Category Archives: Travels

This Sunday was the last day of my boyfriend’s vacation so we decided to do something fun outside the apartment. We found this lovely park which featured some lovely walking areas and a mini golf which was on the list of stuff we wanted to do together.

So we woke up at around noon since we didn’t want to go out until the weather had cooled down a bit. We ate some breakfast and got ready to head out. The weather was nice, not too cold and not too hot although it was suppose to rain so Nathan brought a jacket just in case. We got on the bus which took around 20 min. When we arrived we headed straight to the golf course.

Since it was a nice day and a Sunday there were quite a lot of people outside. The golf course was thankfully not too crowded but we had to wait a couple times for the people ahead of us to finish up. It wasn’t crazy golf so most of the holes were quite simple but as we progressed they got a bit more fancy . They had the standard 18 wholes. I was hoping that this could be my revenge from the bowling, but unfortunate Nathan beat me again by 10 points less, but we had a lot of fun. When we were done I felt a bit hungry and by the clock was already getting close to dinner time. We walked a bit around the the park before we head over to the restaurant that his father and brother recommended. The park had a lot of playground for children and a lovely pond with a nice place where you could sit.

To get into town we took the tram which act was the same way as a subway since it goes both above and bellow ground. We took it to the stop right before the shopping street and walked the rest. So the restaurant that we were going to was on Groenplaats so it wasn’t too far of a walk. We found the place really quickly and sat down. The place was called “Takumi Ramen kitchen” so we both decided to go with Ramen.

I went with the Spicy Teriyaki Miso Ramen and my boyfriend had the Spicy EBI Furay Miso Ramen since it was his first time having ramen. While we were sitting there the weather changed went to partly clouded to a mini rain storm as I would say it started raining cats and dogs. The other people moved inside but we decided to stay outside since we were sitting under cover so we didn’t get wet at all. The food was amazing and Nathan really loved the dish. After we both finished up we decided to share a Donburi dish called Korokke-Gyoza-don. EVERYTHING was super tasty and we were so full at the end.

So after we had eaten and waited until the rain had stopped at bit we headed home.

This week we had a lot of plans. Some of them were really fun while others were a bit of disappointment. One thing is for sure we got our self a lot of exercise xD

So on Tuesday afternoon we decided to go bowling to do something fun. The place was 30 min with walking away from where we live so it wasn’t that far. I haven’t gone bowling for at least a couple of years if not even more so I was expecting to be a bit rusty. He hadn’t played in a while either so this was definitely going to be intersting. The place we went to was called “Bowling Stones” and they had so many different modes. You could pick classic, hyper bowling etc. We just decided to go with the Classic.

We played 3 rounds and my boyfriend won all of them. It seems like he is pretty good despite the fact that he hasn’t played in a while. The competitive side of me got a bit upset and annoyed that I didn’t manage to win once, but that wasn’t the point of the evening. All in good sport and besides I’ll have my revenge at mini golf :D. After the bowling we decided to get take away from a Chinese restaurant that Nathan liked. It did require some more walking, but the food was worth it.

For our next adventure we decided to go to Antwerp Zoo since we both love animals. So we woke up early so we could get on with our day because boyfriend had music school in the evening. We got there at noon and started to walk around. Unfortunately a lot of the animals that I wanted to see weren’t out that day, but we got to see a lot of other ones. There war a lot of monkeys, birds, fishes and reptiles. They also had Penguins, Kangaroos, Hippos and Zebra. The animals I wanted to see that wasn’t out was the lions, tigers and meerkats, but maybe some other time. There was also a very horny Okapi who kept trying himself on the female without succeeding xD. We spent our entire day there just strolling around so after we were done we just went home after stopping by a Starbucks and a multimedia store :P. The rest of the evening was just spent to chill.

Now to yesterdays exploration. We took the bus into the city and started walking down the shopping street. There were a lot of stores open and a lot of people. Most of the shops were cloths or shoes, but there were some unique shops. After walking for a bit we headed towards a place to sold bubble tea since it was one of many places my boyfriend wanted to show me. I decided to go with lychee tea with raspberry bubbles. It tasted nice and sweet and very refreshing.

After we had drink our tea and were at the end of the shopping street my boyfriend spotted the waffle stand that he usually goes to and since I hadn’t tasted Belgium waffle yet we decided to do that too. I had mine with Nutella on top and I will say that the Belgium waffle really good. Really thick and tasty and I think I like them more than the regular ones. When we were done eating those we headed towards Groenplaats which was a nice little square surrounded with both small shops and restaurants. We found a ramen place which we are going to check out later since we had quite a bit of food in us already. We could see the lovely cathedral which was under restauration. but still looked amazing.

For our late lunch we decided to go to this Sandwich place that our friend recommended called “Panos” which was located on the corner of Groenplaats. I got a panini with crispy meatball, cheese and pesto and my boyfriend got som sort of pastry. Both of us agreed that they did have really good sandwiches so I would recommend them to anyone who just want a small snack og and a nice view over the square.

Our next destination was the river that runs through the city separate the east and the west. When we were heading towards the river I spotted a giant Ferris wheel and we looked at my boyfriend and we headed towards it. The wheel was 15m tall so we got to see the entire city from there.

After the Ferris wheel it was getting late so we decided to head home. We decided to walk along the promenade before we walked towards the bus. As we walked the wall there were something written on them. I couldn’t understand it since it was in Dutch and we were going kind of backwords but it seemed like it had something to do with the history of Antwerpen. Regardless we made our way back to Merksem and then proceeded to collapse on the sofa for the rest of the evening after ordering some sushi.

This has been a pretty joyful week and the weather hasn’t been too hot either. It has actually been pretty cold and I was freezing for those two days we were out in the city, but I have learned my lesson and I’m now prepared for tomorrow.

Here are some more pic:

So it has now been a bit over 1 week since I arrived. So far I have had a fantastic time with my boyfriend. We have walked around Merksem where he lives, cooked together and I got to meet his father side of the family. I really love it here already

The first day we didn’t do much. He met me at the airport and we both just took our time to get to know each other which didn’t take long because we had spent so much time online. We got to his apartment which is really nice and spacious and he just showed me around telling me where everything were and how it worked. The next day we just went to the store to buy groceries. We bought some drinks too for later. The rest of that week he had to work so I just relaxed at his place making myself comfortable.

On Saturday we were both invited to his older bother as he was having a bbq to celebrate his birthday. So I got to meet his brother, sister in law, his niece , father and step-mother. I was really nervous because I was told that they didn’t speak English and my Dutch is not really good enough for a conversation, but thankfully the wife of his brother knew a lot of English so I didn’t feel so lonely. His family is also very laid back and goofy so we all just enjoyed our self, cracked some jokes and played some games. The food there was also delicious. All in all a good day.

On Sunday we didn’t do much until our evening walk. He wanted to show me a bit of where he grew up, his school and the park that he as been to both as a kid and for band concerts. It was a really nice walk and it made me feel more at home here.

Yesterday we just decided to go to the store since I needed new shoes. Ended up with a new watch, a charging cable and then some shoes xD. So now we are all ready for our coming days walking around in Antwerp. Tomorrow we are going to the zoo and the other day we are planning going bowling, mini golf, shopping and just general sightseeing.

It was been a great start on my summer vacation and I’m so excited to be here and finally spending some irl time with my boyfriend after 5 months without being able to do so because of the Covid. Thankfully more and more countries are becoming green because of vaccinations which is good, so we are definitely heading towards our normal life’s again.