Antwerp: Part 2

FASHION

 Esprit cardigan, BKK shirt, Office shoes

Busted out the new shoes for a walking tour of charming, little Antwerp. They're pretty comfortable and perfect for a stroll around town. These are about as far as I'll go towards wearing a true "mandal." I guess they're a cross-breed between a huarache and a lace-up. Love that they look worn in without me having to break 'em in.

F21 jacket, Kids of Bayo skirt, Saltwater sandals

D: This skirt is possibly from waaay back. You can't really see it but there's a cute beach print on the front. I think I even posted it on Chictopia when I was still an active member. In other news, these Saltwater sandals have been holding up pretty well. They remind me of the shoes I used to wear when I was five. I love how sturdy they are! I got them wet at the beach in Nice and they were just fine. Great and affordable purchase!

Doesn't the statue in the background remind you of a character from Hercules?

FOOD

On the first day in Antwerp, we were both craving for a quick bite and this unassuming food counter was just a hop and a skip away from our place. It was right across a big Leonidas store so we were faced with a dilemma: famed Belgian chocolates or famed Belgian fries? Well, since we have a franchise of Leonidas in Manila, it was the savory snack that won out.

Doesn't this look like something you'd see in the Philippines? It may look familiar but actually, their version of fast food was nothing like we have ever tasted before. They offered everything from their iconic fries to kebabs to horse meat on a stick (no thanks)!

Since we just wanted a light snack, we opted for the fool-proof fries. The lady asked us what sauce we wanted since there were more than a dozen available including curry, onion sauce, pre-mixed ketchup and mayo, and other local things we can't recall. We played it super safe and got ketchup. 

You must be wondering how different could fries+ketchup combo be? Well you gotta trust us when we say these were the best fries we've ever had. Was it the sweet tinge to the sauce or the flavor of the potato? We're not sure. We're sorry we can't adequately describe how something you're supposed to be able to find anywhere was just so different and delicious but you must try it.

Of course, we had to come back for breakfast the next day. From left to right: the fries with sweet onion sauce, D's chicken kebabs, my paprika pork kebabs.

The face of enjoyment

Walking around the city center, we found a sign for a chocolatier, G. Bastin's, that's been in business since 1908. Now that's a long time to be making chocolate so we trusted them with our families' pasalubong and our snacks.

It was surprisingly difficult to buy chocolate in Belgium because of the sheer amount of choices on display. You can just tell by our array of pictures that there's something for everyone. There's plain milk choc for the Hershey's crowd, fruit creams, liqueur, chocolate covered nuts and orange rind, even some CDs and mobiles (see below).

We also visited Del Rey which is more of a patisserie with its different pastries and desserts.

And for those of you who are sick of all the food photos, here's a snapshot of a lovely little shop we randomly spotted. Antwerp has a ton of cool boutiques like this one!

That's one pimped-out bike!

This is one of the 3 H&M stores on the Meir, the main shopping street/high street. We noticed how even if there's H&M EVERYWHERE, the stocks vary from country to country so you're bound to find something new every time.

D: I noticed that the balance of this blog has shifted more towards culinary coverage,(much to P's delight) so the next post will be fully fashion-oriented. Up next is a post on the Mode in Antwerp!