graff in antwerp!

the short version of this is: the can-it festival was running over the past weekend, and an artist friend was installing her work .. there was also a breakdancing comp, but it was too dark to take any pics/video... 

the best thing is that the location is a 'youth centre' where they run programmes, so this brand new graff has a home for a year till the next iteration of the festival!

lillo - rommelmarkt deluxe

and on this slightly cloudy sunday, we decided to head over to the annual Lillo Sjachermarkt - similar to the rommelmarkts we have written previously about where basically everyone brings out their barang barang and tries to sell it off..

we got 5  nice frames for 5 euros [one has its glass pane broken in 2 bits, but we'll fix that] and got to see a wide variety of strange and wonderful things..

this pic however, is of the boat-park during low tide..

and this is just to the side of the core of the buying and selling area; everyone was making a beeline for this bit of the town because of the fries as well as the pub [in the brown bricked building in the centre]

where they have a very low archway for an entrance!!

and here we are enjoying our lunch in the outdoor terrace - classic belgian gastronomy; fries with mayo and a beer [i'm having a De Konnick, the local brew from Antwerp - which i've picked up a taste for!!]
and here is the dockside of Lillo...strangely enough, there has been a campaign by the inhabitants of this tiny town to keep the industrialization of the port at bay - it took a good 2o minute drive from the city through the docks of the port before arriving in Lillo...and the Lillo

Sjachermakrt is testament to this!!

in the distance is the rest of the docks and pretty much the core of the shipping trade in Antwerp [which by the way, is also a pretty important stop for all those ships that probably come through Singapore].. it felt a bit surreal; for a Singapore reference, it was kinda like going for a pretty much original- authentic kampung-esque experience in the Shenton Way area, by geographic distance!!!

woh woh woh woh waterloo!

and today, we ended up in Waterloo - yes, the real one with Napolean and ABBA references..

there was quite a bit more space, considering it was about 20 minutes out from Brussels..

and a maccer's around the corner made it possible for a short drink break

see, we were really really there! and in the background, you see the morning traffic of the main road in Waterloo..

now this one was a nice [sudden] surprise we came across the highway...wheat fields!

obviously we were enroute to the local tourist attraction...

the 'Butte du Lion'...

and as you can imagine, lots of classic war imagery to fire up your senses...

and this was a 'ghostly' bus stop area on our way back to the train station...looks a bit ulu...

so yah, we didn't really spend that much time there because there wasn't really that much to see..and i had to be back in Antwerp for an appointment in the afternoon as well...but was a nice half day out into the country side!!

so the weather is a bit confused

so i was having a small chat with jos on our way out today, and i was saying:

'isn't it a bit upside-down-inside-out that in spring [about 2 months back - you can see the pics from that time] that the weather was generally sunny, and now in Summer, the weather alternates between sunny and raining and somewhere in between - even yesterday, when i was at the computer, it seemed liek someone was playing with the galactic light dimmer, where the light in our living room was constantly changing!!'

but in spite of all of the confused weather, here are some pics of the awesome sunset from our apartment last night..

imagine if we could head to the seaside for a sunset like that huh....

Sunny Summery Sunday

So I was wandering around in the sunshine this weekend , and look what i found!

this is the Hendrik Conscience Plein; a nice little square with tree-shaded lanes and an excellent sky today

and this is Hendrik Conscience himself, sitting in a corner of the Old City Library - the eagle eyed among you will notice 'Bibliotheek' just above his head

But what's this? A can of Cara Pils? who would've thought?  [no.. it's not some installation piece by a contemporary visual artist, rather, its just the probable aftermath of someone with a good sense of silly humour - but its interesting to notice that the line that separates the two is so fine!!] - and in case you are wondering, Cara Pils is sort of the cheapest/most democratic beer in that almost everyone gets - kinda like the Tiger Beer of Belgium [although there's another 3 other beers who are at the same level]

maybe this entry prompts me to do a beer-extravaganza next....hmm..

Bruges; cobblestone streets and amazing buildings

And so the weather report warned us that it would be a rainy and cold 18 to 20 degrees for our trip to Bruges yesterday, but as you can see in the pictures below, the weather actually held up for some bits [although at one point we had to run into the nearest cafe for a lunch break because the rain was a bit too much]

this is pretty much a good summary of Bruges; awesome old buildings with groups of tourists with cameras snapping away - and this was a day with not-so-good-weather..

ah....classic Bruges; canals, amazing waterside homes..sometimes, its even referred to as the Venice of the north!

I took a bucket load of texture pics.....I really like the colours and worn surfaces in Bruges....things like this, you can only wait 200 years before they exist..

and here is a classic tourist shot for everyone..

Whilst we were there, I found out that I just missed a comic art exhibition opening by a week...it opens next week friday, AND that after a half day of walking around, we'd only covered about half of the town...so there's more to see and do in Bruges!!!