the other hand is quite nice. A little shine and just perfect. You should not use too much because otherwise it falls back too light. Yet I must say that women with a darker skin needed a golden to brown highlighter to use for a warmth and beautiful result.

Final conclusion

This Contour Palette is not intended for the very darkest of us. You look like a geisha if you use all the colors on your face. I leave this for the women with a medium toned skin beneath us. For fair skin I think it seems to appropriate.

Do you know the brand Max & More or the dutch lowbudget store Action? Visit it when you are in Holland. Did you bought  this palette and are you satisfied? Let me know and post a picture how it is with you.

Regards Paula

Beauty - review Max & More Faceprimer Concealing Refreshing

I knew that the dutch budgetshop Action is selling primers but I didn't know that they had had a new primer. The product got a pale pink color and doesn't feel silicone-ish but it may of course be the first touch.

The bottle

Like the previously released primers from Max & More, the product they put in a transparent bottle with a black cap and black pumps. Unfortunately, the pump was broken and that's why I has to remove the pump to use the cream.

For all skin types

On the bottle they says that it is for all skin types. it seems logical to me because it is a refreshing concealing (opaque and refreshed?) so the product can lift up or lightning your skin? This primer is a perfect base for your makeup. He covers imperfections. And indeed smooth ... for your skin. For the rest I have to wait and see if it do its job. We will see.

Substance

Feels very soft and lubricates very well. It's just like a film on your skin

Try the primer by yourself and give yourself your own opinion because I can think that the product is good but someone else can think it's junk. I still have more time to testing the product to feel if it does its job.

Greetings Paula

Last Sunday I went early in the morning off to go towards the IJ halls. In the morning, the buses and trams scarce in Amsterdam (at least before 7 o'clock). Fortunately, the sun was shining and you can make very nice pictures of my hometown. The trip goes through actually behind the Central Station of Amsterdam, where you take the ferry towards the NDSM harbour.

The Amsterdam Coffee Shop in front of the Central Station ... who does not know it !

The Victoria Hotel. Read the history of this hotel and you get impressed.

The damrak ... what a silence

De Victoria Hotel

The ferry to the Buiksloterweg

The former Shell building now called the Tower Amsterdam has become a veritable  Dance & Music with a revolving restaurant in the crown

Behind the Central Station where no cars are allowed to drive anymore

It's very smart and clever how they made this roof

The Ibis hotel near the Central Station of Amsterdam

The port building where still company's got there office for example a home care organization is located.

Waiting for the ferry to the NDSM harbor 

The ship Prins van Oranje

New construction dominates the front or rear of the Central Station. Formerly housed the old building of the Port Police

Pleasure boats on the IJ

The old Silodam I've ever worked in that building with a lot of fun . Stunning place .

From a distance you can see the Doubletree By Hilton Hotel. Around it is area of the fleamarket of the IJhallen .

The Botelboot who was lying near the Central Station in the past has been moved to the NDSM harbor

De NDSM-harbour

I assume that if you're ever went to the IJhallen and using public transport, and in particular the ferry, that you know and recognized these pictures.

Regards Paula