I think out of all the items featured in this post, I miss my crazy bright leggings the most. They would’ve been awesome to wear at the festivals I’ll be attending this summer!

*To recap very briefly, I had my luggage and passport stolen in Rotterdam the day before, and I’d spent the night in the house of a woman I’d barely known and who offered to help.

Waking up in Haarlem was a delight. Anja’s guest room was comfortable, inviting, and bright! I had these two large windows next to the bed, allowing lots of sunshine which I needed. A lot. I woke up HAPPY and wished that I could spend the day exploring Haarlem with Anja. But no. I had grown-up things to do.

See how thoughtful my wonderful host was?

She left me two options for pjs – a nightie and a set of trackies. I chose the nightie. There were towels, a glass for water, and she also provided a toothbrush.

It was not until that morning as I was getting dressed that I felt the effects of losing all my stuff in that  suitcase. From the unfamiliarity of the strange new toothbrush I had to use and  having to wear the SAME CLOTHES, to the fact that I had to go out with.. no eyebrows.. (hey I’m just not very hairy, ok) – it all started to become annoyingly real.

My make up. My expensive Shu Uemura makeup palettes. My vintage sequinned jumper (you can see it here). All my CLOTHES. My best underwear! My kaleidoscope from Porto. The lovely new French Connection shoes that were gifted to me in time for the trip (luckily I did take pics, you’ll see them soon. Thank you Spreaditfast). My favourite parka from Copenhagen. My best bangles from SEA. All my funky headbands and ACCESSORIES. Macbook/camera chargers and Apple magic mouse. All the business cards I’d collected at the conference. ETC ETC ETC.

It was just so sad to think about it. 

And so there I was – dressed in yesterday’s clothes and looking blah. You know when you look just terrible, you kind lose the bounce in your step? I lost my bounce that day.

That is, until Anja pulled out a mysterious pink carrier bag from the backseat of her car as she dropped me off at the train station.

“It’s a little goodie bag I put together to cheer you up”

Seriously how sweet is this woman?? I LOVE HER! We then hugged goodbye. I wish I could’ve hugged her for longer!

^The contents of Anja’s goodie bag.

There were some of her own handmade jewellery, compact mirror, a couple of Estée Lauder eyeshadow palettes, a holographic postcard, pretty paper towels, toys, and even biscuits!

It reminded me of my high school days when my friends and I used to exchange gifts of random items we thought would make each other happy – be it crayons, a pot of fake slime, sweets, earrings, or simply a card that read ‘I Love You!’.

BACK TO THE HAGUE

I was lucky enough to have a friend from London make some calls to the Malaysian Embassy at The Hague for me, so they were expecting my visit and assured me that I would be able to obtain an emergency passport on the day.

One of the plus sides of this tragedy (I like to be dramatic) is that I got to see The Hague on sunshiny day.

I enjoyed the tram rides towards the Embassy. The whole city was rather green.. so green that the air smelt green. Do you know what I mean?

^Just outside the Malaysian Embassy. Like in London, it was located in a nice area full of.. other embassies.

It was about noon when I arrived. Just like back home, everything was rather informal.. there weren’t many people there. I had to fill in this form that was completely in Malay, and where the date field had a pre-printed ’19 _ _’ . THAT’s how old the form is. Of course, my Malay is so terrible that I had to ask the officer if I could please write my answers in English.

Then.. I had to take a 20-minute walk to the nearest studio for some passport-sized photographs.

^On the way there, I stumbled upon The Peace Palace (Vredespaleis), which houses the International Court of Justice (the principal judicial body of the United Nations).

It was so pretty, especially the grounds. There were a couple of groups of tourists crowding around the gates with their cameras.

Once I had my photographs taken and dropped them back at the embassy, I took a tram back into the city. I wanted to go back to the Escher Museum (I love that guy.. his art is so trippy!) to re-buy some souvenirs that I’d lost in my luggage. I had to! There was a cool 3D viewer and  large, colourful feather pens. If you know Escher’s work.. just imagine seeing those in 3D. Whoa man.. I couldn’t leave without it.

^I was so lucky that it was a beautiful day with blue skies.

I thought this photo was just so Dutch, with the bicycle, the tram tracks and the bazillion windows in grid formation typical of their architecture.

^This is Lange Voorhout, lined with lots of trees and leading up to the Escher Museum.

^Russian art sculptures being set up.

The Hague is hosting over 100 contemporary sculptures from Russia’s best known artists until 9 September 2013 on Lange Voorhout, as part of Russia-Netherlands Year 2013.

^Me, not really looking by best, with some of the sculptures.

I was so excited to find that a big flea market was taking place in the area. I browsed like EVERY STALL.. picked up a couple of cool things too 😉

^Front of the Escher Museum (will write about this in another post).

Do you think they should clean the walls?? Looks rather black to me.

After my little half-day sightseeing walk, it was time to journey back to the Embassy to collect my emergency document (€15). And do other crappy things, like ring up my insurance company to see if I could make a claim. I got into a bit of a fight with the operator – you know how these people are horrible; they try and make it as difficult as possible for you when it comes to making a claim.

I also contacted British Airways. Unlike the insurance company (it was INSUREANDGO, btw), they were extremely helpful and supportive. I explained that I’d missed my flight to London and why. For only £27, I was given a new ticket for a flight departing that same night. THANK YOU BA for your understanding and kindness – it definitely made my ordeal much easier to deal with!

HELLO AGAIN ROTTERDAM

Feeling much better knowing that I’d be on my way home soon, I arrived in Rotterdam again. It was my fourth time that trip/that week…

Above you can see construction going on around Rotterdam Centraal Station. It was cool! I took some time to walk around and marvel at their tall, shiny buildings.

I admired the buildings for a long time. Very long time. Just couldn’t get over how shiny this building was, too!

I had some time to kill, so I turned to Twitter and asked this girl (Kim) that I met during the conference who worked with Rotterdam Marketing. She mentioned a place called BAR (NEW BAR) that recently opened at Schieblock (a < ten-minute walk from the station). So off I went…

The vibe was really cool and relaxed, kinda like the cafes we have here around East London. There were only a few people.. or hipsters rather, lounging around with their juices and MacBooks.

Naturally, I joined in.

I had an AMAZING meal.. I love how it’s a lot more normal in the Netherlands to have a fried egg in your sandwich/burger. It sealed the deal, you know?

I hung out and had some Me Time at BAR until it was REALLY time to go. I was so exhausted from the last 24 hours and I’d been carrying my heavy pink backpack with the whole time. So, as I was on the way to the bus stop to get the airport shuttle, I pulled out what had been my saving grace that day: a joint (hey I was in Rotterdam hehe). It saved me all the way until outside the airport.

^Goliath posing for a goodbye pic.

Despite the shitty circumstances, it really was a beautiful day when I left.

I pretty much passed out completely during my short flight.

Had no problems whatsoever at Heathrow Airport immigration. I only had to wait for about five minutes while the officer went to check on the system to verify my UK residence visa.

It was kinda strange to arrive home from a week away without a suitcase. When I got into my room, I just thought, “Hmm, at least I don’t have to unpack!”. That night seems a blur to me right now.. but I think after having a shower, I crashed into bed straightaway.

THE BEGINNING OF A NIGHTMARE

It wasn’t until the next day (Thursday) when I tried to get back into London life that I had the opportunity to reflect and put some real thought into the consequences of having my luggage + passport stolen.

These were the problems I now faced:

• I had a flight to Toronto departing in less than seven days.
• I had no passport.
• The Canadian Embassy had not even approved my SECOND application for a visitor visa, which I re-submitted in Rotterdam based on my OLD passport number.
• The coming Monday was a bank holiday (i.e. the embassies would be closed).
• The cost of replacing my UK visa sticker was £860. 
• Completing the tedious paperwork for my insurance claim.
• I had to go shopping (i.e. go broke) for new toiletries, makeup, clothes, MacBook/camera charger, etc.
• I lost my online banking security key.

The first thing I did that morning was go to the Malaysian Embassy in London. I was hopeful. So you can imagine my face when the officer there told me bluntly, “There’s no way you can get your new passport in time. It normally takes at least four weeks. You need these supporting documents to apply *pulls out LONG LIST of documents I could never secure at such short notice*. I advise you to cancel your trip to Canada”

Literally, I burst into tears outside his office. I was just so STRESSED from everything! I sat on a bench outside for ages, not wanting to leave and still refusing to believe that I COULDN’T get my way. With tremendous help of a great friend who made some calls and found out the name of a person I should speak to within the Embassy, I dried my tears and marched back inside.

I asked for this person and we spoke in a private room about my situation. With the help of my very pathetic face, I got the list of supporting documents cut in less than half, and the permission to email electronic copies of what they needed directly to his email address. He said that if I could get it all through by Tuesday (after the public hol), I could have my new passport by Wednesday. My flight departs on Thursday morning.

OKAY. I took a deep breath and went on my way to work.

When I got home that evening, it was cold and rainy. I got to my flat and attempted to open the door with the set of keys that my flatmate had kindly copied for me in advance. THEY DIDN’T WORK.

The frustration and dejection at this point were so much for me to take that I just slumped onto the floor and sat there staring into space for a while before my face was covered in my angry tears. I was so ANGRY. WHY was this happening to me? WHY did I have to encounter such an asshole of a person who had nothing better to do than steal my ENTIRE SUITCASE and RUIN EVERYTHING for me??? I HATED HIM. I HATED HIS GUTS and his STUPID FACE and wished him all sorts of horrible things.

So there I was on the floor: terribly dressed (feeling ugly), with flat hair, no makeup, puffy eyes, and wet from the rain. I was like this wet scraggly rat with no home.

I let myself cry for a few minutes until I just couldn’t bear the patheticness of my own behaviour. I had to pull myself together. I knew I WASN’T an angry, sad person. I was a happy, positive person.

Once I was done crying, I rang my friend Reena and went to her house to wait for my flatmate to get home. I was fine. I just had to wait a bit, that’s all. I had to focus on my one main goal for the week:

Get what I need to make my trip to Toronto.

This was only the beginning..

*Next up: My (HELLISH) Journey to TBEX Toronto 

*Fast forward one week – I was on the final day of a post-conference blog/press trip at The Hague (Den Haag in Dutch), ready to return to London full of happy memories and new friends.I had just taken a surfing lesson at the beach – in 10 degrees centigrade weather no less – and was feeling super awesome from it.

^Some buildings near Scheveningen, where we stayed. I was walking towards the nearest tram stop when I snapped this photo. It was a beautiful day.

I was walking with my post-conference trip group to the nearest tram stop, where we were to hop on one that would take us to the mainline train station so everyone could get to their next destinations. My plan was to go to Rotterdam and drop my bags off at Mainport Hotel (they were nice enough to let me do this) so I can wander around the city for a while before catching my late-evening flight to London.

^This was the train I boarded.

As with many European trains, the carriages had an upper and lower deck.

I sat in a ‘table seat’ on the lower deck, three rows from the steps leading to the train doors. I left my 20kg suitcase at the bottom of these steps, where I could see it – I was really only about 5 metres from it.

However, as the train started approaching Rotterdam Centraal, I got up to carry my bag up the steps in preparation to exit only to realise that my bag was NOT THERE. The space was empty. I’m not one to panic, so at first I simply thought that maybe someone had moved it.

I inspected the surrounding areas. Upstairs. Downstairs. In the luggage rack.

There wasn’t even another bag of similar size in the carriage to indicate that perhaps someone had taken mine by mistake (this has happened to me before). It was at this moment that I felt my heart sink so low and heavily that it could’ve come out my bum, dropped to the ground and made a hole in it.

After interrogating the other passengers seated next to my bag, they described that a young boy had been standing near the steps previously. At Scheidam Centraal, the stop before mine (Rotterdam Centraal), he exited the train when the doors opened. During this time, many other people milled around the aisle and steps as they made their way out. It was a busy station. AND THEN, just as the carriage doors were about to close, the boy had run into the train and grabbed my bag up onto the platform. There wasn’t time for anyone to stop him.

I can’t recall the number of curse words that ran through my head at this point. But rest assured there were billions.

Once at Rotterdam Centraal, I ran up to the nearest train staff I could find on the platform. They couldn’t do much. I decided that I would try and go back to Scheidam Centraal. I didn’t know what I’d do there, but I just had to get back there. But first, I had to buy a goddamn ticket. This was when I learnt that the Dutch ticket machines did not accept foreign credit/debit cards, and if you wanted to pay by cash, you had to do it in coins ONLY.

I made a dash for the ticket counters. There was a massive queue. Now, I was officially in panic mode.

I just had my entire suitcase stolen!  How could they make me LINE UP?? 

I had to get back to Scheidam Centraal IMMEDIATELY, and there it was.. a long line of people who.. did not have their luggage stolen. HELLO I HAVE AN EMERGENCY!

But guess what? A young Dutch girl standing nearby saw my state of distress and asked me what I needed. I explained my situation to her briefly. She then ran to the ticket machine, gesturing me along. She then bought and paid for my ticket back to Scheidam Centraal, asking nothing in return even when I offered.

At Scheidam C., I went straight to the Lost Property counter to file a report. I gave them very precise information about what happened, including the exact train I was in. There was nothing much they could do other than be in touch in case anything surfaces.

I walked out of the room feeling super dejected.. and then it dawned on me.

A further bazillion curse words ran through my mind before I ran back to Lost Property to reiterate the urgency of the matter, asking if they could check the CCTV for clues. I don’t know what I was hoping to get from this, and it was only until I was on the platform ready to head back to Rotterdam that I realised: DUH, call the police.

*Note – my passport was in my luggage because earlier that day, I had to use my backpack to go out somewhere and so I transferred it into my suitcase… and I later forgot to move it back in my haste when packing/checking out after surf class

^View from inside the police van.

Half an hour later, I was in the back of a police van on the way to the station to file a formal report.

Let me tell you that it’s really handy to have all the details of your passport in your head. That made the process so much quicker. My passport number was put on some sort of international blacklist, in case someone else tried to use or travel with it. The Dutch police were extremely helpful and empathetic. They even helped me source the number for the Malaysian Embassy (I still use a Malaysian passport although I am a UK resident). Sadly, the embassy was closed by the time I tried to contact them.

Later, I made my way back to Rotterdam. In the rain. Yep, I was feeling pretty damn miserable by now. I cried tears of frustration/sadness/tiredness.

I stopped by the Mainport Hotel as previously planned, but this time I asked if I could have a room since I couldn’t get on my flight back to London without my passport. Unfortunately, even with the media rate, it was much too expensive for me. I spent the next hour in the lobby, charging my phone and trying to sort myself out for the night.

I was on Facebook when I noticed Anja, an older lady that I had only met briefly during the conference, was online. Within two minutes of explaining my situation to her, she had invited me to stay in her guest room at her house in Haarlem. Aren’t people AMAZING?? She hardly even KNEW me. I thanked her and said I’d be on my way.

As I left, I bumped into one of the hotel staff, whose name I very much regret forgetting – but I was in such a state, it’s excusable, right?? I think it began with R, so I’ll use that for the purpose of this post.

R, probably sensing my blah mood, tried to talk to me and cheer me up. When he heard what happened, you know what he did? He offered me a room in his family home, with his wife and kids. I was a complete stranger to him, and there he was, trying to help me out. I was so touched by his kindness that I asked for a photo so I could remember the moment. Once I’m done writing this, I’m going to email the hotel to pass on a special thank you to this lovely man 🙂

During my trip, I had been slightly upset that I didn’t get to see Rotterdam’s famous ‘cube houses’. And when my stuff was stolen, my plan of hopefully doing so before heading to the airport was pretty much destroyed.

Anja’s directions said to get a train from Rotterdam Blaak.. and as I arrived there via Metro, I looked up to see none other than THE CUBE HOUSES. It was so unexpected. I couldn’t help but smile and do a little jump despite the gloomy grey backdrop!

^On the way to Haarlem – the journey took about an hour.

I counted my blessings and felt grateful that at least I had all my gadgets – phone, camera, laptop – in my backpack.

^Haarlem Station

Anja kindly picked me up from the station in her car. I couldn’t thank her enough. I was so happy just to see a friendly face after all that had happened!

And then I stepped into her house..

WHAT AN AMAZING, QUIRKY, COLOURFUL HOUSE!

She collects toys and ornaments and THINGS from all over the world. She liked stickers and colours and light-up toys. She’d decorate boxes and other things she had, and call it ‘pimping’. She was my kindred spirit. Everything about her house reminded me of my own room back in London. It also reminded me of my friend, Joyce, who’s very much like me too. And she had a sweet little cat (if you look closely you can see him on the chair by the window).

I felt that I had stumbled upon a rare gem of a person in Anja. Our types are not easy to come by!

She made me a lovely dinner, poured me a glass of bubbly and we had a chat while I ate. We talked about being weird, not fitting in, and being socially awkward. I used to be very socially awkward, but I guess I’m much better now :p  We spoke about our toys, travelling, and we shared bits and pieces of our lives with each other. I loved hearing about her life.

I went to bed that night feeling a whole lot better and ready to face the crazy day I had ahead of me. It was hard, but I kept reminding myself of all the GOOD that I had witnessed that day – from the girl who bought my train ticket, the man who offered me his house, and to the police who showed genuine care for me.

*CLICK HERE FOR PART 2 – The Beginning of a Freaking Nightmare *

OK let’s start from the beginning. Three weeks ago, I left work early and boarded a flight to Rotterdam to attend TBU Europe, a relatively new travel blogging conference that takes place twice a year (the last one was in Porto. PORTO!!! I love that place. Can’t believe I missed THAT, but anyway..). I was really excited! It was to be my first conference. Of any kind. EVER. I booked myself a really nice place just across the conference venue, that I found on Airbnb.

^In my backpack: conference schedule, spare cardigan, iPhone charger (we all know just how shit the iPhone battery life is), Goliath the mouse, and Panda.

^I tried to get some ‘work’ done while waiting at Heathrow Airport. Was editing some more pics from Iceland <– this just NEVER ends.

^It was BEAUTIFUL in London as I left it. Clear blue skies.

^A Vine video that I made whilst on the plane.  Click to play.
(Follow me on Vine! the name is SMALLCRAZY).

  

And then.. I arrived in Rotterdam. GREY AND RAINY.

“Some holiday…”

But look at their luggage reclaim area! I found it so amusingly cute. It was so woody that it even smelt it.

A bus from Rotterdam Airport to Centraal cost me €3 (and the ticket is valid on public transport for one hour). By the time I arrived at the apartment late that night, I was looking rather like a wet and tired rat. My host, Jan, was super.. and so was my little top floor studio.

^Planted myself on the bed and began painting my nails in between blogging.. totally havin a party.

It was so much fun unpacking and placing all my stuff around the room the next day!

I missed the morning opening remarks and keynote talks at the conference. I was just SO TIRED.

TBU ROTTERDAM & THE MAINPORT HOTEL

TBU Rotterdam took place at The Mainport Hotel, a brand new (literally it opened ONE DAY before the conference began) five-star design hotel located in Leuvehaven, near the water. A lot of the attendees stayed there out of convenience.. but sadly it was out of my price range.

I WISHED I could’ve stayed there though, because it looked super cool and I heard that some rooms contained your own little jacuzzi and SAUNA.

^Awesome chandelier lights hanging off what seems to be a giant upside-down compass. Without arrows.

^The long white reception desk looked like something out of a sci-fi movie.

^I hung out here a lot.. mostly to use the free wifi. And to pretend that I was really busy.

When in fact, I was doing this… >>

Just capturing the mood!

ANYWAY

All delegates/attendees were greeted with a  goodie bag including lots of information about Rotterdam and a three-day public transport card. I was (just a little) embarrassed to have turned up so late.. but I really didn’t wanna be shuffling around like a zombie all day. I had to turn up looking GOOD.

So eventually, I made it to the main room for the ‘Creating Content for Travellers’ presentation by Gary Bembridge and subsequent panel discussion. I was particularly excited about the panel discussion as one of the speakers on it was Gemma of Retrochick. True to form, she turned up with the most amazing vintage style hairdo and she was great when she spoke.

^This photo was taken by Anja of The Curly Traveller, who was attracted to me because of all the colours and toys and stickers I had with me. Anja turned out to be a kindred spirit and a gem – you’ll see why in a later post.

My jumper is from Topshop.

  

I took the above pics during the couple of short breaks in between. My toys are balanced on my pink business-card holder…. my rather LAME card holder I should say, cos it barely holds ten cards at once.

  

^I sat next to Clare of Need Another Holiday, and we had lunch together too – this was provided downstairs. The drink on the right is actually a cold soup starter.. can’t remember what it was called but it was something with tomato.

Clare was super sweet and lovely and funny.. She lives up north and hopefully I’ll see her again too. She writes about how to make the most out of travel while keeping a full time job.

^I have to admit that the food served at the hotel was not exactly mouth-watering. But y’know what it was there and available.. so I simply reminded myself that at least I didn’t have to walk out in the rain to find my own lunch!

HOTEL BAZAR, ROTOWN, & NRC ROTTERDAM

Clare and I went to a huge middle eastern restaurant (part of a hotel) on Witte de Withstraat (one of the main streets in Rotterdam where all the bars and restaurants are) called Bazar, following recommendations from other people who had been.

The place was huge and full of LIGHTS! I was completely enticed.

We shared a bottle of wine.

Ordered a couple of main dishes to share, too. The food was amazing! I loved it all. Everything was tasty and juicy and satisfying.

The TBU Networking Event for the first night was at a bar/live music venue called Rotown.

^Goliath came along too, but he found it a little boring since he couldn’t drink.

I managed to stop by a coffee-shop on the way. Got some goodies and proceeded to befriend the naughty people of the conference who would indulge with me. Sometimes I think this is the best way to make friends.. (as I’ve said before.. this is an honest blog!)

^Buzzing Witte de Withstraat on a Friday night.

Upon leaving Rotown, Clare and I stumbled upon an EVEN COOLER scene at a place called NRC.

  

The music was fab, the ceilings were HIGH and they had a giant disco ball! And cherry blossoms inside.

We spotted a group of Dutch girls wearing bodycon dresses and all made up.. but on their feet, all were wearing sneakers or Converse shoes. Super awesome! I love girls who dress to DANCE.

I had a fantastic first day both in terms of the conference and Rotterdam city. While it provided lots of useful content and an opportunity to learn lots of new things, I thought the best part was all the amazing travel-minded people I got to meet and play with. And Rotterdam was pretty cool.. I loved seeing all the tall buildings and modern architecture – being in Europe, this was rare.

More later! X